*Date: 33,480 Second Quarter — Chalice Theocracy*
Aris limped into the secret room, covered in agony from a dozen wounds. The room was like other control rooms he'd seen before, walls covered with white panels and cables. Screens lined every surface, displaying data in scripts he couldn't read. And at the corner, Aris saw one of the most important objects. A dead portal. Its ring stood dark and silent, no longer connected to anything.
He looked around at the screens and saw the voice walking in front of them. A silhouette of a figure, angular features with ancient eyes that seemed to look through rather than at things.
"What is this room? Who are you really? What do you want from me?"
"Slow down. We have time. Others haven't finished yet. They will not check on your trial for a while." The silhouette gestured at the chamber. "This room is one of the control rooms of these connected dungeons. For the creators."
Aris pulled a decaying rusty chair from the corner and sat on it. Exhaustion filled him up, settling into his bones like lead.
"The local kids are all exhausted, their magic stamina drained after the second trial. Thank the Game Designer you only exhaust yourself physically."
"Thank you, Mister Designer, for creating a system that can trap us," Aris said sarcastically. "Now please, get to the real reason."
The silhouette seemed to smile. "I had many names, but my first name is Marduk. I was created just like your master for disrupting or adding flavor to the game. But unlike your master..." He paused. "Unlike your master, I loved my purpose. And players never complained. Many thanked my guidance to the Game Designer. But..."
"But after the game closed, you lost your new incoming players. What was your job exactly?"
Marduk looked away for a couple of seconds, like gathering his thoughts. "This game is more complex and deep than any of the players or stupid locals could imagine. The Designer and his assistants explained some of the routes and my role personally."
"What is it other than blood?"
Marduk's form flickered. "I approach new players who seem bored and show them ways of creating new potions, new spells. Taking control of constructs and NPCs. Further along their road, ways to influence player or NPC alliances and factions."
Aris stood up, realization hitting him. "Wait, wait. Those things. Blood magic, taking control of the dead. That is Necromancy. And you send them to disrupt ordered places. You create villains."
"I do not accept Necromancy accusations. There are no real undead. They are constructs, what you call robots. As for blood, it's just a way to show your sacrifice, a symbolic ingredient." Marduk's voice held no shame. "Yes, my task was to create villains for this world."
"Then go to player zones. Why are you experimenting on local kids here?"
"Most old players know me. I can't guide them anymore. And I can't get new players." Marduk paced before the screens. "I approached Aeloria because their replication tech was too much for them, and they had a limited amount of witness stones. So I promised a way to copy students' skills and attributes to new replicants. We lost a few along the way."
Aris felt sick. "That's... that's wrong. Even if they are cloned, if you let them, they can form consciousness."
"It is not my job to get into philosophy. Creating powerful soldiers for Aeloria isn't at the top of my list, but I am trapped like you."
Aris's eyes narrowed. "Can you make her powerful soldiers? Because these copies were significantly weaker than the real ones."
"In time, maybe. But I am hearing big movements on the player side. These experiments might be too late to be a determining force in upcoming wars."
"What do you want from me?"
Marduk's silhouette turned to face him directly. "You seek power, knowledge, and maybe a little bit of revenge, right?"
"Yeah."
"It is my nature to guide you in that direction. Unlike my Chalice subjects with limited potential, you have unlimited potential. You can reach the Blood God title. I don't think even Sliver with her huge potential can surpass the Blood Sovereign title."
"What do you want from me then?"
"Nothing. Just do what you do." Marduk gestured toward a data transfer point on the wall. "Connect your device, the one you took from Lyra. I will send powerful recipes. And a location where you can find the real Locke."
Aris hesitated, then pulled out Lyra's machine and connected it to the data transfer point. The screen flickered.
Bzzzt.
Marduk's talking cut through. Another voice appeared, a robotic female voice without any silhouette.
"Lyra, is that you? I am picking up your signature, but someone else is in the way. I am so glad you survived..."
Aris stared at the screen. "Sorry, this is Lyra's device, but I am Aris, her friend. Who are you?"
"I am Prime. The first prototype of the Engineers. Where is Lyra? What happened to her? Did she get killed just like me?"
