“Yeah, you think?” Jude cursed as she aimed her weapon back at the plant.
The flower was still pointed in their direction, although now two of the clawed branches beneath it had regrown. The plant was dangling them in front of the flower protectively.
Before anyone could make any moves, Michael spoke up. “Kyle and Ethan, you two should go in and take out those arms and then get out of the way, while Jude lines up another shot. I believe we can avoid a repeat of last time easily enough.”
“Right, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Jude agreed.
Ethan looked at Kyle. When their gazes met, they nodded at each other and then both of them started running toward separate branches. Meanwhile, the branches weren’t staying still. As Ethan got closer, the claw he was aiming for reached out to grab him. Idly, Ethan wondered if it was the same one that had grabbed him before. He couldn’t tell them apart.
The bark-covered branch creaked as it swung toward Ethan. He knew firsthand how dangerous the sharp tips of its three claws were, but instead of slowing down, he sprinted straight for it. Right before impacting the claw, Ethan shot it with a hook from his grappling gun and threw himself sideways. As the claw missed him by less than a foot and sailed past, he activated his reel. The taut line instantly began swinging him back around toward the branch, but now he was coming at it from behind. A second later, Ethan landed on the back of the claw and pulled out his energy blade. Still tethered by his hook, he then hacked away at the vulnerable green portions of the fingers. It didn’t take long for him to make short work of the claw and a large portion of the branch.
When he was done, Ethan jumped back to the ground. There was a satisfied grin on his face. Vengeance felt good, even when it was against a mutant tree branch.
Jude warned everyone as soon as Ethan was out of the way. “All right, the firing lane is clear. I’m opening fire.”
Before Ethan could take another step or even register her words, there was loud boom as she fired her grenade launcher again. Ducking, Ethan turned to look at the flower that was her target. He was just in time to see the grenade fly into its mouth.
This time, there was no wave of slime to stop it. The grenade exploded within the plant, creating a loud bang and making the entire plant shake. Jude didn’t stop there either, she immediately shot a third grenade. When it landed inside the boss’s maw, it exploded into flames. A blast of fire shot out of the middle of the flower as the plant was roasted from within. As it disintegrated into ash, glowing words flashed across the players’ vision.
Boss Defeated.
“Okay, this time I’m pretty sure we’ve won,” Kyle remarked smugly.
No one contradicted him, and Ethan nodded in agreement. The fallen bulk of the plant seemed to already be withering away. As he watched, its thick bark blackened, and its body sagged as it collapsed in on itself.
CHAPTER 12
EPIC LOOT
“So, what now?” Ethan remarked as he looked around. They’d defeated the boss. Wasn’t something supposed to happen?
Michael emerged from behind the fallen plant. “I believe we will be going down, as soon as the way is clear anyway.”
“Ah,” Ethan remarked as he turned to study the decaying body of the boss. It looked like it would take a minute or two for it to disappear completely.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Kyle walked toward Ethan. The young man had lowered his helmet, and there was an excited smile on his face.
“Those were some sweet moves I saw you pull off when you took that last branch down!” he said.
Ethan smiled back. “You could only watch me because you’d already taken down your branch first. You’ve obviously got some nice moves yourself.”
“Nah, man. Your grappling gear is super impressive! Maybe I should get a system like that.”
“I think your jetpack works just fine. It’s very fast and you’re pretty skilled at using it.”
There was a groan from Jude as she wandered over. “I hate to interrupt your circle jerk, but I’m the one who finished the big sucker off.”
“You have a very nice grenade launcher,” Ethan told her.
Off to the side, Michael had walked to speak with Lily. However, Lily didn’t seem interested in talking to him. Instead of facing him, she was looking at the fallen boss, and she was giving him monosyllabic replies. Not that Ethan cared who she talked to or anything…
“The way looks clear. Let’s head down now,” Michael told everyone as he left Lily’s side and walked to the pit. There was nothing left of the boss but several large piles of black dust.
Everyone else joined him and peered into the pit. The round steel shaft looked to be about a hundred feet deep. There were no lights on the ceiling directly above the pit, so the bottom was dark and shadowy. The only way down was a metal ladder attached to the side of the shaft, but it looked rusty and frail.
“I don’t think that ladder is going to support my armor’s weight,” Jude remarked.
“I can set a line and we can use it to rappel down,” Ethan suggested.
Michael nodded in approval. “That sounds like a fine idea, but give me moment to scout the way with a drone. There is no point in taking any risks.”
No one had any problems with that, so Michael summoned one of his flying disks and sent it into the pit. The whirring drone descended without a problem. When it reached the darkness, it switched on a flashlight. As the drone turned to study its surroundings, the beam of light revealed a dirty steel floor and a closed door in one of the walls.
“It looks safe enough,” Michael told Ethan.
Ethan nodded and went to work. It only took him a few seconds to attach a hook to the floor next to the pit and dangle a line down into it. When he was done, he stepped back and motioned the others forward.
“I’ll go last, just in case,” he told them.
