There were some definite cons to being a man trapped in the body of a beast. For one thing, sitting was awkward. I either lay down like a dog, crouched like a sphinx, or sat on my haunches like a cat. No sofas to sprawl over. No comfy beds. Hell… I couldn’t even fit through most normal sized doors. But there were also advantages, like the fact that because the Maroons looked at me and saw a big dumb shark-dragon-dog with tentacles, they didn’t bother to blindfold me or Lulu on the way back to their super-secret base.
By the chatter and the way they talked about it, Eden was the Maroons’ nerve center. Judging by the numbers, they were possibly the biggest collective of free gladiators on the server. We started north and east, headed toward the Malhela Volcano – deeper into Centurions’ territory. Or, more accurately, the territory they had just lost.
Jungle gave way to volcanic badlands, jagged and treacherous. While we walked, I used my level-up to gain four new abilities: Lifesteal and its partner move, Sanguine, along with Psychostimulant and Misdirection:
* Lifesteal: Plug your tentacles into an enemy on a successful attack and steal HP during Soul Drain.
* Sanguine: Killing an enemy Legion or Gladiator gives you +25% Life Steal for 60 seconds. Kills stack for a maximum of +100% for 1.5 min.
* Psychostimulant: The user concentrates and psionically boosts its attack by 20% for 60 seconds. Can only be used once per battle.
* Misdirection: Plug your tentacles into the earth and channel a Psionic blast that attacks enemies from the ground in any direction or angle.
There were no new abilities available beneath Level 25, save for my first evolution once I hit the level cap, so there was no point hanging onto the AP. And depending on how the Maroons treated us at their base, it was wholly possible I was gonna need ‘em.
Fifty klicks or so from Camp Goldrush, our column cut through a complex of harshly chemical hot springs. Half-hidden by the sulfuric steam was a cave. Gleaming white stalactites made the entry look like the gaping jaws of a wolf, spewing clouds of vapor into the air. The entry was narrow, but quickly widened into a massive cave network, which my HUD announced as the [Belly of the Beast] landmark. Mineable outcrops of [Brimstone] and [Obsidian] were scattered around the path, which led to an underground rope bridge. The bridge swung over a boiling hot, sulphureous-smelling river. The river, a hundred feet below us, was labeled as [Devil’s Rush].
“Eeeee…” Lulu whined with terror, clinging to me as we crossed the bridge double-file.
“Don’t like heights?” With four feet on the ground, already fully adapted to my new-found Reaper senses, I felt surprisingly steady going over the chasm. With the puds and claws plus my sense of balance, it wasn’t like I could really fall off.
Lulu shuddered. “Eeee… nuu…”
“We gotta work on all these phobias of yours, kid. Afraid of heights, afraid of brawling… okay with eating other Legions, sometimes, but not humans…”
Lulu growled.
“Look, I’m just saying that it doesn’t make any sense. First, you’re not human anymore, so it’s technically not cannibalism. Second, if someone is perma’d here, their data gets deleted. The body that’s left in the world is just a bunch of quantum woo-woo pixels, or whatever it is that the nerds in charge of making EdenFRAMEs call them, that will despawn into decoherance. So why not get the good stuff out of it?”
“Moowuus,” Lulu replied softly, but primly. The Maroons were all talking among themselves; they weren’t paying attention.
“Morals? In this place?” I snorted. “Are you kidding me? What, were you a nun or something?”
She grunted in the negative. “Nuus.”
“Nurse, nun… almost the same thing, in some countries. Do you remember where you’re from?”
Lulu shuddered with effort as she summoned the sounds she needed from her gelatinous mass. “Mooy… nee… laa.”
“Mooneela?” I echoed her telepathically. It sounded kind of Spanish, but… “Wait. Manila? The capital of the Philippines?”
“Yuu!” Lulu squeaked happily - loud enough that Merc turned her head to look back at us.
“Shh. Keep it down.” I thought about what I knew of the Philippines. Surprisingly… quite a lot. But it was strange: my memories associated with that small, but densely-populated South-East Asian country were like a checkerboard. Some things I remembered extremely well. I knew the Metro Manila Megacomplex, otherwise known as 3M, was the largest and most densely populated megacity in the world. It was also the epicenter of the world’s… blank. That’s where my memory cut, like the word and associated information about whatever the ‘blank’ was had been snipped out. Trying to strive for the missing data made me feel dizzy. Even queasy. I blinked a couple times, trying to clear the sudden fog.
