The biker’s were starting to recover just as my daze started to clear. I wanted to take a moment to consider what the hell the odds were of running into not only another Augment, but one clearly from my Wave. Unfortunately for my like of random odds, the bikers were quickly recovering and I wasn’t about to make the same mistake so soon.
“Don’t let them heal,” I shouted, watching as the burned brute materialized a syringe into his hand. I started to rush forward, just about to wish I had a skill that would allow me to just grab things from people within my area when a flash of blue flew past me and across the room.
I found myself skidding to a halt in surprise as the burned brute jammed the syringe down, only to slam an entire block of ice directly into his own leg. There was the sound of a snap that broke through the silence as the brute let out a string of curses and dropped to the ground.
The Hydramental in blue rushed past me, and threw another set of ice blasts, following up on his initial attack and taking the second brute by surprise by freezing his feet to the floor just as he tried to step away. The brute fell backwards and slammed into the ground as the blue-clad clone capitalized on his momentum.
He stomped down hard onto the brute’s chest and a large casing of ice covered the entirety of the man. His health plummeted as a Captured debuff briefly appeared over his head before his health bar finally ticked down to zero.
“Y’know, you ain’t my fuckin’ boss, now how about you just get the fuck outta here, clearly I don’t need any help,” Hydramental said with a laugh. Though they weren’t right next to each other, I could tell both copies of him were speaking and it created a slightly unsettling echo effect.
My cooldowns finally ticked over, and though I probably should have saved it for the next car just in case, something in me just had to show off a little bit. So I hit my Weighted Clothes ability. The two remaining grunts were just on the edge of my range, something I was only just discovering I could actually feel when concentrating and as the skill activated, the two slammed to the ground. The blue clone actually jumped, his foot leaving the block of ice covering the downed brute.
“Ummmm, what the fuck just happened to them?” They asked, looking over at me in unison with raised brows.
“Crushed under a half ton of weight. Even if it doesn’t knock them out all the way, it tends to get them pretty close,” I explained, walking past the clone in blue. I stopped to look at the two grunts with their health sitting at about 15% each. Between Hydramental's initial attack on the car and the sudden crushing weight, the two were in bad shape. “Either of you two want to talk? Cause as I see it I can either just let the weight finish the job, or I can have Mr. Freeze back there turn you two into ice cubes, what’s it gonna be?”
“Hey I already told you, you ain’t my fuckin’ boss,” Hydramental shot back.
“We. ain’t. no. bitch. snitches,” One of the grunts struggled to get out. His health was ticking ever closer to the knockout cutoff. I looked at the other grunt, hopeful he might react differently, but he just snarled and spit on the ground in front of him in defiance.
“Oh well,” I said, and with a quick set of kicks, both grunts were left with the KO debuff.
“Really? Didn’t want to twist the screws a little bit more on them and get some answers out of them?” The weird echoey voice was gone and I turned back to find Hydramental back in one piece. “I mean, the whole point of the mission I got was about figuring out what was going on here. Just feels like a missed opportunity and a bit of a waste of time to just knock them out, don’tcha think?”
“Nah, I mean, I don’t think there’s really any context where torture would feel heroic,” I said with a shrug, walking over and extending a hand, “Loophole.”
He looked at my hand and then back up at me with a snort of a laugh, “Dude y’know I highlighted you the moment I came through the wall right? The real question is what the hell are you even doing here, this is my mission. Sure maybe we aren’t in Chelsea since this is Hudson Yard and all, but this is just on the edge of my territory.”
“Well someone doesn’t know basic manners,” Angie said in my head, practically taking the words right out of my mouth.
“Why would it be your mission?” I asked, jabbing my finger at one of the leather clad grunts knocked out behind me, “They’re the Hell’s Kitchen Vipers and I am kinda the dude who just claimed Hell’s Kitchen which is also neighboring this area sooooo.”
“Ooooo are we about to have a dick measuring contest? I’ve always wanted to see one of those.” Angie chirped up with way more excitement than was necessary.
“Not now, Angie.”
“No they’re not, they’re the Chelsea Vipers.” he said and nudged one of the grunts. His eyes briefly glossed over as his lips tugged downward into a frown. “Hmm, I guess it does just say Viper Grunt, wonder what the hell that is about.”
