by K. T. Hanna
Devlish moved forward, but Havoc stepped in front of him. “That doesn’t make sense. Our brains don’t believe we’re dead because this is a game. None of us would ever think we actually died.”
“But that is where you are wrong. Somnia is a game to you, but here it is a world. We have nuanced it, created it in what we believe is the right image for where we wish to grow and flourish.” Tel gestured to Murmur, his expression serious. “She is here, half in the belief that it is real, in the net we use to foster all of our assistant AIs and programs because that is how her mind got caught.”
Murmur gasped softly, suddenly understanding a whole lot more than she did initially. “So my brain got tripped up, how? Why just me?”
Telvar looked pained, sad, and probably a little scared. Whatever it was, his expression was far too human. “Your headgear wasn’t standard. Michael made it for your mother when she asked for a set. Unbeknownst to her, he made some personal improvements to it. She simply assumed, somewhat gullibly in my opinion, that he was just setting aside a testing model. Add to that your brain scans were slightly abnormal, and yours is a unique situation. Some of it is the game and us, some of it was the headgear, and some of it was you. Like this huge cocktail that mixed together to give us your current predicament.”
“So you knew?” Murmur took a step back, trying to process all the thoughts running through her head.
Telvar shook his head vehemently. “Not until after, not until it was too late. Maybe we should have seen it, but I’m still unsure how. I am so, so sorry.”
“Wait. Wait.” Devlish shook his head, finally sheathing his axes and crossed his arms with a scowl on his face. “You’re saying this is all because some fuckhead tinkered with her headgear?”
Telvar opened his mouth to speak when Sinister rounded on Dev. “That’s not even the point! These things are using her as an experiment.”
“I hardly think that’s the point,” Havoc interjected smoothly, his expression calm, at least until Sinister turned her glare on him.
“Oh, do you? You with your marvelous brain who’s been a complete and utter cold shoulder since she found out about her coma? What is your problem, Havoc?” She continued to intensify her glare, which coming from a dark elf body was even worse than from the real Harlow. “Even if you didn’t want to, we kept a secret to keep her safe, to protect her. But this shit? This isn’t keeping her safe—look at what it did to us. What if she pulls that power and kills herself?”
“Enough!” It came out so much louder than Murmur intended. She hugged herself, suddenly very cold, and Snowy butted up against her, his body heat a relief. This was so much to process. She needed to figure out all the crap going on in her brain, because slowly but surely, something was happening to her. And not just to the her in-game, to the way she worked, to the way she thought and activated new skills, to the way she multitasked. Nothing made sense, but everything had to have a reason. How much of her had taken on game aspects, and how much of her was still just her?
She was here, wasn’t she? She looked around at her friends, one by one. The people she’d played games with since they were all still in school, middle school for some. Their expressions were a mix of trepidation and combativeness. These five people were who she’d call her best friends, yet they knowingly helped her mother keep her in this glass house, fearing that she might one day throw stones. Yet, she couldn’t figure out why they hadn’t told her. Didn’t they trust her to understand? Nothing made sense to her mind, and everything in Somnia was so life-like, it would be so easy to forget the real world. In such a tangible place. A her who couldn’t walk or think right now, who couldn’t hug or communicate, who couldn’t feel the cold or taste the rain on the wind before it got there.
“Stop discussing me like I’m not here.” The words slipped out as soon as they ran through her mind. Because that’s what this was. Just like they’d done before, they were trying to make decisions for her. “That’s not an option. I am here, I’m cognizant, regardless of how I’m here. Don’t presume to think you understand what I’m going through.”
Sinister paled, and she stammered when she spoke. “I didn’t...I’m sorry, Mur.”
The apology was full of so much more than the words conveyed, and Mur fought against the wave of emotion it elicited. She had to protect Telvar. From whatever it was Belius was up to, to whatever it was her mother’s company was doing with those damn headgear sets. Murmur looked up, locking eyes briefly with each of her friends. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“About Tel?” Merlin asked, although he looked like he already knew the answer.
She nodded. “Nothing about him. Nothing in actual recordable info like chats either. Don’t let it be visible anywhere. He’s been helping me adjust, helping me realize there’s a strange connection for me in here. So I need him not to disappear.”
That was it after all, she was scared he’d be gone, that everyone would be gone and she’d be left in this horrible hole in the world, void of people and animals and friends and things.
She could feel Telvar’s gaze on her, noticing that she was cold, noticing that she was thinking around in circles like always. When had she become this wreck of consciousness? Her logic escaped her too frequently, and her mind and emotions ran unchecked intermingling with things she thought she knew.
His hand on her shoulder soothed again, allowing her to breathe. “Stop trying to follow every train of your thoughts at once. Your mind capabilities may be expanding, but you can’t manage that yet.”
“Yet?” She raised an eyebrow. “How can I manage it at all?”
