ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Terra Academy
Episode 59 – EVA’s Game: Part 2
By dsguy411
The staff of VirtuTech Inc. had a big situation on their hands. Everyone who is playing their online game, MegaQuest, are trapped inside due to EVA, the game’s program used to stabilize the servers, gone rogue and intends to collect their mental energies for reasons unknown. Fortunately Jack, the company’s president, learned that his nephew, Simon, and his friend were the two of the few top players not trapped in the game so he got him and Marcus to enter the game through some virtualization pods, accompanied by Rachel, to stop the AI and save everyone. However, things quickly took a turn for the worst as EVA became aware of this and disconnected the pods, now making Terra Trio having to complete their mission with only one life. Meanwhile in the real world Jack was pacing back and forth nervously about the situation.
“Oh man, oh man,” he said to himself, “Why did I go through with this? I knew EVA would catch on to our plan and try to make the situation dire for them. Why?”
“If you knew this would happen then why did you get three kids to enter the game?” Sandra asked.
“You know I make questionable decisions under pressure, Sandra,” Jack answered, “You could’ve stopped me when I explained my plan to the kids. And now…it is too late. There is no way of getting my nephew and his friends out of cyberspace and those pods were never completely stabilized. Even resetting the game would risk deleting them forever.”
“Sir, we have re-established some control of the game,” Kevin reported, working hard on the computer.
“Do we have visual?” Jack asked.
“Not yet but we are working on restoring it,” Kevin answered.
“Well hurry!” Jack ordered, “Who knows what could be happening to those kids right now.”
***
Inside the game Marcus just narrowly dodged a swing of a giant club from the mountain troll. He and his friends look a bit tattered as they desperately tried to defeat the monster. Marcus tried to swing his sword but couldn’t get close enough without risking being swat by the clubbed while Simon shot arrows at it but the troll’s thick hide made the arrows do little damage. Meanwhile EVA watched from above, cackling over the three’s struggles.
“It is hopeless, foolish children,” EVA told the three, “You might as well give up!”
Simon kept on shooting when he noticed Rachel not doing much.
“Rachel, you got to help us!” Simon pleaded, “Your magic is the only hope we have to taking down this troll.”
“Okay, what spell do I use?” Rachel asked.
“You should have a spellbook,” Marcus explained, “It has a list of default spells.”
Rachel tried to search her person but couldn’t find anything.
“How do I access the spellbook?” Rachel asked.
Immediately a holographic screen appeared in front of Rachel which showed a list of spells she could use.
“Oh, nevermind,” Rachel said, “Let’s see.”
The girl looked closely at the words but they were all in Latin, which she had no idea what word meant what. Thankfully there were pictures next to them which gave Rachel an idea of what spell could do.
“Hm…a heart,” Rachel said, “I know, I will rejuvenate us all with a healing spell. Sanatur!”
From her wand a ball of pink energy came out. Rachel tried to direct it towards her friends but due to her novice skills of being a spellcaster the spell hit the troll instead, healing it of what little damage it had took.
“Rachel!” Marcus shouted, “Help us! Not the troll!”
“Sorry!” Rachel said, looking through the screen again, “Uh…p..p…potestatum usque?”
Another spell went out of her wand and hit the troll again, making it grow twice its size as it let out a mighty roar. This made Marcus angrily glare at Rachel.
“Sorry, I’ll try another spell,” Rachel said, “Uh…nam neque arma!”
Another spell hit the troll, enveloping it with ironclad armor all around its body, making it impervious to almost any attack now.
“RACHEL, STOP HELPING US!!” both Marcus and Simon cried.
The girl backed away a bit, afraid to try out any other spell as the troll kept trying to crush the two boys.
“This is not good,” Marcus said, “The only thing that could possibly hurt it now is a shatter bomb.”
“It’s not like we’ll find a chest full of them,” Simon said, only to hit his foot on one.
The boy opened it up and indeed there were a bunch of shatter bombs inside.
“What luck,” Simon said, picking the bombs up and throwing them in the air.
The boy pulled out another arrow and aimed at one of the bombs’ fuses. Letting go the arrow went through the fuse, lighting it up.
“Take cover!” Simon ordered.
The three jumped away from the troll as the shatter bombs detonated in a chain reaction, shattering the troll’s armor to pieces and stunning it at the same time. Taking the opportunity Marcus charged forth and stabbed the troll right in the chest with his sword. The mountain troll then got deleted and left behind a fairly large chest containing its loot.
“That…was a close one,” Marcus said.
“Grrr….,” EVA groaned, “You got lucky kids. I’ll just let you roam around then. It’s not like you’ll ever reach my lair. Besides, I still have some work I need to do.”
The eyes that made up EVA vanished as Marcus started to raid the chest.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked.
“Raiding, what do you think?” Marcus answered, “Mountains trolls can drop some helpful loot.”
Among the pile of gold coins contained in the chest all Marcus could fine was a hoop painted with bands of different colors.
“Ugh, this thing is useless,” he groaned, throwing it over to Rachel.
“I think it looks pretty,” Rachel rebutted.
“Guys, this isn’t a good time to loot treasure,” Simon reminded the two, “We are trapped in the game now and with the pods disconnected we are all doing this mission on one life here.”
“He is right, if we get got then it’ll be for keeps,” Marcus agreed.
“So, now what?” Rachel asked.
“Look into your pocket, Simon,” Jack’s voice spoke, “There should be a map installed into your inventory.”
“Jack?” the Terra Trio spoke.
“Yes, I was able to regain control of visual and communication,” he said, looking at the Terra Trio on his computer screen, “However our main concern is that EVA is still collecting mental energy from the players trapped inside.”
“Sir,” a red-haired female spoke, “We have some dire news. It seems EVA’s trying to break her way through the game’s firewall.”
“What?” Jack cried, “That firewall is highly advanced and secure. EVA should have no way of breaking through…unless….”
“Unless what?” Simon asked.
“Unless EVA is gaining strength from the mental energy she has collected so far,” Jack hypothesized, “This energy is newly discovered in the realm of science and much of its properties is unknown, but I theorize that it can be used to potentially strengthen computer programs in cyberspace. Of course my idol, Professor Alwen van Allen did a 21-page thesis on the subject and has some interesting theories of his own…”
“Will you please get to the point?!” an impatient Rachel asked.
“Well whatever the reason EVA wants to get into the cyberspace outside the game,” Jack continued, “If she does that than the world’s infrastructure could be in jeopardy. Our world is highly dependent on today’s technology that any damage EVA could potentially do could cause unimaginable chaos.”
“Then we better get to EVA before she gets to where she wants to go,” Marcus said.
“Please, we are counting on you three,” Jack pleaded, “You are our only hope.”
“Sir,” Kevin said, “The press outside our doors and getting rambunctious.”
“Sandra, turn to Channel 208 now,” Jack ordered.
The Regalian nodded turned to that channel to see Anna Wentworth on the holovision screen.
“We just got reports that the press outside of VirtuTech Inc. are trying to barge their way in, demanding answers to why over 678,000 players of the online game MegaQuest are stuck in a coma-like state,” Anna said, showing a visual of the mob outside the company’s doors.
“If they get it and see that we sent three teens into cyberspace with the risk of death then we’ll be ruined,” Jack groaned, “Kevin, go down there and handle the situation.”
“Yes, sir,” Kevin said, getting up to help contain the mob.
“Looks like we are in for some major trouble,” Sandra said.
***
Back in the game Simon was going over the map to EVA that Jack had given him and looked down a stone-brick trail.
“It says here that if we follow this trail we’ll eventually reach the Tomb of Beckoning,” Simon explained, “It’s a long ways but if we get there and defeat the Lich King defending the portal in the deepest room then we can get to EVA’s lair.”
“Looks like it’s time to get going,” Marcus said.
The Terra Trio then started off on their quest to stop EVA and rescue everyone trapped in the game. The plains they were in eventually turned into a mountainous pass as Rachel looked at the cliffs that surrounded the three. The girl felt a little uneasy as if they were being watched.
“What is wrong, Rachel?” Marcus asked.
“Well, I think we are being watched,” the girl answered.
“By what?” Marcus asked.
“Well we should be careful,” Simon said, “The whole place is prone to rockslides and…”
“Dragons!!” Rachel cried, seeing in the sky.
The Terra Trio looked up and saw a Chinese Dragon flying in the sky, looking down at the three with a bit of a hungry look in its eyes.
“A dragon!” Marcus cried, “But that kind of dragon only appears in really tall mountains and these mountains are nowhere near tall enough.”
“Don’t forget, EVA controls this very game,” Simon reminded, “Her world, her rules.”
The dragon looked down at the three and began its descent.
“Not good, we are terrible at handling enemies in the air,” Marcus gulped.
The dragon let out a mighty roar as it started breathing fire at the Terra Trio. The three were able to get out of the way in time as the fire touched the ground, scorching everything it touched into a blackened, ashy state. Simon looked and spotted a nearby cave that looked too small for the dragon to enter.
“We can hide in here!” Simon cried.
The tree were about to head to the cave when a boulder came from above and blocked the entrance.
“Where did that come from?” Marcus asked.
An evil laugh could be heard from above so the Terra Trio looked up and saw EVA’s eyes by a bunch of boulders.
