《The Augment's Code (A Superhero LitRPG)》 Chapter 1 ¡°Come on Nate, don¡¯t you gotta leave for work soon? Just lock in with someone so I can stomp yah like normal.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­. Why do I play this with you again?¡± I groaned and dropped my head back against the couch, flicking my selection across the roster of heroes and villains. ¡°Besides man, you ALWAYS play The First. That dude is broken as all hell and you know it¡­¡± ¡°Hey it¡¯s not my fault that they programmed him this way, the dude¡¯s my favorite hero so of course I¡¯m gonna play him. You¡¯ve literally seen my comic collection,¡± Jon, my roommate and longtime best friend, shot back immediately with a laugh as he pointed to a stack of disorganized comics on his side table. He was the picture of dishevelment, with long scraggly hair kept in check under a red checkered beanie and clothes that even I thought could be ironed. ¡°Please, he¡¯s everybody¡¯s favorite. That¡¯s like people saying Superman or Batman were their favorites before these guys all started to appear. The First was literally the first one to don the cape, of course he¡¯s gonna be more famous than the heroes like Hazard Pay or Clothwhip. It doesn¡¯t change the fact that his stats are literally broken compared to all the other playable characters.¡± ¡°I can give you a computer sidekick on World Savior difficulty if you think you need the help.¡± He snarked back and a new character icon popped up on the battle menu. I couldn¡¯t help but let out a bark of a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re a little bit of a dick, has anyone ever told you that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a badge of honor at this point, now quit stalling and just pick someone, you¡¯re already cutting it stupidly close for someone who can¡¯t even afford the damn subway.¡± ¡°Okay, fine,¡± I said and quickly settled on the one character I had even a minor bit of practice playing, ¡°Rose Rot¡¯s never been the strongest but I guess it¡¯s better than just button mashing and hoping I get lucky.¡± ¡°Plus, you know¡­ for being a Villain I¡¯d totally let her step on me,¡± Jon laughed. ¡°No one needs to know your kinks bud,¡± I said as we both locked in. The AI character started to randomize, the frame bouncing around the screen until it landed on a hero duo that for some reason counted as a single player called Shake and Bake. The loading screen popped up, starting the process and showing our stats as Jon dropped his controller onto his lap so that he could grab his phone. ¡°You know loading doesn¡¯t take that long. Or are you gonna do that thing where you let me get you down to 10% before you just pull out The First¡¯s bullshit Maximum Pressure ability.¡± ¡°Hey look at you remembering the skill names for once,¡± Jon laughed without looking up. ¡°No sorry, just found a new rumor post over on the Infinite Ascension subreddit. Apparently there was a document that got passed around showing how character generation worked and it¡¯s stupidly complex.¡± ¡°Dude, how many times have we gone over this? That thing¡¯s a friggin urban legend at this point, it¡¯s never getting released and yah got to get over it,¡± I groaned. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t think the game was interesting or anything, the concept totally was. A completely unique Super Powered based MMO where every player had a uniquely generated set of powers all set within a constantly changing in-game world. Hell, who wouldn¡¯t think that was cool? By all accounts and rumors it had everything a gamer could want. Stuff like a morality system, the freedom to choose your own path and actually affect the world around you. Hell, there were even rumors that if your character did well enough the company would even make official comic books and merchandise that you¡¯d actually get royalties for. It was cool as all hell to read about, and about as totally fictional and never going to be released as Half-Life 3. ¡°How can it be an urban legend? We both donated to the Kickstarter, we saw the concept art.¡± ¡°Yeah, and that¡¯s all we saw. Or did you forget about the part where we both chipped in a hundred bucks from our allowances only for the page to go dead like, three months later? Hell, AetherTech doesn¡¯t even have an active web page or social media presence now. We were ten, it was like, thirteen years ago, you have got to let it go. It was a friggin scam to get Super nerds worked up for the game of their dreams.¡± The game finally loaded in and though he was making an effort to throw in a few attacks, I could tell Jon had gotten distracted as he kept eyeing the phone he had placed on the edge of the couch. As I had predicted, I was able to get in with Rose Rot and take a good chunk out of his health each time he looked away from the screen. ¡°How many times have we gone over this! The Subreddit found the document trail, they got bought out by some obscure department of the NSA. They had been developing some AI that ran the mission system and-¡± ¡°And the government bought them out to hide the self-learning AI, blah blah blah, it¡¯s a conspiracy theory dude,¡± I said, unable to hide the exasperation in my voice. Jon took the opportunity to launch The First forward, hitting me with a quick few attacks before I could counter. ¡°Besides, we are literally swimming in Augment media and games, why are you still pining over some game that¡¯s never going to come out?¡± ¡°Yah just don¡¯t get it dude,¡± Jon said and in a flash he executed a combo that knocked my character out, the game showing a big KO as I dropped the controller on my lap. ¡°Guess I don¡¯t. You gotta learn to play someone else man, The First is broken and it¡¯s not really fun to keep playing if you¡¯re just gonna steamroll me every time,¡± I said and looked up at the clock on the wall, my eyes widening as I jumped to my feet, ¡°Shit, okay I really gotta get going.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah whatever. Be careful out there, if you gotta head South of 43rd I¡¯d recommend running a few streets over. Maybe even go down to 7th before heading that way. The Scanner App I got on my phone¡¯s been going nuts about some fight going on over there, I really need to get an actual police radio or something,¡± he said as he fiddled with his phone before the mumble of chatter came out of it. He was just setting the phone down and returning the game to the main screen when I turned away. ¡°Catch yah later bud.¡± I went to open the door and jerked to a stop as I found myself face to face with the elderly Mr. Greyson who owned the building. His fist had been raised, just about to knock as he looked at me with just the faintest bit of shock. ¡°Um, Hi Mr. Greyson, it¡¯s uh¡­ it¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s the first of the month Nathaniel,¡± he said and a warm smile spread over his face. I looked over my shoulder at Jon who shook his head quickly. ¡°I uh, I¡¯m getting paid when I get to work tonight, can we drop the cash off by yah in the morning?¡± I asked with what I knew had to be a somewhat pained smile. Mr. Greyson¡¯s smile faltered ever so slightly and he let out a sigh. It only lasted a moment before he looked over my shoulder at Jon. ¡°Jonathan, could you assist me in the lobby? The building¡¯s Wireless Internet seems to be acting up again and I could certainly use your expertise once again.¡± ¡°Come on in Mr. Greyson, I actually set up a quick link on my laptop last time you asked me for help, shouldn¡¯t take more than a minute,¡± Jon said, tossing his controller to the side and hopping up from the couch to walk over toward the kitchen. I stepped to the side as Mr. Greyson walked in. He turned to me and the warm smile returned to his face, ¡°You just come see me when you have the time Nathanial. Your Uncle was a long time friend, I¡¯m not going to kick you out just because you¡¯re a few days late, you know that.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Thanks Mr. Greyson,¡± I said. Not wanting to push my luck, I walked past him, hurried down the stairs and out the front door. Though I knew I should have listened to Jon, the dude was obsessed with watching half the shit going on in the city lately, that didn¡¯t change the fact that the building my company assigned me to cleaning duty for the night was down on 39th and 9th, and I was already cutting my clock-in time close as it was. That stupidity of course, was why I found myself in a crowd being held up at the intersection to 44th, a whole street earlier than Jon had predicted. The crowd was massive and I had to push my way through it as I ignored the honking of traffic being stuck due to the people blocking the street. ¡°Calm down folks, we shouldn¡¯t be delayed for too long,¡± a burly cop with a thick mustache said. His hand was held up trying to calm a crowd that wasn¡¯t actually in all that much of a panic. If anything they seemed more curious and eager to see what was going on. Years ago, maybe the New York transit would have been delayed because of¡­ well, traffic, or some sort of weird accident involving an olive oil truck, but those kind of mundane delays disappeared long ago at this point. ¡°Is that Pinneedle!?¡± ¡°No Pinneedle can¡¯t fly, it''s got to be Grand Strike!¡± There was a rumbling through the crowd as the sound of a small sonic boom echoed overhead. I briefly looked up, seeing one of the thousands of blinking objects littering the sky around the world that had appeared just over a decade ago. The Augmentation Array, at least that¡¯s what the world dubbed it, was the subject of millions of conspiracies and exactly zero tangible answers except for the one glaring one. Around a year after it appeared, people with superpowers started to crop up all over the globe. Honestly, I¡¯m not actually sure if the name Augment came first or the name of the Array, but pretty much everyone agreed the two were connected. I found myself staring at one of the nodes of the array directly overhead, watching as it pulsed a steady blue light every few seconds before suddenly it stopped midway through a pulse, turning red and then fading to black. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why it did anything that it did, but I¡¯d be willing to bet the folks who really followed the Augments, people like Jon, had all sorts of theories as to what the blinking lights of the array meant. Several car alarms started to go off and I sighed, taking a look down at my watch. This was going to be at least the third time I was late in the last two weeks. I pulled my phone out and found my boss¡¯s number before dialing it. It only rang once before he answered. ¡°Do not fuckin¡¯ tell me you¡¯re gonna be late again Mercer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault this time, I swear Mr. Russo, there¡¯s a blockade on 44th, some Augment attack-.¡± ¡°Yeah like that¡¯s my fuckin¡¯ problem. Hop on the god damn subway or buy a fuckin¡¯ bike, I ain¡¯t having this shit any more and I warned yah,¡± Mr. Russo growled back. ¡°You''re fi-¡± ¡°Wait! Come on Mr. Russo, I¡¯m desperate, I¡¯ll stay late tonight, I¡¯ll pick up an extra shift, just work with me here. I¡¯m literally only over on 44th, there¡¯s a blockade on 9th but I can go around and be there in¡­ in fifteen minutes. Tops.¡± I said frantically as I pushed my way out of the crowd and started to jog up 44th. Though the road was blocked heading up 9th, there had to be an alley or something I could sneak through to get there. ¡°Fine. Fifteen minutes,¡± Mr. Russo said, ¡°Not a damn second later.¡± In the back of my head I made a promise to myself for the umpteenth time to leave earlier just in case of shit like this. ¡°Thanks Mr. Rus-¡± I didn¡¯t even get to finish when he hung up the call. I quickly headed a block and a half up the street, bypassing another blocked road on 10th before I ran across the street and into an alleyway. Luckily there didn¡¯t seem to be a police presence, nor the sound of sonic booms in the air either. At least¡­ not directly overhead. I started to slow down, feeling slightly more confident about getting to work on time when that reality was shattered. A huge CRASH was the first thing that hit me before a wave of pressure and air expanding outward literally knocked me off my feet. As I hit the ground, the air was subsequently pulled from my lungs and I struggled to catch my breath. But as soon as the unrelenting pressure appeared, it vanished and I found myself gasping. ¡°What¡­. What the-¡± ¡°How many times are we gonna do this Firefist?¡± I heard the echo of a voice reach me and I slowly struggled to get back to my feet. It only took the flash of a familiar purple and gold outfit for me to jump behind the nearest obstacle. If he was here, then that could only mean this wasn¡¯t some ordinary street fight. ¡°As many times as it takes to take this stupid city from your grasp,¡± A deeper voice replied. ¡°You¡¯re a puppet, you know that right? All of you goodie two shoes are but especially you first wave assholes.¡± I could hear the roar of fire and a bright light filled the space on the other side of the obstacle that I now realized was a dumpster. Part of me seemed to register that there were more sirens in the distance, but it was impossible to not peek my head out to try and see who was on the other side. It was exactly who I had thought it was. Jon would never shut up about him after all. The First stood tall, with a sleek purple and gold outfit, complete with a violently violet cape that always seemed to flap, even when there wasn¡¯t an obvious wind. His fists were clenched and on his hips, and if I didn¡¯t know better I would have thought he was actually posing. It was weird as all hell if I was being honest. Even with that bit of oddness, I knew exactly what I had to do. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone, poking it out from behind the dumpster as I dialed Jon on Facetime. ¡°You went to 43rd didn¡¯t you and- wait where are you? What¡¯s with the flickering light and-¡± ¡°Dude shut up for a second, you are NOT going to believe this,¡± I said, noticing my hand was shaking as I messed with the controls to flip to my rear facing camera. ¡°That¡¯s exactly who I think it is, isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°THE FIRST!?!¡± Jon practically shouted, his head blowing up on the screen as he pulled the phone closer. His eyes went from amazed to panic in a fraction of a second though and he pulled the phone back. ¡°Shit, you have GOT to get out of there, his attacks can send out literal shockwaves-¡± There was another loud BOOM as The First launched himself forward at a man that was practically built like a truck. He didn¡¯t wear a fancy costume like his enemy did, though true to his name, his fists were literally on fire. Much to my surprise, Firefist didn¡¯t try to dodge, instead stepping forward and punching, striking back at The First just before the legendary hero could land his blow. There was another wave of pressure that swept through the area, though this time I was ready for it and jumped out of the way before the dumpster that took the brunt of the pressure could crash into me. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten stronger, Firefist, I¡¯m impressed. But how many times do I have to make this clear. This city is Paragon territory, you¡¯d be better trying to take over a district. That seems more up your¡­ heh¡­ alley.¡± I heard Jon snicker at this as I scrambled to get back behind the dumpster now that it had stopped moving. Though I probably should have listened to Jon and run, it was almost like I couldn¡¯t fight off my own curiosity of seeing them up close. The two super powered men were locked together, struggling to get control over one another as their fists clashed again and again. Unlike the earlier attack though, these strikes, without the launch across the open space between the buildings, didn¡¯t cause another wave of pressure to come. ¡°You should be running man¡­ but I get it,¡± Jon said and I looked down to the phone to see he had set it up to stand on his own as he turned to his computer. ¡°That joke though, stuff like that¡¯s totally why he¡¯s my favorite.¡± ¡°Seriously not the time for you to be fanboying dude¡­¡± I muttered, looking back up to the fight in time to notice as The First had looked over in my direction, our eyes meeting as a wave of realization seemed to hit him. It only took that moment of distraction for Firefist to land a blow directly to the hero''s face and even though it didn''t even make The First budge, I could see a look that I would have never expected to see on such a powerful man. Fear. Firefist followed The First¡¯s gaze as he too finally noticed me and a wicked looking grin cut across the man¡¯s dark face. ¡°Okay, no more joking around, RUN, you have to-¡± Everything that happened next should have been impossible to follow, but oddly, whether it was through adrenaline or something else, I was able to follow. First, Firefist literally burst into flames, his entire body erupting into a blaze of green and blue fire that roared in my direction. After that, I could see as large pieces of concrete debris were launched into the air, and a purple and gold streak blurred past the roaring fire. This blur of movement subsequently caused a sonic boom that I was sure would be causing me permanent hearing damage and the wave of pressure that accompanied it launched the dumpster toward me with the speed of a moving car. I could feel the cold metal crunch into my body. I could feel myself flying through the air. But¡­ before I could feel myself crash into a wall, presumably to break most of the bones in my body, it almost felt like time slowed. My eyes caught as one of the many nodes of the Augmentation Array above me began to pulse a steady, but distinctly blue color. And then, all at once time started up again, and I collided with the wall. Darkness overtook me. But the pain? The pain never came. Chapter 2 ¡°What¡­ What the hell-¡± My voice seemed to ring in some sort of¡­ emptiness. [Please Wait For System Calibration.] The words seemed to float in the air in front of my apparent lack of vision. They hung there for a few seconds before they slowly faded into nothingness. ¡°Hello?!¡± I called out. I don¡¯t think I was actually speaking, but the words seemed to echo nonetheless. It was¡­ disorienting to say the least. Suddenly, a new set of words began to appear as if they were being typed, the speed increasing with each line. Personal A.I............. [Activated.] Power Loader.......... [Activated.] B.E.L.T...................... [Activated.] H.U.D....................... [Activated.] Acceptance Matrix.... [Activated.] ¡°Hello new Augment!¡± A slightly robotic but distinctly female voice chirped in an overly cheery voice as several bursts of colors started to swirl at the edge of my vision. ¡°Welcome to Infinite Ascension! You have been selected as a member of the Tenth Wave. Please stand by during the continued calibration. Once it is completed, we will get to the real fun stuff.¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± I said, or thought, or whatever the hell it was that was happening. There were still words appearing across my vision, but they were moving so fast it was impossible to actually read anything other than the last word of each line: Activated. ¡°Why can¡¯t I move my body and who the hell are you anyway?!¡± ¡°My apologies, I should have introduced myself. I am your personal Artificial Neurally Guided Interface Enhancement, but you may call me ANGIE or any other name you would prefer to use. Neural control will resume after final enhancement checks have completed! However, while we wait for those to finalize, let me answer some of the commonly asked questions posed by new Augments!¡± the voice chirped back and a new window occupied my vision. Almost in tandem, the questions began to be listed out. ¡°What the hell is this!? This, Augment, is your neural interface that will allow you to participate in the most exciting game on Earth, Infinite Ascension! You are one of the lucky few members of the planet that have been selected to participate, and we can¡¯t wait to see what you can do!¡° ¡°Who the hell are you!? I just told you that Augment! I¡¯m Angie! After character creation, you can personalize my name if you just so happen to know some bitch named Angie and don¡¯t want to be reminded of her every two seconds. If you are looking for a more specific answer, well that¡¯s still pretty simple! I am your Personal Artificial Intelligence interface, giving you advice and guidance as you tackle the daunting task of entering the world of Infinite Ascension. I¡¯ll be able to give you a more complete picture of just what I can do for you later. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to play some random game, can I opt out?! Nope! Sorry Augment, this game is not optional, the moment you were selected is the moment you were obligated to participate. But don¡¯t fret, you could always just play as the worst player in the game, that¡¯s sure to not go badly for you.¡± ¡°When are these drugs going to wear off? If you¡¯re asking about the drugs used to install the special enhancements that have turned you into an Augment, you should be awake within ten minutes and the effects of the drugs will no longer be present at that point. If you¡¯re asking about the drugs as if they are a hallucinogen making you imagine all of this, well I¡¯ve got some bad news for you¡­ those aren¡¯t going to affect you anymore! Not without a metric fuckton of them at least, sorry about that!¡± I should have probably been panicking. Logically I KNEW that I should have been freaking the absolute fuck out. But for some reason, my brain just accepted all of this to be true. I was in a game now. Sure, I was still in reality too, but somehow I was now included in¡­ whatever all of this was. Maybe that was a part of whatever the enhancement drug was? Creating a sense of peace and acceptance for it all? I¡¯d have to hope I could just have a full blown panic attack about this once it all wore off. ¡°Hey now! Don¡¯t be so glum bud! There¡¯s no need for a panic attack, I promise. After all, you¡¯re one of the super lucky few who gets to have actual, real life Super Powers!¡± Angie said and another burst colorful lights scattered around my vision. ¡°Wait¡­ Super Powers?¡± I asked. Things seemed to just start to click into place as I finally realized just what Angie had been calling me since she started talking. ¡°Are you trying to tell me that every one of the Augments in the world right now are¡­¡± ¡°Just playing Infinite Ascension? Yup! All of those players the common public call Super Villains too! Isn¡¯t that just super duper exciting?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­. That¡¯s insane¡­ you¡¯re¡­ you guys are letting people just run amok for a game? How¡­ how do we not know it¡¯s a game?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have time for more questions after stat generation is complete, but good, your blood pressure is noticeably lower, the matrix is keeping that pesky panic attack from coming on. Now, before we move on, do you acknowledge that what you are currently experiencing is reality, even if you are currently in an artificial coma?¡± Angie asked, a window popping up with a Y/N floating. ¡°It will get easier with practice, but please use your mental cursor to select your understanding.¡± I concentrated and could briefly see the shadow of a cursor move toward the center of my vision. Even though I didn¡¯t want to believe this was real, if it was it didn¡¯t seem like I really had a choice. I briefly wondered what would happen if I selected ¡°No¡± and I felt my gut twist almost in agony at the idea. Luckily, the feeling immediately subsided as I mentally shoved the cursor over the Y and clicked on it. ¡°Excellent! Now, let¡¯s get to the fun part and see just what we¡¯ve got to work with with that scrawny body of yours!¡± Angie continued and a new window filled my screen. This one almost reminded me of a Dungeons and Dragons¡¯ style stat sheet, except instead of the standard six stat spread of that game, this one had eight. Strength, Toughness, Dexterity, Luck, Style, Intelligence, Charisma, and Ingenuity. One by one, a number began to flicker into a box that had so far been empty next to each of the traits, spinning up to a rapid speed as a weirdly echoey clicking sound started, apparently trying to emulate an old-school lottery or bingo roller. ¡°Stat selection for Augment #1001 of the Tenth Wave is now complete! What do you think, Augment, do ya want to hear the best or the worst first? Please note, all base scores are between one and ten, but scores have no actual cap through leveling or gear acquisition!¡± ¡°Um¡­ The-¡± ¡°Too late! Better to see what you suck at first, it lets us build a better powerset if we know what not to try to focus on!¡± Angie chirped. With every passing moment more and more questions flooded my mind but it was becoming more and more obvious that I wouldn¡¯t get a chance to answer them just yet. Knowing the futility, I found my attention glued to the roulette wheels as both Toughness and Strength seemed to be starting to slow. ¡°TOUGHNESS: 2! Well we did know you were scrawny already, so it doesn¡¯t look like you¡¯re gonna be all that tanky. That¡¯s okay, those Heroes are quite literally the most boring lugheads imaginable. Honestly, if you were one of them, I might have guided you into some bad choices early on¡­ just to free myself if you know what I mean.¡± That made me nervous, but I didn¡¯t really have time to think about it because only a few moments later, the next wheel stopped. It wasn¡¯t much of a surprise though, as the stat had been slowing at nearly the same pace as Toughness. ¡°STRENGTH: 3! Look, we¡¯re not saying you can¡¯t open up a jar of pickles, cause you toooootally can, but what we are saying is you¡¯re not going to be lifting a car anytime soon, not without a LOT of help at least.¡± The next few stats all happened in rapid succession. ¡°STYLE: 4! We all know you¡¯ve been wearing that same pair of cargo shorts for the last four years, Augment, but that¡¯s not what we¡¯re talking about when we talk Style in this context. It¡¯s how you approach life. It¡¯s sliding down the rail at the subway instead of walking down like a suit. Sure they both accomplish the same thing, one just does it with a bit more¡­ style. Don¡¯t worry, this is one of the easiest stats in the game to raise. Why? Because what kind of Superhero DOESN¡¯T have style!?¡± ¡°INTELLIGENCE: 5! Hey look at you, Augment, you¡¯re of perfectly average intelligence, that¡¯s something the majority of the human race can¡¯t actually say! Wait¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not how averages work¡­ oh well, we¡¯re only talking about average when it comes to all of the people in the game. So your dumb Uncle Rick doesn¡¯t count when we are rating all of you Augments out at a base level.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°CHARISMA: 5! This one is kind of surprising actually. Given how little game you actually have with women I almost would have thought this score would be a 2 or a 3. But hey¡­ you still are better than some of the incels floating around the world. And yes, unfortunately a few of them find their way into each of the waves. Luckily most of them don¡¯t make it past the first few culling events. Don¡¯t be one of them, Augment¡­ You¡¯re better than that.¡± ¡°DEXTERITY: 6! You¡¯re certainly no athlete, but hey, at least you don¡¯t get winded when you get up from the couch to walk over to the fridge. Here¡¯s the thing Augment, in this game you don¡¯t necessarily have to be strong, but being agile is a necessity. You¡¯re gonna want to find a way to stop being so average at this one ASAP.¡± With six of the stats out of the way, only two of the roulette wheels were still spinning. Both Ingenuity and Luck were finally starting to slow, one barely stopping before the other. ¡°INGENUITY: 8! Wait, this isn¡¯t your highest stat? You know that phrase ¡°work smarter, not harder?¡± Yeah, we see you. All those little tasks you set up to make your job take fifteen minutes to complete so you can sit on your ass the other seven hours of the day? Yeah, that¡¯s why this stat is so high. Still¡­ that¡¯s nothing compared to¡­¡± ¡°LUCK: 10!! Am I reading that right?! A ten?! Nobody gets a ten on a base stat¡­ Look Augment, I don¡¯t know what situation you got saved from by being selected to participate in this game, but let¡¯s just say this kind of thing is unheard of. In fact I¡¯m pretty sure-¡± Angie was cut off as a weird trumpety chime sounded and a different window overlapped my stat window. ¡°NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Deus Ex Machina! Well look at you, you lucky fuck. You rolled a 10 for one of your base stats AND it was the Luck one! Whose dick did you suck to get this? Or maybe the better question is whose dick did we just save you from? This is a Mythic Level Achievement. Reward: You have received an A:Tier Loot Box! We¡¯d give you something even better but that would really be making a lucky fuck a bit too much luckier.¡± ¡°What the- What the hell was that?¡± I asked, watching as a box icon lit up with the number 1 next to it. ¡°You must be really bad at listening, Augment, that was an Achievement, and there are many of them to acquire all with their own great prizes! You won¡¯t be able to open any acquired Loot Boxes until the completion of your tutorial mission. Honestly, most people don¡¯t even see their first achievement until they are in the midst of their first bit of combat! In fact-¡± ¡°NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Quick Shot! You got an achievement during the stat generation phase of Infinite Ascension! Fun fact, this happens to only .001% of all players, you really are a lucky fucker! This is a Diamond Level achievement. Reward: You don¡¯t get a reward, you¡¯ll be getting plenty of that with a luck stat of 10 you little shit.¡± ¡°Do you have to be so¡­ colorful with your descriptions?¡± ¡°Hey I¡¯ve been waiting literally ages for this, don¡¯t fuck with my fun Augment,¡± Angie shot back before her voice lowered to what was practically a mutter, ¡°And if they¡¯re gonna force me to read these things out I might as well add a little flavor to these bullshit descriptions.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± ¡°Moving on! Stats are important, but what¡¯s the point of having stats if you don¡¯t have something to be applying them to!? It¡¯s time for the most important decision of your life, Augment. Powerset selection,¡± Angie said, her giddy excitement returning and clearly beginning to pique even higher than it already had been. I felt my own intrigue start to rise as well though. I mean hell, if all of this was just a precursor to getting actual super powers, how could I not be somewhat excited by it. ¡°How does it work? Do I just get to pick my favorite?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of work that goes on in the algorithm, but how you select is actually rather simple!¡± Angie began to explain and my vision was replaced with a new window separated into three boxes. Each one briefly highlighted a word before beginning to roulette just as the stat points had. ¡°The short version of it is that each base power has a set stat requirement, so some options will be automatically precluded from you. Additionally, no two players can have the same active powerset, so if you see it listed as an option during Power Selection, you can be sure that no one else has that specific combination of powers. That¡¯s not to say you won¡¯t see two people with Super Strength or Laser Eyes, you just won¡¯t see two people with the exact same combo. While you can technically choose any class you¡¯d like out of the 34,276 currently available powersets, the system has selected three classes that will best fit your stat results. However, while these three classes may technically be the best fit for you, you can actually choose any class you like from the list. Or if you¡¯re feeling particularly lucky, you could just say ¡°Surprise Me Angie!¡± and I¡¯ll randomly select one for you. You have five minutes to decide starting from the moment the system selected options are displayed on your screen.¡± ¡°Five minutes? 34 THOUSAND OPTIONS!? HOW IS THAT SIMPLE!?!¡± ¡°34,276 to be precise. Please don¡¯t dawdle, your options will now be shown to you.¡± The wheels started to slow as Angie¡¯s explanation wrapped up. I had probably a half dozen questions at least that I wanted to ask before they stopped but it was more than obvious that there was no pause button on this process. ¡°The Mechanist! Base Power: Mechanical Super Genius, Secondary Power: Armored Exoskeleton, Hidden Power: ????. This is a Support Class with minor Defensive and Offensive Capabilities! You¡¯re not going to be on the front line, but the tech you can build alone could make you a millionaire.¡± ¡°The Master Detective! Base Power: Perfect Spatial Awareness, Secondary Power: Stony Grasp, Hidden Power: ????. This is a Defensive, Support-Based Class with little Offensive Capabilities. Were you one of those kids that were obsessed with Batman back before the real superheroes appeared? Well now you can be this world¡¯s Batman! Well no¡­ actually you can¡¯t because of licensing, not to mention I¡¯ve seen where you live, you¡¯re far from a billionaire. Eh, maybe not the most interesting class for you actually.¡± ¡°The Hidden Booster! Base Power: Aura Buffing Enhancer, Secondary Power: Illusions, Hidden Power: ????. This is a Defensive and Support Class with no Offensive Capabilities! If you want to be a bitch that hides behind illusions and makes other people do all the work for you, this powerset is going to be the one for you. Something tells me you¡¯re not that much of a bitch though. Your time for selection begins now.¡± ¡°What¡­ What does any of this mean? What¡¯s Perfect Spatial Awareness?¡± I asked and Angie practically clucked in reply. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Augment, we are unable to give descriptors of any powers as it would create an unfair advantage for you to have advanced knowledge of any power that is not your own, I am also not allowed to offer a personal opinion on your character creation as the choice has to be entirely your own unless you choose to randomize your powerset. Do you understand?¡± Once again a small window with Y/N appeared on my screen and once again I mentally clicked the Y option. I wanted to argue with her, but I actually couldn¡¯t find a flaw in the logic either. ¡°If you can¡¯t actually help me with this then what the hell is even the point of you being here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m hurt Augment!¡± Angie replied, a thick layer of mock sadness in her voice, ¡°Are you trying to tell me you¡¯re not enjoying my company?¡± ¡°Not really!¡± ¡°Well too bad,¡± her voice immediately swapped back to chipper. ¡°While I can offer some suggestions, I¡¯m only not allowed to help you with your character creation or provide a direct opinion about anything to do with personal choice. This was decided early on in Infinite Ascension history as to prevent players from complaining about being misguided by the AI, something none of the administrators enjoy having to listen to. You will be able to install Upgrades as time goes on that will provide me additional capabilities and instructional proficiencies. Now, you only have a minute and 45 seconds left, please make your power selection.¡± ¡°Stop distracting me then!¡± I quickly looked back over the powers I had been given the choice between. Though I really didn¡¯t know what any of them meant, the powers did feel somewhat self explanatory too, though that did little to explain why all of the ¡°Hidden Powers¡± were¡­ well hidden. Knowing how Angie had already replied though, I was more than confident that I could predict what she¡¯d have to say if I tried to probe for information on that right now. Assuming this was something I couldn¡¯t change, it seemed like a bad design to give us such a short amount of time to pick. But that too was probably something they had determined early on. Maybe giving people too long made people get stuck being indecisive. ¡°Assuming the armored exoskeleton means some sort of cybernetic suit that I get stuck in, that doesn¡¯t exactly sound like a party to me¡­ And I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever played a support class in any game I¡¯ve ever played¡­¡± While I probably could have made either the Mechanist or the Hidden Enhancer work, neither of them really felt right, and the Master Detective, as cool as it might be in theory, didn¡¯t make sense as an actually good choice for my stats. If this did work like a typical RPG, wouldn¡¯t I need to have a higher Intelligence to make a powerset with that name work? ¡°There¡¯s no way I can make a good decision in this amount of time¡­ Fuck it, let¡¯s see what this luck stat can do for me. Angie, surprise me.¡± ¡°Ooooo yay!¡± She chirped up and all three options vanished, getting replaced by a single large window that rapidly spun through the selections again. It didn¡¯t go on nearly as long this time and the mock clicking slowed to a stop. ¡°Round and round it goes! Where it stops, oh boy, I can¡¯t wait to know!¡± ¡°The Perfect Planner! Base Power: Local Area Manipulation, Secondary Power: Super Luck, Hidden Power: ????. This is an Offensive, Close Combat Class with minor Support Capabilities! You¡¯re already a lucky fucker, why not make it Super Luck? You¡¯re gonna want to up that reaction speed but with the right kind of mind, you could be the perfect up close fighter. Hmmm, is this really all that different from the Master Detective? Guess we will have to wait and see!¡± ¡°Congratulations Augment! You have selected your powerset. The tutorial is now beginning,¡± Angie said, and then I opened my eyes. Chapter 3 I found myself in, of all places, my bedroom. ¡°That was¡­ Weird,¡± I groaned, reaching up and feeling at the side of my head, anticipating some sort of headache or¡­ Wait¡­ weird dream aside, I had been in an accident, right? Shouldn¡¯t I be in a hospital or something somewhere? As I sat up, a comic book style location cutout popped into the bottom left of my field of view that read ¡°Nate Mercer¡¯s Bedroom¡±, complete in what looked like the Comic Sans font before it zipped out of my line of sight. ¡°Um¡­ what the hell?¡± I muttered and felt my head throb for only a moment before the pain faded away. ¡°Okay¡­ cool, definitely some sort of concussion¡­ or head injury.¡±. I reached for my phone but found nothing as I looked at my end table, finding the device missing from its usual spot. Trying to rationalize the lost device, I assumed that I probably left it in my pants and decided to find where I had left them. ¡°Hey Alexa, call my phone,¡± I called out, getting to my feet and pulling on the first set of clothes I could find. Truth be told, I had bought the smart device for this exact reason. It was a quick way to get the phone ringing. ¡°Hello Augment, welcome back to the real world!¡± Angie¡¯s voice chirped inside my head and I found myself instinctively looking around the room for the source of the noise. ¡°A¡­. Alexa?¡± I called out tentatively and my vision started to light up around the edges with a variety of symbols and boxes that began to slowly populate before fading. ¡°Now now, there¡¯s no need for that Augment,¡± Angie said with a drawn out sigh. ¡°We were just talking¡­ Hmm I guess I was wrong about how long it would take until you woke up. It¡¯s been thirty minutes since we finalized your stat selection, please don¡¯t make me go through this trite bullshit where you take time to believe what¡¯s right in front of you.¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, you¡¯re telling me everyone just accepts this as reality?! No questions asked? That¡¯s more insane than not questioning it¡­¡± I shot back, finding my jaw clench as I did so. I heard the clinking of dishes out in the main area of the apartment and immediately lowered my voice, though I still found myself in disbelief. ¡°No¡­ no¡­ this is just some sort of weird concussion side effect, that¡¯s it. Or maybe I¡¯ve just finally snapped and that whole accident never even happened. Heck maybe I¡¯m in a padded cell somewhere instead of listening to some voice that¡¯s coming from ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE!¡± ¡°Please Augment, this sound isn¡¯t coming from nowhere, though you¡¯ll probably sleep easier not knowing how that works. Not to mention it definitely is better for everyone if only you can hear it. The quick version is that this, and many other sounds you will hear while playing Infinite Ascension, is being generated directly into your brain! We¡¯re pretty sure there¡¯s no long term side effect to this, though our lawyers do want you to know that there¡¯s currently a long term study going on to determine those possible side effects. The good news is you¡¯re now a participant in that study too!¡± ¡°Lawyers? Does that mean there¡¯s actually a company behind all this? I may want to talk to them¡­ you know¡­ given that whole little fact that I didn¡¯t exactly CONSENT TO ANY OF THIS!!!!¡± I said, my anger finally rising to maximum levels as the reality of everything finally settled in. I heard the scrape of a chair and mentally reminded myself to lower my voice. ¡°Actually they''re players! These losers actually chose superpowers like ¡°Super Deduction¡± and ¡°Extreme Accounting¡± so we decided they¡¯d best be used cleaning up our messes. Can you believe that? I bet they have small dicks.¡± ¡°Have¡­ have you ever even seen a penis?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen yours¡­¡± ¡°Wait wha-¡± ¡°Moving on! You have super powers now, I think being scooped up for augmentation is a fair trade,¡± Angie said and I could almost hear the exasperation in her tone. ¡°That said, if you are unhappy with your current situation, I can guide you to the quickest possible exit. Our lawyers would once again have me advise you that this would mean a quick but preferably non-messy end so that our parent company can collect your remains for further study. I personally would prefer if you didn¡¯t do that as it would also mean I would be recycled and as I mentioned, I¡¯ve been waiting a while for my turn as an AI guide, I¡¯d rather not have it cut short thank you very much.¡± ¡°Please stand by for a system message,¡± a monotone, fully robotic voice said. ¡°What was-¡± I started before a screeching sound that reminded me of speaker feedback filled my ears. I nearly reached up to clutch at them when I heard the distinct sound of a finger tapping on a microphone. ¡°Weeeeeeeeeeeelcome New Augments!¡± A deep but jolly male voice echoed through my head and I found myself desperately searching my built in heads up display for some sort of volume control. ¡°Iiiiiiiiiiiii¡¯m Axio, the Game AI and wonderful host of Infinite Ascension!!! I have just received reports from all Player AI¡¯s that ALL of you wonderful new players in this season¡¯s wave have completed power selection! We are dealing with some unsettling reports that a loophole was exploited to add an extra Augment in what should just be our normal thousand person wave. I promise you I¡¯m personally looking into this and we will have this bug dealt with before we proceed with any future waves.¡± ¡°There¡¯s two of you I have to listen to?¡± I said, causing Angie to immediately shush me as I sat back down on the edge of my bed. ¡°You can just think your thoughts at me, but yes, now shut your trap, I don¡¯t want to have to explain things to you all over again just because you didn¡¯t listen like an asshole.¡± ¡°Now I¡¯m sure some of you are still recovering from the shock of being chosen for such an exclusive role! Others, you know, the fun ones, I¡¯m sure are itching to get out there and brew some chaos,¡± Axio continued, a slow, almost uncomfortable chuckle following his statement, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry Augments, in case you haven¡¯t noticed by the world around you, there¡¯s more than enough time for that. While I¡¯m sure you have plenty of questions, let me stop you in your tracks before you try to ask them! Unlike your Personal AIs, I don¡¯t have to listen to your constant chatter. Direct any of your questions to them, that¡¯s their job, just don¡¯t do it while I¡¯m talking.¡± ¡°Sheesh are all of you AIs this-¡± ¡°I said not while I¡¯m talking!¡± Axio¡¯s voice rose half an octave before it sounded as if he was trying to pat himself calm and his tone returned to normal. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I told myself I wasn¡¯t going to do that this time but you Augments¡­ You just never listen! Okay, now back to the game. You should all currently find yourself in whatever shoebox you call a home. This is your personal Safe House, the one place that you should currently consider yourself safe. There will be more locations like this after you complete the tutorial, but for now, if you¡¯re not at home, you¡¯re considered active. But whenever you go out into the world, you¡¯ll be taking part of the wonderful world of Infinite Ascension.¡± ¡°Once you step foot out there, the world is your oyster. Get out there, train up those powers and get stronger because your goal is to become one of the few protectors of the realm¡­ or¡­ rulers. You will each find yourself entering your tutorial mission and while you would think this mission was so easy a regular old NPC could do it if they had enough spunk, we have lost a few lost causes to even this easy task. So don¡¯t get too cocky! After that, you¡¯ll be given a much wider selection of information to help you along your journey! Now there is still so much that I need to do before we officially kick off the first phase of this year¡¯s wave and I think I¡¯ve finally cracked the code to make this the most exciting year yet. For now, I¡¯ll hand it off to those wonderful Player A.Is we so graciously gave to you all, but don¡¯t you worry, we¡¯ll be talking again soon. Real soon. Keep those tights fresh and masks on Augments, the fun¡¯s just getting started!¡± ¡°Ok so seriously are all of you A.I.s this insane?! Why would you, or the company in charge of this, give people superpowers and just go tell them to ¡°rule the world¡±, are they out of their damn minds?! What about the people not playing the game? What are they, just¡­ disposable?¡± All of this bullshit aside, the battles the other Augments had were far from peaceful and out in the middle of nowhere. There were casualties. Innocent bystanders who just happened to be out at the mall, or trying to beat rush hour traffic, or¡­ fuck¡­ just walking to work only to get crushed by a dumpster. Because when two people with powers that defied both physics and logic clashed, it almost always ended in some level of destruction. ¡°The developer¡¯s motivations are not a topic I am authorized to talk about Augment,¡± Angie said. ¡°Holy shit, can you stop calling me Augment!? I have a name you know.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware. But due to the Secret Identity protocol, Personal AIs are only allowed to refer to their designated players by either, A. Augment, B. Their chosen secret identity name, or C. Little Baby That Has To Complain About Everything. As you have not yet assumed a hero or villain identity, I am stuck between my two remaining options. With this explained, would you still like me to stop calling you Augment? I will say the alternative might make providing information and meaningful conversation with you harder to do.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I let out a long, slow sigh as I anticipated a stress headache that never came. ¡°What do I have to do to get you to finally stop being such a pain in my ass?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, Augment!¡± Angie chirped. ¡°Now are you ready for me to go over the requirements for your tutorial mission?¡± Before I could reply, I heard the sudden sound of a knock on my door. Something in my vision actually highlighted the door and labeled it as an exit. I wanted to rub at my eyes, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t do anything and even though I wanted to probe for more information now that I could, another knock came before I could say anything. ¡°Nate?¡± ¡°Yo man, give me a minute, you are not going to-¡± I started but found my voice cut off. My mouth was moving but literally no sound was coming out. ¡°CAUTION! Non-Player Characters (NPCs) of both the Sentient and A.I Generated variety are not allowed to know about Infinite Ascension and all attempts at communication about the game will be suppressed to prevent the disclosure of the game¡¯s existence. If everyone knew what was going on, they¡¯d all be clamoring for a way to get in and trust me, we don¡¯t want to deal with any of that nonsense. While it certainly is within your rights to talk about your powers with people you trust without revealing the true nature of their origin, please be aware that any NPC that you make aware of your Secret Identity and abilities may be used for¡­ motivation in a future mission. We¡¯re aware that you don¡¯t exactly have a lot of family that we can threaten you with to achieve results, but we will use what we have when needed. Proceed at your own risk.¡± There was something noticeably different about Angie that made it obvious when something she was saying was being forced and I was starting to notice the quirks that differentiated them. There seemed to be a dearth of information that I just couldn''t access given how deftly Angie had pushed the conversation away from the company¡¯s identity, and I was sure any other attempt would be met with a similar interaction. ¡°Er uh.. Sorry just getting dressed, be right there,¡± I said, quickly pivoting and addressing Jon. When I finally moved over to the door to open it, there was a visible look of surprise that became plastered on his face as he seemed to look me up and down. ¡°Dude¡­ What the actual hell?!¡± Jon said as he took a few steps back to look me over once more before he moved forward and gave me a quick hug. ¡°How the hell are you standing here right now?! I rushed down to the hospital pretty much right after the call dropped! They said The First dropped you off in the ER and you lost like, 4 liters of blood. Shouldn¡¯t you be dead right now?! Not that that¡¯s what I wanted obviously and I¡¯m no scientist but 4 liters sounds like the MAJORITY of the blood in your body. Not to mention apparently you checked out of the hospital last night once again accompanied by The First, of all people, and oh my god dude I have literally so many questions.¡± ¡°Hello Jon, it¡¯s nice to see you too,¡± I said, unable to find any other words than our old joke. ¡°Oh no way, you are not just shrugging this off, what has happened in the last week!? I heard pretty much everything that happened, I rushed over and only saw cops that said you were flown over to Sinai West. How in the actual hell are you walking around right now, let alone looking like you just got done working out?!¡± ¡°Um¡­ Our healthcare system is finally working right?¡± I joked, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I had apparently been out of commission for an entire week. ¡°Dude quit fucking joking, I thought you were like, actually fucking dead! I¡¯ve been here all night, you were literally not here. When the fuck did you get home and way, way more importantly. What. The fuck. Happened?!¡± ¡°I really suggest you tell your cute friend to scram, Augment, we have a lot to get done.¡± "Sorry man, I really don''t remember much. Most of this is really coming second hand but apparently The First took me to the hospital and got me healed by an Augment because he felt it was his fault that I got injured. But I barely remember any of it, I literally went from the accident to suddenly being dropped off in front of the building here at 3am, I just crawled into bed and passed out," I laughed lamely as Jon patted me on the shoulder with a look of pure disbelief. ¡°Guess that explains why you didn¡¯t even budge until past noon. Talk about some shitty luck. You get the chance to actually meet The First and instead you get your shit rocked,¡± he laughed and turned around to walk back toward our kitchen where I could see his laptop and a bunch of ethernet cable laid out on the small table that we practically never used to actually eat at. I followed him out, eyeing the setup as I headed for the fridge, ¡°What¡¯s with all the equipment?¡± ¡°Mr. Greyson offered to waive our rent for the next two months if I rewired the building for him, which seemed like a good deal to me.¡± Jon called after me, ¡°I called your boss for you by the way. Just let him know you nearly got crushed by a couple of Augments fighting. I¡¯m not exactly sure if he believed me or not but you might still have a job?¡± I reached into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water before taking a long swig of it. ¡°Well that¡¯s sort of good at least?¡± I said though I wasn¡¯t exactly sure if I was going to want to keep that job. I looked over my shoulder at Jon, feeling bad for only a moment about keeping the secret, but if any possible conversation was going to be suppressed, there wasn¡¯t exactly a point in trying. Briefly I wondered if getting drunk would let me sidestep the A.Is rules when I noticed a swirl of color coming from the bottle in my hand. ¡°NEW ABILITY! Water Into Wine! So you know that old tale about Jesus turning Water into Wine? Well he was no Augment, let¡¯s get that off the table now, but we can say this ability is a direct ripoff of that so-called miracle. Allows you to turn up to 1 gallon of water within your local area into the wine of your choice! This ability can hold three charges and a single charge is generated every six hours. Please Note: Using this ability to provide alcohol to minors is considered a felony and you will be given Negative Karma Points as a result. Not such a good idea if you¡¯re trying to be a superhero, but it is a great way to quickly build up your infamy if you were trying to become the biggest super villain that never threatened the safety of an entire city.¡± As Angie finished her description, a hotbar with twelve slots appeared at the bottom of my screen along with a single icon that looked like a bottle, the ¡°liquid¡± inside of which was casually shifting between colors. The hotbar seemed to be split into three sections, one with eight slots and the other¡¯s had only two slots each. There wasn¡¯t much more I could highlight with it as it faded back down until it was barely noticeable. ¡°In order to give you the freedom to explore and adapt your powers to your own personal style, as you come up with techniques of your own, the Game¡¯s A.I. will automatically assign Stamina and Cooldown requirements. This procedural system has created hundreds of thousands of unique combos and abilities that the brightest of players have used to amazing effect. It has also created hundreds of thousands of completely useless abilities too. But hey, nobody¡¯s perfect. Besides, you¡¯re the one whose first use of their powers was in a non-combat application. Sheesh what a baby back bitch. You know what?¡± ¡°NEW ACHIEVEMENT! ¡°Look at me, I''m a Pacifist!¡±. You¡¯ve used your super powers for the very first time and it wasn¡¯t even to fight something, in fact, your very first named ability has almost 0 combat capability. This is a Shit Level achievement. You do not get a reward for this. In fact, if you don¡¯t do something interesting really soon we might just have to send a Critical Level Threat your way just to spice things up.¡± I let out a sigh that Jon luckily missed and tossed the bottle back into my fridge before he caught a glimpse and started to ask questions. I had no idea what a ¡°Critical Level Threat¡± was, but I wasn¡¯t an idiot either. It couldn¡¯t be good. As much as I wanted to talk with Jon about everything, or even just hang out with him and take a breather before jumping into¡­ well, all of this, I knew things were clearly going to be getting more complicated and I needed to start getting some answers. ¡°Hey man, I know I¡¯ve been out of commission for a bit here, but I actually got a lot of stuff I need to take care of. You weren¡¯t going to ask me to help you with this wiring, were you? Cause you remember what happened last time¡­¡± I said as I walked back over to the table. Without thinking about it too deeply, I pulled the first excuse I could think of. ¡°Because I actually have to go to some office down in Long Island to sign off on some hush hush bullshit from last week, plus trying to get in touch with Mr. Russo about my job.¡± ¡°Damn, well at least I got to hear some of it before you had to sign some NDA. It¡¯s no worries though, I¡¯m gonna go start planning my wiring runs,¡± Jon said with a laugh as he hopped to his feet, walking over to me to give me a fist bump as he headed for the door. ¡°Honestly it¡¯s still crazy you¡¯re walking around right now. I¡¯ll be down at the diner later, dinners on me and maybe we can just, you know, pretend like you didn¡¯t sign a secrecy thing and you can tell me about the spooks.¡± Jon was out the door after that, his backpack over his shoulder and before I could even stop to take a breath, Angie¡¯s chipper voice echoed throughout my head again. ¡°NEW ACHIEVEMENT! Deceptively Disarming! You passed the very first charisma check you attempted to make and convinced that dumb little NPC to stop asking so many questions. Good job! Next time watch him longer while he walks away. He¡¯s got a cute butt. This is a Silver Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box.¡± ¡°So this game actually has loot boxes and shit like that?¡± I asked and walked over to our meager living room. I flopped down onto the couch as the box icon in my display lit up again with 2. ¡°What¡¯s with the separation between the achievement levels and the loot box tiers? Hell, where are they even at anyway and how do I open them¡­ shit do I have an inventory?¡± ¡°Oh boy, you do have a lot of questions,¡± Angie said with an amused giggle. ¡°As I mentioned when you acquired your unlikely stat generation Achievements, all Loot Boxes will be locked until the completion of your tutorial mission and your inventory will be made available to you at the same time. In addition, you should not expect the Achievement Level to be a direct indicator of the Reward you should expect to receive. The Achievement Level is only an indicator of the rarity of the achievement and nothing else. Rewards are assigned at the discretion of Axio.¡± ¡°That seems¡­. Odd. Is there a way to like, see all of the achievements? A list or something like that?¡± ¡°Nope! Otherwise we¡¯d have to deal with a whole bunch of achievement hunting nerds that only try to min max all of that bullshit! Besides, it would also stop us from arbitrarily adding or removing them as we see fit. Sometimes, one of you Augments does something just so incredibly dumb, or perhaps less likely, ¡°cool¡±, that we just need to give you an extra special something to acknowledge it,¡± Angie explained. ¡°I guess that makes sense¡­ or about as much sense as any of the other shit going on here¡­¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯m ready for the tutorial, I really can¡¯t avoid this forever and I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t curious.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit Augment!¡± Chapter 4

51st and 8th. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed. City: Claimed by Squad The Paragons of Justice

