Reality Break Ch. 04

Ever since she joined Glass' group, they made it a point to improve her gear, not that she cared much. As of now, she had equipped a set of magical werebear leather armor which improved each her perception, luck, and agility by a fair bit. Apart from her armor, Scarlet also wore a brown shoulder length shawl and hood which was supposed to increase the overall effectiveness of her five senses. Lastly, Scarlet also had a new set of knives which were elemental level weapons: the Volcanic Shards.

As the name suggested, the Volcanic Shards were daggers blessed with fire magic. Scarlet cut the air as she brought own to Dussel's neck and attempted to slice open his jugular.

"The virus seems capable of self-defense... Well, it would be too easy if it wasn't. And it's fast too, though I'm faster than a damn program!" Dussel cried to no one in particular. As Dussel blocked the dagger with his shield, which resulted in hot sparks, he shouted out the name of one of his skills. "Baldr's Blessing!"

Light from around there area swirled around him and congregated in his lower body. It seemed to seep in through the openings of his armor and into his skin. As befitted the skill, Dussel began to glow faintly as a result of taking in the light. He smirked and kicked the ground. Dussel vaulted into the air, performing a backflip the belonged to the skinny and lithe Olympic gymnasts.

"Magnetic Spear!" Dussel shouted out another name of a skill and spun in the air before casting out his harpoon. At this point, he began floating in the air as he concentrated the light from his blessing into his feet to propel himself upwards. Magnetic Spear allowed Dussel to toss his spear and return it to himself by manipulating the magnetic pull between him and whatever he threw, his harpoon in his case.

The harpoon raced towards Scarlet with frightening momentum and force.

"Elevation Shift." The paved ground of the street shot up, forming a pillar of dirt and rock before Scarlet. The harpoon struck the pillar, resulting in a loud impact and a miniature vertical crater formed.

The noise attracted surrounding players, many of which swiveled their head around like a flock of flamingos.

Scarlet could have paid attention to the various voices, but chose not to. She did not want to flood her process with useless information herself when she should focus on the battle before her.

"Hey, Doto, mind getting rid of everyone?" Dussel asked his Orc comrade.

"Yea, Riktor isn't available; I might as well help you subdue her." Doto the Orc pulled out a VT and pressed several buttons. "Z-C-T-8-K-TKOW. Please get rid of the bystanders." Doto recited some sort of activation code. "Alright, everyone has been teleported away and the immediate area is designated as an admin only for now. I'll join you in taking her down."

"There's no need man! I've got this. It's just a virus that just HAPPENED to be able to take on the form of a player in our game."

"Maybe so, but's it seems very skilled. And you cannot expect the person who created her to be so lax and not give her ways to defend herself."

"Just sit still for chrissakes!" Dussel pulled back his magnetized harpoon. "Hah, my harpoon is still magnetized and it used up that skill until it recharges, might as well skewer it!" The High Elf player tossed with all his might at Scarlet. The harpoon seemed to fly even faster than last time.

"Long Throw." Scarlet pulled her body backwards as she tossed one of her knives at nearly the exact moment Dussel did.

"Gah!" Not expecting the retaliation, Dussel received the knife in his shoulder and fell to the ground. The wound in his shoulder and the collision with the ground quartered his health. "Fuck! No matter how skilled the programmer, they can't account for this many possibilities in a virtual game! God damn virus!"

"Scarlet." Scarlet blatantly said her name without emotion.

"Eh?"

"My name is Scarlet."

"Oh, how cute, the virus has a designation."

Scarlet's voice became sterner. "My name is Scarlet. It is neither a designation nor an acronym. It is... A precious name that Glass gave me because of my hair color."

"Hah?! A damn name? Is this some sort of aberrant program?"

"I'm curious. Aria and Riktor weren't specific about the details behind the virus. It's really odd that it is so adamant about acting like a human. It thought your earlier comments were rude, it has a sense of self preservation, and it was given a "name" by this Glass character. Whatever, we're not computer scientists, let's just subdue the virus and contact Riktor."

"Fine, I'll attack from this side, you flank it." After being pressured by his comrade, Dussel finally agreed to his assistance.

Dussel clutched his wounded shoulder; he pulled out the dagger and let it drop. Before the dagger hit the ground, it disappeared in a shimmer of fiery light and reappeared in Scarlet's free hand. This wasn't an ability, any player who throws there weapon can choose to have it returned to them no matter where it is at a significant cost to their mana.