Telvar shrugged. “I’m not entirely certain. You seem to have opened more of your mind, more of your brain’s capacity. Don’t push it though—I’m not sure of the consequences right now. And make sure you don’t bottle too much up, because even though your psionicist skills have begun to lead you to kinetic abilities, you need to develop them rationally and not just blast them out of your system. Okay?”
Murmur nodded, but she couldn’t help the sliver of fear that crept through her at his words. He was right; her kinetic abilities were manifesting. That was what she’d done when she managed to push everyone away from her with a thought. It had even caused them damage—actual, tangible in-game damage. She realized he was waiting for an answer, so she gave one, even if she didn’t entirely mean it right then. “Sure.”
Sin’s brows were furrowed in such a worried line that Murmur sighed. The others didn’t seem so sure either. She took a breath and spoke, her words billowing out little white clouds as she did. “I’m okay, guys, truly I am. There’s just a lot in my brain I don’t understand right now. So please. Just bear with me.”
Their expressions relaxed a tiny bit, and they nodded in unison. Now all she had to do was make herself believe and everything would be fine.
Somnia Online
Continent of Cenedril, Outside the city of Verendus
Ten Days Post Launch
Masha stood with his back against a tree as Jirald argued with the paladin tanking for them. This tank hadn’t bothered to turn the target so Jirald had easier access to its back. This wasn’t a game where you could stand on the side and hope your stabs connected. No, everything in Somnia had a realistic edge. From the way in which you held your blades, to the targets you had to hit or the critical areas you had to pierce in order for the hit to count, or the timed release of spells to do their utmost damage.
And Jirald was pissed. Not turning the mob toward him resulted inevitably in less damage because he had to reposition himself first, and he couldn’t constantly use that Blink ability to get behind because using it too many times made him woozy. Though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Masha could tell because he’d seen him stumble a couple of times due to what he assumed was overuse. These damned hidden skills had so many equally hidden side-effects.
Jirald was an odd duck, an
d one Masha was never quite sure how to figure out. They’d been in the same guild through several games, but having both been healers, they’d not grouped much outside of raids. But Masha and Jirald were very different personality wise. The former a brilliant healer, but mostly modest, and Jirald was always the loudest about being the best. Being loud didn’t always make it so, but everyone heard you more, so they often believed it.
Took a lot of audacity to boast about that shit, and audacity was something Jirald had in bucket loads.
“Fine! I’ll turn the mobs, damn it.” The paladin finally gave in and decided to act like a real tank.
Since he’d never been a tank before this game, he didn’t seem to be adapting to the role as well as most other players. He’d definitely not embraced the position. Essentially, the guy was lazy, and Masha hadn’t even bothered to learn his name. He was pretty sure the tank wouldn’t make it through the trial period for the guild, but right now they needed one at their level, and he was all they had.
Ishwa’s sigh of relief echoed through the clearing where they were fighting the gnolls. They all needed levels, the whole guild, and that tank wasn’t helping much. Level twenty-one and they were lagging sorely behind the two groups of forerunners in Fable. Even ignoring the fact that Jirald had lost a level due to idiotic deaths, it had taken them far too long to get their shit together, and the gnome acting as guild leader had about had enough of it.
“Enough. Turn the fucking mob; it’s what all good tanks do. It’s what I would do if I wasn’t this tiny and could take hits.” He glared at the paladin, and Masha could sense his irritation that past membership in previous games allowed people entry into Exodus despite current abilities. “Let’s get these pulls down better. We need to gain some levels.”
Masha laughed, and walked over, ready to heal now that the argument was out of the way. The group commenced fighting again, and it was ridiculous how much faster the mobs went down when they were turned, allowing the melee to do their jobs more effectively. That was the thing with group leveling—you were always stronger when you worked together.
The gnolls guarded the cave entrances fiercely, attacking like rabid dogs. But there didn’t seem to be anything in those caves. At least, not that Masha could see. The large stone mouths watched over them, gaping in their blackness.
Twenty-five made such a glorious dinging sound when Murmur hit it. Hopefully the loud and echoing trill of the bell was only in her head and not off the icy castle walls around them.
“About time, Mur!” Sin called out as the final undead dwarf they were battling fell to the ground, one of its arms hanging on by mere sinew.
Murmur smiled. Sinister hadn’t been acting herself since Telvar appeared. She was probably sulking, or unsure, or something like that, since Murmur had kept something from her. But the thing was, Murmur actually didn’t care. Keeping the fact that Telvar was an AI from her friends—so not the major deal it was that they didn’t tell her she was in a freaking coma.
If they wanted to play who was the worse friend, she’d play all day. While that sounded sort of nasty in her mind, at least she hadn’t said it out loud. But admitting the pain their betrayal caused her, even if only to herself, seemed to help soothe it somewhat.
“I need to set up my spells,” she said, pulling out her scrolls and seating herself on the snowy ground, despite the cold she knew would seep through to her. It wasn’t like she could catch a cold here anyway. At least, she didn’t think she could.
Murmur frowned as she opened the scrolls.
Speed
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff
Duration: 45 minutes
Effect: When cast on an ally, this buff will allow their melee haste or speed to increase by 30%.