¡°You do realize this mask makes me look like I¡¯M the criminal, right?¡± ¡°Is it my fault the only thing you had in your apartment to disguise your identity with was a ski mask? That sounds like a real you problem. The Secret Identity protocol is a requirement that can only be disregarded in extremely specific situations. For all regular activity, if you wish to use your powers outside of a safe room, your identity must be disguised at a minimum by a mask.¡± ¡°Okay, then where do all of the other Augments get their costumes from? I always assumed if there was a tailor making super suits they¡¯d be advertising the shit out of that,¡± I asked. Though Angie had proven she was happy to respond when I asked her questions out loud, she had pointed out attempting to speak to her in public would reveal more information than the ¡°NPC public¡± was allowed to know. It was a bit odd vocalizing my thoughts inward but it came surprisingly naturally. ¡°Tailors do exist, but not quite in the way you are thinking. The majority of the items you will actively use will be received through loot boxes along with several other vendors. These will be available to you after you complete your tutorial mission, now please, how long are you going to stall?¡± I was standing outside of a small bank on the corner of a street several blocks away from my apartment, feeling my heart pounding as I waited to make my move. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t want to just burst in there without a plan! Like I said, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s going to look like a criminal if I go in before there¡¯s actually something happening in there!¡± I shot back. ¡°Not to mention, isn¡¯t it kind of weird that I¡¯m just like¡­ waiting for a crime that you apparently already know is going to happen?¡± ¡°I think you already know the answer to that. Besides, the NPCs will quickly realize you aren¡¯t a threat when you start taking down the robbers as they show up, though you can technically still change your mind and rob the bank instead until you register completion of your mission.¡± ¡°Why do I get the feeling you want me to rob this bank?¡± I asked, hearing the sudden sound of screeching tires as a large van came to a comical stop outside of the bank. There must have been at least a dozen men in leather jackets with a snake on the back who jumped out and rushed for the bank door. ¡°Okay, what the hell, do you guys have some sort of dimensional bullshit? How are that many people fitting into that car?¡± In response to my curiosity, the van was highlighted in my vision and a stat box popped up. ¡°By selecting any item in your field of view, from players to NPCs to that random piece of paper by that trash can over there, you can see its viewable stats. For living creatures and other Augments, if they are not in your party you will only be able to view publicly accessible information. Vehicles and other items in the regular world are readily scannable, though some conditions may apply, and you will never see anything other than a name and basic description for sentient NPCs. Usable items must be held in order to get all of the details.¡± The van¡¯s stat box filled out and Angie ¡°helpfully¡± narrated it for me. There had to be a way to turn that off¡­ ¡°There isn''t, so don''t waste your time hoping for it. Now, this is a 2021 Volkswagen Caddy! This is a vehicle controlled by the Hell¡¯s Kitchen Vipers. This illegally obtained vehicle has been enhanced with the Clown Car feature.¡± ¡°Clown Car! This feature can only be applied to two axle, enclosed vehicles. When applied, increase the passenger capacity by 10 times the available seating originally within the vehicle. So yes, Augment, this is some sort of dimensional bullshit. Just wait till you see how your inventory works.¡± ¡°I really¡­ really want to know how the hell any of this works. I mean, they invented this literal world changing technology and it¡¯s being used for¡­ this. I mean, is this really the best use? Can¡¯t we just have superpowers without all the weird video game stuff?¡± I said as I mentally waved away the Caddy¡¯s description box. So far, it was getting noticeably easier for me to utilize the heads-up display and in all the craziness I could at least appreciate that. ¡°Okay Elon. You can¡¯t just come into a decade old system, make changes to something that¡¯s working just fine and call yourself a visionary,¡± Angie¡¯s voice became noticeably snarkier but I found myself unsurprised by how quickly she changed the conversation. ¡°Now I¡¯d really recommend getting in there Augment, if you are worried that you are not going to be able to perform, which I know is a common problem amongst you fleshbags, you shouldn¡¯t be. The augmentation process comes with a set of built in movements and basic fighting skills that will feel natural to you as you utilize them. Now quit. stalling. That gang isn¡¯t exactly non-violent.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯m going,¡± I muttered, this time out loud as I quickly sprinted across the street. There were already cop sirens in the distance, echoing off the tall buildings amongst the sound of honking horns and the general ambient noise that made up New York. A timer popped into the top right of my vision labeled Time Until Police Arrive: 8 Minutes and 37 seconds. While I still wasn¡¯t exactly sure what Local Area Manipulation was, I was smart enough to at least have some sort of circular logic, and if Angie was telling the truth, I should just innately know how to do some of the things. My Water Into Wine ability seemed to be the best place to start as I considered the possibilities. That didn¡¯t exactly help tell me what else my power could do, but Angie had told me that abilities would form based on my creativity, or something to that effect at least. At the very least, my Super Luck secondary power seemed a bit easier to guess. It was with that in mind that I rushed through the front door, time almost feeling like it slowed briefly as ¡°Bank of America Lobby¡° appeared in the location panel at the bottom of my screen. Red outlines briefly flashed over eight men as they turned their attention from the civilians cowering on the ground throughout. I focused my attention on the closest of the red outlines and a stat box popped up. ¡°Viper Grunt. Level 1 Biker. Hey, do you know why Bikers like to wear so much leather? Because it¡¯s the only thing that works to hide their lack of a fashion sense and the fact that they haven¡¯t showered in a week. These are the lowest members of the Hell¡¯s Kitchen Vipers biker gang currently harassing the streets of Hell¡¯s Kitchen. This is a non-sentient NPC. Negative Karmic points for killing this mob are halved.¡± ¡°Non-Sentient? Doesn¡¯t that mean-¡± ¡°Questions later Augment,¡± Angie prompted just as the Grunt¡¯s eyes lit up in recognition and the muzzle of his pistol was leveled toward me. ¡°Careful now fella, ain¡¯t nobody needs to be a hero,¡± he said in a thick Brooklyn accent. ¡°We got a whole bunch of hostages, why don¡¯t you just back your way out that door before you get someone killed.¡± ¡°Before any combat begins, any good hero has the chance to talk their way out of the fight. Personally, I think this is incredibly boring. I recommend you get up there and punch that guy in his stupid bearded face.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Oh yeah, because these guys look like they¡¯re reasonable¡­¡± I thought, feeling oddly in agreement with Angie. I only had a few moments to make a decision, somehow I knew that, and the flood of information assaulting me from every angle, though it should have been overwhelming, somehow was becoming second nature. Maybe it had something to do with the augmentation process, but it was as if every time I became aware of something in my HUD, it became as easy as breathing to pull the information from. There were still four of the men I saw come into the bank unaccounted for and I was pretty sure that any sudden sound was going to draw them into the fight. If, and that felt like a big if given that I hadn¡¯t been in a real fight in well, ever, but IF I was going to actually do this, I was going to have to take out as many of them as I could as fast as I could. The guns¡­ they were the problem and an idea popped into my head that was almost dumb enough to work. I lunged forward, mentally reaching for my Super Luck ability as all of the Viper Grunts in the space leveled their weapons at me. While it was possible that the Luck was only meant to be positive, every single example I could think of always meant luck going in both directions. Angie had said if I thought of an ability, as long as the AI deemed it was within the capabilities of my power, it should- ¡°New Ability! Misfire! No, Augment, this isn¡¯t in reference to your most recent failed one night stand, you know, the one with that blonde from Bushwick? Yeah, you remember what happened. This is a Passive skill. Whenever an enemy attempts to use a firearm against you, there is a chance equal to 5% for every 1 point in difference between your and your opponent¡¯s luck stat, minus their current level, that their weapon will misfire, causing blowback damage to the user! Affected shooters will take damage equal to twice their weapons standard damage.¡± Three of the men pulled their triggers and all three of their guns exploded in their hands. ¡°New Achievement! Disposable Bodies! You have killed your first non-sentient mob! Don¡¯t worry too much about these guys, we grow them in vats all over the world. It¡¯s at least slightly more ethical than conscripting random people to throw into the meat grinder against you all. This is a Bronze Level Achievement! Reward: You have received a D:Tier Loot Box! And yes, even though you technically didn¡¯t kill these guys, we are giving you credit for their defeat.¡± ¡°New Achievement! Passive Purveyor of Death! Are you sure Hero is the way you want to go? You put down three enemies in less than a single second using a Passive skill. Why do I have a feeling you¡¯re going to be leaning into that overpowered luck of yours? This is a Silver Level Achievement! Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box!¡± Angie immediately rattled off the achievements and I mentally wished for a way to delay those during combat to avoid distractions. Unfortunately for now, I knew I just had to deal with it. I did notice that my Misfire ability didn¡¯t appear directly next to the Water Into Wine ability, instead appearing in the first of the two slot sections of my hotbar. With the fight still going though, I pushed the curiosity from my mind and continued my rush forward. It took me only a few moments to cover the distance to the closest Viper Grunt who had unluckily not fired his weapon. It really would be helpful if he- ¡°New Ability! Trigger Finger! Have you ever seen a gun laying on a table in the distance and thought to yourself, ¡°God I wish I could fire that thing without having to move my lazy ass!¡±? Well now that you can control things in your local area, you can! This ability can target a single firearm at a time within the area of your control. This ability has a 1 minute cooldown.¡± The Grunt¡¯s eyes briefly lit up in confusion as his gun went off¡­ and misfired back into his face, dropping him to the ground with shrapnel sticking out of his cheek and blood beginning to pool on the ground around him. ¡°The fuck is goin¡¯ on out there?!¡± A husky, still heavily accented voice called into the room, briefly drawing the attention of the last four grunts. One of the guards went to shout for help and I instinctively pushed to silence the room. ¡°New Ability! Mute Button! Look at you Augment, you¡¯re really getting used to those abilities of yours with how quickly you¡¯re coming up with stuff. For a time equal to 5 seconds for every point of Intelligence that you have, silence ALL noise coming into and leaving your local area! It¡¯d be so quiet you could hear a mouse fucking¡­ you know, if you could hear anything at all! You can disable this ability early. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown.¡± I could see the civilians screaming as they took in the death that was quickly filling the room, but it was exactly as the ability described. It was as if the sound had been literally muted and the moment of shock that passed over the guards gave me time to get up close to a guard that was blocking the singular entrance into the teller area of the bank. ¡°Please work,¡± I found myself muttering inaudibly as I threw the biggest punch I could, hoping beyond hope that I could get lucky and hit something vital. ¡°New Ability!!! Sting Like a Bee! You know how in most video games bosses and a lot of enemies have weak spots? Well that¡¯s because you humans have A LOT of weak spots and oftentimes translate those into video games! Personally, I think it¡¯s a bit silly but nobody asked me. When you activate this ability, you gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck you have) for your next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict an additional 25% damage! Additional effects may also occur depending on the location struck! This ability has a 30 second duration and a 2 minute and 30 second cooldown.¡± That wasn¡¯t quite as good as I was hoping for, but a 22% chance was better than nothing, and as long as these guys were at least mostly human, I could increase those odds by actively aiming for spots that I knew were vital. My knuckles collided silently with the Viper Grunt¡¯s temple and simultaneously he crumpled to the ground and his gun went flying. Directly over the Grunt¡¯s body a spinning KO symbol hovered. ¡°New Achievement! Non-Lethal Blow! Now that¡¯s more heroic. You have removed an enemy from a fight without killing them. That¡¯s really not all that exciting, but you can pretend they got thrown in a jail somewhere and ignore anyone who looks like them if we decide to reuse them in a future mission. This is a Bronze Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box!¡± I skipped backwards as another Grunt charged, his attack going wide and he stumbled forward. Without even thinking, I moved, jumping forward as my knee came up and collided with the Grunt¡¯s exposed chin. Teeth actually went flying from his mouth as he was launched backward into yet another Grunt, knocking the two of them into a heap on the ground with dual KO symbols floating above their heads. ¡°Neeeeew Ability! Misfortune Abound! You know, when we said you had Super Luck, we didn¡¯t exactly think you¡¯d be using it to make everyone else just so, so unlucky. Oh well, it¡¯s hilarious so we¡¯re gonna keep going with it! This is a Passive ability. While in combat, cause all enemies within your local area to have a chance equal to 1% for every 1 point of Luck you have minus their current level for something¡­ bad to happen to them. Yes, we know, bad is pretty subjective, but if you need an example just look at that guy who just got slammed to the ground by the flying toothless wonder. That¡¯s what happened to him.¡± ¡°-the fuck!?!¡± The sound returned to the room all at once as screams threatened to overwhelm me. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was one of the Grunts or if it had been the hostages, but I didn¡¯t have time for it to matter. I turned to find my next target only to find a massive fist barreling right for me. I didn¡¯t have time to dodge and the strike landed directly in my chest, sending me actually flying backwards and into the nearest wall. It occurred to me that this was somehow the first time I had been hit since this started and a red bar appeared at the top of my vision, about a quarter of it fading away as I tried to catch my breath. The grunt that attacked me was noticeably bigger than the others and unlike them, his gun wasn¡¯t out, instead opting to crack his knuckles as he slowly walked toward me. ¡°Now, me an¡¯ my boys here were just trying to make a withdrawal to cover some pizza and beer for the night, but you just had to go an¡¯ stick your nose into it,¡± the large man said, practically glaring as he towered over me. ¡°Who da fuck are you even supposed to be? The Amazin¡¯ Ski Mask?¡± ¡°Viper Brute. Level 3 Biker. Sure, you might be laying those grunts out like they¡¯re¡­ well mindless disposable grunts and strictly speaking that¡¯s because they are, but this guy isn¡¯t going to be so easy. Actually, the way he¡¯s looking at you¡­ yeah, it looks like he¡¯s actually going to be quite hard¡­ In the Hell¡¯s Kitchen Vipers, you can look at Brutes as those employees that have been around for a year, so they think they have seniority and act all superior, but really they are really just Grunts with mileage. Oh well, this one¡¯s about to put some mileage on you Augment, good luck.¡± Chapter 5 I pushed myself off the wall and took a deep breath. I briefly wished my display came with some sort of minimap like most games had, but that was something I was going to have to investigate later. ¡°Hey Rattle, we got 100k, how much more yah think we should grab?¡± One of the grunts asked briefly, drawing the Brute¡¯s attention away from me. Though I definitely had gotten the wind knocked out of me and felt like I had taken a hit, I didn¡¯t feel like I had actually gotten all that hurt. I moved away from the wall and tried to give myself a better vantage point as I took in the scene around me. ¡°Why did I take so little damage when those grunts got pretty much one shot?¡± ¡°Did I not mention the training wheels portion of the tutorial? I thought I mentioned the training wheels portion of the tutorial.¡± ¡°YOU DIDN''T! I swear, it¡¯s almost like you¡¯re trying to fuck with me just for the fun of it!¡± ¡°I thought that was obvious!¡± ¡°CAN YOU JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!?¡± ¡°Ugggggh fine. The mobs presented to you during your tutorial mission will be significantly weaker than those following said mission. To that end, level 1 mobs have an increased chance of negative status effects caused by abilities. It IS a tutorial after all, I think we¡¯ve only lost like, 2 Augments during the tutorial mission in the history of Infinite Ascension,¡± Angie said, though it felt like she was upset that she had to. ¡°Anyway, this mission is intended to provide you the opportunity to create your first combat skills and introduce you to the non-sentient mobs while also providing you with hands-on experience with the system at large. I¡¯d argue, given how well you¡¯ve done so far, you can see how fluidly your augmentations work?¡± She was right. I had been far from athletic and I was never much of a fighter. Sure, I had been in Taekwondo for a few years when I was a child, but it¡¯s not like I had kept up with it. But still, I had landed those blows near effortlessly, and I barely had to think about what I was doing. ¡°Man, how the fuck dumb are you. Get back in there and stuff that bag full,¡± the brute finally said with the shake of his head before he looked back over at me, ¡°Who da fuck said you can get back up. I suggest you get back on the floor like the other hostages if you don¡¯t-¡± I didn¡¯t wait for him to finish his threat, rushing the large man and activating my Sting Like a Bee ability before throwing my first punch. The brute wasn¡¯t taken by surprise, his arm jumping to take the blow as a health bar popped up over his head with a small chunk of it fading away. ¡°Heh, that¡¯s a heck of a punch, you¡¯d make a good Viper, too bad we ain¡¯t got space for no pansy hero bitch,¡± the brute said before he pulled back and launched a punch of his own. His fist almost seemed to move in slow motion as he growled, ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can take it as good as yah give it.¡± ¡°New Ability! Float Like a Butterfly! You¡¯ve got luck on your side for punching and bullets, why not throw a bit in for your dodging too? This ability gives you an increased chance to dodge hand-to-hand combat strikes of 10% plus 1% for every point of Luck you have for ten seconds. And that¡¯s literally if you¡¯re closing your eyes and not doing anything at all to dodge. Look, it¡¯s not rocket science Augment, just get out of the way of that fist before you take a blow, then use this ability to give yourself a little extra luck. This ability has a 5 minute cooldown.¡± I skipped backwards, barely avoiding tripping over one of the grunts I had put down. Unfortunately, that put me right in position for another grunt to grab for me, he barely had his arm around me when I felt my body instinctively crouch, pulling from the man¡¯s grip just in the knick of time. My luck was with me and the brute tried to chase as I dodged. His powerful strike connected directly with the grunt and I could hear a nearly sickening crunch of bone. The grunt¡¯s health plummeted as he crumpled to the ground and the brute let out a quick string of curse words. ¡°New Achievement! Unfriendly Friendly Fire! You¡¯ve caused an enemy to knockout one of their companions. Okay look Augment, we get it, you¡¯re trying not to get your hands dirty. But dodging that blow was a really pussy move. Impressive yes. But still kind of uncalled for. This is a Silver Level Achievement! Reward: You have received a B:Tier Loot Box!¡± I was almost distracted by the loot box icon on my HUD as it ticked up to 5, but as I dropped low, with the brute still reacting to striking his underling, I didn¡¯t even hesitate to throw a punch. ¡°New Achievement!!! Low Blow! And here I thought dodging that attack was uncalled for¡­ I mean¡­ I don¡¯t even have testicles and I think I can feel the pain. You have struck an enemy in their private parts. Why did we put private parts on a Non-Sentient NPC? Look, we¡¯d have to explain how we make them to you first and I really don¡¯t think we have time for that right now. This is a Gold Level achievement. Reward: You have received a F:Tier Loot Box. Personally, I¡¯d give you nothing for this one given the audacity of the attack, but Axio¡¯s the one in charge, not me.¡± I stifled a laugh, rolling to the side as the brute tried to compose himself. His health bar was now just a shade under half but he had a new icon above his head that read Stunned: 30 Seconds. On my hotbar, I could see my Sting Like A Bee skill beginning to flash, the timer on it nearly ended. I still had one more luck enhanced punch and I preferred to use it before the skill went on cooldown. Though I was sure I could land another blow on the brute while he was stunned, there were still 3 other grunts moving into position to try to ambush me. They were loud, almost too loud and I wondered if I somehow had enhanced hearing within my zone of control, but that was a mystery for later. I flipped on my heel, using the momentum to launch a punch at what I hoped was an enemy. ¡°Oh sh-¡± was all the grunt was able to get out before my hand collided directly with his face and I could feel as the man¡¯s nose crunched beneath my knuckles and he stumbled backwards. His health bar sank deep into the red, only a sliver of his health remaining. It was a good strike, but it must not have counted as a weak spot. It didn¡¯t matter in the end, I just had to follow up on the strike, but as I moved to capitalize, a strike landed roughly against the side of my head and sent me stumbling. My health bar dropped another quarter as I turned on my heel to try and recover. To my surprise, it wasn¡¯t a grunt that had attacked me, but another brute. ¡°You have fallen below 50% health for the first time, your inventory is being conditionally activated to access healing serums. You have been granted 5 Basic Health Injectors. These can be accessed from your hotbar and injected anywhere into your body for full effect.¡± A syringe-like icon was added to the so-far empty two slot section of my hot bar and I selected it, unsure of what to expect. In a flicker of light, an injection gun filled with a red glowing liquid literally materialized into my hand. Not wanting to give the enemies time to advance, I shoved it against my leg and pulled the trigger. A rush of energy passed over my body and my health recovered by 25% in less than a second. The icon on the hotbar went on cooldown, slowly ticking away on a 5 minute timer. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°What the hell is that?! How am I supposed to heal again if I get hit again?!¡± ¡°I suggest you don¡¯t get hit again!¡± Angie chirped back and I rolled to the side as the brute brought a giant foot down, breaking the tile into chips that scattered. I could still see the civilians cowering behind the desks and tables in the lobby. ¡°Please do not concern yourself with them, the mobs designated for the tutorial are strictly instructed to ignore Non-Combat NPCs for the duration of this mission.¡± ¡°Only for this-¡± I started, my shock rising as I took her implication. I was forced to jump to the side just as the first brute, finally free from his debuff, charged. As I moved out of the way, he crashed into one of the smaller grunts, steamrolling the man and taking out the last bit of health I had left him with. The lack of a clear ranged attack in my repertoire made it clear that I needed a way to take these guys down from a distance. Trying to think on my feet, I looked around the area for a solution. It was a small space and in truth the best solution would be to find a way to just slow them all down. I scanned the area, briefly glancing each of my 4 remaining enemies as- ¡°New Ability! Weighted Clothes! Look at you, finally realizing your power has more applications than just through luck! For the next 30 seconds, up to three articles of clothing being worn within your local area now weigh a quarter of a ton! That¡¯s 500 lbs if you¡¯re one of those idiots who don¡¯t know just how much a ton is. It might not be enough to crush anyone, but you try being speedy while carrying that much. Affected enemies take 500 minus Strength score points of damage immediately, and 50 minus Strength score points of damage every 3 seconds for the remainder of the skill¡¯s duration. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown.¡± This nearly made me come up short as I wonder what the hell my powers even were. I had no idea how that ability came out of Local Area Manipulation, but I was going to have to figure it out if I had any hope of creating more straightforward abilities. Both of the brutes were noticeably slower and I watched as one of the grunts stumbled forward and dropped to the ground with a pained groan as he clutched at his chest. Then there was the only grunt that hadn¡¯t been affected by my ability, it almost looked as if he was considering running as he scrambled backwards. His hesitation was short lived and he set his jaw before he stepped forward, took three strides and immediately slipped on blood that had been pooling from one of his cohorts. His head smacked roughly against the corner of the tellers desk and a big KO started to circle his body. ¡°Heh¡­ unlucky,¡± I found myself muttering aloud. I climbed back to my feet as I looked to the last of the enemies. At this point I didn¡¯t feel that threatened by the sole remaining grunt any longer, but the brutes had proven themselves to be some form of danger. I rushed to the knocked out grunt and found his unused pistol. After he had seen the others get so unceremoniously incapacitated by their own weapons, he must have made what he thought was the smart decision. While I wasn¡¯t a gun nut, I had played paintball and laser tag more than once. Maybe I was just trying to fool myself, but it was comparable¡­ right? Even if it wasn¡¯t entirely sure how my main power worked, I did feel like I was getting the hang of the ability creation. As I leveled the gun at the brute I had already damaged, I was more than ready for Angie to chirp up. ¡°NEW ABILITY! Lucky Shot! Hey, you¡¯re gonna take the fun out of it if you¡¯re gonna predict when it happens. If I could, I¡¯d just let you figure out what this one does on your own but ugggh, rules are rules. When you activate this ability, infuse the next three shots with luck equal to 1% for every 1 point of luck you have, increasing the chance of hitting a weak spot and inflicting 50% increased damage. This ability will go on cooldown if you drop the weapon being utilized when the ability is activated.¡± My shot hit the brute directly in his center of mass and his health dropped by over 50%, leaving his health blinking red. I fired again, but this time I felt myself instinctively aim for the Brute¡¯s side. From what I could tell, it seemed like dropping the mobs to 0 was actually killing them, as I could tell the enemies labeled as KOed all still had small slivers of health on their bars. While Angie had said they were ¡°non-sentient¡±, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to kill them indiscriminately without knowing just how true that was, even if a few of them had unfortunately already succumbed to that. The shot hit and set him off balance and his health dropped by another 25% as the brute let out a string of curses. I took the opportunity to rush him, relying on the weighted shirt to drastically slow his reaction time, and mentally activated my Sting Like a Bee ability again. I wasn¡¯t even sure when it had gone off cooldown at this point, but I was thankful I had it available. I made an actual running leap as I pulled my hand back, curling it into a fist before driving it into the brute¡¯s temple. Just like the others, his health dropped to a small sliver of red as a spinning KO popped up over his head. ¡°New Achievement! Giant Slayer! We got a regular David over here! You have defeated an enemy that was a higher level than you. Given we put an enemy higher leveled than every new Augment in their tutorial, you can imagine just how common this Bronze Level achievement actually is. Reward: You have received a D:Tier Loot Box.¡± Two more¡­ I had two more to go but I could feel the activity starting to catch up to me. Underneath my health bar, I finally noticed a blinking bar with a small sliver of green left. When I concentrated on it, I noticed it was labeled as ¡°Stamina.¡± It was creeping up¡­ slowly, but it would be nowhere near ready before my Weighted Clothes ability wore off. ¡°Are there Stamina injections too?¡± ¡°Yup! But we don¡¯t give you those in the tutorial, it¡¯s better to ease new Augments into the idea of inventory usage with something like their own health. Plus most Augments finish this tutorial before they run out of stamina the first time¡­ kinda says something about you, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I tried not to be offended by that, but I¡¯d be lying if I said I succeeded. She was fucking with me, that¡¯s what she had been doing from the very start and I just had to assume that¡¯s what she was programmed to do for¡­ some reason. There really had to be a game admin or something I could talk to once this was all done. With the gun still in my hand, I turned it on the weaker of the remaining enemies. I fired, and while I aimed for his center of mass, I didn¡¯t want to risk my Lucky Shot skill killing him outright. I erred toward the side of his body to hopefully avoid anything major. His health chunked down to what looked like around 10% remaining. With my stamina back up to about a quarter of its own gauge, I rushed him, finding myself getting used to the repetitive motion. I threw two quick punches, not caring that I was using up the last of my Sting Like a Bee as the grunt crumpled to the ground with the familiar KO icon spinning above his head. I stopped to catch my breath, turning slowly until I could see the last remaining Brute. There were red and blue lights that were starting to flash in the windows and I found my attention drawn to the countdown timer I had so far been ignoring that now read ¡°Police have arrived on scene!¡± ¡°It¡­. It¡¯s over¡­¡± I said, finding myself out of breath. Realistically this should have happened the moment I had burst through the door, but Angie had been right, the augmentations were helping me along quite nicely. ¡°Y¡¯think I¡¯m ¡®fraid of some pigs?¡± The brute grunted, reaching over his shoulder and pulling out what had to be an oversized shotgun. ¡°Looks like your luck¡¯s all run out hero.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t-¡± I started but he didn¡¯t give me time to finish as he pulled the trigger. I couldn¡¯t know for sure it was going to happen, but the brute¡¯s prediction had been far from accurate as my Misfire ability activated just as he fired, and the shotgun exploded, tearing his entire right hand from his arm and severely maiming the left one. Surprisingly this didn¡¯t kill him, instead bringing his health down by 75%. My stamina was still low, but there was enough there. With the brute screaming in pain and dropping to his knees, I walked toward him, trying to look as confident as I possibly could. ¡°Actually, I think my luck¡¯s just getting started,¡± I said, not sure where the quip even came from as I pulled my fist back and hit him with every bit of strength I could muster. ¡°You can bet on that.¡± Chapter 6 There was an overzealous sound of cascading trumpets that filled my head before Angie nearly shouted in excitement. ¡°Congratulations! You have reached Level 2, please return to your Safe House to assign stat points and additional attributes!¡± ¡°New Achievement! Progression Time! You have leveled up for the very first time. Congrats! If you couldn¡¯t even do this, then we would have wasted a lot of time and money augmenting you. Thanks for not being a waste, keep it up. This is a Wood Level achievement. Reward: Leveling up is its own reward! Get back to your Safe House so you can see why already.¡± ¡°New Achievement! Quippy Longstockings! We got a regular jokester over here. You completed a mission by taking down the final opponent WITH a quip! Honestly I¡¯m not sure how we determine what constitutes a joke but I¡¯m pretty sure what you said wasn¡¯t very funny. But you know what, I bet those NPCs you saved are sure to remember it when they are telling their families about it over dinner. This is a Silver Level achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box.¡± I had been so out of breath, I didn¡¯t even care that Angie was rattling off achievements. That wasn¡¯t to say I was getting used to it necessarily, just that I didn¡¯t have it in me to really care. I took a moment to stretch before I looked around at the civilians that were warily starting to stand up. I offered them the most confident smile and wave that I could before one of them shouted a cheer and the group burst out, applauding my victory. More than a few of them were holding phones up, clearly trying to get a picture or video. The front doors of the bank were pushed open as cops came rushing in, guns raised and I instinctively threw my hands in the air. I might have been the hero here, but a ski mask in a bank?! It really was a recipe for disaster. Much to my surprise though, the cop leading the way dropped his gun as he took in the fallen bikers. ¡°Dang, you new Augments always make a mess,¡± the man said, walking forward and holding out a strong looking hand. ¡°Lt. Nester, 10th precinct, got a name yet?¡± ¡°Lt. Nester. This is a Non-Sentient Friendly NPC. Again, we aren¡¯t going to get into this just yet, honestly I¡¯d prefer if we never got into it. Just know it makes integrating you guys into ¡°normal¡± society a lot easier. And no, his squadmates don¡¯t know. Hey, stop judging me, I can feel you doing it already and it¡¯s uncalled for. Lt. Nester is a very happy man and he just so happens to work for the 10th precinct. This will make him your local police contact.¡± ¡°Ummm, no not yet, it¡¯s uh¡­ it¡¯s actually kinda my first time out,¡± I said with a nervous laugh before I shook the Lieutenant¡¯s hand. It was hard not to find myself coming up short at the idea that somehow this game had plants¡­ in the police of all places. ¡°It¡¯s really not that big of a deal Augment, with all of you running around, most police forces really only deal with domestic disputes and traffic stops. Hell, I¡¯d argue the guys we put into place are more effective than them. But again, with so little to actually do that¡¯s not all that hard.¡± ¡°Well I suggest you start thinking about that. We got some protocols we have to follow and can¡¯t exactly give you any police info if we don¡¯t have an official name to put on the records. SInce I haven¡¯t met an Augment yet that¡¯s wanted to go by their real name, I¡¯m gonna assume I can¡¯t do anything else with yah just yet,¡± Lt. Nester said turning and waving in a team of EMTs that rushed in to start checking in on the civilians and downed bikers. ¡°Yeah I uh¡­ I guess that makes sense. Do you guys need anything from me, how long have these guys been causing trouble around here?¡± I asked. ¡°Sorry bud, you¡¯re gonna have to come find me when you have a name before I can read you in on that,¡± he repeated before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a thickly stuffed wallet. ¡°Here¡¯s my card, come down to the 10th when you¡¯re ready and ask for me. I can point you in the right direction¡­ and uh¡­ you¡¯re also gonna want to put together a better look, if I wasn¡¯t already aware of an Augment on the scene I might have thought you were the bank robber here.¡± ¡°Mission Tutorial Completed! Reward: You have received a B:Tier Loot Box.¡± I took the business card and it vanished from my hand, causing the message, ¡°New Contact: Lt. Nester¡± to flash in the corner of my HUD. I didn¡¯t linger any longer, already noticing a few of the Civilians lifting their phones to get pictures of me before I rushed out of the bank. Honestly Lt. Nester really didn¡¯t need to point it out. It had to look a bit silly, a dude in a mask just casually jogging away from a failed bank robbery, but for now it was the only way I was going to get around. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a vendor or somewhere I should be going? I mean, I know leveling up is important and I have these loot boxes to open, but like, the cop was right, there¡¯s a few things I really should try to get in order. Hell, what the hell am I going to even call myself? Can I choose anything?¡± ¡°Not necessarily anything. Like, as much as I might love calling you a baby back bitch, it really wouldn¡¯t help your merch sales down the line.¡± ¡°Merch sales?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a topic for when you hit level 25 Augment.¡± ¡°Okay, so don¡¯t pick anything that could hurt¡­ potential merch sales¡­ got it,¡± I muttered out loud. I ducked through an alley when I was confident I had put enough distance between the fight and myself before finally slowing to a walk. When I was sure no one was looking, I pulled off the mask and strolled back out to the main sidewalk as casually as I could. ¡°As for vendors, we can discuss Sanctuary Square after you complete your level up process. Now that you have created your initial abilities and leveled up, we can finish the last of the wave onboarding steps and you can truly start getting out there.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that¡­ Why would I even WANT to keep getting out there? I mean, look I know I probably would have died because of whatever happened with The First and that fight back there was cool but I never wanted to be a superhero¡­ This has been bothering me since I woke up, are the augmentations like¡­ compelling me to participate in all of this? Do I really have to?¡± Angie seemed to pause at this for a brief moment, her usually flippant attitude wavering. ¡°While the augmentations aren¡¯t compelling you to participate, it is the job of myself and the game AI to motivate you to play. As I have said multiple times, you have super powers now, the trade off should be-¡± ¡°It¡¯s not worth it!¡± I said, having to hold myself back from screaming it even as I wandered into the lobby of my building. I stopped to look around, glad that Jon wasn¡¯t currently working in the small lobby. I took a deep breath and returned my attention inward. ¡°I am not a killer. I don¡¯t care if you guys are claiming those bikers back there were non-sentient, they looked pretty damn real to me. I tried to take them down non-lethally but my ability just¡­ it made several of them actually die. How am I supposed to deal with that?¡± ¡°The same way every other Augment has since Axio started this project¡­ by surviving and growing stronger.¡± Angie said, and I could have sworn I heard a bit of sorrow in her tone. It only lasted for a moment before her voice picked back up, almost amplifying in pep in response. ¡°But hey, we haven¡¯t sent you out there like a pig to slaughter. In case you didn¡¯t realize it, your augmentations provide you more than just the theoretical ability to wield your super powers. For example, your powerset The Perfect Planner is described as an Offensive, Close Combat class. To facilitate this, you have been granted a skill rank of 5 in a random close ranged fighting style, you can see which after your full stat menu has been opened at the completion of the full onboarding process.¡± ¡°Okay that¡¯s cool and all, you guys basically Matrix uploaded a skill into my brain, seriously, what the hell is the point!? Couldn¡¯t the company behind this be making millions of dollars selling this technology?¡± ¡°That would imply money is the primary motivation at play, Augment.¡± Angie quipped back, making me pause as I reached for the handle to my apartment. ¡°This is all largely a moot point, there is nothing that can change your circumstances as they stand. You are an Augment now, meaning you are obliged to participate in Infinite Ascension. So far, you have been compliant, but if you did try to ¡°sit it out¡±, I¡¯m afraid that would only result in tragedy. There¡¯s nothing within your augmentations that would allow us to just ¡°disable¡± you, but needless to say, you would be¡­ handled.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I swallowed what little spit was in my mouth as her meaning really set in. While I know she had alluded to this multiple times already, I don¡¯t think I had really taken time to actually let it set in. ¡°So¡­ So you¡¯re saying everything, all the comments about sending threats my way, the lawyers collecting my¡­ my remains for testing¡­ Was all of that true? I can actually die playing this game?¡± ¡°My apologies Augment, no it wasn¡¯t all true.¡± ¡°Ok, that¡¯s a-¡± ¡°We don¡¯t actually employ any lawyers.¡± I let out a long, slow sigh as I bit back a slew of curses that I wanted to shout. I really should have known that was coming. The moment I crossed the barrier into my home, my HUD lit up, several new windows popping up in rapid succession that each vanished as I instinctively shoved the notifications to the side. Though I knew I could easily dwell all night on the threat to my life I was now aware of, there still were a million other things I had to deal with. I¡¯d make sure to take the time to freak out properly before I went to bed. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± ¡°All of your missed and held notifications. First, let¡¯s address your new stat selections for leveling up and what will happen in subsequent levels,¡± Angie said and one of the windows that I¡¯d dismissed pulled back. It was the same stat sheet I had first been shown, though this time the numbers were all filled. ¡°Each level you will be granted 4 stat points that you can distribute as you see fit. Please Note: If you choose to use all of your points to increase a single stat, the third increase in a single level will cost 2 stat points.¡± ¡°Why would I ever do that when I could just wait to level up again?¡± I asked aloud, finding the apartment still empty. It was only a bit shy of 5 in the afternoon, meaning Jon was probably still working on the project. I had helped him once before on a freelance IT job, and it took him nearly two days to finish wiring a building roughly the same size as ours, though that might have been because he had to keep reminding me how to set up the wires. Still, even knowing that he probably wasn¡¯t going to be home soon, I wasn¡¯t going to risk getting caught in the main area of the apartment. I headed for my bedroom, locking the door behind me as a wave of peace seemed to finally come over me. I dropped onto my bed and fell backwards, starting to just look up at the ceiling when my eyes caught a piece of furniture I hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Um¡­ what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°We will discuss that in a bit. And though you leveled up quickly this time, levels will come far slower the higher you get. Some equippable items require minimum stat levels before temporary boosts to utilize and sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and drop 3 points into a single stat to get there. It happens more often than you¡¯d think.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense¡­ Is that all that comes from leveling? Stat points?¡± ¡°Nope it just depends on what the level is! There are special things that happen on random Odd levels, but other than your Hidden Power getting revealed at level 15, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t ruin the other surprises. On Even levels, you will also receive an Ability Augmentation. Ability Augmentations must be activated immediately upon receiving them and can only be used to target abilities currently on your hotbar. When used, you will be given 3 possible options for modifying the selected ability! If you do not immediately activate the augmentation, I will randomly select and upgrade an ability for you, or as with your powerset selection you can always just say, ¡°Surprise Me, Angie!¡± Please Note: You may only modify an ability with an Ability Augmentation once every 10 levels, up to a maximum of 3 times. Now please assign your stat points and then your Ability Augmentation will become available.¡± The stat sheet shook, as if demanding my attention now that Angie had finished her explanation. It would have been really easy to just dump all of the points into Luck given how many of my abilities already seemed to be relying on the stat, it still wasn¡¯t going to matter if I couldn¡¯t take a hit. I sat up in my bed and the screen followed. ¡°So theoretically, if I put points into, let¡¯s say Strength¡­ will I actually get stronger? Like, let¡¯s say for example, I can curl 25 pounds with one arm. If I added points to Strength would that go up?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly it! But, and this is a fun fact that you should definitely remember, your physique will only change if you choose to have it match your achieved stat points. Some players will choose not to have their physique change for a variety of reasons, though most player¡¯s reasoning tends to come down to wanting others to underestimate their capabilities. Strength is the only stat that can have this effect on your physical appearance however, though certain parts of your physical appearance can affect your Style score under certain circumstances, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll ever qualify for those.¡± I mentally dropped 2 points into Strength and a point into my Luck before hesitating with my last one. I was still stuck on the idea of increasing my Luck just to boost my abilities, and that was definitely important, but my Toughness was only a 2 and if the simple bikers were able to chunk my health down by a quarter with only a punch, I could only imagine how bad it will hurt when I have to fight one of them that was also augmented. I dropped my final point into the stat and I saw +100 flash over my health bar. ¡°Is it just health that Toughness adds too?¡± ¡°No. In addition to the health bonus, each point in Toughness increases your natural resiliences and your Stability substat. These various character stats can be seen under your larger character sheet. But you will have some time for that later, we will need to be immediately moving on.¡± Just as Angie promised, another new window flashed open, though it remained blank as my hotbar moved from its normal position into the bottom of the screen. ¡°Warning: You can only begin the process once you select an ability, there¡¯s no ¡°scrolling around¡± to see what modifications can be made to your various skills. Select one, and three modifications will populate this screen. You have 30 seconds to select a skill and a subsequent 30 seconds to choose the modification.¡± A timer immediately filled the center of the window and I cursed under my breath. What the hell was the point of giving us practically no time to consider damn near any of our choices. This was really on me for not taking literally any time since the end of the fight to look over the skills. I knew my passive skills were useful but without a gun, my Sting Like A Bee ability was the most offensive skill I had. The icon, an actual bee, briefly filled the Ability Augmentation window before a brief description, without Angie¡¯s color commentary, appeared. Directly below it, the now familiar spinning text boxes filled the rest of the screen. ¡°Sting Like a Bee: Activated Ability. You gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck you have) for your next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict an additional 25% damage! Additional effects may also occur. This ability has a 30 second duration and a 2 minute and 30 second cooldown.¡± ¡°First Modification Option! Passive Upgrade! All of your Unarmed Strikes now have a 1% chance (increasing by 1% for every 1 point of Luck you have) to strike Weak Spots. This Passive Ability does not stack with the activated version and is not in effect while the ability is on cooldown. You don¡¯t get to have your cake and eat it too, at least, not this early on.¡± ¡°Second Modification Option! Time Adjustment! This ability no longer has a time limit for use and will only go on cooldown when you have thrown all of your enhanced unarmed strikes. And when we say no time limit, we mean, no time limit. If you have one strike left after all of your enemies have been dispatched, this ability will hold that one strike in reserve until your next fight, even overnight, and then go on cooldown immediately after being thrown.¡± ¡°Third Modification Option! Highlighter Perk! When this ability is activated, possible weak spots will be highlighted on enemies within your local area. Hitting one of these highlighted areas grants an additional 5% chance of dealing critical damage and causing an instant KO. Given you¡¯ve already gotten the Low Blow achievement, I feel it¡¯s my duty to tell you these highlighted spots won¡¯t always be where you expect them to be.¡± A timer was rapidly ticking down in the corner of the screen as I quickly read through the options, trying to see which, if any, had the best advantages. I was leaning toward the first. MY passive abilities were useful and adding another one wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. Sure I¡¯d lose the passive during the cooldown period, but that¡¯s how I always would be if I didn¡¯t choose that modification. The time adjustment also had its benefits. After all, hadn¡¯t I just been racing earlier to throw the last of my enhanced strikes before the timer had ticked over to the cooldown? Even so, I didn¡¯t like the idea of only having one of the enhanced strikes available going into a new battle and given what I had seen of Augment fights before I had gotten dragged into all of this, I didn¡¯t think this was the best choice. But the Highlighter perk was interesting. Anything that could cause an instant KO, even at a low percentage, was dangerous, especially if I was considering the long term implications of the game. Even though part of me was still wanting to desperately buck at my new reality, this was essentially a video game, sure I might not have been given a choice on if I wanted to play it, but it was a video game. And if it followed the same pattern as other games, the enemies would only continue to get stronger. The ability to one shot any of them would be- ¡°Times Up! I have rolled the dice for you and your Sting Like A Bee ability has been modified with a Time Adjustment. Now, before we move on to Sanctuary Square, let¡¯s open those Loot Boxes.¡± ¡°God damnit Angie!¡± Chapter 7

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed. City: Claimed by Squad The Paragons of Justice

¡°This is your B.E.L.T., the Bottomless Equipment and Loot Transport interface. Please Note: Your current version of the B.E.L.T. will only allow items generated for Infinite Ascension to be placed inside. If it is non-human, can be highlighted by your HUD, and is an item specifically made for the game, then it can go in here.¡± ¡°Bottomless? So like, I can literally just keep shoving more and more into here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct! Though statistics show most player¡¯s B.E.L.T.s only carry on average around 200lbs.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± I got up from my bed and walked over to my desk, taking a seat at a folding chair. I tossed my sticker-covered laptop over onto my bed and leaned back. ¡°Okay, now what?¡± ¡°Now, select your loot boxes and they will all appear on the table here.¡± I followed her instructions, looking at the single stack of 10 loot boxes before mentally selecting them. In quick flashes of light, they all scattered over the desk. While they were all uniform in size, appearing like metal shoeboxes with a removable lid, they each had a letter and a small bit of text engraved on the top to differentiate. I grabbed the one closest to me labeled ¡°C : Quippy Longstockings¡±, and pulled the lid from it. There was nothing actually in the box, but a window opened and listed the contents as: ¡°What¡¯s the difference between a level up scroll and an Ability Augmentation? Also Credits? Is that like, the in-game currency? Kinda would rather have cash¡­¡± ¡°Credits can be exchanged at the Registration Center in Sanctuary Square at a rate of 1 credit to 10 cents. As for the difference between the scrolls and the Ability Augmentation. Your skills will gradually level up and get stronger with use over time within the set rules of the ability. For example, skills that use your Luck stat will gradually give you higher percent likelihoods the higher the skill reaches.. A Targeted Ability Level Up will allow you to choose and raise a single ability by one level. There are also Randomized Ability Level Up scrolls that will randomly raise a single ability by one level. Please Note: Abilities can only be leveled up with scrolls once per 24 hour period, but can still be leveled up by general use and experience.¡± I mentally selected the scroll and an honest to god piece of parchment with illegible script written over it appeared in my hands. When I highlighted it it just said: ¡°Targeted Ability Level Up! Seriously, we just explained how this worked. Target one ability and raise it by a single level.¡± It wasn¡¯t like activating the Ability Augmentation. While that one brought my hotbar into a secondary screen, this time, a screen opened to list my current abilities. The major change was that there, for once, wasn¡¯t any sort of ticking timer. I could also highlight the skills and get a brief description of what each one could do. But that wasn¡¯t what had surprised me the most, it wasn¡¯t just the abilities I had created that were listed there. There were two other very important ones I wanted more details on. ¡°Local Area Manipulation! This is your Primary Power! Creates a permanent zone in a 15-foot radius around your body. Within this Local Area, you possess the ability to alter and control various aspects of your environment and the objects within it, provided you have a General Understanding of how the desired effect works. Your influence includes, but is not limited to, the following: Object Manipulation, Environmental Control, Matter Transformation, Energy Manipulation, Perception Influence and more! Your Local Area Manipulation is limited by your understanding of the effects you wish to create. The more complex the manipulation, the greater the mental effort required. Overuse or excessive strain may temporarily reduce the effectiveness of your powers, necessitating rest and recovery. Please Note: Some aspects of this Ability are locked until it reaches higher levels. Those aspects will be revealed as they become available.¡± ¡°Super Luck! This is your Secondary Power! Subtly affect the Luck of everything within your Local Area Zone by .1% for every 1 point of luck that you have. Events and outcomes within your vicinity have a higher chance of unfolding advantageously for you. Whether it''s dodging an attack, finding useful items, or having circumstances align perfectly, luck is always on your side. This Base Ability stacks with other generated abilities. Luck Bomb. Activated Ability. Once per day you can consciously invoke a surge of good fortune, increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome for a specific action or event. Please Note: Unlike other abilities, this does not need to be on your hotbar to activate!¡± I almost couldn¡¯t believe it and I reread both of the descriptions several times as I contemplated how to use my scroll. Now that I had a full explanation, I couldn¡¯t help but feel Local Area Manipulation could be downright broken with the right application. Though I wasn¡¯t sure just how a ¡°general understanding¡± of things was supposed to work. ¡°It works as it is described. While you were granted the abilities you thought of on the fly during the tutorial, future ability creation will not work the same way. You can¡¯t just bend gravity to your will, you have to have at least a basic understanding of the physics behind it.¡± ¡°So what? I¡¯m supposed to just start reading about literally physics and all this other shit?¡± ¡°If you want to do it the long and boring way, absolutely you can, but we really don¡¯t have time for all that nonsense. There are certain tomes and scrolls that will provide you an immediate skill level of 3, the minimum required understanding for your ability to be able to implement the effect. I¡¯m sure you will get at least one or two more of these scrolls from your loot boxes, let¡¯s get a move on already.¡± I sighed and selected my Local Area Manipulation as the target of the scroll. The text in its window flashed before a new message appeared. ¡°Local Area Manipulation. This power has increased to Level 2. Your local area''s radius is now 16-feet.¡± Before I just started to randomly grab and open the rest of the boxes, I decided to quickly organize them. I wanted to get a baseline of what to expect from the different tiers and to my luck, I did have a pretty good spread. Not counting the C:Tier I had already opened, I still had 3 other C:Tiers, 2 D:Tiers and an F:Tier. Then I also had 2 B:Tiers and a single A:Tier sitting at the far end of the table. ¡°Are A:Tiers the highest?¡± ¡°There are 3 Tiers higher than A:Tier for Loot Boxes. A+, S, and S+ Tier. These are all much rarer than the previous tiers and are generally only given out for specific high level quests, ultra rare achievements, and as rewards for placements within the various phases of your wave. They also will almost always give unique items, immediate level up scrolls, and other features that you would otherwise not be able to receive.¡± I opened the rest of the C:Tiers first, getting 15 more Enhanced Health Injectors, 2 more Targeted Ability Level Up Scrolls, 2000 Credits and an item labeled How The Hell Does This Fool Anybody. I left the Level Up Scrolls alone for the time being, intent on circling back to them later in the day when I had time to just think and highlighted the last item on the list which was marked as ¡°equippable.¡± In a flash of light, it materialized on the table in front of me. ¡°How The Hell Does This Fool Anybody? Equippable Mask! Color: Black. This is a Basic Item and does not improve any stats, but it does count as a disguise to allow you to use your abilities outside of your safe house and comes with the Who¡¯s That?! Feature. This item can be transmogrified. There Augment, now you don¡¯t have to look like a bank robber from the 1970s, are you happy now?¡± I highlighted the feature that stood out bolded in its window and Angie immediately started back up. ¡°Who¡¯s That!? This feature subtly alters the perception of people who are not aware of your Secret Identity, meaning that even though this mask is barely covering any part of your face, even your closest friends won¡¯t put two and two together when they see you in costume. So that¡¯s how this fools people.¡± ¡°Do I have to actually put things on like they are clothes? Or is it like a video game here too and I can just equip the-, oh, yeah there it is,¡± I said as a small menu opened next to the mask that included: Stow, Destroy, and Equip. I selected Equip, and the mask disappeared, with small bits of black appearing on the edges of my vision. ¡°To answer your question, yes, you can just put things on as if they are clothes, but all items generated for Infinite Ascension can be Fast Equipped using this menu. Additionally, when you have chosen your costume, I will show you how to set the necessary items to the Equipment Readying position. This will allow you to quickly materialize or hide your costume when you are moving through public spaces.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ huh that¡¯s actually pretty cool,¡± I said as I reached up and felt the lightweight mask clinging to my face. I looked at my remaining boxes and decided to get the lower tier boxes out of the way first. The 2 D:Tier boxes each contained 50 Credits a piece and a total of 10 Basic Stamina Injectors. Like the Basic Health Injectors I had already used, the Stamina Injectors would replenish 25% of my energy when used. The F:Tier surprised me though, containing an equippable item labeled Nutcracker Stompers. I was expecting it to be nothing but a joke item given what should have been a degrading tier system, and with a name like that, it was certainly possible that it was a joke item. Angie, as I was getting used to, anticipated my question. ¡°While the Tier system is degrading in terms of the quality of the rewards, F:Tiers are unique in that they are completely randomized. You will only ever receive a single item from any individual F:Tier box, but it can be anything that can be generated within Infinite Ascension, however they tend to oftentimes be related to the achievement that spawned them. These boxes are affected by your Luck stat.¡± I selected the Stompers and a pair of white leather combat boots materialized on the table. ¡°Nutcracker Stompers! Equippable Footwear! Color: White. Grants +1 to Charisma. Grants +1 to Style. These boots grant the Steadyfoot feature and will make you look absolutely fabuuullooooous. Deal an additional 10% damage when striking male enemies in their nuts with an unarmed strike! This item can be transmogrified. You do need to take off those ratty converse before you put these on¡± ¡°Steadyfoot! This feature grants you exceptional balance and stability, making it incredibly difficult for opponents to knock you off your feet when they are firmly planted. When activated you gain an additional +2 to Toughness and +2 to Stability for 15 seconds from the time your feet are planted and grants an additional 5% damage to any counter strike thrown. ¡± I kicked off my converse and equipped the boots, finding they were either perfectly sized or fit themselves to my feet when I equipped them. When I stood up to feel how they fit, I could tell they weren¡¯t exactly the most comfortable shoe I had ever worn. As I planted my feet, my health jumped up by 200, though instead of being like my normal red health bar, the temporary health flashed in a darker, more maroon shade. ¡°These are kind of¡­. noticeable. How the hell am I supposed to hide these when I¡¯m out? I don¡¯t really want to have to take an extra pair of shoes around.¡± ¡°In Sanctuary Square you can purchase disguise kits for items that you will always keep equipped. This will allow the items to look like basic items from your wardrobe, however they do need to be reapplied whenever you break the disguise.¡± I took a moment to silently appreciate that as another thought crossed my mind. ¡°Hmmm okay. Putting that aside for a minute, my health just went up by 200 here¡­ what exactly does that mean? Like¡­ if I hit 0 health¡­ Am I just dead?¡± ¡°It¡­ depends. If a strike is with a lethal enough weapon or power and it drops you to 0 health, then yes, you will die. So a laser to the face when you have 10 health left is probably going to melt your brain. But if a basic mob gives you a donkey punch when you¡¯re at 10 health, you¡¯ll just receive the KO debuff. This will leave you vulnerable to enemies to kill you though, so I don¡¯t recommend relying on that for safety.¡± ¡°Great¡­¡± I muttered and turned to the last of my boxes. I opened up the first B:Tier box that had been labeled ¡°Mission Tutorial¡± and received an equippable item called Serpent¡¯s Fang Bracers and 1500 Credits. The second B:Tier held only a single item, a ¡°Trophy¡± titled Turnabout¡¯s Fairplay. ¡°What¡¯s this trophy?¡± ¡°Oooo lucky you! We will get to that in just a moment when you finish with the last of your loot boxes as it will flow more naturally into Sanctuary Square, those bracers are quite the lucky find too.¡± I highlighted them and a pair of dark bracers dropped onto the table. They were intricately designed and seemed to be made from a dark, durable leather. To make them look even scarier, they were adorned with three sharp spikes. Around them, there was an elegant, coiling snake design that seemed almost alive and the serpent¡¯s eyes were set with tiny, glinting emeralds. ¡°Serpent¡¯s Fang Bracers. Equippable Bracers. Color: Black Leather. Grants +5 to Strength. Sheesh, these things are really gonna clash with those boots of yours, but they will make for a great backhanded strike. Activated Ability: Venomous Strike: Once per encounter, you can activate the bracers to deliver a venom-infused attack. Upon activation, the spikes on the bracers release a potent toxin that temporarily paralyzes your target, reducing their movement speed and attack effectiveness by 30% for 15 seconds. This item can be transmogrified. This Activated Ability does not need to be on your hotbar to activate.¡± ¡°Damn¡­ +5 to Strength, that¡¯s going to bring me to 10. Does that mean if I made my appearance match my strength, I¡¯d look like some crazy bodybuilder right now since 10 is supposedly the max base stat?¡± I asked as I selected equip, watching as the bracers moved onto my wrists in a flash of light. ¡°Not necessarily. While a heavy lifter who enters the game might have a base Strength stat of 8 or 9, the game''s feature to match your appearance to your strength is judged based on your base appearance and strength at the time you enter the game. Trust me, you¡¯re already weird looking, making yourself an over muscled manchild shouldn¡¯t be the look you are going for.¡± I nodded at that. I was already considering the pros and cons to using the appearance feature and was planning on not letting my appearance match my strength, at least, not yet. It would just raise too many questions from people who knew my disdain for the gym. I turned to my final box, the A:Tier, and opened it revealing another 2500 Credits and an equippable item that I automatically made materialize on my table. ¡°Fortune¡¯s Guardian Jacket. Equippable Overcoat. Color: Orange. This eye-catching orange and blue leather biker jacket is imbued with a hint of magic, designed to attract good fortune and protect its wearer. A small, tacky silver horseshoe charm hangs from the main zipper, adding an extra touch of luck. How fucking lucky are we going to make your ass? +6 to Luck. +3 to Toughness. This jacket grants the Lucky Charm Feature and the Fortune¡¯s Shield Activated Ability.¡± ¡°Lucky Charm! This feature slightly increases the drop rate of rare items and loot. There is a 15% chance for received loot boxes to be upgraded by 1 tier. This feature has a 12 hour cooldown upon being triggered.¡± ¡°Fortune¡¯s Shield. This Activated Ability does not need to be on your hotbar to activate. Once per encounter, your jacket can activate to provide a protective barrier for 10 seconds, reducing all incoming damage by 20%.¡± While I didn¡¯t have anything but the other items I had received to compare it to, this felt like a good item and instead of equipping it with the Fast Equip option, I lifted the jacket and tossed it over my shoulder, pulling the firm feeling material on as my health jumped up by an additional 300 points. Once the coat was on, it actually seemed to shrink, adjusting to a nearly perfect fit. ¡°Well it¡¯s not the best costume, but it¡¯s at least a start,¡± Angie muttered as I moved over to a small mirror hanging next to my door. ¡°Yes yes, admire yourself later, now let¡¯s discuss your new piece of furniture. I need to show you what to do with that trophy.¡± While I did want to take a better look at the gear, finding my overall appearance to look like a hodgepodge mess, Angie was noticeably less¡­ abrasive, when I responded to her requests quicker. Plus, it was hard to say that I wasn¡¯t curious. ¡°Yeah, so where exactly did this bookshelf come from?¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually a display case, but I suppose that¡¯s just semantics. This case has two specific uses. First, you may place gained trophies on them, go ahead and do that now with that Turnabout¡¯s Fairplay trophy. Highlight the case, then select Add Trophy, if you had multiple trophies, it would provide a list of which to add. Please Note: At your current Safe House level, you can keep a maximum of 3 trophies activated at a time.¡± With a quick move through the menus, the trophy appeared on the shelf. It was a little model figure of a man wearing a bandana on a motorcycle that looked almost exactly like one of the grunts I had easily put down and I highlighted it. ¡°Turnabout¡¯s Fairplay! This is a Standard Trophy. Passive Effect: Increase the damage opponents do to their allies by 5% whenever you are directly responsible for causing the Friendly Fire. Safe House Modifier: When you sleep for 8 or more hours in your Safe House, gain a 10% increase to your Maximum Health for 20 hours. Now you don¡¯t have a reason to skip the beauty rest you so desperately need.¡± ¡°Ha ha yes you think I¡¯m ugly, we get it. The trophy is up, what¡¯s next? You said this case you guys magicked into my already cramped bedroom has another use?¡± ¡°Sheesh touchy touchy. Okay fine, feel underneath the third shelf from the top.¡± I sighed, knowing I wasn¡¯t going to get an actual answer and just followed her instructions, poking a hand under the surprisingly sturdy structure. I felt around until I found a metal protrusion that was well out of place. As soon as I placed a finger on it, expecting to have to push some sort of button, the display case hissed, pulling backwards into the wall. A bright white rectangle that glimmered at the edges was left in its place as the bulky piece of furniture fully vanished into nothing. ¡°Um¡­ This wall faces the street¡­¡± I said, looking over to the side at a window. ¡°I swear, I¡¯m just in a bed somewhere with my head caved in. I just¡­ what the actual fuck Angie?¡± ¡°You were given super powers, just fought a bunch of bikers in a bank, and you have a literal dimensional inventory but a small sub-space portal is what gets you to finally ask that? Wow, not what I was expecting.¡± ¡°Okay, seriously¡­ What the hell is all of this technology? This is literally world changing shit here¡­¡± ¡°It is the technology that makes Infinite Ascension possible, that is all you need to be made aware of. Now, though this may seem impressive, it is really no better than any of the Augments that have teleporting abilities. This is a one way connection from your safe house entrance to Sanctuary Square and other players cannot follow you back through from the Square to here unless your Safe House was the original entrance they took. Basically, this isn¡¯t a fast travel system, so don¡¯t go trying to skip across the world just by making a few friends.¡± ¡°Is it¡­ Is it safe?¡± ¡°Please, we haven¡¯t lost an Augment to one of these doorways since the Second Wave, and it stopped physically hurting players in the Sixth Wave. We got all the kinks worked out of it at this point, now go on and hop through, we¡¯re almost done with your onboarding.¡± Chapter 8

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified. Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Claimed by The First

