“That’s a long team name,” Van said as he wiped his mouth. “Won’t fit on any jacket.”
“Look, I know you’re trying to be a good guy here, and I know you’re trying to help the CIA out, but let’s face it, man. We’re in a ton of trouble here,” Kenwar said as he walked a few feet away from Van and looked at the night sky. “We aren’t going to survive unless we start making some better choices.”
“Like what? Serving Draco? Siding with a bunch of psychos who want to kill the majority of humanity?”
“It’s better to be alive and a slave than to be dead and a free man,” Kenwar said.
“You’re a coward!” Van shouted. “You would do whatever it takes to survive this thing, including selling out your own race?”
Kenwar shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do? I didn’t really have a choice when they brought me in, Van. This was supposed to be some kind of fun video game. I never signed up for the whole crazy alien thing. But let’s face it, when you’re looking at something as grim as the destruction of mankind, you’ve got to be willing to make some hard choices about the kind of person you are. I chose to be a survivor.”
“What’s the point of survival if you live your life like a coward?” Van asked. He knew that he was supposed to be pretending to play along with Kenwar, to slowly succumb to the man’s lies in order to gain his trust, but at the same time, Van was growing exhausted. He couldn’t keep carrying all of these burdens, looking in every direction.
“What’s the point of dying?” Kenwar said. “You only live once. Then, after that, you’re dead. I don’t know about you, but I’m not counting on any kind of afterlife. No heaven, no hell. So, I’m stuck. Stuck with the realization that I very much do like to exist. I enjoy being alive. I have no desire for my candle to be snuffed out. So… I’ll do whatever it takes for me to stay this way.”
“What do you even want from me?” Van asked.
Kenwar took a deep breath. “That dragon is a problem. As of right now, it’s entirely immune to any of the biofeedback controls that would normally exist for a player in a haptic system. This means that Draco can’t really… kill it. So, they will have to employ other means to ensure that it’s permanently dead.”
“You want to kill it?”
“Me? Oh no, I don’t want to hurt a soul here. I just want to go home and never have to worry about Draco or your CIA friends. But that’s not an option. So, I’m going to do whatever it takes to survive. That’s where you can come in. The dragon isn’t really a living being; it’s code. Everything in this game is code. In order to kill it, you’d have to disrupt the code that’s allowing for it to transmit into the game.”
“And how do you disrupt the code?”
“Cut off the signal,” Kenwar said. “The dragon is functioning roughly like a cell phone. As long as it’s connected to the cell phone tower, it’s able to live. However, if a cell phone goes out of range, it won’t work anymore. There aren’t a lot of places where Draco can cut off Jet’s signal. However, I do know of one place. And Draco has made it clear to me that if… if Jet goes away, I’m off the hook for good. The CIA program will probably end, too, because they’ll have lost a major lead and… we both go home. Draco has no bad blood against you, Van. They’re impressed with the kinds of people who can successfully fight back against them. They respect strength.”
“Where is this place?”
Kenwar grinned. “A cave in Bloodrock. It’s entirely inconspicuous. Just looks like a regular cave to any regular player. Might have treasure, or maybe an Ogre. Your team wouldn’t suspect a thing. You can just stroll in there, watch Jet die, act shocked, and then we’re both free. We get to leave this game for good.”
“I don’t understand, Kenwar. Something’s not adding up. If all you want is to be free, then why wouldn’t you have simply flipped for the CIA and stayed out of the game? You’d be perfectly free then.”
“That’s… uh… the problem,” Kenwar said as he swallowed a little. Van could see the fear flash across his face. “Do you know how many Draco pros are in this game? Literally tens of thousands. They’ve been working extremely hard to gain a number of loyal followers. Out of those tens of thousands, how many do you think are loyal to the cause?”
“All of them, I assume,” Van replied as he coughed a little.
“Some are even fanatical. The fanatical ones… Draco likes to use them outside of the game to clean up loose ends. They left Trefor’s body behind as a message to you guys. Normally, someone comes in and cleans it all up, making it look like a suicide, or just vanishes the body.”
“What?” Van gasped. “They left his corpse behind on purpose?”
“Oh yeah. They wanted you all to be well aware of the fact that you really could die in here. They were hoping that you’d be afraid—too afraid to fight back. It’s a shame that you decided to dive back in. You’ve made life a lot harder for the rest of us,” Kenwar said as he shook his head.
“But… you can’t… you can’t be serious,” Van gasped. If Draco really did have influences outside of the game, it wouldn’t be hard for them to find someone like him and kill him for real.
“I am. Do you see why I’m so freaked out? I really like mankind, so I don’t want to see it get obliterated,” Kenwar said, “but what am I supposed to do? I’m just one guy. So, I’m going to do what’s best for me. Van, they were clear that this offer’s for you, too. Just let Jet die and we both walk away. You can even continue in your little adventure with Sang until the CIA cuts the program. You’re of no concern to them, but that dragon is.”
“What makes Jet so big and scary?” Van asked.
“Don’t ask me,” Kenwar said, “I’m just the messenger.”
“I’m not afraid of Draco,” Van replied.
“Maybe not, but you should be. Don’t displease them any further.”
“Ha, and what are you going to do if I do?” Van asked as he leaned forward. Kenwar took a step back.
“N-nothing.”
“That’s right,” Van said as he puffed out his chest. “You’re in our control right now. So, you would do well to stop thinking about how you’re going to help Draco out, and start thinking more about how you’re going to be helping us. We’re going to win this war.”
“I’ve never heard such confidence mixed with such delusion,” Kenwar replied. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Yeah? Maybe I am. But at least I won’t have to live with the guilt of being a spineless weasel who’ll do anything to save his own neck,” Van said as he strolled back toward the tent.
“The offer is open, Van. Just lead them into that cavern and you’ll walk out of this game alive!” Kenwar shouted.
Van shook his head. While he was terrified out of his mind of the prospect of having to face a foe that could actually kill him, he knew the truth about Draco now. They were scared of Jet, and that meant that he needed to be protected at all costs. This was the big break he had been looking for.
He glanced around, looking for Sang, but she was nowhere to be found. Where could she be?
“I’m going, I’m going,” Sang said as Jet pulled her pant leg toward the tower. Everything had been fine during the speech by Edwardson, but as soon as everyone had started to move toward the feasting tent, Jet had begun to bite and snap at her, indicating that he wanted her to follow. She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he also refused to talk. Maybe he was worried about Kenwar listening in.
Sang followed Jet into Tower Banesfield. While it was considered to be a tactical position to hold, there wasn’t much in the actual building itself except for some barracks and a few empty rooms for archers to store their gear. Sang wasn’t sure what this had to do with her, but she followed after Jet. Even though they were alone, though, he still didn’t speak.