by Pal, J
The Charge Launcher had hurt the monstrosity I’d tested it on, but it alone wasn’t enough. We needed bigger and more powerful weapons to bring down creatures its size. As soon as we’d struck it, the beast had screamed, and the other crushers had charged to its rescue. Liam theorized that the Alvans had placed the crushers there to protect the pylon. Perhaps there were similar creatures in the other sectors too. It had to mean the structure carried greater significance compared to the others.
After failing against the crushers, I didn’t want to take any risks with the sector’s other inhabitants until we gathered more information. For one, we didn’t know how many different monster types inhabited the area. The nocturnal creatures were living in the parking structures. I hadn’t gotten to scan them yet and had only seen silhouettes of them stalking through the night. Liam pointed out four-winged birds flying overhead too. I worried that there could be more monster types in the area. Just because our starting zone only had three varieties of nests didn’t mean the current area would be the same.
The sun was starting to set when we reached the bottom of the hilly area. Unwilling to risk it in the dark, we took shelter in an old fire station. Winnie and the recon drone went in first, checking every nook and cranny for hostiles before we followed them in. Kitty and I were exhausted. Due to the crushers’ constant patrolling and scanning, we’d struggled to sleep through the few nights we’d spent in their territory. Liam would wake us up after every couple of hours of sleep to change location. But now we could finally rest.
Unfortunately, the day was far from over. As soon as we closed the door behind us and barricaded it, the world went gray and a portal blinked into appearance. Time didn’t freeze for just me though, but Kitty and Liam as well. They looked at me, terrified.
“It’s alright,” I told them. “It’s Delta coming in for an unscheduled visit.”
“That’s right,” the chrome egg said, entering our plane of existence. “Weapons down and stay calm. This isn’t an official system-mandated visit.”
Like last time, Knurven’s giant eye peeked out of the portal first. Kitty stood firm, staring it down, but Liam’s spider legs took a couple of steps back. If he still had a face or body, I imagined Liam would flinch when Knurven showed his full body. Now he remained impassive when the alien and System Assistant exited the portal.
“I’m so sorry about your friend,” he said through Delta’s little speaker drone. “My colleagues and I offer our condolences for Rajesh’s death. We are glad you accepted my offer though.”
“It’s been our goal to take down the pylons and free as many people from the mind hack all along,” I told the balloon-person. “We were taking our time with the plans for the sake of Pallav and Rajesh. Now that we’ve lost them, there’s nothing holding us back.”
“We’re pursuing this goal for their sake.” Liam scuttled forwards, speaking up. “If not for the mind hack, there would’ve been fewer barriers between us. Rajesh wouldn’t have gone off the deep end trying to prove himself and challenging our decisions and Pallav wouldn’t have lost faith in us.”
I disagreed with the sentiment but kept silent. The events leading up to the unfortunate incident that took Rajesh’s life were a lot more complicated than that. The mind hack played a part in it, that was true, but my poor decision-making contributed to the mishap too.
“Well, I’m here to express how happy we are with your decision.” Knurven bobbed up and down as the speaker transmitted his words. “I nominated your group for an exclusive channel when you helped the Artifact Technician take out the Neoporcuhog king. My colleagues weren’t happy about it, but I jumped the gun and purchased the rights to it as soon as the Alvans approved the launch. Your follower count has been growing ever since, although there was a slight stall when you chose to share the McGuffins with the boy instead of taking them. Too many viewers called you a sentimental weakling, but we managed to get over the hump.”
“So it’s true?” Kitty asked. “This is a reality show, and people are genuinely watching everything we do?”
“Almost everything. The invisidrones cut off while you’re in the bathroom.”
“What about when we’re getting intimate?”
“Your genitals are censored for the sake of the children, but everything else is broadcasted,” they answered. “My research team suggests billions across the galaxies have been petitioning for a subscription service that broadcasts everything without censoring.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” Kitty commented, going silent.
“Well, your budding relationship appeals to members of all genders that have passed the pubescent stage in their growth cycles. After your defeat of Mama and the ambushers, you hit a million followers, and that doubled after the emotional goodbye with Pallav.” Knurven almost sounded excited, and I didn’t like it one bit. I understood that we were an investment to him and he needed to make money to help us, but it was the tone that got to me. “Several viewers said they would’ve preferred it if you’d stayed and fought the raiders—”
“What does it mean when you say you have control over our channel?” I asked, cutting him off. “Does it tailor what content goes out and what doesn’t?”
“Precisely. It’s streamed through the Alvan’s broadcasting systems, but only my colleagues and I have full access to the invisidrones watching you. They’re shielded from technopathic abilities, so don’t try anything. We decide what content gets out, so you don’t have to worry about more people finding out about your lack of limiters and knowledge of what’s going on.”
“If our partnership is going to work, there’s one thing I need from you,” I said. “None of our physically intimate moments get broadcasted. Put on commercials or cut to something else. I don’t know how things work in the rest of the galaxy, but we humans are reasonably private beings.”
