by Cosimo Yap
She’ll get the notification she entered a simulated zone, Lambda sent.
I know.
Kitana ran into the room and down the hallway.
Alan emerged from behind the fake wall and exited the simulation room, but not before activating the training program. If Kitana knew the right commands, she would be able to leave in an instant.
Alan ran down the hallway toward one of the elevators, pausing to look back. No sign of Kitana. It looked like she didn’t know how to operate a simulation room.
Alan reached the elevator, exhausted. The guard standing by it raised his rifle at Alan.
“Halt, who are you?”
“I’m the one who just set off the alarms and trapped one of the enemies in the simulation room, now let me up!” Alan said.
The guard shook his head. “Authorized personnel only. No one passes without permission codes.”
“I’m unarmed,” Alan said. He raised his left stump. “Literally!”
A group of personnel, scientists in lab coats, engineers with utility belts, and the nurse who had healed him came running down the hallway. They were escorted by a party of five guards.
“Jensen, we’re heading up!” the lead guard said. He raised an identification card and rattled off a series of letters and numbers.
The elevator guard nodded and fiddled with a menu.
Alan looked over at the nurse, then at the man standing next to her.
“Hey, that’s not one of your personnel. He’s one of the enemies!” Alan said. He pointed at one of the engineers. Arthur.
“Me? I’ve worked here for ages, that man is clearly out of his mind. He’s missing an arm, for god’s sake,” Arthur said. He wore a uniform identical to the other engineers, and held up an ID card. “I’m John.”
Another engineer looked at him. “I don’t know, I haven’t seen you around before…”
“That’s because I’ve been working out in space on the thrice-damned panel systems, dealing with the heating leaks and gravity fluctuations,” Arthur said.
A third engineer nodded. “I can vouch for John. Someone take care of that madman—does he even have an ID card?”
The elevator door opened. Alexander stepped out, flanked by two guards also wearing crimson power armor.
“Well, I believe Alan.” Alexander stabbed the engineer in the heart with a bright, purple laser sword the shape of a rapier. He pointed his sword at Arthur. “Now tell me Icewolf’s plan.”
Arthur froze. Alexander cut his arm, and Arthur let out a yell of pain. “Tell me now, or I will carve you like a pig.”
Alan detected Arthur send a message to Icewolf: Elevator 2 lost.
Scanning Icewolf’s messages, Alan managed to put together what was happening. “They’ve taken over the other elevator and are planning to get to the command zone, wipe out the Legion of Man senior officers, and seize control of the space station.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Kill him!” Alan said.
Arthur sent another message to Icewolf: He’s bugged us.
Alexander’s blade pierced Arthur’s head.
Alan shook his head, “They know I’ve bugged them.”
Icewolf sent a message to everyone: Communications compromised go dark.
“I have a list of usernames, though,” Alan said. “People who have communicated with Icewolf. Maybe more traitors.”
Alexander nodded. “Send it to me. Now come up, we must prepare our defenses. A fight to the death it is.”
Alan got into the elevator with Alexander. When everyone else tried to board, Alexander shook his head. “I no longer know who to trust. You all stay behind. Any who repel the invaders, weaken them in any way, will be greatly rewarded.”
He then took one of the guard’s laser rifles and handed it to Alan. “I expect you’ll need this. Station, take us to the command center.”
The elevator started up. Its walls were clear, like glass. As it rose Alan caught a view of the station, and Mars below. It was beautiful—a dark orange sphere.
“What’s that?” a guard said. He pointed at a dot in the distance, emerging from a hangar bay.
The dot flew closer.
“Where are the defensive fighters, the laser turrets?” Alexander said. “Why have they not activated?” He began punching a button in the elevator.
Alan zoomed in on the dot as it approached the elevator. It was Merlin, propelling himself in power armor by setting off small explosions behind him. He landed on the elevator, on the other side of the see-through glass.
Merlin sent a message: For Arthur.
And then he exploded. The elevator tore apart into a thousand shards of glass.
Alan was sucked out into space, and died.
***
Alan stared at the messages. They were painful to read, even now:
You have died! Current respawn point: Phantom’s Lair, Black Rose Base.
Due to the nature of your death, no memories lost.
Level loss: 30 levels. You are now level 482. All credits lost. All C lost. 30 ability points lost.
Skill proficiencies have decreased.
Ongoing research cancelled and lost.
All stats permanently decreased by 30.
You are now ineligible to participate in the War for Earth. Any actions taken that influence the war will be punished with an Administrator Warning and 5,000 Penalty Points.
Respawn construction: 7 hours remaining
Alan supposed 7 hours was better than the original 120. Respawning a galaxy and a half away took a while. He continued reading the messages. They got interesting.
The War for Earth has been lost! The Legion of Man has surrendered to the United World Government.
Experience granted based upon your impact on the war.
x14 Level up!
New quest: Reparations
Based on your contribution to the Legion of Man and actions against the United World Government, you are ordered to pay a fine of 250 million credits under the terms of surrender. United World Government War Contribution Points have been nullified. Begin a payment plan within a year or face indefinite servitude to the United World Government until all fines have been repaid.
Reparations updated:
Penalties have been removed after further Administrator review, as your actions led to the strengthening and direct victory of the United World Government over the Legion of Man, and were supervised by a United World Government agent.
Furthermore, your status as a mercenary, hired on behalf of the Legion of Man, eliminates the need to pay reparations despite United World Government demands.
Direct any complaints and harassment to the Administrators.
United World Government reputation changed to Hated.
+1,000 Notoriety
A Free Earth Completed!
The United World Government has been established as the ruling government, and Earth is firmly under their control.
You have gained the Rogue class ability Counterfeit (Basic)! You are able to manipulate small messages and details, such as your username and level. You are also able to hide small items from detection.
Note: Counterfeit (Basic) will not stand up against higher-level detection abilities and devices.
x5 Level up!
Due to recent events, Icewolf is no longer your Rogue class mentor. Find a different mentor to continue Rogue class training, or request a mentor at the nearest Administrative Center.
Black Rose Mission Failed:
Report to Phantom for further instruction.
Alan closed the messages. This entire mission had been a mess. He’d gotten involved in a war he never truly understood. He opened the latest news bulletin. A reporter sat at a desk and read the story as images of the Red Sentinel played behind her.
“In a historic turn of events, a brave group of United World Government special forces took over the Legion of Man command center, the Red Sentinel. The capture of the space station allowed the United W
orld Government fleet to fly in and take out key military targets in a matter of days.”
The images switched to show domed cities on Mars.
“Free from the tyranny of the Legion of Man, many of the Martian cities surrendered to the United World Government. Red Dragon City was the first to lead the charge. The status of the Martian colonies and their role in the United World Government continues to be hotly debated.”
And then a picture of Alan appeared.
“The United World Government has also released the identity of the so-called Doomsday Hacker, the young man responsible for the worst day in economic history. Though markets have begun to recover, they still sit nearly 10% below Doomsday levels. Suspected to have worked closely with Haxlard co-conspirators, this troubled young man from Los Angeles, Alan—”
Alan turned off the news. He’d had enough propaganda for one day.
There was one silver lining, despite everything. Eve’s revival had continued unimpeded.
Alan waited; she would come back any second now.
He felt a familiar presence settle in his mind.
Eve reactivated.
She scanned his quest and combat logs.
Well that could have gone better.
