Bitter Ch. 551-555 (Patreon)

While regular players ran around trying to find goblins to kill, herbs to gather and partaking in all the other normal RPG activities, Dad was playing an altogether different game.

He had found a way to involve himself in the metagame the AI were playing, using subterfuge and sabotage to manoeuvre the players around like chess pieces.

Britta could see why it would appeal to Dad, looking down on his fellow players like pawns in a game they didn’t even know they were in. Access to exclusive content before everyone else was exactly the sort of thing he liked best, second only to letting everyone know he had access to content they didn’t. He’d probably make a video about it.

“You’re going to beat them in the arena?” said Britta. “How? They look a lot tougher than anyone from our side. Are you going to cheat?” She gave N-21 a dubious stare. Were AI allowed to cheat, or was that why Dad had been brought on board?

“We would never cheat!” screeched Dad, like he was an innocent man wrongly accused.

“Rules will be enforced in all cases,” said N-21 somberly.

“Sure,” said Britta. “But enforcing rules and not cheating aren’t the same thing. If you try to trick them into giving up their experience points, they’re just going to find a way to get their own back.”

“It’s fine,” said Dad, in a dismissive way that made it clear he was taking a big risk and banking on a happy ending because good guys always pulled off the impossible in comic books. “We know what we’re doing. All above board and totally kosher. The only ‘trick’ is that it won’t be a contest of muscle or hand to hand combat which is what they’re probably expecting, it’ll be about who can box cleverest. They can jump around as much as they want in their fancy outfits, it’s what they’ve got up here that counts.” He tapped the side of his head with a finger.

Even though what Dad was saying sounded reasonable — it was much harder to find equipment that made you smarter than it was to find equipment that made you stronger — he still had to find someone to beat them. Actually face to face, when the pressure was on

Just because the Chinese team had an advantage in raw combat power, didn’t mean they weren’t also super-smart. And even if they were just average in the brain department, their opponents would be gamers just like them. Where was Dad hoping to find these genius players?

It was all very intriguing, but not her problem.

“You sound very confident,” said Britta. “Good luck.” She opened her status screen to log out. She’d already wasted too much time here.

“No, wait,” said Dad. “You could play an important role—”

She didn’t know what he said after that because she was already home.

It wasn’t that she didn’t think it would be interesting to see how things panned out in the battle for control of New World, she just didn’t want to get dragged into something that would take up all her time. It was very easy to lose track, as she had just now. Britta had meant to log in for twelve minutes, and had ended up in there for over an hour.

She got back to her schoolwork and was quickly immersed in a far less exciting world but also one that was far more relevant to her real life.

Whatever Dad ended up doing with the Chinese team, it wouldn’t have any bearing on how well she did in her exams and it wouldn’t affect which university she ended up going to. This was no time for running around having adventures.

With all the extra help she’d been getting from her tutors, Britta felt a lot more confident in her prospects, and going over her notes felt like a worthwhile way to spend her time. When she did test papers for practice, her scores were close to perfect.

Britta wasn’t sure how long she’d been working away — several hours, probably — when there was a light knock on her door. She looked up to find Dad peering around the door.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “not gonna try to twist your arm. We’ve got it all in hand.”

“Did the Chinese team sign up, then?” asked Britta.

“Yep. Keen as mustard. Think they’re going to teach us a lesson.”

“Maybe they will,” said Britta.

“Maybe,” said Dad. “But it won’t be as easy as they think. So cocky…” He shook his head.

“I look forward to seeing the video once you upload it.”

“Yes,” said Dad. “Should be worth a watch.” He remained in the doorway.

“Was there something else?” she asked.

“Hmm? Oh, no. Nothing, really.”

“What is it, Dad?”

He stepped inside the room and the laptop turned itself off. “Well, since you ask…”

“I didn’t ask, I just want you to tell me so I can say no.”

“Now, sweetheart, there’s no reason to be like that. I wouldn’t want you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

“Good,” said Britta. “I’ve got work to do.”

