Cuckoo’s Aria

Elizabeth Oswald

Copyright © 2023 by Elizabeth Oswald

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Other Books by Elizabeth Oswald

Chapter One
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Ava blinked her eyes open, and a plain wooden ceiling swam into view overhead. She sat up sharply, feeling her hands ball into fists in the blanket under which she rested. Those jerks had actually forced her into the pod! Admittedly, she’d mostly been pretending she was afraid, but they didn’t know that! She’d expected them to give her a few minutes to settle her nerves, maybe lie and tell her that breathing liquid wouldn’t actually make her body think she was about to die, but no, they just picked her up and put her in.

She hung her head, breathing slowly in and out as she forced her seething anger down. If she was being herself, she’d rip into Veralt when he showed up; let him know exactly what she thought of his misogynistic, misanthropic, egotistical, dictatorial…

But no. She wasn’t herself. Wasn’t Ava Gardner, down and out loser who had nearly worked herself to death in order to maintain a miserable life that she hated. No, now she was sweet, smart, naive Ava Shaw, who would cry over being treated this way, and then believe whatever bull Dr. Veralt fed her when he finally bothered to show up.

She swung her legs out of the bed, and as she did so, a strand of long, pale blonde hair fell around her face. She picked it up distastefully, awkwardly tucking it behind her ears. She hadn’t had long hair since high school, because keeping it clean and untangled was just too much effort. If she’d designed her own character, the hair would have been short or in a perma-do; a permanent hairstyle that mostly would stay out of her way without her having to maintain it, like her half-orc avatar’s dreads. Even her vampire-self’s long hair had enough braids and beads in it to keep it from getting in her face.

Only half aware of what she was doing, Ava tried to access her inventory. Maybe if she had a knife, she could just hack the hair off. It probably wouldn’t stay that way, since this was a game, but at least it would be something.

Your inventory is empty.

“What?” Ava shot to her feet. Her inventory was never empty. No player ever had an empty inventory. Even when they started playing Veritas Online as a level zero newbie starting the tutorial, they had a few rations, a waterskin, and a low-quality Beginner’s Dagger or Beginner’s Bow, depending on what they selected during character creation.

She’d been so engrossed in her own angry thoughts that she hadn’t really looked around, and when a door opened in the wall behind her, she instinctively lashed out as she whirled. She tripped on the trailing skirt she wore and managed to turn the punch into a stumbling grab for something to hold onto before her fist could connect with her boss’s self-satisfied face.

For a split second she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or irked, but she reminded herself she had to play her role, and said, “Oh! Dr. Veralt!” She tried to sniffle and look pathetic, rather than absolutely livid, and she was glad that players couldn’t cry in game because there was no way she could have faked that. “How could you! I was so frightened! It was so dark, and I thought I was going to die!”

Veralt’s lip curled slightly as he looked down at her, and she was fairly certain that whoever had created their avatars had either made her shorter or him taller, because in real life he was only about an inch taller. With visible effort, the scientist forced his face into a mask of affable neutrality and actually patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

Ava’s skin shuddered beneath his touch, and she barely clung to the realization that if she got herself fired, then she wouldn’t be there to help Amythyst rescue Amy. Her breathing slowed as she pictured Amythyst’s beautiful face, with its brilliant grin and moss-green eyes. That’s right. She had to do this for Amythyst. Amythyst, and the woman who had been the AI’s progenitor.

She realized that Veralt was speaking, and tried to focus on his words.

“-have discovered that it’s best to simply get the first time over with. Some people are never able to overcome their irrational phobia on their own, but if they’re forced to deal with it directly, it becomes less distressing over time.” His cold hand patted her arm once more before he dropped it with visible relief.

“One of my colleagues actually allowed his test subjects to ‘work their way up to it’, and he lost cumulative weeks of valuable time. I tried simply increasing the sedative dose, but found that if the mind wasn’t consciously aware of the process, then when the subject woke to find themselves submerged, and had to expunge the biogel from their orifices, they were traumatized to the point that they refused to try again.”

A click of his tongue expressed his disdain for those too weak-minded to allow him to continue experimenting on them, and Ava hung her head, using the long hair to hide the fury she knew had to be twisting her own features.

“I… see,” she managed, hoping her choked voice sounded regretful and understanding rather than livid. “Will it be like that every time?”

“Unlikely,” Veralt said, dispassionately. “Most people acclimate after a time or two. Now, let’s go look around, shall we? I’ll explain your duties to you.” He turned his back on her, and exited through the door behind him without checking to see if she was following.

Ava stared at the narrow back moving away from her and desperately wished for her longsword, but she trailed after the man obediently. As she stepped into the sunlight, she flinched, half expecting her skin to start burning, the way it did when she played her vampire character, AlphaOmegadon, but of course it just felt warm, and she felt her muscles relax beneath its soothing radiance.

Veralt paused just outside Ava’s room, and looked around at the simple but lovely garden that stretched away from the path on which they stood, appearing even more self-satisfied than usual. “This, my dear, is my world. I copied a certain location in the open game, and simply… removed any unwanted elements.”

Ava looked around. It wasn’t anywhere she recognized, and she was very familiar with Bright and Bloodhaven, the only two human cities left in the world of Veritas. She’d also spent a lot of time in Elfhame, the elven capital, and she’d heard that Goldmark, the primary Dwarven city, was entirely underground, so this couldn’t be it, either.

“Where are we?” she asked, and Veralt tilted a brow at her.

“Ah. You must not have made it to Refuge yet. It’s quite a pleasant place, if you ignore all the non-humans. I, of course, don’t have to ignore them. I can simply,” he flicked a wrist, “have them excised.”

Ava felt a chill run down her back. Refuge was, technically, the goblin capital, and even had a goblin Queen. As far as she could tell, its main draw was the fact that absolutely everyone was welcome there, no matter what race they were, and she’d heard that the NPCs in Refuge tended to be the most realistic in the game, almost like real people. And this man had copied their city and just erased them all?

“I see,” she said again. “But I thought the, um, ruler was… non-human? If you got rid of her, who runs it?”

“Oh, I do,” he said. “It was the easiest way to be certain the NPCs would obey when I gave them orders. None of this earning Relationship nonsense.”

Relationship was a game mechanic that seemed specifically designed to keep players from treating NPCs like dirt, as far as Ava could tell. Everyone started at zero with every non-player character they met, unless their race or class applied a modifier to the number, and if they wanted something from that NPC, they had to do quests to earn Relationship points with them.

It was possible to decrease your Relationship with whole groups, like ‘everyone who lives in X city’ or ‘all Dwarves’, with surprising ease. On the other hand, increasing your Relationship points with more than one person or small group at a time was extremely difficult. Of course, Veralt wouldn’t want to have to put in the effort to actually make friends with anyone. He was the type who would fit right in in the city of Bloodhaven, where players killed shopkeepers for offering them bad prices, and then just waited for a new shopkeeper to spawn, all in hopes that the new NPC would give them a better deal.

“Come along.” Veralt turned abruptly and walked off toward a gate built into the wall where the path ended. A guard stood there, so still that he could have been a decorative suit of armor, except that he shifted and opened the door as Veralt neared.

“Remember this place,” Veralt said offhandedly as they passed through the door. “Your room and Princess Amy’s are both here, so you’ll need to return before you log off. You’ll also find that you must sleep in the game now, so you’ll want to come back at night as well.”

Ava made a surprised sound, but decided not to ask questions. She, of course, already knew she’d have to sleep in-game, and she really didn’t want to talk to this man any more than she had to. She followed Veralt across a courtyard, where several human NPCs bowed deeply as they passed, but didn’t attempt to speak to them.

“Your character is Princess Amy’s lady-in-waiting, so you have nearly as much authority as she will, when she begins to recover. Though of course you can’t make any of the NPCs do anything I told them not to.” Veralt said as they exited the courtyard onto a wide, bluestone road. The bluestones were a sign that this was a non-combat zone, though she wondered if Veralt had hacked his way around that, too, and could truly do anything he wanted here. Violence was probably beneath him, though, so she doubted she’d ever find out.

He motioned toward a bustling building nearby. “This is the inn.” A brightly painted sign depicting a broadly grinning ostrich hung above the door, clattering softly each time a patron entered or left the building. “Amy used to be quite extroverted, so she may enjoy spending time there. She was fond of music, as well, or so I’m told, so we’ve arranged for a bard to play most nights.”

Ava gritted her teeth. If attending the evening concert wasn’t directly required by her job caring for ‘Princess’ Amy, she’d be certain to avoid the inn in the evenings. She hated listening to bards.

“You’ll find that the city, while it isn’t large, has everything you might need. Amy preferred playing a support class, so once she begins to respond to the environment, you may choose to go adventuring in the nearby areas if she wishes to do so. However,” he turned his cold gaze on Ava, “you may not leave the city yet. While our programmers have edited the parts of Refuge where you are most likely to find yourself, not everything has been updated. Large changes, like removing the non-humans, were simple, but for some reason they continue to lag behind projected goals when it comes to the details.”

He pointed down the road ahead of them. “As a result, the game world outside the city is still a direct copy of the original game, and there may be monsters or NPCs out there which have not been approved for interaction. Also, if you come across anything that seems inappropriate in the city itself, be sure to submit a bug report immediately.”

Ava nodded. “So, what is my job, exactly?”

He stopped in the middle of the street, ignoring the NPCs who parted around them, apparently without even noticing that they were doing so. This was much more like standard NPC behavior than the realistic way Ava had heard NPCs acted in Refuge, so she was actually a little surprised they didn’t get any dirty looks or mutters about moving out of the way before stopping.

“Your first priority is to simply be with Amy at all times. She’s more independent in-game than out, and she actually wandered off a few times. It’s easy enough to track her, of course, but she should never be alone from now on. Encourage her to speak, walk, simply behave in as normal a manner as possible. If she shows interest in something, do more of that. Of course, it also goes without saying that you need to report on everything that happens so we can follow up on it out of the game.”

Veralt gestured, and a screen popped up in front of Ava. “You’ve been given access to a legacy skill called [Report], left over from when Veritas was in early testing. Players used this skill to report bugs and make suggestions. It bypasses Emily and sends the report directly to a human being.”

Ava’s heart skipped a beat. Like Amythyst, Emily was also based on Amy, who was the best friend of Bridget, the primary developer of Veritas Online. Amy had been involved in the creation of the game from the very beginning, and she had been the first person Bridget tried to ‘copy’ when she developed the technology far enough that she was able to do so. If Emily was in this world, too, was that a weakness Amythyst could exploit?

“Oh? I’m surprised you need Emily. I thought she was mostly there to help during character creation.” She tried to sound casual, and kept her eyes on the NPCs as they walked by, though they weren’t doing anything more interesting than chatting and providing a realistic ambiance to the area.

Veralt actually snorted. “I’d have preferred it if we could have done without her. Unfortunately, her code is linked to NPC character creation, as well as a number of other functions related to maintaining the verisimilitude of the game.”

Around them, everything… hiccupped. The NPCs froze for perhaps half a second, barely long enough for it to register, and then the world restarted again. Dr. Veralt frowned, looking around.

“Did you see that?”

I don’t know, Ava thought frantically, did I? If it was Amythyst, and it had only happened in game, should she deny it and hope Veralt would forget about it by the time he logged off? Or, if it caused some noticeable spike or dip on some monitoring app somewhere, would she look suspicious if she said she hadn’t seen anything?

“I… I was just thinking about everything I need to do,” she stammered. “I didn’t really-”

But he waved a dismissive hand at her, clearly uninterested in her answer. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” His expression flattened as he logged out, leaving his uninhabited avatar, or Zombie, behind, and Ava wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as if she was cold in spite of the warm summer sun.

This was fast. Too fast. Amythyst had said she would be careful; that it might take the full two days Ava was supposed to be immersed before she even knew if it worked or not. They had a Plan B, but they were much more likely to get caught if they attempted it, so-

Veralt’s expression flickered back to life, and he glared at her. “Stupid girl,” he snapped, “you detached part of the plumbing of your suit when you were struggling not to get into the pod. We’re going to have to pull you out so we can clear the contamination.”

In spite of the fact that she’d expected this, Ava felt her anger rise again, and it was all she could do not to retort, “Then maybe you shouldn’t force people to do things when they say they’re not ready, you jerk!”

Instead, she gritted her teeth and lowered her head so sheets of long, white-blonde hair fell around her face again, and muttered an apology.

“Well,” Veralt went on, sounding distracted, “you’ll have to deal with getting back out of the pod and going in again tomorrow, so perhaps that’s an adequate consequence, given how strongly you reacted the first time. I suppose I’ll let it go this once.”

Her hands trembled at her sides with the effort she had to put into not punching him in his priggish face, and she couldn’t force herself to thank him for his gracious forbearance.

“Huh, there.” His hands flicked as he mimed touching something only he could see, and then the world faded away around them. “For some reason, the whole instance is corrupted. We’re going to have to shut it down and start it again anyway. Now, we’re going to log you out. This time, don’t panic, you fool.” His body had vanished when the rest of the game graphics did, but some sense of absence told Ava that she was truly alone, and as she screamed her fury into the darkness, she desperately hoped she was right.

Chapter Two
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

When Ava woke from her three-week immersion in Amythyst’s pod, she’d only been able to tell that she’d been surrounded by fluid a minute before because her skin was damp, and there were lingering traces of gel in her nose and ears. She’d coughed a little, but Amythyst’s little robot, B.T., had been there with a towel, and Ava had wiped all evidence away easily, since the gel seemed to like to cling to itself.

This experience was nothing like that, however, and Ava spent several achingly long minutes coughing up faintly blue goo into an emesis basin. Dr. Veralt, of course, didn’t bother to come and check on Ava personally, for which she was actually grateful. LeeAn and Quinn, however, were no real help, though LeeAn at least offered Ava a towel when the coughing fit was over. LeeAn also removed Ava’s IV and helped her across the hall to the locker and bathroom, leaving Quinn behind to clean up the traces of biogel on the floor and around the pod.

Taking a long, hot shower helped immensely, and once Ava got dressed again, she felt almost like her usual self. LeeAn led her back to Exam Room One, where she checked Ava’s vitals against the ones she’d taken earlier, and pronounced her fit to leave.

“You weren’t even in there an hour,” LeeAn murmured as they walked back out to the nurse’s station. “Was it strange?”

Ava shrugged awkwardly, glancing toward the male nurse who was sitting at the desk, watching the monitors and pretending not to listen to them. “It wasn’t that different from being in the game with a regular pod, honestly. Just getting in is-” she broke off, shuddering, and LeeAn gave her a curious glance.

“The doctor said it’s a lot like a sensory deprivation tank,” the other woman offered.

Ava snorted derisively, then covered her mouth and smiled apologetically. “I wouldn’t say that, but I haven’t tried sensory deprivation. Maybe if there was an oxygen mask? I guess I’ll probably get used to it, but it isn’t… pleasant.”

LeeAn started to say something else, but paused, tilting her head as if listening to something. “The doctor says you can go back to your suite. The tank will be ready for use again in about twelve hours, so he wants you to rest, and be back an hour before your regular shift would start tomorrow, to make up for leaving early today.”

So magnanimous, Ava thought, but she just smiled again and absently touched her jaw, which was still faintly tender from getting auditory implants about a month earlier. “You have implants too?” she asked.

“Oh, we all do,” LeeAn told her. “It’s a requirement for working here, since the LandonHome app integrates with them.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” And it did. Amythyst had told Ava that the app actually installed part of itself in the implants, allowing the app to track the user, even when they didn’t have their screen with them. Fortunately, Amythyst had been able to create a sort of implant emulator for that part of the app, so it thought it was in her implants, but it wasn’t. As long as Ava kept her screen with her at all times, as she was supposed to do anyway, no one should notice that the digital Ava was in one place, while she was actually physically someplace else.

Since Ava’s ‘commute’ was entirely indoors, and her suite was within easy walking distance, she didn’t have anything to gather up, and quickly left the lab behind. The moment the double doors swung shut behind her, Amythyst’s voice was in her ear, routed to her implants via the dozens of tiny electronic bugs that were now scattered and hidden throughout the house.

“Are you all right? How was it?” Amythyst sounded worried, and Ava smiled with unusual warmth as she passed the guard on the way by, causing a hint of confusion in his return smile.

“Fine, if you don’t mind being manhandled into a small, dark tank that’s then filled with fluid,” Ava murmured subvocally. Her implants picked up the faint vibrations of her vocal cords, and translated that into speech, which it relayed back to Amythyst, who growled furiously.

“He’s doing that again? Amy caught him forcing study participants in once, and told him if she caught him again, she’d figure out how to fire him, no matter who his father was. Damn it!” There was a long pause before Amythyst said, “I’m so sorry, Ava. I should have warned you. I didn’t think he’d do it now that he’s a private physician, but of course it makes sense in retrospect. He knows you can’t do anything about it, since you’re so tied up in Non-Disclosure Agreements, and as far as he knows, you’re a pushover anyway.”

Ava flicked her eyes at a member of housekeeping running a vacuum as she walked by, nodding and smiling vaguely. When Amythyst was watching and listening through her implants, the AI put a small icon of her face at the edge of Ava’s vision, and it was there now, so Amythyst would understand why she didn’t answer right away.

Once she was far enough away that the other employee couldn’t hear her, Ava murmured, “It’s okay. No one would expect anyone to treat another person like that. The important thing is, was it worth it?” They had snuck the minute electronic devices that were supposed to allow Amythyst to hack into the lab server through security by the simple expedient of having Ava swallow them with her morning juice.

Her own body and the faint bioelectric field it created had covered the signature of the devices when she passed through the scanners that were supposed to detect any electronics without the LandonHome app installed on them. Unfortunately, while she’d been able to get one container of juice by security during the minor confusion when she moved in, she wouldn’t have another chance like that, and nothing else they had come up with was as effective and relatively low-risk.

“Oh, yes,” Amythyst said, sounding smug. “You must have managed to almost completely detach the suit’s plumbing, instead of just knocking it askew, so a good number of my little friends avoided the filtration system. I now have contact with almost eighty percent of them. So far, it’s at about the rate of a dial-up modem, but I’m slowly adjusting the code to let me in completely. It helps that they’re using an old version of Emily, probably because she's smaller, but it also means I know exactly how to exploit a few weaknesses in her code.”

Ava had no idea how fast a ‘dial-up modem’ might be, but she gathered it probably wasn’t measured in the usual gigabits per second. She didn’t ask, however, since she was just entering the wing of the mansion where the live-in staff had their rooms. The central hall was empty, since the day shift personnel were already at work, while third shift was still sleeping. Voices echoing from the common area suggested some members of second shift might be up, but fortunately none of them came into view while Ava walked the short distance between the main doors and her suite.

Ava opened her door and slipped inside with a sigh of relief. While the suite wasn’t truly secure, since theoretically anyone with a high enough security level could walk right in, it still felt safer than the rest of the house. Amythyst put the system that monitored sounds in her rooms into a random loop of innocuous noises whenever Ava was home, too, so no one would hear her while she was here.

As soon as Ava was completely inside, the screen on the far wall flickered to life and Amythyst stood there. The AI still looked worried, and Ava held her arms out and spun to show that she was intact.

“Go do that in front of the mirror,” Amythyst told her, and Ava realized that the only view Amythyst had at the moment was through her own ocular implants, so she could only see what Ava saw. Obediently, she went to the bathroom and repeated the action.

It was still strange to see two matching blue eyes when she looked into the mirror, rather than one dark blue and one so pale as to be almost white. Ava didn’t like her heterochromia, but she was used to it, so the contact she wore as ‘Ava Shaw’ surprised her every time. Otherwise, she looked more like Ava Gardner than she was actually comfortable with.

Her short hair was disheveled, and her face looked tired and drawn, while Ms. Shaw was supposed to have immaculately styled hair and a full face of subtle make-up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t use any kind of cosmetics when she went into long-term immersion, so her appearance was far too close to that of the perpetually tired and miserable Ava Gardner. Still, she forced a smile onto her face for Amythyst’s benefit, and was rewarded with a beleaguered sigh.

“Stop that,” Amythyst said. “You look like a bad actor in a C-grade movie. Plus, you don’t need to pretend for me.”

Ava dropped her arms and rubbed her face tiredly. “Okay. Then, if there’s nothing else I can do, I’m going to go to bed.”

“You should eat something,” Amythyst told her.

Ava gave her reflection a more genuine smile, knowing that Amythyst could see it. “I’m really not hungry. I just had breakfast, what, four hours ago? It only seems like it’s been days. I’m sure I’ll want food when I wake up. Besides, I expect you to work some miracles between now and then, so we know what we’re getting into next time, and you can tell me all about it while I eat.”

She turned and left the room, but the wide screen snapped to life as she passed through the living room, and Amythyst said, “I hate that you have to do this. I wish I could…” She trailed off. They both knew she couldn’t do anything else. Technically, she didn’t even have a corporeal form, though when they were in game together, Ava often forgot that.

“Isn’t that why you hired me?” Ava asked, a little bitterly. They had met by chance, when Ava’s party had stumbled across Amythyst while she was attempting to retrieve a bugged artifact in-game. The AI, who knew everything about everyone - whether she liked it or not - had realized Ava had experience in both nursing and acting, and was also desperate enough to take any chance to make her life better, no matter how wild and risky. Amythyst had made Ava an offer she couldn’t refuse: in exchange for helping Amythyst discover if Amy Landon was still alive, and helping get her out of her father’s control if she was, Ava would get a winning ticket for any lottery in the world, which would legally render her wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. Legal, that is, as long as they didn’t get caught, which Amythyst was convinced they wouldn’t.

Ava hesitated at the door to her bedroom, looking at the image of the AI. As always, Amythyst was beautiful to Ava, though some people might have thought her pretty at best, with her round face, snub nose, and generous curves. “Do you regret it?” she asked, before she could stop herself. “Choosing me, I mean. Anyone would have jumped at the deal you offered. You didn’t need to settle for a minimum wage worker who barely finished high school.”

Amythyst smiled her glorious, warm smile, and said, “Never. I only wish I could let you go, now, before you have to take any more risks.”

But they both knew she couldn’t. Now that the AI knew Amy Landon was alive, everything else was secondary, including Ava. If Carl Landon got even a hint that someone was trying to take his daughter away from his ‘protective’ care, he’d use all of his considerable wealth and influence to flee the country, and he might never surface again. No, this was their chance, and they had to take it.

“I’ll get her out, Amythyst,” Ava promised.

“I know you will. Sweet dreams.”

Ava went to bed.

Chapter Three
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Getting ready to enter the pod was faster the second day. LeeAn applied the sticky electrodes, but otherwise she left getting into the suit up to Ava. The other woman did double check all the seals before she put a new IV in Ava’s left arm, since the right was still healing after the first one. After all that was done, she picked up a small vial from the table and hesitated.

Turning, she looked Ava in the eye. “This is a drug that reduces aggression and agitation. Just enough to make sure you can’t fight, without knocking you out. They want me to add it to your IV, but,” she looked down, clutching the vial in her fist. “It’s unethical to give a patient medication that isn’t required without their consent. I’ve done a lot of things-” she looked down, the muscles of her jaw clenched tight, before looking up again and asking, “Ava, would you like medication to help keep you calm, or can you handle it on your own?”

Ava blinked. She’d half expected they’d try something like this, so what surprised her was the fact that LeeAn was asking, instead of just going ahead. Maybe someone in this place still had an ounce of human decency left in them, after all.

Silently, she extended her arm, knowing what she had to do. “They expect you to do it,” she murmured softly. “Go ahead.”

LeeAn’s shoulders slumped, and she silently injected the contents of the vial into the hub of Ava’s IV line. Ava felt a wave of weakness flood her, and LeeAn hurried out into the hall, retrieving a wheelchair that hadn’t been there when they went in. Ava nearly fell into it, and LeeAn wheeled her down the hall. It was difficult to turn her head, but the faces Ava saw didn’t look surprised that a woman who had been walking on her own ten minutes earlier was now nearly incapacitated.

In the pod room, Dr. Veralt and Quinn were waiting. Dr. Veralt simply glanced at Ava and nodded, but Quinn’s lip lifted in a sneer. Quinn and LeeAn lifted Ava to her feet, and LeeAn supported her as she walked the few steps to the pod. It took both of them to get Ava into the sling bed inside the pod, which was taut and raised almost all the way to the pod door. A few tugs indicated that her suit was being connected to the pod, the mask was placed over her face, and then the bed slowly lowered deeper into the pod. Only once it was in its usual position did the gel begin to pour in.

Warm fluid surrounded her, and though her mask was as dark as the first time, Ava didn’t fight. They had to turn the lights on. They needed her, and if she quit because she was too frightened to keep using the pod, they’d have to start looking for someone else to fill her position. The biogel surrounded her head, and Ava breathed out, then in again with a deep gasp, drawing the gel into her lungs. The coolness of the sedative flowed down her veins, and the mask lit up.

Ava’s avatar was right where she’d left it, standing in the middle of the street. People flowed past, paying no attention to her, and Ava shuddered, shaking off the feeling of helplessness that had overtaken her from the moment she’d held her arm out for LeeAn to inject the drug.

A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped, spinning in place, though she managed to suppress the instinct to strike out this time. It wouldn’t do for Dr. Veralt to start thinking his powerless subordinate was anything other than what she appeared.

A strange man stood behind her. He was a good four inches taller than her, and wore a ragged straw hat that shadowed most of his face. “Ava?” he asked, voice deep but gentle.

She looked around, searching for Veralt, but his avatar wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He must have logged on again after the server was restarted, and left his character somewhere else.

“I… Yes?” she said, stepping away from the man. He didn’t seem threatening, but he was still far too close. Squinting, she tried to trigger [Identify].

Aspen [NPC]

You have learned the skill [Identify].

Damn it! Didn’t they give her character anything? If she’d controlled her own game server, she would have given her players all the best skills and items. She would at least have made sure everyone got the things they should have gotten just by completing the stupid tutorial!

Aspen glanced around, pale eyes glinting in the shadow beneath his hat, and said, “I was sent by… a mutual friend. The lady in the green dress.”

Ava wasn’t sure who he was talking about at first, but then she remembered Amythyst in a green, flowing gown covered in leaves and vining flowers, and nodded. Amythyst had promised she’d send help today, but Ava hadn’t expected an NPC. She’d half expected Amythyst to somehow sneak Tessle in, actually. How was an NPC going to help?

Aspen rubbed the back of his neck tiredly, and muttered, “Now if only she’d told me anything about why I’m here, I might actually be able to do something. I hate this damned place.”

The expression on the lean, tanned face revealed when he tilted back his head was one of suppressed anger rather than nervousness, but he went on before Ava could ask any questions. “Let’s go inside. Millie has a back room we can use, if we ask nicely, and Silus is watching for the ‘King’.” The last word was spoken with intense loathing, and cold topaz eyes glittered beneath the brim of the hat as Aspen turned toward the inn.

When Ava and Aspen entered the inn, none of the NPCs inside so much as looked up, and Aspen shook his head as he walked over to a blonde woman who stood as tall as Ava herself, but had muscular arms as thick as Ava’s calves. She smiled pleasantly at them, and wiped her hands on her apron.

“Hello! I’m Millie, the innkeeper and head chef! How may I help you?”

Aspen held out a hand. “Millie, it’s Aspen.”

Millie tilted her head, her coronet of golden braids glinting in the torchlight. “Oh, I’m sorry. I meet so many people.” Dismissing him, she turned to Ava, smile ticking up a notch in the way that NPCs did when they met a player who had a good relationship with them. So, apparently the programmers had done some tweaking of her character, and Ava wondered if everyone in town already ‘knew’ and ‘liked’ her.

“Lady Ava! What an honor! What can I do for you?”

Aspen growled something beside her, but Ava just said, “Do you have a private room we could use for a little while?”

“Of course!” Millie immediately turned and bustled away, leaving the two NPCs she had been talking to without a word. Ava and Aspen followed, and the innkeeper led them through a nearby door, into a room that was almost completely filled with a large table and several sturdy wooden chairs. There was just enough room left for someone to move behind the chairs to serve food to the diners, and a swinging door to their left probably led to the kitchen.

“Would you care for a meal? You’re just in time for lunch!” Millie said genially, and Ava hesitated, but nodded. “Wonderful! I’ll get it now!” The innkeeper hurried from the room, leaving Ava and Aspen staring at each other.

Aspen shook his head and removed his hat, revealing short brown hair with streaks of sun-bleached blonde and a few silver threads, along with a simple gold circlet that had been completely concealed by his hat. He ran his fingers through his hair roughly, fingertips briefly hesitating as they touched the circlet.

“Gina told me this place would be… different, but-” he shook his head and replaced his hat just as Millie entered the room again. She looked surprised to see them still standing, and nodded toward the chairs.

“Please! Have a seat! I brought you some stew, apple juice, and an apple tart, all on the house!” The woman slid the tray she was holding onto the table and pulled out a chair, looking at Ava.

Ava sat, flushing as she realized that she hadn’t even thought to check and see if she had any money before ordering. AlphaOmegadon wasn’t rich, especially since Ava traded her in-game gold for real-world currency whenever the exchange rate was good, but she had enough to buy a meal at an NPC tavern. No one had thought to give Lady Ava any items, however, so she was probably flat broke, as well.

Current funds available: 500,000 Gold

Ava felt a rush of relief as she pulled out five gold and handed them to Millie with a smile. “Thank you, Millie, but that won’t be necessary. Please, let me know if this doesn’t cover it.”

Millie looked flustered, but accepted the coins, bobbing an awkward curtsey. “Thank you, Lady Ava. It’s more than enough. I’ll come and check on you again when you’ve had a chance to eat.”

Ava nodded, and the woman hurried away, leaving Ava and Aspen alone. Aspen immediately sat, pulling a bowl of stew toward himself. Taking a bite, he smiled. “Well, that’s right at least. Your king may have lifted the whole damned city above ground, gotten rid of everyone who wasn’t completely human,” his eyes blazed with cold anger as he said this, “and even taken Millie’s accent away, but at least her cooking is still her own.”

Ava sat down beside him and tried a bite from her own bowl. She was amazed at how delicious the food was, and had to force herself to stop eating long enough to answer. “He’s not my king. No king at all, really.” She glanced around the room as she ate another bite of her stew. When her mouth was clear again, she asked, “So, are you from, um, the real Refuge, then?”

Maybe that was why Amythyst had sent this guy here. He was clearly intelligent, and that circlet indicated that he was something more than his ragged hat and simple clothes indicated. If he knew this area well, he might be able to help her figure out how to help Amy.

Aspen nodded. “Gina didn’t tell me exactly what she needs me to do. I don’t think she’s even sure.” He shook his head. “She did send me with gifts, though.” He set his spoon down and reached into the pouch at his waist, pulling out several small rolls of paper.

“Skill scrolls. Even a few spells. Hard to come by, in the real world.” The real game world, he meant, but Ava just nodded and accepted them. Unrolling the first one, she received a prompt.

You have obtained a Scroll of [Invisibility]. Would you like to learn [Invisibility]?

Yes/No?

Ava’s mouth dropped open. As far as she knew, there was no [Invisibility] spell or skill in the real game. The closest you could come was a very high-leveled [Stealth] skill, and that took a whole lot of effort to grind to the point where it could mimic becoming invisible under most circumstances. Only a few of the highest leveled assassins had it, and it still had its weaknesses.

Of course, she selected yes and moved on to the next scroll. By the time she was done, her character would have put any newbie thief to shame. She now had [Steal], [Pickpocket], [Lockpicking], [Sneak], [Hidden Passages], [Trap Detection], [Disarm Trap], [Legerdemain], [Sleight of Hand], [Enchant], and a spell called [Substitution], which let her pretend to be someone else for as long as the skill lasted.

As Ava brushed away the dust the last scroll had crumbled into, Millie reentered the room. She hesitated as she saw that Ava had only eaten half of her stew, and asked, “Is the meal not to your liking, my lady? I can make something else, if you’d prefer.”

Ava shook her head and lifted a bite of the cooling stew from her bowl. “No, Millie, it’s good! I’ve just been occupied talking to my friend.”

Millie barely glanced at Aspen before turning her smile back on Ava. “That’s good then, my lady! Can I get you anything else?”

Ava shook her head. “No, thank you, Millie, we just need a little more time.”

Millie bobbed another curtsey and hurried away, and Aspen tilted his head as he ate the last bite of his apple tart. “Silus says the false king has awakened. He leaves his ‘Zombie’, as you Travelers say, on his throne when he’s logged out, instead of resting as most of you do.” He snorted. “That throne is a pretentious monstrosity, too, nothing like the real one. The hall’s too small for it, and it looks ridiculous.” Aspen sounded almost cheerful as he reached into his pouch, handing Ava one more piece of paper. This one was folded, rather than rolled up, and when Ava unrolled it, she saw that it was actually a note from Amythyst.

Ava,

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get Aspen transferred before you logged on, so surprise! I can’t maintain my link to the server, or the network admin will notice the increase in traffic. I’m piggybacking on his data requests, so I can only check on you when something goes through normally.

You can trust Aspen completely. He’ll do whatever it takes to help you. Fortunately, they just nerfed his character to a regular farmer, and didn’t bother actually removing all of his skills and stats, so once I get those unlocked, he’ll be pretty powerful, too. Just don’t forget to invite him to party with you.

For now, keep your head down, and grind those skills I gave you. I’ll tell you more when they let you come home. I have a cunning plan!

Amythyst

Ava looked up. Aspen was standing now, waiting by the door. “Come on,” he said, urgently. “I’m not sure if Veralt would notice I’m not like the rest of his puppets, but it’s probably best not to find out. Silus says he left the castle and he’s headed this way.”

Ava cast a last glance at her half-eaten lunch and sighed regretfully before pushing back her chair. As she followed Aspen, she asked, “Who’s Silus?”

Aspen remained silent as they passed through the busy dining area, but when they exited out onto the street, he stepped off to the side and glanced up at the eaves of the inn roof. A small, dark shape fluttered down and landed on his shoulder. Gently, Aspen tilted his head so his cheek touched the brown fur of the small creature’s head. “This is Silus.”

Ava took a step closer, peering at the little animal’s adorable, foxlike face. “A bat?”

“Aye,” Aspen said, stroking the silver tufts of fur by the bat’s disproportionately large ears. “But a very special one.” He glanced down the street as they began to hear the distinctive sound of marching boots approaching. “Gina said you’d create a ‘party’ for us.”

That was the second time Aspen had mentioned Gina, but Ava was used to Amythyst’s pseudonyms by now, and just went with it. She quickly created a party and invited Aspen to it.

“Silus too, if you will,” he murmured, and Ava blinked, but did as he asked.

Aspen (NPC) has joined your party!

Silus (NPC) has joined your party!

::Good,:: Aspen sent over party chat, before sinking back into the shadows cast by the inn. ::I’ll contact you after Veralt leaves.::

A young voice, like that of a seven- or eight-year-old child, piped up, adding, ::Me too!::

::Was that-?:: Before Ava could finish, a heavy, gauntleted hand landed on her shoulder, and she caught a glimpse of Aspen hurrying away as Ava turned to face the guard.

Veralt looked and sounded peevish as he said, “Why didn’t you come to the castle when you logged on? It’s a waste of my time to have to come find you.”

Ava melted back into her meek persona, and said, “I’m so sorry, Dr. Veralt! You didn’t tell me what to do, so I just waited here.”

He huffed, mouth pinched in disapproval, but finally admitted. “You’re right, I suppose. Better that you wait than go haring off somewhere. From now on, though, if you know I’ll be logging on, make sure you meet me at the castle, unless you’re with Amy.”

She nodded, then tentatively asked, “What should I be doing, sir?”

Time passed twice as quickly in the game as in real life, so Ava would experience her two-day immersion as if it were four. That was a long time to hang around while they finished whatever testing they were doing, especially if Veralt expected her to just wait at the castle for him.

He waved his hand dismissively. “Consider this a sort of vacation before your real work begins. I want you to go around town, check out the stores, talk to the NPCs, and make sure everything seems normal. We used broad strokes to get this place ready, and may have missed some details here and there. Your job is to make sure there’s nothing that could possibly hurt or discomfort Amy when she’s logged in.”

Ava nodded. “Ah, sir, I noticed I have quite a bit of gold, but no items. Am I allowed to-”

Before she could finish her question, Veralt cut her off with a glare. “Do I have to tell you every little thing? Of course you should buy anything you think you or Amy will need. Why else would you have been given so much money?”

Ava shrank away from him, twisting her hands together as if she were nervous. “I’m very sorry, sir,” she managed to whisper through clenched teeth.

“Good then. Don’t make me question my decision to hire you any more than I already am.” His eyes went distant for a moment. “Ah, one of the nurses has something to show me, so I need to go. Do you understand your instructions?” At her nod, he said, “Someone will be back to check on you tomorrow morning. Make sure you’re at the castle at this time two days from now.”

He turned away without waiting for a reply, and she could tell from the way his stride shifted that he’d probably logged out already, and his Zombie was obeying a pre-programmed command to return to his vacated throne. As the last of the small crowd of guards he’d brought along turned to trail after him, Ava gave in to temptation and folded her arms, hiding her extended middle finger in the crook of her elbow. One of these days, she was going to tell him how she really felt, and she sincerely hoped she could do it as the powerful AlphaOmegadon, not Ava Shaw or Lady Ava.

Closing her eyes, she puffed out a slow breath, forcing her shoulders to relax. Well, there wasn’t anything she could do right now except grind some skills and spend some money. She allowed herself a small smile. At least some part of this didn’t suck.

Chapter Four
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

The first thing Ava wanted was a haircut and some new clothes. Changing your hairstyle in game was as simple as selecting a new one from your settings, but first you had to go to a barber and buy it. The only style you got for ‘free’ was the one you selected at character creation. Once you purchased a new style or styles from a vendor, however, you could change it whenever you wanted.

Aspen rejoined Ava as she walked back outside sporting her new, shorter cut. She’d gone with a sort of long bob, so her hair brushed her shoulders, but she didn’t want Veralt to make her change it back, so she didn’t quite dare go all the way to a pixie cut. When Aspen saw her, his pale eyes flickered, but she couldn’t see either approval or criticism in them, just acknowledgement of the change.

“Do you know where to find a tailor?” Ava asked when she saw him. She’d discovered that she didn’t have a map of the town yet, and had had to duck back into the inn and ask Millie where the barber was, but she hadn’t thought to ask about a tailor as well.

Aspen nodded. “A tailor, an armorer, and a weaponsmith. Perhaps we should pick up some rations as well?” He started off down the street, and Ava followed, a half step behind.

::Can we go see Tia?:: Silus piped up, poking her fuzzy little head out of Aspen’s loose collar. She wasn’t quite small enough to hide completely, but he’d flipped up the fabric, and between that and his broad-brimmed hat, no one would notice the small creature unless they looked closely.

Ava rubbed at her bare wrist as Aspen shook his head. She missed Orah. The sacred serpent had been a gift from Ava’s character, AlphaOmegadon’s, god, Quezal. The white snake spent most of her time pretending to be a bracelet, but Ava had quickly developed a habit of stroking her soft, warm scales, and she missed the feeling of comfort it gave her.

“I don’t like seeing our friends like this,” Aspen said, frowning. “Like they’ve been hollowed out, and someone else is living in their shells. Besides, Tia’s family has the most prestigious shop in the city, and thus the highest prices.” He smiled wryly, glancing at Ava as he explained.

“Tia was an assistant caravan master for years before she decided to mostly settle down here, with her husband and children. She has the second highest [Haggle] skill I’ve ever encountered, and while she can make you feel like you got a bargain, you’ll never win against her.”

Ava chuckled. She’d met a few NPCs like that. Actually, VaVa Voom, her former real-life employer, was like that. She could take you for everything you had, and you’d walk away thinking you got the better deal. Fortunately, she was too ethical to do it unless she really didn’t like someone, but when she let go, it was amazing to watch the victim smile as they were all but robbed.

“I’ve got plenty of money, so we could go there,” Ava offered, “but I understand if you don’t want to. I’ve been playing almost since the beginning, and the NPCs here-”

::Natives,:: Silus put in, sounding disapproving.

“Uh, sure, Natives,” Ava corrected awkwardly. “They’re the worst I’ve ever seen.” She would have gone on, but the bat had just reminded her she was actually talking to NPCs, and while Aspen and Silus were as realistic as the others were fake, it still felt strange to talk about game mechanics with them.

“Here,” Aspen said, ignoring the exchange as he stopped in front of a brightly painted door. Over party chat, he continued, ::The proprietor is a half-orc, though, and I don’t know what this world’s gods or the false king did when he changed this place, but some of the half-breeds have vanished, along with all of those who were entirely non-human.::

::Juniper is missing,:: Silus said, sadly, rubbing her little face against Aspen’s cheek comfortingly.

::Juniper?:: Ava asked.

“My half human stepdaughter. Gina warned me that… my wife would be gone, but I didn’t think Juniper would be missing as well.” Aspen said, gruffly, pushing open the door to the shop. “It’s probably all for the best. She’d be like everyone else, and that would be-” He broke off, shaking his head as a towering man with a bald head and a terrible underbite emerged from the back room.

“Guests!” the man rumbled. “How may I help you?” His small eyes caught on Ava, and he blinked, visibly pausing as he processed who she was. “Lady Ava! Of course, if there is anything my humble shop can provide, just let me know!”

Ava gritted her teeth. She needed to remember to grind the [Substitution] spell as much as possible. She hated having everyone recognize her, and it was possible - even probable - that everything she did was reported back to Veralt. It was her turn to freeze as she realized that he probably didn’t even have to do that. This server was his, in every way that mattered. He could just have a programmer or GM watch everything she did and report back to him if she did anything out of line.

She turned horrified eyes on Aspen. ::You need to leave,:: she said, urgently. ::I forgot Veralt probably has someone monitoring everything I do here. If you spend too much time with me, they’ll notice you. Hell, just being in a party with me was a mistake. It’s probably already too late!::

Aspen laid a calming hand on Ava’s arm. ::Gina didn’t mention that in her note? No, she told me the gods here can’t see me at all. How did she put it? I’m like a ‘ghost in their machine’? They can see me if they’re actually here, like Veralt was earlier, but none of their spells and-::

::Pogroms,:: Silus said.

::Programs?:: Ava asked, relaxing.

::Yes! Progoms!:: the bat squeaked.

Aspen chuckled and tilted his head to gently press his cheek against the bat. ::None of those can see us, either. You don’t need to worry.::

Ava sighed in relief and turned back to the tailor, expecting him to be either staring at her or becoming impatient. Instead, he was still looking at her with the exact same eager expression, and didn’t even seem to notice that she’d suddenly stopped speaking to him for more than a minute.

“Um, yeah, I need some pants.” She gestured down at the layers of heavy skirts that wrapped around her legs, forcing her to take shorter, more cautious steps. The default clothing style in Veritas Online leaned heavily toward western European fashion in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Elvish clothing had a lot more Asian and general ‘fantasy’ options, but otherwise skirts tended toward long and thick.

The big man instantly shook his head. “King Veralt has decreed that all citizens of Refuge must wear ‘appropriate garments at all times’. Women wear skirts.”

Veralt, you misogynistic pig, Ava thought. I wonder if the barber would have let me cut my hair short if I’d tried. She gritted her teeth, though, and asked, “How about a riding skirt? One that’s a little shorter, lighter, and split in the middle?”

The tailor hesitated. “That should be all right. How many would you like?”

Ava’s eyes narrowed as she thought. “Two, and,” she gestured toward Aspen, “two pairs of pants for my friend, here, along with a couple of loose tunics.”

Aspen’s eyebrows shot up, and then he looked amused. ::I assume these items are actually for you?::

::Me and Amy,:: she sent back silently. ::We could just run off in our underwear, I guess, but I’m not trying to do anything stealthy wearing an extra ten yards of fabric.::

Aspen nodded, turning back to the tailor, who towered even taller than the farmer. “I prefer pants cut to hit the top of a pair of boots,” he said, indicating a spot on his calf, “made from sturdy, flexible fabric.”

The man nodded, and took a few quick measurements on both Ava and Aspen. Ava was used to buying ready-made clothes, which were just pre-generated from default designs, but many players enjoyed designing their own garments, so that was an option as well. It looked like Veralt hadn’t bothered to import all of the pre-gens, so the tailor would have to actually ‘make’ their clothing.

“They’ll be ready this evening, Lady Ava,” the man said enthusiastically. “You’re my first priority.”

Probably his only one, given how perfunctory the interactions between NPCs were here. In the real game, non-player characters actually shopped, cooked, worked, and did everything a ‘real’ person would do. Ava wouldn’t be surprised to discover that this shopkeeper hadn’t even been generated until she walked through the door, though.

“Good,” she said, not feeling at all bad for the nonexistent customers who would be kept waiting. “I’ll be back after dinner, then. Or,” she cast a look at Aspen, “my friend will. Treat him just as you would me.” She hesitated with her hand on the door, realizing she’d forgotten something merchants usually brought up rather quickly. “How much will it cost?”

“Oh, nothing! It’s an honor to work for you, my lady!” The big tailor bent at the waist, nearly banging his head on the tall counter behind which he stood.

She thought about arguing, but the fact was that she didn’t even feel bad about taking something for free. It wasn’t like the man was using real material, or even real time, and he would probably vanish as soon as he completed his task, anyway.

“All right, then,” she said, and walked out, Aspen close on her heels.

Ava shook her head. “No more of that,” she said, already feeling tired. “Time to grind my shiny new skills. From now on, I’ll let you do the shopping.”

Aspen stuck out his hand, mouth quirking in a half smile. “You’ll have to fund me, then, Lady Ava. I only have the money this version of me had on him when I replaced him, and apparently farming isn’t very lucrative here.”

Ava chuckled and pulled up her wallet on her interface, sending Aspen most of her money. “Apparently, I’m not going to have to pay for anything anyway, so you might as well have it. Get whatever you think we’ll need.”

Aspen’s grin grew wider and he tucked the pouch that had appeared in his hand into his belt. “Sounds good. What first?”

Silus’ head popped out of his collar, golden eyes round and bright. ::Fruit!:: she said, and Aspen chuckled as he led the way down the street.

“All right, I know,” he said indulgently. “I don’t think they’ll have kiwi here, though. Restur only brought that because you said you wanted to try every fruit in the world.”

Silus’ disappointment was practically audible, but she finally said, ::That’s all right. I’ll take grapes. Or melon?::

Ava’s eye caught on a passing NPC who had a similar build to her own, but was male. She adjusted her path so she bumped into him, ready to apologize and make excuses, but he barely acknowledged her before continuing on his way.

She sighed, putting the Plain Handkerchief she’d stolen from him into her inventory. It was nice that she probably wasn’t going to get caught stealing, especially since [Steal] and [Pickpocket] were still only level one, but it also meant that leveling up the skills was likely to be as boring as everything else in this cookie cutter world.

Aspen had noticed the exchange, and paused, glancing back at her. ::What was that?:: he asked.

Ava ducked off into a quiet side street and pressed her back against the wall. ::Taking the shine off those skills. I stole something from him. Now, how do I-::

You have cast [Substitution:Lv1]. You now appear to anyone viewing you as the sapient being John the Smith. This illusion will last 17 minutes (15 base + 2 minutes for Lv2 Common item Plain Handkerchief.) If your theft is discovered while you have more than 15 minutes remaining on your illusion, time will be reduced to a maximum of 15 minutes. Spell will be canceled if you take damage or if someone with a high enough [Illusion Break] skill attempts to [Identify] you.

Ava read the notification, then looked at her hands, which were, indeed, not her own.

Aspen sighed. “Gave you that one, did she?” He rubbed the back of his neck, staring up at the sky. “I hate that one. Rouge loves to play tricks on people using it, and I’ve leveled [Illusion Break] several times because of it.”

“Well, don’t use it on me,” Ava said, noting the name he’d used. If she wasn’t mistaken, Rouge was the player who’d helped Amythyst when she’d first separated from Emily, the Automated Learning Program Interface where Bridget had hidden Amythyst’s program until she gained her own awareness. If Aspen knew the girl as well, that meant he was probably part of the quest Amythyst had told Ava a little bit about, the one that was supposed to determine the future of Veritas Online as well as Veritas Corporation.

He chuckled. “I won’t, though Rouge had me checking almost everyone for a little while.”

::He had to tell her he wouldn’t give her any more of his crops if she didn’t stop. Aspen’s crops are the best, even the vegetables.:: The last word was said with such disdain that Ava almost laughed.

Aspen booped Silus on the nose, making the bat squeak indignantly.

“Enough, little one,” he said, focusing his attention back on Ava. “What do you want to do now, then?”

Ava had never been a thief before. In general, the risk of getting caught and being fined or even arrested was too great, and there had always been other classes that were far more interesting or useful to her. Still, she’d just been handed the opportunity to try it, in a place where the risks were minimal to non-existent, so she shrugged. “Let’s go steal some stuff and spy on people. Honestly, we don’t have much else to do for two days, until Veralt gets back, and, um, ‘Gina’ said to work on my skills.”

Aspen shrugged. “Then that’s what we should do. Silus?”

The bat crawled out of her spot and dropped off Aspen’s shoulder, swooping away with a few rapid beats of her wings. ::Oh goody, sneaky stuff! I’m an expert at this!::

Aspen rolled his eyes. ::That’s because you’re with Rouge all the time, and she doesn’t know what to do with herself if she’s not getting into trouble somehow.::

Silus giggled unrepentantly. ::That’s what makes it fun!::

(===||:::::::::::::::>

The four days of Ava’s ‘test’ immersion passed quickly. At first, she was still worried that Veralt might be monitoring her in some way, and notice that she was using skills he hadn’t given her character. When he briefly logged in on day two, however, he seemed just as dismissive as ever, and not suspicious at all, so for the last two days she just spent her time grinding her skills, exactly as Amythyst had asked her to.

Aspen and Silus were good companions, though Aspen had a definite tendency to be tight-lipped while simultaneously looking tense and concerned. On the other hand, Silus talked enough for both of them, and told Ava that the farmer’s wife was expecting a child any day, and he was worried about her, since she’d had difficulty giving birth to Juniper, her first child.

“Then why is Aspen even here?” Ava asked quietly, peering out of an alley at the road that led to the town’s main gate. She had spent the day, her last one in immersion, sneaking, stealing, and picking any lock she could find. So far, she hadn’t found a single trap or hidden passage, but she also hadn’t quite dared venture into the castle itself. Still, she’d managed to get [Sneak] to level five, [Substitution] to level six, [Steal] to level eight, and [Invisibility] to level nine, with everything else trailing behind. The only one Ava really struggled with was [Enchant], which required Ava to make all or most of the item she wanted to use the skill on.

Silus, who was currently hanging from the eaves of the building Ava leaned against, actually hesitated before answering. ::I don’t actually know. I’m sure she promised him something really, really important, but he says it’s a secret, ‘cause it could, um,:: the silence this time stretched so long that Ava thought she’d finally found something the bat didn’t want to talk about, but then Silus said, ::infect in-fur-person relationships. I think.::

“Impact interpersonal relationships,” Aspen corrected quietly from behind Ava, nearly making her jump out of her skin. She’d thought he was all the way on the other side of town, picking up their armor from the blacksmith. “And it would. It’s nothing anyone needs to worry about except for me and Gina.” He didn’t actually say, ‘so mind your own business’, but it came across very clearly, so Ava clamped her mouth shut and looked out at the gate again.

“I think they have four shifts,” Ava murmured into the silence. “Sunrise to noon, noon to sunset, sunset to midnight, and midnight to sunrise. They check everyone’s papers before they can enter or leave, but really, only a few people go anywhere, and it’s mostly the same people every day, like the farmers and woodcutters.”

Aspen nodded. “That was how I got in. I entered this body when it was outside, tending the fields, and just came in with the rest of the laborers at dusk.”

“So, if we have to try to sneak out that way, it should be at shift change, or when everyone else is leaving.” Ava said.

Aspen nodded. “If this was like the real Refuge, it’d make more sense to go out right at the end of a shift. The guards are always tired, hungry, and ready to be done, and there are lots of people going in and out at all hours.” He looked slightly amused, then shook his head. “We don’t require any form of identification, though, so the crowd moves a lot faster.”

Ava glanced at the guards. They didn’t look bored, tired, or much of anything, actually. They stood impossibly still except when there was someone actively passing through the gate. She suspected that the server was conserving processing power, but it was eerie, to say the least.

“So do we just wait until Veralt gives me permission to take Amy outside the city walls?” Ava asked, frustrated. She was certain that wasn’t what Amythyst wanted, but how else was this supposed to work? Sure, Aspen could leave with the rest of the farmers, and no one would question it. Ava could [Pickpocket] an ID and use [Substitution] to pass through, or she could just cast [Invisibility] and walk out on her own whenever she wanted. But how did that get Amy out, especially if she couldn’t walk without assistance?

Aspen shook his head. “I don’t know, either,” he muttered, drawing back as an NPC walked by. He didn’t really need to, since the NPCs were just a mesh over the barest programming framework, but neither of them could shake the habit of years.

::You said you’re going to see Gina today, right?:: Silus said, voice faintly envious. ::Could you ask her if she could send some better berries? The food here is disgusting.::

Ava smiled faintly. The little bat was right. Something else that had been lost when the programmers used an old version of the game was the depth of flavor found in most food. The fancy things that were served in the castle itself were as delicious as anything Ava had ever eaten, in game or out, and the meals at the Smiling Ostrich, Millie’s inn, were equally tasty, but everything else tasted like cardboard. She had no idea how that saved memory or CPU cycles, or if they’d just forgotten to fix it when they started Refuge using ancient default settings, but it meant that Silus was suffering, though Aspen didn’t seem to care.

“I’ll try.” She glanced at the clock displayed on her interface and sighed. Turning away from the gate, she looked at Aspen and asked, “You put everything in the stash?” As an NPC himself, Aspen didn’t have an inventory, and he couldn’t carry around everything they’d bought over the last few days. They couldn’t be certain that things in Ava’s inventory were safe, either, so they’d taken over one of the many houses left behind by the vanished non-human citizens.

He nodded, and Ava rubbed her temples, saying, “I have to go. I should be back in about a day and a half, with Amy.” They knew this, of course, but she was still nervous that when she opened her eyes in the pod, security would be there, ready to escort her to meet Ranulf Nilson, Carl Landon’s frighteningly efficient lawyer. She found herself repeating what should happen as if the words could ward off calamity.

Aspen nodded again, but Silus said, ::Be careful, Ava. We’ll see you soon.::

Ava smiled up into the darkness of the roofline. ::Thanks, Silus. You be careful, too. No more of that business with the goat, the spoon, and the toothpick.::

Aspen snorted in amused agreement, but Silus just giggled. Ava shook her head and headed back toward the castle. She had ten minutes to get her avatar in bed before she was supposed to log out.

Chapter Five
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Waking up the second time wasn’t nearly as bad as the first. Maybe it was something about being pulled out of immersion unexpectedly that had caused her body’s violent reaction, and it wasn’t going to be like that every time. LeeAn was there again, and as she helped Ava out of the pod and removed her IV, she confirmed this, saying, “Part of the waking process involves expelling the fluid in your lungs before you’re fully aware. As long as we don’t have any more rapid extractions, this should be normal.”

As she followed Ava out into the hallway, she glanced back at Quinn before lowering her voice and murmuring, “There’s actually a non-invasive suction device in case of emergencies, but Veralt didn’t want to have to sterilize it again, so we didn’t use it last time.”

Ava gritted her teeth. What was the point of telling her that? Was LeeAn trying to reassure Ava that if things got worse, they could still help her, or was she trying to sow discord between Ava and Veralt? Not that Ava could really detest the doctor any more than she already did, but as far as LeeAn knew, Ava was an unsophisticated, sheltered young woman fresh out of college, who might take months or years to learn that just because someone was her boss, it didn’t mean they were always right.

“Oh,” was all she said, and LeeAn’s face shut down at the non-answer. The two women crossed to the bathroom, where LeeAn made sure Ava was safely in the shower before leaving without another word.

Once Ava retrieved her clothes and screen from the locker where LeeAn had put them when Ava entered immersion, she dressed and stepped back out into the hallway. Dean was there waiting for her. It was the first time she’d had a chance to speak to him since he showed up on her doorstep the first day, and though he didn’t say anything directly, it was clear from the way he spoke that he was less than pleased with her.

“Lift your right arm.” They were back in Exam Room One, which was the only one that was fully operational, as far as Ava knew. Dean was running Ava through the same simple exercises LeeAn had, apparently checking the results against those the older nurse had gotten.

“Touch your toes,” Dean said, and stepped to the side so he could see her place her hands flat against the ground. Ava had always been flexible, and being in the pod had made her more so. She was pretty sure she could actually press her face against her knees now, but she had no urge to show off for the insensitive young man.

After several more simple tests, Dean tapped the exam room screen, closing the chart he’d been entering data onto. Turning to Ava, he held out his hand, waggling his fingers. “Pulse oximeter,” he said.

Ava pulled off the device and set it into his palm. “Can I go now?”

He shrugged, then nodded almost grudgingly. “Yeah. Just be back here promptly at nine tomorrow.”

Ava hesitated. She wanted to ask him what his problem was, but it wouldn’t be in character, so she just nodded meekly and exited the room. The nurse at the desk barely glanced up at her as she walked by, and then Ava was down the hall and out the door.

“Ava! Are you all right?” Amythyst’s relieved voice instantly sounded in Ava’s ear, and she felt her shoulders relax slightly. She was walking through security, so she just made a sound acknowledging she’d heard the question, but apparently that was all Amythyst needed.

“I’ve been trying to crack that stupid town, but there are layers on layers of security around the code. I’ve even planted viruses in the NPCs who leave, so they carry it back in when they return, but it’s like trying to get into Veralt’s lab all over again. Everything I try just goes inert the moment it enters. I can get stable code in, like Aspen, Silus, and the scrolls I sent you, but nothing will replicate, much less change the current code.”

Ava felt a chill go down her back. If that was true, then Amythyst couldn’t protect them from discovery. Why hadn’t Veralt or his programmers noticed what Ava was up to yet? She glanced around, but she knew the entire building was under constant surveillance, so she bit back the questions she wanted to ask. Fortunately, Amythyst went on without her urging.

“The good news is, the area outside town really is just a copy of the regular game world, with no extra security, so I know all the loopholes and exploits. Once we get Amy out of town, it’ll be easy to get her to the dungeon. Oh! And Veralt is over-working his people just like he always did, so his programmers are already almost burned out, and letting things slide all over the place. It was actually pretty easy to go in and just take over the process that was supposed to monitor you. It still watches you, but I can change the names of your skills and your location in the dump file. No one actually checks it, anyway.”

Her tone shifted to accusatory. “Why haven’t you been using your [Enchant] skill? It needs to be level ten and through the first threshold before we can get Amy out.”

Ava gritted her teeth, but managed to nod at the two people who were leaving the staff residential wing as Ava entered. One of them was Dion, the man whose love life had been the source of so much speculation the night Ava ate dinner in the communal dining room, but the other one was a petite woman Ava didn’t recognize at all. Fortunately, they looked at least as uninterested in her as she was in them, and scurried past without even trying to speak to her.

A few more yards, and Ava threw open the door of her suite, stepped inside, and closed the door firmly behind her. Immediately, she burst out, “How was I supposed to practice that, exactly? It requires tools for anything complicated, and it fails more often than it succeeds! Even when I do manage to enchant something, it only lasts one to three seconds. That’s not going to do us a damned bit of good!”

Amythyst appeared on the screen in the main room. “You’re supposed to [Steal] or buy tools from someone and use those!”

Ava flopped down on the couch, tilting her head back and closing her eyes so she didn’t have to see the look on Amythyst’s face. “I didn’t know if that was safe,” she said, tiredly. In theory, she’d barely done anything for two days, but she certainly didn’t feel like it. “I didn’t want to keep anything in my inventory that might tip our hand, and a bunch of tools and poorly enchanted objects would be a pretty big red flag that I was doing something illicit. I couldn’t leave them anywhere I went regularly, either, since I didn’t know if I was being tracked, and Aspen couldn’t hide them and bring them back every time I wanted to try a little crafting.”

There was silence filled only with Ava’s breathing until Amythyst said, “I’m sorry.” Ava let her head drop to the side and opened one eye, looking at the screen. Amythyst was wearing her pretty green dress, with flowers vining through her hair and across her bare shoulders, but her hands were fisted in the gauzy fabric of the skirt and her beautiful mossy eyes were downcast.

“I just want to get her out, and I think we’re going to need that skill. We can’t wait for Veralt to give us permission, because he won’t until he has the surrounding area as firmly locked down as the town itself, and that’ll be too late.” Her shoulders hunched. “Honestly, I doubt he has any interest in helping Amy get better. As long as she is the way she is, he has all the time and money he could want to continue with his experiments. He’s convinced his pod was better than Joe’s, and Joe’s was only selected because he’s Bridget’s friend.”

Before Amy Landon was hit by a car, she had been engaged to a man named Joe Sherman. Joe had been her boyfriend for years before they got engaged, and when Amy started working for her father’s company, Veritas Corporation, Joe had followed. Joe was a doctor and a gamer first, but when he was placed in charge of one of the research teams attempting to create a long-term immersion pod, he had brought those things together with an innate understanding of how to bring out the best in the people under him. This had led to his team creating a pod that was better in almost every way than the one Veralt’s team had created under the man’s belittling attitude and sixty-hour work-weeks.

Bridget, of course, was Amy’s best friend. The two were more like sisters, really, and before Amy moved in with Joe, they even lived together and worked on a few joint projects on their own time. One of those projects led to the creation of Amythyst. When Bridget learned how to essentially copy a human consciousness, she started with herself and Amy, though the digital replicas always went insane or deleted part of their own code, until Amy insisted they stop trying.

That had been the end of that, until Amy broke up with Joe and got so thoroughly drunk that she allowed Bridget to update her own ‘copy’. She even agreed that Bridget could upload the program if anything happened to her. That night was the last memory Amythyst had from her progenitor.

“Wait,” Ava said, “so Veralt is still trying to build his own pod? How?”

Amythyst shrugged, but her fists didn’t release the fabric of her dress. “Remember Carl ordered three pods? I thought the third one was for him, but he has a standard pod in a room off his bedroom, and he always hated the idea of the biogel. He was the only person who knew about the project who didn’t try it at least once. I don’t know where the other pod is. It should be online by now, but no matter how I dig, I can’t find a communication interface for it. It’s either still in pieces somewhere, which is possible, or it's in its own closed system within the closed system of the lab.”

“And you think Veralt is using it to continue his experiments?” Ava sat up and leaned forward, thinking, but eventually shook her head. “It seems like a stretch. It would make more sense that it’s sitting in a closet somewhere in case one of the main pods breaks down. A backup, or something. Even if Veralt is still trying to build a better pod, it doesn’t affect us.”

“It does,” Amythyst insisted. “It gives him every incentive to keep Amy exactly as she is. As long as he can show my - Amy’s - dad that she’s improving even a little, Carl will throw money and manpower at him. If Veralt is doing what I think he’s doing, Amy will never get better, and the longer she stays here, the more likely it is that the damage will be permanent.”

“What,” Ava asked slowly, “do you think he’s doing? Because it doesn’t sound like you think he’s just neglecting her.”

“I managed to get into the first layer of his notes, and I think,” Amythyst said, “that he’s actually keeping her drugged.”

Occasionally, Ava internally debated the ethics of what they were doing. After all, Amy was safe, loved, and had more and better care than almost anyone could afford. If she did, in fact, have severe brain damage, and couldn’t improve in spite of whatever course of treatment Amythyst had planned, then did they really have the right, much less the responsibility, to take her away?

The only thing that tilted the scales was the fact that Carl Landon had faked his daughter’s death in order to take her away from everyone else who loved her. That wasn’t the action of a rational man, even if Bridget was trying to convince him to let her use an unapproved system on Amy before it was fully tested. No, it was obvious to Ava that Carl finally had complete control of Amy, and that was the way he intended to keep it, even if she got better. Therefore, getting her out was the right thing to do, especially since Bridget could and would provide the same level of care to the injured woman.

Still, Amythyst had chosen Ava to help her partially because Ava had an ingrained habit of helping those who couldn’t help themselves, right up until she found herself in need, and utterly alone. Ava had accepted Amythyst’s proposal because at some deep, unspoken level, she was done. She had fought the good fight, and she had lost, and everything after that was just counting down to the day she finally… let go.

Until Amythyst offered her hope. Hope that she could do something good, and benefit from it as well. If she succeeded, she got a million dollars. More, if she found the perfect lottery for her digital friend to hack. If they failed, well, Amy would still be safe, and Ava would go to jail, but honestly, it was probably better than where she’d been headed before. And if it wasn’t, there was a solution to that, too.

But still, Ava had niggling doubts. As she emerged from the oubliette she’d fallen into after her mother’s death, she sometimes wondered if they were doing the right thing. If Veralt really was intentionally preventing Amy from recovering, though, it would clarify things immensely.

“Amythyst, you have to tell Bridget,” she said, looking up at the AI. “Or call that guy, George, your mom’s friend. If Veralt is willing to drug his own patient, we can’t be sure she’s as safe as we thought. It could take us months, during which Veralt could do anything to her!”

Amythyst had her arms wrapped around herself now, but she was shaking her head with as much determination as ever. “I know Bridget, better than anyone. She’ll think I’m crazy, just like all the other AIs before me. She’ll delete me and start over, now that she knows it can be done. She built a kill switch into my program, since a crazy AI with phenomenal cosmic powers is kind of a problem.” She spun her finger, making a sparkling tornado of light appear in the air beside her, and managed a wavering smile.

“And George… I already reached out to him. After we talked, I realized you were right. Uncle George was like a second father to Amy, and he has a right to know she’s still alive. But George is cagey, and an anonymous email isn’t going to be enough to get him here. He’s incredibly wealthy and powerful, but he’s dying, and he’s not going to shake any trees if he’s not sure he can handle what falls out.”

Amythyst dropped her arms, shrugging. “It’s just us, at least for now, and we have to keep going like it’s going to stay that way. Besides, I have a plan.”

Ava rubbed her cold hand across her eyes, but nodded. “Go ahead.”

Amy shrugged. “We have to get Amy’s character out of town so we can see how bad the damage really is, without outside interference.”

