It took us about twenty minutes of following a messenger boy to get to the Bitter Flagon. Ajax had volunteered to hire the guide, so I held on to my newfound wealth of a single penny. When I added the message from Jim to my journal, the penny had appeared in my coin purse on my belt.

The messenger boy ran off as we walked into the pub. It was a fairly small establishment, but was nicely furnished. It would have been cozy if not filled with a dozen or so angry confused individuals. I recognized a few of the classes from character creation from their equipment. These must be the other testers. Hopefully we can get some answers.

I recognized Jim when he came up to us. The large African-Native American man was hard to misidentify, even if he was wearing the suit of a Victorian era gentleman.

“Hey guys,” Jim said, his usually jovial voice subdued. “Grab a seat, we are still waiting on a few others.”

“Jim, what the hell is going on?” I asked in a whisper. “What-”

Jim held up a hand to forestall me. “I don’t know Will. Nobody told me about any of this. Go ahead and sit down. We will compare notes when everyone is here.”

Ajax and I sat down at an empty table to wait as Jim went to greet another person that had just entered. We sat in silence, oblivious to the hushed conversations going on around us.

“They are never going to let us go,” Ajax said in a small voice. He was not looking at me, just staring at the wooden table.

“What are you talking about?” I asked quietly. “They can’t just keep us logged in forever.”

“Why not?” Ajax asked, finally looking up at me. “Long term pods, full pain simulation, and administering drugs without consent. Any one of those would be a public relations nightmare if they got out. The amount of laws they have broken with this is staggering. If any of us get to the media, Axeton studios is done for. So, they will never let that happen.”

I sat back in my chair as that sunk in. When the bad guy lets you see his face it’s because he has already decided to kill you. I didn’t know what to say. I had trouble thinking.

“I am never going to see my daughter again,” Ajax said, looking at the table again.

“You have kids?” I asked quietly, my gut churning.

“Just the one girl,” He said. His eyes were wet and glassy. “Izzy, Isabella. She’s 7.”

I sat in silence for a moment. How do you reply to that? I was saved from answering by Jim’s voice.

“Hey folks, I think everybody is here,” Jim called from his place by the bar. “In case anyone doesn’t know me, I’m Jim. I was hired by Axeton studios to be a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer and I started two weeks ago. I want to start by asking a few questions, and then we can open it up to general discussion.

“First, did anyone know before today that we were going to be put in long term immersion pods?” Jim asked. There was silence in the bar as people looked around and shook their heads.

Jim grimaced and continued. “Has anyone been able to log out, or contact anyone outside of the game?” Again silence.

“Has anyone here worked for Axeton studios for more than two weeks?” No one spoke up. “I think we have to conclude that our employer has kidnapped us,” Jim said grimly. I had never seen the big man so serious.

“This is bullshit!” A man in military red jumped to his feet. “This has to be some stupid prank right? You can’t just kidnap people!”

The crowd burst into yells and accusations. Pent up fear and anger turning into a cacophony of noise. The man in red looked like he was about to hit someone when Jim shouted over the crowd.

“Enough!” He roared. Jim’s fist slammed down on the bar, shattering a glass. Veins bulged in his neck and his brown eyes looked black in the light. I actually rocked back in my chair as a spike of panic hit me.

I don’t think I have ever been afraid of someone in a waistcoat before. The room fell silent again. Jim sat back down, visibly relaxing and grabbed a napkin for his now bleeding hand.

“I just have a few more questions, and then we can open it up to discussion,” He continued in his calm tone. He took a breath. “Does anyone have family or friends that will come looking for them? Someone we can count on to call the police?”

I thought about it. My online friends would probably bitch if I did not contact them for a while, but they wouldn't do anything. Most of them didn't even know I moved to England. I glanced over to Ajax. With a daughter…

Ajax met my eyes and shook his head. “My ex-wife would be more than happy for me to disappear forever,” He said quietly. “Especially if Axeton keeps paying child maintenance.”

“My mum,” Someone from the crowd finally spoke up over the hushed conversations. “If I don’t come home for Christmas she’ll go on the warpath.”

