“Kirill, do you need help?”
I sat up in the open virt pod and turned. A stylish middle-aged lady with short dark hair was looking at me in panic. She was wearing the blue uniform issued to Dome residents, but I didn’t see any numbering on it. That must have meant she was not a player, but some employee. Maybe she was even the guard of this corncob. Although this woman didn’t exactly look like a guard. She didn’t have the type or build.
“No, I don’t need help. I just died and am waiting to respawn.”
I considered the conversation over, but the woman was in no rush to leave. In fact, she walked up closer:
“I got an alert that Gerd Gnat left the game but didn’t leave his capsule. So I decided to check if everything was alright. I’m sure it wasn’t this, but sometimes newbies get so tired after their first session that they cannot crawl out of their pod. Irina Chusovkina, faction psychologist,” she finally introduced herself and casually sat on the edge of my pod, looking talkative.
In theory, I was not against it. I had a few free minutes before respawn anyway. After spending so long speaking Geckho or Miyelonian, the sound of my native tongue brought me an unwitting joy. What was more, I had heard a lot about this lady from my friends. They said she was a very authoritative and qualified psychologist specialized in gaming addiction. I didn’t think I needed help with that exactly, but I was still a bit alarmed by the time at Gerd Tamara’s birthday when I momentarily confused the real and virtual world.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Kirill, and I’ve been watching your success with interest. I’ve wanted to talk for some time, but you’re impossible to pin down. It’s very hard to find you under the Dome. You spend a lot of time in the virtual world, sometimes even to the detriment of your real life. Is it really so interesting in the game that it can eclipse the real world?”
Her question had a little trick in it. If I said I did find the game intriguing, I would be confirming that my virtual life was more important to me. I chuckled, imagining that logically I should be seeing a message about my Mental Fortitude increasing. After that, the smile crawled off my face. After all, this psychologist was right. Even in real life I thought in terms of skills, levels and other game elements.
“Irina, the issue isn’t my interest in the game, even though unusual worlds and their residents are of course alluring. Why hide it? But no, I would spend a bunch of time in the game that bends reality even if it didn’t have realistic graphics, sound effects, or an unpredictable plot. It’s just that I’m constantly reminded why I’m here under the Dome. It is not to make friends with the other residents, practice sports, eat for free or live in a comfortable apartment. I am here to save Earth from destruction by the Dark Faction and enslavement by alien invaders. And I’m doing everything in my power to achieve that!”
The psychologist gave a tortured smile and asked whether I thought that lofty goal was taking me too far from real life. I had been living under the Dome a whole month, but I didn’t have any real friends other than the few people on my team. I wasn’t speaking to anyone, and I had even grown distant from the people I’d spent my first few days with. I was not interested in the mass events held under the Dome. I wasn’t even interested in girls. Here the psychologist lowered her voice to a whisper and said that she knew what had happened with Anya and Tamara. Both were angered by my lack of attention.
“Please, don’t interfere in my personal life,” I asked the psychologist though she’d earned thrice that. “I haven’t been fighting with Tamara. I don’t know where she got that from. And Anna... no comment. Direct all your questions to Ivan Lozovsky. Also, I have a legal wife Minn-O La-Fin. That’s plenty for me!”
“The Dark Faction Princess, some junior wife, travelling mistress and all that?” I could now hear poorly hidden mockery in her voice. “Kirill, I’m talking about real girls, not virtual characters and fantasies.”
I had to admit, that shook me. Who was she to be telling me about life?!
“What do you even know about the game that bends reality and its mechanics?!” I objected sincerely. “Let’s see what all your moralizing is worth when this ‘virtual character’ comes into our world under the Dome!”
“Come on, Gnat. I know more about the game mechanics than you think,” Irina Chusovkina reacted calmly to my accusation of incompetence. And I barely noticed, but she had smoothly slipped into using my nickname. “What is your Fame stat now? Forty?”
“Forty?” I couldn’t conceal a mocking smirk. “How ‘bout sixty-three?! Or maybe even more, because the news about the firefight in the pirate vault has probably already spread to every pride on Medu-Ro IV by now!”
“Sure, let’s say sixty-three,” she agreed easily. “I’m sure your Authority is sky high too. But Gerd Gnat, have you considered why you still aren’t a Leng? Radugin became a Leng with Fame forty-three or something, and his Authority was just like thirty.”
Huh... So why wasn’t I a Leng? After all, my fame and authority hit those levels a while ago... That threw me for a loop, and I honestly admitted I didn’t know. The psychologist was eager to explain:
“Because a Leng is a faction leader. And not some director formally appointed from above, nor merely elected to the position. A Leng is a true leader, who the faction wants to follow. But you aren’t really in any faction! You left yours behind, and their collective interest is no concern to you! You fly around deep space, go to war with pirates and probably successfully. But you do not know the problems your brethren face. Their plans and desires are also beyond your grasp. You don’t even speak with any of them! And it’s the same here under the Dome. I mean, every faction member would be glad to speak with you, but you don’t give them the chance!”
“Well, what can I do?” I cast off my pride and asked the professional psychologist for advice.
