Dubstep Succubus

by Aaron Siverling

  Except for all the magic of course.

  The gaming company, Soul Eternity, used the technology to build a massively evolving world that self generated within specific parameters. Complete with NPC’s, which they called Native People Characters. All of which had their own lives, ideas and cultures.

  When they sent their Alpha testers in, it was with the same VR tech on the market. When it came time for the Beta testers they used the newest Full Sensory Immersion pods, previously only used by the super rich in their personal sandbox worlds.

  As soon as the testers logged on the Devs discovered they were locked out of administration access. After scrambling to regain control and failing, they decided to shut everything down and do a reboot.

  Okay, not a reboot but something vastly more complicated than what most people, including myself, understood. So they just called it a reboot.

  But they forgot about the Beta testers. Of the hundreds, who were the first wave of testers, most were kicked out upon the games shut down.

  Six however, stayed in their pods and no one noticed that they flatlined as the game shut down. Not at first.

  When they did discover this, only three had been revived by the on site medical team but they ended up in comas. The other three couldn't be saved.

  Several hours later, when they turned the game back on they found that the six players were still logged into the game. Still playing and still alive.

  The beta testers had freaked about not being able to log out but other than that, they seemed perfectly normal. Besides the fact that their bodies where either comatose or dead, of course.

  Gray Hall Enterprises wanted to keep it all quiet but they were just the backers and didn't flat out own the company. They couldn't stop Soul Eternity from telling everyone what had happened.

  And that's what they did. They told everyone. At first they were ignored, it was treated as a scam and the whole notion was laughed at. When evidence was presented it was disregarded.

  At first.

  But somebody listened, somebody got the boulder rolling until it ran right over the naysayers.

  Experts did experiments. Developed hypotheses, concluded on conclusions. Had their conclusions shot to hell. Then they started the whole process all over again.

  It was a media sharknado feeding frenzy of rabid piggy, pie eating proportions of messiness. Along with all the enraged squealing that implied.

  To put it mildly.

  This had all happened after we were captured and forced into the Grey Hell.

  Four, the optimist, sent, “That's why it took so long for the people in charge to notice what was happening to us. This stole all the media's attention."

  Five, the pessimist sent, “No. It wasn't.”

  Three, the realist sent, “It was a possible contributing factor. Determining to what degree it was a factor would require more data.”

  "That's not important right now!” Two, the live in the momentist, sent, “What's important is what we do next!"

  "Two is correct," sent Three. "What matters now is, well, now. And more importantly, planning for the future."

  The governments eventually decided to view this new world as real as our own.

  As it stands, whether the world and the reality it exists in is a discovery or creation or an unlikely combination of both has yet to be determined.

  The theoretical physicists have several theories but in the end, most of them seemed to be as clueless as the rest of us.

  What has been determined, is that the world does exist independent from us. Therefore, it, as well as its inhabitants, have legal status. While it is not owned by any company, the technology used to connect to it is.

  So what did they do with this physics defying, philosophy breaking, world shattering news?

  News that not only proved the existence of other intelligent life, proved that we are not alone in the universe, that there are in fact other universes with completely different sets of physical laws?

  When they gained this knowledge what did they do with it?

  They decided to use it as a dumping ground for those they called "economically inconvenient".

  And when I say "they" I mean the politicians.

  "How can the creators of the game be clueless?" Two queried. "How can the people who created it not know? They made it. They used it. They should understand it."

  Three sent, "Human minds are not designed to understand quantum theory."

  "It's like an ape with a rock," I confirmed. "An ape can use a rock as a tool to break open a nut. They know how to do it but they don't understand the principles force, mass and velocity. Humans just built themselves a fancy crystal rock."

  We all went quiet, trying to process it all.

  It was Four, in typical Four fashion that broke the resulting silence by asking, ”What about the people who already live there? Don't they get a choice about whether or not to have aliens invade their world? It's their world! What about what they want?”

  In answer Three sent another batch of data files relating to the ethical, moral, philosophical, political and economic fallout of the discovery/creation of Icarus. Then he reiterated his statement about planning for the future.

  So we poured over the material, made plans, joked, laughed and generally tried to have as much fun as we could before they stuffed us in pod for who knows how long.

  When the train stopped we were hustled onto more buses and driven for a few more hours until we reached our destination. A large, squat industrial building.

  Inside it was bare concrete, exposed piping and basic lighting. Thankfully nothing was painted grey and the concrete wasn't the same shade as the Grey Hell.

  The Punishers and the odd Overseer herded us into lines, each one leading up to a metal door. Each door was flanked by especially large Punishers, one on each side.

  As we stood there, our hands zip tied in front of us, the Icarus Character Creation finally, fully downloaded and we opened it up.

  We immersed ourselves in VR and received a notification of a thirty minute time limit to finish character selection.

  It was a simple, black empty space filled with pale mist that swirled around a shivered mirror. The mirror acted as a screen, showing images and text.

  After talking it over, me and the rest of my Chain agreed to stay with the races of Midian. I had no real interest in playing a different race but Three insisted that we go over them. Since we would be living as those races for a while.

