Winter Harvest
Page 16
“Tyto?”
“Well, he holds a grudge. For whatever reason, he wants you dead.”
I wasn’t going to go into details for him. I looked through the shielding and watched as several others were battling out, training. It was grim out there. Several groups. Several high up ones. Did I really need someone tagging along? Company was always good, but I’d already been technically stabbed in the back by someone I trusted. I wasn’t going to let anyone else have the same chance any time soon.
“Then it’ll be good to have someone else around. How often do you train here?”
“Every morning, before I find someone to follow,” Dylan said.
Scavenger wasn’t quite what I’d have him pegged for. But he knew where the good stuff was laid out for him to steal with minimal effort. I couldn’t blame someone for doing that.
“Then I will see you here tomorrow. I want to get to know some of the guns and other tech today. Work my way up in tech, know what to aim for.”
“You know what you’re wanting to build your denti up to?” he asked.
Dylan closed the shield, and the rest of the people who weren’t training in the yard looked over. I didn’t look at Dylan at all, but I watched as the others gave him attention in the way of a nod.
“I do,” I answered. “Battle Mage and Engineer.”
“Wow, that’s some skill set. The sword play will come in handy. Mechs do get up close and personal.”
“I didn’t say mech pilot?”
He winked at me. “Pretty obvious, there’s not many who would want to put Battle Mage and Nanite Engineer together.”
It was his smile that got me, genuine. Today had been pretty good. Seemed surviving out there when Rytin and crew didn’t had gotten me more respect. The many crews in the yard just went about their business. While I loved to train, this was a great opportunity for me to also stand back for a few moments to see other combatants going at it.
I watched various people for a while as Dylan walked away over to the weapons stores, and I followed.
Perhaps he wants to show you more?
I think he’s still testing me, I replied to Hiroto. “Care to pick something?” Dylan asked.
I looked at the vast display of what I could choose from and knew what I really wanted to practice with: a sniper rifle. I walked down the racks, looking and weighing up each gun, as I couldn’t ID any of them.
All of them flashed up with RED = ACCESS DENIED
I walked some more—they were obviously just out of my level. I needed to learn, right?
The further I walked, the weapons turned from RED to AMBER = TRAINING REQUIRED
I didn’t think I was ready for any of those yet either. I continued on, some distance from Dylan as I turned to see him. He was chatting to a guard by the main doorway now.
I saw one that flashed up green. It didn’t look that dissimilar from the ones back on Earth I’d seen in video games. I slid it off the rack, feeling its weight. It was light, and its stats flashed.
MX 87 SNIPER RIFLE
DAMAGE at 44% = or CRITICAL HIT
WEIGHT 3.9lb
MANA CORE 60%
ROUNDS 300
I smiled at Dylan, who walked up.
“Not a bad choice, want to practice?”
I nodded. “Yes. As much as I know what I want to achieve, doesn’t hurt to see some of the toys.”
He grinned at me. “No, that’s what will keep you going on the shitty days, and believe me—there will be many of those.”
He indicated for me to follow him, and I did. He didn’t take anything off the rack for himself.
It was a good distance to a private bay.
When I approached it, he came in beside me. “I want to see what you can do without any guidance.”
“The weapon seems simple enough. Easy to use scope, trigger.”
“Try it at fifty meters,” Dylan said, pulling the target pin.
I watched as a figure of something shot out into view. I took aim, fired. It didn’t have any kick back, and it felt smooth. I knew I’d hit it without need for confirmation.
“One hundred meters.” Dylan also didn’t need to see the target to know I’d struck.
I waited for the target to pop up and shot again. I was sure it wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t out either.
“A thousand meters.”
This time when it was in view, I waited, needing my hand to steady a little. I didn’t want to rush this one and miss altogether. Hit.
“Do you think you could hit further?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I won’t know unless I try.”
“Two thousand meters.”
Once again, I could see the target, but I took my time, breathing in and out. I pulled the trigger. Missed. Breathed in and took it again, a hit. That was more like it.
EVEN WITH A MISS YOU STILL RANK UP! SNIPER RANK 7!
I looked up at Dylan.
“You were in the military, right?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I just played a lot of games,”
“Ah, games?” he said. “VR, right?”
“Well, yeah, I had some great friends. We used to practice a lot,” I added.
“You must have.” The score came up on the board. “Decent hits. You’d be a great sniper for any team.”
“What can you do out here as a hired gun?” I heard someone else come up behind us as I asked, and I turned to see Borix.
“With scores like that, you can choose some nice decent missions at spotting from the towers.” Borix looked me up and down. “You’ve been training just this morning?”
Dylan kicked me. “He’s been with me, yes.” I really hoped he wouldn’t look too close.
“Then that’s good to know. He shows promise. Shall we try another toy or two?”