There were a few other tenuous answers, but it looked like Axeton had chosen their victims well. Nobody here would be missed any time soon. There was some more grumbling from the crowd of testers before Jim spoke up again.

“So, it seems like our best bet is Eva’s mom,” He said. “Christmas is still four months away, so we might have to get used to the idea of staying here a while.”

More chaotic conversation came in response and this time Jim let them talk. I was left with my own dark thoughts. It's not like they could let us go after four months though right? Like Ajax said, letting any of us go would be disastrous for Axeton. My morbid musing was interrupted by another voice rising over the sea of muffled conversation.

“Holy shit!” A female voice said. “Check your journal! Main quest reward.”

With nothing better to do, I followed her suggestion. I got out my journal and flipped until I found the entry for my main quest.

Quest Updated.

Inquisitor Main Quest: Bring the Decoction Killer to Justice

Details: A serial killer known as “The Decoction Killer” has been murdering London citizens. Over the last two weeks he has killed six victims, and shows no sign of stopping. Investigate the murders and find a way to bring the killer to justice. He must stand trial before God and country.

Objective: Follow up on your lead about Slinger at the Grey Warehouse.

Reward: You get to go home. Includes one complimentary memory alteration along with a full psychological and physiological workup. Pay to your company bank account proportional to time spent in game plus severance. A letter of recommendation from your fictional manager explaining why you were let go due to layoffs despite your high level of competence and dedication. Good luck and work hard, we will be watching. -The Management Team

“Is that even possible?” I asked out loud. I had never heard of memory alteration outside of scifi. It didn't seem like it could be real, but I wanted to hope. Hope that the rest of my life would not be spent in a monster infested 1840s London.

“It’s a trick,” one of the testers called out. “Something to convince us to keep playing. There is no way they could rewrite our memories like that.”

“Not necessarily,” a woman holding a large book along with her journal said. “A german company published research about creating false memories using full immersion VR tech a few months back. The technology is experimental and extremely illegal to test on humans, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for Axeton.”

“Could it be used to overwrite existing memories?” I asked her. The idea gave me goosebumps. Could they just make you remember whatever they want?

The woman just shrugged. “I don’t know. The article was about teaching dogs new tricks by inserting false memories of training.”

“Let’s assume for now that it’s legitimate,” Jim spoke up. “We should work together to complete everyone's main quests. It will be safer and more efficient if we combine our efforts.”

“Fuck that!” the man in military red spoke up again. “And fuck you, Jim. I am not going to play their stupid game. I am not going to be a good little slave and help them with their experiments.”

With that he stormed out of the pub. A few other people followed. Others just sat around, thinking or just in shock, I couldn't tell. Some of the testers went over to Jim and they started planning, but I couldn't bring myself to join them. I felt emotionally drained. Could I really just complete my quest and go home? Literally forget about this game. I would be playing into their hands, doing exactly what Axeton wants.

I looked over at Ajax. He was just staring at the wooden table, his eyes glazed over. I felt pent up. I couldn’t just sit here. I got up and walked over to Jim. A tester in a plague doctor mask was bandaging his hand and he was talking to a woman about her quest. From her motley it was clear that she had chosen the Harlequin class.

I listened as the Harlequin explained how she needed to master a series of martial techniques to finish her main quest. When there was a break in the conversation I leaned in and spoke to Jim. “I need to go for a walk, clear my head. Feel free to send a messenger if you need anything.”

“You know it, Will. Stay safe out there,” Jim said with a bright smile and offered a fist bump with his uninjured hand. I knocked it and headed back to Ajax’s table.

“I am going to go follow a lead about the victim, Slinger,” I told Ajax. “Apparently he worked for a local gang. I am going to head over there and see what I can learn.”

“What?” Ajax asked blearily. “Oh, right,” he nodded his head and seemed to wake up. “Right. I will head back to the bakery. I am sure there are more clues there that we missed. Meet back here in a few hours?” He asked.

“Sounds good,” I said and nodded. I clapped him on the shoulder and headed out into the foggy night.