by Tony Corden
Leah walked forward to the employment officer and said, “Here is one gold, I would like to try Job 2312.”
She was given a security card, directions to the section and a small metal container. The employment officer said, “If you completely eradicate the vermin the container will open and inside is a keycard which gives access to the unexplored areas. If you die or leave the station the container will automatically return to the employment office.”
A player behind Leah said in a loud voice, “Another sucker for 2312.”
Leah turned around to see a human player who said, “I’ve tried that a hundred times and so have most people. There are just too many rodents. By the time you kill them all, you only have about an hour to explore and most people die in the first ten metres of the tunnel.”
Leah smiled and said, “Thank you for the heads up. I guess I’ll know better next time.”
As she walked off, she said to Gèng, “Send me everything you can find on the rodents they have here.”
It took her just over an hour to read all the material and decide on a course of action. She visited an outfitter to buy some gadgets and then headed for the warehouse. The room was large and rectangular. It contained rows of crates, all of them different lengths and heights. The forums suggested that around the room were 150 rodents, each the size of a cat. When you saw them they would head for you, and you needed to shoot them with a blaster of flechette. Unless you saw them, they would not attack but would hide. As soon as Leah arrived she saw a couple of rodents which immediately turned and raced toward her. She carefully shot each one with her flechette gun and reaped their tails.
She made her way into the centre of the room but only saw two more of the large rats, which she killed. Finally, she was standing in the centre of the room. She slowly turned and checked everything but couldn’t see any more rodents. She had read reports that recommended you hunt the rats systematically starting in one corner, people had found this to be the quickest way to find them all. Instead, she pulled ten small drones from her bag. They had cost her three platinum to buy and have their programming tweaked. She released them, and they flew rapidly to the perimeter of the room. As soon as they arrived they began emitting a high pitched sound that was emitted at a frequency too high for humans to hear. Leah had read a comment in one forum that the rats were irritated by sounds with this frequency. The drones then flew in a set pattern, flushing the rodents out from behind the various crates and herding them toward the centre.
The only downside, Leah realised after a moment, was the number of rats who were driven into her line of sight. Within seconds she was being rushed by dozens of the cat-sized rodents. She began shooting, and her finger never left her trigger as the waves of rats seemed to come continually. In the end, she had to use the Nano Sabres to protect herself. Five minutes after the drones began, they were all hovering around Leah who was surrounded by a metre high ring of rodents. She put the drones away, and then collected all the tails. She was pleased when the final tail was collected, and the small container opened. Inside was a second keycard. A green line appeared. This led to an almost invisible hatch hidden in the floor. She had six hours remaining to investigate the tunnels.
Leah inserted the keycard, and the hatch slid back to reveal a vertical shaft which dropped almost five metres to a right-angled bend and the start of another tunnel in the level below. The comments said that everyone made it to the level below but most failed to travel much further due to several traps using lasers that were triggered by motion. The few who had gone past the lasers had made numerous attempts and mapped out a route which avoided the sensors. The route could be purchased for several Platinum. Leah had decided to attempt the tunnels first, before purchasing the map. She remembered her comment to Eli about how much more rewarding it is to discover things for yourself.
Rather than hurry through the five-metre drop, she moved slowly, using her arms, feet and back to slow her decent, she checked every surface and every join. About half-way down she saw a small groove about the size and shape of the top of a screw. She took a screwdriver from her toolkit and tried to push the groove or slide it. Eventually, she turned it and found that it actually was a screw. The edges blended perfectly with the surface. When the screw was removed a small cover came loose revealing a switch pointing up. She pushed it down until she heard a click. She then heard a ticking sound. She remained still, hoping she hadn’t activated a bomb or something. After about twenty-seconds, the ticking stopped, and the switch returned automatically to the up position. She said to Gèng, “I’ll do that again and can you please measure the interval and give me a timer for it.”
She again pushed down on the switch and heard the ticking. Gèng said, “The first time the switch took twenty-five seconds to reset, the second time it took twenty-seconds.”
Leah thought for a moment and said, “Put the timer at fifteen-seconds. I’ll turn it off and make a dash to get past the lasers. I hope the cutoff point to the danger zone is obvious.”
She steadied herself, and when she was calm, she flipped the switch, dropped the final two-and-half metres and ran along the new tunnel. She had moved almost thirty metres down the tunnel when she noticed the surface ahead was a slightly different colour. She slowed and stopped with her feet on the new section. She crouched down and waited for the timer to expire. She waited a further ten-seconds and then very carefully took a step. When nothing happened, she took several deep breaths and resumed examining the tunnels.
The next trap was a disappearing panel, she was carefully testing each footstep and wasn’t too surprised when the panel dropped into a cavity in the floor. She could see a sudden arc of electricity pass through the hole. If she had put her weight on the floor, she would have fallen and been electrocuted. There was a thin ledge on one side which she was able to use to cross the chasm. There were several such traps, spikes, lasers, even one with a change of gravity. Being slow and measured, checking each step and looking for changes in patterns she was able to navigate them all by going around or finding the right switch or knob to press or turn. The gravity trap was deactivated by a hidden knob which she set to zero gravity and then propelled herself across the chasm.
