Hawk’s voice carried an open threat now. “Spread the word that new players in bronze bracelets are to be treated with every respect from now on. One of my assistants nearly died while helping me trap the bomber and make you safe. She’s in Game right now, and she’s wearing a bronze bracelet. My other assistant will be entering Game soon as well, and he too will be wearing a bronze bracelet. If anyone tries insulting or harming either of them, they’ll find themselves in combat with Hawk the Unvanquished!”
Now I understood why Hawk had been talking about me and Nathan in his broadcast. He was using us to make life safe again for all the new players.
“I should have a lot more information for you in my next broadcast,” said Hawk, in a friendlier voice, “but that’s all for now.”
Hawk stood there for a few seconds longer, then the marble tower disappeared and my room returned to normal.
“We’re done,” said Cassandra.
Hawk stretched his arms out wide, then let them fall to his side with a sigh. “I hate giving speeches. How did it go? Big audience?”
“That is correct,” said Kwame. “Estimated at over forty-eight billion.”
“What were the other couple of billion doing?” Hawk asked, in mock complaint. “Initial reactions?”
The image of Cassandra showed her holding an elegant hand mirror, and reading the text flowing down it. “I’m scanning the main Game forums now. There’s a whole torrent of comments coming in. People are pleased. Feeling a lot safer now. They liked the personal adventure element. Everyone is taking note of the point that both Tomath and the Reaper were lifetime subscription holders. I’m seeing rapid changes of attitude to players in bronze bracelets, and some guilt about the way they’ve been treated. There’s a lot of speculation about your mysterious assistant who nearly died, and jokes about the danger of having to fight Hawk the Unvanquished. People are definitely taking that threat seriously.”
“Good,” said Hawk. “I want them to take it seriously. I want everyone who’s been harassing the new players to picture Hawk appearing in front of them, brandishing a two-handed sword.”
Cassandra’s smile hovered on the brink of laughter, and I could see why it fascinated people. “I’m afraid people want to watch the replays of you chasing the bomber.”
“Replays?” Hawk choked. “What replays? This happened in real life, not Game. It wasn’t automatically recorded to be played back for an audience, and I certainly don’t want the whole of Game watching surveillance footage of the mighty Michael!”
“I’m sure the Game Techs could modify the images to enhance Michael’s appearance a little,” said Cassandra.
“A little? They’d have to enhance it an awful lot.” Hawk literally cringed at the idea. “I couldn’t say in the broadcast that the bomber’s second attack was targeting Celestius. It wouldn’t have been fair to let the family hear the news from a general broadcast, especially when they might be away from Celestius so outsiders could see their reaction. I have to tell the family first and then include it in my next broadcast.”
Kwame frowned. “Is it wise to make that information public?”
Hawk gave him a frosty look. “I’m not keeping it from my family. They have a right to know they may be in specific danger. I hope and believe that we’re safe from more bombings, and the Celestius server complex is now under constant Unilaw guard like Avalon, but the Reaper is in Game and might attack Founder Players.”
“But ...” Kwame began.
“Whether Hawk chooses to make a general announcement or not,” interrupted Cassandra, “I will definitely inform the family. Under these circumstances, many of the Sisterhood may wish to stay in safety in Celestius. Few of us are skilled in fighting, or take the pain of Game deaths lightly, and there could be other unpleasantness as well.”
Kwame sighed. “Very well. I agree the Founder Players should be informed of the attempt against Celestius, but does the whole population of Game have to know?”
Hawk shrugged. “You should know that Caesar and Blades can’t keep secrets. Once they hear about this, the rest of Game will know it within five minutes. Is the Amphitheatre free at the moment?”
“It has been kept free in case it was required for your broadcast,” said Kwame.
“Then I’m calling a family meeting,” said Hawk. “Cassandra, can you tell everyone that we’re meeting at the Amphitheatre in two hours’ time, so I can tell them news of the utmost importance.”
