by Harper North
“A library,” Lucky says. “That’s what it looks like to me. A lot of these ancient cities have them.”
After checking for traps and finding none, we step inside and discover a relatively intact place. Shelves of dusty data projectors tower overhead. It’s cooler here and my armor stops having to expend energy to protect me. A skylight allows pale light through, which illuminates a round data terminal not unlike the Save Stations. There’s no better way to say that a landmark is important in this game.
“Bingo,” Vadie says. “Let’s check that out.”
I’m first to the terminal. I place my hand on the touchpad to activate it. Green screens located around the terminal burst to life, displaying alien symbols from neither Earth nor Mera.
“It’s data, but I can’t understand it,” I tell the others.
My log displays a blue message.
Unknown data downloaded.
“That is helpful,” The Hermit says after a pause. “The ancient race who inhabited this city built this terminal to monitor all activity in this metropolis. It is still functioning after all this time.”
I want to say that was better than great. Instead, I wait for The Hermit to continue because the others are looking at me, waiting for direction on what to do next.
“Do you want me to tell you about this city’s activities?”
Turning away, I type YES in all caps.
“I am sorry I have angered you. These logs tell of a cluster who have stationed themselves on the eastern side of this city, away from the lava flows. It may be possible to use your sniping skills on them. There are two more clusters stationed on the western and southern part of this map. Trade often happens between them as they all bring loot into the city. This appears to be a cooperative network of Raider clusters. I cannot detect the Artifact you are searching for, but the eastern cluster has been here longest, and appears to be guarding an entrance to an underground section of this city.”
“My data says there are clusters in this city. Raiders,” I say to the others after what is probably too long of a pause. “They may know where our Artifact may be. Come on. To the eastern side we go. And this might help us level up again.”
When I think about it, there’s no better way for the game to hide such a powerful Artifact than to bury it in a mob-less, crumbling city that invites rogue clusters to set up camp. The Gangras Region could be mistaken for an Uncharted area. It takes us several minutes to walk through the city and over bridges to the eastern area.
And, when we see the cluster stationed on the city’s eastern outskirts, I’m sure this is the right place. We’ve climbed the inside of a stone tower overlooking their camp in the distance. It’s a flat area that may have once served as a landing strip for spacecraft. The camp has a Beacon, several off-road vehicles parked in a row, constructed metal barracks, and low buildings. From up here, I spot figures milling around, but we’re too far away to see the cluster player’s usernames and levels.
“They like explosives,” Lucky says. “That pit over there. Look.”
We crowd around a stone window and look to where he points. Off the landing strip, right beside the crumbled ruins of a building that once sported antennas and other high-tech gear, is a pile of Nitro Bombs and a narrow pit leading underneath the destroyed building.
“Is that the lab TheBigGuy had mentioned?” Coco_Dream asks. “They’re trying to get to something underground.”
“Whatever it is,” I say, “this cluster wants it. There must be two dozen of them. Even if they’re all Level 20, which I doubt since they’ve been here for this long, we’re not going to pick them all off before they realize we’re up here.”
“This is crazy,” Vadie says. “We can’t kill them all before they murder us.”
“Maybe we can,” GloryStealer says.
“My point exactly,” Vadie says.
“The bigger problem right now is that Beacon,” Lucky says, pointing, then turns to us. “We’ll need to be whitelisted to enter. I bet the Beacon’s range surrounds their project by the hole.”
“Then, we might have to force someone,” I say. “Baiting out a member might be the solution. Prepare to die a lot, and don’t leave anything valuable in your hotbars.”
“That’s not how things are done,” Vadie says. “You’re leading us into craziness. I didn’t join to get killed all the time like GloryStealer over here.”
“You want us to sacrifice ourselves for you?” GloryStealer asks me, changing his tune. “What did you make this cluster for? To gain XP and money for yourself? It’s supposed to be about helping its members level up.”
“And you have,” I say, glaring at him. “Four levels. You’re getting better and you have Plasteel Armor now.”
