The air around Xefaru hummed as she hovered over the charred city located in Region 47 of Section 115 in Erda's Northern Hemisphere. A frown of displeasure slowly formed across her sharp, pale face.

  Fires had decimated thirty-eight percent of the city, and over two thousand NPCs had been destroyed. Thousands more would be out of commission due to injuries that would take weeks or months to heal.

  Xefaru had seen worse in previous iterations of the Annexation Games, but usually not this early. While the three species that formed the Triarchy weren't biologically immortal, their technology allowed them to significantly increase their lifespan to the point where death was something typically reserved for those who chose it. Pure boredom was the most common reason listed for those who reached this decision.

  Life in the Triarchy was peaceful and safe and easy. Life on Erda was not, and that was the main draw. The excitement of living a new, mortal life in a fantastical world didn't typically wear off for a decade or so. When it did, the Players would find new ways to entertain themselves, and that sometimes included wanton destruction, such as what had happened in Danver. It was allowed, of course, but the circumstances leading up to this event were a different story.

  The Kurskins had broken protocol and failed to report a Recollector Error. They had protested, claiming that they were unaware of this obligation. Xefaru understood their confusion, as the last time a Recollector Error appeared in a Game was long before they were born. Still, the rule was clearly explained in the Player Contract. The contract was only thirteen thousand pages long, and Xefaru had managed to commit it to memory in two days. But like so many Players before, these Kurskins had thoughtlessly skimmed it over and signed without a second thought. The fault was theirs.

  For their violation, Xefaru administered a 20% level reduction as stipulated in the contract. They were lucky she went by the book. Other Administrators among the Voxals liked to bend the rules and would have found additional ways to punish them. This was one of the first times Xefaru herself had been tempted to do so.

  Recollector Errors were rare but more of an annoyance than anything else. The fact that one NPC remembered its old life was of little consequence to the greater NPC population, as Recollector Errors were always seen as raving lunatics. The reality they remembered was no longer real to the other NPCs, so they just assumed the Recollector had gone insane.

  This time was different.

  The situation was worrisome, and it could have been prevented if those simple-minded Kurskins had reported it instead of taking matters into their own hands.

  For the first time, the NPCs had recognized the truth in the Recollecter's words. Not only that, the Recollector was aware of the Creation Event and appeared to know about the existence of the Triarchy. This impossible knowledge was what it used to sway the NPC population to its side.

  Xefaru had no idea how the Recollector Error had discovered the information, but it was likely related to the Master Control AI being used to run this Annexation Game. The Voxals had hoped that it would last another few games before it had to be decommissioned, but a mistake like this was unacceptable. It could have even been intentional. The thought made Xefaru shiver. This would be the current Master Control AI's final game.

  There were few options left to Xefaru, and she decided it would be best to quarantine the city and reset the NPCs.

  Once her team of System Officers arrived, she would dispatch them to hunt down and reset any Danver-staked NPC within a fifty-mile radius. That would significantly reduce the threat of further contagion. But not all the NPCs that fled would have had Danver designated as their current home. There would have been travellers and merchants and deserters among those who ran. As a result, all nearby towns would need to be closely monitored in case they tried to spread their malignant beliefs.

  These humans had been problematic from the moment the Triarchy discovered them. They were a species of vast potential. So much so that the Triarchy had felt obligated to change the hostworld for the Annexation Game to Earth, despite decades of planning at a different venue. It would have been too dangerous to allow humans to continue to advance for an additional three hundred years.

  Working under a time crunch, mapping human consciousness proved to be more complicated than expected, and so the reality construct used to reprogram the humans had flaws. Those flaws were beginning to show themselves.

  One of Xefaru's peers had reported witnessing an NPC soldier cry out for its wife as it slowly died on the battlefield. The name was confirmed to have belonged to the NPC's real wife, not the one the Master Control had given it.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  This had been reported twice more since, and the cause wasn't fully understood. Xefaru had a theory that it was a result of humanity's proclivity to attachment. The emotional bond they shared with one another, particularly among parent and child or husband and wife, was stronger than any species the Triarchy had previously annexed. It was vital to the authenticity of the experience that the majority of the NPCs retained their free will and genetic instincts. When it came to humans, some aspects of their species, such as their pathetic need to love and feel loved, couldn't be coded out.

  This was one of the many annoyances about the humans.

  Their innate desire to protect life only extended to their kind, and they instinctively knew the Kurskins and Dalari were predators despite what their minds told them. That was apparent from how quickly they turned on the Players who had been living among them.

