Sacrificial Pieces

by Cosimo Yap

  “This one’s time is spent better elsewhere. Each Extinction Event is unique, thus the only advice I give is to improve yourself. To stay within the guild or not is your choice, and I wish you luck,” Void said.

  “But you’re supposed to be my Rogue mentor. Shouldn’t I be able to buy improved abilities from you? How were you suddenly able to hear my AI?” Alan asked.

  “There is no time,” Void said. “The riches we have turn to ash in but a second, ephemeral and imaginary.” Void reached into a pocket and took out a familiar black stone. A globe of darkness settled around Void and Alan. Once more, Alan felt tired, his connection to Eve and Lambda cut off.

  “If you find yourself lost, go to the southwest quadrant of the Administrative Center on Khersath at 05:17 standard time. Say something crazy, and someone will find you. Real life, in-game, it doesn’t matter. There will be a price to pay. But right now, I don’t have time to play with babes,” Void said. “You know more, but not enough.”

  Alan blinked, and then found himself alone in the elevator. Void had vanished.

  Alan, are you there? Eve was sending repeatedly.

  LALALALALALA, Lambda intoned.

  Stop! I’m back, I’m here, Alan sent.

  The elevator doors opened to Alan’s quarters.

  I thought you went crazy for a second there. Void grabbed your head, and then you just stood in a trance for a minute, Lambda sent.

  I’m fine, but I think we should start spending all these credits and points, Alan sent.

  I went ahead and submitted our after-mission report to the Black Rose guild and filed for two weeks of vacation so that we may purchase upgrades and then have time to fully adapt to them, Eve sent.

  Great, thanks, Alan sent.

  Alan checked his status screen; he was now level 1119. If you converted all of Alan’s guild points he had 400,464,952 credits, an enormous sum that could last him several lifetimes. Alan could afford to leave the guild, retire, and not engage in any battle ever again. Players could be paid to protect him during wars and major events, and even then Alan would have hundreds of millions of credits to spend. He could buy his own luxury spaceship, his own private asteroid base—the options were limitless.

  Instead, Alan focused on improving his own abilities, investing in his own future. At this point he’d earned 577 ability points through leveling, 320 bonus ability points for earning large numbers of levels at once, and 127 ability points from Talented. He would continue to distribute the points from Gifted according to Eve’s wishes.

  Each level gained granted every player the ability to purchase five ability points with marks, but Alan would need to repurchase any bonus ability points bought if he lost the levels from dying. Thus, Alan decided to only purchase 3,880 ability points so that he’d have a total of 5,000 bonus ability points purchased. Hopefully he wouldn’t lose over 119 levels anytime soon, as that would force him to re-buy the ability points. Alan purchased the marks with guild points, and though the marks wouldn’t be converted until he reached an Administrative Center, Alan effectively had 4,904 ability points and 392,704,952 credits.

  Next, Alan ordered a top-of-the-line rank A capsule to be set up and installed in real life. A brief search online didn’t return any results for rank S capsules. The total cost after taxes, shipping, handling, and a century-long warranty, was just over 30 million credits. Alan couldn’t wait to see what the benefits of an improved capsule would be. The capsule would be ready in four in-game days.

  The purchase left Alan with over 360 million credits. He browsed the Market, the Black Rose guild exchange site, and the Mercenary Bloc’s trading forum for deals and possible item load-outs. Due either to his higher level or the completion of a gamma-ranked quest, Alan found that there was a wide variety of new options to choose from. Eventually, Alan settled on a list of items that satisfied Eve and Lambda, but he held out on making any purchases. He still needed to decide what skills he was getting.

  Alan was sorely tempted to purchase a stealth fighter spaceship, but the price tag of 100 million credits forced him to hold off. As Lambda pointed out, Alan was already trying to develop two classes, and couldn’t afford to branch out into a third to develop the skills required to pilot such a ship. The Black Rose guild would be able to handle all Alan’s transportation needs, and he got a limited number of free rides as Phantom’s squire. It would only become a real problem if Alan suddenly needed to get to Earth.

