by G. Akella
The pet was called Glitch, and it kind of looked a ferret our childhood friend Vova had smuggled into school one day. To disastrous consequences, which included a one-week suspension. But whether it was a ferret, mink, ermine or weasel, its licking was clearly healthful for Linara, so I didn't mind.
"Thank you for your help, girlfriend," Lita whispered in an ironic, even conspiratorial tone. Taking Alyona by the arm, she pulled her aside to let the others come through.
"Uh-huh," my sister mumbled, then shook her head when she saw that the wounded elfess was already back to full health. Alyona looked back at Lita and laughed.
It was heartening to see how quickly they had found a common language. Especially since Alyona never got along with my girlfriends in the past, and this wasn't just a girlfriend but a wife and an Elder Demon! On the flipside, the cynic in me was a bit unsettled by how quickly my wife and sister had found a common language.
"Hi, Roman! So is this the arcade you told us about?"
Donut was out of the portal now, bending over one of the chests and running his palm along its lid.
"Get away from there!" Masyanya squeaked. "The last thing we need now is for you to disappear."
Donut threw up his hands and went to join her. "There’s no getting in there, anyway, not with my piss-poor lockpicking skill."
"Just ask uncle," Reece said as he tore his gaze away from one of the statues and nodded at Kan. "He’s a master lockpicker."
"Mm-hmm? Need help?" The knight-commander gave my hand a firm shake, then turned around and shot Donut an inquiring look.
Vaessa punched him in the shoulder. "Settle down, helper. We’ve just finished looking for one, let's not lose another so quickly."
"Would you miss me, too, if I went missing as he had?" Kan looked at her skeptically.
"Of course," she said with another punch to the shoulder, before continuing to tease him. "This is what you get for seducing an honest woman..."
As those two continued their playful banter, I greeted the rest of my friends as they came up to me, and silently thought, over and over, how good it was to finally have all of them here with me.
As Max had predicted, Linara awoke five minutes after the weasel's "treatment." She sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes, trying to remember how she had gotten here while growing ever more discomfited by the crowd of people gathered around her. She tried to stand, but then she saw Glitch. The little elfess’ eyes widened, and she reached out in unbelief, then recoiled. The weasel squeaked and twirled his tail playfully, then ran up to Linara and gently nuzzled her. Only then did she hug him, gingerly, burying her face in his fur, and began to violently weep. A wave of emotion overwhelmed us all, as if some invisible hand had overturned an immense barrel of concentrated happiness, filling this tiny Hall of Dying Hope to the brim.
I watched the tears flowing down the cheeks of the women, and the wide, serene smiles on the faces of the men. Everyone needed moments like this in their lives. These little elves were a wonderful people. Only I, Max and Lita showed a muted emotional response - and Glitch, who would eventually soothe her tears of joy. Linara wiped the tears away with her handkerchief, got up, and nodded a greeting to everyone.
"Greetings, ryhns," the girl said, looking around the room, and then she noticed Max. What happened next was predictable.
"No more crying, Linara!" I literally growled. "I said I’d introduce you to the Guardian, remember? Well, here he is. Consider yourself introduced! Just keep the emotions in check, eh? And Max! What’s got your tongue, man? Say hello!"
"Hello, sister," Max nodded to her, visibly struggling to hold back a smile. "We need to talk. I will tell you what you must do next." With a gesture, he invited her to walk to one of the statues with him. Glitch caught up with him and jumped back onto his shoulder.
"Forgive me, ryhns." Linara did something resembling a curtsy, then soared into the air and flew after Max and Glitch, sending a wave of shock rippling through the others.
Reece recovered first. The mage scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling contemplatively.
"Imagine if we took the abilities of our lady here and used Linara’s ability to amplify them, we could..."
"...have you sentenced to death," Lita replied calmly as she studied the bas-relief.
"Hey, an inquisitive mind isn’t a crime!" Bonbon replied, clapping Reece on the back before turning to me.
"Well, Roman? Is it time for you to hand out assignments or do we have time for lunch?"
