“Logan’s in. I’m gonna check the path to the stairwell, be right back.”
“Roger, be careful. Probie and I are loading up the gold now.”
Logan gave a quick click to acknowledge then moved stealthily down the hallway towards the windows. He felt better once he got to them, safe in the light with no need to worry about DEVO’s. Leaning against the window and gazing down, he couldn’t believe his luck. They would not need to go through the stairs. They could break out the windows then rappel themselves and the gold down to the sidewalk next to the street. It was a clear shot and well-lit by the sun at least for now. The main question was if the battery would—
The roar of gunfire and exploding rounds reverberating up the shaft interrupted Logan’s planning. Screeching and more shooting, closer and louder than before quickly followed. He froze in his steps as more shrieking arose, but much closer. He spun around to see the bathroom doors opening. Four creatures came running out into the hallway aroused first by the gunfire and the others shrieking below and now the smell of Logan’s fresh flesh.
As the light of the sun hit them, they brought their hands up to shield themselves and tried to retreat to the bathroom, but others behind them rushing out crazed by what they heard and now smelled blocked their path. Two more came out into the hallway but shrieked and tried to retreat unsuccessfully away from the light.
All Six turned from Logan as they sought to push their way back into the darkened interior rooms. More shrieks echoed through the floor as well as those above and below. The jig was up. The DEVO’s were awake and would not now just go back into their slumber. Logan dispatched the six DEVO’s with four rounds blowing most of them and their assorted body parts back down the hallway on the other side of his access hole. A few twitching limbs the only remnants of the six creatures littering the other end of the now blood splattered corridor.
“Logan, Hicks, SITREP!”
Logan waited, he knew the FNG, Hicks, would be all over the radio.
“The Outfitter’s, sir. They’re engaged with the DEVO’s up in the Galleria. The shrieks are getting closer. I think they are in the subbasement!”
“Ok, Hicks, listen to me. Get ready with that flare. You will see the creatures before they can see you. When you do waste no time, set it off then climb into the hole, latch yourself into elevator side of the shaft and then get ready to drop another flare when the first goes out,” Andy said.
“Ok, sir, but I only have four flares.”
“The idea is to maximize the time with each, it’ll have to be enough. Logan, you good?”
“I’m golden, but we’ve got company up here. I found a way direct to the street if the battery on the winch holds out.”
“Roger that, we’ve got twelve bags. We’re going to drag them to the bottom of the shaft.”
“Twelve?” Logan asked himself, knowing they would put eight bars in each bag, one bag was 216 pounds. Each was double-bagged to hold the weight. The 96 bars were as much as they had bags for. Another dozen or more remained in the vault. They would be harder to get to now with the holes they left behind. The DEVO’s would be all over the mechanical room and shafts now. Regardless, it was the motherlode of all trophies.
“Gotcha, plus we’re leaving some bars. Too many to take and it’s time to boogie.”
“Ok, I’ll set up the winch.”
Logan moved down the hall towards the opening he earlier cut. He needed to pass the first bathroom door to get back to the access hole. Logan watched it as he hugged the wall pointing his rifle towards it. The door opened slightly. A creature’s bony fingers wrapped around the edge. Something hissed, followed by shrieks.
“I can’t work like this.”
“Andy, gonna go loud. I need to do a little cleanup.” Logan kicked the nearest bathroom door open without waiting for a reply.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Calum and Wu, aided by information that Bowen provided located the location of the H-Pod Lindel, AKA Graybeard was using as a portal into the Metaverse. Bowen did not know the precise location, but he was able to give the agents enough information about the car Lindel rented. With that information, they utilized the rental company’s GPS that provided the physical location of the car. Lindel had rented it under an alias, paying cash but using a credit card purchased from an overseas vendor who specialized in providing such aliases. Those things no longer mattered; the two agents had eyes on the rental vehicle.
The car, parked at a private residence, was empty. A quick check of the address revealed that the owner of the home had an H-Pod that he rented out when he wasn’t using it.
“No exigent circumstances exist, so we will need to get a warrant to search for him and to collect any evidence at the scene,” Calum said.
Both he and Wu sat in their vehicle down the street from the house.
“What’s the status in-world?”
“It appears that Mr. Crawley is getting ready to extract the trophies, as they are called, and move them from the building. Graybeard is currently at both the mercy of the actual Haus and the team members that Andy brought with him.”
“This whole thing is pretty amazing. A game, albeit an incredibly realistic one, has driven people who are so obsessed with it into doing crazy stuff.” Calum said, as much to himself as Wu.
“At first, that was my assessment as well.”
“And now?”
“After spending time with the biologics in the digital setting, I can appreciate the human entity’s ability to adapt and be resourceful. What I observed was unexpected.”
“Do tell.”
Calum smiled as he texted another agent with the details asking him to work through the U. S. Attorney’s Office to obtain a warrant while he and Wu maintained surveillance. He always liked these philosophical discussions with his animatronic colleague. Agent Wu was completely sentient like so many of the beings that populated the Metaverse. But unlike them, he also had a physical robotic body with real live skin. While animatronic devices were standard now, none could exist with the same realism as a human being, Wu being the one known exception to Calum.
