Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (27 page)

Taking a deep breath, which hopefully no one noticed as his face was completely behind his helmet, Alan began walking with purpose towards the city gate. One of Eve’s initial lessons had been on posture, and how to carry himself. Additionally, Eve had taught him different simple methods to avoid confrontation in case someone approached him, such as simply holding out his arm, bent at the elbow, to stop people that tried to get too close. Of course, these were lessons from Earth, but the general principle should still apply. Most of the “spotters” that Eve had pointed out seemed to ignore him, either assuming he wasn’t worth the trouble or he wasn’t among the list of targets they were looking for. Bounty hunting was, after all, a remarkably lucrative job in the Game.

The guards standing at the city gates had simple, uncolored metal power armor with an emblem of a single metal cube, which Alan assumed to be a platinum mark. They generally carried a laser rifle on their back, a laser sword in a holster to their side and an assortment of what looked to be grenades.

As Alan was about to enter the city, a guard turned to look at him.

“Halt. Please state your business in this city and reveal your identity.”

Quick, hand over a gold mark, but make sure to not reveal any other marks. Deflect.

Alan slid his hand to a compartment that held the remaining gold marks Alan had, and then quickly flicked one into the guard’s outstretched hand stopping him.

“I’m here to perform a simple business transaction, and would like to keep my identity to myself,” Alan said with more confidence than he felt.

The guard quickly glanced down to see what Alan had tossed him, and, upon seeing gold, quickly shoved the mark into a pocket compartment of his own.

“Of course, sir, please have a pleasant visit.”

Alan, having learned it was better to keep his mouth shut, simply nodded, and continued on his way. Neither he nor Eve noticed a watcher, hidden in the shadows.

Alan looked at the buildings he passed as he made his way to the location indicated by the quest. Most were shops, with guards stationed outside. Interestingly, the majority of stores had messages saying that they didn’t allow walk-ins, and required some sort of identifying symbol or authorization to enter. There were probably some black market stores he could get into with the coin he’d gotten from the shady merchant back on Earth.

Rather than specific emblems, most players seemed to wear specific colors, probably representing gangs of some sort. The most common colors were a dark purple and a tarnished gold, almost bronze. Some article of clothing or weapon would be painted in one of these colors, but never both. Alan was worried he was sticking out too much, as he had no such identification, until he noticed a few other similarly unmarked players.

They were apparently meeting up as a group, heading into the ruins of an old building. Alan noted that there were a surprisingly large number of guards around the building, despite its dilapidated state. All the guards wore a purple tabard with a silver crown etched into it over there power armor.

Hey, Eve, what’s that?

It is likely an entrance to the Abyss Labyrinth.

The Abyss Labyrinth?

Yes, the Undercity the lowest inhabited region of Khersath. The remnants of an even older civilization lies further below. This area is named the Abyss Labyrinth, as even after countless years and exploration parties no one has ever managed to reach the bottom. There are rumors that there isn’t even a bottom, that it simply continues down into a black abyss.

Of course, that is likely superstitious nonsense. There are numerous Capture Points that have been taken and briefly held, even smaller dungeons within the greater labyrinth. This has caused many players to believe there is a major capture point, likely located in the center of the planet, which would give one control over the Undercity and lower levels of Khersath. This power could easily rival the control of any of the four main districts.

Scouting parties are often sent in to the dungeon, paid to map it out. No one has made it too far down, or at least they aren’t revealing that information to the public. Still, new entrances into the Abyss Labyrinth are often found, and lead to dungeons with decent treasure and enemies. That is likely one such entrance.

Ah, got it.

Alan walked by the ruins, continuing onwards. The buildings around him turned into large, steel warehouses, generally with only one or two bored looking guards. There were fewer and fewer people walking down the streets, as Alan was leaving the main market district.

Someone may be following us. I did not notice them before due to the density of people, but now I believe there’s a high probability they have been tailing us since the entrance gate.

What?
Alan began to glance backwards, then, remembering his lessons with Eve, forced himself to keep his eyes forward so as to not alert his stalker.

Enter the alleyway indicated ahead. Immediately when you enter and are out of sight I will activate your armor’s invisibility. Then, once invisible, promptly turn around and continue to the quest destination.

