Everyone in the training room started to get to their feet, setting off in a jumbled, staggered column toward the cargo bay. We passed a few rows of seats on the way, that I recognised vaguely. I realized it was where I sat in our escape from the lab, or Earth, as it turned out.
Past the chairs, we entered the cargo bay. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was, sweating profusely and suddenly, rather randomly, really needing too pee. I went into my Mindscape to find some kind of peace. What I found was Cassia in my hallway, sitting in a seat outside my nerve room with her eyes closed.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I growled.
She gained a shocked expression on her face.
“I was so gentle! How did you feel me?”
“Feel you! I can see you sitting right in front of me. Now get the fuck out of my head before I make you.”
“I was just trying to calm your nerves, I promise. It’s my job. Ogun never said you’d transcended.”
“Whatever! Get out now. Last chance,” I said.
She quickly disappeared.
I came out of my trance. I was angry now rather than nervous. I locked eyes with Cassia and she quickly looked away. Then, I felt a hand entwine with mine. Looking over to Ember, she smiled but it was full of tension and nerves.
“We’re going to be fine,” I said, anger cooling to concern for Ember. She had to go out there into danger, but nothing was going to happen to her. No fucking way! Not on my watch.
That mere fact of knowing that someone else’s life mattered more than my own, brought a blanket of calm over me.
“Door opening in one minute!” came a disembodied voice over the speaker.
Before I knew it, we were moving down the ship’s loading ramp out into a massive hanger. It was completely empty of people. I think everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. There was always the persistent niggle that we were heading off the ship into a hail of lasers and death.
Ember and I followed Cassia until we reached, what I assumed were, the FSU packs. Mick and Gus were in our team too. By her direction we started carrying supply boxes back onto the ship. The packages were manageable by hand, with two people working together. We were like a hive of ants.
After about half an hour of intense loading of the ship, Ogun’s voice boomed out like he had a megaphone. “Everyone back on the ship now! We have incoming.”
We started sprinting back to the ship when lasers started striking the supply station floor. I saw a couple of people get hit and just disintegrate before us. I have to admit, more than a little pee came out. Thank fuck for self-cleaning suits.
Cassia cried, “Take cover!”
I dove into Ember, tackling her to the ground just before she ran out into the open. Those around us also dove into the protection of the crates. I lay over the top of Ember, covering her before she started thumping and thrashing at me. “How am I gonna feel if you die protecting me, huh? And those fucking laser beams will go straight through you. Didn’t see those guys disintegrate? What a dick!”
I rolled off her. She was right. Maybe I’d been a tad overzealous. I was about to say as much, but different words came out, “You’re never dying before me. Not even by a split second.” I peeked out from behind the crates to avoid the comeback to that statement, then watched in utter disbelief as our ship started taking off. “They’re fucking leaving us!” I shouted back to the cowering people.
I saw Cassia’s head pop up above a crate like a meerkat. “Nooooo!” she screamed, then slumped back behind the crate like she’d been shot.
I almost laughed at her over-the-top response. Then, it hit me. We were stuck on a random rock, god knows how many light years away from an Earth that may already be destroyed. Then I thought, I don’t even know what a fucking lightyear is!
While I went through this avalanche of thoughts and emotions, Ember had been watching the ships through the open doors of the supply station. “They’re gone. They’ve totally took off. The other ship’s chased after them,” she said in disbelief, then turned to me. “What the fuck are we going to do, Shaun?”
My first instinct was to say, ‘Why are you asking me?’. But I doubted she needed to hear that at this point. “We’ll think of something,” was all I had in the tank. It would have to do.
We moved around to where the other members of our group, Cassia, Mick, and Gus, held up. I was glad we’d talked to them now. It was comforting to have familiar faces with us. We waited for an age in silence amongst the storage crates, hoping for some kind of communication from the Thoth.
Once it became obvious that they weren’t coming back anytime soon, nor were we getting any further communications, Cassia finally took charge. I was surprised because I thought her spine had completely deserted her. “We should go deeper into the compound. There should be stay over quarters for passing ships. We can hole up until we hear something.”
Coming out from behind the crates, it felt safe enough to walk freely now that there was no visible danger. Cassia led us over to some large double doors. “According to the information given by Ogun, and the ship's computers, these doors should lead deeper into the complex. That’s where we’ll find somewhere to rest for now.”
The doors didn’t open automatically, and my heart dropped. Luckily, Gus was with us. The quiet, stocky Gus was well versed in Fystr technology. Cassia told us he’d been with Ogun for six years now and he knew how to operate, and even bypass, some of their systems. He opened the doors quickly to reveal a corridor with a network of other corridors branching from it.
Cassia studied the internal layout of the supply station on a device that I didn’t even know she had. Part of me was annoyed I didn’t have the same gadget, but then why would Ogun give me a map when I had a fucking Mental Clarity of two percent. Once she’d studied the device for a short while, she was able to lead the way.
The others all had guns. Only Ember and I had melee weapons, and I admit to feeling like an idiot. Why didn’t we bring guns? We looked like the untrained noobs we were.
