by Isaac Hooke
“You had your chance in the real world,” Jason said.
“But not the virtual, where it counted,” Bokerov said.
“Well nothing in this virtual environment is fair,” Jason said. “Everything here will be tipped to your favor.”
“I don’t think so,” Bokerov said. “After all, there are two of you, and only one of me. It’s certainly a fair fight. Though more tipped, as you say, in your favor than mine.”
Bokerov spurred his horse to a gallop. He raised his sword as he raced toward Aria and Jason.
“Well,” Jason said. “I guess we fight, then.”
He had practiced horseback riding a few times in his own VR, so he knew how to ride. Apparently Aria did as well, because when he spurred the animal forward she joined him.
Jason raised his club, and Aria her mace.
Bokerov meanwhile bent his arm and held his sword behind his head, in a pose that seemed to be in preparation for stabbing.
As they passed, the sword enlarged by an alarming degree. The weapon moved in a blur, and before Jason could react, his body was slit in half.
The upper part of his torso dropped to the grass, his guts oozing out underneath him. Aria’s head landed beside him.
“Well, that was really fair,” Aria commented.
The virtual environment reset, and Jason was on horseback beside Aria once more, while Bokerov waited across the field. This time, the Russian was on foot.
“Let’s do this again, shall we?” Bokerov shouted. “A hundred times. A thousand. Shit, I can do this to the end of time. I’ll devote a background process to this VR partition, and let it run indefinitely. I’ll kill you a billion times. Meanwhile, I’ll slaughter the rest of your Shit Eaters, and then replay their deaths for you for all eternity.”
Bokerov began running at them.
“Let’s not stick around, huh?” Jason told Aria.
“I’m for that…” Aria said.
They both turned their horses around, and then proceeded away at a gallop.
“Oh no you don’t,” Bokerov said. It sounded like the Russian was just behind them.
Jason was about to turn around when Bokerov appeared in front of him. His sword had become a long staff with blades on either end, and he sliced the weapon underneath the legs of the two horses, severing the forelimbs of both virtual animals at the same time.
Two quick stabs, and he put Jason and Aria out of their misery.
The VR environment reset once more.
This time Jason was standing in the desert with a long dagger in hand. Beside him was a tree. Aria was tied to it with her arms spread-eagled. They both still wore the flimsy garments.
“Let’s try something different,” Bokerov said.
“Bored of killing us already?” Aria commented.
Bokerov ran a hand up Aria’s bare thigh. “Oh yes, there are so many more ways to inflict lasting psychological damage. All of them pleasurable for me.”
Jason struck at Bokerov with the sword, but he froze in place.
Bokerov raised an admonishing finger. “Uh, uh, uh. This time, you’re going to kill her, not me. And slowly.”
“No, I won’t,” Jason said.
“Yes, you will,” Bokerov said.
Jason’s body turned of its own accord. He fought the force that was in control of him, and managed to halt his rotation, but felt an incredible pain inside of him at the same time; that pain quickly became overwhelming, and he gave in, if only so the pain would subside.
“Good,” Bokerov said. “Now cut off her clothes.”
Jason did so, wanting to avoid that pain.
“Now, remove the skin of her right leg,” Bokerov said.
Jason refused.
The pain became overwhelming inside of him. It felt like he was tied at the stake, with a raging fire burning all around him, consuming his flesh, blackening it, charring it.
His hand shook violently from the sheer force of will required to restrain the blade.
“No,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Bokerov said. “You will do it, or the pain will consume your consciousness. Break you utterly.”
“Then let it break me,” Jason said.
He felt to his knees, screaming.
“Just cut open my leg!” Aria shouted.
At last Jason ceded, and he stabbed the dagger deep into her calf. She flinched, and screamed.
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Bokerov said.
Jason suddenly withdrew the blade and stabbed it home, right through Bokerov’s chain mail.
Bokerov looked down at his impaled chest in confusion. “How?”
