The Crime of Being Human

Shadowing the lone laborer proved remarkably easy even without being invisible, at least until said lone soul got to one of the roundabouts. The roads, circular and well-measured, were carved into black stones contrasting the white bricks that formed the sidewalks to which naught but the pillar-lamps adhered. The round bit of road was allergic to the buildings and to what dominated that pale island at its middle: a statue of a human woman, John was fairly sure, wearing a flowing robe that billowed in the wind. Even in the faded relief of her face, one could make out a determined wrinkle on her brow as she stared at the ceiling of this world.

John’s questions grew, but they were put on hold when he spotted a pair of Lawmen chattering in their foreign tongue while both were leaning against the statue’s base; they huddled close, and so their oval, armored bodies mostly hid a plaque thereupon. John didn’t dare a closer inspection and opted instead to blink across the road just out of sight to end up past the guards and statue. He was again turning himself invisible as he kneeled atop a two-story structure; underneath his feet, the stone was soft and cold, and the Gamer worried it would give out under his weight if he dallied.

“Pakashiit?” John nearly leapt from his skin as he slowly turned… and exhaled only when he realized the Lawman was addressing the creature John was running ahead of. From this view, John could more clearly see the “Dorbin’s” features: largely human and pink-fleshed, his eyes were still too large and too far apart to pass, and he had no hair to speak of anywhere apparent on his body. The six arms, terminating in four-fingered, thick hands, were of course the first clue.

His skin blushed a furious red as he looked the Lawman over, but his expression did not change: placid, even almost bored, he responded in voice with bass for treble, “Niko deluso tiis Va’antaegh, kai duvok.”

The Lawman was either unsatisfied or striking conversation because he continued to address the larger, calm laborer. The other Lawman, notable in how he only had two arms to his fellow’s four, looked around as if the laborer were not even present. John continued to follow their curious conversation, ignorant as he was… and the Dream seemed pleased with his college try.

NEW QUEST! “Spare the Rod”!
Objective: Save a Vantage resident from unfair execution!
Rewards:
+1,000XP
+Audio Settings will be unlocked

What the Hell…? Audio settings?! That’s a thing-?!

“Yuukuk deesuta!” A sudden motion, and the second, disinterested Lawman was now very keen on clobbering the civilian with the long rod of gold at the end of his weapon. Six arms waved as the man began to plead in a high-pitched squeal. Both Lawmen neared their target, weapons raised, even as the creature pleaded for his life, freedom, or whatever else they were threatening with vicious clubs. The quest was no subtle nudge, then; John still couldn’t be sure what was happening, but the Dorbin’s fear was real and made the sentence clear.

John tunneled in after the Lawmen and made his choice.

Your serpent’s lunge deals 590 subdual damage to Lawman Hammer.
Lawman Hammer defeated!

Your quickcast serpent’s lunge deals 580 subdual damage to Lawman Brave.
Your quickcast serpent’s lunge deals 580 subdual damage to Lawman Brave.
Lawman Brave defeated!

Lawman Patrol defeated!
+1,900XP
+$2,439.94
+2 suits of Lawman Armor (1 Dorbin Hammer, 1 Dorani Brave)
+2 Lawman Pacifiers
+bag of keel nuts
+bok-whittling knife

The naked, slumbering bodies that hit the floor evidenced something new for John to consider: these “Dorbins” were varied, and this new species, the “Dorani,” were even more human-like in the flickering light. The Dorbin, unlike the one still petrified in place, had only four arms, more human proportions save for a nose closer to a pig snout, and seemed well-muscled underneath his hide of light green skin. The Dorani was, at first glance, a human to John: two arms, two legs, a bald head, dark skin that could’ve been mistaken for brown… even ears, which he now realized were mere shaped holes for the Dorbins. But the Dorani’s face gave its nature away: her mouth—John’s view between her legs suggested “she”—that almost reached her ears to create a permanent smile now half-ajar as she remained in a Gamer-induced coma.

The “saved” citizen merely babbled in fear at the sudden, hooded figure that seemed to peel from the air to dispatch Lawmen. John quickly opened two tunnels beneath the bodies and dropped them on a far-off roof.

QUEST COMPLETE!
+1,000XP
+Audio Settings unlocked!

