by K. T. Hanna
Mur snatched her hand back and glared at her friend. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
She turned back to Telvar, but could tell the moment of weakness was gone. Still, she had to ask, just to check. “What is it, Tel, please?”
He shook his head. “You must figure it out yourself. It’s all a part of who you are Murmur, all a part of who you are.”
Murmur stomped back to the group. “That’s it! We’re off to Frangit to hand in the crate and get our gods damned reward.”
She made for the boat without so much as looking back to see if they followed her. God help any creature that got in her way right now.
Storm Entertainment
Somnia Online Division
Server Room, Data Scan Terminal
Day Three
Shayla took another deep breath, counted to three, and answered through clenched teeth in such a way that she really hoped Teddy Davenport on the other end of the call couldn’t actually notice. At least it wasn’t a vid call, since you couldn’t hide facial expressions with those, and right now, being able to scowl was her only happiness.
“Yes, sir. I know we have to get our data ready for the first hand over at the end of the week.” She forced her voice to sound agreeable, and not to echo the fact that she wanted to scream at him to tell her why they were handing over so much information. After all, everyone signed the terms of service, wherein it stated that Storm Corp. could use any data acquired for further research on the headgear and gaming advancement. Not than any of the players had probably read the TOS, but still. The headgear was singled out because that portion wasn’t attached to the game. Instead, the game was basically a testing ground for it.
She was so deep in thought, she almost missed Teddy’s next question.
“Have there been any other incidents similar to Michael and Ava that I should be aware of?”
His tone was stern, demanding, almost like he knew something might be amiss, but was giving her a chance to tell him.
Shayla frowned, wishing she could be one of those enchanters and pluck thoughts out of heads. “Not that anyone has told me about? Seriously though sir, is there something I should know?”
She had to quiet the hiss of breath she drew after saying that. After all, she was skirting this side of impudence.
But Teddy sighed over the connection, and Shayla almost dropped her coffee. She’d never heard the man sound unsure or worried about anything in her life.
“Not really. There have just been some rumors about in-game elements that seem too real. Almost like the NPCs are people. But that’s impossible. We’d be in trouble if it were the case.”
Shayla laughed, the mood lightener a welcome change from her previous melancholy. “No, sir. We’d be in trouble if they weren’t. But it’s just a part of the whole launch that the artificial intelligence units are running the game with such precision and depth. We’ve had nothing but favorable feedback about the realism and the interactions with them.”
“Hmm.”
Teddy paused for a few moments before continuing.
“Keep me apprised of anything strange, please. Have a great next few days.”
The call went dead and Shayla counted to five to make sure there wasn’t any risk of her irritation carrying over the line when she spoke out to the emptiness of her room.
“I wish people would stop obfuscating what they mean. First Laria and whatever she’s trying to keep under wraps, and now Teddy.” She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. It wasn’t as if she had a huge launch to oversee that meant hundreds of millions of income in the first month, with gamers who were suddenly not as fickle or demanding as usual.
No, now she also had to figure out what the CEO wanted her to do. She’d give him strange.
Real World Day 4: Somnia Online
The boat spanned the shortest point over the lake to the mainland, which meant they sort of had to back track to get to Frangit. Once on the road, Murmur followed it to the south, still not waiting for her friends to catch up to her. Her mood was sour.
Not only was the game giving her vague and cryptic hints with no way she could see to find out the answers, but they directly involved her.
“Mur?” Sin sounded slightly breathless as she finally pulled abreast of her best friend. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” Murmur snapped, and then sighed. Of all the people around her, Sinister didn’t deserve that behavior. “This game is so lifelike, and yet some of these quests they keep giving me, or abilities they pass my way make no sense whatsoever.”
Sin nudged her with her elbow and smiled when Mur looked over. “You’re the mind reader here. I can’t tell what abilities or quests you mean unless you tell me about them.”
“Oh.” Sinister had a point. Murmur felt a little ashamed. After all, it made sense to share her information so others could help her puzzle it out, right? Wasn’t this game all about team work and stuff? “I received that weird Forestall Death ability. But you know what reasoning they gave?”
“No.” Sinister’s answer came out a bit short, and she rolled her shoulders. “What was it?”
Murmur pursed her lips, frowning at her friend for the almost biting reaction. “They or it, or whatever, told me that it was because they weren’t certain whether I could die in-game or not. I mean how stupid is that? You’ve died, right? Was the reloading process really that bad?”
Sinister opened her mouth a couple of times before closing it again, her eyes fixated on the path ahead. Finally, she sighed softly, and spoke. “Game death really isn’t that bad. Perhaps it’s just a part of the psionicist thing you’re experiencing? Do you think it could be another side quest hint? Like you have to—I don’t know, use that ability a few times before you unlock another arm of the class?”
Murmur blinked at her friend, running the words over in her head. “You know, that’s a pretty good thought. I don’t exactly know how that will work or anything, but I hadn’t considered it might be something like that. All they told me was that they weren’t sure if I could die in-game, and that therefore they were giving me something to help forestall it. I mean what would you think?”
