Chapter 15. The Rabbit Hole

Henry sat like a proper young man, perhaps someone who was trying out for the role of Oliver Twist in a local production of Oliver. His presence in this bar felt out of place. I expected someone with a bowl cut, glasses, small frame, and perfectly crossed legs to be studying quietly in a coffee shop. And his tag indicated that he was already a level three Apprentice.

Henry scooted his chair in, rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and rested his chin on them. “Would you like to hear my proposal?” He looked back and forth between us, lifting his eyebrows in rapid succession.

This guy was kind of awkward, but I appreciated his strange behavior. Better than arrogance.

Rowan looked at me, then back at Henry. “Sure, why not?”

He inched forward. I leaned closer in response as if now part of a conspiracy.

Cassandra elbowed her sister to the side, and entered the circle.

Janica sat on the table, her ankles tucked under her. Her wings slowed and then stopped, laying gently along her back.

Henry looked at all of us, then began, just loud enough that we had to lean forward even more to hear him. “I found a Legendary Quest,” he whispered.

Good start.

“It’s not something I can do alone,” he said. “I really can’t tell you details until you commit to joining me, but I’ll say this. I believe this is a big quest. It’s a chance to uncover the greatest secrets of Integration Online, the more direct path to making a name for yourself in this game, the quickest leveling, and the highest rewards.”

“Why us?” Rowan asked.

Henry looked at each of us. “Weird thing is, I need a group of musicians to make the next part of the quest work.” He paused, then looked directly at me. “Warren here unlocked the Musician Job in the middle of that song which we’ll need to make this happen. You girls are important to this process, but we can’t do it without his new Job.”

The girls looked at me, then at the nameplate above my head.

“How did you get that Job?” Cassandra asked.

I shrugged.

Henry continued, saving me from the awkward silence. “If you help me with this next part, you can join me for the rest of the quest series. But there’s a catch. If we follow through with my plan, we’ll have to leave this town and not return.”

I looked at Janica, who’s eyes were hungry. This is the exact kind of thing that she’d want me to do, but it was a distraction from my real goals. Especially because I may have just found a band to play with, and steady money coming in the door from playing music . I had never had any real musical ambitions, mostly because I didn’t have the time to dedicate to band practices with my intense work schedule. But with the excitement of the night and a possible income stream, I couldn’t help but get stars in my eyes. I’d have to make us proper rockstar clothing, of course. These simple armor sets wouldn’t do. Possibly something with leather and frills.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m not in a position to go on adventures. I need steady work.” I looked at Rowan. “I’m hoping to join her band and keep playing music.”

Rowan leaned over to her sister. They whispered back-and-forth, a conspiracy taking root. They paused briefly to look my way, then continued. Finally Rowan turned to Henry. “We want in. Is there any way we can make this work without Warren?”

He frowned. “Possibly. I need to do some research.”

Rowan looked at me. “If this quest doesn’t work out, we’ve decided to let you try out for the band. No promises. But you can play with us during our next gig and if you’re willing to play some quality music you might have a shot.”

Henry leaned back, then pointed across the bar. “You sure you still have a gig here?”

I turned to where he pointed. Arthur stood beside the woman who ran the Open Mic Night, his finger pointing at me, a scowl on his face. I could imagine what he was saying. His nameplate read .

I felt a cold sweat take over. My head swam with anxiety. I hadn’t expected him to find me so soon. He would be gathering an army against me, spreading tales of my betrayal. And God knew what else. I braced for a conflict.

Mags walked up to us, but my eyes stayed on Arthur and his friends.

Arthur didn’t follow Mags. He said something to Thomas and Christian, then left the bar. My shoulders relaxed with their departure. At least he hadn’t confronted me.

Mags put her fists down on the table, her eyes settling on me. “A young man just told me that you betrayed the interests of the town and that I should throw you out of my bar.”

I looked frantically around the table.

“He also told me that if I ever let you back into the Dancing Cougar, that he would make sure that no Visitor ever came in here again. Said he had a lot of friends, and they would blacklist my place.”

I squirmed, and started to defend myself, but she cut me off.

“Look kid. I don’t take kindly to people telling me who I can or cannot serve, so that man can screw off. But here’s the thing. If you really did betray the town, that’s another matter. It’s not something you can lie to me about. He’s on his way right now to tell the Mayor that you worked against the people of this town. If he’s telling the truth, and the Mayor will know if he is, your town reputation will plummet and I won’t be able to let you back in here. So, let’s get real. Did you stop that boy from defeating that spirit from up in the mine?”

“Technically yes,” I said. “But I can explain.”

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She shook her head. “Until you clear this up, you’re not welcome here. And neither are the rest of you. I don’t want any drama.”

“Wait,” Rowan said. “We’re not with him. He’s not even in the band yet.”

