HEALTH: 120/120
He looked at Scarlett. "So that means what?"
"It means she's a fucking wizard, dude. She's totally into all this NRG stuff." Scarlett rubbed her hands together. "Let's get you an implant."
A woman drifted up to them with a hazy, cloudy outline like something out of Ghostbusters. "Greetings, travelers. Do you wish to enhance yourselves?"
Scarlett leaned an elbow on Byron. "Sure as shit. Hook him up."
The ghost woman waved a hand at Byron, and text lit up in front of him with his stats. "I see your NRG is low. You require an implant."
"Uh, yeah." Byron nodded. "I guess so."
The ghost woman floated over to a tank where small electronic devices floated in a shimmering blue fluid. She reached in to pull one out. "A thousand years ago, NRG was discovered on a remote world."
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Here we go with the backstory shit."
The ghost woman held the tiny device with a reverence reserved for religious artifacts. "NRG stands for Neurological Regeneration Generator, a form of powerful energy that can enhance the power that lies dormant in all living things. With it, all things are possible."
She held the device out to Byron. "This is a basic NRG kit. It will not take you to the upper echelons, but it will begin your journey."
Scarlett waved her hand in a circle. "Yeah, yeah. We'll take it."
Byron reached out to touch it.
NRG IMPLANT I-4
LEVEL REQUIRED: 1
+5 NRG
COST: 1000
PURCHASE Y/N
He tapped "Y" without hesitation.
The implant jumped out of the ghost woman's hands and right into Byron's skull.
He gasped and jumped back as he felt a burning sensation growing inside his brain. His hands groped at his scalp as if he could claw it out. "What's it doing?"
Scarlett smiled. "Making you more fucking awesome."
The burning faded away, leaving Byron with a light feeling. He looked around and everything seemed a little bit brighter.
His stats popped up again.
MARINE - LEVEL 3
STR: 13 (+1)
DEX: 7
NRG: 1 (+5)
ARMOR: 4
HEALTH: 100/100
CREDITS: 3000
"Okay," he murmured. "Now what?"
The ghost woman floated over to another wall with small colorful boxes. "Now choose your first NRG program. NRG programs allow you to interface with your implant and harness the power."
Scarlett reached out to take one of the boxes. "You don't have much you can do at your level, but this is a good starter program. It'll make a shield."
Byron touched it.
SHIELD LEVEL 1
COOLDOWN: 5 SECS
+5 NRG
COST: 300
PURCHASE Y/N
Byron shrugged. "Okay."
He bought it, and the box melted into his fingers. Glowing blue light flowed up his hand, arm, and into his head.
"So how's it work?"
Chetaara reached out. "Simply concentrate. Feel the NRG and bend it to your will."
Scarlett whispered. "Tap your bracelet twice."
He tapped the bracelet on his wrist and a menu floated in front of him.
NRG CODE: SHIELD 1
"It's just the one code now, but it'll get bigger. Now blink on it to use it."
He obeyed.
A shimmering blue circle popped up on his left forearm, reminding him of a shield like Captain America or a medieval knight. The big difference is this one seemed to be made of energy and transparent. It followed his arm as he moved it, looking exactly like a force field he had seen in movies and TV shows.
Scarlett yanked his pistol out of his holster and fired at the shield. Instead of going through and burning his arm, the laser bolt bounced off the shield to hit the ceiling.
As everyone flinched and looked at him, Scarlett grinned and jammed the pistol back into his holster. "Nice, huh?"
He nodded as he looked down at the glowing shield. He felt a tingling sensation on his arm where it appeared. "Yeah, I can see how that would be useful."
It flickered and vanished.
"Only lasts for a few seconds and has a five-second cooldown before you can use it again, but it'll save your ass. And it's just the beginning.There's thousands of NRG codes you can download."
Chetaara nodded. "Indeed. The path you are walking is one that has been chosen by the gods for thousands of years. I myself have trained in the power of NRG for most of my life and have yet to scratch the surface."
As he rubbed his arm, Byron tilted his head towards her. "Really? Uh, what kind of stuff can you do?"
"I am most trained in three NRG codes. One is a healing program that can repair damage. The other is a telekinesis program that lets me move small objects. The third allows me to throw bolts of lightning." She held up her hands and a spark flashed between the fingers.
He remembered when she had shocked the mercenary general and nodded.
"Nice." He flexed his hands. "Can't wait to do that."
Chetaara wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him closer. Her slitted eyes narrowed. "I would be happy to train you in the arts of NRG as you will teach me the arts of love."
"Uh, I wouldn't say I'm an expert on that--"
Her smile widened, showing her fangs. "Based on our earlier session, I would say you underestimate yourself."
