by Dawn Chapman
I am not a game AI, Kyle. Would you like to hear what I was going to suggest?
I lost my momentum then and paused with the dagger inches from my skin.
What? What is so important that you had to interrupt me right this minute?
Would you like the sensors in your arm switched off?
If I’d been standing I would have fallen over. I dropped the dagger, fumbling to pick it back up. I swore, then said quietly, You can do that?
Yes, Kyle. I can. I can numb all your senses like I did last night.
While you were so out of it, you didn’t have the capacity to answer me.
“Please, whoever you are,” I almost begged it. “Take it away, all of it.”
I watched as the red flag turned green. The pain in my arm lessened, and I saw a 3D image of my body appear again, noting the broken bones in my arm, ribs, and hairline cracks to my hips. I smiled just a little as the pain setting there was dialled down, and then the whole red of my arm turned green and then black. I can’t take it all away. But it will help for a while.
Then it was gone. I could only presume that I could cut it off now without feeling it.
I gripped the dagger once more and with one strike cut deep. There was no pain and instead of thinking that this was actually my own arm, I thought of it as nothing but a job.
It still took me some time. I was out of breath from the exertion and couldn’t focus for long on doing it. No blood?
I stopped the flow when you asked us not to waste resources and heal your arm.
The voices in my head were some side effect from all the health issues I was sure. Even though I was healing, I was far from being fit for anything major. Hallucinating and hearing things, voices. I was losing my mind.
Once the skin was cut through as far as I could get, I decided to pull. A tug wasn’t going to do it, just like I did before. I placed my feet on the dweller, and counted to three, I heaved with all my might.
The sucking pop that came with my arm being freed assaulted my ears with a sound I would never forget.
What I then saw both fascinated and scared me. I pushed myself up to get a better look at what was my arm. Again, the fact there was no blood was strange.
I looked in closer. The bone that I thought was bone really wasn’t.
There was a hard metal endoskeleton frame, shattered now, showing tiny wires I could only presume were veins. However, they were starting to leak a little. Shit. I knew I had to stop the leaking. Fumbling a lot, I managed to get my dagger belt off and wrap it around the stumpy bit of my arm.
I rooted around now for the dagger and found it, not too far away from me. But trying to hop across to it did come with some pain. I winced.
Dagger in hand and injuries stable, I leaned against the dweller, seeing the sun high in the sky but not knowing if it meant anything or not to this world.
I had to get up and walk back to the base. I knew it was going to be long on my own. I wasn’t sure of any turn we made or creature paths to avoid, but if I found Nehi’s gun and my sword, I might survive the day. I hoped.
I forced myself to stand and looked around for where I’d thrown Nehi’s gun. I knew it was here somewhere in the trees, but being tossed by the dweller had disoriented me, and the exact tree eluded me.
I took a few tentative steps, cleaning my dagger off on my trousers. I could see now where the dwellers had come into the clearing, where the most damage was. I followed their trail of destruction and spotted the gun, still in the trees. If only I could get it.
I didn’t think I was going to be able to climb very well with one arm, so that was going to be well out of the question. However, maybe I could knock it down with the right kind of rock.
I looked around for anything and found a few likely candidates. I picked them up, gave it a shot. Missed.
I found another few, and the second one hit but didn’t move it. I needed better leverage or something different. Maybe a large stick. There were plenty of damaged branches about.
It took a while longer to find one I thought would be long enough and with a few more tries at snagging the gun, I finally got it to drop. I caught it one handed on the way down. Didn’t want that beauty to hit the dirt and damage itself, even if Nehi said she could lose it. It was too nice to let go.
It didn’t get damaged, but it only had a half charge left. I hoped that if I encountered any more creatures in here that shooting it on a lower setting would give me a few kills and chances to scare them off. Should I help charge it up, or cast heal again?
Heal obviously, so I did and felt that tiny bit better. I’d continue to do so till it ran out again. I just about managed to get all the weapons to sit better before realising I could put them in my inventory. I slotted the dagger away and kept the gun in hand. I didn’t want to be worrying about dropping or losing anything else.
I noticed another loot box above the first dweller I’d killed, but as I went to swipe it into my storage, it vanished with a sarcastic,
SUCKER, YOU MISSED IT!
“Fuck you, timed loot drops!”
Slowly I made my way back, tracking the damage, the kills. There were the bodies of the pups and no more loot, but then at least there hadn’t been a whole herd, right? I think if there had been I wouldn’t be here right now, trying to live. I would be well dead and eaten, and respawned. I wondered if that was a good thing. Easiest option, yes, but I would never get anywhere with that level of thinking. If I wanted to survive and be the best I could be, I had to live and fight everything that was thrown at me, and that meant if I could survive, I would never pull the trigger to kill myself.
The area around me was something I could now enjoy though, and as if on cue, I started to notice more. Not just the bushes and foliage, but there were other insects flittering about; ones that I had no doubt had important jobs. This was a living planet filled with such wondrous details. I was fascinated by every aspect of it.