“Ooh?” Lulu cooed with concern.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I wracked my memory for the things I DID know about the Philippines. Population statistics - why the fuck did I know that? I was pretty sure I had been born and raised in the USA. Why did I have a catalog of facts about the Philippines buried in my brain? “So you’re Filipina, huh? A nurse from Manila.”
“Ooh hoo!” Lulu agreed enthusiastically.
One thing I knew about the Philippines was that it was one of the few remaining majority-religious countries in the world. Most people there were Roman Catholic. I thought back to the times Lulu had mimed crossing herself. Maybe she’d been one of them.
“Well, I’m glad they let you keep some of your memories, some of your intellect. The thing that’s bugging me is that I don’t know why Legions like you, me and Kaya exist. The guys that brought us here made a big tactical error by leaving us with any memories at all.”
“Ooh,” Lulu agreed quietly.
“I’m wondering if it’s a bug or a feature. Are they dumb, arrogant, or both? These Paragon shitstains cut out all memories of my name, my job, whatever law enforcement ops I was involved with, my friends and family and everything… but as time’s gone along, I’m starting to recall more about my life outside.”
I paused for a moment to send Angel a telepathic thumbs up, letting her know that we were still okay as we passed into a narrow, well-hidden tunnel on the other side of the grand cavern. It was single-file only, the walls to either side close enough to my flanks that they almost brushed Angel’s knees at points.
“I figure that you were probably trafficked here in a similar way to Angel,” I continued to Lulu. “Maybe lured overseas with the promise of a good job, possibly even by the same fucking cartel that wiped her. If Los Caballeros Carmesí are affiliated with the Solonovs, we might be dealing with a trans-national criminal syndicate.”
Lulu didn’t reply audibly, but I felt her determination and anxiety intensify over our collar link. She bobbled a little.
“If that’s the case, we’re facing one hell of an enemy,” I replied. “But the fact I’m here… there might be people on the outside who are fighting this ‘Paragon Society.’ For some reason, I know way more about the Philippines and Thailand than any US-born, Russian-speaking man has any right to know. I also have about a billion animal-related facts in my brain, especially animals from Asia. Argus Pheasants. Chinese Swallowtail butterflies. That’s really strange, region-specific knowledge.”
Lulu’s empathic communication turned to frustration and a sense of urgency. There were things she really WANTED to say… but her body in its current form didn’t let her.
“Yeah, I get it. And look: I’m sorry I’ve been nagging you to do something you feel strongly about. Eating someone and ripping their ability to speak seems like an easy solution to me, but you’ve gotta be able to live with yourself, too. Let’s wait and see what happens after your first evolution, I guess. Maybe you’ll get better at mimicking speech.”
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“Mmm.” Lulu sunk down over Angel’s lap. She felt… pensive. Like she was thinking something over.
If there was one thing I could say for the Maroons, they’d secured themselves a preemo spot. Other than the hot spring caverns we’d passed through, I couldn’t see another obvious way into the rainforest valley that sheltered their town. Eden was a tree city, with half the buildings built on platforms anchored on the grand old-growth trees that still filled the valley. Unlike the Centurions and the Pigs, they hadn’t clear-cut the forest. Instead, they’d used the trees to conceal Eden from the air and ground. We were almost on top of it before the twenty-foot stone walls surrounding the place came into view. They didn’t look new, and sure enough, as we passed through the heavily guarded gates, I got another map marker: [Temple of the Lost Woods].
“Man, I wonder how they managed to get themselves a base like this,” I remarked to Angel. “It’s fucking incredible.”
Angel signed for ‘yeah, great’ behind her back, but kept her face forward so as not to risk giving us away.
The buildings on the ground level were interwoven with the trees, some of them literally. Pale, woody roots flowed around the doorways or draped over open windows. Some of the ruins had been patched up and converted into houses with thatched roofs and wooden doors. Others were free-standing. The place was bustling with people, but few visible Legions. There was a small market with crafters working on everything from baskets to stone weapons and linen clothing. There seemed to be two populations here: hard-eyed guerilla fighters like Merc and her company, supported by people who were on average much older than the populations at the Centurions and Pigs camps. Most of the crafters, merchants and hawkers were middle-aged right through to the downright elderly. I remembered what Chorus had told me at the beginning. People who refused to participate in the fun and games would age at ten times the normal human rate and die off.