“All right, I’ll go first!” Kyle said as he walked to the line and climbed down.
When he reached the bottom, Jude went next. After her, Michael rappelled down, and Lily moved next to the hook to wait for her turn.
“I wanted to thank you for earlier again, in person this time,” Ethan told her.
Lily turned and smiled at him. “It was no problem. We’re a team. I’ll be there for you when you need me.”
“Right, you can count on me too. Friends?” Ethan replied nervously as he held out a hand.
Lily chuckled as she took his hand and shook it. “Sure, let’s be friends, Ethan. You seem to be a cool guy, even if you need to believe in yourself more.”
Ethan smiled in relief. He wasn’t sure what she meant by her comment, but he was glad he had a close ally in the tower now. She seemed very competent and fun to be around.
“Are you going to come down anytime soon?” Michael yelled from below. There were amused chuckles from Kyle and Jude.
Sighing, Lily turned and rappelled down the line. When she was done, Ethan followed after her. As his boots hit the steel floor, he stretched and looked around. Everyone had their helmet lights on, so there was enough light to see by, even if it was still shadowy and gloomy at the bottom of the shaft. Michael, Kyle, and Jude were standing near the door and studying it, while Lily was walking around examining the walls.
As Ethan walked toward the door, Kyle sighed and spoke up. “Ugh, this place reminds me way too much of the dark room I was in when I first entered the tower.”
Ethan shuddered as his own memories of that place came flooding back, and Jude grunted sourly.
“It sounds like your first room was the same as mine and just as unpleasant,” Ethan replied as he came to a stop beside Kyle. “All shadows and whispering darkness.”
“Oh, interesting,” Michael remarked thoughtfully “I also went through that test, and judging from the look on her face, I bet Jude did as well. There must be some special significance to it. That test certainly stood out from every other one I’ve taken since I entered the tower. It didn’t s
eem to belong in the game at all.”
Ethan grunted sourly in agreement. He still wasn’t over his own experience with the shadow. Not to mention, he’d thought he’d seen it in the mist earlier. Tentatively, Ethan watched the darkness that hovered at the edge of his vision. It was still, and he heard no whispering. Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the shadow might still be around, stalking him.
“That’s for sure,” Jude huffed in agreement. “That creepy shadow thing would never be allowed in normal Worldshift. That was the most out-of-tune moment of my life.”
Frowning, Ethan glanced Jude’s way. He didn’t disagree with her, but it seemed like he’d been right about her background. She was using a lot of lingo that was straight out of a government student organization like those found on every college campus. They never shut up about personal and economic harmony. He generally agreed with their intentions but found their fanaticism stifling and obnoxious. Still, he’d known better than to ever get into an argument with them. Everyone knew they had connections to the government and the Bureau of Economic Harmony.
Just then, there was a loud chime sound, and the door in front of the players opened. Lily quickly hurried to join them, and they all studied what lay on the other side of the door. It looked like a small laboratory, and unlike the other rooms in the complex, everything inside seemed to be in perfect condition. The white walls and beeping computers looked pristine. In the center of the room was a glass cylinder that rose from floor to ceiling, and it was full of bubbling green liquid. The outside of the room was ringed by shelves full of equipment. Nothing looked disturbed or ransacked.
“I believe this is our reward, a treasure room,” Michael said as he stepped into the room. Treasure rooms were common in Worldshift.
Jude pushed past him and walked to a desk with a functional computer on it. “Ha, way to state the obvious. This is a credit transfer program, with over a thousand credits in it.”
Moving into the lab, everyone began to explore. They quickly made an inventory of everything of value. They found more ammo, med-packs, and armor patches than they could carry. On top of those, they also found a bunch of electronic components.
“Does anyone know what any of these electronics do? I haven’t seen them before,” Jude asked. She had several small devices in her hands that she had just picked off a shelf.
Michael looked at her and frowned. “No, my scanner can’t identify them. They must be unique to the tower and are probably more powerful than anything in regular Worldshift.”
Ethan picked up a computer chip with several wires running out of it off a shelf. “They can probably be used to upgrade or repair equipment, but how do we figure out what they do?”
“There’s a workbench over there,” Kyle said as he pointed to his left. “But it doesn’t look like a standard model.”
Curious, Ethan walked to the machine. It was a small workbench that protruded from the wall, and it looked very complex. There were three different screens on it, and it contained several moving parts, including two robotic arms. As he approached it, the screens came to life, and a message appeared on the largest one telling him to place his components in the center of the workbench.
“All right,” Ethan said as he put the chip he was holding in the specified spot. There was a beep from the machine and then one of the screens filled with information. Apparently, he was holding the main component for an energy shield.
“Ah, so this workbench can tell us what we have,” Michael remarked as he walked beside Ethan. The others were right beside him.
“Cool, let’s see what else we can find and upgrade!” Kyle exclaimed before quickly running off to explore the shelves.
