by Kris Schnee
A double-bolt of energy zapped the ground near it. Good; they needed time to recharge. I hopped out from cover and fired a Mage Dart at the nearest bot, but missed. Cursing, I ducked back and fired again, this time catching my target. One down! The other drone hummed and was obviously charged again. I waved a hand out from cover to draw its fire, but it didn't take the bait. The blue gem I'd tossed glowed nearby. I needed that and one more. I pictured myself running to grab it and getting blasted. Bad idea. So, I prepped a Mage Dart with a quick gesture, activated Shield, and deliberately hopped into the drone's path.
This time it fired, and I angled my wand to block perfectly. The blast fizzled against my dome of energy. I transitioned into a casting of Mage Dart and counterattacked, knocking the robot out of the air. Done!
Quickly I scooped up the thrown gem and the two newly earned ones. I now had seven. Back to the door, where I found that I couldn't just click the gems into place; there was a problem. Every time I put a gem into the two-by-three grid, the ones next to it shut off, losing their light. Maybe I'd misaligned them in their slots? As soon as I touched a dark gem it lit up... and the one next to that turned off.
"Insight," I said.
[Insight 4 hint: Touching a light gem will also turn it off.]
I thought, That's all the help I get for 4 Insight? Why would I want to do that? Oh. It's one of those puzzles. I'd seen something like it long ago. I experimented and found that I could play with the light pattern by toggling the six gems, making patterns flash across the grid. In a few moves I was able to turn all of the gems off by mistake. A minute of fiddling later and I had them all on at once. An unnecessary happy tune played as the door to the staircase rumbled open. I proceeded cautiously up the steps to the upper doorway.
[Floor 6]. It looked like this level was a repeat of 5's maze of ice and mirrors. I had an advantage going in due to the spare gem and a good tactic of using the mist spell. Carefully I maneuvered through the frosty halls, taking down drones from behind cover, one at a time whenever I could. Twice I had to fire off a Shield spell without warning to block shots, which is where that prepared-spell trick came in handy.
The new wrinkle was that the mechanical rats were back. They had as much trouble moving around on the frozen floors as I did. Though I was at Level 2 and they now seemed less dangerous than before, I still had to pay attention. I took several minor wounds and was in serious danger of taking a major hit, or getting distracted at the wrong moment and being zapped by drones.
"Fetch!" I called out at a stressful moment. I hurled the mass of broken wires from the rat nest, off to one side. The pair of rats that'd been chasing me slipped in that direction, banged into glass, and skated away to go chase the shiny wires. That left me free to continue trading shots with the trio of drones that had me pinned down, until I could finally land a solid hit. One of the drones crashed, and I escaped to a convenient spot to snipe the others.
[Style Rating: B.]
I said, "Bah, that should've been an A."
It took me a few minutes to catch my breath and cautiously gather up the crystals. As I suspected, this little army had been guarding a treasure box. I inserted a gem into an indentation, then held up my glowing wand while looking down into the box that clicked open before me. It took me a moment to recognize the flat object glittering in the chest. "A solar cell!" I pulled it out and unfolded it into a meter-square panel with a standard plug and a little battery.
Back home we had some limited, unreliable electricity. There were ongoing efforts to salvage things from the abandoned towns around ours, like old car batteries and portable generators, but they were often in bad condition. Tools and spare parts weren't easy to come by either. A solar panel like this could slowly charge an old laptop or something, so it was a nice find. I folded it back up into a compact block, stuffed it in my backpack, and moved on.
The final door was a challenge, because something nearby was spawning or summoning more of the rats while I tried to solve its 3x3 gem puzzle. I had to keep kicking them aside, wondering if they were the same "dead" rats being revived when I wasn't looking. I growled in frustration as one of the critters made me mash the puzzle by mistake and mess up my near-complete solution. "Give me a break!" They wouldn't, though, and I had to split my attention. "Insight?"
[Next move: Upper-left.]
I clicked that one, and the last moves I had to make became obvious. The door slid open and I hurried up the stairs just in time to dodge yet another rat. It didn't follow me but I blasted it for good measure.
