by Rick Scott
“I wish you the best on that track, Reece. Heed well what Lexi teaches you.” She then gives me one of her coy little smiles. “Unlike me, the Twins cannot be negotiated with.”
* * *
I leave Queen Angela’s office and blow out a sigh of relief.
I did it.
Maybe I’m not so bad at this leadership and negotiating stuff, after all. But the Queen is right. I’ve got an entirely different challenge ahead of me now. I’ve got a new job to unlock, a new skill to master and new enemies to face. And beyond that, the labyrinth.
So much road left to travel.
But it all starts right now. I’ve defeated the Shadow King and bested an Other. I’ve beaten the Gun Queen and negotiated with a god.
I can do this.
My mother’s life and the fate of over a million people back in Citadel are still depending on me.
And I can’t let any of them down.
Chapter 39: Trusted Enemies
“Are you sure that’s where it is?”
Bruce waited for Gina Roberts to answer, although the question was more of a rhetorical one. She and Samantha Flores were both standing in his office, overlooking the holoscreen on his desk terminal. Upon it a three-dimensional depiction of Citadel slowly rotated, detailing the mile-long facility from the top seal to Carl’s sonar Hab down in the lower depths of the converter bank floor. Drawing his attention, however, was an area nowhere within that space. At about three-quarters of the way down and a good mile away from the center was a section of area highlighted in red.
“It’s taken over a week of painstaking cross-referencing and wire-tracing, but yes,” Gina said, folding her arms. “That’s where I believe this gun factory is located. Somewhere in there.”
“I can attest to the painstaking part,” Flores said with a silly grin.
Bruce gave Flores a nod of acknowledgement despite the juvenile behavior. Flores was a good 20 years his junior and just a few years older than Gilly and Ryan perhaps, although she could act much younger at times. Still she performed her assignment well. Flores made sure that Gina was kept safe at all times, working with a crew of four of her teammates from her Guild or Faction in the Shards. Flores had complained multiple times about how boring things were and the need to see some action, but that had been just fine for Bruce. The most they had encountered were a couple of vagrants and a few hostile verbal exchanges.
But Bruce was glad he had taken out the insurance. The last thing he needed to add to his list of wrongs against the Roberts family was killing off their mother.
“So here’s the problem,” Flores said, pointing at the hologram. “That area is deep in Trencher territory.”
“Trencher…” Bruce echoed her, the word rattling something in his memory. Why did that sound familiar? And then it came to him. “Son of a gun…literally.”
Gina squinted at him. “What?”
“That’s who Novak said they found that first gun on, a Trencher. I didn’t know who they were and wanted to investigate them, but he dismissed the idea and changed the subject. I wonder if he didn’t do that purposefully now, knew about it the whole time and has just been using it as leverage to get what he wants.” He glowered inwardly. “Should have just followed my instincts and checked them out anyway.”
“That wouldn’t have been as easy as all that, boss,” Flores said. “The main problem isn’t them, they’re usually a bunch of losers, but it’s everyone else around them that’s going to be the issue.”
“What do you mean?” Gina asked.
“Let’s see…” Flores said, glancing upwards in thought and then began counting off on her fingers. “You’ve got the Reapers, the Deathstalkers, Chrome Knights, Hell’s Fury, then those weird guys who wear masks all the time, think they’re called—”
“Ok we get it,” Bruce said, not recognizing half the names. “What’s it going to take to get down there?”
“Protection,” Flores said. “Like real protection, especially if they have guns.”
“Like what?”
“These babies,” Flores said and then projected a hologram of an assault rifle on her communicator. “All of my team are well-versed in using them. I can probably get the four I have now to come along with me.”
Bruce grimaced. This was just the kind of thing he was trying to avoid. He looked Flores in the eye. “You ever kill anyone, Samantha?”
“We ice dudes all the time, it’s no big—”
“In the real world, I mean,” he said, cutting her off. “Not just simulated pain. I’m talking about taking a life. Are you prepared to do that?”
