Login Accepted

by R J Triveri

  Athos wanted to stop. He wanted to try and figure out what had happened to make the man shoot at the poor girl, but the man’s words said it all. It was the one that almost got away. From his hands, the Pyrothium flew.

  “Asshole!”

  Across his vision, a single phrase emerged in bright red, flashing letters: Duel Engaged.

  The Suit raised his gun and shot the first vial out of the air, but the explosive aftermath threw him back just far enough to be at the corona’s edge as the second collided with the wall. The man was stumbling, hot, and off balanced as he called out a simple, but rather passionate, retort, “What the actual hell?!”

  His rage continued to burn as another pair of vials flew followed closely by searing, accusing words. “How could you!”

  Despite the man’s size and Athos’s lack of experience, he was still stumbling to avoid the liquid fire that blazed from each bottle. The Suit tried to recover again, but the vials crashed against the walls around him. Sending the scent of hot stone and evaporating water into the air.

  Athos’s mind raced as he looked directly into one of the burning orbs of fire he had thrown. All he could repeat to himself was the same phrase fueling his actions: Damn him! Quickly after, two other phrases joined that one: Damn his gun! Damn his job!

  As the smoke cleared, the Suit stood unsteadily, but his gun was drawn and pointed at Athos’s weakened form. “Are you daft? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  His breath caught in his chest as the cold steel stared him down. “She wasn’t going to hurt anyone.” His hands were still holding vials, but he couldn’t throw, not yet.

  “She? Athos, you are Athos, right?” The alchemist nodded carefully. “Athos, she was the boss of the dungeon. I don’t know what you did, but she almost got away from you. I stopped her. What has your panties so twisted? You got the experience. Hell, I can’t even touch your loot. Why did you attack me?”

  The words left his mouth before he could even put them into perspective for himself, “You murdered her. All she wanted was to leave the dungeon.” But as the words left his mouth, he realized it wasn’t the best argument to anyone that hadn’t seen what he saw. She just wanted to leave, to live.

  “Vedava isn’t dead, and you can’t murder what’s not meant to die. As soon as someone new enters the dungeon, it’ll respawn. Besides.” The metal of the gun flicked forward, flashing brightly for just a moment before a shot rang out. In a shower of sparks, his pact beast fell like a balloon full of glitter had just been popped. “That could have been your head if I had the notion. Call off the duel, hand me your ticket, and get the hell out of here.”

  A moment later, another message window flashed in front of Athos. The message was as simple:

  Lucas [The Suits] requests the duel be canceled. Accept/Deny

  Despite the obvious fact that the bullet had come inches from his head, it didn’t faze him the way he thought it would. Instead of a surge of adrenaline and fear, Athos’s soul felt cold. His eyes watched as the glittering light lingered for just a moment on the floor before it vanished.

  His rage was tempered, but his words still came as burning ice. “How do you sleep at night?”

  Lucas the Suit shrugged it off as he took a step forward. Each step of his polished black shoes echoed in the silence of the corridor emphasizing the size and the deathly silence of the polished marble area. “You’re still new, aren’t you? You have no idea how things really work around here? When did you get off the wire? A few days? Weeks? Maybe an entire month ago? You think slinging a few potions makes you an expert on how the world works?” The smell of gunpowder surrounded him now as the gun inched closer. “You don’t know anything,” his voice stressing that final word before the smell of gunpowder began to permeate his digital clothing. “Now, kindly end the duel and leave before I change my mind.”

  The ice that had carried on his words seeped through Athos’s veins as he looked at the pile of items that had once been Vedava. She had been there only moments before. How many times had this happened to her? How long had Athos known her? Minutes? Was it worth it to keep picking at the man?

  “No.”

  Lucas’s eyebrow perked at the sound, raising the white hair on his head just a little bit higher. “Excuse me?”

  “I said…”

  A bullet rang out as pain erupted through Athos’s arm. A scream ripped from his lips as the vials in his hand dropped to the floor as one hand wretched itself open in a spasm while another reached to grab the spot where the bullet had collided on his arm at near point blank range.

