《The Hidden Fortress》 The Mine The Crystal Worlds was supposed to be the ultimate playground, but for Sam it was work. He remembered the early days, before he lost his real-world job. The Crystal Worlds were amazing, incredibly immersive, like Lord of the Rings made real. He''d spent two weeks wandering around with a sword in his hand, full of a perpetual sense of awe, certain that this was a place where a man could never be bored. Now, he was bored. He still owned the sword, but he hadn''t equipped it in years. Now, he wielded a shovel. He''d found one of the least interesting places in the entire game, a little valley with sides that blocked out the view so he couldn''t even stare at the horizon and daydream. Which was just as well. He wasn''t going anywhere. He swung the shovel, digging through the gravel that covered the valley floor. He was in a good spot. Every swing of the shovel caused more gravel to slide down and refill the hole. He could dig all day and never have to move his feet. He counted as he swung. The count didn''t matter; it was just something to occupy his mind. The odds of finding a teleportation stone were just above one percent, so by the time he was close to a hundred fruitless swings ¡­ He dug in with the shovel, scooped up some gravel, and tossed it aside, where it vanished as it landed. And in the bottom of the hole, instead of more gravel, he saw a fist-sized stone. ¡°Bingo.¡± He set down the shovel and knelt. The stone felt cool and smooth in his palm as he lifted it, and he turned it over, looking for a destination or a rating. Instead of a place name or description, he saw a meaningless string of digits scrawled across the bottom of the stone. He frowned, turning it over in his hands. He must have dug up tens of thousands of teleportation stones over the years. Blue stones were the most common. Almost valueless, they allowed you to jump once to a single preprogrammed location. The stone disappeared when you used it. It was a one-way ticket to one spot. Indigo stones were better. Coded to a single location, they could be used again and again. Black was better than indigo. A black stone would return you to wherever you teleported in from. The other colors were more valuable. They would take you to multiple locations. White stones were the best. They let you inscribe any destination, and they could be used again and again. This stone, though, wasn''t any color at all. It was ¡­ stone-colored. It looked like a rock, and he frowned, wondering if it was just an unusually large piece of gravel. When he squinted, though, a line of text appeared above the stone. Teleportation Stone, it said. Destination Unknown. He shrugged, pushing the mystery to the back of his mind. The rent wasn''t going to pay itself. He added the stone to his inventory, watching it sparkle and fade from his palm. Then he lifted his shovel and went back to work. He returned to the real world for lunch. Reality for Sam was a tiny apartment, a bachelor suite with a bed along one wall and a stove and fridge along the other. He rose from the bed, taking off the neural interface helmet that made everything in the game feel so real. He put water on to boil, checked his email, looked at the dirty dishes filling his sink, and decided to leave them for later. He made some Ramen noodles and went through his inventory as he ate. He''d have to make the trek to the market soon. He hated the process of actually selling his stones. It was wasted time, time he wasn''t spending digging. His inventory had limits, though. When lunch was over he picked up a broom, put his helmet back on, and stood in the center of his apartment. The problem with working full time in the game was that you didn''t get any exercise. Sam got around that problem by working for a few hours in ¡°semi-immersive¡± mode. He would stand in the middle of his apartment and swing the broom exactly like a shovel. He would see the valley, feel the weight of the gravel, but his actual body would move with every swing. It worked as long as he stayed in one place. If he tried to walk, he''d crash into the wall of his apartment. He worked for another half-hour, and his luck was better than usual. In addition to the usual blues he found a couple of yellows and even a green. When his inventory was full he set the broom on the floor of his apartment and switched to full immersion mode. He selected a black stone, one of the few he''d ever kept, and activated it. The valley disappeared, replaced by the only other location he ever visited in the