“What can you do? It may sound obvious, but talk more, make personal contact with your faction. Or there is another option...” here she again lowered her voice to a whisper, “change faction.”
What? She was suggesting I leave my faction?! I couldn’t believe my ears. Irina though, totally understanding my outrage, continued:
“I have studied your psychological profile in great depth, and I have no doubt that you would support your native land regardless of formal allegiance. But in the meantime no one else, not Gerd Ivan Lozovsky, nor Gerd Tamara, nor Gerd Tarasov nor any of the others can become a Leng because there is a player with higher Fame and Authority in the faction. And we need a fully-fledged leader for many reasons. Think it over and decide for yourself.”
With these words, Irina Chusovkina stood from the side of my virt pod and, wishing me a happy game, walked toward the stairs. I then sat thoughtfully in my virt pod and stared at the wall until a signal beeped out telling me the fifteen minutes were up and I could go back into the game.
* * *
ABOVE ALL, I was interested in Gnat’s stats. What if I was wrong and my death had happened with an empty progress bar, giving all those negative consequences? But no, everything was as I hoped. I was still level seventy-four:
Gerd Gnat. Human. H3 Faction.
Level-74 Listener
Statistics:
Strength
14
Agility
18
Intelligence
23 + 5
Perception
27 + 2
Constitution
16
Luck modifier
+3
Parameters:
Hitpoints
1612 of 1612
Endurance points
1209 of 1209
Magic points
899 of 899
Carrying capacity
62 lbs.
Fame
65
Skills:
Electronics
58
Scanning
34
Cartography
57
Astrolinguistics
8
3
Rifles
51
Mineralogy
50
Medium Armor
54
Eagle Eye
70
Sharpshooter
34
Targeting
23
Danger Sense
48
Psionic
72
Mental Fortitude
54
Mysticism
24
Machine Control
66
Attention!!! You have three unspent skill points.
And hey, my fame had gone up by two points as I guessed. I was involuntarily reminded of what she said about my faction and the need to make this key decision. Seemingly, this could be a serious problem in the future. It was preventing me from growing higher than Gerd, and keeping the faction from having a decent leader. And that required very serious consideration, but not now. Now, I was interested in the results of the battle in the pirate vault.
Before I closed the stat table, I used my three free skill points for Electronics, raising it to sixty-one. My goal there was obvious: I wanted to know if I could use the Pyramid Signal Booster, the strange rune-covered ring-shaped disk I’d taken from Rikki Pan-Miis. With Gnat now at level 74, the artifact would give a boost of +220% to my Listener armor suit’s forcefield capacity, raising it from 3500 to 11270. That might not have made me quite as resilient as Fox, who could easily survive several blaster shots, but still I would be pretty hard to kill. If I’d had that disk active and locked into my armor, perhaps I could have survived the recent battle. But unfortunately, it required Electronics 70 and I wasn’t there yet. Also its racial limitation was still in place...
Anyhow, I respawned in the hallway on the sixteenth floor of the Medu-Ro IV docks, three steps from the doors into my landing bay. Unfortunately, I immediately discovered the Dark Faction Pulse Laser Rifle missing from my alternate weapon slot. It must have dropped when I died... I’d have to pick up something else. For now I filled that slot with the Paralyzer.
I used my electric captain’s key and went inside. The area around the ship was a font of activity. The Engineer, Trader, Navigator, Starship Pilot and Supercargo were engaged in a heated discussion, poking their hands into detached sheets of armor and gaping holes in the fuselage. Fifty feet from the dispute, there was a huge hyperdrive the size of a truck hovering in midair. And it was half-dissembled. Some pieces were lying right on the hangar floor.
At the other end of the hangar Imran, Vasha and Basha were unloading containers from a conveyer belt that crawled out from deep inside the station. Based on the markings on the packaging, this was the weaponry I had ordered for my faction, and the rare equipment from Kirsan’s list. Predominantly, it was parts to modify my Annihilator. When the captain showed up, the Geckho brothers stopped working, paused the conveyer belt and came to meet me, lowering their heads more with every step:
“Gerd Gnat, we failed you. We just couldn’t survive...”
Based on the dents and holes in both of their exoskeleton armor, they had really taken a beating. Basha was even missing part of his chest-piece, clearly blown off in an explosion or severed with a powerful laser.
“It happens... I didn’t survive either,” I tried to reassure my soldiers. “Hand your armor over to our millipede mechanics, they’ll fix it. I’ll mark it priority and they’ll get it done right away. And where is Eduard Boyko? Is he not in the game yet? Or did he not die?”
I couldn’t see the Space Commando anywhere, and a scan showed that he was also not inside the frigate either. Unfortunately, I hadn’t checked whether Eduard had exited his virt pod while under the Dome. And the brothers also didn’t know what happened:
“The fighting broke out and us three started working our grenade launcher systems with the targets you supplied. Then the lights went out and Eduard shouted something I didn’t understand: ‘Urazavedeve!!!’[5] Then, firing constantly, he charged the enemy. After that we can’t say, because we were both already dead.”
“Gerd Gnat, what does ‘urazavedeve’ mean?” Basha Tushihh asked curiously.