However, wandering around and getting side-tracked wouldn’t get me home. Picking up the pace I made to jog, though my legs and hip weren’t good, and as soon as I did, the warnings started to flash up again. I stopped running and carried on, trying my best not to get distracted by anything else. It was far too long before I could see that Delta 81 was ahead of me. I wanted to whoop my joy.
Then I saw the smoke.
I didn’t have a choice. I pushed past the warnings to get there as quickly as I could. They were under attack; the force at their gates was larger and stronger than the one from my spawn day.
I approached with caution, even though I knew that the M-Wolves didn’t have eyes in the back of their heads. I didn’t want to upset them and break any chance I had of taking them out from behind.
I had wondered only briefly why the others hadn’t come back for me, and this made it pretty clear that no sooner had they gotten back, they couldn’t leave.
I wondered if they had survived this, how long had it been going on.
Sirens were going off, lights, fighting. It looked dire from here.
I found myself a spot to observe everything and determined that out here I would be able to do something to help. I then spotted the M-Wolf boss. He was bellowing his orders to his herd now with fever, and they were listening and about to make another move on the base. I didn’t understand a word he was saying, but I could see their intent. Their eyes glowed and their yowls grew in volume.
I had to take him out. If I couldn’t get close enough for the gun then I’d try and sneak around. Maybe a sneak attack from behind would be enough to land some kind of critical hit.
Who the fuck was I kidding? It would be a glorious death, I was sure. “Damn good thing I cut my fucking arm off only to die doing something heroically stupid.”
I sunk in low and then started to weave myself in further towards this destiny.
M-WOLF BOSS = LEVEL 18
HEALTH = 100%
It was easy to approach them all from behind. I don’t think they would have sus
pected any of it. I just had to be careful and hope that they didn’t sound a retreat with me right in their path. Watching for any of their patrols, I didn’t know how intelligent these creatures were, but I wasn’t taking chances either.
There wasn’t a lot I could do with the stump of an arm I had hanging from my side and one almost crippled leg. I hobbled like the worst zombie you’d ever seen. Holding a gun and pulling the trigger was going to be a no too. I put it into my inventory and moved forward much quicker. I could see where I wanted to be to fire. It wasn’t too far away but in an open space. I would be a sitting duck if any of them spotted me. I prayed they wouldn’t. I doubted I would ever get the upper hand on one of them again.
I could see the wave spread out ready to attack the base, and I listened to the yelps from their leader and followed where he was looking. I cursed as I saw their target. There was a breakthrough in the line, and the M-Wolves were mere minutes from overrunning the defenders.
I checked the area. There was no way I could get a message to any of them on the inside. I was as basic as they came, no internal comm lines to anyone else. Or was there?
Nanites? I thought.
My name is Xe. The female voice came in. You know this. It’s in your character sheet, right?
Oh boy, she spoke to me, just like the not AI from before. I hadn’t put two and two together, but now I did. It was cool! Can you get me a communication line to the base?
I will try.
When the boss stopped yelping his orders, I waited, not moving in case there were any more twigs around to trigger them to look my way. When his first line set out, I started forwards once more, making sure that each step was surefooted as I could make it. I winced as I did touch a branch with my lame leg. I stumbled slightly, and it took my breath away. The ribs hurt a lot more now with the walking. I guess it couldn’t last forever, right?
With my good hand, I steadied my breathing, holding on tight to my ribs while I focussed on taking the breaths slower. Then only when I felt I could walk without screaming out did I start up again.
Blaster fire from the base started to light up ahead of me. There were no rounds that would ever make it out this far, hence why the boss never felt threatened; he stayed right where he was, out of the way. There would never be a death for him. He would always skip out and retreat, though his attacks were always relenting and never- ending.
I was almost to the target, the fighting ahead of me reaching a crescendo of noise that my ears were struggling with. There were so many soldiers and fiery blasts trying to take out the boss I realised that the base was becoming desperate. I should have made a run for it, but gut instinct and my injuries kept me here. They wouldn’t be throwing everything they had at him to take him out if they weren’t worried. The boss also wasn’t stupid. Their blasts, bombs, and rounds were falling far short.
My footsteps faltered when the pain became too much for me once more, and I dropped down to the position I needed to take that killing shot. I had everything worked out. It just wouldn’t take long. But then as I got my gun into its right spot, it flashed up when targeting. I was out of range.
Chapter Eight
There was no way I could get closer at all. I’d make too much noise, and in all fairness, I was physically exhausted. My health bar was blinking red again. Blood loss. Damn. Of course blood loss would be taking its toll. Even with the tourniquet on, it wasn’t enough.
I was screwed.
Then a crackle and a voice. I couldn’t make it out but focussed on it some more.
“Delta 81 to Delta 7,” it said. “We are under prevalent attack from the M-Wolves. They are in full force, a pack or two. Send back up to the fallout perimeter.”
This is all I can get, a command channel, Xe said.
