Countdown (Reality Benders Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  Miss! Miss! Miss! I had been trying to avoid thinking about harming Minn-O La-Fin so I wouldn’t trip her Danger Sense. Apparently, it hadn’t worked. Miss! The graceful girl, surprisingly agile in her scaly suit and chameleon cloak, could foresee where my bullets would fly and dodged every shot like Neo in The Matrix! Miss! Miss! Now here was something new. Minn-O La-Fin ran five steps vertically up a wall and flipped backward to dodge my last two shots. Miss! Miss! Miss!

  My clip emptied, I took cover again to reload, picking back up in the conversation:

  “Look who's talking about Danger Sense! You were just jumping like a mountain goat!”

  Minn-O La-Fin didn’t answer. But I heard a strange sound, as if she was pulling the pin from a grenade.

  Danger Sense skill increased to level eight!

  Not wasting a single second, I sharply hopped up, ran three steps and jumped down the open hatch. I nearly broke my legs in the rough landing and even lost ten percent of my health. But that was nothing, because I had escaped near certain death. I heard a plunk above me. A bright light lit up the darkness of the overcast evening, and a piercing sound somewhere between a creak and squeak, cut painfully into my ears. For a few seconds I was stunned, even though I was outside the flashbang grenade’s radius.

  Fame increased to 21.

  Fame increased to 22.

  Fame increased to 23.

  What the crap?! I might have understood if my Agility or Danger Sense had gone up, but how did Fame come into this? It took me a few seconds to realize that these system messages were totally unconnected with this battle. Most likely, the video clip of our group entering the Relict base had just been broadcast on the intergalactic news. All the same, it made me freeze. Just for a few seconds, but that was time I didn’t have...

  It was too risky to go up the nearest stairs now. Minn-O La-Fin had probably already made it to the containers overhead. Yep, she was almost right above me. I saw her red triangle. One very useful aspect of the Targeting skill was that, even after losing an enemy from view, I could still see their marker for some time, even through a wall. I heard the sound of a pin being pulled again. My enemy was about to throw a grenade down the hatch.

  I ran down the long straight corridor. Based on the mini-map, there was a second way up at the other end of it. I heard a loud plunk behind me, the corridor lit up with a bright flash, but I was far enough away and was unharmed. While running, I changed out the clip of the PCP rifle, reached the opposite set of stairs and was about to go up when I sharply stopped. What I saw just couldn’t be.

  Next to the stairs on the floor, there was a dead Geckho with its throat slit lying in a pool of blood! I suspected the other ferry crew members had also been killed, which is why no Geckho had reacted to the sound of our firefight, grenades and just general chaos. The fact that the Dark Faction wanted to take me prisoner was enough reason to panic, but now I was terrified.

  “You is already to find other door? I here too. You don’t climb up now. Too slow,” in the hatch over my head, Minn-O La-Fin’s smiling face flickered past, and immediately took cover.

  Well damn! I was hoping to trick the nimble girl and sneak up on her from behind. But she easily predicted where I’d be. She was now just waiting in ambush at the hatch above me. Although... a cold sweat washed over me. Why did I think she predicted anything? What if she could also see my marker? She probably had a bunch of similar skills and abilities, so it seemed she was tracking me as well.

  That was frightening. Minn-O La-Fin was more than twenty levels higher than me, had much better skills and a better weapon. My only advantage was that Scanning and Targeting allowed me to track her. I guess that wasn’t such an advantage after all...

  “Why did you kill the Geckho?” I shouted, changing out my long-range Angel Dust for the close combat shotgun.

  “No, Gnat. You no understand how genius is we plan. It you that killing four Geckho on ferry. Only you is buy ticket. My group sneak on ship and kill quiet. No one Geckho is see. But when they is respawn, they be very angry and immediately to know who do all this murder. Only can be Gnat. They finding you and know. Is no question.”

  The girl's face flickered by in the hatch once again, but this time I was ready, immediately shooting from both barrels. Based on the painful shout and yelling in her language, at least one ball had hit.

