Devastator

by Jason Cordova

  “No, it’s legit,” Leo stated. “They’ve already installed it down in Chattanooga; they upgraded their systems there last month. Their internet is crazy fast. Well, faster. They’ve always had good internet in Chattanooga. Huh. I should’ve put a hub down there...”

  “I think they installed it in Seoul as well,” Vilim nodded as he scanned his phone. “More infrastructure issues there though, because they weren’t set up for it beforehand.”

  “This…okay, this is weird,” Leo admitted with a shake of his head. “Keep digging. There has to be more.”

  Jorge nodded, stood, and quickly walked out of the office. Vilim lingered for a moment.

  “Something on your mind?” Leo asked the other man.

  “We’ve been pinging the servers running the four realms for the tournament,” Vilim stated. “It’s not much, but there has been an increase in lag. Not a lot, and we’re not dropping many data packets, but it’s there. We can’t figure out why or how it’s happening.”

  “Have the gamers noticed?”

  “No complaints yet,” Vilim said. “Not even sure they noticed. Tori has two teams in Hel right now, but even with that many Moderator accounts in such a small realm, nothing should be causing server lag. Not even a little.”

  “Get a department head on it,” Leo instructed after a moment of thought. “I need you on top of the Nexus issue.”

  “Got it. Anything else?”

  “You want some sushi? I’m dying for some Roka Akor.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 18

  Despite stopping regularly in the Nexus during her hunt, Tori had never actually explored any of it. She knew, since it was technically still in its pre-beta stage, that what anyone could do with it was limited, but she also figured Leo and the rest of WarpSoft’s engineers placed a lot of faith in their testers. She guessed the Nexus would be fully explorable one day, though she had absolutely no idea what one would find inside. The only thing she knew for certain was that it was a safe zone where an individual gamer, Moderator, or anyone else could test out codes to use within The Warp itself.

  Now she looked around and inspected the Nexus proper. It was as she expected it to be, a mish-mash of construct and coding. It was still in the alpha stages, and there were a lot of gaps in the program, but it was working. She thought about where the Board was, and she quickly zipped to it, the programming reacting quickly to her thoughts.

  Amazement filled her as she realized traveling within the Nexus was merely an exercise in wanting to be there. She briefly wondered why the Board was always the first thing people saw when they logged into the Nexus, then she realized that it was what gamers expected to see, so that was where The Warp stuck them. Since her motives had been to explore, she’d instead been dumped into the vast expanse within the Nexus itself, far away from the Board.

  “Is that the Chaos code or the Nexus?” she asked herself. Her voice was startlingly loud, and she quickly shut her mouth. She listened to the strange echo, which reverberated through the area. The Nexus was fascinating in its development, and it was something she’d never thought WarpSoft would accomplish. It was the complete definition of an open world; there were no boundaries, no limits. Nothing.

  The realization frightened her a little. In a realm without limits, anything was possible.

  How do I find him in this? She looked around, confused. When the idea for searching the Nexus had come to mind, it’d seemed like a simple enough endeavor—just pop in and look around. Now, though, given the massive size and limitless space it offered, she knew finding Gargoyle would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. I didn’t think this through.

  Nonetheless, she was determined to complete her task.

  More time passed, and she soon lost track of it as she flickered through the Nexus at the speed of thought, each random memory or idea which came to mind whisking her to the next location. Unintentionally, she created worlds to search through and then promptly burnt them to a crisp as she moved on, unable to find any sign of her quarry within.

  How can I find someone in here who doesn’t want to be found? she asked herself, frustrated beyond belief. The Nexus was so large that it’d be child’s play to hide within. Every time she thought of Gargoyle and looked in that area, he’d already moved on. It was as if he’d managed to program a way for himself to teleport away the moment someone began looking for him.

