Change

While Faye was immersed in her dreams with no way to wake up, a change started happening in the data that made up her body, and the NPC aura that surrounded her body faded away. The change wasn't gradual and hadn't just started happening. It had been a slow process since the time that her consciousness had awakened.

The players who were focused on protecting the passed-out woman didn't notice anything, but Jarreth sensed something and looked back at her. Her face, which had been pale, was regaining colour and her breath was evening out and it seemed she would wake up at any moment.

Besides that, something seemed different about the woman: before it hadn't seemed like it, but he had long known that she was an NPC. Any player could know whether a person was an NPC or a fellow player; from the way they acted, the places they were at, or through their interactions. Faye spoke little and acted no differently from the others like her, so it was obvious she wasn't a player.

However, the longer he looked at her, the more he felt that something was different about her this time. She still looked the same, but she was less like an NPC and more like a player. What had changed? And how could a character from a game turn into someone who plays it?

And the Main Computer who ruled over the game and was in control of everything within it could sense something too. It calmed its frenzy a little, but still tried to break through the opposing players obstructing its way so it could examine the woman.

In the ten years that the game had been created, this had never happened before. It was impossible to go from an NPC to a player: they were different in every way. And if it could find out from the woman how this happened, it could prevent others from doing the same. A game with no characters to give out tasks, take care of the shops, and whatever else they were created for, was worth nothing at all: it would just be a world with no value and could only be looked at.

Jarreth turned away from the woman and looked up at the Main Computer floating above them. The players on either side of them were shifting their gazes every which way to pinpoint where the enemy was, but it was like the opponent was invisible. If they couldn't see it then that would make fighting difficult. They could only come up with a different plan.

"Take her and leave." Elex kept his eyes forward and murmured to Jarreth. "We'll distract it and give you time to get away."

"No!" Jarreth rejected it immediately. They were a team and had always fought together. He couldn't abandon them, especially against something they couldn't see. It was dangerous, and he needed to be there to make the fighting easier. "I can't leave you here."

"Although we don't understand why you want to protect her, you need to get her out of here first." Elex softly said and continued with: "Find somewhere far away from here and we'll join you later."

"Yeah boss, we'll be fine." Rael chirped up from beside Eilron and grabbed his hand to reassure him.

Jarreth saw the younger girl's encouraging smile and thought over it for a moment, and then heard movement behind him and a light groan sounded out in the room. Whipping round, he saw Faye scrunching up her brows and appeared to be in pain: this made him make up his mind in an instant and he gathered her up in his arms.

The Main Computer watched as the man picked up the NPC and anger pierced through its one eye and it rushed at the players in an attempt to knock them out of the way. But as the Hero, how could Jarreth be slow? Before the Main Computer could reach him, he sprinted to the back of the shop.

He was going to go out the front, forgetting that it had been sealed when the explosion happened. However, a muffled voice stopped him as he was moving forward. Moving his eyes downward in surprise, he saw that Faye had awakened.

Even though her eyes were still closed, her lips were forming words, and she told him about the back entrance and the apartment on the other side of the door. It was connected to the shop, so it should still be accessible, and right now, it was their only hope.

Jarreth nodded, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see with her eyes still closed. He ran to the back of the shop, and with one hand, he tried the door handle. Thankfully, it turned, and he was able to push open the door.

He advanced quickly through the house, weaving through the furniture, and stopped at the door that led out onto the street.

Glancing down at Faye to make sure she was ok, he swallowed past the lump in his throat and steeled himself to open the door. If this worked, he could find a safe place for Faye to rest, and then he could come back and help his friends.

They had always been together as they climbed up to the level they were at today, so he couldn't just leave them to fight the Main Computer alone. First, he would make sure Faye was safe, then return to their sides.