"I'll meet you in the bar, understand?" "Yeah, yeah. Same as always. Just don't be wearing that stupid barmaid outfit this time, okay?" "You have my adventuring outfit, remember?" "Yeah, well it totally creeps me out seeing you in a dress." "I have no other clothes to change Pirogoeth into, so the only other option is . . . " "Uh, oh yeah. On second thought, that barmaid outfit ain't so bad."

Piro hesitated before starting up the game. People had been acting strangely in the game world. Fights were breaking out amongst formerly loyal adventuring groups. Normally straightforward characters were attacking innocents and stealing from other players. Even the supposedly neutral city guardsmen had been affected. Even though they were controlled by the computer systems, they were acting as though someone had taken control of them. The game's operators and administrators had no explanation, and were strangely close-mouthed about the happenings. No official explanation had been given as to whether this was a bug in the system or something that had been planned. A couple clicks of the mouse started the game. Piro chose the same character he always played. Pirogoeth, a human female, entered the game.

Pirogoeth tended to her bar duties as usual, waiting for Largo to bring the rest of their adventuring party. She could pick up a little extra cash from this, and perhaps use it to strengthen her skills a bit. Pirogoeth had a gift for keeping the patrons calm, and the strength and skills to make it become calm very quickly when neccessary. She smiled at one of the regulars, and was surprised to receive a scowl in return. Strange, Piro thought. What could he possibly be upset about? I've never adventured against his party. Maybe he chose the wrong emote option. Piro wasn't sure why, but he decided to move into a vacant corner of the room. He had a feeling something was about to happen. Hopefully Largo would show up soon. Pirogoeth began casting defensive spells on herself. It happened fast. A scuffle broke out near the door, and spread throughout the room so fast that Pirogoeth nearly didn't have time to draw her sword. It didn't take long for Pirogoeth's skills to clear the room. To Piro's surprise, the fight seemed to have spilled out onto the street. Surely it wasn't that bad, Piro thought. Fights rarely spread very far. Piro's eyes went wide when he saw the scale of the battle. The entire city seemed to have turned into a war zone. Of course, since this was a city, the city guard had gotten involved. To Piro's surprise, they seemed to be killing at random. There didn't seem to be any pattern. They simply killed all characters involved in a given fight and moved on to the next group. Normally, they would have attacked the aggressor and let the victim go. A necromancer standing on the edge of the battle caught Piro's eye. He seemed to be the only character not involved in the fight. Even the city guard seemed to be avoiding him. Piro quickly did an inquiry to check who it was. The character's name came up as 'Miho.' He whistled softly to himself when he saw the necromancer's stats. An epic level character? That took some effort. Such characters were rare in this early stage of the game, though Pirogoeth and Largo were both getting close. No wonder the city guard didn't want to take on that guy. It would take an entire group of them to take him down. As a necromancer, he could summon monsters. As an epic level necromancer, he could summon armies. A shout from across the crowd drew Piro's attention away from the necromancer. After just a few seconds of watching the carnage in that direction, he came to an easy conclusion. "Largo." Pirogoeth cast a spell of invisibility on herself and slipped through the crowd. She avoided the guards, since they could see through the simple illusion. It didn't take long to get a full view of the battle. Piro was once again surprised as he saw no spells being cast, even though there were several high-level spell-casters in the brawl. Piro knew the invisibility spell wouldn't hold much longer, so he started Pirogoeth on another spell.

Largo's sword ripped through a guardsman easily. He grunted in resigned frustration that there would be no loot from this character. He spun about to face a new threat. A wizard stood before him, wielding a wicked-looking dagger. Largo prepared for the inevitable spells. The wizard charged him instead. Largo nearly missed the block out of sheer confusion. No wizard could beat him at hand-to-hand combat! What was this idiot thinking? He quickly reminded himself that he really didn't care, and that dagger the wizard was holding looked like it'd fetch a few coins. A few moments later, Largo was slipping the dagger into his pack.

Dom slipped his dagger into an opponent's back. He held on just long enough to be sure that his victim was truly dead before releasing the corpse and slipping back into the shadows. A flick of his wrist sent a dagger into another opponent's throat. He jumped out into the open, slicing a short sword across in front of him. His opponent dodged easily, then got caught up in the crowd, quickly disappearing. Dom didn't care. He picked up the fat purse of gold he had cut loose from his opponent then went back to the shadows, satisfied at his successful ploy.