"Go ahead and get lunch ready. The ‘assignments’ are going to include a rather long story."
Only Bonbon actually ate lunch - the rest just wandered the hall, waiting for him to finish. Some studied the bas-relief on the walls, others discussed recent events, and Lita instructed Alyona on some subject foreign to me.
Max finished his training in about fifteen minutes, which was also when everyone started to gather around me again.
"It was a joy to meet you all, but now, I must go. Farewell!" Still in the air, Linara took a bow, then whirled on over to me. "And you!" she started in reproachful tone, but then changed her mind and smiled. "You’re a heroic liar! It was you who killed the Ancient and saved our Mistress. Why didn’t you tell me?"
"So that I could cry from waves of emotion the whole trip? Hey, make sure you come visit sometime, OK? You promised."
"Yes," Linara nodded, "I will. Especially now. Goodbye, Krian. And thank you."
The elfess’ translucent wings appeared behind her as she peered into my eyes and stretched out her hand. I smiled, and touched my palm to hers. The next instant, the air shattered into a thousand colorful sparkles, and Linara disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of light and inexplicable sadness.
"Now that’s what I call a fairy," Ellanca whispered quietly. That reminded me of what Linara had said when I called her a fairy, and the memory made my sadness evaporate. It turned out my ata kari could cheer me up even when she wasn’t around.
"Well, if everyone’s done eating, gather round." I pulled my pipe from my bag and sat down on my cloak, still lying on the floor where I had put it. "Keep any questions on topic. This story’s long enough as it is.
Chapter 17
Telling them everything took a long time. I told of the sea gods, Cheney, and the conversation with the dragon. Then, I listened to Max’s story - and realized why my sister had called us both idiots. On that note, Max still had seven infinity points he could use. And, thanks to Glitch, he could use them anywhere in the inhabited world. I also learned that we had gotten all of the loot from Valeph and Halephos, meaning we were now richer by fifty two Elixirs of Concentrated Might, four recipes for full sets of scalable armor (rogue, hunter, warrior and mage), and a pile miscellaneous epic materials. Yet, we had only ten griffins: five males and five females. But the griffins, and loot in general, were the last thing that worried me. Once we were finished here, we would work the loot out. At the end of my talk, I expressed my thoughts about everything that had happened to me, explained how to enter the next zone, and announced a ten-minute countdown.
The ensuing pause was broken by Alex’s thoughtful voice. "Listen, Roman... Don’t you think this is all just a little too strange?"
"What exactly do you mean?" I asked as I picked my cloak up from the floor.
"This whole final quest. The gods told you how bad this New God is, and then that impression was reinforced by the companions of the Twice Cursed, who are somehow now on our side now. Then there’s this conversation with some random dude from your company, a meeting with Cheney, your conversation with the dragon..." Alex wrinkled his forehead, then turned to Donut, as if looking for backup. "Doesn’t this all seem to you like some far-fetched attempt at... self-justification? That RP-17 just wants to justify what he did? As if he himself isn't sure whether it was right or wrong?"
"From Clever’s story, it’s obvious that something went awry with the patch," replied the rogue with a shrug. "Still..."
"Exactly!" Al
ex interrupted and pointed toward the platform. "We don’t know the reason, but the answer is likely to be found in the place we’re going. The dragon said you would see for yourself, remember?"
"But why would RP-17 need that?" Helliona inquired. "What does it gain from justifying his actions? What’s the point?"
"Maybe it’s not self-justification," Bonbon jumped in. "Maybe he’s just offering us the chance to decide the fate of his creation. Cheney was there at the beginning, at the very creation of Arkon. Roman had barely ever played the game before. He was an unwitting captive, and an enemy of Cheney’s. All of the players had ended up here because they were, well, playing, but Roman was an outsider." The warrior shook his head. "I don’t know, Alex. It’s hard for me to evaluate what RP-17 could intend. Perhaps you’re right, and the AI is just, well, becoming more human."
I shrugged. "Let’s go find out, then. Any more questions?"
