The New Order (5 page)

CHAPTER 5
THE TENNIS MACHINE

A
lthough Stan did not know exactly what the repercussions of the attack by the Noctem agents would be, he certainly did not expect that life would carry on as usual. And yet, that's exactly what happened. The only significant difference in the daily flow of things was the cessation of rallies and protests by the Noctem Alliance.

“Don't you think it's weird?” Stan asked, a week after he'd banned the Noctem Alliance, as he walked out of the castle courtyard and onto the bustling main road lined with stores alongside Kat and Charlie. “I mean, these guys in black try to kill us, and they say they're with the Noctem Alliance before committing suicide, and then there's nothing for a week? What sense does that make?”

“It is odd,” replied Charlie slowly. “You'd think there would be some aftermath. But it's like the Noctem Alliance completely vanished off the map. You don't think they're plotting something, do you?”

That thought sat unpleasantly in Stan's stomach, and he was about to respond when Kat cut him off, and said in a superior drawl, “I think you two are reading too much into it. The Noctem Alliance was just a bunch of stuck-up, rich brats who didn't like that they had to share with the lower-levels. They whined and
had a tantrum about it, but some of them took it a step too far.”

“Well, if that's the case, why haven't they retaliated yet?” asked Charlie.

“Because they're a bunch of cowards,” replied Kat, a note of disgust on her tongue. “They couldn't get what they wanted through protesting, so the twenty or so of them who cared more than was good for them tried to attack us. They were okay with dying, because they didn't think life would be worth it if they couldn't get what they wanted. That's why they were willing to kill themselves, and that's why they had such good supplies, because they're spoiled upper-levels. And now that those few radicals are dead, none of them left care enough to die for the cause of the Alliance.”

“I guess that makes sense,” said Stan, nodding. “It is true that it's really only the rich and upper-level people in this city who are against equality now. Well, besides the war prisoners we took from the battle.”

“And they're not in any position to do anything about it, they're all locked up in Brimstone,” added Charlie. He was referring to the highest-end prison in Elementia, situated in the remnants of the Nether Fortress that RAT1 had blown up before the Battle for Elementia.

“Exactly,” said Kat. “Trust me, Stan, I think now that you've made it illegal, we aren't gonna be hearing any more
from the Noctem Alliance. On the other hand, there are probably going to be more rich people sulking in their houses about equality now that they can't run around in black tunics whining about it.”

Stan chuckled. “Yeah, you're right, Kat, I'm just overthinking it.”

Charlie agreed. “So, what are we gonna do on our day off, guys? Let's make it count.”

“Ooh, ooh! I know!” said Kat, jumping up and down in excitement. “How about we borrow Ivanhoe and have him defecate on the steps of the Avery Memorial Courthouse?”

“Kat, I built that courthouse as a memorial to my friend who sacrificed his life to save me from King Kev! I am not going to let a pig poop on the front steps!” said Stan in exasperation as Charlie laughed. Stan seriously wondered whether she was joking.

“Fine. Ooh! Better idea!” said Kat, her mouth wide open in an elated grin. “Let's go over to the Apothecary Memorial Fountain . . . and have Ivanhoe defecate in the water!”

“NO!” cried Stan as Charlie clutched his sides in his hysterics. “The Apothecary saved my life too!”

“Good point. Ooh! I know!” cried Kat, her face glowing with amusement as she glanced at Charlie.

“Does it involve a pig taking a dump on something I built to honor my dead friends?” Stan asked, taking in just how
ridiculous it was that he should have to ask such a question, as Charlie rolled on the ground laughing. Prolonged exposure to Oob the NPC villager had made Charlie susceptible to laughter at these kinds of jokes, a fact that Kat used to her advantage often.

“Wait, you have more dead friends? Well, I suppose we could go down to the Adorian Village or to Steve Memorial Farm . . .”

“Do you have a real idea, Kat?” Stan asked as Charlie pulled himself up and regained his composure.

“Okay, okay. The Mechanist told me he's unveiling his new machine today!” exclaimed Kat.

