Fragments (Somnia Online Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Storm Entertainment Presents

  Title Page

  Map of Tarishna

  Map of Cenedril

  Chapter One: Target

  Chapter Two: Skulking

  Chapter Three: Grindstone

  Chapter Four: Hightower

  Chapter Five: Of Undead Dwarves

  Chapter Six: Mechanics

  Chapter Seven: Puzzled

  Chapter Eight: Pick One

  Chapter Nine: Riddle Me This

  Chapter Ten: Hidden Agenda

  Chapter Eleven: Dunforth

  Chapter Twelve: All in the Statue

  Chapter Thirteen: Suspended State

  Chapter Fourteen: Underlying

  Chapter Fifteen: Fissures

  Chapter Sixteen: Curet

  Chapter Seventeen: Welcome to the Jungle

  Chapter Eighteen: Traitor

  Chapter Nineteen: Our Roots

  Chapter Twenty: One Step

  Chapter Twenty-One: Ancient Ruins

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Into the Catacombs

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Objective Changed

  Chapter Twenty-Four: The Guardian

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Guarding Fear

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Kid You Not

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mirror Image

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: Fighting Yourself

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: Akelu

  Chapter Thirty: Rewind

  Appendix Glossary

  Character Names

  Murmur

  Acknowledgments

  Want More LitRPG?

  Guide

  Cover

  SOMNIA ONLINE: FRAGMENTS

  Author: K.T. Hanna

  Cover Artist: Marko Horvatin

  Typography: Bonnie Price

  Formatting & Interior Design: Caitlin Greer

  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 Katie Hanna

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-948983-10-5 (Trade Paperback Edition)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-948983-12-9 (Hardback Edition)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-948983-11-2 (E-Book Edition)

  Evan

  for pushing me the extra mile

  Storm Entertainment

  Somnia Online Division

  Day Ten: Conference Room Two

  Shayla sat at the end of the oval wooden table, clasping her hands on the surface and trying her best not to squeeze and wring her hands. The effort not to jiggle her leg nervously was almost inhuman, as was the strength of will she had to put into keeping her expression calm.

  Teddy sat at the head of the conference table with one of the portable monitors lighting his face with its glow. Unperturbed by the two lawyers flanking him, he leafed through the reports Shayla had given him. Even with the ocular settings maxed, going through that many files was easier on a larger surface than directly in your vision.

  The man had a frown on his face that she couldn’t read. It was impossible to tell if it was a thoughtful expression, or perhaps an exasperated one. The frown deepened a couple of times as he scoured her work, and it was all she could do not to fidget, because though she had already been over it all ten times, she still worried they’d left some hints of Wren in the documents. Even if the AIs were being meticulous and omitting Wren’s data from the sample because hers was abnormal, mistakes happened all the time, and Shayla didn’t doubt that it could still happen easily enough.

  Finally, Edward Davenport swiped the screen in front of him to the side and put his hands on the table as well, perhaps unconsciously mimicking her. “These reports appear to be in order. Our contractor has explicit instructions on what information we need to send to them and this as it stands meets those requirements, but...”

  He paused and glanced at the lawyer on the left, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Shayla counted to five and let out her pent-up breath slowly and as calmly as she could. Surely they couldn’t notice that one person was missing, could they?

  “But, as I was about to say, your data appears to rule out any anomalies within the system. While this was well within the parameters of the original request, our directives have changed. I’m going to need you report on all of the variables including anomalies.” Maybe he saw the shock on her face, but Teddy gave Shayla what stood for a comforting smile. “They don’t expect the next reports for another week. And your twelfth-day reports will do nicely as a starting point.”

  Pushing down on the panic, Shayla shrugged off the questions she wanted to yell at him. They had to listen to their investors; without them, the game wouldn’t exist. And the small voice of guilt in the back of her head tormented her with the ultimate truth. That as investors, regardless of whether or not those investors were military, they were entitled to know of any potential fuck-ups that might cause them strife in the future. No matter which way she looked at it, having a mind virtually trapped in the game was definitely one of those bite-you-in-the-butt things.

  So, instead, she smiled and nodded firmly, trying to exude her usual level of competency. “Excellent, sir. If you can just make sure to send my team the exact directions, we’ll make sure those reports are ready.”

  “I know you will, Shayla.” There was something else to his tone, like he was fully aware she would do what she could, but that he also knew she was hiding something. It made her want to squirm. He couldn’t know, could he?

  Teddy stood up. He towered a few inches over his lawyers, and ushered them out, stopping at the door where Shayla had risen from her seat to bid them farewell. Except Teddy turned to his suits and smiled before she could. “Go ahead and start prepping for the next meeting. I’ll join you over there in a few.”

  The lawyers didn’t even glance back, just nodded, and walked to the elevator. Teddy waited until the elevator doors closed and turned back to Shayla, closing the door behind them.

  “I want to ask you a question, and I need you to answer it honestly.” His tone was more serious than she’d ever heard it, and she gulped as she nodded.

