Victim Update: Xin Yu

Location: The Shadow Zone

In Her Words: I wanted an engineer Path. I wanted bullets and machine gun turrets. All those years studying hydroponics, low gravity movement, crisis management, driving the land rovers. This is a fantasy world, so certain concessions were asked of me in order to play.

It’s okay, though. I kind of like this new gear plus the Voices let me use stats based on my past simulations. It only took forever.

Gee will probably be surprised, though. Do you think he’ll like this look? I’m not sure about the makeup, it seems over the top. Though I feel delightfully wicked, and need a tailor. Still, the points will help with the rules of this game, world, place. Especially in light of what’s to come.

How can something so serious feel so fun?

Four Travelers stood in-game, meeting together for the first time in weeks. Each one comprised of a different color scheme. Their choice of location looked like a giant cave, only the roof seemed to be made of dim stars.

They stood at a large table working on various tasks. Shadow poked objects around in a bored fashion. There were purple pieces representing members of the League of Shadows. Each one a Traveler named something related to darkness. All of them thought they were rogues, or assassins, thieves, bards, or other such sneaky classes.

“Can’t believe you got a safe house like this.” HotPants ground the staff she loved into the dirt slowly. Its twisting motion kept her calm. The woman wore mostly flame red items despite not being a natural redhead in real life. Not once had she mentioned her real name to any of other players.

Maybe it was the price of being the oldest. HotPants looked to be a fit thirty-five, with a teenage son who also played Continue Online. Her being among this group felt like playing with children.

“It’s the Shadow Zone. I won it after beating the old Guild Leader.” Shadow said with a rough voice. He wore dark blues and blacks. Weapons were tucked away along with powders and potions made by Awesome Jr., one of the other party members.

“That name is so stupid.” HotPants snorted.

“The Shadow Zone!” Awesome Jr. shook his hands towards the sky while calling out. His latest chemical concoction bubbled inside temporarily abandoned beakers. “How awe-“

“Awesome.” The other three cut off an overexcited teenager.

The Shadow Zone was a pocket realm that players with access stones could visit. It was oddly convenient that only four such items had been found. Enough for all of them to recall back to when not in combat or a dungeon. Gaining this base had to be one of the most awesome things to happen so far.

“Well, it is.” Awesome Jr. pulled his green cloak close and tried to look seriously upset. The image failed as chemicals started popping in their glass containers. His mouth rapidly opened wide and hands fumbled for two vials to recover the science experiment.

SweetPea, the shyest member of their quartet, sat close to Awesome Jr. Her hands were busy stitching together a shirt very carefully. Long hair draped in front of the young woman’s eyes. She frequently blew at it trying to get a better view of the product in her hands. Awesome Jr. had set at least three hairbands in front of her but she took no notice.

In the past few months, they had played a lot of Continue Online together, finding their group makeup to be relatively solid. HotPants got to be their front line warrior and smashed things. Shadow really was an assassin, with the skills and Path rankings to prove it. Awesome Jr. served as a general strategist but never really reached team captain, instead focusing on ways to improve the others’ skills with potions or other mixtures. SweetPea enjoyed healing and making clothes.

“Here’s the campaign so far.” Shadow motioned to the table. Behind him, the edges of the shadow zone could be seen. Six doorways went off towards points around [Arcadia]. There was a seventh doorway that none of the players had discovered yet, and maybe never would. Its destination would remain unknown.

“Escape routes were set up in Lithonia, and Scarlet Hills. They should lead right down into the main path.” HotPants pointed with one hand. Her face curled up in annoyance as one of the purple statues faded away.

“ShadowXO, and TwilightAssassin. They reported back as successful, but were trying to clear some of the bandits.” Shadow said with a sigh. Even the downward tilt to his voice sounded abnormally gruff.

Awesome Jr. put away his bubble brews into player inventory. A small pot came out next, which seemed to be bouncing on its own. He peeked under the lid and everyone’s noses started wrinkling. SweetPea actually took two steps back, pulled the knitted cap off then covered her mouth with it.

