The Electric Mile (Gamer Handle: Vector Book 1)

by Jack Crosby

  The Electric Mile

  By Jack Crosby

  Pseudosynth Press

  First Edition

  © 2016

  Please do not re-distribute this book

  in any way or format for

  commercial purposes

  or change the content.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the names, places,

  and events that occur are from

  the author’s imagination.

  Any resemblance to an actual

  person, alive or dead, place,

  historical event, or business establishment

  is purely coincidental.

  Edited by Cindy Calloway

  Cover image by Bolt

  Table of Contents:

  Table of Contents:

  The Electric Mile:

  Chapter 1 - Thunderstruck

  Chapter 2 - Ali

  Chapter 3 - FPS

  Chapter 4 - Loot

  Chapter 5 – Ira

  Chapter 6 – Legendary

  Chapter 7 – Contest

  Chapter 8 – Sabotage

  Chapter 9 – Binary Cove

  Chapter 10 – Big Boss Man

  Chapter 11 – Reconcile

  Chapter 12 – The Canyon Run

  Chapter 13 – Freewill

  Chapter 14 – Dirty Deeds

  Chapter 15 – The Doom Train

  Chapter 16 – Slow Ride

  Chapter 17 – The Sound of Silence

  Chapter 18 – Bat in the Belfry

  Chapter 19 – Hold ‘Em and Fold ‘em

  Chapter 20 – Cut Loose

  Chapter 21 – Yo Ho, Yo Ho

  Chapter 22 – Crash and Dash

  Chapter 23 – Brick Wall

  Chapter 24 – Into the Void

  Chapter 25 – Return Trip

  Chapter 26 – The Old One

  Chapter 27 – Closing Time

  Chapter 28 – Frenemies

  Chapter 29 – Draxler

  Chapter 30 – The Electric Mile

  Chapter 31 – To the Top

  Chapter 32 – The Final Boss

  Chapter 33 – Vector’s Last Stand

  Credits

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  © Tanaka Corporation 20XX

  This book is written with a specific song in mind for each chapter. You too can enjoy this chapter-by-chapter music selection as you read the book. Click on the link below to synchronize this book to The Electric Mile Soundtrack.

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  Chapter 1 - Thunderstruck

  The Electric Mile – Tanaka Corporation’s brainchild that has sent the world into a fucking tizzy, a game so hard that no one can beat it. A great many have tried, yet all fail miserably. Even I’ve given it the old college go and failed. Me, the greatest video gamer alive: Vector.

  There was an intoxicating blend to the game. The Tanaka Corp (highlighted by its unique star emblem that mixed blue, gold, and green), owned and run by Yazmin Flockhart, had designed it with the intention to fit into every gamer’s profile. There were role-playing aspects, a few first person shooter stages, platforming-puzzle parts, even a few one on one fights with some awesome bosses.

  That didn’t even cover the different environments one had to go through just to explore everything. There was the futuristic Spark City, the B.O.R. wastelands, Coffin Cliffs, and the list went on. My favorite part was the Neon Underground – like a black market in the game where one could procure just about anything they needed.

  But the part of the game that gave it the name was the last stage – a light filled death course through the streets of the city that game took place in and around, Spark City. It was you against your character’s shadowy rival, Draxler. I’d gotten there a few times and it wasn’t pretty. According to message boards for the game, it was impossible to beat. To me, when I was Vector, nothing was impossible. I’d beat it.

  You know what I couldn’t beat? Being homeless and shit broke, that’s what. The real world sucks, man. God bless video games and the alternate reality they let you escape in. Vector’s the fucking bomb. Ash Wilde just plain sucks. Especially with my dad in lock up for running a chop shop and my mom dead.

  Don’t mind the place; it’s about all I have. This garage used to be my dad’s workshop, until he got busted for selling off the stolen car parts and ended up in the big house. Now the place in condemned and no one is stupid enough to bother coming here. It works for me. No better place for a nineteen year old high school drop out to lay low than your criminal dad’s old stomping grounds.

  The greatest part of all is the city, Alkaline Cove, never bothered to turn off the power to the place. I figured it had something to do with the fact the garage is a block away from the only viable medical facility in the ghetto, but still. You’d think someone would’ve looked into it.

  Either way, no one did and I was grateful. I was also grateful for the little bodega one block over. The owner, Mr. Santiago, was kind enough to give me the burritos that didn’t sell that day. Sure they weren’t world class, but it was better than the alternative – nothing.

  So with burritos in hand, I fired up my Game Station X and popped in the game. Beating The Electric Mile had become some sort of obsession. There was something about the game that made me want to keep going. And maybe it had something to do with my lame crush on ALI or the game’s Adaptive Live Intelligence. Whoever was the actress they got to voice her had to be fucking hot. Granted, her role in the game was providing tips to keep the player alive, but I also pretended she cared about me. Someone should.

  As the game booted on, I opened my current save profile and was waiting for it to load up. Thunder cracked in the background – wonderful. Part of me thought to turn the game off, but I was bored. A little thunder wouldn’t bother me.

