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The Beta-Testers Chapter 10: The Wilds By Draconicon

Hank wasn't sure that he deserved to be in the first wave out of the city, but that was where Sarah put him, so that was where the skunk would be.

Still, the sexomancer blushed as he was surrounded by other, much more capable looking players. None of them had a tramp stamp on them, he imagined; most were either armed with heavy, club-like weapons, or were carrying different wands or other magical loot that they'd gotten before game went to hell. There were even a few rogues among the first wave that carried what had to be stolen merchandise.

Him?

The skunk looked at himself. Things had gotten...difficult for him, since the whole world had gone crazy. Sexomancy was difficult to learn, and it had had a number of consequences on him. His ass was much bigger than it used to be, inflated from a mis-cast spell a few days ago and refused to go down. It lifted up his robe, and he could feel it bringing down his defense score with every step, making him waddle and swish everywhere he went.

Worse than that, though, he couldn't stop thinking about what the spells he had could do. Yes, they were rather devoted to sex - Spontaneous Orgasm was a good example, for that matter - but it was also like...like they could be adapted. And when he wasn't testing them out on himself, that was precisely what he was doing.

And somehow, Sarah thought that was a good idea to have on the front lines. He honestly wasn't even sure if the silhouettes had a libido, so...

Well...just do what you have to do. Everyone else can do the real work, he thought, trying to encourage himself, and failing mightily.

He looked ahead. The eastern gate of Dalia stood just ahead of them, locked tight by a few massive bars along the front of it. Smoke rose from beyond the walls, as did the darkness and open code holes, but just above the gate, there remained a sliver of blue sky. He stared at it, and tried to draw a little hope from that.

On top of the wall, he saw Sarah's red and gold armor glinting as she walked up to stand above the gate. He looked around at the chattering players around him, and subtly activated one of his lower-level spells.

Mass Light Gag was more of a joke than anything, but seeing everyone suddenly stop with a ballgag in their mouths was pretty funny. More to the point, it got them to quiet down.

Just in time, too, as the lioness started talking.

"Alright, everyone. We've made it this far. There's no going back to Guild Street, now, so the only way forward is through the fields."

She pointed over the wall, to the blue sky out there.

"We've got a narrow window, but we have a chance here. All the silhouettes seem busy elsewhere, probably eating their way through the city. We're going to take advantage of this, and run like hell.

"But if you think that we're doing this without a plan, you're wrong."

Gotta have a plan...

As Sarah outlined it for everyone one more time, he ran through it in his head. The first wave, with him and the other heavy hitters, would spread out in a wave moving forward, with the biggest numbers spreading off to the sides and forming a barricade between the silhouettes and the low-level players. When the first wave had stretched as much as it could, the second wave - with the most at-risk players - would run ahead, with the third wave, consisting of everyone else, coming in to reinforce the flagging first wave and give them a chance for a fighting retreat.

It wasn't much, as plans came, but it was better than nothing. He just really wished that he wasn't in the first wave.

The skunk settled himself, taking a couple of deep breaths and passing his staff from one hand to the other. As Sarah walked down from the wall, he reached up and tugged on his collar, really, really wishing that orc was around. He'd showed up once or twice since, always managing to be obscenely helpful, and always asking for an obscene reward. At this point, he'd be happy to give Bruha whatever he wanted if the orc got him through this.

All the players, every loyal beta tester that remained from Guild Street, settled into a line that ran down the road from the gate. Everybody was quiet, waiting for the signal to charge. Everyone's eyes were on Sarah, as she raised her hand -

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

The air cracked with the massive explosion of sound, and half of the players fell to the ground as huge shapes leaped through the air. Hank whipped his head around, seeing little more than a great blue blur leaping over the walls, but knew that it had to be Rumiir and his raiders.

Fuck of a time to make a raid, but I'll take it!

So did Sarah, apparently. The lioness shouted, and the gate opened, letting the first wave run forward. Hank joined in, hoping that his swishiness wasn't slowing anyone down as he waddled as fast as his fat little ass would go.

As soon as they stepped outside the walls, the seriousness of the situation hit him. From the top of Dalia's walls, seeing the darkness spreading across the sky had been bad, even horrifying, but it hadn't been so...immediate as it was now. On the ground...

He could see the precise place where the ground had been eaten away by the code holes, where the razor edge of live assets and blank darkness had taken over. The silhouettes bounced and blobbed on top of it like oil on water, and he had the horrible feeling that if he stepped off of the still-present grass, he'd fall into the darkness and never return.

