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Max found his friends clustered in the Gaming Theater. Xavier was crowing over his gambling wins. Max sat down as Cipher threw a pop-up notification at Max.
[CCEX-GTW: Xavier Bermatti Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Mueller @ 10,000c Winnings: 15,000c]
[CCEX-GTW: Charlie Hawkins Event: Mueller (-200 v Shu (=300) Player Bet: Shu @ 5,000c Winnings: ***]
[CCEX-GTW: Nigel Farnsworth Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Mueller @ 20,000c Winnings: 30,000c]
[CCEX-GTW: Ethan Chen Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Mueller @ 2,000c Winnings: 3,000c]
[CCEX-GTW: Brandon Ramirez Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Mueller @ 8,000c Winnings: 12,000c]
[CCEX-GTW: Tyrel Reeves Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Mueller @ 4,000c Winnings: 6,000c]
[CCEX-GTW: Vance Masetti Event: Mueller (-200) v Shu (+300) Player Bet: Shu @ 2,000c Winnings: ***]
“[Gah! Stop info dumping on me, Cipher. That’s awesome stuff but share it with Sherlock and have him report any vital observations. Ok?]” Max sent as he took his seat. Captain Cipher blinked an oops and a thumbs-up emoji and the screens self-wiped from Max’s vision.
“Meongcheonghan! Stupid. Put those credits away, Xavier.” Leah chided. Xavier dragged his pile of chips in and funneled them into the close-fitting messenger bag the exchange had provided him. He exaggerated the heft of the bag with a pouting loot toward Charlie.
“Don't be a sore winner, X. Shu was an unknown to all of us. I took a chance on him and lost, but now we both know more about what both of those guys are capable of…so really, we both win.” Charlie said with a pained smile. Leah looked tense. Max coughed.
“Hey, guys. Sorry, I was a little late for the viewing party. Leah, are you doing ok? You look tense. Ready for your fight?” Max asked. Leah nodded curtly and spoke.
“This is why we’re here right? We need to push our boundaries and really grow our skills. You all should get in sooner rather than later. That knockout round tonight between Dominic and Zach is a sign of things to come. It’s not all about credits.” Leah said.
“Whatcha talking 'bout, Leah? We need credits to get to the next stage. Betting and winning, fighting and winning, what else is there?” Charlie said brusquely. Leah sighed.
“Look. While you all have been building profiles on the other players, I’ve been digging into the details of the system and past matches. Most importantly, I’ve been reviewing the fight timing and how it works. Anyone can challenge anyone for credits at any time, team versus team or player versus player. A knockout match is only a singles match…all in on both sides. That means if you lose, you are out. Out of the running, out of time, out of luck, and out of the Labyrinth.”
“The veterans who’ve been here longer have more developed skills, more experience, and more tricks. They’ve survived long enough to know their strengths and make strategically good challenges. Once our three team matches are done, our grace period is gone and they can knock us out too.”
“We have three Refusals we can use to fend off challenges, and we can only be challenged every three days to a knockout. For every three wins, the casino grants another Refusal. I’ve done the math and it’s not good. The MVPs grace period is done, and I’d bet tomorrow there will be a huge uptick in challenges.”
“Hmm, I see. So, we need to get moving on non-knockout challenges and stop puttering around…both to gain more Refusals but also to gage ourselves against the other players.” Max said with realization.
“Exactly! We should have hit the stage running. These teams are clever. They collectively stopped credit challenges when the newbies rolled in to lull us into relaxing. We need to move much faster to earn credits and refusals if we want to maximize our time and training. Forget about the next stage! One bad match and you can get the boot.” Leah grumbled.
“Damn. You’re right, Leah. The civilized mask of the level took us all off guard. We need to treat this like any other level challenge. Shit, did we miss anything else?” Charlie asked, trying to look contrite as she finished his beer.
“Here. I’ll send you my research and my personal plan. Now let’s get some food. I’m paying. You guys can look over my plan while we eat. I need to fuel up for my match!” Leah said.
The team reconvened at a small bistro, each digesting Leah’s data while making small talk and eating. Max and his daemons looked at the grim figures. Leah’s analysis was stark. For example, the last match between Mueller and Shu was both a predictor and a self-fulfilling prophecy. Mueller would likely not get any knockout requests, while Shu would be plagued with them. Like shark-infested waters, weakness and blood meant prey.
