Poison of Hope

Report: Poison of Hope

Accessing Personal Logs: Princess Fawn Midin

I dream of the nights of sleeping in a warm bed. The dreams hit me as I listen to the dying crackle of the fire I started to try to shake the cold of the night air. I want to sleep, but part of me questions if I still know how to. My eyes are heavy, my mind foggy, and my whole body feels like it takes a great effort to raise a single part, but sleep never comes. Just as the Sandman starts to strike, the graven wave of problems before me settles over my still pounding head. The memories are returning on how I don’t belong in this world. Sure many times in my past I thought those very words when I felt uneasy or uncomfortable about my surroundings. But that was all back on earth, outside a game that I helped create. The world I now find myself living in. What I once ignored as a game and something to help me escape life now have me stuck struggling for food and warmth. Two days have passed since I escaped the border of the kingdom of Noiox, two days since I began to remember who I was.

In this world, I am Fawn Midin, princess of the Black Kingdom, Great hero, Warrior of the Midnight Star. But in reality, I am game designer Jamie Eve, warrior of the code, great hero of therapy couches everywhere, a no-body hidden behind the shadow of my creation. But now something even worse, I am a dying patient of a hospital bed, a trapped soul of a sick freak’s idea of hunting me down for some yet unknown reason, while the world of players moves on playing for fun, fame, or profit. I am the target of some sick Hackers game.

I reach to pull out the map I had placed within my belongings. My eyes take time to focus on the paper. I worry if my vision is going as I begin to fade from the game or if my physical exhaustion is merely hitting me harshly. A small light shows me that if I stay on the road east then I should hit a small farm village soon. I pray that they have an inn or at least a place where I can buy supplies. I dig down in my bag at my food rations, No bread remains, only one apple and a small wedge of cheese. Looks like if I can’t make it to the village I will be relying on the chance of fighting a monster that drops food. The few scuffles I had along the road the last few days have shown that even though this world stands very real to me. Some elements of the game still exist. Monster's bodies fade away in a glimmer of light after you beat them. Where in a few moments after the body vanishes one can find it leaves behind treasure and items they had on them. More often it’s useless stuff like feathers or hides, good for selling to merchants or crafting items, but nothing of value when your stomach is growling, now and then they drop a few pieces of coin, great for buying food but not when no one is around to buy food from. I take the Shadow cloak and wrap it up placing it in my bag, having used up its power for the day it does me little use but to help keep me dry from any bad weather. But the sunlight breaking up the night sky shows me that at least for now I have dry conditions on my side for the morning's travel.

I have to hope that the only disguise on my side currently needed is the one my pin is providing. My current disguise is a darker-skinned older woman. I decided to keep my class the same. All this is an effort in hopes that the computer screens will hide my identity, I decide to avoid as many players as I can though. Even though with my food supplies as they are it might not be a bad thing to meet with some players and trade for some food if I had something worthy for trading that wouldn't give me away that is.

I stagger to my feet, after several hours of being off them they are numb to the blisters of walking these past few days. Given the blisters don't exist, why would they? When you stand in a world where going to the bathroom in the woods could have you fighting a gang of monsters. But my brain is telling me they exist, along with my sore muscles. I’ve spent weeks shut in as Jamie, both for my protection from rabid fans and due to the hectic work schedule. But even then I wasn’t the most active. At most I got a few miles of a cardio workout in a week let alone every day. Yet now I have walked about 50 miles in three days. Given the first half of that was with the magical necklace and Caramel my horse to get to the border. But since then I had to find shelter and build a fire to stay warm along this path. Both of which took me hours just to pull off. I never even knew how to start a fire without matches. If I didn’t have magic on my side I surely would have gone cold. Or my brain would tell me I was cold, could a game character even feel cold. More to that point why do I even know what the temperature is? We didn’t add this kind of element to the game. There was no way the character would know about it.

