by Ben Ormstad
I nodded. “You’re right. My bad. I’m actually not the youngest kid on the block, either.”
Not showing any curiosity, he merely sent a disgusted glance down the stinking hole, before continuing to the next corner – fire extinguisher held high. I copied him and readied my own extinguisher.
Thick mist mixed with black smoke greeted us as we rounded the corner, entering the shower area. My boots splashed in large puddles caused by leaking water pipes. Some of them had cracked from overheating. The shower floor remained largely untouched by flames. Still, every inch of interior around it burned fiercely, creating walls of flaming tongues blocking our path into the main section of the lab.
Fsssshhhh sounded beside me when Hiko sprayed white foam on the closest flames, smothering them. I ran to the other edge of the untouched shower floor and attacked the flames from the opposite side. With the three extinguishers we had, we cleaned a large enough area to see some of the destroyed glass capsules through the smoke.
“We’re getting closer,” I said and discarded the last extinguisher.
“Closer is not close enough,” Hiko replied. “If we do not hurry, the flames will devour the foam and expand yet again.”
“Just trying to keep the mood light, you kno–” I stopped mid-sentence.
We both turned toward the lab’s exit twenty or thirty meters further ahead. Even though the air still was clogged by rabid flames and whirling smoke, we both heard the faint vocal sounds of deep voices chanting “AAAAAH” in the background.
We shared a moment’s eye contact as dread spread in the reptilian part of my brain, sending shivers down my knees and legs. “You know what that is?”
He shook his head in one subtle shake. “No. Is it something I should–”
The ground trembled… just as I knew it would.
I unclipped the walkie-talkie and was about to answer her when the ground yet again quaked beneath our feet. Cursing loudly, I pressed the communication button. “Frida, I’m here. Where are you?”
Static.
“Frida, we’ll soon find a way out. Where are you? Answer me!”
But she didn’t.
29
“She’s not answering,” I said, looking helplessly at Hiko. He was busy studying the ceiling and the outer edges of the lab – the ones not obscured by smoke and flames.
“She just suddenly went silent. We need to help them. Fuck,” I yelled and kicked the empty fire extinguisher on the floor. It splashed across the water pouring from the broken pipes and smashed into a shower still in one piece.
A flash of hope rippled through me. Upon closer inspection, I realized the shower head was easily removable. I screwed it off and examined the dimensions. This is so ridiculous it might actually work, I thought, and said to Hiko: “I have an idea! If we’re insanely lucky it’ll work.”
He stopped what he was doing. Gave me a grim glance. “What?”
Yet again, the ground rumbled. But this time I hadn’t noticed the chanting prior to it.
“No time to explain. Follow me.” I ran in the direction we came from, turned when I realized he didn’t follow. “I need your help. Come on!”
Reluctantly, he joined as I bolted back to the room with glass cubicles. Here, the air was almost free of smoke now. I stopped by the fire hose and inspected the water faucet it was connected to. It felt like butterflies buzzed in my stomach.
Gesturing for Hiko to come closer, I said: “Please, lift the hose while I unscrew it.”
Something changed in his eyes. He did what I asked, smiling. I wondered whether it was the word ‘please’ I snuck in, or if he understood what I planned to do.
Using every single muscle fiber, I managed to loosen the hose tip from the faucet – ripping open the skin on my fingers in the process.
-2 HP
I cursed the little, stubborn bastard and wiped my blood off on the decontamination suit.
“Now, let’s hope,” I said, found the shower head and matched the size of the hole with the hose tip. The tip slid right into the hole. My first reaction was joy, because that had to mean it would work! But, nope. The shower head had been screwed on top of the shower pipe, which meant the hose’s tip had to be the exact equal size. I threw my hands up in the air like a too dramatic, bad actor in a B movie. “Why?!” I shouted. “Have some mercy, will ya!” My deep voice slammed back at me from every angle. “Fucking bullshit!”