The skunk didn't have a chance to take in the sights, carried along with the rest of the first wave. He spread his arms, casting a quick spell - Hair Trigger - which immediately sped up those around him, making them look like they were being amped up through some sort of fast motion capture. They ran ahead of him, hitting the lines of the enemy with a speed and ferocity that bought them a little bit of time.

Looks like coming quickly has two meanings, he said, glad to have found that loophole. Shaking his head, he ran further down the line, pointing his staff at anyone that looked like they needed some help. A couple of Massive Masculinity casts pumped up some cheetahs that were being pushed back, while a 10 HOURS!?!?! spell steadied someone that was looking like he was about to faint from exhaustion.

But all his spellcasting amounted to nothing compared to what was going on beyond the lines the first wave formed.

Rumiir and his raiders were laying waste to anything before them, with the big blue himself flying over the battlefield on mismatched wings, their uneven width barely able to keep him aloft. Yet, at the same time, he was breathing fire and scorching lines of flame through the black ink blots. His men followed, bashing and hacking and -

Wait...Teryx?

He paused, staring through the line as the second wave ran behind him. He couldn't help himself. Fighting among the blue dragon's forces was...it had to be Teryx, but the paladin no longer looked like himself. He was big, almost three feet taller than he used to be, and he ran around with...with literally nothing on. Well, nothing except for a sign, but he was too far away to see what it said.

"Teryx?! Teryx, get back -"

"Don't bother. Duck."

Hank knew that voice. The skunk threw himself to the ground, just as a series of fireballs shot over the top of his head, exploding along the enemy lines. He shook his head as he laid there, and turned his head to see a pair of big, green, sandaled feet walk up beside him.

"Heh...Thought you could use some help. Can't have some blob of goop taking my property, can I?"

Can't even be mad at that, he thought as he took Bruha's hand. Grunting as he got to his feet, he swept his staff towards the line, looking for anyone that needed help. Further down the line, it looked like the lioness could use some back-up, but she wasn't in immediate need of it. Shaking his head, he looked back to the orc.

"When did you get here?"

"When I saw the fighting going on."

"Why didn't you...didn't you get the email?"

"What email?"

"...What...Doesn't matter. Look, can you -"

"Careful, skunk. Heh."

The orc flicked the collar, and Hank blushed.

"Fine...Master, could you..."

"I'll help. This time. But be ready tonight for me."

The orc whipped around, fireballs shooting from his fingers as he spun, the jingling of bells following his magic. With a rising scent of musk, the orc mage swept himself into the fray, relieving some of the others.

Something tickled at the back of his mind about the orc, something that had concerned him for a while, but he put it out of his mind. Better think of how they were getting help rather than question how they were getting it.

He ran up to Sarah, joining her with a few sweeps of his staff. The silhouettes were retreating from the front line, and as he gave her some breathing room, the lioness raised her arms in the air with a loud roar.

WHOOOSH!

The faltering flames of Bruha's spell swept back up, forming a wall of fire all the way from the city walls to where they stood. Hank barely pulled back from it in time to avoid being singed, but some of the other fighters, overstretched as they were, weren't so lucky. He winced, knowing that they would be re-spawning in the city, and knowing, further, that there was no way to help them.

Before he could say anything, the lioness grabbed him by the arm.

"Speed!"

"Right, right. Uh, just you, or -"

"Everyone, as many as you can hit."

"O-okay."

The skunk flicked through the different options in his spell menu. There weren't many that could speed someone up, but...maybe...

He flicked his eyes around, and started pointing his staff like a sniper rifle, tossing off one spell after another. Jackhammer. Rabbit Time. Spring in the Step. Hair Trigger. Again and again, he let off different ones that had speedy connotations, and hoped for the best.

Even with Bruha's help and Rumiir's sudden attack, the silhouettes were pressing in on the fiery lines. Many of them were incinerated, evaporating in a flash, but more were always coming behind them, and bit by bit the flames were dying. Beyond the firewalls, he could see ever more silhouettes popping out of the holes in the code, falling into the world and consuming it that little bit more.

"Alright, second wave is through," Sarah shouted behind him. "Third wave, support the line!"

She grabbed him, dragging him along as he stared at the conflict. He watched as people pulled back from the fires, as they beat back those that rushed through it. He watched as a golden dragon friend - Torin, the luckless man - stopped a dozen of the silhouettes with a wave of vines, only to be caught by one from behind. He watched as Randolph rushed over and saved him, pulling the dragon to safety, only for them to be surrounded by various other shadowy shapes.

"They're gonna be caught!"

"Fuck it...Okay, come on. Let's get them out of there."

