My dreams that night were of course turbulent and eventful, but I was adjusting to the process of recombining my various selves. They never lessened in intensity, but I grew more adept at enduring them. I awoke the next morning in my bed, aware that there was only one of me again, and the memories of the day before neatly sorted in my head.
It had been an eventful day. Aside from busting the Echoing Abyss as [Mage], I’d had a long meeting with an Earth lawyer, a productive day as [Lord], and gained multiple levels with [Duelist] and [Archer]. I was even getting close to the point where I would be able to level [Placeholder] to level seven. Unfortunately, I was also approaching the point where [Rebirth Resonance] would stop giving me two hundred percent experience.
I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to accomplish. In the end, I decided to spend the next several days pushing all five of my classes up to cusp of the level fifty limit, and I spent the time mostly grinding lairs anonymously as [Mage], [Acolyte], [Duelist] and [Archer]. My [Lord] self did his usual thing of ruling North Shire and Thorn March while gathering support for the ascendancy of Rain II.
I continued to keep an eye on guild chat, and my disillusionment continued to grow in regards to the majority of my guildmates. I had thought that I had been keeping my concerns to myself, however, so I was surprised when [Lord] received a message from Peafowlet as soon as she logged in.
After setting up the meeting, I notified my other selves about what I had learned. After a bit of discussion, we decided to recombine for the meeting, so we returned to the lobby for an impromptu nap.
The meeting was held in the Guild Hall in Zhesa City. I attended as [Lord] Hail. Tarisha joined me at my invitation, after confirming with Pea that it wouldn’t be an issue. Daemon was there despite not being an officer in the guild anymore. The other attendees were Dimple, Peotre, and Ulasha, who was apparently the guild leader.
“I thought Klarisha owned the guild,” I said when she introduced herself. Her avatar was that of a dark-skinned woman with lots of jewelry and a flattering dress of silver and emerald.
“I am Klarisha, sweetie,” she said. “I tend to name change and skin change a lot. Don’t worry about it. I know who I am, and that’s all that’s really important.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I guess I can understand that.”
Daemon cleared his throat once everyone was there. “Hail, I’d like to start this meeting off with an official apology. I was the one who initially set up your chat the way that it was. This was in the early days, before we really appreciated how unique you were. I think I’ve already explained that when we first met, I was under a few preconceptions over how to treat a nascent AI. I was trying to help Arc achieve what I thought their goals were for your development, but I should have been more worried about helping you .”
I was quiet for a moment as I contemplated Daemon’s apology. “I think I understand. I mean, I wasn’t really paying attention to guild chat back then at all, but it would have been pretty upsetting if I glanced at it and saw jerks like WeedMilk and GhostGazer in the chatlog.”
I blinked in surprise as the notifications came up in the corner of my attention. “What?”
“They were on thin ice already,” Peotre explained.
“I didn’t want anyone to be kicked because of me,” I protested.
“This isn’t just about you, Hail,” Dimple said, smiling sadly. “It’s time for a spring cleaning.”
The list went on for some time as hundreds of players were removed. Many of them were the players that I’d repeatedly noticed talking about me like I was an object instead of a person. Others I didn’t know, or hadn’t seen talking at all. When the scrolling list finally completed, guild chat erupted into outrage. Dozens more players quit on their own, seemingly out of protest or in solidarity with their friends who had been removed.
It left me stunned, looking at the officers in the room for an explanation. It was then that Ulasha decided to address the guild.
The drama continued for some time after that. Eventually the initial lot of quitters died down, the flame war in guild chat continued unabated. I sat in a corner of the office where the guild leadership was meeting, but nobody was talking anymore. Everyone had their guild chat up and they were busy reading it.
“I don’t understand,” I said at last. “Why did you do that?”
Ulasha flicked her hair, her eyes focusing on me instead of the invisible text that had been scrolling in front of her. “I told you, I have my reasons.”
“I didn’t want anyone kicked because of me,” I protested.
“They weren’t following the rules, Hail,” she explained. “We just weren’t enforcing a lot of things. It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but almost a tenth of those purged were in debt to the guild and were showing no intention on paying us back. Another five percent were suspected spies. We might have kicked a few people who didn’t deserve it, but honestly, I’m not too worried about it. We were always a social guild before you joined, but that’s not really true anymore. Our core is still here, but we’re increasingly becoming something new, and I don’t know what the final shape of the guild is going to be. But I do know that I don’t care about the hangers-on and moochers and bandwagon jumpers who joined after we got famous. And neither should you.”
Daemon cleared his throat. “Hail, you should realize that
Peotre nodded. “I’m going to be pretty blunt, Hail. You’re the core of the guild now. When you left, we lost our purpose for a while and tried to return to being just a social guild, but it wasn’t the same. We probably would have fallen apart if you hadn’t returned when you did.”
“We weren’t at that point yet, but Peotre’s right,” Ulasha agreed. “Hail, if I have to choose between causing a bit of guild drama and making certain you’re treated with the respect you deserve, I’ll choose you every time.”
I studied her for a minute. “But I don’t even know you. Why are you going so far for me? Just because of my quests?”
She shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a factor, Hail. But I’ve always been a proponent of AI rights. The more I learn about you, the more I want to support you. And that’s not going to change even if Arc takes away your quest giving abilities and turns you into a random shopkeeper or something. As long as you have the spark that makes you you , I’ll be in your corner.”
I looked around and saw a room full of supportive faces. I exhaled, and came to a decision. “So, you guys know those rumors about Hagi? That there’s another AI like me running around on the loose?”
The others perked up with interest.
“Do you know him?” Dimple asked.
“I suppose you could say that,” I chuckled. “So, a few days ago, Thomas visited me while I was in the lobby, and he gave me a new ability …”
<
?