Jason twisted the dagger, and Bokerov flinched in pain.
“Lori gave me a few routines she thought I might need against you,” Jason said.
Jason was about to twist the blade again when he froze once more.
“Ah yes, I see the backdoors,” Bokerov said. “I’ve already patched them.”
Jason’s arm moved backward, withdrawing the blade of its own accord. He couldn’t even resist it at all this time. There was no pain, no nothing.
“Maybe we’ll do this the easy way,” Bokerov said. “I’ll take control of your body, and you’ll simply watch.”
Jason flicked the blade toward Aria once more. There was fear in her eyes, and yet also defiance.
“I’m sorry,” Jason said.
“Maybe we won’t skin her just yet,” Bokerov said. “Maybe we’ll have some fun with her first. You can watch as I ravage her. Would you like that?”
“You’re sick,” Aria said.
“I sometimes forget how twisted you are, Bokerov,” Jason said. “I have to thank you for reminding me why I can never let you go. Why you must always be a slave.”
“Except I’m not anymore,” Bokerov said, grinning. “Now then, where were we?”
Bokerov took a step toward Aria, and then she abruptly stiffened. “No!”
The environment faded out.
Jason and Aria stood on the edge of some sort of cliff. Beside them, was a mountain temple; monks in orange robes sat upon the steps, and between the pillars, locked in prayer.
Bokerov’s voice carried from somewhere ahead.
“This is my most sacred place!” Bokerov shouted. “How dare you intrude!”
The ledge continued past a bend in the mountain wall. Bokerov’s voice seemed to come from there.
Jason rounded the bend and then he saw Lori, dressed in brilliant silver plate mail. She wasn’t wearing a helmet: her long blond hair flowed down to her shoulders. She carried a longsword, and exchanged blows with Bokerov. Both of their swords moved in a blur: it was almost transfixing to watch.
“Jason!” Lori said, not breaking her gaze from Bokerov. “Your distraction worked! Mostly!”
“What do you mean mostly?” Jason said as he came running up beside her. “Do you have control, or not?”
“I’ve trapped him in this current form!” Lori said. “He can’t transform his weapons, or materialize more. Nor can he control us!”
“You bitch!” Bokerov said. His movements increased, and he steadily beat her back, forcing her on the defensive.
There were two swords stabbed into the dirt nearby, point first. Jason and Aria grabbed one each.
“Do you have any sword experience?” Jason asked Aria.
“Nope,” Aria said. “I’m having my Accomp take over as we speak.”
“Z, you here?” Jason asked.
“I am,” Z replied.
“Tell me you have some swordplay routines in your database,” Jason said.
“I do,” Z said. “You want me to overlay some Training AIs over your vision?”
“Don’t think there’s time,” Jason said. “But if you wouldn’t mind taking over…”
Z did so, and immediately Jason’s body moved forward to join the fray. His sword moved in a blur besides Lori. Aria joined in a moment later. The three of them managed to put Bokerov on the defensive, and pushed
him backward, toward the precipitous drop that awaited beyond the ledge.
“We can’t let him fall!” Lori said as Bokerov came close.
At that, Bokerov, in between parries, cocked his head. And then he leaped off.
“No!” Lori said. She vaulted off the ledge after him.
Jason tried to catch her, but missed, and fell, too.
Bokerov hit a rocky outcrop, and bounced off slightly; Lori and Jason smashed into it as well. They all bounced off the rocky wall several times on the way down. Wasn’t pleasant.
Finally, broken and bloodied, Jason hit the ground. Every virtual bone was broken in his body. Lori seemed in just as bad a condition, as did Bokerov.
Incredibly, Lori pulled herself upright on one arm. She coughed blood, but slowly dragged herself toward Bokerov’s motionless body.
“You bitch,” Bokerov said. “You’ll pay for this.” Blood trickled down his lips.
He tried to raise his sword when Lori reached him, but a bone abruptly protruded from his wrist, thanks to the weight of the weapon, and he dropped it.
