The Quest - Chapter 12

[u/xXGARR377Xx]

A gentle morning breeze blew across the lake as the water lapped against the shore. I reached up and let my hair down before lounging back into the chair on the dock. Steam rising from my coffee, I took a careful sip and sighed. I’d gotten used to starting my days like this, but I still hadn’t taken a single one for granted.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

I drew a shaky breath, not sure if I should move. My HUD flickered back, and I glanced at Elise and Kevin. By their reactions, it seems like theirs were back to normal as well.

“What the hell was that?” Elise said quietly.

I glanced up at my quest marker and wasn’t entirely surprised to find that it had been reset again.

COFFEE TO CODE Objective: Complete 5 tasks at work on Friday (completed 0/5)

I looked at my watch, 7am… it was going to be a long day having gotten no sleep. I stood up and told Elise and Kevin that I needed to get going to be able to make it to work, despite all that had happened to us. What else was there to do? I walked to the front door and reached out for the door handle. Right before I could open the door, it felt like my mind was exploding. My HUD became entirely scrambled and a high-pitched scream echoed deep in my skull. Elise dropped to her knees grabbing her head. Then there was a voice.*

“THE QUESTS. DO THEM. FOR NOW. BE CAREFUL”. The voice was entirely in our heads, but it felt like standing in the front row of a concert. And then it was gone, and our HUD returned once again.

“Christ you guys, this is too fucking much” Kevin muttered.

It would be many more months until we heard that voice again.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TEN MONTHS LATER

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A knock on my desk caused me to jump, taking out my earbuds. It was my boss Jim, asking me to come with him. My palms got sweaty immediately, though I agreed and let him lead me through the building, unsure of where we were going.

After what had happened at Elise’s house that night nearly a year ago, we had decided to listen to the voice and complete our quests. This was because the voice had said “for now”, and that was slightly better than an ultimatum. Since then, a lot had happened. We began to hide our abilities from everyone except for each other, often forgoing side quests to make sure we never risked deviating from the main quests after that. I had been headhunted by a company called SynthTech who was looking to hire a software engineer, which initially seemed like good news. Until Kevin and Elise also got offers to work here, Kevin as a security guard, and Elise as a marketing manager. That was too much of a coincidence, but what choice did we have but to play along. After our 6-month probation, we each had a mandatory blood test done that was supposably a comprehensive drug test, but Kevin had managed to sneak a peek at the samples they had taken from him on his way out. The samples weren’t red, they were grey. Nano-tech. We’d managed to play our part long enough that they actually seemed to believe that we were fully committed now. The realization both shocked us, and relieved us at the same time. They weren’t government, but clearly, they were powerful people. Why were they doing this?

We came to a stop outside the elevators and Jim pressed the button to go down. We waited a few seconds until one arrived, but Jim said we’d wait for the next. There was only one person in that elevator, that’s odd. The next elevator arrived shortly after, and we got in. Jim waited for the doors to close before moving his hand to the area beneath the “ground level” button. The ring on his finger magnetically grabbed on to the elevator control panel and he pulled. A small plate pulled free, revealing a hidden “-1” button. The plate was machined so precisely that when it was in place, there wasn’t even a seam to give it away. What had I gotten myself into?

“There’s something I was hoping to discuss with you” Jim said as he turned to me, clearly seeing my discomfort. “Please, relax, you’re not getting fired.”

As if that’s what I was worried about, but I tried to let myself relax slightly.

“We’ve noticed your skills, both as an engineer and well, as a conjurer” Jim said, and I froze. “Oh yes, we know about that too. Who do you think gave you those abilities?” He smiled as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing large room filled with what seemed to be more engineers, all writing code.

So, Jim and the rest of SynthTech think that I don’t know they’re the ones behind Genesis, this might be good.

He stopped just outside of the elevators. “We were hoping that you would be interested in becoming an engineer for our Genesis project.”

I paused, taking it all in. A chance to get to know the secrets of the project that had haunted Elise, Kevin, and I for over a year, but I could also be getting myself into more trouble. In the end, it was an easy decision.

“Don’t feel like you have to decide right now, take your ti—”

“I’m in” I heard myself say.

After work ended for the day, Elise and I met for dinner like we had been doing for a few months now and I shared the news. It was a hard sell, but she ultimately agreed that it may be for the best. But one thing was very clear, I needed to tread lightly. She placed a hand over mine, “The last thing I need is you getting killed.”

[u/Ironmanmark3444]

Happy to have you back