Byron felt his face blushing again, both because of her frankness in front of the others and also because he knew he wasn't an expert in sex. He hadn't had much experience at all, and wondered if the game was just making him seem like a better lover or if it had enhanced him somehow. He didn't want to argue too much about it, but felt like a real fraud.
He cleared his throat. "Okay, I've got weapons and an implant. What's next?"
Scarlett waved a hand to the door. "You gotta get some bitchin' armor. Let's roll."
They headed out of the NRG store to another store that just had a sign for "Armor and Gear." Inside, mannequins held suits of armor ranging from leather to thick sheets of metal.
Chetaara led them over to a mannequin with a light suit of black armor. "I would recommend the Xucci Gold armored suit. It provides adequate protection for its value from bullets and laserfire. It even has a life support system to protect against open space for up to five minutes."
The mannequin changed from a plain white face and body to one that looked like Byron. He thought it looked a lot better than the jumpsuit he wore. In fact, with its black color and glowing red lines, he thought it looked pretty cool.
When he touched the suit, the stats looked like:
XUCCI CHROMITIUM SUIT
ARMOR +10
COST: 1000
PURCHASE Y/N
Chetaara and Scarlett had led him right so far, so Byron bought it. It appeared on his body, feeling a bit heavier than his previous armor but not uncomfortably heavy.
He looked down at Chetaara's bikini-clad body. As much as he looked seeing her half-naked, he didn't think that would work in a battle. "Shouldn't we get you some armor, too?"
She smiled. "I would appreciate it, Master."
She touched the suit, and the mannequin changed to show her. It looked a little different, cut to handle her generous boobs and had a slot in the back for her tail, but it remained pretty much the same.
When the purchase option came up for her, Byron tapped to buy it.
"Okay." He looked down at himself. "I've got a new gun, a new suit, and a magic implant in my head. Now what?"
Scarlett's smile widened. "Now we go get fucking lit, dude."
*
As Byron, Scarlett, and Chetaara walked off, they didn't notice the thin green alien in one corner who watched them.
The alien pulled out a holographic communicator and tapped keys.
The helmet of a Necralia Death Trooper floated in front of the alien. "What's your report?"
"The human,"
the alien whispered. "The one called Byron Jones. He's here."
Chapter 15
BYRON WALKED through the halls of the space station, passing through crowds all headed in different directions. Chetaara walked with her arm in his, looking puzzled at Scarlett who danced and twirled ahead of them while chanting over and over again.
"I'm gonna get drunk as fuck," she said in a sing-song voice. "I'm gonna get drunk as fuck."
They arrived at what looked like a large club with a sign, "The Rings of Saturn." When he pushed open the doors, he found it crowded with aliens. Pushing open the door triggered a flood of music and a view that looked like a cross between the cantina from Star Wars: A New Hope and a disco. While people of all shapes and sizes gathered at a counter where robots served drinks, most of the club seemed to be on the dance floor. Male and female aliens danced and ground on each other to the heavy beat.
Scarlett and Chetaara began dancing to the music. As much as he enjoyed the sight of their boobs bouncing up and down, he felt a sense of panic at the idea they might want him to join in. He'd always been clumsy so dancing was a minor nightmare. The one time he had tried dancing at his senior prom, he ended up stepping on his date's feet until she was the one who begged him to stop.
As he feared, Scarlett took his left hand. "Come on, let's show these dicks how a real man dances."
He winced and tried to hold back. "Uh, I'm actually not much of a dancer."
"Hey, anybody can dance. All you gotta do is move your ass to the music."
"Uh, no, really."
"Fine." She let go and took Chetaara's hand. "We'll show you how it's done, and you get us some drinks. Margarita for both of us."
Chetaara frowned. "What is a margarita?"
"Trust me. You'll love it."
He gratefully headed for the bar while Scarlett and Chetaara began to dance.
Approaching the bar, he noticed more people had the red star indicating they were real players. He wanted to ask if they were trapped in the game, how long they had been playing, and if they knew a way out. However, his last encounter with a player made him shy away from them.
When he reached the bar, he waved over one of the bartending robots. The robot flashed a hologram of a menu into the air with slots for different symbols of drinks, along with prices. It looked like the menu in an old school RPG. He ordered the two margaritas and a beer for himself.
A group of other players at the bar laughed next to him. They all wore suits like medieval armor, and all had red stars that showed they were real people.
One of them with white hair and a white beard looked at Byron, glanced up at his star, and nodded. "Hey, another normal. How long you been under?"
Byron winced. "What?"
"You know, how long you been stuck in Venus Online?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. I don't have a watch."
One of the other players laughed. "Couldn't have been that long if he's not keeping track of the time."