I try to take my mind off the pain and chill, taking in the views of the rocky mountainous terrain as I walk the road. The Black Kingdom in many ways could have been looked at as a forested valley beyond these mountains in the Grey Kingdom. The sparse clearings I come to as I walk hold dense clumps of forest dotted with some ancient-looking ruins. It fails to give me a sense of hope when for two days the only signs of civilization, have been reminiscing of a people long ago lost to time. In some ways, I find the journey somewhat peaceful. It's been a while since I saw any monsters close enough to the road to bother me. As I walk part of me wishes that my memories didn't return, living a new life in a false world brings new stress to my mind. I ponder this new life as I grasp a rock in my hand and think as my stomach growls from my sparse traveling diet. This is not a rock, my stomach isn't growling, because this isn't my stomach. This is a projection of myself, not the real me. Sure I may be hungry in the real world. I may even have a loaf of bread in my hand. My mind starts to twist to imagining the smell of fresh bread as I squeeze the rock in my palm tight. I would be well off if this was a real loaf of bread and not a projection of some fake rock. I feel a small amount of heat from the stone, the shock causing my hand to act in instinct and drop it with haste. I watch as the stone that once was in my palm smacks the ground and bounces. But the sound it makes isn't a crackling crash on the dirt road. No, this sound is a quiet and faint plop. The noise puzzles me greater and I look down at the stone I once held releasing slight warm steam from its body, but stranger still was the smell.

I first thought I imagined it. I stand still miles from a town or even the look of a shack and here at my feet was a steaming freshly baked roll of bread, the roll is in every way the same way I imagined it. The game has bread roll programmed in but this one is like nothing I’ve seen before. It matches perfectly with the one I imagined right down to the baked-on cheese on the crust. Picking it up, I take a long sniff at the chunk in my hand before my stomach drives me in a crazed creation of drool. Being still cautious I try to pull the bread apart. Steam is released as the bread rips apart and the smell drives my experiments to an end and I convert to tearing into the bread, each bite causing me a reason to take another. Before I gather my senses back the roll is gone. My hands are wet from my effort to capture more of the flavor that may have escaped into the crevasses of my pores. As the sense returns to my head I look around to see as to where the loaf came from, surely I didn’t create such a thing, I certainly never heard of a spell in the game that could do such a thing. Someone had to send it to me in some way. But then I would have seen a magical flash or had a bird fly by and drop it. Such is the function in the gameplay that sends messages and packages deliveries to players in the game. No, the rock was in my hand one moment, I squeezed it, and then poof it's a freshly baked roll of bread.

I try recreating it, grabbing another rock, and squeezing, but nothing. It couldn't be me.

Or could it? Before I found myself in this condition I had the power to bring items into existence as a Genesis player. But I used to code and formed the object in my mind.

Suddenly I have the urge to try the experiment again grabbing the stone squeezing it and visualizing another item. This time I try the image of something that I know wouldn’t be in the game in any way, I reflect on the image of the smell and shape. Before I know it I feel my hand squeeze and the rock gives way to a gooey mess of a chicken sandwich, but not just any chicken sandwich. The same one from the diner, the very one that ended up on my clothing the other day. The one I ended up wearing the day of the launch. The rancid mayo fills my lungs making me toss the yucky thing away and gasp for fresh air, as my body convalesces from the instinct to gag hitting my throat.

A small laugh escapes in between my body spasms. I have the genesis power, I may have a harder time getting used to using it but I still have the power, a great tool in my bag of tricks to aid in this path. But what path is there, I gather my footing and start to walk off down the road with new hope in my eyes.

Soon, I don’t know why, but once I reach Azurphire, I will reunite with the group and have more answers to why and how I ended up like this. The smile on my face and slightly filled belly help me push forward on my sore feet till a town will finally be in view.

