Suspicion

Dr. Cedar was having a headache. He rubbed his temples.

The pre-release had been going so smoothly. Even if Cedar was against the idea in the first place, he was happy that two players were stars and broke every expected record for the elite monster first kills.

'It's great if you just kill an elite monster or two, but you both had to go ahead and do that shit,' Cedar complained in his mind.

Management had been torn because of the achievements and items of these players. The two founders had discussed for a length of time already.

"We should have added a clause to the agreement: to not take any first clears other than elite monster kills," Dawson muttered. He was sitting on one of the folding tables, just like before.

"How were we to know a player would get that far? It's supposed to be a hard game." Cedar justified.

There was a pause.

"So, what do we do now?"

"What can we do?" Cedar replied with another question.

"I don't know, I'm the virtual graphics director!" Dawson exclaimed. He ran his hand on his jaw, thinking. "Just reset the achievement. Let the boy keep his chest, it's only B-grade."

"That's the obvious move, but what about his accomplishment? He's the best of the supposed best. Do we just take it from him? Is that fair to him?"

"Enough with the fairness advocation. It better to be fair, but that's not always possible." Dawson said. "I thought you were okay with compromise too," he pointed out. "Besides, the guy did even want his name announced; he won't care."

"And what about Thyme? We can't just take away her ring. She found it, she worked for it."

"Just let it be, it's fine," Dawson advised. "I designed it myself: I know its finite potential."

"You say that, but I'm not sure. Her actions tell me she'll do more than you believe."

"It's an A-grade rin-"

"It's a poorly graded ring," Cedar interrupted.

"Don't worry. Its effects will be limited, very limited, in the grand scope of the game, I guarantee you. Besides, she did well, isn't it only fair for her to get ahead?"

Cedar didn't reply. Equal opportunity was exactly what he wanted, but at this rate, the pre-release would set the experts too far ahead of everyone else.

The doctor sighed. It might be unfair to give the pre-release players a lead but wasn't it also unfair to take what the experts worked hard for and earned? Then there was also an increased probability of a premature discovery of the pre-release: a nightmarish dilemma for any developer.

"Just let it be, Cedar," Dawson said, softening his tone. "There's no better answer, don't stress over it too much."

Cedar sighed again, deeper this time. Dawson was right, but it just didn't feel as such.

"I need to go back and prepare to start the graphics diagnostic: server's going down in half an hour."

"Go," Cedar replied. "I need to fix the helmet."

"Alright, good luck."

Dawson left the office, shutting the thick, wooden door and the lights behind him.

Dr. Cedar was left in darkness, but he didn't mind it, rather appreciating Dawson's action. It was soothing – it always calmed him, and Dawson knew that very well.

With the blubs dark, a faint light was visible outside the window, maybe the first traces of sunrise.

'Now, the helmet.'

Two reports had come in from users, the only two reports yet actually, detailing a player's neurotic breakdown. This was serious: an issue that could plague the core of the game, the VR helmet. How would players feel if a device that they would strap onto their head for more than eight hours daily had a chance to render them insane?

The news would not proliferate due to the pre-release non-disclosure agreements but that wouldn't prevent the issue from possibly occurring again, maybe during the official release. At least the effects seemed to be temporary as John logged in shortly after.

'It's John again.'

He was the source of Cedar's greatest joy and agony of the pre-release thus far. He was a skilled player, using unique solutions and proficient virtual movement like no other. He had unbelievable foresight, successfully invading a high-level map and getting the elite monster kill. Moreover, he shared Cedar's own enjoyment of trolling.

Cedar watched the clip sent by a user who sent one of the reports, Helios.

"Is there something wrong with motor functions?" Cedar wondered aloud. He pulled up a few diagrams on the computer and did some examination of the helmet model. Motor response had been the hardest thing to flesh out in the helmet's development.

'But he doesn't seem to be in physical pain, at least not too much,' Cedar surmised from the clip. 'If only I could use the audiovisual files.'