Lori pulled herself on top of him.
“What, you’re going to fuck me, like this?” Bokerov said between bloody teeth. He grinned.
“Oh, I’m going to fuck you all right,” Lori said.
Her avatar descended into Bokerov’s, until in moments, she completely overlaid his, and was no longer visible.
“Where did she go?” Bokerov said.
He twitched suddenly, and then began spasming.
“That’s right,” Jason said. “Enjoy having your insides rearranged.”
“Nyet!” Bokerov screamed.
“Too late,” Lori said, stepping out of his avatar.
A HUD appeared. Jason immediately reset his avatar, and then stood.
Aria appeared next to Lori. She gazed down at the broken and sobbing body. “You did it, I assume?”
Lori nodded. She turned toward Jason. “His army is yours once more.”
“Bokerov, engage the enemy with your Cataphracts and tanks, as per the original plan,” Jason ordered
Still lying down, Bokerov nodded in defeated. “Done.”
He glanced Lori. “You’ve locked down his code for good this time?”
“I think so,” Lori said. “I’ve put in so many backdoors and hooks, I’ll know right away if he ever tries to break free. And I can punish him for the attempts. I’ve also nested the Containment Code, wrapping one layer of control above the next, so that if he does somehow manage to defeat one layer, I’ll instantly be notified, and can create more layers while punishing him in the process. There are more nested layers of Containment Code than a Russian matryoshka doll.”
“Why do you have to refer to my current state in that manner?” Bokerov whined. “A Russian doll is supposed to be a toy for children to play with. A happy toy.”
“I thought you’d appreciate the metaphor,” Lori told him. “Because for me, you essentially are a toy. We’re not going to forget how you treated us and our clones in here. Not ever.”
“All right,” Jason said. “Let’s not overdo the gloating. Let’s get back to our reality. We have a fight to win.”
22
Jason returned to reality, and lowered his time sense to something more manageable, and the world was no longer frozen around him. He tentatively peered around the edge of the tree, and was relieved to see Bokerov’s troops obediently moving to the east, toward the Imperials, rather than opening fire on his current position.
Jason also confirmed that Bokerov’s units appeared on the overhead map once again.
“Bokerov is back on our side,” Jason transmitted to the War Forgers and their clones.
“About time,” Jerry said.
“How are we doing on the Imperial bioweapons?” Jason asked.
“We’ve almost eliminated all of them,” Jerry replied. “Problem is, the enemy mechs are still keeping us pinned, and the flyers still harass us from above. Plus they’ve positioned a few of their airships overhead, and have been raining down hell.”
“Combine as soon as Bokerov begins the attack,” Jason said. “We’ll win this yet. Are you able to tell how the battle inside the city is going?”
“No,” Jerry said. “We’re just going to have to hope that Risilan can hold off the prince’s detachment until we can clean up out here.”
Jason, Aria and Lori rushed back toward the other Originals. Tara, Sophie and Xin met them halfway; Maeran, Iris and Cheyanne were also with the three of them, along with the Rex Wolves. Iris and Cheyanne were hanging onto the leashes of the dogs, for now.
“You should have stayed with the clones,” Jason accosted Maeran, Iris and Cheyanne.
“No,” Maeran said. “You’re our battle leader. We belong with you.”
By then, according to the map, Bokerov’s units had reached the west side of the Imperials, and had begun to bombard the aliens, so Jason initiated the combine. The other War Forgers were doing likewise, judging from the way their dots moved together on the overhead map.
Jason flashed into his virtual reality, and held hands with the waiting girls.
They joined minds, and he knew all their deepest, darkest secrets, and also felt their hopes and dreams, and the fears they had about the coming battle. He had slept with each of them at least once by that point. They had truly become his battle harem. He loved them all, and they would know that now, in this fleeting moment while they were combined. And he realized that they all loved him too, in return, despite the masks they might wear when separated.
“We’ll do well,” Jason said. “I know we will.”
