The Player Plague

by Lucas Flint

  When I first visited my bathroom the day after the Blackout, it had been absolutely filthy, practically a hazardous waste zone in and of itself. But Cy had taken it upon himself to clean the bathroom. I was dubious at first—Cy was not known for his cleanliness—but the evidence of his hard work was obvious. True, there was still a little grime on the walls and the fixtures certainly weren’t shining clean, but all in all, it was a massive improvement from how it looked before. At least now I didn’t have to worry about getting infected with some type of bacteria that would make the Z-Virus look like the common cold.

  Speaking of the Z-Virus, I was displeased to see that my Infection was at 7% already. I knew I should be grateful that Kids Mode had slowed down the rate of Infection, but the fact was that Kids Mode was no cure and I wasn’t sure when or if the Capes Online developers would make one for me. I was no programmer myself, but I wondered how difficult it really could be to make a simple antidote to a virtual virus. Surely it wouldn’t take them more than a day.

  My thoughts were interrupted when Cy—who had entered the bathroom before me—spun around and said, “Okay, we’re here! The secret entrance to the basement is right—”

  “Here?” I said, pointing at the wall next to the toilet, which was glowing blue for some reason.

  “I—how did you know that?” said Cy in astonishment. He looked at me suspiciously. “I thought you said you didn’t know about the secret entrance, yet you pointed it out before I did.”

  “But I didn’t know about it,” I said, holding up my hands. “I don’t know why, but the wall is glowing blue, so I assumed—”

  I was interrupted by a new notification that popped up in my view:

  Congratulations! Perception has reached Level 3! You can now see hidden entrances and secret exits that most people would miss. Level up Perception even further to discover more secrets in the world around you!

  “Oh,” I said as I dismissed the notification. “It was my Perception that showed it to me. My Perception just leveled up now, so it’s Level Three.”

  “Level Three?” Cy repeated. He snapped his fingers. “Aw, man. My Perception is still Level One. I wonder why mine didn’t level up when I discovered the secret entrance to the basement.”

  “How did you discover it?” I asked.

  Cy tapped his head. “Um, I was just messing around in the bathroom when I hit the wall accidentally and the entrance opened.”

  “See?” I said. “You didn’t deliberately seek it out. You found it by complete accident. If I had to guess, I would say that Perception only levels up when you deliberately try to take note of secrets and minor details in the world.”

  I didn’t say it aloud, but I mentally added, Which means that your Perception is probably always going to be Level One.

  Luckily, Cy did not have Telepathy as a Power, so he just nodded and said, “I think you’re right. I’ll have to be more deliberate from now on. In fact, I think I will start now.”

  Cy immediately bent over and peered behind the toilet, a serious look on his face as he carefully searched behind it.

  “Cy, what are you doing?” I said.

  “Practicing my Perception, boss,” said Cy without looking over his shoulder at me. “Looking for secrets.”

  “I doubt there are any secrets behind the toilet, Cy.”

  “You never know,” said Cy, still without looking for me. “My dad often told me that the most important secrets are often hidden in the last places you’d look. Who would ever think to look behind a toilet?”

  “You, apparently,” I said. I shook my head. “Never mind. Let’s open this secret entrance and see what we can find inside.”

  Muttering under his breath about how I was interrupting his practicing, Cy nonetheless stood up and walked over to the wall. “Well, you see, you have to press this tile here like so and—”

  Without warning, the wall slid to the side slowly but surely. Cy stepped back, allowing me to see a deep, dark staircase going down deep into the earth. When the wall finished sliding to the side, dim lights flickered on the ceiling within the staircase, but even with those lights on, it was nearly impossible to see very deeply into it.

  Upon looking into the staircase, a brand new notification showed up in my vision:

  SECRET ROOM DISCOVERED: The Basement

  Congratulations! Thanks to the careful exploration of your Sidekick, you have discovered your Base’s first Secret Room! Secret Rooms are rooms in your Base that are, well, secret. They do not show up on your Base Map until you discover them yourself. Additionally, other players or NPCs who enter your Base will not have Secret Rooms on their maps, either, unless you show them the Secret Room.

