by Brian Simons
“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” Coral asked.
“Yeah, it’s just an item shop.”
“Ok,” Coral said, “we’ll see you soon.”
Sybil and Sal were waiting when Coral and Daniel stepped out of the inn. They teleported away with Coral while Daniel walked down Hiber Camp’s only road.
Daniel entered a small building with clay walls and a wooden door, much like all the other dwarven buildings. Inside it was small and lined with shelves full of items. There were tools and weapons, first aid kits, mortars and pestles, cooking utensils. A simple lantern was 5 gold, hardly enough to break the bank. Daniel hoped it would soften Wenda’s mood toward him and make future visits to the mountain more hospitable.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to haggle,” Daniel said, turning around to find the shopkeeper.
He found him, with a dagger pressed up against his throat by a woman in tight black clothes. “I think,” said a man from under a hooded cloak staring into the shopkeeper’s eyes, “you forgot something in the backroom. Don’t you?”
Daniel would recognize that oily voice anywhere. It was Devon Shirk, head of the Assassin’s Guild.
The shopkeeper nodded profusely and ran to the back of the store. He shut and locked the storeroom door behind him.
The woman sheathed her dagger. Behind Devon stood another woman and two men, all in similar clothing.
“Look who we have here,” Devon said, taking one long step toward Daniel, bringing his face within inches of his. Devon pulled back his hood, freeing his shoulder length brown hair. “You remember Jozlyn and Ram,” he said, gesturing to the two women.
“What do you want, Devon?” Daniel asked, tilting his face away from Devon’s.
“What do I want,” Devon said. “I want you to follow through on the task I set out for you. I want you to stop fooling around with this Knight nonsense and accept who you truly are. I only have your interests at heart here, my boy. Your potential.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Daniel said. “This ‘task’ involves poisoning the Regent. I’m not doing it. I decline, I fail, whatever it takes to make you go away.”
Uuuuuse meeeeeeee, whispered that strange voice in his mind again. Daniel shook his head to chase away that voice.
Devon’s eyes grew wide. “The poison speaks to you too?” he asked. “You really are destined for great, terrible things.”
So it was that vial of poison that was whispering to him this whole time? He should never have taken it from Sage Tawn’s chamber. He didn’t even know what came over him, or why he picked that vial among all the potions on the Sage’s shelf.
“Morimora,” Devon said. “The deathberry. You know as well as I do, it has the Regent’s name all over it.”
“The Regent is a good man,” Daniel said.
Devon placed a hand on Daniel’s cheek. “There’s no such thing as good men,” he said, “only those who pretend at morals they think exist. There are great men, however, who know when to stop pretending. The time for make believe is over.”
“If you came here to kill me get it over with,” Daniel said. “Otherwise, I’m leaving.”
“I came to offer you a gift,” Devon said. He reached behind him and placed a hand on Jozlyn’s back, pushing her forward a step.
“She’s all yours,” he said.
Daniel felt his cheeks flush. Jozlyn looked around the room, as if for help. She didn’t seem to know what was going on here. Daniel averted his eyes. He didn’t know what sick game Devon was playing at, but he knew he didn’t want any part in it.
“Go on,” Devon said, “look at her. She’s a strong one. I imagined you’d like that.”
“You’re allowed to look,” Devon continued, “aren’t you?”
Daniel looked up at Jozlyn. He felt like a voyeur staring at her for so long.
>> You have Surveilled Jozlyn: Level 40 Rogue, 1780 HP.
“That’s a good boy,” Devon said. “See how much more experienced she is than you? You could learn a lot from her.”
Daniel stared Devon in the eyes. Neither blinked.
“Go on,” Devon said with his smooth, sinister voice. “Kill her.”
“What?” Daniel said, taking a step backward and bumping into a bookshelf. Small glass and metal items chimed together as they bumped and fell over.
Jozlyn tried to run, but Ram grabbed her by the arm and the two male Rogues behind them blocked the exit.
“Devon,” she pleaded, “I don’t understand, I’ve always been loyal.”
“Yes,” he said. “What a boringly consistent way to live.” Devon reached down and snatched her dagger from her. He held it up and peered into the blade’s reflection for a moment, then spun around and stabbed Jozlyn in the side with it. She fell onto her knees. Her HP bar had plummeted.
“She’s ready for you,” Devon said. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to level up.”
“Not like this,” Daniel said. He wanted to reach down and help her up, but he couldn’t be sure Jozlyn wouldn’t pull another dagger from her belt and slit his throat. It was always hard to tell how many weapons Rogues had on them.
“I don’t take orders from you, and I don’t kill innocent people,” Daniel said.
“Innocent.” Devon scoffed. “That’s no word for our Jozlyn.”
Daniel stood there, in his torn iron armor, his knuckles white. He hadn’t realized until then that he was still clenching that lantern.
