Chapter 5 Troubles and the Core.

I should have known seeing Tai Yitomo walking out of Mr. Eynia’s office with such a broad grin must have spelled something bad coming. Nevertheless, I never imagined he would run to the big boss with a tantrum. My foot tapped frustratingly.

“You understand my predicament here don’t you. The engineers say you are a disruptive influence to the work space.”

I stopped my neck from twitching.

“I understand what the engineers are saying. But, I have been nothing but friendly with them. Talk to Nate” –my boss- “he would clear this up.”

Mr. Eynia cringed.

“Sorry, I can’t do that right now. I sent him to the Yard to go prepare for the world expansion patch this weekend.”

“Wait? I thought the world patch would only go live in two weeks?”

“It seems the engineers got a huge breakthrough with the co-operation of the triplet AI’s and they say it has eased out most of the bigger glitches that was on the list of to do things for the next two weeks.”

My blood went cold. That was my triumph. I got the AI’s to work together… How was it possible?

Then as I forcefully dragged my fingers through my hair, I remembered leaving my computer without switching it off. It was when I ran to save the rookies…

Immediately I wanted to scream out at the injustice of it all.

However, just as I opened my mouth to defend my stance, the secretary buzzed in saying,

“Mr. Eynia, the press is ready for your statement on the release of the world expansion patch.”

I opened my mouth.

“The AI’s was my breakthrough…”

Just then, the boss stood up and grabbed his jacket.

“What? Never mind, I’m already late. Listen take the week off. I know the lead up to the patch has been hard on all of us. Maybe harder on some.” He looked at me and I was fuming inside. “Though… I will see to talking with Nate about your situation. You can do your last touches to your area from home, can you not?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to take the week off! You don’t understand!”

My voice was breaking with a bit of desperation.

“Enough Wil. That is my final word.”

With that, the man left the room and I sat dazed in silence. I truly felt cheated.

Even after ten minutes, I felt like a nicely tenderized steak. I stood up with difficulty and dragged my feet like a brain-eating zombie as I walked to my cubical.

It was indeed still logged in. With frustration, I logged off and packed up slowly. The other engineers’ heads rose up out of the cubicles looking confused, and it only made me wonder who the heck stole my work. I shook it off and didn’t even turn to go say bye to any of my co-workers or even Eri. I just left. As I got to the front doors, Tai stood there with a big grin with his two cohorts behind him, Melia and Shiro. I immediately knew they were the main culprits.

I clenched my fist and was about to demand answers when a camera crew rushed past me. The last thing I wanted was a spectacle, so I waited until they hurried around a corner, but as I looked back to my targets, Tai and the other two was gone.

I burst out in anger, but instead of shouting, I suppressed my anger and cast out thoughts of Tai, Melia and Shiro. I knew getting in fights with co-workers would just get me fired. I would bide my time. Nate was the only one who knew the truth and maybe Eri. I discussed my plans with her a few times, but she wasn’t there to see my breakthrough.

Thinking of how to win that bear at least got my mind off the low blow I just faced.

***

I gulped down the last of another energy drink and crumpled it before I threw the can against my bedroom wall.

Earlier in the morning, they released a huge expansion to Realm Of Ancients. They added a whole slew of new Class Trees and entire new Biomes. Okay, I helped create some of those new Biomes, biggest of them called the Shimmering Caves. It was an entire new underground area that opted for a more enchanting experience in the deep than the normal dangerous idea of going into the underground, plus there was a hidden city to be found for the players! But… even that excitement was nowhere to be found for me.

Normally by this time I would be busy digging feverously through patch notes and features lists, all to make sure if there were aspects of the patching that could have an impact on the areas of the game I was in charge of creating. And, to be honest I always did like to find out what the others had been busy with. Yet, I could simply not get myself to do it. The unfairness of my situation was like ball and chain around my arm.

“Wil?” A familiar voice said from behind me.

I sulkily glanced back. It was Eri.

“Come on! Are you still doing this to yourself? You haven’t shaved in days! Moreover, look at your room... it looks like a warzone. Now get up, we are going on a trip.”

I flopped onto the couch and beat my hands.

“I don’t want to!”

Eri simply slapped her hand to her forehead.

“If Tai and the others see you like this, they will have a field day!”

New energy sparked through my veins and I jumped to my feet.

“Like heck they would!”

