Aspirant 2: A Sci-Fi Harem Adventure

by Maxx Whittaker

  I shake my head. I’m not sure what’s worse; Mika’s terrible use of slang, or the fact that most of it is inexplicably from the nineties. “Starting to wonder if we should let those two be alone together.”

  “Yeah,” Astra says, taking my hand to follow them. “If Syl was confused before…”

  “Right? We’d better catch up fast.”

  ***

  Being in close proximity to Acheryx does nothing to help my opinion of it.

  We approach an intersection in the road, slowing our pace now that we’re only a few hundred yards off. “It’s… Bizarre.”

  “How do you mean?” Astra asks.

  I point to the vast grassy plain that surrounds the city’s towering walls. “It’s just so… Sudden. I mean, I drove trucks for years, and every city I’ve ever been through has a few things in common. Agriculture. Irrigation. Factories outside the city limits. Something. But this…” I gesture vaguely to the crime against taste and good sense that looms before us. “It just starts.”

  Mika shrugs, giving me a lopsided smile. “It’s a videogame.”

  “I guess.” I glare at her. “I hate it.”

  “Luckily, we won’t be there long. I’m hoping we can find a few contracts or quests that’ll take us in the general direction that we need to go to get out of Lifestream.”

  “First, we’ll have to discover where that is.” Astra eats the last carrot from her skewer, eyes closing blissfully. “Syl?”

  The alien’s eyes are distant, not looking to the city. Like she’s already a thousand miles away. “I do not know. Just that my people have a presence in game. Somewhere.”

  “That’s okay,” Mika says, wrapping her in a one-armed hug. “That’s why we’ll hit up the tavern. You can always find information at a–”

  She’s interrupted by a shriek from overhead, loud enough to down out all sound. It’s like every terrifying beast from every movie I’ve ever seen wrapped up in one ear-splitting screech. It echoes around us for long seconds.

  As one, we dive into a thicket of bushes at the side of the road. Branches scratch at exposed skin hard enough to draw blood, but we don’t care; whatever’s coming sounds angry.

  Astra’s body reshapes, wrapping between bits of branch and leaf until she’s tall enough that her head barely clears the top of the bushes. She reaches for her glasses, staring into the sky as she adjusts them.

  “What do you see?” I whisper, unhooking stickers from my wrist.

  “Nothing, yet… I’m not sure…” She stops, then melts and reforms.

  “What is it?” Mika pushes to the edge of cover and peers out at the road.

  “Birds,” Astra says slowly, turning to us. “A lot of them.”

  Mika’s brown knits as she turns around. “That… Doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “Also, these are huge. And people are riding them.”

  I push through the branches, caution melting away. I don’t know what kind of crazy crap’s going on, but this doesn’t sound like it’s about us. “Which way were they going?”

  “Acheryx.”

  Syl flows through thorns and jagged branches with a grace that makes me wicked jealous considering the half dozen places I’m already bleeding. She stops when she reaches the road and stares upward. When I join her, she points. “This will be a problem.”

  It’s not hard to see what she’s already noticed; the birds are enormous. They wing gracefully across the cerulean sky like skidding clouds, and their black shadows flow across us as they blot out the sun. There are at least a hundred, ranging from eagles to condors to crows, and they’re uniformly the size of motorhomes. Squinting, I can barely make out their riders. Players of all shapes and sizes in armor ranging from plate mail to black leather cling to their mount’s backs. They bristle with enough weapons to arm a military unit, and they’re all headed in one direction.

  Acheryx.

  “Yeah,” I say, awestruck as the first flaming missile arcs downward into the city’s walls. “This could be bad for us.” The bombs hits the battlements perfectly, and even at this range I can hear the distant screams.

  There’s another shriek from just above us, and I have to fight the same instinct that drove me into the bushes the first time. I peer up, shielding my eyes against the sun, and barely make out a raven that’s bigger than any of the other mounts. Black wings fifteen feet long whisper across the sky, and light shimmers from them like oil across water. Its wickedly long beak reminds me uncomfortably of the Shepherd’s blade, and eyes like tiny moons track everything below. Probably looking for something to tear in half.

