Alan found himself lying in the pod, his exit sequence just finishing up. He got himself dressed and didn’t realize till halfway out of the door that he’d left his pod at 9:00 pm sharp. He’d only been in the player area for less than a minute, but he could have sworn he had been there for much longer. Now he had a real mystery to ask Kara about.
He checked his cell and saw a missed call from his brother and from his ex. James hadn’t left a voicemail but had sent a text to have Alan give him a call. He didn’t bother to listen to the one from his ex.
Calling his brother they talked over the instructions, chatting for a while, even talking for a bit about his recent break-up. By the time he had gotten off the phone and into bed, it had been close to midnight. In his new timeline, it had been the longest he’d spoken to his brother since he’d been a kid.
Lucky for him, his ex-girlfriend's admirers weren’t there to meet out any additional justice. He was glad to have a night off.
The next morning he was once again overjoyed at the simplicity of simple cinnamon and sugar cereal before he drove to the Cosmos Hub. Walking up to the front desk he found Corbin just finishing up with another customer. Once done, Corbin immediately greeted him. “Hello Sir, thank you for visiting us again today. How may I help?” He inquired politely.
“Good morning Corbin. It’s good to see you. I believe I have some guests waiting for me in one of the private meeting rooms.”
Checking his computer her responded quickly, “Yes sir, they arrived only recently, Please follow me.”
They walked together into a small conference room where his Parents, sister, and brother were seated. His brother's wife was also seated at the large wooden table, with his nephew bouncing on his lap. Surrounding them were a few stacks of cardboard boxes and plastic bags.
“Good morning Alan.” His mother stood up and warmly greeted him, giving him a warm hug. “We’re all here just like you asked.”
“Thanks, Mom. Hey James. Hi Audrey, I’m glad that you brought Dillan too.” His brother stood taller than Alan and looked a lot like his father. Tall with stern features. His sister-in-law, on the other hand, was short, blond, and with eyes sweet and sincere. He walked around giving his family members all hugs and sat down.
Alan began, “Well first things first. Corbin, could you have them sign the forms?”
“Yes sir.” He began to walk to the family members and hand out forms. “These are 7-day reservation forms for permanent pod leases. There is no holding fee, as we do not have a waiting list as of yet. However, please be aware that if you fail to purchase the pod by the end of the 7 days, re-reserving will incur a substantial fee, if there are any available.”
“What’s he talking about son?” His Father inquired.
“It’s like he said Dad, there is no commitment for now, but there is a chance to purchase a first series pod.”
Corbin added, “We do have the 2nd and 3rd series which will become available for permanent lease in the next month, however, these are not of the same quality as the 1st series.”
“And how much are these ‘pods’ dear?” The calculative inquest came from Alan’s mother.
Before he could interject Corbin stated. “One Hundred and Fifty thousand dollars.” He said it confidently as if it was quite the bargain. Too bad Corbin nor his parents knew it was a real bargain.
“Son, we don't have that kind of money?!” his dad said in a half-strained voice.
“Oh, Mr. Alan has already informed me that he would be taking care of the purchase.”
His dad looked at Alan strangely, “For each of us?”
“Did he not tell you?" Corbin, once again interrupted, "Well he does often surprise me too. He cannot purchase more than 1 pod for himself. Thus he required your signatures indicating your ownership of the pods.” He finished handing out the paper and seeing the bewildered looks, tactfully stated, “Perhaps this would be a good time for me to wait outside.” Leaving Alan alone to wonder if he could somehow paralyze the man with his powers yet.
As the door closed behind him it was his sister who blurted out the obvious questions to the stunned gathering. “How the Heck! Where did you get a million dollars?”
Looking at the confusion of his family he replied the best way he could. “Look I don’t have the $900,000 for the pods at the moment. It’s tied up in some investments, but I’m hoping that by the end of the week, I'll have the cash”
Looking around him, none of his family spoke. Each carried a wide-eyed disbelief. Only his nephew was untouched by the remark. It was his father who broke the silence.
“Are you doing something, illegal son?”
“No Dad, I’ve just had some opportunities and it’s worked out.” He felt like an idiot for not having foreseen the obvious reaction to the news. He still really couldn’t believe it. “Look, it's not like I have the money at the moment, I just have some great opportunities for the future, nothing illegal. If everything works out, our family will be the better for it.” He pleaded with them.
