by Arthur Stone
Beetle stayed underground. How strong the enemy sensor was, neither of them knew, but as a rule sensors could not detect targets at such a distance when they were concealed by many feet of asphalt, earth, and concrete. Sadly, Chameleon only covered its user—it could not cover an ally.
Thankfully, though, the ability had cooled down. Cheater exited the hatch and moved at the speed of a slug. The faster he moved, the worse the cover the ability gave him. He could not count on the cover of nocturnal darkness. His opponents had a sensor and at least one scope which would certainly have night vision. Some of the members might have perks similar to Cheater’s Darkvision. It was not an uncommon ability on the Continent.
Besides Chameleon, he had Bighead, a necklace with many useful properties. It was especially useful at a distance. Sadly, the players and their sense abilities were not the main danger he was facing at the moment. He wanted to hurry through the town, but he had to force himself to show restraint.
The building his enemies had settled in was still in an early stage of construction. The frame, walls, and floors were up, but not much else. It was a bare box, with no window glass and no utilities. Cheater entered through one of these empty windows, declining to risk entry through a door. Flash of Omniscience showed him that no one was there, but his enemies could have rigged up an alarm, or even placed a camera.
He ascended to the second floor via a hole intended for utility pipes, vents, and wires—not taking the stairs for the same reasons he had avoided the door. This method of rising proved convenient and safe, so he continued up the floors in the same fashion.
He periodically activated Flash as he did so. It was a tall building, and rushing was categorically forbidden, so nearly twenty minutes passed before Cheater was able to illuminate a target. A man lurked in a stairwell, watching a tablet. Apparently his assumption that they had installed a camera system was correct. The man was sitting still—he had probably not noticed anything.
He wanted to eliminate him but had to quickly ditch the thought. The layout of the building prevented him. He could only take him out from above, and that would require a detour that would cost precious time. No angle he could work out would give him a shot from a distance. He would not take the risk. Killing the sentinel would certainly alert the rest of the ambush party.
He had learned to resist such temptations. Once he had a better idea of the group’s arrangement, he would attack. But only then. The enemy still did not know of Cheater’s presence. He would make sure they only found out by seeing several icons go black or blinking at once.
Several floors higher, he saw the second enemy. Flash only revealed the enemy’s lower body—she was at the extreme range of the ability.
He had to climb six more floors—two of them through different openings. The building layout changed at this point, resulting in new locations for the utility tunnels. Thankfully, this only delayed him for a moment. A month ago, it would have taken him several hours to tackle dozens of floors this way. But now, even the nimblest of monkeys would envy his Agility and Endurance.
Note: Danger! Minesweeper sense triggered!
A trap?
Cheater froze instantly in his uncomfortable position. He suddenly felt he did not want to go up to the next floor at all.
Staring upward, he studied the well above—in particular, a wide slot in the left wall. It was close to the floor on the next story, and anyone might have installed something in there with room to spare.
He didn’t need Omniscience to see it. A black plastic rectangle. A flat box, taped to the wall.
It was too small to be a mine. Hardly ten grams of explosives would fit in something of that size. If you ignored the size of the detonator and whatever radio or proximity trigger might be used.
Placing mines would risk making a lot of noise, too, and they certainly didn’t intend to do that. This party had brought silenced weapons. They would not be so neglectful.
It was some kind of electronic device, but definitely not a camera. Most likely it was a sensor, placed to watch this unusual route.
Would it trigger an alarm? Why then had Minesweeper triggered, if there was no mine? Was this a bug? Or did this count as a trap?
In any case, he was grateful to the System.
Now, why would the enemy take such precautions? Covering the entrance to the building should have seemed enough. There were dozens of floors between there and here. And there were many, many such utility ducts. A dozen between these two floors, at least.
What, were they planning to settle in? They had only recently arrived, and yet they had been absurdly thorough.
Cheater was no specialist in alarm systems. He could not proceed.
Trying another utility duct gave him a similar warning. This time, though, he made a useful discovery. The facade was different on this opposite side of the building. Vertical protrusions of some kind reached up to the very roof. As it turned out, they were narrow enough to shimmy up.
It was time to put his stats to maximum use.
His Strength, Agility, and Endurance had far surpassed ordinary human limits. Out here, where he was hanging perilously but in no actual danger of falling, even the worst of paranoiacs would not place sensors and alarms.
Unless, perhaps, that security tech also had acrobatic skills as highly developed as Cheater’s.
That was unlikely.
