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Whew, finally go that done.  I've been very busy lately so I've kinda put this story on the back burner for a few weeks now, but I'm getting back into it seriously now. 


So that was Act 2's big climax, obviously.  There will be two more short chapters before this Act ends, serving as an epilogue of sorts.  Act 3 will begin after, and then we will begin moving into the main plot of this story.  

In other news, I am probably going to be moving this web novel to Tumblr.  I'll let you know when I actually make a Tumblr account.  

Land Games Act 2 Chapter 9

Jayle/Serge

Jayle

    “The operation is go!” Reckes said.  “Serge, move out now, we gotta end this fast.” 
    “But what about Three?  How is it possible he could have so many units?  They’re swarming Aqua’s whole eastern coast!” Serge shouted back.  On the globe hanging between the three players, the continent was darkening under the approach of hundreds of thousands of black dots. 
    “I don’t know-”
    “Three was supposed to be a distraction, not a whole new enemy!  At this rate, we’ll be overrun!” Serge said.
    “It doesn’t matter,” Jayle said.  Both of the stopped and turned towards her, surprised.  Obviously, they’d forgotten she was here.  “I doesn’t matter what Three does.  If it attacks us we’ll deal with it then.  We all agreed this plan was our only hope.  Let’s get to it.  I’ll move forward and draw Seol’s attention,” she tapped several screens, and her small army began to creep forward.  A crescent of silver ringed her castle, only a mere three hundred miles away.  “Serge, you have to beat Brand, and fast.  Get to it.  Reckes, I’ll need your support.”  Her voice was icy and hard, suffused with a strength that was entirely fake.  Inside, she felt only apathy.  She knew she should care about being eliminated from the Games, if only to ensure that the Woken who relied on her remained unharmed.  But she was finding it hard to see the point.  The games would end, this planet would be divvied up to callous lords who would never visit it, and she would be abandoned. 
    The others withdrew, their images going ghostly and silent, each of them withdrawn into their own personal battles.  She launched her dragoons and sent them streaking towards the hornet’s nest.  Seol was on a hair trigger.  All she had to do was set her off, and then hope she could outlast.  As she watched the horde of silvery spiders and cannons drawing closer, she couldn’t help imagining the face behind them.  Seol and her had spent so much time together, and it was all leading up to this?  What was the point then?  Suddenly from within that cold core of apathy she found a burning spark.      The dragoons were nearly in range.  She tapped a screen and a chat icon popped up.  Seol had left her connected after their last message, daring her to respond.  If she could only make her listen to reason…
    “Seol, please listen to me.  You know I never would have done anything to hurt you.  We’re friends.  Please, talk to me.” 
    The screen flickered, and Seol’s silver eyes stared back at her, sharp as daggers.  Dark circles surrounded them, and her skin had a yellowish tinge, but she looked triumphant. 
    “So now you want to talk, Jayle?  Did my little speech get through to you?  Are you ready to surrender?  Ha, of course you won’t.  You’re too much of a coward to face your sister.  But that’s totally fine, I’ll just have to beat you one more time.”
    “Seol I can’t surrender.  Haven’t you thought about it?  What’ll happen if you beat me now?”
    “I’ve thought of little else for the past month, Jayle.  Victory will be sweet, and I will savor it.” 
    “Seol, if you defeat me, every single one of my units will power down.  This city will be thrown into chaos, and thousands and thousands of innocents will die.  Are you willing to do that?” Jayle asked.  Though Seol’s face barely twitched, she could tell the question took her by surprise.  She probably hadn’t given the natives a thought past wondering if Jayle had weaponized them somehow.
    “You’re trying to distract me.  It’s not going to work,” she said. 
    “Just think about it Seol.  I know you’re mad at me, but-”
    “The natives have already lost.  They can never go back to how things were for them.  I’m sorry but they’re already on a countdown to extinction.” 
    “That doesn’t change the fact that, if you do this, you will personally be responsible for the deaths of thousands and thousands of them!” 
    “I didn’t start this!  The empire found this planet, they ordered the attack.  It won’t change their fate if I hold back now.  Don’t try to make me out to be the villain here!  I’m trying to avenge my family!” 
    “By destroying thousands of other families?  How can you possibly think that that’s justified.” 
    “Maybe it’s not.  I don’t care.  I’m coming for you Jayle.  If you want to have any chance of saving your precious pets, shut up and get ready.”  The screen went black, and ahead, hundreds of her dragoons exploded as the enemy opened fire. 

