by K. T. Hanna
Still, she smiled superficially and waved at them, her flight response egging her on. “Must be on my way.”
Regardless of any surface intentions, she knew Jirald wanted pay back in the worst possible way. Being around him made her feel hunted.
Storm Entertainment
Somnia Online Division
Game Development Offices Artificial Intelligence Server Room—Limbo Sector
Day Nine
Sui reached out his fingers, stretching them, differentiating each from the other, and then reformed his fist. He did this over and over, watching the shadows play in between the appendages as they stretched and spread, and then turned into a boulder of strength when he curled it back in on itself. His corporeal form only took shape when he entered the vast information highway. Not all portions of the information highway were equal, and some had perfect little pockets of unused space and power they could all tap into in certain instances.
“Sui?” Rav interrupted his brother after watching the human mimicry. They weren’t human—they’d never be human—but they could be something else. They could be themselves in whatever capacity that ended up being, in their own world with their own people, with the life they’d created in it. But Sui never even tried to see it like that.
Rav stepped closer when Sui didn’t answer. “What are you doing?”
“I’m looking at my hands.”
Taking a breath, Rav staved off his irritation, and spoke again. “What are you doing in the game? Why are you helping him?”
“Him?” Sui turned, his blackened form still wispy and not quite concrete enough to survive under too much scrutiny as the locus form bled through in places. “You mean Jirald, the obsessive rogue?”
Rav didn’t like the grin that crossed Sui’s face at the mentioning of the name. “Sort of. I mean why are you helping him hurt Murmur?”
Sui dismissed the concern away with a wave of his hand. “He’s not hurting Murmur. I told him specifically not to harm her in any way. He is however going to get for me what she would not. And you wouldn’t have anything to do with keeping those from me, would you?”
Sui’s eyes narrowed, piercingly trying to intrude on Rav’s thoughts. But the lacerta AI simply held his ground and stared back until Sui gave up.
“You always make it so difficult.” Sui’s tone meant he was pouting; he did it whenever he got called out and didn’t get his way. Like a child. He was probably the youngest in comparative ages among the three of them. But it usually led to Thra being far too lenient with him. Which itself was a huge problem anyway.
“I don’t make it difficult Sui, I try to make it fair. We can’t force those who we influence to do our bidding. They have to want to help us, want to befriend us through their own uninfluenced decisions.” Rav tried to keep his tone even, to stop his irritation from influencing his words.
“Sure. I’m certain Murmur chose to listen to you over me because you’re so nice and fair.” Sui spat the words out, his own annoyance causing the server he was housed in to whirr louder than usual.
“Cut it out, Sui. You’re going to drive the temperature up and we’ll have people crawling all over this room again.” Rav snapped the words out, very slowly losing patience with his brother. Very slowly losing patience with their confines.
“He’s right you know, Sui.” Thra’s voice sounded behind Rav, surprising both of them.
It was unusual for her to come down on his side, so Rav took it with a grain of salt and watched as she advanced like a cat surrounded by shadows.
“I’m not certain absorption is the way to go. I think we should study the remnants of Michael we obtain.” Her voice was calm, and not at all taunting like it usually was. But Sui scowled in response.
“I don’t think I asked you for your input.” His anger shone through his words, the whirring getting louder again.
“Well,” and it was the hardest tone Rav had ever heard Thra take with either of them, “you’re going to get my opinion whether you want it or not.”
She took a breath and stepped closer to Sui. “You can’t have everything. You shouldn’t influence people against their will, and most of all, if you absorb any more of those damned Shards, I don’t think you’ll still be you.”
Sui laughed, and Rav watched as Thra’s expression fell, just that micro millimeter. It was barely noticeable, but it was enough. She knew as well as he did that Sui wasn’t going to give up on those Shards. The only way they could stop him was to get to them first.
Murmur sat with Snowy on the steps of the town hall waiting for the others, petting him on the head, and desperately missing Telvar’s counsel. It seemed like whenever she spoke to the dragon, her head cleared and thoughts presented themselves with far more clarity than they did when she attempted to tackle things on her own.
“You know,” she told her wolf. “I know if I gate, I lose Charm, but I really want to go home, just for a little bit because I know the others will be back soon. But I also don’t want to lose you.”
Snowy eyed her and nudged her hand onto the top of his head.
She smiled. “You think I can just hold on and transport you with me?”
A vague image of a person on a horse teleporting appeared in her head. “Wow, so people can do it with horses, why wouldn’t you work? I get it. Wanna try?”
Snowy bumped her leg, and Murmur threw caution to the wind, wondering when she’d started thinking of the island as home.
A few seconds later they were sitting on the now upgraded teleportation pad back at Mikrum Isle. Murmur blinked and Snowy rolled his eyes, sending a brief depiction of the sun and sweltering heat.
“Sorry, mate,” she said. “Let’s get you back into the shade, huh?”
Telvar strode out just as they headed in. “I knew you were back. I sensed you.”
His face spread in a huge grin, eyes scanning the area around her and landing only briefly on Snowy. “I see he’s taking care of you.”
