Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds (11 page)

“Yeah…”

But what happens after this? Is this the last time we’ll be able to laugh?

A couple of Sand Scamps began to circle around the two of them, sizing them up as potential targets. Luke used Conjure Sword 3 and struck them down with a wave of his hand, barely paying them any attention.

Stark Town was crowded, but not as crowded as it had been the previous weekend. Luke and Tess walked toward the central square, ignoring the street merchants hawking their wares.

“Do you have somewhere in mind?” asked Tess. Luke nodded.

“The equipment store right near the rune circle,” said Luke. “Everything there is expensive, but for once, we’ll actually be able to afford it.”

Luke pushed through a group of players and almost walked straight into a group of Arbiters. He flinched back, but none of them payed him or Tess any attention. They walked around them without stopping, each arbiter’s stride matching the others as though they were connected at the knee.

They have this city on lockdown. Can we really liberate it?

“Here we are, come on, Luke!” Tess pulled him into the equipment store. Compared to the crowds outside, it was relatively empty.

“Welcome!” The NPC behind the counter was an older man, with a few thin wisps of white hair on his head. “Can I help you with anything in particular today?”

Luke shook his head.

“We’re just going to browse, thanks.” He looked over where Tess had been standing only to find empty space in her place.

“Oh, wow…” Tess had made her way over to a set of priestess armor with a matching white cloak. It hung on a wooden mannequin. The bodice was made of a white enchanted fabric, free flowing with small leather supports sewn into the fabric. The cloak was made from the same deceptively protective material and allowed the wearer to use it as a shield.

“Try it on,” said Luke. “See what it looks like.”

Tess smiled at him and then pulled the outfit into one of the dressing stalls in the back of the store.

I’m bringing a girl shopping for the first time, and it’s in a fantasy world.

Luke waited for a moment, and then wandered into the light armor section of the store. There was a set of dark black armor that jumped out at him, it was a style that he’d never seen before.

“That’s a rare set of level 15 Tymian Armor. Only 3000 gold.” said the merchant. “It’s one of the few armor types that the light armor crafters still haven’t figured out how to make.”

“Really?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “How’d you get it, then?”

“A small party of high level players made a trip into The Underground a couple of days ago,” said the merchant. “Something strange has been going on down there. The Tymians have an unusually strong presence. One of the warriors in the group thinks it might be a World Event waiting to be triggered.”

“Huh…” Luke reached a hand out and touched the front of the cuirass.

“What do you think?”

Tess walked toward him gracefully. The cloak and armor dress fit her body perfectly, and it gave her an air of refined, dangerous beauty.  Luke’s jaw dropped.

“It’s… perfect,” he said.

“That’s the level 20 Warrior Priestess Dress Armor,” said the merchant. “It’s 2000 gold.”

Luke reached into his pocket and tossed a bundle of coins to the man.

“There’s enough in there for the Tymian Armor, as well,” he said. Tess walked up behind him and pulled him into a tight reverse hug.

“Alright, your turn!” She kissed him on the cheek. “Change in the dressing stall so we can make sure it fits.”

Luke couldn’t keep a smile from creeping onto his face as he carried the armor into the back of the store.

She’s cute when she’s bossy.

He stripped his old set of Dunidan Scale armor off and set it aside. As he was pulling on the leggings, Tess poked her head into the stall.

“Jeez, can I have some privacy?” Luke blushed and pulled the curtain shut.

“Just making sure you don’t need any help,” said Tess, giggling.

A couple of minutes later, the two of them were back outside. A group of players recognized Luke as the Hero of Kantor and swarmed around them. Afraid that the Arbiters would notice a commotion and investigate, Luke brushed them off and walked quickly towards the edge of town.

Once they were able to disengage from the crowd, Luke took a minute to look at Tess, and then down at himself, admiring their new equipment.

We look like heroes. We can do this. We can bring Yvvaros back to the people.

“What’s that?” Tess gestured to the intersection up ahead. A crowd of players had gathered outside the Stark Town Inn. Luke strained to look over the crowd.

“By order of the Head Arbiter, all players permanently within the world of Yvvaros will be held on Kantor for observation. Please come with us.”

