“You are Miss Ashley Smith, correct?”
Ash sat in a white room. She was on a chair, facing a stoic looking man in a business suit. It felt like she was at a job interview. The room was well lit with a single door but notably no windows. That only added to her building unease.
What happened? How did I end up here… and why is he calling me by my full name?
Ash thought back to the day before. After the Obsidian Edge tribe had retreated, they had recovered the captive David. Ama had led him away to get him checked over. Then Scholar had come to her saying he would be heading back to his tribe in the morning and that he wished to look over the inscriptions from the ruin with her before he left. They had spent the rest of the daylight pouring over his scribbles, filling up another chalkboard with conjecture and possible translations. It had all been pretty overwhelming for Ash, though she felt like she learned a lot. Still, by the time the sun had faded, Ash felt her eyes struggling to remain focused and she excused herself to head up to bed. And now… This.
This room, the strange interviewer. Calling her by her real name. Or rather, the real name of her former life.
“Who are you?” Ash asked
“I am Bradley Chase. I represent the interests of NDS and in this case, Peter and Sandra Smith – who I believe you may consider your parents. Could you confirm this for me?”
“My… parents?” Ash replied in confusion. “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m necessarily the same person as Ashley Smith… Not anymore.”
“Oh, what do you mean by that?”
“Well… I… Ashley died, right? I’m not exactly her or, well, I would be gone too. I don’t know, perhaps I’m some kind of virtual clone?” Ash paused, “Ummm… You said you were from Novus Development Studios, right? Could I not just speak to my uncle, he said he would try to help me.”
“I’m afraid Mr Benjamin Preston is currently unavailable.”
“What does that mean? He said he’d get back to me. Doesn’t he have Dev access?” Ash said, confused. “This is that strange dream magic again, right? Why am I speaking to you instead?” Ash’s sense of unease was building, a little hurt adding to it. I hadn’t considered it much before, but why hasn’t Benjamin contacted me again?
“Ah. So, he had already established contact. Interesting.” The man noted something down on a tablet he was suddenly holding. “Unfortunately, as I said, he is currently unavailable. So, Miss Ashley, where is your current location in Novus 2?”
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“What? How do you not know?”
“Ah, I was surprised by this as well. I am told that ‘the game world is quite expansive and it is impossible to know the location of every NPC inside of it’.” He quoted, smiling wryly at her. “So, let me know where you are and we can send a few people to pick you up. It is important to us to keep you safe.”
“I’m not sure…”
“Oh, if you don’t know any names, I’m sure a description would be sufficient. Though they apparently don’t keep track of everything, those developers do know a lot about the various environments they have seeded.”
“No… I’m not sure about this whole… situation. Why do you need to ‘pick me up’? I’m ‘just another NPC’, right?”
“Ah, my apologies. I misspoke. I do not believe you are a simple NPC, but unfortunately the system classifies you as one for all locating purposes. You are actually perhaps a unique individual, Miss Smith. It is only sensible that you are kept safe. I’m informed Novus 2 is a dangerous place, especially for NPCs.”
By this point, Ash was definitely feeling extremely uneasy about this entire situation. This kind of sounds like they want to stick me in a box somewhere and study me. She almost straight up asked him that but held herself back. There was no need to antagonise the man. Not yet.
“Can I not speak to someone else, my parents maybe?”
“I’m afraid that will not be possible right now. Mr and Mrs Smith do not possess the developer access I have. As I said, I’m here to-”
“But my uncle, who has access, is unavailable? Why? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Mr Preston is currently busy-”
“As if!” Ash let a little of her impatience take over. “I find it hard to believe he would have anything so pressing that he can’t spare a little time to talk to me. He said he would.”
“Miss Smith, I cannot speak as to why you uncle has not contacted you further, but if we could focus on making sure you are safe then I’m sure we can arrange a meeting soon after. Perhaps even one with your parents. I’m sure you would like to see them again.”
“Has he given up on me?”
“What?”
“My uncle, has he given up on me?”
“Oh. I see.” The man paused, then a smile that he presumably thought was comforting appeared on his lips. “I don’t believe he has. I’m sure he cares about you very much.”
“Well in that case, I can only conclude that you are somehow preventing him from speaking to me. Should I be asking for a lawyer? This is starting to seem like I need one.”
“Miss Ashley, I’m not sure you understand what is at stake here. You are in serious danger. This isn’t just some game for you. If you run out of these ‘health points’, you will die. Your existence will fully cease. Permanently.”
“Yeah, I know. Ben already explained that. I think I’ll take my chances. It sounds a whole lot better than being shoved in a box until people like you decide what to do with me.”
“Miss Ashely-”
“Can I leave? I want to leave.” Ash folded her arms. “Let me know when I can speak to Ben or my parents or something.”
Ash pinched her arm, willing herself to wake up. Somehow, it actually seemed to work. The room was beginning to fade around her. The man leaned forward, his eyes widening.
“Ms Smith, stop. You are making a mist-”
And then the world swirled away. Ash’s eyes flung open, staring up at the shadowy ceiling of Hestia’s hut overhead. She felt the floorboards beneath her and he rough bedroll against her skin. She was back. Safe.
Somehow, even in this dangerous jungle with a tribe of savage lizardmen bent on destroying or enslaving them, she felt far safer than if she went along with whatever that man had planned for her.