Serge

    A long beam of energy weaved across the battlefield, its movement erratic and snakelike, whipping back and forth across the sky.  The grass and trees erupted into flame.  The entire sky burned red, reflecting huge flames that burned from horizon to horizon.  Black plumes of smoke rose up like pillars in the distance.  The fire was so thick that he was forced to simply march his tanks through it, hoping their cooling systems could endure. 
    Serge had never seen so many dreadnoughts.  No matter what angle he came from, he was met with a crossfire of the energy beams, and just when he started to make progress a few hundred silver dragoons would swoop in out of nowhere, blast away, and speed up throwing out aerial mines behind them. 
    He needed to do something, and there was no time to calmly measure his options.  He swept his hands over his overlay and pulled a pair of airships out of formation, sending them flying at full speed across the continent.  Immediately a swarm of silver valkyries swept out of the mountains and attacked.  He sent out a wave of missiles to slow them down and fired off another volley towards the dreadnoughts. 
    “Serge, we’re getting a message from Brand,” Ergo informed him.  He knew.  He’d been ignoring it for about five minutes now.  Battle was no time for a chat. 
    A blast of smoke and flame drew his attention to the loss of one of his airships.  He took control of the surviving one and desperately maneuvered, but the valkyries were weaving around in three separate formations, they’re movements calculated enough to provide tactical advantageous and just random enough that he couldn’t anticipate them.  His respect for Seol’s skills was starting to wear thin, now he was just starting to feel inadequate.  How can she be this good?  The voice of his upbringing whispered the answer to him, the one he didn’t want to hear.  Of course she’s better than you.  She’s been bred for it.  House Azure is only a few centuries old.  A hundred years ago it was nothing but a vassal house, glorified servants.  House Mercury has been a force of true power for a thousand years, and has again and again pulled itself up from the edge of destruction, too tenacious to let itself die.  Seol is superior to you by birth.  Only Jayle has a chance of standing against her.
     I can change that, he told himself.  Every house started out as equals.  Everyone has the potential to improve their lot.  The Empire was founded on that philosophy!  It’s the whole point of the Land Games!  All I have to do is win this battle.
    Who are you kidding? the voice said.  Of course they didn’t start as equals.  There are those who are born with skill, and those who are not.  Without the money and research of your parent’s house, you yourself would be an unaltered human, incapable of even conceiving the ebb and flow of this game.  Success builds on success.  The winners are elevated higher and the losers just get lower.  Seol is a born winner.  You are a born loser. 
    “Serge!  Something’s wrong!  All the dreadnoughts have ceased firing,” Ergo shook him out of his inner thoughts.  He realized that, despite his distraction, he’d somehow managed to save his second airship, and a full volley of its missiles was now diving down on a pair of dreadnoughts.  The flames of their destruction added to the hellish backdrop.  He stared, too surprised to feel elation. 
    “Incoming message.  Incoming message.  Incoming message.  Incoming message.  Priority one, priority one, priority one-”  His computer was going nuts, spamming the same message at him again and again.  He muted it and shouted to Ergo.
    “What’s happening, is there a virus?”  Not now, please not now.
    “I told you, it’s Brand.  He’s pinging us over and over.  And his forces have stopped fighting.  I think we should see what he wants.” 
    Serge took a look at the battlefield.  The flames were dying down, and an unnerving silence hung over everything.  Nothing was moving.  Ergo had paused the advance of his ground troops.  Even the silver units had ceased moving, many of them out of formation with the dreadnoughts.  She must be focusing on Jayle. 
    “Answer him.  Make it a private message to my interface,” Serge said.  He felt pain, and realized his fists were clenched hard against the side of his chair, his knuckles white with the strain.  He didn’t like this.  Too many anomalies, too much he didn’t understand.  These game were supposed to be simple.  You fought your enemies and you protected your allies.  That was all you had to think about.  But this game was strange.  He could hear Reckes words ringing in his head.  In the end, it all comes down to luck. 
    With a wave, he removed his interface, the war room containing Reckes and Jayle, and reappeared in his actual physical location, the small island in the middle of his garden.  After the heat and darkness of the battlefield, it was almost shockingly serene.  He heard only the sound of softly dripping water and the rustling of leaves in the breeze.  A flash of red, and Brand appeared opposite him, slouching, his eyes hooded and turned down.  He looked smaller than Serge remembered, scrawny and underfed.  He stared glumly at the ground. 
    “Well, what do you want?  We don’t have time for this Brand!  You’re fighting for your castle here, you know.  Three’s armies are approaching from the east.  Don’t you care if you get beaten here?” he shouted.  He surprised himself at the fury in his voice, and tried to calm himself. 
    “No.” 
    “No?  What do you mean no?” 
    “I don’t care.”  Brand raised his eyes, and Serge could see nothing but dejection in his gaze.  “I never really cared about any of this.  Who cares about this planet anyway?  I surrender, Serge, you win.” 
    “S-surrender?”  He should have shouted for joy.  Should have laughed. Something.  Instead he felt like he’d been punched in the gut.  “You surrender?  You can’t do that!”
    “Why the fuck not, who cares?  I just want this shit to be over with.”
    “I cannot believe this Brand.  I thought you were better than this.  Don’t you know your family is counting on you!?  Seol is counting on you!” 
    “Yeah, right.  My parents gave up on me a long time ago.  They know how much of a fuck up I am.  And Seol?  She doesn’t need me.  She never has,” Brand shrugged, and started to turn away.  Something snapped in Serge.  In an instant, he’d cleared the space between and grabbed Brand by the collar, pulling him close and forcing him to look him in the eyes.
    “What are you-”
    “You shut up,” Serge growled.  “How can you betray your fiancé like that?  Do you have any idea what she’s going through?  This is when she needs you most!  This should be your finest hour!” 
    “It’s just a stupid game!  Seol’s hardly spoken to me for weeks!  She doesn’t care about me, all she cares about is winning so she can show Jayle how much better she is.”  Serge let go and Brand stumbled back.  He stared. 
    “You don’t know?” 
    “Know what?”
    “Seol hasn’t told you?”
    “Hasn’t told me what?” 
    “Seol isn’t doing this out of pride.  Her mother and brother were assassinated by Jayle’s sister.  She’s trying to win because it’s the only way she can strike back at the one who killed her family.” 
    Brand’s eyes went wide. 
    “She didn’t tell me!” 
    “She shouldn’t have to.  You are her fiancé, and her partner in battle.  You should know her moods, and understand when she needs you.  You cannot turn away from her because you don’t see the point of this game.  You talk as if it is pointless, but what do you know about it?  Your house is already powerful and rich.  You were born from success, and even though you have failed again and again you will live to be a success because you have the power of your house behind you.  But this game isn’t pointless.  There are those for whom it is as important as life and death.  And Seol is one of them.” 
    “What am I supposed to do about it?”  Brand asked. 
    “Fight me.  And do your best to win.” 