Bruce waited for the words to sink in and saw her expression grow blank for a moment. Then her brows narrowed and she answered with a bit more gravity. “I understand the difference, Bruce. All of us will.”
“I don’t mind her having one,” Gina said. “I still need to make final checks along the way to pinpoint the area.”
Bruce’s stomach dropped at the thought of putting Gina in a gun fight. “You can’t do that remotely or something?”
“How many times do I need...” Gina paused and suddenly let out a ragged cough. “…excuse me…” She coughed a bit longer and then after composing herself, finally continued. “It’s a standalone, hardwired system, Bruce, and that area is leading into the old abandoned section. I’ll need to make maybe three or four checks to triangulate the spot.”
Flores grinned. “Sounds like it’s settled then.”
Bruce wasn’t sure he liked Flores’ enthusiasm, but she was still the best he had. She was loyal and dependable. Now he’d have to test if she was controllable with a real live weapon in her hands.
“I’ll need to go to the board to sanction the weapons production,” Bruce said, “but with this information I don’t foresee an issue.” He thought a bit more. Going into gang territory armed to the teeth was not going to look good—especially with just five people. It’d probably be better off if they had a full platoon of soldiers in that case, but no way did he want to produce more than a handful of these weapons. He needed another way to ensure their safety down there with all those gangs.
“We’re going to need an escort,” Bruce said. “Someone who can clear the path for us, ensure we don’t run into any kind of trouble beforehand.”
“Like who?” Flores asked.
Bruce frowned. “The top dog himself.”
“You mean Novak?” Gina balked at him. “Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking of using that maniac.”
“Why not?” Bruce shrugged. “He’s the best man for it.”
Flores cocked her head at him. “Isn’t that the same guy you said probably fooled you just now?”
Bruce chuckled at how succinctly she put it.
“All the more reason,” Bruce said. “Need to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
And considering where they were headed, all the more so.
“Besides,” Bruce added with a smile. “It’ll save us a print job.”
“Huh?” Flores said.
“He’s already got a gun.”
Chapter 40: First Lap
Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: Qualifying
You gain 100 XP
You gain a Junior Racing Helmet: +5 Awareness +5 Control
You gain a pair of Racing Gloves: +5 Control +5 Dexterity
Congratulations! You can now become a Runner!
“That’s it?” I ask.
Lexi grins at me like a proud mom. “That’s it. Welcome to the club, Reece.”
I’m on the outskirts of the city, just past the junkyard zone at the Lennox City Motor Speedway—unlocking Runner to gain the much-needed sub-class skills for the death race to come. After freeing my brother and catching my friends up on what happened with Queen Angela, we hash through more details of our plan and set a D-day of two days from now to start the Rally. That means I need to learn the basics of racing real quick. The plan is simple: Rembrandt and I will be the lead v
ehicle and protected at all costs. Lexi and Gilly will act as our support unit with healing and stamina regen while Rembrandt acts as our main firepower. Val Helena and Maxis will act as a shield and Aiko and Becky a harasser of sorts, keeping other vehicles away.
That’s the plan, at least. As for how it will pan out will be up to how well we learn our new skills. The sun is high overhead and bakes the pitch-black tarmac of the racetrack with an oven-like heat. I’ve only been to the racing circuit within the Simulator before, but the sheer size and energy of the place in reality has me eager to race. We’re down in the pits where the quest for becoming a Runner is located. It was as simple as paying a few quid and signing up. Which is fine with me, because we need to get underway as soon as possible.
A few NPC caretakers mill about the area and while it’s not a race day or anything, there are a few cars and bikes whizzing around the racetrack already, zooming by the pits every so often with high-pitched screams singing from their engines.
The sight of them has me even more pumped to start.