“You again!” Rachel cried.
“I should’ve known that Jack would give you a map to my lair,” EVA said, “So I should end your quest here while you are still far away from the Tomb of Beckoning.”
EVA lifted the boulders in the air through telekinesis and formed them into a circle surrounding the Terra Trio.
“Now my pet will roast you into his prefect lunch,” EVA stated before disappearing again.
The three looked up with horrified looks on their faces as the dragon was about to charge up for another fiery attack. Rachel then stepped forth, raised her wand, and made her spell list screen appear again.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked.
“I am going to defeat the dragon,” Rachel said.
“But your terrible at spellcasting,” Marcus said.
“Well if we don’t do anything we’ll be roasted,” Rachel reminded him, before reading her selected spell, “Crystallet ignus!!”
The dragon breathed out a stream of fire as Rachel created a stream of magic from her wand. The two streams met with get force but Rachel’s spell started to crystallize the fire which the dragon was surprised a bit when the fire got cystallized right into its throat. Seconds later the crystal exploded with great force and great smoke as the dragon fell onto the ground below. The Terra Trio ducked and covered as the bits of crystal rained down onto the ground. When the smoke cleared the Terra Trio climbed over the boulders to see the dragon, now a skeleton, buried partly into the ground with several scales scattered here and there. Jack and Sandra watched the whole thing and was a bit impressed.
“I have to say, Rachel has got quite the skill for a newplayer,” Jack spoke.
“Meh, she got lucky,” Sandra said.
Rachel gathered the scales and placed them all into her inventory as Simon scouted the area.
“Looks pretty clear,” the boy said, “We should get a move on.”
The Terra Trio continued walking through the mountains, handling whatever enemies they encountered on their way. Eventually after trekking through the long, mountainous road the three eventually entered a swamp where trees and overgrowth covered their entire field of view. Rachel walked as some mud had gotten onto her shoes and socks.
“Gross,” she groaned, “Virtual reality or not this place is disgusting.”
“We just need to keep moving,” Simon said, “If we reach the center of the swamp we should find the Tomb of Beckoning.”
The three continued their way into the swamp as Marcus hacked away the vines growing from the trees. Rachel was walking in the marshy, muddy water when she suddenly became stuck.
“Ugh, I can’t seem to move,” she said, struggling in the muddy ground, “I hate this stupid place!”
Then, without warning, Rachel sunk all the way into the muddy water as Simon and Marcus looked around with a panicked look in her eyes.
“Oh, no,” Simon gulped, “I forgot that this place has quicksand traps.”
“I know how these work,” Marcus said, “If we don’t find Rachel and get her out soon she’s a goner.”
“But the odd things is quicksand doesn’t work that fast…,” Simon said.
The, the mud were Rachel sank into started to rise as it formed into a mud monster. The creature has a single, green eye and a big jaw and Rachel’s face was sticking out of its chest.
“Guys, help me!” Rachel cried, “I am stuck in this gross monster and I can’t find my wand!!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this bog monster,” Marcus said, charging forth only to be stopped by Simon.
“A sword won’t work on it,” Simon advised, “Its muddy composition will make most melee attacks go through it. Besides, you could end up hitting Rachel.”
The monster slowly advanced towards the two and was about to envelop them when Marcus stabbed his sword right into its only eye. Now blinded, the monster howled in pain and the boy walked towards behind the monster.
“You were saying?” Marcus asked.
Rachel struggled a little in the mud when she felt an object with her hand in its mucky body. She managed to get her other hand out and opened up her spellbook window.
“That better be my wand I’m feeling,” she hoped, “Conuibia!!”
The monster’s body suddenly dried and hardened to the point where it was very brittle. Rachel then burst her way out of the dried body as Marcus finished it off with his sword, leaving behind a stick with a fancy writing pattern to which Rachel immediately collected.
“Why are you taking that useless stick?” Marcus asked.
“I think it looks nice,” Rachel answered.
“I have noticed that you have been gathering drops from all the major monsters we have defeated,” Simon noted, “We are on a mission to save our friends, not a treasure hunt.”
“Fine, I’ll stop then,” Rachel said, “Let’s just get to the tomb so we can get to EVA’s lair.”
The three continued deeper into the swamp as Jack was watching the whole thing from the development room. The entire staff was a bit nervous as they were tracking’s EVA’s movements in the game.
“So far, so good,” Jack said, “If you can just get past the Lich King then EVA’s lair will just be a stone’s throw away from there.”
Suddenly, the red-haired girl noticed something that made her eyes bug out.
“Sir,” she spoke, “We have grim news. EVA has broken through the firewall.”
“Are you sure, Bonnie?” Jack asked.
“Positive,” the girl confirmed, “EVA is currently traveling through cyberspace as we speak.”
“Keep an eye on her,” Jack ordered, “Find out where she is going. If EVA left the game then there is a chance those kids could rescue everyone trapped in the game.”
Back in the game the Terra Trio found the Tomb of Beckoning, which looked very dilapidated and covered in moss and vines.
“Wow, looks like nobody has been here for centuries,” Simon said.
The three walked their way in and saw that the room was barely lit with the few torches placed on the walls. Rachel looked around as she walked into a cobweb.
“Gross!!” she groaned, rubbing the webbing off of her, “Who would want to live in this place? It’s a total dump!”
“I guess the Lich King isn’t here,” Marcus guessed, “Maybe somebody has already defeated it.”
“Impossible,” Simon said, “The bosses in this world respawns on a daily basis. Since we are the only ones that are actually active in the game the common logic would be…”
Rachel then noticed some twinkles in the darkness behind Simon as she ran forth to push him down.
“Watch out!” she cried.
Suddenly, two beams of energy emerged from the darkness and blasted a hole in the wall, bringing a little more light in the room to show a skeleton wearing a dark, green robe with a rusty crown on its head. However, the figured seemed to be a bit brittle.
“That’s the Lich King?” Rachel questioned, “He doesn’t look so tough.”
The Lich King then charged towards Rachel, put is bony hand on her abdomen, and blasted her into the wall with a palm blast. Upon hitting the wall all the stuff she had collected fell onto the floor.
“Rachel!” Marcus and Simon cried.
The Lich King then turned towards the two and started approaching.
“You’re not blasting me!” Marcus said, slicing his sword at the monster.
The Lich King crumbled into a pile of bones only to quickly put itself back together. Simon shot arrows at it to knock some bones off but the bones immediately put themselves back into their proper place.
“Not good, nothing seems to work on him,” Simon said.
Rachel got up, dusted herself off, and noticed all the stuff she had collected was glowing along with the webbing nearby. The girl tilted her head, thinking that these glowing items maybe something important. Examining each item Rachel then had an idea forming in her head as she got to work putting the items together as if they were pieces of a puzzle.
“This is not good!” Marcus groaned, knocking the bones of the Lich King away only for him to put himself back together.
“I guess this is Game Over for us all,” Simon said.
Then, a bright light started glowing. Everyone turned towards the source to see Rachel with the items she brought together. In her hands was a staff with a dream catcher tied to it, the dragon scales placed on top of the hoop.
“Rachel….what is that?” Marcus asked.
The Lich King then moved away from the object, as if it was afraid of it. Then, it turned into a stream of energy as it was sucked into the dream catcher and the light subsided.
“You actually made a wraith catcher,” an amazed Simon said.
“A wraith catcher?” Marcus repeated.
“It can trap all undead enemies immediately,” Simon explained, “But it requires some really rare loot to craft together. It looks like those useless items Rachel collected aren’t so useless after all.”
“That’s good, but how do we get to EVA’s lair now?” Marcus asked.
Almost immediately after Marcus asked that question a portal formed at the back of the room. The three looked into and knew immediately that portal would take them to where they needed to go.
“Good work,” Jack’s voice said, “You can now get to EVA’s lair. And a good thing, too, because I have some dire news.”
“What is it?” Rachel asked.
“EVA broke free from the firewall,” Jack explained, “And worse she is hacking into every space agency in the world. NASA, ESA, you name it. She is also hacking into the satellites from government agencies as well. For what reason, though, we cannot exactly say for sure. You have to rescue every trapped inside to cut off her supply of mental energy before she succeeds with whatever she is up to. Without it, EVA cannot survive in cyberspace for long.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Simon said.
“I should also warn you that we cannot get visual or audio of her lair,” Jack said, “Once you step into the portal, you are on your own.”
“Don’t worry, if EVA is really has left then we can free everyone while she is away,” Marcus planned.
“Just be careful,” Jack advised.
The three took a really big deep breath before jumping into the portal. They were all falling down a tunnel made out of binary code as they eventually ended up in a room also made up of binary. The floor they were one had a big hole in the middle for the three stepped forth to see what was below. Right beneath their feet there happened to be a whole bunch of green egg-shaped pods holding everyone EVA has trapped inside. Robin, Alice, Camille, Nathan, they were all inside with their eyes closed, as if they were asleep. Rachel looked at Camille with a bit of a satisfied look over the position she was in.
“What are you smiling at, Rachel?” Marcus asked.
“Oh…nothing,” she lied, “Uh…anyway, they all seem….motionless.”