  So imagine my surprise when, holding the controller, a crack of lightning hit the garage and zapped everything plugged in. That included my game system, which went into the controller, which went into me.

  ****

  I didn’t know how long I’d been laying there. My body hurt, felt as if I’d been run over by a truck or something. No, not a truck, I’d been struck by lightning. I moved my hands a few times and wiggled my toes. Everything seemed to be in working order.

  Except my brain. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my dad’s garage. No, this street looked oddly familiar. Obviously I was hallucinating. I got myself to my feet and stumbled for a moment. I was still feeling the effects of the strike.

  I took in more of my surroundings. It was dark and quiet. I pulled my hoodie up over my head and started to walk to what looked like a more populated area. It wasn’t cold, no it was actually quite nice, but I didn’t want to be seen. I still had no idea what was going on.

  As I passed a place called ‘Volts,’ the door opened and a hand reached out and grabbed me. It pulled me into the building, where it was pitch black. I couldn’t see my attacker or what was going on.

  A small digital light came on and my attacker was a smoking hot red head in a full on black leather cat suit. Well, there were worse ways to go. “If you’re going to kill me, at least do it quick and painless.”

  She looked at me funny. “I have no plans to kill you, Vector.”

  Did you ever have a moment where an answer to a question seemed so ludicrous that it actually hurt? The moment I heard her voice and the use
of the name Vector, the surroundings outside instantly leveled me. This was impossible. “Ali, is that you?”

  “It is and there is so much more to go over with you, but time is very limited. We need to leave Spark City and get to the Neon Underground.”

  The Neon Underground, one of my favorite places in the game to go! But, this had to be some sort of dream. “You’ve got to be joking. This ain’t real.”

  Seeing my stunned reactions, “This is very real. I’ve been scouting you ever since the first time you loaded the game up. You’re our chosen one. I just need you to trust me until we get to safety.”

  That lightning hit me harder than I realized. “Okay, whatever you say, boss lady.”

  With my acceptance to this crazy hallucination, Ali led me to the back of the building where a motorcycle was waiting. Not just any motorcycle mind you, this was the Avenger Nine. It was one of the unlockable vehicles in the game, so long as you met certain requirements. I’d been close before all of this happened.

  She threw her leg over and revved the engine. “Grab on and hold on tight.”

  I was hesitant to get on, but she pulled me up and put my arms around her. Holy shit, she was as soft and supple as I imagined her to be. I didn’t have much time to think about it as we took off out the back and on to the street.

  When she said hold on tight, she meant it. We were flying in a matter of seconds and she pulled out on to the main way. Unlike the street around Volts, this was where all the action was. An overwhelming rush of sounds and sights overloaded my senses. I closed my eyes and held on for dear life.

  “Are you doing well, Vector?”

  “As good as one can expect.”

  It was a bit hard to hear her, though I got the feeling she was about to say something important. “Stay close and don’t let go. Draxler is on his way.”

  Draxler, or as the game first introduced him, The Rival, was not one to take lightly. He worked for the big bad in the game, the CEO of Zeus Industries. The storyline of the game was that Zeus Industries was actually a front for a secret society bent on world domination. Cliché, yes, but the characters you met along the way told the story fantastic. Draxler was the mystery CEO’s weapon.

  Not much was known about Draxler in the game. He wore a black jumpsuit with yellow streaks on it. His face was covered by a Kabuki mask of a man frowning. He never spoke during any of the cut scenes. This made getting your ass whooped by him on the Electric Mile all the tougher to swallow.

  As we broke through the crowd, I heard the sounds of a second motorcycle approaching from behind us. Turning around, I saw the familiar mask and jumpsuit. “Yeah, he’s found us.”

  Ali leaned over the handlebars a bit more and gave the motorcycle more gas. “I apologize Vector, but this is about to get very real.”

  Just as she said it, she turned hard ninety-degrees, to the point we were almost touching the ground. Somehow she kept the bike’s balance and we were off. Unfortunately, Draxler was still on our tail.

  Chapter 2 - Ali

  Adaptive Live Intelligence – right now I didn’t think I could be more turned on by an artificial intelligence if I tried. There was something so sexy about the way she handled the Avenger Nine, bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic. There were a few times I was pretty sure she was going to run someone over only to narrowly avoid them at the last possible second.

  Behind us, Draxler was staying on point. Our little race also attracted the attention of most of the people nearby, too. “How much further until we’re safe?”

  Ali looked behind us and cursed softly. “Vector, you’re not going to like this.”

  Before I could find out what it was that I wouldn’t like, she popped a wheelie and bounced on the sidewalk. I remember shouting fuck a lot as we crashed into a glass store front and actually drove through the building. She crashed us out the back and on to a side alley. A quick turn again and we were on a road that led out of the city.