“Can you leave her alone?” Coco_Dream asks. “She needs these Artifacts and yes, she is helping us all level up. We’re all getting something out of this.”
I swallow. “I need these Artifacts because I have serious debts to pay off, okay? I also need to help a friend on Earth. Making a deal with TheBigGuy is the only way I can get there because the ICC sure won’t honor its promise to take me to Earth in real life. If I don’t get there, my friend might die, and it would be a horrible dishonor not to help a friend after he’s helped me. Once we’re done with these crazy missions, I’ll split all this loot and any extra XP I get from TheBigGuy with all of you. It’s only fair. I don’t even have to keep any extra XP for myself.”
The others stare at me, silent with shock.
“We’re a team,” I add. “AnythingCanHappen, remember? We can become a top cluster in no time.” I still won’t tell them about The Hermit. “This is about all of us. I’m glad we’re doing this together.”
I’ve said the right words. Vadie gulps and nods. “So, how do we all end up dying this time?”
“GloryStealer and I will snipe,” I say. “We won’t pick off many of those players and it’s going to depend on their levels. Vadie, you pull them over here as much as you can. Get someone out of the Beacon’s area of effect and trap them. If they have good stuff in their hotbar, all the better. Those lava streams might prove useful. We all know what lava does. But make sure you can handle it.”
Vadie grins at me. “You’re evil.”
“Don’t forget it,” I quip back with a half-smile and Vadie’s grin grows even wider.
“What about us?” Coco asks.
“Distract them ground-level as much as you can,” I say.
Our cluster scatters, leaving GloryStealer and I on the top level to prepare for sniping out the window. The Beacon continues to send its white beam into the sky, protecting the excavation site. Once I get the signal from Vadie over the comm, I raise my Rifle and peer through the scope.
It’s a standard cluster of Raiders, milling around. Some stand in groups and one wanders over by the Nitro Bombs, which look like green, glowing crates stacked near the hole.
“Can we blow those up?” GloryStealer asks, reading my mind.
“I could . . . You can’t shoot that far yet.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Because we might need the Nitro Bombs for getting underground. They’re not in position.”
“But that guy over there would be sorry.”
“We need to kill a lot of them. And until we have someone whitelist us, we can’t get inside.”
“Nobody’s going to do that.”
“Stick with the lower-level players for now. My scope can make out their usernames. Yours can’t yet. I see a Level 7 guy over there by the row of vehicles. See him? Shoot him in the head. I’ll stick with the Level 20’s.”
GloryStealer, amazingly, obeys. He shoots a guy who goes down as sparks fly from his head. A critical hit. The other cluster members continue to speak with each other for a bit before noticing their fallen friend. A pair of Androids wander over as if confused.
“Whoa!”
“They’re not used to attacks,” I say, firing on a Level 23 Android. She jolts but
doesn’t go down. My red target locks onto her head next. My 4th Tier Scope boosts my Sniper Dead Eye by 5 points and the accuracy is really showing now that I’ve leveled up the base stat.
With another shot, she goes down.
Almost immediately, the cluster scrambles around in chaotic patterns as they realize they’re under attack. The Beacon continues to work, but a dozen players turn their gazes up to the only tall building we could be hiding in.
“Crap!” GloryStealer1 yells.
Scanning, I see too late as another Sniper—a Level 25 Human—crouches, aims at us, and fires.
Darkness follows.
YOU HAVE FALLEN IN BATTLE!
I respawn back at the Jump Pod, near the ramshackle Save Station, as I expected I would. A second later, GloryStealer appears next to me. Our hotbars are empty and the contents are with our corpses back in the tower. Without a word, the two of us bolt to the city’s eastern side as red dots enter the edge of my map. The rogue cluster has emerged from its Beacon zone. Enemy players. My log tells me that Vadie has also fallen in battle. We have ten minutes before our hotbars become public property, but at least now I know the way back.
