Something smelled sogood it woke me up. I blinked, squinting as a shaft of afternoon sunlight spilled across me. The pale warmth through the window felt good, and I lay still, luxuriating in the warmth of the sleeping bag. But nature called. Reluctantly, I sat up and slipped out of the bag.
The room was surprisingly warm. Liesel had both the fireplace and the wood cookstove crackling. She was frying up something that smelled like sausage, and the yeasty scent of bread rose from the oven.
I glanced around. Geoff, Brynn, and Reggie were still asleep. Thornhold was bringing in an armful of wood, and Ray was outside, splintering wood into kindling. I yawned and slipped on a pair of house slippers that Liesel had leant me.
She turned around. “Well, good afternoon, sleepyhead. How do you feel?”
I stretched, yawning again. “Still a bit sleepy, but a lot less frazzled. I’ll be right back. I need to make use of the outhouse.”
I opened the door and the chill of the afternoon hit me. The weather was turning, and even though the sun was out, the warmth was a pale façade of the heat of summer. But everything—every leaf and every blade of grass—glimmered under the golden autumn light.
As I stood on the porch, taking it all in, I let out a long breath. Itwasbeautiful here. That was one thing Abarria always had going for it. The game graphics had always been stunning. After a moment, I darted down the steps and headed for the outhouse, waving to Ray.
Liesel had gussied up the outhouse, that was one nice thing. There was an LED light inside, now, and the walls and floor had been cleaned, and there was actually toilet paper on the side. The smell wasn’t too bad—she apparently had some concoction to help drive out the stench. I peed, then stopped to have a quick wash up in the basin of cold water that sat next to the stone well.
“How are you feeling?” Thornhold said, returning to the woodpile.
“Better, I guess. Still petrified at the thought of a Level 15 necromancer wanting his key back. And the concept of having the go up against someone called the queen of dark magic, or whatever the hell her name is, is more than a little daunting. But I’m not as fried as last night.” I held out my arms. “Load me up.”
Thornhold began to stack wood on my outstretched arms. “Tell me when to stop.” He worried his lip, then said, “I’m sorry. We should have thought before letting you grab that key. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but you know we have your back,” he added.
“I know,” I said, shaking my head to get my hair out of my face. I’d unbraided it before bed. Elven hair seemed to have a mind of its own. “Tell me the truth. What do you think’s going to happen? With the game, I mean.”
He shrugged. “I may be a nerd, but I’m not a computer whiz, Rey-Rey. I’m just as scared as you are, to be honest. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted so bad to live in a different world. I was bullied by the jocks, I was ignored by other gay boys because—where I came from, we were targeted and gods forbid you be seen holding hands with another boy. It just… Why my parents wanted to settle in a backwards community like that, I’ll never know. I got out as soon as I could. But now that I’mactuallyliving in a different world, I’m not quite as enthusiastic.”
I nodded. “You never think about the practicalities. Even just toilet paper, for example. We only have it thanks to concessions by the game-guides, but if we’re stuck in here long enough, it’s going to run out eventually. Just like medicine. What happens if someone in here’s a diabetic and they lose access to their insulin? I just don’t want to think about it,” I added.
Thornhold finished loading my stack of wood and then began gathering one for himself, while I returned to the porch. There was a wood bin at the side of the door, covered so rain and snow couldn’t get inside and dampen the wood. I stacked the logs inside the bin. It was half full.
As I entered the house, Liesel had set a tray of sausages and rolls on the table, along with a bowl of apples. Brynn, Reggie, and Geoff were awake by now, and they filed outside to take their turns at the outhouse.
I sat down next to Liesel. “Breakfast smells amazing.”
And it did. It made my mouth water. I took three of the plump links—they were the size of hotdogs, only thicker—and two rolls from the mountain of bread sitting in a large wooden bowl. I tore open one of the rolls and slathered it with butter, then added a drizzle of honey to it.
“Can I tell you something?” Liesel asked, her voice soft.
“Sure, what is it?” I asked, around the mouthful of roll. It melted on my tongue, becoming more of a sensory experience than just a bite of bread and butter.
“I’m glad you’re here. If the game had broken, leaving me without anybody I felt comfortable with, I’d be terrified.” She shrugged, biting the end off a sausage link that she speared with her fork.
“I’m glad we’re here, too. Have the game—” I stopped as Brynn, Reggie, and Geoff returned, Ray and Thornhold trailing behind them.
They settled in for breakfast, and we were all chattering about the dungeon and what we had found there, when there was a sudden loud whistle—like an alarm—and our watches lit up.
we hope you are all well. we have an update for you, and some bad news. while we have been able to discover the source of the damage, we have no idea how long it will take to fix it. we may have to build new computers and rewrite the software, if it’s bad enough. at best, it will take at least several months before we can extract you from the game. at worst…a year…or more.
we can’t possible express our apologies for this, and the police are on the case, searching for the hackers. meanwhile, we’ll be broadcasting a series of tips and suggestions to help you manage through the next few months. we’ll be downloading these to your watches so you can read the information when you have a chance, and so you can keep it handy. please again, know that we are doing everything in our power to fix the game. until then, be careful and do your best.
The mood at the table sobered, and we stared at our plates, each deep in our thoughts.
CHAPTER 18: HOW WILL WE SURVIVE?
After lunch,we sat around the table, hit by the sudden realization that we needed to make some long-term plans. Liesel had managed to contact Geoff’s family, and she had done her best to comfort him as he agonized over his wife and child. But now, we had to come to grips with the fact that we weren’t getting out of here any time soon.
Ray was the first to speak. “I know we’re each mourning, in our own way, but we’re into October here, and winter will be coming sooner than later. Liesel, what do we need to do in order to fix the house up? If this is going to be our primary base, we need to figure out what we need for the coming winter. Abarria is icy cold, if I remember the game right.”
“You do,” Liesel said. “We always shut down during winter, given the harsh conditions. We used that time to fix and repair buildings, to reprogram Syms, whatever was needed.”