As I reached the top of the stairs, I saw: [You've made it to Floor 7! You are now a Level 3 Mage, gaining a third point each of Magic and Insight. Or do you want to gain a level in a second class instead?]
"Why would I do that?"
[To get points in other stats. You may be more comfortable doing Melee.]
Tough call. I needed to get to the top, and I had some experience now in this silly magic system, so it was probably best to specialize. "Stick with Wizard. Mage, whatever."
My HUD reported:
[Sven, Level 3 Mage
Melee 0
Defense 0+1 (Hat, Robe)
Magic 3+2 (Wand)
Insight 3+2 (Book)
Stealth 0
Perception 0]
There was a second door at the top of the dark stairwell. I'd now faced a plain concrete maze, an open garden with ponds, and an icy mirror-maze. What next? I opened the top door and peeked out into... what looked like a toy store.
Every surface of this well-lit area was covered in shag carpet or gymnasium padding. Pillows and beanbag chairs were everywhere. "Suspiciously safe," I said. There was even elevator music playing. I began exploring the halls, none of which had a sharp right angle. My first sign of trouble was just rustling in the distance.
I put up mist and kept my light off; there were soft lights along the ceiling. The approaching foe was... an onion-shaped plush creature the size of one of the beanbag chairs, bouncing along with a springy noise and turning its sewed-on eyes and smile toward me. It didn't seem to see me through the fog-cloud, and it was slow. I could deal with that.
Creeping along, I avoided two more of the noisy plushes. Their patrol routes were simple, easy to avoid. Since these critters were so similar to the chairs, I twice mistook one for the other, making my heart skip a beat.
Just as I was getting used to the new enemies, the skeletons returned. Two of them spotted me and clubbed me while I was turning a corner, knocking me to the carpeted floor. "Shield!" I said, firing off my prepared spell. The blows rained down but the little force barrier fended them off with ease. They kept trying, though, and I couldn't get a moment's reprieve to stand up and counterattack.
Then one of the grinning beanbags came over to play, and cut off my easiest escape route. I was now in a hall with the two skeletons beating on my shield and the path behind me blocked.
I took a moment to point at the smiley thing, behind me, and say, "Insight! Can I touch that safely?"
[Plush Slime: Looks like all it does is get in the way.] As I fended off a rain of blows, the AI teased, [Would you like more information?]
Ignoring that, I scrambled right over the "slime" to get behind it. Its flesh squished like cotton under my hands as I vaulted its rotund body. A hit from the skeletons' clubs gave me a minor wound, my second. I needed a pause to recover. The real enemies lurched toward me but didn't seem able to get over the critter, which hopped along and drove them awkwardly back on my behalf.
I fired off a Mage Dart to wound one of the enemies, then ducked back toward the floor's entryway. I kept looking around suspiciously, storing a spare attack spell. There was another skeleton on mindless patrol not far off, and this one was alone. Easy prey. I waited for it to turn its back, fired, then called out to activate my second blast. The double hit stunned the foe and spun it around, then dropped it with a padded thud on the carpet. Nice. Before doing anything else I re-prepared Mage Dart, then activated Shield
so that I'd have it up by default.
* * *
We were in the outskirts of Philadelphia, during the collapse. I'd only fired two bullets at the wolves, but I was jumpy now. The first thing I did was drop out the magazine and reload so I'd have a full supply.
Beside me, Carla was incredulous, looking at the dead wolf that the fleeing pack had left behind. "Wolves hardly ever attack humans! What was that about?"
"The AIs probably put them up to this somehow," I said. I crouched to examine the beast. There was shiny wiring visible through the wounds. "They're controlling wild animals, now?"
"Oh God, it's like they've co-opted nature itself. What if they send bears after us next?" She turned to me, nervously fingering the shoulder strap of her rifle. "Sven, what if we accept Sol's offer after all?"
"We humans beat wild critters back a long time ago. If they want to scare us by using them again, that's a mistake." I pointed toward the distant camp where the Army was trying to get the survivors organized and fed. "Come on; we need to report this. Everybody's counting on us."
