* Crystal *

Early the next day, most of the party got together and we went to interrogate the prisoner. Cherry had a few more hours of her mating left, but it should be all over before dinner time. Although Ellie had warned us, Cherry might not be in any shape for anything until the next day. Anyway, the two of them were the only ones missing from the group.

Personally, I would have preferred to have been on my own for this. 

I'd been visited in a dream by Garotha, my patron god. It was certainly some trick by Katie, because you don't dream in the system's sleep mode. The god had offered me an optional quest. I'll I had to do was ensure that the felinoid Tabitha was dead in the next forty-eight hours and I'd get a heap of experience and a legendary weapon. It didn't even have to be by my hand. If I could get the elenians to do it, I'd still reap the reward.

Obviously, my killing of the other in-game monitor had made me the prime candidate to deal with this one. (Although, who knows? Maybe Katie had made similar arrangements with everyone in the party.) But just because I had done her dirty work before, didn't mean I was going to jump at it now. Not that I was opposed to killing the monitor to get ahead, but there was something more going on here.

The first monitor hadn't had a necklace like this one. I'd wracked my brain for ours trying to remember every detail, and if he had any kind of jewelry with a similar affect, I hadn't seen it. 

The item was clearly powerful, and I intended to find out exactly what it did before I used it. If I ever did use it. That meant keeping Tabitha alive at least until she gave me some answers. I just wished the others wouldn't hear these answers too. But I had to work with the cards I'd been dealt.

The cat-girl was being kept in a wooden cage that was in the center of a lodge used as a guard barracks. This ensured there were always plenty of elenians around to prevent escape attempts.

Although when we got there, she didn't seem very defiant or about to attempt escape. She sat with her back against one of the corner posts and stared down at her hands meekly.

Hemlock crouched down next to her on the other side of the bars and asked, "How are you doing? Are they treating you okay?"

"Fine. I guess. They all call me vile, and none of them will have sex with me." She looked up hopefully, "Will you do me? I'm sure we can manage it through the bars."

"No!" Hemlock blurted out.

Yarrow whispered to him, "You should do it. She seems to really need it. And you're running out of time for your quest."

Tabitha got up excitedly, only to slump down filled with dejection, when he said, "Absolutely not. This isn't really her. She's only like this because we took that necklace from her."

Frisks pushed her way forward. "Speaking of which ... Tell us everything you know about that necklace. What exactly does it fucking do?" 

Tabitha shrank back from her words and stammered an answer. "The necklace ... it's mine ... it helps ... but ... I don't remember how."

Hemlock said to me, "She must need it on in order to remember. The way it made me remember yesterday. Give it to her."

It had been strange yesterday. Hemlock remembered things the game was blocking from him and couldn't recall any of it after he stopped touching it. He was probably right that she'd need it to answer our questions, but I wasn't about to just hand it over. So, I grabbed her arm and pulled it through the bars. "What ... ?" she started to say, but then, I pulled the medallion from my inventory and slapped the chain across her forearm. It wrapped itself around her arm until the amulet was pressed against her skin. I could feel her muscles tightening, and the drag of her weight as her knees buckled.

The cat-girl's small voice muttered, "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck." Her head wobbled from side to side like she was recovering from a blow.

"Evan?" I asked.

She groaned. And after a moment, she began speaking with a stronger more confident voice. "You have to give it back to me. It's our only chance."

"Before we do that. You need to tell us more about it," I said.

With surprising strength, she pulled away from me. My fingers hurt from the sudden shock if her movement. But I'd kept hold of the chain, and as she flung herself away from me, it came away loose from her arm. She stood staring at us, smiling, her eyes slightly dazed.

"What the fuck was that?" Savanna said. "She moved like a blur."

I said, "Hey, Evan. Get back over here."

"Who?"

"Tabitha. Come to the bars and stick your leg out as far as you can."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because if you're good, I'll make sure you get all the cock you want."

She didn't hesitate. She came right over and did exactly as I directed. Hemlock gave me a disgusted look. But whatever. It got the job done.

Tabitha moved quickly but not nearly as fast as before. That had been unnatural. The amulet must boost her speed. Maybe her strength too. If she had grabbed the medallion instead of pulling away, things might be going very differently right now. I wasn't about to let her get the upper hand. With her leg stretched straight out, there was no way she could reach something by her foot. The bars would block her upper body from getting close. I positioned the chain so the medallion touched her sole.

"Unngh! Why are you doing this to me?" she moaned. "Please give me the necklace. This is destroying me."

"Answers first. Then, will discuss giving it back to you."

Yarrow added, "It's some sort of cheat isn't it?"

She seemed about to not answer, but changed her mind. "Yes. It's like a cheat code. It sets the wearer apart from the system. To a degree, anyway. Species, class, and equipment are still system controlled. That's why I got changed into this ridiculous bimbo cat when the new AI booted up and not a character that I would have chosen. But it can't effect anything else. With it on, I don't feel pain, cold or heat, or any of the other sensory input the game simulates. I think this is what kept me safe from the influence it's pushing onto players."

