Chapter 84
The Countdown Continues
Friday, October 10th, 2059
6 days to Armageddon
After the extended interview, Leo put Rory's helmet back on, and Rory took him back to the city on an alternate route.
“I think the best place to drop you off to avoid notice is around a bunch of kids your age,” Rory shouted over the motorcycle engine. “Or, in other words, school.”
Leo sighed. He would really rather shower to get rid of the last of the tear gas that still irritated his skin, but the guy had a point. “No problem,” Leo shouted back. “Drop me off.”
Rory soon pulled up into the parking lot in front of Leo's school. “I don't think the other guys have made up their minds about you. But I think you sincerely believe what you're saying.” He brushed his left wrist against Leo's.
Biker Boy 860: requests contact. Yes. No.
Leo selected Yes.
Rory took back his helmet.
Biker Boy 860: Keep the jacket and pull up your hood. They're less likely to notice you that way. I don't know what's going to happen, but good luck.
Future Man 10/16: You as well. Thanks for the jacket.
Leo pulled up his hoodie and headed into the school building.
Leo entered the principal's office for a late pass and found Brick hanging around. “Nice jacket, asshole,” Brick said as Leo walked by.
“Thanks,” Leo said. “I'm joining a biker gang.”
“You'll be joining prison, Leo, if you're not careful,” said the young female office aide, filling out Leo's late pass.
“Can't have that,” Leo responded. “I heard prison's like school, only worse.”
Leo took his hall pass and headed for class.
Future Man 10/16: Mr. Osmond. Everything okay?
Teach: At least we're not in prison. The police pulled us over and fined us for some kind of bullshit anti-rioting law and confiscated all our weapons.
Future Man 10/16: The bastards. I never got a chance to shoot my gun.
Teach: How about you? I was about to contact you. We dropped the other kid off at the church. I think he has your cellphone.
Future Man 10/16: I spent the night talking to local resistance members. Don't think I convinced them, though.
Teach: The hearing's set for October 17th. I'm thinking we should wait for the Change and steal our weapons back from the police evidence room. I've also marked a couple of gun shops, owned by heavy Bio-Blessed users. Once the Change happens, we'll be able to take what we want.
Future Man 10/16: Sounds good. In the meantime, I want to spend the next few days in one of your gaming pods. That should allow me to level up some skills and get more Demon Tears.
Teach: Of course.
Wednesday, October 15th, 2059
7:00 PM
10 hours to Armageddon
After four days of gaming at Mr. Osmond's house.
Leo was having a nightmare.
“Tell me about your plans, human.” A monster held him down with its many tentacles and poured water over his head.
“Fuck you,” Leo choked out when he'd finished coughing. “I wouldn't tell you if I knew.”
Leo. Leo. Wake up!
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Imp?” Leo mumbled, slowly returning to consciousness.
Leo groaned, sitting up. He'd been sleeping in one of Mr. Osmond's easy chairs. He could see the sun setting from a nearby window. “What is it, Imp?”
A lot of people are trying to message you, Leo, and since you were having a nightmare, it made sense to wake you.
“Indeed,” Leo said. A sick feeling settled in his stomach as the vestiges of his nightmare left his mind and fears of the real world returned. He'd been playing School's Out in one of Mr. Osmond's pods since the previous Friday night. When he hadn't been playing, he'd been drafted for some of the many projects going on in preparation for the end of the world. Sleep had become an impossible-to-find luxury.
With a grin, he couldn't resist pulling up his stats again. It hadn't been easy to play through some of the School's Out quests, but it had been worth it.
Subject: Leo
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Strength: 7.1
Vitality: 10.5
Agility: 6.5
Intelligence: 6.8
Charisma: 6.6
Common Sense: 5.2
Class: Undetermined
Qualifies for Swordsman/Epic, Assassin/Rare, Garbage-Collector/Common, Housekeeper/Common, and Janitor/Uncommon. Paladin/Rare
Special bonus: Add one level of rarity to any character class.
Special skills: None.
