Chapter 116: Sick Individuals

Lue’s reply came back before Jaxir had made it much farther toward Marr Town, quick enough that he was still looking at the distant walls when the message unfolded in front of him.

―

Luecious Luscious: [Goddamn I didn’t expect you to be that fast. Nothing you do in this game makes sense. Give us two hours, I’ll set up the meeting.]

―

Jaxir nodded to himself and dismissed the screen while continuing along the road. "We’ve got 2 hours."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "2 hours for what?"

"Oh, that’s right, I never told you why I was coming here." Jaxir glanced over at him. "I have a meeting with the government faction. Looks like they want to recruit me."

Nick stopped walking long enough to slap a palm against his forehead. "Are you retarded?"

"Huh?"

"Well, for one, YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!" Nick caught back up and jabbed a finger toward Jaxir. "And for two, maybe if you lived in one of those dictatorial states it’d be fine, but our government is impotent as hell in this game."

Jaxir laughed while Nick kept going, clearly having stored far more resentment toward government factions than Jaxir had expected.

"Forget protecting you, they’ll hold you back. Everyone knows joining a guild is better, and with your skill I’d bet my left nut one of the top guilds would take you." Nick spread his hands. "The only reason they haven’t sent you recruitment letters yet is reputation. They’re at the top, so they don’t want to look desperate, but you’ve shown more than enough."

That would’ve been reasonable advice if Jaxir wanted protection inside Divinity. But he didn’t.

The Chance Corporation had already tried dictating what factions he could join, what items he could pursue and even what Divinities he could associate with, and none of that had happened inside the game.

What Jaxir needed wasn’t some guild capable of bullying his uncle’s people in Marr Town; he needed an organization powerful enough in the real world to make the Chance Corporation reconsider how far it wanted to push him.

If his parents’ letter was right about where Divinity was heading, then the government’s interest in him would only increase. Lue had already told him how much money and military attention was pouring into the game now, and Jaxir doubted someone who had cleared everything he had in the Tutorial Zone would be invited to a meeting just so they could offer him a uniform and a handshake.

Nick wasn’t wrong about their weakness, though.

Their government had realized Divinity’s importance later than the largest guilds, especially compared to governments willing to force their citizens into line outside the game. Guilds could recruit almost anyone immediately, while the military still had enlistment standards, basic training and actual laws restricting what it could do to citizens over something that happened in a virtual world.

That head start had become a numbers problem.

The government was pouring money into catching up now, especially after Phase II, but the strongest guilds had spent years gathering players, resources and influence while officials were still deciding how seriously they should take the game.

In some more authoritarian countries, governments had solved that problem in much uglier ways, but Jaxir’s country didn’t have the luxury—or insanity—of threatening someone’s real life because they attacked a government faction in Divinity.

Jaxir looked at Nick and smiled. "Isn’t that what makes it fun? It’s just a game, isn’t it? Joining a powerful faction sounds like putting in cheat codes. Where’s the fun in that?"

Nick’s lip started twitching almost immediately. "There is real money in this game."

"So?"

"Real economic upheaval happens here." Nick started counting points off on his fingers as they walked. "People make their entire income playing Divinity now. Years ago, only top players could say that, but now even middling players can make a living, and plenty of people gold farm as a side hustle."

Jaxir kept smiling, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"This game is too important to treat like a game. There are actual stakes involved."

Jaxir’s grin widened. "Not if you’re rich."

Nick stopped again and stared at him for a long moment before disgust slowly spread across his face. "I forgot you were a Chance boy."

Jaxir laughed.

"Fuck, my parents should’ve been richer."

The little Natural girl had been walking beside them through the entire conversation, her large eyes moving back and forth every time one of them spoke. Jaxir had almost forgotten she was still there until the mention of Chance made him fall quiet for a moment and gave her enough room to finally interrupt.

"Where are you taking me?"

Nick looked down at her and made a shooing motion with one hand. "What do you mean, taking you? Go away, little girl. We don’t need you anymore."

Jaxir glanced at him. "Gentleman, indeed."

"Exactly."

The girl looked toward Marr Town instead of answering, and Jaxir followed her gaze toward the gates growing larger ahead. They were close enough now to make out the guards and the steady stream of players and NPCs moving through.

The girl’s expression changed the instant she saw how close they were.

One moment she looked perfectly fine, and the next her eyes filled with tears as she dropped onto both knees in the middle of the road and started bawling loud enough to turn heads from halfway to the gate. Jaxir watched her for a second, then looked at Nick.

"Nice job."

More people began slowing as the crying continued, and even 2 guards near the entrance stopped what they were doing to watch. Nick’s face went pale when he realized exactly how the scene looked, with 2 grown men standing over a sobbing little girl on an open road.

"Wait, wait, wait. What the hell are you doing?"

Nick rushed forward to pull her up, but the girl recoiled before he could touch her.

"BAD GUY! DON’T TOUCH ME THERE!"

Jaxir choked on air.

Nick froze with one hand still extended, while the mood around them changed so fast it was almost impressive. Players and NPCs who had only been curious a moment ago were now staring at Nick with open hostility, and several people closer to the gate had already started moving in their direction.

Nick slowly lowered his hand. "You evil little—"

The girl cried louder.

"Don’t finish that sentence." Jaxir covered his mouth as another cough escaped him. "I don’t think it’s helping."

A group of 5 had been walking toward the gates a short distance ahead of them, and until now its leader had clearly been trying to ignore the spectacle. She carried a staff and wore the layered robes of a Healer, but Jaxir noticed her face before he noticed any of that.

She was gorgeous in a way Divinity couldn’t fake for someone.

The game didn’t let players change their bone structure, height or build, which meant the narrow oval of her face, high cheekbones, straight nose and full lips were all her own. Her eyes were a pale gray beneath dark lashes, while smooth skin and a sharp jawline gave her features enough definition that the cosmetic white hair falling past her shoulders only made her stand out more.

The hair was obviously altered in-game, almost silver under the daylight, but it suited her far better than Jaxir would’ve expected. She was already the kind of woman people would’ve noticed walking through a crowd, and the white hair gave her an almost unreal look without changing anything fundamental about her face.

Then she heard the little girl’s accusation and her expression hardened.

One of the men beside her caught her arm before she could turn around, but she pulled free and looked straight toward Jaxir, Nick and the sobbing Natural. Whatever she had been willing to ignore before disappeared the moment she saw the girl on her knees and Nick standing over her.

Jaxir watched her grip tighten around the staff.

Divinity’s realism came with problems that ordinary games never had to deal with, especially when some players treated NPCs like objects simply because they weren’t technically real people.

The developers had built systems to identify and remove the worst offenders and protect NPCs from abuse, but enough people slipped through the cracks that stories about them still circulated.

From where the Healer stood, Jaxir could understand exactly what she thought she was looking at.

A crying NPC child was kneeling in the road, Nick had just lunged toward her after being accused of touching her, and Jaxir was standing beside him laughing hard enough that he’d nearly choked.

"Ah."

The Healer stormed toward them with her staff already in hand, while the rest of her party hurried after her.

Jaxir looked down at the little girl.

She peeked through her fingers and grinned.