He activated his EMP pulse cannon and started thinning the herd.
“Who are you?” asked a female fighter who was taking cover under a similar statue on the other side of the wall. “And, more importantly, where can I get that gun?”
“Nowhere, I made it with my mind,” said Kevin, displaying a proud smirk.
“That makes no sense whatsoever. But thanks for the assist, stranger.”
“You’re welcome,” said Kevin as an energy bolt streaked so near his eyes that he could feel the heat practically burning his retinas. “Why are you fighting?”
“We want to go higher and since the elevator doesn’t let us we have to foray our way upward.”
“Why do you want to get higher?”
“Are you a newbie or what? All the riches lie at the top. We’ve had it with this crap, we want better food, better accommodations, better everything really.”
“And you can take that by force?”
“What other way is there when the government is totalitarian like here on Omicron. You’re obviously not from here; where are you from?”
“It’s a little complicated, and I have to get to the seven-hundredth floor, so, unfortunately, I need to keep moving.”
The girl laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?”
“The fact that you think you can climb five hundred plus floors let alone the next ten. I don’t care what weaponry you hold, it will never work. The seven-hundredth floor is so high you could almost touch the stars. You’ll never get there, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. Was nice knowing you, newbie.”
Kevin wanted to argue but what was the point? This person was a virtual NPC, she didn’t exist beyond the walls of the simulator. Or did she? In any case, even if her non-player character was based on a realistic simulation of her brainwaves, that version wasn’t real.
As for the impossibility of getting all the way to the top, he wouldn’t fail this challenge.
Kevin gave her a two-finger salute and ran toward the enemy with renewed motivation. Into the fire he ran, fearless, with more courage than even he thought possible.
10
Kevin stepped out of the VR simulation after ten straight hours of fighting. He was panting and had sweated so much he couldn’t bear his own smell anymore.
“That was mighty impressive,” said Mira.
“Thank you. I sure had my doubts a couple of times along the way. But determination is key. And thank you for making it realistic. I clearly went overboard with my initial approach.”
“I’m glad to serve you, Kevin. You have a beautiful mind, always coming up with unpredictable solutions to the problems you encounter. Some of them defied logic, and I questioned if they would work, but you did make it work. Congratulations. I think you’re ready for the real thing. That’s why it’s so important for you to be the one helping us on this mission.”
Finally, someone recognized his abilities. It felt good not being the family loser for a change.
“Thank you, Mira. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Not true, but thank you. I just provided the right advice at the right time. I must admit that flying creature you used was a stroke of genius. It allowed you to climb to higher levels much easier. What is it called again?”
Kevin smiled. “A dragon.”
“Right. You’ll need one of those when we get to Omicron, you know that, right?”
Kevin knew where the AI was going with this. His first reaction was outrage, but he managed not to vocalize it. There was no way he was turning his best friend in the whole world into a dragon to be shot down by a legion of crazy Omicronians.
“I can’t let you do that. Boomer is just a pet. All he wants is some food, love, and to play. He doesn’t understand anything beyond that.”
“You’d be surprised.”
Kevin was about to argue with the AI about how canines worked when he felt a deep sense of dread fill his soul.
“What the hell did you do?”
“I haven’t done anything. Ziron, however…”
“Son of a bi—”
Kevin sprinted toward the bridge. Swearing continuously through gritted teeth. Now he understood why Ziron had kept quiet for most of the time Kevin trained inside the VR simulation.
If he’s laid a finger on Boomer or hurt him in any way, I’m going to kill him!
“That’s a pretty rude thing to say,” complained Ziron. “I can’t believe you’re not more grateful.”
“Grateful for what?” howled Boomer. “I’ve gotten used to not being understood my entire life except by other dogs. Plus, we have other ways of communicating with our masters you twit.”
“What other ways? Wagging your tiny tail? That’s a very advanced way of communicating.”
“Well, it works!”
“On Earth, maybe. Here,” Ziron swatted his paw in the air, “out there in the cold of deep space, you need to be able to talk.”
“Yes, and that’s why I told you before. ‘Up yours’.”
“Why did I even bother?”
Boomer’s ears shot up. “You hear that sound? That’s the sound of Kevin on his way to rip you a new one.”
“Maybe I should retire to my quarters.”
Boomer tripled in size and morphed into a Doberman Pinscher thanks to his nano-armor and growled at Ziron.
Every hair on the Sphynx’s fur stood straight up as if they were magnetized.
“Easy there, I was just kidding. Though, I’m not sorry I gave you a voice and all the extra abilities that the armor will grant you.”
“Say that to him. You’re about two seconds away from finding out you don’t mess with Kevin’s canine friend.”
“I’m his friend too.”
Boomer laughed-barked-howled out loud and morphed back into his Beagle shape while remaining triple his size. “Sure you are. Let’s test that funky theory of yours, shall we?”
The bridge’s doors slid open with their usual whooshing sound, and Kevin burst in with a vengeance. It didn’t take a genius to see that he was mad.
