Ona

Level 6

The red knight called out, “The door to the caverns is sealed when all five harvest moons rise. Otherwise, the game requires us to wait until morning. The tower has a spare room, and the fairies stocked the pantry with food.”

“A room in the tower…to stay overnight? We need to reach the cavern door before the fifth moon rises.” I waved goodbye to Ona and sprinted down the hill.

Ona said, “The red knight always wins.”

“Not tonight!” I said, breathless from the virtual descent to the reconstructed tower. I looked back, a hundred yards from where I stood to see Ona casually enjoy the picnic, alone. “I should have stayed with her.”

The red knight pulled me into the tower, “Move.” She glanced up at the moon rise. “Time is running out.”

“Do you have a name?”” I said to the woman in the doorway..

“No.”

“The game was discontinued,” I said, “Why is the world still generating new quests?”

“The light of our love will guide you to the answers you seek…in time.”

“So I need to complete a quest?”

“The spare room is this way,” said the red knight.

“And the caverns?”

“Down those stairs, into the dark.”

I ran to the stairs and descended.

“Wait,” said the red knight, “I will join you on the quest to save your friend.”

The tower interior was rebuilt with new stones, and the walls were all lined with glowing torches. But, the spiral stairs were dark, no torches or windows to light the path. I noticed the shadow of a torchlight and looked up, the red knight was following close behind.

In a few moments we stood before the large doors to the cavern, and the entrance to a dungeon where the Crystal Breakers should be waiting to stop our progress.

The red knight pulled her sword free, kicked the door open and said, “The Crystal Breakers are not going to let us reach the second door without a fight.”

I laughed at the dramatic scene, a hero scripted to amaze a television audience, but I pushed the idea out of my thoughts. “Are we being watched? Are people watching us play the game?”

The red knight said nothing.

The cavern we entered was empty, and silent.

I looked around. “Did we miss the party? Where are the dungeon monsters?”

The red knight said, “Too many questions.”

“What?”

“The Crystal Breakers are no longer protecting their home. All were deleted from the game.”

“Hold on a minute,”

“The Source Aura, the player guiding your friend, cannot remove files without the request of another player, due to the security requirement of needing two valid accounts in good standing.”

“Loaf wanted to gain experience, practice fighting in the dungeons, and have fun. Why would he use cheat codes to remove the challenge? The virtual reality connection is online, but he’s not responding.”

The red knight said, “The Source Aura is a dangerous woman. I think your friend was overwhelmed and shouted the command during battle, look at the ground, the footprints.”

“And the Source Aura deleted the Crystal Breakers instead of helping Loaf. Do you think she could remove other characters, fairies, giants, a knight?”

“Future husband!”

“I’m not looking for the Source Aura if her character abilities include the power to remove us from the game.”

“Awww, so sweet. Are you protecting me?”

I rolled my eyes and stood to face the red knight. “I need a guide.”

The red knight turned and walked into the cavern, the wide entrance hall narrowed into a small corridor. The light from crystals in the rock shined no more than ten feet ahead, but the glow stayed with us as we made our way deeper in the hillside.  The second cavern door opened into a large room, walls lined with crystal, torch lights on metal stands and a throne.  “The Crystal Breakers ruled their kingdom from this room.”

I pointed to the throne, “Loaf!”

Loaf was sitting on the throne, the Source Aura at his side.

The red knight pulled her sword and stood between me and the throne. “I will protect you.”

I laughed and approached the throne without hesitation. “I resisted the need to provide guidance Loaf and this is what happens? Source Aura, protect Loaf as his mentor in the game.”

The Source Aura whispered a command to Loaf. He stood up and pointed to the door.

Loaf shouted. “Out!”

I turned to look back, waved at the red knight who stood ready to fight, and began to notice the floor shake and a crack open between the throne and the entrance to the room.

“Oh no,” I said, trying to keep my balance.

The room blurred, and I found myself at home, in the real world, the virtual reality connection was offline and the computer screen flashing, “Game discontinued. All connections offline. We appreciate the dedicated players who supported the world of Ona.”

I removed the virtual reality equipment, checked the time, and leaned back in the chair. “It looks like the game servers are down.”

“Hello.”

I swung the chair around and stared wide-eyed at the visitor in my room.

“Do you ever clean this room? And why are there figures of warrior women holding all manner of absurd weapons, lining the shelves? I need to know!”

The red knight stood in full armor, and waited for a response. “Loaf is trying to fool you into thinking you returned home. If you disconnect the shared link used for training, he will reconnect with the player behind the Source Aura character.”

The computer screen displayed a short message. “Level 7.”

© J. Bateman

Concentrikey © 2023