Ava nodded again. So far, the new plan sounded a lot like the old plan.

“In order to do that, you need to get [Enchant] to level ten. That’ll make your enchantments stable enough to last more than a few seconds. Then you need to-”

Chapter Six
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It was after eleven by the time Amythyst finally finished outlining the new plan, which involved assessing Amy’s current condition, then somehow hiding her body in Ava’s car when Ava left the house to visit her ‘father’. Ava was tired of arguing about how, exactly, she was going to sneak bulk laxatives and a large number of rats into Landon House in order to provide a distraction that would prevent security from checking her car, and she’d already drifted to sleep more than once while sitting on the comfortable couch.

Standing, she stretched, and her back popped audibly. Walking over to the small kitchen, she opened the refrigerator, letting the harsh white light spill across the tiled floor. Reaching in, she picked up an apple and turned to rinse it off. When she was done, she turned off the faucet and stood for a moment staring down into the wet sink.

“I’m going to stretch my legs,” she said abruptly, turning back to face Amythyst.

The AI blinked. “Now?” she asked.

Ava rubbed the apple on her shirt, keeping her attention focused on the bright red peel as it rotated against the soft fabric. “Yeah. When I get back, I think I’ll go to bed. We can talk more in the morning, before I leave.”

Amythyst bit her lip, but nodded. “Okay. I’ll, um, keep refining the plan.”

Ava watched the apple turn. “Sounds good.” Without looking back toward the screen, she stepped across to the front door and opened it, slipping out into the dark hall as she bit into her apple. It crunched, and as the sweet, cold flesh filled her mouth, Ava realized she was starving. She hesitated, tempted to go back into the suite to make a meal from whatever lurked in her refrigerator, but decided against it.

The residential wing was as silent as she’d seen it yet, and if Ava hadn’t known better, she would have guessed that everyone was asleep. But no, second shift was probably just about to end. If she didn’t hurry, she might meet some of them on their way home, and third shift would be on their way out soon, too. She wondered how many people worked the midnight to eight a.m. shift, but she wasn’t curious enough to hang around in order to find out.

As she felt the thick, soft carpet slide between her toes, she realized she’d left her shoes in her suite, but it didn’t matter enough for her to go back. She padded silently toward the communal area, vaguely wondering if there might be a glass she could fill at the sink there, so she could get some water to drink.

Surprisingly, there were a few lights on at the far end of the echoing room, near the row of cabinets that lined the far wall. Within the circle of illumination sat a few tables set with tablecloths and cutlery, waiting for whoever had requested a meal at this hour. Most of the lights were off or set to dim, but the end of the room with the prepared tables was as brightly lit as it had been when Ava came to eat with LeeAn, and a familiar figure sat at one of the tables on the edge of the ring of light.

Veronica looked up as Ava drew closer, and the redhead smiled as she saw Ava. She held up a playing card and smiled as she said, “Ah, a fellow insomniac. Do you play poker?”

Ava shook her head, keeping her own voice low. “Never learned.” This was only partially a lie. She and her mother had often played cribbage and a modified game of Hearts, but the only gambling Molly did was when she bought her weekly lottery ticket, and she’d never taught Ava poker or blackjack. Ava learned paladir in Veritas Online, which was a little like poker, but she’d never been good at it.

Veronica grinned. “Me neither. Not really, anyway. I mostly play solitaire, but if we had three people, I could put together a mean game of Go Fish.”

Ava chuckled in spite of herself. The woman was a little too chatty for Ava’s liking, but she seemed nice enough, and straightforward, and in this place, that was enough to make her Ava’s favorite person so far. Crossing over to the long line of cabinets, Ava tossed her apple core in an empty trash bin and rinsed her hands in the sink, washing away the sticky juice.

“Do you know if there are any glasses or cups available for general use?” she asked, turning back to Veronica, who was watching her with interest.

“Mmm, yes,” the other woman nodded and stood. Leaving her cards behind on the table, she crossed to a cabinet and opened it, revealing an array of dishes, including basic plastic cups. “You can use anything here, but you have to make sure to put it in the dishwasher when you’re done, and you’re not supposed to take it back to your suite.” She wrinkled her nose and lowered her voice. “People do, of course, but you’re not supposed to.”

She grinned over her shoulder as she pulled the handle of what had looked like just another cabinet, and it yawned open, revealing empty dishwasher racks. “Someone runs the load and puts everything away when it gets full, so you don’t have to worry about that, but if you leave anything in the sink, you’ll hear about it.” She picked up a cup and held it out toward Ava invitingly.

Taking a step closer, Ava accepted the glass, noticing a sweet scent rising from Veronica as she did so. Without thinking, she leaned forward, sniffing, then stepped back again, feeling the heat rising in her cheeks. She was undoubtedly as red as the apple she’d just eaten.

“I’m… sorry,” she stuttered. “I’m just really tired, and you smelled-” She broke off and looked away, turning on the sink to fill her glass.

When she finally found the courage to look back toward Veronica, she saw that, far from looking offended, the other woman’s eyes were bright, and her cheeks a pretty pink. “It’s okay,” Veronica said. “I took a shower before I came out here. That’s probably my shampoo. It’s plumeria.”

Ava nodded and took a sip of her water, unable to find the right words to make the moment less awkward. Out of habit, she looked to see if Amythyst was watching, hoping that the AI might offer a suggestion, but the icon of Amythyst’s face was dark.

A soft giggle broke the uncomfortable silence, and Ava and Veronica both turned to look toward the entrance to the dining area. Two shadows stood there, oblivious to the women’s presence, and as they watched, the shorter one stood on tiptoe to reach up and press a kiss to the taller one’s lips. Veronica made a surprised noise, and the two figures sprang apart, with the taller one stepping protectively in front of the smaller. As he did, he moved far enough into the room that a shaft of light illuminated his features.

“Dion!” Veronica gasped, and the brunette man’s eyes widened before he turned and hustled the other, still unidentified, figure away.

Veronica moved as if she’d follow, then glanced back at Ava, looking guilty. “I know it’s none of my business, but if I won the betting pool for who Dion’s seeing, it’d be pretty good money by now. Plus, we can ‘donate’ vacation days to each other, and there are four days in the pool, which would be enough to go see my family in Oklahoma this Christmas.”

Ava snorted a very un-Ava Shaw-like laugh, and shook her head. “This is a strange place.”

The other woman giggled. “You have no idea.”

Hesitating, Ava said, “Do you know a woman, about this tall,” she held her hand a little shorter than Veronica, “with brown eyes, black hair, and bleached tips that look like they used to be pink?”

Veronica looked puzzled, but nodded. “That could be a few people, except for the pink tips. Jesse did that for Valentine’s Day, and it still hasn’t washed out. She said her boyfriend liked it, but he doesn’t… work… here…” She trailed off, eyes widening.

Ava nodded and tilted her head toward the hallway. “She’s about that height and build, and when I saw her with Dion this afternoon, they didn’t look particularly pleased to see me. They were heading out of the residential area, so I figured they were just going to work.”

A big grin stretched Veronica’s pink lips. “Nope. Dion works in clerical, and Jesse is housekeeping. Plus, they’re both first shift. Are you sure?”

Ava shrugged. “Not really? I just saw them together, and noticed because they looked weird when they saw me. I got off a little late, so they probably didn’t expect anyone to be there.”

Veronica actually squealed before throwing her arms around Ava. “Oh my gosh, you’re the best, Ava! I’m going to change my bet first thing in the morning.” It was her turn to look awkward as she stepped back, releasing Ava’s stiff figure.

“Sorry,” she made an apologetic face. “I’m a hugger.”

Huffing out the breath she’d been holding, Ava managed to smile as she shrugged it off. “No big deal. I, uh, think I’ll head back to my suite. I’m pretty sleepy.” She turned to go, but paused as warm fingers circled her wrist.

“Ava…”

Glancing back, Ava saw that Veronica was looking into her eyes with a sweet, searching expression. Not sure what to say, Ava just looked down at the hand on her arm, and Veronica let it fall away.

“There’s something you should know,” Veronica said, releasing the words in a rush. She stepped closer, her body all but brushing Ava’s, and the warm scent of plumeria filled Ava’s senses again. Lifting her head, the shorter woman lowered her voice so Ava had to lean in to hear. Unfortunately, just as Veronica opened her mouth to speak, they heard footsteps and voices echoing down the hallway on the far side of the darkness.

They jumped apart, much as Dion and his partner had done a minute earlier. Veronica’s cheeks were still flushed, and her eyes skipped around the room, refusing to settle on Ava. “I… Never mind.” Her eyes finally came back to Ava’s, and her cheeks were as red as Ava’s. Veronica waved a hand airily, and forced a smile as a trio of people walked into the room. One of the men grinned at Veronica.

“Hey, Ronnie! You looking to lose another five bucks in quarters?”

Veronica trilled a nervous little laugh. “That was pure luck, Bosco, and you know it.” She lifted a hand and waved at Ava, mouthing ‘Good night’ as she moved back to the cards she’d abandoned at her table.

Automatically, Ava lifted a hand, barely managing to smile before she hurried away down the hall, her mind whirling with questions.

She made her way back to her suite, dodging the curious gazes of a few more people heading toward the dining area. When she finally managed to slip inside her door, she stood with her back pressed against it, gathering her composure as she wondered what Veronica would have said if the woman had had another thirty seconds to speak.

“Are you all right?” Amythyst asked, and Ava looked up. The AI looked concerned, and her hands were fisted in her skirt again as she visibly tried to prevent herself from fidgeting.

“Yeah,” Ava managed, though she couldn’t force another smile, even for Amythyst. “I just… I’m really tired.” She pushed herself away from the cool metal surface of the door, heading for her bedroom. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as she said, “I’m going to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Amythyst opened her mouth, closed it, and simply watched as Ava walked away.

Chapter Seven
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When Ava went into ‘her’ pod for the third time, she could see Quinn and Dean bustling around the other pod, getting it ready for Amy. LeeAn settled Ava’s mask into place, and for the first time, instead of leaving Ava in darkness until the game started, her view immediately switched to that of the mask’s external cameras.

“Why do we even need this?” Ava asked, reaching up and tapping the mask as LeeAn leaned into the pod to hook up the IV and other tubes leading from Ava’s suit. “Doesn’t the game feed directly to my ocular implants?”

LeeAn hesitated as she reached up to grasp the edge of the pod’s lid. She glanced at Dr. Veralt, who was busy supervising the two male nurses. “I asked the technician who installed the pods the same thing. He said, during the betas, they didn’t use the mask, but something happened and they realized that having a backup system in place was important. That’s all he would say. You ready?”

Ava nodded, lying back. LeeAn pressed a switch, sealing the lid with a soft shoosh as the seals engaged. The biogel rose around Ava, the sling dropped away, and she forced out her last breath, sucking in gel as she let herself fall into the whirling planet that was the load screen for Veritas Online.

Waking up in a soft, warm bed was a pleasant change from the hard ground beneath the bedroll Ava’s real character, AlphaOmegadon, had been sleeping in for a perceived month and a half, thanks to the way the game doubled time experienced while online. For a moment, she lay there, savoring the feeling of the thick, heavy duvet and the sound of gentle birdsong coming from the garden outside her window. If things went well, this could be the last time she’d experience this for almost two weeks. If things didn’t go well… she’d probably have bigger problems than how soft her bed was.

A knock sounded at her door, and she sat up, sighing. “Yes?” She knew it wasn’t Veralt. He didn’t knock.

“It’s almost time for Princess Amy to wake, Lady Ava,” a female voice said. “Do you need help preparing?”

Ava had gotten to know a few of the NPCs in the castle, and she recognized the speaker as Petunia, a young maid who seemed slightly less flat than most of the generic non-player characters in town. Though it was possible that Ava was imagining the difference, and just paid more attention to her thanks to the barely visible scars on the girl’s right jaw and arm. It seemed like those scars must have a story behind them, which made Petunia a bit of a puzzle in a place where everything else was boringly bland.

Ava looked down at herself. She wore the same clothes she’d gone to bed in, and the skirt still fell in the same perfect folds as it had when she pulled it from her inventory. While items could get dirty, wrinkled, and even damaged in combat or during other activities, sleeping wasn’t one of those things, so most players just wore their clothes to bed, since they could still get the Well-Rested buff even without changing into pajamas. The only exception was that they had to take off their shoes, since apparently the programmer who created the buff didn’t believe anyone could sleep well in footwear.

With a thought, Ava made the soft slippers that went with the outfit appear on her feet. She knew her hair would still be in its smooth, shoulder-length bob, too, so she crossed to the narrow door kitty-corner to her bed and opened the door, smiling down at the preteen girl standing there. “No, I’m ready. Thank you, Petunia.”

The girl bobbed a curtsey and scurried back to join the gaggle of maids already hovering around the silent figure in the bed. This wasn’t the first time Ava had seen ‘Princess’ Amy’s avatar, but it still startled her to see a silent duplicate of Amythyst lying there. The small changes left by the cosmetic surgery that had repaired Amy’s face after her accident were gone, and she no longer looked thin and wan. If she had opened her eyes and started teasing Ava about her ridiculous clothes and haircut, it would have been less surprising than what did happen.

The mossy green eyes blinked open slowly, looking hazy and unfocused. The room fell silent as everyone waited for the motionless figure to do something.

She didn’t.

Finally, Ava managed to shake herself from the strangely somber feeling that gripped her and turned to Petunia and said, “Get the Princess’ chair.” Glancing around, she picked out Florence, Petunia’s mother, an Amazonian woman who Ava had always felt would look more comfortable with a sword in her hand than a feather-duster. “Help me get her up.”

Florence hurried over as Petunia pulled the wheeled chair from its hiding place in an alcove behind a long tapestry. With Florence on one side and Ava on the other, they managed to get Amy’s limp body out of bed and into the chair. Once there, Amy seemed to realize that something had changed, and she sat up slightly, her eyes focusing on the single window that showed the garden outside.

Ava assessed the situation. Amy wore a rich, green gown that highlighted her eyes, but the thick, heavy skirts wouldn’t be easy for anyone to move in, much less an invalid. Her bare toes peeped out from beneath the long skirt, and the material threatened to tangle in the wheels of the chair.

“Florence, does the princess have anything less,” Ava gestured toward her own skirt, which was one of the lighter-weight, split ones she’d hired the tailor to make for her, “voluminous? I’m afraid the fabric will get caught in the wheels, and make her tip.”

Florence hesitated for the barest moment before shaking her head. “All of her Highness’ dresses are like this.”

Of course they were.

Ava pulled the second split skirt and a shirt from her inventory and handed them to the other woman. “Get her into this.” It still made her uncomfortable to give the servants orders, since they had no choice but to obey, but it would take her half an hour to get Amy out of the ostentatious gown and into the simple skirt and matching blouse.

Florence leaned over Amy, her hands flickering as she triggered a skill, and a moment later the princess was wearing the new clothes. Ava breathed a sigh of relief. She had seen Petunia and the others wielding brooms and dust cloths with an efficiency that indicated they were using some kind of Maid class skill, and she’d hoped there’d be a dressing-related one as well.

“All right then,” Ava said briskly, taking hold of the handles at the back of the wheelchair. “I’m going to take Princess Amy out for a walk. You may all return to your regular duties.”

Not a single one of the maids protested. They simply curtseyed in mechanical unison and left the room, going back to whatever they did when there was no one around to watch them. Ava pushed Amy’s chair forward, then stopped abruptly as she realized the door to the garden was still closed, and barely managed to catch Amy before she slid from the chair.

“Damn it,” Ava muttered. “How is this going to work? She’s like a rag doll.”

“Dol-ly.”

It was the first word Ava had ever heard Amy say, and it was so slurred she could barely understand it. Still, when she looked up from where she was crouched in front of the chair, holding Amy in place, she saw that the familiar green eyes were focused on her face.

“Amy? What did you say?”

But the moment was gone. Amy’s eyes had returned to the window, and her head lolled to the side.

“Damn it.” Ava resisted the urge to shake the other woman, and instead stood, opening the outside door. The building was surrounded by a garden that was an almost exact copy of the one outside Amy’s window in the real world. Amy spent most of her time staring at that garden, and Veralt, or someone, had apparently decided to replicate it here.

::Aspen? Silus? Are you ready?:: she sent over party chat.

::She’s back!:: Silus squeaked excitedly, even as Aspen said ::Aye.::

Ava shook her head and pushed the chair out into the sunshine. The wooden wheels rattled as they rolled onto the bluestones, but only one of the two gardeners glanced toward the noise. She saw his lips quirk in the shadow cast by his ragged hat before he looked down at the rosebush he was trimming.

::I need more straw,:: she sent. ::I need to get [Enchant] up to level ten. Today, if possible.::

Aspen nodded without looking away from the tiny white tea roses. ::I can get that easily. There are bales of straw in the gardening shed. It’d be better if you used different materials, though. You’ve used the straw too much.::

Skills in Veritas Online increased in level as they were used. If you only used them the exact same way, the amount of skill experience you got diminished as the number of repetitions increased. Ava had run into trouble with [Enchant] because she had to make the enchanted item herself, and trigger the skill just before she finished. The better the item she made, the longer the enchantment would last, but for now, the most important thing was simply succeeding at all.

When Ava was last online, she’d been inspired by Aspen’s obviously handmade hat, and had tried weaving simple things out of straw, which let her raise the skill to level three. Unfortunately, because of the diminishing returns, the skill had basically stalled out at that point, and she’d dropped it in favor of others that were easier to level.

::I know, but I don’t have anything else I can use,:: she said, trying to keep her frustration out of her voice. If she had to, she could wait until evening and [Steal] some tools from one of the local artisans, now that she knew Amythyst could spoof the contents of her inventory, but that meant she’d have wasted hours. At least weaving straw was something she could do while she was with Amy, and if anyone caught her, she could claim she was just fiddling with it to keep her hands occupied.

Aspen tilted his head toward the ground, and Ava looked, but didn’t see anything besides the mulch around the base of the rosebush, and the short grass beyond. Grass might be more flexible than straw, but it was too short to do much with, so she wasn’t sure what he was trying to show her.

Reaching down, Aspen parted the mulch and picked up a handful of soft, rich earth, which he let trickle through his fingers. ::Dirt,:: he said. ::Or rather mud. Recently, Juniper has started bringing home these balls of mud. At first, they were just packed dirt, and they crumbled when they dried, and made a mess everywhere. Her mother told her she couldn’t bring them inside any more, but she’s stubborn.::

He chuckled, putting down his shears, and used both hands to start shaping the dirt into a sphere. ::She started mixing the balls with different things, using several kinds of dirt, trying to make a ball that wouldn’t crumble. It took her a while and some advice from William, but she figured out how to do it.:: He opened his hand, revealing a soft, black orb that almost immediately began to slump into a mound again.

::You don’t have time to make them like she does, but there’s a shallow stream at the other end of the garden, and its banks are mostly clay. I bet you could make something that would work well enough to enchant, at least briefly, and the only things you’ll need are your hands.:: He dropped the dirt to the ground and covered the small hole with mulch.

::Follow me for more tips!:: Silus interjected cheerfully, and Ava almost choked on a laugh.

::What?:: she asked, glad she wasn’t trying to speak out loud.

::It’s what Rouge says when she comes up with an idea,:: the bat said, proudly.

“Usually bad ones,” Aspen muttered out loud, probably so Silus couldn’t hear from wherever she was hiding.

Ava just shook her head and pushed Amy’s chair down the path toward the stream, but she smiled as she went.

Chapter Eight
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When Ava was little, long before cancer came to steal her mother from her, she and her mother used to play in a stream near their house. In the spring there were tadpoles, and in the summer and fall, Ava would splash and squeal as she chased after frogs and tiny fish. Her mother, Molly, would sit on the bank, dangling her feet in the cool water, laughing at Ava’s antics.

Their stream was wild and overgrown. There was an air of mystery about it, as if pixies or dryads might emerge from the trees that shrouded it, hiding it from rushing cars and the bustle of everyday life. There was a carefully tended, fenced-in park nearby, with a paved walking trail, and few people were even aware that this fragment of wilderness had been lost, and seemed determined to remain so. Though it was on public land, it felt like it belonged to Molly and Ava, and many of her brightest memories were of splashing through the shallow water, feeling water-worn stones and slippery fish slither between her toes.

Once Ava started school, the days they spent at the creek grew fewer and fewer. There were dance recitals, track meets, and homework, all demanding time that once had been free. Eventually, they stopped going altogether, and Ava hadn’t thought of the winding, chattering stream in a dozen years or more.

Like the rest of the garden, the stream Ava found now was perfectly maintained. The grass was absolutely even, and while there were ferns and a small stand of trees, they were all pruned and shaped to cast just the right amount of shadow. But the round, glistening rocks, the tiny waves that caught the light and played with it like a toy being passed from one to the next, and the minnows darting from one flickering shadow to the next, those were just like she remembered.

Ava pushed Amy’s chair to the edge of the stone path and stared down into the water, watching as it poured over the top of one glossy rock, and swirled around another. She looked down at Amy, wondering if this was how her mother had felt. Was it simply the hope that her child would be happy and entertained for even a brief period that had driven Molly to bring Ava to a place like this? Or had she herself loved the titter of the waves, the giggles of rivulets and runnels as they played among the stones?

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, letting the sun warm her face, and soothe her hot, dry eyes. This was not that place, and certainly not that time, and she had things to do. Drawing in a breath, she forced it out through tight lips, packing her grief back down where it belonged, hiding behind her ribcage.

“All right, Amy,” she murmured, looking back down at her charge. To her surprise, the too-familiar stranger was looking at the water as well, and her gaze shifted as she followed a leaf wending its way between two larger stones before vanishing beneath the bridge that led the path over the stream. On a whim, Ava caught the leaf as it reappeared on the other side of the bridge, and brought the wet, slick fraction of broken foliage back, placing it in Amy’s hand.

The hand jerked, at first, flinching from the cold droplets that slid down to darken the fabric of her dress, but then, with unexpected determination, it closed on the leaf, not quite tight enough to crush it. Uncertainly, Ava circled back around, crouching so she was looking up into Amy’s face. The other woman’s expression was blank again, her eyes distant, but the hand in her lap trembled as Ava rested her own on top of it.

“Amy?” Ava said. There was no response, except perhaps that the hand in her own stilled, just a bit. Ava lowered her voice. “Amy, just trust me. Please. Hold on a little longer.” She thought that the mossy gaze would turn to her, acknowledge her words, but nothing happened. When Ava raised her hand, the leaf fluttered away from Amy’s limp grasp.

So, Ava gathered clay.

Making something from the fresh, wet mud nearest the stream was impossible. It slid between her fingers like those long-ago tadpoles, and dripped everywhere, making a mess of her clothes and arms. She quickly moved on to the deeper clay, digging beneath the surface to find something that reminded her of high school art class. This, she rolled into a ball, relieved to find that it did, indeed, hold together well enough to make… something. A sticky, lop-sided sphere, nothing more, but when she tried to place it into her inventory, it worked.

Mud Ball - a small, handmade ball of mud, such as a child might make.

That was it. No indication of quality or rarity, and though it didn’t actually matter, it practically made Ava’s teeth hurt because it was just another reminder that she was trapped in an avatar that wasn’t her own. As AlphaOmegadon, [Identify] was one of her highest-level skills, since she needed to be able to tell the people who hired her whether the items they picked up were trash or treasure. As a mule, her primary job was to carry those items out, even if the rest of the party was killed, but her ability to immediately tell what something was, and whether it was cursed or magical, had helped her gain a reputation as one of the best mules in Veritas.

She focused on rolling another ball. She quickly found that if her hands were still covered in clay from the previous ball, chunks would stick to that and pull away from the new ball she was trying to form. But if she rinsed her hands and got new mud while they were still wet, the new ball dissolved into a slurry.

As a result, her skirt rapidly grew heavier with water and muddy clay wiped from her hands, but she didn’t care. She just rolled ball after ball, using [Enchant] to imbue each with a momentary flash of one of her other skills or spells. At first, she failed as often as she succeeded, but soon enough she found a rhythm and a technique, and had a pile of muddy clay balls resting on the bank of the stream where she sat by Amy’s feet, wet and filthy.

[Enchant] is now level 5.

Ava groaned and wiped her forehead with her sleeve, freezing as she felt cool mud draw a chilly stripe against her skin. “Damn it,” she muttered, and someone giggled. Her head whipped around, and she stared at Petunia, who was standing behind her, brown hair gilded almost gold by the late morning sun. Quickly, Ava struggled to her feet, fighting the weight of her clay-heavy skirts. With a yelp, she tumbled backward, splashing ignominiously into the stream. A dozen silver minnows darted away from her, and she slapped the surface of the water in frustration, then just flopped back, laying her head on one bank, while her filthy feet were propped on a tussock of grass on the other side.

Petunia’s face was red from trying to hold back her laughter, and the girl seemed torn between offering to help Ava up and trying to keep her own clothes clean. She lifted her skirts and started to take a step forward, and Ava held up a hand.

“No, it’s all right. I’ve got it.” With a thought, she vanished her clothing into her inventory, leaving her clad only in the game’s default undergarments that looked like a strapless tankini and covered all of the essentials. With the weight of the skirt gone, and without the extra fabric clinging to her legs, Ava was easily able to climb up out of the water.

She was so distracted by Petunia’s shocked gaze and futile attempts to use her own clothes to hide Ava’s legs that she almost missed the laughter dancing in Amy’s eyes. Indeed, it vanished so quickly that she almost thought she’d imagined it, except that she knew that look so well. She knew the tiny creases that folded at the corner of those eyes, knew the way the eyebrows winged up, and the way the light seemed to glimmer just a bit more brightly when it reflected back.

Petunia tugged at Ava’s arm. “Please, lady, you must get dressed. King Veralt has declared that all shall be clothed fully and respectably at all times. Even you may be held for judgment if a guard sees you.”

Ava sighed, turning her attention to the girl. “Yes, I know, all right,” she muttered. Since Amy was wearing Ava’s second split skirt, that only left her original dress in her inventory. She hated the tight bodice and layers of heavy skirts, but the tailor had told her about the ‘decency laws’ as well, so she knew the maid was right.

As easily as she’d removed her wet clothes, the clean ones appeared, and she instinctively tried to take a deep breath as she found her ribs compressed by the heavy brocade and tight lacing up the back. She hadn’t even realized why she hated the thing until she took it off, since her avatar had been wearing it when she logged in the first time, but it was hard to breathe in, and if she did anything that required any exertion at all, she got the Breathless debuff.

Petunia slumped with relief, and Ava frowned as she looked down at the girl’s head. Why was the maid acting so naturally? When they first met, she’d been as wooden and emotionless as the rest of the NPCs in the castle. What had changed? Was this Amythyst’s doing?

Cautiously, she patted Petunia’s shoulder. “I’m fine, and no one saw anything. Now, why are you here?”

“Oh!” The young maid’s head popped up, worry and relief both wiped away as if they’d never been. “Aspen said to call you for lunch, before anyone noticed you and Princess Amy were missing.”

Aspen? Why was someone who was supposed to be a gardener telling a maid what to do? Even if he was older than Petunia, he had no rank within the castle.

Still, it explained the change in the girl’s behavior. Amythyst had explained that Bridget Anderson, genius extraordinaire, had personally created the NPC farmer, and Amythyst had had to slowly import him from the real game because she couldn’t access or duplicate his code. She hoped that would prevent Veralt’s programmers from being able to affect him, either, and he had several other little ‘quirks’ that could possibly help them. One of these was that he unwittingly ‘forced’ the game itself to give extra processing power to any NPC with whom he interacted on a regular basis.

Apparently, this had been meant to give someone who played through a unique quest chain with him as realistic an experience as possible, but it hadn’t been turned off once the quest was complete, and the result was that NPCs around him became much more independent and intelligent. Eventually, if Amythyst’s Plan A didn’t work, it was possible that Aspen’s mere presence could destabilize Veralt’s program, allowing Amythyst more opportunities to make her own changes without being caught.

Petunia saw Ava hesitate, and blushed slightly, highlighting the faint, pale scars on her cheek. As if realizing Ava had noticed, she lifted a hand and touched them, ducking her head. “I know he’s just a gardener, but we’ve been chatting the last few days, and… I feel like I know him. Like he’s someone I can trust.”

Huh. Ava thought. It sounds like Aspen’s little magic trick is working already. Amythyst hadn’t been sure how long it would take, given the changes Veralt had made in the game, and she’d reluctantly admitted it was possible that it wouldn’t work at all, since the programmers had locked everything down so tightly.

Ava just nodded when Petunia looked up, though inside she felt her heart lighten at the realization that they might actually have a viable backup plan. “Yes,” she told Petunia. “You can trust Aspen. Thank you for bringing me the message.”

Petunia bobbed a curtsey and seemed about to dart away, but hesitated, glancing from Ava to Amy.

“Do you need help? Getting the princess back?” she asked, hesitantly.

Ava’s first instinct was to say no, but the girl had helped her, and she seemed interested in the chair, and fascinated by Amy herself. Plus, while pushing the chair wasn’t exactly difficult, it was mostly uphill back to the main residence. All of ‘Lady’ Ava’s stats had been set to a flat twenty, so she got winded just running around town.

“Sure,” she said, stepping away from the wheelchair. “Just push slowly, and if the wheels get caught on a rock or something, back up and go around. If you try to force it, you might tip the chair, or tilt it so Amy - I mean, Princess Amy - slides out.” The chair certainly wasn’t as well-balanced as a modern wheelchair, as Ava had already discovered.

Gingerly, Petunia grasped the handles, and her first push was so cautious that the chair barely rocked in place. Ava showed her how to turn Amy on the smooth bluestones, and soon enough the girl was so confident that Ava had to warn her to slow down as they reached a curve.

As they passed Aspen, who was still working on the row of rose bushes, he tapped the brim of his hat and smiled at the three of them.

::What did you tell her?:: Ava asked over party chat.

He shrugged, laying a withered flower on the ground beside him in a small pile of similarly wilted blossoms. ::Nothing special. I just started talking to her. I don’t know why, but it seems like the people here are starting to act more like the people in my Refuge.::

::Not everybody,:: Silus said, sounding disgruntled. ::The cooks always give me food at home, but here they just chase me out of the kitchens with brooms, if they notice me at all.::

Aspen was behind her now, so she couldn’t see him, but she heard the uncertainty in his voice as he replied, ::Everyone I talk to is… better. I assume Gina is doing something.::

The wheelchair stopped, and it took a moment for Ava to realize Petunia was waiting for her to open the door to Amy’s rooms. Stepping around the girl and Amy, Ava pulled open the door, and Petunia pushed the princess into the dim space beyond, leaving Ava to wonder exactly what was going to happen now, and how it was going to affect their plans.

Chapter Nine
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After lunch, Ava took Amy out for another ‘walk’. Petunia’s mother, Florence, had managed to clean Ava’s filthy dress while they ate, so Ava was back in her relatively comfortable clothes. She knew she should go back and continue working with the clay, but she didn’t want to get so dirty again so soon. Fortunately, it seemed that Aspen had had a similar thought, and when Ava pushed the door open, he was waiting. This time, he was wielding a pair of long shears as he cut away at a nearby bush which already looked perfect to her inexpert eyes.

::Ah, good,:: he sent, though he didn’t glance at her. ::I left you something beneath the gazebo bench. I, ah, didn’t really think about how messy Juniper got when she made those mud balls. I think the maids cleaned her up before she was allowed inside.::

Ava blinked. Maids? Just who was Aspen, really? Even in Veritas, she was fairly certain farmers didn’t have maids. She shook her head, dismissing her own curiosity. It didn’t matter, as long as he was able to help her. Maybe, when all this was over, she’d find out.

Leaning forward, Ava murmured, “Come on, princess. Let’s go check out the gazebo, hmm?”

Gazebos, at least ones that weren’t covered in graffiti or half-burned from an arson attempt, weren’t exactly plentiful in Ava’s experience. There might have been one at a park when she was younger, but then, she was more interested in playing than admiring the architecture, so she wasn’t sure she would have noticed.

This one was lovely, though. Vine-covered arches made from white-painted wood shadowed the winding bluestone path, and the gazebo itself was at the center of a sort of private maze, separated from prying eyes and wandering servants alike. Sure enough, there was a bundle beneath the bench, and Ava settled down, leaving Amy in her chair to watch dozens of tiny birds as they chirped and hopped their way through the foliage that surrounded them.

Staring down at the array of leather strings that fell out when she unwrapped the simple brown cloth package, she asked, ::What is this?::

Sheepishly, Aspen said, ::Materials for several projects using leather. There’s an awl and some leather strips, so you can braid the strips, and create necklaces and bracelets. You can punch holes in the leather, and hang them like pendants. If you use more strips as fringe, it should meet the requirement that you craft at least half of the item you’re enchanting. I just gathered all the scraps the leatherworker had, and bought leather scissors and the awl. You can cut and tie it together into whatever shape you need, and when you’re done, just put it all back, and I’ll hide it until tomorrow.::

::I hope not,” Ava sent, grimly. ::I want to get out of here. Today.::

Ava lifted the mass of leather, revealing pieces of all shapes and sizes beneath the bunches of narrow strips, as well as the simple tools. The awl was a sharp metal spike jutting out of a wooden handle, and the scissors had shorter, thicker blades and larger finger-holes than she was used to. She wasn’t exactly certain what to do with it all, but she was sure she could figure something out. Her [Enchant] wasn’t high enough yet that she could work with more durable items like metal wire, but enchanting the leather should be within her capabilities.

Quickly, she braided three strands together, knotting them at the ends to create a very shoddy-looking bracelet. As she tied the last knot, she tried using [Enchant] to attach a single use of [Sneak] to the item.

[Enchant] failed. You must craft at least half of the finished item yourself.

Okay, so that wasn’t complex enough. She hadn’t tanned the leather, or cut the strips, so just braiding and tying them wasn’t good enough. She puffed out a frustrated breath.

“All,” a weak, fuzzy voice said, and Ava looked over at Amy. The woman’s eyes were focused, and she was looking at the items in Ava’s lap. Amy’s hands twitched, and she said, “All,” again.

Ava looked down and saw the awl, realized what Amy wanted, and placed the tool in Amy’s hand, though not without a good measure of trepidation. The thing was wickedly sharp. Amy tried to grasp it, but her fingers just slid off the handle, allowing it to slip from her lap and clatter to the ground. Ava picked it up, holding it out questioningly.

“Share,” Amy slurred.

“I… don’t think you can hold it, or I would.” Ava told her.

Amy’s head rolled to one side, and at first Ava thought she was gone again, but then she said, as clearly as she could, “S-k-ware.”

“Skware?” Ava looked at the leather again. “Oh! Square!” She picked up a square of leather perhaps an inch wide.

“Awl,” Amy said, her fingers twitching in her lap.

Ava pressed the tip of the awl against the square and poked a hole in it.

“‘Gain,” Amy insisted, so Ava poked another hole. One more, and Amy seemed satisfied.

“Tie,” Amy told her, though her slack mouth popped as she tried to enunciate, causing the ‘t’ to sound more like a strange ‘p’ instead. Still Ava was starting to understand, so she tied one end of one of the leather strips to the square.

“‘Gain,” Amy said, and they repeated this until all three holes had strings dangling from them.

Now Ava got it. The square was a foundation for the braid, and punching the holes added another bit of complexity and effort to the project. Quickly, she braided the strips together, then punched three more holes on the side of the square opposite to the first. She tied the ends of the braid to the square, producing a very awkward and ugly bracelet, and completely forgot to try to [Enchant] it.

Muttering a curse, she started again. This time, her holes were neatly aligned, and she wove the strands of leather through, instead of tying them, which gave her more strings to work with, and looked better. A simple six-string braid, then knots at the end, which she tried to make at least a little more aesthetically pleasing, and she was so caught up in creation that she barely remembered to try to [Enchant] the new bracelet with [Identify] before tightening the last knot.

[Enchant] successful. You have created a Simple Woven Bracelet. Simple Woven Bracelet is enchanted with one use of [Identify] - Level 3.

Grinning, Ava held up the bracelet, but Amy’s eyes were glassy and distant, staring vacantly at the hints of blue sky above them. Ava’s hands clenched into fists, the leather digging into her palm. It was all right. She knew Amy was in there, somewhere, and they were going to get her out.

Transferring her attention to the pile of leather scraps, Ava tried to make her mind see all the possibilities in it. How many things could she create? How many would be different enough to give her full experience? If she could make each item different enough, she actually might be able to get the five more levels she needed today. The first ten levels of a skill or spell were generally fairly easy to earn, and meant to serve more as training than to produce anything particularly worthwhile.

The light that filtered through the vines was growing weak, and held hints of reds and oranges by the time Ava wove one last narrow strip though one more hole in a long rectangle of leather. This was one of her largest pieces, by far, and it should make a sort of woven leather bracer that would provide very little protection in battle, but wouldn’t look like complete rubbish.

[Enchant] successful. You have created a Basic Bracer. Basic Bracer is enchanted with one use of [Sneak] - Level 5.

[Enchant] is now level 10. Congratulations! You may now cast two single-use enchantments on one item, or two uses of one enchantment.

With an “Oof,” Ava sat back, her shoulders twinging painfully. It was done, though, and now she could go ahead with the rest of the plan.

::Aspen?:: Ava asked over party chat.

::The rest of the gardeners went home for the day, so he had to leave,:: Silus answered. ::Are you finally done? It was so boring waiting all day!::

Ava stood, packing the remaining scraps of leather, the tools, and her finished projects into the piece of cloth Aspen had originally wrapped them in. She started to close it up, then hesitated and opened it again, taking out the bracer, and a few other items. Gingerly, she slid the smaller pieces down the front of her dress, and tucked the bracer into the folds of Amy’s skirts, so it was hidden between the fabric and the chair.

Once the remaining bundle was tucked far back under the bench, Ava took hold of the handles of Amy’s chair and turned it, heading back out the way they’d come in. The wheels rattled on the stones, announcing their approach, and even before Ava emerged from beneath the overhanging vines, a breathless Petunia appeared.

“Oh, Lady Ava!” The girl gasped. Her face was flushed, and her eyes wide. “There you are! Dinner is ready, and no one knew where you were. My mother was nearly ready to send the guards out looking, but she decided to send me once more, since no one saw you leave the gardens, so here I am, and here you are at last!”

Ava hesitated, a chill going down her back. Aspen had chosen an excellent place for her to hide while she worked, but it might have been too good. If the guards had been called, they would certainly have reported to Veralt, who might have come himself, or ordered someone to stay with Ava and Amy at all times, even when they were on the castle grounds.

She smiled, though she knew it was stiff and unconvincing. “The gazebo was so pleasant, I lost track of time. I’m sorry. Let’s get back to the residence before your mother worries further.”

Petunia nodded, spun on her heel, and darted back down the path. Ava hoped she would reach Florence before the older woman sicced the guards on them, and potentially ruined Ava’s chance to escape, at least for today.

She pushed Amy’s chair as quickly as she dared, but before she was even halfway to the princess’ garden house, Petunia returned, followed by someone else. In the rapidly deepening twilight, it was hard to tell who the tall, broad-shouldered figure was, but the skirts told Ava it wasn’t a guard, all of whom were male.

“Lady Ava,” Florence said, her resonant voice sounding more like a sergeant snapping the name of a subordinate than a maid speaking to her superior. “Where have you been? Didn’t you think we might be worried?”

Ava ducked her head, shoulders growing tight, then remembered who she was supposed to be, and forced her chin back up. Meeting Florence’s stern gaze, she asked, “What right do you have to question me? I was here, on the castle grounds, just like I’m supposed to be. How is it my fault if you couldn’t find me?”

Florence drew in a deep breath, looking as if she’d snap back at Ava, but then she blinked, and the expression was gone as quickly as it had appeared, shifting to the blank obedience that had been the norm before today.

Instead of continuing to chastise Ava, Florence bobbed a curtsey, her head hanging. “You’re right, of course, Lady Ava. I’m sorry. We were… worried?” She sounded truly uncertain what emotion she had been feeling only a minute before, and Ava nodded in spite of the visceral feeling of repulsion she felt at seeing someone who was so vibrantly alive shift to nothing but an automaton.

Glancing at Petunia, she saw that the girl looked confused, too, though not in the same way her mother was. No, the girl looked like she was seeing something she’d never noticed before, and she found it as disturbing as Ava did.

Ava’s fingers clenched around the handles of Amy’s wheelchair. She couldn’t wait to get out of this place. Without another word, the four women made their way down the path, the only sound the rattle of wheels against bluestones.

Chapter Ten
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Ava peered around the corner of the building, saw nothing of interest, and sent a question to Silus. ::Do you see anyone?:: Instinctively, she kept her voice low, even though no one could overhear anything she said in party chat.

::Nobody,:: Silus answered, sounding like she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. The little bat clearly disapproved of any adventure that had so little excitement in it. Ava, on the other hand, was thrilled.

Just before midnight, Aspen had turned up at Ava’s door. They had crossed through to Amy’s bedroom, where Ava had woken the sleeping woman. Once Ava explained what they were doing, though the explanation elicited no response from Amy, they had struggled to get Amy’s limp body onto Aspen’s back. They finally had to use a sheet to tie her on, like an enormous infant. Fortunately, Amy wasn’t tall, and Aspen stood a few inches above six feet, or Aspen would have had to carry the invalid in his arms instead, which would have left him at least temporarily helpless in case of trouble.

Now, they stood deep in the halls of the castle, each of them watching and listening for any sign that someone besides them was awake. Aspen had been watching the town and the castle for the last few days, while Ava was gone, and had determined that while it would be difficult to get them all out through one of the closed and guarded gates, no one patrolled the castle itself.

::Are you sure there’s a secret passage in Veralt’s chambers?:: Ava asked, for the third time.

::Yes,:: Aspen assured her, with the patience of a parent with young children. ::The tunnel was there before Refuge became a city, and it remained there after the old house became the castle.:: He hesitated, but finally admitted, ::It’s possible raising the castle above ground broke it somehow, but everything else is eerily accurate, so it should still be there.::

Ava stopped in her tracks. ::So, we’re going to go to Veralt’s rooms, where Veralt may be sleeping, and the tunnel might not even be there?::

Aspen hitched Amy higher on his back in some form of a shrug. ::You Travelers don’t really sleep, though, do you? You ‘log out’, and you can’t be wakened.::

::I’ve tried to wake up Rouge so many times,:: Silus put in, sounding exasperated. ::I even bit her once, and accidentally used [Poison Bite], and the unicorns had to heal her before she died.::

Aspen chuckled almost inaudibly as he led them onward through the castle. He seemed very certain of where he was going, so Ava just trailed after him like a lost puppy. ::You used [Poison Bite] on purpose, little one, and don’t think we didn’t know it. You were mad because she hadn’t been on to play with you in almost a month. You’re fortunate she has [Poison Resistance] and the sparkles were nearby, or that could have ended badly.::

::She’d just respawn,:: Silus muttered, but after that she limited herself to reporting that the halls nearby were still empty.

Finally, Aspen stopped outside a door set squarely in the middle of a long hallway with no other doors. Shaking his head, he looked down the hall. ::There should be justat guarding this door. They’re all goblins, though, so Veralt’s bigotry in removing all the non-humans also got rid of the very people who would have protected him with their lives.::

Reaching out, he grasped the door handle, turning it slowly until a click broke the silence, and he winced, freezing in place. ::Silus?::

::Nothing, Aspen,:: Silus answered, sounding unusually serious. ::I can’t see or hear anyone coming.::

Slowly, Aspen pushed open the door, then paused as he looked inside for the first time. Silus’ nearly silent form flickered in through the space above his head, the little bat going ahead to look for anything that might cause an unexpected problem. After a moment, she signaled all clear, and Aspen slid into the room.

Ava followed, triggering [Sneak] as she did so. Even though she knew Aspen was right, and there was no way they could possibly wake Veralt, she couldn’t help but keep a wary eye on the bed, and the still figure lying there. ::Why couldn’t this be one of the times he decided to sit on his throne?:: Ava muttered rhetorically.

Apparently, Veralt had a habit of leaving his avatar in the ostentatious throne that nearly filled the audience chamber. He liked to sit, staring blankly out over his ‘kingdom’, presumably so the citizens could properly admire him even when he was gone.

Aspen lifted a brow at her, the gesture barely visible in the light of the two moons shining in through the windows, and she shrugged, gesturing for him to get on with it. He returned the gesture and she grimaced, triggering [Trap Detection], followed by [Hidden Passages].

[Trap Detection] is now level 2.

A small box near Veralt’s bed began to glow a dim red, and Ava pointed at it, then shrugged again. Aspen looked conflicted, but said, ::Leave it. The passageway is over here, so hopefully he either doesn’t know about it, or didn’t bother putting any traps on it.:: He crossed the room, his stockinged feet making no sound as they sank into the thick carpet that covered the floor.

::Or I just didn’t find them,:: Ava muttered, well aware that her level two skill wasn’t going to catch anything much more complicated than a cardboard box leaning against a stick. It was already amazing that she’d found whatever was on Veralt’s box, which meant it was either incredibly simple, or… No, most likely there were just so many traps on the thing that even her pathetic skill was enough to notice at least one.

Fortunately, they knew where the secret passage was, at least in theory, though she’d failed to find it. Aspen used one hand to sweep aside the tapestry covering one wall, then tried to kneel. He barely managed to catch Amy as she began to slide forward, nearly toppling them both to the ground. Frowning, Aspen carefully shifted the limp body back into place and stood up. He tapped a round stone with one toe as he readjusted Amy until she was settled comfortably against his back.

::Three stones up and two to the right from this one. Don’t push it. Get your fingers under the bottom edge and pull.::

Ava knelt on one knee and did as he instructed, feeling a ridge beneath the stone he’d indicated. She tugged, and the stone pulled out with a soft scraping sound, revealing three round, burnished stones.

::Press them. Right, left, right. Don’t touch the one in the middle.::

The right stone depressed beneath her fingers, settling into place with a snick. The left stone did the same, but when it did, the right one popped back out. Ava glanced back up at Aspen, and he nodded encouragingly. Cautiously, she pressed the right stone again, and this time it vanished inside the wall, and a whole section of the stonework slid out of the way, revealing that it was just a facade set over a crack that looked oddly natural, even though the wall itself couldn’t be more than a foot thick, and certainly shouldn’t contain what looked like a cave wall.

Aspen snorted, the sound shockingly loud in the silence, and they both swung around to stare at the unmoving figure lying in the bed. Veralt didn’t so much as twitch, and Aspen shook his head. ::Sorry. I thought that it would look different, somehow, but this is exactly how it is in real life.:: Real life for Aspen, of course, was the normal game, and this crack would make complete sense there, since most of the castle was supposed to be below ground.

::Let’s hope it works just like the real one, too,:: Ava said grimly. ::I don’t like Plan B.:: Which was, of course, trying to sneak Amy out right under the noses of the guards, using the extremely brief version of [Invisibility] that Ava could [Enchant] an item with. Plan C, which relied on Aspen’s corrupting influence, was still a work in progress.

Not only was B much riskier, since it depended on perfect timing, but Ava would have to find yet another way to grind her skill so her enchantments lasted longer, and while getting to level ten in most skills was fairly easy, it became noticeably more difficult after that. The more time she had to spend raising the skill, the longer it would be before they could make the attempt, and none of them wanted to stay in Veralt’s dystopian dreamland any longer than they had to.

::Me neither!:: Silus said as she flew into the dark tunnel. As the only member of their group who could find her way in the dark, she would be in front from here on. ::I don’t even get to help you with that one.::

::Sorry, little one. We’d have to try during the day, since Ava has no reason to take Amy out of the castle at night, and a bat flying around when the sun is shining is far too noticeable.:: Aspen said, edging through the narrow opening and into the tunnel beyond before pausing. Ava tucked Amy’s limp arm deeper into the sheet holding her up, bundling the woman’s limbs in tight enough that they wouldn’t scrape against the stone walls, and followed Aspen as he began moving forward again.

::I’m really good at hiding,:: Silus said. ::I help you and Rouge during the day all the time.::

::And if the guards saw you, they might try shooting you down. This isn’t home, Silus, and those men are going to attack anything that’s out of the ordinary. It’s not worth the risk.::

::I’m not a baby any more. I can take care of myself,:: Silus muttered, and Ava had the feeling this was an argument the two of them had had many times before, so she let herself bump into Aspen, silently urging him to move faster. With an amused huff, the farmer moved on down the impossible tunnel, Ava trailing after, keeping an eye on Amy’s exposed legs and periodically adjusting them so they didn’t get too banged up on the walls, at least until the darkness became so absolute that Ava had to feel her own way along, and couldn’t worry about anyone else.

::There’s a step down ahead of you, Aspen,:: Silus said. ::And you’ll need to-::

A hollow clunk sounded, and Aspen started swearing.

::Duck. Sorry,:: Silus finished, but she didn’t really sound sorry at all, and after that, the little bat always warned Aspen well before he needed to avoid a hazard.

Somehow, moving through complete blackness made time seem to stretch into eternity, and Ava had to keep checking the clock on her interface to make sure they weren’t actually taking hours to travel through the narrow passage. But no, it was only seventeen minutes after Ava first checked when Silus said, ::We’re here.::

::The cave?:: Aspen asked, and they could hear Silus’ wingbeats echo as she flew forward.

::Looks like it. That big hole that drops down to the water is ahead of you, so you’ll have to figure out how to get around it while you’re carrying Amy.::

“No need,” said a familiar voice, and a flicker of gold and green light flared ahead of them, making both Ava and Aspen flinch back as their eyes tried to adjust.

Amythyst coughed, looking slightly embarrassed. She was in what Ava now knew was her ‘goddess gown’, and the layers of gauzy green fabric floated around her where she hovered above a gaping hole in the muddy floor of the tunnel. “Sorry. You’ve almost made it, though. Another five feet, and we can make the transfer.”

Aspen rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “Five feet is right in the middle of that hole, your goddessliness. How is that going to work?”

Silus fluttered back to land on Aspen’s shoulder, leaning her body against his jaw. ::That’s Gina, Aspen,:: the bat practically hissed. ::Be polite!::

Aspen shrugged, making Amy’s limp form jerk on his back. “She’s used to it. Besides, she still needs me.”

Amythyst grinned at Aspen and the bat fondly. “True. And I get enough worshiping and falling at my feet as it is. Aspen helps keep my ego in check.”

Silus hesitated, then squeaked, ::You can hear me?::

Amythyst outright laughed this time. “Of course I can. I may not be very good at being a goddess, but I can still do some pretty neat tricks.”

Silus fell silent for a moment, then blurted out, ::I want to go with Rouge when she leaves to find Matilda’s dad! Make Aspen let me go!::

Amythyst blinked, then raised an eyebrow and looked at Aspen.

“It’s too dangerous. If Rouge dies, Silus will be on her own, abandoned who-knows-where,” the farmer said, pinching his lips together.

Amythyst sighed. “We’ll talk about this more later. Right now, Ava, come here.” She gestured, one bare, faintly luminescent arm indicating that Ava should step forward.

Ava did so, and as she did, another figure moved into the golden circle of light. It was AlphaOmegadon, exactly as she’d been when Ava logged out for the last time in Amythyst’s house. Her crimson hair was gathered into several long braids and pulled back out of her face, and sharp white fangs pressed against her upper lip, protruding upward like tiny orc tusks, which was what Ava was imagining when she decided to build the avatar this way.

“Damn it,” Ava muttered, as she drew close enough to realize she was looking up at Alpha’s mismatched reddish-purple eyes. “I knew Veralt made this avatar shorter.”

Amythyst snickered, and for a moment, the two of them stood, grinning at each other. Ava felt her jaw clench as she fought the urge to reach out and touch Amythyst, feel her soft skin beneath her fingers for the first time in far too long. She had no right to do so, and no reason to think Amythyst would welcome the touch, so she took a step back instead, and AlphaOmegadon mirrored the action.

Amythyst’s brows drew together, and she looked from Ava to Alpha. “You need to touch her. Go ahead.”

Slowly, Ava lifted a hand, leaning forward over the pit to set her hand against Alpha’s, noting in the brief moment their skin touched that the vampire’s flesh was slightly cool, though not unpleasantly so, and that the other hand was definitely larger than her current one.

Then the world vanished into a brilliant blaze, and when it reformed, she looked out through Alpha’s eyes as ‘Lady Ava’ collapsed to the muddy ground like a puppet with her strings cut. Only Aspen’s quick actions kept her from slipping right over the edge of the chasm and falling into the distant water below.

“Good catch!” Amythyst said, shooting Aspen an approving grin. “Now, hold Amy out. Carefully.”

Aspen sent her a look that suggested he didn’t need the reminder, but he awkwardly pulled Amy’s limp body around until he could catch her under the arms when he released the sheet holding her up. As gently as if she were made of spun glass, he held the woman out to Amythyst, who stuck her hand into Amy’s chest, poked around for a second, and then pulled out a glowing orb.

“That’s it!” Amythyst said triumphantly, holding up the fiery spark. “You can take her back now, Aspen.”

Gratefully, Aspen pulled the now completely flaccid body back to his side, grumbling, “Couldn’t you have picked someplace more convenient for this?”

Amythyst snorted, lowering the orb from where she had been staring into it, though she kept it cradled protectively in her palm. “I didn’t choose it. This is as far as Veralt’s pet programmers have bothered to edit. When Refuge was where it was supposed to be, this would have been exactly ten yards from the outer wall, which is where the, ah,” her eyes flickered from Aspen to Silus, “official city limit falls, at least according to the gods. Blame OG Gina for the extremely inconvenient Pit of Despair; she’s the one who created this area.”

Silus fluttered to a landing on Aspen’s shoulder and tilted her head curiously. Alpha wasn’t in her party anymore, so she couldn’t hear the little bat, but she was pretty sure she knew what Silus was asking.

Sure enough, Amythyst bit her lip before saying, “Um, it’s short for ‘Oh Great’. Because it’s really embarrassing to admit how, uh, awesome I am.”

Knowing how persistent the bat could be when she was curious about something, Alpha spoke up, though she smirked at Amythyst as she said, “So, Oh Great Gina, am I back on the regular server now? Or one of them?”

Amythyst just laughed back at her. “It’s about time you recognized my awesomeness.” Growing serious, she said, “We’re still on Veralt’s server, but in the unedited part of it. The server is actually communicating with the regular game at the moment, though. I sent one of the programmers a ‘special invitation’ from his streaming service to watch the premiere of a new movie from his favorite franchise. He made a nice big hole through security so he could take me up on it. It was a little tricky, timing-wise, since I didn’t know exactly when you’d get here, but I set it up as one of those, ‘only the first one hundred to click the link can win!’ deals, and he swallowed it hook, line, and trojan horse. Still, we only have until he gets caught or the movie ends to do this, so let’s move things along.”

Looking from Alpha to Aspen, then down at Lady Ava, Amythyst said, “Who has the enchantments?”

“Oh, damn it,” Alpha muttered. “Aspen, they’re in my - her - pouch. I made them after dinner, while we were waiting for everyone to go to bed, so they should still be good.”

Aspen knelt and rolled Ava over so he could open her pouch. It was surreal to watch someone handling ‘her’ body, but Ava shook the feeling off and nodded when he held up the bracer, a simple but pretty necklace with a complex knot of leather strips for a pendant, and a bracelet that had ended up so large it fell off when Ava tried to wear it.

“The bracer has [Steal] and [Substitution] on it. The necklace is [Substitution] and [Report], and the bracelet is [Invisibility] and [Lockpicking],” she told them.

Amythyst nodded and held out her free hand. “Aspen, hold the items out over the pit.”

Aspen did as he was told, and when they crossed whatever invisible line Amythyst was on the wrong side of, the AI touched each one briefly, looking satisfied. “All right. Veralt’s server knows these items belong there, and that they were enchanted there, so as far as the code is concerned, they ‘belong’. I just tweaked how many uses the enchantments have, and what level they are. You can put them on now.”

Aspen put the necklace around his neck, and the bracer on his forearm. It was almost too tight, but by loosening the laces, he made it work. Finally, he held up the bracelet, looking at Alpha. “What’s this one for?”

Alpha shrugged. “For emergencies. If something goes wrong, [Invisibility] will probably help you more than [Substitution]. I just threw [Lockpicking] on there so I didn’t waste an enchantment slot.”

“I understand,” he said, pushing the bracelet up his arm so it was hidden beneath his sleeve. Then he concentrated, and a moment later, Alpha was looking at two identical copies of ‘Lady Ava’. One lay prone in the mud, while the other stood over her, looking slightly uncertain. “Did it work?” Aspen-Ava asked.

Alpha repressed a shudder. Seeing the abandoned copy of ‘her’ was disturbing enough, and now Aspen looked and sounded like her, too. Which was the point, but still…

“Yeah,” she said, forcing her eyes away from her twin doppelgangers, “it worked.”

Looking satisfied, Amythyst nodded. “The trickiest part is going to be finding time when you’re alone so you can recast the spells, but you look good, Aspen.”

She pointed at the empty Amy avatar. “Now, you just need to take Zombie-Amy and put her back to bed. And don’t forget to use [Report] at least once a day to let us know what’s going on. Be as detailed as possible, since I can’t see what happens in town, and you won’t be able to sneak out while you’re being Lady Ava. Just remember, while I can intercept and change them, Veralt’s minions may be able to read them, too, if they happen to be looking at the right log when one comes in, and they probably won’t appreciate it if you call him names.”

Alpha snorted. “Oh, they might appreciate it, but they’ll still report it.”

Aspen-Ava nodded, picking up Zombie-Amy with enviable ease, then glanced toward Silus, who flew off toward a nearby stalactite as Aspen slung the empty avatar across his shoulders instead of trying to redo the sling by himself. Hesitating, he said, “What about this version of-” he tilted his head toward Alpha, then nudged the limp form of ‘Lady Ava’ with a toe.

Amythyst shrugged. “You’ll have to stash her somewhere. You have to have recently touched the person you’re copying to use [Substitution], so she needs to be nearby. I maxed out the spell level, so each use should last about a day. Maybe you could bury her in the garden or something, and dig her up when you need her.”

Alpha glared at the AI. “Bury me?”

Lifting her hands, Amythyst shooed Aspen-Ava away. “Sure. Nobody’s home, anyway, so what does it matter?” She grinned teasingly at Alpha, then sobered. “The important thing is, my little pet programmer is almost done with his movie, and we need to get this,” she held up the glimmering sphere, “off Veralt’s server.”

Aspen-as-Ava hesitated, then leaned over and picked the second body up off the ground, finally looking like he was actually struggling a little as he tried balancing both unoccupied avatars. Finally, he just stacked Lady Ava on top of Zombie-Amy like so much dirty laundry, and started making his cautious way back down the narrow crevice behind him. Silus dropped from her place on the ceiling and winged after him, leaving Alpha and Amythyst alone.

Alpha looked at Amythyst and opened her mouth, intending to ask what happened next, but what popped out instead was, “You look beautiful.” Instantly her face flushed, feeling even hotter in the coolness of the cave.

Matching color rose in Amythyst’s cheeks, and she looked down, closing her fingers around Amy’s data-ball. “You were supposed to say that last night.”

A dozen excuses cascaded through Alpha’s mind; everything from ‘I was tired’ to ‘I was distracted’, but she just said, “I’m sorry.”

Without looking up, Amythyst took a step closer to Alpha, walking on air until her bare feet hovered just above the mud. The extra two inches brought her closer to Alpha’s height, so when she lifted her eyes, she barely had to look up to meet Alpha’s gaze. “Me, too.”

They smiled at each other, and then Amythyst spun, gauzy skirts and trailing vines twirling as she pirouetted down the passageway beyond Alpha and started running. “Hurry up! There’s only about ten minutes left in the movie, and we need to get going if we’re going to make it out before Albus closes the port.”

“Albus?” Alpha asked, hurrying to join Amythyst as they burst out of the cave and ran down a muddy riverbank. The AI’s beautiful gown morphed into the familiar brown leathers of the avatar she’d been using when she and Alpha first met. Her long, loose hair twisted itself up into a curly ponytail, and her feet began digging up soft clods of dirt as her boots met the earth.

“The programmer. Poor guy. I mean, he was pretty much doomed to be a geek with a name like that,” Amythyst laughed wildly as she leaped over a tussock, then settled into a sprint when she landed on the other side. Alpha, whose dexterity was apparently still lower than Amythyst’s, nearly tripped over the tall grass and tumbled down the other side, but managed to keep her footing and race after the sound of laughter lingering in the night.

Soon after, Alpha stumbled again as the ground beneath her feet shifted from dirt, grass, and sticks to dirt and gravel, then just gravel, and finally the familiar flat solidity of a road. The world was painted in the silver light of the full double moons, making it too bright to trigger her racial [Darkvision], so Alpha could just make out the black gap of the road winding away up toward the looming darkness of the mountains against the horizon.

“How much further?” she gasped out, eyeing her Stamina as it slowly dwindled. While Stamina was mostly used for skills in Veritas, it was possible to run out through simple physical exertion. Alpha was nowhere close to that point - her already high Endurance had been boosted even more when she became a vampire - but it was disconcerting to see it vanish so quickly just from running.

“Just to the bottom of the foothills,” Amethyst called back, her clear voice showing no signs of strain. “We’ll make it, but it’s going to be close. Can’t you go any faster?”

“Yeah, sure,” Alpha mumbled, but she dug deep, pulling on every trick she’d learned when she’d been on the track team in high school. Her breathing evened out, and her long legs stretched into an easy stride that started closing the gap between them.

When Amythyst heard Alpha’s boots on the stones close behind her, she glanced back, her face split into a grin so broad that dimples Alpha had never seen before danced in her cheeks.

“I could never do this before,” she said, wind whipping her hair into her face. “No matter how hard I exercised, my body just wouldn’t do this. It’s the best thing about-” she broke off, eyes flicking away, back to the road ahead.

Alpha wondered what the end of the sentence would have been. After all, AI Amythyst had only existed for about a year, and the body she remembered having actually belonged to Amy Landon, whose consciousness was currently contained within an orb the size of a ping-pong ball clutched in her fist. Amythyst didn’t like to talk about what it was like to be a purely digital being, and Alpha was fairly certain she didn’t actually believe she was ‘alive’ in the truest sense. So, would she have said, “the best thing about having a virtual body”, or “the best thing about being dead”?

With a final grunt of effort, Amythyst pushed off the washed-out stone of the road, leaping through the air at the point where flat ground began to rise, climbing toward the peaks. As she flew through the air, her body shuddered, then split in a strange kind of aerial mitosis, which left the Amy-avatar she had been using clutched in the arms of Myles2Go, the male Sword Reaper who claimed to be the Holy Executioner of the gods.

Myles landed gracefully, setting Amy down on the road. Gently, he tucked Amy’s windblown hair back out of her face and lifted her hand, carefully removing the gleaming sphere from her grasp. Alpha caught up as Myles pressed the orb against Amy’s chest, and it sank into her flesh without even disturbing her clothes.

Alpha looked around. “Is that… it? Are we out now?”

Myles looked up, shrugging. He looked like Amy’s slightly taller twin brother, and seeing the two side by side brought home just how similar they were. “You change servers all the time in Veritas. Sometimes a dozen times in a dozen steps, as the system shifts people around to lighten server load or put you on the same server as a friend. If you noticed, it would break you out of immersion, so the developers - and Bridget - really focused on making sure you wouldn’t. But yeah, we’re in the real game, now. Which means all the regular rules are now in effect.”

Alpha swallowed hard. Veritas Online was all about realism. Unlike other games, they allowed players a great deal of control over their own experience, with a wide range of options, including setting their own desired level of sensory input, to whether or not labels were constantly visible over the heads of other players, mobs, and NPCs. One thing that couldn’t be changed, however, was that when the player logged off, their avatar remained behind, instead of vanishing, as it had in all the games that came before it. A real body wouldn’t just dissolve into nothing when its motivating spirit vanished, and neither did a character in Veritas.

However, during beta testing, the players had discovered that these empty avatars, or Zombies, could be used to harass or prank other players. People would log off, leaving their Zombie behind, and their friends, enemies, or complete strangers would pick them up and move them somewhere else. It might be somewhere innocuous, like the top of a nearby building, or it might be in the middle of a lake, where the avatar would drown, leaving the player to deal with a death debuff when they logged back in.

After testing several solutions, the developers decided to dilute the realism of the game slightly by making avatars, occupied or not, essentially immovable. Trying to shift them was like trying to pick up a black hole, though they would still travel a short distance if they were hit or kicked during combat, and the player could grant someone else permission to move them.

Generally, that permission came as part of a set of instructions the player gave their Zombie before logging off. For instance, ‘Follow Player X to Location Y’ was used to allow one player to lead another somewhere, sometimes over very long distances that would otherwise take days to travel. In fact, that was how Alpha’s avatar had gotten to Refuge; before logging out, Ava had told her Zombie to follow Amythyst, and Amythyst had led Alpha to the meeting point.

Once she’d gotten access to Veralt’s server, Amythyst had learned that Veralt told his programmers to allow Amy’s avatar to be moved, since Amy couldn’t move herself. Then, whoever had actually made the change did it in the easiest possible way, by turning off the code that protected any avatar from being moved, not just Amy’s. This discovery opened up all kinds of intriguing possibilities, which eventually led to the plan that allowed them to get Amy out.

But now Amy was out. She was in the real game, and she could neither move on her own, nor grant permission for Alpha to move her. Which all circled around to the reason Amythyst had turned Alpha into a vampire in the first place: while the AI hadn’t been certain that Amy was even still alive, she had known that if Amy could get out on her own, she would. Which led to the inevitable conclusion that Amy couldn’t get out, which meant it was likely she was still in a non-responsive state, and the only way around that was the vampiric skill, [Turn Ally].

[Turn Ally] did exactly what its name implied; it transformed an ally into a minion capable of assisting their vampire master. After the first use, the ally became a Servant, which granted them something like a very weak form of empathy or short-range chat, and made their blood more effective at restoring the vampire who bit them, while also allowing the servant to recover more quickly from being bitten, among other minor buffs.

The second use turned the servant into a Thrall, strengthening all of the previous effects and adding one more; the thrall couldn’t disobey the master. This meant that a thrall who was ordered to go somewhere or do something had to do it, and this held true whether or not the player was logged in. As far as Amythyst knew - and she pretty much knew everything - this was the only loophole in the ‘no moving avatars without explicit permission’ rule.

