Volper

by Ros Per

  "Ellie, I need to check if there are any more bad guys around. As soon as I check, I'll be right back.”

  "All right," she mumbled, letting go of my neck.

  Carefully taking out a grenade, I began to slowly descend the steps, holding the next flight in my sights.

  - "Mister Volper!" – As I heard her scream, I almost shit my pants.

  Running back up the steps, I flew to the place where I’d left Ellie. Quickly looking around, I didn’t find any danger and looked at the girl sternly. Well, I did my best to, at least. But Ellie didn’t pay any attention to the strict expression on my face.

  "Mister Volper, my uncle Krill will be coming for me soon and he will take me home," the small angel said joyfully.

  - Hush, baby! – I began to calm the girl, fearing that her shouting might attract someone. - Who is this Uncle Krill? -

  - "Uncle Krill always comes for us and saves us from bad men."

  - Why didn’t he come for you earlier? -

  - “I don’t know; I couldn’t hear him when I had that bracelet around my neck.”

  - How could you hear… - I’d already gotten it, but decided to clarify everything.

  - “I heard him in my head: Uncle Krill can communicate without words.”

  - Okay, then I'll look for the bad men, so they don’t find us. And you keep close to me, but a little behind me. -

  - “OK.”

  - You’re a good girl, - I stroked her head.

  Holy shit! It looks like a high-level telepath is coming here to pick Ellie up. It’s good that Ellie knows him and trusts him, and I can give her to him without fear, well, if this telepath doesn’t fry my brain first. With such thoughts on my mind, I started down the stairs again, but then I changed my mind and came back. I quickly decided to place mines at the second door, which had been closed until now. This time, already feeling more confident, I started to descend. The next floor was an empty platform and two closed doors. If this goes on much longer, I will run out of grenades very quickly, I thought, placing mines near both doors. And so, moving floor by floor and mining all the closed doors, I slowly descended. On the 12th floor, I stopped. Getting down on my knee before Ellie, I told her:

  - Dear Ellie, my good girl, please wait for me here for a while, I'm going downstairs; I'll see if there are any bad men there and then come back - in return, she grabbed my sleeve and was clearly against me doing that.

  "Don’t do that, Mister Volper, you'll be hurt there!" She looked at me very seriously, with sadness in her eyes, then touched my cheek with her little fingers.

  - Don’t worry; everything will be alright! - I unhooked her fingers from my sleeve and headed down.

  Carefully stepping onto the staircase, I tried to catch any possible movement at the point of the collimator's aim, not forgetting Ellie's warning. She, though still being a little girl, was a psionic, and her abilities were still unknown to me. High perception once again helped me, allowing me to hear an indistinct rustle of cloth on the staircase of the 11th floor. Taking the last offensive grenade and pulling out the ring, I threw it through the remains of the railing, at roughly the place where the sound was coming from.

  I crouched down at once and lowered my head, so that the top part of the helmet would cover my face from any accidental splinters, or even receiving a bullet to the eye from the criminals, which would’ve been a very nasty present. Hearing the clap of a grenade explosion, I immediately jumped up, pressing the gunstock to my shoulder, and I began to observe my surroundings through the sight glass with my right eye, meanwhile, my left eye had noticed some motion in the periphery of my vision. With a rapid lateral step, I got into position and was able to see the whole stairwell. I finished off the wounded bandits who had obviously been waiting for me.

  The small explosions caused by each bullet were an unpleasant surprise. I’d thought that the plasma charge would just burn them from the inside out, but it was an additional detonation. Since I was down the stairs, I replaced the submachine gun with a shotgun: it’s more effective to use in the corridors and hallways. Pressing my back to the right wall and keeping the left side of the corridor in view, I moved slowly to the corner of the turn. Having reached the corner, I noticed, in the left corridor, the edge of the barricades which were being erected from materials on hand. Some boxes, together with metal cabinets and parts of beds, were being used to create these barricades. It seemed like a similar obstacle was waiting for me on the right side. Taking out a smoke grenade, I threw it around the corner, putting up a smoke screen in the right corridor.

