Since he was probably safe in his hidden lair—ha, he had a lair—Ethan finished his milkshake and went back to work. With the government stretched so thin, his own plans were now much easier. Still, just to be safe, he created a news alert that would message his implant if the situation outside changed.
When he stepped back into the workshop, Ethan noticed the printer had finished its current job, so he unloaded the mechanical part within and topped it back up before giving it some new orders. That done, the machine made whirring noises and emitted scattered beams of light as it got back to work, and Ethan went to finish his work on the point generator.
An hour later, Ethan had the device running and hooked up to his power supply. Really it wasn’t that difficult of a device to make, since he was ascended and using evoking. All the generator did was maintain a small connection point to the Origin that produced a steady amount of power. The hardest part was actually opening the connection, which Ethan could do himself. Then, the device simply had to keep it stable.
You didn’t need to be ascended to create point generators though. There was an alternate design that required a direct connection to the Tower of Ascension’s software. Ethan’s version, however, was much more customizable and portable.
Now that his power supply was secured, Ethan could focus on building something that would help him with his new mission. He was going to build some armor. In fact, he was going to build his armor from the game. Ethan smiled in excitement as he watched the printer work. All the knowledge he needed was in his head. He could build all the tools and weapons from Worldshift and the Tower of Ascension now, and there was no reason to hold back.
His power armor from Worldshift was a complicated and advanced piece of technology. It not only resisted impressive amounts of kinetic and thermal energy, but it also boosted its user’s strength. Thanks to the armor’s connection to its user’s implant, artificial muscles built into it synchronized perfectly with the user’s own movements. The helmet also had quite a few sensors and useful features built into it.
Armor wouldn’t be enough on its own though. Ethan planned on building as much of his Worldshift equipment as possible, including some of his weapons. If he was going to go up against the bureau and the police, he was going to need to fire back.
Ethan worked throughout the night, printing and assembling his new equipment. Wasting time on sleep wasn’t a luxury he had. Thankfully, his mind stayed focused the entire time, and it was easy enough to whip up some stimulants. His knowledge from Worldshift contained more than a few after all.
After welding the last piece of his armor into place, Ethan stepped back and reached out for the Origin. Then, using the power of a mental glyph, he created a small Origin point inside the small point generator located on the back of the suit. Immediately, the generator kicked in, taking over the job of maintaining the Origin point. The armor came to life a moment later. Yellow light shone out of the joints, and a quiet whirring was heard.
It worked! Excited like never before, Ethan grinned madly as he began putting the armor on. This was actually something he’d never had to do in Worldshift, since in the game it just appeared when he equipped it. However, he quickly figured the process out. When he was done, Ethan let out a joyful sigh and he felt tears form in his eyes. Wearing this armor just felt right, so natural. It was like stepping into his own skin. The soft pressure against his body was incredibly familiar and welcoming.
Ethan did a few jumping jacks and punched the air. Moving was as easy as in the game. Thanks to its built-in artificial muscles, the armor adjusted for every shift of his weight and made his actions almost effortless. Ethan couldn’t believe he wasn’t online. This was just too beautiful.
After giggling and running around the workshop a few times, Ethan reluctantly took the armor off and got back to work on his next project: weapons. He didn’t plan to go around murdering people, but his pistol and energy sword were useful for more than just fighting, so it was worth spending the time to make them.
Ethan also wanted to create his hookshot and reel. They would be very useful, but mostly they were just super cool. Zipping up and down buildings would be a dream come true. Ha, all those smug employed would be so shocked. They’d have no idea what was going on.
However, just before dawn, Ethan’s work on the weapons was interrupted by a news update from the alert he’d set up. Curious and a little apprehensive, Ethan brought it up so he could see what was going on outside. He hoped this wouldn’t mess up his plans.
At Ethan’s command, a video box popped in front of his vision. The image was floating before his face with no need for a physical screen because it was being played by his implant. Ethan recognized the blonde reporter from before. However, while she had seemed a little nervous before, now she looked haggard and was visibly jumpy. It looked like she was trying to appear normal, but she wasn’t succeeding. Her voice stuttered fearfully as she talked.
“Due to a sudden influx of dangerous contraband that violates the proscriptions, the Bureau of Economic Harmony has called in the army to help them clean up. The bureau and army will be setting up checkpoints all around the city. Citizens shouldn’t be alarmed. After a brief search, they will be allowed to pass through the checkpoints and go on with their day as usual. Everything is being done to strengthen the harmony of our society.” The woman hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Don’t be alarmed if you hear something that sounds like gunfire. It’s probably just officers of the law firing some warning shots at smugglers of illegal contraband.”
Ethan snorted and closed the virtual screen with a wave of his hand. The checkpoints would be a minor inconvenience to him, but that was all. He was sure he could sneak around them. It wasn’t like he’d been planning on taking the bus or strolling down the street in full armor. The part of the news about hearing gunfire was more interesting. Apparently, he wasn’t the only person who was already building weapons using the technology from Worldshift. That ought to keep the Bureau of Economic Harmony busy.
