by Dawn Chapman
“I don’t know how we can both get out of here. They’d love to see you rise to the top and for me to kick your ass. That’s my way out of here.”
I sat back, nodding. But it’s not going to be mine. “What can we do that would still entertain them at that level? But get us both off the planet?”
He thought for a long while.
“We need to convince higher-ups that there is a mission out there for us to do together. I’d have to accept you onto my team though, and you need a lot of levels.”
“How would that look if you just took me in?”
“Shit. At the moment, you’re nothing more than a scrub. It would not go down well.”
“Gee, thanks.”
I knew he grinned under those dark eyes. I could see him thinking.
Calculating.
“You proved you can handle a mech. How about I put a quest up to play in the arena? Strongest takes the free spot on my team. Usually it’s higher levels only, but the angle that you helped me beat the most recent attack would fly. Winner gets to take place on my team. We’ll get the mission I want as planned to get off planet. I take out Saskia. Then we split. Deal?”
I swallowed. That seemed far too easy. Like two steps, and we’d both get what we wanted. It was never going to be that easy; I was sure of it.
I sucked in a breath. “You want me in the arena when I’m not really trained?”
Xirob shivered. I can’t. We won’t survive this!
“Saskia?”
“She’ll come for you. Play her,” Tyto said. “She wants everyone under her thumb. Let her think she has you at her beck and call. For now.”
“That means?” I worried instantly.
“Fuck her,” he said, his stare cold. I cringed. Was that a literal fuck?
He grinned. “She’s hot, you can’t deny that.”
I shook my head.
“She’ll want that more than anything. She believes sex gives her more control. Of course, that’s not always true.”
MISSION LOG - BEAT THE ARENA!
YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR DENTI’S DEATH WARRANT! GOOD FOR YOU! I HOPE YOU AND HE ENJOY THE PATH TO DESTINY!
Chapter Twenty
I felt both their nerves on the inside. Xirob grew more furious. But even as he seethed on the inside, I held my hand steady as Tyto took it. “Deal.”
The contract flashed before me from offered to accepted.
You just killed me, Xirob said.
No! I said internally. I am giving us the best chance to get off Tolsa, and if that means I have to work my ass off, train and learn, then I will. If you have to do it with me. So be it.
Hiroto laughed. You don’t like learning the easy way, do you, Kyle?
I looked to the door.
“You’re playing her though?” I asked. Was Tyto playing me as well?
I had no idea how this was going to really affect me and my main mission. So many things going through my head. “Thought you were partners?”
“Technically married,” he admitted, running a hand over his thigh. “For now. I will kill her so she won’t ever respawn again.”
I cringed at that. It seemed so final.
“Not sure when, but it’s not far off. She’s waiting for the right time to leave me. I’ll see when it’s right, when it would leave those she’s playing vulnerable enough so someone else can take their place when her little stacking deck loses her as trump card.”
I nodded at him. I was seeing the intricacies of their hierarchy. The way Saskia looked at him, walked beside him—she thought she was everything to him, and he played the player. I laughed. I loved it. It also meant I had to be smarter than them.
We have to be, Xirob said. You’re not alone, remember.
“You okay with this?” Tyto asked me.
I wasn’t sure I could act as well as he was doing. And did he really expect me to fuck her, or actually fuck her? However, despite the worries. I nodded.
“Deed done. Now I need to get back to the team.” He frowned. “After that battle, we have a lot of rebuilding to do.”
“So just two days?” I asked as he made to move. I slid off the bed, realising I was naked and stopped myself.
“Okay, this is how the games work. Ten of the best, down to two. Three levels filled with monsters and loot, as well as those who will want you dead. Be prepared and ready to fight. They’re not going to go easy on you.”
“Any idea who the other contenders will be?” I asked him.
“Easy, they already registered,” he said.
“Already, that was damned fast!”
“We’re a top tier team, knowing what’s happened they’ve all no doubt been waiting for me to post the positions available.” Moving to a panel at the end of the bed, he keyed in several things. A list appeared.
1 – Chris Tanner – Level 20
2 – Alice Main – Level 18
3 – Vix Rolix – Level 20
4 – Jean Bol – Level 18
5 – Cray Johan – Level 18
6 – Silvi Dea – Level 17
7 – Antwon May – Level 18
8 – Raina Kārkliņa – Level 18
9 – Dylan Brale – Level 15
10 – Kyle Ranz – Level Unknown – Shaded
My Shade Brain was even more public now with signing up.
“Dylan’s on the list?” I asked.
“He must have heard the call or saw your name. You fight well together.”
I gulped. There was no real time to train up more, gain any other skills. Shit. “What kinds of things will I have to do?”
He laughed. “I would suggest you start to watch some of the old arena missions and playbacks. I know they archive them. You got into many systems you shouldn’t have already. I don’t think that’s out of your scope, right?”
Shit. This time when he stood to walk away I didn’t stop him.
