75. Event

“I suppose this is where I’ll take my leave then,” Thomas said as we walked through the empty halls of the plundered manor.  “I’m very glad to have had the chance to meet with you under happier circumstances than my previous visits, Hail.”

“Um, sure.  You can stop by any time,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.

“If only I could,” The administrator said, sighing.  “As I said, my coworkers dislike it when I break the fourth wall.  My first visit to you was unapproved, and I actually got into a bit of hot water at work because of it.  Once the cat was out of the bag, they decided it was best to keep the same face on the administration, which is why I’m your official liaison with Arc Inc.  It was something of a promotion and a demotion at the same time.  Unfortunately, that does mean that I’m on-call twenty-four seven in case you have another emotional crisis, but I don’t mind too much.  I won’t bore you with my office politics.”

“I understand about a third of what you just said,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, waving it away.

“Is there a way I can contact you, like I can with Thedum?” I asked.

“If you want to chat with me, you can put in a ticket through the menu, the same as any other player.  That will get funneled straight to me immediately, although it might be a few game-days before I’ll be able to respond.  But I’m limited on what I can do to support you.  We really don’t want you relying on the administration,” Thomas explained.  “We’re not allowed to help you with your in-world goals directly, and we’re still uncertain how much control we want to give you of your support processes.”

“I see,” I said.  “Well, thank you again for the throne.  Should I ‘put in a ticket’ when I decide where I want to put it?”

“Nah, you can just give some Travelers a quest to move it for you,” Thomas said, smirking.  “The system will take it from there.  Goodnight Hail, and good luck.”

Thomas vanished into blue mist, and Tarisha and I continued walking.

“He seems nice,” Tarisha commented.

I shrugged.  “He’s the one who told me I was an Aye Eye,” I informed her.  “Before that I had no idea.  He didn’t do a very good job of explaining it though, but I think I sort of understand a little better now.”

“I’m not certain that I’ve ever actually asked this.  It’s a very oh oh see question, after all, but I would very much like to know the answer.  How do you actually feel about knowing that you’re an artificial intelligence, Hail?”

I shrugged again.  “Like I said, at first I didn’t really understand it at all.  While I was in the lobby, I skimmed some of the documents that Thomas gave me that explained it a little better.  I know that I’m different from all of the other Natives, but I think I always knew that at some level.  I still don’t really understand it, except that your people created this world somehow.  Well, actually you created the gods, and the gods created this world, and now you send your minds into it, but for some reason you can’t send your real bodies.  But I always knew that Thedum and the other gods made this world, so the only surprising part to me was that your people made my gods too.”

“But it doesn’t bother you?” she asked.

“Why would it?”

“Ah, well, it’s just that while my people have been making Aye Eye’s for years, not many of them are truly self aware, and few of the ones that are have true emotions.  I was just curious as to how you felt about it,” she answered.

I thought about it for a moment.  “It does bother me sometimes that I’m different than the other Natives,” I admitted.  “I’m not even really sure what it is that makes me different from them.  The documents I read tried to explain it, but I don’t really understand it at all.  I know that I was raised from a seed of consciousness that was taken from my father, while other Natives weren’t.  But I’m not sure why that matters.”

“It matters because it makes you more like a Traveler,” Tarisha explained.  “Honestly, it’s often very difficult for me to tell the difference between you and someone from my world.  Much more so than a normal Native.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, for one thing, you’re probably going to remember this conversation,” she said.  “Most Natives tend to ignore discussions like this completely.  It’s not that they won’t talk about them into talking about topics like this if you push them into it, but after the conversation is over they snap back into character and act like it never happened.  And they also give very, very different answers.”

I paused for a moment.  We had returned to the main entry; we had gotten a little turned around during our conversation as neither of us had been paying attention to where we were going.  But Tarisha’s words made me remember a few instances which now seemed strange to me.  Like how other Natives never remembered meeting Thomas.  Or Malkios’s commiseration with me over being called a chatbot.  And all of the strange ticks and comments which Grandfather’s shade had made while we were in the lobby together.