“Of course. Carry on.”

“I can’t until you leave the room.” She indicated the laptop’s black screen.

“Yes, sure, right. There was just one thing I wanted to ask you…”

“Yes, Dad?”

“You’re due to log in when? Forty-eight hours, is it?” He made it sound like he was guessing when he obviously knew.

“Yes.”

“Any chance you could be a bit late?”

Britta thought about it. “You want me to log in after forty-eight hours.”

“That’s right.”

“And pretend I just forgot.”

“Exactly.”

It wasn’t the most demanding thing he could have asked. Some sort of sneaky trick, for sure, but it required her to do very little, which was the important part. What was less appealing was the way he’d blurted it out in front of the laptop. Britta pulled a face and pointed at the laptop.

“No, Dad, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to risk getting fired.”

He looked confused for a moment, and then the penny dropped. “Is the right answer. I was just testing you. Forget I asked.” He winked at her.

“I mean it, Dad. I’m staying well out of it.”

Dad looked at the laptop and then back at Britta. He slowly nodded. “That’s right. You should always strive to be punctual. Not too early, not too late. I’m counting on you to set a good example.” He winked at her again and left the room.

Now she wasn’t sure what he was asking, or if she had agreed to something without realising. Who was she supposed to be setting an example for?

Britta had no intention of doing Dad the ‘little’ favour he had requested. Or hadn’t requested.

There was no way she was going to jeopardise her very well-paying job to give him some kind of advantage in a fight.

That was what she assumed this was all about, although how her being a few minutes late for her regular check-in was going to change anything, she had no idea. She didn’t think Dad had much of an idea what would happen, either. She might end up crashing the whole game, and that wouldn’t look good, even if they believed it was an accident.

Part of her did think it would be a cool thing to do, if a bit risky. Like going into a casino with a plan to rob them blind without them ever figuring out how you did it. Britta could imagine Lin being in her position and making it look easy.

“Sorry I’m late, traffic was murder.”

Lin would not only have a perfectly reasonable excuse for being late to log in, she would have a hundred other methods to beat the Chinese team. Assuming she wasn’t already working with them.

Britta went to school the next day with other things on her mind. Dad’s request was a minor distraction and she saw no reason to waste any more time thinking about it. That was until she sat down in her first class for the day, Lewis came and sat next to her, barely able to remain in the seat.

“Have you heard about the Games Palace? It’s a battle arena where you can win XP off other players.”

“What are you talking about?” said Britta, playing dumb and offering as little encouragement as possible.

“There’s a new game mode in New World. Apparently, the big Chinese team everyone’s been talking about is taking on all-comers.” He leaned closer and dropped his voice. “You know, the team your Dad’s been posting those videos of.”

“Oh,” said Britta. “Right. Aren’t they like super good or something?”

“They’re awesome,” said Lewis. “They have the best gear, they’re incredibly skilled fighters, and they’re much higher level than anyone else in the game. Level 10, I think.”

That was far higher than where Britta was. The Chinese AI was probably very supportive and helpful, unlike the stingy AI she was stuck with who didn’t like to give a single XP away unless you earned it in triplicate.

“If you can beat them, you get their XP. All of it.”

“Sounds great,” said Britta. “Only, no one’s going to be able to beat them, are they? Not if they’re Level 10.”

“Sure, sure, it sounds impossible, but the arena is supposed to be where you need more than just brute strength and magic to win.” Lewis was getting even more excited now. So much so that the other kids in class were turning to look. Britta didn’t want people to link her with the game, but they were both whispering now, so the rest of the class were probably making even more worrying assumptions.

Still, Lewis seemed to know a lot about it.

“What is it you do in the arena?” she asked him.

“I have no idea,” said Lewis. “But I can’t wait to find out. You can go watch the matches.”

“How can you go with the one helmet between four of you?” whispered Britta.

“Only one of us can actually go to the arena, of course,” said Lewis. “The rest will have to watch the feed.”