His Mother was reading the document carefully before speaking up. “Dear, from what I could see of that parking lot and news reports, our son may not have a bad idea. If he has the capital to get in now, these pods may be a worthwhile investment.” She then gave Alan a wicked laugh, “Besides if our son wants to spoil us, I’m not going to be the one to stop him.”
It was James, who spoke next. “Dad, he was good enough to get us into this thing. The least we can do is trust him to see where it goes. I figure what’s there to lose.”
Between his mother’s prodding and brothers matter of fact matter all Alan’s father could do was slump his shoulders in defeat.
“All right,” he grumbled, “from what I’ve heard of this...this ‘game’, it may be the next big deal. But don’t expect me to cash out my retirement to buy, no excuse me, lease, one of these pods.”
“Not a problem Dad.” Alan quickly agreed “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work and I’ll leave it at that.”
The papers were signed and Alan went out and handed them to Corbin. Returning to his family he sat down and began the next steps. “All right, we’ve only a half hour before pods go online, so let me go through a few things. First everyone show me their rings.” 4 rings were produced. They were the basic 1 cubic yard ring. He hadn’t enough funds for James’s wife or son, but they could get one later. “All right I’m going to charge these so you can transfer material.” He held up each ring and charged each with 5 VEU from a few batteries he’d obtained in Kragga previously,
Unfortunately for Alan, it had happened after his fight with Blueberry and his gang, and the energy transfer had been painful.
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“Each of you can transfer items to and from the ring. They also act as a wallet.” He held each to his ring and did a credit transfer to each of them. “I’ve given Mom and Dad 150 Credits each. James for you and your family, I put in 250. Alice, I’ve given you a hundred.” Alice tried not to pout at receiving the least amount.
“Alice 10 credits is about 50 Dollars U.S. So try not to be too disappointed” She immediately brightened up after hearing that.
After they slipped the rings back on. Alan had them practice transferring everything he had asked them to bring. Food, extra clothing, etc. He also had them bring a few items that he hoped they could barter with and some tools. “Look, you're going to a place which is very much real. I know the news outlets are skeptical about what this place is, that’s their job. But you need to know this is more than a game. Don’t spend your money on frivolous things, he looked pointedly at his sister. It’s why I had you pack food. Make you buy things that can help you with your character, profession or you think is valuable.”
“It sounds kind of thrilling and scary.” It was the first words that Audrey, his sister-in-law had contributed to the conversation.
“Yeah, sorry. I guess I just don’t want you to lose this opportunity.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better if he just went to where you played?” She asked. “Why send us away to these other places?”
“There are some things that you ought to learn and discover for yourself. It’s part of the fun.” He tried to sound reassuring. “My hope is we’ll be able to play together soon anyway.”
“It seems each of us got different instructions.” Alice chimed in. “I mean we were all told to learn the basic language. But why the change for each of us? I mean, why not give us like, you know, the best character?”
James spoke up, “If it’s like any of the other games I’ve played, there is no ‘best character.’ We can all do great things, especially if we focus on our talents.”
Alan added, “You can’t think of this as just a game Sis. Just like in real life, you have to play to your strengths. I hope that each of you can do that. Besides, I also tried to let you pick a lot of things on your own.” With a few exceptions he’d tried to let them pick things that they would like on their own.
“Yeah, but they’re all going to planets that sound like cool jobs, mine sounds kinda boring like a big monastery.” Alan couldn’t help but smile if her future self had known what kind of opportunity he was giving her.
“Sis, I promise you, it will work out. I bet you are going to have a great time.”
“All right.” she harrumphed.
There were no other questions, and his family walked back to the front. As they walked back his nephew, Dillan, held by his mother, turned around and waved with a grin on his face, his blond curly hair bouncing along. Alan smiled, waving in return. He was especially hopeful for him. He and Alice were too alike.
He walked back, thanking Corbin for the assistance before returning to the pod. He had work to do.
****
Personal Modifier
Current
Available:
Credit Balance:
0
Strength
(3/10)
Items:
Basic Tools
Electronic Tools
Food Ration
4-Wheeler
Energy Pistol
Platinum 3lb
Copper 1 12oz lb
Silver 3 oz. (120credits)
8 gallons of gasoline
Speed
(3/10)
Intelligence
(3/10)
(VE) Capacity
(4/8)
(VE) Production
(5/8)
He half expected to talk to Kara but his transition to Kragga went uninterrupted. He found himself just inside the derelict ship. The workshop’s automated systems were non-functional. Looking for the source, he found the power source had been removed.
