The breath caught in my throat and my vision clouded when the static agent vanished, reappearing in another area to check a different spot where someone could hide. Close to hyperventilating, I focused on deep breaths in and out.

“Nothing?” the static voice asked. “Poor baby. No one came to rescue you.”

The man who’d called out for help whimpered and cried, sniffing away at great gobs of snot.

My heart ached. If I made myself known, I’d only go just as fast as he did. If not sooner. Not sure what else to do, I brought up the mental keyboard and sent a message to the one person who might be able to help.

The second I hit send, lightning struck; sending shock waves through the brambles and my fur to go on end. Geysers of flame erupted from the ground, forming an eerily silent wall of inferno.

“What the…” the static voice asked. Then, with an edge of irritation added, “Don’t know how you got his attention, but you got lucky, shit stain. We’ll meet again.”

There was a snap of current, the smell of ozone hit my nose and finally, only the wails of a man who thought he’d been about to die could be heard. The flames cast disorienting shadows from my vantage point as I struggled to break free, injuring myself further as the thorns dug and tore into my flesh.

“Let me help with that,” Richard said, and the brambles vanished, dropping me onto the soft ground with restored health. The wall of flames ebbed and sputtered out.

“Liz,” Cale yelled out as he ran towards us, his plate armor clanging with each running stride. “Holy shit, Liz, what happened? Why didn’t you answer any of our messages?” He fell to the ground beside me, flattening my face against his chest.

The edge of a pauldron dug uncomfortably into my cheek, but the embrace was otherwise too comforting to end. “What messages?” I asked, more than a little confused.

“After you took off, we got worried and started sending you tons of messages.”

“I didn’t take off, my paw slipped, and I fell. You didn’t see me?”

Cale frowned and shook his head. “One second you were with us running, the next you were gone. Maddie actually watched you blink out of existence. If it wasn’t for your status showing up as online, we’d have thought you’d gotten the plug pulled again.”

“He’s warping the code around him.” Richard said, stepping into the conversation after Cale and I had our moment. “The only messages you could send or receive would have been to me. Let’s just say those travel on different lines. I’m glad you thought of me when you needed it.”

“Thanks for the save,” I replied, tearing myself away from Cale’s iron grip around my body.

“It’s you I should be thanking.” Deep lines etched in Mr. Bouchard’s elven face, aging him years as his eyes drifted away. “I’d know that voice anywhere. If you hadn’t called me here, I don’t think I’d ever have believed it. Even if you had all the evidence to back it up.”

“You mean the static guy? You recognized him?” I asked, suddenly a little too hopeful. Already rejoicing internally that things could go back to normal soon.

His knees collapsed out from under him and he hid behind his hands. “That was my son, Leland.”

“Wait, wait, back the fuck up,” Luke said and sat back in his chair in the private dining area of the tavern. “Your son…”

“Is behind this,” Richard finished. He gulped down the rest of his tankard and rolled it in his palms; gazing down and somehow far away.

Luke whistled through his teeth. “Know why he attacked our new friend here?” He motioned at the human fighter named C0n4n, who was still pale and shaking uncontrollably after the close call on his life.

“I know,” he said through chattering teeth. “Revenge. The guild leader for In Memoriam, guy by the name of Destro, kept bragging about how many agents he’s been taking down. So the agents started working their way through the guild to prove a point. They took him down right before you got there.”

Richard sighed and rubbed at his temples. “That sounds like Leland. He always hated being second best. Got it from his mother’s side.”

“Mr. Bouchard,” C0n4n said, and his face flared a bright pink. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for you helping me and all, but can I log out now? I need to go to bed.”

A question I’d meant to ask earlier came to me. “Before you go, can I ask why you didn’t log out when he attacked? I mean, that’s saved our asses in the past.”

“We couldn’t. The button was missing from the interface. Shit, even blinking out wouldn’t work.”

“That’s impossible,” I balked. Blinking out was the equivalent of hitting alt+f4 in any program. You hit it, and you were out. No questions. It happened on the client’s side, not the server.

“Thought so too,” he said with a weary smile that failed to reach his eyes. “Can I go now?”

