Black Wolf

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

“Up by six points. You're not having much luck,” Danny laughed. “I know it's been a long time since gym class, but sheesh.”

  “I'm a programmer and a professional gamer now. I'm supposed to be fat and unathletic,” Zach joked.

  Selene grabbed the ball and dribbled it down the court. “What, you can't be well rounded? She passed the ball to Nora, who passed it along to Gavin. He tried to make a drive for the basket, but was cut off by Xavier. He stopped and threw the ball back across the three point arc to Selene. She sank a perfect jumper.

  “Man,” Javy said. “Why are you not playing for a professional team?”

  “I'm not that good,” she said. “Three pointers just happened to be my specialty during high school and college.”

  “How's it fair that you have three basketball players on your team?” Gavin said, breathing hard.

  “Hey, I never played in college. Selene did. Plus, you have two players on your team. Besides, we have the shortest player on our team as well,” Danny said.

  “I'm sorry I'm not very useful,” Miko said sarcastically.

  “Well, you've scored more points than they have,” Xavier offered.

  “Not that it's hard to score more than four points,” Danny quipped. He took the ball and started to dribble down the court.

  “Alright, alright, we know we suck,” Zach said.

  Nora suddenly streaked past him and stole the ball from Danny. She scored a layup. “Speak for yourself,” she commented.

  “They're impressive, that's for sure,” Xavier commented. “Forty points from them combined. I think they have twenty steals as well.”

  “We know, we know, we suck,” Gavin grumbled. “Can we just forfeit?”

  “We are not losing,” Selene said. “I'll frag you the next time in the game world if you quit.”

  “Man,” Gavin said.

  Zach smiled at that. Selene had always been extremely competitive. She had been a star athlete in high school in basketball, track and soccer, and had been a top student to boot. He and Danny had paled in comparison, though they had both been good in academics and had been involved in sports. But it was good to have her as a friend. Rather than making them feel inferior, she had inspired them to do better. Zach had been part of their high school track team. He would have never have achieved much without her encouragement, but with hard work and training he had managed to consistently finish in the top three during races his senior year.

  Xavier grabbed the ball and dribbled it in place. “Well well, score is 45-44. First one to fifty wins, so it should be an exciting finish. But we're going to win.” He dodged past Nora as she tried to make another steal. “Sorry, that's not going to work on me” he laughed. Zach tried to guard him, but Xavier had almost six inches of height on him. He easily scored a basket from the paint over Zach's outstretched arms.

  “Ohho, a three pointer from us and we win,” Danny said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Selene said. She flung a pass down to Nora, who charged down the court into the traffic of the paint area. With a sudden motion, she flipped the ball to Gavin, who made an ugly shot that somehow went in.

  Miko grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court. She passed to Danny, who passed to Xavier, who passed it back. Danny started to go up for a three pointer, but Selene slapped the ball away and took off in the other direction. Zach watch in amusement as she went up and dunked the ball with authority.

  “Get off your knees, you're blowing the game,” she said to Danny as he came down to take the ball back.

  “Man, you're in full on kill 'em mode,” Danny commented.

  “Is she always this much of a trash talker?” Javy asked as he came down.

  Danny passed him the ball. “Just with us.”

  Javy dribbled down the court, guarded by Nora. He tried to go up for a three point shot, but Nora timed her jump perfectly and blocked it. To his credit, Javy managed to pluck the ball out of the air. He tossed it over to Danny. Gavin tried in vain to block. Danny sunk his shot.

  “Aaand, that's three points. What was that about blowing the game?” Danny taunted Selene.

  “It's not over. Your foot was over the line,” she responded.

  “Oh, you're going with that? Can't lose gracefully?”

  “Danny, your left foot was over the line,” Xavier said. “It's 49-48. Next shot wins.”

  “Man, why can't you let me have this?” Danny asked. “All I wanted was to beat her. Just to see the look on her face, losing like that.”