  As the raven curves toward the city, banking, I catch a glimpse of its rider. A woman, clad entirely in shining, mirror white armor that reflects the sunlight blindingly. Black hair flows behind her like a pennant, whipping in the wind as she pulls a terrifyingly enormous bow from her back. Blood red and as long as she is, she draws an arrow the same color from her raven’s back and pulls it taut against her bowstring.

  “No way, not at that range,” Astra murmurs. The raven’s at the back of the pack, at least a half mile from the city walls.

  “Avalon,” Mika says. “GM of Obsidian. Level 42.” She swallows. “Ten thousand, four hundred and forty-nine PvP kills.”

  “Are all the attackers Obsidian?” I ask, not sure if I want to know.

  Mika swallows. “Yes.”

  Avalon releases her bolt and it streaks toward the shining walls in an eyeblink. It leaves a crimson scar across the sky before impacting, and even at this distance I can feel the hit as it smashes a hole the size of a city bus through Acheryx’s wall.

  “Uh… I think I see why Valistrad told us not to screw with Obsidian,” I say, awed.

  “We should find a spot to take cover,” Syl says, surveying the plains outside the city. “Wait until this ends.”

  “What if it doesn’t?” Mika flicks a teardrop of fire between her fingers nervously. “What if they’re taking over? That’d be effing great timing.”

  “No choice but to wait,” Astra says. “Make a different plan if we have to. We might need to…” Her eyes narrow as she watches the city. But she’s not looking up at the ongoing attack. She’s looking down.

  “Astra?” I prod.

  “Some poor creature down there… Being attacked by three… No, five players.”

  “Is it part of all this?”

  “I don’t think so.” She winces. “They’re surrounding him, all armed. I think they’re going to kill him.”

  “Is it another player?”

  Mika tears her eyes from a Lord of the Rings style eagle as it falls from the sky, one wing on fire. She stands on tiptoes and searches for the far less impressive fight. “Uh… Yeah. Looks like they all are. Assholes… Group of level tens picking on a level six.”

  I don’t know why I suddenly care, why I want to save this guy. Maybe it’s the kindness Bombor showed us, or maybe it’s that I feel absolutely powerless and infinitesimal in the face of the crazy ass fantasy battle playing out in the distance. I just know that I can help and it feels right.

  “Let’s go.” I start down the road. “If we run, we can save him.”

  Syl’s already loping ahead, but she gives me a warning glance from over her shoulder. “Why are we risking exposure for an unknown?”

  “We need friends. And I hate bullies.”

  Her face is unreadable, but she nods.

  “My hero,” Mika says, keeping pace. “What’s the plan? Roast ‘em from afar?”

  “Nah. Let’s try not to kill other players if we can help it. Make less enemies.”

  “Better tell Syl.” Astra’s arms are already blades. “Her sense of honor isn’t going to help in a place like this. I’ve only been here an hour and I’m already done with most of humanity.”

  “I don’t blame you.” I dodge an outcropping of rock, trying to keep the group ahead in sight. The level tens are pushing the six back and forth like school bullies. “But not everyone’s like that.
And if we’re going to do this…”

  “We need to believe this is all worth saving,” Mika finishes. “I tend to think that people suck.” She takes my hand. “But I’ve been proven wrong before.”

  “Hurry,” Syl calls back. “They are escalating the attack.”

  At first, I think she means the bullies, but a deep thrum booms out from the city walls. It’s so loud I slow a step as my hands go to my ears. A fireball the size of a goddamned building tears from the battlements. It screams upward, swallowing at least four of the birds and riders before impacting Avalon’s raven and exploding like something from an eighties action movie.

  I stop a minute, almost forgetting about the level six entirely. “Holy shit. No way she survived that.”

  But from the center of the fireball, another lance of red darts out, crossing the distance to the battlements in half the time it took the defender’s spell. It tears the top off the wall, and the screaming in the distance grows louder.

  “Come on,” I say, pulling ahead of the others. “Something tells me we need to hurry the hell up.”

