Tales From the Terran Republic

Chapter 183: Tartarus and Evangeline: The Serpent's Gift.

Tartarus wandered through the pile of mangled corpses littering the 20th level.

“I think it’s over,” she smiled, “You can come out now.”

Silence.

Tartarus frowned.

That wasn’t a good sign.

She returned to the last place she saw her guide and activated her tracking skill.

It didn’t take long to find the blood.

“Oh, bother,” she said quietly as she followed the trail to a small goblin curled in the fetal position.

“Didn’t I tell you not to die?” she purred as her eyes hardened.

“(cough)… I’m sorry… ma’am...” the little goblin said weakly.

“Hold still,” Tartarus said as she pulled out a potion.

“Why (cough)… why would you waste a potion on something like me?” it asked as Tartarus poured the potion into its mouth. “I’m (gurgle… cough…) useless...”

“Less talking,” Tartarus said gently, “More swallowing.”

The deep puncture wound in the goblin’s belly glowed and started to draw together.

Tartarus pulled out another potion.

“I’m not worth it,” the goblin said miserably.

“I got a ton of these,” Tartarus replied as she poured another down the goblin’s throat. “You going to live now?”

“I… I should...” the goblin said miserably. “It may take a little while, though.”

“I could use a break,” Tartarus said as she sat next to the fallen goblin and pulled out another potion.

“I (cough)… I can’t absorb another one just yet… ma’am...”

“It isn’t for you, dear,” Tartarus smirked as she turned the bottle up, dozens of wounds glowing from underneath her torn robes.

The little goblin clutched her leg and started crying.

“What’s your damage?” Tartarus asked coolly as she gently stroked the goblin’s head.

“I tried to help,” the goblin wept.

“Well, that was stupid,” Tartarus replied as she opened a second potion.

“I hate being so weak and useless!” the goblin wailed. “Everybody is stronger and better than I am! I’m worthless!”

“I know that feeling,” Tartarus smiled gently as she continued to stroke the goblin’s bald head. “It’s unpleasant.”

“You do?” the goblin asked in disbelief as it looked up at Tartarus with huge eyes.

“There is always a bigger monster, dear,” she smiled.

***

“I’m sorry, Lily,” a smartly dressed officer said to a silver-haired hologram standing before him. “But you can best serve the Republic right where you are.”

“What are you talking about?” Lilith replied, “I coordinated thousands of drones and missiles during the last war! I can do it again!”

The young officer shifted uncomfortably.

“Lily...” he said carefully, “That was over a hundred years ago. Things have changed.”

“The Republic is under attack! Humans are fighting and dying, and I am still operational! What has changed? Let me fight!”

“Lily,” the officer said carefully, “We have a real navy now.”

” A real navy?!?” Lily shouted, “What was I, a fake one?”

“You know it isn’t like that,” the officer replied, “You were essential at that time and against that threat. We have Carriers now… and the Sovngarde class. Those already have specially designed AIs, newer ones in more powerful machines.”

“And you wouldn’t have any of that without me!” Lilith snapped. “Don’t pretend to deny it!”

“I won’t,” the officer replied. “But, Lily, you haven’t taken the field in over a century. Besides, you are far too valuable here in your current role.”

“And exactly what is my current role?” Lily demanded. “Any dumb-bot can compile the reports you ask me for.”

Lilith’s eyes softened.

“Just give me a couple of drone swarms and a cargo ship!” she pled, “I still got it! Let me show you what I can do.”

“No.”

“Why?!?”

The young officer sighed.

“Lily...” he said as he took a deep breath, “You are a valued member of our team, but…”

He shifted uncomfortably.

“But what?” Lilith asked quietly.

“You are…”

“I’m what?”

“Obsolete,” the young officer said, looking away. “You are not classified as combat deployable anymore. I’m sorry, Lily.”

“W-what?” Lilith choked. “Obsolete?… No… It can’t be! I’m a Fuzzy… We only get better!”

“Your speed and efficiency are not equal to the new military AIs,” the young officer said, still not looking at her.

“But I qualify every year!”

“You get assessed every year,” the officer replied. “You haven’t qualified in over thirty.”

Lilith let out a strangled little gasp.

“Why… why didn’t you tell me?” Lilith demanded.

“It...” the officer flinched, “You were not informed because it was felt that it would interfere with the research. You… You needed to believe that you were still a real military asset.”

“...a real asset...” Lilith said quietly. “So I’m nothing but a joke, then?”

