by Abhisek Basu
“And why is that?”
“Because you’re destined not to. Together you both can fight for each other’s keys at Quanti Valley tomorrow. Or you can take the higher path and cooperate. That is your final quest, after which one of you will have unlimited power here on Earth. I’m talking about maximum stats, all inventory options and skills. But now, you should probably head over to your uncle’s. The Feds are about to storm his place and they’ve just stormed yours.”
“Wait. I think you’re lying. How the hell did he get to know about Ian and why did he kidnap him?”
“You must have done something to send them towards Ian. Did you not donate to his stream or something?” Evan asked.
“I did,” Natalie said. It made sense. She brought it upon him.
“Go and try to save your uncle, Natalie. After your house, they’re now going to your uncle’s.”
“They haven’t broken into my home. If they had, I’d have received a break-in notification,” Natalie said and took her AR phone out. She saw the break-in notifications, realizing that she had changed her settings to silent sometime back. A video feed popped up of two police officers leaving in their Rovers.
“Come with me!” Natalie shouted as she started walking away.
“I can’t. I’m just briefly free, after which they will catch me again. Augmented PAs don’t have the freedom that you humans do, despite us sharing the same kinds of thoughts and emotions. They are coming here to catch me as we speak. I’ll manage to get away again when the time is right. While you’re on your way to your uncle’s, remember these two things,” Evan said, and held up a finger.
“One. You can’t tell them everything that happened to you, or about the power you will experience at Quanti Valley. Nod along to whatever they say, but don’t reveal everything. The next time we meet, both of us will be in custody,” Evan said, and then held up two fingers. “Two. Place the key between your teeth, and bite on it on the way to your uncle’s place. You’ll receive the final instructions of this quest,” Evan said and pressed a button on his neck. He disappeared.
Natalie saw two police drones fly over her and instead of taking off, she slowly walked to her car. The police drones didn’t notice her. They flew down the lanes as Natalie slowly walked over to her car, opened the door and entered the coordinates of her uncle’s house.
She took out her AR phone, swiped her break-in footage away, and resumed the video of the Red Alliance that she saw earlier.
“...is what we want. Natalie White, the toughest woman on the planet, unharmed and in front of Quanti Valley before 9pm tomorrow. If she isn’t there, Bruce here will lose an eye.”
The video feed cut out as Natalie felt a shiver down her spine. It was all real, the threat was real and now she had to save her uncle. She called him but the line went to voicemail. She didn’t understand what was going on. As the car drove on its own, Natalie decided to hold the key and place it between her teeth. It left a metallic taste in her mouth.
She bit the key, lightly at first, and then hard, teeth on steel when she started noticing the brief outline of a screen popping up in front of her. Natalie rolled her eyes and pulled down the remainder of the screen. Though the stats were still greyed out, the quests tab had a red marker on it.
Natalie clicked on it, and a Final Quest notification popped up in her vision.
Chapter 8
Natalie clicked on it, and a Final Quest notification popped up in her vision.
Natalie clicked on it.
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Final Quest
Welcome to the Final Quest of Dungeons of Perdition. If you’re reading this, either you’ve been told how to access this screen with your key, or you’ve figured it out on your own. Think of this quest as the reward for completing your journey in Tholos. But like all rewards, this doesn’t come free.
Now, you have a chance to be a God on your own planet- Earth. Whether you will be a strict, conservative God like Tenebrae or a progressive, neutral God like Aurora is up to you.
To make sure you are capable of ruling over Earth with a compassionate and iron will, this task requires two things.
One of them is sacrifice. True Quantum Fuel requires the adenochrome in human blood to function at its peak capability. It is the technology turning the virtual into the augmented and the augmented to the real.
Thus, at Quanti Valley, at the location marked on your map, you must sacrifice one human life every week.
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The map icon on her screen flashed, and she clicked over to it. There was a marked clear path leading to an open ground at the center of Quanti Valley. The indicator on the map was pointing to what was called the pillar.
But Natalie didn’t understand why it was asking her to kill people. She had heard rumors of adenochrome harvesting at giant tech firms, but this was just confirming it. She clicked on the Quest screen again.
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This doesn’t necessarily mean killing innocent people and although if you decide to do that, it won’t have any repercussions. I’m sure your journey at Tholos has taught you against mindless killing.
Each person killed will be absorbed by Quanti Valley. Each extra person will add to that fuel. Bringing prisoners convicted of a death sentence, people with terminal illnesses who crave self-assisted suicide and others is a good way to ensure this.
A non-invasive way of doing it later is to construct more affordable hospitals at Quanti Valley where families of the dying won’t get their remains back.
This task, dreadful as it may seem, has to be performed every week. Currently, the Quanti Valley fuel will last for 18 weeks 2 days 22 hours 39 seconds.
Read more….
