Project Alpha 2

by R. A. Mejia

  Your party has defeated the boss monster Necromancer General Gartrell, level 11. You receive 220 XP.

  Congratulations on clearing the dungeon, the Walking Undead, level 11.

  You receive 11,000 XP and 11,000 credits.

  As the dungeon disappears around me, I find myself standing outside a rundown building in downtown Atlanta off Main Street. I stand apart as the rest of the group appears a second later, and they look at each other with grins on their faces, high fiving each other, happy that they were able to complete the dungeon. I catch bits of their conversations as they celebrate their win.

  "Dude, did you see that?"

  "Holy . . . I literally have 1 HP left!"

  "Monsters squashed. What did you expect, man?"

  Personally, I’m annoyed and embarrassed that I died and lost 15,120 XP and I’m not the only one. I catch a few side glances and mutterings, “He’s only here cause he’s the boss’s boyfriend.” “Ignored orders…” “Idiot noob.”

  I don’t like what they’re saying but I can’t gainsay their truthfulness. Still, it’s not a loss for me. With the XP earned from completing the dungeon, I’m only down about 5,000 XP total, and I’m still walking away with 11,000 credits.

  I look for Lillian and see her congratulating the rest of the team on a job well done, but when she catches me watching her expression shifts. Her lips go from smiling to a compressed line and little wrinkles appear between her eyebrows as she scowls. I can tell that she’s disappointed in me and that hurts, but a shout behind us catches my attention before I can say anything to her. There are two groups of protesters shouting and chanting a short distance away, and they remind me of the reason that we’re here. There has been a major increase in tensions in the area for weeks, and while crime rates in general have gone up, violent crime rates have spiked the most--all signs that a dungeon was influencing the area.

  While it’s unclear what exactly triggers a dungeon’s creation, once it’s there, it becomes a manifestation of the collective unconscious of the people nearby. Dungeons also influence the minds of people around them and increase the likelihood that they will act on their darker instincts and thoughts--which, in turn, increases the dungeon’s strength. It’s a cycle that can eventually lead to a dungeon becoming so powerful that it is even capable of influencing other cities. Lillian once showed me a dungeon in the Middle East that had been active for over three thousand years and had been fueling wars there that whole time. It’s so powerful that no living System User has ever made it past the front entrance.

  “Okay, team, let’s find a spot out of public view and port back to base,” Lilian shouts. “We look like we escaped from a Renaissance fair, so please change back into your civilian clothes.”

  I quickly drop my grenade launcher into my inventory, and the rest of the group does the same with their weapons. A few more taps to my inventory, and I’m back in my jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Once everyone has stowed their gear, we follow Lillian to a house for sale three streets over. She puts her silver key into the lock on the front door, and it changes to green, showing that the door has turned into a portal. We all walk through it and into the darkness.

  Chapter 3

  We port back to Monster Squashers Inc. and then enter the main office. Lillian had to hire more staff after the company won the Dungeon Games this past summer, a competition between System Users where they show off their powers by completing various challenges while competing for prizes and prestige. Our company won the grand prize, an ultra-rare dungeon core, and as a result, we were flooded with new recruits and applications. Lillian’s company has since expanded from a three-person team to a fifteen-person organization. There are two groups of five for dungeon clearing and five others to support main groups and do general office work, which includes selling loot, scheduling training, scouting for new dungeons, repairing armor and weapons, and crafting.

  Lillian’s secretary, Kim, is a short brunette wearing a black skirt with a wide-collared white dress shirt, and she is sitting at the front desk when we walk inside. She stands up when we walk into the office and ignoring everyone else, she then turns her full attention to Lillian and hands her a stack of papers. “Hello, Ms. Coke. Here are your messages. Mr. Whelan is waiting for you in your office.”

  Lillian takes the proffered messages. “Tell Mr. Whelan that I’ll be there in a minute. I just have to get my team straightened out first.” Then, turning to us, she says, “Good job, gang. We’ve made a bit of money for the company, but more importantly, we’ve helped clear Atlanta of a dark influence.” The group cheers, and Lillian waits for them to calm down before continuing. “Turn in any gear that you borrowed for the job and then see Kim for your split of the loot. Drop anything off you plan on selling to Ordnance, and we’ll get you a good price. Dismissed.”

  With that, everyone disperses to the various departments in the expanded office to trade, get paid, or to train. A couple even head toward the office’s kitchen in order to grab some grub. Lillian, though, gestures to catch my attention.

  I walk over and lean in to give her a peck on the cheek, but she steps away and puts a hand on my chest. “Anthony, not here at the office in front of everyone. It’s not professional.” She reprimands me with a serious tone, but there’s a little smile on her face that lets me know she doesn’t really mind the attempt. A moment later, her smile falters slightly, and she looks at me seriously. “I have to go meet with Mr. Whelan, but when I’m done, you and I have to talk.”

  Uh-oh . . . It’s never a good sign when a woman says ‘we need to talk.’ But I just nod, hoping that she just means to chew me out over the mistake I made that cost me a respawn. She puts a hand on my cheek and rubs my cheekbone with her thumb gently for a moment before giving me one last small nod and then turning and walking to her office.