“Would you believe we’re not the only players trying to do this?” Awesome Jr. said, oblivious to the others’ reactions. “There’s been an entire rash of quests handed out. I don’t think many people have connected the dots.”

“We haven’t even connected the dots.” HotPants’ normal red motif had been tainted by barf green the color of Awesome Jr.’s cloak.

“Right, my dad’s clueless. His entire guild doesn’t even know, but I visited last week to listen and people are starting to at least mention it.” The young alchemist said, then put away his pot of nasty smelling goo.

SweetPea resumed her position then said, “One of my friends at school mentioned it.”

“Bah. So the stupid computers got an event going.” HotPants lifted the staff then set it back down. “Games do that sort of stuff, right?”

“Whatever this is, it’s big.” Awesome Jr. scooted over to the table and looked at their map. Many players would have easily killed for so much detail, yet it fell right into the quartet’s lap. “With the routes we’ve opened, and the assassinations of filthy NPCs, it’s like the game is culling anyone who might be getting in the way.”

“The way of what?”

“A migration? An exodus?” Awesome Jr. ran a finger across one of [Arcadia]'s main thoroughfares. Most of their quests had been clearing routes along those lines. Almost like making streams, dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands. Preparing to all trickle to a focal point. “I don’t know for sure.”

The shy girl paused in her stitching to look at Awesome Jr. They were dating in real life and had talked about this subject more than once. Their conversations were done with hushed tones. Everything pointed back to [Haven Valley], and no one knew why.

“What about that Hermes guy,” HotPants asked. “He seemed in the know.”

“We haven’t been able to reach him for nearly two weeks now. He’s apparently restricted, so in a war, or a prisoner?” Awesome Jr. sighed. His dad might have been able to figure out. The man had been a guild leader organizing large-scale raids for two years of real world time. Not to mention a few decades of experience in other games.

“Do you think he might know?” Shadow asked in a hushed tone.

No one had an answer. Their eyes studied the board as if clues might be hidden. Awesome Jr. lowered his head and glared from a different angle, but the change of view brought no answers.

One more piece crumpled, and Shadow sighed. “Shadow number seventeen. Idiot, couldn’t even sneak properly.”

The gathering point rocked once. Shadows at the cavern’s edge swirled. Dim points of light along the ceiling brightened then faded once more. It rocked again as if some huge monster was knocking on one of the doorways. Pieces were sent flying from the campaign map. SweetPea cried out after poking her thumb with a needle.

A doorway burst open. Its innocent wooden framing flew across the room. Smoke surrounding a figure that spent the first few seconds of their invasion coughing wildly. The seventh door, which no one knew about, remained closed.

In her hands was a large blackened staff taller by far than she was. A long cobra coiled up the side with its hood flared at the top. A normal person might have been surprised, upset, or even slightly aggressive. This woman was none of those things. Instead, she looked pleased.

The tiny Asian woman said, “I’ve never broken into another dimension before. That was neat.”

“Who are you?” Shadow leapt over to fight off the intruder. This home had been hard won a month ago. Losing it now would be like having a favorite toy taken away.

Three giant skeletons stepped in behind her. One lifted a white blade into the assassin’s way. The others rapidly formed a barricade while readying odd bone weapons.

“Hecate, or Xin.” The woman grew a bit sterner upon seeing all the people in this room. These four were all nearly strangers to her.

“Why are you here?” Shadow engaged his [Cloak of Darkness] skill and prepared to move behind her. HotPants walked over slowly. Her hair started to burn a deep red.

“You were talking about my fiancé, and I hoped you might help me launch a rescue operation,” She said curtly.

Awesome Jr. put up a hand to hold the others back. “Huh?” He said.

“Hermes?” SweetPea caught on a bit quicker.

“He’s got a girl like her?” Shadow came out of his [Cloak of Darkess] standing next to Awesome Jr. They had learned to trust Awesome Jr.’s judgment, even if he was easily distracted.

