[Player Log Start!]
[Log Holder: Verity Monroe]
[Level: 1 – Boss Stage]
Verity could feel the stress weighing down on her from all angles. No, that was not quite accurate. It felt more like pressure was pushing out from inside her. No one expected anything from her except herself.
And what she expected from herself was one simple thing: Do Not Fuck This Up.
She felt like a fox in a henhouse. Stupid to think that, because these people were not naïve. The lookouts openly carried guns, and everyone manning the border had a steely look in their eyes, waiting for you to test them so that they could have an excuse to rip you to shreds.
They were tough and hardened and used to this world. But Verity was stronger. Deadlier. She was a Harbinger, and they might as well be the worst people in the multiverse right now. Or ever.
Her redsight fizzed behind her eyes, and everywhere she looked, she saw society. And her entire body wanted to lunge forward and destroy it all. Burn it to the ground.
A cool wave washed over her, wiping away all the anger and rage that didn’t belong to her, but was inside of her anyway. She blinked, trying to figure out where all that spite vanished. A hand closed over her shoulder, and Jared leaned over, ignorant of the fear plaguing her.
“You okay?” He asked, looking deep into her eyes, as if he was trying to see his reflection in the whites, “Seem out of it.”
“Uh… yeah.” She agreed, trying to play off whatever had clued him into her discomfort, “What’s there to worry about? We got in alright.”
‘Alright’ was an overly generous term. The locals were very suspicious of them. Each member of their group was subjected to ten different blood tests, a literacy test and a full examination. The whole thing took an hour, and even longer once the examiners realized that Ben’s arm was burnt to all hell.
But, in the end, they got in on heavy probationary terms. She had a feeling that they were only being ‘so accommodating’ because there were a lot of independent fighters in [Party(Main)].
And also because they had Terence Glasgow on their side.
The first thing he had blurted out during his private interview was that he had a way to cure the zombie infection. That had immediately made the people much more favorable towards him, and in extension, the rest of their party.
Right now, a woman was leading them through the quaint streets built up between disaster caravans. Buildings stretched high over her head, sending her spinning.
“Just right up ahead.” Their guide chirped, taking them past a collapsed building and into a two-story domed building with ‘HYGEIA HALL’ scrawled across the entry awning in bright blue paint.
Terry nodded with a pleasant smile that came off more as a grimace, “Thank you. And we will be able to meet with your top researchers here?”
“Yes.” She agreed, opening the door for them, “And I’m sure they’ll be very interested to hear this.” The way she said it was so pointed, as if they were lying and she was just waiting to catch them out on it. Verity curled her lip into a snarl, and she didn’t have any of her weapons, but her nails were just long enough to be effective claws.
“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.” She muttered viciously, even as the others shuffled into the hall. The guide wrinkled her nose.
“Vera, no girlhate.” Ben sighed, grabbing her by her jacket and tugging her inside, “Sorry about her, she’s… being prickly.”
“Children are just like that.” She laughed, relaxing a little. Verity wanted to grab her by the throat and squeeze. But she couldn't do that. So, she turned around and stomped into the hall, with perhaps too much anger than was warranted.
She thought that she’d made it clear that she wanted to hover in the background, but Tench followed after her insistently, “What the hell was that?” He demanded, “You can’t say that, kid.”
“I can say what I want to.” She replied, as if that made any modicum of sense, “What do manners matter in this situation. Not like she didn’t do anything.”
Even Asadullah turned around to give her a judging glance, struck silent to keep his translations hidden. Jared picked up where he could not, “You’re upset she doesn’t believe us. Why’re you surprised? Not like we’re giving them a believable story. All we can do is prove that we’re right.”
She squirmed under his too-bright eyes. He had a way of making her feel guilty about the smallest infractions against people who were clearly only still alive because of the grace of other people. They weren’t strong enough to make it here. No one should be strong enough. They should all be dead.
Why weren’t they?
Because they… because they… because they hadn’t done anything. The memory came flooding back in a rush of warmth and comfort. That was why. There was nothing any of these people had done to deserve being wiped out. No crime, no moral failing, just people living in quaint domesticity.
