This new room wasn’t very big. It was more of a large closet, and it looked like another forgotten junk area. There was a door in the far wall but no sign that anyone had used it recently. In fact, as Ethan moved past the junk on the floor and studied the door, it looked like the door’s lock had been welded shut.
“Huh, this is probably as good a hiding spot as any,” Ethan whispered as he settled down.
The next hour was very boring. All he did was sit in the dark and practice evoking, and even that was hard to do without making any noise. Ethan really wished he could log off, but he wasn’t near a save beacon. Really, this was a terrible design for a game. Wasn’t the point for it to be fun?
“Fine, you can risk it. Just stop bothering me!” Michael hissed angrily after Ethan had bugged him about heading back to base for the tenth time.
“Cool, see you soon,” Ethan replied happily as he stood and climbed back into the vent.
When he made it out into the hallway, there were no drones running around, so he put his stealth cloak back on and slowly crept toward his team’s hideout. While he was on the way, he took a moment to inform Michael that he’d lost his pursuers. He didn’t want the old man to have a heart attack or anything.
When he got to the entrance to the base, it took Ethan a few seconds to find the door and its hidden handle. Lily had done a great job disguising the door using the foam. It was practically indistinguishable from real cement.
“Oh, you’re back. Did you find anything interesting? Or did you just get chased around by robots the entire time you were gone?” Michael asked when Ethan walked inside the room. The older man was sitting on the floor, tinkering with one of his drones.
“I found lots of interesting stuff, and even tripping that alarm allowed me to learn a lot,” Ethan replied defensively.
In response, Michael just chuckled and continued playing with his drone, so Ethan told him about everything he’d found. The news about the warehouse and train terminal quickly caught his attention.
“If we can’t find it another way, we might have to assault one of those warehouses and grab the gear we need,” Michael mused aloud. “Also, I can’t help but wonder about those trains. If we managed to sneak aboard one, where would it take us?”
Ethan had no idea, and he said as much. He didn’t have much more to add though, so he decided to log off.
Michael nodded and held out a hand. “I’ll take the cloak. It won’t do you any good offline, and I’ve got to stick around here until Kyle gets back. He might need something.”
Ethan nodded and handed him the cloak before opening his game menu and logging off. Once back in his home, he shrugged off the brief disorientation that sometimes came after disconnecting from VR and went to the bathroom. After he was done there, he grabbed something to eat and checked his mail. He hadn’t gotten any important messages, so he went for a brief walk outside.
His neighborhood was the same as always, empty and repetitive, but at least he didn’t encounter any more mysterious vans or lurking shadows. There was also a pleasant lack of government agents. Those could really ruin his day.
Once back home, Ethan sat on his living room couch. There, he thought about Worldshift and a little bit about Lily as well. What was she doing? He really wished he knew where she lived. Not that he was a stalker or anything. It would just be nice to know more about her. Should he send her a message through the game? No, it was probably better to wait until they were both online and do it face-to-face.
It didn’t take long for Ethan to grow bored with the real. There was very little for him to do. He had no job, and even most of his day-to-day planning was done by smart software and algorithms. There was no need for him to grocery shop or even go pick things up. Everything was delivered right to his door.
Sitting around and doing nothing made Ethan feel incredibly useless and more than a little dispirited, but he didn’t want to log back online tonight. He couldn’t do much without his team, and they were all offline now. Also, he didn’t want to spend all of his time online. There had to be some sort of limit, after which it became unhealthy and pathetic. He would just have to wait until tomorrow. With a sigh, Ethan dragged himself off the couch and did a quick exercise routine to get his blood pumping. While he moved, he listened to music that was selected to match his activities and personal taste.
After working up a sweat, Ethan took a long shower to clean himself off and waste more time. The water felt refreshing on his skin at least, and the calming sound of running water helped him zone out. It wasn’t until his skin started getting clammy that Ethan got out of the shower and decided to call it a night. Lying back on his bed, he stared at the dark ceiling until sleep took him.
