The Grind

by Dante Doom

  “What if he’s yanking your chain?” Violia asked. “What if he’s some punk Serf kid who wants the star treatment?”

  Savannah looked over her shoulder to see how far away Timon stood before whispering, “You didn’t see the money he’s paying me.”

  “Did you see the money he’s paying you?” Mulls asked. This elicited a laugh from all of them.

  “What’s on the newswire?” Savannah asked, ignoring the question.

  “Something’s definitely up,” Bert said. “We’re actually clearing out for a bit.”

  “Just waiting on a friend to get out of the Med Center,” Violia said. “Then we’re getting outta here.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “A Klepto is on the loose out here,” Bert replied as he shook his head. “He’s been running around attacking players left and right.”

  “Really?” Savannah gasped. Kleptos were bad news all around. They were bad-mannered players who attacked other players to steal their points. While there were no laws against it in the game, in society it was considered taboo. People were expected to work together in the Grind.

  “Yeah, he’s been tailing us, so we’re booking it for a bit. The last thing I need is for some Klepto to jump out and shoot me down when I’m in the middle of a job for a client,” Mulls said.

  “Yeah, really,” the rest of the group echoed.

  “He’s one guy and there are three of you,” Savannah said. “Why worry?”

  Mulls shook his head. “I’m not fighting against another player. Too dangerous. If he kills me, bammo—that’s all my points, gone.”

  “No one here wants to risk that. I’ve been doing this for almost two years,” Violia said. “I’m so close to the High Court, it’s not worth it.”

  Savannah tried to hold her grin back. With Timon’s help, she’d be able to skip the years of toil that these Grinders were finding necessary to get to the High Court. It was too perfect. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” she replied.

  “Yeah, if you’re smart, you’ll duck out, too. At least for a few days,” Mulls said.

  “Sorry, but no. I’ve got a client and we’re not stopping for anything,” Savannah said. She did not want to risk losing Timon to another Grinder because she’d decided to play it safe.

  “You’re going to get yourself in a heap of trouble, Savvy,” Violia replied. “It’s not worth the risk.”

  “That’s the problem with you softies,” Savannah scoffed at them. “Glory is always worth the risk. That’s what separates the victors from the victims.”

  “That sounds great until you’re gunned down by some Klepto in the middle of a Viral battle,” Mulls said as another woman joined them. She nodded at them and they began to make their way to the exit portal that wasn’t too far from the Med Center.

  “So players can attack one another in the Grind?” Timon asked.

  “Yeah, sure, it happens sometimes. But not as often as you’d worry about,” Savannah replied.

  “I don’t understand; why is it like that? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just kill as many players as you can and then log out, if killing is allowed?” Timon asked. “Why bother with all the Virals?”

  “If you die once, you lose all your points,” Savannah replied. “So you need to think about it here, and really consider your options. If you attack a Viral and it goes south, you can always just run away. After all, it’s just a big dumb computer program designed to attack with patterns and give players a sporting chance to kill them. A player? That’s an entirely different animal. They think, and most importantly, they rarely forgive. So yeah, maybe you could get the drop on one player, but what if he’s better than you? You just lost everything cause you were a numbskull.”

  “That’s a good point,” Timon agreed. “I guess fighting players would be harder.”

  “And even if you did escape, they’d probably just track you down or call their friends to do some good old fashioned mob justice.”

  Timon nodded absentmindedly and gazed up at the sky. He was gawking at the vehicles flying through the air. “Oh, uh…” he stumbled, bringing his attention back to her. “Yes, of course, right.”

  “Still in awe of this place?” Savannah chuckled as the doors to the Med Center slid open. The clean, sterile smell of the hospital was almost assaulting.

  “Yeah… all the colors are so vivid. I would never have thought the Grind was so... beautiful. I always imagined it being some kind of nasty, danger-filled world,” Timon replied.

  “It still is a danger-filled world,” Savannah replied, “but it sure is pretty. Probably as pretty as the High Courts.”