“He played with you, didn’t he?” Mags said. “You won the contest together. You’re associated. Plus, I don’t want to fire up some Visitors who already think that you’re together and have people protesting outside my establishment.”

Rowan and Cassandra looked at me with unified fury.

“Look, I’m sorry about all this,” Mags said. “I broke a promise. Best I can do is let you keep the instruments that you played with tonight. They’re cheaply made, anyway.” With that, she walked away.

Rowan turned on me. “We’ve known you for thirty minutes and you’ve managed to crash our performance and ruin our chances at a steady gig.”

I winced. An alert popped up on my interface.

You will be logged off in 30 seconds.

Sofia must have forced a log out. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I have to log off so that my sister can use the pod. I swear, I’ll clear all this up tomorrow. I’ll go talk to the mayor and make things right.”

“When will you be on again?” Henry asked.

“In twelve hours,” I said.

“Okay,” Henry said. “If you change your mind, you can find me at the library. I’ll give you all one day to change your minds, then I’m finding a new way to progress on my quest.”

“Rowan,” I said, my time ticking down. “Where can I find you?”

She crossed her arms, but didn’t answer.

I faded into nothingness.

You logged off of Integration Online

I expected that I would have to come clean with Sofia about my failure to keep my end of the bargain. Instead, she pulled me out of that pod the second I was safely disconnected. She stepped in.

“Warren,” she interrupted me. “Whatever you need to tell me, it can wait. It’s my turn, and I can’t wait another instant.”

That, I could understand.

“Get some rest, and be ready in twelve hours.” With that, her eyes went blank. Her body relaxed. She was in.

I wanted to sleep. That probably would have been best for me, but I couldn’t. I was gripped by the idea that any talent I brought into the game would translate to in-game skill. And so I trained. I began by looking up videos of people skinning different kinds of animals. I got pulled into clip after clip. I watched people tan hides, harden leather, treat leather, and shape it. I never had a chance to continue my training with the old man in the shed, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance. I had ten rabbit skins in my inventory, and if possible I would try to figure it out on my own. When I looked at the clock, it was three in the morning. I stumbled to bed and slept.

My alarm buzzed at 9:30 a.m. I showered, ate, and opened my laptop. I searched for Integration Online , hoping to gather any information that I could before logging on.

The top news headline flashed on my screen. Fourteen Artificial Intelligences Eliminated from Integration Online in First Day, Developers out Millions .

I clicked on the link.

“In an impressive move, the Integration Online security team hunted down a record number of artificial intelligences in its first twenty-four hours since launch. When interviewed, Marshall White, head of security at IO made the following statement: ‘Every bot we found in our game was trying to exploit our world for resources and data. These are not simple bots, but advanced artificial minds capable of impersonating human behavior to an unprecedented degree. However, they have underestimated our security team and our community. We have reverse engineered their source codes, making it impossible for these bots to re-enter our system, eliminating them forever. If you have any information that leads to the identification of AI within IO, please alert our security team.’”

Bots were impersonating human behavior. Scary. It meant that everyone I interacted with could be an AI with ulterior motives. But I’d be able to tell humans from AI. If the IO security team had already found some, then I could as well. If they were rewarding people for finding them, I’d need to keep my eyes open. Maybe Arthur was an AI. Or Henry. He was weird and awkward.

Sofia exited the pod at exactly 10 a.m. She was nothing if not on-time.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Great,” she said. “I can’t believe how real it is.”

“Sofia,” I blurted out, “I got into some trouble. I wasn’t able to follow the plan, exactly.”

“What do you mean?” she said.

I told her everything, holding nothing back. She listened, and I saw her experience the highs and lows that I had gone through. When I finished, I searched her eyes for disappointment.

Instead, her eyes were wild. “You’re telling me that you can create your own skills? I think you may have found a way to break the game. I need to think.” She walked to the kitchen and began fixing herself breakfast.

“What should I do?” I called.

“For now, it seems like you’re on pace to make your cut of the expenses this month. It’s clear that whatever plans we make, the game is going to pull us into its vortex,” she called back. “Also, I was able to check the auction house last night. It’s not just herbs and ore that’s overpriced. Based on how high leather was priced, you may be one of the few players out there that has the skinning profession. And simple leather armor pieces are at a premium. I saw a pair of leather pants selling for fifty Silver. Before people settle into professions, this is where the money is.” She looked at me and shrugged. “Go figure it out.” She took her breakfast into her room and shut the door.

You logged into Integration Online

I spawned in the Dancing Cougar. The bar buzzed with a dozen patrons, some NPCs and some Gamers, stuffing their faces with breakfast foods and alcoholic beverages. Janica appeared next to me.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked. “Are we going to bore ourselves with mundane professions or are we going on a grand adventure?”