Ed loosed a hail of arrows into the crowd. Several dropped on the spot, but most kept fighting, ignoring the stinging hits. His bowstring hummed steadily as he continued to loose his deadly arrows. Strange that they were simply ignoring the attacks. Normally, an archer - especially an elven archer - would have been a prime target. He stopped his attacks, and decided to use slower, more accurate strikes to eliminate his foes more effectively. The body count began to rise.

Pirogoeth completed her spell. Everyone stopped. She smiled as she looked across the battlefield. Not a single movement to be seen. Timestop was an extremely effective spell. It would cause everything within a certain area to simply stop all movement. Supposedly, it was possible to use timestop to pause the entire world, but so far there hadn't been an effort that coordinated. Pirogoeth's version of the timestop spell had an extremely large area-of-effect, and encompassed most of the city. A thought struck Piro. Where was the necromancer? He decided to take a chance, walking Pirogoeth through the crowd to the spot where the necromancer had stood. No sign of the powerful character remained. He must have used some form of teleportation spell, Piro thought. Items with the spell were common, and could usually be used by anyone. Pirogoeth rushed to her friends. She arrived just as the timestop spell wore off. The fighting resumed as though it had never been paused. Piro quickly took charge of the adventuring party, ordering them out of the city. Dom and Ed agreed readily enough, but it took threats of leaving him paralyzed to get Largo out. Largo led the way to their horses. When they arrived, he turned over Pirogoeth's armor and leathers. She donned them quickly, then mounted the spare horse the others had brought. They trotted the horses to a hilltop overlooking the city. The riot had consumed most of the city, with flames and smoke rising from most of the buildings. It was dying down, with corpses littering the streets. Weapons and armor were strewn all about. It took some time and no small number of threats to prevent Largo from going down to loot the place. "It's begun," Pirogoeth said. "What has?" Largo asked. "I'm not sure, but whatever it is, I think this might just be the smallest part," Pirogoeth replied.

