Chapter 17: Chapter 17

After a miserable and mostly silent ride on the trolley, the magical girls arrived at the cathedral. They were still slightly wet from the light rain outside, though once indoors they dried off more rapidly than they would have in the real world.

Clare felt slightly strange about being inside this church. She could still remember her fake father’s paranoid rants about Catholics. As the group walked down the central aisle toward the altar, Clare glanced at Sara.

The tank was distracted by her emotions. Not so much due to the loss of Death Legion—it was regrettable to lose soldiers in a war, but Clare had not really cared much for them on a personal level. What bothered her was her feelings towards Sara. When the healer had cried, Clare had felt sick inside to see it. And when Sara had rebuked her, she had very nearly burst into tears herself. The humiliation of that would have been unbearable.

This was not the first time she had asked those questions, and she doubted it would be the last. If anything, it seemed the problem was getting worse.

At the end of the aisle the party waited while Tehrani knelt and briefly prayed before the large cross hanging beyond the altar. The aspiring nun then led them toward an open doorway off to the side from this area.

“Your Excellency?”

“Pari, what’s wrong?” The for now unseen man clearly picked up on the distress in her tone. “Please, come in and be seated.”

“I brought my party. We have terrible news.” Tehrani led them inside. Clare was the last one in and closed the door. Sara grabbed a free chair in the room, and the four women sat before the bishop’s desk.

“Sara, May, I’d hoped to see you again—though not under unfortunate circumstances.”

“Bishop Bell,” Sara acknowledged him, while Roberts nodded.

“Oh, um, this is Clare,” Tehrani said after following the bishop’s gaze.

“I’m pleased to finally meet you. Pari says you’re very talented at the game.” Clare nodded in response, and he turned his attention to the mage once more. “Now, tell me what’s happened, Dear.”

“I told you about Death Legion, the party we train with sometimes? ...They were just killed, by a hunter and an inmate working together. It was so awful!” Tehrani looked like she might begin crying again. Sara and Roberts tried to comfort her—Clare wished they would not coddle the girl.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Bell said gravely.

“I have the bodies. In my inventory, I mean...”

“If you could contact the families and find out what arrangements they want, we’d be grateful.” Sara explained for her.

“Of course. I’m afraid I cannot know exactly where or when services will be held—that will depend on what faiths the deceased belong to, and if any of the families can afford to make the journey to Felorius. But I will inform Pari as soon as I know.”

“Thank you,” Sara said.

“Thanks,” Tehrani and Roberts both added.

Bell looked to the goblin player. “You can transfer everything to me.” There was a brief pause during which the bodies presumably changed owners. “Thank you for being so attentive. It could not have been easy after such a shock.” She nodded.

“Bishop Bell,” Sara began. “I know this may not be appropriate to ask, but we’re in desperate need of information on the attackers. Lives may hang in the balance. Would you consider searching the internet for us?”

“I’m sorry, but if I did such a thing my NPC privileges would be revoked. You should see General Martinez—his people have contact with sympathetic hunters, and should be able to acquire what you need without too great of a delay.”

“Oh. I should have thought of that,” Sara said, relieved. “We were already planning to see him.”

“But now I can’t help but wonder... Pari, you don’t mean to deliberately seek out these monsters?”

“I—I don’t know yet. We haven’t decided.”

“I hope you’ll think of the worry you would be subjecting your parents to, if you attempted something so dangerous. I and the Mother Superior would be greatly concerned as well.”

Tehrani could not answer, and looked down uncomfortably. Bell looked to Sara.

“All I can promise is that we won’t act rashly.” Sara said regretfully. “But the severity of the situation may justify a certain level of risk.”

“Please talk to your parents before you make a decision,” the bishop told Tehrani. She nodded meekly.

Roberts looked to Sara. “We should get going—if we go too late and interrupt one of John’s dinner parties, some important people might not like it.”

Sara nodded, and addressed Bell. “Thank you for your time.”

“Of course. I’m sorry for your loss.”

After goodbyes were said, the magical girls made the journey to the general’s home. Once more, they traveled without much talk. Clare had thought she would not miss the group’s banter, but somehow she did slightly.