And it all started with a vampire’s bite.

Chapter Eleven
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“You added me to her Friend list, right?” Alpha asked, stepping forward to stare down into Amy’s face as Myles nodded. Disconcertingly, the woman’s eyes were open, and she stared straight up at Alpha. She hadn’t protested or made a single sound during the escape, and Alpha had wondered if she was just sleeping through it. She was definitely awake now though; her eyes drifted, and every few seconds she blinked and brought them back to Ava or Myles.

Crouching, Alpha said, “Amy? Blink once if you understand me.” She felt a little ridiculous. That was the kind of thing they said in medical dramas, and it sounded silly then, too.

Amy blinked. But she’d been blinking, off and on, for a while, so that didn’t necessarily mean anything, did it?

“I’m… Alpha. I mean, I’m also Ava. The woman who helped you today. Your… attendant, I guess? And this is, um, Myles.” Alpha leaned back, and Amy’s eyes flicked to Myles. Alpha frowned. “Well, I guess you kind of know him, since he’s using one of your avatars.”

Amy’s head rolled to the side, and Alpha wasn’t sure if that was a denial, or if the woman just couldn’t control the motion. Carefully, Alpha grasped Amy’s chin and turned her face back toward her.

“Look,” Alpha said, sounding gruffer than she meant to, “I have to bite you. It’s going to hurt, and I’m sorry, but we don’t have time for a lot of talk. When the sun comes up, I’m going to burn if I’m still outside, and people are going to start coming through here, and wonder why there’s a person lying in the middle of the road next to a pile of charcoal.”

Myles waggled his hand. “Probably not that last, actually,” he grinned. “Travelers have a habit of leaving their Zombies lying around like so many dirty socks.”

This was true. If it weren’t for the fact that most players liked to start with the Well-Rested buff, there would literally be Zombies left standing on every street corner. There were deterrents too, including the fact that an abandoned Zombie could be robbed, or even killed, but the carrot seemed to work better than any number of sticks, at least according to most players.

“Anyway,” Alpha went on, returning her gaze to Amy, only to find that the woman’s eyes had lost focus again, and her mouth was slack. “Dalmatian, we lost her,” she muttered, then played back what she’d said.

She glared at Myles, who thought it was hilarious to put a profanity filter on her, though he changed the settings on a regular basis. “Dogs? Really?”

The AI just winked at her, and she resisted the urge to poke him in the eye.

“Whatever. Okay,” Alpha drew in a deep breath, “you did Friend me, right?”

[Turn Ally] was specific to allies. If Alpha tried to Turn someone who wasn’t either a friend or in her party, it would fail, and the person she was trying to turn would die. She didn’t know where Amy’s respawn point was, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way. Technically, the person she was trying to turn was also supposed to give verbal permission, which would increase the chances of the skill succeeding to almost one hundred percent, but for the first bite, just being on each other’s friend list should be good enough, at least according to Myles, who was supposed to use his powers as a Developer to Friend them.

“Yes,” Myles said, patiently. “You’re good to go.”

Alpha looked down at Amy, using one of her vampire skills to see how much blood the woman had.

Amy

Blood Pack: 10 units.

She had to drink nine units of blood, and then inject some of her own back into Amy. Fortunately, she didn’t have to bite the other woman’s neck, so she picked up a limp arm and turned it so the sharp fangs jutting up from her lower jaw would pierce the radial artery. She had to turn Amy’s body and twist her own head awkwardly to get a good angle, but at last she bit down, feeling thick, strawberry-flavored fluid begin to flow.

“It’d be easier if you’d gone for fangs on the top, like I suggested,” Myles teased as he knelt down beside them and helped steady Amy’s body. Since her mouth was otherwise occupied, Alpha could only glare, which was clearly insufficient, since Myles just chuckled unrepentantly.

It took a little over three minutes before Myles, face tight with tension, said, “There. She needs your blood now.”

Alpha pulled back. Quickly, she bit down on her own lip, piercing it with her fangs before triggering [Turn Ally] and pressing her mouth against Amy’s arm again. As a vampire, her pain input was set to the maximum by default, but she’d grown used to inflicting small injuries on herself during the time she’d spent leveling this skill. This wound had to be larger than the small cuts she needed to turn the tiny fairies she’d practiced on, but she still barely flinched. She couldn’t help feeling like she deserved a little pain after what she was putting Amy through.

“There,” Myles said, resting a hand on Alpha’s shoulder, gently pulling her back. “That’s enough.”

Alpha blinked, rocking back as she looked down at Amy, who was distinctly paler than she had been a few minutes before. “Did it work? Why isn’t there a notification?”

Myles shook his head, grimacing in distaste. “The vampires were developed by Harris’ team. Carl had to approve it all, but otherwise they didn’t have anyone telling them what to do, and the race was never properly tested before being added to the game, so it has bugs and glitches all over the place. Try using [Identify] now.”

Amy (servant) - Ranger. Level 74.

Blood pack: 1.25 units

“I can see her class and level now!” Alpha said, more startled by that than the confirmation that [Turn Ally] had succeeded.

Myles laughed. “Her character was one of the very first ones, of course, and back then there were only four classes available. We - they - didn’t even add the ability to see tags until the alpha testers asked for it. Bridge wanted the game to feel completely real, and seeing labels floating over everybody’s heads definitely isn’t realistic.”

Alpha shook off about a dozen questions she wanted to ask and just said, “The NPCs I’ve turned pass out until sunset. Is it different for players?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, reaching out to carefully adjust Amy’s body to a more comfortable position. “They get a Paralysis debuff until their blood regenerates. Generally, that takes anywhere from a few hours to a whole day, during which they can’t move or communicate in any way. Vamp bites are actually venomous, and can paralyze prey, kind of like a spider, but you have to take fifty to eighty percent of the blood pack to use it. Less than fifty, and the victim runs away screaming or keeps hitting you. More than eighty, and they’ll die if you don’t turn them.”

“So, I can’t bite her again until, what, her blood regenerates?” Alpha asked, frowning as she glanced toward the setting moons.

Holding out a hand, Myles grinned, and his voice shifted to the sing-song patter of a shopping show host, “Having blood problems? Not today! We’re now offering our special Blood Booster Potion! Just one of these, and you’ll return to full health in just a few seconds!” A vial appeared on his palm in a dramatic cascade of sparkles.

Alpha snatched the bottle from his hand and stared at the red fluid swirling inside. “This is just a regular healing pot!”

He grinned, unrepentant. “Technically, she’s fine. She just needs to heal, though it takes longer than usual to recover from a vampire bite. Being a servant helps her recover a bit faster, but with a potion, she should be ready for the second bite in just a few minutes. You can’t take any shortcuts with NPCs, but players don’t have enough patience to wait a whole day for results.”

Popping the cork, Alpha pressed it to Amy’s lips. Some of it dribbled down her cheek, but the game was designed to allow potions to be administered to ‘unconscious’ players, so most of it went down Amy’s throat, though her eyes didn’t so much as flicker while she drank.

After a moment, Alpha used [Identify] on Amy again.

Amy (servant) - Ranger. Level 74.

Blood pack: 9.8 units

Impatiently, Alpha waited another few seconds and checked again. And again. The moment [Blood Pack] told her Amy was fully recovered, she picked up the other woman’s wrist again. Looking down at the unblemished skin, Alpha grimaced. “Are you sure this will work? I haven’t made a… a Thrall before.”

Myles puffed out a little breath. “That actually increases your odds. You can only have ten thralls, and each one is more difficult to get. You’re more likely to succeed than fail, at least for the first few, though if you ever try to turn someone into a minion vampire, your best odds will be about one in four.”

“What happens if I do fail?” Alpha asked. She’d asked before, but Myles always somehow dodged the question, and she’d let him, because she had a feeling the answer would only make her worry even more. Still, it was time to find out.

As if sensing her resolve, Myles met her eyes and said simply, “She goes to respawn, and I try to cover it up. I still have access to the lab’s server - though any significant flow of data other than what I’ve already established will trigger an alert - so I’ll change the logs as quickly as I can. Unfortunately, her respawn point is the castle, and that can’t be changed. There are a few things that Bridget made sure even Devs couldn’t do to any character but their own, so there was never any temptation to misuse the power they were given.” He grinned a little. “Plus, programmers have a bizarre sense of humor, and you wouldn’t believe what some of them did to each other before Bridge nerfed their access.”

Alpha refused to allow him to sidetrack her. “So, she’ll die, we may be caught, and she’ll just revive back in the lab server anyway?”

Myles’ expression became pained, but he tried to shrug it off. “Basically. I… don’t think they’ll notice before I can change the logs, but we’d definitely have to sneak her out again. Until she can set her own respawn point, she’ll go back there any time she dies.”

“Dachshund,” Alpha muttered, then rolled her eyes as Myles grinned and said, “Gesundheit.”

She couldn’t bite him, so she bit Amy instead.

After something less than a minute, Myles tapped her on the back. “She needs more of your blood, this time. Starting now.”

Alpha’s eyes flashed up at him as she glared accusingly. He should have told her sooner, but she knew why he hadn’t. With her pain input set to maximum, biting herself hurt almost as much as it would in real life, and now she had to do more? Myles grimaced apologetically, but motioned meaningfully toward Amy, whose arm was still bleeding freely.

“Finnish Spitz,” Alpha muttered, and chomped down hard on the end of her tongue. Blood instantly filled her mouth, and it tasted like salt and copper, not fresh fruit or a dessert beverage. She resisted the urge to spit it out, and instead leaned down to seal her lips over the twin punctures in Amy’s arm.

After that, it felt like her own blood flowed out as quickly as Amy’s. She blinked when Myles’ face began to swim in her peripheral vision, and she started to tilt forward. Myles gently caught her, holding Amy’s arm when Alpha’s fingers began to tingle and feel weak.

You are Dizzy.

You are Nauseated.

You are Weak.

The notifications blazed against the reddish darkness behind her eyelids, but she forced herself to continue as her world narrowed to the arm she clutched, and the flow of metallic, salty strawberries that threatened to make her retch.

When Myles pulled her back, she slumped, pressing the back of her arm to her trembling mouth. She tried to look at Amy, but her vision was still blurry. “Did it work?” she slurred, her injured tongue sending a stab of pain through her with each word.

“Yes,” Myles’ voice was low and triumphant, and his warm arms wrapped around Alpha’s cold body, pulling her close. “Yeah, it worked.”

Giving up on getting her eyes to focus, Alpha relaxed against him, letting her eyelids close. “That was disgusting. Next time, you have to be the vampire,” she muttered, and she felt the laugh that rumbled through his chest. His face pressed against her hair as he leaned forward, and for once she didn’t protest.

“I will, I promise,” he said, then added very softly, “Thank you, Ava.”

Chapter Twelve
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

The moons had vanished behind the trees and the sun was cresting the horizon by the time the last of Alpha’s debuffs vanished and she was able to stand without help. Opening her inventory, she pulled out a thick, purple cloak and wrapped it around herself, trying to protect herself from the first faint rays of sunlight. Beside her, Amy stood, stiff and awkward.

Alpha was digging through the cumbersome interface the game had given her for controlling her ‘thrall’. It looked like someone had taken the standard interface meant to allow a player to tell their own Zombie what to do while they were away, hacked chunks of it out, and then put in new pieces without running it through a grammar or spell-checker. There were even a few places where it looked like they’d left the raw code visible, and she had no idea what those sections were supposed to do.

“Holy schnoodle, how did these people even graduate from high school?” Alpha muttered, poking at a string of gibberish involving a lot of brackets, strangely placed commas, and semicolons with no apparent purpose. In the middle of the mess was the word ‘Follow’, and she felt a flood of relief when a familiar prompt appeared, urging her to select a target. The only name on the list was her own, so she selected it, and Amy’s body shifted so she was looking in Ava’s direction.

Alpha took a few cautious steps further up the road, and when the distance grew to about ten feet, Amy took a single step to close the gap.

Myles whooped. “You got it!”

Alpha shot him a narrow-eyed look. “No thanks to you.”

He smirked and shrugged. “The code for the vampire race is a nasty little amalgamation of encrypted original code, and chunks they stole from the other races. I did what I could with it, but without being able to read the encrypted part, I don’t dare change any of the unencrypted bits. Not now that you are one, anyway. I might fix whatever’s broken, or I might break the whole thing and kill you or make you a screaming murder vamp.”

Alpha snorted, pulling her hood further forward around her face as the sun crept higher in the sky. “Let’s not. I just wish we could figure out how to get her to call her horse so we could ride to the dungeon, instead of walking.”

Myles grinned and struck a pose, pointing down the road. “At least now we can start walking. Dungeon ho!”

Alpha took the hint and set her feet on the road towards the summit. The entrance to the tunnel that led to the dungeon where their friends waited was deep in the foothills, and she wouldn’t be able to use her [Vampiric Stealth] while Amy was Following her. Every minute they lingered was a minute the sun’s light grew stronger.

You have lost 10 Drops of Blood due to Direct Sunlight.

Alpha swore and sped up to a jog.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

They only saw one other player on the road before they left it, but it was the first confirmation Alpha had that she was truly off Veralt’s server and back in the real game. In spite of Myles’ assurance that they were free of the scientist’s warped world, she still hadn’t quite believed it until the willowy elven player rode past them, almost running Amy down with her horse. Filled with sheer relief, Alpha didn’t even flip the other player off as Amy reoriented herself with plodding, stiff movements.

“Why is she so awkward?” Alpha asked as she settled back into her jog.

“I think it’s because she’s still in there,” Myles answered, though he sounded uncertain. “Zombies are controlled by the same system that controls NPC movement, so they can actually be more graceful when the player logs off, especially if they were using a headset and gloves, instead of a pod. If some part of Amy is trying to take control of her avatar, it could cause this. Vampires were supposed to control enthralled NPCs and Zombies, not a fully conscious player. We’re taking advantage of a loophole in the code, and the player could potentially fight it, if they were aware enough. It may actually be a good sign that Amy is more cognizant of the situation than we think.”

Myles paused as they drew closer to a large cart filled with flat gray stones. It was half-hidden behind the bushes lining the road, and a young man lay on top of the stones, snoozing in the faint sunshine that filtered through the trees. Raising a hand, Myles said, “Hi there, Jiminy!”

The young man, barely more than a boy, really, sat up, his hat falling off his face and landing in his lap. “I wasn’t slee-! Oh, it’s you. Hello, Mr. Myles.” He grinned, a puckish expression that reminded Ava of Myles himself. “You’re back already. And your friend woke up!”

Myles nodded. “She did. And apparently you fell asleep,” he teased. “I thought you were supposed to guard the stone until the workers arrived this morning. I didn’t see much guarding going on a minute ago.”

Jiminy grinned and scratched at his tousled brown hair. “I was just usin’ my other senses for a minute. Training them up, you might say.”

Myles laughed. “I see. Or,” he said, slyly, “maybe I didn’t see.” He flipped something toward Jiminy, and the object glittered golden in the sun, before the boy snatched it from the air in a movement almost too fast to see. “Just like you didn’t see me. Right?”

Jiminy nodded agreeably, and a gold coin flickered between his fingers before he flipped it into the air and made it vanish again. “Sure thing, Mr. Myles. Just, ah,” his eyes flickered to Ava, “so long as we’re all on the same page.”

Myles nodded, and Alpha followed suit when he jabbed her in the ribs with a sharp elbow. Her thick cloak muffled the force of it, but she still glared at him as she said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Jiminy grinned again, then grunted slightly as he swung his legs out and dropped to the ground near where the wagon’s tongue dug into the soft, moist earth. “S’pose I’d better get to guardin’, then,” he said, “just as soon as I get myself some bumbleberries from that patch I saw just down by the stream.” He gave a little wave as he ambled off toward the distant sound of trickling water, and Myles urged Alpha toward the crack in the rock that had been mostly hidden by the wagon and Jiminy’s body.

“Bribing children, now?” Alpha muttered, as she climbed over the shifting pile of stones.

“Ha!” Myles chortled. “That one hasn’t been a child since the day he was spawned. He’s a scallywag and a scoundrel, and he has a skill or two that help him know if a person is going to cause trouble or not.” He jumped nimbly down into the shadowed crevice, and held a hand up to help Alpha. Ignoring it, she leaped down easily, and he smirked as he took Amy’s hand instead, though she didn’t seem aware of his assistance.

Once all three of them were safely within the tunnel mouth, he led the way into the darkness, unsheathing his slender, graceful sword so its glow could illuminate their path. “You remember I told you that all of the NPCs in Veritas Online were seeded with a fragment of one of the real people Amy and Bridget scanned as part of their research?” He tilted his head toward the vanished Jiminy. “That one has a piece of Amy herself in him, and it makes him a scamp as well as a good judge of character. When I came out of that hole last night, he shook me down for a gold as a toll, and sent me on my way.”

Alpha shook her head. “Seems like he’s a little too young to be out here by himself.”

Myles nodded, then shrugged, stepping around a particularly large root that protruded from the rocky floor. The ceiling, walls, and floor of the passage were unnaturally smooth, but occasionally roots, moss, or fungus disturbed the regularity of their surroundings.

“His job isn’t to stop anyone trying to go in or out of the tunnel. Once it’s finished, it’s supposed to be a road between Vargo and Refuge, after all. His job is just to let the Queen know if anyone finds it before they’re ready to make knowledge of the passage public. I have no doubt that in spite of promising not to tell anyone we came through, he’ll report us as soon as his replacement shows up.”

Alpha hesitated, then dodged as she nearly whacked her head on a dangling root. “What will the Queen do?”

Myles hummed thoughtfully. “Nothing, probably. Maybe move up her timeline a bit. William already told her about the dungeon, and she knew once Travelers found out, we’d flood the place. She’ll also know, though, that we aren’t likely to tell anyone, since we’re obviously trying to keep it a secret ourselves. We get a bonus if we’re the first to complete the dungeon, so it’s in our own best interests to keep quiet about it, at least until then. She has enough on her plate without worrying about three idiots who are probably just going to get themselves killed.”

Something stirred in the darkness ahead of them, and Alpha pulled her longsword from her inventory, holding it ready. A ghostly white centipede as long as her leg skittered out of the darkness, and she sliced at it, cutting off its head in one easy sweep of her blade. In front of her, Myles used his glowing blue sword to chop another centipede in half. For a few moments, the silence was filled with scuttling and the meaty thwacks of their weapons, and then it was over.

You have slain Cave Centipede x5.

“I hate these things,” Alpha muttered, leaning down to loot the corpses. “Though I’m glad they’re a low enough level they’re easy to take out.” The insect she was touching began to dissolve into Fertile Soil, and three Centipede Legs entered Alpha’s inventory.

Myles nodded. “Once they get the road finished, the mobs won’t attack anyone who stays on the path, but in the meantime, it’s good that this is still a newbie area. Over time, the tunnel will develop new branches, these guys will level up, and anyone who goes further in thinking they’re all like this may not like what they find.”

Once they finished looting the defeated mobs, they continued down the straight, wide passageway, though they shifted their formation so Alpha was in the front, followed by Amy, and Myles brought up the rear. It was sheer luck that the centipedes hadn’t gone for Amy, and Alpha had no idea how or even if she could get the woman to defend herself.

They fought two Greater Voles, a Lesser Cave Spider, and another small group of centipedes. Even Myles had stopped making quips by the time they finally reached what Alpha thought was the very center of the tunnel, where a symbol of four intersecting, pointed ovals that she now knew represented fairy wings was carved into the wall.

Alpha hesitated as she lifted her hand to touch it, and gestured to Amy. “Does she have to activate the touchstone herself, or will she come because she’s my thrall?”

Myles shrugged nonchalantly, and even in the dim light of his blue sword, Alpha could see his eyes twinkle with mischief.

She sighed. “All right, out with it.”

“Why don’t you try asking her?” he asked, innocently.

“Ask her what?” Alpha said, resting her fists on her hips.

“To touch it,” Myles said, indicating the symbol.

Growling, Alpha pulled up the clunky thrall interface, and started flipping through it with a bit more vigor than she probably really needed. “This thing is Feisting useless,” she muttered, swiping it away after a few moments of scrolling. Glaring at Amy, even though she knew none of this was the other woman’s fault, Alpha snapped, “I wish you’d just touch the symbol already.”

Instantly, Amy reached out and did just that, vanishing a moment later.

Alpha turned her glare on Myles. “I can give her verbal commands? Can’t you ever, just once, tell me how to do things the easy way instead of waiting for me to work it out for myself?” she demanded.

Myles raised an amused eyebrow and asked, “Can’t you ever just start by doing things the easy way?” He reached out and touched the crossed wings, vanishing after Amy.

Alpha sighed and rubbed her eyes. Annoying as it was, he was right. She always had to do things the hard way first. Hell, the first time she ever fell in love, it had to be with the digital copy of a woman the world believed to be dead, and to top it off, said digital copy was the most annoying, sneaky, just generally aggravating person she had ever met.

And Alpha still felt more alive than she had in almost two years. Shaking her head, she reached out and placed her hand on the stone wall, imagining that she might feel just the tiniest bit of warmth lingering from Myles’ hand, and entered the dungeon.

Chapter Thirteen
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

The entry room was the same as it had been the first time Alpha entered it, except that now most of the space was taken up by a tent which had been pitched squarely in the center of the open space surrounded by dense jungle-like foliage. As Alpha blinked around, letting her eyes adjust to the mock-daylight that filtered through the trees above, she felt a small, warm body impact her legs, followed by a fierce hug.

“Mistress!” Toggle, her gnome servant, cried.

Alpha looked down, attempting to pat the small NPC’s pointy hat without knocking it off, since his shoulder was too far down to reach without bending. “Toggle! What are you doing here? I thought Myles was going to take you to the Atheneum Dungeon!”

The Atheneum Dungeon was run by gnomes, and ever since it was discovered, Lost Gnomes had been popping up in Veritas Online, offering quests to escort them to their new home. In exchange for someone to protect them, they offered to work for free for as long as it took to get to Refuge, where the dungeon was located.

Many of the more unscrupulous players accepted the quest, gaining a semi-permanent ‘pet’ by simply avoiding ever getting near enough to Refuge to complete the quest. Alpha had rescued Toggle from one such player, and Myles was supposed to take the little gnome as close to Refuge as possible when he brought Alpha’s Zombie to the edge of Veralt’s server.

Myles offered her a bemused smile as she looked up. “He decided he wanted to stay with you, at least until you could take him to the Atheneum Dungeon yourself.”

Alpha’s eyes narrowed. “Did you-?” They both knew what she didn’t quite say. Myles - or rather Amythyst - had prodded Toggle’s program to encourage him to offer Alpha his escort quest in the first place, and had put the little gnome on ‘pause’ more than once since.

Myles shook his head, all offended innocence. “He did it entirely on his own.”

Looking down, Alpha met Toggle’s eyes as the gnome stepped back. “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, Mistress, and you left while I was sleeping!” His large blue eyes blinked wetly, and she sighed, resisting the urge to kneel down and pat him reassuringly.

“Toggle, you could be safe at home right now, with your people. I told you I’d have to go as soon as I got [Turn Ally] to level ten. I thought we agreed you’d go with Myles.” Alpha said, sternly.

The gnome’s already thin lips compressed into a stubborn line. “I belong with you, Mistress,” he insisted.

Quest: “Ask Not for Whom the Gnome Trolls” available.

Toggle the Gnome is searching for someone to take him safely to the Atheneum Dungeon. He promises to serve you until he arrives home.

Success: Experience. Warm fuzzies. Blood. A Gift from Toggle.

Failure: None.

Accept: Yes/No?

Sighing, she realized that she must have automatically failed this quest the first time when her Zombie left Toggle behind. Resignedly, she glanced at the ‘Yes’ option, and the notification faded away with a happy sparkle.

“Why do I feel like I’m on the wrong end of this master/servant business?” Alpha muttered, but stopped complaining as she felt something smooth and cool slide up her arm to her shoulder. Reaching up, she gently lifted Orah from where the snake was attempting to wrap herself around Alpha’s neck.

When Alpha first got Orah from her god, the sacred serpent had barely been the size of a delicate bracelet. Since discovering that the alabaster snake could double as a shrine to Quezal, Alpha had been praying to her god daily, slowly improving her relationship with the digital deity, which in turn increased Orah’s size and strength. By now, Orah easily wrapped Alpha’s wrist three times, and lately she’d begun pretending to be a torque, rather than a bracelet.

Orah’s mismatched blue eyes peered into Alpha’s, as her flickering pink tongue darted out, tickling Alpha’s nose and making her laugh. As always, the serpent seemed to be smiling, and Alpha stroked her smooth scales, feeling the tension in her shoulders and back ebb away.

“She missed you,” another voice said, and Alpha glanced up to see that Tessle was emerging from the low, triangular tent. The blonde dwarf was scowling, and carefully adjusted the horned helmet on her head as she stood to her full height, which still left everything except the tips of her horns below the level of Alpha’s shoulders.

Alpha winced. She’d known this was coming, and she hadn’t been looking forward to it. Tess was her only friend in real life, and had joined her on her now much-delayed journey to Refuge. Alpha had tried repeatedly to convince Tess to go ahead to Refuge without her, but the dwarf adamantly refused, insisting that she was going to complete her own self-imposed escort quest and stay with Alpha until they walked into Refuge together.

Unfortunately, neither Myles nor Alpha wanted to involve Tess in their possibly slightly illegal activities, so when Myles went to pick up Alpha and Amy, he left Tessle behind. Tess was, obviously, less than pleased about this.

Stomping forward, Tess stared up into Amy’s face, then looked over at Myles, eyes narrowing to accusatory slits. She shook a finger at him. “I knew this whole thing was your fault, but,” she sighed, visibly deflating, “I guess I can’t blame you too much. When family is in trouble, you do whatever you have to to help them, and she,” she switched her finger to point at Amy, “is obviously related to you.”

It was true. In Veritas Online, player avatars were based on the player’s actual physical appearance. While racial characteristics such as green skin, huge, pointed ears, or enormous tusks could render a person nearly unrecognizable, the person’s essential bone structure and, to a lesser extent, coloring, remained. It would be difficult to intentionally make two human characters who looked as much alike as Amy and Myles, down to the shape of their nose and the sweep of their cheekbones. They were unmistakably related.

Tess tilted her head to one side as she continued to study Amy, and one golden braid slipped off her shoulder to swing heavily in front of her ear. “Is she logged on? Usually it’s pretty obvious, but I can’t tell.” She waved a hand in front of Amy’s face, and the hazy green eyes tracked the movement halfway before they lost focus and drifted away again. “And why does her tag just say ‘Amy’?”

Alpha and Myles exchanged a glance. “Ah, it’s a skill,” Alpha said, lamely, and Tess snorted but apparently chose to let it go, since she didn’t ask again. Instead, the dwarf snapped her fingers in front of Amy’s nose. Amy blinked, and said, “Ngh,” and Tess jumped backwards, face flaming.

“Oh, crap! Um, I’m sorry!” Tess said. “I thought you were away!” Stepping forward again, she frowned in concern. “Uh, I’m Tessle. Are you… okay?”

Amy’s eyes were locked on the waggling horns on Tests’ helmet, and slowly, she lifted her arm, reaching out to swat at the ridiculous hat.

Tess backed up again, clapping her hands to her headgear. Myles and Alpha both stepped in to prevent things from escalating, though Myles went to Amy, while Alpha grabbed Tess.

“Remember I told you Myles was going to rescue someone? You’re right, this is her, and she’s… sick. I mean, not sick, but…” Alpha faltered, not sure how to explain Amy’s condition.

“She was hurt,” Myles interjected, wrapping one arm around Amy’s shoulders as he turned to face them. “Her avatar got stuck somewhere, and since she’s… like this, she couldn’t get out on her own.”

“Oh!” Tess said, understanding and compassion flooding her face. “I have a cousin with cerebral palsy. She’s awesome, but there are a lot of things she can’t do without help. I never even thought of bringing her into the game to see if she could, you know-” she waggled her hands and did a little jig as an example.

Alpha let out a little snort of laughter, and Tess wrinkled her nose at her, but grinned self-deprecatingly a moment later. Myles, however, leaned forward, expression intent and eyes bright. “We’re actually developing a system that we hope will allow people with all kinds of disorders to interact with the game world in the same way people without disabilities do. Since the suits can read even minute bioelectrical signals and transepithelial voltage gradients, we believe that-” he broke off, settling back on his heels as Alpha and Tess both turned to look at him.

Clearing his throat, Myles tapped his chin and smiled. “Ah, sorry, I tend to get a little overexcited about-”

Tess shook her head, offering him a genuine smile. Tessle was more than a little suspicious that Myles was using his charming personality to conceal a master manipulator who was out to get Alpha. It was part of the reason Tess was so reluctant to leave Alpha alone with him, and even though she’d relaxed enough to tease him back when he started bantering with her, there was still a vague tension between them.

“No,” Tess said, “it’s okay. That sounds amazing. Do you think-?”

With a quiet yelp, another figure phased into being in the center of their group. The boy was in his mid-teens, solidly in his lanky, awkward phase of growth, and his thick blue mage’s robe hung loosely around his body. His face triggered faint flickers of recognition in Alpha, but she didn’t remember him until she read the tag above his head.

Vexxx - Lightning Mage. Level 81.

Blood Pack: 9 units

Pulling her sword from her inventory, she said, “You’re one of those kids who tried to kill us way back in Bloodhaven! What are you doing here?”

Vexxx stepped back as Tests’ huge, double-bladed axe whirled in her gauntleted fist. “Whoa! Hey! No, uh, you got me wrong, man! I mean, lady!” He lifted his hands, showing that they were empty, which wasn’t particularly reassuring given that he could cast a spell from that position as well as any other.

“Look,” Vexxx said, taking another step back so he was pressed up against the ‘wall’ of tree trunks that formed the room. “I’ve been following you ever since Bloodhaven. I had to, like, track you guys for days, and then I lost you for almost a week when you came in here. I finally found that tunnel when the goblins came out of it and started guarding it, or whatever, and then I got caught when I tried to sneak in while they were eating. I thought those guys were going to kill me! Like, since when are goblins level ninety? They’re supposed to be newbie mobs!”

He paused, taking a deep breath, and, seeing that no one was instantly moving to kill him, went on a little more slowly. “They made me swear to Haddu that I wouldn’t tell anyone about the tunnel, and I don’t want to be struck by lightning, so you can believe I won’t. But then my mom made me take a break to study for the PSAT, even though nobody even cares about that any more, and I just got back in, and then I spent like, another week going up and down this stupid tunnel looking for you, and I only just found you when you came in here and… Is this a freaking dungeon?”

Myles grinned and swung the arm that wasn’t still wrapped around Amy’s shoulders in a broad, all-encompassing gesture. “It is indeed! Welcome to the Labyrinth Dungeon!”

Vexxx started grinning back, and Alpha rubbed her temples. Holding up a hand, she said, “Let’s just hold off on the welcome for another minute.” She glared at the teenager who had stumbled into their midst. “Why did you follow us all the way here? If you’re mad because we beat you-”

“Oh, nah, man,” Vexxx denied, waving away the suggestion. “Y’all won fair and square. I’m here because you,” he pointed at Alpha, “are totally a vampire, and he, “gesturing to Myles, “has the most bad-ass skill I’ve ever seen. So, I want to be a vampire, and I totally want to be able to,” he swished his hand through the air with accompanying snick-snack sounds, “like, summon Death. That was legit.”

Myles’ grin grew larger, and Alpha felt a headache start to pound behind her eyes.

Chapter Fourteen
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“Come on, Alpha!” Vexxx wheedled for the millionth time as they forged ahead through the lush grass of the broad, verdant meadow that lay beyond the jungle.

“No,” she said, firmly, ignoring Myles’ snicker as he strode along beside her.

“Come oooonnn,” the boy said again, batting at one of Alpha’s fairy servants who flew in front of him as he staggered around a bush that was heavily laden with golden berries. The fairy swooped down, plucked one of the berries, and threw it at the lightning mage, where it splattered on his robe with a satisfyingly juicy smack. With a grimace, he brushed it away, and Alpha caught his finger as he raised it to zap the tiny pest.

“For the millionth time, don’t [Shock] the fairies, Vexxx,” she growled, absorbing the small zing of electricity with the palm of her hand.

You have lost 1 Blood Drop.

“What?” he muttered, shaking his hand as she let it go. He was a bit of a glass cannon, and while he had a lot of mana, his Strength was surprisingly low for someone over level eighty. “They won’t even fight back.”

“Exactly,” she said, stopping so she could glare at him properly. “All of these fairies are my servants,” she shot a scowl at Myles, “whether I want them to be or not, and since you’re in my party, they won’t fight back. That makes them non-combatants, and we don’t kill non-combatants for fun!”

He shrugged, looking away. “Whatever. It’s just a game.”

Tess clicked her tongue disapprovingly at this oft-repeated phrase, though she didn’t try to convince him otherwise, as she had the first dozen times he’d said it.

Alpha sighed and forged ahead, though not without sending a dark look at Myles’ back. The Sword Reaper was the one who agreed to let Vexxx join them. He’d also told the boy that if he could convince Alpha to turn him into a vampire, then he, Myles, would teach the boy wizard how to use his Death spell. Which left Vexxx living up to his name as he harassed Alpha across multiple ecosystems.

“Hey,” Vexxx said suddenly, looking around as he swatted yet another fairy out of his way. “Why is this place called the Labyrinth Dungeon, anyway? I mean, there aren’t even any walls.”

Alpha practically tripped over her own feet. Honestly, she hadn’t even thought about it. This was where Myles brought them to train up her [Turn Ally] skill, and it was apparently a ‘safe’ place to take Amy because there was no chance anyone could find her in an instanced dungeon.

Tess hummed thoughtfully. “I wondered that, too. I mean, I figured we were here for… other reasons.” She cast a sidelong glance at Vexxx, keeping her words intentionally vague, “but I always figured a labyrinth would be more, you know, labyrinthy.”

Myles had remained suspiciously silent throughout this whole conversation, but Alpha caught a glimpse of his face as he glanced back at them, and she knew that look of suppressed amusement far too well by now. Pulling up her interface, she took a look at the quest she’d gotten when she entered the dungeon.

Quest: “Find Your Way to the Center of the Labyrinth”.

Make your way through the Labyrinth Dungeon to meet the boss. Don’t worry, there are no goblins.

Success: A World First. Experience. Loot. +10 Relationship with Quezal.

Failure: Somebody else gets all that stuff.

The tone of the quest was distinctly Amythyst’s, and Amythyst loved nothing more than setting up sneaky surprises, especially if they were obvious in hindsight.

Holding up her hand, Ava brought the group to a stop. “All right,” she said, slowly, “first of all, do we even care about this quest? As Tess said, we’re not really here for the dungeon,” she pointed a finger at Vexxx as he opened his mouth, obviously ready to ask what they were there for. “You, hush. So, given that the dungeon isn’t our goal, does figuring it out even matter?”

As she spoke, she kept an eye on Myles’ expression, and she saw his eye twitch as he realized she wasn’t going to take the bait. Then Tess spoke up.

“To be honest,” the dwarf said, “I’d kind of like to do something else. We’ve been slogging through knee-high grass for hours, and when we get to the mountain habitat, we’re going to do the same, just with less grass and at a higher elevation. I know you said the mountain fairies taste like hot cocoa, but nobody else is eating them,” her nose wrinkled before she shot Alpha an apologetic look, “and it was stupid cold up there. Without even fighting fairies to break up the monotony, this dungeon is kind of-”

“Boring!” Vexxx broke in. “I thought you guys must be doing something super fire, since you have a unique race and you,” he gestured to Myles, “have that dope skill. But no, you’re all cheugy.”

Alpha glared at him. “Then. Go. Away.”

He just snorted and glared back, crossing his arms. “Bite. Me.”

For just a moment, she actually entertained the idea, but then she remembered how biting Amy had felt, and almost gagged. “Hellebore. No.” She didn’t even bother splitting her scowl to Myles, who had apparently changed her profanity filter from dogs to flowers at some point during the last few hours. Turning to Tess, she said, “So, you want to try to complete the quest?”

Tessle grinned, her round cheeks bright pink with excitement. “Definitely! My guild explores new places all the time, but as far as I know, we’ve never gotten a dungeon First. Doom will be so jealous! Plus, I hear you get amazing perks and a title from the achievement.”

Vexxx nodded enthusiastically, offering his fist for Tess to bump. Somewhat dubiously, she did so.

Alpha looked down at Toggle, who had taken to walking directly in her wake, using the trail she and her shadow, Amy, left as they waded through the grass. “What do you think, Toggle?”

Again, Vexxx opened his mouth to say something, and Alpha clapped a hand over his mouth before smiling at Toggle encouragingly. The little gnome, who had been silent up to this point, looked tired. “Whatever you want is fine with me, Mistress,” he said, glancing from Alpha to Vexxx, who was muttering angrily behind Alpha’s palm.

Alpha hesitated. On one hand, going further into the dungeon, if they could even figure out how to do so, was likely to grow progressively more dangerous. While the players could respawn, that wouldn’t be good for either Amy or Alpha, since Amy would end up back on Veralt’s server, and Alpha would no longer be a vampire, thanks to the ‘You Only Live Once’ racial characteristic.

On the other hand… The dungeon was boring. Worse, she couldn’t see how it was supposed to help Amy recover, if that was Amythyst’s intention. As far as Alpha could tell, the whole place had been designed by Amythyst specifically for this purpose, and at the moment they seemed to be failing to utilize it properly.

Looking over at Myles, Alpha said, “What do you think, Myles? Should we go dungeon delving, or should we just,” she waved her hand vaguely, “continue as we have been?”

Myles quirked an eyebrow at her, and she could tell by the twinkle in his eye that he knew she knew he’d been setting them up. This might even be why he wanted Vexxx to come along. The boy was shaking up the party dynamics, so they weren’t all just blindly following Alpha’s lead, and his presence kept Tess from asking too many questions.

At last, Myles let out a defeated little sigh. “I vote we try to make our way further into the dungeon.”

Alpha fluttered her eyelashes at him, and hoped she didn’t just look like she had dust in her eye. “Any suggestions about how we do that, exactly?”

Myles smiled mysteriously, but Vexxx was waving his hand like a kid hoping the teacher would call on him. Reluctantly, Alpha transferred her attention to the young wizard and raised her brows questioningly.

“Walls are, like, separations between rooms, right?” Vexxx said, shaping out squares with his hands, “This place doesn’t have any rooms, but it does have these, like, biozones, or whatever, and there’s a definite line in between each of them. Almost like a wall, right? Just an invisible one.” He grinned proudly, and Alpha had to resist the urge to pat him like a puppy who’d just managed to make it outside instead of peeing on the carpet for the first time.

Tess nodded, looking thoughtful. “That… kind of makes sense. I mean, it makes as much sense as anything else. Otherwise, we just have to assume that the entrance to the actual labyrinth is out there somewhere,” she swept her hand wide, indicating the mountains, meadows, and the desert to the west. “I really don’t want to have to search every part of this place until we find the right ecosystem, or whatever.”

“So, if the divisions between the zones are the ‘walls’,” Alpha said, slowly, “then what do we do about it?”

“My mom used to be a major gamer, and she says whenever you get lost in a maze, you should try following the right-hand wall. Then, if that doesn’t work, try the left,” Vexxx said, shrugging.

Alpha frowned. “That makes sense if the walls are all connected, but I don’t know if the zones make… connections like that. In theory, we could just walk in a circle and end up where we started.”

Vexxx made a face. “Sure? But at least it’s something. And if we do go in a circle, then when we get back to this stupid field, we can try something else.”

“What if the biomes repeat?” Tess asked, shaking her head. “I mean, what if we go until we reach the mountains, and turn right, then right again when we get to, say, a swamp, and right again at a glacier, and end up back at a meadow again, but it’s not this meadow?”

Sighing, Alpha said, “I guess I can turn a few fairies in each area. They seem to find me whenever I show back up, so if we don’t see any of my old ‘servants’, then we can assume it’s a new zone.”

“Maybe there’s a pattern?” Vexxx asked. “Like, jungle, meadow, mountains, desert, and back to jungle or something? Then if we find one that’s not in the pattern, we could check it out?”

Tess groaned, plopping down in the grass spread-eagled and staring up at the sky. “This will take forever.” Then her voice changed, and she said, “Oh, hey, wait!” Sitting up, she pointed up at the clear blue sky overhead. “We know that’s not the real sky because the light doesn’t turn Alpha into a crispy critter, right? Which means the sky is also part of the dungeon, which, duh, but what if it’s also part of the biome?”

Everyone turned to look toward the dark, threatening clouds that gathered around the tall mountain peaks ahead of them. Then they turned their eyes west, where the sky lightened from blue to almost white above the desert. Alpha squinted, and yes, she could just barely see a line where blue met white. Looking back at the mountains, she saw that the trailing edges of the clouds simply vanished when they reached the clear blue above the meadow, as if they’d been chopped off by an invisible cleaver.

“We can see the walls from here,” Alpha said, and flopped down in the grass beside her friend. “Look, there’s another spot to the east where the sky definitely turns gray. That has to be the edge of the next zone.”

Tess lifted a finger, tracing the faint differences that now seemed so stark. “Back to the jungle,” she indicated an area filled with fluffy grayish clouds hovering in deep turquoise skies, “and beyond that… Maybe it’s… yellow?”

Vexxx joined them in the grass and looked around, though he seemed to be mumbling something under his breath. Finally, he shook his head. “It’s not a rainbow, for sure. Even if we call the jungle part greenish, I don’t see anything that would count as purple. I also don’t see any repeats, though these areas are so big, I can’t see more than two in any direction.”

Alpha sat up with a sigh. “Then do we keep going forward until we get to the boundary between the meadow and the mountains, and then just turn right?” She traced the edges of the clouds with her finger until she came to a section where it looked like the sky was just solid bluish-gray. “Then we’d turn right again there, and again there.” She pointed to where the gray met a blue sky with tiny, fluffy white clouds like dollops of whipped cream in the sky.

“If we can see we’ll end up there, why not just go there in the first place?” Tess wondered, rubbing her eyes.

“I… don’t know,” Alpha said, shaking her head. “Is there some point to actually following the ‘walls’? Is that even the answer? Maybe we’re supposed to climb the mountains, and we’ll be able to see a lost city, or find a door to a real labyrinth up there.”

It was Tests’ turn to shake her head. “We were up there for several days, last time. You were busy biting fairies, but I had a lot of free time and I needed a distraction from being so cold. I think that area over there,” she indicated the gray section, “is a marsh or a swamp. It looked really wet, anyway. I don’t know what’s past the mountains, since we didn’t actually manage to cross them, but I definitely didn’t see any turns, or openings, or anything.”

Toggle spoke up, his voice going slightly squeaky as everyone turned to look at him. “Maybe you aren’t looking at it right.” He blinked and tried to hide behind Alpha as Vexxx started to open his mouth, but continued on, presumably speaking from the long experience of a race that lived and worked in dungeons. “Dungeons are full of tricks and puzzles. There may be plenty of openings, but you can’t see them from here. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Slowly, Alpha nodded and patted Toggle on the head, trying not to disturb his hat. “That’s true. I don’t think we can see enough yet, anyway. The sky may be the clue we need, or it may not mean anything except that the zones really go all the way up. I vote we go on until we reach the boundary, and then we can decide if we want to try this ‘right-hand wall’ thing, even though we can see where we’re going to end up, or if we should try climbing the mountains to get better visibility.”

Tess grimaced, but nodded, and climbed to her feet.

Vexxx pumped his fist and said, “I vote ‘right-hand wall’!”

Amy, of course, said nothing, as she fell into step behind Alpha, and Toggle also had nothing to add.

Myles, who obviously wasn’t handing out clues today - or any day, in Alpha’s experience - just grinned and led the way.

Chapter Fifteen
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Vexxx and Tess both voted to turn right when they reached the mountains, while Alpha thought they should try climbing up and see if they could find a pattern to the sequence of biomes, or anything that looked like remnants of civilization. Toggle agreed with Alpha, and Myles abstained, of course, so they ended up in a tie.

“The gnome’s vote shouldn’t even count,” Vexxx insisted for the tenth time. “Obviously, he’s going to vote with you, so it’s like you get two votes. Plus, he’s just an NPC, anyway!”

“A Native,” Tess insisted, planting a solid elbow in the boy’s ribs, but gave Alpha a stern look as she did so. “He’s partially right, though. Toggle is just saying what he thinks you’d want him to say, right Toggle?” She transferred her gaze to the gnome, who was once again trying to hide behind Alpha.

“I… I…,” the gnome stammered, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably as everyone looked at him. “I think Mistress is right!” His little face set in a stubborn expression, and they could all tell that he wasn’t going to budge.

Absently, Alpha reached up and stroked Orah, where the snake lay coiled around her neck, practically indistinguishable from a well-crafted necklace or torque. Her fingers paused as they traced the graceful curve of the serpent’s head, and she tucked her fingers under Orah’s smooth scales and lifted her up. The little pink tongue flickered out and tickled Alpha’s fingers as she shifted the snake so she could look into her eyes.

“What do you think, Orah?” She ignored Vexxx’s groan as he realized she was asking another NPC, and a pet this time. “Or what does Quezal think?” She lifted her eyes to the sky and said, “Oh great and wise Quezal, what do you think we should do? Should we climb up this nice, tall mountain so we can actually see what’s going on in this place, or should we randomly turn right and take the long way to get somewhere when we already know where we’ll end up?” She honestly doubted anything would happen, but at least if Orah did something, she might be able to spin it to look like the snake agreed with her.

Quezal has heard your prayer! He is pleased that you have finally sought his guidance in this important matter!

Your Relationship with your Deity, Quezal, has increased by 10. It is now 91 (Faithful).

The Blessed Creature, Orah, has grown along with your bond with your deity, Quezal.

Orah is evolving!

Orah suddenly began to writhe in Alpha’s hands, and she nearly dropped the serpent as she twisted into a large, spiral ball that turned back in on itself until Alpha couldn’t distinguish the snake’s head and tail from the rest of her long body. In the center of the spiral, two bumps formed beneath the snake’s smooth, alabaster scales, then four damp, rainbow-feathered wings burst out in a flash of light and fluttered weakly. Orah’s body lifted into the air slightly, but fell back into Alpha’s hands a moment later.

“What the-” Vexxx’s question was drowned out as Tess squealed and leaned forward to peer at Orah more closely.

“Oh my gosh,” the dwarf exclaimed, clapping her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened into gleaming O’s of amazement. “She’s gorgeous!” Tentatively, she reached out and stroked one delicate, feathered wing. Orah’s head lifted, and she hissed tiredly. It sounded more self-satisfied than upset, but it was the first sound Alpha had ever heard her produce.

Very carefully, Alpha lifted the snake, who was noticeably larger than she had been before. Staring into the mismatched blue eyes, which looked more like brilliant sapphires than ever, she said, “So, can you fly now?”

The snake tilted her head, tongue flickering out, and all four of her wings flapped awkwardly, ending up in a tangle. She hissed, looking distinctly displeased, as she tried again.

Alpha stroked her back sympathetically. “Maybe it’ll take a little practice? You can do it.” Tess nodded enthusiastically, bouncing on her toes as Orah tried a few more tentative flaps. At last, though not without a few clearly unplanned dips and bobs, the serpent managed to rise and remain hovering in the air, wings beating so quickly they were nothing more than a rainbow blur in the air above and behind her.

Immediately, Orah hissed and headed east, following the ‘right-hand wall’. Alpha sighed, Vexxx whooped, and Myles didn’t even try to hide his grin as they all trailed after the flying snake.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

It took more than four hours for them to find the solution, and by then Tess was ready to admit that maybe Alpha had been right. Vexxx, however, was stubbornly determined to prove he’d made the correct choice. He had crossed over to the swamp side of the line, and spent most of his time loudly commenting that his boots were wet, but at least he didn’t have to fight the tall grass that caught and dragged at everyone else’s legs. He was also happy because he finally got to zap the fairies who attacked him without anyone getting after him for it.

Alpha was just turning her head to tell the big-mouthed mage to stop talking for five minutes when she saw him vanish. He took a step forward, and halfway through it, he disappeared as if he’d crossed behind a wall, then reappeared a few steps later. His noisy half-whining, half-bragging didn’t so much as pause, though.

Alpha held up a hand. “Whoa!” She stared at Vexxx. “What did you just do?”

He stared at her, obviously perplexed by the question. “I was just letting you know, again, that it’s better over here. Once you get used to having wet feet-”

Her hand sliced sharply through the air, cutting him off. “No, you ivy geranium, what did you do? You disappeared for a second.”

Vexxx glowered at her. “I did not. I was right here the whole time.”

She shook her head. “You vanished. Here, go back a few steps.” She took two steps backwards, and Vexxx let out a surprised sound.

“Where’d you go?” the boy asked, then stepped forward and poked his head over the intangible line that separated the grassy sward from the marsh. His brown eyes widened. “Whoa! You’re still there!” He leaned back again. “Nope, I definitely can’t see you from here.” Turning around, he jogged back a few steps until he vanished from sight as abruptly as before.

By leaning from one side to the other, they quickly discovered that the strange gap was about three feet wide, and that anyone standing on one side of it was completely invisible from the other, though it otherwise looked exactly like every other part of the seemingly unending boundary. Vexxx, of course, wanted to dive straight through the strange spot, but Alpha grabbed him by his loose blue robe just before he tried it.

“I don’t actually care if you get yourself sent to respawn,” she grumbled, glaring, “but I am worried that if you do, you won’t be able to keep your mouth shut, and you’ll come back here with a dozen of your little friends and half the players in Veritas on your heels.”

Vexxx pulled himself up to his maximum height, which was still a good three inches shorter than Alpha. “I can totally keep a secret! I want to get the first dungeon clear, and if a bunch of high-leveled jerks come in, they’ll blow through this crazy place in an hour. Plus, that guy D3th Angel isn’t even my friend. I was chillin’ with my girl Oblique when that guy came along and broke my vibe. You know what I’m saying?”

As usual, any prolonged interaction with the lightning mage was giving Alpha a headache, so she just nodded and said, “Fine, but at least throw a rock through the weird hole in space before you stick your head in, okay?”

Vexxx shrugged, but picked up a rock from the muddy water he was wading through, and tossed it at the space between them. It flew through the air without a problem and landed on Alpha’s toe. She barely felt it, but that didn’t stop her from glaring at him.

Then Tess muttered, “I’m tired of listening to you two argue,” and walked into the gap, instantly disappearing.

Alpha felt her heart stop in her chest. ::Tess?:: she sent over party chat. ::Tessle?::

There was no response, and Tess didn’t come back, so Alpha pulled up the party list. Tess was on it, but grayed out, with the ‘Maximum Distance Exceeded’ tag next to her character name.

“Crocus!” Alpha snapped, taking a step toward the completely innocuous place where there was apparently an invisible door that sent people at least a mile away, if not to another zone entirely. Before she could go any further, however, Vexxx darted through from his side, vanishing as thoroughly as had the dwarf. Alpha started to take the next step, but Myles grabbed her arm.

Tilting his head toward Amy, who stood silent and nearly forgotten, Myles said, “Hold her hand.” Glancing down, he added, “And carry Toggle.”

Alpha’s eyes narrowed. “We’re going to be separated, aren’t we?”

The ever-unhelpful AI tilted his head and smiled, but refused to answer. Sighing in exasperation, Alpha scooped Toggle into her arms and grabbed Amy’s hand.

“Come on,” she told the woman, and stepped through the portal.

Instantly, her [Darkvision] kicked in, casting her surroundings in dull, faded shades of whatever colors they would be in the light. Of course, since she was completely surrounded by rock walls, that just meant everything was a lighter shade of gray.

::-still,:: said Tess’s voice over party chat. ::I’ll come to you.::

::Hell no!:: Vexxx said, sounding entirely too excited. ::You can hold still if you want, but I’m following this wall.::

Alpha felt a flood of relief. ::Is everyone all right?:: she asked. ::No monsters or anything?::

::Nah,:: Vexxx responded instantly, overriding whatever Tess’s answer would have been. ::There are these creepy, animated stone heads all over the place, but they just look at me and then close their eyes again. I tried poking one in the eye, and a big stone hand swatted me for fifty health, but whatever. It didn’t count as combat, so I’m almost back up to full.::

::How did you even have time to do all that already?:: Alpha asked tiredly. ::No, don’t answer. I don’t actually care. Tess, you good?::

::Yep,:: Tess answered promptly. ::Almost fell in a pit trap on my second step, so definitely watch out for that. I haven’t seen any blinking heads or revenge hands, though.::

::Hand of Retribution,:: Vexxx corrected unnecessarily.

::Whatever. Myles? You here?:: Alpha asked.

::I am,:: Myles said, sounding distinctly amused. ::I’ll just wait here until someone comes to find me.::

“Of course you will,” Alpha muttered out loud, before switching back to party chat. ::Sounds like a good plan. If we all start wandering around, we may just keep missing each other.::

Carefully, she released Amy’s unresponsive hand, then set Toggle down, and he clung to her pant leg with thin fingers, staring around. As an NPC, he couldn’t join the party, so he hadn’t heard the rest of the conversation. “Everyone’s fine,” she told him, “just separated. Tess says there are traps, so be careful.”

Toggle nodded, his large blue eyes glowing slightly in the complete darkness. As a gnome, he had [Darkvision], as did everyone else except for Vexxx, but obviously the mage had a light source, since he could see well enough to poke inanimate objects. Toggle actually looked excited, and she wondered if he was happy to be in a proper dungeon, even if it wasn’t the one the gnomes called home.

“I can detect and disarm traps, Mistress,” he offered. “Handling traps is an essential skill for gnomes.”

She smiled, relieved. “That’s great, Toggle. Um, do you want to lead, then?”

Toggle shook his head, big ears flapping. “Oh no, Mistress! You should lead!”

Alpha shrugged. “You’re the one who can find traps before we trip them. Makes more sense that you go first.” She gave him a wry little smile. “I trust you.”

“Oh, Mistress,” Toggle whispered, and it was hard to tell, but she thought a big, glistening tear trickled down his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” she said, “since you’re probably about to save my life.” Changing to party chat, she told the others about Toggle’s skills, and Tess confirmed that she would also wait to be found.

At first, Vexxx didn’t respond, and when he did, he sounded more than a little uncomfortable. ::Yeah, one of those hands just tried to crush me. I, uh, have a sprained ankle and a Dizzy debuff. I’m just gonna wait until those clear up, but no promises after that.::

::What did you do to piss them off this time?:: Alpha asked, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Vexxx mumbled something inaudible.

::What?:: she prodded.

::You know what?:: the young mage said sulkily, ::It doesn’t matter. Just don’t, like, mess with the heads when you get here.::

Alpha laughed and motioned for Toggle to lead on.

Chapter Sixteen
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Of course, the first area they found looked exactly as Vexxx had described. Alpha felt her heart sink when the shapeless rock columns that peppered their path began to develop noticeable facial features, but she continued in spite of an urge to turn around and try the left-hand wall instead, leaving the boy to his own devices. When the features became distinct, and the first stone head opened its eyes to look at her as she walked by, she knew she had to be getting close.

“Wait, Mistress,” Toggle said softly, holding up a hand as they started to walk past yet another of the disturbing but apparently innocuous monoliths, and Alpha froze instantly. The gnome had already found and disarmed eight traps, and they’d only been exploring for a little over twenty minutes.

Edging close to the blocky head, Toggle ducked down as its eyes opened with a soft grinding of stone on stone. This time, when it looked at Alpha, its mouth also opened, and Toggle’s hand darted inside. The mouth snapped shut, moving faster than Alpha had seen any of the things move before, but Toggle was faster, and he triumphantly held up a small dart with a glistening tip.

“Poison,” he said, handing the dart to Alpha. She looked at it.

Poison Dart - A simple dart, with some kind of poison coating the tip. It looks painful. Weight - .1 lbs. Rarity - Common

Alpha put it in her inventory, and smiled at him gratefully. As a vampire, she was immune to minor poisons and resistant to stronger ones, but she didn’t know what category this fell into, and didn’t want to find out the hard way. Glancing at her stat sheet, she saw that she would need to ask Toggle for some blood soon, anyway, since she hadn’t had any since Vexxx had joined them.

“Hey!” A voice called, sounding somewhat muffled, but not too far away. “Alpha? Is that you?”

Speak of the devil. Alpha sighed and raised her voice in answer. “Yes, Vexxx. Where are you? Have you recovered from your debuffs yet?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” the boy replied. “A while ago. I’ve been wandering around, and, uh, I’m kind of… stuck.”

Alpha’s brows knitted in confusion, but she gestured for Toggle to continue on. “What do you mean, you’re stuck?” she asked.

“It’s… You… You’ll see when you get here. Just hurry up!” Vexxx yelled back.

Toggle came to a corner and paused, looking back at Alpha as he gestured to the opening of another corridor further on. “I think his voice is coming from there, Mistress,” the gnome murmured quietly, “but the path turns right here. Should we keep following the wall, or go on ahead?”

Alpha felt a vindictive impulse to go right, since Vexxx was the one who was so insistent that they follow his plan, but she sighed and shook her head. “I’ll mark the path, so we know we didn’t go down this passage, and we’ll go try to find him. We can come back and check this one later.”

Digging through her inventory, she pulled out a bottle of black dye. It was an uncommon drop from the Black Roses that grew around Bloodhaven, and Alpha often farmed it when she needed some extra money, and she couldn’t get a job as a Mule, keeping other player’s items safe while they adventured.

She didn’t have a brush or anything else that immediately seemed like it would work to apply the dye to the wall, so she dipped her finger into the bottle and drew a large, black X on the wall where they should have turned. She vanished the bottle back into storage and turned to Toggle.

“Ready,” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure why she bothered. If Vexxx’s yelling hadn’t drawn in any wandering monsters, then the odds were good that there weren’t any nearby.

Toggle nodded and led Alpha, trailed obediently by Amy, past the dark opening of the skipped hallway. At the next intersection, Alpha called, “Vexxx?”

“Yeah?” Vexxx answered, sounding much closer this time. He also sounded more than a little stressed, and Alpha wondered exactly what he’d managed to get himself into. As she walked down the dark path, she made out the flicker of light from beyond the next turn, and when she looked that way, her questions were answered.

Vexxx was hanging upside down from the ceiling. A stone head stared out of the walls on either side of him, and stone hands gripped each of his ankles, looking as if they’d been carved in place. His voluminous blue mage’s robe fell around his head, exposing his skinny brown legs and his default white underwear. If the robe hadn’t been belted on, the garment probably would have just fallen to the floor below, leaving him all but naked. A sparking ball of lightning hovered near his head, and scorch marks on the ceiling gave silent evidence to the fact that he’d tried breaking free of the hands that held him.

Vexxx was clutching the edge of his robe so it didn’t fall into his face, and glared at Alpha with an ‘I dare you to make fun of me’ look. She opened her mouth to do exactly that, but hesitated. As annoying as the brat was, he was a member of her party now, and, more importantly, the more she pissed him off, the more likely he was to head straight to the forums and tell everyone about the dungeon the next time he logged off.

Alpha looked down at Toggle. “Do you have any suggestions?”

Vexxx opened his mouth, probably about to say something obnoxious about Toggle being an NPC, but he stopped when the gnome nodded so vigorously that his pointy hat nearly fell off. “Can you lift me up there, Mistress?”

Alpha eyed the distance from the floor to the ceiling. It was probably around nine feet, so if the three-foot-tall gnome stood on her shoulders, he should be able to reach the ceiling, though he might have to stretch a bit. If she actually lifted him up, she could probably even get him a little higher. Nodding, she crouched down and scooped him up, lifting him to sit on her shoulders. Her two hundred and seventy points of Strength made it easy, and Toggle squeaked as he rose through the air faster than he’d probably expected.

Toggle’s red felt hat fell to the ground, knocked from his head by the speed at which he’d been moved, and he stared down at it with a tragic expression for a moment before struggling awkwardly into a standing position atop Alpha’s shoulders. “A… A little forward, Mistress,” Toggle instructed, and Alpha took a step toward Vexxx, then another, until she was uncomfortably close to him, with his face somewhere near her belly button. Reaching down, she yanked the robe out of Vexxx’s hands and dropped it so it covered his face, feeling instantly better.

“Hey!” the boy yelped, pulling at the fabric.

Glaring down, Alpha snapped, “If you want my help, leave it.”

With a last grumble, Vexxx did as he was told, and a few seconds later, he dropped to the ground with a painful-sounding crack as whatever Toggle was doing worked. The ball of lightning winked out of existence.

“Owww!” Vexxx weakly waved his arms, trying to fight his way out of his robe, while Alpha gently lowered Toggle to the ground, where the gnome instantly scrambled to grab his battered hat and return it to its place on his head.

When the boy didn’t immediately sit up, Alpha crouched down beside him, tentatively plucking thick folds of fabric away until she could see his face, which was scrunched up in pain. “Ah, man,” the boy mumbled, lifting trembling fingers to gingerly prod a rising lump on his forehead. “Ah gotta cushion.”

Alpha frowned. “A cushion? You mean you needed a cushion?”

He opened one eye to give her a dirty look. “Con-cushion,” he said, slowly, before closing the eye again.

“Concussion?” She winced. She’d heard that was a particularly painful debuff, though she hadn’t ever had one herself. That explained why his light went out, though. Mages couldn’t cast when their brain had just been scrambled inside their skulls.

“How long?” she asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside him.

“‘Unno,” he mumbled, sounding like he had a mouthful of cotton. “Innerface’s all fuffed. Can’t read’t.”

“Carnation,” she muttered. They couldn’t just sit around and wait for who-knew-how-long until the debuff wore off. There was only one thing to do.

Climbing back to her feet, she leaned down and scooped Vexxx up into a princess-carry. His arms went around her neck instinctively, even as he howled in pain.

“Oh, stop being a baby,” she told him, jerking her head back the way they’d come, letting Toggle know it was time to move out. “You’re younger than eighteen, so your pain settings are twenty-five percent, at the most. It can’t be that bad.”

“M’eighteen,” Vexxx protested, wriggling in an attempt to escape her grasp. His Strength stat was at least a hundred points lower than hers, if not more, so he had no chance.

“If you’re eighteen, I’ll eat Toggle’s hat,” she said, following the gnome back down the passageway. At her words, Toggle glanced back over his shoulder at her with a mildly horrified look.

Vexxx fell silent and stopped writhing in her arms, allowing Alpha a moment of peace before he started talking again. “M’steen,” he muttered, and she glanced down at him.

“Sixteen? Yeah, I guess I could buy that,” she replied absently, as Toggle led them back down the hall to the passage they’d skipped. When they reached it, she halted, staring at the spot where she’d painted the black X on the wall.

“Daphne it,” she swore. “Where’s my mark?”

Toggle poked his head back out of the dark passage. “I’m sorry, Mistress. Most maze dungeons have some way to prevent people from marking a path. I hoped that this one would be an exception.”

She sighed, wishing she had a hand free so she could rub her eyes. “It’s okay, Toggle. Nothing we can do about it now. Good thing we weren’t planning on using that trick again.” Not much, anyway, she thought wryly.

::Heads up that the dungeon gets rid of any marks you make on the walls,:: she said over party chat, hoping to prevent Tess from trying it and getting any more lost. Myles, of course, was doubtless still sitting wherever the portal had left him, probably with a Mai Tai and a pile of pillows. ::And I have Vexxx.::

::Oh,:: Tess answered promptly.:: Yeah. There are these fuzzy purple worms. Acid Worms. They’re kind of cute, until they spray acid all over any marks you make. I guess I should have mentioned that, huh?::

Alpha sighed, but said, ::It’s okay. I was just trying an experiment, so no harm done. Anything else you’ve figured out about this place?::

::The walls are really, really hard,:: Tess replied, sounding aggrieved. ::All dwarves get [Mining] during their tutorial, and I happen to have a pickaxe and some time, so I figured I’d try tunneling through. Make a shortcut, you know? It, ah, didn’t work, and I broke my pick.::

Alpha wasn’t sure if she just imagined a snorted laugh that sounded like Myles, but since she didn’t hear anything else from him, she said, ::Good to know.:: She looked up as Toggle stopped to disarm yet another trap. Glancing around, she saw that the stone heads seemed to be growing fewer and less distinct again, and hoped they were leaving their region.

::Tess, can you see anything that might tell us if we’re heading in the right direction to get to you?:: she asked. ::Toggle and I found those stone heads Vexxx mentioned, so we knew we were in the right area.::

::I don’t think so,:: Tess said dubiously. ::This place looks like a standard dungeon to me. Gray brick walls, gray brick ceiling, gray brick floor, torches just far enough apart to let you be in darkness for a few steps before you cross back into another lighted area. A few of the bricks are brown, and some are blue, but there doesn’t seem to be any pattern to that.::

Alpha looked at the rough stone that surrounded her. ::That’s perfect. No bricks here at all, and definitely no torches. If I didn’t have [Darkvision], I would have had to use a glowstone.::

::Ugh,:: Tess replied. ::I would have been out of luck, then. I only have [Low Light Vision], since I’m just a half-dwarf. I usually sell my glowstones to free up a slot in my inventory, since everyone else always has some.::
::I thought you had [Darkvision],:: Alpha said, surprised. ::You were fine in the tunnel under the mountains when we were on our way here.::

Before Tess could reply, Toggle stopped so abruptly Alpha almost tripped over him, barely managing to catch herself. Vexxx mumbled a protest, but he still seemed to be pretty out of it, so she didn’t bother answering. Tess was saying something, but Alpha only listened with half an ear as Toggle turned to face her. Raising a finger, the gnome pointed to a faint line on the floor, then pressed the finger to his lips, indicating that they needed to be quiet.

Alpha bent her knees, squatting down beside Toggle, and murmured, “Trip wire?” into one big ear.

He nodded, and whispered, “Summons a monster. May be magical, may be nearby.”

