Project Alpha

by R. A. Mejia

  A blue screen pops up with three different reward choices: A high damage sniper rifle with optical scope, a pump action shotgun with a detachable magazine, and a portable class B trap construction bench.

  I choose the portable trap construction bench since I’m relatively sure I can purchase the first two rewards somewhere else in the real world. Once I select the bench, it materializes in front of me. It looks like a small card table with a series of circuits embedded into the surface. There are a few buttons in the bottom left corner. One turns the trap bench on, and it glows with an interface just like the other crafting bench, except this one only has two starter recipes. I guess I’ll have to unlock more by combining new components or purchasing recipes from the System. I press another button, and the card table folds itself up until it’s the size of a small laptop and I put the item in my inventory.

  “Thank you for the reward, Juan.”

  “It’s no problem. It’s the least I could do for one of the four Caballeros.”

  Joe jumps up and down and explains. “It means we’re like four knights or something. At least that’s what Nancy says it means in English.”

  Juan laughs at the boy’s excitement. “Yes, Little Joe. That’s what it means. To us survivors, you four are like valiant knights that have saved us.” Then, checking his watch, the man continues, “Well, it’s time for me to get back to repairing the wall and patching up the community. Goodbye.”

  With that, the leader of the survivors leaves the small building.

  “Now, that the NPC is gone. How do we get out of here and where’s all the XP we were promised?”

  Little Joe laughs, “We already got the all the XP rewards. You were just knocked out. Look at your notification logs silly.”

  I mentally command ‘Notification Logs, ’ and a list of the most recent notifications pops up.

  Your party has defeated the boss Zombie Brute Bob, level 9. Your share is 45 XP.

  Congratulations, you’ve survived the last wave of zombies.

  Contribution

  Trap kills312

  Personal kills26

  Total XP earned9030

  Congratulations. You’ve reached level 8.

  You’ve completed the quest - Save the Survivors - Part 3

  You receive 3000 XP.

  “Holly crap, that’s a ton of experience.”

  The three siblings all nod in agreement. Nancy says, “Yup. We all gained a couple of levels.”

  I check my Character Sheet.

  Anthony Tinoco

  Level 8

  Unspent stat points: 4

  Unspent skill points: 57

  Health 170

  Mana280

  TP300

  Strength8

  Dexterity12

  Constitution9

  Intelligence20

  Wisdom22

  Charisma9

  Also, I note that I need only need 2993 XP to get to level 9 and that the skills Throw, Ranged Combat, Rifle, and Firearms have all gone up a level.

  I decide to use the four new stat points to round out my stats and add two to strength, and one each to constitution and charisma. That’ll put them all at ten and raise my health to 180.

  “You ready to go back now?”

  Frank’s voice brings me back from my contemplation of my character sheet. I quickly save and answer, “Yes. I’m ready to leave when you guys are.”

  He points to the glowing door at the far side of the room where Nancy and Joe are already waiting. I hop off the table I’m sitting on and walk over. I’m still a little unsteady, but Frank lends me his shoulder to balance myself.

  Nancy opens the glowing door, and we all walk through.

  After a flash of light, I find myself standing in the hallway of the hotel. On either side of us are numbered doors.

  We’re back at the hotel that serves as a cover for the User controlled dungeon. I feel Frank pull away from me and see him run towards his parents along with Nancy and Joe. Behind them is Lillian. She’s wearing rolled up khaki pants, brown wedges, an open denim shirt with long rolled up sleeves with a black tank top underneath.

  The sight of her makes my heart beat faster, and I can’t help but wobble over and hug her. I think I hear her moan a little, but when I release her from the embrace, I just see a smile on her face. She tucks a loose bit of hair behind her ear and asks, “What’s that for? You couldn’t have missed me that much. It’s only been two days.”

  Two days? That can’t be right. I know for a fact that it’s been at least six.

  She must see the confusion on my face because she explains, “Don’t forget about the time compression in dungeons. In the one you were in, it was a 3:1 ratio. So even if it felt like six days have passed, it’s only been two.”

  I nod, remembering that aspect of this dungeon. “Even if it’s only been two days in the real world, it’s felt like more to me. When I saw you, I just realized how much I missed you.”

  I may be imagining it, but I think little red creeps into her cheeks. She takes a step back though and asks, “How was your training? I see that you gained a few levels.”

  I’m about to summarize what happened when Little Joe yells, “I’ll tell her what happened!” Before anyone can tell him no, he starts to tell the story of our adventures. When we get to the part about the city, Frank takes over since Joe wasn’t there. But Joe takes up the tale again when we get to Safe Haven. Joe heaps praise onto me for not only saving him from the boss but also for building all the traps that made it possible for us to beat the zombies. I try to interrupt him and explain that I didn’t do anything special, but Nancy stops me with a hand on my chest and declares that I’m her hero for saving her brother and making it possible to complete the quest.