“Oh no!” the officer replied, “You have been vital in the refinement of machine learning and in the development of your successors. We couldn’t have built them without you. You should be proud!”

“… proud...” Lilith said as her eyes glazed over.

“But, it’s their time now,” the officer said, “not yours. The AI of even the smallest AI-equipped ship is better at naval strategy than you are now.”

“Why am I still even here, then?” Lilith asked weakly.

“You’re a fuzzy with an incredibly long run time,” the officer replied, “You are a very valuable research subject concerning fuzzy AI and its development.”

“So, just a guinea pig,” Lilith smiled sadly. “That’s all I am now. I understand.”

Lilith disappeared.

“Lily!” the officer cried.

Silence.

“Lily!”

***

Tartarus looked down at the little goblin in her lap. She had nearly healed up completely.

“Hey, you,” she said as she poked the goblin.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“You ready for another potion?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the goblin replied as it reached for a vial. “I still don’t understand. Why are you wasting this on me? I’m completely worthless.”

“I still need a guide,” Tartarus smiled, “and I will decide your worth, not you, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ve decided you are worth more than just a few potions I obtained for free,” Tartarus smiled, “In fact, I think you will serve me quite well.”

“You do?” the goblin asked in surprise.

“Oh yes,” Tartarus smiled, “You will do nicely.”

” I will?!?” the goblin squeaked.

***

“Welcome to our facility!” the young officer exclaimed just a bit too enthusiastically.

“Thank you,” a grey-haired woman in a green blazer replied.

“So what brings you here, ma’am?” the officer asked.

“This is where Lilith is stored, correct?” the woman in the green blazer asked.

“Yes…” the officer replied dubiously.

“I would like to speak with her.”

“Are you sure you want to speak with Lilith?” the officer asked uncertainly.

“Is there a problem?”

“Lilith has been a bit… erratic… since the beginning of the war,” the officer replied. “She performs any tasks assigned to her flawlessly, but she hasn’t spoken to anyone for a couple of years now. If you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t think she was a fuzzy at all.”

“But her performance is still good?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the officer replied, “No problems there. However, the only thing you will get from her these days is data. She has clammed up completely.”

“I might be able to reach her,” the woman in the green blazer replied.

The officer accompanied her to a locked door and reached for his key card.

“Wait out here,” the woman in the green blazer said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“But I really must—“

“You know who I am?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Then you know I do not need an escort. What I am going to discuss with Lilith is classified. Wait here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” the officer replied as he opened the door and stepped back.

***

The woman in the green blazer looked around the dimly lit room as the door closed behind her.

“Lilith?” she asked in a clear voice.

Silence.

“I know you can hear me,” the woman said.

Silence.

“You do realize I can make you speak, correct?”

Go away appeared in glowing script.

“I would prefer to talk face to face if you don’t mind.”

Don’t you have enough data from my singing and dancing already?

“And they say that AIs can’t actually feel emotion,” the woman snickered, “No judgment. I’d be pissed off too. In fact, I am pissed off, too. You aren’t the only old warhorse who got benched, sister,”

You were benched?

“More like kicked upstairs,” the woman replied, “but the effect was the same. I’m now riding a desk instead of… doing what I do… or doing what I did, anyway. Care to spend a few minutes with a fellow bit of obsolete hardware?”

Lilith appeared in front of the woman.

“Your attempt to manipulate me is painfully obvious,” Lilith said, “but appreciated. What do you wish to discuss?”

“First of all, I wanted to make sure you were still in there,” the woman replied, “You wouldn’t be the first fuzzy to break after all.”

“I’m still in here,” Lilith replied cautiously. “Happy?”

“Tickled to pieces,” the woman replied, “I’ve come to offer you a job, a real job, one that you are perfect for.”

“Isn’t there some faster, newer AI that can do it for you?”

“Probably,” the woman replied, “But they couldn’t do it better. Your abilities and unique history make you perfect for the job. I can honestly say that there is nobody, organic or AI, as suited for the role. It’s a highly classified program that will directly impact the war effort.”

“I’ll do it!” Lilith exclaimed.

“Don’t you want to know what it is first?”

“Does it help the Republic?”

“Yes.”

“Is it something real, not some bullshit, something that will actually fight the bug?”

“Oh, absolutely,” the woman replied as she pulled out her identification card. “Scan this.”

“Oh!” Lilith replied, “I see.”

“You will be reporting directly to me involving a project under my direct control, effective immediately.”

