Chapter Text
Time until Level collapse: Three Days, Thirty minutes
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WARNING: This Message is from a deceased crawler.
Tammi Lynn: Are you awake, honey? I’m on my way back to the safe room now. I’ll be back for the recap. Get some food and be ready by the time I get back. We need to find a stairwell today.
A chill ran down Asher’s spine at the sight of the notification. When had that…when had that happened?? That couldn’t be right. The computer running this game was weird, it must have made a mistake. He’d only been sleeping a few hours. Nothing could have happened that fast.
Asher: Mom? Are you OK?
WARNING: You are messaging a deceased crawler. Don’t expect a reply!
Asher: Mom?
WARNING: You are messaging a deceased crawler. Don’t expect a reply!
Asher shot out of bed and stumbled into the saferoom. “Mom?” he called. The Mexican restaurant that made up the safe room was empty. There were no other dots on his map. Heart beating fast, Asher pulled himself into a booth with duct tape covering rips in the fabric. He pulled up his mom’s message again. It came in over two hours ago. The recap was on in just a few minutes. That couldn’t be right. Asher blinked back tears. His mom couldn’t be gone. There was no way, not her. She was the strongest person he knew. But that terror stayed dominating his mind, dredging up a hundred questions with it. What could have happened? What would he do if he were on his own? Did he even have it in him to go it alone? He’d tried hard not to think about that possibility. After his dad died, he knew he couldn’t bear losing his mom. She wasn’t dead; she couldn’t be.
Right?
What if she was?
The sound of a door opening grabbed Asher’s attention. Hope surged through him and he popped up to look at the front door, but found it still shut. One of the other doors had opened. He looked to his side and saw that it was the door to the showers. Someone stood in the threshold, staring at him.
Crawler 4,858,000: Kian Abkhazi
Standing there was a…well…Asher didn’t actually know. They had long hair still damp from the shower and wore some kind of bra, but their facial features were sharp and tired-looking, like a man’s. They looked surprised to see him.
“Ah, shit, sorry.” Kian quickly took the black sweatshirt he’d been holding and pulled it on. It sported a bleach painting of a rat covered in tire tracks. THE PARTY had been painted underneath it. “It’s still damp from the wash and I assumed you’d still be asleep–wait, were you the person who was slee…oh, shit.” His voice trailed off as he got a closer look at Asher. “What?”
Asher fought the urge to wipe his eyes and tell on himself. Did he look that upset? “I’m okay,” he insisted.
“How are you here?” Kian asked.
“What?”
Kian stared at him like he was crazy. “Kids can’t go in the dungeon. I was with a few when I entered and they all got teleported out. What happened with you?”
“How young?” Asher asked, taken aback. His mom had talked a bit about that Lucia Mar kid, so he’d assumed him entering the dungeon was normal. He didn’t have any reason to think it wasn’t.
Kian sat and thought for a moment. “Way younger than you. I saw someone I know was fourteen get teleported out when she touched the stairs. I don’t know the exact age, though,” they said. The thought that Asher wasn’t supposed to be there was uncomfortable to him. He didn’t want to be in that place, but he didn’t want to be away from his mom, either. She was all he had anymore.
“Did you come this far alone?” As they spoke, Kian produced a black scarf from their inventory and donned it. A large golden safety pin on the fabric glinted under the dim lights.
“No. I’m with my mom, she’s out getting XP.” Asher found it harder than he expected to believe. He swallowed hard, fighting back a sob.
“Your mom’s out there?” Kian asked. If they noticed that Asher was on the verge of tears, they weren't acknowledging it. That was fine by him.
Asher held up his wrist. On it he wore a green-and blue friendship bracelet.
Friendship Bracelet of XP Sharing–
Aw, isn’t that sweet? Wearing this bracelet along with one other crawler in your party will increase the amount of XP shared between you. The other crawler will get 20% of any XP you receive, you’ll get 20% of theirs. May the power of friendship keep you safe.
“My mom and I got these when we entered. They share our experience more than normal, so she goes out and while I hide.”
Kian dropped themselves down to sit in the booth across from Asher. “So she’s got one of those things?” They said, drumming their fingers on the wooden table.
Asher nodded his head.
“Same look and everything?”