“Then shower and get dressed. We leave in 10 minutes.” She said and walked out of the door.

Sudden realization hit me.

“Oi!!” I shook my fist after my stepsister. She knew I would react to that. That crafty woman!

But, it didn’t stop me from getting in the shower and cleaning up.

The electric car drove silently down the road. I was still a bit frustrated that Eri pressed my buttons so deftly, but I would never tell her that. The thing that bugged me more, however, was I had no clue where she was taking me.

“Mind filling me in on our destination?”

She grinned as she gently guided the car.

“Nope.”

Without thinking, I said,

“Is this about me getting that title in the game? I didn’t think it would happen you know.” As I said it, I realized I just stepped on a landmine.

Eri’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

“What title?”

I squeaked. “Um…”

She tapped the break and pulled over on the side. This time real sweat started flowing down my face, but I dared not draw attention to it.

“What title Wil?” She said more demanding. I loved her to bits, but man could she be intimidating sometimes.

I licked my lips and couldn’t resist flicking off a drop of sweat from nose. It tickled okay!

“Well… um… the other day after we talked in game…. well I went and wrestled those bears and I um got a title: Monster Wrestler I.”

Eri shrugged heavily.

“I can’t believe you… I don’t like it. Yet…” She shook her head. “I’m not going to say anything today. I want to cheer you up, okay?”

I nodded and she punched me on the arm and smiled.

“You’re still a jerk sometimes. Those poor bears.”

“Would it cheer you up if I tell you even game think I discriminated against them? It added it into the description.”

Her eyes beamed excitedly.

“Really? That is so funny!”

She started laughing and I couldn’t help but join her.

We rounded the corner and I jumped in my seat. The region we were approaching… Nah, it couldn’t be.

“No way!”

“Yes way.” She said, chuckling.

“You are taking me to the Core! I didn’t think you had access.”

“Well, I have been working at Real Worlds for five years.”

I sat in mute awe.

Only staff with higher security access could go the Core, where all the main servers and the Triplet Command AI were housed inside the core of the elemental fusion that powered the huge demands of Realm Of Ancients.

I was like a kid with full access to a candy store with rainbows, shooting stars and everything.

As we got closer, the big dome structure came into view. It was quite a remarkable sight. It looked like one massive glittering structure standing in the middle of the valley. Oak trees lined the road leading there.

It blew me away so much, I hardly realized we had arrived when the car stopped and I was startled out of my wonderment. Surprisingly we were already in the underground parking.

“Okay hop to it. There is much to show you in there.” Eri shoved at me and got out of the car.

I followed her like a lost little puppy as she swiped the card and the elevator took us up. The doors opened and I tried to stop myself from drooling but failed miserably. It blew my breath away.

“Wil… do you want to look like an idiot, or are you just weird?”

I shook my head wildly and wiped the drool from my face.

“Sorry, it is just really amazing... Eri?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

She smiled,

“You are welcome big brother.”

Inside it looked like a completely different environment than anything back at company headquarters. This place was cutting edge. Everything looked clean and untouched. There were big round chambers filled with Full Dive Pods, most of them in use. In fact, I could barely spot any that were not in use. What did draw my eyes away was the next room where they were clearly busy with upgrading and testing new Full Dive Pods. My first instinct was to walk closer and press my nose against the glass.

However, I received a slap to my shoulder.

“There will be time for that later, okay?”

I pulled away and noted my nose leave a smudge print on the glass. For a moment, I wanted to attempt to draw a mini smiley face, but Eri pulled at my arm.

As we walked, we passed entire rooms dedicated to concept art and drawn ideas for the world. That excitement that had left me was now back in droves! I wanted to explore every single part of this place! I started sneaking away from Eri, when she announced,

“Wil, I want you to meet, Miss Claire Kurume, one of the three creative directors for Realm Of Ancients.”

I jerked upright and spun to see a woman in her thirties, she had beautiful flowing black hair and she was dressed for the job, looking sleek and alluring at the same time. I moved closer and took her hand to shake it briefly.

“N-Nice to meet you. My name is Wil.”

“Nice to meet you too, Eri here has told me all about you.”

The weirdest thing popped into my head. I hope she didn’t tell her about the bears!

However, her smile put me ease.

“You have created something extraordinary here Miss Kurume.”

“Please, call me Claire. The press keeps me in formal mode too much these days. I would rather not have it infect the Core.” She giggled and I melted a bit.

