by Noah Barnett
"Charlie?!" Camile called from the end of the hallway. The dead biker slowly dissolved into a pile of ash as he looked back to his guards. The two hadn't lifted a finger to help him and he shook his head in annoyance. Charlie jogged down the corridor after Camile and found her standing with a group of mercenaries outside an elevator.
"After we are on the elevator you four are to protect this with your lives," Jen said pointing to a nearby concrete pillbox.
"Yes, ma'am." They echoed saluting. The humans were well armored with fully automatic weapons, and all they had to do was fire down a long corridor from an entrenched position. For some reason, she wasn't impressed with their odds. He followed Jen onto the elevator, and waited for his two dim-witted guards to join them. Camile pressed a flat palm to the control screen, and it started a very long descent.
Eventually it opened onto a massive room. Seven black pedestals were arranged in a large circle. The furthest one was occupied by a massive floating two-handed sword. Two screaming skulls were affixed to the hilt, and the pommel was covered in cracked leather. The black blade was about five feet long and wrought in glowing Assyrian script.
"Don't!" Camile’s voice said sharply. Charlie hadn't realized he'd been walking towards the artifact. It had called to him.
"Huh," He said turning to her.
"You'll set off the nuke. There's a number of sensors in the floor around the pedestals. It was decided if anyone got this far it was too late to stop them."
"Holy shit," Charlie thought.
"Isn't a nuke overkill?" He asked moving back a bit just in case.
"I wasn't joking about what would happen if the Brujah leader got his hands on that weapon. The other factions would kneel to him in a month, probably less. The city is better off destroyed than letting it fall to the Brujah." She said in a decidedly nasty snarl.
"Still, I mean…"
"San Francisco has suffered worse than a measly five megaton bomb," she scoffed.
"What's worse than that?"
"A cult of mages opened a portal to hell a year ago. We spent a good week fighting off a demon invasion, then an undead plague ravaged the state. There are still parts of Southern California you can't go into." Camile said moving to a flat section of wall.
She pressed her fingers into three tiny indentations, and a screen unfolded. Quickly she tapped a combination into the pad and let it scan her palm again. Nothing in the room seemed to change but she moved to the sword. Reaching up she took it in one hand as if it weighed no more than a feather. The runes flared briefly before settling into a steady pulse like a heartbeat. When she turned, her eyes were glowing the same color as the sword.
"Guard the door," She ordered the NPC’s.
The two humans knelt on the ground about ten feet from the entrance. Above them, automatic gunfire started up, which was followed by an explosion. Charlie moved deeper into the room and took a position behind one of the pedestals. He removed the two magazines from his pocket and put them on the stone.
Something landed on the elevator, and smoke started to billow out from the cracked doors. A large black combat boot kicked through the metal, and the two mortals began to fire their weapons as the vampire appeared. Charlie immediately recognized the Brujah prince, from their earlier meeting. He fired his magnum at the vampire who simply sidestepped his shots.
"What bullshit was this?" Charlie thought. Each time he or the guards fired the red-eyed vampire shifted like a ghost on the wind.
Jake slowly removed a large sword from a back sheath. His blade flashed like a whip as he neared the first human. The guard’s head flew across the vault, which was followed by the second.
"Thank you, fledgling. We needed a secondary distraction. That ass, Stephan, would have recognized our initial diversion. He probably thought you were a weak attempt at misdirection." Jake said laughing.
"I’m not a fan of being used," Charlie replied firing his pistol for all the good it did. The prince vanished again and reappeared a few feet away. Charlie stood and threw the empty pistol at the leather-clad biker. The elder vampire laughed again, and cut the weapon in half.
"That's how the game is played. Welcome to Blood and Pride."
A red silk blur flew past Charlie towards the dark haired clan leader. Metal sparks flew as two swords clashed. Nearby the tip of a blade slammed into the stone floor. The Brujah kicked out sending Camile back into the room, who flipped in midair, and landed on her feet in a skid. Her eyes were still glowing and she had a wicked smile on her lips.
"Tsk, you know that's going to take forever to regrow," the Brujah said in annoyance. He held up the stump of his left arm. Black blood oozed from the wound to form a dark seal. Then both leaped into the air again. Camile was a flash of red dress and porcelain skin, while Jake was a blur of dark leather. A second clash of steel occurred over Charlie's head. Camile landed hard next to him and toppled. One of her legs lay nearby still clad in black lace and a high-heel shoe. The Brujah leader turned exposing a massive wound on his head. One of his ears and thirty percent of his skull was missing, so his brain was visibly pulsing as it leaked black blood.
"Charlie, take the sword," Camile called throwing the weapon towards him. "Don't let him have it," she added and pushed herself to one knee. Charlie caught the two handed weapon and power flooded him. The blade didn't just flash, it flared with red glowing flames. A True Brujah held the sword now; which magnified all his abilities. Though he was only hours old his character burned with power. His blood boiled, and he felt like he could jump over a building.
"Give it here fledgling," the clan leader said.
"I told you I don't like being used," Charlie answered spinning.
