The mercenary group called PsyCo has been seen attacking multiple high-ranking members of society. At this time, it is unclear what their motives are as tensions are rising between the Samurai backing this mercenary group and the leaders of our city.
The Nachtwächternetzwerk has been asked to mediate the situation, but progress has been slow mainly because a Samurai named Maniac refuses to show up. The so-called hero of the Worker's Rebellion.
-- article on the rising tensions in Europe
“This almost feels a bit too easy. Right, Lyssa, how long ago did I say that?” I say, while I run into a factory building.
Two days, twenty-two hours and eight minutes ago.
“Next time I say something stupid like that, can you knock some sense into me?” I say, as I run up the stairs, trying to reach higher ground.
Lyssa can’t do that. You would have a concussion by the end of the week.
“Hey, I don’t say stupid stuff that often.” I say, turning another corner and trying to shake my pursuers.
Yesterday, while running away from a large horde, you jumped in a tunnel that directly went into a vat of battery acid. Do you know how many points Lyssa had to spend to make sure your skin stayed intact?
“Are those not my points in the first place? And that was not saying something stupid; that was doing something stupid.” I say as I run onto a metal walkway overlooking the factory floor.
What is the difference? In both cases people will make fun of you.
“Could you fucking can it for once?” I shout as I hit the bridge, unleashing all the electricity that was stored in my right arm.
I look back, seeing a bunch of mutated plant life that was following me, twitching on the bridge.
“You were right. Upgrading the capacitors was the right call,” I say, looking at the mess.
Lyssa is always right. Never forget that.
“Right. Sorry for shouting.” I say, scratching my arm.
You are losing control of your emotions. The drugs you are taking should not be consumed for such a prolonged period of time.
“If you have a better option, I would love to hear it.” I say as I start running again.
Lyssa doubts that you are any good at field surgeries.
“Yeah, that sounds like a bad idea.“
Suddenly, the whole factory shakes as the wall behind me explodes. When the dust settles, it reveals the monster that has been hunting me this whole time. It's some kind of long worm-like thing, the circumference of a bus and with a face that is way too human for anyone’s comfort. Oh yeah, and not to mention, it is also completely fireproof.
“I thought you got the message when I jumped in the acid pit, but nobody wants you, Absolem!” I shout as I keep running, my footsteps ringing on the metal bridge
Things really have not gone my way recently. I was only trying to kill another hive to gain an extra token so I could upgrade my Digi brain and back up my consciousness, just in case of an emergency. I guess that teaches me not to be overzealous. As soon as I attacked, this fucker popped up, and I have been running ever since.
I get to the end of the bridge, only to realise it is a dead end. Well, fuck! I turn around, taking control of all the swords still flying around me. I send them all into the creature, blasting its sides and open maw.
Dozens of small impacts can be heard as the blades rain down and poof out of existence, leaving the creature without any visible damage.
“Well, that did as much as the Australians did to the emus.”
Really?
“Ooh fuck off, I have not slept in three days, and it is hard to come up with material. Do you have anything that would actually work on the fucker.”
Lyssa thinks that she has something. Left hand.
New Purchase: Arctic Decimating Dagger
Points reduced to... 82,213
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
In my left hand, a second tech sword appears, not all too dissimilar to my fire sword. I see a new app come online in my augs and activate it. A chilly gust of air releases as the sword shines with a bright blue light.
“Well, this is cool!” I say, as I start to cackle.
I turn up the cold and take an experimental swing with the sword, getting used to the weight. A cold breeze releases forward, a layer of white condensation forming on the metal surfaces as I see the big caterpillar visibly shiver. I guess you can’t be resistant to both heat and cold, then.
I start running at the creature, using the slippery metal to slide towards it. As I get closer, I jump to the side, activating my right arm's electronics to shoot me forward using the metal railing. I fly past the creature, trying my best to cut it open with my sword, but its hide is too tough. My sword bounces off and slides over its scales.
I reduce the electricity and jump back onto the bridge. The creature stops moving, lying entirely motionless on the bridges, its left flank completely frozen over. I poke it a few times with the end of my sword, but still, the thing does not move.
“Ha, guess you should have just let it go.” I say as I smash both of my swords into its frozen side, breaking it and releasing a lot of foul-smelling liquids.
Okay, fuck, that is rank. I am about to move away when I spot something moving inside of the creature as tentacles burst out of the opening, slamming into me and throwing me off the bridge before I can even realize what is going on.
