Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Best not to rely on only one source,” Becky nodded.

  “I believe the Queen will be looking into electricity after she brings the King to heel,” Kuro said. “I’m sure Wintersbreath has told her all about the amazing things in your base, besides what she saw herself.”

  “I’d be surprised if she didn’t,” Alvin replied. “Your world is going to experience a sudden jump forward in technology, like Desiree’s is.”

  “I’m hopeful that Mithrilblood will see it as I do,” Desiree said, looking out the window at the flat expanse of white they were driving over. “Even a fraction of what I’ve seen with you could change so much for us. But first, we need to end the fungals.”

  “I’m sure that can be achieved,” Becky said. “How far is it to Mithril?”

  “Twenty hours at the pace they’re setting,” Desiree replied.

  “Fun,” Alvin sighed from the gunner’s position. “Gothy, want to head home? This is just going to be boring. I’ll follow them, and you three can go relax. Desiree, will they stop between here and there?”

  “They will need to stop in a few hours to resupply, and they may stop halfway to sleep,” Desiree replied. “We should stay with you, though. In fact, I’m going to get my revenge right now.” She slid across the seat, reaching for him.

  “What do you—” Alvin began, then felt her hands working on his belt.

  “I should help,” Kuro said, quickly climbing into the back.

  “Well, shit,” Becky grumbled. “I guess that’s my just deserts for earlier.”

  “Hmm, Turtle, follow the Dwarves ahead of us. Warn us if they take us somewhere that would be dangerous for us,” Alvin said. “There. Gothy, feel free to help out.”

  “I’ll make amends for being mean to you, Desiree,” Becky purred. She left the Humvee to drive them, turning around in her seat.

  Chapter Forty

  Alvin was still smiling like he had won the lottery when the two Dwarves brought them to an entrenched supply depot. Kuro sat behind the wheel with Becky in the seat behind her, giving her instructions, while Desiree smiled languidly in the front passenger seat.

  “Good fortifications,” Alvin said, noting the metal walls and weapon emplacements. “This is new, right?” The snow on the ground looked fresh, but Alvin knew they had not seen any snow falling, even with the sky solidly overcast.

  “Less than two months,” Desiree replied.

  “Damned solid for that time period,” Alvin said. “How did they get the walls and weapons out here?”

  “Grunts,” Desiree answered. “Look to your right.”

  Alvin looked to the right, where a massive hunched armored figure had two giant metal slabs on its back. “That’s a grunt?”

  “Yes, the engineering core for the army,” Desiree replied. “They can lift and carry an incredible amount of weight. They only have one small flamer for emergency needs, instead of the major weapons like my armor has.”

  “Put your traveling suit over there,” one of the two guides said, pointing to the side of a metal building. “We’ll get you rooms for the night. We will be leaving as soon as the sun rises again.”

  “How can you tell?” Alvin asked, looking up at the slowly darkening sky.

  “It is twelve hours from now,” the armored figure replied as if addressing an idiot.

  “Right. See you in twelve,” Alvin smiled and triggered the portal to the base. “Take us home, Mousie.”

  Alvin wished he could have seen the stunned faces of the Dwarves when the Humvee vanished. Laughing, he was the last one out of it.

  “You could have warned them,” Desiree said.

  “Naw, much funnier this way,” Alvin chuckled. “It’ll help build our mystique.”

  “I’ll have dinner ready in an hour, sir, and I will make sure that you are awake and fed before the appointed time tomorrow,” Jarvis said from the doorway to the kiosk room. “I’m glad you were able to drive the dragon off. I’m sure that Sammi will have something to say… when she can.”

  Shrugging, Alvin followed the women into the base. “I’m sure she will. The truth of the matter is that dragons should learn not to try swallowing people. If enough people explode in their mouths, throats, or gut, it might teach them a lesson.”

  “A valid point, sir.”

  “We need to see what we got for loot,” Alvin said, “we never did get to that part.” Desiree, Becky, and Kuro all smiled broadly but made no comment. Alvin shook his head, “Go start cooking, Jarvis. We’ll be at this for a while, I bet.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Okay, let’s see what we have, then we’ll separate out what we want to keep and the stuff to sell or auction.”

  The four of them ended up lined up along the long counter in the kiosk room, pulling stuff from their bags. Hundreds of fungal seeds and spore pods of different varieties accounted for the majority of the loot. They had also picked up a number of common and good runes, with two excellent runes.

  “Keep the good and excellent runes,” Becky said. “They go in that cabinet in front of you, Desiree.”

  “Okay,” Desiree said, opening the cabinet and putting the runes into their spots.

  “I’ll see if David wants more of these,” Alvin said, heading over to the kiosk.

  “We still have half an hour, Hero,” Becky said. “We’re going to get a quick shower in.”

  “Don’t be late for dinner,” Alvin said.

