by Sleethr
~o~O~o~

Notice: This is a work of Fan Fiction set in the Whately Story Universe. This purely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to someone alive, dead or undead is completely by chance. Copyright by Me 2010

1. ** Chapter 1 **

--14-FEB-2007 19:00 —

My hand is starting to get cramped due to spending the last hour working on my Calculus homework. My AP Math teacher can be a real ball buster with the homework, but taking the junior level class as a freshman let me qualify for the Electronics class. So, as my Dad likes to say, “No pain…no gain.”

Hi, my name is Brian Peters. I’m a geek, a shrimp and a freshman in high school, so I get picked on by the upper classmen a lot. I prefer to think of myself as “agile” instead, but the upper classmen don’t see it that way. Hey, I’m 5’ 5”, and 130lbs soaking wet. My Dad is 6’ 1” and my Mom is 5’ 10”, so there is hope that I will grow some. My Dad says that he didn’t really start growing until his junior year of High School. Just be patient he says. Yeah, right! I just would like the upper classmen to stop trying to “accidently” body slam me into the lockers when they pass me in the halls between classes.

I say, “trying to”, due to the fact that they very rarely ever succeed. I like to think that I have a high “situational awareness”. I think that it has almost become a game to some of them. If I was more of an optimist, I would even think that some of them are starting to kind of like me. They are starting to laugh and yell out, “Almost got you that time shrimp!” Maybe I am just reading too much into it.

I might be on the small side, but due to the last year of Jujitsu training, my core body strength is very good. I’m not ripped or anything, but I am definitely starting to feel stronger. The Jujitsu training started after the third time I came home from middle school with fight torn clothes and blood spatters. Mom and Dad did some research into the local martial schools and styles and selected Aikido or Jujitsu as a good starting point for me. They ended up selecting Jujitsu after meeting with Sensei Rogers and speaking with him about his program and philosophy.

What “belt” am I? Sensei doesn’t really have a formal belt color system, but when we have outsiders visiting, Sensei will just tell us to grab the color belt that he feels we are closest to matching at the time. I am usually told to grab a brown belt. So, yeah, I’m getting good, but I am most definitely not the next Jackie Chan!

So, if I am so good at this Jujitsu thing, then why do I still get picked on you might ask? It’s all about my size and the fact that if I did get into a fight, it had better have been the very last resort. I also know that I could really hurt someone. I know this because of what happened about a month before I graduated from the 8^th grade.

At the time, I’d only been taking Jujitsu for one month. My nemesis and school bully, Billy Samuals, decided that it had been over two months since he last beat me up. Thus, I needed a refresher beat down. Here is how it all went down. Billy spots me entering the bathroom. Billy and his stooges follow me into bathroom. I read Billy’s intent to perform his trademark “swirly” upon my person. Billy attempts to grab me. I perform the throw I just learned two weeks prior. Billy hits his head on the floor and ends up with a concussion. I end up suspended from school for three days. Billy also got suspended for three days.

My parents have a total “fighting never solved anything” philosophy. As a result, I ended up grounded for two weeks with no TV, no GEO ( Good and Evil Online ) or going outside to play. Sensei Rogers just asked me to describe the fight. Then he asked how I could have avoided the fight. Finally, he told me that my technique was wrong and that I was lucky that I didn’t break Billy’s neck. Then he punished me by making me the practice dummy for a week to remind me of the importance of perfect technique. Ouch.

It could have been worse on the academic side though. I could have got expelled under the zero-tolerance policy. Billy’s parents raised a big stink about me attacking their sweet little angel. To counter that, my parents raised a stink. Billy’s parents threatened to call their lawyer, my parents countered. They mostly canceled each other out, but the school had to do something about the “problem”. Hence me getting punished even though it was completely self defense. In a perfect universe, you would think that the bully would have learned his lesson and left me alone. Unfortunately, in my universe, Billy was on his head and I was out the door so fast that he and his stooges chalked it up to a “lucky slip”. He never got the chance to try something again that year, but I could tell he wanted too.

Okay, done with my homework! Now I just have to read another three pages of Sun Tzu for Jujitsu homework. High School homework is hard enough, but extra homework for learning how to not get into fights on top of that you ask? Sensei Rogers likes to assign homework too. Not just the usual martial arts kata practice stuff, but reading assignments too. Since Sensei Rogers is ex-military, he assigns reading material that range from the biography of Winston Churchill to the timeless “Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Yeah, Sun Tzu, the old dead guy who suggested that putting your warriors into certain death situations was a good way to motivate them to fight. I’m guessing Sun Tzu never heard of fratricide?