  “The High Courts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, believe me,” Timon said with a shake of his head.

  “Sure they aren’t,” Savannah said, rolling her eyes. Why did he keep downplaying it? Did he not want them to succeed? Entering the High Court was everything. She felt like smacking him. Still, with the kind of money and points that he was paying, he could afford to say what he wanted; she had no intention of listening, though. She limped over to one of the healing pods in the center of the treatment room.

  There were fifteen blue pods, all with wires and cords sticking out of them. A transparent blue woman was standing by the pods.

  “Twenty-five points to heal,” the woman said as she shimmered and shifted in place.

  “Oh, I know what that is!” Timon said as he pointed to the woman. “She’s an Aspect, right?”

  “Yeah,” Savannah replied as she transferred the points to the Aspect. The door to the pod opened up and she climbed inside. The door shut hard and she could hear a hissing sound as blue air filled the pod, healing her back up to full health and removing her injury. It felt good to be able to move her leg without feeling pain again.

  Pain in the Grind was all too real. Even though it was a simulation, the game itself was designed to inflict virtual pain for some reason. If the pain was strong enough, the physical stress could even cause real damage to a person’s body, although Savannah had never felt anything close to that.

  As she climbed out of the pod, a small, red blinking light appeared in front of her UI. It was a call from her mother.

  “Timon, stay there,” Savannah said as she walked a few feet away from the man. It was rare for her mother to call her while she was inside the Grind. She activated the call and an avatar of her mother’s exhausted face appeared in front of her.

  “Hey,” Casty sighed.

  “What’s wrong? You look worried,” Savannah said, feeling a tenseness rise up in her stomach.

  “I think your father might be in some sort of trouble,” Casty replied. “I was checking on the pods this morning and I noticed that his heart rate monitor indicated his blood pressure has been increasing steadily over the last few days.”

  Savannah felt her own heart rate increase at the sound of that. “That… that doesn’t sound good, Mom.”

  “I know, that’s why I’m contacting you. I think your father’s in trouble. He’s been in there for too long—I thought he would be out by now.”

  “We both did,” Savannah replied with a frown.

  “If his body keeps getting stressed out like this, he could die,” Casty whispered. “You’ve got to go find him.”

  “I’m with a client right now, and he’s paying us the big bucks, Mom! Did you see those two bars of silvar I put in the safe? That’s from him!”

  Casty shook her head, closing her eyes. “Please don’t trade your father’s life for money,” Casty replied.

  “I’m not, Mom, I wouldn’t do that, but… Dad’s a pro; he should be able to take care of himself. He always has before.”

  “That’s what I thought, but this time was different. He was secretive about the client. Look, I know it’s not unheard of for your father to be gone for weeks at a time, but something is wrong, I can feel it. You’ve got to go find him. Lie to your client and tell him you know where the good points are,” Casty said. “He won’t know wha
t you’re up to.”

  Savannah hugged her stomach as she looked off to see where Timon was. She needed this job. If she could amass enough points to bring both Timon and herself to the level of High Court, then her parents wouldn’t have to work anymore. Hem was smart. If he was in trouble, he’d figure out a way to get a message out. Wouldn’t he?

  “You’re right, Mom,” Savannah said, rather than relay all of her thoughts to her mother. “Besides, we can kill Virals as we search. I’ll do what I can. Promise.” She tried to put a brave face on, but the fear creeping up inside of her was starting to grow stronger. Her dad had been in the game for longer than any other Grinder. She assumed that his latest client wanted to get as many points as he could, but maybe… maybe he was in trouble. How would she be able to help, though? He had more points than her and he was far better at the game. Hem was the one who’d taught her everything she knew.

  Still, it was strange how he had been in the game for so long without bothering to message anyone in the family. He was normally better about communicating than this. The concern on her mother’s face, combined with her own worries, led Savannah to realize that maybe it would be a good idea to look for her father. At the very least, she could just confirm that he was okay.

