Death March Read online

  Death March

  Book 1 of Euphoria Online

  Copyright © 2018 Phil Tucker

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Book 2: Nightmare Keep

  About the Author

  Kickstarter Backers

  The Path of Flames

  1

  My brother’s imminent death had me distracted.

  Feet up on my desk, hands laced behind my head, I watched the wall clock. Two minutes remained till my seventh-period students arrived. Two minutes till I swung back into autopilot and escaped my bleak thoughts. Two minutes had never seemed so long, so when my omni vibrated I gladly accepted the incoming message without checking who’d sent it.

  Want to play Euphoria for free?

  I made a face. Yeah, right. Who didn’t? What a poor attempt at spam. Since Euphoria launched I’d received every variation of that offer through every media channel offering a free weekend session. My finger moved to the delete button but then paused. That number. Where did I know it from?

  Brianna.

  I’d deleted her number after finally—for real and for good and forever—breaking up with her three weeks ago, and hadn’t heard from her since. In fact, our sole mutual friend, Evalina, had told me that ever since our last falling-out, Brianna’d been waiting for me to call so she could tell me how despicable I was.

  ‘Course, I’d never called her, and it had given me petty satisfaction to leave her stewing.

  What the heck was she texting me for?

  More importantly, why the hell was she offering a free session of Euphoria?

  I bit my lower lip. The voices of my students rang loudly outside my classroom door. One minute till the bell rang and I’d have to let them in.

  My thumb hovered over my phone’s keyboard. Euphoria. The miracle game produced by our new benevolent artificial intelligence global overlord, Albertus Magnus. It cost three grand for a weekend session. Why was she offering it to me of all people?

  Nah. No way Brianna would reach out. Someone had to have hacked her account.

  Nice phishing attempt, assholes.

  Fine. Forget you, was all that came back. A jolt of adrenaline pulsed through me—forget you was Brianna’s favorite way of saying goodbye whenever we’d fought. I took my feet off my desk and sat up.

  Wait, that you Brianna? I hesitated then added, And who wouldn’t?

  Her response was immediate. I have a free pass. It’s yours if you want it.

  The bell rang, shrill and piercing. The voices outside were raised in laughter, and I knew that even a minute’s delay on my part would convince a third of them to simply skip my class. Especially since they knew the virtual reality units were all out of commission.

  I want it, I texted. I’ll call in forty-five minutes. Somebody pounded on the door. Last class. I hesitated and then typed, Thank you.

  I opened the door and shifted into teacher mode. Even as I called out students’ names, told them to quit horsing around and get inside, my mind was scrambling. I was all keyed up. I could barely focus. Euphoria was only eight months old, and the hype was surreal, with its being touted as the first clear sign of Albertus’ superiority to mankind.

  The forty-five minutes passed in a blur. I ran on autopilot. Classes these days were supposed to be taught in VR, with all kinds of studies touting the benefits of fully immersive learning environments. But I taught in a school with little to no funding and my class’s units had broken shortly after I’d started six months ago, forcing me to teach my kids the old-fashioned way: face to face, and with little more than threats, jokes, persuasion and humor to keep their attention.

  Once they settled in I resumed drilling them on how to write a five-paragraph essay for the hundredth time, prepping them for their upcoming standardized test which I feared most of them would fail. This was my first year teaching, and already I’d lost all romantic ideals about changing these eighth graders’ lives. Crushing bureaucracy and a director’s office who sucked up to the parents and sent troublesome kids right back to my class had seen to that.

  “All right,” I called out as the bell rang again. “Anyone who remembers what a metaphor is gets a whole period next week in the library’s VR room. Got it?”

  This elicited a chorus of excited shouts, and then all forty-five of them rushed right back out in a storm of backpacks, brightly lit sneakers, glowing AR goggles and laughter.

  Last period of the last day of the week.

  I was free.

  I stood there, simply staring out into space. There was nothing more exhausting than holding the attention of forty-five bored twelve-year-olds for almost an hour. And to do that for seven periods, back to back? I was wiped. The thought of Euphoria brought me back to life, however, and I set my omni on my desk. “Call Evalina.”

  A blue hologram of a swirling ring of water appeared a foot above it, a small wave rushing around its circumference as it rang. And rang. And rang.

  “C’mon, Ev. Pick up already. Come on!” I stared at Evalina’s smiling profile pic that hovered above the watery ring.

  And suddenly her face animated. “Three forty-six,” she said with a grin. “Calling me one minute after class ends? You must be desperate. What happened this time? They demand you do the stanky leg again?”

  Ev was my best friend. Perhaps even my only friend, since I’d had practically zero time between teaching and taking care of my brother Justin’s case to do anything else.

  I’d planned to make this call anyway. Tell her the bad news Justin’s lawyer had given me that morning. But now I had a new, desperate hope. The slimmest chance to pull my brother’s bacon out of the fire. “I just got a crazy text from Brianna.”

  “Uh-oh. She threaten to cut the head off your pocket weasel?”

  “Just about the opposite. She’s offering me a free pass to Euphoria. She’s waiting for my call right now.”

