Chapter 3: Abandoned
Kate looked around at all the buildings in the city with a happy smile. There was the villa, the hospital, the watchtower, the storehouse, the forge, the barracks, and the academy. The dungeon was there, too, but no one had dared go inside it, especially since the Player hadn't gone into it yet either. There was also the treasury, but it was locked up. Even the managers couldn't get inside. Not until the Stronghold was level fifteen.
"Only ten more levels to go," Kate said softly and proudly looked over at their Stronghold.
It was much bigger now than when it had been level one. There was even a soldier in full uniform ceremoniously standing guard.
Kate checked the Player Orb and seeing that it was dark, she left the building she was in. She didn't want to get stuck with street walking duty if the Player Orb suddenly lit up. Jack was right about it being boring. So she ran through the streets as fast as she could.
Kate soon reached the city gates and walked outside towards the city's land plots. There were still barren spots of land, but there was also a farm, a quarry, a mine, and a logging camp.
Citizens assigned to those areas were busy working. Kate went to the farm and watched the citizen assigned to the farm for this shift diligently harvesting the small rows of grain. Finally, she continued on her way off the path to the one forbidden area outside the city walls.
The graveyard.
Like the treasury, the entrance to this place was locked and would remain locked until the Stronghold reached level fifteen. Kate didn't know why the place fascinated her, but it did.
Maybe it was because this place was a possible future for their hero.
No enemy city would kill a hero from a city under level fifteen. The creators wouldn't allow it. But once their city did reach that level, which Kate had no doubt that they would, their Hero Adileh would have to live with the possibility of execution.
Kate shuddered.
Although she didn't admire Adileh the way Jack did, Kate still looked up to her. Adileh was in essence the commander of their army and leader of their city apart from the Player. Even the managers didn't have her status. She was also the only citizen in the entire city who received direct commands from the Player. If anything happened to their hero…no, Kate didn't even want to imagine such a disastrous event.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a soldier running down the paths towards her general direction. It was Jack.
Kate smiled and glanced up at the Player Orb. It was still dark.
She motioned for Jack to reach her quickly. If the Player Orb lit up, they would have to run for the city wall since soldiers never did street walking duty. There was this one section of the wall facing the graveyard that always cast a shadow when the Player Orb lit up. No light meant they were out of the Player's line of sight.
When Jack came closer, Kate stopped smiling. He looked upset. His expression wasn't the normal "run as fast as you can before the Player Orb lights up" expression.
Finally, he reached her.
"Jack?" Kate said. "What's wrong?"
He didn't say anything. He was breathing hard from the run, but his face was serious. More worrisome, the light in his eye as he looked at her was dark yet urgent. She'd never seen him wear an expression like that before.
A million possible accidents or possible mishaps ran through her mind before her brain honed in on an impossible yet horrible scenario.
"Oh no," She gasped and then said in one breath, "Did the creators change the rules of the world so that enemies can sneak into the city, steal our hero, and execute her even though she's low level and technically shouldn't be executable or even capturable since we're not at level ten or fifteen?"
Jack blinked. The serious expression on his face broke, and he let out a short, hearty laugh.
"Oh, Kate," he said, still out of breath. "Your imagination is so broad and colorful. You always amaze me."
Kate let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, you scared me with that face of yours! You looked so upset."
Jack's laughter faded, and his serious expression returned.
"Out with it," Kate said and put her hands on her hips. "I'm going to find out eventually. What is it? Did they kick you out of the army with a replacement? Did they give you double shifts of street walking duty? Come on, spit it out!"
Instead of answering her, he quietly reached out a hand to tuck a single curl of hair behind her ear. She followed his hand with her eyes, then looked back at his face. She raised a brow at him.
He said softly, "I'm glad our city was created, because I got to meet you."
"I've never seen you like this," she said with a frown. "What's going on?"
Jack visibly swallowed, and to Kate's surprise, he pulled her into his arms.
"I am so, so sorry," he whispered in her ear. "More than anyone else, I know how much you believed."
