I had somehow not considered such an obstacle before, so all these legal and other sticking points were a bitter pill to swallow. After all, my starship would immediately lose half its purpose if we could never fly it to Earth! Ivan Lozovsky tried to reassure me:
“I do not think the Geckho forbid vassals from flying to their homeworld. But there’s gonna be lots of red tape, and we won’t get anywhere without greasing the palms of some civil servants. And that will take money. A good deal of it, in fact...”
The faction leader gave a heavy sigh, stood from his seat and took a sealed bottle of cognac and a two glasses from the cabinet. “Want some?” he offered. I refused.
After a day and a half in the game, I was collapsing in exhaustion and my only wish was to crawl quickly into my room and drop dead in my tracks. Fortunately, I didn’t have far to go, just one floor up the stairs, because the Diplomat lived in my same building.
“As you say,” Ivan Lozovsky didn’t insist and filled his glass to the rim. “But I’m gonna need some. To calm my nerves. In the last day, I died four times from Naiad tridents and the teeth of the monsters they summoned.”
“So the negotiations aren’t going smoothly?” I guessed. The faction leader shot his cognac in one go, winced and gave a brief nod. “Yeesh, it’s warm. What filth... Not good at all!”
After a short breather, the Diplomat told me in greater detail about the Naiad problem:
“There weren’t really any negotiations as such. The Naiads wouldn’t even talk and killed me immediately. Then they killed me again when I decided to take that negative experience and tried to arrange a talk a different way. Seemingly, the underwater NPC’s cannot tell people of different factions apart and perceive me along with all our other soldiers the same as the hated Germans. I couldn’t even get a word out of a captive Naiad in a cage. I had to give our legionnaires the wave to unholster their weapons...”
Lozovsky fell silent and winced. A shadow ran across his face as if he was remembering something bad. Apparently the war with the underwater mobs was not going well. I decided not to rub salt in my boss’s wound and changed the topic, turning back to the trophy frigate. But the Diplomat wanted to continue talking about the war with the NPC Naiads, asking me a very unexpected question:
“Kirill, have you seen any Godzilla movies?”
What? Yes, I’d seen a couple, but what did the gigantic monster invented by Japanese producers have to do with this? As it turned out, quite a lot:
“Godzillas, as the monsters are called by the Human-6 Faction, are just one type of creature the Naiads have summoned forth from the depths of the sea. They aren’t one hundred fifty to three hundred feet tall like in the Japanese movies, and they can’t shoot lasers with their eyes, but they’re huge, dangerous and extremely strong. And beyond that, there are other monsters like gigantic octopuses, krakens and sea snakes... A whole zoo of mythical beasts! It was just terrifying!”
After seeing the mistrust and skepticism on my face — as if to say monsters couldn’t scare me! — Lozovsky immediately corrected himself:
“I was wrong to call them scary. Our soldiers aren’t afraid of these creatures at all and have succeeded at killing them despite their size. In fact, that isn’t even what I wanted to talk about. Kirill, have you considered where the game takes all these mobs from? Forest spirits, harpies, mermaids, naiads, centaurs... After all, these are not characters from parallel worlds and not extinct animals. But then what? Where did they come from? When I first saw a Godzilla, I recognized it immediately even though this was the first time I had seen one in the game. So, I was visited by a very interesting thought.”
“They’re all from myths, legends and popular fiction?” I interrupted him, and Lozovsky clapped his hands a few times for show, applauding my quick thinking.
“Yes, Gnat! Apparently, all the mobs that live in this virtual games are something humanity believes in or once believed in, or something a large number of people fear. And that, if you think about it, is really scary! After all, it means that somewhere in the distant and still unknown nodes of the virtual Earth, there might be dinosaurs, angels and demons, and even immortal beings with divine powers. After all a huge number of people believe in and worship them! By the way, the centaurs have told us vague rumors that some flying lizards live in the nodes past the Southern Mountains. They sound just like dragons!”