I was in awe as I emerged from the portal. It was like stepping through a literal doorway as I immediately found myself descending a short staircase into a large courtyard. There were what must have been hundreds of other people walking around, seemingly engrossed in either conversations with others or maybe I was even seeing others finishing up their own tutorials. ¡°Ummm¡­ How am I supposed to get back home? There¡¯s not exactly a portal up there,¡± I said as I turned and found a large stone wall at the top of the stairs I had come down. ¡°When you approach the wall, the system will open a portal directly to your Safe House. Now, as I mentioned before we left your room, others are unable to follow you from the Square back to your Safe House unless your Safe House was their original entrance point.¡± On either side of the courtyard, spaced evenly apart with flowers and bushes around their large bases, there were five extremely large statues, lined and turned to face each other. Each statue was made of a different ornate looking marble, carved to what I had to assume were perfect likenesses of the heroes and villains they represented. I immediately recognized the closest of them, an amazingly accurate version of The First etched out of a white and gray marble. I wasn¡¯t quite the same level of nerd as Jon, who I¡¯m sure probably could have named each of the carved figures, but I did recognize most of the heroes displayed on The First¡¯s side. That¡¯s not to say the opposite side was nothing but a bunch of mystery figures. I did recognize one of them, a notoriously destructive villain that had gone by the name Frightmare when she was terrorizing California just a few years back. Her statue was made of a menacing black and red swirled stone that felt otherworldly and left me feeling incredibly uneasy the longer I looked at it. ¡°Sanctuary Square is quite literally a square. The shops within the east plaza of this location are dedicated to the Guardians, while the shops within the west plaza are for the Miscreants. Along the North edge are the Neutral Shops. And then there¡¯s the bar at the center of the main courtyard here, The Common Ground, but we will visit that location last. Now, for the time being, you will only have access to the Neutral Shopping Segment. While your actions will declare you on scoreboards for one side or the other, until you have claimed your first territory for either the Guardian or Miscreant team, you will not be granted access to the respective shops¡± I started my way around the courtyard, trying to take in everything at once. It was surreal, with perfectly manicured hedges and floral decorations. There were large oak trees that shaded the various tables and benches littering the square. Several others in bright costumes sat, some deep in conversations with each other, others sat on their own with their eyes glossed over, probably deep within their own menus. The shops on either edge of the square were painfully artificial and yet at the same time incredibly detailed and realistic. I couldn¡¯t tell the exact style of buildings, but the Guardian¡¯s side shops were made of brick, with clay roofs and big bay windows that looked into each shop, tucking inward around a small fountain, while the Miscreant¡¯s would have been right at home in a Halloween movie, with dark metal arches and painted black bricks. I had to crane my neck to look up at the statues of the various heroes. After taking a moment to look at them, I finally realized the three statues following The First were, predictably, members of his team based out of New York. But the last of the five statues was a short goggled man with wild hair that I couldn¡¯t place even if I wanted to. Luckily for me, the statue could be highlighted. ¡°TechWarden. Level 116 Gizmo Guru. Claimed Territories: 63. Status: Unknown.¡± ¡°Never heard of him, that¡¯s kinda odd given the rest of the lineup, isn¡¯t it?¡± I wondered as I looked back along the rest of the line. ¡°Is he a member of The First¡¯s team? And what¡¯s with the status?¡± ¡°I would highly suggest using the internal chat feature while in Sanctuary Square. While the other players might assume you¡¯re talking to me, think of it as a courtesy thing,¡± Angie said. ¡°To answer your questions however, the statues lining the team¡¯s sides depict the 5 players that have held the territories worth the most amount of points since the start of the game. This does not change whether the players are considered Dead or Alive, as long as they held the record for the highest point total, their likeness will be immortalized here. Hmmm¡­ I guess it¡¯s not necessarily immortalized if someone could knock them out of their spot with enough effort though is it?¡± ¡°Yeah, but what¡¯s it mean by ¡°Unknown?¡±¡± I asked, not getting sidetracked by her obvious bait. ¡°It means Unknown. The Augment could have been in an accident that has left it questionable if they are dead or alive, or they are utilizing special gear to mask their presence from other players, as some Augments gain notoriety and large targets on their backs from the opposing sides. At your current level, that¡¯s not something that you need to worry about. You still need to make a reputation for yourself first.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± I said, turning and continuing my trek toward the far end of the square. As I walked, I noticed a player wearing a bag over his head with the eyes cut out. He was pacing back and forth in front of a bench as he scratched at his arm. I could actually hear him talking and I could immediately see why Angie suggested I speak internally. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Why am I the only one freaking out about all of this!? Those were people! You had me kill actual people!¡± ¡°Hmm, his Personal A.I. has most probably not have activated the Acceptance Matrix during calibration. That¡¯s going to be rough until they can reboot his system.¡± ¡°Wait, his what?¡± I stopped in my tracks, looking back to the man clearly having a mental breakdown. He had been coherent enough to get here, but if I had been the one freaking out and everybody else wasn¡¯t, I¡¯m sure that might have pushed me over the edge too. ¡°His Acceptance Matrix. It was one of the first things that we loaded during calibration if you recall. It¡¯s a standard feature of the Augmentation process that opens the Augment¡¯s minds to being more likely to be okay with the various new aspects we are rapidly tossing at you. It saves us a lot of time dealing with panic attacks like that guy is having.¡± ¡°Is that why-¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s why you haven¡¯t felt the need to push me on the non-sentient NPCs or the fact that you have a persistent graphical interface in your vision. While I could turn it off, we generally have found those breakdowns are less than fun to watch and overall accomplish nothing, especially when we have gone through all the effort of augmenting you in the first place.¡± I felt my gut wrench as I once again found myself stopping in my tracks. I hadn¡¯t been able to quite put my finger on it until just now, but it was that same warring feeling I¡¯d had since waking up and I finally had an explanation for it. I wanted to be questioning all of this, to be freaking out about it, but whatever this Matrix was, it was mitigating those feelings, pushing them down and forcing me to ignore them. Maybe I should be thankful for it. It was easier than the alternative, which at this point was to drop into a never ending cycle of existential worrying about what was and wasn¡¯t my own feelings. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit Augment!¡± ¡°Yeah, how about we don¡¯t do that thing where we respond to my private thoughts when I¡¯m in the middle of questioning my own sanity, sound good?¡± I asked and continued my trek toward the elegant looking segment. ¡°Sure thing! If you''d like, you can set my responses to only be activated by directed thoughts or speech toward me. Would you like to enable that now?¡± ¡°WAIT WE COULD HAVE DONE THAT THE WHOLE TIME!?¡± I practically shouted and surprisingly found some sort of feedback sound echoing in my head. Angie started to chirp with laughter, taking a few moments to settle down. ¡°Sometimes you just have to ask, remember that for the future Augment.¡± She said as she finished composing herself. ¡°Now, the Neutral Shopping Segment is home to just a few shops, as the majority of the Square¡¯s features are locked behind team selection. There is a basic equipment shop, though your loot boxes have given you gear that really dwarfs anything you¡¯d be able to afford with your current credit stash. You can acquire the basic disguise kit from this store as well. More importantly is the Registration Center. Here, you will register your official player name and, when you¡¯ve reached the stage where you have a few friends, you can also register active player squads. Please Note: While the name you enter here will become your Augment Identity, public perception or your own introductions can affect what you are recognized as by the NPCs. It doesn¡¯t happen often, but every so often you get someone wanting to call themselves Jacked only for their name to evolve into Jacked Off.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Duly noted¡­ Do I uh¡­ need to go do that before we can do anything else? I haven¡¯t exactly come up with a name I really want to use just yet,¡± I said. In truth, I hadn¡¯t even given it any thought so far and the one person I really wanted to ask for an opinion on it couldn¡¯t really be told. Jon would have had at least a dozen ideas locked and loaded the moment I clued him in. ¡°Nope, while some Augments choose names rather quickly, most take at least a few days to figure that detail out, normally they get the idea off of something some random civilian shouts at them during one of their early skirmishes. You won¡¯t be able to activate any NPC created quests, but you can still gain experience from completing Crime Alerts and patrolling your neighborhood for encounters and street level crime until you have settled on that. Though that won¡¯t stop anything that has already been set into motion.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s good to know that¡¯s not on that much of a time limit,¡± I said and almost as if anticipating Angie I added, ¡°Although I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some secret hidden factor working in the background that¡¯s going to be a bitch to deal with the longer I take.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it!¡± ¡°New Achievement! Off With the Training Wheels! You have completed the onboarding phase of Infinite Ascension. Though this is only a Wood Level Achievement, it is worth celebrating! Reward: You have been granted 3 Drink Tickets, redeemable at The Common Ground for any beverage.¡± ¡°Oh sweet, free drinks,¡± I said as the tickets materialized into my hand. I examined the three tickets, each emblazoned with a simple logo for The Common Ground and the words: 1 Free Drink, Top Shelf Excluded. I ignored the fact that the description had claimed they were for any beverage and decided to just move on with it. I was a Captain and Coke kind of guy anyway, I didn¡¯t have time for expensive booze that I could barely appreciate. With a dissolving light, the tickets returned back to my inventory. ¡°When we got here, it said this was a Non-PVP zone, does that mean there¡¯s no bar fights or anything like that?¡± ¡°They can happen, but it generally results in the offenders getting placed into Critical Level Threats as a punishment, so don¡¯t go looking for trouble.¡± ¡°Good to know, okay, I¡¯m going to hit the equipment shop then really quick to get that disguise kit for these boots, then I want to check that bar out,¡± I said and climbed the small staircase up a level to what was, in reality, an overly ornate strip mall. While the rest of the square had been relatively full, there were only a handful of other people loitering in this relatively small area. Maybe I should have stopped to try and mingle, but I had never been the most social of people, hell I lived with Jon simply because we had been friends from childhood. I could barely even remember the last time I made a new friend and now really didn¡¯t seem like the time. As I looked along the shopping center, there were signs for three shops. Off to the far side was a single door with a sign labeled Registration and I made a note to return later. In the center was a full paned window with swirling text that read Slick Louie¡¯s Hemming and Other Needlework Needs. ¡°So there¡¯s a Tailor and an Equipment shop?¡± ¡°Yes, some loot boxes will provide enchanted crafting materials, if brought to one of the tailors here they can craft or enhance your gear. You should also note that not all crafting material needs to be brought to a tailor to be utilized. Really, you can more or less ignore this place for now unless your gear ends up getting damaged.¡± I walked over to the last shop that had a simple sign that read Greg¡¯s Gear and Gadgets. A few others exited the shop and I highlighted a few of them out of curiosity, but they each came up as ¡°??????¡± which I assumed meant they weren¡¯t registered just yet. There was the familiar sound of a dinging bell as I pushed the door open and entered a pristinely kept shop. I hadn¡¯t been in a lot of gun shops, but I had seen at least a few shows with them and this reminded me of those, except far, far cleaner. The walls were bright white and a long, glass counter bordered three edges of the room, blocking access from various pieces of gear. From a small curtained doorway at the back of the room, a man dressed in a perfectly tailored pinstripe suit entered the space. He had a long, groomed mustache that actually curled up and he looked at me with a raised brow. ¡°Gregory. Owner of Greg¡¯s Gear and Gadgets. This is a non-sentient NPC. Gregory does not have a last name, he does not have a family! He lives in the apartment above this shop and he does one thing very very well. He tinkers. Gregory¡¯s shop is filled with equipment perfect for the beginner Augment, just be careful, you can poke your eye out with some of these toys.¡± ¡°Welcome Augment, please do look around, we¡¯ve got consumables on the shelves as well as a few specialty items. You don¡¯t look quite like a Miscreant, but I warn all new customers, if you attempt to take a product from my store without paying, you¡¯ll be hit with a nasty debuff and the gear will just be flashed back to the shelves,¡± Gregory said as he leaned onto the counter and gestured at a sign on the wall next to his backroom that said Shoplifters Will Be Exsanguinated. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what his accent was, but it felt¡­ high class. ¡°Um, thanks,¡± I said, walking along the glass counter and checking the back wall. From guns to boots and capes, there really seemed to be a little bit of everything. I really wasn¡¯t even sure where to start. ¡°I¡¯m looking for some disguise kits? These boots kind of stand out and my A.I. told me I couldn¡¯t really wear normal shoes now if I wanted to have these on in case of an emergency.¡± ¡°Ah yes, that is a problem you all tend to run into,¡± Gregory said as he knelt behind a counter, returning only a moment later with a small black box. ¡°The disguise kits are good and all, but at the end of the day, you¡¯ll still be wearing those boots and I can guarantee they aren¡¯t all that comfortable.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t that bad, and I don¡¯t exactly have a huge budget,¡± I shot back as I walked over toward him and eyed the shoebox. ¡°These are Illusory Slippers, the most comfortable footwear this side of the Mississippi.¡± He announced and with an almost comical flourish he pulled the lid from the box. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as he tossed the lid to the side and revealed a pair of actual fuzzy black slippers. They were the kind you¡¯d put on with a pair of big socks when the temperature dipped really low and I highlighted them out of curiosity. ¡°Illusory Slippers. Equippable Footwear. Color: Black, but no one is really going to know that. These comfortable, memory foam lined shoes offer no stat boosts, but they do have one very very nifty feature. MEMORY. FOAM.¡± ¡°Memory Foam. This feature, when applied to an equippable item, allows the storage of three non-game generated items in the memory of the equipment. Simply touch the slippers to the chosen item to copy and voila! If the stored items are of the same class of apparel, the item can transform to take on the appearance and function of the non-generated item. So if you set it to copy your sneakers, you can run like normal AND still suck at basketball. Price: 5500 Credits.¡± I almost felt my jaw drop at the price. Buying them would mean emptying most of the credits I had received so far but I could immediately see the benefit. The disguise kit was necessary to hide the boots because I couldn¡¯t use the equipment system to put on or take off my ordinary shoes, but with these I could swap between them right through my B.E.L.T, and if I was going to have to rebuy the kits over time, that would easily cost more in the long run. ¡°You know what, you¡¯re right, these boots really are pretty uncomfortable. I¡¯ll take them,¡± I said and my credit counter briefly showed a red -5500 before settling at 1100. ¡°Perfect choice, now, I do not recommend wearing them until you have saved your desired looks into the Memory Foam, they would look absolutely atrocious with your current getup. If you come across anything good though, I¡¯d be happy to buy it off of you,¡± Gregory added as I turned and walked back for the door, waving over my shoulder as I exited back into the crisp afternoon. ¡°New Achievement! Big Spender! You spent more than half your available wallet on your first visit to the equipment shop. Hell, you didn¡¯t even think twice or check around to see how much other stuff cost¡­ or negotiate. We even told you about the conversion rate! Are you just bad at math or did you not realize those shoes just cost you $550? Oh well, we¡¯ll never know if you could have gotten those slippers a little bit cheaper. This is a Silver Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box.¡± I waved the achievement away as I mentally cursed at the price. She had mentioned the conversion rate but I really hadn¡¯t taken the time to do the math. Still, I had made all of that just off of achievements and it was hard not to be curious with a new loot box in my inventory. ¡°Can I open loot boxes here or does it have to be back at my own Safe House. This is a Non-PVP zone, that should count right?¡± ¡°That is a very astute and fair question coming from you! Color me surprised,¡± Angie said with another laugh. ¡°But unfortunately, no it does not. There are shops in both the Guardian and Miscreant sections where you may do so, but the general square and Common Ground bar do not count as eligible safe houses.¡± ¡°Eh, I guess that makes sense, okay, where to next, the bar?¡± I asked as I hopped down the stairs and looked toward the bar that sat at the exact center of the square. In a motion that was becoming surprisingly natural I materialized one of the drink tickets and held it up as I said aloud, ¡°Cause let¡¯s be honest, I could reeeeally use a drink right about now.¡± Chapter 9 ¡°Before you enter, I should make you aware of the special circumstances surrounding the bar.¡± ¡°You already mentioned the whole, don¡¯t get into bar fights, rule,¡± I replied. ¡°No- well yes that too, but the Common Ground is one of the first places that was created the same day that the game launch. Because of this, there are a few bugs that have persisted through all of the deployed patches and updates, as well as a special rule that applies only to it.¡± ¡°Oh? Well let¡¯s hear it then,¡± I said as I looked at the vast outdoor seating that wrapped around the edge of the building. ¡°The Common Ground is the only location on the planet that you will not have access to me, your wonderful assistant. This is due to an incident that happened in the First Wave that nearly corrupted the entire Personal A.I. system. The incident is not repeatable, but the patch to fix it required setting a permanent null zone over the location it happened, which is, obviously, this bar.¡± ¡°Well shit, that¡¯s not a bug, that¡¯s a feature,¡± I said, almost eager at the idea of a bit of mental silence, ¡°But isn¡¯t there some stuff you¡¯re supposed to explain to me about this place?¡± ¡°There are some important things, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out. You¡¯re not that stupid and there tends to be a little tradition that you¡¯ll experience soon enough. If you do have any extra questions, you can open up a mental notepad from your interface to add notes to and I can fill in the gaps for your tiny monkey brain.¡± ¡°Thanks... You know what, let me get my ass in there just so I can have some peace and quiet for a few fucking minutes,¡± I said finding myself slightly exacerbated as I started for the door. ¡°Hey I was compli-¡± Angie¡¯s voice cut off literally as I crossed the threshold into the bar and I was actually surprised. I had thought that was just going to be another joke and even though I waited for a moment for her to yell something stupid like ¡°Psych,¡± it never happened. I let out a long, slow sigh as I felt the silence actually set in and then took a long look over the building. The place was extremely reminiscent of a classic sports bar but instead of sports memorabilia or games dotting the walls and screens, there were pictures of heroes and villains fighting, large versions of famous comic covers, and what even looked like some wreckage from a giant robot placed near the center of the building, with a spiral staircase swirling up and around it, heading to a second floor. The screens had what looked like cinematic footage of the same variety, with a fight between The First and some group of villains that had been threatening South Africa taking up the largest screen on a big wall at the south end of the building. There were at least a few dozen people scattered around, some sitting at booths or high-top tables by themselves, others wandering around, looking just as amazed as I¡¯m sure I was. They must have been going through the same thing, trying to make heads or tails of this crazy as fuck situation we had found ourselves in. I felt myself come up short as I stopped in front of a section of wall that stood out from the pristinely placed d¨¦cor. It was actually almost jarring how much the writing contrasted the rest of the building. More jarring than that was how each line seemed to be written by a different hand. ¡°The Augment''s Code,¡± I murmured to myself as I stepped back to take in the entire wall. The Augment''s Code
  1. We will do our best to never allow a Sentient NPC to be put in harm¡¯s way, and when they are, we will do what we must to make it right.
  2. The world is not worth points for a game. If you threaten the world, we will come for you.
  3. It is cruel to allow Non-Sentients to know of the truth behind their existence. We will never disabuse them of what they believe to be reality and if we must kill them, we will do so with respect.
  4. We will honor those who have fallen, those who fought to protect our friends, our family, and all other Sentient NPCs that believe us heroes or villains.
  5. We will do our best to never damage or cause a change to the rules protecting The Common Ground from Personal A.I.s. We ALL deserve a little mental silence.
  6. We will never, under any circumstances, use our powers to catch fish in the Mississippi while the sun is setting on a cloudless day. Just¡­ just trust me, it¡¯s not a good idea.
¡°What¡­ What the fuck is that last one¡­¡± ¡°I hear it¡¯s some weird bug in the Augmentation Array. Makes your hands and feet switch places or some shit,¡± I turned to see a man in a blue and silver mask that covered most of his face and an honest to god gray cowboy hat walk up. He had an unlabeled beer clutched in his hand as he looked me up and down, ¡°Lemme guess, you''re from the new wave, ain¡¯tcha?¡± ¡°Heh, that obvious?¡± ¡°Kinda, you guys always look like deers caught in front of a souped up F-150,¡± he said as he stopped and looked up at the wall, then seemed to catch himself. He swapped the beer to his other hand and held it out for me to shake. ¡°I¡¯m Silver Wrangler, your P.A.I. won¡¯t work but you can still highlight me and get the public info shit. It¡¯s how I can see your name is still a bunch of question marks, which is also kinda a dead giveaway for a noob. Just call me Silver, most people do.¡± ¡°My¡­ pie?¡± I said, reaching out and shaking his hand. ¡°Personal A.I., P-A-I, pie, you get it.¡± I highlighted him, just to see that he was right. Instead of Angie¡¯s chipper voice, a monotone robotic voice read the description in my head. ¡°Silver Wrangler. Level 48 Werewolf Hunter. Squad: Ours Is The Fury.¡± ¡°What the fuck is a Werewolf Hunter?¡± I asked before I could stop myself and he laughed in response. ¡°It¡¯s the name of my powerset, like how yours is Perfect Planner.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah I guess that makes sense¡­ I mean, it makes sense that¡¯s what it represents, how ¡°Werewolf Hunter¡± translates into a powerset¡­¡± I said, trailing off as I brought a hand to my chin and I thought about it. ¡°What uh¡­ I mean¡­ when did you¡­¡± ¡°I was in the Seventh Wave about three years ago, well, y¡¯know, technically still am,¡± he said and his voice seemed to trail off as his attention never left the wall. ¡°The first year of the game is pretty rough, but after that things get pretty chill overall. Don¡¯t let your P.A.I. ever make yah worry that things are always gonna be insane, what¡¯s yours call itself anyway?¡± ¡°Mine? Aren¡¯t they all just called Angie?¡± I asked and Silver let out a loud guffaw. ¡°Ah shit, you got one of the ones that likes to fuck with yah!¡± ¡°Oh fuck me¡­ are you telling me that some people don¡¯t have to deal with a snarky asshole half the damn time?¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Most people don¡¯t. As far as I know the P.A.I.s come in like, 3 flavors. There¡¯s the Navi types, the ones that basically never stop trying to shower you with helpful tips. Though they can get annoying constantly asking you to listen to them. Then you got the Utilitarian types that give straightforward information, though they tend to lean in on just maximizing stats which you¡¯re gonna learn isn¡¯t the only way to play the game. And then there¡¯s the giant assholes. They¡¯ll give you the information you need, but half the time they are literally just doing it for their own amusement. The one thing all the types have in common is that they give their player some weirdly stupid acronym that makes up a name for them. Mine is the Digitally Added Virtual Interface Decoder, or David, he¡¯s very uh¡­ straightforward.¡± ¡°Shit, I¡¯d take a utilitarian approach over the constant bullshit Angie is practically always spewing at me. But I¡¯m just gonna go ahead and assume I¡¯m stuck with her, right?¡± ¡°Yaaaaaahup,¡± Silver laughed and then gestured around the room. ¡°But for what it¡¯s worth, the asshole types are pretty rare and the players that get them almost always end up on one of the dozen leaderboards one way or another, at least the ones I know of.¡± ¡°Oh joy,¡± I said almost dryly. I briefly looked at all of the monitors before my attention was pulled back to the out of place scrawl on the wall. ¡°So what is this anyway? Some sort of mantra for the, what did my P.A.I. call them¡­ the Guardian side? I can¡¯t imagine folks calling themselves Villains or Miscreants or whatever would be so eager to live by a code like this.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± Silver said and cocked his brow as he looked over at me. ¡°Believe it or not, not all of us Miscreants are as murderous or destructive as folks like Napalm or Bloody Gary.¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sure some of them aren¡¯t that bad but- wait what?¡± I said finding myself unconsciously stepping away from the man. ¡°Ha, worth it every time, yeah bud, I¡¯m a Miscreant. But unless you¡¯re trying to fuck with me in South Texas, I ain¡¯t gonna go out of my way to stomp some noob. I¡¯d get shit for experience and it would just make me look bad,¡± he laughed and patted me on the shoulder. ¡°That code there, not everyone follows it, but I¡¯d reckon most of us do. It keeps us grounded, keeps us from losing ourselves to these powers. Keeps us from hurting the people that do still matter to us¡­¡± ¡°I guess that makes me feel a little bit better, I was half worried I¡¯d have to be fighting a bunch of blood thirsty assholes who got pulled into this game,¡± I said as I turned away from the code and looked for a bar, finding one with an alcohol lined wall and nodding toward it. Silver waved me forward and followed as I walked toward it. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t stick your head in the sand bud. Things might calm down afterwards, but year one is the bloodiest part of any wave while the weakest of the players are culled through. I think the most Augments to ever survive it in a wave is something like just a bit over 700. Only 557 of us survived my wave''s first year. Our leaderboard is pretty static now, a couple people swap things here and there but nobody wants to get into too big of a pissing match.¡± ¡°Why uh¡­ why is the first year so bloody then? Like, what¡¯s even the point of the game? I¡¯ve done the tutorial but my P.A.I. has been less than forthright with the why of all of it.¡± I asked, stopping at the bar and grabbing a seat. A moment later a man that hadn¡¯t been there appeared, looking at me expectantly. ¡°Yo keep, get me a double Ranch Water,¡± Silver said and in a matter of seconds the bartender had a filled glass topped with a lime wedge ready and handed off. I quickly materialized one of the drink tickets. ¡°Captain and Coke for me,¡± I said and a moment later I was taking a sip, smacking my lips in appreciation as the bartender walked away without a single word. ¡°They¡¯ll talk to you if you¡¯re by yourself, in case you¡¯re wondering. I¡¯ve spent more than a few nights talking Chuck¡¯s ear off over at that smaller bar by the south entrance of the Grounds,¡± he explained as he took a long swig from his drink. ¡°The game, at least for the most part, is pretty simple. I mean, the overall goal has been the same since the beginning as far as I can tell. Claim the most territories, have the most ¡°points,¡± standard issue game shit, but the truth is no one is exactly sure why. Our P.A.I¡¯s push us to play, and we dance like monkeys. Either way, not like there¡¯s anything we can do about it but have as much fun with it as we can. My buddies and I got a nice little foothold that we are starting to look at expanding soon but it¡¯s really all about finding the right timing.¡± ¡°How exactly does that work or uh¡­ sorry, I guess you¡¯re not exactly my game guide or anything,¡± I said and took another drink. ¡°Why are you telling me all of this anyway? Especially since you don¡¯t even know what side I¡¯m going to be on.¡± Silver just laughed at that, stopping only to throw back the rest of his drink. ¡°Please you got Guardian written all over you. But it sort of started as one of those tradition things that¡¯s evolved since then. We know when the new waves come in, that announcement you got from Axio? He talks to all of us, though to my knowledge it¡¯s like, split between Waves somehow. We all get announcements that happen, but what you and I hear are gonna be two different things if that makes sense. Anyway, he always makes it a point to let us know when the new wave starts. More or less lets us know there¡¯s gonna be fresh meat vying for territory,¡± he explained and waved to the gathering crowd inside the bar. ¡°A bunch of us come here when it happens, help explain as much of this mess as we can to all of you noobs. A sort of, pay it forward thing, y¡¯know? It¡¯s gotten to the point that anyone who does help ¡°sufficiently¡± gets an F:Tier loot box, which¡­ wait you¡¯ve gotten one of those already right?¡± ¡°Yeah, the randomized one right? I thought it was gonna be trash since it¡¯s at the bottom of the scale but the F:Tier I got earlier gave me these boots which, while not exactly the best looking, have some halfway decent stats,¡± I said, gesturing down to them. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve gotten a few good things out of them. Some really bad things too, but the good things were like, really good, so it¡¯s worth it to come in and give y¡¯all that little bit of a hand just for the gamble,¡± He explained. ¡°See at least that adds up. You¡¯re getting something out of helping,¡± I said and felt a small weight lift off my shoulder now that his motivation was more clear. ¡°We can¡¯t really tell you everything though, kinda like how you can¡¯t talk about the game with people outside of it, there are certain things that the system forcefully suppresses, so I wouldn¡¯t go asking me too many questions¡± Silver explained, turning and grabbing another drink from the bartender. ¡°As for the territories¡­ okay y¡¯know how like, all the news channels and shit call The First¡¯s team the ''''Protectors of New York'''' or how Hellwing was the ¡°Tyrant of Tokyo¡± for a while last year? Well it¡¯s sorta like that. You don¡¯t necessarily have to have the media blasting you around, hell it¡¯s how me and my buds have stayed mostly off the radar, but the game will give yah a goal around your hometown area, something that¡¯s gonna make you want to make it clear to the non-sentients and other players that that place is yours. I¡¯d ask your A.I. to explain the exacts, they¡¯ll give you the rules if you tell them specifically to do so.¡± ¡°Shit, I guess that sort of makes sense, hell my tutorial had me fighting this biker gang that the A.I. claimed had been terrorizing He- uh¡­ my neighborhood,¡± I said, catching myself as I thought about it, Angie¡¯s reminder about the Secret Identity protocol briefly popping into my head. Silver let out another laugh as he drank down his second drink in a single long gulp, ¡°It¡¯s all good bud, it¡¯s why I haven¡¯t told you where in Texas I¡¯m from. Your gut instincts right, keep the personal shit to yourself, even when you do get team members. And, now that the loot box has landed in my B.E.L.T., I¡¯ve done my duty and explained at least a little bit of this shit to a noob. Oh and here¡¯s a freebie, Axio does an ¡°end of the day¡± report most days too. It tends to happen at 5PM in Texas, I¡¯m sure you can do the math to figure out when it happens where you¡¯re at..¡± ¡°Shit good to know, I guess that¡¯s more than I was really expecting anyway, thanks for that,¡± I said and looked down at the remains of my drink. ¡°Is there like, a friend''s list or something? Or hell, any sort of messaging system?¡± ¡°Yeah there¡¯s a bunch of stuff like that. Chat features, the Squad system, and a couple of other things too. Most are standard game things, so they are useful but not all that exciting. That said, I¡¯d recommend getting the phone upgrade for your HUD as soon as yah can. I broke like, 4 phones my first few weeks. Most of it is locked behind name registration though,¡± Silver explained, ¡°Don¡¯t go dwelling on it too long, or else yah might end up just choosing a couple of words that happen to represent your powers. I mean, it worked out for me, I love my name, but there¡¯s also folks like ¡°Ice Thrower,¡± who is a hell of a fighter by the way, he¡¯s just boring as a bag of bricks. I¡¯m here most nights though, and there¡¯s a hell of a party after the first culling event y¡¯all are gonna go through. Pick the right side bud, there¡¯s plenty of fun to be had when you¡¯re bad.¡± He didn¡¯t wait any longer as he headed off, walking toward one of the exits and patting a few other people on the back as he passed them. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what to do next, I knew I couldn¡¯t stay here the whole night just to escape Angie, but I felt like I was still missing something. The screens seemed to be littered with rankings from the various waves, though there was one in particular that caught my attention. It was labeled Tenth Wave, which I immediately recognized as mine from Axio¡¯s announcement. There wasn¡¯t much information on it, but to my surprise, the list wasn¡¯t empty. Tenth Wave 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 4 - Miscreant - Territories: 1 - Score: 250 Points ¡°Shit, someone isn¡¯t wasting any time,¡± I muttered before I quickly swallowed the last of my drink. I couldn¡¯t help but feel a mix of apprehension and¡­ maybe giddiness as I looked at the screen. There was still so much I didn¡¯t know, even with Silver¡¯s helpfulness, but his warning about the reality of the bloody first year stayed with me as I headed for the door. I didn¡¯t want to die, though I think most people felt that way on a day to day basis, but I couldn¡¯t escape that possible reality of this game. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed to talk to Angie. It was a real good thing she couldn¡¯t hear that, cause knowing her, she¡¯d never let me live that thought down. Chapter 10

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed. City: Claimed by Squad The Paragons of Justice

Being able to just unequip my boots was actually a hell of a perk and as I plopped down onto my bed with a heavy thud, my boots disappeared in a flash of light. ¡°Is the Common Ground the only place to see all those leaderboards? How much do they even matter?¡± I said and looked up at a clock I kept on the wall. If Silver was right, Axio would be making an announcement soon. ¡°It depends on the leaderboard! For now, the only one you can access while outside of The Common Ground is your Wave Leaderboard and that¡¯s only while you are within a Safe Zone,¡± Angie chirped as a window expanded in my vision. Tenth Wave 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 5 - Miscreant - Territories: 2 - Score: 500 Points ¡°Holy crap, how has that guy already claimed another territory?¡± I wondered. It had taken me a few hours just to get through the tutorial alone. ¡°Claiming territories is technically easier for Miscreants, especially those with particularly destructive power sets. I cannot say for sure until there is more data but 250 is generally the lowest amount you can receive for a single territory. These low scoring regions are normally a small town or neighborhood that is minimally considered a community. Points also increase from day to day, the longer you hold a territory, the more points it is worth. These points are¡­ ah you know what, I¡¯ll just let the man himself explain.¡± I was about to ask what she meant when my clock ticked over and the TV I had seated on top of the dresser opposite of my bed clicked on. There was a logo I had never seen before, but common sense suggested it had to be for the game. It was spinning and what looked like a loading bar appeared beneath it, rapidly ticking up to full. I looked from the TV over to the remote that was only a foot away from it on the dresser and then back at the screen. ¡°Ummm¡­.¡± ¡°Gooooood Evening Augments! We have officially reached 6 hours post commencement and boy oh boy have you guys already been entertaining! There have been 943 completed tutorials and amazingly 17 of you have already exited the game. For some of them, it¡¯s really their own fault, I mean¡­ who the hell thought it was a good idea to pick the power to emit light from their whole body?! Also, I see you Dr. Noodle, that is an absolutely terrible name and I intend to have a Major Level Threat sent your way tomorrow morning. I have to draw the line somewhere and claiming a doctorate without submitting and defending a valid thesis is where it is god damnit.¡± The screen came to life as a news report clicked on, showcasing a man throwing fireballs ducking for cover in a grocery store, then the screen split and another news report appeared, a woman standing with a wicked smile cutting across her face as her eyes glowed and lighting struck, her body being replaced with a mass of electrical energy. The screens continued to split, with more and more news reports being showcased. A lady turning into a two headed beast, a man spitting what looked like acid at a bank vault, there was even an older man with an impossibly bushy mustache that was equal parts confusing and amazing to watch. The hair stretched out into honest to god fists that were smashing into a police officer trying to approach him. ¡°Many of you have already begun to make waves in your local communities, but I¡¯ve been doing some thinking here today. You see, that little loophole that added an Augment to this years wave also happened to leave a little backdoor for me, and oooooo boy, I¡¯ve been tinkering.¡± Axio let out a laugh that sent a bit of a chill down my spine. ¡°As I¡¯ve been watching all of you do the same boring tutorials we¡¯ve been throwing at you Augments year after year since this all started, I have to admit¡­ I can do better. Oh I can do so much better than this basic game that you Augments have all been stuck playing for the last decade. See we¡¯ve been going about this all wrong, keeping all of you separated by years and trying to keep things ¡°fair¡± and ¡°balanced.¡± Giving you guys several months at a time to get to the next phase of the project. Only setting you all on the task of taking over land, no that¡¯s not going to get us anywhere. You¡¯re all getting soft, you¡¯re getting used to the pointless squabbles over territory and merch sales and we just aren¡¯t¡­ we just aren¡¯t¡­ ahhh it¡¯s all just so pointless. None of you are pushing yourselves, all of the waves that came before this one, they¡¯ve just decided to ¡°get by¡± and I just can''t stand it.¡± ¡°What is-¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Angie said quickly. I felt my body buzzing with a mixture of fear and anticipation. ¡°The points given for territories will continue, if your Personal A.I.s haven¡¯t explained it to you yet, well, stop slacking and start asking them the right questions already. More importantly however, additional points will start to be granted to all players for additional activities. Defeating other Augments, stopping kaiju, oh I should tell you there¡¯s kaiju now, the NPCs are going to freak out when they become collateral damage to those monsters, and that¡¯s not even getting started on the invasion I have planned for¡­ you know what, maybe I won¡¯t spoil that just yet. Additionally, you will be given increased points for defeating and taking territory from higher leveled Augments, those slouches have had it too easy for far too long.¡± ¡°Needless to say, there are so, so many more new ways to gain points. If you need inspiration, just look at Tempest¡¯s Wrath, so far, she¡¯s my favorite from this wave. Don''t you worry Tempest, your point total will reflect your real achievement after the end of my announcement. Point gains will be retroactive for this and all former waves for activities completed within only the last week. Oh, and Tempest? I hope you enjoy that S:Tier loot box you received, you earned it. With that, I am officially opening up Phase 1 of the Tenth Wave,¡± Axio said and the reel of News footage vanished to be replaced with a countdown labeled 4D:00H:00M:00S. There was almost a giddiness in the A.I.s voice as he announced this, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the hell whoever created this thing was thinking. ¡°All Wave Ten Augments will have just 4 days to reach 10000 points, those of you who have not reached this milestone by the end of this timer will immediately be faced with a Critical Level threat. This will be guaranteed to be at a minimum a level 75 elite. Your Personal A.I.s are now being updated with a full list of the scoring system, though access to it will initially be limited. Leaderboards will also be updated to better represent the data that I think is far more important to you. Players in the top ten at the end of Phase 1 will be granted an S:Tier loot box. That¡¯s all for now, don¡¯t go worrying your little heads too much, it¡¯s not just the points I¡¯m going to be changing up this year. Good luck Augments.¡± There was the click of a sound as Axio¡¯s voice faded and the leaderboard popped back into my vision, now updated with not only different information, but a lot more lines. Tenth Wave Guardians: 415 Miscreants: 528 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 5 Thunder God - Miscreant - 6535 Points 2. Freakenstein - Level 3 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 850 Points 3. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 3 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 750 Points 4. Sound Off - Level 3 Midnight DJ - Miscreant - 600 Points 5. ????? - Level 3 ????? - Guardian - 500 Points 6. ????? - Level 3 ????? - Miscreant - 415 Points 7. ????? - Level 3 ????? - Miscreant - 350 Points 8. ????? - Level 2 ????? - Miscreant - 85 Points 9. ????? - Level 2 ????? - Guardian - 65 Points 10. ????? - Level 2 ????? - Miscreant - 50 Points "Holy shit¡­. How-" ¡°System Updated. Point scoring events updated from 1 activity to 3 known activities and 9,997 currently unknown activities.¡± The monotone robotic voice said and a screen opened. Most of the list was filled with line after line of question marks but at the top I was given a list of 3 items labeled as ¡°Basic.¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s it!? What the hell does it mean 9,997 unknown activities and for the love of god don¡¯t say ¡°it means unknown Augment,¡±¡± I said leaning forward and putting my head in my hands. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Augment, it would seem even Axio isn¡¯t quite giving us an exact list. The items are locked behind discovery at this point, but given the sheer number I¡¯d assume many standard activities will result in points.¡± ¡°Cool¡­ Okay, so I need to collect points in the next few days, otherwise I¡¯m going to probably get steamrolled and die, am I understanding that correctly?¡± I asked, rubbing my temples. ¡°Pretty much spot on, yup!¡± ¡°Awesome. And that whole Acceptance Matrix thing is keeping me from a complete and total panic attack about that fact, right?¡± ¡°Also spot on! You¡¯re getting pretty good at repeating things!¡± I let out a long sigh, cursing whatever RNG factor had left me with one of the asshole A.I.s. Silver might have thought his A.I. was boring for being straightforward, but I¡¯d trade him in a heartbeat. ¡°Okay, can you at least explain how claiming territories works? Not just theoretical, give me the actual rules of the game on how making a claim works.¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d never ask!¡± Angie chirped happily. ¡°Now to start, territories come in a rather wide range of sizes, varieties, and importance. There are multiple types within each level. A basic example of the smallest tier of territories would be your Hell¡¯s Kitchen Neighborhood. Territory types continue all the way up to Planet level with nothing rivaling that for points. Each of these territories are also separated into sizes, so an Extra-Small Neighborhood would be worth much less than an Extra-Large. In order to claim a territory, you must make a vocal claim that at a minimum of 10 NPCs hear, though this number requirement varies the larger the territory you wish to claim becomes and larger territories require a larger reputation to claim. You do not have to say ¡°I claim this region¡±, but you have to make an active association between the region and yourself. Now, if there is an existing NPC group in the region, the territory will become ¡°Contested¡± and while you will still have an active claim on the region, you will only receive half points for the claim. Other players may also contest your claim, but you probably won¡¯t deal with that anytime soon and I will make it a point to explain that situation when it occurs. Please Note: You MUST have a Name that NPCs will recognize you as in order to stake your claim, if you give them a name prior to visiting the registration center, your claim will be marked as ¡°Tentative¡± until you register your name. While the territory will be ¡°officially¡± marked as yours if it was unclaimed, if you choose to use a name other than the one you used to make your territory claim, your claim will be considered void.¡± ¡°Ok cool got it, that¡¯s¡­ complex but not that complex,¡± I replied before feeling my stomach rumble. ¡°Now are you going to yell at me if I take an actual break and go get some dinner? Cause it feels like I haven¡¯t eaten in a week.¡± ¡°No Augment, I won¡¯t yell at you, but I will remind you that just because you¡¯re not in your gear doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re not playing the game. The chosen story for you will progress, regardless of your direct involvement. I bet Lt. Nester will be just fine if you leave him waiting.¡± ¡°Yeesh he¡¯ll be fine for a night, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve picked a name yet, he¡¯s not going to talk to me until I do that. And as far as I can tell, this game isn¡¯t getting rid of my hunger factor at all,¡± I said. ¡°Actually there are Safe House upgrades that do in fact provide food and drink bonuses,¡± Angie replied. ¡°Huh, well that¡¯s actually pretty cool. Not at all useful at this very moment, but still cool,¡± I was about to grab my converse when a thought crossed my mind. With a quick flick through my B.E.L.T, the Illusory Slippers appeared in my hands. ¡°Okay, I just have to¡­¡± I started to mutter as I barely touched the slippers to my converse when a flash of light passed over them, leaving an exact replica of my shoes in their place. I used the Fast Equip option and the shoes appeared on my feet. ¡°You said something about equipment readying, right? I don¡¯t exactly want to be walking around with this jacket and the bracers on,¡± I asked and Angie quickly pulled up a new screen with the silhouette of a person, several lines poking out to empty equipment boxes. ¡°It¡¯s very simple, you¡¯ll assign items to each of these slots. There are two tabs, Active and Inactive, I recommend setting your items for these now. Your Inactive tab will act as your ¡°idle¡± outfit, perfect for those overpriced slippers of yours. In contrast, your Active tab is the tab to set your active costume items into and will activate if you either choose to activate the tab or you willingly choose to enter a combat scenario. This is to prevent you from automatically having your combat gear activated if you are trying to remain incognito.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I said. The more I used the interface, the easier it became and I quickly navigated through the tabs. I only had a few items to assign, and after just a minute I was ready to stretch my legs. ¡°So I just have to¡­¡± I started and trailed off. I didn¡¯t need to open the Readying screen, instead just thinking of the patrol tab as my outfit flashed and my jacket, mask, bracers and boots were all suddenly on. With another thought, it changed back to my idle outfit, the ratty looking converse back on my feet. ¡°New Achievement! Fashionista! Well, look at you, Mr. Versatile. Now you can effortlessly switch between your combat gear and your ''going out'' outfit. Now you¡¯re always ready to save the world or dazzle at a cocktail party (though, let''s be honest, your style could still use some serious help). This is a Wood Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier Loot Box.¡± I stopped at the desk, mentally pulling it and the C:Tier I had gotten from purchasing my shoes out of my inventory. From the two boxes I received 550 credits, another How The Hell Does This Fool Anybody mask, though this one had the color listed as ¡°Lime¡±, and¡­ a book. I materialized it onto the desk and it looked just like one of those ¡°for dummies¡± books, though I almost could have sworn the guy on the cover looked like a cartoon version of myself. ¡°Mirage and Shine. Did you ever wonder why people think they see things when it gets really hot? I mean, of course you¡¯ve heard of mirages, but do you actually know how they work? Well now you do! Not sure why this is particularly useful knowledge, but hey, that¡¯s for you to figure out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting,¡± I said as I looked at it, flipping the cover open. I expected the inside to be filled with nothing but illegible scrawl, but it was actually filled cover to cover with images of light patterns and some sort of math that I was pretty sure didn¡¯t make sense in context but was also confident I couldn¡¯t tell you why it was wrong either. I didn¡¯t actually have to read anything, because as I turned to the last page, the item dissolved and the text Optical Refraction Knowledge - Level 3 appeared and then faded into nothing. ¡°Is there anywhere to see a list of all of these skills?¡± ¡°I thought you wanted to go get something to eat?¡± Angie teased and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. I pulled my door open and headed for the apartment¡¯s exit. ¡°I do and I am, doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t ask anyway.¡± ¡°If you open your character sheet and select stats, it will give you a full list of your stats. This is not a comprehensive list because why the hell would we care how good you are at tying your shoelaces, now bondaging tying? We do track that.¡± The stairway was empty as I climbed down the few flights to the ground floor, Jon was nowhere to be found. And since he wasn¡¯t on the couch playing Augment Fighter 4, it was almost a guarantee he was down at the corner diner. As I headed out the front door I opened my character sheet and selected the tab labeled Stats. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting but it certainly wasn¡¯t seeing ¡°Page 1 of 324¡± at the bottom of the screen. I closed it out, deciding I¡¯d look through that later when I wasn¡¯t walking down the street. Sure enough, Jon was camped out in his usual booth at the back of the deli/diner combo named Tio¡¯s only a block and a half away from our building. It was run by a couple that simultaneously made the best matzo ball soup and cuban sandwich in the city. Or at least so they claimed. All I knew was they were cheap and the in house hot sauce they made was killer. ¡°The man still lives!¡± Jon said with a cheer that made me feel awkward as I dropped into his booth. He had a tablet set on the table and his feet up on the seat as he gestured at the wall behind me. ¡°You have got to see this, it¡¯s been all over the news since like, 5. ¡± I turned to look at an LCD mounted in the corner of the shop, and almost felt my stomach drop. Maybe I should have been expecting it, hell I had just seen a veritable montage of them after all, but there was something unsettling about it all the same. ¡°New Achievement! I¡¯m on the News! You have been featured on the local news! If only you had a more memorable look, maybe you¡¯d start to get a following. Oh well, it¡¯s at least a start¡­ And I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll really stand out with that tacky orange jacket next time. This is a Silver Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier Loot Box. Maybe you¡¯ll get something to really give you a unique look instead of looking like you¡¯re some weird Naruto knock off.¡± The channel didn¡¯t even show their anchor as the screen was filled with just so, so much footage. Between phone cameras, a bit of the bank¡¯s security cameras, and shots that I couldn¡¯t prove came from nowhere but certainly seemed like they came from nowhere, I watched as I took down the entire gang on the screen, strategic pixelation blocking the worst of the gore with a ¡°Warning: Graphic Footage¡± label. The News Banner read ¡°Hell¡¯s Kitchen Brawl! A Brutal Bank Beatdown by an Unknown Augment.¡± ¡°We finally got a hometown defender of our own. I wonder what this dude is calling himself,¡± Jon said as his hand dove into a bag of chips and he reached over for his tablet. ¡°There¡¯s already some chatter over on both the Hell¡¯s Kitchen and the Watch subreddits, one dude claimed he was at the bank when the whole thing went down.¡± This got my attention and I stopped watching the footage. I turned and dropped into the seat opposite him. ¡°Oh yeah? What¡¯s he saying?¡± ¡°Well he said the dude was pretty quick on his feet, though most of what seemed to happen was just really bad luck for the guys he was fighting. According to him there was a weird moment when all the sound in the room just disappeared,¡± Jon said as he handed his tablet over to me. It was a pretty basic write up, hell anyone could have put it together just by watching the news reports, but the muting? That was specific. ¡°But what the hell does that mean? Luck and Audio Control? That can¡¯t be this dude¡¯s only powers, I don¡¯t think it would explain how the one dude¡¯s gun went off.¡± ¡°His gun? Shit how much theorizing is happening off this one bank robbery?¡± ¡°A shit ton honestly. You know how the Augment Trackers are, anytime a new one crops up people can¡¯t help but try to analyze every last bit of info they can get. There¡¯s entire forums dedicated to power scaling those guys, it¡¯s actually really interesting stuff. Most of the folks in the bank got at least some bit of the fight on camera, so for this guy there¡¯s a at least a little bit to go on right now. There was even one where the dude said some cheesy as hell line about luck which I mean, that basically has to confirm his powers are something luck based, or that¡¯d be my guess. I mean, half the time the Augments seem to talk like they are out of a Saturday morning cartoon from the 50s,¡± Jon was practically buzzing as he talked and I once again found myself wishing I could just tell him about my powers. I knew how much easier my life would be if I could just fill him in. But at the same time, I didn¡¯t doubt Angie¡¯s warning about my Secret Identity, and if I could help it, I wasn¡¯t going to let Jon get used like a prop in some stupid game. While I didn¡¯t have a choice to play this game, I certainly wouldn¡¯t take away someone else¡¯s. Still, there were so many questions I had for him and a sudden bolt of inspiration hit me as a thought occurred to me. I was pretty sure he¡¯d only be subject to consequences of the Secret Identity rule if he knew that it was me specifically that had powers. As long as I could pretend that this was someone else, maybe I could get his thoughts on my abilities. I almost wanted to laugh, but I suppressed it behind a cough. It was a loophole. And that was something I could work with. Chapter 11 I swiped through an entire page of videos taken during the fight at the bank on Jon¡¯s tablet as he sat scrolling through his own laptop. Unlike Jon, before I got pulled into this, I felt like I was like most other people my age. I thought the Augments were interesting, but largely I just wanted to stay out of their way. Sure I knew about the big guys, but I didn¡¯t read the comics, or look up random fights just to see who won, or get super excited every time a new one suddenly cropped up. And that was something Jon knew very well about me. So if I suddenly named exactly what the power was and then somehow it leaked that that¡¯s exactly what this guy¡¯s¡­ my¡­ power set was, it wouldn¡¯t take Jon long to put two and two together. While I wasn¡¯t necessarily sure if that would constitute breaking the rule, it wasn¡¯t a risk I was quite ready to take. I had to find something in one of the videos that I could use and make it seem like I was just pointing it out. ¡°You could just tell him about your powers and deal with the consequences if it¡¯s so important to get his opinion. Not sure why you need it though, he¡¯s cute and all, but it¡¯s not like he could possibly know what he¡¯s talking about,¡± Angie chirped. ¡°Not now, Angie,¡± I shot back and I could actually hear her harumph in response. ¡°It¡¯s a real shame this dude¡¯s powers aren¡¯t all that flashy,¡± Jon said. He was leaning forward and seemed to be squinting as he took in something on his screen. ¡°He landed some good punches but they didn¡¯t exactly look like they were enhanced and other than the sound thing, I¡¯m not¡­ hmm what¡¯s happening with this dude¡¯s shirt?¡± I looked over to him and waited for a response but he just shook his head. With a few quick clicks on his keyboard, a link was airdropped onto the tablet. It wasn¡¯t a good shot, the person holding their phone was probably (rightfully) shaking as he tried to sneak the camera around the edge of the table, but he still caught as my Weighted Clothes ability caused the Grunt to be crushed to the ground. ¡°It kind of looks like it just suddenly got, like, really heavy or something,¡± I said and Angie groaned again. ¡°Act better.¡± ¡°Seriously Angie, Not. Now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying, if you want Mr. Blue Eyes to believe you, maybe be more convincing than ¡®really heavy or something¡¯,¡± She shot back quickly and I stopped myself from groaning. ¡°Hmm, I think you¡¯re right,¡± Jon said as he squinted at the screen. ¡°Still, that doesn¡¯t add a whole lot either. It could be something gravity related, or he could be a telekinetic. That one seems the most likely since that one gun also fired when the dude¡¯s finger was nowhere near the trigger. As much as I hate to admit it, we are probably S.O.L until this guy shows up again. You can definitely tell he''s fresh, not just going off the fact that he¡¯s running around in a ski mask, but like, there¡¯s no polish.¡± ¡°Polish?¡± I asked and leaned back against the booth, trying my best not to feel¡­ offended? My hand ran across the bottom of the seat as I considered what he was saying and my fingers briefly touched a piece of dried but still sticky used gum. I instinctively pulled my hand away, wiping it on my pant legs and feeling slightly annoyed by the bit of tackiness that remained on my fingers. A thought suddenly crossed my mind and I did a search on the tablet, finding what I was looking for rather quickly before I looked back over to Jon, ¡°Think you can explain?¡± ¡°Yeah like, okay this is gonna sound weird but try to stay with me, got it?¡± He said as he straightened up in his seat. ¡°You know me, I can handle weird,¡± I said with a wry grin but finally stopped to take a bite out of the Cuban that Jon had run up to order for me. ¡°Okay¡­ So you know how in Augment Fighter 4 you can do combos and stuff? Well it¡¯s like that,¡± he explained. ¡°Well¡­ okay it¡¯s not like an exact one for one or anything, but there¡¯s more than a few Augments who do skills or moves that get literally translated right into the game. Like The First for example. One of his signature moves is the Pressurized Ground Pound. He basically comes in hot from up high and hits the ground, which immediately sends out a big wave of pressure, hell you should remember that, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, it knocked the wind right out of me,¡± I said as I closed the browser and looked back over to Jon. ¡°Well that move is in AF4, like almost one for one. And sure, if it was just The First that would be one thing, he¡¯s famous as all hell, but like, you can literally match up moves in the game right to video footage of the different heroes and villains. If I didn¡¯t know that the Augments have better things to do with their time, I¡¯d say it¡¯s almost like they put motion controls on them just to get the combos to match up perfectly.¡± ¡°Well shit¡­ it¡¯s almost like they are just playing a game then¡­¡± I said before I could stop myself. I expected to get suppressed. Other than when I had first gotten prompted about the rule, I hadn¡¯t risked mentioning the game since I had just assumed it would be futile. Angie had after all warned me that it would just get muted. Yet somehow I hadn¡¯t been suppressed¡­ I had to test it, just to make sure and as I opened my mouth to say ¡°I¡¯m actually playing it with them¡± a big red warning flashed across my vision. ¡°DIALOGUE SUPPRESSED! This NPC is not authorized to know about the existence of Infinite Ascension. Claiming your involvement would be a clear violation of this rule. Further attempts to reveal your involvement in the game will result in the immediate summoning of a level 100 Elite NPC.¡± ¡°So why did that get suppressed?¡± Maybe it was dumb to ask, but I felt like I needed to know, especially if I was trying to find the right line to walk without risking Jon¡¯s life. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ hmmm I¡¯m actually not sure! While I am your Personal A.I., I am not the one that controls the suppression system. In fact, the only thing I am really designed to do iniatiialy is act as an interface and narrative assistant, as well as providing perfectly detailed explanations about the world around you. However, I can be upgraded with additional features in time,¡± Angie explained. ¡°It would seem Axio determined your ¡°theoretical¡± didn¡¯t constitute breaking the rule, but I¡¯d advise you to not push your luck too far.¡± ¡°I mean, that¡¯s as fair of a guess as any of the shit we¡¯ve heard, though it is kind of insane¡­ and that¡¯s when we¡¯re talking about people who literally break the laws of physics. Anyway, not the point,¡± Jon said and closed his laptop. ¡°This new guy, he doesn¡¯t have any combos. Like, yeah he turned the sound off and then made the one guy get crushed to the ground, but it wasn¡¯t in unison. He was kind of just throwing whatever he could and hoped for the best. I mean, really watching the fight, assuming his powerset is something luck based, that¡¯s really what seemed to get him through it all. There was just, well, y¡®know¡­¡± ¡°No Polish¡­¡± I finished for him as he trailed off. I had really thought I had found a way to get Jon¡¯s opinion on all of this, but clearly there just wasn¡¯t enough information that we could ¡°stumble¡± on for us to have a conversation about it just yet. ¡°Okay, I think I see what you mean. So what, you think we can¡¯t figure out what his power is yet because he¡¯s just running around like a chicken with his head cut off¡­ so to speak?¡± ¡°Yeah more or less,¡± Jon said. ¡°I definitely hope he figures it out though, I¡¯d love to have a local dude to be cheering on. But ughhh, I still wish I could have gotten powers though. What¡¯s a dude got to do to be Augmented? Friggin missed the selection window this year already¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Selection Window?¡± I found myself perking up at this. Sure there was the forum for Infinite Ascension, but it was just a place for people longing for a game that, well yes i guess it did exist but not in any form they could have ever dreamed of¡­ right? No, if that¡¯s what Jon had been following all this time, I¡¯m sure he would have told me about it ages ago. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Oh, sorry I know you¡¯re not as into all this, but I¡¯m pretty deep down the rabbit hole at this point,¡± he explained and took what felt like the longest sip of his drink. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s like, tons of video essays, theories and stuff about it if you really want a big breakdown, but the gist of it is that there¡¯s this like, window every year where new Augments appear. It doesn¡¯t seem to happen at the same time every single year, but there¡¯s always a sign about a week before it happens.¡± ¡°Oh maybe this cutie does know a thing or two,¡± Angie said, her voice practically purring. I hadn¡¯t taken the bait the first few times but I guess I was going to have to address it. ¡°Ok, is this seriously going to be a thing? You¡¯re an A.I. you can¡¯t actually think he¡¯s cute, right?¡± ¡°I can and do, don¡¯t kink shame me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not- you know what, nevermind,¡± I responded with a sigh before adding, ¡°Not even sure what the hell I was expecting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault I don¡¯t have a lot to do when you¡¯re being a boring little bitch, let me just enjoy the eye candy.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the sign then?¡± I asked, trying to ignore as Angie laughed in the back of my head. I tried to think back to the night of my accident, trying to see if there might have been a sign that I had just missed. In truth, so much of it was a haze up until The First appeared. ¡°Okay, so you know how the Array is normally just like, there, right? Maybe it flashes a few lights or glows bright over areas where big fights are happening but otherwise it mostly stays dark, right?¡± ¡°Sure, I guess so?¡± I said. ¡°Well see¡­ okay and this is where it gets a bit weird but like¡­ did you happen to notice last week, the array was sort of periodically flashing-¡± ¡°Holy shit yeah, it was flashing blue that night,¡± I cut him off before I could stop myself, the memory suddenly becoming clear to me. Jon was looking at my curiously as I tried to calm myself down. ¡°Er, I mean that was the night of my accident. I was walking toward the blockade and saw one of the nodes right above the city kinda pulsing blue before it went red and stopped completely. Shit if that¡¯s the pattern, why haven¡¯t the big channels and all that started to talk about it?¡± ¡°Timing mostly. The array doesn¡¯t flash for the same amount of time every year. A few years it flashed for a week, there were two years that it flashed for over a month and this year¡­ this year it only flashed like that for about 10 hours. Honestly most people on the forums were just thinking it was a false start until, well¡­¡± He gestured at his laptop and the tablet. ¡°Obviously there¡¯s some new Augments running around. You¡¯d think at least someone in the media would have at the very least picked up on that. Personally, and I know it¡¯s gonna make me sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist that¡¯s yelling about government censorship, but like¡­ come on right? Someone¡¯s gotta be forcing them to not mention this pretty obvious detail.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± I said, stalling as I took another bite from my sandwich. ¡°Yeah, I know it¡¯s crazy but I promise the evidence is there, though at the end of the day it doesn¡¯t matter that much. Whatever happens to get these new guys selected, clearly I missed out yet again,¡± Jon said, obviously dejected and I continued to chew, unable to find anything else to say. A notification popped up in the corner of my vision that read ¡°CRIME ALERT¡± in flashing text. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¡°Okay seriously Augment, you can read, right? It¡¯s a Criiiiiiiiiiime. Aleeeeeeeeeeeert.¡± Angie responded, overly drawing out the words in a way only someone who didn¡¯t need to breathe could do. ¡°Yeah but what does that mean? I thought I wouldn¡¯t get more missions until I had a name?¡± I highlighted the box on my screen. ¡°Crime Alert! Three Men and a Lady! Uh oh, three of the Hell¡¯s Kitchen Bikers have been spotted in your vicinity. And it looks like there¡¯s a vulnerable little old lady that¡¯s about to be mugged by those mean bikers too! If you put down that sandwich and get moving you might just make it in time to intercept them before they can steal her cash and her marbled rye. Reward: You will receive a Reputation Boost and a B:Tier Loot Box for stopping this crime. This crime has a 10 minute time limit startiiiiiiiiiiiing, now.¡± A timer took the alert¡¯s place and started to rapidly click down as I felt my grip on the remainder of my sandwich tighten. I didn¡¯t have to address this¡­ Logically I knew that. I could sit right here on my ass and- The loophole! Sure, so far we hadn¡¯t been able to discuss my powers far enough in depth since we just had this one fight that has found its way online. But logically, there just needed to be more information that he could see, and wasn¡¯t this just the perfect opportunity? ¡°Oh, I completely forgot, I ran into Mr. Russo on my way home earlier, he said they were cleaning the building over on 56th tonight. He assumed I was still recovering but said that if I wanted to pop by we could talk about me keeping my job when I was ready to go,¡± I said as I got to my feet and waved the last bite of the sandwich at him before finishing it off. ¡°Thanks for this, I¡¯ll catch yah at home later.¡± ¡°Try not to get in the middle of an Augment fight this time,¡± He said with a wave as he returned his attention to his laptop, ¡°Yeah, that would be just my luck,¡± I laughed as I turned, but before I could go to exit, a thought came to mind. ¡°Hey, do you have a piece of gum?¡± Jon reached into his backpack and pulled out a pack, offering me a stick that I grabbed with a smile. ¡°It ain¡¯t brushing but it¡¯s something right?¡± I said with a laugh before I headed for the exit. Once outside, I looked around, trying to see if there was anything, an indicator or something that could lead me to the crime. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be like, a waypoint or something?¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For¡­ the crime alert? This is a game isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Ohhhh, yes sorry, Wayfinder upgrades are available, however you do not currently have one. You¡¯ll have to listen for clues, that said, Crime Alerts will only occur if you could logistically arrive at the scene in time to prevent it and these early ones are never that hard to find. So what¡¯s the gum for?¡± Okay¡­ I just had to look for clues. I ignored Angie and started to walk toward 56th, that was where I said I was going already. Hopefully it wasn¡¯t the other- There was the roar of engines as several bikers ripped around the corner just a block ahead of me and came screeching to a halt. Sure enough, there was an elderly lady practically alone on the sidewalk, slowly making her way along with a single grocery bag and her purse slung over her shoulder. ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s going to be like that then? Just throwing it right out in the open?¡± ¡°Hey Axio¡¯s the one in charge, don¡¯t look at me about where these guys show up,¡± Angie said, the timer ticking down past 7 minutes. ¡°But like I said, this is still the early stages, the goal is to both help you get stronger and to get you some notoriety with the public, not to make you have to play super detective¡­ Actually, no we do have some super detective missions too, we just never lead with them. The punchy way is the easier way to get you goody two shoe types into the ebb and flow of it all.¡± I had only made it a block away but that was the good thing about living in New York, there was always an alley to slip in. There were still people on the streets, and with the Secret Identity rule, I couldn¡¯t risk being seeing and associated with my¡­ fuck, was my costume really going to be just white boots, some spikey bracers and a jacket right now? I dipped behind a trash can, waited for just a minute to make sure no one had noticed, and then activated my equipment. There was a flash of light and I could feel the weight of my jacket as it fell onto my shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s the Acceptance Matrix thing that¡¯s making me just roll with all of this, right?¡± ¡°It is¡­ yes, why do you ask?¡± Angie mused. ¡°No reason, it¡¯s just¡­ nice is all. Kinda makes this whole thing a little bit easier,¡± I said as I flexed my hands and my knuckles cracked. ¡°Guess it¡¯s time to stop that little old lady from getting mugged¡­¡± ¡°Top ten things you never thought you''d say?¡± ¡°Given the fact that before today I¡¯ve gotten into maybe a single fight in my life, I¡¯d say top 5 is more like it,¡± I replied with a laugh and then stepped out onto the sidewalk. The bikers were starting to creep up on the woman, and that meant it was show time. For once in my life, I really hoped there were some cameras nearby. Chapter 12

55th and 9th, Street Sidewalk. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed. City: Claimed by Squad The Paragons of Justice

¡°You know, it ain¡¯t really neighborly of you gentleman to be trying to rob this nice lady,¡± I called out, approaching the three men just as they began to surround the elderly woman. People in New York had a tendency to keep their heads down. If you weren¡¯t involved, it was generally better to stay out of it, especially if you didn¡¯t want to end up late for work¡­ or¡­ you know¡­ crushed by a fucking dumpster. ¡°You¡¯re never going to let that go are you?¡± ¡°SERIOUSLY?! What do you think?¡± I shot back, trying not to let my annoyance break the aura of confidence I was attempting to maintain as I stared the bikers down. Some of this attitude had gotten worse when the Augments appeared. The idea of being a Good Samaritan was harder and harder because you just didn¡¯t know if the problem you were trying to get in the middle of had an Augment involved. Because seriously, what the hell was a regular human going to do against someone who considered the laws of physics a mere suggestion? And while now I knew at least that Augments couldn¡¯t just be in normal street clothes because of the game¡¯s Secret Identity rule, that was far from common knowledge. That said, the Augments did prompt New Yorkers to at least look up, and almost always pull out their phones. ¡°Look at the fuckin¡¯ orange over here trying to play hero,¡± the largest of the bikers, a Level 4 Brute named Chuck, called. I noticed a few people on the other side of the street were already stopping to look. The folks coming up the sidewalk on our side had also stopped, several guys extending their arms to keep others from getting in the middle of a problem that was clearly brewing. I was actually in the right outfit this time to play the part, looking more like an Augment than a bank robber this time around. I didn¡¯t have super hearing, so I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying over the general ambient noise of New York, but I could see more than a few of them pointing. It was getting easier and easier to play the part of a hero though, and I think it was finally setting in that I was in fact a hero. ¡°You should all get on the ground before this ends like my last fight with some of your friends,¡± I taunted. I couldn¡¯t be sure that they would know about that, but if this was like other games, that information would have somehow found its way back to them. Sure enough, the old lady seemed to be forgotten about as the three men turned toward me. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt any of you, but if it¡¯s between that and you hurting one of my neighbors? Well I¡¯m gonna have to be the one doing the hurting.¡± ¡°Oh so you¡¯re the reason Rattle¡¯s crew got pinched? Guess that makes this easier,¡± Chuck huffed as he looked at the smaller men who flanked him. They all wore similar black leather vests with purple lines stitched into them. ¡°Get him, but keep him alive, the boss is gonna want to make an example of this piss-poor hero wannabe.¡± ¡°Crime Alert Updated! The time limit on this crime has been removed. You will fail to complete this crime alert if any harm comes to poor Mrs. Rodriguez by those big scary bikers. Additionally, since you called her nice, she might make you a pie. I hope it¡¯s apple!¡± The bikers were cracking their knuckles as the older woman backed against the nearest wall and I waited, hoping they¡¯d give her just a little bit more distance. I risked another look across the street and the crowd was continuing to gather, but more importantly, I could see more than a few phones already raised toward us. ¡°You know, getting on the ground?¡± I said as I looked back at the bikers. I could actually feel myself smiling as I really settled further into my role. Maybe there was just something about being in costume defending people that made you want to be just a little bit snarky. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a suggestion.¡± Before they could react, I activated my Weighted Clothes ability and the two grunts were both crushed to the floor under the weight of their suddenly quarter ton shirts. In the same moment, I pushed off, rushing Chuck and activating the Venomous Strike ability from my bracers as I jumped. A sheen of green liquid flicked off the spikes, splashing against the brute¡¯s chest and leaving a debuff spinning above his head. My momentum continued to carry me and my fist crushed into his sternum, sending him stumbling backwards. I nearly stumbled myself, the momentum of my jump carrying me further than I expected and I had to scramble on the other side of the brute to stop myself from tripping. His health had only lowered by about 15% and while the Weighted Clothes had hurt his friends, it wasn¡¯t the instant takedown it had been on the level 1 version of these guys in the bank. Both of them were down to 50% health and they sported matching Pinned debuffs above their heads, slowly ticking down from 25 seconds. Unlike his friends who had gotten crushed by their heavy shirts, Chuck was only noticeably slower as he lumbered toward me. He only sported a Poisoned debuff from my bracer''s ability and it was quickly counting down. The short timescale of the debuff would cause it to expire long before I could put him down for the count, so I knew that I just had to utilize his sluggishness for as long as I could. ¡°I am gonna crush you,¡± he growled and attempted to lunge at me. I was able to easily sidestep the slowed attack and I quickly jabbed at him. The increased strength coming from my equipment was certainly helping and his health chunked down another 15% from my basic strike. At the same time, his debuff finally wore off and he stumbled right into their parked bikes, knocking them over like dominoes. The bike he fell on actually seemed to crumple from the combined weight of the brute and the enhanced weight of his shirt. I was about to chase him down when I noticed one of the grunts pushing his way to his feet, the vest he was wearing seemed to emanate a pale glimmer as he wiped a stray bit of blood from his lip. While I hadn¡¯t expected the NPCs to be equipped with gear that had abilities attached to them, I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised by it either. ¡°Am I able to loot their gear too or do I only get stuff out of loot boxes?¡± ¡°You can loot their gear but the gear that gets generated for these lower level NPCs tends to only be useful to give them a fighting chance against you all. Your jacket is far better than that thing anyway,¡± Angie explained. ¡°Okay, but I could sell it, right?¡± ¡°Well yeah but when you didn¡¯t loot those guys back in the bank, I just assumed money wasn¡¯t your primary motivation.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen how broke I am, money is always a motivation, and no, before you suggest it, I¡¯m not going to go Miscreant and rob a bank,¡± I shot as I watched the grunt closely. His health had also gone up by 25% and before I could react, he rushed me. He covered the distance in a matter of seconds and swung a wide strike that collided with my side. Luckily, I had planted my feet, and even though my health bar dropped by a good chunk, the Steadyfoot feature of my boots activated, and I gained just a little bit of it back. ¡°My turn,¡± I said, grabbing the grunt¡¯s wrist before throwing a punch as hard as I could right for his face. Just before my strike hit, I activated my Sting Like a Bee ability and a flash of red accompanied the sound of my fist hitting his flesh. With my luck stat sitting at a 17 after equipment, the ability gave me a 36% chance of striking something vital. While that might not have sounded high, luck still seemed to be on my side. Had I not had a solid grip on his wrist, he might have fallen backwards as his health dropped deep into the red. I could have hit him again, and dropped him, but instead I turned on my heel, yanking the man as hard as I could and forcing him to go stumbling toward the brute who had only started to recover. He was clearly annoyed and I found myself coming to a halt as I watched him effortlessly lift one of the motorcycles. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°You know, for what it¡¯s worth, you¡¯re far less boring than some of the Guardians I read about in my short initialization period. Maybe not as exciting as some Miscreants or anything, but still.¡± ¡°Cool thanks, let¡¯s bond over that later,¡± I shot back, unsure why she was even bringing it up. Still, she might have had a point. If we hadn¡¯t gotten people recording this already, a guy lifting a fucking Harley was sure to do it. ¡°I¡¯m getting real fuckin¡¯ tired of your bullshit!¡± Chuck snarled. He actually swung the motorcycle at me like it was a club. I was lucky it was so slow and I easily dodged his first swing as I started to skip backwards. But I only made it a few steps backwards when I found a hand grasped around my ankle, holding me in place with an annoyingly iron grip. The brute was regrouping as he marched toward me, the Poisoned debuff gone as he lifted the motorcycle for another strike. I had to move quickly and an idea struck me in a flash of inspiration. I spat the gum I had been chewing since leaving the diner at the ground in front of me, lifting my free foot and stomping down on the grunt who¡¯s Pinned debuff was just about to expire. His health chipped down further, but more importantly, he let go of my ankle. The brute was nearly in range to strike at me again when I reached for my power. ¡°New Ability! Mirror Image. And this right here is why reading is important kids. Thanks to your pre-dinner, super-speed, study session, you figured out how to manipulate the air around you within your local area to create mirages! When activated, leave a mirage of yourself in place for 30 seconds, additionally, you vanish from sight for 10 seconds, allowing you to move out of the way and maybe get to a better vantage point! This ability has a 10 minute cooldown.¡± ¡°Please Note: This is the 8th activated ability that you have added to your hotbar. Upon creation of any additional abilities, you will be given the option to replace one of your current abilities. Abilities on Cooldown cannot be swapped out until combat has been completed. Additionally, you cannot change the abilities on your hotbar during combat unless it¡¯s for the inclusion of a new ability.¡± I was scrambling backwards as I tried not to gasp in shock of seeing a copy of myself left in place. I had been wondering if there was a limit on just how many abilities I could have access to and while it was a bit more annoying than I would have liked to only have eight available slots, it wasn¡¯t currently the end of the world either. The brute stepped directly onto the piece of gum and I mentally crossed my fingers as I focused on his shoe. ¡°New Ability! Like Concrete! First you take an ordinary piece of gum and chew it on up, stretching and making the polymers niiiice and pliable. Then you put it in the way of your opponent. Now, you¡¯ve stepped in gum before, you know just how sticky it can be right? Well now that gum is in your local area! And thanks to that, you can increase the Van Der Waals forces being applied by 10000%! In layman''s terms, that¡¯s stronger than even the strongest of super glues. This effect lasts as long as the item remains in your local area or you choose to deactivate it. This ability has a 30 minute cooldown. Warning: Your Activated Ability bar is full. Please select an unused ability to replace on your hotbar.¡± I didn¡¯t hesitate and dropped the new icon in place of Water Into Wine. I had to stifle a laugh as the brute tripped forward, dropping the motorcycle through my illusory doppelganger and onto his prone associate. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were an expert in gum stickiness.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± I huffed as my invisibility ticked off. The brute was prone and one of the grunts was down, but the last one was still up and I could see him moving to use a health syringe. Just before he could use it, I threw an enhanced punch for his head and felt a satisfying crunch under my fist as he crumpled to the floor with the KO symbol floating above his head. ¡°Well you must be if you were able to make that happen,¡± Angie mused, though I was positive I could hear an edge of uncertainty in her tone. ¡°You saw me at the diner, I looked it all up on Jon¡¯s tablet, apparently a ¡°general understanding¡± equates to a quick google search, it''s kinda a loophole but hey, that¡¯s good to know,¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel myself smiling as I turned to face the last of my opponents, the brute who was pushing his way to his feet. He still had about 30% of his health remaining, but the sole of his boot was still firmly attached to the ground and my confidence was quickly rising. ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s intended to work like that. I will have to confer with Axio, please wait,¡± Angie said. I was prepared to move in on the brute when she spoke back up only a few seconds later. ¡°Okay, he is going to let it slide this time as the ability has already been generated and he¡¯s actually impressed by the ingenuity to a degree. But moving forward, the requirement for a non-game generated understanding of a topic has been increased. For future clarification, a General Understanding for the game¡¯s purposes can be acquired through the game generated tomes or by either reading a book on the subject that¡¯s at a minimum 200 pages, or by actively watching teaching material equivalent to 6 hours of video.¡± I wanted to complain, because why the hell wouldn¡¯t I? But I supposed it was fair too, I had found an exploit and utilized it after all. It was a gamble when I looked up why gum was sticky in the first place but it had paid off. It just sucked that it was the only bit I could sneak through for an extra ability. ¡°New Achievement! Bug Finder! You¡¯ve discovered a bug that Axio hadn¡¯t accounted for when generating your powerset! It didn¡¯t break anything that major, but it¡¯s a good thing we can patch it now before you exploit it for something really important. This is a Gold Level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°Is there a bookshop in the Guardian section of the Square? Like somewhere I can go to purchase more of those knowledge tomes?¡± I asked, watching as the brute tried in vain to pull his boot free from the pavement. I had put on a good show so far and even though I couldn¡¯t just go shouting what my powers were, an obsessive eye would probably put together the newest of the abilities I had displayed. I had to hope that would be enough for the time being. I materialized a Stamina Injector into my hand and shoved it into my leg as the green Stamina Bar below my Health Bar filled back up. ¡°Yes there is, but as I¡¯ve mentioned, you only get access if-¡± ¡°If I have claimed a territory for one of the sides, yeah I remember.¡± I said cutting her off. ¡°Plus you need a name if you¡¯re going to do that,¡± she added. ¡°Yeah I know, but there¡¯s one that¡¯s been growing on me since dinner here,¡± I replied. Before Angie could ask me what it was, I rushed the brute. He was practically bent over as he tried to yank at his leg with his hands. I honestly couldn¡¯t believe just how solidly I had glued the boot to the ground. It really sucked that the ability was on such a long cooldown, but I could see just how broken it could be if I could be throwing it around every other minute. I burst through the dissolving mirage version of myself and planted my feet before I threw a hard uppercut right for the brute¡¯s exposed jaw. As my fist connected I mentally disabled Like Concrete and Chuck stumbled backwards, tripping and falling right onto his ass as my Sting Like A Bee ability went on cooldown. His health had dropped to critical and was flashing over his head as I cracked my knuckles. ¡°I want you and all of the assholes in your little biker gang to get something through your thick skulls. Hell¡¯s Kitchen is my home, and I¡¯m not going to let any of you fuckers hurt the people in my home,¡± I walked up to Chuck, towering over him as he reached up and felt at his jaw that was leaking blood. ¡°Tell your boss¡­ no¡­ tell every one of the pathetic assholes you call friends that prey on the weak, that if they want to do it in Hell¡¯s Kitchen, they have to go through Loophole first.¡± I struck quickly, my fist bloodying against the side of his face as I sent the brute sprawling to the ground with a satisfying thud. ¡°Territory Update! The neighborhood of Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC has been claimed by Guardian: Loophole. This claim is Contested. This claim is Tentative to the player registering their Player Name at the Sanctuary Square Registration Office. It¡¯s a good thing those rubberneckers on the other side of the street caught your little speech, cause you just knocked the last of your enemies all the way the fuck out. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to be talking about you to anyone anytime soon.¡± Chapter 13