Scarlet kept her eyes trained on both foes, periodically switching back and forth between her targets, watching for any movements. She observed Doto pull a two handed warhammer from his back and strike the ground in a ritualistic manner. She pointed a dagger at each enemy, carefully waiting and observing. If she attacked either one, the other player would surely take advantage.

"Lunge Leap and a kiiiiick!"

"Wah!" Doto cried out more in fright than in pain as Glass appeared out of seemingly nowhere, use one his special skill, and kick Doto straight in the side of the head.

"What the hell?!" Dussel sputtered as he swung his shield around to block a simple staff attack that belonged to Song Ha-Sup.

"You harmed our Miss Scarlet and attack her with no reason! Furthermore it is without the authorization of an official duel that you attacked our fair lady! Glass-Nim, permission to use my ultimate attack?" Song jumped back several meters and spun his staff around until he slammed the haft on the ground.

"Yea, go ahead! I'll take care of this guy!" Glass pulled out his short sword and ducked. Thanks to his Perceptive Evade ability he activated beforehand, he was just barely able to see the Orc player reel back to normal with his hammer swinging dangerously.

"Very good! Now, ye offender of the justice, I, Song Ha-Sup sentence you to death with Raizel-Nim's classic attack! It is only fitting that a Blood Savant uses a blood based special attack ability! Blood Field!" While Song was a healer, that didn't mean he can't have abilities to defend himself, Blood Field was meant for that purpose.

Using the blood from Dussel's wound and a wound Song opened up on his body (self-inflicted injuries meant for Song's healing and offensive abilities gave him significantly less pain than average wound), he was able to create a small cyclone of blood around his body.

Song's mana pool trickled down immensely. Activation of the ability took 300 points of mana while keeping it alive took twenty points per second. Blood Field was without a doubt one of the more powerful magical attacks out there.

"Blossom, please keep him occupied for me while I unleash my attack!" Song asked politely.

"Sure." Blossom ran over to the scene, finally catching up to Glass and Song with Coolidge in tow. Blossom charged two lightning bolts in her hands and immediately fired one after the other at Dussel.

Dussel grit his teeth and blocked both bolts with his round shield. "Who the hell are you people? Let me guess you created that thing?" He cried out as he hunkered behind his shield.

Ominous drops of blood flew around the street. They seemed to collide together and form larger droplets. "I don't know what you're talking about, but you are obviously an enemy!" Song waved his arms around like some sort of dancer, guiding the Blood Field around Dussel. "You cannot face this!" Song clapped his hands together and the swirl of blood that flowed around Dussel slammed together on his body.

You could see the High Elf player writhe around in fear and pain as he tried to swat away the blood as if it was a swarm of locusts. To top it off, Blossom supercharged a bolt of lightning in both hands and shot it at Dussel's head, taking out the player.

On the other side of the area, Glass was taking care of Doto the Orc. Originally the High Elf player wanted to take him out quickly before the Orc composed himself and proved to become a sizable menace. However, Glass wasn't able to be that lucky.

By sheer luck, Glass managed to roll out of the way of a backwards fist from Doto. He didn't expect the Orc to attack without his hammer.

Behind Glass' current position came Coolidge's voice. "Do you need help?" The Wolfkin towered over the kneeling Glass and asked his question calmly.

Glaring at Doto who had a nervous expression, Glass looked up at his new teammate before smiling. "Yes please!"

Without warning, Coolidge pulled out a short metallic rod from his belt before extending it into a full length staff with spear tip. The spear had a green flag fastened to the bottom of the spearhead with a strange bottom to the staff end that resembled the head of an ornate laborer's hammer. As for his armor, he wore a set of magic steel chainmail with thin, but strong, plates around his breast, back, sides and crotch. The armor was designed less for protection and more for mobility, which a Guardian needed.

Coolidge knocked aside another one of Doto's fist with his own and thrust his spear at his sparsely armored body. It was almost as if Doto resigned himself to his fate and just stood there and accepted the spear into his chest.

Coolidge widened his eyes as he saw what the Orc was doing, though it was too late to call back his spear as it was already embedded inside.

"Berserk!" Doto activated his special ability unique to the Berserker classification for Warriors. It allowed a player, in exchange for pain and damage to their body, to gain a special buff which could come in the form of a stat boost, damage increase, speed increase, or other such buffs.