  Targeting skill increased to level eight!

  Sharpshooter skill increased to level eighteen!

  Astrolinguistics skill increased to level thirty-three!

  You have reached level thirty!

  You have received three skill points! (total points accumulated: six)

  Listening to the muted groans and first-aid kit being ripped open up above, I unhurriedly reloaded my shotgun, then opened the skill window and tossed three points into Medium Armor and three into Rifles.

  Now, it didn’t seem so hopeless. There were bodies of two Dark Faction soldiers and the signs of a pitched battle. That would immediately tell the Geckho that there were stowaways on board. I just had to leave more clues to attract their attention. I took out the laser pistol and put the weapon into constant beam mode. I burned a complex Geckho phrase into the metal wall over the corpse:

  “Minn-O La-Fin, granddaughter of Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin did this.”

  Putting the overheated pistol back in my inventory, I told Minn-O La-Fin what I’d written. To make her even madder, I said it couldn’t be washed off or erased. I also added that the corpses of her allies wouldn’t disappear before the ferry reached my faction’s territory. Once there, I said, a large group of Geckho would fly in to investigate. So actually, the beauty of the situation was that my allies and I would never have to answer for this quadruple murder and property destruction. It would all be pinned on Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin and his granddaughter, and the Geckho would be foaming at the mouth when they figured it out.

  The Cartographer didn’t answer, but her marker started gradually heading for the center of the ferry. Did she want to get rid of her companion’s corpses? No such luck! I won’t let you destroy evidence! I dashed up the stairs, but just before I reached the top, I stopped sharply, wanting to test whether Minn-O La-Fin really was tracking me.

  And I stopped just in the nick of time! Just a few inches over my head, a flash blasted out. The cartographer was expecting me again and decided to greet me with a whole series of laser pulses. Strange that Danger Sense hadn’t warned me. On the other hand, I wasn’t planning to stick my head out, so it made sense.

  I was not in an especially great situation. My enemy was tracking me to make sure I couldn’t come on deck, and it wouldn’t take her too long to throw the bodies overboard. Most likely, she would then leave the ship herself. She might even jump into the water and respawn somewhere safe. And there was nothing I could do to stop her...

  Her marker soon disappeared, and I had no idea what Minn-O La-Fin was doing or where she was. Most likely, she had gotten rid of the bodies like I expected. Perhaps, I should risk it and try to go out one of the hatches. But that was a very dangerous plan and most likely would end in my death or paralysis.

  Then I got a brilliant idea. I knew how to get iron-clad proof that other people were on the ferry. Just run a scan like on the Shiamiru!!! That would give me a detailed three-dimensional diagram of the ferry, along with all living creatures and dead bodies! I could present that to the Geckho, if I needed to prove that there were other people on the ferry. It would at least show Minn-O La-Fin, and maybe her two henchmen’s bodies as well!

  I hurried down into the hold and quickly found my two containers. An unexpected problem arose, though. Which one contained my scanner supplies? There was nothing written on the packaging. Also, both hard-sided containers were sealed, so opening them was another complication, especially without tools...

  I stood there and thought over the problem. Suddenly, the ferry shook, and the antigravitational thrusters went silent. What the crap? Had she stopped the boat?! Most likely. After
all, Minn-O La-Fin’s greatest problem was a lack of time. As it was, the ferry would be arriving to the pier in the Antique Beach node in twenty minutes. And I had reminded her it was controlled by a hostile faction! I couldn’t hope for help from my allies now. Also, the Cartographer girl had an unlimited amount of time at her disposal. Well, well... what a female dog!

  On the other hand, with this action, Minn-O La-Fin had revealed her location. The ferry was controlled from a booth on the upper deck, so she must have been there. And that meant I had time to break open the boxes and search them for my analyzers. How to open the hard-plastic containers? If I were on a normal human ship, I'd look for a box in the wall reading “in case of fire, break glass.” That would get me an axe or crowbar and, with something like that, I’d be set! But would there be such a thing on a Geckho ferry?