“S-Sure.”

The woman swept her hand to the right and said,

“I believe Eri said you always wanted to see our grand jewel?”

I could only nod vigorously and followed her as she led the way. This was almost too much too believe for my short circuiting brain. It felt like there were roller coasters running rampage in my skull.

“To our left we have the cooling chambers and as you can see, the Core needs a lot of it.”

I just dazedly stared at the massive coils that had frost on them. The pipes that ran to and fro from them criss-crossed the entire facility up on the ceiling. She then showed us to the concept and design rooms, the asset testing chambers, the experimental ward where pods were being constructed and tested.

“That Zealot is our latest Full Dive Pod technology, we only just finished it before the World Expansion went live, which I believe couldn’t have been done so soon, I hear, were it not for your breakthrough.” She looked to Eri and then pointedly at me, but a happy smile was on her face.

I was shocked, I had already been dreading the fact that the engineers took credit for my breakthrough, but then I remembered that Nate came to the Yard, it being the greater set of buildings with the dome known as the Core. He must have told the higher ups what he had seen!

I grinned broadly and asked,

“You knew?”

She nodded and said,

“Yes, Nate was quite animated about your achievement with the Triplets. In fact, he couldn’t stop talking about it. We were quite surprised that it solved so much of our problems leading up to the World Expansion. It saved Real Worlds quite a lot of effort. I would love to see how you did it.”

I was overjoyed, but then as I looked past her, my eyes fell on Tai.

I froze. There was no reason for him to be here. I couldn’t understand it.

A knot formed in my stomach. There was no doubt he was here for reasons that is not in favour of the unity of the team.

Almost mechanically, I said,

“I would be happy to, that is, when things have settled down here, Claire.”

“Superb! That is good news. Now let’s go see the main event—”

“Forgive me, you go on ahead, but I just saw a fellow worker of mine and I wish to go say hi.” I walked towards Tai and Eri looked concerned.

“As you wish,” Claire said, “We will start moving towards the inner chamber. Just follow that tunnel there.” She pointed to the entrance and I nodded.

While I walked I could feel the anger boil in me, but I was certain my face kept calm through it all. As I approached Tai, he smiled.

“Good day Wil. What a pleasant surprise.”

My fists clenched, but I casually responded,

“Tai. Strange to see you here.”

He grinned in a way that made my stomach churn.

“Yes, you see I convinced the boss to give me access.”

“What are you after, Tai?” I blurted.

He held up his hands and asked,

“Whoa there, I’m simply here to see the Core.”

“So, you being here have nothing to do with my breakthrough with the AI’s being stolen?”

His lips tightened ever so slightly, I would have missed it if I had blinked.

“Whatever are you talking about? I told you why I am here.”

I looked to see Claire waving me over at the security door. I had to go.

“I’m watching you.” I said with intent and walked away.

Tai shouted after me,

“You are a wackjob you know.”

I ignored him and jogged over to Claire who was busy swiping her card and typing in a password.

As the door opened, I threw off my dispute with Tai. I could worry about that later. I was there to see the jewel of the Core and I sure wanted to actually enjoy it.

Inside the door, a tunnel led down into the ground, I immediately thought of the Independence Day film with Area 51, I wanted to spout stuff from the film, but as I looked at Claire I gulped. There was no way to know how she would react to my jokes.

I got a bit nervous the further down we went, it spiralled and spiralled ever deeper. Though, a few minutes later we stopped at a big solid steel door.

“That is some door you have there, you keepin’ aliens down here.” The words spilled from my mouth and I shut it as fast as it had come out. Eri was glaring at me and I cringed.

But then, Claire giggled to my side.

“Hahaha. Good one Wil.”

A weight lifted from me. I felt much more at ease as she went through the security measures.

Without warning, the ground started shaking a bit. Enough so that I exclaimed,

“Earthquake?!” I pressed a hand against the wall to keep upright.

“Don’t worry, it happens once or twice each day. It is barely a 3 pointer.”

It didn’t comfort me much, but I nodded while looking around cautiously.

Within seconds, the steel door swung open, revealing a circular room about hundred by hundred metres across and in the middle was a massive glowing green honeycomb. It was pulsing like it had a heartbeat. A creepy heartbeat.

