Chapter 48: Triangulation

“The server has reactivated,” said Vick5.

“I guessed as much,” I hollered over the alarm’s siren song.

In a dusty swirl of air, Relja materialized beside me. Within a span of seconds, Azwold was also with us, congealing from a puddle of purple pixels.

“Hey,” came a whisper at my ear hole. I jumped.

“You guys know you’re fighting illusions, right?” said DarkNeon, appearing behind a lens flare from nowhere.

“They are mere illusions?” I said.

“Must be,” said Azwold, reaching out to touch a Telemoon ghoul. His hand passed through as the thing pretended to gnash decaying teeth at him. “Trojainous sacrificed his Scythe, remember?”

“I hypothesize a Mentalist ruse,” said Vick5.

“Are we inside Nevahj already?” Azwold peered around. “Wow. Nice work. I thought we’d have to break in still.”

“Do we have to worry about these holographic baddies?” said Relja.

DarkNeon cast [Spell: Prismatic Splash], dousing their illusory foes in colored liquid light. They melted away.

The holographic Trojainous grinned, then his image faltered, twitched, and vanished.

“Guess not,” Relja shrugged. “How is everyone? What’s next? I’m ready.”

“Ursamigo got your message, Vic,” said Azwold. “And he convinced me, we really do need help. Check this out.” He produced a cylindrical gadget from his inventory.

“The device’s purpose?” said Vick5.

“Ursa and I coded this thing in while offline,” said Azwold. “Just watch.”

There was a commotion down the alleyway we had used. Not voices, but clanking, steam blasts, and motor whizzing.

“We have tripped the alarm,” said Vick5. “The entire guild is aware of intruders and will descend upon our coordinates.”

“Lovely,” said DarkNeon, twirling her daggers into a battle stance.

“If I can just…” said Azwold. He unlatched sliding telescopic legs for his cylinder, made a tripod, and set it on the ground. Then he produced a second and third device, running to triangulate the center of the metal-covered courtyard.

A dozen hyper-focused Telemoon goons charged our way through the narrow passageway. Some by foot, some by hydraulic leaps, some by propeller drone, and two crawling along the wall by means I did not comprehend.

“Yeah,” said DarkNeon, “those guys are not holograms.”

“Is that thingy supposed to save us?” asked Relja, anxious.

“Almost got it,” said Azwold, twisting the top of a control orb, calibrating.

The triangulated tripods electrified, and a tiny ball-lightning fizzled into a roiling sphere in the courtyard’s center. Then it began blasting.

But it was not a weapon. With each lightning stroke, a player appeared with their customary log-in animation.

The first was Ursamigo, who shifted into his bear form, rearing and growling, then charging forth. Next was a Cleric from Hapax Legomenon Pie. Then came Ursamigo’s guild mate Lynxoxo, a cat Druid. A Pebble Mage from Basura Banditos. An Air Archer from Antiquated Idiom. Next, a Shock Paladin and Flame Brawler from Trailerpark Nightowls.

The teleporter device continued spewing out players with a dazzling array of gear and capabilities. Every single one of them looked like they could send me to a swift dirt nap.

The Telemoon defenders in the hallway appeared to be recalculating their advance. All at once, they reorganized themselves and retreated. But one lingered momentarily, scanned us, then turned to join the retreat.

“W3dge,” said Vick5.

More Realms of Lore players continued arriving. Some by air, levitating, parachuting, and dive bombing from above. Some by elemental means, portaling in via the Shadow Realm or morphing in through the obsidian walls themselves via Earth gem magics. But whether elemental or tactical, we had gained a great number of willing conscripts to our efforts.

A fuzzy brown owl descended to land atop one of the lightning tripods, clicking it off with a talon tap. The teleporter’s energies zipped back from the middle and into the cylinders.

Ursamigo shapeshifted into his humanoid form, oaken owl staff in one paw, cylinder gadget in the other. He shook it, and it telescoped up. Collecting the other two, he almost leapt back into the sky before stopping.