Jayle

    Thousands of pillars of smoke rose from her city.  Artillery rained down, and only a small circle of green remained ringing the city.  Reckes’s gold army had vanished, whittled away by the unceasing wave of silver.  She was cut off from his reinforcements, and now truly alone.  Despite the desperation of the moment, she couldn’t help but glance repeatedly at the screens showing the deep vaults beneath her castle, where millions of Woken huddled in questionable safety.  She’d had the surface evacuated hours ago.  So far as she was aware, there were as yet no casualties.  The Woken were good at following orders, and had not panicked.  But if this amount of damage kept up, then the entire surface of the city would collapse, burying them alive in grim darkness. 
    She stood in the center of her bedroom, clinging to the familiar as her last refuge.  She’d disabled the team display once Reckes had lost his army.  She was alone now.  From the simulated windows of her room, she could make out individual tanks advancing down the streets of the city.  She was still fighting, her tanks using the narrow streets and buildings to their advantage, her automatic defense turrets popping up out of every street corner.  The streets were clogged with so many silver tank carcasses that her enemies had to climb over them just to advance.  For every hundred yards of ground captured, Seol was losing thousands of tanks.  But she was still gaining.  The castle in the center of the city was already smoking from distant blasts of missiles and beams.  Large chunks of its outer shell had been torn away, with plenty of space for Seol’s spiders to crawl inside.  They would, soon.  Again she opened a link between their systems.  She was fighting still, but it was purely out of habit.  Her only hope was to get Seol to see reason. 
    “Please, Seol, listen to me!” she called.  Seol’s voice answered back instantly, as if she had waiting for her to speak. 
    “I told you before Jayle, nothing you say can stop me.  I’m only answering you because your pleading is sweet music to my ears.”
    “This isn’t what you really want.  Defeating me won’t get you revenge.  Do you think my sister really needs this planet?”
    “This is only step one Jayle.  When I beat you, you’re going to come back to my castle for a visit.  Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.  I’m not the one who betrayed your friendship.  But I need you to get your sister’s attention.”
    “You’ll have it, Seol,” Jayle said, suddenly angry.  “Do you really want it?  You have no idea what my sister is capable of doing.  What happened to your family was a mistake, do you know that?  You know how I know that?  Because she only managed to kill off two of them.  If everything had gone as planned, I’m sure you’d be the last surviving member of house Mercury.”
    “You shut the hell up about my family, Jayle.  I just said I wasn’t planning to hurt you.  Don’t make me a liar.”
    “She’ll wipe you out without a moment of hesitation.  Do you think you’re holding me will dissuade her for an instant?  She’ll watch your family execute me, kill you all, and then calmly sit down to write out new plans.  She’s a cold-blooded bitch, Seol.  You want to shake things up, tear apart her world the way she did to you right?  Guess what, you can’t.  Nothing you do will hurt in the slightest because she doesn’t care about anything but herself.” 
    What am I saying?  She’d never thought like this before.  At least not out in the open, where she’d have to admit it was her own thoughts and not just idle sub consciousness.  But there was true righteous loathing in her words now that, had they been faked, would have been her crowing achievement as an actress.  I hate her, she thought and the admission was exhilarating.  For her whole life, her sister had sneered down at her, automatically writing her off as useless because Jayle couldn’t bring herself to be as soulless and awful as her.  But she had always told herself that she loved her anyway, that she was her sister, that of course she meant well.  But now she couldn’t hold it back. 
    Her interface roared with the sounds of explosions, but it was completely overwhelmed by the same sounds coming from just above.  The castle had been breached.  On her screen, silver spider tanks slid on their treads down the long hallways, exchanging fire with the automatic defense turrets that emerged from the walls and floors.  Bulkheads slammed shut all throughout the castle, only to be blasted apart moments later.  They were coming for her, now.  She had maybe a minute. 
    “You may as well give up talking now Jayle,” Seol said, her voice eerily calm.  “I’ll have you in a few moments, and we’ll have plenty of time to talk back at my castle.  There is no way for you to win now.”
    “Don’t you understand!?” Jayle screamed, slamming her palms against he view screen.  “I don’t want to win!  I never cared about this game to begin with!  If I win, that just means that Marona gets what she wants.” 
    “Then why do you keep fighting!”  Seol’s façade broke, and her voice flooded with emotion, finally. 
    “Because I have to.  There are people, actual people who depend on me, who call me a god, whose lives are being torn apart right now, who will lose everything if I’m taken.  But please, Seol listen to me.  If it weren’t for them, I would power my castle down right now, and let you take me.  I hate Marona.  How could I not?  She’s spent her whole life trying to ruin everything I cared about.  She’s poisoned my relationship with Serge, trying to use me to spy on his House.  She’s pushed away everyone I befriended during training, making sure I didn’t fall in with “the wrong crowd” which is basically anyone with even a shred of goodness in their soul.  And look what she did to us, Seol.  We used to be friends.”
    “I-” Seol said nothing.  Above Jayle, the ceiling shuddered.  It was being blasted. 
    “I’ve done nothing to you Seol.  If I could undo what happened to you I would do it in an instant.  I never wanted to see you get hurt.” 
    “You could have done something!  You are her sister!  Don’t act like you’re blameless!”  Her words were punctuated by another blast from above.  The ceiling cracked, and chunks of debris rained down.  Jayle’s rings reacted automatically, throwing up a green field of energy around her, the debris bouncing harmlessly away.  She ignored it. 
    “You’re right.”
    “What?”
    “I said your right.”  Jayle realized she was crying, and wiped her arm across her face.  “I’ve been lying to myself all this time, telling myself it wasn’t my responsibility.  I didn’t want to act against her.  I’m scared of her Seol.  But that’s changed now.”  
    Another blast, and the ceiling fell away entirely.  A huge silver arm burst through, and reached down.  It couldn’t quite reach Jayle. 
    “I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago Seol.  As long as I am on this planet, I have to protect the Woken, because I’m the only one they have.  But as soon as this game is over, I promise you I will join you in bringing Marona to justice.  You can capture me now if you want, but I only ask that you stop damaging the city.  My people need it.” 
    The silver spider stopped moving. 
    “You mean, you want to help me?  You’ll help me take down Marona?  You’ll fight against your own house?”
    “I don’t want to.  The thought terrifies me.  But I have to.  I am a scion of House Jade.  It is my duty to take responsibility for the actions of my house.  So for the death of your family Seol,” she knelt, and put for tearstained face down on the floor in a act of prostration.  “I am sorry.  I’m so sorry, Seol.  Please, let me help you.” 
    There was no response.  The explosions from outside had ceased, and only silence filled the air.  The silvery arm of the spider tank had gone motionless.  Jayle raised her eyes to the screen of her interface.  For a long time nothing happened.  And then the screen widened, and transformed. 
    Seol stood before her, her eyes shining with tears. 