* * *
I shook myself out of the memories. There were monsters to fight.
I moved cautiously through the faux toy store. The slimes were still bouncing around but they weren't necessarily harmful. I murmured, "More information, you said?"
[The five-minute cooldown on Insight isn't expired. Also, you need more Insight.]
So that was just a tease. I grunted and looked for trouble. Several of the slimes were taking an interest in me, which was still unnerving. I hopped over one of them and literally stumbled into the floor's treasure chest. No lock, but I was going to get boxed in by the weird critters if I stopped for long. I led them on a chase to another part of the floor, did battle with another skeleton along the way, and hurried back to see what the loot was this time.
Just two wrapped presents, each in cheerful paper referencing a cartoon I vaguely recalled from decades ago, before the war. I would've opened my presents immediately, but the slimes were closing in. Instead I stuffed the boxes into my backpack and jogged away.
The level's upward stairs were easy to find, but were well guarded by four skeletons and a pair of hovering drones. I wasn't going to be able to sneak past them. Hmm. I could probably pull the attention of the nearest few, but they might all chase me then, and my odds wouldn't be good.
There was probably a trick here. Before, I'd managed to distract some rats, so purely beating on my enemies wasn't always the only option. I found a spot where the slimes didn't seem to be a threat -- that is, where there was no danger of them getting in my way -- and paused to open my backpack and see what I'd won.
The first package was a jar of shiny coins, on second glance the chocolate kind covered in gold foil. The other was a boxy thing that turned out to be --
A fanfare played and lights shined down on me for a moment. [You've also won a copy of our home game!]
Indeed, it was "Tower of Sol: The Board Game". On the cover, a racially diverse group seemed to be enjoying themselves with dice and cards. On second glance, one of the players was a robot dragon. I scoffed and set the box down. I had an idea, though. I took out one of the chocolate coins and tossed it near one of the roving slimes.
The critter bounced over to it and hopped up and down excitedly, making chewing noises. When it moved on, the coin was gone. That suggested there was a specific rule designed for something like what I'd done. Okay, then... I weighed the jar of coins in one hand and glanced toward the guarded door.
With the coins I lured several of the slimes to get closer; they tended to follow me anyway. I threw several more into the intersection where the floor's guards were waiting. Sure enough, the plush critters bounced toward the door, forming a convenient barricade that'd last a few seconds. I took that moment to hop out from cover and finish casting a Mage Dart spell, then fire off a prepared one. The second bolt connected, downing one of the hover-drones.
The remaining enemies moved as one to chase me. With the slimes in the way, though, the skeletons couldn't get to me. I dodged a sizzling blast from the other drone that actually left a char mark on the wall beside me, at least as seen through my goggles. I had just long enough to prepare Shield on a hunch, start casting Mage Dart, and hop out from cover again before the second drone flew into attack range. We traded shots; my attempt to dodge failed but the Shield saved me.
I didn't have much time before the slimes moved on from eating my chocolate and freed the penned-in robot undead. (This was not a problem I had ever expected to have.) I had to fight cautiously, though. I kept behind cover as much as possible and fired off shots at the drone, then belatedly remembered Obscuring Mist. I put that up instead of my next spell, feinted, saw no incoming fire, then moved out.
The drone fired at where I'd just been. Good enough; I was able to pump two darts at the thing and finally knock it out. Just in time for the skeletons to start escaping. They wandered clumsily in the fog, but not for long. By the time I'd taken down just one of the four, two more had emerged and sighted me.
I fell back and started a hit-and-run battle, firing off spells and repositioning my mist whenever I could. The slimes tried to trip me up, showing me that sewn-on grin the whole time. I used them for distractions whenever I could, sacrificing some of my coins along the way. Since the bots had only their clubs I had a strong advantage, and took them down one by one in a fight across the maze.
[Style Rating: A], announced my HUD. I'd earned that "A".
Finally I was alone again, looking around for more than the living beanbags to threaten me. Cautiously I approached the door again, spotted a security camera I'd missed, dodged past that, and opened the door to Floor 8.
