by Ben Ormstad
“Wow,” I said, “that’s actually a lot more varied than I ever would’ve thought. So are the summers equally varied across the country?”
“I haven’t been everywhere, but I guess… sort of, probably–” she said and stopped when I suddenly started laughing. “What?”
When I just kept laughing, she pushed me into the locker so hard I nearly dropped the box with scrap. “What’s so funny?” she said, eyebrows scrunched together.
I wiped a couple of laughter-tears that had squirted out, and cleared my voice. “You know, there’s the idea that people always start discussing the weather when they’re trying to fill awkward silences – or they just don’t have anything better to talk about,” I said and gestured back and forth between us. “And here we are, two people from opposite sides of the planet, together in the first ever 100% immersive virtual reality, having an out-of-this-world experience – and we still ended up talking about the fucking weather!”
Her mildly annoyed expression evaporated as she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, you’re right!” she said and face-palmed. “How utterly lame!”
After enjoying the ridiculous moment for a while, I asked: “So… assuming you’re not here to escape the weather in Norway, what made you join the game?”
“Are you kidding now?” she said, gesturing at everything around us. “Dex, have you seen where we are? I wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to experience real VR for anything!”
“I fully understand,” I said, but couldn’t help notice a slight change in her eyes. She obviously was telling the truth, but there seemed to be something else present, too. A sadness, maybe? I wanted to know more, but she quickly shifted her attention back to the box still in my hand, and said: “Anyway, how do you want to split loot and other stuff we find?”
I held her eye contact a little longer, to make sure she really didn’t want to talk more, but the moment had passed. “I dunno,” I said, shrugged and shook the box so the scrap clattered inside. “Maybe just split all the loot in half, unless there’s something one of us needs more than the other?”
“Fine by me,” she said. “But you can take all the consumables now, since I have more health than you.”
+53 Cash
+20 Consumables
+80 Scrap
After pocketing my share, I got ready to crush the next padlock.
“Wait,” she said. “No need for brute force.”
“Huh?”
“We only need a little finesse.” She stuck a hand underneath her jacket and, after rummaging around the back of her blouse for a moment, came out again with something resembling a jagged metal toothpick. “It just so happens I know a little something about lock picking.” She winked at me.
Brow furrowed, I lifted my hands. “Why didn’t you stop me from smacking the fuck outta the first one?”
“I considered it, buuut it was too entertaining to watch.” Frida giggled again and inserted the lock pick in the padlock. She bit the tip of her tongue as she meticulously rotated it around. Less than ten seconds later it clicked willingly. “Easy peasy, Ms. Cheesy,” she said and let the padlock fall to the floor. “Next.” She started working on the last locker before checking the previous one. Not five seconds of lock pick-wiggling later, it too clicked and opened. “Aahh!” she said as if just having sipped an exceedingly refreshing drink.
I went over to her and opened the middle locker. “Impressive. Where’d you learn that?”
“It’s one of my personal specialties,” she said and slid the lock pick back under her jacket. “It just suddenly appeared while I was trying to get into a locked cellar in the village I first spawned in.”
I bumped her shoulder with my elbow. “Thought you were supposed to be a Warrior-Medic, not a conniving thief.”
“I’m not! It was a test by the local Warrior-Medic guild. A big part of our martial art, Zun-Chi-Do, is learning different nifty tricks like that – not just fighting and healing.”
“… said the thief,” I said and laughed. She didn’t answer but inspected her locker. I picked up the items inside my locker, while feeling a bubbling sensation in my stomach.
We spread all the stuff on the floor to get an overview. She wanted none of the grenades, so I got both of them. Since I already had an ammunition belt, she took the new one which added 6 ammo-item slots to her inventory. And it looked good on her, hanging loosely around her hips, barely visible under the leather jacket.
We split the rest fifty-fifty.
+40 Ammo – Daemonorg Light Handgun
+2 Grenades – Daemonorg Ball-Buster
+1/2 MedKit
+20 Consumables
+150 Cash
+100 Scrap
“Sweetness!” I said after placing everything into the right item slots. Inspected the Inventory:
[ INVENTORY ]
DEX WALSH - Battle-Marine
WEAPON : AMMO
Brawl : Unlimited
Makeshift dagger : Bad Condition
Machete : Good Condition
Daemonorg Light Handgun : 83 Bullets
Celestial Basic Pistol : Blue Energy-Status + 1 Refill
Daemonorg Ball-Buster Grenade : 2 Grenades
MISC. ITEMS
Consumables : 40
Cash : 1241
Scrap : 180
BLACK HOODED JACKET – 4 Item Slots
1 : 1/2 MedKit
2 : empty
3 : empty
4 : empty
DARK BLUE DENIM JEANS – 4 Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg Light Handgun : 20 Bullets
2 : Daemonorg Ripper Machete
3 : Daemonorg Ball-Buster Grenade
4 : Daemonorg Ball-Buster Grenade
AMMO BELT – 6 Ammo-Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg Light Handgun Ammo : 63 Bullets
2 : Celestial Basic Pistol Ammo : 1 Energy Refill
3 : empty
4 : empty
5 : empty
6 : empty
PISTOL HOLSTER – 1 Pistol-Item Slot
1 : Celestial Basic Pistol : Blue Energy-Status
SMALL BACKPACK – 8 Item Slots
1 : Makeshift Dagger
2 : Daemonorg Ripper Machete
3 : Daemonorg Ripper Machete
4 : Daemonorg Ripper Machete
5 : Darius’ Hidden Stash Key
6 : Torch
7 : Torch
8 : Unknown Object
Satisfied with the refill of items, I closed the inventory screen just as a bright, red light flashed around Frida’s body. Her eyes closed, mouth half-open, smiling. She shivered and jumped up and down while shaking like a cat drying itself after a swim. It seemed her body shone brighter than before. All scratches and wounds instantly healed. Only the rips in her clothing remained. “I just love using MedKits. Pure bliss.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty decent,” I said and checked my health:
56 / 120 HP
I used my own 1/2 MedKit.