“The Maroons are sheltering civilians,” I thought to Angel and Lulu. “These people… they’ve opted out of being gladiators. But why would they be going to all this effort to protect a bunch of pacifists?”
Neither of them could safely answer me, but it wasn’t long until Merc pulled her warband to a stop inside of a circle of neat, if not primitive cob and thatch houses. She swung her leg over and dropped to the ground with a sigh of relief, and turned back to her men.
“Good work on taking and holding Victory and Goldrush, everyone,” she said. “Hong, Elijah, take Eisenblatter to a holding cell and let him stew in his many juices for a while. We can interrogate him after we’ve gotten some rack time. Kiah’s unit is set to rotate with our platoon, so consider yourselves off-duty until our next shift.”
A cheer went up among the assembled guerillas, and half a dozen of them thrust weapons over their heads. In their mismatched armor, wielding spears and crude bronze cutlasses, they looked like a bunch of pirates.
I watched the group curiously, studying their dynamics, and cocked my head as one of the huts opened. A handsome man in his early sixties peered out. When he saw Merc astride the Kassevanto, he smiled. When he saw us, his brows furrowed with concern.
“Alright, you lot. Fall out. Leave the girl and her Legions.” Merc gave a lazy ‘go-around’ signal with her hand, and strode toward us.
“You sure?” Elijah looked sidelong at me. “If this Reaper- “
“This Reaper could have torn all of us limb from limb by now. Angel’s been a perfect lady the whole trip.” Merc also looked at me, but her expression leaned more towards frank admiration than anxiety. “You alright up there?”
“She’s talking to you,” I told Angel. “Asked how you’re doing.”
“I’m fine,” Angel voiced. “Now we’ve stopped, can you take this blindfold off? I need to take care of my bio meters.”
“Sure. Lean down, I’ll help you to the ground.” Merc, still not realizing that Angel was deaf, held her hand up.
“She’s gonna help you down.” I crouched until the deep arch of my ribs touched the ground. “To your left.”
Angel fumbled for Merc’s palm, and when she found it, used her hand to steady herself as she slipped from my back to the ground. The older man in the doorway stepped out. He wore a brown poncho stitched with a big green cross and leather trousers, all well-made and neat. He also carried a number of pouches on a belt and bandoleer. “How did you go out there, Mercy?”
“All in all, pretty good. We protected the old folks. They scattered, but they’re going to regroup here with us. We only lost one to perma. Erin… but she was on her last life and wanted to die fighting. We’ll pour one out for her later tonight.” Merc - I struggled to think of this hard whip of a woman as a ‘Mercy’ - pulled the blindfold off Angel’s eyes. Being albino, Angel was sensitive to light. She squinted, trying to get her vision back, and bumped into me when she saw the older man break from the hut and stride toward us. He regarded me and Lulu warily as the Limne plopped to the ground, her gelatinous ‘head’ yearning curiously from side to side.
“Angel, this is Richard, but everyone just calls him Doc.” Merc smiled at him, and for the first time, there was a touch of warmth in her eyes. “He’s Eden’s medic, and my husband.”
Ah. Love. Well, that went some way to explaining why the Maroons took in people who’d noped out of dancing to the Paragon Society’s tune. The doctor clearly still took care of himself, but the grey hair and the lines around his gentle hazel eyes suggested this man wasn’t a fighter. I relayed the speech to Angel.
“Husband before or after we all ended up in this shithole together?” she asked, looking between the pair of them.
Doc arched his brows. “That is a very personal first question.”
“I just got blindfolded and carted all the way here on the back of my Brute after turning on my clan, then helping your wife and her gang murder thirty men and capture a Centurions officer. My Bio Meter is at a hundred and five percent,” Angel replied bluntly. “I might be better at making small talk when trying NOT to pee myself.”
“There’s an outhouse behind our place.” Merc swallowed her laughter as she pointed to a narrow trail leading behind the hut. “Even has toilet paper.”
“Civilization at last.” Angel sighed, and half-waddled, half-ran for the bathroom.