File Source Halted

Accessing Linked Material

Onyx Tower floor 49 Conference Room

Rick Mathers sits in a chair pulled away from the tables now formed to a makeshift desk for several computers to be linked together. His head rests deeply in the palms of his hands as he wipes the sleep and several days stubble of his face, looking up at the elevator door as three people come walking off. One a clean-cut bald man in a suit, his look said he very much belonged in the business world, but the square piece of holographic plastic clipped to his suit quickly showed that if you met him for your business venture it was due to some action that raised flags. As the glimmer of the letters FBI shown across the badge in the light. The Second was dressed in a similar pattern but looked as if they had to rush together their attire and had slept in the uniform. Their square had a different set of letters run across it reading, Interpol. The man carried a look of a bookworm man more at home with paper and pencil than with the advanced computers Black Clover was known for. The last was a girl that looks greatly out-of-place among the two men. Not just in age and sex but in attire. Everything about her showed she was brought in from the South Pacific. She bore no plastic square showing off a listing of where she was from, and she made sure it was hard to tell where she was from with a mixture of styles in her style of dress. More puzzling was her hairstyle, she had shaved half of it off but the other half was long enough to reach her hips. It was cluttered with strange objects tied about in it. Rick couldn’t help but notice a streak of color in the girl's hair to mimic Fawn’s. A fan of the game he thinks as the three move into greeting him, Rick raises to his feet unsteadily. The clean-cut FBI agent offers his hand out.

"Greetings I'm Agent Carmine Estaban. I am sure Ms. Jeirade said we were coming here, Mr. Mathers." Rick shakes his hand as the FBI agent continues. "This is Agent Daniel Wessbalm from Interpol."

The Bookworm from Interpol shakes Rick’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you lad." The strong English tone of the voice is the second thing to pull Rick back on his words. The first instead of being the fact that a man who Rick can only judge to be maybe younger than himself.

“And lastly we have Ms. Rutashi.” Rick goes to shake the girl's hand but is taken by surprise as the girl pulls out a wad of gum from her mouth and places it in his hand instead. “She isn’t very friendly towards meeting new people.”

“So it would appear.” Rick takes the wad and walks over to a garbage bin as he continues to talk. “So you two suits are from the law agencies but what about her. Why is she here?”

“She is a hacker, the best one in the world, or at least the best we could track down." Agent Estaban, replied as the words stunned Rick.

“Hacker, why did you bring in a hacker?”

"Well lad, the nature of trying to capture this Dark Mistress, we need someone that can act much like them. We need to play their game to find clues about who is behind this whole sticky wicket." Agent Wessbalm notes.

“Look I don’t know how much Gail has let out. But we have other issues at hand and I need people who are familiar with the inner workings of the game.” Rick states firmly.

"We understand and your company has claimed that they are sending someone else to help out in the matter, someone they claim both you and your Ms. Eve knows. But a skilled member of the company still may not be able to track down all the holes in the program that Ms. Rutashi here is skilled in finding." Rick looks over at the girl who is messing around on a tablet computer she brought in.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt, at the moment we just have these laptops to look into the code. The company is sending us some new setups of the chairs we use on the game. Till then I guess your Hacker can make do." Rick watches as the Hacker whispers in the ear of Agent Wessbalm.

“Oh my.” The words escape Agent Wessbalm's lips.

“What is it? She can do it can’t she?” Rick asks.

"Well, it seems she is already in your system on her tablet. She said you really should do a better job crypting the Bluetooth on those computers.” Wessbalm explains a bit embarrassed at Rutashi’s quick interface hookup.

"Okay, I guess she knows what she is doing?" Rick nods in agreement with her proof of skill.

Agent Estaban coughs and grabs Rick's attention. "While those two work on the system, I need your help in compiling info on all people who may fit the profile for us. Starting with the company's employees that we can narrow down to a mere few suspects, we need to find out who would benefit from this all."

Rick looks at a screen of a tablet the agent is holding and instantly sees people he recognizes as the rest of the team on floor forty-seven. "None of them!" he quickly responds.

"Don't be quick to judge them out, Mr. Mathers. All on this list are on here for reasons and more often a case like this is one based on passion. With none closer to Ms. Eve than your team, it's possible to be a likely case that one of them has done it. Mr. Dello has former gang connections with a small drug cartel based in Brooklyn. Mr. Jones has made it clear to your higher-ups through emails and calls that he felt he was being overlooked, as Jamie was more attractive yet in his words grossly ignorant of how these games are played. Ms. Brough, has a case the day before the attack of kidnapping Ms. Eve?" Rick Burst in.

