Yim and Jessica entered the guard station and were grateful to see the row of beds. In the old days, when a player got tired and wanted to stop for the night, they would just log out and go sleep in their own comfy bed, and of course, many players still did that. But now, with the current state of technology, players could virtually live their lives in the game and that included sleeping. There were even stories floating around, of eccentric, elderly billionaires, having themselves put on life support and spending their final days hardwired into the game.
One of the things that Misty loved about the game world was the absence of filth. Sure, when you were fighting or running or performing other physical activities, you felt the exertion... but there was no perspiration. People didn't smell after a hard day of adventuring, clothes didn't need to be washed, and grime did not accumulate.
That's why she was so stunned to find that the beds had mildew in the mattresses. The sheets were rumpled and dingy and the pillows... ugh!... the pillows...
They quickly decided to lay out their own bedrolls and pondered when dirt had been inserted into the game.
The night passed fairly uneventfully, with the minor exception of the two NPC guards who kept teleporting around the station.
After being startled out of sleep for the third time, Yim sat up and yelled at the guard.
"Would you cut that out"?!?!
"I am listening to thee," the guard replied after looking at her blankly, and then teleported away again.
They were awakened in the morning by the sound of combat. A tame wolf named "Fluffy" and one of the guards were engaged with a Gargoyle.
"Nmmpltn! Nmmpltn!" challenged the gargoyle.
Yim and Jessica were a bit confused by this. Normally, guards could take out any monster or criminal. That was kind of the purpose for them being there.
"What the hell?" said Jess.
"I am too busy fighting to deal with th... uuugggghhhhh!"
Both of their jaws dropped as the guard went down. The monster showed it's grey aura for second, indicating it had changed targets. It advanced on the women and then stopped in it's tracks. It's arms wind milled, almost comically, as Fluffy latched onto one of it's legs... and tore it off at the hip.
"Vas Flam," said Jess, and finished it off with a fireball.
Fluffy trotted over to a tree, lay beneath it, and began gnawing happily on the gargoyle leg.
After searching the grounds, they discovered the bones of the second guard.
"Something strange is going here," said Yim, "one gargoyle kills two guards and then is taken down by a timber wolf"??
"I helped"!
They packed up and started heading down the road again. As they left, Fluffy picked up the gargoyle bone and trotted after them.
After crossing the bridge, they turned north and headed for the Crypts. Shortly after, they encountered their next shock for the day.
One of the things that set UA apart from other games, was the fact that you could build things. You could stake out a piece of real estate and build a house, or castle if you had the money. But buildings had to be refreshed every few days. That meant the owner had to log in, and use the front door. If too much time went by without the house being refreshed, it would decay and collapse.
What they saw in front of them was not a house that had decayed. It had been burnt to the ground. The thick smell of house-fire still clung to the debris.
Fluffy went around to the far side of the ruin and started to whine.
despair...pain
Yim rushed around to the wolf and gasped out loud. A person was there, skin blackened by fire, but still alive. She called for Jess to come help. As gently as they could, they pulled the person out from under charred pieces of wood.
The person's eyes fluttered open.
"I can't... I can't... I can't log out," they said... and fell back into unconsciousness.
"In Vas Mani," chanted Jess, several times over, while Yim began to apply bandages.