I switch to my new class and enjoy being level one again and naked, I realize. I quickly don a white racing suit that gives me 30 points of damage reduction, +10 Agility, +10 Dexterity and +50 HP that I picked up on the way from the HQ. I then fit my new racing gloves and helmet before checking out my new stats.
Name: Reece
Class: Runner
Level: 1
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 99 (+15)
Agility: 99 (+10)
Intelligence: 11
Mind: 6
Vitality: 31
HP: 133/133 (+50)
Stamina: 75/75
TP: 89/89 (+25)
Much lower HP and Stamina than I’m used to for a level-one character, but the TP is looking high. I suppose that’s more needed for what I’m about to do. I also chuckle at my now 11 Intelligence, up from 4. With my leveling from Gun Blade, I put 48 points into raising Dexterity and Agility from 80 to 99 respectively. The rest I put into INT. It’s the same that I’ll do for my leveling of Runner as well. It’s a long-term strat, but if I can hit 50 INT, the cooldown for Shadow Copy—and all my spells—will drop by a second or two. It’s not much, but with the stuff I’m fighting now, being able to cast a 100% damage mitigation spell sooner, is worth way more than a few extra hit points or Strength.
“Looking good, babe,” Gilly calls out, grinning at me from behind the rear tire of Gilly’s Gift. My girlfriend has changed jobs too, switching to Blacksmith in order to install a new expansion module on my motorcycle.
“Should be done with this soon,” she says. “Then you can upgrade it even more.”
“Thanks, Gilly.” I smile at her. She’s always got my back.
Most of my friends are sitting at level one as well, switched to Runner and dressed in similar racing attire. All save for Becky who is helping Gilly with my bike and Maxis who has decided to mount a machine gun on the top of Val Helena’s jeep so he can do more than just shout at the enemy when we go for the race.
Even though Maxis spent less than perhaps an hour in that cell, I’m glad to see my brother free again. Not only does it give me a peace of mind, but I’m sure it does everyone else as well—Val Helena especially. The huge hug of thanks I got from the giantess, after the one she gave Maxis, of course, was evidence of that.
But now that that’s sorted, we need to get rolling.
“So where do we start, Lex?” I ask the goth-girl, eager to get us underway.
“First, we’re just here to level you all up to level 10 so you can gain two things,” Lexi says to us all. “Punch It at level 5 and Evasive Maneuvers at level 10. They’ll both cost you an ability slot each, but those are the absolute bare minimums you’ll need to race.”
“Then what?” Val Helena asks.
“Then the real training begins,” Lexi says with a grin. “Although, you might actually want to hang around the speedway until level 15, Val. So you can learn Battering Ram.”
“Whatever it takes,” she says.
“Once you all have the basics down,” Lexi continues, “we’ll do dry runs on the Thunder Ball Rally circuit itself. It won’t be live, of course, meaning there won’t be opponents or traps, but you can learn the course well enough so that it won’t be a factor when you do it for real, in combat and all.”
Her words remind me that the race itself will be nothing like the sports themed-raceway we’re enjoying right now.
“So how do we level as Runners, away?” I ask.
“Easy,” Lexi says with a grin as she dons her racing helmet. “We race.”
* * *
We start off slow, taking laps around the track following behind Lexi. I’ve ridden before, but never as a Runner. Already I can feel the difference. On one hand I feel more attuned with the bike, but without the Agility and Dex buffs from my ninja gear, it’s a bit harder to ride as well. The track is one I’ve raced many times before in the simulator, but feeling the air actually rushing against me gives me an all-new high.
“Okay get ready,” Lexi says through the party chat. “Rolling start!”
I look ahead and see the start-finish line approaching.
Practice Race initialed by: Lexi
Track Difficulty: C
Speed threshold 1: 80 MPH 0.5 XP per second
Speed threshold 2: 120 MPH 1 XP per second
Speed threshold 3: 150 MPH 1.5 XP per second
1st Place 200 XP
2nd Place 150 XP
3rd Place 100 XP
Whoa…what a cool way to gain XP!