game, River Fork Village. Modelled on a romantic ideal of medieval European village, River Fork was all quaint cottages and half-timbered buildings. The NPCs smiled constantly as they bustled around, the women in long dresses, the men in baggy trousers and suspenders. Marvin''s Magic Emporium was run by a player, one who''d made the almost unheard-of choice of taking a fat avatar. He smiled from behind the counter as Sam came through the door. They made the same transaction every few days. Marvin bought every stone Sam brought him, selling them to the endless streams of adventurers who came through his doors. They could have gone to the valley or any of a dozen other places where teleportation stones could be mined, and dug their own. But it was boring work, and the mines were always in out-of-the-way places. You could spend hours digging without finding a single stone that would take you someplace you wanted to go. So players, thousands of them, came to Marvin''s store or a hundred similar shops that bought stones from Marvin at wholesale rates. They paid in-game gold, which Marvin turned into real-world money through means of his own. He kept meticulous track of his inventory, and paid Sam scrupulously by bank transfer once a month.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°The usual?¡± Marvin said, staring into space as he checked the tally. ¡°The usual,¡± Sam confirmed. ¡°Hold on.¡± Sam frowned. ¡°What''s this?¡± He tilted his head, then lifted a hand, palm out. A stone of no particular color appeared in his hand. ¡°Oh, that,¡± Sam said. ¡°I found that today. Never seen anything like it.¡± He leaned an elbow on the counter. ¡°What''s it worth?¡± ¡°Nothing, I suspect,¡± said Marvin. ¡°Who wants to jump to an unknown destination? You might not even be able to jump back.¡± ¡°It''s an interesting mystery,¡± Sam said. ¡°Somebody will pay big bucks for the chance to-¡± ¡°Forget it.¡± The stone vanished from Marvin''s palm, and an indicator appeared in the corner of Sam''s eye. The stone was back in his inventory. ¡°I can''t sell a pig in a poke.¡± ¡°But-¡± Marvin gave him a hard look, and Sam went silent. ¡°I''ll take the rest at the usual rate.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Sam hid his disappointment. Marvin was an important business partner, and it wouldn''t do to aggravate him. ¡°I''ll see you in a few days.¡± ¡°You sure you want to sell all of these? Maybe you should keep the green for a few days. Do a little travelling. See something besides this village.¡± He gestured around the shop. ¡°I mean, my store is pretty awesome, but it shouldn''t be the only place you ever go.¡± ¡°Not today,¡± Sam said. ¡°I''ll see you in a few days.¡± As he turned toward the exit he took a moment to look around the store. Marvin might have been joking, but the truth was, the store really was kind of awesome. The Crystal Worlds held hundreds of similar stores. Probably thousands. But the store didn''t have to be unique to be pretty damned cool. Weapons lined the walls, swords and bows and axes and maces, all of them charmed in some way. Shelves held armor and potions and scrolls and mysterious doodads of unknown function. It wasn''t the store itself that was cool, Sam decided as he walked outside. It was everything that the store implied. Adventure. Combat. Danger and magic. Everything that had drawn Sam to the game, before he lost his job and the game became a way to earn a living. Back home it was late afternoon, but here in the village it was early morning. Wherever you were in the world, when you first logged in you would spawn in your own time zone. The Crystal Worlds occupied a virtual planet about a tenth the size of Earth. It was a huge place, and you could easily spend a lifetime just exploring the wonders within walking distance of your starting point. If you didn''t want to endlessly walk, though, you needed transportation. That meant mounts, from horses to winged serpents, or public teleportation gates, or teleport stones. The endless demand for efficient travel was the cornerstone of Sam''s career. If only it paid better. He knew he should head back to the valley and put in a few more hours of work. He was filled with a discouraged lethargy, though. He plopped himself down on the edge of the well in the center of the village. Marvin was right. Sam was spending sixty or seventy hours a week in the most glorious virtual environment ever created, and all he ever saw was a valley full of gravel and one sleepy village. ¡°Sam! Hey, Sam, is that you?