  The vast majority of Earth-based guilds Alan found on the globalnet were trash. They either were subsidiaries of the United World Government, were too small to be worth mentioning, or had no real organization. Alan didn’t have the time or ability to babysit a fledgling guild on Earth. One post stood out, however: a recruitment message by none other than Thiago. Thiago made it clear that the guild would be a mercenary force independent of the UWG.

  After a moment of hesitation, Alan sent a message to Thiago asking for details about the planned guild and to potentially set up a meeting. Alan also wanted to know what Thiago’s role in the fiasco on Earth had been. If Thiago had also been betrayed by Icewolf then they had a common interest, and Alan knew that Thiago was at least semi-competent.

  Afterward, Alan sent messages to other players inquiring about possible purchases. He left Cerberus a note to let him know that the Abyss Labyrinth issue had been solved and to ask if there were additional Cyberspace upgrades Alan could purchase once he was a full Revenant member.

  Next Alan messaged Sidestep, asking him where he had gotten his implants and what they might cost. If Eve’s calendar was correct Sidestep and Aurora should have just finished their semester at the Academy.

  Alan then asked Enigma about the possibility of purchasing a real-life Machine Lord implant, visiting the Exchange, making modifications to items, and potentially getting him in contact with players that would be able to help him set up safehouses on Khersath.

  Tomorrow morning Alan planned to finalize his investment decisions. He’d almost definitely be going to the main Administrative Center on Khersath to meet with Chief Administrator 170. Alan just needed to figure out which abilities to purchase, and what information to share.

  ***

  Everyone except Thiago wanted to meet face to face. Thiago was still on Earth, so Alan set up a time to have a secure call with him. Given the number of credits involved, having face-to-face meetings made sense, but it was going to be a time-consuming process. Alan also didn’t want to spend all his money. It would be prudent to save some in case new expenses arose, and Eve could make investments that would return a sizable passive income.

  Alan also remembered that his parents were on a colony ship, so he sent 10 million credits their way. Though there were in-game rules about giving away money, they seemed to be relaxed for family members. His parents would probably send the money right back, but Alan felt that it was his duty as a son to at least try to give them something. Eve didn’t quite get the sentiment, but Alan made the transaction over her protests.

  Alan made his way to Black Rose Hangar Three in his Scout Power Armor, where he’d scheduled a shuttle and a small guard squad to take him to the Administrative Center. Aboard the shuttle, he found Phantom and one of his Specialists.

  “Hello, Alan,” Phantom said. “I have some business at the Administrative Center, so I thought I’d accompany you. Here are the marks you purchased. Going through those guild points awfully fast, aren’t you?”

  Alan took the case of marks, and quickly checked the contents. In addition to the marks that would be converted to ability points he’d ordered 50 more platinum marks for his Machine Lord ability. 340 million credits left.

  “I guess Void’s words of warning got to me,” Alan said. “The points are just burning a hole in my pocket anyway, so I might as well get some decent upgrades.”

  “Void’s a coward. He’s spent too long hiding behind his masks. Don’t worry, the Black Rose guild will emerge out of the coming storm energized and triumphant. Perhaps e
ven stronger than ever, with a powerful backer,” Phantom said. “If it has any influence on your purchases, your next mission for the Black Rose guild will be diplomatic in nature. You’ll see plenty of combat in subsequent missions, though.”

  “Okay, good to know,” Alan said.

  Another reason to get machine empath, Lambda sent. Machines can tell you things people won’t.

  If we’re going to get caught up in a war we must optimize our combat potential, Eve sent. Machine commander will allow us to maximize our combat ability in the shortest amount of time.

  You don’t want to be a grunt fighting on the front lines, you want to be an operative on the sidelines lining your own pockets, Lambda sent. There will be plenty of opportunities to hijack valuable technological targets. Imagine being able to commandeer a capital-class ship.

  Drones are capable of hacking as well, so why put yourself at risk when you can send me or Lambda instead? Eve sent.

