Black Hat Page 20

He raised his hand to stifle another teamwork speech. "I'm not saying I didn't contribute, but that doesn't change things. We all know I've just been along for the ride. It could be anyone else sitting in my place, for instance, if you'd randomly been assigned another roommate."

  I crossed my arms, unsure of his conclusion. I mean, sure, we can't dictate who we meet and I could've been paired up with any number of players, meaning Kyle still might've been bumming around and content at level 2. It was impossible to say.

  "You have the dragonspear," said Kyle. "Izzy's happened upon the winter staff. The damned thing was hidden in her freaking room! You know how many times I've tossed my quarters looking for my legendary weapon?"

  Izzy and I frowned in sympathy. It sounded sucky all right.

  "But that's okay," he asserted. "I'm used to not being special. I'll trade having great friends for being great any day of the week. But I still want to be useful, right? So I invested in this brewery to make things happen for myself."

  "I recall us all investing," noted Izzy.

  I shushed her. "That's great, Kyle. That's all we ask of you."

  Even Izzy nodded at the sentiment.

  Kyle stood up dramatically. "Well, fuck that. Because while you guys were gone I had a lot of time to really think. And as I was cleaning up my mess downstairs and doing a lot of soul searching, I found my own legendary artifact!"

  Kyle produced an ornate turquoise vase with a plug and set it down on the table. "Read it and weep, bros, 'cause the brewmaster's back in business."

  We looked wide-eyed at the beautiful bottle. [Dorfin's Decanter of Luminous Fluids]. Izzy and I burst into mocking laughter.

  "What?" asked Kyle, swiveling his head from me to her. "Seriously, what? It's cool. Check it out."

  "Dorfin?" choked out Izzy as she repeatedly banged her fist on the table. "DORFIN?" I wiped tears from my eyes.

  "Dudes, ignore the name. This is a legendary item. Examine it."

  I stifled my laughter to take a closer look.

  [Dorfin's Decanter of Luminous Fluids]

  Unique, Unbreakable

  Once daily, this decanter fills with a randomized potion useful to the bearer.

  +2 Essence

  +3 Craft

  Potion (once per day)

  "Well, it's certainly unique," I offered.

  "It's awesome is what it is. Yesterday, I tested it out. I turned invisible for a whole hour."

  "You were alone in the tower," said Izzy. "How do you know you were invisible?"

  I chuckled and turned away so I wouldn't piss off Kyle.

  "Mirrors," announced Kyle to more choked laughter. "During my cleanup of the brewery, I found an old mirror wrapped in a cloth. Nothing special about it—it doesn't even have a description—but it reflected everything except for me."

  I clenched the table and swallowed all remaining merriment. "Okay, Kyle," I said, trying to keep a straight face. "That's actually pretty cool. I'm happy for you."

  "Yeah?" he asked, nodding positively.

  "Yes," agreed Izzy. "Really."

  "Right on," he said, pocketing the turquoise decanter. "It's funny. You guys were being such assholes before I wasn't even gonna tell you, but then I noticed this discoloration on the wall matches the shape of the mirror and decided to come clean."

  My eyes flitted back to the bricks. The undisturbed shape on the wall was a big rectangle with trimmed corners, giving it eight edges. It was a unique enough shape to suggest that whatever Kyle had found belonged on this wall.

  "You found a mirror that used to hang in the war room and you didn't put it back up?" asked Izzy sharply.

  "It's really wide," he said in defense. "And heavy. I didn't wanna break it."

  "That's cool," I said, impressed because Kyle's strength was higher than mine or Izzy's. "Let's get it now."

  Kyle led us down to the brewery. As he'd mentioned, the underground grotto technically had us zoning outside, but it was an in-between space that didn't violate the terms of the lockdown. Several of the rooms on the ground floor and under it were stockrooms. Some were still locked. We followed Kyle past his newly organized rows of brewing equipment to a shelf built into the back wall. Storage concerns had forced us to keep unsorted oddities in the corner, but they were sorted now. All except for one item, an unremarkable mirror shaped like an oblong octagon. The thing was huge and ungainly and wouldn't go into our inventory. I wasn't surprised Kyle had let it sit. Between the three of us, we successfully navigated it all the way upstairs. We hefted it to the discolored space on the wall and hung it on the double hooks.