Sitting on the dark staircase was a bottle. I activated Starlight and saw glittering red stuff inside with a tag: [Healing potion. Removes one major wound. Not real medicine, although it is full of vitamins.]
I had two major wounds out of three right now and as usual, the minor ones I'd gotten had faded away. I hefted the bottle skeptically, then drank. The nasty stuff tasted like beet juice and chalk. "Ugh, enough."
[Only drinking the whole bottle gives you the healing effect], I saw.
Without comment I chugged the rest. Some kind of joke by the AI. I headed up again, prepared Mage Dart, readied Shield, and opened the upper door to take on the tower's final floor.
I was ready for a second round of plush land with some new hazard, but the single big room ahead was a surprise. I had come up at one corner of a hexagon, and the whole place had a gym-mat floor like the 7th, but the walls were nothing but video screens, tuned to static.
In the center was just a blur of light. It spoke in a distorted mechanical voice, vaguely feminine. Sol was once again directly involved. "Turn around and leave, traveler. You've already gathered prizes that will help your people."
"I'm not here for your gifts, Sol. I'm here to make you stop harassing us."
"I've been watching your progress and your moves. There's a 64.5% probability that you'll take more wounds and fall before me, then lose your winnings."
I laughed at the apparition and brandished my wand. "Not even an AI can calculate something like that so precisely. Show yourself."
The blur resolved, so that standing before me was a robot in shiny brass armor, like a knight. Two golden lights gleamed in the slit of its helmet visor. For a weapon it wielded a huge mace, presumably padded to not crush puny humans' bones. I wasn't eager to test that theory.
Sol, or whatever mind was controlling the machine, said, "Then you might wish to put down your backpack. You may have the first move. En garde!"
I looked around the wide open battlefield. No cover, no traps or other foes, just me and the bot. I nodded and put my backpack at the top of the staircase. I took a few steps forward, feinted to one side, and paused. I then tried to surprise the enemy by dashing forward a few steps as though trying to get into melee. I fired off a Mage Dart, saving another prepared one.
&nb
sp; The energy bolt struck Sol in the chest... and bounced off. I went wide-eyed as the spell came straight back at me. I dived to my left just in time. The machine charged with a whoosh of air like jet engines kicking in. I had to scramble on all fours to get away and climb back to my feet, dodging a swipe of that mace in its metal hands.
My attack hadn't worked? I pointed the wand at Sol and said, "Insight!" The messages were presumably coming from Sol itself, but by the terms of our battle, I was owed a hint.
Sol kept up the charade of having a separate rulekeeper by sending a reply as text to my headset. [Sol, Knight Avatar. Boss. Insight 5 hint: What happened after you dodged?]
"That's it?" I said, keeping my distance. Sol dashed at me again and swung, grazing my chest and spinning me around. I staggered and clutched my side. A minor wound icon flashed. There had to be some way to win, if the game wasn't totally rigged. The golden knight took a few moments to slow down and turn around after its rush, which gave me enough time to avoid the next strike. "So, I missed something there?"
Experimentally I fired off Mage Dart again and swiftly hopped to one side. My energy blast pinged off Sol and bounced behind me. I spared a glance over one shoulder. The spell struck the wall and bounced off again, looking fainter. The air smelled of ozone.
Sol was a little slow except when dashing, and charged in a straight line when it did. By jumping aside at the last second I could goad the machine into missing me and buy myself a few seconds. I put up Obscuring Mist to see if that helped. Sol lumbered closer, not charging yet, waving that mace around as it skirted the cloud. I kept on the far side of the barrier instead of inside it, which was a mistake. Sol charged without warning and smashed me against the wall, making me see a bright flash. [Major wound!] I was back at two wounds, and winded for real.
I scrambled out of the way of a club-swipe that whooshed just past my head. Sol charged again but I was ready. As I ran away I fired a Mage Dart not at the machine but at the wall ahead of me. The bolt bounced off at a harmless angle. I cursed and dodged Sol again for long enough to prepare the spell once more.