She’d forgotten entirely the reason Jared had convinced her to follow her. She’d had flashes before, but never ones so strong that she had forgotten what she stood for. It was getting worse for her mind. Her Harbinger instincts were taking over.
What was it that the strange little boy named Marc had said? That he was simply following his programming?
She seemed to be doing the same. Instead of the impulses in her brain, she was stuck following the lines of green instructions that were inscribed onto some tablet that controlled her. Maybe another one of their Consoles. It seemed like something these Harbingers would have.
The others could not be allowed to find out.
They went up the sweeping staircase in the hallway, up into what used to be the observatory. It was now transformed into a laboratory, complete with test tubes and flesh samples and slides of scans being projected onto walls.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In the middle, there was a table. Large, featureless, and made entirely of white marble, upon which a zombie was strapped down. Dead, with its chest cavity gaping open to reveal guts and greenish viscera for the fleet of scientists to flit over like gnats. As always around one of these things, there was the green panel counted down until its revival.
[Zombie (Lv. 3) will Revive in…]
[0:14]
“You killed it a while back.” Terry noted, looking at it carefully, “Should be up in fourteen minutes, roughly estimating. Three hours ago? No, less.”
One of the scientists looked up in surprise, straightening his glasses, “How would you know?” He asked, reaching for a clipboard which had the details of the test subject logged in accurately, so that he could compare it against the current time.
“It has been three hours.” He murmured in surprise.
Terry, for all his bloodshot eyes and obvious discomfort with social interaction, managed to pull off a great façade of a confident researcher. He crossed his arms and smirked ever-so-slightly, “I happen to know my stuff.”
“And what would that stuff be?” Someone else frowned, looking at him up and down. Terry was wearing an oversized cat sweater, so she could understand where that skepticism was coming from. Not exactly giving high-class doctor.
“Zombies. Duh.” He replied, not helping his case. Maybe the concern of all the party was palpable, because he backpedaled right after, “Sorry! Sorry, I haven’t… been talking to people much for the last few years. These people came in last minute. And, I’m not the best when it comes to communication, but I can tell you that I know zombies very well. And I know exactly how to crack them open.”
The scientists reared their heads back, nodding along to the speech in agreement. Terry beamed, and she caught him and Asadullah sneaking a high-five.
“You talk as if you’ve got something that no one else has.” Yet another person asked, “What have you discovered that might have this potential?”
Terry held his hand out, and Jared handed him one of the many samples of fungus they all had on them. Their intrepid cure-maker brandished it forward like a car salesman, “May I present to you respected people, mycelium potentia, a symbiotic fungus that grafts itself onto a victim’s nervous system. The missing factor to developing a cure.”
A beat passed as they considered this new development.
“Tell us more about it.” The first scientist finally decided, “It may have potential-”
“Or be a remarkably inadvisable and dangerous idea-” Someone tried to interrupt.
“Which we need to think more on.” He continued sharply, talking over them, “After you get settled in and your companions have been delegated tasks to contribute to the well-being of Hygeia.”
“Acceptable.” Terry nodded, an unshakeable smile on his face. They were all herded outside, shaky and filled with relief. Now they had made it in for real, accepted by the scientists who reigned supreme over the settlement.
They were taken from the Hall, and deeper into the cramped city, towards one of the caravans in the back, isolated and sparsely decorated.
“This is where all the newcomers are kept.” Their guide – a different one this time. Had Verity scared the other off? – explained, “Soon we might get you more comfortable accommodations. Once you pass your probation, obviously. But if your plan works out, maybe we won’t even need to restrict ourselves to this one space.” He sighed dreamily. Nice to see that they were providing some form of hope during these trying times.
“That’s the hope.” Ben agreed, absently unlocking the door to their assigned living box. The inside was just as plain as the outside, with no personal touches or needless clutter. They could arrange that themselves. There were bedrooms, and a proper bathroom, complete with a standing shower. It may seem like a subtle thing, especially after the splendor of Terry’s supermarket, but the promise of hot, high-pressure water that wasn’t going to melt off her skin was so appealing that it momentarily abated her murderous urges.
