“So what are you going to do?”
“If our coders can’t handle it, we’ll probably try contacting the players direct... Worst case, we’ll ‘freeze’ them, together with their accounts. No order has been given yet, the Jap-man’s considering all options. We’ll compensate the losses of those wronged, and your Marina will clean up the forum. In the meantime, we’re not to draw any attention to the topic. There are more important tasks at hand.”
CHAPTER 14 SNOW
I woke up pretty late. Dreams about the Sphere tormented me all night. I saw the skeletons and the lich, the Whips and AlexOrder, Snow’s smirking face and my sword’s buzzing blue fire. My subconscious was clearly processing the events of the previous day. Yep, I had definitely played too much.
In the morning, whilst eating my crunchy toast, I made a point of not reading the Sphere forum and tried to distract myself by browsing through the news on the net.
Prime Minister of the Russian Confederation, Isami Yuki, is preparing to leave his position after facing considerable criticism.
The governments of the African American States, the Republic of Texas, and the COA (Western Alliance) have signed a cease-fire agreement.
Over the past month, the countries of the Northern Union have built over 100 kilometers of dams, fully completing the construction of flood-protection facilities in Copenhagen and Stockholm.
The second Japanese astronaut has arrived at Selena-2047 Lunar station. The scheduled staff replacement of the RC’s first Moon installation is now complete.
Experts at V-Tour have finished recreating the 49 islands of the Maldive Archipelago that were submerged in the late 2040s together with all the islands’ flora, fauna, and hotel infrastructure. Full immersion VR tours are now on sale; average cost—500 terro.
The last news snippet piqued my interest, and I read on for more detail. Turquoise seas, sandy lagoons, palms, and grand villas... V-Tour, the world leader in VR tourism, were offering something genuinely intriguing. A two-week-long vacation in paradise lost for little more than pocket change! They also rented VR capsules for those who did not have their own, or sold them in installments with no down payment. Their clients also had the option of visiting one of the state-of-the-art VR centers in New Tokyo or any one of the fifty other world capitals. Considering the, what could be called, inhospitable current state of the Indian Ocean, the offer was pretty much one of a kind. That was exactly the place to send Alena. No inner seas, absolutely safe, and no need to travel.
Absorbed in scrolling through vibrant pictures, I didn’t notice the blinking icon of an unread message. It was AlexOrder. His text was brief and to the point.
“You’ve become a V-Net star.”
Below the message, via Sphere’s official forum, he attached a link to Video-Net, the net’s main video hub. Around four o’clock at night, Snow had started a discussion with a title that spoke for itself: “What the cr*p, admins?” There, in no uncertain terms, she described the events that had taken place in the Tombs of the Necromancers and uploaded a video of her death. In the video, someone called HotCat, was holding a flaming sword, and hacked seven of the Whips to pieces in less than a minute, one-shotting them. It was an impressive sight; Even I was compelled to watch it several times, and then downloaded it.
Using hard language, Snow was demanding that administration ban the cheat, remove the bugged sword, and compensate her and her clanmates for the loot they had lost—almost all their equipment—and explain, dammit, what the hell it was all about!
After viewing her profile, I realized that she was a real high-flier—her signature links confirmed her as a semi-finalist of the previous year’s Dorsa PvP tournament and a winner of a dozen lesser prizes, an esportswoman, a freaking professional...
Over the past ten hours, her topic had grown to more than a hundred pages, got forty thousand likes, and her video had been downloaded more than two thousand times from V-Net. That was some popularity! I read the comments. The key points were the following:
“Snow’s real butthurt”
“Lol, Snow’s team got wasted in a minute by some noname”
“PKers, including Snow, must suffer”
“What is that sword? I want one!”
