“What about the Kurimiru?” I inquired. “Did you manage to sell it off?”
“Some Miyelonian museum of astronautics bought the antiquity for seventeen thousand crypto. With no documents, no captain’s key and no stupid questions.”
I nodded – I was just fine with that. I was surprised we even found a buyer for that bucket of bolts. The team coming down to the asteroid with us was already waiting next to the landing module – a thick elongated “torpedo” with a pilot’s cabin, landing compartment and set of thrusters. Standing there were Shocktroop Gerd T’yu-Pan, Space Commando Eduard Boyko, Gladiator Imran, Assassin Svetlana Vereshchagina, and Gunfighter Grim Reaper.
I ran my gaze over the gathering of fighters and advised the head of the boarding team to take a burly Geckho along as well. We were going to have to break through hard-packed ice and do a lot of digging.
“Then Basha Tushihh!” Gerd T’yu-Pan suggested, and I summoned the Heavy Robot Operator to the exit.
WHILE GERD T’YU-PAN and Basha Tushihh got our flying vehicle fastened down to the surface, screwing anchors into the ice and attaching them with cable (and this was not an unnecessary precaution, considering the gravity was essentially nil), I took a look around. Pressure was less than three pascals – just 0.00296% of what it normally was on Earth’s surface. The temperature was minus 341.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The background radiation was off the charts, and it was harsh neutron radiation at that. But I wasn’t worried for my own sake because the Listener Energy Armor was very well protected against radiation. The others though would have to take antiradiation medicine after we got back. Gravity, as I already said, was near zero, and magnetic soles were absolutely no help – one careless step and say hello to open space! We had to walk in a chain, relying on the players with jet- and gravity-packs. Nevertheless, my companions, the majority of whom were on an asteroid for the first time, were in high spirits and eagerly sharing their bright impressions and emotions. I understood them perfectly; it really was beautiful here!
Cold black ice underfoot. Loose, not like normal. If not for the gravity being so low, my space-suit boots would have sunk in and gotten stuck. And it wasn’t water, but frozen ammonia with a hint of nitrogen. In these conditions, the nitrogen was already beginning to sublimate, transitioning from solid directly into a gas, which explained how there was any pressure at all. Most likely, every time the comet’s orbit took it near the two local suns, the surface of the asteroid would boil. Even now there was no clear horizon. The light fog of the evaporating gas made everything look washed out.
Above us in the darkness of space, we could see bright spiral protuberances shooting out beyond the horizon and intertwining. Starting out distinctly orange and blue, the zigzags gradually changed into an identical shade of white. The light was so bright it drowned out distant stars. Even with my high Perception I practically couldn’t see any. I suspect the remaining team members couldn’t see a single one. The black hole then was simply behind the asteroid from our landing site, as were the two local stars. I sent my Small Guard Drone over the horizon – both to take a look around and snap a few pictures of the black hole and twin stars. I’d get them printed out and hang them in my berth in memory of this unusual location.
I activated the Scanning icon, carefully examined the responses, then cringed. No dice! Nothing even close to a treasure encased in ice was shown on my mini-map. But I didn’t let that bother me. We had only approximately determined where to go, while the skill had quite a limited radius. It would be better to just use the Prospector Scanner to get a read on this whole small asteroid in one go.
“This way!” I suggested, taking another look at the diagram we constructed on the starship. “Another forty steps. Wait, stop. It looks a lot like it’s somewhere around here. Imran, Eduard, tie me down to a screw anchor so I don’t fly away. Then everyone step back fifty yards so you won’t get hit by the electromagnetic pulse.”
I wrapped the safety line around my belt and adjusted the length with a carabiner so my feet would touch the surface. I made sure my friends were a safe distance away, then took out my Prospector Scanner. So then, how should I put the settings? I was not interested in looking for metal. But cavities, structural analysis, and foreign materials were just the sliders I was looking for. I slid them all where I wanted them and took out a Geological Analyzer. I sent my drone away to protect it from the pulse, because it was already back from its circumnavigation. I opened the metal tripod and stuck the pointed tips into the loose ice.
Scanning skill increased to level sixty-five!
Mineralogy skill increased to level sixty!
I glanced at the screen of my Scanner and... there we go! There it is! Fifty feet to my right, at a depth of approximately fifteen feet beneath the ice, my device said I would find a smooth sturdy rectangular box. Based on the composition, it was mostly metal and plastic. Some kind of small container! I got my bearings and placed a marker for all to see:
“Everyone grab your shovel!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine. Damaged Goods
WHEN OUR GROUP came back to the ship, it seemed like the whole crew was there to meet us. Everyone could hear our discussions over the radio, so they already knew we’d found the goods under the ice and dug them up. The corridor leading away from the airlock chamber was so packed with curious onlookers I could barely fit.
“Well, what’s in the box?” rang out from all directions in every possible language.
“Hold on,” I said to stall the most impatient. “The box is in the airlock chamber right now. Basha and Imran are cleaning off the frozen ammonia so the inside of the ship doesn’t fill up with smelly toxins. When they’re done, they’ll bring it into the state room, and we can all see for ourselves. But as you seemingly already know, we found a metal chest and, by all appearances, it’s very ancient. And its locked, so Tini all our hopes are with you!”