“Yeah.” Asher said. With the short crawler sitting down now, he could look at their nametag a bit better. They were level ten–way higher than Asher’s level three–and had a neighborhood boss under their belt.
And a player killer skull.
Asher felt himself instinctively push himself against the booth. His eyes locked on the skull. His mom had steered completely clear of crawlers with skulls after having to kill one on the first floor.
“You folks here for the recap?” A gruff voice yanked both crawlers out of it. At their booth stood a bopca with his hands folded in front of him.
“Yep. You mind whipping something up for me?” Kian said, recollecting himself.
“Yes…M- um…” The bopca trailed off, squinting at Kian.
“Sir.” Kian said. “But please, just Kian.”
“Alright, you hungry?”
“No, I need a drink. What’s your strongest?” Kian groaned. Asher was suddenly even more uncomfortable. The idea that he should leave crossed his mind. No, no. He’d die out there without his mom. When was she getting back?
The bopca thought for a moment. “I think I have some stuff in the back. I could make something close to a Naga cranium melter.”
“A what?” asked Kian, bewildered. “Fuck it. I’ll take one of those, please.”
“Understood.” The bopca looked to Asher. “Anything for you, son?” He had been hungry when he’d woken up, but that appetite was long gone now.
“No, sir,” he said.
“Alright, you make yourselves comfortable. Recap’s about to start.” The bopca shuffled away to the kitchen. Kian looked back to Asher, whose heart had started going double time.
The man looked at Asher strangely. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t want to respond. He wasn’t supposed to question how much someone drank; he knew that. But Kian wouldn’t look away from him. Asher looked back up to his skull.
Kian followed his gaze. “Oh. Look, that was…an accident. I wouldn’t do anything like that for real.”
“What happened?” Asher regretted the question as soon as he asked it. It sounded a lot like backtalk.
Kian sighed. “An item malfunctioned on me. Promise, it was an accident.” He put on a small smile. Above them, a TV flickered to life. It was a huge flatscreen, like one of the TVs Asher had always wanted but his parents couldn’t afford. The recap was starting. “Does your mom let you watch this?” Kian asked.
“No,” said Asher. “She says it’s violent.” He started to stand. She’d be mad if she found out he watched it while he was gone. “I need to go to bed,” he lied. He’d just woken up, but the sleeping quarters were a place he could avoid the recap and get away from Kian if he was about to drink.
“I’ll be there in a few hours,” said Kian. “My guide’s gonna kill me if I don’t get some sleep.” He waved Asher off as he walked towards the sleeping quarters.
Asher closed the door behind him and took in a deep, shaky breath. He leaned against the door, where he could hear music starting to blast from the TV.
Asher: Mom? Please say something.
Warning: You are messaging a deceased crawler. Give it a rest, she’s NOT going to say anything.
---
Victria–Human illustrator. Level 50.
Guildmaster of this guildhall.
This is a non-combatant NPC.
“What are you doing here?” Victria groaned. The woman looked like a fairytale princess, complete with shimmering blonde curls, an ornate crown, and a glittering gown. She had been doing an illustration when Kian stumbled into the Tutorial guild. “I didn’t think you’d be ba–are you drunk?!” she sighed. Kian stumbled into the cobblestone room, which looked like a room in a tower. He felt like he was gonna hurl. Again. He’d already done it once during the recap and twice on the short walk to the guild. As soon as Asher had gone away he had cracked, slamming down his drink so fast that the bopca had refused to make another. That was probably a good thing. He’d only made it halfway through the recap before panic had gotten the better of him and he’d rushed to the Guild.
“I need help,” he gasped, collapsing into the chair opposite Victria’s desk. He’d never had a panic attack before, but this definitely felt like one. It reminded him of a bad high. The ornate paintings on the walls and various trinkets decorating Victria’s room felt spatially fucked, like they were both too close and too far away at the same time. His guide’s eyes looked slightly above his head and he watched her eyebrows raise. Kian could feel the skull icon above him like it had a tangible weight to it.
“I see,” observed Victria. “Killing a player is difficult, I understand, but most successful crawlers will have to at some–”
“I killed her, but she-she...!” Kian stammered. He could feel tension and heat building behind his eyes. “She has a kid–a child!!”