“Of course.” Richard stood to shake his hand before he left. “Contact me if you need anything at all.”

“No offense, Mr. Bouchard, but I’m kinda done with all this and you by proxy.” C0n4n blinked out.

Richard slumped back into his chair, resting his forehead on his fingertips. “I’ll make sure the transfers of the reward go through as soon as possible,” he said through his hands. “I’m sure you’re all eager to get this game behind you. You’ve earned it.”

I bit my lip and hated myself for what I was about to say. But it couldn’t be helped. Honestly, it’s not in me to back down from a fight and there was one on the horizon. Besides, Richard had become almost a friend and he might need me. “I can’t speak for the rest, especially given our current circumstances, but I’m sticking around.”

“Excuse me?” Cale asked, looking perplexed. “Liz, we have an open door to start our lives together. Out there, in the real world.”

“I know,” I groaned. “But that can wait a little while longer. I can’t walk away until this shit is done and the rest of our friends are safe.”

“Viv’s safe in the hospital. And thanks to the email, professionals who are definitely not us have an idea about how to bring her back.” He took my hands in his and pulled me away into a quiet corner. “I can’t keep going like this. Worried that one of these days, you aren’t gonna pull yourself out of that pod. Or, worse, that Mark snaps and does something else when I’m not around to-”

“To what, Cale?” I asked, feeling my face twist in anger. “Rescue me? Be my knight in shining armor? I’m not a fucking damsel, so don’t treat me like one. Got it?” I pulled my hands away and crossed my arms.

“That’s not what I meant. Do you know how powerless that made me feel when he showed up like that? Did you even stop to think about that? If I could get my hands on him, I’d beat the shit out of him myself.”

I’d never seen Cale ready to throw down before and, as fucked up as it is to say, it kinda made me hot. Instead of acting on that baser impulse, I kissed his cheek and hugged him, letting the warmth that just being close to him bubbled up in my soul.

He buried his head in my neck and whispered the three words I dreaded. The three you can’t ever really come back from. If his reaction was anything to go by, my response of solid body rigidity hadn’t at all been what he’d expected.

“Well, that could have gone better,” he said with a glower and turned to the rest of the group. “If Liz wants to stay, so will I. Lord knows she can’t take a hit in the game as well as she can in real life.”

Pleasantly surprised, I moved to take his hand, only for him to cross his arms without looking at me. Well, fuck. Solved one problem and created a new one for myself. Great job, Liz.

“I’m with Riot,” Luke said and nodded his head in my direction.

“Let’s see, I could eat caviar off a senator’s navel or risk my life with you scum,” Salvo said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards as he spoke. “Fuck it. I’m in.”

Maddie wrung her little hands, frowning. “If it were just me…”

“Mom, no. We’re in this too,” Nate said with pleading in his voice. “I’ll do chores and homework. Hell, I’ll even learn about the big stick thing and what that means. Please?”

“Nathan, I don’t think…” she started and shook her head.

“Mo-om,” he dragged the word out for emphasis. “I don’t ever ask for anything. Please, just this once. Please, please, please?”

“Liz, can I have a word with you? Just us girls,” she asked, her speech icon showing she switched over to private chat.

I nodded. Something in her tone and expression of stony resolve told me this was going to be an interesting conversation.

“I’m going to join you and by proxy, Nate will too. If I knew a way to keep him safe otherwise I’d do that but I need him with me, I’ll explain why in a bit. First, there’s something you need to know and let me get to the end. If it doesn’t come out at once, I’ll probably lose my nerve.”

“All right,” I said, frowning. Not sure I was going to like what I heard one bit.

“The same people who contacted Brad, contacted me too,” she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth in rapid fire. She held up a finger before I could interject. “At first, I told them to eat a dick. But then they contacted me again. This time through a written letter delivered to the library. Where I work. They’d included pictures of Nathan at home. Of our gaming pod with him inside. Of his bed and his room. Liz, they’ve been in my house watching my baby. What else could I say besides I’d see what I could do? Anything to keep Nathan safe.” Tears spilled down her cheeks that she angrily brushed away.

Not wanting to interrupt her, I took hold of her little gnomish hand and nodded for her to continue.

