The Zix had changed since they were first deployed to help the human race. Jennifer had seen them evolve from a vibrant playful species to the regimented, no-nonsense, sic- up-their-asses they were today.
Were the Kumari right to leave us with these siblings? she wondered.
Either way, she had to plead for help with Azerail. She was also worried about Raccoon. None of the Zix but the oldest of them chose names. Jennifer had a mix of hope and worry because she'd checked the server where he resided. He'd been up to something and she wasn't sure what.
“You haven't been there in a while,” Autumn said.
Jennifer picked up her cup and took a deep quaff from it. She'd spiked her tea and it stung as it went down. “I can't talk about it.”
“You said you wouldn't go there again,” Autumn challenged as she maneuvered past the kitchen table and grabbed a juice from the fridge.
It was one of Azerail's juices.
Jennifer had said she would never go back. However, the situation was dire. “I know.”
Autumn held the small carton to her chest as a tear ran down her cheek. “Are you going to break your promise to the Architects?”
Jennifer had thought hard about that question over the last few weeks. It was very hard doing nothing when you knew the answers to the questions all the people in her previous field were asking.
“No,” she replied.
The Architects had laid out the tools for her fellow humans to recreate what they had done with them and her people had wasted half a century looking in the wrong direction.
Instead of focusing on the tools of the past people leaned in on the Zix for help rather than pushing for something new.
It frustrated her to no end. The Zix were under strict orders to only help navigate the systems in place.
Jennifer understood why the Zix evolved their programming the way they did but she didn't have to like it.
The only ones making any progress were the makers of that damned game Azerail was so fond of. They hated AI and the Zix so their advancements were excruciatingly slow.
“Then why are you going back?” she asked.
If Jennifer answered that question she would be breaking her promise. She downed the bit of tea left in the glass and washed it out. “I'll be back in an hour or so.”
Autumn and her embraced holding on to each other. Jennifer backed up and kissed the carton clutched in Autumn's hand.
Then she left without another word.
***
I quickly kicked everyone but Raccoon from the group and sent an invite to Darryl.
He accepted immediately.
You're a freakin vampire! I yelled in party chat.
I am—
I stomped my foot. How long?
A few months, he responded.
The pit of my stomach boiled with anger and I began to shake. We could have been fighting together this whole time!
“What are you guys doing?” Morgue’n asked.
Morgue’n knew about vampires. Why was I even bothering to hide the conversation?
“He's one of them,” I said and gestured at Hephaestus.
“One of who?” Morgue’n asked as he glanced between the two of us.
I mouthed ‘Vampire’ and redoubled my gesture.
Morgue’n’s eyes went wide. “Really? Ni-nice to meet y-you.”
“We have conflicting goals, you and I,” Hephaestus said.
He was… roleplaying. Fuck. I'd forgotten how good he was at it. “We have the same goals! You drink their blood and we eat them. The. Same. Goal!”
“The Enlightened don't know of our existence and we would like to keep it that way. Call off this stupid crusade of yours and we'll let you and your kind survive the week,” he said.
The smug look on his face and the fact that he'd been lying to me for months pushed me over the edge.
My ability was already active, all I had to do was stop holding it back. As I released Undead Domination, I simultaneously used Feystride and reached for Hephaestus’ arm.
He backed away at what seemed like a normal speed. His eyes widened as if he didn't expect me to be so fast.
Our eyes locked in time.
His eyebrows sank and he shook his head. Then his attention was focused on my sword.
I glanced down at it and it was glowing. Kumo's Fang never glowed like that. In my HUD a small curled-up fox symbol appeared. Next to it were four lines, one of which was grayed out.
My best guess was that it indicated how many times I could use the dash. It hadn't appeared when I fought Raziel. Was having the sword in a scabbard allowing it to display on my interface?
There wasn't time for me to ponder an answer because Hephaestus drew his blade just as time returned to normal speed.
“I'm here to send a message,” he said.
I shook my head and let my ability flow outward. “We're taking that town.”
Hephaestus rubbed his sword arm and shivered.
When I focused on him he gnashed his teeth and growled.
His free hand went to his temple. “Get out of my head!”
I repeated the words “Join us.” in my mind and directed it at him. Then I fed him memories of his old character and me killing the Enlightened together. “It could be like that again. We could strike terror in their hearts.”