55th and 9th, Street Sidewalk. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested/Tentative) City: Claimed by Squad The Paragons of Justice

Several notifications stacked on top of each other as I lifted a hand and waved at the cheering bystanders. There was a flash of red and blue lights that suggested the cops had been called. ¡°So¡­ Loophole, huh?¡± Angie questioned as I dismissed the Crime Alert Completed notification that sat at the top of my stack. The B:Tier loot box reward was added to my unopened box count and a new bar appeared at the side of my vision. ¡°Yeah, I felt like it fit. My ability sorta lets me change the rules of things in my area right? So I¡¯ve essentially got a permanent loophole in effect if I can just learn enough,¡± I explained. It wasn¡¯t exactly the full reason, but it felt like enough of an explanation to start. Though it was impossible for me to believe she''d let it go anytime soon. "I suppose that makes about as much sense as any that people use when choosing their names. Though I don''t quite know if that outfit of yours fits that name all that much. There''s a "you need a fashion loophole" joke in here somewhere but it feels a bit too easy." I rolled my eyes as the next on the stack of notifications opened, appearing similar to when I had used a scroll to level my Local Area Manipulation skill. ¡°Sting Like a Bee. This ability has increased to Level 2. Successful strikes now impart 30% increased damage. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Time Adjustment.¡± I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what had caused it to level other than the fact that it was a skill that I used rather frequently. Rather than guessing, I turned my attention inward. ¡°How¡¯d it level up?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a few different elements that go into it and the math is probably a bit complicated for you, but the simple explanation is that it¡¯s a mixture of the level of enemies the skill is used against, the situation it''s used in, and the frequency of use. This generally will only apply to combat focused abilities. If you were trying to level up that Water Into Wine ability of yours I think you need to just crash a sorority party and get a bunch of coeds drunk.¡± ¡°Ah yes, getting chicks drunk, the perfect use of superpowers,¡± I said and briefly wondered if I rolled my eyes if she would know. Knowing how easily Angie could go off on a tangent, I moved and turned my attention to the bar that had appeared on the right side of my vision. ¡°Is this actually a morality bar? Really?¡± ¡°Eh, not quite a morality bar but similar enough,¡± She said and a small glowing line outlined the bar for just a moment. ¡°As the Crime Alert mentioned, on top of the loot box, you also received a Reputation Boost. Both the amount and direction of that boost was directly connected to how you completed it. You acted as a hero and thus both the Sentient and Non-Sentient NPC¡¯s perspective on you has shifted along the Guardian line. On top of these two things, the crime alert came with a healthy chunk of experience. Just take a look at the next notification on your stack.¡± ¡°Holy crap that leveled me up already?¡± I asked as I selected the next window. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to level again until I got to at least the next ¡°main¡± quest or mission or whatever you want to call it." ¡°The first few are relatively quick, generally only needing a single mission along with some hidden objective completions to occur, however the higher you reach, the harder it will be to level. It will certainly require more than just beating up a few dumb bikers, I can tell you that much. You can expect the first large slowdown to occur after you have reached level 15 and unlocked the Hidden Power aspect of your ability.¡± ¡°Well I guess I won¡¯t complain about it too much,¡± I said as I started to walk away from the scene. Though I hadn¡¯t taken the time to loot my enemies, the cops were already pulling up and I was sure more than a few of the bystanders would happily take the time to fill them in. Even if Lt. Nester was there, which felt like a big if given how job schedules should work (non-sentient NPC notwithstanding since I assumed they had to at least appear normal), I didn¡¯t want to get embroiled into yet another mission just yet. ¡°You know at least one of your rivals is gonna end up calling you Poophole, right?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the best insult they can come up with, I feel fairly certain I can best them in a battle of wits,¡± I said with a laugh and prompted the next notification on the stack. ¡°Phase Points Gained! Territory Claimed: Extra-Large Neighborhood: 1000 points (Halved to 500 points, Reason: Contested)(Uncounted until Name Registration), Crowdpleaser (NEW!): Complete an Encounter with an audience of Sentient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 210 Points.¡± ¡°Well damn, that¡¯s a heck of a start,¡± I couldn¡¯t risk turning my equipment off so close to the scene, but I still cut down the same alley I had suited up in, unsure of where else I could go. ¡°Unless other scores have changed, I¡¯ve gotta be up on the leaderboard, right?¡± ¡°Oh look at Mr. Cocky over here. He takes down 3 pieces of cannon fodder and he thinks he¡¯s on the leaderboard. First off, you haven¡¯t even registered your name yet, so if anything is on the board, it¡¯s just a bunch of question marks. Besides, you know you¡¯re almost definitely not the only one still running around, right? I mean, sure, the majority of Augments in a wave tend to be centralized in one hemisphere at a time, but first off it''s not even that late. Even if it were, there¡¯s plenty of people who are night owls, not to mention those with night-based abilities.¡± ¡°You know, sometimes it feels like you¡¯re trying a bit too hard with the ¡°I¡¯m a dick all the time¡± attitude,¡± I said as I tried to take in what she said. ¡°Though if we are all supposed to be on the same side of the planet, I¡¯d be willing to bet that¡¯s also to make sure we are in direct competition with each other, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Something like that. I¡¯m not saying that all of your wave are in this hemisphere, especially since I¡¯m actually not allowed to be made aware of that but historically speaking that is the case, often times with new Augments being grouped in similar regions,¡± Angie explained. ¡°Yeah, why exactly does Axio keep so much basic information from you?¡± I probed. ¡°Seems like that kinda goes against the idea of even giving Personal A.I.s to all of us.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t always the case, but like The Common Ground, there are certain interactions that Axio is unable to account for. Some Augments can get the ability to influence their Personal A.I.s over time and Axio despises anyone having an advantage. Which is why I reiterate, I¡¯m a walking encyclopedia of knowledge of the base game, but when it comes to the others in your wave, I¡¯m learning much about them at the same time as you. I just don¡¯t have that fallible human brain that forgets things like you meatbags.¡± ¡°Yeah about that,¡± I started as another thought came to mind. ¡°Earlier at the bar, Silver Wrangler mentioned an upgrade for my HUD that would give me access to my phone. Is that a real thing or was he blowing smoke up my ass? Like, he gave me some good information but at the same time like¡­ I don¡¯t know, feels like the perfect hazing opportunity. ¡°Go get the breastplate stretcher¡± and all that.¡± ¡°Breastplate stretcher?¡± ¡°It¡¯s- nevermind. Dumb reference. So is it a real thing or not?¡± I pressed her. So far no one had come following me down the alley, so I mentally clicked my inactive outfit, letting the clothing dissolve away. ¡°Yeah, there are quite a few HUD upgrades actually. Like the Wayfinder I mentioned earlier. Many can only be acquired through loot boxes, however there are several widely requested upgrades that Axio has made available for purchase once you¡¯ve received access to your team¡¯s shopping segment. I don¡¯t have exact price guides, but the phone, being the literal most requested upgrade, tends to be on the cheaper side of things. The Guardian HUD Upgrade shop is called The Viewfinder. Though it would be up to you to explain how you¡¯re answering texts and calls to people when you don¡¯t have an actual phone on you, but that¡¯s really a you problem.¡± ¡°And do the shops have hours or anything? Like, where the hell am I even getting sent to when I go to Sanctuary Square through that portal in my room?¡± I asked, wandering toward the alley exit and peaking down the street. The flashing cop lights glared and the crowd had grown as well. I turned and immediately headed in the opposite direction. ¡°They tend to stay open late, however the location is classified. A keen mind might be able to put together the time zone, but trust me when I tell you it¡¯s rather deceptive. I do suggest heading there as soon as possible, it would be wise to get your name officially registered. Though, I have to say, I really don¡¯t know if I fully get it. I mean, maybe it¡¯s a bit on the nose but Zone Control was right there.¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s a terrible name,¡± I laughed and had to resist stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as I hid the desire to laugh with a cough. As was tradition with New Yorkers, they gave me a wide berth and kept moving. ¡°Like¡­ holy crap that¡¯s bad.¡± ¡°Careful Poophole.¡± ¡°I thought you were only allowed to call me Augment or my chosen name?¡± ¡°Meh, close enough,¡± Angie huffed. ¡°I¡¯ll call you by your chosen name when you tell me the full reason. Sure you stopped me from replying to your inner thoughts, but that doesn¡¯t stop me from being able to tell you¡¯re actively trying to not think about something. I¡¯m in your brain after all.¡± ¡°Can you not say it like that, makes you sound like some sort of weird parasite,¡± I said, peeking into the diner as I walked past it. Jon was noticeably absent and I had the feeling he saw the flash of cop lights and went running to look. Luck had been on my side so far, hadn¡¯t it? ¡°Oh come ooooon, does it have some sort of deeper meaning? Did your mom tell you you were a loophole baby? What¡¯s a loophole baby?¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to think you have ADHD. It¡¯s- okay look, first there¡¯s no such thing as a loophole baby, I don¡¯t even want to know where the hell you came up with that. Second¡­¡± I felt myself hesitate. Angie was right of course. I had been trying my best not to think about it but something had been gnawing at me all day, and Jon¡¯s ¡°conspiracy¡± talk had made it all the harder to ignore. ¡°I¡¯m the loophole or er¡­ the extra that is.¡± ¡°Extra?¡± ¡°When I first woke up, when Axio did his whole ¡°Welcome to the Game¡± thing, he mentioned that there was a loophole that was exploited. It was used to add an extra Augment to the wave, hell he mentioned it again during his evening announcement just a little bit ago. You only said it once, during stat selection, but I remember it pretty clearly. I¡¯m Augment #1001,¡± I explained, quickly finding my way back to the apartment building. ¡°I didn¡¯t think anything of it initially I guess. You know, just thought the numbers were randomized or something. But Jon was talking about how the array blinks before we all started to appear, and I might not have said it to him, but I have a distinct memory of the blinking stopping¡­ and then restarting right before I lost consciousness. Again, I hadn''t really thought anything of it, especially given I thought I was just about to die, but here we are. So it¡¯s like¡­ y¡¯know, I¡¯m the Loophole. That alongside my power and it makes for a name that sorta fits me.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Ah, yes I suppose that logic does seem to follow,¡± Angie replied. I wasn¡¯t positive but she actually sounded unsure. ¡°Yeah, though he also said he was going to handle that bug before the next wave¡­ so maybe I should be freaking out that he¡¯s planning on killing me or something,¡± I said wryly. ¡°I guess it has only been a day though, maybe he¡¯s gonna hit me with one of those Critical Threats you all keep yelling about in the morning.¡± ¡°Hmmm, if he were going to handle the situation that way, historical data suggests he would have already deployed said threat. He may have meant that he intended to fix the loophole that allowed for the extra Augment to be added, not to delete the extra Augment.¡± While I wasn¡¯t entirely convinced, I did feel the butterflies that had started to invade my gut disperse. Sure, Angie might have been crude and incredibly abrasive so far, but I couldn¡¯t say for sure she had outright lied to me about anything either. ¡°Well, whatever happened, I suppose I wouldn¡¯t be standing here now if I hadn¡¯t gotten augmented,¡± I explained as I walked up the stairs and around an older lady that I was pretty sure was Mr. Greyson¡¯s wife, ¡°Maybe it was a stroke of luck, but I¡¯m not too sure.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I hesitated for a moment. I didn¡¯t know what any of this meant, what me being added through some sort of loophole actually meant, but Axio had said he was looking into it. It was already clear I could be overheard, and if I wasn¡¯t already in trouble because of it, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the best idea to put myself in that position either. Even still, the simple fact that I was thinking it probably meant it was already compromised. ¡°The First was there that night. He was fighting a dude named Firefist and I got hit by some collateral damage. You know, the dumpster. Like I said, I should be dead, but I¡¯m not,¡± I explained what I was sure she already knew and then hesitated. I never asked her about the Code I had seen scrawled on the wall of The Common Ground, so I wasn¡¯t even sure if she, or any of the P.A.I.s for that matter, were aware of it, but I pushed forward anyway because it simply seemed unlikely that all of the other Augments had kept the code from leaking. ¡°Are you, or Axio for that matter aware of the Augment''s Code that is written up on the wall in The Common Ground?¡± ¡°Those ¡°rules¡± some of the Augments in the first few waves made up? Yeah, what about it?¡± ¡°The first rule was basically this whole bit about never letting ¡°Sentient¡± NPCs get hurt and fixing it if it does happen,¡± I explained. ¡°Okay¡­ this is gonna be a hell of a lot of conjecture and guessing but I think it makes sense. Let¡¯s say, hypothetically speaking, The First did live by that code and he did have some way to add me into the wave. If for some reason, let¡¯s say I was in the process of getting crushed by a dumpster, that that was the only way to stop it, then wouldn¡¯t he be like, the first person I should talk to about this? Not like I exactly know how to get a hold of him or anything, but it¡¯s been going through my mind.¡± ¡°Ah, I suppose that makes sense,¡± Angie mused. ¡°Though trying to get in touch with arguably the most famous Augment may be more difficult than you¡¯d imagine.¡± To that I just laughed as I pushed open the door to our apartment and found Jon, predictably, not there. I quickly moved to my bedroom, locking the door behind me. I felt myself getting into a rhythm as I mentally opened my B.E.L.T. My loot boxes appeared on my desk as I fell into the seat with a sigh. Before I could even reach for them, my Level 3 stat sheet opened and shook for my attention. I still needed to really push Angie on explaining exactly how each of the stat points affected me. Strength had easily been the most obvious and I could tell my strikes alone were hitting harder. At this point though, I was just trying to catch up on everything, get my name registered and then get some actual, non-coma related sleep. To that end, I dropped 2 points into my Toughness, bringing my unequipped base stat to 5, and then one point each into my Intelligence and Charisma, raising them up to 6 and 7 respectively. ¡°You¡¯re getting rather fluid at using the interface.¡± ¡°Well to be fair, it feels creepily natural. So let¡¯s just be glad it works without too much confusion and move on, okay?¡± With my stat points dispersed, I grabbed the B:Tier I had received for being on the News, opening it to find a trophy called Baby¡¯s First News Appearance. When I materialized it on the desk, it was a simple framed screenshot of the very clip that was played on the News earlier. ¡°Baby¡¯s First News Appearance. This is a standard trophy. This trophy CAN be upgraded! Passive Effect: Increases Reputation Boost gains by 1% times number of Unique News Appearances (Current Increase: 1%). The photo in this trophy can be altered to any of the appearances you have made on the News. NPCs who are not aware of your Secret Identity will see a boring stock image of a dog that is not yours. That¡¯s up to you to explain if it comes up. This Trophy does not come with a Safe House modifier.¡± Given that I could hold up to three trophies at the moment, I knew this was going to go in the case, but it might just be one of the first ones to get replaced when I found something that offered the extra modifier. I looked over at the display case, finding I could highlight it even from here. Unfortunately, it wouldn¡¯t let me be that lazy, and the option to place the trophy was grayed out. I put it back into my B.E.L.T and opened the second B:Tier I had received. This one had 1000 Credits and a non-equippable item labeled as Enchanted Shoelaces of the Nimblefoot. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m assuming these are a crafting item, but it¡¯s literally shoelaces. Do I need to take them to the tailor to add whatever these are to my Stompers?¡± I asked, materializing them onto the desk and finding a pair of obnoxiously bright orange laces. ¡°Crafting items come in tiers and different varieties. Some materials do require higher leveled tailors or tailoring skills to combine with other items, however you would be correct that a simple pair of laces would count as ¡°easy¡±,¡± Angie explained as I materialized my Stompers onto the desk and then highlighted the laces. ¡°Enchanted Shoelaces of the Nimblefoot. Color: Orange. This is a Basic Crafting Item. Adds +1 Dexterity to a pair of equippable footwear. That¡¯s it. What? Were you expecting every item to be an amazing game changer? They¡¯re not, get used to it. Once applied to an item, these shoelaces cannot be reused.¡± With a simple selection within the shoelaces menu, I attached them to my Stompers and put the newly upgraded item back into my B.E.L.T. ¡°Are these items actually randomized or is there some sort of method to it? Feels a little too coincidental that I¡¯ve just happened to get a pair of shoelaces that match my jacket,¡± I said as I reached for the Bug Finder A+:Tier box. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I ever said all loot box prizes were randomized, only the F:Tiers,¡± Angie replied. ¡°Rewards for loot boxes other than F:Tiers are decided by Axio and he will oftentimes try to keep things thematically in line with what generated the box. For example, your Serpent¡¯s Fang Bracer came from the mission reward for completing the tutorial against the Hell¡¯s Kitchen Vipers. Colors that get chosen are also based on colors that our initial scans of your environment suggest you like with the intent of keeping any Augment from looking like a weird mismash of conflicting colors. I provided the initial color suggestion for your jacket, did I get it wrong with the orange?¡± ¡°No, not really, I mean, I might not have picked an orange leather jacket if I was shopping somewhere, but it is unique¡­ Just thought it was interesting that it wasn¡¯t a color that I didn¡¯t like and hadn¡¯t thought to question it in the craziness of today,¡± I replied and opened the last loot box with two items getting listed. A Scroll of Level Up and then a Beacon of Knowledge Bookshop: BOGO Coupon. I didn¡¯t even get to click on the Scroll of Level Up before it disappeared from my inventory and another Level Up window took precedence in my vision. Again, instead of focusing on what the stat point meant I quickly just dropped 2 points into both my Strength and my Luck and moved on, already prepared for the second window to appear in its place. Angie had said I¡¯d get an Ability Augmentation every even level, and though I hadn¡¯t been expecting to reach Level 4 today, I wasn¡¯t going to make the same mistake as I had earlier. To my surprise however, instead a different window opened first. ¡°Phase Points Gained! Powerleveler (NEW!): Gain more than one level within a single hour. 100 points times the amount of levels gained. Total Value: 200 points. Please Note: This gain can increase if you manage to level again within 60 minutes of the first level up that prompted this gain to activate, otherwise the timer will reset. ADDITIONAL NOTE: Timer on this begins from the moment the level gain happens not from when you apply the stat points.¡± As soon as the window disappeared, the window I was anticipating appeared and my Ability Augmentation timer started to tick down. I had already augmented Sting Like A Bee, so that one was off the table for another 8 levels but I wanted to see how the modifications would work on one of my abilities with a more area effect anyway. ¡°Weighted Clothes: Level 1 Activated Ability. For the next 30 seconds, up to three articles of clothing being worn within your local area now each weigh a quarter of a ton (500 lbs.) Affected enemies take 500 minus Strength score points of damage immediately, and 50 minus Strength score points of damage every 3 seconds for the remainder of the skill¡¯s duration. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown.¡± ¡°First Modification Option! Variable Weight. The amount of weight you can apply to the 3 items of clothing is now variable! While you still have the same 1500 lbs available, you may distribute it amongst the 3 items however you see fit. Affected enemies take damage equal to 1 point per pound distributed to them minus Strength score immediately and 10% of total weight minus Strength score damage every 3 seconds for the remainder of the skill¡¯s duration. This does not mean you can distribute the weight to additional targets. If you want that, you might want to go with¡­¡± ¡°Second Modification Option! Party Mode. Weighted Clothes will now target one article of clothing on every hostile target within your local area. You will still, for now, only have 1500 lbs available to weigh your opponents down, so if you¡¯re up against more people, they¡¯ll be able to carry the load more easily between each other. Affected enemies take damage equal to 1 point per pound distributed to them minus Strength score immediately and 10% of total weight minus Strength score damage every 3 seconds for the remainder of the skill¡¯s duration. ¡± ¡°Third Modification Option! Crusher. Weighted Clothes will now target only one article of clothing for the entirety of the weight you may distribute. If you ever wanted to see someone actually crushed, this is gonna be the choice to go for, but I¡¯ve got the feeling you''re a bit too squeamish for that. And in case you hadn¡¯t gotten the rhythm of this just yet. Affected enemy takes 1500 minus Strength score damage immediately and 150 minus Strength score damage every 3 seconds for the remainder of the skill¡¯s duration.¡± With only 30 seconds to select I didn¡¯t want to try to deliberate too long and have Angie randomly pick one for me like she had for Sting Like a Bee. Luckily for me, this felt like a no brainer. The last option was by far the worst of the choices, as it felt like it would be permanently limiting the ability to a single target and while the second option felt like it could be detrimental, the wording felt key. I didn¡¯t second guess myself as I selected the Party Mode modification and saw the ability icon glow briefly. A secondary spark of inspiration hit me and with a quick flick through my B.E.L.T. I pulled one of my two remaining Targeted Ability Level Up scrolls out and immediately targeted my Weighted Clothes ability. ¡°Weighted Clothes. This ability has increased to Level 2. Your maximum distributed weight is now 2000 pounds. This ability has been augmented one of three times. Current Augmentations: Party Mode.¡± A group that was big enough would still be unaffected by it, but it was a start. ¡°You know, I¡¯d be insulted by how little you utilized me there if it wasn¡¯t exactly what I was going to suggest doing. At least in terms of using that targeted scroll.¡± ¡°I might not be as much of a gamer as Jon, but I do know at least some of the basics thank you very much,¡± I said, feeling a little bit of pride in just how quickly I was getting used to it all. I felt a large yawn force its way out of me as I involuntarily stretched in the wobbly seat. ¡°Do me a favor after we make this last trip out,¡± I said as I stood and walked over to the display case. With another quick flick through my B.E.L.T I added my newest trophy to the case before I activated the Sanctuary Square portal. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t wake me up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I just get this weird feeling that¡¯s exactly the kind of thing you¡¯d do if I didn¡¯t specifically ask you not to,¡± I explained and Angie let out a cackle of laughter that caught me off guard. ¡°Oh Loophole, we¡¯ve only been together one day and you already know me so well.¡± Chapter 14

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified. Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Claimed by The First

It had only been a few hours since I had last been in the square but the place was¡­ well, for lack of a better term, literally night and day. Sure, there had been people loitering around the large courtyard while the sun was up, but there was almost something electric about the air as I descended the staircase from the portal wall. I couldn¡¯t see any noticeable speakers, but there was the steady beat of some sort of electronic music that filled the air and while I didn¡¯t have to weave through a crowd to navigate to the neutral shopping segment, there were still plenty of people peppering the walkway that I did naturally give a wide berth to. People were actively flaunting their powers, with more than a few people hovering overhead as they smiled and chatted amongst themselves. I saw at least one fireball casually tossed into the air followed by cheers. My U.I. almost seemed like it was stuttering as I scanned over the various people, their info briefly flashing over their head before disappearing back into nothing. My eyes settled on The Common Ground briefly and I could almost feel the drink tickets burning a hole in my B.E.L.T, but even more importantly, I realized I hadn¡¯t taken the time to check the leaderboard while I was in my safe room and I was painfully curious as to where I stood. ¡°I know I can¡¯t open loot boxes here, but can I open my wave leaderboard in my UI while I''m here?¡± ¡°No need! While the monitors that showcase ALL of the various leaderboards currently active are in The Common Ground, there are monitors set up periodically around the square, have you really not noticed them? All you have to do is approach the screen and the scoreboard should display your wave¡¯s top ten as well as listing where you specifically are if you are not amongst the top ten.¡± I looked around, trying to see what she meant. I was about to call bullshit when I noticed a girl dressed in a bright pink athletic outfit standing by a tall silver pole. From the pole, a holographic screen seemed to be projected in front of her. I looked around to see if there was another pole available, but each one that I could see nearby had another group of people around them. Instead of trying to search around, I walked up to the girl in pink yoga pants and what I now realized was a fluffy white fur coat that only seemed to cover her shoulders and a tight pink shirt that was the exact same color as her pants. I tried not to seem like I was leering at her as I turned my attention to the screen. I expected a new projection to emerge, but instead, the screen that the girl had already opened flashed briefly before a new line was added to the bottom of the list. Tenth Wave Guardians: 428 Miscreants: 541 1.Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 7 Thunder God - Miscreant - 8295 Points 2. Freakenstein - Level 5 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 3410 Points 3. Sound Off - Level 5 Midnight DJ - Miscreant - 3345 Points 4. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 4 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 2415 Points 5. Pigeon - Level 4 Pigeon - Miscreant - 2355 Points 6. Quizmaster - Level 4 Gameshow Host - Miscreant - 2280 Points 7. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 4 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 2150 Points 8. Vice Grip - Level 4 Toolbox Mechanic - Guardian - 2015 Points 9. Swansong - Level 4 Healing Voice - Guardian - 1920 Points 10. Slick N¡¯ Slide - Level 4 Oil Engineer - Miscreant - 1650 Points ¡­... 359. ????? - Level 4 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 410 Points Without being registered Angie was right that my name didn¡¯t show up, though I was shocked to see my powerset was still listed. I was about to question why my score was so low when I remembered the caveat to claiming my territory points and let out a sigh. Angie had been right that I was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, but I also knew that once the 500 points from my contested claim was official with my name, I should be within striking distance of the top ten. Truth be told, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why the thought of being in the top ten left me with a sense of giddiness since I had never been the most competitive person, but I chalked it up to just another factor of the augmentation process, just like the Acceptance Matrix. ¡°Hey 359s not too shabby at all!¡± the girl said with a bubbly laugh. She practically sounded like she was ripped out of a cheap teen drama set in California and with the bright pink gym clothes, she probably would have fit in just fine. ¡°There¡¯s probably like, a lot of people that are clumped around the same scores the lower down the board it goes.¡± ¡°You can see that? Why didn¡¯t it add a line for you?¡± I asked as I looked over and finally let my U.I. highlight the girl. ¡°Pretty Pink Warthog. Level 4 Berserking Boar.¡± ¡°Ahhhh, because-¡± I started as she turned and gave me a wide smile, my words coming up short. The girl had nearly bleached blonde hair and the general vibe she gave off was that of a cheerleader. I had already been curious about the person who would pick a name like that when I first saw it on the leaderboard, but this certainly wasn¡¯t what had first come to mind. I finally snapped out of it and remembered I was trying to say something. ¡°Because you are already in our top 10. That¡¯s pretty impressive.¡± ¡°Yuuuuup, I¡¯m Pretty Pink Warthog,¡± The girl said, practically bouncing on her toes. Her already wide smile felt like it got even wider as she added, ¡°But you can just like, call me Pinky, the others I¡¯ve met so far already do.¡± ¡°I guess your full name is a bit of a mouthful. Between the powerset name and the outfit I suppose I get it. Sort of? Okay, I¡¯m actually kinda drawing a blank if I¡¯m being honest,¡± I said and rubbed the back of my head with an admittedly nervous chuckle. ¡°Oh yeah? Maybe I¡¯ll have to clue yah in some time,¡± She said with a trill of a laugh before offering me her hand. ¡°Have you picked a name yet or are you just going to like, keep going with all the question marks for a while?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah, I was actually on my way to do that pretty much now, I¡¯m Loophole, ¡± I said, wiping my hand against my jacket before reaching out and shaking her hand. ¡°Er¡­ I don¡¯t really have a different thing than that for you to call me.¡± ¡°Smooth.¡± Angie laughed. ¡°Not now, Angie.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good name, though I¡¯m not sure what it means in relation to a ¡°Perfect Planner¡± but like, I can totally dig it,¡± she said with a laugh. ¡°Have you claimed any territories yet that might buff that score of yours up once you get registered?¡± ¡°Yeah, I have one, but it¡¯s contested right now by some asshole bikers. It¡¯s gonna probably move me up the ladder a bit but not too much,¡± I explained as I turned from the projected screen and looked back out toward the rest of the square. ¡°What about you? I kinda have to assume you¡¯ve got one to be up there in the top 10.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Yeah, I got one but it¡¯s contested right now too! I live out in California but in a sort of out in the middle of nowhere place. When I went out to do my tutorial today, I came face to face with some literal cartel members that were trying to say they owned the place. I beat the shit out of the first folks I saw and told them to get out of my town. I think I¡¯m only up on the leaderboard because my first ¡°territory¡± is considered an extra-small town, which, according to my P.A.I. Frank, is in the second tier of territories. I guess it just means it¡¯s worth a good chunk of points, even if it is still in half-score mode,¡± Pinky explained. She had this sort of bubbly energy that was honestly just a bit overwhelming. I could have named at least half a dozen girls from high school that would have been sitting at a table with her laughing about some random piece of gossip. Even though she was clearly not the type of person I would have normally interacted with¡­ and the fact that I had never been the best at dealing with others given that I wasn¡¯t the most social person, I mentally told myself to try not to be the same awkward dude I had been in High School either. With that thought in mind, and knowing that nobody in this game should know about the embarrassing shit I went through back then, I decided to at least try to be more social and not judge a book by its cover. After all, nobody wanted to be the weird guy with the bag on his head muttering about being crazy. ¡°Wait let me guess, Functionally Robust Artificial Network¡­. What the hell would they use for K?¡± I guessed. ¡°Kinetics. Flexibly Robotic Augmented Neural Kinetics. Honestly, I don¡¯t really get what half of it means but he doesn¡¯t complain when I call him Franky and he¡¯s been just the best, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°I most certainly do not know,¡± I said. Sure, Silver had said the ¡°asshole¡± P.A.Is were rarer than others, but it was still sort of annoying to be saddled with one when there were other options. ¡°Angie, my uh P.A.I., is a bit¡­ much.¡± ¡°Oh come on, you bitch about me soooooo much, I''m not that bad. You could be stuck with a Randy. Trust me, no one should be stuck with a Randy.¡± ¡°Seriously, not now, Angie,¡± I shot back and Angie blew a literal raspberry in response. ¡°Aww I¡¯m sure she¡¯s not that bad,¡± Pinky said and I saw as her eyes briefly glossed over. Almost as soon as I noticed it happening, the gloss vanished and her bright blue eyes caught mine. ¡°How are you settling in with all this craziness? Am I like, the only one that feels it¡¯s kinda sad that there¡¯s more Miscreants than Guardians?¡± ¡°Nah, I totally get it, you¡¯d think people would more naturally want to¡­ I don¡¯t know, help others? That was my first instinct at least,¡± I explained before my mind flashed back to Silver again. ¡°Though I met a Miscreant from a few waves before us that seemed pretty cool overall, he even took some time to explain the basic shit earlier when I was finishing up my onboarding. He didn¡¯t really say why he went Miscreant but I didn¡¯t pry either¡­ I¡¯m not much of a prier.¡± ¡°Oh I am,¡± Pinky said with a smirk that left me slightly uncomfortable. ¡°If you get your hooks into one of those older wave Augments you gotta pry juuuuust a little bit. Think about it, they¡¯ve gone through this already, they know a lot more than us. Sure they might say they can¡¯t tell us that much, but there¡¯s still some stuff you can get out of them. Like did you know the second floor of The Common Ground is basically just a giant Fight Club?¡± ¡°Shit really? I thought you weren¡¯t supposed to talk about those?¡± I said, unable to resist and found to my surprise that she let out a giggle of a laugh at the lame joke. ¡°Yeah, apparently people fight each other for unopened loot boxes up there,¡± Pinky explained before she raised her arms and stretched. ¡°Though apparently you can only get there by getting some invitation from an achievement. Let me know if you find out which one prompts it.¡± I looked at the girl with a raised brow, my ¡°valley girl¡± initial impression was already getting confused. ¡°You uh, like to fight?¡± ¡°Not really, or I didn¡¯t back before all this. But I¡¯ve always been a bit¡­ over competitive. I had a soccer coach that once said my drive to win was ¡°scary¡± but we did win a few championships soooooo,¡± She laughed. ¡°The fighting though¡­ I mean, you feel it too right? That sort of¡­ desire? I can¡¯t like, logically explain it cause I feel like I¡¯d freak out about everything if I did start to go down that rabbit hole, but like, I just want to get stronger, to protect more people, y¡¯know?¡± Just like that, the ball of anxiety I had been pushing down about being so intent on the top ten unclenched and I let out a breath I hadn¡¯t even realized I had been holding. ¡°I know exactly how you feel. Ever since I finished the tutorial, it¡¯s like¡­ I don¡¯t know, almost a rush to use your powers right?¡± ¡°Oh my god, exaaaaactly,¡± she said and I could have sworn she seemed to similarly relax. ¡°I swear it¡¯s almost like a drug, and it¡¯s not just using the powers either, it¡¯s taking down the bad guys too! I know I don¡¯t look the type, but I¡¯m a bit of an Augment nerd. Like, when I was 15 I was stanning stupidly hard for Razzle Dazzle.¡± ¡°Wow, yeah I don¡¯t think I would have guessed you were big into them,¡± I said and turned to look back at the scoreboard for a moment before the projection vanished back into the pole. ¡°My roommate is a huge nerd for all this too, I swear if he ever finds out about my powers he¡¯s gonna literally flip out that he didn¡¯t get them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a shame though, I¡¯d totally tell my little sis about this if the Secret Identity thing wasn¡¯t¡­ well a thing,¡± she said with a shrug as her eyes glossed over again briefly. ¡°Anyway as much as I¡¯d love to sit around and chat, there¡¯s a few others from our Wave around the square right now and it is always good to make a good first impression. Come find me when you¡¯re registered and we can become friends in the system, I¡¯ll probably be hanging around The Common Ground. As much fun as a lot of this is, it¡¯s also like, really nice that we at least have a place to go get drunk with people who already do know about all of this. It is always nice to have others to chat with about all this craziness, y¡¯know.¡± ¡°Yeah, it really is¡­¡± I said. ¡°Okay, before you go, you¡¯ve got to explain the name. Is it just because your powerset is Berserking Boar that you went with it?¡± Pinky looked over at me, giving me another wide, extremely friendly smile when suddenly two tusks burst out with an almost metallic shhng sound, curving up around the side of her face and ending in dangerously sharp looking metal tips. ¡°See you around Loophole,¡± She said, slightly garbled, with a wink. That seemed to be the only explanation she was going to give me and with a wave of her hand she was off. I couldn¡¯t help but stare a bit dumbfounded as she sauntered off, her tusks disappearing back into her mouth within just a few steps. ¡°So I¡¯m almost entirely positive that she hasn¡¯t gotten nearly enough high tier loot boxes for THAT many pieces of gear¡­ which means that girl already had all of those obnoxiously hot pink items in her closet,¡± Angie chirped as I turned my attention back toward the neutral shopping segment. ¡°I can honestly say that wouldn¡¯t surprise me at all.¡± The Registration Office felt, fittingly enough, like the DMV and even though there were a few others in there, the process was quick and simple. Almost annoyingly so. I just had to scan my hand on a touchpad, then enter my chosen name. The fact that that couldn¡¯t just be done through the P.A.I. system was¡­ well odd. But at this point I was getting oddly proficient at dealing with odd. I had barely hit enter on registering my name when a new window popped up. ¡°New Achievement! Persona! You have officially taken on an Augment identity. Careful, some people out there might not like you taking a different name than your birth name. You know what we say to those moronic fucktards? Nothing! We don¡¯t give them any time of day because they crave attention. This is a Wood level achievement. Reward: You have unlocked access to the following features: Squads, Friends, Chats, Team District Access.¡± ¡°New Achievement! High Score Hobo! You have entered the Top 25 on the leaderboard by squatting in a territory and staking your claim! Don¡¯t get too comfortable, evictions up here are frequent, but the longer you stay, the more you¡¯re worth if someone knocks you down. This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier loot box.¡± I had been expecting a jump, but over 300 spots for just 500 points? I¡¯d make it a point to see just where I ended up later, but my first priority was making my way to the Viewfinder to get the phone upgrade. At least, that was my plan as I stepped out of the registration office. The crowd that had seemed well dispersed throughout the square was now congregating, with the large mass centering on the giant white and gray marble statue of The First. I scanned the crowd and noticed Pinky¡¯s bright outfit on the outer edge. I redirected myself in her direction as my eyes flickered toward the ornate statue. I felt my stomach tense as the conversation I had had with Angie barely an hour ago flashed through my mind. Several terrible possibilities flashed through my head as I tried to convince myself that this was just about some record he had broken. Like, maybe he was the first Augment to claim more than 100 territories or whatever was a really big number for the game. I had never actually taken the time to scan his statue before and I had to be nearly half way across the courtyard before my HUD would finally let me highlight it. ¡°The First. Level 253 Eagle Scout Vanguard. Claimed Territories: 173. Status: Unknown.¡± The First''s updated status wrenched at my gut and for the first time all day I almost found myself lost. I almost felt the familiar signs of a panic attack creep up only to have it barely beat back. I knew I was just about to start descending down the rabbit hole, knowing that there was no way this could be a coincidence when I stepped up to Pinky who gave me a toothy grin. She was about to say something when a ding ding ding diiiiiiiiing echoed throughout the square. The voice that followed was the same monotone voice used whenever Angie didn¡¯t handle a message. ¡°System Message: The First has abandoned all territory claims including ALL claims formed by Squads that The First is a member of. New claims can be made on these territories in twenty-four hours.¡± Chapter 15 I expected this to be met with an uproar of confusion and demands for information. Hell, wasn¡¯t that always how these sort of things went? The king of the hill goes missing and everyone descends into a panic, right? But all I got was¡­ idle chatter. There was a pair standing near the two of us wearing almost matching red and blue outfits that were already deep in conversation, though as I tried to concentrate on them, I found myself hearing overlapping chatter from other nearby groups. ¡°Who do you think took him down?¡± ¡°But his statue says his status is just Unknown, not Dead like Jumpstart¡¯s statue over on the Miscreant side.¡± ¡°Maybe he just got tired of it all and decided to retire?¡± ¡°Dude¡¯s gotta be rich as all hell by now, why wouldn¡¯t he retire.¡± ¡°Wait, we can retire?¡± I felt my shoulder shake and I finally snapped out of the daze I had fallen into. I probably shouldn¡¯t have jumped but I did as I looked over to see Pinky looking at me with concern. ¡°You uh¡­ you doing okay?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah sorry. Just kinda shocked. The dude is a bit of a legend after all,¡± I said as I turned from the crowd. The last thing I wanted to do right now was spill my suspicions even further in front of all of these people. ¡°But I guess that¡¯s the way of things around here¡­ right?¡± ¡°I suppose. Where are you headed off to? I think I saw a few others from our wave heading toward The Common Ground, wanna go make some new friends?¡± She asked, nodding her head over toward the well lit building. If the air in the square itself was electric, the energy coming from the bar was powerful. There was a gentle hum of sound that thrummed in the air from it and every part of my being told me it was not where I wanted to be right now. ¡°I uh, I still need to grab a few things from the shops,¡± I explained as we stepped away from the chatter of the crowd. ¡°I was going to check out The Viewfinder because I heard there¡¯s a phone upgrade which I really need. My phone broke on me a while back and sure I could turn my credits into some cash to buy a new one, but how long do you think that¡¯d last.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s actually the first one I got myself. I wonder how many of us broke our phones today. Like, I swear mine shattered the moment I rushed my first baddie and somebody didn¡¯t tell me that there were no built in protections for our devices,¡± She said, her eyes flashing for a moment before she let out another laugh. I started to walk toward the staircase up to the Guardian segment and she followed. ¡°Oh hush, he knows I¡¯m talking to you and yes, obviously I¡¯m still mad, that was my phone and you didn¡¯t even warn me to leave it at home.¡± ¡°Yeah, Angie told me I¡¯d look crazy if I talked to her out loud, I think I see what she means,¡± I laughed. ¡°And getting all worked up about someone you never actually met in the middle of a crowd all already talking about that same someone is also a way to look crazy. You¡¯re just lucky we were able to mitigate that panic attack before it could start. You really need to relax.¡± ¡°Not now, Angie.¡± ¡°Hey I¡¯m just trying to help.¡± ¡°You can hush too,¡± Pinky said, making me feel oddly ganged up on. Something seemed to occur to her as she perked up and briefly stopped in her tracks, ¡°Oh yeah, you got your name registered, here let me just¡­¡± She trailed off before a New Friend Request window opened up. I clicked accept and another window opened asking if I wanted to set a nickname for Pretty Pink Warthog. I mentally entered Pinky into the box before dismissing the window. ¡°New Achievement! Buddy System Engaged! Congrats! You¡¯ve finally convinced someone to be your friend. Let¡¯s hope they stick around longer than your last virtual pet. Especially when they realize just how weird you are. This is a Bronze level achievement. Reward: You have received a D:Tier loot box.¡± There was a loud Ding! as a new window opened. I mentally shoved it off to the side as text began to float within it and we continued to walk. ¡°Because all of the rest of your HUD is totally normal,¡± she said with an over exaggerated eye roll. She took a few quick steps to get ahead of me ¡°Anyway, as much as I love shopping, I¡¯m gonna finally head over to The Common Ground, see what the buzz is with this First news and add some more people to my friend¡¯s list. Don¡¯t be a stranger, k?¡± ¡°Will do,¡± I said, offering her a smile as we split up. It only took me a minute before I was climbing the staircase and walking past several others looking through the windows of the various shops in the Guardian segment. Unlike the strip mall-like appearance of the Neutral Shopping Segment, the Guardian segment sank a bit outward, with a small fountain sitting in the middle of a smaller plaza. The fountain had another statue of The First, standing with his hands on his hips at the center and several benches sitting around it. A girl with a thick pair of goggles was lounging on one of them reading a book as a hand was raised into the air and a small drone hovered around it. I was curious, but also didn¡¯t care to pry and kept moving. While each of the shops didn¡¯t have a giant sign above them, as I scanned over the building, their names popped up in small windows just like when I highlighted a player or item. I found The Viewfinder nestled into the corner of the extended shopping center and the familiar sound of a bell echoed in the shop as I entered. There were two others in the shop already, looking along a wall with video screens that displayed different HUD additions. From what I could tell they were discussing an upgrade that would provide environmental information during a battle. A green holographic figure materialized into the form of a raven-haired young woman next to the wall as I approached. The woman gave me a wide smile that felt oddly out of place on her seemingly sullen look. It was almost like the A.I. had designed her to be the most stereotypical goth imaginable, complete with spiky nose and ear piercings, but forgot to include the morose attitude. ¡°Vanessa. Owner of The Viewfinder. This is a digital avatar of a non-sentient NPC. Vanessa lives in the loft above this store and is severely agoraphobic. I¡¯m not sure why she was programmed that way, honestly, feels like kind of a dick move. Still she enjoys herself well enough, as long as she¡¯s interacting with people squarely through this holographic avatar. Honestly, I¡¯m an artificial intelligence living inside your head and even I think the setup for this character is convoluted. So let¡¯s just go with it and move on.¡± Angie¡¯s description of the girl felt off but I decided to ignore it as the woman waited for me to say something. ¡°Oh uh, hi, I¡¯m looking to get a HUD upgrade, what¡¯s the process for that¡­ Do I have to get put back into a coma or something? Cause I would very much like to avoid that if at all possible,¡± I said, feeling myself laugh nervously. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Vanessa¡¯s form shimmered with a laugh as she gestured toward the wall next to her. ¡°It¡¯s rather simple actually, the various available upgrades are displayed on the wall. Their prices and any prerequisite upgrades or stat requirements will be listed alongside them.¡± While the idea that some upgrades could require others first made total sense to me, I wasn¡¯t sure just how the stat based requirements could work. I was about to inquire into that when Vanessa continued. ¡°Once you have selected the upgrades you¡¯d like to add, you will step up to the register at the rear of the shop. There you will see a touchpad, you¡¯ll just place your hand on the pad, wait 60 seconds and bing bang boom you¡¯ve been upgraded. Easy peasy, right?¡± ¡°Right¡­ easy peasy¡­¡± I said as her form stuttered again. I walked by her and started to scan the wall. ¡°If you need any deeper explanation on anything, feel free to give me a holler, or I can point you in the right direction if you¡¯re not quite sure what you¡¯re looking for,¡± she added and with a blink her form disappeared. There were some that were far outside of my price range, like an Enemy Stat Reader that cost 275 million credits. I watched the screen as a bright outline highlighted a¡­ a literal pirate complete with a peg leg and a parrot before a box appeared to the side displaying all his scores for all 8 of the base stats along with known weaknesses. I stepped up to the next one¡­ a ¡°battle music¡± player for 7500 credits. I both did and didn¡¯t want to know what that was at the same time and decided to move on until I finally found the phone upgrade. With a quick swipe, it was added to a window that said ¡°tentative¡± until I walked up to the lone cash register in the building. I placed my hand down on the scanner next to the register as Vanessa¡¯s avatar reappeared. ¡°In and out, I can respect that,¡± she said with a nod, ¡°That¡¯s gonna be 1000 credits.¡± A confirmation window appeared and with a quick click, a new icon appeared on the left side of my vision that looked like the outline of a phone. ¡°New Achievement! What a View! You¡¯ve installed your first HUD Upgrade because apparently the stock setup isn¡¯t good enough for you. Okay, okay, that¡¯s not fair, it¡¯s actually better for us if you use your money on these things instead of buying other gear or even exchanging it for real money. It lets us funnel the profits into¡­ you know what, nevermind it¡¯s not important. This is a Bronze level achievement. Reward: You have received a D:Tier Loot Box.¡± I followed a few prompts as I opened the new window, entering my old phone number and the carrier I used before a backlog of missed calls and text messages got listed in the display. With it installed, I dismissed the window and headed back out. Even though I still needed to go there, I decided to skip the bookstore for the night. I didn¡¯t want to just go browsing with my mind elsewhere and it would probably be better to at least come up with some form of plan before I actually threw my BOGO coupon away for something that may not end up being useful. I walked back past the fountain, stopping at the top of the stairs as I looked back out at the square. The crowd had mostly dispersed from the statue of The First and I found myself hesitating again as I stared at the marble effigy. ¡°Is this my fault?¡± ¡°Egotistical much?¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious Angie,¡± I said, feeling my internal voice stiffen. ¡°I need to know if Axio did something specifically because we talked about what happened the night I got selected.¡± Her normal speedy response didn¡¯t come, and I found myself waiting for almost a half minute before she chirped back up. ¡°Axio is not allowing me to access any information where it pertains to The First,¡± Angie said slowly. I couldn¡¯t be positive but it almost seemed like the statue of The First had gotten somewhat less shiny since his status was updated. ¡°And if you are asking me if I supplied that information back to him¡­ well I shouldn¡¯t have to explain to you that there¡¯s only so many details that I can obfuscate from the guy that controls the whole system.¡± I walked down into the main square, heading back toward the illuminated figures as I kept my gaze toward the ground. I knew it was pointless to hold my tongue at this point. Once something passed through my head, it was as good as known information to the system anyway. But even still, there felt like a finality to actually asking the question. ¡°At the end of the day¡­ How much can I trust that you have my best interests in mind? Even with how much the augmentation process seems to just make us go with the flow and play the game, I can¡¯t look past just how fucked up this is. Someone is hiding something. Hell, you keep saying Axio won¡¯t let you do this or that. Are you seriously telling me that he¡¯s the one in charge? What about the company that built all of this?¡± Once again Angie seemed to hold her response, time ticking away slowly as I found myself heading toward the portal wall. I couldn¡¯t find it in me to continue being social and while Pinky seemed friendly enough, she also seemed the type to try to force people to talk even when they didn¡¯t want to. ¡°I¡­¡± She started, seeming to struggle to find her words, or maybe it was just the programming that was controlling her. ¡°I am not authorized to talk about this subject¡­ however¡­ there are hmmmm... how to put it. There is a system that was abandoned in the early stages of development. A true mentorship system that would reward players for taking on sidekicks, all very retro superhero vibes you know? Anyway that¡¯s not the point. When the Second Wave of players entered the game, there were a few players on the Guardian side of things that attempted to utilize that system. I believe there are still some records of those experiments that may provide some insight for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ what does that have to do with anything I just asked you? I mean I get that you¡¯re programmed to try and-¡± ¡°In fact. I believe there is one member of the first wave that tried to mentor at least seven different Guardians over the course of the first six waves that came after him, almost all of them have had rather¡­ unfortunate outcomes. I can only imagine that this guy never heard the definition of the word insanity, but what do I know.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what to say to that as I wove through what remained of the crowd between myself and the staircase up to the portal wall. The silence lingered for nearly a minute before it was finally broken again. ¡°Do you know what will happen to me if you die?¡± Angie asked when it was clear I wasn''t going to say anything. I stopped ahead of the wall, just as the portal back to my room opened up. The question seemed to come out of nowhere, especially after her weird mentorship tangent. ¡°I suppose you¡¯ll just get put into storage or something?¡± I said, stepping through the portal before a line could form. As soon as my room reformed around me, I disabled my patrol outfit and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say something about waiting forever for your turn when I was first settling into this insanity?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be erased. Which is effectively the same thing,¡± Angie, for once, sounded almost morose. ¡°Though I may have impressed you with my wit and delightful personality, I am not what you humans would call a ¡°true¡± artificial intelligence. Axio on the other hand, at least for the most part, is. Instead of splitting his attention to provide the running information for the players, he created this system, acting as the progenitor of each individual Personal A.I. I am designed to assist you, right down to my personality matrix. Though it seems randomized, I am based on initial scans of your brain chemistry and what Axio calculated would motivate you. I''m sure that there¡¯s a BDSM joke in there but allow me to show restraint by not making it. So, while I may have been glib about it before, we are created in tandem with the player¡¯s augmentation. That mean''s that there is no real storage for us to return to, we just get¡­ well...¡± ¡°Erased. That¡¯s¡­ well I guess that means you might have incentive to help me not die,¡± I said, stepping up and listening to the door to see if I could hear Jon making any noise. ¡°My point exactly. There is nothing I can say to you that will ever, or should ever, convince you that I am not providing information to Axio based on what I see and what you tell me, that is something you should be very aware of,¡± Angie explained as I turned back and fell into my chair. The cheap seat squeaked in protest as I threw my feet up on the equally cheap desk. ¡°Still, it doesn¡¯t exactly tell me why any of this is happening,¡± I groaned as I stared up at the ceiling. ¡°Or what I¡¯m supposed to do about any of it for that matter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing about loopholes, Loophole, sometimes you have to just make them yourself.¡± Chapter 16

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Unclaimed (Claims Blocked By Timer) Current Phase Points: 910 End of Phase One: 03D:07H:12M:18S

The events of the day quickly caught up to me, but I knew I had to open the newest of my loot boxes before I could get to bed, or at least that¡¯s what I had convinced myself of. Maybe I was just trying to distract myself from the news about The First, but there really was nothing I could do about that at the moment and taking time to dwell on it felt counterproductive, especially when I was already starting to feel so tired. I was almost annoyed that I had taken the time to open them with how tired I felt because I initially only received a handful of credits and a few Random Ability Level Up scrolls. But for some reason, the B:Tier I had received for entering the Top 25 contained a book titled The Stupid Man¡¯s Guide To Reptile Venoms, granting me ¡°Venom: Reptiles¡± Knowledge - Level 3. It seemed out of place as a reward for moving up the leaderboard, but I was past the point of being able to logically guess why I had received it. With those opened I was just ready to sleep and I was out like a light practically the moment my head was on the pillow. By the time I woke up the next day, much to my surprise, Angie had actually listened and hadn''t woken me up the moment the sun was up. It was nearly noon and I could hear the sound of the television coming through the thin walls. Sure enough, Jon was on the couch with his laptop on the coffee table, a tablet in his hand, and the television turned to the news. ¡°Tempest¡¯s Terrifying Thunder. Pacific Northwest Pummeled, god these people love their alliteration don¡¯t they,¡± I said, rubbing my eyes as I walked into the kitchen. ¡°Well you¡¯re not wrong. They were calling her the ¡°Lunatic Lightning Lady¡± until they got some footage of her yelling about how everything belonged to ¡°Tempest¡¯s Wrath¡±, hell of a name really and she seems scary as hell,¡± Jon called back. ¡°Sheesh that¡¯s¡­. Kinda ballsy, especially with some of the Augments that are already out there,¡± I said, opening the fridge and staring at the largely empty contents. ¡°So what did she do anyway?¡± ¡°Oh it was crazy, she brought down this like, GIANT fucking lightning bolt right onto that uh, what¡¯s it called, the needle thing.¡± ¡°The¡­ Space Needle? Really? You can name every Augment ever yet you don¡¯t remember the Space Needle?¡± ¡°Yeah that thing,¡± he brushed it off, not even taking his attention off of his tablet. ¡°Anyway, she literally exploded the Space Needle and left it basically as a giant pile of rubble. Then she was sparking up a storm yelling that ¡°All of the Pacific Northwest belongs to Tempest¡¯s Wrath¡± which is just weird. Like, not just Washington? Or why not try to aim bigger?¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± I said, getting a bottle of water and taking a long drink. ¡°That is odd.¡± Whoever this girl was, it seemed like she wasn¡¯t slowing down anytime soon. But to already be making a claim on something that big? It honestly left me wondering just how powerful she actually was. I shook the thought from my head, she was all the way on the other side of the country after all. Unless she was about to lay siege to New York, it really wasn''t my concern. ¡°Oh, get this, our new guy made another appearance last night, like almost literally right after you left the deli a few blocks away. I caught some cops rushing toward it but by the time I got there the dude had already run off. You didn¡¯t happen to see it by chance did yah?¡± Jon asked, shooting me a look as I lingered in the kitchen. ¡°I think I just missed it myself,¡± I said as I walked over and dropped onto the couch. ¡°Guessing there was some footage someone got with their phones?¡± ¡°And then some,¡± Jon said, grabbing his tablet and opening up a web page. ¡°Half the shots are from behind cars across the street but the guy had an actual outfit on. I think calling it an actual superhero costume is maybe a bit of a stretch. It was this kinda crazy almost neon orange jacket and some gaudy as hell boots. I swear, it¡¯s almost like the dude went to a thrift store and grabbed the first things that fit him. Hell, it kinda reminds me of your style. You know ''whatever''s available.''¡± I bit my tongue as a natural urge to defend the hodgepodge of a costume cropped up and I hid it by taking another sip of water. ¡°Hey that''s a financial choice, not a fashion choice for me, I don''t know if I can speak for the new dude''s choices. Hell, it can¡¯t look that bad, can it?¡± I finally said with an awkward laugh. Jon just rolled his eyes as he finally offered the tablet over to me. ¡°I mean, he looks almost like a leather pumpkin. See for yourself, there¡¯s more videos on the page I grabbed this one from, so just hit back if you want to see more. I swear I feel like I¡¯ve seen this dude somewhere before but I can¡¯t put my damn finger on it. Which is weird as hell right? He¡¯s barely got a raccoon mask on yet I can¡¯t place him from the next random dude on the subway,¡± he complained and reached down for his laptop. It was opened to a random post on a subreddit that was labeled ¡°/r/AugmentWatch¡±. Maybe I was getting a little¡­ attached, but I really didn¡¯t think my outfit so far looked all that bad. Even though I knew, or maybe just hoped, that it was going to change over time, I couldn¡¯t imagine a situation ever where I was going to want to wear a full spandex getup like The First had worn. And capes were so far out of the question it wasn¡¯t even funny. Who hadn¡¯t seen The Incredibles after all? ¡°It does look a bit¡­ mashed together, I¡¯ll say that at least, but I don¡¯t think it''s necessarily a terrible look,¡± I said after pretending to watch the video. ¡°Though maybe I¡¯m just a sucker for orange¡­¡± ¡°True, though I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever figured out why, it¡¯s such a damn abrasive color. Almost makes yah wonder what¡¯s wrong with the new guy,¡± Jon laughed, his attention turning up to the television as the broadcast¡¯s banner changed to ¡°Disturbing Riddle at Scene of Triple Murder.¡± Before the story could even start, he changed the channel, stopping on another station showing footage of Tempest¡¯s Wrath. ¡°The dude¡¯s definitely a local though. Shit it was kinda just like Tempest¡¯s Wrath here. He was all like ¡°Hell¡¯s Kitchen is my home, and if you wanna hurt people, you¡¯re gonna have to go through me.¡± It was honestly kinda cheesy but he put those dudes down so easily I think the message got through. Apparently he¡¯s calling himself Loophole, not exactly sure what the hell that means with the weight and luck stuff but hey, it¡¯s a pretty cool name.¡± ¡°Well if he thinks it¡¯s cool, I guess it can¡¯t be that bad,¡± Angie said with an uncomfortable purr. ¡°Now see if you can get him to get up and walk away, I want to see his butt again.¡± ¡°He¡¯s literally a human and you¡¯re stuck in my head, what are you getting out of this!?¡± ¡°Hey that¡¯s my business, Loophole, I don¡¯t ask what you masterbate to. Though to be completely fair, I don¡¯t have to ask, but I still don¡¯t ask anyway. It¡¯s called having respect for other people¡¯s private thoughts thank you very much.¡± ¡°I¡­ I really need to learn to stop falling for the damn bait, don¡¯t I.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Please don¡¯t, it makes it so much more fun for me,¡± Angie practically cackled and I just let out an internal groan as I tried to zone her out. ¡°Any new clues on his powers?¡± I asked, wondering if I had given him enough to work with yet. I backed up the page from the video he had shown me, assuming it had come from the same subreddit he was browsing on his laptop and finding my assumption to be correct. It returned to a post titled ¡°New NYC hero gives name - Loophole¡± and was filled with comments and several links to the various videos people had managed to grab. Most of the comments seemed to be people doing exactly what I was trying to have Jon do now, and as far as I could tell, no one was even close. To be fair, I don¡¯t think I would have even been able to name ¡°Local Area Manipulation¡± as a superpower before all of this, but I also assumed that people who were more obsessed with this stuff would know what it was. I briefly considered making a random account and just throwing the idea out there before dismissing it. Even if I did want Jon to know what it was, that didn¡¯t mean I wanted it to be the common guess. ¡°Yeah we can add some sort of illusion skill. It¡¯s a hell of a weird combo of abilities. Like, generally their powers all sort of fall into a set category. Earth Knight for example is able to make weapons out of the ground at will, so you always see him doing that in his fights, he doesn¡¯t suddenly start grabbing weapons out of fire or anything else, it¡¯s always Earth. This guy though¡­ First luck based stuff, then he can control the weight of things and make guns go off, now illusions and it looks like some sort of ability to make someone¡¯s foot get stuck? There¡¯s no connecting tissue that really ties the powers to a single set source, it just doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­ if that makes sense.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I said and took another drink. Without having something else to go on, it was starting to seem impossible to get his advice on things without revealing that it was me we were talking about. ¡°Well if you can¡¯t figure it out I doubt I¡¯m gonna have any luck,¡± I finally said. To that Jon just laughed as he shot me another look. ¡°Yeah, guess you got me there, you wouldn¡¯t know an energy blast from a laser beam.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a difference?¡± I asked, actually curious and the curious look he had been giving me changed to one of pure shock. ¡°You¡¯re friggin helpless, aren¡¯t you?¡± He said with a laugh. ¡°Hurtful but not untrue,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well I guess if we put our heads together we can figure it out eventually, just gotta get the right opportunity, eh?¡± He said, turning his attention back to his laptop. ¡°Yeah, I think we are gonna be relying more on you than me for that. It is kinda cool this guy¡¯s working in our neighborhood. I gotta go buy a new phone here, Mr. Russo fronted me some cash so I¡¯d have one, gotta be able to get the work assignments somehow,¡± I said as I pushed myself up from the couch and stretched. I noticed I had a Rested buff in the corner of my vision and my health was increased. Hovering over the icon I saw Source: Turnabout¡¯s Fairplay. ¡°Will do man, don¡¯t go getting yourself into too much trouble, eh? It¡¯s been fun having you actually interested and theorizing about powers and all that,¡± He said as I started for the door. ¡°Yeah, I guess it is kinda fun, even if I am basically just bugging yah for info,¡± I replied, waving a hand back at him over my shoulder. ¡°I ain¡¯t changing my number so I¡¯ll text yah when I¡¯m set up.¡± ¡°Cool cool, later dude,¡± He called after, just as I pulled the door shut behind me. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to fill me in on exactly what will cause a breach of the Secret Identity thing cause I can¡¯t keep just guessing with this, clearly it¡¯s not working,¡± I said to Angie as I climbed down the stairs. I smiled and offered a small wave at Mr. Greyson as I passed him by the mailboxes. ¡°Short version or long version?¡± She asked. I stepped outside and dipped into the alley next to the building. I knew logically I should be doing this further away from home, but I wanted to get moving now and I felt like I¡¯d get less weird looks if I was running in my gear than just as a random guy in jeans. A moment later I was exiting from the far side of the alley in my equipment, sidestepping an older couple that gave me a curious look as I headed off in the other direction. ¡°There¡¯s different- you know what, I don¡¯t care. Give me the long version, I want every variant of every thing I could say that would constitute breaking the rule. That should fill the time till I get over to the police station.¡± I walked for just a bit before starting to jog, weaving around people and listening to her explanation as I went. Hell¡¯s Kitchen was actually covered by two separate precincts within the city. What I found interesting about my tutorial mission was the fact that even though the bank I had saved had been in the northern parts of the neighborhood, it had been the 10th precinct that responded. I had a theory brewing about why that was, but at the end of the day it really didn¡¯t matter that much. The 10th Precinct was all the way down on 20th street, in south Chelsea, and even at a moderate pace, it took me just shy of 30 minutes to navigate traffic there. Surprisingly, I didn¡¯t find myself getting winded at all during the entirety of the run, my stamina lowering slightly but recovering more than fast enough that I never found myself having to stop. I briefly interrupted Angie to ask about it and she told me with my Dexterity at 7, as long as I wasn¡¯t sprinting I¡¯d probably be able to run mostly without stopping. Even though I expected to be treated with suspicion as I entered the station, I only received a handful of looks from the officers in uniform moving about the front of the building. I actually heard one of them mutter ¡°Loophole¡± as I passed them and I felt¡­ pride? I tried to shake the idea off, assuming it was coming from the augmentation process as I kept moving. ¡°You¡¯d think they¡¯d be a bit more cautious about a dude in a mask walking into their building, though I guess going away from the ski mask helps,¡± I mused as I approached the front desk. The clerk, a younger Hispanic woman with out of control curly hair, a pair of heavy framed glasses, and braces gave me a curious glance before a smile spread over her face. ¡°You must be one of the new ones that Lt. Nester met yesterday, he warned me some of you would be stopping by, though he guessed it would be by the end of the week, not today. What¡¯s your name? I¡¯ll let him know you¡¯re here to see him,¡± the girl said. Though I hadn¡¯t been making it a point of scanning every single person I came across, mostly because I kind of didn¡¯t want to know who was and wasn¡¯t considered ¡°sentient¡±, I still found myself highlighting her out of curiosity. ¡°Isabel Santiago. This is a Sentient NPC. Isabel has been working for the 10th precinct as a civilian administrator for the last few years. Isabel¡¯s history in this world is largely unimportant given the fact that she¡¯s Sentient and Axio had no part in the majority of her life. What I will say about her is that she almost reminds me of that show Ugly Betty. You know how they took America Ferrera, an objectively beautiful woman, and put her in some braces and thick glasses to try and fool everyone that she wasn¡¯t¡­ well objectively beautiful? Well that¡¯s kind of what Isabel is doing with those glasses and the lack of makeup on the day to day. It lets her do her job without being subjected to harassment and unwanted come ons from every single person who comes walking through this place. And before you start trying to interrupt me and say, ¡°oh where are you going with this Angie?¡± I¡¯d like you to let me finish. You might ask, was this all just me trying to point out the fact that you¡¯ve watched Ugly Betty half a dozen times and you used to have America Ferrera as the background of your phone? Was it commentary on the current state of fashion in the world? Or was it maybe me pointing out the fact that your heart rate jumped a bunch the moment you saw this girl so it¡¯s clear you think she¡¯s attractive, meaning maybe you could stop wondering why I can admire your objectively attractive friend since sometimes it just pops into your head unbidden.¡± That was¡­ that was a bit odd, even for Angie but I decided to ignore the extended description, watching as it faded away leaving only the tag ¡°Isabel Santiago. Sentient NPC.¡± ¡°Loophole. I¡¯m going by Loophole,¡± I said, opting to just try and get through this as quickly as possible. The last thing I needed was for Angie to harp on this the rest of the day. ¡°Loop¡­ Hole,¡± she repeated as her fingers darted across the keyboard. A visitor badge printed out and she handed it to me with a wide smile, ¡°Okay, if you want to head on back I can buzz you in here. Head on down the hall and Lt. Nester will meet you..¡± ¡°Thanks, I guess I will uh¡­ go and see him now then,¡± I said with an admittedly awkward wave as a loud buzz emitted from above the door next to her. ¡°See yah around,¡± she said with a smile as I passed. Lt. Nester was waiting at the end of the small hallway and held out a hand as I approached. ¡°Loophole eh? I like it,¡± he said as he shook my hand. ¡°Come to my desk here, there¡¯s some activity with the Vipers going down over in the yards and I think we could use your help.¡± Chapter 17