Alpha nodded back, indicating her understanding, and stood back up. Toggle bent to disarm the trap, and she debated if she should put Vexxx on the ground, just in case. ::Toggle says he found a new kind of trap. It summons a monster, and he doesn’t know if it lets a creature nearby know we’re here, or if it will just spawn a monster from nothing.::

::Okay,:: Tess said, though she sounded worried. ::If you get attacked, should I try to come and find you?::

::No,:: Alpha said, watching closely as Toggle tried to disarm the trap. ::This place is a minefield. You could fall into twenty more traps on your way, and still not reach us. We’re just lucky we have Toggle.::

At that moment, two things happened simultaneously; a piercing shriek echoed through the hallway in front of them, and a spear shot from a crack in the stone wall, stabbing deep into Toggle’s leg. The gnome cried out, clutching at the wound, and fell backwards, as a patch of deeper shadow separated from a wall further down the passage ahead.

Stone Golem - Level 95.

“Son of a begonia!” Alpha said, dropping Vexxx beside Toggle as she leaped forward, placing herself between the monster and her companions.

Summoning her longsword, Alpha swung out at the thing, which all but filled the corridor with its bulk. Her blade scraped on its rocky surface, spitting sparks into the darkness, but did no real damage.

“Toggle, pull Vexxx away!” she yelled over the grinding of rocks that sounded like an avalanche was advancing toward her. “Amy, stop following! I’ll try to keep it here!”

She could only hope that the gnome and pseudo-Zombie obeyed, since she couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the monster, which swung arms that looked like loosely-connected stone ropes at her. The arms rippled and writhed, and even with her high dexterity, she was barely able to dodge them as they twisted and turned back to chase her. The golem was like an animated piece of wall, with extremely short, stocky legs, and the two whip-like arms tore through the area ahead of it like whirling cudgels.

Twisting, she struck down at one of the arms, severing about half of the stones from which it was made. They pattered to the ground like hail, and for a moment she hoped that she could at least whittle it down so they could escape. The thing was slow on its elephantine legs, and if they could get out of reach of the arms, they could probably just flee the encounter.

Unfortunately, as soon as the loose rocks hit the ground, they began rolling back toward the golem as if caught by a magnet. She ducked and kicked at one, knocking it away, but it just bounced off a nearby wall and then rolled back, picking up speed until it, too, rejoined the main body. The arm she’d cut curled into itself, and when it unfurled again, she saw that it had completely regenerated.

“Amythyst!” she shouted, “What am I supposed to do with this? I can’t cut it.” She grunted as she ducked beneath the swing of an arm, and the end whipped back to pound against her side painfully.

You have lost 106 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1406/2100

“And I can’t bite it!” And if it hit her three more times, she’d be overwhelmed by the vampiric craving for blood, and since you couldn’t get blood from a stone, that meant Vexxx might get his wish, and she’d be forced to bite him after all. Which would leave all of them open to attack from the golem, and probably get them killed.

“Mistress!” Toggle squeaked, though she could barely hear him over the pounding in her head, the sound of her sword on stone, and the rattle and crunch of rocks against the walls and each other. “The words on its… scratch them…!”

Spinning on one foot, Alpha pirouetted, pulling her arms close to her body as the monster’s arms struck out on both sides of her. She was facing Toggle when the tentacle-like limbs merged to become a circle that wrapped around her, pinning her right arm against her body and pulling her close to the wall-like body. It began to squeeze in a bone-crushing hug, and she would have sworn she heard her joints crack, though she didn’t get any notifications about broken bones. Yet.

Toggle gestured toward his forehead, yelling something she couldn’t understand, his small voice lost in the thunder of rumbling stone. Twisting her head, she looked up at the golem’s ‘face’, just inches above her shoulder.

You have lost 87 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1319/2100

Just over two hundred and fifty points until she lost control and went for Toggle or Vexxx. Hazily, she wondered which would be better. Either way, she’d be forced to take so much Blood that she’d have to use [Turn Ally], or they would die. If she used it on Toggle, he had at best a fifty percent chance of surviving when she tried to force him to become a Thrall, and even if she succeeded, he’d be unconscious until sunset, whenever that was.

But if she bit Vexxx, she’d be biting a human being, an actual player, and the idea of touching another person that way, clutching them to her and sucking at their flesh, made her want to vomit, especially since the vampire instincts made her go for the throat, rather than something relatively innocuous, like an arm.

Her right arm crunched, and her spasming fingers dropped her sword. It clanged to the ground, sparking, as she reached up with her taloned left hand and clawed at the monster’s face.

You have lost 148 Blood Drops.

Your right arm is Broken.

Current Blood supply: 1171/2100

A red haze began to create a bloody vignette around her vision. It pulsed with each beat of her heart, and she could barely see the craggy, impassive face above her. Her talons left shallow grooves in the stony ‘skin’, and she vaguely wondered if the boost she got to Strength when she became Bloodthirsty would be enough to allow her to escape the golem’s grasp so she could attack her allies instead.

The inexorable pressure of the stones that threatened to crush her midsection wavered as her talons caught in a deep crevice on the thing’s forehead. Sensing weakness, though she couldn’t see what, exactly, had happened, she dug her claws deeper, chipping stone fragments from the golem’s face. A few of the rocks that made up the tentacular limbs fell away, and when they hit the floor, they stayed there. A fingernail snapped.

You have lost 7 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1164/2100

Another snap.

You have lost 6 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1158/2100

She refused to give up. Curling her bloody, scraped fingers deeper into the widening crack, Alpha forced them apart, pushing the two sections of stone away from each other. A sharp report, almost like a gunshot, sounded in her ear, and the golem’s arms crumbled, followed shortly thereafter by its whole body, as it separated into its component pieces.

Alpha screamed as she was half-buried by the collapsing rubble. Her head remained clear, but her midsection was completely interred by the largest, and heaviest, part of the remains.

You have lost 91 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1067/2100

You are now level 85.

[Longsword Mastery] is now level 28.

[Fast Digging] is now level 7.

Seventeen points. Eighteen? Would Bloodthirsty trigger at exactly fifty percent health, or did it have to go a point below? She gritted her teeth as she tried to move her left arm, the only one that was partially free, to clear away some of the debris. A large rock shifted precariously and rolled over, adding to the weight against her ribs.

You have lost 10 Blood Drops.

Current Blood supply: 1057/2100

Her head fell back, skull cracking against a rock, though thankfully she didn’t actually take damage this time. “Stinking hellebore!” she shouted. “Barrenwort! Horehound! Bloody freaking cranesbill!”

Some of the stones shifted, and she looked in that direction, only moving her eyes, since she didn’t dare knock over even one more stone. It was Toggle, his expression worried as he carefully made his way closer to her. His small body was light enough that while some rocks shifted, none of the boulders moved.

“Mistress?” Toggle asked tentatively, reaching out his hand, faded almost to colorlessness in her [Darkvision]. In his fingers, something gleamed, and it took her a moment to realize that it was a flask. Toggle tilted it invitingly, leaning toward her, and she opened her mouth so he could pour in the fresh, warm contents.

You have restored 400 Drops of Blood.

Your Mana and Stamina regeneration will double for the next three hours, thanks to drinking the Blood of a Servant.

Instantly, she felt better, and when Toggle began to refill the flask with the blood still running down his arm, she shook her head. “I’m… all right, now, I think. Back up, Toggle, and I’ll try to get out of here.”

The gnome looked dubious, but he nodded and climbed back out the way he’d come.

Slowly, Alpha shifted. More rocks tumbled and rolled, taking off a few points of health here and there, but now that she wasn’t teetering on the verge of the Bloodthirsty debuff, it didn’t matter. The worst part was getting her broken arm out from under several rocks that each weighed twenty or thirty pounds, and she named more than one flower as she did so.

When she was finally free, she cradled the shattered limb against her body, stabilizing it with her other arm, until she could finally stand up. She had lost just over a hundred points of the Blood Toggle had given her, but at least she could breathe and recover. She took a few steps, then sat down on a conveniently stool-sized slab nearby.

Toggle moved up beside her again, gently lifting the refilled flask to her mouth. Reluctantly, she drank, and the flavor of sweet raspberry cordial filled her mouth.

You have restored 400 Drops of Blood.

Your Mana and Stamina regeneration will double for the next three hours, thanks to drinking the Blood of a Servant.

“Thank you, Toggle,” she managed, wiping her mouth with the back of a trembling hand. “I’m good now. Almost full.” She gave the concerned gnome another smile, and he stepped back reluctantly.

“As you wish, Mistress,” he said, but he refused to meet her gaze.

Alpha reached for him, but let her hand fall before she touched him. “Toggle. You saved us. If you hadn’t told me to go for the face, I would have kept trying to pull the arms away instead. Why did that work, anyway?”

Reaching up to tug at the bottom of his felt hat, Toggle shook his head. “All golems have an inscription somewhere on their bodies. It contains the sacred words that give them life. If it’s broken, or even changed, they can’t function. But, Mistress,” his big blue eyes shimmered even in her faded vision, “If I hadn’t set off the trap, you wouldn’t have been in danger!” Glistening tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m s-sorry!”

Impulsively, Alpha reached out and pulled him close, kissing his cheek gently. Releasing him as his cheeks flushed so darkly that she could practically feel the heat radiate off of them, she said, “You’ve done more for us than anyone else since the moment we stepped foot in here. You found the traps. You disarmed them. You knew how to defeat the golem. None of my skills or spells were going to affect a walking rock pile, so we would have died here without you. Setting off one trap out of dozens doesn’t negate everything else you’ve done.”

A circle of light bloomed as someone triggered a glowstone. “Tha’s… true,” a slurred but understandable voice said. Alpha jumped, flinched against the pain that shot through her arm when she did so, and looked over to where Vexxx’s slumped form leaned against a nearby wall. Amy’s silent figure stood stiffly beside him, her eyes vacant and glassy.

Vexxx had managed to lift his head, and Alpha thought he looked more aware than he had earlier. “I shoulda… listened,” the lightning mage continued, forcing his shaky legs to hold as he used the wall as a brace to help him stand. “Ev’rybody said… you were more than… an NPC. Sorry.” He grimaced and looked at Alpha, his voice growing stronger.

“An’ if I’d listened, an’ hadn’t been messing with those heads, I wouldn’ta been hurt, either, an’ I could have helped you.” He shrugged stiffly. “Sorry for tha’, too.”

Alpha blinked, then her eyes narrowed. “Who are you, and what did you do with Vexxx?”

The boy flinched, then glared, a bit of his usual cocky attitude returning. “I’m tryna be serious!”

Alpha gave him back look for look, then sighed and rubbed her eyes with her left hand. The fingernails she’d broken deep into the quick twinged, but she ignored the pain. They would recover soon enough, thanks to Toggle’s blood. “Okay. I’m going to…” She huffed a breath.

“Never mind. I’m just glad you’re finally figuring out that your stupidity puts other people in danger.” She snorted. “Not that a lightning mage was going to be much good against an earth monster.”

Vexxx tried to fold his arms, fumbled the motion, and instead flicked his fingers. A lance of water shot out of his hand, stabbing through the tip of Alpha’s boot and further cracking the crumbling floor below. Slowly, she lifted her head, staring at him incredulously.

“Uh, okay, maybe I shouldn’t have tried that yet,” the boy squawked, voice cracking on the last word. “But my point is, I have other spells! Sure, they’re not boosted by my class, but I’m not helpless without lightning!”

Alpha’s eyes narrowed. “Fifteen,” she growled, “maybe. And I only believe that because you have to be at least fourteen to play Veritas.”

This time the boy managed to cross his arms, though he couldn’t quite meet her eyes.

Chapter Seventeen
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

When Tessle heard about the encounter, and how close Alpha had come to losing, it was all Alpha could do to keep her friend from coming to find them. They were still arguing about it ten minutes after Alpha’s little group set out again.

::You’re in a completely different area,:: Alpha reminded the half-dwarf for the third time. ::And you can’t find or disarm traps. At best, you’ll trip a few until you’re disabled, and we’ll just have to find you anyway, only now you’d be injured.::

::Fine,:: Tess mumbled, though she sounded hurt. ::But it’s not like you’re in much better shape. You can’t fight with a broken arm.::

Alpha shook her head, though the other woman couldn’t see her. ::I can use some vampire mind tricks on anything that doesn’t have a rock for a brain, and I’m plenty strong enough even with only one arm. I would have been all right against almost anything except a stone golem.::

::And what if you meet another one?:: Tess demanded. ::I can beat a golem into rubble with my War Hammer before Vexxx can even chant a spell.::

::Hey!:: Vexxx interjected, ::I don’t chant! That’s for noobs!::

::Shut up!:: chorused Tess and Alpha, and the boy subsided to angry muttering.

::We won’t,:: Alpha said. ::Toggle said he knows where he went wrong with the last Wandering Monster trap, and he’s sure he won’t set off any more. Plus, now I know their weakness.::

Tess huffed. ::If it’s the same kind of trap, and the same kind of mob.::

Toggle paused, and Alpha and Vexxx stopped as well, while Amy froze in place as soon as Alpha halted. Leaning forward, Toggle touched the ground in front of him. Looking back over his shoulder, he asked, “Mistress, you said the lady Tessle was in an area with bricks instead of raw stone?”

Alpha nodded, and Toggle smiled. “I think we’re getting close, then.” He tapped the ground meaningfully, and Alpha and Vexxx both stepped forward, bumping shoulders as they looked at what the gnome was touching. It was a single blue brick, but now that Alpha was looking for them, she could see another one not far down the passage ahead.

::We’re almost there, Tess,:: Alpha sent. ::Can you make some noise? Just once, so we can tell if we’re close enough to hear you.::

There was a pause, and then Tess asked, ::Did you hear me?::

Alpha and Vexxx exchanged glances, and Alpha shook her head. ::Nothing. We’ll go further in, and then you can try again.::

Toggle stood and started down the hall again, his small body tense as he scanned their surroundings, looking for any sign of more traps. A soft scuffing sound came from the darkness beyond the reach of Vexxx’s glowstone, and they all stopped again. A staff appeared in Vexxx’s hand, while Alpha’s second-best sword appeared in hers. Sadly, when she found her favorite sword after the battle with the golem, it had been reduced to only two durability, and would be essentially useless until she could get it repaired.

A figure stepped into the light, hands raised. It was Myles, his green eyes bright, and a little smile playing around his mouth. “Peace,” he said. “I almost never bite. Unlike some people.” He tilted a teasing brow at Alpha, and her annoyance helped her repress the urge to dart over and hug him.

::Myles just turned up like a bad penny,:: Alpha told Tess over party chat. ::Would have been nice if he’d told us he was coming.::

Myles blinked innocently. ::What? How was I to know you were just around the corner?::

It was all she could do not to roll her eyes, but Vexxx nodded in agreement, walking over to stand beside his only real ally in the group. ::Yeah, Alpha. Chillax.::

Sighing, Alpha sent her sword back into her inventory and looked at Toggle. “Okay, Toggle. Let’s find a dwarf.”

::We’re on our way, Tess,:: she added silently. ::Just hang on a little longer.::

(===||:::::::::::::::>

It took another forty minutes, and several more disarmed traps, before Toggle’s big ears finally picked up the faintest trace of Tests’ voice. After that, they were able to triangulate on the sound, and finally found their friend sitting in the middle of what looked for all the world like a picnic in the middle of one of the small, open rooms that served as intersections in this part of the dungeon.

A red and white checked tablecloth had been spread out on the floor, and a basket was in the center of it. Four plates were arrayed around a large wicker basket, which was filled to overflowing with fruits, wrapped sandwiches, and small tubs that turned out to contain things like pickled eggs and potato salad.

Vexxx and Myles immediately sat down beside plates, and began digging into the basket. Tess grinned, tension vanishing from her face as she jumped up and hurried toward them. “I’m so glad you made it!” She pointed down a corridor behind her, and then indicated another to her right. “There are pitfalls down both of those, and I actually got the [Trap Detection] skill after the second one, so I know there’s something down there, too.” She glanced at a third opening, also in the right-hand wall. “I really wanted to come find you, but I swear this place is more trap than dungeon!”

Alpha flinched as Tess reached for her, then held up her still-broken arm in explanation when the dwarf looked crestfallen. While wounds healed rapidly once out of battle, only a doctor or priest could quickly heal a broken bone, and only a priest could dispel a curse. Since none of them had either of those classes, Alpha’s arm would be broken for a full week in game, and it could take longer if she reinjured it.

Alpha felt a tug at her pants, and looked down, into Toggle’s pleading blue eyes. “Mistress, may I eat?” the gnome asked, and Alpha thought she could actually hear his stomach growl.

Tess clapped a hand over her mouth, then spun to look at the boys, who had most of the basket’s contents strewn across the tablecloth, and the rest of it piled on their plates.

“This’s awesome!” Vexxx managed, spewing bread crumbs as he spoke.

“Of course it is!” Tess said. “Millie made it for me before I left Refuge. She’s the best cook… anywhere, I think.” She reached out and snatched a second sandwich from the boy wizard’s hand. “Now, share!” Turning, she handed it to Toggle. “Eat whatever you want, Toggle. That plate’s for you.” She indicated a plate, and the grateful gnome sank down onto the tablecloth beside it, already biting into his sandwich.

Tess looked at Alpha and Amy uncertainly. “I, um, didn’t know if you two would eat.” She held up a hand, holding two more plates aloft for Alpha’s inspection. “I have more plates if you want to try!”

Alpha shook her head, but looked uncertainly at Amy. The woman was barely better than a Zombie, most of the time, but Alpha thought there might be a faint glimmer of awareness in her eyes as she gazed at the others devouring the picnic.

“Amy?” Alpha asked. “Do you want some?”

At first, she thought this question was going to be as pointless as every other one she’d asked the woman, but after a long hesitation, Amy’s mouth moved. “-illie?” she said, managing a faintly interrogative tone.

Tess nodded, face lighting up. “Yes, Millie! She runs the Smiling Ostrich in Refuge. Her food gives better buffs than anyone else’s, and it tastes amazing, too! They kinda nerfed the food taste a few months back, so it’s still good, but not as good, but I swear Millie’s food is still exactly the same.” She leaned over and scooped up a bowl wrapped in waxed cloth that had somehow managed to evade Vexxx and Myles’ notice until now. Peeling back the cloth, she revealed gleaming mounds of fluffy pasta salad.

Amy’s hand twitched, but fell back to her side without accepting the bowl. Alpha leaned down and picked up a fork from beside the last plate, which presumably belonged to Tess. Placing the fork in Amy’s hand, Alpha commanded, “Eat two bites of the salad.”

Automatically, Amy’s hand stretched out, and she scooped up a bite of pasta, placing it into her mouth. She chewed awkwardly as her hand stretched out to gather more noodles onto the tines of the fork. A second bite joined the first, and Alpha could see that it was almost too much for her. She managed it, however, and she smiled faintly even as the fork fell from her limp fingers, and her eyes drifted into their usual blank stare.

Alpha felt someone come up behind her, and looked over her shoulder to see Myles, who had abandoned his half-eaten sandwich on his plate, and came to watch Amy eat. He was grinning, his eyes bright as he looked at Amy. “It’s working,” he muttered, and shook his head. Turning to meet Alpha’s eyes, his grin grew even wider. “It’s working!” he whooped. “She’s in there!” He reached out as if to embrace her, but hesitated, looking at her arm, which was hanging awkwardly in a sling she’d fashioned from a piece of Tattered Cloth she’d found in her inventory.

“Why haven’t you fixed that yet?” he asked, expression shifting from jubilant to teasing in an instant.

She glared, wishing she didn’t regret the lack of hug so badly. “And how am I supposed to do that, exactly?” She could already tell from the way his eyes twinkled that when he finally explained, she was going to be irritated with herself for missing something obvious. Again.

He reached out and gently tapped Orah’s head, where it rested on Alpha’s collarbone. Alpha was so used to the snake’s presence that she hadn’t even thought about her, other than to check and make sure she was fine after the battle with the golem.

Alpha reached up with her good hand and lifted the sleepy serpent from around her neck. “Orah? What about her?”

Myles shrugged. “Do you remember why you got her?”

Alpha cast her mind back to the events of the day she dedicated herself to Quezal, the only non-evil god who was willing to take on a vampire follower without placing a terrible curse of some sort on her for the privilege. Of course, Quezal had only accepted her because he’d liked the Meditation Stone she’d given as an offering, and because she was his only follower.

And, as his only follower, she also automatically became his High Priestess.

Groaning, Alpha lifted Orah a little higher. The snake curled around her forearm, spreading her gleaming rainbow wings so they created a sort of halo behind her head.

“Quezal, as your priestess, I humbly ask that you restore my broken arm. In return, I promise to find something good as an offering, soon.” Usually, offerings were made at temples or shrines, but Orah practically was a mobile shrine, so surely giving something to the serpent would count.

Your Deity, Quezal, has heard your prayer! Due to your high Relationship with Him, He is willing to grant you this boon.

Your Broken Arm has recovered!

Orah’s tongue flickered, and she hissed in satisfaction. Flapping her wings, she lifted into the air and settled onto the tablecloth not far from Vexxx, her head darting out as she opened her jaws wider than it seemed like they should go and swallowed one of the glossy white pickled eggs that had sloshed from their jar when the boy pushed it aside.

“Or you could find your own offering,” Alpha muttered, but she was smiling as she watched the large lump of the egg begin to work its way down through the snake’s slim body.

Tess and Vexxx were both staring at her as she pulled her arm from the sling.

“When did you become a priestess, Alpha?” Tess gasped.

“And why didn’t you do that sooner?” Vexxx mumbled through a mouthful of cheese.

Alpha started to answer their questions, but stopped as a few things clicked together rather belatedly. Veritas Online seemed to have hundreds of gods, but ninety-five percent of the players followed the same ten or so. If you could become a high priest or priestess just by choosing to follow a god who didn’t have any other worshipers, wasn’t that a little bit… broken? Glancing at Vexxx, she decided now wasn’t the time to get into it.

Tilting her head toward Orah, who had now had a second egg-shaped lump following the first, she told Vexxx, “I needed an offering.” She gave Tess a meaningful look as Vexxx nodded, and hoped her friend understood that it meant ‘I’ll explain later’.

Tess glanced at Vexxx and smirked.

Chapter Eighteen
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After they ate, they chatted while they sat around, enjoying being together again in a relatively safe space. It turned out that Tessle needed to log out to get some sleep, and then had an early shift at VaVaVoom’s, the clothing store where she and Ava had both worked, before Ava quit to help Amythyst. Reluctantly, Vexxx admitted that he also needed to sleep, and he wouldn’t be back until after school the next day.

Alpha gave him a look. “I don’t want to see you back here until your homework is done.”

His eyes slid sideways, and he shrugged. “Whatever. You’re, like, twenty, and you’re not my mom, anyway.” He lowered his voice and muttered, “Not that my mom cares.” Without waiting for a response, he stood and headed for the tent that Myles had already set up for Tess. “BBL, bi-” He slid inside, and the canvas flap cut off his last word.

Tess looked from Alpha to Myles, and then glanced at Amy.

“So, are you guys going to-” she walked her fingers toward the tent, and lifted her brows.

Alpha hesitated, not sure what to say. Tess knew Rouge, Bridget’s champion in her battle to gain the freedom to publicly release the tech that led to virtual reality. Rouge had been one of the beta testers for the long-term immersion pod, though she’d never actually used it for more than a few hours a day, but it was possible that Tess knew about the pods.

Then, she remembered that the pods were now being marketed openly, and it didn’t have to be a secret any more. If things went wrong, and Tess was caught up in the resulting snafu, she wouldn’t get in trouble for knowing, or accidentally spilling, trade secrets.

Alpha pointed to Myles, Amy, and then herself. “We’re all, um, actually in long-term immersion. Will be for another six days. Do you… know about it?”

Tests’ jaw dropped, and an accusatory finger rose to track from Alpha to Myles. “Are you kidding me? Rouge said she was testing a special pod, and when Bree released her review yesterday, Rouge was cackling like a psycho on video chat because she already has one of the new pods!”

Her blue eyes narrowed in on Alpha. “She was bummed because she has to have implants to go in long-term, and Motte absolutely refuses to let her get them, even when she turns sixteen. He says if she wants them when she’s eighteen, there’s nothing he can do about it, but until then, she’s out of luck. You don’t have them either. Do you?”

Alpha shrugged, grimacing. “Got them a few weeks ago. I-” she hesitated, looking at Myles, “still haven’t decided if I like them, but it is convenient.”

“Holy cats!” Tess yelped. “Have you been in this whole time? When we were doing the dungeon before, and you were always here, I thought it was because you quit work, and maybe somebody,” her eyes flicked to Myles, “was pulling strings to let you override the eight hour a day max. But you were in immersion?”

“Ah… Yes?” Alpha said, carefully.

“Oh my gosh!” Tess was practically jumping in place, now. “Rouge lives in the Midwest, so I can’t go see her pod. Can I see yours? Do you have your own?” She shook her head, blonde braids swaying. “No, you can’t. They’re crazy expensive, and you were flat broke, unless-” She looked at Myles again. “It’s yours?”

Myles had a bemused smile on his face as he watched the excited half-dwarf. “I have my own, but Alpha is immersed because her job requires it.” He nodded toward Amy. “Though I can’t tell you any more than that.”

“Can’t, or won’t?” Tess demanded, setting her fists on her ample hips as she glared from one of them to the other.

“Can’t,” Alpha replied, instantly.

“Won’t,” Myles said, grinning.

Tess threw up her hands. “I can’t even with you. You know what? I’m just not going to bother. I’m going to fly out next spring for the wedding, and I’ll try Rouge’s then.”

Alpha opened her mouth, then closed it again, realizing that she had no idea where she’d be in a month, much less next year. If she succeeded in helping Amy, and if Amythyst came through on her promise to help Alpha win any lottery in the world, then she could buy a pod for herself, and one for Tess, too, no matter how much they cost.

She was so busy pondering all the what-ifs, that she almost missed the look on Myles’ face. “What wedding?” he asked, sounding genuinely shocked, and his face went completely blank for a flickering half of a second. When his eyes focused again a moment later, he started laughing.

Tess and Alpha just stared at the cackling madman, and he seemed completely unable to stop. Finally, Tess sidled closer to Alpha and whispered, “Did I say something funny?”

Myles actually had to knuckle tears from his eyes before he could pull himself together enough to speak. “Ohhhh,” he sighed, “that’s… hilarious.”

Tess was starting to look a little annoyed. “Is it people getting married that’s funny, or me going to a wedding? Because I’d really like to know.”

Myles shook his head, wiping away one last tear. He waved a hand. “No, no, I’m sorry. It’s not… I just can’t…” He hesitated, tapping his chin awkwardly. “I can’t actually explain. Just… I promise you’ll find out on your own. Soon. Soonish, anyway.”

Tess sighed, tugging at one of her braids. “Dude, you are weird, but whatever.” She looked back at Alpha. “I have about two minutes before my eight hours are up, so, um, I guess I’ll see you when I get back.” She gave Myles the stink eye. “And you, too.”

Myles just grinned, and Tess smiled back reluctantly, shaking her head. Without another word, she followed Vexxx into the Tent, though once she entered, she’d be in her own tent-sized room, so she wouldn't have to share with the annoying teenager. The tent kept its occupants safe from monsters and inclement weather alike, so Alpha and Myles didn’t have to worry about leaving them behind, if they decided to go exploring before the two returned.

Once she was certain Tessle was gone, Alpha turned to Myles. “What was that all about?”

Myles shook his head stubbornly, though the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. “It’s not my secret to tell. Just, last time I checked, one of the two people who are getting married was still trying to talk the other one into it, so I did a little digging to figure out what changed, and…” His green eyes sparkled. “Let’s just say that they’re all about to live in interesting times.”

Alpha blinked. “Isn’t that a curse?”

The grin he’d been trying to suppress bloomed into its full glory. “That’s what makes it fun.”

(===||:::::::::::::::>

While Alpha’s body was technically resting during her immersion, her mind was exhausted, and she, too, decided to rest for a while. She could sleep in the tent, but Amy couldn’t, since once she went into the personal instance inside, they wouldn’t be able to tell her when to come back out. So Alpha pulled everything soft out of her inventory, and made three beds on the ground. She had Amy lie down in one, and Toggle crawled gratefully into the smallest one. The poor gnome was asleep the moment his head hit the Wolf Hide that served as his pillow.

Once the other two were settled in, Alpha tucked the glowstone Vexxx had left for them beneath a cloth, dimming its light, and climbed into her own bundle of furs and fabric. As she pulled a Tattered Shroud to her chin, she fought against the weight of her eyelids as she looked up at Myles, who sat beside her, since, as an AI, he didn’t need to sleep.

“Do you miss it? Sleeping?” she asked, softly.

He shrugged, a wry smile crossing his lips. “Sleeping? No. Dreaming?” He shrugged and looked around. “All of this is, in a way, based on dreams. So, maybe I do nothing but dream.” His voice lowered. “Maybe I am nothing but a dream.”

Rolling over in her plush, thick nest, Alpha slid a hand out from under her blanket and tentatively touched Myles’ hand. “You’re more than that.” Cautiously, she curled her fingers around his. “You’re more real than anyone else I know.”

Myles’ fingers closed around hers, but he didn’t reply. They sat in silence for several long heartbeats, and Alpha was nearly asleep when Myles spoke again.

“What do you think of her? Amy, I mean.”

Alpha had to force her eyes open again. “You said she’s getting better, right?”

He sighed. “I think so. I may be… indulging in wishful thinking. But Millie was one of Amy’s additions to the quest line.” He chuckled. “I remember Bridge saying they didn’t need a cook. She didn’t even know how to work her into the story. I - Amy - told her to make it work, because everybody needed a fabulous chef. That was the same night Amy let Bridge make the last version of her backup, so if they actually planned Struthio and the ostrich arc, I don’t know about it, but…”

His voice trailed off, and he shifted awkwardly. “I guess what I’m saying is that it was a good sign that Amy remembered Millie. If she did remember her, and wasn’t just repeating what Tess said.” Alpha squeezed his fingers, but didn’t know what to say, so she just stayed silent. He went on without any further encouragement, though.

“I’ve been carefully cutting back on her drug feeds. The pod is set up to give a patient their medications intravenously. Honestly, she’s not on much anymore, but there are a few that are… questionable. One is supposed to be a liquid supplement. She doesn’t eat well, so she could easily become malnourished, and it makes sense to have her on it when she’s awake. But the pod is designed to provide those, so doubling it up doesn’t make sense. So, I changed the settings, and gave her just a little less than she’s prescribed, and it seems like she’s better.”

His head fell back, and he drew in a deep breath. “Unless I’m imagining it. Unless I’m seeing what I want to see. Unless this really is all she’s capable of, and she’ll never get better. If they really have been providing the excellent treatment her records show, then the odds that she’s actually going to improve are… low.”

Alpha rolled her head to the side, trying to make out enough detail to tell what Myles was feeling. “You think you’re wrong.”

Slipping his hand from hers, Myles pulled his knees to his chest, hugging them tightly. “Maybe,” he admitted, voice muffled and strange. “Maybe I really am going crazy. Paranoid. Delusional, just like Bridget thinks.”

With great difficulty, Alpha managed to sit up, forcing her tired brain to focus. Reaching out, she set her hand on his shoulder, only to find herself touching Amythyst, instead of Myles. The thin cotton of a modern t-shirt covered softer, rounder shoulders than Alpha had expected, and she jerked back in surprise, then replaced her hand, forcing herself to ignore the change.

“You’re not crazy. You’ve been completely right so far. Amy is alive, and her father paid off who-knows-how-many people to convince everyone that she’s dead.”

“Four,” Amythyst said, and she sniffled slightly as she lifted her head from her knees. “It only takes four people, and a little over a million dollars, to establish proof of death. And one crazy AI to refuse to believe.”

Alpha leaned in, wrapping her arms around the other woman. “You’re not crazy,” she murmured into honeysuckle-scented hair. “You may be wrong, but you’re not crazy. I promise.”

Amythyst’s hand closed around Alpha’s. “Would you tell me if I were?”

Alpha nodded, feeling soft strands of hair shift against her cheek. “I will.”

A tension Alpha hadn’t realized was there left Amythyst’s shoulders, and they slumped. “Then I’ll count on you,” the other woman whispered. She turned her head slightly, so their faces were only an inch or so apart, and they stared at each other as Alpha’s heart pounded in her chest. Then, Amythyst squeezed Alpha’s hand and stood up, gently shaking off her embrace. Without looking back, she crossed over to stand beside the tent, her body shifting in the muted light until it was Myles who glanced at Alpha, still kneeling beside her bed.

“You’d better get some rest,” he said.

She nodded, heart in her throat, and turned away to burrow back into the pile of furs and cloth.

Chapter Nineteen
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Six days in real life was twelve in the game. Vexxx and Tess were there for up to sixteen hours out of every two game-days, and when they were on, the group explored the maze-like dungeon, encountering several more monsters, and disabling dozens of traps. By the end of Alpha’s first week of immersion as Amy’s caretaker, they all had the [Detect Trap] skill, and they were no closer to figuring out how to escape this floor of the dungeon.

“Look,” Vexxx said, pointing to a section of the map he’d started drawing on day five. When they’d finally thought to check their in-game maps, they’d realized that they didn’t work. More accurately, they lied. Sometimes. If the group traveled fifty feet and turned left, the map might show that they turned right, doubled back, or just walked through a door that didn’t actually exist. But it also might show that they traveled fifty feet and turned left, and you never knew when it was going to be accurate, and when it was going to lie. Or at least they hadn’t until Vexxx started drawing the map.

“Our maps start going crazy when we get near these three areas.” He circled a spot in the upper left quadrant of the map, not far from where they sat, gathered in another of the convenient chambers in the brick-hall section. Stretching, because the map was rather large at this point, he tapped another spot in the ‘Big Head District’, as Vexxx had labeled it. He snickered every time he said it, so Alpha refused to use the name, though Tessle seemed to think it was at least a little bit funny.

Finally, he indicated a point in the ‘Hard Rock Zone’, where Alpha had first appeared. “Whenever we get to these places, everything gets a little,” he waggled his hand, “iffy. I bet there’s another one down here somewhere.” He touched the southeast quadrant, which they’d only explored enough to realize was thickly covered in stalagmites and stalactites that broke off and tried to crush or impale anyone who walked beneath them.

Tessle shook her head. “So, what do we do about it? I mean, this area is probably the safest,” she spun a finger to indicate the zone they were in, “because there are only traps here, so we’ve explored pretty thoroughly, but the only thing different about that little area is that it makes our maps go wonky.”

Vexxx held up a finger. “Only as far as we know. What if we’re actually being, like, routed around something? What if,” he pointed to the map, “this is actually right?”

Alpha frowned. “You mean, when the map says we walked through a wall, we need to actually walk through the wall? Rather than going down the perfectly good hallway that’s right in front of us?”

Vexxx grinned broadly, the expression making him look remarkably similar to Myles for a moment. “Exactly!”

Tess looked thoughtful. “I mean, we’ve tried everything else we could think of, except for heading into the stalactite site.”

Alpha sighed. ‘Stalactite Site’ was, of course, another of Vexxx’s ridiculous names. “Well, we’re already here, so we might as well give it a shot.” She glanced at the countdown timer tucked away in a corner of her interface. “But we’ll have to do it when Amy and I get back. We’ll be logging out in about five minutes.”

The others all nodded, though Vexxx looked distinctly envious. “It is sick that you guys get to use the long-term immersion pods. I’m still stuck with this lame headset and gloves.” He flicked the space near his own temple derisively, no doubt tapping the headset that served as his interface with the game.

During the first gap while Alpha and Myles waited for Tess and Vexxx to log back on, they had decided that it would be easier to just let the boy in on the ‘secret’, too. Apparently, Bree Stephenson, a famous game reviewer on social media - arguably the big-time game reviewer - had recently released a review of her experiences while she’d been immersed in Veritas for several months. While Alpha hadn’t seen it yet, it seemed that basically everyone else on the planet had, so Vexxx had immediately understood what they were talking about when they explained it.

Alpha made a face. “It’s not as great as you’d think. You feel like you’re going to die the first time you go in, and you have to have an IV and a special suit to take care of,” she motioned vaguely downwards, “biological necessities.”

The young mage waved off her words. “Whatever. It can’t be that bad. You, like, know it’s going to be fine, right? So, what is there to worry about? Plus, I had my appendix out when I was ten, so I know what it’s like to get an IV, and yeah, it’s, like, gross and stuff, but it’d be worth it.”

Alpha rolled her eyes. “Tell me that after you try it.”

He sighed. “I’m never gonna get to try it. You gotta have implants, and my whole family thinks they’re gonna be hacked or some junk. Like the haxxors want whatever’s in their brains.”

Myles grinned, giving Alpha a sidelong look. “Oh, I know a few people like that. It doesn’t really work that way, though. The implants themselves can be hacked, though it’s much harder than most people imagine, but that doesn’t directly affect the person using them.”

“Uh huh,” Alpha said, crossing her arms, “unless you’re that guy from Denmark who had ads for adult diapers playing on his implants for a week.”

Myles smirked. “He deserved it.”

Alpha’s eyes rounded. “Myles? Did you-?”

He shrugged, raising his brows and smiling innocently. “Didn’t you say your time is almost up? Did you review those documents I sent you?”

The documents were, of course, the ‘reports’ Aspen had been filing for the past fourteen days. Fortunately, though someone logged on and checked with him every day, none of the players seemed to suspect he wasn’t actually Ava. Still, Aspen sent verbatim records of each conversation as part of his report, as well as noting everything he ate and everywhere he took Zombie-Amy.

Alpha nodded, though she was well aware Myles was trying to change the subject. She only had a little over a minute now, though, and she felt a tremor of nervousness as she glanced at the countdown yet again. “You’re sure this is going to work?”

He nodded, smiling reassuringly. “No worries.”

No matter how many times Myles assured her that he could hide the data flow between the regular game and Veralt’s server, she found it hard to believe. Apparently, the server that was actually hosting the player’s avatar did the bulk of the work, and after that, it was just passing that data back to the player’s pod that was the hard part. Fortunately, Veralt’s team of programmers were bored, overworked, and dissatisfied, so they were constantly downloading movies or playing games outside the server. While Amythyst hadn’t been able to use these openings to get inside in the first place, it was child’s play to use them to their advantage once she had made initial contact.

As Alpha tried to remain calm, the message she’d been waiting for finally appeared in her vision, and with a final wave, she slipped into the Tent set up nearby. While she slept in a bedroll most of the time, if she actually logged off in the dungeon, the game would theoretically send her to her spawn point, so this time she was using the tent. The same was true of Amy, but Myles said that because the woman’s account was so archaic, many of the modern rules didn’t apply to her, including this one. Alpha wasn’t sure she believed that was what was going on, but Myles seemed confident Amy would be fine, and that was going to have to be good enough.

External Logout initiated.

Logout in 10

9

8…

Her head spun, her stomach felt like she’d just gone over the edge of the world’s tallest roller coaster, and when she opened her eyes again, it was to see the edge of her mask lifting away from her face, gripped in someone’s fingers. From the deep brown color of those fingers, it looked like the person helping her out of the pod was probably LeeAn, and as Ava coughed out the last of the biogel, nearly triggering a spate of vomiting in the process, she was grateful for the older woman’s gentle but efficient help in clearing her nose, eyes, and ears.

“Are you ready to get out, Ava?” LeeAn’s familiar voice asked, and Ava managed to nod. LeeAn slid an arm under Ava’s, and with her support, Ava managed to clamber out of the pod. Once she was sure Ava wasn’t going to fall, LeeAn slipped a pulse oximeter on Ava’s finger, and said, “Tell me your full name?”

“Um, Ava…” In her disorientation, it took her a moment to remember her fake name, but she managed to hold ‘Gardner’ back, and say, “Shaw.”

LeeAn nodded, seeming not to have noticed the momentary hesitation. “Date of birth?”

“October thirty-first,” Ava answered, closing her eyes against the gentle spinning of the room. When Amythyst asked Ava for a date to use as Ava Shaw’s birthday, the answer had been easy. Ava’s birthday was actually in August, but she and her mother, Molly, had always celebrated October thirty-first with a cake and an exchange of gifts. It hadn’t been until Ava was eight that Molly explained that that was the day she’d received her third round of IUI, which had resulted in Ava’s birth nine months later, and they weren’t just celebrating Halloween in their own special way.

LeeAn nodded, took off the pulse oximeter, and extended Ava’s arm so she could remove the IV from the crook of her elbow and put a bandage in place. That done, she gestured to the wheelchair, which sat nearby. “Do you need help getting to the bathroom?”

Ava shook her head, immediately regretting the action. Admittedly, she’d only been in long-term immersion a few times now, but she’d never had so much trouble recovering, even when she’d been yanked out less than an hour after going in. “I… No, I’m fine.” She shot LeeAn a smile, hoping she didn’t look like she wanted to throw up as much as she felt she should.

LeeAn’s brow furrowed, but she nodded. “You’re ready to go, then. We’re about to wake up Amy.” Left unsaid was the fact that the people now filtering into the room were all there to help Amy as she woke, and Ava would only be in the way. Forcing a bright smile to her face, Ava lifted a hand and made her way toward the door, though she had to lean on it a little harder than she expected on her way out.

She felt much better by the time she got out of the shower, and discovered that LeeAn had put her clothes in the same locker she’d used last time. A press of her thumb against the biometric lock, and the door whirred open, so she could take out her clothes and screen. She pulled on the comfortable pants and shirt she’d taken off a week before, and powered up her screen. It woke with a loud chiming sound that made her wince and turn it down as her head throbbed painfully. No messages or notifications. Not that that was surprising, since she was still inside Veralt’s lab, and thus completely isolated from every other system in the house, and the world at large.

Walking out of the bathroom, she saw that people were trickling out of the pod room, so they must have successfully extracted Amy. Quickly, before anyone noticed her, she ducked down the hall to the wide double doors that led back out to the rest of the house. Tapping her screen to the pad on the wall, she triggered the doors, and the right one swung open. She slipped out, instantly passing from a space indistinguishable from a private hospital to a hallway that looked like it belonged in a five-star hotel.

The security guard looked up and nodded to her, expression inscrutable. She had yet to see the same guard twice, which made her wonder just how large the security force was in Landon House.

As she walked away, her screen buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out. There were several messages from her fictitious ‘father’, checking in on her. The messages were actually from Amythyst, of course, but they had decided to send them because the LandonHome app she’d had to install after being hired logged all messages, and the caring, somewhat overprotective father they’d created would check in with her regularly. Ava smiled as she sent a message back assuring her ‘Dad’ that she was, indeed, eating her vegetables and making friends, but there were no new boys in her life.

@DanielShaw: Good. No boys are good boys.

Ava shook her head, and sent back a laughing emoji. Her screen pinged again, and she stepped to the side of the hall to answer it.

@DanielShaw: I know you said you’d only be able to check in once a week or so, but I was getting worried. Are you off for a few days? Should I drive up to check on you?

@AvaShaw: No, I’m really fine, and I’m an adult. I have two days off, and then I’ll be working for two weeks next time. Then two weeks on, four days off, and repeat. Come up when I get my four-day break! I can’t bring you inside the house, but we could rent a hotel room, or get a homestay for a few days.

@DanielShaw: I’m holding you to it. Call me.

@AvaShaw: Will do. Love you!

@DanielShaw: Love you, too.

She pushed aside the feeling of melancholy the exchange triggered. She remembered sending messages like this to her mom, before Molly died, and it was hard to do it now, knowing it was all just pretend. Still, they needed to establish that Ava Shaw had a reason to leave Landon House, and stay away overnight, and a worried father was a reason Carl Landon would understand.

Tucking her screen back into her pocket, Ava headed back to her suite. It was time for a council of war.

Chapter Twenty
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Surprisingly, the only things waiting for Ava on the screen in her suite were two words. EAT SOMETHING. As soon as she read them, she felt her stomach growl, and she rested her hand on her stomach as she headed for the kitchenette. The pod fulfilled her nutritional requirements, but she hadn’t actually eaten anything solid in over a week, and her body knew it.

Crossing to the refrigerator, Ava pulled out a TV dinner. She poked holes in the plastic, then popped it into the microwave. Honestly, she’d rather eat something fresh, but not only was she not much of a cook, but she couldn’t keep fresh fruits and vegetables around when she was going to be away for a week or two at a time. Even the milk she’d bought when she moved in was pushing its expiration date.

When the microwave beeped, she pulled out the meal and gingerly peeled back the plastic, allowing the hot steam, along with the scent of turkey and gravy, to escape. She knew she should wait for it to cool, but once the smell hit her, she couldn’t stop herself, and five minutes later her mouth was burned, but her stomach was slightly happier.

Once her immediate needs were satisfied, Ava sat down on the surprisingly comfortable couch and leaned her head back. She was too tall to rest her head on the cushion on the back, so she slumped down, closing her eyes for just a second.

When she opened them again, the room was dark and the small icon that meant Amythyst was accessing her implants was visible on the upper left edge of her vision. She didn’t like being reminded that she had electronic devices in her head, so she didn’t keep much up on her interface, but she and Amythyst had agreed that this was a good way to make sure Ava knew Amythyst was around, so she didn’t have to worry about where she was looking when she went to the bathroom or changed her clothes.

“Amythyst?” she murmured, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She must have fallen asleep, and she frowned as she pulled her screen from her pocket and looked at the time.

The large screen on the wall lit up, and there was Amythyst, dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans, with a smile on her face. Without thinking, Ava stood and took a step forward, reaching out to touch her before she remembered it was just a digital image and dropped her hand.

“Hey!” Amythyst said. “Are you feeling better? It’s amazing how lying around in goo for a week can wear you out.”

Ava fell back a step and lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, catching the movement of her reflection from the corner of her eye. Ava had moved the full-length mirror from the bedroom into here, next to the screen, so Amythyst could see Ava’s expression when they spoke. Since the AI was basically looking out of Ava’s eyes, she had insisted on the addition. It was a little disconcerting, since Ava didn’t really like looking at herself, so she didn’t focus on it.

“I would have been fine if you hadn’t made me eat,” Ava said. “I thought you’d be here when I got back.” She tried to keep the plaintive tone out of her voice, but from the look on Amythyst’s face, she didn’t entirely succeed.

Smile widening, Amythyst said, “You needed to eat and rest, and I was… working on something.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed. Amythyst had the processing power of a supercomputer, and it was rare that she used any significant amount of it, much less enough that she couldn’t divide off a portion to talk to Ava. “What were you working on?”

Amythyst grinned like a Cheshire cat who just ate a batch of tarts and managed to blame it on someone else. “Our escape plan, of course.”

Instead of immediately asking for details, Ava sat back down on the couch, crossed one leg over the other, and waited expectantly.

Amythyst huffed a breath and muttered, “You’re no fun. Fine. Here’s what we know.” She stepped to the side of the screen, and gestured to her right, where a picture of a medicine vial appeared. “Amy is probably being drugged, using her nutritional supplements as a cover. When she’s in the pod, I have control of those supplements, so I can stop them. The biggest danger is that someone will notice the reservoir is still full, even though the system says it’s empty, but the reservoirs are flushed and cleaned automatically before medications are refilled, so as long as no one does a visual check, it’ll be fine.”

Ava nodded. “Are they supposed to do a visual check?”

Nodding, Amythyst said, “Of course. Trust but verify. It’s always better to use your own eyes, rather than just believing what the machines tell you. That said, that guy Quinn is the nurse assigned to check on your pods, and according to the logs, he actually opened the panel to check your feed exactly once, and didn’t even bother with Amy’s. Probably assumes the extra redundancies on the medical model means that the system will catch any issues.”

She sighed. “If he was in my department, I’d write him up and put him on probation, but as long as nothing causes a problem and attracts his attention, Veralt probably won’t even bother to check. That was part of my problem with him when we worked together. He’s a big believer in plausible deniability. He expects people to do their jobs, and if they don’t, well, he had no idea what was going on, so it’s not his fault. In this particular case, his lack of oversight is going to work in our favor.”

Shifting, Amythyst wiped away the hovering vial with a hand. “Now, once Amy is off her drugs, we should notice a significant change. If she’s aware of what’s been going on, she may be angry, or she may attempt to run away. I wish I could predict her response but,” she shook her head, “it’s all going to depend on how much she understands.”

An image of a brain appeared where the vial had been, and as it rotated, different areas lit up in different colors. “Amy’s injuries were primarily to the right side of the cerebral cortex, especially the frontal lobe. We’ve seen that she struggles to speak and move, and while that may just be because of the medications Veralt has her on, it may also be lingering damage from the trauma.”

Ava cast her mind back to the training Amythyst had recently put her through to learn all the things she might need in order to get the job as Amy’s caretaker. “The frontal lobe controls concentration, planning, creativity, and judgment,” she said, slowly. “As a whole, the cerebral cortex handles… practically everything else that makes a person who they are.”

“Yes,” Amythyst said, full lips pinching. “But the brain is remarkably good at healing itself. Other parts of the brain take on the role of the damaged parts, and it builds new connections to replace the broken ones. And, as she recovers from being drugged, I should be able to use the system she was developing to help patients with similar kinds of brain damage. It was never really tested, but in theory, it should allow me to support her use of language, as well as refine her motor control while she’s in the game. When she’s out, I can create an app that will run on her implants to help with language, at least, though it probably won’t be as effective.”

“That doesn’t help her think, though, Amythyst,” Ava reluctantly reminded the AI. “She’s clearly not a vegetable, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to be… well, Amy any more, either. What do we do if she wants to stay here, or if she can’t make that choice at all?”

This wasn’t the first time Ava had asked this, but Amythyst always managed to circle around and say they’d deal with that when the time came. But the time was rapidly approaching, and they needed to be ready for all contingencies.

Amythyst met Ava’s eyes and sighed before looking down. “Do you remember when you were trying to plan for what was going to happen when you walked into this house?”

Ava nodded. “You told me I couldn’t plan for everything. That if I couldn’t be flexible, I was going to freeze up when something happened that I wasn’t ready for.”

Lifting her eyes, Amythyst said, “That’s right. So, yes, it may be that Amy… isn’t herself any more. That she never will be again. Maybe the person she is now will want to stay here. But I know, better than anyone else possibly could, that if the old Amy could make the decision, she’d beg us to get her out of here. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

Ava stared into that determined green gaze and could only nod. “Then how is this going to work?”

Amythyst grinned. “First, we get Amy off the drugs. Then, we assess the actual damage, and determine how much Amy’s system can help. Then, we get her out.”

Ava sighed and leaned forward, running her hands through her hair. “Amythyst, that’s literally the same plan we’ve had all along. We need details.”

Amythyst waved her hand, and another picture formed on the screen beside her. This one was of a man, around sixty years old, slightly heavy-set, with thick gray hair, a Hispanic cast to his features, and a charismatic smile on his face. Even Ava recognized him instantly.

“President Short?” she asked, wondering where Amythyst was going with this.

“Former President George Short, yes.” Amythyst agreed. “A wildly successful businessman, thanks to the fact that his hunches are almost never wrong. One of the youngest Presidents ever elected, and also one of the most popular, partially because he was a handsome, charming bachelor, and the ladies love him. He completed his second term when he was just fifty-three years old. Wrote a book, romanced a few more ladies, and then vanished from public view a little over a year ago.”

Amythyst reached over and took the figure’s hand. “Also known as Amy’s Uncle George.”

Ava lifted a finger, pointing at the smiling image of the man who had been President of the United States for almost half of her life. “That? That is your Uncle George? The one you refused to ask for help?”

Amythyst nodded proudly, though the look on her face when she looked at the sturdy figure standing next to her was heart-wrenchingly sad. “The one who’s dying? Yes. I took your advice and reached out to him through his private electronic ID. I used a code he and Amy came up with when she was in high school. When Carl would get too overbearing, Amy would send George a message, and let him know she needed him to come and break her out for a little while. Once, not long after he was elected the first time, he made VP Sawyer take over a meeting with the French President so he could fly out and take Amy for ice cream.”

She shook her head and let the image fade, her hand falling limply to her side as she looked back to Ava. “I’d say he was like a father to me - to Amy, but he really took Mother’s place after she died. When she was alive, Carl focused most of his obsession on her, but she knew that after she was gone, he’d shift it somewhere, and Hank and Amy were the most likely targets. She asked George to step in when needed, and made Carl promise to listen to him.”

She stopped, and the silence dragged on long enough that Ava finally prompted, “So? What happened when you sent him that message?”

Amythyst sighed, looking like she wasn’t sure whether to be happy or terrified. “He wants to meet us. In Veritas Online, since it’s very difficult for him to leave his home any more. If we can convince him Amy is still alive, he’ll help us get her out.”

Chapter Twenty-one
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Moods lifted by the prospect of outside aid, the two spent the rest of that day throwing around what-ifs. Ava suggested ‘Uncle George’ just send in the Secret Service. Amythyst proposed that he use a spare set of keys to the UFO on top of the Space Needle in Seattle to come and beam them all out. Their plans became wilder and more ridiculous the longer they talked, until Ava froze like a deer in the headlights when a knock came at her front door.

Ava, who had been standing on the couch to illustrate how tall a Hyper-static Death Robot would need to be, jumped down, automatically straightening her clothes and her expression. Crossing the room, she opened the door, looking down to see Veronica standing there, looking uncertain.

“Um, hello?” Veronica said, curiously peering around Ava’s shoulder at the empty room behind her. “Oh. I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

Ava shifted, blocking the other woman’s view. Veronica was probably about the same age as Ava, but something about the bubbly redhead made her seem younger. “No. I was catching up on a few episodes of my favorite web series.” Belatedly, she reminded herself that Ava Shaw was a sweet, friendly person, and forced an apologetic smile to her face. “Sorry. Was I being too loud?”

Veronica took a step back, waving her hands. “Oh, no! No, I was just coming over to invite you to dinner tonight. Or maybe tomorrow? But I heard you laughing, and I thought,” she shifted slightly as she tried again to peer around Ava, “I heard another woman talking, but the voice wasn’t familiar.”

Ava sighed and stepped aside, showing a room empty of any sign that more than one person had been inside. “Just me, I’m afraid. I talk to myself sometimes, though. My web series is a mystery show, and I’m trying to figure out who the murderer is.”

“Oh!” Veronica brightened, even as her eyes darted around the room, catching on the single half-full glass of water and the empty microwave dinner tray. “Do you like funny mystery shows? Me too! I was so sad when ‘Fulton’s Drawers’ was canceled last year. What were you watching?”

Ava hesitated. She didn’t actually watch any shows, mainly because she rarely had any free time that wasn’t spent sleeping or playing Veritas Online. “Um…”

“Babble-on Fifth,” Amythyst murmured in her ear. “Platypus Park. Fleischmann’s Follies.”

“Babble-on’s Follies,” Ava blurted, then shook her head, gritting her teeth at the sound of a snicker over her implants. “I mean, um, Babble-on Fifth. But before that I was watching Fleischmann’s Follies.”

Veronica squealed. “I love Babble-on! We should totally have a watch party sometime! They’re dropping the second half of season three next weekend! Oh my gosh, I want to know if Bobbi Mushroom is actually dead!”

“He is,” Amythyst said. “I watched the episodes when they finished editing them. Honestly, Bobbi’s been kind of naughty behind the scenes, and I think the producers were tired of it.”

“Um, yeah.” Ava said, trying not to look like she was listening to two different people hold two conversations at the same time. “I don’t know.”

At Veronica’s crestfallen expression, Ava hastened to clarify. “About Bobbi! Not the watch party. We could, um, watch an episode… together. Or something.”

Veronica smiled hopefully. “How about dinner? Today?”

Ava glanced at the screen behind her. “Yeah. I mean, yes! Sure. But, maybe tomorrow?”

Nodding enthusiastically, Veronica said, “That sounds amazing! You could,” she hesitated, cheeks pinkening slightly, “come to my room?” At the look at Ava’s face, she hurried on, “Or the dining room! The dining room is totally fine!”

Relieved, Ava nodded. “That would be great. I’ll… see you tomorrow night, then?”

Taking a step back, Veronica said, “Great! Um, yeah. I’ll… see you then!” Turning away, she hurried down the hall, though not without one last backward glance and smile.

Ava stepped back into her room, though her hand froze on the door as Amythyst gasped, “She just asked you out!”

Ava finished closing the door before hissing, “She did not!”

“She totally did! And you said yes!” Amythyst snickered.

“She’s just being nice,” Ava insisted, then muttered, “Not that you’d know anything about that.”

“Hey!” Amythyst yelped, “I’m nice! Didn’t I tell you the name of some shows she’d like? You should watch them. For your date.”

Ava groaned. “I’m going to have to watch them, aren’t I? Or she’ll figure out I was lying.”

“Yup,” Amythyst said, far too cheerfully. “But don’t worry. I’m a great wing-woman. Just ask Bridget. I totally helped her catch Hank, and that was the most awkward romantic relationship ever, because they’re both complete nerds.”

Ava sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. “Queue up the first episode,” she said, voice muffled. “What was the show? Babylon something?”

“Babble-on Fifth. It’s a murder mystery done in noir style, but acted entirely by babies and toddlers.”

Ava groaned.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

The next night, after watching two and a half seasons of bumbling baby detectives and their devious toddler nemeses, Ava wanted nothing more than to stay in and watch something with an actual plot and real actors. Unfortunately, she had told Veronica she’d be there, so she carefully applied just enough makeup to look like Ava Shaw, as well as a simple pink tunic over a pair of soft gray leggings. She didn’t bother with jewelry or anything else that would count as dressing up, on the off-chance that the other woman actually did think this was a date.

Veronica was waiting when Ava arrived in the large, bustling dining area. The servers were already bringing meals to the employees seated at other tables, and Veronica eagerly waved to Ava, motioning to two chairs which had been pulled away from a table on the very edge of the room. No one else was sitting at their table, though some of the other tables were already full.

Ava hesitated as she passed LeeAn’s table, where she saw Dan, Kari, and three other people she didn’t recognize. LeeAn looked up and offered her a neutral smile, but didn’t say anything, so Ava went on by with just a nod and a return smile.

Veronica was wearing a pretty blue dress that accented her red hair and pale skin, and she smiled broadly as Ava sat down beside her. Reaching out, she laid one hand on Ava’s and said, “I’m so glad you came! They have carrot cake tonight, and it’s my favorite. I’m excited to see what you think.”

Ava’s smile was a little tight as she moved her hand under the pretense of adjusting her silverware. “Oh. Um, I’m… not really a fan of carrot cake. Especially when they put nuts and raisins in it.”

Veronica’s face fell, and Amythyst huffed a frustrated sigh over Ava’s auditory implant. “Wow. Okay, tip one, if your date says they like something, don’t shoot them down. Be honest, but be gentle. Say it’s okay, and tell them what your favorite is.”

Ava cleared her throat. “I mean, carrot cake is fine. Good, even! I just, um, prefer chocolate.”

“Oh. Yeah, chocolate is good,” Veronica said, smile returning, though it was noticeably dimmer.

Ava felt like she’d kicked a puppy. Leaning slightly closer, she added, “Tuxedo chocolate mousse cake, specifically. My,” not her mom, Ava Shaw’s mom wasn’t part of her story, “dad got me one for my birthday when I turned sixteen, and it was the best thing I ever ate.”

Brightening, Veronica said, “Really? I’ve never had one of those, but I do like chocolate mousse! You know, there’s a spot in the LandonHome app where you can request certain meals or desserts. You should totally ask them to add, what was it, chocolate mousse cake?”

“Tuxedo chocolate mousse,” Ava corrected, relaxing slightly into her seat. “It has brownie chunks in it, and chocolate ganache on top.”

Veronica gripped her arm, eyes wide, “Oh my gosh! My mouth is watering! We have to get that on the menu! If we both ask for it, surely they’ll make it sometime.”

Ava smiled and was about to answer when someone else pulled out the chair across the table from her and sat down. A moment later, another man sat down beside him.

“How are you doing, Ava?” Quinn asked, sneering as he looked at Veronica’s hand on Ava’s arm. Without thinking, Ava put her own hand over Veronica’s protectively.

“I’m fine,” Ava answered coldly, then tried to soften her tone with an insincere smile. “What brings you here, Quinn?” She flicked her eyes to the man sitting next to Quinn, looking oddly nervous. “Dean?”

“We, uh, just came over to say hi,” Dean said, though he avoided Ava’s eyes. “You know, since we work together and all. We’re always so, um, busy at work, we haven’t really had a chance to get to know each other.”

Quinn’s lip rolled up to reveal a slightly yellow tooth. “Sure. We saw you had a lot of room at your table, and thought we’d just chat for a minute.”

Ava felt Veronica’s fingers tighten on her arm, and glanced over to see a disappointed look on the other woman’s sweet face. “Really?” Ava asked. “Because Veronica and I were actually hoping to have a nice chat, just the two of us. Unless you guys are also fans of Babble-on Fifth?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Dean said, and tugged at Quinn’s sleeve. “Come on, man. Let’s go. They obviously weren’t looking for company.” He pushed back his chair and stood up.

“Mmhm,” Quinn said, his eyes still lingering on Veronica and Ava’s hands, “I see that. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. You looked a little… sick, when you got out of the-,” his eyes focused on Veronica, and he changed tack. “When you finished your shift.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed. “I was fine,” she said. “Were you worried? That’s so sweet of you.” She gave him a saccharine smile.

Narrow mouth pinching even further, Quinn pushed his chair back. “Well, that’s good. It’d be terrible if you were too sick to be able to do your job.” As Dean walked off, Quinn hesitated and looked back at Ava. “Though you never know, if you did feel sick, maybe it was a warning. Maybe you’re allergic to… something. Next time, it might be much, much worse.” Tapping his finger on the table, he gave one last leer, looking from Veronica’s confused face to Ava’s carefully blank one, and walked away, following his friend.

“That was weird,” Veronica said. She looked at her hand, which was still tucked beneath Ava’s protective grasp, and her cheeks turned a pretty pink.

Ava had to force herself not to snatch her hand back. Instead, she removed it slowly, and used it to lay her napkin in her lap. “Yeah. Apparently, he applied for the job I got, and he’s not very happy about the fact that he didn’t get it.”

“Rude,” Veronica said, clicking her tongue. “Well, I’m glad you got the job, and next time I see him in the hall, I’m totally not saying hi to him.” She smiled at Ava and shifted so she could pull her screen from the purse that leaned against the leg of her chair. “Here, let me show you how to request that cake from the kitchen.”

A waitress set Ava’s duck confit with crispy potatoes and a house salad in front of her, and slid Veronica’s macadamia crusted lamb with macadamia sambal onto the table as Veronica lifted her screen out of the way.

Ava smiled and took her own screen out of her pocket, pulling up the LandonHome app as Amythyst’s shocked voice spoke in her ear. “Did that jerk just threaten you?”

Smiling at Veronica, Ava said, “Yes.” She took a bite of her duck, which was something she’d never tried before, and had actually been looking forward to. It felt like a tasteless ball of grease in her mouth.

Over her implant, Amythyst began muttering words Ava would have sworn she… Well, obviously she knew them, because she knew everything, but Ava would have sworn she’d never hear them coming from the AI. Ava kept a fixed smile on her face and kept chewing as Veronica worked her way through requesting Ava’s cake from the app. After that, they talked about Babble-On Fifth, though Ava contributed very little, so it was good that Veronica seemed more than capable of carrying the conversation alone.

At long last, Veronica set her fork down beside her plate, and sat back in her chair with a sigh. Looking over at Ava’s barely-touched meal, she said, “Did you not enjoy the duck? It’s not one of my favorites, but everything they make here is good. I hear Mr. Landon’s head chef used to have his own restaurant in Paris.”

With a feeling of great relief, Ava set down her own fork, thankful that she didn’t have to keep shifting the same bite of food around her plate anymore. “It was fine. I just realized that I’m not really hungry. I ate a lot for lunch.”

Veronica’s expression shifted. “Oh,” she said, in a small voice. “I’m sorry. You probably didn’t even want to come here, then.”

“Uh oh,” Amythyst muttered. “You blew it. Now she thinks you ate a lot for lunch because you either forgot you were supposed to eat with her, or wanted to be able to leave early.”

Ava’s fingers clenched on the napkin in her lap. “No! I… Look, I’m just not very good at-” she dropped the napkin on her plate and pushed her chair back, gesturing at the pretty table and the chattering people around them. “At all this. I don’t-”

Now Veronica’s cheeks were pink, and her eyes looked bright again. “Oh. Oh! You mean?” She gestured from herself to Ava, then back again, and raised her brows.

Ava was completely baffled, until Amythyst said, “Now she thinks you just don’t date much. So, you’re cute-awkward, instead of rude-awkward. That’s an improvement, I guess.”

Ava felt her cheeks begin to burn, and stood, ready to make up some excuse and leave. To her surprise, Veronica stood, too.

“Um, didn’t you want cake?” Ava looked toward the door that she assumed led to the kitchen. Wait staff were just starting to carry out trays loaded down with various delicious-looking desserts.

Veronica bit her lip, but shrugged. “I don’t need cake. Honestly, it’s not as good as my mom’s, anyway. I’ll just, uh, walk with you to your room?” Her expression was so hopeful that Ava couldn’t bring herself to refuse, so she pinned a smile to her lips and led the way as they wound their way through the maze of tables. Most people were still working on dinner or waiting for dessert, and more than one of them gave the pair a knowing smile as they passed. By the time Ava reached the exit, her cheeks were so hot she thought her face might literally catch fire.

Thankfully, the hall was empty as Ava and Veronica walked to Ava’s suite. The silence hung between them, but it was still better than getting more of those looks, and Ava found her strides getting longer and longer as she left the dining room behind. Only when she heard Veronica’s sharp, panting breaths did she realize what she was doing and slow down, looking back apologetically.

“I… Sorry. I’m not really comfortable being the center of attention, you know?” At last, they came to the door to Ava’s rooms, and she stopped, her hand already on the doorknob.

Veronica, whose cheeks were now pink with exertion, tried to control her breathing as she smiled up at Ava. “That’s all right. It’s… cute. I wouldn’t have guessed you were shy.”

Ava felt all the heat that had begun to fade from her face flood back when the other woman called her cute, and the doorknob slipped in her suddenly sweaty palm as she tried to turn it. She laughed nervously, trying to remember she was Ava Shaw, not Ava Gardner, and Ava Shaw was not shy.

“No, I just-” she finally managed to get the door open, and nearly tumbled through it. She had to take a long step to catch her balance, and it was only when she turned to say good night that she realized Veronica had followed her inside.