  “Yeah, something,” Mika laughs.

  We crest a low hill and dash down the other side, staying low until we get close to the assholes beating on the level six. They turn as we arrive, raising a mishmash of pitted and shitty weapons.

  One of them, bigger than the others, steps forward as he holds a spear ahead of him like a staff. “Hold up, friends. Something we can do for you?”

  Suddenly, I feel strangely out of place. Up to this point, we’ve run from things that have tried to kill us, survived battles that weren’t our choice. This is the first time I’ve done something like this on purpose, something that might go sideways, and for what? To save the ball of trembling fur that’s gone fetal position between these five?

  But there’s no doubt in my mind that I want this. That this is right.

  A few years ago, I was drinking buddies with a cop during a long stayover in Tennessee. Mostly we shot the shit, but a few times I got to watch him go all badass authority figure on someone who’d had a bit too much and wanted to drive home from the bar drunk. I try to channel every ounce of his chopped bark as I skid to a halt at the edge of the group of level tens. “Yeah. You can explain why you’re kicking the crap out of someone half your level and half your size.”

  The leader sneers. “Not your fuckin’ business, friend. Move along or we’ll wax you, too.”

  Mika snickers. “Wax?”

  “Yeah. You’ve got no weapons. No packs. Nothing. Not sure how babies like got here without getting jacked by someone else, but I’d be happy to do the job.”

  “Tough talk from someone named AssLicker.”

  His face turns scarlet. “It’s Ass Kicker!”

  I stand to the side, grinning as Mika effortlessly taunts this asshole into doing something stupid. “What, couldn’t use the K? Interesting symbol choice. Looks like an L to me. AssLicker.”

  “Don’t let him talk to you like that, A,” a scrawny kid taunts. He looks like he can barely lift his axe, let alone swing it.

  Mika turns her attention on him. “Thomas? All the names in the world you can go with in this amazing fantasy world and you go with Thomas?”

  Thomas scratches at his scruff of a beard. “Hey… Shut up.”

  “Oh, so menacing.” Astra shifts, melting away until she reforms as Thomas. “Hey, shut up,” she mimics, pitching her voice up. I have to bite back a laugh. For someone without much exposure to people in general she picked up how to be an asshole pretty fast. Astra shifts back.

  I love how fast they picked up my vibe, though. To put these guys off balance. Intimidate them or piss them off so they do something stupid. Or run.

  AssKicker steps forward, swinging his sword pointlessly toward Mika. “Listen, bitch, I don’t know how you knew my name, but–”

  Syl goes from crouching to standing, slowly unfolding like a viper. Her claws extend inch by hypnotizing inch. Her voice is like ice. “What did you call her?”

  “Bitch,” AssKicker sneers. “And if you…” he trails off, eyes darting to Syl. Something about her demeanor obviously freaks him out, and he takes a step back. I don’t blame him. “Uh…”

  This is pointless, and the longer we bullshit the better chance we’ll get hit by crossfire from the battle going on at the city.

  As I think this, the Death Star that floats above one of the towers suddenly fires. An emerald beam lances out, tearing a hawk and its rider to pieces before burning a black line into the ground not far off. It’s not nearly on the scale of the movies, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s still terrifying to behold as it pulverizes rock and tree.

  Time to get this over with.

  I lift a dozen basketball sized rocks and let them hover over my head. Mika’s already read my mind, and her fists drip bits of molten flame. Astra’s arms thin and form into blades. And Syl…

  Well, she’s Syl.

  AssKicker’s friends are already backing away slowly, glancing at each other with wide eyes. Their leader follows suit, sheathing his sword and holding his hands up. “Never mind. Screw you guys. Not worth the effort to kill you.” His words are hollow and the color’s drained from his face. He gestures toward my floating rocks and Mika’s flame. “Not with a raid going. You’d probably attract attention with all that bullshit you’ve got going on.”

  I don’t look up to the riders that still swirl and battle above us, but that sounds ominous. Yeah, probably best not to start shit right now if it’s going to bring all that down on us.