Leah planned to take a bite out of Shu herself. She had wirelessly issued a normal challenge immediately after the fight, hoping to get another win before the sharks circled closer. If she managed a couple of wins, not only would she get an additional Refusal option, but she would be less likely to get a knockout challenge until the perceived weaker fish were all eaten.
Max groaned internally at his metaphor as his order of sushi was placed on the table. He asked his team of daemons to create a well-researched hit list of players to challenge. As soon as the meal was done, he intended to begin his own campaign for survival on the level.
----------------------------------------
Leah focused on her opponent; the Luna AI named Leroy Jenkins. Her research had pulled multitudes of game feeds for him from Mythic Realms virtual game. He had been an NPC who loved to ham it up and play the role of an aggressive sidekick. He was often quite successful with his shoot-first-aim-later tactics but when he failed it was shockingly bad.
Leah smiled. The challenge rules meant that the challenged Player got to pick the battle format. She hoped the chaotic Pandemonium stage would foil Leroy’s favorite fast-charging attacks. Leah’s breath hitched as her daemon, Albert, filtered some betting info to her as a ticker tape banner under her main viewing sights. Max had shared his decryption hack of the credit exchanges communication net with the team. Now Leah and the whole team could see trades in real time.
Her throat closed a bit seeing how much the boys were getting for her win. They believed in her. Unfortunately, the bookies weren’t in agreement giving a slight advantage to Leroy. The variations in betting were extreme. Apparently, the Pandemonium stage was rife with unexpected wins and losses.
She adjusted her levitation cloak and held her vorpal spear ready in her left hand. Her mental trigger finger flexed over the activation pulse for her spetsdod as she wondered if she could land a shot before literal Pandemonium erupted.
The stage had her facing Leroy across a crevasse of spikes. The sky above was enclosed with Escher-style upside-down features of stairs and courtyards above and inverted. Little stars and globes sat firmly in midair, some with webs of cord connecting to buildings or other platforms. Leah swallowed nervously in anticipation.
The buzzer sounded and Leah’s arm snapped up. Before she could line up the shot the room seems to explode in a kaleidoscope of visual distortions. Leah took the shot and the blurred shape that had been Leroy exploded into motion. A booming yell was muffled, distorted, and echoed across the stage.
Leah cursed as her entire sensorium was garbled. The sound was baffled and echoing preventing a lock via her echolocation skill. Visual distortions warped and flexed not only her visual band but also her radar senses. Her mote swarm seemed to work, but the room was filled with foglets that pushed them back, batting them around like billiard balls.
Leah yelped as her front line of motes broke, in the rough shape of something…or someone…charging at her fast. She leaped upward and off to the side spraying the area with random darts. The world spun as she went airborne.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Leah fought the urge to vomit as the entire stage whirled around. The sounds of darts ricocheted and a loud thumping crash as the intruder pushing her motes fell sideways and away.
Leah's heart raced as she tried to regain her bearings. The disorienting stage made it impossible to track her opponent. She fired off a few more darts blindly, hoping to at least slow Leroy down. Gritting her teeth; Leah focused on her other senses, ramped her cog rate, and reached internally.
“[Solace, Athena, Bruce, Hercule, Albert, Machina, Kusumoto: everyone pick a sense and work to declutter this active scrambling. We need an edge to win or Leroy could very well frag me by accident.]” Leah commanded.
Leah landed on the new surface, what until moments earlier was the ceiling. Leah split her thoughts to assist her daemons with the needed skills. Her mangled sensorium kept shifting as they tried different decryption schemes. Notifications rolled in and she hoped that meant it was working.
[Decode +1, Decode reaches level 9, [Multitask +1, Multitask reaches level 9]
[Daemon +1, Daemon reaches level 8, New daemon slot is available]
[Void Sense +1, Void Sense reaches level 5, Echolocate +1, Echolocate reaches level 4]
[Precog +1, PreCog reaches level 7 ****ALERT****]
Leah reacted without thought as the PreCog skill thrummed. She leaped sideways, activating multiple touch attack skills through her spear. A blur flew past and Leah struck out with her spear by instinct. She felt it stab solidly, discharging heat and shock attacks into her opponent as her own leg exploded in pain.
