“You sound like you know what you’re talking about,” Helen said. She waved a hand. “Why don’t you tell us your prognosis?”

  Prognosis? Demetri thought. This isn’t a medical problem.

  Mia straightened in her chair. “Here’s what we think we know: within Obsidian, there are a number of gods, deities put in place to govern the world and provide the balance that keeps the NPCs—that’s non-playable characters—in check.

  “Now, part of the foundational build of the gods involved a primitive version of the magic that makes Obsidian unique—the AI. Once the basic bones of the game were developed, we handed control over to an artificial intelligence program, fed it a load of data on medieval rules and other fantasy RPGs, and let it do its thing.”

  Hugo’s eyebrows went up barely a millimeter, but it was enough to show that he was impressed.

  “Then?”

  “The AI flourished,” Mia continued, overshadowing her boss under the Lagardes’ attention. “It did exactly as predicted and desired. It created storylines, creatures, maps, and realms, everything down to the minute detail found in the insects and microscopic creatures in the game.”

  “Sounds wonderful, dear,” Helen said, crossing one leg over the other. “But what has that got to do with our problem?”

  “Aha,” Mia put both hands on her chair and nodded at the projector. “Mind if I…”

  Hugo dipped his head.

  Mia took the projector off standby, and a static image taken from Chloe’s conflict in the cave was displayed. The image distorted in streaks and lines, her glowing form only barely visible through the disruption.

  “This is a screen grab of the moment just before the feed went dead,” Mia explained. She flicked to another image of Chloe and KieraFreya in the woods, taken just before KieraFreya had attacked the dwarves.

  “And this is another. I found it strange that in more than one example, the minute KieraFreya displays her true potential and takes over Chloe’s body, the feed splits. So, it got me wondering why? What’s going on here?”

  “To discover the answer, I had to go off-grid.”

  Devlin suddenly sat up straight. “Excuse me, young lady?”

  Mia carried on, ignoring her boss’s protest. “The development team is so bound up in office politics that over the past few weeks, I’ve created my own bypasses and hacks. You remember the issue your daughter had with feeling an inordinate amount of pain in the game, right?”

  “I do,” Hugo and Helen replied.

  “I fixed that bug in an afternoon, uploading an exported strand of code that overrode the system. It would have taken weeks for the team to have fixed it.”

  Devlin was shaking in his chair, and his face was turning red.

  “You hacked our system without prior approval? You risked the life of…”

  Mia continued hurriedly, cutting him off. She had known this was a risk, but it was a risk worth taking. “After that, I realized the basic code structure wasn’t overly complicated, and I installed a communication system to contact Chloe inside the game without waiting for her to die, which in any case limited her to a two-hour window.”

  Helen’s eyebrows visibly raised. “You did?”

  “We needed to get messages to your daughter to keep her safe. To keep her informed.”

  Devlin made a series of gurgling, choking sounds. They weren’t words, just utterances.

  “Because of these bypasses, I was able to exploit a section of code and pick out a composite image of what we were failing to see on screen. If you’ll look here,” she pointed to the CCTV-like image they had pulled during the final conflict, “you’ll see that KieraFreya has brought herself to the surface. That white glow is the goddess’ power in action, Chloe and KieraFreya working symbiotically.” She marveled at the screen. “Impressive, right?”

  Helen gave a curt nod.

  “And what has this all to do with the AI?” Hugo asked.

  “Well, this is only a theory, but I believe it’s one that should be given considerable weight if we’re to save the game and your daughter’s future in Obsidian.

  “I believe the artificial intelligence system has bound itself into the gods of the game. Who’s higher than a god? No one. Now, whenever a god shows their true power in Obsidian, the AI overrides the main outputs of the game in order to sustain the power.

  “In short, I believe that the game’s AI is only just finding its power, but if we’re not careful, it will stage a revolt against the game’s developers and vie for control.”

  A silence hung inside the room as this information was digested. Even Devlin sat quietly, somehow not quite believing what Mia had just said.

  Not that she was surprised. You had to be present and invested to come to grips with the technology. Devlin was just a hipster techie tied in his ego, with no other interest than money and power.

  “Miss…” Hugo started.

  “Just call me Mia,” Mia replied.

  Hugo nodded. “Mia, thank you for your frank and honest work in this matter. As you can imagine, the welfare of our daughter is of the utmost importance to us both.”

  Helen nodded her agreement.

  “With that, I would like you to continue your work on the Obsidian project, leading the development team to sort this mess out. Praxis will need someone competent who has know-how at the helm.”

  “What?” Devlin blabbered. “Wait a minute! You can’t—”

  “Mr. Montgomery, you’re fired,” Hugo said, pinning Devlin under the heat of that withering glare once more. “Thank you for your time. Your services are no longer required.”

  “You…you can’t do that! Praxis isn’t your company.”

