I glanced over at Mica with uncertainty. “Can you wake them up on the way to the boss instead of before?”
He shook his head. “No, but they’ll be in the cages until they hit the monster. We should be fine.”
Mica pulled another pouch from his waist and dropped a single tiny flower into each cage. They woke up immediately and bore their long dripping fangs. We hurtled them one by one at the demon. The cages smashed open and they adhered to the creature biting and spinning webs as they went. We all focused our attack on the glacier demon and watched as the health finally plummeted. By the time it was nearly dead, it had been encased inside an ever-thickening web and was unable to fight back. The lightning ceased from its eyes and the web wrapped creature fell with a loud crash. Mica split the ground wider and the spiders and demon plunged into the center of the planet. The ice reformed quickly, and we all relaxed. The procession of ghosts flew back inside the mirror and Jinx changed back to the glowing entity in pale gray silk robes with silvery wings.
A bright orb formed where the demon had been, and rewards dropped to the ground like rain including a silver replicate of the cave spiders and the compass we’d come to get. We collected everything quickly and ran into the Calabi-Yau manifold to get back to the ship that was parked outside the Stone Terrace. We had to make one final stop inside the ruddy stone palace covered in ice. We dropped the furs on the hooks and entered the cylinders. Even those who hadn’t used the furs were instructed to enter a tank by the A.I. that resembled Iolite. When I stepped in, a clear mask dropped from the ceiling with a breathing hose attached. I pulled the mask over my face and it formed seamlessly to the contours. A bubbly warm liquid filled the tank and soothed my muscles. I was suspended in the tank for several minutes before it drained. My whole being was revived and the mask peeled away. I stepped out of the tank under the cherry tubes and dried in seconds. We jogged down the slippery steps and into the open door of our shiny ship.
Amber punched the buttons and flew the Vanya to Kaplya. We reformed our plans for this level and agreed that we’d first take a detour to Marxia. We dropped Zuri there to allow her to begin making plans for the new ship we’d need to get to Zerkola. She waved good-bye and I watched her turn into a tiny dot as we rushed upwards through the atmosphere in our ship. I was almost giddy that we were getting so close to the end of the game. Amber didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm. I kept my voice low as we talked so I could figure out what was going on in her head. She was a complicated woman, but I wanted to be with her forever despite the additional work.
“Amber, you seem distant. What’s wrong?”
She focused on the screen and spoke softly to me. “Something’s off and I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
I tried to read her body language. “What, you mean like with Opal being replaced?”
She nodded. “And with what she said about the Commander. It’s weird that I haven’t seen him recently. I haven’t even heard his voice for a while.”
I wasn’t grasping the issue. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and then turned her jade jeweled eyes to me. “I thought so too at first, but now I’m wondering what they’re doing to me that would have made him go away.”
A chill ran down my spine. “I hadn’t thought about that before. None of us really know exactly who’s out there or what they’re doing with us.”
Her eyes welled up with tears.
“Oh, uh, I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
“But it’s true. I don’t want to come out of this like a vegetable or get one of those horrible implants and end up being controlled by someone else.”
I wrapped my arms around her. “We’re going to get out soon. And I don’t care what they do to us, I’m going to find you and we’re going to leave the compound together. Got it?”
She buried her head in my shoulder. “Okay.”
The Vanya chimed indicating we were close to our destination. Amber wiped the tears from her eyes and focused on landing the craft. Phineas left first to retrieve clear orbs for us to explore the planet in. He rolled them into the cockpit and explained how to use them. They moved like bubbles and stretched to accommodate our varying shapes like a wetsuit. When we got out of the ship, we could see Kaplya was a gelatinous glowing blob of a planet with pools of clear liquid. Deep inside the pools were underwater vents emitting bubbling sulfur gas into the atmosphere. Everything had an internal light ranging from pale yellows to deep greens, but not much else.
I turned my head to see Phineas. “Where’s the labyrinth?”
He smiled. “That’s what the compass will show.”
He pulled out the glassy orb filled with flowing emerald sand. It swirled inside and then formed an arrow. We followed behind him and jumped into the clear pools. We swam quite a distance to get to the city below the surface. It was yellow-orange, partially covered in waving plant leaves, and imbedded in the jiggly ocean floor. Everything was illuminated from within. The walls were squishy and so was the floor. Even though we were protected by the bubble suits, we could feel everything as if it were touching our skin. It opened up into a room with two doorways.
“It says to go this way.”
We swam to the left opening and entered into a seemingly endless maze of walls and doorways. It took hours to navigate the cylindrical tunnels of the maze and either kill the fish that attacked us or remove the growth of gelatinous plants that blocked the way. When we reached the end, there was yet another boss awaiting our arrival. None of us had expected this and we had no idea how to kill it in our protective bubble suits since we couldn’t use the weapons trapped inside.
“What do you want us to do?”
Phineas didn’t seem nervous. “Just a sec.”