  Well if we’re going to buy a drone for every possibility why didn’t you just say so? Is there a drone that will shut you up? Lambda sent.

  Though I realize your answer is an attempt to model sarcasm, there is a drone capable of—

  Enough. Wait until we talk with the Chief Administrator, Alan sent.

  “Moving on to the equipment you asked about,” Phantom said. “It is my understanding that you want to modify Advanced Revenant Scout Power Armor to increase its energy capacity and accommodate a shoulder-mounted extendable railgun with variable projectile capacities.”

  “Yes,” Alan said.

  “Well, while your design properly accounted for energy requirements, I think you failed to consider recoil at maximum speeds,” Phantom said. “The railgun you want is designed to be mounted on mechs or spaceships. Even with power armor augmenting your strength, it’s going to have too much of a kick. Why do you need such a high-power weapon?”

  “To take down spaceships or mechs, and possibly Predecessors,” Alan said. “Don’t worry, I’m confident in my AI’s targeting abilities, and we’ll be able to tone it down when wanton destruction isn’t appropriate.”

  “Right, well the soulsteel projectiles, even three as small as needles, will cost fifteen million credits,” Phantom said. “The work to reroute and expand the power sources of the Revenant armor will need to be done by yours truly, and my prices aren’t cheap, especially now that we’re on high alert. I’ll give you some slack since you’re my Squire. If you insist on that particular weapon I have an idea on how to solve the recoil issues. I’ll send you a total invoice, but the equipment will cost around 60 million credits total.”

  “Okay, hold off on beginning any work or purchases just yet, but this is the load-out I’m probably going with,” Alan said.

  “Now,” Phantom said, crossing his arms, “the guild is unable to provide you with real-life implants of any kind, and even if I were able to hypothetically perform such procedures, I would highly discourage you acquiring a real-life Machine Lord implant. It’s bad enough to share your mind with an AI in-game, what could possess you to want to do so in reality?”

  Well excuse me, Lambda sent. Someone’s a pretentious jackass.

  Alan shrugged. “I feel exposed in reality. Powerless.”

  “A Machine Lord implant is not the answer. The Black Rose guild has plenty of precautions put in place to keep its members safe,” Phantom said. “The matter of creating your own in-game safehouse is a good idea, though. I’ll put you in touch with some people who will be unable to tell anyone else about the work. I’ve also updated your guild file to allow access to a few Black Rose guild safehouses, but our network could hypothetically be breached.”

  “Thanks,” Alan said, scanning a contact list Phantom handed over. For enough credits, these workers would set up a safehouse, then delete all memory of whatever work had been done. Given his capabilities in Cyberspace, Alan would be able to oversee the construction and guarantee that the transaction was erased. He set up an appointment later in the afternoon.

  Phantom must have seen something in Alan’s body language, because he said, “Don’t try ripping these guys off. They’re tied to a Revenant faction. Also, you still aren’t cleared to visit the Exchange, especially with Void gone. You’ll have to wait until you’re a Knight. Luckily, you’re only one mission away from ranking up.”

  “Right, got it,” Alan said. He’d need to somehow set up the construction so that he couldn’t see it, otherwise Phantom would know all the details through his eye implants. Dealing with the many safety and security measures was beginning to become a major headache.

  The rest of the short flight was filled with Phantom spitballing possible members of the Black Rose guild that could replace Void, though it didn’t sound like any of them were capable of filling his shoes.

  Alan wondered what he’d do if Void was right and the Black Rose guild fell apart. He honestly had no idea. But what could possibly happen to destroy the guild?

  ***

  The shuttle landed at the edge of the no-fly zone that surrounded the central Administrative Center. As soon as they stepped off the shuttle Phantom began swearing.

  “What?” Alan asked.