  “No,” Hugo agreed, rising to his feet. He adjusted his tie and took Helen’s hand to help her up. “It’s not. But my daughter provided significant funding to support its growth. Considering that, and the fact that Wendy Yuling and Roger Turnberry—both close associates and longtime friends of the Lagarde family—sit on Praxis Ltd.’s board, I assure you that the vote will inevitably swing in our favor.”

  Hugo strode to the door and held it open for Helen. Before he left, he added, “Of course, you can always hand in your resignation and try to save your career, but I guarantee it’s pretty much over already.”

  He turned to Mia. “Enjoy your new position. You start on Monday.”

  He nodded to Demetri. “I expect you will be well by then?”

  Demetri nodded emphatically, feeling, as he always did, a huge weight fall from his shoulders as Hugo disappeared from sight.

  Character Sheet

  Bio

  Character name: Chloe (click to select a new character name)

  Level: 14

  Class: Battle Mage (Novice)

  Titles: Mage of the Academy

  Race: Human

  Stats

  HP: 458/458

  MP: 760/760

  Stamina: 460/460

  Active effects: Null

  Boons: +15% luck to experimental magicks, 5% proficiency in skill-learning

  Attributes

  Strength: 22 (+51)

  Intelligence: 10 (+45)

  Dexterity: 20 (+61)

  Endurance: 25 (+36)

  Etheric Potential: 9 (+72)

  Skills

  Languages: Human

  Acrobatics: Lv 5

  Armed Combat: Lv 4

  Charismatic: Lv 4

  Climbing: Lv 2

  Cooking: Lv 2

  Crafting: Lv 1

  Creature Identification: Lv 5

  Dark Vision: Lv 4

  Dual Wielding: Lv 3

  Etheric Manipulation: Lv 3

  Experimental: Lv 1

  Fishing: Lv 1

  Hand of the Gods: Lv 2

  Herb Identification: Lv 2

  Monster Slayer: Lv 1

  Mounted Combat: Lv 1

  Reckless: Lv 6

  Saddler: Lv 5

  Scholar: Lv 1

  Sneak: Lv 5

  Swimming: Lv 3

  Available Points: 0

  Skills-dex

  Skill increased: Acrobatics (Lv 5)

  You’re taking enormous strides—literally! Bounce and spring your way to battle or adventure and savor the moments spent in the air!

  Bonuses: +7 dexterity

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Armed combat (Lv 5)

  Damn. Hack, cut, slice, and wield that sword like it’s your second arm. Keep on leveling in this skill to learn new combinations that will be beneficial in the heat of battle.

  Bonuses: +5 strength

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Charismatic (Lv 4)

  You've really worked that tongue loose. Now let’s see what you can do with it.

  Purrr…

  Bonuses: +4 intelligence

  Skill increased: Climbing (Lv 2)

  Cling to the rocks like a lizard, scale to the highest heights. Or...just not get so tired when climbing up walls. Keep practicing, and soon you’ll be jumping up cliff faces with the best of them.

  Bonuses: +2 dexterity

  Skill increased: Cooking (Lv 2)

  You’ve developed something akin to taste buds. Now you can get a little bit more experimental while lowering your chances of food poisoning!

  Bonuses: +2 dexterity

  You've unlocked a new skill: Crafting (Lv 1)

  Those who can craft gain a fair advantage in Obsidian. Create your own armor from leather. Make your own weapons. Or continue paying others to do it, because at this level, your chances are still relatively slim.

  Requirements: Create your first item

  Bonuses: +1 dexterity

  Skill increased: Creature Identification (Lv 5)

  Congratulations on reaching level 5 in this skill. You’ll now be able to access the basic strengths and weaknesses of your foes, as well as additional nuggets of information that might be of use to you.

  Bonuses: +7 intelligence

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Dark Vision (Lv 4)

  The night is fast becoming your mistress. Dark shapes become more refined, night terrors lose their fuzz, and oh, the pranks you can play as you dissolve into the darkness and lead your friends astray.

  Bonuses: +5 intelligence, +8 etheric potential

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Dual wielding (Lv 3)

  Many don’t understand the diversity of battle style that dual wielding has to offer. Some stumble across this by chance. Like you. You’re a chancer, right? Now you can combine both magic and the physical in battle. Boop!

  Bonuses: +3 dexterity

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Etheric Manipulation (Lv 3)

  You’ve grown an extra rank in Etheric Manipulation. Now your familiar will heed your calls faster, and your spells will perform with more clarity than you could have imagined. You may also find that bonus spells happen to fall into your Spell-dex without you realizing.

  Bonuses: +9 etheric potential, spell cast cost dramatically reduced

  (NOTE: Increases in spells override any previous bonuses gained from the spell).

  You've unlocked a new (unique) skill: Experimental (Lv 1)

  Your mind works in mysterious ways. In the heat of the moment, you choose to take the path less...well, never traveled. Continue working on this skill, and your experiments will become more successful and less likely to backfire with each level gained.