Ram took a step forward. “No sense in letting a good meal go to waste,” she said, and reached down to put her hands on Jozlyn’s face. In one expert movement, she snapped her neck.
“Pity,” Devon said, staring in Daniel’s eyes. “I was grooming her for you.” He patted Ram’s shoulder and the group of Rogues headed toward the exit. “The lantern’s on me,” Devon said, scattering a handful of gold coins onto the counter.
Daniel slumped to the ground. Blood pooled around Jozlyn’s body. He had to get out of there. He stood on shaky legs and left the shop. Soon the shopkeeper would peek out from his hiding place and call the authorities. Daniel couldn’t be there when that happened. He had to get back to Havenstock.
He wandered down the street a few paces before he saw a familiar bald head. “Dorbly!” he yelled. The small dwarf ran over to him. “Wenda,” Daniel said, thrusting the lantern toward Dorbly’s chest. The little man cradled the thing in his arms and nodded his head before turning the opposite direction and running away.
Daniel looked out over the bustling dwarf city and wondered what would happen to it if Havenstock’s army approached. Or if the elves attacked again. Or if Sagma took Podonos out of the equation. He hoped they could shore up their army in time. He activated his teleport and disappeared.
22
Coral arrived at the Havenstock bind point with Sybil and Sal.
“This isn’t over,” Sybil said. “Sal, listen to me, you can’t sell off your gear and give your money away. What about this don’t you understand?”
“Guys,” Coral said, “I’m going to log off for a minute. I’ll be right back though.” Coral vanished in a wisp of fog.
She opened her eyes on her bed and took off her visor. She stared at the ceiling for a second, just thinking.
Something wasn’t adding up. First, when she signed into the Travail Online message boards that morning, the post she had bookmarked the night before only said, “This post has been deleted by an admin.” It had been three pages long, all having to do with visors blinking red while players were logged in. She kicked herself for not reading the whole thing when she initially came across it.
She checked the message boards again for anything that might explain what was going on, but she gave up after scrolling through a dozen pages full of idle banter. There was no reference to blinking visors anymore.
Coral got up and walked over to Daniel’s bed. He had spent the last couple of days at her house, and now he was wearing some of her father’s old clothes. She stared at him for a w
hile, happy to have him around. He was more than just a co-worker, if that was the right word to apply to other players in Travail. They had quickly become friends.
He started to stir. He took off his visor and sat up. “Were you watching me?” he said.
“I didn’t want to say anything before,” she said, “but I’ve seen you open your eyes while you were logged in. I wasn’t sure if that was normal, and it turns out plenty of other players do it too. Maybe we all do. I was just waiting to see if you did it again.”
“Weird,” Daniel said. His eyes strayed from her face, as if his thoughts had already moved onto another subject.
“Is something wrong?” Coral asked.
“No, nothing,” he said. “Sybil and Sal said you logged out. What’s up?”
“I’m ready to go back in, I just wanted a stretch,” she said.
“Great, let’s go.”
Coral and Daniel logged back in
“Hi guys,” Sal said.
“Where’s Sybil?” Coral asked.
“She took a break too, should be back in a second,” Sal said.
They waited for Sybil. And waited. Finally she logged back in.
“I’m really sorry, I can only stay for a second,” she said. “Farah is really upset about something but she won’t say what. I’m going to spend some time with her. I’ll try to come back online later tonight.”
“Of course,” Daniel said.
“I hope everything’s ok,” Coral said.
Sybil vanished in logout smoke.
“Let’s head into the castle,” Daniel said.
The group strode through the southern gate to the city. Lining both sides of the street were players only half clothed in armor. Many were on their knees.
“Please,” one shouted at them, “I just need some gold, I’m so hungry.”
Another yelled, “Any change you can spare would help.”
Coral kept to the middle of the road, far enough away from the begging players that their outstretched hands didn’t brush against her. “What’s going on?” she asked. “They all have the same debuff icon Sal has.”
“But they’re much worse off,” Daniel added.
“You can learn a lot from poverty,” Sal said. “Sagma wants us to learn as much as possible.”
Coral stopped and turned to Sal. “Sal?” she said. “Does Sagma speak to you?”
“Of course not,” Sal said. “He only spoke to me the one time, when we were all at the temple. He told me to donate to his cause and he taught me a prayer.”
“Prayers are for Priests,” Daniel said.
“Not this one,” Sal said and resumed walking forward.
When the city’s central plaza came into view, Sal yelled out, “Marco!”
There he was, the group’s former healer, laying hands on the beggarly people of Havenstock. Somehow Coral doubted he was faith healing any of them. His robe looked like it was woven of gold thread. He had a tall pointy hat atop his head with no brim, a golden miter of the showiest order.
“Sal!” he said, waving a hand. His other hand gripped a staff, the one he had received from Vernagi. That stone snake stood ramrod straight, a spherical red gem still clutched in its mouth behind long fangs.