  "Hmm," said Izzy as the three of us stared at it, hands on hips. "It really opens up the room."

  I backed away and sat on the war table. Within seconds, the mirror blinked and turned on like a TV. A sideways diagram of Dragonperch appeared onscreen and a blinking icon was followed by the phrase, "Powering up."

  "Whoa," mumbled Kyle.

  After a minute, the header "Sanctum Master Panel" appeared. Menu options populated.

  Status

  Map

  My jaw dropped. Dragonperch was some sort of base of operations.

  "What's a sanctum?" asked Kyle.

  I shook my head slowly.

  "Looks like there's plenty of space for more menu options," observed Izzy.

  I checked the status screen. It was fairly empty as well, but there was something called a socket manager. I selected it and was brought to a new screen. An outline of Dragonperch was overlaid with various slots.

  "Feather socket, wind socket, earth socket," I listed. "What are these things?"

  Izzy shrugged. "You're the expert gamer."

  "But you're the lore expert."

  "There's no mentions of sanctums or sockets on the wiki."

  Kyle slapped my shoulder. "Hasn't your buddy Saint Peter mentioned this to you in one of your private conversations?"

  I shook my head. "This kind of stuff isn't supposed to be unlocked so early. I have a feeling he'd be happier if we're in the dark."

  Kyle grunted. "Bet it was the saints who hid the mirror in the first place then."

  I checked the only other available option, the map. As with the other screen, it had only rudimentary information. It showed the rooms which we'd already unlocked, from the roof down to the sub-basement. Parts of the tower still undiscovered to us were grayed out.

  "Huh," said Kyle again, ominously.

  "What?" said Izzy and I in unison.

  "Nothing," he answered. "It's just... I thought the grotto was the bottom of the tower, but this door looks like it leads further down."

  Izzy frowned. "You're right. Those are definitely steps, but it's unlabeled and the door's locked."

  We studied the map for a time but no new information was gleaned. I exited out and tried exploring other options. "This is cool," I hedged, "but I don't think we can actually do anything yet."

  "What about the tower library?" asked Kyle. He was looking at Izzy since that was her domain.

  "Less than half that floor's open to us, and I'm pretty sure I've skimmed all the subjects I can. I'll double-check, but I bet I'm gonna need to hit the Great Library in the Pleasure Gardens. That's Haven's Library of Alexandria."

  "Except you're grounded for another twenty hours," pointed out Kyle. "I wouldn't mind taking a trip."

  "Ugh," she replied. "Knowing you, you'd spend all your time playing eighties movies in the media room."

  "Don't knock it till you try it. Besides..." His face went straight. "There can be only one."

  "He's right," I said. "It's worth a shot. But don't stop at the library. Check with Trafford as well. He's savvy for an NPC. Hears things. Maybe he could help us somehow."

  "Roger that."

  "And find out what's happening in the capital," added Izzy.

  I nodded. "But be careful. We don't know how the crusaders will respond to us now."

  "Relax, bros," he said confidently. "All I need is a quick chug, and I'll be virtually undet
ectable."

  Kyle produced his decanter of luminous fluids and slugged it down. He immediately transformed into a woman wearing a tight bikini. Izzy and I blinked back disbelief.

  "What?" he said. "I'm invisible, right?"

  "Umm..." I stalled. The bright red bikini was straining against huge breasts and perky nipples. I went for a finger poke but Izzy slapped my hand.

  "Fake," she said pointedly.

  I snorted and looked away. "Uh, you should probably put a coat on," I told Kyle.

  He looked down at himself. "What, I'm not invisible?" His hands rubbed his chest and his boobs jangled around.

  "You can't tell?"

  "No. I look normal, just like before."

  Izzy smirked, turned off Dragonperch's control panel, and spun Kyle around to the mirror. "Wanna borrow my panties?" she asked. "They cover up more than that thong you're wearing."

  "To be fair," I reasoned, "he has a nice ass."