“She was trying to help Jamie relax. Jamie has a condition that causes her health to suffer when she is stressed out.”

"Yes her Anxiety disorder, of course, we wouldn't have known about this if the reports of her meds didn't show in her medical records for the hospital. Needless to say, it is a red flag. Next is yourself, You cannot deny your previous actions at San Francisco eight years ago wouldn't go unnoticed, and now your current hostilities towards another suspect, a Mr. Bart Howser.” The agent lists.

"I have been seeing a therapist about my issues!" Rick states a little shakily.

"I may not be a medical professional Mr. Mathers, but people who are in control don't slug the people upstairs for acting against your will. Finally, of course, there is Ms. Eve herself." The concept from the agent startles Rick.

“No way, Jamie was uncomfortable with the whole Princess role that’s no doubt, but she wouldn’t do this to herself.” Rick’s face starts to turn red but he quickly tries to calm down.

“All current reports about the equipment point to an electrical discharge from continuous bending of the connection where she was attached. Given your reports state Ms. Eve often would go to sleep in the chair. She would doze off while she was working in the game never leaving the chair. The wear and tear can't be completely determined at this time as the reason for the electrical discharge." The agent takes notes as Rick does a breathing exercise to calm down.

“Your suspect list is flawed. It wasn't anyone on my team I assure you, Only Jamie and Gavin were active in the game at the time. I was with Gavin at the time of the discharge.” Rick grits his teeth and balls his fist but calms down after recalling Agents Estban’s reason for putting him on the list. Rick begins to face the FBI agent when the elevator dings. The door opens and a tan blond man steps off in a very loud shirt. A man Rick recognizes from his own time in San Francisco. The aging blond man cracks a smirk and laughs.

"Well, I should have known that corporate would send me to deal with some asshole I couldn't stand. I should have stayed at my post in Vegas." The aged blond man, states.

Rick’s teeth grit in aloud crunch. “Harper, Alex Harper. What the hell are you doing here?”

"Hey I don't like it either, But corporate told me to come here and help out in the investigation. Of course, I still owe you for that beating you gave me over Karen.” Alex rubs his chin where a small scar is as he replies.

Rick looks at Agent Estaban and pokes him with his finger. “You told me that the corporate person knew us both and the game. I figured you meant Masaru or his assistants, I know for a fact Jamie has never met this asshole because I would have kicked his ass before she had a chance.”

"Your right Ricky, I never have met the princess outside the game," Alex smirks his bright white grin.

“Outside the game, wait. Who do you play as in the game?” Rick moves in close where the hot breath of both men can be felt by the other.

“Charlie Riex, Azurphire’s head Councilman.” Alex flashes his grin to egg on his former teammate.

"The pervert letch that has claimed Jamie as his bride, I should have guessed your ego was behind such a character weaseling your way into her success," Rick grumbles.

"I was just playing with the girl, no harm is done." Alex shrugs his shoulders and walks away from Rick's intimidating presence.

"No harm was done, you could have tried to stop the damn Hacker from attacking her but you just stood by and did nothing. Agent Estaban if anyone deserves to be on top of your list it's this asshole.” Rick taps the tablet in front of the agent, wanting to make sure Alex’s name is added to the list of suspects.

“Mr. Harper is on my list of suspects, but as you point out. He was active in the game visibly. It would be hard for him to pull off playing two characters at one time.”

“Um pardon me chaps, but Ms. Rutashi has discovered a corruption in the code of the game is appearing.” A nervous Agent Wessbalm interrupts

“What location of the world?” Rick looks a bit shocked and turns to face the monitors.

“Strone Kingdom, just outside the village called Maglin’s Point.” Wessbalm reads from the tablet of Ms. Rutashi.

Rick quickly grabs his DAS unit.

“Who are you calling Mr. Mathers, this is supposed to be a closed session for us to work.” Responds Agent Estaban.

“My team is keeping track of an issue that was headed that way. I need to know what they have on it.” Rick explains.

Alex is quick to correct Rick. “What are you babbling about Rick. Your team is Noiox, Strone is run by the Rio Branch.”