“I’ll see you around in the morning, yes?” Tyto opened the door and stepped out. “If you want any training in before the arena, don’t be late, or the basic mechs will be gone.”
Basic, fuck. I was demoted from the nice shiny toy I’d had this afternoon. That sucked.
I pushed that thought aside. What species is he, pure denti? I asked internally.
No idea. But if he’s infiltrated to this level he can only be one of three others. And that’s not saying anything nice as to who they might be, Xirob said. We’ve a few enemies out there as well.
Enemies? Boy, what the hell really is going on out here? I feel like no matter what I try and do, we’ll be at war with you or someone else.
No, but it’s not going to be easy to stop Arndale and their armies.
I knew that. I didn’t need anyone to tell me. But I wouldn’t give it up that easy. I wanted to go home, no matter how much everyone said it wasn’t possible. I wanted it to be. I wanted to see my friends again.
You really think we can transfer back? Hiroto asked.
I don’t know. If they have to keep us alive, if we can get to their main systems and do some kind of mass reset, I don’t see why the bodies back on earth can’t wake up.
That would be…
Terrible for some, especially those who had been here for the time they have. Some might not even be able to re-integrate.
I hadn’t thought of that. How many make it out of base training?
There’s a fair few trainees that don’t make it out of basic training from Gridon. They can’t take the transfer or the truth of what they’ve become. But if they do, they only get to come here as level tens.
So what happened to me? I wasn’t even anywhere near that? Though I had caught up and surpassed them extremely fast.
I can’t answer that question for you or even guess. Something put you in the body of one of us here, a body that should have been an empty shell but wasn’t. It was Xirob.
But if you’d died, you wouldn’t respawn. I don’t get it, I said, feeling totally lost on the dynamics of the whole situation. What aren
’t you telling me, Xirob?
I wasn’t respawning, I was hiding in that pod. I shouldn’t have been there, but I was discovered. I needed somewhere to hold out. It was circumstantial. The download, well. That’s something else. I don’t want to go through it again. Put it that way, having someone take over the body you are already in…
I shook my head. It all made sense now. But if I hadn’t spawned there? Crap. Would my first death have been a total loss? Dead for good? Cause there was nowhere else for me. Was I a glitch?
I think that’s the correct assessment, yes, Hiroto said. I think we’d have died for real. We’re skirting all their systems already. This just makes us more of an anomaly than we thought.
I was trying to sort out everything in my head. Some memories kept resurfacing with no meaning. Totally out of context to what was going on in my life, right now and more.
That’s down to me. I’m sorry. They’re mine, Xirob said.
That makes more sense. Kind of weird. I feel them like they’re me.
I really needed to watch some arena reruns. Eat. Rest. I needed my head on for tomorrow, it seemed.
Lying back, I pulled up all the flashing notifications and read through them.
I was shocked. I’d had quite the jump out in the field as the big mech.
I laughed. I was now much closer to the level I should be. Rather than what I was earlier a zero. Hiding now would be a little easier. I also wouldn’t be as easy for them to hurt. The combined stats from Xirob, Hiroto and myself were pulling this still very new me out of the shit. I also read through all the system messages, finally. The Quick Points were as suspected.
REWARDS FOR KEEPING DELTA 81 SAFE REPUTATION WITH DELTA 81 – INCREASED 1 QUICK POINT
REWARDS FOR KEEPING TYTO’S REPUTATION INTACT 1 QUICK POINT
GOLD = shared x 2329
I thought long and hard about my Quick Points. I was already a level above being able to spend them. I didn’t need to spend them right now. That meant the more I gained in stats the better I’d be when I used them. It made more sense to hoard them.
Hiroto came to me a few moments later with something. I have found a few vids you can watch on what they do in the arena, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it.
I laughed. It can’t be that bad.
Xirob said, you should assign your extra stat points before tomorrow, so watch the vids, and then we’ll talk through what we think you should be doing.
Oh, is this a democratic vote on what I need to level in here? I laughed again.
Xirob chuckled too. I am sure both Hiroto and I have ideas for what you should be focussing on, yes. We have your best interests at heart, though.
And your own, I said.
I quickly placed them. Two to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and one to Wisdom and Luck. But I wasn’t spending the Quick Points, not yet.
I knew that they wanted the best for me. Because it wasn’t just me, it was us. Together we were stronger, and together we had a way to beat the system, without the system even knowing we were playing it. It was a good thing. At least I hoped it would be.
Let’s get some research in, I said to Hiroto. The vids started to play, and I moved to sit on the edge of the bed to watch them.
Dylan was the one who knocked at the door next. He looked at me, didn’t know what I was doing, but he sat down.
“I saw you signed up.” He smiled, nodding at the screen and added, “the arena?”
I looked from the vid of the two mechs fighting to him. “You want to join their team with me?”
“After what we went through out there, joining up in that mech merge—I didn’t even know that was a skill we could learn.”
I could see the fire in his eyes—he wanted it just as much as I did. “You really want to join the Jackals?”