She sniffed and took a long shaking breath. “Here’s where I need you to trust me. I never had the opportunity to tell them anything. I haven’t made any attempt to contact them since I’ve met the group and never will again. You have my word. You’re my friends and most importantly, you all mean more to my son than I can ever say. You have my eternal gratitude for giving him something to believe in.”

I blinked at her a few times as the information settled in my gray matter. Finally, I said, “These guys are fucking dicks.” Not at all eloquent, but it got my point across. I trusted her, and only hoped it wasn’t misplaced.

“They threatened my son,” she said with a bitter edge that was hard as nails. “And that was a pretty big mistake on their part. I will do whatever it takes to bring those motherfuckers down.”

My head bobbed in automatic agreement. Despite her character’s small stature, the glint in her eye, both deadly and protective, transformed her into a lioness watching over her cub. She nodded back, the mask of motherly calm returning to her face.

“All right, Nate,” she said, in general chat and passed me a quick, knowing glance. “But only because I know the second we get back home and I’m off to work, you’ll be jumping back on.”

“Best mom ever,” Nate said and actually hugged her. Impressive for a teenage boy.

“Tell me that again when this is in the past and we’re both walking away alive,” Maddie replied.

I moved next to the CEO’s chair and put a hand on his shoulder. “Well, Richard, looks like you’re stuck with us. What do you need us to do first?”

A hint of light came back in his otherwise grim expression. “For now, take a night off. I’ll send some pizza to your suites along with some beverages. Age appropriate, of course.” He held onto my hand and squeezed. “Thank you. This means more than you’ll ever know. I’ll try to do right by you and your friends.”

I returned the squeeze and said, “I know. That’s why I stayed.”

I remembered to call Mark the second my pod opened. I dreaded the call. In fact, if there was any way to avoid contacting him, I would have. Before he could say more than a hello, I rambled on with the findings and readied myself to end the call.

“I owe you an apology,” he said, his voice small.

He absolutely fucking did, not that it would matter much. That bridge was little more than cinders at this point. So, all I said in reply was, “Mm-hm.”

“There might have been some overreaction on my part, and for that I apologize. I allowed the stress from the situation to get the better of me.” In the background, I could hear the soft whir of a breathing apparatus and the constant beeping of machines monitoring Viv.

How much time did he spend in that tiny room? I wondered.

“Well, if that’s all, I’ll be hanging up now.”

“Wait,” he said with a little more urgency in his voice than normal. Enough to draw my suspicion he was up to something. But maybe he did just want to make things right. “Will you allow me to visit? Make my apologies in person?”

“Probably not the best idea,” I said, making a face at Cale who popped his head in the bedroom to say people started arriving at our suite. “Sneaking into people’s rooms when they’re defenseless doesn’t usually go over well in most crowds. Add the fact that I’m a chick in the equation and there won’t be much talk if you show up. Give some people time to calm down and then we’ll talk. Yeah?”

He exhaled loudly on his end of the call, but finally agreed. Since there was nothing left to say, we hung up. My knees attempted to buckle once the adrenaline ran dry. The breath caught in my throat and I swallowed all the compacted emotions back down into the pit of my stomach where they belonged.

One of these days I was getting one hell of an ulcer. But not today. There was pizza for me to eat and later on, there was beer to drink.

Within a half hour, a courier arrived with ten pizzas, enough beer and soda to last us a month, along with a ton of Age of Arcadia swag. We dug through the t-shirts to find our size. Luke had the most difficulty, eventually settling on a shirt he had to cut the sleeves off to fit around his biceps.

We ate, drank non-alcoholic beverages and watched movies of a bygone era. Starting with the Breakfast Club and ending with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Once Maddie declared it was time for her and Nate to go back to their room, the adult festivities began.

Salvo grabbed some kind bud he’d gotten for a special occasion and we smoked and drank to our successes. Luke was one of those guys who the more he smoked, the more he giggled, causing everyone around him to laugh so hard their sides hurt. The fits would die down into a comfortable mellow silence, only for a new one to bubble out as he thought of some other outlandish idea. Be it dog shoes, as he tried to describe how dogs walk in them through bursts of laughter, or showing us in vivid detail how to get a booty going in a proper twerk.

