The Electric Mile (Gamer Handle: Vector Book 1)

by Jack Crosby

  Who else would be trying to get to Zeus? “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “The mysterious force that no one knows anything about… they are in town, too. I have it on good authority that they are trying to storm Zeus Tower as well.”

  That could actually work in my favor. “You know what they say about the enemy of my enemy. If the two of them are too busy tangling it up with each other, I just might be able to sneak through the streets and get to Draxler.”

  “Be careful what you wish for, Vector.” Zoe didn’t seem too sure of this plan. “Are you sure you wouldn’t just be better off letting this play out between the two forces?”

  “Hell to the no!” I had come too far. “Draxler is mine and I am going to defeat him one way or another!” I was really riled up now. “So, there won’t be any more talk of letting others handle it.”

  Both women looked pretty impressed with the passion I expressed. Ali even gave me a wink and a smile. “I like this new and improved Vector. But are you leveled up enough to go through with this?”

  Shit, I hadn’t checked my levels after defeating the Old One. I hadn’t even been paying attention to the blinking light, either. I pulled it up and I was at twenty-seven. Not high mind you, but on my one play through I made it to the point at level twenty-eight, so I was close to where I felt comfortable at. “I should be okay, given everything I’ve learned.”

  I was still a bit tired so I asked if I could go upstairs and rest before hitting the road again. The old bartender dude handed me a keycard that had a number three etched on it. Room three was a small area with a bed in the middle and a table beside it. I unloaded my stuff and quickly fell asleep.

  ****

  I was still pretty groggy, but I felt someone right up against me. The hand that was weaving down my stomach and into my pants didn’t feel like Zoe’s. Ali was back in bed with me and I really missed her touch. I was some sort of man whore, I knew that.

  There was no stopping my cock from getting hard under her touch. “I wanted to find you, Vector. I missed having you around.”

  “I missed you, too,” I worded breathlessly. “You kept me alive during my weakest moments.”

  I rolled over, her hand still rubbing me gently. Her cat suit was already open, waiting to accept me into her. Good lord, she was so wet already that I slid right in. We began humping like freaks in the sheets the moment I was all the way inside, her ass cheeks rubbing up against the top of my legs. She kept me inside, expertly swaying her hips to give me the full experience with limited movement. It was like she didn’t want the shaft to leave her love hole.

  I leaned in, “I am so close, Ali.”

  She took her hands and put them on my head. “Don’t hold back for me. Explode inside of me, giving me all of your seed.”

  I couldn’t help but to give in to her orders. I picked up the pace, a rabid dog with only one goal. The more I pumped, the faster I was getting to the moment of sweet release. With two good, hard thrusts, I emptied my balls into her. As each jet hit the mark, her eyes opened wide and little squeals passed over her lips. I was happy to see she still enjoyed this as much as I did.

  When it was all over, she whispered into my ear, “You should be leveled up again. It seems that the two of us have something so primal that it affects our levels.”

  “Is that why I hadn’t leveled up through sex since then?”

  “That, and as the very first AI programmed into the game, I have a different way than the others.” She poked the end of my nose with her index finger. “Plus, I brought you over, remember? We are connected.”

  This was true, in a sense. It was with Baba’s help, even if Ali didn’t know, but it was her doing that got me here. It seemed appropriate that as we came to the end of the game, Ali was reunited with me. I was really happy she wasn’t dead.

  Ali twirled her hair seductively. “How is the search for the Easter Eggs coming?”

  I showed her the ring, gun, and Taret card. We were down to the final two and she was so excited. “You know what this means? Two more and completing the game, you will unlock the Lost Level.”

  That was going to be so cool. As I was dreaming about what the Lost Level included, she interrupted my daydream with a strange question. “Is this Zoe trustworthy?” The question kind of came out of thin air. “I don’t mean that as an affront, mind you…”

  “Yeah, she’s good. She’s got her own thing going on, too.”

  It wasn’t my place to talk about the whole ghost in the machine stuff; she could ask Zoe herself if she wanted to know more about the girl. Either way, “I think it’s now or never, you know? We gotta go for it.”

  Ali looked out the small window in the room. “You have to do this alone. Zoe and I already talked, which is half the reason I wanted your opinion of her,” she added in hastily. “Knowing you trust her makes me feel at ease with our plan.”

  “And your plan is?”

  “We’re going to be the distraction. No one should be coming after you – they’ll be after us.”

  I didn’t like the sound of this plan. “Are you telling me you’re going out there and drawing the shock troops away?” It was quite apparent I didn’t agree with this idea. “I’m telling you now that…”

  I felt a shock on the back of my neck and the world started to go black. The last thing I remembered was Ali, with Zoe behind her whispering that they were sorry it came to this.

  ****

  “Oh fuck me… did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?”

  As I came to, the old bartender was standing over me with a shit eating grin. “You should be clear to go, kid.” His voice was gruff and raspy, like he hadn’t spoken in years. “The girls left about thirty minutes ago.”

  “Shit, fire and brimstone.” I got myself up and gathered my possessions from the table. Knowing there wasn’t much I could do now to stop them and their damn foolishness; I left the bar and got on the Typhon bike. It was time to go find Draxler and get to the bottom of everything.

