Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds Read Free Page B

settlements until players created them, but the building blocks for those were often the few safe areas.
    Another page… about a new faction forming in support of the Ironblood empire. Players choosing instead to support his claim to sovereignty.
    Weird.
    Toby glanced aside at Mr. Stevens. If this was all the afternoon and evening were to hold, he might as well go home.
    Then again he wasn’t exactly a salary employee. He’d stick it out, head home, and then try to log in again.
    The bell on the front door rang.
    Toby leaned in his chair a bit. He couldn’t see the front room from his station. Mr. Stevens was already standing up. He grumbled something about caffeine as he wandered out to the counter.
    There were muffled voices. Probably just a new order.
    The official Proving Ground forums were still down, but there were other places to look. Social media. More fan sites. Video game news outlets. There was some chatter, but most of it was second hand. Confused reports. A lot of people upset about the rules set in place, even if they were temporary.
    He sent a text to Mitchel with his name and asked what was going on with the early access event.
    His phone beeped almost immediately.
     
    Mitchel: wait, what? really?
     
    “What? Why?” Mr. Steven’s voice grew louder than the rest of the conversation out front.
    Toby leaned toward the door again. What was going on out there?
    Mr. Stevens sighed. “Toby, could you come out here?”
    Ugh. Special order. He hopped up and wandered for the door to the front room. He hated special orders. Recalibrate all the damned machines, hopefully they had enough ink or he’d have to run and get more and…
    There were only two people out front with Mr. Stevens. A pretty young woman with unnaturally red hair and a police officer in full uniform.
    Toby stepped up beside Mr. Stevens. “So… you guys need a banner or something? I wanna guess bowling team.”
    The side of the young woman’s mouth turned up slightly, but the officer was having none of it. “Tobias Morant?”
    Toby nodded. “Uh-huh?”
    “I’m going to have to ask you to come with us.”
    “Uhhh…” Well that was going to throw a wrench into his plans for the evening. And the foreseeable future. “Why?”
    Mr. Stevens turned his eyes away from the officer. “He says you saw a mugging last night. I tried to tell him you were here most of the night, but he insists it was you. Something about security camera footage.”
    “Uh-huh.” Toby raised an eyebrow at the cop. He had gone straight home and been bashing his head against the Proving Grounds installer until he finally gave up at 2 a.m. and got a few hours sleep before bashing his head against it again.
    Of course, since he was the only one present it would be hard to prove that.
    The young woman laid a badge on the counter.
    It said her name was Claire Miles, and she worked at Brave New World Entertainment. “My name is Claire, Mr. Tobin . We’ve got samples from the scene, and we’re testing the iron in his blood , but we need your help.” Her eyes turned to the cop. “For a proper identification.”
    “Uh-huh.” There was no way in hell she had randomly emphasized those words, or called him “Tobin” instead of Toby or Tobias.
    She knew.
    But what did that mean? And why was she being so cagey about it?
    Mr. Stevens balked. “I watch a lot of cop shows. I’ve never heard of testing blood’s iron content. What’s the point of that?”
    Toby nodded to Claire. “No, it’s okay. I’ll go.” He gave a cop a nod as well. “Gotta do my civic duty.”
    The cop turned back to Mr. Stevens. “He may be under protective custody for a few days. I trust you can manage?”
    Mr. Stevens rolled his eyes. “I could close and be fine for a few days.” He patted Toby on the shoulder. “If there’s any trouble, you call me. I’ll be there with bells on.”
    “There shouldn’t be any trouble. He’s just a witness.”
    “Wait till he says something stupid.