Lozovsky filled another glass to the rim, took it in his hand, raised it to his lips, held it there and... set it back on the table. He raised his eyes to me and gave a weary chuckle:
“Stop looking so serious. You’re not in class. Don’t fill your head with all this nonsense! Can you really believe everything you hear? My day has just been hard, so I’m having delusions.”
“So in the end it worked and we helped our allies?” I asked. The Diplomat was delighted to change topics:
“I won’t exaggerate, we didn’t achieve our overall objectives. But I cannot say that sending our elite troops south was totally senseless either. We got to know our allies better, showed that we keep our word and agreed to continue working together. With a joint attack, we squeezed out the Naiads from the Seashell Spit — it’s a long point that goes almost five miles into the sea. It’s strategically important for controlling the New Bavaria node’s bay. Beyond that the Second Legion cleared a network of seaside caves of Naiads and other dangerous life forms when they were filled with water at high tide. And although it’s still too early to say there’s been a turnaround in the war against the NPC Naiads, the situation is much more favorable to our allies, and things are now looking up.”
The Diplomat was speaking confidently and eloquently. According to him, the whole campaign to give military aid to our allies was going wonderfully. But I had known Ivan for a good amount time, long enough to know there was something false in his bravado. He had not managed to hide his disappointment behind the veneer of his fine words. Clearly, he was expecting a lot more from the campaign. It looked a lot like the Naiads and other sea creatures had stumped my faction leader and he could not think up any effective methods against the dangerous NPC’s who quickly restored their losses. Nevertheless, I didn’t refute what he said, allowing the garrulous Lozovsky to continue:
“We found out a lot of new things about geography and nature of the virtual world, and the game itself. We nailed down a trade agreement with the Germans. They have much-needed titanium and in basically unlimited quantities. And that means we’ll have an aviation industry up and running very soon, followed by long-distance recon and the end to the Dark Faction’s air superiority! We also have something to offer them — steel alloys, grain, alien technology, and rounds of any caliber...”
“You’re selling rounds now?” I interrupted, not hiding my surprise. “I remember not that long ago, the faction had a deficit, especially of 12 caliber hunting shells. Also, all our detonator capsules were being brought in from the real world, and fuses too.”
The diplomat sat back in his armchair and gave a happy chuckle:
“Kirill, those times are long gone! Our faction is growing, providing for the production of everything we need in our lands. The ammo plant at the Prometheus and the underground chemical laboratories in the Yellow Mountains are now producing powder, casings, shells, bullets, mines, capsules and fuses... Sure, we haven’t found the lead to make soft bullets and shot in our lands yet, but our technicians have made an alloy with similar properties out of bismuth, antimony and tin. In the real world, our economists are losing their minds because those bullets cost thirty times more than lead ones, but we have our own priorities here and we need to do what we can with what’s at hand. Plus, it’s better than hauling heavy lead in from the real world.”
I was in complete agreement with this, and the leader’s words were very encouraging. It was nice to hear that my native faction was solving its problems. But as for trade... I remembered the ghastly so-called road, or more like trail to the south. Even our Peresvet ATVs couldn’t ma
ke it through. Could we really bring cargo that way?! Lozovsky reassured me:
“For now, we’re trading through middle-men. We have a deal with the Geckho to use their ferry, which the Naiads don’t touch. But in the future, after the Centaurs build a decent road along the gulf, all shipments will go through territory under our faction’s control. Yes, Kirill, you heard right! Other than Centaur Plateau, which has already become a level one node for us, two seashore nodes will soon be joining our faction. We call them the Rainforest and Tropics nodes. Two Centaur chiefs whose herds lived in these territories recently died of dietary disorders and Elder Mare Phylira was gracious enough to take them under her protection.”
I chuckled. What a surprising coincidence! Two hardened war-chiefs of the Antiquity Faction went down almost simultaneously under such strange circumstances... And not long before that, the soldiers of the First and Second Legions had passed through their lands, probably spoken with the Centaurs who lived there and given gifts to the chieftains... Well, it wasn’t hard to figure that leadership had taken the secret deal from Phylira to quietly off the other leaders of Antiquity in exchange for their nodes. I raised an eye to Ivan Lozovsky, who fell silent and looked closely at me.