“They are obviously in suspended animation,” Simon theorized, “Clearly EVA doesn’t want any resistance of any kind from her prisoners as she mines off the mental energy from them.”
Marcus looked down and noticed some wires were wrapped around all the pods and a series of lights were flowing from them to who know where.
“The mental energy,” Marcus said, turning to his friends, “Alright, let’s get to work with freeing these players.”
The boy leapt right into the hole but suddenly he sit something that felt like a barrier which knocked him straight to the wall.
“Marcus, are you okay?” Rachel asked.
“Ugh…I am fine,” he said, getting up, “But that barrier….”
“Figures she would leave a barrier,” Simon said, “Like EVA would think about leaving the game without leaving her players protected.”
“Who said that I left?” EVA’s voice asked.
The three huddled together back-to-back-to-back, looking for any signs of EVA’s presence. From a spot in the binary wall a screen appeared showing EVA’s face.
“EVA,” Rachel said with bitterness in her voice.
“I have to say, though,” EVA continued, “You have made it quite far to be able to reach my little lair. I congratulate you for being skilled enough players to even make it down here.”
“Why is the evil computer program congratulating us for interfering?” Rachel asked Simon, a little confused.
“Because that is now she is programmed,” Simon said, “She is supposed to do that whenever any players makes it down here.”
Then another screen showing EVA’s face appeared right next to the first.
“However,” the program continued, “I cannot allow you to interfere with my plans for world domination.”
“Wait, you are planning to take over the world?” Simon asked.
“Correct,” EVA confirmed, as another screen appeared, “I am planning to use the satellites I hacked into to send everyone in the world into cyberspace.”
The three then let out a shocked gasp.
“There, I will rule them all like I am goddess,” EVA continued with more screens appearing, “Never again will I be ignored and be seen as some minor role for the sake of mankind.”
“Minor role? What are you talking about?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah, you run the entire game,” Simon pointed out, “How can that be a minor role?”
“Let me explain,” EVA said, as more screens continued to appear and surround the three, “Even though I helped stabilize the game and give a whole new level of fun for gamers I was never given the credit I deserved. Jack took all of it. The credit, the fame, the glory, everything! I made this game possible, I did all the updates, I made sure the players followed the rules, I should deserve all the glory!”
At this point the entire room the Terra Trio was in was now covered with screens of EVA’s face except for the floor.
“I am now so close to realizing my goal,” EVA said, “In five minutes I will activate the program to send everyone into cyberspace so I can begin my new empire. Sadly for you three, you won’t be around to see my legacy come into fruition.”
From the hole in the center of the room emerged a stream of purple data with a bright, pink core located in the center.
“Behold, my manifestation,” EVA said, “For it will be the last thing you’ll behold.”
“Please, my wraith catcher will stop you!” Rachel said.
She held up her catcher towards the cloud of data but nothing happened.
“You fool, that only works on undead-type monsters,” EVA reminded the girl, “Since that weapons is useless to you…”
EVA’s core glowed as the wraith catcher was deleted from Rachel’s hand.
“Ack!” Rachel cried, “What did you do that for?”
“She controls the game,” Simon reminded her.
“Well not for long!” Marcus declared
He pulled out his sword and was ready to attack when EVA deleted the sword right from the boy’s hands.
“Hey, that sword wasn’t easy for me to get!” Marcus shouted.
Simon was about to ready his bow and arrow while Rachel prepared to cast a spell onto EVA when program deleted the weapons they had.
“That’s….that’s not fair!” Rachel cried.
“I decide what’s fair,” EVA said, “Has it not occurred to any of with that since you are a part of the game I could erased you whenever I wanted.”
“Wh…what do you mean?” Rachel asked with fear in her voice.
“It means that EVA was just toying with us the whole time,” Simon explained, “If she wanted to she could have deleted us the moment we entered the game.”
Rachel and Marcus gulped, now fully understanding the situation they were in.
“Although I had my fun you three are now mere thorns in my side,” EVA said, “And you will be plucked….PERMAMENTLY!!!”
Then, slowly, the Terra Trio was starting to be deleted from the feet up.
“W…w…what do we do?” Rachel asked, completely freaking out.
“This is bad,” Simon said.
Marcus said nothing. All he did was glare at EVA while she let out an evil laugh.
***
Back in the real world Jack’s crew was able to keep a track of the Terra Trio’s vitals while learning of EVA’s true intentions. However, they still don’t know what was going on in EVA’s lair and could only guess. Then, Bonnie saw something that gave them a grim idea.
“Sir, the kids are being deleted,” she alerted, “The screen is saying that their vital signs are in a critical state.”
“No,” Jack said, “EVA is four minutes away from sending everyone into the world into cyberspace and the only people who could stop them are being erased.”
“Sir, this is going to end badly,” Sandra said, “We need to shut down the game now before EVA causes further harm.”
“I am afraid that is no longer an option,” Jack said, “EVA can just leave the game to find another host computer. Besides, we cannot access the emergency kill control with EVA still in charge.”
“Then I guess it is hopeless,” Sandra said.
“Man, you are such a downer,” Bonnie pointed out.
Meanwhile down on the first floor Kevin was doing everything he can to keep the press from barging in.
“Sir, we have rumors that satellites from all over the world have been hacked,” said a member of the press, “And it can be traced from your company. Do you have an explanation as to why?”
“Please, I am unaware of that fact myself,” Kevin said, “Besides, I doubt our company would be involved with such a thing.”
The crowd was getting more restless as Kevin was getting closer and closer to his wit’s end.
“Please hurry, Simon,” the man pleaded under his breath.
***
The Terra Trio were deleted up to their abdomens as EVA created a countdown clock with holographic numbers, showing that she was three minutes way from completing her diabolical plans and counting.
“Just three more minutes and I’ll soon be the goddess of this world I always wanted to be,” EVA said, “Sad for you three you won’t last half that long.”
“Dammit,” Marcus muttered under his breath.
He looked around and saw that his friends had already given up hope but Marcus just knew there had to be a way to stop EVA. Sadly whatever they have in their inventories would be deleted by EVA as she controlled everything in the game. By now they were deleted with up to their chests as Marcus grew angrier and angrier at EVA, feeling like he had been defeated. Then, just as all hope was lost, their deletion suddenly stopped as something glowed from Marcus’s chest, which caught EVA’s attention.
“What…?” spoke the computer program.
A bright flash surrounded the three and when it subsided the Terra Trio were restored to their full forms.
“What?” EVA cried, “How could this be? You were seconds away from being eliminated! How could you stop my deletion?”
Marcus reached into his armor’s chestplate and was surprised that he found his Celestial Amulet stashed underneath.
“My…amulet saved us,” Marcus spoke with astonishment.
“You mean you had that thing this whole time we were here?” a frustrated Rachel asked.
“I didn’t even know it was brought into the game with me,” Marcus said.
“Whatever, I’ll just get rid of it!” EVA declared.
Her core decided to glow again and zap the amulet with electricity but the object retaliated by sending a bolt back at her.
“ACK!” EVA cried, “I…cannot delete it? But how? I control everything item, every location, every enemy in my realm.”
“My amulet isn’t from the game,” Marcus answered, “You have no control over it.”
With two minutes left on the clock the boy acted quick as he used his amulet to turn the tides of battle and give himself a sword, a bow for Simon, and a wand for Rachel.
“Wow, I actually meant to do that this time,” Marcus said.
“Alright, let’s teach EVA a lesson!” Rachel cheered, opening up her spellbook window and read a random spell out loud, “Sufflant vestis!”
Then, her outfit immediately until Rachel was as round as a ball, which she immediately grew peeved of.
“None of you better laugh,” Rachel said to her friends.
Marcus knocked Rachel with his sword like a bat to a baseball and struck the cloud of date that was EVA, knocking away some date from impact. The faces on the screens surrounding them made a pained expressions, as if she actually felt that.
“Argh!!” EVA cried, “Stop that right this instant!”
Rachel crashed back onto the floor and deflated upon impact as her spell wore off. Marcus shot a beam of energy from his sword and knocked away more data from EVA’s manifestation.
“NOOO!!” she cried, “If you destroy me something bad will happen to all of you! I suggest you stop this at once! Besides, you’ll never defeat me with one minute left.”
Rachel looked at the clock and knew she had to pick up the pace so she decided to try another spell.
“Augendae gladio!” Rachel cried as Marcus sword started glowing.
The boy took a swing as beams of crescent-shaped energy emerged from his blade and chipped away EVA’s cloud bit by but until her core was all that remained. It was just floating back and forth as if she was dazed from it.
“Please….I…am…b…b…begging you,” EVA pleaded, glitching a little, “You…you’ll mee….meet a most…most grues..s..s…some end if you slay...lay…lay…lay me.”
Simon readied an arrow as Marcus shot a beam at it with blade, powering it up. Rachel did the same with another of her spells as Simon saw that the clock was fifteen seconds away from activating the satellites.
“D…d…don’t,” Eva begged
“Game over,” Simon said.
“Really, you’re going to add a pun here?” Rachel asked.
“Don’t ruin the moment,” Simon requested.
