CA Chapter Thirteen (Patreon)

The entry room was the same as it had been the first time Alpha entered it, except that now most of the space was taken up by a tent which had been pitched squarely in the center of the open space surrounded by dense jungle-like foliage. As Alpha blinked around, letting her eyes adjust to the mock-daylight that filtered through the trees above, she felt a small, warm body impact her legs, followed by a fierce hug.

“Mistress!” Toggle, her gnome servant, cried.

Alpha looked down, attempting to pat the small NPC’s pointy hat without knocking it off, since his shoulder was too far down to reach without bending. “Toggle! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the Atheneum Dungeon!”

The Atheneum Dungeon was run by gnomes, and ever since it was discovered, Lost Gnomes had been popping up in Veritas Online, offering quests to escort them to their new home. In exchange for someone to protect them, they offered to work for free for as long as it took to get to Refuge, where the dungeon was located.

Many of the more unscrupulous players accepted the quest, gaining a semi-permanent ‘pet’ by simply avoiding ever getting near enough to Refuge to complete the quest. Alpha had rescued Toggle from one such player, and Myles was supposed to take the little gnome as close to Refuge as possible when he brought Alpha’s Zombie to the edge of Veralt’s server.

Myles offered her a bemused smile as she looked up. “He decided he wanted to stay with you, at least until you could take him to the Atheneum Dungeon yourself.”

Alpha’s eyes narrowed. “Did you-?” They both knew what she didn’t quite say. Myles - or rather Amythyst - had prodded Toggle’s program to encourage him to offer Alpha his escort quest in the first place, and had put the little gnome on ‘pause’ more than once since.

Myles shook his head, all offended innocence. “He did it entirely on his own.”

Looking down, Alpha met Toggle’s eyes as the gnome stepped back. “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, Mistress, and you left while I was sleeping!” His large blue eyes blinked wetly, and she sighed, resisting the urge to kneel down and pat him reassuringly.

“Toggle, you could be safe at home right now, with your people. I told you I’d have to go as soon as I got [Turn Ally] to level ten. I thought we agreed you’d go with Myles.” Alpha said, sternly.

The gnome’s already thin lips compressed into a stubborn line. “I belong with you, Mistress,” he insisted.

Quest: “Ask Not for Whom the Gnome Trolls” available.

Toggle the Gnome is searching for someone to take him safely to the Atheneum Dungeon. He promises to serve you until he arrives home.

Success: Experience. Warm fuzzies. Blood. A Gift from Toggle.

Failure: None.

Accept: Yes/No?

Sighing, she realized that she must have automatically failed this quest the first time when her Zombie left Toggle behind. Resignedly, she glanced at the ‘Yes’ option, and the notification faded away with a happy sparkle.

“Why do I feel like I’m on the wrong end of this master/servant business?” Alpha muttered, but stopped her complaining as she felt something smooth and cool slide up her arm to her shoulder. Reaching up, she gently lifted Orah from where the snake was attempting to wrap herself around Alpha’s neck.

When Alpha first got Orah from her god, the sacred serpent had barely been the size of a delicate bracelet. Since discovering that the alabaster snake could double as a shrine to Quezal, Alpha had been praying to her god daily, slowly improving her relationship with the digital deity, which in turn increased Orah’s size and strength. By now, Orah easily wrapped Alpha’s wrist three times, and lately she’d begun pretending to be a torque, rather than a bracelet.

Orah’s mismatched blue eyes peered into Alpha’s, as her flickering pink tongue darted out, touching Alpha’s nose and making her laugh. As always, the serpent seemed to be smiling, and Alpha stroked her smooth scales, feeling the tension in her shoulders and back ebb away.

“She missed you,” another voice said, and Alpha glanced up to see that Tessle was emerging from the low, triangular tent. The blonde dwarf was frowning indignantly, and carefully adjusted the horned helmet on her head as she stood to her full height, which still left everything except the tips of her horns below the level of Alpha’s shoulders.

Alpha winced. She’d known this was coming, but she hadn’t been looking forward to it. Tess was her only friend in real life, and had joined her on her now much-delayed journey to Refuge. Alpha had tried repeatedly to convince Tess to go ahead to Refuge without her, but the dwarf adamantly refused, insisting that she was going to complete her own self-imposed escort quest and stay with Alpha until they walked into Refuge together.

Unfortunately, neither Myles nor Alpha wanted to involve Tess in their possibly slightly illegal activities, so when Myles went to pick up Alpha and Amy, he left Tessle behind. Tess was, obviously, less than pleased about this.

Stomping forward, Tess stared up into Amy’s face, then looked over at Myles, eyes narrowing to accusatory slits. She shook a finger at him. “I knew this whole thing was your fault, but,” she sighed, visibly deflating, “I guess I can’t blame you too much. When family is in trouble, you do whatever you have to to help them, and she,” she switched her finger to point at Amy, “is obviously related to you.”

It was true. In Veritas Online, player avatars were based on the player’s actual physical appearance. While racial characteristics such as green skin, huge, pointed ears, or enormous tusks could render a person nearly unrecognizable, the person’s essential bone structure and, to a lesser extent, coloring, remained. It would be difficult to intentionally make two human characters who looked as much alike as Amy and Myles, down to the shape of their nose and the sweep of their cheekbones. They were unmistakably related.