Hiko placed a hand on my shoulder. “Mr. Walsh, even if the size was correct, the hose is male. It will not work without the adapter…”
I faced him, unable to comprehend anything in my current state of misery-wallowing. “Huh?”
“You did not unscrew the adapter,” he explained and pointed at the faucet. “The adapter will make the hose tip female and increase its radius.” And since I just kept standing there, he bent down and loosened the last piece from the faucet. Came back and held the circular piece of steel up, rotating so I could see the grooves and rubber packing. “Here, try now.”
I took the adapter, screwed it onto the hose tip and placed it side by side with the shower head. My lips slowly transformed into a huge grin. “Dude, you’re a genius!”
“It was your idea, Mr. Walsh,” I heard Hiko say as I rolled up a sizable part of the hose and ran back to the showers. He followed, carrying enough for us to partly lift and drag it all the way out.
Back in the flaming inferno, we gathered the entire fire hose inside the shower area, placed it safely in the puddles. I rubbed my protective eyewear to get rid of the intrusive mist and smoke to see better, but the foggy layer immediately grew back. I looked at Hiko. “This is it, man. It fits or not,” I said and lifted the hose tip to the shower faucet, shaking from physical and psychological exhaustion.
Relief released a ton of stress as the adapter fit snugly around the faucet. Sighing, I screwed it on real tight. Smiled at Hiko. “Soon we can leave this fuckin’ place.”
“Yes, Mr. Walsh,” he said. “Same procedure as–”
“–last year?” I finished and chuckled. “Sure thing.” But it wasn’t funny. Not even a little. Frida and Ayamii were probably dead, and Frida had most likely re-spawned an unknowable amount of miles away from here, never to be seen again. I pushed the negative thoughts down and away, focusing on shooting water at everything around us.
With the fire hose functioning properly this close to the main lab area, we had the place dripping wet and cleaned out in less than ten minutes.
I discarded the fire hose, picked up the walkie-talkie and bolted toward the lab’s exit.
“Frida, are you there?”
Silence.
“Frida, can you hear me?
Still nothing.
Feeling like shit, I clipped the radio back on the belt as we reached the middle room between the lab and the control room. Gaining a speck of clarity, I stopped in front of the stairway. No matter how little time remained, we couldn’t just barge up there and fight off multiple Bio-Drone Screamers without preparation.
“In here,” I said and led Hiko into the control room. Zipped down the decontamination suit, stepped out it. “What about you?”
Hiko shrugged. “I will keep it on.”
“Really?”
“As you might remember, I only have a simple hospital robe underneath.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said and tossed mine beside the desk with the computers. “We’ll get you some clothes as soon as possible.”
“Appreciate it, Mr. Walsh. However, I already have extra clothes and gear locked away.”
“You do? How?”
“When I woke up in the game world practically naked, I made it my main priority to gather equipment,” he said, smiling with half his mouth. “I hid away most of it before they captured me and stole everything I carried.”
>
“Smart,” I said. “And do you know where your supplies are?”
He looked at me like I was a brainless neanderthal. “Of course.”
“Is that so. You’re pretty sure of yourself, huh?”
“Mr. Walsh, in my line of work I juggle hundreds of people and multitudes of complex tasks every single day just to keep my businesses afloat,” he explained, not even twitching an eyebrow. “This is a game. It is simple.”
“All right, cool. If you say so.” I nodded. “What’s your business about? Sounds huge.”
A genuine smile stretched his lips, making his dark eyes squint. “Being the child of parents who immigrated to the States because of poverty, my father always hammered in how important it was to save money. Hence, already as a young child I began roaming the streets, searching for bottles, lost items and whatever else of any value that I could exchange for money,” Hiko said, rubbing his fingers together to symbolize cash.
“Young Hiko hustling like a boss!” I said and laughed.