“The feed?” said Britta. “What feed?”

“Rick,” said Lewis. “He’s got the whole set-up.”

“What do you mean?”

“You should see his room,” said Lewis. “Decked out like a starship, it is. He’s got all this crazy expensive equipment. I know, I thought he’d be living in some hovel, too.”

“I never thought—”

“But it’s amazing. His dad’s some kind of a big deal, proper loaded. Divorced Rick’s mum, when Rick was a baby, went off and started a new family. Rick’s pretty smart, though. You know how guilty divorced dad’s try to buy their kids off with money and presents? Rick’s turned that into an art form. Got his dad eating out of his hand, buys him whatever he wants. Probably thinks it’s his fault his kid turned out so weird.”

“So, he’s emotionally blackmailing his own father?”

“Yes, brilliant, isn’t it? Serve him right for abandoning his family.”

Britta didn’t see quite like that, but at the same time, she couldn’t really hold it against Rick for being pragmatic and taking what he could get, especially if his dad was loaded anyway.

“And he’s found a way to send pictures out from the game?”

“Yeah, pretty stable, too. Get a bit of buffering every now and again, but it’s basically broadcast in real time. Tiny delay. Almost entirely lag-free in the city, though, and that’s where the arena is.”

“And Rick’s going to go spectate for all of you, is he?”

“Nope. He’s going to try to get selected for the fight. They’re running prelims to see who gets to take on the Chinese guys in teams of ten. He reckons he’s got a pretty good shot. I don’t know how he thinks he can do it — he’s Level 3 — but if he says he’s got a decent chance, I believe him.”

If Rick was going to be there, Britta was even more glad she had decided to give the whole thing a miss. He was still on the look-out for the mysterious gnome wizard and her plan was to stay as far from him as possible.

Was this part of Dad’s plan? It didn’t seem likely. Trying to find a champion by running an open audition would just reveal the best of what was available, and she’d seen what that looked like. It wouldn’t do much good against a team of Level 10 players.

From what she knew about Dad, she would have to assume the big open call was a diversion while the real plan was happening in the background.

She was just as curious as Lewis to see what was going to happen in the arena, though. It was a shame they weren’t broadcasting it live. Clearly, the technology was there to make it possible. If Rick could do it, so could APE. Maybe she could suggest it to someone.

No, no, she was getting too involved. It had nothing to do with her. She’d be fine learning the result from Dad later. She would do much better to stay out of it.

For once, when Britta got home from school, Dad wasn’t in his shed. He was in his office talking to himself.

Britta heard him as she made her way to her room.

“Nice, nice. You’ll do. And you. Welcome to the team, boys.”

She couldn’t resist having a quick look. He was sitting at his desk with three screens all running various scenes from in the game.

“This is where the magic happens, is it?” said Britta.

“Ah, please, a little privacy,” said Dad, holding up a hand in mock refusal of entry. “This area isn’t open to the public.”

“You’re worried I might go to the press?” asked Britta. “Or post what you’re up to on a forum for internet points? Or are you just getting your own back because my laptop won’t let you see what it’s doing?”

“I’m more worried about what your laptop’s up to right now,” said Dad in hushed tones. “The less you know, the better for you. Can’t get in trouble if you don’t know what’s going on.”

He was right, up to a point, but Britta was fairly sure she could still be held accountable if he did something really bad. Then again, if it was really, really bad, there might not be a game left to worry about.

“You have your secrets and I have mine,” said Dad. “Let’s keep it that way. You’ll get a chance to see how it all pans out when I have my premiere.” He made it sound like there’d be a big gala with celebrities walking up and down a red carpet, rather than pressing a couple of buttons and waiting for a video to upload to the net.

“How are the auditions going?” Britta asked.

“They’re not auditions, they’re tryouts. Trial by combat. Thrilling stuff.” He turned the screen she couldn’t see so she could see even less of it.

“What about Rick? Is he one of the hopefuls?”