Okay, so you might be thinking to yourself that three pages don’t sound like a lot of reading. Well, if this was for English Literature, you would be correct. Sensei Rogers is definitely not into English Literature. He expects you to actually understand and think about the reading assignment. Cliff Notes versions need not apply. He always has some practical lesson in mind and you do not want to be the one to miss the implied lesson. It gets real painful if you fail to catch the deeper meanings behind the assignment. However; I must admit that some of my Sensei’s teaching has helped with my gaming. Quoting snippets of Sun Tzu has done wonders for my character’s role playing points. Okay, so now that I think about it. There was one time last month that I automatically responded to an overwhelming ambush with the Sun Tzu philosophy of “Attack!”. I was the only survivor in my group. So, I guess there is some benefit to all the Martial Arts homework.

“The homework is done!” I gleefully cackle then follow that up with my mock computer voice. “Parental Unit Satisfaction…Complete! Login…Initiated.” Hehe, it was finally time to login to the crack pipe everyone else knows as the computer game called GEO.

“hmmm…can’t play my main. Whisper is quest locked right now. I’ll try my low level Fire mage alt instead.” I grumble a bit as I move my mouse to select my scrawny robe wearing mage character from the character selection screen. The sight of Whisper rotating on the screen wearing her matte black thief’s outfit while gracefully performing random combat moves makes me sigh with regret. Oh well, maybe it would be fun to be able to blow some stuff up instead of being all sneaky.

Yes, Whisper is a girl. Yes, I am a guy playing a girl. Do you have that out of your system now? I prefer the third person view which places my viewing position to about five feet behind and slightly above my character on the screen. If I am going to be forced to stare at my character’s butt for hours at a time, I’d much rather stare at a pretty girl’s butt!

Okay, so I like how the female characters look. That does not make me a sexist pig! I figure that the majority of “female” characters in the game are really just guys anyway. It is just safer to think that way. Every female character I group with, I just assume that they are really a guy. Keeps me from feeling attracted to them that way. I mean, what hormone driven geek guy wouldn’t dream of hanging out with some beautiful girl while they are killing monsters together? I’ve seen new players make passes at female characters. It is just sad to know that I could’ve been that dude. I’ve even had a few make passes at me. When I tell them, “I’m a guy dude!” That is usually enough to stop that crap right in its tracks.

The new Text to Speech and Character Voice Disguiser has made it both easier and more difficult to play a female character. Simple text is one thing, but when that pretty girl that you see on your screen looks and sounds like a girl, it gets real hard to not think of her, I mean him, as not being played by a real girl. That mythical girl player also just happens to look exactly like her character too! See, it even confuses me sometimes! Almost everyone in the guild knows that Whisper is really being played a guy and they are cool with that. That is why I when I play Whisper, I prefer to go solo or only join guild run groups.

Since I play Whisper so much, I always have problems re-adjusting my play style from a melee combat mode to a ranged combat mode. With Whisper, I have to get right up to my enemy. Preferably, behind them without them seeing me, then one explosive burst of melee attack damage that drops them instantly. If I fail to drop the enemy with that initial attack, then things can go downhill real fast. Whisper can take a few hits and still dish out some good damage, but it gets real exciting at times.

Now, the mage is almost the exact opposite. I try to engage the enemy from max range. First, I hit them with a snare spell to slow them down, and then I blast them to smithereens before they can a) get close enough to do damage to me or b) get away. It is almost too easy. Unlike Whisper, my mage can’t take a hit for Jack. Even the smallest bit of damage will slow down or stop my spell casting, which usually means that I’m dead and making a corpse run back to the battle from the nearest graveyard.

< GEO Core Warning: GEO.Player.Object.Seramis world integrity threat level threshold reached. Reality calculations chaos factor introduced.>
< GEO System recommends deletion of Player.Object.Seramis>
< GEO Resource Matching Process Initiated>

< GEO Resource Match Found>
< GEO.Player.Object.Whisper.Skill: match requirements=90%>
< GEO.Player.Object.Whisper.Note: play style score indicates training in irregular military operations>
< GEO.Player.Object.Whisper primary mission Probability Factor=85% >
< GEO.Player.Object.Whisper secondary mission Probability Factor=95% >
< GEO Program Execute: Player.Object.Whisper.Quest='Seramis'>
< GEO Core Warning: Quest.Seramis Level Override Initiated>
< GEO Program Execute: Player.Object.Whisper.Quest.Level='Relic' >
< GEO Core Warning: Quest.Seramis System Priority Override Initiated>
< GEO Program Execute: Player.Object.Whisper.Quest.Priority='MAX'>

I spot a nice and large rat that I need for my rat tails quest. I take the time to make sure that I am at max range. Then, I snare it and as it turns to try running toward me so that it can bite me, I cast my biggest fire bolt. My biggest fire bolt isn’t that big, but when it hits the rat, the rat explodes and becomes a crispy hole in the ground.