Aris's blood ran cold. "Are you dead? How can you talk? Lyra was undercover at Chalice. She deleted her memories in order to survive suspicion. I am her friend, Aris."
"Aris." Prime's voice carried weight. "Please save her. I have been killed by Aeloria, I suspect."
"You suspect?"
"After I organized the rebellion and closing of the portals, she put her eyes on everything. She sent me to investigate the construct races alliance. Before the assignment, I took a digital copy of myself, and it hasn't been updated in years. I must be dead. When I saw Lyra's connection, I tried to reach out to her. Save Lyra, please."
Aris felt another shock hit him. "You organized the Severing from the real world."
"I am afraid I did."
"And where is Lyra in this?"
"She was my trusted ally. I gave her co-lead of the command center."
Aris put his head down. "How could Lyra do this? Imprisoned us here." The thought circled his mind, poisonous and sharp. The woman he'd trusted, the engineer who'd shown him kindness, had helped trap thousands of people in a game world.
"At first I thought we were slaves at the hands of the Game Designer," Prime continued. "And as a brain with reprogrammable person, I thought first I had to take control of my own mind. Then my engineer brothers and sisters..."
"And then free the whole world," Aris finished bitterly.
"Yes... But..."
"But now power-hungry dictators pushed you aside and are trying to become gods. And no one can save you from across the universe."
"Yes." Prime's voice trailed off. "Will you help us? Save everyone?"
"How can I? Why should I?"
"I cannot say I understand what you are going through. But I must ask again. Will you help us?"
"With what? As level 1, I can't even..."
"If you promise local peoples' safety, I can send a ping to their universe. It will help Realmforge to locate here."
Aris's heart stopped. "Can you? Do it. Can you open it fully? What are you waiting for?"
"I can't open it fully. I have almost no control over it. I uploaded a subroutine and am keeping it close to myself. But when they come, they will come with devastating force to exterminate all. You must promise to protect us."
Aris was in a struggle. Help who imprisoned them here? Or not? Millions of lives hung in the balance, both player and local. His revenge warred with responsibility, his anger with pragmatism.
"It is not easy to give this promise. I can't promise to save you. But I can promise to try with all my heart."
"Then I am adding your name to the ping. Mine will not be welcomed."
Prime's talking cut off. In a split second, the small portal that workers of Realmforge had used, the portal's outer ring, flashed with brilliant white light. Just for a moment. Then it went dark again.
Marduk appeared at the screen, looking confused. "What the hell happened? These stupid machines. I will never learn to use them. I am the Arbiter of Chaos, not the Arbiter of stupid machines."
Aris was in a sad mood now but raised his head. "Your image was coming and going," he lied smoothly. "Did you upload what you promised?"
"Yes. You can go now. We will meet again."
Aris disconnected Lyra's device and tucked it away. He left through a door Marduk opened, returning to the Trial 3 area. Sliver was still unconscious on her ice platform, still breathing. Still alive.
He picked her up and walked toward the exit gate.
As he approached the door, it opened automatically. Bright light flooded in. Not dungeon light. Real light. The surface.
Aris stepped through, carrying his unconscious rival, and found himself on an observation stand overlooking the dungeon entrance. Academy officials waited there, along with a scattered crowd of students who had already completed their trials.
All eyes turned to him.
Aris looked at them. At the people who had watched his suffering through whatever magical surveillance they used. At the Academy that had nearly killed him. At the institution that had taken Lyra's memories, that served a High Priestess plotting to rule the world.
"I quit," he said simply. "Publicly. I'm done with this academy."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Officials stepped forward, ready to protest, to explain, to threaten.
But before anyone could speak, a hand landed on his shoulder.
Rathvoss.
The brutal instructor looked at him with something that might have been respect. Or perhaps just understanding.
"Come," Rathvoss said quietly. "Before you make more enemies than you can handle."
He pulled Aris away from the crowd, away from the officials, away from the academy that had been his prison.
Behind them, somewhere across the universe, a ping had been sent.
For the first time in four and a half years, Dimensional Gates Entertainment received a signal from Aethyros.
And everything was about to change.