I glance around at my friends, Aiko on a rented blue race bike next to me, Lexi up ahead and Val Helena trailing just behind. My competitive spirit takes over and I peg the throttle as we pass through the start line.
The engine wicks up like a turbine and I speedshift through the gears, 3rd…4th …5th. My heart races as my speed climbs. I glance at my HUD and see I’m doing well over 170 MPH already, my XP bar ticking over like an odometer. My blood surges with adrenaline as the wind presses against me, forcing me to duck to gain even more speed.
Lexi takes the first corner ahead of me and I lean my bike to follow after her. I ease off the throttle and kiss the brakes like I’ve done a million times before in the simulator, but the edge of the corner zooms towards me fast…way too fast! I panic and jam the brakes and my front tire skids out from under me.
Gah!
I hit the ground hard at over 100 MPH, my world blurring as I roll over and over again.
You take 35(65) sliding damage.
You take 27(57) sliding damage.
You take 15(45) sliding damage.
You take 2(32) sliding damage.
You take 0(24) sliding damage.
My bike is doing the same thing next to me, tumbling in mid-air.
No!
I finally come to a rest a few hundred feet from where my motorcycle slams into the side of the racetrack with a burst of plastic and sparks! Dang it! I glimpse my HP.
54/133 HP
Man, I would have been dead without the racing suit for sure.
I groan as I stagger to my feet, my body aching all over. I run to check on Gilly’s Gift. The motorcycle is twisted at the front, the wheel dented and its HP bar sitting at 43%.
“Crap!” I curse aloud. How did that even happen?
“Reece, you okay?” Lexi says through the party chat.
I glance over my shoulder and feel more embarrassment than pain as I see Lexi and the rest of my friends heading back towards me on the race track. Eventually they all show up, including Gilly and Becky, who arrive via a small golf cart driven by Maxis.
“Reece!” Gilly hops out dressed in her healer’s gear and tops up my HP with a Heal spell. “Geez, I thought I was going to have to Raise you! You had me scared. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I say, removing my helmet as she gives me a quick hug. “I don’t know what happened though.”
“You went in too hot,” Lexi
says, dismounting from her jeep. “You need to brake before the corner, line up for the apex, and then power through it.”
“Yeah, but I’ve taken this corner a dozen times before,” I say, looking back at it and the long skid mark where I applied the brakes.
“Not out here,” she says. “And not without all that Ninja Dex and Agility. Racing is about technique mostly. Work at getting smooth control. The speed will follow.”
I feel like an idiot. Crashed on the first darn corner? This is going to be harder than I thought. “I can’t be crashing like this with Rembrandt on the back.”
“Don’t worry,” Val Helena says. “We have time.”
“I think I can repair it,” Gilly says, looking over the wreckage. She then switches back to Blacksmith again. “Just give me a few.”
I feel a hand slap me on the back.
“Don’t worry, bro,” Maxis says, squeezing the back of my neck within his huge palm. “If you can sweet talk Queen Angela into busting me out of jail, you can do anything.”
That gives everyone a much needed laugh, myself included.
“Here,” Aiko says, hopping off her motorcycle. “Use mine until Gilly gets yours back up and running.” She then winks. “You probably need the practice more than me.”
That gets another round of laughs.
“Ha ha, very funny,” I say sardonically, but with a smile on my face.
She’s absolutely right though. I’m going to need as much practice as I can get.
“Thanks, Aiko,” I say as I hop onto my new ride. I’ve got two days to master this thing and that first corner was perhaps a blessing in disguise. I can’t expect to breeze through this without putting in as much effort as I have with everything else. And learning how to control a motorcycle at high speeds, while fending off attackers, is going to be no exception.
“Okay guys,” I say, revving the engine. “Let’s do that one again. About a thousand more times.”
Chapter 41: Sanctioned