Knurven’s giant eye drifted between the three of us. “Fine,” he replied. “It will cost me a few hundred thousand followers, but I can live with that. On second thought, I could market your channel to younger and more conservative audiences! Yes. This can work.”
“Excuse me, but what do we get out of this?” Kitty asked. “You’re profiting off us risking our lives—do we get anything out of it?”
“As long as the pylons stand, the Alvans have full control over this region. The most we can offer you without raising red flags is information. I’ll look into sending you the occasional blueprint using whatever materials are locally available. Once in a blue moon we might be able to send you an extra McGuffin or materials Matt can use for crafting. Unfortunately, our System Assistant friend demands a significant number of McGuffins to remain in our employ.”
“That’s the cost of risking my life,” Delta said. “Nothing I can do about it.”
The conversation proved illuminating. We asked for information regarding the sector and its residence, but Knurven needed to spend time on research to ensure his intelligence was accurate. Delta wouldn’t let him divulge more without payment either.
“The three of you dodging the—crushers I think you called them—has been thrilling to watch,” Knurven told us when Delta started pressuring him to leave. “Your viewer count has risen considerably, and we’re expecting a follower boom soon.”
“On the subject of the crushers, they feel a tad out of place,” I said. “Is there something they’re protecting? Because each sector should have six pylons at the corner of each hexagon where it meets two other sectors. We scouted the last one and Recon has explored this one, and there aren’t any mega death machines protecting the other ones.”
Knurven went silent. He looked between Delta and us. “Good. Since you’ve come to the hypothesis yourself, it’s okay to share this tidbit. I believe the one near you is especially significant. It’s larger than each of the neighboring sectors, which have a small but powerful group of monsters guarding the pylon. We’ve witnessed many such structures distributed across the world, and I believe taking it down
will cause significant damage to the Alvan’s control.”
“That’s enough,” Delta said. “My warning signals are going off. You’ve said too much and we’ve maintained this freeze for longer than we should’ve. Goodbye.”
Knurven hurried to get in a few final words before leaving. “In the future, if you do kill another human, try not to throw up. It’s bad for ratings. We had quite a few teenagers whine about you being a ‘pussy’ and unfollowing.”
A blue portal blinked into existence, sucking the pair in. Time resumed as soon as they left us, and we sat together in silence, trying to process everything we had learned.
There were millions watching our every move. Knurven claimed it was a measly amount. As we grew stronger and others died off, more people would gravitate to our channel. Several thousand who had been following the raiders had switched over to our channel after we’d defeated them. This was only the beginning. I tried to cuddle up to Kitty, but she shuffled away from me. The thought of people watching everything we did must have come as a shock to her, so I didn’t take it personally.
We ate a meal of bread, cheese, and sliced ham and washed it down with a carton of orange juice. Liam had packed some Powerade for himself and sipped it while we ate. The first station had a little dormitory on the second floor. Kitty and I claimed separate beds for the evening. She sent Winnie to keep Liam company and went to sleep. Even though I was exhausted, I lay awake for several hours thinking about the people getting their kicks watching us. The thought disgusted me. However, our lives depended on them now, and without their support, we’d never succeed on our mission to bring down the Alvan pylons.
Chapter Three
Location, Location, Location
We reached our destination around midday without any interruptions or distractions. The buildings on the hill did not match the rest of the sector and looked like a standalone town contained within an industrial city. From what we could tell, it housed academic centers and housing for the big wigs running the factories below. After some discussion, we decided not to go all the way to the top of the hill. Instead, we opted for a neighborhood where we could see our goal. Well, the pylon was invisible to the naked eye, but we knew where it stood.
More importantly, the buildings in the area struck a perfect balance. They hovered between standing at eye level with the telephone towers and giant office buildings and looking over their roofs. We could see the streets below and in between the structures instead of just their top halves.
After some thought, we decided not to go for one of the mansions. They had too many glass walls and open-plan designs spread around large courtyards. Defending them would be a pain in the arse. We had found a nice central location and weren’t too keen on moving again anytime soon. Due to it being a residential area, there were plenty of shops, and most of them appeared fairly well stocked and untouched. Liam suggested it wasn’t necessarily a positive sign, as something must have made the locals flee, but I got a good feeling about the place.
Kitty liked the area too. There was no way in hell the crushers were going to make it up here, and there didn’t appear to be a lot of preferable spots for the nocturnal monsters. When Recon spotted a man-made lake at the center of the community, we were all sold. This was bloody perfect. Whatever threat roamed this area, we’d deal with it.
After some discussion, we settled on a cube-shaped building. Most of the sign out front was missing, but the lower half said “Universität.” The side walls were solid concrete, while the front and back were glass but had long metal plates standing against them at an angle from the ground floor to the roof, almost like vertical Venetian blinds. When we had a peek inside, we hypothesized it was a university’s engineering department: suspended car engines, a poorly made replica of Disney’s Iron Giant, and a hideous junk metal sculpture decorated the lobby.