Finally, she came to a T-junction and had to decide which way to go. She went left. She was constantly looking around and searching for something out of the ordinary. This was how she found her first bonus item. The left hand tunnel was a dead end but she saw another small groove in a panel which opened a small cupboard and inside was a hundred gold coins and an unusual blaster. Cosmos Online didn’t have the Identify function and players either had to work things out on their own or have items identified at specific shops or vendors.
She retraced her steps and headed down the right hand branch, which brought her to the entrance of a maze. In the maze were a number of traps with the added bonus of an occasional rodent. The first section of the tunnels took an hour-and-a-half; this took almost two as she carefully mapped the corridors and traps. In the centre of the maze, she found another small compartment with a keycard and another hundred gold. Finally, at the end of the maze she came to another hatch which opened automatically into a large room filled with crates and machinery.
Leah carefully stepped into the room and would probably have died then if she hadn’t purchased the stronger armour. A blaster bolt hit her shoulder, which flared in sudden agony. She dove to her right and slid behind a large crate. Her suit had already begun to apply pain relief and a shot of regrow. She slithered forward and could see several figures moving through the room. As she moved, one swivelled in her direction, but this time she was ready for the shot and had ducked back behind the crate. Over the next few minutes, she discovered that the figures were automated and only fired at movement, they didn’t chase the culprit. She removed a drone and set it to fly toward the roof and map the room. It had travelled less than half the distance when it was destroyed.
Leah took a blaster from her bag and with a quick movement l
ooked and shot one of the figures. The blaster had no effect, except this time the figure began to move in her direction. Over the next five minutes, she was forced to play hide and seek with what turned out to be a robotic pest controller. Neither her blaster nor flechette gun had any effect, so she took out the blaster from the first section of tunnels. When she depressed the trigger on this, instead of the usual red laser bolt, a small white pellet of what she assumed was plasma fired from the barrel. When it hit the robot, it burned a hole through it and melted a large portion of the insides.
From then on she found it was a straightforward exercise to search for and destroy the robots. When the last robot died, there was a small clanging sound and another green line was projected onto her vision. She decided to look around before following it to see if there was any hidden loot. This turned out to be unwise. Ten minutes after killing the robots the clanging noise resumed, the green pathway disappeared, and with a flurry, another ten robots made their way into the room. Leah was caught in the open but managed to find a place to hide after being shot once in the ankle and once in the back. Her suit informed her that medical supplies were now at twenty-five percent and her suit's durability had dropped to fifty percent.
She knew what to do and once more destroyed the robots, and again the next section opened for her; this time she hurried to the opening. She had less than an hour and a half remaining. Carefully she walked into the next room. Inside was a spaceship, or maybe more accurately, a fighter. It was different to any she had seen previously, it had a central spherical body with a radius of four metres, surrounded by thirty or so spikes of all different sizes protruding from the main surface. It looked like models she had seen of spherical viruses. There was also a pattern in the spikes that seemed to whirl around the ship. The main section of the ship was raised three metres above the surface of the hanger and rested on four of the spikes. From the base of the sphere was a ladder descending to the floor. Leah approached and slowly climbed the ladder. Inside were a cockpit and a Captain's chair.
She sat in the chair and placing her hand on the palm reader took the keycard and inserted it into the slot available. A voice said, “Before ownership can be transferred, this Plasma Starfighter must be flight ready, please complete the checklist which has been made available to your AI.”
Gèng made the list visible for Atherleah. The list included loading ordinance, refuelling, a complete safety check and the request to change two seals which had degraded over time. Each item on the list included explanations of how to complete the task. Leah checked her time, and she had just over an hour. With Gèng reading the explanations aloud and her moving as rapidly as she could she finished with fifteen minutes to spare. She returned to the cockpit and again inserted the keycard, laying her hand on the palm reader.
This time a voice said, "Welcome, Atherleah. You are the new owner of this Plasma Starfighter. You need to register a name for your vessel."
While working, Leah had been thinking of what she might call the ship and she said, “Please name the vessel Influenza A.”
“That name is unique. Your registration is complete. Your AI has been given control of the Influenza A. Enjoy your day.”
One wall of the hanger opened and Leah, who was now qualified to fly the ship gently eased it out of the hanger and into space. Moments later Gèng had contacted the station and arranged for a place to dock. Leah said, “Is there room for this on the Betrayal?”
“Yes, but it will be best to load it when both are away from the station.”
Leah had Gèng complete the docking and was looking around the ship when Gèng said, “Leah, I suggest you hurry, several pictures of the Influenza A have already hit the forums, people are heading toward the dock to see who found such a unique ship.”
Leah quickly exited and made her way to the hotel. She logged off with a smile on her face.
Leah was early for the evening meal but couldn’t wait, so she pulled together a couple of sandwiches and began eating. Her mother said, “That’ll spoil your dinner.”