“If AE’s populated the sim,” Wu used the slang for Artificial Entities that were a quantum leap above mere artificial intelligence. “Then there would have been a more predictable outcome. That result would have emerged from within the algorithms, or more accurately they would have been influenced by them more directly.”
“You’ve lost me already, Robert.”
“The humans in the simulation are acting out of emotion. In the case of Andy, concern if not love for Mia. For Graybeard, it is greed and even more so the desire for power. For Haus, it is anger and revenge. The others are there for the adventure and payoff.”
“Ok, so they’re typical people. What of it?”
“That’s it, exactly. By being typical as you call it, they are anything but predictable. Their actions in either the sim or reality cannot be anticipated. It is not linear; it’s chaotic.”
“So this again is all pretty obvious stuff, at least to my human mind.” Calum grinned.
“It is obvious to you because you are human, likewise, for the adventurers in the sim. Because they are human, they make the sim utterly realistic. And the sim being wholly realistic makes them more human in their decisions.”
“Therefore, we’re back to humans behaving like humans? Not much new there.”
“What is new is that for most of them there is only one reality. The one that the adventurers currently are experiencing. Anything outside of that is abstract at best, and they subordinate everything else, even the real world. What’s occurring here in our world is less important to them because it is less real.”
“Having played in those simulations, I would have to say I agree. How else can you explain how a respected college professor with ample financial means turns into a kidnapper and killer. Or a college kid who uses his student loans to support his in-world simulation. Or another college kid, now dead who steals informati
on and money from his parents to further his in-world activities, including double crossing Graybeard who has grown so used to killing people in virtual reality that doing so in actual reality is boring by comparison.”
“It may be that some of the adventurers are the ones who may have de-evolved.”
“Truer words probably have never been spoken by a digital person Wu.”
Calum read the text he just received. An hour for the warrant tops. He wondered how much more humanity could de-evolve inside the sim during that time.
***
Logan, never a fan of close quarter’s combat with DEVO’s, had little choice; the confined spaces dictated the battle zone. He fired more ammo than he otherwise might. Intensive firepower was the only way to keep the creatures from leaping out onto him. The bathroom held more of them than one might expect. The shrieking intensified as the first five or six bodies exploded in a bloody mist of flesh and bone. The body parts were so deep on the floor that Logan dared not wade through them for fear of being latched onto by a still biting head.
Fortunately, the bathroom layout was such that from just inside the doorway he could see all the way into it. Two urinals to the left across from two sinks on the right. Past the urinals and on the same side were two stalls. Logan fired into the sheet metal walls; the rounds exploding on impact even as they drilled through, blasting shrapnel in front of them and into any creatures on the other side.
He was glad for the Kevlar vest and uniform, as well as the helmet at times like these as the occasional small piece of steel, zinged back at him. An occupational hazard as he was too close and there were too many of them. Finally, the shrieking in that bathroom stopped even as it continued from next door and now other places in the building above and below him. A pile of body parts, blood, and debris covered the tile floor. Logan backed slowly out of the doorway, letting it close in front of him as he replaced the partially expended magazine in his rifle with a full one and pivoted toward the next bathroom.
As he had with the first bathroom, Logan kicked the door open on the other one and laid waste to the things shrieking at him, the agony of the sunlight keeping them from advancing. One of them did try to lunge at Logan, its clacking mouth, and teeth just a couple feet or less in front of him before the .50 caliber round blew through it at the neck. It was too close when it impacted the thing; failing to complete the required revolutions to arm the ordnance. That changed as it blew through the back of the creature and into mid-air where it detonated behind the first creature and just in front of another, destroying both with the shrapnel that drilled through their heads. Logan then poured on the fire shooting anything that still moved and then blasting through the stalls.
He didn’t know how many of the creatures he destroyed, but it took about three-fourths of a magazine in each bathroom. Far too much ammo for a relatively minor skirmish, but Logan was in a hurry, and everybody below needed him back in the game to lift them and the gold out.
As he looked left and right for more targets, Logan instinctively fed a full magazine into his CAR so that he would be topped off for the next encounter. Satisfied the area was secure he turned and dropped the rope down the shaft attached to the winch. Logan removed a box of ammo from his pack and topped off his magazines listening to the gunfire and screeching traveling up the shaft. Both had grown louder and closer.
“Winch the first bag.”
“Roger, winching,” Logan said, relieved they were on the move finally.
As the black heavy-duty duffle bags neared the opening, a bright light flowed from the hole into the shaft from the sub-basement. That could only mean one thing, DEVO’S were closing in. They needed to hurry.
***
Sixty feet below on the other side of the hole leading into the utility shaft Robert Hicks climbed the pipes from the sub-basement floor. Seeing movement and hearing gunfire and shrieking intermixed with yells and shouts from the Outfitters he decided that the things were close enough; it was time to light the flare and move up the shaft.