Eventually, as always, the topic descended into a flame war that buried the few reasonable suggestions made about the situation. For instance, one guy had analyzed the logs and written that similar damage was only possible if all defenses and resistances were ignored. Clearly, true fire was an unknown damage type that required an, as yet, unknown resistance. Maybe it wasn’t a bug, but a feature. Other players had linked videos showing high-level players with the legendary Demigod archetype doing such hardcore stuff that the carnage I’d created at the Tombs was child’s play.
* * *
As soon as I entered the game, I got a message from Snow. How could she know that I was online? Had she been standing next to a fortune-teller all this time?
Snow: Hi, Kitten! How was your night? Did you miss me?
HotCat: Hi, Kitty! Actually, no, I didn’t — imagine that!
Snow: Didn’t you like our date? Was it too intense for you? Don’t fret. Next time, I’ll think of something special, so you’ll remember me for a long time to come.
HotCat: What makes you think I didn’t like it? I owned you good. Thanks for the video, BTW. Saved it as a memento!
Snow: Kitten, I have the monumental desire to make you delete your acc. There are ways of making your life really miserable — more than just chat talk.
HotCat: Will you find me in real life? I seem to have heard that somewhere before. I’m bored, kitty. Did you want to say something on point, or do you just want to carry on with your pathetic threats?
Snow: Well, if we’re done with foreplay, I’ll get straight down to business.
Snow: Cat, I could forget about my grievances and end the contract on your ears, even if it is against my rules. In return, I want info on your sword: the stats, where you found it, everything!
HotCat: That’s all?
Snow: Isn’t that enough for you?
HotCat: Well, think about it—I give you valuable info. What do you give me? Aren’t you slightly overestimating your grievances, kitty? As for your contract with the Reds, I couldn’t give a shit about that.
Snow: So you’re declining my offer?
HotCat: Well, I could agree as a gesture of sympathy to such a lovely girl, but it will cost you five thousand gold, on top of what you’ve already offered.
Snow: Who the hell do you think you are?
HotCat: Hey, hey, take it easy. I named my price. It’s entirely up to you whether you accept it. TTUL.
I disconnected enjoying a chuckle. If she fell for such a cheap trick, it would be hilarious. Snow didn’t think for long. She was no doubt itching real bad in one particular spot. Ten minutes later, she wrote me again.
Snow: How will you guarantee that you will show me the sword and tell me the truth?
HotCat: Well, we’ll create a group, and I’ll transfer leadership to you. You’ll be able to view my equipment, including the sword. As for truth… the Sphere has no polygraphs. You’ll just have to trust me.
Snow: I’m not trusting you. Are you willing to make an oath at the altar in Yahweh’s temple?
HotCat: Of course. But you’ll provide the offering.
Snow: Then let’s meet in Fairs in half an hour, Yahweh’s Temple.
HotCat: No dice, kitty. I won’t fly to Fairs. Half an hour, Eyre, Yahweh’s Temple.
Snow: Makes no difference to me. Let’s do it there.
HotCat: One more condition: come alone without your thugs.
Snow: Why?
HotCat: It’s a date, isn’t it?
I had read about worshipping game deities; religion was a pretty well-developed element in Sphere. Just in case, I searched for more information about Yahweh and an oath made at his altar. So, Yahweh was a deity known as the Father, the Judge, and the Law. He embodied law, order, powe
r, justice, fatherhood, wisdom, and truth. He was considered the strongest deity in the Dorsan pantheon.
Holy symbol...priests...offerings...rituals... Aha, here we go!
If two people desire to learn the truth, they come into the Father’s house and place offerings on his altar, summoning him as their witness. If one of them lies to Yahweh’s face, the liar will be punished severely, smitten by the curse of the gods! The Gods of Light will turn away from the liar!
So there was a polygraph in the game, after all! I wondered how it worked. Was it an advanced AI that analyzed the players’ physiognomy, determining whether they were telling the truth or not? Something else entirely? Hmm... The punishment, or “curse” was clear to me—a super-powerful divine debuff, coupled with a loss of reputation among the Gods of Light. Interesting...
