Somnia Online, K.T. Hanna [best books to read now .txt] 📗

is viable. After all, they’ve defeated everything else, right? All because of Murmur.”

Jinna’s gaze snapped to Jirald with a heat that surprised the other rogue. “All because of Devlish’s tanking you mean. Crowd control isn’t the be all and end all she’d like us to think it is.”

Which was precisely what Jirald wanted to hear.

“If she’d stayed a healer, it’d be a different story,” Masha mumbled. He was looking at his hands like he’d never seen them before and blinked far too much. What he’d said was too close to a compliment for Jirald’s liking. He couldn’t have that now. Not if he needed everyone in the raid to turn on her at the exact right moment. Not if Michael needed it…not if it wasn’t his job.

He approached the healer, the only person who’d ever really been his friend, and placed a hand on his shoulder again, squeezing gently and letting the infection pass through him. The anger ran along it, the discontent. “Maybe, but she’d probably still be this overbearing.”

For a moment a haze clouded Masha’s sight and he appeared lost, but then the anger came back full force as the virus hit his brain through the headset. “Maybe. Still, though. Let’s just get this dungeon cleared so we can move onto the next step.”

Jirald smiled as the others moved away to take their stations. He pushed at his hair, trying to banish the strange sensation that floated around his mind for the last few minutes. It was all a price he was willing to pay. Still, though, he’d pushed them this far, and he’d be able to push them further. That way Murmur would be in the exact right place, vulnerable and weak, by the time they reached their final destination.

 

Location Redacted

Brainwave Focus Study Laboratory

Subdivision of Military Brainwave Research Institution

Somnia Online - Location Unknown - First Login Continued

Day Thirty-One

Fingering the pass Davenport had given him, David frowned at Staven, the guard who’d come with him. “So we should just let ourselves into his house?”

Staven shrugged broad shoulders. His short black hair was only lightly peppered with greys, putting him close to forty if David were to guess. “It’s what they said at the front desk. That they were under orders to give us access to all the work James had done. Which apparently is mostly in his home.” The burly body guard shrugged again, and David was just glad the man didn’t wear sunglasses in the dim light.

From talking to the front desk people, David got the impression that someone had arranged for them to have this access. If he was correct in his assumption, then Davenport would have some explaining to do once he got back.

Staven entered first, manned the door, and waited until David entered before he closed it, locking it from the inside. He paused, as if he wasn’t sure if he should have done that yet, but he turned toward David and nodded. “We’re good to look around. I can take down here, if you want to take the upper level.”

“Sure,” David responded with a brief smile. It was an actual offer. Staven had been nothing but polite and easy to talk to. David’s favorite kind of person. They always made him feel less awkward. David’s feet fell softly against the carpeted floors, making no noise at all. He frowned. Didn’t James know that carpet simply held in all the dander? Still, that wasn’t what he should be thinking about. He should be contemplating how to explain his presence in the flat to the domicile’s owner. Hi, I’m your rival’s husband, and I just wanted to check on you to make sure you’re not dead.

It wasn’t exactly a solid reason to be in someone’s apartment. Then again, they’d received access from what he extrapolated to be the true owners, so maybe they were fine.

The apartment itself was sparse, definitely bacheloresque, a plain black leather couch, small kitchen, tiny table and chairs for two. The loft that hung over it was accessed by a small spiral staircase to the rear of the apartment. If his work was anything to go by, then James rarely spent actual time in his home.

Taking a deep breath and leaving Staven to his own devices below, David began to climb the stairs, hoping he wouldn’t wake the gamer up. Maybe he’d just fallen asleep wearing the headset. But usually sleep would cause the headset to recognize the patterns and boot the player out. That had been part of Wren’s problem. Her brain waves didn’t show as sleep.

Finally cresting the top, the entire area took him by surprise. It wasn’t just a small bedroom, but the size of most of the area downstairs. There were computers set up with differing headsets attached to each one, many of them monitoring what appeared to be tests. That he was conducting such research at his own home was sort of enviable, yet very dangerous if, like now, you’d dived into a game and couldn’t get back out.

Virtual reality wasn’t without downfalls and danger. There had been people whose brains were literally fried with incorrectly manufactured equipment. Or the people lost because they spent too much time inside and lost their link to reality.

Just as David feared and suspected, James was in his chair reclined, with his head lolling to the side. The lights on the headgear blinked furiously, indicating that his mind was still occupied, but that its player wasn’t aware of the outside world. He had flashbacks of Wren in a similar position. Except she’d been tugged into it almost immediately on character assessment, and they hadn’t been able to right the situation.

James, however, was in the game world, which meant they didn’t have to create a whole extra virtual environment for him because it already existed. Instead, they’d need to make him comfortable and see if they could fish him out. They needed a pod.

Sometimes he wished his wife were prone to being incorrect. But it was true. David even