Ace didn’t immediately open her eyes after the game-start sensation died away. It was too easy for senses to overwhelm a person popping into a new world. Instead, she started her routine. First, a few tentative sniffs; nothing too deep after landing on that sulfuric planet in Wild Universe Scramble. Here was the soft scent of grass, the sweet smell shrieking danger to other chlorophyll-based life forms, and since she doubted the existence of working lawnmowers, it also told her that there was something large and sharp nearby. Blended with the grass were a few floral keynotes and a faint tang of salt. There was also wetness in the air, which made her smile. This much moisture meant a large source of water nearby shouting hello. If that was also where the salt was coming from, then it might be good for food, but if it wasn’t, then finding a way to keep drinkable water on her would be best. Either way, she mentally marked that as something to investigate.
Wind whipped at her hair, but the most important piece of information it gave her was that nothing living was nearby, unless they weren’t breathing or moving. Grass rustled at the same time gusts came, but there were no impatient shuffles from people lying in wait. No cud-chewing noises either, or groans of beasts talking about yet another day in their life.
Touch was next. She was wearing undergarments, a light t-shirt, and a pair of shorts that stopped below the knee; nothing else. No shoes, no socks, and no sunglasses. That was going to have to change fast since the sunlight, spreading across the back of her arms and legs, had already heated past gentle warmth. The light also made her wonder for a few seconds if the world was different enough to have its own sun patterns; she set the idea aside as it would be easy enough to find out, even if she doubted it. In her experience, fantasy normally kept twenty-four hours in a day, plus or minus a few extra moons, and sci-fi could be counted on for re-creating simple things like gravity and the rules of how light fractured. Horror broke normal while wrapping up “gifts” containing too many eyes, fangs, and tentacles.
Last, with a good idea of the surrounding layout, she shaded her eyes and opened them. An open area, one with rocks strewn about and a few fallen trees acting as places to sit. Natural things. Much farther away were a few mountains, big ones thrusting their caps of snow into the air, the white chased by lush green treetops. It’d be quite a hike to get to the top.
“And weakness to cold means I’m not going anywhere near them.” She frowned, then shrugged. “Too bad. Lacking human trails, the brush looks dense enough to be an effective barrier.”
Turning away from what she was already thinking of as the “hell no” zone, what greeted her next was a forest of ash. The skeletal trees she saw were straight sticks jammed into black mud, and every so often glimmers of light flashed near the roots, but that was it. Gray trees, mud dark as ink, and some xanadu-colored vegetation that had stolen the hue from somewhere else. Home sweet depressing home.
“Doesn’t that look fucking inviting?” she muttered, squinting. It didn’t matter. Without a pair of binoculars, she couldn’t tell if what she was seeing was swamp gas, reflections off the water, or a creature unique to the area. If she was on a “let’s find the biggest bad” playthrough, that’s exactly where she would start though. “Pass. One of the newer testers can plow through muck, mud, and monsters for their creds; just give me a beer so I can cheer the carnage.”
Moving again brought a softer green into view, much lighter than the trees on the mountains and more vibrant than the swamp moss. Here’s where the natural things tapered off. In the far distance she spotted a sagging tower, a black rock positioned just underneath, preventing it from listing all the way to the right, but in a few more years it would probably droop over and kiss the ground. Closer to her was an old gas station, broken and dead. Ace sniffed.
“Wetter. Saltier. Maybe having an ocean so close is wishful thinking, but damn I hope so.” Sea meant supplies, salt, and sails. A great way to eat while harnessing the wind to travel. There were no glints of water that she could see, but there was a thunderstorm looming on the horizon, so the possibility of that direction being the coast was still open.
She studied the clouds for a few minutes, noting how quickly they were moving inward and how high the columns were puffing out. Either the gas station or the tower was going to serve as shelter, but it wasn’t something to worry about for the immediate future.
“And I’m not made of sugar,” she snickered, taking her final turn.
Now she was looking at a smear of riotous color. Wildflowers blurred into a monstrous yellow creature that breathed fires of red, orange, and purple, the absolute middle a rare tinge of blue. She couldn’t see anything else out that way, just more and more flowers in golden fields. No trees, no rocks, no buildings.
