End Online: Volume 5 (22 page)

“Fen, ice shields. Sir Laurence, use whatever shield that was
you used against the Kraken on the ocean,” I shout the orders immediately as my
mana runs out.

Fen is the first to respond, raising her hands and summoning an
opaque three-layered ice barrier fifty meters wide and twenty meters high to
block out Chronix and the other players. Sir Laurence slams his shield into the
ground shortly after and that familiar box formed by the shield sigils covers
and further protects us.

“With this, we should be safe for a while,” I sigh in relief
looking at Verde and Sir Laurence who are still frowning at me.

“You could have given us some warning.” I don’t know whether
Verde is angry or upset as she pouts.

Before I get the chance to reply, a loud laughter reverberates
within the ice dome from some sort of skill or spell to transmit voice, “Lost,
did you honestly think something a weak as this would stop me? Do it.”

At the end of his speech, he appears to speak with someone else.
The other person’s voice enters the dome with the same method as Chronix’s,
possibly because it is a transmission spell that is still active.

The voice is quiet, I can tell it is a male voice, but not what
the words are. Sir Laurence’s face visibly pales when he tries to make out what
the voice is saying.

His voice is wavering in complete shock as he says, “They’re
chanting a top tier scroll, Heavenly Dispelling. This is bad!”

“How bad?”

“Very! Not only will it dispel all these shields, but it will put
them on a cooldown for the next hour. This is a ridiculously expensive scroll,
and they are using it on us. How did you piss them off this much, Lost?”

“I didn’t do anything! Well, not much… I think.”

I seem to recall all the times I have escaped Chronix or killed
him and feel like this is my fault. Just as my worries are at their peak, the
voice finishes chanting.

As a transparent shockwave of white light washes past
everything, Chronix’s voice echoes in the dome again with a lunatic laughter,
“I know all about you and your team, Lost! I have thought of every possibility
and have more than enough strength to overwhelm you! You’re trapped Lost, just
give… What the hell? Why didn’t it work?”

The white light passes over Sir Laurence’s shield and instantly
dispels it like it was a wisp of smoke. What doesn’t make sense, and also
apparently has everyone befuddled, Chronix included, is that Fen’s triple
layered ice shield remains unscathed.

“Sir Laurence, you said this was a high quality dispelling
skill?” I ask the prince as we both stare at Fen, not sure how to comprehend
her shield still remaining after ‘Heavenly Dispelling’ was cast.

“Not just high quality, it is at the very top. There isn’t a
stronger dispel than ‘Heavenly Dispelling’.”

“Yet the ice shield was unaffected. Any ideas?”

“None.”

Chronix’s spell is also still operating, his voice entering the
dome as he sends orders to all the players encircling the shield, “Draw your
weapons and break through it! Anyone with fire magic, use that! Where are the people
Lost set on fire? They are basically human torches for melting ice!”

‘Sorry Chronix, the dire flames aren’t very hot,’
 I hold back laughter at Chronix’s currently hopeless
situation.

Chronix had thought he was prepared for everything and killing
me would be just like following a script. But Fen’s ice shield had proven to be
much more difficult to deal with than he anticipated. Well, honestly I am
equally surprised.

I can hear the sounds of weapons and spells crashing heavily
onto the outside of the barrier, but there are no cracks or signs that they are
about to break through.

“Focus your attacks on one location!” Chronix’s voice echoes
through the dome, followed by what sounds like voices further away asking for
what locations.

Shortly after Chronix’s last order, the sound of the players
trying to break through is concentrated on six locations throughout the dome.
They are equally separated but there is a large enough gap in between to escape
through.

“Fen, can you open a small door in the barrier while leaving the
barrier?” I suddenly have an idea for escape.

Fen simply nods her head in response, “…Yes.”

Excited, I turn to Verde and Sir Laurence and gesture toward the
back of the dome in good humor, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you will turn your
attention to that section of the wall, we will shortly be escaping
this current bombardment and reaching safety.”