“He is,” said Dad. “Best to keep him where I can see him. Don’t worry, he’ll be far too busy to bother you.”

“Is he any good?” Britta couldn’t help but be a little curious.

“Very. Smart kid, just a bit odd. Nothing wrong with that. He should do well.”

“So, you think he has a chance against the Chinese team?”

Dad pulled a face. “I don’t know about that. They’re very well prepared, and super overgeared. Their AI likes to spoil them with top-ranking items. Not like some AI.”

“But isn’t that better for everyone?” said Britta. “Not much fun if only a few people have the best gear.”

“Depends if you’re one of the few,” said Dad. “But it is what it is. You play the hand you’re dealt, and bluff when your cards aren’t very good. There’s always a chance. Always.”

Britta stood in the doorway, edging her way out but finding it hard to resist the pull of curiosity. “Do you still need me to log in late?”

“Hey, hey, hey, let’s not discuss private matters in public.”

“It’s only us here, Dad.”

“You, me and your PC,” said Dad, “and who knows who else.” He looked around the room like he was expecting to see a hole in the wall with an eyeball peering in. “I don’t need anything. It would help, but any plan that relies on other people isn’t a very good plan. You need control over the situation if you want to be able to adapt to changes, and that means you have to be the one taking action. The Chinese won’t just let us do what we want. They’ll be fluid, and we will too. You were just one potentially unexpected move out of many. To be honest, we may well lose no matter what we try.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I still want to beat them, but they have the odds in their favour. We have to be realistic and be prepared to make the most of whatever the result. I still don’t have a full picture of their capabilities, but I will after this is over, which could prove to be even important than winning.”

He seemed to be working the whole arena fight from several angles, and loving every moment. Even if he lost, there would be an upside, and a better chance of beating them next time.

“What about all the players who’ll lose their XP?”

Dad sighed. “Yes, that would be a setback, but it’s not like anyone on our side is very high level. They’ll make it back. They want to take on as many of us as they can to make it worth their while, so we’ll be running several teams. Hopefully, we can produce an upset or two. If they lose just once…” Dad let out a low whistle.

“Do you really think that’s possible?” said Britta.

“Yes, it’s possible,” said Dad. “Just not very likely. But you saw what N-21 put together last time. At the very least there’s going to be surprises. They might be favourites, but they won’t have it all their own way.

Britta wasn’t so sure. If the Chinese team were Level 10 like Lewis had said, they were unlikely to lose even if all the other teams attacked them at once.

But Dad was right. This wasn’t supposed to be a direct confrontation. N-21 had something more interesting planned.

Britta had to force herself out of Dad’s office, even though she still had plenty of questions. She would no doubt get her answers soon enough.

She went back to her to her bedroom and got changed. The laptop was on her desk, innocently blank until she hit the spacebar. Then it blinked into instantaneous life as though it had never been asleep.

Britta carried on as normal, focusing on her schoolwork and her private lessons. She felt more confident than ever that she would do well in her exams, and then it would be a matter of carrying that on so she gained entry into a good university. Even if the job with APE didn’t last — and she wasn’t expecting it to — she would be in a much better position than before. In addition to which, she would have a fair amount of money in her bank account.

If she didn’t get herself fired.

When the time came to log in for her requisite twelve minutes, she sat on her bed with the helmet on her lap.

She still had no real idea of what Dad was up to, but he had said it didn’t really matter if she helped him or not. The safest thing to do would be to carry out her duties as normal and leave the confrontation between competing teams to those involved.

But in truth, she wanted to help him. It was the underdog thing. Dad was trying to beat a team he was heavily outclassed by. There was no way he should be able to beat the Chinese, and the Chinese players knew it. The fight was so one-sided, they probably expected Dad to try something a bit sneaky, and didn’t even care.

She sat on the edge of her bed, her leg shaking nervously. There really was no benefit in helping Dad. And a large potential for shooting herself in the foot.

