— CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX —

  Fresh Air

  The Dead Speak!

  Some say that certain players who have died still roam the world... or at least their characters still do, and we have been finding increasing amounts of evidence that there is some meat to this rumor. The World Guard has been very quick to suppress those that speak of this.

  Most of the time, it's easy to understand why - they don't want people believing the Fringe's misinformation campaign that death in the game isn't real. That the fear we've been living in is all some elaborate trick. But this? This isn't that. This is something we can see.

  More and more reports are surfacing of players who supposedly died still being spotted in the world. Not just lookalikes. Not just mistaken identities. Real, documented evidence. Screenshots of former adventurers walking the streets of their old haunts. Messages from guildmates who swear they just saw their friend in the market. We've seen them ourselves, roaming the streets of Celestia Grand with stilted, rigid gaits and cold eyes.

  It shouldn't be possible. The dead don't talk. The dead don't walk. And yet... something is here among us. If these sightings are real, then we have to ask: what exactly are we looking at?

  The most common thought is that what if, for whatever reason, they were not killed when they died? What if they were allowed to respawn? Well, the only known case of a player respawning happened during a tutorial instance, and reportedly the body was left an unresponsive husk. Furthermore, the actions of these shadow individuals are not consistent with their previous selves. And why wouldn't they have spoken out? Why wouldn't they have told us what's happening?

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  No, there's something else puppeting their names, and it doesn't want to be found.

  The World Guard has done everything in its power to shut down talk of these ghosts. Any mention of them is scrubbed from official reports. The players reporting them are told it's a hoax, a bug, a mistake, a grief-based hallucination. But if it were just that, why suppress it? Why pretend it isn't happening?

  Our research indicates there is some connection between these sightings and the main story of the game. That whatever is happening to them isn't just some glitch - it's intentional, it's moving, and it's looking right back at us.

  If you've seen something - a face you know should be gone, a voice calling out from nowhere, a friend you lost standing right in front of you - tell us. Send us your proof. The truth is out there. And if the World Guard won't give it to us, we'll find it ourselves.

  Sewer People News - Bringing you the freshest scoop from the deepest depths!

  |Ace>

  Willard set the article down on his desk, then steepled his fingers. Cherry and I stood in front of his editing desk in the Sewer People's headquarters. He took several moments to think before speaking.

  "Guys... this isn't really the kind of thing we cover." he said finally. "We want more... you know, grounded information."

  "That's what Reggie said!" Cherry threw her hands up in frustration.

  I leaned forward onto the desk and jabbed my finger at the article. "But I'm telling you - this stuff is real! We have the Protectorate documentation! Obituaries, pictures! There's something real here!"

  "I know!" Willard cried. "I'm not saying you made it up - we were all at that lab the other day. But I'm not the one you have to convince - the issue is will other people believe it? Are they going to give this information a fair shake, or are they going to dismiss it outright and hurt our reputation?"

  Cherry kicked at the ground. "People need to know!"

  "You think we should just let this stay under wraps?" I asked. "Just pretend nothing's happening while more and more players are being... what? Replaced? Copied?"

  "I know, I know." Willard held up a hand to stop me. "Let me talk to the guys - there's a... more careful way of releasing this."

  I slumped back. "Grey's never going to publish this."

  "Grey is strict, but he's not unreasonable." Willard said. "The proof is good; it's only a matter of fitting it into a swallowable pill."

  Dispirited, Cherry and I left the printing room and headed up the sewer tunnel that led to the surface. The clammy air of the sewers gave way to the crisp winter breeze as we emerged in the red light district.