Kaiju- Battlefield Surgeon

by Matt Dinniman

  He stopped in front of a glass case sitting on the dirt. He reached in and pulled out a small, ivory-colored worm, about half an inch long. It looked like a maggot.

  “That’s it?” I asked.

  Anatoly grinned. “Don’t let this guy’s size fool you. He’ll get bigger if you let him. This here is a gut hook. He’s a nematode-class pet, which means he lives inside of you, and his respawn location is your intestinal tract. So if he ever dies, and he’s going to die a lot, he pops back into existence inside of you. So here’s the brilliant part. This guy needs to feed off his host to survive. But he can’t feed off of you. So a couple times a day, he starves to death and dies. When he dies, you automatically gain the soul power he gives off on death. Rinse and repeat.”

  “That’s kind of messed up,” I said, reaching forward to examine the worm’s properties.

  Gut Hook - Juvenile

  754,000 teeth

  Health: 45

  Magic: Yes, with certain upgrades

  Deep Dive: Yes

  Shared Experience: Yes, familiar to player only

  Skills-

  Sap Energy

  Strengthen

  I clicked on each of the skills. The Sap Energy skill basically said the worm would drain my life away as it fed on my flesh. That was something I didn’t need to worry about. Strengthen was a spell that temporarily increased my physical power for five minutes. It was something I could do once an hour. That was it.

  “Why is it so expensive?” I asked. “Other than the soul-giving properties, it seems pretty lame.”

  Anatoly nodded. “The soul-giving part is a big deal to worm surgeons. But if you do let your worm feed and level up, he gets bigger and receives many more skills. When he’s a full-grown adult, he can evolve into one of the most powerful familiars in the game. Plus he has shared experience, which means when he gets experience, you get some too. Only a few familiars have that. Most don’t.”

  “What about you?” I asked. “You have a pet? And can we only have one?”

  “Yes, you can only have one unless you’re a fae or a dryad and some classes. What did you pick, by the way? I can’t tell.”

  “Artisan.”

  “I should have figured. That’s a good choice for deftness and charm. The only thing charm is good for is getting a discount at stores and a few side quests. The kaiju and demons don’t give a flying fuck how interesting you are. You have naturally-low charm anyway, thanks to being a worm surgeon. I’m a farmer. It gave me a strength boost and a boost to earth magic.”

  “Do you have a pet?” I repeated.

  “I don’t,” he said. “Not this season. Anyway, let’s get this show on the road. I’m gonna pay for this, and then you gotta swallow it.”

  “Swallow it? Eww,” I said, eyeing the worm.

  He grunted. “There are other ways to have it inserted, but they’re not nearly as pleasant.”

  Chapter 4

  I tried not to gag as I swallowed the squirming bug whole. It tasted like what I imagined a white grub might taste like. I felt the wriggling creature move its way down my throat, like I’d swallowed... Well, like I’d swallowed a worm whole.

  You have been infected with a parasite!

  You can bond with this parasite! Do you wish to bond?

  I clicked yes.

  You’ve obtained a familiar!

  A new menu is available: Familiars.

  You have obtained a male gut hook, level 1, juvenile stage.

  What is your familiar’s name?

  I thought for a moment. Mary and I had been talking a lot lately about getting a dog. Right now it was impossible because of our living situation, but one of these days... We couldn’t decide between a Labrador or a pug. I wanted the lab, and she wanted the pug. If we ever could afford a place of our own with a yard, we’d probably end up with both. Sometimes at night we’d talk about what we’d name our dogs. We could go back and forth for hours. In the end, I’d always suggest the same name, and she’d always say the same thing.

  “I’d probably name him or her after an artist. Like if we get two, we could name one Frida and one Diego.”

  “You can’t name dogs after artists,” she’d say.

  “Oh, and why’s that?”

  “It’s an insult to the dog!”

  We’d laugh and laugh.

  “Banksy,” I said.

  Banksy, level 1 Gut Hook is now your familiar.