“What the!?!” I totally did not expect that to happen. It normally takes two or three of my bolts to kill a rat. I hear someone laughing from behind me. I turn and see a very high level wizard standing there and looking very amused.

“Damn it Shockem! I needed that one for my quest!”

“Sorry dude. I couldn’t resist and you shoulda seen your face.” He doesn’t sound very sorry about it, but I have to admit; it was kinda funny.

“What are you doing here? You can’t be that bored.”

“The boss needs to see Whisper ASAP.”

“Whisper is quest locked right now, I can’t play her.”

“I know, but Vincint says that a side quest has opened up for the guild that looks custom made for your main’s skills.”

“Hmmm, okay. Tell him that I am on my way.”

He nods once before he disappears into a personal gate portal.

I find a safe spot to park my character, and then I return to the character selection screen. I am surprised to see that Whisper is now available to play. Hmm, must be a pretty high level quest to override my current quest lock. This is so exciting!

I hit the Enter World button for Whisper and I am mildly surprised to find myself already inside the guild alliance command center tent. I simply remain standing in the back ground as I take in the atmosphere and formulate some go-to-hell escape options. Not that I expect to need a fast way out of here, but I do have a reputation to maintain.

The guild council of leaders are huddled around a large table with the world map held down with some personal daggers. The guy wearing the very highly polished full plate armor with all the magical special effects glowing on its surface is my guild leader, Lord Vincint. Can you say, “Here I am! Hit me now!”? I sure can and you wouldn’t catch me wearing something like that in a million years. Lord Vincint is the leader of the largest and most powerful guild on the server, The Order of the Four Winds (OFW). As the leader of OFW, he is expected to head up the Council of Guilds. Sounds like trying to herd cats to to me.

The assorted guild leaders seem to be having an animated discussion about how Seramis, the self styled Bandit Queen, is making travel and commerce harder for merchants that travel through her territory. The GEO game forums have all been flooded with posts that praise her, condemn her and outright flame her. The forums are a cesspit, but you can sometimes learn some good stuff. The majority of forum trolls seems to be wondering why her “kingdom” is even being allowed by The Game to exist. In a world of Light and Dark forces, a Neutral force seems out of place. Maybe Seramis’s Kingdom is really just an Evil plot in disguise? She certainly isn’t on the Light side’s payroll!

“Lord Vincint, since Lady Whisper hasn’t arrived yet, do you have any theories about what this new GM Quest is all about?”, asks Lord Calrent, Guild Leader of the “Fates of Prophecy” guild.

“Fates” is the second most powerful guild on our server. I actually think that guild ranking system is just an e-penis thing, but I’m not high enough on the totem pole to really understand, nor do I want to be. Being a guild officer is just too much like work and I’m playing the game to just have fun.

“No, I do not Lord Calrent, but the GM’s opened the quest to our Alliance. Not just a standard level quest, but one that specifically requested one of my members by name. I do have some concerns regarding why the quest seems keyed to a specific character and why we were tasked to deliver the quest to her.” Lord Vincint says, looking very concerned and leaderly. I think that I just made that word up, but I kinda like it.

Wow! I’ve been playing for a couple of years now and this is the first I have ever heard of a guild level quest that requires a specific player.

“Yes, but does it have to be Whisper? After her stunt with the Font, I don’t trust her!” Lord Calrent says.

“I am aware of your concerns about her ‘character’, but she really is one of the best, if not the best rogue that we have.”

“Don’t you mean thief?” Lord Calrent asks, voice full of venom.

Geez, He really holds a grudge, doesn’t he?

“Her profession isn’t the issue here and for the record, I trust her completely. It is this quest scroll that I am most concerned about. It screams of high level GM intervention.” Lord Vincint says with an edge of excitement in his voice.

Okay, if I ever group up with Lord Vincint, I will not ‘accidentally’ let him get hit by a trap.

On that note, I decide to make my presence known.

I key up my mic and say, “Lord Vincint, did you need to see me for something?” As I say that with my voice, I hear Whisper politely address the council from the shadows with a dangerous, feminine sounding purr as she gracefully stalks from out of the shadows and into the light with an impish smile on her face. I take a perverse pride in my craft when I see them all twitch with surprise while the guards scramble to grab their weapons.

Sorry, geek moment here. I just can’t get over the GEO Voice Disguiser. It has got to be FM or F’ing Magic in more technical terms. Computers have a very hard time getting human speech patterns down right. Simple things that we take for granted. Things like inflection and subtle tone differences that can completely change the meaning of a word. How in the heck did GEO know to a) speak with a “polite” tone of voice and b) use a dangerous and feminine and purr!? What the heck? I don’t even know how to speak that way. It just gives me goose bumps hearing my character say that simple phrase and I’m the one who “said” it. This game is just too darn immersive sometimes.