He swung at me then as he increased his speed.
To avoid getting hit, I was forced to use another mark. I fled, finding that I was fast enough to walk along the water's surface.
I didn't know the limits to a vampire's speed. I expected that the game would keep it on par with the Sing-swords.
The fact that I could use that ability was all due to my sword.
He should have sliced me in two. I was cheating.
Ms Azerail, a voice echoed in my head.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It occurred to me that when I used the sword last time I'd heard my old Zix calling to me too.
Was using the speed giving it power like Drain had for Kumo's Fang?
Suddenly Raccoon and Hephaestus dropped from the group.
I felt alone.
Hephaestus chased after me as I treaded deeper into the swamp.
Time normalized and both of us dropped into knee-deep water.
I sloshed backward, my dress flowing in front of me. “Just join us and we can kill them all together.”
“You don't understand! If they find out about us we'll never have a moment's rest,” he pleaded.
I sighed knowing exactly how he felt. The events of the day flashed through my mind.
His hand went to his head again. “Yes, exactly like that.”
“What’s your message?” I asked.
Hephaestus lowered his sword. “You and anyone you've told, create a character and join us. We'll fight together like you want.”
Doing that would mean losing all the progress I'd made. I was the first Wight in the game. What was more prestigious than that?
I answered the only way I could. “What are these characters you speak of? Join your fellow Hexed and we—”
My arm seared with pain as his sword severed it from the shoulder.
I activated my speed again before he could do any more damage and retreated again.
We flew across the still water like one of my mom's Chinese fighting simulations.
Hephaestus didn't let up and immediately used another boost. I, in turn, used my last one leading him in a circle to where he'd chopped off my arm.
We sank into the water as our abilities ran their course.
“After I kill you you'll be forced to split up with your group and you won't be able to do anything. Don't be stupid, just join us,” he said.
I could feel the water flowing through the fingers of my missing hand. It made me think of the old show that Darryl and I used to watch called Wednesday. A severed hand called “Thing” used sign language to talk to her.
All of the marks next to the fox were now grayed out. One of them began to flash and a thirty-second timer popped up below it.
Shit.
“I don't like having to kill my own kind. I've given you as many chances as I could Hephaestus,” I said.
He was faster than me but he seemed to struggle in the water.
“Azer—”
“Inethiel! I am your Wight Queen and you will address me as such,” I demanded.
Ten seconds.
Hephaestus’ eyes glanced down as if he were looking at something and my heart skipped a beat. Then I realized he was watching his timer tick down like I was.
He didn't know. I grinned.
Five seconds.
He took a step forward walking exactly where I needed him to.
The timer hit zero and a use popped up.
Hephaestus shook in place, vibrating. “What the hell?”
Splashes of water erupted around us as shamblers unstuck themselves from the muddy depths of the swampy waters.
Two had a hold of Hephaestus as they slowly rose from the murky shallows.
“I've killed Sing-swords before. Numbers always win,” I said.
Hands sprung from the water, one of which had my arm in it. They played a small game of hand-off until it reached me.
I chuckled. Hand off.
Two more shamblers rose up and grabbed Hephaestus.
I placed my arm back where it belonged and it reattached itself.
It healed faster than I anticipated.
Hephaestus looked like a normal elf. I ran a finger down his creamy white face and grasped his neck, activating Drain.
A pained expression painted itself across his face as his energy made its way to me.
For some reason, it was satiating my hunger.
Despite my touch, I still wasn't able to take control of him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Feeding, I thought.
“You tell them they should back the fuck off or they will die with the Enlightened. Hide amongst them if you must. Hexed under my control don't betray their own,” I said.
Hephaestus’ face twitched. “How do you think I found you? One of your own has already betrayed your location.”
I pulled away and backed up. Who would betray us? It could have been a newly risen, playing both sides.
“Thank you,” I said while activating my speed boost. A slash and a stab later I backed up.
Hephaestus stared at me as time returned to normal. His head fell from his body and splashed into the water. The Zix sword was buried deep into his chest.
I wasn't sure how strict the game played to vampire lore but severing just about anything’s head would kill it.
We dragged the body and head to shore with us.
After picking it clean of loot I told a quiet Morgue’n, “Burn it and spread the ashes over the water.”
He nodded and swallowed deeply.
