by Alex Knight
Her health bar flashed frantically, then dropped deep into the red. So deep that, for a moment, Kaiden thought she’d died. But no, she was still alive; just frighteningly low on health. One or two percent, at best.
Then Zelda activated her Turen Personal Defense Force Field.
“Damnit!” Thorne roared. Instead of just hammering away on the force field, this time she turned to Kaiden, snarling.
“I bet you’ve got one of those too, haven’t you?”
“Actually I’ve got three.” Kaiden grinned.
At last, Kaiden’s warden shield came back online, though what good it would do he didn’t know.
Zelda wasn’t done yet, though. Even as Kaiden replied to Thorne, she’d activated an ability. Kaiden recognized the glowing, charging ball of energy on the end of her hammer. Kinetic Grenade.
“Excuse me, Captain?” Zelda said, holding her hammer high. Thorne spun and found herself looking at the grenade, a mere foot from her face.
It detonated with all the fury of a miniature supernova, a blast of light, then sound. Thorne crashed to the floor, taking masssive damage in the process.
Fifty percent more damage taken due to Berserker, and that grenade hit close enough to get its max damage. Might even have crit, too.
Thorne’s health bar showed it. As she pulled herself to her feet, Kaiden focused and saw it had dropped to twenty-five percent.
His joy was short-lived, however, as Thorne staggered over to Zelda and, just as her turen shield wore off, tapped her with her hammer. Just as had happened with Titus, chains materialized around Zelda, then snapped shut, binding her in place.
“We’ll have words later, rebel” she spat.
Thorne turned to face Kaiden.
“No one can say you three didn’t try. And you even came close, too. Got me down to one-quarter health.” She smirked. “Oh, but there is this.” She pressed a button on her stimulant chamber and injected a stimpack. Her health bar filled back to fifty percent.
Kaiden’s hope sputtered out. This was insurmountable. How could he deal fifty percent damage to her on his own? All their combined efforts, including Zelda's trick with the grenade to the face, had only done damage equal to three-quarters of her health.
His shield was back online, so that was something. Gave him some hope of surviving maybe three hits or so.
He sighed. The fight was lost. They’d given it their best and come up short. What would happen to them now? He’d never let himself consider failure as a possibility. Had been sure they’d prevail, one way or another. But now, reality came at him like a raged berserker, dispelling his foolish illusions.
Thorne advanced slowly, dragging her hammer behind her. “You really should have taken my offer. I’ll give you one more chance. You’re a darn good warden, Kaiden. And with my help, you can become a legendary one. Think about it. For your service in exposing Zelda as a dissident, you’d be handily rewarded.” She flicked her shield off. A show of trust, perhaps?
“Your sentence would be shortened if not revoked entirely. I can’t change what’s been done to you, but I can help fix your future. Let me help you, Kaiden.”
He didn’t even consider it. Didn’t need to. He’d made his mind up and no promises from Thorne would change that. He’d seen the true face of the Party, and he wasn’t going to be a pawn in that game, an accomplice to their crimes. Maybe it’d cost him everything – really, it already had – but he had made his choice. Even in the face of impossible odds, he wasn’t going back on it. One way or another, this ended here.
“No,” he said quietly.
“Kaiden, think about this. There’s no reason to–”
“No.” He raised his hammer and shield. She seemed to be taking forever to reach him. Is she stalling? Kaiden frowned, and then he remembered. Berserker has a debuff after use. He moved his reticle onto Thorne to check.
Player Thorne is affected by a debuff from the move Berserker. Movement speed is reduced by 50%. 20 seconds remaining.
I can work with that.
Kaiden felt a spark of hope reignite inside him. This fight was still winnable. He hadn’t lost. Not just yet. Her movement was slowed, and he was fast. Weaving around her would be easier, as would dodging. But he could make himself go even faster. Faster than he’d even gone before. To win this fight he was going to have to stack like crazy.
Sola would be so proud to see this.
Kadien still had the stimpack he’d looted from Jax. He’d been saving it, and there was no better time. He pressed the injection button in his forearm and the stimulant entered his system.
Agilix Mach 5 injected. Dexterity doubled for 10 seconds.
Kaiden swore his feet felt lighter already. Doubling his dexterity greatly increased his dodge and crit chance, but also effectively doubled his base movement speed as well. But that wasn’t enough. No, there was more he could do.
Burst of Speed.
Kaiden watched the last of his charge drain as energy swirled around him. Thorne was moving at half speed, but between the dexterity stim and Burst of Speed he was moving at something like quadruple his original speed. To him, it looked like she was moving through water.
And he knew of one way to get even faster – if he managed to get the crit streak.
Kaiden smiled.
He exploded forward, so fast he passed her before she’d even had time to react. Whirling around, he was upon her again immediately. The room turned to one big gray-colored blur. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl everywhere around him.
Now this is speed!
Behind Thorne, Kaiden aimed a strike at the back of her head.
Critical hit!
+ 50% damage (Headshot)
That’s one.
There was barely a need to think about dodging as Thorne hadn’t even finished turning to face him yet. He struck her again, and again, and again.
