Finally, I made my way to the personal rooms. They were locked. Surprisingly, even the level administrator couldn’t get in, as it apparently
was only responsible for handling external threats. Like me.
You’re trying to hack the security system for Borlie Felatt’s personal room.
Sum total of your skill levels: 760.
Sum total ofUT-i252’s defenses: 640.
Probability of successful hack: 15.8%.
Borlie Felatt was well within the hexagon’s top fifty players, even with the colorful new cast that had arrived. Wishing it good luck in the game, I got to work hacking the door. Incidentally, it was the first female alien I could remember coming across. It was often hard to tell, of course, but in the ocean of bloodthirsty male killers, it looked like Borlie was one of the few females. Not a chick to trifle with, I imagine.
It presumably had some nice goodies, too.
The small room was home to nothing more than a small jewelry box. That was it. After making sure there were no traps, I pulled it open and found myself staring at eleven enormous matching diamonds laid carefully on a crimson pad. At first glance, they each looked to be about three centimeters wide. I’d never had money, and so Td never really paid much attention to how7 much valuables like that cost, either in the game or outside it. Is Borlie really so unimaginative that it just cares about sparkly, shiny things? They're big, but still... Although, it wasn’t the first
— I'd taken out players looking for similar valuables. But why?
On the other hand, what was the point in asking questions? It was time to loot. Grabbing one of the gems to figure out how and where to hide it, I suddenly stopped still with my mouth gaping open.
Item received: Dragon’s tear. 24 carat. Description: The purest tear of an ancient dragon forefather set as a round-cut diamond. Bring the tear to any dragon to receive a reward.
***
Absorption unlocked. Description: At one time (within the space of 5 minutes) swallow enough units ofnoa to equal the number of cai'ats in the dragon s tear, after which you receive the power bestowed in the tear. Each 100 units of strength gives you +1 absorber level. With each new level, you unlock an additional absorber quality. Current level: 1.
My adaptive vision couldn’t have been clearer — the items in front of me were completely ordinary, presumably diamonds. That last part was my assumption, though it still didn’t change the fact that the gems were ordinary. They weren’t part of the game. Still, the game identified them. What the hell is going on? What’s that about absorbing them? The dragon’s strength? What is all this?
As was always the case, there were no answers forthcoming. I grabbed all the gems — eleven of them, bringing the total to 264 carats.
Or, translating that into noa, 264 days of my life. Was I prepared to sacrifice four months to see what that dragon’s strength was all about? It sounded great, of course, but unless I found more, I wouldn’t have enough noa to last even a year... I would have been strong, but not for long.
I was going to have to eat 120 units of noa before I could take five diamonds. Once again, I was torn, only that time, I couldn’t bail myself out with Two. It was my decision to make.
No, not right now. I wanted to see what was in the other rooms first. Checking the one I was in again just to make sure, and even pulling up the padding in the jewelry box to see if there was anything hidden, I convinced myself there wasn’t anything else. Nowhere.
It was time for the next door. Again, it belonged to a player from the hexagon’s top hundred, only that time closer to the tail end. The door’s defenses gave in on my first attempt, though I froze as soon as I was inside. There was only one jewelry box there, too. And when I lifted the lid, it had the same eleven dragon’s tears, each 24 carats. The next door was hiding another eleven. And the next was, as well. Five personal rooms gave me 55 diamonds I piled into one of the jewelry boxes.
I had no idea what was going on. First of all, where did they get the gems? Frorn the ground? And second, what kind of reward do dragons give you? I couldn’t help but remember that the game owner was a dragon. What if I make it an offer? The idea of trading the tears for it getting the hell off of Earth and taking its nanoparticles with it seemed like the perfect solution.
Fine... Obviously, I was going to do it, so there was no point putting it off any longer. Sitting down in the middle of one of the personal rooms, I pulled out five diamonds and laid them out in front of me. Then, I printed out a clump of 120 units of noa. The trade didn’t seem like an even one, but I still wanted to give it a try. Here we go...
After buying a bottle of water to help the swirling stones go down easier, I started swallowing them, one after another, thanking the universe that they hadn’t been made square so they were easier to transport. The first 24 went down with a struggle, though I still made it happen.
Would you like to absorb a dragon’s tear?
I had to catch my breath. Yes, I would! Wait, I don't have to swallow those, too, do I?
Thankfully, I didn’t. The diamond I was holding dissolved in my hand, and I pulled up my status table to see the changes. Parentheses had appeared next to my absorber title to show how much strength I’d absorbed — to date, 24 units.
All right, let’s keep going. I had no idea how all the noa was going to fit inside me...but it was going to somehow.
The fifth diamond was the hardest. The noa in my stomach didn’t behave like regular magic stones, turning into smoke or energy. Instead, they were unpleasant, round, and difficult to digest. My belly was distended, and each swallow was a battle. Finally conquering the last stone and seeing the message I’d worked so hard for, I hurriedly accepted it. But right then, I felt a wave of nausea and rolled over onto my stomach to make sure the noa and stomach juices wouldn’t pour out onto my legs. There was a clump in my throat, I opened my mouth, and...