Roberts spoke as they walked from the last trolley stop to the house. “I forgot to mention, we should ask John about the Guild Assassins.”

“Who are they?” Sara asked. Clare had not heard the term, but she was surprised that the healer was also in the dark.

“It’s a rumor I heard when I first got here. That there’s some organization run by the major guilds that deals with problem inmates.”

“I haven’t read about anything like that,” Sara admitted.

“Me neither—and I searched the local history books pretty thoroughly. Maybe it’s nothing.”

Silence briefly returned before Tehrani spoke. “I was wondering...does anyone know what happens before they kill you in this game? The company, I mean. There was a delay, before Aiden...”

“Sorry Pari, I don’t know,” Roberts admitted.

“I don’t either,” Clare stated.

“...Let’s not worry about that now.” The tank did not miss the healer’s hesitation.

Tehrani came to a halt, and the other women did likewise. “Sara, if you know something, please tell me! I keep wondering, and I can’t stand it.”

The healer’s voice was heavy with sadness. “When I was still on the outside, I read what happens. The victim can still see and hear, but their body is unresponsive. The words ‘Game Over’ appear on the HUD.” She made an angry noise that was almost a laugh. “Can you believe that? They treat an execution like it’s losing an old console game.

“A Game Master reviews the last fifteen seconds of footage, to confirm that there was no outside interference. And that the death was not caused by a glitch or hack. If everything is in order, the brain jar is shut down. Death comes quickly. The brain is either destroyed as medical waste, or sold to any researcher unethical enough to use such a thing. ...If a family member pays ahead of time, they can receive the cremated brain in a small urn.”

“That’s sick,” Roberts said in disgust. Tehrani was trying not to cry.

“Death should be treated more seriously,” Clare admitted. She still supported capital punishment...but she had to admit that she now hated FJI.

Sara silently led them onward. They soon arrived at the home of General Martinez. It was smaller than the mansions that surrounded it, though still stately by real world suburban standards. There was a neat lawn and carefully manicured shrubbery before the building. The group walked up the path to the front entrance, and Sara used the door knocker.

Martinez soon answered the door. He was dressed in medieval finery, without his usual armor. “Magical Girls, I was expecting you. Please, come in.” Clare’s HUD informed her that she had been given permission to the enter the building. She followed the others inside. The general led them to a fancy sitting room. As they all settled in, Clare heard noises from the next room, which appeared to be a kitchen. No doubt it was someone using the cooking trade.

“This is a dark day,” he continued. “It’s been some time since we last had a hunter willing to make the long journey from Kingdom territory just to prey on new players. It’s been much longer since an inmate has so openly sided with the enemy—doing so has never ended well in the past.

“I’m sorry for what’s happened. I know you practiced with Death Legion often.” The women all nodded. “...Can I get you something to eat or drink? You might feel better,” the general offered.

“No, thank you,” Sara said. The rest of the women shook their heads.

“I’ll get right to the most pertinent news then. I’ve already mobilized resources to find and slay the traitor.”

“Does this involve the ‘Guild Assassins’ then?” Roberts asked. “I asked you about them once, and you just changed the subject.”

“Well, the existence of the Assassins is a deliberately open secret. So I’ll confirm they’re involved. But I can’t inform you of who is part of the organization—that’s an actual secret, I’m afraid.”

“Why isn’t there any mention of the Assassins in the library then?”

Martinez offered Roberts a weak grin. “The Guild Council feels that the Assassins are a better deterrent if there’s an air of mystery about them. But I am completely confident they’ll handle this situation.”

“We’ve been considering getting, or rather staying involved ourselves,” Sara admitted. “We’d need to save up for some rare speed gems first—”

“For your own safety, please don’t seek these killers out,” Martinez said. “I understand how angry you must be, but the fact is you’re all too inexperienced to deal with a threat like this. Even Clare, as talented as she is, has not yet reached her full potential.”

“I don’t like the idea of sitting on my hands while those smug bastards are out there,” Roberts said angrily.

“We’ll weigh your advice when we make our decision.” Sara told Martinez.

“Of course. You’re not in my guild, so I can’t order you around. But I am saying this as a friend to all of you—I don’t want to lose anyone else to these fiends. Especially four warriors who I believe will become great heroes in the fullness of time.”