POV Audiovisual records were physical drives that displayed exactly what the player had seen, heard, and felt. It was the only way to truly experience what a player experienced. It was played at eight times temporal compression, allowing developers to quickly scan for problems in the helmet. Appropriately, it was at the top of the privacy clearance, only freely accessible by Cedar and a few others for testing, exclusively during the pre-release.

But there was a risk that John's issue could reoccur with greater consequences at higher time compression.

Cedar analyzed the problem for five more minutes then quickly packaged up his thoughts and the clip. He added a note, explaining that it was likely something related to mental stability. But all pre-release participants were screened for this before admittance. It was illogical, however, it was Cedar's best guess.

He sent the documents to the lab. There was no sense trying to completely break apart such a complex problem by himself.

The doctor closed the programs, waved his mouse pointer around on the messy desktop, and tapped his foot.

'Maybe there's a clue after he logged back in," Cedar thought after a moment. It was possible there might have been a hint regarding the breakdown within a few hours after the incident.

Cedar opened up the server archives and entered the spectator's perspective. He skimmed through most of it, finally replayed the scenes of John's discovery of Angelina.

The RISE corporation took privacy very seriously. This was a realistic game where players could copulate with others. No one would want the RISE corporation to omnisciently watch their every move. The system could be used to replay big events or resolve disputes, but generally, no one had the ability to use the systems to spy. This was all public knowledge.

But resignation of privacy during the pre-release was part of the agreement – the one John had never read – to help the company test the servers. It was clearly written to the point that sexual behavior had been explicitly advised against.

However, not all employees had power. Only the company's highest authorities could follow players with great detail. And no head developer would bother watching hours of a player's adventure, right?

The records revealed something, but not a clue to John's madness.

Cedar watched vigilantly as John asked the orphan for Anne's home. How did he know that name?

Cedar watched as John pushed aside the treasure chest. Cedar watched as John slid down the chute, as he entered Bressh's office, reluctant, but when the boss was gone. Cedar watched as John went straight to the toilets and as John threw the magic stones onto the magic formation.

John was so practiced, so knowledgeable. Furthermore, he was so flamboyant, not even bothering to hide the fact he was probably cheating.

It could only be insider knowledge, right? But how did so much information escape? The RISE project was under extraordinarily tight watch: there was no way a leak could occur. That didn't explain the fluidity of his gameplay either – this kind of combat skill was practiced, not read about. Also, if he had so much skill and knowledge, why did he not hide it during the pre-release at least?

Dr. Cedar thought for a moment and typed an email, orders to ban the account.

It wouldn't permanently prevent John from accessing RISE: he could still return during the official release. Players needed to bind an ID to purchase an official helmet, but the pre-release used a token-retrieval system. The RISE corporation only knew who was in the pre-release, not whose username was whose. Still, it would be a painful blow to John's ambitions.

Cedar's pointer hovered a few pixels beside the send icon, and his finger, a few millimeters above the left mouse button.

He thought for a moment and turned his head, bringing eyes upon a virtual helmet and John's audiovisual records, the ones Samantha had brought. They detailed John's perspective from the start of the server to a bit after the elite rabbit fight.

The doctor moved the pointer aside, clicking on the delete draft button.

"Here I am, arguing for fairness, while letting this go," Cedar chuckled to himself.

Earlier, Cedar had undergone the same adventure John had. It felt fresh, something fun and relatable. It was exactly how he played games in his youth, skillfully, but also enjoyable.

Of course, Cedar had checked what John had seen in the rabbit's cave, what allure had been within those rocky walls.

Cedar had seen nothing.

…

John crunched down on the biscuit, hard and tasteless. At least the feeling was familiar. He tossed a pebble off the edge, watching it fall and break on the ground thirty meters below. The pocket watch was in his other hand, playing with the latch.

The tainted sunset in the distance was the same as always, but appealing.

He finally checked his pocket watch: 5:07 PM. John stood up from his seat on the edge of the hillside and equipped his weapons. It was time to farm again.

This fight was a tainted raccoon, just one, standing near a rocky face. Most of the rabbits had retreated into their dens by this time, leaving the raccoons which would go to sleep soon too.