+60 HP
Warmness spread from my chest and flushed my whole body with new energy. I could understand why she looked so full of pleasure while it happened, but I showed none outward satisfaction. But it was good, though. I watched the bloody scratches across my hands vanish in thin air. A prickling sensation as the skin magically rejuvenated itself. My vision became crystal clear and it didn’t hurt at all to breathe anymore.
I was pulled out of the enjoyment when a high-pitched ding! sounded from the elevator. The number 6 on the screen above the doors changed to 5.
Mesmerized, we stared at the screen as it dinged again and switched to 4.
We looked at each other and said, simultaneously: “They’re coming.”
Ding!
3.
I crouched by the locker furthest away from the elevator. Not large enough to provide decent cover, but still better than nothing. I equipped the handgun and pointed at the doors.
Ding!
2.
Frida ran right up to it, p
ositioned herself next to the doors and gripped the machete firmly in both hands.
Ding!
1.
I regarded the screen intensely as the mechanical rumble of the approaching elevator increased in volume, until it ended in a screech before stopping, right outside.
Ding, ding!
0.
The elevator doors split and slid to each side, revealing the armed assholes waiting to kill us.
21
Illuminated by white LED lights, eight daemonorg guards armed with handguns and machetes stood close in the elevator. Their irises glowed like dying suns set deep in their rugged, hairless heads, and seemed to shine even brighter than the LEDs in the ceiling. Horns protruded from chins, cheekbones and the sides of their foreheads. Some of them looked slightly feminine with womanly curves while the rest were masculine with square jaws and bulging muscles underneath brown tunics.
None of them moved before I hammered the trigger. The gun jolted in my hands as I fired – muzzle flashes glinting in the polished steel lockers as my bullets dug into the chests of the two closest guards. Blood squirted from bullet holes. In disbelief at the suddenness of it all, they stumbled out of the elevator’s cramped room.
Frida jumped forward, swung her machete at the closest one and chopped his head off. It bumped on the white floor and rolled away, leaving an uneven red trail. At the same time, she kicked the other one with a straight front kick to the head. Instantly dead from the rapid twist of his neck, he tumbled lifeless in the opposite direction.
At this distance, even if it was only five or six meters, I wasn’t sure enough of my aim yet to gamble on possibly hitting Frida while she swirled around within my sight. Instead, I left my position behind the lockers and ran toward the elevator. One of the mean-looking female grunts pushed Frida out of the way. This freed up my sight to take out the next fucker who fired at me. The bullets swished past my ears and smashed into the walls behind me. Keeping my gun leveled with both hands, I squeezed the trigger. Planted two rounds right in his beastly face. Blood gushed out as it ripped open.
“Gra’kleh!” the one behind him yelled and kicked him out of the way. Bolted toward me while firing multiple rounds. I tried to jump out of the way, but painful stings stabbed me in the left shoulder and bicep.
-7 HP
I bumped into the machete-wielding female Frida was busy fighting. My momentum caused her to lose balance. She growled and tripped in her own legs, with me on top. I swiftly rotated my upper body and smashed an elbow in her face, before shoving the gun barrel between her ribs and ending her.
Meanwhile, the bastard who chased me was stopped by Frida’s well-placed slash to his neck. He grunted in pain, but the growling voice turned into meaningless gurgling as the throat snapped and left his head dangling in a piece of skin. Yellow eyes widened in shock when he unsuccessfully tried to lift his head back in place. Rather, his legs gave out from underneath him and blood gushed out and splattered the last two following behind.
Since I was on the floor, both of them attacked Frida. As I got back up, I saw her in my side-view. She parried an incoming slash. For just a split-second I checked the remaining bullets in the chamber – 12 – and she screamed. Turning, I found her face twisted in a painful grimace while she fumbled to remove the enemy’s machete – which now stuck out from her shoulder.
I rushed the one hurting her, curled my arms around his upper body to lock his movements. Then maxed out my strength and tossed him to the side. He slammed head-first into the row of lockers.
“Do not touch her,” I said through gritted teeth. Bent over, grabbed the strap across his back and lifted him high enough to stuff his head into the open locker. Forcefully, I smashed his head with the locker door over and over, until his body went limp.
When I faced Frida, she had just killed the last one and pulled her bloody machete out of his chest.