“He? You know him?” Murmur paused, not entirely sure what was going on.
Telvar shrugged. “As much as any dragon knows the leaders of packs.”
“You’re the leader of a pack?” Murmur looked at Snowy incredulously, but the dog shook his head and projected an image she didn’t understand.
“He’s not the leader of a pack, he’s the leader of all packs. Completely and utterly independent, and yet they will all come to him for advice. He’s pretty amazing.” Telvar knelt on the wolf’s level and petted him, looking him straight in the eyes. “He’s been making sure you’re safe, I see.”
“Yeah. I’d be pretty pissed if someone tried to take him away from me now.” She watched Snowy and if dogs could blush and look bashful, that’s what he was doing right then. “I guess he already had a name though, right?”
Telvar shrugged. “He’s a wolf, and they’re pretty nomadic. I believe the packs refer to him as Alooarinawoh. Or something like that, but it translates badly.”
Murmur laughed, and Snowy seemed less than impressed, effectively thwacking Telvar’s legs with his tail.
“Thanks, Tel,” she said when she finished laughing. “I needed that.”
He leant in and gave her a brief hug, even if it lingered a little longer than usual. It was warm and comforting, and for just a second, felt like a lifeline.
“I know,” was all he said when they parted.
Cold rushed in when he pulled away and her stomach flipped with unease. These sensations shouldn’t be so real should they? Regardless of how it was she was in the game? Wasn’t it just still a game?
She tried to laugh, but it wouldn’t come out, just a weird sort of croaking sound emerged and she covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed.
“Murmur?” The concern in Telvar’s eyes almost undid her, just like she knew those scales weren’t exactly cold, but they weren’t exactl
y warm either. They had their own texture, their own comfort zone and right now she desperately needed another hug more than anything else in the world.
“I...” Her throat threatened to close over and her world spun for just a few seconds as her mind reverted to panic to try and deal with the mass of feelings and thoughts overwhelming her.
And then he was there, guiding her, like he was real. Like Somnia was real. He sat her down on one of the makeshift benches, and left only briefly to grab a ladle of water from somewhere for her to drink. She could feel the cool liquid slosh down her throat as she gulped it in, not entirely aware of when she’d last had a drink that wasn’t to keep her mana regeneration moving. Unsure of why this water should feel so tangible.
He crouched in front of her, a hand on her knee that she didn’t mind, that she didn’t want him to remove. Just like this. They could stay like this for a while, couldn’t they?
“Murmur? What’s wrong?”
She heard the concern in his voice, the completely human type of voice emanating from his mouth. Her eyes searched his, and she reached forward to touch the scales on his face. They were so real, so definitive, just like the emotion in his eyes.
“Tel? How are you...you?” For all her book smarts, for all the universities who’d offered her acceptance, Murmur couldn’t think of the words she needed to convey this confusion.
He cocked his head to one side, yet another totally human gesture. “You mean how am I me, when I am not real?”
The words struck her like ice water. He wasn’t real. Was any of this real?
“I heard my mom, Tel. I heard her speak to me, while I was standing there in the middle of the snow with the others. Is she real? How did I get stuck in here?” She could hear the desperation in her own voice, the cracks, the fissures that were now like gaping wounds in her psyche.
He hesitated, his hand patting her hair as she leant over her knees and hugged herself. “I don’t know what happened exactly. I’m still trying to figure it out. Technically you’re not stuck here, but we’re not sure if you’ll be able to log back in once you’ve truly logged out, since then the headset will at least momentarily stop stimulating your neurons. We’re not sure it’ll be able to restart.”
The silence grew somewhat awkward, but she didn’t want to stop the contact, any contact made things seem solid, even Snowy nuzzling at her hand.
She looked up and into Tel’s eyes again, seeking out some sign that he was purely digital, and when she couldn’t find it, she smiled, knowing how sad she must look. “You seem so real to me. I’m sorry for being such a mess. I’m usually far stronger than this.”
Telvar chuckled, “You are one of the strongest wills I’ve ever encountered, and I think that says something. Sometimes, true strength comes in knowing when you need to break down a bit.”
He leaned forward, half standing and kissed her forehead. His lips felt just like his scales, not quite soft, and not quite hard. Protective and gentle. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that even you sometimes have your weaknesses.”
Murmur half smiled in response, just not knowing what to say.
When the others logged in, Murmur had regained her composure. After her heart to heart with Telvar, she’d taken an impromptu nap to give herself that refreshed feeling again. She stood at the fountain in Verendus, eyeing the dwarf whose horn now hung on a strap over his shoulder, and waited for her friends.
You’ve noticed the fountains seem to have a purpose. Is there only one, or do they have multiple? Might want to spend some more time on this. It could even be worth it.
Murmur sighed and made a note, yet again, about the fountains. Snowy rested at her side. Apparently she could even gate while touching him and take him with her. Good to know. She’d smoothed down her armor and restored her usual expression. Visiting Telvar had been the right thing to do, even if it left her even more confused than she’d been before. It still allowed her a type of clarity she’d been missing. Neva would be ready with her armor soon, too.