I tapped the side of my head, and it seemed to sharpen the connection. I needed to break into it if I could. Pulling up my interface without thinking, I worked my way around to settings and started to dig in deeper. I knew there would be a back door in here somewhere; I just needed to find it. Without a back door, there was never any way for a dev to get in and fix things on the go. So now, with my head in the right place and knowing what I needed to do, I worked damned fast to get to the spot I wanted. Get in as close as I could to them.
There it was. I flicked through quickly, then found the numbers I needed to dial in.
I typed it out meticulously and waited. “Command,” the responder said. “Send it.”
The response to me joining was something out of a war movie. I hadn’t expected it to work. Then I panicked, gulped and just spouted the facts, looking at the map from their angle.
“Southwest of Keen Wall. Boss is out of reach. I need a deterrent to move him one mile north.”
“Received, sending packet.”
There were some static noises, the line seemed to go dead, and then, “We have confirmation. Team Twenty-Four is moving out to position themselves against the boss. It should move him in the right direction.”
I waited to see if he would notice anything going on up ahead. I wanted to pull the trigger just as soon as he was in my sights, but something held me back.
I waited as he moved just that little bit closer. So close. My finger now hovered over the trigger. I had this one set of shots. As soon as he realised and was hit, I knew I’d be down in minutes as his surrounding soldiers and men would likely converge on me. Would it be worth it? I laughed, grinned as I thought about the hardship I’d just been through. To get away from the dweller and to survive, all to do this one task to pull the trigger on this ugly motherfucker and hopefully save the whole base.
That’s when the sights on the gun lit green.
I had him totally locked in. I flexed my finger and pulled the trigger, sending out several short rounds into the back of him.
Blood splurged forwards with each hit, and I grinned, then cursed as the shots didn’t drop him.
Instead, he whirled to face me. I panicked and tried to back away.
M-WOLF BOSS = LEVEL 18
HEALTH = 41%
His eyes blazed, and he started to make a move at me. Fuck! He had his eyes off the battlefield, though, and the men who were out there. The distraction was working, and the squad moved in closer. It was like watching a SWAT team execute the perfect manoeuvre. I was more than happy to have helped. Their fire drew the others around the boss, and I got to look at him up close and personal as he drew level with me.
Noting the detail to him, the side of his muzzle covered in scars. I swear I could smell his breath from here as well! Yuk.
He’d seen battles I never had, probably fought just as hard to get where he was in his pack as I was trying now to gain levels in the game. He looked more real than anything I’d come across before. I panicked and tried to back away. Scrambling across the uneven cold ground. But what caught my attention more than anything was that I could see the display set in his eyes. Like he was accessing an interface, trying his best to see how he could take me out easily. I brought my gun to face him and locked in again. I was going to pull the trigger. I had to. No matter that my gut was telling me here that something else was going on. I had no choice.
Him or me.
I pulled my trigger as he brought his gun around and fired too. Oh, shit!
I wasn’t quick enough, and it hit me square in the shoulder. My shot caught him in the face. He fell hard, and I saw a team move in behind him to finish him off.
CRITICAL HIT
M-WOLF BOSS = LEVEL 18
HEALTH = 0%
KILLING STREAK BONUS MISSION DONE! LEVEL FOUR ATTAINED!
OH BOY! YOU’RE ONE SERIOUS KILLER AND ON A ROLL!
It was going to be okay. I sighed. We’d done it.
Team Twenty-Four turned to my location. They formed up a protection detail, I presumed, and two of them split off to rendezvous with me. I could see clearly; they were a man and a woman. Their suits were clear cut, metallic in structure, and their weapons were far above anything I could
own. The woman’s twin blades glowed in the distance as her killing dance took the pain away from me for a few moments. I tried not to feel disgusted watching her slaughter the enemy, but I was.
When they were in reach, the woman spoke clearly enough for me to hear though I couldn’t make out her face. “Who the fuck are you?”
I was almost about to answer when the guy raised his gun up at me and without hesitation pulled the trigger.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
CRITICAL HIT = YOU HAVE DIED CONSEQUENCES = MEMORY LOSS 1% ALL WEAPONS AND LOOT = LOST
FOR DOING YOUR BEST WHILE ON DUTY RESPAWN REDUCED THIRTY MINUTES
USE THIS TO REFLECT ON WHAT LED TO YOUR DEATH!
What the hell just happened? I was still fuming. There was no pain, but fuck!
Fuck, the biggest reason to stay alive ever. I wanted to keep all my memories. This felt strange, different from the other respawn. I couldn’t put words to it, but it felt like everything was knitting back together differently.
I let it settle, then I called up my character sheet. The first thing I noticed my level. Level 10. What? I scanned quickly. All my stats had changed they didn’t make any sense to me.
Name - Kyle Ranz
Species - Human/Denti
Year of Death - 2629
Class = Fighter/Sorcerer
Age 18
Level = 10
Respawns = 2
Memories = 94%
Health = 89%
Mana = 9
Nanites x 12129
Body Type = Unknown
Structural Integrity = Tungsten and Alumi
Internal AI Chip = X Class
Skin Strength = 8
Blood Capacity = 6
Healing Speed = 10
Strength = 8
Dexterity = 7
Constitution = 8
Intelligence = 7