Demon Tears: 268
Corruption: 0
So Strength up 0.5, Vitality had reached superhuman levels, which he wouldn't be able to take advantage of until after the Change. Assuming the Change happened. Agility was up 0.9, Intelligence up 0.8, Charisma up 0.4, and Common Sense had gone up 0.7.
Best of all, both Assassin and Paladin had gone up one level of rarity. He now had access to Assassin/Epic and Paladin/Epic. The last two made him want to cheer.
He was pretty sure he'd gained Paladin/Rare while playing as Sophie escorting a bunch of orphan children through enemy territory to safety, and he'd gained Assassin/Rare playing as Nina in some kind of covert spy mission.
He knew he should choose Paladin and level up some skills, but he couldn't. Something about it didn't feel right, and he wanted to be prepared in case the aliens did something unexpected.
With a sigh, he pulled up the implant message system.
Teach: Leo? Leo? Are you awake? If you've finished your nap, please do not go to the church. Things are crazy enough right now and you'd only compound the situation. Somebody really wants to know if a post-Change implant will cure type one diabetes, and/or other physical conditions requiring refrigerated or hard-to-find medications. Also, Jason's been bugging Angie and everyone else. He wants to spend the night at your place, so could you please respond to your phone texts?
The Professor: Leo, sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you could share a few inspirational words with your many followers. And if you have noticed any new developments in our current situation, now would be a good time to share them with us.
Badger 22: I hate to ask this, but I'm currently stuck in a high-security building with a bunch of Bio-Blessed users. I took something to make myself violently sick to get sent home, but they sent me to their infirmary instead. Apparently, it's all hands on deck because of some end-of-the-world shit going around. Any assistance would be appreciated.
Air-Mage 87: Leo, I'm an air mage, which is fine, and I have an air shield I've leveled up that seems promising, but I need something offensive. I've got tornado as a possible offensive skill, but tornado doesn't sound very plausible, and looks like it will take forever to level it up into something decent. Any advice?
Biker Boy 860: It's approaching 'go time,' Leo. Let me know if you encounter anything out-of-the ordinary, and I'll do the same.
Zrrkr #1: Hey, Leo, this is Angie. Jason's upset about not having an implant. I'm making one, but it's for my stupid sister. I can't stand the bitch, but if anyone is going to kill her, it's going to be me. Are you joining us at Trent's church? Liam, Charlette, Osmond, everyone's here. If your sister's a problem, I'll help you kidnap her. I like your sister. The church is insane right now, but I figure we're a lot safer with a group of prepared people. If you want, I'll head over to your place early this morning. We can kidnap your sister and hang out at the church when the world ends.
Leo groaned and put his head in his hands. The notices went on and on.
First, he responded to The Professor.
Future Man 10/16: Nothing new here. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Good luck. And remember, I'm pretty sure you died in the first few days of the Change last time around, so be careful.
He pulled out his cellphone and scrolled down the texts.
Jason. I'm spending the night at my house. I can't leave Lydia. You're welcome to join us.
He put his phone away again.
Future Man 10/16: Mr. Osmond, I think implants do cure a lot of those physical ailments, but I couldn't swear to it. I will be spending the night at my home. Let me know if anything out of the ordinary happens and I'll do the same.
Future Man 10/16: Liam. Air mages can fly at ridiculously low levels of skill. I'd work on that before anything else.
Future Man 10/16: Angie. Thanks for the offer, but I'm staying home until I find out what's happening. If the world doesn't end, kidnapping my sister would be a bad idea for multiple reasons.
He walked home, feeling exhausted.
Imp had finished duplicating itself to create a new implant on Monday evening. Leo had put the new implant in his wallet and had requested a second for Jason. He'd also left supplies in the church storage room.
His body armor, short sword, and backpack full of useful emergency supplies, along with an additional pack for Lydia, were stashed in his bedroom closet, protected from his sister by a large sturdy padlock. If his parents asked about this, he'd tell them it was part of Mr. Osmond's research project.
He was as ready as he'd ever be.