That functioned as a viable excuse to head to the Bobo stall and look around. While most of the party was doing that, Pete and Sam would head around to the back of the establishment and meet with Liandra.
Pete wasn't sure whether their efforts would stop the System from knowing what was going on. He very much doubted it, given that everything they said and did was recorded, but reasoned that perhaps Liandra would have a similar device to the lava lamp Orin used to block System signals.
While Ollie and the others spoke with the rotund, toad-like proprietor of the Bobo stall, Pete and Sam walked around back to a shadowed alleyway with several dumpsters pressing against the back of stalls and buildings. A figure stood ahead of them, cloaked in darkness and hunched against a wall.
"Vault Breaker?" The voice was feminine, laced with pain and quivering slightly.
"Yeah, it's me."
Liandra stepped out of the shadows, dragging one foot on the ground as she moved, one eye swollen and closed, various cuts and bruises littering her slight frame. The elf looked like she'd been through hell, and she was clearly struggling to stand.
"Jesus!"
Sam ran to the woman, reaching out to grab her before Liandra fell to the ground. Sam pulled a medkit from her inventory and triggered it as she pressed it against the elf's shoulder.
Liandra shook her head. "That won't work," she explained with a grimace. "I've been forbidden from using all Tongsly Belch Corporation technology, including medkits and healing devices."
"What about spells?" Pete asked, bending down beside her as Sam held the slight woman and kneeled down behind her.
"I don't...know," Liandra said, wincing in pain.
"I can get Ollie," Pete offered.
The elf shook her head. "No. This is...risky enough. Do not involve any others."
Sam looked around the alleyway. "I can help, but I'll need to damage something to siphon healing. I can use my Torment Leech ability to channel a little of the healing to someone else if I can deal some damage."
Pete looked around. "Has to be a rat or something somewhere around here."
"Vault Breaker," the elf said, her voice barely above a whisper, both eyes closed.
"She's not gonna make it," Sam said.
"Here, hit me with the spell," Pete said.
She shook her head. "Are you insane?"
"You don't need to kill me, just damage me a little and channel the healing back into her."
"I'm not gonna—"
"We don't have any other options. I'll be fine. We just need to get enough healing to keep her stable; then we can figure something else out."
Liandra went limp in Sam's hands, deciding the fact for her. She held out one hand, and a wisp of purple shadow shot out from her fingers and hit Pete in the chest. He recoiled at the sickening sensation that immediately pulled at his body. Bright purple runes appeared on his forearms, burned into the flesh from within and sending a nauseating stench of decay to his nostrils.
"It'll last for eight seconds," Sam said, concern written across her face. "You just need to last that long."
It felt like poison had been pumped into every vein and artery. The pain swelled and pulsed with each heartbeat, a crippling throb of agony. Pete clenched his teeth, sensing his body fight back against the attack as thin threads of purple light returned to Sam. She placed her hand against Liandra's shoulder, and the wisps of healing light were channeled into the elf's body.
>> PAIN TOLERANCE PROFICIENCY +1
>> SHADOW RESISTANCE PROFICIENCY +1
Pete struggled to stand. He counted down the seconds as a small purple flame symbol at the top of his HUD signaled the shadow spell that was currently draining his vitality. The weakness he began to feel was similar to what he experienced when his berserker stance ended, but this was accompanied by a heightened element of nausea. He wondered what it would be like if he ever had to fight Sam in a real battle or someone like her. The key would be to strike fast and hit hard so that she couldn't get off a bunch of these spells. He could only imagine what it would feel like having two or three of these tearing through his body at the same time.
"Two more seconds," Sam said as the wounds Liandra had suffered began to heal.
Pete didn't reply. He stood, fists clenched, concentrating on the spell timer as it slowly counted down. After two seconds, the pain suddenly lifted, and the healing power that was being drained from his body ceased as well.
Liandra opened her eyes, blinking and reaching up to feel her face. Her worst injuries had healed, and she was able to sit up and even stand with Sam's assistance. She turned to Sam, stepping away from the other woman.
"Thank you," Liandra said. "Thank you both."
Pete nodded, trying to keep the lingering pain he now felt from his expression.