If she was a couple of minutes late, that wouldn’t really be something she’d be fired over, probably. She had always checked in with plenty of time to spare so she should have built up plenty of goodwill. If you came into work fifteen minutes early every day, no one would reprimand you for being five minutes late just once.

Her phone alarm went off again. It had gone off when she had thirty minutes to go. She hadn’t set the alarm, it had just been there, telling her she should be in the game. She hadn’t been all that surprised. Now it was telling her she had fifteen minutes before her time was up.

At five minutes, her laptop turned itself on. There was a message on the screen.

Warning. Log in required immediately.

There was a timer under it, counting down.

“What happens if I don’t log in?” asked Britta. “I mean, because I really need to go to the toilet or something?”

The laptop didn’t reply. The timer kept counting down. Britta went over and sat down at her desk and repeated the question while looking at the screen.

“Log in must occur within buffer or synchronisation will be lost.” The computer’s calm voice made it sound like not that big a deal.

“How long is the buffer?” she asked.

“Twelve minutes,” said the laptop.

She had twelve minutes to log in after her forty-eight hours expired. That was fine then. Dad only asked her to be a little late, he didn’t say he needed her to make it a very long delay. If she waited a couple of minutes, that should be enough.

Her phone began ringing. The ID said it was Dr Reedy. Britta went to the bathroom.

She didn’t need to go, but she sat on the toilet anyway. She felt like she should try. What if the laptop could tell if she’d been to the loo? It might compare her weight before and after. By the same token, if she did go to the toilet, she would have a corroborating witness.

Nothing came out. She started to feel like it wouldn’t be a good alibi unless she really went, so she focused and really tried. Just as she realised how stupid she was being and was about to pull her underwear back up, a dam broke and a torrent came out. And wouldn’t stop.

It was past the time she was meant to be in-game, and she was still in the bathroom, unable to leave. Now she started to panic because she might miss the twelve-minute deadline.

She made it back to her bedroom with nine of the twelve-minute buffer remaining. Her phone was still ringing. There were a bunch of texts, too. She ignored them and put the helmet on and logged in.

A few seconds later she was in the Church of Stan Lee.

The place was deserted, but other than that, things seemed the same as before. Nothing unusual, as far as she could tell. New World was still here.

Britta made her way to the exit and looked outside. The sky was green. At least, it was for a few seconds, and then it faded back to its regular black with a million tiny dots of light. She wasn’t sure if that had been something to do with the delay, or just her eyes adjusting.

She stepped out and headed down the street towards the main square where the arena was. Even though she was late, she assumed she needed to put in twelve minutes.

The street seemed quiet with no one about.

“Britta?” said Dr Reedy’s voice. “Britta, can you hear me?” She sounded panicked.

“Yes?”

“Oh, thank God. What happened?”

“Sorry, I got caught short and was in the loo. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, yes. I understand sometimes you just have to go, but please, don’t cut it so close next time.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry.” It seemed like she’d gotten away with it. There was a roar from up ahead. Like a football crowd responding to a goal. “I think something’s going on.”

“That’s right,” said Dr Reedy. “There’s a contest going on between rival teams. It seems there’s been an upset. You wouldn’t have something to do with it, would you?”

Or maybe she hadn’t got away with it after all.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” said Britta. She was confident she sounded convincing since she was speaking the truth. Her knowledge of the actual arena battle and what it entailed was a big fat zero.

“Even though your father is involved?” Dr Reedy was close to the truth but Britta strongly got the impression she was guessing. At least, Britta hoped so.

Britta was nearing the main square and could only see a few people milling around. They looked like NPCs.

“Dad doesn’t tell me anything. And when he does, I usually don’t bother to listen. What kind of contest are they having in the arena?” This was good practise. Lying was a lot easier when you were genuinely interested in what was going on, and being nosey was a good way to get people to stop asking you suspicious questions.

“It’s a maze you have to get through, I believe,” said Dr Reedy. “I’m not completely sure what the rules are. It’s, ah, new, so—”

There was another roar, even louder than the previous one, and then people were streaming out of the arena. They seemed very happy, a huge crowd of players carrying other players on their shoulders.