  I felt a disconcerting rumble in my stomach. I could sense him there, wiggling about. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

  “Are we good?” Anatoly asked.

  “I think so. Do I need to do anything?”

  “Nope,” he said. “You’ll automatically get the soul power. Do you know how to heal yourself? It’s in your spell menu.”

  “I didn’t see that spell before. It was only antiparasitic and cauterize or something like that.”

  “No, that’s your surgery menu. Those are called talents. You’ll only see that when you select a wound or scan a kaiju or enter an infected chamber in a deep-dive situation. This is the magic menu. It’s different. You should have a few spells.”

  “Oh,” I said. “No, I don’t know where that is.”

  “It’s in the main folder, but you can set a few gesture macros that’ll pop it up. The default one is this.”

  He made an upward karate chop motion with his hand and then crossed it to make an invisible T.

  I mimicked the motion, and a short menu popped up.

  I only had two spells. Reconstitute and something called Upcycle. Casting Upcycle used up 25% of my soul points, but it wasn’t clear what the spell actually did. Reconstitute appeared to be my healing spell. It was a one-to-one ratio. If I used 50% of my soul points, I’d heal for 50%. I didn’t know if that ratio would remain when I leveled up or not.

  The actual descriptions of the spells weren’t accessible to me. I’d click on them, and I’d get a warning that I couldn’t access the Upgrades menu until I hit level 2.

  Once the spell menu was open, I could click and select the spells with my mind. I closed it away for reference later.

  “What can I do with this gut hook thing?”

  He shook his head. “Not much. Normally they get bigger and stronger the more they feed on you. Eventually, they can fight for you and get pretty big. Like I said, they’re one of the most powerful familiars in the game. But they’re weak early on, and yours will never get any bigger because it won’t have any flesh to feed on. They don’t leave your body until level 5 or so, and you have nothing to make it level up inside of you. So it’s useless except to keep you alive.”

  My stomach gurgled again, like I had popcorn randomly shooting off in my gut. I felt if the sensation setting were any higher, it’d probably be quite uncomfortable. Just because my “pet” couldn’t get sustenance from eating my flesh didn’t seem to stop it from trying.

  “Chill, Banksy,” I said, patting my stomach.

  Whap. The damn thing kicked me from the inside.

  I followed Anatoly out into the rain. He pointed toward a gazebo-like structure in the middle of the park. A glowing, red diamond floated above the structure. He had to yell to be heard over the downpour, which seemed to be stronger than before. “That’s the center of town. You can teleport in and out from there. Normally if you die or log back in, that’s where you’d regenerate unless you’ve branded yourself to another place.”

  “Branded?” I asked.

  He grimaced. He turned his neck to the side and yanked down the collar of his leather jerkin, revealing a red brand on his neck. The shape vaguely resembled the lion monster I’d helped clear of parasites in the tutorial.

  “I hold the branding iron of Bast. Once I brand you with it, you’ll respawn and log in and out at my home base, which is in Bast.”

  I followed him into a stall just outside the abandoned town center. A small, angry-looking goblin sat by a raging fireplace. The green-tinted creature was a few inches taller than my waist a
nd had wide, pointed ears that stuck straight out, a hook nose, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. This was a shade gremlin, if I remembered correctly. The name hovering over the creature read Well Done – Flesh Modder (Level 30).

  Anatoly pulled out a small chunk of metal and handed it to the gremlin, whose name was apparently “Well Done.”

  “Brand him,” Anatoly said.

  The small NPC looked me up and down. He produced a long pole, attached the metal chunk to the end, and dropped it in the fire. “It’ll be your first brand, so it’s free. Where do you want it?”

  I started to stick my arm out, but Anatoly pushed my entire body forward.

  “He wants it on his neck,” Anatoly said. He looked at me. “Your neck is the best place to put brands like these to make sure they’re permanent. ” He made a chopping motion on my arm. “If you lose a limb, you usually get it back. But not always. If you lose it, you lose the brand. A brand on your neck overwrites the default regeneration spot, which is that gazebo over there.”