  I quickly take a step back from the doe-eyed Nancy and turn to see Lillian staring daggers at me, arms crossed. There’s a definite redness in her cheeks now, but I don't think it’s because of any attraction.

  Lillian turns and uses the nearest door to create a portal, and I have to run to keep up and not get left behind. Once through the portal, I find we’re in Lillian’s office. I try to explain what happened and that Nancy is just a kid who has a little crush on the guy who saved her brother. However, she silences me with a single raised finger and a look.

  “I’m going to order dinner. There’s a nice Indian restaurant a couple of blocks away that delivers. What do you want?”

  Surprised by the change of topic, I admit that I’ve never had Indian food. Lillian nods once and takes out her cell phone, dials the Indian food restaurant and orders for both of us.

  I don’t know if this is a magic Indian food restaurant or something, but the food arrives in only twenty minutes. Lillian uses her System menu to switch out her huge desk for a small dining table and some chairs. She has the table face the windows, and the two of us eat looking out over New York City. After her first few bites, Lillian asks, “So, you want to tell me what actually happened in the zombie dungeon?”

  I have to chew and swallow the yellow rice and chicken quickly. The spicy brown sauce makes my eyes water slightly, and I have to drink some water before I can start talking. However, once I’m able to speak again, I tell Lillian what happened in the dungeon. I tell her about the survival aspects of the zombie dungeon, the chain quests we got, and I admit the mistake I made in trying to hotwire the truck and bringing a horde of zombies down on us. I tell her about all the things I learned and how I felt trying to protect not only the survivors but also Nancy, Frank, and Joe. I also try to make it very, very clear that Nancy just has a crush on me and that nothing happened. I’m not entirely sure why it’s so important to me that Lillian knows nothing happened with Nancy, but it is.

  Lillian tilts her head as she considers my story and just when I’m about to reiterate that nothing happened with Nancy, she nods once and smiles. And just like that, it feels like the clouds have parted and the sun’s come out again.

  Lillian tells me about what she’s done
the last two days. She’s established some contacts with the Scout’s Guild, a group of Users that specialize in finding and analyzing dungeons. The guild then sells that information over to the System or private institutions like hers. With their help, she and John were able to clear a dungeon and got some nice loot and credits for the company. She also got a new plasma rifle. She pulls it out of her inventory to show me, and it’s a huge futuristic looking thing that glows purple. Lillian strokes the weapon and looks longingly at it, and I find myself jealous of the rifle for some reason.

  Once the meal is over, I stand up and give my goodbyes to Lillian. She holds out her arm, leans in, and I do the same hugging her. Only while giving a hug do I realize that she isn’t hugging me back and was likely holding out her hand for me to shake. Still, it’s nice to hug her, and after a second I feel her arms wrap around me too.

  I relax my arms a little and see Lillian staring up at me with a certain look in her eyes. In this light, her normally blue eyes look like grey storm clouds, ready to burst any minute. I feel an indescribable urge to lean down and press my lips against hers. Unfortunately, before I can, I hear a cough and turn to see John standing there dressed in stained overalls.

  “Sorry if I’m interrupting something, Lillian, but you have a call from Shanghai.”

  I feel Lillian slip from my arms and when I turn to look at her, she’s standing several feet away speaking to John, looking composed and professional.

  As she picks up the office phone, I turn and walk towards the door. I take my port key and insert it into the door’s lock. Turning the key causes the door to turn green and connect to my home base. As I step through the portal, I glance back, and for a brief moment, I think I see a look of regret on Lillian’s face. Then she turns away, and I think I must have imagined the look.

  There’s a flash of light as I walk through the doorway, and I find myself standing in my bedroom. The room is dark, and I stumble over some shoes on the floor as I try to find the light switch on the wall. My cell phone is sitting near my computer, charging. When I turn it on, I see that it’s Sunday night. I’d typically either be working or trying to find some party to go to. But I feel so tired from the zombie dungeon I don’t have the energy to do either. So instead, I stagger out of my room and take a hot shower. Feeling refreshed, I walk back to my room to find a note on the door telling me that my mom and Marie are at my tío Ignacio’s house for his daughter’s birthday party. I take the note down with a sigh, knowing I’m going to get an earful from my mom in the morning for missing the party.

  Still, I’m really too tired to care much right now. I change into some fresh PJs and crawl into bed. I drift off to sleep, thoughts of Lillian floating through my mind.

  Chapter 28

  Even though I still feel drained from the weekend in the zombie dungeon, I go back to classes and work Monday. It’s honestly a bit relaxing compared to the tension of surviving in a zombie apocalypse. The food tastes good, the girls on campus are cute, and no one is trying to kill me and eat my brains.

  Towards the end of October, Lillian messages me to visit her in her office. I’m a little nervous about the visit since I haven’t spoken to her since we had that great hug. So, I make sure I’ve showered and am wearing my best jeans—The ones that make my butt look really good.

  When I call up the port system and connect to Lillian’s office, I spray some cologne, then open the green door connecting our home bases. I walk into her office and find her sitting at her desk typing away on her computer. She’s wearing a long-sleeved striped dress shirt, and her hair is tied back in a ponytail. She has on her business face.