Despite all of his powerful stats, Cheater had a difficult time of it. The ledges along the way were quite unsuitable for climbing. He would submit a complaint later.
Four floors up he climbed, and that was the end. He could have continued climbing up, to where the protrusions melded back into the wall. But then, he would reach a dead end.
So instead, he climbed into the final available window—and encountered an immediate surprise. The architects had demonstrated bold plans for the top of the building. The final three floors were intertwined in a Mobius-esque design that left him confounded as to where one floor ended and the other began.
It was here that his enemies were stationed. He lit them up with Flash of Omniscience.
No, he had not activated it on the way up. Some sensors could detect such things—he had learned that during his self-education in Rainbow. He had been learning what kinds of abilities other players could wield against him.
This group definitely had a sensor, somewhere nearby, and so abusing his active ability had been an unnecessary risk.
Now, though, it was worth it. He only had access to Chameleon, and that did not render him completely invisible. Smile of Fortune and Tranquility were both still in cooldown. Even Helping Hand was out.
The cooldown for that ability was quite long.
Flash of Omniscience illuminated the entire top three floors of the building. He would detect his opponents’ positions and determine a pattern of attack to inflict maximum damage on them within seconds.
Bow at the ready, arrow on the string, he activated the skill with biological objects selected as the highlight target.
Omniscience! The structures of the building shimmered, and Cheater found himself in the center of a web of phantasmal lines and planes intersecting at precise angles. No longer did the upper floors seem chaotic: he saw the elegant simplicity of the design in an instant.
It was not at all complicated. Only the darkness and distraction had prevented him from seeing it immediately.
Human figures shone brightly amidst the interweaving and unfinished rolling floors and walls. Cheater counted eight with a glance. Plus the sentinel many floors below.
Nine in total. Beetle had been correct, but it was still too early to trust him.
Seven of them were grouped up against the southern wall of the building. It was that location which offered a perfect view of the leaning tower holding March’s party hostage.
One figure stood alone. She was away from the others, near the elevator shaft openings, hands covering her face.
As soon as Cheater stared towards her, she twitched and
turned, as if looking around—but kept her hands on her face.
He would bet all of the pearls on the Continent that this one was the sensor. She might have noticed Flash of Omniscience, and was now trying to ascertain its source.
She seemed stunned. The sensor believed herself to be in the safest location of all. Many floors up, sentinel and alarm coverage, and a sensor watching for distant suspicious activity approaching their location. Suddenly, in the midst of this protected fortress, something unthinkable happens. Someone brazenly scans the area with a short-range ability.
Bad news.
The sensor was panicking. Shocked. But if she had any experience, the surprise would soon fade. She would scribble messages in the chat window, or report over the radio, and begin working the area earnestly with her own abilities. He might be found quickly.
I have to take out the sensor first. The loss of that player would be noticed, but a moment of confusion would inevitably follow. And no player would remain who could powerfully oppose his Chameleon.
Cheater rushed down the hall, abandoning attempts at keeping quiet. Speed was paramount.
The sensor, though she should have heard the sounds of running, continued twisting her head back and forth like a radar dish, hands covering her face. Perhaps she relied on her skill so much that she neglected her usual senses.
She did not notice the noise.
Cheater leaped out into the hallway intersection and fired without aiming. A bow was an amazing weapon for someone with pumped Accuracy—if the distance was short, and the target was mostly or completely immobile.
All of these conditions were met.
The arrow struck the sensor in the palm covering her face. This might not seem a serious wound, but the bow was a serious bow. The tip slammed through the bones of her face and deep into her brain.
Head wounds were a nasty and unpredictable business. She started to shudder, and then walked forward with the gait of a dysfunctional robot. After a few steps, she executed a Fring-style collapse.
Directly into the open elevator shaft.
But Cheater was off, ascending the intricate spiral staircase to the top floor and shooting at the player at its apex. The man had turned, and was looking down, obviously reacting to the death of the sensor’s icon.
An arrow silently slipped into his head. Hastily retreating to the wall, Cheater took cover, shouldered his bow, drew his sword, and froze.
For most players, this would be unwise. Suspicious rustles were heard above. A red dot moved across the landing on the top floor. Someone was using infrared night vision. Everyone was now focused on the local problem and no longer causing trouble for Cheater’s companions. All eyes were aimed down, seeking the daring archer. He was in full view.
A reckless position, but his Chameleon was active. It sipped a tiny bit of mana every minute. Cheater had merged into the monochromatic background, like a small, frameless mirror against the backdrop of a much larger mirror. It was for this reason that he had chosen this dull gray wall. As long as he stayed still, they would not see him, unless they closed to point-blank range. Small movements were allowable. Even when players had night vision abilities, they were usually much inferior to daytime vision. Optical instruments could also be fooled by Chameleon. It was the blind searching for the invisible.