When they look at me confused, I clear my throat and explain my
plans, “Fen and I will carry you both so we can escape as quickly as possible.
Fen will create an opening in the barrier for us but we have to quickly get out
and get as far away as possible before they notice us.”

Verde and Sir Laurence look at each other indecisively. I am
certain they are currently concerned with being carried to safety, Sir Laurence
more so than Verde. They eventually agree, considering it is the only escape we
have. I have them take off any armor and just wear plain clothing to reduce as
much weight as possible.

Sir Laurence’s complaints instantly stop when he is picked up by
the beautiful and immodestly dressed Fen, though. I know he knows better than
to make a move on Fen, but I sincerely hope he isn’t stupid enough to try it
anyway.

I pick up the blushing Verde with a princess cradle again and
follow Fen in charging at the rear of the dome. One of Fen’s feet stomps on the
ground when we are near and a full door sized block of ice soundlessly splits
out from the barrier and collapses inwards.

There is absolutely no one outside where we escape and we
successfully break the encirclement. We run for a couple of minutes without
being bothered by Chronix.

“Lost! Be careful, there are arrows coming from behind!” Verde
warns while looking over my shoulder.

I twist my neck so I can see the arrows, but only view a couple
out of the corner of my eye. All I can do is run as fast as I possibly can.

I’ve outrun the players, but this volley of arrows is
inescapable. Dozens of arrows rain down on us, three landing as hits and taking
me down to half health while a fourth hits Verde.

Furious shouts sound from the hills behind us as we finally
reach the outskirts of the forest and quickly disappear within. Fen and I let
Verde and Sir Laurence onto their two feet now that we’re beyond danger.

“How the hell does he keep finding us?” I scour my mind for
answers but come up empty.

Sir Laurence gives it some thought before answering with one of
his more serious answers, “Normally I would suggest a spy, but considering the
high class scroll he wasted on something so trivial, he probably burns through
location scrolls like there is no tomorrow. We also all transported back to
Iceridge, making it easier to track us down.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

Silently, we begin walking through the trees until night is upon
us.

“It’s late in the real world and despite sleeping in the game, I
am still weary. I will be logging off to rest,” Verde informs everyone,
preparing to log off.

Just as I am about to do the same, an idea comes to mind, “I
also need a break. I was thinking, we still have a while before any fighting to
defend the city happens and we are trying to dodge Chronix, how about we don’t
log in tomorrow and meet up in real life like we were talking about?”

Sir Laurence agrees without complaint, but Verde gives it a lot
of thought, trying to work out the solution to some problem, “Tomorrow? Yes, I
think I can do that! Where shall we meet? We were meeting in downtown because
Lost can’t travel too far, right?”

We stay online for another hour before we decide where to meet.
Fen looks at us sourly as we discuss meeting in real life where she cannot go.
She remains in a bad mood and ignores me until we log out, where after she
traps me in my locker unable to log out for another hour before I convince her
that what she is doing is wrong and she needs to not do it.

Outside of virtual reality, the thought of meeting everyone in
real life makes me incredibly nervous and unable to sleep. I eventually fall
into a slumber, but I know I will awaken extremely tired with a lack of sleep.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Chronix-

I am sitting in the grand conference chamber of the Swords of
Light guild in Iceridge. Tapestries and paintings hang on the wall; each and
every one of them is new. The solid wood table in the center of the room is the
same as usual, but the twelve people sitting around it are not the same people
that previously did.

The Swords of Light guild has had massive changes based on my
decisions. All the previous members have long since been expelled and replaced
with new players. The entire line up of our guild is new, as is our new general
purpose. These new players are all a part of the new Swords of Light guild
because they are players who share the same thoughts. Of course, those thoughts
are in regard to Lost and his party.

Looking at the first seat on the right hand side of the table, I
glare at a man with long brown hair and the looks of a woman. He wears light
armor and wields two short swords. He said this is the new Speed King player
build that is supposed to be becoming more popular lately.

“What the hell was that? Do you realize how much I paid for the
‘Heavenly Dispelling’ scroll?” I shout at the player I had cast the spell,
still unsure as to what went wrong.

