Life: Online: A gamelit novel

by Shiloh Hunt

  “You guys use Polaris as a rubbish dump or something?” Kitty enquired of the brute holding her, not expecting an answer. “I mean, have you heard of recycling?”

  “Polaris was once pure.” The voice that emanated from the suit was unexpectedly feminine. Kitty stared over her shoulder, but the reflective visor dissuaded any investigation into the person behind it. “Once Queen Allaba had settled, junk began arriving from space. Massive container ships would descend, hundreds in a day, and deposit their cargoes of waste. We were too busy waging war to recycle.”

  Kitty squeezed her lips closed. She could see nothing organic in the piles of refuse.

  “What if… what if the Queen’s using it?”

  “This waste? I’m not sure I understand.”

  Kitty recalled the heat inside the altar room. It had been a massive chamber, easily fitting a hundred shadow-people and still appearing spacious. But the heat inside had been sweltering.

  “Like… fuel. What if she uses it for fuel?” Then Kitty’s internal gaze moved to the walls of the alter room where bits and pieces of machinery had been sawn through to dig out the cavern.

  “Wait a minute…” she murmured. She glanced behind her at the woman carrying her along. “That leader of yours said Queen Allaba came here a few moons ago. And you’re saying she brought the junk with her. But inside that cavern, there was junk in the walls. This whole place is made up of junk.”

  The suit was quiet for a few moments before answering.

  “What Sister Atricia said is correct,” the suit informed her. “Queen Allaba landed here seventeen moons ago.”

  “How in the name of the void could junk have infiltrated the strata of the fracking planet in seventeen months, pray tell?”

  “Seventeen months?” The suit sounded confused. “Surely you mean seventeen millennia?”

  Kitty was quiet for a minute or two. She let her eyes rove over the humps of junk they passed.

  “Ah,” she said, finally. “Big planet or really wide orbit?”

  “I have no grounds for comparison,” the suit replied. “The term ‘moons’ is metaphorical, of course. Polaris has no moons.”

  “Bit of a red herring that, then,” Kitty said. “Next time you should maybe lead with: a few moons, remembering of course that Polaris has no moons and our planet is enormously massive, so each so called ‘moon’ is in fact a millennia. Something like that. You know, to avoid confusion.”

  “I will suggest it to Sister Atricia.”

  “Sure you will,” Kitty said under her breath.

  They were walking toward a mountain of metallic waste. Kitty glanced around, trying to figure out which way they were planning to detour. But, the convoy didn’t slow or change direction.

  “Cosy,” Kitty said as the party moved into a narrow tunnel dug into the metal. This was obviously a newer settlement of rubbish — perhaps only a few hundred years old — judging from the way the air whistled through the accumulation of spare parts heaped around them.

  This tunnel went up. It opened to a wide floor carefully covered with layers of beaten metal. The makeshift tiles clanged hollowly as they made their way over it. Lopsided tents and rusting containers littered the outskirts of the place, some clustered in groups.

  Sister Atricia lifted her hand, and the party came to a halt. Kitty’s captor set her down on the ground, watching disinterestedly as Kitty bolted away. Kitty, heart hammering in her throat, swung around a second too late.

  She rebounded from someone’s chest, flying over the metal floor with a rattling twang and coming to a stop a few yard away. A hand appeared in her vision.

  “Took you long enough,” Lucy said as he helped her to her feet.

  14

  Sister Atricia kept turning her head toward Lucy, jerking it back as soon as he moved. He was ignoring the priestess with obvious effort.

  Kitty sat on the edge of a long, metal bench inside one of the larger containers at the back of the settlement. She’d been given new clothes, and a bucket of steaming water had arrived for her to wipe the blood from herself. It had taken less than a second.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Kitty said. “You were captured before you could reach me. This chick—” Kitty waved in the general direction of Sister Atricia “—rescued you, brought you here, and helped you heal. Then, on the way back to me, they radioed in to say they’ve already found me.”

  Lucy remained silent.

  “Was that everything? Did I leave something out?”

