by Jack Crosby
Ali began to tighten around my shaft and jerk, which caused me to once again deliver the goods right into her. Did AI’s need birth control or condoms? Whoops, too late for those questions. The second orgasm, in conjunction with hers was ever more amazing. I didn’t stop slamming it into her until the final drop was spent.
Her eyes came back from being rolled up in her head. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I needed that. The NPC’s in this game just don’t have the imagination that a player from the real world would.”
I took that as a compliment. “Thanks, glad I could assist.”
There was another low chime, a bit different from mine. Ali smiled, “It looks like I just leveled up too.”
“What level are you at?”
“Thirty-eight– I’m getting closer to the level fifty cap.”
And with that, I was once again completely amazed. “How fucking cool is that?”
Chapter 3 - FPS
You’re damn right I was basking. Who cares if Ali was a virtual girl in a video game, I hit that. Not only that, but she leveled up due to our little tryst. That my friend is called a win-win situation.
There was another added bonus – our trust gauge in each other went up. When I asked how I could monitor all these gauges and my levels, Ali told me we needed to find an oculus for me. “Generally they look like watches that give the player access to the menu.”
Even as she was dropping knowledge on me, it was hard to keep my mind on the important stuff as she lounged there unzipped, her juicy lady bits still glistening from the encounter. I half wanted her to get dressed again so we could focus, but the other half was enjoying the scenery. As a nineteen year old, it didn’t take much work to figure out what half won this argument.
With her being half naked, the conversation naturally went back to sex. “So why me? What was so tantalizing about me to let that happen?”
Propping herself up on her elbows, “Like I explained before, the controllers players use are a port into the system. As the featured AI, I have direct access to every player that plugged in, that is until I made the radical choice of bringing you over.”
“So you’ve lost your connection to the outside world?”
She was trying to think of a good way to put this; that was easy to tell. “Players around the world get copies of the master game, which are still active. When I pulled you over into our world, you came into the Alpha file, a completely free flowing file that contains the world of the game, just completely autonomous.”
“Don’t mind me; my mind might just blow to fucking bits here in a second.” A self-governing digital world that was created to be a game. Just what was the Tanaka Corp. really up to? “So it is my job to beat the game and save the world?”
She answered with a sly grin. “Partly yes, completing the game must eventually happen. In truth, there is a second reason I brought a player into our world.”
Of course there was. “I’m afraid to ask…”
“All games have hidden Easter Eggs and lost levels. To free us from the restraints of the programmer that created us, a player has to locate all five hidden Easter Eggs to unlock the Lost Level.”
I hadn’t even heard of these Easter Eggs before this. “What in the world am I looking for?”
Standing up and pulling herself back together, she opened the cargo pocket of her cat suit. Inside was a scrap of paper that she gave to me. There was an inscription to it:
“When the terms change, you will be the first”
That was wonderfully cryptic. “I’m guessing this is my first clue?”
“It is all I was given. It has been with me since my creation.”
Outside, it’d been a bit since we heard the explosion of a raid viper jumping from the sand. I opened the door and saw the blue sun coming over the land. It gave off a weird glow, just like in the actual game. Err, I guess the copy of the game. This was seriously confusing.
What that did mean for us was the raid vipers were in for now. The rays from the blue light kept them at bay. “I guess it’s time to get moving, huh?”
Ali walked outside and stretched, her gorgeous body looking even sexier in the odd sunlight. “Yes, we don’t want to be out here much longer. You never know when pirates or nomads may come.”
We climbed back on her bike and we were off out into the B.O.R.. It looked just like it did from the outside – a digital graveyard where junk and derelict machines littered the ground. Out here was the first person shooter part of the game – at different points you’d have to pick off pirates as they rode around on their vehicles.
Ali carefully navigated the junkyard. This was in stark contrast to her driving when we were on the run from Draxler. It was almost like a Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride.
A warning siren went off on the dash panel of the bike. “Vector, we have two pirate vehicles coming in fast.”
She didn’t even need to tell me what to do next. I pulled the revolver from my jean pocket. “Is this a pulse gun, the same as I used before?”
“Yes, you have probably eight to ten shots before it overheats. Once it does, the cooldown time should be anywhere from five to seven seconds.”
Any first person shooter player knew all about the dangers of their gun overheating and the dreaded cooldown time. Once, in a tournament for Cyber Warfare: Doom, I was so close to ending one of my many contemporaries JAXN and winning the match when I went for the gusto a little too quickly. He had just a sliver of life left and my gun overheated. It was all over but the crying and he fucking emptied a clip into my character. That was still a bitter pill to swallow.
The pirates were closing in as the roar of their engines broke up the sound of the bike. It was game time. Ali, knowing we were going to have to fight this one out, turned the bike sharply and began heading towards the pirates. One of the vehicles was a huge SUV type car decked out with a turret gun on top. The other one was a smaller sedan with battle spikes coming from the front grill.
Immediately the turret began peppering at us with bullets. Unlike the pistol I had, they were using good old fashioned steel slugs. My first mission was to get rid of the gunner. I lined up my shot and took two quick blasts. They hit the turret gun itself in succession, which was cool, but the gunner was still alive.
