'Game designers never use magical poison. It makes for too short a Game. We can't fight this,' Cipher gulped. 'It's too strong. It's not fair…'
So maybe it was something else, Alphonse thought, dropping out of character for an instant. Maybe it was a spell to make Gamers crazy, paranoid. to make them attack new friends. He stood and raised his weapon.
The halberd's Virtual-display blade wobbled in his hand, almost out of control. His arm was bordered in red. If he tried to move, the red ran to black. Poisoned. Really.
His hosts began to shapeshift, their flesh melting away, humanity dissolving even as he watched. It's going to be a short Game.
A few of the Adventurers hadn't noticed, and were still caught up in eating, didn't have enough juice to see the transformation going on right in front of them. Then it was damn near too late.
The Mallbeasts were ragged, rough-skinned things. Not zombies; something halfway between human and demon.
Music burred in his ears. Pulsating. Hypnotically seductive. As if it were impossibly loud music playing terribly far away.
His vision began to cloud.
God! No! It couldn't be over so soon! Not like this! To die without reaching any goals, without having any The Bishop stood, sweating, one hand on his stomach. His back was to the other Magic Users, who cried out as the Mallbeasts approached. Alphonse couldn't hear the spell, but their bodies suddenly exploded with light.
For a moment but only a moment the beasts were driven back. Then they began to advance again.
Nigel Bishop's dark, normally confident face was crinkled with worry, with a familiar what the Muck? expression normally reserved for lesser mortals. It was almost worth dying to see it.
And then the air crackled.
There was a wet smell. An explosion of light flooded through the Mall. Alphonse screamed, shielding his eyes, the dark shapes of the Mallbeasts visible even through closed lids At the center of the light stood a roughly human shape. A man dressed in white deck shoes, crisp white sun pants, a short-sleeved shirt-matching, of course. He sported a gloriously golden tan, short sun-bleached hair, and the chest and shoulders of a lifeguard.
The thing that had been Thaddeus Dark hissed: 'Nommo! Your kind have no business here! You dare violate the truce?' Other beasts hissed behind him, a venomous, swelling wave of sound.
The newcomer looked at them almost sleepily. 'Chill out, dudes and dudettes. These folks are righteous. Truth is, they rescued two of yours, and what you're doin' is like way bogus.'
Thaddeus Dark hissed. 'Something is wrong here. You have no Sight into this level, unless a conduit…' The creature scanned the room. To Alphonse, it seemed that he grew larger as he did. His body swelled with rage. 'Coral! Traitorous dweeb! You have betrayed the Mall!'
Beat. Nothing. Then Coral stepped out of the shadow. She couldn't face him; she talked to the floor. 'Like, Tod is dead, man, except not really, he's in that yucky undead place, and it's all your fault-'
The run-on sentence was about to run further, but Thaddeus raised his hand. His teeth gleamed through a ruin of rotting lips. 'I will see you dead. I will hang your skin on my wall, and your soul will writhe in torment for a thousand years.' His voice rose to a thundering crescendo, then he stopped, suddenly thoughtful. 'That's just a rough. I'll get back to you.'
Coral balled her hands into little fists and balanced them saucily on her hips. 'Thaddeus?' she said.
'What?'
'Bite my shorts.'
The light subsided, and Alphonse could move again.
Nommo beckoned to them. 'This way to safety.'
The Adventurers shucked off their shock and gathered their gear, backing away from the hissing mob of Mallbeasts. Among Twan's group there was frantic whispered discussion-Appelion was doing all the talking, and he was grinning then they were following, too.
Again and again the beasts tried to advance. Casual sweeps of Nommo's arm raised waves of light to drive them back.
Their rescuer backed toward a wall, which opened behind him. 'This way,' he said without speaking. Alphonse heard it as a whisper in his ear, rather than an external voice.
No one questioned the command. They crowded into the room, and the door sealed shut. The floor began to lift beneath them.
Alphonse was scared. Something in the Mall was more powerful than anything he had ever faced. Only the direct intervention of-what? a God? — had saved them this time.
Next time, they had better the hell be ready.
12
The cargo elevator doors slid shut.
There was a long, hushed pause, quiet breathing, no talking.
Each of the hundreds of Mallbeasts listened or watched anxiously for some sign of approval, dismissal, or reproach. Doris Whitman's husky voice growled over hidden speakers: 'All right, people that's a wrap!'
Three hundred miscellaneous ghouls and were-creatures cheered. Thaddeus Harmony, sometime Chief of Operations of Dream Park, temporary leader of the Mallbeasts? exhaled a long sigh of relief.
Beside him, a slender Mallbeast smiled. Flabby thin lips pulled up in grotesque mirth, exposing yellowed fangs. It slapped him on the back, jovially. Harmony's was a large back, a reminder of his short, intense career in pro football.
'Not bad,' the smaller creature said. 'Ever wonder if you've missed your true calling?'
'Excuse me while I wring out my shorts. I'm not sure I can do this again.'
The were-thing peeled off half a latex mask. Beneath it were radio-controlled air bladders. When triggered in sequence, they inflated and changed hue to nightmarish effect. Harmony knew that the face beneath the remaining makeup was very dark, very pretty, very feminine. It belonged to Millicent Summers, one of Dream Park's top financial-management officers.
Millicent said, 'It's a little late to back out now.'
'I know, I know,' Harmony grumbled as he peeled makeup off. He winced as a bit of stickum caught on a real wart. He popped out a rather canine dental appliance. Most of the prosthetics were designed as three or four interlocking pieces for easy application and removal.
The crowd had thinned out. Dream Park employees who had opted to be Mallbeasts were drifting back to their amusements. On Mall level, there were plentiful amusements to be found.
Three of the restaurants were open for business. Games were available, video, halo, sense, and others. Music rang through the halls. Sensors built into the Virtual scanners kept track of the Gamers. If any of them approached this level, all employees would be altered. Meals, games, or naps would end, and the Mallbeasts would live again.
Millicent was right behind Harmony as he reached the commuter elevator.
'How's Alex?' he asked as the door shushed closed behind them.
'Not good. He's taking Sharon's death pretty hard.'
'Getting pretty close, were they?' Harmony looked at Millicent more closely. Her makeup transformed her into a thing of nightmare, broken facial bones fused beneath puffy swollen skin. He dipped his fingers into a running sore and sniffed the glaze that rubbed away. 'Smells like cold cream. Ah, my undead Nubian queen…'
She didn't smile, and couldn't meet his eyes.
He stopped chuckling. 'Did it hurt? Alex and Sharon?'
She peeled away another section of mask. Only the forehead piece remained now. 'Alex and I were always a… convenience for each other. We were both too busy with our careers. It was nice to have somebody nearby to take the edge off. We never considered it a romance.'