“It...” how to give a decent explanation without delving into the details. “He was entering a state of combat madness. The fury makes him immune to pain and fear. It’s a unique ability of my faction’s airborne infantry.”
Apparently, that explanation was more than enough for the furballs, and no questions followed. Uline walked up and, not hiding her anger, pointed at the huge hyper:
“The power unit hasn’t come yet, and Orun Va-Mart won’t install the hyperdrive without it. So now we’re just wasting time. And the longer that takes, the more time we’ll need before takeoff. Honestly this whole situation scares me. The pirates who died in the assault will respawn and tell their allies what happened. Soon everyone will know about your attack on the vault. We’ll make many powerful enemies here!”
Fame increased to 66.
ATTENTION!!! The Pride of the Bushy Shadow has increased the bounty for destroying your starship. Present bounty: one hundred seventy-three thousand crypto.
ATTENTION!!! The Danger Rating of Free Captain Gerd Gnat has risen to two.
“See, that’s just what I’m saying!” Apparently my partner could see the changes. “We need to fly away from Medu-Ro IV as soon as possible! Gerd Gnat talk with the Engineer, pressure him, use magic if you have to! He has to install the hyperdrive before other units get here!”
I reminded Uline that the Pride of the Agile Paw had promised us protection for the next three days in local reckoning. But that was paltry consolation for my alarmed and terrified business partner. And then... the doors opened and, to the creaking of springs and rattling of shredded exoskeleton armor, Eduard Boyko entered the hangar. He had really taken a beating... His armor suit had simply no working components left. Compared to that, the Geckho brothers’ dented-up armor could have been called “practically new!” With a nasty scraping sound, the soldier raised his right mechanical arm, gave a military salute and reported:
“Captain, mission accomplished! I survived and I brought some loot!”
With these words, he shook a pile of identical gold bars from his inventory right onto the hangar floor. And they weren’t just gold in color, they were made of pure gold.
“That’s five hundred and ten pounds,” the Space Commando told me, not hiding his pride. “There were all kinds of bars on the racks in the vault, and also some coils of wire. And it might have all been worth much more than gold. But I had no idea what they were worth, nor could I identify anywhere near all of them. So I was afraid to mess up and chose good old-fashioned gold. And this is for you, captain. I know you’re into this kind of stuff.”
This time, Eduard didn’t throw the trophy but fairly carefully, insofar as his broken robotized armor suit allowed, set it at my feet. I didn’t realize what he had right away. All I saw was scraps of something wrapped in a polymer bubble pack, maybe twisted bits of metal... But then I tried to focus not on the individual fragments, but the whole set and immediately recognized it:
Wreckage of Small Relict Guard Drone.
Uh... My first reaction was fear. Had something happened to my guard drone?! I hurriedly opened my drone management window and breathed a sigh of relief. No, mine was still in working order somewhere and awaiting commands. And by the way... I mentally asked the drone approximately how long it would take to reach me.
Estimated time in flight: 287,506 years, 14 days, 6 hours, 58 minutes.
I compared it with the number I had recorded in my notepad. It would take the drone thirty thousand years longer to reach Medu-Ro IV than Un-Tesh. That meant we were going the wrong direction. Oh well, another request or two from various points in the galaxy and the Navigator and I could sit down at a star map and figure out where the secret object was located.
“Well captain, do you like it? Or was it stupid to bring it?” Eduard Boyko interrupted.
“No matter what, it
wasn’t stupid. It’s an interesting and valuable piece,” I reassured my worrying soldier. “But whether I can use it or not, I do not know...”
I sat down next to the transparent package and tried to get a closer look at the painstakingly collected wreckage of the ancient drone. It looked like someone had tried very hard and get each and every tiny bit in the sealed bag. Could I put it back together and get it working? I called Kirsan off the frigate and even shuddered in surprise when I saw the new white paintjob as it popped up right under my hand.
“Say, can this be repaired?” I asked and the bot froze up for a bit, staring into the packaging with its many mechanical eyes.
Uline Tar had the universal translator ready to go and waited patiently for Kirsan to demand the device by shaking his many arms.
Hard. Long. Dangerous. Possible. Need to see better on the frigate. Make list of parts for repair.
I see. I figured such a rare discovery didn’t belong on the floor of a docking bay and had to be quickly brought into the starship. I tried to pick up the bag... damn this crap was heavy! I could only slightly raise it off the floor but had to immediately set it back down.
“It’s one hundred and sixty pounds no matter how you slice it,” the beefy Space Commando chuckled, easily lifting the trophy with one hand. “I don’t think the Miyelonians who captured the vault were very happy that I took it for myself. They shouted something at me, waving their hands around, but I didn’t understand a damn thing. Then, one step after the next, I made my way through the station thinking ‘I hope I’m not carrying this heavy shit for no reason. Maybe instead of this ancient wreckage I should have taken another one hundred sixty pounds of gold.’ By the way, Gnat. I saw your laser rifle. The Pride of the Agile Paw put it in the most obvious place, right next to the security console. That was probably so even the most dimwitted vault defenders wouldn’t miss it after respawning and would know exactly who to point the finger at.”
Game Changer (Reality Benders Book #3) LitRPG Series Page 30