  The exact number of Secret Rooms varies from Base to Base. The only way to find all of the Secret Rooms in your Base is to carefully explore every nook and cranny of your home. Tip: Perception is very important.

  A Secret Room has been added to your Base Stats and Base Map. Check under the BASES tab on your character screen for more information.

  “Cool!” said Cy, who must have gotten the same notification I did. “Did you see that? We found a Secret Room. I didn’t even know Secret Rooms were a thing.”

  “Yes, I know,” I said dryly. “I assume that is why they are called Secret Rooms. Although I don’t understand why it wasn’t added to my map when you first discovered it.”

  Cy snapped his fingers. “I know! I bet it’s because you weren’t there to see it and I didn’t tell you about it.”

  “Probably,” I said. “Cy, from now on I want you to tell me about every secret you stumble upon when you’re exploring my Base. Got it?”

  “Including where I stash my pretzels?” said Cy. “Because I would rather die than tell you where my pretzel stash is.”

  I sighed. “How’s about every important secret, then?”

  Cy smiled widely. “Sure thing, boss.”

  I rubbed my forehead and looked down the staircase leading to the Basement. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go take a look and see what is down here.”

  -

  Although Cy had already been down here once and did not report running into any dangers or problems, I nonetheless forced us both to walk down the staircase slowly and carefully. Just because Cy was light enough to move without tripping possible security measures didn’t mean I was. Using my flashlight to make up for the dim lights, we had a pretty clear look at the staircase before us as we walked.

  This place must have been even older than I thought. Although the concrete staircase was fairly well preserved—no doubt due to being hidden behind the bathroom wall for so many years—the chipped steps and dusty walls were a clear indication that this place had been around for a while. I also had the feeling that someone was watching us, but when I brought this up to Cy, he said it had to be ghosts, which was when I decided not to share my feelings with him again after that.

  But it was a very short staircase and soon we reached the Basement itself. Unlike the staircase, the Basement was completely covered in darkness when we arrived, although Cy showed me the light switch and when I flipped it on, bright lights on the ceiling illuminated the whole place. My jaw dropped at what I saw.

  When Cy had first described the Basement to me, I had assumed it would probably be a fairly small room, perhaps originally designed to provide storage for the warehouse workers who worked here prior to its abandonment. But this Basement was nearly as big as the surface floor and it was covered in boxes and crates of all shapes and sizes. Some were tiny cardboard boxes that looked no bigger than an alarm clock, while others were large wooden crates about a head taller than me. The boxes and crates were painted with red serial numbers on them, but since I didn’t understand the serial number system used, I was completely lost.

  Even more interesting, however, were what appeared to be tunnels branching off from the Basement. I assumed that the tunnels connected to the Sewers of Adventure City at some point, but it was impossible to tell from here. The
tunnels were pitch black, but above each tunnel was a number painted in red. One, two, three, four … five tunnels in all, each one heading in a different direction.

  The Basement smelled stale and dusty, as well as a bit damp. It was also rather warm down here, but not uncomfortably so. I noticed thick layers of dust on all of the boxes and crates, yet another indication that this place hadn’t been visited by living beings in quite a while.

  A notification suddenly appeared in my view:

  You have entered: [The Basement].

  Congrats on entering your first Secret Room! Be very careful when exploring a Secret Room. Although Secret Rooms might be part of your Base, their secrets are not always so friendly or positive. Sometimes they may even be deadly. Nonetheless, it is up to you to explore your Secret Rooms and claim them as your own, because that’s what Heroes do.

  “Um, Cy?” I said, glancing at Cy. “Did you get this notification or—?”

  Cy, however, had already gone ahead of me into the Basement. He picked up a medium-sized box and ran back over to me like a kid on Christmas morning wanting to show his parents his gifts.

