“Despot?”
“Right,” I said.
I turned onto my back and slid down the slick and cracked tiles, splitting a few more as I passed, and dug my heels into the gutter to halt my momentum at the bottom of the pitched roof. It took me a bit to get a secure hold on the drainage pipe I’d climbed up, but I managed it, cursing my build’s lack of physical prowess all the way.
Once I landed in the narrow alleyway below, I crouched behind some torn bags of rotten, stinking wet rice. It was only through constant and conscious effort that I reminded myself the scent of rot was artificial. I listened to the voices of the workers moving past, ears primed for one that was familiar.
“There,” B5 said over the com. “She was on the docks yesterday.”
I pulled up the stats my Ythilian comrade had provided on her.
Sascha, Common Thug
Mind: 15
Brawn: 5
Agility: 10
Armor: 5
Charisma: 10
“No,” I whispered back. “I want the big one. Where he goes, the rest follow.”
“Very good, Despot,” B5 said. “Influence rolls do have a cascading effect. Choosing a strong target within a given group can make the others more susceptible—"
“I know,” I whispered harshly. “You told me that twice already.”
“You asked—”
“For you to tell me twice, B, not thrice.”
“Very well—”
“There.”
I heard the thick, gravelly voice and checked to see that the shadow projected onto the red brick wall across the pitted cobbles matched it. I peered up over a metal barrel and smiled as the greasy blond mane confirmed it.
Sebastian, Common Thug
Mind: 5
Brawn: 15
Agility: 10
Armor: 15
Charisma: 10
Another added advantage to targeting the big guy: his mind stat was lower than Sascha’s and so my odds on swaying him quickly improved dramatically.
My exit from the alley and into the broader lane wasn’t quite as graceful as I’d have liked, and the ensuing racket had Sebastian and his cohorts – all seven of them – turning to catch me in a state of apparent disarray that wasn’t helped by the stray banana peel that had somehow found its way onto my shoulder, glowing yellow against the black trenchcoat.
“Picking trash, are we, Mask?” the big brute Sebastian asked, drawing snickers from his lackeys.
They were still wearing the same dirtied leather and cloth scrubs as they had been the day before, as they would be for the rest of their digital, rail-bound lives. Some of them, including their fearless leader, sported bumps and bruises from their encounter with Scale, and I was a little surprised to see that no more of them had been killed outright. Perhaps Scale feared retribution. Maybe Madam Post, their employer, was not one to be trifled with after all.
Never stopped me before.
“Ah, banter. How I’ve missed you so,” I said.
Sebastian looked at his friends dumbly, and then at me. I don’t think he gained any IQ points along the way.
“What?”
“Don’t worry yourself over it.” I swept my hands out, leaning forward as if I was speaking to a child.
Sebastian was silent.
After an awkward moment, I sighed. “Never mind all that. Listen—”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve, showing yourself around these parts again,” a particularly grubby-looking woman said. I didn’t bother with a read on her stats. Handsome blond Sebastian was the strongest of the lot by a wide margin.
“That I do,” I agreed. “Now, before the lot of you pound me into a pulp – and I’ve no doubt you could do just that – I’ve just got one question for you.”
They looked at one another, suspicious, but not too suspicious. That confirmed those sub-ten mind rolls I’d spied on the supercomputer. You see, where player mind rolls were only relevant to their superpowers – the game couldn’t well make you smarter or dumber than you were in waking life – NPCs functioned in full accordance with those numbers on a graph. No exceptions, apart from abilities afforded to higher level programs.
“I couldn’t help but notice, last time I was around these parts—”
“Yesterday,” another put in.
“Yesterday. Right. Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice yesterday that you’ve got a bit of a lizard problem at the docks.”
That made them uncomfortable.
“I can’t believe, in all honesty, that Madam Post is okay with ol’ Scale haunting the lower docks, helping himself to whatever cargo you’ve got coming in, probably selling it in seedier corners of Warrentown in exchange for credits… is she?”
Sebastian licked his lips rather than answer.
“That is,” I pressed, “if Madam Post even knows about Scale. She… she does know, doesn’t she?”
I smiled. They couldn’t see it through the kabuki mask, but I’m thinking they could feel it. A pair of them moved up to flank me, and I was proud of myself for not immediately skittering out of the alley and back into the river.
“You...” Sebastian started. “You offering to help? With Scale, I mean?”
Before I answered, I saw a faint, ghostly letter begin to spin over the brute’s head. I nearly salivated. It wasn’t the most overt power I’d ever witnessed, but I was beginning to see the appeal. Influence was intoxicating. Influence was powerful, as long as it was used correctly. Best of all, while it might have originated from my Ythilian friend, it was mine, and mine alone.
“That I can, my boy,” I said. “That I will.”
The ghostly image solidified into a bright white ‘I’ icon that thrummed above his greasy crown. As soon as it appeared, a few of the others began to blink as data clouds started spinning over their own heads. Not all of them, but enough.
“If I help you take down Scale, you lot have to do something for me.”
A few of the icons started to fade from Sebastian’s allies, and even the big man’s seemed to go milky for a space before solidifying once more.