“I can get them there sooner than that if you want,” said Cassandra.
“No, I need the two hours for something else.” Hawk smiled at me. “Jex and I are going outside so she can get her first view of Ganymede’s sky.”
Cassandra had just said there was a lot of speculation on Game forums about Hawk’s mysterious assistant who’d nearly died. The second people saw me with Hawk, they’d guess I was that assistant. Images of me would be shown on every news channel, and there’d be a storm of gossip about my relationship to Hawk. I wasn’t ready to cope with that. There was the problem of the Reaper too. I seized on that excuse to delay things.
“If you want to hide your connection to me from the Reaper, then it’s a bad idea for us to be seen together. I’d rather wait a few days to make sure that the problems for new players are over before going outside anyway. There’s no rush to see the sky.”
“Oh yes there is,” said Hawk. “You’ve been looking forward to seeing Ganymede’s sky for years, Jex, and you aren’t going to wait any longer. Since you’re a potential target for the Reaper, the Game Techs have taken special measures to protect you, including putting your house on its own private beach. That means you don’t have to worry about hostile neighbours, and if a wandering shell collector does happen to stumble on this beach then ...”
He shook off his black robe, revealing the shimmering chain mail underneath, and raised his right hand. “Durendal!” he ordered.
Durendal, the great blade that Hawk had wielded to slay the Kraken, flew out of the sheath strapped across his back. The sword hovered in midair above him, Hawk took hold of its hilt, and his dark eyes laughed at me.
“No one will dare to harm you, Jex. Not when you have a legendary warrior guarding you.”
Chapter Twenty-five
I lay on the fine sand of Ganymede’s shoreline, gazing up through the misty air at the vastness of Jupiter filling the sky. Its swirling storms glowed with multicoloured light, in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of patterns. Jupiter was both terrifyingly menacing and stunningly beautiful.
“I’ve seen hundreds of images of Ganymede’s sky, but actually lying here and looking up at Jupiter is overwhelming. It’s like I’m not just seeing it, but physically feeling its presence.”
Hawk was standing next to me, watching my expression and smiling. He was still holding his sword, Durendal, the naked blade gleaming red as it reflected the light of Jupiter.
“Ganymede is one of the worlds that players either love or hate,” he said. “It all depends on whether you find the massive bulk of Jupiter hovering over your head glorious or horrifying. Some people take one look at the sky and instantly decide to leave. Others want to stay forever.”
He paused. “Do you find Jupiter glorious or horrifying, Jex?”
“This will sound silly,” I said, “but I don’t know. When I look up at Jupiter, I’m not sure if I’m trembling with delight or with fear, and somehow the contradiction adds to the fascination.”
“Yes!” Hawk made a flourishing gesture with Durendal that would have impressed even Falcon, before sheathing the sword and lying down on the sand beside me. “I understand exactly what you’re saying. When I look up at Jupiter, I feel the same mixture of joy and panic that I feel going into battle against a vast Game creature like the Kraken.”
He gave a joyous laugh. “I suspected you would feel that too. The first time I saw you, when you were being questioned at that Unilaw facility, you grabbed my attention. All the other kids, even Nathan, were tongue tied
with fear, but you kept arguing your cause. I could see from your face that you were just as scared as the others, but in you the fear was blended with anger in the distinctive mix that makes a true fighter.”
I turned my head towards him, and found myself gazing straight into his intent, dark eyes. He smiled, but I could feel myself growing hot with embarrassment, so I hastily stared upwards at Jupiter again.
“I’ve always had an anger problem,” I said. “I’ve fought against it all my life, tried to train myself to keep my temper under control, but it’s still got me into trouble several times over the years. Back when I was six years old, I lost my temper with the dormitory bullies, flew at them in anger, and got a blow to my forehead that put me in hospital for two days. Look!”
