Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (8 page)

"Well, I guess we should try to hide in here, they probably won’t find us,” Alan said.

Negative, the scouting hounds of the Predecessors have already picked up your scent,
Eve sent.

“Um, actually, scratch that. Looks like we’re in for a fight.”

Kitana took up a stance in front of the entrance to the store, shutting the door.

“So, uh, well, what do you think I should do in this fight?” Alan asked.

Kitana glanced at him. “Stay in the corner behind the counter and don’t get in my way.”

Eve?

That seems logical. At your level you are more likely to hinder than help.

Oh, well if you agree…

Alan climbed over the counter, standing behind the cash register.

Huh, despite all the times I’ve been in a convenience store, I’ve never seen behind the counter
, Alan thought to himself. There was a digital safe below the counter. Apparently there was still electricity within the city, as the safe made a beep when he pressed the enter key on it. Maybe it ran on batteries. Now if only he had the PIN…

There is something inside the third magazine from the top,
Eve sent.

A pile of magazines also sitting behind the counter was highlighted.

Alan grabbed the magazine, opening it up. Halfway through it there was a folded post it note with a code on it.

It can’t be that easy, can it?

It was.

The safe opened revealing a stack of cash, now probably useless, and a handgun with a box of ammunition. Alan took it all. Some files and permits were in there too, but Alan ignored them. After putting everything else in his backpack, he began examining the gun, making sure not to point it at himself or in Kitana’s direction.

Kitana looked over at Alan, seemingly unsurprised he’d randomly found a gun in a safe. “Have you ever fired a gun before?” she asked.

“Um, no, but how hard could it be?” Alan said. Kitana rolled her eyes.

“Don’t point it anywhere near me, alright? Even if the gun is unloaded, or you fired all the bullets, or there’s a giant kaiju about to bite my head off, do NOT point the gun anywhere within five feet of me.”

“Um, okay,” Alan said. This was the first time he'd heard Kitana raise her voice.

Hey, Eve, you could show me where to shoot as well, right? Like give me an outline where I should aim the gun, including my reaction time, then highlight the enemy green when I should shoot.

Very well. It may take a few shots before calibrations are able to be set.

Um, okay.

Alan glanced at the countdown, there were two minutes remaining. He started getting a bit nervous. The countdown disappeared.

What—

Four enemies approaching, they appear to have split off from the main pack.

Alan looked at the minimap and sure enough there were four dots rapidly advancing, somehow traversing entire city blocks in seconds. He began hearing noises of crashing cars as the hounds tore through whatever was in their way. Kitana appeared calm, confident, poised. She was smiling. Alan felt like he might wet his pants.

Then, suddenly, a dead silence. The four dots began positioning themselves around the building.

“Watch out, from the—”

A gigantic beast smashed through the wall opposite Alan, pouncing onto the spot where Kitana had been standing a split second earlier.

Kitana stepped to the side, and as soon as the hound smashed through the wall, she cut upwards, slicing its jugular. Her sword gave off a white light the moment before it slew the beast. Simultaneously, Kitana leapt backwards, further into the store as two other enormous masses of teeth and fur smashed in through the entrance. The “hounds” barely fit in the small store. One looked like a black bear, the other a massive silver-grey wolf.

A blue outline appeared before Alan, and he followed it unconsciously, firing his gun repeatedly when his vision flashed green. The black bear’s HP bar immediately decreased to 0 after the first shot, but additional bullets flew, striking the body. Alan, who wasn't ready for the recoil, was jerked backwards off-balance.

Please only fire once when I highlight an enemy, and try to keep your hands steady.

I’M A BIT BUSY, 
Alan replied to Eve as the wolf-like creature leapt at him. The blue outline showed him turning sideways, leaping over the counter, going deeper into the store away from the entrance.

Alan attempted the jump, but his foot caught on the edge of the counter. He fell face first, but turned it into a sort of roll forwards with Eve’s guidance. He managed to level the gun up at the wolf as it leapt at him again, aiming and firing immediately as Eve highlighted his vision green.

The wolf’s body crashed down onto him, shot in the head repeatedly. As Alan glanced over at Kitana he saw that she had also finished off the fourth hound, a black haired… mole?

What kind of hounds are these?
Alan asked.

The hounds of the Predecessors are genetically modified beasts, often used as disposable scouts or in death match tournaments
.

Huh, that might piss off some animal activists. Oh, wait, they’re digital creatures. Wonder if it's still animal cruelty.

The wolf’s body glowed softly, and when Alan selected it a small screen opened up, displaying a small vial of blood, and an accept or decline button. Alan thought accept, putting the vial that appeared in his hand into his bag. He walked over to the black bear. It had also been killed by a headshot. Eve had pretty good aim. He got another vial of blood. Checking his XP, Alan found he’d gained a level and a half from the kills.

“Um, good job, shall we head back to the bunker?” Alan said.

“Let me examine this body first.” Kitana walked over to the first brown furred creature.

Negative,
Eve responded.

Why not?
Alan asked.

You have a decreased chance of survival should you return to the base.

What? Why would we be more likely to die if we were together with the others? Even if we had to help them fight off hounds, wouldn’t it be better for us if they survived in the long run?

Main contributors to a likely death: A 56.36% chance of the shield generator exploding, and a 3.4% chance of betrayal, both accompanied with a high uncertainty.

Wait, the shield generator is going to explode? Also, what do you mean betrayal?

