by Paul Ormond
Contents
cover
copyright
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
links
about
Mitch Mythic
Book 4:
The Most Dangerous
Mitch in the Multi-verse.
By
Paul Ormond
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Paul Ormond
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright
owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]
FIRST EDITION
www.paulormondauthor.com
Cover art: Stuart Bache
For the dreamers.
CHAPTER ONE
“WHERE ARE WE on this goddamn kill world thing?” General Vargas said as he strode into the command center.
“It’s called DeathWorld, sir,” a soldier wearing camouflage fatigues said, saluting the General.
“I don’t care what it’s called. I just want to know why the top intelligence officers in the world can’t tell me what the hell is going on.”
“It’s more complicated than it seems, sir.”
“It’s more complicated than it seems? Are you telling me that a bunch of kids have out-smarted the US government? It will not please the American people to learn that we’ve been sitting here getting our asses kicked at a video game while a group of terrorists build a hacker army right under our noses. Somebody, bring me something, or I’ll have all of you shipped off to Mogadishu and placed on mine sweeping duty.”
“That’s just it, Sir,” a soldier said from the back. “If this was about bringing down bad guys, we’d be all over it, but we’re not talking about catch and kill. Whoever set up this puzzle put it together with a specific target in mind.”
“And who the hell might that be?” General Vargas shouted after he stepped up on to the dais at the center of the room.
“Gamers, sir,” a man dressed in plain clothes said from across the room. “We’ve got intel officers that can run deep algorithms and war games, but we’re not operating in a space that plays by the same rules.”
“We’ll let’s just shut the damn thing down then,” Vargas shouted.
“It’s more complicated than that, sir,” the man in the suit said before he stepped toward the General’s podium. “The fact that these groups are operating out in the open plays well for us. The Cell has turned avoiding our detection into an art form on the deep web. Having a direct window into their operation is something the intelligence community is reluctant to let go.”
“Yeah, I get it. Keep ‘em close, but why the hell haven’t we gotten anywhere? I’ve got the Joint Chiefs breathing down my neck at the cost of this operation. They want to know where these rogue units are coming from and they want to know now.”
“Perhaps it’s time to take a different approach. Our military forces only recruit soldiers over 18 years old, but the sad fact is that these young men and women are past their prime when it comes to electronic gaming. As shocking as it sounds, the average age of retirement for an e-sports player is 24 years old.”
“That’s not surprising, but I’m not sure if I can convince Congress to allow us to recruit at elementary schools.”
“You may not be seeing the forest for all the trees here, sir,” the man in the suit said while he pressed a button on the console to the left of the General and a holographic display appeared in the air.
“What we’re looking at here is the DeathWorld landscape. An entire universe operating on its own rules. It has its own language and code of conduct, and it is very much hostile to foreign intervention. An overt operation on our part is doomed to fail in this type of theater. Rather than go in with guns blazing, we should consider creating a scenario of our own that will bring the top players to us.”
“I’m listening, but I have no idea what you are talking about. It’s Daniels, right?”
“That’s right, sir, Agent Daniels from the Department of Homeland Security. It’s not a very complex idea. The Cell has hidden Easter eggs throughout this map. Each treasure reveals another piece of the puzzle. We haven’t been able to crack it because the challenges require defeating impossibly difficult opponents; however, there are individuals and clans pocketed across the globe searching for these items, if we were to recruit the top players to our cause with some enticing incentives I feel we might turn the tide.”
“I’m certain we’d be crossing any number of ethical and moral boundaries, but if it keeps our borders safe, then I’m willing to consider it. We’re getting hammered left and right since these things started popping up on our radar. Just last week a group of goons north of Kuala Lumpur hijacked a freighter carrying rare earth metals and floated the whole ship off to God knows where. Our best guess is they are planning on mass producing rogue units, but we really have no idea. This is how in the dark we are. Ever since that wormhole opened up in Kingsford, the entire security framework has been all but dismantled.”
“It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. But if we want to get the upper hand, we’re going to need to stop playing digital games with analog tactics.”
“That’s absurd. The cost of the equipment in this room is enough to buy a goddamn island in the Caribbean.”
“That may be true, but remember what happened to Robert Chapman and all of his powerful tech?”
“He was beaten on camera by a bunch of hick kids.”
