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Name:
Unathorised access (Stay in your lane)
Titles:
The Gamer
Mission:
362 : Unauthorised information (why don't you listen?)
Experience points:
340/500
Charisma
17/34
Emotional stability
1.5/10
Intelligence
10/26
Evilness galore
15/30
Clues left:
N/A (for now)
Free stat points
N/A (for now)
Skill menu
“What is both cylindrical and spherical, perfectly round and imperfectl- No that’s not right…”
Apart from the tapping of a foot, silence filled the air.
Breaking his deep thought, The Gamer’s eyes lit up and he clicked his fingers in glee, “AHA I GOT IT! What about ‘What is found in the bin but is trying to get out-‘ … NO. NO. NO. DESPICABLE.” The Gamer scrunched up the paper that he was writing on and tutted. “It’s no good. It’s just no good.”
I have a whole evil lair and it’s not getting any use because of my stupidity, The Gamer sniffed lamenting in his pain of simply not being evil enough.
This isn’t a very profitable business; The Gamer nodded his head. Maybe it’s time for a career change... How is a mere man meant to get by in such harsh work conditions? His stats were miserable; as soon as he reached level 300, everything was reset to make space for 'The Quest Master' to be found. He believed that the change was more evil than anything he had ever done before, and he had done quite a lot.
His emotional intelligence attribute remained at its reset starting value of 10. The Gamer wasn't too bothered by this, it was to be expected, what genius didn't have a touch of madness or a side dish of crazy? It just made sense. He had never wasted any of his hard-earned points on emotional intelligence, and the system never rewarded him with free points for it, so obviously they agreed that it was a useless attribute.
The real issue was his maximum intelligence, which was now capped at 26. It was limiting his potential for true evilness and frustrated him to no end.
His counterparts were doing much better than him. His evil buddies were killing it-and other things- and he was barely surviving.
My maximum is a mere 30 in Evil galore. How will I ever be able to live with the shame of having such a low score?
Galore? Score?
The Gamer chuckled.
"Oh yes, a rhyme on the track. My evil mojo's coming back. It's all returning to my brain. How to be the best at causing pain. With destruction, I'll pave my way. And watch my foes have a doomsday.
Nothing more fun than striking terror into the hearts of civilians.
[WHAT A GREAT NIGHT!]
[DUE TO YOUR GREAT ABILITY TO CREATE TERROR WITH YOUR WORDS, YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP TO 36 IN THE SKILL [RIDDLER AND RHYMER]]
[DUE TO YOUR ABILITY TO THINK EVIL, YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP TO 3725 IN THE SKILL [EVIL THOUGHTS]]
----
[Yay! You have a new mission! New mission alert!]
[Mission 300: Save the victims and figure out which one was the arsonists]
The office was flooded with police officers searching for clues, concerned family members searching for answers and reporters searching for information that would lead to a pay rise.
“Well, it is tomorrow. And it sure is busy,” Alexander quipped from where he was busy trying to land popcorn in his mouth.
“Get up and help.” The chief said from where he and the rest of the team were crowded over a map of the city trying to figure out where a kidnapper could have taken the victims.
“What’s going on?” Alexander questioned the team.
John James and the chief ignored Alexander’s questions, but good old Angelica and the ever-eager Jacob turned to face him.
“We are trying to find the four victims kidnapped,” Angelica said.
“You mean the suspects.”
“No. No. I mean the victims. They are victims in this crime. They just all happen to be suspects in the arson case that happened last week.”
“You think that’s a coincidence. Really?”
Angelica scowled at Alexander. “Of course not.” She turned back to the map.
Jacob kindly took over her explanation. “We know it isn’t a coincidence. We are looking at who from the company Biorazer- whose building got burned down- would have a chip on their shoulder about it and any of the other buildings that they or the company own. The victims could be being held there.”
Alexander decided that it was time for him to be helpful. He was a consultant on the team after all. Though he only got paid a pittance. Maybe this is the right time to bargain for a slight raise. Alexander glanced at the chief. He took in the older man’s deep scowl that faintly reminded him of the skin of a Siamese cat. He shook his head. Now probably isn’t the time. Instead, I guess I’ll help out of the kindness of my heart. Someone say ‘a real hero’. They should praise me for this deed.
