Game Alive: A Science Fiction Adventure Novel Read online

  “Here we are,” Jake told the others, spreading his arms proudly to indicate the town. “Welcome to Everheart.”

  He watched his friends’faces closely for their reaction. Both looked round slowly with widening eyes and lifted brows. They stood in the center of a living, breathing medieval village. People wandered along the streets, some paved with cobblestone and others nothing more than muddy paths. They went about their tasks, pausing here and there to chat with one another.

  Nearby, a few chickens pecked busily over the grass. As Jake and his friends watched, a housewife chose one and carried toward a butchers block near the back of her simply built but sturdy house. Children chased each other around another house further up the street, and a wagon pulled by a team of four shaggy-maned horses rattled past. The driver raised a hand in salute to Jake as he went by, before taking up the reins and giving them a gentle snap.

  “This is incredible,” Kari said, her voice low and full of awe. Turning about in place, she pointed to a procession headed through a flower-laden stone archway on the far side of the square. “Look at that!”

  Jake followed Kari’s finger with his eyes. “Looks like Hershan and Loya have finally gotten married. They’re both really shy.” Kari turned a questioning look on Jake. “They’ve been smiling at each other for years,” he explained, “but nobody was sure he’d ever work up the nerve to ask her.”

  Des made loud smooching sounds. “Did you put that in the program?” he asked teasingly.

  Jake shook his head. “No, they were just random NPCs I added to the environment. The AI did the rest.”

  “I still think it’s amazing,” said Kari, still watching the procession as it passed out of sight down one of the streets leading away from the square. “Do they all have stories?”

  Jake, pleased that Kari was so enthusiastic about the game, was about to explain. Just then he was interrupted by Ethrett Palon, blacksmith of Everheart. “Good morrow, Sir Xend!” Palon boomed warmly, striding past on his way to the well. His thick arms shone with sweat and his heavy leather apron smoldered from the forge he had only just walked from. “Good journey?”

  “Not exactly, no,” Jake answered distractedly, thinking back on the week of extra chores his mother had imposed for his “disrespectful behavior.” He didn’t want to dwell on that now, not in Xaloria. “It’s good to be back,” he said, smiling again.

  “Certainly good to have you here,” the blacksmith added, stooping to lower his bucket into the well. “What with the dread wolves and all.”

  “Dread wolves?” Jake echoed in surprise. “What dread wolves are those, blacksmith?”

  “You must’ve just got to town. A pack of them have been picking off livestock in the outlying farms. Sure could use your sword out there.”

  Jake’s hand jerked toward the weapon strapped to his side before he checked the motion. He had let himself get taken up in his role, fully in character, but he realized that something more was wrong here than dread wolves picking off sheep.

  “I’ll take care of them,” he said thoughtfully. “My friends and I, that is,” he added, glancing hopefully at Des and Kari. Kari nodded excitedly. Des’s expression was grudgingly impressed, and he also nodded.

  Blacksmith Palon eyed Jake’s friends uncertainly, taking in their t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. “Your pardon, Sir Knight, but they lack the looks of good companions in a tussle.”

  “That’s because we haven’t picked up their gear yet,” Jake assured the blacksmith quickly. “Not to worry, Master Palon. We came equipped for the task at hand.”

  The big man patted Jake’s shoulder with one heavily-muscled arm, causing the chainmail to jingle. “I never doubted you, Sir Xend. The people of Everheart can always count on you.”

  Retrieving his bucket, the blacksmith offered each of the three a shallow bow before striding away with his water. Des and Kari stepped closer to Jake.

  “Did you plan this?” Des asked, looking slyly toward Jake. “Did you set it up so we’d get hooked in right away and have to play it through?”

  “No,” Jake answered, holding up his hands. “It’s actually kind of weird. I don’t remember putting dread wolves anywhere near this area. They should all be up around the Great Fissure.” He looked at his friends sheepishly. “I don’t know what they’re doing here.”

  “Could you have placed a few of them here by accident, or forgotten about it?” asked Kari. Jake’s eyes fell, and he wasn’t sure why the suggestion stung coming from her. But he shook his head.