“Let’s see how this works,” Ethan said as he inserted the electronic component he was holding into the workbench. It immediately gave him several options for items he could build, and after reading them over quickly, Ethan selected the one he thought best fit his needs and fed it the rest of the components it asked for. There was a loud buzz and a flash of light as the workbench activated and went to work.
Ethan hadn’t brought an energy shield into the tower because they tended to be bulky and consume a lot of power. Thus, sustained fire quickly wore down energy shields and they were difficult to use while fighting. As a result, Ethan usually just focused on dodging or using his hookshot. However, this energy shield he was building seemed much more efficient than any he’d seen before. He could probably attach it to his forearm without sacrificing any mobility or draining his armor’s power core. The gear from the tower really did seem better than that from outside.
“I also should take this opportunity to repair my armor. It’s got a few holes in it,” Ethan told his allies after his shield was done. “Do you mind if I go ahead?”
No one had any problems with that, so Ethan stripped his armor off and used the workbench to repair its tears and patches. With access to so much electronics equipment, the work went by quickly, and he was even able to upgrade the armor a little to improve its efficiency.
Everyone split the electronics and credits among themselves, and when Ethan was done with the workbench, everyone else took turns at it. Lily didn’t seem too interested in any immediate upgrades, but Kyle found another power cell to upgrade his sword, and Jude added something to one of her guns. Michael used his time and loot to repair two of his drones, including the one Ethan had shot.
When they were all done with the workbench, they moved to the exit. It was a pair of double doors on the far wall with a single button on a panel next to it. Kyle pressed the button.
“Ah, this looks familiar,” Michael said as the small chamber on the other side of the door was revealed. It looked exactly like the other elevators Ethan had used in the tower.
Everyone piled into the elevator, and Michael pressed the activation button. The doors promptly closed, and the elevator shuddered slightly as it began to move.
“What do you think the next floor will be like?” Kyle asked. “I hope it’s easy and that we aren’t forced to fight each other.”
“Please, don’t jinx it,” Ethan told him. He seemed to do that a lot.
Kyle chuckled. “Ha, sorry, man. I just hate standing around and not doing anything. Why does this game even have elevators? They seem pointless.”
Ethan thought Kyle actually had a point there, but that was when the doors in front of everyone opened. Distracted, Ethan leaned forward to study the next floor. It was a small nearly featureless white room. There was a pedestal in the middle of it, but that was it. No one said anything for a second as they examined the room.
Eventually, it was Michael who stepped out into it first. “Let’s see what we have here.”
Ethan was next, and everyone else followed him. As soon as Michael reached the pedestal, a hologram sprang into existence above it, spelling out a bunch of glowing words. Startled, everyone turned to stare at them.
Welcome to the bonus challenge! You’ve gained access to a special event.
“A bonus round? How does that work?” Ethan asked.
“Failure to win this competition or death while competing will not result in expulsion from the tower,” a synthetic-sounding female voice explained.
“Huh. It appears this room has an AI interface,” Michael said as everyone else looked surprised.
“Indeed, that is correct. I am the arbiter of this challenge, and I will explain the nature of this floor and answer any questions you might have.”
Ethan was instantly reminded of another similar room he’d already gone through, although this one was far less ominous because this AI didn’t manifest as an imprisoned demon.
“Go ahead then, please,” Michael told the AI. Instantly, the holographic words shifted and were replaced by new letters.
Get ready to compete in an intense game of Team Capture the Flag!
At the same time, the AI spoke again. “Your team will be assigned another team of players as opponents for this game. You
will compete against them in a game of capture the flag, with both sides wagering items and credits.”
Kyle raised a fist in celebration. “Nice, it looks like we’re all still on the same team.”
Michael looked thoughtful. “Can we drop out of this event and pass on to the next floor?”
“Yes, but you will earn no rewards,” the AI responded. “The only thing you can lose during this event are items you choose to wager.”
“How does the wagering work exactly?” Ethan asked.
“Before the game starts, there will be a gambling session, where players can see and match the other team’s bets. The winning team will take everything, with winnings divided among players based on what they contributed. If one team doesn’t match the other’s bet, then I will give them a handicap during the game.”
“Seems simple enough,” Michael remarked before turning to look at his teammates. “Do we want to do this?”
“Of course we do!” Kyle shouted excitedly. “We’re an amazing team. There is no way we can lose!”
Ethan groaned and turned to look at Lily. “What do you think?”
“Why are you asking me? Remember what I said about believing in yourself?” she replied.
“I guess I’m in,” Ethan told his teammates. He didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
“Sure, let’s crush some newbs,” Jude added with a malicious grin.
“Very well then,” Michael said as he turned back toward the pedestal. Almost immediately, there was a beep and new holographic words formed.
Matchmaking complete! Beginning gambling session. Use your inventory to select wagers.
Those words faded a moment later and were replaced by a five-minute countdown. Below that were two zeroes separated by a line. Guessing that the zeroes represented the amount wagered by both teams, Ethan opened his inventory and looked through it. He quickly noticed an unwelcome surprise.
“Hey, where did all my money go?” he asked as he looked up.
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