We finally came to, what Cassia described as the stopover quarters. There was a canteen with food making facilities and living quarters, all of which looked eerily similar to the Thoth’s.
“We might as well take quarters. We don’t know when we will be picked back up,” she said.
I had to admit I was impressed with Cassia’s trust that Ogun was coming back for us. Or, at least faking the positivity to keep all our hopes up. I had no such trust. In my head, we were abandoned here forever. She continued talking, “We’ll keep all our rooms together in case of emergencies.”
We went and looked through the quarters. They were all identical: A couch, a sink with a mirror, and a super king size bed because apparently, all Fystr were huge.
“We’ll take this one,” Mick said. I expected Cassia to remain in the room with him, but it was Gus who stayed. I was surprised. I hadn’t realized they were a team like that. They seemed as distant as the rest of us when we were hiding, but I suppose abject terror does that to you.
“Okay,” Cassia said. “I’ll go next door.”
“We’ll be in the next room,” Ember said, then led me away to a third room.
Once the door had closed behind us, I turned to Ember. “Really? You sure about this?”
“No, not at all. But there’s a couch there for you if I change my mind. And this doesn’t mean next stage antics, okay? Maybe a few cuddles, though,” she smirked.
“Sure thing. Fine with me.”
“Good,” she said firmly.
“I do feel I should bring up that by day two of leaving the game I thought I’d be back settled in my shitty little apartment. And though this place is as pokey as my old place, this is definitely not my fucking apartment. I feel like I was mis-sold on this whole therapy thing, and if I ever see my doctor again… we're having a conversation.”
Ember laughed, “Yeah, when they said they’d arrange somewhere for me to live, this is not what I’d envisioned eit
her. Still, it’s better than my old home,” she paused, turning to look at me. “I really don’t know why I’m not freaking out as much as I should. Our minds must be really changed.”
“I get what you’re saying. I mean, our old lives were bad, but they must’ve been really bad if we're finding this crazy shit a better alternative.”
“Being trapped on a random deserted planet wasn’t exactly what I thought I’d be doing once I got out of Anatoli. But!” she emphasized, “being here with you is pretty cool and a definite improvement on my past life. So, fuck it! Let’s just enjoy the ride and hope we stay alive. Now, I’m off to sleep, and expect some of those cuddles we discussed.”
I couldn’t help but grin at that. “Sounds good to me. But before going to sleep, will you help figure out a way of blocking and locking this door?”
“Yeah. That’s not actually a bad idea.” She went over to look at the control panel by the door and started messing with it.
I tested the couch for weight and found, though it was heavy, I was stronger than I’d ever been in my entire life, outside Anatolia of course. I hauled the couch up and walked over to the door with it.
“Right, I think I’ve got it locked, that should be…” She turned to see me carrying the couch over. “…paranoid much?” She chuckled.
“Just another line of defense for our little alien planet sleepover,” I said, leaning the couch up against the door.
“You know what’s most funny about that, don’t you?”
“No, but as always, I’m sure you’ll fill me in.”
“You’ve got telekinesis, Shaun. You bloody idiot.” She started laughing. “Imagine if you’d put your back out!”
“Yeah. Totally forgot.”
“Come on, dipshit. Bedtime.”
“So romantic,” I said, then we lay on the bed and snuggled in. It wasn’t even that awkward. Probably helped that we were physically and emotionally smashed to bits, and it didn’t take long to fall asleep in each other’s arms.
The next morning, there was a knock at the door. Ember quickly moved the couch with telekinesis and went over to unlock the door, while I was putting my armor back on and my axes back in their holders.
“Good morning, Cassia,” Ember said. She was being disconcertingly nice to Cassia, who looked at her oddly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s a good morning.”
“Maybe not, but it was a good night.”
I shook my head at her. She was obviously trying to make Cassia jealous for some reason.
“What’s the plan this morning? What are we going to do?” I shouted over Ember’s shoulder, mainly to get things moving along and away from the awkward atmosphere Ember had created.
“We’re going to try and rustle up some communications devices, more weapons, whatever we can really. We need to make ourselves as safe as possible while we’re here. Hopefully, it will be Ogun who comes for us first, but if not, we must be prepared. We should be ready to defend ourselves down here.”
“I’ll agree with that,” Ember said.
“Me, too. Let’s get going,” I added.
“First, we need to try and find some detailed plans and maps of this facility in the control center. Then, we will be better placed to collect the resources we need. I remember the location of some basics from what Ogun used, like fuel, oxygen and FSU crates, but I’m unsure where anything else would be.”
Going through some double automatic doors, we entered a large office space, filled with desks and terminals. Gus and Mick were already there. Gus was hovering over a terminal, while Mick lounged on the desk alongside him.
“Hey guys,” I said. “How’s it going? Sleep alright?”
“Fine thanks, Shaun. And you guys?” Mick answered.
“Like a baby, all things considered. It’s all damn intense.”
“It is for all of us, and we’ve been out of the Chamber a bit longer than you. We never expected anything like this to happen.”
“Good to hear I’m not the only one freaking the fuck out, Mick.”