Largo tossed Dom a beer. The four players had logged their characters out and met at Piro's home to discuss this latest development. "So what exactly happened?" Dom asked. "I don't know. All I know is that a brawl started in the bar and seemed to spread into the streets. I've never seen anything like that," Piro replied. "Even the city guard seemed to go nuts. They just started killing everyone." "Yeah, it sucks. They don't give crap for experience and have absolute zip for loot. Not even worth killing," Largo added. Piro rolled his eyes. "Something's gone very wrong with the game. The messageboards are filled with angry posts about people losing control of their characters. The gamemasters aren't offering any explanation, and the admins have gone strangely quiet. It's really strange. There's not even a 'we're looking into it.' It's almost like they don't want to admit that it happened." "Well, whatever it was, it nearly got me to epic level," Ed remarked. Piro sighed in frustration. "Don't you get it? This afternoon angered most of the community. If someone doesn't figure out what happened and prevent it from happening again, they'll leave. If they leave, the Endgames system will be shut down. We'll lose all the progress we've made in that game." Largo straightened. "So what do we do about it, then?" "I don't know. We've got to find something that doesn't fit. There's got to be something that triggered all this." Piro paused. "Wait. I saw someone. There was an epic level necromancer just standing on the edge of the fight. He didn't do anything, and nobody attacked him. Kinda strange that all these people would just start going berserk, but he wouldn't be touched." "You think he caused it? Should we go kick some ass?" Largo smiled at the thought of another big battle. "No, we aren't going to attack him. I'm not sure he had anything to do with it. But something was sure keeping him safe during that fight. He wasn't using any spells. I would've seen that. Still, something doesn't fit. I just can't figure out what." Piro fell silent, thinking. "An epic level necromancer," Ed muttered. "That's it," Dom exclaimed. Piro looked at him curiously. "Think about it," Dom continued. "The necromancer is the toughest class to play. In the betas, the necromancer pretty much smacked every other class down." "Yeah," Largo said. "They totally 0wnzd everyone else." "They got nerfed big-time," Dom continued. "What?" Piro asked. "Nerfed. You know, made a lot less effective," Dom patiently explained. "I know the term. I'm just wondering what it has to do with this afternoon." "Well, there was a big outcry from all the people who had been playing as necromancers. The fighter got a ton of early-level buffs that made them a really easy class to play while the necros got turned into the toughest class of all. It didn't really seem fair, so the advantages were switched at higher levels. Necros are the easiest class at really high levels, but getting there is damned-near impossible. Most people decided it was easier just to make a new character of a different class. Most of the ones who kept their characters are proud to be at mid-level at this point." "Okay," Piro said. "I still don't see how this applies to what happened this afternoon." "People who've been playing necromancers since this thing was in beta still haven't gotten to high-level. An epic-level necromancer is impossible this early in the game. We've all been playing since shortly after Endgames went live, and not one of us is epic-level yet. And we're all playing much easier classes than necromancer." Dom leaned in, smiling slyly. "The only way to reach epic-level so quickly is to have a ton of higher-level characters just stand there while your character kills them, to kill every boss monster in the game repeatedly, or . . . " "To cheat," Piro finished. "What if the riot this afternoon was caused by a wide-area berserk spell," Ed pondered. "Necros ain't got nut-making spells," Largo replied. It took a moment for everyone to realize what he had just said: Necromancers didn't have mind-altering spells. They couldn't cause characters to act out of their players' control. "He's right," Piro said. "Frightening as it is, Largo's got a point. Only psionicists and general-purpose wizards have mind-affecting spells." "So maybe the necro wasn't the one that cast the spell, but was simply immune to it?" Dom asked. "I suppose it's possible," Piro said. "But a berserk spell would have caused everyone to simply attack whatever happened to be closest. They wouldn't have avoided the necromancer like they did." "Sure fought like they were goin' nuts, though," Largo replied. "A wizard tried to poke me with his dagger. Took him out real quick. Got a cool dagger out of it, too. Ph34r m3!" "I already do," Piro muttered. He turned away from Largo. "So everyone was acting like they were under the influence of a berserk spell, but still had the control not to attack this one character? It doesn't make sense." "Sounds like cheating to me," Ed commented. Dom shrugged, then nodded. Largo continued his rant about how much loot he had gotten from the fight, all the while lamenting the lack of rocket launchers and shotguns in the game.

Pirogoeth gazed down at the remnants of the city. It was overrun by zombies, skeletons, and other undead. The necromancer had been here. This was surely his work.

"I'm starting to get it," Pirogoeth said. "I'm listening," Dom prompted. "An entire city was just slaughtered. What do necromancers create their armies out of?" Piro answered. Dom blinked in surprise. "The dead." "What better way to get lots of corpses than by getting an entire city to fight itself?"

The four companions drew up in a clearing deep inside a forest. They waited for a moment, listening to the sounds of the forest around them. Largo's laugh made them jump. "Ph34r m4 l337 b33r cr4v1ngs!" "Shut up, Largo," Piro said. "Well, that's another city turned into a riot zone," Ed calmly stated. "Yeah, but this time we know who's at fault," Dom answered. All three glared at Largo. "Next time they say you've had enough," Piro began, "just take their word for it and leave the bartender in the damned bar!"

