40 Reflexion

Every one of Apophis's footsteps felt heavier as he made his way to the hotel where Antanria was waiting.

He felt like he'd just finished climbing a mountain.

He slowly realized that he'd expended a tremendous amount of effort as he slaughtered the numerous players who had stood in his way… but at the moment, it had felt like absolutely nothing.

It seemed that his body wasn't quite used to exerting itself at twice its usual level of effectiveness yet.

This was like undergoing a whole evolution, but in the space of a few moments instead of over the course of hours. If this had happened to a non-Ascensionist, to an NPC without cosmic power, they might have accidentally torn their own body apart.

It would take some time to get used to, but Apophis could only imagine how incredibly useful this newly strengthened body would be after that!

Apophis and Antanria's hotel was located in a different zone from the Gold is Good HQ, and so it had been safe from Apophis's destruction. Players stared at Apophis, bewildered. They wondered if he was going to attack them, too, but he ignored them all.

News was still spreading around Omeya, and the NPCs hadn't yet identified Apophis as their savior, so there was only general confusion among the Tyottings at the news they were hearing of a battle between Eternals.

Though Apophis had been identified as one of the participants, the peculiar psychology of the Tyottings prevented them from seeing him as a threat to their own safety. After all, he'd been warring with Eternals, not the citizens of Omeya!

Therefore, the hotel staff treated Apophis in a completely normal fashion as he entered the front door, and he returned to his room without a single comment from anyone else.

However, when he opened the door to the room, Apophis found Antanria with a look of terror on her face. She leaped into Apophis's arms at once, surprising him.

"You're safe! I was so scared… I thought the enemy had found us and was bombing the planet!"

"Wh-what?" Apophis asked. "Antanria, what are you talking about? What enemy?"

She suddenly froze, then pulled herself away from Apophis, looking guilty. "Oh. I am sorry. It was only a nightmare again. There were people screaming in the streets, and on the television, they showed the corpses of people who were burned alive and were speaking of an attack from an outsider. I thought… I thought…"

She burst into tears.

"Hold on," said Apophis. She was clearly hiding something. Whatever "enemy" she was talking about, it surely had something to do with the past that she was hiding from him. But something else had caught his attention.

"You said they were talking about an attack by an outsider on the news? But you can only speak Zetark."

"Oh!" she said, suddenly sounding proud of herself. The way her mood shifted so quickly was a reminder that she was, after all, just a little girl.

"Yes," she said, "I've been watching the television and studying their words carefully! When I was very, very young, I was taught how to listen for words that are frequently repeated and to match them to the situation! I know a very few words in your common language now… not very many, but enough that I could understand the basics of the situation." 

Well, that was quite an amazing feat! Apophis was very impressed. He wondered for a moment whether Antanria was lying and could actually understand the common language perfectly, but he didn't sense any deception from her like he did when she talked about her "nightmares."

"Everything's fine," said Apophis in a tired voice. "I expelled the guild who had taken over the city, that's all. But I think I really need a rest now." He wanted to avoid getting too attached to an NPC, especially one as weak as a child that could easily be killed by a stray bullet, so he ended the conversation there and went to bed.

***

Alexander took off the integrated VRI helmet that was attached to the full gaming booth and was surprised to find that his real body was also fatigued… and that he was starving.

He checked to make sure that his gaming booth's IV drip wasn't empty, but it seemed perfectly fine.

In addition, Alexander had only been playing for a very short time. He'd experienced the bizarre events of the Fall of Omeya, then had bonded with Enclabossa, then had destroyed Gold is Good…

…But he felt as though he'd been playing for thirty-six hours without a break.

Alexander checked the real-world time, but only the expected amount of time had passed. Nonetheless, he decided to obey his body's demands. He stumbled downstairs and ate a large meal, then dragged himself back upstairs and fell into a deep sleep on his bed.

***

The next morning, Alexander felt completely better. He checked the forums and found, to his amusement, that everyone was talking about him. However, all the excitement about his purge of Gold is Good was nothing compared to the continuing organization of the Siege of Tyo.

"Back to work," Alexander muttered, and reconnected to the game.

***

In the hotel in Omeya, Apophis got up and found it to be early morning. He woke Antanria and ordered them the best breakfast of the hotel, a real feast that cost over a thousand Galactic Coins! It was quite a lot of money to spend on a meal, to be sure, but Apophis was feeling especially extravagant that morning.