“It’s not the land we are watching, it’s who is in the land. This is not to leave the room but my team has built up evidence that Jamie is still very much alive and is now trapped in the game.” Rick states and is quickly stared at by the group as a collective.

“You mean Fawn is still an active character?” Alex states.

“Yes, she was on her way to meet up with the team after fleeing a system cleaning of Noiox two days ago, she went into Strone to catch a ship to your Kingdom where she would reunite with my team!" Rick says.

"So if we take what you are saying seriously then this activation of the virus is her. Or is it caused by her?" Asks Agent Estaban

“Neither, I can’t shake the feeling that the virus is after her. She is its target.” Rick exclaims.

“So hide her.” Alex states.

“We are trying to!” Rick Shouts back.

“Then how? How is the virus locking in on Ms. Eve?” Wessbalm, questions.

“That’s what I intend to find out.” Rick turns his head to the DAS. “Melissa, what is going on with our little one? I need a full report and get Gavin on the ready cause it looks like she has company headed right towards her.”

File Attachment End

Reactivation Source file

I almost wish I hadn’t eaten that roll now. If I hadn’t I wouldn’t have had the energy to reach the outskirts of this horror. I look on at the bodies of NPC’s being strung up and nailed to the trees outside the village gates. I turn and see a half-burned body of a boy still blinking and groaning in pain. I shake as nerves hit me. Every thought in my head is to turn and run but to where. I find a tree yet unclaimed by an NPC and watch the actions in town. I see as a young man with a mixed set of armor runs about with a sword drawn but quickly trips and lands across the ground. His attire goes to show me that by no means is he a computer-generated character.

“Leave them alone, why are you doing this.” The young warrior screams.

“We want to that’s why. What fun is a game if you can’t have a little fun doing things outside the law? We intend to claim this village as our own." I try to move my head around my hiding spot to stare at who the warrior is screaming at and soon look on at five players gathered in a group around a massive black Minotaur with two heads impaled upon his horns. "Hey, guys I think this runt may be right I'm not having much fun doing this."

The followers of the Minotaur look at each other puzzled at his words till he starts to speak again. “Because these NPC’s aren’t as fun as killing other players, so let’s start with him shall we?” The group laughs and cockles in agreement taking steps to move forward to the warrior as he stumbles on his feet backing away and reaching for his sword. Without having a screen before me where stats can be displayed it’s hard for me to figure out the strength of the warrior. But the look of the young warrior screams a beginner and no match for these thugs. He needs help. Someone needs to help him.

The sudden realization that his only help is standing here, one step away from wetting herself in a sheer panic and then I hear it.

A dull thump, quickly followed by another, I listen as the pace between thumps continues to move faster and a great pressure hits my chest. No, it can't be, Fawn doesn't suffer from it no this is purely Jamie. I find myself completely frozen in fear as I hear screams of horror continue with the sounds of laughter and joy from the hunters and the constant loud thumping of my heart. Then it all comes to a halt.

“Hey Guys there’s a pretty one that escaped us so far out here”

I turn to look and see in a distant pace of about a hundred yards a thug is staring straight at me. He is wearing the fur of a bear all about yet has the face of an NPC draped over the bear’s head displayed on his shoulder. They spotted me. What now how can I face them?

Before I act a knife goes flying and thunks into the tree trunk I was hiding near. In an act of delayed self-preservation, I fall backward as I go to reach for the sword I had been given.

"Oh, goodie looks like she wants to play." Another thug claims as he begins to run toward me. I look on as three of the six begin to head in my direction while the Minotaur pulls at the young warrior's arm twisting it in a way it shouldn't possibly move. I scurry to my feet and raise the sword but have it smacked from my hands by the first thug. As his large ax crashes down on my blade knocking it away making me defenseless.

“Man what a newbie, she dropped her sword.” Damn it Fawn act better than this. You’re the best player in the game. Fight back, damn it. Despite my internal screams, I can't move more than the constant shaking of my lip and what little movement I can make to back into the tree trunk. Fight to damn it. We can't. I can't. I can’t let them hurt me. Can I? I mean if they kill me I can be revived right. I hope because there is no stopping them. I watch as the one reaches his ax back and goes to swing.