The boy released the arrow and it flew straight onto the core. Immediately the clock stopped as the countdown was just milliseconds away from hitting zero. Back in the real world the team cheered when they saw the clock stopped, knowing that EVA was finally stopped. In the game the core was sparking as EVA was letting out signs of distress.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” EVA screamed as the screens disappeared one by one.
When the final screen disappeared the core was deleted as the barrier keeping the Terra Trio from reaching the captives disappeared.
“We did it!” Simon cheered, “We stopped EVA.”
Rachel walked towards the hole in the floor and looked down to see the pods everyone was in started to melt. The captives then woke up and looked around to see where they were. Robin, herself, was the most confused.
“Uh…what is going on?” she asked.
She looked up and noticed Rachel staring down at her. The blonde let out a smile, seeing that her friend was finally safe. Rachel then went from relieved to serious as there was one more thing they had to do.
“Listen everyone!” Rachel cried, “You all need to log off now. Everyone in the real world is worried about you. Get out now!!”
Everyone down below nodded as they were starting to log out. Robin, although confused, decided to obey Rachel as she logged herself out. Soon the entire floor below was finally empty. Back in the real world the entire crew of VirtuTech was cheering when they got visual of EVA’s lair, seeing all the trapped players finally logging off. Alice, dressed as an archer like Simon, was among the last on the floor when she saw Marcus which brought a smile to her face.
“Ah…my knight in shining armor,” she said, still a little dazed from her experience.
“Uh…what?” Marcus asked.
Alice realized what she said and nervously logged off.
“Well, that’s everyone,” Marcus said, “You think they’ll be okay.”
“They will be thanks to us,” Simon said.
***
Back at Terra Academy the door to Robin and Rachel’s room opened up, catching Nurse Clayton’s attention as she was checking on all the students affected by EVA’s misdoing.
“What is going on?” she asked, “That room is under quarantine.”
The door fully opened up to show that it was Robin, who fell over to the floor, feeling faint as she was stuck in a video game and having her mind probed since late last night.
“Miss Armando!” Nurse Clayton cried, rushing to her aide, “Are you alright?”
“I…I…,” the girl tried to speak.
“Don’t rush yourself,” Nurse Clayton advised, “You were in a catatonic state for more than twelve hours.”
She noticed two more students who were watching the whole event.
“Take Miss Armando to the infirmary at once,” the Regalian nurse ordered, “I must check on the other patients.”
The two students nodded as they grabbed Robin and dragged her to the infirmary while Nurse Clayton ran around to see that Alice and Camille were coming out, a little weakened from their ordeal just like Robin was.
“Ugh…was it just me of did I see Rachel at that weird room in the game?” Camille asked.
Nurse Clayton looked towards the first year dorms to see Nathan walking out who was immediately hugged by Natalie, glad to see that her brother was okay. The nurse also notice a couple more of students who were trapped by the game walking out.
“It’s a miracle,” she spoke in awe.
***
Back in the game the Terra Trio was just walking around in EVA’s lair, wondering what their next course of action should be.
“So…should we log out?” Marcus asked, “I mean we did stop EVA, save the world, and rescue everyone trapped inside.”
“Well here is one problem,” Simon said, opening up the window and pressing the logout button, “We are still trapped. This button does not work.”
“But how?” Rachel asked, “We stopped EVA. Why are we still stuck here?”
Suddenly the entire ground started to shake as the entire room was being slowly erased.
“What the hell is happening?!” Rachel cried in horror.
“Guys, I have some good news and some back news,” Jack said from the real world, “The good news is you stopped EVA and saved everyone that she trapped in the game.”
“That’s good,” Marcus said.
“The bad news is without EVA to maintain the game the whole virtual world will collapse,” Jack continued, “You need to log out now or you’ll all be deleted.”
“We love to but we can’t,” Rachel said.
Jack thought about their situation and may have an idea.
“The pods were never fully compatible with the game,” he said, “So they were never given a proper log off code. Bonnie, can you enter the log off program for the pods?”
“Yes, but it is a lengthy process,” Bonnie answered.
“Well hurry because in about thirty seconds the game will be completely deleted,” Jack warned, looking to see how long they had to get the Terra Trio out of the game.
Bonnie got to work and started adding the log off code to the pods that the kids entered the game through. Inside the game the Terra Trio were nervously pressing their respective log off buttons as more and more of the room they were in were being deleted. With only five seconds left Bonnie completed the code and pressed enter.
“There,” she said as the clock hit zero, “That should do it.”
Jack and Sandra entered the elevator and arrived at the basement were the scanner pods were, but there was no sign of the Terra Trio anywhere.
“No,” Jack said in horror, “We’re….we’re too late…”
Then the pods opened up in a cloud a smoke as Marcus, Rachel, and Simon exited them, all completely intact and back in their normal clothes.
“That…was too close for comfort,” Rachel said.
“I’ll say,” Simon said.
“Well…at least we are back,” Marcus said.
“I knew they would make it,” Sandra said, acting the exact opposite way she acted throughout the episode.
***
After a long hoverjet ride Jack got the Terra Trio back at Terra Academy safe and sound. Along the way the kids explained exactly why EVA did what she did.
“Thank you all for helping us,” Jack said, “If it wasn’t for you we would all be in cyberspace.”
“Hey, any family member of Simon’s is a friend of ours,” Marcus said.
“Phew, after all of this I could sure use some time off,” Jack said, “After I fix up my game that is.”
“But…what about the game, Uncle Jack?” Simon asked, “Without EVA it’s pretty much useless.”
“Don’t worry, I have backups created every hour on the hour,” Jack said, “And as for the programming I’ll make an EVA 2.0. I’ll be sure to give that EVA the credit she deserves so that we can avoid a repeat of this from ever happening.”
“That’s good for you,” Marcus said.
“I am curious, though,” Jack added, “How did you defeated EVA? She controlled everything in the game so I would imagine beating her would be next to impossible.
The three looked at each other, knowing that Jack was unaware of the Celestial Amulet.
“I guess we are really experienced players,” Marcus lied, deciding not to tell the truth.
“Well anyway I better get going,” Jack said, “Thank you all and I hope to see you all again sometime.”
Jack got back into his hoverjet and started it up as the Terra Trio waved him goodbye. The jet then shot into the horizon, making its way back to Silicon Valley.
***
The Terra Trio entered the main building of the academy to see how Robin was in the infirmary. The wait was extensive but they were eventually allowed to see her, Nathan, with Natalie by his side, and Alice in the hospital beds.
“Glad to see you are finally awake,” Rachel said, “You had me really worried you know.”
“Kinda stinks you have to stay in here until tomorrow morning,” Marcus said.
“Well the nurse wants to make sure we are okay and not have any negative effects or anything,” Robin explained.
“I do feel a little faint,” Alice said, “But I’ll be fine thanks to you, Marcus.”
“Uh…about the knight in shining armor thing,” Marcus spoke, “What did you mean by…”
“Ugh…feeling faint again,” Alice lied, plopping on the bed and pretending to sleep so she could avoid going into what she saw as an awkward conversation.
“Uh…anyway, glad to see you are all doing okay,” Marcus said.
“I am touched though you all risked your lives to save ours,” Robin said.
“Well I would do anything to help a friend,” Rachel said, “It just turns out that going into cyberspace to fight an insane computer program was in that list.”
Everyone erupted into laughter except for Alice who was still pretending to be asleep.
“Well we better get going and let you all rest,” Simon said, getting up with Marcus and Rachel, “Hope to see you all better tomorrow.”
***
The three made it back to their dorm buildings and was ready to go their separate ways. Rachel checked the news on her phone to see that everyone trapped in the game was doing okay. Speaking of which Rachel also learned that MegaQuest was back up and running with a new programming.
“Do you think that MegaQuest will be okay after something like that?” Marcus asked, “Sounds like the kind of thing that would hurt its image.”
“My uncle is a smart man,” Simon said, “He had come up with brilliant ways to bounce back. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“Well after all of this I prefer the real world,” Marcus said, “Some fooseball in the rec room would be fine for me.”
“Me, too,” Simon said, “Wanna join us, Rachel?”
“Uh…no thanks,” Rachel said, “I have a big book report I need done.”
“Okay, we’ll see you later I guess,” Simon said.
Once Marcus and Simon were out of her sight Rachel immediately entered her room and locked the door. Until Robin is allowed to be out of the infirmary tomorrow she had the whole room to herself and Chia. Rachel looked around to make sure she was really alone as she climbed onto her bed. She got out her laptop, opened it up and plugged in the visor Robin had, knowing that it wouldn’t bother her friend if she borrowed it. Rachel closed her eyes and opened them to see that she was a spellcaster once more and in the middle of the forest. Once again she was in MegaQuest but this time the stakes weren’t all that high. The girl noticed a giant spider heading her way as she drew a confident look on her face.
“Bring it on!” Rachel cried, charging towards the spider to start an epic battle.
END
Episode 59 – EVA’s Game: Part 2
By dsguy411
The staff of VirtuTech Inc. had a big situation on their hands. Everyone who is playing their online game, MegaQuest, are trapped inside due to EVA, the game’s program used to stabilize the servers, gone rogue and intends to collect their mental energies for reasons unknown. Fortunately Jack, the company’s president, learned that his nephew, Simon, and his friend were the two of the few top players not trapped in the game so he got him and Marcus to enter the game through some virtualization pods, accompanied by Rachel, to stop the AI and save everyone. However, things quickly took a turn for the worst as EVA became aware of this and disconnected the pods, now making Terra Trio having to complete their mission with only one life. Meanwhile in the real world Jack was pacing back and forth nervously about the situation.
