The docking pod’s position lights flickered into view. The frigate’s body was rapidly approaching.
“Second docking pod ready,” Jurgen reported. “Forced docking protocol initiated. Berthing generators ready.”
The nanites forming the towing cables dissolved into a fine mist. The frigate’s force beams grappled Liori’s ship and dragged it toward its docking pod.
I slowed up and turned my ship’s aft toward the Relic. My engines flashed one last time and died. The docking pod’s robotic arms clamped onto my Condor’s hull.
Liori, here we are!
Zander? Mind sorting it out on your own for a while? I’m a bit busy here.
Liori had already snuggled up in my mind expander, creating a workspace for herself, and was busy poring over the Founders' interface. We maintained uninterrupted neurosensory contact. The sensation of our minds touching filled me with warmth. Funnily enough, my Mnemotechnics skill had continued to grow which was a welcome surprise.
The docking mechanisms clanked as they sucked my ship into the pod. A force field swelled up around it. Jets of whitish liquid sprayed the inside of the pod, restoring the atmosphere.
Charon, Jurgen and Foggs were already waiting outside.
Without saying a word, Charon scooped me up in a bear hug, expressing his pleasure at seeing me. In recent days, he’d picked up quite a few human habits and mannerisms, doing his best to behave appropriately around us (whatever his idea of “appropriately” was).
Foggs gave me a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Good to see you back in one piece. Where’s Liori?”
“She’s here.”
“Well, show her to us, then! I’d like to thank her personally. You did a nice job on those Raiders.”
“Plenty of time for you to thank her. How’s it going?”
“We’re finding our way about,” Foggs replied. “Although we’ve already crossed swords with the Manticore.”
I immediately remembered this fabled clan whose members I’d met on board the Eurasia. So they hadn’t taken part in the storming of Darg, after all. They must have “gone their own way”, just as they’d planned. “What was the problem?”
“We took hold of the old warehouses in the Exo sector. And just as we’d finished sealing two hangars, they arrived and read us the riot act: like, they were the first to land there so they were the legal proprietors of Argus and everything that was on it. They gave us an hour to piss off before taking action. Vandal’s now busy setting up defenses.”
I didn’t like this latest development at all. “This isn’t the right moment to wage a clan war. Was there anything in the Exo worth your while?”
“Some metabolites. Novitsky’s now busy itemizing them.”
“I’d like you to call the Daugoths off. Tell them to return to the Relic.”
Foggs didn’t seem to like that at all. “We shouldn’t show any weakness!”
I wasn’t going to comply. “For the moment, the Daugoths need to take a step back. Their only safe respawn point is on board the Relic, anyway. Jurgen, do we still have some respawn marker paste?”
“We do.”
“I’d like you to bind the Daugoths to our mobile respawn point. I’ll sort this thing out with the Manticore myself.”
“They won’t talk to you. They really think they’re something.”
“I have a few things up my sleeve that just might convince them. Actually, where are Arbido, Ralph and Frieda?”
“Arbido’s in the conference room,” Jurgen replied. “Ralph’s not in a good way. His in-mode must have packed up. I don’t think he’s gonna last. Frieda’s with the kids now. Danezerath and the rest of the Haash have gone to pick up their yrobs, just as you ordered. They’ll be away for a couple of hours, I think.”
“Right. Let’s do it this way. I want to listen to what Arbido has to say first. I also have some important information that concerns everyone. Foggs, I’d like you to get your men off Argus, then join us in ten minutes. Agreed?”
The Daugoth Clan leader nodded, reluctant to accept the fact that I was right. There was plenty of space on board the Relic to accommodate everyone. This was a safe well-protected location where his men could finally take a break from their Dargian tribulations.
* * *
“This will be your room,” Jurgen pointed to the entrance of a living module, then forwarded me its access code. “Sorry, but it’s the best we could do. Part of the personnel deck is still depressurized.”
The room was nothing to write home about but at least I could finally remove my suit. A lot of petty details I’d never noticed before had become vital due to the 100% authenticity.
I removed my heavy gear, peeled off my clothes and headed for the shower. I needed to freshen myself up a bit before the meeting. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. No idea what Arbido had come up with, but one thing I knew for sure: the only route to survival was by studying the Founders’ technologies combined with my own rushed leveling. Once I’d brought my Mnemotechnics up to 100, I could start building neurochips all on my own.
“How would you do that?” Liori’s form materialized out of millions of nanites.
I put on some new clothes. You had to give the Founders their dues: they valued creature comforts and knew how to create them. Their Object Replication command could be applied to most everyday situations. I’d already noticed that I sent certain orders to nanites mechanically without even realizing it.
“We’ll have to work as a team,” I replied. “We’ll need some volunteers. Some of Foggs’ men might agree to help me.”
“Are you going to activate their Mnemotechnics skill for them?”
“I am. I want to explain the situation to them and offer to open a unique development branch. I’ll need at least fifty people. We’ll make a group which will keep scanning the Founders’ devices and manipulate nanites, and I’ll be getting their XP for the time being.”
Liori did some calculations. “Sorry. It’s not gonna work.”