  “I doubt it,” he said, although he was not completely sure. “Anyway, let’s get you guys some gear. I put a character customization node in Everheart, so we don’t have far to go.” Jake led the way to a roughly built, wooden lean-to around the back of the town hall. “In here.”

  They were both old hands at VR gaming, even if Des’s preferences ran more toward sports games. Kari and Des needed little time to build their Xalorian personas. Kari stepped out wearing a red jumpsuit of flowing, voluminous fabric. A bright orange shawl draped over her shoulders and hung down her back like a clock. An incredibly thin, twisted circlet of shining gold wove round her head and through the short, blonde hair that had replaced her real-world brown ponytail. She carried an onyx staff barely shorter than she was, one end fashioned into a claw which clutched a shimmering ruby that seemed to pulse with its own inner light.

  “I thought you said you wanted to be a princess,” Des teased her.

  “Elemental sorceress,” Jake said approvingly. “Nice choice.”

  “Who says I can’t be both,” asked Kari with a grin that she quickly suppressed, getting into character. “You may call me Lady Alista.”

  Des had chosen tight-fitting but light-weight, padded leather armor that resembled the pads he wore in his preferred sim. The lacrosse pads looked a little silly when reproduced this way, but Des didn’t seem to have noticed. Slung over his shoulders was a two-foot staff ending in a sling. Jake had to admit, as a sling-shot style weapon the lacrosse stick just might work. He nodded approvingly.

  “Ranger or thief?” he asked musingly, still studying Des’s get-up. Then he held his hand up to stop Des from answering. “Nevermind, you’re totally a thief. Why did I even ask that question?”

  “Why should my completely made-up alter ego worry about rules and consequences?” Des shot back with a cheeky grin. “I can get into this too, you know.” He said that with a brief but meaningful glance that flashed to Kari and back to Jake, who reddened slightly. Des laughed, letting him off the hook, and swept a low, flourishing bow to “Lady Alista.”

  “Your elemental wizardy highness, may I present myself; the prince among all thieves, Des the Hand.”

  Jake groaned loudly, though he was secretly pleased that they both seemed to be enjoying themselves in his virtual world. “Alright, you two, be serious,” he said. “I don’t want you clowning around and ruining my good name in Xaloria.” He drew himself up proudly. “I am a knight, after all.”

  They both grinned at him. “Sure thing,” said Des. “So what do we do now?”

  “Pause Xaloria,” said Jake, and everything around the three friends froze in place. Jake looked to his friend expectantly. “First of all, what do you think? Do you like it? The game?”

  “It’s really amazing,” Kari said, looking around at the square before the town hall again. “It seems so natural. It really feels real, Jake.” She turned back to look at him with bright eyes, smiling widely.

  Des nodded. “Yeah, even the way that guy talked to you seemed really normal. He acted like you had really just gotten back from a trip and he was catching you up on the local news.”

  “The NPCs always think I’m traveling and questing whenever I’m not logged in. I’ve set it to keep simulating when I’m not here. I can have it run at different speeds as long as I’m not in here at the time, but I set it to real time. Days pass at the same rate in Xaloria, whether we’re here or not.”

  “Why?” asked Ka
ri, wrinkling her brow. “Don’t you want them to wait for you? What if they do things you don’t want them to when you’re away?”

  “They do sometimes, but that’s what makes it seem real. I mean, when I’m not at your house, you don’t all stand around frozen, waiting for me to come back. Why should they?”

  “That makes sense,” Kari admitted. “But what if you have to quit in the middle of a quest? What then?”

  “Well, then I can pause it,” Jake said with a shrug. “But I haven’t tried any lengthy campaigns yet. Parts of this world are still being built, and anyway I like to come in with enough time to see a mission through to the end. Speaking of which, follow me. I’ll show you the Watering Hole.”

  “That’s actually what they call their inn?” asked Des as he and Kari fell into step beside Jake, who had taken off across the square. “Sorry Jake, that’s kind of weak.”

