I was surprised to see two unfamiliar characters, but they both looked almost the same as in life: Hairo the level 145 human guerilla fighter, and Willy the level 142 elf tracker. Apart from them, Crawler, Bomber, Irita, Patrick and I all sat down at the round table. Tissa and Infect stood shifting from foot to foot, not daring to sit down. I cast a frowning glance at them:
“Until a decision is made, you’re still officers. Take your seats.”
“Not everyone is here,” Crawler said. “Should we call the others?”
“The others?” To say I was surprised was an understatement. “Who?”
“Alex,” Irita said, gently touching me by the arm. “We all decided it. The clan is growing and expanding, the three of us couldn’t handle it all alone, so we voted to promote Manny, Gyula, Dekotra, Ranakotz…”
“What?” I interrupted. “Morena’s cultists are in the clan now?”
“Not just them. We took in all the followers, so they count toward the progress of the Awoken,” Bomber rumbled. “We made the leaders of all the factions officers. Grog’hyr and Ryg’har from the kobolds; Movarak, Ukavana and Sithanak from the troggs.”
“Manny and Gyula from the non-citizens,” Crawler added. “They’re all priests of the Sleepers.”
“And the guardians,” Bomber recalled. “Flaygray, Nega, Ripta and Anf are officers now too.”
I suddenly remembered the satyr and succubus’s mission.
“By the way, where are they?” I asked.
“The usual places,” Irita answered. “Ripta and Anf are on Mengoza, protecting the workers. Nega and Flay are drinking in Stephanie’s tavern. In total, Alex, the clan has twenty-two officers… well, twenty if you don’t count Melissa and Malik. That’s for almost three thousand sentients. It’s a reasonable management staff for that number of people.”
I noticed Tissa rolling her eyes while Irita spoke. She exchanged a glance with Infect, who shrugged helplessly.
“That’s without Hiros too,” Bomber added out of turn. “A fighter like that should be an officer…”
“Judge for yourself, Scyth!” Crawler said, turning to me. “The troggs had an internal conflict, a tribe split off that wanted to go back to their old gods. How do we fix that? Have me or Bomber wade in?”
“And when the cultists took over the new mine for their rituals? Manny scrapped with Ranakotz, then Gyula stood up for his friend and nearly killed the half-orc!”
“You have the Wild Ones now too, the ones who moved from the Zone,” Hairo chuckled. “You can consider them yet another ‘faction.’ Your officers are right, Alex, and they did the right thing by promoting those who were already leaders in their groups.”
“I’m all for it,” I said, shrugging and successfully pushing down the solo Alex within me who wanted to control all the decisions. “I fully approve and support it. But we’re talking about Infect and Tissa. Does your ‘reasonable management staff’ know about the situation? Or are we going to tell the troggs about the Amazons’ island in real life?” No matter how hard I tried to sound indifferent, it still came out venomous. “Let’s make the decision ourselves, without the NPCs…”
“I’ll call Manny and Gyula,” Crawler said. “By the way, Scyth, so you know – there’s a command to summon the officers in the clan control panel now. It only works inside the castle, but it’s really convenient. Just a shame the workers are on Mengoza. Let’s go get them, Bomb.”
Bomber nodded and the gnome and titan disappeared from their seats with a clap.
“Should I go, Alex?” Patrick asked. “I’m also a kind of ‘NPC,’ as you put it.”
I felt ashamed for a moment, but only a moment. I just didn’t see the point in all the officers being there. Even Manny and Gyula didn’t really need to be there, because our issues with the traitors were more of a family matter between the founders.
“Stay, Patrick,” I said. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I just meant that the locals would find it hard to understand all the nuances…”
Another clap, and four appeared at the entrance: Bomb and Crawler returning with Manny and Gyula. The new arrivals sat at the table, looking so relaxed that I was sure this wasn’t the first time they sat there.
“Alright, business,” Crawler said. “Is everyone aware of the topic?”
“I am,” Patrick muttered. “If my opinion counts, then I’ll remind you who I was in Tristad. Everyone apart from these two,” he pointed to Hairo and Willy, “know that I was an indigent lowlife begging for coppers. But I was given a second chance. I ask the same for these young people…” Patrick looked at Tissa and Infect. “They were led astray. Punish them as you like, but let them stay in the clan.”
“Thing is, Scyth…” Bomber muttered, staring at the table. “We agreed with you about Malik in real life, but you’d only just landed… We didn’t want to argue. Infect is like a brother to us! Behemoth said he took the daggers because he thinks of himself as a thief, it was habit!”
“Subconscious,” Irita nodded. “I’ve read about that. Maybe Malik is a kleptomaniac?”
“You’re a kleptomaniac!” Infect snapped back, breaking his silence. “Maybe we should verify you too, just to be fair about this! Here I am, a clan co-founder, and I’m about to be punished for taking loose change while you steal fortunes! How much have you squirreled away? Bomb, Crawler, you’re still sane, right? Why don’t we investigate her?”