[PreCog +1, PreCog reaches level 8, Heat +1, Heat reaches level 8]
[Armor +1, Armor reaches level 10, Skill Cap award +100XP]
[Leah Choi +1, Leah Choi reaches Master level 24, Exp 22,550, +10 Free Stat Points]
She spun away uncontrolled, losing her grip on the spear, as her cloak provided lift; but up and down directions were confused. She gagged as she was thrown against a cord that hit her across her throat. She grabbed hold and stabilized herself, her leg throbbing.
"[Leah, stay with me! Your femur is broken, but we don’t have time to rest—Leroy is closing in. You can focus your healing regeneration if you try. Good. Despite the chaos, you must focus. Stay sharp, Leah. Together, we will triumph over this chaos!]" Kusumoto, her AI doctor program, said sternly.
Leah gritted her teeth, focusing her regenerative abilities on her injured leg. Her Gland skill activated with controlled doses of morphine. She closed her eyes, shutting out the disorienting visuals, and concentrated on her other senses. She would only pay attention to the senses that gave her real information and cut out the noise. Her daemons could try to decode the scramble but she needed something right now.
[Gland +1, Gland reaches level 7, New Skill Unlocked – Battle Trance]
[Battle Trance 1: Augmented physiological control amplifies healing, reaction speed, and strength while reducing anxiety and pain]
[Regenerate +1, Regenerate reaches level 10, Skill Cap award +100XP, New Skill Unlocked - Transform]
[Transform 1: Through rigorous training you have active a third-tier skill. Transform allows adaptation of your augmented form beyond standard humaniform configurations with conscious design control.]
One by one Leah shut her senses down to focus as her battle trance skill calmed her. Her motes, while struggling, at least read true. She quickly applied some new rules to them to help fight the foglets. Her motes would grab hold of surfaces and avoid the air, at least outlining the territory. She freed herself from the cord and shifted her levitation toward the scant surfaces where a map was forming.
Leah's motes began to solidify a rough outline of the stage, allowing her to visualize the terrain. Focusing on her other senses, she detected faint echoes and vibrations, though her EM sense was muddled by the foglet’s very active energy pattern, the signal at least wasn’t distorted. Leah felt pressure fighting her augmentation controls.
[Bastion resists against Hack, Bastion failed against Intrusion]
[Chthonic Block resists Intrusion, Chthonic Block +1, Chthonic Block reaches level 2]
She saw a portion of her motes that had anchored on solid surfaces shift, despite being anchored. Leroy! Leah’s confusion and anxiety relaxed and unknotted as at least a small portion of the arena began to make sense again. She pulled out multiple trap mines from her pack and flung them to bracket what she suspected was her first clear sign of Leroy in the whirling chaos. She gripped her spear and centered herself.
She dropped down, holding her battle cry inside, afraid it might warn him. The smudge of motes that she suspected was Leroy sped off to her right, triggering one of Leah’s monofilament snare bombs. The gravity shifted again and Leroy “fell” upward as Leah struggled to right herself.
She prepared to jump after Leroy and finish the match when a blast of EMP broke everything around her intended target. Her motes attached to Leroy and most of the foglets dropped, sparked and shorted. Leroy became visual as the shroud of flickering foglets around him fell. Leah’s daemon Bruce Lee had been struggling to acquire an unscrambled sight and found him instantly.
“[Leah! Visuals around Leroy are cleared. Hit him now!]” Bruce yelled.
Leah re-engaged her ExaVision and Leroy stood clear as the distortions caused by the room’s dense network of foglets ceased in his vicinity. While he was clear of the level's distortions, Leah was still concealed from him. She swung her spetsdods up and rapid fires both dart guns.
As the darts flew, Leah unleashed all her distance attack skills. Combining with the detonations from her special high explosive and shock darts, the suspected area that painted Leroy blossomed into a riot of destruction.