  Inside the Watering Hole – Jake had been hoping for something like “Wellspring” or “Spring Hearth” but the plump innkeeper Albred lacked imagination, if not business sense – the trio settled around one of the round oak tables near the big stone fireplace with its perfect dusting of soot. The innkeeper’s daughter Mirabel soon stopped by their table, one hand clutching aloft a cluster of empty earthenware mugs.

  “Your pleasure, Sir Xend?” she asked cheerfully. “Refreshments for yourself and your companions?”

  “Ciders, please,” Jake said. Mirabel turned and headed for the bar, shooting Des a little smile and a wink over her shoulder as she went.

  “She thinks you’re cute,” Kari told him, elbowing Des in the shoulder.

  “No, she doesn’t,” Des retorted. “She’s just nice, that’s all. Right?”

  Jake shrugged, smiling cryptically. When Des turned to look over his shoulder at the departed Maribel, Jake winked at Kari. “She never smiles at me like that,” he said.

  “Oh, shut up.” Des turned back around, cheeks reddening, and spoke in a whisper. “She’s coming back.”

  The young woman returned a moment later, setting their ciders on the table and turning to leave again. Jake stopped her. “Blacksmith Palon spoke of dread wolves making trouble in this area,” he said to the serving girl. “Have you heard anything?”

  Mirabel nodded, peering at Kari and then for a notably longer moment at Des before returning her attention to Jake. The brightness had fled her smile, and her sky blue eyes were darkened now by clouds. “Yes,” she said. “Farmer Dean lost four of his cattle last night, and Farmer Lewin’s entire hen house was slaughtered the night before.”

  “Did either of them see how many wolves there were?” asked Kari.

  “Master Dean says he counted five,” Mirabel answered quietly, glancing over her shoulder as though nervous someone should hear. “Dad says he can’t figure what the dread wolves are doing so far south, away from the Fissure. They’ve never been seen‘round here, never in a thousand years!”

  “I know,” said Jake, leaning toward the suddenly frightened young woman across the table. He had the same feeling as before, when the blacksmith had told them about the wolves in the first place. Jake still could not quite put his finger on what it was that seemed so out of place. He knew he would figure it out, eventually. “Don’t worry,” he told Mirabel. “We’ll get rid of them, anyway.”

  “I hope so,” said the innkeeper’s daughter. She managed one more little smile for Des before returning to the bar, but worry still lined her brow and her eyes sparkled more from barely restrained tears than their own natural beauty.

  “This keeps getting weirder,” Jake told his friends as soon as she was gone. “This is totally not the right climate for dread wolves. They like it way hotter than this, the cold nights in this part of Xaloria should kill them. And I’m sure I never put any this far south.”

  “Maybe they migrated,” said Des, not sounding worried about it in the slightest. “You let the people do whatever they want, why wouldn’t the program allow these wolves to migrate?”

  “No, no,” Jake said distractedly, shaking his head. “They could, I guess, but the AI should restrict them to environments where they would be normally. The habitats are all well defined in the coding.” Exasperation rose in Jake’s voice as he went on. That little feeling that something wasn’t right was growing steadily. “There must be something wrong with the AI for dread wolves to be in this area.”

  “Well I’m glad they’re here, for one,” said Kari, still excited despite Jake’s obviously worried turn. “They’ll be dead wolves when I get to them.”

  “Not if I get there first,” boasted Des, leaning forward over the table and clenching his leather-gloved fists.

  Jake tried to push down his building anxiety and join in his friend’s banter. Maybe he had misplaced the dread wolves by accident. Maybe there was nothing wrong with the AI. He would still have to check later, but he could do that after they tracked the pack down and dealt with them. He didn’t want to bore his friends – especially Kari – messing around with the template controls on their first visit.

  When the friends had finished their ciders, Jake handed over a few small, copper coins to Albred. “See you later, Innkeeper,” he said boldly. “My companions and I will surely be hungry later. The slaughtering of savage dread wolves works up an appetite!”

  Aldred looked at him with obvious fear in his eyes. The plump innkeeper knew Sir Xend’s reputation, but these foul creatures from the blasted lands around the Fissure in the north were a threat he had never imagined his beloved village would face. He reached out and took Jake’s hands in both of his own large, flour-dusted hands. “Grace and luck be with you, young Knight,” he said.