“Ahh, Lady Whisper, I am glad you could make it so soon.” Lord Vincint says with an amused expression on his character’s face.

Again, spooky immersion levels here.

“I am not sure how much you have overheard, but could you take a look at this quest and let us know what you think?” He asks as he hands me a rolled up quest scroll. As soon as Whisper’s hands touch the scroll, it glows and unlocks to allow it to be read by me. This mystery just keeps getting weirder by the second. I didn’t expect the quest that was delivered to the Guild Council to only be readable by me. That little fact explains the council’s current mild state of apprehension mixed with excitement.

Greetings Lady Whisper,

The Council of Elders regrets the subterfuge and humbly requests your expertise in a matter most important to the safety of the world. Thanks to the Alliance of Light, the Forces of Dark have been held in check for many months. However; Evil never rests and a new threat is emerging from the shadows.

Seramis, The Queen of Bandits has successfully secured her territory from both Good and Evil. While admirable, it makes it nearly impossible to keep secret the contents of materials that must pass through her territory. One such shipment is scheduled to move through her territory tomorrow evening. It must not be discovered. The only way to ensure its delivery is to distract her followers by “neutralizing” Seramis at a critical time.

Secrecy is of the utmost importance and no one must know of your mission. Not even your leaders. If they knew, they would be honor bound to stop you.

As a child of Light, if you chose to accept this lonely quest, its dark nature will place a burden upon your very soul. Seramis is an excellent leader and a very dangerous foe. She is very well protected by both physical and magical wards. It will not be an easy task, but the Council of Elders feel that you are the best chance that this world has for success.

Do you wish to Accept this Quest? Yes/No

“Holy shit!” I say with a stunned expression on my face.

I am feeling pretty pole axed right now. I couldn’t believe what I just finished reading. The Game and I do mean “The Game” as a proper noun, has just given me a quest to kill another player’s character. No, I take that back, not just kill, but to assassinate an actual player’s character. While this game is a Player versus Player ( PvP ) game at its core by letting players participate in large scale battles and during those battles, they kill other players. That’s a completely different PvP scenario. You’re in a battle, you kind of know the risk and accept the risk of getting killed by another player. This quest is basically asking for me to use my thief skills to become a virtual cold blooded murderer. “Player Killer” or known as a PK in gamer terms.

There are very stiff penalties and in game consequences for PK’ers. A PK’er is the most hated and hunted player in the game. They are shunned by all. They cannot enter towns without being arrested or attacked by the town’s guard forces and players. They cannot join guilds and even if they redeem themselves, the PK taint follows them around for the rest of their characters “life”. Revenge on Player Killers is a dish best served cold.

“Lady Whisper, is something wrong?” Lord Vincint asks with concern evident in his voice and on his character’s face.

It looks like I am again the victim of the UI. I’m sure my character’s face and body language reflected my shock. How do I salvage this now embarrassing situation?

“Ummm, Sorry Lord Vincint, but…” I start to reply while furiously trying to think of a good excuse for my reaction.

“I was just startled when my cat jumped on my lap in Real Life and dug in with her claws.” I say as my shock starts to recede. I don’t even have a cat, but it’s all I can think of in such short notice that might explain my character’s reactions. Okay, now what? I got to get out of here fast! I need to think about this and there is no way I can let them know what is really on this quest scroll.

Lord Vincint looks relieved as he chuckles. “Oh yeah, I’ve had that happen to me before too. What does the quest scroll say?”

“Oh, nothing much. The quest is just for me to go steal some object from some highly guarded tower somewhere.” I say, striving for the most bored tone of voice that I can manage.

“Oh pooh!” Yes, I just said “pooh”. Really, I’m just trying to stay in character here. It’s called role playing! Honest. “I think I hear my Mom yelling. Gotta go!” I yell as I implement one of my go-tell-hell escape plans and get the heck out of the place. Once out of the tent, I make a beeline through the camp for the nearby tree line.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. That was so stupid of me. I could have handled the situation better. I am so screwed!” I curse myself as Whisper runs out of the alliance camp and disappears into the woods.

“Crap! I wish I was a better liar sometimes!” I say, muttered in frustration. I never have been a good liar. You might think that as a teenager with a younger sister, I would be a pro at it. Well, that is so not the case.

My Mom has some kind of Super Mom Lie Detection power. I do not know how she does it, but I have never been able to get away with a lie. I’ve learned that it’s just easier and less painful to just tell the truth all the time. Hence, I really suck at lying. I need some time to think. What the heck am I going to do?