  His sigh stirred the edges of his cowl. He wasn’t wearing the same strange mask everyone here had pulled over their faces, but he wore the pitch-black robes. His dark hair, such as she could see, was drawn back into a tousled ball at the back of his head, stray strands framing his face.

  “I didn’t want any of this to happen. It’s the game, Kitty. We were thrown right into the middle of a mission without a say in the outcome.”

  “What, a mission to get kidnapped?” Kitty snapped. “Aren’t we supposed to be the ones doing the fracking rescuing?”

  Lucy mimicked her grimace.

  “The sooner we get out of here, the better,” he said.

  “We cannot permit you to leave,” Sister Atricia said, but her voice held barely a trace of authority.

  Kitty glanced over at her again. Whatever Lucy said, the woman was highly uncomfortable around him.

  “I’m obviously missing something,” Kitty said. “You look as jumpy as an electric eel.” She blinked. “Or something,” she added lamely.

  “What are you implying?” Lucy asked quietly.

  Kitty glanced between them again.

  “Ohhhh… you two…” she said. “Okay, that makes sense, I s’pose.” She stood up, slapping her hands together. “Okay. Don’t know about you, Lucy, but I’d sure as the void is infinite like to get the hell out of this place.”

  “Working on it,” Lucy said. He turned to Sister Atricia. “You may leave.”

  The priestess had the decency to look outraged, but it lasted less than a second before fizzling out, heated embarrassment replacing it. The container vibrated when she slammed the lopsided door behind her.

  “So how’re we getting out of here?” Kitty whispered.

  Lucy lifted a finger. He cocked his head, eyes leaving hers for a moment as they both waited. Then he gave her a quick nod.

  “She’s gone.” He clutched his hands behind his back. “Bonzo knows a way out. He’s waiting outside the mound for us. All we need to do is create a diversion.”

  “A diversion...”

  “The Refreshers have a large presence on Polaris. I saw a few of their members here on the mountain when I came in. They should be able to help us, as long as we don’t interfere with their purpose.”

  “Their… purpose…” Kitty blinked up at Lucy. “Who—” Her chat console began flashing at her. “Hold on,” she sighed.

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: THEYRE COMING 4 ME

  “What?” Kitty barely recognised her own voice.

  “Kitty? What is it?”

  Kitty showed her palm to Lucy as she thought out a reply.

  BAD_KITTY_69: WHAT? WHO?

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: I CAN HEAR THEM NOW. THEY ASKED WHAT I WANTED 4 MY LAST MEAL

  BAD_KITTY_69: CAN U GET THEM 2 TELL U WHERE UR?

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: TRIED. THEY SAY PURGATORY

  Kitty glanced up at Lucy. “There a place in any of these rifts that’s called purgatory?”

  Lucy shook his head.

  “You sure?”

  He nodded solemnly.

  BAD_KITTY_69: WE NEED MORE THAN THAT. THE NAME OF THE RIFT?

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: DONT THINK IT MATTERS. DONT THINK THERES ANY MORE TIME

  Kitty looked up at Lucy again. He was studying her with a fervency that made her take a small step back from him.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “He might be here,” Lucy said. “You said he was in a small box? Maybe he’s in a container. Like the one we ar
rived in.”

  BAD_KITTY_69: RU IN A CONTAINER? LIKE METAL

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: NO - CONCRETE MAYBE

  “Concrete,” Kitty said. “There concrete on Polaris?”

  Lucy turned away from her. “What else, Kitty?”

  She stared at him for a second. “Now?”

  He turned back with a frown on his face. “Now, what?”

  “You’re only asking me this now?” she yelled. “Will’s been gone since the moment I met you, and only now you’re asking me to get more detail?”

  Lucy lurched toward her, a hand gripping her upper arm.

  “You didn’t think to ask him?” Lucy spoke through gritted teeth that gleamed white in the dim interior of the container. “You’ve been chatting with him every ten, fifteen minutes since we’ve left Chimera and you never thought to ask?” The question was a shout.