Serge





    “Right flank, circle around!  Vanguard, charge!”  Serge shouted with exhilaration.  This battle was the most difficult he’d ever faced, in reality or in training.  He’d lost over eighty percent of his forces, and was no only hanging on by the skin of his teeth, but the castle of House Amarant was clearly in sight.  His simple joy had quite overcome his usual predilection towards grimness and he was smiling and laughing with unrestrained fervor.  This is what he was made to do.  This was the way things should be. 
    “Serge, the army of House Void has penetrated deep into the territory of both Brand and Seol,” Ergo said. 
    “And Jayle?” 
    “Still holding.  Actually, it’s gone quiet over there.” 
    “Alright, time to finish this.” 
    The battlefield was nearly empty now except for ruined forces.  Seol’s units were all gone, finally whittled away to nothing.  Two dreadnoughts guarded the castle, and a dozen beam cannons were rose from its walls, filling the air with their fizzling light.  Through the smoke, he saw something red on the roof.  He snatched an oracle and made it dive towards the castle.  It was left alone.  They’d gone beyond trying to blind one another.  When he saw what stood on the roof, he couldn’t help but laugh. 
    “You want me to come, do you Brand?” 
    Brand stood on the roof, completely surrounded by the red light of his interface and the force fields generated by his rings.  The oracle swooped in close enough that he could see his expression.  Brand was smiling idly, as though he were simply enjoying the moment.  He looked up at the oracle, and mouthed a few words quite clearly.  Come and get me.
    “Alright!  All units left, charge.” 
    His tanks rushed forward and were hit with a wave of energy from the cannons.  He rushed into the void left over and sent them swarming out completely out of formation, splitting out as far as possible so the dreadnoughts couldn’t hit them all.  His spiders left up and plunged their claws into the walls of the castle, climbing in leaps and bounds.  The first of them landed directly behind Brand, who, without a moments hesitation, turned and thrust out a hand.  The force field from his ring solidified into a solid beam and struck his tank like a hammer, sending it spinning off the tower.  Several more leaped up, and Volca appeared from a doorway, turning her own force fields against them.  Crunched and battered spider tanks littered the roof, surrounding the two of them like a shield wall.  Serge spared an instant to glance at his unit count.  He was down to practically nothing, his units counted in the double digits.  A blast from the last surviving dreadnought dropped the count to a single digit.  He slowed the advance, grouped his last eight tanks together, and sprang them onto the roof all at once. 
    Shots fired half a hundred times, and the crimson force fields ripped legs and guns from their bodies, sending them flying down the castle.  Smoke cleared, and silence rained. 
    A single tank, its body cleaved in two, but still barely functioning, lay on the roof of the castle.  It’s gun was leveled at Brand’s head, only a foot away.  Smiling, he held up his hands. 
    All across the map, the red flickered, and turned to blue. 

Jayle

    “Jayle.”  Seol stood before her, silent.  She’d never been good with words, but her eyes spoke volumes.  Jayle stepped over the ruins of her bedroom and grabbed her friend, pulling her into a deep embrace. 
    “I’m sorry Jayle,” she sobbed.  “It’s over now.” 

Land Games Act 2 Chapter 8

Reckes/Mei

Reckes

    “Are you certain about this?  It seems very reckless.  Your basing your plan on the reactions of an unpredictable player, one we know almost nothing about.”  On his screen, Serge looked exhausted.  Usually he sat with perfectly straight posture, the spitting image of military pride.  Now he slumped in his seat, his eyes bloodshot and framed by dark circles.  He’d removed his ridiculous faux-uniform and was wearing a sleeveless shirt.  He’s gotta be really tired to put comfort before appearances.  Reckes could sympathize.  In the past week, he’d slept a grand total of eighteen hours. 
    “We’ve taken too much of a beating this past week.  We’ve lost too many factories, and Seol hasn’t lost a single one.  You know what that means, she’s got momentum.  We keep playing like this, and the outcome is already decided.  A few more days and we lose Jayle.  After that, I’ll be the next to go down.  If you wanna look at this thing clinically, I’d say we’ve already pretty much lost.  So do you wanna do this the steady, standard way, then sorry to break it to yeah, game over, you lose, pack your bags.  But we still got a chance.  You base everything on skill and tactics, then there’s always a chance you’ll get screwed by bad luck.  But if we put our hopes on luck to begin with, then there’s still a slight chance we can win,” Reckes said.  He turned his dice over and over in his hand, feeling their comforting weight. 
    “Even after all these years, you still don’t strike me as a gambler.”
    “Everything you do is a gamble.  I’m just honest about it.” 
    “It all comes down to luck, huh?” Serge said, then sighed.  “I never would have guessed it, but it looks like you and Brand have something in common.  Alright.  We’ll do this your way.  I’m putting my trust in you Reckes.  The fate of all our Houses rests on your decision.  If we succeed, I will make certain my family does not forget your support.” 
    “Alright then, let’s get crackin,” Reckes said.  He dropped the dice and reached out toward his interface, sending out orders to his units to prepare to move.  But Serge did not yet turn away.  He looked as though he was working up to say something. 
    “And if we fail…well.  If we lose, I’m sure it won’t be because of you.  You have been a loyal and supportive ally these past years Reckes.  I’m  grateful to have had you on my side.  I’m honored to count you as a friend,” Serge said. 
    “Uh, yeah.”  Reckes did his best not to let his amusement show on his face.  So we’re friends now, huh?  That’s news to me…  “You too.  It’s been a fuckin blast, we’re best friends forever.  But we both got stuff to do, alright?” 
    Serge nodded, and made a little grimace that Reckes thought might be an attempt at a smile, and signed off, leaving Reckes alone, suspended in empty darkness with the lights of his interface surrounding him.  He’d decided to drop out of the whole team war-room thing for awhile.  It helped coordinate their efforts, but at this point they all knew what they had to do and he was getting really tired of filtering out the important bits from the constant stream of noise coming from the other players.  His head ached, and his eyes were burning from staring at so many bright lights all the time.  He needed some peace and quiet for a little bit.  He tapped a few commands, and the blackness around him transformed into slowly billowing clouds, deep grey and flashing with occasional sparks of lightning.  Beneath him, a grey-green sea flowed.  It was an image of Algos, the planet he supposed was his home.  He’d never felt particularly nostalgic for it before, but all of the sudden he’d wanted to see it again.  So he had Sola whip up this display. 
    He sighed and took a deep breath, then set his dice aside and pressed a key.  Dozens of screens, several of them twenty feet across, appeared all around him, showing him everything he needed to see.  Today was the seventh day since Seol’s missiles had first bypassed their defenses.  The sun was just starting to bleed over the horizon in the west, the sky over Jayle’s castle tinged light green.  He zoomed out to a composite image created from all of his, Jayle, and Serge’s oracles, and saw that Seol’s main forces were less than three hundred miles from Jayle’s castle.  At the rate they were moving, they could be there in a matter of hours.  Far to the south and east, Serge’s army was deep in Brand’s territory, about five hundred miles from his castle.  This was going to be close. 
      Time to roll the dice. 