¡± Sam twisted around, looking in the direction of the voice. It wasn''t the incredible visuals or even the sense of touch that really impressed him about the Crystal Worlds. It was the little details, like the fact that sounds actually had directions. He watched a burly man detach himself from a party of adventurers and walk toward him. The man wore dazzling silver armor traced with gold. The sword at his hip had a diamond set in the pommel, and a hilt that glowed. Only when he pulled the glittering helmet from his head did Sam recognize him. ¡°Jimmy!¡± Sam stood, feeling a mix of pleasure and embarrassment. Jimmy Carmichael had been at the same company as Sam. Unlike Sam, he''d gone on to better things when the company folded. If he was in the Crystal Worlds, it was to enjoy himself. He had better ways to make a living. The two of them shook hands. ¡°We came to buy stones.¡± Jimmy grinned. ¡°Is that your hard work we''re benefiting from?¡± Sam nodded. ¡°Good man. I wish I could make my living here.¡± Jimmy tilted his head back and turned in a slow circle, taking in the view. ¡°God, I love this place.¡± ¡°It''s great,¡± Sam muttered sourly. ¡°Hey, I''m hosting kind of a housewarming party tomorrow night. I bought a castle.¡± Jimmy laughed. ¡°Can you believe it? I bought a freaking castle!¡± ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°You said it, buddy. Anyway, the party''s gonna be awesome. You have to come.¡± He squinted into empty air, and his fingers made squiggles and zigzags as he accessed menus. A chime sounded, and an indicator told Sam he had a new message. ¡°There. You''ve got an official invitation. Any time after seven is good. Calgary time, of course.¡± Sam nodded. He had no intention of going to a party where he would never fit in, but he appreciated the invitation just the same. One of the party members called to Jimmy, and he waved. ¡°Make sure you come, Sam. Okay?¡± He clapped Sam on the shoulder and moved away to rejoin his companions. Sam took out his black stone and enabled it. The familiar gravel-strewn valley reappeared, and he equipped his shovel. It was time to get back to work. But his heart wasn''t in it. He leaned on his shovel for a minute, thinking about Jimmy and how he''d become a minor celebrity within the game. His six-member guild, the Dragon Hunters, had been the first to defeat a couple of infamous dungeons. They were all at high levels, seventies at least. Every time they logged into the game, it was for something epic. ¡°And me? I shovel gravel.¡± Well, maybe it was time to take an afternoon off. Go see something new. Maybe grind some XP. He did that from time to time when he needed to blow off steam. Not often; in five years he had only reached Level Four. But he wasn''t too far from Level Five. Maybe today was the day to level up. I wish I''d thought of this before I unloaded the stones. There was a gold. I could have gone almost anywhere. He looked at the shovel, telling himself he should spend some time scooping gravel. As soon as he turned up a good stone he could use it for a little vacation. ¡°Screw it.¡± He had a yellow stone, good for unlimited travel to a dozen pre-set destinations. He opened his inventory, put in the shovel, and paused. The strange stone, the one with the mystery destination, was still there. ¡°Mystery location, huh?¡± He equipped the stone and spent a moment turning it over in his hands. What was the worst that could happen? He could always log out and back in to return to his valley. If he ported into someplace dangerous, he could die. The Crystal Worlds treated death pretty harshly. You lost whatever items you were carrying, and you respawned at Level One. But when you were only Level Four, and you hardly owned anything, it wasn''t much of a risk. He took a moment to put the shovel into personal storage, where it would persist even if he died. He equipped his sword, a cheap weapon he''d bought on his first day in the game. It felt strange in his hand. He hadn''t touched it in months. He stood there with the sword in one hand and the stone in the other, wondering if he shouldn''t just retrieve the shovel and get back to work. ¡°What the hell,¡± he said, and activated the stone. The Fortress The valley pixelated around him. The world vanished, then reformed a moment later. He was in a rectangular room, the ceiling thirty or forty feet above him. The room was maybe fifty feet on a side, with walls of dark stone. Sam turned in a slow circle, taking it in. There were no doors or windows that he could see. Light glowed from half a dozen lanterns hanging from metal brackets along the walls. They illuminated a bare stone floor, a desk and chair in one corner, and a long table with a few random objects scattered on it. As big surprises went, it didn''t amount to much. ¡°Hello, Roger.