[Focused Stun +1, Focused Stun reaches level 4]
[Shocking Arc +1, Shocking Arc reaches level 5]
[Focused EMP +1, Focused EMP reaches level 3]
[Laser +1, Laser reaches level 3]
[**Alert** Energy 0/395 Regeneration suspended]
[**Health Emergency Override** Unlock and Activation of PowerCore Skill]
[New Skill Unlocked: PowerCore 1 - Advanced augmentation system power requirements far exceed bioenergy availability, PowerCore module activated. Feed and cycle power into the Power Core for energetic boosting advancement. Complete depletion of Power Core may damage the system. Level 1 – Energy storage x2]
[**Alert** Energy 395/790, Regeneration skill resumed]
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“Holy crap, Leah! That was an awesome dodge. How the hell did you know he was charging? The display in the Gaming Theater had side by side viewing with the Pandemonium distortion on and filtered out. I couldn’t see a damn thing.” Xavier asked.
“Truthfully, I couldn’t see much at all. I’ve been playing with my PreCog skill in training. It’s kind of like conscious versus unconscious reaction time. If you are always boosting FastCog, that’s conscious, and PreCog is more like unconscious. PreCog didn’t activate much before because I would always be running FastCog at max. Now I run PreCog only to start and FastCog only when in the middle of fight. Its super effective against ambushes.” Leah said.
“A toast! To the woman of the hour. Leah!” Charlie yelled loudly in the crowded bar. Despite most of the occupants being androids, they played the part of rowdy bar patrons well. They cheered and jeered until Charlie bought the room a round of drinks from his winnings, a direct result of Leah’s excellence in the ring.
Leah pulled Charlie down. “Don’t make a fuss. This is only a good start, we all have quite a few fights ahead of us.” She spoke.
“Leah, relax a little. Celebrating the wins is important, too. Seriously though, that was a great win. You’ve given me a good chunk of what I need to get a message out to my father. Thank you.” Max said. Leah blushed and spoke quietly.
“Oh Max, you are welcome. I’ve seen the rates that the business center charges. They are such big cheats. Are you certain you need to use them? Your father is…well, a famous fighter. I’m sure he’s fine. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, Max. What’s up? Your dad is like a badass Samaritan. Those videos you shared of those home invaders getting smacked down proved it. What’s so crit man?” Xavier said.
“Ah, well. You guys know how I’ve been having dreams…nightmares really. They are too intense, monstrous…like those MIT things.” Max said. Charlie coughed.
“That was some scary stuff, Max. It gave me nightmares too.” He said jokingly.
“It’s not like that!” Max barked, then lowered his voice. “This feels real. I’ve got skills from it, dammit. Those blocks I gave you…I copied them from my dreams. My AI, Mal, is convinced it’s leakage from the Tesseract and now I believe her. A couple of nights ago, I saw my dad…multiple copies of him, being chased by those monsters. I think that he must have continued the MIT experiment. I just want to see that he’s ok. It’s worth it to me. Whatever it costs.”
“I’m sorry, Max. I didn’t mean to …fuck.. what I said, I didn’t mean it. I got your back, man.” Charlie said seriously.
“Yeah! Doesn’t matter if it’s assholes from other teams, nasty Labyrinth level, or MIT monsters; team Utopia sticks together!” Xavier exclaimed.
“Thanks, guys. With Leah’s win…and many more to come; I don’t think the expense is going to stop me. Right after this celebration, I’m headed to the game theater to put in a challenge of my own.” Max said with a grin.
Leah raised her glass of sake. Charlie raised his beer and Xavier his milkshake. Max lifted his own drink and spoke. “My dad had a good quote from some actor guy that he kept saying all summer. Live like you die tomorrow, but plan like you live forever."
“That’s awesome, Max. I’m going to steal it.” Xavier declared raising his milkshake. “Another toast! To living forever or at least die trying!”
Max raised his drink but his eyes caught motion at the restaurant’s exit. He recognized the android leaving. The thief android, Tony, had been skulking in the back of the room and was now leaving. Max’s eyes narrowed with predatory intent as the bot slipped outside.
His wagging tail stilled as he considered his next move, still seeing the android's tracking signal in his mind as it moved further down the street. Later tonight, he hoped to get payback. Maybe it would even be enough for him to send his message to the outside.
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