“No! I didn’t do anything wrong!” A knight dressed in heavy steel plate armor and wielding a sword in each hand was slowly backing away from a squad of Arbiters.

“Please come with us,” said another Arbiter. He suddenly grabbed the knight from behind. The knight swung his blades desperately through the air.

“No! I’m not all in, I swear!”

A murmur went through the crowd as the Arbiters took him into custody. Nobody moved to help.

“I can’t let this happen,” whispered Luke. He grasped his sword hilt, and immediately felt Tess’s hand come down on top of his to keep him from pulling it out.

“Luke, you can’t,” she whispered. “You’ll be killed.”

She stared into his eyes, and Luke gritted his teeth.

I don’t care about what they’ll do to me, but Tess…

“Please, somebody, help!” The knight was a low level player, too low level to do more than  struggle weakly against the Arbiters. “They’re going to kill me! Somebody, please-”

The Arbiters stepped onto the rune circle with him, and a flash of blue light instantly transferred them to Kantor. Luke took a deep, angry breath.

“This is why we’re doing what we’re doing, Luke,” whispered Tess. “We’ll put a stop to this. But we have to follow the plan.”

“I know.” Luke squeezed her hand. “Come on, let’s get back to Dunidan’s Rest.”

CHAPTER 11

Everyone was waiting for them back in Dunidan’s Rest. Silverstrike stood next to Kaoru, and Katrina opened the gate for them.

“Looking good, Kato!” called Silverstrike. “About time you got an armor upgrade.”

Luke nodded. It was hard for him to forget about the last time he’d seen Ben, in the outside world.

He’s like a different person in-game. There’s Ben, and then there’s Silverstrike.

“Everything is all set,” said Kaoru. “Silverstrike is going to begin guild negotiations immediately.”

Luke nodded and made his way over to where the two of them stood.

“You never mentioned what you’re part in all of this is going to be,” said Luke. “Other than planning and organizing.”

Kaoru smiled.

“Now that I have another set of Arbiter armor, I can do what I’m good at,” he said. “Infiltrating their ranks, and getting as much intelligence on their weaknesses as possible.”

Luke frowned.

“That’s going to be incredibly dangerous,” he said. “Are you sure that you can pull it off.”

“Of course. And I’ll also be meeting with you on the outside, in the real world, once you’ve located your father.”

Luke suddenly remembered the USB drive and the zip file he’d found on it. He leaned in a little closer to Kaoru, close enough to keep his voice to a whisper.

“I found an archive, Kaoru, in my dad’s old room. I don’t know what it is, but he password protected it. It might be something important.”

“Perfect, I’ll see what I can do. Let’s continue with the rest of the plan in the meantime.”

Katrina walked over to where the four of them were standing.

“What am I going to be doing while the rest of you are off saving the world?” Her voice contained a hint of sarcasm.

Luke reached into his bag and pulled out the rest of the gold that Kaoru had given him. “Here, we need someone in charge of fortification. Use this to upgrade the defenses here in Dunidan’s Rest.”

She nodded, blinking in surprise as she noticed the amount.

“Alright,” said Luke, turning back to the group. “Let’s all set out tonight. We can use the next few hours to make any final preparations that we-”

“This is your transition?”

Luke heard a familiar voice in his ears. He blinked his eyes and looked around. He was back in his room, sitting at his desk. The VR headset had been wrenched from his head and it throbbed with pain.

“Uh… what?” He took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts, the abruptness of the forced exit from Yvvaros was difficult to adjust to.

“That’s what you said at the assembly, the last time I saw you.” Sam was standing next to his desk, holding his VR headset and glaring at him. “Humanity is going through a transition, and oh, it’s nothing to be worried about. You’re all so stupid and I’m so smart.”

“Sam, I-”

“Shut up, Luke!” She pushed him back into his chair and he nearly tipped over backward. “Just shut the fuck up!”

He didn’t say anything.

“You’ve lied to me, you’ve treated me like a fool, and you’ve gone behind my back to feed your addiction.” Sam shook her head. “Even… just as a friend, I can’t stand by and watch you do this.”

