by Wolfe Locke
Niles felt useless, just standing there watching the two tech guys do their job. He wanted to do something, anything. May as well make myself useful. He walked over to the glass table and started reading up on the reports again, trying to see if he could find some more information. But even with a second look-over, he wasn’t finding anything new.
His stomach growled again. Maybe I should just go get something to eat. But he wasn’t comfortable leaving the two techs alone in the room.
“Got it,” The bald one said, slamming a hand down on the table. Niles looked over and nodded, waiting for the man to tell him what he discovered.
“Well, this is awkward,” he explained. “Flawless, though. I can see how it was missed.”
“What? Care to explain?” Niles asked.
“Underworld. Looks like it’s a place,” The other tech said. Niles nodded; he had figured it was something like that.
“It looks like Underworld is a City literally injected into the SynaCAID in Seven Cities. From what I can gather, it’s in the under mesh. For most people to reach it, they’d have to clip through using an animation exploit. I wonder how Kubrick is managing the data hosting, though? It must be expensive.”
The two techs started mumbling to each other about the raw data, and Niles chose to interrupt. “So, this is Kubrick’s city? An underworld underneath Seven Cities? Can you get me there to meet him?
“We just need to check for security issues. It has its own risks. You’d be going in blind, and there’s no way of knowing how SynaCAID works down there. There’s a real chance your Rig could go into a feedback loop and fail with you in it. But if you want, we can pull the data and find the best way to get you in.” The techs explained.
Niles nodded. Everything about the job was risky. But anything worth doing always had a risk to it. Just because it was dangerous didn’t mean he needed to stop. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter 17: Intermission
* * *
“Alright, let’s do this,” Niles said to the two techs as they started up the Rig, and two men attached a terminal hookup to a portable unit.
“Normally,” the balding tech explained, “We’d be doing this from the other room, but with you going into a dark zone, this is the only way to get a direct feed to you and from you.”
Niles nodded. Makes sense. He took off his uniform, not bothering to wait for the techs to avert their eyes and got into the pod. It was still warm from earlier. He lay down in the Rig and as soon as the lid overhead started to close, Niles shut his eyes, waited for the gel to cover him, and passed on into the system.
SynaCAID Platform
%%$#*Talon$*(##
&&&Enterting Talon Room&&&
Niles felt something pull him down and opened his eyes to find himself standing with his boots on solid ground. It was a circular room with no halls or light that he could see, but Niles had no issue seeing. It was as bright as day. He looked out and saw a wide spiraling staircase winding upwards as far as he could see. Somehow he knew it kept going.
[Transmission: Hey, Chief, it’s Palmer. Can you tell us what you see on your end? The Talon works differently for every person.]
Ah, Palmer, the balding one. Niles looked around. “I’m in a room. It almost looks like a silo but with a staircase around the whole exterior. There are a bunch of doors going up the stairs. I can’t see the end of it.”
[Transmission: Alright, those are the entry points the Talon gives you access to, hold up. We’re going to try and load an interface for you to find the right door easier.]
On command, an old fashioned folding table with a computer appeared. The only thing that could be seen on the computer screen was a line of text that read “Enter Location,” followed by a blinking underscore sign.
“Alright, I see the computer,” Niles said, and now that he had a better idea for what the room was used for, he took a minute to look around better.
[Transmission: It worked. That’s good. Ok, Chief, we’re sending in a few other interfaces. This should help to even things out. Once you’re ready, you should be able to use the first computer to look for Underworld and autoport to the location.]
In response, a glowing stage with a mannequin on it appeared near him, as did another table with a giant book that was also glowing. Niles approached the dummy first, and a menu appeared.
SynaCAID Platform
%%$#*Talon$*(##
&&&Equipment Generator&&&
Niles looked at the screen in front of him and thought for a minute. He didn’t see any way to interface with it or browse the selections. I’ll just ask then. “I need protection, something that’s going to stop bullets, but also energy guns, kill shots, poisons, and other debuffs.
In response, a cybernetic helmet appeared on the mannequin with a built-in respirator and a thermal vision visor. While on the mannequin’s body, blackish-grey armor appeared underneath a dark overcoat with inlaid ballistic weave. That was easier than I thought it would be. Niles went ahead and put the helmet, armor, and coat on
“And a weapon. I need something dependable I can use from a range. Something, not all that different from what I’ve been using as a sidearm, and a back up a weapon if the first fails for whatever reason.” Niles put the words out there and waited for the reason.
In one hand of the mannequin, a vibroblade appeared, long and sharp. However, Niles wondered if he had the skill to carry a sword, and in the other hand of the figure, an energy pistol appeared. Niles approached and grabbed both of them.
Notification: You have gained the loadout “War God.”