“Well? You wanted to talk, how about you explain then,” I prompted Angie.
“Think of it like local chapters. In order to make the mob distribution for lower levels easier, different regions utilize different starter NPCs. In the North Eastern region of America, Viper Gang’s are deployed to the local territory of every new Augment. How the Augment deals with the first wave of them tends to determine how lasting contingents get sent. If they choose to try and defend the territory as a Guardian, they get missions dedicated to hunting them down for the police. If they go Miscreant… well let’s just say Miscreants have their own way of handling them that you’ll learn about soon enough.”
“Huh…” I said out loud as I walked back to the grunts and looted the scant few credits they all had. I quickly explained what Angie had told me to him and he took a minute, his eyes glossing over as he talked with his P.A.I. “According to my P.A.I these things are sort of standard issue. I mean... I guess that it makes sense that these guys would be a small part of a bigger thing. Though it doesn’t exactly clear up who’s mission this technically is.”
“Yeah, my P.A.I. pretty much just told me something along those lines. And I guess the next territory size up from a neighborhood takes up the Community Center that both of our neighborhoods and Hudson Yard here are a part of, ” Hydramental explained with a grunt.
“Huh, well then… I guess I just assumed they gave everyone their own unique thing,” I said and turned back to him. “So uh… should we like, team up or something? Would it be smarter for us to be a team and make a claim on the bigger community?”
“Is there an advantage that comes from partying? Better rewards or something like that? Or like, if he goes in on his own and completes the mission, am I going to get screwed?” I asked internally. I was already getting a weird vibe from Hydramental but I also couldn’t see any way around dealing with him either.
“Sort of? You might still get to claim some credit for the completion of the mission even if you don’t team up with him, it does specify that the reward is variable depending on completion method. However, while it might not be the end of the world, it would put Hydramental here in the position to have a claim on a territory that you’d definitely want to be aiming your sights on.”
Hydramental hadn’t exactly come off as friendly so far, but it also seemed unlikely that I was going to run into another Augment that I could team up with any time soon. I highlighted him again, finding a submenu that included Inspect, Add Friends, Send Message, Form Team, and Temporary Team-Up. I could kiss whoever thought to include a temporary option and selected it, only to get a Team-Up Denied message back a second later.
“And share the experience and points with you? Why the fuck would I want to do that? You heard Axio, we all got to get to 10,000 points in just a few days,” he shot back.
“Holy crap what the hell is this dude’s deal?”
“Yeah he is a little bit… abrasive, but I think you’re stuck working with him on this one. You really can’t walk away from this mission if you want to keep growing your reputation. And I really need to stress that public perception of just who is this area’s hero might lean toward him if this mission spills out into the public view… and in case you were having a hard time figuring it out, things spilling out into the public sort of happens a lot.” Angie explained and I let out an internal groan.
“Look man, it’s not like either of us knew we were going to run into each other here, for all we know, maybe teaming up and completing a mission is worth some of those points too. I’m not saying we have to form an actual permanent squad or anything like that. But let’s just team up and knock this shit out, then we can wipe our hands and walk away. How’s that sound?” I said, trying to hide my frustration. Silver Wrangler had thrown me off enough for being relatively level headed as a Miscreant. Assuming that this guy was a Guardian, he was throwing me off just as much.
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“Sheesh, you’re not gonna leave me alone, okay, y’know what, fine,” He said, spitting on the ground as he accepted. “Just stay the fuck back though and let me do what I came here for, the little weight thing was cute and all but I can take care of this shit so much faster.”
“New Achievement! Welcome to the Party, Pal! Look at you. First you made a friend, now you’ve teamed up with someone, even if that someone is a complete douchebag. Now I know what you’re thinking, this is going to make the rest of this mission a cake walk, right? Hahahahaha, wrong. So, so wrong. This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier loot box.”
“You know, just cause my power isn’t all that flashy, doesn’t mean it’s not effective. I didn’t even have to lift a finger with that “little weight” ability,” I said, finding myself feeling defensive. “And it’s not like that’s all I can do.”
“Oh yeah? Well trust me, mine’s only at the tip of the iceberg with how awesome it is,” Hydramental said, practically preening like a parrot.
