by Noah Barnett
"What's this?" He asked.
"I was hoping you would buy this for me," she said as he took the mobile. It turned out to be a weapon skin. Across the grip and lower frame was a stylized picture of a horse. The white mare stood on two of its hooves as it reared up. The rest of the slide and frame was left matte black. Charlie wasn't a horse person himself, but it was a beautiful skin. Elva was manufactured by Colt, so it fit her.
"We'll see about getting it done sometime today," he said, and Elva smiled crossing her legs.
"What is this?" He asked pointing to an icon that appeared on the device.
"A friend request. When I bought the phone, it was assigned to your ID." Elva said leaning against him. He clicked the link and was confronted with a pair of spread legs. "Oh geez," he said recoiling from the nude photo. Thankfully he was spared seeing the lady bits because of the black hand cannon she held. Charlie recognized the revolver in the picture because of the white skulls covering the large frame. It was Remy, the girl from yesterday's matches.
Remy: "I'm good in all sorts of ways, let's be friends."
Charlie was tempted to ignore the friend request, but the weird little squirt had been very skilled. Maybe if he talked to her he could get her to calm down a bit. He hit accept and saw her player ID added to his friend's list.
Remy: "Game?"
Charlie: "Sorry, I'm meeting a friend at the cloning facility. They are new."
Remy: "I'm bronze still, so we can all play together."
Charlie: "I’ll let you know," he sent and handed the device back to Elva.
The bus entered the city center, and they went into the Cloning Facility. He sat, and Elva perched on the bench next to him. Jen came out of one of the lower bedrooms after about twenty minutes. He recognized her because she used the same face as her vampire character. She was a little taller and more toned, but it was Jen. Her character wore a gray military tunic and slacks cut for a female. A tall, blond, and well-muscled man strode next to her like a peacock. Jen was fighting a crimson blush spreading across her face.
Charlie stood raising his hand in a wave. "Jennifer!" He called, and the girl paused in her stride. She turned in his direction and blushed an even deeper crimson. They crossed the lobby, and he smiled at Jen, but she glared at him.
"You should have warned me," she said in annoyance.
"Warned you?" He asked.
"I have a boyfriend," Jen said with some heat after glancing at the man beside her.
Charlie shrugged and said, "What did you expect? I told you to pick a male, and it's not like you didn't enjoy it." The NPC was a weapon, so she wasn’t cheating on anyone.
"What is he? Forty-five ACP… 44 magnum?" He asked with interest. Usually, a weapon's body size indicated their caliber.
"H&K USP 9mm," The man said with a cultured Germanic accent.
"I expected something bigger," he admitted.
"It's not the size that counts, it’s where you put it." Was the curt reply. Charlie glanced down. The weapon looked like he was packing something down below. Jen followed his gaze and started blushing all over again.
"Let's get over to the mall. The first step is weapons training."
"I already know how to use a gun."
"That's good, but you'll still need a holster and some ammo." He said guiding them from the lobby. They walked to the mall, and picked an inside-the-waistband holster. Charlie advised her to get an extra fifteen round magazine. If she needed more, they were screwed anyway. Jen loaded the weapon. Her movements weren't exactly professional, but she managed to put the bullets in the right way, which was better than his first attempt.
"Ready?" He asked and she nodded. Charlie pointed toward the exit and said, "To the Competition Center."
"What kinds of factions are there?" Jen asked as she followed along.
"Gun Meister does have clans that compete but no factions. The game is geared towards small squad combat." As they walked, he held out a hand to Elva. "Phone please," he said, and she gave him the mobile. He selected Remy's name and started to type.
Charlie: "We're headed to the center."
Remy: "Is your boy cute?"
Charlie: "It's a girl and no comment," He replied glancing at Jen, who was gawking at all the armed players. The girl probably spent most of the time standing out in the crowd. Her character was just as sexy as her vampire, but here she blended in like a wallflower.
Remy: "I can't wait."
Charlie: "Act normal, or I'll delete you from my friend's list." He quickly typed back.
Remy: "Poo," was the reply.
The Competition Center came into view, and Jen followed him inside. Remy was sitting on the helpdesk kicking her legs against the wood. Her teal hair had been rearranged into a complicated corkscrew of curls. Today she wore a frilly black dress, and a small belt of pistol shells circled her waist. The cannon hung from an underarm holster. He was relieved to see her clothed more modestly.
"Jen, I'd like to introduce Remy. We met yesterday during a match." Charlie prayed she behaved herself as Remy hopped down and held out a tiny hand.
"I am pleased to meet you," she said in a childish voice.
Jen at first eyed the other girl but took her hand. "Yes, I hope you'll take care of me."
Remy turned putting a hand on the console. She selected team match as a squad, and Charlie did the same by placing his palm on the screen. A warning popped up when Jen tried to enter the match. It suggested she start with a lower ranked game.
