Chapter 21

“I swear to everything this better really be a life-or-death matter,” Fel’s words were out in the air before her body even fully finished appearing within the room. The fiery redhead was wearing tight black shorts, and an even tighter shirt, both of which left little to the imagination. James glanced away, not wanting to stare at Alex’s girlfriend, only to notice Rue was staring.

“I can assure you it is,” Steve said, the developer motioning for her to take a seat.

“It better be,” she huffed. She glanced at Rue and smiled, before she waved her hand and changed her clothing, “I’m going to have a hard time explaining to Alex why I had to leave our latest session with his class trainer early. It’s hard enough living life as a secret badass agent, without you three all pulling me into more shit.” She crossed her legs, which were now covered in black leather pants, with studs running along the side. “So, out with it.” James felt heat rising to his face as his mind imagined what she and Alex had been doing. He’d looked into the Devilkin Summoner Class trainer. A particular NPC named Lillith, and he knew that, well, Alex and Fel had a rather…intimate relationship with that AI.

“You’re not the only one we summoned,” Steve responded, “you’re just the first to arrive.”

“You really shouldn’t have said it was a dire emergency then,” she countered, “if I’d known I could take my sweet ass time, I would have.” She looked back towards James. “So, what did he get himself involved in this time? Who’s fuck up are we trying to fix now?”

“Er,” James cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, Rue cut in.

“What makes you think James fucked up?” she said heatedly. “And are you implying he caused Cyb3ru5 to go after him? That he’s the one who made Xander have it out for him?”

“I’m just saying, Rue, your boyfriend has a natural talent for finding himself in danger that is far above what a normal kid his age should be in. Either he’s causing it himself, or he’s just the unluckiest person I’ve ever come across.”

“Unfortunately, I think it’s the latter,” James muttered with a bit of angst. “Seriously, I can assure you all of this bullshit, I would much rather do without. All I wanted to do was play DCO. That’s it.”

“Well as the saying goes, if not for bad luck, you wouldn’t have any luck, eh?” Fel sighed and crossed her arms, turning away from James and Rue to Steve. “Who else did you call then?” She made a few motions with her fingers, and then frowned. She did it again and frowned even deeper. “And what the hell is with the permissions in this room? Can’t a girl get a drink?’

“Sorry Felecia,” Steve said, and James flinched again as he looked at Fel. He half expected her to explode at the developer for using her full name, but she didn’t react at all. So, Steve could use her full name, but James couldn’t? “Because of what we’re going to discuss, this room has the maximum-security features I could implemented on it. That means all visitors, no matter how skilled, can only adjust their physical appearances and clothing, but cannot bring any other such objects into the space. And” he sighed, “when you hear what we have to say, you’ll see why there’s no liquor allowed. Clear minds are an absolute must right now.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“If you wanted my mind completely clear,” Fel responded with a wry smile, “you really should have let me finish what I was doing before I came here.” She laughed at that, and then let out a heavy sigh. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret involving myself with James?” She looked at James. “Seriously, you’ve caused me nothing but grief, you know that?”

“Sorry,” James offered with a shrug. “But to be fair, I didn’t specifically try and bring you in. That had been Matt and Rachel. You’re the one who’s a secret badass agent, as you said so yourself. So, things like this kind of come with the job title, don’t they?”

Fel prepared to say something but closed her mouth as two more figures appeared in the room. She glanced at them, as their forms began to materialize, and smirked. “Speak of the devils, eh?”

Sure enough, Matt and Rachel were arriving in the secret space. The twin siblings glanced about, first taking note of Steve, then Fel, and then James and Rue. Matt looked like he’d aged by a few years since James had last seen him. Rachel, on the other hand, seemed to still be the same, bright eyed, brilliant version of herself. If he had to guess, Matthew was taking on more of the role as head developer for DCO, than Rachel was. Or maybe one was dealing with the developer side of things, and the other the business side of things? He didn’t really know what all their new responsibilities, since they’d inherited the position following Xander’s arrest, were.

“Considering everyone in the room,” Matthew said slowly, as he walked towards one of the available couches. Rachel followed, her eyes glancing from James and Rue to the space on their couch, before she settled beside her brother, “I’m going to assume this really is dire?”

“It would explain the security on the room,” Rachel said with a nod, her own hand having just been hovering in mid-air as she, possibly, had been attempting to summon a drink like Fel had.

“You would assume correctly,” Steve said somberly. “But before we go into the full details of everything,” he faltered, his voice cracking, “there’s something else I need to tell the two of you. Something that needs to be said, so you two understand the true severity of what’s going on.” He looked away from them, and then at Fel, as he continued, “and I’m sure what I’m about to say next, will also drive home the point to you as well, that being summoned here, right now, this quickly, was indeed a matter of life or death.

“I’m listening,” Fel said, waving for Steve to continue, “go on.”

He looked back to Matt and Rachel, who were watching their godfather intently. There was obvious concern and worry on their faces. James knew the three of them were close. Rachel and Matthew, who originally had run the Candy dungeon under the alias of BLANK, had actually worked with Steve on an elaborate plot to remove Xander from his position in DCO, and to get Steve his own position within the game. The first domino, now that James thought about, that led to Xander’s path that ultimately led to his eternal, drug induced, lobotomy.

“Your father will never return,” Steve said solemnly, holding the gaze of Rachel and Matthew as he spoke, “Xander ‘X-Ray’ Raymondson is gone forever.”

“How,” Matthew asked, somewhat stoic, “do you know that?”

“The government authorized the use of Truth Serum,” Steve said, “and I was the one to administer it to him.” He looked like he wanted to look away, and yet, he steadied himself, as he held their gaze. “His final words, his final moments, were spent asking me to tell you that he loved you, and that he was sorry.”