“You mean the one he's been building in the park?” Charlie asked. “That's being finished today?”

“That's the one,” replied Kat. “I'm thinking we should spend the first part of the day seeing whatever that is.”

“Sounds like a plan!” said Stan, and Charlie nodded his approval. Together, the three friends turned and walked in the direction of the park where the Mechanist had spent all his free time for weeks, building a mysterious contraption. On the way, the talk turned to the Spleef Tournament.

“Oh, there's no doubt about it, DZ is the best player on our team,” Kat assured Stan. “He was brought down by a lucky shot in that last match, I would be shocked if something like that ever happened again.”

“Regardless of who's the best player, there's no denying you three are the best team, right?” asked Stan. “I mean, you guys did those combo attacks like they were second nature, and the other team barely did anything!”

“Yes, and you'll notice that we moved on, and they didn't,” said Kat with a grimace. “We've got a long, hard road ahead of us, Stan. We only have two matches left, and we're gonna have to put our noses to the grindstone if we want to have a chance of beating our next opponent.”

“Who is your next opponent, by the way?” asked Charlie. “I know that the only teams left in the tournament are the Bats, the Skeletons, the Ocelots, and you guys. But who are you up against next?”

“The Ocelots,” replied Kat. “I think that of the four of us, they're probably tied with us and the Skeletons for the best. I don't think the Skeletons will have any problems beating the Bats.”

“You can't know that,” said Stan reasonably. “There's always a chance the Bats get lu . . . oh, man,” he breathed as the three of them walked into a shadow and paused.

They were standing in the shadow of a giant box in the middle of the public park. The front was a square, nine blocks high by fifteen blocks long, composed entirely of redstone lamps. Protruding from this was a black box that extended twenty blocks back and probably contained the redstone
wiring of the machine, which Stan assumed extended far underground. The machine was the only thing that extended up from the flat ground of the sunlit courtyard, besides the now dark lampposts that lined the sides of the gravel roads that crossed the grass park. As such, the machine commanded a good deal of attention from those strolling through the park.

“Beautiful, ain't she?” came the smooth voice that Stan recognized as the Mechanist's. He was leaning on a black wool table in front of the machine. On this table were two levers and a button.

“Man, Mechanist,” said Charlie as the trio walked over to him. “I don't even know what this thing does yet and I'm already impressed!”

“Thanks, Charlie,” said the Mechanist, looking up at the towering electric marvel with a smile. “This thing's my baby. Easily the most impressive thing I've built since the redstone supercomputer.”

“What does it do?” asked Stan, his interest piqued.

“Well, how'd you like to test it out? Stan, you take the lever on the left, Charlie, the one on the right,” said the Mechanist, and he gestured to the two levers, which the boys ran over to and enthusiastically clutched.

“Now, press the button, and let the magic begin,” said the Mechanist, stepping back next to Kat as the two of them
prepared to watch the invention on its maiden run. Stan watched in awe as the screen of the mechanism flashed on and off at strobe speed before settling on what could only be the game screen. A single light shined in the center of the screen, while two vertical lines three lights high glowed on opposite sides.

From somewhere within the mechanized obelisk, a series of note block chimes rang out in a catchy melody, and the Mechanist said, with glee in his voice, “Push the levers up and down.”

Stan pushed up on the lever on his side, and the effect was instantaneous. The line on his side of the screen moved to the top in a fluid animation. Stan saw the line on the other side of the screen move downward. Charlie had pulled down on his lever simultaneously. Stan now realized what this game was. He had his hand firmly grasped on the lever when the dot of light in the center of the screen flew upward and to the right, then bounced off the top of the screen and came down to the left. Stan pulled down on his lever and the line of lights on his side sunk down to his side of the screen. The bouncing ball of light struck the line of Stan's lights and ricocheted off toward Charlie's line as Charlie maneuvered it to return the ball toward Stan.

“You made Pong!” exclaimed Charlie in wonder as he scored his first point on Stan, and a light lit up the top of his
side indicating that a point had been earned.

