Double-Blind: A Modern LITRPG

Steinbeck let out a low whistle from the back of the room.

“What is that?” Sae whispered.

“Gehenna.” Estrada murmured.

“Are those things… people?” Kinsley’s face was pale.

There’s a lot of ugly in the world. Shootings. Genocide. Apartheid. The list goes on and on. At first, it’s nearly impossible to look away. Our minds need logic, some sort of pattern to follow. So, at first, we stare the horror in the face and search for the reason it exists.

Eventually, the reality becomes clear. There is no reason. It simply is. And dwelling on it only harms our state of mind. Eroding our worldview, digging talons of anxiety into our psyche.

The prospect of looking away becomes too tantalizing to ignore. To forget. Allow ourselves to be desensitized.

I didn’t want to shut this out. I could see the shambling figures in my peripheral, the endless expanse of crimson.

So, why was it so difficult to look?

“You were warned of the cancer in your midst.” The overseer crooned. “It wasn’t subtle. We showed you what would come to pass. This is the cost of your inaction.”

The view of region 6 was a slow, sweeping panorama. It settled on a black dot, surrounded by red. Slowly, the recording zoomed in, the black dot gaining more distinct, human like qualities. His features were cast in silhouette, almost indistinguishable beyond being human. My heart caught in my throat as I recognized the moment the Overseer was showing. My foolish display of defiance.

If you mess this up?

If you fail to take me off the board early, and I gain even a fraction of the power of those Ordinators in the footage you showed?

I’ll find you.

The figure tilted his head up towards the sky. Any moment now, I’d remove my mask.

“One-hundred-and-seventy-four thousand lives. Ended pointlessly, for the sake of nothing more than hubris.”

I braced myself as the recording zoomed in closer. With only one potion left, I could be back on my feet in less than twelve hours. I’d need Kinsley’s sanctuary. Hell, we both would. This was bad, worse than I’d feared. The number of people I could rely on was about to shrink to low single digits, maybe less, if they bought everything the Overseer was saying.

Onscreen, I reached up slowly towards my mask.

Then the recording cut away.

Why? They had me, dead to rights.

“Neither gifted nor ungifted was spared from his wrath. The Ordinator lingered, afterwards. Sullying what was already defiled.”

They showed the silhouetted figure striding among the dead, picking up cores from the ground.

“For those of you unaware, there is a small chance that, upon death, a gifted or ungifted may drop a core. This core is of little monetary value. But it is not worthless. To some, it might be more precious than anything left in this world. They contain a portion of the person’s very soul.”

Of course, they were careful to edit out any footage that showed the twisted remnants of region 6 moving said cores, or the tainted receptacle.

But that wasn’t the only element they were avoiding.

I watched myself reach out towards something. My memories of that moment were scattered, but I’d used both Talia and Audrey to speed up the process. Again, the footage cut away.

I covered my mouth, hiding a predatory smile.

So, that’s it. You can’t show my summons. More importantly, you can’t show me without the mask. That’s one of your rules, isn’t it? And not one you can play fast and loose with. You can tell people I exist. Stoke their fear. But you can’t land the killing blow. That must be infuriating.

An unnatural calm settled over me. I closed the chat message I’d intended to send to Kinsley the moment my face was shown, and glanced over at her. She was shivering, fear written across her expression. Her shivering crescendoed to full-blown shaking as the scene changed again, showing a silhouetted figure facing off against the adventurer’s guild, making no effort to hide the connection.

Word would spread quickly. Vernon had probably already told the Suits my name. If they were as connected as I expected them to be, it wouldn’t be hard for them to make the connection. And with the Overseer implying to the entire dome that I held the power to wipe out an entire region, the likelihood of my recruitment had just skyrocketed.

But all of that would be for naught if Kinsley cracked.

Slowly, Kinsley’s shaking slowed until she was utterly still. Her fear was gone, but the rage in her face remained.

“The ordinator must be purged. Unfortunately, we must abide by the restrictions of the system. And this all we can speak on this matter. But, we urge you. Make haste. The longer you delay, the more his power grows.”