"It's been days. We still don't have a lead on the necromancer," Piro moaned. "Actually, we might." Ed smiled. "There was a message on the message boards about a necromancer. Apparently, he smiled at one character, then all the others went nuts. It was a whole new riot." "Wierd. How does that work? Or was it a coincidence?" Dom asked. "Well, I did a little checking. Remember how the dev team for Endgames used to spout off about their 'superior character interactions?'" "Yeah," Piro answered. He had been especially interested in that aspect of the game, and very disappointed when nothing came of it. "They abandoned it when the interactions didn't pan out the way they wanted them to." "Well, get this," Ed continued. "Since that first incident, all the old info about how that system worked has been coming back up. There's talk about it being included as hidded stats. Everyone manipulates them without knowing it. The words you use and the words others use trigger certain reactions. It's supposedly possible to drive someone totally berserk or make them completely unable to go into combat mode when a specific person is around. Since it all happens in the background, nobody's bothered to do anything with it." "But why include it at all if it's that powerful?" Dom asked. "The whole point of the game is to have control over your character, not to lose control." "Think about it. Someone who's really good at manipulating other characters could have access to effects very similar to mind-altering spells. It's a way to give those spells to classes that wouldn't normally have them." Ed smiled, pleased with his deductions. "Is there a way around that?" Piro asked. Ed shrugged. "Supposedly, you could condition your character." "Yeah, I remember now," Piro said. He was beginning to recall the details of the system. "It's one of the reasons the system was scrapped. There was supposed to be a fight-or-flight response, but it didn't work like it was supposed to. Since everyone always chose to fight whenever their character was damaged, the choice between attacking or running was moot. It became conditioned that whenever the character got damaged, they'd attack. It usually didn't matter what they attacked, either. They simply struck out at whatever happened to be around them." "Exactly," Ed replied. "It had to be dropped into the background. Otherwise, it would override the commands the player gave. It also caused problems when in a group. People could get around the rules that prevented them from attacking their own party members by allowing themselves to be damaged when only party members were in sight." "So how do we use this to beat t3h 3v1l 1?" Largo asked. "Same way he's been using it on everyone else," Piro replied. "We condition ourselves to fight whenever we see the necromancer." Dom shook his head. "We can't. We'd have to know where the necromancer's going next. We don't." "Damn. Blew a hole in that plan real quick," Piro said. "There's one loophole that might still be in effect. I can't be sure, though." Ed paused, thinking. "Back when the system was first implemented, there was a bug that caused a character to regard anything and everything as hostile if the character took damage from itself. Since there was nothing that could be regarded as an enemy, everything was regarded as an enemy. There were stories of people attacking scenery after using that bug. It was one of the problems that proved too difficult to fix, and aided in the decision to drop the 'improved character interaction.'" Piro nodded, remembering the bug reports. He had followed those reports closely. "I still don't get why they didn't just pull the code entirely," Dom said. Ed thought for a moment, then replied, "Maybe it was too deeply integrated into the code to remove it entirely. It was going to be a major feature, after all. It might have been easier to just push it into the background and base the NPC interactions on it while having minimal impact on the character control." "So how did t3h 3v1l use it to such devastating effect?" Largo asked. "I'm not sure," Ed answered. "Maybe one of the recent patches accidentally enabled it all again. 'Various other bug fixes' can cover a lot of changes." "Or maybe it's just that nobody's ever hit on the right combination of emotes before," Piro said. The others looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Maybe the necromancer stumbled on the right combination of smiles, frowns, and words to manipulate people, then started using it deliberately." Dom narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Do you have any idea what the odds are of that happening?" "Pretty slim, I'd guess," Piro muttered. "But it's possible, isn't it?"

Pirogoeth once again stood on a hilltop overlooking a city. Once again, the city was overrun with undead. "T3h 3v1l was here." Largo glared at the city, ready to run down and slaughter the undead hordes. "Easy, friend," Pirogoeth cautioned. "There's too many of them. We wouldn't stand a chance against an entire city of dead." "At this rate," Dom said, "we might end up facing a nation of dead." Ed stood silently, watching the other three through narrowed eyes.

Dom slipped out of the shadows next to the group. He sighed loudly. His scouting mission had not gone well at all. "Well?" Largo prompted. "Not good. The necromancer's getting better. Wizards were using their spells this time. I had to dodge more than one assassin hidden in the shadows. The characters are using their skills, and I don't think the players are telling them to." Dom shook his head. "We might be in trouble." Ed stood silent vigil, bow strung and arrow nocked. He glanced over at the others, nodded once, then ran down the hill toward the city. "Where the hell is he off to?" Dom yelled. Pirogoeth remained still. Ed had no stealth skill. He could only be running to the city for one reason. It wasn't long before Dom sent a message confirming it. "Ed just burst in. He says someone named 'Miho' sent him a message: 'Fear.' His character went nuts and ran down to the city." Piro ignored Dom's message, staring instead at the message quickly fading from his screen: "Ed has died."

"So he can get to us," Pirogoeth said. "We already knew that. It was just a question of who he'd get to first." "We need guns. Lots of guns." "There are no guns in this game, Largo." "Damn. All games should have guns. And rocket launchers. Rocket launchers are good."

