Darkness Fallen

by Dave Willmarth

  Lainey, Helga, and the others all went to work, gathering all their friends’ items and stowing them in their bags. After a few moments, Helga ventured, “Probably better for Dayle anyway. I don’t think that arm was going to heal. I would probably have had to cut his head off like I did yours.” She looked at Alexander.

  A thought dawned on him as he tried to keep his face neutral. “Oh my god. Fibble! He stayed down in Lucius’ office.” He quickly checked his UI, seeing Fibble still alive and healthy. There was an alert icon flashing, letting him know he had several system messages waiting. He ignored it. With a relieved sigh, he added. “Can one or two of you go get him? He took Sasha’s death pretty hard.”

  Lugs and Benny set off down the stairs. Alexander pinged their maps to show them where to go.

  Stepping into the queen’s chambers, he spoke quietly to Kai, pulling the dragon to one side as he began.

  “Lainey, Brick and I may have to leave quickly. To return to our world. Something has happened.”

  Kai looked through the open door where the bodies of the fallen players were fading away. “So I see. Will you return?”

  Alexander didn’t hesitate. “Yes. But it may be a few days. Can you make sure Fibble, Helga, and the others get back to the keep safely? And that everyone is prepared to defend it in our absence? Call on King Charles and King Thalgrin if you need to.” He handed two of the King’s portal scrolls to Kai. “Silverbeard and Lola can get you access to the vault and any funds you need.”

  The dragon nodded his head. “We will do what we must.”

  Just then a young woman with blonde hair burst into the room. She carried a large bag that clinked as she set it down on a table near the queen’s bed.

  “Lady Gina! Thank god!” Michael stepped back from the bed to make room for the woman. “The queen has been unconscious. The healers think she has been drugged or poisoned. They were unable to heal her with magic.”

  Gina stepped forward and quickly examined the queen. She placed her head on the ruler’s chest, listening to her heartbeat and breathing. She pried open both eyes, smelled the queen’s breath, and examined her hands and feet carefully.

  “Aye, it’s a poison,” Gina declared, beginning to rummage through her bag. “Her heart is weak, and she barely breathes. The blood does not reach her hands and feet. There’s no fever. From the smell, I would guess heartsbane or widow’s root.”

  Sir Jeffrey placed a hand on Gina’s shoulder. “Please tell me you have a cure.”

  Gina stopped rifling through her bag, and her face paled. “I don’t. Not here. I have most of what I need back in my shop. But I doubt the queen has time for me to fetch it.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  Alexander, distracted by thoughts of likely scenarios behind the deaths of his fellow players, barely registered the conversation. But at the wail of dismay from Princess Kimberly, he snapped back into the moment.

  “Lainey! Brick! Who has Sasha’s stuff? I need her bag!” he called out to the corridor. Looking at Gina, he asked, “What do you need?”

  Gina wiped tears from her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I need wolfs-tail, elderberry extract, moonglory, and featherroot. But featherroot is rare. Nobody here has seen it in-” She stopped speaking as Alexander began to chuckle. “This is funny to you?” she demanded angrily. Sir Jeffrey put a hand on his sword and looked equally offended.

  Raising his hands in surrender, Alexander took a step back. “No, no. Not at all. It’s just that our guild healer Sasha is an alchemist like you. She picks every plant we pass wherever we go. And though I don’t know about most of those things you said…” He paused as Lainey stepped forward and held up Sasha’s bag. “I do know that she has featherroot in there.”

  Lainey reached into Sasha’s bag and pulled out a bundle of featherroot, which Gina immediately snatched from her. The two women moved over to the table where Gina began to remove mortar, pestle, alembic, and other items used in potion making. She listed the other herbs she needed, and Lainey produced them from the bag. When she set the last one on the table, Gina hugged the Valkyrie fiercely before resuming her work.