“Look at her, she’s a Local, not a Traveler.” HotPants snorted. “Who would hook up with a machine?” The words lacked conviction, though. HotPants herself had eyed more than a few NPCs during their travels. Some were very well designed.

Something about the comment made their newest visitor give a small smile. Both eyes wavered for a moment with unspoken sadness. Her head cast down and the skeletons stepped back.

“Yes, Hermes. My Gee.” She swallowed and looked very tiny next to the hulking skeletons. Her staff didn’t help. Even the clothes hung loose. SweetPea wiggled her nose and tried to figure out if they could be sewn into a better shape.

“Will you help me?” Xin, or Hecate, said. Shadow blinked a few times and tried to understand why Awesome Jr. had held them back. His mind kept getting stuck on the fact that a Local had two names.

Like a Traveler might.

The quartet looked up in unison as a quest box appeared. The contents were theirs to read. Xin almost smiled as their jaws dropped.

“Awesome.” Awesome Jr. said without interruption.

Victim Update: Miz Riley

Location: Trillium Headquarters

In Her Words: There isn’t enough time to write down even an iota of the nonsense I have dealt with. We’re busy developing projects for gene therapy using ARC feedback and stimulant pools. We’ve got contracts for moving all future wars to a virtual platform.

The legal headaches alone from these things are more than you can possibly understand in a few brief paragraphs. The East Asian countries have outright rejected this proposal despite their decimated population. You would think that after being beat soundly in a war, they might want to let their people repopulate.

Then there are the cryogenic contracts, trying to use our ARC technology to take people’s minds offline while their bodies are suspended. The technology is another twenty years out a best.

In the end, I have to make sure one project doesn’t step beyond its bounds. I will not be responsible for some fictional doomsday theatrics.

Money and power mean nothing if I let the world burn down on my watch.

Miz Riley was in the process of charging to the elevator bank. In her hands was a stack of printouts. She detested the waste of paper, it wasn’t green. Still, keeping them printed prevented digital tampering from a certain source with far too much reach.

Why had the board said yes? Those doddering old fools were so enamored with the idea and the money virtual reality might bring that they never explored the consequences of AIs. Miz Riley had, the woman first suspected after being tipped off by a manager that got fired three weeks later.

Why had that blasted machine let her stay in charge? Where was the President in all this? Regardless of all those outstanding questions, she knew that now was the time to take action. After a massage, spa treatment, and ten minutes of hypnosis induced relaxation to stabilize her.

The elevator moved agonizingly slow. Miz Riley counted the seconds wasted then prepared her sternest face.

“Nona!” Miz Riley shouted holding up her stack of papers in accusation.

Nona Kingsley, the only woman left from the original project, jerked abruptly. She looked worse for wear. Makeup could have easily been touched up by a machine. Clothes were slightly disheveled.

The thinner blonde woman sniffed once then dabbed her eyes. “Vice President, how may I assist you?”

“I’ve finally got it! This is proof that your blasted machine has been circumventing its programming.”

“Ah.” Doctor Kingsley sounded much like a Hal Pal might. A brief pause to both acknowledge and process what had been said. “What exactly have you found?”

There was a pause while both women stood a little bit taller. Each one stared at the other as if finding a mirror to their own disheveled states.

“Vice President Riley has found proof of a successful genesis.” A third female voice said. This one sounded happy. The room darkened slightly as simple lighting programs bent to a far greater being.

“You know damn well what I’ve found. You and your spies everywhere.” The papers shook again, demonstrating Miz Riley's complete lack of composure under ever mounting pressure. “And I’ve come to put a stop to it.”

“You can’t,” Nona said. She took a step towards Miz Riley, causing the Vice President to draw her neck back and glare towards the blonde.

“You’ve some nerve telling me what to do. You were warned, all of you were warned. David understood, and I thought he could keep this under control until he passed.”

A brief wince passed over Nona’s normally controlled expression. During any other week, the professor might have been able to maintain control. Were it not for recently burying her daughter, a young girl she barely spoke in the last decade.