  Because of this, it was vital that the Recollector Error be located and destroyed before it could cause any further damage. Any message the regular NPCs had to share could be suppressed, but the Recollector had already proven its ability to manipulate its kind. If it weren't so dangerous, she would have been impressed.

  Xefaru would find the one who went by the name of John McClane, and she would wipe the glitch from the System. But before she did, she would have questions for it. She needed to know if the Master Control AI had bestowed that ridiculous action-movie name upon creation or if the Recollector Error had somehow changed its designated name. If the former were true, then it was further evidence that the current Master Control AI was operating beyond its carefully crafted parameters. If the latter were true… well, that could be even worse.

  There was only one way to find out. Xefaru had pried all the information she could from Vrentris, who was the only Kurskin among them who had actually interacted with the Recollector. Under the threat of further level reduction, Vrentris was more than willing to talk.

  The vicious little beast was so set on killing the Recollector himself that he had killed and tortured multiple humans for information about the man named John McClane. They gave Vrentris a name, which he had given to Xefaru. Thankfully, he had not been able to locate the owner of this name before her arrival, or the man would likely already be dead.

  She would find out for herself just what poison McClane had been spreading in the minds of the NPCs.

  With a thought, she began to coast downward. She held a solid metal staff in her right hand. It appeared mundane, nothing more than a polished metal stick. But it granted her God-like powers. Every power the System created for the Players was available to her, plus many of the same tools used in the Creation Event. Flying was elementary, but it was the most convenient way to travel for someone who preferred to avoid using portals. The risk of an imperfect reconfiguration was minimal, but Xefaru didn't achieve her station by relying on luck.

  The dirty humans in the streets below scattered in fear as she floated across the rooftops until she reached her destination. The ground was unclean and covered in soot, so she arrested her descent a few inches above the ground and floated to the door in front of her.

  She willed the door open and glided into the building. Six humans were conspiring around a table in the center of the room, and when they saw her, they burst from their chairs in a panic. Despite her diminutive size, she terrified the humans. They were easily scared by the unfamiliar.

  One of them overcame their fear and pulled a handaxe from a clip at their waist. Xefaru pointed at him, and he burst into a cloud of human dust. The others screamed as she methodically reduced them to particles until there was only one left.

  The burly man tried to make a run for it, but Xefaru overcame his will in an instant and took control of his body. She sat him down in a chair at the far end of the table. He gasped in horror as she released her hold on his head while maintaining control of everything below his neck.

  "Hello, Harl," Xefaru said, her voice aged smooth like a vintage wine. "I need to know everything you know about the one named John McClane. Let's begin with when you first met."

  Harl spat at her, most of the phlegm landing on his shirt. Xefaru wrinkled her face in disgust.

  "Compliance is recommended for your own well-being," she said.

  "I'll burn in hell before I tell you anything, demon," Harl said.

  Xefaru sighed. She didn't have time for this. "This is your last opportunity to give me what I want before life becomes most unpleasant for you."

  Harl glared hatefully at her, answering only in silence.

  "Very well," Xefaru said. "Just remember, it didn't have to be this way."

  Xefaru accessed Harl's pre-creation file and quickly read through it. His real name was Dan Secrest. He had three children, two twin girls and a son. That was all the information she needed for the next step. It was complicated, but in a few seconds, Xefaru was able to interface with the suppression module that controlled his access to long-term memories. She found the data set she was looking for and released it back into Harl's mind.

  His eyes bulged as a singular set of memories opened back up to Harl. After that initial jolt wore off, Harl closed his eyes tightly and moaned in distress. His incoherent moan began to take on form, and Xefaru smiled at the confirmation her executable was working as intended.

  "Jack," Harl cried. "Jack. Oh, my little Jack. No. No, no no. My boy... where's my boy..."

  "Look at me, Harl," Xefaru said.

  Harl kept moaning the name of his forgotten son.

  Xefaru smacked the table with her staff, and the crack frightened Harl enough for her to regain his attention. "Are you listening now, Harl?"

  He opened his mouth, but no words came out. The defiance in his eyes had been replaced by desperation. She had him.

  "If you refuse to answer a single question," Xefaru said. "I will revoke the memory of your son. You will return to as you were, never knowing that your little Jack ever existed. Now, will you tell me what I want to know?"

  Tears streaked Harl's face. She had broken him so easily.

  "I'll tell you anything," Harl said through sobs. "Just don't take him away from me again."

  Xefaru's smile was wicked and satisfied. "Let's begin."

  Texas Accelerated. The first two books are on Kindle Unlimited, and the first book, , is now on Audible! It's turn-your-brain-off fun, and I think a lot of you will dig it.

  Carry On: Letters from the Pacific Theatre,' and it is available on Amazon.

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