The Lost Vampire System Chapter 22 - A Watchful Eye
"Where exactly are you—," Jareth paused mid-sentence as he walked outside of the landing zone.
What laid out in front of the Half-ling was a city like no other. Jareth froze at the edge of the landing zone, his breath catching despite knowing this was only a simulation. Before him stretched a city that defied imagination, a shimmering metropolis hovering between dreams and code. Towers rose like polished shards of crystal and chrome, their tops vanishing into a sky pulsing with data streams and holographic auroras. The streets below glowed with patterns of motion, vehicles that floated inches above the ground, avatars flickering between appearances, neon symbols drifting through the air as if the world itself were alive. Every surface hummed with purpose, digital vines crawling up concrete, advertisements whispering on unseen currents, distant music syncing with the rhythmic pulse of the city. It was grandeur perfected by calculation, the kind of place designed not by human hands but by algorithms chasing beauty to infinity.
"Whoa!" Jareth finished.
"You really haven't been here before?" Madison asked.
"No," Jareth answered, not really paying attention to Madison. "It's amazing."
"The mid-year and end of the year tournament will be in the game," Madison said.
"In here?" Jareth asked. "I thought it was at the military base 1 arena?"
"Not anymore," Madison corrected Jareth. "I mean we will still go there but the tournament will take place in the game. So, everybody can see it and so that the competitors can go all out. You know, kill their opponent."
"I guess that works," Jareth replied.
"Follow me," Madison said as she turned around, her gothic dress spinning with her.
"You're not weak in the sun here," Apollo noted.
"Jareth processed what Apollo said and smiled.
"I guess this is one place I can like," Jareth thought to Apollo.
Jareth followed Madison into the city streets. They walked past groups of people dressed in all sorts of clothes, each person looking different in their own way. It was as if everyone who had ever lived throughout the human race was in the game, with all cultures and different time periods living alongside each other. The two went down several flights of stairs and escalators into the underworld of the city. Just like in the real world, the lower you went in a city, the darker it got, and, based on how the people dressed, the more dangerous it seemed.
"Um," Jareth started to say, "why does this look like an underworld."
"Because it is," Madison asked as she turned her head to face Jareth, her purple hair swinging around. "Unless you sign up for an official fight tournament or go into a random fight at the arena, if you die anywhere else, everything that you have collected will be dropped on the floor for anyone to pick up. So, groups have formed to try and exploit that mechanic. There are in game artifacts that the rich will pay to use. Money in this place has the same value as the real world. It can be transferred in and out of the game. Some people's entire livelihoods are in here, where they make money to pay the bills. It does come with risks, like I said, if you die, everything is lost unless you have a vault. I was able to get an artifact that I sold to somebody who was very wealthy, enough money to buy a vault to put my things in. When you die, the things that are in your vault stay there. You can only transfer money out of the game every first of the month, something about taxes. The person that I sold the artifact to found out about…you already guessed it at dinner. She doesn't know the full truth and I'd like to keep it that way. My vault is down below, at least one of them. I have a smaller one elsewhere."
"I can die?" Jareth asked with worry in his face.
"It's a game," both Madison and Apollo told Jareth, though Madison didn't hear him.
"It is forbidden for anyone to look or hear inside your vault without the owner's permission, even the game creator. The game creator has signed many contracts with multiple governments not to exploit the game. She has huge benefits but is forbidden from doing certain things. You could say she is on a government watchlist."
"She?"
"The game creator is a girl," Madison answered. "Nobody knows her age or what family she comes from. The only thing we know is the gender. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, that could be a lie as well."
"You sold the artifact to the game creator, didn't you?" a wide-eyed Jareth asked.
Madison grabbed Jareth's hand and pulled him along.
"Try not to ask anymore questions CrimsonDawn," Get to the vault before she realizes that I am online."