“Err, well. Not really. But I got to be part of whatever you’re doing. I’m not just following anymore. I’ve seen it. I want it. You have changed my mind about being a solo player, and it’s time to experience more.”
I watched the reaction on his face. “You better get us some drinks and dinner, then pull up a chair. We’re in for a long night of study.”
“Study? What do you mean?”
“Well, if we’re going into the arena, I need every angle I can get. I need to know what to expect. Any advantage I can get while watching them now is only going to help.”
“Then I’ll go grab all the stuff. Be back in five.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll make sure we’re set for no more disturbances.”
It was nice to see him run off. He’s a good young man, Hiroto said.
Even if all he’s ever done in here was follow and scavenge before.
I need to get word to Rytin and the others about what’s going on, I said. Through HopeNet?
I’ll make sure there’s a message ready that you can send in the morning, so that he’ll get it before they move on.
Sounds good to me. Let’s get these playbacks in some semblance of an order so we can watch them together.
Good call. Xirob and Hiroto sorted the order in relevance of levels, and I waited with my eyes closed, almost falling back asleep.
That was it.
When Dylan came back in, he held up the bags of food. “Managed to get some really good stuff. I saw some old friends. Should help you feel better. There’s some enhancements in here.”
“Why would you do that?”
“If we want onto the Jackals, which I think you do, then we need all we can get. So I pulled in all my favours, and got what I got. Don’t ruin the moment. Eat it.”
I picked out one of the bags and started in on it. I liked the taste, and the extra bonuses with it were really good and, more to the point, permanent.
RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
+ 2 to Strength
+ 1 to Dexterity
+ 2 to Constitution
“This must have cost a small fortune,” I said.
“Kyle, I wouldn’t spend it if I didn’t think it was worth it. Put the videos on; we’ll learn as much as we can from them. Then we need some rest. We’ve got a lot to cram in over the next couple of days.”
I pushed the first one, and we started to watch how these tournaments played out. When a team wanted new members, it was up to them to pick the tests.
They were pretty basic to start, a natural fight with each other, and you got to pick the weapons. That was easy. I watched some of the newbs out there and easily thought we would be able to rise to the top of this. I would even put money on it. In fact…
“Can we bet on these?”
“Gamble?”
“Yeah, I mean if you have something to bet with, do you think we can?”
“Yes, there’s a good few who put up bets, and there are other opportunities for doing so during the tests. I know someone who won’t rip us off, if you are interested?”
I checked the inside of my coffers. I was still pretty new, but I had just gotten some gold. “Err, not a lot. But I can guarantee if you use whatever you’ve been saving, it won’t go to waste.”
“How do you know I’d been saving? Or I’ve not just spent it all on those brownies…”
I looked to him, could see his face. “That’s pretty easy to deduce. You’ve been following for how many years, and yet you still look basic as if you don’t upgrade much. Don’t have anything but your levels and yourself.”
“I just wanted the easy life.”
“And now you’ve decided…”
The way he looked at me said it before he did. “I want more.”
Chapter Twenty-One
After a few more videos and then a brain training session, I thought maybe Dylan and I would stand a chance if we packed as much learning as we could into the next couple of days. That meant not on the base.
Finally I would get a trip into town, maybe fix up my sword, and get that burger I was still craving.
The guards at the gates weren’t that happy abo
ut letting me out, but with Borix’s backing and with Dylan next to me, they agreed. Shade Brain was a great thing, but no one seeing past my name became a pain in the ass when I wanted them to. Turning it off even for a brief moment was not a pleasant feeling. It did, however, let them know that I was a good enough level to survive outside within their city centres. I wasn’t just going to get crushed by the first person who wanted to take my sword for their own.
“Any idea where we’re going?” Dylan asked as we reached deep into the city via their main stations and platforms.
“I think so. There’s a few merchant and trader names I’ve picked up listening in on the food lines. I think with the coin I have now, I could get some enhancements before we join the arena.”
He nodded. “Good call, I think I know someone who can help.” Missions outside the base were going down without a hitch, and that gave us the extra room I was hoping for. It meant that there weren’t many people really thinking of joining the Jackals, because they were getting what they wanted from elsewhere.
I liked Dylan, and the more he talked while we walked through the market and all its stalls, the easier it was to see why. He was a down-to- earth guy. Eventually, he told me his story. He failed his exams too.
Yeah, I wasn’t really thinking about telling him the truth. That would suck. He was twenty now, had been here a few of our years and a good few more of their years. He was saving up because someone had told him he could go home with a certain amount of cash and levels. Why were people so horrid? Where he was banking his funds though was a great place, and he’d grown himself a small fortune. I was hoping that we could double it now. We could do a lot more with that here. The more I looked around the market, the more I wanted to spend.
Xirob spoke up when he spotted something. Just take a closer look to see if we can pick up a few basic manuals, any tech that might help.
There, Hiroto said.
We moved over to the stall. There was nothing on the table that gave away that these were serious training manuals.