  I walked through the gloomy hold to look. On the far wall, I found a panel with a red alarm button. I headed to it and tried to figure out the complicated text.

  Hold pest control system. Warning!!! This will release a poisonous gas. Before use, put on a defensive suit or gas mask!!!

  Astrolinguistics skill increased to level thirty-four!

  I supposed this was the longest and most complicated thing I had ever read in Geckho, so I the pride I felt was well deserved. But I was also disappointed that this was not a fire emergency box and could not help me open the containers.

  Then, standing in the gloom, I started looking for something more useful. My eyes caught a vague movement in the far end of the hold.

  Successful Perception check

  I froze, looking into the gloom. Aha! It was Minn-O La-Fin! She had come down from the control booth on the upper deck into the hold so quickly! Crouching with a weapon, she was looking around carefully. But I ducked around a corner before she saw me. I could see her though.

  After Minn-O La-Fin made sure the coast was clear, she started doing something very strange. One after the next, every few yards, she was sticking round metal pucks to the floor and pressing down to activate them, making them glow red. She was mining the ship!

  Throwing the corpses overboard, erasing security camera footage (if this ferry even had such a thing), cleaning up the traces of battle... those were all half measures. This was the most radical solution to her problem: no ferry, no clues leading back to the Dark Faction! In the end, there would just be four extremely angry respawned Geckho, all placing the blame squarely on Gnat, the only other living soul on the ship!

  I clenched my teeth in rage. Alright, if she wanted to up the stakes, I had a surprise of my own! I put on my light space suit and placed my hand on the red button. Although it hadn’t worked the last time, I tried to put all thoughts about harming Minn-O La-Fin out of my head. I even stashed my weapon, to demonstrate my peaceful intentions to the game algorithms. No, I didn’t wish any ill on this girl. She had nothing to do with this. I had just seen some rats and bugs in the hold, and they needed to be exterminated. Minn-O La-Fin was still mining as if nothing had happened, so I figured I was on the right track, at least for now. And if that was so, now was the time!

  I pressed down hard on the red button.

  Chapter Thirty-Two. Breaking Protocol

  “UNT URO FI?” My attention was drawn by a timid voice. I stopped studying the switchboard panel and turned around.

  Minn-O La-Fin had come to her senses and was now looking around trying to figure out how she’d ended up in the ferry’s electrical room. There were no portholes here, so the only source of light in the pitch blackness was a flashlight I had stolen from Minn-O La-Fin after losing mine taking down the Relict drone.

  The girl squinted when I pointed the bright beam at her face, then looked closer, met gazes with me, and shuddered in fear, remembering everything at once.

  “Gnat?! What is be? What you doing to I?” Splayed out on the floor like a starfish, the naked captive was stayed stock still, as if to evaluate her wellbeing. Then, she started thrashing to try and break the ties.

  I saw no reason to conceal the truth. After all, I hadn’t used any top-secret methods, so I told Minn-O La-Fin in detail about what had happened:

  “While you were mining the ferry, I turned on the pest control system and filled the hold with poison gas. Then I dragged your body up and, while you were unconscious, tied you up and took your weapon. But given that your health bar was almost at zero, I was afraid you’d fly off the handle and deprive me of the most obvious proof you were here. So, I used my Prospector tool to get... how to explain... something like a three-dimensional diagram showing everything aboard this ferry.”

  “So you are bad, take picture of I naked?” Of everything I said, she plucked that one detail out and got indignant.

  “Not just that!” I thought, amusing myself, although I didn’t say anything out loud.

  I set my device to scan for organic matter, so all living creatures and corpses came out on the diagram in great detail, with all the bone structure and internal organs, enough to get a full picture of both human and Geckho anatomy. By the way, Minn-O La-Fin had recently broken the radius of her left arm and it had healed. There was also lead shot in her right shoulder, most likely from my shotgun.