  The race selection section was open and had an overview of the races origin, which I had never actually read before.

  Elternum, which translates to Eternal or Ever, were the first successful children of the Soul Shaper Lords. They were meant to be immortal, beautiful, and powerful. They were all these things, however in their arrogance they attempted to overthrow their progenitors.

  After a short and bloody war they failed. The knowledge of the Soul Shaper Lord's won against the greater power of the Elternum. For this betrayal they were twisted into lesser beings. These lesser Elves became the first of the Everkin, who became the servants of the Lords.

  Weakened from the war, each Lord sought to gain advantage. New wars came and the Lords continued to create new people, with new forms in which to fight for them.

  I always knew that the lore said many of the races were designed or bred for war. I decided to skip the deeper lore history. I might come back to it later or, more likely, just ask Four. He's the lore hound.

  Blood Kin (High Elf): The first Everkin to be servants to the Lords. The High Elves were forced into the role of functionaries and assistants. As the Lords endeavoured to create newer, more efficient beings, the Blood Kin were made to deal with the resulting failures. The dead and the dying.

  Racial Abilities:

  Blood Transfer: (Ability) (Active) Siphons the life from one who is already wounded, adding damage and healing another.

  Blood Seal: (Buff) (Passive) Bloody wounds crystallize when exposed to air, seal
ing the skin and becoming a hard protective substance.

  Blood Weapons: (Ability) (Active) High Elves can shape blood into crystallized weapons.

  Gothic, vampire like High Elves. Yep, that was Midian all over. I suppose it could be worse, they could be sparkly. Okay, I joke but really Blood Kin are actually pretty cool with some very useful abilities.

  They attracted the most role players, but they also attracted the most Broken.

  I asked Three how the Broken were handling everything and he said most were absorbing the information and obeying orders. The rest were pretending it was all a nightmare.

  "My best guess," Three sent. "Is that they will wake up when they log on and attempt to fit everything into a comfortable narrative."

  I wanted to sigh out loud but if I did, I felt like I might start screaming and never stop. So like any sane person I pushed my distress all the way to the back of my mind, where my nightmares frolicked in the shattered remains of my innocence.

  Then I went back up reading.

  Dark Kin (Dark Elf): Created from Blood Kin and constantly pushed to improve themselves towards unattainable perfection. The Dark Elves were made to be warriors. Bigger, stronger and more martial than the High Elves. They were the spine of the Lords armies. Until they decided that the best way to improve themselves was to be free.

  Racial Abilities:

  Multitasking: (Buff) (Passive) Most Dark Kin are ambidextrous. This is a side effect of being able to multitask to a greater degree than other races.

  Instinctive Enchanting: (Buff) (Passive) Dark Kin have an instinctive understanding of how to enchant materials, although study is still required.

  Biomechanical: (Buff) (Ability) (Passive) (Active) The defining difference between the Dark Kin and the rest of the races is the ability to grow a metallic like substance within themselves. They can shape it and bond it to their bodies.

  I bet the creators of the game wanted a Frankenstein Monster race to keep with the theme. Luckily, that idea was scrapped and now we have cyberpunk Dark Elves with magic.

  Much better.

  Because of this, the race attracts a lot of people who used to have cyberware. People who, before the Grey Hell, had multiple body mods due to either necessity, or more often, personal preference.

  Under Kin (Dwarf): They were once Blood Kin before they were infused with elements that bent and broke them. Energy that crushed them down as it filled them, expanding their bones and flesh. They worked the mines, made the armor, forged the weapons, tilled the fields and cut the trees. When they eventually rebelled, they were the first to do so openly. With picks and hammers and axes in hand, they took the tools of their servitude as their weapons.

  Racial Abilities:

  Vibration Sensing: (Ability) (Active) The ability to sense movement and sound through vibrations.

  Crystal Skin: (Buff) (Active) Under Kin can temporarily turn their skin into a crystallized substance that increases physical resistance.

  Elemental Embrace: (Buff) (Passive) When choosing an element and infusing it into their very being they receive an affinity and a defence against that element.

  Under Kin do not look like the common stereotype. They are short and wide but that was where the similarities ended. Imagine Elven Neanderthals who were given the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde serum. They weren't ugly, but they had a inhumanity to them, at once obvious and subtle. A wild otherness to their features, like the difference between the eyes of a dog and the eyes of a wolf.

  When the Crystal Skin buff is active the skin is not only hard but smooth in one direction and sharp as glass in the other. The ability also turns their hair as sharp was razorwire.

  I once saw someone get slapped while the ability was active and, well, let's just say the results weren't pretty.

  .

  Corruptor Kin (Succubus): Succubi were created from the most beautiful of the Blood Kin. Made over into Assassins, and occasionally playthings, to the Lord's of the realm. They were the first to rebel and the last to be discovered doing so. They value freedom more than anything else, more than safety, love or comfort.

  Racial Abilities:

  Venomous: (Ability) (Passive) The ability to create various types of venom and gain immunity to all toxins.

  Rot Fire: (Ability) (Active) Soul Fire that causes pain and damages non living objects but does not damage living tissue.

