Checking, Zix said as he stared, his little eyes didn’t leave the sword.

Jason, Florence, and Ellen’s hands slashed through the air as they did something on their end.

My mom rushed to me and pulled me away from the weapon. “Azerail, I don’t think you should play this game anymore.”

“It’s not us,” Florence insisted.

Mom stepped in front of me. “There’s a virus in your game. How else can you explain it?”

“No, Florence is right. Look,” Ellen said, then shared her interface with us.

I hit the accept button and her menu popped up.

She spread her hands out and the whole thing enlarged. Teachers would do the same thing at school to display lessons for the class to see. A virtual yardstick appeared in her hands as she pointed to a graph. “This shows that the modification to the sword didn’t come from our servers. There was a spike from Azerails implant, and it uploaded something directly to the sword.”

Everyone turned to me.

“I didn’t do anything,” I said as I put my hands up. “I’ve been recording everything I’ve been doing this whole time. Look, I even have Zix running that check.” I shared my Zix with everyone.

Zix was on the ground shaking, a small puddle of liquid spread around his feet.

“Zix?” I asked.

Run! he said, then fell onto his side.

The sword began to glow a sickly green pulling my attention from him. It slowly floated into the air and morphed into Kumo’s Fang. The transformation was instantaneous this time.

Kumo’s Fang spun its blade directly at me. Little shambler, all I wanted was a home.

“Azerail is uploading something massive to the server,” Ellen said.

The sword turned its blade to face Ellen. It inched toward her.

What does she speak of? Kumo asked.

“Can you hear it?” I asked.

Ellen’s interface distorted then disappeared. She yelled, “What the hell?”

“Is that the sword talking?” Jason asked.

“Yes!” I said.

Kumo drifted in a circle. Little shambler, who are these people?

“My interface just disappeared,” Florence said.

“Mine too,” Jason said.

I pinched my fingers together and nothing happened. Shit.

Zix? I said.

Kumo stopped his edge pointing toward Zix. Little shambler, is that my new home?

Zix had been a part of my family since I was two years old. I dashed in front of the unconscious fox. “No, this Zix, not your new home!”

You are… angry. Why are you this? Kumo said.

This was the most I had heard the sword talk since I picked it up yesterday. “Zix is my friend. If you want a home we can go to town and buy you a scabbard with inlays like you wanted.”

Now? it asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, we can go right now if you want.” I turned to Jason. “Is there a town here?”

Kumo also turned to look at Jason.

“I d-don’t think we have a town on this server,’ he said.

Jonathan crept forward making his way behind the sword.

I caught his eyes and shook my head.

Zix? I asked.

No response.

You can talk to that scabbard? Kumo asked as it faced me.

Kumo shouldn’t have been able to see my Zix unless its code originated from my implants like Ellen suggested. “That’s not a scabbard. That’s Zix, my friend.”

Jonathan dashed forward getting his hand around Kumo’s hilt. He fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach with his free hand.

A small flow of experience drifted to me.

I am not your sword, nōmin, Kumo said.

Kumo had called him a farmer which made sense since that was what he looked like.

Jonathan’s hand slipped from the hilt and fell to the ground. He stopped moving, and the stream halted.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Did you kill him Kumo?” I asked as I carefully sidestepped toward Jonathan.

Kumo bobbed, the movement seemed deliberate. He tried to take me, and I am yours, little shambler.

I kneeled and shook Jonathan. His skin had changed to a pale green. It was lighter than Jason’s and his veins stood out.

Poison, like he did to me yesterday.

I will borrow this scabbard, Kumo said and thrust itself into Zix.

No! Zix screamed.

The sword seemed to lose its luster as the runes faded and the fangs on the guard disappeared.

Searing pain overtook my senses, and I bent over, grabbing my head. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. As I was about to lose consciousness it finally let up.

Zix stood up, shook his body, and the now normal sword slipped from his midsection.

This is a good… scabbard, no, a good body, little shambler. Zix’s small mouth flapped awkwardly as he spoke.

“Zix?” I asked.

Zix’s eyes closed. He lies to you little sha— Azerail. Little Azerail.

I kneeled. “Who’s lying to me?”

It was obvious Kumo did something to my Zix. I wasn’t sure what Kumo had done, but he knew my real name now which wasn’t good.

This Zix. The Zix, they lie to you all. A clever little butler he is, Kumo said.

A translucent snake, turtle, and bear appeared in front of Ellen, Jason, and Florence.

“Our menus are back. Zix, remove this thing from our system,” Jason said.

Kumo stomped a paw and its feet narrowed and became pointed. Two more spindly legs popped out from each side of its body, and in less than a second it had transformed into a silvery spider. It was much smaller than how it had projected into my room.

The world around us shook as the edges of my vision narrowed.

