But the hatred directed at her didn’t affect her as much as she thought it usually did. Instead, the water surrounding her soothed her, the way the sea plants drifted with the currents, and how schools of fish didn’t seem to care that they were there. Somnia went on around them all, even if Jirald turned everyone against her. Though that thought sobered her up from the dreaminess she’d been about to dive into again.
“You know.” Havoc spoke as he moved to stand—or was it float?—next to her. Leeroy floated next to him, silently judging everything in front of him.
“Maybe?” she ventured, suddenly feeling oddly tired.
“Right now, they’re not worth worrying about. They haven’t said or done anything yet. I’ve got my eye on them. Merlin’s got his eye on them. Don’t worry, Mur, we’ve got your back.” He put his hand to his temple like he was trying to push away pain.
“Thanks.” His declaration surprised her a little. Then she frowned at the pain in his expression. “Are you okay?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. These headsets are insane. I’ve had a headache since I started using it. And while its connection to the world is stellar and allows me to feel it in more depth, I still feel like there’s something wrong here. I’ve never had headaches on a regular basis. How do you deal with this…intimacy within the game? How do you deal with the headaches?”
“I don’t get headaches, but I can check and see if that’s a probable side effect for you.” Murmur left it vague, not mentioning how she might actually check on that. She’d worried from the beginning about her friends getting their headsets tweaked.
“I don’t suppose—” He hesitated and then barreled on, “—I don’t suppose you hear voices, do you?”
Murmur looked him over, wondering just how much to say. Sinister knowing Somnia was one thing, but she wasn’t entirely sure how Havoc would take it. “It’s just the world talking to you. You have a closer connection to her.”
Havoc paled slightly, before sighing. “I’m not even going to ask if that was a joke. I don’t think I’ll like the answer.”
Am I right, or is it Havoc’s connection to the game giving him the headaches? she phrased the question and sent it through to Somnia, who’d been rather quiet for a while.
It took a few moments before Somnia replied, and even then, she sounded hesitant. It is the headset, but also everything he’s having to wrap his head around. Havoc finds it difficult to believe things he can’t personally make happen. So, this whole headset thing, that he doesn’t understand how it works really gets to him. It’s the conflict in his mind that’s causing the problems. It’s something he needs to reconcile himself.
Murmur took a good look at her friend, noting the worry lines at the corners of his eyes and the way his brow furrowed constantly in concentration. Can we do anything about it? Like how can I help him?
I’m not sure you can. But it’s worth talking to him about, if you have the time.
Murmur paused before speaking. “Hey. You know…AIs do evolve. It’s been proven a couple of times.” She really didn’t know what to say, nor if she was factually correct.
Havoc chuckled. “Yeah. This whole reconciling the connection these modified headsets achieve doesn’t mesh with my brain. Accepting this sort of thing isn’t in my nature.”
Whatever else they were going to talk about, Murmur had no idea, because Devlish gave her the signal that they could move out a moment later. Havoc didn’t appear to be in dire straits, so they could continue their conversation later.
They were still stuck in the sort of trenched passageway that led down from the castle ruins. It ran deeper than she’d have anticipated with large stalks of seaweed reaching for the surface. Cliffs of underwater rock hemmed them in on both sides, but appeared to be widening out gradually.
Murmur was pretty sure Somnia had played with physics for the size of the lake, too. She still hated being underwater. So far, the trash mobs hadn’t been too much of a problem. But after Anemomight, she was mostly afraid of the bosses.
“You doing okay?” Sinister’s bright voice brought Murmur out of her contemplations, and the enchanter smiled.
“Better now.” Murmur wasn’t sure if she should be wary of the calm that overcame her on a constant basis once she’d resolved not to use her psionic powers forcefully on her allies. Was it a sort of epiphany?
“Aw, you’re just saying that to be sweet.” Sinister grinned as if she didn’t mind in the slightest.
“Mm-hm,” Murmur said, and focused her full attention on the bloodmage. “And you’re so totally against it.”
The smile remained on Sinister’s face for a few seconds before being replaced with a frown. “Hey, so, the trash is ridiculously simple. Think that means the bosses are just going to get worse and worse?”
“Now that you said it out loud, of course they are. Seriously, Sinister. Shouldn’t you of all people know better?” Beside them, Beastial affected his best Sinister impersonation.
Murmur laughed, one of the first true laughs she’d had in a good while.
Sinister raised an eyebrow at the Viking beastmaster. “Sure, I should know, but you’ve already dropped us in it enough times that it really doesn’t matter anymore.”
“You wound me, Sin.” Beastial winked at them and moved ahead to join Devlish with Shir-Khan in tow.
The underwater world appeared fascinating with its strange flora and fauna of the underworld, the sandy bottoms, the crisp and dangerous edges of the massive pearls that hunkered down on the bottom hiding pearls.
Well, except for when Shir-Khan and Snowy banded together to explore. Tails flicking in the water, noses twitching, they inspected one of the clams only to have it