  “I’ll look for him,” she whispered as she looked at her mother.

  “Thank you, Savvy,” Casty said. “I’ve got to get back to the bar now; please, keep me posted.”

  “I will,” Savannah said as her mother disconnected. She turned to face Timon, who was busy inspecting the Aspect in front of him. Most of the aspects in the Wellspring worked in some capacity, but this one appeared to be only standing around. Timon was walking around it and she could hear him talking, but the Aspect didn’t respond. Maybe it was malfunctioning, if that was even possible.

  “Let’s get you a gun and get out of here,” Savannah said, interrupting him.

  “Are you okay?” Timon asked, stepping away from the Aspect. “You look a little pale.”

  “Family drama,” Savannah replied. “We’ll be fine. After we get the gun, we’ll go find a great hunting ground for some Virals.”

  “How long will this take?” Timon asked. “Not long, I hope?”

  “Time dilates in here. A year to us is about a day to the real world, so we have plenty of time. That is, if you have the fortitude to hang out that long.”

  “How is that possible?” Timon asked. “Do we age?”

  “Not in the real world, and that’s all that counts,” Savannah said. “And, I have no idea how it works. Don’t forget, Timon, this place was built in the World Before. It’s not like it came with instructions. No one really knows how any of it works.”

  “King Leopold does,” Timon replied. “At least, that’s what the Nobles are saying. He refuses to share his knowledge, however.”

  Savannah smiled. The idea of one day sitting in the inner circles, listening to the words and opinions of Nobles around her, was what kept her going. She could see herself dressed in robes of silk and gold, sitting upon satin cushions and drinking only the finest of wines. The intrigue, the politics… all of it seemed so fascinating to her. Soon, she would be amongst the Courts; a rightful member of the ruling class.

  Timon flexed his hands as they walked through the eternal fields of golden wheat, happy with his new armor. Savannah had paid a lot of points to load them both up with the best gear. They had Tier 3 Armor, extremely rare Energy Rifles, and a few special Ability Cards.

  Ability cards were power-ups that could fit into a player’s ability slot. Each player had three slots and could switch out their special abilities anytime they wanted to, outside of combat. Savannah normally had her special abilities focused entirely on mobility and damage, as she rarely found any use for the defensive or utility items. Hitting fast and hard was her specialty, and it had worked out well for her so far. Timon, on the other hand, had only been given defensive cards and a power-up that allowed him to immediately switch places with Savannah. That would be handy in case he was ambushed.

  “Now, this is what I imagined!” Timon said as he swung his rifle around. “Kickass gear and great weapons.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Savannah said, smiling at the way he was strutting across the field. She had put all of her eggs into this basket by spending almost thirty thousand points on weapons and armor. It was a sizable investment. She hoped that Timon would keep his end of the bargain. Of course, going into the High Courts and screaming about him hiring a Grinder would be a very embarrassing situation for him, but all that would do was cause embarrassment. No, she’d have to make sure he paid up before leaving the game. It wouldn’t be like that Sal girl. Not at all.

  That was the problem with working in an illegal trade—there were no protections when a client reneged on a deal. A good Grinder would make sure that their clients were trustworthy, but that usually fell to her father’s discernment. Without him around lately, Savannah had been forced to make her own judgement calls on the last few clients. Other than Sal, they had all paid her, although one had paid after he’d left the Grind by sending her his pod’s SIM card that had the remaining points left on the balance. That had been a pain to take care of.

  Some Grinders would resort to violence in the real world to ensure that a client paid up, but that was far beyond Savannah’s capabilities. She would, instead, do her best to avoid making Timon uncomfortable, like she had her last client. While Sal had screwed her over for basically no reason, she’d taught Savvy a valuable lesson—always at least pretend to listen to what your client is worried about.