After they finished the meal, Antanria spoke up. She had a strange mix of emotions in her voice after their conversation from the previous day. "I found something that might interest you!" she said hopefully.

Apophis was surprised. "Oh, really? In the last few hours? You're really more studious than I'd thought!"

Her smile grew even wider. "In one of the books of my people," she said, "I found a reference to an abandoned shipyard somewhere on this planet."

Apophis nodded, though he was disappointed. "Actually, I already knew about it, but good job finding it for yourself. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any sign of its exact location, either in the laboratory or the high command base."

"Oh, but that is the easy part!" said Antanria. "I learned about such bases when I was a child. There were quite a lot of military topics I had to learn when I was young, in case there was an emergency and I needed to take command for a short while." As she spoke this last line, all the happiness vanished from her face.

"Ah," said Apophis. "That makes sense."

He thought back to the Raid he'd experienced the previous day. All this information that Antanria was hiding from him… did it lead up to the moments of her death, or was that Raid a corruption of true history, something that never actually happened? After all, Antanria was simply an NPC. It was impossible for her to return to life after death.

And she had definitely been dead. There was no chance that Apophis had been mistaken.

Whatever the truth was, it wasn't the most important factor. The location of a secret Zetark shipyard was infinitely more important for now. "What can you tell me about this shipyard?"

Antanria pulled a drawing from the sleeve pocket of her beautiful dress and showed it to Apophis. "The shipyards on worlds that my people once colonized are always located on a particular type of land that combines both a flat plain for the storage of ships and the proximity of mountains of a certain height for planet-to-space defenses."

She spoke in a sing-song way, as though reciting something she'd memorized a long time ago, rather than explaining a concept using her own terms and ideas.

The geography that Antanria described was somewhat similar to the place Apophis had found the command center to begin with. "Your people have an interesting way of designing their military installments," he said. "It's pretty clever to use mountains for cover and the natural formation of a valley as level ground."

"Exactly!" she said, happy once more. "Of course, this relies on geography which cannot be found on every planet. So it is often planets similar to this one where my people's installments can be found."

Apophis thought about what she'd told him for a long moment. "I understand what you're saying," he said at last. "Since they always build their shipyards in a particular geographical location, we can simply search for one."

"Yes!" she said.

"But this planet is huge," he pointed out. "There must be at least a hundred of the exact configuration you just described."

But at that moment, Enclabossa whispered to Apophis, Forgive me, My Lord, but you are mistaken! There is only one such piece of land that can accommodate the size of a Zetark shipyard. I will show you on your political map.

Apophis entered his political menu. "Shit, seriously?"

The Zetark shipyard was in the exact location of the City of Tyo, the capital of the Republic, which was under siege by a huge coalition of players!

Then Apophis remembered something which had been debated by players in his first life for many years.

There had been a theory that many of the current thriving civilizations in the galaxy had actually begun creating their civilizations once they found abandoned Zetark structures and were able to reverse-engineer the remains of their technology.

Under this theory, many capital cities of planets were actually built on Zetark installments. Since it wasn't exactly a quick and easy matter to wipe out an entire city just to check underneath them, there were very few opportunities to test the theory.

However, what Enclabossa had just told Apophis lined up with that theory!

Apophis realized that he had no choice but to go there himself. If the city fell, the players would surely loot it! Even if they didn't… well, the event which Apophis knew was coming would be unlikely to preserve much of the city's infrastructure.

If he wanted to claim the shipyard for himself, Apophis needed to join the Siege of Tyo.

***

Federation of United Planets cruiser—Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away

An officer called, "Admiral Azerof, we have exited hyperspace!"

The admiral nodded. They'd been in hyperspace for a week. Now the time for action had come. "Give me a full report of the situation on Era!"

Another officer spoke up. "The situation is terrible, Admiral. The whole planet has fallen. Only the planetary capital still stands. According to the Tyo Republic's reports, the death toll is in the billions."

Admiral Azerof grimaced. "The situation is therefore critical! Authorize the fleet to land on Era and prepare to engage. The war against the so-called Eternals has begun!"

***

Down on the planet's surface, Apophis put Antanria behind him on his motorcycle and began riding towards Tyo.