  Bonuses: +1 intelligence, +1 dexterity, +1 endurance, +1 etheric potential

  You've unlocked a new skill: Fishing (Lv 1)

  See those things in the water? They’re fish. You can catch them. Well done.

  Requirements: Catch your first fish

  Bonuses: +1 dexterity

  Skill increased: Hand of the Gods (Lv 2)

  You clearly have the favor of the gods. Guiding your strength, the gods can lend you unique skills and abilities to aid you in a pinch. Don’t rely on this skill unless you’re ready to live a reckless life. The gods take vacations, too, y’know.

  The results of this skill may vary.

  Bonuses: +10 etheric potential

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Herb Identification (Lv 2)

  The surrounding foliage is beginning to talk to you. Discover new ingredients for food and potion recipe by experimenting with combinations of Obsidian’s plant life.

  Bonuses: +2 intelligence

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Monster Slayer (Lv 1)

  There are many horrors that haunt Obsidian’s lands, some big, some small, some enormous. With this skill, you’ll now gain proficiency in defeating larger monsters. Once you have stumbled upon the monster’s weakness, you’ll be able to identify the weak places of all future monsters of this type.

  Requirements: Defeat 3 dreyda

  Bonuses: +2 strength, +2 intelligence

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Mounted Combat (Lv 1)

  Attacking while riding is a whole different kettle of fish. Get used to the motion of your steed and counterbalance the overeagerness of its trot to learn to deal vicious blows.

  Or, fall off a lot and hope you land on an enemy. Always worked for me.

  Requirements: Battle a monster while riding a steed

  Bonuses: +1 dexterity

  Skill increased: Reckless (Lv 6)

  Launching onto a giant volcanic titan’s head? You really have a taste for danger. Keep pushing the boundaries to see how far you can push Obsidian’s limits!

  Bonuses: +15 strength, +10 endurance

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increase: Saddler (Lv 5)

  You've tamed the impossible, finding a way to ride a legendary beast and make it your bitch. Additional experience has been added to this skill to reward your bravery and boost you further on your way as you tame and ride the creatures of Obsidian.

  Bonuses: +5 dexterity

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Scholar (Lv 1)

  Your hunger for knowledge is insatiable. Whether you’re learning from people, experiences, or books, you can now take comfort in knowing that you will learn faster from this point on.

  Requirements: Read a book that’s above your level

  Bonuses: +1 intelligence, skills can now upgrade 5% faster

  Skill increased: Sneak (Lv 5)

  The darkness has become your friend, your feet lighter than feathers on air. GREAT! As always, be sure to use your powers for good.

  Who knows what horrors a silent battle mage can create when sneaking…?

  Bonuses: +5 dexterity

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Skill increased: Swimming (Lv 3)

  Slicker and faster, you’re becoming more streamlined. The water loves you. I wonder what delights you’ll find way down in the depths of Obsidian?

  Bonuses: +3 dexterity

  (NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).

  Quest-dex

  Open Quests

  Quest unlocked: A Fallen Goddess

  The Goddess of Retribution, KieraFreya, has fallen from grace. Her form has been divided and scattered across the land of Obsidian. For eons she has lain in wait, hoping for an adventurer who is brave enough and strong enough to unite the pieces of her armor once more and restore KieraFreya to her former glory.

  Find all [x] pieces of KieraFreya and return her to the gods.

  Difficulty: 10/10

  Rewards: 100,000 exp, + rare items (locked).

  Accept quest: Y/N

  —————————

  Complete Quests

  Quest complete: Walk the Deathwalk of the Gods

  You’ve done it! You’ve outwitted the trolls, trodden through the realm of fire, swum the unforgiving lake, and emerged victorious through the fractal labyrinth of death. You’ve truly proven yourself—

  #ERROR404

  —a champion among champions—

  MISSING_SEQ

  REBOOT_POPUP

  —Carry on, adventurer Untitled, and soar to ever great heights!

  Bonuses: 10,000 experience + Bracers of KieraFreya

  Quest unlocked: We didn’t start the fire.

  Some idiot has lost control of his flames. Help him put out the fire before the whole house is burnt to cinders.

  Rewards: 50 exp

  Quest complete: ‘We didn’t start the fire’.

  Smart cunning, quick wit, and an intelligence to solve a problem. These were none of the things you used as you launched water on the fire and jumped headfirst into a smoke-infested building.

  You somehow managed it, though. Hooray!

  Reward: 50exp

  Quest complete: Crossing the language barrier

  You took the easy way out. Well, why not? It certainly speeds things along now, doesn’t it? Even if you don’t get that glorious glow of knowledge.

  Reward (Interpreter): 100 exp

  Quest complete: Where’s the shaman?

  You didn’t turn away when the going got tough. Congratulations. You’ve made a new friend, and a powerful ally.

  Rewards: 500 exp, Final slumber potion recipe

  Quest complete: Chasing Nightmares

  You’ve reunited the stableboy with his steeds. Unfortunately, the cost was high, since you lost favor with Jacob. Experience still awarded, but no horses for you.