Tess tilted her head to one side as she continued to study Amy, and one golden braid slipped off her shoulder to swing heavily in front of her ear. “Is she logged on? Usually it’s pretty obvious, but I can’t tell.” She waved a hand in front of Amy’s face, and the hazy green eyes tracked the movement halfway before they lost focus and drifted away again. “And why does her tag just say ‘Amy’?”

Alpha and Myles exchanged a glance. “Ah, it’s a skill,” Alpha said, lamely, and Tess snorted but apparently chose to let it go, since she didn’t ask again. Instead, the dwarf snapped her fingers in front of Amy’s nose. Amy blinked, and said, “Ngh,” and Tess jumped backwards, face flaming.

“Oh, crap! Um, I’m sorry!” Tess said. “I thought you were away!” Stepping forward again, she frowned in concern. “Uh, I’m Tessle. Are you… okay?”

Amy’s eyes were locked on the waggling horns on Tess’ helmet, and slowly, she lifted her arm, reaching out to swat at the ridiculous hat.

Tess backed up again, clapping her hands to her headgear. Myles and Alpha both stepped in to prevent things from going any further, though Myles went to Amy, while Alpha grabbed Tess.

“Remember I told you Myles was going to rescue someone? You’re right, this is her, and she’s… sick. I mean, not sick, but…” Alpha faltered, not sure how to explain Amy’s condition.

“She was hurt,” Myles interjected, wrapping one arm around Amy’s shoulders as he turned to face them. “Her avatar got stuck somewhere, and since she’s… like this, she couldn’t get out on her own.”

“Oh!” Tess said, understanding and compassion flooding her face. “I have a cousin with cerebral palsy. She’s awesome, but there are a lot of things she can’t do without help. I never even thought of bringing her into the game to see if she could, you know-” she waggled her hands and did a little jig as an example.

Alpha let out a little snort of laughter, and Tess wrinkled her nose at her, but grinned self-deprecatingly a moment later. Myles, however, leaned forward, expression intent and eyes bright. “We’re actually developing a system that we hope will allow people with all kinds of developmental disorders to interact with the game world in the same way people without disabilities do. Since the suits can read even minute bioelectrical signals and transepithelial voltage gradients, we believe that-” he broke off, settling back on his heels as Alpha and Tess both turned to look at him.

Clearing his throat, Myles tapped his chin and smiled. “Ah, sorry, I tend to get a little overexcited about-”

Tess shook her head, offering him a genuine smile. Tessle was more than a little suspicious that Myles was using his charming personality to conceal a master manipulator who was out to get Alpha. It was part of the reason Tess was so reluctant to leave Alpha alone with him, and even though she’d relaxed enough to tease him back when he started bantering with her, there was still a vague tension between them.

“No,” Tess said, “it’s okay. That sounds amazing. Do you think-?”

With a quiet yelp, another figure phased into being in the center of their group. The boy was in his mid-teens, solidly in his lanky, awkward phase of growth, and his thick blue mage’s robe hung around him loosely. His face triggered faint flickers of recognition in Alpha, but she didn’t remember him until she read the tag above his head.

Vexxx - Lightning Mage. Level 81.

Blood Pack: 9 units

Pulling her sword from her inventory, she said, “You’re one of those kids who tried to kill us way back in Bloodhaven! What are you doing here?”

Vexxx stepped back as Tess’ huge, double-bladed axe whirled in her gauntleted fist. “Whoa! Hey! No, uh, you got me wrong, man! I mean, lady!” He lifted his hands, showing that they were empty, which wasn’t particularly reassuring given that he could cast a spell from that position as well as any other.

“Look,” Vexxx said, taking another step back so he was pressed up against the ‘wall’ of tree trunks that formed the room. “I’ve been following you ever since Bloodhaven. I had to, like, track you guys for days, and then I lost you for almost a week when you came in here. I finally found that tunnel when the goblins came out of it and started guarding it, or whatever, and then I got caught when I tried to sneak in while they were eating. I thought those guys were going to kill me! Like, since when are goblins level ninety? They’re supposed to be newbie mobs!”

He paused, taking a deep breath, and, seeing that no one was instantly moving to kill him, went on a little more slowly. “They made me swear to Haddu that I wouldn’t tell anyone about the tunnel, and I don’t want to be struck by lightning, so you can believe I won’t. But then my mom made me take a break to study for the PSAT, even though nobody even cares about that any more, and I just got back in, and then I spent like, another week going up and down this stupid tunnel looking for you, and I only just found you when you came in here and… Is this a freaking dungeon?”

Myles grinned and swung the arm that wasn’t still wrapped around Amy’s shoulders in a broad, all-encompassing gesture. “It is indeed! Welcome to the Labyrinth Dungeon!”

Vexxx started grinning back, and Alpha rubbed her temples. Holding up a hand, she said, “Let’s just hold off on the welcome for another minute.” She glared at the teenager who had stumbled into their midst. “Why did you follow us all the way here? If you’re mad because we beat you-”

“Oh, nah, man,” Vexxx denied, waving away the suggestion. “Y’all won fair and square. I’m here because you,” he pointed at Alpha, “are totally a vampire, and he, “ gesturing to Myles, “has the most bad-ass skill I’ve ever seen. So, I want to be a vampire, and I totally want to be able to,” he swished his hand through the air with accompanying snick-snack sounds, “like, summon Death. That was legit.”

Myles’ grin grew larger, and Alpha felt a headache start to pound behind her eyes.