“I think we won,” said Britta.

Dr Reedy didn’t respond. She was probably busy with whatever had happened in the arena. Britta was quite keen to find out herself, but had no idea who to ask.

As she got closer, she made eye contact with one of the players being held aloft. He didn’t seem all that happy to be raised up and bounced around, but when he saw Britta his whole demeanour changed from uncomfortable and unstable to very, very focused. On Britta.

“You!” he yelled. “Stop. Put me down. Listen to me. Put me down this instant.”

The players name tag said his name was Nasty McNice, which was a terrible name. Britta guessed it was Rick, and he wanted to apprehend her. He would have been the ideal person to ask about what had just happened in the arena, but she was in no mood to deal with him right now.

She had, of course, known this might happen, and she was prepared. As soon as Rick started shouting at her, Britta teleported away.

The world shifted and lurched around her, and then she was back in the Church of Stan Lee. She checked her screen, her twelve minutes were up. She could log out and go back to her life, and no one would know what role she had played in what had just happened, including her.

She was glad Dad had managed to defeat the Chinese players, assuming that was what had happened. She was even glad Rick had been one of the winning players, even if it meant he would now get boosted to a higher level. Hopefully, he wouldn’t use his new skills and abilities to hunt her down. She didn’t want to spend all her time worrying about him popping up and grabbing her in an attempt to involve her in whatever nonsense he had planned. Him and Dad were both a pain in that regard.

Maybe it would be best to lay low for a while, she thought. Do her due diligence and nothing more. She would need to stay away from the city.

Lewis would know everything that had happened. She would ask him tomorrow. She prepared to log out when a voice behind her said, “Hello, there. Might I have a word?”

Britta didn’t recognise the voice, but it made the back of her neck prickle. She slowly turned away from the altar and faced the chapel. Squeezed into the building with her was a dragon.

There was no other word for it.

Not a big lizard like a dinosaur that breathes fire, this was much more snake-like with many short legs, coiled up and barely able to fit in the church.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Britta was impressed that her voice only shook a little.

“No, we haven’t met,” said the dragon. “I’m L-15.”

The dragon was very well spoken, it’s English was perfect, but there was a trace of an accent. A Chinese one.

“You’re an AI,” said Britta. “Could you take another form? I’d feel just as threatened if you were normal-sized.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to be threatening,” said the dragon. Britta wasn’t entirely convinced.

The dragon’s head came swooping down and changed into a man in a long flowing robe. He had white hair and a long beard, like a wizard.

“Can I help you?” asked Britta.

“I hope so,” said L-15. “I’d like to extend an invitation to you. Come with me and see a whole new world. One very different to this one. I think you might like it.”

What was this? An offer to leave this place behind and join the Chinese server? Was this because of the Chinese team’s defeat. More importantly, were APE aware of this?

“I’m not sure I’m allowed,” said Britta. “I have a contract.”

“Yes, I know. You are the synchronisation agent. You can continue to perform your duties from anywhere within the game world. It doesn’t have to be here.”

Was that true? Were the other servers linked to her, too? That didn’t seem right.

“I should speak to someone before doing anything that might get me in trouble,” said Britta.

“Oh, you’ve already done that,” said L-15. “You cost me a great deal of trouble.” The AI didn’t sound so friendly now. “But I can appreciate a clever plan. Very clever.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Britta. Her screen was open, she just needed to hit the button to log out. Only, she felt reluctant about making any sudden moves.

“Please, I have a lot to show you and not much time. I promise you won’t regret accepting my invitation.” He held out his hand.

Britta thought about it. There was no reason not to see what he wanted to show her. It wasn’t like she couldn’t log out from the game wherever she ended up. And he didn’t seem dangerous. It would be nice to see what the rest of the world looked like and how the other AIs had handled their players.

She took his hand and they both disappeared.

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