Somnia Online: Fragments - Chapter Seven (Patreon)

Puzzled

Murmur stepped cautiously out of the newly opened door, placing tentative footsteps along the way, more wary now than she'd been earlier. There was a faint smell of sulfur still in this corridor, but the damp scent had been replaced by mustiness. She wrinkled her nose as she led the way until Merlin caught up, lighting the path better with one of his fire arrows.

The orange light from it flared up, brighter than the dim torches that hung in the sconces and leant an eerie glow to the whole area.

"Oh no." Sinister muttered under her breath as she caught up to Murmur. "This isn't creepy at all. I don't do haunted Mur, you know that."

Murmur glanced at her friend and gave Sin's shoulders a quick squeeze. "Yeah. I know that. Sadly I don't think this is haunted. I'm pretty sure it's just an elaborate puzzle.

The sconces stopped their minor illumination up a few more steps and Merlin halted, frowning into the dark before looking back at Murmur and shrugging his shoulders. "There's a door here. Just a single one, but I'm pretty sure since the lights have stopped, that we're supposed to go in here."

Mur looked around, quite certain he was right. After all, this area was still lit, if not well, and beyond them the hall held only darkness. She wasn't even sure if Merlin's arrow would help them navigate that. It didn't just appear to be black beyond the lights, it looked like it might suck away all light.

"Let's see what it holds then." She tried to sound brave, even over the shuffling of feet she heard behind her. Everyone was restless, and she was quite certain some of them were trying to stay awake too. Even her mind felt slightly drowsy. She watched as Merlin reached for the door handle and twisted it, opening it into the room.

One by one, lights flickered on within it, and Murmur shrugged. "Now or never, I guess."

They filed into the room, with the lights still coming to life, their initial flames flickering and casting oddly ominous shadows throughout the whole rather narrow room. Murmur shifted a little toward the front, standing next to Merlin in order to let the others file in.

"I'm not sure I like the look of this, Mur." He didn't sound afraid, just cautious. Probably the best word to describe how they should treat this whole place -- with caution.

As the torches illuminated more, Murmur noticed large blocks close to her, and blocking some of the path, or perhaps veering the path in a different direction was more accurate. Like a maze of sorts with only one way to go. Like a funnel. Into a trap.

Her first thoughts gave her pause, after all, what better puzzle than something that landed you in a trap you had to get out of.

After the last of them fit into the small space, the door slammed shut.

"Shit." Sin's voice went up a few notes, and Murmur hoped she'd be okay. Just as she was about to say something, gold script starting writing itself into the air again.

"Great." Dansyn sighed. "Here we go again."

Puzzle me this, Riddle me that
Find your way out, just like a rat
Through the boxes or the wall
Some are thick and some are tall
Pay attention one by one
Building blocks are so much fun
Take great care and build it right
Don't let it topple in a fight
Load too much, bound to fall
Build it right, rule them all
But take heed and do not rush
One wrong move makes you mulch

"Could they stop being so cryptic?" Sin whined. "I mean, everything is cryptic in this game. My trainer, the quests..."

"Let's not talk about cryptic trainers." Mur said with a smile, trying to make Sin feel better. "How about we figure out what the fuck it wants us to build?"

"You got that too, huh?" Veranol stood with his hand against his chin.

"Do you think?" Beastial began, and paused, hesitating.

"Out with it." Mur demanded. Although it did say not to go fast this time, she also didn't want to go sloth levels of slow.

He cleared his throat. "Do you think it means it wants us to build something from the blocks in this maze that will fight for us?"

Murmur blinked, and everyone craned their necks to double check all the words. "It sort of does sound like that, doesn't it?"

The group nodded. She wasn't sure if they agreed with her and Beastial, but it was the best plan they had so far. The thing was, she didn't know where to begin.

"Don't suppose any of you are engineering students, or robotics majors or something?" She asked, glancing around.

"Nope." Mellow stepped in. "But I've always loved building things. I'm good with my hands."

Murmur smiled. "Probably why they made you a witch, huh?"

Mellow blinked, and pushed some of their thick stranded hair behind their shoulder. "I didn't think of it like that. But that makes complete and utter sense now."

The others pushed around, leaning in as Mellow stood over the first box.

