System Overload

by Mark Cheverton

  “Get moving, NPC,” a zombie growled, pushing him along with the other prisoners.

  As he walked toward his fellow villagers, Herder glanced over his shoulder at the portal room. There were so many monsters still entering. They had to be emptying out the other zombie-towns and sending every zombie in Minecraft here. Why?

  “Why do you think the zombies retreated from the last zombie-town?” Herder said as quietly as he could to Bookman in front of him. “There’s no way that Gameknight could return with enough warriors to defeat so many zombies.”

  “Shut up, villager,” a zombie growled.

  A clawed hand raked across Herder’s back. Pain exploded as the claws dug into his flesh. He flashed red and took a bit of damage. The zombie king, Xa-Tul, had made all the villagers remove their armor when they were in the last zombie-town. Now, they had no defense against the razor-sharp claws.

  “Why are they collecting all of these zombies?” whispered one of the villagers.

  Herder looked to the left and saw it was Carver speaking. But before Herder could answer him, a large green fist slammed into the NPC’s head.

  “Be quiet,” growled a big zombie nearby.

  Carver nearly toppled to the floor with the force of the blow, but Herder was able to catch him before he hit the ground. If he had fallen, likely all the hundreds of clawed zombie feet that followed the group of captives would have trampled him.

  “Thanks,” Carver whispered in Herder’s ear.

  He nodded, then reached behind him to let Herder pull him back to his feet. They were then all led past the NPC diggers and ushered to a wall on the far side of the chamber.

  “All prisoners, come this way, NOW!” one of the zombies barked.

  Monsters poked the NPCs in the back with the sharp points of their gold swords, guiding them toward the angry voice. They were brought to a flat section of the cave. A huge zombie stood at the center of the flat section, a pile of items floating at his feet.

  “This zombie’s name is Ot-Kil. The villagers will refer to Ot-Kil as Master,” the massive zombie said. “If a villager has a weapon, put it here. If a weapon is found on a villager, the penalty will be death.”

  No one moved. The NPCs exchanged nervous glances. Suddenly, Ot-Kil reached out and cuffed a baker across the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a heap.

  “Perhaps an example needs to be made to motivate the villagers to cooperate,” the zombie said.

  He reached down, picked up a golden sword, and stepped up to Baker. As he raised the sword, Herder spoke up quickly.

  “No need to make an example. Here are our weapons.”

  The lanky NPC reached into his inventory and pulled out an iron sword. He tossed it into the pile of weapons that floated before him. He then pulled out his bow and a stack of arrows and added them to the collection as well. Glancing at the other villagers, Herder nodded his head.

  “It’s OK. Give them your weapons.”

  Slowly, more weapons began to add to the pile as the villagers surrendered their tools of war. One of the NPCs was about to toss his pickaxe into the pile, but was stopped by the large monster.

  “NO!” the zombie snapped. “Villagers will be digging. Keep all shovels and pickaxes and food. This is all that will be needed to ensure survival. Anything else, though, will receive the harshest of punishments.”

  The last of the weapons clattered to the ground.

  “Now follow closely,” the zombie said. “Those who stray too far away will likely be destroyed.”

  The monster turned and stormed away. Herder moved quickly forward and motioned for the others to follow.

  “Come on, everyone … keep up and follow instructions,” Herder said, hoping that everyone would do as they were told and avoid any unnecessary violence.

  As they passed a dark tunnel, though, one of the villagers, a burly stone cutter, made a dash for freedom. As he ran, he drew an iron sword that he’d kept hidden in his inventory. A zombie jumped in front of him, but the sword sliced through the air before the creature could attack. The monster disappeared with a pop, leaving behind three glowing balls of XP. The big zombie stopped to watch the escape attempt, but surprisingly, did nothing to stop the prisoner; he just watched, an evil smile on his face.

  “Go Stonecutter … go!” one of the NPCs yelled.

  Ot-Kil moved quickly, much faster than Herder would have thought possible, knocking that NPC to the ground. He then ground his clawed foot into the villager until he moaned in pain.