Madison continued to pull Jareth until they got onto an elevator. They went down two floors. The doors opened to a row of vaults on both sides of the hallway. The hallway was a dark red color, and there were around twenty‑five vaults on each side with a single one at the far end. At the entrance of each of the massive circular vault doors was a small blue energy field surrounding each of the entrances.
"Those are so nobody can actually sneak‑attack you while you are opening, inside, and leaving your vault. Mine is at the back."
She tapped her head and a screen opened up in front of her. It looked like a clothes tab. She swiped her hand to the left. The screen spun with her hand until she eventually grabbed something. It materialized in her hand as a tank top, a pair of white jeans, and boots. She threw it on and her dress morphed into what she had selected.
"Whoa," Jareth said, taking a single step back.
Madison grabbed her gothic dress, which was now a holographic cube, placed it into her inventory, and swiped down, closing the screen. She turned to face Jareth.
"Even though your Evolved powers are copied into the game, it is very possible to beat the powerful ones if you have the right gear," Madison said as her boots glowed and she teleported to the other end of the hallway. She began to turn the dial on her vault. "I don't have all day," she yelled as she placed her hand on a scanner to her left while typing in a code on her right.
Jareth ran down the hallway at his vampire half‑ling speed, reaching the other end very quickly just as the vault door opened to its right.
"I, demonicMadison1, give you, CrimsonDawn, permission to enter my vault once," Madison stated.
The energy border went green. Jareth followed Madison into her vault as the door closed behind them.
Somewhere outside of NYXIS there was a room with a bed and a desk. Usually, one would think that the room was ordinary, except for the fact that there was a gaming box within the room. Unlike one of the consoles you probably have, the gaming boxes are too expensive for the majority of the public to own. If someone in the general public wanted to play, they would rent one for twenty dollars an hour. The military pays ten dollars. The fact that there was one in the room showed that the person had some money.
The room was dark, but not too dark for the one sitting at the desk. She was staring at her computer screen as multiple pages were being opened and closed at a speed that would make the best hacker regret breathing the same air as this individual. She was wearing a mask that was connected to the computer, and even though there were goggles on her face, one could tell that they were glowing green.
She was doing what she was normally doing when the screen stopped on one page. On this page it said one sentence. "The player, demonicMadison1 is online."
She chuckled as she read the message.
"Finally, it's been a moment."
She twitched the finger that was touching nothing, and another screen popped up. The screen was showing the vault hallway where Madison's vault was. She watched as the two got into the vault and the door closed, but before that, the screen went into scan mode and scanned the last individual. The information was displayed across the screen about this individual: an avatar with orange hair and an orange, dark teal suit. Above it displayed the name CrimsonDawn.
"CrimsonDawn," the individual said. "Account created twelve minutes ago. Nobody can have two accounts except for me. This is someone new. Well, finding information on two people is better than one. I'll find out what you are. It's very convenient on your account creation, one day after the military collects the new first‑year students. I can narrow your age down to fifteen. I hope you won't be turning sixteen. Maybe I can just look for people fifteen and sixteen years old. I hope you fight so I can see your Evolved powers. No government contract will stop me from snooping."
From under the mask, she had a huge smile on her face.
*****
If you wish to read ahead please join my Patreon for the up to date version of my book. It is DraxberFaber. Join my discord on my website DraxberFaber.com to join the community.
If you haven't already please become a free member of my Patreon account to get daily updates and the most up to date chapters on my works. I now have my books as an audio on my Patreon. Please visit my website DraxberFaber.com for Daily updates, news, and all the information about each one of my works. Don't forget to follow my socials @DraxberFaber for updates. Follow my YouTube channel for tips and writing advice. Thank you for your support.
Socials: @DraxberFaber
Website: DraxberFaber.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/DraxberFaber
Discord: https://discord.gg/HgfKxD32Qe (doesn't work? check my later chapters for a new code)
© Alexander B Faber AKA Draxber Faber 2025. All rights reserved.