“Exactly. No matter how much money we throw at this, we’re still one step behind.”
“So what do you want to do, Daniels?”
“Although young people may have the upper hand when it comes to reflexes,
they are certainly lacking in common sense and worldly experience. I spent a great deal of my career working in the Countering Violent Extremism department or CVE. This is where you encounter the worst of the worst. Sick, sick minds: white supremacists, Anarchy cults, incels, all that stuff.”
“I’m aware of these groups, but get to the point.”
“The point is, sir. These groups, as despicable as they are, do one thing very well: corrupt young minds. And they do it with a couple of simple tactics. If we take a page out of their playbooks, we may be able to recruit right out of the elite pool of players rather than try to compete in a game we don’t stand a chance of winning.”
“So draw them in with idealistic notions and sic them on our enemies? Isn’t that exactly what the Cell does?”
“Although the Cell is our target, their recruitment tactics will not be effective in this situation. I was thinking of approaching from a religious extremist position.”
“That’s interesting, but I don’t think these kids are all that interested in God.”
“That is exactly the point, but the easiest way to recruit anyone is to rally them around a martyr.”
“It’s worked in the past.”
“And who would you suggest we martyr for this purpose?”
“There is only one answer to that question, sir. And I think we both know exactly who I am talking about.”
“If you say Robert Chapman, I will slap you in the mouth.”
“Now you’re being absurd, sir. Robert Chapman is the antithesis of a martyr in this situation. I’m talking about #epiccrotchshot boy himself: Mitch Mythic.”
“Officially, he is missing, not dead.”
“True, but he checks a lot of boxes on the Martyr list: fought and defeated a foul enemy, exposed a conspiracy to enslave the planet, got sucked into a wormhole according to legend.”
“Ok, he’s our martyr, but what do we do with him?”
“It’s almost too easy, sir. This game, Deathworld, is an open slate waiting for a story line. All we need to do is feed out tidbits of information to get the rumor mill going and they’ll be ours for the taking.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Mitch Mythic is back.”
“Back from where?”
“From beyond, and he is taking the fight to the man, but we need you to help him find the tech so he can build an army, yadi, yadi, yada. We’ll build a cast of characters and get the rumor mill going. If we play it right, we’ll have them eating out of our hand. Mitch Mythic is already a cult figure, all we need to do is regenerate his character. And with all this expensive equipment and the data we’ve got on him, we shouldn’t have any problem with that.”
“It sounds better than anything we’ve done so far. What do you need to get started?”
“Let me bring in a full slate of personnel and we’ll start crafting the characters and the story line right within Deathworld. With the computing power in this room, and the MindHIve server farm next door, we’ll be able to render everything we need to recruit an army of soldiers ready and willing to die for their hero.”
“As long as we can put a stop to all of this inReal insanity, I’m fine with it. I can’t believe I’m still working out of this hellhole. The whole place gives me the creeps. But the President wants anything related to the MindHIve incident contained in these facilities, so until we can get a handle on this, we’re stuck in Kingsford. Do you think this is going to work? Everybody in Washington is freaking out about this right now. And the press has been fanning the flames across the country. I want to know that can we shut it down rather than have it go out of control again.”
“To get control of this situation, we need to do two things: Find our way through the maze and control the message. What I am proposing will do just that. Although it seems counter-intuitive now, we’ll be able to flip the situation on its head. If these kids bite on Mitch Mythic, we can turn them against the Cell and bring the fight out into the light.”
“That is something I can sell. Agent Daniels, I’m putting you in charge of this operation,” General Vargas said as he stepped away from the dais and made his way toward the exit. “Just don’t blow it on me. The last guy that made me a bunch of promises about this insanity got sucked into a wormhole and was never heard from again.”
“I will not let you down, sir,” Daniels said as he watched the stout General exit the room.
“You better not, or wormholes will be the least of your worries,” General Vargas said before a guard stepped aside to let him pass through the door.
Sliding into the chair at the center of the room, Agent Daniels placed his feet on the console before him and looked up at the DeathWorld landscape hovering overhead.
“That was almost too easy,” he said out loud. “So, Mitch Mythic, are you ready to come out of hiding and show the world what kind of hero you actually are.”
