Settled in a deep gulf of the tower’s shadow, stood the mighty walls and domes of Pos Masic. From Magus Tower, ancient fortifications ran the length of the western capital. The valley of carved stone glowed radiant from deep within. A pale, marble road encircled Magus Tower itself, wrapped from base to tip. The tower’s labyrinthian inner halls could house the entire Pos Masic population twenty times over.

From dusk til dawn travelers and adventurers explored the massive tower by the thousands. Never a day came where Magus Tower stood empty.

Until that day.

Kitano felt a chill. A storm blew in from the eastern sea. She whipped the rain from her forehead, staring up at the old tower. Where once it’s been a hub, a nexus point for all players on that particular server, now stood abandoned. As no adventurers explored, the NPCs - merchants and other skilled traders alike found no reason to set up wares.

“Empty. Just as I said,” Juice muttered.

Kitano turned. “What happened back there? Did you see what I did in Underworld 30?”

“Underworld 30 has collapsed.” Juice answered. “But that’s the least of our problems. For I have made contact with Mr. Crooks.”

Kitano brightened. “That’s wonderful. He can see me?”

“He’s been trying to contact you.” Juice’s display bobbed in the air. “Crooks wants you meet with him. There’s a UNW commodore with him. It sounds urgent.”

Kitano’s lips parted in surprise. It was Firechanter Gaming’s Head of Game Development, Mr. Anthony Crooks’ office, who’d sent out the work invitation she’d accepted. As for why he’d ever set time aside to speak to her, let alone accompanied by a UNW official? Her heart skipped a beat.

“If it’s about what happened then they can just ask—” She found the NPC wizard, Grandeur, frozen by her side. Unblinking, he stared up at the tower. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Crooks is lagging the server in order to make arrangements.” Juice turned his display toward Grandeur. “As for him? Well, Grandeur’s global data was… corrupted.” Juice allowed her to process the news. “Don’t look so distraught. He was only an NPC. Anyhow, it’s half past time we met Mr. Crooks.”

Nodding, Kitano went to log out from Herald of Tomorrow, only to find the basic menu commands still frozen. “Juice?” she asked. Her hands – her real hands – felt numb as they searched for the headset once more. “How long has it been? Is reboot still in my system? I haven’t been able to move my hands.”

“Reboot? No. But the meeting will occur here,” Juice answered. “They’ve set up a virtual lobby.”

Pink light tore into the shadow of Magus Tower, the world ripped open. The teleport doorway was a crude tool used by developers. All at once Kitano felt cold. The clouds overhead stopped in place. She noticed the wind too had come to a halt.

This can’t be good. She stepped through the teleport. What awaited her was not the familiar, cold, and bed-ridden room, but a polished and modern office. Crooks’ digital office had no walls, rather, the emptiness expanded on and on forever. No art could be displayed, save for a single watercolor suspended above the mountain of a man.

“Tony,” she said, nodding in hello.

“Good to see you. Please take a seat Arama,” Crooks said. His tone was full of ice. “This is Commodore Leeford.” He gestured across the desk to the soldier seated there. The commodore’s suit was just a little too tight to be comfortable. He wore a light gray tie that didn’t match his shirt. But he had a determined look, the kind people still pined over in a real gentleman.

“Ms. Kitano, would I be accurate in my understanding that you met with Stephan Rose last night, here in the Herald of Tomorrow game?” The commodore steepled his fingers as he studied her.

Last night?

“I wouldn’t call it as much.” She tried to smile, but the commodore held her in cold contempt. So, she found her seat quickly. “Yes... He was logged in there while I was investigating the error message on Underworld 30.”

“What entailed during this meeting?” Leeford asked.

“He seemed surprised that I was there.”

“Your being at Underworld 30 had nothing to do with him?”

Kitano glanced at Crooks. She could see the circles under his eyes. The big man’s lip trembled in anticipation. He’s not angry at all… he’s frightened.

“Was it a cordial meeting?” Crooks asked.

“Not really,” she sighed. “If I’m going to be honest? He seemed upset with me. Like I did something wrong. He seemed upset about the NPC that accompanied me.”

“And then?”

“And then?” Kitano rubbed her chest, remembering the experience. The pain. “He must have sent me back here. I don’t remember much at all.”

“Convenient,” Leeford mused. “Tell me, why take the NPC?”

“You’re going to think it’s silly.”

“Go on,” he said.

She didn’t know where to start? How could she sum up artificial intelligence theory?

Crooks came to her rescue. “Arama did a lot of preliminary work for us before we branded Herald AI.” He allowed himself to smirk awkwardly. “You see, Grandeur is sort-of a mascot for advertisements… And Arama was his pal in the early stages. Where would we be without the Arrowroot Specialists?”

“I really enjoyed working on the cutscenes.”

Leeford glanced at Crooks and shook his head. “Ms. Kitano, are you taking any drugs currently? Or are you just socially inept?”

She laughed nervously. “NPCs are designed on a learning—”

Crooks cut in. “Arama. Player records show that you played with us for three years, getting your character to prestige level 70.” He passed a data card to Leeford, who began to review it. “You played, on average, 12 hours per day.”

He added a little smile, which added nothing to the conversation.

Leeford looked up from the data card. “And then you stopped in November of last year? Almost two years gone.” He arched an eyebrow. “An abrupt end for a veteran player.”

“The game needed me working behind the scenes more and more.” She looked to Crooks for help. “Some of the magic was lost.” She crossed her arms, sick of their pointless questioning already. “Can I ask what this is about?”