  For once, Evalina was stumped. “She what?”

  “I know.” I sank into my chair. “You think she wants to try and get back together?”

  “Chris, Brianna’s an oil fire and you’re a bucket of water. No. You’re not allowed to get back together. Anyways, you failed to worship appropriately at her altar, remember? Kept trying to treat her like a normal person and not the exalted goddess she really is. You think she’d really offer to spend three thousand bucks on you when she’d first demand you spend ten times that on her as an apology?”

  “Well, no,” I said. “But… maybe she’s moved on?” My words sounded weak even as I said them.

  “Uh, no. Not Brianna. That’s not how she works. Weren’t you the one who called her a manipulative, emotionally damaged psychotic freak?”

  “I know, I know.” I ran my hand through my hair. “But I was pretty upset when I said that. So you don’t know anything about this?”

  “No. To be honest
, I’ve been avoiding her since you guys broke up. She’s been trying to pull me into one of her schemes to get back at you ever since. So listen. Don’t take her offer.” A vertical line appeared between Evalina’s brows. “I tried warning you the first time and you ignored me. I’m warning you again. Whatever crazy plan she’s got going, you’re going to regret it. Don’t accept.”

  I closed my eyes. Euphoria. How many nights had I thought about blowing three grand I didn’t have just so I could play in Death March mode and earn a full pardon for Justin?

  “Chris?” Ev sounded suspicious. “I know that look. You’re going to call her, aren’t you?”

  “Just to see what kind of insanity she’s proposing,” I said, opening my eyes, decision made. “I won’t accept. I’m just… curious.”

  “Sure,” said Evalina. “Curious. That’s what you said when you asked me if she was single. Whatever. Why does nobody in this whole world listen to good advice unless it comes from the Universal Doctor?”

  “Because Albertus Magnus knows what’s up,” I said. “Shit. It’s three fifty. Going to call her.”

  “Call me back!” yelled Ev just before I killed the connection.

  My heart was racing. I’d sworn Brianna was out of my life for good. I’d deleted her number, erased pictures, removed access permissions, the whole nine yards. Now this?

  “Call the number from my last text message.”

  Her face immediately animated in the air before me. “I thought you were going to stand me up again.” Her voice was a shadowy purr, and it brought back all kinds of arousing and uncomfortable memories. And she still looked amazing.

  “Hi, Brianna.” I tried to keep my voice firm, no-nonsense. “What’s this about?”

  “Wow, right to business, huh? That’s cold. Maybe I’ll find another state employee to benefit from my improbable generosity. Have a nice life, Chris.”

  “Wait—what? What are you talking about?”

  She considered me, pretending to debate hanging up. “My father won a raffle at a big fundraiser last night. Three weekend passes to Euphoria, but there’s a catch. They can only go to employees of the state of Florida. So I remembered your sorry ass teaching delinquents and thought, hey, maybe I can bring a little fun into his life—”

  “They’re not delinquents—”

  “But I guess I was wrong. I’ll just tell my dad to give them to someone else. Bye, Chris.”

  She hung up.

  “Damn it!” I leapt to my feet and began to pace. She was waiting for me to call back. She knew I would. This was just like her. She’d not changed a bit, and the worst part was that she was right.

  “Call Brianna,” I said. It rang. And rang. And just before it went to her mailbox, her face animated once more. “What?”

  “Look. I’m sorry. You’re right. That was rude of me. I apologize.” I ground out each word, heart thudding in my chest. Think of Justin. They’re just words. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, voice clipped. “I know you don’t really care, but I appreciate the effort.”

  There was an awkward silence as we stared at each other. She was waiting for me to ask. I wanted to roll my eyes. To hang up. Instead, I forced a smile. “So. You have to give the passes to state employees?”

  “Yes. All of my friends obviously already play, and I don’t know anyone else who works for the state.” You don’t have any real friends, I wanted to say but held my tongue. “So. I thought it could be my one good deed of the year. You want a ticket?”

  Yes, I nearly blurted. My palms were sweaty and my thoughts where whirling. Instead, I forced myself to calm down. “You know I do, but what are you trying to get out of this, Brianna? What are the conditions?”

  She gave a dramatic sigh. “Honestly. You’d think I was a Bond villain the way you’re acting. Look. I know we won’t work out. You’re poor, you’re rude, and other than your moderately good looks you don’t bring anything to the table. And after the way you treated me, dumping me like that? Hell no. So don’t worry. I’m not trying to trap you. Instead, I’d like to use you. I think you’d be a good addition to our team.”

  Oh man. It took so much effort to bite my tongue. I took a measured breath. “Use me.”

  “No one can deny you’re a talented gamer, Chris. Or were. You’d be amazing in Euphoria, and that’s not a compliment. That’s a statement of fact. How many Golden Dawn tournaments have you won?”

  “Seven,” I said.

  “Seven. And that’s just interfacing through a virtual reality headset. Imagine a true neural connection. You’d be wicked. My friends and I have already hit thirty-fifth level. You’d be coming in at level one, but we’d load you up with gear, help you grind, and within a week you’d be an advantage to our team.”