  “Be quiet, slave,” Ot-Kil growled, then stepped away and allowed the prisoner to stand again.

  Herder turned back just in time to see Stonecutter dodge past multiple zombies, then shoot into the dark tunnel. He gave a sigh of relief as the villager disappeared.

  He made it, Herder thought.

  But then they heard the sound of fighting in the dark passage. Shouts of anger and pain echoed out of the shadowy tunnel, until it was suddenly silent. Herder peered at Ot-Kil and noticed a satisfied smile growing on his scarred, decaying face. A gold-clad monster stepped out of the passage and moved to stand before Ot-Kil. He held Stonecutter’s iron sword in his hand. The zombie smiled, then moved to a pool of lava that bubbled near a fissure in the ground and dropped the sword into the molten stone.

  “That one won’t be needing a sword anymore,” Ot-Kil said with an evil chuckle. “NPCs who wish to stay alive … might not want to follow in that villager’s footsteps.”

  Ot-Kil pushed through the massive collection of zombies, shoving aside anyone who dared get in his path. The NPCs followed closely behind. The hungry stares from the zombies around them made the villagers feel like if it weren’t for Ot-Kil, they might all be goners.

  As they wended their way through the cavern, Herder looked back at the tunnel they’d emerged from. Zombies of all shapes and sizes were still arriving from the portal room, each with a hungry expression on their rotting faces, but the flow was dwindling.

  “Interesting,” Herder muttered to himself.

  Glancing to the center of the gigantic chamber, he saw a large raised platform, constructed completely out of obsidian, with cubes of gold trimming the edges. Standing atop the obsidian square stood Xa-Tul. His chain mail sparkled in the light of the nearby HP fountains, making it appear bejeweled. He wore a golden crown made of what looked like razor-sharp claws gleaming in the green light. It sat at a slight tilt on his square head, as if it might fall off at any moment.

  The zombie king glared down at him with such an evil expression of contempt on his face that Herder felt compelled to turn away, for fear of being burned by the hateful glare.

  “This way,” Ot-Kil growled.

  They headed into a brightly-lit passage, which seemed out of place in this dimly-lit cave. It stretched far into the distance, the end lost in the haze of Minecraft. Once they entered the passage, the sound of digging filled Herder’s ears. All along the sides of the passage, NPCs were working furiously, expanding the passage in all directions. There were probably at least a hundred of them, all standing shoulder to shoulder as they hammered their pickaxes into the stone walls.

  “Here is where the new villagers will dig,” Ot-Kil said. “More space is needed for Xa-Tul’s zombies. If this space is not ready when more warriors come from the next server, then NPCs will be thrown into lava to motivate the others to work harder.”

  The big zombie glared at the villagers, who had all stopped their digging to listen to the slave master.

  “Perhaps an example is needed right now?” the zombie overseer growled. “No one said that work should stop!”

  Instantly, the NPCs turned and began swinging their picks and shovels again, tearing into the stone walls with all their might.

  “Now, for all newcomers: instructions are quite simple. DIG!” Ot-Kil shouted as he shoved one of the villagers toward the wall. Herder pulled out his pickaxe and found an open place where he could fit his scrawny body.

  “We are doomed,” the vi
llagers whispered next to him. “We dig until we die. This is hopeless. Maybe the lava would be a merciful end.”

  “We are not without hope,” Herder said. “The User-that-is-not-a-user will come for us, you’ll see. Just have faith that things will be better and focus on that. Conserve your strength when you can. We must all be ready to fight when the time comes.”

  “Fight?” the NPC said. “Are you insane? Did you see all the monsters out there? There is no escape from this chamber. This will be our tomb and final resting place.”

  “You must have faith,” Herder lectured. “Where there are friends to help you, there is always hope. My friend Gameknight999 will come for us…. I know it.”

  The sound of Gameknight’s name caused some of the heads to turn toward Herder.

  “He will come for us, you will see,” the lanky youth promised. “But we must be ready. If we give up, then we guarantee our fate. But if we are ready to fight, we can help ourselves when the time is right.”