“Some resentment for never becoming a Firechanter employee in full?” Leeford pondered aloud.

“Arama, it’s really important you answer the commodore’s questions,” Crooks said.

“I truly have no true further questions.” Leeford spread his hands. “However, I do find that when a person of interest says, ‘to be honest,’ they’re lying at all other instances…” He turned to Crooks. “Contact local authorities. She should be brought into custody at once.”

Crooks waved his hands in panic. “Wait, listen; Mr. Rose erased the NPC and sent you back? That’s all that happened. Absolutely everything? Yes?”

Kitano paused for a second. In all her years working for Crooks’ office, she’d never known him to be like this, never so despondent.

“Do you not doubt her disloyalty?” Leeford sniffed.

She pursed her lips. “Why don’t you just ask him yourself? Did he complain about me? My work? What? Tell me.”

“Stephan didn’t complain, but then again he couldn’t,” Leeford said. “He's dead.”

Crooks hesitated, then added, “He left a data card with Herald AI.”

“And you think—” she broke off and sunk into her chair.

Crooks rose from his seat. “Commodore? If I may have a moment with Arama?”

Leeford crossed his legs and made an inarticulate gesture. “Be my guest.”

Stepping out from his side of the desk, Crooks motioned for Kitano to join him. As they walked, the grand, expansive white office accommodated them, leaving Leeford and the office desk behind as a speck.

The great wide emptiness brought back memories of other times. The hazing of Shepard’s colony. The unreal unease in the thick of a dead civilization. She cleared the thought away.

>

>Heart rate… ELEVATED

>Blood pressure… BASELINE

>Body temperature… BASELINE

>Synchronized… 89%

>

“Tony?” Kitano looked over at Crooks, whose exhaustion was abundant. “Sorry about Stephan,” she managed.

“Don’t be.” He turned his head.

“Synch is through the roof,” she said, trying to change the subject in her direction. “Why are my logout options frozen? What happened last night?”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Of all the things I learn about my Arrowroot Specialists… I never figured you for a biobake.” The idea of replacing one’s organs with tech, to merge with the greater Galaxy’Net sounded appealing to very few of the Earth Empire’s population. Crooks’ thinly-veiled disgust appeared to be no different. “How far gone… I mean, how much have you- you, well, you know?”

“Just neuro imps,” she said, cringing slightly. Slang for implants seemed a little out of place, given the conversation. “Got into it just like anyone else. One implant at a time.”

Crooks stopped. In the distance, a dark wall rose.

“Back on Shepard, I developed a condition.” Coughing, she cleared her throat. “Maybe I just got comfortable. I don’t know, sitting in recovery for a month seemed worse somehow.”

“You were on Shepard?” Crooked nodded, as though that answered everything. “Sorry to hear it.”

Kitano shrugged. “Just give it to me straight.”

“Herald of Tomorrow is in lockdown.” He gave a tired laugh and hunched his shoulders. “Everyone kicked off as the port closures are still in effect. The few biobake players left, like you, are experiencing locked menus, locked console, and elevated sync levels… Arama, we have no idea what this is.”

And Stephan went nuts before getting slagged, she thought, though she didn’t say it.

Crooks gestured to the dark wall before them. Kitano squinted. The wall before them was no mere wall, but a mass of figures standing on a vertical platform. A hundred thousand adventurers, each unique in their own way, huddled together.

“Herald AI is refusing to work with anyone. Won’t even talk to us. Nothing.”

“Those are all players?” She gaped. “Why don’t you just log in and talk to Herald AI yourself?”

“Lobby is as far as any one of us can go,” he answered. “UNW’s not just gonna arrest you, but they’re going to tear the whole company apart while they’re at it.”

“Why? Because of Stephan?”

“Heck if I know. Because there’s an indeterminate amount of biobakes out there who are stuck?” He ran a hand over his bald head. “What Stephan’s got to do with it? I wish I knew.”

Crooks gave her a look; sharp and calculating. He lowered his voice, wanting to conspire. She knew whatever came next, it would be uncompromising.

“You need to find Herald AI.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“There’s nobody else.” His forehead gleamed with sweat. “The suits upstairs want blood. The darn Herald thing won’t answer our calls, but it’s got a virtual place in-game where it could be reached.”

Kitano blinked. “So, you want…Wait, you’re asking me to play the game?”

“We’re just asking you to walk over there and knock on his door.” Crooks frowned. “Who knows, maybe it needs help. Maybe it’s over-burdened. I don’t know. I’m not a dev. All I know is Stephan gave the bloody thing a data card.”

“Spawn me back at his front door then.”

Crooks cleared his throat. “I can’t do much. They’ll see what I’m doing from here on out.”

Kitano nodded slowly and turned back to face the lobby of players.

“It’s gonna cost,” she answered after a moment.

“Fine,” he grunted.

Kitano named her price. When Crooks didn’t fight her on it, she wished she’d asked for more.

“Here we are,” Crooks said. A red door inlaid with stained glass stood by his side. “It’ll take you right back to Pos Masic. Herald AI is held up in Everhollow,” he smiled. Her misery was his delight. “Kol Thom tower in the misty hills area. Can’t miss it.”

“Kol Thom Tower?” But as she stared at Crooks, the lobby disappeared.

She was right back where she started, standing in the shadow of the Magus Tower.

“Kol Thom Tower?” asked Granduer.

The wind started blow again.