Game 9: Conduit

Closer and closer, the monsters crept towards them, with seemingly no escape in sight.

Rita waited for the right moment to strike. She was quickly planning out a possible escape, but she needed a lucky break.

Closer.

Ten more seconds, Rita guessed to herself. That would be the time it would take for the monsters to get within distance.

Closer.

Five seconds.

Closer.

“Steel Arrows!” Rita shouted. She then fired three arrows at once, one at each monster. Each arrow hit its target, revealing the monsters were wearing Life Counters; they were players in The Game. Each monster lashed out in pain as they were struck by the arrow, revealing strange rose marks on their bodies. The six-legged monster was down to 2 Life. The blob creature was down to 3 Life. And the jellyfish monster was struck with the unlucky critical hit, losing 2 Life at once, bringing its total to 0.

“Game Over.”

The other two monsters fought over the vanishing body of the third monster, which bought Rita time to fire one more arrow.

“Fire Arrow!” This arrow she fired at the doors, setting them on fire, and rapidly making them brittle enough for her to kick through them. While this was not the exit, it did buy them enough time to get away from the monsters for the moment.

“How did you know that was going to work?” Makoto asked Rita.

“I didn't," Rita admitted. “I was hoping I'd get lucky.”

•

Once it became clear that they were clear of the monsters, Takeshi, Rita, and Makoto slowed down their pace. It was safe to just stroll for now.

“The Desert Rose?” Makoto asked Rita. “I've been in The Game for a while, but I've never heard of any story like that.”

“She's a very high-level magic user who likes to torch villages and play pranks on the survivors,” Rita explained. “If she's not directly involved here, then someone is using her victims for their own purposes.”

“The monsters mentioned a machine,” Takeshi wondered. “And the spirits are crying about being trapped in a machine. Do you think there might be some sort of harvesting machine in this house?”

“Either that or the house IS the machine,” Makoto realized. “But who, or what, would need souls for some kind of machine?”

“The monsters mentioned something about essential energy,” Rita added. “Do either of you know what that is?”

Neither of the boys could respond.

“I'll take that as a no.”

•

“So what brought someone like you into a place like this?” Rita asked Makoto. “You don't seem like the desperate types I'm always running into around here.”

“I used to call myself the number one gamer in all of Japan,” Makoto explained. “I guess the guy who sent me here took that personally.”

“So you're a big gamer, huh?” Takeshi asked.

“Oh, yeah. Card games, video games, you name it, I was probably playing it. This game is just another challenge that I hope I can win someday.”

“Good luck with that,” Rita told him. “There's only about a million other people trying to do the exact same thing.”

“So what's your greatest desire?” Takeshi then asked.

“I'm pretty much already living it,” Makoto replied. “Once I win this game, I'll be the greatest gamer in history. No comma, no asterisk.”

“What about you, Rita?”

“Honestly, I forget. I've been here for so long, I think right now I just want to -”

“Hold on,” Takeshi interrupted her.

“Excuse you?” Rita said angrily. “I wasn't done yet!”

“No, I mean listen.”

Takeshi pressed an ear up to the wall. There, he heard a faint whirring sound, the sound of running machinery.

“That almost sounds like an engine…”

He then turned to Rita and Makoto.

“Either of you got a way to give us a shortcut to that room?” he asked them. “If we tried to go through the regular doors, we might be stuck trying to find this room forever.”

“None of my arrows can blast a hole through the wall, sorry,” Rita answered.

“I may have a magic spell that could do the trick,” Makoto answered, “but I promised the mayor I wouldn't damage the house.”

“I think the mayor could forgive a little structural damage if the curse above the town would be lifted,” Rita explained.

Takeshi nodded in agreement.

“Very well,” Makoto relented. “Please stand back, though. This could get explosive.”

They both did as he suggested.

“Magic Art: Vulcan Burst!” Makoto unleashed a fiery burst of energy directly at the wall. The blast revealed a hidden room deep within the manor. This room was full of machinery, piping, and that blue vapor seen throughout the house. The cries of the spirits inside were louder than before, seemingly indicating that there were many more of them, and they were in grave danger.

“Open the bridge! Set us free! Release us from these surly bonds!”

“I didn't think that was in the spirits’ vocabulary,” Makoto noted.

“Open the bridge?” Takeshi asked. “What do they mean by that?”

“It means we need to find a way to smash this machine,” Rita told them. “Whatever it is, that doesn't matter. All that matters is that we blow it up.”

“Blow it up! Blow it up! Release the bonds! Let us be free!”

“With pleasure! Fire Arrows!” Rita shouted, before releasing a volley of flaming arrows at the machine.

“Magic Art: Vulcan Burst!” Makoto added.

Takeshi took his eyes off his comrades for just a moment to notice a gang of monsters were quickly approaching their location.

“Guys! We've got company!” Takeshi told them. “I'll try to hold them off while you blast the machine.”

Takeshi, sword in hand, then tried to fight off three monsters at once. Unfortunately, they were too much for just him to handle, and they forced him over the railing and almost onto the machine below.

“WE WANT YOUR SOULS!”

“My soul doesn’t seem very tasty!” Takeshi protested. “You won't like it!”

“WE WANT YOUR SOULS!”

“Oh, bother…”

Rita spotted Takeshi in danger and tried to fight off the monsters herself. “You want some of this?! Acid Arrows!”

Makoto continued to launch magic attacks at the machine, hoping one would hit at just the right location. Takeshi managed to get back into the platform, now behind the monsters. Both he and Rita were now on the attack, even managing to defeat one of the monsters.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling erupted from the floor beneath them.

“Run!” Makoto told them.

All three of them tried to find their way to the nearest windows, hoping Makoto could Vulcan Burst his way through. However, the monsters, now numbering at least a dozen, gave chase to them. But finally, they found their target. And just as planned, Makoto launched a blast at the window, allowing the trio to leap out of the manor to safety.

And just in time, as well, because the manor was suddenly caught in a large explosion, though not of smoke and fire. This was a large pulse of essential energy that tore the manor to shreds. At the center of the pulse, a large blue column shot straight into the sky.

“Praise Takeshi! Praise Rita! Praise Makoto! Praise them! They have opened the bridge to our freedom!”

“Looks like we freed them,” Takeshi realized as he watched the spirits float away from the destruction.

“Where are they headed?” Rita asked.

“Hopefully, out of The Game,” Makoto answered.

As soon as Makoto finished speaking, the trio heard the sound of a man laughing. They turned to see a man standing in the midst of the rubble of what used to be Telemachus Manor. They could not see who the man was, since his face was hidden by the energy flow.

“I'm quite impressed,” the man told them. “Nobody's ever been crazy enough to destroy one of my Creation Engines before.”

“Was this your idea?” Takeshi asked the man. He noticed the man's voice sounded familiar. “Mr. Set!”

The energy flow finally dissipated, revealing the man was indeed Mr. Set, stone-faced, blank stare, and all.

“Mr. Ishida! I'm glad you recognize me,” Mr. Set told him. “The Game Masters will be intrigued to hear about this.”

“What do you want?” Rita asked Mr. Set.

“What we want is none of your concern yet,” Mr. Set answered her.

“At least tell us the truth of what we're doing here!” Takeshi demanded.

“You don't seek truth, Mr. Ishida. You seek closure, a meaning, a purpose in your pathetic existence. Today, you are this person. But yesterday, you were someone else. As for tomorrow, you might be someone new, a baby taking its first breaths. Until we meet again.”

Before anyone could ask any more questions, Mr. Set had vanished, leaving Takeshi, Rita, and Makoto wondering what they had just witnessed.