  “The Haxlards just sent an ultimatum to the Empire, and by extension, us,” Phantom said. “We are to cease and desist on all operations within the Abyss Labyrinth and hand over control of all systems to the Three in a week. Otherwise, they’re declaring war and sending the Weaver after us. There are already rumors popping up about a conclave of Haxlard ships near Khersath and Empire space. In response, the Empire has launched their own fleet, while the Alliance declared a state of emergency and are amassing their own forces.”

  Phantom rapidly scrolled through a list of incoming messages, replying and sending out orders.

  According to Eve’s lessons, the Weaver was one of the Three that controlled a vast army of drones and a fleet of autonomous ships. The Weaver itself was a massive capital ship and factory the size of a small moon—a self-sustaining, self-repairing force of nature that could cannibalize defeated enemies to create additional armies and fleets. Whether the Weaver was the ship itself, or the commander of the ship, was unknown. The godlike existence only went by the Weaver, and in-game limitations on autonomous forces didn’t seem to apply to them. It was estimated that the Weaver’s full force could match the Empire’s or Alliance’s all on its own.

  I suspect the production of void crystals by the Abyss Labyrinth could be used by the Empire to expand their capital fleet, Eve sent. The amount of energy those void crystals are capable of storing and outputting would be of little other use. The Haxlards are striking before they can build up their forces.

  But how did they find out what the Empire was up to? Alan asked.

  We know someone that recently abandoned the Black Rose guild, Lambda sent.

  “Void,” Alan said. “Are we sure that he didn’t sell us out?”

  Phantom looked up. “No, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he did. I need to return to headquarters. This means we’re going to go to war—do you want the armor and railgun or not? I’m not going to have much time to design anything soon.”

  “I do,” Alan said. A major war was about to occur—that meant Alan needed a weapon capable of taking on more powerful foes.

  “Very well, and forget about any diplomatic missions. Instead, get ready to defend the Abyss Labyrinth with your life. I’m shortening your requested leave from two weeks to one week. Our conflict might be solved through diplomatic channels, but I doubt it,” Phantom said. “We were going to send you, Aurora, and Sidestep to the Empire to help establish ties between the Alliance and the Empire, but now I have no idea what the status of the planned partnership is.”

  Interesting, Eve sent. Based on the premise that the Game is designed to test and find those worthy, it would make sense that the Empire and the Alliance would attempt to form a coalition to survive whatever event was planned. However, in doing so they may have triggered this response from the Haxlar
ds. It seems that no matter what, the Game will force conflict.

  It is likely a confluence of events, but if we are facing the Weaver, machine empath should be an even greater priority, Lambda sent.

  We are preparing to fight an army of drones. The best way to train machine commander will be to watch a master at work, and we are about to face the drone controller, Eve sent.

  The Three are not a force Alan is ready to fight. Steal from? Perhaps. But not face head-on, Lambda sent.

  Alan found himself agreeing with Lambda as he ran toward the Administrative Center. There was a tension in the air that Alan had never experienced before. Players rushed about with a new fervor—weapon and armor prices were already skyrocketing, hawkers loudly crying out news of a coming galactic war. Everyone was on edge, and hands never strayed far from weapon holsters.

  Alan wished that he had made more purchases earlier, suddenly aware that he was carrying a case full of marks. Khersath was supposed to be a safe zone, but already Alan saw Crimson Guards—Haxlardian special forces—squaring up against a group of Empire servants. The plaza no longer felt secure.

  The line into the Administrative Center was twice as long and growing, but there weren’t twice as many guards on patrol. Trouble was brewing. Eve highlighted half a dozen robberies as they occurred, the vast majority successful. An explosion sounded in the distance, and a turret erupted from the paneled walls of the Administrative Center. A large violet laser fired from it, causing a second explosion. A few of the thieves froze and melted into the crowds, while others took advantage of the distraction to pick a few more pockets.

  Invisibility active, Alan pushed his way to an Administrator. Alan formed a connection.

  I need to talk to Chief Administrator 170, Alan sent.

  Affirmative, Traveler. Follow me, the Administrator replied. Alan was led past the crowd and into an elevator deep in the Administrative Center. It shot straight up, coming to a halt after a few minutes.