Half an hour passed before she finally neared her destination. As she drew closer, she stopped short.
I’m not alone.
Five players lit up on the screen. All were Level 3 characters.
Easy pickings.
Brittany aimed the hunting rifle at the group as they walked toward the meteor’s impact site and took out one of them. The others scrambled for safety.
CardioBlast: Medium
Instant Kill
+25 XP
Skill Unlocked: CardioBlast
Delivers an Instant Kill and blows a hole through an opponent’s chest when in close range. Chances of longer range accuracy are 25%. Greater chances for Instant Kill increase with higher levels. Requirements: Level > 4, Agility > 2, Stamina > 3, Intelligence > 2
She trained her eye through the scope, and the instant one of the players popped his head up she put a bullet through it.
HeadShot: Easy
Instant Kill
+20 XP
“Hold your fire!” she heard a woman yell. “Please! We mean you no harm!”
The woman stood up, her arms raised in surrender. For a brief second Brittany hesitated, and that's all it took. In an instant, she was surrounded on either side by two men, their gun-barrels pressed against her head.
“Drop your weapons, and we'll spare your life.”
Brittany rolled her eyes. “What's the point? I'll just respawn back at the tower.”
“Funny thing is…” the woman sneered, “the three of us are all that's left of our guild. We've lost four today, and still haven't received any system alerts about their respawns.”
A look of alarm flashed across Brittany’s face as a foreboding thought returned.
No respawns?! But this can't be RL!
“What are you saying?” Brittany’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Somehow Conquest seems to be locked in a permadeath setting.” the woman explained. “I have my suspicions that if you die here, you'll also die in RL.”
“That's preposterous.” Brittany said, unable to hide the tremor in her voice.
“Is it, though?” the woman said. “A lot of strange things have happened since the Server reset. I'm sure you've noticed?”
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Brittany nodded. “What do you want from me?”
“We’ve heard a lot about you @IronVixen. We want to extend you an invitation to join our guild.”
“I work alone.” Brittany scoffed.
“I’m not asking.” The woman nodded to the men who in turn cocked their weapons.
A system alert popped up in her NR enhanced vision.
@BlondeWarrior has extended an invitation to join her guild. Do you wish to accept?
Yes | No
“So what's it gonna be?” @BlondeWarrior pressed. “Join us, or die?”
She stared at the screen. It took a full minute of internal struggling before she made her decision.
Brittany chose ‘Yes’.
The two men withdrew their weapons. Brittany took quick aim with her 1911 at one of the two men, but was unable to pull the trigger. Instead, an error box popped up:
ERROR!
You cannot attack a member of your own guild.
Annoyance flashed across her face as she lowered her weapon.
@BlondeWarrior grinned wryly. “Welcome to the team.”
“So that's your angle.” Brittany glared at her. “Seek out skilled players, and trap them in your guild. Nice one, Blondie.”
She extended a hand. “Call me Vickie.”
“No.” Brittany ignored the gesture. “Blondie suits you better.”
They glared at each other for several moments until one of the men—player name @Vragyth16—broke the silence. “Glad to have you on our team. I'm Brad.”
“Did this little wench force you onto her team as well?” Brittany fumed.
“Actually, no.” He pointed to his teammates. “Vickie, Sam, and I have been in the same guild for years. The two members you killed off were newbies.”
The other man, @Gihr5, spoke up. “I'm honestly surprised you didn't kill me off first. I'm usually the first one to go.”
“That's because you always play like a noob!” Brad elbowed Sam in the gut.
“I assume Blondie here is your Guild Leader then?” Brittany asked, nauseated by the banter.
“Not exactly. She kinda assumed temporary leadership when our guild leader disappeared a few weeks ago. He often has hardware issues, so his absence isn't too surprising.”
“Hardware issues?”
“Yeah.” Brad explained, “Every so often his microchip goes berserk and he has to get a new one surgically installed.”
“I've never heard of such a thing.” Brittany scoffed.
“We hadn't either.”
“I have a theory…” Blondie chimed in with a wry grin. “I spoke with him after our failed quest last week. He confided in me that he was about to propose to his girlfriend that night.”
“Nice. I'll have to tease him about it when he logs back on.” Brad smirked.
“So this guild leader of yours...” Brittany chewed on a thought. “He won’t be upset I joined?”
“I doubt it. He's pretty chill.” She shrugged. “Besides, I'm the leader until he shows his sorry face. My guild, my rules.”
“And your rules are?”
“I'm still considering all of them, but off the top of my head I think we should share our quests and inventories.”
Brittany's jaw dropped. “You can't be serious.”
“You're about to find out.”
An alert popped up in Brittany’s NR enhanced field of vision.
@BlondeWarrior has just accessed your inventory.
“Get your grubby hands out of there!”
“Ooh. You've got an AK-47?” Blondie cooed. “I think I'll take that.”
Brittany watched in impotent rage as the control key for the weapon disappeared from her inventory, now rendering it a useless weight strapped to her back.
“You'll pay for this!” she said through gritted teeth.
“You don't intimidate me in the slightest, fellow Blonde.”
Brittany swung the strap of the AK-47 over her head and begrudgingly handed over the coveted weapon. “Just watch your back.”
“I see you've got three outstanding quests too.” Blondie scowled. “Care to share in the spoils?”
Brittany’s eyes narrowed. “Over my dead avatar.”
“Tsk, tsk. Now that's no way to talk to your guild leader.”
@BlondeWarrior has just shared three quests with your guild.
“No way!” Brad stammered. “You actually found the legendary Tower of Babel?!”
“Yes.” Brittany seethed, “And you better keep it a secret or else I'll destroy all of you.”
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