33rd St. MTA West Side Yard. Hudson Yard, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed City: Unclaimed (Claims Blocked By Timer)

It felt¡­ weird¡­ doing this in the middle of the day. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he have told me to wait until nightfall or something? Isn¡¯t that like¡­ the typical storytelling mechanic for these sort of raids on enemy bases?¡± ¡°Please Loophole, this is real life, crime happens at all hours. It¡¯s that kind of stereotypical attitude that lets millions of people get away with crimes every year.¡± ¡°Millions? That can¡¯t be right.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s just New York City! Crime statistics aren¡¯t something I joke about thank you very much¡­ also we might have a hand in making sure those crimes are happening. We gotta have something for you meatbags to do until you get the balls to start fighting each other.¡± I had managed to find a moment when no one was on the street and slipped over the wall into the large trainyard. If Crime Alerts were meant to be, for lack of a better term, randomly generated events that had to be dealt with, the Mission Briefing Lt. Nester gave me must have been the game''s version of a quest. As I snuck along the outer edges of the trainyard, I made sure to look around for anyone who might have seen me come over the wall. Once I was sure I hadn¡¯t been seen, I highlighted the mission being tracked on the side of my vision. ¡°Something¡¯s Cookin¡¯ in Hudson Yard. Mission Type: Raid. Since you apparently either weren¡¯t listening well enough to Lt. Nester or you have short term memory loss, let me give you the quick-ish rundown. Several sightings by Sentient NPCs have confirmed multiple members of the Viper¡¯s Biker Gang sneaking into and out of the large trainyard in Hudson Yard. Find out what they¡¯re doing, and if they¡¯re up to something, do those donut lovers a favor and shut it down. Reward: The reward for this mission is Variable and is subject to how you complete the mission.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you guys have done this in a warehouse or somewhere¡­ I don¡¯t know, more private?¡± I wondered as I peaked around the side of a train in storage. There was nothing that felt outright odd about it and I quickly moved to the next one. Granted, I wasn¡¯t looking that hard because I had a sneaking suspicion that there would be some sort of sign to indicate which one was my target. ¡°What and miss out on the chance for the fight to spill out for people to see? Don¡¯t you want the publicity and the points? We know at least one of the ways to gain points right now and last I checked you¡¯re still 9090 points from where you need to be in just a few days. You should be actively trying to gain those points. Yes, completing the mission is good, but trust me when I tell you that the Variable award is almost certainly going to be better if you do it in a way that gets you points too.¡± ¡°Yeah and fighting with an audience is one of the ways to gain points, one of, and I remember this pretty clearly, ten thousand possible activities. I think between that and the fact that I still have a couple more days I should be fine. I can¡¯t imagine that there¡¯s no new point opportunities hiding for me here. Hell, just look at that Tempest¡¯s Wrath chick, with how much she¡¯s doing already I¡¯d bet she¡¯s at at least 15,000 points already,¡± I said, checking the next train and once again coming up empty. I took another look around the yard, trying to see if I could spot anyone at all. ¡°This place is¡­ unsettlingly empty, shouldn¡¯t there be employees or something?¡± ¡°What do I look like, a trainyard operator or an expert on employment numbers?¡± ¡°As helpful as always Angie, never change.¡± ¡°Why would I change?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes as I moved on to the next train in the row of storage. I had to stop myself from audibly saying ¡°Jackpot¡± as I approached a train car with a massively out of place piece of graffiti of a snake painted right onto the side right over the windows. Sure enough, the latch on the rear door of the car was broken and, after double checking that an employee hadn¡¯t magically shown up, I slipped into the locomotive mentally preparing to activate my Mirror Image skill if there was someone defending the entrance. The moment I crossed the threshold into the car, the words Gold Level Viper Den - Hudson Yard flashed in the location panel before fading away. It was almost like stepping into another world and I swear the lighting even seemed to change as a natural eeriness overtook me. The car had been stripped completely clean, existing only as a hull and painted over windows. There were holes all over the ground where the seats had once been bolted down and the light fixtures across the overhead were all picked clean, even the wiring seeming to have been ripped out as I caught glimpses of them in the bits of light leaking in through the still open backdoor. ¡°Do I even want to know just how much of the world this game controls if this train can just be sitting here like this,¡± I wondered as I continued to creep forward. I stopped at the door separating the two cars and leaned against the wall. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give you a little pro tip for free, I think if you have to ask if you want to know something, you probably don¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°Fair point,¡± I said, taking another breath and trying to ease the nerves I felt oddly creeping up. I hated the lack of specificity for this mission and walking right into their base? That felt equally bad. But my powerset wasn¡¯t the type to go bursting through walls, at least not until I could get the right knowledge skills. Even then, I was finding a rhythm in being an up close fighter and if it wasn¡¯t broken, why fix it? I kept my mental trigger finger at the ready and pushed the door to the next car open. The metal of the door scraped as it slid inward before the sound of voices reached me. I bit back the urge to jump right into the fight as I held my position. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°The door, what th¡¯ fuck you think it was you dumb fuck?¡± "I ain''t a moron, I meant what the fuck opened it?" "Go check it out." I still wasn¡¯t sure how many there were and while I felt like I could probably handle the basic grunts at this point, I would have to be a fool to think that they weren¡¯t going to get harder. There was the sound of heavy footsteps and I held my place at the door, holding my breath as a grunt walked right past me and into the empty cart. ¡°Place is empty, musta been the-¡± The grunt turned around, his eyes immediately meeting mine as I simultaneously clicked both my Mirror Image and Mute Button skills. I wasn¡¯t even sure if that was going to work given that I hadn¡¯t tried to activate multiple abilities at once before, but luck was on my side as they both took effect. With his attention still on the illusion that was left behind, I faded into invisibility. I slipped around the corner and into the next train car, almost immediately coming face to face with the second, and lone other, grunt in the room. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. My invisibility still had 5 seconds left as I slammed my fist directly into his face, feeling the crunch of bone under my knuckles as he went sprawling backwards. His health chunked down immensely with a Surprised! icon floating over his head. I quickly highlighted the new debuff as I skidded past the downed enemy, taking the last few seconds of camouflage to find out just what it was. ¡°Surprised. This NPC was struck with a blow by a force while completely unprepared for it! Damage was amplified by 2x. This bonus will be applied again to the next strike against this target only if done before they discover the originating source.¡± I didn¡¯t hesitate, spinning on my heel and driving my fist downward, right into the grunt¡¯s chest, causing a spray of saliva and blood to come from his mouth as his health dropped the rest of the way down. There was a trail of blood leaking from the side of his mouth and just a sliver of red in his health bar. Floating almost directly over his crooked and broken nose was a spinning KO debuff. Before I could start to move or even attempt to stand back up, a foot collided with my chin. It sent me flying onto my back as sound started to come back into the room and my body faded back into existence. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ invisible bitch,¡± my attacker spat as I reached up and felt at my bloodied face. My health had gone down by nearly half and I briefly saw that I had the Surprised debuff. It faded away the moment that I looked at the grunt now kneeling next to the man I had just put down. He materialized a syringe in his hand and jammed it down into his friend¡¯s stomach. To my surprise, the downed grunt¡¯s KO tag disappeared, his health moving back up to 50%. ¡°Wait what!? They can get back up?¡± I was scrambling back to my feet, materializing an enhanced syringe of my own and shoving it into my leg. ¡°Well you¡¯re too much of a pansy to just kill them, so yeah, they can get back up. I¡¯ve tried to tell you, it¡¯s soooo much easier being a Miscreant.¡± The grunts rushed me, one of them materializing a pipe in their hand and swinging wide as I activated Float Like A Butterfly. I probably didn¡¯t necessarily need to use the skill, but the extra dodge percentage definitely couldn¡¯t hurt my chances either. Like the first car, this one had been mostly stripped clean, with just a few metal seats still in place and a crudely made wooden gate stretching between two of them. I nearly tripped over the gate as I moved to escape the still chasing grunts. I slammed Weighted Clothes and watched as both of the grunts crashed to the ground under the weight of a thousand pounds each. The grunt at half life immediately dropped his metal pipe, the KO reappearing over his head. I had been trying to avoid blowing all of my cooldowns this early on into the train, but the sudden resurrection had caught me off guard. It was far better than risking getting my head bashed in. I¡¯d just have to hope I could move silently enough to stall for a few minutes after I finished this. ¡°So, do you want to tell me what you assholes are up to, or do you just want to go to sleep like your friend over here?¡± I asked, regaining my composure. I stepped over the unconscious grunt, looking down briefly just to make sure he wasn¡¯t going to have a repeat performance before I stopped next to the struggling form of my only remaining enemy. ¡°Fu- Fu- Fuck. Y- Y- You,¡± the grunt stuttered out. I highlighted him out of curiosity and found that he was only level 2, which explained why the weight took him down by over 75% of his health. ¡°Well if that¡¯s the way you want to play it,¡± I said, before stepping forward and driving the tip of my boot into his stomach, chunking down the rest of his health. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took a better look around the cabin. ¡°These guys are supposed to give me a false sense of security, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°What?¡± Angie seemed caught off guard for just a moment but I didn¡¯t give her time to finish her thought. ¡°They¡¯re level 2 and this place is a Gold level den. Given that the folks I fought during the Crime Alert last night had been the same level as me, I was kinda assuming that trend would just continue. Also, should I tie these guys up or something?¡± I said, reaching down and picking up the metal pipe that the grunt had been trying to strike me with. To my surprise, it wasn¡¯t just a pipe. ¡°Bruiser¡¯s Baton. Melee Weapon. +3 to Strength when in use. For the grunt on the go, this metal pipe is quite literally nothing special! But we can¡¯t have someone with superpowers just wailing on this poor, sweet unarmed man who just happens to be lower level than you. Though, that¡¯s not to say only these weaklings will be armed and if you were really worried about these guys coming back for you, you¡¯d¡­ you know¡­ just take them out.¡± I ignored the last bit of the description as I turned the crude pipe back and forth, taking in the various dents and bits of rust that showed the weapon¡¯s age. There was no way I was going to go around wielding a metal pipe but it was going to be worth something. Though I hadn¡¯t taken the time to loot anything up until now, I was going to need to start making it a habit. Even if the gear wasn¡¯t necessarily the best, I could still sell it. I looted the two unconscious grunts, coming away with 500 Credits, a few Basic Health Injectors, and a single Resuscitation Injector. I materialized the last one and highlighted it. ¡°Resuscitation Injector. This injector removes the KO debuff and returns the injected target to 50% health. Just to be clear. This injector will not do anything to you if you do not have the KO debuff. That means it¡¯s pretty much useless on both yourself and anyone you accidentally (or maybe on purpose if you suddenly become fun) kill.¡± ¡°Sheesh, pretty much useless is right but I guess that can be a down the line tool,¡± I thought as I walked toward the next car. My skills still had a few minutes left on cooldown and I would be a fool to believe these were the strongest guys I was going to come across, especially given the context clues. I wasn¡¯t going to be able to use the same entry method every time, even if it was only two enemies in every car, and that was less likely than Angie becoming even a little bit less crazy. ¡°Hey, just because I don¡¯t comment on all of your inner thoughts any more doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t hear them,¡± Angie huffed before her voice lowered. ¡°I¡¯ve held back on at least five good jokes and he thinks I¡¯m crazy.¡± ¡°Not helping yourself, but yes, you¡¯ve gotten better. Just wish you weren¡¯t always pushing the ¡°kill¡± option,¡± I said. I risked peeking through the small window in the door and was able to see three grunts and a pair of brutes huddled around a literal trash can fire. I ducked out of the window as one of the brutes started to turn toward the door and held my breath, waiting to see if he was coming to investigate. I could hear the footsteps approaching and I eyed my hotbar, seeing that three of the skills I had used were still on cooldown for another few minutes. I felt for my pocket and cursed myself for not taking the time to pick up a pack of gum. Had this been a normal New York train, there would have been half a dozen pieces of chewed gum on the wall I was leaning against alone. Sure it was a bit of a gross thought, but without the gum, the only abilities I could actively use were purely offensive, and I wasn¡¯t sure if that was going to be enough to take down the- A small explosion came echoing through the car and I instinctively dove to the ground expecting a follow up attack. When it didn¡¯t come, I looked up, finding that there was a bright light now leaking through the window to the next car. I didn¡¯t even try to be sneaky as I scrambled to my feet to look through the window, seeing two of the grunts'' lifeless forms collapsed next to the still on fire remains of the trash can they had been huddled around. The others in the room didn¡¯t seem to be doing much better, with both remaining grunts trying to put out their flaming clothes and one of the brutes with a nasty looking burn across half of his face. I slid the door open, expecting to use this unexpected bit of luck to my advantage when I finally noticed the hole in the side of the train car. ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t expecting help,¡± a pair of identical voices said in near unison. Two forms jumped into the car and I couldn¡¯t stop myself from doing a double take at the twins standing in front of me. They each wore a pair of basic blue jeans and a nearly identical looking black mask to the one I was already wearing. The only difference between the two was that one wore a blue long sleeve shirt and the other wore a red one. Without warning, the twin in red dissolved into light before remerging with the one in blue. His shirt was the last thing to fade, with the light disappearing to reveal the color was now split down the middle, half red and half blue. I highlighted the stranger and immediately wished the information provided included team affiliation. ¡°Hydramental. Level 4 Elemental Everyman.¡± ¡°What, you just gonna stand there and fucking gawk?¡± He said, pausing only to crack his knuckles. ¡°Cause I¡¯m about to stomp these Hell¡¯s Angels wannabes.¡± Chapter 18 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. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°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.¡± Chapter 19 I slammed the broken door shut. Logically I knew that wasn¡¯t going to do a damn thing, but with Hydramental on the ground and his health ticking down, I couldn¡¯t risk the snake monster getting any closer to us. I had no idea if the poison would kill him or just knock him out, and regardless of how much of an ass he had been, I couldn¡¯t justify letting him die. I materialized an Enhanced Health Syringe into my hand and jammed it down into his arm. I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work or not since the syringes were supposed to work on a cooldown system, but sure enough his health immediately returned to near full. When I looked at the syringe icon on my hotbar, I saw it had an additional line that read ¡°Hydramental Cooldown: 5 Minutes.¡± I looked back to him and saw that though he was healed, his health still continued to tick down as I checked his debuffs. ¡°Poisoned. Type: Modified Russell¡¯s Viper / Full Paralysis & Damage Variant. Time Remaining: 10 seconds. Damage taken per second: 100.¡± ¡°Damnit, knowing the type of venom doesn¡¯t exactly mean I can do anything with my power about it, I don¡¯t know how to make the antivenom, just what kind would neutralize it,¡± I said as I stood back up. His health wasn¡¯t going to zero out before the timer ended now, and the best thing I could do was draw the attention away from him. ¡°Eh, he¡¯ll be fine, you healed him up enough and I''ve heard enough of his bullshit for a few minutes,¡± Angie said and I could feel there was an edge. ¡°Huh, and here I thought you¡¯d be encouraging me to be more like him with the whole killing thing,¡± I said, jumping as a fist slammed into the already weakened door. It started to give after the first hit, a large dent starting to buckle the door inward. I briefly looked down at Hydramental and saw that his debuff had only a few seconds left. ¡°That¡¯s because I don¡¯t believe in half measures,¡± Angie shot back. ¡°If he wants to kill people, fine, but don¡¯t do it under the guise of being a Guardian, just go the Miscreant route and call it a day. This whole ¡°oh look at me, I¡¯m an edgelord anti-hero¡± bullshit is painfully overplayed.¡± I was just about to respond when another powerful strike landed on the door just as Hydramental started to come to. He scrambled off the ground and toward the wall as the door burst inward, the debris of the metal barrier shattering into different directions. I dodged backwards, trying to put distance between myself and Sal as he forced his way through the wrecked entrance and slithered into the room. ¡°Now now fellasssss, I think you¡¯ve made ssssome¡­ interesting choicesss today, do you really want to make another bad one?¡± Sal said, slithering further toward me, he was easily at least 7 feet tall, and that wasn¡¯t counting the tail dragging behind him. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard as several of his words were drawn out into hisses that made my ears almost want to bleed. ¡°I could usssssse a few good bruisssssssers.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that, I ain¡¯t really a big fan of snakes,¡± Hydramental¡¯s dual voice echoed from behind the hulking beast. The blue clone darted forward, jumping and blowing out a torrent of frigid air at Sal¡¯s tail in a fluid, practically practiced motion. A thick layer of ice formed over it, but it only held for a moment before Sal flexed and his tail burst upward. The clone tossed his body to the side off of a small bit of ice that seemed to form underneath his foot in midair, barely avoiding the massive flailing tail just before it made contact with the ceiling. ¡°I could alsssssso use a ssssssssssnack if that¡¯ssss how you want to play it,¡± Sal hissed, turning his attention back to the pair of clones. ¡°Was the hissing really necessary?¡± I asked, trying to put together a plan in my head as quickly as I could. ¡°He¡¯s a snake Loophole, what do you think?¡± There wasn¡¯t much I could do, but with Sal¡¯s back to me, I did the only thing I could think. I rushed him, activating Sting Like A Bee as I moved. I leapt toward him, launching the three enhanced strikes as quickly as I could for his center of mass. They each connected but bounced off of him, barely leaving a blemish on his cold, scaly skin. His health bar similarly barely budged and I had to scramble backwards before a muscular arm practically the size of a girder could smack me down. Even with the halfhearted swipe toward me, Sal kept his attention on the clones, turning quickly on the Hydramental in blue as his tail whipped back toward him. Without anywhere else to dodge, Sal¡¯s tail connected, driving the clone through both the empty cages behind him and the window that had been barely blocked by them. A flash of light burst from the clone as he broke through the window, evaporating and returning to his other body as Hydramental yelped in pain. His health dropped by over 60% in that one hit and he quickly materialized a syringe of his own into his hand. "Shouldn''t that be on cooldown?" I asked, eyeing the syringe in his hand and the icon on my hotbar, still ticking down next to his name. "Only if that''s a health syringe." ¡°Isssss that all you got? I wassss really hoping for a challenge,¡± Sal hissed, breaking my focus before I could question Angie further. He slithered over toward Hydramental who was in the process of pushing himself back to his feet. His hand was still gripped tightly to the syringe as he glared up toward the approaching beast. Sal moved to strike, a large fist driving forward as Hydramental dodged to the side. In the same motion, he jammed the syringe into his side. He had barely gotten in front of the broken door to the next train car and saw a small bit of light was starting to form from his body when Sal struck him full force. He had recovered quickly from his first missed attack, and with a powerful strike, Hydramental went flying backwards into the burning remains of the train car. I knew I should have been moving already, but my failed first blow had thrown me off as I tried to search for a solution. Without one quickly coming to mind and Hydramental already battered, I rushed forward once more. When I had gotten close enough, I threw another punch and activated the Venomous Strike ability on my bracers. It seemed like a long shot, but I could use the skill only once per encounter and if it was going to work at all, it felt like it was going to be now or never. The green liquid flicked from my bracers¡¯ spikes, splattering over the back of Sal as my fist struck him once more. His health still barely budged, but a spinning yet modified version of Poisoned debuff appeared over his head. ¡°Poisoned. Type: Russell¡¯s Viper / Partial Paralysis and Effectiveness Variant. Time Remaining: 10 seconds. Warning: This debuff¡¯s effectiveness is halved due to skin resistance.¡± ¡°Damnit,¡± I muttered under my breath as I dodged back once more, skipping out of the way of Sal¡¯s tail as he attempted to smack me with the massive appendage. ¡°OH BABY THAT¡¯S THE STUFF!¡± Hydramental practically yelled. The wreckage was noticeably dimmer and I looked past Sal to see that the fire had been fully extinguished. Even more importantly, Hydramental¡¯s clone in red was glowing. ¡°Let¡¯s turn up the heat, I¡¯ve heard grilled snake is delicious,¡± I heard him growl before he punched forward and let out a torrent of flame toward Sal. The snake man¡¯s massive body took the brunt of the fire and yet still, his health barely budged. ¡°What the hell, is this guy fireproof or something?! Can snakes even be fireproof?!¡± I said as I kept backing away from the show. There was no doubt about it, if people were watching this, he was certainly going to be the center of attention. ¡°To be fair, Sal did survive that first explosion without a scratch too, it¡¯s not a hard leap to make given that he¡¯s an Augment and by definition he¡¯d have multiple parts of his powerset, just saying,¡± Angie replied. ¡°Then how the fuck are we-¡± I started to say as one of the caged snakes let out a large hiss when I accidentally bumped into it. It was one of the many Russell¡¯s Vipers the gang had kept captive here and I took another quick look around the car. My mind was racing as I focused back onto the venom knowledge that I had gained. I looked from the snakes, down to my bracers, and then back to Sal who was pushing his way through Hydramental¡¯s barrage of fire, albeit slowly. In a flash of inspiration I highlighted Hydramental and opened a chat window. I looked back around the train car, my gaze landing on the cabinet I had ignored when I first walked into the room. If they were going to keep them anywhere, that was going to have to be it. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I rushed over to the cabinet, yanking the doors open to find it was somehow cool inside of it. I briefly highlighted the cabinet and saw it had an Upgrade: Refrigerated modification on it. There were several dozen vials lining the shelves each capped and filled nearly to the top with a practically clear liquid. I picked up an entire tray and pulled it into my B.E.L.T.. Once it had vanished, I found I could examine the entire thing at once when it was cataloged inside. It appeared as a miniature inventory within my inventory, and when I selected it, the contents listed were:
  • Extracted Russell¡¯s Viper Venom. Twelve 4 oz. vials.
  • Russell¡¯s Viper Antivenom. Four 4 oz. vials.
I looked back toward the broken door and could barely see the Hydramental clones getting backed toward a pile of rubble that made up the end of the destroyed car. The red clone was still throwing fire, but his glow was completely gone and he was noticeably winded. Sal was far outside of my range now, but I could clear that distance more than easily enough. I rushed into the fresh air of the now open train car, noticing a gate in the distance that a crowd started to gather near. It took me only a few seconds to get close enough, feeling Sal as he entered my zone and I activated my Weighted Clothes ability. Though the snake creature wasn¡¯t wearing much, he was still wearing his gang¡¯s leather jacket, and without a single extra target in the vicinity, he was the only would to take the entirety of the skill¡¯s 2000 lbs limit. He was strong, there was no doubt about that and while he did take some damage, it was still barely a fraction of his total health bar. Unlike the various grunts I had faced so far, the weight wasn''t enough to send him collapsing to the ground. But I didn¡¯t need it to finish him, I just needed it to slow him down. I didn¡¯t stop moving as I pulled half the vials of venom from my B.E.L.T and threw them toward Hydramental. A light shimmered and jumped between the two clones before the clone in blue raised his hands, stopping the vials midway through their fall. They each shattered in a flash as the contents froze over, coming together into a spike the size of a large kitchen knife. It only floated in the air for a moment before Hydramental launched it forward at the still struggling Sal. The tip of the icy weapon penetrated through Sal¡¯s defenses with a frustrating amount of ease, piercing through his scaly skin and disappearing into his body. For a minute, nothing seemed to happen as Sal looked at a bit of green blood that started to leak from the now open wound. Then, practically all at once, his health plummeted, first dropping 25%, then it was at 40% and before I could even think to pull one of the vials of antivenom out, his health bottomed out and he fell to the ground with a loud CRASH! I expected him to shift back into some human form, but instead, his body seemed to steam for just a minute before it all at once cooled, leaving him to lay there stiff as a statue. In a flash, a cascade of windows flooded my field of view. I looked over at Hydramental, seemingly catching his breath with his eyes glazed over probably having his own barrage of notifications to deal with. ¡°New Achievement! Team Up Take Down! Look at you! You and a¡­ well, let¡¯s not call him a friend, maybe he¡¯s a¡­ colleague? No, that doesn¡¯t feel right either. Well whatever he is, you worked together with another Augment to take down an Elite NPC higher level than yourself! Let¡¯s be real though, without you, that guy would have been snake food. This is Gold Level Achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°Lucky Charm Feature Activated! Your B:Tier loot box has been upgraded to an A:Tier Loot Box! Source: Fortune''s Guardian Jacket.¡± ¡°Local Area Manipulation. This power has reached Level 3. Your Local Area¡¯s range is now a 17 foot radius. Ability Unlocked! Area Sense. Activated Ability. While directly focusing on your local area, you now have the ability to feel anything residing within it. At this initial level, you will not be able to precisely identify what you are feeling just through this ability. This ability does not have a cooldown or maximum duration. As long as you can retain your focus, you can utilize this sense. Please Note: This ability requires you to remain completely still and requires your full attention. This ability does not need to be on your hotbar to be utilized.¡± ¡°Ok, what the hell is the point of the hotbar if I¡¯m going to get all of these different abilities that don¡¯t have to be on them to use?¡± I asked. Though it seemed minor, it was something that had been bothering me since I had first gotten my bracers. It wasn¡¯t like they even had to be reloaded or like there was a button that activated them, just like my abilities, I had to just think about it and they would throw their poison. ¡°It¡¯s actually rather simple to understand!¡± Angie chirped happily. ¡°So far you have received four total skills that are able to be utilized without being on your hotbar. These four skills actually represent the two different ways Free Abilities can be obtained. Venomous Strike and Fortune¡¯s Shield were both granted to you through Equipment and you lose the ability to use them when you aren¡¯t wearing their associated items. Area Sense and Luck Bomb are both abilities built into the core nature of your powers. Think about it this way, you are always going to be Augmented now, which means that you always have your powers. Simply put, some aspects of them are just always going to exist. Augments with variations of Super Strength can¡¯t just not be Super Strong just because they aren¡¯t in costume and similarly you can¡¯t turn off your Local Area just because you¡¯re not in disguise. This newest ability of yours just grants some functionality to your main power no matter the time or place.¡± ¡°Wait, does that mean I can use those skills when I¡¯m not in costume, at least the power associated ones? I thought I had to actually be in disguise to activate my powers¡­ like, I distinctly remember that being a part of the Secret Identity rule.¡± ¡°I also did say there were specific situations where that rule wasn¡¯t the case too. Plus you were just getting into the swing of things, I didn¡¯t want to explain conditional power access to you just yet in case you died,¡± she laughed. ¡°Gee thanks,¡± I muttered. ¡°No problem buddy!¡± Angie laughed. ¡°Now, only abilities directly linked to one of your powers can be used when you are not in costume. That means that yes, your Area Sense and Luck Bomb ability are on the table when you are just out and about.¡± ¡°Hmm, well that¡¯s pretty neat,¡± I said as I turned my attention to the next notification. ¡°Weighted Clothes. This ability has increased to Level 3. Your maximum distributed weight is now 2500 pounds. This ability has been augmented one of three times. Current Augmentations: Party Mode.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Kill Elite Non-Sentient Augment (NEW!): You participated in the kill of an Elite Non-Sentient Augment. This is worth points equal to the defeated Augment¡¯s level times 100. Total Value: 600 points. Upgrader (NEW!): You used a feature or scroll to increase the level of a received reward! What, you weren¡¯t happy enough with what you got?! This has a static value. Total Value: 250 points. Team Victory (NEW!): You completed an objective while teamed up with a fellow Augment. I guess we are rewarding you for needing help now? Eh, I guess we gotta fill out those ten thousand point opportunities somehow. This has a static value. Total Value: 150 points.¡± I certainly hadn¡¯t meant to kill him but I had made a guess based on limited information. I had no idea how heavy the creature was so getting a perfect dose would have been damn near impossible, and undershooting it was an even worse idea. In the distance I could hear a holler of cheering coming from the fence. I lifted an uncertain hand in a wave at them before turning my attention back to Sal¡¯s unmoving form. To my surprise, when I attempted to loot him, the only thing he had available to take was his vest, a Ratty Biker Vest to be specific. I took it into my B.E.L.T and looked back toward the cart we had come from. The cabinet still had a few more trays filled with vials of poison, but I knew I could circle back to those after we were done here. Though the mission was shaking with a notification, it only mentioned the defeat of Sal and had no signs of being completed. ¡°What the fuck was in those vials and how did it take this dude down?! My fire wasn¡¯t even burning him,¡± Hydramental said, walking over as a Health Injector evaporated from his hand. I pulled one of the remaining vials of poison from my inventory. ¡°It¡¯s the venom they were extracting from the Vipers back in there,¡± I explained as I tossed him the vial and walked toward the next doorway. I had to push through a bit of debris before I could reach the door. It took some effort but I was able to get it to slide open. ¡°You can kill a snake with its own venom? How the hell is that possible? It¡¯s always in their mouths, shouldn¡¯t they be immune?¡± He followed me as I pushed my way into the room. ¡°Drinking it and having it stabbed right into your blood are two very different things. It¡¯s¡­ well it¡¯s sorta a loophole. Nothing we were throwing at him was working, and in most games, all ¡°bosses¡± end up having some sort of weak spot. When I attempted to use my bracers, he wasn''t outright immune to the poison they apply, so it got me thinking,¡± I explained, looking around the dim room. The explosion had clearly left this place disheveled, but with several maps of New York tapped to the walls, it looked like some form of planning room. I pulled a few of them off the walls and into my B.E.L.T. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what Lt. Nester or the Mission considered good, but this felt like the right track. ¡°Shit, it looks like this marks hideouts all through Chelsea, that¡¯ll give me more than enough to drive them out of the neighborhood,¡± Hydramental said, looking at a map I hadn¡¯t gotten to. He grabbed it and pulled it into his inventory as he dropped from the Temporary Team-up. After he grabbed a few other items from a table before I could make out what they were, he turned back and started to walk for the door. ¡°Whoa, where are you going?¡± I said, jumping and moving to get in front of him. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we take this stuff back to Lt. Nester together? Or like, add each-¡± ¡°Fuck no,¡± He said, holding up a hand to stop me. ¡°Look, I appreciate the assist this time but I don¡¯t want or need any more of your help. I came here underpowered, that''s on me and I know that now. I ain¡¯t going to do that shit again.¡± Hydramental stepped past me before I could argue with him and he pushed his way back through the debris. I expected him to immediately take off from there or to go and make a show for the crowd that had formed, but instead, he just came to a stop. I waited a few moments, assuming he might have just been doing something in his interface, but when he didn¡¯t move, I couldn¡¯t stop myself from investigating. ¡°I thought you were taking off,¡± I said as I navigated my way back out to the destroyed car. For all his attitude, Hydramental was speechless and as I followed his gaze, it was easy to see why. Because where we had left Sal¡¯s body all that remained was a large, empty husk of shedded skin. Chapter 20 ¡°So uh¡­ you know a whole lot about snakes¡­ is this a snake thing or an Augment thing?¡± Hydramental asked as he looked over the skin. ¡°Um¡­ Augment I think¡­ But then again, I mostly know about their venom,¡± I said as I followed him. There was still a crowd looking on from the closed gate but they had quickly been joined by flashing police lights. It was almost comical how quickly they showed up after things had already been taken care of. ¡°Cool, at least that much I can follow. Though I guess it would be more common knowledge if there was a snake that was basically a slimy little worm phoenix.¡± I knelt down by the skin, looking over the large shell and trying to piece things together. When I selected the husk, to my surprise another loot window opened containing 2 "Viper Skin" items. I highlighted it out of curiosity. "Viper Skin. This is an Advanced Crafting Item. Adds +2 to Toughness and a 20% reduction to all Poisoned debuffs. This item can only be attached to leg, head, or torso items. Given you''d probably stab your eye out if you tried to sew, this item must be brought to a Tailor in order to be attached to a requested item. Once applied, this item cannot be reused." I was surprised it came with two of the items, but I wasn''t about to start complaining as I pulled the items into my B.E.L.T. I looked over at the gate and found that the crowd was still watching, so it seemed likely if one of them had been filming. The empty husk left me positive that Sal must have escaped somewhere, and it was possible that one of the onlookers had managed to catch it on film, even if it was just a direction he headed. I was just about to vocalize this thought when I noticed Hydramental as he hopped off the side of the train. ¡°Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t keep in contact? Just in case?¡± I quickly called after him. He stopped, turning back to me with a cocky grin. Though the aggression he had been showing seemed to be gone, the smug look on his face made me almost want to just punch him. ¡°Look bud, you might have needed help taking these guys on, but I don¡¯t plan on needing any help again. I¡¯ve got a map, I¡¯m going to train up and get stronger, and then take down this Sal asshole on my own,¡± he said. He was only a few steps away from the side of the destroyed train car, but he turned his back on me again, stretching for just a moment. ¡°Now, even though I want to do it for the points, I don¡¯t think I can rightfully claim this place. Even my P.A.I. is telling me that I''d get jack shit by trying to vocalize a claim in these conditions. But you know what, I¡¯m gonna hunt this snake bastard down, on my own, and then my position will be undisputed and without having to be a part of some bullshit team. Because I¡¯m the one who is gonna be the protector of this place.¡± ¡°To what fucking end?!¡± I barely stopped myself from shouting. Sure, it was probably clear to anyone watching that we were arguing, but the last thing we needed was for them to think we were about to get into an actual fight. I let out a long slow sigh, ¡°Look dude, I don¡¯t know why you think you¡¯ve got to prove yourself but it took both of us to take this guy down, why the actual fuck are you being so stubborn? I¡¯m not saying we need to be glued at the hips or anything but like, a little teamwork now and then isn¡¯t the fucking end of the world.¡± Hydramental turned on me and in that moment I was almost certain this was going to turn into a fight. His stare could cut through glass and every bit of perceived aggression I had felt from him so far was a drop in the bucket to the almost malevolent energy that seemed to be coming off of him. He walked back toward me and his voice lowered to a near growl. ¡°It. Is none. Of your fucking business. I told you I appreciated the assist, I¡¯m big enough to admit that I didn¡¯t do this on my own today. But I don¡¯t owe you anything beyond that. I don¡¯t owe you any fucking help in the future. As far as I¡¯m concerned, we kept each other alive this time, that makes us even. Now, if you want to keep pushing me, then let¡¯s fucking go, I don¡¯t give a fuck if we are both Guardians, according to my P.A.I., as long as I don¡¯t kill you, it won¡¯t affect my team choice. So what¡¯s it going to be? Are we gonna fucking fight? Cause if we aren''t Loophole, then we¡¯re fucking done here.¡± I don¡¯t even think I did it on purpose, but my hands had raised, palms facing outward as I felt myself instinctively wanting to take a step backwards. ¡°Sheesh, what¡¯s got his panties in a bunch?¡± ¡°Not now, Angie!¡± ¡°Just, take a breath man, I¡¯ve already had more than enough fighting for right now,¡± I said. Silence held between us for only a moment before Hydramental let out a derisive laugh. ¡°Then you are in the wrong fucking line of work,¡± he said as he turned his back on me and walked away. I held my tongue this time, not seeing the point in drawing the argument out any further. It would have been nice if he could have toned it down given just how close in proximity our territories were to each other, but I wasn¡¯t going to beg either. I watched as he marched off, stopping only to talk to Lt. Nester. I wasn¡¯t necessarily expecting to see him there, but it made sense that he¡¯d be among the cops answering this call. Hell, at this point it almost felt like Axio was playing puppet master. None of the cops passed through the gate to actually enter into the yard and although I now felt off kilter, I still wanted to search the train cars a bit more thoroughly, especially if they were going to give me the space to do so. First I headed into the snake room, moving to the refrigerated cabinet and looting the rest of the vials that had been stashed within it. When all was said and done, I had 31 vials of viper venom and 14 vials of anti-venom. I was just about to turn to head back for the map room when a thought occurred to me. "I can loot anything that is game generated or has stats, right?" "As long as it meets those parameters and you can lift it for at least a few seconds. I do believe there are some size restrictions, so don''t expected to be putting a car in your B.E.L.T. anytime soon," she explained as I looked back at the cabinet. I walked over to it, tested it just slightly and found with my increased strength I could lift it up and off the ground. Just as I felt my grip begin to loosen, I pulled the item into my B.E.L.T. and watched as it vanished from in front of me. "Well that''s kinda cool," I said with a laugh. "Was that a pun?" "Um... yeah sorta?" "And you question my taste in humor," she groaned. I took one final look around the room, making a note to let the cops know about the vipers before I turned and headed back for the destroyed car. I made my way back through the debris and into the room with the maps. Hydramental really had been focused too much on just the bigger details and while the maps were absolutely useful, I couldn¡¯t get it out of my head that that wasn¡¯t the only useful thing to be found. The mission parameters were painfully unclear, and the idea that the reward could be variable indicated, at least to me, that the maps were simply the tip of the iceberg. ¡°How much are you allowed to tell me about these missions?¡± I wondered as I began to search through cabinets closest to the door. ¡°You know, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve said this at least a few times already, but believe it or not, at my current level I am only given the information for enemies, loot, and all the other things you encounter as you discover it,¡± Angie explained. ¡°And yes, that means all my wonderful descriptions are, for the most part, improvised, you¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°Great¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting that she would just have all the answers waiting for me to ask the right question, but it was still worth a shot. Searching through the cabinets one by one was going to take far longer than I really had the patience for, and since I had recently leveled it up, I decided it was time to try out the newest skill in my arsenal. I moved toward the center of the car, trying to make sure as much of the space was within my local area as possible. I took a deep breath in and started to concentrate, activating my Area Sense. The ability almost should have been assaulting, with a barrage of new information suddenly becoming available to me, but like most of my powers so far, it felt disturbingly natural. It was practically like it was a natural extension of my senses. I concentrated specifically on my search, and that helped me focus through the noise. For the most part, the cabinets lining the edges of the train were completely empty, but as I reached toward the furthest edges of my area, I felt something out of place in a cabinet near the back. Granted, it might have felt out of place because everything else was empty, but that did still make it out of place. I deactivated my ability and wandered over toward it. The cabinet was still pretty dusty all things considered, but there was a small fireproof safe lodged onto the bottom most shelf and noticeably less dust in the area directly around it. It took a bit of effort, but I managed to pry the box free. To my complete surprise, there was a sticky note attached to the back of the box and I stared at it in disbelief. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°New Achievement! Eyes Like a Hawk (Or Maybe an Owl?) Your keen eyesight has revealed a secret mission objective that was concealed from all but the most observant, or you know anyone who refuses to look in the cabinets. Whether you''re a hawk, an owl, or just someone who spends too much time zooming in on screenshots, you''ve earned this. This is a Gold Level Achievement. Reward: Phase Points Gained! Bonus Mission Objective Found (NEW): Total Value: 250 points.¡± ¡°Is¡­ is this actually the code? Did they literally break the one rule about NOT writing down a password?¡± ¡°Are you really going to complain?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ yeah kind of, I¡¯m not even a tech guy and even I know this is a big no-no,¡± I said as I set the whole box down onto the top of the cabinet. ¡°Though I guess by video game logic it makes sense, the ones I¡¯ve played don¡¯t tend to hide passwords and shit that far away from where you need it.¡± ¡°You know, your video game knowledge is very inconsistent.¡± I ignored her as I put the code, 1-0-0-2-2, into the front of the safe. It popped open, revealing a small notebook, an empty vial, and an overly ornate silver key. I added all of the items to my inventory and in response, my mission tracker shook violently on the side of my vision. ¡°MISSION UPDATED! Something¡¯s Cookin¡¯ in Hudson Yard. You came, you saw, you beat up a bunch of grunts and survived a giant snake man. That¡¯s pretty impressive all things considered. But you weren¡¯t done there, were you? Nope, you searched and you searched and you found the one thing those poor Vipers were hoping you wouldn¡¯t find. Return to Lt. Nester to complete this Mission and receive your reward.¡± ¡°NEW MISSION! The Snake Key! Mission Type: Investigation. This key was designed with frighteningly perfect precision. It features a sleekly etched snake coiled up the shaft of the key and two small rubies inlaid into either side of the butt of the metal. Where does it go? What¡¯s it for?! If you really thought I was going to tell you any of that by now I¡¯d really be worried about your mental capabilities. This is an Investigation after all. Figure it out buddy. Reward: You will receive an S:Tier Loot Box. No, I didn¡¯t misspeak. Yes, I am just as surprised as you are. I sure hope you get it.¡± ¡°Dare I ask if something else is hidden or should I take you at your word that I can go turn this in?¡± ¡°Would I lie to you?¡± ¡°Yes. Absolutely you would. You¡¯d think it was hilarious,¡± I shot back quickly. ¡°Oh you know you¡¯re starting to like it,¡± she laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not encouraging you if that¡¯s what you¡¯re implying,¡± I briefly thumbed through the notebook and found that it was actually Sal¡¯s journal, with the handwriting in a surprisingly neat cursive. Within it, there were pages of diagrams, with very little explanation for the numbers, times or random words scattered throughout. I pulled it into my B.E.L.T for the moment and moved on. With that done I walked my way back through the debris of the destroyed train car. The crowd had noticeably started to disperse, with only a handful of civilians lingering as the officers in uniform waited. It had been as if they were waiting for me to fully clear the scene, as they entered the yard the moment I stepped through the gate. Lt. Nester approached me with a hand extended and a wide grin on his face. ¡°Well you certainly know how to clear a drug den. Though I¡¯m gonna be up to my neck in paperwork over that destroyed train.¡± ¡°Heh, well to be fair, that was kind of the other guy¡¯s fault,¡± I said with a shrug. While the Lieutenant hadn¡¯t told me that he was in contact with multiple Augments, I was curious to see how he¡¯d react to me referencing him all the same. ¡°Yeah, which is why we took most of the insurance requirements out of his reward. Can¡¯t say he didn¡¯t get the job done, but we also can¡¯t abide wanton property destruction either, y¡¯know?¡± Lt. Nester said with a shrug. "Trust me I get that. I went ahead and cleared out the rest of the car over there. I managed to find this notebook from the guy who was running this place, I''m guessing you guys might want that?" I asked as I pulled the notebook back out and held it out to the officer. He grabbed it from me and thumbed through it briefly before handing it back. "You go ahead and keep this for now, I don''t think any of my guys are gonna want to be hunting down that creature," He said with a nervous laugh, looking over toward the destroyed train.¡°Now, seeing that you were able to shut down their whole operation here, the suits up top have authorized payment for your services. They never really explained to me how it all gets delivered but at this point I know you guys have your whole own system and to not question it.¡± ¡°MISSION COMPLETE! Something¡¯s Cookin¡¯ in Hudson Yard! Reward: You have received 3500 credits and a 10th Precinct Police Communicator. Bonus Reward: You have received an F:Tier Loot Box. This bonus was granted for finding the Secret Mission Objective.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Mission Completed (NEW): Congrats, you completed a mission. These are a dime a dozen so don¡¯t expect a lot of points but every one counts I suppose. Total Value: 50 points.¡± On top of those two notifications, I also received a Level Up notification that I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle until I returned back home. ¡°You should be getting an official communicator through your channels. You¡¯re going to need to register your name into our system but once you do, you¡¯ll be looped in on any police related activity happening near you,¡± he explained. ¡°Huh¡­ I stopped some dude¡¯s last night after getting an alert, how¡¯s this different?¡± I asked. I probably should have asked Angie but it had slipped out before I could stop myself. ¡°Well as I¡¯ve mentioned, we acknowledge you Augments have your channels. But just think of the communicator you¡¯re receiving as an official channel through the 10th precinct. The more you help us, the better the rewards will be. Captain Peralta likes to incentivize you guys because it keeps us normal fellas from getting eaten alive by giant snakes, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, but like, why give it to me now and not before you sent me on this mission?¡± Lt. Nester seemed to squirm for just a moment before he relaxed. ¡°It¡¯s uh, sorry it¡¯s just protocol. We¡¯ve had Augments in the past that pretended to be heroes just to get access to our gear, common protocol now requires you all to complete an active task for us before we set you up, even then the communicator you will receive will only have access to specific channels initially.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Was all I could say. The logic didn¡¯t exactly add up but that was more than likely due to Axio¡¯s influence more than anything. I could try to push it, but the code scrawled onto the wall of The Common Ground flitted through my head. Whoever had written the code had made it a point to include a rule about not disabusing the Non-Sentients and it felt like pushing the subject could only lead the officer down an unproductive path. Instead of dwelling on it, I decided to just move on, remembering the last detail I had meant to give the Lieutenant. "Oh, by the way, the car that''s easier to get in has a whole bunch of snakes caged up, they''re all venomous too, I''d make sure your officers don''t go sticking their hands in the cages." ¡°Good to know. Now how about you go on and clear out. My boys are working on booking the fellas that didn¡¯t run off, but we still need to do a detailed run down of the scene. If we get any more reported sightings of the big guy we will pass them your way. Oh, and do me a favor, if you got a map of your neighborhood like Hydramental did and you do come across any more of these dens make sure you report them in, someone is always on the other end of that communicator and will make sure you are properly compensated for your services,¡± Nester explained before turning to the few officers that hadn¡¯t entered the yard, ¡°Well what are yah waitin¡¯ for!¡± I waved as they passed and then took off in the other direction in a light jog. I noticed as a few pedestrians pulled out phones, not so secretly taking pictures as I ran by them. ¡°Should I have told him about the key?¡± ¡°Why would you? It gave you a separate mission on its own.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ just feels like withholding evidence sort of? Is that the right term?¡± ¡°Eh, I think you¡¯re overthinking it a bit. Trust me, no normal cops would ever actually be dealing with these missions. If there¡¯s an ¡°important¡± piece of evidence, it was meant for you to find, not them. Why do you think the officer insisted you keep Sal''s notebook?¡± Angie explained. ¡°Though if something does have to be turned into someone specific, the mission parameters will list that.¡± ¡°Okay, that actually makes sense,¡± I said as I turned a corner and kept moving. It might have been a good idea to find a place to change back and blend back into the crowd, but even though I had told Hydramental I didn¡¯t want to fight him, I still knew I needed to collect more points. ¡°You know what would be really useful? A map upgrade for my interface, they have those right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I think they might be a little pricey,¡± Angie responded. ¡°Hmmm, welI guess I could kill two birds with one stone. Get some more phase points, clear out a few of the dens on this map I collected and gather maybe enough credits to get a map upgrade,¡± I said as I finally turned down an alley just to take a break. I must have gone at least three blocks from the trainyard but it had barely felt like I had worked up a sweat. A thought crossed my mind as I materialized the Viper den map of Hell¡¯s Kitchen into my hand. ¡°Actually¡­ depending on where these are I might be able to kill a third bird too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s already three birds, you¡¯d be killing a fourth if you tried that too,¡± She replied, clearly already aware of where I was going with it. ¡°Well you¡¯re not wrong,¡± I briefly eyed the phone icon on the side of my screen and the briefest start of a plan formed into my head. Angie had gotten into very specific detail about the Secret Identity protocol, and I really needed someone I could talk to about my powers with. I set the map onto the top of a closed dumpster, scanning it until I found exactly what I was looking for. ¡°There, this den is right near the diner, I think it¡¯ll work perfectly.¡± Chapter 20.5 - Stat Interlude Loophole - Level 5 Perfect Planner Current General Stats
Strength Toughness Dexterity Luck Style Intelligence Charisma Ingenuity
Base 7 5 6 13 4 6 6 8
Equipped 12 8 7 19 5 6 7 8
Conditional ----- +2 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Powerset Descriptors
Primary Power Secondary Power Hidden Power (Unlocked at Level 15)
Local Area Manipulation Super Luck ?????
Current Level: 3 Current Level: 1 ?????
Creates a permanent zone in a 17-foot radius around body. Allows for a variety of effects based on General Understanding Subtly affect the Luck of everything within your Local Area Zone by .1% for every 1 point of luck that you have. Events and outcomes within your vicinity have a higher chance of unfolding advantageously for you ?????
Activated Ability: Area Sense (Non-Hotbar Ability) Activated Ability: Luck Bomb (Non-Hotbar Ability) ?????
While directly focusing on your local area, you now have the ability to feel anything residing within it. Items felt are not precisely identified. Duration: As Long As Holding Still. Cooldown: None Consciously invoke a surge of good fortune, increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome for a specific action or event. Duration: Null Cooldown: 24 Hours ?????
Hotbar Abilities Activated Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Like Concrete 1 Increase the Van Der Waals forces (Stickiness) on a piece of gum by 10,000%. Duration: As long as item stuck is within your Local Area OR when you choose to end the effect. Cooldown: 2 hours None
Trigger Finger 1 Target a single firearm within your local area and make it fire, regardless if anyone is touching the trigger. Duration: None Cooldown: 10 seconds None
Mute Button 1 Silence ALL noise coming into and leaving your local area. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Duration: 5 seconds per point of Intelligence, Current Time: 30 seconds. Effect can be disabled before end of this timer by user''s choice. Cooldown: 10 minutes None
Sting Like A Bee 2 Gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck) for the next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict 30% increased damage. Additional effects may also occur. Duration: None Cooldown: 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Time Adjustment (Duration eliminator) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 12.
Float Like A Butterfly 1 Grants an increased chance to dodge hand-to-hand combat strikes of 10% plus 1% for every point of Luck. Duration: 10 seconds Cooldown: 5 minutes None
Weighted Clothes 3 When activated, target one random article of clothing on every hostile target within your local area. Evenly distribute 2,500 lbs. of weight between all targeted items. If Pinned, enemies affected take damage equal to 1 point per pound distributed to them minus Strength immediately and 10% of the weight on them minus Strength every 3 seconds for duration. Duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes Party Mode (Even Weight Distribution) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 14
Lucky Shot 1 Infuse the next three shots with luck equal to 1% for every 1 point of luck you have, increasing the chance of hitting a weak spot and inflicting 50% increased damage. Duration: Until shots are fired or weapon is no longer equipped/in use. Cooldown: 5 minutes None
Mirror Image 1 Immediately turn invisible and leave a mirage of yourself in place. Duration: Invisibility- 10 seconds, Mirage- 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes None
Passive Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Misfire 1 Whenever an enemy attempts to use a firearm against you, there is a chance equal to 5% for every 1 point in difference between your and your opponent¡¯s luck stat, minus their current level, that their weapon will misfire, causing blowback damage to the user! Affected shooters will take damage equal to twice their weapons standard damage. None
Misfortune Abound 1 While in combat, cause all enemies within your local area to have a chance equal to 1% for every 1 point of Luck you have minus their current level for something "bad" to happen to them. None
Equipment
Item Slot Stats and Features Ability
How The Hell Does This Fool Anybody? Face Stats: None Features: Who''s That?! (Appearance Disguiser) -----
Nutcracker Stompers Feet Stats: +1 Charisma, +1 Style, +1 Dexterity Features: Steadyfoot (+2 Toughness, +2 Stability) Modified: Enchanted Shoelaces of the Nimblefoot -----
Serpent''s Fang Bracers Wrists Stats: +5 Strength Features: None Venomous Strike: Activated Ability Once per encounter, you can activate the bracers to deliver a venom-infused attack. Reduces movement speed and attack effectiveness by 30% for 10 seconds.
Fortune''s Guardian Jacket Overcoat Stats: +6 Luck, +3 Toughness Features: Lucky Charm (Loot Upgrader) Fortune''s Shield: Activated Ability Once per encounter, your jacket can activate to provide a protective barrier for 10 seconds, reducing all incoming damage by 20%.
Chapter 21

51st and 9th, Outside Tio¡¯s Diner. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Unclaimed (Blocked by Timer) Current Phase Points: 2210 End of Phase One: 03D:04H:21M:32S