  Herder stared at the zombie guards and could see that they were at the far end of the passage, backs turned to them.

  “Have faith, brothers and sisters,” Herder said. “The User-that-is-not-a-user will be here as soon as he can.”

  A few smiles cracked through dirty faces as hope began to flicker in their eyes.

  CHAPTER 22

  MONSTROUS ALLIES

  The king of the endermen appeared in a dim passage, a delayed cloud of purple teleportation particles appearing around his body; this glitch still greatly disturbed him.

  Why would the mechanisms of Minecraft begin to slow? he thought.

  A sense of dread momentarily filled his soul, making him shudder. Quickly, he glanced around to see if there were any other creatures watching him. The tunnel was dark and silent, just the way he liked it. But then he heard the quick scurrying of feet against stone. The smell of gunpowder wafted through the tunnel; a creeper was near. He stepped out of the shadows just as a creeper emerged from around the corner. Feyd let his eyes glow bright white as he stared at the green, mottled creature. It saw the enderman king and wisely retreated back into the tunnel.

  Suddenly, the passage was filled with a whooshing sound as more of his subjects materialized around him. He saw the same thing as his warriors arrived: intermittent lavender clouds that sputtered and flickered, as if the mechanisms of Minecraft were somehow skipping a beat. The purple clouds of particles eventually became fully formed, allowing all of his monsters to materialize in the tunnel. When the lavender mist dissipated, the creatures blended in with the darkness, their bodies becoming shadowy specters.

  “Show me the way,” the king of the endermen said.

  One of the shadowy creatures stepped forward and led the way through the curving tunnel. Feyd followed at the enderman’s side while the other monsters fell in behind him. They followed the curving passage as it descended into the depths of Minecraft. At some places, deadly water flowed from springs or splashed down from the ceiling. At these points, the endermen slowed their pace and carefully moved around the watery hazards. All of them knew that water would burn their skin like acid. They kept their distance from the gurgling pools, teleporting past them when they could, or walking far around the dangerous puddles.

  As they continued on, Feyd began to sense the faintest smell of ash and smoke, likely from a lava flow somewhere nearby. He smiled. All monsters liked lava. It felt safe and comfortable to them, for some reason, even though they were not impervious to the burning touch of the molten stone like their cousins, the blazes. But still, the smell of the smoke and ash brought a smile to Feyd’s dark red face. The aroma grew stronger and stronger as they descended deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels.

  Soon, they reached a small cave maybe a half-dozen blocks wide and twice that in length. On one end, lava fell from the ceiling, the boiling stone splashing to the ground then spreading out across the floor, creating an orange, glowing lake of heat.

  Nearby, water poured from a hole in the wall and spread out across the cave floor in the opposite direction. Where the two met, the smoking lava and the cool water formed a shining field of obsidian. The black cubes with purple dots glowed and sparkled in the orange light.

  “Is this the entrance?” Feyd asked.

  The enderman nodded his head.

  The wall opposite them had a flat section that seemed out of place against the rough-hewn perimeter of the cavern. Right in the center of the flat section, a single cube of stone stuck out, as if intentionally placed there. One of the endermen teleported to the wall and placed a dark hand on the stony protrusion. The monster pushed the block, then stood back and watched … nothing happened. He reached out and pushed it again, and again … nothing.

  The enderman glanced at Feyd, confused. But when he raised his hand to push it again, a grinding sound filled the passage. The walls shook as dust rained down from the ceiling. The scraping noise became louder and louder, then a section of the wall began to slide back, revealing a secret passage.

  “I’m sorry. It must have been delayed for some reason….” the enderman said, clearly confused.

  As soon as the doorway was open far enough for Feyd to see the other side, he teleported through the hidden passage, materializing at the other end at the speed of thought. What the enderman king saw shocked him.

  Before him was the largest zombie-town he’d ever seen. It was massive, with the walls to the left and right lost in the haze of Minecraft. The floor was roughly carved, and the ground was uneven and pitted with small craters, though some of them were filled in with cobblestone. The ceiling was likely forty blocks high, tall enough to make even a ghast comfortable.