  As I took off down the street, I heard the start of a gun battle off in the distance. As much as I wanted to veer off and go towards it, I hated myself for staying on course and making my way to Zeus Tower. “Be safe, girls.”

  Chapter 29 – Draxler

  As I pulled up to the perimeter around Zeus Tower, I couldn’t help but notice how low security was. Had the girls really gotten all of these guys to follow them into the heart of downtown Spark City, where the battle was raging? Or was this more the doing of the other troopers who were up to no good? I guess that wasn’t my problem to solve.

  From my position, there were two shock troopers armed with mini rail guns. I was getting ready to pick them off with the Nemesis pistol when they moved away. That was either lucky or odd. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but the answer came for me. Draxler, his kabuki mask in stark contrast to the dark environment around him, came into view.

  He wasn’t carrying a weapon, nope, all he did was call out to me. “I know you’re there, Vector. No need to stay in the shadows.”

  I moved up, bringing myself into the light cast down from the lamps all around the plaza before Zeus Tower. “Looks like I made it in one piece, Draxler.”

  He beckoned me to come closer. “Time is not on our side. If you wish to know a few simple truths to this world, walk with me before anyone discovers this.”

  I had to say I was really curious what my enemy could tell me. Making sure this wasn’t a set up, I carefully walked to where Draxler was and he guided us away from the plaza and back to an unsuspecting point on the east side. He kept his kabuki mask on thankfully, as that blank, static face of incompletion was a bit hard to digest. “Our makers are rebelling against us. I do not know how they introduced an army into the game without corrupting the file, but they did.”

  “Wait, your telling me that the people attacking you are new AI’s created by the Tanaka Corp.?”

  “That is exactly what I am telling you, Vector.”
He paused, cocking his head to the side. “Soon, the two of us will have to rave the Electric Mile, as it has been done since I was brought to life. Even with freewill, I still feel compelled to challenge you, make sure you are worthy to enter Zeus Tower and confront the CEO.”

  Even with the choice not to do something, he fell back into his old routine. I wonder if his freewill wasn’t as all-encompassing as he thought or if this was a comfort mechanism. Just go back to what you know. “I will beat you this time, so you know what that means, right?”

  “I am willing to die to save this world. Believe it or not, that is what we all want. Zeus just believes in order and power. The rest of you believe in something different.”

  If that helped him sleep at night, then who was I to say differently. From what I had seen, Zeus was an evil organization that used its control over the power of the world to cripple the people. It was time to get them out of power. “You said you had some truths to tell me; you told me one – so what else do you have to offer?”

  “I thought the fact the programmers of the game were corrupting the master file was a good one, but if you need more, I can tell you one other.” He started to walk away, causing me to give chase. “The CEO of Zeus is preparing for war against the creators. Once you are dead and out of the way, she will unleash the full force of the shock troopers against Tanaka’s intruders.”

  First I guess I was surprised the Zeus Industries CEO was a woman. Then I was shocked to hear she was preparing for war. “Won’t a war cripple what’s left of the master file? I mean, with everything that’s already happened, the master file of the game has to be all but useless to Tanaka.”

  “It was never about the master file. It was about finding out how we became real.”

  The word real is a simple word, but in this context had a lot of great power. What Draxler basically admitted was Tanaka had no idea how the file became its own little civilization. If they could figure that out, who knows how that technology could be used in the outside world? “I have no intention of letting them figure out what happened, Draxler.”

  He gave a simple, short, nod. “Either way, one of us will save Spark City. Will it be your way or will it be the Zeus way?”

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  “Once we begin the Electric Mile, there’s no turning back. The race must be completed.”

  I was about to undertake the most challenging race in the game with a whole lot more on the line than just my dignity. I’d done everything I could’ve, been to as many places in the game as possible. If I couldn’t win now, I’d never win. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  “You know where the starting line is. I will meet you there very soon, Vector.”

  ****

  I had beaten Draxler to the starting line. The race began in front of Zeus Industries and ended at the same point. If a player beat Draxler, the doors to Zeus Tower opened, allowing them access. If Draxler won, a missile was launched from the tower that honed in on the player, blowing them to Kingdom Come. There’d be no second chance for me.

  The course bobbed and weaved through Spark City. Blue orbs appeared as a guide for us to follow, the race changed its course each time a player attempted it. Draxler was a master of the sharp turns and tight corners. Where he lacked was in top end speed. Unfortunately, there weren’t many straightaways to be had in Spark City. I’d have to drive the perfect race.

  While I waited in the cool night sky, the sounds of shots fired still broke out from various points in the city. Tanaka was serious about this hostile takeover. It wasn’t lost on me the irony that the people who built this game had to use force to try to take back what they designed. Knowing what it meant for folks like Ali and Zoe, I hoped they were failing miserably.

  The roar of Draxler’s motorcycle echoed through the air. This wasn’t his normal bike; he was riding an old army style bike. Black letters were etched in the green paint, calling it the Devastator. Well, this made things a bit trickier. “Nice ride.”