"Dar, you spoke about Dragon Soul Essences," Vaessa said, touching my hand. "As though you still had a few. I could perhaps find a use for them."
The look the necromancer’s daughter gave me reminded me of that musketeer cat from Shrek. I grinned and gave her what she asked for. Then, my grin melted as Alyona turned deathly pale.
"What’s wrong?" I gently touched her shoulder.
She shook her head. "Don’t worry. This happens."
"She’s got two boys and three girls with her," Masyanya explained, waving away Alyona’s withering glare, then added. "There’s no way out of this now, you know. Others should be aware."
I thought about this for a few seconds, then addressed my sister - as calmly as I could.
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
She rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"And why didn’t you tell me, Max?" I whirled toward him.
He snorted. "She told me not to say anything, and I’m more afraid of her than I am of you."
Hart! This was becoming a freaking traveling circus! I glared at my sister, then at Max, and then sighed.
"All right, then. Let's go." With those words, I moved towards the platform.
West Coast. Zone SF-1. Zone level: ?????
You've accessed the quest: The Escape.
Quest type: unique (seventeen sentient beings are participating in the quest).
Find a way out of the SF-1 zone.
Reward: none.
Attention! The time for completing this quest is limited. If you do not find an exit from the SF-1 zone within three hours, you will have failed the quest.
179:59:59... 179:59:58... 179:59:57...
Fresh sea air blew in my face, and I heard the splashing of waves to the right. I opened my eyes.
Rexar was the first to speak. "Well, snap! Where the heck are we?"
The distant part of a nearby bridge vanished into the fog, which also kept the entire opposite shore of the bay from view. A steady wind blew in from the ocean, and waves black as night crashed heavily on the shore.
"That... That’s the Golden Gate Bridge!" Masyanya exclaimed, confused. "Roman, it’s-"
"I sure hope this isn’t the real San Francisco." I looked at the fort huddled underneath this side of the bridge. "It sure looks like it, but it can't be..."
We were out on a fishing pier, with Fort Point and the bridge in full view. I had been here about three months before landing in Arkon, but everything looked wrong from my memory. The houses near the pier looked, well, ruined. Smashed windows, rotting walls, and even collapsed roofs in places. I could see four burned-out cars, a bent rusty bicycle, and some barrels... To the left, there was a bookstore - with no roof. The picnic area was filled with undead that milled about idly. More undead than there had ever been people here, even on weekends. It looked like a zombie flick from the last century. They had no HP bars over their heads, and their levels were not visible. Some of them still wore clothes. Clouds of black smoke rose into the sky from the buildings to the southeast.
"I’ve never heard of anything like this," Donut said with a frown. "This just can’t happen in Arkon. It must be our very own post-apocalyptic zone, and I very much fear what will happen if we fail to get out of here."
Reece was looking at the bridge in fascination. "Is this a piece of your world?" he asked Bonbon.
The bald man nodded. "Uh-huh. Our prince lived somewhere around here. But I really hope we won’t be going for a swim today."
He picked a stone up from the ground, swung it wide, and threw it into the ocean, carefully watching its flight path.
"You know, my whole life I dreamed of swimming in the ocean. But now, for some reason, I don’t want to. I’d rather play with the zombies."
Bonbon nodded at the nearest pack and smirked.
"This is the Dark Ocean!" Lita interjected.
The next moment, my wife changed forms and soared into the air, hovering fifty yards above the ground.
"Interesting architecture you have here," she said after a dozen seconds or so. "The city is full of undead, but I see nothing odd, nor dangerous."
To confirm her words, the demoness lowered her altitude sharply, whirled around, and unleashed a wave of dark crimson fire down the shore. The flame screamed through the park, eliminating some of the zombies on its path to self-extinguishing in the water.
"See?" she sniffed into the channel, then landed and assumed her usual appearance before turning towards me with an arched brow.
"Well, dear, where do we go now?"
I gazed into her eyes for the moment, the way any husband looks at his wife, then caught myself and covered up by nodding at the waves surging towards the shore.
"This ocean, how dangerous is it?"