  “I will.” She didn’t know what he was going to ask, but she’d been working for him for long enough that she knew he understood that omission of information wasn’t always the same as lying. Sometimes, in order to develop things in the industry, omission was the best possible choice. She just hoped he hadn’t changed his viewpoint.

  “Why did the AIs leave out reports on any inconsistencies that were anomalies?”

  She hadn’t been expecting the question, and perhaps blinked a bit too rapidly. “They were told to extrapolate within specific parameters. Perhaps they didn’t look further than that.”

  Teddy frowned, skin wrinkling beneath his eyes, exposing the age he didn’t otherwise show. “I was really hoping the AIs were the missing keys.”

  “Missing keys?” The question was out of her mouth before she could think better of it, and she almost held her breath waiting for an answer.

  “Just an old man musing to himself about things he never quite understands.” He smiled at her and laughed a bit self-deprecatingly. “I thought our AIs were developing fast and almost hoped they were the root of the problems, that they are perhaps thinking, and adjusting things on their own.”

  Shayla fought down the panic inside. Did he know? Why else would he talk to her about this? “I’m not sure, sir.”

  While it was the truth that she wasn’t sure if they were completely sentient, it was still a stretch.

 
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” He eyed her skeptically. “Still though, this game is your and Laria’s baby. Make sure you keep a close eye on it, and get me those reports ready as soon as possible. Our investors need that information in seven days. On every single player we know is logged into the server. Got it? Every single one.”

  “Got it.” Shayla forced a smile. She left the conference room, closing the door behind herself, and counted to ten before letting out a breath. Sure, they had it. Which meant they also had about a week to figure out how to pull Wren out of there.

  Somnia Online

  Mikrum Castle-Himmel Isle

  Day Ten

  Murmur paced the length of the kitchen at Mikrum castle, trying not to focus too much on Jirald’s words just before they’d killed his character. She twisted her hands, the delicate fingers intertwining themselves in knots that had nothing to do with spell casting for once. Flashbacks of the grin on the rogue’s face, the obsessive glint in his eyes before the others finished him off, it all made her skin crawl.

  Death never bothered her in other games. Now it seeped into her skin, whispering questions she didn’t want to answer. It made her cautious in a way she hated, and scared in a way she despised, vulnerable in a way she’d never wanted to be. It sucked.

  Snowy sat at the doorway, his eyes never leaving her, and yet she could almost hear him asking when they were going back to the cold area. She refused to look at Telvar. He leaned against the kitchen wall with his arms crossed, following her every step with his gaze. He wanted to talk; she could feel it without even needing to reinforce her sensor net. But she wasn’t ready to speak to anyone about it yet.

  Hell, she’d even made her friends log out and get some sleep, skillfully avoiding discussing the threat that hung in the air once they finished defending the Loch’ni’dar. Although, Sinister probably knew what she was thinking better than she did herself.

  Jirald suddenly grinned, his eyes fixating on Murmur. “I see it now. Literally. I guess you’re my target after all, Murmur. Just you wait.”

  Murmur shuddered and stopped, her eyes focusing on nothing as she processed the words, again. It wasn’t so much what he’d said, but how he’d said it, and the way he’d looked at her. Those mad eyes with their intensity that was solely focused on her. He didn’t seem to be roleplaying, which meant he was actually and seriously set on hunting her down in-game. Usually, that wouldn’t be a problem…

  “Realistically, to try and get a Getashi from you, he has to kill you, and then wait next to your body for it to become lootable. Since neither you nor your friends are likely to leave your body unattended for twenty-four hours in-game hours, the odds of him achieving this are quite negligible.” Telvar’s clear voice rang out, echoing off the stone walls to crescendo slightly in the middle where she stood.

  Murmur turned to face him, raising her eyebrows slightly. “Stop digging around in my head.”

  “I’m not.” Telvar shrugged, making the muscles across his chest ripple under his leather shirt. “Sinister thought I should know what happened.”

  At least that made more sense. Especially since Telvar rescued her back on Cenedril, Sinister would trust him more to take care of her. Perhaps it gave her friends a bit of relief that one of the AIs in the game was looking out for her.

  It made the whole world feel a little bit safer.

  Well, at least the completely fake, felt like it was real, virtual reality she was living in anyway. Sometimes she wished it didn’t seem so solid.

  “Thanks, Tel.” She said the words softly, knowing he’d hear them or feel them or something. The sudden impulse to hug him, to just feel comforted for once was almost overwhelming. Shaking her head, she reached into her inventory to retrieve the shards she’d gathered recently. Wrapped in the cloth she’d ripped from her previous armor, the tingling was largely subdued.

  Walking over to Telvar, she held them out. “Still willing to keep them safe for me?”

  He nodded and took them, his lizard mouth spread in a solemn line. “Of course. Though I think you should avoid carrying them in the future and just let Devlish or someone else take the burden off you. If you’re not carrying them, perhaps it will make you less of a target.”

  “Yeah, but for that to happen, I’ll have to get close enough to tell him without him killing me first.” She took a couple of steps back and leaned against the massive butcher block. “I wonder if he knows what these are?”