  “Look!” said Cy, slamming the box on the floor in front of me. “Behold, the box with Faded Flag’s stuff! You know, the one I told you about earlier.”

  Taken aback by Cy dropping that box in front of me, I nonetheless knelt down and opened its flaps. As Cy said, there were quite a few pieces of Equipment and items in there, but my attention was particularly drawn to a stark white cape that looked like it hadn’t been worn in ages.

  Picking up the cape, I stood up and unfurled it like a flag. The cape was long and wide, going down to about my waist. It was lined with thick fur and had quite a bit of heft to it. I could imagine pulling it around myself to keep myself warm on a cold winter night, but I Scanned it to find out what it actually was:

  Snow Cape

  Rarity: Rare

  Material: Fleece

  Description: A Synth Group product, Snow Capes allow you to blend in with a snowy environment. Additionally, they can be wrapped around the person like a blanket and keep them warm and snug in addition to looking stylish. +10% in Defense, -5% in Evasion and Agility.

  Powers: Flight [1/1 Unlocked]

  My eyes widened when I read that last line. “Cy, this Cape can give me the Power of Flight!”

  “Whoa, really?” said Cy in surprise. “That’s awesome. I wonder if that Faded Flag guy was another ice-themed Hero like you or not.”

  “No idea, but I’m definitely going to equip it now,” I said. “I want to fly.”

  I quickly equipped the Snow Cape onto my body. A second later, the Snow Cape hung from my neck, resting on my shoulders, going all the way down to my waist. As I thought, it was fairly heavy, but comfortably so, although I could see how it could negatively affect movement. But I figured the higher Defense would offset the lower Evasion and Agility somewhat, so it seemed like a fair trade to me.

  But my attention was quickly drawn to the notification that popped up in my view as soon as I put on the Cape:

  New Power Unlocked: Flight [Level 1]. Fly like a bird up to ten feet into the air for about a minute. Level up this Power further to fly higher and longer into the air. Cost: None [Passive].

  I grinned. Flight was one of the Powers not normally available to my Class, so when I saw that I could get it by wearing the Snow Cape, of course I had to put it on. I had always felt a little envious of Cy, who started off with Flight, but now we were much closer and I, for one, couldn’t wait to try it out. I also got a notification informing me that the Snow Cape was a part of my Ice Man Costume, thus bringing my Completed Costume up to 3/6, although I didn’t get any special bonuses as a result.

  “This is awesome, boss,” said Cy, clapping his hands together excitedly. “Now we can fly together! It will be so much fun. I can just imagine us now, flying side by side through the clouds above Adventure City, keeping a careful eye out for any dangerous—”

  Cy was interrupted by a sharp roar and then something came rushing out from between a couple of crates toward us.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  The thing that came out of the crates moved way too fast for me to follow. It slammed into both Cy and me, sending us flying through the air. Cy crashed on top of several boxes of old paperbacks, while I slammed down onto the floor closer to the entrance. Dazed by the blow, I nonetheless raised my head just in time to see the thing rushing at me again.

  There was no time to Dodge. Instead, I activated Flight and shot straight into the air, moving in a wide arc over the creature that had assaulted me. I flew over its head successfully, but unfortunately, I didn’t have complete control over my new Power yet and so I crashed into a couple of boxes that were full of DVDs, of all things. Shaking my head, I suddenly heard Cy shout, “You okay, boss?”

  Looking over at Cy, I saw he was sitting up now with a paperback on top of his head. “Yeah, I am. Looks like Flight is trickier than I thought.”

  “Yeah, it is a little hard to control when you first get started,” said Cy. He held up three fingers. “I flew into three separate stop signs when I first got Flight. Which was surprisingly less painful than you would imagine.”

  Rolling my eyes, I heard a deep grunt and looked back in the direction from which the creature had attacked me. Now that it was no longer moving, I could finally get a good look at the creature.