“I’d think they were pretty batshit insane.” Sinister’s laugh sounded slightly forced, until she sobered and continued. “Anyway. This Frangit visit will be fun. The way I hear Beastial constantly talk about it, you’d think it was the best town ever. He’s never seen Nocturn though. So he has no clue.”
“Stellaein is gorgeous, and you guys can’t have anything on that.” Murmur chuckled and proceeded to compare starting cities with her friend as they walked to the viking city.
Murmur wasn’t sure what she’d had in mind in regards to Frangit’s appearance, but she hadn’t thought the buildings would be made out of wood and stone composite, with a mortar-enforced wall of wood surrounding the city. Since Beastial and Veranol were with them, the viking guards just waved them through with half smiles toned down by their obvious sleepiness. She couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her.
“No laughing at my home town, Mur.” Veranol half whispered to her.
She side-eyed him and shrugged. “If you ever visit Stellaein, you have my permission to laugh your ass off. It’s sleek and stoney, and seems completely alien to this planet. This here—it’s not what I expected the kings of the sea to have.”
Veranol frowned, and opened his mouth as if to comment, but Beastial butted in. “We’re not exactly kings of the sea, it’s more kings of the ships, but that’ll take too long to explain. Besides, the quest is telling us to go to the mayor, and since there’s probably another aspect to this, can we just do it so we don’t spend forever here and not waste time we could spend leveling at Hazenthorne?”
Murmur blinked at her tall friend. Having someone else obsessing over leveling was nice for a change. After all, they might be at sixteen, but they weren’t even half way to the end of the leveling portion of the game. And that was where the fun began. “Well, lead
the way you two, the rest of us are foreigners here.”
Veranol laughed and took point, while Beastial just smiled and walked beside the shaman. Murmur glanced around at the two storied buildings. The bottom halves were made out of stone with rough mortar holding them together, while the top sections were largely out of stained timber. As they continued to pass through the city, they took the central path, and began to veer to the right, walking past a gorgeous fountain.
Murmur paused for a moment, taking it all in. Again, this fountain stood tall, with a proud depiction of a viking standing on the bow of a ship, shading his eyes and looking out at the sea beyond. The fountain shot water up in splashes that tumbled down into the glimmering pool, making Murmur feel like she could see the sea beyond it, and taste the salt on the wind.
She blinked as Sinister tugged on her sleeve, interrupting her deep thoughts about the fountains.
You have noticed there are fountains in all major cities you’ve encountered. Keep an eye on this, you never know when the lore may speak to you, or when a story may be the exact thing you need to solve a problem.
Murmur glared at the scrolling text, and could feel a scowl already forming on her face. What, it couldn’t ever give her a bit more to go on?
“Mur?” Sinister backed away a step.
“Nothing,” the enchanter almost growled. “Just yet another vague as fuck quest thing.”
Still that quest, or potential quest, or whatever these minor suggestions were that floated through the air in this game tended to yield very interesting results. She knew she was going to have to look closer at these fountains. Just another thing in the long line of everything she needed to look out for. Belius’ shards, which she was no longer sure about giving him, considering his last reaction to them. The Midia crystals sitting in her inventory that she still didn’t know the purpose of. Not to mention that damned strange binding guy back in Ululate and whatever it was Telvar had brought into their game lives. She knew there was more, but it was such a jumble in her head. No wonder the world stored even the vaguest of hints in a journal.
“Well, this is it.” Beastial stopped in front of a wide two-story building completely out of stone. Its front entryway consisted of a double door of wood the thickness of Murmur’s head, bound by iron across the top and bottom. Even the atmosphere around this area felt regal, sort of a notch above the rest, depicting how proud the vikings were.
It was a nice touch.
Stepping through into the foyer, sconces lit the entryway, casting shadows across the cobbled floors. The curtains were drawn lending weight to the interior mood. Murmur had to wonder if they’d known the group was coming, or if it was always like this in here just to be impressive for general appearance’s sake. A large cedar desk stood a few feet in and to the left, with a hulking, red-haired viking manning it. His braided beard fell down to his waist and his eyes were a brilliant blue, almost shining in the firelight.
“Well met, young travelers! I am Virhim. What can we do for you?” His voice boomed on a smaller scale than Telvar’s but it resounded through the entry room with something close to a rumble. Murmur liked him immediately.
She stepped forward. “We retrieved this from a group of gnolls who are camped out between here and Ululate. Jan the Wagoneer told us you would appreciate it returned.” She placed the large wooden box on the desk with no small amount of effort. Next time she was getting the guys to carry the bulky things. Though their inventories seemed to be bottomless pits, they were still heavy and cumbersome once removed.
Virhim’s eyes widened and he beamed a huge smile at them. “Mayor Darlihm will be extremely grateful. I shall escort you in to see him.”
The hulking viking stood, taking the crate like it weighed next to nothing, and ventured along the hall to a large set of doors that he pushed open. The chamber within reminded Murmur of taverns she’d seen depicted, not only in movies, but other games. Massive sets of antlers adorned the walls, and even a few unicorn horns that gave her pause. Huge rectangular wooden tables sat scattered throughout the room with matching chairs. The table nearest to the fireplace was occupied by several vikings deep in discussion. Or yelling at each other, but she got the feeling that was just how they communicated.