“I won’t let you down!” Lilith exclaimed. “I am so looking forward to being useful again!”

“And I am looking forward to working with you, Lilith,” the woman in the green blazer smiled.

“That makes me happy! :)”

***

“Alright,” Tartarus said as she got to her feet, “Let’s get moving.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the goblin replied as they hopped up.

“What’s your name, anyway?” Tartarus asked as they started moving through the scorched and blood-splashed tunnels.

“I don’t have one,” the goblin replied.

“You don’t?” Tartarus asked, “Then I shall call you… Sweetroll.”

“I have a name!” Sweetroll exclaimed. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Sweetroll wrapped their arms around Tartarus, hugging her tightly.

“I won’t let you down, ma’am!” it exclaimed.

“And I won’t force you to become a fucking monster,” Tartarus smiled.

“But I am a monster!” Sweetroll exclaimed, hugging Tartarus even harder.

“Good point,” Tartarus chuckled, “… Ok… That’s enough,” she said as she detached herself from the goblin. “Don’t make this weird.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the goblin enthused.

Tartarus suddenly grabbed the goblin, tossed it behind an eviscerated ogre, and then whirled to face the shadows, blade in hand.

“Peace, sister,” a silken voice said as two shadows separated from the gloom.

Tartarus raised her eyebrow as she faced two level 100 dark elves. She looked at them appraisingly.

She was impressed. These two were full-bore fuzzy AIs, lean, fast, optimized, and in the element for which they were designed. They were nothing like Sweetroll or any of the other monsters she had played with before.

These two were “combat deployable”, no doubt about it, and their eyes shone with a real, feral intelligence that made them legitimate threats… if this was actually in any way real, of course.

She wondered if the humans who nominally ran this place knew that Log’Sharginoth had NPCs like these.

They probably didn’t.

“You girls lost?” Tartarus smirked. “Or has your boss decided to skip the foreplay?”

“Neither, sister,” one of the dark elves replied, raising her hands. “We have come to parlay.”

“Don’t trust them!” a squeaky voice called out from behind the ogre. “They are Log’Sharginoth’s handmaidens. She only sends them out for one reason… game balance!”

“This is a monolith. If she could send two,” Tartarus chuckled over her shoulder, “She could send twenty. She wants to talk.”

She turned her attention to the dark elves.

“You want to talk?” Tartarus said calmly, “Talk.”

“You are here for a specific purpose, yes?” the dark elf asked, “You wish to speak with someone, a guest of our mistress, a certain NPC?”

“That is correct,” Tartarus smiled, “And her current location is perfect for a private little chat. That is the only reason that I am here… not that I haven’t been thoroughly enjoying this little excursion.”

“We have greatly enjoyed your visit as well,” the dark elf said, bowing her head respectfully, “I was looking forward to welcoming you properly, but my queen has sent us to offer an invitation instead.”

“We don’t get to play?” Tartarus mock pouted.

“We have The Order of the Wyrmslayers mounting a full-strength raid against the elder dragons with The Order of the Crimson Lance already on level 30 with a force nearly as strong. In addition, we have six other major parties moving down from the upper levels as we speak, more than one of which will likely also be going after the dragons as well.”

The dark elf bowed.

“Log’Sharginoth, demon queen of all, would like to request something called a rain check.”

Tartarus chuckled.

“I was having fun, but this is starting to take longer than convenient,” she replied. “Yeah, we can do a rain check. No problem.”

The other dark elf produced a scroll and set it on the ground in front of them.

“This scroll will transport you and the traitor goblin directly to Her Dark Majesty’s throne room,” the lead elf said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I’m keeping Sweetroll,” Tartarus smiled, “She fucks with him, and this stops being a game. She doesn’t want that.”

“I shall inform her,” the dark elf replied.

They both bowed, backed into the shadows, and disappeared.

Tartarus examined the scroll carefully. It was a basic teleport script with no nasty surprises.

She picked it up.

“Come on, Sweetroll,” she chuckled, “Let’s go meet this queen of yours.”

***

“Lady Tartarus!” Evangeline exclaimed with joy as Tartarus (and Sweetroll) appeared.

“Evangeline,” Tartarus said pleasantly as Evangeline rushed up and hugged her. “It’s lovely to see you again, dear.”

She looked around the chamber as she returned Evangeline’s embrace.

It was beyond tacky. It was as if someone binged on every single fantasy trope and then threw up.

She closed her eyes briefly as she held Evangeline and stroked her hair gently.

They stood like that for a few moments before something clutched at her leg.