“Anyone working out a plan to take this asshole down?” Sae asked. Her expression was grim.

“Be careful not to lose focus on what’s important.” Estrada said. She looked somewhat disturbed from watching the broadcast, but there was steel in her voice. “We established that we were being shown propaganda. That hasn’t changed. Whether the Ordinator did what they are accusing him of is not set in stone. They did not show him attacking the region directly, only salvaging from the aftermath. And even if he is responsible, he was not the one to put a city into chaos, forcing people into conflict with countless innocent lives hanging in the balance. Regardless of the veracity of their claims, it is likely they are using him as a scapegoat.”

“He doesn’t seem like the kind of threat we can ignore,” Sae insisted.

“Our plate’s a little full. And I’m still wrapping my head around everything else,” I answered honestly. “But after this, there will be plenty of factions out for justice. We’ll cooperate with them as much as we can.”

“Yeah.” Kinsley agreed quietly. “At the very least, we need answers. To make sure what happened to region six doesn’t happen again.”

The Overseer continued in the background. “To end on something of a lighter note. We cannot disclose the exact ranking, as the victor of this event received something priceless for their efforts. That being said, Regions three, five, and fifteen were the first to gather enough Illuminating Lux to fortify their areas of operation, and thus were rewarded handsomely for their excellence.”

Excellence. What a joke. I knew next to nothing about the other two, but Region 3 had been hoarding lux and preying on Users that drifted into their territory. Whoever the victor was, I hoped it wasn’t them.

The overseer leaned back on his crystal throne. “With that, the first transposition event comes to a close. You might be tempted to recuperate, grieve those you lost. Enjoy the spoils of your victory. We strongly advise against this notion. Continue to hone yourselves. Make the most of the gifts you’ve been given. Because this reprieve is only temporary. And the next event could be right around the corner.”

There was a collective silence that pervaded the room, as the television turned to static.

Steinbeck broke it. “Son of a bitch needs to eat a sandwich.”

Kinsley snorted. “That’s your answer to everything.”

“Respectfully, Ma’am? If you put me in a padded room and starve me ‘till I look like that guy, I’d probably come out a sadistic motherfucker, too.”

“This goes a bit beyond hangry, Steinbeck.”

Sae joined in. “And what’s with tuxedo? Who wears a tuxedo anymore?”

“Maybe the cosmic horror store was out of suits in his size.” Steinbeck shrugged.

“If only that bowtie was a little tighter…“ Kinsley trailed off, swiping through an invisible menu. Her smirk disappeared.

“Problem?” I asked.

“Adventurer’s Guild.” Kinsley’s mouth moved silently as she read through the message. “Looks like a mass message to essential members and other guild leaders. Calling for an emergency meeting in two hours. Vague on any details apart from the topic being a joint threat.”

It wasn’t hard to guess what they planned to talk about. I glanced over at the open window. The sun had set, and the last vestiges of gold and orange were fading fast. I’d planned to get plenty of rest for my venture into the Adaptive Dungeon tomorrow.

It looked like that wasn’t happening.

/////

All told, as we filed into the plush bleacher seating at the ground floor of one of the larger rooms of the conference hall, I wasn’t particularly worried. There were already dozens of people around us, with more entering by the minute. Being here meant we were still in the circle of trust. Above suspicion, at least for the moment.

As long as we were coolheaded and kept our stories straight, this would be nothing more than another uncomfortable bump in the road to our goals.

Or at least, that’s what I thought. Before a familiar face took a seat beside me.

Expensive cologne assailed my nose, as the man leaned over me to extend a hand to Kinsley. “From what I’ve heard, congratulations are in order. This is your region now, right?”

“Oh,” Kinsley blinked, and returned the handshake. “We did, uh—“

“Miles,” He said, giving her his megawatt smile.

Fuck.

Miles settled into the seat beside my wheelchair, and peered at me. “Sorry, the last few days have been chaos. Have we met?”