“There are two other metal courtyards like this,” he said. “I have more support waiting. They need gateways. You guys good? Know where to go?”

“Gaining access to a Continuum of Memory node provides the highest odds of useful guidance,” said Vick5. “We must locate the test subject laboratory.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“With a name like Continuum of Memory,” said DarkNeon, “it better guide us real good.”

“Our quest is to find the captured goddess,” I said.

“Wait.” Azwold cocked his head at me. “Did you get another bone? You finished step eight?”

“I did,” I said, “but no bone. Something better. Here, I got you a gift.”

[Azwold has received item: [Sandfall Scepter]]

For once, Azwold’s jaw dropped. “Eld!” He hesitated. “You just bound an epic item to me!”

“Aye. It is yours. Call it a replacement.”

“It’s a massive upgrade.” His rare grin was unsettling.

“That looks really cool,” said Relja, gazing into the cat’s cradle hourglass. “Wonder what it does?”

“It is cool, yeah,” said DarkNeon. “But Azzy, you’d have won it anyway if you’d gone together, right? Eld’s just doing the fair-sy share-sy. Anyway, didn’t Vic say that Telemoon is going to descent upon our coordinates or something? Let’s go!”

“Hang on a second,” said Azwold. “I just got an update to the quest. And additional map info. I think I see where that Continuum thing is. What about this door now?”

“Good luck all,” said Ursamigo. He morphed into an owl-bear and flapped away to his next raider deployment.

“I told you guys,” said DarkNeon. “I freakin’ told you! Everyone wants a piece of Telemoon, even these show offs. And I’m glad they’re here. Perfect diversion. Gives us time to pick this lock.”

“Belay that,” I said. “Releasing my [Burglar Gizmoid].”

“Oh, okay,” she laughed.

“The portal’s security code has already been determined,” said Vick5, giving the vault wheel a spin. Lights changed and lock rods clanked. “Proceed.”

As we traced our way on Azwold’s tablet map, I answered any questions I could. I told of my Hourglass Sandfall experience, of the goddess’s capture and the fae pantheon, or “Charm,” as Belvan had called it. I told them of Telemoon’s “pocket dimensions” and their potential threat for meddling out-of-game, too. I did not mention Vick5’s liminal space, knowing he used it as a sort of temporary sanctuary.

I also imparted Medett’s information to Relja about her orange Enttang potion. When I mentioned adding “offerings” to the potion, it sparked an idea in her.

“I was actually thinking,” she said. “When I saw Ursamigo and his weird pine needle beard, it got me to wondering. I gathered some of the dead needles when we went to the Grave Grove. I had a hunch that they might be a rare herbalism mat. I was right.”

“Omen stuff, huh?” said DarkNeon.

Relja shrugged, but grinned.

“But remember,” I said, “you must not drink it.”

“Right,” she said, popping the cork to slide a few dry pine needles in. Its orange color seemed to saturate further. “Wow. Okay, so I add leaves or roots or bark or something from any Earth Tree I find? That’s a wonderful quest. I love stretch goals.”

“When you see Medett next,” said Azwold, “let her know we found her brother on Agarthea. Here, let me see.” He swiped his tablet screen. “Yep. Okay, sharing [Quest: “Where’s Berem?”] with you Relja.”

DarkNeon had crept ahead to scout upcoming hallway branchings.

“Agarthea?” Relja looked at me. “You guys saw it?”

“It was the closest place to Hourglass Sandfall,” said Azwold. “Telemoon was on our tail. We had to waste all my gold on a Soleus City balloon ride.”

“Then what?” DarkNeon whispered loudly from a hidden place.

“Well,” said Azwold, cracking his knuckles, “I built a parachute cloak. Eld here took a swan dive.”

The Light Rogue let her stealth fade to marvel at me.

“I got better.” I shrugged.

Unable to resist, DarkNeon belted out a staccato guffaw.

It echoed down the sterile and strangely dust-free hallways, lulling us all into caution.

“Whoops,” she whispered.

“Nevermind,” said Azwold, “the node is down this way. Let’s keep going.”