They stood up to their full locus height and glared at everyone. Murmur thought the white pearlescent starry eyes were a little more disturbing than her own galaxy type ones.

"Don't crowd me. I need my space to look over these." Mellow pulled out one of their glowing phials and proceeded to examine the box. After a couple of minutes, they frowned and moved onto the next. "I think there's an order in which we need to do this, so I'm going to need to go through every single one in here and make sure that I'm assembling it correctly. It's probably going to take a while. Sorry."

Murmur leaned back against the now closed door and waved her hand. "Take your time, Mel. We'll be here, playing I spy something beginning with T. Torch." She winked at her friend, who was only half paying attention as they moved to the next box.

#

So far, Murmur had only had to cringe once, and that was when Mellow placed one of the shoulder pieces and overbalanced, almost dropping it. She wasn't sure what would have happened, but the sheer feat of acrobatics Mellow displayed in somehow not letting go of the block, earned them Murmur's eternal gratitude. One more block for the head, and, if they'd understood everything correctly, their weirdly built battle bot would be ready for fighting.

What they'd be fighting she didn't know. Probably a giant rat if the riddle gave them any clue. Not that it did. Not that they ever did.

"Going to need a bit of help to get this one up top." Mellow's voice was rock solid, like there was no doubt in their mind that they knew exactly what they were doing. Murmur wanted to be able to mimic that. In all her years as a guild leader, she'd never once had that type of confidence in herself.

Sure, she knew she was good, but at the same time, leading a bunch of people? It was draining and the responsibility weighed heavily.

Devlish and Veranol moved in to create a step for Mellow by linking their hands. While it seemed a little old fashioned, at least it would prevent Mellow from teetering like they'd done earlier and nearly dooming the whole project. A small part of Murmur wanted to see what would happen if they fucked up. Was there a different method to gain this key? Was this even one of the twelve keys? As far as she knew, it had to be. But that didn't mean she hadn't misunderstood something along the way.

Glancing at her experience information as Mellow clambered up, Murmur frowned. Twenty-nine and change. The others would be twenty-nine shortly. Damn it. She should have picked up her spells after all. When was she going to learn to come prepared? It's not like inventory space was a problem.

CON 61
STR 23
AGI 59
WIS 51
INT 104
CHA 130

HP 679
MANA 787

MA 175

At least extra levels meant she was getting stronger. Her statistics showed it, she only wish her head understood it better. Frowning at her HUD, she was brought out of her contemplations by a strange humming sound. It started like the low rumbling of a hungry stomach, but buzzed louder a short while later, becoming definitely machine based.

Mellow jumped down from their perch and stood, surveying the huge sort of blockish robot from below, a frown on their face.

"Something wrong?" Murmur asked, but wished she'd waited a few seconds since what was wrong wasn't so much not right, as not expected.

The blocks were forming into a shape that far more resembled a large stone golem of sorts. It morphed the blocks into roughly round edges, lending it a less battle bot appearance, and more that of a large mountain... something or other.

They all stepped back a little, hesitant to get close. Murmur couldn't blame them. But Mellow held their ground, still frowning, even as the huge thing knelt, putting one fist on the ground to level itself and causing the entire room to shake with the action. Its mouth opened and the words tumbled out like a low pitched cascade of lava.

"I am ready to serve you. I am ready to fight for you."

Mellow didn't even flinch, but instead raised an eyebrow and the words that came out of their mouth sounded almost rehearsed. "I see thee and I know thee. Tell me all you know."

With a defending crack the thing smiled, small portions of rock cascading down in front of it from the way the smile spread up their face, cracking the solid stone. The rubble barely missed Mellow, and still the witch didn't budge. "We must venture to the next challenge where I will be your champion."

"Oh." Murmur said. Did that mean they'd passed this challenge? Was the only challenge not choosing the wrong blocks to build this fella with?

It seemed Mellow was of the same mind. "Then, have we passed this challenge?"

The creature nodded, straightening itself again so that it could move. It was massive, towered over the rest of them by a good half a locus. If her calculations were correct, it would barely fit through the door.

It spoke again, in that resonant tone. "You assembled me correctly. Had you not. You would be dead." Then it headed straight for the door, leading the way without waiting to see if they followed.