The next morning, Ethan let himself sleep in and went about his morning business slowly. He had a message from Michael containing the time of their next meetup, but he didn’t want to appear too desperate to get back online, so he chose to be a little late. When he did log back on, he was the second to last person to show up. Michael was the only one missing. Everyone else was standing around the room that served as their hideout.
“Hey, nice to see you again, man,” Kyle announced enthusiastically once Ethan showed up.
“Yeah, you too, man,” Ethan replied as he looked around for Lily. She was standing behind him, and she gave him a cheerful grin when they locked gazes.
That was when Michael showed up. The older man appeared next to the long antenna of the save beacon and immediately coughed to get everyone’s attention.
“I’m sorry I’m a little late,” he told everyone. “My boss wanted to talk to me briefly, which is unusual for him.”
“Nah, we’re good. Ethan just got here,” Kyle replied cheerfully.
“Let’s stop patting ourselves on the backs and get to business,” Jude suggested.
“Fair enough,” Michael said as he gave her a polite nod. “Kyle and Ethan both did some scouting and scavenging last night while I went through scrap we have here. However, we’re still missing a piece for the workbench, and that’s our priority. Thankfully, we do have some possible locations where we might find our target. They’re just heavily guarded. Which means we need to raid them.”
“We can’t just steal what we need?” Lily asked.
Jude gave her a disapproving look. “Ha, I’d prefer some real action.”
“And you’ll get it,” Michael told her. “What we’re going to do is essentially a smash-and-grab. We rush in, take out all the drones, grab everything that looks interesting, and then retreat before reinforcements arrive.
“Sounds like my kind of party!” Jude exclaimed as a wide smile appeared on her face.
“We will need to do some preparation first though. I have some bugs for all of you. We’ll use them to disable all the cameras around our target so that they don’t know which way we’ve run. Also, instead of heading back here, we will be escaping to a temporary safehouse that Ethan discovered. Only when they’ve stopped searching for us and we’ve had a chance to check our goods will we return here.”
Kyle pumped a fist. “Wow, now we’re really getting all spy-thriller-like. Nice!”
“As long as I get a chance to shoot some stuff up, I’m happy,” Jude said as Michael began passing out the bugs. They were tiny little silver buttons and not actually shaped like beetles.
It took the players a few minutes to get ready, but then they all headed out. Since they didn’t all have stealth cloaks, Michael hacked the nearby cameras briefly when they passed.
Soon the team neared the warehouse Ethan had discovered yesterday, and Michael sent Kyle and Ethan out to apply the bugs to the cameras in the immediate area. When they were done, they all gathered at a dark corner near the entrance to the warehouse.
“All right, remember the plan and don’t deviate from it,” Michael told them in a stern voice. “Jude will guard the door and blast anything that shows up, while the rest of us take out all the bots inside. I will then give the all clear, and
we’ll move on to searching for our target. And don’t forget the most important part. Once we enter the room, we’ll be on the clock. Five minutes, that’s it. No matter what, we leave once that period is over. I’ll leave you behind if I have to.”
“That’s a little strict, don’t you think?” Kyle asked hesitantly.
Michael glared at him coldly. “No, it’s not. The key to successful operations is discipline and structure.”
Kyle threw up his hands in surrender as Ethan studied Michael with interest. Was it possible the older player wasn’t being honest about his day job? He did seem to know a lot about “operations.” Was he a criminal of some sort? Ethan shuddered a little at the very idea. The Bureau of Economic Harmony came down hard on thieves and unlicensed traders. If Michael was involved in illegal activity, it would explain why he’d been so reluctant to show his expertise earlier. There weren’t many criminals left, but organized crime wasn’t completely gone. These days, they mostly traded in knockoff brand items and information.
Michael noticed Ethan’s attention and glanced his way, so Ethan gave him a quick smile and turned away. Well, it was none of his business. He was just here to play a VR game and maybe win some money.