  I won’t show this dbag that I’m worried, though. I’m kind of amazed by how little it strains me to lift the rocks, and to add to the menace, I set them spinning faster and faster until I can hear them whirring above my head.

  The thugs flee without another word.

  “Well,” I say, releasing the stones and relaxing my mind, “I’m almost disappointed.”

  “Blue balls for battle?” Syl quotes.

  “Hah.” Mika extinguishes her flames. “She remembered.”

  “Something like that,” I say, bending to examine the crumpled ball of fur at our feet. “But did that seem a little too easy to you guys? I mean, I know we’re badass and all that, but they fell apart faster than… Than…”

  “A Nature Valley granola bar?” Mika supplies.

  I laugh. “That’s the best metaphor I’ve ever heard.”

  Astra sighs wistfully. “Elise loved those. I’d love to try one.”

  “Hey.” Mika gestures to the craziness playing out in the distance. “I bet you could find one in this place. I mean, if you can find that,” she says, pointing at a distant tower that I’m pretty sure is made of some kind of cheese, “there’s gotta be a way to replicate a granola bar.”

  “That would be… Nice.” Astra’s glasses reflect a distant explosion as she bends next to me. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t touched it, yet.” It honestly looks like I’d get some kind of disease if did. Brown and black fur and what looks like leather armor are torn and covered in blood and dirt.

  “Did they kill it?” Mika’s eyes narrow dangerously. “If they did, I think I–”

  “Ohhh Jesus…” The groan interrupts her as the pile of fur suddenly convulses. “Oh God, it hurts.” The voice is muffled as the… whatever this is… hunches in on itself. His voice is bizarrely high, like some kind of anime character.

  Astra puts her hand on his quivering shoulder. “Hey. It’s over now. Those other players are gone. We chased them off.”

  “Yeah?” The figure uncurls a bit, moaning almost theatrically. One pointy ear pops free as he turns his head, and then an eye like a saucer opens. It’s golden, glittering in the sunlight, and it’s definitely…

  “A cat!” Mika laughs, delighted. “You’re a cat!”

  “Palico, actually.”

  “Oh, I loved that game.” Mika runs her hand along dirty fur, comforting. “You have good taste.”

  �
��Thanks. Wish I’d picked something a bit buffer right about now, though.” The cat kid falls back onto his ass, holding his head in both hands. His lip is split and one eye won’t open.

  “Damn, they really gave you a beating,” I say. “What the hell did they want?”

  “Probably my contract.” He looks up, examining us for the first time. His eye dismisses me almost immediately, but as he takes in the girls he slowly grins. “Damn. I like the way you people adventure.” He winks at me, which is kind of hilarious considering he’s basically a cyclops. “You have good taste.”

  “Hey,” I say, not sure whether to laugh or smack him, “you’re seriously going to hit on your saviors less than five minutes after getting your ass kicked?”

  “Sorry, sorry,” he says, gritting his teeth as he tries to stand. “It’s fine. I know you’re probably all dudes in the real world, anyway. If that’s your thing, it’s not my business.”

  Astra sputters. “I am not a dude.” Her eyes suddenly go thoughtful. “Actually, I don’t really know what I am.”

  “You are Astra,” Syl says as if its self-evident and completely answers the question.

  “Thanks,” the AI says. “That’s actually comforting.”

  While Astra and Syl talk, the kid examines us, eyes darting to our belts and backs. Something about our appearance obviously disappoints him and he slumps before hiding it quickly. “Kay, well… I should probably go find some healing. Gonna take a week to get back on my feet after all that. Have fun finding yourself or whatever.”

  “Hold up,” Mika says. “Seriously? We saved you and you’re just gonna ditch after making fun of my friend?”

  “Hey, I’ve got places to be. Need to get back to town, find someone to help with this contract.”

  “That’s gonna be a bit… tough,” I say, gesturing above. Like punctuation to my words, a player falls screaming from the sky a short way off, half his body burned away. His remains hit a boulder, splattering wetly.

  The Palico rolls his eyes. “There are other ways into Acheryx. Anyway, Obsidian raids like once a week. Nothing worth getting your panties in a twist over.”