Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

because I don’t trust you, just because you had enough on your plate, and once Michael was out of commission, I really thought it had been a token offering.” Davenport pushed his fingers through his wild white mane.

“And now you can’t find where he is?” Laria puzzled over the words. “I mean, he’s in the game right, with a headset?”

“He hasn’t logged out.” Davenport locked eyes with her for a moment, lending gravity to the situation. “I can’t find where he is in the world, but I do know he’s still logged in. That’s the problem. I also know that he isn’t in there because his employers told him to retrieve information. They’ve been in contact with me for a couple of days. We have things to…discuss.”

Laria sat for a moment, going over in her head what had happened with Wren. So many problems emerged when she entered the game. She didn’t like James, but she didn’t want to condemn him to a life of spasming on the floor when they might be able to prevent any further damage. If that was the reason he couldn’t be located.

“Well, if he’s definitely in the game, then I’d say we have to be careful. He’s not our friend or ally, but that doesn’t mean we can leave him potentially ruined.” Laria spoke softly, like she didn’t want to offer these suggestions, but she had to because she did have a conscience.

“Can we send someone around to his place to take a look and find out if he’s okay?” David offered tentatively.

Davenport frowned for a moment before nodding. “We really should, especially since my contacts may have mentioned that he has his own work-from-home station there, including what he’d need to access the game. He might be irritating sometimes, but I don’t want him to come to harm because we wouldn’t give him information on a technicality. Still not giving it to him, though. Just want to check he’s okay.”

For a moment Davenport seemed older than he was. Then he looked up at the people gathered around the table and let out a sigh. “I just remember the readings when Wren was first trapped into that headset. Not that these are exactly the same, but still…someone needs to go and tend to the man, someone who understands that if he’s unresponsive, they can’t take that headset off.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised to know he had one of Michael’s tweaked versions.” Shayla crossed her arms and raised her eyes to the ceiling.

Laria shrugged. “He might even have tweaked it himself. It’s not difficult, but it will yield unexpected consequences if you aren’t completely sure what you’re doing. As evidenced by my daughter’s. You know she can’t use another headset to access it, right?”

Davenport nodded sadly. “You’ll figure out something. It’s not like she’s trapped in there anymore. At least there’s that.”

“So.” David looked around at them all. “Who’s going to go check on the pain in the ass?”

No one spoke; they all just looked at him. He chuckled. “Oh…me. Fantastic. Come on, one of you has to come with me. I’m not going to face him alone.”

“I’ll send one of my security staff with you, just in case. Not sure if the man has booby trapped his residence or not.” Davenport clapped David on the shoulder as he stood up.

“Just go.” Laria had already switched her attention to what she needed to do. “Just make sure he comes back to me in one piece.”

Davenport smiled and ushered David out of the office, speaking as they walked. “Will you finally sign that consultant paperwork for me?”

Laria grinned and dove back into the system to monitor the spread of the anti-virus so nothing surprised them in that regard.

 

Somnia Online

Cenedril - Curet

Riasli’s Exile Hideout

Day Thirty

Riasli twirled around in her large-roomed hideout to music no one could hear outside of her head. She was proud of her accomplishment, of dragging in another specimen whose headset changed their susceptibility, and their link into the world and the power of the shards.

She alone had done that, not been told, not demanded of her, but she’d accomplished what she’d set out to do, and done it well. Her eyes lit up at the thought of the praise she might receive once she led this James to her master. The one who’d given her so much that she’d never before imagined.

James was far more susceptible to her wiles than Murmur had ever been. Damned enchanter mind protections. Riasli was the perfect class for this type of infiltration, the perfect person to help spread the virus through and out into the world beyond Somnia. Psionic abilities were perfect for seeping into the mind and planting seeds. Except the people trying to stop her had psionicist protection, and that made all the rules break.

James stirred in the corner, and the calico feles watched him with cool unemotional eyes. She wasn’t very fond of elves. There’d been reasons behind what she’d done to the ruins of Curet. Despite all the changes that ran through her programming, Riasli still didn’t like them. Granted, they returned that dislike tenfold, but still.

Finally, James stretched and opened his eyes. They fluttered like the wings of a trapped butterfly until they locked onto her. Panic flooded his expression so quickly, she was taken aback. She could see how he processed everything he could see, and yet also how he couldn’t reconcile it in his mind. He was off kilter, unsure, and Riasli knew how lucky she was that he hadn’t hijacked a dev character with more of its skills unlocked.

One slight push, one stray thought sent toward him, watering that little seed she’d planted in his brain, and the expression on his face slacked into adoration. Even though she could still sense that rebellious part of his mind that didn’t want to believe what she’d done to him was real, he was already hers.

Completely and utterly.

Now all she needed to do was bring him to Michael so that everything could