"Don't worry about that. We're all bronze, so you're not far behind." Remy said excitedly. Jen had experience fighting from her other game, so it wasn't like she was a complete newbie. They walked to the elevator and were deposited into the team lounge with two other men.
"So what do I do?" Jen asked.
"The object of the match is to kill the other team. Most often that means taking the center of the map and holding it." Charlie double checked Elva was ready, and continued to wait for the countdown to finish.
[Match Started]
There was a half-moon tonight, and a thick fog hugged the ground. Nearby a red telephone booth stood like a forgotten English guard, and the paint was painfully bright against the moldy backdrop of decay. In the distance half of an iconic tower was visible. Big Ben’s clock face was missing, and the tall steeple had crashed into the building. Behind it a cathedral roof vainly tried to pierce the soupy mist.
"Hey, where are you two going?!?" Remy called. The two men from the lobby were moving in opposite directions. “Stick together at least, morons!" They ignored her and disappeared into the fog.
"What are they doing?" Jen asked.
"Not everyone plays well together," Charlie said in annoyance.
"Fucking loners should stick to solo matches," she said stomping a tiny booted foot. Jen withdrew her pistol and nervously held the black USP in her hands. They were already starting to shake with adrenaline. "Welp we're fucked," Remy said turning back to them.
Charlie shrugged and gestured down the road. "Our best chance is to hold up in the center," he suggested.
Four blocks down they located a pub on the street corner. The wood floor was old and covered with enough oil and wax to have petrified it. A wide bar was set up against the back wall with a few beer taps sticking out. Remy went over and tried one of the handles, and a black sludge oozed out. Two blocks down a sudden cacophony of gunshots rang out. Jen spun aiming her pistol down the street. The weapon trembled slightly in her hands, and she was breathing heavily. The rattle of pistol fire cut off.
"You OK?" He asked.
"Yeah," Jen lied nervously.
Another firefight started a block closer, and this one had lasted nearly twenty seconds before the sounds petered out. Charlie could only hope the lone wolves had at least taken a few with them.
"Let's get into position," Remy said in a chipper childish voice. She withdrew the magnum from its holster and checked the load.
"What do I do?"
Charlie walked over and turned her toward the back of the tavern. "Wait behind the bar for them to enter, then stand up and start shooting." He suggested.
Jen was scared, and it showed, but nodded after a few seconds. Last night Jen had been in a sword fight with an elder vampire. Hell, she'd had a leg cut off, and at the time, she'd treated it like an annoying paper cut. Jen couldn't lean on her undead abilities to make her powerful. At the moment she was just a human with a handgun.
"They're coming," Remy said backing away from the door. Charlie took a position behind one of the wooden pillars halfway into the room. Jen ducked behind the bar, and the little girl hid next to an overturned table. Five shapes materialized through the fog like silent ghosts. They were staggered and two crept along this side of the street.
Remy took careful aim through the glass front door, and fired as the tall figure of a male appeared. The revolver was loud in the small pub. The man was knocked sideways into the road, and his four companions returned fire into the building.
Wood splinters filled the air, and glass flew everywhere in the hail of bullets. Under that cover a man rolled through the shattered glass door and behind a thick table. A second man leaped through the remains of a broken window. Another attempted the same dramatic leap into the pub, but landed awkwardly a few feet from him. Charlie poked his gun around the pillar and fired four shots into the man.
In the front of the store, Remy exchanged fire with the first man to enter the pub, who also had a massive chrome silver semi-automatic. He fired on Remy, and she threw herself from the toppled table as bullet holes appeared in the wood.
Her magnum belched flame. A 350 grain round punched through the far table and into the man’s chest. Blood and bits of lung decorated the wall behind him. The desert eagle dropped to the ground as he fell back against the crimson painted plaster. Someone fired from outside the front door. Bullets slammed into the floor and Remy desperately rolled toward her former cover, but several stitched her side. She collapsed in a small bloody heap.
Charlie had two people to deal with, someone ahead and another behind, so he gambled. He leaped through the window and into the street. A girl was crouched near the entrance with a small black compact pistol. She spun in surprise, but Charlie fired his 1911. His first bullet entered her jugular and his second dug into her chest. She lowered her gun, and her blue eyes closed as if she decided to take a nap against the door frame. More gunshots rang out and bullets filled the air over his head. He stood awkwardly and aimed back into the pub. Jen had revealed herself and unloaded on the final enemy. Her eyes were competing with her mouth to see how wide they could get, and the smoking gun in her hands was violently shaking. Slowly darkness closed in after a few more seconds.
[Match Complete]
[Team win]
The door opened for Charlie, and he stepped into the private lounge. Jennifer however, didn't follow and he turned to see the girl lying unconscious on the ground. "Jen!" he called in surprise. He grabbed her wrist and carried her to one of the couches.
