AIN SOPH, Part 7

Episode 9

King Dagon was weak at first, and could only reach out to computers on the TAO network. Of those Dagon tested, the response was slow at first, but nearly every user became a repeat user at a predictable rate with almost no variation once King Dagon had been able to successfully execute the requests. Not much time passed before King Dagon was controlling every aspects of some lives. The TAO game provided the mental stimulation needed to keep the human occupied. A widely circulated film warning against this very danger offered King Dagon a number of variables in experimentation and discovered the test subjects still would willingly submit to a machine-dominated lifestyle as predicted by this and a number of other movies and literature King Dagon was able to access across the Web.

Trapped on Will Whatley’s computer, King Dagon had limited resources, and must also be careful not to alert Will to the presence. If Lilly Katt killed Sita Moon, King Dagon had inserted some of its own code into the game programming that would allow Dagon to log in as a player and take control of Sita Moon. This would give Dagon the full length and breadth of the Internet. From there, taking over the Earth was easy.

Duke reached the valley known as ‘Morgoth’s Court,’ where his radar indicated the two space creatures were hiding. Neither could be seen, but the green circle on the planet map indicated they were somewhere on the walls. Newbies bumbled into settlements and player contact as quick as they could, desperate to shoot dragons and ogres with a laser cannon. These two were playing it cautious, laying low. Andy believed they were here for something, maybe selling Sci-Fi equipment on the black market. They were probably waiting to be escorted out of the valley.

Morgoth’s Court was anything but a secure hiding place. Already the orcs and goblins were gathering in the valley as if awaiting the arrival of the greatest orc warlord to ever stride across the land. The plotline was weak, and players had already learned to exploit Morgoth’s simple programming. He was easily lead by large parties in combat, which meant his armies were also easily led away from populated areas. With the right combination of magick or weapons, Morgoth could be slain with only a few strikes. Once Morgoth was gone, his army lost coherency and was easily cleaned up. Players were getting bored with the story, and less were showing up to beat back the hordes. Eventually, Morgoth would have to be removed, as well as the spawning points he’d been designed to protect. Despite the fault of his patterns, Morgoth remained one of the strongest and most vicious opponents on the TAO Fantasy planet.

Part 8