Funnily enough Alexander's [goodness galore] score had dropped from the average [5/10] to a [3/10].
“You can stop your line of enquiry. It wasn’t anyone from Biorazer.”
3… 2….1….
All the team members one by one slowly turned to Alexander. Aha, this is the reception I deserve when I say something clever.
[Charisma: 8/10]
“How do you know that?”
“What are you not telling us?”
“Don’t tell me you tapped into that weird thing you do.”
Alexander frowned at the last comment. Then he smiled again as he realised this must have been the teasing thing he read that best friends did to each other. John James and he were definitely bonding.
Alexander closed his eyes and put his index fingers on his temples. “I know this because I simply tapped into 20% of my brain power. That’s 10% more than you common Neanderthals do.” He opened his eyes and looked around. No one seemed to be buying it. “Fine then. I happened to have received two texts from The Gamer that I think pertain to the kidnapping.”
The chief snatched Alexander’s phone from his hands. Rude. But maybe not ruder than me calling my boss a neanderthal.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was busy working on my hand-eye-mouth coordination.”
“You mean throwing popcorn into your mouth.” John James shook his head.
Alexander shook his head. Trust John to focus on the negatives of the situation.
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Tick Tock Tick Tock,
or a bang will mark the spot,
where I put the suspects,
to lighten your lot.
“What do you think the Gamer is trying to say?” Jacob inquired.
The chief let out a sigh. “He’s indicating that we have a long day ahead of us. Or to put it in other words, he has abducted the victims, and their lives are at risk if we don’t find them in time.”
“I guess this is his version of helping.” Alexander remarked, releasing a sigh of his own. “His mind operates on a totally different wavelength to us normal people.”
John James took his turn letting out an exasperated breath, “Sorry to tell you this buddy, but you’re not normal either. The Gamer thinks that it is best for all suspects of the crime to suffer rather than the perpetrator getting away scot-free. At least, he thinks you think that. He's trying to make friends. Trying to 'lighten your lot'.”
“He’s messed up. Real messed up.” Being extremely eager to solve the riddle in the text, Alexander didn't bother to try to comprehend John James's words.
-----
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This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Let’s start easy as a show of friendship:
In the answer to this riddle,
Anne is taken out the middle,
she leaves an instruction to go in reverse.
Where are they?
Author's note: Your turn to guess!
“Where could it be? The post office? The school? The church? The mental health facility?” Jacob was racking his brains to figure out where the Gamer’s riddle was pointing them.
Alexander was not. He wasn’t at all impressed. He had expected that he would have had to use all eight of his remaining clues. He had expected that he would have had to do nothing short of grey matter gymnastics to figure out the answer and at the end of his ruminating when he had finally solved the riddle, everyone would have called him the reincarnation of Einstein. But alas no such luck, one measly riddle. One relatively easy answer.
“Hmmm…” The chief said aloud. “I am thinking, I just don’t understand what’s going on.”
Alexander shot the man a look, displeased to see that the man seemed to be getting a mental workout that Alexander himself was in need of. In other words, Alexander was jealous. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, ‘Misery loves company’.
“Bank. The answer is bank.”
[Well done!]
[You solved a riddle from the gamer himself. , YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP TO 1 IN THE SKILL [RIDDLER AND RHYMER]]
----
It had turned out that Alexander was right. All his colleagues had told him so when they had come back to the office with the victims in tow. His reply, “No kidding.”
The victims had been bungled up one at a time for questioning in the interrogation room. Not to enquire about their kidnapping, another police force could have done that; by now everyone knew that the Gamer was the culprit. Instead, the team was to solve the mystery of the arson.
“The suspects were the only ones near enough the building to have set it on fire and for it to be the extent that it was by the time that the fire fighters had arrived.” Angelica briefed Alexander.
None of the suspects had confessed to the arson and they also proved to be extraordinarily useless witnesses, not giving any piece of information that the team didn’t already know.
“You’re not allowed back in the interrogation room because the distract attorney made a complaint against you,” John James said to Alexander.
Alexander jaw dropped, “Me? What did I do?”