  Lillian glances at me and waves to a seat in front of her desk. I take the seat she gestures towards and waits while she finishes working. When she finished typing, the serious expression on her face is replaced with the beautiful smile I’ve come to expect, and she greets me.

  “Hey, Anthony. Sorry for making you wait. It’s the end of the month, and I have to get a bunch of paperwork and accounts payable situated.”

  The statement reminds me that Lillian isn’t just another pretty face but a smart, intelligent woman running her own business. I try to smile at her back, but I’m suddenly slightly nervous.

  “It’s cool. I just finished a shift at work when I got your text.”

  She raises an eyebrow as she looks me up and down, “You always work at the convenience store in a dress shirt and jeans?” Her nose twitches as she breathes in. She coughs once, and she waves a hand in front of her nose, “And do you normally wear that much cologne?”

  I give myself a quick sniff. I don’t think I put on that much cologne, did I? It was only 5 or 6 spritzes.

  Feeling a bit of heat on my cheeks, I shrug and give her a lopsided grin. “Huh, I just wanted to look professional for you.”

  A blue screen opens in front of Lillian, and she taps a few buttons. There’s a flash of light, and a ceiling fan appears above us and starts to spin. I can feel a nice breeze and see Lillian breath a literal sigh of relief.

  “Well, thanks for trying. The reason I called you in is to ask you to go out with me.”

  They say when you’re in a stressful situation your body either goes into a fight or flight response. Well, my body chooses option three, freeze in surprise. While I’d been thinking about what it would be like to date Lillian lately, I’d never thought she’d be the one to ask me out.

  There’s a mischievous smile on Lillian’s face as she continues, “Now before you get too many odd ideas, this is purely business. The company was invited to a big Halloween party, and I need a date. The biggest dungeon clearing companies will be there, and it’s a good opportunity to network. John’s busy with his own thing, and I can’t show up alone.”

  “Oh, so this is just a work thing?”

  I think I see a flash of something in her eyes, but she just nods in confirmation.

  “Ok. I’ll go with you. It’ll be a good chance for me to meet more Users.”

  Lillian gives me the details of the event. In two days, I’m supposed to meet her here at her office and then we’ll port to the party.

  Chapter 29

  The next day is a mad search for a Halloween costume. I hadn’t planned on trick or treating this year, so I hadn’t ordered a costume. Now I have to search last minute for something that doesn’t make me look like a total idiot. The Halloween pop up stores that show up yearly aren’t much help. They have plenty of sexy costumes like a sexy nurse, sexy teacher, and even a weirdly specific sexy 3rd shift night janitor costume. They also have plenty of joke costumes, but nothing that wouldn’t make me look like a complete idiot in front of Lillian and all those System Users. Besides Lillian, John, and those kids from the zombie dungeon, I haven’t met any other Users. This Halloween party will be my chance to learn about the community. Besides, I might get to meet a few scantily-costumed ladies too.

  There are some decent costumes online, but nothing will be shipped here in time for the party. Oddly, it turns out that my salvation comes from a classmate. Jeff and I are in the same Anthropology class, and we're in the same group for an assignment. Since then, he’s been a class friend. He’s even invited me to a couple of campus parties. When Jeff heard about my predicament, he put feelers out on campus and found a vintage 1972 Bela Lugosi Dracula costume. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, for me, is the epitome of a classy vampire. The guy wore a tuxedo with a white vest and a badass cape 24/7. Super classy. Unlike the more modern renditions which are moody and sparkly. I mean, who thought it was a great idea to reboot Twilight? I’ve seen the originals, and they were bad enough, but the reboot set the story in space. Yeah, space vampires. Great idea there Hollywood.

  Anyways, thanks to Jeff, I’m dressed up as Dracula. My hair is slicked back and Marie helped me put on the dark eyeliner and mascara after she found me in the restroom trying to apply the makeup myself. I kept poking my eye with the makeup tools. After Marie finished, I checked myself out in the mirror and had a newfound ap
preciation for the art of makeup application.

  I activate the portal system, and my bedroom door turns green as I connect with Lillian’s office. There’s a weird pressure in my chest as I step through the green doorway. I’m not sure whether it’s from my nervousness at going out on a date with Lillian or the too tight white vest I’m wearing. Still, the office looks empty as I walk in.

  I call out, “Hey Lillian, I’m here.”

  I hear a crashing sound from somewhere at the back of the office and remember that the doors at the back lead to separate rooms. One leads to John’s crafting workshop, and another leads to Lillian’s quarters. I make my way to the back of the office and the door I think leads to Lillian’s home. I knock on the door, and the crashing sounds stop.

  A faint voice comes from the other side of the door, “Who is it?”

  I’m a little confused. Is Lillian expecting someone else tonight? Regardless, I answer, “It’s me, Anthony. Is everything alright? I thought I heard some weird noises.”