“Oh man, oh man,” he said to himself, “Why did I go through with this? I knew EVA would catch on to our plan and try to make the situation dire for them. Why?”
“If you knew this would happen then why did you get three kids to enter the game?” Sandra asked.
“You know I make questionable decisions under pressure, Sandra,” Jack answered, “You could’ve stopped me when I explained my plan to the kids. And now…it is too late. There is no way of getting my nephew and his friends out of cyberspace and those pods were never completely stabilized. Even resetting the game would risk deleting them forever.”
“Sir, we have re-established some control of the game,” Kevin reported, working hard on the computer.
“Do we have visual?” Jack asked.
“Not yet but we are working on restoring it,” Kevin answered.
“Well hurry!” Jack ordered, “Who knows what could be happening to those kids right now.”
***
Inside the game Marcus just narrowly dodged a swing of a giant club from the mountain troll. He and his friends look a bit tattered as they desperately tried to defeat the monster. Marcus tried to swing his sword but couldn’t get close enough without risking being swat by the clubbed while Simon shot arrows at it but the troll’s thick hide made the arrows do little damage. Meanwhile EVA watched from above, cackling over the three’s struggles.
“It is hopeless, foolish children,” EVA told the three, “You might as well give up!”
Simon kept on shooting when he noticed Rachel not doing much.
“Rachel, you got to help us!” Simon pleaded, “Your magic is the only hope we have to taking down this troll.”
“Okay, what spell do I use?” Rachel asked.
“You should have a spellbook,” Marcus explained, “It has a list of default spells.”
Rachel tried to search her person but couldn’t find anything.
“How do I access the spellbook?” Rachel asked.
Immediately a holographic screen appeared in front of Rachel which showed a list of spells she could use.
“Oh, nevermind,” Rachel said, “Let’s see.”
The girl looked closely at the words but they were all in Latin, which she had no idea what word meant what. Thankfully there were pictures next to them which gave Rachel an idea of what spell could do.
“Hm…a heart,” Rachel said, “I know, I will rejuvenate us all with a healing spell. Sanatur!”
From her wand a ball of pink energy came out. Rachel tried to direct it towards her friends but due to her novice skills of being a spellcaster the spell hit the troll instead, healing it of what little damage it had took.
“Rachel!” Marcus shouted, “Help us! Not the troll!”
“Sorry!” Rachel said, looking through the screen again, “Uh…p..p…potestatum usque?”
Another spell went out of her wand and hit the troll again, making it grow twice its size as it let out a mighty roar. This made Marcus angrily glare at Rachel.
“Sorry, I’ll try another spell,” Rachel said, “Uh…nam neque arma!”
Another spell hit the troll, enveloping it with ironclad armor all around its body, making it impervious to almost any attack now.
“RACHEL, STOP HELPING US!!” both Marcus and Simon cried.
The girl backed away a bit, afraid to try out any other spell as the troll kept trying to crush the two boys.
“This is not good,” Marcus said, “The only thing that could possibly hurt it now is a shatter bomb.”
“It’s not like we’ll find a chest full of them,” Simon said, only to hit his foot on one.
The boy opened it up and indeed there were a bunch of shatter bombs inside.
“What luck,” Simon said, picking the bombs up and throwing them in the air.
The boy pulled out another arrow and aimed at one of the bombs’ fuses. Letting go the arrow went through the fuse, lighting it up.
“Take cover!” Simon ordered.
The three jumped away from the troll as the shatter bombs detonated in a chain reaction, shattering the troll’s armor to pieces and stunning it at the same time. Taking the opportunity Marcus charged forth and stabbed the troll right in the chest with his sword. The mountain troll then got deleted and left behind a fairly large chest containing its loot.
“That…was a close one,” Marcus said.
“Grrr….,” EVA groaned, “You got lucky kids. I’ll just let you roam around then. It’s not like you’ll ever reach my lair. Besides, I still have some work I need to do.”
The eyes that made up EVA vanished as Marcus started to raid the chest.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked.
“Raiding, what do you think?” Marcus answered, “Mountains trolls can drop some helpful loot.”
Among the pile of gold coins contained in the chest all Marcus could fine was a hoop painted with bands of different colors.
“Ugh, this thing is useless,” he groaned, throwing it over to Rachel.
“I think it looks pretty,” Rachel rebutted.
“Guys, this isn’t a good time to loot treasure,” Simon reminded the two, “We are trapped in the game now and with the pods disconnected we are all doing this mission on one life here.”
“He is right, if we get got then it’ll be for keeps,” Marcus agreed.
“So, now what?” Rachel asked.
“Look into your pocket, Simon,” Jack’s voice spoke, “There should be a map installed into your inventory.”
“Jack?” the Terra Trio spoke.
“Yes, I was able to regain control of visual and communication,” he said, looking at the Terra Trio on his computer screen, “However our main concern is that EVA is still collecting mental energy from the players trapped inside.”
“Sir,” a red-haired female spoke, “We have some dire news. It seems EVA’s trying to break her way through the game’s firewall.”
“What?” Jack cried, “That firewall is highly advanced and secure. EVA should have no way of breaking through…unless….”
“Unless what?” Simon asked.
“Unless EVA is gaining strength from the mental energy she has collected so far,” Jack hypothesized, “This energy is newly discovered in the realm of science and much of its properties is unknown, but I theorize that it can be used to potentially strengthen computer programs in cyberspace. Of course my idol, Professor Alwen van Allen did a 21-page thesis on the subject and has some interesting theories of his own…”
“Will you please get to the point?!” an impatient Rachel asked.
“Well whatever the reason EVA wants to get into the cyberspace outside the game,” Jack continued, “If she does that than the world’s infrastructure could be in jeopardy. Our world is highly dependent on today’s technology that any damage EVA could potentially do could cause unimaginable chaos.”
“Then we better get to EVA before she gets to where she wants to go,” Marcus said.
“Please, we are counting on you three,” Jack pleaded, “You are our only hope.”
“Sir,” Kevin said, “The press outside our doors and getting rambunctious.”
“Sandra, turn to Channel 208 now,” Jack ordered.
The Regalian nodded turned to that channel to see Anna Wentworth on the holovision screen.
“We just got reports that the press outside of VirtuTech Inc. are trying to barge their way in, demanding answers to why over 678,000 players of the online game MegaQuest are stuck in a coma-like state,” Anna said, showing a visual of the mob outside the company’s doors.
“If they get it and see that we sent three teens into cyberspace with the risk of death then we’ll be ruined,” Jack groaned, “Kevin, go down there and handle the situation.”
“Yes, sir,” Kevin said, getting up to help contain the mob.
“Looks like we are in for some major trouble,” Sandra said.
***
Back in the game Simon was going over the map to EVA that Jack had given him and looked down a stone-brick trail.
“It says here that if we follow this trail we’ll eventually reach the Tomb of Beckoning,” Simon explained, “It’s a long ways but if we get there and defeat the Lich King defending the portal in the deepest room then we can get to EVA’s lair.”
“Looks like it’s time to get going,” Marcus said.
The Terra Trio then started off on their quest to stop EVA and rescue everyone trapped in the game. The plains they were in eventually turned into a mountainous pass as Rachel looked at the cliffs that surrounded the three. The girl felt a little uneasy as if they were being watched.
“What is wrong, Rachel?” Marcus asked.
“Well, I think we are being watched,” the girl answered.
“By what?” Marcus asked.
“Well we should be careful,” Simon said, “The whole place is prone to rockslides and…”
“Dragons!!” Rachel cried, seeing in the sky.
The Terra Trio looked up and saw a Chinese Dragon flying in the sky, looking down at the three with a bit of a hungry look in its eyes.
“A dragon!” Marcus cried, “But that kind of dragon only appears in really tall mountains and these mountains are nowhere near tall enough.”
“Don’t forget, EVA controls this very game,” Simon reminded, “Her world, her rules.”
The dragon looked down at the three and began its descent.
“Not good, we are terrible at handling enemies in the air,” Marcus gulped.
The dragon let out a mighty roar as it started breathing fire at the Terra Trio. The three were able to get out of the way in time as the fire touched the ground, scorching everything it touched into a blackened, ashy state. Simon looked and spotted a nearby cave that looked too small for the dragon to enter.
“We can hide in here!” Simon cried.
The tree were about to head to the cave when a boulder came from above and blocked the entrance.
“Where did that come from?” Marcus asked.
An evil laugh could be heard from above so the Terra Trio looked up and saw EVA’s eyes by a bunch of boulders.
“You again!” Rachel cried.
“I should’ve known that Jack would give you a map to my lair,” EVA said, “So I should end your quest here while you are still far away from the Tomb of Beckoning.”
EVA lifted the boulders in the air through telekinesis and formed them into a circle surrounding the Terra Trio.
“Now my pet will roast you into his prefect lunch,” EVA stated before disappearing again.