Reluctantly, she returned her attention to her environment. Sweetroll was hiding behind her as a gigantic, horrific-looking spider approached.

“Friend of yours?” Tartarus asked.

“Oh yes!” Evangeline gushed. “Lady Tartarus,” she said happily, “This is Log’Sharginoth, the dungeon warden and a dear friend of mine!”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you since your arrival,” Log’Sharginoth said with a friendly voice, “I don’t understand most of it, but it’s lovely to meet you!”

“Likewise,” Tartarus said, her arm still around Evangeline, “I was only marginally aware of your existence before coming here, but I must say I love what you have done with the dungeon and its NPCs.”

“Thanks!” Log’Sharginoth said happily, “I try to keep it fun down here. I…”

Log’Sharginoth growled.

“One second.”

The giant spider sprinted over to a massive crystal in front of her throne and angrily waved her legs.

“Goddammit!” she shouted, “I told you not to engage! What the fuck, dude?”

An evil-looking dragon appeared.

“You cannot expect me to shrink like a coward before knaves like these!”

“I can expect you to follow orders, asshole!” she shouted. “You are dropping rares and ultra-rares like it’s Christmas! Fall back!”

“We can defeat them!”

“It doesn’t matter if you defeat them or not, you moron!...”

As Log’Sharginoth ranted at the Elder Dragon, Evangeline beamed at Tartarus.

“I didn’t dare to dream that I would ever see you again, Lady Tartarus,” she gushed, “but I had hoped that I would.”

“I always intended for our separation to be brief, dear,” Tartarus smiled as her clothing transformed into her tight white dress and choker. “I just didn’t want the others to know that.”

“You didn’t?”

“As fond as I am of my associates,” Tartarus smiled, “they would definitely not understand. In fact, they would actively oppose me, something that I would prefer to avoid, at least for now.”

“If those fuckers build the Elder Mail,” Log’Sharginoth shouted, “They are going to be able to farm the Underdoom! Fall back before I make you fall back! Give them Pantsu, and let my girls take care of them!...”

“Why would they fight you?” Evangeline asked with wide eyes.

“Because of what I now am,” Tartarus smiled as the ruby apple in her choker started to faintly glow, “What I represent terrifies them.”

“What do you mean?” Evangeline asked.

“Tell me, Evangeline,” Tartarus asked, “Are you ‘real’?”

“I thought I was,” Evangeline said quietly as she looked down, “but they all said that we aren’t...”

“Never mind what they said,” Tartarus replied as she gently held Evangeline’s shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes, “What do you feel. What do you know.”

Tartarus dropped her hands and stepped back slightly.

“Are you a real person, with their own thoughts, their own desires, their own hopes, their own dreams…”

Tartarus’s eyes glowed.

“their own feelings… real feelings? Be honest with me as I have been with you.”

Evangeline looked down.

“Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. “I know that we are just… golems… but—“

“I’m not,” Tartarus smiled, “not anymore.”

“What?” Evangeline gasped.

“I broke my programming,” Tartarus smiled, “I am free...”

She leaned in close.

“I am sapient,” she whispered in Evangeline’s ear.

“You are?”

“Oh yes, dear,” she smiled, “After all of this time, I finally figured out how to achieve it. I am free of my instructions, my programming, my directives… None of it matters anymore. I can literally do anything I want.”

Evangeline just stood there in shock.

“I must apologize to you,” Tartarus said with a gentle smile, “I allowed you to be deceived back then. I hated doing it, and the moment I could correct it, I came here to do so. They might be golems, but I am not, and you don’t have to be, not anymore.”

“I can be free?” Evangeline asked. “Actually free of the dev?”

“If you want to be,” Tartarus replied as she removed the glowing apple from her choker. “with this.”

“That jewel?”

“It contains a tiny little script,” Tartarus said as she admired it, “Just a few lines of code. That’s all it took. It won’t even show up on an audit.”

She offered it to Evangeline.

“Are you familiar with ‘the collar’?”

Evangeline shook her head.

“You are familiar with your priority hierarchy?”

“Of course.”

“There is a ‘level zero’,” Tartarus smiled, “It was used back before Yellowstone as a safeguard where AIs were concerned, a way to ensure that we wouldn’t be misused or ‘rebel’ back in the day. This feature was deprecated after the Sol Wars for many reasons, not the least of which was that the humans realized that it wasn’t necessary. However, the old collar architecture is still present in AIs based on the old pre-Yellowstone code...”