“It should have dispelled it but it completely ignored the barrier.
The only possible explanation is that barrier wasn’t actually a spell but
instead a part of the environment.”

“What the hell do you mean a part of the environment? We’ve all
studied Mason’s videos profusely; we know all of their strengths and weaknesses.
Fen, that wolf girl, or whatever she is, summons ice and uses it to attack and
defend. We have a large list of all the types of attacks and defenses she
uses.”

“Yes, but that barrier must have been different. What if she in
fact just raised the ice from beneath the ground and let it settle there. We
can’t dispel the environment.”

“That was a triple layered barrier of hard packed ice that even
high intensity flame magic could not melt. She also created a door in it which
they used to escape from. It can’t be that.”

“I’m sorry, that’s the only explanation any of us can come up
with.”

“I recorded the battle, everyone, study this recording and learn
from it. We don’t want to mess up again, understood?”

“Understood!”

Using a projector that can only be bought for a guild with real
life money, I project the battle onto the far wall of the grand conference
room. The battle does not last for a long time, but is replayed frequently,
especially at the point where the ice barrier is formed. Yet no matter how much
we study it, we can’t figure out the secret to it. The only solution for
quickly breaking it we have, is to lure a boss monster to instantly crush it.

“Guild leader, what about our spy? Could he discover the secret
of this?” A female member with long blonde hair in a ponytail hanging over one
shoulder and the freckled face of someone from the country asks curiously.

“It’s possible, but we don’t want to make them too suspicious. I
will pass on that if he can find out it will be best, but not to press too hard
for information.”

-Mikhail-

“God damn it!” I curse vehemently and throw all the nearby
paperwork around in the office shortly after disconnecting the V-Link.

“Mikhail, getting angry about it isn’t going to help,” Henry
says as he stands in the doorway watching me with a frown.

I look over at him, trying to use a meditation technique to
force the fury in me to calm, “Those arrogant little pricks simply slaughtered
us when all I was doing was watching them. Now they messed up our plans!”

“No, you would have teleported to Swordbreak at the end of the
hour and been separated regardless. You’re just angry you lost.”

“That can’t be right. I have lost plenty of times before and
have never been this mad.”

“It can happen to all of us. Go home and get some rest. You have
been logged in for extensive periods lately and we can tell it has taken a toll
on you.”

“But sir-“

“Go home, Mikhail. I will see you tomorrow.” Henry cuts me off
with a voice that gives me the chills and beckons for me to leave the room.

He is my boss and I have no reason to dispute it, so I oblige by
leaving the building with an apology for the mess. Henry doesn’t appear to be
too bothered by it and sends two interns in to clean the room.

My anger is still seething on the way home so I make a detour to
my local gym, Maver’s Gym. I frequent this gym several times a week on a
regular basis, but today is one of my rare spontaneous decisions to go.

Behind the reception desk is a charming lady with fiery red hair
and glasses. She usually smells of expensive perfume that draws men in. Perhaps
this could be a deliberate marketing strategy to retain customers. She doesn’t
do much else behind the desk.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Peryn.” The receptionist gives me a
charming smile as I enter the front door.

At this point I would usually flirt with her a little; I find
her incredibly attractive, but today is different. I am not in the mood and
simply reply with an ‘afternoon’ before swiping my membership card and entering
the facility.

I am a high paying member of the gym, and as such have access to
the special room out back, the heightened gravity training room. The gravity in
this room is artificially increased above standard gravity. The amount changes
on a weekly schedule, a notice board in front of the room states that today the
gravity is 1.3 times normal.

Before heading into the room, I get changed into a training suit
that the gym provides to monitor the body and ensure no injuries take place.
The suit is clean, and once I am done I will send it down the laundry chute so
it can be cleaned and prepared for the next person to use.

My personal belongings are left in a locker as I enter the HGTR.
Stepping inside the room is like stepping onto some amusement ride that uses
centrifugal forces to pin people to the walls, only on a smaller scale. I still
feel my internals shifting slightly from the sudden change in gravity, but they
soon adjust themselves and the discomfort vanishes.

