We rush straight ahead into the forest. Kai’s plan was simple, start by moving directly towards the visitor’s center. Others will zig-zag through and try to avoid battle. If we hear a sound, we can wait until a fight is over and pick off the winner, taking both drives. Alternatively, we can set up a surveillance perimeter with his drones and pick off whoever gets close the visitor’s center. It’s a good plan and prevents us from being in a lot of unnecessary fights. But, if we have to fight that’s where his environmental destruction plan comes into play. We’re making good time running towards the center. It’ll take four hours to get their from the start meaning there’s eight hours to collect the drives. A four hour hike will tire anyone out so I’m hoping we can catch them near the visitor’s center after we set up and get some rest.

I feel a slam into my back as I’m pushed forward too hard for me to turn my back. I recover and realize Daamin had thrown Kai and I to the ground. Before I can question him, Kai dives for a grenade and flings it into the distance. We’re under attack. I quickly scan my surroundings, looking for an enemy as Kai tosses a drone into the sky and takes cover behind a large tree.

“Daamin, where are you,” I shout.

“Up here,” he calls from above.

Up above, Daamin calls.

He’s hung from a tree by his ankle. That means people are setting traps out here, and we need to be careful of where we walk.

“Kai, you got a target,” I ask.

“There’s another drone trying to disrupt my systems. If you can get a clean shot, I’d love that.”

Smoke fills the area, and I’m instantly familiar with a trick I use myself. I switch to infrared, hoping to catch them off guard. It’s a trick anyone can do, but I do it better than most, or so I like to think. My ears start to ring, as some kind of sonic device sends out high pitch sounds. I try to ignore it and focus on what’s surrounding us. I don’t see anyone until they’re inches from my face with a knife already three inches into my gut. This hurts, I’m sure it would hurt more in real life, but it hurts. Still, I’m not just some pushover. I fire several shots from a handgun into my attacker’s side. We’re both going to be feeling our wounds for a while when this is done. It burns when the knife is ripped from my flesh. I can see just well enough to switch to a shotgun and fire into my attacker’s back. I lean against a tree, keeping my back covered as the smoke fades.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When things are clear the person who shot me remains on the ground stunned from my shot. I don’t bother looting them. Instead a down a small vial of PoppyTearsEx, a synthetic form of opium with healing properties that’s great at healing wounds that heal slow and provide status effects like bleeding or poison. Players can actually get addicted to it if they use it too often, but it’s not my preferred health regenerator. I’m a loser who just goes to my digital apartment and rests for a while. I take a few deep breaths as it starts to circulate my system filling me with a comforting warmth and dulling the adrenaline I was feeling. I pat my pockets and realize the drive is gone.

I rush over to my attacker and start to look through any items I’m able to loot. I settle on the knife they used to stab me, serrated edges that cause bleeding and a speed boost for stealth attacks. I wouldn’t make it my whole character but it’s a good ace to have. Despite that, there’s no drive. Kai uses one of his drones to shoot the rope holding Daamin in the tree letting Daamin land gracefully in a superhero pose.

“Hey, guys, we got a problem. But don’t panic,” I try to keep calm, realizing I’m stretching my words.

“What did you take,” Daamin laughs.

“Synthetic opium, but more importantly, they took the drive,” I throw my hands up. “Not sure when they got it, but they did.”

“I’m going to guess when they tried to do an autopsy on you and you screamed,” Kai sighs.

“I didn’t scream.”

“You screamed,” Daamin nods.

“I screamed? Was it a manly scream,” I ask.

“What’s important is we’ve still got seven and a half hours to get two drives,” Kai says.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Daamin takes off.

At least it was a quick beating and we’ve still got time to get replacements. We just have to stay on guard. Kai is already taking precautions and making adjustments. He’s switched to several small spherical drones. He’s actually balancing on two and flying up ahead of us, looking extremely cool. Six more are providing surveillance as they follow us from different positions. The small drones don’t have the same firing power, but they’re more versatile and better for when he needs to get into the fight because they each provide different benefits. He said not to worry, but he’s taking this seriously. Meanwhile I’m over here trying to keep my focus as the drugs work their magic. I really should have used something else, but I didn’t have anything as strong. It’s a break glass in case of emergency thing and there was an emergency. The only problem is that usually once and emergency is averted there’s time to get some chocolate and regroup. There’s no time to regroup right now and no time for chocolate either. I really wish there was time for chocolate. Milk chocolate, or hot chocolate. Hot chocolate with milk chocolate. Wait, focus.