"Well." Mellow said. "Glad I didn't know that beforehand."

#

Murmur glanced back at the doorway and its crumbling frame. She'd been slightly off in her estimation because the golem as she had chosen to call it, didn't actually quite fit. Sure, it only knocked the top of the frame off, but destroying the castle in the process of whatever they were doing wasn't exactly Murmur's idea of fun.

She hurried after the others who were practically jogging to keep up with the golem. A small glow emanated from it, probably a result of the magic used to keep it together. It stopped about twenty golem paces down the dimly lit corridor and turned to the left, indicating two huge doors. At least it wouldn't demolish these.

"I cannot pass without you first opening the way." It paused and looked back, locking eyes with Mellow. "I will require guidance and assistance, but should you try to fight in my place you will be annihilated."

Then it hesitated again and added. "Not by me."

Murmur shivered, although honestly a little of that came from the cool and damp corridors. Even though her armor was relatively thick, the castle didn't have anything like central heating, and the cold from the snowy world outside seemed to leak through the stone which held it deftly. Taking a deep breath, she moved forward and pushed open the doors, considering everyone was standing around and probably waiting for her.

She wasn't sure what she expected when the room opened in front of her, but the sound of whooshing fire lighting a plethora of huge torches hung around the outer perimeter of the room, was not it. The light traveled fast, illuminating the massive area in front of them within seconds. These torches weren't as small or dim as the ones in the hall, and the light rebounded off nearly white sand that covered the floor.

"What sort of fucking castle is this?" Rashlyn muttered as she moved up to stand next to Murmur.

"This is the dwarven castle of Dunforth HighTower. It was built to protect him and his loyal servants, but when he was cursed with the undeath and hunted by legions, he set traps to keep himself and his treasures safe." The golem walked into the room, stopping just inside the door, oblivious to the gaping faces of the adventurers next to it.

"This is the combat room. I am here." The last three words echoed around the chamber and suddenly, the air above them began to light up again.

Champion found, champion lost
Flick this coin, give it a toss
Heads you make it, tails you don't
One step forward, or you won't
In your corner you will find
Ways to leave your world behind
Now pick wisely, only one
Don't pick boring that's no fun
Aid you'll give don't interfere
Punishment is always near
Fighting fair is not the game
Your champion knows when to feign
Two chances, now please begin
Only one way lets you win

Beastial actually groaned out loud. "I feel like I'm back in English class. There's a reason I'm a science student. No riddles, no poems. I don't have to read real words. Okay. I don't have to read them much. Give me numbers any day."

Murmur laughed at him, hoping it didn't betray her nervousness, and glanced up at the golem whose eyes looked particularly stony and whose expression revealed absolutely nothing.

"I don't think the golem can choose, can you?" She asked it.

It shook its head. "But as long as you have not made your final choice, I must answer any question you ask of me."

This time Murmur raised an eyebrow, peering closer at Mellow's creation. That was very specific piece of information to give. So she decided to try pushing it further. "Who is allowed to command you?"

The golem smiled again, more rubble falling from its mouth, as this time the expression bared teeth. "My creator."

Excellent, then the commands had to come from Mellow. Murmur turned to them. "You up for that?"

"Count me in, boss." Mellow's pearly white eyes glittered for a moment, making Murmur glad they were on her side.

"Excellent. Then let's take a look at these. I wonder if two chances means that we'll have two chances to win?" Murmur side eyed the golem who opened its mouth to respond.

"There are two choices, but only one will allow me to win."

"Allow you? As in it has to?" Murmur knew she was being pushy, but they'd already overcome two hurdles, and she'd be damned if they were going to be defeated when they'd come this far.

"As in, there is only one I am capable of defeating."

Murmur paused, and raised an eyebrow at Mellow who shrugged in return. Fantastic, they didn't have a clue which one to pick either. The weird sort of mounds covered in sand on the floor weren't any help them figure out which was which. So Murmur craned her neck and looked up above again.

Flick this coin, give a toss. Heads was up first, and one step forward meant in front. They'd been heading north this entire time, so it only stood to reason that north was the head and one step forward meant the bulge to the north. Murmur took a deep breath and turned to their little pet golem. "If I choose the bulge to the north, will you be able to win?"