Sara nodded graciously. “It would help with our decision if we knew more about these enemies. And if we knew a little more about this organization you expect us to defer to.”

“I’ve already sent a messenger to find one of our sympathetic hunters.”

“Can’t you radio them?” Clare asked.

“Unfortunately, no—inmate transmissions only work inside the city. The company prefers that we can’t coordinate against the hunters too easily.

“Regardless of the delay, there should be news articles available about the traitor. Bragging about kills online is a common pastime for the enemy, so we may learn something of the knight as well.

“And of course, we may also gain information from incoming texts. I technically shouldn’t, but I’m willing to share what I information comes to me if you promise to keep it confidential.”

“Of course,” Sara said. Clare nodded, along with the rest of the party.

“I’ll just have to hope that whatever I learn isn’t noteworthy enough to end up on your show,” he said with a slight laugh. “Since you’re interested, I can also give you some context on the Assassins.

“To be thorough, I’ll begin at the beginning! When the game first launched over eight years ago, most of the initial arrivals had previously been held in conventional prisons. Consequently, there was an attempt to carry over the various racially-charged gangs from the old system. Many of the gang leaders hoped to control those who played the game without putting their own lives on the line. They thought to use a combination of intimidation, and a monopoly on luxury items such as drugs. The latter proved especially foolish—anyone willing to use a skill slot can grow materials for or finish such items. And intimidation is more difficult when group beat-downs and sneak attacks are no longer possible.

“Some players, myself among them, had past experience in MMOs and approached the game like any other. We were told Invasion Day was coming from the start, and consequently our guilds were focused around cooperation. All our officers were expected to run dungeons and help defend guild members.

The general shook his head regretfully. “...The early days were ugly business. Deaths from inmate PvP or lack of sustenance payments were much more common. You’d find the bodies in the streets... Everyone had to quest to buy their spells and start running dungeons. But at least there were more special quests early on. And we were given a grace period before the hunters were allowed to enter our territory.

“As more and more inmates arrived, the competition to pull them into either the gang or guild systems became more intense. This eventually led to what is now called the First Inmate War. The guilds were badly outnumbered, but we had the better players. And we picked up many defectors along the way.

“In the aftermath of our victory, five major guilds emerged—my own Rough Riders, our good allies the Amazons, the Valiance Soldiers, Holy Covenant, and Bloodbath Hullabaloo.”

Without intending to, Clare gave a slight laugh at the last absurd name. This earned her stares from the rest of her party, who were still in understandably dark moods.

“I guess it is a funny name.” He briefly rubbed his chin. “They were a strange bunch—actually they’re still around, but they’re a smaller guild now.

“Anyway, in the aftermath of the war many of our best PvPers were at or near maximum. This was good news for the upcoming Invasion Day, but bad news when it came to policing the still dangerous gangs. They soon resumed their coercion of new players. And they were now content to refuse all lethal contests from those too high in XP, despite the loss of face.

“To deal with this, the five guilds pooled their resources and formed the Guild Assassin system. Using a little known feature in the game that allows one to stop advancing in XP, we divided some of our best up and coming PvPers into ten parties of five. One party at the start of each experience tier past the first—ten percent XP, twenty, thirty, and so on, with the last two at ninety and ninety-nine percent. I’m not sure if you’re all aware, but max XP players can’t attack anyone lower than themselves without permission.

“So basically, each party was responsible for eliminating any trouble makers in the preceding experience tier. Using this system, we forced the gangs to start playing the game normally for a time. And we eliminated any traitors. We don’t usually send the Assassins against hunters, since they can’t really be killed. But we try to discourage the ones who go after newbies by costing them some XP. Since the Assassins can’t raid, we pay them well to ensure that they’ll follow orders from the Council.

“...And that’s all there is to tell. Most of the assassins have done their jobs for years, and are proven highly effective. You can see why I want them to handle this situation with the traitor and the knight—it is what we keep them around for.”

“Thank you for telling us all that,” Sara said. “I’m surprised the Assassins never got a show.”