The lioness and skunk ran back into the fray, Hank desperately searching for some sort of idea. There were so many spells he could use, but none of them were any good against the silhouettes themselves. He could only buff other people up for it.

Even as the jackal pulled out a pair of miniature crossbows, shooting explosive bolts into the silhouettes, they kept pouring in. Hank shook his head.

We're not gonna make it. We've...we've gotta...

Wait. Wait. There...

I had something...it was Create Water, but...maybe...Oh, fuck, this is either going to kill me or save them...

He swept his hand towards the jackal and golden dragon, and released the spell. The resulting, literal flood of white that spewed from them...well, it was memorable, and served like a rocket to launch them out of the surrounding circle.

Sarah caught Randolph, and he caught Torin. Sharing a nod, they ran, rushing for that little, tiny gap in the sky that was left and hoping that the rest of the force would follow.

They made it, barely. Sarah called a halt about an hour past the black dome that was all that remained of the city of Dalia, and they made camp on top of a hill. After the first player fell through the ground and had to respawn there, everyone was a lot more careful, testing every bit of ground with one foot as they walked, and making sure that they wouldn't fall through the map again.

Looks like we're off the map a bit...

The skunk settled down by a tent. He wasn't sure where it had come from - he hadn't packed it - but it seemed to be his. Nobody else had tried to take it, and it was in a nice enough spot, so why not?

He couldn't take his eyes off of what had been the city. Off in the distance, further than it really should be, it looked like a black dome against the landscape. Past it, he could see the western half of the world swallowed up in a similar darkness, with streaks of it spreading further towards where they were. Out here...

Out here didn't even appear on the world map. They were in the white, foggy area on the edge, and he still wasn't entirely sure about where this actually was. He wasn't even sure how they had managed to get onto it.

Maybe the game is crashing and has to load old data, or something, he thought with a dark turn of mind. He really didn't want to know what the programmers had trashed, half-made, and he really didn't want to think about what they might unleash later.

The skunk leaned forward, resting his chin on his knees as he looked back the way they'd come. Teryx. Teryx had been a hell of a guy, a nice, friendly person despite being a paladin. Why did he go and switch sides? He'd never wanted power...he'd never been one of those that pushed to embrace their new class, despite losing all his old powers. Why?

"Boy."

Bruha. He turned, looking over his shoulder. The orc was standing by the tent, and flicked a thumb towards the opening.

"I didn't set this up to look pretty. Get in."

"This is your tent?"

"Why do you think you're the only one to see it? You'd need my eyes or your collar. Come on."

The reminder of the collar didn't do as much to embarrass him as it usually did, but he did follow the order. The orc patted him on the back before following him into the tent, which was...surprisingly spacious.

Instead of barely a three by five foot plot, it actually covered a good fifteen feet on one side and twenty on the other. Three beds, one already occupied, were spread along one wall, and a table with food was pressed against the other. Hank wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a kind of magic item, if Bruha had found an exploit, or what, but it was impressive.

He half-expected to be shoved onto one of the remaining beds, but the orc took him over to the other side of the tent, instead. Gesturing to a chair, the kilt-wearing orc took the other one in the tent, and leaned back, putting his sandals up on the buffet table.

The furless feet, the fact that Bruha was a traditional fantasy character, finally set off the alarm bell that Hank had been silencing for a while.

"You cheated."

"Bold claim, boy."

"It said it right at the start! The only things we could pick for species were anthro characters..."

"...Heh. You know, I wondered why I had to make my own model."

"You...you're not using an official version of the game, are you?"

"Nah. There's a lot of cracked VR files out there, and I thought I'd get in on this one. Didn't know it'd go this crazy, though."

"No wonder you didn't get the email. How haven't you been kicked out yet?"

"A lot of careful hacking. This tent isn't the first thing I've made invisible to everyone else."

The idea of what Bruha had done was staggering. It was...it was really problematic, as well. If the orc was using a hacked version of the game, how long before something disrupted the connection? How long before someone managed to find out what he was doing and kick him from the game? The big green mage was one of the strongest people on their team; if they lost him, he really didn't like the thought of their chances.

The skunk slumped forward, holding his head in his hands.

"Oh god, why?"

"Because it looked fun. Where else am I going to find a game where I can literally collar someone for a toy, shoot fireballs at a whim, and walk around like the beefcake I am?"

"I could probably name you a dozen different games..."

"Any of them as realistic as this one?"

"...Probably not."

"Look. I am using a hacked copy of the game. Not exactly legal. But that ain't your problem right now."