“This is such a joke!” Tissa exclaimed. “Come to your senses, Alex! What did we do that was so wrong? When I decided to go to the White Amazons, you let me go yourself! You didn’t even try to talk me out of it! And Infect was always by your side, even changed his class for the good of the clan! Is all this about Liam? If that’s what it is, then just say you’re hurt, that you want to kick me out of the clan! Admit that jealousy has turned you into a moron!”
The girl’s cry echoed off the walls in the dead silence: Moron! Moron! Moron..!
“You left. That means we’re not talking about kicking you out, but letting you in. And I’m against it.”
“Oh, come on,” Tissa said, looking at Crawler. “You promised it would all be fine, Ed!”
“Seriously, Scyth,” he said. “There are few of us as it is, and you want us to kick out a brother and sister? You know that was just a performance at the Games, that you wouldn’t have won if it weren’t for Tissa and Infect!”
“Damn it, Alex…” Bomber swore. “We agreed to vote on decisions like this!”
“Don’t worry, that’s just what we’ll do,” I answered, keeping myself in check. “I see you and Ed had your own little performance a couple of hours ago in real life. You both voted to kick out Infect!”
“We had to, Scyth,” Crawler said. “We wanted you to agree to meet with everyone and look them in the eye…”
We need to keep them both and hold them, Hairo messaged me privately. Locked up? I asked. They’ll turn against you, the guerilla answered, shaking his head.
“Anyone else have anything to say?” I asked.
“Let them stay,” Willy said. “Malik gives back what he stole and that’s that. Bygones. We’ll keep an eye on him in real life, but in Dis, just keep him away from the silverware.”
“You can get killed for thievery in Cali Bottom,” Manny muttered. “And I gather we’re not really talking about loose change. I heard Irita counted it at twenty million. I won’t earn that much in my life, but for him it’s ‘loose change.’ Real nice. As for the girl… You boys are still young, you need to learn how to forgive. Everything’s black and white with you. If you split the world up like that, you stop wanting to live. Learn to understand each other instead. There are no perfect people, so get used to the flaws of your nearest and dearest.”
“Agreed,” Gyula said, a man of few words as usual. “No need to kick ‘em out. They know too much, and I don’t see much treachery in what they did. But it’s for you to decide, Alex.”
“It’s for everyone to decide. But whatever we choose,
I want to say to my former friends…” I fell silent, staring intently at the faces of Tissa and Malik. The girl stared back icily and the boy waited for the verdict, biting his lip. “Malik, Melissa… I’ll never find the words to describe how I felt at that press conference on the opening day of the Games. You both went and pissed all over our whole friendship. I used to love you guys. Now there’s just a frozen hole the size of the Pitfall where that feeling used to be. I don’t know if it’ll ever come back…”
As I finished talking, I suddenly realized how sappy I was being, and felt ashamed for my whining. Clearing my throat, I glanced at the other officers and said firmly:
“Let’s vote. All in favor of forgiving Infect and letting him stay in the clan?” All hands went up apart from mine and Irita’s. “All in favor of demoting him to a regular member?” Three hands raised: Patrick’s, mine and Irita’s. “Leaving him as an officer with limited access?” Again all were in favor except me and Irita. “All in favor of letting Tissa stay in the clan?” All in favor except us two. “Leaving her as an officer with full access?” The same again. “In favor of moving Melissa Schafer to the clan base in Cali?” Unanimous.
Leaping up and shrieking, Tissa rushed to hug Bomber, Crawler and Infect, who was grinning happily.
Irita raised a hand:
“Wait!”
The celebrations abated. Everyone looked at her in confusion.
“I insist on moving to the clan base too,” Irita said firmly. “Vote.”
We all voted ‘yes’ except Tissa and Infect. Hairo rose and turned to the girls:
“Melissa, Rita, pack your things. Willy and I will pick you both up today.”
Chapter 4. Double Standards
WE DIDN’T ARRANGE IT, it just happened. Everyone left the command center except me, Crawler and Bomber. Irita, Infect and Patrick went to return the daggers the bard had ‘borrowed.’ Willy led Melissa away to discuss her relocation to Cali Bottom. Manny and Gyula headed to the Pig and Whistle to eat.
I had one single desire – to get the hell out of there and calm down the cats scratching at my soul. But Crawler and Bomber stayed seated, hinting that they wanted to explain, and I didn’t stand up either.
“Scyth…” the warrior said gently. “We know we’re in the wrong.”
“We should have warned you about our plans,” the mage added. He aimed an open palm at the door, clenched his fist and the door disappeared, replaced by smooth wall. “Now we can talk properly.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into your head, guys, but I’m this far…” I raised my thumb and forefinger with a hair’s space between them, “from leaving the clan and going solo. And it’s not what you did, it’s how you did it.”
“Tissa isn’t the only one Behemoth spoke to,” Crawler said. “Bomb practically hasn’t been here either, but I saw the Sleeper every day. He and I spoke about a lot. Everything that’s happened was his idea.”
“Convenient for you to put it all on him…” I snapped back, sneering angrily. “What did you promise Tissa?”
