Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (45 page)

“Ha! That’s good, quite good. The stones on you, eh? Very well, I suppose I’ll deposit this bit of energy. What are a couple more centuries of imprisonment, anyway?”

Trying to hide from the Predecessor that he had been obtuse, rather than brave, Alan hurriedly said, “What do you mean, a couple more centuries of imprisonment?”

“Don’t you know?” The Predecessor stopped, staring at Alan.

“Know what?”

“Energy Saving Order 5329. To save the dwindling power it was decided that biological prisoners would serve as wardens. Their sentences would be shortened in return… though, considering my sentence, a few centuries off of it makes little difference.”

“Um, no, sorry, that’s the first I’m hearing of this…” Alan nervously said.

“Why did you bring me this then?”

“Um, cause I got a quest to? So I can get a sort of reward or something and get stronger.”

Although, the reward was simply a series of question marks…
 Alan silently thought.

“That’s it? A procedurally generated task is given to you and you set on a quest to complete it? ”

“There was also, uh, something about a gamma threat level and the Authorities.”

“Which you know nothing about I assume?”

Alan nodded.

“How strong are you?” The Predecessor questioned. Alan opened his mouth, then paused.

“Tell me. No matter your strength, it should be clear I could easily kill you.”

“I have a combat rank of B, and am level 118.”

The Predecessor stared at Alan. He shifted around nervously.

“How did you get here?”

“Um, I asked nicely?

The Predecessor opened its mouth, then shut it. It muttered under its breath, “They must be getting desperate.” Alan shifted his feet about. Abruptly, the Predecessor turned to stare at Alan.

“Did you hear that?”

Alan nodded.

I used a combination of noise made and mouth movements to infer what you “heard", 
Eve let Alan know.

“It was sort of a combination of hearing and reading your lips.”

The Predecessor glanced around the room, then took a step forwards right next to Alan. It crouched down so that its lips were directly in Alan’s line of sight, but angled downwards so they wouldn’t be able to be seen from above. The Predecessor put its arms around Alan, like a hug, blocking out all other angles of vision. Alan struggled to move away from the Predecessor, but he was easily held in place.

“Stop. Can you understand me?” The Predecessor mouthed.

“Yes,” Alan said uncomfortably.

“Stop. No more talking. Watch.”

Alan remained silent.

“So, you were willing to help them out, just because they gave you a so-called quest? Well, hear me out, and I can guarantee you come out of this with much, much more than you ever imagined.

“This entire facility is underpowered, abandoned by the so-called Authorities in their search for Aleph. The warden program is unable to devote processing power to understand strange situations. Like this one. It orders with broad commands, no finesse or subtlety. For example, it simply told me to aid you. Say something like thank you, that greatly helps, please continue. It shouldn’t notice anything too odd.”

“Um, thank you very much, this is of great help, I mean you are of great help, please continue,” Alan said aloud. The Predecessor grimaced, but continued his silent communication.

“Good enough. That should placate the damn shitware for a while yet. Now, did you see the black crystal behind me, within the large machine, next to the brightly glowing circle? Not the dull, colorless crystals, but the black one.”

Alan nodded, rolling his eyes at the Predecessor’s language. It must think he was an imbecile.

“Okay, here is what’s going to happen. Once I am dead, you are going to remove that crystal from the machine as quickly as possible.”

“Uh, once what?” Alan asked aloud.

The Predecessor jerked its head threateningly. Alan quickly shut his mouth.

“Once I am dead. I do have orders to protect the energy source and kill intruders, you know? Trust me, the warden program has methods to compel even ones such as I.” It shuddered. “Though, it using those methods should also help to drain the facilities reserves further…”

“Wait, if you die, will you even come back to life?” Alan asked.

The Predecessor shrugged. “Death is life. I cannot discuss matters with you… if you think yourself worthy, challenge another Predecessor to a duel. Simply repeat the phrase: Death is life. Demand answers. Moving on. I will give you a piece of precious soulsteel, which will be your reward, along with the black crystal.

“I will bind this soulsteel to you in the form of twin knives, so that you and only you may wield them. Given soulsteel’s nature the items will drop should you ever die, but only a Predecessor will be able to unbind it for their own use. I suggest you never let a Predecessor know you have soulsteel, and keep it in a safe location once you leave here. You are nowhere near strong enough to have passed through a warrior trial or to wield such a metal. Still, circumstances beget the necessary…" The Predecessor's eyes glazed over, reveling in some distant memory.

“Anyway, as I was saying, once I am dead, remove the black crystal, then escape this facility. I suggest you slit my throat, then run; I may be compelled to resist you once you attack me. I will try to resist it, but I guarantee nothing.