I land hard on the factory floor. I try to get up, but before I can, the tentacles pin me down again. Wait, those are not tentacles. Fuck me, I was wondering when another model 7 would show up. But why are they so big? They felt much less threatening when they were just the size of a little worm.
Fuckers are strong as well, they manage to pin me down. I try to get up, but every move I make allows them to get a better hold of me. Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my left arm as the word starts to spin. I feel nauseous like I ate a pound of out-of-date ice cream.
The world keeps spiralling as I feel roots digging into me, my mouth, my ears, my nose. I lay still for a second, thinking of a solution, only to come up with a very dumb one. I turn on my right arm to full capacity and touch my right leg. Pain shoots through my entire body as I spasm; electricity courses through me, making me feel like I have been set on fire.
I wake back up with ringing in my ears. I slowly get up, twitching all the while. Fuck I feel like hell. Luckily, it worked, mostly. I still feel like throwing up, but at least the worms are off of me. I slowly grab my sword and start cutting them into pieces.
Lyssa would like to revisit her earlier statement about knocking some sense into you.
“What? Why? It worked, didn’t it?” Wow, my voice sounds so weird.
Yeah, but Lyssa would like to point out that you burned all of your nerves again. Which, if you did not realize, does not improve your chances of survival.
“Right, sorry about that. You can heal it, right? Also, can you focus on my ears? The ringing is driving me crazy.”
Subtracting points now.
I smile and start looking around for my second sword. I spot the ice sword a bit of a distance away, only to notice that my left hand is bleeding and that I am missing both my pinkie and my ring finger. Well, that is going to make the wedding a bit more complicated.
Then I pause. Sound has returned, and I could swear I heard something that I had not heard before; slowly, all the sounds return with clarity. The racket of the conveyor belts, the clicking of mangled machines, and the barking of a gun. I smile. Someone is here.
I reach into myself, gather my last stamina reserves, and run towards the noise. I run through the corridors of the factory, cutting down any of the plants that still stand in my way. Once I get outside, I pause. Is it clear? No plants, just a bunch of dead ones that are slowly melting away.
A little bit further away, I see a massive tank of some kind. It basically looks like a mobile fortress with guns on all its sides. There are two big towers with turrets on its roof and a large hatch on its back where I see people loading in crates. They are not the only people there. There is another group kitted out in fancy military gear holding the perimeter.
I smile. I don’t know what they are doing, and I don't care; I just need someone to protect me for an hour so I can sleep. No, scratch that; half an hour will be good enough. I recall all of my flying daggers back to me. They slowly grow smaller as they approach me, turning into nothing more than purple mist as they touch my arm. I start sprinting towards them at full speed, pumping my legs for all that they can give.
“HEY, YOU GUYS, PLEASE WAIT FOR ME!” I shout at them as I get closer.
The guards spot me instantly and aim their guns at me, but I don’t stop. I want out of here now, and I am more than willing to get shot again to reach that goal. I am over fighting aliens. Well, that is not true. I do love fighting aliens, but I also love sleep, and there has been a lot more of one without the other.
One of them actually shoots, but the shot is not that accurate, so that means that I can easily dodge it. A guard next to him grasps the gun and shakes his head. And then I reach the perimeter. I instantly stop and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
“Where did you come from?” someone asks.
“Somewhere, I am not really sure, I fell down a hole. A whole lot of aliens at the bottom. Started running, and now I am here. Please let me stay; I just need 15 minutes of sleep. I am so tired,” I say, between big gasps of air.
I hear someone laugh, and I look up into the face of an old man filled with scars. “It is your lucky day, missy. Get onboard and don’t touch anything. We can take you to a safe place.”
I smile. “Yes sir,” I say and run into their car-thing.
The inside looks tight. There are two benches facing each other and a bunch of boxes in the middle. I quickly head to one of the benches and sit down. Leaning my head against the back wall, I relax.
“Sir, are you sure you just want to let her in?” I hear someone say.
“What choice do we have? We can hardly let her die out here,” I hear the old man reply.
“Still, she said she is from up top. What use do we have for people like that? They will just abandon us down here.”
I just try to tune out the rest of the conversation. I do not need to know who likes me and who does not. All I need is some time to relax, and I will be good to go again.
Targets Eliminated!
Reward... 102,432 points!
Current points: 84,231!
I frown, ‘How can there be fewer points total?’
Lyssa used a lot of points trying to keep you alive these past few days.