Double-Blind: A Modern LITRPG

Chapter 302

The turnout was astounding. I'd expected a fraction of what we had—two-thirds on the upside. Looking around the lobby now, it was like half the people I personally knew in the city had shown up. Miles arrived first, fully decked out, Audrey hanging from his belt like an organic satchel. He was chatting with Azure—whose chosen form for this particular assignment was a muscled but slight looking goblinoid with gray hair in rogue's clothes, flanked by several Users who read as feds I didn't recognize.

In a completely unexpected move, Miles had reached out to me—to Myrddin—late the previous night, and invited Myrddin to help with the tower. Guaranteeing oversight and protection from any potential hostilities.

All told, it was a good sign that my once pursuer turned mentor no longer felt the need to keep Myrddin at arm's length. I was naturally forced to decline. But the request presented an opportunity to get all my summons on the board without arousing suspicion when I'd already been brainstorming a way to do exactly that. Myrddin couldn't make it.

But his summons could.

Both the Adventurer's Guild and the Order of Parcae had mobilized en masse, Guild heads both present. I didn't have to guess why Tyler was there. The perpetual scowl and mask of skepticism made it perfectly clear. He was here to make the call on whether or not the tower was worth pursuing. Evaluate the floor on a hair-trigger.

Aaron was the bigger surprise. Delegation was his religion, and he was the very picture of devout. Seeing him here, roaming around in his high-thread-count business casual, working the room, slowly gravitating towards me was both irritating and disconcerting. If he was going to act as a force multiplier, I didn't have a problem with his presence, but I had a feeling when shit hit the fan, he'd be lingering in the back as usual.

I caught glimpses of Astrid and Astria on the periphery. Miles spotted them just as quickly, and never forgetting a face, sidled up to them, likely reconnecting over their joint efforts during the transposition.

No sign of Max. He hadn't responded, when Myrddin messaged him, so to some extent that was to be expected. It rankled because Max was probably one of the few people in the dome who could have set Tyler's mind at ease, if the numbers were good, but he was either busy or ready to move on from strike-team business, even if our purposes here were pure.

Julian and Charlotte showed with the rest of the court, Queen Mari striding before them, giant club resting on her shoulders as she pursued a cotton candy vendor who seemed to be doing his best to evade her. There was no sign of the Duskblade Knight, but if that was the court's only absence, it wasn't a big one.

Somehow, there was less division. Everyone seemed more keen on socializing, groups mixing and merging in a way the previous cliquey standoffish atmosphere hadn't allowed before.

They got their asses kicked, collectively. In a way one specific group can't be blamed for. Somehow it turned into camaraderie.

There were shockingly few people on the outskirts. Nick separated from me almost as soon as we got in the doors, and was parked on a bench, his armored fingers steepled in front of him, head bowed. Part of me wanted to check on him. The other part was too distracted by another person mingling on the outskirts.

Bandages on his arms, an odd cloth cloak, and curly hair. I'd only seen him once.

But he'd left one hell of an impression.

I was less concerned with where he was than where he wasn't. At my brother's side, deeper in the tower. If he was here there was a good chance my vision was correct, and Ellison was completely alone.

Being angry with him was irrational. I had no information and didn't know what their relationship was. For all I knew, curly was a hired gun.

Which was something I reminded myself, as I approached from the side, forcing myself to unclench my fists.

"Haven't seen you around here before."

"We've met," Curly said, matter-of-factly, seemingly completely unconcerned with the bolt of anxiety he'd just sent down my spine. His voice was wistful, and quiet enough that it was difficult to make out over the din.

Fine.

"Where's my brother?" I tried, offering it conversationally, like we were talking about the weather.

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"The Keeper is the wind. He waxes and wanes, going where he likes when he chooses, motives and predilections beyond the comprehension of the corporeal."

Oh good. He's insane.

"Any information you have could help," I tried again. "The floor number, or why he pushed so hard into the tower by himself."

"Will there be vampires today?" Curly looked at his nails. His eyes were milky, and if it wasn't obvious from the way he surveyed the room that he could see, I'd wonder if he was blind.

"No." I paused. "Is that a warning?"