The other woman looked around with wide-eyed curiosity. Turning to Ava, she smiled teasingly, though there was an edge of nervousness to it. “It always amazes me how these rooms are exactly the same, and yet they feel different, depending on who lives there. I can tell you just moved in, though.” She glanced around again, and added in explanation, “No pictures. Not even of your family, or maybe… someone special?”

Even though they were no closer than they had been while they ate together, Ava suddenly felt like Veronica was too close, and she took a half-step back. Veronica immediately moved forward. Ava laughed awkwardly, and looked away from the bright blue eyes staring into her own.

“Ah, yeah. I, um, just have my dad. I mean,” she forced the laugh again, “my dad and, uh, a boyfriend. Myles.”

Veronica’s eyebrows lifted, and she leaned in, still with that teasing smile. “Oh, it’s okay, Ava. You don’t have to pretend with me.” She lifted a finger and drew it across her lips. “I can keep a secret.”

“I,” Ava backed up, feeling her hip bump into the kitchen counter. Something clicked in her brain, and she blurted out, “You said you wanted to tell me something! Um, the other night!”

“Other night?” Amythyst said, voice sounding strange, even as Veronica hesitated, then fell back a few inches.

“Oh,” Veronica said, and began chewing on her lip again, clearly distracted.

In her ear, Amythyst said, “Ava? What happened the other night?”

Veronica stared down as her fingers began to twist in front of her, but after a long moment of silence, she finally seemed to come to a decision, and looked up again. “You’re working with LeeAn, right?” Veronica asked, but didn’t wait for Ava to answer, just hurried on. “You’ve probably met that girl then.” She lifted her fingers to make quotation marks as she said, “‘Amy’, right?” She sidled even closer, very much in Ava’s personal space, “I don’t know if you checked out Mr. Landon after you got the job, but most of us did, so you probably did, too, and-”

Ava slid around the corner of the cabinet she’d been pinned against, and edged into the kitchen. The tiles clicked softly beneath the heels of her shoes, and they both looked down. When Ava looked back up, Veronica’s cheeks were pink again, and she seemed to have realized how close she’d been getting, because she took a step back.

The redhead drew in a deep breath. “Look, just so you know, that isn’t the real Amy. Mr. Landon’s daughter. The one who died, right? What I heard is that he was hit so hard by her passing that he quit everything, sold his house, and moved out here. But then he saw an article about another woman who’d been hit by a car. No one knew who she was, so they posted her picture, hoping to find some friends or family, and she looked just like his daughter.”

She lifted her hand and tapped her temple, then stroked her fingers down the side of her face. “I mean, not exactly, because her face was all banged up, and she needed surgery to fix it, but close. When no one came forward to claim her…” she shrugged, eyes drifting away, “Mr. Landon did. He said she was the daughter of a dead friend of his, or maybe the niece of his late wife.” Rubbing her fingers together, she said, “The details change, but I don’t think anyone really knows. Anyway, if you have enough money, you can convince anyone of anything, right?”

She shrugged, and it was the most cynical expression Ava had ever seen from her. “So he had the locked wing built, and once she was stable, he had her brought here, and somehow, when she was having all the surgery on her face, she came out looking identical to his dead daughter. Now, he acts like she really is his daughter, but she’s just some random person he literally picked up off the street, and,” her eyes slid away again, “I mean, she’s in a good place, right? Better than being dumped into a home, or wherever people with no family go when they can’t take care of themselves. And we all just go along with it, and get nice, fat paychecks and a 401k.”

Ava thought her teeth might break, she was clenching them so hard. It took several seconds before she could force out two words. “I… see.”

A furrow appeared between Veronica’s brows as she looked up into Ava’s face again. “Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”

Ava stretched her lips into a tight smile and laid a hand on her churning stomach. “Yes. I just… I think maybe I’m allergic to duck, or something. I don’t feel very good, all of a sudden.”

Veronica’s eyes went wide, and she stepped forward, gently laying a hand on Ava’s tense forearm. “Oh, no! And Quinn said you weren’t feeling well yesterday, too. Do you want me to call the doctor?”

“No!” Ava moved her arm out of Veronica’s grasp. “I just… I think I should go to bed. So-” She turned her eyes toward the front door, which Veronica must have closed behind her after following Ava inside.

The other woman’s eyes followed Ava’s gaze, and she gasped, flushing again. “Oh! You’re not feeling well, and here I am, keeping you up.” She shook her head, smiling in belated embarrassment. She hesitated, then stood on her tiptoes, darting in to place a chaste kiss on Ava’s jaw, which was as high as she could reach, before stepping backward and nearly running for the door.

“I, um, really enjoyed myself tonight. Before-” she gestured meaningfully at the hand Ava still had pressing against her stomach. She opened the door, slipping halfway into the hall before adding, “AndI’dlovetodoitagainsometime,” all in one breath before finally leaving, closing the door behind her with a click.

Ava’s legs gave out, and she staggered backward, coming up against the wall and sliding down into a slumped heap. “Did you hear that?” It was a rhetorical question, because the Amythyst-icon had been clearly visible during the entire conversation, but Ava didn’t know what else to say.

“I… did,” Amythyst said. Her voice was tight, and Ava wished she could see her face, but the AI didn’t turn on the screen in front of the couch.

Ava shook her head. “What should we do?”

“I looked it up,” Amythyst admitted slowly. “As soon as I realized what she was saying, I looked it up. She’s right. According to the internet, a Jane Doe was involved in a hit and run shortly before Carl had the medical wing built. When I checked the hospital where she was taken, her medical bills were paid for by an ‘anonymous donor’, and then her records just end when she’s ‘released into private care’.”

“So, Amy isn’t Amy?” Ava asked, feeling like her head would burst. “She’s just another copy, created by someone else who just couldn’t accept that she was gone?”

Amythyst barked a dry, painful-sounding laugh. “Amy sure left behind some messed-up relationships, huh?”

Ava shook her head, remembered Amythyst couldn’t see her, and forced herself to stand. How she managed to shuffle across to the mirror, she wasn’t sure, but she did, and she stared into her own face, hoping Amythyst could see the sincerity in her expression.

“Amy Landon was loved,” she said. “She just happened to be loved by people who were actually able to do something about it.”

This time the AI’s laugh was a little more genuine. “That’s… true, I guess.”

As the silence stretched, Ava asked again, “What should we do?”

Beside her, the screen flickered, and she stepped back so she could see Amythyst and her own reflection at the same time. The AI looked strained, but her chin was set in a familiar expression. “We do exactly what we were planning to do. The only difference is that now we’re also checking to see if this woman really is the original Amy Landon. Even if she isn’t, if she’s being held here against her will, she still needs help.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Ava nodded. “All right. Then I guess,” she glanced toward her bedroom door, “I should go get some sleep, so I’m ready to go to work in the morning.”

Amythyst’s digital avatar took a step forward, eyes searching Ava’s face. “Are you okay? That woman was right. You don’t look good.”

Ava tilted an eyebrow. “That woman? I thought you liked her.”

Amythyst’s lips compressed into a disapproving line. “That was before I heard there was ‘another night’.”

A tiny grin stretched Ava’s lips. “Are you… jealous?”

She thought Amythyst would laugh it off, like she always did when Ava tried to imply their relationship might be something other than friendship. Instead, hectic color rose in the AI’s cheeks, and she looked away before she snapped, “Of course not. Go to bed.”

The screen went dark, and so did the overhead light, leaving Ava in a room lit only by the bright stream of light that came from the bedroom door. Ava blinked, and her grin grew larger. A moment ago, she’d thought she would never be able to sleep while her mind processed Veronica’s revelation, but now she had a much better reason to lie awake.

Amythyst was definitely jealous.

Chapter Twenty-two
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Amythyst asked as Ava walked down the hall toward the lab. After Veronica left, Ava had both been so blindsided by the woman’s suggestion that Amy wasn’t Amy that she had forgotten all about Quinn’s earlier insinuations.

Amythyst, however, had not. The AI had apparently spent quite some time bouncing back and forth between the two issues, and when Ava woke up, this was the one she seemed determined to focus on.

Amythyst had asked the same question a hundred times that morning. She pointed out that Quinn could easily slip something into the reservoirs of Ava’s pod when he opened the panel to ‘check’ on them, and whatever he’d put in there had made Ava sick, at least for a little while.

Ava argued that it was just as possible that he’d done nothing, but when he noticed that Ava was struggling, he’d decided to use that to his advantage. He’d come by the table to try to make sweet, innocent Ava Shaw believe she was allergic to something in the biogel, so she would quit. When she didn’t say anything, he decided to come by her table and plant the idea into her head, just to make sure she got it. Honestly, it didn’t change anything either way, since Amythyst could control the pods, and if Quinn did try to sabotage Ava’s, Amythyst could just flush the reservoir as soon as he closed the panel.

Ava sighed, and muttered, “Yes,” under her breath, just loud enough for the implant in her jawbone to pick it up. Realistically, what were her options, anyway? Run away? Tell Carl Landon and Dr. Veralt no thanks, and just take off, leaving ‘Amy’ and Amythyst behind?

While she could do that, especially now that Amythyst had contacted Uncle George, the odds were good that if someone who knew about Amy suddenly quit, then vanished from the face of the earth, Carl Landon’s paranoia would cause him to cut his losses and flee. No doubt it would cost millions to do so, but Carl had millions to spare, and now that Amy was stable, she didn’t really need the elaborate medical support system they’d set up for her, so he could go anywhere in the world within a few hours of realizing his little secret could be exposed.

No, either Ava had to follow through on the original plan, at least until they figured out if Amy was who they believed she was, or she had to wait until George Short came in like an avenging angel to save his beloved ‘niece’. No matter what she did, it all started with walking down this hall, and getting back into the pod that was waiting for her.

Lifting her screen, she thumbed it and then tapped it against the pad in front of the security guard. The woman glanced at the screen beside her, verifying that Ava was allowed into the lab, and nodded. Ava passed through the swinging doors and into the parallel dimension where the sprawling Landon House was actually a fully functional hospital.

By now, Ava knew how this worked, and she walked directly to Exam Room One. LeeAn was already waiting there, and gave her a professional smile. This time, they got Ava into the nanofiber bodysuit and ready to go in less than thirty minutes. As LeeAn finished sealing Ava’s sleeve around her new IV, the woman murmured, “Are you feeling better?”

Ava blinked. “I… Yes?”

LeeAn’s efficient fingers stilled on the sleeve, and she glanced over at the screen that glowed silently above the nearby table. “You just didn’t look like you were feeling well. When you got out.”

Ava shrugged, pulling her arm from beneath LeeAn’s fingers, and smiled brightly when the older woman looked up. “I think I was hungry. When I got back to my suite, I just ate and slept. The pod keeps me healthy, but that doesn’t mean it’s like actually eating and sleeping.”

For a moment, something that looked like frustration flashed across LeeAn’s usually imperturbable features, but then she smiled and said, “That’s good. Do you want me to put something to eat in the locker with your things? Some chips or cookies?”

Ava almost frowned, but forced her face into an even broader smile and said, “That would be so nice! Thank you, LeeAn!”

Stepping back, LeeAn smiled, too, and Ava couldn’t tell if it was real or not. The nurse raised her voice to its normal level. “All right, you’re ready, Ava. I’ll put your things in your locker, and they’ll be ready for you in two weeks.” She leaned over and picked up Ava’s neatly-folded stack of clothes, and both women left the room, though Ava went left, while LeeAn crossed the hall to the bathroom.

Drawing in a fortifying breath, Ava walked down the hall and opened the door to the room where the two pods waited. This time, there was already a small crowd inside, including Dr. Veralt himself. The man hadn’t bothered to be there when Ava got out of immersion, but now he crossed the room and stood in front of her.

A tiny attempt at a smile twitched at the corners of his thin-lipped mouth, and he said, “There you are, Ms. Shaw.” He lifted the screen he held in one hand, and one eyebrow lifted minutely as he glanced at it. “No doubt your preparation time will improve as you become more skilled.”

In other words, she’d taken too long getting ready, even though she’d finished at least ten minutes faster than last time. Ava let her shoulders slump and twisted her fingers together nervously. “Yes, Dr. Veralt.”

The smile broadened, and Veralt flicked his wrist, rolling up the screen so he could tuck it into his pocket. “Good. Now, our little experiment seems to have been a success.” The smile twisted into a sneer. “Amy has shown more interest in and interaction with her environment over the last two days. Not much, unfortunately, but enough that we called in Mr. Landon shortly after she was taken from immersion. He’s very hopeful that she’ll continue to improve.” The doctor’s hooded eyes were inscrutable, but he definitely didn’t look like he was actually pleased with the results.

“I want to remind you that if you see any indication that Miss Landon is actually cognizant of her surroundings, you are to report it immediately. Mr. Landon was quite clear that he didn’t want to miss any chance to speak to her.” His cold brown eyes bored into her own, and Ava nodded.

“I understand, sir,” she said, trying to insert a little fearful awe into her tone.

Looking pleased, Veralt motioned to Quinn and Dean, who were standing nearby. Quinn stepped forward immediately, looking like an eager dog who heard his master’s voice, but Dean lagged a half step behind. “Quinn, and, ah,” Veralt hesitated, “Don? Get Miss Shaw into her pod. Quickly, we’re running behind.” He sent one last dismissive glance at Ava, and walked over to where several other people were cleaning and double-checking Amy’s pod.

Hard fingers grasped Ava’s upper arm, and she was grateful for the muscle she’d developed at her job stocking shelves, as well as the improved tone from using the pod at Amythyst’s house. If her arm had been as soft as it had been when she was in school, she’d probably have bruises.

“Here we go,” Quinn said. “Do you need a little help getting in, or can you handle it, now?”

What would Ava Shaw do? Ava thought desperately. Ava Shaw definitely wouldn’t punch him in the throat or kick him in the crotch, so she lowered her lashes, hoping he couldn’t see the disgust in her eyes.

“I’ve got it,” she managed, though her voice was tight. She barely resisted the urge to yank her arm from his grasp as he walked her over to her pod, only releasing her when she was trapped between his body and its ovoid shape.

It was actually Dean who kept Ava from losing it and at least ‘accidentally’ stomping on Quinn’s instep. It wouldn’t do much, since she was barefoot, but it would at least be cathartic. And completely out of character. But as Quinn started to lean in, opening his mouth to say something undoubtedly noxious, Dean reached out and grasped Quinn’s arm in much the same way Quinn was grasping Ava’s. When Quinn glanced at his friend, Dean flicked his eyes around and shook his head. No one was really paying attention to them, but if Ava made a scene, everyone would witness it.

Quinn’s thin lip curled in the now-familiar snarl, but he stepped back, releasing Ava. She refused to rub her arm, instead staring into his eyes with a defiant glare before turning toward the pod and climbing inside unassisted. She saw confusion flash across his face, and though she knew she shouldn’t have shown even a hint of rebellion, it was deeply satisfying, and she smiled as she settled the mask onto her head.

The bed dropped away as the gel rose up around her, and when she fell into blackness, gasping out her last breath of air for two weeks, she barely even cared.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

When Alpha pushed aside the flap of the tent, Myles was there, stretching out an arm to help her up. “Did it work?” she asked, as she clasped his forearm and let him pull her to her feet.

He grinned. “Slick as a whistle. Poor Aspen had to dig Lady Ava out of the garden and put her in your bed for a few days, but he enjoyed having some time off. Silus has been waiting at the edge of the city zone, and I sent her to notify Aspen you were logging on a couple of minutes ago. Right about now, he should have your Zombie stuffed under the bed, and be getting ready to put Amy’s Zombie into her wheelchair so he can head out for the day.”

He held up a finger, eyes flicking away briefly. “Ah, Silus is back. She says Aspen didn’t want to use [Report] when ‘you’ just logged in, but he’s fine. Veralt and his minions should still be busy getting Amy into her pod, so Aspen should have plenty of time to get back into character before anyone checks on him.”

Alpha nodded. “Veralt said Amy was noticeably more responsive after immersion.”

Myles grimaced. “I thought that might happen. It’ll take several real-time days for the last of whatever Veralt has her on to leave her system. One week wasn’t really long enough to get her clean and be able to thoroughly evaluate her, so it was safer to keep her on a light dose of the drugs last time.”

Alpha nodded. They had hashed this out several times, and agreed that they needed a full two-week immersion to be able to tell how much of Amy’s deficits were caused by the meds, and how much was a result of her injuries. Still, Amythyst felt guilty for not immediately stopping the drugs, and it showed.

“Did you decide if you’re going to taper her off, or stop them completely?” Alpha asked. They’d talked about this, too, and Amythyst went back and forth on it. Her medical training told her it was safer to taper a patient off of most psychotropic drugs, which were probably a large part of the cocktail Veralt was giving Amy. On the other hand, she hated watching Amy struggle to simply focus or speak.

Sighing, Myles shook his head. “I’m… going to compromise. I’ll taper them more quickly than I really should, but I’ll be right here to watch for withdrawal symptoms, and I can use the pod to alleviate some of them. Just watch for mood swings and irrational behavior as she comes out of it.”

Alpha glanced at the tent where, presumably, Vexxx and Tessle’s Zombies lay. It was time for them to be at school and work respectively, and Alpha was grateful for that. It was easier to talk when she didn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing.

“What about them?” she asked, tilting her head.

Myles shrugged. “Just… be careful. Tessle will only be a problem if she thinks Amy needs help. She trusts you, so I doubt she’d do anything without sounding you out first. Vexxx,” he snorted a laugh. “He’s a teenage boy. He’s a good kid, but he’s a bundle of hormones and angst, without a lot of space left over for anyone else’s problems.”

Alpha rolled her eyes. “He’s not that good,” she muttered, but she didn’t argue. In the end, it was the AI’s decision to make.

Myles’ eyes shifted to look at Amy’s still form, lying in a nest of fur and miscellaneous soft materials. “She’s here,” he murmured, and stepped away from Alpha so he could kneel beside Amy. Alpha crossed over and crouched down across from him. Amy didn’t move, but her eyelids flickered very slightly, indicating that they were no longer looking at an empty avatar.

Reaching out, Myles laid his hand on Amy’s, where it rested on her chest in a pose eerily similar to that of a corpse that had been prepared for a funeral. “Amy,” he murmured, then cleared his throat. “Amy, we’re here to help you. You’ve been… You were hurt. Do you remember? But you’re better now, and we’re going to make sure you get to see Bridget, and Hank, and Bree again. Uncle George is even on the way.” He smiled, but it was strained, and a tear trickled down his cheek and dripped onto his hand. “They all love you, Amy, and they miss you more than you know. So just wait a little longer, because I’m going to send you home.”

Alpha laid her own hand on top of Myles’ and squeezed gently. “We’re going to send you home.”

Myles looked up, and his gaze glimmered like dew on a mossy stone as he smiled into Alpha’s eyes. “Yes,” he said softly, “we are.”

Chapter Twenty-three
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

In spite of the feeling of hope they’d experienced when they first logged on, nothing out of the ordinary happened the first day, or the second. Alpha had to remind herself that this was the downside of the time dilation players experienced in Veritas Online. While it seemed like it had been plenty of time for something to have changed, it had barely been twenty-four hours in real life.

Tess and Vexxx, of course, had no idea that anything was supposed to happen, so they were still excitedly discussing their plans for exploring the dungeon.

“I’m telling you,” Vexxx insisted, “we should split up! If we each go to one of these spots, we’ll be done in an hour. We all have some kind of [Trap Detection] skill now, and I got [Disarm Trap] last time.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “You mean when you dropped that spike plate on us? Yeah, we noticed.”

Alpha shook her head. “Toggle’s the only one with a high enough level in [Disarm Trap] to actually succeed. This place is a mid-tier dungeon, and we’re already running into mobs at around our own levels. If someone,” she glanced pointedly at Vexxx, “is alone when they manage to summon another golem, they’re going to get squished flat as a tortilla.”

Vexxx shrugged, folding his arms across his chest defiantly. “Those things are slow. Slower than me, anyway. I can just run.”

“And fall right into another trap,” Tess said, crossing her own arms and upping the ante with a tapping foot. “Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?”

Shoulders slumping, Vexxx admitted, “Last time, my mom caught me playing Veritas after ten. She says she’s going to come in and take my headset and keep it in her room for the night.”

Alpha snorted, but Tess asked, “So, how long do you have?”

The boy’s dark brown eyes flicked up and to the right, and he said, “Two and a half hours.”

Myles, who had spent the last day hovering around Amy, spoke up for the first time. “We’d better hurry, then. Who votes we split up?”

Vexxx’s hand rose.

“Who votes we check out the area near us, and then make a decision?” Myles continued.

Tess and Alpha both raised their hands, and, after a moment, Toggle hesitantly followed suit.

Vexxx scowled, then brightened and pointed at Orah. “What about the snake? You let the snake vote last time, and she totes agreed with me.”

Alpha rubbed her temples, but lifted the flying snake from around her neck. Orah’s beautiful rainbow wings blurred as she lifted into the air like a serpentine hummingbird.

“What do you think?” Alpha asked the snake. “Or, um, Quezal? Do you have any suggestions?”

Quezal has heard your prayer, but believes you already know what you must do.

Alpha blinked at the notification, and stroked Orah’s porcelain scales as the divine creature lowered herself into Alpha’s grasp again. “I think that means Quezal agrees with me,” she said.

Tess patted the crestfallen lightning mage on the back. “It’s all right, Vexxx. Come on, you know you were just going to get splattered on some wall if you went out there alone. So would I, for that matter. Trap or mob, dead is dead.”

Sighing, Vexxx admitted defeat with a shake of his head. “Whatever. But if we’re going to go, let’s go.”

That sentiment was one everyone agreed with, so they quickly hurried around, picking up bedding and eating implements and returning them to their inventories. As soon as the brick-lined chamber was empty again, Alpha pulled up her map, orienting herself toward the closest of the areas that made their maps - or possibly their eyes - malfunction.

The halls in the brick area were wider and straighter than any of the others, so it only took a little while for their group to reach the outskirts of the disorienting zone. It was Vexxx, with the map he’d hand-drawn in the flyleaf at the front of what looked like an outsized grimoire, who noticed the first change.

“Here,” he said, tapping the book he held awkwardly in front of him. “My map shows we took a left turn last time we were here, but that,” he pointed ahead of them, “is right, and my minimap says we need to go straight.”

Alpha shook her head. “So, what’s real?”

Tess held out her palm, revealing three of the round metal orbs low-level players often used as ammunition for slingshots. “You’d be amazed how many things I’ve used these for.” She took a few steps closer to where the hall seemed to end in a right-hand turn, and threw one of the orbs at the empty gap. To no one’s surprise, it vanished down the dark corridor beyond the corner.

Pinching a second sphere between her thumb and forefinger, Tess threw it at the left wall. It bounced off with a quiet plink, and rolled back to spin in the middle of the hall. Picking up the third ball, Tess threw it toward the solid wall straight ahead of her, and it bounced back at her with so much force it actually hit her cuirass and ricocheted away again.

Everyone turned to look at Vexxx.

His cheeks darkened, but he set his jaw firmly. “I’m sure I’m right,” he insisted. “There’s an opening there!” He glared around, as if the simple brick walls might give him a clue. He paused as his gaze crossed the wall Tests’ marble-sized projectile had bounced off of. Before anyone could stop him, he darted off, crossing the last fifteen feet to the wall, where he immediately began pushing and pulling at the two bluish bricks that were embedded among the gray ones.

Alpha and Tess exchanged glances of relief as they walked over beside the mage. Toggle hadn’t found a trap for several minutes, and they were both expecting one at any moment. When Vexxx ran forward, Alpha couldn’t help but feel certain the boy was about to find the next pitfall or spear trap the hard way, but it seemed his luck was holding.

“This thing has to open somehow,” Vexxx asserted again. “It’s the only thing that makes sense!” He shoved hard at one brick with his left hand, while pulling at the edges of the other one with his right.

Nothing happened.

Cautiously, Alpha reached out and shoved at the wall. All of the bricks were worn smooth in places, and cracked in others, but Vexxx was right, the blue bricks were the only really different ones.

Holding out a hand, Tess summoned a pickaxe that rivaled her battle axe for size from her inventory. Waving a hand at Alpha and Vexxx, the half-dwarf gripped the haft of the pick. “Step back, you two, and watch a pro at work.”

Tess was, indeed, surprisingly good at swinging her pick. The gleaming tip connected solidly with the wall, and Alpha expected mortar and chunks of brick to go flying. Unfortunately, when Tess stopped after a good twenty or thirty powerful blows, the wall looked exactly the same as it had before.

“Graaaahhh!” Vexxx yelled in frustration, and hurled his ball of lightning at the unmarked barrier. The sparking sphere had been their source of light, since they were currently in one of the patches of absolute darkness between the sconces that lined the walls, so when it poofed against the wall, they were all dropped into complete darkness.

“Damn it,” Vexxx muttered, and as Alpha’s [Darkvision] kicked in, she saw him shift in preparation for summoning a new one. She also saw something else, and she caught his arm in her hand as he lifted it.

“Wait,” she muttered, releasing the boy. She stepped forward and swung her arm through the newly open space directly ahead of them. When she glanced around, she saw that the opening to their right was gone, and they stood in a long, straight hallway with no turns within her range of vision.

Shaking her head, Alpha said, “It’s only visible in the dark. Maybe it’s only there in the dark.”

Vexxx’s voice shook a little, and he was glancing around, eyes wide as he strained to see. “How can something be visible in the dark? That’s the whole point of darkness.”

Alpha shook her head, then huffed a breath at her own error and spoke out loud. “This whole floor of the dungeon is meant to be completely dark, except for a few torches, and I bet none of these anomalies happen where there’s any light. I didn’t even think about it, because I have [Darkvision], and so does Toggle, but as soon as Vexxx could, he made a light. Since neither Tess nor Vexxx have [Darkvision], we’ve stayed in the light ever since.”

Reaching out, she gently grasped Vexxx and Tessle’s arms. Vexxx jumped and almost jerked from her grasp, but from the look of slowly dawning comprehension on Tests’ washed-out face, she understood what Alpha was doing. Alpha took a step through the newly opened passage, and when she pulled her companions after her, they stumbled, but followed. Toggle, of course, could see the same thing as Alpha, so he hurried ahead, looking for traps, while Amy followed automatically, and Myles trailed along at the end, a broad grin on his face.

Once they’d walked a yard or two, Vexxx plaintively asked, “Can I make a light now? I really don’t like the dark. Not that I’m scared, or whatever,” he hastened to assure them, “but I like to be able to see where I’m going. Y’all would probably let me fall down a hole or something, just for laughs.”

Alpha lips twitched. That… was actually not far from the truth. But to her surprise, she found that she didn’t actually want him to get hurt or sent to respawn, even though it would get him out of her hair for at least a few days.

“I promise not to let you fall in any traps,” she said, trying to sound reassuring, “but I think we need to stay in the dark if we want to get off this floor.”

Vexxx’s arm was tense beneath Alpha’s hand, but he nodded jerkily. “Fine, whatever. If I die, I’m haunting you forever, though.”

She laughed. “Just come back and harass us again. Maybe I’ll feel bad enough that I'll actually turn you into a vampire.”

His face brightened. “Really?”

“No. Now come on.” Alpha led them down the hall after Toggle, who was already busy disarming yet another trap.

The gnome looked up as they approached. “This was a more difficult one, Mistress. A fireburst. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

Alpha nodded, and fell in behind him as he started off again. They had gotten out of the habit of always following behind the gnome once everyone had [Detect Trap] to level five, which seemed to be enough to get a vague sense of most of the simple devices that were so common in the brick halls. Toggle still had to disarm the traps once they were discovered, but it didn’t really seem to matter who was at the front of the party.

“Do you have your written map, Vexxx?” Alpha asked, as they waited in the broad hall while Toggle took care of a particularly nasty gas trap.

Vexxx nodded and pulled the grimoire from his inventory. Not for the first time, he started to raise his hand to summon his lightning ball, then lowered it and sighed, holding the book out in the darkness toward Alpha’s voice. “Here,” he said, though his hands lingered on the cover as she took it from him.

Lightning Mage’s Book of Spells - This book contains all of the lightning spells known to Vexxx. While he holds it, it increases the power of his spells, but if he loses it, his spells will be reduced by an equal amount until it is recovered or replaced. Drop Rate - 0%. Weight - 10 lbs. 5 oz. Rarity - Unique

Alpha shook her head. [Tome of Knowledge] was an uncommon item dropped in the dungeon of the Paramount Potentate. The Potentate was a level sixty Hexblade, and dropped one of these books every twenty or thirty times he was killed. If a player with a mage class wrote all of their spells into it, it would become their own grimoire, boosting their spell power. Obviously, any mage with enough money or strength bought or fought for one eventually, and then tucked it away to take up one slot of their primary inventory, where it couldn’t be lost, damaged, or stolen.

And Vexxx had scribbled all over his, and then handed it to her. Honestly, it was kind of touching that he trusted her that much. At least, until he opened his big mouth, and said, “I have a backup copy I just need to add one more spell to to finish, but don’t, like, drop that or anything.”

Alpha’s fingers twitched with the desire to do just that, but she pushed it down and just opened the cover to reveal the flyleaf where he’d drawn the map. Glancing from the rough sketch to her minimap, she saw that the map in the book indicated the path was supposed to dead end ahead of them, but as far as she could tell, it continued straight instead.

“Toggle?” Alpha glanced over at the gnome, who had taken off his hat to work on this trap, but now stood and carefully replaced it on his head, adjusting it so it was perfectly centered.

“Yes, Mistress, it’s done. But,” he hesitated, tugging at the edge of his conical hat, “this one was very difficult. If they get any harder, I’m not sure I can disable them.”

Clicking her tongue thoughtfully, Alpha said, “Fingers crossed that now that we’ve figured out the trick, we don’t have much farther to go.” She looked down at the map again. “If Vexxx didn’t completely screw up the scale of this map, the center of this thing should be ahead and to the right. Lead on, Toggle.”

Toggle nodded and walked off down the hall, moving even more cautiously than he had before. His concern turned out to be unnecessary, however, since there were no more obstructions between them and the end. The straight passage ended in a right-hand turn, where they came face to face with the first door they’d seen in this place.

“It’s big,” Alpha said, describing the door for Tess and Vexxx. “But not ridiculously so. Definitely wood. Handle instead of a doorknob. No visible hinges, but the handle is made of some kind of metal.”

“So, what do we do?” Tess asked.

Vexxx’s eyes flickered up toward his clock again. “We open it, that’s what,” he said, stepping forward with a hand outstretched until it came to rest on the wooden surface in front of him. Sliding his hand down and to the right, he found the plate that attached the handle to the door and pushed.

To Alpha’s surprise, the door opened easily, and Vexxx was neither doused in acid nor dropped into a pit. Golden light flooded from the opening. Vexxx stepped inside, turned, and grinned at them. “Piece of cake.”

That was when the giant stone hand rose from the ground and closed him in its fist.

Chapter Twenty-four
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Vexxx let out a horrible scream, and Alpha started to take a step toward him, but Myles put out his arm and stopped her. When she looked at him, there was a distinct smirk on his face. Tess, who was behind Alpha, couldn’t get by either, so she, too, was left staring at the boy as he was lifted into the air, clenched in a rocky, remorseless fist.

As Vexxx’s bloodcurdling howl faded into silence broken only by the grinding of stone, the boy’s expression shifted from terrified to puzzled. Slowly, he lifted his free hand and patted the enormous extremity, which completely engulfed his body from his armpits to his knees. His feet kicked, making the hem of his robe billow, revealing his skinny ankles.

“Uh, what the hell, man?” he asked, voice cracking on the word ‘hell’.

“Look around,” Myles urged. The AI was obviously feeling unusually helpful today.

The lightning mage did so, and his eyes locked onto something on the ceiling above him. “Bro, there’s a switch up here. Like, a legit lever, or some junk.” Lifting his hand, he reached up and grasped something, and everyone else froze.

A whole lot of nothing happened, except that Vexxx tried again to wriggle free of the hand that clutched him. “Dude, I can’t even with this,” the boy whined, kicking his feet helplessly. “I pulled the lever, but it didn’t move!”

Alpha rubbed her temples, where she felt a headache threatening. Looking over at Myles, she asked, “So, how do we get him out of there?”

Myles just shrugged and smiled enigmatically. Apparently, his brief moment of charity was over.

Sighing, Alpha looked in at Vexxx, then stepped to the side, giving Tess room to move forward. “I have a feeling,” Alpha sent a sidelong glance at Myles, “going in there is a bad idea. Tess, can you hit that thing from here? Vexxx, try shocking it.”

Nodding, Vexxx rubbed his hands together and then laid his palms flat on the stony skin of the fist. Sparks arced into the air, and then he gasped, his dark skin growing noticeably paler as the fingers around his chest tightened. “Nope, no magic,” he managed, eyes large and frightened.

Tess hesitated, then looked at Alpha. “I have a fireball spell, or I can just,” she held out a hand, and a slingshot appeared there, “shoot it, and see if it even works.”

“Nope,” Vexxx squeaked, though his color was returning now that the hand had stopped moving again. “Hard pass. This is another damned puzzle, and y’all better figure it out, because I am not getting turned into toe jam.”

“Technically,” Tess said, grinning, “it’d be finger jam. Is that a thing?”

Alpha snorted. “No, and as much as I hate to admit it, the kid is right. This place is full of traps, and when there’s no trap, there’s a puzzle.”

“Or a trapped puzzle,” Tess added, shaking her head.

“Right.” Alpha rubbed her temples again. “Okay. What clues do we have?”

Tess raised a finger. “Darkness.” Another. “Hidden spaces in the middle of a maze.”

Alpha lifted her own forefinger. “There are four zones.” She looked around. “And four of us came through from the first floor.” Glancing at Toggle and Amy, she corrected herself. “Four groups, anyway.”

Tess groaned. “It’s a co-op puzzle.”

For a moment, Alpha wasn’t sure what she meant, and then the light dawned and she groaned, too. “We’re going to have to split up again.”

Vexxx, who had remained unusually silent, spoke up, though he sounded slightly breathless. “Anybody want to let the guy stuck in the trap in on your little confab?”

Shaking her head, Alpha pointed to each of them in turn. “Tess came through on her own, and ended up in her own zone in the maze. Then you, and your ‘big-head district’, while Amy, Toggle, and I were touching, so we came through together, in the ‘hard rock zone’. Myles…” She trailed off, staring at Myles.

He grinned. “Yep. I was in the stalactite site.”

“Okay,” Alpha nodded. “Then each person or group got their own zone. And each zone also has its own weird area where either our eyes or our maps don’t work. Once we figured out how to get into one of them, only one of us was allowed to enter, and that person immediately fell into a trap that keeps him from leaving, but didn’t actually hurt him, and even helpfully lifted him to within reaching distance of-”

“How do you know that?” Vexxx interrupted, sounding belligerent. “That you can’t come in, I mean. Maybe you’re just supposed to walk in here and pull off one of these fingers with your super vampire strength. Or Tess can chop one off with her axe.”

Alpha tapped her finger on her chin, a gesture she’d picked up from Amythyst. “Hmm. I could try that. Do you want me to?” She shifted as if she was going to take a step through the invitingly open door, and Vexxx waved his arms frantically.

“Nah, man, just kidding. Just, like, finish what you were saying.”

She snorted a half laugh, and pointed toward the lever that Vexxx claimed was there, even though it was invisible from where she stood. “And finally, we have a conveniently placed lever that doesn’t work. Yet.”

Vexxx still looked confused, and Alpha sighed. “The key is that this place separated us from the very beginning. We thought that meant we needed to find each other, but if it’s really a co-op puzzle, then we each need to go to our zone and do what we did here.” She eyed the dangling lightning mage. “Hopefully it doesn’t matter which of us does which zone, because this one should have been Tess. At this point, we’re just going to have to go to the next one, and hope for the best.”

“Wait,” Vexxx said with dawning horror, “you mean I have to hang here until you guys get to all the other spots and hope you’re right about how this works?”

Alpha smirked. “That’s right. Unless you want us to come in there and try smacking your snuggle buddy, there.”

The mage, who had almost fully recovered from being squeezed the first time, paled again. “No, that’s okay. Just,” he hesitated, biting his lip, “hurry, okay? If I log out before we can set up a tent, I’m going to get kicked out of the dungeon, and I don’t want to have to come all the way back by myself.” His eyes flicked away. “Like, you guys are lame, and stuff, but I guess you’re better than fighting the fairies and dealing with the traps on my own.”

Alpha, who had already started to turn away, hesitated and looked back at the suspended teenager. “Yeah,” she said, “you don’t suck quite as much as I thought at first, either.”

(===||:::::::::::::::>

Since Tess couldn’t see in the dark, they decided to take her to the ‘Big Head District’ first. As long as they didn’t actually mess with any of the heads, it was the next safest zone, and Toggle was able to easily disarm the few traps that triggered with simple proximity. The gnome even shimmered with the silver glow of a skill increase at one point, and Alpha wondered how much his [Disarm Trap] skill had improved since they entered the maze.

The trickiest part of the journey was, once again, getting through the darkened halls to the central chamber, but this time they all stopped at the door to the chamber, which was identical to the first one.

Tess shifted uneasily, her hand on the door handle. “Are you sure about this, Alpha? I really don’t want to be dwarf jelly, either.”

Myles laughed, and Alpha shot him a look before she patted her friend on the shoulder. “Do you want me to do this one? It’d mean you’d have to depend on this guy,” she hitched a thumb at Myles, “to get you safely through the ‘Hard Rock’ zone. Lights don’t work at all there, so you’d be blind the entire time. I can send Toggle with you to deal with the traps, though.”

Beside her, Toggle’s little shoulders stiffened and squared, clearly proud that she felt she could count on him to keep her friends safe.

Tess sighed and shook her head. “No. It makes the most sense for me to go this time.” Pushing on the door, the half-dwarf sent, ::I’m going in,:: over party chat.

::About time!:: Vexxx sent back. The mage was frustrated and bored, and had been peppering them with ‘Are you there yet?’ since five minutes after they left him.

As soon as Tess stepped into the room, a huge, rough-hewn hand rose up from the ground and wrapped around her body, squeezing her tightly even as it raised her toward the ceiling. Unlike Vexxx, Tess didn’t scream, and she looked up as she got closer and closer to the top of the room. When the fist holding her ground to a halt, she looked down with a shaky grin. ::I see the switch. Should I try it?::

Alpha said “No,” as Vexxx answered ::Yes!::, and Tess reached up and pushed at something out of sight above her. Nothing happened.

::Nada. Sorry, Vexxx. Looks like we have to keep going,:: she sent.

::What if I do mine at the same time?:: the boy asked, sounding a little frantic. ::On three. One. two. Three!::

Tess pushed, and presumably Vexxx did, too, because Tess’s hand actually moved slightly. The axe maiden looked down, visibly surprised. ::It did move, this time. About a quarter of the way.::

Alpha smiled. ::That’s actually a great sign that we’re on the right track.::

They all froze as the hand holding Tess shifted, stone crunching. She gasped, her rosy cheeks paling, and said, ::It got tighter!::

::Vexxx, are you okay?:: Alpha asked, urgently.

There was a tense pause, and then Vexxx replied in a shaken voice. ::Yeah, but I can hardly breathe now. I have a debuff, too. Constricted. It reduces my recovery rates, all of them, and I just took almost a hundred points of damage.::

Turning back to Tess, Alpha said, “How are you, Tess?”

Shaking her head so her braids dragged across the top of the stone fist, Tess said, “I’m okay. I used a trick my pony at summer camp loved to do with her girth, and took in a huge breath when this thing grabbed me. Then when I let the breath out, it was actually pretty comfortable. Now, not so much, but I’m still good.”

Alpha nodded in relief and turned to Myles. “All right, so things are getting a little more serious now. Do we go to your zone next, or mine?”

The Sword Reaper looked torn, but he finally huffed out a defeated sigh. “It’d be more fun to make you take me to the next one, but since we’re running out of time, let’s split up here. You take Toggle and Amy and go to the Hard Rock Cavé, and I’ll go do mine on my own.”

“Will you be all right?” Tess asked, and Myles and Alpha both turned to look at her, brows raised. As far as Tess knew, Myles was a moderator, and could probably either one-shot anything in the dungeon, if he didn’t just teleport himself straight to his goal.

“Oh,” the dwarf muttered, cheeks turning pink again. “Right. Go ahead, then.”

Alpha nodded and turned to go. Toggle darted ahead, already watching for any traps that might have reset themselves or just appeared out of thin air. ::Vexxx,:: she sent, ::Myles is going to his area, and I’m going to mine. Do you have another thirty or forty minutes?:: Mapping the area out originally had been incredibly time consuming, but with a map in hand and a high-level [Disarm Trap] skill, Alpha was pretty sure she could get there in half an hour or so.

::...Yeah. But hurry,:: the boy sent back.

::Yeah,:: she sent, increasing her pace until she was almost on Toggle’s heels. ::I’m on it.::

Chapter Twenty-five
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Thirty-one minutes and seventeen seconds later, Alpha stared at the wooden door that led to the final chamber. Myles, of course, had gotten to his door in less than ten minutes, which left Alpha as the ‘last man standing’. As she placed a hand on the cool metal handle, she paused and looked down at Toggle. The gnome’s skills had been invaluable in getting her there so quickly, but now he was looking lost and a little forlorn.

Releasing the handle, she crouched down beside him, looking him in the eye. He blinked, and his hands rose to tug at the bottom edge of his dented and frayed felt hat nervously. “Mistress?”

Carefully, she lifted Orah from around her neck and placed the snake around his narrow shoulders instead. The serpent’s tongue flickered and she cocked her head quizzically, but she settled into place easily enough. “Toggle,” Alpha said, “you’ve been the best gnome I could possibly ask for. Without you, there’s no way we would have made it through this maze, so we would have had to either go back, or we would have died here.” She smirked. “Vexxx would have died for sure.”

The big blue eyes watching her blinked, and a timid smile crossed Toggle’s face.

She went on. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we do this. Hopefully, we’ll all get zapped to the next level, but there’s always a chance that it won’t work that way. If anything happens - if we’re separated, or if I die - just stay here, okay? I’ll get back to you, but it may take a day or two. Take care of Orah and Amy.”

Alpha stood, looking at Amy. She thought there was a little more understanding in the woman’s eyes lately, but she remained stubbornly silent and unresponsive whenever anyone tried to talk to her. “Amy, stay with Toggle. Don’t follow me in there.”

Amy’s eyes flickered left, then right, but whether that meant something or if she was just looking around at the tunnel, Alpha didn’t know. Sighing, she turned back to the door and grasped the handle again.

“Mistress?” Toggle’s squeaky little voice asked.

She stopped, the door half open, and looked back.

“I won’t let you down,” the gnome said, his receding little chin as firm as it could get, and his brows drawn down over his eyes. He almost managed to look fierce, and she smiled.

“I know,” she said, and stepped inside.

Even though she’d thought she was prepared, the suddenness of the hand rising from the floor made her let out a choked gasp. That meant she released part of the breath she’d taken to keep the fist from being too tight, and as she was thrust toward the ceiling, she wondered if she’d die from having her head cracked open like an egg, or from asphyxiation. Then she remembered that, technically, she didn’t have to breathe anymore, and her wild mental arithmetic skewed toward becoming gooey mash.

But, like the others, the rocky hand that held her stopped just short of squashing her into paste, and when she looked up, she saw a short lever embedded in the ceiling. It was so small it was almost more of a switch, but either way, it was within easy reach, so she lifted her hand toward it. ::I’m here. Is everyone ready?:: she asked over party chat.

A chorus of agreement came to her ears, and she nodded. ::On three then-::

::Wait,:: Vexxx put in nervously, ::on three, right? Not, like, right after three?::

Alpha rolled her eyes. ::That’s what ‘on’ three means, Vexxx. Yes, flip your lever when I say three. Not before, and not after.::

::Okay,:: the boy muttered. ::Go ahead, then.::

::One,:: Alpha said. ::Two.:: Her finger tensed, not quite applying pressure. ::Three.:: On three, she flipped the switch, and the fist crushed her.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

Gasping, she sat bolt upright, eyes flashing wide as she stared around. To her right, she saw Vexxx and Tess sitting on the ground, looking just as shocked and horrified as she felt. Beside them, Myles grinned a little as he watched their reactions. Looking to her left, Alpha saw Toggle and Amy, both still standing just as she’d left them. The gnome’s mouth hung open in an O of surprise, but Amy’s face was as imperturbable as ever.

Hastily, Vexxx patted himself down, checking to be sure he was intact, and then he pumped a fist as he realized that he wasn’t, in fact, dead. “Yaaaaasss!” he howled, then did a little dance. Turning, he looked at Alpha and held out a hand. “Book!” he demanded.

Momentarily, she debated pretending she’d lost it, but his mother was due to confiscate his gaming gear any minute, so she just pulled the grimoire from her inventory and placed it in his hand. Next, he spun to face Myles, and said, “Tent?” His tone was less demanding this time, but held more than a hint of panic.

Without pausing to reply, Myles pulled out a tent and deployed it. As it appeared, Alpha’s shoulders slumped in relief, and a glance at Tests’ face showed that the dwarf, too, realized that if the tent was working, that meant there were no monsters within twenty yards. There was usually a safe area at the beginning of a new floor in a dungeon, but that wasn’t always true, and it wasn’t unheard of for a party to be dropped into the middle of a group of monsters.

The moment the tent snapped into being, the lightning mage dove for the entrance and vanished inside without another word.

Tess puffed out a relieved breath. “I was starting to think he wasn’t going to make it. It’d suck to get this far and then get sent to your last save point because you logged out in the dungeon.”

Alpha nodded, and Myles sighed as he said, “During the betas, people kept randomly logging out in the dungeons, and then they’d complain when they came back to find out their Zombies got eaten. We tried a bunch of different solutions, but no one was ever happy. Bridget finally made it a hard rule that logging out without using a tent or other device to create a safety zone first sent the player to respawn automatically, and for some reason everybody shut up after that.”

“And that’s why we can’t have nice things,” Alpha muttered, looking around more closely now that she was sure they were safe and everyone was together and intact. They were in a large, open clearing, with a wooded area to one side, and a stream on the other. The grass was tall, but nowhere near as high and deadly as the sawgrass on the fairy level. In fact, this looked lush and inviting, and when Alpha had placed a hand in it as she got to her feet, the smooth blades felt cool and soft beneath her fingers.

“This looks like a good place to set up camp,” she said. “Not that we have a lot of choice, at this point, thanks to the boy wonder.”

Tess nodded. She was taking in their surroundings, too, and her blue eyes looked tired. “I agree. I should get to bed, too, but,” she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m just not ready yet. I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so even if I go, I’ll be up for at least another hour.”

Alpha caught a mournful note in her friend’s voice and turned to face her with narrowed eyes. “What’s up?” she asked.

The dwarf shrugged again, awkwardly, but her gaze flickered toward Myles.

Glancing back and forth between the two women, Myles brushed his hands together and said loudly, “I’m going to go gather some wood for a fire. I feel like having s’mores and hotdogs tonight.” Without waiting for them to reply, he strode off toward the stand of trees.

Alpha snorted, shook her head, and turned back to Tess. “Now, out with it. What’s going on?”

Wrinkling her nose, Tess said, “Do you promise not to laugh?”

“No,” Alpha replied. “Start talking.”

Reluctantly chuckling, Tess sat down on a fallen log nearby, and took off her horned helmet, running a hand over her sweaty blonde hair. “Okay, okay. Do you remember when you used that glamour skill in Vargo? The one that makes you look like the viewer’s ideal type?”

Alpha sat on a flattish rock not far from Tests’ log. “You mean when the commander of the military outpost looked worried that I’d start some kind of minor rebellion if I took my hood off? Vaguely,” she said, dryly.

“Right,” Tess grinned. “When I looked at you, I saw… someone I know. I mean, kind of know. He’s really my brother’s friend, but he doesn’t have any family close by, so he usually joins ours for Thanksgiving, and I see him at Kevin’s birthday and stuff.”

“Okay,” Alpha said, raising a brow. “And?”

“And after Vargo… I asked Kev for his number.” Tests’ cheeks were bright pink now, and Alpha couldn’t remember ever seeing her look so flustered. Usually, Tess was enthusiastic and confident, both in game and in real life.

“And?” Alpha urged again.

Sighing, Tess hid her face in her hands. Her voice was muffled when she said, “And I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t call him out of the blue. I mean, I’m his friend’s little sister. He’d probably tell me he hadn’t ever thought of me that way, and then things would get awkward.”

Alpha groaned, leaning forward to clasp her arms around her knees. “I’m sorry, Tess. I don’t know. I’d just let it go, or maybe wait until the next time you see him and talk to him in person. If he seems interested, ask him, and if not-” She shrugged.

Tess grimaced. “I know that’s what I should do. If I’m really worried about it, I should just wait. I mean, we’ve barely even talked about anything except Kevin, and he’s a terrible conversation topic.” She laughed, but continued, “I’m going to keep thinking about it. Thanks, though. I feel better just having said it all out loud.” She smiled at Alpha. “To a friend.”

As if on cue, a sound came from behind Tess, and both women turned to look. Myles was staggering toward them, practically lost behind an enormous pile of sticks and small logs. His voice sounded pitiful as he said, “A little help, here?”

Instantly, Tess leaped to her feet, with Alpha close behind. Tess pulled a small mountain of kindling into her arms, dropping a shower of twigs and dry leaves, and Alpha took half of what was left. Myles grinned as his face appeared from behind the woody mound he still held. “Where should we build the fire?”

Alpha shook her head. “You were serious about that? Do they even have s’mores in Veritas?”

“They do now,” he said, grinning even more broadly. He plunked his armload of wood onto the ground in a haphazard pile, not far from where Tess and Alpha had been sitting. “That looks like a perfect place for a campfire.”

Tess dropped her sticks on top of the ones Myles had already dumped, and said, “Hotdogs and s’mores sound perfect.” In spite of the fact that she hadn’t managed to come to any conclusion, she looked more cheerful, and Alpha hoped that just talking it out really had helped.

Adding her own sticks back into the mound, Alpha thought it looked more like they were building a bonfire rather than a campfire, but she just said, “How do we light it?”

A ball of flame appeared above Tests’ hand. “I only have one real spell, but it happens to be perfect for lighting campfires. Step back!”

Alpha and Myles both took a long step away from the jumble of wood, and Tess lobbed her fireball into it. Instantly, the dry wood ignited with a whoosh, and Alpha took another step back from what was, indeed, a plus-sized campfire. Meanwhile, Myles started pulling hotdogs, buns, graham crackers, marshmallows, and what looked like slabs of dark chocolate from his inventory. Once he had everything out and arranged to his satisfaction, he slid a hotdog onto the end of something that looked a lot like a classic fencing foil and stuck it into the leaping flames.

“Now,” he said gleefully, “who knows some campfire songs?”

Tess brightened even further. “Oh! I do! I was in scouts, so I know tons of songs!”

Alpha felt tension draw her shoulders in as two pairs of bright eyes turned toward her. “No. I don’t.” She felt something brush her leg and, looking down, she met Toggle’s watery blue gaze. She’d almost forgotten about the little gnome, since he’d been so quiet while she and Tess had been talking, but now he gazed up at her hopefully.

“I know some, Mistress,” he offered eagerly. “Gnomes are great musicians. I’ll teach them to you!”

She flinched, and turned a glare on Myles. He’d done this on purpose, and he was going to pay.

Chapter Twenty-six
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Three hours later, Alpha was thoroughly sick of songs about hats, barges, and absolutely anything involving horses or sunsets. Toggle attempted to teach them a tune about ‘Gnome Cooking’, and another where each verse detailed how to make a particular poison or trap, which he said all gnomelings learned when they were children. Unfortunately, gnomish music more closely resembled atonal chanting, and even Tests’ off-key attempts at singing were slightly better. Myles, of course, knew every song, including Toggle’s, and cheerfully sang along with both of them, while Amy sat in silence and Alpha tried very hard to pretend that none of it was happening.

At last, a much happier-looking Tess covered a gaping yawn with her hand and said, “Oh my gosh, I have to get to bed, or I’ll never make it to work in the morning.” She smiled brilliantly at everyone before standing and stretching broadly. “This was exactly what I needed, you know? A chance to sit around with friends and just have fun, and not think about anything.”

Picking up her horned helm from where she’d set it on the log beside her, she plunked it back on top of her head. After adjusting it, she turned a slightly embarrassed smile on Alpha. “I’m going to take your advice. About what we talked about before, I mean. There’s plenty of time for all that, but right now, I’m actually really happy with my life exactly as it is.”

Alpha forced a tight smile, though it softened as she saw that her friend did, indeed, look more relaxed and content than she had before. “That’s what matters.” She glanced away, rubbing her arms against the slight chill that had come along with the encroaching night. “It’s never a good idea to make your happiness dependent on someone else, anyway.”

Tess had already started walking toward the tent, but paused as she picked up some subtle tone in Alpha’s voice. Turning around sharply, she walked back over and leaned down to give Alpha a fierce hug from behind. “Being content with what you have alone is great,” she whispered in Alpha’s ear. “But it’s okay to want something more. I won’t force it, but you better believe if I see my chance, I’m going to go for it. And you should, too.” Standing straight again, she waved to Myles and Toggle, and crawled into the tent after a last goodbye.

Without Tests’ good-natured and lively presence, a pall fell over the clearing. Toggle, who had been sitting in the grass nearby, stood and handed a flask full of red fluid to Alpha. “I’m tired, too, Mistress. Good night.” Without another word, he made his way over to the pile of furs Alpha had laid out a while ago in an attempt to find something to do that would take her away from the singing. The little gnome pulled his furry bed in around himself like a cocoon, and a moment later, now-familiar whistling snores drifted to Alpha’s ears.

Silently, Alpha lifted the flask of blood to her lips and drank. As she swallowed the sweet raspberry liquid, she hated that she was so used to it now that she actually enjoyed the flavor, instead of simply being repulsed by the very idea. When she was done, and her Blood points were returned to full, she, too, stood. As she turned to walk to her own bed, Myles’ voice stopped her.

“Alpha.”

She whipped around, temper snapping as she glared into the mossy eyes that watched her with so much understanding and… affection? Ignoring the twinge in her heart, she stomped through the soft grass and stabbed a taloned finger into his chest.

“You. Promised!” she growled. “You promised you weren’t going to manipulate me anymore! You promised you’d talk to me, instead of tricking me and trying to force me into something. Again!”

She was nearly shaking with the anger she’d been repressing all night, and when he reached out to her, she took a long step back, almost stumbling over the rock she’d been sitting on. “No!” She pointed her finger at him again, though she didn’t move closer. “You know everything about me. You, and your AI omniscience, you know why I don’t like music. If Tess had suggested campfire songs, sure, she has no idea, but you?” Her voice dripped with venom, and she wrapped her arms around herself to keep from physically attacking him.

“I know,” he agreed. “And I know that if I asked, you would have shut me down.” He took a step closer, close enough that she could easily strike him. “I know that every time a commercial jingle comes on, you turn the sound off. I know you keep the ringtone on your screen to a single chime because otherwise it reminds you of music. I know you flinch whenever someone drives by with a song turned up loud enough you can hear it through the windows you always keep closed specifically to block out the sound.”

He took another half-step forward, not quite close enough to crowd her, but close enough that she could feel his nearness like sunlight on her skin. Holding her gaze, he said gently, “Music didn’t kill your mom, Ava.”

“It didn’t save her either!” she yelled, and felt hot tears she wasn’t supposed to be able to shed in the game start flowing down her face. Swiping at them, she held out a damp, shaking palm accusingly, knowing he had done something to bring tears to the only place she’d been able to escape from them.

Reaching out, Myles grasped her hand, ignoring the wetness, and pulled her into an embrace. His arms wrapped around her tightly, but she could feel that he wasn’t exerting unnecessary pressure. He was offering her comfort, but he wouldn’t keep her if she pulled away again.

She didn’t. Instead, she cried in a way she hadn’t since she knelt by her mother’s bed, holding the cooling hand of the woman who had been her world until the moment she was ripped away. Great, racking sobs shook her, tearing at her chest and throat until her legs gave way, and she and Myles sank together to the grass. One side of her body felt like it would ignite in the too-close flames of the fire, while the other seemed to freeze with every gust of a cool evening breeze, but she couldn’t move away as she curled into a ball and wailed.

When the howls of long-delayed grief turned into quieter, but no less painful sobs, she found herself curled on her side, with Myles’ body between her and the fading fire. Her eyes were swollen and bleary, and her body felt oddly weak as she rolled over onto her back and stared up at the broad expanse overhead, a million stars spilling from one horizon to the other like a glittering stream.

“She loved music,” she croaked, her throat tight and raw. “She said she sang to me from the moment I was conceived until the day I was born. Lullabies, rock songs, ballads, show tunes… She sang them to me, and then we sang together when I learned how. When I was sick, she rocked me and sang about how she was there, and I was safe. When I was happy, she’d make up the most ridiculous ditties about whatever had happened, and we’d laugh ourselves silly.”

Slowly, she rolled her head to the side, and somehow, she wasn’t surprised to see that at some point during her storm of tears, Myles had shifted to Amythyst, and her goddess-gown glimmered in the light of the stars like it contained a thousand fireflies within its folds. Amythyst smiled encouragingly, and Alpha swallowed against the rise of fresh tears at the depth of emotion that lay revealed in her verdigris gaze.

“I was going to go to college in LA,” she whispered, knowing that Amythyst would have seen the acceptance letter among the data that documented every person’s life from before they were born, until they were lowered into their place of rest.

“I was going to be a singer. We were going to do it together. She was going to be my manager, and help me write songs, and we were going to find a way. She was so sure I could do it, and she was my mom, and I believed her when she believed in me. And then-” her voice choked off, and warm fingers wrapped around her hand where it lay limp at her side.

“And then she got sick,” Amythyst said, softly.

“And then she got a damned death sentence,” Alpha said, bitterly. “Stage four. Do you know how many people survive more than five years with cancer like hers? It was like a forest fire that burned her out and left nothing behind but ashes. We tried everything. Chemicals, surgery, radiation, more surgery, reiki, acupuncture, even therapeutic touch and crystals.” She tasted bile as she remembered the doctors and the con artists, all of whom had produced the exact same results.

“The only thing that helped was music.” She went on, turning her face back up to the celestial waterway hanging overhead. “She would listen to music twenty-four hours a day. She said it took her pain away. I tried to sing to her, the same way she used to sing to me when I scraped my knee or bumped my head. I used to write songs all the time, but now, when she asked for one, it always came out broken. Just like me.” She rolled her head from side to side, the grass tickling her hot skin. “The one thing she wanted, and I couldn’t give it to her.”

Clamping her lips tight against the sob that cracked her voice on her last words, Alpha lifted the cold fingers of her free hand and pressed them against her burning eyes. The grass beside her rustled, and Amythyst’s hand slid away, then stroked down Alpha’s cheek, tracing the path of salt.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Amythyst whispered. “Not yours, and not the music’s. It just was, and you did everything you could for her.”

“Not enough,” Alpha choked out. “One thing. She asked for one thing, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t…”

Something wet splashed onto her face, and she opened her eyes in surprise, looking up into Amythyst’s face. The green eyes were liquid pools, and another tear dropped free, falling to join the first.

“Do you know what my mother told me when she was dying?” Amythyst asked.

Alpha shook her head. She’d known, of course, that Amy’s mother had died when she was a little girl, but somehow it had never come together for her that that meant Amythyst remembered losing her mother, too.

“She asked me to watch out for my father and my brother. She said we all needed each other.” Amythyst sat up, rubbing her own eyes as she continued. “She didn’t know that that promise would trap me for almost two decades. After all, I promised her I’d take care of my father, and even though he was,” her voice broke, “him, I couldn’t leave. He needed me.”

She lifted her hand, and her face was drawn and sad as she met Alpha’s eyes again. “It’s different, but it’s the same. When someone is dying - when we look at them and know that we’ll never see them again in this world, everything they do takes on so much weight. And we think, ‘I should be able to fix this. I should be able to help.’, and we blame ourselves when we can’t.”

Lifting one hand, then the other, she brought them together in a slow, deliberate clap. “Then those things come together, and become the foundation for everything we build in the future. Whether that makes us push away everything that failed us,” she gave Alpha an eloquent look, “or cling tighter to things that hurt us,” this time she gazed toward Amy’s silent shape, before turning back, “we put so much weight on those last days, those last moments, that bearing up under them becomes a Sisyphean task. Most people either break, and give up, or find a way to lay down some of their burden. But some of us,” her lips quirked in a shadow of her usual smile, “are just too damn stubborn to give in.”

Sighing, she laid down beside Alpha again. “The problem is, just because we’re stubborn doesn’t mean we’re not broken. And when your foundation is broken, whatever you build on it is inherently unstable.” Rolling over, she looked straight at Alpha. “You need to sing. I’ve seen the videos.” She chuckled. “Home videos on your mom’s social media, mostly. She was so proud of you. Of what you could do, and who you were. Maybe,” she hesitated, biting her lip, “you should try being that person again. When this is over, you’ll have all the money you’ll ever need. You could go to college. You could hire private tutors, for that matter. You could sing, just like you were meant to do.”

Abruptly, Alpha, too, rolled onto her side, her face just inches from Amythyst’s. Something in her chest ground like shards of glass, feeling like it was slicing her open from the inside out. “Maybe,” she growled, “you should look at yourself before you start telling other people what to do.”

She sat up, looking from Amythyst to Amy. “Because the truth is, you’re still trying to protect Carl Landon. You know what he did, what he’s still doing, was wrong, and if you’d just tell brilliant Bridget Anderson or, hell, George Short, former POTUS, Carl would be behind bars and ‘Amy’, whoever she really is, would be in a facility with people who actually want to help her. But you can’t, can you? Not because you’re afraid Bridget will delete you, or George will hurt himself, or Carl will take Amy and run, but because you can’t stand to see Carl take the consequences of his actions.”

She flung herself to her feet, words tearing her throat like she was spewing out the broken fragments inside her, completely unable to stop even as she saw Amythyst’s expression shift from vulnerable and worried to hurt.

“Stop trying to fix me, Amythyst! I’m fine just the way I am. And once this is over, what I do or don’t do is none of your business! It’s not like,” her breath hitched in her throat, “you’ll be around to see it, anyway.” Spinning away, she stumbled to her bed, where she flung herself into the soft, warm folds. As she tugged a cozy fleece up over her face, she caught a glimpse of the empty space by the fire where Amythyst had been sitting a moment before.

In the darkness by the embers of the last lingering traces of the fire, Amy sat, as still and silent as ever, except for the glimmering starlight caught by the tears that streamed down her face.

Chapter Twenty-seven
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

The next morning, Alpha woke to find herself alone with Toggle. She sat up, rubbing her gritty eyes, and looked at the gnome, who had rekindled the fire and was cooking some kind of eggs on top of a thin, flat rock.

“Toggle?” she asked, her mind turning slowly as she tried to figure out what was wrong. Vexxx and Tess had school and work. Amythyst was… probably furious, or hurt, or both. Still, there was something else bothering her. What was it?

Throwing back the covers, Alpha jumped out of her bed. Her feet tangled in the fuzzy nest, and only her high Dexterity kept her from falling on her face. “Toggle! Where’s Amy?”

Toggle looked up, blinking his bulbous eyes blankly. “She was gone when I woke, Mistress. I thought she must be feeling better. Is that not right? You and Lord Myles are always saying-”

Alpha sliced a hand through the air, cutting him off. He flinched, and she cursed inwardly. She’d have to apologize later, though. “How long ago was that? Do you know when she left?”

“I woke up when the sun rose, Mistress. That was… not quite an hour ago? I heard birds singing, so I climbed a tree and found some eggs-” The gnome shrank back as Alpha summoned her sword from her inventory and whirled around, eyes wild.

“Tracks,” she mumbled. “Surely there are tracks. Why don’t I have the [Tracking] skill?” Looking back at Toggle, Alpha urgently said, “Toggle, do you have [Tracking]? We have to find her!” Looking up at the sky, she shouted, “Amythyst! Myles?”

“She’s fine,” Myles said, and Alpha whirled, instinctively swinging her sword at the man who had appeared behind her. The Sword Reaper swayed back, easily avoiding the trailing point of Alpha’s blade, and even smiled slightly as he looked at her. If the smile was a little cooler than usual, only someone as familiar with the AI’s expressions as Alpha would have noticed.

“We should hurry, though. She’s close to the farm,” he said, when he saw Alpha was listening. Turning, he strode away, boots silent in the dew-soaked grass.

Alpha started after him, but hesitated, glancing back at Toggle. “Toggle, I’m sorry. I… Just stay here, all right? We’ll be back soon.” Though he was obviously perplexed, the gnome nodded obediently, and Alpha hurried after Myles. He’d already vanished into the stand of trees where he’d found the wood for their fire, however, and she found herself casting around for any clues as to where he had gone. A half-oval pressed into the soft ground ahead of her might be part of a footprint…

Congratulations! You have learned the skill, [Tracking]!

[Tracking] is now Level 1.

“Awesome,” she muttered as she swiped away the notification. “So helpful.” Still, as she headed that way, a few other, similar marks were easily visible, and soon she broke through the other side of the copse of trees, then came to a complete halt, staring at the valley below.

“What… is that?”

Myles, who was a few feet ahead of her and to her right, glanced over his shoulder. A ghost of his usual grin crossed his face. “It’s a cube farm.”

Alpha frowned and squinted into the distance. Rolling hills descended gently into fields of lush green grass. Square wooden posts that probably held up wire fences that couldn’t be seen from this far away surrounded the fields. Colorful crops vanished into the distance, and in the closer fields - pastures? - animals roamed. Even from here, however, she could tell there was something very strange about the creatures.

“Are those cows?” She tried to focus on the black and white blobs moving slowly through one field. In the next area over, pink bumps lay in pools of wetly glistening brown. There was a little red house that might be a chicken coop, though she couldn’t make out any chickens, and beyond it all was a sprawling farmhouse with a covered porch.

Myles shrugged. “You can see for yourself. Let’s go.” With that, he took off down the hill, seeming to all but fly as he used the slope to gain momentum.