“What did I promise her…” Crawler lit up a small fireball the size of a lemon and stared enchanted into the flows of plasma circulating within it. “I promised her…”
“Hold on!” Bomber blurted out. “Scyth, when I put myself in your position, I understand perfectly how you feel right now! So does Ed! And we don’t like it one bit either! So come on, man, listen to the whole story from the start, then we’ll put our heads together and figure it what to do next, alright?!”
He had called Crawler by his real name. The former Dementors strictly followed the rule of using only in-game names in Dis, and I’d gotten the habit from them. Now, by violating that rule, Hung showed that this situation wasn’t specific to the game only. It affected real life too.
“Alright. Go on, Ed.”
Crawler snuffed out his fireball and looked me in the eye.
“Okay… After Malik and Tissa’s performance in the Games, Bomb and I blew up. We were going to kick them both out of the clan. We had the authority. If you don’t believe it, ask your journalist friend Ian. He contacted us.”
“Yeah, he said.”
“I would have done it, but Behemoth summoned me and ordered me to let them stay.”
“The Sleeper’s really been making himself at home…” I said with a grimace.
“Nobody planned to bring Tissa back,” Bomber added. “We love her, but the Awoken hasn’t been a family fun clan for a long time. We have serious missions, and believe me, we know that better than many. We know what’s at stake, and we don’t trust Tissa anymore.”
“Serious missions? What do you mean? Making money?”
“It’s not about the money,” the mage shook his head. “Irita and I created a fund… No, your girlfriend doesn’t have any claim to it, you and I can discuss that in more detail later. The point is, it’s at around four hundred million real phoenixes now, tax already paid.”
“How much?” I asked, not believing my ears. “Four hundred million? Where from? I get that the Portal Key to Holdest sold for a hundred, but the rest?”
“Irita sold a lot of top player loot and our resource gathering has increased,” Crawler answered. “And four hundred is only what we’ve taken out. There’s around almost as much gold left in the treasury.”
“Holy cow..!”
“That’s what I’m saying! Each of the three of us has a share in it. Half is yours, then Hung and I get a quarter each. Malik was originally listed too, but we kicked him out after what he and Tissa did at the Games.”
“We can withdraw the money any time, in full or in part,” Hung said. “But there are two conditions. The first – your approval is required. Irita insisted on that. The second – if any of us deliberately does anything to harm the Awoken, he loses his share.”
“And who defines harm?” I asked carefully, feeling a catch.
“You,” my friends answered in synchrony. Crawler added: “You can thank Irita for that part too.”
“Marry her, Alex!” the warrior laughed, but his eyes stayed serious. “That girl is your guardian angel.”
“The bottom line is, it’s not about money,” the mage repeated. “If you think we betrayed you, then you can do whatever you want. Leave the clan, kick us out, take our shares…”
“Wait, if it’s not about money, then what? What is it about for you guys?”
“Listen, for us, Dis was always more than just a game,” Bomber answered. “But it’s a game too. We have fun leveling up, achieving stuff…”
“But that’s not the point!” Crawler interrupted. “We spent a lot of time with our non-citizens while you were at the Games. We spoke to the Wild Ones and the new workers. There are assholes and dumbasses among them too, you know, but all in all, they’re just like us. I don’t even get why people are split into citizens and non-citizens!”
“Yeah, me neither,” Hung interjected. “We’ve seen and heard enough of how they live. Hard to call it living! They give their kids one UNB for a whole day! They’re starving! Point is, Ed and I decided that since things are going well for us now and the future is assured, it’s time to think about others. I know we can’t help everyone, but…”
“We can help the ones we can help,” I agreed.
“That’s right!” Crawler said, clenching his fist. “We can grow the clan, capture new territory, offer non-citizens better labor conditions than other clans, finance decent capsules for them…”
“Great, I’m all for that, but what do Melissa and Infect have to do with it?”
“Firstly, Tissa. Her achievement didn’t allow an anonymous All Hail the Hero, so she started getting all kinds of offers from clans. The most generous was from the Children of Kratos: a hundred million phoenixes per year, and citizenship category C too – they can’t take her if her category is lower than that anyway, they said. Nice offer, don’t you think?”
I said nothing, and Crawler continued:
“The information’s n
ot fake, it made it into the Children of Kratos’ news. And Behemoth and the security officers insist we need to keep Tissa close, and give her moral support. So we’re, like, ‘on her side.’” The mage said that last part in air quotes. “Believe me, it wasn’t us who planned this caper, it was the people you probably trust more than us.”
“That’s right,” Hung said, working his jaw. “Come on, we had to do what we did at the council meeting! The Sleeper told us to keep Tissa safe. She’s a mess inside. Her behavior today was just defensiveness. You know her. If something’s wrong, she curls up like a hedgehog. We needed her to want to stay, and if it weren’t for us…”
“Think about it, Alex,” Crawler said, picking up the baton in the relay race to convince me. “It was one thing when Tissa was in the Amazons, controlled by our ally Hinterleaf. It’s another if she goes to enemy preventers. Hung and I invited Tissa to stay in the Awoken and promised that we’d convince you. She wouldn’t join as a regular recruit, so we offered her a year-long contract for ten million with her officer rank intact…”
Enemy of the Inferno (Disgardium Book #8): LitRPG Series Page 10