"It is a question," Curly replied, bolstering my annoyance to biblical levels.

"Well, we haven't been to the next floor before, so no one knows what we'll be up against," I said, biting my tongue before I could reflexively add "Asshole."

"The keeper often knows that which he should not. You do not share this trait. Disappointing."

"Mothe—" I cut off, grinding my teeth, switching to a customer service voice. "Whatever we're fighting, we'll be glad to have your support."

"Support." Curly repeated, as if trying out the word out for the first time. He drew out a pack of Marlboros from within his haggard, raggedy tunic and parked a cig between his lips, absentmindedly holding the pack out to me. I took one as he lit his own and made no offer to light mine. He took a deep draw and breathed out smoke. "You'll be heading to the highest floor currently available?"

I nodded, pocketing the cigarette and making a mental note to throw it away before we started climbing the tower. It seemed perfectly pre-system ordinary, and hadn't activated, but being handed something that I was, in a way, forced to hold onto set my paranoia on edge.

"Then I will climb with you, until you lose pace."

I scanned the room, looking for literally anywhere else to go before I said something regrettable, only to look back and see that Curly had disappeared.

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"Motherfucker," I groaned.

A light, likable chuckle filled me with dread. "The eccentric types are always a pain in the ass." Aaron had finally made his way to me, casually surveying the room. He was focused on the queue for the queue counter, smile drooping a bit. Curly was somehow already there, slouched and lethargic as he exchanged selve for a monstrous turkey leg. "The way he moved, though... Well it doesn't matter. Theme of the day is come one, come all, right?"

The double-meaning wasn't lost on me. He was testing the waters, seeing if I was desperate enough to disregard our history and ask directly for his help.

"That why you're here? To rally the troops?"

"Not at all." Aaron chortled, brushing off the snipe. "I'm here because my deity believes that climbing the tower will lead to a better future."

"Of course. Aaron the devout," I mused.

"That, and the problem dog skulking around my home seems to have lost his teeth."

"Fancy that."

He looked at me directly. "I don't know how you did it, or how involved you were. The fact that you have so much sway over such a frightening individual continues to vex. But thank you for returning Cameron to me. The last time we spoke about him, I made a decision in haste, and came to regret it. It's a great relief to see that mistake undone."

Translation: You delivered, and I'm returning the favor in kind.

I stuck to the script. "Like I said before. All I care about is winning and getting out from under the gameshow from hell."

"Ever the pragmatist. Best of luck out there today." The edges of Aaron's eyes crinkled, showing the ghost of a smile as he strode towards Tyler.

Seeing that Sae had arrived, and fighting the ever-present urge to flip the bird at Aaron's back, I moved towards the center, where Miles had waved Sae over moments ago.

"...And the old cowboy says, yep, that's about as far as I got, too!" Miles delivered what sounded like a punchline. Astrid and Astria cackled, while the other feds rolled their eyes and Sae looked vaguely green.

"Well, I was hungry enough to see what I could scrounge up from the county fair buffet, but suddenly my appetite is gone." Sae rolled her eyes.

Astria wiped a tear away, shoulders still heaving in amusement. "Just... heh... avoid the chili and you'll be fine."

"Hurk." Sae shook her head, glancing at me. "If you still need to eat, I'd steer clear, Helpline."

"Miles telling weird jokes again?"

"Ah, come on, a little humor to lighten the mood never hurt anyone." Miles stretched, seemingly without a care in the world. But the single worry-line etched into his forehead. "Ever hear the one about the woman walking home with her three daughters?" Miles asked, and when Astria and Astrid both confirmed they hadn't, he launched into it.

Tuning him out, I turned to Sae and pitched my voice low. "When I said you didn't have to come, I meant it."

"I know." Sae crossed her arms stubbornly, trying to project confidence and failing. "But this is important. Can't dodge the realms forever."

"Take a backseat if you need to."

Sae had grown exponentially over the last month, in terms of level and experience. She was hard as nails and showed no signs of cracking. But everything we'd done together had occurred almost entirely within the real world. I wasn't sure if the nerves came from showing her face in public after weeks of hiding, or because this was the first time outside of the adaptive dungeon she'd set foot in a realm of flauros.