New skill unlocked: Audio Settings.
Audio Settings, Game Options
You can now change your spoken/understood language, such that speaking English will come out as the chosen language and the chosen language will be heard as English. The language list includes the native languages of anyone you’ve ever defeated or branded. You can also enable subtitles to understand any language you’ve heard spoken for a significant length of time.

A small speaker icon blinked at the corner of his sheet, which John engaged in an effort to outpace the stuttering shouts of the only conscious soul around. The menu appeared with a drop-down list and subtitle options as he desired, though nothing indicated what a “significant” time was. Quickly he scanned the list:

LANGUAGE:
English (American)
Sylvan (Court)
Goblin (Forest)
Elven (Dark)
Elven (High)
Korean (Hangul)
Orc (Mountain)
Almiraj (Hornless)
Chinese (Mandarin)
Draconic (Flamescale)
Halfling (Shire)
Ogre (Highborn)
Gaelic (Mullingar)
Hivetongue (Mimics)
Spanish (Spain)
Infernal (Corruption)
Celestial (Enlightenment)
Va’antaeghi (Lowborn)

John flicked subtitles on and activated the last option while the stranger spoke.

“Keku da hoo-man?” it asked with a disapproving shake of its head and motions between John and the statue. “Shek drou insane? You can’t go out looking like that!”

John blinked at the sudden transition: sure enough, the creature now sounded like basic, American English… but the voice was just a bit off and clearly underselling the emotion he displayed. Fucking dubs. The thought had been so infantile, so out of place in these bizarre straits, that John had to all but laugh in the creature’s face.

“What is wrong with you?! Thank you, and yet no thank you! Do not darken my shadow again!”

“Wait, what were those two going to kill you over?”

“The same as you,” he scoffed, his forked tongue flicking out in some kind of taunt, “not knowing better than to cross the Law- do not follow!” John had barely taken a step towards the many-armed man-like, but already the latter’s two bottommost arms, projecting from where human ribs would be, were gripping daggers John hadn’t seen earlier. Seemingly satisfied, the Dorbin did no more; he treaded backwards only half a dozen steps before dashing down the road of his intent.

John had the language now, but no good answers. He glanced at the statue once more. So they definitely know what humans look like and have humanoid features… so what was wrong with how I look? He eyed the plaque as he idly played with one of his uniform’s buckles; to his relief, the language settings included text. The alien runes there were now decorated with bold, white subtitles:

BIANCA THE FRUITFUL SAGE
“Living is a curse
only to those who act without care,
consume without humility,
and spurn the Peak without service.”

Bianca… so this is the King of Vantage? John studied her homely features… but only until an explosion shattered the peace.

Lights came up on the various houses, and John blinked to the tallest roof nearby before the square began to flood with gawkers. None saw anything from the ground, but John could well see the origin of the sudden, air-sucking burst: a squat fortress, formed by cubes stacked eight by four by two stories, had lost a full two of those cubes from its topmost floor to azure flames. More curious than cautious, John tunneled closer.

The Gamer was rewarded with a scene from an action movie: the building, on closer inspection, was now very much the fortress it appeared: a plaque over the main doors read “LAWMEN STATION NO. 13” in subtitles. The roof, as opposed to the uniform, flat surfaces of most homes, had ducts from which now flew coughing or stumbling Lawmen in full gear. The station had been an angry hornet’s nest, and those hornets sought the cause for this destruction. Before John could leave, for worry that he’d be singled out even while invisible, such a culprit made their appearance: a blue cloak shimmered with the light of the like-colored flames. John had barely managed to turn and regard it before the figure had ducked into an alleyway.

John didn’t catch the information card, but he caught minute details: the culprit had leapt down from the second-story, through the fire and the flames, and rolled on the ground below without so much as a pause or apparent impact. He, or she, had then neatly duck into the alleyway between the Lawmen Station and some kind of outdoor cantina formed by mutilated cubes. Along with the glimmer of blue was the glimmer of gold: the enemy of the state was hauling off a bundle of Lawmen weapons, and perhaps more underneath the billowing cloak. The terrorist’s hood was up, and John wondered if the Lawmen knew what had become of their enemy.