  I could easily explain the shot, although the girl healed so fast I was impressed and even scared. Just an hour after getting shot, the marks on her skin were barely visible. And the fracture also made me seriously think. When respawning, all injuries and whatnot would disappear. And I knew she’d respawned no more than two days ago, after our encounter in the Harpy Cliffs. That meant Minn-O La-Fin had broken her arm since then and fully healed! The stuff of fiction! Either the residents of the alternative Earth had amazing innate tissue regeneration abilities, or their medical technology was an order of magnitude better than ours.

  I had also studied the other physiological details of the alternative-earthling, but I had enough tact not to discuss that with her.

  “It’s not important what was in the image. But I did get indisputable evidence that there were other people on the ferry, including the two corpses. But a side effect of the scan was that it overloaded the ferry’s electronics. I didn’t have to even do that, though. You have high Constitution and good tissue regeneration. Your bullet wound healed, and you recovered from the poison.”

  “Me rather to die, than be shame naked prisoner of you!” the girl shouted out angrily and again started flailing.

  I hadn’t undressed and tied her up to humiliate the girl. It would have been stupid not to do both of those things because, in this virtual game, dying and respawning in a safe place meant guaranteed freedom. Dark Faction technology was highly advanced, and she might have had a miniature weapon, poison, explosive or antimatter capsule hidden in her clothes that could be triggered by words, and that would stop me from bringing my prisoner to port.

  But now, I wasn’t the least bit worried because I had tied her wrists and ankles tight with strong ropes, fixing their ends to sturdy metal structures in the room. Basically, I had followed the Second Legion’s example, although I set her face up, and didn’t blindfold or gag her.

  I watched her struggling fitfully for some time to make sure she was tied down firmly, then lost all interest and returned to the fuse box. I was studying the bundles of wire, trying the many breakers and trying to figure out why there was no light. In the darkness, I could hear heavy waves beating on the side of the drifting ferry. There was also Minn-O La-Fin huffing and puffing as she tried to pull her arms or legs from the ropes. I tried not to pay those sounds any mind and got swallowed up in my difficult task.

  But a few minutes later, I heard the Dark Faction girl make an offended demand:

  “Gnat, you no can do this! Untie fast, fast! I nobility Princess and no can be such in shame!”

  “Oh yeah, you’re a real noble princess? With a shaved crotch and painted nipples?” I answered mockingly, not holding back. “By the way, when you were first captured in our node, I don’t remember any of that. Did you do all that
for me? Or maybe the harpies?”

  I heard outraged wheezing from the darkness, then a few long and very emotional phrases spewed out in her language, probably including many vulgarities and bad names. But I didn’t react to her righteous indignation, which just made her madder.

  Astrolinguistics skill increased to level thirty-five!

  I finally understood a phrase in her language, “greasy hooker’s ass.” It was somehow connected with my name, but I was unable to make out any other words.

  Finally, my prisoner said her fill and calmed down, changing to a business-like tone back in my language:

  “Gnat, you no is right. You no can insult I. You come close. Offer you for negotiate. I scary in dark.”

  Minn-O La-Fin was afraid of the dark? It was strange to hear such a thing from the ruthless and calculating warrior, who had at least given an order to cut the throats of four Geckho and perhaps even done so herself. Nevertheless, I walked up closer and sat on a box next to her.

  “No you look, prying eye!” the naked captive got offended, following my gaze.

  Still, having noticed that all her hysterics, attempts to command or refer to her noble origin had no effect, the cartographer got to business: “I wanting to know price for ransom. Three thousand crystals, is be good?”

  I didn’t even laugh. Her offer just looked so stupid:

  “Your grandfather bought his crooked stick back from me for five thousand. Do you think he values you less than an inanimate object?! But the issue isn’t the price. No amount of money could make me let you go this time. First of all, the faction leadership would tear me to pieces. And second, enough easy outs. They got you before and let you go as the granddaughter of a respected Leng, but the lesson didn’t stick. So, now you’ll be a common prisoner. Maybe that will teach you.”