  Is that possible? she wondered. She stopped and thought about the Board once more. She instantly appeared in front of it, her billions of miles traveled within the Nexus nothing more than a memory. She scratched her nose and frowned as her mind raced. How would I avoid people if I didn’t want to be found, in a place where anything can be?

  She cursed softly and sat down on the ground. There had to be a way to find him, or the glitch causing the Nexus to stay online.

  “Wait,” she said, closing her eyes. “Listen to yourself. You can find anything you want except the one thing that doesn’t want to be found. So…find nothing. I want to find that which does not want to be found.”

  She sighed as a gentle breeze brushed against her cheek. At this rate, she’d never—

  Wait a second. Where’d the breeze come from?

  She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly as she spotted a prone figure lying on the ground. He appeared to be sleeping, his form still as his breath came slow and even. She slowly stood up, amazed. She’d found him! Somehow, despite all odds, she’d found the most wanted man in the world.

  Her boot scraped on the ground and made a loud noise. Gargoyle stirred and rolled over. He opened his eyes and looked right at her. His face twisted in confusion as he sat up.

  “Wha—?” He rose quickly to his feet and stared at her. The amazement in his eyes was unmistakable.

  Tori couldn’t believe it herself. It’d seemed like something out of a stupid fantasy book, and yet, it’d worked. All she had to do was wish for something that didn’t want to be found within the Nexus and it’d appeared right in front of her. It was absurd. She smiled at the sheer stupidity of it. Someone at WarpSoft has a twisted sense of humor.

  “You’re truly gifted at this,” he stated as he looked her over. “Time and time again you seem to burn through challenges and leave cities glowing in your wake. It’s impressive.”

  “You’re behind all this,” she said and motioned vaguely around them. “How?”

  “‘How’ is not the question you should be asking right now.”

  He darted toward her and, surprised, she barely managed to get her guard up before he punched her in the midriff. He moved as fast as she did. In a realm where there were no laws to follow, there were no rules to hold him back. She’d once marveled at Gargoyle’s speed within The Warp. He’d moved faster there than anyone she’d ever seen. His ability to come up with combat codes on the fly had terrified her. However, while he’d been scary in The Warp, it was in the Nexus that he became the stuff of nightmares.

  She blocked, but he’d already struck her three times and run off, laughing while she struggled to recover from the blows. She tried to chase him, but the terrorist was too smart, too fast. Tori was predictable and couldn’t surprise him with anything. Everything she tried was easily countered by the man.

  “Faster! I’m no longer bored!” he shouted with glee as he tagged her in the shoulder before bouncing away. She whirled but the man was already out of range, still laughing as he fought her. She screamed in frustration and was rewarded with a solid punch to her gut. She slammed into a wall that suddenly appeared behind her and crumpled to the ground.

  “That look like it hurt,” he stated. “You were so close to understanding. The closest so far.”

  Tori coughed up blood and stood back up. Her head swam a little as she struggled to stay upright. This was one of the roughest beatings she’d ever taken while in The Warp. She spat red onto the pavement and glared at Gargoyle.

  She gasped and looked back at the ground. It was pavement, not the ethereal fo
g they’d been wading through in their fight. She could see the cracks in the ground, painted lines for parking spots. She was in a lot of some sort. She looked around for buildings, and they suddenly appeared, pushing through the thick fog to simply show up as she’d expected.

  Warm sunshine kissed her skin, and a breeze cooled her. She could hear the sounds of normalcy in the air as the city around her came to life. She felt the bone-crushing despair and weakness leave her. She felt more invigorated than ever. She’d made this happen somehow.

  If you believe it can happen, then the Nexus makes it happen!

  She could’ve slapped herself for her own stupidity. It should’ve dawned on her that the reason Gargoyle was easily beating her was because she was fighting with her body instead of her mind. In her haste to stop him, she never really believed or thought she could actually beat him. Not until she knew that pavement would be there for her to spit blood onto. She looked around the city block and smiled. While not any major city in Crisis or any other realm, it was close enough that she felt at home for the first time in ages.