The prospect of the building having equipment and materials in the plentiful got us excited. Not only could I use Technogogue to make equipment, but Liam could use his degree and Mega Brain to tinker up toys of his own. Kitty didn’t care as long as the building had a kitchen and a place to bathe. I couldn’t be sure about the latter, but we found the former on the ground floor behind reception. In addition, the building had its own little cafeteria. It was just three benches long enough to seat six people, but it came with a commercial kitchen. Who in their right mind would scoff at that?
Liam took full credit for the find since he had been scanning the area with his technopathic abilities—they were keener and more practiced than mine. His search for working power sources had led us to the building. Most of the locals had working generators or solar panels, but the university building had the best ones around. Considering the locality, Kitty guessed it might have been a research building—and not one for regular undergraduate students. Either way, the generators were still alive and the fridge and freezers were working. Besides our stock of grub, the building had stores to feed Kitty and me for quite some time.
“We hit the jackpot!” Kitty exclaimed. “I don’t even care if they have a working bath or shower. I’ll just use the neighbors’.”
“Or Matt could build you one,” Liam said. “It’s not a particularly difficult task.” He scuttled over to the suspended car engine and poked it with one of his spider legs. “I don’t believe in divine intervention, karmic justice, or any of that bullshit, but this feels like the universe compensating for the hell it put us through over the last few days. We couldn’t have asked for a better hideout.”
“Let’s not jump the gun, guys,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I saw some damage on the upper floors. Let’s make sure this place is secure before we settle.”
“If it isn’t, we’ll make it secure. I’m telling you, mate. We’re not going to find anything better than this. Just down here, we’ve got a kitchen, washroom, and a golem husk for Kitty to use if Winnie or Morpheus get smushed. What more could we ask for?”
“He’s right, Matt. How about you and Winnie go scout out the upper floors for peace of mind. Liam and I will check things down here and barricade the exits. How does that sound?”
“Fine, I suppose.” I sighed. “Start with the basement, though. I sense the generator is below us. Just make sure there’s no monstrous creepy-crawly down there.”
Liam sent Recon to check it out, and I headed upstairs. It turned out Kitty was right. The building didn’t have the same feel as the engineering department at our university. There were no lecture halls or labs big enough to fit dozens of students. Instead, I found plenty of offices and high-tech lab spaces big enough for teams of two to four. Perhaps a building dedicated to postgraduate and doctorate study? I couldn’t tell. It just reminded me of the workspaces used to shoot The Big Bang Theory—a sitcom starring four nerds working as academic researchers.
The building started winning me over when I didn’t see anything out of place on the first two floors. Moreover, it had an abundant supply of materials. I would probably need to go out for the ridiculous bits Technogogue asked for, but the high-tech pieces which had previously been out of reach were now at my fingertips.
The vending machines on the third floor were dead. I cracked one of them open with the Charge Launcher’s inbuilt blade and helped myself to a lemonade. Far from all local light sources, the beverage had stayed cold. It wasn’t the only vending machine up there either. There were ones for hot drinks, junk food, and a water cooler. Pallav would have loved it. Thinking about him made my chest hurt. Having spent the last few days running for our lives, he and Rajesh had been out of my mind. However, now that I was back in a university building, I couldn’t help but think about how things would be if they were with us now.
No.
I needed to focus on ensuring this could serve as our new home. Satisfied with the third floor, I moved onto the fourth. A bone-chilling breeze hit me as soon as I exited the stairwell. This had to be the floor with the hole on the outer wall. Everything appeared in order at first. I assumed someone had tes
ted their power in the wrong place and at the wrong time. It was Winnie who realized something was off first. In the dim lighting, I failed to notice the bloodstains on the carpet. Heading further in, we found them on the walls too. Then a musty smell similar to the hedgehog’s nest hit my nostrils, and my vision narrowed.
Winnie extended spikes from his arms the second I powered up the Charge Launcher. The vambrace’s shield-shaped guard clicked open and the barrel slid out from between the two halves. Blue energy pulsed and hummed around the muzzle as the weapon came to life. When I’d hit the crushers with one of its shots, it had melted the skin and burned some of their flesh away but hadn’t gotten deep enough to hurt the vitals. At the same time, I wasn’t sure what class of monsters they counted as normal, elite, or boss. I hoped to get better results with the sector’s other monstrous inhabitants.
“Liam, there might be something up here,” I said through the comms.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m on the fourth floor and there are bloodstains all over the place. The creatures might be gone, but I’m not sure yet.”
“Scout it out but don’t engage,” he told me. “I’m on my way.”
“No. You stay down there. Morpheus isn’t too good with stairs, and I don’t want Kitty unguarded. Stay down there unless I ask for backup.”
“Fine,” Liam replied after a long pause. “Just don’t do anything stupid. Please. We can’t afford to lose you too.”
“Don’t worry, mate. I’ve got Winnie and plenty of equipment to keep me alive. Just keep an eye out for anything trying to sneak up on you and sit tight.”
