Tales of the Admins

[Garrett Jax]

"Karlotta?" repeated Garrett Jax. By instinct, he started looking for the red Permaban button. How could she be on the Temple of the Damned?

Freeroamer was visibly shaking. "Yes, she's in charge of things now." The old man was leaning heavily on his cane, trying to steady himself. "I help her run what's left of this server."

"What do you mean, what's left of the server?" asked Garrett, angrily. He looked around at the dilapidated conditions--the filthy grime, the darkened corridors and above all else, the horrible smell of decay. This was unacceptable. "There is nothing left. It's wasted away to nothing."

"I know it looks bad, Garrett." Freeroamer looked ashamed. "Things haven't turned out so well since the Admins left all those years ago."

Garrett longed for answers. "Tell me what happened," he asked.

Freeroamer looked around the room quickly. After satisfying himself that they were alone, he spoke. "She might be sleeping, now. She sleeps a lot." He grabbed Garrett's arm with his free hand. "Come, I know a place where you will be safe, a place she never goes. We can talk on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere, Freeroamer," said Garrett. "I'm not afraid of Karlotta, and you shouldn't be either. We're Admins. We don't fear anyone."

The old man looked horrified at Garrett's words. "Things have changed since you were here last. Please, come with me and I'll explain."

Reluctantly, Garrett allowed Freeroamer to lead him down the dimly lit corridor to the place he intended on taking him. Things had obviously changed. Why was it so dark around here? He could feel a small knot forming in his stomach, as he observed the once proud Temple reduced to a garbage dump.

Freeroamer shuffled his feet slowly. "Well, where do I start?" he said. "It all began when Karlotta discovered a way onto the Temple. I can't remember all the details, but she told me she created a bunch of 'alts' of herself and hid them all at a Taco Bell. An Admin stopped by to visit and she hopped aboard his vessel when he wasn't looking. He took her straight to the Temple."

"That's a bunch of crap," yelled Garrett. He was the Admin that visited the April Fools Taco Bell. His old Phantom vessel, the Shadow, was way too small to fit a stowaway without him noticing. "I would've seen her if she boarded my ship."

"I don't know, Garrett," replied Freeroamer. "She's awfully small. She can hide very well. Anyways, when she arrived at the Temple, she was determined to discover a way to get rid of all the Admins in one fell swoop. She spent days observing your living patterns and routines."

"And nobody saw her?" Garrett asked, unconvinced. "How could she survive without food or water, if she was hiding on the Temple for days. This place, well...this place used to be kept immaculately clean. Food and water were not kept lying around."

Freeroamer didn't hesitate. "Well, she can survive for days without food and water. Nevertheless, she said there were plenty of puddles of Zoner tears in abandoned parts of the Temple. She said they tasted like her favorite drink, sugar water."

The Zoner tears! Oh no, thought Garrett. It was entirely possible that there could be some traces left of the Zoner tear incident some time ago. A person could survive for days on nothing but Zoner tears. The bile from Garrett's stomach was beginning to reach the back of his mouth.

Freeroamer continued with his story. "After several days, she finally discovered a way to rid the Temple of all Admins."

"How could she possibly accomplish that?" Garrett interrupted.

This was ludicrous. There was absolutely no way that the Admins would leave their post. They were some of the most responsible, hardworking people he had ever met. They were dedicated and focused, always giving of themselves for the sake of others. There was nothing that would cause an Admin, let alone the entire staff, to abandon their jobs.

"She ruined all the coffee."

Garrett paused for a second, then said, "Yep, that would do it."

His stomach was turning over and over inside him. He felt ill at the thought. Was he indeed responsible for all this?

Freeroamer continued walking carefully down the corridor. His head was on a swivel as he kept a keen eye out for any signs of Karlotta. He led Garrett down several flights of stairs toward the maintenance section of the Temple. After stopping to catch his breath, he continued his story.

"Well, after the old Admins were dispatched, Karlotta appointed new ones to take their place. People that would run things as she envisioned them. Unfortunately, conditions quickly deteriorated after that."

Garrett was not surprised. "What happened?" he asked.