As Ethan went back to work, a sudden excitement overcame him. Thinking about advanced weaponry had triggered something, and soon, images and information flashed through his mind. In a feverish haze, Ethan threw himself into the construction. It was almost like something was working through him, whispering and guiding him. He didn’t even know what he was making. He could only see whatever piece he was working on at the moment, and Ethan found himself so obsessed with his work that he didn’t think about it.
Only after snapping the last piece into place did the force possessing Ethan suddenly fade away, leaving him looking at a familiar item. With suddenly clear eyes, Ethan looked at his crystal javelin quiver.
“What?” Ethan remarked in surprise. He hadn’t thought to build this item because he’d assumed it was impossible. Looking around, Ethan realized he’d been using a lot of complex lab equipment, including the chemical synthesizer. He still wasn’t sure how he’d made the crystals though… It would be better not to overthink it.
“Let’s see if this actually works,” he said as he picked up the quiver.
A quick experiment revealed he could indeed pull a crystal javelin from the quiver and that it would immediately regrow. Shrugging, Ethan placed the quiver next to his armor. He’d grown rather fond of the device and was sure it would come in handy. Also, it was uniquely his in a way the other items weren’t.
After a few more hours of work, Ethan completed the rest of his equipment. He’d not only built the pistol, blade, and hookshot but also several other gizmos. The stealth cloak was an obvious must. It would allow him to move around the city in full armor much easier. Also, he’d taken the time to increase his combat ability by building a support drone. After finishing his pistol, he’d realized he didn’t have an inventory to store things in, so he’d decided to build something to carry all his new stuff. The result was a hovering drone that was round and a little smaller than a beachball. Its body was mostly hollow, but it was also capa
ble of emitting a large energy shield so it could protect itself and its owner. Ethan wanted to be able to protect himself from multiple directions since he was probably going to be going up against many opponents at once.
The last thing Ethan had created was a bunch of bombs and grenades. He made several different types, including smoke and flash bangs. Most of the smaller ones were strapped to his armor, and the larger ones were put in the support drone.
Now that he was done building, Ethan went to take a shower and get another shake. He’d gotten quite hungry without realizing it. Once clean and refreshed, Ethan planned how he was going to get the Tekko server that Jude had given him the coordinates for. Sneaking through the city on foot with a stealth cloak on probably wasn’t the best option. It would be rather slow. Thus, Ethan decided to take a car. Since he needed to carry his gear, going on the bus would attract too much attention. Looking around, Ethan found two bags he could put his stuff in. His armor folded up nice and compactly, which was good since he no longer had an inventory. The real world could be a bummer.
With everything packed up, Ethan headed outside and went for a short walk through the empty streets of the warehouse district before calling for a driverless car. There was no point being careless about the security of his base.
It didn’t take long for the car to arrive, just five minutes. The black vehicle pulled up along the side of the road, and the closest door popped open. It was a small car with only one row of three seats and no driver controls since it was self-driving.
Ethan got in and then immediately hacked the car. Like all these vehicles, this one was owned by a huge corporation, so Ethan didn’t feel the need to actually pay them a fee. Government regulation meant it was basically impossible for them to lose money. The car also contained a lot of surveillance features, which Ethan quickly disabled. Normally, the location and route of every car was tracked constantly. A log also kept track of every person who used them, and there was a camera in the car itself. The demon had already provided Ethan with a false ID and put a virus in the government’s facial recognition, so all Ethan had to do was feed the car’s location-tracking software some false data. It took him a minute or two of concentrating to figure out how to do it, but it wasn’t too hard thanks to his new ability to interact directly with networked computers. Just like the cameras, it didn’t seem like anyone ever looked at the raw data anyway. The bureau was completely dependent on automated programs that scanned everything for patterns, and those were easy enough to fool.
Sitting back, Ethan looked out the windows as the car moved. He had to resist the urge to yawn, since he’d worked through the night. He didn’t feel all that tired though. His body was simply trying to take advantage of his sudden stillness.
The car traveled through the warehouse district for a while as it circled around the urban core. Ethan’s destination was on the other side of the city, so going around the more congested center made sense. There wasn’t a lot out here on the outskirts. Even most of the vehicles he passed were automatic delivery cars or driverless freight trucks, moving inventory from one unmarked warehouse to another according to the dictates of an accounting program running in some corporate office somewhere, while a human manager sat around and pretended to work.
Eventually, the car made a right turn at an intersection and veered toward a business district. The warehouses were swiftly replaced by office buildings, and a few pedestrians and personal cars appeared. The people here mostly wore business attire, but there weren’t too many around since it was the middle of the work day.
Ethan checked his map. The server he was looking for was located in a large complex on the edge of downtown. He was headed there now. However, the car suddenly slowed, which caused Ethan to look up. It seemed he was now surrounded by other cars and that traffic had almost ground to a halt. That was more than a little unusual, so he looked ahead. There was a checkpoint. A line of dark-grey armored trucks had blocked off half the road. There was also a police car and officers pulling people over and waving others past. As this was going on, several surveillance drones flew around the overhead, observing everything nearby.
