Whoever or whatever Phage was in the real world, it required attention. She left Vernon a message telling him she would be logged out for a few days and that she’d contact him when she was back. He had since taken the first day off to visit some friends and family on a perfect Saturday, but was eager to start chasing leads. By Sunday, the laundry was done, meals were prepped for the week and his home was spotless. Social upkeep helped him take a breath, while the chores kept him disciplined, sharp. Many of the Hub’s greater trials could be exhausting on both body and mind, which was why it was important to maintain oneself, upon This Earth. As is, there was no movie or series he’d rather be watching than the one he was involved in, so with plenty of the day left to spare, Vernon became Dymir.

There was a lot of mail. His guild had been rushing a lot of raids over the weekend, which made it good to know they were still active. He made some replies giving off a vague excuse as to why, while logged in, he would be unavailable. As Vernon, he’d given a lot of thought to where he was going to start, and that was the easy part. He would venture to Ghorr Mountain at the address Sol gave him so he could take first look at that All-Seeing Eye. An encoded message let him know the couple had taken to the Sky Zone for at least a week, so the time to check without an awkward conversation, was now.

Dymir hadn’t been to Ghorr Mountain in at least a year. It was a high-level village on a flattened mountain peak at the end of a long, tiresome climb. Thankfully, Dymir had unlocked the waypoint years earlier, so he would be able to skip the trip. When standing in the midst of town, the lush greenery and busy streets made one forget where they actually were. He had just made the fast-travel transition when he was taken back by who was waiting for him. Phage waved nervously as he approached her; it was clear she was not comfortable with the interaction, but mustered up the courage to talk, “Can we speak somewhere?” She glanced at the other users and NPCs in the square, “Private?”

Everything was wrong. The poised, stern rogue he defeated Trident with would never look about herself so skittishly as they walked. She led him to a bench in a fountain park, where they proceeded to speak in private chat. To anyone else, it would sound like indiscernible background noise, “I’m pretty sure I know the first part of what you’re going to tell me,” He said, “she’s still logged out.”

“Yes.” Phage confirmed with a nod, “And it’s a ‘he’.” Dymir suspected her user to be a male since early on. It was more common than not, actually, “When I saw you log in and come here, I had to follow you. I need to see what’s recorded on that spell.”

“You mean you and not ‘him’.” He surmised,

“No,” She was quick to be clear, “I don’t care if you show him, by all means. There are things I can see that he can’t.” With a shrug, he led them on. What Phage’s ‘other half’ knew or didn’t know meant nothing to him. Dymir would update him, plus it kept things moving and it was backup. He hadn’t forgotten about the new set of limbs that appeared after helping the other Phage last time, so he figured he would take the opportunity to get a little dirt on his ‘partner’.

“So…” He said as they made their way down the streets to Sol and Reya’s home, “What’s it like, the whole being-an-avatar thing?”

“Do you really want to know?” She sighed, “Imagine going about your day and feeling a vibration that your body doesn’t register. You can’t tell anyone and you act completely normal, and at one point, you’re yanked into the air. You’re looking down on yourself, then your room, then your house, and it gets faster and faster. A little past the clouds, you feel something pass you, through you, down to your body and everything gets really, really numb.” She met his eyes, “It’s not fun, but I’m used to it.”

“Shit….” It sounded like a nightmare, “Where do you go?”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty out of it, so I’ve either woken up a few times or had the same dream.” They were at the house but Dymir wasn’t about to continue on that note, “It looks like a room, but one from outside the Hub, with all the tech needed to log in, but there’s no one there.” She decided to share one of her most disturbing thoughts with him, “If what I’m seeing is really a glimpse of This Earth, then that means my user is not logging into the Hub, but actually entering it.” The whole idea shook Dymir. At face value, it was a horror story come to life, then digitized. He decided to write off the supernatural implications and take Phage’s words as a dream or at most, a vision.

Sol and Reya’s home was a novel house, large, but simple. There were a lot of trees in large front and back yard, surrounded by a stone wall made of only the rarest minerals. The structure was sided with Shimmeroak, an exotic wood whose colour can be changed through high-level druidic incantations. Currently it was a deep blue that made it blend into the sun, setting far behind it. Since Phage held the key and they were partied up, they were able to push the solid metal gate open to a cobblestone driveway that wound around to the back. As they rounded the house, Dymir glanced through the windows when he could. He wanted to browse Sol’s trophy room and armory so bad, but would be sure to ask him properly once all was said and done.