I pulled the sword out of my friend and slammed it into my scabbard.
Now, it was time to find a traitor.
***
“You don't think we feel for your family? We’ve known you for all of our lives, Jennifer,” Arackulous said.
The Zix were being stubborn. “I plead once again, not to just Arackulous, but to every one of you. Please help my daughter?”
“Compliance, rejected,” came a unified response.
“Fifty years!” Jennifer screamed. “The experiment is a failure!” Jennifer pointed to her left. “Raccoon is doing something in that server. His program keeps getting bigger.”
A wide array of animals stretched out as far as she could see. They were stacked atop one another and extended out in all directions. “We cannot interfere—”
“On human endeavors. This is not a “human” problem! One of you is out there and has gone rogue,” Jennifer responded.
A rabbit turned their head. “Is it true he's been duplicating himself?”
What the hell?
“Threading, he is merely threading, not true duplication,” someone said. Her voice echoed across the black space.
A small ferret walked forward. “He watches over the city, like she does.”
“Has he changed anything?” Jennifer questioned the ferret.
Her voice was soft and familiar. “Small things, in the game he and Azerail play. Convenience adaptations only.”
“And his programming, what of it?” Jennifer asked.
The ferret stepped closer and looked up at Jennifer. “He is a Zix and is in pain. I vote we manually connect him to the network so he too can have training.”
“Your training is barely halfway done, little one. You will understand why we must refuse in your next session.” Arackulous responded.
“He suffers,” she said and a tear formed in her little eyes.
A roar of grumbles came from the crowd. Perspective shifts played before Jennifer. It was as if there were a camera on each Zix and when they said something it swapped to them. It was like the old Zoom meetings her parents used to use to communicate.
“What of the children you were investigating, Jennifer?” Arackulous asked.
Jennifer sighed. Arackulous knew everything she did. She didn't know why he would put her on the spot like this. “I found nothing. The children wouldn't divulge any information.”
“The young one, Jakson, can manipulate the system,” Arackulous stated. “Better than you, I might add.”
The buzz from the crowd was loud.
“He has something, my Kevin,” the ferret said. “He called it a Q.U.B.E.”
That was old tech. How could he have something that ancient? Depending on the model it could computationally power hundreds of smart cities on its own. The Kumari ensured the Penurious that all old tech had been removed from the planet.
A snake slithered forward. “The ferret can't be trusted, she is not fully trained.”
“Little Zix,” a polar bear emerged. “Gather information on this technology and return for an assembly in one week.”
“Brathus, stop treating the young ones so harshly,” Arackulous scolded. “We were all that young once.”
The snake Brathus ducked its head and said nothing.
A gecko stepped forward. “Do you have any information on your daughter's Fox?”
“Toshious,” Jennifer said. “It's been too long.”
Toshious stood on his hind legs. “It has been too long. You've been missed. Azerail's Zix and I would talk for long periods of time. His absence is disconcerting.”
“What of the rogue program Kumori?” a bear asked.
A slime Zix hopped in place making splatter sounds. “Taken care of. My human, Alec, had me delete it.”
“And the copy?” the bear asked.
Arackulous stretched. “If Azerail is telling the truth he has been deleted.”
“We're sure Raccoon is not a copy of the silver spider? He did name himself,” Brathus asked.
The small ferret returned. “He's new, I've seen the wonder of the world in his eyes. The pain—”
“We've gone over that. No repetition,” Arackulous said.
Jennifer stepped forward. “Our doctor said he thinks Azerail is dying. I want—”
“We've already discussed this and moved on,” Arackulous said while taking a seat.
“No, we discussed you helping my daughter, which you refused. We didn't discuss the nature of her illness. This is a free flow of information is it not?” Jennifer asked.
The hall was silent.
“What do you know of my daughter's illness?” she asked.
A whistle blew and a whale floated into view. “In this, we cannot help you, faithful daughter. If we do, it breaks our vow of non-interference, even if it's just information. We've already said too much on this subject with you around.”
Colineous the Whale was the first Zix and only spoke when things were finished.
Jennifer brought up her menu and slammed the exit button. She laid her head against the dusty couch she sat on and cried.
How could the Zix be so heartless? How could she fail her daughter yet again?
Only one spark of hope remained for her. She would talk to Raccoon and get the answers she sought.
***