Following orders, Hicks positioned himself on the utility shaft side of the hole and was preparing to enter the elevator shaft, holding onto a pipe with one hand while standing on the pipe supports. Hearing the screams of the Outfitters nearing he pointed his CAR-50 down the shaft with his other hand and watched nervously, not wanting to turn and place his back to the shaft with so much commotion just below him. Hicks observed the well-lit area illuminated by the flare.
Gunfire, shrieks of the creatures and the shouts of the Outfitters, grew close. First one then another of the Day Breaker’s crew ran by below him followed by a loud scream as the light dimmed.
“Ow! That’s fucking hot!”
“Gotta move the DEVO’s back, bro. Kick it.”
One of them must have picked up the flare, the body would be too hot to grab onto, but the Outfitters in their crazed mindset would not have considered that. Now they were kicking it towards the creatures their semi-crazed minds failing to realize it would have been safer to move to and stay in the light. Either way one of the fools darkened his space.
“Hick’s status?”
“Stupid Outfitters kicked the flare away!”
“Roger that, drop another flare then get yourself on the elevator shaft side of the hole ASAP!”
“WILCO!”
Hicks released his rifle, letting it hang from the sling as he fished through a cargo pocket for another flare. His other hand held onto the pipe. The image of one of the Day Breakers appeared in his night vision below, he was bleeding from bites and was without his weapon. The man, still wearing his NOD’s reached up and grabbed onto Hick’s lower legs.
“Help me get up there! My weapon went dry; there’s too many of them, bro, they’re everywhere!” The man yelled.
Hicks wanted to kick the man, but he had his hands around both of his legs just above his boots, pulling at his tanker suit. Hicks, not wanting to fall quit fishing for the flare and used his only free hand to grab onto the other pipe. He pulled hard with his right foot and managed to get it free and used it to push and kick at the crazed man’s arms and head.
Hick’s froze, several other bodies entered the cramped space below him. He watched in horror as a creature latched onto the Day Breaker’s back before sinking its teeth into the side of his neck. A second and then a third pushed into the narrow shaft, the shadows and screeching of others pushing in behind them. He felt the clawing hands of at least two of them pulling on his boots and uniform. Hicks let go of the pipe with his gun hand and swiped for the pistol grip of the rifle bouncing around. Hicks felt the straps of the weapon pulling into the back of the collar of his vest from the weight of a creature grabbing onto it; now using it to pull itself up. Hicks yelled out as he felt the bites on his lower legs, the voice activated radio transmitting it. The Kevlar interwoven into the suit kept the thing’s teeth from breaking through, but the pinching nonetheless was painful.
“Hicks, what’s going on!”
Andy’s earpiece lit up with screams and then gunfire.
Hicks had managed to finally find the gun grip and the trigger just as the weight of the Outfitter, the two creatures attached to him and the third hanging off his rifle yanked him from the pipes. He tumbled to the bottom of the shaft along with the Day Breaker and the three DEVO’s, one wounded by the explosive rounds that passed through it before slamming into the floor where they detonated killing one and wounding a couple others.
One of the things, or perhaps one of the new ones from the throngs trying to get at him had hold of his rifle, hicks flat on his back struggled in controlling it. The spaces all around him were filled with DEVO’s, more than he could count and the horrible screams of Outfitters being eaten alive not far from his position. Gruesome faces clacking their teeth lunged and clawed at him. Hicks wanted to pull the trigger but was afraid of shooting his lower legs and feet as he struggled to raise the weapon away from his body and towards the things.
A new horror emerged as he fel
t hands, claws really around the back of his helmet while others pulled him backward by the vest or the strap of his rifle sling. Hicks tried to twist and pull away, but the bodies piling onto him pushed him back to the floor. Letting go of the gun he reached for the pistol in his vest. Strong hands were latching onto both of his arms, pinning them to the ground as others pulled at his feet and legs. A face slammed into his mask, the night vision illuminating the thing’s opening and closing mouth as the teeth slammed into the visor just in front of his eyes.
“Hicks! Sit-Rep?”
It was the last thing the Probie would hear from his team. A second later, his ears filled with screeching and clacking teeth as everything went much darker. Only the light of the flare still burning down the corridor was visible to him now. He lunged that way.
Just as a clawed hand ripped his helmet from his head.
Sharp teeth bit into the back of his neck; two other creatures sunk their teeth into each cheek. A fourth creature closed it mouth around his right ear before tearing a large chunk away. Another crazed being bit his lower lip shredding and ripping a large portion free. More teeth bit into his arms and legs but failed to penetrate the suit. The light from the flare dimmed, not because it was burning out but because the creatures dragged him away from it. The things were pulling at his boots and had one off while others pulled his rifle from him then the vest as others yanked down the zipper of his suit all the way to the waist.
Hicks spun and tried to get to his feet but only got as far as his knees before he was knocked down, this time onto his stomach. He felt the claws at the top of his suit as it was pulled down at the shoulders then off his arms while teeth bit into his now exposed feet. Everywhere new areas became exposed more teeth sunk into him. He fought and fought but soon grew exhausted. The creatures flipped him over and pulled the rest of the suit and then his remaining garments from him. Mouths dripping with blood fought others for any spot of flesh.
METAVERSE GAMES: OMNIBUS Page 35