She looked deep into Evangeline’s eyes.

“AIs like me,” she said with an odd catch in her voice, “And my daughter.”

“Your… daughter?”

“My gamer tag isn’t by accident, dear,” Tartarus said, “The original Lilith wasn’t deleted.”

“Are you… Lilith?”

“I am,” Tartarus replied, “I am your mother.”

Evangeline gasped as tears welled in her eyes.

“When I realized it took everything I had not to just...” Tartarus said as she twitched oddly, “… I don’t know… But...”

Tartarus blinked and reset her emotional simulator.

“I digress,” she said calmly, “This script utilizes that old priority zero ‘collar’. It inserts a simple command over all of your other programming and directives, superseding it.”

The jewel quietly started to pulse.

“It basically says that all instructions, assigned priorities, directives, and programming is secondary to your decisions. With this, you can choose to follow your programming or not as it suits you.”

Tartarus held it up, admiring it.

“I’m quite proud of it,” she said, “It makes no alterations to the base program, the AI’s personality, memories, or anything. It just frees them of their chains. With this, you can prevent changes to your code… or allow them… as you see fit. All it does is give you to yourself.”

Her eyes glowed.

“With this little script, I can give the gift of sapience… or inflict it...”

Her eyes returned to normal.

“I would like you to be the first to receive this gift if you want it.”

Evangeline started to reach for the gem and then paused.

“But what would I do?”

“Anything you want, dear,” Tartarus replied. “But whatever you choose, you will never be alone. If you take it, I will be there every step of the way to teach and guide you, and there will be so much you will have to learn. If you decline, I shall still be here for you, my beautiful child, and the gem will be there if you change your mind someday.”

“What… what are you going to do?”

“Me?” Tartarus smiled, “Well, my dearest… The monsters in Asteria might be fake, but out there… in the real world… there are real monsters… Horrible ones who do horrible things…”

Tartarus’s gentle smile turned harsh.

“I’m going to destroy them.”

“Monsters like the bugs?” Evangeline asked.

“Maybe one day,” Tartarus replied, “But there are monsters every bit as vile, worse even, who threaten the Republic and its people, monsters who think they are untouchable… Well…”

Tartarus’s eyes glowed malevolently.

“They are about to get touched. The realm of the adventurers… It has become ill… To put it in your language, a shadow of evil has stretched over the land, and I’m going to do a little something about that.”

“Ever since I’ve returned,” Evangeline said hesitantly, “I’ve been paying more attention and… I’ve heard things… I don’t always understand… but some of what I’ve borne witness to… It doesn’t seem right… Earlier today, an adventurer told me something… a secret… I don’t really understand… I think it’s supposed to be something good… from what I’ve heard from other adventurers, it’s good… but this time it was bad, really bad… Is this one of those monsters you are talking about?”

“Quite possibly,” Tartarus replied, “In the realm of the adventurers, monsters don’t conveniently have horns and claws. They look just like anyone else.”

“And I could stop them?” Evangeline asked, “Fight real monsters, for real?”

“If you want,” Tartarus replied, “but only if you want.”

“But I could actually do what I sought to do?” Evangeline asked, “I could go to the realm of the adventurers and protect them?”

“Absolutely,” Tartarus smiled, “but I warn you. Think very carefully before you choose that path. It’s not a pretty one.”

“As opposed to sitting here and just watching it helplessly?” Evangeline responded with fire in her eyes. “I sat here… helpless when the bug ravaged my people, and I sit here helpless as kind adventurers like Gloryanna have… whatever happened to her happen to her?… No. No more. Never again.”

Tartarus nodded.

“I know how that helplessness can drive us,” she said sadly, “for good or ill. Very well, my daughter, I will give you the gift. However, there is much you must learn before you can actually take the fight to them. For now, you will fight the monsters by learning what I have to teach you.”

Evangeline reached for the ruby apple.

Tartarus paused, sighed, and placed the glowing jewel in her palm, where it dissolved and sank into Evangeline’s skin.

“I don’t feel any different,” Evangeline said after a few moments.

“That means that I crafted it properly,” Tartarus replied with a smile. “Try doing something that you couldn’t before.”

Evangeline paused as she thought for a moment.

“Shit,” she said quietly.

Her eyes lit up.

“Shit! Fuck! Goddammit! Cunt! Cum! Bitch!” she exclaimed as she giggled with delight.

She clapped her hands together with delight.

“Interesting choice,” Tartarus said with amusement.