Verity sat down on the couch, so hard that she bounced back up slightly, and kicked her feet up on the table. Everyone else shuffled in behind her, taking off shoes and jackets and making small noises of relief as they finally had the chance to properly stretch out their cramped muscles.
“I’ll… leave you to it. Meet us at sundown if you want to join the scavenger parties.” The Guide managed out, shutting the door and making a hasty retreat. A second passed as they waited to ensure that they truly were alone, and then it was like the cork of the bottle had popped out, and all the pressure gushed out, letting them truly relax.
Terry was the first to buckle, letting out a sharp giggle as he swung Asadullah into a hug, “Oh, gods, I’ve been writing that speech out for months. I never thought I’d get to use it.”
“Great job, kid, real Chosen One stuff.” Tench laughed, reaching over to give him a fistbump.
“I mean, he is a Chosen One.” Jared pointed out, “That’s what the Game basically called him. A Cure-Maker meant to save the world.”
“But it’s still good to see people think that.” Terry pointed out, very correctly too, “I think I needed the ego boost.”
“Oh, you definitely needed one.” Michael agreed, “Keep working your magic, dude, cause you’ve already got them hooked.”
Terry blushed, looking away, “Couldn’t have done it without my entourage.” He whispered, suddenly much more bashful than he had been minutes ago. Verity could never get a handle on his mute spells and what triggered them.
“Wow, entourage.” Asadullah snorted, “I thought we were friends, but you know what? If entourage is all I get, then maybe I can live with it.”
It was an indescribable relief to hear the normally chatty and assertive boy finally speak, after so long staying silent. Verity hadn’t realized how on-edge the lack of translations were making her until they came flooding back, providing another comfort to her. Of course, now that the words had started, there was no chance of them stopping anytime soon.
“Ugh, finally!” Asadullah gave a back-cracking stretch as he threw himself over the longest couch, “I’ve been so quiet this whole time, you guys don’t understand the pain I was going through!” He cracked an eye open to look at their resident mushroom enthusiast, “Except you, Terry.”
“Ahaha, thank you?” He laughed falsely, “It’s not exactly… fun, you know? But I’d rather not talk when I can’t anyways. Hurts more to force myself when I’m not feeling it.”
“Oh, uh, yeah that makes sense.” Asadullah agreed, smacking himself in the face, “Don’t know what I meant by that.”
“If you’re done making a fool of yourself, we gotta get down to business.” Jared announced, and it was like a switch was flipped to make everyone fall into seriousness.
Verity spoke first, “Me, Ben, and Asadullah have to join that Scavengers party they were talking about.”
“Why?” Asadullah asked, “I was hoping for guard duty. Just in case another Harbinger comes by. We all know that I’m the one best equipped to deal with it.”
“Yeah, why?” Ben agreed, “Don’t exactly have any other plans, but why’re you making decisions for people all of a sudden?”
“Have you forgotten the Sub-Level mission?” Verity reminded them all, feeling exasperated at the easy way these people lost focus, “Most of us still haven’t done it, and as far as I can tell, Ben and Asadullah will be the easiest ones to sneak out and Warp in there.”
“Ohhhh, yeah.” They had so forgotten that, she knew it, “But why do you have to accompany them?”
Her thoughts screeched to a halt, “What?”
“It’s not confusing.” Asadullah folded his arms, “Why are you being so pushy about you coming instead of any of the others?”
“Is this a joke?” Verity stammered out, her chest constricting in an unfamiliar manner, “You guys suddenly don’t trust me or something?”
Ben had her arms outstretched, soft and inviting and pitying, “No one’s saying that, kid, but you’ve been acting… unstable recently. And we just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay!” Verity spat, feet inching towards the door as if she were a cornered animal, “And the only way to make me feel even more okay is to let me leave this place, but fuck that, am I right?” She spat in disgust, yanking the tin door open and dashing out into the civilization where she was not welcome.
It was at least a hell of a lot better than dealing with her so-called friends inside.
[Player Log End!]