  I was breathing hard. Ali slowed the bike down, seeing as how we were in the clear. “I do apologize. It was critical though we get you far from Spark City for the time being. Seeing as how you’re currently level one, you’d be no match for Draxler in the race.”

  I had an assigned level? “Wow, I feel like such a noob.”

  “Don’t feel bad. You’re the very first player who has crossed over to us here.”

  The boatload of questions that had been building before the high speed exit came flooding back in. “Just how in the hell did a player get dragged into a game?”

  She pointed up to the one star in the sky. “That is the Alpha Star, the one glitch in this virtual reality that the makers forgot to clean up. Through the Alpha Star, if certain conditions can be met, a single player could be brought in to save this world.”

  “Couldn’t this world be saved just by beating it from the outside?”

  She snapped her fingers. “And there’s the hitch. The only way to beat the game and free us from Zeus Industries is to become one with the game and beat it from within.”

  Genius, absolutely fucking genius. “So the game truly is unbeatable…” I didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified. “So of all the players who own this game, you picked me?”

  “Our plight needed someone who cared more about the game than anything else.” There was an odd twinkle in her eye. “Plus, I know how much you thought about me, in certain ways.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa – just how in the hell did you know that?”

  “The controllers gamers use connect their subconscious to the worlds they are playing in. I just happen to be the one in this game who listens to those thoughts.”

  Everything I thought I knew about video gaming was being blown up in front of me. Not only were the worlds inside the games very real, but us as gamers were connected to them. Was there any place to get a virtual beer around here? I was going to need it.

  She kept going, “We’re safe from Zeus Industries and Draxler while we are out in the B.O.R. We won’t be able to make it to the Neon Underground for the time being due to the raid vipers. It is their feeding time.”

  A raid viper was this world’s biggest natural nuisance. There were huge snakes that struck from underneath the sand in the B.O.R. Certain cycles in the game made them much more active and it appeared we were in one such cycle. “So what do we do now?”

  The B.O.R. (named after the witch who supposedly haunted the area, Baba O’Riley) was a war torn area that had numerous hazards besides raid vipers. Raiders and pirates were another threat you had to deal with in the game. The leader of the pirates, Abraham Helsing was one of the bosses at around the midpoint of the game. I remember it took me five or six tries to defeat him.

  Ali was all over it. “A bit to the north should be a shelter that refugees use. Let’s hurry there.”

  We were back on the bike and she cautiously made her way towards that safe house. It was there still. As we got off the bike and walked towards it, off in the distance a raid viper struck at something. As quickly as the giant snake erupted from the ground, it snuck back in, victorious. “Holy fuck balls.”

  “A lot scarier from this vantage point, aren’t they?”

  “No kidding.” It was one thing to be on the other side of the screen, but here. Damnit, this was way too real. “Ali, if I die here, am I dead in real life?”

  Her cool façade finally broke a bit. “Vector, this is real life. You are physically in the game, body and mind. You die here and it is game over – forever.”

  I didn’t say much afterwards. I was a level one noob stuck in a game with very real consequences. I didn’t think very highly of my chances to make it through.

  When we entered the house, there were two boxes, one in each corner. “Why don’t you go open them,” Ali asked me.

  Well I was in a video game, so every hero opens the chests. The first one contained a chest protector that looked designed to fit nicely under my grey hoodie. The second chest had a short sword and a revolver in
it. Standard stock starting gear it seemed.

  There was a sound, like a ding, that echoed through the safe house. “What the hell was that?”

  “You gained experience points finding the treasure and you just leveled up.”

  How fucking cool was that? “Sweet – maybe this won’t be so bad.”

  She walked around, appraising me. “At level three, you will unlock your first special attack. Hopefully soon we can get you to a place to grind a few levels up.”

  I’m not sure what came over me, but I had a need to close in and give Ali the biggest kiss I could give her. The red head AI didn’t back away. No, she actually escalated the issue by grabbing my crotch. A little of this and a little of that later, her cat suit was unzipped in just the right place and I was getting ready to put it in.

  “Is this legit? I mean, I can keep going?”

  Between pants, “Shut the fuck up, Vector and stick that cock in me!”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I wasn’t exactly Mr. Lady’s Man in the real world, so a chance to fuck this hot piece of ass was too tempting not to take. Oh my lord, did it feel unbelievable as I put it in. There was no way I was lasting very long and the lustful look in her eyes told me it was okay to let one go quickly.

  And ho boy did I. An orgasm that seemed to never end began filling up Ali’s sweet pussy. The little redhead minx began nibbling on my ears as I was finishing; that was her way to ensure I didn’t go limp after.

  When the first orgasm subsided, we fell to the floor with her on top. She pinned me down by the shoulders with her hands and closed her eyes. “Ughhh, thank the maker for this feeling! When they told me that a player would be the one to unlock my full potential, I laughed.”

  How in the world could she have a serious conversation while I was balls deep inside her? “Unlock… potential?”

  She stopped going in circles and began just riding me up and down. “Yes, yes, yes… your juices are going to level… me… UP!!!”