Spacebound Chronicles

Chapter 5: Chimeras

The Opal Dust orbited the blackhole Asher-117, one of the most dangerous areas in the realm of Fantasy Stars. Also the only place where one could get a Dark Matter Heart, which was useful for extremely advanced crafts. Hardly worth the risk, especially considering how any character good enough to possibly survive the attempt lived in a constant state of permadeath risk. As a result, no more than six people ever tried diving into Asher-117. Four of them were permakilled while in there, and lost their spot in the Top 500. One was lucky enough to get a respawn, and never tried again.

Only one single man ever returned with the Heart.

Attempting that suicide run was not why the Opal Dust had come to Asher-117. No, its captain, Brisk Haverson, merely enjoyed the blank aesthetic of the space-time distortion around Asher’s core and the violet and green mash of gases spiraling into eternal damnation. The lack of passers-by was also a convenient addition to the location.

Soon, from behind the veil of gasses and debris being sucked by the fabled Dark Matter Heart, a ship emerged. The Hunter Pilgrim. Zero Guy’s private vessel. For a second, before he confirmed the other spaceship’s ID, Brisk Haverson mentally prepared to activate laser canons, but that wouldn’t be necessary.

“Requesting permission to lapse,” Zero Guy’s youthful voice came from the Opal Dust’s panel.

“Granted,” Brisk grunted in response.

Less than ten seconds later, two focuses of pure light materialized behind the captain’s chair, producing Zero Guy, along with Lady Parly Zin. Brisk Haverson spun his chair around to face them, still aware of the space monstrosity behind him.

“Hey, Brisk, nice ship!” Zero was looking all over the cockpit with googly eyes that ran from one conquest trophy to the next. Everything from rare rocks to mythical creatures’ heads and legendary weapons looted from legendary gladiators, but no Dark Matter Heart, and there never would be. Not even that was worth the risk.

“Keep it together, Zero, we’re here in business,” Lady Zin snapped, before turning to Haverson. “Are Ares and Napper coming?”

“Ares is already here, I gave him a lift,” Haverson said, his grizzly stubby beard scratching the finger his cheek rested upon. “He should arrive soon. Napper had to go to his daughter’s ballet presentation, so he won’t come.”

Lady Parly Zin snorted. She was an elegant human of delicately fierce features that reminded Brisk of an eagle, slick black hair and a dark gown that resembled the fabric of space in all its stars. Her complexion’s pinkish color was quite mesmerizing itself, and whether or not that was her character’s default or improved by some cosmetic item, Brisk would never know.

“That daughter of his is being quite the problem,” she remarked. “Isn’t that why he was late to the meeting in Shay’s fortress?”

Brisk nodded.

“But… that’s his life, that comes first!” Zero protested.

“True, but inactive players don’t last in the Top 500,” Zin answered, “and if he isn’t in the Top 500, he is of no use to the Chimeras. We need people who can provoke actual impact, not casuals.”

“Hear, hear,” Brisk grunted. At the same time, Ares, a bright armored brutish Rajaptor, logged in with another burst of light. “Good, now that we’re all here, why did you call this meeting, Zin? What couldn’t we talk about two days ago at the castle?”

“How about the things that happened since the castle?” said Zin.

“Speaking of the castle,” Ares said, his fangs, usually white in his species, were black, and his fur, usually brown, the purest white, “I see you didn’t invite your Solar League friend Meron.”

Zin shot Ares her sharpest death stare. “This discussion concerns us, the founding Chimeras, and nobody else. They’ll play their part when their time comes, Meron included, and don’t you dare be aggressive towards one of my recruits ever again,” she called back to his exposition of Meron’s role as a guild leader loyal to the Solar League in front of all the other Chimeras. He grimaced.

“I didn’t mean…”

“I’m sure you did not. Now onto why I called you here,” Zin took a seat on the navigator’s chair. “We had a security breach during the meeting. Someone else was there. Someone uninvited. Any updates on that, Ares?”

“Our guards searched the whole castle before and after the meeting, but no sign of the intruder. He must’ve been logged off at both times.”

“I assume you’ve posted guard to await his return?” Brisk asked.

“Yes, but only NPC mercenaries. No player wants to waste time in an empty ruin.”

“How he fares against your mobs might tell us enough about who we’re dealing with,” Zin said, her fingertips connected before her mouth in pensive manner. “Now, there is something else we must talk about… A noob. Zero, will you share with us what you learned?”

