8. Vesper
VESPER
I linger near the platform, staring up at the door behind me like it’ll suddenly reveal my best friend if I stare hard enough.
The platform is raised above the lush forest life so I had to step down into the foliage.
The bright green leaves brush against my trouser leg, begging for me to run my fingers across them.
I give in immediately. I touched a tree once, dead and lifeless.
The trunk had been scratchy and hard, and there had been no leaves on it.
As my forefinger and thumb run the leaf between them, I take in the soft, velvety texture of it, and commit it to memory.
It’s softer than I expected, and when I rub too hard, moisture builds up on my fingers, staining my skin green.
“Is this the only door into the Harrow?” I ask out loud, expecting either Locke or Cipher to know the answer.
Locke doesn’t even bother trying to answer. He’s focused on the trees around us, as if he, too, is trying to commit it to memory.
“No,” Cipher begins. “There are three doors you may spawn at. Players are randomly placed at each one once they enter.”
“Are they close?”
“The other two doors are located in other regions. The map is quite large,” Cipher answers. “But your chances of survival are thirty percent higher in the Verdant Nexus. It is the best region to begin in.”
“Okay,” I nod. “Can you tell me if another player I’m expecting came in after me somewhere else?”
Cipher hesitates. “I cannot tell you about other players.”
“Can you at least tell me if anyone came in after me?” I try.
There’s a long pause that feels like Cipher is thinking about his answer. “You were the last player into the Harrow,” he finally admits.
“Fuck!” I snarl, kicking at the platform.
Locke studies me closely. “Your friend?”
I nod. “She was right behind me. The fucking guards. Those fucking Luxe bastards!” I clench my fists, remembering how Orion was right behind us.
“If she gets hurt because they wouldn’t let her come in, I’m going to slaughter all of them.
” I hesitate and look up as if that’s where I can find Cipher. “You can’t look into Dross, can you?”
“I no longer have the ability to see The Cradle,” Cipher answers.
“But you did once?”
“Once,” Cipher confirms. “A long time ago.”
He doesn’t add anything else.
“Care to explain more?” I ask. But he remains quiet. “Fine. Point taken,” I grumble. “So, what exactly do we have to do here? You said we’re a Tier Zero. How do we level up again?”
“By gaining XP,” Cipher answers immediately, falling into his frustratingly formal speech pattern. “You must reach only one hundred XP to become a Tier One. At that point, you may select your Glitch.”
“My Glitch?” I repeat.
“Bastard sure is talking to you a lot,” Locke grumbles. “He straight up just gave me a list of rules to read and checked out after the initial introduction.”
I blink at him. “He’s not talking to you?”
“Not since we got here,” he shrugs.
“I don’t waste my time speaking to those who will not make it out of the Harrow alive,” Cipher says, and it’s clear that he said it only to me. His words surprise me and I immediately look away from Locke, so he can’t see my expression.
“What do you mean?” I ask softly.
Cipher hums. I’ve gathered that Cipher is a machine rather than a human, but as he takes the time to answer, I realize he feels just as human as I do. It’s a strange thing to imagine, about a human machine.
“I am in your heads, Vespera. I see personalities and memories unless I am shut out. Everything from what makes you tick to what makes you yearn. I can see who is made to survive and who is destined to fail.” He takes a deep breath.
“You will take your time selecting your Glitch, as you will understand the class selection will carry you through The Harrow. When you see his methods in contrast, you will understand.”
Locke is staring at me now with a raised brow. “That bastard talking trash about me or something?”
I shake my head too quickly. “He was just explaining how the Glitches work.”
Locke doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t push the issue. I don’t think he much cares what the system thinks of him. He opens his map and studies it.
“It looks like there’s some sort of structure in that direction,” he says, pointing. “I don’t know what it is, but we can check it out. If you want.”
Shrugging, we start to walk in the direction he’d pointed.
Neither one of us seems to know what we’re doing and Cipher isn’t super forthcoming unless I ask a direct question.
I want to ask him about the Glitches, but I already told Locke the lie earlier to avoid hurting his feelings, so I’m stuck wondering what the fuck a Glitch is and how I need to choose it.
The first thing I notice about the Verdant Nexus after how green and healthy everything looks is the heat.
It’s sweltering in a way vastly different from Dross and sweat beads on my skin almost immediately.
The air is heavy with moisture, so thick that I can feel it in my lungs.
But it doesn’t burn, not like in Dross. If anything, it’s almost .
. . relieving. I’d been wearing a jacket when I came in, threadbare and old.
While it was always hot in Dross, it was more of a dry heat, not like this moist hell.
Here, everything is humid and damp. Even the plants look like they’re sweating.
I shrug off my coat and clench it in my fist for a second before I hold it out in front of me.
I stare at it and say, “Inventory.”
The jacket disappears. My eyes widen before I tap the metal in my arm and open the squares. There is a small picture of my jacket all spread out in the first square.