I close my eyes in pray the blow will be swift and put me out of my misery. Time seems to stop. All I hear is my shallow breathing and heartbeat. But still, nothing happens. Opening my eyes I turn about and see the thug that was ready to attack me lying dead on the ground. Then a voice breaks my own world's sounds bringing me back into the horrible landscape before me.

“This is no way for my bride to act. Given I don’t mind the damsel in distress scenario you have placed yourself in Fawn. But you should at least put up an effort to fight back.” States the dashing man who suddenly teleported in to save me.

As light returns to my eyes they begin to swell up in tears of joy. I may not have been a big fan of Riex, in the past but I will gladly take his smile and advances towards me over the evil laugh of the thugs any day. "Look, I may be a skilled player and all but five against one is still a challenge you mind lending a hand.” Riex snidely retorts at me. I nod in agreement and concentrate on a spell from my list, blasting one of the players away with a fireball.

Riex continues to dual the two nearby thugs blocking one of the attacks with a dagger and shooting at the other with his musket. I never quite understood my mother’s fascination with books about pirate swashbuckling romance. That is till now as I watch the flowing blond hair and good looks of Riex working hard at defending me from the melee attackers. I quickly toss a second fireball in-between the remaining distance fighter and the Minotaur. Both scatter but my skill lets me take advantage of an opening, to send another blast right in the direction of one of the thugs. The spell hits him sending him through a nearby storefront making short work of him.

I kind of wish I instead chose to blast the Minotaur as he turns and begins a charge as a red gleam hits his eye. Before either of us know it the Minotaur rams through his companions crashing them. He slams into us as well sending both Riex and myself, flying back.

"Well, that's one way to use your friends.” Riex chuckles as he tries to push the thug off him. ”Okay girl when I tell you I need you to run.”

"What are you planning Riex?" I watch as Riex reaches in his pocket and pulls out a collection of what at first glance is a handful of red sticks. But quickly I figure out that the maniac of the seas has dynamite in his pants, literally. He takes out his fist revealing it full of dynamite and moves forward at the Minotaur preparing a second charge at Riex. The beast gallops at him and in a swift move Riex, unmoving from his position, punches with the dynamite hand. In a blink, he goes flying back from the crashing Minotaur smashing into him. He staggers back to his feet. I look at him waiting for his signal but only see his bloody arm. His arm, His hand? Where did the dynamite go? It’s no longer in his hand and it didn’t explode or neither of them would still be standing. Which leaves one place?

"That's right girl If you would please blast the beast with a fireball and run. You would do us both a favor.” Not letting Riex’s plan go wasted I begin to conjure up a fireball as the Minotaur turns to face and charge at me knowing the threat we now impose on him. But he is unable to take more than four steps before the fireball hits his mouth full of dynamite. Then as suddenly as Riex appeared the Minotaur was gone in a bloody puff of smoke and body parts.

"It bought us time. Still, that was easy if they had that virus it would have been a far more difficult fight I could imagine.” He explains

The words of the virus hit me and run a cold shiver down my spine. Before I can turn to face him Riex is draping his cloak over my shoulders. "You know if old Ricky didn't tell me I never would have guessed you for the princess Fawn." He lets out a laugh. "Still don't."

I bury my face in this blood-covered chest. "You came to save me."

“Rick wanted to, but he has to watch over some nearby virus activity. But his character isn't as strong in the game as the grand heroes of a legend like you or I. Now gather your things we need to move. The next ship to Azurphire leaves in a little while we need to get to the next port quickly.

"But Riex how? I can barely walk anymore and you're in no...” He halts my words by placing a finger on my lips.

“My dear Fawn, the town here may be ruined and its NPC’s a bit." He pauses looking at the crucified yet still living NPC's about the trees. "Preoccupied, but the town's stables are all we need to use to access a carriage to the port.”