When we turn down the street and cross over the last bridge, I find Coco_Dream holding her own against three lower-level players who gang up on her with Blasters. Vadie_77 huffs behind us and GloryStealer1 lags behind. I watch as the three players go down under triple beams. Lucky waits in a doorway, sheltered from the fray.
“Lucky!” I shout. “Throw those corpses in the lava river! Burn up their hotbars!“ Lava, along with plasma, can burn corpses even before the ten-minute grace period ends. It’s the worst death in the game.
I’m grateful for the Speed boost given to me by leveling up. It’s only taken a few minutes to get back here. I duck behind a building and pull up my inventory. I have a spare Sniper Rifle which I equip. A Level 13 Android runs at Lucky as he drags a corpse toward the stream of molten rock behind him. He doesn’t bother to loot it. It’s only a Level 8, after all.
“Why are all these guys pathetic?” Vadie asks.
I fire without peering through my scope. The Level 13 Android goes down, a Ground Bomb in his hand. He’s got a point. This cluster, despite being old, has left only low and mid-level players around to guard this excavation site. The Level 25 Human who killed me was the last semi-high player that I’ve seen.
“We’ll find out later!” I shout, running into the tower. “Keep fighting!”
Blasts and explosions continue below. A Reflecting Star squeals as it bounces off crumbling stone buildings near us. When I reach the top level, I find two male avatars in leather vests standing over my corpse, ready to loot whatever a Level 29 player might have. Another one is watching the stairs.
And he’s Level 19.
Though he equips a Sniper Rifle, I’m quicker to the draw, having better Speed points. I fire a critical hit to the head at close range and he goes down, leaving his Level 25 friend by the window.
It’s the Human Sniper who got a lucky shot on me. A ragged star tattoo covers one half of his face. Rifle raised, he’s taken my position in the window and plans to snipe my clustermates.
“Hey!” GloryStealer shouts, coming up the stairs behind me.
The Sniper, WagMyTail41, sneers and curls his finger around the trigger.
I dodge to the side, moving faster than I ever have.
He fires.
And GloryStealer curses as his shot finds him. I land, log flashing that he’s fallen in battle yet again. Now he’ll yell about me sacrificing him, but that will come later.
I shoot, landing a shot on the man’s chest. He staggers back with the hit’s force as the bullet bounces off his Titanium Armor. Leaning back, he catches his balance on the windowsill as his health bar drops by two-thirds. I’m deadlier than him. Launching myself off the floor, I ram into his avatar, shoving him back and over the windowsill. I must have more Strength than he does, too, because he falls to the rubble of pavement below.
His health bar depletes as his corpse lands on a broken street lamp, rolls, before disappearing into a stream of lava with a hiss.
“Kiss your hotbar goodbye,” I say, gathering my wits and looting my corpse. I take back the 4th Tier Sniper Scope and other rifle, equipping it.
When I get back down to the surface, corpses dot the streets, mostly belonging to the rogue cluster. Coco_Dream21 stands with her Blaster steaming while it’s cooling down. Lucky_Champ runs back over the bridge from the Save Station’s direction and loots his corpse. We’ve all died during this battle but come out on top. It doesn’t seem right. After GloryStealer1 returns from the Save Station, we all stare at each other as Lucky drags a Level 16 corpse to the lava river.
“There’s no more need,” I tell him. “This was too easy. A cluster who’s guarding something amazing wouldn’t have left Level 5 to 25 players as guards. This cluster isn’t running back here to fight us some more, either. They must have a Save Station of their own nearby.”
“Maybe they know that lava sucks,” Lucky_Champ says. “And that there’s no point in trying.”
“Don’t get full of yourself,” I say. “And we have no one alive to force a whitelisting. We can’t dangle any valuable loot over lava and make them betray their cluster, as I’d hoped. Nobody will have anything of worth.”
“The Beacon just turned off,” Coco_Dream says.
I turn. She’s right. The Beacon no longer shoots a bright beam into the air. The landing strip is now free for us to explore.