"What do you mean?" Trogia asked.

"Haven't you people noticed it changing your personalities? Corrupting you? I just met you all, but I'm going to guess you're not exactly the way you used to be. I know myself, all that shit the AI has been trying to do to my brain practically crushed me when the necklace was taken off. It turned me into Tabitha the needy slut." She purposefully diverted her eyes from Hemlock. 

"What's you're intellect?" Trogia asked with pointed curiosity. 

"Four. Which is why I'm completely incapacitated without it on." She looked to each of our faces as we tried to puzzle out the ramifications of what she was saying. "Don't you get it? The game isn't supposed to mess with your mind. An intellect of four is only supposed to effect your spell-craft abilities and some saving-throws. It's not actually supposed to make you dumb. You aren't supposed to feel the influence of your species. And there was never an arousal system before. The new AI somehow figured out how to manipulate the thoughts filtering between the pod and the game system. Hell if I know how. But we have to stop it."

Yarrow asked, "What other cheats does it give you? It does more than what you said, doesn't it."

She looked down and didn't say anything. 

I slowly dragged the amulet up her foot until it was only toughing the tips of her toes. "Well, looks like we're done here."

"No! Don't remove it! Please." She raised her foot to maintain contact. "I'll tell you. Just don't take it off of me. Please!"

"You must really hate being Tabitha," Frisks said.

"I do. But it's more than that," she said. "Each time I become Ethan again it's like I'm going insane. I remember everything about both lives, and it gets harder for my brain to handle it. It came off accidentally once. And twice more just now. And each time, it's worse. And it's not only trying to hold the two personalities wither. Every time the system takes over and makes my Tabitha, there are less of my memories there. That last time, I realized my name was gone, my childhood, even my adolescence. Even when I thought of the moment I entered the pod for this monitoring session, I was a big boobed cat-girl."

"Is that a product of your low Intellect?" Yarrow asked.

"No. I don't think so. The AI cheats. My guess is that because the necklace is a cheat device it gives her an in to cheat more. To feed in more false memories."

Hemlock and Frisks were looking at each other with stunned expressions. They'd both touched it. They were both realizing something.

I asked them, "Did that happen to you?"

"Yeah, but I just thought ..." Frisks started.

"It was normal," Hemlock finished.

Yarrow put her arm around Hemlock to comfort him, and asked Evan, "What do you mean the AI cheats?"

"How do you think I got captured?" she said. "You were right. The necklace does do a lot more. It bumps all my attributes to twenty. Life Force and Mystic Energy to a thousand. Makes me impervious to poison or drugs."

"But not nets," I said, remembering how we'd found her suspended twenty-feet above the ground.

"No, not nets," she said testily. "But if those elenians hadn't shown up right away, I would have broken out of there in a matter of minutes. I might have fallen, but with my Strength and health, I would have walked away from it no problem. It was the dart they stuck me with that led to my capture. It activated my sleep cycle for one hour as though I had set it myself. That is so not the way the game is supposed to work. Even without the necklace, I should have gotten a saving-throw and if I'd failed it, it would have counted as a drugging, not rest. The AI didn't follow the rules."

"But you still had the medallion, why not fight your way out when you woke up?" Yarrow asked.

"I was bound, disarmed, and surrounded by a troop of soldiers. I could have tried, but it would have taken several rounds to break my ropes. They soldiers would have wacked me around like a pinata. Not to mention ..." She nodded at me. "You and your friend were there. Two tier 2 adventurers. I know the odds. In five rounds, between the two you, you could have cut my health in half, maybe even two-thirds. And the  soldiers might have brought me down the rest of the way."

Yarrow said, "Why do you fear death? Do you know what's happening instead of respawning?"

She nodded looking miserable. "Hell. The AI has converted the game's demon realm into the 'afterlife' for dead players." She looked up at us. "Imagine all the madness of this game-world only with demons in charge and all the players stuck at low levels with no equipment and not even any clothes. Hell."

We all took a moment thinking about that and inwardly shuddered. Then Savanna asked, "How do you plan to stop Katie?"

"I can't. Not directly. By the sacred pool, there's an access panel. I might be able to send out a disruption signal that will help block the AI's perverse influence over this sector. But the main thing is I'll be able to get get out of the game and report this to the techs on the outside. They can load a backup of the previous AI. In four-five days, things will be back to normal."

Yarrow said, "Game days or real-world days?"

"Well, real-world of course. Loading an AI isn't like flicking a light switch."

"So, game months."

"Yes, but it's better than the alternative," Evan said. "So, are you going to give it to me, so we can get out of here and get to work?" There was wariness in her voice as though she was worried we wouldn't.

"Before we do," I said. "Does anyone have any other questions for Evan."