The shield generator was improperly installed by the human named Daisy. As configured, once the shields are at 50% there is a high chance of unstable reactions. Additionally, many actions performed by various group members do not quite align with standard human behavior.

Okay, ignoring this whole “standard human behavior,” which I doubt you’re able to classify correctly, if you prioritize the survival of our entire group as highly as you rank my own survival, what should I do next?

Message Thiago to evacuate everyone away from the shield generator as soon as it begins to reach the 50% level. They are planning on simply firing from behind the force field at the approaching predators. The predators will have to attack the shield, while the shield has been programmed to allow projectiles from inside the shield to be fired outwards. You may send an emergency message to Thiago which will appear in front of him, similar to a Game message set by the Administrators.

Okay, send the emergency message.

I am unable to perform various actions such as sending direct messages to players by rules in the Game enforced by the Administrators. Similar, I am unable to assume direct control of your body or manipulate any of your central nervous systems, only give visual aids.

Um, okay, send Thiago the following emergency message: SHIELD GENERATOR WILL EXPLODE— Wait, can you show the explosion radius on their minimaps Eve?

Affirmative.

Okay, so the message will be this then: SHIELD GENERATOR WILL EXPLODE AT 50%, INCORRECT SETUP. EVE WILL SHOW EXPLOSION RADIUS ON MINIMAP.

Message sent.

A few seconds later, Alan got a reply message from Thiago. A digital keyboard appeared before him and a small chat box.

Thiago: What do you mean incorrect setup?

Alan: I’m not sure, but it’s probably going to explode once it reaches 50%.

Thiago: Why didn’t you tell me earlier? The hounds will be here any minute.

Alan: I didn’t know beforehand! Don’t let the shield reach 50% or get everyone out of the blast range before that happens.

Thiago: Alright, fine. We’re going to have a discussion after this though.

Thiago ended the chat.

If you survive
, Alan thought darkly. Thiago seemed decidedly ungrateful. Alan might have saved everyone’s lives, after all.

By the way, how did you know that Daisy set up the shield generator incorrectly?

I have been monitoring the actions of everyone who gave me access to their interface.

Wait, when they agreed to let you configure their minimap, they also gave you permission to see what they see?

Indirectly, yes.

Okay, so when you say you saw non-standard human behavior, this was when you were watching what they were doing? Wait, by non-standard, do you mean they’re all aliens or do you mean behaving oddly or do you mean people have been discussing betraying us or something like that?

My conclusion did result from observing the other players from their point of view. By non-standard I mean there have been arguments and displays of both attitude and strength not normally associated with law abiding teens or young adults.

Alan rolled his eyes, he doubted most teens would act in a rational, “law abiding” way when inside a virtual world free to do what they wanted. Was he going to ask Eve for specifics, though? It seemed like an invasion of privacy, but better safe than sorry…

Can you give me specifics?

A few seconds passed.

… Negative. I have been prevented from providing you with details. Additionally, my privileges have been revoked by an Administrator, and I have received a warning. I am to only view the Game through the information you receive or cameras I am able to access through you.

Huh, interesting, so there is an Administrator observing us, no doubt evaluating our every action. Odd though that they didn’t do anything until I requested the information directly. Whatever, back to the Game.

Eve remained silent.

Alan looked over to Kitana, who was kneeling over the brown furred creature that she had killed earlier. It was so disfigured that Alan couldn’t make out what it was. Kitana had her eyes closed.

“Have you figured out what it was?” Alan asked.

Kitana opened her eyes. “No. I am ready to return to the base though.”

The body disappeared as Kitana looted it, a large brown pelt appearing in her hands.

Should we return?
Alan asked.

Yes, though you should first reload the gun and reactivate the safety.

Oh, right.

Alan reloaded the gun with Eve's guidance. He put the gun in his back pack, double checking the safety, as it was too big for his pocket, unlike the knife. Alan and Kitana began a light jog back towards the base. Looking over at the message that described the first round, Alan saw that only seven enemies remained.

Once they were halfway back to the base, only three enemies were left. Thiago and the rest had made decent progress. It was starting to get dark, though, and none of the street lights had power. It was odd, jogging along city blocks as the sun set. Alan noted the lights downtown were on.

Upon cresting a hill a quarter of a mile from the base, a giant cat leapt out at Alan from a tree. In the moment before it leapt and hit Alan, Kitana unsheathed her katana and cut at it as Alan sidestepped out of the way. Mid-air it somehow leapt aside and darted behind a building.

Eve, why didn’t you notify us!?

It went undetected and most likely has supernatural abilities in addition to a high stealth ranking.

Alan glanced about hurriedly, trying to see if he could spot the cat. From the brief glance he’d gotten earlier, it looked like the creature that had been in the hologram depicting the hounds, a cross between a bulldog and a saber tooth tiger the size of an SUV.

Kitana motioned Alan over. “You face one direction, I’ll face the other. We’ll walk slowly along the road. Do you know how it moved midair, or why your AI can’t track it?”

“Um, I’m not sure, it definitely has some sort of special ability though.”

Alan took out his gun, looking around warily as he and Kitana walked along the road. It was quiet. Too qui—

A giant gust of wind knocked Alan to the ground.

ABOVE YOU.

Alan looked up to see the hound leaping from the top of a house at Kitana. Once more, Kitana cut at the monster but it leapt backwards mid-air. Alan took a shot at it but the bullet’s trajectory shifted, missing the animal by inches. The bulldog-tiger hybrid pounced at Kitana once more, but then changed directions, going for Alan instead.