Ember stepped in front of me impatiently, “Is there anything we can do?”
“At the minute, we’re just going through the terminal. Gus here’s looking for the location of communication devices,” Mick replied.
“We all need to be able to communicate with each other,” Cassia added. “It was a huge shortcoming that all of our people didn’t have comms. We could also do with some more guns and weapons, just in case of a drawn out fight. Though, food and water shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Fair enough,” Ember said. “Should we look for a good place to make a stand if the Fystr come back before Ogun?”
Cassia replied, “Yes. We should Ember. Good call. If we end up here for a while, we should probably train together as well. We need to be able to work together as a team, find out what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are.”
“As long as we respect each other’s dignity and privacy,” Ember snapped, causing Mick to look over. Gus was still too engrossed in the screen to notice any tension.
“I think we can all manage to do that,” Cassia said, not rising to the bait.
“And I should let you all know, me and Shaun can access the Mindscape. It might come in handy.”
Cassia and Mick started speaking over each other at once.
“You as well?” Cassia almost shouted.
“You’re both transcended? How?” Mick also shouted. “Wonder if it’s because you both reached level forty in Anatoli. You're famous for that. Makes me wish I’d tried harder.”
“We’re guilty on both counts,” I said. “What about you guys? Any skills we need to know about?”
“We’re all well trained with our mental defenses. I think we all hoped to transcend in the next couple of years.”
“Can you block people from entering your minds?” Ember asked, curiously.
“Yes, we can,” Cassia said. “I’m perhaps the strongest with defense, but Mick and Gus are both strong.”
Ember grinned, “Can I try and enter? I’m just really curious to how you’d achieve it, especially since you haven’t transcended.”
Cassia looked at her uncomfortably for a few seconds, before Mick happily offered his services. “Here. Try me.”
Ember closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them in surprise. “That’s kinda cool, Shaun. I can enter Mick’s corridor, but I can’t open any of the doors, or do anything really.”
“Sounds weird. Should be useful if we get attacked...” But before I could speak anymore, Gus jumped in.
“Right, guys. I’ve got a location for the communicators. Number S-14, D, 92. Judging by the information I’ve found on this map, I think it means room fourteen, Aisle D, location ninety-two. If, I don’t miss my guess.”
We all went over to look at the maps up on the screen. He pointed out our location and where room fourteen was.
“So, who’s going?” he asked.
“We’ll go,” Ember said, while signaling to me.
“I think we should all go,” Cassia said. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I just really don’t want to split us up, at least until we have those communicators. We could be here for six months bored shitless, or the Fystr could be about to land now. We only have a chance to survive if we’re together.”
I agreed with Cassia, though I really didn’t want to contradict Ember, so I just kept my mouth shut. Thankfully, Ember spoke up. “I can’t fault your logic Cassia. We should all go. It’ll help us to work together as a team as well.”
Fuck me! I just couldn’t get a read on Ember sometimes. One minute she’d like to slit Cassia’s throat as soon as look at her, the next she’s being super nice. I supposed we were all dealing with a lot, so resolved to think no more about it.
“Okay, everyone,” Cassia said. “Let’s go get those communicators. Weapons at the ready, just in case.”
We headed off deeper into the supply depot, stalking the corridors like we were in a first-p
erson horror shooter. It was ridiculous on reflection as we clearly knew from the main sensors in the control center that there were no signs of life, and Gus had set the alert system to warn us of incoming ships.
Over the following days, we all spent our time preparing the base searching for anything we thought would make our lives more bearable and give us a better chance of surviving. This included setting up a defensible position in one of the least used storage overflow rooms. It was right at the back of the whole compound, and it was our hope that we’d be overlooked if we hid there. But if they found us, we had weapons and a barricade ready for them.
We trained together as much as possible. Cassia, it turned out, was actually a reasonable leader. Once she got over herself. She’d quickly learned that her shit wasn’t going to fly with Ember, and to be honest, I wasn’t going to give her an easy ride. If she wanted to lead, she needed to prove she deserved that right. It turned out that she was fair and never overstepped the mark again.
Mick, was just Mick. Prior to the game, he’d never left his house and smoked weed all day, every day. He was capable, friendly and really easy going. Gus, before his Anatoli therapy, had a surprising amount of military knowledge. He had Asperger’s and he was addicted to some drug he’d been prescribed. He spent most of his time playing war games and obsessively researching ways to win, which came in handy when he set up all our defenses. A few days in, he got us all together to talk through the latest defense strategy he’d had.
Cassia was the first to react, “Bombs! Rig the whole section to blow? I can’t tell if you're serious, or delirious.”
“Deadly serious,” Gus said sheepishly.
“Deadly, is right,” Ember said, shaking her head.
Mick just chuckled to himself, as Gus began explaining his thinking, “Guys, I understand this is definitely something we don’t want to do. But imagine we're all about to be slaughtered by a bunch of Fystr. This could provide us with two options. A, we’re going to die. So, take as many of these motherfuckers out with us as we can, or B, we can use it as a bargaining chip to buy us some time.”
Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure Page 6