He sprinted for the elevator like a world class Olympic athlete. As Charlie reached the shaft he jumped thirty feet upward and ran vertically up the wall. Wind whipped past his face, and Charlie laughed like a child as he casually defied gravity. As cheap as this game was, at least it made people feel powerful. He came out at the top to a bloody mess. The human guards painted the walls in a gory soup of flesh, Kevlar armor, and broken equipment. Gunfire could be heard in the club above as the Brujah clan fought with the Toreador vampires and their minions.
Charlie had shit for melee skill, so holding the top of the shaft was his best option. There was no way he could outrun the mature vampire. Far below, the clan leader was leapfrogging up the walls. He dug his right hand into the concrete and kicked off the side. In midair, he spun and kicked off again gaining velocity.
Unlike Charlie, it took Jake almost a minute to climb the shaft, so he had time to ready himself for the attack. The Brujah leader flew over his head in a final bound, and Charlie swung in a desperate upward arc.
A pale hand flopped to the ground, and Jake glanced at both his stumps in annoyance. Charlie bent and retrieved the severed appendage.
"Let me give you a hand, boss." He said tossing the flesh at the Brujah Prince. Jake lunged catching the dead fist between his teeth. Red eyes flared as he spun and vanished up the corridor. Charlie lifted the sword with a smile, and flames continued to writhe across the blade. He sort of understood why they wanted this bad boy. It had turned a fledgling into a powerhouse. In a mature vampire's hands, it probably would be a game changer. Camile landed next to him, and he was surprised to see both her legs were attached.
"By blood and fang," she said breathing a sigh of relief. Charlie posed rather heroically with the sword. "Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing you happened to pick a Brujah." She said stepping closer. Of course, his moment was ruined by the boyfriend's appearance.
"Stephan, no!" Camile said in a rush. He was looking at Camile when the attack came.
"You set the spy free!" Stephan spat as a black blur flashed in Charlie's vision. His perspective slowly shifted as it rolled sideways. He watched his own body slowly crumble into dust as his head bounced across the ground. Camile yelled at the other man, but Charlie lost his ability to hear. The words were muted as darkness enclosed hi
m. Soon he was standing at the character selection screen, and a pile of ash and bone was all that was left of his vampire.
"What an asshole," Charlie said to himself. He logged off, pulled the dive helmet from his head and glanced around. The living room was dark, and he quickly grabbed the bottle of water from the table. Next to it was a small pack of electrolyte powder, and he dumped it into the lukewarm liquid, then drank the entire thing. Charlie wandered into the bedroom to lay down. It was late anyway and he needed the extra sleep.
CHAPTER TEN
GMO Intro
The keys jingled as Charlie held them out. "You won't regret buying the newer car," he said giving them another small shake.
The man smiled closing his fingers around the keys and stood. They'd just signed the last of the paperwork, and it had only cost a small piece of his soul for the luxury car. He followed the man out to the lot, and they shook hands again. The customer slipped into the expensive coupe and started the engine. Charlie gave him his best fake smile and waved as he drove off the lot. That was his third sale today, and he grinned to himself as he wandered back to his desk to organize the paperwork.
Jennifer intercepted him first, and he kept his face neutral. Frankly, he was still a little angry about last night, and he hadn't said much to her all morning. Jen picked her words very carefully as she said, "I... I'm sorry about what happened."
"What about your boyfriend?" He asked.
"You have to understand, we deal with spies literally all the time. It's easier to just kill them, when we find one." She said pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
That was a pathetic excuse, and Charlie was about to say ‘your man is an asshole,' but stopped himself.
Finally she added, "Most people don't even know you saved the city. I would have never disarmed the nuke if you weren't there. We also know there's a high-level spy in the clan. That's the only way the Brujah would have known the sword was at the club. Stephan is willing to be your patron if you want to play."
"Patron?"
"It means you'll get the best mortal blood and a monthly stipend," She said.
"Fuck him. I saved his fancy toy and he killed me for it. The only way I would join his emo band is if he publicly blew me." Charlie snarled in reply.
That wasn't going to happen, which was fine. In his opinion the character skills reeked of hand holding, which meant player ability was worthless. Then only after hundreds of hours in Blood and Pride did you gain any power. In the meantime, anyone with a grudge could curb-stomp you for looking at him funny. The system favored old timers, and those without a life.
“So how about I try your game? What was it called?" She asked.
"Gun Meister, you'll give it a go?" Charlie asked with growing excitement. He would honestly love to have a friend in the game. At least one that wasn't half psychotic.
"I'm still angry at how things went down. So yeah, I need a day off from the politics." She said flashing what he thought was a genuine smile. Over the last couple of days his view of her had changed drastically. She was considerably smarter and more observant than he previously gave her credit for.
"It's not a huge download, so I'll meet you when you come out of character creation."
She turned to walk away, but he quickly added, "Oh, pick a male gun." Jennifer paused as confusion crossed her face.
