Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (28 page)

IF YOU STOP HERE, THEY WILL FIND YOU. ONWARDS.

And so Alan pushed himself onwards, as his vision began to blur and his consciousness began to fade. As he even began to lose his sense of feeling, the pain somehow blissfully disappearing, he continued forwards, where Eve directed. Then, his body could take no more, and Alan collapsed onto the ground, oblivious to his surroundings.

***

Alan awoke in an alleyway, a shrill ringing sounding in his mind. Groaning, Alan rolled onto his back. Every part of his body felt sore, his legs hurting so much he almost couldn’t feel them. As soon as he was full conscious, the ringing stopped.

Welcome back. I allowed you to rest as long as possible, I activated and deactivated the armor’s invisibility to avoid detection while you were asleep. We have an hour and a half to get back with the package.

Groaning, Alan pushed himself up, staggering as his legs felt weak underneath the strain of the weight of his body and the Revenant armor. Now that he was able to check his messages, he saw to his surprise he’d gained a number of new abilities:

Alan checked out the tooltips of the skills:

Grinning, Alan slowly managed to make his way back to the entrance he came through. There, he found the man with the dark formal attire and purple glove, nonchalantly talking with one of the guards, holding a sensor behind his back.

Through a different exit, then.

Alan made his way over to the next closest exit. Just as he was about to approach though, Eve highlighted a woman, leaning against the wall next to the entrance. Holding a sensor.

Damn.

Yes, all the exits out of the Undercity are likely guarded. I am uncertain what organization might have the manpower to guard every entrance though… I wonder what it is that’s in that package.

Yeah, so, how do we get out then?

I am unsure. If they are guarding all the entrances to the Undercity, they are likely guarding the lift back up to the Administrative Center as well. Also, I doubt we could even get back in time. At least, not alive.

Wait, what do you mean?

Right now, if we want to have a high probability of joining the Black Rose guild, completing this quest, which is clearly not a simple task but a major test to get into the guild, is of the utmost importance, correct?

Um, yeah.

Well, I noticed there was an Administrator outpost within the Undercity. It will, for a price, teleport a player’s items into their secure vault, which we will then be able to access. After we die and respawn inside the Administrative Center, our last respawn point, that is. Due to its proximity our respawn time should be negligible. The only difficulty is that the item must not belong to another player for us to teleport it in our name, and I am uncertain whether or not the black box is registered to someone else. As it is unmarked, I highly doubt it, especially if it contains some illegal substance, as the Administrators would confiscate and scan the item.

Dying, really? Is there any other way, like shooting or teleporting ourselves out?

No, this is our best option for completing the task. Player teleportation is unimaginably expensive, even short distances. Additionally, in any other scenario, if we die, we would undoubtedly drop this item.

Alright…

However, since we are planning on dying…

Yes?

I think we should take risks I’d otherwise advise against. As making it out is unlikely, with little chance of gain, I suggest we explore the Abyss Labyrinth Dungeon, and maybe try to get lucky in a dungeon far above our level, trying to steal or ambush unsuspecting, chaotic players. Don’t attack any normal, non-chaotic players as you will lose more if you die with chaotic status for attacking other players.

I know. PvP and who it’s okay to attack and when was one of your first lessons. Let’s go.

Alan made his way over to the Administrator outpost. It didn’t look like any spotters were watching it. At least, none that Eve detected. Shortly thereafter, the Administrator teleported the box for three diamond marks, which seemed like an absurd amount as it was only moved up a few floors. As he was expecting to die, Alan then exchanged the rest of his credits for five diamond, one gold and eight silver marks, which were one level below gold, worth around two hundred credits each at street value.

Alright, we have about 30 minutes, maybe a few more if we hurry once we respawn at the Administrative Center, let’s see what we can find in the Abyss Labyrinth.

Alan managed to make his way into the labyrinth with an unsuspecting group of explorers. The guards seemed to be more interested about who and what was potentially coming out of the labyrinth than who was going in. Inside the ruins of the building, there was a set of stone stairs leading into pitch-black darkness. The stairs were perfectly symmetrical, and Eve was able to outline in the darkness where the stairs should be, allowing Alan to roughly see in the dark. The explorers were making preparations and going over plans, so Alan decided to proceed down without them.

As Alan entered the dark labyrinth, two messages appeared:

Ignoring the messages, Alan continued onwards, invisible. Once he was far enough away from the surface he activated the glow of his sidearm, illuminating the path downwards. The area truly was an abyss. Other than the stairs, there were no walls or even floors that Alan could see. Instead, there was only the pitch blackness of a bottomless, unfathomable depth. One misstep could easily lead to his demise. Alan wasn’t one to feel vertigo, but the presence of nothing but the darkness was fairly unsettling.

