We were going home, leaving the Fairs at the mercy of Ananizarte and the House of Darkness. The mood was dismal. Everyone knew that we were in for a long and torturous war against overwhelming odds. Pandorum hadn’t lost any big campaigns yet.
After a short stop at Dan-na-Eyre, we finally reached the Cloud Castle. We were too late. The juggernauts that attacked Condor were already gone, having achieved their goal. The charred frame of the magic shield loomed ahead, destroyed upon activating the invulnerability mode. Usually blue, the castle dome glowed crimson, and many of the citadel’s functions stopped working. In twenty-five hours, invulnerability would fade, allowing Condor to be attacked, and Pandorum would likely return to finish us off, this time, for good.
Komtur gathered all Watchers in the clan hall and started a short briefing.
Komtur: I won’t say much; you already know everything. The Pandas want to drive us out. It’s serious. It’s a matter of our survival as a clan. We need to go all out, guys. If you’re busy IRL, get a vacation or a sick day. We won’t get a chance to sleep. For the next twenty-four hours, we have twenty-eight checkpoints, the first in six hours from now. Get ready. The raid format will be known about an hour before the start.
Komtur: What were you asking about, Khaman? Condor? The castle’s in siege mode until tomorrow. We’ll be defending it, of course, call everyone we can. We’ll need max online.
Komtur: Get everything from the storage rooms? There will be no evacuation. We’re going to fight. If anyone wants to do it, we won’t stop you. Talk to Borland, ask him for a nave, get everything to Eyre in several runs.
Komtur: And remember, guys — you can’t outrun a war. All you can do is to meet it with honor!
Interlude: The Admins
Sphere Herald newscast, Video Net
TODAY, OUR EYES are once again set on the world of Dorsa, the seat of the Russian-speaking alliances of Sphere. At the moment, they’re going through a real ordeal: a war!
The camera showed a comet falling down and exploding, the burning city of Golden Fairs, phalanges perishing in flames, and a trench full of boiling water — everything that remained of a once-great city.
Ananizarte, the leader of the Dark Pantheon, continues her victory march across the continent. Nobody expected such a devastating attack! The attempt by the players to join forces and stand against the goddess failed, resulting in the complete destruction of the city. Sphere hasn’t seen such dramatic events since the flooding of Taerland!
Many players who didn’t take part in the events also perished. In the blink of an eye, they lost their property, access to the respawn point, auction, and Golden Hamster safety deposit boxes! Their outrage knows no bounds, and many are speaking about canceling their subscriptions! The administration remains silent, but we’re looking forward to the official reply.
Meanwhile, the forces of the infamous Pandorum alliance took advantage of the opportunity to attack the west of Dorsa —
“No need to continue.” Yoshito Yamato stopped the video. “This is it, Mr. Agasyan, in short. It’s a force majeure. Players are demanding compensation. Customer support is barraged with petitions.”
This time, the emergency briefing didn’t involve a personal visit by the investor. He participated remotely via a video pillar that showed a heavy-set Armenian man in a half-open shirt sprawling in a soft armchair. Going by the setting, Agasyan was in a luxury suite of some hotel.
“I see.” Agasyan bit his lip, thinking. “Tell me, Yamato, are you going to call me about every small issue?”
“Considering your displeasure with my actions last time, I decided to inform you about this new problem. This isn’t a trifling matter. We’ll be forced to spend resources outside of the allocated budget. To avoid — ”
“I understand,” the investor interrupted him. “And how could a situation like that arise in the first place? Can’t you control the NPCs’ behavior at all? Change their script or something!”
Yamato sighed. It was hard to explain Sphere’s innovative mechanics to a man who was stuck in the old days and still saw it like Tetris blocks programmed to fall down.
“No, we can’t. The advanced AIs that control their behavior have free will. Actually, that’s what makes the worlds of Sphere ‘alive’ and the events unpredictable.”
“Fine, fine... But Sphere’s working right now? All worlds, including experimental ones, used for special projects?”
“Sphere’s working,” Yamato admitted.
“Wonderful. Last time, the situation was much more serious, we were pressured from above, and you-know-what was threatened. That’s why we had to use your idea with the rollback. However, it cost us a lot, so let’s leave that option as a last resort.”
“Players are angry, Mr. Agasyan. It will be a big scandal if we soft-pedal.”
“As a matter of fact, everything’s in line with game mechanics, rules, and conventions,” Lana Kaminski added warily. She was Yamato’s marketing assistant, a slender woman with ash-blond hair. “We can refuse any compensation. It’s a question of our good faith. I’d recommend — ”
“Speak up, girl,” Agasyan said from the video pillar, giving her an approving smile. “What would you recommend?”
“Any
