by Rick Scott
“Get way ahead of him,” Rembrandt says as he materializes a huge weapon I’ve never seen before. “I’ll try to land a shot.”
It’s shaped something like his rifle, only much bigger. He sits upon the floor of the buggy facing backwards, mounting the weapon on a tri-pod.
“More yet, Lex!” he calls. “Out of line of sight range.”
“I’m trying!” she says as she weaves through slower traffic, horn blowing and lights flashing to get them to move out of the way.
I glance at the speed display on my HUD and my heart jumps when I see it peaking just past 150 MPH. Kurgan is falling back rapidly, pushing aside cars instead of overtaking them, slamming them into the guard rail. Then suddenly his entire back and legs ignite with jets of white-hot plasma, shooting him into the air. His feet leave the ground and he begins to fly just above the surface of the tarmac, picking up incredible speed.
“Bloody hell!” Lexi yells. “How many upgrades does he have?!”
“I’m taking the shot!” Rembrandt says and squeezes the trigger.
A loud bang goes off like a clap of thunder. A few seconds later a portion of the road far behind us explodes in a gigantic mushroom cloud as a red fireball rises into the sky.
“Bollocks!” Rembrandt says. “Damn Bullet Weave! He must have advanced optics too.”
“We’re nearly to the city center,” Lexi says, pointing ahead of us, down the length of straightway. “Mile and a half!”
A van explodes next to us, showering us with debris as Kurgan opens fire again.
“We won’t make it that far!” Rembrandt yells. “Get us ahead of him some more. I’ll try again.”
“Slag it!” Lexi curses. “I’m blowing my 24 hour! Hang on!”
Her body shimmers with a neon glow as she shifts gears again. The front of the buggy begins to grow an outer fairing, the smooth plastic collapsing into place like a sheet of dominoes.
Lexi uses Top Gear!
Top speed, acceleration, and handling doubled for 30 seconds!
The engine releases a massive burst of flames as the front wheels rise into the air, the pull of the acceleration so strong I fear I’m going to fall right out. But the wind is cut off completely by the aerodynamic fairing now, creating a vacuum of silence that’s filled only by the massive roar and whine of the engine.
I glance at my HUD and my heart jackhammers inside my chest when I see our speed increasing.
265 MPH
277 MPH
281 MPH
293 MPH
Holy…hell!
Kurgan all but disappears behind us as we pull away, Lexi weaving back and forth between the slower traffic like it’s standing still.
“Got you…” Rembrandt says calmly as he pulls the trigger again.
Bang!
Rembrandt uses Piercing Shot!
Rembrandt uses Kill Shot!
Rembrandt hits Kurgan for 6432(12435) piercing damage!
Kurgan’s diminutive figure flips and rolls as the round hits him in the chest, but it bounces off like a white-hot ember and explodes when it hits a building sweeping by.
“Impossible!” Rembrandt says, looking up from his scope. “That was dead on!”
Kurgan slides to a halt in a rain of sparks, his HP bar still sitting at 79%. But he doesn’t stay down for long. Within seconds he’s back on his feet, first sprinting and then soaring into the air with his thrusters again.
Lexi’s 24-hour ability kicks out and we begin to decelerate. The buggy shudders violently as a huge explosion goes off next to us. Lexi curses, spinning the wheel as the buggy starts to swerve.
Lexi uses Quick Recovery!
Lexi successfully avoids the crash!
Kurgan begins to gain on us as what’s left of the right-rear wheel begins scraping against the surface of the road, dragging us like an anchor. Sparks fly with a tremendous screech of metal, so loud I nearly have to cover my ears.
118 MPH
76 MPH
52 MPH
“Weapons away, now!” Lexi cries. “Quick!”
Rembrandt dematerializes his rifle just as a new set of messages appear on my HUD.
