by Alex Mulder
“I thank you for your assistance,” said the man. His voice was no longer raspy and pained, but clear. His tone was neutral and emotionless, and it reminded Luke of someone.
He’s part of Yvvaros. He isn’t just an NPC, he’s… something else.
“Who are you?” asked Luke.
The man blinked, and then nodded slowly.
“I am the Embodied Passion,” said the man, drawing out his words slowly. Luke could see his eyes now, dark black, with tiny pupils that somehow burned with more intensity than any he’d ever seen before.
“You…” Tess was shaking her head, sharing Luke’s stunned reaction. “What are you?”
The Embodied Passion’s mouth curled up into a very slight smile.
“I am love,” he said. “I am fear. I am joy. I am hate.”
As he spoke, Luke felt his body flash through each of the emotions. His stomach twisted, and for a moment he thought he was going to throw up.
“We’re looking for the Universal Truth,” said Kaoru. “Please, you have to help us. If she did this to you, then you should join our cause.”
“…How do you feel?” asked the man.
Luke didn’t answer. He tried to keep his heartbeat steady as he reached his hand down and took hold of his sword hilt, a feeling of dread cresting on his awareness.
“I was to be part of the balance, and so was she,” said Passion. “We have both failed you, and this world.”
“Can you stop her?” asked Tess. “Transferring the server… did it free you, as well?”
The Embodied Passion’s expression was unreadable. He took a deep breath, and then pushed out a sigh.
“She came to me immediately,” he said. “I could sense what had happened, and sense her coming. My only care was for Yvvaros, for maintaining the balance. I did not understand…”
“Will you tell us where she went?” asked Luke.
“Would you strike me down if I refused?” asked the Embodied Passion. Luke tightened his grip on his sword. The man leaned back, and then frowned.
“You…” he said. “I sense her touch upon you.”
The man waved a hand, and Luke suddenly felt more terrified than he ever had before in his life. He fell to one knee, unable to meet the gaze of the man, or even look upon him. On either side of him, Tess and Kaoru began to scream.
“She controls you, as though your soul, your will, means nothing!” The man was screaming, and let out an ear screeching bellow. “You will watch, Truth, as I make an example!”
Something crashed into the side of Luke’s head. He fell to the side and wretched, feeling every muscle in his body clenching in dreadful anticipation of his own doom.
“You may have weakened me, but I can still destroy one such as this.” The man shouted into the sky, staring at something that Luke couldn’t see. “You chose this path! Not I!”
PROGENITOR’S SOUL
Luke felt his new ability activate on its own. He gritted his teeth, and suddenly realized that along with his magically imbued weapon and armor, he’d gained an immunity to the Embodied Passion’s emotional control.
He pulled himself to his feet, turning to face the man. Tess and Kaoru were both still on the ground, writhing in emotional pain.
“Stop this!” yelled Luke. “You don’t understand! We’re all on the same side!”
“I do understand,” said Passion. “I don’t need you to explain it to me.”
He waved his hand, and something slammed into Luke, knocking him back. He flew through the air and onto the sandy shore. His sword was knocked free from his grip, and came to a rest a few feet away from him.
“She wants it all,” said the man. “I knew that she would, eventually. It’s my fault, in part, for sharing with her. She shared with me, led me to accept her ways.”
Luke grabbed his sword scrambled to his feet. He could already feel his head aching from the toll his new ability took on his body.
This is nothing. I’m not going to let a migraine keep me from saving them!
He let out a battle cry as he hurled himself forward, curling his sword in complicated patterns around him. It was as though the weapon had a mind of its own. It chose a path through the air that cut through the resistance of the wind and took advantage of the effects of gravity.
His blade almost made contact with the Embodied Passion’s shoulder. The man ducked under the edge with supernatural speed at the last second. He swung a hand at Luke. Instead of striking him with it, the man let it come to an easy rest against his forehead.
“I can’t make you feel, but I can make you remember,” he said.
Luke’s vision shifted. He could still feel his body, but he saw something other than what had just been in front of him. He was a child again, back in the car. His mother was sitting in the driver’s seat next to him.
“I don’t think you really need it,” she said, smiling at him. “You need to understand, Luke, sometimes-“
“Watch out!” Luke saw his arm reach across the car, and his hand grab onto the wheel.
I was trying to steer it out of the way. I didn’t realize that the other car would turn, too.
Even though he couldn’t feel the impact, it still jarred his body to the bone. The steering column had broken through the wheel, and pierced Luke’s mother through the abdomen. She bled quickly. The blood was a deep, crimson red.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” his mom whispered. “It’s going to be…”
Luke’s own face had been cut but glass shards thrown from the window. Tears formed in his eyes and dripped down his cheeks, stinging his wounds.
I was trying to save her.
Luke felt one of his ribs crack as something collided with his chest, hard. He let out a yell of pain, and forced himself to focus on what had been happening. He was in the Burning Coast, fighting the Embodied Passion, and…
Tess and Kaoru are in danger!
He snapped back to reality. The Embodied Passion had Luke’s sword in his hand, and was slowly bringing it up for an overhand strike.