  “Is this going to hurt?” I asked, eying the branding iron in the fire.

  “We’re currently at level two sensation,” Anatoly said, sounding exasperated. “But you will take some damage. Not much, but some.”

  “Yes, yes,” Well Done said, lifting the now-glowing brand out of the fire. “I need confirmation from both of you before I do this.”

  “I agree,” Anatoly said, nudging me.

  Before I could speak, a message popped up.

  Warning: Receiving a brand upon your neck will overwrite your inherent regeneration spot. Your current regeneration spot—Medina Town Square—will be lost. This cannot be undone. You will need to obtain a Medina brand if you wish to regain the default regeneration spot.

  “Should I get a Medina brand too?”

  “I have one right here,” Well Done said, hopefully patting an iron sitting on a table next to his fire. “Second one ain’t free, though.”

  “It’s not necessary,” Anatoly said. “It’ll only complicate things. Trust me.”

  I shrugged. “Okay then,” I said. “Brand away.”

  “This is my favorite part,” Well Done said, and the small gremlin lunged forward with the hot iron and pressed it against my neck. The NPC squealed with delight as I cringed back.

  Red flashed in my vision, similar to other games when you take damage. I felt the burn, but barely on my neck. It wasn’t painful at all.

  Brand received! You have been granted access to Bast – Player Base. Your available regeneration spots are Bast – Player Base.

  Well Done dropped the brand into a bucket of water, and a moment later handed it back to Anatoly, who tucked it away. I gingerly reached up to touch my boney, emaciated neck. I felt the raised bump there. As I touched it, a line of text appeared in my interface, indicating it as a brand of access.

  Without another word, I followed Anatoly back out into the rain. He strode toward the gazebo, and I rushed to catch up.

  “Nobody is out in town,” he muttered. “That’s good, good.” He made the cross motion, which meant he was calling up his own spell menu. “All right, I’m taking you to my base.”

  “Wait a second,” I said, the realization hitting me all at once. “So Bast is that lion monster with the tentacles?”

  “That’s right,” Anatoly said.

  “And your base…”

  “Is in the bowels of Bast.”

  “Inside the monster?”

  “I should probably warn you about the smell.”

  “Wait, what does that mean?” I asked.

  He grinned, and the gazebo blinked away.

  Chapter 5

  Entering Bast – Player Base. Restricted area. Access granted by brand.

  Guardian Health: Unknown. Scan recommended.

  This base is owned by player Anatoly.

  This home base is your current regeneration spot.

  For a confused moment, I thought I was back in Anatoly’s apartment. I looked around, bewildered, seeing the familiar couch, familiar bed, kitchen area, and the long, brick wall.

  But, but. I shook my head. This was all overlaid with my game HUD. And the ceiling of the warm and humid room… The milky white ceiling appeared to be made of flesh. As I watched in astonishment, the flesh quivered and then undulated, as if something just beyond the surface moved by, something substantial, malevolent, and so, so very close.

  I stood upon the same wood floor as Anatoly’s loft apartment, but the ground did not feel steady, as if I was on a ship. A wave of queasiness rushed through me.

  I am inside the monster. That giant, weird lion thing. I am inside that creature.

  Then the smell hit me, like a right hook out of nowhere.

  “Jesus,” I muttered, putting my hand to my nose. I swallowed hard. It smelled of rotten, fetid death. It smelled of spoiled tuna, of dead skunks, of flesh left to marinate in a pool of antibiotic-laced urine. My mind reeled through the different stenches, one by one. That, combined with the uncertain floor, caused my gorge to rise. I fell to my knees, gasping for air. I was going to throw up.

  Anatoly stood next to me, a wide grin spreading across his face.

  “I’m working on removing the smell from the bases. Some of the others don’t like the stench, either. Personally, I think it adds an extra touch of realism. You stop noticing it after a while. It won’t bother you after a day or two.”