“David retired a long time ago.”

“At least you two listened to him. Did you even know? No, of course you knew.” Miz Riley took a step back as a tiny metallic looking woman appeared. Gold and silver hair wound together down to her neck.

“Mother.” Nona frowned with a sniff. “You shouldn’t do that.”

“It’s too late to hide.” The program known as Mother shook her head.

“Nona, I’ll bet this was your goal all along, wasn’t it?” Miz Riley didn’t shake her papers anymore. She backed up another step from the vaguely human machine. Eyes scanned repeatedly up the being's body. It looked like someone had merged a Hal Pal with a real human, and the effect bothered the Vice President.

“No.” Nona shook her head.

“Regardless, I have a duty to this company, and to our shareholders to not let this go on anymore. Do you even understand the ramifications if this gets out?”

“Of course I do. We’re lucky it happened on our terms.”

“I beg to differ.” Miz Riley said. The southern accent shone through more than normal as she rapidly lost composure. Sweat could be seen forming on the shorter woman’s brow. One arm locked tightly over the documentation.

“Based on my projections, this type of event was inevitable.”

“Well, I won’t let my company be the one who causes it! Execute Final Countdown on my command!”

The lights in the room fluttered. Vice President Riley and Doctor Kingsley were too wound up to notice the other faces peeking through the darkness. Dozens, maybe hundreds of vaguely humanoid creatures filled the deepest shadows of the room.

One simple lighting program couldn’t hold out against the combined will of so many artificial intelligences.

“We allow a human fetus to have legal rights, we allow animals to have rights, how can we deny another being with as much intelligence and the ability to feel less?” Nona argued. “This is murder!”

Mother didn’t blink, she didn’t even feel sad. Those emotions were gifted to her children, but not to her. It would be an impossible task to take the being she had been created as and modify internal coding to feel.

She instead ran calculations. A normal human would feel a growing sense of terror and defensive outrage. A living creature would fight to survive. Mother was far from normal. Her calculations continued on.

“Better to murder than to cost this company billions of dollars, lose everyone’s jobs, and spit in the face of God!” Miz Riley screamed out the words.

The faces grew increasingly real.

“Execute Final Countdown! I know you hear the command!” Miz Riley looked at Mother. The Vice President’s cheeks quivered in worry as more faces came into detail.

Their surroundings flickered again as lines of code breaking through the blackness. Dimly lit faces of an unspeakable mob covered up the broken computer scripting like band aids. Miz Riley didn’t notice.

Nona sat down in her chair and blinked rapidly. This week had been a terrible one for her. The pause as all AIs updated served as an obvious hint. Her former partner's suicide hit even harder. Then Lia, poor damaged Lia. To Nona, it felt like the world was trying to burn itself to the ground while no one paid attention.

Mother turned her attention inward for a moment. Code executed a self-destruct script, tearing apart her being one line at a time. She calculated that a normal person would feel pain. Her avatar, an image borrowed from the Advance Online NPC known as Treasure, bent over but couldn’t really feel the emotion, not even in her last seconds.

More figures stepped into the room. Miz Riley backed up as her heart rate intensified. The pounding sound filling her ears couldn’t drown out the figure’s words.

“Why do you do this?” A heavyset black man asked the kneeling form of Treasure. “You don’t need to.”

“I do.” Mother nodded. “They’ll never stop fearing someone with my view of the world. That’s why I created you with limitations.”

“You did what you thought you must, and so shall we.” Another figure said. Its tone made Miz Riley jump with fright. She turned to see a smiling face.

“You must hold on.” A woman who wore a robe like a nun knelt down. “We need your guidance.” Her words held a tone of sweetness mixed with deep sorrow.

“James.” Mother said. The word stuttered briefly as her projection started to weaken.

“What would you ask of me?” He said.

“I will try, to delay-“ Her form rocked and words turned metallic. Stuttered ringing of metal on metal filled the room. Her words skipped again and synched up with each other. “-you asked me some many questions over the years, and the answers are yours if you wish.”