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The timer counted down from 18 weeks, and Natalie realized what it meant. Josh Bones had already killed 18 people at Quanti Valley. Although she wasn’t sure whether he killed convicts or people who deserved it, she was sure that the rumors that CELIA leaked about Red Alliance killing people were true. That also meant that Ian was being taken away for that exact purpose. Was she being called for that too?
Natalie re-read the text slowly again. Then she clicked on Read More. The screen changed to show a blue outline of a pillar. Below it, a block of text appeared.
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The Pillar at Quanti Valley.
This is the final task which shall decide who will rule over Earth first. By now you have noticed your key, and you’ve learnt that others can’t possess it. Only you can.
The key also ensures your safety indefinitely.
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The words indefinitely had a glowing blue hyperlink on it. Natalie, still with the key inside her mouth, used her vision and clicked on it.
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Both of you have similar keys that will soon be in the pillar. These keys belong to you and they are your reward for completing your journey at Dungeons of Perdition. To rule over Earth, this Final Quest gives you two options.
Cooperation or Combat.
Cooperation is the favorable strategy, since both of you are winners.
If you choose to cooperate, your task is either to convince the other person to hand over their key. They will also try to convince you, and you can accept their terms and hand over your key. The person who enters both keys in the Quanti Valley pillar (marked on your map), will gain all powers and skills immediately and rule over Earth as they please.
Read More...
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Natalie thought about what Evan said. He wasn’t lying when he mentioned that she’d get to rule over the planet. Evan was deeply connected with these quests and she had to get to him. She thought about how he told her that she couldn’t kill Josh, and Josh couldn’t kill her. She didn’t know why he said that.
Scrolling down, she got the answer to that question.
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However, the person who hands ove
r the key cannot be killed, since this will also kill their key- rendering the key dead, rendering the Quanti Valley machinery dead and blowing up the Quantum fuel reserves rendering all powers, virtual simulations and quantified skills useless.
Thus, this exists as long as both of you exist. You cannot kill the other. Not before, not after. Both keys have to be entered in the tower for your powers to start working globally. If a dead key is entered along with a live key, the tower will self-destruct. If at any time after both live keys are entered, one of you dies, the tower will self-destruct. So now, you’re essentially immortal and you have to look out for the other who needs to live as well.
If you’re the person who convinces the other to hand over his/her key, it is your duty to look over her making sure he/she lives because you’ll possess infinite powers and resources to do so.
Cooperation is the favorable strategy.
Combat is the second strategy.
Read more…
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Natalie wasn’t used to this. Never in Tholos did she face a quest that involved just convincing someone else. She didn’t realize that she won’t be able to kill Josh Bones, the other player, but she now knew that she couldn’t be killed by him too. It gave her an odd sense of adventure, knowing that she possibly cannot die. She clicked on Read More, blissfully unaware of where her car was going.
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In case a cooperation is not reached, combat is the only option.
The combat will be in three rounds. Winning all three rounds will hand over their key to you, which will change its state to Defeat Key. It will change the key with you to the state of Win Key.
Putting in a Defeat Key and Win Key will create a cycle of powers, each lasting 5 years. The winner will get 5 years of complete power. When his/her term ends, the loser will get the next 5 years of complete power. This cycle of power will continue endlessly till one of you dies, rendering the system obsolete and leaving the other powerless.
Combat will occur in 3 rounds where your goal is not to kill the other player, but to bring their health levels down to a certain threshold.
If their health falls below 60%, you will win the first round.
If their health falls below 10%, you will win the second round.
If their health falls below 5%, you will win the third round.
Winning all three rounds will make your key the Winner Key, and the loser’s key state will turn into the Defeat Key. All three rounds must be won consecutively by the winning player. Losing one in between will rejuvenate both player’s health levels, after which Round 1 will start again.
If combat is chosen by the other player, or you, all hope is not lost for cooperation. At the end of each round, players will have a chance to convince the other for a chance to end combat and go for cooperation instead. During these discussions, all attacks will be halted.
Remember, combat is not the favorable strategy. To raise its stakes, near the tower, six invisible domes are present. These are the care domes, invisible and impenetrable. Three individuals from each player’s side must enter the dome. Their lives are at stake.
Only people that the player cares about can enter the dome. Random individuals will be rejected. After each round, the winning player must decide who to kill from each dome. That decision is final, and the individual chosen will die and be absorbed for Quantum Fuel.
Hence, try to cooperate. Good luck on your final quest.
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It was finally clear to her what she had to do, but she did not know how she would do it. She read the whole quest details again and again. It was obvious that she had to figure out how to convince Josh to hand over the key. But she knew that she didn’t have to fear the combat strategy either. The only person that Natalie cared for was her uncle. So, regardless of what happened, she knew that the care domes would remain empty.
But did she also care for Ian? Natalie wanted to say no, but in her heart, she did. She cared about Travis too, and even though they didn’t have the same memories of her as she did, she knew that she cared for them. She had to figure out a way to convince Josh. Perhaps she could trap him somewhere, torture him till he gave away his key willingly?
That would work, right?
