Free Multiplayer by John C. Brewer Page A

replied, growing more perplexed by the minute. Then he suddenly remembered something, turned, and stared up at the castle walls farther up the hill. “That’s really weird.”
    “What’s that?” asked Darxhan.
    “I fought Mal-X up there yesterday. It’s called the citadel, up at the top, all surrounded by a wall with towers.”
    “What about it?”
    “Ramps,” Izaak answered. “There are handicap access ramps up there.”
    He could almost see Deion frowning behind Darxhan’s menacing helm. “You mean, like, in the game? Somebody filed a Terrain Change Request to build handicap access ramps?”
    “Yeah,” Izaak said, as Hector nodded back on his couch, “and we’re going to find out why.”
    They did two covert laps around the old town, down to the harbor, past the Red Tower, and back to the gates. The rug shop owner stayed in his store. The fruit stand dealer walked circles around his cart as if waiting for someone to buy a digital peach. Khaki-clad policemen – exactly as Hector remembered – loitered on a street corner. They all seemed… bored. It was real life without the smell!
    “Let’s check out the citadel,” Izaak finally suggested. They hadn’t shown themselves and remained concealed in back alleys until they came to the road leaving town.
    The road up to the citadel looped all the way to the massive cliffs at the southern edge of the peninsula before curving back toward the mainland and snaking up to the top in a series of harrowing switchbacks. Hector remembered the villagers carrying loads of olives, bundles of sticks, and selling bottled water to tourists along the road when he’d hiked it with his family. It had been hot that day and he found himself missing the realism Today, Izaak and Darxhan trotted past just as many people. Everything was the same, except they weren’t trying to sell anything. A creepy feeling descended on Hector.
    Izaak was just about to say something about it to Darxhan when the rumble of vehicles sounded from the road behind them. They scrambled off the road and hid among the sparse trees.
    A long, black limousine, little flags fluttering from its hood, appeared, escorted by a string of police motorcycles. From their hiding place, they stared in shock as the motorcade made its way past them and disappeared around a turn in the road.
    “What the heck is that?” wondered Darxhan.
    Izaak’s heart raced with excitement. “Come on. We’re going to find out.”
    Knowing they could cut overland much more quickly than taking the road on foot, Izaak led them across the street to a path, which headed steeply uphill among the ruined shells of what had once been luxury villas. Unlike the town, these hadn’t been rebuilt, and the destruction satisfied Hector, who had thought the mansions were out of place among the ancient artifacts when he was here last year. But it wasn’t really ‘here.’ He’d vacationed in the real Alanya. This was just a simulation.
    They didn’t run into any scarobs or thorks as they hurried up the hillside and Izaak noted that the Omega characters handled the climb with ease though the same shortcut in real life had exhausted him and his father. Another benefit of virtual reality, he thought.
    They trotted by a resort hotel and Izaak pointed out the minarets stabbing skyward from the mosque beside it. The trail passed among short trees and shrubs as it headed through what had once been prime real estate, until it came to the citadel wall. There, it forked and Izaak led Darxhan to the left until the path abruptly ended at an open field not far from the gates and the parking lot. From here, they could see the ocean. Again, Izaak had to remind himself it wasn’t real.
    The limo had disappeared behind the gates of the citadel, which were now closed. Izaak took to the short trees clustered along the edge of the field and stealthily crawled along the ground to a concealed spot where he could watch the entrance without being seen. The last time