¡± Sam jumped and spun around, looking in every direction. Unless someone was crouching behind the desk, he was alone. ¡°Who said that?¡± ¡°It''s me, Roger.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Sam shook his head. ¡°I need you to be a little more specific.¡± ¡°I am ABX Five, the AI you created to manage your Fortress of Solitude. You generally address me as Abby.¡± ¡°Abby, huh? You sound like a dude.¡± Abby didn''t reply. ¡°Fortress of Solitude, like Superman has?¡± Sam looked around the little room. ¡°I think Superman''s is better.¡± He walked over to the table. ¡°What''s this stuff?¡± ¡°Those are your possessions.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Sam grinned. ¡°Who am I, by the way?¡± ¡°You are Roger Chan, my creator and the creator of the fortress.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Sam chuckled. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°You are here,¡± Abby replied. ¡°No one else comes here.¡± A worrisome thought popped into Sam''s head. Roger Chan might not be too impressed to find a stranger in his hideout. ¡°How often do I come here?¡± If Abby thought the question was odd he didn''t let on. ¡°There is no easily summarized pattern to your visits.¡± ¡°Well, then, when was I last here?¡± ¡°Your last visit was ninety-six days ago.¡± More than three months. Chan was hardly likely to show up in the next few minutes, then. ¡°Why did he ¡­. Why did I create this place? Why did I create you?¡± ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°You know, for an NPC you don''t have much character.¡± Abby didn''t respond. That''s probably for the best, Roger thought. He examined the items on the table. There was a bright red baseball cap, a long wooden stick, a cup, and a silver ball no more than an inch and a half across. A dark rectangle turned out to be a leather jacket, neatly folded. A pair of sunglasses sat beside the jacket. He picked up the hat and squinted at it, checking for item information. Hat of Obscuring appeared in white text above the cap. ¡°Hey, Abby? What does this hat do?¡± ¡°Mostly it sits there.¡± ¡°Thanks, Abby. That was real helpful.¡± Maybe it was a hat of invisibility, like that cloak in Harry Potter. In fact, it might save his neck if Roger Chan showed up. He put it on. He could still see his own hands, but maybe he was invisible to everyone else? ¡°Abby? Can you see me?¡± ¡°No, Roger.¡± Yes! Wait. ¡°Could you see me before?¡± ¡°No, Roger. I get a system message when you arrive and when you depart. I can hear you when you speak, and of course I know when you type directly into my interface. But I cannot see you.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Sam squinted at the table. The long stick was apparently a Staff of Promotion, whatever that meant. Sam picked it up and waved it around, pointing at things and saying, ¡°Promote!¡± Nothing happened that he could see. The leather jacket was a Coat X59, which was complete gibberish as far as Sam was concerned. The silver ball didn''t even have a name, just a string of digits for a label. The cup just said Cup. The sunglasses claimed to be Shades of Perception, but nothing changed when he put them on. He walked over to the desk and sat down. It was an ordinary featureless piece of furniture. The drawers refused to open when he tugged on them, and the top of the desk was bare. He tapped drawers with the staff, to no effect. Finally he just leaned back in the chair, propped his feet on the desk, and said, ¡°What the hell is this place?¡± ¡°This is your Fortress of Solitude.¡± ¡°Thank you, Abby.¡± ¡°You''re welcome, Roger.¡± For a time he had wondered if this was someone''s personal storage. Personal storage wasn''t supposed to have an actual physical location in the game, but perhaps some glitch in the programming had given him access to one. But why would a locker have its own AI? And the sunglasses and cap were modern. The jacket had a zipper. None of it belonged in the medieval fantasy realm of the Crystal Worlds. ¡°Mysterious,¡± he said aloud. ¡°Abby, where is this place? Where in the Crystal Worlds? What continent are we on?¡± ¡°We are in Galway.¡± The same continent Sam spawned in by default, in other words. The continent where he mined teleportation stones. Looks like my mystery stone didn''t take me very far. ¡°Can you be more specific?