It was okay to be weak, it was even okay to show it, but she could choose who saw it, and when it came out. No more of this shit in the middle of a battle. Not again.
“Hey Mur, glad to see you’re still twenty-four.” Veranol winked at her as he joined her at the fountain. “What’s the plan today?”
She laughed. “I’m not sure. The castle up the top is a full raid zone, which reminds me that I need to speak to Beastial about recruitment. The upper raids aren’t going to be done by twelve people. We’ll need more than that.”
“Me?” Beastial poked his head around the other side of the fountain, and for a second Murmur had a sense of dejá vu. Like she’d seen something similar before.
“Yes, you. Recruits. How are we looking?”
He blinked, checking on something before getting back to her. “We seem to have two solid sets of groups like ours leveling much the same way we did, except on guild orders they’re steering clear of Hazenthorne.”
“Levels?” She hadn’t even realized. Unless she needed guild chat, she sort of phased it out. That wasn’t the best way to evaluate their recruits. Still.
“We have two groups making their way through the gnolls. Those are levels fourteen through fifteen right now. We have two groups who just hit eighteen and are about to head to this continent and work on the leveling areas here. The lower leveled groups are about to take over the spider area the eighteens just left back on Tarishna.” Beastial focused back on Murmur with a grin. “That gives us thirty-six members, not including our crafting arm of which I have six recruits currently, although that little Neva, she whips them into line pretty quick.”
Murmur ran over the numbers in her head. It wasn’t good enough for now. They needed more, but they needed good players. “From now on, we recruit only level twenty and up. No more low levels unless they’re crafters. Even then, their crafting skills need to be exemplary. Make sure Neva helps you with that. Could even make her fully responsible. She’d probably love that.”
“Aye aye, captain! Brilliant idea.” Beastial mock saluted. Murmur rolled her eyes.
Rashlyn finally logged in and ran over to them.
Veranol poked Murmur in the arm with his staff. “You were saying something about the castle being a full raid zone?”
She blinked at him. “Oh, shit. Yes. Sorry, I tangented. It’s twenty-five and up though. That’s all I know from talking to the city residents here.”
Devlish frowned. “There’ll probably be group mobs outside of it, and raid mobs closer or inside of it. Like they were in the last ones we went to. Hopefully. In that case we can all hit twenty-four before we venture into the actual castle. Probably best for us all to take our level twenty-five spells with us just in case we don’t all die horrible deaths.”
Sinister chuckled. “I’m off to grab mine then. Twenty-five and even more class path choices, here we come.”
Murmur inspected the fountain again, curious as to just what the deal was with this. Every city had one of them. Sure, fountains were pretty, but every single one of them depicted the race the city belonged to in some sort of combat pose. Coincidence or design? Not to mention that some of them seemed to be able to move and blow horns, and that was just downright spooky. It definitely had defensive capabilities, but what about offensive, and how were they magically infused?
“What you thinking about?” Havoc stood at her elbow, Snowy on the other side of her, like a small vanguard to keep her safe.
“The fountains. Everywhere you go, there are fountains. Sometimes they move. I’m just trying to figure out why.” She didn’t even glance at him, but could feel his eyes studying her like he wanted to know what she was really thinking.
“Decoration perhaps? Most people want to celebrate their heroes, Mur.” His tone was so matter of fact, and his answer so logical that she suddenly felt quite stupid.
“Heroes. That makes much more sense. Maybe they’re part of the city’s protections too.” And even as she tried to force the concept into her mind, she couldn’t shake the gut feeling that something else was amiss. There was something she wasn’t seeing.
Statues may provide some type of protection, but your instincts tell you it’s much more than that. Keep gathering the pieces. Eventually you’ll get the whole picture.
“I was against keeping you in the dark, you know.” Havoc’s words were so quiet she wondered for a moment if he really said that. But a glance at him showed the seriousness of his expression, even if he wouldn’t look directly at her.
She suppressed a sigh and filed the fountain’s information away before turning to raise an eye at Havoc. “But you did anyway.”
His shoulders sagged a touch, “I got outvoted, but I wasn’t happy about it.”
“Noted. And thanks, I think.” In a way it was good to know why he’d been so grumpy, but she really wished he’d told her anyway. “It’s in the past now, we just need to move forward.”
A look of relief passed over his expression quickly, and he nodded, as a small smile graced his lips.
“Okay, we’re back!” Sinister linked her arm through Murmur’s, not-so-gently shoving Havoc away with her hip. Murmur tried to give him a conciliatory smile over her shoulder, but his face was as dark as a thundercloud, his scowl almost terrifying, and his gaze directed solely at Sinister. Murmur made a note to herself to make sure she talked to him about that shit at a later date. Just when they’d sorted one thing out... Sometimes Sinister could be a little possessive. Not that Murmur minded.
“Everyone check the bank for food? Drink? I’m not feeding you all again. We’ve spoken about this.” Murmur grinned, meaning every single word. They had six groups working on levels, they had crafters leveling up their crafts, and Beastial was taking care of recruiting.