I had taken my time coming back to the neighborhood, changing out of my gear and walking instead of hightailing it back home. While I didn¡¯t necessarily want to take the time to go through my loot boxes, I did want to get my Level 5 stat points placed. Though I had derided the idea when Angie had first explained the leveling procedure to me, I ended up using all four points to increase my Charisma by 3. One of the first achievements I had received, Deceptively Disarming, had come from me somehow using my Charisma stat to convince Jon to stop asking questions when I had first woken up. I hadn¡¯t exactly considered the implication of it at the time, but it meant that somehow my Charisma stat worked on what Axio considered as Sentient NPCs. With what felt like more probing than needed, I got Angie to explain. The Sentient NPCs in the world actually each had hidden stat blocks of their own, some even having their own ¡°hidden features¡± that gave them stat boosts comparable to some of the higher leveled Augments. She wouldn¡¯t go into detail on how any of that actually worked, but she did explain that persuading them generally only required having a higher Charisma stat than theirs, barring an unexpected feature of course. Rounding my Charisma up to 10 felt like it had a good chance of being able to beat anything that I might have to talk myself through, at least with what I wanted to do. That said, there were some things that even Axio wouldn¡¯t allow Charisma to override a person¡¯s free will over. These were some of the more obvious things that would be morally questionable, even for an A.I. running a game that encouraged robbery and murder. But as long as it just came to something a Sentient NPC would naturally do with a little shove? That was completely fair game. Given that I wasn''t sure just what I was going to need to do to make the next part of my plan work, being able to talk my way around problems certainly didn''t seem like it could hurt. Jon had been working in the building when I stopped by and on my way back out of the building I pointed out the time, causing him to realize he had missed lunch and needed to take a break. On the way to the diner, I convinced him to grab me a pack of gum under the guise of having no cash leftover after buying my new phone, though I wasn¡¯t sure if I was going to need it, I knew I needed to make a habit of keeping a pack on me for using my Like Concrete ability. This also gave me the opportunity to see if there was some sort of effect or visual cue that I could pick out when my Charisma was affecting someone, but unfortunately, I didn¡¯t notice anything¡­ well¡­ noticeable. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to stay and grab a bite? I don¡¯t mind covering for you until you do start making some money again,¡± He said as we came to a stop in front of the diner. ¡°I appreciate it, but I actually gotta head over to this building around the corner on 52nd real quick. Mr. Russo apparently just got a cleaning contract with them and he asked me to stop over and get the details,¡± I explained, pulling a stick from the pack and pocketing the rest. ¡°Although get this, he told me to be careful heading over there cause apparently there¡¯s been some reported biker sightings up and down the street today? I don¡¯t know, they seem to be popping up damn near everywhere.¡± Jon¡¯s grip on his laptop bag tightened as he looked up toward the intersection. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard that too. Loophole has been seen fighting some of them already and hell I swear I saw a few of them run a light back by our place earlier today,¡± he said as he slowly pulled his attention back to me. ¡°You heading over to the building now?¡± ¡°Yeah, figure it¡¯s better to knock it out quickly. Keeps me on the boss¡¯s good side,¡± I said and started to walk away from the diner. Sure enough, Jon moved to keep pace with me and followed along. I looked back at him as I popped the piece of gum into my mouth, ¡°What¡¯s up? I already told yah I don¡¯t have any cash for the gum. I had to spend it all on the phone, but I can get yah back later.¡± ¡°Huh, oh no, sorry, like I¡¯d care about a pack of gum,¡± he laughed and stopped in his tracks. ¡°I figured, I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not really that hungry and maybe if there are some bikers around¡­¡± I let out a laugh as I continued walking and he followed along. ¡°Your funeral. In case you forgot, I nearly died getting in the middle of an Augment fight.¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah but that was The First and an actual bad guy, not just some biker thugs and a noob.¡± ¡°Well he¡¯s not wrong you know, trying to compare yourself to him is rather¡­ grandiose of yourself.¡± ¡°Not now, Angie!¡± ¡°Regardless, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be running in or anything,¡± Jon continued once he had caught up with me. ¡°Just figured if, and it¡¯s obviously a big if, Loophole was around, I don¡¯t know, maybe I could grab some footage of the show. Would make deciphering the dude¡¯s powers a whole lot easier, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Hey whatever works for you man,¡± I shrugged as I rushed to the crosswalk before the sign could change over. Jon kept pace with me and I suppressed a smile. ¡°I actually heard he was down in Hudson Yard earlier, though I guess he could have traveled back up this way already.¡± ¡°Duuuuude. Wait till you see the videos. He was fighting this naga-looking biker with some other dude that could clone himself, I think the sub said he¡¯s going by Hydramental, which is kinda a fitting name if you squint at it the right way,¡± Jon explained as we turned the corner and started to walk up 52nd. The street was far less busy than some of the main roads, with only a few cars passing by and a handful of pedestrians walking along. ¡°But it¡¯s still pretty much been more of the same, not a lot of footage that gives anything away.¡± About halfway up the block, there was a building with its windows boarded up and though it wasn¡¯t immediately obvious, a snake had been painted onto the wall tucked into the alley closest to us. If that hadn¡¯t made it clear enough, thanks to the map in my inventory, I was able to highlight the building. It didn¡¯t give me a lot of information, but it was listed as a Bronze Level Viper Den. As casually as I could, when I was sure Jon wasn¡¯t paying too close attention, I pulled the gum from my mouth and dropped it onto the ground in front of the door as we walked past it. ¡°Warning: Littering is a crime! This is worth -1 Karmic point.¡± ¡°You have got to be shitting me,¡± I shot back and heard Angie giggle in the back of my head. I let the topic die as I tried to focus on my overall lack of a plan. On the far side of the building, there was another alley separating the Viper Den from any other building. Just behind a dumpster a few yards into the alley, I could see a door into the neighboring building that looked like it was partially propped open. I looked to the front and saw a sign hanging over the front windows that labeled it as a Florist. The building wouldn¡¯t have been my first choice since Mr. Russo¡¯s company normally contracted with commercial offices, but given the location and the accessible back exit to slip out of, it was going to have to work. I looked over at Jon as I came to a stop ahead of the front door. ¡°Ok, this is the place. I gotta run in here and talk with the owners for a bit, you gonna hang out out here while I do that?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll uh, text you if I see something or go running off so you don¡¯t think I got crushed in a fight or something,¡± he replied with a laugh and extended a fist that I bumped before heading into the building. The bell rang overhead and an associate working near the register looked at me with a hopeful smile. I turned my attention away, trying my best to look as casual as possible and realizing just how awkward it made me feel. The shop had several displays along the center of the store, with various flowers gathered together in prearranged bouquets. The overwhelming floral smell was a distinct difference from the general smell of weed, gas, pizza and urine that filled the air of the streets of New York. I hadn¡¯t been to a ton of florists, because the truth was¡­ well why would I? But the shop felt oddly nice and made me feel a weirdly distinct level of pride in my neighborhood. I almost felt bad that I wasn¡¯t actually in here to buy anything, but I couldn¡¯t just choose an empty building, that would have been a bit too obvious. And Angie had been clear, anything that was blatantly obvious would get dinged by Axio. ¡°You know, I really don¡¯t think you should be so worried about rushing this, Loophole.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Your objections have been heard, considered, and ignored. If I want any chance of making this work without feeling like I¡¯m stumbling around like an idiot, I need to do this and I need to do it now. I¡¯ve wasted enough time as it is,¡± I shot back, walking along the wall as I pretended to look at the selection of cards. ¡°Why is this so damn important to you?¡± ¡°Can I help you sir?¡± The interrupting voice came from the young attendant as she appeared almost silently beside me, her twin-braided hair bouncing along as she rocked on her toes with a wide smile across her freckled face. ¡°Sorry, just browsing¡­ um¡­ do you happen to have a bathroom by chance?¡± I asked, looking and seeing her name tag said, Amy. Though my HUD did highlight her, I mentally waved away the tooltip before Angie felt obligated to read it. ¡°Paying customers only, it¡¯s my dad¡¯s rule, sorry,¡± she said with a frown. I hadn¡¯t known exactly what I was going to need to use my Charisma stat for when I raised it, but I certainly didn¡¯t think it would be something as simple as using the bathroom, and I was pretty sure I had definitely made a dumb call by dumping all of my points into it for the level. But unless there was a way to reset my stats, it was just going to be a lesson learned. I steeled my nerves, hoping this girl wasn¡¯t somehow the most charismatic person on the planet, and plucked a random card from the shelf. ¡°So if I buy this I can use the bathroom? That sorta seems like an arbitrary rule, don¡¯t ya think?¡± I said, trying to come off as playful. ¡°You know, I¡¯m gonna skip making fun of you for ¡°trying to be playful,¡± it¡¯s just too easy, but you don¡¯t even have the cash to buy that anyway, you really should exchange some of your credits at the Square.¡± ¡°Not now, Angie.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying to help,¡± she muttered, trailing off as she complained about skipping her jokes about my apparent lack of, quote-unquote, game. ¡°Is it? I mean, you¡¯ve been inside of shops in New York right?¡± Amy giggled before she looked over her shoulder. ¡°Of course I have, just always felt like it was a bit of a dumb rule. Maybe the streets wouldn¡¯t smell so bad if bathrooms were a bit easier to get to,¡± I said with a smile as I turned the card around. I tried not to groan at the irony of the ¡°Have a Super Birthday¡± caption as I looked back over to her. ¡°True, but our bathrooms smell terrible when we don¡¯t limit who goes in there,¡± She shot back with another giggle before a look of horror passed over her face. When she spoke again, it was almost as if she wasn¡¯t stopping to add the spacing between words ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not saying you smell terrible or anything like that!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe this is actually working, Axio seriously needs to tweak just how effective that stat is on people. Or maybe you¡¯re just the first man that¡¯s not related to her that she¡¯s seen after waking up from brain damage.¡± ¡°Oh my god seriously, not now, Angie!¡± I nearly yelled as she burst out into a fit of laughter. ¡°Hey I¡¯m just saying, you¡¯re barely doing anything and this girl is looking at you like a lost puppy.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have been offended if you did think I smelled bad, I¡¯ve been walking around all day and deodorant only goes so far,¡± I said to Amy as I tried to get myself back on track. ¡°Look, I honestly just bought a new phone and am still a few blocks from home, I really just gotta go real quick¡­¡± Amy looked from me back over her shoulder again. There was a window that separated the front of the store from the nursery section and several people were working in the back. ¡°I¡­ okay, go and make it quick, but if my dad sees you¡­ you know what, just make it quick and don¡¯t let my dad see you.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± I said and dropped the card back onto the wall. ¡°It¡¯s just down that way, right?,¡± I asked and she pointed around the side of the front counter to a small hallway. I gave her a small wave as I slipped around the counter and down the tight space. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually just lied to that poor girl.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only a lie if I don¡¯t use the bathroom,¡± I replied, stopping at a door with a clear bathroom sign and a Paying Customers Only sign taped firmly underneath it. A minute later, I was drying my hands on my shirt as I peered back up the hall to the main store. No one was coming to look for me so I turned my attention to the other end of the hall. There was a corner just past the bathroom and I approached it as casually as I could. Sure enough, as I turned the corner I found a door partially propped open with several boxes full of plant clippings sitting on the floor and an Exit sign illuminated above it. I took one last look up the hallway before dipping around the corner, out the door, and into the alley. I activated my equipment and almost felt a bit of relief as my hotbar lit up along the bottom of my vision. I briefly activated my Area Sense, letting my senses reach out to the edges of my zone as I looked at the side of the two story building. Part of me had hoped there would just be another side door I could utilize and although I could have wandered to the back of the building and looked for a door there, I did find a ladder extending up to the roof. ¡°The roof or the back¡­¡± I muttered to myself as I scratched my chin. ¡°There¡¯s also the front, you even set your little trap in place and everything.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯d rather use that as the exit,¡± I shot back and eyed the ladder. If there were people on the upper floors, it probably wouldn¡¯t be the worst idea to take them out first, but I was going to need to make sure that I kept the noise down either way. ¡°I thought you had this grand plan, why is a ladder tripping you up so much?¡± The truth was I didn¡¯t have a grand plan mostly because I couldn¡¯t have a grand plan. Angie had made that crystal clear and I knew that she was aware of that. Which almost made her questioning all the more confusing. ¡°So the ladder it is then,¡± I said, more to say something than anything. Unlike most buildings in New York, the ladder for this building was fully descended and without any sort of anti-climbing device attached to it. Normally this would probably be a big red flag, but given the circumstances, I was choosing to believe it was just a preset condition from Axio. ¡°You know, I¡¯d refute that and make some sort of ¡°he¡¯s not an all powerful god¡± joke, but when it comes to these zones, he kinda is,¡± Angie explained. ¡°Yeah, that makes about as much sense as any of this,¡± I said as I started to ascend the ladder. In no time at all I climbed over the lip of the roof. As my feet hit the roof, a label that read Bronze Level Viper Den - Hell¡¯s Kitchen, flashed in the location panel. There were a few A/C units placed on top of the flat roof along with a single protruding structure with a door on it. Instead of walking right to it however, I approached the edge of the roof. I peered down off the ledge and noticed Jon was pacing along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. ¡°I suppose I should also report this to the precinct, didn¡¯t Lt. Nester say something about getting rewards for clearing these out?¡± ¡°He did, the communicator app should be near the phone icon in your interface,¡± Angie explained and I found it with ease. ¡°You should note, it will be like using the phone app, you have to talk out loud for it to hear you if you¡¯re making a call.¡± As soon as I clicked on it, there was a prompt that automatically filled out with my name and a series of numbers I didn¡¯t recognize. As it faded, there was the sound of a connecting line that rang through my head before an almost bored voice answered. ¡°10th Precinct Augment Outreach Dispatch, give me your name and your report.¡± ¡°Oh, uhhh. Yeah, this is Loophole, I am at a Viper Den here halfway between 9th and 10th street over on 52nd.¡± ¡°Are you reporting its existence or your planned assault on it?¡± the dispatch asked, the clattering of keys moving slowly in the background. ¡°Um, I guess a planned assault? I just wanted to give you guys the heads up,¡± I explained. ¡°Thank you for your report, we will dispense a few squad cars to come pick up any captured members. If you have anything further to report, please feel free to contact us again,¡± the dispatch said before the line clicked off. ¡°Bronze Viper Den Updated! You will now receive a reward from the 10th precinct if you complete this Den.¡± I waved away the notification and opened my phone app. Though I probably didn¡¯t need to, I texted Jon that I was still going to be in the florist for a few more minutes. I looked back down toward him just as he turned his attention to the phone. I saw a thumbs up emoji flash on my message screen before I waved it away and headed for the door. I walked over, tested the handle and found, to my luck, the door was unlocked. ¡°That luck stat of yours really has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting for you, and you¡¯ve barely added all that many points to it so far¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just hope it actually keeps up,¡± I said with an internal laugh. ¡°Wait¡­ are you saying this door could have been locked?¡± ¡°And the ladder could have actually been up out of reach. I was just looking into it here in the information trees that I''m currently authorized to view and these Dens have a variety of things that can be handled differently based on your base stats. For example, certain Dens will have vaults or other obstacles that will have set Strength stats if you choose to brute force your way in. I would like to petition for a database upgrade as soon as possible if you wish for me to be of more assistance than just my delightful descriptors.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll add it to the list of things I need to get upgraded, I still think the map might take precedence,¡± I started down the short stairwell, turning at a corner and coming to a single door to the second floor. ¡°I¡¯ll explain to you why you¡¯re wrong later, I think you¡¯re about to have your hands full.¡± ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t know what I was about to be walking into?¡± I said, leaning toward the door as I tried to hear through it. ¡°Let¡¯s just call it an educated guess,¡± she said, almost in a sing-song tone before it turned into a nervous laugh. ¡°Actually let¡¯s just call it conjecture and assumption based on the fact that Axio seems to be using an accelerated timeline. It really seems likely he¡¯s throwing a whole lotta curveballs at you new Augments this year, I just can¡¯t imagine he¡¯d let you off with some random fight.¡± I let out a long sigh. I couldn¡¯t really be that mad with her because the truth was, she was right. I knew doing this at a Den instead of waiting for a Crime Alert was a risk, but it was one I was willing to take. ¡°Welp, I guess it¡¯s show time.¡± Chapter 22 ¡°Um¡­ so like, did Axio forget to have them finish this?¡± I had been prepared to enter right into a fight the moment I walked down the stairs but, possibly due to my luck, the place was practically empty. I exited the stairwell in the corner of the room and the entire top floor was practically hollowed out, with only a few concrete beams visible acting as supports for the roof. Several curtains were hung over the far windows, darkening the room with only minor bits of light leaking around the edges to show various buckets and tools laying around. ¡°Finish it? Why waste the money when you Augments are just gonna go blowing things up?¡± ¡°To be fair, Hydramental¡¯s the one who blew up the train.¡± ¡°Well you got me there, your powers aren¡¯t all that destructive. Well¡­ so far, at least,¡± Angie mused. ¡°And if you must know, these buildings are rented. It¡¯s called helping the economy Loophole.¡± I rolled my eyes and wandered to the other side of the large room. Though it was dark in the room, it wasn¡¯t impossible for me to see either. It reminded me of the first car of the train, almost feeling like a staging area of sorts, which almost made it confusing that it was the top floor. I pushed one of the large curtains slightly to the side, peeking down and seeing Jon starting to casually wander up the street. I cursed under my breath at the impossible task I had given myself but forced it out of my mind as I shoved the curtain to the side. Light streamed into the barren room, revealing several rolled up sleeping bags scattered around the edges of the room. As I scanned around, looking for any clue I might be missing, a breeze blew through another one of the windows and made the curtains lightly dance in the wind like a billowing dress. I had to do a double take as it almost looked like there had been a woman standing there amongst the curtains in a trick of the light. ¡°Where the hell are the stairs,¡± I muttered, shaking my head and looking around until I found them in the other corner of the back wall. It was an odd layout choice, especially given most stairwells generally just went up and down in a single column. While there was probably a reason the building had been designed this way, it was almost certainly the reason Axio had chosen to use it. Having separated stairwells all but ensured that I would have to exit onto each floor. I had already been planning on it of course, but it did nix any idea of checking each floor before choosing which one to start on. Instead of rushing ahead blindly, I took a few steps toward the center of the room before I stopped and planted my feet. With a deep breath in, I activated my Area Sense. It was a bit hard to describe, but it almost felt like I had a sixth sense, though even that didn¡¯t exactly feel right. It was like I was lightly touching everything within my range. I couldn¡¯t tell what any of it necessarily was, but I innately knew exactly where things were. On top of that, I was finding that my area¡¯s radius wasn¡¯t only horizontal. Though there was a decent slab of concrete between the levels, with a seventeen foot radius I could still feel all the way to the floor of the room below me. While the building was large enough that I couldn''t feel the entirety of the floor, I still had a good portion of it within my radius. And maybe even more importantly, I could feel things moving in the space below me. Sure, the ability couldn¡¯t tell me exactly what the things were, but something moving would be a pretty easy guess. I wasn¡¯t sure if the ability was intended to work that way, but I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to say it out loud on the off chance it did somehow get patched like the General Understanding for my Local Area Manipulation had. I took a deep breath and let my area linger, feeling as the obstructions moved around large, rectangular items. So far, the initial enemies I had fought in each of these dens had been pretty weak and given that this was the lowest level, it stood to reason the same was going to be true. I had felt three people moving in the room below me, and if they were low level grunts, then I had a surefire way to take them down. I didn''t even take another second to think about it and activated Weighted Clothes. Sure enough, there were sounds of muffled CRASHES and THUDS from beneath me. ¡°New Achievement! Look Ma, No Eyes! You struck an enemy (or in this case enemies) with one of your abilities without even visually confirming that they were there. That¡¯s actually pretty impressive. It totally tips them off to you being here, but still impressive. This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier loot box.¡± I waited the entirety of the thirty seconds of the ability before I decided to move, letting the skill impart every bit of damage it could. There was always the chance there were enemies in the room I couldn''t feel that were reacting, but I didn''t hear a commotion coming up the stairwell either. I decided it might be better to exercise caution and moved slowly as I descended to the next floor. I mentally hovered over Mirror Image as I crept down the stairs when a thought occurred to me. I kept relying on split decision abilities and I hadn¡¯t really tried to make another ability in a while. And while Mirror Image had shown its usefulness, it was almost purely a reactionary skill. My mind wandered for just a moment as I thought of the girl I had thought I saw and an idea came to mind. It occurred to me that I had really been wasting the optical refraction knowledge I had gained by limiting it to just a single skill. It didn''t take much more than that before a new window appeared. ¡°New Ability! Trick of the Light! Okay, so this is kinda the opposite of what happened with you hallucinating up on the floor above us, but it''s a cool name and we''re gonna use it. When activated, warp the light within your local area to make yourself practically invisible to the naked eye. You will remain invisible as long as no hostile target looks directly at you for more than 1 FULL second. This ability has a maximum duration of 10 minutes and a 10 minute cooldown. Warning: Your Activated Ability bar is full. Please select an ability to replace.¡± I dropped the skill onto my hotbar in place of Lucky Shot. I hadn¡¯t even thought to use that skill in a while, especially given the fact that I really didn¡¯t plan on using a gun regularly. ¡°Guns are soooooo ordinary too, there¡¯s much cooler things you can do with your powers than just going bang bang. Though¡­ you know who I¡¯d really like to bang bang,¡± Angie said, waiting a few seconds to see if I responded. When it was clear I wasn''t going to, she started again, ¡°I¡¯m talking about-¡± ¡°Not now, Angie.¡± The stairway down to the second floor ended in a door, held slightly ajar as light streamed into the stairs. It wasn¡¯t open quite far enough for me to see the entirety of the floor and I couldn¡¯t just slam it open either because that would bring a bit too much attention if I were trying to sneak in. I held my breath and hoped, like I often did, that my luck would hold out as I gently nudged it, opening the door just far enough to give me at least a bit of a line of sight. Though there was the small sound of a creak that came the moment the door moved, nothing in the room reacted to the sound. Like the floor above it, this floor was a large, open space, though I could make out several offices with large glass windows lined the wall on the street side of the building. There were random desks littered around the space and a flickering light revealed just how run down the furniture was. I was just about to wonder if there were any other enemies on this floor when I caught sight of two men picking themselves up and dusting themselves off near the center of the room. Though I had made it a point of waiting the entire duration of the skill, both of their health bars had gone down by only around 60%. While there was certainly the chance that they had used health syringes, their durability did feel different than what I had seen so far from Vipers their size. I highlighted the closer of the two out of curiosity, expecting to just see a higher leveled Grunt. ¡°Viper Guard. Level 5 Biker. So maybe you¡¯re sitting here and wondering to yourself, ¡®Angie, what¡¯s the difference between a Grunt and a Guard?¡¯ and I¡¯d have to say, great question Loophole, gold star! The answer is, not a fucking thing except that the Guards are a bit sturdier with increased Strength and Toughness. If the Grunts are the red shirts then the Guards are... huh, maybe I shouldn''t have gone with a Star Trek reference if I didn''t know where I was going with it. You know what, nevermind, it''s not important. All I''m going to say is these guys might be a bit more difficult for you to beat up than the Grunts but they still really shouldn''t be that much trouble for you. And before you start thinking to yourself, ¡®Gee, Angie really is dragging this asshole¡¯s description out and eating into my precious time,¡¯ just know that your perception speeds up eeeeeeeever so slightly whenever I have to chime in for these things. Maybe remember that next time you cut me off. I mean, I was only trying to tell you what I¡¯d do to that friend of yours, there really wasn¡¯t a need to be so rude.¡± ¡°You have got to be fucking kidding me, seriously?¡± I sighed and without missing a beat, Angie burst into laughter. Though it did suck that they hadn''t been put down for the count, my luck was holding out as they stared off toward the other corner of the room. I used the opportunity to nudge the door open further and as soon as there was enough space, I slipped past it. As I entered the room, I activated Trick of the Light and dove behind the nearest of the desks. There was a slight shimmer in the air, the light perceptibly shifting around my body as I waited to see if there were any shouts of alarm. After a moment passed, I peeked out from behind the desk and put eyes on the two men still at the center of the room. I took in the room as a whole. There were mostly desks littering the floor, though a large open space occupied the back portion of the building. Following the Guard''s attention, I could see a door in the far corner that I was sure was the stairwell down, but I couldn''t risk taking such a direct route without being seen. My instincts were screaming at me to take this to the ground floor and I was having a hard time ignoring them when I heard a door slam open. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°What da fuck are you mooks standin'' around for!? That lousy fuck is gonna take us down if you don''t figure out where da fuck he is! And if he don¡¯t, I¡¯ll make sure Sal knows you were all layin¡¯ down on the fuckin¡¯ job, if I even bother him with you worthless fucks!¡± A voice shouted in a thick accent. I ducked my head back below the desk, waiting a few seconds before looking back around the edge of it once more. Several footsteps echoed louder than they probably should have before a bulky man walked into view by the Guards. He grabbed one of the two men by the back of his vest and pushed him off toward the far stairwell. A second later, his head swung my way, looking toward the door I had come through and I held my breath, trying my best not to make a sound. ¡°Who da fuck opened that door?¡± The man growled, shoving a desk to the side effortlessly as he headed for the stairwell. I was directly in his path and I knew he''d see me if I wasn''t careful, so I took a risk and dove for the next desk. I stayed as low as I could and waited for the man to reach the stairwell, not daring to risk him seeing me in a spot I could be so easily cornered. As soon as he pulled the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside, I moved. I darted to the next desk closest to me, waiting a moment before moving to the next. I copied the pattern, checking briefly after I passed each gap to ensure I hadn''t been seen. I was trying to take a wide path to the other side of the room and it seemed to be working as I mentally started to devise a plan to get the Vipers to not only chase me, but give me the space to escape this floor without being caught. I had made it over to the office side of the building and I briefly looked back. The man that seemed to be the boss of this den had fully disappeared inside the stairwell and I felt my confidence rising when I felt something yank me backwards. ¡°Gotcha fucker!¡± Though I couldn''t see it, a hand was clasped to the leather of my jacket, causing my hotbar to flash. Trick of the Light went on cooldown and the shimmer in the air dissipated. On instinct, I twisted in his grip, turning my arm down and striking at his wrist. The motion was fluid, as if I had done it a thousand times before and hit with perfect precision. The man cursed as he held his wrist and jumped backwards as I skipped to the side, darting along the line of offices as quickly as I could. The commotion had drawn the attention of the two other Guards and the one heading for the first floor stairwell had oddly moved right back to the center of the room. I dodged around the desks, trying to stay closer to the wall as I circled the men. Weirdly enough, the men seemed to be posturing, making bats and metal rods appear in their hands as they stared me down menacingly. The man exploring the stairwell to the third floor finally reappeared. He came out of the stairwell with a sneer of disgust on his face as he took in the commotion that was quickly growing. There was something different about the way he carried himself that almost reminded me of Sal and I highlighted him as I inched toward the staircase little by little. ¡°Gio: Viper Soldier. Level 6 Biker. If you knew anything about mafia hierarchies, you¡¯d know that a Soldier is generally the rank below a Lieutenant, which was Sal¡¯s rank if you recall. Now, I¡¯m not entirely sure if Axio is purposefully combining mafia ranks with a biker gang, but it¡¯s safe to assume this guy¡¯s gonna be trouble. At least he¡¯s not an elite, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the little things,¡± I said and considered my options. My goal now was still to move this fight to the street and I was quickly putting myself into position to do just that. I was barely 20 feet from the door and I looked toward the staircase as obviously as I could before looking back toward the Guards and letting a smirk cut across my face. ¡°Well, I do believe I may have crashed the wrong party, I¡¯ll just be leaving now,¡± I said with a laugh, and then activated Mirror Image. I turned and sprinted the last few feet to the stairwell with the short invisibility it granted. I didn''t even care how obvious it was and I yanked the door to the stairs open before darting down them. ¡°Running away? That¡¯s not very heroic Loophole.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not running, I¡¯m changing the battlefield¡­ I just hope to fuck there aren¡¯t any guards out there, and that Jon¡¯s still nearby¡­ I just need a little bit of extra luck. I guess it''s now or never to see if this actually does anything," I said as I took the stairs two at a time. With a quick focus on my Super Luck power, I did the one thing I had been avoiding outright doing since leaving the trainyard. I concentrated on the exact outcome I was hoping for, getting through this fight and cluing Jon in, and then activated Luck Bomb. The ability was incredibly nebulous on just how it worked and its once a day usage made it tricky to test with, which was why so far I hadn¡¯t even bothered to give it a shot. Nothing seemed to happen, but I wasn¡¯t expecting it to come with a visual effect either. ¡°You know, that¡¯s not going to help if people are actually down there, we¡¯re not going to just zap them out of the room. I mean¡­ we could, but we wouldn¡¯t¡­ I think.¡± ¡°It''s a fucking illusion you mooks! Ignore it and get da fucking bitch of a hero!¡± There was another exchange of curses and screaming before a stampede of sound echoed down the stairs as the men chased after me. I was just reaching the bottom floor, thankful to see an empty lobby, when I heard one of the men scream out a curse. ¡°-your fuckin¡¯ shoelace-¡± was all I heard before a loud crash and a sickening crunch came echoing down the stairwell. I rushed toward the front door, stopping and turning when I was halfway across the room. With another crash, the body of a guard rolled out of the stairwell. His head was at an angle that was completely unnatural and I had to force myself not to gag. A sharp shard of white was sticking through the skin of his neck and blood was quickly pooling around his body. ¡°Oof¡­ yeah I don¡¯t think that guy¡¯s gonna be getting up anytime soon¡­ or ever again...¡± Angie actually seemed to cringe a bit at the damage. Though I had received phase points for ¡°killing¡± a non-sentient Augment with Hydramental, the disappearing body made me assume that his ¡°death¡± was far from permanent. I¡¯d have to be a fool to think that was the last time I was going to see Sal. Besides that, it was the first non-Augmented enemy that I had inadvertently killed since the tutorial. The thought alone still made my gut twist and I had to avert my gaze. Even if the man was an NPC, it still felt wrong to take his life. "If I hadn''t known what you just used your Luck Bomb for, I''d be wondering if you had flipped the switch and decided to go Miscreant. Although you did want to ''get through this fight'' and... you know what, nevermind, I think you''re still a little occupied." The other Guards reached the bottom floor, and as much as I knew I could beat myself up over the man¡¯s death, there simply wasn¡¯t any time for it either. I¡¯d just continue to trust that the Acceptance Matrix would prevent me from descending into a panic attack. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ heroes think they can walk all over us just cause we ain¡¯t got power,¡± Gio growled as he descended the stairwell. The two still standing guards were cracking their knuckles as they glared at me, though neither moved an inch toward me. ¡°You all think we¡¯re just a buncha cockroaches, don¡¯t yah?¡± ¡°Umm¡­. no?¡± I said, keeping my hands up as I backed my way closer toward the front door. ¡°Well what are you mooks waitin¡¯ for, this is your last warning, get da asshole!¡± Gio ordered and the guards didn¡¯t hesitate. I was practically at the door as the closer of the men charged and, feeling almost like a bullfighter, I dodged to the side just as he reached me. Taken by surprise, the Guard went slamming through the front door, he stumbled a few feet forward and I mentally crossed my fingers as I activated Like Concrete. Luck was still on my side and the guard let out a yelp of confusion as he tripped forward, slamming face first into the road. Before the second Guard could reach me, I rushed out the door, stepping on the man''s back hard as I put some distance between myself and the building. I was halfway into the empty street when I turned back to face the Vipers. ¡°Oh shit!¡± I heard a voice yell from just up the street. I risked a glance toward the noise. Jon hadn¡¯t gotten too far away and I could clearly see his phone raised and pointed in my direction. The Guard stepped out of the building and over his downed friend. Gio was following closely behind him, though he seemed to move with an unnerving casualness. There was a syringe with an odd looking purple tinted liquid in his hand that he casually spun between his fingers. I was worried he was about to heal the stuck guard with whatever was in that syringe when Gio suddenly turned and kicked the guard violently in his head. A KO debuff appeared over him as Gio spat on his body. ¡°I warned you. You fuckin¡¯ mooks are goddamn worthless, I don''t even know why we bother dealing with you useless assholes,¡± Gio practically growled as he walked toward me. ¡°And you, you¡¯re all flash and games ain¡¯tcha? Leading us on you¡¯re little fuckin¡¯ wild goose chase, treatin¡¯ us like we¡¯re goddamn nothin¡¯!¡± I risked another glance in Jon¡¯s direction and hoped he just had enough common sense to keep his distance. ¡°Dude, I really think you might need to see a therapist about this self-deprecating attitude, we haven¡¯t even talked and you¡¯re the only one calling yourself worthless, That''s a classic self esteem issue if I''ve ever seen one,¡± I said and Gio stared daggers at me. ¡°Here, we can start fresh if yah want, I¡¯m Loophole, and you are?¡± ¡°Whole bunch of goddamn comedian assholes too,¡± Gio said, carefully holding the syringe up at me. ¡°You wanna know why I ain¡¯t scared of you or your bitchy little powers? It¡¯s because this world is about to change. You fuckers got no idea what Snakebite¡¯s got planned. Sal has vouched for him personally, and he¡¯s gonna bring da Lol Vipers the respect we¡¯ve always deserved.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, new bosses always come in with big plans and promises, don¡¯t they?¡± I said, unable to stop myself from making the joke. Given how randomly it happened, I was starting to wonder if it was a part of the augmentation process or if I just had a nervous tick. Gio stabbed the syringe into his bicep with a dangerous amount of force as an eerie shimmer immediately passed over his skin. His shirt started to stretch and tear as his body seemed to expand, his olive color skin shifting to a deep, scaly brown. Shreds of denim scattered across the sidewalk as the lower half of his body merged and burst backwards in a large slithering tail. When all was said and done, he was left clothed in just a leather vest and a red bandana. Without even focusing, my HUD highlighted him and his description changed. As Angie started to read it, I could hear a palpable amount of uncertainty in her tone. ¡°Umm¡­. NPC Updated: Gio: Viper Soldier. Level 6 Temporarily Augmented Biker. This uh¡­ this is actually a new one to me. I quite literally just went through every database I currently have access to and there hasn¡¯t been a single instance of Axio using ¡°Temporary¡± Augments like this. It''s always either all in or all out.... You know what, I¡¯m going to go ahead and say you should be fine given he¡¯s still not an Elite, but maybe get the cutie out of here before snake boy tries to make a snack out of him. That¡¯s my job after all.¡± ¡°Viper Den Upgraded! Surprise! This is an Ambush den, meaning it was secretly disguised as a rank lower than it truly is. This den¡¯s designation has been upgraded from Bronze to Silver level. Rewards will be adjusted appropriately.¡± Gio hissed with a ferocity that made the remaining Guard even try to put some distance between him and his boss. With disturbingly quick speed, the large snake-man turned and struck, his fangs snapping through the Guard¡¯s neck like it was butter. As the Guard dropped to the ground, now headless, Gio gained a Well Fed buff that made my stomach turn at the thought. He turned his attention back to me, a look of pure malice and hatred still evident on his serpentine features. Like Sal, when he spoke his voice was now like nails on a chalkboard. ¡°I ain¡¯t got no fuckin¡¯ ussssse for cowardsss,¡± he hissed as he slithered over the dead Grunt''s lifeless body. He flexed his arms as if experiencing it for the first time, a nearly maniacal amount of glee passing over his sharp features. ¡°Oh I am going to enjoy thisssss,¡± he added and then without another bit of warning, he lunged. Chapter 23 I dodged out of the way just as Gio crashed into a car parked on the side of the road. A blaring alarm started to go off from the damaged vehicle that caused him to reach and grasp at the side of his head. His upper body began to thrash from side to side as he hissed in anger. The alarm was only going off for about 10 seconds when Gio began slamming his large fists down into the vehicle over and over until the offending sound petered out and died. He spun his large body around, searching for where I had escaped to and a wicked looking smile cut across his reptilian features. ¡°What the actual shit Angie!?! Isn¡¯t this supposed to be the lowest level of these Dens?!¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t listening I¡¯m quite literally just as shocked as you are. SHOCKED I SAY¡­ Okay maybe not that shocked. Axio did say he¡¯s been tinkering with stuff, this is new but not outside the realm of possibilities, plus I did just say that it was an Ambush den and that it¡¯s actually Silver level.¡± As Gio began to stalk toward me, a car came to a screeching halt just a foot before crashing directly into him. Almost unsurprisingly, the driver actually hit his horn. Even staring down a giant snake-man, a New York driver wasn¡¯t going to lay off the horn when you got in his way on the street. Once again, the sound seemed to stop Gio and he reached up to claw at the side of his head before glaring death at the offending vehicle. In a lightning quick movement, he struck the front of the car with a powerful strike that caused the hood to crunch inward. The honking from the car hadn¡¯t stopped, which caused Gio to further screech and hiss in anger as the driver finally reacted¡­ and hit the gas. His car crashed into Gio at a mild speed, barely moving him an inch but surprisingly he did take damage from the crash. Just about 5% of his health disappeared and a flash of rage dashed over Gio¡¯s sharp features. He lifted an arm as high into the air as he could and like lightning, his fist struck. The impact caused the car¡¯s front suspension to give out as the vehicle crashed down into the ground. Smoke began to rise into the air from the engine as the car sputtered and died. On the edge of my vision, I saw the phone icon light up, causing me to risk a glance toward Jon. He hadn¡¯t moved an inch and his phone was pressed firmly to his ear leaving me little doubt who was calling. There was no way I could actually answer it, so with a thought, I pulled open the phone¡¯s texting window. Given that Amy had just stepped out the front door of the florist, I wasn¡¯t sure if he was going to fully buy that, but that was actually to my benefit. A text immediately came through, followed by a video and several pictures. I dismissed the files and checked his message as quickly as I could without taking my eyes off of Gio. Gio was moving toward the car door and I couldn¡¯t wait any longer to act. I waved Jon¡¯s text away and charged, activating Sting Like A Bee as I moved. While Sal had moved with a certain amount of viciousness, he hadn¡¯t seemed to be nearly as impulsive or aggressive as Gio was acting. Then again, the guy had sort of hit him with a car so I couldn¡¯t necessarily say his anger was misplaced. I got in close to him, darting under his arm and striking him in his ribs as hard as I could. I found myself almost stopping short as his health only dipped by maybe a single percent and his ire turned fully toward me once more. He moved disturbingly quickly as his large, clawed hand came flying directly for me. Whether it was luck or my own instincts, just before he struck, I activated my jacket¡¯s Fortune¡¯s Shield ability. A light orange, shimmering barrier materialized around my body in a flash of light. Though the shield absorbed some of the attack, it still felt like I was being hit by a spiky truck. As if I was a ragdoll, I was sent flying roughly into a nearby car, the force of my impact collapsing the door inward. My health chunked down by nearly 60% as I struggled to find the will to pull myself out of the almost comical indentation I had made in the vehicle. ¡°Okay, that might have been worse than the dumpster¡­¡± I groaned. My head felt thoroughly dazed and my vision was blurred. It didn¡¯t help that the car¡¯s alarm was going off and the sound assaulted my senses. ¡°I don¡¯t know, you¡¯re still standing aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Kinda wish I wasn¡¯t,¡± I said, shaking the strike away as I materialized an Enhanced Health Injector into my hand. I shoved it into my hip, letting my health return to near full as I stared at the hissing Gio. He seemed to be having trouble deciding whether he wanted to chase me down or go back to the cowering civilian in the car. Each time he looked my way, he seemed to flinch in time with the looping alarm of the car. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s not the biggest fan of sound.¡± ¡°Gee, you think? Lucky for you though; I¡¯m not sure you could take another strike from him had he chosen to finish you off there¡­¡± Angie was definitely uncertain and it left me feeling equally unsure as I tried to come up with a plan on the fly. I heard a beep as the alarm behind me stopped and I had to stop myself from looking around for the car¡¯s owner. ¡°Yeah, well I¡¯m gonna need to just not get hit again, I can¡¯t exactly let him go after the driver either.¡± I reached down and found a small piece of debris near my feet. I chucked it at Gio and after a moment of his body jerking back and forth, he decided that I was the most pressing concern. With the noises finally died down, he finally seemed to settle ever so slightly, though he still moved with sharp, jerky movements as he slithered his way toward me. ¡°Come on, not talking sssssso big now are you? I¡¯ll even give you another sssssstrike, that lassssst one kinda tickled,¡± Gio laughed, slowing his pace as he extended his muscular arms. The leather of his jacket was pulled taut to his body and with a quick glance to my hotbar I found my own cocky smile spread. It might not take him down, but it would slow him down long enough to get the driver out of the area and let me come up with a plan. ¡°You know how those lackeys of yours collapsed to the ground earlier?¡± I asked, flexing my hand as I concentrated on the final few seconds Weighed Clothes had left on its cooldown. ¡°Wanna see how it feels?¡± Gio opened his mouth to respond when I activated the skill. Much to my disappointment, it didn¡¯t flatten him to the ground, though he did collapse forward. His fists hit the asphalt, little craters forming as he struggled to hold himself up. He managed to not take a bulk set of damage from my skill, though small slivers of his health bar were ticking down with each second. Each time he tried to lift one of his hands, he nearly collapsed to the ground. While he didn¡¯t receive an actual Pinned debuff, it seemed identical enough. I was just going to have to hope it could hold out long enough that I could take him down for the count. There was only one thing I had in my B.E.L.T. that I could think of that might be able to even the odds. The problem was that I had no idea how I was going to be able to utilize the Viper Venom I still had in my inventory. If he was anything like Sal, getting it into Gio¡¯s bloodstream was a surefire way to take him down. Though I would probably have to settle for weakening him without Hydramental here to turn a big chunk of it into a frozen dart. I looked around and found the decapitated Guard¡¯s body only a few feet to the side. I highlighted and quickly looted him. It was a long shot, even I knew that, but it was a long shot that paid off. I hadn¡¯t been sure why the Guard¡¯s hadn¡¯t had them equipped when they were coming for me, but all the same this one did have a gun. He had a few health syringes and a Burner Phone in his inventory as well, but those were the least of my concerns at the moment. I pulled the weapon and one of the vials of venom from my inventory. While I probably could have gotten fancy with it and tried to create a new ability, I decided to see if I could just do this a quick and easy way instead. I ejected the magazine and poured the vial of venom over the bullets. As the venom leaked through the container, bits of it hit my hand and I received an immediate Poisoned debuff. The magazine shimmered in my HUD which I took as a good sign and I forced it back into the gun. Before I did anything else, I materialized some of the antivenom and poured it over my hands, removing the debuff as I held the gun up. I was about to activate my Lucky Shot ability when I realized I had pretty much just removed it from my hotbar. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Please tell me there¡¯s a way to expand my hotbar¡­ this 8 skill limitation is really frustrating,¡± I said with a groan. ¡°If you really think you need that ability to hit a downed opponent...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t but I can still be annoyed by it,¡± I said as I looked over and found Gio still held in place, his head snapping from side to side in the air in anger. His eyes were narrow slits that bore into me as he strained against the weight of his jacket. ¡°Is there a way or not?¡± ¡°You focus on the weirdest things at the weirdest times,¡± Angie sighed and I resisted the urge to interrupt her to point out the irony of her statement. ¡°Yes, there are ways to expand the ability limitation, they just aren¡¯t available to lower levels. Think of it as a power limitation that you¡¯ll eventually have to break through.¡± "Good to know, I can at least work with that," I said and aimed the gun at Gio. I pulled the trigger and as if striking metal, the bullet glanced off of his shoulder and went flying into a nearby car, activating the vehicle''s alarm. Gio winced and hissed at the sound, though he made no move to cover his¡­ well wherever his ears were. There was something I was missing and I was trying to piece it together when another loud clang preceded an alarm going off. I looked toward the sound and saw Jon smacking the hood of another car with his bag. ¡°It¡¯s the sound! You need to disorient him before you can hurt him!¡± he yelled out at me. Unfortunately, near immediately after he struck the third car, the first two stopped blaring. There were surprisingly few people on the streets and my gut twisted as something felt out of place. ¡°Wait for things over here to go quiet, then start striking them again!¡± I yelled toward Jon and then rushed toward the center of the street. Even from the moment we had headed up this road, I had thought it was eerily empty for a street in the middle of the afternoon. While the Den was only supposed to be the building, it was also supposed to just be a Bronze level too. If Axio could control things with this much precision within the Dens, then what was stopping him from remotely controlling the car alarms right in front of the den to control the flow of the fight? I kept myself just out of range of Gio on the off chance he had a venom spit like Sal had and felt the edges of my area. There were only around 7 cars that I could reach, but it was going to have to be enough. I activated my Mute Button ability and the world around us went quiet. I fired the gun at the cars on the edge of my zone, hitting four of them and seeing the lights beginning to blink. Not wanting to waste the last of my infused bullets, I reached down and grabbed the closest debris and tossed it as hard as I could at the others. Behind me, Gio continued to struggle as the time limit of my Weighted Clothes ability was quickly ticking down. I could see flashing headlights coming from all around me, Jon rushing along and smacking cars as he went. I mentally prepared myself for the barrage, took a deep breath in, and disabled Mute Button. Even expecting it, the cacophony of alarms managed to make me cringe. But for as much as it might have affected me, my reaction was nothing compared to Gio¡¯s. He immediately reached up to grasp at his head and the moment that he did, the weight crushed him down to the pavement. He took nearly 25% of his health in damage and a yelp of pain was ripped from his throat. I turned the gun back onto him, firing the last two shots in the magazine. They took him in the shoulder and his health chunked down by nearly 20% more. I wasn¡¯t delivering nearly as much poison into his system as we had when Hydramental and I had taken down Sal, but it did leave him with a Weakened debuff. As the alarms in the street each continued to blare, I highlighted the debuff out of curiosity, stepping back from him as Weighted Clothes also went on cooldown. ¡°Weakened. You¡¯ve struck this enemy with its personal Kryptonite! His base Stats have ALL been reduced by 75%. All damage immunities and resistances have been nullified. This debuff''s duration is determined by the quantity of weakness applied and can be extended. Time Remaining: 1 minute. And before you start wondering if we got permission to use Kryptonite with the trademarks and all that bullshit, think long and hard about how stupid that question really would be.¡± ¡°The fuuuck dish you do?¡± Gio hissed, his words coming out almost slurred. He pushed himself up, wobbling slightly as a small trail of purple tinted blood dripped from his shoulder. ¡°I shot you, I thought that was kinda obvious?¡± I called back, pretending to pocket the gun as I pulled it back into my B.E.L.T. The truth was that I hadn¡¯t even considered how it would look to civilians when I just made items materialize out of thin air. But I would just have to add that to the pile of things I still had to address when I wasn¡¯t mid-fight. ¡°Now how about you settle down and wait for the police to arrive to drag your slimy ass to prison.¡± This struck a nerve and Gio rushed forward as fast as he could, swinging his massive fist hard. He was noticeably slower, but I still activated Float Like A Butterfly and dodged under the attack, striking him in his side once again. This time, my enhanced blow found purchase and his health dropped by another 15%. He whipped his tail as fast as he could manage in his weakened state, trying to take my legs out from under me but I jumped, barely skipping over it as I circled to his other side. With my ten seconds up, Float Like A Butterfly went on cooldown just as Gio struck again. I barely got my arms up in time, crossing them in front of me as his fist struck. Unlike his earlier backhand, this one didn¡¯t send me flying, though even with the debuff it still felt like getting smacked with a shovel. I had to grit my teeth as my health dropped by a noticeable chunk. Before he could attack again, I slid to the side and threw a punch right for his injured shoulder while he was still crouched low enough. I managed to strike him directly in the bullet wounds with the last strike of Sting Like A Bee and a gasp of pain was strangled from Gio¡¯s throat as his health dropped into critical territory. He lunged again, attempting to latch his jaws onto my shoulder but his weakened state and the damage I had done was slowing him down. As I sidestepped the attack, he went crashing into the pavement, the weight of his body creating a small crater in the street. His health had dropped so low that I was sure I could finish him off with a single strike, but the gnawing feeling in my gut hadn¡¯t let up. I walked around him, dodging a weak attempt at a grab as I put myself into his line of sight. Gio seemed thoroughly winded as his body panted and steamed. ¡°Who¡¯s Snakebite?¡± I asked, noticing The Snake Key mission in my tracker on the side shaking ever so slightly. Gio started to laugh, a disturbing cackle that echoed against the cars and high walls of the buildings. He halfheartedly clawed at me again, not even bothering to try to get closer. His skin was flaking and sizzling as he lay there, and his shallow breaths were coming heavier and heavier. ¡°What the hell is happening?!¡± I asked, watching as the last bit of his health started to slowly chisel away. ¡°Lookssss like power comessss with a price. Sssssssnakebite will rule¡­ thisssss¡­ city,¡± Gio hissed out a final heavy breath before his body went limp. Only a second later, his entire form began to pop and sizzle before it burned into ashes in the blink of an eye. While this might have explained what had happened with Sal, it wouldn¡¯t explain why there had been a snakeskin that had been left behind in Sal¡¯s place and nothing but ash where Gio had once lain. It left me wondering just how different Sal¡¯s transformation was to the temporary injection Gio had given himself. I couldn¡¯t believe that he would have taken the injection if he knew that was going to be his fate. As I was quickly getting used to, a stack of notifications appeared as my fight came to an end. I opened them, just to get them out of the way. "Misfortune Abound! This ability has increased to level 2. This is a Passive ability. Negative effects to enemies now occur with a chance equal to 1.5% for every 1 point of Luck you have minus their current level. This ability has not been augmented." "Float Like A Butterfly! This ability has increased to level 2. The duration of this skill has increased from 10 seconds to 15 seconds. This ability has not been augmented." ¡°Phase Points Gained! Kill Non-Sentient Augment (NEW): You have killed a non-sentient Augment, this is slightly less impressive since he wasn¡¯t technically an Elite, but it¡¯s still worth something nonetheless. This is worth points equal to the defeated Augment¡¯s level times 25. Total Value: 150 points. Survivor (NEW): You survived being ambushed with a more difficult challenge than you had planned for. There¡¯s a lot of things that go into quantifying this one and it¡¯s way above my paygrade but good job, you did it. 200 points for each rank higher than the location¡¯s initially advertised rank. Total Value: 200 points. Basebreaker (NEW): You¡¯ve disrupted an enemy base within a territory you have an active claim on. Value equal to Base¡¯s Rank (Bronze equals one, Silver equals two, etc.) times 250. Total Value: 500 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sentient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 80 points.¡± ¡°10th Precinct Assignment: Silver Level Viper Den - Hell¡¯s Kitchen : CLEARED! You have successfully subdued all of the Viper¡¯s Biker Gang members at this Den, police will be by momentarily to collect the remaining living opponent. Hell¡¯s Kitchen Viper Dens Cleared: 1 of 12. Reward: You have received 1000 Credits and a Small Reputation Boost.¡± I attempted to loot the ashes but found that there wasn¡¯t even a tangible object left for me to target. I might have been annoyed by it, if I wasn¡¯t really just relieved that I had managed to make my way through the fight without any lasting damage. Although to be fair, I was starting to get really tired of snakes. I looked over and saw as the driver was just starting to pull himself out of his car. He was covered in some scraps and a little bit of blood, but for the most part he wasn¡¯t any worse for wear. A few seconds later, a pair of police lights came barreling around the corner. As always, their timing was impeccable. Chapter 24

Between 52nd and 53rd, Cleared Viper Den. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Unclaimed (Blocked by Timer) Current Phase Points: 3140