“Whoa,” I say, looking around. When I see a stick, I grab it up and try it again.
“Inventory.” The stick disappears. “Holy shit! Have you tried this?”
Locke stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “The space is limited, Vesper. And you just put a stick in there.”
“I might need the stick,” I argue. “You don’t know what to expect. If I can put it in there, it must be useful somehow.”
“Once you have reached a certain level of XP for your Glitch, crafting may be available to you,” Cipher adds helpfully.
“See. Cipher knows,” I say.
Locke looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than here right now. “If you and the system are going to fuck, can you at least give me a warning first.”
I frown. “What?”
“Just seems like you two are awfully cozy already,” Locke grumbles. “I don’t—” He cuts off to smack at his arm. “Ow! Something bit me!”
I move closer before something pinches at my shoulder and I smack at it, frowning at the small black insect now smashed against my skin. “What the—”
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
You took your first life.
REWARD: 1XP
Cipher’s voice is suddenly so sultry, it makes my skin crawl.
“The fuck is happening right now?” I grunt, looking around for more threats, but the insects are too small to track with my eyes. It’s only a few seconds later that I realize they’re so hard to track because there are so many of them.
“It appears you have encountered your first threat, small as it may be,” Cipher says, his voice normal again. “Perhaps you should address the problem.”
“They’re attacking!” Locke rasps, swinging his arms around wildly. “There has to be thousands of them!”
“Millions actually,” Cipher corrects. “Prepare to be itchy.”
As soon as he says it, they’re all around me.
Tiny black insects, their wings fluttering so fast, I can hardly see them.
There are so many of the things, their wings make a sort of song as they fly around us.
The moment they land on my skin, there’s a pinch of pain followed by the intense need to itch the spot.
I smack at them when they land, but there are so many, I can’t possibly stop them all.
“They’re biting me!” Locke screeches, swinging his arms around frantically, trying to keep them from landing on him. He dances back and forth, moving chaotically, but it still doesn’t seem to help. “They’re going to eat me!”
Cipher snorts and starts to laugh. “They are just mosquitoes,” he says. “Bothersome creatures, of course. They bite and drink your blood, but they are mostly harmless in the Harrow. On Earth, they carried a multitude of diseases.”
As soon as Cipher explains it, a small icon pops up as it follows after one of the insects.
Mosquito
Tiny fiend, evil
“How can we keep them from biting us?” I ask Cipher, starting to swing my arms around as well in the hopes of keeping them off.
Where the insects bite me, small red welts pop up as a reminder of their itchiness, and I can’t resist scratching at them.
Poor Locke is itching at his own welts and punching at the air like that’ll somehow help.
“There is a plant to your right growing along the ground. It has a strong scent. Crush those leaves between your fingers and rub it on your exposed skin,” Cipher instructs. “It should deter all but the most desperate of the pests.”
I look around the ground and find the leaves he mentioned. As I hover my hand over it, the menu pops up.
Mint: Harvestable resource
I quickly strip off a bunch of the leaves and crush them between my hands.
A strong, thick smell rises up and makes my nose twitch as I start to rub them against my arms. There’s an immediate difference as I start to spread it across my neck and face.
The bugs move away except for a few that are easier to swat.
I grab more of the leaves and rub them between my hands again, staining my palms green.
I rush over to Locke and do the same to him, rubbing the paste along his arms and neck, which proves to be a feat with how frantic he’s swinging around.
“Stop punching the air,” I growl. “You’re not helping.”
“I’ll kill them all!” he snarls, swiping at them. When they start to move away from him after I finish putting the paste on, he slows finally and looks over at me. “Bugs,” he grunts. “I hate bugs.”
I look down at the many welts on my arms and try my hardest not to itch them. “I can’t say I’m a fan of these ones.”
“What are they called?” Locke asks. “Quitoes?”
“Mosquitoes,” I correct. “I don’t know what the fucking point is of a tiny insect that drinks your blood but—”
I’m cut off by a high, shrill screech. It echoes around us, cutting through the trees, and it doesn’t sound very far away. I can almost feel it in my feet. Whatever monster it is, it sounds big. Way too big.
“Cipher,” I whisper, crouching down. “What’s that?”
“The Verdant Nexus is based on an extremely dangerous place that used to exist on Earth with a little bit of spice thrown in. It was called the Rainforest back then. There are many things that can kill you here, but most especially in The Whispering Canopies, the current zone you are in. You cannot face the Major Boss in this zone without leveling up. Might I suggest you pick up your pace and move into the next zone?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Locke grumbles as Cipher speaks to both of us, and starts to power walk through the foliage.
“Are we going the right way?” I ask Cipher, following after Locke.
“There is no correct direction,” Cipher answers. “Only death exists wherever you go, Vespera. Remember that . . . and you might survive.”
“How very fucking ominous of you,” I grumble.
But I do move just a little faster anyway.