"Remind me again why I'm doing all the scouting and info gathering," Dom said as he approached Pirogoeth and Largo. "Because Largo got himself banned from nearly every one of these cities. The city guards have shoot-on-sight orders for him. And you know he wouldn't stay here on his own. "So where do we stand?" Pirogoeth asked. "Doesn't look good," Dom answered. "It's pretty much total panic across most of the server. Nobody wants to log out, since their characters remain active on the server for about five minutes afterward. It doesn't matter that they won't be able to control the characters anyway. People just want to be there when they die, I guess." "T3h 3v1l would not wish to travel openly. He likely returned to his own territory." Largo stared hard at the city below them, as though he could prevent it from rioting by sheer force of will. "I hate to admit it, but I think Largo's right," Pirogoeth said. "With such utter chaos, he'll likely be hunted by more than just us. Our best bet is to head into his own territory and see if we can find him." "Easier said than done," Dom replied. "He's claimed several more cities. They're falling pretty fast now, and I'm beginning to wonder if things might be getting out of hand." "Oh? Why's that?" Pirogoeth asked. "Well for starters," Dom began, "the cities are falling in pretty close succession. They also don't seem to be falling in any specific pattern. If he's taking the cities over, he's doing it in a pretty scattershot way. He started out by taking coastal cities that would be easy to defend, but now the cities are falling all over the place." "So what started as an orderly takeover may have had a snowball effect that led to the cities falling on their own. Interesting," Pirogoeth said. Largo drew his sword. "L337 senses tingling. 3v1l is nearby." Pirogoeth drew her sword and began casting defensive spells on the group. Dom snapped a dagger from its wrist-sheathe and flicked a group of throwing spikes into his free hand. Both had spent too much time with Largo to doubt his gift for sensing danger in the game. The three stood waiting. The grass rustled in the wind. Noises drifted up from the town. Nothing aroused suspicion. Piro began to worry that he may have just used up critical defensive spells. At a time like this, he couldn't afford to be wasteful. His fears were alleviated... then replaced. Undead began to overtake the hill. What seemed at first to be a small warband soon revealed itself as an army, then a flood. Largo leapt forward and began hacking, ignoring Pirogoeth's cries for him to wait. Dom shook his head at Largo's bravado and prepared for combat.

Largo whipped his sword about, taking off limbs and heads. He kicked at one zombie that got too close, then snapped his sword down onto its head when it grabbed on. He shook himself free of the zombie's grasp, continuing to dismember undead as he did so. He stabbed a wight through the chest, only to have his sword stick. A swift punch from his steel-plated fist solved that problem rather quickly. The same solution was applied to several other undead in quick succession. He whipped his body into a spin, using the momentum to shatter a giant skeleton. He picked up one of the bones to use as a club in his free hand. Shattering skeletons with one hand and cleaving the fleshier undead with his other, he waded through the seemingly endless horde. Pirogoeth's voice pierced the air, crying for help. Largo spun, cracking a ghoul over the head with the bone in his hand. "Oops," Largo whispered. A second cry from Pirogoeth returned his attention to the matter at hand. He had a friend to save. A series of dives, spins, and rolls took him back to the leading edge of the wave of undead. He dropped the bone and gripped his sword in both hands. He could now put more power into his swings. Of all Largo's theories about games, one always held true: If it doesn't fall with the first hit, hit it harder. Bits of undead flesh arced through the air as he made his way to Pirogoeth. The crack of a lightning bolt deafened him. He knew where she was, though, and didn't need to hear her cries to find her. A ghoul leapt at him. He easily caught it in mid-air, then threw it to the ground, stomping on its head. He swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting several undead in half. A swift punch removed yet another threat from his path. He was almost there. His sword met another. He smiled when he recognized the blade. He had reached Pirogoeth. "Where's Dom?" Largo asked. "I don't know. I lost him when they attacked." Largo grunted acknowledgement. He spun about, and began to match his brutal fighting style to Pirogoeth's much more delicate, dancing style. Throwing spikes dropped several undead beside him. "Found Dom," Largo yelled. Pirogoeth nodded, continuing to fight. A few moments later, the fighting slowed. "See if you can find the necromancer," Pirogoeth yelled. "He's got to be leading them." Largo nodded and leapt once more into the swarm of undead monsters. Hacking his way through the undead, Largo saw his goal. A dark figure, dressed in a black cloak. Black ribbons were spun around dark violet hair. The necromancer wasn't looking at him, staring instead at the horizon to the side of the battle. "I ph34r not your faceless minions," Largo said. "Face me." The necromancer stared hard at Largo from the corner of his eye. "You are not worthy of effort. "Begone."