Riex walks up to the still-burning remains of the stable where all the horses lay dead. Suddenly out of thin air a carriage takes form. “Your carriage awaits my lady, let us forget the events of this town and get you to more comfortable settings shall we.” Grabbing my sword and bag I walk on in the carriage and take a seat on a very welcoming and comfortable cushion. Once Riex takes a seat across from me, the carriage jerks us back a bit as it moves to full speed. Looking out to its front I can't help but notice that there are no horses nor a driver. "Don't worry I am working on the image of the carriage as we ride. By the time we get to the town, none will know we had left with just the carriage. Till then I suggest you rest my dear." I find myself nodding in agreement but can't help but wonder if it's not from the bumps in the road or my real movements. For that matter how come Riex appeared when I needed someone? Could it be my Genesis powers acting again, calling him forth, or is it really as he says, Rick, telling him to help me? The puzzle runs about in my head for as long as I can keep my eyes open, which isn't long.

When I finally come too, I feel the road sway a lot more and awaken to discover I am in a cabin of a boat. I sit up looking out at the fading shoreline of Strone in dissolving sunlight. I try to stand but find my legs are so weak from their constrain wear that I fall straight to the floor of the ship. Just as Riex enters the cabin carrying a large trunk, for a man of royalty he doesn't like to show his status with servants in the slightest. I feel warmness about my face and let loose a slight grin as he enters, but I move quickly to hide my emotions from him.

"Awake, at last, are we. What is wrong? Are you having trouble with something? Are you injured in some way?”

“Nothing of the sort, it’s just my legs they are worn out from the past days travel that is all. Don’t worry.”

"Seriously they're worn out, wow beginning to think Rick may be right about you. We certainly don’t have exhaustion from travel in the game. Hell, it would make the game less interesting having to rest after playing so long in journeying. Anyway, I have this for you. It's nothing as fancy as what I'm sure you have in that bag of yours. Just figured you likely could use some new clothes and bought a bunch at the port while I had the chance. The ships cook is also working on some dinner for you if you want something to eat."

"Yes very much!" I reply in a very truthful and eager way.

"Look, consider me your caretaker from now on Fawn. I won't let the virus harm you. Neither will Ricky, okay. We may not agree but you have friends willing to lend a hand when you need it. Plus my Kingdom is pretty safe, very few people dare attack an island kingdom it’s just too well guarded. And when you feel like dropping the disguise and retaking the form of my bride to be I will be happy to bring you happiness from that as well.” Riex flashes a grin and begins to walk out the cabin door.

“Um Riex, thank you for your help, I’m sorry if I doubted your intentions towards me ever before.” Riex turns widening his smile.

“My dear Princess, a man never lets a woman shed tears when help can be given, they simply take action. I will go fetch our dinner.”

I smile back as he walks out. Then turn to look out on the open water. Watching the moon rise thinking back to the fragments of the life I use to have along with my recent discovery of the genesis power.

File Source End

Accessing Linked Material

Cameras Floor 49 conference room

Rick looks at a screen as the agents and the young hacker watch on as well.

"Well, she is safe. The group that attacked the town was not affected by the virus. They were just players. Abusive jerks for players, but they all came out clean. So what was that signal you got? Is it gone?”

The young hacker shakes her head no and whispers at Agent Wessbalm who translates for her. “She says it’s on the move and from the looks of it. Our friends Mr. Harper and Ms. Eve are in for a bumpy ride on the seas.”

“Good thing if they fight it." Replies Agent Estaban.

“What are you crazy! If it is after Jamie it will truly kill her and anyone facing it is not safe in ether, of the worlds." Rick proclaims.

“The more info we get from it the closer to the source we can get. The one mistake this Hacker is making is that it’s failing to look out for other Hackers around them. The more we can figure out from these attacks the more we can protect her from them. Soon the hacker will be ours Mr. Mathers it’s just one worldwide game of fishing.” The agent asks.

"So I take it you're a big fan of fishing then?" Rick grumbles.

“Nah, I hate fish. Hate the wait even more, but unless you have the hacker on speed dial it’s the best we have. So pull up a chair and watch the line. The fish will bite any time.” The agent replies.

Report end

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