“Maybe it’s a low-level Beacon that shuts off automatically when all of a cluster’s members die and don’t return to its area for a few minutes,” Lucky says. “Level 1 Beacons do that. It leaves them free for looting and XP gathering. It’s why most clusters don’t bother with them. Thankfully, the one we looted was Level 2. We should get in there and set up our own camp around that excavation site.”
“Maybe,” I say, unable to shake my unease.
But we have no other choice. I try to tell myself that maybe this cluster stole the area from another, but what The Hermit said doesn’t match up with that explanation. We walk over one final lava bridge. My map remains empty of everything living except for us. We’re able to step onto the landing strip and toward the Beacon. Lucky explains that Beacons can run off stored XP versus electricity, a feature that encourages clusters to constantly gather and deposit it. Since I’ve never messed with Beacons—not my thing—I don’t know much about them.
The round stand remains off as we approach. Lucky taps its control panel. “Well, there’s two thousand XP in here for each of us,” he says. “We can either drain the XP or set it up for our cluster, but that takes ten minutes to go through and activate.”
“Ten minutes?” I ask, thinking.
“Yeah. It’s a feature to prevent a cluster from setting one up during a boss fight and cheating.”
“We already have a better Beacon if we need it,” I say. “Drain it.” We don’t have ten minutes to set it up for our cluster.
Lucky types something on the pad and the two thousand XP appear in my view. That’s two more upgrades I can spend once we’re out of here. The Beacon powers down with a sad hum.
I’m up to 2550 XP points. I need five thousand more for that coveted Level 30.
“I hope this isn’t a mistake,” Vadie_77 says. “We might need to set this up, if that cluster comes back.”
Lucky turns and freezes. Then he says a swear word and I know that Vadie’s fear has been confirmed. Lucky’s gaze locks on the corner of his vision.
“It was a trap, wasn’t it?” I ask. “What do you see on your map?”
“Dots. They’re coming from the city’s western part.”
I gulp. “How many?”
“I don’t know,” Lucky says. “About fifty?”
CHAPTER 7
“It’s a setup,” Coco_Dream shouts.
“What is?” GloryStealer asks.
“Fifty . . . sixty . . . I think th
is cluster has about a hundred members,” Lucky_Champ says, looking back and forth. His map might have a good reach, but he can’t yet get a visual on the approaching cluster.
Vadie looks at me, waiting for me to make a decision. It’s no wonder this cluster left such low-level players around this place. Maybe they wait for parties like ours to come in looking for the Artifact and then they steal everything from the party they trapped. I think of the lava and what a good threat it will be once all these players get here—and I’m sure they include the ones we killed and dumped in the lava streams. They’ll want revenge. I’ve heard horror stories of rogue clusters imprisoning other players as punishment until they give up their inventories.
Time’s a ticking.
“Lucky_Champ,” I say, gulping. “Set off the EMP Bomb.”
He shrugs. “We don’t know the area of effect!”
The Hermit speaks. “I have meditated on the properties of this device, and—’”
“What’s the area of effect?” I yell. A horde of dots enter my map. I estimate they’ll arrive in two minutes. Everyone’s so freaked out that they must think I’m yelling at poor Lucky_Champ.
“You are talking in all caps.”
“Please . . .”
“Three kilometers.”
“Set it off!” I yell. “It should last us long enough to figure out what to do,” I say. “It might buy us time. Vadie. Coco_Dream. Move those explosives closer to the hole. We’ll escape to the underground and seal the entrance behind us.”
Lucky_Champ waves his arms until he equips the EMP Bomb. The glowing sphere gives off a glow not unlike the lava as he presses the button and grimaces. The object hums as it rises off his gloved hand and shoots high into the air, disappearing into the clouds.
With an explosion, an orange ring of light expands overhead.
A red message flashes in my log:
DANGER! EMP detected. Armor damage reduction decreased by 50%. Some weapons unusable. Armor can no longer protect against heat or cold. (Duration: 30:00.)