Yahweh’s temple was located in the upper quarter, not far from the Err’s castle. It was a massive windowless stone building with a garden in bloom all around it. An eagle encircled by a lightning bolt, wings outstretched, shone brightly above the arched entrance. Inside, the temple was hollow, and everburning torches glimmered along its walls, their light reflected by the polished floor slabs that were covered in the repeating pattern of the eagle and lightning bolt.
Snow was waiting for me next to the main altar. Her fullplate was hidden under a shapeless grey cloak, while a hood hid her features in shadow. Beside her stood an NPC priest, a tall lanky old man in a crimson gold toga, who was leaning on an engraved clerical staff. I greeted him and received a dignified nod in response.
“Let’s not waste time, Cat!” Snow hissed from the depths of her hood. “Take this and put it on the altar!”
“You don’t look so well,” I said, accepting the big cut gemstone from her that shone with clear blue light. “Those rags don’t suit you.”
“Are you daft?” The leader of the Whips whispered angrily, leaning in toward my face. “I’m red. The NPCs will kill me if I’m unmasked!”
So her shapeless garment protected her from NPC guards? Curious; I had not heard about that gameplay element. Hmm, and true—I couldn’t see her tomato-colored nickname above the hood. Good to know.
“Did you come here to whisper, or to beg the Lord for mercy?” the priest asked us, scowling.
“Forgive me, father.” Snow bowed and placed her offering on the altar—a blood red ruby. I followed suit with the sapphire, that she had given me a minute earlier.
“Now lay your hands on the altar, gaze upon the Father’s image, and wait!” the priest commanded.
We followed his instructions, placing our hands on the altar, made of a smooth black plate laid upon a gilded pedestal. Yahweh’s statue was situated above it. He was depicted as a black-bearded man with a harsh expression, sitting on a throne and wearing a crown of lightning bolts. In one hand, he held a pair of scales, and in the other, an unsheathed sword, its tip pointing downward.
The gems on the altar started trembling and disappeared in a golden flash. The atmosphere inside the temple shifted, and I felt an intangible presence, as if somebody came in, but I couldn’t see them yet. I blinked. Was it just me, or did Yahweh’s stone statue just move a bit? In any case, the dim golden light that enveloped the statue was clearly no illusion.
Yahweh accepted your offering!
Your reputation with Yahweh increases to 50.
Current value: 50//100 (neutral).
“The Father has accepted your gifts!” the priest announced. “Now tell me what you want from him!”
“I swear to pay HotCat five thousand gold coins if he shows me the stats of the sword he used to kill me with yesterday, and gives three honest answers to my questions about the weapon!” Snow nodded at me and accepted me to a group. Go on, she implied.
“You forgot to mention your promise to remove the contract,” I reminded her quietly. Snow winced, as if she had just sucked on a lemon, but she continued.
“I also swear that I will drop the contract on HotCat’s head and won’t hunt or kill him for a month, if he tells the truth.”
“I swear to give Snow an honest answer to three questions about the star metal sword that I used to kill her with yesterday, and to show her its stats,” I said, shrugging. “But with money up front.”
Still wincing, Snow handed me a bulging leather purse. Wow, impressive! I could hardly manage to hold it in my left hand it was so large. After adding the money to my inventory, I accepted her group invitation. The game was designed in such a way that the leader of a group or raid could view the equipment of all team members. This was done so that a player’s equipment level could be checked against the level of a dungeon or PvP raid. Of course, you could block equipment visibility in the game settings, by turning on incognito mode, but players who do that aren’t usually accepted into instance groups.
I was pleased as punch to see the look on Snow’s face as she reviewed my inventory. When she finally realized what she had paid five thousand gold for, she was furious. She turned to me, abruptly.
“What the hell, Cat?! Why are there only question marks? Is the sword unidentified?”
“I have no idea, what the hell. The question marks are there because it’s unidentified. Yes, it’s unidentified. If you want, you could add fifty thousand, because I need a Great Identification Scroll,” I told her merrily.