  She closed her eyes and smiled. This was her element now. The possibilities and potential here were endless. Tori could seize everything she wanted, but there was only one thing which called for her complete and utter focus. She focused on him being directly in front of her and, eyes still closed, she punched Gargoyle where she knew his throat would be.

  The terrorist garbled something unintelligible and backed away, hands holding his injured throat. Tori moved so quickly it appeared she’d teleported. She kicked him in the back of the knee before delivering a blow to the back of his head with her elbow. She spun around as he lashed wildly at her and slammed the heel of her boot into the side of his face. Blood and teeth flew, but he didn’t even have time to react as she appeared on his other side and delivered a cruel and vicious punch to the nose.

  “Catch up!” she shrieked and spun on her heel. Her foot slammed into his temple and he dropped to the ground, dazed. She popped her knuckles and began to stalk her prey.

  Or try to. He zipped away from her, and she barely managed to register that he’d pulled a gun out before he was firing. The rapid pop! pop! pop! of the small caliber weapon chilled her but, despite how fast he was in the Nexus, it didn’t improve his aim. The rounds whizzed harmlessly past her.

  She threw up a shield code and watched as he steadied and fired more accurately at her. This time the rounds from the gun smacked against her invisible protective barrier and they dropped to the ground. He continued to fire until he ran out of ammo, the gun making an audible click! when it was empty.

  Tori looked down and saw, to her delight, that she was unharmed. From the look on his face, he wasn’t too pleased with this fact. She saw a larger weapon appear in his hands as he tossed aside the handgun. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

  “Oh, come on!” she shouted as he aimed the rocket-propelled grenade launcher at her. He gave her a half-shrug before he fired the weapon.

  She moved far faster than it did, and she watched it explode harmlessly on a nearby wall. Brick and mortar rained to the ground as the grenade blew up spectacularly. A large hole appeared in the wall, but it quickly healed itself as the Nexus repaired the damage done. She shook her head in wonder and couldn’t figure out how either of them would beat—

  Gargoyle slammed violently into her back. She flew halfway across the block before he was in front of her. He reversed her momentum and flung her face first into another building. She cried out in sudden pain as her face smashed into the bricks. She felt him grip her ankle and drag her across the ground. She pivoted onto her back and tried to lash out at his hand with her boot, but suddenly found herself being flipped through the air. She flailed helplessly before she was abruptly reintroduced to the ground. The impact cracked her back and knocked the wind out of her.

  Tori struggled to sit up but found herself staring down the long barrel of the same small-caliber gun he’d fired at her before. She blinked and quit moving as he waggled the weapon purposefully. He had her dead to rights. She sighed, closed her eyes, and wondered for a moment what she’d do for three days until the game allowed her back in. How much damage will he do while I’m out? She asked herself.

  There was a burst of light and she felt... nothing. She cracked her right eye open a bit and saw that nothing had changed around her. The buildings were the same, the white fog remained in place, and the sun overhead still shone brightly. She looked down and saw she still wore the same tactical armor as before. She blinked and looked around. She was still in the Nexus and was definitely not eliminated. But how?

  A tall figure stood to her left, adorned in bright golden armor. There was no mistaking him for anything other than a guy, given the muscular build she could see beneath the armor and the cartoonish-looking codpiece he wore. He carried a massive sword in one hand and a shield in the other. The helm which protected his head was adorned with five golden spikes, and a dragon’s mask covered his face.

  She looked away from the impressive knight and saw Gargoyle sprawled out on the ground, his own expression of surprise as he, too, looked over the imposing figure.

  “Did you know any battle that takes place in the Nexus is broadcast on the Board?” the mysterious knight asked as he pointed the tip of his longsword at Gargoyle. His voice was achingly familiar to her and her heart fluttered. “Good stuff. This instant teleportation thing? Pretty cool if you ask me.”

  “Dylan?” she asked in awe. The golden armored man turned toward her and dipped his head slightly.