  “We won’t. We’re not going to show Desiree how the dungeon is utilized until tonight,” Becky laughed as she led Kuro and Desiree out of the room.

  Alvin watched them go with an amused smile. “Going to be the death of me,” he whispered.

  “Not death, Hero. Just exhaustion,” Kuro’s voice drifted back to him.

  Laughing, Alvin turned back to the kiosk. “Let’s start with messages.”

  The first message was from Shawn saying he would be happy to take the M240B for thirty thousand XP. Alvin retrieved the gun from the corner and put it into the kiosk. Addressing it to Shawn, he marked it as C.O.D. for the XP amount and hit send. “Thanks for that feature, Sammi.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sammi said from behind him. “Before you get started; no, the explosive in the dragon’s mouth was fine. If someone wants to risk that much injury, we’ve decided they can take the risk. You didn’t do enough to cripple it, but you did make it reconsider trying to go after you.”

  Alvin’s eyebrow went up, “The explosive didn’t hurt it that much?”

  “You hurt it, which is more than anyone else has done to it,” Sammi replied, then changed the subject. “Please stop saying everything is the devs’ fault. It creates problems for our team.”

  “The cry of every gamer ever,” Alvin shrugged. “I don’t mean it most times.”

  “Your fan base is… dedicated, and they seem to think you do.”

  “Heh, nice to see them embracing Team Asshole.”

  “We’re also tweaking the crafting system a little. We’ve decided that any normal way of getting a person’s attention will pull them from their trance, like knocking on a door.”

  “Figured that was going to happen. It felt like a major flaw.”

  “We’ve had complaints… oh, and one last thing,” Sammi said, glaring at him. “Gothy’s request has been granted, but as expected, it’s costly. I did what I could, but since it will alter things in the game, it is being kept at a high cost.”

  “What does it really change?”

  “Everything that has her name associated to it. And we’ve already put in blocks on some names and phrases to stop some people from abusing it.”

  “Yeah, because otherwise, Cock Lord would find Pussy Glamorous and the end would come for the world,” Alvin said with a straight face.

  “Yes,” Sammi sighed. “Are you two really planning on adding one of each race to your group?”

  “Family, harem, circle of sex... you know we can call it so many other things,” Alvin grinned. “I’m
not aiming for it, but Gothy does seem to want it, and I don’t turn her down often.”

  “Fine,” Sammi sighed. “Your harem is going to be capped at fourteen, since we’ve just capped the number of people who can be in a base at fifteen.”

  “Still worried about the space the people who interact with players is taking up?”

  “Yes, and we have clear proof that it matters. Desiree is already expanding past her original limits, but others haven’t. Green River’s population, even the earliest ones, have mostly stayed as they were with only minor increases. The notable increases are showing up in those who were brought into your base multiple times.”

  “Interesting,” Alvin said. He had an idea that the devs would surely hate and stop if he tried to implement it.

  “I don’t like that look, Alvin.”

  “I probably won’t do anything, and if I do, I’ll tell you first. Deal?”

  “Best I can hope for, isn’t it?”

  “Pretty much, but I mean it,” Alvin said, holding out his hand. “I’m trying. If it was any other dev, I’d just laugh at them.”

  “Which isn’t winning me any friends,” Sammi sighed as she shook his hand.

  “Go on, before Desiree comes back. I’m just doing normal things for the rest of tonight.”

  “Normal? You? Normal?” Sammi faded away, her laughter ringing through the room as she vanished.

  “Everyone’s a critic,” Alvin shrugged and went back to the kiosk.

  David wants more of the fungal crafting mats, and is willing to pay for them, Alvin thought as he set up several C.O.D. packages for him. He kept a selection of seeds, spores, and pods on the side to put in the auction house, as well as some for himself in case he decided to try using alchemy with them.

  The rest of the common items and runes he sold outright. He stretched as he checked his XP, freezing for a long moment at the amount. “Huh, I wonder who bought what? Going from thirteen thousand XP to a little over one hundred and eight thousand XP in a single day is nice.”

  Just as he was about to step away from the kiosk, a large message flashed on the screen. Alvin read it with pursed lips and looked at the tab he had not even realized was missing for the last month.

  “Well, shit,” Alvin sighed. “Now I have another dump for XP. How complicated do you want to make this game, guys?”

  Done with the kiosk, Alvin headed for the shower. I’ll have Gothy look it over... she’s better at that kind of work. Alvin did not interrupt Jarvis, who was cooking when he crossed the main living area. Stepping into the bedroom, he shut the door quietly behind him. The sound of the three women talking was obvious, but he was unable to make out what they were saying.

  “I don’t know what’s taking—” Becky was saying as she exited the bathroom, but stopped when she saw Alvin. “Speak of the devil.”

  “And he shall appear,” Alvin grinned. “Looks like I missed out, sorry.”

  “You’ll make it up to us,” Becky said. “What delayed you?”