“That I did,” replied the Mechanist. “I call it my Tennis Machine. Was absolute torture developing a point-tracking system, but I think I did all right. What say you guys?”

“This is awesome!” replied Stan.

“Yeah, I can't believe you figured all this out! Is there nothing you can't do?” asked Charlie.

“That is what I like to tell myself. Mostly for morale, but still,” said the Mechanist with a smirk.

“Well, you're right,” said Stan, devoting his last ounce of attention to the response before becoming totally engrossed in the game. It was a blowout. Charlie was exceptionally skilled at the game, which was, indeed, a perfect replica of Pong. After the first game, Kat took Stan's place, and she was much more closely matched to Charlie than Stan was. In fact, she was tied with him, and was about to score when a shout rang out from behind Stan.

“Hey, Kat! What're you doing?”

Kat whipped around to face G, ignoring the fact that Charlie had scored on her and won the game. “G? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you!” replied G. He sounded irritated. “You promised that you'd spend some time with me soon. And, well, it's your day off. Here I am.” And he opened his arms in front of him. Charlie rolled his eyes as he gave up his spot
on the machine to two pedestrians who asked for a turn to play the game.

“Wait a second. G, today isn't your day off. Why aren't you with the council?” Kat said.

“Oh, I changed it so that I could spend the entire day with you,” said G with a grin. “Frankly, Jayden, Archie, and DZ seemed a little upset. But who cares? Spending time with you is more important than stupid political squabbles.”

“G, those ‘stupid political squabbles' are actually really important, if you haven't noticed! It's nice that you want to spend time with me, but you can't just ditch work because of it!” moaned Kat. She seemed legitimately upset.

“Whoa, Kat! I thought you'd be happy! Do you not want to see me or something? 'Cause if that's the case, then . . .”

“No, that's not the case, G! I do like spending time with you, but you have to admit that we have been seeing each other a lot lately, and to cut work so that you can see me more . . .”

And the two of them went on and on. Charlie simply looked amused, occasionally giving a sigh or an eye roll of amusement. Stan, on the other hand, was slowly coming to a realization.

Ever since the incident with the Noctem Alliance had been put to rest, the biggest issues that faced Stan today were Kat's overly clingy boyfriend and an argument starting about whose turn it was on the Tennis Machine. The Grand
Republic of Elementia was now on the threshold of the greatest period of peace and prosperity that DZ, Blackraven, and the other older players could remember. Just in the past week, Charlie had discovered an underground mine rich in diamonds, gold, and iron. The day afterward, the railway to Blackstone had been extended to reach the Southeastern Mountains, and a glut of coal from the region was inbound.

As all this recent success crashed into Stan like a wave, he allowed himself, for the first time that he could remember, to give himself credit. In truth, from the time he had joined Elementia, he had just done what seemed natural, and he had ended up as the leader of the whole server. However, it was just now that Stan realized he had done an exceedingly good job in creating a country that he himself would gladly be a citizen of, a country of justice. And it was all due to the efforts of him and his friends.

As Stan stepped forward to break up the argument among the players in line for the Tennis Machine, and Charlie did the same with Kat and G, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. He looked around the sunny courtyard with a pleasantly liberating feeling that all was well, and nothing could go wrong today.

Although Leonidas still wasn't sure what the point of the upcoming offensive was, at least he was finally comfortable.
The steamy, humid climate of the jungle was much more pleasing to him than the whipping frigid winds of Nocturia. Bushwhacking through the deep underbrush with an iron sword, followed by five men trooping behind him in unison, Leonidas felt more at home than he had in a long, long time.

Leonidas glanced at the redstone compass in his hand, and he rubbed the condensation off the glass face to see the red needle. The needle indicated that they were going the right way, and the sight he saw when he burst out of the bushes confirmed this.

Situated in a small valley, cleared of trees, was a little house made of wood, with a small farm at the back. Leonidas recognized this house. He had come here months before, back when his partners Geno and Becca were still alive. They had searched this very house for the player who had since become president of the Grand Republic of Elementia. Leonidas knew the house was full of booby traps, so looting it would be more trouble than it was worth.