Approaching with caution, we peered down the nearest hallway branch. Fluorescent blue lines scribbled themselves among silver wires and alloy tubes, pulsing silent alarm. The blaring outside was muted to nearly nothing as we delved deeper.

“If anyone sees my Gremlin, you tell me straight away right?” said the Mage, wistful.

“We shall find your ‘sweet baby,’” I said.

He nodded.

We passed occasional entryways or multifunctional laboratories. Some had windows. The experiments occurring within defied game physics in hard-to-fathom ways. Specimen aquariums, or machine work fabricators, weird cyber rooms or inexplicable gardens; most seemingly designed with limit-testing in mind.

“Where is everyone?” asked Relja. “These labs shouldn’t be neglected.”

“Fighting off a single burly bear,” said DarkNeon. “And some other guys, probably.”

A distant clopping of boots echoed along black-metal floor.

“You think they heard me laugh?”

“Prepare yourselves for battle,” said Vick5.

A ball of lightning pulsed along a neon blue light-tube, then zapped down to the ground. Sprock3t appeared in an orb of sparks. He concentrated like a maniac, floating mid hallway. He began to spin, shooting a cascade of electrical tendrils whipping out toward us.

It triggered a contraption.

There was a deafening pop and crackle, like an energy locus exploding. To my dismay, Azwold, DarkNeon, and Relja were caught in some trap; frozen inside cages of pure electricity.

There was a heavy thud coming from the passage ahead. The dim lights flickered, and I saw a blocky silhouette filling most of the space with his bulky frame.

A blast of flame whipped down another hallway toward me, like a dragon coughing.

“W3dge,” said Vick5 from behind me. “Against these three, with a stunned party, they outmatch us. They have laid a trap, and we have fallen into it.”

As Sprock3t and W3dge waited for their third, I had to decide: [Spell: Slow Time], or [Spell: Barkskin*]. Vick5, I knew, would be of little help as a level?? Water Mage?. I also knew that I could not do enough damage to this particular trio before expending my [Spell: Slow Time]’s duration. But if I cast [Spell: Barkskin*], it would likely be on cooldown the next time I needed it.

Slow time was not a perfect solution. The only way forward was to defeat them, so I cast [Spell: Barkskin*]. I grew my gem-hard bark skin and felt the overwhelming invigoration again.

The elite Telemoon goons looked unimpressed.

The moment Tect0n was in range, I saw they were bunched too close together in the hallway. Ignoring that Barkskin*s buff supercharged my Vine skill tree, I cast [Spell: Weaken III]. My ribcage swelled with an overflow of essence as I drained 15% of their stats, transferring them to myself.

The move must have surprised them, because the incisive group hesitated. Sprock3t was scanning me and translating findings to his party. I took advantage of the hesitation, casting [Spell: Tooth Rush I]. I connected with W3dge and dashed forward. In response, he ignited his hammer, hefting the weapon over his shoulder, on the ready.

I cast [Spell: Acid Spit III], gushing a pool of verdant melt-puke in a splashy arc. And it ate through them with a voracity I had not seen before, empowered by my state.

W3dge recovered first and activated some kind of wound cauterizing nano tech. He performed a steam-powered dash to my left, dragging his flaming hammer along the metal floor. Quicker than I could react, he had crushed an upswing into Vick5 hiding behind me.

The ex-Chemist hurtled toward the ceiling. He slammed, then fell to the floor.

I looked behind and saw his healthbar flicker into the orange. Concentrating, clutching the ectoplasmic orb between my clavicles, I tried something new. I called upon the [Hive Scepter] and cast [Spell: Incorporeal II] on Vick5 instead of target: self.

The Fire Demolitionist continued trudging to retrieve his lost ball, and I thought my silly gambit had failed. But Vick5 flickered, and his avatar went glassy. W3dge slammed a fiery hammer into the metal, sending out a resonating clank that set my skull to ringing.

He growled, howling at the roof like robotic werewolf. Then he turned back to me, eyes alight.