Dylan frowned, not wanting to put me against anything too soon. I grinned though, not wanting to impress people. I knew I needed to get somewhere and fast, and if that meant I needed to put a few holes in the way they did things around here and hide why, then I would. I needed and wanted to get out of here to do other things, and this was a nice learning day. I would use it.
Dylan followed as Borix led me back to the weapon rack. Borix then pulled out two very different styles of gun. They didn’t look anything like what I had seen before. Their names came up but no other stats.
M211 ASSAULT BLASTER 491 MAINS CANNONS
They were both flashing ORANGE. I wasn’t even sure how to work them.
When back in my firing spot, Borix pulled the target and set it to a mile. That was something else.
Borix laughed at Dylan. “You think he can fire it and hit that far away?”
“I’m betting that he can not only do that, but both weapons at two miles.”
Borix sucked in a breath. “Care to wager on that?”
Dylan grinned. I knew that there were probably better ways for him to earn the money back that I’d cost them, but without this kind of underhanded deal maybe it would take a while.
I smiled. “I’ll take the challenge, but the wagers are on you two. The only thing I want to be able to do is go to the city. I believe there’s some real burgers there. That meal’s on you.”
Borix raised an eyebrow. “Been talking to the locals at the dinner queue, I see. Yes, there’s a stall in the centre of the town that sells the most amazing burgers. I think if you hit both targets at a mile, you can go. If you take the third one and you miss, you’re staying here to practice till you do. And then I will get to assign you a few other missions.”
Dylan didn’t seem so happy with that as a wager, but I held my hand out. “Deal.” I said.
Dylan nodded, holding out his hand. He took the gold. The bet was taken, and soon I realised that there was a small crowd of people around us.
So it was on. I would either get to go to the city and out for a bit. Or I would have to be in servitude to the guard. Yeah, it seemed like a great set of choices.
I listened to th
em drone on in the background, and then I set to. I focussed on the weapon first, feeling how it hummed in my hands, not like the others at all. And that there was something really different about it.
HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE ENGAGED RANK 8 ACHIEVED
ESTABLISHING CONNECTION
CONNECTION ESTABLISHED SIGHT IMPROVED BY 68%
YOU HAVE CONNECTED WITH THE M211 ASSAULT BLASTER
I opened my eyes and could see a lot more, like there were flows and ways to the world ahead of me, and so many things I could be distracted with. I turned away from trying to figure it all out. But the crowd was getting larger. I didn’t want to fail, and I didn’t want to push myself before I could.
Kyle?
Right now! He had to be kidding. I didn’t have time to be talking with all this going on. However, I clicked the accept and waited.
I wouldn’t have missed that shot, Hiroto snickered. I laughed back. Okay, you can do it!
Would you like assistance with the shot? He asked carefully.
Goddamn. Hiroto! I asked. If you can do that, do it!
I require permission before I take over your extremities. You would feel some disorientation, and loss of control is a fear for most humans.
I found myself laughing, but Borix gave me a few funny looks. Can any of them see you’re helping me?
No. No one else can see. There are no records anywhere, and with my unique abilities, you’ll learn from my assistance and might not need me in the future.
Do all denti get help like this?
No. Is there much you remember from your install?
I struggled to remember much of that day, bar how much it hurt afterwards. I’d love to talk about all this with you in depth, will you let me?
Programming goes so far, but you already know that, Kyle. I was an excellent marksman, no matter the weapon. If I can help, I will.
I accepted the offer of aid. Show me what I need to know.
It was strange. I heard a click, and several other notification boxes came up, and I watched as they just did what they wanted. I had no control over anything. I tried to move, to just twitch a finger, a toe, nothing. I panicked. Could Hiroto lock me out altogether? Do something I would never dream of?
As he moved through the blaster’s options though, I read along with him and noted which options were being chosen.
The detail was amazing from here, and pulling the trigger—oh, fucking hell yeah! I hit every target they threw at me and never missed.
It was amazing. That burger would be well worth it.
LEVEL 11 ACHIEVED - YOU HAVE FIVE STAT POINTS TO ASSIGN
CONGRATULATION BATTLE MAGE RANK 6 ACHIEVED! JOB WELL DONE.
BASIC MY ASS! SNIPER RANK 8 ACHIEVED.
YOU JUST SURPASSED ALL YOUR OTHER ADVANCES. BE CAREFUL, PEOPLE ARE TAKING NOTE!
Chapter Sixteen
I may have won one small thing and been given permission to go to the city, which is what I’d wanted to do with Rytin and the team, but I also knew I needed to earn funds to be able to pick up some of the things I was seeing around the base. The more observant I was, the more I learned. Listening in was an actual system skill, and I was developing that fast.
I did find that over the next few weeks everything in the base was pretty regular, and the missions coming in were easy to complete. Dylan trained with me as he said he would in the mornings. Then when I picked a mission up, he would do exactly what he said: follow.