  I sigh, enjoying the sight of her sway as she walks away from me.

  My eyes follow her until she disappears, and then I look around. With the influx of new revenue from dungeon diving, Lillian has been able to triple the size of the company headquarters. Facing the entrance of the office is the secretary’s work area and several desks with stations to access the System, the techno-magical construct that goes unseen by most of humanity. Not only is it responsible for creating dungeons, it also produces those that fight them, System Users. There is a waiting area to the left with high-end furniture that showcases a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with a view overlooking a New York skyline, and at the back of the room, there are doors that lead to extra-dimensional spaces labeled: Lillian’s Office, Lillian’s Quarters, Accounting, Ordnance Department, Kitchen, and Research. Each door leads to a specialized place that is just as large as the rest of the office. Research, for example, is a warehouse-sized lab stuffed with large machines used for crafting, research, and tech analysis. It’s run by John Remington, Lillian’s first employee and her deceased father’s friend. He’s also the company’s tech genius and crafter. The large metallic sliding double doors to my right lead to the latest addition to the company, our dungeon. The dungeon is only level 0 right now, which means it can’t actually spawn any monsters worth XP, but John integrated an interface that lets it spawn monsters and various scenarios for training purposes. I’m not 100% clear on all the details, but I know that Lillian plans to upgrade the dungeon in the future so that it can create full dungeon levels, monsters, and even quests worth XP. But for now, even the level 0 dungeon has been enough to entice new employees to the company and encourage several User-run corporations to sign training contracts.

  After selling all the loot I picked up from the dungeon, converting it all into cash, and giving up 30% of the credits to the company, I’m left with $12,453 in my pocket. It’s an amount that I would have once considered a fortune, but now that I’m aware of all the bills my family has, it’s not quite the mountain of treasure it once was. I shake my head and push financial thoughts to the back for now. I briefly consider hanging with John until Lillian is done with
her work, but a sound from the Dungeon catches my attention. The large metallic double doors open with a hiss, and I see three sweaty people walk out bearing arms and armor. These are some of the new recruits, but I only recall the name of the middle guy with the large two-handed buster sword, Joseph. I give them a friendly nod and a smile as they walk past me toward Ordnance. Thinking about how the training room is vacant, I decide that’s just what I need right now to work through my frustrations with myself and walk through the open doors and into the room. Although it’s currently little more than an almost-amorphous, pitch-black space with green lines that define the walls, ceiling, and floor, I know that the entire room can be changed to become any number of places: mountains, forests, deserts, modern cities, futuristic spaceships, and many other options.

  There’s a hiss as the doors close behind me, and I’m greeted with a message prompt.

  Welcome to the Monster Squashers Inc. Dungeon Training. Please describe the type of training you’d like and the level of difficulty.

  Scenario - Programmed scenarios

  Difficulty - Easy, Medium, Hard, Legendary

  Monster Type - Includes a list based on the most recently faced monsters in addition to the ones listed in the company database.

  User Data - Allows User to either use scanned level, health, mana pool, and skills or to create a custom build to test out possible skill combos or plan real builds. Also lets user train against rare, higher-level monsters that would normally be beyond the User's ability.

  The training room is limited in its capacity for realism and the complexity of its created objects due to its current level, but as it gains levels, it will get more options and can become much more complex. I set the controls to a combat scenario, pull up a list of my most recent fights, and select “Necromancer General Gartrell.” Green lasers project from the ceiling towards the center of the room, slowly recreating the monster one layer at a time. In a few minutes, a realistic version of the necromancer general stands before me. Walking closer, I can see that he’s over eight feet tall, but he is so thin and emaciated that he looks taller. His paper like skin is peeling away in places showing the desiccated muscles beneath, a rictus grin reveals black rotten teeth, and small wiggling worms peek out of his eye sockets. His striped black suit has many holes cause by bullets and the decay of the grave, and there’s a disturbing green aura surrounding him. I pull up his monster information.

  Necromancer General Gartrell

  Level 11

  Health 450/450

  Mana 800/800

  Spells: Health Drain, Aura of Death, Barrier, Summon Undead I, Summon Undead II, Summon Undead III, Pride of Johnny Reb, and Strength of the Deathless.

  Abilities: Undead, Specialization: Necromancy, and Bad to the Bone

  Sometimes, a cause is so important to a person that not even death will stop them from furthering it. Necromancer General Gartrell rose from the grave to advance the ideals of the rebellion. He uses his dark powers to raise fallen soldiers so that they can once again fight for their cause.

  I stare at the description of the necromancer for a few minutes and study it. He has 200 more health than I do and almost triple my mana. From his spell list, it looks like he’s focused on spell casting and summoning.

  I set the scenario to medium difficulty and let it scan me to determine the baseline for my health, mana, TP, and damage for the scenario.

  Anthony Tinoco

  Level 10

  Health 250

  Mana 300

  TP350

  Would you like to change User Data?