  “I wasn’t about to let my girlfriend go up against this creep without some backup,” the knight stated as he hefted his sword and rested the flat part of the blade on his shoulder. “Besides, two against one is usually the best.”

  “I’d like an army versus one,” Tori smiled. “I’d kiss you, but those spikes look painful.”

  “Kiss me later,” he said as he dropped back into a guard position. “Let’s deal with this.”

  “Yes, let’s,” Gargoyle agreed as he rose to his feet. He’d shifted from his standard cloak to shiny silver armor to counter Dylan’s gold. He drew a pair of short swords from his inventory and twirled them expertly. He then pointed one at Dylan, the tip aimed directly at his heart. “You’re almost as infuriating as she is.”

  “Thank you,” Dylan replied.

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  “Says you.”

  Tori drifted away from Dylan and moved to Gargoyle’s flank, where his defenses would be weaker. The wily terrorist recognized what she was doing and shifted his swords, pointing one at each of them. He dropped his stance lower to the ground. It looked awkward to her until she realized the other man had managed to make his build smaller. This, she realized, would make him harder to hit. It also meant she’d have to open her defenses if she wanted to reach out to punch him.

  Instead, she flashed over to where Gargoyle’s firearm had fallen. She went to grab it, but a boot connected with her ribs. She gasped as air was expelled from her lungs, and she went flying through the air. She smashed into a tree that had mysteriously appeared and slumped to the ground. She cursed under her breath at Gargoyle for his inventiveness as he raced toward her. A brick wall appeared between them, and the terrorist crashed into it. She heard a distinctive snap! as one of his blades broke.

  The wall disappeared, and Gargoyle stood there, a peeved expression on his face. Tori looked around and was surprised. Dylan was nowhere to be found.

  “Your boyfriend is good,” Gargoyle stated, “but he’s only human. He’s much better as a backup singer than as the front man.”

  Pop culture references. Ugh.

  She charged forward and slid on her knees as Gargoyle’s sword passed within inches of her nose. She rolled and snatched up his handgun with her right hand. He pivoted and tried to run away, but she used a magnetism code and wouldn’t allow it. He yelled and flung his sword at her, which she just managed to dodge. She thought about i
t for a moment, then she fired a warning shot into the air.

  He continued to fight against the code that had brought her to him in the first place and Tori, exhausted, decided enough was enough. She told the Nexus to give her more rounds, and it did. She made the silver armor he wore vanish next, leaving the terrorist exposed to injury and harm, and she took careful aim and put a round in the fleshy part of his butt.

  He screamed and dropped to the ground. She was on him in a flash, applying her boot to his chest and stomach. He tried to defend himself, but the strikes were coming too hard, too fast. Tori continued to beat him until he threw up his hands in surrender. He began to whimper as the effects of her beatdown began to fully set in.

  Tori stood over her downed foe. She looked at him with a combination of triumph and pity. She felt good for finally taking down the man who had killed dozens of people when he attacked Crisis, and nearly destroyed her life as well. She pitied him, however, because she knew any person who’d willingly murder another was flawed somewhere in their heart. Still though, she had questions which needed to be answered. The strange pity she felt toward him could be dealt with later.

  “You’re beaten,” Tori said without preamble. “Talk.”

  “What’s there to talk about?”

  “Why did you take hostages in Crisis?”

  “A test,” he said with a small shrug.

  “For what?” Tori demanded. Gargoyle didn’t reply. After a few moments of silence, she asked a different question. “What’s your real name?”

  “You couldn’t pronounce it if you tried,” he answered.

  “I’m pretty good with Japanese,” she informed him. “Try me.”

  “Not now. Maybe soon.”

  Tori kicked his injured ribs, and he yelped in pain.

  “I don’t like your answer,” she stated. She reared back to kick again, and he flinched. Satisfied, she continued to question him. “What are you trying to do with the Nexus?”