It was oddly diurnal but only slightly bigger than a normal coon. But it was smarter and faster and stronger. These little mobs liked to use their nimble paws to grab the loose articles of players, even going for the weapon in the victim's hand. They like to also coordinate with other mobs, using their superior intelligence to communicate.

That made the single raccoon weak.

[Tainted Raccoon]

Level: 5

HP: 170/170

It was a bit beefier than a rabbit, but John had killed plenty of both before.

The coon aggroed on the thief as it entered the heavy pistol's attack range. It shrieked, recognizing the danger of a firearm and ducked for cover behind a tainted overgrowth.

-13

John's first shot grazed the body, nothing major.

The coon climbed on top of the next rocky step in the staircase hill. It ran, using the rocky side to shield itself against bullets as it approached.

John backed up quickly to establish line of sight. The coon managed to close the distance to less than twenty meters before John could fire. Even humans could sprint that in less than two seconds.

'Rapid-Fire.'

-26

-27

-8

Three shots discharged, hit the raccoon in the edge of the core, and passing through. It maintained its stride and reached melee range just before the third shot.

It went for the gun, trying to go for a wrestle on the firearm. It would have been a great tactic against a gunner using Rapid-Fire, but a thief had other options.

John let the raccoon go for it. It stuck its dirty paws on the pistol and struggled to dislodge it from John's hand. The teeth blared and bit on his wrist, penetrating the coat and gloves.

-15

John attacked it in response.

-23

-14

Two stabs hit it in the body, nothing vital, doing a bit of damage against the tainted fur. It lost its grip, falling to the ground.

There were still a bit more than a second of Rapid-Fire left, and it wouldn't be good to waste any experience.

Skills could be leveled up in RISE, but at this point, no players would be near possessing a rank two skill. Skills rank-ups were done by gaining experience from hunting or NPCs. Skill vials of various grades could also be found which increased the percentage XP of the skill. The effects of these items were lower on higher-tier skills.

John shot three times before the skill ended.

-28

-27

-12

[You have slain a Tainted Raccoon.]

[You have gained 67 XP.]

It collapsed, leaving a corpse on the ground near the edge of the cliff where John was recovering stamina earlier. John collected the drops and kicked the body over the edge of the cliff. The carcass followed the same path as the pebble.

John glanced at his progress from a few hours of hunting.

[John]

Class: Starter Thief

Level: 4 (10500/14500)

HP: 124/139

Strength: 9

Vitality: 9

Agility: 13

Dexterity: 14

"Next," John muttered, watching the body splatter on the ground far below. He wanted to farm as much as possible before finding a safe spot to log off.

…

"Hey, did you see something fall out there?"

"Where?"

"That weird hill," the first player, an optical elementalist answered.

"It's a cliff, rocks fall all the time," the second player, a priest, remarked.

"Didn't look like a rock."

"The sun has essentially set: how the hell would you see it at this distance?"

"There was a silhouette."

"Yes, a rock has a silhouette, so what?"

"It was like a star, four small points and a large one, spinning as it fell."

"Nice, you found a star-shaped boulder! Now, forget it. We need to find a safe place to hide. The server's gonna go down soon," the priest said. He knew they could probably make it back to Gyead before then, but he was anxious about possible nocturnal mobs. The rabbits were gone and that only foreshadowed impending doom.

"Then why not the hill?" the optical elementalist suggested. "It's close and it's better than being in the open."

The priest expected his colleague's recommendation. He had considered the option himself. But the hill gave off a bad feeling. It was just too prominent in its form: an abrupt protrusion in a relatively fat wasteland.

"Why not?" the optical mage asked.

"Doesn't feel right," the priest said. "Just log off right here."

"Really? We're gonna log off right here?" The logoff sequence in a combat zone required the player to immobilize themselves. This also revealed their presence.

"Just do it," the priest ordered. It was clear he had more authority than the mage.

"Okay…"

If any player had watched them logged out, they would have noticed a beacon of sorts, illuminating their presence. Mobs didn't see the same beacon but would still be alert within a certain radius.

None came.

After around half a minute, the pair dissolved into particles with a flash of light.