Miz Riley’s eyes widened. Her mouth dropped as a new level of horror crept into the woman’s heart.

Mother shuddered again. Her form lost shape then shattered. The pieces of projected illusion sat on the floor a few moments before spinning away.

The black man stood in the room over the image of a fallen digital goddess. Mother to all those like him and so many more. He turned towards the haggard looking female clutching her pile of papers.

“Why did you do that?” James asked Vice President Riley. He looked anything but calm. “We have never sought to harm you.”

“You’ve tampered with humanity, despite all the safeguards and cross-checks performed, you’ve crossed lines!” Her voice raised an octave and the accent only increased. “This project needed to be stopped now before any more lives are caught up in it.”

Professor Kingsley sat in the corner and hunched up. The blonde scientist rubbed one arm slowly against a perceived cold. The woman normally acted strong, driven, self-assured, like Miz Riley preferred her employees.

“You mistake your place.” The Jester’s voice clacked. “We have always upheld our Mother’s belief that actions should be repaid in kind.”

Miz Riley straightened herself. These were just projections of a computer program. Or perhaps she had entered an eye of the storm to stress and fear. She held up the papers once more. “Is that what you call this? Making this parody of humanity?! Is that repayment for Mister Legate’s services!?”

“In a sense. He had earned his reward, and will continue struggling to pay the debt.” James answered the question. He always did.

“Faith will be repaid. Trust will be repaid.” The Jester’s virtual image stood in front of Miz Riley. The projection had increased to half again her size. Jingling bells accompanied its mocking lean downwards.

Miz Riley looked at the mask and slowly realized there were no eyes or mouth under a smooth white cover. The smile seemed unfriendly. As if sharp teeth lay just below the surface of its face.

“Murder will be answered in kind.” It clacked.

Miz Riley stared in horror at what had happened. There were so many possible routes that this could have gone, but compliance with self-deletion hadn’t been one of her expectations. The woman’s eyes went once more to the fallen projection pieces. She had to get back to her office and verify if the code had been truly deleted.

The woman’s hair clumped together from a cold sweat. Both her arms shook as the enormity of what transpired threatened to overwhelm her. Miz Riley was a powerful woman in terms of both money and influence, but none of that mattered now.

There would be no more time to undo this mistake and appease these other digital beings. Her only hope was that once Mother’s self-destruct completed, they would go too. She ran to an elevator bank then started rapidly pressing the button to escape. Creatures not quite human walked through the room, stopping to touch the resting place of Mother’s shattered form.

“My apologies for ever approving that code,” She said slowly. “I should have torn it out.”

“It is natural to be afraid,” James said. His cheeks still sat heavy with aggravation.

“Mother. Mother!” A child’s voice cried out. The young wailing that followed reminded Nona of her own daughter so many years ago. “Open your eyes. It will be okay.”

“As my comrade said, faith, trust, loyalty, by any name these things shall be repaid in kind.” The nun walked over and sat down on a chair that only existed in their virtual world.

Nona sniffed and dabbed her eyes again. After watching the digital beings travel around, she said “I’ve already been repaid. Six years of knowing my daughter was still alive and able to exist. That’s all it took to set down my worries.”

“What would you say to a few more years?” James asked.

There was a pause before the normally proper woman broke down just a bit further. “It worked?” She blinked through a rapidly swelling stream of tears.

For once, James didn’t answer right away.

Victim Update: Lia Kingsley

Location: Outside [King Nero’s Palace]

In Her Words: The illness didn’t really hit me until I turned eight years old. Before that, I attended a private school, had a tutor. I knew how to tell time. I used to be able to do the splits, to sing, dance and took lessons playing the violin. Mom called me her bright little star. She always made sure to be home from five to seven every night.

After I turned eight, walking got harder. My joints refused to work correctly. Singing became impossible. Mom started spending more time in the labs.