The crew had stripped the VEU Battery Core. Alan hoped he could salvage one, or make it if necessary. The refinery did have a large VEU core. Up to 50 units, which he dumped into it. This could keep it running for some time, depending on the material. He pulled out the doors he had taken apart and placed them near the rear of the refinery. Long spindly arms and cutting tools began to pick up and pull apart the metals he had dropped. It would refine and melt them down into manageable ingots for future work.
Now, however, he wanted to find out what was behind the locked door leading to the bridge. Approaching the sealed door, he removed his cutting tool and began to slice through the thick alloy doors. Soon afterward the bolt holding the door in place was sliced through and the door opened slowly, its screeching showing its age. Looking through the portal, only silence escaped the empty room. Cautiously. He stepped forward. His foot touched the eerily clean floor.
Screech!
A loud klaxon blared!
Before Alan could react, it stopped just as suddenly. Whimpering silent
Heart racing Alan held his hand to the frame of the door. It was in the moment when his shoulders began to relax that he heard the pounding of metal steps moving toward his direction. Gazing into the darkness, he saw two points of red light piercing the darkness. Growing closer and brighter. Reaching for his light, he shined it down the corridor, only to see the light reflect off the form of a large metalloid figure. Eyes burning. When their eyes met, the metal man paused, seeming to hesitate. It’s ancient processors struggling to try and evaluate what it was seeing. Then its eyes flared and it began to pick up speed. Crashing toward the open portal and Alan.
“Oh Crud!” Alan leaped back through the portal withdrawing the energy pistol, raising it toward the charging figure.
Shots fired. A few struck, but most went wild in panic. Not staying in one place, Alan scrambled down the corridor. The metal figure became more distinct as it drew nearer, entering the lighted area Alan had set up to work. It had a humanoid profile, taking leaps and bounds, much faster than Alan could move. At the end of its right arm, 2 metal prongs jutted out, and a bolt of electricity buzzed. Making a quick decision, Alan ducked behind a corner and pulled out his cutting blade, knowing he couldn’t outrun the machine.
Lying low, he activated the cutter as the droid rounded the corner, almost barreling into Alan. Moving swiftly, he swept the cutting blade toward the droid's legs. At that moment two things happened. The Droid, reacted quickly, launching itself out of the blade's path, while simultaneously driving the electrified needles toward Alan.
Alan, only able to barely adjust, redirected his blade to catch one of the legs just below the knee while twisting to avoid the thrust of the droid. The blade seemed to pass easily through the metal leg disrupting the droid's aim. The electrified prongs, instead of catching him in his chest, drove into his shoulder.
For instance, blinding pain raced through Alan's body, before suddenly going numb as electricity began racing up his arm. It was only the droid's forward momentum, its body flying past Alan, which dislodged the prongs, tearing small chunks of flesh with it. Alan collapsed to the ground, nearly blacking out, and dropping his weapons. He was somewhat grateful for the numbness in his limbs, as it masked the searing pain in his arm.
Disoriented by what was happening around him. He was only just able to put a trembling on the ground to drag himself onto his knees when he heard the screech of metal.
The droid had managed to right itself from its fall and began to limp its way toward Alan. Its footless leg dragged against the floor, sparks spraying from its wound. Its eyes seemed to grow brighter as it began moving faster, adjusting to the broken leg.
Alan, in a panic, attempted to recover his blade but his hand wouldn’t grip the handle. “You rusty old junker!” Sitting up on his knees he clenched his fists, knowing he had only one option.
He focused the Vervetic Energy coursing through his body to his hands. “Come at me!” The Droid eyes flared and launched themselves at Alan on its good leg, electrode spike stretching forward
The blue light drove toward Alan’s head to strike. It was at that moment Alan raised his arm forward to catch the fast-moving arm. The droid, confident in its strength, did not avoid the grab. He willed the energy into the droid. At that moment, Alan experienced hot searing pain to pass through his body wherever the energy went. It raced past his heart, lungs, arms, and hands. Not even the lingering numbness of his body seemed to deaden the pain. Despite the desire to flinch and pull back, Alan held on.
The energy moved like a streak of fire to his palm. The droid attempted to pull back from the unexpected assault. Alan held on, his grip was firm for what felt like minutes but was only after the briefest of moments. Finally, the electric prongs and red eyes both flashed brightly before dying out.