“We will not betray Madam Post,” the woman named Sascha said. There was only the suggestion of an icon above her short-cropped black hair. She had the highest mind score of the bunch, after all, and apparently needed more convincing.
“Betray?” I leaned back, aghast. “Why, I don’t mean to betray Madam Post,” I said. “I mean to help her.”
Several more icons snapped into place among the mob, and the beginnings of one started to twist and turn over the woman’s head, resolving out of the muggy mists that slid over the grooved cobbles beneath our boots.
“No tricks?” she asked, and Sebastian took a threatening step toward her. She didn’t seem to notice, but I held up a hand to stay him. He froze.
“Only for Scale,” I said, voice level.
She raised her eyebrows, placed her hands on her hips, and smiled, the icon glowing even more brightly above her head than it was over the rest of the sorry crew.
My sorry crew.
Alert: Sebastian, Hobb, Kayde, Sascha, Brooks, Gunther and Mickie have been Influenced.
Sphere Update: 7/15 Slots Filled.
“Perfect,” I said. “Now, gather round, my knights. Let us make for the dragon.”
Of course, Scale was more a gecko to Leviathan’s dragon, but you had to start somewhere.
B5 didn’t think going after Scale in the way I planned was the right play. Not this early, and not so close to Madam Post’s domain. Making enemies with a tier six player was one thing, but doing it on the same day you also incurred the wrath of a powerful NPC influencer was another.
A few minutes later, my new crew and I were standing on the edge of a sandy boat ramp just a short distance from the docks. I could see the outlines of Titan City’s steel and glass towers glittering across the bay, but there was a whole lot of ugliness between us and them.
Hobb and Kayde dropped a large pine box just a few feet from the
water and stepped back hurriedly, eyeing each other as if they’d just escaped certain death.
I looked from them up to Sebastian, who stood over me like a watchful father. “You’re cleverer than you look,” I told him. He only swallowed. “Don’t worry,” I elbowed the big guy in the ribs, “your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell the old bird what you’ve been up to.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” B5 crackled over the comm.
“It looks like our friends here have been making offerings to Scale,” I whispered back. “Like he’s some kind of river god. Keeps him from making too much noise at the docks. Keeps Sebastian and his crew here operating without earning the wrath of their employer, Madam Post.”
“I’m quite certain she is aware of Scale’s presence,” B5 retorted. “Surely she sees him as a potential bulwark against other, more threatening powers.”
The crew was too petrified to pay me any mind. They were too busy crapping themselves. All of them stared at the water, tense. It was a wonder they’d fought him the day before. I guess that showed how far Influence got you in a pinch.
“Does he always make a dramatic entrance?” I asked.
I thought I heard a gulp in response.
Swirls in the water turned to ripples, and the ripples turned to eddies. A dark shape materialized just below the surface of the water, coming closer.
“What’s in the crate?” I asked, trying to hide my own growing sense of apprehension.
“Bronze credits,” Sascha said.
“Bronze?” I looked at her and then shrugged. “Guess it’s all you lot can afford, and all his lot,” I nodded at the water, “can afford to ask. No wonder he keeps his lair on this side of town.”
He didn’t burst out of the surf in a rage, just sort of slid out, that scaly crown and boney ridges followed by those yellow reptile’s eyes and a toothy grin. He didn’t so much as glance down at the crate, but stood there in knee-deep water and appraised me.
Encounter Imminent
Scale
Tier 6 Villain
Threat Index: Minor
“You seem surprised to see me,” I said. I tried to sound calm, but I think I only got halfway.
“Thought you were smarter,” Scale said. He looked a lot more confident than any tier six player should when outnumbered. But then, he did have a hell of a superpower, and I had run away the last time we’d met.
“Have to give credit where it’s due, Doc,” I said, indicating the crate. “Nice little operation you’ve got going here. Pooling credits for something big, or just a collector?”
“I’m not a dragon collecting a hoard, if that’s what you’re asking,” Scale said. I stifled the urge to laugh. “Villains don’t have the same guilds the heroes have over on that side of the pond.” He tossed his head back. “Figured I’d carve out my own piece over here, save up, maybe get some nice tech, then make some noise when I’m ready.”
I nodded appreciatively. “Not bad. Not bad.”
“So.” Scale spread his great big arms wide, exposing that rippling reptilian chest. “Here you are, and with nothing to offer, unless you’ve brought that shiny little rock with you?”
“And here you are, pretending you’re not just a greedy dragon,” I said.
His yellow eyes flashed, and his grin turned sour. He scanned the crew.
“You some kind of hypnotist?” he asked. “This crew doesn’t have the balls to stand up to me two days in a row. Especially after the whooping I gave them yesterday.”
“They don’t look too bad to me,” I shrugged. “Few bumps and bruises.”
“You can’t count very well, huh?”
Now it was my turn to frown. He smiled, all yellow teeth.
“Killed one yesterday. They had to tell the old crone it was an accident. Heavy equipment.”
“Ah,” I said. “Well, be that as it may, they didn’t have me with them—"
“They literally did.”