¡± A map appeared, projected in the air above him. He saw the continent of Galway in incredible detail, stretching from wall to wall. The map expanded, zooming in and in until he saw a flashing green circle marking his current location. By the look of it, the Fortress of Solitude was maybe a hundred and fifty miles from his valley. It was in wilderness, a good ten or fifteen miles from the nearest settlement. ¡°Abby, can you zoom in further?¡± The AI complied, increasing the scale until Sam could see individual trees on the sides of rolling green hills. He stood and walked around the desk, moving closer to the red circle. He stood directly beneath the place that marked his current location. According to the map, there was nothing there. In fact, it was on the side of a fairly steep hill. Even if the map was simply out of date, there was simply no place to build a room like this. ¡°This place must have a secret door or something. Can you tell me where it is?¡± ¡°Can you rephrase the query?¡± Sam made a frustrated sound. ¡°Does the Fortress of Solitude have a door?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Is there any way to get in or out besides teleporting?¡± ¡°I do not believe so.¡± Sam stopped looking at the map and looked through it instead. The ceiling above him appeared to be made of stone, the same stone as the walls and floor. He knelt, examining the floor more closely. It was not stone tiles, not flagstones, not blocks of stone carefully fitted together. It was one smooth stone surface, as if the floor had been carved into solid rock. He walked to the nearest wall, squatted, and stared at the point where floor and wall met. The stone had a hint of a pattern, swirls of brown just a shade lighter than the surrounding rock. He traced the outline of one swirl as it moved down the wall and continued across the floor. He stood. ¡°Abby.¡± ¡°Yes, Roger?¡± ¡°Are we underground?¡± ¡°Yes. This room is approximately six hundred feet below the surface of the ground.¡± Roger shook his head. ¡°What in the world?¡± ¡°I believe that was a rhetorical question.¡± ¡°Yes, Abby, thank you.¡± Roger rubbed his chin, baffled. There was no way to access this place. No way except teleportation, and no way to choose it as a destination. The name was a string of digits, the meaningless jumble of characters on the mystery stone he''d found. It wouldn''t appear on any menu of locations. But the game computer knew it existed. As people dug in the gravel, the computer generated an endless stream of stones, each with a random destination. The Fortress of Solitude existed. Therefore its number eventually came up. ¡°This room.¡± Sam could hear the awe in his voice. ¡°It''s not for players. Some programmer made this for his own purposes.¡± Not some programmer. Roger Chan. ¡°Hey, Abby? What can you tell me about Roger Chan?¡± A player stat sheet appeared in the air in front of him. It showed Chan''s avatar, a burly Asian man with permanently scowling eyebrows. He was Level 80, with almost a hundred Health Points, a hundred and five Strength, ninety Endurance, and ninety-nine Intelligence. Sam whistled. Chan was a formidable character. Which made sense, he supposed. The man was clearly a programmer, and he was screwing around inside the game. ¡°How much do you want to bet he didn''t get those levels by grinding?¡± ¡°Can you rephrase the question?¡± Abby asked. ¡°Never mind. You know, Abby, I think Roger has been cheating.¡± Except, none of his numbers were maxed out. If he was going to cheat, why stop at Level 80? Why not go for 99, the upper limit built into the game? Because the game''s top players would attract attention, he realized. Joining the very elite, a group that contained well under one percent of all players, would probably trigger all kinds of scrutiny. Chan had made himself badass without pointing a giant flashing arrow at himself. ¡°This is pretty cool,¡± he told Abby. ¡°I''ve found a cheater''s hideout. So why isn¡¯t there an Epic-class sword, or a suit of armor that''s impervious to everything?¡± He looked down at himself. ¡°Instead I get the Fonz''s jacket and a pair of sunglasses.¡± And a hat, he reminded himself. A hat that might just make him invisible. He opened his inventory and took out the yellow teleportation stone. ¡°I''m off to test the hat,¡± he said to Abby. ¡°Don¡¯t wait up.¡± He activated the stone''s menu, scrolled through the destinations, chose Castlegar, and watched the Fortress of Solitude disappear.