She hoped she'd phrased it correctly, and had to remind herself to breathe while she waited for an answer, hoping against hope that the golem wasn't full of shit and lying.

"I will be able to win." The golem's smile was frightening.

Murmur elbowed Mellow, who responded by giving a command. "Choose the north bulge."

Mellow indicated their choice, and the room began to rumble. The floor beneath them sucked down the southern lump and the sand shook off the one they'd chosen to reveal a heavily armored scarab, complete with front pincers, and huge, spiky legs.

#

Storm Entertainment

Somnia Online Division

Game Development Offices - Shayla Johnson's Office

Day Nine

Laria knocked on the door, and Shayla looked up, not having expected the interruption, but her face broke into a smile and she beckoned her friend inside. "Close the door behind you. James has been lurking a little more than usual lately, and I'd just rather he had to knock."

"Sure." Laria locked it behind her, turning around, her hands on her hips. "I take it you've swept for bugs."

Shayla raised an eyebrow, quite certain the other was only half kidding. "Of course I have. You know that. Besides, I have one of those bug zappers. Necessary for industry espionage don't you know?"

Laria laughed, which had been the desired response, and yet, it sounded hollow.

"You're not doing well, are you?" Shayla leaned over and pulled one of the chairs to the side over to sit next to her and patted it. "Sit down and tell me all about it."

Laria rolled her eyes, but plopped herself down in it anyway. Even from the way she landed in the seat, Shayla could tell there was something dreadfully wrong. Her friend's usual pep was gone. Even the mask she'd been wearing since her daughter passed into a coma was missing. There was no ready smile, no bubbly words or come backs. The closest she'd come was her bugs comment.

"You're feeling like shit." She didn't phrase it as a question, because she didn't need to.

Laria bit her bottom lip, and tears welled in her eyes. Shayla watched in shock as her usually under-control friend fought against crying.

"I fucked up so badly. I never thought Michael would tamper with her damned headset. He made me so happy when he agreed to get one for her, and yet... I should have known better. If only I'd double checked, or if only..."

Shayla cut her off. "You can't think like that. First up: what's done is done, and crying about it now is only going to make sure nothing gets done while you sit and have a pity party. Sure, that's harsh, but you also know it's true." She waited until Laria nodded before continuing.

"Secondly: Michael probably wasn't finished with that headgear. He'd already had his own accident, and had likely only just started tweaking your daughter's. There wasn't any malicious intention from him, at least, I'd hope not. You can't blame yourself for what someone did or didn't do without your knowledge." Shayla pulled herself forward and took Laria's hands in her own, locking eyes with her and refusing to let the other woman drop eye contact. "Thirdly. If Wren saw you like this, she'd kick your ass."

The last got a good chuckle out of Laria, whose eyes had taken on a glint of determination again. "Yeah, she would, wouldn't she?"

"You know it. Remember how you told me she thought you'd lost your jobs when you were both home at a time you shouldn't be, and how she seemed so intent on giving you a piece of her mind?"

Laria nodded.

"That's your daughter. She's strong, and she's resourceful, and sure she's probably resentful right now, but I'm also pretty damed sure that she'd not just resting in there. She's probably trying to figure out ways she can get out of there in one piece and return to herself."

Laria swallowed audibly, and looked up at Shayla, eyes clear, jaw squared. "I should be helping her."

"Yes, and you should also be making sure all your work gets done, because that work is maintaining the world she's surviving in. That work might inadvertently reveal a solution to you when you least expect it. But." And Shayla paused for effect. "You're allowed to grieve. And you're allowed to feel like shit."

"I am?" Laria shook her head. "I'm not quite that sure. I did this myself, and she's paying the price. I need to get my ass into gear and find a way to pull her out."

"Yeah, but don't forget you're human, and you're hurting too. If you forget that, then what's the point of it all? She'll come back." But Shayla didn't add the thoughts floating in her head. Because they weren't as positive as what she wanted Laria to focus on. Wren would come back. She had to. And she had to do it before the spies that she knew the higher ups had in her department figured out why a player's vitals weren't being included in the reports.

They had to figure it out before Davenport realized Wren was an anomaly.

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