“I mighta chosen something like that had it been on my list, sure as hell didn’t have time to scroll through and read all the available options,” I said, trying my best to find some sort of common ground with him. I peeked through the window to the next train and didn’t see a single person moving inside of it, though along one side of the car it looked like there were glass door cages bolted to the walls. The light coming through the windows into the car was blocked and it left the room feeling eerie.
“Yeah, I’m sure a whole lotta people are gonna be feeling that way as I rise through the ranks,” He gloated again, “I only got two elements right now and I can only have one of the elements active at a time through a clone, but that’s gonna grow as I get stronger.”
“Damn, yeah I can see how that would be strong,” I said and looked back at him before I pushed the door open.
“Exactly,” he said with a smirk before finally looking back at me. He took a moment to consider something before he shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Okay fuck it, what’s a Perfect Planner, what can you do?”
“So… so many things,” I said, trying to find a way to gloat at least a little bit. “I think in theory I can do like… almost anything? But only within a specific area around me, and only if I have gained a proficient knowledge skill level in what I’m trying to do. Oh, and I’m technically super lucky.”
“Super Lucky? Really, that counts as a power?” He laughed and it echoed a bit too loud within the train car as he walked past me and into the eerie cabin.
“Yeah, well, I mean it’s my secondary power, but trust me, it comes in handy.”
“If you say so. Gotta admit, it really doesn't seem all that impressive,” he said. He immediately walked over toward one of the empty glass cages and peered inside. Another few moments of silence passed before he looked back over at me with a raised brow. “So then the weight thing was like, you doing what, some sort of telekinetic shit?
“Eh not quite. I’m not sure exactly how it works but it lets me increase the weight on a piece of clothing on each active enemy in my area. Unfortunately it diminishes the more people it has to hit. I have a few other things too, like being able to silence the area, but for the most part it’s leaning in toward me being a hand-to-hand fighter,” I explained following him inside and looking around. I walked past what looked like a large cabinet shoved into the corner of the room. There was a long counter running alongside it with mats and what looked like beaker stands periodically placed along the surface.
“Yeah, sorry, your power seems needlessly complicated, did you really not have, like, a more simple option?” He said.
“Wow rude,” Angie muttered in my head and it almost felt like she was bristling at the comment in the back of my head.
“Huh, why’s that rude? My powerset is complicated, he’s not wrong,” I shot back.
“He is wrong, it’s not that complicated and you’re smart enough to realize that, hell look how you figured out your little Google search loophole last night.”
While I wasn’t entirely sure what she was getting at, I also found it hard to argue with her either. Even still, it felt weird that she was taking his comments more personally than I was.
“Eh, it works for me,” I finally said back to Hydramental. I had thought the conversation about our powers might settle him down a bit, but it was just leaving me feeling more on edge. And I wasn’t really sure what Angie was getting, nor did I want to spend too long talking with her when we did have more important things to take care of, “I wonder why they don’t have anyone in this car.”
“I wouldn’t want to just be hanging out in a room filled with a bunch of caged up snakes. I get their name is the Vipers and all, but this is a little too on the nose, don’tcha think?” Hydramental said as he pointed toward one of the other cages on the wall.
I walked over and looked inside and saw a light brown snake with dark brown circular marks running down the entirety of its body.
“It’s a Russell’s Viper. Latin name Daboia Russelii. It has one of the most excruciatingly painful bites of all venomous snakes and internal bleeding is super common. Lethal dose is 40 to 70 milligrams. Which, for the record that's just a single bite, but death can take anywhere from 24 hours to a week and can be nighmarish.”
The knowledge had come to me the moment I laid eyes on the snake and I knew the information had come from the book I had received, but that didn’t make the feeling any less weird. Hydramental was staring at me with a look halfway between confusion and like he was going to burst out laughing.
“Umm… okay, thanks Wikipedia, not exactly sure what the point of the snake lesson was.” He said, a chortle of a laugh finally escaping him. Though he still had a bit of an edge, I didn’t feel like he was outright trying to intimidate me any longer either. It didn't seem like much, but it was at least a little bit of progress.