The enemies were rare professionals. None of them made a sound, none uttered a word. Silently they began to descend the two spiral staircases. Three on each. He had cut their numbers from eight to six, but he was still deep in the woods. Cheater’s Darkvision allowed him to discern some of the excellent weapons and ammunition his opponents carried. These were not vagabonds or vigilantes. They were more like special forces.
He dismissed his impulse to allow them to approach so he could kill them all with Choppa. That might end with his death. He should have arranged a better meeting place, rather than stay here. He should have retreated down the hallway immediately after the second shot and watched his opponents’ movement with Flash of Omniscience. Their sensor, or at least their main sensor, was dead, and they would likely not notice the scan.
Not that it would matter if they did. Everyone already knew he was here.
He regretfully noted that it was too late for this plan. Moving under Chameleon would compromise his disguise, at least during the movement. There was no way he could cross forty feet of open area under the watchful gaze of six professionals.
However, he soon saw their very professionalism turn to his advantage. They had managed to deduce that he had shot the arrows from the hallway. So, all of their attention was focused there. They approached quietly from both sides, barrels in unison pointed that direction.
Glances over their shoulder were few and far between. Now, they were hardly ever looking his way. He recalled one of his ability’s bonus perks: all living things would experience an involuntary desire to look the other way.
It was, it turned out, a great perk.
They walked by barely five paces from him. Cheater held his breath, terrified of giving himself away.
At last, one spoke. “Double Group, come up to the fifth floor right away. Secure it. Clear the entire floor. We’ll close him in from both sides. And Benz—on your guard. This is not your ordinary player.”
Cheater didn’t like that. What was Double Group? He doubted that the sentinel in the stairwell demanded to be addressed as a “group.” Plus, that man would have to descend in order to reach the fifth floor, not ascend. But the man had clearly said “come up.”
Had Beetle gotten the number wrong? Perhaps two groups had been dispatched, and the tankman had only known of one. The odds were rapidly shifting. The situation was becoming even less predictable. Cheater doubted his ability to deal with the remaining seven without getting into trouble—and now a new squad was on its way?
How many opponents did this group have? What were their abilities?
At least he now knew that his enemies were fully occupied with Cheater, not with his companions. Someone might still be keeping an eye on them, but he considered that unlikely.
Why had these bounty hunters taken so many precautions? March was a sensor, too. His ability was selective, yes, but it counted for something.
He realized the group had a chance. Not a guarantee, but a chance.
He opened party chat.
Cheater:
I’m in the building with these guys. Made a little noise. I have good news and bad news. Bad news: there are two groups, not just one. Good news: both of them are looking for me.
March:
You call that good news?
Cheater:
Well, it’s good news for you. They’re no longer watching you, and I killed their sensor. So they’re no longer shooting at you. Get up to the top fast, before they turn their eyes back your way.
March:
What about you?
Cheater:
I’ll try to keep them distracted. Then I'll catch up with you. Or perhaps I won’t make it. Not that you care.
March:
You’ll get out of this. The horde didn’t take you down, and neither will these pretentious pricks. See you on the other side.
Cheater:
I’ll go a different way. I’m not crazy enough to tackle the Trinity. Dealing with you is hard enough.
Clown:
The Trinity? The hell is he talking about?
No answer followed—either that, or March had replied aloud. Most likely, though, he had diverted the question.
That was the correct course of action right now, Cheater knew full well. Conversation would slow their progress upwards. It was a controversial move, of course, going for the top and dealing with the three beasts, but March had his reasons.
Let him go.
Stuck with nothing to do, Cheater fired off a note to Beetle.
Cheater:
Do you know a guy named Benz?
Beetle:
Of course I do. Security officer from Flint. Cool guy.
&n
bsp; Cheater:
Looks like he’s here.
Beetle:
He is? Jeez. You better get out of there.
Cheater:
Too late. They’re trying to close me in.
Beetle:
See you at respawn. If he’s in the group, we’re all dead. But how did he get here? He should be out west. That’s where the Devils were all driven—but maybe he was sent to make a deal with the NPCs. Rumors vary.
As he typed in the chat, Cheater kept an eyes on his enemies. They were acting strangely. He thought they would enter the hallway once they reached it—but for some reason, they froze. They just stared into the darkness, sometimes glancing this way or that.