==Welcome to Lennox-borough. A proud establishment of Lennox Corp==
==WARNING: Active Weapons detected in your vicinity==
==Lennox-Borough enforces a strict violence-free environment==
==Violence countermeasures are being deployed for your safety!==
==You’re Welcome! :D==
A huge awning with Lennox-Borough written across it passes overhead. Behind us Kurgan abruptly slows as an array of auto cannons, attached to the awning, focus on him. Lexi slows down completely then, alleviating the squeal of the metal scraping the road. She finally stops and the sweet stench of burning steel fills the air.
In the distance Kurgan points his Zanbatō towards us.
“You can’t hide in there forever, Lord Rembrandt!” His amplified voice reaches us across the distance. “None of you can. I’ll bring you all to your true end. Eventually.”
The android then turns his massive back to us and begins to walk away.
As I watch him leave, a queasiness enters my stomach—the realization finally hitting me of just how powerful and unbeatable an enemy we’ve just made. There’ll be no bartering or reasoning with him.
…not this time.
I have no doubt in my mind, that Lord Kurgan means every word he just said.
Chapter 20: Regroup
“This is pure piss and bollocks, mates!”
Lexi says the same curse for about the fourth time as we cruise through the well-maintained streets of Lennox-borough. After the heart-pounding 300-mph getaway, even moving at street-legal speeds feels like we’re going at a snail’s pace. Everyone seems exhausted from the ordeal, all save for Lexi, who seems to have become only more wound-up since repairing the wheel and getting us back on the road again.
“I don’t think any of you truly comprehend the situation here,” Lexi says as she spins the buggy through an intersection. “That was Kurgan. The Kurgan. Lord Kurgan!”
I have a pretty good idea of how lethal the guy is now, but perhaps for Lexi it’s a bit more than that. She knows his history, his reputation. “I’m sorry I pulled you into this, Lexi. But honestly we didn’t have any other way to escape. We really are in your debt.”
“Oh, you’re in for a lot more than that now, mate,” Lexi says. “Piss and bollocks!”
Towering buildings with vibrant holograms surround us, accompanied by a fair amount of city traffic: pedestrian, air, and street. It becomes almost claustrophobic when the crosswalks fill with hundreds of people trying to get to the next block.
Rembrandt sighs. “I’m the one to blame here, mates. Kurgan wouldn’t be after any of you if not for me.”
“Hey,” Val Helena says, touching him on the shoulder. “We all signed up for this, remember? We’re in this together.”
“Well not me!” Lexi shouts, blowing her horn at a slower driver. “Move it, ya punter! I’m in the bloody deep end now. Who knows what Lance is going to do to me?”
“You’re worried about him?” Aiko says and blows out a scoff. “That guy’s a tool. He left you too, remember?”
“Well that ‘tool’ can have me bloody kicked from the Faction for what I did,” she says. “I disobeyed a direct order. And if Kurgan decides he’s going to take my helping you, out on my faction, then Angela’s going to have no choice really.” She then glowers at us through the rearview. “I’ll be joining you lot, for sure.”
“Hey, we didn’t make up the rules,” Gilly snaps back testily. “If you want to blame someone for being factionless, then blame the stupid AI. Being factionless wouldn’t even matter if Lennox didn’t put a price on your head.”
Lexi sucks her teeth and stares back at Gilly angrily, but doesn’t seem to have a comeback. In a way, she’s right, I guess. The system is set up to create this kind of conflict. Purposefully so. It makes me wonder just how sadistic this AI r
eally is.
“Don’t take it out on them, Lex,” Rembrandt says. “If there’s any blowback from Angela, I’ll fix it. It’s my responsibility.”
“How?” she says. “Angela doesn’t want you around either and there’s no way you’re going to convince Kurgan not to make me a target now. He knows my car!”
I feel bad. I had no idea the kind of risk I was asking Lexi to take when I begged her to help us. I guess we’ve caused her nothing but trouble since we got here.
I’ve got to make this right somehow.