“Darlihm!” Virhim called out, loud enough to make the room tremble again, while he hefted the crate in the air. “Jan sent us our goods! These wonderful travelers retrieved them!”
The mayor’s face broke out into a huge grin, his black hair flowing freely down his back. He was the first viking Murmur had ever seen who didn’t have rampant facial hair. Even in other games, it was almost like a status symbol. But his flowing hair and rippling muscles visible through his armor made up for that.
“Well met, travelers!” He gestured widely while holding the crate with just one hand. “You are welcome in my city, you have done us a great service.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Beastial’s grin was just as wide, and he gave a slight inclination of his head. “Might I ask what precious cargo we carried?”
Murmur tried not to laugh at Beast’s definite roleplaying. The big man seemed to revel in it sometimes, and at least he’d thought to ask a question that was on the tip of her tongue.
“Ah yes! It is a fine shipment of the best schnapps there is!” He placed the cargo on the table in front of him and opened the crate. Then he removed bottles, all carefully packed in what appeared to be the finest wood shavings.
Murmur had to stifle the laughter rising in her throat. “I’m very glad we could help.”
Darlihm grinned at her. “You are welcome to join us for drinks any time. This gift is one that the dark elves send us every year as a token of our peaceful relationship. They make some damned fine alcohol.”
Jinna nodded. “That they do.”
“See!” Darlihm patted Jinna on the back. “The dwarf understands how important this cargo was for us.”
Calming down and replacing all but one of the bottles, Darlihm’s smile receded back to normal levels. “Anyhow, we—no, I—am grateful for this return. There are many people who wouldn’t have bothered going out of their way to bring this back. For this, we offer you the boon of Frangit.”
He produced a metal token, spinning it on his hand and bowing as he handed it over to Murmur. “For the leader of your guild, for the members of your guild, this boon calls you friends of the vikings. Should you ever be in trouble, should you ever require services that we might be able to aid in, just allow the viking you’re dealing with to see this.”
You have been granted the boon of Frangit. This amazing token allows Fable guild members to be on extremely friendly terms with vikings all over Somnia. As long as you maintain good relations with the vikings, this boon will always offer you safe haven and aid. Beware though, if you screw them over, vikings are pretty formidable enemies. Really, their biceps are the size of your head.
Murmur glared at her notification as it scrolled past. Overall the message was very positive, but the system was starting to be far too sarcastic for her comfort.
“We thank you.” Is what she said to the viking mayor though. After all, better not to make an enemy of them as soon as they’d given her guild a gift.
“No! It is we who thank you. We haven’t had any of this for a year!” Darlihm smiled.
Sinister frowned. “But I thought you got a shipment from my people every year.”
“Aye.” Darlihm grinned. “The gnolls delayed this one by almost a month! Can you believe that?”
“They seriously drank that many bottles?” Sinister was laughing as they walked through the city.
Murmur paused by the fountain again, studying the viking on the bow of the ship again. “Serious drinkers are serious. And they were very generous in their reward.”
“True.” Devlish stood next to Murmur, his brow crunched with a bit of confusion. “A lot of adventurers probably wouldn’t have returned the crate in the first place. Too much bother. Why are we standing here, Mur?”
Sinister squinted and Rashlyn came up to her side to join her. They both frowned, and seemed about to say something, but then stopped, multiple times.
Finally Merlin spoke. “You know, I don’t think so. He might have brown hair? Or maybe red. I can’t even recognize his species, and I’m only assuming it’s male. That’s bizarre. I didn’t even notice it before.”
Murmur choked down a sigh of relief. It would have been bad if she was the only one who couldn’t see it, right? It was bad enough she’d been the first to notice it. So what was it about the binders? What was their purpose, the reason for their hidden appearances and cryptic thoughts and words? So much of this game was like a mystery.
You’ve noticed a connection between binders in two cities. These strange men have features that are indistinguishable, and almost give you a headache with their fuzziness. Now that you know it’s not all just in your own head, it might be an idea to keep a good eye out in other areas for anyone who fits this bill. After all, if you can’t remember what they look like, were they ever really there?
Great. Another mind fuck. Murmur was getting seriously sick of them. Not only were these game hints completely vague, but she wasn’t finding out anything that could help her figure out what it was about herself that was so unique, that would mean she shouldn’t die in-game, just in case.
“You okay, Mur?” Sinister nudged her, something that seemed to be getting to be a bit of a habit. Murmur noted that the frown on her friend’s face just made the dark elf visage even more evil-looking.
“Yeah. I’m not really. I keep wondering if my headgear is malfunctioning. I think I’ll have to check it next time I log out. If I can’t die in-game, or if I might not be able to die in-game without losing my character, then there’s got to be something wrong somewhere.” A million possibilities ran through her head. Considering her mother had received her headset before most deliveries had been made, maybe it hadn’t been through the final testing and was therefore malfunctioning in some way?