Gained – 1 “The Dominator Fist
Gained – 1 “The Dominator Mantle”
Gained -1 “The Dominator Helm”
Gained – 1 “The Dominator Blade
Set Bonus: For having all four items equipped, you gain the following bonuses.
-Base Speed Tripled
-100% Immunity to Poison, Shock, Frost, Flame, and Paralyze.
-70% Armor Penetration
-Enemy Tracking
-Headshot Immunity
“I feel incredible. Thanks for the assist, guys.” Niles said as he walked over to the glowing book and tried to interact with it. No screens appeared, and nothing he said seemed to activate it.
[Transmission: You’re welcome, Chief, and sorry about that. Apparently, there’s a block on the raw logs. The Talon itself isn’t registering that you’ve appropriate access for that function. Sorry! Whenever you’re ready, though, Chief, you should be good to go. The Dominator Set was removed early on as content. You should make good use of it. Just a note, once you log off, you lose the abilities and equipment. You’ll have to come back here in the future if you need something else.]
“It should. Thanks again.” Well that’s inconvenient. Niles replied as he walked over to the computer and entered the word “Underworld.” In response, the walls began to rotate. Way above him a doorway lit up and disengaged from the wall and levitated right in front of him. Guess I’ll be going now.
Chapter 18: Underworld
SynaCAID Platform
Currently Transferring to Seven Cities Online
Location: Arcadia – Easton Price Elementary Grounds
SynaCAID Platform
???ERROR/UNKNOWN PLAY DATA FOR USER MARX??
???ERROR???
*$*$@Hotfix Confirmed) Assigning(
SynaCAID Platform
Marx – Level 255
STR – 999 AGI – 999 VIT – 999
Ability Slot 1 – Auto Counter * Whenever attacked, the possessor of this ability automatically counter attacks. This attack cannot be interrupted.
Ability Slot 2 – Mirror Image * Whenever attacking, the possessor of this ability has a 30% chance to spawn a clone of themselves. The clone does no damage.
Ability Slot 3 – Flash Step – The user can instantly teleport a distance equal to their level every 12 seconds.
Ultimate Slot – God’s Eye
The user of this abilit
y can call down fire from the heavens in the form of a concentrated beam, dealing massive damage to the target. Can be used once every 6 minutes.
That’s interesting. It must be because of the Talon. I’ve skipped a few of the processes. The screen faded and a new area rapidly rendered around him. Niles found himself in the alley behind an old looking apartment. His new armor fit perfectly, and the pistol and sword in his hands had a feeling of rightness to them. Bright graffiti covered the side. Somebody had spray-painted “Goose” in large block lettering. This doesn’t seem like the place.
[Transmission: Alright, Chief. Congrats on your ability pull. With the Talon, it’s hard to tell what the system is going to give you.
So, that being said, it looks like you’re just about at Underworld. This next part is tricky, though. It requires a little bit of an exploit. If I’m reading the data right, there should be a place to clip through the wall of the building into the mesh underneath.
Listen closely. This part is just as important. T clip through the wall, you need to aim your pistol up at the sky and go backwards into the wall at a diagonal angle.
“Alright, Palmer, I think I see what you’re talking about,” Niles replied as he looked at the wall and saw a place where it seemed the render had haphazardly been put together. Nearby, Niles heard the voice of players running around to the sound of steel grinding against steel. I’m guessing this is a player versus player zone.
Before anyone could disturb him. Niles raised his pistol, the War God’s Fist, and looked up to the sky with it, aiming through a red dot sighting. It barely even registered when a player jumped out at him, thinking he was an easy target to up their kill count score, and found themselves quickly dispatched by a raw difference in stats and the Auto Counter ability.
Niles cringed. So my avatar is strong enough that it doesn’t register low-level attacks? That’s important to remember. I’ll have to try some workaround to that. He ran backward and suddenly found himself looking at an endless white expanse in front of him and the alleyway he had just been on. It didn’t feel like he had traveled somewhere, but he was definitely somewhere else from the look of it.
Niles turned away from looking at the alley. When he did, the building interior reappeared. That is weird. He found himself in a sealed room with a staircase heading downwards, but one look behind him revealed the same endless white space and the alley. A glitch?
Niles went down the stairs and heard a splashing noise as he fell into the water, and then nothing at all before slamming into the ground. The fall hardly bothered him, and when Niles looked up, he saw a similar array of white sky mixed with pieces of road, buildings, and paths that seemed suspended in the air. I must be under the mesh.
???ERROR/UNKNOWN PLAY DATA ??
???ERROR/UNKNOWN PLAY DATA ??
???ERROR???
*$*$@???ERROR/UNKNOWN PLAY DATA ??
