“That’s psychotic, Trefor! You’re literally talking mass killings! And you’re okay with it? You’re disgusting!” Van spat. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Once again... it’s an inevitability. There’s no stopping this train from rolling. Not you, not I, not anyone can stop this. So why shouldn’t we reap the rewards and taste the fruits of victory? Look at our lives, man! Who the hell are we in real life? You lived in a cardboard box and busted your ass every single day to get somewhere important with your life. Before this opportunity, I worked part-time at a shake store—making food for people who were rude and obnoxious, working for a boss who hated me. Our lives were useless back then, but now? Oh, man... now it’s all changing! We get to be the ones in charge! We get to be the ones who rule! It’s going to be a benevolent rule. Draco is here to help us all! They want to make humanity the best that it can be. Is there going to be some unpleasantness during the transition? Yeah, absolutely, no great changes will happen without blood spilling. We do this once, though, and then generations for all of eternity will be grateful. We can change the world, Van.”
“That’s a world change I don’t want to be a part of,” Van said as he stepped back.
“Really, dude? Look at everything in your life. No friends, no home... and like, what, 3 bucks in your bank account? You’d really keep all of that as opposed to what this offers? Think about it for a second. What will you gain here? Money! Power! Control! You’d be a leader; you’d be in charge of this new world. Don’t be an idiot here, Van. No one’s saving anyone. There’s no way to do it. In the end, the best we can do is look out for ourselves, and you don’t have a damn thing to lose. The choice is simple. Join us.”
“And what do you want from me when I join?” Van asked.
Trefor shrugged. “Well… that ranger you were toting around, for one thing. Draco wants her. We thought we lost her because she logged out after making contact with the Others, but much to my surprise, at least, it appears that she’s logged back in over the last few minutes. Your task is pretty simple. Bring her to us. She’ll trust you—after all, she has no idea what we’re doing up here. Tell her you found something else, something about the Others. Use my Dragon mount and lure her up here. Then… then I’ll take it from there.”
“Why not get her yourself?” Van asked.
“She’s skilled with changing the rules of this game; she would log out without a second thought if we tried to grab her.”
“Unlike me,” Van grumbled.
“Sorry, Van, but I disabled your login for a good reason. People tend to freak out when told this information, and they do things that could be... rash,” Trefor said with a grin. “And I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, now would I?”
“Is that a threat?” Van asked.
“So what if it was?”
“All of this was really just to get to her, wasn’t it? You don’t care about inviting me into anything, do you? You just want her!” Van angrily accused him. Trefor just shrugged.
“Look, getting her is important, yeah, but having you is a bonus. If you do this for me, we’re golden. You won’t have to look back at your life and ever worry about making a difference again. The past is gone, the present is gone; all that’s left for you is the future. Don’t waste it, Van. Don’t throw it all in the trash.”
Van glanced at Trefor. This was absolutely psychotic, and he had to get out of here, but if Sang was still in the game, then Van could maybe get to her. She could probably hack them out. So, he didn’t really have to agree to anything... but he could pretend like he did.
“Screw it, then. What did humanity ever do for me anyway? I mean, I guess you’re right. All they did was call me a loser. This girl’s nothing special... just some idiot who thinks she’s gonna be the next big paranormal investigator,” Van replied.
“So... are you on board?” Trefor asked.
Van shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll bring her to you, and then maybe I can meet one of these Messengers and they can explain everything a little more.”
Trefor grinned widely. “Perfect, perfect! That’s just what I wanted to hear from you, my friend. Take my Dragon and fly down to the Ruins of Galbar. We’ve been sending fake messages to her character, saying you’re there. Since she’s a bit of a hacker, she thinks she can just pop out. But once she crosses this threshold up here, the barrier tech we use is far more powerful. She won’t be able to just jump out whenever she wants. Then, you and I are golden!”
Van nodded. All of that was interesting, but it didn’t matter; the moment Van found Sang, he was going to exit the game, smash the pods with a crowbar, and preferably move to the countryside. He had not signed up for end of the world alien battling. Hell, no.
Trefor strolled out of the massive building, leading Van up to his Dragon. “Now, my Dragon’s going to keep a close eye on you both. She won’t tolerate any kind of tomfoolery, okay? And we’re monitoring both of your communication channels, so any private messages will be read. Don’t take me for a fool, Van. If you try to be the hero and warn your friend, you’ll die. Draco doesn’t like people talking about this kind of thing in the real world. So, people who know about it… well, they don’t really get to go back out without proper fail safes being included. The biosystems in your pod have engaged in such a way that, if you die in this game, it will immediately terminate your actual body. The only thing that could kill you right now would be my Dragon. You’ll be free to leave at some point, of course, but for now, we’re keeping you in here—nice and safe. Got it?”
Van slowly nodded. Why had his fun galivanting with the CIA had to turn into some kind of nightmare survival scenario? He definitely didn’t want to die, but was Trefor just making up this do-or-die material? It didn’t make any sense, as to why Draco would have that power. But on the other hand... if Draco was some highly advanced alien life form and the pods were part of their technology, then yeah, they could probably just kill him.
Man, they were really making his life a lot harder. A lot harder and a lot scarier.
Van climbed atop the Dragon and held his breath as it took off to fly toward its destination. How in the hell was he supposed to navigate all of this? It wouldn’t be hard to just grab Sang and run for a few moments while telling her to log them out, though there was the Dragon to deal with, but then they’d be free forever. No worries, no fears. He’d give the CIA a full report, take a check, buy a ticket to Venezuela or somewhere else where he could disappear, and never think about any of this again. After all... he wasn’t cut out for any of this. He had originally been blackmailed by the CIA anyway. Now... now, all he wanted to do was make sure that Sang was okay and get the hell out of this whole mess. And the CIA was a top organization, right? They could handle this kind of thing just fine. They had talent, and they had people. He wasn’t necessary for any of this.
Van glanced down to see the Ruins of Galbar. There had once been a massive statue, but it had been destroyed during one of the player events and its ruins were strewn out across the barren field. Van could see that Sang was sitting on the giant ruined head of it. The Dragon flew down and landed with a hard thump. Van could feel its eyes on him as he dismounted from the creature and walked over to Sang.
“Van!” Sang said with excitement as she leapt up and ran to hug him. Van hugged her back, equally as happy to see that she was okay. “I was worried you were hurt!” she said.