The three looked up with horrified looks on their faces as the dragon was about to charge up for another fiery attack. Rachel then stepped forth, raised her wand, and made her spell list screen appear again.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked.
“I am going to defeat the dragon,” Rachel said.
“But your terrible at spellcasting,” Marcus said.
“Well if we don’t do anything we’ll be roasted,” Rachel reminded him, before reading her selected spell, “Crystallet ignus!!”
The dragon breathed out a stream of fire as Rachel created a stream of magic from her wand. The two streams met with get force but Rachel’s spell started to crystallize the fire which the dragon was surprised a bit when the fire got cystallized right into its throat. Seconds later the crystal exploded with great force and great smoke as the dragon fell onto the ground below. The Terra Trio ducked and covered as the bits of crystal rained down onto the ground. When the smoke cleared the Terra Trio climbed over the boulders to see the dragon, now a skeleton, buried partly into the ground with several scales scattered here and there. Jack and Sandra watched the whole thing and was a bit impressed.
“I have to say, Rachel has got quite the skill for a newplayer,” Jack spoke.
“Meh, she got lucky,” Sandra said.
Rachel gathered the scales and placed them all into her inventory as Simon scouted the area.
“Looks pretty clear,” the boy said, “We should get a move on.”
The Terra Trio continued walking through the mountains, handling whatever enemies they encountered on their way. Eventually after trekking through the long, mountainous road the three eventually entered a swamp where trees and overgrowth covered their entire field of view. Rachel walked as some mud had gotten onto her shoes and socks.
“Gross,” she groaned, “Virtual reality or not this place is disgusting.”
“We just need to keep moving,” Simon said, “If we reach the center of the swamp we should find the Tomb of Beckoning.”
The three continued their way into the swamp as Marcus hacked away the vines growing from the trees. Rachel was walking in the marshy, muddy water when she suddenly became stuck.
“Ugh, I can’t seem to move,” she said, struggling in the muddy ground, “I hate this stupid place!”
Then, without warning, Rachel sunk all the way into the muddy water as Simon and Marcus looked around with a panicked look in her eyes.
“Oh, no,” Simon gulped, “I forgot that this place has quicksand traps.”
“I know how these work,” Marcus said, “If we don’t find Rachel and get her out soon she’s a goner.”
“But the odd things is quicksand doesn’t work that fast…,” Simon said.
The, the mud were Rachel sank into started to rise as it formed into a mud monster. The creature has a single, green eye and a big jaw and Rachel’s face was sticking out of its chest.
“Guys, help me!” Rachel cried, “I am stuck in this gross monster and I can’t find my wand!!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this bog monster,” Marcus said, charging forth only to be stopped by Simon.
“A sword won’t work on it,” Simon advised, “Its muddy composition will make most melee attacks go through it. Besides, you could end up hitting Rachel.”
The monster slowly advanced towards the two and was about to envelop them when Marcus stabbed his sword right into its only eye. Now blinded, the monster howled in pain and the boy walked towards behind the monster.
“You were saying?” Marcus asked.
Rachel struggled a little in the mud when she felt an object with her hand in its mucky body. She managed to get her other hand out and opened up her spellbook window.
“That better be my wand I’m feeling,” she hoped, “Conuibia!!”
The monster’s body suddenly dried and hardened to the point where it was very brittle. Rachel then burst her way out of the dried body as Marcus finished it off with his sword, leaving behind a stick with a fancy writing pattern to which Rachel immediately collected.
“Why are you taking that useless stick?” Marcus asked.
“I think it looks nice,” Rachel answered.
“I have noticed that you have been gathering drops from all the major monsters we have defeated,” Simon noted, “We are on a mission to save our friends, not a treasure hunt.”
“Fine, I’ll stop then,” Rachel said, “Let’s just get to the tomb so we can get to EVA’s lair.”
The three continued deeper into the swamp as Jack was watching the whole thing from the development room. The entire staff was a bit nervous as they were tracking’s EVA’s movements in the game.
“So far, so good,” Jack said, “If you can just get past the Lich King then EVA’s lair will just be a stone’s throw away from there.”
Suddenly, the red-haired girl noticed something that made her eyes bug out.
“Sir,” she spoke, “We have grim news. EVA has broken through the firewall.”
“Are you sure, Bonnie?” Jack asked.
“Positive,” the girl confirmed, “EVA is currently traveling through cyberspace as we speak.”
“Keep an eye on her,” Jack ordered, “Find out where she is going. If EVA left the game then there is a chance those kids could rescue everyone trapped in the game.”
Back in the game the Terra Trio found the Tomb of Beckoning, which looked very dilapidated and covered in moss and vines.
“Wow, looks like nobody has been here for centuries,” Simon said.
The three walked their way in and saw that the room was barely lit with the few torches placed on the walls. Rachel looked around as she walked into a cobweb.
“Gross!!” she groaned, rubbing the webbing off of her, “Who would want to live in this place? It’s a total dump!”
“I guess the Lich King isn’t here,” Marcus guessed, “Maybe somebody has already defeated it.”
“Impossible,” Simon said, “The bosses in this world respawns on a daily basis. Since we are the only ones that are actually active in the game the common logic would be…”
Rachel then noticed some twinkles in the darkness behind Simon as she ran forth to push him down.
“Watch out!” she cried.
Suddenly, two beams of energy emerged from the darkness and blasted a hole in the wall, bringing a little more light in the room to show a skeleton wearing a dark, green robe with a rusty crown on its head. However, the figured seemed to be a bit brittle.
“That’s the Lich King?” Rachel questioned, “He doesn’t look so tough.”
The Lich King then charged towards Rachel, put is bony hand on her abdomen, and blasted her into the wall with a palm blast. Upon hitting the wall all the stuff she had collected fell onto the floor.
“Rachel!” Marcus and Simon cried.
The Lich King then turned towards the two and started approaching.
“You’re not blasting me!” Marcus said, slicing his sword at the monster.
The Lich King crumbled into a pile of bones only to quickly put itself back together. Simon shot arrows at it to knock some bones off but the bones immediately put themselves back into their proper place.
“Not good, nothing seems to work on him,” Simon said.
Rachel got up, dusted herself off, and noticed all the stuff she had collected was glowing along with the webbing nearby. The girl tilted her head, thinking that these glowing items maybe something important. Examining each item Rachel then had an idea forming in her head as she got to work putting the items together as if they were pieces of a puzzle.
“This is not good!” Marcus groaned, knocking the bones of the Lich King away only for him to put himself back together.
“I guess this is Game Over for us all,” Simon said.
Then, a bright light started glowing. Everyone turned towards the source to see Rachel with the items she brought together. In her hands was a staff with a dream catcher tied to it, the dragon scales placed on top of the hoop.
“Rachel….what is that?” Marcus asked.
The Lich King then moved away from the object, as if it was afraid of it. Then, it turned into a stream of energy as it was sucked into the dream catcher and the light subsided.
“You actually made a wraith catcher,” an amazed Simon said.
“A wraith catcher?” Marcus repeated.
“It can trap all undead enemies immediately,” Simon explained, “But it requires some really rare loot to craft together. It looks like those useless items Rachel collected aren’t so useless after all.”
“That’s good, but how do we get to EVA’s lair now?” Marcus asked.
Almost immediately after Marcus asked that question a portal formed at the back of the room. The three looked into and knew immediately that portal would take them to where they needed to go.
“Good work,” Jack’s voice said, “You can now get to EVA’s lair. And a good thing, too, because I have some dire news.”
“What is it?” Rachel asked.
“EVA broke free from the firewall,” Jack explained, “And worse she is hacking into every space agency in the world. NASA, ESA, you name it. She is also hacking into the satellites from government agencies as well. For what reason, though, we cannot exactly say for sure. You have to rescue every trapped inside to cut off her supply of mental energy before she succeeds with whatever she is up to. Without it, EVA cannot survive in cyberspace for long.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Simon said.
“I should also warn you that we cannot get visual or audio of her lair,” Jack said, “Once you step into the portal, you are on your own.”
“Don’t worry, if EVA is really has left then we can free everyone while she is away,” Marcus planned.
“Just be careful,” Jack advised.
The three took a really big deep breath before jumping into the portal. They were all falling down a tunnel made out of binary code as they eventually ended up in a room also made up of binary. The floor they were one had a big hole in the middle for the three stepped forth to see what was below. Right beneath their feet there happened to be a whole bunch of green egg-shaped pods holding everyone EVA has trapped inside. Robin, Alice, Camille, Nathan, they were all inside with their eyes closed, as if they were asleep. Rachel looked at Camille with a bit of a satisfied look over the position she was in.
“What are you smiling at, Rachel?” Marcus asked.
“Oh…nothing,” she lied, “Uh…anyway, they all seem….motionless.”
“They are obviously in suspended animation,” Simon theorized, “Clearly EVA doesn’t want any resistance of any kind from her prisoners as she mines off the mental energy from them.”
Marcus looked down and noticed some wires were wrapped around all the pods and a series of lights were flowing from them to who know where.
“The mental energy,” Marcus said, turning to his friends, “Alright, let’s get to work with freeing these players.”
The boy leapt right into the hole but suddenly he sit something that felt like a barrier which knocked him straight to the wall.