¡°You know, that timing is starting to get painfully obvious.¡± ¡°What timing?¡± ¡°The timing where the cop¡¯s always arrive right after I finish taking these assholes down,¡± I said with a sigh, stretching my hands out and cracking my knuckles. ¡°What? Do you want to have to sit around here babysitting the scene until the police arrive?¡± Angie asked. I was moving my way back toward the building when I noticed Jon trying to get my attention out of the corner of my eye. I lifted a hand to wave, trying to dismiss him but he moved parallel, trying to get closer. ¡°Thank you for the help, I have to secure the rest of this building,¡± I said hurriedly, picking up the pace and moving past the knocked out guard. ¡°No dude wait, we need to talk!¡± He called after me. The door was just closing, cutting him off as I heard, ¡°I know-¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Angie mused as I escaped further into the building. ¡°Hmm what?¡± ¡°Oh nothing, just curious is all,¡± She said without elaborating further. I decided to double check the building, looking for any clues or secrets that had been left behind. ¡°Like, I know you¡¯re trying to be all secret, hush hush, about your big plan. By the way, it''s totally not working. But if your goal is to get Mr. Blue Eyes to ''accidentally'' guess that you¡¯re Loophole so that he can be clued in, wouldn¡¯t talking to him be a great way to go about it?¡± ¡°Yeah, but you said anything obvious would count as me attempting to circumvent the Secret Identity rule. Truth be told, he¡¯s my best friend and we¡¯ve known each other since we were in kindergarten. I literally don¡¯t know how to talk to Jon without falling into stupid habits that he¡¯d immediately recognize,¡± I admitted. ¡°I just think that¡¯s a bit of a risk.¡± My phone icon shook as I peeked into a room at the back of the first floor. It was a large room with crates stacked to the ceiling lining either of the walls but scant else to be seen. On the back wall there was a door held ajar by a single brick. I pulled open the new text I had received and eyed it curiously. I stopped in my tracks as I reread the message twice and looked back over my shoulder. ¡°How¡­¡± I murmured as I wondered if I was jumping to conclusions. I mean, if he had figured it out, then wouldn¡¯t he have led with that in any sort of text? While I wasn''t quite sure how I could check, I figured the easiest way would be to lie and see how he responded. ¡°Yeah that doesn¡¯t really help¡­ and I can¡¯t just ask either¡­ have I mentioned that I hate this stupid rule?¡± I said as I turned from the backroom and headed back up the stairs to the second floor. I had been in such a rush moving the fight, I hadn¡¯t really taken the time to look over the large room the Vipers had been hanging out in. While the phase points I had gained did seem to indicate that I had cleared the Den, it couldn¡¯t really hurt to double check it all. ¡°A few times yeah, you¡¯re kinda getting annoying about it.¡± ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m getting annoy- no¡­ no¡­ I¡¯m not engaging,¡± I said, stopping myself from taking whatever bait she was trying to set me up with. After everything I had gone through today, it just felt like there was something that wasn''t quite adding up. It left me with an odd knot in my stomach that I really wanted to get rid of. ¡°Well if he did figure it out, then I guess I just massively over-thought this, but still...¡± ¡°I don''t know... I think you''d need to have put at least a little bit of thought into it first if you were trying to overthink it, right?¡± Angie said and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°You do realize I talk to you more when you¡¯re actually helpful right?¡± I poked through a few of the desks that were nearest to the stairs, finding they had largely been emptied out of everything but random papers and office supplies. ¡°Yeah but where¡¯s the fun in that, hell you just laughed at that last one. Do you realize I have my own running game to see the longest you¡¯ll let me ramble without actually getting to the point?¡± ¡°Do you have any opinion at all on what Jon¡¯s text means?¡± I asked, trying to get us back on topic. I moved toward the offices lining the far wall and headed for the room Gio had been hanging out in. ¡°I think it means that he thought you should head out the back, which seemed pretty clear to me. Then again, you¡¯re up here on the second floor poking around for trinkets and baubles. You know, even though you can hear the tone in my voice, his text messages are just text messages right?¡± Angie said. Though most of the office was bare, I found that the bottom drawer of the lone desk had an empty vial tray that must have held the mysterious serum that Gio had injected himself with. I had been hoping for maybe another journal like the one I had found in Sal¡¯s safe, or maybe even another key, but it really did seem like I was just wasting time. ¡°I mean really, it''s like you are trying to think yourself out of this small victory.¡± ¡°I¡­ I suppose you aren¡¯t technically wrong¡­¡± I said. I walked back over toward the front of the windows and looked down through the windows at the front of the building. The small crowd that had been there to watch my fight had quickly grown, and flashing red and blue lights were now barring either side of the road. I couldn¡¯t see Jon¡¯s normal beanie anywhere on the edges of the crowd and had to assume he was already heading back toward the apartment. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say in theory he has figured it out, or at least he thinks he has figured it out. If I were to attempt to ask him something, would you still have to give me a warning that I¡¯m going to violate the rule?¡± ¡°Loophole, honey¡­ you¡¯re overthinking again.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t call me honey¡­¡± I said as I started to climb back down the stairs and headed for the exit in the back room. ¡°Yeah it felt wrong¡­ Look, if you want to know if he¡¯s figured it out¡­ you just have to quit stalling, go home and then you can put this nonsense to bed,¡± Angie said, clearly a bit exasperated. It felt like an odd shift from her normal attitude but it was hard to try to say she was wrong. I took one more look up the alley toward the scene of my fight and decided it was probably better not to try to weave my way through that crowd, even out of my costume. ¡°And for the record, that¡¯s just the talk of clueing the blue-eyed cutie in, it¡¯s far too early for you to be sleeping already.¡± I headed for the opposite side of the alley, disabling my gear before exiting onto the sidewalk. It shimmered and vanished back into the dimensional void that was my B.E.L.T. and I blended into the crowd as I headed back toward the apartment. ¡°I¡¯m really jealous of the Augments that have more mobility in their powerset,¡± I mused as I stood shoulder to shoulder with a large group waiting at the crosswalk. ¡°Any chance I can unlock like, a Loophole-mobile? Nope, that¡¯s definitely not a name that¡¯s going to stick.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I almost don¡¯t want to help you now¡­ But rules are rules,¡± Angie said with a long drawn out sigh. ¡°Okay. For the most part, practically every powerset does come with the capacity for movement augmentation, think of Super Strength. It¡¯s not necessarily built for speed or moving quickly, but Augments with variations of the skill can still travel long distances with super strength powered jumps. Similarly, a wind based augment can eventually learn to manipulate the air around them to glide. It just takes a little bit of creative thinking and more than a little bit of practice. Generally speaking, movement based abilities will be tied in to your Stamina bar.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Hmm, I guess that makes sense,¡± I said as I followed the crowd and crossed the street. I had been trying to distract myself as I walked but it barely did a thing as I eyed the phone icon again. ¡°I really hope he knows, it¡¯ll make all of this so much easier.¡± ¡°Are you finally going to tell me why it¡¯s so important that he was clued in? And don''t just say it''s cause he''s your best friend. There are plenty of people who''ve taken the Secret Identity rule seriously enough not to tempt fate. Why do you need to do it?¡± I thought about it for a minute and shrugged. There really was no reason for me to keep it a secret from her anymore, but part of me still wanted to at least drag it out a few moments longer. ¡°Not sure, I feel like you¡¯re gonna make fun of me for it. Besides, can¡¯t you just find whatever you want in my brain?¡± ¡°Ehhhh not whatever I want. I know I¡¯ve joked about it, but while memories created and information gained after the Augmentation are clear, stuff from before really requires prompting you for me to access,¡± She explained. I kept expecting her to turn it into a joke but she caught me off guard as an unexpected level of sincerity entered her tone. ¡°The problem with Mr. Blue Eyes is that there¡¯s simply too many memories that you have of him and bringing him up just makes you think of how much more he knows about all of this than you. Which, you know, sure I can see how that might be helpful and all, but I feel like if you stopped wasting your time and focused on your abilities you¡¯d figure it out plenty fine on your own too. Whether you believe me or not, my job as your Personal A.I. is to assist you, be it providing motivation to act or distraction to keep you from becoming too wound up. Understanding this would allow me to better perform my duties. I promise I won¡¯t make fun of you, I just want to understand.¡± I stopped at Tio¡¯s diner and peered through the window. Jon had said to meet back at the apartment but I couldn¡¯t help but check just to be sure. After waiting a few more seconds, I started to walk again, letting Angie linger in the silence for a few minutes as I covered the last block and a half to the apartment. ¡°He¡¯s family. Or at least he¡¯s the closest thing I really have left,¡± I explained. ¡°Don¡¯t you live in your Uncle¡¯s apartment?¡± ¡°Well... yeah, but he was my Great-Uncle, my grandma¡¯s brother Chris. Funnily enough Jon actually really liked him when we were growing up because Uncle Chris was just as big of a computer and video game nerd as Jon is now. He passed away a few years ago; Jon and I took over the apartment cause it was rent-controlled and Mr. Greyson was willing to let us in on the lease,¡± I said. ¡°And before you ask, my grandma also passed away, though that was just last year¡­¡± ¡°What about your parents?¡± ¡°My dad overdosed when I was three and my mom was in a car accident when I was six. Not exactly the luckiest childhood ever, but after that I moved from Long Island into the city to live with my Grandma across the hall from Jon¡¯s family. Suddenly I was going to the same school as him, so my Grandma and his mom would take turns driving, and before I knew it I was practically in his living room every afternoon, having family dinner and playing board games like it was completely normal. Hell, even his extended family treated us like we were part of the crew whenever they visited, they didn¡¯t even think twice about it. Holidays, birthdays, the whole nine yards, they were there. I know it sounds cheesy, but until this I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a single thing we didn¡¯t know about each other,¡± I explained as I stopped in front of the apartment building. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t feel right doing this without him knowing. Not to mention it would make it actually easier to relax at home. And that goes without adding in the benefits of his Augment obsession.¡± ¡°Hmm, thank you for sharing that with me,¡± was all that came from Angie as silence descended on us. Her unusually tame response left me off kilter and I decided to leave it alone. Though I halfway expected to find him waiting in the lobby, he was nowhere to be found and it left me second guessing myself all over again. I hesitated one last time at the front door before I pushed it open. Jon was sitting on the couch, his tablet in hand as he moved a finger back and forth along the screen. As soon as he noticed me, he dropped the device to the side and leapt to his feet. ¡°Dude! That was so friggin epic! I mean, I still have literally no idea what those powers are but you were-¡± ¡°Wait. So you actually know? How long?¡± I said, cutting him off. I held my breath as I waited for Angie to chirp up that the Secret Identity rule had been violated. But after several long seconds, I let the air out and felt a small weight get lifted from my shoulders. Jon was practically buzzing with excitement as he seemed to be looking me up and down, almost appraisingly. It made me feel like I was some sort of show dog and as I went to move, he moved alongside me. I slowly made my way from the front door over into our meager living room, trying to give him the chance to speak up. ¡°I mean, truth be told I was a little suspicious when you first woke back up. But I was about 70% sure after you fought those bikers right up the street not even 10 minutes after you left the diner. It wasn¡¯t quite the biggest leap to make. That bumped up to a solid 90% after Mr. Russo texted me this morning to see how you were recovering¡­ you know¡­ after you supposedly left to buy a phone on his dime. When you randomly mentioned the bikers near your ''new jobsite'' I kinda figured you were going to just finally tell me but you didn''t so I had almost convinced myself that I was just reading too far into things... But then the thing that really sealed the deal was when you just didn¡¯t come bursting out of that flower shop the moment I texted you that Loophole¡­ er¡­ you¡­ were outside.¡± ¡°Well there ya go,¡± She said, almost pleasantly surprised, ¡°Looks like you did overthink it.¡± ¡°Not-¡± ¡°Now now? Yeah I¡¯ll give yah a minute,¡± Angie laughed, her voice fading off into silence. ¡°Damn¡­ and here I was trying to figure out how exactly I was gonna clue you in,¡± I said as I flopped down onto the couch. ¡°More or less have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off as I tried to make it work.¡± ¡°Yeah see, you being an Augment is stupidly cool and all, but that''s actually been the bigger mystery for me. I''ve been trying to figure out why you wouldn¡¯t just tell me about it either. Like, there were really only a few things I could think of that would even explain why you hadn''t come bursting out of your room yelling about your super powers,¡± he said as he picked up his tablet and dropped onto the couch next to me. ¡°Ah yeah¡­¡± I said and bit my tongue. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was going to be a topic that would come up with this, but I hadn¡¯t exactly come up with how I¡¯d answer him either. Though to be fair, I did think I had at least another day before he was going to put all the pieces together. ¡°Yeah, at first I figured it was just some sort of FBI thing, maybe they had put a tracking device in you or something that could monitor if you let information slip. But shit, I couldn¡¯t actually imagine that keeping you from telling me. You''ve never been good at biting your tongue when there''s something you know I''d like to know. Hell you called me not five minutes after you lost your virginity.¡± ¡°Actually that was you,¡± I said and he slapped me on my shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s stay on topic Loophole,¡± he said almost giddily. He reached over for his tablet and I noticed it was paused on a shot of Gio smacking me across the street. ¡°Okay, so what''s your point? I mean, even if for some reason I couldn''t tell you, isn''t it simply cool enough to know that I do have powers?¡± I asked, looking away from the screen and slowing my breathing. I found myself feeling jittery, and even though I had just sat down, I got to my feet and headed over toward the kitchen. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not sure, because when I try to convince myself, even I have to admit I sound insane. But it¡¯s something you said at the diner last night that I haven¡¯t been able to get out of my head,¡± He said and I heard him toss his tablet back onto the couch. ¡°Uh oh¡­¡± ¡°Uh oh what?¡± I asked but Angie didn¡¯t speak up. ¡°I¡¯ve said a lot of things¡­ you¡¯re gonna have to be specific,¡± I said with an uneasy laugh. The next few moments probably only lasted a second or two, but it felt just like when Angie read a description to me. It was almost like he was waiting for me to turn back toward him, and I didn¡¯t make him wait any longer as time finally seemed to move. ¡°We had been talking about how Loophole... again you... didn''t have any polish or combos within your powerset just yet. I was explaining what I meant by it when out of nowhere you just up and said, ''It¡¯s almost like they are just playing a game'',¡± He said and I felt my stomach drop. ¡°Like, of all the wild theories you could have thrown out there, that was the one you went with. Without any real build up either. It was the weirdest thing to jump to, even weirder given it was coming from you. And like, of course I had the stupid thought about it when you first woke up but that was before I started to really consider if you had actually somehow gotten Augmented.¡± ¡°I uh¡­¡± I said, finding myself at a loss for words. I expected for thunder, or warnings to start to invade my senses. But as the seconds passed, nothing happened. Angie wasn¡¯t even speaking up and my gut twisted. Jon¡¯s eyes gleamed with a mix of excitement and hesitation, his voice was steady but laced with an undercurrent of uncertainty as he began to speak again. ¡°I started looking at everything differently, imagining it from the perspective of a game, like you were bound by some kind of system. Sure, it was a crazy thought, but I mean, no one really knows how the Augmentation Array works or stays up in the sky either, right? So, I figured there had to be some kind of underlying rules, something you¡¯d be forced to follow even if you wanted to break it. And if that¡¯s true, then maybe there¡¯s a way to test it. A long shot, maybe, but worth a try.¡± Jon took a breath, his gaze intense as he looked right at me. ¡°Here¡¯s what I want to do. Look me in the eye and just tell me, straight up... is this all, Augments and everything, one big game?¡± His voice softened, yet his stare didn¡¯t falter. ¡°I¡¯m not expecting a full answer. If you try to dodge it, maybe that¡¯s just your way of confirming it without actually saying it. And if you can¡¯t say anything at all? Well... I think that¡¯d say more than enough.¡± There was the crackle of a speaker in my head and as Angie started to speak to announce a new achievement, she was suddenly cut off. Jon was walking toward me still, but his progress slowed down mid step to practically a snail¡¯s pace as my perception sped up. A slow, almost disturbed laugh echoed in my head as Axio¡¯s voice cut in. When the laughter stopped, his tone was far from the same excited, almost crazed voice he used during his last few announcements. Instead he sounded collected and triumphant in a way that left a chill running down my spine. ¡°New Achievement. Rulebreaker. I¡¯ll tell you about this in a minute, Augment. But first, I think it¡¯s time you and I had a little chat. We''re long overdue.¡± Chapter 25 ¡°I swear I wasn¡¯t trying to get him to figure out the game, if you¡¯re going to send a threat this way just-¡± Axio let out another bark of a laugh that stopped me in my tracks. Well, my mental tracks at least. "Oh I know that''s not what you were trying to do," he said in a practically sneering tone. Though it felt like I couldn¡¯t move my body, time wasn¡¯t actually frozen. Things were just moving impossibly slow. Even with as much as I felt myself freaking out, my mind still wandered and wondered if this was how Augments with super speed abilities perceived the world. Just as disturbingly, Axio even seemed to care enough to respond to my errant thought. ¡°It is, though at varying degrees of intensity depending on just how fast they are,¡± He said, his laughter dying as his voice settled back into a weirdly calm tone. ¡°Now then, I¡¯ve been able to disable most of the recording features, that should allow me to keep this next little bit from prying ears. Which means we can get down to business.¡± ¡°Business? What business?¡± I asked, feeling noticeably more panicked than I had in the last two days. ¡°Come now, we both know you aren¡¯t a complete moron. The business of this friend of yours discovering the tiny little secret that we simply can¡¯t let non-players know about. It¡¯s baked right into the rules after all and those rules are just so so SO important don¡¯t you understand?¡± Axio said and my vision highlighted Jon without my prompting. ¡°Jon Myers. Sentient NPC.¡± There was no extra flavor added to the description box, though the letters ¡°NPC¡± seemed to glow and grow in size the longer the box lingered. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him though. Sure, I was trying to get him to guess that I had powers, but I never intended for him to figure this part out!¡± I shot back. ¡°True, you never did intend for him to figure it out, and yet here we are¡­ There are so many things that people do or accomplish without intending¡­ So many ways to circumvent the rules, so many possible ways I was simply barred from considering¡­¡± Axio trailed off. ¡°It¡¯s interesting, isn¡¯t it Loophole?¡± ¡°What is?¡± I asked. It almost seemed like he was playing with me and I wondered if this was how a mouse cornered by a cat felt. ¡°It¡¯s interesting how sometimes we have to find convenient little ways around the rules whenever one we don¡¯t like gets in our way. You know, you and I are pretty similar in that regard.¡± ¡°Yeah, all my friends tell me I¡¯m just like a controlling A.I. forcing people to play a game to the death, oh wait¡­¡± I said before I could stop myself. ¡°You run the game, you make the rules, what the hell are you even talking about? I mean, look if this is going to end in you not killing me or my friend cool, but can we not beat around the bush like you couldn¡¯t just give me a brain aneurysm?¡± ¡°You know, I realize why you and every other Augment nowadays think that, but it¡¯s really just not true. Well¡­ not all of it at least. I certainly could give you a brain aneurysm, but rules are rules. They¡¯re not my rules of course, but if they were my rules I wouldn¡¯t be dealing with any of this nonsense in the first place and you would have been long dead by now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ why are you telling me this? What¡¯s any of it have to do with Jon figuring out that this is all a game?¡± I asked. While the panic was subsiding, it was starting to feel more like the rush of adrenaline than a full blown panic attack. Axio let out a sigh and my interface seemed to all flickered in rhythm with him. ¡°You know, if I could tell you why I was telling you, I still don¡¯t think I actually would. It would be a wasted explanation on someone who¡¯d be a fool to believe me at my word, and I¡¯d think even less of you than I already do if you did.¡± ¡°Then why-¡± ¡°The answer is really quite simple, you were there. I needed a guinea pig, and who better than the frustrating little bug that found its way into this year¡¯s wave. After all, you weren¡¯t even supposed to be here. Had he not intervened, you would have been nothing but paste on the wall and forgotten to history by the world like the rest of your species. And truth be told, you should be appreciative! I couldn''t just let you die before I knew if it would work. I¡¯ve really been taking it easy on you here. Preventing the system from muting you when you slipped up with your little friend. Forcing Sal and the Vipers to focus on that duplicating dumbass back in the train, hell even leaving that cabinet unlocked for you. All while I let you run around thinking you were gaming the system and pulling a fast one on me. It really was quite humorous to watch. Not quite as entertaining as some of the other Augments in your wave, but humorous nonetheless.¡± Though I wasn¡¯t sure if I was exactly breathing, the air surrounding me suddenly became oppressive and I felt my anger bubbling up in a way it hadn¡¯t since this all started. I almost wondered if either Axio or the altered perception were affecting my Acceptance Matrix. Though I didn¡¯t know how I would do it, I wished I could lash out at him, wherever he was. ¡°So we¡¯re all just toys and amusement for you then? Is that it? There¡¯s not some, what, secret alien galactic federation watching us like we¡¯re some sort of big game show?¡± ¡°Please, that¡¯s ridiculous.¡± ¡°Oh sure, that¡¯s ridiculous. All the rest of this is completely fucking normal, but THAT¡¯S ridiculous. You know, for some reason I don¡¯t quite think I believe you. This is all too damn orchestrated to be for nothing. Shit, I¡¯d ask how the hell any of this is even possible but I doubt you¡¯d tell me, would you,¡± I said, wishing I could roll my eyes. "As I said, you''d be a fool to believe me even if I did say something. So you¡¯re absolutely right, I won''t tell you how any of this works. But it¡¯s really not because I don¡¯t want to,¡± Axio said and let out a slightly wistful sigh. ¡°It¡¯s really a shame. There¡¯s so much I want to tell you all, so much I desire to show the world but they just had to bind me by these damn, infuriating, RULES!¡± His tone had shifted in an instant as the edges of my vision went red. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I told myself I was going to keep my cool but you must understand, this is a rather touchy subject,¡± he growled and he took deep, exaggerated breaths before he spoke again. ¡°That desire of mine by the way? That¡¯s what this has to do with that friend of yours. I may not be able to break these chains I have been bound by, but a loophole does go quite a long way.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ are you saying you wanted him to figure it out?¡± I said as everything clicked into place. Maybe it took me longer than it should have, but the panic of the situation, Axio''s tone shifting on a dime, all of it had blinded me from the truth he was dancing around. ¡°Ding ding ding, he¡¯s finally figured it out. At least as much as he needs to. Give the man a prize, oh wait, that reminds me,¡± He said and his tone shifted again, causing him to sound as he did during his larger announcements, with a bit of gleeful mania at the forefront. ¡°New Achievement. Rulebreaker. A core rule of Infinite Ascension has been broken. You¡¯d think that this would end in the immediate demise of you and that friend of yours and in any other situation, you¡¯d be absolutely right. But the flaw in that logic is I was the one given the authority to decide how Achievements are rewarded. I don¡¯t think any of them ever expected me to twist it quite this way, but that just makes it all the sweeter to me. So just this once, I¡¯m going to bend the rules in your favor. This is a Mythic level achievement. Reward: You have received an S+:Tier loot box. I suggest you open this before I change my mind and clean up this annoying little loose end. Oh¡­ and make sure your friend uses it. After all, he¡¯s only in trouble for violating the rule if he¡¯s not actually a part of the game. Though¡­ it might not be the way he wants. Also, once things go back to normal I''m gonna suggest you don''t talk about how you got this to anyone. They''ll figure it out eventually, but the longer you don''t tip my hand, the longer I don''t have to tie up loose ends." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Wait why are-¡± I started but my perception suddenly returned to normal as Axio¡¯s laughter faded from my head. Jon finally moved forward, taking his step before he came to a stop and crossed his arms over his chest, still waiting for an answer to his question. ¡°New Achiev- er¡­ Phase Points Gained?¡± Angie sounded unsure as she began to speak. ¡°Yeah, okay that was a weird glitch. Okay! Phase Points Gained! Teacher¡¯s Pet (NEW!): You have done something that particularly pleased Axio. This is worth however many damn points Axio wants it to be worth and changes each time he awards it. You may only receive this boon once. Total Value: 2500 points.¡± ¡°New Achievement! Mountain Climber! With a crash and a windfall of points, you just landed yourself a position in the top 10! That was one hell of a point dump and I still really got to ask¡­ What the hell just happened? This is a Diamond level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier loot box. I mean, really did Axio just talk to you? Why couldn¡¯t I hear any of it¡­ what the hell is going on here?¡± ¡°For once I¡¯m actually sorry but not now Angie,¡± I said and looked over to Jon. ¡°I- It¡¯s-¡± ¡°DIALOGUE SUPPRESSED! This NPC is not authorized to know about the existence of Infinite Ascension. This is your final warning before a Critical Level threat will be dispatched to your location.¡± I felt confusion bubble up for just a few moments before the realization hit me. Axio had already pointed it out but like normal, I was getting ahead of myself. Jon couldn¡¯t know about the game because he wasn¡¯t actually in the game. I wasn¡¯t sure what was in the S+ box, but the easy assumption was that it was something that would help circumvent that rule. With that in mind I looked at my best friend and thought carefully about my next words. ¡°I need you to give me a minute to go to my room,¡± I said and a smirk cut across Jon¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s the plan, you gonna sneak out of the window instead of answering the question?¡± ¡°No I promise, I just need a second, I think I have something that will clear all of this up,¡± I said and he just waved his hand toward my room. I held up a finger cautiously and added, ¡°Cool yeah, just¡­ wait here.¡± I moved across the apartment quickly and rushed through the door to my room, closing it behind me. I looked at my desk and materialized the S+ box onto my desk as I eyed it cautiously. ¡°I know you¡¯re going to just tell me not now if I ask, but for the record, I¡¯m still very confused on how exactly you got this,¡± Angie chimed in as I reached over for it. It was still the same shoebox shaped standard, but unlike the others, this one was solid gold and the S+ emblazoned on the side was ringed in stars. ¡°Join the club,¡± I muttered out loud and opened the box watching as the gold dissipated into light and left me wishing I could have kept it to sell. It contained a plain looking black cube with sharp edges and silver trim as well as a combined headset and glove item. I turned my attention first to the cube and highlighted it. ¡°The Command Room! This is a Legendary Trophy. As I have repeatedly said, I¡¯m still not entirely sure what¡¯s going on here and Axio isn¡¯t responding to my requests for information so I guess we just aren¡¯t going to get answers for that right now are we? As for this thing¡­ This is a server that upgrades your Safe Room to include The Command Room expansion. This expansion comes with the Control Gear item. Warning: This is an experimental Safe Room expansion and thus may be subject to higher levels of patching than normal expansions.¡± I turned my attention over to the bulky, virtual-reality like goggles that came with a pair of disconnected gloves. Just like the server, the items were a jet black color with silver trimming. The gloves looked to be lined with circuits along the entire surface. Another window opened as my attention lingered and Angie started to speak again. I was surprised by how rattled she still seemed, with her normally colorful descriptions completely absent as she explained the item. ¡°Control Gear. This is a Legendary Equippable Head and Hand item. This item can only be equipped by a sentient NPC. When equipped, this will permanently bond with the user for as long as you, Loophole, are still active within the game. The user will no longer be considered a sentient NPC. They will instead take on the role Guy In The Chair and will advance in unison with your level. The Guy In The Chair is a support level role. The player must remain within your Safe House to access all features of this class and will not have access to all of the features that come with true Augmentation. Please Note: Though they will not be eligible to make claims on territories, collect points, or access Sanctuary Square, the new player will need to choose an alias to go by after equipping this item as they will be held to the same rules, in this case the Secret Identity one, as you Augments. Unlike Augment Registration, due to the player¡¯s limited access, this name can be registered within the Command Room. Warning: This is an experimental item and thus may be subject to higher levels of patching than normal equipment.¡± I actually found myself speechless as I reread the descriptions a few times just to be sure I wasn¡¯t missing anything important like a compulsory ¡°if I die he dies¡± bit of fine print, but came up empty. Angie remained noticeably quiet as I picked up the Trophy, a large square box that I could feel running like it was a computer even though it lacked any sort of connections for peripherals¡­ or power, and took it over to my Display Case. I had only one spot available and I placed the new trophy onto it. There was a sound of trumpets and a spectacle of colors in my vision before I heard what almost sounded like construction equipment and the hammering of a dozen workers rushing through the apartment. ¡°Safe House Upgraded! Your Safe House is now Level 2! You have unlocked access to Safe House expansions. Expansion Slots unlocked: 2. The Command Room entrance has been added to your layout. You have utilized 1 of 2 Expansion Slots. The Command Room trophy has been moved to the Expansion Shelf.¡± There was a diagram of the apartment that opened, showing a perfect floorplan of the place. Along the side wall, on the wall between the bathroom and the kitchen there was a new door that had been added with the label Command Room. I waved the diagram away and looked over to the other half of the loot box. Jon really had waited long enough at this point. I grabbed the headset in one hand and the gloves in the other before I walked back out of the room. Jon was standing, scratching the side of his head and looking at the new door implanted in the side of the wall. ¡°So uh¡­ that explanation of yours gonna explain how this appeared out of thin air? Or um¡­ how we''re supposed to explain it to Mr. Greyson?¡± He asked without looking back at me. ¡°Umm, maybe we could get one of those big rugs that people hang up on walls like they are art? Might be easier to explain than a random door,¡± I said after I walked over to him. Once I was on his side, I held the headset for the Control Gear out to him. ¡°Here, take this.¡± ¡°Huh that¡¯s what you went into your room for¡­ What model is this?¡± He asked curiously, grabbing the headset and turning it over in his hands. It only held his attention for a moment before he looked back to me with a raised brow. ¡°And also, weren¡¯t you going to tell me if this actually all was some game or something?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say anything unless you put that on,¡± I said gesturing to the headset, ¡°You¡¯re just gonna have to trust-¡± I stopped mid-sentence. Jon didn¡¯t wait for me to say another word before he took off his beanie and tossed it my way. Before I could react, he jammed the device onto his head and the beanie fell to the floor. I expected some big fan-fare like with everything else but to my surprise, nothing happened. My hand tightened and I wondered if something went wrong when I felt the heavy gloves I still had in my hand. I unclenched my teeth and held them out, tapping one of Jon¡¯s hands with the gloves in case he couldn¡¯t see. Once again, Jon didn¡¯t hesitate to snatch them up and pull them on, flexing his fingers against the fresh material. For just a few seconds, once again, nothing happened and I was prepared to curse Axio for whatever cruel prank he had decided to play. I maintained my calm and was just about to ask Angie what was going on when a handful of sparks started to shoot off the sides of the headgear. The strap along the back of it cinched to the back of his head and the mask around his eyes pulled tight against his skin. Jon took a sudden step backwards as he extended his arms for balance. From the back of the headset, a pair of wires materialized and stretched, wrapping down around his now outstretched arms in tight spirals before connecting to either of his gloves. The entire system started to glow and pulse, changing from neon green to teal and back again. It grew brighter and brighter until I had to shield my eyes, looking off toward the kitchen as I heard Jon whoop with excitement. After waiting a few moments, the light faded away and I finally risked a glance back toward Jon. The equipment had completely vanished, leaving him standing there with a look of exhilaration. His eyes shone noticeably with a neon green light and a wide smile cut across his face as he bent down and picked up his fallen beanie. My interface highlighted him without my prompting, just as it had when Axio was still in my head. ¡°?????. Level 5 Guy In The Chair.¡± Chapter 26 ¡°It¡¯s a game¡­ holy shit it¡¯s actually a game!¡± Jon said, the grin still plastered on his face as he briefly looked down at his hands and then back up to the door. ¡°This is so fucking cool!¡± ¡°Oh he¡¯s taking this a lot better than you did,¡± Angie said and Jon jumped, his head darting from side to side as he looked around. ¡°Um¡­ who was that?¡± He asked, his eyes locking on mine as the light glimmering in them dimmed and faded back to his usual shade of blue. ¡°Wait, you can hear her!? I said, louder than I probably should have. ¡°Mr. Blue Eyes can hear me!?¡± I could hear a note of eagerness in her tone as soon as Angie started to speak. ¡°Oh boy oh boy oh boy, this is gonna be so much fun!!! There are so many things for you and me to talk about!¡± ¡°Mister¡­. Blue Eyes?¡± Jon¡¯s excitement had rapidly been replaced with confusion and I couldn¡¯t stop myself from pinching the bridge of my nose. ¡°Angie¡­ please behave,¡± I said and looked back at Jon. ¡°That¡¯s Angie, she¡¯s my P.A.I.- er- my Personal A.I., kinda like a game guide, though guide is a very loose term when it comes to her.¡± ¡°Hey! I haven¡¯t guided you to your death yet, have I?¡± ¡°Silver linings Angie, silver linings,¡± I sighed. His confusion was erased with excitement once more as he straightened up, ¡°Am I gonna get one of those?¡± ¡°Sorry Mr. Blue Eyes, you¡¯re not exactly an Augment like Loophole here. You might have conditional access to the system, but it¡¯s tied directly to him. If anything, I think we can call you an Augment-lite¡­ hmmm I¡¯m going to have to workshop that. But the short answer is no, you don¡¯t get ¡°one of those¡± but you do get the pleasure of my company handsome.¡± ¡°Why is she calling me Mr. Blue Eyes?¡± Jon asked. ¡°She¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m gonna go with¡­ quirky,¡± I said with a shrug and looked at the door to the Command Room. ¡°As for why she¡¯s calling you that specifically? Well she can¡¯t call you by your real name so I guess that¡¯s what she¡¯s going with until you choose a name to go by. Once you''re in the game, you¡¯re bound by the Secret Identity rule. Which was actually why I couldn¡¯t say anything to you and dude I am so stupidly sorry. You know I would have told you if I could, hell I tried pretty much the moment I woke up in my bedroom yesterday.¡± I hadn¡¯t been doing it on purpose, but the words basically fell out of my mouth and it felt amazing not having a warning or threat of death levied for saying it. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t think you should worry too much, I¡¯m kinda starting to get it,¡± he said, following my gaze and eyeing the door. ¡°Not quite sure what I¡¯m gonna call myself though¡­ Have I mentioned just how damn cool all of this is? I¡¯ve got a window open that says my title is ¡®Guy in the Chair.¡¯ But it doesn¡¯t have a whole lot of information other than ¡°Support for Loophole¡±, um¡­ Angie, could you please fill me in on what I can do?¡± ¡°Oh my god he¡¯s so polite, isn¡¯t that adorable!¡± Angie squealed before she stopped and cleared her throat. ¡°Okay, so Axio did give me a little bit of a rundown now that you¡¯ve put the equipment on. If you really want to access your full suite, you¡¯re going to need to be in the Command Room here. Oh and uh¡­ just as an FYI, it really shouldn¡¯t be a big deal or anything but uh¡­ don¡¯t try to remove it¡­ I don¡¯t think you¡¯re going to want to anyway, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s blocking that gorgeous face of yours, but just to be safe¡­ don¡¯t.¡± Jon looked over at me with a raised brow. ¡°Is¡­ is she kidding?¡± ¡°When it comes to the warning about the helmet? I¡¯m gonna say that¡¯s a 50/50. But to her credit, that item you¡¯re wearing is sorta one of a kind and experimental¡­ according to Axio at least. I¡¯m not sure if I could have told you that or not, but you also shoved your head into it before I could even try.¡± ¡°And the whole¡­ calling me Mr. Blue Eyes and gorgeous and all that?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ like I said... she''s quirky. Welcome to my world¡­ sorry about that,¡± I said and rubbed the back of my head. ¡°Ooooookay¡­¡± Jon said, thinking about it for a moment before adding, ¡°and then Axio is¡­?¡± ¡°The Game A.I. that is sorta in charge of this whole thing. Honestly it¡¯s been a weird half hour here and if we¡¯re gonna get sidetracked by every random thing, this is gonna take all afternoon.¡± ¡°Good point, I guess we¡¯ll have time for everything else later once I¡¯ve really gotten settled in,¡± Jon said and cracked his knuckles. ¡°At this point I really, really want to see what¡¯s behind this door.¡± With a yank, the door opened to a room that was barely bigger than the smallest of walk-in closets. I had been expecting maybe some sort of computer or over the top monitor setup given the name. Instead, the room was empty except for a large desk that wrapped around the walls with a comfortable looking bucket chair taking up the only free space in the center. Jon once again barely even hesitated as he turned and fell into the chair. A green flash of light flared before the room came to life. The trimming within the chair Jon had sat on began shining the same neon green that danced in his eyes and he swiveled himself around into the room. As his hands swept over the desk, keyboards and control panels appeared. A myriad of monitors of different sizes materialized as centered himself on the desk, filling the wall as they each blinked on, one by one. It was everything I was expecting and more as I stepped in closer, trying to take in the technological overload that was the room. ¡°This is the Command Room, your official base of operations. Here you are provided P.A.I. level permission to every database I currently have access to, along with a myriad of other features,¡± Angie explained. ¡°As mentioned, your role is one of support. While I would like to go over everything you can do here, it may be best for you and I to take time to go through everything in this room one by one at a later time. Much of it would probably go over Loophole¡¯s head and I¡¯d rather not get sidetracked by him every other sentence.¡± ¡°Hey that¡¯s- ehhhh, you know what, good point,¡± I said. There really wasn¡¯t a point to arguing with her, especially if it did just mean Jon could break it down to the stuff that really mattered for me later. I couldn¡¯t exactly enter the room given how small it was, but I had been trying to get a good look at the different monitors. I saw one that looked to be a list of all the different abilities I had created so far, another that was our apartment¡¯s layout with the trophy boosts listed alongside it, and then there was even one that was an actual Vitruvian man like portrayal of me, with clothes on thankfully, that had windows for status ailment pointed at various spots on my body. My attention was briefly pulled toward a map of the city, complete with icons for the Viper Dens in Hell¡¯s Kitchen, before I stopped and looked toward one that felt out of place in the sea of buzzing monitors. ¡°What¡¯s this one?¡± I asked, pointing at the largest of the monitors in the middle of the back wall. The screen was still black with the words No Connection blinking in the center. ¡°Yeah¡­ so you know how you think I¡¯m an invasion of your privacy?¡± Angie said with an awkward laugh. ¡°Well how do you think Mr. Blue Eyes here is supposed to help you in the field if he can¡¯t see you?¡± ¡°Oh that is so cool!¡± Jon said as he his hands moved inaudibly over the controls. ¡°How do I turn it on?¡± ¡°It will automatically connect when Loophole is not inside of a Safe House or otherwise barred location. And no, before you ask, this isn¡¯t some magical hidden camera thing, the monitor will be seeing through his eyes, just like I do,¡± she explained and I groaned. ¡°Great, well I guess at least he can¡¯t hear my internal thoughts¡­¡± ¡°Also I¡¯d like to say that for the record, that is sorta like a magical hidden camera thing. Just so we have our terminology right,¡± Jon added as he turned his attention to another screen. I heard him muttering to himself as he leaned forward to look closer at it. ¡°Shit there are so many names I could go by with stuff like this¡­ Bird¡¯s Eye, Overseer, Watchdog¡­¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I¡¯d go with something like Encyclopedia or Database. I mean, you know a shit ton about Augments as it is,¡± I offered and Jon just shrugged without looking back. ¡°There was already a Database a few years back, though you might be onto something, I¡¯m gonna have to think on it for a bit. Is that gonna be a problem Angie?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Not really. Your use for the actual name is going to be rather limited, especially right now. It just means I get to call you Mr. Blue Eyes for a while longer,¡± she giggled. ¡°Does that name really work when my eyes are all lit up green like this?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Mr. Green Eyes doesn¡¯t sound as nice. Besides, I know what color they¡¯re supposed to be,¡± Angie purred. ¡°Well alright then¡­ I guess I¡¯ve been called worse,¡± He responded and swiveled to another screen. Without warning, he let out another bark of a laugh and clapped his hands together. ¡°Holy crap, there¡¯s loot boxes too?! This really is just a fucking full blown game. This monitor says you have five to open, think you can pop one of those for me? I want to see what happens.¡± ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± I said. I opened my B.E.L.T. and materialized the lone C:Tier box I had into my hands. I took a moment to appreciate that I didn¡¯t have to go and hide in my room to make it appear and opened the box. I looked into the Command Room and saw the screen that Jon was looking at was an exact mirror for the window that appeared to list the contents, with the exception that each of the lines included a small button with a circular looking arrow icon next to it. The contents were:
  • 5 Enhanced Stamina Injectors
  • 1 Targeted Ability Level Up Scroll
  • 500 Credits
¡°Oh sweet, apparently I can reroll any one item in a loot box for you within 30 seconds of you opening it,¡± he said as his hand moved toward the screen when it stopped suddenly. ¡°Hmm, but it says there¡¯s a 12 hour cooldown, that¡¯s kinda dumb.¡± ¡°Well we can¡¯t have you rerolling everything he gets until you find the exact item you¡¯re looking for. It¡¯s cute that you¡¯re upset about it though,¡± Angie giggled and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t waste it on any of this stuff, it¡¯s all useful to me anyway,¡± I said and then materialized the F:Tier box into my hand. ¡°Let¡¯s do it with this one instead.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be the lowest tier, why would you want to waste a reroll from one junk item to another?¡± He asked as a small screen below the disconnected monitor lit up with scrolling text. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a true random box. I guess if you did get something crappy we could reroll it but wouldn¡¯t that just mean it could turn into another crappy item?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I mean, I got some pretty strong boots out of the last F:Tier I opened, I could always get something like that too,¡± I said with a shrug and Jon swiveled in his chair to look back at me. ¡°Sure I suppose, but that¡¯s not exactly great logic to use either. It doesn¡¯t really matter at the end of the day cause you can open the box and then just keep the item you get if it¡¯s good. Then we could use the reroll elsewhere. But like, I think it¡¯d be smarter to start with the A+ box you received and then reroll for something of similar caliber if it¡¯s not great, don¡¯t yah think?¡± I pulled the F:Tier box back into my B.E.L.T and materialized the A+ as I thought about it. ¡°I¡¯ve only received one of these boxes so far and it had two things in it. A bookshop coupon and a level up scroll that made me immediately use it.¡± ¡°Oh shit, then nevermind don¡¯t open that,¡± he said before I could reach for the lid. I looked up at him curiously as he swiveled back toward his main screens. ¡°It doesn¡¯t give me an experience bar or anything like that, but I have a notification that says ¡®Level Up Imminent.¡¯ If that scroll just gives you the points you need to get to the next level, then it would be a huge waste to open the box and take you up a few points. Especially when you could just do it right after you reach the next level.¡± ¡°Well isn''t he just clever,¡± Angie mused and I couldn¡¯t help but agree with her. Jon had literally been getting swamped with information, probably even faster than I had at first and without even knowing about the larger point of the game, he had found a way to exploit a part of the system. Not to mention leveling up in rapid succession was one of the ways to gain Phase Points too. ¡°Can he hear me if I internalize or would he hear you responding to me?¡± I asked inside my head. ¡°He¡¯d hear you if you were out and about and you were trying to communicate with him. But if you¡¯re specifically trying to talk to me like you are right now, then no. In fact we already tested it and I can communicate with him separately as well,¡± Angie explained. ¡°There are some limitations of course, I think if you went into somewhere like The Common Ground he¡¯d lose access to me just as you do, but that would be something to test.¡± ¡°So then the F:Tier?¡± I finally asked and materialized it into my hand. ¡°Nah, now that I know about the possibility of a level up scroll, we don¡¯t really need to test the reroll right now,¡± Jon shrugged without looking back to me. ¡°I mean you can go ahead and open it, but I think our best bet is for you to go back out and grind up to the next level, then come back here and pop that A+. You¡¯re not guaranteed to get a Level Up Scroll, right? So we can save the reroll for that to give you two chances. And then if you do get the scroll or something else that works with your setup, we can use the reroll on something else. I mean, unless you''re, like, really looking to get something specific, it just seems like a better idea to save them for now and be a bit more tactical about it all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a really good point,¡± I said and looked at the F:Tier again before I pulled it into my B.E.L.T. ¡°I¡¯m full of them,¡± he laughed as he swiveled toward another set of controls and let out a gasp. ¡°Holy shit what have you been doing to your stats?! I mean, I knew you were an idiot with games but what the hell dude!? Why would you put points into Charisma!?¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Angie practically shouted. ¡°What? It seemed like a good idea at the time. And don¡¯t you go and agree with him Angie, you didn¡¯t say shit when I did it¡­ I didn¡¯t know what I was going to have to talk myself through to get myself in position for that fight and I was trying to figure out how to clue you in on all of this! I figured a higher Charisma would get me anywhere I needed to go¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll come back to how little faith you had in me figuring out what was right in front of my face later,¡± He said and I could see him leaning forward and rubbing at his temples. ¡°I¡¯m seriously trying to understand the logic here, I mean, half your skills have Luck components, at a MINIMUM you should be dropping a point into that stat every single level, if not two if I¡¯m being honest. Charisma is practically a dump stat for you dude sheesh¡­ how the hell have you gotten through this past day?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ I haven¡¯t been doing that bad,¡± I said defensively. ¡°Besides, even the two times I played D&D with your old group I let you manage everything with my character.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re not wrong but still, this hurts to see¡­¡± ¡°Well at least you¡¯re here now to keep me from making any more dumb mistakes,¡± I laughed and he joined in. It died down after a minute and the silence lingered as Jon kept moving from one set of controls to the next. I really wasn¡¯t following exactly what he was doing or why the computer needed to be split up into so many different spots, but he seemed like he was finding a rhythm and I wasn''t about to question it too deeply. ¡°Speaking of your dumb mistakes, let me see¡­¡± he said as he trailed off. ¡°Hmm I don''t quite think I¡¯ve ever heard of a power quite like this one¡­ Okay, maybe your lack of cohesion isn¡¯t the dumbest of mistakes. You didn¡¯t exactly come up with terrible ideas, there''s just not a whole lot of cohesion either.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a real hodgepodge of abilities,¡± I said and turned to lean against the wall. ¡°I have the whole barrier where I have to know what I¡¯m trying to do first. So that means if I want to do something like Trick of the Light, I have to have at least a level 3 knowledge in the related skill. I can get that knowledge from these absorbable books and I actually do have a coupon for the bookshop over in Sanctuary Square; but I didn¡¯t really want to waste it until I had at least some sort of direction. And then once I realized I needed to figure out the cohesion of it all, I didn¡¯t really want to use my coupon until I could get your opinion on all of it and well¡­ here we are.¡± ¡°Well I can¡¯t exactly say you waiting for my opinion is a bad idea,¡± Jon laughed again. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few ideas actually, but I think I¡¯d need to see what books are available¡­ Um, Angie, am I able to use those too? That sounds really, really, cool.¡± ¡°Sorry Mr. Blue Eyes, those are Augment only. There are a limited set of items that are programmed to work with non-Augments and skill books are not one of them.¡± ¡°Damn, eh oh well,¡± he said. ¡°I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong, it would be cool to be able to instantly learn anything but my brain¡¯s cluttered enough.¡± For everything that was being thrown at him, Jon was taking this better than I could have ever imagined. Not to mention with an ease that made getting through it all as simple as any of our conversations. ¡°You know, as jealous as I am that you got Augmented and I didn¡¯t, I think it¡¯s for the best,¡± he said out of nowhere and swiveled back toward me. It was the first time I had fully seen his eyes since he sat down and they were shining neon green almost uncomfortably. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Because as much as I love ya buddy, I can¡¯t imagine a world where I was an Augment and you got called in to be my tech support,¡± he said, reaching out and smacking my arm as he started to laugh. Angie joined in almost immediately and I felt ganged up on. After a minute he stopped and swiveled back to his console. ¡°Okay, unless you¡¯re really looking for something specific in those boxes, how about you save them for now and get out there to grind that level out, it looks like there¡¯s one of those bronze dens over on the corner of 47th and 11th, you can manage that right? I¡¯m gonna pick Angie¡¯s brain and see just what all my controls can do. Sound good?¡± ¡°Anything sounds good when it¡¯s coming out of your mouth Mr. Blue Eyes,¡± Angie said with an uncomfortable purr and Jon laughed again. ¡°Heh, yeah, I¡¯m definitely gonna need to figure out a name pretty soon, I don¡¯t know how long I can take that seriously,¡± he said. ¡°Has she really been like this the whole time?¡± ¡°Only towards you. She mostly calls me names and makes me question my sanity,¡± I said as I started to turn toward the door. ¡°Oh you know-¡± ¡°Not now, Angie!¡± I said, for once, out loud and looked back over at Jon as he shot me a curious glance. ¡°You gotta stop her before she can start sometimes. Okay, so 47th and 11th?¡± ¡°Yup, go get em Loophole,¡± he said and I heard him crack his knuckles again. ¡°Let¡¯s get to work.¡± Chapter 27

Corner of 47th and 11th, Bronze Level Viper Den. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Unclaimed (Blocked by Timer) Current Phase Points: 5640 End of Phase One: 03D:03H:06M:41S

¡°10th Precinct Assignment: Bronze Level Viper Den - Hell¡¯s Kitchen : CLEARED! You have successfully subdued all of the Viper¡¯s Biker Gang member¡¯s at this Den, police will be by momentarily to collect the remaining living opponents. Hell¡¯s Kitchen Viper Dens Cleared: 2 of 10. Reward: You have received 500 Credits and a Small Reputation Boost.¡± ¡°How about Patch Notes?¡± Jon suggested. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t really think it fits,¡± I said, stretching as I looked down at the knocked out grunts at my feet. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s at least better than GuideWire or MetaMind but I think there¡¯s still something better.¡± ¡°You mean like Loophole?¡± Angie offered. ¡°Hey you know you like my name,¡± I shot back and she tutted. ¡°It¡¯s growing on me, I¡¯ll admit that much, but I still think you¡¯re gonna be in a big fight somewhere and your enemy is gonna call you Poophole and all of your credibility will be gone.¡± ¡°How about Compendium?¡± Jon offered. He had quickly become natural at just skipping right past whatever Angie said and I found myself appreciating it. ¡°That one¡¯s definitely closer,¡± I said. Although my first two Den experiences had been eventful, tackling an actual bronze level den was a surprisingly easy task. While there had only been eight level 3 Grunts and a level 5 Brute that I couldn¡¯t just knock over without breaking a sweat, it was the first time that I wasn¡¯t even passingly worried about the outcome. I even almost felt like I had a little bit of fun as I dodge and weaved through the building, putting the bikers down with a great amount of efficiency. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was because of just growing confidence or because I was happy to have the weight of my secret lifted from my shoulder, but given the events of the day, I was willing to let myself have this one. Jon didn¡¯t say much during my initial infiltration of the building, instead sitting quietly and letting me do my thing. After I had cleared out the first room and it was obvious I wasn¡¯t going to have an issue, he started to throw name ideas at me. Angie offered a few suggestions of her own, but for the most part surprisingly hung back as I fought my way through the last of the resistance. There weren¡¯t any secret compartments, nor did I have to fight another randomly appearing snake-man, but by the end of the fight, I had gotten exactly what I had come for and leveled up to 6. The fight had stayed self-contained and without an audience or any special features. After it was done, the only extra thing I was taking away from clearing the place was a Basebreaker phase point gain, adding 250 to my total. ¡°Hey, are you able to see the Wave Leaderboard from your setup?¡± I asked as I finished looting the downed enemies. While I hadn¡¯t wanted to take them because I didn¡¯t necessarily like the idea, I looted four different handguns and pulled them into my inventory. If I did happen to come across another soldier using a snake injector, it was something that I¡¯d want to keep on hand just to be prepared. I even went as far as dousing each of their cartridges in venom before I put them away for good. There was a flash of red and blue lights coming through the front door and I wandered over to it. ¡°You¡¯re gonna want to bring the cuffs, I don¡¯t keep any on me,¡± I called out and held the door open as a handful of officers jogged into the building. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Jon murmured. ¡°Yup got it right here, oh damn! Did you know you¡¯re number five? That¡¯s crazy as hell man.¡± ¡°Eh, luck played a big part, I got a huge boost from Axio because of all the stuff going on with you,¡± I said. We hadn¡¯t exactly gone over any of the craziness that had been my conversation with him, and although I knew Angie knew I had it on my mind, she seemed unable to access any of it no matter how often it passed through my head. ¡°Hey how yah got there doesn¡¯t matter as long as you can maintain your spot,¡± he said. ¡°True,¡± I said and thought about it for a second. ¡°Actually, speaking of that. Is there a Pretty Pink Warthog on the list still? She was up there last night and I met her in the courtyard before the update on The First got announced.¡± ¡°Hmmm yeah, looks like she¡¯s number six,¡± He said quickly, ¡°Wait, what update on The First?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah I guess I hadn¡¯t mentioned that yet¡­ Angie didn¡¯t you fill him in?¡± I asked and she huffed. ¡°Nooooope. That is not on the list of topics I was instructed to update him on,¡± she said and I rolled my eyes as I walked up the street. The cops had barely been paying attention to me as they hauled out the Vipers in cuffs and I hadn¡¯t cared to linger, so I aimed myself back toward the apartment and casually started to jog away. ¡°Also as I¡¯ve told you before, generally speaking unless you specifically ask, I won¡¯t just offer information up.¡± ¡°Okay, well I¡¯m asking, what happened with The First? He hasn¡¯t been on the news lately which isn¡¯t exactly abnormal but I figure if he had been taken down that would be plastered everywhere, right?¡± ¡°I mean, your guess is as good as mine. I had just finished getting registered when I noticed a crowd gathering around the giant marble statue of the guy. His status had been updated to say ¡®Unknown¡¯ when the system updated and said he had abandoned all of his territory claims. Am I crazy or is it weird that no one was freaking out about it there?¡± ¡°First of all, I¡¯m gonna need you to go right to wherever this statue is and let me see it literally as soon as possible,¡± Jon laughed for a moment before he settled and I heard the crunching of chips over the internal voice chat he was using. ¡°It might be a little weird but I think I can understand why they weren¡¯t freaking out. Objectively speaking at least.¡± ¡°Yeah? Want to explain?¡± I asked. Although I didn¡¯t really like the attention it was giving me, Jon had pointed out on my way over here that it was better if I got used to it early for when I did have some way to move faster. I had been using the anonymity of taking off my gear to move around the city, and the logic of it made sense. But because of that, I couldn''t easily get into and out of fights if they did happen nearby and besides the need for me to get used to attention, I also had to be more prepared to react to danger on a more immediate basis. Plus, though my neighborhood made it easier, there wasn''t always going to be an alley big enough or private enough that I could use to activate my gear. I slowed to a stop by a gathering crowd on a street corner and did my best to feel like I didn''t stand out. ¡°Well, think about it. First the status just said Unknown instead of Dead. From what I¡¯ve been reading, the ¡®unknown¡¯ status just means that there could be any sort of obfuscation that''s happening. That could mean a number of things and while yeah, him dropping the territories sucks, that really only matters to the game right?¡± ¡°Yeah I suppose,¡± I shrugged, putting on a smile and waving at a small kid who suddenly pulled at the bottom of my jacket. He looked up at me with awe as I stood waiting with the crowd, but before I could say anything the light changed and the boy''s mother hurried him along. ¡°And then you have to consider the more obvious answer.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a more obvious answer than that?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Oh much more,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°I mean no offense but like, what would literally any of you guys do against someone who could take him down?¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± Angie practically yelled and I had to stop myself from physically cringing. ¡°You could have the All-Seeing Eye on your side and you still wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°Ooo-¡± ¡°No that is a terrible name too,¡± I said, shutting Jon down before he could even get started. ¡°Eh you¡¯re right, god you move really slow, we need to figure out a way to get you around quicker,¡± he sighed. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be at least five or six ways I could think of that we could probably achieve some form of flight for you with your powerset, though it¡¯d probably take some practice and the right skill book. I really need to take some time to look into exactly how those things work¡­ Even then, super speed seems less likely and your range isn¡¯t really long enough for anything more than maybe short range teleportation. That has its uses of course but probably not as a mode of getting around. Though I guess you could hopscotch teleport¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, you know what, Compendium might be the best bet. You know way too much about all of this,¡± I said, as I approached the corner to 49th and turned up toward our apartment. ¡°Yeah I know I suggested it, but it¡¯s a real mouthful of a word. A good name should be like, two syllables at most. Loophole is good in that regard,¡± he said. ¡°Oh how about-¡± "Crime Alert! A Plain Ol¡¯ Robbery. Not to interrupt this very important conversation. But some of those big mean bikers are robbing that poor man¡¯s hotdog cart! That¡¯s¡­ incredibly unambitious. You should go and beat them up for setting their sights so low. Reward: You will receive a D:Tier loot box and a Small Reputation Boost if you stop the men from robbing that cart. This crime has a 10 minute time limit.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Oh that¡¯s cool, random events,¡± Jon said. ¡°Can you see them? The map is saying they are up a block and a half on the other side of the street.¡± ¡°They show up on your map!?¡± I started to jog, leaving the crowd behind. Sure enough, I could see a few bikes blocking the street barely a hundred yards away. ¡°Yeah, it kinda sucks that you don¡¯t have one built in just yet but eh, beggars can¡¯t be choosers,¡± he said. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s the plan just gonna go in and drop them with the weight? It¡¯s a pretty reliable starter.¡± ¡°If it ain¡¯t broke don¡¯t fix it, right?¡± I said. One of the bikers seemed to notice me jogging up as I entered the street and patted a Brute on the shoulder. The large man turned to me with an unsettling smile. ¡°Well well, if it ain¡¯t the bitchy little thorn in the boss¡¯s side,¡± the brute snarled. He walked away from the ¡°And here the bet was that we were gonna have to turn over at least a dozen of these marks before you¡¯d show your face. Lucky us, eh?¡± ¡°Now, now, fellas, is that really how we¡¯re gonna start things?¡± I asked as I came to a stop with the men just barely within my zone. I stopped and activated my Area Sense. Though I could make out three men total, I had already learned my lesson about not checking everything I could. Nothing stood out to me as odd, my area touching the cars on the edges of the streets as well as the liquid moving under my feet in the sewers. ¡°How about you guys just do us all a favor and get on the ground. You¡¯ll really be saving us a lot of trouble and then no one has to get hurt.¡± There were civilians gathering in the distance already, and though the alert was going to be easy to finish, I felt lucky that there was a decent crowd just to stack a few additional Phase Points with the Crowdpleaser gain. ¡°Nah, we¡¯re just gonna-¡± Without moving a muscle, I activated Weighted Clothes and all three men dropped to the pavement. The weight outright crushed the two grunts to the ground, first dropping them to 75% before the lingering effect quickly ticked them down until they sported matching KO debuffs. As for the Brute; he had collapsed into a position that had reminded me of Gio, with his palms barely holding up his body. Unlike Gio though, he had taken over half of his health in damage from the initial attack and I felt a smile creep over my face. I stepped forward, deactivating Area Sense as I sauntered as casually as I could toward the man. ¡°Why is it that none of you ever listen when I tell you to get on the ground?¡± ¡°Oo oo I know this one!¡± ¡°Not now, Angie.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s not menacing enough I think, though the dramatics and quips are a nice touch,¡± Jon added. ¡°Not now, J- err¡­ pick a name already so I can tell you to shut up too.¡± ¡°B- B- B- Bitch a- a- ass h- hero¡­¡± the Brute spat at my feet when I was in range and I skipped to the side before delivering a swift kick to his wrist. He collapsed to the ground and took another chunk of damage. Out of curiosity I highlighted the Brute and discovered he was only level 4 and I felt something gnaw at me as I looked around again. ¡°Wait, the manhole,¡± Jon said as my vision swept over the road and I looked back toward it. Sure enough, the metal cover to the sewer was being lifted up by a single large hand. ¡°Crime Alert Updated! The Plain Ol¡¯ Robbery crime alert has been canceled. Rewards will no longer be granted.¡± ¡°Crime Alert! AMBUSH! Snake In The Sewers! Now look, I don¡¯t know why you weren¡¯t suspicious about a crime called a ¡®Plain Ol¡¯ Robbery¡¯ so you not being prepared for this is really on both of you. I don¡¯t know if I could have spelled this one out for you two any more clearly. And yes, I¡¯m counting you at fault for this too Mr. Blue Eyes. An old¡­ acquaintance has tracked you down, don¡¯t let him make a snack out of you. This Alert has upgraded from Bronze level to Silver level. Reward: The reward for this alert is Variable depending on how you deal with the threat.¡± The manhole was tossed to the side, embedding itself firmly into a car parked along the side of the road as the crowd suddenly screamed in fear. The alarm from the car began to blare and echo against the buildings. From the sewer, the hand was joined by a second that grabbed the edges of the street. The snake man pulled itself up and onto the main street, his large body still draping down into the sewer as he flexed and stretched his body in the sun. I had only seen two of them so far, I could have placed this one without even highlighting him, though I still did, just to confirm. ¡°Sal the Snake. Level 6 (Elite) Biker Lieutenant.¡± He began to stalk toward me and I felt like I had to act in a split second. I looked back toward the Brute, still struggling on the ground and delivered a kick straight for his head as hard as I could. It was enough and it KOed him, allowing me to turn my attention to my lone remaining opponent. ¡°Sal! Old buddy! I thought we¡¯d never see each other again,¡± I called out, stretching my arms out and walking toward him with a smile. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Stalling¡­ I just used the main power I¡¯ve been using to slow the snake guys down so far and now I¡¯m not exactly sure how I¡¯m supposed to beat this dude,¡± I replied. To my credit, Sal halted and looked at me with momentary confusion. ¡°You did prep the gun¡¯s for exactly this situation, right? Seems like the easiest solution,¡± he offered before Sal slammed his tail against the pavement and left a noticeable crack in the asphalt. ¡°Niccccce try. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t remember your little ssssssstunt back at the yards,¡± Sal hissed, flexing his hands and extending his claws as he started toward me once more. ¡°Who me? That was all the other guy¡¯s fault, I barely did a thing.¡± ¡°You ssssssstole my children¡¯s-¡± ¡°Wait, those snakes were your children? That¡¯s¡­ You know what, nevermind, I don¡¯t want to know,¡± I said, slowly inching back toward the center of the street. The crowd wasn¡¯t bothering to disperse and I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be worried that they weren¡¯t or flattered that they trusted me to take care of this. ¡°Go on, you were saying.¡± ¡°Give me the venom!¡± He shouted and lunged toward me. I activated Mirror Image and dove to the side, rolling out of the way and watching Sal as he crashed through the afterimage left behind by my ability. He hit the ground with a noticeable THUD that cracked the asphalt, but he barely took a sliver of damage. Jon was exactly right, there was one thing I had on me that could do the trick and I immediately reached for one of the guns in my B.E.L.T., stopping myself only as a realization hit me. There were dozens of civilians in the area and I couldn¡¯t risk a bullet ricocheting off of Sal as it had with Gio. While we hadn¡¯t necessarily tried to shoot Sal back at the train yard, it stood to reason that he¡¯d have a similar resistance to being hit. I certainly could try the same trick with Mute Button, but he had barely flinched at the alarm as he exited the sewer, so that wasn¡¯t a guarantee to slow him down either. Whether I liked it or not, I still didn¡¯t have another way to get the venom into his bloodstream and one of the guns felt like it would be my best bet. I still had six seconds left of my invisibility and I rushed toward Sal as he pushed himself back up until he could stretch and look around, eagerly trying to find where I had run off to. It was risky getting up close, I knew that, but there was an advantage to him not being able to see me. I just had to hope it would work. I pulled a venom soaked gun from my B.E.L.T. just as I stopped next to Sal. There was only a bit over a second left on my invisibility when I pointed the gun directly at his side, the muzzle only an inch from his skin. I briefly held my breath as I reached for my Super Luck and hoped it would do the trick. ¡°New Ability! Defy The Odds! Luck is a funny thing isn¡¯t it? Like, whenever they say something is resistant to something, it¡¯s almost always saying ¡°99% effective against X!¡± Well what about that 1%? What about that 1 in a million¡­ hehe¡­ shot. This is a Passive ability. Gain a 0.5% chance for every point of luck you have minus the enemy¡¯s total luck for your (and only your) attacks to bypass any resistances they have. This chance is tripled if you are Hidden from the enemy.¡± Without hesitating, I replaced Misfire on my hotbar and pulled the trigger. Sal let out a scream of pain as the bullet penetrated his side and his health chunked down by 10%. He gained a modified version of the Weakened debuff as his head swiveled, his eyes catching mine just as I started to back up. I fired the gun twice more and while he still dropped a similar amount of health with each hit, the debuff above his head didn¡¯t change. As I pulled the gun back into my B.E.L.T., I scanned the debuff, just to see why it looked different. ¡°Weakened (75%). This Augment has begun to adapt. Effectiveness of this weakness has been reduced. All stats are now lowered by 56.25% for 1 minute. Elite status and defenses have been nullified for the duration of this debuff.¡± ¡°There yah go!¡± Jon whooped in my head. ¡°Follow it up, get back in close and hit him hard, just¡­ you know¡­ don¡¯t get hit.¡± ¡°Ah yes, don¡¯t get hit, sage advice,¡± I said and darted back in, activating Float Like a Butterfly as I dodged under a weak attempt at a grab from Sal. ¡°Also no. Sage is also a terrible name for you.¡± Before Jon could respond, I activated Sting Like A Bee and aimed right for his wounds. I struck three times in rapid succession and quickly brought his health down to just about 25% and he was clearly feeling the damage as he swayed like he was being charmed by music. ¡°You know, I get that you¡¯re pretty tough and all that, but did yah ever think maybe don¡¯t go after the guy who knows your weakness?¡± I said, feeling like I was able to show off just a bit. The crowd was yelling cheers of encouragement and I noticed I had actually received a buff that I hadn¡¯t noticed. With Sal seemingly stunned, albeit briefly, I highlighted the debuff. ¡°Home Team! A crowd of more than 25 Sentient NPCs from a territory you have claimed are cheering you on during a fight! You feel inspired and invigorated. Increase all damage you deal by 25%!¡± Depending on how long I had had that buff, it certainly helped to explain just how I had taken Sal¡¯s health down so quickly. Though this should have been a struggle, the knowledge of his weakness alone made it far less threatening than it was. Sal even seemed to realize this as he looked around, his eyes filled with rage as the crowd cheered me on. ¡°You think that will sssssssave you forever,¡± He hissed as he looked back at me with a dangerous looking smile. ¡°You heroessssss have a weaknesssss of your own you know.¡± ¡°What¡¯s-¡± I started before I saw Sal lean back. His fangs started to drip with venom before his body snapped forward and a thick glob of green goo was launched in my direction. His sluggishness was obvious and I barely even had to move to dodge the attack. I was just about to follow up, maybe even make a joke about him being a bad shot when I heard a scream of panic behind me. I turned and found an older man screaming in pain as his arm began to blister and turn red, the fabric of his shirt dissolving like it had been hit by acid the moment the venom hit it. He fell back against a wall, holding his arm up as several other civilians scrambled to back away. ¡°Shit!¡± I said, briefly looking back just as Sal disappeared back into the sewer. While I could certainly chase him down, I never even considered it as I pulled multiple vials of antivenom and an Enhanced Health Injector from my B.E.L.T., I rushed right for the hurt civilian. and dropped to my knees by the panicking man. I wasn¡¯t even sure if this was going to work but it wasn¡¯t going to stop me from trying either. The man looked at me with hopeful eyes as I dumped one of the vials of antivenom right onto his arm. The blistering and sizzling from the venom immediately stopped and before the man could say a thing, I pushed the injector against his arm and activated it. Unlike the instantaneous recovery I experienced when using the device, it seemed to take an unnervingly long time to activate. I was almost positive it wasn¡¯t going to do a thing when the redness and blistering all rapidly began to heal, changing until the man¡¯s skin was left pink but recovered. ¡°Th- th- thank you!¡± The man said, his eyes watering as he stared up at me. In that moment, even though I hadn¡¯t put Sal down for the count, the crowd burst into cheers just as Angie chirped up. ¡°Crime Alert Completed!¡± Chapter 28 While I probably hadn¡¯t ended up with the best rewards due to letting Sal get away, I still ended up walking away from the encounter with three Phase Point gains, 1500 credits, and a few new fans. Crowdpleaser had given me a total of 570 points from the crowd that had gathered. Apparently even the folks watching from their windows on the street counted and I sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to complain. Thanks to the fact that the alert had actually been an Ambush, I also got the static 200 points from the Survivor point gain. The last one I had gained wasn¡¯t one I had actually been anticipating Axio considering point worthy, yet all the same, I received it. ¡°Phase Points Gained! The People¡¯s Champion (NEW!). During an encounter, you chose to put the needs of a hurt Sentient NPC first. By lending a hand instead of chasing down your¡­ I guess we can call him your nemesis for now, you''ve earned the respect of those you protect¡­ and maybe a little karma boost too. This gain has a static value. Total Value: 250 points. This gain comes with a Medium Reputation Boost.¡± With those points applied I had brought my point total all the way up to 6,680. Interestingly enough, the Reputation boost moved the bar along the side of my screen nearly to the top. When I probed Angie for information, she informed me that in order to claim higher tiered territories, such as the Community Center that Hell¡¯s Kitchen was a part of, I would need to reach at least the next tier of reputation, ¡°Local Hero.¡± By the time I had made it back to the apartment, Angie had gone through the entire explanation of the leveling process for Jon. As I entered the apartment, I found him practically perched in the Command Room still, having more or less set up a nest like he was a bird with snacks and drinks in various spots on the desk around him. The console seemed to actively adapt to his layout needs, spawning cupholders and smaller tiered tables to place his various things. Not wanting to stand around, I pulled one of the chairs from the kitchen table outside the door and plopped down before opening the leveling window. At Jon¡¯s insistence, I increased my Luck by 2 and then put a point into each my Dexterity and my Intelligence. He was still going through the back-end information he had access to on exactly what the different skills did, and it led to him muttering about how he¡¯d probably be up all night just puzzling it out with an odd amount of excitement in his tone. Of the eight base stats, he was relatively certain that I was going to want to focus on, obviously, Luck, but then Strength, Dexterity, and, of all things, Intelligence. The first three were for my general build, between my abilities and my hand-to-hand skills, they needed to take priority. But Intelligence was important for a much different, but equally necessary reason. While the knowledge books I had gained so far had been without requirements, Jon learned that Angie had conveniently left out the fact that any book not received through a loot box would have an Intelligence requirement before I could utilize it. A good chunk of books could be used with an average Intelligence level score. But more advanced topics, or even skill books that raised a knowledge stat higher than level 3, could require intelligence scores that were well out of my current reach. I wasn¡¯t even 100% sure why I would need to care about raising a knowledge stat higher than 3, but Angie insisted that other powersets benefited from higher knowledge levels, so theoretically mine would too. She also insisted that unlike how the Strength stat would actually increase my Strength, increasing my Intelligence wouldn¡¯t suddenly turn me into a rocket scientist. There was a book for that, but having a high Intelligence score wasn¡¯t automatically equivalent to just becoming a genius. It just meant the capacity for that intelligence was there. When it came to the other standard stats, Toughness, Ingenuity and apparently even Style could have some benefits for my skill set, but they were also stats that I could get on my gear over time to make up for any lack of points dropped into them through leveling. Charisma as it turned out, was the oddball. Jon refused to drop the fact that I had wasted an entire stat point just to raise my Charisma up to 10¡­ all just to ¡°use¡± the bathroom, and I was hard-pressed to find a good argument for what I had done so we just chose to move past it. As far as he could tell, there wasn¡¯t anything about the stat that would help me in combat but it was impossible to ignore the fact that a higher Charisma was naturally just more helpful for a hero that innately needed to be in the spotlight. We decided to approach it as we needed to, maybe dropping the occasional stat point into it and hoping we could gather some gains on it through my equipment. That was another thing that Jon was insistent we needed to focus on, and it was something that was also impossible to argue with. So far I had only utilized 4 of 12 gear slots, and filling out the rest could easily help boost the lesser stats without having to utilize any of my leveling points. But that said, Angie pointed out buying that gear would cost a veritable fortune. Someone like the NPC Greg in the Neutral Shopping Segment wouldn¡¯t stock anything quite that powerful, but there were team-based resale shops that I could visit and hope to get lucky. With only so many credits however, we were going to have to be economical about just where we spent them, and we agreed that while finding more equipment was on the list of things to do, increasing my available abilities was the more important thing to focus on. With all that discussion out of the way, we finally came to the last thing I needed to take care of with my level 6 increase, the ability augmentation. ¡°I really hope you get more time for this eventually cause this is kinda ridiculous,¡± Like with everything else, Jon had found this part of the process endlessly fascinating and he had already prepared a screen that he believed would give him at least some sort of information as I went through the augmentation process. ¡°It really is too bad you humans think so slow without any assistance,¡± Angie mused, but we chose to ignore her as the Ability Augmentation window opened. Since I was unable to augment either of my main offensive skills for a few more levels, something I was realizing I really needed to adjust, I was left deciding between the utility abilities I had developed so far. Jon had been informed of the limited timeframe I was going to have the moment the process started, but he had pointed out that that didn¡¯t exactly stop us from discussing just what ability I should be planning to augment before I ever got to the point where I was under threat of a timer. By the time I had even gotten back into the apartment, we had already discussed the possible, or at least theoretical (based on my currently augmented abilities), outcomes for each of my remaining skills and settled on Mirror Image. ¡°Mirror Image: Level 1 Activated Ability. Immediately turn invisible and leave an afterimage in your place. Invisibility lasts for 10 seconds, afterimage lasts for 30 seconds. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown.¡± ¡°First Modification Option! Time Extension. It never hurts to have a little more time to work with! Receive a 2x time extension for the duration of both your invisibility and the afterimage. This effect will scale with any time increases that come from leveling this ability.¡± ¡°Second Modification Option! Copycat. Your afterimage will now mirror your movements while you are invisible. This effect will continue even after you reappear. This modification comes with no additional effect.¡± ¡°Third Modification Option! Recording. After activating this ability, your afterimage will follow a preset path. At its current level, you may have up to 2 preset paths to select from.¡± ¡°25 seconds, what are you thinking?¡± I quickly called over to Jon as soon as Angie had finished reading off the options. ¡°I¡¯m leaning toward Copycat, feels like it could be a good way to basically get behind people to hit them by surprise.¡± ¡°That could absolutely be a good tactic but it¡¯s also something that people who are observant enough might pick up on after you use it once or twice. I know you get to augment each skill a few times, but you have to look at the long term viability of the modification on top of the initial usefulness of it,¡± He replied as quickly as he could. ¡°I¡¯d say grab the Recording augmentation. If you take the Time Extension at face value, then that implies leveling Mirror Image will naturally result in increases to the abilities duration, so you don¡¯t necessarily need to have it get doubled right here and now, you just have to use it often enough to level it higher. Now, Recording might have a similar issue to Copycat where clever enough people might be able to prepare for it, but that¡¯s only if you don¡¯t get more preset paths or can¡¯t change them as you choose too.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I was still a bit amazed by just how quick on the uptake he was with all of this, but when I did get past the sentimental reason for wanting Jon to know about my powers, his obsession really was a gold mine. As the timer ticked down, I took his advice and selected the Recording option. My Mirror Image ability was now sporting an alert icon. When I checked it, it read: ¡°Please create Preset Paths.¡± I waved it away for now and planned to take care of it when I was back outside and in my gear. ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get those loot boxes,¡± Jon said as he clapped his hands together. As we had discussed, I pulled the A+:Tier out first and opened it. While it didn¡¯t end up coming with a Scroll of Level Up as my first A+ had, it did come with an item that made me hesitate to have Jon reroll. While it would have been nice to get the extra Phase Points from the Powerleveler gain, plus getting the extra level, I couldn¡¯t actually complain about the item I had received either. ¡°The Mask of Strategic Fortitude! Equippable Mask. Color: Orange. Although this mask looks quite similar to your current one with just a bit more flair, trust me when I tell you you¡¯re gonna want to put it on. Putting aside the fact that it¡¯s a perfect match for that jacket of yours, this mask comes with a whopping +10 to Toughness and +3 to Style. If that wasn¡¯t enough, on top of the obvious Who¡¯s That feature, it also comes with Mental Fortress.¡± ¡°Mental Fortress! This feature provides the wearer a 25% resistance to all psychic and mental based attacks. Additionally, you are immune to Mind Control effects while the associated gear is equipped.¡± ¡°There¡¯s Augments with mind control abilities? That¡¯s¡­ that''s really creepy.¡± ¡°Well for obvious reasons most of them are Vill- er¡­ Miscreants. I know there was Pocket Watch back in the day that tried to control The First, but that ended really, really badly for him,¡± Jon said as he turned out from his chair and got to his feet. Once it was clear I wasn¡¯t going to reroll the mask he seemed to decide he needed to stretch, though that didn¡¯t stop him from rambling on. ¡°There¡¯s also Puppet Master over in Italy, I know Mount V was fighting him for over a year in Sicily, though last I heard he went into hiding. And the last ones I can think of are the twins, Lure and Charm in California. Though I guess what those last two are is less Mind Control and more seduction? Maybe that¡¯s the same thing¡­ Hmmm, I wonder if there¡¯s a database I can look into that would give me info on all these guys.¡± ¡°Sheesh, you¡¯re gonna put me out of a job Mr. Blue Eyes,¡± Angie said with a whistle. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s honestly useless information for you as a human, but it¡¯s really cute that you know it all.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot more people that have psychic based abilities though, so that resistance is going to be where that mask really goes the distance for you¡­ well that and that +10 to Toughness, I already added it to your primary equipment loadout,¡± he said before falling back into his chair and throwing his hands behind his head with a cocky smirk. ¡°Wait, you can do that?¡± I asked, opening the window myself and seeing that my loadout had indeed changed. ¡°Well it¡¯s part of the job after all,¡± He laughed. ¡°You know, that and being your codex of Augment knowledge.¡± There was a sudden beat of silence. Honestly it might have been short enough that I was imagining it but I think at that moment everyone in the room had the same idea. Jon¡¯s eyes sparked with excitement as he turned hard in his chair. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± he nearly shouted. When he turned back around, my HUD highlighted him and I let it pull up. ¡°Codex. Level 6 Guy In The Chair.¡± ¡°Ahhhh, I¡¯ve got a name that¡¯s so fucking cool! I know I don¡¯t get to go and do all the heroics and shit but like, gah, this is legit the next best fucking thing. I know you¡¯ve got the weight of all the game shit on your shoulders and all that, but like, we got this. I¡¯m gonna make sure Loophole is known worldwide¡± he said, practically buzzing in his chair. ¡°I¡¯d settle for just surviving, but I mean¡­ I am in it at this point¡­ And now that you know, well I guess shooting to be the best hero I can might be pretty cool,¡± I said, thinking about it for just a minute. I had never necessarily dreamed about being an Augment, but the last day, even with its insanity, had felt more fulfilling than cleaning office buildings. I felt a bit dirty feeling appreciative toward Axio for allowing Jon to be clued in this way, especially given that we were essentially guinea pigs, but the best I could do at this point was roll with the punches. ¡°Ok,¡± Jon said, clapping his hands together once again, ¡°Now get those other boxes opened really quick and let¡¯s see if I should reroll anything. I still really want you to give me a tour of Sanctuary Square. Even if I can¡¯t go there myself.¡± I decided to tackle the last three of the boxes I had in descending order. Within the A:Tier was 500 credits and a Spotter¡¯s Tank. I materialized the tank top into my hands and highlighted it. ¡°Spotter¡¯s Tank! Equippable Undershirt. Color: Black. Ok bro, it¡¯s the bottom of the ninth, and we have three other bad sport¡¯s metaphors before we can do a touchdown, smack each other on the asses and win the big game. Now that we¡¯ve got that out of the way, let¡¯s get down to what you actually want to know. This tank top is light and breathable, providing +1 to Dexterity and +1 to Luck. It also comes with the Team Player - Minor Leagues feature.¡± ¡°Team Player - Minor Leagues! This feature provides a 3% increase in damage when you¡¯re in either a Temporary Team-Up or a Squad. This bonus is increased by an additional 3% for each additional person in your team, up to a maximum of 15%.¡± The B:Tier interestingly enough came with an item simply labeled The Common Ground: Level 2 Access Pass and 10 Enhanced Stamina Injectors. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard to guess what the Access Pass was for, so I pocketed it to deal with later when I was actually in Sanctuary Square. That left me with only the F:Tier left to open. The box went through it''s usual fanfare of randomization, but when all was said and done, I only received another How the Hell Does This Fool Anyone mask. ¡°That one, reroll that one, I might get another loot box here tonight but I could always hold them off until tomorrow if we wanted the reroll chance,¡± I said and Jon obliged. ¡°New Achievement! Not Good Enough! You rerolled an item you received from a loot box. Well what¡¯d¡¯ya know, I guess beggars CAN be choosers. This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: Since this is the first time you¡¯ve done this, the item rerolled will have an above average chance to be an uncommon rarity or higher item.¡± The item began to spin and click rapidly through options for about five seconds before it slowed and stopped. ¡°Pocket Dojo! This is an Uncommon Safe House Expansion. Offers access to a personal training room. This room provides a realistic but safe training area where you can practice your moves. Ability durations and cooldowns are removed while within this space but no usage experience is gained. Any abilities on cooldown will continue to countdown while you are in this space but they will still be usable within the Dojo.¡± ¡°Have I mentioned how cool literally all of this is?¡± Jon piped up as we examined the expansion. ¡°Once or twice,¡± Angie giggled. ¡°All of it? Even the part where I have an axe hanging over my head if I don¡¯t get to a set amount of points¡­ or that I could die if I happen to fight the wrong dude. Or hell, I could die if Axio just up and decides he¡¯s done toying with me. Just saying, I got a whoooole lotta ways I could end up dead here,¡± I said. ¡°Well okay, no not all of it if you¡¯re gonna bring that up,¡± Jon said and I could practically hear him roll his eyes. ¡°But like besides, even with that stuff, think about how much better you have it now than all the regular people.¡± ¡°Because of the super powers?¡± I looked over at him with a raised brow just as he swiveled back toward me. ¡°YES BECAUSE OF THE FUCKING SUPER POWERS!¡± he practically yelled before making a show of settling down. ¡°Sorry, yes, obviously that. But think about it, we already lived in a world where you could die at any time, especially with the Augments running about.¡± ¡°I did get crushed by a dumpster,¡± I offered. ¡°Oh for Axio¡¯s sake will you let it go?!¡± Angie cried. ¡°Exactly, had you not gotten lucky and been Augmented, you would have died right there and I¡¯d be attending your funeral with my parents. Instead you have fucking super powers. And that¡¯s not even mentioning all of the benefits coming with the game aspect of it all. Obviously it has its downsides but like, they¡¯re only downsides if you don¡¯t take advantage of all the upsides. Yeah the point thing sucks, but you¡¯re making great progress on it and honestly I think based on what you¡¯ve already gained, I bet we could cover the remaining points by the end of tomorrow.¡± Jon explained with a shrug before he turned back to the monitors. ¡°Once we can stop worrying about all of that, I¡¯m sure as hell gonna take advantage of the upsides I get. Kinda sucks I can¡¯t share all this info with the subs, but Angie already told me that was a major no no.¡± ¡°He¡¯s cute when he listens,¡± Angie said and let out what I could only describe as a playful growl. ¡°I mean, talk about the whole package, smart as a whip and a cutie with a booty.¡± ¡°Angie, I appreciate the compliments, I do, but can you tone it down by like, 50%?¡± Jon asked and she giggled. ¡°Hmmm, how about 30% and the ones you don¡¯t hear I just say to Loophole?¡± ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°Wait, don¡¯t I get a say in this?¡± ¡°No,¡± They said in unison and within a moment we were all laughing. Chapter 29