“What? But that’s impossible! Unidentified items can’t be used! How come you used it to deal such manage? It must have some stats!”
“That’s the fourth question,” I replied. “I believe we agreed on three.”
“Fourth? Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
“Well, count for yourself. The first question was ‘What the hell?’, the second, ‘Why are there only question marks?’, and the third, ‘Is the sword unidentified?’. Three questions, and I’ve given honest answers to all of them, as Yahweh is my witness.”
“He’s right!” the priest cut in, throwing Snow a dour look. “He has answered three questions, as you asked him to. And he’s told you the truth!” Snow was pale as ice and panting like a fish cast ashore. I guess it finally dawned on her, that she had just been conned out of five thousand. I even felt a bit sorry for her.
“All right, as a free bonus, I’ll answer one more question!” I said graciously. “Just think a bit first, kitty, or you’ll ask me some crap again!” Snow’s look was so pointed, she could have drilled holes through me. I guess I just made a sworn enemy. Well, more fun for me! She took a long, deep breath.
“How did you get your hands on this blade?”
“Bingo! I found it in a cave!” I grinned. “The quiz is over. Time for me to leave. Thank you, Snow, I enjoyed it immensely! Have I fulfilled all the conditions of this ritual?” I asked the priest. He nodded slowly in response. I headed for the exit, sensing the hateful stare of the Brotherhood of Whips’ leader on my back. A second later, she sent me a message.
Snow: You realize you’re done for?
Warning! You are added to the Kill on Sight list of the Brotherhood of the Whip.
In return, I banned her and added her nickname to my blacklist. From there on in, she could not send me messages, write me, call me, or ruin my day in any other way. When I left the temple, a sweet-sounding bell informed me of one more system message.
You caught the interest of God Tormis!
Your reputation with Tormis increased by 150.
Current value: 150/1,000 (sympathetic).
What in the world? I quickly opened wiki. Tormis was one of the Grey Ones, a deity from the Shadow pantheon, also known as the Trickster, the Great Thief, and the Wanderer. He was the god of trade, guile, tricks, and secrets, a patron of merchants, rogues, and adventurers, a deity with a superbly inconsistent personality. He appeared as a slender youth with a wand, and was also often depicted as a beggar or thief.
Hell of a thing! Did he find out about my deal with Snow? If so, how? Have I just gained a divine patron?
CHAPTER 15 AELMARIS THE BLUE
I still
couldn’t get used to the fact that the NPCs of this world did not always sit in one place, but moved around on their business. The mage whom I visited to hand over the quest wasn’t home. The door of his tower was locked. The guards would not allow me enter the inner chambers of the castle, where the Err and his retinue resided, as I didn’t have enough reputation points. I sighed and went back to the Merry Mill. It was nearly time to meet up, according to Alex’s instructions.
My friends were already there, surrounded by rows of beer mugs covered with foam, and there was the wonderful smell of mutton ribs lying on a big wooden plate. We were pretty much the only gathering at Karn’s tavern, although in the evening, it was usually pretty crowded.
“Oh, here’s our Mary!” AlexOrder said, greeting me with a slap on the shoulder, and sat me next to him.
“Which Mary?” I asked, surprised.
“Just a Mary Sue!” Alex repeated, smiling. Seeing my confusion, he laughed.
“That’s what they call an imba character, who can wipe out absolutely everyone,” Valkyrie explained. “Haven’t you heard of it, Cat?”
“It’s a well-known meme. It’s been on the net from time out of mind, maybe even from the very beginning,” Flame affirmed pompously. “Cat, do you want light or dark beer? I recommend the dark beer—they make a strong brew here! You could get a fork stuck in the foam!”
“Unfortunately, I have bad news for you,” AlexOrder said. “The stuff we looted from the PKers, yesterday, has been confiscated by administration. I guess they wanted to compensate the Whips for their losses...”
Cat's Quest Page 20