by Cosimo Yap
Stop the transactions¸ Alan sent. He looked at the final NYSE totals: S&P down 22%, Dow Jones down 17%.
Alan: Isn’t this what you wanted?
Icewolf: Not like this. How many players did this go out to? How did you send the message?
Alan: A few thousand—it’s something you can do through the Administrators. You can search for players and mass-message them, though it costs 10 credits a player; thus I narrowed it down to the players above level 100 in the city. They have to have their settings open to other players messaging them, too. It’s like the call to arms quests that Control Point holders can send out.
Icewolf: I’ve never seen this option.
Alan: You probably don’t have the required standing with the faction.
Icewolf: Shit. When this job is done, you’re going to show me what else the Administrators can do for you. For now, just hold the server room.
Alan: Very well.
We have incoming, Eve sent.
Incoming? Alan asked.
In Cyberspace, a new connection formed, and another base appeared in the distance. It had a basic blue shield surrounding it, with 1,000 energy. A figure flew out of it, a robot composed of blocks in a humanoid shape. It carried an advanced laser rifle, but didn’t shoot it.
Eve flew out of the captured base to approach them. “Halt. State your business.”
“We at Nyan Tech demand you return the stolen credits and allow us to resume trading on the Market,” the robot replied.
“I cannot do that,” Eve said.
“We demand that you return the credits and open the market.”
“I cannot do that.”
The robot raised its rifle and began firing at Eve, who dove at it and sliced with her swords.
Alarmed, Alan glanced at Eve’s HP, which had taken a small hit. He sent out a squad of units to assist her.
The enemy AI managed to harm Eve, taking her HP down by 5% before being destroyed. When destroyed, it left behind a pile of scrap metal, which Eve gathered up and returned to the Armory in Alan’s base. It was worth 50C.
“Shit, it looks like the financial institutions aren’t going to go down without a fight,” Lambda said as three new connections formed. He entered a few commands into the console at the center, then strode out onto the open battlefield. Alan sent four elite marines and a medic to assist.
“How are they connecting to the server? It’s a closed system,” Alan said.
“They’re making use of their existing connection to the Market: these are the AIs being used to analyze the market. Each is rank F to D, I expect. This may be challenging,” Lambda said.
“Do you need my help?” Alan asked. “Should I—”
“NO. Stay as the commander and use the rest of the units to defend the base,” Lambda said.
Alan examined Lambda’s stats:
Lambda, Rank B AI. (Limited by hardware)
Attack rank: C. Predecessor strength.
Defense rank: A. Predecessor defense.
Movement rank: B. Predecessor speed.
Estimated Attack: 500 damage/sec.
Estimated Defense: 500 armor.
Estimated Health: 1500 hp.
Estimated Movement: 11.
Special Abilities: ???
As the three new connections finished, structures appeared: a medieval castle, a beast’s den, and the typical military base. Units began swarming out: swordsmen, attack dogs, and marines. Enemy AIs appeared as well: a knight in shining armor, a giant wolf, and a scorpion light tank.
Lambda charged straight into the middle of it all, shrugging off all attacks aimed at him, even the tank’s explosive rounds. He crushed basic units with brute force, and pummeled the knight to death before jumping on top of the wolf.
Meanwhile, five additional connections to the server materialized. Eve flew over to meet the new threat. Alan sent his remaining units to assist her.
The five bases that appeared were connected somehow—a true army base consisting not only of barracks, but factories, laser turrets, and a single airport.
A company of marines led by a marine in heavy power armor emerged from the base. Alongside them a handful of light armored vehicles with chain guns and machine guns emerged. An attack helicopter began to power up, and then rose up into the air.
“Eve, are you sure you can handle this?” Alan asked.
“Probably,” Eve said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help,” Lambda said, as he finished off the tank by tearing off the manhole and crushing the pilot.
A new connection began to form to the server.
“Damn it, will they ever stop coming? I’ll help you once I finish with this threat,” Lambda said. “Deal with the heli; I can’t reach it easily.”
“Affirmative,” Eve said as she flew toward the helicopter.
The company of marines and LAV’s fired up at Eve, but failed to pierce through her armor. Still, the sheer number of bullets damaged her; her health dropped at a rate of around 0.5% per second.
The attack helicopter fired a salvo of rockets, and Eve managed to dodge all but one, which brought her HP down by a few percentage points, to 80%. The two chain guns on the helicopter began shooting at her. The helicopter itself steered to the side, away from her.
Eve chased the helicopter down, gaining slowly.
Alan ordered the rest of his units forward to take on the bulk of the enemy’s army.
Meanwhile, the other connection finished.
A dome the size of a small town appeared.
“Shit,” Lambda said.
A stream of Haxlard soldiers emerged from the dome. They fired their laser rifles at Lambda. It took more than a few blows for Lambda to take down a Haxlard’s shields and then kill them, but they didn’t appear to do any damage to him.
Then three Haxlards in white masks appeared out of nowhere, and activated a trap that spawned a blue shield that enveloped Lambda. Lambda was stuck, unable to get out. He pounded his fists against the prison, but it didn’t waver.