"What are you doing here? Did you escape?"
She smiled and pulled down the thin scarf that covered her neck. There was a livid line across her throat at exactly the spot the silver shackle had been when Pete had last seen her. Unlike the various cuts and injuries that had been healed by Sam's spell, this looked like an older scar.
"I was forced to flee before my true identity was discovered. As an agent of the Obsidian Alliance, I was charged with infiltrating Director Temsly's operation and gathering intelligence, which I then passed on to my superiors. Unfortunately, one of the other assistants caught me sending an encrypted message and I had no option but to flee."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
She turned her hands around, and Pete saw identical burn marks on both of Liandra's wrists.
"It took a good deal of effort to escape, and a number of my colleagues gave their lives in order to facilitate my escape," she said. "I came here first to warn you."
"About a trap?" Pete asked.
She nodded, but Nero's voice interrupted before she could speak.
[Nero] Pete? Where are you? I can't reach you, and... I'm unable to find Sam.
[Pete] It's fine, Nero. We're just...in the bathroom. Separately, I mean. That Belch Burger food has done a number on our stomachs.
[Nero] Really? I didn't realize there were bathroom facilities located behind the Bobo store. They must have privacy dampers in place within the bathrooms.
[Pete] Yeah, so we'll be out soon, okay?
[Nero] Yes, of course. I will speak with you shortly.
Liandra grinned, pulling a chain around her neck and showing a small, tear-shaped amulet with globs of red and purple color slowly dancing like a lava lamp.
"The AI will not be able to hear us, and the System will register our time together as a stretch of dead space. We should not tarry, however. If we spend too long talking, the System may send someone to investigate."
"You were about to tell us about a trap," Sam prompted.
The elf nodded. "Augustus Greedwell suffered great humiliation when you defeated his avatar. He had already boasted to the High Baron that he would see you killed at the hands of Coin Lord Grindle. When that failed, he built a special challenge, a race designed to kill you and restore his damaged reputation. He even petitioned the Propaganda and Merchandising Division for aid when it was clear that you and your party were likely going to triumph at the race."
Sam shook her head. "But that didn't work either, and then we beat his avatar."
"Precisely. At every stage, you have defeated the obstacles and enemies he has placed against you, and with every fresh defeat, he has increased his boasting, wagering a good deal of his fortune and the favor he holds with the Company and the Board of Directors."
"So, he's gonna try to flat-out kill me?" Pete asked. "Outside of the game rules, I mean."
The elf nodded. "Among the information I intercepted was a personal note delivered to Director Temsley instructing him to prepare a special show which would broadcast the moment you and your party enter the first floor of the arena."
"First floor?" Sam said.
"The arena is a tower of sorts, one of the high-rise buildings you humans are so fond of building. Players will need to climb to the top of the tower in order to progress to the next arena and increase their class levels. There will be a range of enemies and obstacles on each floor, but Greedwell is intending to kill you on the ground level. You will face certain modified human enemies on that level. Among them, there are several elite guards, all of whom have been triggered to explode when they are within range of you, Vault Breaker."
"Exploding guards? As in security guards?"
"I believe so, yes. They are supposed to function as elite enemies that can be defeated like any other foe, but they have been rigged to explode when they come into contact with you. Greedwell has used an archaic bylaw within the Ultrimax Codex to justify the action, so the System will not oppose the action, and neither will the Company. He is, however, also betting all of his remaining fortune on your death in precisely the manner he has designed. If this occurs, he will once more earn the favor of the High Baron and will become one of the wealthiest individuals in the Dominion."
"But if I don't die?" Pete asked.
"Then he will lose everything, become destitute, and likely be executed for manipulating the game for his own financial ends."
Sam frowned. "But I thought you said that what he was planning wasn't illegal?"
Liandra smiled sadly. "It won't be illegal if he wins. If he loses, however, the Company will find a way to make his actions illegal."
"Okay," Pete said, "so how do I not die? If I just avoid the guards, I should be fine, right?"
"They will be difficult to avoid as they patrol the ground floor. It will be impossible to stay far enough away from them not to trigger the explosions."
"What if I'm invisible?"
