While Brittany shoved her way through the fleeing crowd a loud gunshot suddenly rang out, causing her to stop her in her tracks. A lanky man wearing goggles and shooting-range styled ear protection stood nearby, aiming at the incoming hoard of zombie-like creatures emerging from the ocean. He fired the heavy assault-styled Saiga-12 shotgun again but missed. He obviously wasn’t using buckshot, but slugs.
She instinctively reached for her police-issued sidearm, but her belt was missing. A brief flash of memory reminded her that she had left it on a tray inside the Decommissioning Room.
I’ve got to get my hands on that shotgun.
She rushed him from behind and kicked him in the back of the knees. He crumpled to the ground and she locked her arm around his neck. “Police!” she bellowed in his ear. “Drop the weapon!”
Instead of cooperating, he swung the barrel towards her face. Instinct took over. Twisting hard, she snapped his neck, and he crumpled to the ground.
That felt waaayyyy too real…
The game’s development was so real that she had a difficult time dispelling the thought that somehow this was Real Life (RL). Clearly, she was still in the game Conquest. After all, how else could she explain the zombies?
She shrugged off the disturbing thoughts and did a quick pat down of the man’s body. He didn’t have any more magazines for the shotgun, but a 45mm caliber Colt 1911 was also strapped to his side. She armed herself with the two weapons and fled away from the incoming horde. Checking the rounds while on the run, she made a mental note that there were eight remaining slugs for the Saiga and a full magazine of seven rounds for the 1911 with another hollow point in the chamber.
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Having broken free from the chaotic crowds near the strange tower, she found refuge on the shoreline to the north. Brittany couldn't believe her eyes when the message appeared in her NR enhanced vision.
CyberBolt Entertainment servers are back online. Do you wish to log into Conquest?
Yes | No
For the Conquest servers to malfunction when they did was very unprofessional, and she fully intended to have a long rant with a manager at CyberBolt Entertainment once Doug repaired her inability to log out.
She pressed firmly on her right temple, feeling disorientated for a moment as static filled her view. The static then dissipated to reveal a murky darkness surrounding her on all sides. A few moments later, a large blinking cursor appeared. Brittany rolled her eyes in annoyance.
This is ridiculous! I still can't log out.
Her HUD was malfunctioning just as it had earlier before the servers went temporarily offline. She hoped that somehow Doug had caused the reset in order to make repairs.
C:\>CyberBolt.exe_
A string of code sped past her field of vision, followed by the familiar music-box-like hymn of Conquest. After a moment, the game’s logo disappeared, replaced by a message:
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MMO | PvP
She wasn’t sure how to get back to Doug’s virtual cabin, but then she remembered they had originally met while playing in Player vs. Player (PvP) mode.
Now that the servers are back online, maybe he'll be playing PvP again.
It was a strange thought, but worth investigating. After selecting “PvP,” a chime sounded, and the wisps of darkness swirled around her and she was now clad in metal armor.
That's more like it!
To her disappointment, no opponent stood to challenge her.
A new screen then popped up:
Our system detects that there are no challengers available at this time. Do you wish to fight an NPC?
Yes | No
Brittany shrugged and selected “Yes.” A toggle screen appeared with pictures of Non-Player Characters and their listed skills. She scrolled through the potential candidates, confused by the fact that every opponent that supposedly best matched her own skills were Level 1 characters. A disturbing thought crossed her mind, and she toggled the screen to her own player stats.
Conquest: Player Stats
Name | @IronVixen
Class | N/A
Level | 1
Experience (XP) | 0
XP to next level | 50
Hit Points (HP) | 100/100
Mana | 10/10
Strength |Total: 1 | Original: 1 | Level Ups: 0 | Bonuses: 0
Agility |Total: 1 | Original: 1 | Level Ups: 0 | Bonuses: 0
Stamina |Total: 1 | Original: 1 | Level Ups: 0 | Bonuses: 0
Intelligence |Total: 1 | Original: 1 | Level Ups: 0 | Bonuses: 0
Willpower |Total: 1 | Original: 1 | Level Ups: 0 | Bonuses: 0
“What?!” she screamed. “Level 1?! Zero XP?!”
She cursed under her breath. It had taken her over a thousand hours of play time to achieve the minimum 1,400 XP to achieve Level 8. The last time she had checked her character sheet, she was only 40 XP shy of meeting the 2,000 XP threshold required to reach Level 9.
While she scrolled through the NPC options, she did a double-take when she recognized Doug’s avatar.
What the...
She clicked on the profile for @Andrex, and confirmed her suspicions. It was him, but he somehow seemed to have lost a significant amount of his XP, and was at a lower level than the last time she had seen his character sheet. Brittany shook her head in disbelief.
Doug is just an NPC? He can't be!
She was really starting to gain an attraction for him, and this was a new blow to Brittany’s self-esteem. Had she really fallen for a computer program? There was only one way to find out for sure.
Do you wish to choose this opponent?
Yes | No
Brittany chose ‘Yes’.
Across the clearing, a gust of wind swirled. In a brilliant flash Doug’s avatar appeared. Unlike their last encounter however, he was brandishing a spiked club. His armor wasn’t quite as impressive either.
“Doug?”
There was no answer, and then a new system message appeared.
Please choose a weapon from your inventory
She quickly toggled to her inventory screen, and her jaw dropped. It was empty.
What?! Where’s my flaming broadsword? My mace? My potions? My battleaxe?
She cursed even louder. Clearly, someone had hacked into her avatar while she was offline and stolen her entire inventory.
A disturbing thought crossed her mind. There was only one person she knew with the capability to pull off such a feat.
Her eyes narrowed at her opponent, “You!”
Doug’s avatar stood at the ready, a mischievous look on his face.
“Where are my weapons?!” she demanded. “And my gear?! What’d you do with it?”
A new system message popped up.
Would you like to browse the Conquest eStore for suitable weaponry?
Yes | No
Brittany rolled her eyes. It always frustrated her to no end when she had to spend RL money inside the game, but she was left with little choice. Begrudgingly she selected ‘Yes’.
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