Marco had been talking with some players when they approached, but the players walked away. “Can’t win ‘em all,” Marco said. “Hi, Daniel! Coral.”
“Marco,” Coral said. She was surprised he still hadn’t warmed up to her. She had saved his life after all.
“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked.
“Still raising money for the tower,” Marco said. “We’re almost done though. It’s pretty impressive. Tomorrow at noon, its crimson light will baptize all of Travail.”
“What does that mean?” Coral asked.
“Just keep your eyes open, you’ll see,” he said.
“And it’s just you collecting funds?” Daniel asked.
“It is my responsibility alone, at least on this server,” he said. “After all, I am the head Priest of Sagma’s temple now that I’m over the Level 50 hurdle, so—”
“You’re past Level 50 already?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. This staff provides so much bonus XP. It should be banned.” Marco laughed. “Take a look at this thing.” He tapped the base of the staff on the cobblestones underfoot and the red gem began to flicker. With Coral’s broken visor, all she saw was brown, but she knew it was blinking that brilliant red she had seen in the Sagman crystals.
It blinked once, twice, three times… “No!” Coral yelled and threw her hands over Daniel’s eyes.
“What’s the matter with you?” Daniel asked, pushing Coral off of him.
She turned toward Marco. “YOU.” She pushed a pointer finger into his chest. It made sense now. The visors in the videos blinked at the same rate. Two more flashes from that staff and Daniel could have been brainwashed into donating his gold back into the game.
That is, if his eyes were open at the time the visor blinked.
“I had to see it with my own eyes before I believed it. You’re doing this. You’re hypnotizing people with that staff. People like Sal. He’s going to get evicted, Marco!” Coral couldn’t contain herself. Her voice rang out across the whole plaza.
“Sal,” Marco said, “c’mon, you’re not getting evicted are you?”
“I cancelled my rent check,” Sal said, “and donated a few thousand dollars to help Sagma. But it’s the right thing to do, right?”
“Don’t you see?” Coral yelled, stretching out her arms and turning to face the other players in Havenstock’s plaza. “Don’t you all see what’s happening here? He’s robbing you blind!”
“No,” Marco said, his face drained of color. “No, people are donating because I’m convincing them. With my words. And they’re donating voluntarily.” He took several steps back from Coral, almost tripping backward into the fountain at the center of the plaza.
“Oh, no,” Coral said, “there’s nothing voluntary about it. There’s some kind of mind control built into the game, and you’re tapping into it. I should have realized how dangerous this game was when I saw what it’s done to Daniel, to Sybil, to Sal.”
Coral turned to Daniel. “We can’t turn back the nano,” she said, “but we can tell people to break their visors. It’s the only way to stop the red light from blinking.”
Daniel shook his head. “I don’t even know what you’re saying,” he said.
“But I do,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “Trust me. We have to take care of this before noon tomorrow, or whatever’s stewing at Sagma’s temple will boil over. It sounds like they’re setting up to hypnotize everyone. Marco,” she said, turning toward the healer, “we should turn that staff over to the Regent. Maybe he or Alua can tell us more about it.”
“Absolutely not,” Marco said.
“Marco,” Coral said, taking a step toward him and holding out her hand. “Give it.”
“You can’t make me,” Marco said. “This isn’t a PvP zone. You can’t lay a hand on me here!”
He was right. Unless Coral wanted to follow Marco back to the Sand Barrens, she wouldn’t be able to force him to do what was right.
Just then, arrows rained down on the plaza. Players scattered. Marco ran. Coral whipped around and looked up. There, on a thatched roof, were three Elf Archers and three Elf Warriors. The archers readied another round of arrows while the warriors jumped to the ground.
Daniel withdrew his sword as the three warriors surrounded him. Sal dove at one of them, knocking the small fair-skinned man down. The warrior’s hard wooden armor ground loudly against the cobblestones.
Daniel’s HP bar wasn’t full yet, but it was close. The archers let out their arrows as Coral ran toward the house they stood on. With her back pressed against the wall, they couldn’t get her in their sights.
She nocked an arrow and thought of a burning fire, a searing heat. She shot it at a warrior that was dueling with Daniel. The arrow
stuck in the hardened tree bark armor that protected its torso. Then the wood began to smoke. She readied another arrow, filled it with heat, and then released. It landed in the other elf’s armor.
>> Congratulations! You have improved your Ranged combat ability to 8. Total Dexterity bonuses: +16% at close range, +9% at medium range, +6% at long range.
Coral dismissed the notification so she could focus on the fight at hand. Sal wrestled with a warrior, trying to pull the sword out of his hand. Sal would have knocked that elf to kingdom come if he had his mallet. Instead, he fought unarmed against an opponent with a very sharp blade.