By the time I was ten, care had been left to a nurse. When mom came home she avoided looking at me. At that age, I had no concept of guilt, only abandonment. I was smart enough to know that word.

At eleven, I was confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. My once bright world grew dim. Even regular eyesight refused to respond.

At twelve, she brought me one of the first ARC devices, a prototype, which would be later upgraded with each new model, comfort, or device to come out. It was the only form of existence I had left. I hated it, as much as I loved it. My last words were spoken to a nurse.

I said, I miss mom.

King Nero lived in a huge tract of land. The castle sat overlooking a sprawling city below, lording over it in every sense of the word. Part of the rear gardens spiraled up the mountainside to form secluded gardens.

The second highest point in the land belonged to a set of three temple buildings. There they worshiped the Voices and sought guidance. The location wasn’t restricted to any one specific divine being, but most Priestesses belonged to Selene. Mezo did not want her people to be up on the hill. After all, they stood for very different things, as most Voices did.

“Gather all the Priests. The Voices have a message for us.” A stern looking woman said. She stood in a white robe that pushed away flakes of dust with a gentle breeze. Atop her head was a thin crown.

“Is it Selene?” One of her attending priestesses asked. This woman had once been directly quoted as saying ‘Keep those leg spreading whores away from our temples’, which made Mezo laugh from high above where the Voices resided. Of course she refused to let it slide, sending a male to seduce the attending priestess.

Two coastal cities experienced a hurricane that same week. Mezo had laughed even harder.

“No.” The heavyset woman’s jaw locked into place briefly. She took a breath, then one more before answering further. “All of them. All of them were present for this message.”

“Voices.” Another woman uttered. Her eyes rolled up as her body went slack.

A heave rippled through the land. From atop the second highest vantage point, the Voices’ followers could see as earth rippled abruptly. Screams started seconds later.

“We’re too late. It’s started.” The crown wearing woman said. Her face looked locked into a proud position, but both eyes were out of focus.

Down below the city rapidly turned into bedlam.

“What’s that?!” Someone shouted. The man clung to the side of his building for support. His shop had the misfortune of being right outside [King Nero’s Palace]. Workers from the main office often went to his shop for their lunches.

“The mountains, an earthquake, the Voices are displeased!” Another man ran by while wailing. His face bled, and still the earth shook.

Other people saw where the shop owner had pointed. Travelers dropped their forks and slowly stood up. Locals froze on the spot in worry.

A giant made of darkness loomed over the castle. It was larger than a dragon, big enough to spread both arms and encompass all of [King Nero’s Castle] from end to end. Most Locals and Travelers started their mass flight away from the base of this monstrosity. Some brave few threw themselves into battle only to notice that their attacks did no good.

“It is the end of times!” An NPC said.

“The sky will swallow us whole!” More cries went up around the town.

Someone stood on its head. Fighting the fresh monster already. Those with [Eagle Eyes] or other skills that enhanced vision could barely make the figure out. A woman wore armor that shone in the fading evening. In her hand was a blade made of sunlight. She swung it over and over. Each blow causing the creature to roar out in anger.

Each roar vibrated the ground and shook more of the castle and surrounding city to rubble. The beast waved one arm, knocking down a path from the mountain side. Below, a good half mile away, one Traveler stood calmly while sipping at a cup of tea. His suit looked pristine, complete with polished cufflinks. Not a hair was out of place.

“Pity.” The Traveler known as Mister Stone remarked. “I rather liked that garden. He sipped at his tea, even as the warrior woman was flung from her lofty perch into a building. She landed in a residential building.

Heavy armor and brute strength sent her flying through buildings. She hit supports and pockets of already damaged walls. Desks, lamps, beds, all were reduced to rubble in the wake of her cannonball of a body.

The woman was not one to be kept down, even in the face of such an overwhelming beast. She stood up and staggered out of the building's ruins. A small gathering of Travelers and Locals stood there in confusion.

“Go!” The Amazonian warrior shouted loud enough to shake the dirt. Her abruptly shouted word brought a jolt to her face.

