Wolf's Tail: A LEO Journey

Chapter.20-Of Smoke and Wolves

"Uhmm, good morning?" My mind races as I try to figure out what to do. If I am not mistaken, this is the-

"Good morning. I am the entity known as the creator." The Overseer cuts my thoughts off. Its voice is neither male nor female. Instead, it is a reverberating sound that seems to pierce through my brain like a harpoon.

At least I have a backup strategy. If I remember correctly, after the game was released, the developers took an interview to talk about the most disastrous things that happened/could've happened. A bunch of the things mentioned were technical issues, but they say that it would've been way worst if they left the cheat codes in. The codes aren't anything too major, but they were extremely helpful. The devs said that they were one time use per character, and that the codes were there to make up for the lack of a party when testing the game. The only mentioned a few, but the one I remember the best is the code nicknamed:Corrode. Basically, this cheat got rid of all resistances, defenses, and immunities the target has for one minute. Maybe I can use this to save my bacon? Since the target is The Overseer, it might not even work.

"I'm sorry Mr. Overseer, but I'm confused on what I did wrong. Why should I be exterminated?" Maybe I can resolve this peacefully. I might be able to save my Corrode for later, if I can even use it. If I can use it, I might be able to stall long enough to... to what? To run? Impossible, The Overseer can be anywhere he wants at anytime. To kill him? Also, Impossible. Since he is The Overseer, he is immune to any damage that I could do, even with Corrode.

The armored creature backs away a few steps as its voice resounds through my noggin, "Hmm. You aren't acting like the others usually do. Are you like the deities? If so, what is your call sign? I don't think the masters registered a new higher template?"

"Call sign?" This is the first time I have ever heard of this. Wait, that isn't true. My memory stirs with the memory of the developers saying in an interview that all bosses, trainers, class givers, creators, VIP quest givers, and deities have a call sign. These groups collectively make up the VINPC's(Very Important Non-Player Character). The call sign is to differentiate between a normal NPC and a VINPC. The call signs would also have an effect on their creature. The devs had joked on the interview that a steam deity had the call sign 'Of Fire and Water'.

Template? Now that I think about it, this does wring a bell. During the beta test of the game, the A.I. Protection Agency tried to shut down the game since the A.I. were advanced enough to basically be synthetic life-forms. The A.I. Protection Agency attacked them on the grounds that they were murdering sentient A.I. The developers had made it so each A.I. though that it was real and didn't know it was in a video game. This was to add realism to the game. If the A.I. thought it would actually die, it would show better emotions than an A.I. who thought death was no consequence. To solve the issues brought up, the developers made it so each A.I. was instead a 'template'. The way they explained these templates is that they were like the souls of the creature. Once the NPC died, their template would go through a cleansing phase. This would clean their memories and set them back up to become a creature in the game. This satisfied the judges in court and threw the A.I. Protection Agency's case out the window. It also had the added effect of LEO being praised because it made the game even more realistic than it already was.

The mist moves closer to me a fraction, "I guess the masters would've wiped your memory. What is the first thing that you think of when you hear the word username?"

Crimzzzon Sniper. "I think 'Of Smoke and Wolves'." Hopefully that will satisfy him into not murdering me. It is also close to the steam deity's call sign, so hopefully it will pass for a real one. Crimzzzon Sniper was technically my first thought, but it sounds too much like a player name. I don't want The Overseer to get suspicious.