  Alexander motioned for Lainey to follow him out of the room. Once back in the corridor, he gathered the others. Looking at Helga, he said, “We’re probably going to be disconnected in a few minutes. I’ll explain later. If our bodies die, please gather our gear. Kai will get you back to Stormforge, and then the keep. We may be gone a couple days. It may fall to you and the others to defend the keep if there’s an attack while we’re gone.”

  Helga clearly wanted to ask questions, but at that moment Alexander’s father, Richard, appeared in his GM1 avatar.

  “Alexander, we’re logging you out. There’s been an incident. I’ll see you as soon as you’re awake.”

  Alexander quickly handed Helga his healing wand and his light damage wand. “Take these, just in case,” he managed to say before the game world faded.

  Chapter 9

  Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley…

  Alexander’s heart was hammering as he awoke in his immersion pod. He tried to rip the headgear off in his rush to find out what happened. Melanie was there beside his pod. “Easy, Alexander. Don’t rush. There’s no danger right this minute. As much as I want to see you hop nekkid out of that pod, you need to follow the protocol. Take a deep breath.”

  After a moment of panic, Alexander took a deep breath. Then another. “Okay, Melanie; tell me,” he said as the nurse removed his headgear and disconnected the monitoring leads.

  “There was an explosion. In one of the immersion labs down the hall. Several of the pods were knocked offline. That’s all I know at the moment. Your dad sent me to check on Jules. She’s fine, by the way. Still logged in. He came here to check on you, and then he logged in to get you. He’ll be here in a minute.”

  “Was anybody hurt?” Alexander asked.

  Melanie looked uncomfortable. Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t know.”

  “But you can guess.” Alexander’s tone made it clear she needed to answer truthfully.

  “I heard somebody say one of the pods was destroyed. And a few others damaged. But I don’t know how badly, or if anyone inside was hurt.” Melanie looked at the floor, shuffling her feet as she spoke.

  Richard Greystone entered the room. His face was hard as he said, “Dayle is in a critical condition. I don’t think he’s going to live. The others in his group were injured, but not as badly. The pod enclosures and the nanogel protected them.” He looked to Melanie, who now had tears streaming down her face. Speaking softly, he said, “Thank you, Melanie. Please go back and monitor Jules for me. Log in and explain to her what’s happened. She’s probably very frightened right now.”

  Melanie bobbed her head and fled the room. Richard waited while Alexander emerged from the pod with the assistance of the nurse. He handed his son a robe, saying, “The tests can wait. Come with me.”

  Alexander wrapped the robe around himself and slipped his feet into a pair of slippers before following his father out of the lab and down the corridor.

  Two turns and maybe three hundred feet later, Alexander saw debris scattered across the floor outside a doorway. Technicians were moving in and out of the room, stepping carefully so as not to disturb anything. When he and his father reached the door, Alexander looked inside and gasped in shock.

  It looked like a bomb had gone off. The walls and ceiling were blackened. There was blood on the ground in several places and a telling splatter on one wall. Pieces of pod and computer equipment were scattered everywhere. A large pool of nanogel spread across the floor under what Alexander guessed had been Dayle’s pod. There was almost nothing left of it. The three other pods in the lab were clearly damaged, but not as badly.

  Richard gave him time to absorb the scene. After a minute or so, he spoke. “I’ve got people reviewing the security footage now. Best guess, the explosion originated underneath Dayle’s pod. His tech was killed instantly. There’s not enough o
f him left to bury. Several others were wounded. Dayle got the worst of it. Those in the other pods mostly have concussive injuries from the pressure wave.

  Alexander looked at the blood splatter on the wall, the blood on the floor. “Who was the tech?” he asked quietly.

  Richard’s face softened, and Alexander saw tears begin to form in his father’s eyes. “You remember Seshat?”

  Alexander flashed back to the day of his mother’s death. A young boy watching through conference room glass as his father received the news of his mother’s death. But his mother hadn’t been the only one killed that day. Seshat, the head of their accounting department, as well as two people from marketing, and one from legal, had gone with her to the conference. All of them perished in the explosion.

  Richard continued when he saw the look on Alexander’s face. “Her oldest son. I don’t know if you remember him.”

