Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (11 page)

Um, right, so this is basically magic, but in the Game?

Affirmative.

Great, how do I learn it?

Unfortunately, as you should have noted your psionic energy is fairly low. It seems as though the implant which allows me to more fully communicate with you and aid you greatly hinders your ability to wield psionic energy.

Oh…

At this point I would like to assure you that I am and will continue to be much more useful than any psionic ability,
Eve sent.
I would also like to remind you I have saved your life on no fewer than three different occasions.

Um, right, I would never replace you Eve, I was just thinking it would be cool to shoot fireballs with my mind or bend spoons or something. That explains the MadMerlin’s display aboard the dropship though, he probably has a grasp on some sort of psionic power.

Yes. It also explains a few other things, such as Ace’s power level and the glowing effects created by Kitana’s sword abilities. As I now have a better understanding of such phenomena I can better counter-act and anticipate such abilities.

Um great. Okay, another question, what’s with the asterisks by various things on my character windows?

They imply that the information is circumstantial. Should the Legion of Man learn of your involvement warning everybody about the bomb at the airbase, I doubt they would remain neutral. The Machine Communication, Enhance Reaction and Knife Fighting skills are improved by me through the Computer-Human Enhanced Interface, emphasizing the importance of the implant once more. The G+ denotes that the skill is so common, it shouldn't even be ranked.

Okay Eve, I get it. I’m not going to replace you. Moving on, do the shield energy and regeneration imply that I should have a shield of some sort?

Affirmative. The first item that should be purchased next is power armor of some sort. It could increase your chance of surviving an encounter up to tenfold. Almost every player wears power armor which has a built in force field whose energy depletes with each blow it takes. Your earlier supposition about the general uselessness of melee weapons is false, as a melee weapon is capable of dealing much greater damage to shields than most ranged weapons, and the shields greatly help melee weapon users get in range before they are injured.

Alright, now what’s with the question marks?

Your resistances and skill proficiencies have been undetermined. At the end of the tutorial a number of your proficiencies and resistances should be calculated by the Administrators, and thus displayed in your ability window.

Um, right, what were the skill proficiencies again?

Alan could almost hear a mental sigh from Eve.

As the Game manual explains, your skill proficiency will range from around two billion to one. Once you improve your skill and it has a proficiency of one, the skill will rank up. As you have most likely noted, some skills are basic skills, which may evolve into intermediate, advanced, and master level skills once various requirements have been met. Other skills may also evolve or combine in various ways. Skill rarity denotes how rare the skill is within the Game, while Skill Rank is simply the rank of the skill. I now also have a much stronger grasp on various skill trees and talent combinations. The first combination I suggest you finish is buying the Talented ability that was unlocked once you purchased Gifted and Skilled.

Abilities and skills are the same thing, right?

Yes. The words are interchangeable in the Game.

Alan’s next thought was interrupted by Daisy, who tapped him on the shoulder. Apparently he’d been talking to Eve for so long it had been noticeable.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, just a lot of information to take in.” Alan noticed the cyborg, apparently a level 73 Techno-spy, glance sideways at him.

“Um, let’s grab something to eat and we can talk about it. I mean, who knows where else we can find Earth fast food.”

Actually, a number of Earth chain restaurants have recently opened up on Khersath, serving such galactic delicacies as Big Macs and Ho Hos,
Eve sent.

"Sure,” Daisy said.

Alan and Daisy walked over to the food court. Alan decided to splurge a bit, given the 80% discount. It would probably be the last affordable Earth food he’d eat at the very least. He got a fast food feast consisting of a burger, a basket of fries, a slice of pizza, a chocolate milkshake and a glass of Coke. Every bite was delicious, better than most meals Alan had eaten in real life.

A few TVs set up about the trading hub showed Game news. A rumor was circulating that the Legion of Man, the terrorists that had attacked the airbase, were located on Mars. Also some group called the Revenants had been sighted in the Milky Way Galaxy, while the Empire was preparing for war. At this point, Alan could care less about intergalactic politics. It wasn’t like he was going to influence anything anytime soon.

“Alright, so you spaced out a bit earlier, what was that about?” Daisy asked while demolishing two double cheeseburgers. Alan had a feeling she only ate so much because this was virtual reality.

“Well, a lot of my interface changed, like I can see a lot more health bars and people’s usernames and classes.”

“Oh, the information you got from that broker included that as well?”

“Yeah, according to my AI there are a bunch of lucrative public events that happen every so often, and the information like levels and classes of the participants are data mined. When users participate in a war such information is made public too. Thus, while the info might not be the most up to date it gives you a pretty good guideline.”

“Interesting, could you transfer me this information as well? I’ll pay you, of course.”

Hmm, actually, could you update everyone’s interface?
Alan asked Eve.

I could. However, as a full update would take days, I will only update the interface with the more relevant information, such as the standard HP and damage conversions, as well as levels and classes of people they’re likely to encounter. The information will grow outdated though.

It should still help, so do it.

Everyone in the group received a message asking if it was okay for Eve to update their interface again. Alan let everyone know it was okay, and would probably help them.

A few minutes later, Daisy was glancing about everywhere, turning her head left and right. “Huh, that is quite interesting, and definitely a lot more game-like," she said. "Anyways, we should probably find what we came here for.”