  Kitty returned Lucy’s glare with one of her own until her console flashed at her.

  DASHING_WILLIAM_19: THE VOICES R MEN. SOUND LIKE GANGSTERS

  “Gangsters?” Kitty asked.

  Lucy’s back straightened. He let out a long, soft sigh and gave her a nod. “He’s in Torque.”

  Kitty couldn’t look away from Lucy’s sudden emphatic smile. Chimera, Helical, Polaris, Torque: he knew them all.

  “How do you know?”

  Lucy watched her for a few seconds before replying. “I suppose it’s time I told you the truth.”

  Kitty couldn’t move. “The truth?”

  “I haven’t been a hundred percent up front with you,” Lucy said. “I haven’t just been to Helical.”

  “So you’ve been here before? In Polaris?”

  Lucy dropped his gaze, his hands sliding over his chest. “I’ve been to every single rift at least three times,” Lucy said, in perfect timing with the container door slamming open.

  Sister Atricia stormed in. “I’ve had it with you! I said I never want to see your face again and still you show up. You said you weren’t going to go through with it. You said you’d changed your—”

  Lucy swung around so quickly that Kitty didn’t have time to gasp. A darkened blade jutted from between his knuckles. It sliced through the air in a graceful arch, intersecting with the priestess’s throat.

  Blood fountained out and sprinkled Kitty’s face with warmth.

  Sister Atricia clapped both hands over her throat.

  The fabric drawn over her face must have been tied tightly — the rip the blade caused split open the dark mask. Her nose slid out covered in blood, like an infant after a difficult birthing. The woman’s face was starkly white against the fabric, smeared as it was with blood. She toppled to her side, her hands striking the floor with a metallic clang that echoed in the container for a few seconds before dying out.

  Kitty struggled against the hand gripping her wrists together.

  She’d been vaguely aware that Lucy had grabbed her, but in her shock she’d been unable to break free. She turned her face up to him. Were her eyes as wide as Sister Atricia’s had been?

  “You have questions,” Lucy said. His dark eyes looked infinite. He drew her closer, until their bodies were almost touching. “And I’ll answer them, I promise. But right now, I’m the only one who knows how to get out of here. And I’m the only one who knows where William is. So we either do this my way, or it’s the highway.”

  “Who are you?” Kitty whispered.

  Lucy’s lips twitched into a crooked, remorseful smile. “All in good time, mate. All in good time.”

  They exited the container. Outside, no one seemed to be inclined to stop them moving about on the mountaintop. The living area was larger than Kitty had originally thought, with four additional areas cut into the mountain of steps.

  “The Refreshers are camping out on the second ledge from the top.” Lucy murmured. He began walking aimlessly. Whenever someone approached them, he would veer off to stare at something protruding from a shanty, or gape up at a particularly large pile of rubble.

  “We make it there,” he went on, “they should be able to help us get out of here.”

  “Who are they?” Kitty gave a tight smile to one of the masked people striding past them. “For that matter, who is anyone on this void-forsaken planet? I mean, I know who Queen Allaba is, but who are these people with the masks?”

  “The Chosen.”

  “What, all of them? Doesn’t make them very special then, does it?”

  “No, I mean, they’re the chosen race. They’re the ones that inhabited the planet before Queen Allaba arrived and took over.”

  “What’s with the masks?” Kitty whispered when a group of three chosen strode past. “Makes it kind of difficult to know who the hell you’re speaking to, doesn’t it? I can’t even imagine how anyone makes friends around here.”

  “I don’t know,” Lucy said. “It’s cultural or something. Okay, steps coming up.”

  They weren’t so much steps as chunks of girders and steel plating crudely riveted together. By a drunk person. At midnight. Kitty and Lucy made their way up, Kitty eventually clinging to Lucy’s arm in order not to slide all the way down again every time a loose sheet of stainless steel shifted under her.

  There was a guard stationed at the top.

  “Halt.”

  “Who goes there?” Kitty said under her breath, giving Lucy a wide-eyed shrug when he glared at her over his shoulder.