“Well, Mr. Walsh, it created a certain mindset in me which would influence everything else I did. All throughout high school and college, I read books on saving, investing and such. Once graduated, I already possessed enough knowledge to go out and help businesses more optimally manage their money. One thing led to the next, and by the time I became married, I owned a rather decently sized consulting firm. Over the years it has branched out into different sectors in order to satisfy an ever expanding need in the market for the services we provide. Indeed it has grown to be a large corporation.”
“Damn,” I said. “Being the head of something like that, I don’t understand how you’re able to take time off for something like this… you know, playing a game.”
“Sometimes it is both desirable and necessary to take a break,” he said as a brief smile appeared, before his expression returned to neutral. “Let us leave it at that. But enough about me. How about you, Mr. Walsh – what do you do on the outside?”
Although subtle, the sudden change in his demeanor gave me a strange feeling. Just like with Frida, there seemed to be a kind of sadness there. And just like myself, obviously. Maybe we all had our own hidden reasons for being here, other than just wanting to experience OVERTAKEN ONLINE. I smiled and answered as if everything was normal: “Oh, you know, I’m a game designer working for a pretty large, well-known game company that has released a bunch of triple-A games. Uhm… used to work for, I should say. Not anymore, though.”
“I see,” he said, expressionless. “You got tired of it?”
“Sure, something like that,” I said, cleared my voice and got an immediate need to end the subject. “Anyway, we gotta get moving.”
Still expressionless – a pro, no doubt – Hiko nodded. “Of course, Mr. Walsh.”
“So, we’ll make sure to get you to your supplies as soon as possible, but for now, we’ll make do with what I’ve got here. Just gimme a sec to overview my stuff,” I said and intended for the withheld notifications to be released.
*
Killed 4 Daemonorg Failed Mutants – Level 1
+40 XP
*
Killed 3 Daemonorg Failed Mutants – Level 2
+60 XP
*
Killed 1 Daemonorg Failed Mutant – Level 3
+30 XP
*
Rescued Fellow Battle-Marine, Hiko Yazuka
+200 XP
*
Personal Specialties Increased!
+3% Sensing
+1% Lucidity
*
I had no idea rescuing Hiko would lead to any measurable benefits other than perhaps general goodwill. Seeing the XP bonus and increase in my personal specialties was a great reward for simply being me doing what I do.
Okay, next, show me my stats screen.
[ CHARACTER STATISTICS ]
DEX WALSH - Battle-Marine
Level 4 – XP : 1990 XP
Next level : 2500 XP
Unbound XP Stash : 310 XP
HP / MP
115 / 120 HP
50 / 50 MP
ARMOR
empty
Universal Abilities
— Strength : 3
— Awareness : 1
— Speed : 3
— Agility : 3
— Focus : 1
— Stamina : 3
— Communication : 1
— Charisma : 1
— Learnability : 2
Battle-Marine Abilities
— Melee Weapons : 8%
— Throwing Weapons : 7%
— Ranged Weapons : 12%
Personal Specialties
— Sensing : 17%
— Lucidity : 6%
Character States
— Poisoned : 01:09:01 until dead
I barely kept myself from gasping out loud as I read the last sentence. So much had happened I’d nearly forgotten the poison circulating in my body. I kept staring at the timer. Only one measly hour left until I’m dead – and will lose everything I’ve gathered since the poison entered my system? A suffocating sensation tightened in my chest. Having full health didn’t help much when the poison bypassed it and killed me indirectly. I hated people screaming “unfair!” at everything, but it was really hard not to think it unfair that states like being poisoned didn’t disappear when a player leveled up. Shouldn’t leveling up be like starting over with a clean, fresh slate?
Remembering Frida and Ayamii, I pushed on. Inventory up.