"She got rid of the new Admins soon thereafter," said Freeroamer. "She suspected them of conspiring against her. And the same with the next batch and the next batch. Everyone was conspiring against her."

Garrett smirked. "That sounds like Karlotta."

"It gets worse," said Freeroamer. Within a couple weeks, every decent player left the community. All that were left were the trolls. So, in order to boost the numbers, Karlotta offered amnesty to every single cheater and hacker that was previously banned."

Garrett gasped. "Cheaters, hackers and trolls, oh my. That must have been a fun time."

Freeroamer didn't look amused. "No, not really," he said. "After the cheaters all came back, they started trolling the trolls and everybody started cheating for a while until they all finally got bored and left."

They stopped in front of the large sliding maintenance bay door with a regular door standing next to it. Garrett remembered this as being a place where repairs were handled and also storage for some of the Admin's pet projects. It smelled even worse down here. Garrett squinted his eyes to try and see what might be the source of the awful smell, but the dimly lit halls offered nothing. Finally, he turned to the old man.

"Why is it so blasted dark around here?" asked Garrett. "Can't we turn on the lights? I can barely see anything."

Freeroamer shook his head. "Karlotta doesn't like the light," he said. "She insists on keeping as little light on as possible. I'm actually used to it now."

Garrett shrugged. He waited on Freeroamer as the old man punched some numbers on a security keypad. Soon, a *click* was heard and the door opened up to an abandoned storage closet.

Garrett followed Freeroamer in. "You said Karlotta doesn't go down here?" asked Garrett. "Why not?"

Freeroamer chuckled. "She thinks it's haunted," he said. "Don't worry. It's completely safe. Mind the tractor though."

"A tractor?" asked Garrett. He could see a big wheeled, motorized farming tractor sitting at the back end of the maintenance storage bay. His thoughts immediately went back to Jansen, the angry farmer. He loved tractors. This must have been one of Jansen's pet projects way back during his time at the Temple.

Once they entered, Freeroamer turned to Garrett. He no longer appeared nervous. In fact, he almost looked confident.

"I'm going to check on things for a moment, Garrett," he said. "Maybe I can figure a way to get you back to your time too. Wait here, I won't be long."

Garrett wasn't happy about being stuck in a dark storage unit hiding from Karlotta, of all people. But, as Freeroamer mentioned, times had changed. Better to be safe and do as instructed for the time being. He nodded to the old man and watched him leave. The *click* as the door shut told him he was locked in.

As Garrett's eyes adjusted to the nearly blacked out room, he fumbled around for a light switch, hoping to find one. He stumbled over some boxes and cursed loudly.

Suddenly, he got the feeling that he wasn't alone. Something within the storage unit had 'awakened'. Garrett carefully backed away toward the door. A presence could be felt, something intelligent was studying him...watching. Garrett looked for something to use as a weapon, however the room was too dark and he was not about to explore further in. No wonder Karlotta never entered this room, he thought. Maybe it was haunted after all.

Suddenly a noise was heard from the back of the storage bay. It sounded like a soft rumble. Garrett leaned forward to try to make out what the noise was. It sounded almost like a...purr.

"Who's there?" Garrett demanded.

The purring stopped. In its place, was a familiar voice. "Freeroamer called you Garrett," said the voice. "I knew a Garrett once. Garrett Jax was his name."

"I am Garrett Jax," Garrett replied. "Who are you?"

"Jax!" the voice shouted. "It's me, Jansen."

Garrett squinted through the darkness. "Jansen?" he said. "How did you get here? I can't see you."

"Oh, my apologies," said Jansen. "Here, I'll turn on my light."

Instantly, the headlight from the tractor lit up, brightening the whole storage bay. Garrett covered his eyes, momentarily blinded by the sudden appearance of light. After several seconds, his eyes adjusted and he could see everything in the room clearly, including the most technologically advanced tractor he had ever seen. However, there was no sign of Jansen.

"Jansen," called Garrett. "I can't see you."

"I'm right here," said Jansen. His voice came from the tractor.

Garrett approached the farming machine looking to see if Jansen was inside it somehow. "I can't see how you got yourself inside the tractor."

Jansen laughed. "Garrett, I am the tractor."

End of Part Two

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