“Exposing that he had an affair with his wife’s sister probably wasn’t the way to go.”
The Consultant considered what John James was saying. So, they wanted him to find the culprit without offending suspects. Alexander made up his mind. Ridiculous. I did what I had to do.
John James exhaled heavily, “the only problem is we just can’t seem to figure out who the arsonist is. What goes on in Biorazer is kept tightly under wraps. Employees all sign NDAs before working there which holds up even if they leave. Word is that Thomas Millbury, the owner of Biorazer, called the higher ups to tell them to wrap it up as fast as they can. The suspects are all so hard to read and with no evidence there is no way any of them will break.”
Alexander pondered for a while. An idea came to him that he thought could work but he wasn’t so sure that John James would go for it.
To get the stubborn John James to listen more openly and trust him, Alexander gently touched his friend on the arm. “Put some pressure on them. Get them each to do a lie detector. I’ll watch this time without saying anything offensive. We’ll find the perpetrator in no time.”
The subtle touch didn’t seem to work; John James looked at Alexander like he was mad. “That’s illegal.”
“Don’t tell anyone about it and it will be fine.”
“The chief would get in trouble.”
“Plausible deniability. Don’t tell him.”
“You’ll get in trouble.”
“I’m their prized consultant. They’ll get over it.”
“I’ll get in trouble.”
“You are the best friend that the prize consultant can’t work without. They’ll give you a raise and tell you to put me on a leash.”
The thought of being able to boss Alexander around for once seemed to get John James on board. As the two men stood staring at each other smiles crept up their faces.
Suspect one
Maria Williams
Status
Alive
Age
D.O.B
35
(12/11)
Marital status
Married
Occupation
Biomedical scientist
Background and family
Has a two-year-old child
Motive
Works at the company. Didn’t get promoted (logged complaint in HR blamed it on the fact that she has a young child). Was going home but in the vicinity of the fire when happened. Has to pay back a loan.
Alexander and John James were in the interrogation room ready to question the first suspect Mrs Williams who was already hooked up to the lie detector machine. The woman looked visibly shaken by the addition of smart technology. My plan is working already.
“You didn’t get promoted.” Detective John said.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“To be honest, that’s quite a big motive where I come from. You were tired of taking care of your young kid at home- and maybe even your husband- and then your superiors frustrate you even more when you are barely floating above the breadline.”
“That doesn’t mean I did it. I didn’t do it. You can see. Check. CHECK.” The woman pointed to the lie detector.
Not a sign of a lie being told. This isn’t going to get us anywhere, thought Alexander.
Alexander screwed up his face, “I don’t know. The machine is showing some signs of deception. Maybe it’s because of the shouting.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe it’s because you did it.”
[Charisma: 8/10] Goodness Galore decreased. [Goodness galore: 2/10] Alexander sighed inwardly; sacrifices have to be made.
“I DIDN’T DO IT.”
“If not you... then who? I didn’t want to say this, but the rest of the suspects didn’t get even a little frustrated. All our years as detectives, what do cornered suspects do?”
“They shout.” John James played along. “But I feel like you Maria didn’t do it. But if not you, then who?”
Mrs Williams took a deep breath. “You can’t tell anyone I said this…” The two detectives nodded. “But… Mr Millbury… the CEO of Biorazer treats the security guard- Mr Johnson- like something on the bottom of his shoe. When I first entered the company that’s the reason why I thought they didn’t have security cameras. That day, before Mr Millbury left the office, he punched the security guard for not giving him an umbrella when it was raining outside.”
“You mean Mr Johnson has been getting bullied.”
“Yes, the poor man… But what was funny was this time round I saw the man smile. Like it didn’t matter what Mr Millbury did... Like it didn’t matter because he was going to get Mr Millbury eventually.”
“You mean he has a motive.”
The woman didn’t say anything else.
According to the lie detector, the whole time she was telling the truth.
“I can’t wait to see what Mr Johnson’s excuse will be.” John James whispered to Alexander after the interrogation. “We need to hurry though; I have a feeling that the chief will come back soon.”
Suspect two
Martin Evans
Status
Alive
Age
D.O.B
45
(02/02)
Marital status
Divorced
Occupation
Journalist
Background and family
Not much known about background.