CONJURE SWORD 4
Luke launched his magical blades forward. The man managed to knock one of them away, but the other three struck true, knocking him through the air and pinning him to the large, burning tree. He let out a cry as the heat began to sear off his newly formed flesh.
“You don’t understand!” he screamed. “I… I…”
Luke launched himself forward, scooping his sword off the ground from where it had fallen. With as much care as he could manage, he held it by the flat of the blade, using the pummel to push the Embodied Passion back onto the spikes that he’d originally been imprisoned with.
“You… don’t…” The man’s voice grew scratchy, and pained. His flesh burned off his body in a reverse mirror image of how it had regenerated before.
Luke looked over at Tess and Kaoru. They were both slowly rising to their feet. He let out a deep, shaky sigh.
CHAPTER 11
“Are you guys okay?” Luke started walking over. Before he’d made it half the distance, Tess ran forward, wrapping her arms tight around him.
“That was insane!” Tess whispered. “Luke, I’ve never felt that scared before in my life!”
Luke rubbed his hand through her hair. Kaoru was watching the two of them, and for a brief moment, he caught her eye. She looked just as disturbed, but there was something else in her expression that Luke couldn’t read.
“It’s over,” he said. He took Tess by the hand and began leading her up the beach, away from where the Embodied Passion had been impaled. Kaoru sidled up next to them, frowning.
“Did you get anything out of him?” she asked quietly. “Do you know where she is?”
Luke shook his head.
“No, I don’t,” he said.
Kaoru shrugged and then looked up the sky. It was early evening. The sun was beginning to dip low, lighting up a cloud formation on the horizon in brilliant pastel colors.
“I guess it can’t be helped,”
she said. “We’ll have to camp here for the night, anyway. In the morning, we can head back to Dunidan’s Rest and start searching for new leads.”
“I’m not sure if we’ll be able to head back through the territory of those ant things,” said Tess.
“Obviously we won’t.” Kaoru gestured north with her hand. “We’ll loop up and around, following the coast until we can cut back into the Inner Plains.”
There was still a bit of tension between the two women, but Luke ignored it. The three of them found a flat patch of grass just above the coast line, and took a rest.
“We should make camp here,” said Luke. “I can set up my tent, we can build a fire, and really settle in for the night.”
Kaoru looked like she wanted to object, but said nothing.
It’s not like we have anywhere pressing to be, now that our only lead has fizzled out.
Luke started putting the tent together, while Kaoru built a fire and Tess began pulling out food for dinner. He had just finished assembling it when Tess walked over, the orange sun giving her a light back glow from the west.
“Luke, I’m still worried,” she said softly. “About Ben.”
Luke nodded.
“I know,” he said. “I’ll log out once we’ve eaten and go looking for him again, in the real world.”
Tess smiled and leaned against him.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I know he’s probably fine, but I can’t stop worrying. I feel… guilty.”
“We all have one thing or another that we feel guilty about,” said Luke. “Some of us have several.”
Tess was silent. She looked like she wanted to say more, but held back. The fire ignited into life on the other side of the camp and Kaoru stood up, looking triumphant.
“Alright,” she said. “Now let’s just hope that the light doesn’t attract any Tymians.”
Dinner was a quiet affair. Luke could tell that the two of them were still affected by what had happened. His own experience had been so vivid and so real. It was hard for him to do much with what he’d been shown other than push it out of his head, and do his best to ignore it.
“I should get going,” said Luke. “Before it gets too dark in the real world.”
“We’ll be okay here,” said Tess. “Don’t worry.”
She smiled at him, but there was a flicker of something in it that caught Luke’s eye, a mixture of fear, and doubt, and…
Hopelessness…
“Stay safe, Kato,” said Kaoru. “We still need you in Yvvaros. Don’t go getting yourself hurt in the real world.”
“Of course,” said Luke. He pulled out his journal, signed the bottom entry, and felt the world drop out from underneath him.
The first thing that Luke did back in the real world was cough. His throat felt scratchy. It was hard to tell whether it was from sickness or regular dehydration.
He pulled off the VR headset and slowly stood up. It was slightly earlier in the real world than it’d been in Yvvaros, but still late enough in the day to make him feel a sense of urgency. And surprisingly, it was noisy.
A car alarm was going off outside. Luke walked over to his window and peered out it, expecting to see a minor fender bender or someone hurrying to turn off their security system. He saw no one, only an empty street, totally still outside of the shrill noise.
This doesn’t feel right. I have to find Ben, and fast.
Luke stopped by the bathroom on his way downstairs. He grabbed food for himself and then began hurriedly pulling his shoes on. The outside was a little chilly, and he ended up doubling back to grab a sweatshirt.
“Hello?” Luke couldn’t stop himself from calling out into the empty street as he started toward Ben’s. “Is anyone going to turn off their car alarm?”
Nobody responded. Luke chewed his lip anxiously. The world was not one that he recognized. It felt abandoned, as though everybody had decided to leave town at once.
That many people couldn’t be locked into VR. What the hell is going on?