“Kirill, I can see you’ve figured it out,” the faction leader said coldly. “But keep these guesses to yourself. There’s no reason for the other players, and especially our NPC neighbors to find out the dirty sides of in-game politics.”
I promised to avoid mentioning the Centaur leaders and changed topic to the First Legion combing through the forest near the Capital. Had our soldiers found the dangerous Whangdoodle that was attacking the lumberjacks? Lozovsky again frowned in dismay and shook his head:
“Not yet. Gerd Tarasov’s Spies and Sentries have combed through it three times, looking under every bush, checking every cave and cranny. They even shot any living creature bigger than a squirrel. But as soon as our soldiers went south, the attacks started up again! Yesterday two farmers were mauled, and today Mikhalych the Geologist was eaten whole when he tried taking a shortcut back to the Capital. It’s a real thorn in our side... But we’ll definitely find it! I want to take our Prospector there tomorrow with protection so he can search for the dangerous beast. He can scan the whole area, we’ll even give him plenty of analyzers. And if the Prospector cannot do it, then I...”
He went abruptly silent midsentence because the bathroom door flew open, and we were joined in the dusky room by a quickly striding Anya. I froze with my jaw hanging open in surprise, because my now apparently former girlfriend was wearing only a towel on her head and a pair of soft fluffy slippers. And if Anya from First Medical was embarrassed to find me in the room, it was just for a few seconds. After that she went on the attack:
“It’s all your fault, Gnat! I waited four long days for you. But in all that time, you didn’t even bother asking how I was doing or come into your own room, where I spent almost all my free time! I figured you didn’t want me, so I left!”
“Alright, I won’t bother you,” I said, standing up and heading out. “I’ll admit, Anna, you were my main candidate for Medic on my starship. But now I understand that was not the right option. The fur-covered Geckho and Miyelonians would be too shocked to see your total lack of body hair, so I’d better find a Medic of one of their races.”
Yes, it sounded dumb, and I should have kept quiet rather than act like some pissed-off teen, but I simply didn’t have the self-control. I had already gone into the corridor when I was chased down by a running Lozovsky.
“Kirill, please forgive me! I didn’t know. I thought you and Anna had already broken up. Please, forgive me again, I never meant to hurt you.”
I gave an unhappy chuckle and, giving the faction leader a friendly pat on the back, wished him a pleasant evening. I turned back around, intending to go to the stairs, but Ivan Lozovsky stopped me again:
“I understand this is not the best time, but I do have a job for you... it’s a bit unusual but very important and delicate in nature.”
I stopped. I was intrigued and, despite my exhaustion and anger, willing to listen.
“You see Gnat, I haven’t been able to get in touch with the leader of the Dark Faction for a few days. I think Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin is ignoring me. He’s never done that before. He always answered my requests via official diplomatic channels. But now, it seems he is mad about the Graveyard node and is showing it that way.”
“The old mage really might be mad,” I agreed, remembering my wayedda’s state after the conversation with her grandpa over video phone. “The great mage yelled at his granddaughter over the lost node. After all, it was her fault. It got so bad that Minn-O felt the need to run into the game and ask to join our faction!”
“That may be so. But there are just two days until the ceasefire with the Dark Faction is over. I want to talk with Leng Thumor-Anhu about potentially prolonging it. Our faction has just crawled back from the horror of a war of extermination and state of resignation. We have started actively growing, and we have free resources and very promising projects to the south. So we do not want a war with the Dark Faction right now! I suspect that they also have better things to do. Our spies say they’re actively expanding into the northern mountainous nodes, for example. Overall... tell him my offer through Minn-O. And please again, forgive me for Anna!”