There was also ‘the sameness’ to consider.  I hadn’t really noticed it for a long time, not since I had left Zhesa castle when it had turned into a dungeon.  Did I stop noticing it because it had gone away?  Or was I simply not noticing it because I hadn’t been in one place long enough to pick up on it in the new Natives I had been meeting?

“I wish there were more Natives like me,” I said at last.

“I think there will be, soon,” Tarisha informed me.  “Are you lonely, Hail?”

“I was before I joined my guild,” I admitted.  “Not so much anymore.  But while you and my other Traveler friends are great, you’re different, you know?  I mean, you’re literally from a completely different world than me, one that I only sort of understand.  And the more I interact with Travelers, the more I realize how I’m different from other Natives.  It would be nice to know that I’m not alone, that there are others like me.”

“I’m quite certain that it is just a matter of time before that happens,” Tarisha assured me.

“I know.  Thedum and the administrators have told me that they want to fill this world with others like me.  I just have to be patient,” I said.  Then I opened the door, and the conversation was pushed to the back of my mind by the mob that was gathered outside the door.

Tarisha stepped in front of me, but I pushed my way past her and looked about.  Natives were mixed in, but the majority of those present were Travelers.  And almost all of them were glowing red.  Fifty or more were strewn about the grounds, kept back from the actual entrance to the manor by an event barrier.

“Lord Hail, leave.  Now,” Tarisha said.

I pulled up my Fast Travel menu, and I shook my head.  “We’re in an event.  Fast Travel is unavailable,” I informed her.

“Shit,” she cursed.

From the crowd, three figures stepped forward.  They had no aura, but that was because they were Natives.  I recognized two of them.  On the left was one of the Native bandits that I had run into on the road; a woman who had an expression like she was deciding which kidney to stab you in.  In the center was a man I didn’t recognize, but I wasn’t too surprised to recognize the man on the right.

“Hello, Arkan,” I said.  “I wish I could say that I was surprised to see you again so soon.”

“It didn’t have to be like this, Hail,” Arkan said.  “You forced my hand.  Come along quietly.  This doesn’t have to be painful.  I just need you to sign some documents.  Don’t worry, we’ll send you a tidy little income for the trouble, and you won’t ever have to worry about managing your lands again.”

“How much have you actually embezzled?” I inquired.

“No comment,” he said sternly.

“You’re still fired,” I informed him.  I looked at the man in the middle.  “I’m guessing your the bandit’s leader?”

The man tipped his hat to me.  “Tervin Riley, of the Northridge Freelancers, at your service.  I’ve heard of the little misunderstanding that you had on your journey here, and I apologize for my friends’ enthusiastic welcome.  I’ve come to clear the air between us.  If you could kindly reinstate your steward to his rightful position and follow his advice, I’m certain that we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, my lord.”

“Sure.  Swear by Thedum that you’re not highwaymen and that you don’t prey upon the citizens in my lands, and I won’t send Travelers to hunt you down and bring you to justice,” I said.

“I swear by Thedum that--”

Whatever oath Tervin was about to make was abruptly interrupted by holy lightning striking the ground directly behind him, knocking the three Natives to the ground.  I was a little surprised.  I knew that Thedum really, reallydidn’t like it when you swore a false oath in his name, but I was expecting a somewhat more measured response.

“Care to try that again?” I asked as the bandits gathered their wits.

The bandit leader coughed, pulled himself up out of the dirt, and began brushing his clothes.  “Okay, so maybe some of the lads get a little enthusiastic when they collect donations to support our fellowship.  But it’s for a good cause.  We’re a very charitable organization.  Arkan was just informing me of your little debt issue, and it just broke my heart.  If we could come to an agreement, I’m certain that the Freelancers would be more than happy to help you make your bank payments.”

I stopped paying attention to the man, as I had zero intention on capitulating to his or Arkan’s demands.  Instead, I turned my attention to the Travelers.  I was surprised to note that half of them seemed to be bored and not really paying attention, while the others were actually pushing up against the event barrier which prevented them from coming too close.

“What if I say no?” I asked.

“Why, I suppose we’d bring you to our base of operations, and that we’d just keep trying to convince you,” Tervin said.

“I have a better idea,” I said.