  “Selling shit and Sammi stopped by for a brief chat. The usual.”

  “Oh? What did she want? Maybe joining us tonight?” Becky grinned.

  “Heh, yeah... no. They’ve capped the base limit at fifteen, so the harem you’re building is going to have a finite limit.”

  “It’s your harem, Hero. I’m just assembling it for you, like any good wife should. Sucks they’re going to limit us like that, but it just means I’ll have to be more selective in my choices.”

  “The name change is in, but it’s expensive, apparently. I haven’t looked at the cost yet. The big news is that powers are back up for purchase. Expensive as shit, too. The cheapest ones started at one hundred thousand XP. You need to study them again, because they look changed to better fit a game.”

  “I thought they might end up doing that. Can you give me an example?”

  “Power strike; doubles the damage of melee weapons for one minute, with a thirty-minute cooldown.”

  “Very game-like,” Becky nodded. “Okay, I’ll have a look. Go get cleaned up, we have plans for after dinner.”

  “Interesting plans,” Desiree said, finally able to understand something of their conversation.

  “Exciting plans,” Kuro added with a soft smile.

  “Far be it for me to interfere with them,” Alvin said, kissing each woman before he headed for the shower. “See you all for dinner.”

  “Of course, Hero,” Becky purred, leading the other two out of the bedroom.

  After his shower, Alvin came into the main room to find the three women seated around the table and the smell of bacon dominating the air. “Damn, that smells good.”

  “Why thank you, sir. I am just putting the finishing touches on,” Jarvis said. “Would you mind getting the wine and glasses for me?”

  “No problem, buddy,” Alvin said, picking up the bottle with one hand and the glasses with the other. He got a good look at the platter with the main entree. “I’m going to need an explanation on this one, Jarvis.”

  “I will gladly explain once everything is on the table, sir.”

  Alvin poured for them all and set the empty bottle aside, then sat down. Jarvis placed the platter of meat on the table, then brought out the side dish that he had prepared to go with it.

  Jarvis took his seat. “Tonight, we have bacon wrapped venison with a spicy Cajun glaze as the main dish. With it is macaroni and cheese made with eight different cheeses, with grated venison and bacon added to it. The macaroni is not spicy, so it should help if anyone needs to kill the burn from the main dish.”

  “Double bacon, Jarvis? That’s not like you,” Becky said as she helped herself to some macaroni and cheese.

  “Desiree told me that she truly enjoyed the bacon that was served with breakfast this morning,” Jarvis replied. “I thought I would see if she liked it in other dishes, as well.”

  “I’m not complaining,” Alvin said, handing the tongs for the venison to Becky and waiting for the macaroni and cheese to come his way. “What about the wine?”

  “It is from Mousie’s world, sir,” Jarvis replied. “It is similar to Shiraz and should complement the meal rather well.”

  Jarvis was right: while the wine was not perfect, it did go with the meal. There was very little left once everyone finished eating.

  “I would normally provide dessert, but I thought everyone might have seconds, and it seems I was correct.” Jarvis smiled proudly as he stood up and cleared the dishes.

  “It’s okay. We have plans of our own for dessert,” Becky chuckled.

  “I figured that might be the case, miss. I will make sure to wake you in time for breakfast so you won’t be late resuming your journey.”

  “Thanks, Jarvis,” Alvin said.

  “Hero, can you give us a few minutes before heading to the bedroom?” Becky asked, batting her lashes at him.

  “This is either going to be very good or very bad,” Alvin replied, but stayed in his seat. “Okay, I’ll give you three minutes.”

  Desiree headed straight for the bedroom while Becky and Kuro hurried to the kiosk room, then ran back through the main room. Alvin watched them go, wondering what they were up to.

  “It has been an honor to serve you, sir, and I’m glad you have a second life,” Jarvis commented from the kitchen.

  “Think they’re going to get me this time, huh?”

  “I think even you will find handling the three of them difficult, sir.”

  “I can’t argue that,” Alvin said as he got to his feet. “Honestly, Jarvis, I wouldn’t mind if I went out that way… well, besides the fact it would hurt them and endanger you.”

  “Very touching, sir. Your time is up in just a few seconds. I shall retire once the dishes are done, just in case you need to leave the room to grab a drink again, like last time.”

  “I apologized for coming out of the room naked,” Alvin chuckled. “Besides, if you were really British, I’m fairly certain boarding school would have made that a comm
on sight. Night.”

  “Good evening, sir,” Jarvis replied.

  Chapter Forty-one

  Entering the bedroom, Alvin was only mildly surprised to find it empty. He went on through, heading for the dungeon and heard one of Mousie’s squeaks. His steps slowed for a second, wondering why her nickname came to his mind first. What about Gothy…? I see. They changed their names in the kiosk.

  “Gothy, Mousie, picked up your name changes, did you?” Alvin asked, stepping into the room.