The white-haired man nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't seem to matter at first. But it will. I've been under for one year, two months, and fifteen minutes in real-time. That's like thirty years in here."
Byron looked around the club at all the people with red stars. "Is everyone in Venus Online trapped? Aren't there any of us who can leave?"
The old man chuckled. "Haven't met one yet."
"My robot told me there's a way out, though."
The white-haired man shrugged. "That's what they say, but none of us have been able to find it. I personally think there is no way out. It's just a myth to keep us from freaking out."
One of the others with a tattoo of a spider on his face raised his glass. "I know the way out."
The old man raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, then why are you still here?"
"'Cause it can't be done. You know what I think? I think you have to beat the big boss. Lady Necralia."
All the other players snorted, laughed, and waved their hands.
Byron looked at them. "What?"
The old man picked up his glass. "Nobody beats Lady Necralia."
"Why not?"
He looked at Byron with raised eyebrows. "You must be a newbie if you don't know that. Look, Lady Necralia is a force of nature. She took over most of the Galaxy before anyone even knew her name. She's the highest ranked life form in the entire game, a level five hundred. Nobody has even seen her outside of holograms except for her inner circle, led by her commander, General Deth."
He swallowed his drink in one gulp. "I knew a guy who went after her. Got closer than anyone else, I think. He got all the way into her fortress on their home planet of Necros. He never came out. But about an hour after he set foot inside, Lady Necralia broadcast on all channels footage of my friend being put through the Torment Tower."
Byron felt a chill. "What's the Torment Tower?"
The white-haired player stared at his empty glass like a crystal ball. "A machine invented by General Deth. It's a booth they put you in. It has all sorts of nasty things on it, and it can extract pain in ways you can't imagine. It can put you in a lot of pain like cutting off your fingers one by one or it can just burn individual nerve endings. And you won't die until the Tower decides you die, even if you're begging for it like my friend did. They let him suffer for hours, then days. When they cut his head off, that was like an act of mercy."
The older player slammed the glass down. "And he was the success story. Most people don't even get that close. If the only way out of Venus Online is to beat her, no one will ever leave."
Byron raised his hands. "But how does--"
The old man grabbed the front of his armor, looking at something behind him. "Hey, forget all that unpleasantness. Check that out."
When Byron turned around, he easily caught sight of Scarlett and Chetaara. They were drawing a lot of attention as they danced with each other.
Cheetara had her arms wrapped around Scarlett who ground her metal ass into the cat woman's lap. As they moved, Chetaara ran her hands over Scarlett's swaying breasts.
As he watched, Scarlett turned around, wrapped her arms around Chetaara's neck and kissed her.
The other players at the bar groaned, laughed, and slapped each other's shoulders.
"Wow," Byron whispered.
When the dance ended, the two women ended their kiss and walked to the bar, hand in hand and smiling at each other.
Scarlett giggled. "How's your first lesson, sweetheart?"
Chetaara laughed. "It was quite enjoyable."
Scarlett picked up her margarita before the bartender even set it down on the bar. She tipped the salt-rimmed glass at her. "Wait until you see lesson two."
Cheetara turned to Byron and smiled with narrowed eyes. "And how did you enjoy it, Master?"
He looked away, unable to look her in the eye. "It was awesome."
"Wonderful. My goal is to bring you joy." Chetaara stopped at her margarita. "Mmm, this is very good."
As he looked around the bar, Byron felt a sickening feeling. It seemed completely real, but he felt a sense of distance from it all. It felt like he was watching a movie instead of living his life. He reminded himself his real body still lay in his living room. He still felt strange about his new life. Everything looked strange and unfamiliar.
He looked at Scarlett who gulped down her margarita. "You know, only a few hours ago, I lived a normal life. Now I'm drinking beer in a bar in a space station with robots and aliens
. Of course, it isn't real. In real life, I'm still lying in a giant egg. Is it morning?"
Scarlett lowered her margarita and looked up at something seen. "Uh, no. Not yet. It's been about five minutes in the real world."
Byron shook his head as he drank some of his beer. It felt cool and tasted good, but he reminded himself it was just his imagination. "I don't know if I can do this. I mean, just live in this virtual world. Pretend this is real. I want to get out."
She reached out to rub his shoulder. "I know, baby. I promise, we'll get you out. But l
ike I said, this is pretty cool shit, huh? Just enjoy it while it lasts."
"But why is the game like this? Why would anyone make a game that kills people? Or a game you can't leave?"
She shrugged. "I dunno. I gotta say, you're not like other players. Most of the gamers just fuck and blow shit up. You ask a lot of questions. Maybe you'll be the one to find out the answers."
"I wish I could at least send a message to Molly to let her know what happened."
Venus Online (Volume 1): LitRPG Sci-Fi Harem Page 11