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Zach asked.

  “Meh, we'll still beat you,” Danny said.

  “Don't count on it,” Selene said. She grabbed the ball and tossed it to Nora.

  Nora slowly dribbled over the half court line, then made a quick move. Javy slipped as he tried to keep up. Xavier moved to cover her path to the basket, while Danny tried to shield Selene from the ball. Miko was on Gavin beyond the three point line. That left Zach alone, and suddenly the ball was in his hands. He shot...

  And missed the basket wildly, not even hitting the rim. Xavier grabbed the ball before it went over the end line and chucked it down the court. Miko grabbed the ball, a few steps ahead of Gavin. She made an ugly, ugly shot that circled around the rim. And then it dropped.

  “Hah! Win!” Danny said, jumping into the air.

  Selene gave him a playful shove as he landed. “I can accept losing to her. Even though it's your fault,” she said to Zach.

  “See, this is why I didn't play basketball in high school,” Zach said.

  “At least it was good to finally get outside,” Nora said. “Playing in a gym just doesn't have the same feeling to it.”

  “Well, it's almost noon, and I want food,” Danny said.

  “I second that,” Javy said.

  “I'm with them as well,” Gavin agreed.

  “Where do we want to go?” Xavier asked.

  “What about the Horizon? That's pretty close to here. Plus, we can see if we can get a lounge room,” Selene suggested.

  “I haven't been there in so long,” Zach said. “That gets a vote from me.”

  Everyone else agreed. The Horizon was a few blocks down, on the other side of the park. They would need to walk there, but no one was going to complain about that after being cooped up inside all winter.

  “This was a really good idea, Nora,” Miko commented as they walked.

  “Thanks. I just thought it was a good idea to get to know each other outside of the game world. Besides what we do in the interview sessions, I mean.”

  “I think it's a good idea too. Though I'm not sure that we couldn't just get to know each other in the game world,” Xavier commented.

  “I think being in the world changes people a bit, you know? It's escapism. You can be someone different than you are in real life,” Nora said.

  “I think your natural tendencies tend to shine through your character regardless. Especially when it feels like you're actually living in the world.”

  “Well, I can understand how the dynamics change in the game world,” Zach commented. “I mean, in real life Selene tended to be the leader of our group. But it somehow ended up being me in the game world.”

  “Yeah, I that makes sense,” Xavier said.

  “Besides, we need to get out once in a while,” Nora said. “We can't be in the world all the time. We'd miss a lot of stuff happening in the real world.”

  “Ah, that debate,” Danny said. “The one I always hated listening to in college.”

  “What debate?”

  “Whether experiences in a virtual world are equal to experiences in the real world,” Danny said. “Like, say we scale up a mountain and reach the peak while the sun is setting in a virtual world. Our brains are perceiving the scene just like they would in real life. Is that experience any less valid than seeing it in the real world?”

  “Well, the obvious response would be yes, since everything in a virtual world is just data,” Nora said.

  “Well, y
ou could say that about everything,” Danny said. “Every one of our senses is data that's interpreted by our brain.”

  “So would a virtual world allow you to transcend reality to some degree?” Miko asked. “Like, if you were paralyzed but could walk in the virtual world, you could have an experience that was never possible in real life.”

  “Yeah. Or even in the more general sense. We're able to experience things that we wouldn't be able to in the real world in the game world.”

  “Come to think of it, all of us except Nora have died at least once,” Javy said. “And while I can't say I enjoyed the experience, it's a lot less intimidating than before.”

  “That's only if you get killed with the first shot,” Miko said. “It doesn't feel too good when you get half your body melted by chilus venom.”

  “Or getting a non-lethal gunshot wound,” Zach said. “I really don't want to repeat that experience again. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would.”

  “I would have thought that would turn people off of playing the game,” Xavier commented.

  “Well, it hurts but it's not as bad as it could be,” Zach said. “It was less painful then when I broke my leg in middle school.”