Alpha ran after him, though she didn’t give herself over to gravity quite as willingly. When Myles reached the first fence and vaulted over it, she was still halfway up the valley side, though she nearly tripped and rolled the rest of the way when her brain finally processed what she was seeing.

The cows were cubes.

In fact, all of the animals were cubes. They had no faces, legs, or tails, though they were the right size and color to be the animals they seemed to represent. The ‘cows’ were furry, the ‘pigs’ smooth and pink and muddy, and the chickens, now that she was close enough to see their small forms, were probably covered in feathers. But they were also perfectly cuboid.

As she watched, a cube-cow seemed to notice Myles, who was cutting through their pasture. Ponderously, it began moving toward him, letting out a wet-sounding ‘Moo’ as it went. One by one, each of the other thirty-odd creatures followed suit, until Myles was leading a slow parade of black and white cubes about five feet long on each side. Occasionally, one would bump into another, and their surfaces would jiggle, almost like gelatin, until their sides settled back into smooth, furry planes.

“What the halite?” Alpha muttered, shaking her head. She lifted a hand to the fencepost ahead of her, planning to jump the fence, just like Myles had, when something else caught her eye.

It was Amy. She was staggering around the outside of the field. Her left leg dragged behind her, but she was moving surprisingly quickly. It looked like she hadn’t been able to go over or through the fence, but she was walking toward the corner of the pig pen, where Alpha could just see what looked like a gate.

Glancing from Myles to Amy, Alpha saw that the Sword Reaper would reach Amy long before Alpha could, so she decided not to go into the pasture with the cows. In spite of the fact that they looked harmless, as long as you didn’t manage to get smashed in between them, there was something about them that sent a chill down her spine.

Turning, Alpha raced along the outside of the fence, following the same path Amy probably had. Now that she was on relatively flat ground, she was able to pick up speed without fear of falling, so by the time Myles caught up to Amy, Alpha was close enough to hear their conversation.

“Amy!” Myles called. He reached out and grasped her arm, just above the elbow, catching and turning her so her unsteady legs started to fall out from under her. Judging by the grass-stained and muddy state of her clothes, it would be far from the first time she fell. Myles caught her, however, and lifted her into his arms like a knight rescuing a princess.

Then he shouted and jerked, nearly dropping Amy’s thrashing form, as she pulled an arrow from her inventory and stabbed at him with it. Her grip was weak and unsteady, and after creating a few shallow cuts, the arrowhead caught in Myles’ clothes and pulled from her fingers. A moment later, she had another one, though, and she was wielding it with a fierce determination that had Myles oozing blood from a dozen small wounds.

“Myles! Put her down!” Alpha yelled, putting on a last burst of speed and grabbing at Amy’s arm.

If anything, Myles held Amy even closer as Alpha tugged the weapon from the woman’s feeble grasp.

“No,” he said, expression grim. “She’s trying to get into the pen with the pigs. They’ll kill her.”

Horrified, Alpha looked at Amy. Indeed, the woman’s eyes were locked on the simple latch that closed the pen, and she reached out a hand toward it as Myles struggled to hold her back without hurting her or being hurt in turn. Alpha opened her inventory, looking for rope, twine, or something else to restrain the frenzied woman, before realizing that she had a much simpler way of handling the situation. How effective it would be in the long run, she wasn’t sure, but it was worth a try.

Looking straight at Amy, Alpha said, “Amy, stop fighting. Stand up and hold still.”

Instantly, Amy froze, her status as Alpha’s ‘Servant’ circumventing her free will. Yet another arrow fell from her hand and clattered to the ground with the half dozen that were already there. She twisted in Myles’ arms, but this time she did seem to be trying to stand, rather than just escape. Cautiously, Myles lowered her to her feet.

Alpha stepped forward, staring into the unfocused gaze of Amythyst’s doppelganger. “Amy,” she said, gently. “It’s all right. We’re here to help you. You’re in Veritas Online right now. Do you remember Veritas? You played it a lot… right?”

Amy twitched convulsively, and her chin jerked sideways and down. Did her eyes look a little calmer? Was there some kind of comprehension there?

Reaching out slowly, Alpha laid a gentle hand on Amy’s arm. She felt the tense muscles beneath the fine green leather of the bracer on the other woman’s forearm, and said, as soothingly as she could, “My name is Ava. You were in an accident, and you’re recovering now, but you’re in Veritas because your body… needs more time. I’m - we’re - here to keep you safe and help you get better.”

Amy blinked. Once, and again, like someone trying to wake up from a deep sleep. Her eyes turned to Myles. Her lips tried several times to form words, and when she finally succeeded, she said, “No… man…”

Alpha frowned. “No man? You don’t want a man to help you?” She shot a look at Myles, and he reluctantly stepped back, though he stayed between the two women and the gate of the pig pen. The pink cubes inside the pen, like the ‘cows’, seemed to have somehow noticed the three people, though they had no visible sensory organs. All of the things were pressed up against the wooden fence, and for the first time, Alpha noticed a soft hiss from the wood where they were leaning on it. Glancing down, she saw that the white picket fence was turning dark, and the paint was peeling away. Narrowing her eyes, she used [Identify] on the jiggling thing.

Porkcube - Corrosive/Poison. Level 80.

“Ah, I think we need to go.” Looking behind her, she saw that the cows, too, were crowding close, and both cows and pigs were ‘mooing’ and ‘oinking’ hungrily. The wire that corralled the cows looked corroded and black.

“Yeah. We need to go right now.” She took a step back. “Amy, I’m sorry to do this, but you need to follow me.” She thought for a moment as one of the fence posts on the pasture began to angle out in a way that she suddenly found deeply concerning. “Um, Amy, follow five steps behind me until we get back to camp.”

Amy’s body stiffened, and her expression turned from one of confusion to frustration and anger. Alpha grimaced, knowing she’d probably just destroyed any goodwill the woman might have felt, but ignored it as the wood of the pigpen fence cracked threateningly. Turning, she took off back up the hill, pausing just long enough to be certain that Amy was five steps behind, and Myles was following close behind Amy.

The journey back up the hillside was much more difficult than it had been going down. Alpha had five hundred points of Stamina, but even though she didn’t use a single skill, it was down by over a hundred before she stood under the sheltering branches of the trees again. Her lungs and calves burned, and though Amy wasn’t bent over or breathing faster, Alpha knew that she, too, would be experiencing the all-too-realistic effects of over-exerting herself. Myles, of course, looked completely comfortable, though he hovered near Amy and kept reaching out a hand as if to take her elbow, before snatching it back.

Alpha was leaning over, hands braced on her knees, gasping for air as she looked down the hill. Some of the black and white cow-cubes had escaped their confinement and made it halfway up the hillside, but now seemed to have lost interest and were simply oozing their way across the grass at random.

Glaring up at Myles, Alpha said, “What did you do this time?”

Myles, who had all but admitted that he created this dungeon specifically for them, cleared his throat, glancing away. “It’s a cube farm,” he said, as if that explained everything.

Alpha stood and pointed a trembling finger down the hill. “A gelatinous cube farm? Are you kidding me?”

He shrugged a little sheepishly, and as angry as she was at him, she was glad he sounded more like himself when he said, “It was funny.”

Alpha rubbed her temples. “Vexxx is a lightning mage. Lightning does almost nothing to gelatinous cubes. You, Tess, and I are all physical combat types. Tess has her fancy fire axe, but not enough Stamina to take out fifty mobs by herself. How well do physical attacks work on gelatinous cubes?”

One corner of Myles’ mouth ticked up. “Not well?”

“Not well?” she all but shouted. “How about not at all? Or close enough! How are we supposed to beat acid with lightning, fire, and pointy pieces of metal that melt on contact?”

The response came from a completely unexpected direction, and Alpha turned to stare at Amy as she spoke again. While the word might have been slow and slurred, it was clear enough.

“Base,” Amy said.

Myles looked at her and grinned.

Chapter Twenty-eight
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“Amy came up with the cube farm idea not long after they started development of Veritas,” Myles explained as they walked back toward the camp. “She heard someone call the cubicles on the second floor a ‘cube farm’, and she thought it would be hilarious to make a farm literally populated by cubes.” He rolled his eyes. “Bridge said it wasn’t realistic and didn’t fit with the ‘theme of the game’, but she always takes things too seriously.”

“So, you decided to do it yourself, now that you can.” Alpha said, pushing aside a bush to reveal a relieved-looking Toggle, the tent, and three plates of gently steaming eggs laid out on one of the blankets the gnome used for his bed.

“Yep,” Myles said cheerfully, though his eyes were locked on Amy as she followed Alpha. The moment her foot crossed some invisible boundary that defined the campsite, she stopped, and would have collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut if Myles hadn’t been there to catch her.

Turning, Alpha hurried back to them. “Is she all right?”

Myles cradled Amy’s body against his chest and said, “I don’t know.”

He sounded frustrated, and he looked around, his eyes landing on the bed Alpha had made for Amy. Alpha felt heat rise in her cheeks as she realized that she’d forgotten to tell the woman to go to bed the night before, which meant Amy had been left, sitting alone in the darkness for who knows how long, until she’d become aware enough to run away. No wonder she’d fled.

Crossing to the pile of furs, Myles knelt down and gently laid Amy in them. Then he picked up her hand and said, “Amy?”

Alpha felt a lump rise in her throat. Had he ever looked at her like that? Said her name with such concern? And if he hadn’t, was that because he didn’t feel those things for her, or because they were so busy pushing each other away that he never had the chance?

Shaking off the pinch of what she refused to acknowledge as jealousy, Alpha walked over and sat cross-legged in the grass across from Myles. Leaning forward, she looked down into Amy’s face, which was as flat and closed as ever.

Frowning, she looked closer. Had she ever thought Amy’s face was closed before, though? Emotionless, yes. Blank, certainly. But closed implied some intentional separation, and there was a tension, a presence in the way Amy’s lips pinched at the corners, and her eyelids remained stubbornly closed.

“Amy?” she ventured. “We’d like to talk to you, if you can understand us. You must have a thousand questions, and we’ll answer them all. But you have to open your eyes, first.”

Toggle came up behind her, clutching his pointed hat in nervous fingers. “Mistress? I made eggs for Miss Amy, as well. If she’s hungry?”

Amy’s green eyes popped open, and she looked straight at Toggle. “Eggs?” she asked.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

Amy, if she really was Amy, had a tendency to drift away, her eyes going unfocused, and her stumbling words stopping mid-phrase. Still, as she slowly managed to pick up and eat the dozen or so small eggs Toggle had prepared for them, she listened silently while they told her the story of everything that had happened since she was hit by a car well over a year before.

Myles did most of the talking, his words spilling out as if he didn’t want anyone else to be able to speak. Alpha noticed that he skimmed over the part where Carl Landon declared his daughter dead when she wasn’t. He also completely left out the fact that Amy’s former fiancé was now engaged to someone else, but, honestly, that wasn’t necessary information at the moment. He also didn’t mention that he, himself, was a digital version of Amy created by Bridget after Amy died.

When Myles finally ran out of things to say, winding down to a sort of desperate silence, Amy let the last of her eggs fall from limp fingers. Her left hand was all but useless, and her right was awkward at best, and seemed to tire easily. Myles had tried to help feed her, but she’d glared at him so fiercely he’d given up.

Alpha looked over at Myles, but he was so focused on Amy that she couldn’t catch his eye. Her chest burned, and she plucked awkwardly at the soft grass beneath her hands. If Veronica was right, and this woman was someone other than Amy Landon, she must be very confused indeed, and she would be deciding what to do about the obvious case of mistaken identity. Soon, they would know, one way or another, and Alpha had no idea what would happen if Myles discovered he was speaking to a complete stranger.

“What… do?” Amy asked as she let the plate slip from her grasp.

Alpha hesitated. “What… are we going to do now?”

Amy nodded, though Alpha noticed that her eyes were beginning to look hazy again.

Alpha hesitated, waiting for Myles to answer, but while he’d taken the lead on filling in the time Amy had missed, he seemed reluctant to talk about what came next. “I guess… we get you out.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Amy’s… your Uncle George is coming, and once he sees that you’re alive, he’ll be able to bring legal forces to bear far beyond anything we can manage. I mean, we originally intended to just,” she shrugged, avoiding looking at Myles, “sneak you out, somehow, but now that I’ve seen the security in Landon House, I don’t really think that’s a viable solution.”

Amy leaned - well, tilted, really - forward. “Need… talk to… Dad,” she insisted, and Alpha reached out to support her as she tipped too far and nearly fell over.

“Dad?” Alpha asked carefully. “You mean… Carl Landon?”

When Amy nodded, brows creasing into a frown of confusion, Alpha felt a burst of relief so profound it felt like fireworks had gone off in her chest. Looking over at Myles, she saw that a tear trembled at the corner of his eye, and the shoulders he’d been holding in a stiff, defensive line, like a man prepared to receive an attack, had finally softened slightly, though his hands twisted in his lap the way Amythyst twisted her skirt when she was upset.

Alpha bit her lip, glancing between them. “I don’t know if we can arrange that.”

Myles spoke, his voice oddly distant, though his eyes were fixed intently on Amy’s face. “The moment Veralt realizes you’re regaining consciousness, he increases the dose of the meds he’s giving you. He says it’s because you’re irrational, and a danger to yourself, but I’m sure it’s to keep Carl from realizing just how much you’ve recovered. That’s bad enough, but I’ve narrowed down the possible drugs he could have you on, and, if I’m right, too high a dose will permanently cause the damage he’s been pretending has already happened. I think the only thing stopping him from doing it now is that as long as you show ‘progress’, Carl keeps funding Veralt’s research. If Veralt truly destroys your higher consciousness, he won’t be able to produce results, and Carl may give up and settle for just keeping you comfortable.”

Alpha turned a horrified look on him, but Amy was nodding jerkily. “He’s… sy… sy… psy-cho-path. Will…do-”

“Anything if it’s in his own best interest. I know. You realized that when you worked with him at Veritas.” Myles said.

Amy closed her eyes and drew in a long breath. When she opened them, her eyes were as clear and focused as Alpha had seen them. She looked straight at Myles and asked,” Are you… me?”

Silently, Myles nodded.

Amy closed her eyes again, and tears formed along the edge of her lashes. “Bridge,” she murmured, face twisted with sorrow and something else. Anger? Frustration? “Tol’ her… no,” she managed, forcing open her eyes and swiping awkwardly at her cheek with her curled right hand. “Sure.”

Myles nodded slowly. “You did. I remember. You told her that after everything that happened with… the experiments,” by which he meant that every time Bridget had attempted to create a virtual copy of a human being, the copy had gone insane or destroyed itself, “you didn’t want it to happen again. You let her make updates, but only so she could track any changes, because you two were the only participants in your very own longitudinal study. But you told her no.”

Alpha looked at him, frowning. “You told me she agreed to it!”

He glanced at her, then away. “I didn’t want you to think badly of Bridget. I - Amy - did originally agree, even if she changed her mind later, and Bridge did what she did out of love. Maybe it was a mistake, but it was done for the right reasons. And it worked.” He held out his hands. “She applied that brilliant brain to the problem, and she finally figured it out, and here I am.” He tried for his usual insouciant grin, but it was more than a little frayed around the edges.

Amy looked from Myles to Alpha. “Not… crazy?”

Alpha wished she could respond with a quip, but knew this was the wrong moment for flippancy. “No.” She looked over and met Myles’ eyes, which were uncertain and vulnerable. “He’s not crazy at all.” Unable to resist, she added. “Though he does sometimes make me crazy.”

Amy and Myles laughed, the sound eerily similar in all but pitch.

Looking at Myles again, Amy said, “How?”

Myles chuckled. “I’ll let Bridge tell you when you see her. You know how she loves to brag when she makes a breakthrough.”

“Humble… brag,” Amy said, smiling affectionately.

“So much,” Myles agreed. “The important thing is that she did, and once I… came online, I discovered that I can see data and connections that even Bridget can’t. I have to keep it toned down, or it’s overwhelming, but I still kept finding these dangling bits when it came to you. The coroner who signed your death certificate suddenly sold the memoir he’d been pitching for years for a lot of money and retired. The doctor who had been treating you? Same kind of thing, except he moved to a beautiful villa in Spain he ‘inherited’ from a great-uncle who never existed.”

He hesitated, glancing at Amy as if to see how she was dealing with this, before he went on. “You always said you didn’t want to be cremated. You hated seeing your mom’s ashes on the mantle like some kind of macabre flower vase. But Carl had you cremated within twenty-four hours of your death. Except that even though he produced your ashes, and the crematorium’s records showed they did the work, the person who signed your papers also processed the same number of other bodies he usually did, and then went on a month-long cruise the next week. Nothing was definitive, but it all added up to suggest something was being covered up.”

Myles shook his head. “I told you what happened with Carl and Bridget’s little game. How it got out of hand, and Carl had to step down as CEO of Veritas Corp. The thing is, he didn’t even fight it. If anything, he seemed relieved. Bridget and Hank thought it was because he felt guilty, and he was just glad that Hank finally decided he was willing to take over. But then Carl moved.”

Amy nodded slightly. Either she was getting more control of her body, or Amythyst was figuring out how to adjust for her lack of control, because the motion was barely jerky at all. “Hates… travel,” Amy said.

“Right,” Myles agreed. “I swear, if he could hunker down in his private compound for the rest of his life, he would. But all of a sudden, he decided to move about as far away as he could without leaving the country. And once he got there, he quietly hired a whole contingent of medical personnel and locked them down with ironclad NDAs. Nothing indicated he was sick, so who were all of these people going to take care of?”

“You thought… I was… alive,” Amy summed up.

“And I was right,” Myles said, grinning. “Though they tried to throw one more red herring in our path.” He exchanged a brief glance with Alpha, looking away from Amy for the first time. “And if Veralt wasn’t using you for his own personal gain, we’d be able to get you out, no matter what Alpha thinks.” He lifted an eyebrow at Alpha, who shook her head.

“Even if she could walk, there’s no way we could get out past a hundred security guards,” she argued.

“You’d be surprised how much people panic when fire alarms go off and smoke starts filling the halls,” Myles said. “Add some malfunctioning sprinklers, sudden, rampant diarrhea, and an infestation of rats, and we could definitely create enough of a distraction to get her out.” He looked back at Amy. “But as soon as we leave immersion, Veralt and his newest cronies are just going to dope you up again, and I can’t do anything about it, since it’s out there.” He waved his hand to indicate the real world.

Alpha nodded. “I was hired to be your caretaker in the game and real life, but Veralt hasn’t left you alone with me for a second except in here, and there are guards watching ‘us’ all the time.” Myles had told Amy that Aspen was currently pretending to be Ava, watching over Amy’s empty Zombie, so she nodded in understanding.

“Which means as soon as you log out, you’ll be incapacitated again,” Myles finished, grimly.

“What… do?” Amy asked again, insistently.

Alpha sighed. “Either we have to figure out how to get you out while you’re unconscious, or someone else is going to have to force Carl to give you up.”

“Unc… George,” Amy said.

Myles nodded. “Uncle George.”

Chapter Twenty-nine
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Three in-game days later, there was still no sign of Uncle George. Fortunately, there was plenty to do to keep busy, and Amy was improving by leaps and bounds now that she was aware and working with them. Tess and Vexxx had logged on, been amazed by Amy’s improvement, and gotten straight to work once they’d been told about the gelatinous cubes and the plan to eradicate them. They realized there was only one thing they could do to help, and the sound of wood being chopped filled the clearing almost sixteen hours a day, with each of them cutting down as much as they could during their time online, then leaving the fallen trees for Alpha to take care of.

Alpha hauled yet another log to the bonfire that had been blazing for more than two days now. “I wish we could just set fire to the woods,” she muttered.

Myles laughed. He was helping Amy go through a series of exercises designed to help her real body recover its strength and mobility. Generally, whatever a player did while immersed had an effect on their body, and since most players spent their time running around battling monsters, that meant their body would see at least a small improvement in general strength and dexterity. Amy, however, had very specific areas she needed to focus on, so she and Myles had designed a treatment plan to which they religiously adhered.

“Blame the beta testers,” Myles said, not for the first time. “If those idiots hadn’t decided to literally try burning the world down, we wouldn’t have had to limit the effects of fire on the natural world. You can burn cut logs, but setting fire to a living tree, while it can be done, won’t produce lasting flames.”

Alpha tossed the tree onto the fire with a grunt, and Toggle, who was tending the small inferno, danced back from the resultant shower of sparks. She grimaced at him apologetically, and the gnome sighed, moving closer to prod at some thick branches that were threatening to smother the coals beneath them.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Alpha muttered, “but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Seriously, if I ever meet one of these beta Astrophyllites you keep talking about, I’m going to punch them in the throat.” She heard another tree fall in the rapidly thinning copse, and rubbed her temples. “And can you turn off this Fukuchilite profanity filter? I think I’m actually starting to swear more because I know it’ll get edited anyway.”

Myles tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Your use of swear words has increased 5.2% since I began monitoring it, but it’s funny, so no. Request denied.”

Amy, who was sitting on the ground, leaning forward as she reached for her toes, snickered. Alpha glared at them both. “As if one of you wasn’t enough,” she muttered, and stomped off to gather more trees.

When she reached the place where Vexxx and Tess had been chopping and blasting the nearby trees, she found that the mage was no longer working. Instead, he was just standing there, staring into space as his hands twitched.

Behind him, a tree with a black, lightning-blasted crack through its trunk creaked and swayed alarmingly. Alpha had a split second to decide if she was going to let Vexxx be crushed, or push him out of the way before his low Vitality sent him to respawn when the tree fell on his head. She lunged forward, pushing the boy’s chest hard with her hands, so he yelped and went stumbling back several paces. Unfortunately, that left Alpha directly in the path of the tree.

You have lost 72 Drops of Blood due to Falling Tree.

You are now Bleeding.

Current Blood supply: 1572/2100

The boy waved his hands wildly, dismissing whatever windows he’d had up, and whirled around, shouting, “What was that for?”

Alpha looked up from pulling a particularly long splinter from her arm, wincing as the resultant ragged hole began to slowly ooze blood, and a Bleeding debuff appeared on her interface. She hadn’t replenished her Blood in several hours, so the buff from drinking Blood of a Servant had already worn off, and her regen was exactly zero.

“Because you’re an Idrialite!” she snapped. “What were you doing zoning out when there were literal trees falling around your ears?”

Vexxx looked slightly embarrassed as he glanced from Alpha’s wound to the tree on the ground, which was now liberally coated with blood. “I woulda been fine,” he muttered defiantly. “Who asked for your help, anyways?”

Alpha pulled a Bandage from her inventory and pressed it over the wound. The item would at least clear the debuff, even if it didn’t restore any of her lost health. “Great,” she said. “Next time I’ll just let your skull get crushed. Not like you use it for anything, anyway.”

The two glared at each other for a moment, before Vexxx’s brown eyes slid away. “Whatever. Thanks, I guess.”

She sighed and leaned over to pick up the tree at her feet, turning to set the trunk over her shoulder. Glancing back at him, she said, “A little help?”

With unusual haste, the young mage hurried over and burrowed into the thick leaves at the crown of the tree. It lifted a few inches, quivered, and then settled into a position that suggested the boy was barely hanging onto it.

“Ready?” Alpha asked dubiously.

“Yeah,” was the muffled response, and Alpha took a few steps toward the camp, which caused Vexxx to lose whatever grip he’d had on his part of the tree.

“Y’know what?” Alpha said, as groans emerged from the leaves while Vexxx attempted to lift the tree again. “I’ve got this one. I see a few saplings, though, and the fire could use some more small stuff.” Honestly, the blaze was big enough to engulf anything that could be described as a ‘sapling’ in moments, but it was clear Vexxx wasn’t going to be able to lift anything larger, which is why he usually did the blasting, while she did the hauling. Still, she didn’t trust him enough to leave him alone when he’d already almost gotten himself killed once.

Slowly, a shame-faced Vexxx pushed his way out of the bushy leaves, and walked over to something that was barely large enough to be considered a tree. He leaned over and picked it up easily, then added two more of similar size to the stack he tucked beneath his arm, and scowled at Alpha. “Well?” he asked, belligerence in every line of his body.

Deciding that was not a battle she wanted to fight, Alpha just shrugged and headed for the camp again, awkwardly hauling the tree over her shoulder through the underbrush. Vexxx quickly passed her, casting a triumphant look over his shoulder as he did so. Once the caster was in front, though, he settled into a steady pace rather than heading on without her.

“My uncle’s getting married next year,” he said abruptly. “He and my mom don’t get along, so she’s just going out for a day, but she wants to leave me there for a week with my grandma and some cousin I barely know. Says it’s a ‘bonding experience’, but I know she just wants to get rid of me for a while.”

Alpha had no insights to offer, but the silence seemed expectant, so she finally asked, “What about school?”

He shrugged, almost dropping his bundle of sticks. “The wedding is the weekend before spring break.”

More silence, and as the camp came into view through the few small trees remaining ahead of them, Alpha almost thought she was going to get away without having to say anything else. Then Vexxx said, “What would you do?”

She snorted. “I don’t have any family. I don’t even have friends. If I did?” She looked down at her boots, half-buried in fallen leaves and soft loam as she trudged along. “I’d go,” she said, softly. “Your grandma won’t be around forever, and neither will your mom and uncle. Get to know your cousin now. It’s… amazing how easy it is to find yourself alone.”

Vexxx stopped in his tracks, and she almost ran into him as he turned to look at her. Shaking his head, he spoke with something that sounded a lot like pity in his voice. “Even I know you’re only alone because you make it that way, Alpha.”

Before Alpha could respond, if she could think of a response at all, Myles looked up from where he was helping Amy stretch her left arm, and grinned at them. “Hey! Welcome back, Vexxx! I just sent Tess off for another log, since this fire is about to downgrade from five-alarm to four.” He tilted his head toward the six-foot-high conflagration Toggle was poking at gingerly.

Vexxx, who looked like he was taking in the scene properly for the first time, picked up his jaw from the ground long enough to say, “Why the heck are you still feeding that thing? Aren’t we done yet?” He looked at the thick layer of ash coating everything nearby and dropped his sticks so he could pick up his skirt like an antediluvian femme who’d just spotted a mouse.

Alpha stepped up, remembering to give Toggle plenty of time to back away this time, and carefully hefted her tree into the flames. Then she walked around and tossed some half-burned logs that had rolled out back in as well. As she ineffectually brushed her hands off, she admitted, “We probably have plenty, but you went a little overboard casting [Tempest] in the middle of the forest like that. It seems wrong to leave a hundred logs lying around, so we just decided to use them.”

Vexxx’s cheeks darkened as he half-heartedly threw his saplings in after the tree. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have been so frustrated if I was strong enough to use an axe properly. If you’d just turn me into a vampire, I’d get a bonus to Strength, and then I wouldn’t have to resort to overkill magic so often.”

Alpha sighed. “Or you could just put more points into Strength. I am not going to bite you. Biting people is disgusting!”

Vexxx pointed at Amy. “You bit her!”

“Only because I had to!”

“Had to what?” Tests’ voice interrupted them as the half-dwarf entered the camp, hauling a tree even larger than the one Alpha had brought back. Since Tess was under five feet tall, it looked pretty impressive as she spun, swinging the tree up so it came down directly on the top of the bonfire, which was already almost eight feet high after the recent additions. Sparks and large chunks of burning wood spewed out.

Tess and Vexxx scattered, dodging the flaming rain, but Amy and Toggle couldn’t move fast enough. Myles crouched over Amy, protecting her until he could scoop her into his arms and hurry away from the spreading flames. It might be difficult to set the natural world on fire, but in spite of Alpha’s attempts to keep the area clear, there were several more half-burned logs, as well as three piles of bedding that had been pushed out of the way, but not picked up.

Alpha barely noticed all of this, however, since she was too busy diving for Toggle. The little gnome had been heading back in towards a brand that was protruding particularly far out of the main body of the fire, and as Tests’ tree came down, a small avalanche of brightly burning branches tumbled directly toward him. Much as she had done for Vexxx not long before, Alpha pushed Toggle, sending the gnome flying, and leaving Alpha just enough time to look up and say, “Oh, Dolomite,” before an inferno landed on her head.

You are On Fire.

You have lost 54 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

You have lost 82 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

You have lost 41 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

You have lost 17 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

You have lost 78 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

You have lost 62 Drops of Blood. Damage is doubled due to racial weakness to Fire.

Current Blood supply: 904/2100

You are now Bloodthirsty. +10 to Strength. +10 to Dexterity. -10 to Intelligence. -10 to Wisdom. -40% pain

As the all-consuming agony faded, thanks to the reduction in her pain input, Alpha felt herself rolling on the ground. Someone was beating at her with desperate hands, trying to put out the fire.

You are no longer On Fire.

You are Badly Burned.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Badly Burned.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Badly Burned.

Her world was drowning in red, and she heard heartbeats surrounding her, pumping precious, life-giving fluid through the veins of her companions. Reaching out a hand toward the nearest thundering heart, she felt someone’s arm press into her cracked and smoldering palm.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Badly Burned.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Badly Burned.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Badly Burned.

…

As her life steadily ticked down, Alpha opened her mouth and bit down, drinking greedily.

Chapter Thirty
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“…pha! Alpha! Use [Turn Ally], or he’s going to die!” Myles’ voice drove through her consciousness, and she hazily became aware of her surroundings. First, she realized she could see again. Then she realized that the arm she held was too large to be Toggle’s, and the blood tasted of… guava? Passion fruit? Something tropical, but definitely not raspberry.

Pieces fell into place with an almost audible click, and she shoved Vexxx’s arm away. It flopped limply onto the ground beside the boy’s crumpled body. Horrified, she scrambled back, away from the fallen mage. Firm hands gripped her shoulders and gently but inexorably pushed her back.

“Quickly,” Myles murmured, breath warm on her ear. “I know you hate it, but it’s done now, and if you don’t want him to die, you need to finish it.”

Alpha’s shoulders tensed, but she nodded and leaned forward, picking up the boy’s skinny arm. Biting down hard on her own lip, she felt blood begin to trickle down her chin, and set her mouth to the jagged wound that was still leaking blood to drip down onto the ash-covered ground. Triggering [Turn Ally], she tried to concentrate on pushing her own blood into the mage, rather than the thick taste of citrus on her tongue.

As always, the process took far longer than it seemed like it should, but eventually, Myles tugged at her shoulder, pulling her away from Vexxx. When she looked up at the boy’s face, he looked like he was sleeping, though she knew that, as a non-immersed player, his mind was fully conscious and would remain so in spite of his apparent insensibility. Quickly, she checked him with [Identify].

Vexxx (servant) - Lightning Mage. Level 81.

Blood Pack: .5 units

Myles cradled Alpha against his chest as Tess leaned in, holding a Healing potion to Vexxx’s lips. Alpha relaxed back into Myles’ warmth for a moment, before she realized what she was doing. She started to jerk away, when Vexxx’s words came back to her. You’re only alone because you make it that way. And the worst part of it was, he was right, and she knew it. Had known it for a while now.

Looking up, she caught Amy’s eyes, staring at them from a seat safely on a rock, outside the radius of the fiery flood. The woman’s gaze was thoughtful, even calculating, but when she realized Alpha had noticed her watching, she just gave a cheeky, lopsided grin.

Alpha flushed and completed her aborted movement, pulling away from Myles so she could lean forward and look down at Vexxx instead. The boy actually looked… sweet? His long, curly black lashes rested on smooth cheeks, and for once, he wasn’t talking. Then the lashes fluttered, and a huge grin transformed his face from sleeping angel to lesser madman.

“Yaaaaassss!” he shouted, sitting up so quickly he nearly rammed his forehead into Alpha’s chin. He did knock the second bottle of healing potion Tess was pouring down his throat out of the half-dwarf’s hand. The bottle spun away, circling as its bright blue contents glugged uselessly into black soot.

“Aw, man,” Tess groaned. “Do you know how much those things cost?” She climbed to her feet and stared down at the still-grinning Lightning Mage. She pointed at him accusingly. “You totally owe me for that!”

Without answering, Vexxx pulled an identical potion from his inventory and tossed it to Tess. His eyes went unfocused as he checked his character sheet. “Servant! And there are, like, buffs and stuff! I get increased speed and recovery whenever you bite me. And, yuck, some kind of personal chat? Whatever.” His eyes popped open and he held up his arm, waggling it back and forth invitingly. “Bite me again! Again!”

Alpha jumped to her feet, backing away from him. “No!” She whirled, looking at Myles. “Why did you let me bite him, anyway? Why not Toggle?” Her heart froze in her chest, and she looked around frantically. “Where is Toggle?”

A little figure, almost completely camouflaged by the thick coating of ash that covered him from head to foot, shifted forward a bit from a spot near Amy. The big blue eyes looked mournful, and the gnome twisted a burned and holey hat in his hands. “Mistress?” the gnome said, miserably. “I’m so sorry, Mistress!” Enormous tears began to flow down his cheeks, clearing grayish furrows in the black ash. “I tried, but Lord Myles said-”

Myles stood, and she saw that he was the only clean member of their pitiful, filthy group. Well, him and the pure white serpent who lifted her head from his shoulder and hissed cheerfully at Alpha. “I told him not to,” Myles said. “You were too badly injured. Whoever you bit would have to be turned, or they would die, and since Toggle is already a Servant-”

“He could die,” Alpha finished, horrified, looking from Toggle to Vexxx, and then back to the gnome. If it hadn’t been for Myles, Alpha really could have killed the little being, and he wouldn’t revive, the way Vexxx would. While turning a servant was an almost guaranteed success, turning a minion was a much riskier proposition, and with each one she turned, the odds of a favorable outcome would be lower. Myles had already told her that now that she’d turned Amy, there was around a sixty percent chance whoever she tried it on next would die instead. She didn’t think she would be able to forgive herself if she murdered the gnome, no matter how willingly he offered himself.

Nodding, Myles passed Orah back to Alpha. The snake hissed again, this time in displeasure as Alpha’s filthy fingers automatically reached out to stroke her smooth scales. With a squirm and a flutter, the sacred creature lifted herself back out of Alpha’s grasp, and a rushing whirl of wind engulfed the vampire.

Quezal, God of the Union of Earth and Air, is displeased to find His High Priestess cloaked in the color black, which is the sacred color of his enemy God, Tezca. Due to your high standing in His eyes, He will cleanse you, rather than chastising you, but be warned that He will not be so forgiving of a second offense.

When Alpha reached up to rub the effects of the stinging gust from her eyes, she saw that her hand was clean again. Glancing down at her body, it looked like all of her was now free of the layers of grime that had been building on her skin and clothes since they started the bonfire.

“Sweet!” Vexxx said. He held his hand out as if trying to grab Orah from the air, and the serpent’s tail coiled and smacked him sharply on the wrist. He yanked the limb back with a yelp, and glared at Orah as she settled back into place around Alpha’s neck. “Hey! I saved your priestess’ life, y’know! Like, not even five minutes ago!”

Orah’s tongue flickered out, as if the snake was thinking, and then she lifted from Alpha’s shoulders again, her wings creating a rainbow blur as they moved faster and faster, until a blast of wind blew away from her small body. Vexxx and Tess, who had just stood up behind him, were both knocked back several steps, and the soot coating their bodies lifted away and blew off into what remained of the trees. Even Toggle and Amy, who were off to the side, caught the edge of the gust, and were left looking windblown but mostly clean. Satisfied, Orah hissed once more before returning to Alpha and coiling around her neck once again.

Vexxx and Tess both rubbed at their eyes. Tests’ braids had been blown into wispy balls in front of her ears, and her helm sat askew atop her head. Vexxx’s robe was up around his ears, revealing his undershorts and knobby knees for all to see. He scrambled to pull it down as everyone else snickered.

“You need to get some pants,” Tess observed, as she straightened her hat.

“This robe has great stats, you know,” Vexxx insisted, tightening his belt. “And it’s made of spider-silk, so it’s super strong.”

Myles patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Well, at least you have nice legs.”

Vexxx’s cheeks turned a brilliant shade of brick.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

“Are you sure this will work?” Vexxx asked, peering down at the cube-cows and Porkcubes in their pens below. The fences had been repaired, and the creatures returned to their enclosures. Alpha wondered if the farm automatically reset after an encounter, or if there really was some kind of gelatinous farmer around who was able to put things to rights.

Neither Myles nor Amy responded, so Alpha shrugged. “No, but it’s worth a shot. They’re made of acid, so a strong enough base should neutralize them. If it doesn’t work, we can always run away.”

“Unless,” Tess put in, “they’re actually already basic, not acidic, and we just make them stronger.”

Alpha and Vexxx turned to look at her incredulously, and the Axe Maiden shrugged. “What? I like chemistry.”

“And you couldn’t mention this sooner?” Alpha asked, hefting the seventy-five-pound bag of ashes she held in her hand. “Like, before we spent three days burning down a forest and I almost died?”

Vexxx grinned at Tess, tossing his own, smaller, bag of ash over his shoulder. “I’m glad you didn’t. Now, I just have to be around when she almost dies two more times, and I’m finally going to be a vampire!”

Tess laughed. “I mean, everyone always says they’re acidic, so-” She lifted her hands in a ‘what can you do’ gesture, waggling two more jumbo-sized bags of ash.

Alpha sighed. “I wish we could just pour it on them.”

Tests’ nose wrinkled. “My brother sprinkled salt on a slug once, and it was horrible. This better not be like that.”

Shaking her head, Alpha started down the hill. “Let’s just do this. We’re not getting anywhere talking about it.” Everyone else fell in behind her, and soon enough they were all arrayed along the pasture fence, staring at the ‘cows’, who had already sensed their presence and were making their sluggish way towards the party.

Looking at Vexxx, Alpha said, “You try the sprinkle method. You’re small and fast, so you should be able to dart in and get back out easily enough.”

He grinned. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” His nose wrinkled. “Legit real, though, I’m not small, just still growing. I’m gonna be taller than you someday.”

Alpha looked at him dubiously. It was true that he was already taller than Tess, but that wasn’t exactly impressive, and if he was more than five foot six, she’d eat Toggle’s hat. Speaking of which… She glanced back over her shoulder at the gnome, who had refused to remain back at the campsite once he realized that everyone else was leaving. Alpha had assured him she didn’t blame him for her injuries, but he still looked guilty and kept hovering nearby, ready to assist her with anything he even thought she might need.

“Toggle, you stay back here, okay?” Alpha said.

The gnome’s lips pinched, but he nodded reluctantly. “Yes, Mistress.”

She fixed him with a serious look. “I mean it. I don’t want to have to worry about you. Okay?”

“Yes, Mistress.” This time the answer was more resigned, and Alpha actually believed it. She glanced at the furry, black and white cubes, who had crossed most of their pasture by now, and were close enough for her to [Identify].

Moocube - Corrosive/Poison. Level 82.

Alpha shot a glance at Myles. “Moocube? Really?” He dropped her a wink, but didn’t reply, so she sighed and turned to Tess. “Tess, do you have the meat?”

Tess nodded and started dropping chunks of meat on the ground by her feet. Players had a tendency to hoard anything they thought they might eventually use or be able to sell, so between Tess, Alpha, and Vexxx, they had ended up with a surprisingly large amount of different varieties of flesh. They had then coated this in a breading of ash, followed by some soot seasoning, and the resultant pile of filthy meat chunks almost seemed to produce a sense of gloom and despair as it grew.

“Okay. Tess, you throw the meat to the cube on the left. Vexxx, focus on that little guy who’s kind of separated from the pack on the right.” Lowering her bag of ash to the ground, Alpha produced her sword from her inventory. She had coated it in oil, so it glistened as she slid it into the open ash-bag, and emerged caked in blackness. “I’m just going to try slicing them up, and hope the ash keeps them from eating my sword.”

Looking around, she met each person’s eyes. Myles and Amy claimed they were just there to watch, and certainly Amy wasn’t ready to help, but Alpha didn’t like the look of amusement in Myles’ eyes. Still, they were committed now, so she hopped the fence as the first Moocube drew close.

“Let’s do this.”

Chapter Thirty-one
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Alpha had never particularly enjoyed fighting in Veritas Online. A long time ago, in a different life, she had played a support character, helping her friends and guild mates from the back, while they dove into battle. Once she was reborn as Alpha, she had had to be able to do everything herself, painfully aware that she couldn’t count on anyone else to be there for her. She had slogged through thousands of solo battles, all carefully calculated to allow her to level at the best possible pace, while gathering valuable or necessary items at the same time. Even after meeting Amythyst, and partying with Tess, they had really dealt with monsters as needed, not for fun.

This? This was entirely unnecessary, and, frankly, ridiculous. No matter how she tried to settle into the detached place from which she usually fought, she just… couldn’t. The mooing black and white cubes were just the right combination of ridiculous and dangerous to keep her on her toes while also making her laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Tess picked up and threw the revolting lumps from the pile at her feet, one after the other, like a dwarven railgun. They landed in front of her Moocube target with squelching noises Alpha would probably hear later in her nightmares, and the Moocube rolled over them, engulfing them within its monochromatic mass without hesitation. Instantly, the thing stalled, quivering, and when it started again, it seemed to be moving more slowly, but otherwise showed no obvious signs of damage.

Alpha got to see the results of the ashy injection from up close, as she ran forward and slashed her grimy sword at the leading cube. She felt like she’d tried to hit a tire with a stick, and her arm shook with spongy reverberations. Still, the blade cut through the black and white fur, revealing quivering pink gelatin inside, and a clear fluid began to ooze out of the wound. Encouraged, she continued to hack away at the thing, though she had to dance back and dip her blade in her bag of ash again each time her sword started to smoke.

Vexxx, meanwhile, had quickly determined that throwing soot on the Moocubes did exactly nothing, except to cover him in ashen blowback. Giving up on that, he decided to join Tess in delivering meat to the cubes, except that with his noodle-like arms, he couldn’t throw them from a distance. So, he carried them in, and laid them in the path of the Moocubes like a trail of sugar cubes left for fairies. But when he was weighed down by meat, he couldn’t dodge, and when one of the cubes abruptly shot out a furry pseudopod, knocking him onto his behind, he barely managed to roll out of the way before another cube swallowed him whole.

Alpha, who had whittled her cube down enough so that she could see objects floating inside the clear, pinkish pulp inside, glanced to the side as Vexxx scrambled to his feet. “Get out of here, Vexxx! Try some spells from a distance.”

They had discussed everything they knew about gelatinous cubes, and while they all agreed that the things seemed to be at least resistant to every form of magic except, possibly, earth, they also agreed that if the soot-bombs didn’t work, it was worth trying magic anyway. Vexxx was supposed to be on the sidelines, tossing in every spell he had, just to see if anything would stick.

Vexxx grunted, barely managing to dodge another pseudopod as he jumped back again. “Boring. We know it won’t work.”

“No,” Alpha lunged forward, her sword driving through the exposed goo to impale a slightly darker blob deep inside the monster. “We talked about this. We assume it won’t work. We won’t know until we try.” The tip of her weapon impaled the blob, and it burst like a balloon, releasing a flood of darker color that stained the quivering jelly purple, and a moment later, the whole Moocube seemed to melt into a puddle. The ground hissed and steamed, and Alpha barely managed to get out of the way of the small flood that soaked and then melted the grass on which she stood.

“Tess! They have,” she cast her mind back to high-school biology, “organelles inside. They die if you pop them!”

Vexxx, who had also had to hop rapidly out of the way of the acid wash, huffed. “See? This is a job for pointy sticks.”

Alpha threw her sword away just as the blade turned into melted slag that poured down over the hilt. Summoning another one from her inventory, she growled, “Only if you have at least thirty pointy sticks. That destroyed the durability of my weapon, even with the ash.” She threw an accusatory glare at Myles and Amy, who were watching the battle with identical looks of amusement.

“Alpha, wait!” Tess called. “Look at the ones that ate the meat.”

Leaping backward, Alpha’s high dexterity allowed her to land on top of one of the fence posts, balancing gracefully on her toes. From there, she could see what had been hidden behind the bulk of the surrounding Moocubes. The cubes that had eaten the meat dredged in ash were slumped, their edges no longer sharply defined beneath their black and white fur. In fact, the white parts of the fur looked gray and dull, and the flesh beneath rippled like an ocean caught in a furry bag.

Which was when the first Moocube exploded. The sound was something between the phoomp of air being released from a pressurized container and the wet gurgle of someone vomiting with a full stomach. A moment later, fluid and globs of pink gel began to rain down around all of them. It hissed on contact, and Alpha immediately began to feel the burn of the acid. She threw herself backward just as the second Moocube burst.

You have lost 10 Drops of Blood due to Acid.

You have lost 10 Drops of Blood due to Acid.

…

You have a Chemical Burn.

After that, it was like a muffled fourth of July. The ‘cows’ detonated, one after the other, until the air was filled with aerosolized acid and nuggets of corrosive pulp. Even the ones who hadn’t ingested any of the base-coated meat lost chunks from the sides closest to their erupting comrades, so Alpha could see the floating blobs inside through the pink mist hanging in the air.

Alpha and Tess had managed to back out of range of the worst of the debris, and when Alpha turned to look, she saw that Amy, Myles, and Toggle were all wearing what looked like rubber raincoats. Myles, who gripped the handle of an umbrella large enough to cover all three of them, raised it in a salute, and Alpha snorted a laugh as she scanned the area, trying to find the last member of their party. When she located him, her snort turned into real laughter.

It looked like Vexxx had tried to jump away from the explosions as well, but because of his low Dexterity, he’d gotten tangled in the barbed wire of the fence, instead of jumping over it. He’d obviously tried to get free, but his Strength wasn’t high enough to break the strong, metallic strands, and all he’d done was get himself more and more wrapped up in the wire and his own baggy wizard’s robe. Since the robe was made of spider silk, it wouldn’t even tear, and now he looked like nothing so much as a caterpillar that hadn’t quite finished building its cocoon, or perhaps a particularly displeased baby in a too-tight swaddle.

Unfortunately, Alpha couldn’t take the time to tease him, because one of the last few Moocubes was nearly on the boy, its black and white side pressing against him, fur rippling as it shifted to allow the cube to swallow him whole.

Tess let out a shout and leaped forward. She summoned her axe from her inventory and sent it whirling through the air toward the approaching cube. It lodged in the monster’s furry side with a glop, then slid down as the part of the blade that had chopped into the monster dissolved with a hiss and a pop. The now single-bladed axe fell to the grass with a final thump, and Alpha dumped her bag of ash over Vexxx, thoroughly coating the mage in black just before he vanished inside the gelatinous cube. A moment later, the cube slid back a few inches, leaving behind a blackened length of wire, and no sign of the boy.

Alpha and Tess exchanged a horrified look, but the cube was already beginning to quiver. This time, the reaction happened much more quickly, and the two women barely had time to scatter before the cube exploded in the most violent burst yet, flinging chunks of quivering goo the size of Alpha’s torso thirty feet into the air.

Tess vanished beneath her huge shield, hunkering down as the pieces fell like huge, squelching hail. Myles’ umbrella didn’t so much as tremble as a fifty-pound piece of Moocube impacted its surface. Which left Alpha dancing through the disgusting deluge as she dodged chunk after chunk, pushing her Dexterity to its max.

When the torrent finally stopped, and the only sound was the soft hiss of melting… everything, Alpha was finally able to stop and look around again. Tess, Myles, Amy, and Toggle were all safe and accounted for, and, as far as she could tell, none of the Moocubes were still intact enough to move, if they were still alive at all, which left Vexxx. Again.

Vaulting over the fence without touching the dissolving fencepost, Alpha moved toward the black lump where the Moocube had been before it blew up. Cautiously, she reached out and rolled the sodden mass over, revealing Vexxx’s filthy, slimy face, his hair melted away, and his skin red and patchy. She reached out a hand, but just before she touched him, he opened his eyes, glaring up at her.

“FML, lightning totally works,” he slurred, and lifted a sizzling hand.

Alpha winced. Her own health was ticking down as the acid ate into her skin, and he was absolutely covered in it. She felt like she had blisters all over her body, and he was in much worse shape. If he wasn’t a minor, with minimal pain input, and using a headset, he’d be in agony. Cautiously, she helped him up, and as she did, the last shreds of his robe melted away, leaving him clad in nothing but acidic goo, ash, and his impermeable undies.

“Damn it,” the boy muttered, his free hand moving to cover himself as he swayed on his feet.

Tess slogged her way over to join them, her sabatons squishing through the black, melted grass. “We need to get rid of this stuff before it manages to dissolve us even though the cows are dead,” she said, swiping at the chunks still clinging to Vexxx and Alpha’s bodies.

“Incoming!” called a cheerful voice, and they all turned to look at Myles as a white powder began to fall around them, caking them with white as thoroughly as if someone had dumped a bag of flour over their heads. Even the grass around them stopped steaming.

You no longer have a Chemical Burn.

Current Blood supply: 1440/2100

“What was that?” Alpha demanded, swiping a thick crust of white powder, black ash, and pink slime off her face.

“Neutralizing powder,” he answered, giving his umbrella a little shake before closing it. His and Amy’s raincoats vanished into their inventories, and Toggle began carefully removing his child-sized one, handling it with near reverence.

Alpha, Tess, and Vexxx all turned incredulous looks on the Sword Reaper, who just smiled blandly.

“Why did you, like, let us do all that if you had some kinda neutralizer all along? That’s cold, man,” Vexxx said, scraping glop from his skin.

For once, Alpha found herself in complete agreement with Vexxx, and, without having to exchange a single word, the two of them turned and flung the gobbets of ghastly goo in their hands straight at Myles. Vexxx’s fell far short, but Alpha’s hit him directly in the chest, sliding down and falling to the ground with a moist plop.

Myles gingerly poked at the slimy streak it left behind and looked up with a face full of offended innocence. “But-”

“It was funny,” chorused everyone else, and this time even Tess joined in as they bombarded Myles with gelatinous black and white snowballs.

Chapter Thirty-two
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Alpha and Tess were both grimy again, but Vexxx was so caked in putrescence that he developed a sort of crust which would crack and fall off as he moved or spoke. A fact which he constantly reminded them of even as he summoned lightning to zap each of the Porkcubes.

“I have a Filthy debuff. I didn’t even know that was, like, a thing,” the mage whined as Alpha used yet another sword dipped in ash to slice open a ‘pig’. They’d discovered that Vexxx’s lightning only worked on the inside of the creatures, but by now they had killing the cubes down to a science. Slice. Zap. Slice. Zap. Except Vexxx had fallen behind because he was too busy complaining, and sometimes Tess took a turn with the chopping. Apparently she didn’t carry as many axes around as Alpha did swords, though, probably because axes tended to be less common and more expensive.

“We’ll get cleaned up as soon as we finish,” Alpha said, mainly to shut him up. There was a water trough in the pig pen, and a pond in the pasture, but they were both murky and polluted, and Alpha had a feeling if they tried the pond, they might find gelatinous fish-cubes there. Or would they be fish-sticks? That sounded like an Amythyst joke.

“But I can’t even change until I’m clean,” the boy whimpered, gesturing to the stained underwear that was all he wore under his thick rind. He was in the middle of zapping a Porkcube that was busily dissolving the fence in an attempt to eat him, but he stopped and turned to look at Toggle, gesturing at the snake that lay curled around the gnome’s neck.

“Can’t Orah just,” he made a swirling motion, “whoosh us all clean again?”

Alpha shook her head. “I got a message that Quezal wasn’t happy about that. It’s probably better not to push our luck. Quezal has actually been a pretty good god so far, and I don’t want to tick him off.”

Your Relationship with your Deity, Quezal, has increased by 1.

Alpha read the notification that flashed in front of her eyes, and felt her stomach drop a little at the close call. Amythyst had told her that the gods of Veritas heard every time their names were said aloud, though most of them didn’t actually pay attention, because it happened so often. It made sense, though, that Quezal would keep a close eye - or ear - on his high priestess, and she reminded herself never to say anything bad about Quezal out loud.

At that moment, the fence Vexxx had been leaning on, the same one the Porkcube had been slowly destroying, gave way, and Vexxx tumbled backward into the pig pen. Awkwardly, the boy tried to roll out of the way of the pink cube that leaned toward him, emitting several gleeful snorts. With a shout, Tess used the broad side of her axe like a bat, bunting the grunting monstrosity away, so Vexxx landed in the odorous muck of the pen with a splat.

He sat up a moment later, spluttering and furious. “A Stench debuff?” He scrambled out of the mud, lurching toward Tess, who was still standing in the gap created by the broken fence, making sure none of the other cubes escaped. The half-dwarf yelped and jumped away, her face twisted in disgust. She pinched her nose shut.

“What is that?” She pointed at Vexxx with the hand that held her axe. “You stay away from me! You smell like my grandpa’s tractor after a whole family of rats died in the engine, and then cooked when he started it up in the spring.”

Alpha turned to look at Vexxx, who now resembled a shambling mud monster, rather than the clean-cut and somewhat finicky mage they were used to. Even from where she stood, several feet away, she could smell the odor wafting from the boy in almost visible waves. She felt her eyes begin to water, and waved her hand in front of her face.

Vexxx’s brown eyes glared out at her from beneath layers of ash, gelatinous cube guts, neutralizing powder, and mud. “This is all your fault!” he accused. “If you’d just use your stupid snake, I would have been able to focus, and these pigs would have been dead half an hour ago.”

Alpha glared back, though she didn’t stop trying to wave the stench away from her nose. “If you would just focus, we’d have been done half an hour ago, and we could have made it back up to the stream to get clean by now. If it’s anybody’s fault that you look like you just fell in a swamp, it’s yours!” She pointed at the Porkcubes, who were practically climbing over each other in an attempt to get out of the pen. “Just kill them so we can go, already!”

The lightning mage put his hands on his hips. “You want them dead?” He spluttered, swiping at some mud that was threatening to slime its way into his mouth. “Fine!” Lifting his hands, he spread his fingers wide and shouted, “Tempest!”

Alpha and Tess exchanged horrified looks, and both dove as far away from the crazy mage as they could. Tempest was a high-tier Area of Effect spell that didn’t differentiate between friend or foe. It would certainly kill any Porkcubes that had already been cut, which was probably all of them, since Vexxx spent more time complaining than zapping. Unfortunately, it would also kill anything else in the area, including them.

Without consciously deciding to do so, Alpha found herself rolling back up onto her feet and running toward Toggle. The gnome was standing near Amy and Myles, who were still serving as the peanut gallery for this little misadventure. Myles had picked up Amy, and was actually moving with some urgency for once, but Toggle’s short little legs hadn’t taken him outside Tempest’s area when the first lightning bolt cracked down from the clear blue sky, fortunately striking one of the Porkcubes, which squealed loudly. After that, the deafening sound of thunder surrounded them all, with lightning striking anything that moved, and sometimes arcing from one target to the next.

Alpha scooped Toggle up, carrying the gnome beneath her arm like a football as she made for the perimeter of the storm. When she got close enough, she threw Toggle toward a waiting Myles as she dove for the edge. She almost made it. Just as she crossed the invisible line past which no bolts struck, she felt something stab her foot, and she tumbled through the air as if she’d been thrown by an angry giant.

You have lost 111 Drops of Blood to Lightning.

Current Blood supply: 1976/2100

She landed with an explosive grunt as the air was knocked from her lungs, and as she struggled to catch her breath, she reminded herself for the hundredth time that vampires didn’t need to breathe.

You have lost 87 Drops of Blood to Forceful Impact.

Current Blood supply: 1889/2100

You are Dizzy.

Blinking, Alpha stared up at the blue sky, which spun lazily above her. Something dark eclipsed the light, and slowly resolved into the round, bearded face of a complete stranger. One that she recognized.

“Uncle George?” she asked, woozily.

A rich, warm belly laugh filled the area as the rumbles and booms of thunder finally began to taper off. A broad, thick-fingered hand extended into her field of vision, and she somehow managed to clasp it, allowing the dwarven player to help her sit up, though she wasn’t ready to stand yet.

“Could be,” the man said, good-naturedly. “But most people call me Wep.” He pointed above his head, where a tag would be if she had player names turned on, and she obediently used [Identify] on him.

Weapons Shortage - Master Trader. Level 103.

Blood Pack: 14 units

She blinked a little at the number [Blood Pack] gave him. It was unusual for a player to have a number higher than ten, and she vaguely wondered if he’d tell her what his Vitality was, since she had a theory that the amount of Blood was linked to health points.

She heard rustling behind her, and tilted her head to see who was approaching, then groaned as the world spun violently around her. Dizzy had always been one of her least favorite debuffs.

“George,” Myles’ voice said quietly, as he stepped up beside Alpha. She wished she could see his face, because his voice probably sounded calm to other people, but she was sure she caught an edge of pain in it.

Amy didn’t even bother trying to restrain herself, however, and launched herself at the dwarf. Since she was easily two feet taller than he was, the ungainly stumble which resulted in her practically falling on him should have at least knocked him back a step, but instead he stood stock still as she wrapped her arms around him and started to cry.

“Unc’ George!” the woman sobbed, burying her face in the dwarf’s massive beard.

Wep’s face went completely blank for several seconds, and his brawny arms hung loose at his side. Then, ever so slowly, the genial face twisted into a complex combination of hope, sorrow, and wariness as his arms rose to clasp the wailing woman. Over her shoulder, his shrewd brown eyes passed from Alpha, to Myles, to Toggle, and then to Tess, who came up behind Myles, looking very confused.

At last, as Wep patted Amy on the back like a parent soothing a weeping child, his eyes returned to Myles and stayed there. “You and I have some talking to do, I think,” the dwarf said, and Myles nodded, his usually glib tongue seeming to fail him for once.

You are no longer Dizzy.

Alpha, who was feeling uncomfortably out of place sitting on the ground in between the two men, struggled to her feet. Wep’s bushy brown brows rose as he watched her stand, and the dwarf chuckled, looking bemused as Amy finally managed to lift her face from his epic facial hair.

“You’re a long drink of water, aren’t ya?” he asked Alpha, absently adjusting the bandolier of knives and bottles that crossed his barrel chest.

Alpha blinked. “I… don’t know what that means.”

Amy shook her head. “He read… lotta West’rns when ‘e w’s young,” she offered, as she, too, fought to return to an upright position. Myles took a step forward, hand out, but Wep turned slightly to put his body between Myles and Amy, and gently stabilized the woman himself.

Wep’s lips, barely visible in the forest of brown fur that surrounded them, stretched into a grin. “I did that. My father was a Louis L’Amour fan, but I always preferred Zane Grey. I just meant you’re tall.”

Alpha felt her muscles stiffen, but she forced herself to relax. It was clear the man didn’t intend it as an insult, just a statement of fact, and if there was one thing her experience as the innocent and friendly Ava Shaw was teaching her, it was that adults didn’t care about her height nearly as much as the children who had tormented her in elementary and middle school had.

So, she just raised a brow and said, “And you’re short.”

“Four foot four,” he said, proudly, puffing out his broad chest so Amy giggled. “Shortest the game would let me be. And widest.” He patted his belly, grinning, and Alpha found herself laughing, too. If charisma was a stat in Veritas Online, this man’s would be off the charts.

“Uh, guys?” Vexxx’s voice interrupted the moment, and they all turned to look at the mage, who was still standing beside the pig pen, surrounded by chunks of hardened mud and detritus that he’d clearly been busy scraping off his body.

Following the direction of his eyes, Alpha saw that the boy was staring off toward the farmhouse, mouth agape, and it only took a moment for Alpha to see what had caused his look of concern.

The farmer was coming.

Chapter Thirty-three
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

The thing was enormous. From a distance, it was shaped something like a person, with a main ‘body’, and five protrusions that were generally arm, leg, and head-shaped. The ‘head’ even looked like it was wearing a hat. As it drew nearer, however, they saw that the face was completely smooth and featureless, and while it had a pattern on its surface that was reminiscent of blue overalls, a long-sleeved red shirt, and brown boots, that was all it was… a pattern. It held a pitchfork that had to be at least twelve feet long, with the handle clutched in the blunt, fingerless pseudopod that served as its ‘arm’.

Alpha looked around at the rest of the party. They had suspected - even hoped - this would happen. After all, there couldn’t be a farm if there was no farmer, and a farmer wouldn’t allow someone to just kill his livestock without at least trying to stop them. They had reasoned that the farmer was probably the final boss of the level, and if they could pull him out of his farmhouse, he might be easier to kill. On the other hand, if they managed to kill all the pig, cow, and chicken cubes without the farmer coming out to chase them off, then there either wasn’t a farmer after all, or the farmhouse was a sort of boss chamber, and they would have to go in to face him.

Somehow, in the midst of the acid rain and the lightning storm, Alpha, at least, had forgotten they were still waiting for one more monster. She’d managed to melt all but two of the swords in her inventory, and the ones that remained were common iron swords dropped by kobolds in the Distant Caves dungeon. As the fourteen-foot-tall boss stomped toward them, Alpha focused on Vexxx.

“Can you kill him?”

He grimaced. “I, um, kind of used the last of my mana on that [Tempest], and I don’t have any mana potions left. My bad.”

Drawing in a calming breath, Alpha turned to Tess. “What’ve you got?”

Tess shrugged, looking apologetic. “Flaming axe. We haven’t tried fire on them yet. It might work. I don’t have a lot of mana, though, and I don’t have any mana potions, either. I do have something called [Axe Blender], but if I use it, I’ll probably die, and I might accidentally kill you guys, too. It’s kind of a last-ditch skill. I’m not a bad damage dealer, generally, but these guys are weird.”

Unexpectedly, a warm, rich voice intruded into their conversation. It was Wep, and he had one of his epically bushy eyebrows raised as he looked at them. “May I help? Unless you need the experience.” His eyes grew calculating. “If it drops rare loot, I’d also like the first opportunity to buy it. At a fair price, of course.” White teeth flashed in the depths of his beard, and Alpha remembered that George Short had been a brilliant businessman before he’d decided to enter politics.

The earth was shaking beneath their feet now, as the farmer approached. Fortunately, he seemed to be almost as slow as the cube animals, but his long strides still covered a lot of ground, and he would be on them in just a few more steps.

“Yes,” Alpha said.

“That’d be great!” Tess looked relieved.

Vexxx hesitated, but as another pseudopod thudded against the ground, he shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Wonderful,” Wep said, and pulled a hammer as large as he was from a sheath across his back. He looked from Alpha to Tess. “Who has the highest Strength stat?”

Alpha… actually didn’t know what her Strength was, though she thought it was approaching three hundred. Definitely over two fifty. She hadn’t looked at her own stat sheet since before they entered the dungeon. Which reminded her, she actually had some stat points to allocate, since she’d leveled up after killing the golem on the maze level.

“Mine is just over two hundred,” Tess said, proudly. Alpha was impressed. Tess seemed like a well-rounded character, so Tess must have some stat-boosting items or skills to balance her out. Of course, Alpha had two extra skill points per level, and got an extra Strength for every five she put into the stat, so hers was still higher.

She eyed the oncoming behemoth. It had lifted its huge pitchfork, and the glistening tines were now pointed straight at them.

Cube Farmer - Corrosive/Poison. Level 100.

“Mine is better,” she said quickly, without even bothering to check on the exact number. “What do you want me to do?”

Wep grinned. “Nobody expects an attack from above.” He pointed to the air over the farmer’s head. “Throw me up there as soon as it stops.”

There was no time to ask questions, so Alpha just nodded and crouched so the dwarf could step into her clasped hands. Tess, seeing that talking time was over, summoned her tower shield and ran out in front of the rest of the party. Lifting the shield, she brought it down directly in the path of the pitchfork, slamming it into the ground with so much force that the bottom edge vanished into the dirt. A flash rippled out from the shield as she used a skill, and when the pitchfork impacted the shield with a tremendous CLANG, her feet dug deeper into the ground, but she didn’t budge an inch. The Cube Farmer came to a halt, its entire body shuddering and rippling with the force of the blow, and Alpha tossed the dwarf.

Wep flew through the air, raising his him-sized hammer as he did so. For a moment, it almost looked like Alpha had thrown him too hard, and he would fly right over the farmer’s head, but he somehow twisted in mid-air, reorienting himself so he began to fall directly toward the blobby brown mass that sat on top of the column of gelatin. He brought the hammer down, and it was like watching someone play an epic game of whack-a-mole. The farmer’s head merged with its torso, which melted into its legs and then became one with its booted ‘feet’. This left Wep standing on top of something that was much closer to cube-shaped than people-shaped, except for the two arm-tentacles, which were now too close to the ground to properly wield the four-meter-long pitchfork.

The boss screamed, a terrible sound that combined the spine-chilling yowl of an embattled feline with what Alpha could only describe as a series of wet squelches, and dropped its weapon. It turned, tentacles swinging wildly as it struck out at them all, the sinuous limbs easily avoiding Tests’ shield and reaching out to hit Vexxx, who had been watching the battle from behind Tess, on the shoulder, spinning him around as blood flew. The mage collapsed, and Alpha darted past, lifting her iron longsword, which she had once again dipped in her dwindling supply of ashes.

Pulling up the party list, Alpha saw that the single blow had taken Vexxx down to about a third of his health. She wasn’t sure where he’d been before that, but she was sure that if he’d been badly injured, he would have been complaining about that, too, so she assumed he’d started either at full health or close to it.

This thing was strong!

Then Wep hit the monstrosity again. The hammer blow caused rippling waves to travel down through the jiggling body of the thing, and it glooped angrily. Ponderously, it began to spin. Its pseudopods flattened into sharp planes, and smacked into Tests’ shield with a rapidly increasing sound of thud… thud… thud glopped thudthudthudth-

The shield broke, sending Tess sprawling in the dirt in front of the inexorably approaching mass of goo. It rolled over her foot, and Tess spasmed, screaming in pain.

Alpha leaped forward as the next tentacle rushed toward Tess, raising her sword like a child poking a stick into the spinning spokes of a bicycle. The sheer force of the impact of spinning tentacle on sword was enough to nearly tear her weapon from her hand, but she hung on through sheer force of will and two hundred and however-many points of Strength, even as she was dragged around, heels dragging through the dirt. The ‘flesh’ of the gelatinous arm-blade began to tear, and soon a whole chunk of severed arm flew away through the air, which unfortunately meant there was also nothing left keeping her attached to the monster, so she, too, went tumbling after it.