“Commence operation!” Michael ordered everyone over team speak once they were all in position.
“Roger,” Kyle immediately replied as he dashed toward the warehouse door. Ethan was right behind him.
There were two droids standing guard at the door. They immediately noticed the charging players and raised their weapons. One of them had a rifle, and the other had an energy sword that buzzed as it came to life.
The droid with the rifle took a shot at Kyle, but the energy bolt missed as Kyle activated his jetpack. Kyle flew forward with a loud whoosh and then sliced the droid’s rifle in half. Meanwhile, Ethan had raised his pistol. Now that Kyle was out of the way, he was able to unload several rounds into the chest of the droid with the sword. It collapsed in a shower of sparks as Kyle decapitated its companion.
Both players then stepped over their fallen opponents and entered the warehouse. At the same time, a wailing alarm went off and the drones inside the warehouse turned to stare at the players. There were over a dozen of the mechanical men among the shelves.
“We got no time to waste. Let’s get them!” Kyle yelled as he rushed farther into the room.
“Right behind you,” Ethan replied with a grin. Not unlike Jude, he was happy to be on the attack. He’d spent too much time feeling depressed about things he couldn’t control, but he was feeling better now thanks to Lily. Yes, it was time to have some fun. This was a game after all.
According to the plan, Lily and Michael slipped into the room behind their allies. Only Jude stayed behind to guard the entrance and their escape route. As the enemy droids reacted, the team split to take them out and raid the shelves.
Ethan saw a droid next to a shelf raise a large pistol and aim at Kyle, so he rushed closer to deal with it. Several shots of his own pistol caused the droid to duck and face him instead. Ethan kept firing, but his shots were deflected by an energy shield that sprang into being before the droid.
The droid then dropped the shield and opened fire at Ethan, but he instantly dodged to the side and reached for the Origin. Focusing on the right mental glyph, Ethan used evoking to throw a blast of aether at the droid’s gun, knocking it aside. Then, before the humanoid robot could adjust its aim, he dashed forward and cut one of its arms off. Another slice took off its head, and the droid promptly crumpled to the ground.
As Ethan moved on to find another target, he heard sustained fire behind him. It seemed like Jude was already holding off the enemy.
Moving through the tall shelves, Ethan dispatched two more weaponless droids that tried to rush him together and shot down a hovering camera drone. Afterward, he didn’t see any more enemies nearby, so he took a moment to look around. There was a large door ahead of him that looked big enough for a spiderbot to use. That could be a problem.
“There’s another door here on the far side of the room,” Ethan told his team.
“Watch it, I think we’re almost done with guards anyway,” Michael replied.
There was a bark of gunfire and then Lily spoke up as it grew quiet. “I believe I just got the last one.”
“I’m in the clear too,” Kyle stated.
“Good. Then let’s move on to the grabbing part of our operation,” Michael ordered everyone.
Ethan gave the affirmative, but before he could turn around, two droids with guns ran through the door in front of him. One of them saw him and quickly raised an energy shield. Grunting in annoyance, Ethan pulled out a javelin and tossed it under the shield. He didn’t have time to waste on them. Michael had them on a tight schedule.
The javelin skidded along the floor and then exploded, throwing the droids backward and tearing them apart. That done, Ethan moved to the nearest shelf and scanned its contents. Most of the stuff was useless, but there was valuable gear scattered among the trash. Ethan picked up a few items for his personal use, but he didn’t see the part they needed for the workbench.
“I’ve got it!” Kyle suddenly yelled over team speak.
“Good. We’ve only got thirty seconds to grab whatever else we find, and then we go,” Michael replied.
“Make sure to get me a present or two. I like things that go boom!” Jude said before laughing and opening fire at something out of sight.
Ethan only had time to take one more item before Michael signaled that their time was up. At his command, the team dashed back toward Jude’s position. As Ethan stepped into the hallway, he saw a small pile of destroyed droids lying around. Jude had been busy.