  “Matt,” Alexander said. “I remember him from the funerals. And I’ve seen him around Olympus a few times. We didn’t talk much. He always seemed… angry.”

  “At the time, he blamed us for his mom’s death. Said she didn’t have to be at that conference with your mother. He was in college when it happened,” Richard supplied. “We were frankly shocked when he came to us asking to work at Olympus a few years ago. Between his mother’s savings, her life insurance, and the money we gave each of the families, he had no need to work.”

  Alexander looked sick. “And now he’s been killed the same way as his mom. Maybe by the same people.”

  The two men were silent, both remembering. Their thoughts were interrupted by Morris Talbott, Jupiter’s chief of security. He stood in the corridor and cleared his throat. When both men looked his way, he motioned for them to join him out in the hall. Richard and Alexander stepped carefully around the debris on the floor as they joined him down a bit from the doorway. He spoke quietly.

  “The compound is locked down. Nobody in or out that isn’t one of mine or FBI. We’re reviewing video feeds, badge ID’s, system logins for the last week. We’ll find who did this.”

  Nodding his head, Richard said, “Thank you, Morris. Alexander, let’s go. The others are meeting in my lab. We’ll update everyone together.”

  Richard led the way back through the maze of corridors to the lab where he had initially introduced Alexander to the immersion pods. His friends, those who’d not been injured, were already seated and waiting.

  As soon as Alexander entered the room, Sasha leapt from her chair and hugged him fiercely. He patted her on the back and pried her loose. Tears streamed down her face. He settled her back in her seat and took the one next to her. The faces around the table all looked grim.

  “Dayle is hurt pretty bad. He may not make it. The others are in better shape,” Alexander began. With the most important information disclosed, he motioned for his dad to take over. Richard filled them all in with the same details he’d given Alexander.

  When his father had finished, Alexander added, “Melanie is in-game with Jules, updating her and watching over her. We’ll tell Helga and the others when we’re back in-game.”

  “Are we even going back?” Lainey asked.

  Alexander was shocked by her question. Then surprised by his own reaction. It was a valid question. They were clearly vulnerable while they were in immersion. But somehow it had never occurred to Alexander not to go back in.

  Brick answered first. “I’ll be going back. It’s how I support my family.” His quiet voice with no accent was a big change from the boisterous dwarf they were all used to.

  Max nodded his head. “We signed a contract. We play for a year. I’m betting your dad has some scary lawyers.”

  Richard nodded “I do. They scare me, as well. But under the circumstances, we would, of course, release any of you from your contracts if you wish. With payment for the full year. This is not what you signed up for.”

  Lainey looked unsure, her eyes moving from face to face around the table. Sasha just stared at her hands, which were clenched together in her lap.

  Alexander looked at Lainey. “I understand your fear. I guess I don’t really share it. I’ve lived with the knowledge that I’m going to die for so long; I don’t think it really matters how it happens anymore. But I… we would all understand if you want to walk away. Being with us puts you in danger.”

  Lainey shook her head. “You are my family. I’ll be with you here until-” her voice choked, and she took a second to recover. “I’ll be with you as long as you need me.” Alexander felt tears forming in his own eyes. Lainey never liked to talk about him dying.

  She continued, “I’m just considering whether I want to play the game or not. It seems to me I should be out here protecting you.”

  Richard leaned across the table and put a hand over Lainey’s. “Alexander will, that is, all of you will have better protection going forward. There is nothing you could do, Lainey, that won’t be done by others who are more qualified. You can’t stop a bomb. Or a bullet. Losing you would be just as devastating as losing my son.” Lainey blushed at the simple, honest words. She nodded slightly, not able to speak.

  Sasha looked from Richard to Lainey, a small smile on her face. It faded quickly, though. “We should go see Dayle and the others.”

  Richard shook his head. “Dayle is in surgery, and I expect he will be for quite a while. So is Warren. Lyra and Misty are being treated for minor wounds, and are undergoing concussion protocols. You can see them later. I’ll make sure somebody updates you on their condition through the rest of the day.”