Mei

    Mei walked across the deck of her airship, smiling as the powerful wind tore at her hair and clothes.  She strode to the edge, where Iras was crouched outside the railing, hanging out as far as he could.  She laughed at the sight; obviously they were not actually on top this airship, they were safely back on the roof of her castle, so there was no chance he could actually fall… unless he was currently hanging off the very real railing of the castle balcony.  Well, it didn’t matter.  Even if he did fall, her castle’s operating system would just catch him with a force field. 
    She joined him at railing and he flashed a fanged grin at her.  Below, ocean streamed in on a crimson shoreline, the vast continent of Aqua open before her.  To either side of her, a trio of airships hung in the sky, clouds and oracles drifting around them.  A few dozen hydras lay in wait beneath the water, their missile pods poised to fire up to the surface above.  On the shore itself, twenty thousand pale peach dragoons hovered over the sand, split into two distinct units.  Before them were the wide rolling hills and orange forests held by Brand Amarant, who was awaiting her support.  She would soon give it, though not too much.  She had plans to help out Team Apollo for two days, then fake an attack by Three and withdraw her forces for awhile.  It would be a delicate task, but she believed she could keep them fighting for at least a few more weeks.  Meanwhile, she was crafting a new strategy for breaking through House Void’s borders.  It was nine-hundred miles from his shore to the place where the ancient spaceship lay buried.  She had her work cut out for her, but so long as she was in possession of that territory when the game ended, all would be well.  Her parents and her brothers and sisters would be proud of her.  Maybe Reckes will be too, she thought.  He would certainly be angry that she had beaten him, but she guessed he was more the type to respect the ones who beat him than hold a grudge.   If we’re lucky, maybe we can play another game!  You couldn’t participate in the Land Games after you turned eighteen, but she and Reckes were both very young players.  They might get another shot.  She would love to give him the chance to get her back. 
    “Alright Mei, this is more like it!” Iras said, bouncing on the heels of his feet.  “This is great for a landing force, but when are we gonna move the rest our units in?” 
    “Didn’t I tell you?”  She smiled sweetly at him.  “This is it.  If you want to win, you’ll have to do it with these.”
    “What?  Are you retarded or something girl?  There’s no way we can make a difference with just dragoons and missiles!  Do you even want to win this game?” 
    She just smiled and waved goodbye, then turned and took a step forward.  The air shimmered around her as she walked, and she reappeared back on her castle roof.  She’d decided to let Iras be in charge of the Apollo force (though she’d have to keep her eye on him!).  She’d kept the secret of the spaceship from him, as well as her overall strategy.  He would be angry, but she thought it was funny when he was angry, so she hardly cared.  She passed the elevator and began bounding down the stairs, feeling a rush of adrenalin as she came close to flying off.  The battle of Aqua was already raging, and soon she would need to start making her moves, both against Serge and against Three, but for now she was planning on eating a huge lunch and taking a quick bath before she got started.  Then she would-
    “Hey Mei stop running around like a moron with her head cut off and listen up!”  Iras voice shouted out of nowhere, right behind her head, and she shrieked in surprise and went falling forward.  Thrusting out her hands, the rings on her fingers created a soft, springy force field and she bounced back up onto her feet.  Iras’ upper body appeared in the air beside her. 
    “That doesn’t even make sense!  What do you want!?” 
    “Right after you left, I caught a garuda flying under our fleet.  I managed to destroy it-”
    “So what?  They already know where we are.  This isn’t exactly breaking news Iras!”
    “Shut up and listen!  Or better yet, watch the fucking footage, I got shit to do.”  He vanished and a screen appeared in his place, fluttering on little golden wings.  She grabbed it and pulled it closer.  The image was blurry, the target distant.  But when saw the garuda flying in a tight loop, trying to avoid the missile Iras had sent after it, she felt a chill run down her spine. 
    The garuda was white. 