“Right,” I said, clearing my throat. I thought I saw some of the icons above my crew’s heads threatening to go milky again. “What I mean to say is, they didn't have a prepared me here.”
“Sure.” Scale took a step forward and placed one fist into his opposite hand. Up close, he was big. Bigger than I remembered, and I was standing on the incline. “I wonder how confident you look under that mask, though.”
I executed something of a step-and-slide back and weaved my way through the press until I was standing up on the bricks above the ramp. “That’s your cue, boys and girls.”
At first, the crew members eyed one another as Scale eyed them. He looked like a fox among chickens. And then Sebastian took the initiative once again. He clubbed Scale in the head hard enough to send him splashing back into the surf.
Encounter Begins
Despot vs. Scale
The others brandished their crowbars, hammers and prying tools and laid into the big beast with sudden and furious abandon, pounding and hacking away in a controlled panic.
Scale sent one of the thugs flying back over his shoulder – I think it was Gunther – and into the water, where he flailed unsuccessfully against the current. Maybe I’d find him outside the base later, but I didn’t think so.
I leaned forward, watching as Scale blocked iron bars and wooden cudgels with nothing but his boney spurs and natural armor, gritting his teeth all the while.
“Come on, then,” I said hungrily. “Show me those eyes. Show me that Rage.”
Now, you might think it foolish to bait out a superpower that resulted in doubled brawn, agility and armor. In most cases, you’d be right. But that was assuming you didn’t know exactly how long it lasted, which I did, and exactly what happened to its wielder once it was spent. Which I also did.
Scale: 80% HP
The lizard was acquitting himself better than my thugs on a one-on-one basis, but together, they were quite the nuisance.
Another big, iron-laden blow landed courtesy of Sascha’s crowbar.
Scale: 70% HP
Those yellow eyes flashed, and the great earthworm veins stood out along his neck. Scale went mental. He’d activated his Rage.
I’d told the crew what to expect, and they’d already faced it once before, but planning and doing were always separate things. Sebastian withstood the first Rage-augmented hit, but not the second. He slammed back against the ramp hard, and crumpled.
Sascha landed a solid hit to the back of Scale’s head, but his doubled armor saved him from being knocked out, and a simple backhand was all it took to send her sailing. She crumbled against the algae-covered cement wall and slumped down, making me wince.
Alert: Gunther has drowned.
Sphere Update: 6/15 Slots Filled.
So poor Gunther had lost his war with the current. Sebastian and Sascha were still alive, albeit struggling to get back up, leaving me with four thugs left in the fight. To their credit, Hobb, Kayde, Brooks and Mickie were holding their own, even if their icons flashed as their fear of Scale warred with my Influence over them. But they didn’t need to hold forever, just long enough.
Even as Scale came to loom over me, his eyes lost their color and his muscles shrank back to their normal size.
He couldn’t see my mouth behind my mask, but he must have seen my smile in my eyes. Now that he’d used Rage, he’d be reduced to half of his base stats for two minutes, which at tier six might as well mean he was crippled.
I did the mental math. Brawn ten, agility seven point five, armor ten. Or, in other words, low enough that even my puny physical stats could cause some damage.
“The hell’s the matter with you, anyway?” he heaved, breathless.
“Time’s up,” I said. I reached my hand out toward brave, bloody Sebastian, who’d managed to crawl up toward the lip of the sandy ramp. He clutched a broken timber in one hand and handed it over to me in a shaking grip.
I saw Scale’s eyes widen just enough to show a bit of white on the borders of the yellow when I squeezed my hand ove
r the weapon.
“You’re bluffing,” he snorted, ignoring the NPCs still standing between us.
“No,” I said, stepping between them. “But one of us is.”
I swung the timber hard and fast, and Scale reacted too slow, as I knew – as I hoped – he would. The weapon splintered on impact and sent him stumbling, and the men still on their feet exchanged excited glances before renewing their attacks like hungry hounds at a carcass.
Scale: 66% HP
I took my time, allowing my men to do most of the dirty work. Figured it couldn’t hurt morale.
Scale tried to fight back, but the NPCs had weapons, and Scale was looking slow and tired. It had taken a lot to get him to 70% HP before, but now his health was melting away. Soon he’d hit 10% and the AI would initiate the knockout sequence.
“Hell of a cooldown penalty you got there,” I said, the picture of ease. “It’s a power that would scale nicely at the higher tiers. Might even let you take a higher-tier hero out under the right circumstances. But man, puts you in some dire straits if you don’t get it done quick. Isn’t that right?”
My main girl Sascha was still out, slumped in the corner, but her chest was moving. Some of the others dragged themselves to their feet, the milky, ghosted icons over their heads getting brighter and more solid as they watched their compatriots whoop the ever-living crap out of the monster at the docks. They were nearly through with him by the time he managed to crawl back toward the water.
Scale: 17% HP
“That’s enough,” I told my thugs. My minions laid off and stepped aside, and I walked forwards to stand over the lizard. “Can I ask, Croc, how long have you been working on this tier six build?”
Mastermind Page 8