  - “Hey guys, what’s that shit there?” – I heard the sound of someone’s voice from around the corner.

  - "Shut up and observe the passage!"

  - Come on ***** ***** I can’t see a thing down here. -

  - Shut your mouth! Did they tell you to observe the corridor or not? So do your job, *****, or I'll kill you myself, after the replicator spits you out, repeatedly. Got it, moron? -

  - Why me? I’m doing my best! I’m observing! -

  Shaking my head, I prepared two concussion grenades. I do not understand how Alckor had managed to do so much with these morons, and they haven’t been caught yet, to boot? After waiting seven seconds for the smoke to fully cover the right side of the corridor, I threw the first concussion grenade at the wall and into the left corridor, using the ricochet. 331… 332… and I threw the second grenade the same as I had the first. I quickly crouched, lowered my head and tightly closed my eyes. With my bare hands, I clamped down on my ears and opened my mouth wide, so that my eardrums don’t burst. A second later, an acoustic blow hit me, and, after a couple of seconds, the second one did as well.

  After the second explosion, I immediately jumped up, shotgun in hand, and I was off into the left corridor to finish off the crippled fighters. Behind me, bullets were whistling by randomly. It seems that somebody's had a nervous breakdown, and they’ve decided to shoot down the corridor with their submachine gun, without even realizing they could shoot their comrades as well. Right now, I was actually amazed at these morons and how utterly fucking stupid they were. They should have set up the defenses at the very beginning of the corridor, then the whole flight of stairs would always be under the threat of surprise close-range fire. Well, yes, there would be more danger for the fighters, but the defensive ability would be five times as great. As I pondered this, I managed to shoot 4 of the enemy with my powerful cartridges, reducing them to dust.

  The corridor led me into a large barracks, with rows of beds inside. Near each bed there was a nightstand, a wardrobe, a simple weapon cabinet and a small table. They had nice conditions here – I looked to the right and to the left, and there was even a bathroom with a shower! Nice, comfortable accommodations, I wouldn’t even call these barracks. Stepping back to the right, thus hiding behind the door, I glanced around, looking for where my opponents might have hidden to remain unnoticed. Not finding anyone, I returned to the corridor again. At the opposite end, the smoke was already starting to dissipate. Speeding up, I, slightly bent down, rushed into the smoke. Damn it, I have run out of regular shrapnel, and I could hurt myself by shooting the plasma ones.

  I will have to break through, though. Having reached the smokescreen, I drew up my legs, falling onto my knees; I slipped along the concrete floor on the metal overlays on my shins, bending over. Only when there was a gap in the smoke, I shot all the shotgun ammunition at the enemy’s fort, not really hoping to hit anyone, but just to protect myself from the fire on their side, which didn’t allow me to raise my head from behind the barricades.

  The dry, clicking sound of the shotgun echoed simultaneously with the termination of the slide. The speed I’d gained was off by a couple meters, preventing me from reaching the barricades set up by the bandits with just my slide. I threw aside the shotgun, which I didn’t need anymore and I grabbed my submachine gun, while jumping at the same time and landing on my feet in their semicircle. I had just managed to balance myself, when I im
mediately felt my chest explode with acute pain, and I was thrown aback with terrible force. I tumbled uncontrollably on the concrete floor, thrown a good few meters.

  Everything was mixed up in my head, colors were flashing in my eyes and multicolored spots were everywhere I looked, and I couldn’t concentrate on one point. Leaning my hands on the floor, I tried to get up, but cramps didn’t allow me to move my limbs, and blood clots were bursting out of my chest, causing me to cover the whole space of the floor beneath me with red, bloody puddles when I coughed. The second cramp caused my hands to buckle, and I fell into a puddle of my own blood, and in my head, I had the only thought: "I wonder how I got so much blood? It’s strange, since… there are three or five liters in a human being, and I’ve already spat out about a bucket’s worth.” Concentrating, I noticed that the life bar was flashing an alarming red color, only ten percent full.