“They did for a time. But once the gangs settled down after the second war, the Assassins spent most their time sitting around on their butts—so they got canceled!” He gave a laugh. “I think most of the fans assumed they were disbanded at that point.”

“Sounds like a decent gig,” Roberts observed. “Well paid, and low workload unless the gangs get stupid again...”

“That’s just so,” Martinez noted. “It’s entirely optional for the Assassins to fight on Invasion Day. And if any of them burn out on combat, we let them retire on a small stipend. The truth is May, you—as well as Sara and Clare—are on my short list for replacement assassins if anyone retires or is lost. Are any of you interested?”

Roberts looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure I wanna give up the bragging rights for raiding. But I won’t rule it out.”

Sara shook her head. “The guilds may be better than the gangs, but I’m not entirely comfortable with how they run things. I still want to remain independent.”

Martinez looked expectantly to Clare, and she answered. “I don’t care for the idea of being unable to defend myself on Invasion Day—I’d only consider the last two parties.”

If Tehrani was bothered by not being asked, she showed no sign of it. But then, it remained to be seen if she could even learn to remain calm in a lethal PvP situation.

“So John, you remember those bandits I told you about?” Roberts asked. “Did you send the Assassins after them?”

He looked embarrassed. “Actually, they’ve been careful not to attack anyone in any of the guilds that are affiliated with the Council. So the Council has refused to bother dealing with them. As far as I know, they’re still out there running their small time protection racket on questers.”

“That’s kinda bullshit,” Roberts noted.

“No offense,” Sara said critically, “but this is exactly the sort of thing I was just talking about.”

The general gave an awkward laugh. “I’ve tried to convince the Council to be less mercenary about using the Assassins. But I don’t have the influence I once did.

“...Oh, I’m afraid my dinner guests will start arriving soon. I’d invite you, but this is one of those big-wig parties—frankly, they’re not a pleasant bunch. And most of them don’t like seeing attractive women they can’t sleep with.”

“We understand,” Sara said. “I don’t think we have any more questions for now.” She looked to the other magical girls, but everyone shook their heads. “We’ll let you know when we hear about services for Death Legion.”

“Thank you. I’ll do the same when I hear back about the Killers. ...Can I get you anything to eat or drink before you go?”

No one was interested, and the magical girls said their goodbyes and departed. The rain had stopped, but the night had turned slightly cool. On the way back to the trolley stop, Sara brought the group to a halt. “We may not have all the facts yet, but we might as well discuss how we’re leaning on dealing with the Killers. Any thoughts?”

“I’m not sure,” Roberts admitted. “I can’t completely ignore John’s advice. But it doesn’t sit right with me, just letting this thing go. Some of Death Legion’s antics drove me up a fucking wall...but now that they’re gone, I feel like we owe them something.”

“I’m not completely opposed to going after the Killers,” Clare said. “But it makes more sense to let the Assassins do their jobs. All we’d gain by intervening is some notoriety, and half a percent XP.”

“I’m not going to pretend I’m not still scared,” Tehrani said. “I can’t bring myself to vote for danger that John says is unnecessary. ...But if everyone else does decide to go after them, I promise I’ll fight too.”

“I’ve thought about this,” Sara began, “and it would be easy enough to fight the Killers at the time and place of our choosing. If we called them out on our show, the knight would hear about it.

“But I can’t deny that John’s right. As tempting as it might be to go after those murderers, we haven’t been in this game very long. This is real life—not some movie where a rag-tag group of heroes face down their arch-enemies and come out victorious. It’s better to let experienced professionals handle this situation.

“That said, we can’t ignore the possibility that the Killers might seek us out if we catch up with them on XP. We should find another party to travel to and from dungeons with. And take some occasional days off from dungeons to focus on PvP. It might slightly reduce our chances of being ready on Invasion Day, but I’d rather put more emphasis on making sure we survive that long.”

A resplendent carriage pulled by six horses and driven by a well-dressed servant rode down the street past the group. Clare guessed that the passengers were going to the general’s dinner.

“That sounds fine to me,” Roberts said to Sara. Clare and Tehrani both nodded to the healer.

They started on toward the trolley stop once more. Clare was left to wonder if this tumultuous day had been an aberration, or a sign of things to come.