Odditor had listened intently, eyes focused directly on Zelda. The rest of the world might as well not have existed in that moment for how focused he was.
“I had you, had you pegged as the smart one,” he said, nodding, then all at once shook his head emphatically. “But you’re wrong. An account is not priceless.”
“No, most aren’t. If a player loses their account, they can just make another. But there’s more to an account than that, isn’t there? There’s a time investment. And time is something I really don’t have the luxury of.” Zelda was gaining steam as she spoke. Her words were confident, passionate, and above all, logical. She was just right, Kaiden couldn’t deny. Odditor listened with rapt attention.
“It’s taken months to level this character,” Zelda continued, spreading her arms and looking down at herself. “To build this account into what we need it to be. If I lose it, I’ll have to do all of that again. But that’s time I don’t have. Time we don’t have. The Party will find us in the real world eventually. We’re in the middle of a tenuous balance, frozen in a perfect moment where we have the potential to strike a killing blow against them. But any number of factors changing can ruin that. We don’t have the luxury of waiting. If I lose this account, I’m going to be a detriment to the group, and above all, I’ll be useless in the pivotal fight to come.” She paused, eyes wet. “Everything I’ve done up to this point has been to finish what Bernstein started. To complete the task he gave his life for. This account is just as vital to that as the database because it’s the means by which I can achieve my goal. Without it, all I can do is sit on the sidelines and hope.” Zelda let her hands fall to her sides, then took a step forward and looked directly up into Odditor’s eyes. “You want me to stake something that matters, something priceless. Well, here it is.”
Odditor smirked ever so slightly, then bowed his head a fraction of an inch.
“I guess you are the smart one after all.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
She did it! She actually did it!
Kaiden fought to contain his excitement as they all moved into Odditor’s broadcast room.
Monitors filled the wall in front of them, each showing the viewpoint from one of the dozen or so drones Odditor used to film every aspect of the labyrinth. Everyone was there except Zelda, who was making her way to the entrance to the labyrinth.
Odditor had accepted Zelda’s account as ante instead of the database! Acting as the middleman, Whenstone now held both – the piece of the database and the login information to Zelda’s account. In theory, he could break the terms of the agreement if he wanted to, but Kaiden didn’t have much concern that would happen. In order for Odditor’s ante game to continue with everyone who wanted to run the labyrinth, there needed to be a reliable middleman.
She did it! Kaiden thought again. She did it. It was only then that the gravity of the situation started to settle in. He’d been so excited he’d forgotten what came next.
“Huh. She’s... actually doing this,” Kaiden said aloud instead of through comms, not wanting to psych Zelda out. “She’s risking her account. Everything.”
“It’s all on the line now,” Thorne said with a nod. “Brave of her. She’s risking a big sacrifice for us here.”
“Don’t mess up!” Titus said to Zelda through comms.
“Thanks…” she said back, turning to look up at the camera drone filming her. Her face filled the main monitor for a moment before the drone zoomed out, revealing the massive labyrinth in front of her.
It was a gargantuan thing, easily a couple square miles of high-walled corridors, twists, turns, and who knew how many traps and nasty surprises lying in wait. It was open-topped so the camera drones could get overhead views when needed, but from watching Odditor’s streams, Kaiden knew most of the filming angles would be from right up close to the action.
All around the edge of the labyrinth there was a massive trench, its bottom far out of sight. A bridge stood in front of Zelda, spanning only half the distance across.
“You got this,” Kaiden said to her through comms. “But we’re going to be here to help however we can.”
“Appreciated,” she said. “I’ve got a few ideas I’d like to try out in there. But if you guys come up with anything on the fly, don’t keep quiet.”
“All right, all right,” Odditor said from his commentating desk positioned directly in front of the wall of monitors. He clapped his hands together. “Let’s get this underway, huh? The objective of this game of ours is simple. You must retrieve the flag at the center of my labyrinth and carry it to where you stand now.”
“I’m ready if you are,” Zelda said.
“Ah, but first, the rules! I know you all brought stimpacks, but their use is strictly forbidden in my labyrinth. Your stimulant chambers will deactivate once you cross the bridge, as will health regeneration. You have only the health points you take in with you.”
“Annoying, but fair enough, I suppose,” Zelda said.
“Secondly, as we discussed, streaming this live would likely bring that pesky Warden Corps down on us. Since this, this is a… special occasion, and I cannot abide interference, I will broadcast your run tomorrow.” He looked pained as he said that, but carried on. “Thirdly, while many speculate otherwise, I do not control my labyrinth. My creation is a sentient, living thing. Or, well, a sentient, living digital thing.” He waved a hand at the semantics of it all. “Suffice it