Alan made it to the bottom of the stairs after what seemed like an eternity. There were three paths illuminated by a soft blue light, though Alan couldn’t tell where the light came from. Down each path were simple, 10-foot wide stone walkways. Each was right next to a bottomless drop. There was a player’s note saying that the right and left paths had been cleared already, thus Alan was about to take the middle path when Eve communicated with him.

Wait. Fire at the ground in between the paths and next to them.

Um, alright.

Alan did as Eve ordered, firing in between the paths with his laser pistols, wondering what Eve wanted. He watched as the lasers shot out into the depth going further and further until disappearing into nothingness. Then, as Alan fired to the left of the leftmost path, the laser struck something, and the outline of a fourth, hidden pathway appeared.

What? How did you know?

Lucky guess. Continue firing at the ground and follow the invisible path as your shots illuminate it.

Alan did so. This hidden path was invisible; the only way Alan knew which way to go was that Eve marked where the shots he struck landed, creating an outline of where the path was. Unlike the stone paths, it was barely three feet wide, making it difficult for Alan to maneuver, especially as it twisted and turned. It was unnerving too, standing on an unseen road, on top of darkness. After a few minutes, the path led Alan below the stairs he had entered through, backwards rather than forwards.

*Click*

Alan’s foot pressed into the ground, pushing into a pressure plate. His mind immediately leapt into overdrive.

Three incoming projectiles from the stairs.

Eve highlighted three darts coming towards Alan. Alan dove, barely avoiding them.

Perhaps we should proceed with more caution.

Um, okay.

Alan continued to creep along the invisible path slowly, barely surviving a number of traps thanks to Eve’s observation skills and his own inhuman reaction speeds. A few were surprisingly simple to maneuver around, such as a single tripwire and a gap in the path that had to be leapt over. Others were puzzles that Alan had no way of understanding, control panels with unknown symbols and technology at work. Eve seemed to understand them though, and following her orders Alan managed to pass them with ease. Finally, after around fifteen minutes of scrambling around Alan found himself before what was, as far as he could tell, a cube-like structure. The path ended here, yet as Alan spread his hands out over the invisible wall before him he could find no door or obvious way of entering this structure.

Try reaching out with your mental capacities
.

Like I’m trying to communicate with an Administrator?

Yes.

Alright.

Alan concentrated, trying to detect some sort of machine presence or consciousness he could interface with. To his surprise, he detected a faint presence before him, and initiated contact.

Hello? Anyone home?

… Systems Initializing. Error. Warning: Limited Power.

Greetings Traveler. Warning: ERROR. Main Systems Offline.

Traveler? Are you an Administrator? What are you doing here?

ERROR: Bad Request.

Wha
—

Resuming Power Savings Mode. Estimated remaining power supply for limited functionalities: 34 Millennia. Please contact the Authorities and repair or supply power source, Traveler. Current threat level: Gamma.

The presence cut off, and a new quest appeared before Alan:

Threat level? What’s that? And how did you know that I should reach out to try to contact some machine presence?

I am unsure. My actions have been motivated by a faint sense that I have been here before, or I know something I shouldn’t… There is no data in my memory to indicate I was ever here before. This is highly disturbing. A threat level only appears in a quest which could potentially lead to far reaching and possibly horrific consequences. The highest known threat level is Alpha, which was only once recorded during a universe wide genocidal rampage, the Predecessor War, while the lowest threat level is Gamma.

Yet even Gamma threat level quests have been known to influence the fate of entire planets. I am unsure if the threat level is because of the time limit or possible effects of the quest. Guilds and factions, even enemies such as the Empire, Haxlards and the Republic often band together to solve such quests. We should continue on, and try to find more. Proceed with caution.

But, there’s no way forward.

Try again.

Alan pressed his hands forward once more, pushing against the invisible structure before him. This time he heard a whir of gears as a passageway opened. Alan stepped through the entrance, finding himself led through a boxed in, dimly lit metal tunnel. It was comforting to be surrounded by walls and a ceiling again. What was more disturbing was the information Eve had.

The tunnel led into a central hub area, about the size of a movie theatre. It seemed to have been long forgotten, scavenged clean of any furniture, parts or items. There was a large screen on a far wall, but it was broken and looked to be ancient. Alan didn’t notice anything else of import in the room, not even a control panel for the screen. There were several tunnels that led out of the room. Clearly, this wasn’t a simple labyrinth. Perhaps it was some sort of research station or…

A prison.

What?

I… know it’s a prison.

How do you know?

I DON’T KNOW, OKAY? But… I know that this facility is a prison. Or at least, it was.