The elf considered this. "Perhaps that would work. I'm unsure whether the guards would need to detect you visually or simply to be within a certain proximity. Another option is simply to kill the guards from a distance and pick them off one by one. They will only be triggered to explode on the ground floor, so once you've made it past there, the contest will continue as normal."
"You came all this way just to tell us that?" Pete asked. "Couldn't you have sent an encrypted message or something? It seems like a hell of a risk to take."
"I came because I wanted to see you again in person, both to warn of the trap and also to discuss another matter, a matter of great importance that concerns the use of a forbidden word."
Pete grinned at that. "Okay, well that doesn't half sound ominous."
"This word cannot be written or spoken in public or anywhere that is monitored by Dominion surveillance equipment. Simply uttering the word can have you incarcerated or even sent to the penny mines or worse. It has also been removed from all dictionaries, thesauruses, and historical records in the hope that, if people don't know the word, they will be unable to conceptualize the concept."
"Some Nineteen Eighty-Four shit then?" Sam reasoned.
Liandra frowned, clearly not getting the reference. "Given your current status," she said, turning back to Pete, "and the fact that you are a rising star within the Ultrimax competition, if you speak the word, the System will not be able to simply scrub it from public record. You have a reputation as something of a rebel already, so it will fit with your ethos and seem somewhat natural."
"You want me to just say a word?"
"More. We want you to identify yourself with it, to become the face of the growing movement it represents. In addition, the Obsidian Alliance would like to become your first sponsor. We will use our considerable resources to aid you in the contest in any way we can, and your connection with us will send a message to the people of the Dominion."
"Wait," Pete said. "I thought you guys were an illegal organization. How the hell can you sponsor me?"
"Money," Liandra said as though that was a sufficient explanation. "The Obsidian Alliance is, at heart, a revolutionary entity as you say, but we also possess a significant portfolio of assets. We own several manufacturing and transport concerns, the most noteworthy of which supplies several key components for the Bobo dolls currently being sold behind you."
She motioned to the large stall.
"We are tolerated by the Tongsly Belch Corporation because we have wealth and, with that, a certain amount of influence. We also keep our revolutionary tendencies to a minimum when it comes to messaging and the like. In truth, the most radical efforts we have made relate to our treatment of workers. Those who work in our factories and distribution centers are paid well beyond the minimum wage as dictated by the Belch Corporation. They are given four weeks of paid vacation leave each year. They are also provided basic medical care along with financial incentives and bonuses the longer they stay with us. Several representatives from the workforce are also part of our company board and are able to speak for the workers on any matter of importance. These are the most revolutionary actions we have taken thus far."
"Why the hell hasn't the Belch Corporation taken you out then?" Sam asked.
Liandra paused for a few moments, contemplating.
"Each Bobo doll contains a heart core, a unique object which, itself, houses an angelic spirit. The Obsidian Alliance currently owns the patent for the process behind constructing this heart, and we also own the manufacturing plants that assemble the objects. The Belch Company has tried for years to manufacture its own heart core, but the results have been less than successful. Thus, for the time being, we are tolerated even in spite of our unorthodox methods."
"They can't figure out how to put together a doll heart?" Pete asked. "Surely it's not that difficult."
"More difficult than you think. The spirits employed to inhabit the hearts must be coaxed into place, and this is an incredibly delicate and difficult practice."
"But what do the hearts actually do?"
"To put the matter simply, they engender affection. They draw the love of those who possess them. It doesn't work for everyone, of course, but the pull is significant enough that those who purchase the dolls feel a strong connection to them. It also makes them more likely to collect more. As time goes on, those in possession of the dolls will gravitate toward certain types of Bobo and will seek to own more and more."
She shook her head.
"All that you need to know is that the Obsidian Alliance intends to become your first sponsor. It will be a mutually beneficial arrangement, particularly if you can speak the forbidden word and, with luck, open the path to a new kind of revolution."
Pete caught the look of hope and apprehension in her eyes.
"Okay then," he said. "What's this word?"
Liandra paused, taking a deep breath as though even speaking the word in the secluded alleyway would prompt immediate and devastating action from the Belch corporation. She locked eyes with Pete.
"Union."