“Why?” I asked as we walked out into the corridor and headed toward the module that Jurgen had converted into a conference room.
“A level 1 or 2 Mnemotech can only study the most primitive of objects. It serves no purpose. Neither you nor them would be able to grow your skill properly. It would be much better if you and I continued to level up on our own.”
“We’re pressed for time and you know it.”
She paused, thinking. “We don’t even need to look too far. The Relic is one giant artifact in its own right. Take the mobile respawn point: it’s never been studied before. We can ask Jurgen and Danezerath to join us. A top Technologist and an expert Mechanic will be much more use to us than a hundred inexperienced volunteers. We all need to level up as fast as we can. We don’t even have the artifact itself, only bits of scanner files. Which means we’d have to build our own machine capable of digitizing our identities.”
I opened my interface and forwarded its image to Liori. “You’ve already proved that the entire leveling scheme was developed by the Founders. I need to understand what it was that the military added to it. Which particular skills and abilities will still work? Considering I’ve just done a bit of leveling, I need to know how to distribute my XP points wisely. I’d hate to waste them on something that won’t work.”
“Let’s have a look,” she agreed. “We’ll think logically. Everything to do with nanites and neuroimplants would remain functional. Some of the characteristics might fall by the wayside but even that isn’t a certainty. We still don’t know how exactly our minds interact with the real world, do we?”
Zander. A Human. Level 91. Pilot
Main Characteristics:
Intellect, 23 pt. (+1 Semantic Processor bonus)
Strength, 22
Willpower, 29
Agility, 15 (+2 Reflex Enhancer bonus)
Perception, 17 (+2 Semantic Processor bonus)
Stamina 30 (+5 Metabolic Corrector bonus)
Learning Skills, 15
Charisma, 5
Skills:
Piloting of Small Spacecraft, 27
Piloting of Medium and Large Spacecraft, 15
Combat Maneuvering, 30
Navigation, 20
Mechanic, 4:
Repairs, 4
Equipment Building, 2
Science, 59:
Creation of scanner files
Reading of power imprints
Equipment modification
Creation of replication matrices using existing models (requires Mnemotechnics skill)
Alien Technologies, 30:
Enables the study of alien equipment
Mnemotechnics, 39:
Enables the use of Mnemotechnic abilities and the reception of nanite control codes
Technologist, 5:
Enables Technology databases connection.
Combat abilities, 15 (0,0):
Light weapons, 10
Heavy weapons, 15
Energy weapons, 9
Accuracy, 12
Critical hits, 5 (+5% to the possibility of dealing critical damage to the enemy)
Defense, 10 (lowers all incoming damage 10%)
Mnemotechnic abilities:
Replication, 15 (on your command, a small group of nanites uses a selected source material to self-reproduce until the total number of nanites reaches 100,000)
Steel Mist, 10 (protects you from enemy scanners)
Active Shield (requires a Founders’ neuronet module). Requires activation
The Call, 5 (brings available nanite groups under your control, including small numbers of enemy nanites)
Differential Nanite Control (requires a Founders’ neuronet module)
Object Replication, 10 (allows the use of available nanites and power to build working copies of various devices)
Piercing Vision, 5 (allows the dispatch of nanite groups on reconnaissance missions with further reception of data from them in real time)
Global network (allows the scanning of star systems using the hyperspace network). Requires activation
Disintegration, 10 (destroys molecular bonds in a selected object)
Plasma Blast, 5 (allows a selected nanite group to self-destruct, forming a cloud of ionized gas)
Plasma Lash, 2 (requires a generator built by Object Replication)
Self-Sacrifice, 4 (allows your nanites to self-destruct in order to exterminate enemy nanites)
Integration, 2 (allows you to upgrade your weapons and gear)
Advanced Integration, 2 (allows you to upgrade complex equipment, including spaceships’ subsystems)
System failure, 5 (temporarily disables cybernetic parts of a selected device)
Breakdown, 5 (temporarily disables moving parts of a selected device)
Critical Damage, 5 (permanently disables moving parts of a selected device)
“In my opinion, Strength, Willpower, Learning Skills and Charisma are the biggest suspects,” I summed up. “They are the ones most likely to have been forced on us by the military geeks. All the other skills have a confirmed history of being used in implants, databases and nanite control codes.”
“We should tell all the others about this,” Liori agreed. “I’ll forward them the files to study while they still have time.”
“Excellent. Now let’s go and see what Arbido has come up with.”
* * *
The conference room was quiet: the same room where I’d stood yesterday showing the others how the Founders’ hyperspace navigator worked by connecting it to my Earth-bound in-mode capsule.
Arbido kept silent, brooding and fidgeting in his seat which was too large for his current build.
The door hissed open, letting in Novitsky and Foggs. I hadn’t seen Novitsky since Darg. Now, as I shook his hand, I was surprised to notice his tag,
Level 29. Exobiologist.
He'd done some nice leveling in the meantime! He stood tall and proud. I could barely recognize the Colonial fleet lieutenant who had once sat sobbing on the edge of that fetid alien swamp.
“Hi, man,” I said. “Great to see you. You haven’t wasted your time.”