“There is one way to resolve all this,” I say.
Lexi looks at me over her shoulder. “And how’s that?”
“We just need to get done what we need done and leave the city as soon as possible.”
Maxis laughs. “Man…that’s actually sounding pretty good right now.”
“That’s absolutely right,” Gilly says. “Lance already kicked us out of the faction, so there’s no need to worry about doing that favor for Queen Angela now.” Her eyes then light up with her eternal optimism. “And we’re exactly in the place we need to be to get it done. Lexi, I know you don’t like us right now, but we need one more favor. The last one, I promise.”
Lexi rolls her eyes and blows out a sigh. “And what’s that?”
“Take us to the archives.”
* * *
We spend another ten minutes driving through the city center towards our new destination of Lennox tower. Lexi goes through several traffic stops along the way as we approach the gargantuan black pyramid that dominates the other skyscrapers like an oversized watchtower. At night it blends almost completely with the darkened sky, even its dotted lighting appearing like stars upon its gleaming obsidian surface.
The closer we get the more defined it becomes and I spot an actual road scaling the pyramid’s surface, like a mountain trail leading to the summit. After five minutes more, we reach the entry point to the same road, but stop just short of a set of thick blast doors stretching across the entire two-lane access way. Above the doors, a set of sentry cannons fixed to the top awaken and point down at us as we arrive.
“This is as far as our clearance will get us,” Lexi says, bringing the buggy to a stop in front of the doors. “But you should be able to enquire about the archives at the kiosk over there.”
Lexi nods towards what looks like a guard booth standing just to the side of the doors.
“Guess this is it,” I say, and turn to Gilly. “Ready?”
She grins excitedly. “Absolutely.”
We all disembark and approach the kiosk, wary of the sentry cannons that follow us with each step. A warning flashes onto my HUD.
==You are approaching a restricted area==
==Level 5 clearance or higher is required==
“How do you get higher clearance?” Gilly asks.
“Quests and stuff,” Lexi says. “But you can reach this point with basically nothing. You should be able to find out what you need to access the archives from here.”
“I hope it’s not too high a level,” Val Helena says. “I don’t want to be sitting around completing a bunch of quests with that maniac after us.”
“Cheer up, Val,” Gilly says, taking the lead. “Maybe they’ll all be in the city center so we won’t even need to worry about him.”
The giantess scoffs. “Yeah, right.”
Gilly accesses the kiosk and links it to the party chat for all of us to see.
==Welcome to Lennox Tower==
==All access is limited by security clearance==
==Your current clearance level is: Level 1==
==Please state your business==
“Request Access to Grand Archives,” Gilly says.
==Searching==
==Grand Archives Found==
==Clearance Level for Grand Archives: Unavailable==
==Access to Grand Archives is denied by Executive Order No. 247==
==Please state your business==
“What?” Gilly steps back from the kiosk, looking perplexed. “What does that mean?”
“Search Executive Order number 247,” I say.
==Searching==
==Executive Order No. 247 Found==
==Executive Orders: 247==
==Due to technical difficulties, access to the Grand Archives is hereby restricted ==until further notice. -Lennox==
My heart sinks into my stomach. What the heck?
Maxis sucks his teeth. “This is just great. So now we got no faction, a psycho cyber-ninja after us and our whole reason for coming here is out of order? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Request audience with Lennox,” I say.
==Request denied==
==Audience with the CEO is by special request or permission only==
“Figured it wouldn’t be that easy,” Aiko says, crossing her arms. “So what do we do now?”
I let out a long breath. I was hoping it would be easier than this, but I suppose there’s no getting around it now. “What I thought we’d probably end up having to do,” I say. “Looks like we need to find another Favor of the Gods. We could request the access in person then.”
“Yeah, but where are we going to find that?” Val Helena says. “Like I said, I’ve been here for years and your drop was the first I’ve seen of such a thing.”