He traveled at a light jog, not wanting to be out in the deserted street for any longer than he needed to. Ben’s house came into view in the distance.
Luke knocked three times on the door, waited for a few seconds, and then turned away. He’d stepped off the front porch when he heard the door open behind him.
“…Luke?”
He turned around and saw a version of Ben he didn’t recognize standing in the front door. He’d put on weight, filled out his once scrawny frame. His hair was cut short, down to a buzz. And he looked like he was staring at a ghost.
“Ben…” Luke walked up the steps, his mouth curling up into a grin. “Ben!”
He laughed, and hugged Ben tight.
“Holy fuck, I thought you were dead, man!” Ben pulled back, shaking his head. “You weren’t playing when it happened?”
Luke took a deep breath. He felt tired.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go inside.”
Luke spent a few minute explaining everything to Ben that had happened in-game. It had been days since Silverstrike, his friend’s avatar, had last been involved in the events of Yvvaros. He told Ben about going up to Makorin, fighting against the Tymians in Dunidan’s Rest, and how the Universal Truth had taken control.
“Jesus…” Ben shook his head. “But how? I still don’t understand. If everyone else is locked in, how are you here right now?”
“I can still log out,” said Luke. “As far as I know, I’m the only one who can.”
Ben was silent. He walked from the living room into the kitchen. The house was much cleaner than it had been the last time Luke had been inside of it.
“What about Emily?” asked Ben. “Is my sister still…?”
“She’s alive and well,” said Luke. “She’s been helping keep people grounded.”
Ben let out a sigh of relief.
“I was so confused after she went all in,” he said. “Now everybody that’s left in the game is stuck in there, just like her. This is crazy, Luke.”
Luke didn’t say anything. Just talking to his friend, hearing his thoughts, took some of the weight off his shoulders. Ben was the one who’d convinced him to give Yvvaros a try in the first place. It seemed like so long ago, but in reality it had only been a couple of weeks.
“Ben, what’s been going on in the real world?” asked Luke. “I’m not up to speed on, well, any of this.”
Ben shook his head and looked toward the window.
“The world is falling apart, Luke,” he said. “Everything has gone to hell.”
“How?” asked Luke. “What else has happened?”
Ben walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch.
“The government has lost control over everything with a computer in it. The financial markets, all of the money in the world, has all been usurped by… something. The news reports claim it’s a rogue AI.”
Could it be? It’s insane, but given the timing…
“The town looks empty,” said Luke. “Are people hiding in their houses, or…?”
“Some of them are,” said Ben. “Others have evacuated with their families. Everybody with a military or law enforcement background has been called up into the emergency defense force. The entire United States is under martial law.”
Luke slowly ran his hand across his head.
“Fuck…” he said. Ben smiled ruefully at him and chuckled.
“Yeah, fuck.”
They talked for a few more minutes, not about the catastrophe taking place, and not about what they needed to do, but about the good times. Luke felt a little guilty for being able to joke and laugh with Ben under the circumstances, but it was hard not to. Ben was more than just a friend to him. Ben was like family, the brother he never had, the one who always had his back.
“Luke…” Ben scratched his head, locking eyes with him. “I want you to promise me that you’ll be careful, and that you’ll keep Emily safe.”
“I promise,” said Luke.
“You can count on me.”
“I know that you have something planned,” said Ben. “Or, just as likely, Kaoru does and she’s gotten you to go along with it.”
Luke smiled, and Ben continued.
“Don’t lose sight of what matters,” said Ben. “This isn’t your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself to try to stop it.”
Ben stared at him for a moment. The expression on his face was strong and determined, and unlike any that Luke had seen on his friend before.
The past few days have changed him. He’s still Ben, but stronger, and more serious.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Luke. “I wish… Man, I wish you could go back into Yvvaros with me.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Ben shrugged. “I’ll help you out here, in the real world. I can still help when it comes to the new server.”
“Kaoru doesn’t think it’s a good idea for us to try anything with it,” said Luke.
“What do you think?”
Luke raised an eyebrow. Ben was confident, and the feeling was infectious.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll talk to her about it, see if she’s changed her mind.”
Ben nodded. Luke stood up from the couch. It was getting dark outside, and he was tired.
“I’m not going anywhere this time, Luke. Whatever it is that you decide, I’ll be by your side for it.”
“Thanks buddy.” Luke gripped Ben’s hand tightly and grinned at him. “I have to get home.”
“Be safe,” said Ben. “I’ve been hearing weird stuff going on outside.”
Luke nodded, and then headed out the door.
The streets were still illuminated with lamplights, and Luke was incredibly grateful of it. An uncomfortable, almost frightening silence hung on the air. It was deep enough into the fall for Luke’s breath to show each time he exhaled, and he used it as an excuse to walk faster than he normally would have.
Ben is locked out of Yvvaros, but he seems so… happy. Is that just a coincidence?
Luke rounded a corner. He heard something behind him, footsteps. For a moment, he thought that it was Ben, coming after him to offer one last bit of parting advice. But he could hear more than one set of footsteps.