  He rose from his chair, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. “The best thing right now is for you to take some time. Go to the cafeteria, or wherever you feel comfortable. Try to calm down a bit. We won’t worry about the post-immersion testing today. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few things to see to.” He excused himself and began to head for the door.

  “No.” Alexander’s voice caused Richard to stop and turn back.

  “No, what?”

  “No. We’re doing this to help people. The tests are important to that process. So we can know if long-term immersion is possible. I mean, I agree we’re all a little stressed. But I want our people to do the normal testing on me. It’s not stressful.”

  Max and Brick both nodded their heads. Brick said, “It’ll give us something to do.”

  After a moment Lainey, and finally Sasha, nodded their heads in agreement. Richard smiled sadly at the group. “Good for you. Alright, I’ll send somebody in shortly to escort you back to the labs for testing. And I’ll join you all at dinner. Hopefully, by then some of the others can join us.”

  As Richard left the room, Max looked at the others around the table. His hands fidgeted for a moment before he blurted out, “So? Did we win? Did you kill Lucius?”

  Sasha rolled her eyes as both Alexander and Brick chuckled at their friend. Alexander answered. “Yes. Lucius is dead. Kai literally ripped his head off.”

  “Damn, I’d have liked to have seen that,” Max mumbled. Then his face brightened. “What did he drop? And please tell me you picked up my gear?”

  This time Sasha snorted, while Lainey shook her head in disbelief.

  “We didn’t exactly take time to loot him. The others were fighting upstairs at the queen’s chambers. We defeated them, and were working on saving the queen, but then… all this…” Alexander didn’t need to finish that thought.

  Silence reigned in the conference room until a nurse stepped into the room. She led them back down the corridors, now surrounded by four heavily armed guards, to their respective labs for testing.

  Three hours later they were all sitting in Alexander’s office suite in Olympus’s main tower. Max was speculating about what awesome loot Lucius might have dropped, when Richard walked in with two women. Both were moving slowly, and one had a bandaged left arm.

  Sasha jumped to her feet and moved to gather them in a hug. “Misty, Lyra. I’m SO glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

/>   Misty looked a little numb as she answered “Dayle. There… wasn’t much left. He’s pretty bad. Don’t know how he’s even alive.”

  Sasha guided the two women over to sit on the sofa, shooing Brick and Max away to make room.

  Alexander tried to reassure everyone. “There are some amazing doctors here. My dad hired the best to create the pods and the immersion software. Dayle’s in the best possible hands.”

  The group remained mostly silent for a while. Occasionally someone would try to make small talk, but the efforts were met with more silence.

  Richard entered the room a few minutes later. He led a convoy of cafeteria staff pushing carts filled with food. “I thought you might want to eat up here, instead of downstairs,” he explained. He waited patiently for the staff to arrange the food platters and drinks, then thanked them as they departed.

  “Please, I know you probably don’t feel like eating, but you need to. You’ve had nothing but paste in your bellies for nearly two weeks. Try to eat a little bit, at least,” he said to all of them. He took a seat at Alexander’s desk and waited while the group quietly dished up plates for themselves and sat down to eat. Moving to fill a plate for himself, he said, “Would you like to hear what’s been going on in-game since you left?”

  When no one spoke up, Alexander nodded to his father to continue anyway.

  Richard pulled Alexander’s desk chair over closer to the others and took a seat. “Let’s see. Lugs, Benny, and Helga helped the soldiers loyal to the queen clear and secure the palace. Melanie went in and let Jules know what’s going on. Since then, Jules and Fibble have been in the queen’s chamber. The queen has been given the poison antidote and is improving. Though she is not awake yet. Princess Kimberly is running things for now.” Turning to Brick, he gave a wink, saying, “She has asked more than once when you will return.”

  Max chuckled at this, and Sasha managed a smile. Brick looked embarrassed.

  “What can you tell us about Dayle?” Misty asked. Her gaze was fixed on the floor, and her tone said she was almost afraid to hear the answer.