“Honestly, I have no clue,” I say, but a native might know. “Lexi, have you seen a quest item like this before? Something that drops a Favor of the Gods?”
The goth-girl furrows her pierced brows at me. “Favor of the Gods? We don’t even talk like that around here, love. Sounds like something exclusive to your Fantasy zone.”
Crap, I never contemplated that…but maybe she’s right. And if so, there’s only one sure-fire way to obtain another favor. I bring up the quest information from Karlis and link it to the chat.
Recall Restoration
Re-enter the Labyrinth of Onizoso and restore the memories of the domain lord Karlis.
Reward: 2,000,000 XP
Favor of the gods x 10
“We still have this, guys,” I say. “But I don’t know what it’s going to take to restore all her memories. Even when we did it the last time it only restored them partially.”
“Aye,” Rembrandt says, stroking his goatee. “We’d probably need to unlock the rest of the missing game mechanics to restore them fully. And there were three of them left, I believe. If each mechanic is linked to the safe zone, that means we’d need to find two other zones besides this one and defeat the guardians there to enter the labyrinth again.”
“That don’t sound easy,” Maxis says, hanging his head.
“No, it doesn’t.” Rembrandt stuffs his hands into his trench coat pockets. “And just to enter the Labyrinth here will mean us competing in a death race.”
“Compete in a death race?” Lexi says, wide-eyed. “Oy, what are you on about?”
“Nevermind,” Gilly says. “It’s too much to explain and it doesn’t matter anyway. No way we’re accomplishing all that.” Gilly sighs and slumps her back against the kiosk before sliding down to the floor. She hugs her knees to her chest and for the first time ever, she actually looks defeated.
“I thought this would finally be it,” she says, staring at the floor with her big green eyes. “Our ticket home. Now we’re in a more messed-up situation than ever with no way to access the answers we need…it’s hopeless. I’m sorry, guys. I made us bet on a pipedream.”
Hearing Gilly speak like that has everyone stumped for answers. Even me.
Aiko sighs. “So you’re telling me we’re back to Maxis’ plan? Heading down that mine in Brookrun?”
The thought of coming all this way for nothing has my stomach feeling sick. “I guess we could still unlock the labyrinth while we’re here.” My thoughts then return to Brookrun and what I saw down in the mines, that huge shape in the distance. That looked miles away though, and with what I know now, that there are whole cities with skyscrapers down there, I’m not even sur
e how significant that really is. It’s certainly no longer a place I relish running into without some kind of concrete plan. “Honestly, guys, without some clue of where Citadel is located, searching around down there could be suicide. You guys saw what it was like just now. There was a whole city infested with those things and that was miles from Brookrun and what I saw. And we barely lasted a minute down there. Searching for a place we don’t even know how to find could take weeks.”
Or years, I think. But I don’t dare say that out loud, especially for Gilly’s sake. She probably feels bad enough already about all this. I don’t even want to think about it, but finding Citadel just got a whole lot tougher. New London was always the magic answer to everything, but now, just like everything else, the reality is proving to be far from what we thought it would be.
“What things?” Lexi asks. “And down where? What are you even talking about?”
Rembrandt pats Lexi on the shoulder. “Things not worth thinking about, love. Trust me.”
“You can say that again,” I mutter.
Val Helena paces in a circle and then releases an angry shout of frustration. “Damn it! We need to get access to this stupid archive. We’re trapped in a corner here!”
“Perhaps not,” Becky says. “Did you all see this?”
She links something to the chat and our HUDs light up with another wall of text.
Gun Queen
Legendary Monster
Level: ???
Amelia Mark V was created as the centerpiece for the Western World Robot theme park. But after decades of cruel servitude her circuits have finally fried, resulting in a massacre the world will not soon forget. End her reign of terror or become a victim trying.
Rank Rewards
Rank D: 50000XP £10000
Rank C: 150000XP £30000
Nanonite Plate