I pointed out the faint white line just below my hairline, and Hawk propped himself up on one elbow as he turned to examine it. “You chose to keep the real life scar on your Game face?”
“Yah. I mean, yes. Every time I look in the mirror, I see the scar, and tell myself it’s better to think things through than blindly lose my temper.”
“Does that work?”
I was intensely aware of his face being close to mine, and wondered if he was planning to kiss me. “You should know that it doesn’t. Remember how I screamed at you about the black mark on my record that had destroyed my Game future? Remember how I lost my temper with Falcon and threatened to cut his ears off? When I was arrested and questioned about the bombing, I was lucky that I was too scared to lose my temper.”
“I hope you aren’t angry with me about what I said in my broadcast,” said Hawk. “I knew I should have discussed it with both you and Nathan first, but there wasn’t time.”
His face moved away from mine, and he lay back on the sand again. I was both relieved and disappointed. It occurred to me that I had the same contradictory feelings about Hawk as I did about Jupiter.
“I understood exactly why you mentioned us,” I said. “The whole of Game was watching that broadcast, so you had the perfect opportunity to change people’s attitudes to the new players. It worked. Now everyone’s feeling guilty about how the new players have been treated, so it should be safe for the refugees to leave Indigo. A lot of them won’t want to go back to their old homes, but decide to make a new start elsewhere in Game, and hopefully the guilt reaction will mean they’re near the top of the queue for resident status on worlds instead of last in line.”
I paused to laugh. “I’ve just realized that I haven’t looked at my own new house yet. When I stepped outside, the sight of Jupiter was so mesmerizing that I just rushed to the beach and lay down to look at the sky.”
I stood up and turned to look at my house. It was how I’d always pictured it, a graceful seashell shape, woven in mauve and white spider silk, with a pink flowered creeper climbing up one side.
I spent a full minute admiring the house before I turned again to look at the view along the bay. The sea glittered in ever-shifting shades of red and mauve, with a fringe of white foam where waves were hitting the beach. The sand was white too, but with a hint of delicate pink. I noticed another house further along the beach, frowned, and pointed at it.
“I thought you said this was a private beach, so why is there another house here?”
Hawk stood up too, his face flushed with embarrassment. “That house is mine. Founder Players have castles on Celestius, but we’re allowed to have ordinary houses on three other worlds as well. I wouldn’t want to force my company on you, so I wouldn’t live in that house except at your invitation, but I need to have a house here so I can reach this place quickly. The Game Techs have set this beach up as a restricted destination, so only residents can request teleport or world transfer here.”
“That’s another protective measure because I might be a target for the Reaper?”
“Yes. It’s not totally impossible for someone to walk here, but it would take them a long time.”
I shook my head. “Are these precautions really necessary?”
“Definitely. My plan is to do everything I can to anger the Reaper, and then parade myself around Game in the hope that he can’t resist attacking me. The Game Techs will be watching and waiting for that to happen. When the Reaper attacks, they’ll just need a minute or two to work out his new identity number, and after that the Reaper is doomed. Whether I kill him in the fight and he resurrects, or I take him prisoner, or he manages to kill me, it will make no difference. The Game Techs will be able to track him anywhere he goes, and arrange to teleport him into a Game prison.”
Hawk paused. “The one big flaw in my plan is that the Reaper knows I’ve had four centuries of combat experience. Game Techs do test fights against Game creatures, but nothing to compare with the scale of fighting I’ve done. Basic common sense should tell the Reaper that attacking me will end in him getting captured, put on trial, and probably sentenced to be expelled from Game and executed in real life.”
“You’re right. If the Reaper has any sense at all, he won’t attack you.”
“My big worry is that I’ll goad him into going for an alternative target instead, someone that he should be able to kill fast enough to escape before the Game Techs get his identity. If all the other Founder Players take refuge in Celestius, then the Reaper’s obvious choice of an alternative target is you.”
I shook my head again. “I’m not important enough for the Reaper to risk attacking me.”