  A little below, just under the set of indicators, there is a whole lot of flashing icons, fifteen in total. So now I can see my debuffs? It would be fun if I got an achievement for the most number of debuffs at the same time. I should calm down and get a grip. There is a little child out there, waiting for my help, now isn’t the time for me to lay about and relax. I try to pull my legs under me, but I understand that I don’t feel them at all. Fucking shit! It seems that my spine has also been injured, so I won’t get anywhere. A new fit of coughing twists my body, as if I were being electrocuted.

  I take out the plasma grenade and grasp it in my left hand, pulling out the ring with my right hand. Then I hear steps approaching. I'm trying to see who is coming toward me, but my head won’t rise above the knee level of the approaching fighter. With my right hand I grope for the gun and pull it out of the holster, pointing it at the approaching figure, but a sharp blow to my weakened hand knocks the pistol out of it, and I fall over onto my back. But now I see who’s approached me. Alckor was standing over me. No, there was no name over him, but only a fool wouldn’t guess who it was, when they saw the sign above him.

  The leader of the bandits (the chief boss of the den) 7/24 level

  My, oh my! Look at you! By the way, now I could remember my grandfather's words, which, in most cases, I hadn’t understood All those proverbs and weird expressions had been a mystery to me. I can at least say them at the right time, I think. Maybe I can ask a bunch of players to help me decipher them... Damn it, my thoughts have drifted away again. It seems that I have a concussion as one of the debuffs. I am gazing at Alckor, observing him carefully and trying to memorize everything. After the respawn, I'll still deal with this motherfucker. The leader of the bandits was wearing energy armor, judging by the overflows running along the body of the breastplate. Yeah, and the size is about one and a half times the size of an ordinary person, which also suggests the use of hydraulic amplifiers, or, perhaps, even a complex of nano-muscles built into the armor. He was holding an impulse shotgun in his hands. More precisely, the gun in Alckor’s hands looks like just him.

  It’s clear now what kind of force knocked me down. It's strange that I was even able to collect my thoughts that much. Although, I had even been lucky - shotguns operate in the ring pulse mode, which deals a devastating blow to the area they’re aimed at. But if it had been an automatic pulse, it would have been even worse. They release conical impulses with a point directed toward the flight pulse, first penetrating the target, and then expanding and tearing outward from the penetration point. Damn, why do my thoughts keep drifting away? I must concentrate, I will still have to kill him after the respawn. While there’s still an opportunity, it’s worth studying my enemy-to-be in detail.

  Why is he my enemy-to-be? Because, right now, I'm clearly waiting for my end! I’ve overestimated myself. So, the elbow and knee joints seem to be the most vulnerable, because I do not observe any energy spills there. He also forgoes the helmet. It’s clear that the head is protected by a force field, but if the field batteries are discharged due a high amount of damage taken, then armor plays a part, but there is no armor on his head. So the second priority target will be his head. Approaching me, Alckor put his foot on my chest and leaned his elbows on my knee, looking into my face, causing a new fit of coughing and getting bloody foam on my lips.

  "Give him something to postpone his early death," he said, still looking into my eyes, and didn’t even check whether they’d heard him or not.

  Alckor’s request was heard, and some nondescript old man in a yellow lab coat ran up and injected some stuff into my neck, which caused my strip of health to become covered with hoarfrost and a three-minute timer appeared beside it.

  - "You have about three minutes," the old man said in a squeaky voice, then walked behind Alckor, ducking out of my zone of visibility.

  - "Oh, three minutes is more than enough for us," he said. "Well, hello there, Volper! I think I’m not mistaken, am I?”

  - "You’re right, that’s me," I rattled. Well, so what if he wants to pointlessly gab away before murdering me, ok, let him be, maybe he could tell me an interesting story, and after I respawn, I’ll use it to kill this motherfucker.