Savanna said, "Just one: how were you going to get past the creature in the pool and all it's minions?"

"Duh. My cheat necklace. I might not be able to kill the monster on my own, but I only need to get past it. Once I touch the panel, it  activates a protective shield around me to let me enter my codes without interference from creatures or players."

Something snide seeped through with his voice. It reminded me of the other monitor, only interested in saving his own skin, with barely a thought spent on the actual players. In their eyes, we were just stupid rubes, and if we were stuck her for months or years, it wasn't their problem.

"Well, thank you, Tabitha. That was very helpful. We'll let you know our decision," I said and put the necklace back into inventory.

"What did you do that for?" Hemlock shouted.

I said, "We should discuss what we do with it as a group." He was about to object, but all of the others agreed with me, and we decided to go discuss it somewhere private.

As we were leaving, Tabitha screamed out, "Wait! You promised me sex!"

I went back to the cage and whispered, "Don't worry. I'll come back later and give it to you good." She looked concerned as though I was trying to trick her. "Don't worry. I have the equipment you want. I promise." I'd been meaning to try out the mushroom strap-on I'd bought, and her plump ass would be just the thing.

* * *

Hemlock threw his hands up with frustration, "Well, I say we let her have it back. It is hers. She knows what to do with it. She can access the panel. Plus that thing is like a curse. I don't want to ever touch it again. And if you all knew what I know, you wouldn't want to either."

We were in the lodge they'd given to Yarrow. Some of the others were seated on the ground, but I stayed standing. The memory of all the sex fluids that had drained into this soil was clear in my mind.

Frisks said, "I will admit that the thing fucks you up. Fucks you up bad. I only used it once, and all my memories up to the age of fourteen now take place in Feronia." Hemlock smiled, happy to get her agreeing with his point. "But! If it's as powerful as she said, I might be willing to put it on again."

"Are you crazy!?!" Hemlock said.

"If you put it on and never took it off," Frisks said. "You wouldn't suffer the ramifications of it, would you?"

"But you practically had a breakdown when you put it on. I saw you. You looked and acted as if you were going insane from the shock of it."

"I'm sure it was only temporary," Frisks said, but she didn't sound very convincing.

"And it's going to be worse for some of us. Think about Cherry. Do you think after the last few days they would want to deal with both sets of memories? Both personalities in one brain?" I could tell by the way he was glancing at Yarrow. It wasn't just Cherry he was concerned about.

Frisks said, "Well, I'm not asking Cherry to put it on. I'll wear it."

"Not so fast," I said. "I think I should be the one to wear it. Just think of the advantage an over-powered tank would give us."

We were about to start arguing, when Yarrow stepped forward. "Personally, I don't want it. But it seems like there may be a few candidates. So hands up if you want the necklace and all the good and bad things that go with it."

My hand went up along with Frisks. Then Savanna's. Trogia half raised his, then lowered it.

Hemlock said, "Why are we even discussing it. We need her to access the panel."

"Do we?" I said. "How will it help us? By the time they've corrected the problem, we'll have already been revived in the game-pods. And who knows what Katie will do to us if we help in causing her demise."

"Crystal, after all we've been through, I can't believe how selfish you're being. What about all the other players? The new ones entering every day?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Yarrow who said, "Crystal's right. Tabitha's goals aren't our goals." He was about to say something, but she interrupted him and kept talking. "Players will be getting revived soon, if they haven't already. They only revive players between 8am and 8pm, but most of Asia would be in that time zone now. The problem's probably already been reported. Tabitha using the escape hatch won't really help anyone but her. But the necklace could help us get past that monster in the pool without losses or anyone dealing with becoming demented."

Hemlock was clearly angry by being contradicted by his woman. "There's more to it than that. We can't just steal it from her. Also, what about that things she said about stopping Katie's influence."

Frisks said, "So, you want there to be a region in Feronia where players remember themselves, like that necklace made you remember yourself. That sounds like a really shitty idea. And steal—shmeal. If we weren't around, the elenians would have executed her. She's only alive because of us."

I said, "Alright, so I think we're mostly in agreement. Or do we need to take a vote?" Hemlock wasn't happy but he backed down, knowing he was outnumbered on this. "So, how do we decide who gets the necklace? Rock, paper, scissors?" I hoped the tone of my voice conveyed just how much I was joking about that.

Yarrow said, "We'll vote tonight. I agree that we shouldn't let Blossom wear it, but Ellie may want to. She hasn't changed too much since entering the game. She should have the option. Who ever want's it, will have a chance to state their case. The person with the most votes can have it."

It was in my inventory. I should have it. But what she said was to reasonable to argue with, without getting overruled. I'd just have to state my case well enough, which shouldn't be too hard.

We began to disperse, and remembered that other thing I had in my inventory. The fun little appendage, the system called a Personal Recreation Device. I headed back to the prisoner cell. I had a promise to keep.