The Bathrobe Knight (5 page)

• Critical Hit! You have done 256 Damage!
  
• Critical Hit! You have done 256 Damage!
  

              The first one was for him, the second for the Minotaur. The fight was over. They had wiped out every Minotaur in the area. Darwin was glad that they didn’t respawn, too, because if they had, he was sure Kass would have kept him here for months doing the 1 EXP per kill grind. Some players just couldn’t be bothered to switch farming spots.

              “Welp! That’s it! I gotta run before my dad gets home and finds out I didn’t go to bed last night. Who could though, right? I spent all week only getting 10 levels and we are about to hit 30 after turn-ins!”

              “Yeah. It’s been good for me too. Thanks for teaching me the ropes. I’ll see you around, Kass.” He waved goodbye at her, but he wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when she logged out.

              “Bye-bye, Bathroom Knight!” she said, doing one final twirl, and then her smiling face just disappeared. She didn’t instantly disappear like the image on a TV when the power button was pressed. It was like her body had just been a cloud of smoke all along, and it dispersed into its surroundings leaving nothing but a hint that a person might have been there before.

• Your friend Kass has logged offline.
  

              ‘
Your friend’--those are two words I don’t remember hearing together in forever. Oh well. Where is this town I have to go to? Tiqpa Map!
During the walking time between fights over the last few hours Darwin had gotten very familiar with the controls of the game. He was sure there was something he didn’t know yet, but for now he was confident enough in his knowledge to avoid another tutorial.

             
Valcrest is at least an hour from here on foot. Looks like I’m going to have a long walk ahead of me.
Darwin finished re-looting the Axes he had thrown and started towards Valcrest.
Time to get my Job Class! I wonder how many classes there actually are.

Qasin
:

              The King adjusted his Crown as he sat in his chair across from the Messenger he had taken prisoner earlier that day. With his finely-tailored, Three-Piece Purple Suit, Red Cape and emerald-crested gold Crown, his appearance didn’t fit in with the drab, gray, color-drained stones that lay around him. It didn’t fit in with many places at all though.

              “Do you know why you’re here, soldier?” he asked the man chained across from him. The soldier had been stripped of his armor and left with only a pair of ragged cloth breeches that could scarcely be called clothes. The color seemed to somehow be an even duller gray than the stones in the prison where the man was chained. His hands were cuffed behind his back and each foot was locked in place with a chain attached to shackles and threaded through hooks bolted into the floor.

              ". . ." The Messenger didn’t answer. The King knew he wouldn’t if he were guilty. His soldiers had been trained on how to behave if the enemy caught them and knew how to withstand interrogation techniques.

              “1,035.” The King said for the soldier. “That’s why you’re here. Because of you a Kingdom with scarcely a few hundred thousand good men just lost 1,035. If you help us out today we can give you a chance to give these men some justice.”

              ". . ." Still nothing. The soldier just glared at the King with squinted eyes.

              “It’s okay. It’s easy to understand how difficult it might be for a man in your position to bring justice to one thousand and thirty-five dead soldiers,” the King said, stressing every word. Especially when you’re not very smart. But that’s okay because I can tell you how. You see, what’s going to happen is that the Council will find out I’ve stayed your execution. And not only that, but they will also soon learn that I came down here personally to interrogate you.” As the King said this, he crossed his legs and clasped his hands in front of him. Not to act too casual, but to stop himself from adjusting his Crown.  “You see, I made a big show of coming down here just so they would know. After all, their plan didn’t exactly go as they had hoped, and I can imagine you probably weren’t expecting to die for them. About now, they’re probably wondering whether or not you’re going to talk after a few hours of agonizing torture.”

              “I’m honestly not sure either. Most men are good when you pull off the first toe, but the fourth? The fifth? When you start taking out organs or cutting tendons so they can never walk again? It’s hard to say what kind of man will talk and what kind of man will just say anything he can to get away from the pain.” As the King talked, one of the soldiers began bringing in a table and setting it up with as many cutting and breaking tools as the King had been able to find on such short notice. Their dungeon after all wasn’t really equipped for torture, but he had to make do with what he had.

              “Then, after they find out you’re being interrogated, they will complain that questioning a lawful soldier in such a fashion is monstrous and that you should be released immediately. At which point, lucky for you, I’m going to let you go. So take a deep breath and relax.” The soldier obviously didn’t even realize he had been holding his breath since the mention of breaking the first toe. When he did, he let it all out in one loud burst. “That’s right, you’re going to go free. So you can talk to me for a moment, right?”

              ". . ." Still nothing. Who ever said interrogations were easy?

              “What about your daughter? What’s her name?” Panic struck the soldier’s eyes. “Do you want to talk to her?”

              ". . ."

              “It’s okay. She wanted to talk to you, and who could ever resist such a cute kid? Guards! Bring in Annabel!” The King shouted while taking some small pleasure in the soldier’s unexpected shock. One might have thought he had just killed the girl from that expression. “How old is she again? 7?”

              One of the Guards entered the room holding the hands of a young girl with dark hair matching the soldier’s and an awkward gap-toothed smile. “She really is cute, aren’t you, Annabel?”

Annabel, saw her father in chains and looked at the King confused. The King stood up and walked over to the girl. “Don’t worry, Annabel, your dad is just helping test some equipment for the Kingdom. He’s the strongest soldier, don’t you know? That’s why we have to use him. He’s making the world a better place. Aren’t you?”

“Yes. Annabel, just go home.”