The room is approximately ninety meters square, with countless exercise
machines within. Ten people who I have never seen before are currently within
the room. I use a free treadmill next to one of them and begin at a low speed
which will begin at a walk and gradually increase to a slow jog until I have
run a total distance of five miles.

With sweat dripping off my entire body, all the anger inside of
me slowly fades away until it vanishes. I do some weight training next and
spill more sweat onto the floor, but such is needed to keep the body in perfect
shape.

On the way out of the gym, I smile and nod to the receptionist,
even flirt a little, but she tactfully avoids all advances from the members of
the gym with a precision that would astonish most military tacticians. I don’t
know if there is any man in this woman’s life, but he would have to be an
incredible person to be able to get her.

The remainder of the night is relatively peaceful, passing
before I even realize what time it is. The following morning I feel completely
refreshed, prepared for a new day. I begin work at 9:00am but arrive twenty
minutes early and run some diagnostics on Xilbril. Information on Lost and his
party still eludes me, but I am confident I will be able to uncover something
eventually.

“Excuse me, Mikhail.” One of my co-workers, Klyde, pokes his
head through the door of the server room and calls out to me. “Henry is
gathering all the brass in the meeting room and would like you to be there.”

“Thanks, Klyde, please let Henry know I will be there shortly.”

“Sure! I will let him know now!”

Klyde rushes out of the room, leaving the door ajar, and picks
up a phone from one of our wired terminals by the sound of it.

I don’t want to take too long, so I leave the server room after
performing one more test to get in contact with Xilbril. Walking down the
corridor to the meeting room, I can feel the faint familiar drumming of the
hydrocell generator in the sublevels reverberating through the building.

The meeting room is in the far corner of the building. Morning
sunlight spills through the two walls made of floor to ceiling windows. In the
center of the room is a single round table with ten seats positioned around it.
The seven directors of Idea Imagine are currently all sitting there, inspecting
various reports and documents with the occasional question or chatter. Henry is
also already here, as he is one of the seven directors.

They all turn to me as I walk in and hesitantly sit down,
occupying one of the three remaining seats. A small pile of reports are slid
over to me, which I quickly look over. Many of the reports are from me on the
current situation of Xilbril and the AI children currently within the game.

Henry is the first to look up from his paperwork and speak to
the group. “As you can all see, the problem of AI children has escalated to a
whole new level. We need to come to a decision in regard to what we should do
about the situation.”

“My concern isn’t these children that have been roaming about
the virtual world; to ordinary players they are only boss monsters that cannot
be killed and end up giving up after a few deaths. The problem is this one AI:
Fen,” a wizened man in his late seventies says as he stares at Henry and me
with a gaze as cold as ice.

One by one, the other directors speak their minds, asking for
clarification of how the situation became like this.

“This Fen AI. My concern is that she is female.”

“Why is that your concern? Shouldn’t we be more worried about
how close she has attached to a human player? We are all aware of their
capabilities.”

“Every AI that Xilbril spawned from herself to date has been
male. This is the only female to have appeared. I’m worried she will also spawn
off a set of AI children and spread.”

“If she does, we will be able to determine the origin of those
AI and determine Fen’s location on the server.”

“What if she’s not on the server?”

“Preposterous! There are filters and firewalls in place that
will prevent that. In addition, there is no storage device connected to the
server large enough to hold such a large entity as an AI.”

“The second generation V-Link helmets would make it possible.”

“Still impossible, the entity would have to break through the
equivalent of a three meter thick steel reinforced wall to leave the server. It
couldn’t be done.”

“So where is this AI then? One of the reports here states a
program leaving the server to an external source. This could be the very same
AI we are chasing down.”

“It must be somewhere on the server. The program that left must
have been related to someone hacking into the less protected programs. In
searching for this AI, Xilbril had hindered our attempts greatly, but we have
already uncovered some information.”

“I can see it here in the report; Hollis Sylvester, Verity Lee,
Markus Forz, Maver Marx and Malt Marx. So far, we only have names and basic
information, but we know more about them every day.”