“The Exobiologists sector on Argus only looks looted,” he added, openly pleased with the effect. “There’s actually a lot of interesting stuff still left over there.”
“Everyone ready?” Arbido interrupted us. Same old, same old. He was too used to bossing everyone around to drop the habit overnight.
“No point in waiting for Frieda,” Jurgen fidgeted with the wedding ring on his finger. “She’s with the kids. Why did you want to see us? Just keep it short. We have too many things to do.”
“They can wait,” Arbido grumbled. He scrambled down his seat and began pacing the room. What an unfortunate avatar, being stuck in the body of a puny goblin. Not that he’d had much say in the matter.
Unexpectedly for everyone, Charon rose, grabbed Arbido with his long scaly arms and lifted him in the air, perching the old man on the back of a seat. “Now we can see you well,” he barked. “Speak up.”
Arbido paused, gathering his wits. “I know many of you won’t like it but I’m absolutely sure the game developers are still fucking us around!” he blurted out.
I watched the others’ reactions.
Foggs listened closely. Ralph waved Arbido’s suggestion away. Jurgen got predictably angry,
“Didn’t Zander prove to us all last night that our identities have been transported via the interstellar network while our physical bodies are about to croak in the in-mode capsules back on Earth?
“I don’t believe it,” my ex-employer snapped. “There are no Founders. There is no interstellar network. They keep using us as guinea pigs, as simple as that! And Earth must be thriving!”
Jurgen rose from his seat. “Novitsky, have you got any downers? He obviously could use some. Let’s go, Zander. We’re wasting our time.”
“Jurgen, wait,” I said. “Let Arbido speak.”
Unlike the others, I knew the old man well. He could always offer a realistic view of any situation, however peculiar it might seem at first.
“Just let him keep to the point,” Jurgen fumed. “Did he gather us here to whine? He doesn’t believe it! What a drama queen!”
“I’ve spent my entire life in the real world!” Arbido snapped. “Trust me: the biggest gaming corporation on Earth couldn’t have just gone bankrupt overnight! It’s bullshit! Whatever Zander saw there — all those deserted cities and such — I doubt! They could have shown him whatever they wanted!”
Arbido pointed a gnarly finger at Charon. “So you think he’s a ‘Sentient Xenomorph’? And who am I, then?”
“Nothing human, by the looks of it,” Ralph chuckled.
“Exactly! They made me whatever they wanted me to be! So what makes you think that Charon is an alien? What’s the difference between him and myself? And what have the Founders technologies got to do with it?”
“Good question,” Foggs suddenly agreed. “Listen, guys, he might be right. All those who logged in via the Second Colonial Fleet, their in-modes seem to be fine. They’re perfectly healthy. Their Physical Energy is in the green. How do you explain this? What if the admins are indeed applying pressure to you? What if they’re busy creating the world’s history and testing new technologies? Liori’s avatar is made of nanites. Arbido is stuck within this fantasy char...”
“So how do the dying children fit into this picture?” Jurgen turned pale with fury. “It’s all theory! And we need solutions!”
“That’s exactly what I’m about to offer,” Arbido scowled. “For those who don’t know, I used to have a gaming business. I spent my entire life building it. I used to rush chars. I had my employees planted in all sorts of worlds. I supplied some very special artifacts. I had a whole shedful of top programmers working for me. Just to give you the idea, I could supply firearms to fantasy worlds, provided the price was right,” he cast me an evil eye. “Let Zander be my witness. He knows.�
��
“So how did you end up here?” Foggs asked.
Arbido frowned. “I was caught where I shouldn’t have been.”
“Which was where?” Jurgen demanded.
“I take it, you’ve all been to the Crystal Sphere? Apart from Charon, of course,” Arbido added sarcastically. “This was,” he sounded businesslike again, “a young world with great potential. I had some very interesting goings-on developing there. I did it my usual way: I collected intel before going big. I bought some insider information from players, I studied hidden locations and their potential access routes. I looked into unique plot lines. The moment I’d found out that the Corporation was about to make neuroimplants obligatory for all players, I had one installed too.”
“So how did you get burned?” Ralph asked.
“Curiosity killed the cat, so they say. I decided to check out Phantom Server. I was wondering why players kept going missing. The corporate bosses didn’t like it, apparently,” he shuddered. The memories of endlessly going through the Gehenna respawn purgatory must have still been vivid.
“Are you going to get to the point?” Jurgen asked, losing patience.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Arbido fidgeted, stooping — he didn’t feel comfortable being the center of attention. He wasn’t used to it. “When I collected the intel on the Crystal Sphere, I was tipped off about one very interesting location. Apparently, there was a secret path that started in the newb zone. No one knew where it would take you. I sent my man to investigate — and it turned out that the path came out directly at the Corporation testing grounds!”
“Into the real world, you mean?” Jurgen sounded puzzled.
“Exactly. Only I never used it. I don’t shit on my own doorstep.”
“So!” Foggs grinned. “That gets interesting!”
“How can we access these service locations?” Liori asked.
Black Sun (Phantom Server: Book #3) Page 6