Ziron raised a timid paw. “Hello, Kevin, my—my friend.”
“Hi, Kev,” said Boomer casually.
Kevin skid to a stop and his eyes grew so big that it looked like they were trying to escape their sockets.
“Boomer? Is—is that you?”
“Right, my size.”
Boomer let his body return to his natural size and started wagging his tail for good measure. “Sorry, that must have been a shock for you. Better?”
Boomer could tell from the dumbfounded look on Kevin’s face that this had probably been a rhetorical question. “No?”
“You—you—you’re talking.”
“Yeah, aaaaaah…Right. If it makes it any better, I’ve always talked, you just couldn’t understand me. But now that you understand every word of it, I guess I kinda like it. At first, I wanted to make myself a Sphynx sandwich, but now I’m getting used to my own voice.”
Ziron hissed at Boomer.
But Kevin pointed an accusing finger right in front of his nose, putting an end to the empty threat.
“You!” screamed Kevin. “You did this! Without my consent.”
“Well, you’ll need backup, we both know that.”
“I’m not putting Boomer in danger this way. That’s not happening.”
“Uh—not to be bitchy or anything,” said Boomer. “After all, you have the blue cat for that, but you may not want to talk about me as if I wasn’t here or pretend you can make all my decisions for me. That’s the one thing that I’ve always found baffling about humans. While you guys may think you know better than us what we need, when we need to eat, when it’s the best time for our bodily functions. I mean the list goes on and on, but you often miss our cues. Why can’t we have our say in these matters?”
Kevin blinked multiple times, opened his mouth, but then stayed silent. Finally, he commented, “I—I hadn’t thought about that. I’m sorry, pal.”
“So, are you saying you’d want to come with me under fire?”
“The under fire part doesn’t exactly thrill me. I’m still squishy-pooping since our encounter with the Kregan assassin, but I like the thought of you running alone into danger even less. At least I could try to help if I can.”
“That’s just gross,” complained Ziron.
“Shut up,” Boomer barked sharply, then smirked.
“What he said,” added Kevin with a chuckle.
“Great, I’m giving these two powers beyond their imagination, and I’m being treated this way. Next, you’ll have Mira turning against me.”
Kevin smiled as he probably sensed what was coming next.
“Well…” said Mira. “I told you this wouldn’t go well. And I’m forced to side with Kevin on this one. Before you did anything to Boomer, you should have asked for his permission.”
“There,” said Ziron, throwing both paws up in frustration. “I knew it. Everyone hates me.”
Kevin looked at Boomer with a huge grin. “This is kinda cool though, that we can talk like this.”
“Yeah, now I won’t have to paw you repeatedly or pee on the carpet for you to realize I need a pole or a tree STAT.”
Kevin laughed until his eyes burned with tears.
“I’m glad you find it funny,” added Boomer. “But yes, it’s pretty cool.”
“Still, I couldn’t ask you to come with me on the mission,” said Kevin. “It’s too dangerous.”
“See,” barked Boomer. “You’re doing it again. I do have a say in this.”
Kevin thought about it, even though his mind was still trying to grapple with the fact that he was talking to his pet and they were arguing about stuff. So many times when Kevin was down, he had hoped that his best friend could answer with words, and now that he could, Kevin had a hard time thinking that this was all but a weird dream.
He pinched himself. “Nope, I guess it’s real. Okay, Boomer, so what is it you want to do?”
“That’s a very existential question when you think about it. But if you mean about the mission, it’s pretty simple. You’re my master, but you’re also my best friend. So I can’t let you risk your life without trying to help if I can. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
Kevin smiled. “That’s the exact same reason why I don’t think you should come along.”
“And yet you’ve decided thousands of times for me before now, so I think this time we’ll agree to disagree, and hopefully you can respect my wishes and abide by my decision.”
Boomer frantically wagged his tail to help sweeten the deal.
As much as Kevin wanted to try and convince his cute little Beagle friend against risking his life by helping him, part of him felt overjoyed that they could not only speak now but also perhaps share much more. Something Kevin always wished ever since he got Boomer.
“Fair enough. Do you know what a dragon is?”
Boomer started growing, morphing into a beautiful and scary black-scaled creature. The Boomer-dragon was relatively small in size, but he couldn’t expand all the way due to the limited size of the Osiris’ bridge. Ziron screeched in fear and went to hide under his consoles.
“None of that on my ship!” he complained, his voice trembling and interspersed with hissing sounds.
“Nice!” exclaimed Kevin, ignoring Ziron’s complaints altogether. “I guess that’s settled then. We’re going to kick ass together.”
As an answer, Boomer roared so loud that the entire bridge trembled and shook.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
The Osiris jumped out of hyperspace a few minutes travel from Omicron at sub-light speed. The orbital space was well known for being a perfect area for pirate ambushes; the last thing Ziron and Kevin needed right now was another thing to worry about. The Osiris transporters were more than capable of beaming Kevin from that distance.