  - “I got it right, then; my client described you in fine detail. And the way you dealt with my guys in the tunnels is very similar to what you did here at the base. What? Are you surprised to know how I know this?” Perhaps the expression on my face was very eloquent. “No, none of them have come out of the replicator still; you calculated everything correctly for this attack. Simply put, one good hacker, for a sufficiently large reward, messed with the neuron interface of all my fighters and now, in the event of their death, the logs for their last three hours of life are sent to me. No, I’m not complaining: you have the right to protect your life, it's my fault; I underestimated your abilities. Basically, the other replicants like you cannot do even the tenth of what you did. However, I still can’t understand why my guys got twenty-four hours, instead of the usual twelve-hour penalty for their replication, but I'll figure it out soon. By the way, I liked how you played on my emotions and lured most of the fighters out of the base. And I even sent the best ones, as insurance after the death of the first group. And then you're here, starting to kill the remaining gang members at the base. I applaud you,” and he clapped twice, lightly. “Voila, our time is almost over, I talked with you a lot,” he straightened up, took up the shotgun, and then, after a moment's hesitation, lowered it. "You know what, I’ve got an idea! Join my gang; I'll make you my right hand. With your talents, we’ll achieve a lot. Only, there’s one condition – you must raise the red level above your own and then come to me, I'll be glad to see you. Think about it when you leave the replicator.”

  Removing his leg from my chest, he again took up the shotgun, but he was stopped by a light clicking noise coming from under my back and a large smile on my bloody lips.

  "We'll meet after the respawn, dirt bag!"

  I croaked, pulling my left hand out from under my back, which from the moment I’d fell on my back had been pressed down by my body. Having unclenched my fingers, I slid the plasma grenade straight to Alckor, under his feet. And then my mind was filled with the high-temperature fire of a plasma grenade explosion. I would never have thought that a death from plasma is as colorful as it is painful.

  CHAPTER XIII: Second Chance

  When the flames obscuring my vision dispersed, I could barely restrain myself from swearing so loudly so that the whole universe would echo with the most abusive words imaginable. Instead, my brain began to feverishly look for answers. I once again crouched on one knee in front of Ellie, and she stroked my cheek. There were several explanations, but I was inclined to only one of them. It remains only to confirm or refute these suppositions. Taking her hand into mine and looking this angelic child’s eyes, I asked the question that interested me the most:

  - “My Tiny Angel, did you do that?” She nodded in response. “How did you do it?”

  - I don’t know, I just sometimes know what to do and what I shouldn’t. And I can show people I care for what the
y should and shouldn’t do. -

  - “Thank you, my dear!” I hugged her and kissed her filthy little forehead.

  Now I was beginning to understand why the system had given her such a high level of danger. If you develop her abilities to the fullest and assign five highly qualified fighters to her, then they would be invincible, because she’d allow them to consider all the routes and outcomes of their futures, in a split second. The fighters would be able to work out all the options with her and decide which one would be the best in each case. Judging by her "sometimes" remark, I could guess she didn’t have any control over her abilities at present. But I’d been saved from one explosion by her, for which I was very grateful. So what conclusions can we draw from this situation? On the 11th floor, Alckor had barricaded himself, a man whom I would shoot and shoot for hours on end with my humble weapons. I went to the stairs and sat down on the top step, putting the Viro on my lap and carefully watching the stairs below me. I had just a couple of minutes to think about the situation.

  Why had Alckor barricaded himself in the barracks? I understand that on the right side of the barracks, where he is staying, there is a replicating capsule, but judging by his psychological profile, it would be more logical for him to hide on the main floor of the base, allowing him to control the automated defenses from there, without letting me go. One of two things was at play here: either he’d gathered all the remnants of the fighters together, waiting for another group of troopers to return, or he had another ace in the hole but, unfortunately, I don’t know which one. There is still an "Uncle Krill" who is rushing here with all due haste, but again, I have no idea when he will be here.