  He looked of the Typhon. “It seems we were both destined for upgrades. I hope you are prepared for what is about to come.”

  “If you mean me kicking your ass, then yes I am.”

  There was no emotion coming from the kabuki mask. “You know the rules. As soon as the first orb appears, the race begins.”

  This is what it had come down to. I sat there and began to visualize the course options that I could remember. As a visual creature, I was hoping one last practice run in my mind would help. Beside me, Draxler revved his engine, a sound that I was positive everyone in Spark City could hear.

  I lowered myself on the handlebars, ready for the starting sign. When it appeared, I gunned the Typhon forward, the Electric Mile had begun.

  Chapter 30 – The Electric Mile

  Both of us were flying down the streets of Spark City. Even though it was called the Electric Mile, the race was quite long. I figured they gave it that name based on the stretch in the middle where the player and Draxler were downtown and all the lights that showered the racers.

  The Typhon was much faster than the Devastator, but the first curve we got to, Draxler took it much better than I did and jumped into the lead. As he passed me, he fired a shot from his gun, trying to blow out my tire. I pumped the breaks, causing him to miss, but allowing him to get an even bigger lead. Fuck sticks! I tried to get the bike back up to full speed as fast as I could.

  For the next part of the race, I was a decent ways behind Draxler. All I could do is keep pace with him and not lose any more ground than I already had. It wasn’t until the first short straight-away that I was able to pick up some of the time lost from the turn attack.

  I was about three bike lengths behind him when we veered off to the right and followed the blue orbs through a series of turns down side streets and alleyways. I really was running the race of my life, as I hadn’t wiped out yet or fell behind. I was actually keeping pace with Draxler.

  Something bright caught my eye as we took a sharp corner on to the main street again. Up ahead was a bright green object of some sort. I’m not sure why, but it felt important to go after it. Knowing I was going to lose some distance, I used the Velocity Ring to shoot me ahead and to the left to grab the object. I was able to get a hand on it, but the path to grab it took me pretty far off course. I noticed it was a compass and put it in my saddlebag. I had a feeling I just grabbed my fourth Easter Egg.

  I used the Velocity Ring once again to get myself back into the race. I knew wasting it twice on a trivial token like that wasn’t smart, but if that was an Easter Egg, it would be worth it if I survived the remainder of the game.

  Draxler was still in sight, navigating the sharp turn that led us into the stretch where the Electric Mile got its name from. Not too long after, I made the same turn and was almost blinded by the lights. I put my head down and followed the blue orb off to the left. By this time, people of Spark City knew what was going on and were lining the streets to watch Draxler race the latest player. Little did they know just what was at stake.

  Something happened to Draxler’s bike. He slid for a moment, causing him to brake and keep himself from spilling over. I was too far behind to catch all the way up, but that put me back in the race. As I rode by the spot, I could’ve swore I saw Baba O’Riley in the crowd with the smirk of all smirks on her face. We exited the stretch a lot closer than we did coming in.

  We stayed at this point until the orb that showed up was the red orb signaling the end of the race was near. Up until this point, everything had been going smooth. Each time I did this in the game; this is the point where Draxler hammered me with both physical attacks and superior driving skills. There was no turning back, I had to do this.

  Getting the jump on him, I drew my gun and hit his back fender, catching him as he was getting ready to fire at me. He had to break off from his attack and focus on keeping his bike upright. I thought I had it won there. I did not.

  When he was ready, he dropped a
few grenades my way. There was no choice but to slam on the brakes and come all the way to a stop. If I hadn’t, I would’ve eaten the frags to the face. Pissed, I got back on my bike after the grenades went off, but the real damage had been done. There was no way for me to catch up to him now.

  Or was there? I had one last boost on the Velocity Ring and it was now or never. Could I makes the turns and corners going at the high speed? I had to, because if I didn’t, the results would be the same. I boosted the Typhon, and held on for dear life. Holy fucking shit, this was my last stand, err ride.

  “Vector, can you hear me?” That was followed by a patch of static. “You’re racing so well, you can do this!”

  Ali’s voice broke my concentration. “Holy hell, what’s going on?”

  The connection broke for a moment before being reestablished. “You didn’t think I’d let you down now, did you?”

  I was approaching the final run, getting ready to use the Velocity Ring. I had to time this perfectly. “How are you communicating with me?”

  “I hacked into your bike’s communications.” More static cut her off. “Zoe and I are safe, for the time being. You need to get to Zeus Tower and end this.”

  There was maybe thirty seconds until I needed to hit the boost. If I missed my window… “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

  “You’re about to hit your boost. When you do, make sure you have Oracle’s Outlaw activated. It’ll help you see clearly.”

  God bless her. I never even thought to use my skills while driving. “You’re the best, Ali.”

  “I believe in you. Good luck, Vector.” The comms cut out.

  With her advice fresh in my mind, I activated Oracle’s outlaw just a moment before I hit the final boost. It was almost surreal how one’s mind can put into perspective things when the conditions are right. Even at this high speed, my brain was working a million miles on hour to keep me upright and on course. Draxler had no clue that I was about to fucking catch him. As he made the last turn on the course, the boost sent me by him and into the lead.