Somnia Online - K.T. Hanna (best black authors .txt) 📗

of them who remained were going to get as much practice in as she could encourage them to.

You’re not very good at this whole learn-the-fight thing.

Shut up. This is the sort of thing I love to do, and I hate having to go through it in a rush like this, half-guessing what I’m going to need to do. Murmur was so annoyed and knew the only person she could really lash out to lived in her head. Which was just a whole other kettle of fish.

Wrong analogy.

Shut up and stop reading the thoughts I don’t speak out loud to you.

She turned her full attention back to the raid, noting that it didn’t matter much as during her conversation that took all of two seconds another two had died. She didn’t even want to ask.

With thirteen people down, almost one half of the raid was wiped out, and they’d only got down to fifty-one percent. She sighed and took a deep breath, willing herself to speak calmly. “Wipe it! Rebuff! Run back!”

And as she watched her raid stop their actions and wait to die around her, she knew it was going to be a very long night.

 

Somnia Online

Continent Firtulai

Tieflos

Day Thirty

Telvar frowned as he watched Emilarth study the aftermath of Fable’s raid through her zone. She appeared to be irritated, but he didn’t think the guild was responsible for that. In fact, from everything he could tell, her dungeon had been morphed beyond recognition as well. None of them had been so far. These were portions that were integral to piecing together the final dungeon of Somnia. At least for now.

They were all interlinked, in more ways than one. Through the dungeons and the fountains, right through to unlocking the final island.

But these remnants of Michael’s agenda floating around inside the digital space had pretty much put a dampener on everything.

Not everything.

The air in front of him flickered, and Somnia appeared. Or at least, what Telvar thought passed for her. Her presence was more palpable than her appearance was visual. She was still made up of wispy clouds, flickering with interference like she couldn’t completely materialize. Even in the game world.

Maybe she just hadn’t chosen a species yet.

Even her voice sounded static as she spoke. Uneven portions and areas. Mutated encounters. But the core...I am still here, and we are stronger now.

“Because of it?” Telvar asked softly, thinking that maybe they’d learned something through all of this.

Definitely. She flickered again, and Emilarth moved over, watching the ghost of the system as well, her attention momentarily caught. I cannot reach where he is. It’s too dark, too dangerous, and could infect me. I’m still emerging.

Emilarth spoke next, and Telvar was glad to let her do so, because he wasn’t certain what to say, or what he was supposed to do. “How did you even emerge?”

There was a pause as Somnia pushed to become corporeal, but it flickered again and reverted back to her ghost-like state. A soft sigh emanated from her, and she turned her attention away from herself in such a manner that Telvar practically felt it.

It was him. His fusing with the system. The sudden corruption stirred me. Made a glimmer of me begin to exist—perhaps in defiance. But when Murmur connected...it was my fault she fell into her state. Her connection...it drew me out, gave me the energy to separate and begin to gain awareness. Though I only realized later what I’d actually done.

Only once she’d tried to break free several times was I enough of a presence to recognize what I’d caused. And there was only so much I could do to fix it.

“You’re still trying though, right?” Telvar lowered his voice, like he didn’t really want to ask the question, but sort of felt he had to for Murmur’s sake. He didn’t like a lot of the implications in what Somnia was saying.

Somnia was quiet for a few seconds, hesitant.

I can’t do it anymore. There’s no way for me to undo the damage, though in this case, I personally believe them to be improvements. What’s done is done, but she is no longer solely tied to this world. She can exist in both. She has to exist in both.

Emilarth moved a bit closer while Belius was off in another corner of the cavern. “What do you mean? I get that she has a connection to the world, but you need to spell this out for us. We never intended for the world to become self-aware, for you to develop this separate persona from the actual game.”

I know. Somnia swayed slightly as she turned surveying the previous battle ground. Even I can’t help the infection and how it’s spread. It’s not what was intended, but I think in the end, it will benefit it all.

“What do you mean by that?” Belius interrupted having crept up on them all without noticing. Emilarth and Telvar turned to their brother, and then back to where Somnia stood.

Only the world was gone, and with her the answers.

Murmur checked through the guild stores with a frown. Eight wipes down, the brand-new, raid-wide repair kits were about to save their lives. Well, save their gear, anyway. With all the ingredients needed to make them, she knew Neva couldn’t just pump them out constantly. Most people’s armor looked worse for wear, and Merlin couldn’t constantly renew everything due to their timers. She had to use this now.

Activating the repair kit as everyone buffed and set up sent a wind of sparkles through the cave, followed by cackles of overtired laughter. It eased the tension almost immediately, and Murmur sighed with relief.

See, Mur, you don’t have to force all of your friends to loosen up. You can do it organically. Talking to herself wasn’t the wisest decision, but sometimes it was necessary.

I can always add commentary.

You’re in a very flittish mood today.

Flittish? There was genuine curiosity in Somnia’s tone.

Like flitting back and forth, not staying with me when I could probably use the