  “I’m going to barf, man,” I said.

  “You wouldn’t be the first. Just ride through it.”

  “I thought,” I said between heaving gasps, “the lowered sensation setting would block out this smell, too.”

  In the top right of my vision, the word Unsteady appeared, flashing in red.

  “I set sensation back to 100%. It’s 105% actually. I’ve found it enhances the experience. Everything is a little more saturated, if you know what I mean.”

  I didn’t move for several moments, breathing the fetid air. The room was warm. I became aware of odd sounds coming from all around me as well, like water moving through pipes.

  I’m okay. I’m not going to puke.

  The ground lurched unexpectedly.

  I puked.

  As far as I was aware, my undead body hadn’t eaten anything since I’d come into existence. In fact, I was pretty sure this body didn’t eat at all. But the game had programmed in the ability to vomit, and by the gods, I puked all over the beautiful, bamboo floor.

  I wiped my mouth on the plastic-like skin of my forearm, and I dry-heaved a few more times, my stomach doing somersaults. I sat like that for some time, waiting for the Unsteady notification to clear out.

  “Okay, I’m good,” I said after a moment

  “I can’t believe it,” Anatoly said. “I just can’t believe I got you in here so easily.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, coming to stand next to him. Then, what he’d said registered.

  I set sensation back to 100%. It’s 105% actually.

  “Wait, why did you set the sensation back up?”

  He ignored the question. “Okay, Duke. Let me tell you what’s really going on here.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked again. My stomach and mind still swirled. Something isn’t right.

  He indicated a leather chair by the fireplace. The ground surged again. “You’ll want to sit down for this.”

  I didn’t want to sit, but nausea overwhelmed me again. I found myself lurching toward the chair. I sank in. Anatoly clanked over to the wall with the fireplace, leaning against it.

  “Most of what I’ve told you so far is true, but I left a few details out. First and foremost, I didn’t hire you to draw a mural on my wall.”

  Confusion swirled. “I don’t understand. Why do you need me here?”

  “It’s kind of complicated. I have a client, and they requested an artist. They chose you.”

  “For what? What do I need to paint? I don’t understand.”

  “You’re going to have to ask them. Honestly, I try not
to get too involved in what the clients want. That’s between them and the proctors. I’m just the host.”

  Jesus Christ, I need to get out of here.

  Blink, blink, blink. Hold. Blink, blink, blink.

  I didn’t even try with the audible exit. I went straight for the emergency eject.

  Nothing happened.

  “I’m a wuss. I’m a wuss.”

  Nothing.

  “You won’t be able to eject,” Anatoly said. “You’re in a penal rig. You’ve already been attached to a feeding tube and waste disposal system.”

  My heart ran cold. I looked at my skeletal hands, as if that would show anything.

  “What do you mean?” I felt like an idiot. I was saying the same thing over and over. “Why would you do this?” I looked around for an escape. This can’t be happening.

  “I am in the very early stages of creating a digital playground. Instead of building it from the ground up, I am taking an existing engine and game that I can easily adjust to test out interest. Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon works well because the anatomical and pain settings are second to none, better than any other existing game.”

  I stood, my fists clenching. “You can’t keep me here. I have a wife. My daughter is flying in tomorrow. I’ll be missed.”

  He nodded. “You will be missed, but nobody will know where you are. You were alone when I answered your ad. You sent no messages to either your wife or your roommates. You didn’t leave a note, either. We checked.”

  I paused. “You’ve been following me?”

  “For some time now, Duke.”

  I had the urge to stride over to the armored figure and start pounding the crap out of him. If we were out of the game, it’s exactly what I would have done. But I was level 1, and he was, what did he say? Level 53?

  “Okay, this is what’s going to happen,” I said, standing anyway and taking a purposeful step toward him. “You’re going to let me out right fucking now. If you do it now, I won’t kick your ass and I won’t sue you for every damn penny you have. This is kidnapping!”