  “Doubt it.” Telvar moved over to stand next to her, mirroring her stance. “Although I’m quite certain I know who gave him the quests in the first place.”

  “Really?”

  He tapped his head. “Yep. Artificial intelligence unit, remember?”

  “Hard to forget.” Murmur said, tapping her own head in response. “Kind of stuck in here, and here.”

  She laughed at her own joke.

  Telvar watched her, as if he was trying to bore holes into her. “You need to stop bottling things up. You’re doing it again. I can feel your tension levels rising, sense the way your mind is in turmoil. You’re not the only one here who has mind powers. Breathe, Murmur. Breathe.”

  Her eyes widened the more he spoke, and her chest constricted, but she couldn’t tell if it was fear that he could see through her, or gratefulness. “Yeah. I’m used to dealing with things by myself. I don’t want to worry other people. But in here, I’m so alone it sometimes feels suffocating. I want to talk about it, but no one will understand. No one else can feel this world like I can, taste the food, bask in the sunshine. No one else can hear their mother speaking to them in fragments like it’s someone speaking from the clouds.”

  “What?” Suddenly Telvar was right in front of her, gripping her upper arms with his rough, scaled hands, and staring her right in the eyes. A flare of red tinged the usual quiet rusty brown of his eyes, and his scales shone more than usual.

  “What what?” She tried to pull her arms away from him, because he was so close, she could feel his breath. But he held her fast, not dropping his gaze.

  “What did you hear from the clouds?” His voice held a rasp she’d not heard in it before, an urgency she didn’t know the AI could possess.

  “I heard my mom. I think. That’s why I kind of lost it so completely.” With everything that had happened, she realized she’d not told him about the incident, even when he came to clamp down on her shields.

  His grip relaxed, and she tugged her arms out of his grasp, rubbing them to try and replace the heat they’d lost when the contact broke.

  “Sorry. I just...” He looked away for a moment before setting his jaw and locking eye contact again. “I didn’t realize you could receive anything from the outside world. It means my calculations have been off. Your perception, your senses—they’re still active, and from all appearances, they seem to be mixing both worlds together more than I’d realized.”

  Telvar frowned, and moved away, beginning to wear his very own track in the floor from pacing.

  Murmur wanted to make light of it, to say it was her overactive imagination. But she knew it wasn’t, and that was what scared her the most.

  Snowy nudged her hand, and Murmur reached down absentmindedly to pet him. She wished she’d gotten the chance to have a real dog in her life. She wished she’d done a lot.

  “You know, I don’t have mind reading powers, and even I know how hard you’re thinking right now.” Sinister’s voice was soft, and Murmur whirled around, quickly checking her Thought Sensing net and realized it hadn’t reacted because Sin was friendly.

  “You should be napping.” Murmur replied, avoiding the statement.

  Sin just stood there watching her, one eyebrow slightly raised and a small smirk on her lips.

  Finally Murmur threw up her hands. “Fine. I’m thinking. I never fucking stop thinking. It’s just going a little crazy up in here.”

  Damn, it felt so much better to get that out, to not let the thoughts fester like she’d done not too long ago. Had it reall
y only been ten real days, or twenty game days? It seemed like she’d lived in Somnia her entire life.

  “You know me too well, Sin.” Murmur said, shaking her head ruefully.

  “No such thing.” Sin moved forward and nudged Murmur with her hip, so they both swung around to watch the quiet lake and the way light reflected off it. “I know you because you’re my family. You’re my friend. You’re my everything, Mur. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  There was a hitch in Sin’s throat, one that Mur knew she wasn’t faking. Unsure exactly what to do to comfort her friend, Murmur reached out a hand tentatively, and hooked it through Sin’s elbow.

  For a few minutes they stood there, comfortable in each other’s presence, enjoying the calm being together brought. Sin rested her head against Murmur’s shoulder, and Snowy sat down at their feet, a guard wolf letting them have a few moments of precious silence.

  Couldn’t imagine life without her, huh? The feeling was mutual, and yet Murmur had never said as much, hoping that her own actions had always spoken for the words she never thought to say. Maybe it was time for her to start thinking less about herself, and more about her friends, more about what she needed to do to find a definitive answer about whether or not she could return to her body from the game world. Or to her mind. Or whatever the fuck it was she needed to do so she could be corporeal again.

  “Isn’t your neck starting to crick a bit?” Mur asked the question softly, eliciting a small giggle from Sin.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment.”

  “Nope. Leave that to good old me.” But there was no sting in Murmur’s tone, no resentment. Just the feeling of camaraderie that suddenly seemed to be present for her again. It was a warm feeling, one she needed to keep hold of.

  After a small sigh, she patted her much shorter friend on the head and pulled away. “Thanks, Sin. I love you, you know.”

  Sinister blushed beneath the dark purple of her skin, and she looked away for a moment. “You know you can’t pat me on the head in the real world. We’re the same height.” But even with those words out there, her lips curled into a smile.