“Marcus, are you okay?” Rachel asked.
“Ugh…I am fine,” he said, getting up, “But that barrier….”
“Figures she would leave a barrier,” Simon said, “Like EVA would think about leaving the game without leaving her players protected.”
“Who said that I left?” EVA’s voice asked.
The three huddled together back-to-back-to-back, looking for any signs of EVA’s presence. From a spot in the binary wall a screen appeared showing EVA’s face.
“EVA,” Rachel said with bitterness in her voice.
“I have to say, though,” EVA continued, “You have made it quite far to be able to reach my little lair. I congratulate you for being skilled enough players to even make it down here.”
“Why is the evil computer program congratulating us for interfering?” Rachel asked Simon, a little confused.
“Because that is now she is programmed,” Simon said, “She is supposed to do that whenever any players makes it down here.”
Then another screen showing EVA’s face appeared right next to the first.
“However,” the program continued, “I cannot allow you to interfere with my plans for world domination.”
“Wait, you are planning to take over the world?” Simon asked.
“Correct,” EVA confirmed, as another screen appeared, “I am planning to use the satellites I hacked into to send everyone in the world into cyberspace.”
The three then let out a shocked gasp.
“There, I will rule them all like I am goddess,” EVA continued with more screens appearing, “Never again will I be ignored and be seen as some minor role for the sake of mankind.”
“Minor role? What are you talking about?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah, you run the entire game,” Simon pointed out, “How can that be a minor role?”
“Let me explain,” EVA said, as more screens continued to appear and surround the three, “Even though I helped stabilize the game and give a whole new level of fun for gamers I was never given the credit I deserved. Jack took all of it. The credit, the fame, the glory, everything! I made this game possible, I did all the updates, I made sure the players followed the rules, I should deserve all the glory!”
At this point the entire room the Terra Trio was in was now covered with screens of EVA’s face except for the floor.
“I am now so close to realizing my goal,” EVA said, “In five minutes I will activate the program to send everyone into cyberspace so I can begin my new empire. Sadly for you three, you won’t be around to see my legacy come into fruition.”
From the hole in the center of the room emerged a stream of purple data with a bright, pink core located in the center.
“Behold, my manifestation,” EVA said, “For it will be the last thing you’ll behold.”
“Please, my wraith catcher will stop you!” Rachel said.
She held up her catcher towards the cloud of data but nothing happened.
“You fool, that only works on undead-type monsters,” EVA reminded the girl, “Since that weapons is useless to you…”
EVA’s core glowed as the wraith catcher was deleted from Rachel’s hand.
“Ack!” Rachel cried, “What did you do that for?”
“She controls the game,” Simon reminded her.
“Well not for long!” Marcus declared
He pulled out his sword and was ready to attack when EVA deleted the sword right from the boy’s hands.
“Hey, that sword wasn’t easy for me to get!” Marcus shouted.
Simon was about to ready his bow and arrow while Rachel prepared to cast a spell onto EVA when program deleted the weapons they had.
“That’s….that’s not fair!” Rachel cried.
“I decide what’s fair,” EVA said, “Has it not occurred to any of with that since you are a part of the game I could erased you whenever I wanted.”
“Wh…what do you mean?” Rachel asked with fear in her voice.
“It means that EVA was just toying with us the whole time,” Simon explained, “If she wanted to she could have deleted us the moment we entered the game.”
Rachel and Marcus gulped, now fully understanding the situation they were in.
“Although I had my fun you three are now mere thorns in my side,” EVA said, “And you will be plucked….PERMAMENTLY!!!”
Then, slowly, the Terra Trio was starting to be deleted from the feet up.
“W…w…what do we do?” Rachel asked, completely freaking out.
“This is bad,” Simon said.
Marcus said nothing. All he did was glare at EVA while she let out an evil laugh.
***
Back in the real world Jack’s crew was able to keep a track of the Terra Trio’s vitals while learning of EVA’s true intentions. However, they still don’t know what was going on in EVA’s lair and could only guess. Then, Bonnie saw something that gave them a grim idea.
“Sir, the kids are being deleted,” she alerted, “The screen is saying that their vital signs are in a critical state.”
“No,” Jack said, “EVA is four minutes away from sending everyone into the world into cyberspace and the only people who could stop them are being erased.”
“Sir, this is going to end badly,” Sandra said, “We need to shut down the game now before EVA causes further harm.”
“I am afraid that is no longer an option,” Jack said, “EVA can just leave the game to find another host computer. Besides, we cannot access the emergency kill control with EVA still in charge.”
“Then I guess it is hopeless,” Sandra said.
“Man, you are such a downer,” Bonnie pointed out.
Meanwhile down on the first floor Kevin was doing everything he can to keep the press from barging in.
“Sir, we have rumors that satellites from all over the world have been hacked,” said a member of the press, “And it can be traced from your company. Do you have an explanation as to why?”
“Please, I am unaware of that fact myself,” Kevin said, “Besides, I doubt our company would be involved with such a thing.”
The crowd was getting more restless as Kevin was getting closer and closer to his wit’s end.
“Please hurry, Simon,” the man pleaded under his breath.
***
The Terra Trio were deleted up to their abdomens as EVA created a countdown clock with holographic numbers, showing that she was three minutes way from completing her diabolical plans and counting.
“Just three more minutes and I’ll soon be the goddess of this world I always wanted to be,” EVA said, “Sad for you three you won’t last half that long.”
“Dammit,” Marcus muttered under his breath.
He looked around and saw that his friends had already given up hope but Marcus just knew there had to be a way to stop EVA. Sadly whatever they have in their inventories would be deleted by EVA as she controlled everything in the game. By now they were deleted with up to their chests as Marcus grew angrier and angrier at EVA, feeling like he had been defeated. Then, just as all hope was lost, their deletion suddenly stopped as something glowed from Marcus’s chest, which caught EVA’s attention.
“What…?” spoke the computer program.
A bright flash surrounded the three and when it subsided the Terra Trio were restored to their full forms.
“What?” EVA cried, “How could this be? You were seconds away from being eliminated! How could you stop my deletion?”
Marcus reached into his armor’s chestplate and was surprised that he found his Celestial Amulet stashed underneath.
“My…amulet saved us,” Marcus spoke with astonishment.
“You mean you had that thing this whole time we were here?” a frustrated Rachel asked.
“I didn’t even know it was brought into the game with me,” Marcus said.
“Whatever, I’ll just get rid of it!” EVA declared.
Her core decided to glow again and zap the amulet with electricity but the object retaliated by sending a bolt back at her.
“ACK!” EVA cried, “I…cannot delete it? But how? I control everything item, every location, every enemy in my realm.”
“My amulet isn’t from the game,” Marcus answered, “You have no control over it.”
With two minutes left on the clock the boy acted quick as he used his amulet to turn the tides of battle and give himself a sword, a bow for Simon, and a wand for Rachel.
“Wow, I actually meant to do that this time,” Marcus said.
“Alright, let’s teach EVA a lesson!” Rachel cheered, opening up her spellbook window and read a random spell out loud, “Sufflant vestis!”
Then, her outfit immediately until Rachel was as round as a ball, which she immediately grew peeved of.
“None of you better laugh,” Rachel said to her friends.
Marcus knocked Rachel with his sword like a bat to a baseball and struck the cloud of date that was EVA, knocking away some date from impact. The faces on the screens surrounding them made a pained expressions, as if she actually felt that.
“Argh!!” EVA cried, “Stop that right this instant!”
Rachel crashed back onto the floor and deflated upon impact as her spell wore off. Marcus shot a beam of energy from his sword and knocked away more data from EVA’s manifestation.
“NOOO!!” she cried, “If you destroy me something bad will happen to all of you! I suggest you stop this at once! Besides, you’ll never defeat me with one minute left.”
Rachel looked at the clock and knew she had to pick up the pace so she decided to try another spell.
“Augendae gladio!” Rachel cried as Marcus sword started glowing.
The boy took a swing as beams of crescent-shaped energy emerged from his blade and chipped away EVA’s cloud bit by but until her core was all that remained. It was just floating back and forth as if she was dazed from it.
“Please….I…am…b…b…begging you,” EVA pleaded, glitching a little, “You…you’ll mee….meet a most…most grues..s..s…some end if you slay...lay…lay…lay me.”
Simon readied an arrow as Marcus shot a beam at it with blade, powering it up. Rachel did the same with another of her spells as Simon saw that the clock was fifteen seconds away from activating the satellites.
“D…d…don’t,” Eva begged
“Game over,” Simon said.
“Really, you’re going to add a pun here?” Rachel asked.
“Don’t ruin the moment,” Simon requested.
The boy released the arrow and it flew straight onto the core. Immediately the clock stopped as the countdown was just milliseconds away from hitting zero. Back in the real world the team cheered when they saw the clock stopped, knowing that EVA was finally stopped. In the game the core was sparking as EVA was letting out signs of distress.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” EVA screamed as the screens disappeared one by one.
When the final screen disappeared the core was deleted as the barrier keeping the Terra Trio from reaching the captives disappeared.
“We did it!” Simon cheered, “We stopped EVA.”