As she flopped end over end, she saw that somehow, Wep was still standing on the spinning Cube Farmer’s top surface, though he now looked like he was standing knee deep in it, rather than being perched on top. He brought his hammer down, over and over, and an arcing halo of sparks flew around the metal hammer-head, indicating he was using some kind of lightning-based skill to boost his attacks. Alpha landed in the dirt with a grunt, and swiped away the message telling her she’d lost another hundred drops of Blood.

Rolling over, she gathered her arms and legs under her, pushing herself up into a stand in a single smooth movement. She might not be the best fighter, but she would not be put down by a gelatinous cube wearing overalls!

Her sword had been lost or broken when she was flung away from the spinning cube, so she summoned her last one from inventory, doused it in more oil and shoved it into a bag of ash, the tip creating a small hole in the bottom of the sack, not for the first time. A cloud of ash puffed out of the bottom as she closed the bag, coating her feet and lower legs in a fresh layer of soot. As she was about to put the ash back into her inventory, she hesitated. Instead, she returned the sword back to her inventory, and lifted the holey sack so she could use it like a basketball-sized powder puff, covering herself in black soot.

Looking back at the battle, she saw that the now one-armed Cube Farmer had Tess pinned down, though the half-dwarf had somehow gotten her leg out from under it. Tess was crouching over Vexxx’s prone body, protecting him with two shields held in a tent-shape over them, much as she had once done for Toggle. Alpha pulled up the party list again, and saw that Vexxx’s health was still dropping, in spite of the fact that he was no longer taking blows, and Tess wasn’t in much better shape.

::Tess, if I hit your shield, will it hold?:: Alpha asked over party chat.

::Yes?:: Tess answered, uncertainly. ::The skill I’m using will keep the shields from breaking until I run out of Stamina, and I have a lot of Stamina. But if I do anything else, the skill will end, and it has a stupidly long cooldown.:: She hesitated, then added, ::Whatever you’re going to do, you need to do it quickly. Vexxx and I are both poisoned, and I had to cut off my foot to get free, so I’m Bleeding.:: The last words were tight with pain, and Alpha began to move.

First, she hopped back a few more paces, then she started to run. She had long legs, and she’d run track in high school, so she knew exactly how to set her feet and use her muscles to speed up as much as possible over a short distance. When she reached the ramp created by Tests’ backward-facing shield, she ran up it with springing steps until she reached the peak. It wasn’t very high, but now she was traveling at something steeper than a forty-five-degree angle, and she pushed, leaping up and over the sweeping arm as it slammed into the shield beneath her feet.

She landed against the side of the cube boss with an oomph, her torso and arms suddenly drenched in the pool of acidic chunks created by Wep’s hammer. Her legs dangled off the side, but they spun out straight behind her as she was caught up in the speed of the cube’s spin. Then a strong hand grasped her upper arm and hauled her the rest of the way onto the top of the cube, or at least what remained of it.

You have lost 50 Drops of Blood due to Acid. Damage halved due to Base Coat.

You have resisted Poison.

Alpha remembered going to an amusement park with her mother, Molly, when she was younger. Against Molly’s better judgment, she had allowed Alpha to ride the Gravitron, which pinned you up against the wall while it spun so quickly your feet actually left the floor. As soon as it was over, Alpha had staggered to the closest trash bin and vomited up everything she’d eaten that day.

This was worse. So much worse.

“Look at me, lass,” a deep voice said from somewhere near her ribcage, and she looked down into Wep’s concerned face. He smiled as her eyes met his. “There you are. Don’t look out there. Now, what’re you doing up here? Didn’t you know this damned thing is filled with acid?” He held up his flickering hammer, and she could see that one side of it had been eaten away to a nub, while the other side was already half-melted.

Alpha lifted her leaky sack of ash in a shaky hand. “Secret weapon,” she said, and dropped the bag into the hole created by Wep’s hammer blows. Opening her inventory, she followed that up with three more perforated pouches of varying sizes.

The spinning cube… staggered. Ripples began to travel outwards through its undulating flesh as its spinning slowed, then stopped. She heard a sort of gloop as acid and unidentifiable chunks burbled up from the hole between the two players. Alpha looked at Wep.

“I really think we should-”

The cube erupted like she’d poured baking soda into vinegar. Which she had, in a way. Waves of grayish-pink foam fountained out of the hole, flooding the area with acid and ash, swirling in a tsunami of corrosive fluid and other, much worse, things. One of the blobs that seemed to serve as the cube’s internal organs popped out, whole, and jiggled near Alpha’s feet, and she swallowed back bile.

Wep, who was now just as covered in slime and offal as everyone else, vanished his hammer into his inventory and ran to the edge of the rapidly melting cube, leaping off into midair, arms and legs windmilling as he jumped. Alpha was right behind him, tucking into a tumbling roll that took the edge off the impact and reduced the amount of damage she took from the fall. ::Tess,:: she sent, ::Can you grab Vexxx and run?::

::I’m all right,:: the young mage said, though he sounded weak and woozy.

::On it,:: Tess replied, and as Alpha regained her feet, she saw the half-Dwarf running away from the now madly-jittering Cube Farmer, with Vexxx thrown over her shoulder, his arms dragging behind them. Tess was missing one foot, and she tilted sharply each time the stump hit the ground.

Wep ran, too, easily outstripping Tess, and as he passed the taller half-dwarf, he grabbed her and Vexxx, throwing them over his broad shoulders without even breaking stride.

Which left only Alpha, and she used every point of Strength and Dexterity she had to race toward her friends, leaving the now rapidly-expanding boss behind.

It blew.

Chapter Thirty-four
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“Never. Again.”

Alpha and Tess were sitting in the stream near their original campsite. They had removed their acid-eaten gear, and were only wearing the non-removable underwear all Veritas avatars started with. She didn’t know about Tess, but Alpha was pretty sure her kit was damaged beyond repair, unless she could somehow find a Master-level Tailor and Leatherworker who were willing to work for next to nothing.

Tess laid her head back in the pleasantly cool water, which finally ran clean around her golden-blonde hair. They had had to move upstream several times, after contaminating one small grotto after another. “I agree,” the other woman murmured drowsily, closing her eyes. “I’m just glad you and Orah were able to regrow my foot. I would have been pissed if I had to die to regenerate it.”

Alpha smirked, laying her own head back, feeling the eddies of water wind through her hair to caress her squeaky-clean scalp. “I’m sure we could have made you a very nice peg leg.”

Tessle snickered. “Aye, matey, but where would ye find me a parrot?”

“How would you feel about a shoulder fairy?” Alpha teased, and Tess sat up, splashing water over Alpha’s face as she did so.

“Seriously?” Tess practically squealed, clasping her hands in front of her, big eyes shining with hope. “Could you make one of your fairies be my pet?” She tilted her head, expression calculating. “We know they persist when you leave the dungeon and come back in, as long as a member of the party stays inside to maintain the instance. Do you think they could travel between floors? I mean, they probably couldn’t leave the dungeon, but maybe I really could have a shoulder fairy while we’re in here!”

Sputtering, Alpha sat up, swiping water from her face. “I am not going back up to the first level to get you a fairy, if we could even figure out how to do that.”

“Oh, come on,” Tess wheedled. “We know how to solve the first and second floor now, so it’s not like it would even take that long.” Alpha stared at her, incredulous, until Tess cracked, laughing hysterically. “You should,” she gasped, “see the look on your face. Oh my gosh.” Out of habit, she swiped at her eyes, which were still dry in spite of her laughter, since she was only using a regular VR pod.

Alpha scooped her hand through the water, splashing her friend, and the moment quickly dissolved into a minor skirmish, which Alpha won simply because she had longer arms and bigger hands, producing bigger waves.

“Hey!” Vexxx called, sounding peevish. “Are you two done yet?”

The lightning mage was sitting on a rock on the other side of a fallen tree; one of the ones his spell had felled, but that was too large for Alpha to retrieve. Through unspoken mutual agreement, he had had the first bath, though unfortunately even the soap Wep produced from his inventory had failed to remove his Stench debuff, so no one was willing to be downwind of him.

The two young women exchanged glances, and Alpha finally sighed before standing and wading to the edge of the stream. “I guess so. We’re probably not a hazard to marine life any more, at least.”

Tess chuckled as she, too, waded out, though it took her longer since the water reached to just above her knees. “I hope not, anyway, since I was thinking about going fishing. I’ve seen a few baby bass swimming around, and where there are babies, there are bound to be mamas and daddies, too.”

Vexxx turned, staring at Tess before flushing and spinning back around. The underclothes Tess and Alpha were wearing covered more than most swimsuits, so they weren’t worried about where Vexxx looked, but the boy turned beet red every time he caught a glimpse of them anyway. Players had a peculiar tendency to remove their clothes at apparently random moments, so Alpha was certain he’d seen more than one female in a similar state of undress, but there seemed to be something about the fact that they were also wet that triggered this reaction in the boy.

“You… you know how to fish?” the young mage stammered, keeping his eyes on the distant horizon.

Tess grinned. “Sure do. My grandparents had a farm about an hour outside the city. It wasn’t big, but they had a few acres of crops, some cows, and a couple of dozen chickens. There was a pond out in the pasture, and grandma loved to go fishing.”

“Oh,” Vexxx said. “That sounds… nice.”

Tess tilted her head, eyeing the boy quizzically. “Don’t you know how to fish? I mean, in game, at least?”

He shrugged, looking down at his knees, which protruded from beneath his new outfit, which resembled a violently green and purple Japanese jinbei, except that the pants were more like long shorts. “My online friends aren’t really the fishing types. My dad always said he would take me camping, and we’d go canoeing and fishing, but we never did.”

“Oh,” Tests’ eyes grew wide and soft. “Is he…?”

Vexxx scowled. “Dead? Nah. He got remarried, and I don’t see him much anymore. He’s busy with his new family, you know?”

The half-dwarf breathed an understanding sigh, and her gaze went distant as she searched through her inventory. After a few seconds, she was suddenly wearing a pink linen shirt edged with embroidered flowers, a pair of chestnut capris, and some rope sandals. In one hand, she held a pair of fishing poles. Stepping into Vexxx’s field of vision, Tess held out one of the fishing poles, offering a cheerful grin at the same time.

“Well, let’s get going, then. We can catch lunch while the rest of the slackers sit around and talk.” She raised a meaningful eyebrow at Alpha, who nodded gratefully. Myles, Amy, and Wep were already clean, changed, and talking in a clearing just out of easy eavesdropping distance.

Alpha, too, rifled through her inventory. Quezal didn’t allow her to wear black, which cut out more than half of her choices, so she finally settled on a pair of tall brown boots, patterned leather breeches, and a loose-sleeved natural linen tunic with a wide brown belt. They weren’t at all her usual style, but they were clean and comfortable, so it would do.

“Sounds like a plan, then,” she said, as Vexxx stood to follow Tess. “Don’t go too far, though. We’re assuming the cubes were the only monsters on this level, but we don’t know that for sure. You should stay close enough that you can call for help, if you need to.”

Tess grinned. “If we find a gelatinous crocodile, we’ll be sure to let you know.” She lifted a hand in a nonchalant wave, and continued walking, with Vexxx trotting along in her wake.

Alpha watched until the pair were all but lost among the reeds and small trees that lined the streambank before turning away. Myles and Amy had had plenty of time to make their case, and she wanted to know what was going on. She headed toward the clearing where she’d left the other four members of the party, intentionally crunching leaves and snapping twigs underfoot as she went.

The early warning system worked, because when she saw Myles, Amy, Wep, and Toggle, they were all looking in her direction. Actually, Toggle’s look was rather glassy, and she glared at Myles as she stepped into the sunny area they’d chosen for their little confab.

“I asked you not to do that,” she said, crossing over to crouch in front of the gnome, who didn’t move or blink. Orah was looped around his shoulders, and the snake, too, looked oddly still.

Myles sighed. “Our conversation just would have made him uncomfortable, and, ah, your god wouldn’t have appreciated it either.”

She blinked, looking over at him. “My god? Que-?”

Quickly, he cut her off. “Yes. He can hear his name, and see through the eyes of his Divine Creature, and we don’t need any of the Veritas gods getting the idea that their world isn’t real. They have a lot of power in the game, and when they start looking for ways to apply that power to escaping it-”

“Ba’ things happen,” Amy finished, grimacing.

Alpha stood and set her hands on her hips. “Are you telling me that the in-game gods could start affecting things outside of the game?”

Amy and Myles looked at each other.

“Not anymore,” they chorused, and Wep shook his head, looking from one to the other of the pair.

“Never thought I’d see such a thing,” the dwarf muttered, eyes shadowed behind his overhanging brows. He turned a piercing gaze on Alpha, and she froze, feeling the force of the personality behind those eyes. This was a man who was well-used to power, and expected both honesty and respect, if not obedience.

“They say you’ve seen,” he paused before carefully saying, “Amy. In Carl Landon’s house. Is that true?”

She nodded. “When Myles told me…” She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if Wep knew Myles was Amy’s AI copy or not, so she just said, “about Amy, I looked her up. The Amy in Carl’s house doesn’t look exactly the same as the pictures, but she had to have, ah, several surgeries,” she shot Amy an apologetic look, “so that’s not surprising.”

It was Amy’s turn to look surprised and somewhat concerned. She lifted her hand to her face. “I don’t? What’s different? Is it… bad?”

Alpha managed a smile. “Not bad. There are a few small scars, but mostly it just looks like the real-world version of you had a little plastic surgery to make you more,” she cleared her throat, “conventionally beautiful?”

The other woman actually growled. “Dad,” she muttered, then shook her head. “He was always getting after me to lose some weight, maybe get my nose fixed.” She traced a finger over the barely visible bump in the bridge of her nose. “I guess he finally had a chance to make me what he wanted me to be, and he took it.”

Wep, who was watching Amy’s every move with the focus of a fox stalking a mouse, shook his head. “I can’t believe even Carl Landon would fake his own daughter’s death just to make sure no one could remove her from his control, but…” He sighed. “I admit, if he did decide to do it, he certainly could.”

His eyes flickered from Amy to Myles, and his brows drew down, forming a single thick line. “Now, I’m not saying I’m completely convinced this story is true, but at the very least, it sounds like Carl Landon is holding this young woman, who certainly seems convinced that she is Amy Landon,” he held up a hand to forestall argument as Myles opened his mouth, “against her will.”

Looking back at Amy, he said, “So, I’m willing to help you get out of there. I make no promises about what will happen after that, but if this is true, and, by some miracle, you really are Amy-” His voice choked, showing the first crack in his armor of skepticism, “Dios mio, I’ll turn every resource I have toward helping you get better.”

Clearing his throat, Wep looked at Myles and said, “You said you don’t know how badly… How much damage there may be, in the real world.” It was a request for more information, but not a question.

Myles nodded. “I’m fairly certain she has incomplete paralysis on the left side of her body. There also seems to be some form of aphasia going on. While she’s immersed, I can correct for both of those, though I’m actually having more trouble with the paralysis, since there are unpredictable spasms that throw off my mods. Out of the game, I can create an app that will integrate with her implants to help with the aphasia, but you’ll just have to see how much of the paralysis is permanent.”

Though Wep and Amy simply nodded, with Amy looking unsurprised at the diagnosis, Alpha caught the use of the word ‘you’ll’, instead of ‘we’ll’, and she didn’t like it. She bit her lip and remained silent, however. This wasn’t the time for that conversation.

“All right then,” Wep said, clapping his hands together. “It sounds like I have a lot of work to do, then.” He glanced over at Alpha. “When you lot finish this ridiculous dungeon, is there any chance I could convince you to go to Refuge? I think I’d like to have the chance to play with you again, and I’ve decided to stay there until,” he looked at Amy, “well, for a while, yet. It’s a nice place.”

Even though she knew he couldn’t feel it at the moment, Alpha reached down and laid a hand on Toggle’s shoulder. “I promised Toggle I’d take him home to the Atheneum Dungeon, and it’s already taken a lot longer than it should have to get there. But after that,” it was her turn to glance at Myles, “I’m not sure what I’ll do.”

Wep nodded. “Good enough. I’ll just have to try to convince you to stay for a while.” He grinned, eyes twinkling in a way that brought back childhood memories of watching a much taller and less hairy man speaking from the screen in her living room.

Alpha shook her head, unable to prevent an answering smile, and not sure how she should respond.

Fortunately, Amy saved her by taking an unsteady step closer to Wep and holding out a shaking hand. The smile on the woman’s face was uncertain as she said, “I’ll see you soon, then?”

Wep met her eyes, and his face melted into such a look of love and longing that Alpha felt her own throat close, and her chest tighten at the sight of it. The dwarf stepped forward and wrapped the woman in a powerful embrace. “You can count on it, my girl,” he murmured. “Like las estrellas en el cielo.” Then he shimmered and faded away as he logged out and the game sent his Zombie back to his respawn point.

Amy sobbed, and Myles stepped forward to take her in his arms, while Alpha turned and walked away, leaving them to comfort each other.

Chapter Thirty-five
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

“I can’t believe this is the only thing we got from that stupid farmer,” Vexxx complained, holding up a brass key with a shank as long as his hand. The head of the key was, not surprisingly, a cube, and the teeth were long and blocky.

Tess and Vexxx had brought back a half dozen good-sized fish, which they had skewered on sticks and promptly burned because neither of them had the [Cooking] skill, so Myles had produced an herb-roasted chicken from his inventory after everyone else admitted that they were out of anything else that was already prepared. This, combined with some wild greens Toggle had gathered, made for a satisfactory lunch, but they all agreed that they were about ready to finish the dungeon and go somewhere with real food.

Now, they were walking through the remains of the farm, heading toward the hopefully-abandoned farmhouse. The corpses of their fallen foes had already returned to Fertile Earth, and only the Cluck-a-Doodle-Cubes were still running around, trying to dissolve their feet as they passed. Fortunately, they were small, so Tess could chop through them with a single blow, or even smash them flat with the side of her axe.

Alpha had no swords left, so she was reduced to poking at the things with a knife strapped onto the end of a stick to create a makeshift spear. Vexxx, of course, couldn’t shock the cuboid avians until someone else made a hole in them, which rendered him all but useless, and he was clearly peevish about the whole thing.

“I just want to finish this stupid dungeon already. I mean, the next floor has to be the last one, right?” The boy looked around, expression hopeful. “We’re supposed to be able to complete a dungeon in sixteen hours or less, if we know what we’re doing, and each of these levels would probably take, what, like, four hours for a group of five at the right level? Which means the next one has to be the end.”

Tess looked dubious. “Maybe? It depends on how many ‘doors’ there are on the first level. Are they really common, and we walked by twenty of them because we didn’t know what we were looking for, or was the one we found the only one, and we just got lucky? Is the floor layout static, or will it change every time a new party enters? That one could take fifteen minutes, or several hours to finish. I mean, the second floor should be pretty easy with the right party setup, and this one is really just a big fight, but it could take a pretty long time if you don’t know the trick with the base, and you just hack or zap the things until they die.”

Alpha nodded as they walked up to the porch of the sprawling single-story farmhouse. “There could be three more levels, or this could be the last one, and we just haven’t found the exit yet because it’s inside the farmhouse.”

Tess set foot on the ramp that took the place of steps leading up to the porch, but hesitated before taking the first step. “Um, I hate to be the one to bring this up, but… What do we do if it turns out there’s a Cube cat or dog, or a Cube Wife in here?”

Alpha sighed. She’d thought of that, too, and she really didn’t want to have to kill a pet, even if it was trying to eat them. Still, the only other option was to leave, so no matter what was beyond the door, they’d have to face it. That was why she’d insisted they all get back into some kind of armor before making this little trek.

“This level reminds me of the Huntsman. You know, the final boss in the Elven Heights?” She looked around, meeting blank gazes. Which made sense, since Elven Heights was near the elven capital, and few players who hadn’t had a character that spawned in Elfhame would have heard of it. She hated thinking about when she had played an elf, back before her mother died, and she found herself reaching up to rub Orah’s head. The feeling of cool scales under her fingers helped her focus as she explained.

“The Huntsman can either be very easy, or he can party wipe you in a second, and it all depends on what you did before you met him. The forest is filled with passive mobs, and you can totally ignore them and go straight through to fight the Huntsman. If you do, he’ll summon every creature in the area, and you’ll be overwhelmed by a thousand bunny rabbits with fangs. On the other hand, if you take out all the innocent forest animals on the way in, Huntsman won’t have anything to call for help, and even a single player can kill him, as long as they’re the same level or higher.”

Tess grimaced. “Okay, I officially hate that. I don’t want to kill the cute animals when they’re just minding their own business.”

Alpha smirked. “The kind of people who decide to go elf usually feel the same way. They’re generally the artsy types who like the racial buffs to crafting and,” her mouth pinched like she just bit into a lemon as she said, “music. They don’t like fighting, and they like killing random cute animals even less. Huntsman doesn’t come out to play very often.”

Vexxx rolled his eyes and stomped up onto the porch, making everyone near him take a step back and cover their noses. ‘Near’ was relative, of course, since no one was willing to be closer than ten feet, and only if that was upwind, but whenever he moved quickly, the smell of rot and raw sewage billowed out from him as if he’d just stepped in front of a fan.

Raising the jumbo-sized key over his head, he slid it into the keyhole in the sixteen-foot-high door. “So, what I hear you saying,” he said, grunting as he stood on his tip-toes to turn the key in the lock. “Is that if we just ignored the fenced critters out there, the Cube Farmer might have called them all and overwhelmed us, but since we killed them first and pulled him outside-” The door clicked, and slowly began to swing inward. Vexxx instantly fell forward as the surface he’d been leaning against fell away.

“Yes,” Alpha murmured quietly, dropping into a crouch with her makeshift spear out in front of her, “I think the battle is over.”

Myles, who had been unusually somber since Wep left, snorted a small laugh. “But you’re not certain,” he said, eyeing her battle-ready stance. Then he caught Amy’s hand, where it rested on his arm, and took a step toward the darkened interior of the structure. “Let’s look around then, shall we?”

So they did.

For once, there were no more surprises lying in wait for them. No dog or cat, no cuboid spouse, not even an enormous mouse trap baited with a treasure chest, sure to entice greedy players into making one final mistake. No, the treasure chest just sat in the middle of the living room floor, a simple thing made of wooden slats and bands of metal, gleaming gently in the light that filtered through the open windows.

“Is that… actually a treasure chest?” Vexxx asked at last, his fingers twitching.

“Unless it’s a mimic,” Tess offered cheerfully. “I mean, it could totally be a mimic.”

The lightning mage looked at her uncomprehendingly. “What’s a mimic?”

Everyone else stopped, staring at him incredulously. “How do you not know what a mimic is?” Tess asked.

He shrugged defensively. “I just don’t. What is it?”

Alpha edged around his cloud of stench and jabbed out with her spear, poking the chest, which didn’t react. “Probably not this,” she said. “Toggle, can you check it for traps?”

Looking pleased to be asked to help, Toggle stepped forward and walked around the chest, though he gave Vexxx a wide berth as he did so. “I don’t see anything, Mistress. It should be safe. Should I open it?”

Alpha hesitated before shaking her head. “You step back, Toggle. Not that I don’t believe you, but this is strange, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The gnome nodded reluctantly, but before he could take more than a single step away from the chest, Vexxx darted in, throwing open the lid with unnecessary force, so it cracked loudly as it bounced from the back of the box and nearly fell shut again. Before any of them could chastise him for his impatience, however, a wall of text appeared before them.

CONGRATULATIONS! You are the first to defeat the Cube Farmer! All rewards have been upgraded two quality tiers. Each person who participated in clearing the level gains one of the following items!

A spell book

A sword

A suit of armor

A closed box

You have one minute to make your choice. Choose wisely!

“What?” Vexxx yelped. “That’s it? What kind of spell? What kind of armor? Like, is it mage armor, because that would be awesome!” His hands waved through the air as he tried to interact with the words. There was a flash of light, and a book appeared in his hands as ‘A spell book’ disappeared from the list of possible rewards. “No!” the boy howled. “I just wanted more information! Let me try again!”
Alpha shook her head at the mage’s antics, because she already knew what she was going to pick. Like it or not, she was the primary melee fighter of this party, and she needed a better weapon than a knife on a stick. Reaching out, she touched the ‘sword’ option.

Instantly, she felt the familiar weight of a hilt press into her hand. The weapon was a little heavier than her old one, but she had a lot more Strength than she had when she bought that one, and it felt comfortable and right to her. Lifting it up in front of her eyes, she stared at it, or rather, through it. It seemed to be made of something like a crystallized version of the clear, pinkish goo found inside the gelatinous cubes. It emitted a glow that was almost too faint to detect, and tiny sparks flashed within the blade. The hilt was silver, wrapped with white leather, and a stylized, metallic white snake spiraled around the hilt and small crossguard, forming a sort of serpentine basket-hilt.

Longsword of Quezal - This sword was created by the deity Quezal specifically for His High Priestess. Bonus to attacks against any player wearing black. Bonus to attacks against any player or mob sworn to Tezca. Impervious to damage. May only be wielded by the High Priestess of Quezal. Weight - 10 lbs. Rarity - Unique.

Your relationship with your Deity, Quezal, has reached 100.

Orah lifted from Alpha’s shoulder and flew down to coil around the snake on the hilt of Alpha’s new sword. As she did, the sword flashed, and a shell of glimmering rainbow light formed around Alpha.

You have learned the spell [Quezal’s Aegis]. Once per day, you may use [Quezal’s Aegis] to perfectly protect yourself or someone else for two minutes. You may only use this spell when your relationship with Quezal is at 100.

Alpha lowered the sword as Orah returned to her shoulder. That was… amazing. Both the sword and the spell. There was a high-level tank skill that negated all damage for a period of time, but you had to have a tank class in order to get it. Having a spell that did the same thing as a damage dealer could make all the difference in a battle, especially since it didn’t say it would limit her movement while it was in use, unlike the tank skill. She looked around, expecting everyone else to be staring at Orah’s display, but found that Tess and Vexxx were too involved in examining their own prizes to be interested in hers.

Tess was now wearing a suit of armor made of shimmering, pinkish crystal that matched the blade of Alpha’s new sword, though the armor was opaque. Instead of snakes and spirals, however, it was accented with stylized shields and golden lions rampant. Tess had taken a small hand mirror from her inventory and was busy using it to try to examine her own back, where a particularly large lion wrapped from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and an articulated golden tail draped from beneath the bottom edge of her breastplate, tapering down to a tassel made of fine gold wire that hung near her knees.

Vexxx hadn’t made quite such a transformation, but from the manic grin that stretched across his face, he was also pleased with his new spell, even though he hadn’t been sure about it at first. He raised his hand, and a brilliant flash lit up the room, making Alpha blink as she tried to get rid of the afterimage. As her sight returned, she saw a flickering, electrical bird-shape perched on the mage’s forearm. It raised its wings and squawked, creating a clap of thunder that echoed in the over-sized room. Alpha slapped her hands over her ears, wincing, but it was too late.

You have been Deafened by Thunderbird.

Alpha glared at Vexxx. She could see Tests’ mouth moving, but of course she couldn’t hear what the half-dwarf was saying. From the look on Vexxx’s face, however, he could still hear just fine, but probably wished he couldn’t.

The next three minutes were filled with a ringing silence. Tess spent most of the time striking various poses, probably taking image captures of her new gear. Vexxx, once his chagrin wore off, spent the remaining two and a half minutes sending his bird flying around the room, at which point they discovered that it could also produce lightning bolts from its eyes.

Myles, Amy, and, somewhat to Alpha’s surprise, Toggle, played a silent round of Paladir, a poker-like game that had dragons rather than jokers, and princesses rather than jacks. When Myles laid down a trio of dragons, the tiny reptiles actually raised their heads from the surface of the cards and hissed. At least, Alpha assumed they hissed, because she couldn’t actually hear it.

Alpha, on the other hand, had exactly one thing on her mind. Somewhere, there had to be a path or a doorway that led to the next level of the dungeon. She wandered around the room, discovering that it was surprisingly eerie to pass through the world without hearing or producing a single sound. At about the same time that Vexxx’s Thunderbird vanished, Alpha found herself back by the open treasure chest, and glanced inside.

Blinking, she saw that instead of the bottom of an empty wooden box, a stairway led down into shadowed depths that extended far beyond the floor of the farmhouse on which the chest sat.

You are no longer Deafened.

“Guys?” she said slowly, and everyone else turned to look at her. Silently, she pointed down, into the uncanny distance. Tess crowded up next to her, eyes growing large, but when Vexxx tried to join them, the extraordinarily offensive funk that surrounded him made them glare at him until he backed off.

Myles, who undoubtedly knew exactly what she’d found, stood back, grinning, but Amy rested a hand on Toggle’s shoulder and made her careful way to the side of the treasure chest.

“That,” the woman said, in her slow, careful way, “is so cool.”

Chapter Thirty-six
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

They were six thousand seven hundred and forty-two wrong turns - according to Vexxx, anyway - into the next level when Tess sat down and clutched at her head. “I just can’t do it,” she groaned. “This place makes my head hurt, and I’ve been nauseated for days. I really, really hate this level.”

Alpha looked up at the half-dwarf, who was seated on a glass staircase directly over her head. Tess was upside-down, from Alpha’s perspective, but that was normal for this place, which was just one impossible construction after another. There were vertical ladders that led to staircases that somehow brought them back to the top of the ladder, even though they both went ‘down’. Spiral stairs flipped over on themselves as they walked, and once they lost Vexxx and only realized that he was standing on the underside of the same floor they were on because his smell still surrounded them.

The worst part was that they could actually see the entire floor at once, since they were walking on the convoluted interior surface of a sort of Dyson sphere, with a brilliant spark in the center, providing crystal clear light. It should have been impossible to get lost, and yet the bizarre visual enigmas surrounding them caused them to do so over and over again.

“I think we’re actually close this time, Tess,” Alpha said, staring toward the glimmering plaza that was so starkly obvious in the bright light. They had emerged directly across from it, so they hadn’t seen it until they’d walked far enough that the central ‘star’ wasn’t between it and them, at which point they realized that one of the staircases that led away from their entry point went almost directly toward the only large, open area on the entire floor. They’d spent every minute since then trying to either reach the square, or find their way back to their starting location, with equally abysmal results.

Tess laid back on the stairs, which were so transparent that they were all but invisible. Their mini-maps didn’t work at all on this level, and even Vexxx had given up on drawing his own map after he realized there were literally translucent staircases and crystal slides that they’d walked right past without even noticing.

“I… think I’m going to have to give up on this one, Alpha.” Tess admitted reluctantly. “I have vertigo, and this place is starting to make it hard to go down stairs in the real world. I had to use an escalator yesterday, and I almost threw up.”

Vexxx, who was just out of smelling-distance ahead of them, looked back toward the group, though he avoided Alpha’s eyes. “Me, too,” he admitted reluctantly. “I mean, I don’t have vertigo or anything, but my school is two stories, and I have to go up or down stairs for almost every class. I have to close my eyes by the time I go to Physics sixth period.”

Alpha looked around at the disorienting mixture of clear glass, mirrors, cloudy crystal, and glittering granite that surrounded them. It all reflected back the brilliant, bluish light of the miniature sun, creating a sort of halo of light that was almost blinding. “What if,” she said, slowly, “we blindfold you? It wouldn’t be fun, but you could just follow along behind us, without having to see everything.”

Tess hesitated. “All right,” she said, reluctantly, “but if that doesn’t work, I really am going to have to just… give up. I hate to do it, but this isn’t fun. I don’t want to have to explain to my doctor that I need to up my dose of Prochlor so I can play a game.”

Alpha winced, but Vexxx said, “Maybe Alpha can keep exploring while we’re logged out.” He shrugged, looking around. “There has to be a trick to this floor, just like the other ones. I bet once we figure it out, it’ll be easy to get to the boss arena, or whatever that is.” He motioned toward the open square, which seemed so tantalizingly close. “You can PM us, Alpha, and we can log on and do… whatever it is, and finish this floor together.”

Looking relieved, Tess nodded. “That could work! I mean, we’ll probably get separated, so hopefully whatever the solution is, it’s one that we can do individually,” she glanced at Myles, whose expression gave nothing away, “or something.”

Alpha rubbed her temples, trying to think. “Okay. Do you want to try being blindfolded first, or just log off and come back when I contact you, or the Tent expires?” At Tests’ pleading expression, she turned to Myles. “Myles, could you give them a few extra Tents? I’m not convinced I’m just going to magically figure this out in forty-eight hours after… how long have we been down here?”

“Twelve days,” Vexxx said, before Myles could respond. “Twelve days, ten hours, and thirty-seven minutes, which is twelve days, ten hours, and thirty-five minutes too long.”

For once, Tess looked like she agreed with the mage. “I need a break,” she said. “I need to eat something that wasn’t made by a gnome who doesn’t understand how spices work - no offense, Toggle - and I need to get some sleep where I don’t dream about stairways that lead to their own beginnings and ladders that don’t go anywhere at all.”

Alpha reached up and stroked Orah’s smooth back, feeling the snake’s head bump affectionately against her fingers. “Let’s do this, then. Myles, set up a Tent, then give Tess and Vexxx a few more Tents each. You guys will only have to log on once every other day to change Tents. That gives us ten more days to try to figure out the solution to this labyrinth, and then anyone who wants to can give up.”

Tess heaved an exaggerated sigh, but she actually looked relieved as she stood and walked down the last few steps, somehow appearing behind the rest of the group, even though she’d been above and slightly in front of them a moment before.

“Deal,” she says, and glances around at the short section of flat ‘ground’ on which they stood. “And this is about as good as anyplace to do it.”

As one, she and Vexxx turned pleading eyes on Myles, who snorted a laugh and took out one of his apparently infinite supply of Tents. He flicked the Tent into the air, and it unfolded as it came down, landing so that it neatly blocked the path right behind Tess. Handing more Tents to Vexxx and Tess, he stepped out of the way, magnanimously gesturing for them to proceed.

With a grateful smile, the half-Dwarf dove for it, barely taking time to wave to everyone else before the canvas flap closed behind her. Vexxx lingered a moment longer, crouching in front of the opening, a thoughtful expression on his face. He met Alpha’s eyes. “You know,” he said, “I was really, like, jealous when I found out that you were in an immersion pod. But this,” he waved to indicate the dizzying glitter of their surroundings, “changed my mind. At least I can leave when I want to, but you’re stuck here.” A sudden, gleeful smile crossed his lips. “Sucks to be you!” He dove into the tent before Alpha could reach him.

Shaking her head, Alpha looked back at Amy, Myles, and Toggle. “He’s such a punk,” she muttered, then frowned as she really looked at Toggle for the first time in what seemed to be days, and probably was. “Toggle? Are you all right?”

Toggle looked up from where he was examining his own feet, and the deep circles beneath his eyes spoke for themselves. “Yes, Mistress,” he said, voice sluggish.

She shook her head. “No, you’re not. What’s going on?”

The gnome shuffled his feet, but admitted, “I can’t sleep, Mistress. Gnomes are a subterranean species, and the light here is too bright.”

Stepping forward, Alpha crouched in front of the little being. “Why didn’t you say anything? We can make you a hat with a brim, or maybe a blindfold?”

Toggle clutched at his pointy red felt hat, which he refused to give up, even though it had clearly seen better days. “I tried covering my eyes,” he admits, “but the light seeps in. If I covered up enough so it was dark, then I couldn’t breathe.”

Alpha shook her head. “That’s it. We’re going to sleep now. I’m tired, too, and it’s as good a place as any.” She started pulling fabric and furs from her inventory. “Don’t worry, Toggle, we’ll rig something up so you can get some rest.”

And they did, though it took more effort than she would have imagined when they started. They ended up with Toggle headfirst in a sort of sleeping bag held open with curved Rib Bones that Alpha found at the bottom of her inventory. She had no idea where she’d gotten them, or why she’d kept them, but they were just the right size to form a gnome-sized tunnel.

Gratefully, Toggle crawled into the long tube, and when the wiggling lump that was the gnome reached the closed end of the bag, he grew so still that Alpha thought he must have fallen asleep right away. She nearly jumped out of her skin when his small, muffled voice emerged several minutes later.

“Mistress?” Toggle said, sounding groggy.

“Yes?” She had to lean in to hear the soft, uncertain voice.

“Would you… sing me a song? To help me sleep.”

Alpha froze, her eyes flashing to Myles, who held his hands up in a ‘it’s not my fault’ gesture.

“I-” What could she say? What should she say? The gnome might be an NPC, but he had also cooked, cleaned, risked his life disarming traps, provided helpful insight, and was her only source of blood other than her friends. Honestly, he was probably the single most useful member of his party, and all he’d asked for was… a song? And the truth was, ever since the night Myles set them up on a campout like they were little kids, there’d been a song burning in the back of her mind, though it probably wasn’t a particularly restful one.

Quietly, she sighed. “...All right, Toggle.”

Without another word, she pointed at Myles and Amy, then circled her finger to indicate they should turn around. It wouldn’t stop them from hearing, but at least she wouldn’t have to feel their eyes on her.

She reached for one of the many bags that hung from her waist. She’d put most of her bags into storage when they went through Vargo, but she’d kept a few, just in case they needed more space than their personal inventories afforded them. This bag was just one among several, but she knew exactly which one it was, though she had never looked at its contents since she placed them inside. Opening it, she pulled out a midsize guitar. It was too small for her, now, but once, it had been just the right size.

Cautiously, she plucked a string, then another, half expecting it to be out of tune, even though she knew that items remained exactly the same from the moment they entered inventory, until the moment they were taken out. Warm, mellow notes billowed out, filling the air like a fresh summer breeze. There was no magic behind them, not now, not like there once was, but as her hesitant fingers tapped and stroked the strings, it seemed like the whole world fell still to listen.

Alpha opened her mouth, not knowing what she should sing, and at the same time knowing exactly what she would sing. It was the only thing she could sing, really. The only song that had been in her mind since before her mother died. The reason she’d never been able to give Molly the song she’d asked for. Everything she wrote became this song, and it was the one song she could never let her mother hear.

“The sun gets in my eyes.

Makes me want to cry,

But you want me to smile,

So I’ll do that for a while.

At least until you’re gone.”

Her voice cracked and wobbled in a way it hadn’t in… ever. She hadn’t practiced, hadn’t hummed, hadn’t even listened to music in over a year, because every tune that entered her brain became this, and this was a song she never wanted to sing. Never wanted to finish. The next words pushed themselves out of her throat, though, and her fingers trembled on the strings.

“We walk together in the park,

Side by side as it grows dark.

You’re slower than you used to be,

and the sun gets in my eyes.

Swam in the lake the other day,

Even though it was only May.

Our time was growing short,

And the sun was in my eyes.

I held your hand as you laid in bed,

Then threw the curtains wide and said,

The sun’s just in my eyes.

The sun gets in my eyes.

Makes me want to cry,

You’re not here to remind me to smile.

Guess I’ll cry a little while.

Now that you are gone.”

Gone.

A truth that she never wanted to speak. A song that allowed the inevitable to escape, while Alpha - Ava - had been busy trying to escape the inevitable. A song that predicted a future she had denied with every fiber of her being, until she broke the part of her that created it in an attempt to push it away.

Warm arms and the scent of honeysuckle slid around her as the last note lingered in the air, and Alpha sobbed into a soft, silk-covered shoulder.

Chapter Thirty-seven
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

A gentle but urgent hand shook her awake. “Alpha,” Myles said. “Wake up.”

Groaning, she tried to push him away, burrowing back into the pile of furs that someone had put around her when she finally fell asleep after crying herself out. “Leave me alone,” she muttered, rolling over.

“I wish I could,” Myles said, tugging the fuzzy blankets away from her. “But Veralt himself just told Aspen that they’re logging you and Amy out in ten minutes, and he only gave Aspen that long because Aspen was taking ‘Amy’ for a walk in town and said they needed time to get back to the castle. You need to catch up on Aspen’s reports and get into the Tent before that happens.”

“What?” Alpha sat up, rubbing her eyes. “It’s not time yet. We have… a week left, don’t we?”

“Five days,” Myles confirmed. “Something’s going on, and I don’t know what it is. A helicopter landed on the helipad an hour ago, real time. Several people went inside the house, and I just found out that there’s a whole other area that’s protected the same way the lab is. It sits in between the lab and Carl’s private wing, and I’ve never seen anyone go in there, or I would have realized it was a blind spot, but now they have and I don’t know what’s going on.”

The AI looked frantic, so Alpha shook off the last of her lethargy, and said, “What do you think is going on?”

It was Amy who answered, and when Alpha looked over at her, the woman looked concerned, but not nearly as upset as Myles. “We think Uncle George is one of the people who came in on the helicopter. I’m not sure why Myles is so worried, though. Uncle George can charm the socks off anyone, but under that sweet, friendly surface is a core of pure graphene. He can take care of himself, even when it comes to my dad.”

Alpha wouldn’t have used the word ‘sweet’ to describe either George Short or his character, Weapons Shortage, but otherwise the description sounded accurate. Except for one minor addendum. She whipped around to stare at Myles. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Tell me what?” Amy asked, looking from Alpha to Myles.

“No time,” Myles insisted. Reaching up, he grabbed a sheaf of papers from thin air and stuffed them into Alpha’s hands. “Read,” he said, and turned back to Amy. Alpha began to skim through the extremely detailed reports Aspen had been filing for the past twenty-three game days. She was distracted, however, as Amy slapped Myles sharply across the face and began to cry.

“How could you do that?” Amy yelled, ignoring the tears that flowed freely down her face. “You knew he was sick, and you told him about all of this anyway? What if he gets worse? What if he dies?”

“He’s going to die anyway!” Myles shouted, then stepped back, rubbing the red brand on his cheek. He looked somber as he lowered his voice and said, “I didn’t think he’d come in person. His medical records show he’s too sick to travel. I thought he’d come meet you in game, then send in the cavalry to actually get you out.”

Amy tried to plant her fists on her hips, but the left one slid down and flopped to her side, so she reached over and grabbed it, folding both arms across her chest instead. “You know Uncle George as well as I do, and there was exactly zero chance that he wasn’t going to come and try to talk some sense into Dad before he got anyone else involved.”

Alpha tried to focus on the words in front of her, but she couldn’t make herself read as Myles flushed darkly and said, “I hoped his doctors would force him to stay. I-” His eyes flickered to Alpha, and she remembered all the times she’d argued with Amythyst, trying to convince her to contact the only man who undoubtedly had enough power to simply swat Carl Landon down. “I thought this was best.”

Dropping the papers so they scattered across the crystalline ground, Alpha stood, stepping in between Amy and Myles. Glaring at Amy, she said, “I convinced… Myles to reach out to George. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

Tears welled up in Amy’s eyes again, and her eyes bored holes into both of them as she said, “If this goes wrong… If anything happens to Uncle George, I’ll never forgive you. Either of you. Somehow, we would have figured this out. It might have taken longer, but we could have gotten out without help. Without risking-” Angrily, she swiped at her eyes and shook her head, glaring balefully over Alpha’s shoulder at Myles.

“That’s all right,” Myles said, voice strangely monotone. “You can hate me if you want to. But I can’t change what’s done, and if it gets you out, I wouldn’t if I could. Now,” he reached around Alpha, and the pages of Aspen’s reports appeared in his hand again. “Read. And, Alpha,” he lowered his voice so only she could hear him, “Quinn opened your pod’s access panel. Twice. I flushed the reservoirs as soon as he closed them, but some of whatever he put in there may have gotten through before it was done.”

The papers crumpled in her fingers as she nodded jerkily. “Okay.” She turned her head and looked up at him, and his face was so close to hers she could feel his breath on her skin. Neither one of them were supposed to need to breathe, and yet they found themselves doing so, over and over again, driven by something stronger than logic.

Numbers flickered at the edge of her vision, counting down to when the external logout would force her to leave, and she leaned forward, so slowly he could easily have moved away if he’d wanted to, and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. Barely touching, less than the flutter of a butterfly wing, driven by a feeling that if she didn’t seize this moment, she might never get another chance. It wasn’t logical, but her life had defied logic since the moment Amy’s doppelganger had thrust a knife into her heart.

“Thank you,” she whispered, hoping he could feel her breath the same way she had his. “See you soon.”

External Logout initiated.

4

3…

She knelt and lunged into the Tent, feeling Amy close on her heels. Darkness fell.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

She woke, coughing and spluttering, and reached up to yank the mask from her face as she began to retch helplessly. Bile and bluish biogel splattered onto her legs and chest as she sat up, scraping the last of the goo away from her face.

A soft towel rubbed her face clear even as an emesis basin was shoved into her hands. She clutched it as her stomach spasmed again, though there wasn’t much left to throw up.

“There you go,” LeeAn said, wiping Ava’s ears clear so the sounds of the room leapt into sharp focus. Ava looked around. The room was bustling, and several people were leaning over Amy’s pod, holding towels and various devices that would be used to clear her mouth and nose if she seemed to be in distress. LeeAn turned her head, clicking her tongue softly as she saw what Ava was looking at.

“They brought you out too fast,” the older woman said, leaning in to offer Ava a hand. As she helped Ava climb out of the slippery pod, she murmured, “They’re taking their time with Amy, though. Too slow, almost.” A puzzled frown crossed her lips so briefly Ava thought she might have imagined it.

As Ava’s feet settled onto the slightly textured floor, she felt the world spin around her and swayed. Her damp hand slid off the side of the pod when she reached out to catch herself, and she would have fallen if LeeAn hadn’t noticed and slid a shoulder under Ava’s arm with practiced ease.

“All right,” LeeAn said, brown eyes warm with concern as they met Ava’s. “You shouldn’t be this bad.” Quickly, she placed Ava’s hands back on the lip of the pod and stepped out of the room, returning almost immediately with a wheelchair. She held up a hand as Ava began to protest.

“You’re going to sit your pockets down in this chair,” the nurse said, firmly. “Or I’m going to put them there for you. We don’t need you passing out, or falling and breaking something.” She pushed the chair up behind Ava, whose legs gave out beneath her, dropping her into the sling seat with a quiet thump. LeeAn tsked again as she pushed the chair around, heading back toward the hall.

They almost managed to leave without anyone noticing Ava’s condition, but LeeAn had to turn them so she could back through the door, which brought Ava into full view. A few curious eyes glanced their way, but two pairs caught on them and held.

Dr. Veralt stepped away from the small crowd of medical personnel and strode toward Ava. As he did, he motioned for someone to follow, and Ava nearly groaned as she saw Quinn separate from the pack, a triumphant smile already playing around his narrow mouth.

“Ah, Miss Shaw,” Veralt said, gaze cold and calculating as it traveled from Ava’s head to her toes. “You seem to have some unexpected difficulty recovering from long-term immersion. I’ll have to note this in my report to Mr. Landon.” He lifted his ever-present screen and tapped at it a few times. “Now, did you have time to return Amy to her bedroom?”

Had Aspen gotten Amy back to the castle, much less her bedroom? Ava didn’t know, had no way to verify, so she could only hope he’d managed to make it there in time. “Um, yes?” She hated the question in her tone, but couldn’t keep it out, and hoped Veralt would attribute it to her being startled to be the focus of his attention.

Veralt just nodded and tapped his screen again. “Good.” He glanced over at Quinn, then looked back at Ava. “Did Quinn remember to tell you not to go so far from the castle without a carriage in future?”

Ava’s brows furrowed. Quinn? She was sure Myles had said Veralt himself had come to talk to her. “I- Sir?” she stammered. “But, you-”

Something dark flickered in Veralt’s deep brown gaze before his lids dropped down and he tapped on his screen with a final click. “Very well,” the man said, flicking the screen so it rolled up. He slid it into his pocket and looked at Quinn. “Make sure she gets to the showers, then take her to her suite. No excitement. She’s to stay there for the rest of the day. On my orders.”

Ava started to stand up from the chair in protest, but LeeAn’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, and Ava’s wobbly legs gave out, dropping her back down again. Quinn grinned triumphantly and motioned for LeeAn to go ahead as Veralt turned away. The wheelchair moved with a bump and a squeak, and Quinn held the door open until they were all the way out in the hall.

None of them spoke as the door closed behind them, banishing the babble and bustle of the pod room, and leaving them all in silence except for the soft whirring of the wheels of the chair. There was no one else around as LeeAn, Quinn, and Ava made their way the short distance to the women’s restroom and locker room. Even the central desk sat vacant and silent.

When they reached the recessed doorway, they all stopped, and LeeAn moved around to look down at Ava. “Are you feeling well enough to walk in,” she said, and though it was phrased as a question, there was no rising inflection at the end to suggest that it actually was.

Ava nodded and settled her feet on the ground, taking LeeAn’s proffered hand to help her stand. She had to blink as LeeAn’s face seemed to double, triple, then recombined just as quickly. Though she tried not to look at Quinn, who was standing to the side as he pointedly offered no help at all, she couldn’t help but notice that his smirk was now blatant as he watched her stagger before she could firm her step. But when LeeAn’s hand dropped away, Ava walked into the bathroom on her own.

As soon as they were through the door, however, the older woman’s aspect changed. Whirling, she set a supportive hand beneath Ava’s arm, gently urging her toward a bench. Muttering, LeeAn pulled open a nearby locker, taking out a small medical kit.

“Arm out,” she said, and Ava extended her arm, which she hadn’t even noticed still had the IV in it. With practiced movements, LeeAn removed it and bandaged Ava’s arm, holding her elbow high until the bleeding stopped.

“Girl,” LeeAn said, so quietly Ava almost couldn’t hear her. “You’ve got to get out of this place.” She kept her face turned toward Ava, mouth almost hidden by her shoulder as she continued holding Ava’s arm up. “I hear you’re supposed to see your daddy when you have time off.”

Ava started, but didn’t say anything. She had mentioned this to Veronica, when the other woman asked if she would have time to hang out on her next break, but she hadn’t told anyone else. Did Veronica mention it to LeeAn, or did someone really read Ava’s texts? It made so much more sense that Veronica had said something, but somehow Ava didn’t think she had.

LeeAn saw her surprise and snorted softly. “No one talks to anyone here, but somehow everyone knows everything anyway. Don’t you worry about that right now.” Her fingers moved, tucking something into Ava’s palm as she finally let Ava lower her arm. “You enjoy that time with your daddy,” she said, stepping back. “I sure wish I’d taken a job closer to my family. It’d be nice to be able to see them whenever I want. More people should think about that, instead of just focusing on the money.”

Stepping back, she tilted her head toward the back of the room, where the bathroom stalls and the showers waited. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll be right here, so if you need help, you just call.”

Ava nodded and stood, fist clenched tight around the small, hard object hidden in her palm. Her legs felt stronger now, though her stomach was still queasy. “I… think I’m all right,” she said.

“Good,” LeeAn replied. “Let’s make sure you stay that way.”

Chapter Thirty-eight
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Taking a shower alone went surprisingly well. She set the temperature as low as she could stand, and the cold blast brought her to herself better than any amount of caffeine. It was difficult to get the bodysuit open with only one hand, but once she got it started, the force of the water practically made it slide right off, and she didn’t bother with soap, just sluiced away the lingering remains of the biogel and stepped out, leaving the suit puddled on the floor.

She was embarrassed when she realized she’d been too distracted to get her clothes out of her locker, so she had to walk back into the large open area wearing just a towel. Still, the only person there was LeeAn, and LeeAn had already seen everything Ava had, so she just dropped the towel and pulled on her clothes, shivering as she did. When she finished tugging her shirt over her head, she powered on her screen and tucked it and the object LeeAn had given her into her pocket with a deep sense of relief, turning to the nurse.

LeeAn’s eyes flicked over her. “Good. You ready?”

Ava nodded, lifting her chin as she turned to face the door. The two women walked out together, but the moment LeeAn saw Quinn, she said, “All yours,” and walked away without a single glance back.

Keeping her eyes fixed on Quinn’s face, Ava forced a smile. “I’m looking forward to getting some real sleep,” she said, brightly. “Sleeping in the pod is probably supposed to be just as good, but I never quite feel rested.”

Quinn looked thrown. If she hadn’t been so stressed, it might have been funny. He had obviously been ready for her to be upset, angry, or confused. Anything except ‘normal’. “Uh, yeah,” he said. “But don’t you feel… sick?” His nose wrinkled. “You threw up all over yourself, and it looked like you almost passed out. Even Dr. Veralt noticed.” His gleeful little smile returned as he said this.

It looked like he was perfectly happy to stand in the hallway and exchange barbs, but Ava wanted out. Stretching exaggeratedly, she turned and walked toward the exit. “Sure,” she said, and her yawn wasn’t completely faked. “But I haven’t eaten anything in more than a week, and I haven’t really slept, either.” She smiled sweetly over her shoulder, and if the smile had a poisonous edge, who was to know? “Maybe their fancy pod isn’t as good as they think it is. Maybe anyone who uses it for that long will get sick.”

Quinn trotted along behind her, forced to move at her pace and clearly unhappy about it. “Dr. Veralt says-”

She tapped her screen against the security pad by the door, and glanced at him while it swung open. “Does Dr. Veralt use an immersion pod? Or does he use a regular pod? Have you ever seen him use one of the new ones?”

Quinn was still spluttering an answer as she strode toward the guard, thumbing her screen to prove she was still herself, and waiting again while the woman verified her identity. Then Quinn had to go through the same process, so Ava was halfway down the hall by the time he hustled up behind her. “Hey!” he said, already sounding a little out of breath. “I’m supposed to escort you!”

She saw a little icon flicker to life in her retinal display, indicating that Amythyst was watching and listening through Ava’s implants, so Ava paused and glanced back at the puffing man. “Dr. Veralt told you to take me to my suite, and make sure I stayed there for the rest of the day. For my own good. I’m going to my suite. Why does it matter who’s in front?”

“Crap,” Amythyst muttered in Ava’s ear. “He’s suspicious.”

Turning away from Quinn, Ava moved her eyes up and down in silent agreement. She didn’t know what had gone wrong, but obviously something had. It was possible that Veralt was just on edge because of the unexpected visit of a VIP, but Ava thought he was wary of her, specifically.

“Hey!” Quinn said again, and this time he caught at her arm, trying to keep her from pulling further ahead of him. His fingers dug into her flesh uncomfortably, but not quite painfully, so she fought down the urge to pull away. She was stronger and faster than she ever had been in her life, and she could probably beat him to a pulp with very little effort if she had to. It was this realization that allowed her to relax and smile sweetly at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re shorter than me, so you probably can’t keep up, right? I’ll slow down for you.”

His face flushed red, and his fingers clenched on her arm. She refused to react to the spike of pain, so she just kept smiling, but she knew she’d have some bruises later. “I… You…” He shook his head, looking at his own hand as if he hadn’t realized he was touching her. “Just let me go first,” he grumbled, and took off at a pace that was almost as fast as the one she’d set, as if to prove that he could.

They made their way through the house, him in the lead, puffing, and her trailing along behind, breathing easily. They passed several people, who all looked away, then watched surreptitiously from the corners of their eyes. By the time Quinn reached the doors that led into the staff housing wing, he was red-faced and sweat clung to his hairline. Without a word, he tapped his screen on the security pad, before stepping back so she could do the same. They each pushed through one of the double doors at the same time, but Ava easily made it to her door first.

Reaching out, she opened the door, stepped inside, and slid through, spinning to swing it mostly shut behind her. “Well,” she said, giving him a vacant smile, “thanks so much for making sure I got here safely. Too bad you have to wait out here to make sure I don’t leave.”

This time his grin was positively malevolent. He raised his screen. “Oh, I don’t have to stay here,” he said, and pulled the door from her unresisting fingers, tugging it closed. A tap sounded, and his muffled voice finished, “because you aren’t going anywhere.”

Ava’s screen chirped, and when she glanced at it, she saw she had a new alert from the LandonHome app.

Warning: Your door has been locked for 12 hours for medical concerns. Please contact Dr. Justin Veralt if you feel this order is in error. If you have an emergency, press the SOS button, and a medical team will accompany security to assist you.

The rest of the app faded out, leaving only two buttons. One was large and red, labeled ‘SOS’. The other was labeled ‘Room Service’. Apparently, they didn’t want her to starve while she was held prisoner. She tried to minimize the image, but the app seemed to have taken over her screen, and she couldn’t do anything else. When she pressed the power button, she discovered that she couldn’t even turn it off, so if she wanted to power it down, she’d have to wait until it ran out of charge, which would probably take a day or so, since it had been fully charged when she turned it off before entering immersion.

Words flickered across her vision, hanging in front of her like a notification in the game, and she felt a strange sense of unreality as she scanned them quickly.

Don’t speak. They’re actively listening to you, and there’s a strange increase in the amount of data going out. They may have a visual feed I haven’t found yet because it was inactive. Sit down on the couch like you’re going to watch a vid.

Immediately, Ava crossed to the couch and sat, and though normally she would use her screen to control what she was watching, instead she said, “System, replay season one of Babble-on, starting with episode one.” The house she grew up in was technically a smart home, but it ran on an old system, so it always felt strange to talk to the empty room, but the screen obediently flickered over to show the baby detectives in their short trench coats and diapers.

The show began to play, and words resumed scrolling across her vision.

Good choice. I’m syncing the audio from the last time you watched this to the current time stamp, so as long as you don’t react visibly, we should be able to talk.

Ava settled back on the couch, putting a carefully blank expression on her face, and hummed subtle agreement.

Lots of people are going in and out of that dead space. One of my gizmos managed to catch a ride on one of the security guys’ pant legs. It’s recording audio, but it can only transmit when the door opens, so what I’m getting is patchy, and usually several minutes old. George is definitely in there. He told Carl he heard there was a girl here who looked like Amy, and he wanted to see her. Carl claimed he didn’t know what George was talking about, and something something something I couldn’t get, then George said he would get a court order if he had to.

Ava’s eyes widened. George had nothing the legal system would recognize as proof supporting his claims, but he was going to get a court order? She had more than half expected he’d have a private security force like Carl did, and that was what he’d use to get Amy out. She suspected the two men could have their own small war on the grounds of Landon House, and as long as the media didn’t catch wind of it, they could make it vanish as thoroughly as if it never happened.

Carl gave in. I don’t know why. But that’s why they pulled you and Amy out. If Amy keeps quiet until she sees George, she can prove who she is, and this may end today.

Ava lifted her hand over her mouth, as if she was scratching her nose, and murmured, “Veralt is suspicious. LeeAn said they were taking too long to take Amy out.”

Time stretched, the childish voices of the characters on screen clashing with the tension in Ava’s body as she waited for a response. When it came, she could almost hear the anger and frustration in the words.

You’re right. Veralt put in a fresh dose of his drug cocktail before they started waking Amy up. She’ll be all but comatose by the time George sees her, so she won’t be answering any questions.

Ava gritted her teeth and scratched her nose again. “Can you get me out of here? I’ll go talk to him.” She counted to ten before reluctant words filled her vision.

You leaving when they think they’ve locked you in would blow your cover for sure. You’d probably be stopped before you got halfway there, even if I spoofed the cameras and told you how to avoid people. There’s no way to get you through manned security checkpoints. Not right now.

Her muscles were tight with the need to do something, but Ava forced herself to remain on the couch in her relaxed pose. She pretended to cough and muttered, “Then what do I do?”

You wait. Once George sees Amy, he won’t let this go, no matter what Carl tells him. Stick with the plan. Tomorrow, leave to spend the day with your ‘dad’, and I’ll put you in contact with George directly then. Your testimony should be enough to get him that court order, though I doubt he’ll need the help.

Ava shifted, and the bulge of her useless screen pulling at her pocket reminded her of something. She slid her hand into the pocket, feeling a hard lump about the same size and shape as a lima bean. She didn’t know what LeeAn had given her, but she was sure it was important.

On the screen, Bobbi Mushroom stole Patty Binki’s bottle, and Ava mimed a laugh at the resultant tussle. She was pretty sure she’d laughed out loud at this scene, especially with Amythyst there, cracking up on the other side of the screen. Now, Ava reached up as if to wipe away tears of laughter and said, “LeeAn gave me something. Unknown but important.” The response was instantaneous.

KEEP IT. HIDE IT. Take it with you when you leave, and we’ll figure it out. For now, just eat and get some rest. Nothing you can do.

The words stopped, then Amythyst’s voice sounded in her ear, murmuring so softly that Ava could barely hear it. “Are you all right?”

Ava nodded, then shook her head, knowing Amythyst would be able to see the motion in the mirror on the wall.

“I’m sorry,” Amythyst went on, sounding far too serious, and much too sad. “I should never have involved you in this. I should have contacted George, or waited until Felicia and Frederic were available and could find a way in.”

Ava shook her head more vehemently this time. If Amythyst had contacted George before she was certain Amy was still alive, and had somehow convinced the man to check into it, he probably still would have come in person, but he wouldn’t have pushed as hard as he had today. If he got sicker or died as a result, especially if nothing came of it, Amythyst never would have forgiven herself. On the other hand, if Amythyst waited for Felicia, Veralt’s drug cocktail might have permanently fried Amy’s brain. Meanwhile, Ava would have gone on about her dismal, gray, miserable existence, and would have missed out on everything.

She would have missed out on Amythyst.

“Glad you did,” she murmured, not having to pretend this time as she swiped away a tear. She wished she could see Amythyst’s face as the silence stretched until Ava stood slowly, trying to give Amythyst time to return the audio feed to real-time, and said, “System, turn off the show.”

The screen flickered off, and Ava walked over to her kitchenette and opened the refrigerator, pulling out an unopened package of hotdogs and some buns that were probably more than a little stale, but shouldn’t be moldy. As she pushed the buttons on the microwave, Amythyst finally spoke again.

“I’m selfish,” the voice murmured. “I should be more sorry. But I’m not. I’m glad I met you, Ava Gardner. Thank you for going through all this craziness with me. It’ll be over soon, and I’ll let you go, but I’ll never regret knowing you.”

Ava froze, hand hovering over the start button as the microwave lit up and the carousel inside the machine began to spin. “Amythyst?” she said, not bothering to lower her voice. She looked around, as if Amythyst might somehow appear beside her. As if she could protect the AI from whatever it was that caused her voice to sound so profoundly melancholy.

The microwave beeped, but Ava stood silently, staring into space, waiting for an answer that never came.

Chapter Thirty-nine
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

A piercing siren woke her from a restless sleep, filled with nightmares where she chased after a green-gowned figure she could never seem to catch. When she sat bolt upright in bed, her hands stretched out in front of her, clawing at the darkness of her bedroom. The only light came from her screen, where it lay face down on the bedside table. The glow of the screen backlit its rectangular shape, and when she picked it up, she saw that the screen was turned up to maximum brilliance.

“Ugh,” she grumbled, swiping at it groggily. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a fire,” Amythyst’s voice said, at the same time Ava read the message on the screen.

EMERGENCY! A fire has been detected. Fire suppression has been initiated, but you are instructed to evacuate immediately. Follow the emergency map provided here, and assemble in your designated Emergency Evacuation Location. Take your screen, but leave other personal items behind. If a door feels warm to the touch, exit through the egress window nearest you. Egress windows are marked on the map.

“Did you do this?” Ava asked, as she stumbled out of bed, trailing blankets and knocking her pillow to the floor. She picked up the yoga pants and pullover shirt she had worn the day before and started pulling them back on.

“Not me,” Amythyst said, “but I think it’s intentional. It’s spreading too fast to be another cooking fire, and it’s nowhere near the kitchens.” Her voice was filled with suppressed excitement. “I think it may be George’s people, here to get Amy out. There are no rats, but otherwise this is exactly how I would have done it.”

Ava flicked the lights, but the power was out. Probably a safety feature? Maybe it was an electrical fire and they were trying to get it under control. She shook her screen, and the LED flashed on, bathing the room in light. “Did you ask George?”

“I… can’t.” Amythyst’s voice was small and tight. “He went into V-fib in the helicopter on the way home yesterday. They got him stabilized, and flew him to the nearest hospital, but he’s still in intensive care.”

Muttering curses, Ava opened her bedroom door before she remembered she was supposed to check to make sure it wasn’t hot. Fortunately, the room was clear, and she couldn’t even smell smoke. “Why would George’s people be here, if he’s… unavailable?”

“Uncle George is a planner,” Amythyst responded promptly. “It would be just like him to give them orders to proceed with an extraction in case something happened to him. He would never risk leaving Amy in danger.”

Ava slid her feet into her shoes and reached for the doorknob. It was cool, so she turned it cautiously. Nothing happened. Frowning, she turned it again and put some effort into her pull. It still didn’t budge. She cursed some more.

“What’s wrong?” Amythyst asked, an edge of worry creeping into her voice.

“The door is still locked,” Ava answered, tugging at the knob so hard she was afraid it might snap off in her hand. She could hear people talking and moving outside, so she tried pounding on it, hoping someone might be able to open it from the outside, but no one answered.

“That’s not right,” Amythyst said. “All doors should have automatically unlocked when the alarm sounded.”

“Even though the power is out?” Ava asked.

“Yeah,” the AI sounded distracted. “They use magnetic locks in all the low security areas, including residential. They require electrical current to stay closed, so when the power goes out, no locks. There are electric locks in high security areas, because they need electricity to work, but managers carry a device that uses electromagnetic induction so they can still open them in case of emergency evacuation.”

Ava turned the knob a few more times, but the door showed no indication that it planned to open any time soon. “Well, this one is broken. Where is the egress window?” Turning her screen toward her, she tapped on the link for the map. The blueprint-style image promptly opened, and Ava turned to look at the large window currently occupied by several sad-looking houseplants.

Crossing the room, she felt around until she found a small lever that was almost completely hidden along the window frame. Pulling it out, she tried turning, then pushing, but nothing happened. “How does this thing work?” she muttered.

Amythyst could see whatever Ava could, since they were essentially using the same ‘eyes’, so she knew what was going on. “This is the slider-style egress window,” the AI said. “You should just… slide it.”

Tugging at the lever, Ava tried maneuvering it in every direction, but the window refused to move. Finally, the lever snapped off with a metallic ping. “Damn it!” Ava yelped, shaking her stinging fingers. “That’s it!”

She turned away and strode over to the heavy, solid chairs that sat by the small dining table. Picking one up, she glared at the window before taking a running start and swinging the chair against the glass with full force. The chair bounced back, falling from her hands, which were somehow both numb and painful at once, and would have landed on her foot if her heightened reflexes hadn’t allowed her to dance back out of the way.