  I sat once more and put my feet up on my desk. “Uh-huh. You think I could level up that fast over one weekend?”

  “Sure,” said Brianna. “Time dilation will make sure that happens. Eighteen to one, remember? Eighteen minutes really is a day in Euphoria. A week of grinding will go by fast, and you’ll still have months and months to play at our level and help us compete in tournaments and clear dungeons.”

  I ran my hand over my face. She was right. I’d been pretty good at Golden Dawn, the virtual reality massive online roleplaying game that had been the ultimate gaming experience until Euphoria had dropped. I’d been living the high life—albeit from paycheck to paycheck—in Seattle off my streaming income till Justin had been caught doing salvage dives on Miami Beach’s sunken buildings. I’d blown my meager savings on getting him a lawyer, then once those were gone had moved to Miami-Dade and gotten the first local government job I could find just to get access to their pro-bono lawyers. Well. Pro-bono-ish. My life in Seattle, my life online, the thrill, the power of being the best—it had all faded into a dream.

  Brianna was watching me. “You can make some serious money, Chris. Once you level up we’ll start doing some cash raids. They’ll be tough, but I think we’ll be able to pull it off. Chump change to my friends and me, but you could probably use ten grand or whatever, right?”

  Right.

  That’d be enough to pay off our current debt to the ‘pro-bono’ lawyer, but that wasn’t why my mind was racing. The most controversial aspect of Euphoria was the morbid and inexplicable playing mode Albertus had implemented called ‘Death March’. Anybody who survived six months in-game while playing at that difficulty level could ask a single favor of Albertus Magnus, the AI that now supposedly ran the world. A cash payment of up to ten million dollars. Green cards, visas, or citizenships to participating countries. Internships and job interviews at the most prestigious multi-nationals. And, most importantly, pardons for a wide array of crimes.

  The downside was if you died in-game, you died in real life. Hence the whole ‘Death March’ thing.

  “What difficulty level are you guys playing at?”

  “Soul Grinder,” she said. “Bad enough for you?”

  Of course Brianna and her friends wouldn’t be playing on suicide mode. Why would they? To them, it was literally just a game.

  I thought of Justin. Locked up and facing forty years or more in prison due to our idiot governor’s draconian laws against looting our flooded coastline. Or, according to the lawyer this morning, the death penalty.

  “All right,” I said. “I’m in.”

  “Of course you are.” Her sensual lips pulled into a self-satisfied smile. “You’d better hurry, though. Less than an hour for you to get to the docking station before we link up.”

  “An hour? What?” I lunged for my backpack, scooped up my omni and started shoving my stuff inside. “You serious?”

  “Deadly,” she said. “If you’re not here by five o’clock, you’re out.” I could hear her smug glee. “See you soon.”

  “Damn it!” I slung my backpack over my shoul
der, sprinted out the door, skidded to a stop, ran back, pressed my thumb against the door pad to lock my classroom, then ran down the hallway again. “Call Evalina,” I yelled at my omni.

  It rang once before she picked up. “Chris?”

  I hip checked the fire escape doors and spilled out onto the brightly lit sidewalk, startling the two armed guards who were sweating like pigs under their slick black body armor. The Florida heat and humidity hit me like a wet brick to the face.

  “Ev, you need to help me out here.”

  “You said yes. I knew it. I knew it!”

  “Don’t freak out, OK? Just listen. I’m going to call Max—Justin’s lawyer—and dictate a new will. I’m leaving everything to you. If you don’t hear from me by Monday morning, liquidate all my assets—it’s not much—and use them to keep paying the damn lawyer, all right?”

  “What?” Shock. “Are you serious?”

  Deadly, said Brianna’s voice in my mind.

  I ran through students, darting like a world-class dodgeball player, and then across the road into the parking lot. “Yes. Please. I have to do this.” I was already panting. Six months sitting in a teacher’s chair had done nothing for my stamina. I reached my car and simply ran into it. The car sensed my proximity and unlocked the driver’s door. “Ev. You’re the only one I can ask.”

  “You’re sounding crazy,” said Ev. “Please. Stop. You’re scaring me. What did she say?”

  I yanked the door open and slid in. Pressed the ‘on’ button, disengaged autopilot, and then forced myself to drive slowly out of the parking lot, even though every instinct urged me to floor it.

  “You need to trust me,” I said, shoving my omni into its cradle. “I’m going to try for a pardon. I’m going to get Justin off the hook.”

  “You’re going to do that Death March thing? No, no, no. Chris. Stop. Pull over.”

  “I can’t stop.” I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. “I can do this. I know I can. It’s what I was born to do.”

  “Look, I know you were an amazing Golden Dawn player, but you’ve never—”

  “Ev, trust me. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m a gamer. I know I’ll adapt fast. Plus, Brianna and her team are going to protect me, level me up, give me elite gear. I’ll be safe till I’m ready to mix it up, then I’ll kick ass for six months and come back rich and with a full pardon for my dumbass brother.”