  "It's actually making me jealous," she agreed. "Do you do squats to get that kind of definition or what?"

  "Oh, fuck you guys," spat Kyle. He stomped away from the mirror as we hooted.

  "Look on the bright side," I reasoned. "It's not invisible, but no one will know who you are for the next 60 minutes."

  Izzy choked on her disdain. "Yeah, he'll blend right in. As long as he doesn't flash that stripper body anywhere."

  Kyle's face lit up. He spun around, went right back to his reflection, and pulled his top down. "Nice!"

  Izzy kicked him. "Gross. Go wank it in your own room. That should leave you with 59 minutes of a disguise."

  "Really?" he said excitedly, considering the idea. Then his face dimmed. "I wouldn't even know what to do."

  "Big surprise." She kicked him playfully. "Put something on and get outta here."

  Kyle flipped through his inventory. His familiar armor and equipment blinked on but he settled on something less conspicuous. A drab tunic with a hood.

  "Much better," said Izzy.

  He smiled. "You're so jealous it's not even funny."

  She went to kick him again, this time not so playfully, but he hurried down the stairs.

  "Be back soon, bitches."

  We were alone in the room for a moment before I asked, "Is it wrong that I'm turned on right now?"

  0870 Lockdown

  A couple of hours later, we reconvened in the war room. I squinted out one of the north windows.

  "What the hell is that?" I asked.

  Izzy shook her head. "You can keep asking, but my answer's the same."

  We had tried to relax, but the more time passed without hearing from Kyle, the more nervous we got.

  "We really need to get on the ball with partying up." I sent Izzy a reinvitation and she accepted.

  Since we were on lockdown, we could read email messages but couldn't send anything out. The same was true for wikis and such. Although the world spun fine without us, we were essentially dead to it. The only exception to that rule was party chat. Dying kicks you from the party, but as long as you reconnected with the member who respawned, everyone was free to chat back and forth. We'd forgotten to group up before leaving for Shorehome, and we'd forgotten again before Kyle went on his secret mission.

  "He'll be fine," assured Izzy, returning to the table.

  I remained by the window keeping watch. "How can you say that? His stripper disguise would've worn off an hour ago."

  "Trust me. That's a good thing. A guy like that with breasts like those would only get into trouble. He's better off as his frat-boy self.

  "Well, what if he did get in trouble as Destiny or whatever he took for his stage name?"

  She chewed her lip. "It's possible, but he hasn't sent an email and he hasn't respawned here. My bet is he hasn't encountered trouble."

  Fair points. This was why I respected Izzy's counsel. Then again, email wasn't as inconspicuous as party chat. It was entirely possible Kyle was in a bad situation and didn't want to make it worse by digging through his menu.

  I occupied myself by returning to the question at hand. What the heck were the crusaders were up to? A contingent of them had organized in the Circus. This was the oblong sports track reserved for races and other exciting events. Bishop Tannen had commandeered it as his base of operations. Now the crusaders were hauling wagons of lumber inside and hammering away at some kind of platform. A stage of sorts.

  I rubbed my eyes and sighed. "I'm gonna go topside and see if I can get a better angle on that thing."

  The Circus was across the river and the thoroughfare, so the extra flight of stairs wouldn't likely make a difference. Since its walls were low stands and Dragonperch was almost two hundred feet in the air, it was still a great view. I just needed a pair of binoculars.

  I climbed the steps and zoned out to the sunlight above. That's when I realized how odd it was we could see through the windows from the war room. Even though I'd been inside, limited interaction with the exterior was allowed. As far as I knew, most of the normal homes in Stronghold didn't have windows like that. Despite said windows, it was significantly brighter on the roof. As my eyes adjusted, I wasn't surprised to see the saints resting against the parapets.

  "Why am I not surprised?" I grumbled.

  Saint Loras wore a reserved frown but Saint Peter jumped to his feet. "It's about time, Talon. We've been waiting for you to show."

  "Something stopping you from hopping down a flight of stairs? We've been in the war room most of the time."

  "We don't enter private homes, Talon. Read your privacy clause. I told you that the last time you accused us of meddling."