Got it.

Alan turned into the alley indicated, then proceeded to turn right back and exit once the invisibility field was activated. He continued down the street, picking up his pace, glancing behind him. He noticed a man with a dark purple glove stroll pass the alleyway. The man wore a set of black formal attire. He took a brief, discrete glance down the alleyway then continued on. A small metal ball dropped from the man’s pocket, rolling into the alleyway.

That’s a scanner. Run!
Eve sent.

A blue outline of the scanner’s potential range appeared in Alan’s view. He leaped forwards, barely crossing the line before a small electronic pulse showed up right behind him.

The man that had dropped the ball frowned then murmured a few words into a communicator on his wrist.

We should be in the clear, right?

I’m not sure. If he was on the lookout for you specifically, he may continue looking. We are uncertain of who he contacted as well. Try to finish this task quickly.

Alright.

Alan started jogging towards the quest marker, moving past warehouse after warehouse. A few had guards, others had squatters. Eve highlighted a few players doing some sort of drug in an alleyway, but Alan didn’t care about such things and tried to ignore them. A few minutes later, he reached another, nondescript large steel warehouse, apparently the destination of his quest.

There were two guards in front, both in dark grey, almost black army fatigues rather than power armor. They each held a number of strange devices on a belt, and held their weapons at the ready with a quiet ease. One had a dark-metal sword, the other a mechanical rifle. Unlike many of the other guards Alan had seen, they weren’t fooling around or talking to each other. They were quietly scanning the area, and had their levels hidden unlike many of the other guards. Neither wore an emblem.

I suggest we deactivate our invisibility from around the corner, then approach cautiously. Also, the quest has updated, we are to ask for package E51, on the behalf of Master Silver.

Sure.

Alan walked back around the corner, then deactivated the invisibility and checked on the power of the armor. It had 440 energy remaining. He then slowly approached the guards, who turned to look at him, standing at attention.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up package E51 for Master Silver.”

The two guards briefly glanced at each other, then the one on the right who held the sword spoke.

“Oh, and what proof do you have that Master Silver sent you?”

Thinking quickly, Alan replied, “Proof? Isn’t my presence here enough? My master made no mention that such proof would be needed, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have sent me here to come back empty handed.”

“Look, I’m sorry, I’m sure Silver is an important person, but at the very least you should have an emblem or symbol to demonstrate that you are part of his faction, yet here you stand devoid of any such signifiers.”

Shit, Eve, what now?

Try a bit of intimidation, I will try to gauge their responses.

“Do you know what is in the package?” Alan asked in a quiet tone.

“No, we do not, sir,” the guard said.

“Well then, I don’t think it is your place to question the orders of my master. Are you sure that you wish to offend him?”

The two guards shared another glance.

They seem more confused than anything else. They aren’t intimidated in the slightest. Time to try different tactics, perhaps a bit of bribery. Diamond marks, not gold.

But, those are worth 20,000 credits, each!

And completing this quest with little difficulty is worth a great deal more. I estimate the guards are both at least level 400, thus we have little to no chance of defeating them.

“Ah, but of course, my master may also be quite generous. I’m sure that you didn’t think I wouldn’t reward you for your help.”

Alan smiled, but then, remembering the guards couldn’t see his face, simply slowly took two diamond marks out, giving one to each of the guards.

 The guard who had been talking to Alan inspected the mark; the other glanced at Alan confusedly. The older guard shrugged.

“Get him his package, and quickly.”

“Alright.”

The rifle-wielding guard ran into the warehouse. A few seconds later, he emerged, carrying a small black box about the size of a shoebox.

“Here you are, sir.”

“Thank you,” Alan said, taking the box and carefully putting it into a compartment on his back. The box had no clear opening, but its contents seemed secure, as nothing rattled or moved about when Alan lifted it up. The revenant armor would soon be at full capacity, as it didn’t have much room for carrying objects other than weapons and ammunition. The compartment Alan had placed the box in was really meant for a sword or other hilted weapon, not a box. He should probably get some sort of futuristic backpack or bag at some point, although it would weigh him down a bit.

As Alan turned around and headed back towards the city gates, another cloaked figure strode past him towards the guard. Alan caught what he said to the guards.