Alan turned his attention back to Eve—she had caught up to the helicopter and destroyed its rotor. It fell to the floor and exploded. She had 60% hp.
Alan had let his attention waver for too long; his units had taken heavy casualties and half were wiped out, though the majority of the enemy army was destroyed as well. Alan pulled his units back, to try to stop the Haxlard forces that were now marching on his base. Eve flew down to finish off the remaining human army.
Then a flash of red. An AI appeared, a red-haired girl, armored with Haxlard stealth technology and a high-damage laser rifle.
The sniper bolt pierced one of Eve’s wings, sending her tumbling toward the ground. She landed, hard, with 40% hp remaining.
The Haxlard army turned, advancing toward Eve.
Lambda pounded against the shields he was trapped in.
“NO,” Alan shouted.
He deactivated commander mode.
He exited the base, sprinting toward the sniper, invisible.
Eve charged the Haxlard forces, which had eliminated Alan’s remaining units.
The sniper took shots at Eve. Haxlard soldiers fired at Eve. Marines fired at Eve.
Her hp fell to 25%.
Alan reached the sniper. He cut off the AI’s head with his laser sword. The sniper rifle fell to the floor.
The three white-masked Haxlards reappeared and attacked Eve, wielding laser swords.
Eve cut two of them down while under heavy laser fire.
Then a laser sword pierced her stomach. Her health fell to 0.
Eve died. Her body disappeared, leaving behind a pair of angel wings.
Chapter 19
Alan looked around and took stock of his surroundings. In Cyberspace, the NYSE server was a large, open arena, with the console at the center. His base was at 12 o’clock, the army base at 3 o’clock and the Haxlard base at 9 o’clock. He was in front of the army base.
The remaining ten marines, including the one in advanced
power armor, began firing at him. The Haxlards charged him as well.
“Retreat, get back to the Citadel!” Lambda shouted. He pounded on the shield; it displayed cracks, but kept him trapped.
Alan took Lambda’s advice, sprinting back toward his base. A few enemy shots hit him and damaged his shields.
***
Back out of Cyberspace, there was additional chatter on the security channel.
“The cyber security experts are here. We’re locking the building down; they say that the hack must be coming from inside.”
“Clear this channel. Maintain your positions.”
The channel went silent.
Panicked, Alan sent a message to Thiago, Icewolf, and Kitana.
Alan: I might need some help here.
No one responded.
Alan heard people coming down the hallway. He injected the battle stimulant Thiago had given him into his bloodstream.
He knew the side effects would be bad, but they would be worse if he died in-game while engaged in a hack, half his mind in another space.
The entire world seemed to have a red glow.
***
Alan ran too slowly. The Haxlards moved to cut him off and they reached the Citadel entrance before he did.
He would need to fight for his life.
He turned on the chasing marines, trying to deflect and dodge as much of the laser fire as he could. Would he die here?
Alan looked at his shields—they were at 50% energy.
He attacked the marines.
***
Four players in power armor came running down the hallway into the server room. They brought out black boxes and connected them to the server.
***
Additional connections formed: one, then two, then a dozen. Alan knew he had to stop them before he was overrun.
He eliminated the last of the marine programs, facing off with the enemy AI.
His shields held at 25%.
***
One swipe to the right, one to the left, and the two guards fell to the floor dead.
The players scrambled for their weapons. One ran for the door, trying to shut it.
Alan cut through them; it took two strikes, one to eliminate their shields and another to cut through their armor.
Alarms began blaring. He’d have more company soon.
***
The connection to the server finished and legions of marine programs emerged onto the battlefield to the south.
Alan chased the enemy AI, but he was too slow. The marine kited him, running around in circles, too fast for Alan to hit with his laser swords.
The Haxlards advanced.
His shields fell to 10%.
***
The players fired their laser rifles at Alan. His armor’s energy was already decreased due to the constant use of invisibility. It fell to 70% as he charged forward.
The players scrambled out of his way, but Alan wasn’t aiming for them.
He cut through the wires connecting the black boxes to the servers.
***
Alan began running back, away from the Haxlards and toward the sniper rifle that had dropped. It would weigh him down, but it would beat the zero damage he was currently outputting.
A blade appeared out of nowhere. The Haxlard assassin. Mechanically, Alan deflected the blow. He kept running.
The programs that made it into the server stayed there, but the bases they came from vanished.
Lambda finally managed to break free of the shield. He ran at the Haxlard army from behind.
***
Alan finished off the players in the server room. They hadn’t put enough points in combat abilities.
A grenade was tossed into the room.
***
Alan reached the sniper rifle. He picked it up. A garbled mess of code and in-game descriptions popped up.
He pointed it at the advancing Haxlard assassin and squeezed the trigger. An error message appeared.
Alan swore.
He dodged an incoming slice, but took a few shots from the marine AI. His shields fell to 0%.
***
Alan threw himself across the room.
The grenade exploded.
There was a flash of light as he was slammed into the wall. Heat and pain coursed through him. Rage and adrenaline followed.