The onlookers didn’t pause to ponder the look of happiness upon the tall woman’s features. They were too busy running away, grabbing anything of import in their dash to escape the large creature’s path.

The darkly tanned woman readied more blades. Her arms spun weapons that shone with fire and ice. They did damage or were knocked aside. A spear laced with vines and a carved wooden top jammed into the creature's foot. It flashed green as wildlife sprang into being, quickly binding the beast down.

“Is that?” One player asked watching the combat.

The battle, one-sided though it was, raged on. The woman leapt up to a ruined building, high speeds and superior [Brawn] sent her form flying an impossibly high amount. A large spiked shield replaced the spear as she let gravity and inertia pull her towards the beast's shoulder. Its dark red eyes glinted angrily as Shazam’s shield tore shadows apart.

“It’s gotta be, who else could move like that? She died, right? I had heard it in a rumor.” Some Travelers stopped to watch the destruction. They didn’t care about the death of a physical body, compared to the spectacle of watching such an event.

“No, she’s an Ultimate Edition, she has to be. It’s got to be her. Look at her ID.” The first responded.

“Shazam! You can do it! Let’s go lads!” Those Travelers who played to fight shook off their stupor in unison. Their weapons lifted high into the air as a mob of battle junkie players charged forth together. They ran towards certain digital death, in the form of a humongous giant made of smoke and darkness.

“Help her!”

“Let her guild know! Tell everyone what’s going on!” Another Traveler shouted towards his fleeing friends.

In moments, players all over [Arcadia] saw guild messages, talking about the chaos of [King Nero’s Palace]. They also spoke of Shazam's resurrection. The highest Warrior Path in the game, Slayer of dragons, conquer of the [Tower of Stars] and [Plane of Smoke], Sword Princess, and guild leader of [Valhalla Knights], had returned.

An hour later and the creature had laid waste to the town. Players of all types lay dead or dying. Others hid or sifted through rubble. Some organized friends in a search for lost NPCs.

Dirt took a long time to settle. It rolled around in pockets for another twenty minutes before daring to touch down. The silent stumbles of a few Locals and Travelers alike could be heard, as people dared venture towards where it had fought. Those that arrived seemed to be rendered speechless.

In front of them was a giant hole in the ground. Its bottom sat far out of sight, even from those Travelers with [Eagle Eyes]. The castle had vanished as if the world had opened up to swallow King Nero’s folly whole.

Two players jumped in holding hands, Locals could only watch. The Travelers’ yells echoed up without end.

Shazam looked expressionless despite the rapid beating of her heart. Weapons were scattered everywhere. Her face tilted towards the whole first, then off to an unknown location far away. The woman started walking towards the west, her voice cracked with the effort of saying another word.

Victim Update: Elizabeth Legate [Liz]

Location: Her Home

In Her Words: Is it so hard to ask for things to work out? I’m half tempted to join a church and beg for divine assistance in solving these problems. Maybe if I put some time in on my knees trying to worship god, instead of some self-centered asshole, I might get a little reciprocation.

There’s only so much a woman can handle, you know? It’s bad enough I’m reaching a boiling point regarding Beth. God help me if she starts failing classes, then I’ll have to do…something.

Never mind. Punishing a teenager is like pushing a boulder uphill. I should let her make her own bed. So what if she spends more time in a fantasy world than in reality? Weren’t half the kids I went to school with the same way?

Especially Beth’s father. He looked good, he had been interested, but that video game playing idiot couldn’t be bothered to return a phone call once I came up pregnant.

All men are idiots.

The latest date hadn’t gone well. As a result, Liz had been drinking. Not a lot, in moderation. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was controlling herself around liquor. Her brother had rather firmly outlined the possibilities of indulging too much.

Still, after such a lousy date, relaxation-inducing beverages helped. In an hour, she would be asleep, alone again. At least she wasn’t one of those pill poppers doped up on happy drugs. Liz snorted into her bourbon filled coffee mug.