In one motion he launched out of his chair and made a fist with his hand. The holograph disappeared as he swiped to his left and stepped down to the lower level of the command center.
“Ladies and Gentleman, you heard the General. We are about to make a severe pivot and I hope that I can count on all of you to support this undertaking. If not, you can pack your bags because we only want soldiers made of sterner stuff, you got me?”
“Yes, sir,” the soldiers manning the computers said in unison.
“That was a little weak, but it will have to do,” Daniels said as he strode past the consoles lining the walkway. “We’re in the middle of a fight, people, and we are losing. If we want to turn this thing around, Uncle Sam is going to need his best people involved. I know all of you are just a bunch of desk jockeys, but let me tell you something. The war we need to win isn’t on the battlefield, it is in the minds of all those pimple popping kids running loose on the internet. Let’s turn their skills against them and get them eating out of our hands. Mitch Mythic is back and we going to make them all believe it.”
CHAPTER TWO
MITCH MYTHIC REACHED up with his left hand and rubbed sand out of his eye before sitting down on a jagged rock under a hot dry sun.
“We are gonna fry out here. It must be like a bazillion degrees right now. Does anybody know how long the days are on this godforsaken planet?” Mitch said after he looked up to the sky and placed his staff across his lap.
“We’ve only been walking for a couple hours. I’m certain you haven’t reached your breaking point already,” SoHee said as she sat down on a rock nearby.
“It’s not the walking that’s killing me,” Mitch said. “It’s the futility of the situation. We’re stumbling around on some unknown desert planet after escaping from the clutches of a monstrous AI. We could just activate our devices and get ourselves somewhere safe, then figure out a plan. If we keep this up much longer, there won’t be anything left of us.”
“We’ve been over this,” SoHee said, shading her eyes from the sun. “Activating the devices carries too many risks. We could be detected, and we don’t want to waste any power.”
“What happened to your thingy, anyway?” Mitch asked.
“It’s been acting funny for a while now. I’m not sure why I can’t activate it. Something must have happened when we jumped,” SoHee said, looking down at the cube hanging under her chin. “The same thing happened after I got captured, but that is another story.”
“Tell me all about as we march to our deaths in this desert,” Mitch said.
“There’s the Mitch Mythic I know,” SoHee said with a laugh.
“Look. I’m a realist. I can see what’s happening, and I know what’s coming,” Mitch said as he got to his feet.
“And what have you predicted, Mitch Mythic?” A stern voice said from behind.
“Stop being so dramatic, Gerald,” Mitch said. “I’m getting a little tired of pointing out the obvious. We’re in the middle of a desert with no water and no idea where we’re going.”
“After all you’ve been through, you sure don’t
have a lot of faith in your friends,” Gerald said as he sat down on a rock and wiped his brow. “Your diligent companion is currently scanning the distance for any sign of civilization.”
“There’s got to be something else going on here,” Mitch said. “What are the chances that we jumped into a random wormhole and wound up on Drak’s home world?”
“It’s a good question, but the answer may be simpler than we think,” SoHee said. “Although it seems random, from what we know about this technology, intention is key to outcome. It’s possible that Drak’s desire to return home and free his people affected the wormhole and led us here.”
“It makes sense, but how are we supposed to know that this is Chalthantar?” Mitch asked.
“We won’t know until he knows,” Gerald said as the Jarkadian survivors joined them at the outcrop.
“Any luck finding water, Tekwan?” Gerald asked after they sat down.
“This planet is bone dry,” the Jarkadian soldier said, readjusting himself on the hard rock. “We won’t last much longer out here in these conditions.”
“Finally, somebody agrees with me,” Mitch said, glancing at his companions.
“Nobody is disagreeing with you about the water, Mitch,” SoHee said while cleaning off her glasses. “This is not a good situation, but we cannot use the devices until it is absolutely necessary.”
“And when exactly will that be?”
“When I say it is,” Gerald said, cutting in.
“Is that right?” Mitch shot back.
“You kids may have all of these super powers going on, but, from what I can gather, it looks like you could use and adult in the room,” Gerald said.
“Take a look around, Gerald. We aren’t in any room right now,” Mitch said as he got up and kicked a rock. “Some super powers. We just defeated the mother of all AIs and now were going to die of thirst in a desert.”
“We’re not dead yet,” a familiar voice said from above.