She shrugged. "Hard to say. The ocean that surrounds Karn also has sharks and kraken. But the monsters here could easily devour those from there. Of course, a small venomous lamprey from a tiny mountain pond is more than enough for most sentient beings from there, isn’t it?"
"Got it. So then let’s do this. Everyone give our situation some thought for one minute, and we’ll discuss. Then we’ll decide which way to go. All right, one minute and counting."
I had already come to my conclusions, but I needed this minute to do something else. Opening my character menu, I quickly allocated my unused points to talents and stats, bumping up Ice Blade and Tongue of Flame to tier twenty four. After a moment’s thought, I put the three remaining points into Concentration, giving an additional 30% boost to my HP bonus, when Alyona lightly touched my shoulder from behind.
"Aren’t you glad?" she said to me, a modicum of tension in her voice. "You didn’t say anything about..."
At first, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even realize what she was talking about. But then I remembered, silently cursing my forgetfulness, and hugged my sister close to my chest.
"I’m delighted, sister. Sorry for not saying anything. All of this is a little overwhelming, you know..."
"So you’re not angry anymore?"
"I didn’t say I wasn’t angry."
Alyona smiled and stuck her tongue out at me, then pecked me on the cheek and headed over to Masyanya with an absurdly raised chin.
I watched, lips upturned in a smile. People never change.
"Roman!" It was Donut. "I thought of something."
He nodded to Alex, raised his hand, and waited for everyone’s attention.
"We have three options here: your place, Cheney’s place, and your company offices." The rogue held up three fingers, but immediately reduced them to one. "We’re unlikely to find any explanation at your home or Cheney’s. The fact that the police found fifty pills in Cheney’s basement doesn’t mean anything. He couldn’t have affected the AI remotely. We need to find the server room, or whatever it’s called."
"The Artificial Intelligence Workspace," Alex corrected him. "It’s the room where RP-17’s equipment was located."
Donut snapped his fingers. "That’s it! You following, Roman? Where are your company offices?"
"About six miles from here, on Spear
Street, near the bridge over to Oakland," I pointed east. "Google had an office there, too. Our corporation bought the building in ‘31."
"And what do you think about what I said?"
"Same as you do." I watched the clouds of smoke rising to the southeast, over the party’s tense expressions. "So unless there are any other suggestions, let’s move out. It’s a two-hour walk, and we don’t have our mounts. Lita, could you clear the road for us as we go?"
"Look!" Ellanca clapped her hands on her face in terror, and pointed at the bridge.
I turned, and everything and everyone froze. And for good reason.
A giant monster was moving from the South Bay to the bridge. It walked on its hind legs and looked like a certain Spinosaurus creature out of a movie from my childhood, with greenish brown skin. A high ridge ran down its back, and its face was like an elongated crocodile head. But unlike a crocodile, it had powerful arms. And it was as tall as a skyscraper. As it waded through the water, its head stood at least sixty feet taller than the bridge. I did some quick math. With the depth of the bay here, the monster was at least five hundred feet tall!
The creature surged towards the bridge, creating a massive wave in front of it, raising giant fountains of spray into the air. Then, it looked straight at us. There was no HP bar over its head, but...
"I’ll be damned. Godzilla," Bonbon exhaled in admiration. "Come on, let’s watch it break the bridge! I haven’t been to the movies in a hundred years."
"He doesn’t care about the bridge. He’s just going under it," Masyanya said with a nervous laugh. "But I’d like to watch, too. Although..."
Hart! No one was even panicking! The initial fright had vanished, giving way to curiosity. Even Lita stood with her mouth ajar, admiring the marvelous lizard! I already knew I was surrounded by maniacs, but I hadn’t known they were this crazy! Though I, too, found myself wondering whether the monster would be destroying the bridge...
"He’s probably going the same way we are," Donut said as he touched my sleeve and nodded towards the city. "And I’m guessing he’ll get there in two hours and forty seven minutes. In other words, he’ll destroy the exit unless we reach it in time. The devs often added elements like that, though I don’t remember ever seeing such an epic beast in their plans."