Critical hit streak (x 4)
Thorne finally finished turning. He darted around her faster than an eyeblink. Burst of Speed still had about five seconds left. Two more easy headshots followed. He wasn’t even able to stack Riposte – Thorne was too slow for her attacks to even register.
Critical hit streak (x 6)
Onslaught Mode activated.
Current movement speed and damage is doubled for 5 seconds
If Kaiden was correct, he was now moving at eight times his original movement speed. Thorne all but stopped moving. He thought he’d been moving fast before, but now, well, he didn’t have words to describe how fast he was moving. He felt like a god. Thorne wasn’t even an opponent to him. All she had become was a training dummy.
He began hitting her at will, his attacks flying out quicker than ever. Combat text rolled in faster than he could keep up with. Crit after crit after crit.
Thorne didn’t stand a chance.
Kaiden was laughing. The feeling was intoxicating. He was unbeatable. How could anyone counter this? All his worries, all his fear, all his despair at the fight had washed away. It was irrelevant now. He’d won and he knew it. Thorne was done. Her health would have vanished many hits back, but he didn’t care. He just kept laughing, all the while attacking. An unending, unavoidable stream of damage.
As the timers on his stacked abilities ticked down to the last second, Kaiden dashed to stand before Thorne, a smile stretching across his face as he prepared to see her shocked expression.
Agilix Mach 5 fades.
Burst of Speed ends.
Onslaught Mode deactivated.
Thorne did look shocked. But something was wrong.
Kaiden frowned.
She was still standing, seemingly frozen, her health at zero.
And Kaiden remembered the ability he’d forgotten. The hallmark of the power warden class.
Ability: Last Rites
When the warden reaches 0 health, Last Rites is triggered, allowing the warden 10 seconds to kill all opponents in a 50-foot radius of the point of death. Should they succeed, they will be given
1HP back. If not, they will die. Kills made during this time earn no XP. No abilities can be used during Last Rites. Cooldown: 6 hours.
Kaiden swallowed hard. His stacked abilities were gone. He had no more. Blur was still on cooldown.
“My turn,” Thorne growled.
She charged him and Kaiden immediately activated his turen shield, buying himself some time. He’d won. Had been that close. But in his victory, he’d forgotten Last Rites.
He could have accounted for this. Could have used that last second of speed to sprint all the way across the hangar. But he hadn’t. He’d been too intoxicated by his supercharged condition. And now…now he was trapped.
Thorne’s Berserker debuff was gone, and she was on him in an instant, hammer slamming down over and over. Blow after blow staggered him, dealing no damage, but keeping him from being able to focus.
But Kaiden had to do something. His turen shield had bought him five seconds – three left, now – but Last Rites lasted for ten seconds. Thorne would have plenty of time to finish him as soon as it wore off.
Another blow sent Kaiden stumbling to the side and his eyes fell over Zelda, Shackled and still on the ground. Titus was in the same condition.
What’s going to happen to them? What will the Party do?
They were Shackled in-game now, but soon they’d be shackled in the real world, once Thorne was done with her interrogation.
And that’s when it hit him.
With his last second of shielding, Kaiden reached out, touched her with his hammer and said, “Shackle.”
Thorne frowned, her eyebrows furrowing, but even as she did, chains materialized in the air around her.
“You’re in Last Rites, at zero health. That’s critical health as far as Shackle is concerned,” Kaiden said.
Thorne shook her head, then the chains snapped tight and she fell on her side. She strained at her bonds, but it was no use.
“Clever, Kaiden. Too clever.”
She shook her head as the timer of Last Rites counted down to its final seconds. She looked up at him. Cool and calm once more, but significantly more frightening.
“See you in a week, Ensign.”
The ability expired, and Thorne lay still. Dead.
Warden Captain assisted kill – 4,000 EXP gained!
Prestige with the Warden Corps: -300
Faction Status changed: Warden Corps now hostile toward you.
Across the room, Titus pulled himself to his feet. Closer by, Zelda did the same. They both approached cautiously, eyes locked on Thorne’s body.
At first, no one spoke. Then Titus looked at Kaiden, smiled, and raised a hand for a high five.
Kaiden couldn’t help but laugh as he obliged him.
“I can’t believe you did it!”
“We did it,” Kaiden said. “Somehow, we did it.”
“Congratulate each other later. We have to hurry,” Zelda said, then knelt next to the captain. A moment later there was an item in her hand. A simple, polished brass padlock.
“Is that…?” Kaiden said, leaning in for a closer look.
“Bernstein’s file? It’s a representation of it. Since the file isn’t native to Nova, the uploader was allowed to choose an in-game object to represent it.”
“But that’s it? That’s the file?”
“Yeah. This contains the information they killed Bernstein for,” Zelda said, nodding. She pocketed it.
Quest Completed: Confront Captain Ava Thorne and locate the mysterious file taken from player Bernstein_14
Rewards: 10,000 EXP
Level 15 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
“A nice level up is the least we could get,” Titus said. “What’s that you’ve got there, Zelda?”