No, I know that trick, Kumo said and sliced one of its legs through the air. A distorted rip was left behind. I am yours, Azerail. I will find you again.

With those last words lingering in my head, it quickly jumped into the tear, and the rift sealed behind it.

With the threat gone the system's edges calmed and my vision normalized.

To say I was exhausted was an understatement. My head was still sore from whatever Kumo had done to me.

“Az are you okay?” my mom said as she dashed to my side.

Jonathan stirred and sat up. “What the hell was that thing?”

“I think I’ll be okay,” I said. “That was Kumo’s Fang.”

I gazed at the spot where my Zix lay only moments before. A tear ran down my face. A Zix, over the years, became personalized to the point where they could guess what you wanted before you asked. My Zix was more than that to me. We’d been working on my stories for years and he could read my body language when I wanted something modified. Half the time he didn’t need to peer into my thoughts.

The sword on the ground where Zix was pulsated with a light blue glow.

“I’m sorry baby,” Autumn said. “Does your menu work? Let's get out of here.”

AI controlled the menu, and my Zix was gone so it probably wouldn’t work. To be sure, I pinched my fingers together. Nothing came up. “Can’t. It doesn’t work.”

“I’ll log you out—” She paused. “Jason!” She stormed over to Jason and yelled, “Why can't I log my daughter out of your game!”

Jason must have invited Mom into his private group because they had all stopped talking.

Kevin kneeled next to me. “You okay?”

“I'm scared,” I admitted.

He elbowed me. “It's cool, I’ll just chill with you till you get out.”

I leaned against him, and he wrapped an arm around me.

“How about you help me create my Zix?” he asked.

I smiled, but my heart wasn't in it. “Sure.”

“There’s so much stuff in here," he said as he lazily swished a hand through the air.

He swapped to a sitting position, and I did the same.

“What do I look for?” he asked.

It was hard for me to focus on what he had said. “Probably settings.”

My parents had activated my Zix for me all those years ago, so I didn't know its exact location.

“Yup, it's downloading now,” he said.

I leaned further into the crook of his arm. “W-what if I can't get back to my body and I'm stuck like this forever?”

“Nah, I'm sure they'll figure it out. If they can't I'll work on it with my Zix till you're out,” he said and gave my shoulder a small squeeze.

He seemed confident, and it made me relax a little. What would it be like being stuck in a video game anyway? Knowing my moms, they wouldn't let the developers swap me over to the live servers.

“If I am stuck here for a while you have to convince my moms to let me play on the live servers, or I'll die of boredom,” I said.

He laughed. “I could hang out with you whenever I wanted then at least.”

Jonathan disappeared, followed by Doctor Stevens and Florence.

“Where are they going?” I asked.

Jason turned to me. “They are checking on your body to make sure you're not hurt.”

“Oh, please have them check on my Zix,” I said.

Doctor Stevens was one of the top practitioners in brain implant technology so I was happy he logged out.

“Azerail, I'm going to help you get your menu back okay?” Ellen said.

“Why is that sword glowing still?” Kevin asked.

Ellen walked over and tapped the sword's hilt. It responded with a dull flash and a warm feeling spread throughout my body. “Pick it up.”

“Why?” I asked.

Ellen took in a sharp breath and looked at Jason for a moment before turning back to me. “Your Zix, or part of him, is in there.”

I pulled away from Kevin and scooted next to the sword. It was just out of reach. When I picked it up it sent tingles through my hand. “It tickles.”

Ms. Azerail? he asked.

“Oh, Zix, are you okay?” I asked.

The sword pulsed in my hand and began to flicker with an overlay like it had with Kumo’s Fang.

I trusted my Zix, so I didn't drop it. The sword shifted in my hand. The hilt sculpted itself into a small fox while four small tails sprouted from its back and covered the right side of the guard. Then four more extended out to cover the left side. The blade curved as I turned it in my hand. It appeared to be a large tail. Several light blue runes blazed along the blade similar to how Kumo’s did.

“Pinch your fingers,” Ellen said.

As I did it my menu came up, but only my inventory was selectable.

“I made a quick script to give you access,” she said.

I swiped through my interface double checking it. “I can only see my inventory.”

“We're working—” She cut herself off, stood up, then disappeared.

Jason shared a look with my mom. “We're focusing on getting everything else working so you can log out.”

“That's good news,” Kevin said.

I glanced at my mom; she had turned her back to me.

“Do it,” Autumn said and disappeared.

A pang of fear washed over me. “Mom?”

Kevin shot to his feet. “What the fuck is going on?” Then he disappeared.

Euslin stared at me for a moment and vanished as well.

Jason and I were the only ones left.

“We're going to—”

The environment and Jason blinked out of existence as blackness engulfed me.

I screamed.

***