“Let’s go…” Michael said and waved them toward the way they’d come, but he suddenly stopped and stared the other way. He looked spooked.
Alarmed, Ethan quickly turned to see what he was looking at, and he recognized the charging mass of metal instantly. “Spiderbot!”
CHAPTER 26
WORKSHOP
“We need to disable it with heavy firepower now!” Ethan yelled as the Spiderbot charged toward his team. “It’s too fast to escape from.”
Jude nodded and raised her heavy machine gun. “Right, not a problem. Let’s see how it likes the taste of this!”
She opened fire, and a spray of bullets slammed into the giant robot and then ricocheted into the walls. They didn’t appear to do much damage, so Ethan tossed a javelin at it. The crystal spear was knocked out of the air by a metal leg, but then it exploded. The following blast caused the spiderbot to stumble and crash into the cement wall, which filled the air with a horrible metallic screeching noise. It recovered a moment later, but at least it had been slowed.
“Move and fire!” Michael yelled as he grabbed Jude’s shoulder and pulled her back.
Everyone did as they were told. They turned and fled down the corridor. Metal clanged against metal as the robotic spider immediately followed after them, but it wasn’t undamaged. Its shiny exterior was covered in scorch marks, and one of its legs was stiff. As a result, the killing machine was slowed and began to lag behind. Still, Lily left nothing to chance. While running, she quickly tossed a gunk grenade at it. It detonated with a loud bang, but the armored robot quickly burst out of the green goo. It didn’t appear to have been slowed much. Apparently, it was moving too fast for the gunk to solidify properly.
Up ahead, three humanoid droids stepped out of a side passage. They were right in the players’ way, and two of them were holding pistols. The other had a red energy blade that glowed the same color as the droids’ unblinking eyes. None of the droids made any noise. They simply raised their weapons in preparation for a fight.
“I’ve got this!” Kyle shouted.
An instant later, the young player’s jetpack activated. He flew forward in a blur of speed, and his energy blade buzzed as it came to life. Before the droids could react properly, Kyle was among them. He whirled around and slashed down, cutting on
e of the pistol-carrying droid’s arms off. He then kicked the droid in the chest, sending it flying backward. The droid with the energy blade stepped forward to attack, but Kyle ignored it. Instead, he spun around and jumped to the side so that he could attack the second droid with a pistol. His sword swung through the air and cleaved its head right off. There was a shower of sparks as the robot collapsed. One droid remained, and Kyle quickly turned to face it. He brought his blade up to block a slash aimed at his back, but then the droid’s head exploded. Michael had put a pistol round through it.
“We’re in a hurry,” the man explained as they caught up with Kyle and ran past the fallen drones.
There was an intersection in the corridor ahead, which was good because as they neared it, there was a familiar metallic screeching from up ahead, and another spiderbot appeared. The huge menacing robot filled the passage, and it was headed straight for them.
“Frak, what now?” Jude asked as the entire group slowed slightly.
Michael hesitated as they reached the intersection. He looked both left and right, before pointing toward the left. “This way is clear. My drones have checked it. We’ll use it to loop around and lose pursuit.”
At the same time, Lily pulled out a black grenade and tossed it at the huge robot barreling toward them. It landed on the ground in front of the spiderbot and then burst, sending black liquid in every direction. The floor was immediately covered with the dark oil, and then the spiderbot stepped on it. Banging and screeching filled the air as the robot’s charge became a tumble. Its legs slid off the oil, and it slammed into one wall after the other. Desperately, it tried to get traction, but now all its legs were covered with the slippery oil. It could only flail as it tried to get back up on its feet.
Lily then turned toward Michael. “That won’t last long. We need to escape.”
“Right, this is the way,” he replied as he ran down the leftward hallway. Everyone quickly followed him.
Worldshift- Virtual Revolution Page 29