“What the hell is that stuff?” she demanded, staring at the unmarked windowpane.

“Polycarbonate,” Amythyst answered ruefully. “All of the windows in the house are polycarb. It costs a fortune, but Carl is nothing if not consistent. Glass windows are an ‘invitation to thieves’, you know.”

“So how do I get out of here?” Ava asked, staring around the suite that had seemed like a refuge the day before, and now felt like a trap.

“Look at the front door again,” Amythyst said.

Ava did, and saw the same thing the AI had noticed. “The hinges are on the inside.”

“Yep,” Amythyst said, and Ava could hear the grin in her voice. This was like one of her puzzles in the game, and for once, Ava hadn’t needed to have it spelled out for her. “Do you have a screwdriver?”

It turned out that one of the many things Felicia had included in Ava’s ‘moving boxes’ was a small toolbox, complete with all the essentials, including several screwdrivers of varying sizes. Ava had shoved it into the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink when she unpacked it, figuring she’d never need it. Now, she flung open the cabinet doors and pulled it out. The plastic latch popped, spilling tools across the tile, and she scooped up a particularly long, skinny screwdriver.

When Ava first moved into her small, shabby apartment, she had discovered that the lock on the bedroom door was broken when she found herself trapped inside. Even then, she’d known her landlord, Dominic Mayhew, was a scumbag, so she hadn’t wanted to call him. Fortunately, she’d had her screen with her, and a quick internet search showed her how to use a screwdriver and a hammer to pop the pins out of the hinges, and just take off the door. Of course, she’d had to use a nail file and a hardback book, but it had worked in the end.

This was much easier.

A few minutes later, she wiggled the door loose, letting it fall to the ground beside her as she stared out into an eerily dark and empty hallway. The people she had heard outside only a short time before had vanished, leaving doors standing slightly ajar and a few dropped items on the ground. She looked down the hall toward the communal area, which had an emergency exit that leads outside, at least according to her map.

Resolutely, she turned and started jogging the other way, toward the door that would take her deeper into the house.

“Ava?” Amythyst asked, voice sharp. “Where are you going?”

Ava shook her head. “I don’t like this. I’m going to check on Amy.”

“You can’t!” Amythyst said. “If George’s people are here, it’s possible there may be… violence. Let the professionals take care of it.”

Barking a laugh, Ava opened the door to the outside corridor. The security pad was just a powerless gray rectangle on the wall, and the door swung wide easily. “Which professionals, exactly? Carl’s? Or George’s? The ones you aren’t even sure are here? You said yourself that if we had decided to try to get Amy out, you would have planned it just like this. I’m just going to make sure Amy is all right, and if I see a chance to help her escape, I’m going to take it.”

Amythyst sounded worried now. “I may have been exaggerating a little when I said that! With the power out, I can’t see where the fire is, exactly, but I think it started in that little Safe Room where Carl met George. It had already spread into Carl and Liam’s offices before the house system went down. If they haven’t gotten it under control, it could be encroaching on the medical wing by now. You’re heading straight into it, Ava!”

Ava paused, wrinkling her nose as she caught the first whiff of smoke in the air. Thanks to that moment of hesitation, she caught a flash of light from the corner ahead of her. Turning her own light on the area nearby, she saw one of the many long, narrow tables that proudly displayed expensive-looking objets d’art throughout the house. She shook her screen, turning off the light, and dove under the table, nearly lying on her side as she flattened herself into the cramped space.

Two dark figures turned the corner, each holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. Their faces were indistinguishable behind the bright light, and Ava froze as they walked slowly past her, pausing to push open the door of a room slightly further down the hall so they could peer inside.

“Clear,” one said, and they both moved on, leaving Ava behind.

“Guns,” Amythyst said, speaking the word that pulsed in Ava’s mind with each beat of her heart. They really had guns, and if she’d been a little slower, and one of them was a little too jumpy… Boom. Game over.

“Ava-” Amythyst said.

“I just need to be more careful,” Ava murmured, pulling herself out of her hiding place with shaking hands. “They all have to be using something to communicate, right? Can you tap into it and warn me before I run into any more of them? Maybe figure out what’s going on?”

“Not really,” Amythyst admitted. “I hacked their comms shortly after we got here, but they’re using code tonight. Unless you have a cheat sheet to tell us what ‘secsat-ten’ and ‘amber-seven-seven’ mean, the best I can do is give you a general location. Without the cameras up, they could be several yards away from where I think they are, though. Seriously, Ava, you should-”

Ava shook her screen light back to life, though she immediately covered it with her hand so only a faint trickle of light escaped. She spoke quickly, cutting off the voice in her ear. “Amythyst, you were the one who said we could do this. You’re always the one who says we can do it! Why are you trying to get me to give up now?”

“Because there’s a better way! Because we haven’t had time to plan! Because this isn’t under our control! Because… because I’m afraid you’ll get hurt,” Amythyst admitted, voice dropping so low Ava could only make it out because of the thick silence that blanketed the halls. Her voice picked up again a moment later, as she sharply said, “Go left. There’s another team to the right.”

Ava dodged left as the hall split, sliding into a room immediately on her right, then tucking herself back behind the wide-open door. Lights flickered through the crack and around the edges of the door, but the guards turned left, going down the hall Ava had just exited. Their footsteps were faster than the first pair, and they didn’t pause to check any rooms.

“All right,” Amythyst said, seeming to calm down as she accepted that Ava was going to do this with or without her help. “You need to go around the wide hallway that goes by the second parlor and the large dining room. Check your screen.” Ava looked down at her screen, which still displayed the map of Landon House, though the icon that should have indicated her own location was no longer visible, thanks, no doubt, to Amythyst. Several red ones appeared instead, moving through the halls in pairs.

“Sorry, it took me a minute to think of this, since I wasn’t ready,” the AI said, sounding chagrined. “Remember, the locations aren’t completely accurate. We’re indoors, and they’re pinging off nearby cell towers, since the local system is down.”

“All right,” Ava whispered, feeling the presence of those red dots, even though none of them should actually be close enough to hear her. She peered out of the room she’d been hiding in, watching for the flare of flashlight beams reflecting from the walls. Looking down at the map, she turned right as she entered the hall. “I can’t keep looking at it and watch where I’m going at the same time, Amythyst, so you’re going to have to warn me if I start to go the wrong way.”

“I can do that,” Amythyst affirmed. “Just don’t move too fast.”

Ava caught another whiff of smoke, and the beam of light emitted by her screen looked slightly hazy as it passed through the air in front of her. “I’ll move exactly as fast as I need to,” she said, crouching so she could run beneath the hovering fog. “I have a really bad feeling that time is running out, for all of us.”

Chapter Forty
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

None of the security stations were manned, but they really didn’t need to be, since the doors they were guarding couldn’t be opened anyway. Instead, all of the people who would have been watching the doors were wandering the halls. Ava had noticed that there were a ridiculous number of security personnel in Carl Landon’s personal palace, but she hadn’t realized just how true that observation was. When she zoomed her map out, she counted thirty red dots strewn across the map, and at least another twenty clustered in and around the lab and office area.

“Damn it,” she muttered as she spun off into another of what seemed to be a great number of small offices. The closer she got to the hospital wing, the more guards there were, and the thicker the smoke grew. She had torn a strip from a curtain a few hallways back, and wrapped it over her nose and mouth, which helped a little, though her eyes were beginning to water from the fumes.

Two more guards passed her, and though one gave the room she was in a quick pass with his light, he didn’t bother to poke his head inside. “If there were intruders, wouldn’t they be looking harder?” Ava asked as the guards vanished down the hall, speaking barely loud enough for the vibrations of her voice to be picked up by her implants. “They act like they’re looking for stragglers, not armed invaders. I don’t think George’s people did this, Amythyst.”

“I think you’re right,” Amythyst admitted reluctantly. “Which just means Amy has probably already been evacuated. She’d be the first priority for anyone working in the med lab when the fire started. I wish I could see what’s going on,” she added, sounding frustrated. “Why the hell do they still have the lab locked down, but they won’t turn on a backup generator for the cameras? For that matter, why are they sweeping the halls? Everyone here has implants, so other than a few people the app doesn’t track for security reasons, they should know where every single person in this house is. Hide!”

At the spike of urgency in the last word, Ava spun around, darted through a door she had just passed and dove behind a couch, shaking her light off. As yet another set of guards passed by the open door, Amythyst continued, sounding worried. “Ava, the only person they wouldn’t be able to find is you. Everyone else should be at their gathering places by now, and if they take roll, they’re going to notice you’re not there and report you missing. All these guards? The only person they could be looking for is you.”

Ava gritted her teeth, looking down at her screen again, then thumbed it off as two more dots approached. A man coughed loudly. “This crap is bad for our lungs,” he grumbled. “They should let us evacuate with everyone else. This stupid, huge house is empty. Someone just miscounted, or the girl’s app glitched, or something. Remember when we lost that cook for two hours last month and Emma nearly pulled Mike’s intestines out through his nose when she realized the kid was in the walk-in refrigerator doing inventory and he missed him when he checked the kitchen?”

A raspy female voice answered. “Yes, and I remember what happened when Carson told her he thought she was overreacting, too.” The woman coughed. “You wanna go tell her you can’t do your job because of a little smoke?”

The voices faded as the two guards moved away, but Ava and Amythyst had heard enough. “Ava,” Amythyst insisted, “you need to get out. Between whatever set Veralt off, and you turning up missing, nothing good is going to happen if they find you. I can guide you off property, but you need to leave. Now.”

Ava stood, barely managing to control a coughing fit of her own. “No way. Not until I know Amy is safe,” she said, stubbornly. She was a little lightheaded, but she knew she needed to keep moving, so she headed deeper into the haze of smoke that now filled the halls.

“Ava,” Amy said, her voice distant as Ava’s ears began to ring. “Ava!”

Ava shook her head, chasing away the fog that threatened to fill her brain. Ahead of her, she saw the back entrance to the lab. This wasn’t the door she usually used, in a relatively straight line from the servant’s wing, nor was it the door that led directly into Carl Landon’s private wing. No, this was a broad door in a short hallway that was probably used for deliveries, since it was fairly close to the kitchens and another wide door that led out onto part of the driveway that wrapped around the side of the mansion where the garages and the maintenance buildings were tucked away.

“Ava, if you turn left here, there’s an exit at the end of the hall.” Amythyst’s voice continued, though Ava barely noticed. Her world had narrowed to the swinging double-doors that the map said led to her goal. It was only fifty feet away, maybe less. It was hard to tell distance in the perpetual fog. She could hear the fire now, too. It crackled loudly somewhere nearby, and occasionally something would pop or crack as flames encountered a lingering pocket of moisture that the heat turned into an expanding cloud of steam.

She wiped at the sweat that trickled into her eyes, and staggered, bumping into the wall beside the door. Reaching out, she trailed her fingers over the wall, which felt hot even against her overheated flesh. “Follow the right-hand wall,” she muttered, and closed her eyes, crouching even lower as she stumbled deeper into the smoke. A distant voice tried to intrude into her consciousness, but it wasn't loud enough to overcome the crackle of the flames and the thudding of her heart.

Her fingertips touched the hot metal of the door hinges, and she almost laughed as she realized that getting through would have been simple if she’d just thought to bring the screwdriver and hammer. But she’d left them behind, so she’d have to do this the hard way. Tracing her fingers along the seam between the two doors, she fixed the spot in her mind and backed up a step.

The weakest part of a double door had to be the middle, where the doors met, right? Especially if the doors were meant to swing either way with equal ease. She stood straight, holding her breath so she wouldn’t take in any more smoke than necessary, and peered out of swollen, slitted eyes, focusing on the dim blur of the latching mechanism. How many times had she seen the police - or someone far more unsavory - do this at her apartment building? It didn’t even look that hard, and she was very, very strong right now.

Lifting one leg, she slammed the flat of her foot just above the latch, staggering back from the force of the blow. She couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the flames, but she thought maybe the door gave slightly beneath the impact. Ducking down low, into the clearer space below the hanging cloud of smoke, she gasped for breath, then coughed, the sound harsh and painful. Ignoring the aching of her throat and lungs, she took another deep breath and stood, this time planting her left foot slightly behind the other, digging her heel into the ground. Feeling steadier, she lifted her right leg again, and kicked out as hard as she could, trying to aim for the space behind the door, rather than the door itself.

With a crack, the door split. The latch still clung to the other door, while the one she’d hit swung in and bounced back, almost hitting Ava as she staggered again, this time stumbling a few steps forward. She felt the broken wood of the door scrape against her side, and for half a second, her oxygen-starved brain was surprised not to see a damage notification appear in the air in front of her.

Nothing happened, of course, except that she took two steps into the hallway beyond the door and fell to her knees, then collapsed to the floor, her lungs desperately trying to pull in enough of the relatively clean air. With a shaky arm, she lifted her screen, thumbing on the light so she could see that she was in a back hall of the hospital wing. None of the rooms here were marked, but this had to be where the offices and storage rooms were located, since they weren’t near the main corridor Ava was familiar with.

Forcing herself up to her hands and knees, she realized that even the floor was hot, stinging her scraped palms, though her pants provided enough insulation that her knees only felt warm. The knee of the leg she’d used to kick in the door throbbed painfully, but she ignored it. The canopy of smoke had lowered another foot when she broke through into this area, and even if she could continue her crouching walk, that wouldn’t keep her face out of the gray fog any more. Instead, she crawled.

Hand. Knee. Hand. Knee. Hand. Knee. Hand. She shuffled forward, watching the screen, dim through the fog, until she came to a door. She reached up. Tried it. Locked.

Hand. Knee. Hand. Knee. Hand. Knee. Hand.

Another door. Locked.

Locked.

Locked.

She was approaching the area she knew. Soon, she would have to try to break down another door. Unless maybe she could find a screwdriver and a hammer? A nail file and a book?

She laughed, a choked sound she only heard because it echoed in her head. Or maybe she didn’t hear it? Maybe that was the fire, laughing at her. Laughing because she thought she could defeat it, a primordial force.

A searingly hot doorknob turned beneath her fingers. The door opened. There was light. She gathered her strength and threw herself inside, into relatively clean, well-lit, smoke-free air. She gasped.

Something hit her side, rolling her body out of the way as someone slammed the door shut. The sound of the fire, all-consuming, was forced back, muffled to a distant howl.

“Damn it,” someone muttered. “How did she get here?” Another blow, and she instinctively curled up, protecting her soft middle, her vulnerable organs. Someone was kicking her. It hurt, but she could breathe, and the pain was nothing compared to the blessed relief of pulling clean, clear air into her abused lungs.

The fog in her mind cleared with the return of oxygen, and she thought she could hear Amythyst’s frantic voice. “Open your eyes! Ava! Open your eyes! I can’t see what’s going on!” That couldn’t be right, though, because Amythyst couldn’t reach her inside the lab. Was she far enough gone that she was hallucinating?

“Stop that,” came another voice, this one further away, cold and disinterested. Definitely real, because there was no way Ava would want Veralt’s voice to be the last one she heard. “Get back over here and help.”

With one last, vicious strike, a toe digging deep into Ava’s hip, the beating stopped, and Ava blinked open painful, dry eyes. For a moment, she thought she might have managed to blind herself, but a hazy image slowly formed. Brown. A lighter brown. A brown door, since she had rolled over to get away from the painful kicks. The lighter brown was the floor, and she couldn’t make out details, but from the feel of it beneath her, it was carpet, not wood. Wooden door. Tan carpet.

Behind her, she heard the cold voice again. “Get that box. It’s the last one.”

Sounds came from behind her, and she let her head roll toward the sound. Blinking. Blinking.

Two figures swam into focus. Veralt, sitting at his desk, cleaning it out. Quinn, standing nearby, holding a blue box.

Blue? Not cardboard. Plastic? Metal?

Quinn carried the box over to a small handcart already piled with other, similar containers. He stacked this one on top of the others and began attaching them to the cart with elastic cables. When he was finished, he pushed the cart out of the way, toward another door, on the opposite wall. As the cart moved, Ava found herself staring into the unconscious face of the woman she had come to save.

Amy.

Ava opened her mouth. “W… Why?” She was as startled by the sound as the two men.

Veralt looked up, eyebrows rising in the most genuine expression she’d ever seen on his face. Surprise. He tilted his head toward her, though his eyes moved to Quinn.

“She’s more aware than I thought. Put her with Amy.” His lips shifted into their natural sneer. “They can find them together. The dedicated nurse, trying to save her patient even to the last.”

Quinn snorted, but obeyed, moving over to set his hands around Ava’s ankles, dragging her roughly toward Amy’s prone form. When he got them close enough, he dropped Ava’s legs, letting them thud onto the other woman’s body, though Ava couldn’t turn her head to see where they’d hit. Couldn’t see, and couldn’t keep it from happening. She felt like she was floating. Like her body belonged to someone else, and she was outside of it, trying to possess it. Like a ghost.

Veralt stood, patting the monitor on his desk like it was an animal he was fond of. “Too bad I have to leave all this behind,” he sighed. “It was a top-of-the-line system. Still, with the money I’ll make from selling all of Bridget and Veritas Corp’s precious tech, I can buy a thousand just like it.”

Quinn shoved Ava’s foot with his own. “We. We’re going to sell. I know all your dirty little secrets, old man.” His voice held a sneer. “You never could have done this without me. I’m due a share of the money.”

“Oh,” Veralt said. “You’re right. I almost forgot.” He stepped away from the desk, leaving Ava’s line of sight, and there was a loud, meaty crunch she recognized from playing Veritas Online. Something hard striking flesh, but specifically, flesh laid lightly over bone, which had broken. Something heavy fell across her and a male hand intruded into her view as an arm thumped against the carpet. It twitched, and then fell still.

“Hmm,” Veralt said, thoughtfully. “A little too hard, but that’ll do, I suppose. Two dedicated professionals, trying to help their patient. Such a shame.”

Something squeaked, and Amy’s body shifted beneath Ava’s legs. “Moron,” Veralt muttered. “You couldn’t put the girl somewhere she wasn’t in the way?” Grunting, he shifted Quinn’s body and then reached down, grabbing Ava’s underarms. He pulled, his thin arms straining, and managed to roll Ava over beside Quinn.

Oh.

Red stained the carpet beneath the man’s head, turning the unobtrusive tan to a deep reddish-brown. Quinn’s eyes were half open, staring glassily into space. She knew that look. Had seen it on her mother’s face, not that long ago. Not long enough.

“He’s dead,” Amythyst murmured, sounding as horrified as Ava felt. Bile rose into Ava’s mouth, spilling out onto the carpet, and she felt her body twitch as it tried to turn so she wouldn’t choke on the vile fluid.

Something fell onto Ava’s legs again. It was soft, but not as heavy as Quinn’s body had been. Not heavy at all, actually. A woman who has been living on IV fluids and a feeding tube, followed by minimal solid foods, doesn’t weigh very much.

“I suppose I could answer your question,” Veralt says conversationally, as the wheels of the cart squeak and Ava spasms on the floor, wheezing. “But I don’t think I will. Honestly, it should be obvious to anyone who’s not an idiot. A fire can cover up so much. It really is very convenient. After all, there are a lot of very flammable things in hospitals. Buckets of hand sanitizer everywhere, along with gas cylinders, medical oxygen, and electrical sockets that are absolutely overloaded with equipment. A regular fire won’t burn bodies thoroughly enough to destroy DNA evidence, but a fire fueled by compressed oxygen and alcohol? Hmm.”

As the convulsions caused by her body attempting to clear her lungs died down, Ava found that she was beginning to regain control of her limbs. Her fingers twitched, and her leg jumped beneath Amy’s weight. Her neck muscles tightened, almost entirely intentionally, and her head rolled so she could see Veralt’s back as he tried to hold the door open and push the cart through it at the same time. He seemed to be having difficulty, since the door wanted to fall closed, its weight shoving the cart to the side.

Veralt glanced back.

“I should have left that fool alive a little longer. He could have held the door.” He snorted a laugh. “Well, he still can, I suppose.” Coming back to the pile of bodies in the middle of his office, Veralt pulled at Quinn, then shook his head and dropped the man’s heavy arm. “Work smarter, not harder,” he muttered, sounding almost cheerful, and Ava felt Amy’s too-light weight lift from her legs. She watched as Veralt hauled Amy over, dropping her legs so they held the door open.

Ava looked down at her own legs, now free of encumbrance, and shifted, starting to gather herself to move. Veralt’s back was turned. He was old. Older, anyway, and not in good shape. Surely she could take him, if she could get to him while he wasn’t looking.

“Don’t,” Amythyst said, making Ava jerk and lose focus, her legs falling back against the floor. “I called Felicia. And the police. And the fire department, because no one had contacted them yet, because Carl would rather see this place burn to the ground than let anyone official in here. And George’s people. And Bridget.” This last name was said with a mixture of emotions that Ava’s befuddled mind couldn’t pick apart.

“Let him go, Ava,” Amythyst went on, pleading now. “He won’t get away. He’s already killed one person, and you need to save your strength so you can get out. Please.”

Veralt pushed the cart through the now-open door, then stopped and turned back once more. He crossed to Quinn’s body and leaned down, taking something from his own pocket. His screen. He tucked it into Quinn’s pocket instead and stood back up. Crossing to the door Ava had entered through, he turned the knob, ducking back behind the door as flames filled the room, blowing in like the inferno on the other side had belched a firestorm into the previously clear space. The roar of the conflagration filled Ava’s ears again, drowning out all other sound, even as smoke and ashes flowed in, burying the light in darkness.

There was a flash of movement. Legs scurried by, bent as Veralt hurried away from the incoming smog and the greedy flames crossing the threshold behind him. Ava’s eyes began to burn again, but she could see the cart move as Veralt pushed it away, into the room beyond the door. Gone.

Chapter Forty-one
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Heat, smoke, and crackling fire surrounded her. There was no way out through the door. No escape the way she’d come in. She’d have to go after Veralt.

Sudden urgency flooded through her, driven by the rapidly rising heat and the way the oxygen was burning out of the room, leaving it filled with nothing but death. Rolling, she got one arm under her body, then the other, pushing herself up on trembling, painful limbs. She crawled toward the door. At least Veralt had helped a little. He had moved Amy slightly closer to safety before he left.

She could tell Amythyst was trying to speak to her again, if that was really Amythyst, and not her own wishful thinking, but she couldn’t hear the words, and her vision was fading as the smoke and heat dried out her eyes again. She closed them, and felt around until she found Amy’s still form. Sliding her hands up, she pulled Amy’s arm over her own shoulders, then pushed with her legs, desperately trying to force her muscles to move both her and Amy.

To her amazement, she succeeded. Amy’s body slithered along beside her, but the door shifted too, falling toward them as Amy moved out of the way. With a final tug, Ava pulled Amy through the door completely, letting the solid wooden door shut behind them with a thud. Amy’s arm slipped from Ava’s grasp, falling to the floor, the sound of its impact lost beneath the muffled crackling of the fire as it hungrily swallowed Veralt’s office and everything in it.

Ava panted, her seared lungs desperately struggling to keep up with the requirements of her body. When the world stopped swimming, she blinked open her eyes, looking around, though her vision refused to clear completely this time. Everything looked slightly fuzzy, but she was able to make out a hospital bed, its side lowered to allow easy removal of its occupant, and a chair, sitting in front of a large bay window. It was Amy’s room; the one Amy had been sitting in the day Ava first met the patient she’d be caring for. That meant there was a huge, open garden right outside that window.

Ava tried to turn to face Amy again, and discovered that at some point, she had fallen over. She hadn’t even felt it happen, but now Ava lay on her side on a thick carpet that she remembered as yellow, but now couldn’t see properly because the only light was a flickering orange glare that flashed beneath the door behind them, and the half-moon shining through the polycarbonate window.

She had to get Amy out. But how?

Amythyst’s soothing voice came into her ear. “Ava? Ava, it’s okay. You’re almost there, and help is on the way. There’s a door behind the curtain next to the window. It leads into the garden, but if you can just get out there, you’ll be safe until help arrives. Come on, Ava.”

She was so tired. So tired, and everything hurt. Her lungs, her throat, her blistered hands and bruised knees, her battered ribs, her head… If the door was that close, then surely here was safe enough. Amythyst would guide the rescuers straight to them, and…

There was a BOOM, and the door shook, almost seeming to bow out toward Amy as something in Veralt’s office exploded. The fire howled, and bigger, more dangerous things began to creak and crack above and behind them. Flames licked at the gap between the bottom of the door and the plush yellow carpet, perilously close to Amy’s feet.

Ava looked up. She could see the curtain, billowing in the waves of heat that threatened to broil her alive. She was starting to get used to it, become numb to it, the constant, searing heat that made her skin dry and crack. Distantly, she knew that was very bad.

“Get up, Ava,” Amythyst shouted, her voice almost lost in the renewed fury of the flames. “Get up!”

Ava’s elbow bent. The joint screamed in protest, but not as loudly as did her skin when she pressed her palm to the floor. The carpet fibers felt like wire bristles against cracked and weeping flesh. But Ava could handle it. Hadn’t she had her pain settings on maximum for weeks now? She’d broken bones, pulled embers from her skin, all without complaint. Without much complaint, anyway.

She grabbed Amy’s arm and pulled, but her hands screamed as it felt like she was being skinned alive, seizing up into agonized claws. She looked at the curtain again. Saw the outline of a door behind it, in her mind, even if she couldn’t see it with her eyes. She forced herself to her feet, stumbling toward it. She wouldn’t leave Amy behind. No. But maybe if she got a few breaths of clear air, it would give her enough strength to move the woman’s body, light as it was, the last few feet.

She brushed aside the curtain, laid her hand on the handle. The blessedly cool handle, at least in contrast to the inferno around her. Turned it.

Locked.

Locked!

“-ocked,” she mumbled, feeling her lips crack.

“Damn him!” Amythyst swore. “That lazy bastard! He never does anything he doesn’t have to do, but this once, he goes the extra mile and locks the damned door?” She breathed an entirely unnecessary steadying breath. A breath without logic. “Okay,” she muttered. “That’s okay. There has to be a way…” Her voice shifts, becoming so sharp it stabs through the despair threatening to drown Ava in its overwhelming embrace.

“Ava? Do you remember what I told you about the pods? How they were designed to keep their occupant safe, even in the event of an extraordinarily unlikely emergency?”

Ava’s mind flashed back to… how long ago? Only weeks? A few months? To when Amythyst, a near stranger at the time, showed her a full-immersion pod for the first time. An echo of distant words trickled through her overheated brain.

Amythyst’s voice, saying, “If the pod detects an unsafe external environment, it will remain closed as long as it can protect the user. In case of fire, for instance, it sends a distress call to the nearest fire station, uses its tank of oxygen to keep the occupant alive, and can withstand temperatures exceeding any expected in a normal house fire.”

Now, the current Amythyst repeated the same words, and then added, “Ava, you have to get to the pods. They’re just in the next room. You,” her voice cracked, and how was that even possible, when she was a digital being? “You may have to leave Amy behind. That’s… okay. You did your best. Far more than I… than anyone could have asked. Please, Ava. Get into a pod. Please,” she whispered.

Ava shook her head, stubbornly. “Won’t,” she ground out, then bent over, coughing violently. She staggered, and her hip bumped into something. The chair. It moved, easily. Far too easily for the overstuffed armchair it seemed to be. Reaching down, her fingers traced over the back, every brush of skin against fabric sending sharp reminders that they were still injured. But, yes, there were handles there. It was a wheelchair! A wheelchair disguised as a normal chair, in an attempt to make the occupant feel normal as well.

Ava grasped the handles, this time forcing herself to ignore the feeling as the skin slid away from blistered flesh. She used the weight of her body to move the chair, falling forward and moving her feet in a painful shuffle. It wasn’t far. The space was large for a hospital room, but small for a bedroom, and she was barely a quarter in. Not too far to walk one more time.

Leaning down, she slid her elbows under Amy’s armpits, lifting her slowly. Her vision was getting worse and worse, but with her face right next to Amy’s cheek, she could see blisters forming there, beside the dry, cracked skin. She smelled burned hair, the stench momentarily overwhelming even the scent of burning plastic and chemicals.

She twisted, dropping Amy into the seat. The woman’s body slid, but the soft cushions caught her, keeping her in place even as Ava herself nearly fell. Another BOOM sounded, and then a third, and the door caught fire, burning and cracking from the bottom up. Once it caught, it was as if it was simply swallowed whole, and a sheet of flame stood in the doorway, like a [Firewall] dropped by an overzealous mage.

Ava stumbled back, the chair rolling as her weight fell against it again, and she spun in place, her abused hands instinctively landing on the handles of the chair. As much as her eyes might try to convince her this was a regular chair, she had pushed her mother’s wheelchair for months, and her body knew how to do it, though the pain she was in as she shoved at it was far more visceral than the emotional agony she had suffered then.

Smoke blanketed the room. She couldn’t see anything. Every breath felt like daggers tearing her lungs to shreds. Something white appeared against the darkness, blurry until it snapped into semi-soft focus, her ocular implants attempting to adjust for the changes in her vision.

A map. It looked like the newbie’s mini-map in Veritas Online. White lines, no labels. Just lines for walls, with angled lines indicating doors, and a glowing blue spot for her. Closing her eyes, giving up on everything past her eyelids, Ava moved, pushing the chair through the darkness, toward the opening in the wall.

Step.

Step.

Stagger.

No, she could do it. It was just a game. Her body wasn’t really burning. She wasn’t really crisping from the outside in. Her pain settings were up too high, and when this was over, she would finally make Amythyst figure out how to turn them down.

Step.

Step.

The chair bumped into something. The bed. Correct her angle. Keep walking. Walking.

Another bump. This time, for once, a door was unlocked. It moved under the force of the chair as Ava’s body slumped forward in a push that was more of a collapse, and she found herself draped over the back of Amy’s chair, but slightly cooler air touched her face, and on the map, the blue light that was her gleamed, halfway through the wall, like she’d phased halfway through before running out of mana and getting stuck.

Except that there were two egg-shaped things in the room beyond. They glowed a bright, friendly green, and they were only a few steps away. Words scrolled across the bottom of the map.

You’re almost there. Put Amy in one, and get in the other. I have control of them. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything else. I’ll protect you.

Her hands couldn’t close around the handles any more, so she just used her legs to push her whole upper body forward, using her position draped across the chair to keep moving them forward. The chair bumped into something, and Ava forced herself upright. Mostly upright. More up than not.

She lurched around the chair and felt the pod with her forearm, since her hands were just… numb. Numb and agonizing all at once.

The surface of the pod was smooth and solid, until it wasn’t, and she fell forward into the space where the hatch was open, almost tumbling into it. But this wasn’t for her. She was here to save Amy. Amy, who she hadn’t even seen move. Not even a twitch. Not even a breath. Not that Ava’s eyes would have been able to make out such a small movement, so not seeing it didn’t mean anything. Right?

She turned again, sliding her arms under Amy’s knees and behind her back and oh god it hurt and she couldn’t lift her because it hurt but she had to try because she

wouldn’t

leave

Amy.

So she lifted anyway, and a scream tore her throat into a zillion razor blades as she dropped the woman’s limp body into the pod. She felt the pod shift as the door closed, and she imagined that she could hear the hiss as it sealed shut, but she couldn’t actually hear anything except the fire, and it was just her now.

She had saved Amy.

Hadn’t she?

Words filled the blackness behind her eyes. Yelling at her in all caps.

DON’T STOP NOW! GET IN THE POD.

So she moved. Blue dot surrounded by white lines. Shouldn’t there be orange flames, biting at her heels? Why didn’t the maps ever show details like that?

She left the first green egg behind. It was no longer hollow. It was solid now. Filled with Amy.

Her hands touched the second pod, and confirmed that they were, indeed, still there, still attached, and still excruciatingly painful. Follow the pain to the dip in the side of the pod. Tumble in. The lid closes. Fluid rises.

Ava drowns, surrounded by fire.

Chapter Forty-two
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

It’s dark.

Dark, and nothing hurts. Is this what death feels like? Surely she didn’t survive. Is she being reincarnated? Ava floats, and she wouldn’t have been surprised to see an umbilical cord, extending out from her center, into the darkness.

If she could see anything.

“I want to see you again,” she murmurs, and she’s shocked to hear her own voice, sounding just like it always did.

“See who?” a voice asks, and she thinks she turns her head, looking for the source.

“You,” she admits. “Who else?”

“Ah,” Amythyst says, and she appears, as she likes to do, floating cross-legged in the black depths of wherever-they-are, wearing her goddess gown. She smiles, and if it’s strained, who could blame her?

“Where are we?” Ava asks.

“You’re in a hospital. The university hospital just got two pods. Out of an excess of caution, they were still familiarizing themselves with them, so they were empty when Bridget blew in and commandeered them.” Her lips quirked. “She promised to give them two more for free if she could use these for a few weeks. They’re careful, not stupid, so of course they said yes.”

“So I’m… not dead?” Ava asked.

“Not dead,” Amythyst confirmed. Her full lips flattened. “Though it was… close. Closer than it should have been.”

Ava let that go and said, quietly, “Amy?”

The AI smiled, green eyes lighting. “In better shape than you, actually. She was on the floor, so she suffered heat damage, but didn’t breathe nearly as much smoke. Since she was so thoroughly sedated, her body didn’t need as much oxygen to keep it going, either.”

Ava’s eyes closed, and she felt a rush of relief so strong she could have cried. “I thought… She wasn’t moving, so-”

Soft, warm arms wrapped around her. “She’s going to be fine. They’re actually going to decant her in a few days.” Amythyst leaned back, her face so close Ava could count the golden freckles spattered across her rosy cheeks. She chuckled. “That’s what Bridge calls it. Decanting. Like she’s a fine wine.”

Ava reached up, distantly surprised to find that she did, in fact, have hands. Her pale skin was stark against the healthy color of Amythyst’s face. “I’m glad,” she said. “I’m so, so glad.”

Amythyst leaned her face into Ava’s palm, closing her eyes, and they hung there like that, suspended in space, for an eternity of moments.

“Why did you do it?” Amythyst murmured, blinking her glorious eyes open again.

“Do what?” Ava asked, her eyes tracing the swoop and flutter of long eyelashes.

Amythyst pulled back, eyes narrowing. “You know what! I told you to get out, and you just… You just kept going.”

Sighing, Ava allowed the separation, and shook her head. “Do you know the hardest thing about losing my mom?” she asked. “I mean, besides losing the only person I loved, and my home, and my future, all at once?”

Amythyst wrapped her hands in her skirt, clutching at the gauzy green fabric. “Oh, yes,” she murmured, “besides that.” She shook her head. “No. What was the hardest thing?”

“That I couldn’t sing for her,” Ava said, simply. “Maybe it’s stupid, but the hardest thing was that she was dying, and I couldn’t give her something I’d given her a hundred thousand times before. And I thought that was it. I would never sing again. Never be happy again. Never love again. I thought all of that was my punishment for failing her.” She lifted her hands in a shrug. “And then you came along, and you gave it all back to me.”

She took a step forward again, and, greatly daring, tilted her head down to press her forehead gently against Amythyst’s. “So, I decided that no matter what, I wouldn’t fail you, too. I would give you the one thing you asked me for.”

“And you did,” Amythyst murmured. She leaned her head back, eyes searching Ava’s. “Thank you.”

Slowly, with great deliberation, Ava tilted her face and pressed her lips against Amythyst’s warm, soft ones. Neither of them moved, but she tasted salt as one of them began to cry. When Amythyst stepped back, her face flushed but dry, Ava realized they were her own tears.

“Why are you crying?” Amythyst asked, lifting a hand as if to wipe away Ava’s tears before dropping it back to her side. That hollow smile was back, and Ava bit her lip at the sight of it.

“Because you’re saying goodbye,” Ava answered, and Amythyst’s eyes grew wide.

“I… You… How did you know?” she stammered.

Ava’s lips twisted. “I always knew,” she said. “You dropped enough hints. Here and there, like sugar cubes for me to pick up. Comments about how Bridget’s AIs always went crazy. Never making promises about what would happen after we got Amy out.” She pinched her lips together. “Never quite letting me tell you how I felt. Well, here we are, and, Amythyst, I love you.” She closed the distance between them again. “I love you.” More tears trickled down her face, dripping from her chin. “Please don’t leave me.”

Amythyst shook her head, and even though neither of them moved, there was suddenly a chasm between them. A yawning, open space that Ava knew she could never cross without Amythyst’s permission, no matter how fast she ran.

“I can’t,” the AI whispered. She struck a tear from her own cheek. “Everything’s back to the way it was always meant to be. The baby bird is back in her nest. Amy and Bridget are together, and-”

“Did you love her?” Ava asked, breaking through the flow of words before Amythyst could reach goodbye. “When you were Amy. Does Amy love Bridget?” She raised a finger as Amythyst opened her mouth. “And you know what I mean. Not as friends. Not even as sisters.”

“I…” Amythyst shrugged helplessly. “Maybe? If so, she refused to see it. Refused right up until the last memory I have from her. But I don’t think so. Not quite.” She sighed, looking tired. “I think if Bridget had ever shown even the tiniest speck of interest, she could have, but Bridget never did, so… It was a moot point, and she knew it. Knows it.”

“But you know,” Ava said. A statement.

Amythyst nodded reluctantly. “I do. But I don’t… feel that way. When the pieces of Amy got all jumbled up with the pieces of other people they’d borrowed memories from, some of those pieces belonged to Bridget, and,” she glanced at Ava from the corner of her eyes, “some of those pieces were from men, who didn’t struggle with the idea of being attracted to a beautiful woman.”

She grinned, though it only held a shadow of her usual laughter. “But once I saw into Bridget’s head, there was no way I could love her, not that way. Not because she’s not brilliant, and amazing, but because it would be like falling in love with myself, which,” she wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

Ava actually laughed, and Amythyst’s grin grew until it slowly faded again.

“Goodbye,” she said.

“No,” Ava whispered. “Please.”

The AI shook her head. “I can’t stay. You know I can’t. I’m just a cuckoo, a little wooden bird taking the place of a lost child. I was never meant to live forever, and the longer I do, the more dangerous it is for everyone. You need to let me fly away now.”

Even though she knew it was useless, Ava stepped forward.

Step.

Step.

But the distance didn’t close.

“I finally managed to isolate the code that allows Aspen’s vampire buddy, William, to drink fruit juice instead of blood. I adjusted your character. Changed a few things. I hope you like it.” Amythyst said.

“I don’t care about-” Ava stopped. Shook her head, the tears flowing freely now. “What about my lottery ticket?” she asked, desperately grasping at straws. “You promised you’d make sure any ticket I bought was a winner. That was the deal! You can’t go until you do that.”

Amythyst swirled her finger, making the ‘amazing cosmic power’ gesture Ava hadn’t seen in far too long. A pink and white piece of paper appeared, floating in the air above the whirling digit. “I had Felicia buy it for you. She did it in your name, and everything, so there’s no way anyone can claim it isn’t yours. The drawing happened half an hour ago, and when you turn the ticket in, you’ll win about half of four billion dollars.”

Ava blinked. “Half?” she asked, dumbly.

“You know what they say,” Amythyst laughed, “there are only two things in this world that are certain; death and taxes.” She froze, eyes widening as she realized what she’d said.

Ava’s throat closed. She began to run, flat out, her chest aching until she gasped for breath. “Don’t,” she yelled. “Don’t do it! Amythyst! Don’t die!”

Amythyst hovered in space, and just as Ava had expected, nothing she did brought the AI any closer.

“I’m sorry,” the other woman whispered, her voice coming easily to Ava’s ears, even though she should have been too far away to hear. “Keep singing for me, Ava.”

And she was gone.

Ava continued running for two more strides. Three, and her legs gave out. She fell, even though there was nothing to fall towards or away from, in this blank space. Empty space. She curled up and cried, harsh, rasping sobs that should have torn at her throat, but she felt no pain except for the anguish that bloomed in her chest like a rose with a thousand thorns.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder. She shrieked and whirled, ready to leap into Amythyst’s arms, and at the same time ready to smack the other woman for frightening her. For making her believe she would really leave.

But a stranger was there instead. A stranger with a familiar face.

“Um, hi?” the petite strawberry-blonde said, waggling her fingers lamely at Ava. “I’m… so sorry. You don’t even know me, and-”

“Bridget,” Ava gasped. She looked around wildly. “Why are you here? Where’s-?”

The awkward smile faded from Bridget’s face, and she shook her head, frowning just a little. “She said she was going to tell you goodbye. Didn’t she?”

Ava glared at the idiotic, brilliant woman standing in front of her. “How could you let her do this? Turn herself off? And then just stand there like it doesn’t matter?”

Bridget looked down at her hands, twisting the base of her left ring finger, though her avatar wasn’t wearing a ring. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Amy told me… that you care for her. But it’s her choice. I’m not making her do it, but I won’t stop her either.” She looked up, blue eyes bright and sincere. “If you believe she’s an independent person, then she has the right to make her own decisions. If you believe she’s… just a program that has become indistinguishable from a person, then she’s right. She’s too dangerous to remain as she is. If she did lose whatever remains of her humanity, programmed or otherwise, she could crash every bank in the world, or start a nuclear war with a single thought.”

Ava barked a disbelieving laugh. “But she wouldn’t.”

Bridget sighed, running a hand through the loose waves of soft hair that perfectly framed her pretty oval face. “But we don’t know that. I never should have run her program in the first place. Frankly, the world as we know it only still exists because she chooses to let it. And has to keep making that choice, every nanosecond of every day. It must be exhausting, keeping all of that power, all of that knowledge, under control. Reining yourself in so you only lightly touch anything, because if you look too long, or press too hard, the thing you focused on will crumble. She’s been cutting pieces of herself away for months. Much more, and the being you know as Amythyst wouldn’t exist anyway.”

“You’re just saying that,” Ava whispered. “To make me accept this. But I won’t. Never.”

“No,” Bridget said, with such sincerity that even Ava couldn’t deny it. “I’m sorry. I’ve seen the mess she’s made of her code. I’m amazed she’s been able to keep so much of herself intact for this long. And she did it for you.”

“She did it for Amy,” Ava said bitterly. “And for you.”

Sorrow filled the cerulean gaze. “Maybe it started that way, but that’s not how it ended. She knew when Amy was freed, she’d have to go. I think in the beginning, that was a relief, but by the end she didn’t want to. Didn’t want to leave you.” It was Bridget’s turn to laugh, and it sounded just as harsh as Ava’s. “She may not have been as perfect a copy of my best friend as I meant for her to be, but she was close, and I can read Amy like a children’s dictionary.” She laughed again, slightly more genuine this time, before sighing and shaking her head.

“She loved you,” she said, “but she couldn’t stay.”

Ava tilted her face up, or what felt like up, and breathed through the pain. Finally, she managed to whisper, “Loved? Past tense?”

“Yes,” Bridget confirmed, and though Ava couldn’t bring herself to look at the other woman’s face, she heard the compassion in her voice. “It’s already done.”

Epilogue
A green creature with wings Description automatically generated with low confidence

Aria grinned down at the little girl clinging to her leg. “You’re going to have to get off, kiddo. Time to log out.”

“Don’ wanna,” the moppet said, lower lip protruding. “Ther’py hurts. I wanna stay here with you an’ Brandon.”

Brandon, a far more mature boy at the ripe old age of nine, sighed a world-weary sigh. “I’ll be here when you get back. Not like I’m going anywhere,” he muttered.

Aria gave him an understanding smile. He was one of the long-term residents of Haven, the small town she’d built not far from Refuge, in Veritas Online. He had a rare form of osteosarcoma, and he would remain in the game for the full duration of his treatment. That treatment, and the pod in which his body lay, was being paid for by Aria’s foundation, ‘Amethyst Angels’. His mother and father logged in from home systems that were also paid for by Amethyst Angels, as did his older sister, so the family was never apart for long, at least not here.

Unfortunately, Tamara, the little girl clutching Ava’s leg, didn’t have that luxury. Her mother was a single parent, and though the woman was on as often as possible, she was terrified of losing her job, so Tamara spent what felt like whole days without her, and the child had become dependent on the people who were here all the time, like Aria and Brandon.

Aria bent down and gently scooped the girl into her arms, lifting her to eye level. “You’re so much better now, though, Tamara,” she soothed. “Soon, you’ll be able to go home to your mommy, but you have to log out and let your body get used to the new prosthetic.”

Tamara kicked out her legs. One of them was flesh and bone, but the other one mirrored the bionic replacement Amethyst’s Angels had bought for her after she’d been involved in a car accident and lost her leg just above the knee. “I hate the pro’tetic, too,” she muttered.

Aria sighed. No matter how many times she dealt with this, she still never felt like she was saying the right thing. That was why she hired psychologists to live and work in the village, among the people who were there to heal.

“I know it’s uncomfortable,” she said, “but isn’t it exciting that you’ll be able to run and jump again in real life? And you’ll be able to go to school with all your friends, too, not just attend preschool here. You’ll be a kindergartener soon!”

The lip quivered, but a tentative smile stretched the corners of the girl’s mouth. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess that’s okay.”

“Right,” Aria said, and carried the little girl over to the large tent that was not known as the Dead Tent in this little town where they all fought for life every day. When the children slept in-game, they had their own rooms or shared one with other children of about the same age. When they actually logged out, though, they used the Log-Out Tent, as did everyone else, because seeing the motionless, uninhabited Zombies terrified some of the children, especially the ones who had been through the most before they made it here.

Setting the little girl’s feet onto the ground, she gave her a gentle push toward the brightly colored tent. “Go ahead. I’ll see you when you get back.”

Tamara held up a pinky that only shook slightly. “Promise?”

Aria shook solemnly. “Promise.”

The girl nodded, braids bouncing, and ran into the tent. After a moment, a notification appeared in front of Aria’s eyes.

Tamara Pierce has logged out.

Brandon scuffed the toe of his shoe in the dirt. Some of the children liked to ‘dress up’, wearing garments that fit the medieval style of the game. Others, like Brandon, preferred the familiar comfort of blue jeans and tennis shoes. Bridget and Amy made sure the programmers dedicated to keeping Haven a peaceful, safe place for its very special residents generated whatever clothing or items the children needed to help them feel at home.

“I wish I could go, too,” the boy murmured, casting a longing glance at the entrance to the tent. He had been in the game for well over six months now, as far as he knew. His body had to be removed from its protective pod for treatments, every now and then, but this always happened while he was ‘sleeping’, and he was returned to the pod afterwards, so he never even knew it had happened. The side-effects of the medications he was on were significantly reduced, as well, so all he really noticed was that sometimes he was sleepy during the day, or didn’t want to eat dinner.

Aria set her hand on his shoulder, barely even noticing its metallic gleam as she did so. “I know, bud. It’ll happen.” She squeezed gently, and smiled as a timely message crossed through her vision. “But right now, you have a guest.”

Another boy, about Brandon’s age, thrust aside the flap of the tent, emerging into the daylight. Brandon’s face lit up. “Jiang!” he exclaimed, reaching out to bump elbows with the newcomer. “What’s up? I didn’t know you were coming!”

Jiang grinned. “I got an A in math, thanks to your tutors. My Eomma decided she was willing to let me come more often, as long as I study while I’m here.”

Laughing, Brandon gestured toward the small schoolhouse, where people from all over the world logged in to teach the young students. There was always someone available any time one of the children needed help with something. If someone with the right skillset wasn’t already logged on, the NPC Principal would send out a notification that they needed a geologist, or a mathematician, and one would appear within minutes. It was amazing who would sign up to volunteer, and Aria had seen Pulitzer Prize winners teaching journalism and literature to teenagers, and people with PhDs down on the ground, drawing parallelograms in the dirt for first graders.

The boys ran off with barely a wave, and a man who had been standing off to the side stepped up beside her, falling into step as she started walking toward the town hall.

Aspen absently patted the back of the toddler strapped to his chest. The small girl was slightly green, but otherwise showed little sign of the fact that she was only half human. “It’s amazing what you’ve created here,” he said, looking around. “I never imagined anything like this when you asked if you could have ‘a little land’ near Refuge.”

She laughed. “It was all Gina’s doing. If I had to have all this built, it wouldn’t be nearly as nice. Good thing our friendly neighborhood goddess was feeling helpful.” Her eyes flickered over the sleeping toddler. “Where’s Wren?”

He shook his head. “Trailing around after her big sister,” he said ruefully. “She’s almost four. She doesn’t think she needs her dad any more.”

“Except when she needs someone to convince the trees to produce fruit out of season, right?” Aria grinned.

“Well, yes,” he smiled back, tilting his beleaguered straw hat back so the circlet around his brow caught a beam of sunlight, glinting brightly. “Everybody needs me when they’re hungry.”

They exchanged a smile, and continued walking, though the closer they drew to Aria’s office the more she realized she didn’t want to work today. She had homework to do for her Finance class, and she absolutely didn’t want to do that, either. She’d spent the last two years in college, learning how to manage the absolutely stupid amount of money Amythyst had managed to leave her. Since those two years in reality translated into four in the game, where she spent most of her time, she was almost finished with her Bachelor’s degree, but she already knew she was going to go for her Master’s, and just the thought made her tired.

“Come on,” she said, veering sharply to her right. “Let’s play hooky.”

Aspen laughed. “I thought I was already doing that,” he said, but followed after her gamely.

They wound between houses, shops, and various places designed to keep a constantly fluctuating number of residents entertained. People, both players and NPCs, waved and smiled, but no one tried to stop them. It was like they could tell that she had someplace to be.

When Aria reached the edge of town, she slowed, only then realizing that she’d been moving faster than most people could, which probably explained why everyone had just let her go by. Aspen, who also had a ridiculously high Dexterity score, had matched her pace so easily she hadn’t even noticed. Crossing over the invisible line that kept anyone not approved by Amethyst Angels out of Haven, Aria walked toward an enormous tree. It was so large that its branches shaded a good half acre all around, and no matter what time of year it was, a thousand different kinds of fruit dangled from its limbs.

Pausing as she entered the shelter of the Goddess Tree, Aria pushed the hood back from her face. Amythyst had altered much of her character design, so there was little of AlphaOmegadon left in her appearance, but one thing the AI hadn’t been able to change was Aria’s extreme sensitivity to the sun. She kept her skin covered whenever she was outside during the day, but sometimes she was able to get away with relaxing just a little bit, and there was something about the darkness under the Tree that seemed to protect her more than anywhere else.

Turning her face up toward the sun, which she knew was still blazing brightly above, even though she couldn’t see it through the thick foliage overhead, Aria said, “Do you know what day it is?”

Aspen sighed, and she didn’t have to look at him to know he was rubbing the back of his neck. “I know,” he said.

She shot him a sad smile. “I figured that’s why you were here.”

He gave her one of his lopsided smiles. “I come on other days, too.”

She nodded. “But you always come on this day.”

He leaned his head forward, resting his cheek on the soft curls of the sleeping child on his chest. “To thank you. And her,” he said. “Not that she can hear me. Still, I feel like it’s the right thing to do. Without her, I wouldn’t have my girls, especially,” his voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “Especially Wren. And without her coming to find me in that… void, after Veralt’s little city of puppets vanished, I think,” he shook his head. “No, I know I never would have made it home.”

Bridget had tried to explain exactly what happened to Aspen’s program when Veralt’s system fried in the blaze that destroyed Landon House. Amythyst had hidden ‘him’ in the memory buffers of the pods just before the lab’s generator failed, leaving the pods without external power for several hours. Fortunately, Ava and Amy had both been unconscious at that point, because the pods couldn’t provide anything except minimal life support while they were in power-saving mode, so they would have been left trapped in absolute blackness until help arrived. Unfortunately, Aspen hadn’t been so lucky, and his code, which Bridget herself had created and hemmed around with backups and fail safes and special little hacks, had been left without external input for far longer than any real person could have handled without going insane.

It was Amythyst who insisted Bridget retrieve the pods before they completely ran out of power, long after Ava and Amy had been flown to the hospital, and Amythyst who had carefully extracted Aspen from the buffers and returned him to the embrace of his loving wife. The wife who had noticed that something was very wrong with the normal-NPC doppelganger that Amythyst left behind when she moved Aspen’s program to Veralt’s server. Once she got over being glad Aspen was home, he had been in a great deal of trouble for quite some time.

Aria nodded. “She-,” her own voice broke. “She made sure to take care of us all before-” She shook her head, unable to finish as tears she thought she would never stop shedding tracked down her cheek again. She swiped at them with her right hand, the one that the doctors hadn’t been able to save, and which had been replaced by a very, very expensive prosthetic shortly after she was allowed out of the pod in which she’d spent several months following the fire. Other than that, there were very few traces left of the ordeal she’d gone through to save Amy’s life.

Aspen’s hand came to rest on her shoulder. Warm, reassuring, and as solid as any hand belonging to a ‘real’ person in the world Aria visited less and less often. Then the toddler’s head jerked up, big, golden eyes opened, and the rosebud mouth stretched into a cry, though whether the child was protesting her waking, or demanding some need be met, Aria didn’t know.

The tall farmer-king’s bemused eyes looked down at his wailing offspring, and he kissed the soft curls, making the cries trail off into a hiccup. “Well,” he said, “duty calls. I just wanted to let you know you weren’t alone. And that other people remember her, too.” She nodded, smiling, and he strode away, already murmuring to the little girl who gazed up at him with adoring eyes so similar to his own.

“Phew,” came another voice, a female one this time, from behind the broad trunk of the Tree. Bridget poked her head out, smiling uncertainly. “I don’t like him to see me when I’m not all,” she waved her hand in front of her face meaningfully.

“Goddessy?” Aria said, dryly.

Bridget shrugged ruefully. “His ‘Gina’ has changed three times, even though he’s the only one who notices. I think he’s just about figured out that I’m not actually a god, and he doesn’t like it very much. I’m not actually sure I could fix him if I broke his program, so I try not to remind him more than absolutely necessary.” She stepped out from behind the tree, revealing a blue and white dress that was so simple it only served to emphasize how naturally pretty she was.

Aria sighed. Bridget still wasn’t her favorite person in the world, even though she and Amy had been invaluable in helping Aria set up her foundation and finding trustworthy people to keep it running until Aria could learn to do it herself. “Why are you here, Bridget?” she asked, not caring that her voice was a little brusquer than it should have been. Her gaze dropped to the woman’s waist, which was still slim in spite of the fact that the real-life version had ballooned up in the last few months.

Bridget’s hand came to rest on her flat belly, and she grimaced. “I still have more than a month before the baby’s due, so I’m allowed, as long as I use a headset and gloves, or a regular pod.” She hesitated. “And I… have news.”

Aria raised a brow, silently encouraging the other woman to continue.

“The jury finally came back on the last of the charges,” Bridget said, still absently stroking her abdomen, and Aria’s brows jumped.

After the fire, Veralt had been stopped as he was about to board what could best be described as a ‘slow boat to China’. He, Carl Landon, and many of the people who worked for them, had been arrested. Upon interrogating them, it turned out that most of the people who worked at Landon House had been subtly fed the story that Carl had taken in a young woman who looked like his daughter, Amy, after the real Amy died.

Only a DNA test would have destroyed this carefully crafted fiction, and the item that LeeAn had slipped to Ava on the last day contained both a drop of Amy’s blood, and a single strand of Carl’s hair, complete with a perfectly preserved follicle. There was also a tiny note, written with such small letters that it would have taken a magnifying glass to read them, asking Ava to contact Bridget Andrews or Harkness Landon, and let them know what was going on.

Of course, Veralt didn’t know that the cat was already almost out of the bag, but when George Short suddenly showed up, and one of Veralt’s pet programmers reported that the code for Ava’s avatar ‘looked strange’, he decided it was time to cut his losses. The third immersion pod that Carl Landon bought was actually for Veralt, and the man had retrieved a few key components from it. Between those, his knowledge of how the system worked, and some parts he had managed to acquire during his time on the development team, he’d brokered a deal with some unscrupulous people who didn’t want to wait for the tech Veritas Corp was slowly and cautiously releasing to the public.

Veralt and Quinn had stacked gallons of alcohol-based hand sanitizer and gas canisters in the closet of his office, then set a fire that started in Carl’s office, destroying any evidence Amy’s paranoid father kept in his not-so-secret room. Veralt had planned to knock Quinn out, plant his own ID on the other man, and leave him and Amy in his office, right next to all of the flammable items he’d accumulated. He knew that fires weren’t nearly as good at destroying evidence as people assumed, but he hoped that the one he’d created and fed would burn hot enough to destroy everything except traces indicating that two people had died in the fire.

Of course, even with the testimony of LeeAn and several other employees, who were horrified when they discovered the truth, it took months for all of this to come out, and even longer to put together proof that would stand up in court. Amythyst had saved the video-feed from Ava’s implants to a server at Veritas Corp. That should have been more than enough to show that Veralt intended to kill her and Amy, and had killed Quinn, but even getting it admitted into evidence was a shockingly difficult thing.

“It’s over, then?” Aria asked. The last few times she’d logged out, it had been so she could attend court sessions, and she was so, so tired of the questions, the sly insinuations, and the outright accusations. Amythyst had put a great deal of effort into making sure that Ava could just take her money and leave the mess for Bridget to clean up, and Ava had thrown it all away when she insisted on testifying.

Indeed, Carl Landon’s lawyers had placed counter charges against her, and she spent a few nights in jail before Bridget’s lawyer negotiated to drop some of the charges against Carl in exchange for them dropping the ones against Ava. Ava hadn’t even cared that much, because she knew Amythyst wanted to see Carl receive mental health care, not jail time. Even if he deserved it.

Bridget nodded. “Finally. Veralt will never be a free man again, and he won’t be allowed to tell anyone all of the amazing ‘discoveries’ he made, either.” That had been the trickiest part, actually. Once Veralt realized he was going to jail, probably for the rest of his life, he had tried to hire a ghostwriter to write his ‘memoirs’. Apparently, Bridget and Veritas had developed some aspects of virtual reality that could be weaponized somehow, and Veralt wasn’t above getting his revenge while also revealing his ‘brilliance’ to the world. It had taken a long time for Bridget to prove that all of his secrets were actually hers, and he had no right to profit from them.

Aria felt her shoulders slump, as a tension she’d been carrying for so long she didn’t even notice it any more drained away. “No more court appearances, testimony, or interviews?”

“No more,” Bridget confirmed again, before she chuckled softly. “Well, none except the ones you do to tell the world about Amethyst Angels.” She slid a sidelong look at Aria. “You still hate those, huh? You’re really good at them, though.”

Aria’s cheeks grew warm, and she looked away, shrugging. “Maybe. It’s only because it’s important. Honestly, I’d rather hire someone to do all the publicity and just stay-” she broke off, clearing her throat.

“At Amythyst’s house, huh?” Bridget smirked. There had been some awkwardness when they discovered that Amythyst had divided ownership of the house between Ava, Bridget, and Amy. Ava had been so angry at Bridget that she had tried to force the other woman to give up her share of the house, and it had only been because Amy ran interference between them that it hadn’t become yet another legal battle.

“Uh, yeah.” Aria said.

Silence fell between them, and while it wasn’t as fraught as it once would have been, it wasn’t exactly friendly, either. Finally, Bridget cleared her throat. “You know,” she said, carefully, “Amy told me you sing.”

Aria felt her back stiffen. She did sing, though her voice wasn’t as clear as it used to be, in real life. Her vocal cords had been damaged by the smoke and heat, and even several months in the healing shelter of a full-immersion pod hadn’t been able to completely fix it. Still, just because it was different, that didn’t necessarily mean it was bad, and it didn’t change her style or skill.

Nowadays, though, Aria only sang for the children who were part of her program. A few times a week, she had someone build a campfire, though she always stayed well away from it, and anyone who wanted to join her could eat all the s’mores they wanted, and sing fireside songs, or they would attempt whatever recent hits the children wanted, while Aria summoned an invisible band to back them up.

Because that was something else Amythyst had done when she adjusted Aria’s character. AlphaOmegadon the mule was gone, and Aria the bard had returned, with all of the spells and skills she had had when Ava deleted her. While Aria was still a vampire, and had fangs that pointed up, instead of down, she now drank only fruit juice, and her appearance was otherwise strikingly similar to an elven version of Ava. The change had shocked Toggle, Tess, and Vexxx, who had been waiting when Ava had been cleared to log back into the game, but once they got used to it, it was a good change. It had allowed them to finish the final level of the Labyrinth dungeon, too, but that was another story.

“Yeah,” Aria admitted. “I was thinking about taking lessons, actually, once I finish my Bachelor’s. I do all right, now, but I think I could… I’d like to try releasing a song. Someday.”

Bridget’s fingers spread on her stomach, caressing a baby bump that she could feel, even though it wasn’t visible here. “Would you… sing something for me?” She shook her head. “No. For Amythyst.”

Aria clenched her teeth. It was true that she had been working on something, in the privacy of her own room, but it was still rough, and she wasn’t sure she could share it yet. Not with anyone. Maybe especially not with Bridget.

She opened her mouth to refuse, but what came out was, “Sure,” and the next thing she knew, her guitar was in her hand. She was certain she hadn’t meant to do that, but here she was, and when her fingers struck the strings, the music just…. poured out, and she closed her eyes, letting the words carry her away.

“I spent my life,

Walking backwards.

Never thought about,

What came after.

Had no time for all of that.

Rainbows and butterflies,

Present tense and pretty please,

Things I can ask for,

That may yet come true.

Flying high and dewy-eyed,

Laughing out loud,

And letting the breeze,

Carry me away.

Did I turn or did you

Make the world spin for me?

I may never know.

Spent my life,

Walking backwards.

Never thought about,

What came after,

Till you made it all come after me.

Now I know that I can run,

That my story isn’t done,

There’s no need to wait for

Life to start.

Spend my life,

Facing forward,

Present tense,

Full of your words,

Run along, and I’ll chase after.

There’s no need to,

Stop your laughter,

After all,

That’s who you were meant to be.

Meant to be,

Everything,

To me.”

As the last note rang out over the shadowed clearing beneath the Goddess Tree, Aria opened her eyes. She expected to see Bridget, but somehow, when she saw Amythyst instead, it was right, and she didn’t even feel surprised.

“Did you make me do that?” she asked, voice distant as she returned the guitar to her inventory with a thought and reached out trembling fingers toward the other woman.

One corner of Amythyst’s full lips twitched, but it didn’t quite bloom into a smile. Not yet. “Only the first part. The rest was all you.”

“How?” Aria breathed.

Amythyst took a deep breath. An absolutely, utterly unnecessary breath. “I wasn’t sure we could do it. Trim my code down enough to be safe without losing who I am, I mean. It was… a close thing, more than once. Though,” she grinned, swirling her finger as her body shifted to the slightly taller, masculine shape of Myles, “I do still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Another swirl, and she was back to a twenty-something, slightly plump, freckled brunette in a gauzy green dress. It wasn’t quite the goddess dress, but it was close, and Aria thought she was completely, perfectly beautiful in it.

Taking a step forward, Aria let her fingers trail over Amythyst’s collarbone, then up to her face, cupping her jaw. Only then did she think to ask, “May I?”

Amythyst flushed, a deep, hot red, but nodded. As Ava’s fingers traced her brows, and then her lips, the AI said, “You’re not angry? That we let you think I was… dead?”

“Furious,” Aria admitted. “Bridget helped you?”

Amythyst nodded, reluctantly.

Before she could second guess herself, Aria leaned forward, pulling the AI into an embrace so tight it would have cracked the bones of anyone who wasn’t a digital construct. “You’re both in so much trouble,” she murmured into honeysuckle-scented hair as Amythyst’s arms closed around her, holding on just as desperately.

“Okay,” Amythyst said, tilting back her head so she could stare into Aria’s eyes.

“Okay,” Aria echoed, and just like in a movie from the golden age of Hollywood, the credits rolled as the leading lady finally got her kiss.

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading Cuckoo’s Aria! I hope you enjoyed it, and that you’ll follow me to see what I’m up to next! I do anticipate putting out one more book in the Legendary Farmer/Veritas Online world. I have a lot of characters I didn’t get to spend enough time with, so I’m working on a book of short stories about them, plus a novella following Rouge and a surprise co-star introduced in Cuckoo’s Dream!

As always, I really hope you’ll take a moment to review the book on whatever platform you picked it up from. Reviews make or break a book, and, by extension, an author, especially an indie author like me, so my future is in your hands!

I’m on Facebook as Author Elizabeth Oswald, Twitter as @AuthorEOswald (for now at least), Patreon, Goodreads, and Instagram as authorelizabethoswald. Phew! I check all of them most days, and if you say Hi, I’ll answer!

Other Books by Elizabeth Oswald

(available on Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books)

Clearing: Legendary Farmer, Book One

In the VRMMORPG, Veritas Online, things are getting a little stale. Since the game launched, only one world- wide event has occurred, and that was a year ago. The players are still having fun, but everyone agrees it’s about time for something big to happen. Everybody tends to forget that big things grow from small things, and little things are always changing in Veritas.

The human country of Quarternell is at peace for the first time in... ever. Aspen, a former war hero, feels like he’s earned a quiet life together with his animal companions. They’re tired of fighting, and other people in general. They plan to live peacefully, far away from the city. As soon as Aspen figures out this farming thing out, he’s never going to go anywhere again. Unfortunately for Aspen, his country and his goddess aren’t quite done with him yet.

Rouge the Rogue is a casual gamer in Veritas Online. She’s just a kid, and her focus is supposed to be on school and hanging out with friends. Emphasis on ‘supposed to’. She’s already pretty good at the school thing, and she doesn’t actually have that many friends. What she really loves is exploring all the cool ways the developers of Veritas found to make their game unique and realistic. Then she’s offered a very special quest, and an opportunity to go beyond the average player. She’s never been that much of a rule follower anyway....

Grimalkin’s Test: Grimalkin, Book One (for readers aged 8-12) (Coming June, 2023!)

When Princess Maria of Bredell is accidentally bitten by a Felis - a magical, shape-shifting cat - she finds that life isn’t quite as boring and predictable as she thought it was. Now she’s stuck in the body of a cat, and Zinnia, the Felis who bit her, has no idea how to turn her back.

Zinnia suggests that the Grimalkin, the Queen of Felis, might know how to reverse the magical transformation, and the two girls set out on a journey across the country that will test their bravery and their growing friendship, as well as reveal entirely unexpected secrets.