  “Over there!” Timon said, nearly drunk with enthusiasm. He pointed to a cluster of humanoid-looking Virals. They were greenish, with swirling masses of energy in their hands. Above each of their heads were the words Energy Binder in blue. Blue enemies were a little tougher than the Viral that Savannah had fought earlier, though. The points were good, but there were a lot of them in this grouping—around twelve from the looks of things. “Let’s go fight them!”

  Savannah sized them up, realizing she would definitely need Timon’s help in the fight. “Okay. That rifle I gave you has the longest range in the game, so stay back.”

  “You got it!” Timon said with a boyish enthusiasm. He was gleefully impatient to test out his weapon. It appeared that all of his reservations had vanished the moment he’d gotten into some expensive armor. That was the typical mindset of a Noble, of course. As long as they had the finest items, they were confident in their abilities.

  Savannah sorted through her inventory and selected the Swarm Missile Tube, her Rocket Launcher. It would fire thirty rockets at a time if she held the charge down long enough. The rockets were small, but the area of effect was far more important than direct hits with such a large cluster of enemies as this one.

  Loading 1/30 floated above her as the long, black tube made a series of clicking noises, rotating as each missile was loaded into its circular chambers. She grinned as she selected the Overdrive power, waiting to activate it so that she could increase her damage even more. This surprise attack would be enough to take down a few of them, at least.

  As the Rocket Launcher continued to load up, a red streak of energy surged past Savannah and hit one of the Energy Binders. It immediately hissed, and all of them began to move towards Savannah and Timon at once.

  “What the hell!” Savannah shouted as she looked at Timon.

  “It wasn’t me, I didn’t shoot anything!”

  Savannah didn’t have time to look behind her; she unloaded the Rocket Launcher immediately, only firing seventeen missiles. The explosives sailed through the air and crashed into the ground around the Energy Binders. 66 damage hovered above several of the Energy Binders, but it wasn’t enough. They returned fire on Savannah, shooting bolts of blue and green energy at her.

  “Back up and shoot!” Savannah shouted as she ran to the right, moving through the fields of wheat. Energy crashed towards her, vaporizing the wheat but missing her. The al
ert Cooling 15s hovered above Savannah’s gun. She growled and switched out to her mid-range Flak Cannon.

  She aimed her cannon and fired as she moved in a circle, trying to pull Aggro off of Timon. For some reason, Timon had a few of the Energy Binders shooting at him. He was scrambling away, taking potshots in between dodging the energy bursts. His armor would give him four hundred more points of health than normal—hopefully that would last him for a while.

  Savannah’s Flak Cannon went gak! gak! as the golden pieces of flak burst forth. However, the flak bounced off a thin energy shield around one of the Energy Binders. She glanced over to see one Binder in the middle with its hands in the air, powering a shield. She’d have to break the shield with enough damage or kill that Binder. If she’d been able to ready her attack in time, she wouldn’t be worrying about this kind of situation, but it was what it was.

  “Timon!” she shouted in vain. He was still busy trying to dodge the attacks from the energy blasts and wouldn’t be able to line up a shot on the one in the center. She checked to see if any of her guns had penetration, but she had selected all energy weapons. Ballistic weapons needed bullets, which were too much of a headache to keep track of, in her opinion. Unfortunately, this was one of those situations where even a revolver would have come in handy.

  “Crap, we gotta bail!” Savannah shouted. “Timon, let’s get—” her words were interrupted by a single bolt of energy crashing down from the sky. The yellow bolt struck the Energy Binder’s shield hard, shattering it.

  Savannah didn’t hesitate, and aimed her Flak Cannon while activating her speed boost, moving closer to the Energy Binder that had been creating the shield. She let loose a torrent of flak, dealing 150 damage total to the unshielded Binder and killing it swiftly. A blurry yellow figure was moving from Binder to Binder now, striking at them. The words Chain Strike hovered about the yellow shadow as it dealt damage to each Binder. Savannah fired on the Binders, dropping them one after another.