He formed a manifold and transported us to the surface, but the boss was right behind us. “Evas and Gorkans can withstand this environment so get out of the suits. Jinx protect us with the mirror.”
She shifted to the sable feathered version of herself and the mirror unleashed its army. We were once again surrounded by ghastly faces. We watched helplessly as the three of them rained down fire on the glob of yellow-green glop. It rolled around and tried to engulf them. It even bounced up and swiped its dripping hand at our winged protector. Pieces of the creature separated from the main body and tried to attack us, but thankfully the ghosts blocked them. Eventually, they rolled back into the beast making it larger.
Suddenly, Mica had an idea. He selected runes to make the fluid freeze but all it did was freeze his own bubble suit.
“Nice try.” Edan sounded sarcastic, but Mica didn’t listen to him.
He held his breath and broke out of his suit. He formed a bubble of ice around him from the liquid but seconds later died.
I looked around the area we were in. “Where would he respawn?”
Amber shrugged. “Hey Phineas, where’s Mica going to end up?”
Phineas didn’t respond immediately. “I’m kind of busy right now.”
We quit asking questions and waited for his return as we watched the battle ensue. I had to step back several times to avoid getting in the way. When Mica got back, I was surprised by his appearance. He’d found a way to make a bubble around himself with items he’d found in the ship allowing him to use his mage abilities on this planet. He froze the liquid from the surrounding pools and sent pointed shards sailing into the blob.
Amber was excited by the new development. “Go Mica!”
We all cheered him on as he helped destroy the creature in front of our eyes. He forced the plants below the water to grow and surround the boss. It responded by slipping bits and pieces through the holes in the plants and conglomerating into the original size. He wrapped the glob in plant material and started freezing the small bits that dropped off the boss as it squeezed through the tiny holes. He then shattered them by stomping on the frozen droplets. Everyone jumped in and trampled on the frozen pieces until the entire beast had been turned
to ice and stamped into dust. Rewards bubbled up from below the beast through the gelatinous surface. A bouncy cubic chest popped out of the ground. When we opened this one, it was full of keys and had a shimmering orb inside a clear box. We each took a key and then got back on the ship along with Jinx who’d grabbed Zuri’s key and the orb in a box.
Everyone was excited to get to Marxia since it was the last stop we’d be making on our way to Alchemist’s Crypt. Even Amber seemed in better spirits which made me happy. Marxia was filled with lights and I was somewhat sorry that we were only here to build a ship. I wanted to explore the surface and see what technological oddities would be hidden across the globe. Amber landed the Vanya in the spot we’d dropped Zuri and we could see her smiling pink lips and waving hands as we exited the ship. She was elated to see us and handed each of us a tablet with a picture of an item as soon as we stepped off the Vanya.
I looked at the picture and tried to figure out what I was looking at. A spiky cube with an iridescent sheen rotated in all directions on the screen. “What’s this?”
“Listen up everyone. On your tablet is a picture of something I need for the new ship. Either one of the scientists here has the object you are looking for or you might find them locked up in a lab nearby. You’ll have to find them by watching the blinking icon. When it’s blue you’re on the right track. Red means you are moving away from it. When you get in the immediate area of the item, it will blink green and then you’ll have to locate it. Any questions?”
I raised a tentacle. “Should we go in pairs?”
She shook her head. “If you do, it will take longer because every object is in a different building here on Marxia.”
“Okay.”
I took my tablet and turned in different directions until it changed from red to blue. I started walking in that direction until I came to a lofty metallic building with interesting architecture. I located the entryway and walked inside. It was made of metal floors and support pillars with shiny glass walls to allow for easy viewing of the structure. Scientists in brightly hued plastic suits traipsed around at a leisurely pace and watched plumes of colored smoke rise from beakers of liquids they’d mixed. I took the stairs to give me more control over finding the right level. I knew if I took the elevator, I’d likely pass the right one on the way to the top. With each level I climbed, the blinking increased. Finally, on the ninth level, the icon went green. I moved from room to room until I reached a big open lab. Scrolling computer screens, rapidly blinking lights, and beakers of chemicals were everywhere. I homed in on the signal and finally found the spiked cube inside a metallic box hidden underneath a mass of gears and mechanical parts. I grabbed the box and ran back to the group.
I was one of the first few back and offered to help in any way possible. The blueprints were impossibly complicated, and I ended up mostly standing there handing Zuri whatever she pointed to. Once everything was in the right place, she used a siphon connected to a tank to pull the liquid metal from the tank and pour it over the assembled parts. She then connected it to an electric field generator which lifted the parts and forced the liquid to reconfigure. She changed the voltage and the rippling liquid changed color and remained solid. The ship that stood in front of us was unlike anything I’d seen before. There were shapes inside of shapes and the entire exterior rotated in dozens of directions. The entry ramp liquified into existence and then seamlessly melded into the ship once again once we’d walked up it and were all inside.