  “We’re here to see The One Who Watches,” Lucy said.

  The guard leaned to the side, giving Kitty a hasty scan before straightening.

  “She can go in. You can stay here.”

  Lucy stiffened. “She doesn’t know The One Who Watches,” he said in a tight voice. “Only I know The One Who Watches.”

  “I don’t like the look of you,” the guard mentioned. “Her, I don’t mind. She can go in, or you can both turn around.”

  “The One Who Watches doesn’t know her,” Lucy said, as if trying to fit the information into the guard’s mind using a different angle. “So The One Who—” Lucy gave a muffled grunt, “—Cecil, okay? Cecil won’t talk to her if he doesn’t know her.”

  The guard grasped his hands together at his waist. He planted his legs a little wider apart and dealt Lucy a dazzling smile.

  “Not my problem, friend. It’s the girl or nothing.”

  “The girl or—” Lucy didn’t finish the sentence. He swung around to Kitty, who’d been watching the exchange with eyebrows climbing relentlessly to her hairline. “He won’t let me in.”

  “Ja, I heard,” Kitty said. “You know, since I’m standing right behind you.” She shrugged at the flash of fury that twitched various parts of Lucy’s face. “So just tell me what to tell this He Who Whatever—”

  “Cecil,” Lucy supplied.

  “—Cecil,” Kitty repeated. “Tell me what I’m supposed to say, do, whatever, and I’ll get it done.”

  Lucy compressed his lips and turned his upper body stiffly back to the guard, as if considering whether he could take him out. The guard’s smile hitched up a fraction. Lucy gripped her elbow and took her down a few steps, glancing up at the guard again. He turned back to her and gripped her shoulders, leaning close to whisper into her ear. Kitty had to force herself not to lean away, but the tightening of Lucy’s fingers told her he’d felt her stiffen.

  “Go to Cecil. Tell him you’re looking for William. Tell him that the second glitch parted the two of you. Then…” for a moment, Lucy’s voice dipped. “Then tell him I sent you. And tell him I’m helping you find Will. Use my full handle.” Lucy drew back, his gaze flickering between her eyes.

  “I’ve put something in your inventory. A radio. Give it to Cecil after you’ve given him my handle. After telling him about William. But don’t mention anything about the Arena. Don’t say anything about going to find the moderators. Okay? That last bit is very important, Kitty. What aren’t you going to tell Cecil?”

  “That we’re heading to the Arena,” Kitty sighed.

  “Good gir
l.” Lucy released her and spun back to the guard.

  The man cocked an eyebrow at Lucy. “No rush. Don’t have anywhere to be but here.”

  “Where’s Cecil?” Lucy asked.

  The guard shrugged. “She’ll find him.”

  Lucy beckoned Kitty, and she manoeuvred past him, pausing in front of the guard. The guard twisted aside to let her through. She glanced over her shoulder, blinking at Lucy. He frowned, his eyes moving between her and the guard blocking his path.

  The guard gave her an encouraging smile. “Just follow the signs, babe. You can’t miss him.”

  Level 4

  Fear Not the Void

  “And I saw, behold it was a white horse…and hell followed with him.”

  Joseph Seed - Far Cry 5

  15

  Kitty didn’t miss the sign. In fact, she nearly walked into the sign because she was so busy glancing over her shoulder, considering whether it would be worth the effort of bringing the guard to account for calling her babe. She stopped short, blinking in surprise at the roughly lettered plaque an inch from her nose.

  Repent, all ye who do not refresh.

  For the Game giveth and it taketh away.

  Those who choose not to refresh:

  ye are doomed to spend life eternal

  burning in generated hellfire.

  Then she read it again, just in case. Kitty saw movement and started toward it, glancing back at the ominous sign every few yards.

  The second sign was slightly more enlightening than the first.

  If ye do not know the way,

  Then let the One Who Watches guide you,

  Let his all-encompassing love embrace you,

  And from the impending hellfire, wrench you.