“Too open,” Ace decided, frowning. And those were her options. Walking into weakness, depressing muck, zero cover, and old buildings. She glanced back at the structures, noting that there were pine trees nearby to give her refuge if she needed it. Games like this didn’t just have four-legged monsters, though. “I mean, is it really forcing me to choose when I wanted to scavenge, anyway?”
Direction decided, she focused on the closer structure first. General Diesel & Motors had been burnt into the store’s wood from the suns of countless days, but the letters left hanging simply said Die.
“Ah, end of the world humor.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “My kind of people.”
It had been a decently sized station. There were six refueling spots for cars, a car wash to drive through on the left side, and a mechanic’s garage for basic repairs on the right. Now the roof had several holes of varying sizes, jagged window panes that let in much more than sunlight, and at one point the boarded-up door had lost against a crowbar. Ace took a step toward it and abruptly tripped.
Wrapped around her ankles was a ratty, stained brown backpack.
“Fuck you, too.” She picked it up as she wiped the taste of dirt from her mouth.
*1 old backpack acquired*
Opening it let out a cloud of dust and gave Ace a case of the sniffles.
“Just what I always wanted. Emptiness.”
Grading wise, this contradicted the new-player friendly waiting area she’d been in earlier. On the other hand, she wasn’t going to bitch and moan. She hadn’t been a noob for decades at this point and it was nice to see a game leaning in that direction for once, making the player actually work for their items and information.
“So, new idea, but I’m guessing the gas station’s my tutorial.” She eyed it. It was positioned to be one, at least. The first place to go, no noise, no lights, and thick dust at the entrance betraying the absence of anyone else in the area. “And I have to admit, I’m kinda curious if completing an inspection is going to trigger some action.”
Normally not a bad thing, but standing at zero good weapons and zero health kits, not preferable.
“Right. Here’s hoping there’s a weapon inside.” That would make her feel more comfortable.
A steady stride took her there in about a dozen steps, and she stayed flattened to the side as she tested the doorknob. Many of the zombie games she played had traps for the unwary, thank you Z is for Zoms for making her justifiably paranoid, and after the second or third shotgun blast to the stomach even the most naïve tended to look around before they made their next move. Or they rage quit. The knob twisted in her hands, letting out a metal scream, but neither the movement nor sound provoked an attack or defense mechanism. Ace opened the door, watching it swing with a loud creak, and waited. Nothing.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“And now I feel paranoid,” she said, glancing around the room for tripwires and ropes before finally stepping inside. Dust tornadoes were thicker in the air than on the ground, a feat she hadn’t imagined possible, but on the plus side, after sneezing multiple times in a row, she found that there were still some items on the rickety shelves.
“Did I ask to have my dust allergy added to this? No, I didn’t.” Wiping her nose on the sleeve of her shirt, her head twist brought a bright yellow cover in view, so she picked up the lone copy of Motor Roller and flipped to the contents page.
“Game changers in the garage, confidence tricks, and building a badass motorcycle,” mused Ace. She leafed through the thin pages. “The AI did mention crafting automobiles... not sure if I should take this with me on the off chance that I can cobble something together later, or if this is a semi-useless prop that’ll best serve as glossy toilet paper.”
She jerked at the sound of a sharp whistle, dropping to the floor and scanning the room. It happened twice more before she found the cause; wind squeezing through a bullet hole in one of the back windows.
“Right. Carry it for now, dump it on the way if needed.” She folded it in half and placed it in her backpack. The slight weight felt reassuring. Other shelves had small car parts, or liquids like antifreeze that the really old cars had needed, and were quick to check, but she was holding out hope for something to eat. Continuing toward the register via the snack aisle was an exercise in disappointment. The item most in stock was a small cardboard tag with different names printed on it. Caffeinated gum, cheese chips, powdered doughnuts, and too many chocolates to name were gone. “No food. And no water. Keep up the good work, Ace.”
On impulse, she tapped her right temple twice and her stats appeared, bone white against the half-dark of the station.