  I remembered the conversation a few days earlier. I'd blamed the saints for snooping and getting Kyle exploded, but it had turned out to be that traitor Errol. Spying for ways to get me alone, no doubt. No wonder the pirate had volunteered to be our guide. At least the crusaders had been just as gullible as I had been.

  "I believe you," I said. "But I'm pretty sure you've been digging around Dragonperch one way or another."

  Peter arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

  "We found the sanctum master panel."

  The two saints traded grim expressions. Loras managed to frown deeper somehow. "What have you activated?" he asked.

  "Nothing yet. Something about sockets. Either of you mind filling me in on those?"

  Their gazes strayed to the floor.

  "Of course you won't help."

  "It's not that we don't want to," said Peter. "But Dragonperch can't really do you any good now. It takes time to build resources."

  "I'm stuck here till tomorrow."

  "That's not nearly enough," cut in Loras. He pressed his dark hair forward on his head. "You need to understand what's going on, Talon. Shorehome turning into a dumpster fire is one thing, but we simply can't have that happening to Stronghold. This is the first city. This is the core of Haven."

  I scoffed dismissively. "You even know what happened at Shorehome?"

  "Of course I do. The city was my responsibility."

  "And you left its people behind to fend for themselves."

  Saint Peter turned to his colleague, happy to see some of the blame deflected.

  "The wheels were already in motion," snapped Loras. "The blame for Shorehome doesn't fall on me. It falls on the two of you and your mishandling of the pagans. Shorehome's not a fortress. The town's defense is limited and relies on its residents, many of whom fled."

  I contemplated the Shorehome refugees camping out in Oldtown. "My point is that everybody ran early."

  "That's the best time to run," he returned pointedly.

  "Granted, but it means you don't know the truth about the city. You know what you thought was going to happen, not what actually went down. The goblins didn't attack. They moved in peacefully. Shorehome's a giant melting pot. All those displaced people down there can go home." I turned to my guests. "It's the saints that are no longer welcome there."

  Loras flexed his jaw. "That will need to be corrected ano
ther day."

  "Why? What needs correcting? A bunch of people and AIs living and working together. What's so magical about your oversight that they need it?"

  The vein on Saint Loras' forehead bulged and his face went maroon. "What do you think is happening there? The rumblings of a democratic society? You know nothing of Shorehome. Right now the man running the city is no governor or administrator. He's a criminal gang boss."

  "Papa Brugo," I said, cutting him off. "We've met. The Papa had a lot of interesting stories. He has the Squid's Tooth."

  Loras went white.

  Saint Peter stepped in. "And what do you think of this man's equitable leadership?" he asked instructively.

  I shrugged and turned away, which was the same as saying "not much."

  "So we're agreed that Shorehome is a problem," reiterated Saint Peter. "But it's not the most pressing one. Lucifer may have acquired the Squid's Tooth for the Brothers in Black, but our very own Eye of Orik is now under threat." He paused to give weight to his next words. "Bishop Tannen has staged a coup and is now in possession of the soulstone."

  "He controls the city?" I asked.

  "Pretty much," answered Loras. "I don't like to admit it, but we're powerless. Somehow Tannen has overridden his original programming. He intends to destroy the pagans, and he'll do anything to achieve that directive."

  "Including overthrowing the saints," I finished.

  He nodded grimly.

  "What's the city watch doing?"

  "They're heavily outnumbered," said Peter.

  "That's what happens when you open your gates to an army."

  "The crusaders have been shuffling into Stronghold for days now, little by little. They weren't a problem until Tannen and his crew of holy catechists pushed in. They hit us unprepared."

  "It's not just the army," pointed out Loras. "The displaced Shorehome residents are desperately seeking assistance. Any change to the status quo is a good one, in their eyes. Change symbolizes hope. They're cautiously optimistic about crusader leadership."

  "Because they've seen where saintly leadership has led them." I shook my head. "They ran from the goblin horde when it was a shadow of itself. We don't need to worry about the sailors. They won't fight. Do we have enough legionnaires to strike the crusaders?"