“Are you sure about this?” Doc asked, watching his wife pull out and light a cigarette. “She seems… hostile.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Merc drew deeply off the end, and exhaled a cloud of smoke away from us. “She wasn’t lying. She and her team just flipped on her guild and switched sides to us. I figure she’s anxious that we’re gonna pull a fast one on her.”
“She flipped? Why?”
“Didn’t know the Centurions did slavery, apparently. She was a recent member… went from Cadet to Sergeant because she beat Targent in a duel.”
I studied Doc as his expression shifted from irritation to interest.
“Give that girl a gun, and she turns into a combat dervish,” Merc continued. “She’s somehow claimed what has to be the only Reaper on the island, she can dual wield a pair of rifles, and she can shoot a man in both eyes from a hundred yards with both of ‘em. I want her on our team.”
Doc glanced at me. I resisted the urge to wave.
“Isn’t it great being able to listen to people talk without them knowing?” I remarked to Lulu.
She chirped and blobbed up and down.
“If I heard that kind of tall tale from anyone else but you, I’d say you were lying your arse off. She’s not Sponsored, is she?” Doc asked his wife, after checking to see if Angel was headed back.
“Don’t know. Maybe.” Marc shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She seems alright… I want to sit down and see if we can’t win her over.”
“Just be careful.” Doc was still obviously conscious of us as he stepped forward, embraced Merc, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We can’t afford to lose you. Not with what’s coming.”
Merc smiled for the first time since we’d met her, and bumped her head against her husband’s. “I know.”
I resisted the urge to cough and tell them to get a room. Instead, I pretended to preen. Lulu did the same.
“Interesting bit of intelligence got handed in today,” Doc said softly, with another backward glance over his shoulder. “Our spy in the Hell Pigs main camp said that King Pig has picked his new Northern Warleader. A man named ‘Clive Magazine’.”
Clive? “Woah. Blast from the past.”
Lulu chirped curiously. “Oo?”
“Wait… what?” Merc leaned back in his arms and looked at him in disbelief. “That fucking clown, a Warleader? You’re pulling my leg.”
Doc shook his head. “Unfortunately not. Apparently, Clive outmaneuvered Razor for the position at the City of the Apes, scored himself a pair of A-rank Legions, and went on to defeat Vanara. Then he went and took on Karkinos and got the second mandala. It’s been a real coup.”
Merc’s eyes bugged. I was pretty sure mine did, too.
“I am… genuinely offended that Clive-fucking-Magazine and his stupid Hyena Boys gang are ahead of us in the game,” I remarked to Lulu. “And he got an A-rank…? Oh no.”
“Whoo?” Lulu hadn’t been there for the Hell Pigs. She looked between me and Merc in confusion.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later.”
“Huh. I guess Clive wasn’t as stupid as we all thought he was,” Merc murmured, echoing my own thoughts. “Fuck. A-ranked Legions and two mandalas? How the hell did he pull that off?”
I thought back to Kaya facing down the gate to Vanara’s arena, and got an awful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Nothing we can do about it for now, love,” Doc said. “Anyway, we-“
Angel clumped noisily down the path from the outhouse, looking considerably less uptight now that she could see and was no longer busting. She made a beeline for us. The couple parted from each other and turned to face her.
“How are you doing on health, Miss Angel?” Doc asked her.
Angel read his lips, then glanced to his eyes. “I’m fine. I have heals.”
“If you need any more, just tell Mercy and I’ll see what we can do for you,” he replied. “No charge, as thanks for protecting my wife.”
Angel shook her head. “I’ll pay. Don’t trust free stuff.”
“It’s not free,” Merc said. “You scored us Eisenblatter. As far as I’m concerned, you paid your tab in advance.”
Angel regarded them suspiciously for a long moment. After Targent, I couldn’t blame her, but these two people were different. Survivors, yes. Calculating, in the way they saw us, yes. But they didn’t give off the same greasy feeling as Targent and Eisenblatter.
“Don’t worry, Angel,” I signed to her. “They’re about the best people we’ve met here so far. We were listening to them talk. Merc here wants to recruit you.”
“Alright. Thanks. I’ll do inventory later and, uh, let you know what we need. If we need anything.” Angel said to Merc, before dipping her head to Doc.
“Sure. For now, come in and get some coffee,” Merc said. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions. And if you feel like asking them, I might have a few answers for you if you’re lucky.”