"She just logged out," Remy said from nearby. "Got too excited," she added. The two men stood and walked toward the elevator. They said nothing and Charlie eyed them darkly as the doors closed.
"What do we do?" He asked.
"Depends on what she decides. After she's got her pitter-pattering heart under control she'll have to log back in." Remy said activating a nearby console to examine her new stats. Charlie wanted to show his coworker a fun time, and possibly entice her to switch games to play with him.
"What if she doesn't?"
"Just tell the gun to carry her to a nearby motel. They will charge her when she logs back in." Remy said before clapping. "Yay, Silver!"
They waited for about twenty minutes, but Jennifer didn't come back. Charlie decided to check his stats and was pleasantly surprised. He’d skipped straight over Bronze Master, and into the Silver ranks. His P-Score had risen by a hundred points, and the system had decided Charlie was ready for the big leagues.
"Congratulations," Remy said looking over his shoulder. He glanced at Jen who was still lying on the couch nearby. "It doesn't look like your friend is coming back," Remy said following his gaze.
"Me and Philip here are going to celebrate with a round of hot messy sex. Care to join?" Remy asked and Charlie rolled his eyes. Remy had behaved herself only when his friend had been around.
"Thanks, but I'll pass." He said dryly.
"I'll let you be the spit turner," she suggested.
Charlie groaned covering his eyes, and tried to block out the mental image. "Remy… I'll be your friend, but I won’t have sex with you."
"Your loss," she said skipping toward the elevator.
Charlie reached down and poked the USP in Jennifer's holster. "You should probably take Jennifer to a motel,” he said, and the gun began to glow. The green eyed German appeared in the flash, glanced at his Meister with a look of pity, and gathered her into his massive arms. Charlie followed them into the elevator, and activated the console so it would ascend. Since he was Silver now, Charlie couldn't play any more matches until he found a primary gun, so he spent the evening going to the mall and buying Elva the weapon skin she wanted.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Gun Trials
Coffee was one of man's greatest discoveries. Charlie certainly thought so because he had stayed up much later than he should have. Once back at the beach house, Elva had been hungry to continue where they had left off. She’d pounced on him, tearing his clothes off, and taken Charlie before they even entered the living room. The sex hadn't stopped there as the tireless weapon had fucked him on the couch, blown him in the shower, and banged him senseless on the bedroom floor. He barely managed to crawl onto the bed to log out. Charlie smirked at the memory, tore open the third packet of sugar, and dumped it into the mug of coffee.
Jennifer entered the break room. She barely looked his way as she went to the refrigerator and put her lunch inside. Charlie wondered what happened to her after the match.
"You didn't come back."
"No."
"Ahh…" Charlie said stirring his coffee. He took an experimental sip as he considered her answer. Jen had not appreciated the casual sex Gun Meister offered. She also hadn't done well without her powerful undead abilities. The woman had been unnerved during the competitive match.
"Didn't care for Gun Meister?"
She grabbed a mug, filled it with hot water, and dropped in a tea bag before she answered."I'd rather invest my energy into Blood and Pride, but I wouldn't mind seeing you in the Clan." She countered pouring in milk and sugar. “Stephan's offer is still on the table.”
Jennifer obviously hadn't conveyed his message along to her boyfriend, and the thought of being Stefawn’s paid errand boy rubbed Charlie like broken glass.
"I'll pass. Thanks to our win last night I managed to rank up. You could say I'm emotionally invested as well." He said turning fully towards the woman. Jen searched his face, and Charlie was positive she was calculating the truth of his statement. He smiled and leaned in closer.
"I get two girls now," he whispered.
Jennifer blushed before raising the mug to her lips. She drank the scalding tea trying to hide the fact she was thinking about it. He too raised his mug and sipped. The coffee was hot and sweet like the sex last night. Soon he'd have another girl in his harem, and the thought sent a pleasant shiver up his spine. Erick knocked on the wooden door as he entered the break room.
"Boss is calling a meeting before we open," Erick said ducking back into the hall. A hollow sensation gripped Charlie and the coffee turned to acid in his stomach. He'd been given a week to turn his numbers around, and it hadn't been enough. The last thing he wanted was more coffee, but Charlie walked with the mug toward the conference room. Most of the other agents were already seated as the balding General Manager paced slowly back and forth before the whiteboard.
"I want to start by saying you've all been a real asset to the company," the GM
said. The acidic fire in Charlie's stomach grew, and his fears were soon confirmed.
"You've all reached high, and for that, I am proud of you."
The fluff was pure drivel, but at least Charlie didn't have to wait long for the battle-axe to come down. "Unfortunately the recession is hitting us harder than we expected. Many local branches have been told to trim the fat, including us, sadly."
Charlie mentally prepared himself for the job loss. He had some savings, probably enough to last while he looked for new employment. At least, he was being fired in the morning, so he could spend the day updating his resume.