"Nope, not gonna let you." Glass appeared from behind and said, "Fang Bite." He stabbed Doto multiple times until the player disappeared in a beam of light. Satisfied with their work, Glass looked around and said, "What was that all about?"

-

"Unauthorized PvP combat, is that a glitch or did they hack the game?" Blossom spoke to everyone as the five players walked in a group in Castle Port. "I heard there were in game events for quests and other such stuff where you will be forced to do some PvP combat against one or more people."

Scarlet looked as stoic and emotionless as ever as she walked between Blossom and Glass. She knew exactly the reason why and how those two were fighting her, but Glass had told her to keep a secret about anything involving her nature as a virus AI.

Song piped in with another curious question. "I find it equally strange there were no other players around there other than us and the two possible perpetrators. Perhaps it was a group only zone?"

"If that's the case, then it most likely was an event, I can't think of any other reason. Either way, Scarlet are you sure you're okay?" Genuine worry came from Blossom.

"Yes."

"Do not worry, the one wound Scarlet received, by accident mind you, I healed perfectly!" Song raised his staff in the air with a triumphant feeling to it.

Glass' cheerful smile attracted the eyes of many female players as the group walked by. Not only were the eyes concentrating on him, but many male gazes rested on Blossom and Scarlet. However, most of the thoughts of the people who stared at the group commented on how peculiar the five looked together. It was an odd array of players, no matter how you looked at it.

"Hey, Coolidge, you don't talk much do you? You're like Scarlet in that regard." Glass made the comparison between the two players innocently.

"I talk enough."

"Apparently not it seems, it's not like it is a bad thing, but why do you talk so little?"

"There's no need. I can talk more if you'd like." Coolidge said sincerely. If anything, his personality fit his race the most out of the entire group, the role as the stolid and stalwart Wolfkin Guardian.

"Don't feel the need to do that for us, talk as much or little as you want."

"Okay, still, may I make a suggestion for a teammate?"

"First a dungeon AND a teammate? You're really pulling your weight, Coolidge!" Glass exclaimed enthusiastically.

"My cousin plays this game and she was recently kicked out of her guild for reasons unknown to me. She fits the role of ranged support and DPS perfectly."

"What's her name and class?"

"Minerva and Duskcaller, it is a Priest/Rogue classification."

"Oh heeeeey, I remember her from yesterday! I dueled her for some reason I forgot!" Glass said excitedly.

The entire group stared at him with various emotions: intrigue from Song, surprise from Coolidge, blank interest from Scarlet, and worry from Blossom at the implications of what could be derived from his words.

"That's right, you told me about that when we ate dinner last night, but it's weird that one of the people you dueled turned out to be Coolidge's cousin." Blossom stroked her chin with a curious expression.

"Hey, Coolidge, can you message her to see if she's interested in joining? I mean, if she isn't in a guild anymore, then why not if she's interested?"

"Very well, shall I mention you?"

"No reason why not, perhaps she'll much more willing to join after hearing about my greatness!" Glass laughed, mocking his own sense of sarcasm.

Song laughed along with him while Coolidge and Blossom rolled their eyes. Scarlet, as always, stared listlessly at Glass' strange behavior. She still couldn't understand how to react to various situations or actions. The only things that seemed to, for lack of a better term, excite her was combat and Glass. She felt her insides churn and grow hot. Her mind focused entirely on either of the two when either one caught her eyes.

Scarlet had lagged slightly behind of the group, as she pondered the strange feeling. "Just what is this feeling?" She asked quietly.

Glass wouldn't have heard what she said if not for his high perception; he stepped back to talk to Scarlet. "It's called an emotion. It doesn't really matter what kind it is, but if you're really feeling emotions, I think that's a wonderful thing." Glass placed a hand on his chest, where the heart would be, and his other hand on Scarlet's shoulder. He closed his eyes and smiled sincerely and graciously.

Any other female would have melted and swooned to various degrees and intensity (even Blossom). Scarlet simply stared at Glass with an odd mix of stone face and blushing cheeks.

Glass frowned. "I believe I remember telling you that every girl is prettier when she smiles!"

Scarlet cast her gaze downwards. "A smile you say. Mimicking the facial expression is possible, but the smile you're referring to is impossible."