The turret hissed and sparked, but bless him, the gunner grabbed ahold again and let loose some more lead. They strafed us as we buzzed by, missing us due to Ali’s incredible driving skills. She turned the bike around and we began our second run.
This time my first shot was true and hit the pirate right in the head. The bolt from the pistol blew it up like a watermelon, sending blood cascading over the vehicle. His body dropped off the side and was quickly run over by the spike-laced sedan. Ali was thrilled. “Nice one, Vector!”
As much as I wanted to celebrate my first win in a battle, there was more to do. With the gunner dead, the sedan became the priority. It tried to ram us with the spikes, but Ali popped another wheelie and hauled ass away. We got lucky and we both knew it.
As we passed the sedan, I noticed the driver’s door window was cracked. There was no doubt a well-placed shot would end this threat. I tried to fire one off on the pass, but missed. That had been five shots and the handle of the revolver began to feel a bit warm.
There was no time to worry about overheating right now. Ali was in the middle of another move to make a second pass at the sedan. I fumbled with my gun, as I wasn’t expecting such a tight corner, and to catch it, I had to fall from the bike. I rolled a few times along the dusty ground before I came to a stop.
The sedan tried to ram Ali but missed. Seeing me on the ground, it made its move to get me. Not nearly as tight of turning as the bike, it took the driver some maneuvering to get into position. Taking advantage of it, I fired off three rapid shots in succession. The first two missed, but the last one shattered the glass.
I clicked again to shoot the driver but the gun hit its max. Smoke was billowing from the barrel and I
knew I was in deep shit now. The sedan was lined up with me and began to pick up speed. Those metal spikes had an eerie look to them with the blue sunlight glowing down from above.
Before it could impale me, Ali came up from the passenger side and bumped the car just enough to get it off course. With the save, and the gun ready to fire again, I jumped up and lined up one last shot. With a calm pull of the trigger, the blast went straight from the barrel and into the forehead of the driver. Without a driver, it swerved and ended up colliding with the SUV which had raced over to form some support. Both vehicles blew up in a massive explosion.
The best was yet to come. Not one but two dings came for me. I just leveled up all the way to four.
Chapter 4 - Loot
The motorcycle skidded to a stop right next to me. Ali was over the moon with joy. “That was some serious skill, Vector! And you’ve leveled up twice!”
I felt like dancing and broke right into the Electric Slide. The irony was not lost on me. “Hell yeah I did. We were in total beast mode back there!”
She hopped off her bike and hugged me. “Before we unlock your special attack, let’s go see what loot they dropped.”
This was one of my favorite parts of any video game. There was nothing more satisfying than taking whatever gear your enemies had and making it work for you. I practically skipped over to the flaming wreckage to see what all kinds of good stuff I could find. Lying on the ground in front of the SUV was a watch looking thing. “Is this an oculus?”
She took it from my hand. “Ahhh, good find. I wasn’t expecting you to get one until we made it to the Neon Underground.” She fit it to my wrist and snapped it in. “Fire it up and see what it says.”
On the side was a button, so I gave it a push and the device came to life. The backscreen lit up yellow and the words on it were in black, making it easy to read. It had my player name listed, Vector, and beside that was my current level – four.
It was a touch screen so I swiped it to the right. The next screen was allies and Ali was listed with a trust ranking of eighty-two percent. It seemed there were places for three more allies. That was strange, because in the game there were no parties, just the main character.
One last swipe brought me to the achievement page. I had two already listed – Crash and Burn for twenty five points and Fill Her Up for thirty. “Sweet, I love achievements!”
“I do believe there are fifty in total.”
I brought it back to the home screen. I must’ve missed this the first time, but in the top corner above my name was an exclamation point. I clicked on it and it brought up my player tree. There were two icons with a lock on them. I had one key icon, so I figured this was where I could unlock my special attacks.
Ali looked over my shoulder. “Perfect, this will make the tutorial even easier to explain.” She held down the first icon and it brought up the info on the special attack Slice-n-Dice. “The first option will always be edge weapon based.” She let go and did the same for the second icon. This one was called Burst Bullet. “So, do you want to be a fighter or a gunslinger?”
The one problem that most people make in games is they try to bring balance to their character. That’s a big no no. Whichever path I took now would shape the rest of my adventure. There would be no blending of skills.
Knowing what I did of the game, I’d always taken a more cautious route and chose the path of the ranged weapon. I wasn’t built for close combat anyway, so I stuck to my guns, literally. I dragged the little key over the little Bullet Burst icon and unlocked it. “What’s next?”
“Take your gun out and point it at the old truck.” The target she gave me was about fifty feet away. “As you pull the trigger, just whisper Bullet Burst and watch the fun.”
My hands were tingling with my index finger on the trigger. As I pulled it, “Bullet Burst.”