  Complete Corruption: (Buff) (Passive) Succubi venom suffuses the entire body, making every part of themselves poisonousness.

  These are not the Succubi from other games. There are no batwings, leather bikinis or whips.

  Well, okay. There are leather bikinis and whips, but those are personal choices.

  They have have retractable claws, horns and tails that secrete poison from the tips.

  Whether an Incubus (a male) or a Succubus (a female) the plural form for both is Succubi. They are more popular with females and considered one of the most dangerous races in Midian.

  Nothing says, "I don't appreciate your attempts at flirting." like a pair of pants covered in Rot Fire along with a paralytic venom injection.

  They are the traditional enemies of Savage Kin, but no one really paid attention to that except Midians NPCs.

  Orc: The first Orcs were children of the Blood Kin. Taken from their parents, their blood magic was torn out, ripped away and replaced by the magic of sacrifice. Breeding the greatest of the warriors and culling the inferior made the Orcs value martial prowess. Only by keeping each other strong could they keep each other safe. Or as safe as any warrior could be.

  Racial Abilities:

  Death Sense: (Buff) (Passive) Orcs can sense the dead and the dying. They can tell where blood has been spilled and where the bones are buried. With effort they can see and track souls

  Defying Pain: (Buff) (Passive) Orcs have an extremely high resistance to pain and their blood clots so quickly they are immune to bleed damage.

  Carnage: (Ability) (Passive) An innate skill for siphoning magic. The transference of life and magical energies from one thing to another.

  Midian Orcs had black, spidery veins and white, bleached bone skin who grinned ghoulishly with ebony teeth and cherry red eyes. These were not the Orcs of other worlds. I have seen NPC Orcs get their right arms ripped off, stop, grunt in displeasure, grab the weapon from their severed arm and then continue into the fight.

  They were like intelligent zombies, not undead, just really, really hard to kill. They could take massive amounts of damage. Able take a kicking and keep on ticking.

  Nymph: No one is sure where the Nymphs came from. Perhaps they have always existed. Perhaps they were an unintended result of an experiment. Either way, their inherent inclination towards nature magic and natural abilities made them effective, as well as beautiful, guards. Their greatest flaw, according to the Lords, was a tendency to escape into the forest and hide amongst the trees if they were ever mistreated. The few Lords that showed them respect were wise to do so.

  Racial Abilities:

  Life Sense: (Buff) (Active) The ability to sense the life force of others and know how they are injured.

  Bark Skin: (Buff) (Active) The ability to create a second skin of thick bark to use as armor and, if the skill is great enough, weapons.

  Tree Form: (Buff) (Active) Bonding to the spirit of a tree will grant the ability to transform. While in tree form any poisons, toxins or curses will be cleansed and health, magic and endurance will quickly regenerate. If undamaged, the tree form will mitigate the need for food. Different types of trees will affect the Nymph in different ways.

  Nymphs are super dangerous.

  No joke. I've seen a high level Nymph walk into a camp of decent leveled players. Thorn studded Iron Wood bark armoring her body and a rose whip in hand, she decimated the lot of them.

  I once had a quest where a Nymph in tree form ripped a group of Orcs limb from limb with roots and branches. That was an ancient NPC Boss level Nymph but still.

  Nymphs can boys as well
as girls but they are more popular with females.

  Goblin: Goblins were once Savage Kin. Experimented on and bred to be as deadly as they were quick. They were treated as less than people, less than animals. They were tools of assassination and if they were ever seriously hurt, crippled or simply too old, they were executed without hesitation by their comrades. Raised in family groups, many could not kill the only family they had ever known. Deaths were faked and the survivors were kept hidden, kept safe. Until the night they turned on their masters.

  Racial Abilities:

  Heightened Senses: (Buff) (Passive) A keen sense of hearing, a lesser sense of smell and the ability to see in the dark.

  Shadow Touched: (Buff) (Passive) All Goblins have an affinity and resistance to shadow magic.

  Excess Acceleration: (Buff) (Active) The ability to temporarily boost Strength or Speed at the expense of Life or Endurance respectively. It is an intensely powerful, yet incredibly dangerous skill.

  Under five feet tall with big ears and sharp teeth. That is all that is similar between the Goblins of Midian and the Goblins of other worlds.

  Our Goblins are furry.

  Yeah, you heard. Furry.

  Big eyed, round faced, grey furred and with a prehensile tail. Like a cross between humanoid otters and cats, they give an impression of cuteness that is completely at odds with the rest of Midian. At least until you see them fight.

  Or more often, die suddenly and violently with no idea what happened until you see a Goblin walking away from your still twitching body.

  Gargoyle: Crossbred from Corruptor and Savage Kin, Gargoyles were created to be superior scouts and hunters as well as personal guards. Flight gave them the most freedom of all the races. Because of this the Lords encouraged close knit families to form and then used them as hostages. When rebellion came, many had no choice but to serve their masters. Many rebelled by taking a clean death when it would do the most harm to their masters.

  Racial Abilities:

  Lightened: (Ability) (Passive) An innate magic that allows for basic levitation which, combined with their wings, allows them to fly.