“Well then maybe…” Luke paused in midsentence.

What am I supposed to tell her? That we’re not friends anymore? That I don’t care about how much she cares?

“You didn’t show up for school today, and I know you’re not planning on going tomorrow. But Luke, please, promise me…” Sam slid an appointment card across his desk, signed and dated by Dr. Meyers’ assistant. “Promise me you’ll go to your appointment.”

“I’ll go,” he said. “I can still make it if I leave right now.”

I have time before Tess and I leave for the first Elemental Well.

Sam nodded slowly, watching him with wary, concerned eyes.

“I’m going to head back to school, Luke,” she said. “Please… don’t let me down. Not this time… please.”

Luke nodded, and watched her leave the room.

A half hour later, he was walking through the doors into the lobby of Dr. Meyers’ building. He took the elevator up to the third floor and made it into the waiting room with only minutes to spare as he checked in with her secretary.

“Luke.” Dr. Meyers stuck her head out from her office. “Come on in.”

Luke walked over to a leather chair and took a seat. Dr. Meyers closed the door and then pulled her chair around from her desk to sit directly in front of him. She smoothed out her skirt as she sat down and crossed your legs.

“Uh, how’s it going?” He asked the question more to fill the silence than anything. Dr. Meyers hadn’t said anything since summoning him. She was just watching, not actively directing the session in any way.

“It’s been a busy day, but lunch was nice,” she said. “The weather is gorgeous outside.”

“Yeah. I enjoyed the walk over here.”

More silence filled the room.

Is this is a therapist tactic? She probably is trying to trick me into saying what’s on my mind.

Luke sighed, and decided to go along with it.

“I almost didn’t make it to my session today,” he said.

“Oh?” Dr. Meyers perked up slightly. She didn’t have her note pad in her hands, but she reached around to her desk and picked it up along with a pen. “And just why is that?”

“I was playing Yvvaros, doctor,” he admitted. “I’ve been playing a lot of it lately.”

“Why did you decide to come in the end?”

“A friend of mine made a bit of a fuss,” said Luke. “Somebody… close to me.”

It really felt like Dr. Meyers was trying to annoy him by remaining silent. She alternated between looking at her notes and making casual eye contact with him.

“How do you deal with your responsibilities, Dr. Meyers?” asked Luke. “You have your job here, working with people like me. But you must have a home life, too. Kids, a family, people who need you to strike a balance.”

“I do. A lot of it comes down to picking and choosing what your priorities are. Deciding what’s most important for you in your life.”

Luke shrugged.

“You work with people addicted to drugs and video games. How important is that work these days, with the world the way it is?”

Dr. Meyers laughed.

“You’re projecting right now,” she said. “But given how relevant your question is to your current treatment regiment, I’ll answer it honestly. Luke, the world is currently in a state of change.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“All you have to do is turn on the news to see what I mean.” Dr. Meyers pushed a couple strands of hair out of her face. “People are giving themselves over to digital worlds. Governments all around the world are passing laws and regulations to stem what they see as a massive wave of suicides. Fundamentalists protest every new VR game or immersive reality experience released.”

Why is she telling me this?

“What do you think’s going to happen?” Luke found himself being drawn into the conversation as the doctor’s words echoed in his head. “I’ve been getting this feeling lately almost like… like we’re on the verge of something.”

Dr. Meyers shook her head.

“I don’t know, and I don’t feel qualified to make a guess.” She pushed her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose. “What I will say though is that I suspect that the government’s recent hands-on regulation of virtual worlds, your Yvvaros included, has less to do with the suicides and more to do with the implications of people existing only digitally.”

Luke took a deep breath. He was suddenly very glad that he’d let Sam talk him into showing up for therapy.

“You told me in our first meeting that I need to find my own balance between real life and Yvvaros,” said Luke. “What you’re saying… how does it fit with that? What’s stopping me from going all in, if the real world is on the verge of falling apart?”

Dr. Meyers stood up from her chair and slowly walked over to the bookshelf along the wall of the room. She plucked out a volume and then returned to her seat.