  And ‘creature’ was probably the best word to describe it. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking at. The creature appeared to be a humanoid crocodile, but it had thick, long, curled horns sticking out of its forehead like a bull. Long, dinosaur-like spikes ran down its back, while its long, tree-like tail swished back and forth behind it like a snake about to attack its prey. Long, dagger-like teeth colored charcoal black stood in its mouth, while its deadly-looking claws dug into the concrete floor beneath it.

  Strangest of all, however, was the nametag above its head. Normally, the nametags of characters in the game told me who they were. Player or NPC, Hero or Villain, everyone had a nametag and everyone’s nametag always had their name.

  But this thing’s nametag read [???], and when I Scanned it, I got this information:

  ???

  LEVEL: 25

  ALIGNMENT: Villain

  CLASS: ???

  WEAK POINT: ???

  WEAKNESS: ???

  To gain access to this character’s full Scan, capture it as prisoner and make it talk.

  What the heck? I had never gotten a Scan like that before. What was so special about this … this thing that I apparently needed to make it my prisoner and force it to talk? And just how was I supposed to force it to talk? Through torture? And how did I even know it could talk in the first place?

  That last question was answered when the creature suddenly hissed, “Stupid monkeyfighting dastard. Tricky little tick.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “You heard me,” said the creature with a scowl. “Don’t spit with me, you monkeyfighter, or I will truck you up.”

  I blinked several times. “Did you say you will … truck me up?”

  The creature scowled even deeper. “Are you trucking with me? Or are you deliberately pretending not to understand what I’m saying? I’m speaking monkeyfighting English, you little tick.”

  “Yeah, boss, why are you acting like he’s saying silly things like truck me up?” asked Cy. He gestured at the creature. “He’s clearly got a sailor’s mouth. I mean, dang, I’ve never heard anyone with a mouth as dirty as his.”

  “A sailor’s mouth …?” I was starting to understand what was going on, but before I could come to the conclusion myself, a new prompt appeared before me:

  KIDS MODE FEATURE: No Cussing Allowed. All cuss words are filtered through the Kids Mode Cuss Filter, which relies on a dictionary full of cuss words from every language in the world and seeks a suitable replacement for each cuss in order to protect SI Games from letters from angry parents. You can turn off the Cuss Filter o
nly by disabling Kids Mode itself.

  What. The. Hell. Well, at least it didn’t censor my own thoughts. That would just be creepy.

  “What are you doing, monkeyfighter?” the creature demanded. “Are you going to just sit there with that spitfaced look on your face or are you going to try to truck me like a man?”

  Whoa. Cy was right. The creature really did have the mouth of a sailor, if a PG sailor. And perhaps didn’t entirely understand how to use that mouth without coming across as unintentionally creepy, either.

  Rising from the boxes I had fallen into, I said, “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get. But I don’t see why we have to. This Secret Room is part of my Base and—”

  “Lies,” the creature hisses. “Go to heck with your spitty lies no one believes. This room is my territory and I will defend it to the death.”

  “I don’t know where you got that idea from, but it’s wrong,” I said. “But I am willing to talk with you if you—”

  The creature roared and rushed toward me again, moving much faster than its bulk suggested. But I wasn’t afraid. I activated Freezing Touch and slammed my foot on the ground, sending a wave of freezing energy toward the creature. To my satisfaction, the creature wasn’t fast enough to dodge Freezing Touch. The icy wave struck its feet and then rapidly covered the entire creature from head to toe, encasing it in a thick block of ice and totally stopping its progress.

  [???] has been Frozen! Duration: 10 minutes.

  I cracked a grin when I read that notification. Kids Mode might be heavy on the censorship, but at least it didn’t make my attacks any less effective.

  Then, without warning, the creature’s body glowed red and a huge, all-consuming fire exploded out from the creature’s body. The flame melted away the ice immediately, but also completely covered its body in a huge fire. I couldn’t the flames were so thick I couldn’t even see the creature anymore, but I could definitely feel the heat, which was magnified by being stuck inside this small space.