My levels were increasing; I was now Level 12 and ranking in skills had improved a good deal too, including Battle Mage, and Gun Smith. Now that I had the time to think, I assigned my ten points. Three to Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom, and one to Intelligence. Now I was catching the basic levels here. I didn’t feel quite so out of place, well, almost.
Name - Kyle Ranz
Species - Human/Denti
Year of Death - 2629
Class = Fighter/Sorcerer
Age 18
Level = 12
Respawns = 2
Memories = 94%
Health = 96%
Mana = 9
Nanites x 37,240
Body Type = Unknown
Structural Integrity = Tungsten and Alumi
Internal AI Chip = X Class
Skin Strength = 8
Blood Capacity = 6
Healing Speed = 12
Strength = 8
Dexterity = 10
Constitution = 11
Intelligence = 10
Wisdom = 13
Charisma = 6
Luck = 4
Quick Points = 0
Skills =
Foot Soldier - Rank 6
Battle Mage - Rank 7
Merc - Rank 2
Sniper - Rank 8
Gun Smith - Rank 6
Nanite Engineer - Rank 7
Human/Machine Interface - Rank 10
Shadow Awareness - Rank 3
Deception - Rank 5
Sword Play - Rank 4
Special Traits Awarded x 3 – Any extras here do not show on your Stat Sheet Totals.
Healer = Internal AI Chip X Class – Crystalline and Silver metal chip with integrated healer nanites led by Xe Aria.
Intelligence = Internal prototype AI Chip, inserted on 17th birthday, with consciousness of Hiroto.
Shade Brain – One in a million, you managed to not only keep your memories, but you can also hide them. Your character sheet is elusive to even the strongest of will. Be aware, this will be your downfall in high company (expert and above).
Spell - Active - Minor Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 2 and x 1 Mana per second.
Spell - Passive - Medium Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 7 and x 10 Mana per second.
Spell - Passive - Intensive Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 14 and x 100 Mana per second.
I was so close to moving up in Healing Spells. It was good. As for working with Dylan on the whole, I found it odd at first. He was so good at not being noticed that when it was time to collect payment or find hidden loot and goodies, he showed up. Took what he wanted and moved on. Just like that. There was no interference and no trouble from him. We were like ships passing. However, my finds and my XP were growing.
Within a few weeks, not only had I stopped looking over my shoulder, but often people were making sure I had what I wanted in the food queues.
While Dylan closed off our practice session one morning, I warmed up, doing some nice stretches.
But he put his sword down. “We’re not practising this morning,” he said simply, palming the side of the shield to call the water unit.
He handed me a bottle and sat down, indicating for me to join him. “What’s going on?”
“No one’s made a move at all on you. No one. Don’t you find that strange?”
I had. Hiroto had scanned my room every time we returned but found nothing. “Yeah, actually I do. Almost like the bounty on me is there just for show. Nothing else. If you can’t find out what’s going on, then I sure won’t be able to.”
“Correct. That’s why I have a few other people looking out for it now. Tyto and his friends are making sure what they’re doing is not only in the background but well under wraps, even from people I’ve been using as moles for years.”
“This is something you’re not used to, right?”
“Yeah, I find it a little off-putting.”
“Why? What’s the worry? You’re getting decent payments from following me around.”
“I don’t like to be in the dark with anyone. My network talks about everything. But it seems Tyto has you locked down. No one is uttering a word.”
The mission boards started to get busy—this was also earlier than usual. It piqued my interest. “Something is going on. Want to go look?”
He shook his head. “No, we’ll stay here until they’re all gone. Whatever it is, you don’t want to be part of it. Today or this week. I think we’ll concentrate on getting you some more strength in your skin. Okay?”
“Then I want to take you up a level. We’ll move down to the other side of the yard, with the other machinery.”
“Machinery?”
“You know what’s there. Don’t play coy.” He grinned. “Think you can handle one yet?”
“You’re wanting to put me in charge of a mech, even basic? I’m going to jump at the chance. If I can grasp using one of those this early, it would be great for my XP.”
Don’t get too excited. He could be playing you still.
Crap. Hiroto was right.
“At least I know what basic stats you’re aiming for, strength and shields. Come on, let’s get out of here. While they’re all playing watch- the-missions, we can get in one of the rooms without anyone else catching on. Get you a few lessons in your specialty. I heard you actually have a Lightning Sword. Know how to use it?”
“I was going to get it fixed up in town, but we’ve never had the chance to get out there, it needs fixing up still. It’s in bad repair.” I almost bounced up, really wanting to see what these things could do. “And no, I’ve not tried to use it for real yet.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that trip. Wanted you to grow a bit more first. Improve in all things. Bit of a rat race in town.”
I could understand that. So, I just nodded and followed.
The yard ended, and there were several training rooms, numbered and with lock-out panels for security. He moved to one and scanned his ID. I did the same. I was only just bare minimum on my basic stats with his assistance. Just like with some of the guns earlier, I would at least be allowed in.