I, unfortunately, lack a proper booty or the rhythm required to get things moving. He laughed harder, saying it looked like my back end was having a stroke. Whatever that meant.

It was time to call it a night once Luke passed out on the couch with Salvo sprawled out on the floor. I grabbed some extra blankets and pillows, stumbling from one room to another, taking care of the men who didn’t quite understand the concept of pacing themselves.

Finally, able to get myself and Cale into bed, I shook him awake from the Holo chair and pulled him towards our room.

He grunted, made it to the bed with a combined effort of both our strength and threw himself on top of the covers, still fully clothed. I sighed, knowing he’d only wake me up in an hour or so when he got too hot and stripped.

A contented sigh left him when I pulled off his pants and shirt, setting his glasses on the bedside table. Once I joined him, he nuzzled in close, breathing heavily in my ear. “Salvo said it was dumb to say the love thing in front of people,” he said, half asleep and slurred almost beyond recognition. A little snore left him and he said the three words again.

This time, I might have said it back, but only because he was asleep. I’d have to baby step my way to letting him know when he was conscious. I snuggled a little closer and fell fast asleep myself.

“Liz, wake the fuck up,” Salvo’s voice penetrated my dream. It was a pleasant one, though gone the second my eyes opened. I only know it felt safe. Fuck, it felt good to feel like that again.

Annoyance shot through me, aimed directly at my longtime friend. “Shit, Salvo. What time is it and what the fuck do you want?” I pulled the covers over my head, still not willing to leave the security of the soft bed and warm blankets.

“It’s like ten or something. The floor was super uncomfortable and woke me up.”

Six hours of sleep is better than nothing, I comforted myself and lingered until Cale’s asshole loudly trumpeted a night of too much beer and greasy pizza. Anyone who’s had a night like ours knows the putrid horrors he unleashed. “Goddammit,” I yelped, jumping out of bed, the oily stench burning my eyes. “Fuck it, I’m up and fuck both of you.” I swatted my partner’s side, now shaking with pent up laughter.

Salvo made a sour face and waved a hand. “Jesus Christ, Cale. I need to get out of here. Both of you, pull some pants on and meet me in the living room. There’s some shit you need to see.”

“Order some coffee, huh?” I said, digging through a pile of clothing for my comfy sweats.

“Already here, bitch. You’d think I just met you or something.” He winked and closed the door behind him as he left.

By the time I brushed the fuzz off my teeth and washed my face, I felt almost human again. It wouldn’t be until I had my first dose of caffeine before I’d feel complete. But what the hell would we need to see that was so important Salvo would wake me up in the first place? If it was good news, he’d have told me in the bedroom. So, it was something he wanted me to be fully awake to process. Fucking great. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said, flopping down on the couch beside him. “What’s this thing we need to see?”

Luke paced the floor, cracking his knuckles. “If I get my hands on that motherfucker again…”

Guess he’s already seen it, I thought, and based on his reaction, I’m not going to like it either.

With his lips pressed into a tight line, Salvo handed me his laptop displaying a block of text posted to the Bronzeheart server page on the Age of Arcadia message boards. It read:

If you’re reading this, I haven’t had access to any devices for 48 hours. That could mean a few different things, but chances are good I’ve disappeared. And not by my own will. My name is Brad Thatcher. In-game, I’m known as WyldH3art0n. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, hurt people that meant something to me, and hurt others who deserved it.

On July 16th, I was contacted by unknown individuals who offered me a large sum of money for information related to a group within the game. I’ve been told they have other informants placed inside other guilds but don’t know who they are. If you’re reading this and you’re one of them, be careful. I don’t think it’s as safe as they promised.

The group I was following would form a guild known as The Bookhouse Boys. I’m sure plenty of you know who they are. They walk around like they’re tough shit when they’re a bunch of noobs who still can’t play their characters worth a damn.