[ INVENTORY - DEX]
DEX WALSH - Battle-Marine
WEAPON OVERVIEW
WEAPON : TOTAL AMMO
Brawl : Unlimited
Machete : Passable Condition
Daemonorg Light Handgun : 144 Bullets
Celestial Basic Pistol : Blue Energy-Status + 1 Refill
Daemonorg ‘Rap-Attack’ Automatic Rifle : 150 Bullets
MISC. ITEMS
Consumables : 53
Cash : 1599
Scrap : 439
BLACK HOODED JACKET – 4 Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg Light Handgun : 20 Bullets
2 : Daemonorg Light Handgun : 17 Bullets
3 : Daemonorg Officer’s Chest Plate : 50 Armor
4 : empty
DARK BLUE DENIM JEANS – 4 Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg Light Handgun : 20 Bullets
2 : Daemonorg Ripper Machete
3 : Nuclear Modulator – Quest Item
4 : empty
AMMO BELT – 6 Ammo-Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg Light Handgun Ammo : 100 Bullets
2 : Daemonorg Light Handgun Ammo : 5 Bullets
3 : Celestial Basic Pistol Ammo : 1 Energy Refill
4 : Daemonorg ‘Rap-Attack’ Automatic Rifle : 106 Bullets
5 : empty
6 : empty
PISTOL HOLSTER – 1 Pistol-Item Slot
1 : Celestial Basic Pistol : Blue Energy-Status
FLASHLIGHT HOLSTER – Flashlight-Item Slot
1 : Solid Flashlight
FLASHLIGHT HOLSTER – Battery-Item Slots
1 : Battery
2 : Battery
3 : Battery
SMALL BACKPACK – 8 Item Slots
1 : Daemonorg ‘Rap-Attack’ Automatic Rifle : 30 Bullets
2 : — —
3 : Daemonorg ‘Rap-Attack’ Automatic Rifle : 14 Bullets
4 : — —
5 : Darius’ Hidden Stash Key
6 : Short Range Two Way Radio
7 : Torch
8 : Unknown Object
Okay, I thought and quickly summarized to find out what I could share with Hiko: I have three Daemonorg Light Handguns, with a total of hundred and fifteen extra bullets. One Ripper Machete and one Celestial Basic Pistol with an extra Energy Refill. Furthermore, I’ve got two Daemonorg Rap-Attack Automatic Rifles with 106 extra bullets.
Scratching my beard stubble, feeling the tiny, somewhat sharp hairs on my chin poke my fingertips, I said: “How many empty item slots
you got?”
Hiko’s stare became unfocused for a second, before he answered: “Three. Two in the suit, one in the hospital robe.”
“Gotcha. Then I can give you a fully loaded Daemonorg Light Handgun, plus forty-five additional bullets. And a torch.”
Hiko bowed as he received the items. “Thank you so much, Mr. Walsh. But, why the torch?”
I shrugged. “In case you suddenly find yourself trapped in a dark place. Or need a stick to hit with. You know.”
“I understand. Thank you once again.” He packed away the bullets and torch. Inspected the gun. Lifted it, felt the weight and checked the aim. “Good quality.”
“Not bad. They’ve served me well.” Paying attention to my Inventory again, I munched some consumables to replenish my health. Then put on the last Daemonorg Officer’s Chest Plate armor.
+5 HP
+50 Armor
We shared eye contact. “Ready to face whatever made that crazy chanting sound earlier?”
He tipped his head at an angle. “It does not matter what I am or not.”
“That’s a way to put it,” I said and, before leaving the control room for good, went up to the fuse box. “Get ready for darkness.” I pulled the lever back down. The electric buzz that had been steadily humming from the computers died and the lights went out. I turned on the flashlight and plucked out the two electro cores from the fuse box. “We might need these for later,“ I said and stuffed them back in the item slots they’d previously occupied in my jacket. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”
30
Debris littered the stairway back up to the lab where I fought the drone-heads. Smoke from the fire that had raged downstairs stung in my nostrils.
“All this trash wasn’t here earlier,” I said through gritted teeth and kicked fragments of concrete out of the way. Closed my grip tighter around the handgun. Aimed the flashlight up at the hatch entrance. It had been blown to pieces and was nothing more than a huge, jagged scar gaping down at us.