Evidently they didn’t, for two dozen golden warriors flew downwards and in every direction in their hunt. Others still continued to pour out and secure their burning base while a pair of Lawmen flew away on some separate errand. At least four Lawmen went in the stranger’s direction. John still didn’t know what the Dorbin he saved had done to nearly be executed, but it couldn’t have been worse than what John witnessed. The hooded figure would be attacked, and perhaps killed, and perhaps deservingly so…

<But you’re not exactly with the law, are you now, Master?> taunted Juniluny.

I mean, I might still get away with what I did back there… but probably not with this. But John was still moving to follow the dangerous stranger’s path. Something had glinted in that stranger, something familiar and strange, and John felt a kind of kinship almost upon sight. The Dream urged his going; he went.

John followed as best he could with his powers over space, which of course meant he found the stranger in a few short minutes; the labyrinth of alleyways was nothing compared to that of Juniluny’s make, though his quarry ran a very fast and twisting path between the buildings. The Lawmen, with their gift of flight and numbers, were barely able to keep up in their own right; John was sure some had spotted him between his leaps and cloakings, but thankfully none seemed to notice enough to seek him out.

In time, John found the stranger… cornered in a hollow left by rows of houses too tightly packed to allow an exit. The figure stared into the inches-wide gap between houses that allowed the only escape that wasn’t backtracking; the Lawmen filled that only escape as they landed, their clubs raised in preemptive triumph over catching their query. The knot of gold began to approach the enemy.

John’s eyes had barely swept over the scene before he began to recast his shroud… and that was enough of a pause to be noticed. The invisibility settled in… and was followed immediately by the dull impact of steel ringing against his skull.

CRIT! Lawman Brave’s club deals -156HP to you!

The invisibility fell away, as it did when attacked, and John slowly turned to regard his attacker: another fully armed and armored Lawman who, still mid-air, had charged down upon spotting John and clubbed him as though he had already warranted execution. If the Brave had not the visor of his notched helm, John would have watched him blink in surprise at John’s nonchalant turn… and at John’s completely human face.

“Hum… Human imposter!” the cry rang.

Imposter?

The Lawmen below suddenly glanced up to where John saddled the edge of a two-story building and began to hesitate between their goals. More Lawmen buzzed on the horizon as they closed on this position. Crap, I need to get out of here before this gets worse… but I also want answers from-

A screaming red flame cut through the dark of an eternal night. It shot skyward until it smashed like a rocket into the stones above. The impact ignited a firework explosion of pink and violet sparks to turn the night into day for a flicker as all looked up at its scream and were then blinded by its radiance. John tried to figure its source from its arc, but he saw only the half-lit depths of the city, far and away.

And then… John heard something faint, something that tickled at his soul like a melody that did not vibrate through the air but through the actions of another.

“Finally… ‘fraid they were going to make me play prey for hours,” chuckled a feminine voice.

The Lawmen turned as the stranger rushed into them. John thought to leap in and save her from the suicide charge when the song on the wind surged.

[MM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uHgo7_ZtXs]

Miles the Human’s heavy attack deals 308 damage to Lawman Hammer!
Lawman Hammer slain!

The stranger’s fist flickered with the Dream until it crunched knuckles into helm, snapping the visor and collapsing the skull within. The entire body flattened to the earth and then bounced from the **** of the downward blow, sending the corpse into an unnatural flight over and behind its fellows.

The cloak fell away… and revealed a pale-skinned, human woman, perfectly human, with hair that was a chaotic inferno of every color. The Dream churned upon her crown, and John’s bewildered state was joined by his attacker as they looked at very different things.

The Brave, knowing that profile well, realized what an emergency they now had on their hands.

John, with his unchallenged Eye of the King, was left baffled as something like a fighting game UI appeared to frame the woman: a lifebar of gold up top, with her name in bold lettering: MILES THE HUMAN, and a bar below, half-filled with a streak of blue, reading: EX LVL. 0. The Eye UI visibly struggled with the interface until it revealed a message that stumped the Gamer:

The Eye of the Destroyer has erased this information.

But John’s shock would not end there... as he heard from the Dream a male voice, oddly excited and... familiar to any gamer. Miles took a bouncing, fighting pose as if encouraged; somehow, she heard it as well.

“ROUND ONE!”