I ran my fingers across the now fixed walls and watched as sparkles of light danced across the interior. “What are we going to call it?”
Zuri didn’t hesitate. “Su. It means water in Turkish.”
“I like it. Alright, Amber are you ready to pilot Su?”
She nodded. “Everyone strap in.”
We did as we were told and then Amber put her hands on the control pads which lifted Su from the ground. When we were finally away from Marxia and on our way to Zerkola, nearly everyone got up to explore the new ship. Amber pulled up a holographic map that now displayed the eleventh planet Zerkola. It was double the size of any other world we’d been on and was shrouded in bands of silvery clouds with occasional bright streaks of teal. We knew this planet was the furthest in the system and would take hours before we would reach it. Amber set the controls to autopilot with an alarm for when we would be five minutes from the asteroid field that blocked our way.
This ship was equipped with multiple distractions in the form of movies, minigames, a food and beverage dispensary, holographic total immersion scenarios, and cabins with cots for sleeping. As we surveyed the ship, we found it had a sickbay, escape pods, exploration buggies, a weapons room, and an engine room with a reaction cylinder that contained the rotating spiky cube that was now emitting bolts of energy from the tip of every spike.
As Amber and I moved around the ship, I kept one of my arms around her waist. “Why do you think this ship would be so complete?”
“I know. That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s super weird. And, why does it take so long to travel from planet to planet? Doesn’t make sense.”
I nodded in agreement. “Maybe we should ask Jinx.”
Amber grimaced. “No thanks. She’s been super unhappy since she found out thigs were different than she thought.”
I tried another suggestion. “Okay, let’s ask Edan then.”
We walked around the ship and found Edan sitting at the bar trying out dozens of appetizers and drinks. We sat next to him and ordered some drinks for ourselves. “Are you liking the creations on your plate?”
He nodded. “Yeah, such weird names but they’re so good.” He took another bite of something that was still moving. “Better than anything I’ve ever tasted.”
Amber leaned forward a little to see him more clearly as we talked. “Don’t you think it’s odd that we’re eating? Or that the ship is so complete? Why would we need any of this in a game anyway?”
He shoved another gristly bit in his mouth and licked his fingers. “It’s probably because who ever designed this part of the game really liked ships and made it as real as possible. Or maybe they made it so we could have something to do while we travel.”
I could understand his point of view but wasn’t sure it was the correct way to explain what we saw. “Have you ever wondered why it takes so long to travel everywhere? If it’s just a game, it shouldn’t take that long to load. Why would we have to travel for hours? What are they really doing for all that time?”
He downed another cocktail. “Might be a way of evening out the playing field, or it’s designed to make it feel real. It’s not like it doesn’t take time to walk somewhere in the compound or–”
Suddenly, his eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the ground. Every muscle flexed and seized. Amber immediately shot to his side kneeling next to him as she tried to get him to come out of it. The others who were in the area stood around him watching helplessly. None of us knew what to do.
Seconds later, Zuri ran in. “You’ve got to help, Vanya…” She realized what was occurring here and her eyes widened. “Oh no, not Edan too.”
Amber was still trying to wake him up and held his head to keep it from repeatedly slamming into the floor. “Come on Edan, let’s finish this thing so we can go home.”
Immediately, Edan relaxed and his eyes closed. Seconds that seemed like hours ticked by as we waited for a response or improvement in his condition. Finally, he awoke and stared up at us. “What’s going on?”
Amber grabbed his hand. “You had some kind of seizure, I think. Vanya did too. Hey Zuri, go check to see if she came out of it too.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Zuri nodded and hurried out of the room.
Edan propped himself up on his elbows as he lifted his torso up from the ground. “I feel okay, so I don’t think you need to worry.”
Amber shook her head. “No. This means there’s side effects from being in the game for so long. We’ve got to get out quick. I knew som
ething bad was going to happen and that’s why I’ve been trying to get us to go as fast as we could.”
Zuri’s voice emerged from our communicators. “She’s fine now. I’ll give her some time to recover but we should meet on the bridge.”
I agreed. “Copy that. We’ll be there in a few minutes with Edan.” I looked down at his avatar and imagined what his real body might have endured. “Think you can stand?”
“Sure.”
I reached out a hand and helped him up from the floor, but he stumbled as his left leg hung like a prop. I put his arm around my shoulder and a second around his waist. Phineas grabbed his other arm and we helped him get to the bridge. We put him in a chair and waited for Zuri and Vanya to get there too. While we waited, something strange happened with the useless leg. It lifted and straightened without his control. We watched as it moved and changed.
Suddenly, Edan cried out. “Uhhh, stop it! That hurts so much!” His eyes hazed with drugs and his lids were suddenly heavy. His words slurred when he spoke. “Thath a bit betther.” His head lolled and flopped back against the headrest.
The Excisionists: Book 1 Page 22