  Damage received: 42% integrity Remaining - Performance Affected

  “That wasn’t even my second best, Athos,” Lucas said as an off-handed fact. “Now, I don’t think I heard you right.” The pain faded as quickly as it had come, and the fresh smoke polluted Athos’s nostrils. Was he going into shock? Lifting his hand away, he expected a flow of red and was met with a clean hand no worse for wear other than a new hole in his jacket. “Will you cancel the duel?”

  Again, the window appeared:

  Lucas [The Suits] requests the duel be canceled. Accept/Deny

  “No.”

  The trail of smoke leading to his thigh once again gave the sounds of pained life to the lifeless sound of the room. Athos’s voice felt strained as another message flashed and his integrity dropped.

  Damage received: 28% integrity Remaining - Integrity Critical

  Unfortunately for Athos, Lucas’s words were no kinder after the second shot. “I can do this all day if you want, but, if I were you, I would cancel the duel.” The metal that rested against his cheek was hot now and smelled of Hell itself, “Now.”

  Pride wouldn’t let him as he looked at the man. Pain was passing, but he couldn’t, he wouldn’t let it go. “Did she even attack you?”

  Lucas nodded tapping the gun against his cheek. “She got in a few good ones with that magic of hers, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

  His words followed quickly in Lucas’s track. “Did you shoot first, or did she?”

  From the tone his voice took, it must have sounded like a dumb question. “Of course I shot first. She was coming right at me!”

  His body was sore, his breath still caught occasionally in his throat. “That’s not right.”

  He pulled back the hammer of his slim-lined pistol again, “It’s life. It doesn’t have to be right or fair. She’s the boss here. The boss dies, and the adventurer wins. End of story.” His gun pointed back at Athos after a short reprieve. “Now, drop the duel, Alchemist Athos. I’ve got no desire to become a Red.”

  Red? The question lingered for a moment before other thoughts rushed in. Game law, MMO terminology. “You mean you don’t want to kill a human.”

  Lucas shrugged, “Human, Inciperian, anything like us really. To put it simply, Athos, your death isn’t worth the hassle.” Athos had given everything to come here, to live, to experience life. The vials at his side reached his hands again and vanished into his inventory in a burst of soft white, pixelating light along with what Vedava dropped when she was defeated. “Now, cancel the duel.”

  For the third time, the window appeared again bearing the same request:

  Lucas [The Suits] requests the duel be canceled. Accept/Deny

  There was nothing else he could argue. The act was done, her memory would be lost, and there was nothing he could do to bring it back. There just wasn’t anything to be gained by putting it off any longer. Lucas had outclassed, outfought, and out every-thing-ed him. There was just nothing else he could do in his eyes, as he spoke that fated word. “Accept.”

  Lucas smiled as he put his gun back into the holster. “That’s a good boy, now, hand me your ticket and get the Hell out of here.” The trade screen opened once more and Athos dropped in his ticket. “Touch the portal stones, pick a location in the Sea of Grass, and you’ll be gone.”

  The alchemist nodded before walking behind Lucas to the archway that made up the por
tal stone, but something stopped him. Athos almost couldn’t help himself as he turned and pulled out the pistol he had holstered with a dangerous, new intent that triggered something in his code:

  Combat Class Selected: Gunner!

  Auto-Assignment confirmed!

  Points Automatically Assigned!

  Class Fusion Complete!

  New Class Title: Alchemical Arm

  New Passive and Active Skills Unlocked.

  The information flashed across his corner status window, but Incipere’s newest alchemical arm had more pressing matters. Pulling the hammer back, Athos sighed. “Lucas.”

  He turned, seeing Athos had drawn on him and laughed. “What are you going to do, shoot me?”