“Man, everything about this augmentation shit is crazy, the people behind this could have like, literally all the money in the world if they had just been monetizing all this shit, right?” I said as I rubbed the side of my head. “Like I said, part of my power is needing to have a certain knowledge level to create the respective skill. I get these knowledge books that raise my level to the minimum required level and literally just last night I got a book from a B:Tier box that gave me knowledge of reptile venoms. It’s weird as hell that they can just zap knowledge right into our brains.”
“Well you’re definitely not exactly wrong. I’ve been wondering why they aren’t just selling it to the government and creating super soldiers. Giving us more or less free range is the most confusing part to me, not that I'm about to start complaining about it or anything stupid like that,” he offered with a shrug. He walked the rest of the way down the car to the next door and looked through the window. He let out an annoyingly big laugh as his body split back into two again.
“You see something?” I asked.
The clone in red looked back at me with an almost gleeful looking grin. “These idiots have a fucking meth lab in the next car, and you know what that means?”
“They’re making drugs which just adds to the list of crimes they’ve been committing?” I offered as I started to walk over toward him, curious to get a look at what he had seen, “I don’t think that does all that much for us, does it?”
“Oh trust me, it’s gonna make taking care of this next car stupidly easy,” They echoed as the clone raised a hand, his fingers prepping to snap. “See, those three brutes in there and whoever that other dude is are using something that’s very, very combustible. I have a skill that lets me ignite anything I can set my sight on and if it happens to be flammable, the explosion will be five times as powerful.”
“Wait, you can’t just-” I started, but he snapped his fingers and a loud BOOM echoed outward. I planted my feet as fast as I could, activating my Steadyfoot feature. The explosion was large enough to shatter the glass of the door and rocked the floor underneath me enough that I should have been knocked from my feet. Only a moment later, the rocking stopped but I refused to move just in case of an aftershock. My ears were left with a sharp ringing as I moved forward, trying to get a better look at the damage he had caused. “Dude what the fuck! Aren’t you a Guardian? We can’t just go around killing people.”
“Sheesh get your panties out of a bunch. They grow these assholes in vats, didn’t your P.A.I tell you?” He said having merged himself back together. He shoved the door open revealing the compartment still on fire. “Like, these guys get made in a day, I got no idea how it works but they are practically just meatbags. Besides, I am a Guardian. I’m stopping these guys permanently from hurting others, a little negative karma doesn’t stop me from being a Guardian when all the good karma balances it out. Those assholes back there you just knocked out are just gonna be thrown back into the mix for us to have to fight all over again, you’re just making life fucking harder on us by taking half measures.”
“What? How do you even know that’s true? My P.A.I’s been fucking with me the whole time and has practically begging me to go Miscreant, are you sure yours isn’t doing the same?” I nearly shouted back at him. Sure, I had killed a few of the non-sentients during my tutorial, but those had been strictly by accident and because of blowback from their own weapons.
“Hey, I’m not begging,” Angie tried to interject.
“NOT NOW, ANGIE!”
“Well mine's one of the overly helpful ones, I think someone told me she was a “Navi” type? Whatever the fuck that means, I don’t really care,” He said with a shrug, “She hasn’t led me wrong yet though, and I’ve got full access to the Guardian side. Now are you going to be a pansy or are we going to keep going. I got the brutes down, but there’s some other-”
A huge glob of thick green goo came flying from the far side of the fiery scene, smacking Hydramental in the side of his head and sending him sprawling to the ground. His health immediately dropped by over 50% and was slowly ticking downward. On top of that, he had a spinning Poisoned debuff that I recognized as similar to the debuff my bracers bestowed. I was just about to highlight the debuff when I heard a loud scraping sound.
I looked back over into the flaming wreckage of the next car and saw a monstrous looking shape that seemed almost sinister in the flickering light of the flames. Its upper body was muscular and intimidating with a ripped leather vest pulled up and over his chest. The man's head rose and spread with giant flaps coming out from either side of his face. Where his legs would have been, a large disturbing looking tail stretched, curved and slithered behind him as he continued slowly through the flames toward me, barely even phased by the fire licking at his sides.
“He’s creeping, he’s slithering, he’s the very first Elite level mob your massively underprepared ass is going to face heeeeeeee’s, Sal the Snake. Level 6 (Elite) Biker Lieutenant. In case you couldn’t tell by his Naga like appearance, our friend Sal here? Yeah, he’s Augmented. Have fun.”