Panting, I said: “You okay?”
She sheathed her blade, clutched the bleeding shoulder and winked at me. “Easy peasy, Ms. Cheesy.”
“If you say so,” I said and checked the withheld notifications:
Killed 4 Daemonorg Grunts – Level 2
+80 XP
We searched the bodies and split the stash fairly. I gathered my stuff.
+2 Weapons – Daemonorg Light Handgun
+53 Ammo – Daemonorg Light Handgun
+11 Consumables
+33 Cash
+9 Scrap
It felt like a fist hit me in the stomach when the elevator doors suddenly began closing. Frida was busy managing items, so without thinking, I threw myself at the elevator and stuck my leg between the doors just before they closed. They went back and forth twice, bumping against my thick boot, before apparently understanding something was in the way and glided back up.
I blew air out of my mouth and went to stand between them in case they tried closing again. The walls inside the elevator were brushed metal and reflected the white LEDs in the ceiling. An odor reminiscent of rotten eggs hung in the small space – these daemonorg fuckers didn’t smell like peaches and roses, that’s for sure.
“Stressed out much?” she said and ate some consumables. A red light flashed around her body. The deep wound from the enemy’s machete in her shoulder magically sealed itself shut, cleaning away caked blood and bruises.
“Stressed out?” I echoed, an eyebrow lifted. “We both know what would happen if we let the elevator go back up without us.”
She stretched her arm and rotated it around to check that everything was good, then shrugged. “When they send more, we’ll handle it. No problem.”
“Yeah, probably, but I’d still like to get the fuck outta here right this second. Come on.”
“Sure.” She wiped the blood off her machete on one of the guard’s tunics and entered the elevator. “Where to?”
I inspected the floor selection panel. Ten buttons. One for each floor. It was a huge building. I rested my finger on the first floor button without pressing it. “Don’t know if you paid attention to it while it happened, but when we left Darius, he gave me this,” I said, fetched his key and read the accompanying notification out loud: “Unlocks the hidden stash Darius has placed in the bio-tech locker room ventilation system.” I met her gaze. “He actually had me return to get this key after we’d already left. Whatever it is, I bet it’s pretty damn valuable.”
“I agree, but when I think about it…” Her voice trailed off.
“But what?”
“You know, I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I’d love to stick around, but–”
“Do it,” I interrupted. “Stick the fuck around!” I laughed and clasped her shoulder with a friendly palm. “Nothing would be better.”
“BUT,” she repeated, “I’m still on a mission that has to be finished.”
“Of course. What’s your point?”
“My point is I can’t just let everything go and follow you wherever you want to go.”
I felt my eyebrows draw closer as my mouth formed an un-understanding smile. “I’m sorry, I still don’t understand the problem. It’s not like I’m on any big quest or anything. I’ll gladly join and help you complete your mission.”
“Dex, you seem like a really nice guy,” she said, and I just had to interrupt her again:
“Don’t talk to me like you’re breaking up with me. We’re simply travel companions or whatever you wanna call it.”
She shook her head while looking at the dead bodies outside the elevator. Blood was smeared everywhere on the earlier utterly white surfaces. “It’s just that, I don’t… as you said yourself: You do you, I do me. Right?”
“What? Don’t twist my words like that. That was a completely different situation.” Surprised at the amount of resistance welling up in me, I took a deep breath. “Listen,” I said and pointed a finger in the air. “Just join me to get Darius’ secret stash. It’s probably something awesomely valuable. If the roles were reversed, I bet he’d
give you the key instead. I just happened to be the one he talked to last when he remembered it. Whatever it is, we’ll split it fifty-fifty, and then you can decide whether we should stick together for a while or not. So, what do you say? Pretty great idea, yeah?” I put my best smile forth, winked comically at her and humorously puffed out my chest with my hands planted proudly on my waist. Super-cool like Chad Himself.
Her serious demeanor changed to a giggling smile. She shook her head, looked away and nodded. “Okay, Dex. You win. I’ll join you a little longer. But don’t try to change my mind if I decide to leave after we find the hidden stash.”
I lifted both hands in mock-defense. “Sure, sure, Missis Sourpuss.”
“Shut up,” she said, chuckling.
“Good, then it’s settled,” I said, back in business-mode. “Darius told me the biotech lab is located on the second floor. Since none of us have any armor or other types of shields, I think it’s best if we take the most direct path to the stash as possible. Who knows if we’ll even survive.”
“Indeed,” she said. “The second floor, it is.”
The second floor-button gave off a loud click as I pressed it. The doors closed and the elevator moved with a deep, mechanical hum.
22
The bell dinged when we reached the second floor, and the screen on the button panel showed we had arrived by flashing the number 2. Not knowing what to expect, we hid on each side of the doors, weapons ready. As the doors parted and slid into their respective slits, I peeked past the door frame.
What I saw seemed way too civilized. A regular waiting room. White walls with wooden paneling. Lamps with green lampshades cast mellow, orangey light on paintings of nature and animals. Cushioned, wooden benches stood along the opposite walls. I gawked in disbelief at tables placed in front, where magazines and fruit trays promised a comfortable waiting time.