  “Yes.” The hammer fell, and the smell of gunpowder lingered long after the explosion rang out. It wasn’t a high-ranking or high-quality pistol, it wasn’t even a great shot, but he figured it would hurt all the same as he touched the stone gateway. He only lingered a moment as he picked the only location he knew in the zone. “I hope I never see you again, bastard.”

  Lucas cried out as he reached for his pistol more in shock than intent, but before he could decide whether to pull the trigger, Athos was already gone.

  The Farming Life

  Downloading and uploading had nothing on the stone gateway’s method of travel. Unlike the motions of falling or racing like the previous two, the gateway felt as if his body had been strung out like a rubber band. It stretched painfully long until one side snapped and sent him flying towards his destination only to collide with an invisible wall and stop. At this point, he wasn’t sure if it was the world’s mechanics or if he just didn’t know what the hell he was doing.

  As he got his legs back and collapsed into the soft grass miles and miles away from the dungeon, Athos felt sick. It could have been from the trip or his grief, but it could have also been the fact the ice in his veins began melting and the idea of what he had done just started to sink in. Athos had shot someone. Digital or not, the once alchemist had pulled a gun on the man and fired with the full intent on hurting him. It didn’t help when his eyes were drawn again to the red numbers and letters at the top of his vision:

  28% integrity Remaining - Integrity Critical

  It wasn’t like Lucas didn’t deserve the shot. The bastard had almost killed him, probably would have if being Red wasn’t such an inconvenience. Despite all that, Athos knew he shouldn’t have done it. Even as the rage tried to consume him, he couldn’t even shoot him in the back. It just wasn’t in him. What would people think of him if they found out? What would Walter think?

  The thought worried Athos almost to the point of collapse. He had already come so far thanks to the portal stones, but if Walt wouldn’t take him in for the night, he would be out of luck. Athos needed to get moving. He could see the farmhouse lingering just on the horizon, but he needed to rest even more and eat something before he could even think of being on the move again.

  Taking out the little he had left, he gorged himself on what looked like bread, but tasted nothing like it, and collapsed into the grass to stare into the sky. He tried to keep his mind busy, but when he realized the clouds were in repeating patterns, he gave up on that and just relaxed. He was careful to keep himself from sleeping, but it wasn’t easy to just do nothing.

  An hour in the grass didn’t do much for his integrity, only gaining back ten percent of what he had lost, but the overall pain had subsided enough for him to feel only a dull ache. Walking was once again an option as the sun began its trip towards the horizon.

  The plains around him, which according to the map had taken the name of the Sea of Grass, looked exactly as it sounded. Thigh length blades of grass populated the fields in all directions, and as the wind caught the grass, a wave would flow across the plains for as long as it willed before vanishing. The only road seemed to have been two dug lines leading from one direction towards Walt’s farmhouse. Thinking he would make better time, Athos made for the thin lines and followed them to what he hoped would be his sanctuary.

  As he arrived at the border of Walt’s property, the sun was already casting shadows across the Sea of Grass turning the dark and light shades of green into grays and dark blues under the rising moon. Slowing his pace, Athos took in the sight with wonder. The city had been so familiar to him with close housing, noise, people, busy streets, but Walt’s was something different entirely. The farmhouse itself was almost as big as the barn with blue siding and a big white door. Windows were set all along the second floor, but only a small decorative window on the door graced the first. Nerves aside, Athos raised his hand and knocked on his friend’s door.

  Rustling came from inside as he heard something move behind the closed door. It was soft at first, but that only lasted until the door flew open and a man took him into a sudden bear hug. “Athos! Good to see you!”

  “Not so tight!” he cried as pain shot through him again.

  Damage received: 36% integrity Remaining - Integrity Critical

  The look on Walt’s face echoed Athos’s own for a moment before letting him go. “What the hell happened to you? You look like Hell threw you on the doorstep.” His hand went to Athos’s arm and brushed along where the first bullet had gone through, damaging his coat and shirt, then the second spot, then the third before he yelled back into the house. “Sal, Sandra, get some of the healing salves!” His attention returned quickly after to Athos. “Who shot you? I told you to keep your head down!”