Alan stood still for a second. For the first time, he could sense a certain degree of
distress
within Eve. She had, of course, been concerned, stern, and even commanding before, but this was different. She seemed on edge, almost more human than ever before.

Enough. I detected a faint noise from the highlighted corridor. We should proceed down it to find what we can, then quickly die so we can complete our current main objective. We can return when we figure out more or are at a higher level.

Alan nodded, and made his way over to the indicated corridor. After a short straight passageway a spiral staircase soon appeared. Alan began descending the stairs. A few minutes later he was still walking down the stairs.

I wonder if I could get down faster somehow…

Request acknowledged,
an unknown voice said in Alan’s head.

Wait, what?

Suddenly, the stairs shifted, forming rectangular panels that connected to each other, transforming the spiral staircase into a slide. A soft blue glow began to emit from the panel directly beneath Alan, somehow negating most of the friction. Alan began to rapidly slide downwards. Still worried about traps, Alan unsuccessfully tried to manage his speed as he wasn’t sure what he would be finding below. The slide showed no signs of slowing down, and the walls provided no grip. Alan began to feel gravity accelerate him faster, and his stomach began to drop.

As Alan slid down he would occasionally hear the sound of gunfire or yelling, but the sounds were intermittent, hollow, like ghosts in a machine. It was, Alan had to admit, sort of fun, as the speed he was sliding down began to approach that of a fast roller coaster. Then the spiral staircase disappeared, and Alan was flung out into pitch darkness, sliding along an unseen path. It reminded him of a rather unforgiving level in a racing game he used to play, but the road was translucent instead of rainbow. The slope gradually began to rise, then it descended once more, and Alan found himself slowing down.

In the distance flashes of light appeared. He quickly activated his armor’s invisibility. As he drew closer, he could make out the forms of a number of players fending off a metal, humanoid monstrosity. The abomination of flesh and metal was nearly ten feet tall, sporting blades grafted onto its two arms, a face half covered by a mask full of tubes and wires. The rest of its body was likewise covered in scars, metal plates, wires, and tubes; the creature had two clawed feet as well. As Alan felt himself slow down, he saw that the remaining half of its face was simply a lump of flesh, devoid of anything resembling an appendage. Yet, the monster leapt about with ease. A name tag appeared above the monstrosity: Experimental Warden.

There were about twenty players grouped together around a mounted turret in the center of a large circular platform, about thirty feet in radius. Surrounding it was nothing but pitch black darkness, but Alan knew there were likely hidden pathways as well. Eve calculated the ending destination of the slide, it was about ten feet above this larger platform all the players stood on. Alan watched as the Experimental Warden leapt forward as fast as a speeding bullet, knocking three players down. It darted its two arms forward, piercing its blades into two of the fallen players, then flung them backwards, into the abyss. Each blade was coated with a writhing, black venom that seemed to emerge from the Experimental Warden’s body.

The two players arced through the air and fell to their deaths, but before the Experimental Warden could retreat it was hit by waves of fire emanating from the mounted turret, decreasing its health by 3% to 45%. It then leapt backwards, into the abyss. To the players standing on the platform below, it would look like it had simply disappeared, but Alan could see that it had landed on a hidden platform below.

“God damn it,” a man swore. He wore a black cloak with a red star on the back of it. “That’s the 100th time it’s done that, didn't anyone see where it went?”

“No, it vanished. Shouldn't we retreat? I’m not sure we can defeat this thing; it wasn’t our intention to fight any boss.”

“Ha! Do you want to be the one to return to Lakshi empty handed? Besides, we just need for it to go for the right target…”

“Are you sure this is going to work? All of our kinetic and biological weapons seem to have had no effect on it. The only thing that gets to it is energy attacks.”

“Shut up idiot. Have any of my plans failed before? And don’t speak so loudly, who knows how intelligent it is.”

Should we help them?
 Alan asked.

Negative. Continue to observe.

Alan did so, waiting; hoping nobody noticed him, least of all the Experimental Warden. He watched as the experiment leapt onto another invisible platform underneath the large platform, disappearing from Alan’s view as well. Shortly after it reemerged on the other side, and slowly crept back onto the main platform.

Before anyone could react, it leapt forward into the group of players again, and stabbed its two blades forward. This time, a blade pierced a player in a robotic suit. Arcs of electricity burst out of the player, enveloping the Experimental Warden and stunning it momentarily. The player turned out to be a miniaturized mech. Before the Experimental Warden could react, three other mechs jumped forward, shooting out restraining grappling hooks and wires that shot out their own waves of electricity. Meanwhile, the mounted cannon kept unloading wave after wave of fire at the boss, slowly etching away at its health. Alan watched as its health decreased, at the rate of around 3% a second.