Pirogoeth looked about for Dom. That he couldn't be seen was no surprise, but Piro still felt that something was wrong. Dom hadn't been seen much in this fight. His skills weren't much use against the undead, who didn't much care if a dagger was stuck in their backs. Still, he had a sword, and had never hesitated to use it against undead in the past. Pirogoeth shrugged, and continued to fight.

Dom punched his desk in frustration, then rubbed his knuckles. He had chalked his character's hesitation up to lag. Then he noticed the last message on his screen: "Miho: Are you frightened?" Damn him. Dom watched the screen as his character stopped hiding in the shadows, then closed his eyes against the inevitable.

Piro stared at the message on his screen: "Dom has been killed." "Damn."

Largo swung, only to have his blow intercepted by one of the necromancer's undead minions. Again and again he tried, only to have the undead get in the way and take the blow meant for the necromancer. He was growing frustrated. He spun with all his strength. Let's see the undead stop this, Largo thought.

Miho watched the fighter carefully. Not one of his taunts had any effect on this one. It seemed that the controls Miho had so carefully learned didn't have any effect on him. Strange. Those controls had seemed so deeply integrated in the system. Why would they not work now? He's too great a threat, Miho thought. He'll have to be stopped.

Largo snarled at the necromancer. There were no undead left in this area of the battlefield. The necromancer was alone. Largo leapt forward, stabbing at the dark form.

Miho watched as Largo leapt through the illusion. A single gesture unleashed a particularly nasty spell at Largo.

"I am . . . defeated," Largo said. He stared at the screen, disbelief warring with confusion. How could he have fallen for such a simple trick?

Pirogoeth stumbled toward the necromancer. Piro looked up from his preparations just in time to see a message fade from the screen. It was too quick for him to read, however. The necromancer stepped forward and caught Pirogoeth just as she began to fall. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and smiled. "I wonder... what does failure... taste like?" Miho leaned in close, whispering the words. The necromancer's eyes closed slowly as a wicked, gentle smile spread across his face. He leaned closer, lips parting slightly, ready to taste this particular failure. Pirogoeth slid a dagger from its sheath at the small of her back. She fingered it as the necromancer leaned closer, forcing herself to stay relaxed. Let him think he's won, Piro thought. As the necromancer's eyes closed, Pirogoeth snapped her blade up, slicing her own face. "I know you're cheating. And I know how to stop you." The confusion and surprise on Miho's face pleased Piro. The dagger snapped back down into Miho's chest. "It's over. Your cheating is finished, and your mindless hordes are beaten." Pirogoeth leaned in close, whispering, "I wonder... what does failure... taste like?" Pirogoeth smiled gently as she leaned closer, her eyes closing slightly. She dropped the necromancer's lifeless corpse to the ground. "Largo," she whispered. She could see him now. His body lay still behind the necromancer. Blood soaked the ground around him. His sword lay broken beside him, shattered as the body that once wielded it so effortlessly. Pirogoeth stared a moment longer before whispering, "Fitting."

"I don't believe it," Miho muttered. "She beat me." Miho ran her fingers through her long, violet hair, staring at the screen. She smiled, then whispered, "Brilliant." Spinning idly in her chair and playing with the black ribbons she had twined into her hair, Miho considered these amazing opponents that had defeated her. Truly worthy adversaries, she thought. I should very much like to meet them in real life.

Pirogoeth dismounted. Her horse ducked its head to the grass, searching for something to eat on the overgrown hilltop. Pirogoeth didn't notice. All she saw was a single stone, set at the place of the fateful battle that had cost so much. "Largo. You're a legend now. You sacrificed yourself not as a slave to the necromancer, but as the liberater of those slaves. They're free now, and it's been promised that it will never happen again. You're free now too, my friend. I think I'm finished adventuring . . . for now."

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