Motive
Was investigating Biorazar knowing the company he could have found something untoward. Tried to interview the employees that day but they wouldn’t let him out the lobby. He was found at the scene however didn’t call the emergency services.
The two detectives were moving quickly to avoid the chief coming to the office and finding them using the lie detector.
“So… What do you have against Biorazer?”
“What?”
“You’re a journalist investigating Biorazer. I assume you have something against them."
"It's just a job. Just work. I don’t have anything against them. My boss gives me a task to do, I do it. Simple as that. I don’t ever want any trouble.”
“They didn’t let you in the building when you turned up. A waste of petrol.”
“A lot of companies wouldn’t let a journalist in.”
He has a point, Alexander thought.
“Why didn’t you call the emergency services when you saw the fire if you didn’t have something against the company?” John James continued.
“Excuse me for trying to save myself and the intern- Jack Brown. The back doors were shut by the security guard to lock up for the night, so they had to be smashed open.“
“Did you know Jack Brown?”
“He was the one who had given my boss some information about the company. We were meant to meet that day.”
“So, to confirm, you didn’t light the fire that day?”
“Of course not.”
The lie detector showed that the man was telling the truth so far.
“There was one thing I should let you know now that I have this lie detector on me and I can’t be accused of lying. I did see something... but maybe I saw wrong.
“What did you see?”
“I was originally in the lobby waiting. I then tried to find someone to interview so I walked around a little. I found Jack brown who was in his corner of the office and I saw the security guard from afar. That is when I saw him light up a matchstick. Which was the cause of the fire, right?”
Suspect one, now a witness to the case, was said by the lie detector to be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“The security guard has a lot of explaining to do,” John James said when they had left the interrogation room.
Suspect three
Jack Brown
Status
Alive
Age
D.O.B
21
(15/08)
Marital status
Single
Occupation
Student
Background and family
Unknown.
Motive
Did an internship at the company. Was collecting his stuff as he was fired the day before for missing work.
“Yes, I was upset at the company. The reason I missed work was that I attended my dad’s funeral. I had told them in advance, but on the day of the funeral they said if I didn’t come in, I was fired.”
“So that made you mad?” Alexander probed.
“It would make anybody mad. But I am only a student. I can find another job, although it’s hard to find work experience these days.”
The lie detector said the man was telling the truth. The detectives didn’t think they had much more time left before the chief turned up so they moved on.
Suspect four
Austin Johnson
Status
Alive
Age
D.O.B
34
(31/04)
Marital status
Single
Occupation
Security Guard for Biorazar
Background and family
Two children.
Motive
At the scene at the crime. Called the emergency services.
From the information that was gathered from the Mr Evans and Mrs Williams, John James was sure that they had the investigation in the bag. Mrs Williams was witness that Mr Johnson had strong motive, Mr Evans was witness to the lighting of the fire.
It took the two detectives a while to get the lie detector unto Austin Johnson. The only question they managed to ask Austin was “Did you light the building on fire?” He said “no.”
The most surprising part of the whole day happened right then. The lie detector said the man was telling the truth. That meant that all the suspects were telling the truth. A near impossibility.
Trying to find holes somewhere, the detectives attempted to ask him their second question, “why did the CEO, Mr Millbury-.“ Before they could finish their sentence, the man ripped the wires attaching him to the machine off and after shouting the house down took a pledge of silence. He has anger issues, Alexander thought, can a man like him really be able to keep it in when suffering under a tyrant boss?
But the lie detector had said that the man hadn’t done it.
----
The two troublemakers, Alexander and John James watched as the chief walked into the office.
John James groaned in his seat. “We should have asked each suspect straight away if they were the ones who did it. Now the chief is here.”
“Can they all be telling the truth?” Alexander thought aloud to himself.
John James seemed to think Alexander was talking to him. “It doesn’t make sense he said that the security guard did it. But then we asked the security guard if he did it and he said he didn’t do it. The lie detector confirmed both.”
“Did he say that?”
“Did who say what?”
Alexander chuckled slightly. “Thanks for proving my point.”
[INTELLIGENCE: 10/10]