"How so?" Glass asked curiously.

Scarlet would have been mournful if she knew how. "I'm not capable of a true smile. I wasn't given the capability to smile."

Glass made a face that was similar to a person eating a live insect in a game show. He shook his head in disbelief. "Who told you that? Who told you that you can't smile?"

Scarlet didn't hesitate in her reply. "No one." It wasn't a matter of denying or refusing the ability to smile, but a matter of not getting her hopes up. Scarlet never once realized that hope was just another emotion that all humans shared with one another.

"That's right, there's no such thing as being unable to smile. Anyone can smile as long as if they have the inspiration, you're no different, Scarlet. Who ever created you clearly has no idea what they're doing. There's clearly emotion in you. It doesn't matter if you're a virus AI or a synthetic creation given life like in some sci-fi, everyone has the capability to smile." Glass blinked as he realized how slightly corny his words were. Still, he meant every syllable.

Scarlet's mouth curved slightly, but soon went back to its normal form. "I will try."

"Now, let's move onward and seize the day!"

-

"You're completely bullshitting me. You two FUCKTARDS did WHAT?" A voice of rage was directed towards a High Elf and Orc player, more so towards the High Elf. The owner of the voice sounded completely flustered and enraged that any attempts to calm it would be deemed futile.

The two being yelled at was Dussel and Doto with the one yelling belonged to Aria. However, she wasn't the only one mad, Riktor, their boss, accompanied the loud conversation (through a VT screen) with tired eyes.

"Ok, Aria, you're a decent girl... Calm down and rationally assess the stupidity of these two." Even her own attempts to calm down didn't work. "Deep breaths, count to ten, eat a strawberry tart, or whatever calms you down best." Several seconds passed until Aria resumed the actual purpose of the conversation. "Let me grasp the situation for the imaginary jury that would condemn you if there was one... You met the virus and engaged it and even in a two on one situation, you both lost?"

Dussel snorted while rolling his eyes. "I guess I forgot to mention that the virus has backup. Around four players appeared out of nowhere and took us both out without much time to react and accommodate to the situation."

Doto apologetically added in, "He's right, whoever these people were, they were skilled enough to take us out, which is no mean feat confidence aside. Before they arrived, we fought the virus to a standstill. It capable in self-defense and might have even more defense capabilities or whatnot."

Riktor finally piqued up. "That's not good. I suspected it to have such, it would be unusual for whomever to have created the virus to not give it some sort of defense mechanism... What I did not expect was for it to have help. Can you confirm these players to be legitimate humans and not similar programs?"

"While I believe the newcomers to be human and not additional viruses... I found the virus' behavior to be odd."

Dussel nodded in agreement with his partner. "He's right; there was something off about the virus. It didn't act like a virus or a synthetic program. Maybe it was programmed to do so, but it had human qualities."

Aria sent a look towards Riktor who eyed her in return. They, along with a select few in which Dussel and Doto were not included in, were the only ones who knew about the virus' true nature: as an artificial intelligence.

"Don't bother thinking about that. Send a full report to me later, dismissed."

Dismissed like army grunts, Dussel and Doto shrugged and logged off of Rebellions.

"So what do you think, Aria?" Riktor asked with a skeptical tone.

Aria cracked her knuckles. "I think you should give me a raise."

"I always say, I think you would be a great comedian."

-

Inside the Castle Port Arboretum sat Minerva. She was wallowing over two things, her removal from Dune Lions and revelation of her fellow ex-guild mate Donner becoming the second victim of level three Reality Break.

As a participant of virtual reality, like several billion other humans of this planet, Minerva obviously knew of the peculiar mental illness known as Reality Break. It could make people hear, smell, and see things that were real when they actually weren't. For example, there was a story a while back when she was around eleven years old where a man committed suicide because he thought he could see a road off to the side of the suspension bride he was walking on. That was level one Reality Break, it wasn't as serious, but it could still cause problems with a person's everyday life. There was also level two Reality Break. Minerva recalled another story where there was an attempted assassination on a politician because the person who attempted the assassination believed he was a member of the Triads (which were currently gone, but other groups had taken up hold by the gap they left) and was ordered to kill the politician. Level two Reality Break caused people to assume mistaken identities, similar to split personality disorder but on a more serious level. Level two was greatly affected by the type of virtual experience the participant engaged in.