[CHAPTER 4]
Briefly observing the stadium around him, Leo attempted to figure out where to start.
‘Aegys, where is the shelter in this place?’
Leo looked around for a moment before Aegys put a compass at the top of his vision.
‘Thanks. Let’s clear the North stairwell first and get the shelter opened up, if it isn’t already’
Turning north, Leo saw an ocean of people and Antithesis up in the stands, leaving him about ten feet between the stage and the seating. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Leo moved towards the stairs. Taking aim at his first target he dropped the Model Three before switching as fast as he could to the one next to it.
Targets Eliminated!
Reward - 20 Points
‘This is too slow. Aegys, can my augs handle two connections at the same time?’
‘I’ll deal with it later. Keep a Hummingbird in each hand please.’
Leo felt a weight settle into his left hand before a new aiming reticle populated his vision. Testing his new damage output he fired at a nearby Three while simultaneously targeting the one next to it with his other weapon. Now able to alternate his firing, Leo became a walking turret as he waded into the crowd. By the time he emptied his first Hummingbird he was officially at the bottom of the stairs leading to the entrance of the basement.
Targets Eliminated!
Reward - 110 Points
Dropping the empty Hummingbird, Leo felt a familiar weight once again fill his hand as Aegys supplied a fresh one.
New Purchase: Hummingbird Mark I
Points reduced to - 120
Seeing Leo wading through the Model Threes, multiple people flocked towards him
“You’re a Samurai? Please save us!”
“Please help!”
“Samurai!....”
Many voices clamored around Leo since he cleared all the nearby Model Threes.
‘Aegys, can these guns be used on people?’
‘That’s fine. Get me one each for the next ten people we come across.’
Leo saw multiple boxes appear in the hands of nearby people, each with a stylized phoenix on the lid
New Purchase: Hummingbird Mark I x10
Points reduced to - 20
He raised his voice to be heard. “Our goal is the shelter at the bottom of the stairs! Clear out any Antithesis you see and bring as many people as you can save!”
At his words, the people who had boxes tore them open and pulled out the Hummingbirds. These versions were colored in shades of orange and red with wings engraved on the sides. A couple of them flinched at the visual glitches but in a moment all were turning towards the stairs. Leo walked towards the stairs leading his impromptu militia while shooting any Antithesis he came across.
With the people around him shooting as well as himself, they managed to make it down the stairs and to the door of the shelter much easier than Leo had anticipated. Already, two of the people around him had spent all their ammo but they clutched the guns still.
‘Probably trying to keep them as collectibles’ Leo mused briefly.
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Looking at the door to the shelter Leo saw that it was closed. Looking to the control panel next to it his heart jumped into his throat.
Shelter Lock Enabled
The words scrolling across the screen were the worst possible outcome. Someone had locked the shelter doors from the inside, something that was only meant to be used to stop people inside from freaking out and trying to run for it.
As he jabbed a finger at the screen, a face popped up. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“What do I want? I want you to open the fucking door! There are people who need to get in!” Leo told him, barely keeping himself from yelling.
The man on the screen was visibly sweating, his eyes darting around nervously, “No can do. We open this door then the Antithesis will get in and we are too important to take that risk.”
Leo felt the blood rush to his head. ‘Can we open the shelter?’
As Aegys finished talking, the screen in front of Leo beeped and the doors began opening.
“What have you done? You’ve killed us all!” Cried an outraged voice from inside.
Leo turned to the crowd of people behind him. “Everyone inside, now!” As people streamed inside the shelter, Leo stepped to the side.
‘Aegys, How many points do I have?’
Leo was shocked, ‘How did I get so many?’
‘Well, looks like I’ll be upgrading sooner rather than later. Get me the two rings and the full cloak’
Class I Hard-Light Technology unlocked!
Points reduced to - 400
New Purchase: Hardlight Wall Emitter (Ring) x2
Points reduced to - 340
Class I Mythical Phoenix Catalog unlocked!
Points reduced to - 220
New Purchase: Armored Phoenix Mantle
Points reduced to - 120
Two boxes appeared at his feet. The larger of the two was the size of a boot box and the smaller one was slightly larger than a ring box. Both boxes were covered in feather designs in red, orange, and yellow with a phoenix on the lid. Opening the larger of the two, Leo was met with a cloak that was simultaneously familiar and new. Holding it up he could see that the cloak appeared to be made of large feathers. Putting it on, Leo noticed that part of it hugged his sides while another part settled over his shoulders. Once he settled into it he was shocked at how much movement he had while wearing it.
Nodding to himself he moved on to the smaller of the two boxes. Opening it he saw two rings that had what looked like three small rubies set into each.
Processing this new information as he finished putting on his new gear, ‘Let's worry about that later. For now, we need to clear the other stairwells. What weapons can I buy similar to the Hummingbird to help the people hold this entrance?’
‘Good enough. Buy ten guns and as many magazines as I can get’
New Purchase: Cerberus SMG x10
Points reduced to - 70
New Purchase: Cerberus SMG 30-round magazine x40
Points reduced to - 30
The area between the shelter door and the stairs was still full of people, but now just off to the side was a small mountain of boxes.
‘Aegys, can you send a notification to people nearby?’
‘“Those who are willing to protect others, meet Phoenix at the entrance to the shelter” add an acknowledge button and limit it to the first ten’
Before long, Leo had a group of ten people standing near him and the pile of boxes. The group consisted of a handful of the security guards as well as a couple fans wearing jerseys of the different teams, two of which were the purple of Leo’s team.
“Each of you takes a gun and two magazines. Each magazine holds 30 rounds.” Leo looked at the guards. “Which one of you is the senior officer?” A man stepped forward, He was a little taller than Leo and had a well-groomed beard. “I’m putting you in charge of organizing this area. There are twenty extra mags in that box. Anyone who needs in, gets in. I don’t care what dipshit in there says.” Leo gestured vaguely at the shelter.
The guard looked at Leo with an expression bordering on respect. “Yes sir”
Leo nodded. “I’ll need three people to come with me to secure the next stairwell.” After a brief deliberation, three of the guards handed their extra magazines to the senior guard and formed up near Leo. The senior guard started barking orders at people that were left.
“Alright, let’s move.” Leo said, turning around and walking down the hall. The three guards spread out behind him, weapons ready.