“Sure thing, ma’am!” the young human scratched his blond fringe. “So… A noob was asking about us in Winner City.”

“Winner City?” Ares grunted. “How noob are we talking?”

“Level one, sir,” Zero Guy bit his cheek. “Like… super noob. You know Lord Potathunder?”

“No,” Ares said.

“Never heard the name,” said Brisk Haverson.

Lady Parly Zin just shook her head.

“Well, Potathunder is another character of mine. A bard. You know, I use him for less important stuff like…”

“We don’t care,” Zin spat. “Get to the point.”

“Okay! Okay! So, yesterday I was giving this new guy a tour of the city, and like, thirty second in he asks about the Chimeras. I freaked out, like… I thought it was one of you playing a prank on me!”

“I mean, none of us even knew about Lord Potatohead there,” Brisk said.

“Potathunder,” Zero corrected.

“What did you say?” Parly Zin asked somberly.

“N-nothing, nothing! I played super cool,” he lied. Saying he freaked out would be an understatement. “But then he vanished, like this. Poof! How weird is that, huh?”

“It could’ve been a coincidence,” Brisk said, “if not even we knew of this side character, how would anyone else? Unless you’ve been spilling information on us.”

“I’ve not! Swear!”

“Relax, kid,” Ares punched his shoulder. “I would normally agree with Brisk, but you said that was yesterday?”

Zero nodded.

“So, one day after someone eavesdropped on our meeting,” Ares paced to the viewport overlooking the blackhole, then turned frowning towards Lady Zin. “Which just so happens to have been the same day Meron bloody Trius joined our organization.”

Lady Parly Zin leaned back on her chair, posture maintained, but jaw clenched. Even she had to admit that was one suspicious series of events. The alien and the woman stared each other down for a long few seconds, until she finally spoke:

“Have you lost sight of our goal, Ares?”

“Never,” his answer was immediate.

“Then you know that for Fantasy Stars to achieve its full potential, for us to never again be limited by Zero’s noob friends, we need someone within the Solar League!”

“I’m not saying we don’t need someone in there, I’m saying you chose the wrong guy!” Ares’ voice was raising to yells. “The day he is initiated, we’re spied on, one day later noobs are asking questions? Everyone knows the man is a narcissist who loves playing the perfectly moral paladin. I don’t trust him.”

“Then you don’t trust me!” Lady Zin stood up, tendrils of Dark Matter spreading open from her back, her eyes turning a deep purple, the cabin’s lights flickering.

“Woah woah woah!” Brisk jumped up to stand between the brutish alien and the space witch. He assumed all the others had suddenly received the permadeath warning like himself. “Too close to the blackhole, Zin! Settle down!”

Her purple gaze landed over him, but then faded back to her green irises.

“Sorry, captain.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “Just don’t do that inside my ship. Ever! And I’d like to suggest a vote regarding this Meron situation.”

The others remained silent, realizing that was, indeed, the wisest course of action.

“All those in favor of permakilling his character?” Brisk said raising a hand along with Ares.

“All those against?” Zin raised her hand alone.

“May I?” Zero finally said, raising a shy finger.

“Sure, what is it?” Brisk tried not to show he was genuinely curious.

“I can try to find the noob again, learn more about him, if he’s a fake or something, how he learned about the Chimera, if he has high-level friends…”

“And what about Meron?” Ares asked, killer determination in his fuming nostrils.

“Keep him in the fridge a little. Test his loyalty until I figure out this noob situation. We’ve been planning this for years, a little longer will do no harm.”

“Sounds good to me,” Zin smirked. “Nicely done, Zero.”

The others agreed as well.

“One last thing,” Brisk stood up for the first time. “If push comes to shove. Noobs can’t be Perma-killed until level 50. You’re all aware of that, right?”

“They have no significant agency either,” Zin pointed out. “What we should really worry about is him bringing stronger characters into the scene.”

“Or becoming a stronger character himself,” Ares said in a tenebrous tone accentuated by Asher-117 in the background. “What was his name again?”

“Logan,” Zero spoke. “Logan Spacebound.”

“Good,” Zin said, standing up herself. “Then it’s settled. You, through Lord Potathunder, will find Logan Spacebound, track him down, learn what he knows…

“And then you’ll destroy him!”