“I hope you’re right,” Xin said.
Jason returned to the real world, and waited while the different mechs mounted one another, forming the final, joined body.
When it was done, he sat his final form upright, and then clambered to his feet, towering nearly to the top of the canopy formed by the trees. He had to bow his head slightly to fit beneath the branches.
On the ground beside him, Cheyanne, Maeran, Iris, and the dogs reached to his hips.
“It’s time to help the Modlenth,” Jason said.
He turned to the northeast, and hurried to join the front lines of the attack from that direction.
When Jason could make out the Imperial mechs in the foliage ahead, and the flyers darting underneath the trees to fire at other combined Cataphracts, Iris and Cheyanne unleashed the dogs. The Rex Wolves raced into the fray, ripping and tearing.
Jason fired the plasma beam from his hip, and tore a swath through several Plasma Throwers. He also hit a few Phasers, who faded out before the impact. He followed up with quick railgun bursts from his shoulder to eliminate the Phasers when they reappeared.
A missile came in from above the trees, and Jason raised his shield. It impacted: black liquid coated a small portion along the edge of the shield, solidifying a moment later. He rubbed the glob with his finger, breaking away the affected portion—might as well rid himself of the damaged section now, since it would crumble as soon as an enemy struck it.
He approached the area where the alien bomber had carved a clearing in the trees. Most of the Cataphracts were occupied there.
Jason fired the energy cannon on his shoulder, targeting the different flyers. Airships were also there, hovering above the crater, and one of them unleashed a barrage his way; he was forced to bring his shield in front of him.
He reached John at the edge of the crater, who was also shielding himself. Jerry was doing the same beside him.
“Use your shields!” Jason said. “Bowl them over!”
Jason, John, and Jerry interlocked their shields, and stepped into the smooth blast crater. The dirt shifted under their weight, creating small steps in the concave surface.
Flyers attacked from behind, and Jason activated his body-wide energy shield for protection, as did John and Jerry.
Jason and the others batted aside the smaller flyers in front of them with their shields; usual
ly the craft recovered, but some crashed into nearby trees, or the ground. When they reached the airships that were hovering just inside the crater at torso height, they promptly shoved their shields into the larger craft, and forced them to tip over.
The exposed vessels didn’t crash, so Jason moved his shield out of the way and sliced through one of them. John and Jerry did the same with the other airships in front of them.
Some of the bulky airships behind them tried to take flight, but the Cataphracts of Jones and Julian intercepted them from behind and swung their swords into the ships, taking them down. When they crashed, sometimes the units spilled mechs, other times bioweapons. Sometimes they were empty.
Either way, the dogs, along with Cheyenne, Maeran, and Iris, were there to intercept the smaller opponents.
When the crater was clear, Jason turned around. So far none of the other mechs had attacked. They were occupied defending against Bokerov, at least that was what the map reported. The sky was still full of flyers that were constantly incoming to assault Jason and his team, however.
Jason’s energy shield was still active, protecting him from those assaults, but it ran out of power and failed soon after.
“Well, we can’t teleport anymore, nor turn invisible,” Aria said. “You spent all the power we had for those operations on the shield. And we can fire limited energy, plasma and lightning bolts.”
“That’s fine,” Jason said. “We still have our sword, and ballistic shield.”
Jason lifted the shield into place, and then rushed the flyers. He swept his sword in an arcing motion, and cut through four of the flyers at once. Their shields had been weakened from the previous strikes the War Forgers had made while separated, and probably from Bokerov’s attacks.
With those flyers clear, he returned to the forest. Several of the trees here had fallen in the attack. Those that remained were mostly stripped of their leaves, allowing Jason to sight the different flyers and airships that remained above them.
He cut through those branches with his sword, making room to attack the flyers beyond. The Imperial airships and flyers got smart then, and pulled to a greater height. That only further exposed them to Bokerov’s army, and the Cataphracts and tanks from the west side lit into them.