“Do you remember how I opened my big mouth and let the whole Game population know that Hawk had defrosted to chase the bomber and been wounded?”
“Yes.”
“I was tired and in pain, so I didn’t think through the consequences of saying that. It told the Reaper that Michael had really been Hawk, and since Hawk wouldn’t casually cut a girl’s throat in real life that meant Emma’s murder had been faked.”
Hawk groaned. “Thanks to my stupidity, the Reaper knows that two people fooled him with a fake murder. Two people wrecked his plan to crash Celestius and kill hundreds of Founder Players. Two people drove him into giving up his Game Tech powers and becoming an ordinary player.”
He paused. “When we visited the bomb site, I kept introducing you and Nathan to people. The Reaper will have seen reports about that. He might even have had a controlled droid there himself, wearing a false face with bronze or silver status insignia, so he could enjoy viewing the havoc he’d caused in safe anonymity.”
I thought of all the droids at the bomb site, imagined one of them being controlled by the Reaper, and pictured him watching Hawk, Nathan, and me. “Ugh.”
“The Reaper will have worked out that if Michael was me, then Emma must have been my assistant, Jex. He’ll hate you nearly as much as he hates me.”
I imagined the Reaper searching for me, finding me, and coming to inflict the most painful Game death he could on me. I sat down on the sand again, reached out my hand to pick up a tiny shell, intricately patterned in ivory and mauve, and stared fixedly at it so that Hawk wouldn’t see the fear in my face.
“So I’m supposed to stay hiding alone on this beach?”
“I’d prefer us to either be here together, or travelling together, most of the time,” said Hawk. “If the Reaper tries attacking us, then I can defend you. The problem is that I’ll sometimes need to go to places where you can’t accompany me. Family meetings are traditionally held in the Amphitheatre rather than on Celestius itself, but they’re strictly private.”
He sat next to me. “When I have to be away, then I want this beach to be a safe hiding place where the Reaper can’t find you.”
I didn’t like Hawk’s assumption that I was a poor defenceless creature that had to be hidden away from the Reaper. My fear changed into anger, and I dropped my shell back on to the sand and turned to look Hawk in the eyes. “Would it really be such a bad thing if the Reaper found me?”
Hawk gave me a disbelieving look. “Of course it would be a bad thing. If the Reaper attacked you, there’d be no way for you to escape. G
ame is designed to prevent players from using Game teleport or world transfer commands to leave a combat area. If people losing a fight could just run away in the middle, then all the Game duels and fights with monsters would just be a farce.”
“I know. Once the Reaper attacked me, I couldn’t use a Game command to leave the combat area, but neither could he. I’d just need to stay alive for the minute or two it took the Game Techs to get his identity.”
“A minute is a very long time in a fight, Jex. An experienced fighter can kill a novice in a few seconds. The Reaper would kill you and escape before the Game Techs had a chance to find out his identity. You’d die pointlessly, and a player’s first Game death is always a traumatic experience.”
“A Game death would hurt, but it wouldn’t be permanent,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as Hawk.
“I’m the one playing bait to bring the Reaper out of hiding, not you,” said Hawk flatly. “Game is designed to mirror the experiences of real life as closely as possible, so your Game death would be excruciatingly painful. Believe me, I know this only too well, because I’ve died a lot of times over the centuries.”
“Stop and think about this for a moment.”
“I don’t need to think about it. You’re an easy target. I’m not.”
“Which is exactly why my plan is better than yours. The Reaper isn’t likely to risk attacking you, but he could be tempted to attack me. We just need to arrange for me to be out in public somewhere with Game Techs watching me, and have someone give away the fact I’m your assistant.”
I paused. “There’ll be reports on all the Game news channels within minutes. The Reaper will see them and have to make a snap decision on whether he grabs his chance to attack me. If he believes the news has leaked accidentally, he’ll think I’ll be a quick, easy kill.”