Two astral naves carrying ellurite for Pandorum were among the downed vessels. We had been carefully tracking them, and it was their arrival that signified the end of the fake truce. That simple trick allowed us to get hold of almost all ellurite traded at the Bazaar, pulling off something that the analysts of the largest alliances had thought impossible. The logistics of the entire game were at our disposal.
I had spent all that time in my Bazaar apartment. Sphere’s administration still hadn’t contacted me after my conversation with Akiru. I was patient — the bait was set, the line cast. The information was bound to reach its target; I wasn’t the only one pressured by the gravity of the current situation. Instead, I got another visitor, the one I had almost forgotten about.
His arrival was prefaced by a system message.
Quest completed: The Road of Stars!
The Temple of Shadows has left Helt Akor and taken its place in the realm of gods!
Your reputation with Tormis increased by 5000! Current value: 9010/15000 (Respect)
Talk to Tormis and claim your reward.
So the God of Shadows had finally used the Shift Module to teleport his shrine from the cave in Helt Akor.
Someone started softly clapping behind me. It was a familiar sound, and I recognized it. I looked around and saw a man in a brown cloak, sitting comfortably on my favorite couch. Tormis stopped clapping, removed his hood, and without the slightest hesitation, poured some wine from the open bottle, both for himself and for me.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” I said, accepting the glass and watching him. This time, the god came to me in his usual guise of the Wanderer: an old swindler with an intelligent face and a scruffy salt-and-pepper beard.
“I had business,” Tormis replied. “It was urgent.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked outside at the pillars of smoke rising above the Bazaar and continued, “You have no idea how many people are calling out to me, trying to figure out what’s going on here and who orchestrated it.”
I didn’t say anything. Yes, the Bazaar was home to many traders, who probably petitioned our shared patron. I wondered what he replied — and whether he replied at all.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Tormis said, his tone pensive. “Take it. It’s yours.”
He pulled out a wooden tube highlighted with the orange color of a legendary item. Going by the description, it contained the missing Fragments of Helt Akor, the pieces that would allow me to complete the map of the Paths and locate their mysterious center — an object that Hird would sell their soul and more to obtain. Hiding my joy, I slowly touched the item and put it into my inventory. Done!
“I’ll tell you one thing, Cat,” the God of Shadows said, staring intently at the window. “For some reason, you, players, never care about the Law of Balance in your schemes. Even those of you who think themselves the lords and creators of Sphere underestimate its influence. All the while, each word, each deed, each death adds a small stone to the opposite scale. You have shifted the Balance, Cat. Be careful.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Soon, you will.”
Interlude: The Admins
Location: New Tokyo, the campus of Sphere of Worlds Corporation, smoking room
“HI, VIC. Spare me a light, would you? Thanks.”
“Treat yourself to some poison, man. How’s your department doing?”
“Up Shit’s Creek, as usual. We’re swamped. Not enough people, petitions pouring in day and night. Everybody’s off their rocker. Have you seen what’s going on in the Bazaar?”
“Yeah. NAVY’s done a bang-up job stirring the frenzy.”
“Hahaha! Damn right. Have you heard when it might end?”
“It’s a shady story. I think Yamato’s been meeting someone. I’ve heard that players asked to meet Him in exchange for stopping the blockade.”
“What, you mean the one in charge? Agasyan? Why? Are they going to file a report right to him? Were they allowed?”
“Of course not. He’s too big for that stuff. Ah, to hell with this Bazaar. Let it burn. So what if NAVY have their fun? The more the players lose, the more they’ll invest. We have another problem on our hands. Yamato’s going crazy again.”
“He’s always keeping you on your toes.”
“Yeah. Have you seen the briefing? Remember them talking about anomalous zones?”
“Right, where the procedural AI’s freaking out. They’ve made an announcement, amended the User Agreement.”
“Yes. It’s his new pet project. In short, we’re going to tinker with them manually, using in-game methods. I think Yamato’s planning something big. Yesterday, we cleared out the storage facilities with confiscated stuff — the ones seized for being imbalanced or possibly bugged — and considered where they can be used. The things there are really something else. Today, a new order came. We’re to prepare for complete immersion, Archangel-type avatars, erasers, astral juggernauts, you know, the big boy toys.”
“What a circus. Admins moving out! Hope to see you on VNet.”
Chapter 16
FOR ALMOST A WEEK, I stayed home, only opening the door to get deliveries for my automatic kitchen from online shops. As I looked at the summer sun outside and the green treetops, I felt a bit nauseous from my vegetable-like capsule-based existence. But, as soon as I entered Sphere, that feeling dissipated, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose.
The complete map of Helt Akor, the Endless Paths looked like a chaotic network of