  “I wonder...” Miko said.

  “Wonder about what?” Zach asked.

  “I've noticed my aim with weapons has improved a lot, in both the game and the real world,” she said. “It's probably because my brain has been conditioned by all the shooting I've done in the game world,” she said.

  That was true. A week ago they had been taken to a shooting range to test their skills. All of them had been consistent shots with their weapons of choice. But had been interesting to note that they had been less adept at firing other weapons. Miko had been a good shot with a long rifle, but very poor when firing automatic weapons. Zach, on the other hand, had barely managed to hit a target with a rifle, but was able to fire a carbine well. Danny had been the best shot with every weapon, probably because he had become used to controlling heavy weapons firing on automatic.

  “What about that makes you wonder?” Selene asked.

  “If the game is conditioning us to be better shots, is it conditioning us in other ways? Like, is it giving us a higher pain tolerance? Or is it making us less afraid of death?”

  “Even if that were true, what purpose would that serve?” Selene asked.

  “A government super soldier project? At least that's what it would be if this was a movie,” Gavin said.

  “You know how dumb that sounds,” Nora said.

  “Well, Miko could be right, in a manner of speaking,” Danny said. “Just think about this for a minute. You can create a virtual world where skills are implanted into your brain and the environment in the world is totally self-contained and safe. Wouldn't that be a good way to train people to do things? It would save a lot of space and money.”

  “That could be true” Selene shrugged. “But the whole thing itself just seems so far-fetched.”

  “There has to be a reason they're spending so much money on researching how the game affects us,” Javy said. “I'm not the smartest person, but I can see that something's going on.”

  “It's probably nothing more than corporate gamesmanship,” Zach said. “You know how much money a virtual world training system would be worth? It's no wonder that they'd try to get there before anyone else.”

  “Yeah but why do it in a game that involves shooting? Why couldn't they have done something like a sports game or even a cooking game?” Miko pointed out.

  “Who the heck would play a virtual world cooking game?” Danny asked.

  Miko shot him a look. “Maybe I would.”

  Danny put up his hands. “Sorry. Just saying that it would be a rather niche audience, that's all.”

  “That does sound a little bit odd, now that you mention it, but maybe it's what they wanted to design,” Selene said.

  “Maybe it was the genre of choice because of the sociology studies they want to perform. They say that the one common language between people is violence,” Xavier said.

  “I thought the common language was love,” Nora said.

  “Well, love can be interpreted the wrong way. If we didn't speak the same language, you might not understand some of the love gestures I might make. But if I punched you, you'd get the message loud and clear.”

  “That's like the principle violence solves everything,” Nora said.

  “Well, it does solve everything” Danny said. “Not necessarily in a good way, and it will usually cause more problems, but it is a solution.”

  “OK Socrates,” Selene quipped.

  “Hey, I have to justify all that time I spent getting a degree somehow,” Danny shrugged.

  “Can we skip the profoundness and just go eat?” Javy said.

  “Yeah, I just felt my stomach growl,” Miko said.

  The Horizon was ahead of them. The group crossed the street and headed inside. Zach had been to The Horizon a few times before. The food was always good, though a bit on the expensive side and the atmosphere of the restaurant was welcoming as well. There was the normal seating and the bar, but the highlight of the restaurant was the lounge rooms. They were furnished with more comfortable lounge chairs and a low table, almost like a coffee table instead of a regular restaurant setup. They cost a fee to rent, but that wasn't going to be a problem for any of them at this point.

  “So what's our plan for this week?” Javy asked after they had been seated and ordered.

  “We're going to try to take Lafayette with Sacred Sword and Redd Foxx,” Zach said. “Hopefully the recoilless rifle plans you found will do the trick. Once we have the town we can use it as a staging area for pushing further south.”

  “What do the other companies think about this?” Xavier asked.

  “They have no idea this is going on, Plus, I think they'd be a bit mad that we shared weapons schematics with the other two companies, but not with them.”