My ward’s ears perked up and he bared his teeth in satisfaction. As far as I’d heard, our little thief had acquired one of the best, if not the very best set of lock picks available on Kasti-Utsh III for an insane amount of money. And it supposedly gave him additional bonuses to his Thief abilities. He was probably burning with impatience to test out his new gadget.
I had at least an approximate guess about what was inside the container because I scanned it. A thick shell containing a chamber with sixteen slots, just three of which were full. The slots held round little stones each the size of a cherry. Most likely they were unique precious gemstones or insanely expensive amber given the lengths the pirate captain went to hide his treasure.
The airlock doors opened and in came Basha Tushihh and Eduard Boyko in exoskeleton armor, hunched over from the weight of the container and carrying the large metal chest by its handles. I winced because it still stank of ammonia regardless of how much they tried to clean the space ice off the trophy. The ship’s automatic air analyzers immediately detected the smell, and the ventilation kicked into full power, driving off the noxious fumes.
“Heavy?” Kisly asked. “Need help?”
“I was lifting it with one hand on the asteroid,” the Space Commando answered, shuffling his legs with difficulty. “But here I’d say it feels like nine hundred pounds at least. Better not try without an exoskeleton suit. And the handles are hard to grip. Careful! Out of the way! Don’t accidentally touch it. It’s as cold as hell!”
Yes, cooled down to negative three hundred fifty degrees, the metal burned worse than boiling water. The crowd split slightly to let the two brutes through. I then held the doors to the state room open, helping the loaders.
“Put it right on the floor because the table might not be able to hold it. Yes, right here. Tini, you’re up! And be careful you don’t burn yourself on the metal!”
The Miyelonian teen put a pair of thin cloth gloves on his clawed paws, turned on his flashlight and attached it to the bandanna on his forehead, then started looking the chest over from every angle. The metal box didn’t have a
padlock, nor a keyhole in the typical sense of the word. I had already figured that out. It only had a narrow long slit in one of the walls, like the kind for reading a bank card. And an incomprehensible collection of symbols on the metal lid – perhaps an inscription in a language I didn’t know or maybe a partially-erased decoration.
Three minutes passed. The audience even started getting a bit bored. But suddenly our Thief gave a happy snort and took what looked to be a normal metal knitting needle out of his inventory. After that, clearly knowing what he was doing, he walked a circle around the chest and stuck the needle all the way into a tiny little opening I’d overlooked. He pulled it out, took out a normal electronic tablet (at the very least it looked like one) and placed the needle right onto the screen. He studied the resulting diagram of variously colored rectangles for around a minute, then confidently grabbed one of his flat lockpick keycards and placed it on the tablet screen alongside the needle. He then led the electronic card along the long slit and everyone waited with bated breath until we heard a loud metallic click.
The little thief gathered up his tools with no apparent affect and walked aside:
“Done! Somebody open ‘er up! ‘cause I’m pretty sure this lid is too heavy for me...”
After a second of silence, everyone started making a din, congratulating Tini and expressing their admiration of his mastery. Yes, it was impressive. The little thief had made a clear demonstration to the rest of the crew that nicking Imran’s razor was not the extent of his abilities and he earned his bread by the sweat of his brow. By the way, Tini also hit level one hundred. My ward’s level was now higher than mine!
With my permission, Basha Tushihh opened the lid of the chest and everyone leaned over to be first to see the trophy. Based on the exclamations of surprise, it did not contain precious stones.
“Captain coming through!” I pushed through with difficulty.
Yes, just as I saw on the screen of my Prospector Scanner. A dark receptacle with sixteen little slots, thirteen of them empty. The remaining three contained little stone balls – two bright gray and one blacker than the darkest night.
Uncanny stone ball (Precursor artifact).
Your character has insufficient Intelligence to identify this item.
Required Intelligence to identify (Error!!! Parameter undefined!!!).
Minimum level to use: 1.
Minimum Constitution to use: 1.
So what is this? All my crew members looked at me in incomprehension awaiting an explanation. I meanwhile didn’t know exactly what we had dragged onto my frigate. I suddenly heard a sharp, obviously dismayed trill filled with fast clicks and whistling.
“What do you think you’re doing?! They cannot be unfrozen! They’re going to activate at any moment!” Gerd Ayni translated what our Meleyephatian Gunner Eeeezzz 777 was saying for everyone else.
“Does he know what this is? Ask... Oh hell! Eeeezzz, what is this thing, do you know?”
In general, Gerd Eeeezzz 777 knew how to express himself in Geckho and Miyelonian, but his panic must have made him say his warning in his native language. I didn’t realize it right away either, but I had just been having a perfectly normal conversation with him.
“Yes, to know. Rare. Forbidden item. Close lid now! Stones will get warm and starting glow. Then is over, too late. No for selling. You lose much, much monies.”
And then, as the Meleyephatian veteran predicted, something happened to the stones. A tiny sparkle started to glow inside each one, growing brighter with every passing second. Not even thirty seconds later, the black stone changed into a dim little dark-purple light-bulb. And the formerly gray stones were now glowing an emerald green color! But most importantly, the stones had changed description!
