Van shrugged. “Well, what do you want me to do about it? I’m trying the best I can here. But if we’re going to be getting some information out of King Lemuel, we’ve got to put together the perfect strike team.”
“I know, I know,” she said, sighing. “I’m just… really worried they’re going to try and cut the program.”
“Cut the program? They spent a fortune getting this all ready to go!” Van said.
“That’s the problem,” Sang said. “Apparently, someone leaked this information to a senator, and now he’s raising hell about it. He wants to know why the CIA is investing taxpayer money into some sort of video game investigation.”
“A leak? How?”
“I don’t know, Van. Someone sold us out here. I don’t know who. I mean, how many people know about this operation? There’s a lot of hands involved. What if one of those hands is currently monitoring us through the pods?”
Van shook his head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. Why would someone leak this information?”
“We have two options. The first is that the mole is just some malcontent who wants to score political points with a senator by giving him something juicy… the second is that it could be someone working with Draco.”
Van drew in a sharp breath. “That would suck. Big time.”
“Yeah. So, we’re kind of on a ticking clock here. Not a lot of time for camping,” Sang said with a long, heavy sigh. She didn’t want to have to tell Van how dire things were, but at the pace the team was moving, the program would be cut before they could even reach their first destination.
“Alright, well, we’re just going to have to hustle,” Van said. “They’re not going to be happy about it, but we’ll just march till Sleep Time.”
“Are you sure? We don’t want them to leave,” Sang said.
“Here’s a trick I learned a long time ago: when it comes to motivating players, if you try to force them to do something they don’t want to do, they’ll get all fussy and mean. However, if you can find the sufficient carrot to hang out in front of them, they’ll follow just fine. Observe.” Van stopped talking and walked up to the map. He read it for a few minutes and made some exaggerated hmmm noises.
“What’s up, boss?” Capello asked as he stopped digging and looked over at Van.
“Oh, nothing, nothing. I just… nah, I dunno,” Van said, putting the map down.
“What is it?” Sahara asked, grabbing Van by the arm and tugging on him a little.
“Well, it’s just… I’m not sure it’s a good idea, but we could probably reach Coldridge tonight if we hustled. If that’s the case, we could probably do the Coldridge Treasure quest. It’s not a long one, and it’s kind of far, but...”
“I don’t mind going!” Capello said.
“Seriously, if there’s treasure in Coldridge, what are we even doing here?” Bidane asked as she emerged from the woods carrying lumber.
“Let’s pack up and go!” Dolly said as she hastily began gathering all of their supplies and shoving them into their bags.
“Are you guys sure? It’s really late and—”
“Did you hear about the treasure?” Sahara asked Kylian as he walked up to Van.
“No, what treasure?”
“Van says there’s some kind of treasure in Coldridge. If we hustle, we can get to it tonight!” Sahara announced as she practically tripped over the cooking supplies in a mad bid to pack them up.
“Well, I thought we needed those rest bonuses?” Kylian asked.
“Who knows what bonuses are in those treasure chests?” Bidane replied as she grabbed her bedroll and rapidly packed it up.
“Alright, fine, we’ll go,” Van said, “but only because you guys want to.”
“Race you!” Capella said as he sprinted down the path.
“No way, he’s going to take all of the good stuff!” Bidane shouted as she ran after him. The party began to move much faster than before. Their pace would be hurried the entire way to Coldridge, Van guessed.
Sang was genuinely impressed with Van’s method of motivating the team, too. He didn’t yell at them, he didn’t pressure them, and he certainly didn’t try to use lame phrases to get them going. Instead, he just pinpointed the thing most players wanted and then let them come to the conclusion that they wanted it. That was enough to earn her respect.
“You coming?” Van asked as he splashed some water in the fire, extinguishing it quickly.
“Of course,” Sang said. “But between you and me, is there really a treasure there?”
“In Coldridge? That place is packed to the brim with treasure,” Van said. “I’m sure they’ll find something.”
Sang huffed to keep up with the group’s pace. Ever since she had told Van about the pressure to move faster, he had been an expert at keeping everyone going. When someone wanted to log off, he convinced them to just let their character stay in auto-walk so they could keep up. If a party member got distracted with a side-quest, he’d convince them that they’d swing back around after the big adventure to get all of the smaller quests. The more he talked about the urgency of the mission and how great it was going to be, the more excited people would get. She couldn’t believe how exceptional a leader he was.
Sang herself wasn’t much for leadership. As a specialist for the CIA, she had been trained extensively on how to follow orders, but no one had particularly invested in her as a leader. On occasions when she’d been assigned to a lead a major counter terrorism effort, everyone had been so prepared and ready for the mission that they hadn’t really complained much when she told them what to do. Everyone had shared the same goal in her division: protect America from cyberterrorism. When it came to listening to orders, no one would question their superior. The mission was far too important. If there was any kind of frustration or lack of consensus, Sang never had to deal with it. Other departments were extremely political, and required a lot of strong leadership, but the electronic warfare division didn’t particularly need it. The introverted nature of the workers, as well as the long hours spent working alone at a computer, reduced a lot of the backbiting and politics that would happen in other branches. Everyone was quiet and focused on getting the job done.
As Sang observed the way Van was able to rally the team, she wondered how hard it must be to get an entirely volunteer organization whipped into shape. Everyone in the group had different ideas, goals, and agendas, but here, Van was able to masterfully pull everyone in the same direction. Regardless of the low-stakes nature of gaming, it was still a very impressive display of leadership.
“Hold up!” Kylian said, stopping suddenly and drawing his broadsword. They had been moving through the Crags of Thunder, on the main road, for a few hours, and hadn’t encountered a single problem. Now, Kylian seemed deathly afraid.
There was the sound of footsteps above them then, and Sang realized that archers had been sneaking around in the cliffs overhead.
“Stop right there!” called a voice that echoed through the canyons. A tall man wearing golden armor and a helmet with horns atop it strolled out in front of the party. Behind the golden armored man were six other soldiers, all wearing the same kind of armor but with no horns on their helmets.
“My name is Reginus Valorsteel,” said the horned man, brandishing a longsword as he stepped up to the party. “And who is in charge of this band of ragamuffins?”
“Hey, who are you calling ragamuffins?” Bidane shouted. “Also, what the hell is a ragamuffin?”