  “Well gosh, if they'd just get along we wouldn't have to deal with this whole mess now, would we?” Nora commented, her voice tinged with annoyance.

  “We might want to try getting Grizzly into the fold next,” Selene suggested. “Gina will probably be willing to join up as long as we have a solid plan in place. And capturing the town will be good proof of that.”

  “Marauder would be a good choice as well, even if they are a bunch of axe-crazy psychos a lot of the time,” Danny said.

  “What the heck does axe-crazy even mean?” Miko asked.

  “You know, like those nut jobs that kill people with axes,” Gavin explained. “You have to be really psycho to do that.”

  “They're not that bad, at least from my experience,” Miko said. “The ones we met at Ronin Fortress seemed pretty normal.”

  “Ah, Ronin. That's going to be the big problem in all of this, isn't it?” Xavier said. “They're too inflexible for their own good, you know? I had an offer to join them on the table, but I chose you guys instead because it just didn't feel right. I don't think that Levi's as competent as they'd like us to believe. He has good subordinates, however.”

  “Levi's strength is that he's a really good people person,” Zach said. “The problem is that he's not as strong in other areas, which means his plans aren't always fully developed. Now, people who have reason to be around him learn to accept that, because he inspires a lot of loyalty, but outsiders tend to be less impressed.”

  “Hence that whole blowup at the council,” Nora said. “And I have a feeling that he's going to want to be in charge of any alliance, which the others are not going like at all.”

  “I think we should focus on getting that town,” Gavin said. “Achieving that will help everything else fall into place.”

  Zach nodded. “You're right about that. We're supposed to be relaxing today, anyhow.”

  “When did this become a job and not just fun?” Danny said.

  “It still is fun, and it became a job when we started getting paid to play the game,
” Miko said. “I know I'd rather be doing this than filing paperwork the rest of my life.”

  “Yeah, true about that. Anyone want to go grab something from the bar?” Danny asked.

  Miko, Nora, Gavin, Xavier and Javy stood up to join him. “Hope they have something decent that isn't alcohol. I'm still not old enough to drink yet,” Javy grumbled.

  Zach and Selene watched them go. “So... are you and Nora dating yet?” she asked.

  Zach leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I was pretty sure that you and Miko left us alone after the meeting on purpose.”

  Selene laughed. “Oh please, it's pretty obvious to me that she's smitten with you. Or at least very interested.”

  “Yeah, I'm aware,” Zach said with a slight smile. “We're not really dating, but it seems to be headed that way. Although I'm a little bemused as to why you insist on playing matchmaker with me.”

  “Oh come on, how long was it going to take you to do it yourself?” Selene said.

  “It would have happened eventually,” Zach protested.

  “You mean in like five years?” she snorted.

  “You really don't have a lot of confidence in me.”

  “I've also known you since we were four,” Selene said. “I know how you act.”

  Zach sighed. “Well, I guess I can't complain at all. Could we not talk about this in front of everyone else? I'd never hear the end of it from Danny.”

  Selene laughed. “Sure thing. I won't say another word.”

  CHAPTER 13

  On the Brink

  “FIRE!”

  The rock face in front of them blew up in a shower of stone shards and smoke. The rest of the team swept the area with automatic weapons fire. The few remaining ryches were cut down in the storm of bullets.

  “Looks like we got all of them,” Miko said, looking through her scope.

  “Man,” Danny commented, patting the tube slung over his shoulder. “This thing packs a punch.”

  He was carrying one of the recoilless rifles. The weapons themselves had been distributed to the companies, though they were somewhat short on ammunition. That would require more vulcanite to produce, and a snag had developed in their plans. Hephaestus' main mining area had been overrun by ryches, and Sacred Sword was currently busy getting their forces prepared for the attack on the town. They could have spared the troops, but Black Wolf had gone instead. It gave them more experience, and plus, it never hurt to forge good relations with other groups.