“Sir, will you listen to my tale of distress?” A holographic woman in a low-cut silvery dress stepped from a doorway. “An infestation of trolls plagues these parts.”
The fa?ade projected behind her was tiered, swooping glass slick with a bright sheen of rain—an alien sight if Reef ever saw one. The holographic woman was straight out of a Girl Queen movie, complete with a pair of tiny wings that marked her as a sylph. Reef seriously doubted that elves and sylphs and slavering beasts roamed the Other Place, but they lurked in every corner of Alt’s game world. Apparently, the aliens weren’t interesting enough to make for video game characters.
“Their filth is everywhere, our children are sick,” the sylph woman continued. “Do you know how to send the trolls back to the woods?”
Olly came up behind Reef, goggles in hand. “Sure—go to one of their spawn points, unleash a Desiccation Spell to strip their defenses, and call down a Siege Flame,” he mumbled, fidgeting with the strap of his goggles. He was always making the strap too tight, which explained the deep circular impressions around his eyes—and the nickname Owl Eyes, Olly for short. “But that’s not what we’re going to do.”
Reef raised his eyebrows. “Why not?” It was as good a way as any to send trolls running back to the Seattle park that served as the Warped Wood. It would take all of four minutes, and Reef could return to the sylph to receive a Health Elixir as his prize.
“I’ve read about this quest on a forum,” Olly said. “If you tell her you don’t know how to get rid of trolls, she’ll send you on a quest to score a Banishment Spell. Do you know how much money people will pay for a Banishment Spell?”
“Yeah, I have an idea.” Reef’s heart sped up as he did some quick mental calculations.
“Whatever number you’re coming up with—divide it by two.”
“You’re just going to cut in on my quest?”
The sylph shifted on the sidewalk, waiting for Reef to interact with her again. Olly powered on his goggles and now Reef saw him overlaid with an image of his avatar, a muscular Warrior in a shell of armor. Reef’s own avatar was a Knight in sword-nicked chainmail.
“I’m going to help you on your quest.” Olly grinned at Reef. “You’re welcome. Good news is, this is the easiest way to score a Banishment Spell you ever heard of. She’s going to send you to the Immigration Office and then you just have to answer some riddles.”
Reef frowned. “Too easy. Probably hiding a virus.”
“No virus. I checked the forums.”
“A leech, then. Those are worse.”
“Who cares? You only have to hold on to the Banishment Spell long enough to sell it to the highest bidder. It’ll be out of your hard drive within an hour, and the leech with it.”
Reef turned up his jacket collar against the rain-flecked wind. “I’m not selling someone a spell that’s infected with a leech.”
“Would you like to eat breakfast today?” Olly said grimly.
“I’ll get rid of the leech and take the government bounty instead.”
“And get half the money you’d get if you sold the spell.”
“I’m not selling it, Olly.” Reef bowed his head against a gust of wind. He tried not to notice the gouges in the holographic leather of his Alt boots, or the muck on his sneakers underneath the projection. “You know what leeches do?”
“Sit in your hard drive and don’t bother anyone at all?”
“Until D-day. Then they use your network to wreak havoc on government systems.”
The rain distorted the projection of the sylph so that she rippled as though with impatience. “Sir, will you listen to my tale of distress?” she asked Reef again.
Olly spoke over her. “What do you care about government systems? You don’t even have running water. You pee in a bucket.”
Reef shot him a resentful look. “I use the bathroom at McDonald’s.”
“When they let you in.”
Another gamer was coming up the street, ducking under awnings and searching for a quest to take on. His Mercenary’s belt bristled with dagger hilts and he looked like he’d be as happy to steal loot as to earn it from questing.
“An infestation of trolls plagues these parts,” Reef prompted the sylph, itching now to move on.
“Do you know how to send the trolls back to the woods?” the sylph asked.
Reef eyed the approaching gamer. “No,” he told the sylph. “How do you get a troll back to the woods?”
Olly grinned and leaned toward Reef. “Sounds like a joke I know. How do you get a troll to—”
“The sphinx can help you with this quest,” the sylph cut in. She hadn’t registered Olly’s presence. “Seek out her lair in the Immigration Office.”
Reef dug out a tin and retrieved a bit of gray-green resin thin as a matchstick and stuck it in his mouth, then wished he could spit it out. It tasted awful. “You need to work on your punch lines,” he told the sylph.