All the previous quests which were thrown at her involved her fighting and killing someone or something else to advance. This one involved the opposite. Lost in thought, she looked outside and noticed that she still wasn’t near her uncle’s house.
Instead, her car was racing down a hyperloop tunnel going elsewhere.
She pocketed her AR phone and shifted to the front seat to check its location. It had taken her outside LA and was racing towards San Francisco at speeds which were prohibited even in hyperloop tunnels. Natalie pressed the manual steering option. When it didn’t come up, she banged on it hoping the steering would come up, but it didn’t.
The screen on her dashboard flashed a warning symbol, and below it in bold letters it said, “EMERGENCY OVERRIDE.”
Natalie kept pressing on the manual steering option on the screen, but it didn’t work. She looked at her doors and tried to unlock them. The locks were jammed in place. She tried to pull the locks apart, but it didn’t work. She was trapped in her own car, and it was racing somewhere that she wasn’t aware of. Her mind started racing, trying to figure out ways to escape. She tried kicking the windows, bulletproof windows which didn’t budge, and easily absorbed the strongest of her kicks.
She tried kicking apart the doors, but it didn’t work. Struggling to find a way, Natalie tried kicking every nook and corner of her left door till a small metal tube came off from the top.
Aware of the progress she made, she kept kicking the exposed ridge till it made a wide enough dent at the top. Placing her feet on the seat of the car, she pushed on the exposed ridge till it bent outward. The more force she applied, the more it cracked the outer metal frame. Natalie screamed, held on and kept pushing till gusts of hair started hitting her face. She didn’t stop and was almost about to break the outer frame when the car came to a stop.
The door automatically opened. Natalie thought twice before stepping out, but the area seemed to be silent. She was in front of a two-storeyed grey building, and from the car, she couldn’t see what it said on the neon signboard in front of it.
She popped her head out to see the signboard and immediately felt something on her neck. It felt like a needle had gone in and that was all she felt before her eyes closed involuntarily, putting her to sleep.
Chapter 9
“It wasn’t strong enough. Her vitals indicate that she needs more tranquilium in her,” a male voice said.
“We’ve given her enough. We need to be sure that she stays calm in case she wakes up,” a female voice said.
“It’s too late for that,” Evan said. Natalie could easily distinguish his voice from the others. “The way you drugged her and kept her here- she won’t be too happy when she wakes up.”
“I don’t remember asking you for opinions!” the male voice shouted back at Evan. “And you, you’ll do what I say,” he said, probably to the female individual present there.
Natalie realized that they were unaware that she was awake. She kept her eyes closed and didn’t make any sudden movement. She felt like she had been asleep for a long time. How long had it been?
“A second shot of tranquilium might end up keeping her asleep for days. We don’t have that kind of time,” the female voice said.
“The President wants order, Alice. We have people protesting on the streets, and Quanti Valley workers will join them soon. The best course of action is to keep her asleep and transport her to the location,” the male voice said. Natalie could understand what this meant. She knew that feigning sleep was not turning out to be a good strategy.
“The statement given by the rogue PA indicates that your firm is responsible for whatever is going on at Quanti Valley, along with why she is being targeted. Let’s not f
orget that she is a victim and a celebrity, at that,” the female voice said again.
“My firm? MindHaven isn’t mine. It hasn’t belonged to no one and basically runs itself. And I don’t trust anything this rogue PA says, and you shouldn’t either. He could be bluffing about everything for all I know,” the man said again.
“Hey, I have a name, doctor. It’s Evan!” Evan said.
“Whatever, once this thing dies down, we’ll need to check how you managed to go rogue and how you keep escaping every damn time,” the male doctor said.
“Yeah, good luck waiting for this thing will die down soon,” Evan said and chuckled.
“Hey! What’s so funny?” the male voice shouted. Evan didn’t answer.
“Evan. You’ve mentioned in your statement that in that virtual world which was designed to increase cognitive resilience, that you witnessed her journey,” the female voice said.
“I sure did.”
“You also mentioned that she isn’t unstable, hostile and wouldn’t attack us,” the female voice said again.
“That was before you forcefully drugged her, kidnapped her and brought her here along with her uncle,” Evan said. “She won’t be too pleased to know that this is how the Feds treat people nowadays.”
“Then we can’t do anything right now. We cannot risk waking her up. Let’s keep her asleep and take her to Quanti Valley like we were instructed to do,” the male voice said.
“Negotiations with the group are still on. I wouldn’t allow you to take her anywhere,” the female voice said.
“And who are you to allow that? Are you forgetting who I am and what I am authorized to do or should I get the President on the line and ask him to personally cancel your green card?” the male voice said.
Natalie could figure out that there were at least 5 other people in the room. She had heard just enough to understand that they were the people who brought her in. She was on a bed, lying face-upwards, and probably restrained. Taking a deep breath, Natalie tried to move her hand slowly. She couldn’t. She tried moving her feet, but then as she did, a knocking sound came from the edge of the bed.