  “It was stupid,” he mustered trying to downplay the fact he had been shot. He hadn’t even noticed his clothing had still been damaged in his rush to get out.

  “Get in here. The Wild Ones will be spawning soon, and I don’t think you’re up for a hunt tonight.”

  Walter wasted no more time bringing the boy inside and setting him on the couch. Despite the pain, Athos couldn’t ignore the fact that the room was really welcoming with three large couches surrounding a fireplace. Except for near that welcoming fire, the entire first floor seemed to be ripe with polished wood floors, but he really didn’t think it was the time to compliment Walt’s home. His ears could pick up on movement somewhere above him, but it didn’t really register until after Walt began talking again. “Who the hell shot you, Athos? What’s your integrity at?”

  “Thirty-six.”

  His friend looked through him, trying to get a read on how serious it might be and finally decided on yelling upstairs. “Girls! Hurry up with that salve!”

  Athos hesitated to continue the story as Walt calmed down, but maybe this would be easier than he thought. “I was in the Dungeon of Rodda. The Suits have control of the region and were waiting at the portal stones near the end. I was helping Vedava leave and…”

  The older man held up a hand to stop him mid-sentence. “Wait, you triggered the escort event…?” Walt began before someone handed him something over the couch. “Thanks, Sal.”

  “Athos went the pacifist route? I’m not surprised,” the familiar voice of Sally added before peering over the edge of the couch. “You look like shit.”

  He wanted to laugh but settled for a barely visible smile. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t have come knocking.”

  Walt’s face darkened despite his smile, handing the small container to Athos. “No wonder they stopped you if you were doing that, but shooting you? That seems extreme.”

  Well, it was now or never. “The Suit shot her, and I sort of lost it.”

  “Lost it?” Sally interrupted as she took a seat on one of the other couches since Athos’s body took up the entirety of his.

  He hesitated, hoping Walt would cut in, but he wasn’t that lucky. So, Athos told his side of the story. How he let his rage get the better of him, how he lashed out, how he went on the attack until he was stopped, nearly shot dead in his defiance.

  Walt seemed satisfied, but Sally pushed a bit harder as her father dropped the medical salve into his open hand. “That doesn’t explain the other two holes, Athos.”
>
  Were they that obvious, he thought to himself as he held up his hand and felt around his chest and the spot on his leg. Maybe it was the way his clothes were folded. Still, it wasn’t as if he could avoid it at this point. “He kept shooting until I canceled the duel.”

  For a few moments, Walt and Sally seemed to be at a loss for words. It wasn’t Lucas that had kept it going but him. Whether it was from surprise or contempt, it seemed to Athos that the eyes watching him were studying him closer than before.

  “You were lucky. A lot of the Suits wouldn’t think twice,” a new voice added as a taller figure took a seat on the third couch, “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure yet, but if you’re who I think you are, you’ve used up more than your fair share of luck.”

  If he hadn’t known already, the resemblance between Sally and Sandra would have been a dead giveaway that they were family. The face, the build, right down to the shades in the colors of their hair were nearly identical. Well, almost identical. Sandra wore a much more motherly appearance in her expectant state. Her face and other areas were slightly rounder, but then again, should he have expected anything different from what Walter had said?

  As if remembering himself, Walt motioned to the woman and smiled. “Athos, this is my beautiful wife, Sandra Queen. Sandra, this is my friend, Athos.”

  He nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “And you as well considering all I’ve heard about you, an alchemist with a Child of the Forest perk.” Her eyes wandered to his ears and smiled. “Still carrying it after more than a week here, too. I’m impressed.”

  At least she didn’t call him a newbie, but he didn’t want to correct her with his new title. “I’m not really the fighting sort.”

  “Says the man armed with a gun, coming fresh from a dungeon, and was just hellbent on fighting a Suit for shooting his escort,” the young Queen pointed out oh so eloquently.