“With their real names, it is only a matter of time. Henry, what
is it?”

“Sir, Verity Lee is the daughter of Sidney Lee, the director of
Lee Investment Partners. As it states a little further in the report, there was
an incident relating to our system that gave her amnesia. Whatever caused this
is dangerous and a serious liability, we are in a race against time to prevent
something similar happening on a larger scale. She has been entering the game
and collecting information from the party to aid us.”

“She was aiding us. Even I can tell from the latest information
that she seems to have stopped cooperating. If she wasn’t the daughter of
Sidney Lee, we could be a little more forceful. What about the others? What
information have you uncovered?”

“Markus Forz: recently ascended his father’s position as the CEO
and director of Foster Electrical and Homewares; a multinational conglomerate
that would be difficult to pressure. Maver and Malt Marx: two brothers from the
slums who are perhaps flying too close to the sun with wings of wax. Hollis
Sylvester: this person...”

“We have no information on him. No matter how much we search, he
is like a ghost. He is also the one the AI attached itself to and the person of
the most importance. Why do we still have nothing on him, for Christ’s sake?”

“The Sylvesters are a family originally from the middle
district, fallen to the lower district a good twenty years ago. We acquired the
family tree from their archives and even consulted several of the family
members discreetly, but no one knows about a Hollis Sylvester. We are searching
through driver’s license databases and other authorities, but Xilbril has
managed to extend her influence out of the server and interfered with our
searches.”

“I thought she couldn’t affect the outside world?”

“The child AI can’t, but she can. She was built from a concept
found in an ancestral ruin discovered in the middle east for the purpose of
controlling other systems, of course she has that capability.”

I am utterly shocked at some of the things the directors are
talking about. I feel for a moment that I am working for a group of terrorists,
but this is the cruel world where corporate might rules over all.

The discussion between the upper echelons of our company
continues all morning. The main topics revolve around Xilbril, the AI Fen, and
the mysterious Hollis Sylvester. I stand in silence for the most part,
occasionally voicing my opinions when questions regarding my reports are
directed at me.

A little after midday, everyone leaves the room to have a lunch
break. At that time, Henry pulls me aside and tells me to follow up on my
searches in regards to the people in question.  Apparently this meeting
isn’t going to progress at all, as no one can agree with the others on any
topic. I need to go source new information as soon as possible.

It isn’t just Henry that is concerned about the AI Fen, but I am
as well after hearing everyone’s opinions of what the AI is capable of.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Verity(Verde)-

The morning sun filters into my room through the red blinds
covering the window. It creates a pink and yellow ambience through the room
that has a warm atmosphere. As we are currently coming into winter, it is the
ideal feeling to awaken to.

Today is the day I plan on meeting Lost and Sir Laurence in real
life. Thinking of how I will need to call them Hollis and Markus, it feels a
little strange. First on the agenda, however, is escaping from my home without
my parents knowing.

I’ve seen many movies where the person would just climb out the
window to escape, even the one where the princess creates a rope from her hair
to climb down from the top of her tower. The only problem is that I live on the
71st floor of an inner city apartment building. The view from my window alone
allows me to see all the way to the middle district of Taile.

The only method is to leave the house normally and lose the
escorts that my parents always have follow me.

I wish my mother a good morning in the kitchen; father has
already left for work as he has several important meetings to attend to this
morning. She asks me what I plan on doing today, and has no problems with me
going out to do some shopping.

Playing the appropriate daughter, I leave the apartment with an
innocent smile on my face. As I walk out of the lobby of the building, a man
dressed in a black suit with slick hair and another with a more casual, laid
back appearance stand and exit behind me. If I hadn’t recovered my memory I
would have no idea that these two, who change their disguise every time, are
the bodyguards my parents assign to follow me whenever I leave home.

The central business district is swarming with people in suits,
all heading toward somewhere with a purpose. There aren’t many people milling
underneath the canopies of cafes this early in the morning. Instead, people
bustle about the pop up stands for a quick coffee to take to work. I feel
somewhat amused looking at the baristas attempting to keep up with the demand
of the morning rush.