  But almost more shocking than the size was the smell. It was terrible, a mixture of rotting flesh, stale air, and dusty floors. It made Feyd want to gag, but he could not show any such weakness in front of his own warriors.

  Turning, he saw the same expression of shock on his subjects’ faces.

  “This is probably one of the zombie-towns from the great war,” Feyd said to himself.

  “What?” replied the enderman who had just materialized next to him.

  “Nothing,” snapped Feyd.

  The massive cave was devoid of any randomly-placed houses that you would normally find in a modern zombie-town. In fact, there were no homes here at all, just a massive open space filled with more zombies than Feyd could count. At the center of the chamber stood an ornately decorated obsidian platform. It was probably four blocks across and just as many long. It stood atop pillars of gold with the shining cubes trimming the edges of the dark platform. Standing at the center of the dark platform was the zombie king himself, Xa-Tul.

  Feyd turned around and looked at his warriors.

  “All of you, stay here unless I signal for you,” Feyd said. “Do you understand?”

  The endermen nodded their dark heads.

  “Stick to the shadows and remain unseen,” the king of the endermen said, then disappeared in a cloud of purple.

  He materialized right next to the zombie king.

  “What is this?” Xa-Tul bellowed as he drew his massive broadsword.

  Feyd stepped back so that the zombie king could see him better.

  “It is I, Feyd,” the enderman king said.

  “Xa-Tul figured Feyd would show his face again,” the monster said. “Are the endermen ready for their assignment?”

  “You must first tell us what this is all about,” Feyd demanded.

  “Feyd is in no position to make requests or ask questions,” Xa-Tul replied. “Instructions will be given and the endermen will carry them out. If that is unacceptable, then leave and let Xa-Tul carry out Herobrine’s last command alone.”

  “Fine, Xa-Tul. What are your commands?” Feyd acquiesced.

  The king of the zombies glared at Feyd but finally gave him a toothy smile of satisfaction.

  “The job of the endermen is to find the User-that-is-not-a-user and keep him away from here,” the zombie king s
aid.

  “When we find him, will you send your massive army to destroy him? You have more zombies now than you’ve ever had. There are easily enough monsters to destroy the village of the User-that-is-not-a-user and that idiotic boy-crafter.”

  “No,” snapped Xa-Tul. “That was not the last command of the Maker before leaving Minecraft. Specific instructions were given to Xa-Tul, and the king of the zombies will see them completed. Destroying some puny villagers was not part of Herobrine’s orders.”

  “Then what were the Maker’s commands?” Feyd probed.

  Xa-Tul stared at the dark red monster and laughed.

  “If the Maker wanted Feyd to know, then the instructions would have been given to the king of the endermen … but they were not. Herobrine’s last instruction was given to Xa-Tul and only Xa-Tul. Now do as commanded.”

  How long must I suffer this fool? Feyd thought. But until I know his plan, I must play along.

  “Very well, we will do as you ask, but—”

  “As I command,” Xa-Tul clarified.

  “Right, whatever,” Feyd replied. “But when we find him, you will tell me Herobrine’s plan, or I will leave Gameknight999 to do whatever he wants to disrupt your preparations.”

  “Hmm …” the zombie king said, thinking. “Agreed.”

  Feyd nodded his head, then gathered his teleportation powers. The waves of purple mist struggled to coalesce, then formed a solid cloud, allowing him to travel at the speed of thought. He materialized back with his warriors in the shadowy part of the zombie-town.

  “Is all well, Sire?” one of the endermen asked.

  “For now, yes,” Feyd replied. “Our task is to find Gameknight999. This is of the utmost importance. When he is found, you are to report back to me. When we know where the User-that-is-not-a-user is located and what he is doing, then we will have leverage to force the foolish zombie king to tell us his plans.”

  Feyd’s eyes were beginning to glow white with annoyance at his meeting with Xa-Tul.

  “Spread the word to all endermen. Find the User-that-is-not-a-user at all costs. Understood?”