The once black stone became if anything, even more uncanny:
Character reroll code.
Allows the user to choose any race, appearance and game class while maintaining present level. Allows all skill and statistic points previously earned to be redistributed at will.
Minimum level to use: 1.
Minimum Constitution to use: 1.
ATTENTION!!! Once activated, codes must be used within 300 seconds! 297 seconds remaining... 296... 295... 294...
And the two gray stones turned into something completely different:
Character age adjustment code.
Allows a character’s age to be changed at will, with instantaneous corresponding changes to body in all realities.
Minimum level to use: 1.
Minimum Constitution to use: 1.
ATTENTION!!! Once activated, codes must be used within 300 seconds! 295 seconds remaining... 294... 293... 292...
Damn!!! What curious little items. They let you get around the game’s restrictions and laws! No wonder that Eeeezzz called them “forbidden.” Only... how to use them?
And then my heart gave a painful prick, indicating an as-of-yet indistinct but quickly building worry.
Danger Sense skill increased to level eighty-seven!
Mental Fortitude skill increased to level one hundred nine!
It wasn’t a fully-fledged psionic attack, but still someone was trying to “probe” me mentally. And I even knew who it was. The crippled level-163 Meleyephatian Gunner was standing in the corner of the state room and already suited up in his combat armor. The only thing stopping Gerd Eeeezzz 777 was that he just wasn’t confident he could take down twenty players and make it to the sacrosanct chest in time. But the temptation was very strong.
The Meleyephatian was of very advanced age and wanted one of the green balls to rejuvenate himself! Or so I thought. And because of that, the three-hundred-year-old seasoned veteran was now on the verge of violating both his contract and the mercenary code by attacking his own crew. Even when his Meleyephatian compatriots were attacking our frigate he didn’t feel this kind of hesitation. But for the unique chance to shed the heavy weight of his many years, he was willing to do whatever it took!
“Don’t you dare!” I said mentally, and Eeeezzz 777 shuddered in fear.
Successful Authority check!
The Gunner immediately fell silent, his damaged combat armor stashed in his inventory. I then walked over to the metal chest and cautiously, afraid to be burned by the cold, touched the glowing green ball with a finger. Okay, it was even warm. It was easy to pull out of its slot. In the silence that fell, I walked up to the Meleyephatian and extended him the ancient artifact:
“Here! You need this most.”
The blue spider’s many mobile eyes stared at me in mistrust. After that, very slowly and cautiously, still waiting for the other shoe to drop, Eeeezzz 777 extended his upper right arm and carefully took the glowing ball from my hand. And immediately stuck it into his mouth!
Four seconds later, the Meleyephatian started changing color. Orange. No, now white. Dirty brown. Almost black. And finally he stopped at lemon yellow with small orange highlights down the sides of his shell. Meanwhile, the player’s description never changed. Regardless of the variations, the spider before me was still Eeeezzz 777, level-163 Gunner. I don’t know why it took so long. Maybe he was trying to set different ages for his character before he eventually settled on one option. By the looks of things, the color of a Meleyephatian’s chitin shell depended on age.
“Done. Captain. I was immeasurably grateful. I owe you. You not is doubt I!”
Authority increased to 81!
“Any decent captain would have done the same. By the way, give your armor to a Kirsan repair bot. They’ll be able to fix it up in no time at all.”
And the second green ball. I handed it to our wise and gray Navigator Ayukh with the words:
“You’re still too green to get put to pasture, my furry friend! You’re such an experienced Navigator it would be a shame to see the day you’re no longer plying the cosmos!”
The whole crew burst forth with shouts of delight and applause, approving of my choice.
Geckho don’t cry when overcome with
emotion. No, that’s a human response and they don’t have it. But the furry alien’s meaty lips started shivering slightly as he gave a quiet whimper, which meant the same thing. Ayukh swallowed the glowing green stone and a few seconds later transformed before our very eyes. His shoulders spread in pride; he grew significantly taller. His fur meanwhile changed from scruffy brown with obvious streaks of gray into a shimmering shade of chestnut. What was more, our Navigator grew a shock of light hair on the front of his head like a fashionable person’s bangs!
“Look at you now! What a dashing man!” Gerd Uline Tar commented on our shared acquaintance’s transformation. “Now I’m asking if maybe I was a little too rushed announcing my wedding.”
And finally the last remaining ball. That one really made me think.
“Eeeezzz, what will happen if we don’t use the ancient artifact fast enough?” I asked just in case.
“Precursors. Automatic hunter is appear. To destroy starship. Kill law-breaker. Forbidden item. Not allowed in game. Kung Eesssa is die once like this. Planet Devouress of Betelgeuse. Fleet flagship lost.”
I see. I had to make up my mind about what to do with the dangerous but simultaneously unique and useful item right away. I had two and a half minutes.
“Ayni! You wanna shed the burden of your ghoulish reputation as the murderer of the Incarnation of the Great First Female? Be reborn in a different body without such a difficult past? That way, no one will recognize or disparage you. Maybe you’d even like to become human.”
A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series Page 31