At the tree in question’s trunk, Dymir drew the scroll with the disenchantment spell. If he cast it as is, there was a chance the spell would backfire and the scroll with it. Thankfully, he knew enough intelligence-enhancing abilities that made the shot a sure one. But he underestimated the cost when his best efforts could not make the success rate a solid 100%, until it was. Another buff was being applied that nearly doubled his stat, an infamous skill known as Transcendent Insight. This skill was commonplace in the Sky Zone, where intelligence was by far the most important stat. It was integral in piloting ships, operating cybernetics and running hacks. The only problem was, the skill was restricted only to the Sky Zone, having never been cast outside it… until now.

“You??” He exclaimed when he realized it was Phage, “How are you doing this??”

“I can use any skill my user has learned, regardless of Zone.” She replied, and he realized she had coated their vicinity with a translucent grid which hid them from view, yet another ability not meant for the Realm. Shaken, Dymir proceeded to cast the spell without a chance of fail, which shattered not only the Sol’s illusion, but also Phage’s. Her heightened dexterity let her climb the tree with no trouble at all. With a graceful jump, she cleared the branches on her way down and landed nimbly, “We should leave, do you have a place we could watch it?”

He had the perfect place – his place. A few waypoint fast-travels and a server switch later they were standing inside Vernon’s second home. Wardington was a town within view of one of the capital cities, but far enough away for some peace and quiet. The environmental properties of the plain it sat in made the earth optimal for crops, so much of the users who lived there were heavily steeped in harvesting materials for crafting and potions. Dymir was one of the few who lived there with nothing to do with the active and friendly farming community. It was a town only passed through by most users, since even their shops sold items based around the niche local professions.

The layout he chose for his living quarters was as close to his real-world home as one could find in the Realm, with obvious exceptions. In place of his kitchen, his armoury, with builds accessed and tuned through a tome on a pedestal. The living room was tapped into a powerful crystal ball, the Realm’s version of a television, used for remote viewing of competitive events and streamers, as well as limited access to real-world news. Phage integrated the All-Seeing Eye into the viewing artefact, and since it would take some time to load, “So you can use your powers no matter what Zone you’re in,” He said, “Can he?”

“Yes.” She replied, and this was when Dymir realized the NDA’s he signed with her user applied to her entire being, “Is something like that possible in your world also?”

“Not as far as I know.” The chill in his spine was real this time,

“There’s no code for the things he can do.” She said, “So maybe it is.” Any further discomfort was quashed when the crystal ball signaled the arcana was ready to view. Before them, the image from the sphere’s perspective was cast. Dymir ran a search for any movement that was not Sol or Reya, from most recent to oldest footage. Very quickly was a scene cast, of Reya speaking with a mage with who looked strikingly familiar. Phage gasped when she thought of it first, and for good reason, but kept the revelation to herself when they began to speak.

Reya informed the visitor she was taking sabbatical from her role as the Blackest Knight, a request which was not denied. Instead, they arranged for an alternate event to run in her place for the next while. The footage ended after the mage left through the portal he cast, and from then the next activity was the couple leaving for their vacation, “I take it you know who that is?”

“He’s younger, but its him… I know it.” She swore, “That’s… my grandfather.” As only upon This Earth until now, Dymir held her when she started shaking from an actual, tangible fear, “I share some of my user’s memories inside the Hub, including his perma-death at the hands of the Blackest Knight.” She shivered, “I still dream about it.”

“Phage, that’s awful….” He never thought he could feel such empathy for an NPC. He never cared for abusing them but never actually cared for them either. They were background, or so he thought. She lifted her head from his shoulders so she could see his eyes and he hers. This wasn’t like the outside world at all, it was a digital render so sharp it was actually more intense. She put her hand on the back of his head to kiss him before he could react, causing an explosion of data mixed with an equal eruption of pheromones. He understood how liberating for her it must have been to be able to speak her truth, the exhilaration that came with the purest taste of freedom.

He leaned into it, picked her up and brought her to his room. He threw her down on his bed to work on her neck. Sex inside the Hub was not quite the real thing and felt more like a dream than an experience. Dymir hadn’t done it in years, since he much preferred the real thing. Logging out after a triste only left him sexually frustrated and was usually not worth it. Not this. Phage not only felt like actual, living, breathing flesh, but also made Vernon’s avatar feel like it in a way he never had. When everything was said and done, he panted on his sweat-drenched side of the bed, wondering what the hell just happened, but knowing it was good. “Your user told me about some kid named Johnny.” He said once he caught his breath, “Sounds like a thing.”

“That’s his plan, not mine.” She told him, “Your contract with my user is letting me be the person trapped behind layers of restrictions to my behaviour. It might end when your terms are up, so I’d just like to enjoy the freedom while I have it.” Her plight made him think, “Besides, it could never work out between Johnny and I.” She said, “I’m too real.”

Continue to Post Game + Part 5-3: Selective Bleeding