***
Alan stumbled, his head ablaze. A sword pierced his side.
He screamed in pain as he thrust his two swords forward into the Haxlard assassin.
He wrenched out the swords and then beheaded the assassin. A white mask fell to the floor.
Alan charged the marine AI as a red haze began to fill his vision.
***
Laser fire poured into the smoke-covered server room.
Alan let out a battle roar and threw one of his laser swords forward with all his might, like a javelin. The blade pierced one soldier and went through another, nailing them both to the wall behind.
Alan swung his last sword with a berserker’s fury, charging forward, all finesse forgotten.
He cut and cut and kept cutting.
***
The marine stepped back out of Alan’s reach.
Alan threw a sword forward and grazed its leg. It stumbled, and that was all it took for Alan to catch up and stab the program.
Light stings hit Alan’s back. He turned around—the marine programs were firing on him.
Alan let out a laugh as he picked up his laser swords and charged the swarm of enemies.
Red. There was so much red. It tinged every corner of his vision, filled his every thought. It was beautiful.
***
Alan finally felt alive. He was a god, an unstoppable force. Whenever he swung his blade, enemies fell like flies. No one could stop him.
His blade met another. He was pushed back. He let out a roar and began a frenzied assault. Again, he was beaten back.
“ALAN.”
***
“Alan, that’s enough.”
Alan was thrown down, knocked on his ass. Lambda stood above, holding him down like a puppy.
Alan looked around. There were no enemies left.
“How am I still alive?”
“Your defense is twice that of Eve’s,” Lambda said. “500 from the armor, plus 100 base. Still, it was close.”
Alan checked his health. It was at 10%. “Eve. Is she all right?”
“No, but you can revive her with her wings and the data you have on your capsule. You don’t even need the wings, really; though she’d revert to an older backup without them. We need to get back to the Citadel,” Lambda said.
“But the loot.”
“I’ll gather the loot,” Lambda said. “I’m faster and stronger. You need to get to safety and heal—if there’s another sniper out here they could finish you off for good.”
Alan nodded and jogged back to his base.
****
“Kitana?” Alan lowered his blade. The crimson hue of his vision dimmed slightly.
“Yes, I received your message. We were about to retreat, too many reinforcements.” Kitana looked around at the dead bodies that littered the server room and outside hallway. “I see that you’ve been busy.”
Alan looked at Kitana. Her robe had been torn, revealing long, taut legs. Alan felt blood rush to his head.
Focus, Lambda sent. I’ve gathered everything, disconnect from the server.
Alan deactivated divided mind. Or, he tried to. His other self didn’t feel right—the connections in his head were misaligned. They wouldn’t combine.
Shit, don’t worry about that for now. With any luck it will solve itself when the stimulant wears off. Disconnect from the server and focus on getting out of here alive, Lambda sent.
Alan disconnected from the server. He felt himself inside his base, in his head, but behind a wall of red. He saw a flash of himself, sitting down in the Citadel, staring at a pair of angel’s wings.
Focus, Lambda sent. I don’t know
how Eve put up with this. We need to figure a way out safely.
Alan turned to Kitana. “Where’s Thiago? Icewolf? Where are we supposed to go?”
“I don’t know,” Kitana said. She looked up. A soldier stepped around the corner. Kitana walked forward.
Alan gripped his sword. A surge of bloodlust rushed through him. He need to crush, to smash. To devour.
Stop, calm yourself, close your eyes, Lambda sent. A stream of images entered Alan’s mind. A laughing baby. A litter of pups. A new dawn. A starry sky.
“Are you all right?” Kitana asked.
Alan opened his eyes. The guard was dead. “Yes. How did you get here?”
“I swam, then ran,” Kitana said.
“No one tried to stop you?” Alan asked.
“I cut through anyone that got in my way,” Kitana said.
“Okay, run for the Administrative Center, we should be able to lie low there. Try to avoid fighting. Give me a minute to regain enough energy to activate invisibility, then I’ll be right behind you.”
Kitana nodded. She wiped the blood off her sword, sheathed it, and it disappeared in a flash of light.
They began moving out of the building. Kitana had left a trail of bodies.
Alan looted them, since Kitana hadn’t bothered.
“Wait,” Alan said. “Put on this technician’s outfit. People probably noticed your clothing.”
Kitana nodded, then began disrobing.
Alan turned around. Blood rushed to his head again.
Do you really have this little discipline? Lambda sent. You know you really acted like an idiot today. Do you need to have your hand held by Eve or me at all times? It’s like—
Quiet, Alan sent.
It’s like I’m watching over a child. Except children actually have some semblance of self-preservation and learn from their mistakes.
I SAID QUIET, Alan sent. He punched a wall. A dent appeared.
And this is why you don’t do drugs, kids, Lambda sent. He stayed quiet after that.
Alan looked back over his shoulder, then forward again.
Kitana put a hand on his shoulder a minute later.
“Let’s go.”
Alan nodded.
“And I don’t mind if you look. Warriors should be familiar with their comrades’ bodies.” Alan felt his heart speed up. “Just don’t touch me unless absolutely necessary.”