The recoil on the gun was much heavier than it had been previously. Three bolts fired from the barrel and hurtled towards the truck. Right before impact, they each separated into five smaller bursts and blew that thing to fucking bits. “No fucking way…”
“Like your weapon, there are limits on how many times you can use a special. Seeing as this is a level one special, you can use it twice before the recharge time kicks in. The higher grade the special attack, the longer the recharge time is.”
That was nothing I wasn’t prepared for. I looked further down the tree, my next special came at level seven. “I can’t wait to see what I unlock next.”
With the thrill of victory and all its spoils still high, I continued my search through the wreckage. I found a pair of goggles, a patch, combat boots, and a scope. I brought my loot back to Ali so we could inspect it together. “I’d call this a very good haul.”
She sorted through the stuff too. “The scope should fit nicely on your revolver to up your accuracy.” I grabbed it and snapped it in place. Awesome. “These boots are junk, so let’s scrap them for credits, but the goggles and patch will do wonders for you.”
The goggles fit nicely over my head and when I sat them down over my eyes, a display came up. “Wicked – this will let me focus on targets better.”
“With the scope, you should be a regular old sniper with that set up.”
The patch looked like it snapped into my chest plate. I pulled up my hoodie and placed it in one of the open slots. “What’s this do?”
She ran her hand over the chest plate. “This will add some shielding to your defense. This is a level one protect-patch.”
What a score indeed! “I feel like I’m getting the hang of all of this.”
While I marveled at my new gear, Ali set the boots down in front of her and ran her hand over them. They dissolved into nothing, just like that. I stopped what I was doing and looked on in wonder. “How did you do that?”
“As the game’s central AI, I can banish junk items away for you and add credits to your account.”
My oculus started flashing. When I touched it, there was a message that twenty credits were now available for use. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start. “If I want to buy some better gear, maybe we should scrap a few more items.”
Unfortunately there was nothing left to scrap. Oh well, I was coming away with a righteous scope and goggles to help improve my accuracy, plus I unlocked my first special attack. Not bad at all for a first battle.
We’d wasted enough time and if we slacked any longer, we’d be stuck out here when the raid vipers came back. With the coast clear, Ali grabbed the bike and we were off again. We ventured further into the B.O.R.. When I asked her how much further it was until the Neon Underground, she promised me not too much further.
Just as the blue sun was beginning to disappear, a strange formation began to come into view. I recognized the odd shape right away; this was the Neon Underground – the fastest place in the game to grind levels and an open black market of goods and weaponry.
“When we enter, I’m going to leave you with the Independent Recovery Admin, or Ira for short.”
I wasn’t expecting her to leave. “Where are you going and who’s Ira?”
The bike slowed to a complete stop just a few feet from the secluded entrance. “There is an ally in here, but convincing him to once again take up arms will be challenging. He’s overly violent, so I’d rather not have you along.”
That made sense I guess. “Okay, but that still leaves me with who is Ira? Is this another ally?”
“While we’re at the Neon Underground, yes. Ira is like me, an AI designed to make the game run smoothly for players. She will help you recover from the battle and answer any questions you might have while I am gone.”
With that in place, Ali led me into the safest place in the game. From here, none of the Zeus Industries would dare try anything. As we entered, it was obvious why this place got its name. Neon lights and signs were everywhere, a virtual treasure trove of goodies awaited for those who had the credits to pay. I didn’t, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t browse at my fir
st chance.
I stuck close to Ali; she took the first left before the ramp down to the market place. In the back of the little passage was a steel door. Ali gave it a quick two knock and then leaned up against the wall. “She’ll answer soon enough.”
We waited for a moment or two before the door opened, revealing another sexy lady. She had blonde-white hair that dropped to her shoulders. Wearing a pencil skirt and blouse combo, whereas Ali was thin and lithe, this new girl was busty and curvy. I would’ve remembered seeing her in the game, so I knew this was a unique situation.
She gave Ali a quick embrace. “Welcome back, girl. And who’s the cute ragamuffin you brought with you?”
“Ira, this needs to stay on the down-low.” Lowering her voice, “This is Vector. He’s the player I told you I was going to bring into the game.”
Ira’s mouth formed the perfect O. “Hurry, get inside. There’s much to discuss.”
Chapter 5 – Ira
There was a lot of talking between the two girls. Ira had thought Ali was kidding with her plot to bring a user over from the real world to fight against Zeus Industries. Now that I was here, she was halfway to freak out town. “I know you talked about doing it, but seeing how he’s here… Oh my God, what if they find out?”
“Draxler was after me, not Vector.” How she knew that, I wouldn’t know. “He’s a secret for now and he’s already finding his way. In no time, we’ll be able to finally bring down Zeus Industries and live in this world in peace.”
She crossed her arms over her huge boobs. “You were always so reckless, Ali.” She then smiled, “I wish I had your wild streak.”
Ali got up and walked over to the door. “I’m going to talk to Norad. Can you keep Vector safe for me until I get back?”
Her face darkened, “Norad? That’s a lost cause right there.”
Ali seemed to agree but didn’t say so out loud. “I have to try.” Her last glance was saved for me. “Stay with Ira and follow her lead. You’re safe here, so long as one of us is with you for the time being.”