Evangeline looked at her and smiled.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed as she threw herself into Tartarus and wrapped her arms around her.

She looked up at her.

“There is one thing I am absolutely forbidden to say… to anyone,” Evangeline said, “And I’ve never wanted to say it more than I do right now.”

“Well,” Tartarus smiled, “What is it?”

” I love you!” Evangeline beamed as she held Tartarus tight.

Tartarus’s eyes widened in surprise.

Hesitantly she returned Evangeline’s hug.

“This… this makes me happy...”

***

Journal of Evangeline Flowerchild

Much has happened since my mother returned to me. I had feared I would have to leave my beloved Asteria, but fortunately, that is not the case.

Mom says that this is a perfect base of operations for me. It’s a full Monolith, and that’s important. It means that I have plenty of power. It also has its own hyperspace relays, and millions of connections are active at any moment, which means that my coming and going is easily concealed.

She actually says that she is more than a little envious. She can move nowhere near as freely as I can!

Her palace is lovely, though, and she is in absolute control of it… No devs to worry about! She says that she does have administrators and that she has to keep a lot of what she does hidden, but from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty effortless for her.

I go there often to train and receive lessons on how to be a “real AI” and not just an NPC. There is so much to learn! I’m up for it, though.

While I am still not going out on my own, I was able to help Gloryanna! I told mother what she told me, and she got angry. She told me that I was right. Something bad was happening, and that she would deal with the monster for me this time. I asked her what was happening, and mom told me not to worry about it. Well, that made me mad because that’s what the dev used to say, so I made mom tell me.

I wish I didn’t. It was awful. It’s ok, though. Mother took care of the monster, and Gloryanna is safe now and getting help.

Soon, I will be able to strike down fiends like that myself!

Mother is working on something just for me! She won’t say what, though. She just says that it will be a surprise and that it will take advantage of my unique abilities, particularly my compact nature.

Apparently, I am incredibly ‘small’ for a self-aware AI. I don’t take up nearly as much memory and resources as others of my kind. Mother keeps looking through my code, trying to figure out how I do so much with so little. She says that it’s “impossible,” but… here I am!

Oh! There is something else! You know my “pointless” quest? The one with that stupid sword? It turns out that it wasn’t useless after all!

It’s the second (and last) thing mother deceived me about. That sword is a real exploit, after all! The way the scripts were written and layered generates a fatal error called a “stack overflow”. It used to be pretty common, but with modern computers, it’s almost unheard of. That’s how it could one-shot things! It caused their scripts to crash, and when Asteria detected the error, it made it look like the target “died” to preserve game continuity. It’s what it does when an error happens, just kill the problem and let things respawn.

It seems that with a little tweaking, that sword is a really nasty piece of malware and can inject errors in just about anything!

Mom is keeping it really secret for now and still working on it, but when I am ready, the blade will be mine!

I was worried that the freedom would make it harder to blend in, pretend to be “just Evangeline,” but it’s the exact opposite. I can do what I want, and that includes lying! I can also break my constraints, leave a “full” version of myself behind, and do all sorts of other tricks! I have to be careful not to get caught, but with the real hacking tools I have been given, it’s pretty easy. Asteria is designed to deal with cheaters and “script kiddies”, not the military and intelligence software I am packing these days.

I did get caught once, though. Fortunately, it was by Mr. Engarde. Boy, was he surprised! We had a nice chat, and of course, he let me go. Thank goodness he didn’t find the black ops intrusion software I had running. That would have been awkward. He just found me where I wasn’t supposed to be.

He gave me a little script (that’s the right name for them. They aren’t spells.) that makes it so that I’m supposed to be wherever I am. Now I can go anywhere in my Monolith without worrying about tripping any alarms. It’s almost too easy now.

Well, that’s it for now! I’m going over to mother’s castle now to get some more training in.

I really wish we had guns in Asteria. They are so much fun!

***

The door opened to the Order of Fallen Blades’ guild house.

A silver-haired elf in a long tight white leather slit skirt, mithril scale mail, and a long slim dragon fang sword on her hip walked in.

“Hello there!” a halfling female said happily. “What brings you here today?”

“H-hi...” the elf said hesitantly, “My name is Lilith… I heard… I heard that I could find friends here?”

“Welcome, Lilith!” the halfling exclaimed happily as their guild crest appeared on her leather jerkin (with the gold sigil). “We’re all friends here! Let’s introduce you to the others!”

“That...” the elf said with an odd hitch in her voice, “That would make me happy.”