"Not my problem?! This game is going to hell. It's breaking up all over the place, we're out of the game map, we're going who knows where to avoid that stuff killing us before the session is up. More than a quarter of the players are completely insane. What the hell is my problem? The game is fucked!"

"Boy."

The tone of command brought him down a few notches, but only a few. Hank couldn't believe how this was going. There was something broken in the game, and....and that didn't mean anything for Bruha. The fact that the orc was using a hacked game wouldn't cause this. Not...not this drastically, at least, and not for everyone.

He needed to calm down. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he leaned back in the chair, rubbing his hands against his face.

"Oh god, what are we going to do..."

"I'll tell you what you're going to do, boy. You are going to keep these people moving."

"Why? We're tired. We're exhausted."

"Because I'm seeing more holes than the ones you left behind out there."

"...What?"

"Those portals are still popping up."

"But...but why?!"

The orc shrugged.

"I dunno. But they're following the players."

"How do you -"

"Because I'm the one guy around here that's had reason to look at the code for something other than cheating. I'm just modding things; I'm not breaking them. So, you might want to listen."

It was odd, listening to something that was almost a snarky college student behind the older orc's skin. Slowly, Hank nodded, and the orc continued.

"There's some kind of event in the game code. It's somewhat random, but it follows a series of rules. If there's more than forty players in an area for longer than a few in-game hours, the dice gets rolled. If it comes up, then more portals pop in. The longer you and your friends stay here, the more likely the portals are gonna pop in after you."

"...I really don't like the sound of the solutions here."

"You're gonna want to stick around for a lot of portals even less."

"Forty players, though..."

"Forty players, in what looked like a kilometer radius."

He remembered some of the posters for the game, how the company had bragged about the world map initially being something along the lines of three hundred square kilometers. Now that the main map was gone, he had no idea of how big an area they still had left to work with. But at least there was a warning.

"Did you see how much of a chance of 'popping' the portals had, with so many people?"

"Looked like an 80% chance with forty people, going up as more people hung around."

"Great...."

So it wasn't even worth trying to fix it up for the night. Even if it only rolled every few hours, getting an 80 or less on a d100 wasn't that hard. He wouldn't play those odds.

The skunk pulled himself to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

"Thanks for telling me this, Bru -"

"Hmmm?"

"Sorry. Master."

"Mmm."

"I need to tell Sarah."

"Yeah, you do."

"Are...you going to come with me?"

"Heh, boy, you figured out what I am. I'm not gonna give the admin hanging out with her a chance to bust me on this."

"...Why? What can he do?"

"I'd prefer to keep my liberty if we all get through this. He finds out that I'm here, and his bosses find out that I've been cheating this system, it'll be all too easy for them to find a scapegoat here. Let's not give them that opportunity."

"...Do you really think they'd blame you? Really?"

"Either they find someone to blame, or they gotta take all of it if we survive this. I'm not painting a target on my back. But I'll tell you what, boy."

The orc smiled.

"Tell your lioness to get people moving, and then come back here. I still gotta get the price out of you for my help tonight."

"But -"

"No buts, boy, unless it's your butt on your favorite cock."

The skunk blushed, but slowly nodded. Some people would have to stay behind, anyway, and Sarah would need someone to keep an eye on whoever wasn't strong enough to be in the first wave. It might as well be him; he could buff just about anyone until they were strong enough to handle a situation, anyway.

He walked out of the tent, trying not to think of the rather bound-up otter in the bed he was leaving behind, or what Bruha might do to him in the meantime.

"Are you SERIOUS?!"

Hank rubbed his ears as the lioness slumped down on a makeshift desk, one of many small pieces of furniture that people had brought from Guild Street. Her head smacked into it a couple of times, knocking figures off of an equally makeshift map. Mr. Lee slowly put them back, the snow leopard shaking his head.

"This is interesting information, Hank. Why are you so certain of it?"

"I have...an interesting source."

"I assume you haven't been stupid enough to try looking into the code on your own -"

"God no."

"So that would mean that someone else has, and has passed the information on to you. And I know that wouldn't have been Rumiir or his raiders."

"How do you know that?"

"That's my business."

"And so is my...my informant."

"Shut up, both of you."

Yes, Sarah, he thought as he went quiet. The lioness sighed, shaking her head, before looking at the snow leopard admin.

"You think he's right?"

"I admit it's a possibility. It could be a hidden condition, or perhaps a glitch -"

"Or something that was put in at the last minute. Some idiot's idea of a prank."

"I assume that is also a possibility. There are those programmers who bear a grudge against the company, and wouldn't mind seeing this fail."

"Fuck...Fuck, fuck, fuck, and for good fucking measure, FUCK!"