Conner, who was walking through, said, “I doubt it, she eats at least twice what I do, and she looks skinnier than ever.”
Lin took a look at Leah and said, “He’s right Ling, you do look like you’ve lost some weight. Are you well?”
“I’m fine thanks, mum, I have a higher metabolism at the moment and probably should eat a little more. Maybe you could get some extra snacks in. Healthy ones of course, but Gèng’s reminded me I need over double what I used to eat.”
After her sandwiches, Leah checked on John and was told he was due at the compound within five minutes. She rushed down and found John surrounded by some guards, all teasing him about his bald head. She waited until they had finished and then walked him to the room with his new pod and said, “I expect it won’t be until tomorrow when you begin to interact with your AI. Gèng and I have been discussing it, and she suggested that I talk you through what to expect and how to begin developing your AI. I’m about to go into Dunyanin. Do you want to talk now, at ten tonight, or in the morning?”
“At ten if that’s all right with you, I promised Jen I would have dinner with her family tonight.”
“Ten is fine, I’ll see you then. Say hi to Jen for me.”
Leah headed inside, and after a shower, she got into the Pod and walked into the Dunyanin portal. She arrived in the cabin. It was empty, so she headed to the deck. When she arrived on the poop deck she saw both RJ and Rana. She checked and saw all three pirate vessels in a line behind the carrack. RJ saw her arrive and called out, “Excellent timing, we should be seeing Ticareti at any time. I expect to dock within the hour. What are you going to do with your captures?”
“I’ll probably sell them, I’m unlikely to need another ship for a while, and when I do, it’ll probably be custom made.”
“Why would you need a custom-made ship?”
“I’ll be heading for Dragonbone Island.”
“Point taken. My men have searched the boats and want to know what to do with all the items they found on board - various weapons, cargo, food, etc.”
“I’ll arrange for a wagon or wagons to collect it, and they can take it to my clan headquarters. I expect we’ll arrange for most of it to be sold. How about you, where do you go from here?”
“Well, I was thinking of hanging around for a bit and maybe bidding on one of the ships. Maybe I’ll own a fleet eventually, not just the one ship.”
“My AI informs me they are probably worth just over a diamond each.”
“That’s probably a little low, they appear well made, and you didn’t do any damage when capturing them.”
“You can have your pick for one diamond, no need to bid.”
“Deal.”
RJ said he would examine the ships when they reached port and finalise the sale. Just then, the man in the crow’s nest gave the call that Ticareti was in sight. Leah said to Gèng, “Can you please contact Thad and the others and let them know we’ll be arriving at the port within the hour.”
It was just under an hour later as they were approaching the docks that Leah saw Thad, Amy, Zack, Wisp and James all lined up on the wharf waiting for her. Almost without thinking, she teleported across and grabbed Thad in a hug. She released him, and then hugged the others who were staring at her in shock. She said, “New trick. I’ll explain everything later.”
Thad said, “Why are there four boats?”
“Um, well one is the carrack we hired to get here. The other three we claimed from pirates. I’ve already sold one. Can someone help me find some wagons to carry the cargo and loot?”
Amy grabbed Leah and said, “First, who is ‘we’?”
“Oh, yeah, I have a companion, she’s the high elf you can see on the first ship who is standing there and watching us.”
“I expect a fuller account later, but the second question: what pirates?”
“Well, we were attacked by three pirate ships owned indirectly by Merideath, and I decided t
o claim them and rescue some slaves she had coerced on board. Altogether, ninety on three ships and 390 when the developers closed down the clan running the pirates.”
“Third question, what is a Plasma Starfighter?”
“What? How did you hear about that?”
“It’s all over the Cosmos Online forums. Apparently, people have worked out that a player named Atherleah finally finished Job 2312 and got a unique ship as a prize. You are the only Atherleah we know, so …?”
“So, I had a free day and decided to do a quest like any other starting player. It was a lot of fun, and that was the prize.”
Zack said, “Leah, I did that job almost a hundred times and finally mapped out the lasers but never had time to finish the next section, how did you do it?”
“There is a switch to turn off the lasers. Then it's easy just to run past them.”
“How long did it take to kill the rats?”
“About ten minutes! Look, here comes Rana, I’ll introduce you all, and then we can discuss this other stuff later.”
“Ten minutes! How did you do it in ten minutes? That’s impossible.”
“Nope. Just used some drones equipped with high-frequency speakers and drove them out of their hiding places. Anyway, here is Rana. Rana, these are my friends Thad, Amy, Wisp, James and Zack.”
After the introductions, she introduced them to RJ and then they met the port authorities to pay excise on the goods and the docking fees. RJ agreed to sell the boats for her. By the time this was all done, Thad had arranged wagons to transport the various goods from the ships. Altogether it was two hours before the seven of them got into a carriage Thad had arranged, and headed for the Clan Mansion. Once they arrived, Amy and Wisp dragged Leah and Rana around the house for a look and introduced Leah to the staff. It was late morning by the time they were all sitting in one of the main lounge areas, and Thad said, “So what are our plans?”