“Time to get out,” Ethan remarked as he accessed the car’s controls. Allowing himself to be scanned by the police would end badly for everyone.
A quick command sent the car off the road and to a strip mall’s parking lot to the left. Most of the shops looked to be selling various clothing brands, although there was one expensive burger joint. It was fairly busy, so there were plenty of cars and people in the parking lot, which Ethan figured could allow him to camouflage.
Ethan parked the car at the edge of the lot next to an alley, tinted the car windows to prevent people from seeing in, and put the internal camera on loop. Then, he began rummaging through his bags and getting dressed.
Once Ethan had his armor on and everything strapped in place, he looked out through the windows to see if anyone was looking his way. Instead of empowered, he suddenly felt awkward. He probably looked like some sort of weird cosplayer. Ethan sighed. Well, whatever. That would be better than looking like a criminal who was wearing gear that broke basically every single proscription at once.
Once he activated his stealth cloak, Ethan dashed out of the car and toward the nearby alley. He left the car behind him. It would stay there in case he needed it later. As the car door automatically closed behind him and he approached the entrance to the alley, Ethan glanced around. No one seemed to have noticed him. That wasn’t a surprise though, since he was at the edge of the parking lot and his long stealth cloak covered his entire body. It’s shifting fabric mimicked the colors around him, letting him blend in like a chameleon.
Once safely inside the alley and completely out of sight of both people and cameras, Ethan peered at the police roadblock. How was he supposed to get past it? They probably had checkpoints on every road into the city center. The armored vans were an effective barrier, but the real problem was the drones flying overhead. They were zooming by on regular patrols, and some of them were high up enough to scan the rooftops. As Ethan watched, a drone flew off to the south, probably to join another barricade in that direction and scan for people trying to slip between them.
Looking up, Ethan studied what he could see of the nearby rooftops. Around him, the buildings were two or three stories tall. The skyscrapers seemed to be a way past the roadblock. There was one nearby building that had a big neon sign on its face. That sign should shield him from the sight of the drones. If he crossed over there, then the only thing he needed to worry about was the occasional long-range drone on patrol.
Nodding to himself, Ethan made his way deeper into the alley and then turned right so that he was headed toward that building. Upon reaching it, he pulled his stealth cloak aside and readied his hookshot. Using both at the same time was difficult because of the reel on his back, but he’d have to make it work. In game, it would have been impossible to equip both, but the rules were looser in the real.
“This will be so cool if it works right,” Ethan said as he aimed the hookshot at the top of the building. He was finally going to be using his line for climbing in real life. It was a dream come true. He hoped he didn’t screw it up. Would it feel the same as when he was online?
There was a quiet hiss as the hook was shot into the air and a clatter when it hit the concrete and stuck fast. Ethan gave the line an experimental tug, and it held his weight, so he grinned and activated the reel. Immediately, he was pulled into the air and had to run up the side of the wall to prevent himself from hitting it face first. Ha, it was just like in Worldshift! When he reached the top, Ethan jumped up and grabbed the ledge. Then, he detached his line and used the strength of his powered armor to flip himself over the ledge.
After rolling across the roof and jumping to his feet, Ethan gave a quiet whoop into his helmet and pumped his fist joyfully. That had been fun, but it was a very quick and simple feat. He wanted to do something much more exciting now, like jump off a skyscraper.
Unfortunately, this was the real world, and he had priorities.
He crouched and pulled his cloak back into place, then crept across the rooftop. He kept the big sign at the front of the building between him and roadblock below as much as possible.
A quick rappel using a line brought him down to the other side of the building. He was now past the roadblock, and it didn’t seem like he’d been spotted. No drones were flying straight above him, and the police themselves hadn’t reacted.
Nodding in satisfaction at his successful infiltration, Ethan turned away from the road and moved down the alleyways. His virtual map told him he should be able to make it to his target without getting too close to any busy streets, so that was what he did. He only had to cross one quiet street, which wasn’t hard. He simply waited until no one was looking and dashed across the road. In his armor, he could move incredibly fast, so he was only exposed for a second or two.
Soon after, Ethan peered around the corner of a building, and the Tekko building came into sight. He knew he was in the right place because of the massive government presence.
The building was made of generic-looking steel and glass. It was one of the smaller office towers in sight, but it was still a few dozen floors tall. There was a large Tekko sign hanging above the entrance, and a cluster of antennae on the roof. This was a site on the edge of the downtown commercial area, so there were lots of employed walking past on the sidewalk, but the building’s parking lot was empty of everything but a ring of police cars and grey armored vans. They encircled the entire building, and Ethan could see people and drones moving throughout the barrier as well. It was like a roadblock on steroids.
Worldshift- Virtual Revolution Page 46