With Eve’s help they quickly found a repair shop that had the part they needed. Ace found them in the store, not saying anything about wherever it was he went. Ace wanted to return immediately to the base, needing to speak with Thiago or something, but Alan still needed to figure out what armor and weapon he’d buy. Ace couldn’t care less what Alan did, but insisted that Daisy return with him. Shrugging, Alan let them head back without him. He was fine by himself, possibly even better off.

He sold off the various items he'd gathered so far, including the DNA the boss dropped. Sure, it may have been able to create a really powerful implant, but such a procedure would take hours, hours he didn’t have while he was undergoing the Tutorial. Once everything he’d gathered had been sold, Alan had a little over 9000 credits, far more money than he’d ever had in his life. More than enough to pay off his student loans.

Alan wandered about the various equipment shops, examining prices. An average set of armor would cost around 2000 credits, while a proper, alien-tech laser or plasma sniper rifle would cost about 2500 credits, including the discount. Except as Alan wandered into a shop named Ancient Armour a particular piece of equipment caught his eye.

It was a sleek, black set of power armor that was much more lightweight than all the other sets of power armor he’d seen. Smooth black cloth interweaved with metal instead of large clunky plates. Alan had no idea what metal it was made out of, but it seemed to absorb the light that touched it, creating a sort of dark aura in the otherwise brightly lit store. It was the type of armor Alan imagined futuristic special forces wore, with tactical holsters and pockets in addition to a small shield generator on the back of the suit. Quite simply put, it was the most badass piece of equipment Alan had seen since he began playing the Game.

Trying to appear nonchalant, Alan walked over to the shopkeeper, a balding middle-aged man that looked more like a high school teacher than an armor salesman.

“So, that power armor, it looks pretty nice, does it have any special abilities?” Alan asked.

“Ah, young sir, you have quite the eye. That is a set of Revenant recon armor, capable of turning the user invisible to almost all forms of detection.”

Revenants?

A group that worships the technology left behind by an ancient race said to have lived long before even the Predecessors and Lords of Life. They are considered hostile by most factions in the Game.

Huh, interesting.

“Ah. Isn’t there, well, a certain negative stigma that is attached to the armor then?”

"Well, if you’re going to be like that, I certainly won’t sell it to you,” the shopkeeper harrumphed.

“I was wondering if you might sell it for less, as I doubt the army with their dress code will allow their members to wear an enemy faction’s armor.”

Alan had no idea what the armies’ dress code was, at least within the Game.

“Yes, unfortunately that has been a bit of an issue. They bought the first set easily enough for research purposes, but weren’t willing to buy the second I bought off the Haxlards. I should have known it was too good of a bargain to be true. You know what, how about this, I’ll cut you a special deal, 50k credits!”

Alan’s heart plummeted.

“And since I’m undergoing the tutorial?”

“Well, 10k then!”

“Um, how about 7.5k?”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I’m already selling it at quite a loss. I don’t think I can handle losing even more money, 10k is as low as I go.” The shopkeeper looked at Alan innocently.

Alan shuffled his feet a bit, then sighed. “Honestly, all I have is 9k credits, total, and don’t really have any way of getting any more quickly.”

“Hmmm, that is quite the dilemma…” The shopkeeper rested his chin on his palm, leaning on the counter.

“How about this," the shopkeeper said. "Recently I’ve seen a few shady characters hanging around a particular store, the Iron Wall, located a bit outside the trading hub. I’ll give you directions.

"Now, all I want you do is maybe test the armor, make sure it works. Scout around a bit, maybe see if you can find any evidence of the illicit business I know they’re involved in, and well”—the shopkeeper glanced about—“if you can’t find any information, but they manage to, say, misplace a valuable item worth around 1000 credits and you bring it back here, who’s to say it wasn’t justice?”

A quest popped up in front of Alan:

Alan thought about whether to accept the task for a moment. He was almost certain that there were no such illegal activities taking place and that the shop was owned by a rival businessman or something. Was he willing to steal 1000 credits worth of items was the real question.

Eve, what do you think my odds of succeeding are?
Alan sent.

Approximately 70% with about a 20% margin of error,
she replied.

That’s quite the margin of error…

Indeed.

Screw it, he’d practice his stealth ability, and maybe this would even turn into some sort of chain quest. It wasn’t like he’d gotten any other quests that were so specific. "Survive" and "investigate," what kind of quests were those?

“I accept,” Alan said.

“Great,” the shopkeeper grinned. “Now, I’ll trade you the armor for 9000 credits, but won’t make it an official transaction until you fulfill your side of the bargain. Thus, it’s stolen property until you finish the task, so don’t get stopped by any military police, alright?”

“Uh, okay.” Alan went into a fitting room, changing into the power armor, beginning to regret his decision immediately. The shopkeeper would probably be waiting for him with a few military police when Alan returned. Still, the armor was awfully nice, Alan had to admit. It felt almost weightless, and hardly restricted his movement at all.

Checking his stats, Alan saw that the armor gave him 500 shield energy, with the ability to turn invisible for five energy per minute. The shields regenerated at the rate of two energy per minute. Eve was impressed with the armor as well, as she was able to interface with the armor directly, allowing Alan to activate the stealth feature with a simple thought.