Because of the fear for my safety, I’ve created a deadman’s switch. Simply put, if I don’t log into a device, the message is posted. Tough shit, Bookhouse Tools. The people who should know more about my disappearance are as follows:

Salvo, AKA: V4mpyrL0rd. This asshole thinks I ever gave two shits about his homo ass. By the way, CLICK HERE to see a picture of who else he’s been sticking his filthy paws inside of. Spoiler alert, the one with his lips wrapped around Salvo’s dick is Arkansas Senator Butch Lahey. The person behind him with a strap on is his wife, Cindy. Family values my ass.

Liz Milner, AKA: Ri0tGrrl. Head cum-dumpster herself. This bitch thinks she’s street. She also thinks it’s cute to lead men on. Sorry, Cale old boy, this cunt used you from day one. Ask her about why she hung out with you in the first place. It ain’t because you’re fun to be around. Speaking of Cale…

Cale Paxton, AKA: DreadPirat3. Not only is he getting fucked by his whore of a girlfriend, he got sucked and suckered by a dude. Turns out, before the slut opened her hole for him, he turned to a hooker named Ang3lB4by. Which brings me to…

Luke Michaels, AKA: Ang3lB4by. All you dumb motherfuckers using “HER” services need to know what you’re really getting. A man the size of King Kong and just as dumb. Following a string of arrests for vandalism and petty thefts, all he can do to make a little cash is bounce at a strip joint or pretend he’s a chick online and whore himself out. Fucking pathetic.

Maddie Milstead, AKA: Ice9Valentine. Mother of the year, if there ever was one. Lets her son play a video game with a killer on the loose. Also, her son Nathan, don’t have a daddy since the filthy slut got knocked up as a teenager. Boo Hoo. Cry me a fucking river.

All these asshats have one big thing in common. Their financier, a man by the name of Mark Williams who operates some shady dealings out of Las Vegas Land Games and Resorts. Look him up sometime.

Now that’s out in the open, have fun fuckers. See you in hell where you belong.

Finished with the epic tale of our lives, I could only stare at the screen. Things had been going so well, hadn’t they? “What the fuck did I just read? How did he get all that information about us?”

“My arrest record is all online. The second he had my name, all he’d have to do was a quick search to find it,” Luke said and held his head in his hands. “The rest is common sense, Maddie don’t look old enough for a teenage son, and gossip from Ol’ Looselips over there.”

“Please. Don’t tell me you’ve never had a little pillow talk in your life,” Salvo said. “You aren’t the one with pubic stubble all over the internet. If I’d known those pictures would leak, I’d have shaved.”

The bullshit bounced around between my ears but refused to settle into place; it was so nonsensical. “What the fuck, Salvo? Not that I care about that conservative cockroach, but this just ruined that man’s career and you’re only concerned about your pubic hair?”

“Oh no, the guy pushing an anti-gay agenda likes to suck dick while getting fucked in the ass by his wife. Please, I did the world a favor.”

“Huh,” I said, because what else could I respond with? It’s not every day someone compares getting blown to global scale humanitarian aid. Besides, arguing with him was as infuriating as it was pointless. And I should be more concerned with how Cale would take the leak. The thing I should have come clean with forever ago but never felt quite comfortable getting there. Once we’d jumped in the sack together, how do you bring that up in casual conversation?

“Out of all of us, the senator should be the one pissed off the most,” Cale said, almost as though he read my mind. “The shit about me is annoying but whatever, gossip and bullshit.”

“You’re not pissed?” I asked, glancing up where he stood behind the couch doubtfully.

“An attractive girl who’s passing grade depends on me, starts offering to hang out, and you don’t think I’d be a little suspicious?” He put a hand on my shoulder, his thumb grazing the back of my neck. “I feel like things worked out pretty well for me.”

I grinned up at him before feeling my face fall into a frown. “Does Maddie know yet?”

“She’s the one that told me about it,” Salvo said. “She’s upset, but dealing. Said she’d meet us in the game after she had some time alone with Nate. Before you even ask, I apologized profusely. It’s my fault he got invited to come here. If I hadn’t fallen for Brad’s line of how great a PvP partner I’d make…”

The conversation died. For me, it was a combination of the shock over Salvo’s admission of guilt and the realization that I’d have to call Mark. Again. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and got on with it so we could get into the game and get our last few levels. All the while, asking myself why I hadn’t just taken the money and run.