  I choose to keep my scenario data as is. Some people will test out different builds by modifying their data during the scenario, but I’m just looking to work out my frustration.

  I start the combat round, and the standing creature begins to move. He looks down at me with a rictus grin, and then he starts to wave his hands and mutter an incantation. A moment later, a magical half-dome appears around the creature. I stare intently at the barrier, and information about it pops up.

  Barrier

  Prevents up to 500 points of physical damage and reflects projectiles.

  While I stand there reading the description of the spell, the necromancer is not idle. A cloud of green smoke billows out from beneath the creature’s feet, and skeletal hands start to burst forth from the ground. Just like in real life, the necromancer is summoning his undead minions. Unfortunately, I haven’t prepared well, and I don’t even have my primary weapon, the grenade launcher, equipped. I call up my inventory and see that it’s filled with a variety of nick-knacks, traps, crafting components, and other items. In the few moments it takes me to locate my weapon and equip it, the level 10 undead soldiers have already risen from the ground. I’m barely able to bash the first in the side of the skull with the butt of the weapon before the rest grab a hold of me and pull me down to the ground. I can almost feel their skeletal fingers cutting and clawing at me, but the only real damage is to my pride. Red digital markers display where the monsters would have struck if this was real, and red numbers float away from me showing how much damage each strike would have done. My digital health pool quickly empties since I’m not wearing any armor, and a notification appears in front of me in large red letters.

  You have died. Would you like to restart or choose another opponent?

  I haven’t really died, but the dungeon recognizes that I would have if this had been a real fight. I quickly open my inventory, equip my armor, and make sure that my grenade launcher is fully loaded. Frustrated at my quick defeat, I yell, “Restart!”

  The room goes dark for a moment, and the necromancer appears twenty feet off to the right, already waving his hands and speaking to cast his magic. I quickly raise my grenade launcher, aim, and pull the trigger. There’s a thump as a grenade shoots out. Unfortunately, the necromancer has already raised his shield, and the projectile bounces off and rolls back towards me. I scramble back and dive for cover, but the grenade goes off with a loud boom. I see a red 30 float away from me, and there are red marks on my body showing where I would have been injured by the explosion or by shrapnel. I’m more fortunate than last time and still have 220 health left, so I push myself back to my feet, glad for the fact that the dungeon doesn’t allow for even my own weapons to hurt me while I’m inside--not unless someone with the authorization disables the safety protocols anyway. Looking around, I see that the necromancer has already raised the first wave of minions. As the group of skeletons approaches, I back away and fire a single grenade into their midst then watch as they’re blown back by the explosion. Some are destroyed, but several get back to their feet and continue to advance. The first wave of soldiers takes two more shots to completely wipe out, and I’m kind of proud that I could do it without taking any damage. Unfortunately, the necromancer has used the time to raise another group of undead, and this one is more powerful than the previous fodder.

  Armored Zombie

  Level 10

  Health 85/85

  TP 15/15

  The personal creation of Necromancer General Gartrell, these zombies are not only tougher than normal but also bear armor, making them even harder to kill.

  Abilities: Bite, Claw

  Weakness: Fire, Attacks to the Head

  My explosive grenades aren’t nearly as effective against this armored group, and while I’m focused on them, I don’t see the necromancer raise another a group of zombie riflemen who fill me full of holes until my HP drops to zero and I die again. I reset the scenario again.

  This time, I don’t bother trying to attack the necromancer right off. I know that his shield will deflect my grenades, so I focus on killing the minions he raises and hope to spot a weakness of some kind instead. Perhaps his shield has a time limit? Or maybe I can damage it enough over time to cause it to fall?

  My mind if filled with frustration and anger at not being able to beat this undead bastard. I yell, and curse as I fight wave after wave of undead. The low-level skeletons ar
e followed by the armored ones, who are followed by the rifle-bearing zombies. Even after defeating those groups with Fireballs and fire grenades, the necromancer just raises more powerful undead or reanimates the ones I’ve already killed, all the while casting debuffs against me that drain my health and mana or make me slower. At one point, I’m so busy fending off the undead that the necromancer has time to summon a bone golem eight feet tall with over 200 HP. The goliath creature is made up of skeletons of a dozen corpses with fused bone plating providing an effective armor. It makes the ground shake as it stomps towards me and my grenades don’t even damage it until I switch over to some of the specialty ones I have. Even then, the necromancer just heals the creature with negative energy. I die again and again until I feel like the dungeon is mocking me with the notification “You Have Died.”

  After a particularly brutal death where the bone golem would have crushed my head in its massive bone fists, I sit on the floor of the training dungeon panting, sweaty, and tired. I hear a cough from behind me and roll to my feet, instinct bringing my weapon up and aimed towards the sound. Only, instead of a monster, I see Lillian, who is now dressed in a pinstriped pants suit. Her makeup is done, her hair is up in a bun, her lips are touched up with just the right shade of coral-colored lipstick, and she is looking at me with an examining eye. She is beautiful and the sight of her in her professional attire makes me realize that I’m still in the same gear and haven’t even showered since we came back from the mission. “How long have you been there watching?”