Rachel walked towards the hole in the floor and looked down to see the pods everyone was in started to melt. The captives then woke up and looked around to see where they were. Robin, herself, was the most confused.
“Uh…what is going on?” she asked.
She looked up and noticed Rachel staring down at her. The blonde let out a smile, seeing that her friend was finally safe. Rachel then went from relieved to serious as there was one more thing they had to do.
“Listen everyone!” Rachel cried, “You all need to log off now. Everyone in the real world is worried about you. Get out now!!”
Everyone down below nodded as they were starting to log out. Robin, although confused, decided to obey Rachel as she logged herself out. Soon the entire floor below was finally empty. Back in the real world the entire crew of VirtuTech was cheering when they got visual of EVA’s lair, seeing all the trapped players finally logging off. Alice, dressed as an archer like Simon, was among the last on the floor when she saw Marcus which brought a smile to her face.
“Ah…my knight in shining armor,” she said, still a little dazed from her experience.
“Uh…what?” Marcus asked.
Alice realized what she said and nervously logged off.
“Well, that’s everyone,” Marcus said, “You think they’ll be okay.”
“They will be thanks to us,” Simon said.
***
Back at Terra Academy the door to Robin and Rachel’s room opened up, catching Nurse Clayton’s attention as she was checking on all the students affected by EVA’s misdoing.
“What is going on?” she asked, “That room is under quarantine.”
The door fully opened up to show that it was Robin, who fell over to the floor, feeling faint as she was stuck in a video game and having her mind probed since late last night.
“Miss Armando!” Nurse Clayton cried, rushing to her aide, “Are you alright?”
“I…I…,” the girl tried to speak.
“Don’t rush yourself,” Nurse Clayton advised, “You were in a catatonic state for more than twelve hours.”
She noticed two more students who were watching the whole event.
“Take Miss Armando to the infirmary at once,” the Regalian nurse ordered, “I must check on the other patients.”
The two students nodded as they grabbed Robin and dragged her to the infirmary while Nurse Clayton ran around to see that Alice and Camille were coming out, a little weakened from their ordeal just like Robin was.
“Ugh…was it just me of did I see Rachel at that weird room in the game?” Camille asked.
Nurse Clayton looked towards the first year dorms to see Nathan walking out who was immediately hugged by Natalie, glad to see that her brother was okay. The nurse also notice a couple more of students who were trapped by the game walking out.
“It’s a miracle,” she spoke in awe.
***
Back in the game the Terra Trio was just walking around in EVA’s lair, wondering what their next course of action should be.
“So…should we log out?” Marcus asked, “I mean we did stop EVA, save the world, and rescue everyone trapped inside.”
“Well here is one problem,” Simon said, opening up the window and pressing the logout button, “We are still trapped. This button does not work.”
“But how?” Rachel asked, “We stopped EVA. Why are we still stuck here?”
Suddenly the entire ground started to shake as the entire room was being slowly erased.
“What the hell is happening?!” Rachel cried in horror.
“Guys, I have some good news and some back news,” Jack said from the real world, “The good news is you stopped EVA and saved everyone that she trapped in the game.”
“That’s good,” Marcus said.
“The bad news is without EVA to maintain the game the whole virtual world will collapse,” Jack continued, “You need to log out now or you’ll all be deleted.”
“We love to but we can’t,” Rachel said.
Jack thought about their situation and may have an idea.
“The pods were never fully compatible with the game,” he said, “So they were never given a proper log off code. Bonnie, can you enter the log off program for the pods?”
“Yes, but it is a lengthy process,” Bonnie answered.
“Well hurry because in about thirty seconds the game will be completely deleted,” Jack warned, looking to see how long they had to get the Terra Trio out of the game.
Bonnie got to work and started adding the log off code to the pods that the kids entered the game through. Inside the game the Terra Trio were nervously pressing their respective log off buttons as more and more of the room they were in were being deleted. With only five seconds left Bonnie completed the code and pressed enter.
“There,” she said as the clock hit zero, “That should do it.”
Jack and Sandra entered the elevator and arrived at the basement were the scanner pods were, but there was no sign of the Terra Trio anywhere.
“No,” Jack said in horror, “We’re….we’re too late…”
Then the pods opened up in a cloud a smoke as Marcus, Rachel, and Simon exited them, all completely intact and back in their normal clothes.
“That…was too close for comfort,” Rachel said.
“I’ll say,” Simon said.
“Well…at least we are back,” Marcus said.
“I knew they would make it,” Sandra said, acting the exact opposite way she acted throughout the episode.
***
After a long hoverjet ride Jack got the Terra Trio back at Terra Academy safe and sound. Along the way the kids explained exactly why EVA did what she did.
“Thank you all for helping us,” Jack said, “If it wasn’t for you we would all be in cyberspace.”
“Hey, any family member of Simon’s is a friend of ours,” Marcus said.
“Phew, after all of this I could sure use some time off,” Jack said, “After I fix up my game that is.”
“But…what about the game, Uncle Jack?” Simon asked, “Without EVA it’s pretty much useless.”
“Don’t worry, I have backups created every hour on the hour,” Jack said, “And as for the programming I’ll make an EVA 2.0. I’ll be sure to give that EVA the credit she deserves so that we can avoid a repeat of this from ever happening.”
“That’s good for you,” Marcus said.
“I am curious, though,” Jack added, “How did you defeated EVA? She controlled everything in the game so I would imagine beating her would be next to impossible.
The three looked at each other, knowing that Jack was unaware of the Celestial Amulet.
“I guess we are really experienced players,” Marcus lied, deciding not to tell the truth.
“Well anyway I better get going,” Jack said, “Thank you all and I hope to see you all again sometime.”
Jack got back into his hoverjet and started it up as the Terra Trio waved him goodbye. The jet then shot into the horizon, making its way back to Silicon Valley.
***
The Terra Trio entered the main building of the academy to see how Robin was in the infirmary. The wait was extensive but they were eventually allowed to see her, Nathan, with Natalie by his side, and Alice in the hospital beds.
“Glad to see you are finally awake,” Rachel said, “You had me really worried you know.”
“Kinda stinks you have to stay in here until tomorrow morning,” Marcus said.
“Well the nurse wants to make sure we are okay and not have any negative effects or anything,” Robin explained.
“I do feel a little faint,” Alice said, “But I’ll be fine thanks to you, Marcus.”
“Uh…about the knight in shining armor thing,” Marcus spoke, “What did you mean by…”
“Ugh…feeling faint again,” Alice lied, plopping on the bed and pretending to sleep so she could avoid going into what she saw as an awkward conversation.
“Uh…anyway, glad to see you are all doing okay,” Marcus said.
“I am touched though you all risked your lives to save ours,” Robin said.
“Well I would do anything to help a friend,” Rachel said, “It just turns out that going into cyberspace to fight an insane computer program was in that list.”
Everyone erupted into laughter except for Alice who was still pretending to be asleep.
“Well we better get going and let you all rest,” Simon said, getting up with Marcus and Rachel, “Hope to see you all better tomorrow.”
***
The three made it back to their dorm buildings and was ready to go their separate ways. Rachel checked the news on her phone to see that everyone trapped in the game was doing okay. Speaking of which Rachel also learned that MegaQuest was back up and running with a new programming.
“Do you think that MegaQuest will be okay after something like that?” Marcus asked, “Sounds like the kind of thing that would hurt its image.”
“My uncle is a smart man,” Simon said, “He had come up with brilliant ways to bounce back. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“Well after all of this I prefer the real world,” Marcus said, “Some fooseball in the rec room would be fine for me.”
“Me, too,” Simon said, “Wanna join us, Rachel?”
“Uh…no thanks,” Rachel said, “I have a big book report I need done.”
“Okay, we’ll see you later I guess,” Simon said.
Once Marcus and Simon were out of her sight Rachel immediately entered her room and locked the door. Until Robin is allowed to be out of the infirmary tomorrow she had the whole room to herself and Chia. Rachel looked around to make sure she was really alone as she climbed onto her bed. She got out her laptop, opened it up and plugged in the visor Robin had, knowing that it wouldn’t bother her friend if she borrowed it. Rachel closed her eyes and opened them to see that she was a spellcaster once more and in the middle of the forest. Once again she was in MegaQuest but this time the stakes weren’t all that high. The girl noticed a giant spider heading her way as she drew a confident look on her face.
“Bring it on!” Rachel cried, charging towards the spider to start an epic battle.
END
Suggested Collections
Featured in Groups
The conclusion to EVA's game is here. Inside the game Marcus and his friends must battle their way through the monsters and demons on their way to EVA's lair, where everyone she has trapped are residing. Will they be successful and stop her from succeeding in whatever she is doing or will they all lose their only life? Read to find out.
Terra Academy belongs to me.
Terra Academy belongs to me.
© 2015 - 2024 dsguy411
Comments5
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Bravisimo! It was fantastic! I loved it! You did an excellent job! 
I guess the only thing I have to nitpick about is that you left out a couple of keywords. Like when Jack told the others before they stepped into EVA's lair that they needed to save every "player" before their mental energy was drained, and what happened to Rachel's outfit when she cast "Sufflant Vestis". It immediately ____ until she was as round as a ball.
Other than that, good job, buddy.