He got up off the ground and found himself standing in front of a tilting house that looked like it was the image of a couple of different homes all forced together and synthesized with AI imaging. The street itself started and ended abruptly with only the white noise and pixelation static to be seen where the road ended in any direction.
[Transmission: Fantastic Chief. It looks like you’re in. Things might be a little different down there, so be careful. We’re glad you’re still with us. There was a slight chance the system might have overloaded and killed you there. All that time in the eRehab sure helped you out. ]
Might have killed me? I noticed that. When this is over, Grisham and I need to talk about how much I don’t know about what’s going on.
But this isn’t the time to worry about that. Niles noticed a cliff on each side of the road and looked over the edge, and immediately backed away. He saw an image of himself peering over a precipice, an image repeated an infinite number of times.
Behind him, trees began to rise up, growing from nothing into tall trees. Niles couldn’t place all the different types. Whoever made this place looked like they had gone through a book on trees and just picked different ones and scattered them all over. The house, though, was beautiful.
Yeah, it’s flawless. That’s the kind of house I always wanted to have when I was a kid. I might have to assault this place, and the Dominator gear is good, but it might not be enough. In response to his thoughts, a blue window appeared.
SynaCAID Platform
Talon – Item Generation
MENU - Inventory
_ITEM ID
At least that seems to work. He decided to look over the inventory and saw mostly guns. They were all amazing. Both the ones he had seen and used before and some he hadn’t.
He picked an Athenian Laser Rifle. A long gun that was supposed to serve as a companion to the Dominator Fist. It was precise, powerful, and had a rapid rate of fire, at least for a weapon that wasn’t fully automatic. For those stubborn hard to reach problems.
“I don’t think you’ll be needing that,” A synthesized voice said behind him. Niles’s turned fast to look at the source of the voice and found himself looking at a rusted looking robot that was towering over him. A single name tape on the robot read “Mr. Helper.”
“You let them kill Scar?” The robot asked. Niles frowned. What was this asshole talking about? He didn’t have the chance to ask, though, because the bot barreled into him, knocking him off his feet and slamming him into the hard ground. Shouldn’t I have countered that? Things work differently here, they said.
Niles rolled away, and when the bot came charging forward again, Niles dodged and rammed a knee into a glowing circuit on the robot’s back. He heard a horrible grinding sound, but the robot remained standing. Niles cursed with frustration. Was this a trap?
“Pause.” someone said behind him. The robot froze. Niles frowned, not really understanding what was going on. He turned around to see the source of the voice was a man leaning on the glass railing. He grinned at Niles and waved. Niles spat, angry.
“You actually let Scar die. He tried to help you?” The man asked. Niles cursed when he realized who they were talking about. It’s not like I wanted that to happen, but I’d only just met him.
“I couldn’t have saved him if I tried,” Niles said, trying to calm his beating heart. With the change of pace, Niles found he was beginning to feel a little bit of his old self. Gearing up and a fight was all I really needed.
“Yeah, I saw the body,” the man said. “Over the surveillance drone feed of the neighborhood. We’ve got eyes out there.”
“Are you Kubrick?” Niles asked, and the man nodded. He had a smooth face. Kubrick flicked, and the clothing he had been wearing was replaced with a top hat and a suit. Niles disapproved. This really isn’t the time for vanity. Kubrick was too clean to be a fighter or anything. Niles looked back over at the bigger man, who was still frozen.
“How did you do that?” Niles asked as Kubrick walked past him and crouched before in front of the robot. Niles’ gone. Kubrick shrugged and Niles shook his head feeling frustrated. Why not just answer the question.
“No, seriously, what’s the deal with the robot?” Niles asked.
Kubrick answered with a laugh. There was a little bit of mockery in it.
“He’s a companion I created based on the old Mr. Helper model. I named him John Cavendish, and according to the tragic backstory I programmed him with, he was part of the country’s defense force about 20 years ago.”
“That’s… interesting,” Niles responded, confused.
“Yeah,” Kubrick said. He picked the gun up and tossed it to Niles. “Anyways, since you’re here, follow me. We have got a lot we need to talk about and not a lot of time,” he said and gestured for Niles to follow him inside.
Chapter 19: Pull the Trigger
* * *
“How did you manage this?” Niles asked him, motioning all around. The building interior was many times larger than the actual building. Niles was distracted by what looked like a fully functioning bowling alley next
to a boxing ring where two 2D characters he recognized from his youth were fighting. Kubrick shrugged, not interested in answering the question.
“Don’t worry about those,” Kubrick said as he pointed at a white sofa for Niles to take a seat, and then he poured drinks in two glasses. “It’s not quite as good as the real thing, but the System gets it fairly close. With the formula patent, they’re not actually allowed to give you the same taste, even though the parent company went under years ago and nobody makes it anymore.”