Ace’s CORPSE: Level 1 (100 experience points needed to level up)
* Charisma - 6/100
* Opportunities - 10/100
* Reflexes - 5/100
* Perception - 4/100
* Endurance - 6/100
* Strength - 6/100
2 Physical Mutations in Play: Horned, Element Sensitivity (Cold)
1 Spiritual Mutation in Play: Resonance
“Interesting. Makes a person wonder if ‘mental’ mutations are a thing. Also makes me wish I’d read the manual.” She touched Horned.
Horned: no matter your gender, you’ve gained two circular ram’s horns on your head. These can help you break things and defend against attacks by most creatures. Unlike antlers, these will not shed.
She blinked, then let out a laugh.
“Guess I’ll need to get a drinking horn another way then.” She tapped Element Sensitivity (Cold).
Element Sensitivity (Cold): your body takes longer to warm up and move. Cold bothers you more than most folk, and if you remain in a cold area without consistently warming up there is a higher chance of developing frostbite and needing to remove the affected limb.
“Yeah, still staying away from those mountains.” Her fingers went back and pressed Resonance.
Resonance: two of your CORPSE stats were switched, and as they were the same number they each increased by 1.
“Useful that I don’t need to remember everything, but not helpful for the moment.” She groaned. The learning curve of this game was feeling as if it was a continuation in a series everyone already knew the basics for. Which wasn’t her. Wasn’t anyone, really, since the game had yet to be released. “Weird.”
Ace touched her temple again and switched off the glowing words. The inside of the station settled back into gloom, and a thought flashed by. She focused her eyes, narrowing them as if scanning the landscape while facing a blazing sun. What ended up sticking in her mind was the counter. If she had been facing the end of everything she knew, she would have stolen things and kept them hidden.
“Out of sight, out of mind,” she sang softly, rounding the open corner. She wasn’t prepared for the skeleton on the floor, one hand pointing straight up and the other overlapping their groin to point down. Baggy, brown, and steeped in stains, the remains of their clothes lay about them. The register had been opened, cleaned completely out of cash, and there was a black stain of mold from the counter trickling down to under the skull.
Ace felt a moment’s sorrow at the thought of dying that way, then shook her head.
“Don’t feel bad for them, they’re a skeleton made by code,” she told herself, stepping over bones to see if any other locked areas or secret places were there. The cabinet under the cash register had been jimmied open, but next to it was a safe with a four-digit lock combination. Ace looked back at the unnatural position of the corpse’s arms.
“Wait a second... Who the hell actually dies like that?”
Straight up. Straight down. Four numbers total.
“Let’s try half past noon,” she said, the tumbler already moving beneath her eager fingers. When the last digit turned to zero, there was a faint clicking sound. Then a second, louder click, as the small door swung open.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” she exclaimed, eyeing her prizes. There were two short shelves in the safe, three bottles of unopened water squishing two packets of beef jerky on the top shelf and a barely small enough to fit hand-crank radio lay below. Part of her wanted to crank it up right then and there, but the other part of her was cautious, pointing to the need to find a place to settle down first. A safe and defensive place where she could test the songs left to play for a forgotten world.
“Thanks for hiding these,” she said to the skeleton, giving them a small salute. “I’ll make sure they aren’t wasted.”
She took a bottle and upon finding a left behind carabiner, ripped a bit of cloth from the skeleton’s shirt so the water would be clipped to her belt loop and within easy reach. The two others she put into the backpack, along with the radio.
*3 clean water bottles, 2 packets of expired beef jerky, and 1 hand-crank radio acquired*
She took another glance around the place, then realized another magazine rack had been half-hidden by the door where she had entered. Ransacking that produced a map of the area.
*1 map acquired*
Which then opened up to be blank.
“Fuck.”
Then the ink began to flow, changing colors as it bled along the paper. In the center was a black outline of a car, the words General Diesel & Motors above it and a silver ‘A’ standing inside the building. From there, the hues lightened, rippling to create the barest hint of mountains at the top, flowers to the west, dead trees to the east, and pine trees to the south. The only other information was a black icon of a squat house with a flag flying next to it; it had to be the tower.
And to think this little gem had been hidden behind the doorway. Ace shook her head, a grin spreading across her face.
“Brilliant.”