It sure freaked me out. But regardless of that, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

A gasp escaped me and Claire said,

“Welcome to the BeeHive, the true core of Realm of Ancients. It takes some getting used to, but by now it is like home to me.”

“Yeah… I can see that. How on earth did you figure it out?”

She smiled at my question.

“Truth be told, the combinations of the elements used was purely a lucky find in one of deep trenches in the ocean. Since then, we had refined it and that is how the BeeHive came to be.”

I whistled in wonder.

“I’ve heard about it, but no one has ever told me what combination of elements did you find that resulted in this whole thing coming into existence?”

Claire chuckled ruefully, and then said,

“That I must admit is a big company secret. Sorry.”

Eri was the one who chipped in then.

“Ah, don’t be Claire, Wil and I share the same level of curiosity. But it is awesome enough that we appreciate it being a secret, don’t we Wil?”

I nodded sincerely.

“Yeah, Beside the Command Triplets, how many smaller AIs’ are plugged in directly into the BeeHive? If I may ask.”

As if she was glad that we stepped away from the previous topic, Claire blew out a breath.

“Twenty five to be exact, they are run by the Triplets, and until a few days ago, it had been a hard job to keep the Triplets from declaring war on each other in game. So, I really am very grateful for your gift of a breakthrough.”

I whistled again.

“I really didn’t think the rumours were true of them wanting to take out their sibling AI’s.”

“Yes,” Eri said from the side, “My team and I have been busy day and night trying to ease the tensions that was building between them. Which brings me to the question, Claire, how did the launch of the World Expansion go in that regard?”

I saw my chance to slip away while Eri got Claire’s attention. I started strolling around the circular room. There were many computers situated around the room, but as I approached the railing, I could see hundreds of large servers underneath the BeeHive with thick cables running directly to the core of the pulsing honeycomb structure. Through one of the holes, I could see the three spheres that were no doubt the Command Triplets. But then, to my complete surprise, I could see two Full Dive Pods, with one of them clearly activated. Though, I wasn’t sure about the other one.

In shock I asked,

“Claire, who is that inside that pod in the BeeHive?”

The two women stopped talking and turned to look. After a moment, Claire said,

“That is Darian, the Grand General Administrator. He is overseeing the entirety of the World Expansion roll out. He is checking if the Triplets don’t go off the reservation with the update. He just logged in again about twenty minutes ago.”

“Isn’t it dangerous being inside the BeeHive?”

“Sure it can be, the elements don’t like to be drilled or hit. But, he has ensured me of his caution in taking that risk.”

I shook my head. I don’t how I would have felt plugging into the game while surrounded by volatile elements that can explode with energy when hit.

It had been one of the big talking points throughout the company how the people who lifted the first lump of it out of the ocean got blown into hospital after trying to chip off a part of it on the ship. Luckily, they survived the encounter. Still, that proved to be a pivotal in realizing the raw untapped power of the rock and the dangers of it if not handled with care.

***

After a while looking around the BeeHive, Claire suggested that the three of us go have lunch together in the garden inside the dome. I ordered an Angelfish with a lemon sauce and happily munched on it as the girls chatted happily. It was quite a change of pace since trying to make the deadline for the last month and I did feel calm.

That calm evaporated instantly as I saw Tai, Melia and Shiro talking to one of the engineers busy with the new design of the Full Dive pods. I couldn’t believe all three of them got access to the place. It just made me even more certain that Tai was up to something. I could feel my fists start to shake as I glanced over at them. Then Tai saw me and grinned, it took all my self-control not to charge over there and hit him. I kept running the phrase through my head, ‘Don’t drop yourself down to that level.’ ‘Don’t drop yourself to that level.’ However, my body started lifting and I could feel myself moving, then,

*SNAP!*

“Oi? Wil, are you okay? You are shaking.”

I dropped back into my chair with a oomf, startled completely out of the moment. My eyes were wide as I looked back at Eri with her hand in the air. She had snapped her fingers. Both the women looked concerned at me.

I took a breath and waved them off,

“I’m okay, I think I’m still on crunch time mode. My nerves feel a bit raw.”

Claire smiled with understanding. Though it was true, I was certain she didn’t understand the other part what made my nerves that raw. I just blew some air out of the side of my mouth and shrugged.

“Tell me Claire, how many zones did the company add to this World Expansion? Truth be told, I had not even asked what the other teams have been up to.”