“You may need to deal with those golems outside, but they shouldn’t be able to detect you in that stealth mode you were in earlier, and the soulsteel blade should cut through them easily. Their brains are at the center of their bodies.

“Also, you should really learn to hide your presence, as you are only undetectable by machines. Perhaps untrained fools would ignore you as well, but few beings of power would fail to notice you. Anyways, after you have removed this crystal and grow stronger, return here. Remove or destroy the rest of the power sources in this prison. Trust me, you will be well rewarded.”

A quest appeared before Alan:

“Um, and if I don’t want to do this?” Alan asked.

“Then I kill you. I won’t be able to torture you, but the penalties applied by the warden program would be worth it. It’s almost out of power, a few more millennia at most.

"Even if my sentence is elongated, as long as all those that come here to try to repair the systems are dealt with, I will be free once the power runs out.”

“Look, um, it’s not like I want to die, but I just don’t have enough information to make a decision. Like, I have no idea why you or anybody else here is imprisoned,” Alan said, hoping his statement was innocuous enough to not alert the warden program.

The Predecessor stared down at Alan.

“Fine. Simply perform the task as I outlined, then go and learn more. You should be able to fool the warden program. Tell it you are analyzing the crystal so you can recharge it, or some other such lie. Then make your decision. I am confident you will see that we are in the right, and are unjustly imprisoned here.”

Another quest appeared before Alan:

Alan quickly thought through his options. At the very least, he should kill this boss that was offering itself to him, right? The powerful weapon sounded rather nice as well, and he didn’t even need to go through with this crazy plan after he killed the Predecessor. But what was that about the possible imprisonment? Eve remained quiet in Alan’s head.

As if it could sense Alan’s thought, the Predecessor continued, “And, if you do kill me, but fail to take out the black crystal, the automated systems will surely kill you, no questions asked. That is why I said to remove it as soon as possible after I am dead. It will likely start spewing out poison gas or some other such nonsense. Thus, this is the only path you have if you want to escape here alive.

“Now, follow me. I will pretend to prepare to add the crystal you brought. Until the warden program is alerted, we should have a nice little chat. I’m sure you must have plenty of questions. First, though, I must transfer the soulsteel to you.”

The Predecessor stood up straight, then commanded Alan to hold out his hands, palms upwards. Alan did so. The Predecessor reached into a pocket, pulling out a piece of soulsteel the size of a small smartphone. Within its hands the soulsteel changed shape, becoming twin knives about the length of a pencil. Each knife had a small handle and razor-thin arced blades. The Predecessor took a blade in each hand.

“Oh, and this is going to hurt.”

The Predecessor suddenly brought the blades below Alan’s hands then thrust upwards, piercing his upheld palms. Before Alan could react they cleanly cut through his armor and the center of his palm, each penetrating bone. The Predecessor let go of the knives’ handles, then thrust its own hands through the blades, grasping Alan’s hands firmly. The Predecessor’s blood was almost a pitch black, and Alan watched as a trickle streamed into his own wounds.

Alan immediately felt the blood enter the veins within his hands, travelling upwards through his body. It burned, like a thousand ghost peppers had been condensed into hot sauce and directly injected into his blood stream. His body turned feverish, sweat pouring out like rain. He began having difficulty breathing, his throat drying up, the entirety of his self aflame. Abruptly, the two knives liquefied, entering Alan’s body through his bloodstream.

Alan tried to break free from the Predecessor, his body writhing in pain. The Predecessor calmly watched, holding Alan’s hands firmly in place. Alan had long ago activated the Ignore Pain ability in an attempt to relegate the liquid fire pulsing through his veins to the back of his mind, but it was to no avail. The boiling blood within his body grew hotter with slow intensity, from a steady blaze to a roaring inferno.

It felt as though Alan was standing in the middle of a flame, as if he had been engulfed by lava. Nerves began to shut down as he lost sensation in his hands. Alan thought with utmost certainty that his body was becoming a charred mess, melting like candle wax. He couldn’t handle this, whatever this was. He began to panic. Soon, his entire body was left without feeling. Alan stood, motionless, fearful of any attempts to try to move his body.

Then, slowly, feeling began to return. A message popped up:

The Predecessor let go of Alan’s hands, carefully drawing out the knives which painfully materialized out of Alan’s body. It carefully placed them on the ground then stood up straight, slowly making its way over to the power generator holding the black crystal. Alan staggered backwards as the pain began to clear from his head, glancing down at a knife, trying to examine its stats. He almost fell over as he read the message he saw.