Reckes

    “Master, shall we begin?” Sola asked, her voice drifting in from beyond the cocoon of illusionary clouds he had wrapped himself. 
    “Go ahead and get started.  I’ll be watching, but I want you to take the lead on this one Sola.  I’ve got a thing to take care of,” Reckes said.  On his interface, he was watching his connection request go out.  The receiver showed the symbol of House Tao. 
    “Yes master.  But I am sure you are aware that, as your registered Companion, I am unable to perform at my full capacity?  A Companion must limit their multi-tasking and calculation abilities to a level beneath that of their designated player.  With my current handicap, I do not expect to be capable of defeating Seol Mercury.”
    “I don’t expect you to win.  Just slow her down.  I’m sure you’ll do fine.” 
    “Yes master.  Taking control.” 
    His interface flickered, and Sola took control of the large golden army arrayed around Jayle’s castle.  Her own forces were integrated into his army, split into many small regiments.  She’d spent two and a half years building only a token army, and with a third of her factories destroyed she was unable to field a significant force.  Coming in from the eastern mountains and the southern plains was a massive crescent of silver.  Seol’s lines were stretched tight and the constant stream of reinforcements were barely defended, but it didn’t matter.  Reckes and Jayle didn’t have any forces to spare, so her lines remained safe.  He watched dispassionately as the forces clashed, and the tight formations of both sides dissolved into a mess of chaotic battle.  He turned to his main screen, putting it out of his mind.  He had his own task to handle, and it was as much reliant on luck as it was skill.  His fingers flew across the display as he ordered his units. 
    “Hi Reckesy!  Do you really think you have time to be talking to me?”  Mei popped up on his screen, half a dozen plates of food set in front of her, grinning furiously. 
    “You know I always got time for the ladies,” Reckes said.  On his other screen, he was maneuvering his forces.  Easy now… go slow. 
     “Liar.  You just want to distract me or something.  Well too bad for you I’m already taking a break!  So go ahead and say whatever you want, I’ve got all the time in the world!” she said. 
    “Well it won’t take that long.  I’ve got a proposition for you.  See, I’ve been thinking really hard about something, like really grinding my brain here trying to work out the whole meaning of the universe and shit.  And I’ve come to a realization.  I am completely, utterly fucking idiotic.  Just, a total waste of brain matter here.” 
    “No arguments from me!” 
    “Thank you, that means a lot.  Course I’m really talking about the old me, not the current me, since I was able to realize how much of an idiot I was, that kinda makes me smarter now.” 
    “Sure, that makes sense!” 
    “See, I really just did the one stupid thing.  Granted, it was dumb enough to give me this brilliant epiphany I just had, but it was still only one thing.  Can you guess what it was?” 
    “Gee, uh, I dunno, maybe… letting me find out about the spaceship?” Mei said, yawning. 
    “Bingo.  What the fuck was I thinking.  So, just for the record, aside from that one screw up, I’m still a total genius here.” 
    “Naturally.” 
    “We all make mistakes.” 
    “I believe you said something about a proposition?  Why do you even use big words like that anyway, it doesn’t make you smart.” 
    “Shut up, who cares about my vocabulary.  Yes.  A proposition.” 
    “And that is-?” 
    “I think we should share the space ship.  Fair’s fair, we found it together.  It was a totally collaborative thing.  So why should we fight over it?  We both know that this ship is the only thing that really matters in this game.  We should make sure we’re the ones who get to benefit from it,” Reckes said.  On his screen, he was just about at his destination, and he ordered his units to split and begin flying in evasive maneuvers.  He wasn’t quite ready yet. 
    “That’s so generous of you!  And how do your Aqua buddies feel about this?” Mei asked. 
    “Ok, so we’ve established I’m a moron but do you really think I’m stupid enough to trust this sort of information with those ungrateful assholes?  I mean seriously, why the hell do you think I was even scouting Silence in the first place?   I thought you were one of the smart ones, come on Mei.” 
    “What do you mean, that’s why you were scouting Silence?” 
    “I was trying to get a feel for each of the other players, see how good they’re doing.  Because there’s no fucking way I’m going to finish this game attached to these losers,” he said.  On his screen, he caught a glimpse of movement, and furiously began maneuvering his units away.  It was too early for him to be seen.  
    “You mean… you’re going to betray them?” 
    “Of course I’m going to betray them.  The only reason Serge even made it this far is because I was telling him what to do the whole time.  And Jayle is of course as useless as they come.  I’ve managed to get a nice chunk of territory, but now that Seol’s gunning for Jayle it’s time to move on.  And who is there for me to ally with?  Kurai?  Can’t stand him.  Brand?  Only marginally less useless than Jayle.  Oh, how about the huge fucking monster who can’t even speak?  Nah, think I’ll pass on that one.  So that leaves…” 
    “Me!”
    “See you are one of the smart ones.  What do ya say Tao?  We got Brand stuck right between us as it is, and they think your on their side.  All we got to do is wait for Seol to take out Jayle.  Then you and me wipe out Brand in about half an hour and we’re good to go.  There’s no way Serge will ever work with Seol if she manages to capture his precious fiancé.  If we time this right we’ve got this game as good as won.” 
    “Are you serious about this Reckes?  You’re always so sarcastic I don’t even-” Mei started. 
    “Nuh-uh, don’t give me that.  The time for bullshit is over.  We’ve got a golden opportunity here, forgive the pun, and we need to jump on this while the iron’s in the fire.  We let the Jayle and Brand get eliminated, then you and me focus on taking down Three.  All we need to do is get that ship and we’re good.  House Tao gets to move up in the world and maybe my House can finally serve someone who actually deserves it.  What do ya say?” 
    “I…I don’t know.”  All her usual easy cheer seemed drained out of her.  Her food lay forgotten on the table.  “I don’t think I can actually make this kind of decision by myself.  I’m not even the heir!  I should contact my parents-” 
    “No, listen, we don’t have time for this.  You know this is a win win situation.  Just think about it for half a second.  You want this.  I know you do.” 
    “Well it sounds like a good plan, but… what about your team mates?” she asked.  “Don’t you feel bad about betraying them?”
     “Why should I?  This is an upgrade.  You and me on the same team, that’s how it always should have been.  This is politics girl.  Sometimes you gotta get your hand’s dirty.” 
    “Alright then!  Let’s do it!”  Mei said, her manic grin returning.  She waved, and her pink interface appeared around her.  “Send me all your visual data!” 
    “Sure.  You can go ahead and send me yours in a few minutes.  Wouldn’t want you to think I’m pranking you here.”  With a few taps, he linked their computers, and just like that all of his units became visible to here.  He watched closely as her eyes scanned her screens, her grin somehow widening even farther. All he could do now was hope she wouldn’t question the placement of his small flight of valkryies, currently hovering between the borders of Silence and Teardrop. 
    “So what’s the plan then?  Just wait for Seol to take out Jayle?” she asked.  He breathed easier, but tried not to let himself show any relief. 
    “For now, yeah.  I’ll slowly start pulling my troops back, let her get closer.  Serge will never notice.  Without me defending her Jayle won’t last an hour.  By tomorrow, this game will be down to six players, and you and me will be on top.”     
    “Alright, I’d better go get my interface set up!  See you soon!” 