A text from Miles popped, directed to Matt.

"For what it's worth," Miles said to Sae, transition from text to spoken conversation perfectly smooth, "We may not be in there long. Tyler's putting caution first. Wants to make sure no one's rushing into something that could clap back on us the way the last floor did. It's a shame, because there's a big opportunity here to stop what happened last time from happening again. Totally understandable where he's coming from, just, a damn shame."

Apparently his talks with Tyler hadn't inspired confidence. But I had to smile a little, realizing he was already doing what I'd intended to do.

/////

It took nearly an hour of near-constant crowd work between the two of us before I started hearing things that showed promise, organically emerging from conversations neither me nor Miles had directly interfered with. Doubts about the Adventurer's Guild being here in any serious capacity. Fears centered around what would happen if we simply walked away empty handed. Glimpses of rebellion and determination, stemming from that fear.

Tyler called everyone over to where he and Aaron stood near the elevators, and began to speak, straightening up from the slouch he'd developed and exercising a level of gravitas I hadn't seen from him in a while. Sara stood behind him, monitoring the crowd for threats, her expression otherwise immutable.

"Well, I was gonna wait until nine to do this, but somehow, most of you were actually on time." Tyler announced, smiling a bit as observation drew laughs. "There's a lot of new faces, some of whom belong neither to the Order or the Adventurer's Guild, so I'll give you a quick rundown of where we're at. We believe, collectively, that there's an artifact near the top of the tower worth pursuing. Not for its inherent value. From what I understand, the artifact itself holds little value beyond being a slight improvement on the average sword."

That was a clever bit of misinformation. If he outright announced to the crowd that was at the top of the tower, it'd kick off a gold rush on the name alone.

The few artifacts I'd encountered had been completely game changing, but they were rare enough that it wasn't common knowledge.

"By now, it should be obvious to anyone that the kind folk of the Tower are methodical with their screening processes, so I'm sure no one's foolish enough to try and smuggle something out." Aaron added, eyeing a few members of the crowd meaningfully. They shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

Tyler stepped forward. "Even if they weren't, I'd like to believe that not a single person in the group assembled here today would be tempted to do so, given what we stand to gain. An end to the madness. An alternative to simply forging ahead, charging headfirst through the meat grinder that has, for the last few months, kept us and the people we care about in a state of constant peril." He faltered, pausing to adjust his eye-patch. "This is a critical undertaking. One we cannot afford to rush. I want to be clear. The last time we made an attempt, there was a biohazard incident. One with the potential to threaten the lives of every person within the dome. Given that, Aaron and I are placing serious emphasis on the importance of caution. Several experienced scout teams will survey the floor first, while the core force holds at the entrance. After we have a clearer picture, a decision will be made."

I groaned. And, unexpectedly, realized I wasn't the only one. There were disapproving murmurs, even a solitary boo.

Miles and I had talked to a lot of people. But not that many. And no matter how persuasive you were, it was impossible to start a fire from stone. The kindling had already been there, dry and brittle beneath the surface, ready to ignite. Everyone here had their lives changed by the dome and the transposition in some way. Every single person was tired of being at the whims of the unknown.

"Make no mistake, we will climb the tower," Tyler insisted, feeling the resistance and trying to counterbalance. "It's a question of timing, now. We cannot afford to expend ourselves on the precipice of disaster. But even if now is not the right time, we will return."

He continued on for a while, battling the growing sense of unease and irritation, before seeming to grow tired and calling for everyone with us to embark on the elevator.

Despite the massive circumference of the lift, by the time everyone filed on it the spacing was tight, cramped.

Knees bent and whispers circulated as the elevator rose, picking up speed, walls blurring with the acceleration.

We emerged at the top of a tall hill, verdant meadows extending out towards the horizons, a large circle of trees encapsulating the distant perimeters.

At first I was relieved. This floor looked exponentially larger than the last, but the sight-lines were wide open, meaning I'd be able to alter the flow of any battle more effectively than the previous floor's cramped interior.

"Holy shit," Someone mouthed.

I looked down. And spotted the war camp.