A stream of pure blue light poured out of me.
Absorber +1 (2)
Processing available qualities...
Select the named item you’d like a quality for.
The list of my named items popped up, only Fang was nowhere to be found. Still trying to catch my breath, I let my plans go by the wayside and just went with the first option.
Zelda selected. Quality determined automatically.
***
New quality: Invisibility. Description: Creates a dynamic invisibility field that swallows all kinds of radiation coming from inside. Continuous duration: 29 minutes, recharges 29 seconds every 5 minutes. The duration can be extended by boosting the levels of your name items.
Even with my brain fuzzy, I had a hard time quelling the excitement. The quality wasn’t limited by my perception level. I can hide from everyone — nobody will be able to see me!
A quick calculation told me that the other fifty7 diamonds I had were enough to give me twelve new qualities, though I was going to have to find 1,200 units of noa for that. But really, was there any other option? There was no need for Zelda or all the attributes and skills it required, no need to stab myself with all the damn needles anymore.
Chapter 9
AND THAT was it...
I had just 55 units of noa left. Less than tivo months...
But it was worth it.
Td swallowed the next 120 spheres without much of a problem, already aware of what was going to happen. When the stream of blue flame shot out of me and the game rewarded me for my gluttony, I knew exactly what I wanted to pick.
Absorber +1 (3).
Fartira selected. Quality determined automatically.
***
New quality: Mimicry. Description: Hides your identity, including your appearance, replacing it with another player’s. Maximum duration: 29 minutes. To use another player’s identity, you have to have met them. The duration can be extended by boosting the levels of your
name items.
There were no requirements, limitations, or percentages. No opponent’s perception. For half
an hour, I could be the fourth mystic! And it was actually better in my case since it didn’t just disguise my appearance; it changed who I was, letting me fool any scanner out there.
Obviously, I gave that a try right away.
There wasn’t anything left for me to do on that level. Everything that could be sold had been sold, and I d already picked up my bonuses. It was time to head down and keep going. There was no doubt in my mind, and so I headed for the stairs after trading in my looks for Two’s.
A few flights later, the stairs ended. The passageway fed into a long, dim corridor made out of stone, one that looked anything but high-tech and alien. It was more pulled straight from catacombs riddled with dilapidated walls spreading out in every direction. Taking a few steps forward, I left the stairs and jumped when a metal sheet slid closed behind me. There was no way back.
You entered an intermediary level in the storage.
***
Verifying player LRO-443-2.
System perception: 170... Mark Deruin’s mimicry: 160.19.
Error...
Reattempting verification.
System perception: 170... Absorber’s mimicry ability: level
unavailable.
Analyzing data...
Unavailable parameter calculated by system in keeping with algorithm 334-7783-34* Beings with parameters at or above 1000 cannot be calculated.
Mark Derwin’s mimicry value set at 1170.
Verification successful. You were recognized as player
LRO-443-2.
Access to the storage’s intermediary level granted.
Current role: victim.
Phew! I’d even broken a sweat when I saw the message about my mimicry7 being too low. To be honest, I never did like feeling butterflies in my stomach, but it turned out all right. World of the Changed even offered me a glimpse of some of its inner workings.
Wait a second!
What do you mean, victim?
Suddenly, an unpleasant voice broke the silence.
“You were warned about showing up here. The consequences were made clear. But you decided to be smart about it, huh? Well, that’s fine — the general can make new7 spawn...”
Something rustled in the corridor. My reaction was lightning-fast — I wheeled around and slammed Fang into the metal sheet in an effort to cut myself a way out. But the knife just ricocheted off, incapable of making a dent.
The rustling drew7 closer, and my stomach sank. I didn’t like the sound at all. Really, it was more like hundreds of small metal claws scrabbling across the stone as they moved some kind of enormous hulk forward. And wiiile I could have banged my head against the sheet forever, that wouldn’t really have done me any good. Instead, I dashed over to the wall across from me and tried jabbing Fang into it. There we go! The blade disappeared without a complaint. Not even positive why I needed it, I got to work cutting myself a hole through the wall, leaving the chunks of rock right there in the corridor.
By the time something monstrous appeared to my right, I had enough of a niche to hide inside.
But that's not what I did. There was no telling what the creature was capable of, so Ulbaron picked me up off the floor and sent me hurtling backward. I wanted to see what the thing looked like when it appeared in the light.
Damn it! That was a mistake — my nerves took too much of a hit. There was an enormous machine rushing toward me, its body completely filling a corridor that would have dwarfed an elephant. Looking like some kind of shredder, it engulfed everything in its path. The rocks I’d left behind didn’t stand a chance.
The hellish machine came at me with unreal speed. Realizing the locals knew I was there, meaning I didn’t have to hide anymore, Valkyrie took Fang’s place. But the problem wras that all I got were o% damage values no matter what part of the creature I checked. A named automatic pistol at level 29 and fortified with level 160 pistol shooting had nothing on the monster coming at me like an enraged rhino.
Just in case, I tried a few shots, switching out ammo types as I went, before turning and flying off. I was faster, at least. And I needed to use any advantage I could find.