“Oh, don’t worry. She’ll be home soon enough. She’s just waiting on her mother. Annabel, why don’t you wait in the other room while your dad finishes his work. We want him to be home in time for dinner, don’t we?”

“Yes . . .” she said as softly as a little kid might be able to speak. The situation was obviously unnerving for her.
Damn this man for what he’s made me do. Damn him and those filthy swine. Oh well, here goes nothing.
As soon as she left, the King stood up and walked over to the table of tools the Guards had brought in.

“Are we going to talk yet?” the King asked while picking up a rusted saw blade  “Or do I have to bring your daughter back in here and give you . . .  some incentive? But don’t worry. She won’t be alone. For every day you don’t talk I’ll bring someone down here and torture them until they die. Your daughter may be first, but your wife, your friends, your neighbors. I’ll keep going until every trace of every person you’ve ever met is ripped in the most horrendous fashion possible. I’ll even let you watch.”

“What do you want?” he spat more than spoke.

“What do I want? I want 1,035 families to have their husband and fathers come home. I want those 1,035 men to live long and happy lives and never see a day of battle again. What I’m going to settle for is you telling me who you work for, exactly what they wanted you to do, and for you to do everything just as I say.”

“The . . .” he hesitated, not taking his eyes off the tool that the King was playing with in his hands. “The Council paid me five year’s wages to run messages. I carried the messages of the battle plans to the Black-Wings and White-Horns so they would double their troops and be in place to catch the resistance.”

I knew it. Dogs like them should never be allowed to show their face in public.
“Good. That wasn’t so hard to say. You see, now your daughter has a chance of living, doesn’t she? But you know we’re not done.”

“What else do you want? All I did was run the messages. I don’t know anything else.”

“What I want you to do next is pen out every detail you can remember while you wait here for your precious den of scoundrels to come rescue you in an attempt to save their own skins. Then, I want you to kill the man who hired you and return to me. He’s going to try to kill you anyways since I didn’t, so my telling you to do this is a favor in and of itself. Then, I want you to report back to me if you are still alive when all is said and done. If you do everything exactly as I have told you, your wife and kids will want for nothing and live happily with me at the castle.” The King smiled again, putting down the twisted, spiked tool and walking towards the exit. He didn’t have to wait for a reply; he knew the soldiers answer. He was just lucky the soldier didn’t know that he would never have hurt anyone no matter what the outcome had been.
Control what they see and you can control what they believe is true.
A lesson he had never had to use in an interrogation before.
 

“Yes, Your Majesty,” The soldier responded as the King walked out the door, unsuccessfully repressing the grit in his voice. The King knew the soldier was smart enough to realize the wife and kids living with him wasn’t a reward. It was a punishment. They were prisoners to guarantee his loyalty.
Damn these men for making me even utter these threats.

Robert
:

             
Gravel crunched  under the tires of Robert’s car as he turned his car into the driveway that led up to his home. It wasn't much in the way of houses, but it was more than enough for him and his daughter. His salary as one of the leading programmers at a major game company kept them both extremely comfortable, but he had never been one of the types of people that believed in opulence just for the sake of it. Sitting up on a slight hill, the two-story house was one that was mistakable for any other in the hundreds of similar subdivisions throughout the country.  The well-manicured lawn and neat rows of nicely-trimmed hedges blended in with the house next to his, and the one next to that, and so on.

                    Bringing the car to a stop and turning off the ignition Robert grabbed his travel mug from the center compartment and stepped out of the car, reached into the back seat, and slung his laptop case over his shoulder.
These late nights are gonna kill me,
he thought as he walked up the path that lead to the front door. Behind him, the sun was just beginning to peak over tops of the houses across the street and provided a momentary illusion of warmth as the day began to heat up.
"Not bloody likely. Spring is months off and it’s cold as a witch's tit,"
he silently grouched.

                    Walking through the house and into the kitchen, Robert dropped his computer case in a chair next to the kitchen table and hung his keys up on the hook right above his daughter’s. He rubbed his weary eyes and started across the room to make a fresh pot of coffee, picking up a bowl crusted with what appeared to be leftover ramen from the table and dropping it into the dishwasher. He had gotten used to living alone while his daughter was away at college, but now that she had graduated and was home again, he found himself getting slightly annoyed at having to pick up after her.

                    Walking over to the staircase he shouted, "Kass, you awake yet?" When he didn't hear any response he started up the stairs and was halfway up before realizing that he could hear the sound of the shower running and the small radio she kept in the bathroom burbling some annoyingly upbeat pop tune that was mercifully muffled through the door. Turning back and going down into the kitchen, Robert poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot that wasn't even nearly finished brewing yet and pulled his laptop out. He usually spent a little time reading through the mechanics and feedback forums on the game's website before crashing out for a few precious hours and heading back to work. His bosses usually understood when he was up all night working and would allow him to come in for a half day of work after pulling an all-nighter so he knew he didn't have to be in before noon. He really didn't expect to find very many bug reports.  Since implementing the new AI, the flow of bug fixes had dwindled off to almost nothing.  Generally, it was just someone complaining about accidentally losing an item that was really in their backpack or equipped all along. As hard as he sometimes found it to believe, the new programming was running flawlessly.

                    He had slouched back in the chair and was sipping on his coffee when he heard the shower shut off and the door to the bathroom open momentarily, emitting a loud blast of music before it was shut off and and followed by the sound of his daughter starting down the stairs.

                    "Oh, hey, Dad, morning. You actually made it home before lunch today, huh?" she teased in greeting as she pulled a cup from the cabinet and began making herself a cup of coffee. "Late night again?"