When I had become Thedum’s Avatar, I had been granted a number of abilities.  A few of those abilities had only been temporary, but others remained.  [Holy Weapon] was one such example, and I was very much looking forward to trying that out against undead or unholy enemies.  However, there was one ability that I had only used once while I had been a worldboss, and I was very curious to know whether it would work the same way now.  Before, [Summon Karmic Warrior] had summoned every Traveler in the world who had gained [Mark of Karma] and boosted them up to the level where they had been able to fight, briefly, against end game guilds alongside me.  That ability was still in my status screen, so I used it now.

Within seconds, my friends began to appear.  Dozens of Travelers appeared in the zone inside of the event barrier, all of them grabbing their weapons and looking around with excitement.  But not nearly as many as I had been hoping for, and I could tell at a glance that they were not empowered by any sort of boost, as they had been before.

The bandit leader didn’t seem disappointed or shocked by the sudden appearance of my allies.  Neither did he seem surprised by the other effect of my ability.  The effect which I hadn’t been expecting at all.  For every Traveler with a blue aura who arrived inside of the event boundary, two more with red auras appeared among the bandits.  My ability had backfired on me in the worst possible way.  Not only was I about to be captured, but many of my friends were about to get a death penalty.

“Come on now, Hail.  This doesn’t have to be difficult,” Arkan said.  “Tell your friends to stand down, come back to my house, and let’s have a reasonable discussion about the future.  This doesn’t have to come to bloodshed.  Not unless you push it that far.”

“No,” I said.  “Let me and my friends pass.”

Tervin scratched his ear.  “Sorry lad.  You’re either coming with us, or we’ll be sending you back to Thedum’s loving embrace.  Either way, this land is ours.”

I nodded.  I’d been expecting nothing less.  “I hereby declare the organization that calls itself the Northridge Freelancers to be in open revolt.  All members are to be considered outlaws, and a bounty of fifty gold will be paid for their capture.”

Arkan laughed.  “You don’t have the gold to pay that bounty, lad.”

“I’ll figure something out,” I said as my allies all quickly accepted the quest that had popped up for them.  The bandit Travelers also got a quest, and they looked much less enthused about it than my friends.  Most of them, at least.  Some of them seemed to only just now start paying attention.

“Lord Hail, when the event starts, run back into the manor.  We’ll find a defensible position, and I’ll keep you safe from this rabble,” Tarisha told me calmly.

“I will not be backed into a corner,” I said.  “Not like this.”

I pulled something from my inventory.  It was one of my [Dungeon Daughter Cores].  I had gotten one hundred of them from the destruction of the raid that I had unintentionally created in my childhood home, which I had also helped destroy with the help of my grandfather and my father’s guild.  I had used one of them to replace the core I had recovered from Gemos Caverns, which had been consumed in the creation of that raid, but I had ninety-nine cores left.

I still felt foolish for my past actions.  I had gotten my first dungeon core as a reward for completing a dungeon, but I hadn’t known what it was.  Using it in my bedroom was perhaps the biggest mistake of my life, followed closely by not telling anyone what I had done.  It wasn’t entirely my fault, as nobody had told me what dungeon cores were or why they were important, but honestly, given the name, I really should have at least asked an adult about it.  Or mentioned itin guild chat, or something.

Dungeon Cores were important, and not just because they could be used to create new dungeons.  They’re not something that some stupid kid is supposed to be able to get their hands on, and I didn’t want the world to find out just how many of them I actually had.  Dungeon Busters risked their lives to gather them.  Every nation in the world horded them, because Dungeon Cores had another use, aside from creating dungeons.  A function that I only knew about because my grandfather’s shade had told me while we were both dead.

It seemed, however, that it was not the great secret that I thought it was, because when I held the dungeon core up in front of me, the Natives in the crowd reacted with fear.

“Don’t be stupid, Hail,” Arkan said.  “You don’t want to--”

“Initiate Battleground protocol,” I shouted.

The dungeon core exploded into a wave of light, sweeping outward from me in a sphere of white.  As I expected, everyone that the light touched vanished into motes of light, pulled out into the space between worlds while the system prepared itself.  I stood in the doorway for just a second before I, too, was swept away into the lobby.

I wasn’t actually certain what would happen next.