The last f-bomb shook the tent, and Hank briefly wondered if the lioness had managed to get some new ability of her own. She shook her head, getting to her feet and pacing around the tent.

"Okay. We've been settled for an hour now. Packing up in any hurry will take us another twenty minutes, now that we're settled; organizing people to go in different directions...We'll need to assemble groups, get them split up into thirty person teams or so. No fewer; I don't want anyone getting lost or killed because of some lack of numbers."

"You don't need to split everyone up," Hank chimed in.

The two of them looked at him, and he shrank a bit at the way that they stared. The worse the situation got, the more he felt that he was just someone in the way, a small tool to be used, rather than a player. Always good to enhance someone else. Never good on his own.

He pushed past that thought. Sarah didn't think that - he was pretty sure - and he needed to say this anyway.

"You...probably only need to get four groups."

"We have a hundred fifty different people, Hank. That math doesn't add up."

"A lot of us are pretty tired. Leave the worst of them here with me. I'll take care of them."

The stare got harder, though wide-eyed at the same time. He felt suspicion pouring off of the snow leopard, and curiosity coming from the lioness. He forced himself to continue.

"I mean...you know me. I can't heal, but...My magic is good enough to keep anyone strong enough to fight. I'm not needed to buff any of the other groups, as long as someone strong is with them, but...but I can do something here. If something happens, they'll need me."

Sarah and Mr. Lee continued to look at him, and at the same time opened their mouths to speak.

"This is not -"

"Fine, Hank. Do it."

The snow leopard blinked.

"Sarah?"

"He's right. And it's easier to get the people still strong moving around than it is to split up the injured."

And not all of them are set to respawn here, yet, since we're not all the same guild, he thought with a shake of his head. They couldn't just 'kill' the injured if they had a chance of respawning back in the city. That'd be the same as a legitimate death sentence.

Mr. Lee looked rather...annoyed. Hank wasn't sure why, but it was like he was looking at someone whose plans for the evening had just been ruined, rather than someone who had been overruled. The snow leopard slowly nodded.

"I can see the logic in this. But I believe I will stay here."

"Do that. I'm sure that Hank will be happy for the help."

"Wait, what?"

"I'll be staying overnight, Hank. You will want that."

Noooo, I really won't, not with Bruha still here, he thought, but there was nothing he could do. He'd been pushing his luck suggesting that they all leave like this, and anything more would be utterly stupid.

He left the tent, shaking his head.

They cut it close, but the other groups departed a half hour before the time that Bruha had mentioned. As the thirty-or-so sized groups moved off north, south, east, and northeast, he slowly shook his head. The feeling of security that came with being in a large group was something he'd taken for granted, up til now.

As Sarah led the smallest group eastwards, Mr. Lee walked over to stand beside him. The snow leopard was quiet for a moment, but only for a moment.

"I propose a deal with you, Hank."

"...A deal?"

"Yes, a deal. You are familiar with those?"

Antsy, isn't he? Now that he thought about it, Mr. Lee had been rather...twitchy in the meeting, as well, almost as if he was in a hurry to get off somewhere. Perhaps...perhaps he wasn't the only one with a dodgy informant?

"I am...Perhaps a deal that I don't ask about your 'meetings' and you don't ask about mine?"

The snow leopard whipped his head around, and Hank smiled a bit. It was always good to be right, particularly when it surprised someone as eternally calm - normally - as the admin. Mr. Lee slowly shook his head.

"I am surprised that Sarah didn't catch me on it, then."

"She's got a lot more on her mind than I do."

"Let me ask you this. Is your informant someone that means the group harm?"

"A lot less than anyone else does."

"You have done...a fair bit for the group. I will take you at your word. Just as I ask you to take me at mine, that my informants may be a problem, but they are necessary."

"How big of a problem?"

"Big enough that we're in the situation we're in now."

"Wait, wait, you mean -"

But Mr. Lee was already gone, darting down the small hill and leaping off into the distance. As Hank followed the snow leopard's path, he looked forward, and blinked. Just at the very edge of the horizon - as far as the game allowed him to see - he could just barely make out the light of a campfire...and with what felt like a roll of the dice in his head, a shadow of a pair of wings against a hillside.

"Son of a bitch..."

Rumiir and his raiders had gotten out after all, and now Mr. Lee was going to talk to them? Why? So many questions, so many -

"Boy."

So many questions, but at least, for now, he could take his mind off of them. A little more eagerly than usual, he followed Bruha's command, walking back to the tent. For once, he was rather thankful for the swishiness; it reminded him of how much cushion he had for the orc's pushin'.

The End