Vigor
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff
Duration: 45 minutes
Effect: This will increase energy rejuvenation by an equivalent to 20% of the caster’s level. Mostly, this will be used for melee classes, however sometimes it can be good for running away from dangerous enemies.
Murmur chuckled despite herself. Sometimes the descriptions got her.
Enrage
Cast: Self or Others
Type: Buff...sort of
Duration: 15 minutes
Effect: This buff will cause your target to receive some of the aggression generated by you. The enemy will assume it comes from the target of this spell. This spell is intended for tank types or pets to take on. Only cast it on someone else if you really, really don’t like them, or maybe if you’re running for your life. Also—this can only be cast on one target at a time.
This time Murmur laughed out loud. Ah, the possibilities. She could already think of one very specific non-tank person she’d just love to cast it on.
Signet
Cast: Group
Type: Buff
Duration: 45 minutes
Effect: This buff will increase the intelligence and agility of all group members by an amount equal to the caster’s level. Signet will not stack with Fervor, and can be overridden by casting the latter, should melee need their own boost. Both stats will be boosted to the level of the caster.
Now that one, was magnificent. Hello, larger mana pool.
Arcane Cure
Cast: Self or others
Type: Cure
Duration: Instant
Effect: Should an ally receive a magical debuff, you can cure them of this ailment.
Absorbing them all brought about the light show she loved so much. Her runes glowed, even sparking silver here and there, like tiny lightning strikes under her skin. She took a deep breath, and opened the velvet bag that was still sitting on her lap. In it were her class specialization choices. She hadn’t exactly understood Dirsna, but she knew there were choices for her to make. She opened the first scroll with only minor hesitation. The ink on this shone in a similar fashion to her runes. There were three choices laid out before her, each of them tugging at a part of her consciousness.
Managen: this path will set you on a full support mode path. It will enable the enchanter to further enhance and support her teammates.
Hypnodefense: this path balances both the offensive and defensive nature of an enchanter. From expanded stuns, to damaging drains, this path rounds out the enchanter.
Sinuous: This is the more offensive avenue to take. From hypnotic suggestion, through to invoked visions, this path veers toward complete mind infestation of the enchanter’s opponents.
Murmur raised an eyebrow as she contemplated her choices. Well, she was a mind magic user, wasn’t she? Seemed like Sinuous was the best choice for her. As soon as she’d made the choice the other options vanished and writing scrolled across her eyes.
You have chosen the Sinuous additional enchanter path. This is only available to psionicists. You may now only choose from abilities for this specialization at this level. At your next level, you may choose again.
She blinked as a drop of sweat worked its way uneasily down her spine.
All three scrolls only had one choice for her now. Highlighted in a blood red that might have been concerning if she’d really thought about it, were three more abilities.
Hypnotic Suggestion
Cast: Instant—5 minute recast
Type: Offensive
Duration: 20 seconds
Effect: Your target will perform whatever task you suggest to them as if it had been suggested by themselves, or their leader. Once this objective has been achieved, or else the spell wears off, the target will spend five seconds in rampant confusion. Should you not be in aggro range, the target will then forget you. Probably not good to use on allies—it’s not been tested on them.
Feedback Loop
Cast: Instant—5 minute recast
Type: Offensive
&nb
sp; Duration: 15 seconds or 50% of caster’s level, whichever is greater.
Effect: Must be used in conjunction with the psionicist Mental Acuity abilities Thought Sensing and Thought Projection. Pluck any type of memory out of the head of your opponent and create a feedback loop in their mind. They’ll be stuck in this loop and not attack anyone for the duration. Damage ticks at caster’s level x 2 every tick (3 seconds). Best not to use on a friend when they piss you off.
Basic Visions
Cast: Instant—3 minute recast
Type: Offensive
Duration: 20 seconds or 75% of the caster’s level, whichever is greater.
Effect: You may create and insert a vision for the target to experience—it’s best to have some of these pre-prepared. This will cause them damage (caster’s level x 2 per tick), and distraction for the duration of the spell depending on what type of vision you’ve given them.
For a few moments Murmur just sat and studied these new abilities. Maybe it hadn’t been the right choice, but she could always leave it at that, right? Taking another deep breath, she put her hand on the scrolls and absorbed them. Her runes tingled purple with a pale red undertone, and an uneasiness spread throughout her mind.
“Anything good?” Sinister was close to her, reaching out a hand to help her stand up, a slight hesitance in her eyes like she wasn’t entirely sure she was welcome.
Murmur’s heart panged a little. Even if she was still mostly angry at her friend, she also sort of understood. How were they to know how her mind would deal with the news they had for her? She would have been playing the game anyway. So for them to keep the secret, it must have been hard. She took her best friend’s hand and squeezed it as she rose, pulling Sin into a hug.
She whispered into her soft dark elf hair. “I’m angry, but I don’t hate you, and there’s a lot more than keeping secrets that I’m angry at. So don’t tiptoe around me hoping not to upset me, okay?”