I asked it as much for myself as to assure them I was okay. While waiting I took a sip of my drink. Claire visibly relaxed her shoulders a moment later and said,

“Then you are in for a treat! All in all we added fifteen entire new zones to the game and with it entire new survival mechanics and classes to discover.”

The drink almost burst out of my mouth, but I held it in. Sadly, the pressure it sent out my nose.

I coughed and hit my chest while gulping for breaths.

Eri patted my back and asked,

“Are you okay, Wil?”

“Y-Yeah... ugh-ugh... I was just surprised... ugh-ugh. Fifteen? I had the idea of only three or five. That is remarkable!”

Claire nodded and sipped at her coffee.

“The company has quite a few studios working on Realm of Ancients. Hearing your surprise is actually nice. Knowing that even the staff would experience certain parts of Realms of Ancients for the first time really encourage me.”

I couldn’t agree more.

“Want to see some of the features the other studios added to the World Expansion?”

There was no way I could refuse that kind of offer, so I eagerly indicated yes.

Claire strolled with poise in front as led us into a room with one big screen and several smaller monitors’ busy being, well monitored. There were almost twenty people buzzing around the room. With a voice of authority, Claire spoke loudly.

“James, Emily, please bring up the zone ‘Enchanted Bone Valley’ for us on the main screen.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Both called out while clicking at their screens.

In seconds, camera shot sweeping over eerie valley came up. There were massive skeletons of creatures that I’ve not yet seen in the Monster Manual. My excitement bubbled up. I still couldn’t believe that there were so many things now in the game that I have never seen before, and I actually worked on it myself.

“Go to sector fifty B.”

The camera flew over the terrain and a small village in a gorge went by. Everything in me wanted say stop, I wanted to see that village, but I held myself in. It was then that it stopped on the slopes of a big mountain. There were big nests of Harpies or the like, but the camera eased past them and came to a rock wall.

Claire turned to me and asked,

“What do you see?”

I was confused. No matter how I looked at it, it was rock wall.

“A wall?”

She shook her head.

“Look closer.”

I moved towards the big screen and it became clear. There was an old memorial etched into that very wall. But, I could already see how clear markings showed that there could be an event around this memorial, a mystery. My eyes lit up and I said,

“Is there a hidden door there that only opens under very specific conditions?”

Claire grinned.

“You are a quick thinker! You are indeed correct. This specific one only opens when the monthly shadow hunt has begun and the crystal acquired from the dungeon in the area is placed in that slot in the memorial with the moon’s light as its catalyst. It then reveals a big secret in the mountain.”

I was in awe. I knew we were hiding a ton of secrets in the game, but this one took the adventurers on such a wonderful journey to discover it. The awesome thing is, with enough time spent in that town alongside studying the memorial it would become clear how to unlock it.

The more I was here learning about the World Expansion patch, the more I wanted to go dive in and discover all the intricacies.

From the side, Eri spoke up.

“Claire, I wanted to ask you a question, how did you manage to balance the newest survival mechanics with the game while keeping it fun?”

“We wanted to add more of challenge to those who wanted to explore farther into the zones without overloading the players who enjoy questing around the cities. So, closer to a city it is easier to find what you need to survive, like a fireplace or lesser mobs for food. But, when you go out into wild lands of each zone, it becomes far more involved, you have to then build a fireplace when you camp for the night, and you have to start using your tracking and survival skill trees more to keep alive. And to keep the beginners from dying within a short time, we added everything they need in the starting areas and like I said, around cities and the bigger villages.”

While Claire talked, I was like a sponge, drinking in every word. I remember now placing mushrooms that give off heat closer to the more populated areas in the Shimmering Caves and having to add a list of crafting materials and specific mobs scattered around in the outer regions of the zone. It made a lot of sense now.

“Does the UI(User Interface) show indications when those survival mechanics kick in?”

“Yes, though, there are different ones like warmth and hunger/thirst. There is also things like chill factor when your armour is wet and the wind starts picki—“

The entire building shook.

Moreover, for a moment, I believed it just another small earthquake. But, it ramped up and shook much more intensely. So much so, that some of the smaller monitors started toppling over and glasses shattered around the room. I fell against the wall and glanced at Claire and Eri in shock. Seeing Claire look afraid told me everything, this was not normal.

A green light flashed through the walls, knocking us off our feet. My head slammed against something solid and everything went blurry.