“So you’re clear on what you need to do?” asked Ziron.
“Get in, find Jared, and have him spill the beans, either voluntarily or otherwise, on where Kalliopy is.”
“Correct. Don’t take no for an answer; Jared is a bit of an eccentric, but he’s not the most courageous being out there. Boomer’s dragon form should be more than enough to scare the crap out of him.”
Kevin flashed Ziron a thumbs up.
“And remember, I’ve linked your suits. You can control both yours and Boomer’s, though he can decide on his own as well. You can override him if you feel you have to.”
Boomer growled.
“Or not,” added Ziron.
“We’re good, thank you, Zee.”
Ziron nodded. “And, of course, Mira will be with you to assist as needed.”
Kevin nodded. “Time to beam us down.”
“Very well. Good luck.”
Ziron slid his paw up on the holographic controls projected in front of him, and bright green light enveloped Kevin, and he disappeared into nothingness.
Boomer looked to each side before growling. “Why am I still here?”
Sparks flew from the console below Ziron’s hovering cushion. “Oh dear…oopsie.”
Boomer morphed into a Rottweiler, snarled and flashed some seriously yellow teeth at Ziron. “What do you mean, oopsie?”
“I think we have a problem.”
Kevin rematerialized in the middle of Omicronia, which seemed even more crowded and flashy than it did in VR training. He looked around, trying to get his bearings and find Boomer. But his best friend was nowhere to be seen.
“Boomer? Boomer? Where are you?”
People around Kevin scrambled and flattened themselves to the ground, covering their heads.
What the hell?
Once they realized they had done so in error, they got back to their feet dusting themselves off and throwing daggers at Kevin.
“Mira, where’s Boomer?”
“My sensors aren’t detecting him anywhere around. It’s possible he didn’t beam down with you.”
“Why would that be?”
“Off the top of my head? Ziron’s clunky, unverified programming. He’s a very talented inventor, but with regard to reliability, it’s not exactly his forte.”
Like Apple products after Steve Jobs’ passing, thought Kevin.
“Can we ask Ziron over subspace?”
“I’ve tried that already; the ship isn’t responding.”
“That’s not good. What if they were attacked?”
“The ship is at the farther end of my sensor range, but it’s still there. Ziron probably just overloaded something during transport. He’s probably already working on a fix. We should proceed with the mission.”
“I thought you were adamant I don’t do this alone.”
“I’m sure Ziron will send Boomer along shortly. We’re kind of on the clock here. The more time passes, the fewer chances Jared’s information will be actionable.”
Dusting himself off, the last nearby alien got back to his feet and emitted a rumbling throat noise that Kevin associated with serious frustration.
“Why the hell did you jump to the ground like that?” asked Kevin.
The tall purple-skinned alien was svelte and had big pupil-less, bulbous-green eyes that made his face look like a cross between a humanoid and a fly. The eyes almost looked fake and made of glass, and Kevin could see many lights reflecting on their shiny surface. But when his eyelids washed over their large surface and hydrated them with a quick blink, Kevin reconsidered his first assessment.
“You said Boomer, twice! You fool,” roared the alien, followed by a series of strange noises that Kevin didn’t understand.
Mira, why didn’t the translator work?
What he said there doesn’t deserve wasting CPU cycles, trust me.
Charming.
“I did say Boomer simply because it’s the name of my dog, pal—well, my friend.”
“How can you tell?”
“Nobody on this planet would be named Boomer. Plus I’ve never seen such an ugly DNA splicing as yours. That pinkish-hued skin. Yuck.”
Kevin blinked slowly three times without saying another word, letting the comment sink in.
“Nice to meet you too, pal. Are you going to tell me why anyone wouldn’t call themselves Boomer, or do you have other nice things to say about my complexion?”
“That’s the war cry of the Crimson Dawn terrorist group. Before they blow themselves up and three city blocks along with them, they shout Boom—and it’s being posited that another syllable is supposed to come after, but we don’t know because they always explode while shouting.”
Kevin passed a hand through his hair while releasing a long sigh.
“So basically it may not be ‘Boomer’ that they cry.”
“Anything with Boom in front of it is pretty much banned from the Omicron vocabulary. You may want to ask your friend to change his name.”
Fat chance of that. I just wish he were here.
“You may also want to scramble,” said the alien.
“Why?”
“You’ve beamed into the city outside of the transport pods, that’s a serious violation, drones are probably on their way to arrest you.”
Great! Just great!
“Thanks, man.”
“How rude! I’m female,” said the alien turning away and blabbering more incomprehensible sounds as she left.
Kevin blinked a couple more times before turning around and running toward the imposing building.
11
Boomer kept barking and growling at Ziron. In his oversized Rottweiler form, he was scary and imposing, especially next to a svelte and medium-sized Sphynx. Boomer drooled and glared as if would swallow the cute kitty cat with just one bite if he felt like it.
Fire at Will: A Space Opera Adventure With LitRPG Elements Page 8