She was holding a matte black shard of metal. Kaiden frowned, then looked closer. It wasn’t a shard at all. It was a key.
“Thorne had it on her,” Zelda said. She pushed it into the lock on her own warden collar and turned it. The collar snapped open and fell away.
“Jeez, but that feels good,” she said and handing the key to Titus.
He did the same, grinning, then handed the key to Kaiden. A moment later, his collar clattered to the ground to join the assorted rubble left behind in the wake of the battle.
Congratulations! You have been released from the Warden program and are now a free veteran warden. You retain your character, gear, money, and experience collected. The Anakoni will no longer be your respawn point upon death. Enjoy yourself and try not to get thrown back in prison again.
“I have no intention of returning,” Kaiden said.
Zelda smiled. “I guess this makes us jailbroken wardens. That’s pretty badass.”
“I’d take freedom in the real world over this, though,” Titus said, excitement in his voice. “Contact your people already. Get us out of here.”
Zelda’s eyes darted back and forth as she accessed her in-game menu.
“I’m about to trigger an immediate evac by posting my code word on prearranged Nova forum. As soon as I do, things are going to get nasty out in the real world. There’ll be chaos. Use it to your advantage. Make your way to the cafeteria, then head into the kitchens. I’ll meet you there.”
“The cafeteria?” Kaiden frowned at that. “There’s about a dozen locked doors between us and there.”
Zelda smirked.
“Not anymore. See you in the real world, boys.”
Chapter Forty
Kaiden’s VR pod opened with a hiss and he stumbled out to a world in chaos. The emergency lights were on, flooding the pod farm in a brilliant light. From outside the entrance, he could hear distant cheering.
Around him, more pods began to open, spilling their occupants back out into the real world.
“What the heck did Zelda’s people do?” Kaiden asked as Titus emerged from the pod next to him.
The big man blinked a couple times, waking up from the daze of so much time spent in-game. He cocked his head to one side, listening to the commotion.
“It’s getting louder.”
A short jog later and they’d exited the pod farm and were inside the central corridor of the prison.
“Holy crap,” Kaiden said. “A riot is breaking out.”
Everywhere he looked, doors were open and inmates were fighting, or running, or destroying anything they could reach. Rival gangs, usually kept apart by bars or the presence of guards, now had full access to each other.
“Zelda’s people must have hacked the prison and unlocked all the doors at once,” Kaiden whispered, watching as men stumbled out of their open cells, looking around in bewilderment.
“The rival gangs are going at it,” Titus said, nodding to a group of tattooed men circling each other with makeshift shivs.
“They didn’t waste much time,” Kaiden said. “We don’t want to get caught up in it, what with your affiliations. We need to get out of here. Now.”
“Let’s go find Zelda.”
Titus took off sprinting and Kaiden followed.
“If we go this way, we’ll have to go through cell block E to make it to the cafeteria,” Kaiden said, slowing down as Titus led them around a corner.
Titus whirled about. “C’mon, Kai.”
“E block is Manson’s block.” He could almost feel the presence of the madman looming ahead of them.
Titus grimaced. “It’s his, alright. But look at this chaos. How’s he going to find you in it?”
Kaiden nodded, steeling his nerves. They’d made it this far and they had to get out, else they were dead men anyway.
They ducked and jostled their way through another hallway until they reached the giant room that was block E. Level upon level of now-empty cells rose above them, while just as many stretched below. At the far end of the block, however, Kaiden could see the hallway that would lead them to the cafeteria.
Things were turning even more violent now. Guards in riot gear attempted to pacify t
he inmates, batons rising and falling. Bloody bodies lay on the ground from both sides.
“You ready?” Titus asked.
“I think so.”
“Stay behind me,” the big man said. “And don’t stop moving for anything. I’ll clear a path.”
“Let’s do it.”
Titus burst into a sprint, and Kaiden half expected it to turn into a Shield Charge. But this is the real world, he had to remind himself. Not Nova.
The press of writhing, fighting, screaming inmates was crushing. Titus did his best to clear a path, lowering his head and bowling down anybody in their way.
Someone slammed into Kaiden’s shoulder and he was thrown to the side. Titus didn’t notice, disappearing into the crowds ahead.
Kaiden ducked under a flailing arm and sprinted to catch up, weaving through the gap Titus had cleared, even as it collapsed inward.
They were halfway through, then two-thirds, then one hundred feet away. Even with the rioting mass of inmates around him, Kaiden could make out the exit. And beyond it, the next hallway. Two more corners, and they would get to the cafeteria. And their ticket out of here.
They were almost there.
Titus rushed by a thick pack of inmates, but as Kaiden moved to follow, one of them turned around. And smiled.
Kaiden slid to a stop.
Manson.
The maniac hitched a thumb over his shoulder, then shouted over the noise of the riot.
“Was that big ol’ Titus? I wonder where he’s off to?” Manson waved away the thought. “Never mind. You’re here, and that’s all that matters, huh?”
Fear paralyzed Kaiden, kept him rooted in place. Everyone around him was moving, jostling, fighting, but he couldn’t even take a step. Not forward, not backward, not to save his own life.