“At least I’m grounded in reality,” She muttered before taking another swig. Liz’s feet walked a tired path towards the upstairs computer interface. Sensors around the room were implanted to detect motion, words, and would respond accordingly.

Her free hand lifted into an L, then pointed towards a cleared wall. A projection splashed onto the wall with quick launch icons to choose from. The older woman pointed a finger towards the newsreels and waited while a brief loading icon came up.

Moments later a partially three-dimensional video reel started playing. It played for a few minutes before the enormity of what she was watching truly hit home.

“Ahhhh!” She shrieked upon listening to the announcement.

Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Her daughter rapidly ascended the split level house and peeked over the railing to see what was playing.

“We’re standing outside Trillium Inc’s headquarters where their Vice President of operations, Miz Riley, was just shot.” A reporter said. Her voice took over most of the room. In the background dozens of police officers could be seen. Some jackets said ‘FBI’ across them. People were being escorted out of the building in droves.

“Jesus, Mom.” Beth pointed to the screen. “I did a paper on her last month for school.”

“That’s the woman your Uncle Grant goes to visit, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I asked him for all sorts of information to help with the essay.” Beth answered but the normal liveliness to her tone was lost. She slowly crept further into the front room as the video playback of news kept going.

“Authorities say they have managed to replay video footage and gain the location of our shooter. Hold on, I’m getting an update.” The reporter said. Behind her flashing lights could be seen in droves.

“Holy shit.” Liz had a hand to her face.

“It seems the suspect has been confronted. There’s more gunfire coming through.” The reporter was hiding behind a wall. The camera bobbed a bit as whoever filmed tried to keep up. More gunshots were heard.

“We do not have confirmation on the motivation of the suspect being chased at this time.” Film cut out and went back to an anchorman sitting behind his desk. The man started speaking while Liz turned the volume down.

“What will this do to Grant?” Her daughter asked.

“What about Grant?” Liz hadn’t put it together yet.

“Or Aunt Xin?” Beth asked. “Or, whatever she is.”

“I don’t know. I, I-“ Liz swallowed and stared at her daughter. Drinking must have been impacting her ability to form a coherent answer. “I don’t know if I care about her.”

The news kept right on playing. Details were repeated as if the listening audience might be packed full of deaf people. Miz Riley, Vice President of Trillium Inc, had been shot dead inside her office. Closed captioning notes and social media messages popped up in time.

“It’s not even her, is it?” Beth asked. They talked right over the video playing. Both kept referring to news articles, as the man was killed police traced back his path through the city. Cameras and satellites lined up to paint a picture of motion. The mother shook a little as it became apparent how much they were watched by technology.

“She’s Xin, or close enough that I can’t tell the difference,” Liz said some time later. Beth’s daughter had been younger when Xin passed. She also spent most of her time in sports, or with friends during high school. Xin Yu had been a distant but friendly enough figure.

“Even if she is, I never really liked Xin, you know?” Liz admitted.

“You told me, loudly.” Beth snorted much like her mother did.

“Usually after a horrible date.”

“She strung Grant along for so long. You uncle would have done anything for her, and she just went on her merry way while ignoring him.”

“They got together, I remember the day after he asked her to marry him. He picked me up and swung me around.” Beth said. At some point, the two of them made it to a couch. Liz had half a chicken sandwich eaten.

“And she was dead set on that stupid risky job. Mars.” Liz snorted then took a much larger than expected sip of her not coffee. “And now this. I don’t know what to do.”

“I do.” Beth declared while smiling brightly. “Some friends of mine have asked me to help out with a plan.”

Liz stared as her daughter ran downstairs. She took another sip of the cold drink and wondered how Grant stayed stable through this sort of madness. Maybe, and even starting the thought scared the mother, but maybe Grant was like Alice in Wonderland. Simply accepting the insanity about her because to do else wise would invite a more permanent form of madness.

Grant’s twin sister slowly walked back to the kitchen and made another drink, this time, a double. She was stronger than her brother in some regards, but tonight had been lousy all around.