  “So it shall,” Jake assured the man. He and the others left the inn through the front door, turning left to look down the single, cobble-paved road leading north out of town. Beyond the gates of Everheart spread the forested wilderness of Xaloria, a vast realm Jake had only begun to explore. The familiar rush of excitement he had felt each time he had visited this VR world returned to him now, overcoming the worry he had nearly given in to inside.

  “The farms all lie in this direction,” he told his companions, pointing north. “Just past the river, a mile or so from town.”

  “What, no horses?” Kari pretended to be shocked. “Where’s your armored stallion, sir knight?”

  “I haven’t bought one yet,” Jake admitted sheepishly, looking down at his steel-shod feet. “I’ve been too busy programming to save up much money in the game yet.”

  “What good is being the creator if you have to save up for your horse?” asked Des.

  “It’s more realistic. Besides, in the game I’m not the creator. I’m just a knight. Why else play the game, if you don’t have anything to work toward?”

  Des gave Kari a knowing look. “It’s going to be one of those games,” he said in a groaning voice.

  “Lessons and values,” agreed Kari, crossing her arms in their billowing, loudly-colored sleeves. She gave Jake a disapproving look, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips and laughter twinkled in her eyes.

  The smile that spread over his face make Jake feel goofy. “I like games where you can choose where you want to go, accomplish whatever goal you set out to do,” he said defensively. “Instead of simply completing the script, and letting yourself be taken somewhere. It’s way more fun this way.”

  “He’s right,” Kari told Des, forcing him at last to relent. Des still shook his head dismissively, thinking how silly it would be to show up for a VR lacrosse game without having “bought” any equipment beforehand, but he let the matter drop.

  “I think it’s wonderful,” Kari continued, turning to tell Jake what she thought. “Look at me. I’m an elemental sorceress who’s also a noble-born princess. It’s absolutely terrific to be able to make up your own story sometimes!”

  Chapter 5

  The party of three set out along the north road, with Jake leading the way a half-step ahead of the others. They admired the scener
y, watching in interest at the scamperings of virtual animals through the hedges and over the fields lining both sides of the broad, beaten earth road. All the details Jake had worked so hard to include really paid off; Des and Kari agreed that the background detail was mind-blowing, and made the rest of the game even better. It was as if the world of Xaloria truly were real, so rich and exact were the details. From the variety and unique diversity of the flora, to the faint scents carried on a gentle breeze that smelled of the woods not long after a rain, this world was utterly convincing. Kari especially found herself getting lost in the wonder of it, and for long periods of time she would entirely forget that she was not physically present in this make-believe world.

  “Look,” Des said suddenly, when they had been walking along the firmly packed dirt road for several minutes. He lifted one leather-clad arm to point further along the road. Up ahead, a wagon lay on its side, surrounded by scattered piles of unusual objects which Jake and the others did not take in at once.

  Jake reacted first, breaking into a trot and drawing his sword even as he moved. It was a very basic, one-handed sword he’d purchased from Blacksmith Palon on his first foray into Xaloria. Eager as he was to replace the blade, preferably with some enchanted sword from the depths of a forgotten sorcerer’s tomb, Jake did feel an affinity for the plain, unadorned weapon. He had spent most of his session yesterday practicing in preparation for his friends’first visit. He carried it confidently now as he approached the overturned wagon, calling out in a loud voice.

  “Hello? Ho there, are there injured? Do you need assistance?”

  Des had followed close behind, and taken the unusual sling-shot weapon from off his shoulder. Kari came up on Jake’s other side, crouched forward slightly and holding her onyx staff in front of her chest with both hands. Jake looked from one to the other of them, and they each nodded to him that they were ready for anything.

  A keening moan sounded from the far side of the wagon, out of their sight. Jake licked his lips, thinking. It sounded like someone was hurt, but suppose this was some trap laid by bandits. Or worse, what if some other creature that should never be within a hundred leagues of Everheart had come to this region and prepared this scenario to snare the young knight of growing fame? The moan sounded again, and Kari started forward.