“I’m here to pick up package E51 for Master Silver, here is the order confirmation.”

The two guards took out their weapons, and shouted, “Hey, you there, stop!”

At that point though Alan had already turned invisible, sprinting away with all his might. Alan spared a glance behind him, only to see the guard throw a sensor in his direction. Time slowed as Alan entered hypercognition mode, greatly increasing the speed at which he thought and was able to communicate with Eve.

Eve plotted out where the sensor would land, along with the radius it would scan. There would be no evading this sensor.

Perhaps if we had taken them by surprise, we may have been able to defeat them, with a 13.4% probability. Now our chances to win a direct confrontation are noticeably smaller. Our best chance is to run away. They will only get brief snapshots of where we are from their sensors, especially if we are able to continually run out of the sensor’s range. Two dangerous uncertainties are we do not know the guard’s abilities and we don’t know if they have backup, but I estimate we have a 45.9% chance of escape.

Got it.

The first few steps were easy. Alan sprinted away, then dodged the EMP grenade and bullets fired at him with Eve’s help. He was soon out of the sensor’s range, but the other guard simply threw another one in front of Alan as his partner picked up the other. They continued this relay as Alan continued running forward, using Eve's warnings to evade the bullets and occasional swipe of a sword.

Alan soon began to tire, a heavy cloud of fatigue settling in his mind.

Can’t we shoot the sensors or hit them with a surprise attack?

Don’t you remember any such action will have to be performed after the armor’s invisibility has been deactivated? Additionally, if you haven’t noticed the guards are much faster than you are. The only reason they haven’t caught up is the need to pick up their sensors and keep you in its range. Unlike us, they also don’t have time to plan their every move. Only around 30 seconds have passed in real life.

Don’t remind me.

Alan had thought his previous experience in the Game had pushed his limits before. He had, after all, experienced mind numbing pain in the Tutorial. But this was different. Before, he had to simply sit still, and watch as the Predecessor advanced. Now, for each second that passed, he had to force himself to endure greater pain. It was like he was at the end of a set in a grueling workout, but on a completely different level. Pushing himself to take another step, pushing his body forwards in a full on sprint, was experiencing each moment of the muscle weary pain and tiredness for an eternity. His body, his mind, surely couldn’t take more.

Keep going. You are barely at the 35% of your body’s limit.

WHAT!?
 Alan moaned into his head, a large sense of dread coming over him as he pushed himself onwards.

To what limit must I push my body to in order to escape?

Simply 70%, the point of near-collapse. I am not unreasonable, and do not expect you to push yourself to the point where you would die.

Alan swore at Eve.

You are wasting energy.

Sighing, Alan focused on but one thought. Move. He let Eve worry about where, and when. The details didn’t matter, only the motion. Alan pushed himself forwards, through the pain, the fatigue that couldn’t possibly get any worse. Of course, it did worsen, slowly but surely, as Alan felt his body seem to almost tear itself apart. He was pushing it too hard, harder than should be possible. But Eve guided him onwards.

Exhaustion and discomfort was soon but a remnant of the blissful past. This was torture, a torment so unbearable that Alan almost wished to die, to step into the oncoming bullets rather than dodge them. But, for some reason, Alan managed to persevere, finding a quiet strength within that he didn’t know he had. The pain, the weariness? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was forwards. Something clicked inside Alan’s head, and an in-game message appeared before him. Alan ignored it, and it closed automatically. Eve would have directed him if it were important.

Suddenly, Alan realized he was nearing the market district once more, as the crowds began to swell. Alan was able to deftly maneuver past people, but the guards chasing were having a great deal more difficulty, as they were trying to chase down a person no one else could see, firing into supposed nothingness. A few people began firing back at the chasing guards.

Realizing, that he might escape, and soon, Alan felt a short-lived burst of energy, only to have it soon be replaced once more by the mind-numbing agony of continuing onwards. A few seconds later, the guards lost Alan, a sensor they threw forwards knocked aside by an enraged old woman, shouting something about public decency.

Alan felt himself slow down as he escaped the sensor’s range, relief washing over him.

DON’T STOP. ONWARDS.

What? But
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