Mei

    She climbed the stairs two at a time, her body tingling with excitement.  Reckes wants to be on my team!  She could barely believe it was really happening.  She’d tried to make herself be realistic, so she’d never really considered it as a possibility before.  House Aureus was widely known for their loyalty, so she’d never have expected this of Reckes.  But he’s different from those pushovers at Aureus.  Reckes knows what he wants.  And he wants to work with me!  Since the game had begun, she and he had worked up a friendly rivalry, and he would occasionally talk with her even if he didn’t have any tactical reason for doing so.  She considered them friends… but she’d never been sure how he felt about her.  Maybe this would open up the possibilities to a closer relationship.  She wondered if Reckes was engaged to anyone yet. 
    She found Iras on the roof, directing her forces with wide sweeping gestures, as though he were conducting an orchestra.  He turned as she entered. 
    “Hey Mei, what the hell just happened?  We just got all of Reckes Aureus’s tactical data!  And he’s listed as an ally now?”
    “YEP!  We are now Team Golden Peach!  Until we think of a better team name anyway.  So yeah, don’t attack him or anything.  Let me see what’s goin’ on.”  She walked to one of the big, comfortable chairs in the middle of the roof and plopped down, then pulled up her full interface, the many winged screens filling the air around her. 
    “Mei, have you thought about this?”  Iras tone made her pause.  He wasn’t yelling.  He didn’t even sound angry.  He sounded worried, and that was something she don’t think she’d ever heard from him before.  She swept a number of screens out of the way to get a look at him. 
    “Yes, I’ve thought about it.  Just look at the map.  In a few hours me and Reckes will be in top place, and Jayle and Brand will be out of the-”
    “Yeah, yeah, it’s tactically sound.  But who came up with this plan?  You or him?” Iras asked. 
    “Well, Reckes did, but I don’t see why-”
    “And why would he suggest this now?  They aren’t doing too good, but if they can take out Brand first, then they’ll pretty much rule all of Aqua by game’s end.  Seol will take a lot of time to beat, but if she’s on her own then she can’t win.  And your not seriously helping her, are you?” 
    “Because now is the best time to join forces!  He’s just doing what he thinks is best.  Also, I am one of the most successful single players in this game.  Why wouldn’t he want to join up with me?” 
    “Uh huh.  All makes sense.  Now what about House Aureus?  Has his parents agreed to this alliance?  Have yours?”     
    “We don’t need to go to our parents for everything!  We were chosen as the representatives of our Houses-”
    “Yeah, to play the Land Games and win territory.  NOT to set political policy for your House.  An alliance between Houses is a serious thing.  It’s not just something you do in the middle of a game.  I think this is a trick.” 
    “How can it be a trick?  I haven’t even sent my data to Reckes yet!  He’s wide open to us and he doesn’t know anything!  There is no way-” 
beep beep beep beep
    Her interface was signaling that she needed to see something.  She grabbed a flashing screen and pulled it close.  It was a view from a garuda, high above her airship fleet, the one floating over the ocean between the three continents. 
    It was no longer simply floating.  The fleet was moving northwest at an alarming speed.  The coast of Silence was just visible on the horizon.  And in the sky, a couple hundred black missiles were launching towards her.  Immediately she took control and began firing missiles to try and counter the others, but it was almost too late.  Valkyries were rising up behind the missiles, coming to finish her off.
    “Iras, why did you move the fleet!?” 
    “What?  I didn’t move any-”  His face went pale, and he pulled up an interface, his eyes scanning.  “THAT BASTARD!” 
    “Who-” she was interrupted as the first missiles hit her fleet.  Three of the airships went down immediately, while the others managed to blast the remaining missiles out of the sky.  But several took damage.  They wouldn’t be able to move at full speed.  She could either slowly retreat, and try to protect them on the way, or she could abandon the damaged ones and pull her two good airships back.  Either way, she’d just lost a massive force.  But how?
    “I told you Mei!  He did this!”  Iras was still yelling but she had no time to listen.  Then her interface began to beep again, drawing her attention to the north end of Teardrop, where her forward base was under attack.  She switched perspectives and froze, feeling as though she’d been punched in the gut.  The force attacking her base was a force of twelve-hundred valkryies.  They shone bright gold in the sunlight. 
    “He pulled us!  He used the emergency help request and it automatically responded.  I’m sure it sent you an alert, but we were too busy arguing-”  Iras was going on and on. 
    “Shut up!” she screamed, and turned her interface soundproof.  Her airships were being overran by black valkyries.  She couldn’t understand why her base was being damaged by such a tiny force, then realized that her units would not automatically defend against an allied force.  She switched her rating of Reckes from Ally to Hostile, and immediately her forces began to open fire.  He was vastly outnumbered, and would be beaten soon.  She could feel her heart beating fast in her chest, her stomach was churning, and she felt like she was going to be sick. 
    “Hey.  Sorry about that.”  Reckes voice came from one of the many screens floating around her.  She’d left their chat window open when she went up to talk with Iras.  She turned and snatched it out of the air, glaring as her vision filled with tears.  On the screen, Reckes sat stoically, his fingers toying with his stupid dice. 
    “What are doing?  I thought we were supposed to be allies now?” 
    “Yeah, about that.  You really should have known better.  House Aureus isn’t all that powerful, but it is old.  We’ve been around for fourteen centuries.  You know how we made it that long?  Because we were always under the protection of another House.  We’ve shifted allegiance again and again, sure, but never once have we betrayed the House we were bound to.  And as lame as Serge is, I am bound to serve him.  I don’t betray my real allies,” Reckes said. 
    “But I thought… I thought you really wanted-” 
    “To join up with you?  Sure, I’d love to.  You’re a great player Mei, and I like you.  But this is politics girl.  Sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty.”  The screen went black. 
    “Mei!”  Iras had overrun her silence setting and was shouting for attention. She turned, stunned.  “Your base is under attack!  Are you just gonna sit there!?” 
    She looked.  What was Iras talking about?  Her defenses were finishing off Reckes easily, no worries there.  Then she saw it.  Advancing from Silence’s southern shore, a huge force of black units were moving forward, come to capitalize on her weakness.  Another was moving across the water, pursuing her damaged airships, straight towards the eastern edge of Aqua.  Towards Brand’s territory.  And then she realized that was his strategy all along.  To get Three to move out, and distract the others from their attack.  But she had no choice.  Her forces had to retreat, and the only direction she could go was west. 
    “Mei-” 
    “WHAT!?” 
    “This is wrong.  Three… since when does Three have such a big army?”  She ran a scan on her interface, and it automatically counted up all House Void units visible at this time.  A chill went down her spine as she read the number.  Either her computer had added a few zeros, or House Void had quadrupled in size since their last battle.