The corridor was anything but straight, and I banked right to head down the intestine-like bends. And as I flew, I glanced around for any kind of offshoot branching away from the main tunnel. But there was nothing. What worried me even more, however, was how fast the beast behind me wras coming. The faster I flew, the faster it charged. Still, as soon as I slowed down, it began to catch up. One thing it apparently didn’t do was ease up on the accelerator. Continuing to fly ahead for what felt like an eternity, I finally saw something coming up that differed from the sceneiy flying past. Getting closer, I nearly slammed into the wall — it was the same metal sheet keeping me from heading back up the stairs. So, we just did a whole loop? And I hadn’t noticed any other tunnels leading off.
What’s going on?!
The monster chasing me wasn’t about to give me time to sit and puzzle through the situation, and so the sheet and niche I’d dug out of the wall were soon in my rearview mirror. But what they had told me was that I wasn’t going to get away. I had to be more aggressive, and Valkyrie’s impotence meant I needed to find something else to do damage with. How about three thermal mines? It was time to see how the thing stood up to five thousand degrees.
The store had my deadly new toys printed out in a matter of seconds. Tying them together just in case, I rolled over to face the monster, slowed down, and hurled the package back where I’d just come from.
My timing was perfect. The mines detonated centimeters from the creature, illuminating the tunnel with a ball of fire that quickly disappeared — the monster had gobbled it down and apparently even enjoyed the snack. Not a bit of damage had been done. From what I could tell, the additional energy even had it coming faster.
The weapon I leaned on the most — blow them all up — hadn’t worked. Turning back around, I flew off, though the monster started gaining ground. Meter by meter, it approached until it was nipping at my heels. It was time to bring my weapon of last resort to bear.
Sacrificial offering.
You can’t sacrifice the guard for the intermediary level in Li-Ho-Dun’s home using the absorber’s sacrificial offering quality. The ability doesn’t work on machines that aren’t alive.
There were no emotions. Throwing my hands forward like some kind of Superman, I hit my maximum speed in an effort to put distance between myself and my pursuer. And while I did smack into the wall a few times, it wasn’t too bad. The guard began falling behind. It wasn’t too far back, and it continued gaining speed, but all I needed was a few seconds.
The metal sheet showed up in front of me, and I hit my emergency brakes to drive me into the wall on the right. Sparks flew from under my hands and feet, but it worked — I came to a stop right where I needed to be. The niche in the wall was right there, and I dove in before screaming in pain. Both my legs had been lopped off at the knee. I hadn’t had time to pull them in, while the guard apparently couldn’t have cared less that I was wearing level 29 armor. It hadn’t noticed a thing.
The bleeding stopped almost immediately, and the pain died away even before that. I was left in relative silence — the guard had dashed off down the hallway. And while Ulbaron regenerated in just a couple seconds, it was going to take my legs at least an hour. But I don't think I have an hour to spare. Checking the sheet one more time, I suddenly had a surprisingly good idea. I needed to dig my way deeper into the wall. There was no telling what the creature was going to do on its second lap, and I had to be ready for anything. I wasn't going to be running anywhere until my legs healed.
Almost immediately, I began hacking away at the stone in a frenzy, dumping it into the tunnel. By the time the guard had made a complete circle, I was a couple meters away from the hall.
That saved me.
There was a teeth-jarred scraping sound, and part of the wall disappeared. Finally, I got a good look at the guard, which looked like a
worm sprinkled liberally with shredders that gobbled up everything in its path. And while it was absurdly long, what really impressed me were the shredders lined up on each of its sides. Actually, they were what had cut away a large cross-section of the wall in an attempt to get at me. When the thing was past, I peeked out. The tunnel was about a meter wide, maybe more. Nothing was left of the stone I’d tossed out, and I heard the scraping and scratching die off to my right before picking back up again to my left. It felt like gobbling down everything in front of it just helped the creature pick up speed.
Unable to hold myself back, I flew over to the wall next to the metal sheet and tried to slam Fang into it. A curse was all I got. The knife ricocheted off in a blur of sparks — there was nothing I could do about the wall.
The guard pounded closer, so I had to duck back into my hiding spot. I hadn’t left myself with much of a choice — all I could do was head closer toward the center and hope the machine would eventually catch up to its own tail as we tightened the circle.
It was a race to the death.
I hacked away at the wall, the monster moving faster and faster with each lap it completed. Finally, it was rushing around like a streak of silver lightning in search of one very elusive player. I forgot about everything in my attempt to turn myself into a world-class miner, with just a bit more than a meter standing between me and the hallway the entire time. My legs were back a couple hours later when I suddenly realized the guard was falling behind. It had picked up speed to the point that its outline had turned into one gray streak, and the rock I tossed its way were returned in the form of shrapnel, but it wasn’t getting any closer. The limit I had predicted had been reached. To get any closer, it would have had to start biting into its own tail.
Serves you right for being so big!
Just in case, I decided to head another couple meters in before beginning to cut a hole up into the roof. I was going to make it in the form of a spiral staircase, filling in the passageway behind me. And if there wasn’t enough room, I could always toss the stone into my inventory.
World of the changed 3 Noa in the flesh Page 11