"Jack," Kate said and struggled in his embrace.
He wouldn't let her go and only tightened his grip.
"Will you stop being so sentimental," she said, "and tell me what's going on?"
Finally, Jack released her. He turned his head to the side, avoiding her gaze, and muttered something.
"Jack!" Kate said. "I'm going to leave unless you spit it out loud and clear!"
Jack sighed and still avoiding her gaze, he said, "The bridge is gone."
"What?"
"The Player Bridge, the one connecting us to the Player himself…it's gone. The Player deconstructed it."
Kate frowned. She understood the words coming out of Jack's mouth, but at the same time, the implications and meaning of those words escaped her.
"What are you saying? I don't – "
"We've been abandoned, Kate," Jack said and this time, he looked her straight in the eye. "Our city doesn't have a Player watching over it anymore."
Kate shook her head in denial.
"No, I don't believe you. Our Player would never – "
"He already has."
Kate shook her head again, and Jack tried to embrace her again.
"No!" Kate said and pushed away from Jack. "I don't believe you!"
She turned and ran down the grassy area back onto the path to the city gates.
"Kate!" Jack called, but she ignored him.
She just had to get back to the Stronghold and look in the Profile Room. It would show her what she wanted to know.
By the time Kate reached the city gate and went up the first tier, she was out of breath. Even though her lungs burned, she didn't stop. Several people greeted her as she passed, but she ignored them.
Only one thought was on her mind.
The Player…her Player would never abandon them. It just wasn't possible. The bridge would be there. It had to be.
Kate reached the Stronghold and just as she entered it, she ran smack into someone.
"Manager 2M!" Kate said breathlessly.
"It's Zeus now. I renamed myself earlier today," he said. "Although it looks like I changed my name for nothing."
Kate shook her head and whispered, "No…why…why would you say that?"
Zeus gave her a pained smile and said, "From your face, I can already tell that Jack told you what happened."
Kate shook her head again.
"Go inside…see for yourself."
Kate didn't need any more encouragement. She ran inside and entered the central chamber. She ignored the command table and headed straight for the Profile Room.
It was one of her favorite rooms in the Stronghold. It was actually a large chamber with rows and rows of stone slabs written with all sorts of information. Beyond the slabs, the far wall also had several doors that led to other rooms such as the Hero Room, the Boosts Room, Comments Room, and even the Graveyard Room. But those were the rooms that the Player was able to enter. There was one more room, but it never lit up with the presence of the Player's light.
The Orb Room.
Kate went straight for that doorway. It led to a long staircase that went up and up.
She ran up the stairs until it opened out to a large balcony. Beyond the balcony, there was mostly a vast expanse of empty space, except for a grand, stone platform with a great white orb much larger than the one that floated above the city.
Normally, the orb would be floating above the platform with several silver rings floating beneath it, connecting the orb to the platform. At the far end of the platform, there had also been a majestic silver bridge that went on and on for as far as the eye could see.
The bridge was gone, and the silver rings weren't visible, because the orb had crashed down onto them. The rings were probably underneath the orb and the crater it had made in the stone platform.
Kate went to the balcony rails and for several moments, she stared unbelieving at the crashed orb. Finally, her legs gave out from underneath her, and she slid down to the floor.
She put her hand to her mouth, and for the first time in her life, tears filled up her eyes and flowed down her cheeks in a steady stream. She let out an unhappy low sound in between halted breaths.
"I'm so sorry, Kate."
Kate didn't lift up her head at Jack's voice, but she allowed him to put his arms around her. She leaned into him.
"Just because a Player abandons a city doesn't mean the end, you know," Jack said. "A city still remains in the world even without a Player. We still exist. As long as the creators leave us alone and don't destroy us, we'll continue to exist. As far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters."
Kate didn't answer. She simply gripped Jack's shirt and bawled into it. The center of her chest hurt. The sharp pain there was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
She cried for a long time, and the pain never quite went away.
Meanwhile, Jack held her quietly and patiently.