Chapter Nineteen. Ready for Takeoff
IF ANYONE THOUGHT that Anna leaving would make me so mad I wouldn’t be able to sleep right away, they were very wrong. I slept like a baby. Maybe it was because of the many days without sleep, or I had just foreseen my fleeting relationship with the little medic ending that way, but I was not upset for very long. By morning, totally coming to my senses and thinking over what happened, I concluded that Anna had made that decision not yesterday but much earlier when she refused to fly with me into space. So the break-up was inevitable, and it was good it had finally happened.
I walked into the cafeteria and ate a big breakfast with a large number of unfamiliar faction members. Everyone around clearly new me though and whispered amongst themselves quietly, picking at my faults and sharing all kinds of rumors. Finally, Dmitry Zheltov showed up along with Imran and Eduard Boyko.
“Well captain, is today our first flight?” Eduard asked, voicing what the others were probably thinking.
“If we finish the repair...” I answered evasively, afraid of overly optimistic prognoses, to which all three of my companions snickered:
“How are we supposed to go anywhere with you for a captain?! You didn’t give us a minute of leave! And the Geckho repairmen aren’t used to our rough language. They really kicked it into gear when you decided to ‘practice your command voice’ and translated all your expressions to their language. Only army sergeants or construction foremen are bold enough to talk like that!”
“I even wrote down a few choice phrases in my game notepad for later,” Dmitry Zheltov said, clearly happy. “After I’ll finish this two-year contract under the Dome and start building myself a dacha[3], I’ll need them to yell at the builders. What did you say to that Geckho electrician again...? Ah! ‘Hey big furry monster! If you forget the polarity one more time, you clumsy-handed abortion victim, I’ll introduce a red-hot soldering iron to your deep inner world.’ Exactly what our Diplomat had in mind when he said to treat every Geckho with respect! The Geckho started respecting you so much that the foreman hooked up every device personally after that.”
Only Imran wasn’t enjoying it and, in fact remained sullen and serious:
“Gnat, are you sure you didn’t take too big a risk? I mean, what if the suzerains get mad and zero out one of our nodes?”
I just gave a good-hearted laugh and hurried to reassure my Dagestani friend, because his anxiety was totally unfounded. There were no high-profile players among the Geckho repairmen. Also all of them were technically my underlings until the job was done. So it didn’t smell of insubordination or insulting powerful our overlords.
A
fter recalling the previous day a bit longer, I suggested that we go back to our pods and meet again in a few minutes in the virtual world. And in fact, despite their light teasing for my methods of communication, and fears about the potential insult, we got a lot of work done yesterday. I spent my last sixteen hours in game helping the Geckho technicians fix the starship. Together with the electricians, I changed out and hooked up broken instruments on the captain’s bridge, then I looked carefully as they tested and calibrated it all. After that, Imran and I welded in a stairwell between the decks. Using a vibrant paint spray and my Scanning ability, I had examined the weld seams for microcracks. There was air leaking from the compartment that contained the frigate’s front landing supports. I also accepted the climate unit the three repair drones had fixed. Then I changed out the lighting down the whole corridor of the second deck. I had even hauled out building waste like a common manual laborer.
At first, Uline grumbled that a high-profile player like me, and especially a captain was above getting their hands dirty, saying that was why there were underlings. She said it would surely make my Authority fall, and I would suffer because of it. But not paying any attention to the Trader’s groaning, I not only worked without tirelessly, I got the other team members not to sit with their hands folded either. Even the noble Princess Minn-O had laid new floor in the hallways and painted the walls with a spray bottle. Even captain’s assistant Uline wasn’t able to weenie out of it for long.
It must be noted that the rest of the team and Geckho repairmen reacted totally normally to my methods, and my Authority in fact grew twice. My Scanning, Electronics, Eagle Eye and Machine Control skills were leveled well. At the same time, I increased Psionic and the mana-restoring Mysticism, because I was actively spending Magic Points, conversing mentally with the repair drones and driving on my lazy workers. In the end, just before leaving the game, Gnat reached level sixty-nine. And now, as I walked up the corncob and closed the lid of my virt pod, I was looking over my improved numbers with unhidden pride:
Game Changer (Reality Benders Book #3) LitRPG Series Page 18