Land Games Act 2 Chapter 7

Jayle

    The air buzzed and hummed, making her ears ache as though she were at some high altitude.  Her skin tingled from all the electricity firing back and forth.  And the constant clicking and clattering of shells made her clench her teeth, wishing for just a few seconds of blissful silence.  She had long ago given up trying to pick words out of the noise.  She would be completely lost if Gift weren’t kneeling at her side, very slowly translating important bits of dialogue.  Of which there were few.  Since she’d arrived an hour ago (could it really have only been an hour?) the senior Woken had not stopped talking once, but aside from brief explanations (“He’s angry that the refugees are being allowed to continue slandering your name, she’s worried that there will not be enough food for them all, the monks have begun stirring up rebellion”) Gift had not translated much of it.  Jayle had quit speaking after about ten minutes, and since then the other Woken had grown more and more relaxed and now seemed to be ignoring her entirely while they bickered amongst themselves. 
    After the disaster with Seol, when her forward bases had been completely wrecked by her missile barrage, Jayle had quickly gone to see why her people were contacting her.  In the elevator descending to ground level, she’d changed the walls to show her a view of her city, and had been shocked at the sight of tall plumes of black smoke rising from several parts of the city.  The streets had been clogged with Woken, shining in the sun like rivers of many colors.  The would-be assassin who’d tried to kill her during her speech was obviously not the only one of his kind.  A couple days after the knowledge that she was at last joining in the war had spread, a riot had begun in her city that had lasted for hours.  Little damage had been done, and those responsible were vastly outnumbered by the law abiding citizens.  But it sent a clear message.  Where before she had thought her people were happy, now she knew that beneath the surface, resentment and fear ran deep.  And she had nothing she could tell them to dissuade them of their anxiety.  If they feared that she was now committed to the same destructive warfare as the rest of the “demons,” well, they were right.  She was just as responsible as the others for ruining their lives. 
    Jayle had done her best to convince those in attendance that she was fighting for their best interest, for the good of all Woken, that only through victory could she provide them a future.  But with her body language merely the peculiarities of an alien to them, she had to rely purely on her words, and she new they would not be swayed so easily.  The past two years of peace were now over, and her people were beginning to realize that it had been an illusion all along. 
    “Goddess?”  Gift buzzed very quickly, so that she took a moment to realize he was speaking to her.  She tried to focus on him and realized her vision was blurry and seemed to be swaying back and forth.  Everything sounded slightly muffled.  She tried to remember the last time she had slept, and realized that it was more than forty eight hours ago.  How does everyone do this all the time? 
    “Yes Gift, I am listening,” she said, taking care not to let her exhaustion slip into her voice.  She realized she was starting to slump in her chair, and forced herself to sit up straight. 
    “Trust in Benevolence wishes to ask if your Grace has any plans to continue the expansions that were put aside.  He notes that they would be of much use in housing the refugees that continue to arrive in the city.  He wishes to assure you that he does not mean to criticize your Grace-” 
    “Of course Goddess.  We do not question your wisdom.” 
    “Good.  I must return to my duties now.  The silver devil is determined.”  She stood and all the Woken kneeled and let out a cacophony of noise, buzzing and clicking their shells in reverence.  As she left, she wondered whether Seol had actually given any thought to the natives at all.  During their old training, she had generally ignored the simulated natives unless they were technologically advanced.  Jayle had done the same, and had never considered what it would be like to witness such a wide scale conflict from their perspective.  Only their friend Sahara of House Dawn had consistently interacted with the natives, always trying to turn them into useful allies.
    She threaded her way through hallways filled with Woken.  Most of them paused and knelt as she passed, clattering their shells into a storm of applause, while others crept forward, presenting their shells for her touch.  The stark white walls of her castle were now splattered with bright paint of every color as the refugees tried to settle into their new home.  She rather enjoyed the change, and suppressed a grin as she thought of how her sister would react if she could see it now.  On the way to the elevator, she was nearly bowled over pair a blue and red shelled child, tumbling end over end down a set of stairs.  She sighed and helped him up.  She’d warned the children about stairs, but they continued to try to use them. 
    She stood in the elevator in a stupor, waiting for it to arrive, only to realize that she had not requested a destination.  She started to speak, to order it to bring her to her room, then hesitated.  For days now, there had been a thought in the back of her mind, slowly worming its way forward.  She had done her best to ignore it, but she had always known it was there.  She was tired, and she was confused, and above all she felt lonelier that she had for years.  For the first time since she had been accepted as the Green Goddess, she felt cut off from the Woken.  She wanted someone to talk to. 
    “Storage bay G.”  The elevator hummed as it accepted her command, and began to descend.  When the doors opened, nothing but darkness lay before her.  She had not been here in well over a year.  As she stepped over the threshold, dim lights began to shine from distant corners of the room.  It was cylindrical, and very deep.  This storage bay was the absolute lowest part of the castle, the absolute most secure spot.  Every castle had a room like this, and they all held the same thing.  Normally, there would be no reason to visit this place, except in the most extreme of circumstances.  But when she decided she could stand no more of her Companion’s disapproval, she had chosen this as his prison. 
    The lights grew brighter as she walked out onto the narrow catwalk, suspended four hundred feet above ground level.  Halfway down the catwalk it branched out to one side, and she paused to take in the sight.  It ran another fifty feet to the chest of the massive machine encompassing this chamber.  More than five hundred feet tall, the massive machine was contained within a massive sarcophagus, but she new that it was shaped like a human, designed to be controlled as smoothly and easily as her own body through the use of a neural interface.  The Autonomous Contingency Evacuation unit, known colloquially as an “Ace,” was meant to be the measure of last resort in a game gone bad.  In addition to being capable of faster than light space travel and preserving it’s pilot during the months it would require to reach safety, the Ace was a true weapon of war.  Compared to the units controlled by Jayle and her competitors, they were on a whole other level.  With just this Ace, she could easily wipe out an entire army of spider tanks, and survive a barrage from a full fleet of airships.  But that wasn’t an option.  The use of an Ace during the Land Games was considered an act of war, and would be met with immediate assault on the House responsible.  They were meant to be used to evacuate the players in the event that an actual war broke out, or if the native population somehow became a danger to the players (a possibility that had never occurred).  They were armed with enough weaponry to allow them to fight their way through a blockade and escape into space.  The Aces represented the importance the House leaders placed on their children.  If they were going to be sent halfway across the universe unguarded, then they would have to be provided with a foolproof method of returning home.  But she had not given the Ace a thought since the last time she had been here.  With only six months left until the games ended, she did not expect to ever use it. 
    She ignored the side path and continued down to the end of the catwalk, where a small balcony stood, containing a number of high security vaults.  Though there was no official explanation for them, Jayle suspected the vaults were meant as a prison in the case that a spy or saboteur was captured.  Each of them was capable of placing their contents into suspended animation.  She brushed her fingers across the vault’s surface and it turned clear, revealing her only prisoner. 
    Sero was a tall, lithe figure, long limbed and elegant.  His face had a timeless quality to it, almost preternaturally thin.  Soft locks of golden hair fell to his waist.  Though his eyes were closed as though asleep, she could see them easily in her memories.  Electric blue, bright and fluid, framed by long lashes.  She had been delighted when she had first been allowed to design him.  She had grown up with only her sister for company, and even her friendship with Serge and Seol had marred by the constant need to hide her true self, to put on her noblewoman’s mask and maintain her dignity and grace.  She had thought that she would finally have someone she could be completely open to.  And for a time, it had been so.  Sero had been similar to Serge in a lot of ways, dutiful, composed, loyal to a fault.  And yet he was much more sure of himself: relaxed, confident, and full of easy humor.  She had missed him, these past years…but she hadn’t been wrong to lock him away.
    “You were never really my friend,” she said, though of course he could not hear her.  “You played the part you were given, just as I did.  You wore your mask well, better than I ever did.  I really did think you cared about me.”  But as it became increasingly clear that she had no interest playing the game, his humor had turned sharp and cruel.  He began to insult and belittle her, and before long he began to remind her of Marona.  And that was something she couldn’t handle, not after she had finally gotten free of her.  Even so, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to the control interface.  Just a slight touch of pressure, and he would be released.  What would he say if he awoke now?  Would he smile, crack a joke at how long it had taken her to wake him up?   Or would he scowl, and tell her how stupid she’d been.   She was doing what he wanted now, she was playing to win, so he’d have nothing to complain about.  But that would mean admitting he was right all along.  And he would hardly be able to resist rubbing that in. 
    Quickly, before she could change her mind, Jayle turned and walked quickly out of the storage bay.