“Well, that’s something to be proud of, I guess,” Van said. He didn’t like the clear disdain that he could hear in Jet’s voice.
“What are your people called?” Sang asked, sharply changing the subject.
“Xevov. Although, we like your name for us. We like Allies, for that is what we are. With our help, you are the perfect people to destroy Draco once and for all.”
“I’m down for that,” Sang said. “How do we kill them?”
Jet shook his head as the galaxy around them began to contort and move towards Earth. The familiar planet appeared in front of them and they could see the Draco mothership hovering right by the moon. “I am unsure. Yet, I know that Bloodrock is where they are moving toward. I can intercept some of their communications, for I speak their language. A lot of Draco insiders are moving toward that area. There have also been some interesting energy signatures there. I believe you two are on the right path. Keep going, and you will find all of the information that you need to stop them, once and for all.”
“Do you hear that, Van?” Sang asked as she floated over to clap him on the shoulder. “We were right! And we have the forces—we can push into Bloodrock now!”
Van ignored her jubilance. “Jet, you said that Draco took twenty years to prepare their perfect storm of sequences that would take down the planet, right?”
“Indeed, I did,” Jet said.
“I have been playing this game for ten years,” Van said. “And it released in other countries before it released here in the U.S.”
“How long ago?” Sang asked.
“Nine… nineteen years ago,” Van said.
“Oh crap,” Sang gasped. “Jet, does it always take them twenty years to prepare their people?”
Jet nodded. “We have seen them overtake nearly 14 separate races. It is always twenty years, exactly.”
“Oh man,” Van wheezed. “We’re… we’re gonna die really soon, aren’t we?”
Jet nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“Why are you here now? Where were you guys ten years ago?”
“Are you familiar with the story of Cassandra?” Jet asked. Van shook his head. “No, I don’t know what that is.”
“Then you should read about it,” Jet said as the galaxy around them began to slowly fade out of view. Van realized that they were suddenly standing back in the empty tower.
“Holy crap,” Van whispered. “This… this really is real…”
“I told you all!” Sang said. “I knew it! We’ve got to get to Bloodrock, before it’s too late.”
Jet nodded at her, but said nothing more.
“Come on, Van,” Sang said as she turned to leave the building. “We’ve got to get moving at once.”
Van rushed out after her. “Sang, we need to wait until the rest of the players log in! Bloodrock is a high-level area and it’s really fortified. There’s no way either of us are going to be able to get in there alone.”
Sang stopped and sighed. “Alright, fine. How long before the game starts back up?”
Van looked at his timer. “Four hours.”
“Four hours?” Sang gasped. “We don’t have that kind of time!”
“Well, we don’t have any options,” Van said as he walked into the feast tent and sat down. Everything was beginning to spin. The knowledge that Draco would be moving soon was terrifying and he felt incredibly small.
“Are you okay?” Sang asked as she sat down. “You look a little disturbed.”
“I am disturbed. How could you not be? Sang, what is going on with you? First, you’re going all berserk trying to get back into the game, and now you’re cheerful at the fact that you were right about aliens trying to blow up humanity. Do you not realize how crazy that is?”
“It’s like a pressure in my head has been lifted,” Sang replied as she pointed to her temples. “I knew all of that stuff Jet said. As he spoke, I could feel every memory. That was what those aliens downloaded into my brain. They were trying to warn me! That’s why I’ve been so keyed up, Van. Because I knew it on some unconscious level.”
“We’re gonna die,” Van moaned as he placed his hands on his head. “We’re all gonna die! Sang, there’s no way we’re going to be able to get to Bloodrock by Sleep Time tonight. The CIA’s gonna cut the program. Yeah, what we learned in there was very informative for us both, but let’s face the truth: there is still no evidence.”
“Look, Van, I know you’re overwhelmed right now, but look at it like this... we still have a chance. We can pull off some kind of victory here. If we can make it to Bloodrock by tonight, we can probably get one more day.”
“How?”
“I’ll have Neil and O’Hara bolt the doors shut, and force them to come in and drag us out of those tubes,” Sang said. “Or we’ll steal them. Neil and O’Hara are bad enough judges of character to follow us. We grab a truck, load the pods on, and then run back to my place; the two of our pods should fit in there.”
“Sang, that’s insane. The sheer amount of electricity and resources that these pods use on a daily basis, it would take a fortune to pay for it.”
“I have like… three grand in my savings account,” Sang coughed. “Maybe that would cover it?”
Van paused, and then sighed. “Sang, this is an intense situation, but how the hell does someone who works a ton and never takes any time off have only three grand in her savings account?”
“Student loans are nearly as deadly as Draco,” Sang warned. “Trust me.”
Van chuckled a little at the joke. “Look, I know you’re really gung ho, here, but… I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of thing. I’ve given everything that I could and, well... and it’s starting to get too intense. Sang, I don’t know if I can keep going. There’s no going back from Bloodrock. If we go there, it’ll be covered with Draco pros. If they decide they don’t like us snooping around… they’ll keep us from logging out again. We’ll die in here.”
“Do we have a choice?” Sang asked quietly. “I mean… if we are facing the utter annihilation of billions of people, if we are looking at the total destruction of the human race, how can we not act?”
Van’s mind drifted over to Kenwar, who had so adamantly spoken about his desire to survive. “You’re right… I’m just… this is all too much. How many people get this kind of burden handed to them?”
“You say it’s a burden, but think of it as a privilege,” Sang said as she stood up. “We can literally save the world here! We’ve got nothing left to lose. My career is over if we fail, so what am I worried about? And unless you decide to join Draco, you’ve got nothing left to lose either.”
Van looked at her with incredulity. “How is it that you’re able to so effortlessly keep going?”
“I’m a workaholic, Van. All of my stress goes into my job, so it’s fortunate for me that my job is saving the world. I promise you that, after all of this is over, I’m going to become a drunk.”
“I’ll join you at the end of that bar,” Van said. “Alright, fine. I’m in. Let’s wait for the team to assemble and then we’ll figure out some way to convince them to go to Bloodrock.”
Sang nodded and clapped him on the back. “I knew you had it in you. Next stop, Bloodrock!”
Van turned to face the army of people who were marching behind him. They were moving through the rocky terrain that would eventually slope upwards toward Bloodrock. There were nearly one-hundred-and-fifty people who were prepared to follow him into oblivion, but little did they all know that that was exactly where they would be going.
Van had taken some creative liberties with his description of their next mission, and convinced them that they would need to defeat and capture General Zac of the opposing army in order to fulfil their duties. This, of course, was a very creative lie because General Zac would be nowhere near Bloodrock. What business would a Kyrissian general have with the Ceren Kingdom? Much to his relief, no one had disagreed with his orders. Even his core team of people had been far too busy trying to manage their own squads to really argue with him. It was more or less his show now. He glanced at his Mercenary Sheet, which would keep him informed him of their size and strength.