"A male gun, trust me," he repeated going into the building. The paperwork was still sitting on his desk as he sat down. Today had gone surprisingly well and his sales would boost his numbers.
After work, he fetched some fast food and quickly drove home. He’d been gone from Gun Meister for two days, and he was itching to see Elva. Charlie ate half the chicken burrito and scooped the rest into Fizzgig’s dish. Then he sat in the living room chair and pulled the Dive Helmet over his head. The digital world blossomed as he entered Gun Meister Online.
Elva had been busy, and he sat up looking around. Several new outfits were visible in the closet. Hanging over the bed was a television screen, which he assumed was for entertaining Elva while he was logged out. It was currently blank and his weapon wasn't lying atop him like usual. Instead, a cacophony of noise was coming from the living room, so he rolled from the bed and followed the loud music. Elva was dancing in the middle of the room completely naked, save a pair of beach sandals. She rocked her recently tanned hips to the rhythm of the beat. A mustard covered corn-dog rose to her lips as she sang.
"War, huh, yeah.
What is it good for…
absolutely nothing,"
After the chorus, Elva bit into the end and continued to her wild dance. The two days of sun bathing had given her skin a caramel tan from head to foot. Charlie smiled from the bedroom doorway. The music was obnoxiously loud, which was why she hadn’t noticed him yet.
"I bet that tastes good," Charlie said. Elva spun, and her eyes lit up at seeing him.
"Charlie!" She squealed dashing toward him. He caught her by the waist before she could bowl him over. The corn-dog almost hit him as Elva wrapped her arms around his neck. Her skin smelled of sunscreen and sea salt. Elva forced her tongue into his mouth in a passionate greeting. Finally, she pulled back trying to regain some composure, and he glanced at her lunch.
"Going to share?"
Elva looked at the food, then at him, and back to the corndog. She opened her mouth and pushed the entire thing inside. Lips closed over the end and she withdrew the stick with a flourish. Her cheeks bulged as she tried to chew, and swallow at the same time.
"I see how it is," Charlie said turning in a circle examining the changes to the house. A dark rug had been thrown down below a pair of leather couches, and a small drinks table sat between them. Kitchen appliances had been installed.
"You've done a great job with the place," he said in genuine admiration. It was still light on furniture but it felt more like a home.
“The cash card is empty,” Elva admitted, which was fine with Charlie. She'd managed to acquire a good selection of furniture for just two grand. "I know you said to buy things for the apartment, but I couldn't resist getting some more clothing."
Charlie had already noticed the outfits hanging in the closet, and he liked this independent side, so he pulled her into another embrace. This time he forced his tongue into her mouth. For almost a minute he pressed his advantage, before Charlie pulled away, and left Elva standing there with eye’s full of raw lust.
"What are we doing tonight?" She asked in a suggestively husky voice.
"We are going to meet a friend of mine who's trying the game out. That won't be for an hour or two. She still has to download the client. In the meantime,” he paused for dramatic effect and pointed to the bedroom closet. “You can model those outfits for me."
Elva slipped past him and into the bedroom, and very deliberately closed the door. While she dressed Charlie opened the newly purchased fridge. It wasn't full to the brim, but there was a week's worth of food. At least Elva wouldn't starve should Charlie be gone for several days.
Elva appeared in a blue Chinese dress, with a long serpentine dragon swimming among the water lilies. On her chest, a heart shaped window displayed a tantalizing view of her cleavage, and the sides of her dress were tied together with a thick white ribbon. Elva stepped into the living room in three-inch heels and turned slowly. He clapped, and she disappeared into the bedroom again.
The next outfit was a business dress, or at least an attempt at one. Elva came out in a gray pinstripe corset and miniskirt with black stockings. The short heels were black and practical. Her golden hair had been pulled back into a simple bun, and a pen was used to keep it in place. To finish the look, a thin pair of spectacles rested on her nose.
"How do you like it?" She asked in a smooth, cultured voice as she turned slowly for his inspection.
"This one is definitely the best," he said coming toward her. Charlie pushed her back into the bedroom and onto the mattress. They kissed again, and Elva met him with an animalistic hunger.
"We can’t," Elva moaned as he pulled the little zipper her corset down.
Charlie ignored the comment and closed his mouth over her nipple. She gasped running her fingers through his hair. Her long stocking covered legs squirmed across the bed as Charlie slipped his hand under her skirt.
"If we are going—to meet your… friend," she panted struggling to continue. "The bus will take... an hour to arrive in town."
Charlie slowed his areola attack and considered. The bus, he'd completely forgotten about that. Reluctantly Charlie let go of Elva’s breast, and helped tug her corset back into place.
"We'll have to continue this later," he said climbing from the bed.
Elva recovered herself, and smoothed her miniskirt back into order. She pulled on her heels again and walked to the bedroom mirror to fix her hair. Together they left the house and caught the bus was just pulling up as it reached the stop. Elva sat primly in her seat with both hands clasped in her lap, and didn't lean against him like usual. Instead, she withdrew a smartphone from her pocket. Elva tapped at it for a few seconds and held it out for him.