Given the current situation with the headsets, she couldn’t say with certainty that it wouldn’t affect the millions of people playing the game.
Thinking back, it had been such a thrill to get a game with a headset like this. All of the things Michael had planned for it. All of the things it was supposed to be capable of doing, and trapping a mind in a game world shouldn’t have been one of them. Just a flick of one of the arms, a slight adjustment in coding, and all this had started.
They were lucky they had the AIs on their side. They were lucky Davenport didn’t hate the idea of them going rogue away from their investors. And, especially now, Laria was lucky she’d met David all those years ago. Because without his brilliant idea, they’d still be batting at shadows.
That was David, her shadow warrior. Laria suppressed a tired giggle and turned her attention back to her work.
“Water breathing,” muttered one of the mages from Spiral.
The large group of thirty stood on the sandy peninsula that led out from the icy water castle. All around them the lake’s waters churned, like a million creatures were under there just waiting for them all to jump in. Waves lapped across it as a frigid breeze dared their Boon to protect them.
“No other way to do this then?” It was obvious Risk wasn’t impressed, nor inclined to go underwater to fight.
Sinister glanced at Murmur, waiting for her to take charge, but when she didn’t, the bloodmage stepped in. “Not that we can see, anyway. We can’t pull them out of the water and up on land to fight. First of all, their combat will likely break before we manage to get up to the surface, and for another, this is definitely a water dungeon.”
The number of groans that echoed through the raid simply reiterated how Murmur felt about the subject. She hated underwater zones with a passion, and this one was no exception.
“Do we know how it works yet?” Masha asked in a contemplative tone, his question directed toward Sinister, and his attitude less hostile than Murmur recalled from the last dungeon.
Sinister shook her head, but Devlish stepped in.
“Actually, I took a quick look around. Lizards can breathe under water.” He winked by way of explanation. “From the looks of it, we’re facing a dungeon that gets more difficult as it submerges. The further down we go, the harder the encounters will be. The entrance to the dungeon appears to be at an angle from the first level of the broken castle through a massive trapdoor.”
Ishwa popped his hip and crossed his arms, which looked quite odd on a tiny gnome. “Wait, so we go into the dungeon via the castle ruins? Why can’t we just jump down into the water…?”
Devlish shrugged. “There seem to be dense underwater barriers at least for a portion of the way under the castle…the only way into that path is to go directly through the massive trapdoor.”
Murmur thought Ishwa looked like he wanted to ask why they had to inspect the pathway, but thought better of it.
Eslan nodded. “Looks like we need to do this. Or else we’re kind of screwed. But we’ve just done two dungeons on little sleep. Think we’re safe enough here to stop for another one of those nap breaks?”
Sinister poked Murmur. “C’mon, Mur. Get back with it please.”
Murmur shook herself. She’d been able to hear them, but she was still trying to sort through her own confusion just what she’d been inflicting on her raiders the whole time. Reflecting on the past might not be her best use of time, but she was determined not to make the same mistake again. Not to hurt her friends again.
It took a lot of effort for her to trust herself as she pushed out her sensing net to gauge where the creatures were. With a frown, she shrugged. “I think they’re far enough out, but I wouldn’t quote me on that. We’d need people to stand guard like last time. Take it in rotations.”
Even she could see her words had more hesitation than usual. As if she didn’t trust herself anymore. Checking and double checking to make sure she wasn’t unduly influencing anyone was exhausting, but worth it. She couldn’t let herself slip. Hell, she couldn’t believe she’d thought forcing her opinions and will on people was acceptable.
“Okay, then.” Devlish turned to the rest of the raid and raised his voice. “Three-hour nap rotations. Figure them out between the groups. Half on guard first, half on guard second. Let’s get this all sorted out.”
Murmur could feel Masha’s eyes boring holes into her back. The uncomfortable feeling of being watched sat deeper than that, though. There was something off about him and the emotions he was giving off. She’d known him for years, and he’d never had this sort of animosity around him. Maybe he’d realized what she’d done too. Maybe he’d decided Jirald was right and Murmur was better off out of the line of end game.
Not that she’d blame them. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep. But she had first watch along with Sinister and Merlin. Plopping herself down on the ground, Snowy rested his head in her lap. She fingered his soft ears and scratched at their base, knowing how irritating it must be for him not to quite reach there himself. “It’s okay, boy. We got this, eh?”
But even though Sinister sat close and made her usual light-hearted banter, and even though Merlin kept making his excellent dad jokes, Murmur couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Like there was something wrong that she couldn’t pinpoint.
All around her, it seemed like the people she’d been fighting with liked her less and less. Masha’s gaze on her, Jirald’s constant smirking hostility, and even Risk