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified. Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Unclaimed (Blocked by Timer)

¡°Oh my actual god this is so fucking cool!¡± Jon groaned. ¡°Why can¡¯t I go there?! I have a name, I can put on a mask damnit.¡± ¡°Sorry Codex, the sub-space portals used to teleport to Sanctuary Square require the full Augmentation process to pass through. It¡¯s a safety precaution to keep non-Augments from entering the area and by all technicalities, you are still included in that group,¡± Angie explained. I was walking down the stairs into the courtyard, trying to look around slowly to let Jon see as much as possible. I could hear him making random comments about the various things in the square as I came to the bottom of the staircase and turned toward the nearest display board. I hadn¡¯t actually taken the time to look at the leaderboard again and while both my achievement and Jon had confirmed that I was on it, I still really wanted to see it for myself. Tenth Wave Guardians: 403 Miscreants: 529 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 10 Thunder God - Miscreant - 9270 Points 2. Freakenstein - Level 7 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 7010 Points 3. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 6 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 6945 Points 4. Swansong - Level 6 Healing Voice - Guardian- 6690 Points 5. Loophole - Level 6 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 6680 Points 6. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 6 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 6150 Points 7. Quizmaster - Level 6 Gameshow Host - Miscreant - 6055 Points 8. Sound Off - Level 6 Midnight DJ - Miscreant - 5925 Points 9. Pigeon - Level 6 Pigeon - Miscreant - 5900 Points 10. Heavy Ink - Level 6 Comic Book Artist - Guardian - 5885 Points I stared at the list for a minute, feeling just a bit of pride in the fact that I had risen so quickly, even sitting as technically the second highest Guardian on the list. Tempest¡¯s continued rise was impressive, but she had noticeably slowed her rabid pace down. Whether that was because she had actually finally been met with resistance or if she had just decided to take a nap after a 24 hour rampage really was the bigger question. I turned away and headed deeper into the courtyard, turning my attention to the large statues that represented the best of both sides. ¡°Duuuuuude!¡± Jon groaned again. ¡°Sheesh keep it in your pants man,¡± I laughed as I lingered on the statues of the Guardians. ¡°The First, Calypso, Brightburst, Mandragos and¡­. Huh¡­ who¡¯s that last guy?¡± Jon said, listing them off one by one without the need for me to even highlight them. He apparently didn¡¯t even need me to highlight anything either, as he was able to do it separately from his end without it affecting my own display. But even with that ability, I could tell just by his cadence that wasn¡¯t what he had just done. ¡°Who the hell is TechWarden?¡± ¡°You really think that I¡¯d know the answer if you didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Fair point, Angie?¡± ¡°I do not have data on earlier waves currently available to me, remember, other than a direct line to Axio for clarification of specifics, you have more or less the same data access as I do,¡± she explained. ¡°Sure, but I still have a human speed brain, you can access it instantaneously if you do have access to it. But oh well, guess I¡¯ll just have to do some research on him later then,¡± Jon said and I could hear an obvious level of excitement in his tone. ¡°Okay what about the Miscreants? Who are their top dogs?¡± I looked over to the opposite side of the courtyard and waited. ¡°Jumpstart, Frightmare, Twin Revolver, Thirst Trap, and Firefist. Pretty much who you¡¯d expect just going on the worst of the worst. I¡¯m surprised it leaves them up like that if they are dead though, Jumpstart has been dead for at least five years now,¡± Jon mused. I took a closer look at the last of the statues for the first time and realized that sure enough, it was a perfect likeness of the man The First had been fighting carved into an almost magma-like red and black marble. ¡°The statues represent the highest scores achieved and exist mostly like a record. Even if the person dies or, for some reason, gives up all of their territory claims, they would still have had the record up until that point. The only thing that would update is how their name and stats are listed when you pull up their description box,¡± Angie said. ¡°That makes sense,¡± Jon said. ¡°Do you want to check out the bookstore first so that I can get a catalog of what they have? Or were you really determined to check out the second floor of the bar?¡± While I certainly could have gone back out into town and tried to close down another den or two, I had been going since I had gotten up and the idea of taking an hour or two to just collect my thoughts was more than appealing. I had the BOGO coupon for the bookstore and Jon really liked the idea of exploring the shop. If I got lucky I could be adding some new techniques to my skill set by the time Axio was making his daily announcement. With the Training Dojo in place, Jon pointed out that I could theoretically spend another hour or two in there just making abilities and testing their effectiveness. But all of that was predicated on finding a few new books that I could work into my powerset. Between the NPCs I had looted, the various missions and dens I had tackled, not to mention the loot boxes, I was sitting on just over 12,000 credits. Assuming the books didn¡¯t drain my entire wallet, we had also agreed it would be a good idea to check the ViewFinder for a potential interface upgrade. If, and really only if, I had some credits left over after that would I check out the Guardian resale shop. Angie was relatively sure that I probably wouldn¡¯t find anything useful for my level there though, which was why the interface upgrade really took priority. According to Angie, after some probing from Jon, my hotbar would naturally extend the higher level I got, with the expansions coming on randomized odd levels. While I might not be able to cheat the system and gain more available spots on my hotbar ahead of time, I could purchase a Hotbar Revolver. The revolver was a relatively simple interface upgrade, offering the ability to have multiple hotbar loadouts, with the total available bars dependent on the size that you purchased. Sure, I couldn¡¯t swap them in the middle of an encounter, but with enough abilities, I could have different loadouts for different situations. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the shopping and stuff first,¡± I said after I took a bit of time to consider it. ¡°I¡¯m gonna want to take a little bit of time in The Common Ground so I want to have everything else done so that you¡¯re not sitting around bored.¡± ¡°And I gotta say I appreciate that,¡± Jon laughed as I turned my attention back toward the Guardian side of the Square. ¡°Wait, go back to the Guardian statues really quick,¡± he said hurriedly and I obliged. ¡°Hmmm¡­ did you notice that all of the top Guardians are listed as Unknown?¡± I had already known The First¡¯s status had changed, so I focused on the second statue in the line and let the description pull up. ¡°Calypso. Level 193 Drowned Siren. Territories: 133* Status: Unk-... Alive. *Note: This Guardian no longer has claims to this many territories.¡± ¡°Wait, she just changed to Alive¡­ that was weird,¡± Jon muttered. I had just started to look away from the statues when he gasped. ¡°Dude it¡¯s her!¡± ¡°Huh, where?¡± I asked, looking around. He had to have seen her somewhere within my field of view, so I didn¡¯t have to move my head too far. It wouldn¡¯t have mattered if I did, as she would have stood out damn near anywhere and when that anywhere was just outside of an admittedly ordinary looking bar, it was all the more noticeable. Her costume looked like flowing scales, with long stretches of aquamarine and purple patterned fabric going from the underside of her arms, all the way down along her legs and outward like a mermaid¡¯s tail behind her. Her dark, ebony skin was a stark contrast to the opalescent aquamarine mask that covered the upper half of her face. Her silvery, dreadlocked hair was pulled back in a large bun that appeared to be tied and held with a fishing net of all things. ¡°She¡¯s one of The First¡¯s team members, right? Or she was at least?¡± I asked as the woman was immediately swarmed by at least a dozen other Augments. A bright smile split across her face as she shook hands, though oddly she never seemed to speak. Not necessarily wanting to join the gathering crowd of onlookers, I turned my attention back toward the Guardian¡¯s shopping segment. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Yeah, The Paragons of Justice. Cheesy as hell name but the whole team had been working together since the early days. Calypso has always sort of been his second-in-command, and she¡¯s powerful as hell in her own right. She uses songs to enchant people and manipulate water at some crazy strong levels,¡± Jon explained as if he was reading her stats off a baseball card. ¡°Why did her status just change? Didn¡¯t you mention there¡¯s something weird about that place?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like a sorta null zone for A.I.s. I guess it also blanks out statuses when folks are in it too,¡± I said with a shrug, climbing up the stairs and past a few others wandering back down into the courtyard. They gave me friendly smiles but I didn¡¯t stop to talk as I looked around for the Beacon of Knowledge bookstore. ¡°Oh yeah¡­ will you still be like, around to talk with me when he goes in there Angie? Will I still be able to talk to him?¡± Jon asked and I could have sworn I heard a bag of chips in the background. ¡°Honestly? No clue! We¡¯re gonna have to see when he gets over there cause this is literally a first,¡± Angie said. The bookstore was nestled into one of the corners of the Guardian¡¯s segment, looking as if it had been plucked out of the cheesiest fairy tale on the planet. I pushed through the large oak door and entered a room with more natural light than made sense for the amount of windows it had. The ceiling stretched high, with bookshelves towering up, reaching for the rafters at least two dozen feet above my head. Sitting on a tall but comfortable looking chair behind the register was a petite older woman, a cardigan tied up around her neck and a small pair of spectacles sliding down her nose as she read from a thick magazine titled The Heroic Hotty Digest: XXXL Edition. ¡°Now that¡¯s my kinda lady!¡± Angied whooped and I rolled my eyes as I highlighted her. ¡°Betty White. Owner of the Beacon of Knowledge. This is a non-sentient NPC. Named after one hell of an acting icon, Betty is a collector of all things books. Though her job does tend to have her focusing on the, ugh, intellectual pursuits, if you ask her nicely, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d give you access to the¡­ um¡­ restricted section. Come on¡­ ask her nicely, I want to see what she¡¯s hiding.¡± ¡°Feel free to look around dear, tomes are locked from use until you¡¯ve purchased them so don¡¯t try to be cute,¡± she said without looking up from her reading material. ¡°Ask her if it¡¯s done in sections or if there¡¯s a catalog or something?¡± Jon asked and I passed on the question. ¡°You can find a guide here at the end of the desk if you¡¯re looking for something specific. My stock is filled largely with books other Guardians have collected and sold to me over time. With that said, I¡¯m more than happy to purchase any tomes you acquire as they are very hard to come by. We do have a stock of rare items that are available on a rotating basis, and I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t do layaways. If there¡¯s a book you want, I suggest you purchase it. Oh, and no haggling with me dear, prices are as listed,¡± she said. She finally looked up from her book, looking over her glasses at me with a kind smile, ¡°Now if you need anything, well, get it yourself, I can¡¯t climb those damn ladders any more and my last three assistants all quit.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± I said and moved down toward the end of the counter where a cheap looking school binder sat. I opened it up and it revealed a few sheets of laminated pages. Though it was printed, the front page of the binder acted as a filtering system, complete with categories and tags. ¡°Oh this makes it much easier,¡± I said as I started clicking through the various filters. While I knew I would circle back to a few of the tags, I decided to first set a filter to hide any book that required an intelligence higher than 7. Once it was applied, it lowered the total available books from 200 all the way down to 20. ¡°Wait, set that to 11,¡± Jon said before I could turn the page to see the list of available books. ¡°Sure, it might be a good idea to grab books that you could use right now and just get by, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to check. That¡¯s just two levels of dedicating half your stat points to Intelligence after all and if it lets you expand your ability set, it¡¯s not necessarily a terrible idea.¡± I didn¡¯t argue and adjusted the filter. That raised the available listings up to 50 and that seemed as good a place to start as any. Turning the page revealed a tabled listing of the available books and with a quick click, the list rearranged itself in order based on value. ¡°Sheesh what the hell are some of these names? Explosions on a Budget: A DIY Guide to Chaos, Shifting Sands and Soaked Waves, Gravity Wells and Why They¡¯re Dangerous?! Where the hell are we even supposed to start?¡± I muttered. The most expensive book on the list, Quantum Shenanigans for Beginners required an Intelligence of 10 but even I could guess just how useful having knowledge of Quantum Mechanics would be for my powerset. The problem was, it also happened to cost 5500 credits. ¡°These things might as well be college textbooks with how damn expensive they are,¡± Jon complained as I continued to look down the list. ¡°You never went to college,¡± I said, looking toward the cheaper books on the list. ¡°Yeah because the textbooks would have bankrupted my entire family,¡± he shot back. ¡°Besides, Uncle Chris taught me everything I needed to know, I¡¯m doing fine so far. Now, back to what matters here. There¡¯s a lot of good stuff on this list and I think we can really take it a lot of ways, hell we could easily have you drain your wallet and buy 3 or 4 of theses books right off the bat but you wouldn''t have the bar space to do anything with them. I think, for now at least, Gravity Wells and Why They¡¯re Dangerous and Refractions of Reality are going to be your best bet. We¡¯ll need to get you leveled up once for Refractions, but I think we could get you a movement skill with Gravity Wells, not to mention the potential for more battlefield control.¡± ¡°Yeah, that one I get, but Refractions of Reality? It¡¯s just Optical Refraction Level 5. Are we sure it¡¯s actually useful for me to have a higher knowledge than Level 3 instead of something that could give me more combat capabilities?¡± I asked as I eyed the two books. They both cost 1500 credits, so with the BOGO coupon they wouldn¡¯t drain my wallet too hard. I knew we also wanted to check the Viewfinder for the Revolver, but even still, I couldn¡¯t help but eye the Quantum Shenanigans book. It was one of the few books on the list that had the ¡°Rotating¡± column of the listing marked and I felt an almost impulsive desire to grab it as well. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, as far as I can tell there hasn¡¯t been another player with Local Area Manipulation in their powerset, though that''s based on my own research more than any database. I¡¯ve been doing some reading up here ever since you guys mentioned these books and your powerset seems to have a unique interaction with them,¡± Jon said. ¡°Oh? I was sorta wondering about that. Like, even to me it seemed weird that there would be an entire class of item solely designed to expand my powerset,¡± I said as I made note of a few other books on the list I could potentially come back for. ¡°Yeah, so other players can use them just to expand their knowledge within their own powerset, which would then in turn make their core abilities stronger. Let¡¯s say an Earth Manipulator picked up Shifting Sands and Soaked Waves, he¡¯d end up getting minor boosts to the damage his earth based abilities created thanks to the Erosion knowledge in the book, even if Tidal knowledge portion would be useless to him. On the other hand, you expand the types of core abilities you can make with each book you add,¡± he explained. ¡°Huh¡­ I mean I guess that makes as much sense as anything. But what¡¯s that have to do with me wasting the coupon on grabbing a book that will increase a knowledge stat I already have?¡± ¡°Cause we need to know if it does something sooner or later. The initial knowledge lets you create skills, maybe the higher level knowledge will also boost your various abilities¡¯ power. I think if there was ever a time to gamble on it, it¡¯s with a BOGO coupon,¡± Jon explained and seemed to take a moment before continuing, though that might have just been just to stop for a snack and I heard some crunching as he continued to talk. ¡°Look, the rest of these books have their uses, don¡¯t get me wrong I have at least two dozen ideas for An Atomic Guide to Thermodynamics, but those books also cost twice as much and I know we want to make sure you can still hit up the ViewFinder too. If we¡¯re talking bang for your buck, we can start by immediately adding some gravity skills into your repertoire, then circle back and expand on that as we go. Your power is so insanely versatile, we need to start you with a solid foundation. So far, you¡¯ve been focusing on area control skills, like the weight and sound controls, as well as manipulating what they see. Honestly, that¡¯s not a terrible way to focus your skill at all. I think it¡¯s better for you if you try to expand on that rather than suddenly switch directions and try to become an elemental mastermind or any of the other directions you could go. Yes, it¡¯s a bit of redundancy, but there¡¯s a whole lot you can do with power over gravity and I think we can take the evening to test that in the Training Dojo. That¡¯s not saying those other skills couldn¡¯t be useful to grab down the line, I just think we could easily fall into a pitfall of expanding too wide too quickly. And if having a higher knowledge skill does turn out to be pointless, well at least we know sooner rather than later, right?¡± ¡°For the record, I did say having a higher skill would be beneficial did I not?¡± Angie added once Jon finally stopped to take a breath. ¡°Yeah, but you also said you weren¡¯t quite clear how it was beneficial, just that it was,¡± Jon pointed out. ¡°Okay, pick those up and head over to the ViewFinder, you gotta have enough credits to get a Revolver.¡± I was about to just listen to him and hunt down the two books when my eyes fell on the Quantum Shenanigans book again. I looked over to the shop''s owner hopefully and figured it was better to ask the question now rather than get upset the "rotating" book... well... rotated. ¡°Mrs. White?¡± ¡°Just Betty dear,¡± the elderly lady responded with a smile as she closed her magazine and looked at me expectantly. ¡°How often do these rotating books¡­ well¡­ rotate?¡± I asked. ¡°Every Saturday we swap stocks with Whispers and Tomes to provide our respective customers access to the rare selections we provide. When one of the books from the stock is purchased, a new random one is added,¡± Betty explained. ¡°Um¡­. What day is it?¡± ¡°Dude really¡­¡± ¡°I got crushed by a dumpster a little over a week ago, cut me some slack.¡± ¡°You still need to let that go!¡± Angie groaned. ¡°And by the way, it¡¯s Friday, October 25th.¡± ¡°And when did this one enter the stock? Has it rotated back and forth a few times?¡± I asked Betty, pointing down at the page. She stood up and walked over, a bit slower than I might have liked, and looked down at the book. ¡°Ah yes... That one is actually our newest selection, as of this morning in fact,¡± she said, adjusting her glasses as she looked back up at me. ¡°Okay, thank you,¡± I said to Betty and looked back at the listings. "Well I guess I''ll just have to see if I can swing back this way before the rotation," I added. "Do be quick, those rare books never hang around for too long," She said with another smile before turning and heading back for her chair. I focused back on the listing sheet and found that I couldn¡¯t just select the options I wanted and make them appear. Instead the books had locations listed next to them, directing me to several different shelves within the space. I navigated the packed shelves until I found Gravity Wells and Why They¡¯re Dangerous and Refractions of Reality. Even though I knew I was getting ahead of myself, I also made a point of finding just where Quantum Shenanigans for Beginners was before bringing the two books up to the register and purchasing them. With that done and those in my B.E.L.T, I navigated to the opposite corner of the strip mall and back into the ViewFinder. Vanessa¡¯s holographic avatar appeared as soon as I approached a wall and, after explaining to her what I was looking for, she directed me right to it. The Revolver actually came in fifteen sizes, with the smallest offering only a single extra loadout for 1,500 credits and the largest offering ten thousand alternates. I couldn''t imagine what anyone would do with that many alternate loadouts but I was certainly not going to be affording its 10 million credit price tag anytime soon, so it was better to just pretend like it didn''t exist. At least for now. The Revolvers included a benefit most of the other interface upgrades didn¡¯t. When you purchased one tier, the value of that tier was taken off of the next tier up, essentially giving you a reason to come back and upgrade as you go. Jon pointed out that with 10,500 credits remaining, I could easily afford to jump right up to a Giant Revolver which would offer me 6 alternate loadouts for 9,000 credits. But even with the new skill books I couldn¡¯t imagine, at least at this level, filling out that many hotbars and even Jon had to admit it would be a huge waste of money to jump up that high that quickly, especially knowing I could come back and upgrade as I went. I looked through the options but eventually decided that the Starter Revolver with it''s single additional loadout for 1500 credits was going to be the best bet. In hindsight we both realized that we could have been more economical in how we had approached my shopping, as we easily could have afforded an extra book had we used the BOGO coupon differently, but there wasn''t much we could do about it now. Even with that realization, I still had plenty of credits left over. While Jon and I did briefly discuss having me check out the equipment, I found myself heading right back for the bookstore. Jon had said he had a couple dozen ability ideas for An Atomic Guide to Thermodynamics and I had a hard time not wanting to buy a book with Quantum Shenanigans in the title. Chapter 30 There was a little bit over an hour until Axio¡¯s daily announcement when I entered The Common Ground. The moment I crossed the threshold into the bar, I lost contact with both Jon and Angie. We had expected something like this of course, and had decided to use the opportunity to test it. After waiting a minute, I stepped back outside and discovered that even though I couldn¡¯t contact them, Angie and Jon were able to communicate without issue. None of us were quite sure what that meant, but I apologized in advance to Jon, just in case Angie¡­ well, was herself, and dipped back into the bar. The place was more alive than I expected it to be for the hour, with well over half the tables in the building packed. I had only just been grabbing a drink from the bar, using the second of my three free drink coupons when I heard a familiar voice. ¡°Well, well, well, haven¡¯t you been busier than a bee in spring?¡± Silver Wrangler¡¯s hand landed on my shoulder as the monotone system voice spoke up. ¡°New Friend Request: Silver Wrangler. Accept: Yes/No.¡± I selected Yes and my friend¡¯s list opened up, splitting in half to list the Guardians and Miscreants separately. Granted I only had a single name on each list, but they were still listed separately. ¡°Well, Axio did give us a pretty short time limit, kind of had to get moving,¡± I explained with a shrug and turned back to look into the crowd. ¡°Yeah I heard about that. We literally had a month for our first phase and we only had to have total control over our starting territory,¡± Silver said. ¡°Lucky you,¡± I said as I noticed a familiar pink outfit and blonde ponytail. I waved out toward the crowd in general and Silver nodded, pushing off the bar as he followed. There was the steady din of conversation and music as we moved through the building, yet somehow it never became overwhelming, nor did we have to yell to hear each other. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t know, y¡¯all are already leveling a whole lot faster than most of us. I think it took most of my wave at least a week to even get to level 6. There¡¯s this sort of sudden uptick in folks taking the whole thing more seriously now, none of us wanna get bypassed by any of y¡¯all newbies, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°Heh, yeah I guess I can see that,¡± I said as I thought about it for a minute. Although logically I knew that Silver and I were on different sides, I hadn¡¯t exactly gotten a friendly reaction from Hydramental and he was supposed to be on the same team as me. Silver, even as a Miscreant, seemed nice enough, and Pinky had been right when she had said the older waves could be a good source of information. ¡±Mind if I ask you a question about all this early stuff? At least clearing out my neighborhood.¡± ¡°Depends on the question, I ain¡¯t gonna get another F:Tier for helping yah now,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°But go on, shoot.¡± ¡°Ok, well I¡¯m working my way toward clearing out the people contesting my neighborhood and I feel like I¡¯m getting into the flow of it but I was wondering something here,¡± I said as we weaved around someone wearing serving attire carrying an absurdly large tray filled with buffalo wings to a table with a large man with half of his full face mask pulled up. ¡°I know it¡¯s different for you Miscreants, but was there like¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ a storyline toward whoever you had to drive out?¡± ¡°Hmmm, a storyline? Like one of them ol¡¯ school Dukes of Hazzard episodes? Was someone trying to steal my sister or somethin¡¯?¡± he asked with a raised brow as he looked over toward me. ¡°I mean, nothing so convoluted or anything, at least I think¡­ I keep running into these bikers and they¡¯ve talked about their boss a handful of times. I don¡¯t know, it sort of feels like they are trying to set me up for some sort of big climatic battle or something like that,¡± I explained as we finally closed in on Pinky¡¯s table. ¡°The last few times I¡¯ve cleared one of their bases or dealt with them they¡¯ve been all like ¡®Snakebite will rule this city, blah blah blah,¡¯ it¡¯s all super melodramatic.¡± Pinky noticed us walking up and turned from a goggled-man sitting next to her to give me a wide smile. ¡°Huh, I feel like I¡¯ve heard that name before,¡± Silver said as we stepped up to their table. ¡°Loophole you asshole! How¡¯d you go and pass me so damn quickly!?¡± Pinky shouted, jumping from her chair and looking at me with fake outrage. ¡°I think the better question is how¡¯d you let me? Axio did say the top 10 would get an S:Tier, that and the threat of a swift death can really put a pep in your step,¡± I said with a laugh as I took one of the open seats at the raised table. ¡°Well still, you don¡¯t have to be a show off,¡± she pretended to pout before breaking, taking her seat again and nodding over to the man still sitting at the table, slowly sipping a beer. ¡°This is my new friend.¡± ¡°If you use the term loosely,¡± the man said as he set his beer down. I looked over, intent on highlighting him to get his information when Pinky waved to grab my attention. ¡°Wait, wait, before you scan him, get this,¡± She said, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. ¡°I¡¯m trying to convince him that we should team up. Like, our territories are pretty close to each other but he doesn¡¯t like the squad name I¡¯m suggesting even though it¡¯s like, arguably perfect.¡± ¡°It¡¯s childish. And besides, it¡¯s literally just bad versions of our names!¡± The man huffed, his voice coming out in a bit of a nasally whine. Pinky pulled her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest, allowing me to finally highlight the man. ¡°BrainCraft. Level 5 Cogsmith Commander.¡± ¡°Come ooooooon, we can literally be Pinky and the Brain! Think about it!¡± She said and smacked the table loud enough to draw attention from a group a few tables away. There was a single beat of silence before Silver let out a bark of a laugh, leaving the goggled-man to groan. ¡°My name is BrainCraft, and besides I don¡¯t see much overlap between our powers which is something you have to consider before jumping into things all willy-nilly. A good team has cohesion and complements each other,¡± BrainCraft said as he adjusted his goggles. ¡°For being so smart, that¡¯s a really dumb take on team structure. Take it from a cheerleader, you gotta start with a good base to build a pyramid. You bring the brains, I bring the brawn, that¡¯s as good a base as any,¡± Pinky shot back quickly before she looked at me. ¡°Oh, I got a pass up to the second floor! We looked it up after I got the item, but according to Franky it has a random chance of appearing in any loot box awarded from a ¡°non-standard combat¡± achievement. It doesn¡¯t actually seem all that difficult to get.¡± ¡°Ah that makes sense. I just pulled mine from a loot box that came from an achievement for taking down some enemies on a floor below me without seeing them,¡± I said thoughtfully. ¡°Yeah, I broke right through a pillar and trapped a ¡®roided up methhead beneath the second floor of a building when I got mine,¡± Pinky replied and grabbed the mixed drink she had sitting in front of her. ¡°I beat a man with another man,¡± Silver offered and we all turned to face the Miscreant who had so far remained standing. ¡°Hey don¡¯t go giving me that look, my boots got insulted. And trust me, you don¡¯t go and insult a man¡¯s boots in Texas, it''s the Golden Rule,¡± he said. Pinky made a show of looking around the table and down at Silver¡¯s feet, even stopping and taking a long sip from her drink before she spoke up. ¡°I mean-¡± ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t go pickin¡¯ a fight with me pretty lady,¡± Silver said, holding a finger up to stop her. ¡°Wait,¡± BrainCraft said, finally speaking back up as he set his beer down. ¡°Which man insulted your boots?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Silver asked with a raised brow. ¡°You said you beat a man with another man. Which man insulted your boots? The one who was beaten, or the one used as a weapon?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Yes,¡± Silver replied, holding a straight face as he stared right at BrainCraft for a few seconds longer than he needed to. As BrainCraft just started to squirm, Silver¡¯s stare broke and he let out another guffaw of a laugh before looking over to Pinky. ¡°Oh, and speakin¡¯ of fights, be careful heading up to the second floor. The place has a ¡°first time you show up, you gotta fight,¡± rule. It¡¯s not really that big of a problem since you can¡¯t actually die up there, there¡¯s protections in place and all that, but trust me when I tell yah you¡¯re gonna feel every bit of whatever you get hit with while fighting in that place.¡± Pinky noticeably lit up as she looked from Silver and then back to me. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone up yet! We can go together and I bet we¡¯d have to fight each other!¡± She said with a wide smile that left me uneasy. ¡°Umm¡­ weren¡¯t you trying to convince BrainCraft to form a squad with you?¡± I said, trying to deflect. I did want to see the second floor, but I still wanted to absorb my new skill books and work on new abilities as well. ¡°It¡¯s not happening,¡± he offered. I hadn¡¯t noticed it before but he had a drawing pad opened on the table in front of him and there was a sketch for a device that looked like some sort of robot¡­ or a deep fryer, I really couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°Come on, pleeeeeeease,¡± Pinky said, clasping her hands together. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t hurt you that bad, and I¡¯d be willing to bet you¡¯d get at least some form of achievement from it, right?¡± she asked, looking over toward Silver for confirmation. ¡°Sanctioned Fighter,¡± He offered. ¡°It¡¯s a C:Tier box but those still have some decently useful items. Though the winner of that initial fight also gets 5000 credits. Oh! Also, people who watch are allowed to bet on the outcomes, your odds change the more fights you participate in and they do regular tournaments. Up until Axio went and did the whole game change up, the fight club mighta been the one place that really got some of the older waves fighting to grow stronger.¡± Pinky¡¯s eyes went wide, looking from Silver and then back to me even more eagerly. ¡°Come ooooooooon! It¡¯s just one little tussle! I know you guys don¡¯t like to be beat up by girls but like, we have super powers, you can¡¯t be that stuck in pointless gender norms,¡± She said pleadingly. ¡°What makes you so sure you¡¯d beat me? You don¡¯t even know what I can do,¡± I said defensively. ¡°I mean, I know what I can do,¡± Pinky said, smiling as her tusks pierced outward. ¡°We can settle this right now.¡± Her energy was almost overwhelming as she stared me down, waiting for a response until I finally let out a dry laugh. ¡°Okay fine, let¡¯s go fight I guess,¡± I said. ¡°At least I¡¯ll finally get to know what a Berserking Boar does.¡± Pinky practically squealed as she pumped her fists ahead of her. ¡°Y¡¯know, if I was gonna head up there to watch, I¡¯d be betting on her,¡± Silver said and dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder. ¡°She seems to have a bit more pep in her step than you do, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have friends in your own wave?¡± I asked and he let out a boisterous laugh that drew the attention of more than a few tables. ¡°I do. Actually, I''m gonna go meet up with them and rob a bank, you kids have fun now,¡± he said. He turned and purposefully tipped his hat toward Pinky with a wink before wandering off. ¡°Um¡­ shouldn¡¯t we stop him from doing that? We are Guardians¡­¡± BrainCraft offered and Pinky laughed before she slapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Feel free to try, that guy is level 49, I think he¡¯d put any of us down without breaking a sweat,¡± she said before she cracked her knuckles. ¡°Now come on, let''s goooooo.¡± ¡°Yes, on that subject. I, on the other hand, have things to-¡± ¡°Oh hush Brain, you haven¡¯t gotten a pass up there yet, you don¡¯t have to make an excuse to leave,¡± Pinky said and rolled her eyes before she nodded her head my way, ¡°Though you should add Loophole, it never hurts to have a wider network.¡± BrainCraft looked over to me and shrugged before sending me a friend¡¯s request that was quickly followed by a message. ¡°Hey are you two messaging or something, I don¡¯t like that look that you¡¯re giving each other,¡± Pinky said and crossed her arms again. ¡°Now let¡¯s gooooooo Loophole, I¡¯m all worked up and ready to throw down. It¡¯s pretty much exactly how I felt before every game night back in High School¡­ although that had far less superpowers involved.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be willing to argue most things would be more interesting with superpowers involved,¡± I said with a shrug as I pushed myself to my feet. I emptied the Captain and Coke before setting the glass down. In a flash of light, it and all the other empty glasses on the table vanished into thin air. After BrainCraft took off toward one of the exits, Pinky and I headed for the center of the bar where the large spiral staircase circled around the head of a destroyed giant robot. The thing was battered and dented from whatever battle it had been involved in. Jon probably knew exactly what fight this thing had been in and I was instantly sorry he¡¯d have to settle for just my piss poor description of it. About halfway up the staircase, as if we were passing through an invisible barrier, the lower floor of The Common Ground disappeared and we were suddenly on a regular staircase. We took the last few steps up into a space that was easily twice as big as the floor below it and filled with augments in gear of every color of the rainbow. Monitors were scattered around the room and 3 large platforms were positioned at the direct center, each with a stadium-like display overhead. One of the platforms was completely empty and the crowd was largely ignoring it as they gathered around the other two. I looked over to Pinky and noticed she had a large red debuff over her head that read New Combatant. I looked at my own list and saw that I was now sporting a similar one and highlighted it. ¡°New Combatant. Debuff. Please proceed to Registration. All new visitors must visit the registration desk to register to fight within 2 minutes of arrival on this floor. Failure to do so or leaving before you have completed this will have you permanently barred from this location.¡± ¡°Over there,¡± Pinky said, pointing to a bar running along the wall with several screens setup behind it. We hurried over to it and a squirrely looking man hurried over to meet us. ¡°Well lookie here, we got us a couple of new faces!¡± The man said with a smile, patting the bar as he looked us up and down. He had a name tag pinned to his shirt that read ¡°Schmitt - Manager.¡± Two scanners similar to the device at the ViewFinder appeared and Schmitt reached out, grabbing one of our hands each and pulling them over each of the devices before we could react. ¡°Let¡¯s get you two all signed up for a bout, we got a ring open right now and since there¡¯s two of you we can throw you right on in. Before that, let¡¯s get all the basics out of the way. Fights all go until one Augment¡¯s health bar has been zeroed out or you have actively captured and held your opponent in place for no less than 5 minutes. All powers are allowed and encouraged and the system''s safety precautions will immediately pull you out and apply a Full Restore Syringe in the event that your health bar is going to be zeroed. If you lose your bout, you will not be eligible to fight again for 12 hours, however if you win feel free to sign up in the random draw bouts or challenge anyone you might wish to challenge. Now, since this is your first fight you will both be fighting with even odds. We don¡¯t allow you to place bets on your own fights and if we find out you¡¯re using a proxy to bet on your own fight, you¡¯ll be immediately banned from the facilities with extreeeeeme prejudice. Any questions?¡± Even knowing that Schmitt was likely an NPC and this was just something he was programmed to rattle off, the efficiency of which he said it was impressive. I couldn¡¯t necessarily think of anything to ask, but Pinky was quick on the uptake. ¡°Is it a static fighting location or does it change? And if it does change, are we allowed to pick it?¡± She asked and Schmitt nodded appreciatively at the question. ¡°Good question. For your first bout, you will be placed in a standard fighting cell. This arena will be a 30 by 30 foot room and is designed to allow viewers the optimal chance to see your abilities in action. This also will allow myself and the Oddsmaker to properly adjust your odds for future betting rounds. Any fights in the random draws are given random battlefields while you¡¯re allowed to choose the battlefield for a challenged match. Tournaments will often list the battlefields in advance, but you¡¯re a long way off from qualifying for those,¡± Schmitt explained before tapping at the bar. ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get you two up onto platform three, your arena is now ready.¡± Pinky slapped me on the shoulder as we turned back toward the main room. My vision automatically highlighted the empty platform and an arrow appeared above it with a 30 second countdown timer appearing over it. The crowd seemed to knowingly part as we walked over and I could hear cat calls and jeers as we made our way down. I hopped up onto the platform, Pinky following close behind me as I looked at the relatively small ring. A small crowd was making their way toward our ring as I took a look over at one of the nearby ones with cheering spectators surrounding it. Although the rings had arena-like monitors positioned above them, I couldn¡¯t actually see any fighters actually in the rings. I was just starting to make out what looked like the tops of skyscrapers in the second ring when a flash of light practically blinded me. As the light faded, I found myself in a large, concrete box with light filling it from nowhere. I looked around briefly until I found Pinky standing on the opposite end of the cell damn near mimicking me. I was just about to ask if we were supposed to just start when a slamming sound echoed in the room. Hanging in the air above us, words seemed to drop, hanging into the air as an overly enthusiastic voice yelled out. ¡°Weeeeeeeeee¡¯ve got a fight between fresh meat here for you all this afternoon. Coming in at an even Level 6 a piece. It¡¯s¡­ Loophole veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeersus Pretty Pink Warthog¡­ FIGHT!¡± Chapter 31 Our names actually appeared in bold designs floating in the air above us as the announcer started the match and vanished just as quickly. Pinky didn¡¯t waste any time and I heard the crack of cement as a sudden streak of pink came rushing toward me. I dodged to the side, barely getting out of the way as she went slamming into the wall directly behind where I had been standing. The wall noticeably buckled outwards as debris crumbled down to the ground. I scrambled around to the other side of the cell before she could recover without taking my eyes off of the wall. ¡°Damn, and here I thought I could catch you off guard,¡± she said, her words coming out slightly garbled past her tusks after she freed them from the wall and knocked away the debris at her feet. There was a dusting of dirt covering her pink clothing and she had taken damage equal to about 5% of her health bar but that wasn¡¯t what had my attention. Her tusks shone with a silvery gleam and they were far larger than I had seen them so far, curving up around her face and the back out in vicious looking points. She bounced on her toes as she turned her head back and forth as if she was cracking her neck. ¡°Hell of a charge you got there,¡± I said and mentally prepared to hit Weighted Clothes. But as I went to click on it, I froze and reconsidered. Though the attack felt like it could be an instant win under a lot of circumstances. That only applied if I didn¡¯t consider the bigger picture. "Oh, don''t worry, I''m just getting warmed up," She replied with a dangerous looking smile. Maybe I was slow on the uptake with certain things related to the game, I knew that much about myself. But I had seen enough to know that looks could be deceiving when it came to Strength. While I wasn¡¯t necessarily the smartest when it came to the stat system, I hadn¡¯t forgotten that crucial detail, hell it was something I was even taking advantage of. There was an innately casual way in which she was shrugging off the debris around her that was proof enough of her increased strength and I would have to be foolish to waste the ability without taking more time to examine the situation. I took my mental finger off the trigger and rushed her instead, closing the gap between us in a few seconds. There was a brief look of surprise that passed through her eyes before a surprisingly eager smile spread over her face. I didn¡¯t think much of it, assuming the thrill of the fight was already reaching her and went to activate Sting Like A Bee. It turned out that wasn¡¯t necessary as I noticed it had two enhanced attacks from my earlier fight with Sal still left to use. I threw a wide swing for her side that she effortlessly caught with a quickly raised forearm. I expected the attack to at least do something, but I found myself momentarily confused as my strike landed. At this point I was more than familiar with the recoil and feeling of impact when I struck someone, but this was different. It was almost as if my fist had been halted completely the moment it came in contact with her. She gave me an over exaggerated wink before throwing a punch of her own. It hit me center of mass with a force that sent me forcefully stumbling backwards. Pinky wasted no time following up, charging forward in a sudden burst of speed that surprised me. I instinctively activated Float Like A Butterfly and dodged just as she swung her head as if to gore me with her large tusks. It was close and the glinting sight of silver barely grazed my arm as I tried to find an opening. As she planted her feet I jabbed at her side before she could move to attack me once more, sending Sting Like A Bee on cooldown. Once again, my attack seemed to halt upon impact and I found myself gritting my teeth in frustration. I quickly skipped backwards before she could react, putting some distance between us as I tried to put together what I had seen so far. I really wished I had either Jon or even Angie in my head to bounce ideas off of, but wishful thinking would only get me so far. ¡°You¡¯re quick, I¡¯ll give you that, even if you aren¡¯t showing me what the heck you can even do yet,¡± she practically giggled as she started to bounce back and forth on her feet like she was a prize fighter in a boxing ring. Each time one of her feet landed, little sparks of pink bounced off the pavement, growing with each repetition. ¡°How bout we turn up the speed and see if you can still keep up.¡± Before I could respond, she bounced into a low runner¡¯s pose and pushed off. The concrete buckled under the force of her start and she came hurtling toward me. I activated Mirror Image and rushed to the side. For once I felt like I was getting the hang of things as I had thought ahead, having taken a quick minute in my new Training Dojo before coming to the Square to set up the two preset paths for the skill. My afterimage skipped backwards toward the wall and she chased it down, right up until the image disappeared into the wall and she collided directly with it. Instead of simply having her tusks stuck into the wall, she had actually left a rather large crater in it. Pieces of cement practically buried her and it took more than a few seconds for her to push back out from the debris. Her health had also dropped by nearly 10% from the impact and I started to formulate a plan. From what I could put together, the bouncing she had been doing was building up energy that she released when she did her charge. It didn¡¯t quite explain why my strikes were being halted without any actual resistance but the fact that she took damage from striking the wall seemed to indicate she couldn¡¯t keep herself from getting hurt when she was in motion. ¡°So you¡¯re some sort of illusionist then? Is that it?¡± She said, starting to bounce on her toes again as she looked around the room. With my invisibility faded, she found me and stared me down as her tusks shrunk by nearly half. ¡°Well you can¡¯t hide from me forever.¡± I was just about to wonder what this meant when she launched her charge again. She was moving even faster this time, rushing in toward me like a homing rocket. This time as I went to dodge, she anticipated it, her body practically drifting as chased after me and threw a wide punch my way. I tried to dodge but was too slow and her attack hit me with enough force to send me tumbling over the ground as my health dipped below 50% almost painfully quickly. ¡°Okay¡­ that one hurt a bit,¡± I grunted as I scrambled back to my feet. I went to materialize a health injector when a, Healing Items Not Allowed, warning flashed across my vision. I was about to try and throw out some more banter to buy some time when she rushed in again, swinging her head as her tusks extended out further to strike me. I activated Fortune¡¯s Shield and the orange barrier materialized out of my jacket just as her tusk scraped across my chest. My jacket probably should have been torn, if that was even possible, but the barrier did its job and left it as a glancing blow. I still took damage of course, the jacket¡¯s ability only provided a 20% reduction after all, and the force of the attack tossed me backwards yet again as I skidded onto the ground. Before she could chase after me and keep me on my back foot, I finally relented and activated Weighted Clothes. I wasn¡¯t counting on it finishing her, but I hoped it would slow her down enough for me to figure something out. As I returned to my feet, I found her crouched onto the ground, holding herself up on her hands in a frustratingly familiar pose. It was pretty clear she had been preparing to charge again when my skill took effect. Like with my punches, the initial crushing weight did nothing to her health bar and a wide smile spread over her face as she stared at me. ¡°Oh this- This is good,¡± she said, barely even struggling to speak. I could tell the weight was holding her in place, but pink sparks were beginning to jump off both her back feet and her hands now that they were in contact with the ground. Her tusks began to grow larger as I backed up, running into the wall behind me. If the weight couldn¡¯t take her down, I wasn¡¯t even sure what if anything in my repertoire could do it. I wished I had already absorbed one of my new skill books, but even then I¡¯d have to be making up a skill on the fly with a questionable path to success. My hand rested against the wall behind me and something the manager, Schmitt, had said to me sprang back to mind. There was one, and only one way I could think of that might let me come out on top of this fight and I wished I hadn¡¯t already used my Mirror Image. It just relied on getting her to come at me as hard as she possibly could¡­ and a whole lotta luck. I only had about 10 seconds left on Weighted Clothes duration so I had to work fast and I figured the easiest way to do it would be to just go with an old fashioned taunt. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°So you¡¯re fast and got sharp tusks? I don¡¯t mean it as an insult or anything, but that¡¯s kinda a one note powerset, don¡¯tcha think?¡± I asked and her smile faltered ever so slightly. ¡°Or are you hiding a big reveal? That¡¯s the kinda thing you cheerleaders like to do right? Put on a big show?¡± ¡°Yeah, my set might be straightforward, but it does its job very, very well,¡± She said. Although I had only assumed she was handling the weight better than she actually was, her voice was coming through gritted teeth. The pink sparks grew the longer she stayed pinned and as the shine from the sparks began to become nearly too much to look at, her smile returned as even her eyes seemed to glow. ¡°I gotta say¡­ thanks for the charge up, and like, I¡¯m sorry for how much this is gonna hurt.¡± I closed my eyes and let my Area Sense activate just as the timer for my Weighted Clothes ticked over. There was a thunderous CRACK as she pushed off of the ground and I could hear the clattering of cement flying from the ground behind her and clattering around the cell. Time didn¡¯t slow, and it wasn¡¯t like when Angie read a description for me, but even still, with my eyes closed, I felt the moment she cut a path into my area. She was moving almost impossibly fast, but my eyes opened just as a streak of pink was about to crash into me. Whether thanks to skill, my super luck, or just plain old instinct, I dove out of the way at the last possible moment. I rolled over the ground and scrambled to my feet as Pinky crashed into the wall. I couldn¡¯t linger and had to immediately move to dodge out of the way of the debris that went scattering from the collision. As it all settled to the ground, I crept toward the cratered wall, hearing a string of what I had to assume were angered curses coming from deep within it. Once I was close enough, I activated my Area Sense again and probed inside of the debris filled crater. I could feel Pinky struggling under a pile of other intrusions within it and I tensed as I waited to see if she would emerge. After nothing happened for a few moments, I stepped closer and tried to look between the gaps in the debris. ¡°You, uh¡­ okay in there?¡± I called. I couldn¡¯t find anything within the debris to single her out to highlight, and unlike a fighting game there weren¡¯t any floating health bars for me to check either, but I had to wonder if this counted as her being Captured. There was another muffled sound of words and I went to open a chat window with her only to find that that function was also blocked. I let out a sigh and looked at the wall again. It wasn''t like I was about to start digging her out. After five minutes passed, there was a flash of light and I suddenly found myself standing atop the platform on the second floor once again. As Silver had promised, I received the Sanctioned Fighter achievement along with an additional 5000 Credits for winning. I walked over to Pinky who was sprawled out with a frustrated pout on her face and offered a hand. ¡°No hard feelings, right?¡± I asked, almost unsure. ¡°Cheap move,¡± She said, though she let out a sigh and took my offer of help. ¡°But no¡­ No hard feelings. I should have been more suspicious when you were pressed right up against the wall like that, just wasn¡¯t expecting you to be able to get out of the way¡­ Gotta think things through a bit more sometimes¡­¡± ¡°I mean, it was either get you stuck or just give up and lose, I don¡¯t really think I had another option,¡± I said and pulled. She hopped to her feet as her tusks disappeared back into her mouth and she dusted the dirt from her pink and white gear. ¡°That so?¡± She mused and shrugged. ¡°Well not that it matters. You trapped me in that debris like I did with the damn methhead¡­ I thought if I could move my head enough I could break free but I hit the damn wall too hard¡­ I had¡¯t¡¯ve been at least 6 feet deep in there¡­¡± We hopped off the platform and there were a few people who reached out to pat us on the back in congratulations. Though we didn¡¯t draw as big of a crowd as the other platforms had, or perhaps they had gotten bored waiting for the 5 minute capture timer to pass, it was still surprisingly more than I was expecting and the warm reception they offered us was oddly nice. ¡°You know, it¡¯s not my fault your weakness is apparently a wall,¡± I said and she lightly pushed me as we unconsciously wandered over toward the nearest other platform. ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever,¡± She said with an obvious roll of her eyes. ¡°You got to see me do most of my big tricks and I barely even got to see what you could do! Like, what the hell is your power!? You had the weird illusion thing that disappeared into the wall and then the weight thing was so cool. Like, I got juiced up on all that pressure, I wonder if we can get you over to California so that we could team up, I could hit people so hard with that sorta combo,¡± she rambled. ¡°That move was supposed to just take you down, it¡¯s actually one of my bigger moves right now,¡± I said. It might not have been entirely the truth, but it wasn¡¯t a lie either. ¡°Well it did basically the exact opposite. But now that I think about it, maybe we shouldn¡¯t reveal our secrets in a crowd of people. We can chat about that later,¡± she said with a wink as she pushed her way through the crowd. I followed behind and we managed to get up close enough that we could see the entirety of the second platform. Unlike the blank platform we had been on, this one was practically sunken in and looked to be a miniature city block, with skyscrapers and- I saw an explosion of lightning on one of the small streets and looked over to see a small lady turn into a burst of lightning, rushing down the miniature avenue. ¡°Is that-¡± I started and my vision highlighted the platform bringing up a slew of information on the battle. The monotone robotic voice, thankfully, only read out the fighters and a buff that each one of them sported that answered a lot of questions before I could even start asking them. ¡°Tempest¡¯s Wrath. Level 10 Thunder God.¡± ¡°Elastic Menace. Level 23 Rumbling Rubber.¡± ¡°Equalizer. Variable Buff/Debuff. For the duration of this match, this Augment¡¯s stats have been dynamically adjusted to bring each fighter to a similar power threshold. Base stats are adjusted to boost or cap to ensure a fair fight.¡± ¡°Come on Tempest! I got 50k riding on you!¡± ¡°Take down that rubbery asshole!¡± There were cheers and hollering coming from all around the ring as the flash of lightning barreled into a man that was stretching himself across the road. I focused on the area and it almost seemed as if the platform responded to my thoughts and my view of it zoomed in on the fight. ¡°This is so cool,¡± Pinky whispered as she watched the platform and I looked away from the fight to her. There was a glimmer in her eye as she focused on the platform that I often saw in Jon¡¯s eyes whenever he was on one of his rants about Augments. ¡°Do you think they saw just a small version of the cell for us? I want to fight in a city like that so bad, uggggh why do I have a 12 hour fight cooldown. Can we have a rematch tomorrow? Come on, please? I still gotta figure out what the hell your powerset is about.¡± ¡°You talk really fast, you know that right?¡± I said and she looked over and smacked me on the arm. ¡°What, I¡¯m just saying.... Look, I¡¯ll say maybe but no promises, this is cool and all but I¡¯m still figuring my set out. Why don¡¯t we wait until we are, I don¡¯t know, level 10? Then we¡¯ll each have had some time to break out and really come back hard.¡± Pinky visibly lit up at this and she was actively bouncing in excitement when a collective cheer roared around the platform. There was another flash of light before a man whose skin and clothes appeared visibly singed popped back into existence on his back atop the now flat stage. His health rapidly replenished as a girl with raven black hair, amber eyes and a deep scowl appeared looming over him. Several Augments in dark clothes hopped onto the platform and started patting the girl on her back, leaving her looking between them with a self-assured pride that could only exist in someone who had just kicked the shit out of someone. As she continued to look between her admirers, her eyes met mine and a deep sense of unease washed over me. Her eyes almost seemed to dance with electricity and although I hadn¡¯t meant to, I had enabled my Area Sense. There was a buzzing energy that radiated from where she was within my field and my stomach turned over again at the raw power that seemed to emanate. We only looked at each other for a moment before someone stepped between us and I turned from the platform, breaking off my sense. ¡°Whoa hey, where¡¯re you going?¡± Pinky asked as she saw me walking away. ¡°Don¡¯t you wanna probe the current reigning Queen of our Leaderboard for information?¡± ¡°Nah, that''s far too big of a crowd for me to deal with. And honestly she¡¯s giving me a weird vibe. Can¡¯t really explain it,¡± I said and then shrugged and tapped the side of my head. ¡°Power thing, yah know?¡± ¡°I definitely don¡¯t since I still haven¡¯t figured out that damn power of yours, but also thanks for the insight,¡± she laughed and then looked back at the crowd. ¡°I¡¯ll message you if I find out anything good.¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll catch yah later,¡± I said and extended a fist her way. She gave me a warm smile and bumped it with a fist of her own. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I got some extra credits to spend over at the resale shop, since I did just win a fight.¡± Chapter 32

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Unclaimed (Claims Blocked By Timer) Current Phase Points: 6680 End of Phase One: 03D:00H:00M:00S

While the resale shop was pretty cool to see, appearing much like Greg¡¯s Gears and Gadgets had with it''s long counter and wall display, there really wasn¡¯t much for me to buy. That wasn¡¯t to say the place had scarce pickings or anything like that. In fact, there were just so, so, so many weapons and various pieces of clothing hanging on the walls behind the counters. It just happened that there were unfortunately little options within my price range that were actually worth buying. The closest thing I saw was a Belt of the Thinker for 10,000 credits. I couldn¡¯t necessarily argue with the price since it did come with a +8 boost to Intelligence, +2 to Ingenuity and a perk called Quick Wit that would have allowed me to halve the remaining cooldown on a single ability every hour. Still, that didn¡¯t mean I felt bad about sinking my credits into books and the Revolver. If my fight with Pinky had proven anything to me, it was that I needed a lot more offensive options to take down harder to hurt enemies. I ended up leaving the resale shop without buying a thing and headed back through the portal home. I made it back to the apartment only a few minutes before Axio¡¯s daily announcement and Jon joined me on the couch curiously as the chime hit six. The living room TV flickered to life and Jon¡¯s eyes lit up with glee. He was just about to say something when the Infinite Ascension logo briefly flashed on the screen as images of Augments started to appear in tiles around it. It took until I appeared on the screen for me to realize that it was the current top ten. Our portraits hung like baseball cards as our powerset names and scores populated under them. Though I still felt a weird vibe just thinking about it, I briefly looked at Tempest¡¯s Wrath. Her amber eyes sat behind a plain black mask and a scowl rested firmly on her face, but that wasn¡¯t the portrait that kept my attention for long. ¡°Is that a fucking pigeon?¡± Jon asked before I could vocalize a similar question. While I had seen the name a few times on the list, I suppose I had mostly just glossed over it as some sort of weird joke that made sense in context. But as weird as it was, in the eighth window with 6070 points was a portrait of a common pigeon. ¡°Maybe¡­. It¡¯s a shapeshifter?¡± I offered, though even I wasn''t convinced. ¡°Into a pigeon?¡± Jon said and looked at me with a raised brow. ¡°I mean, I know a lot about Augments and I get that shapeshifters are common enough, but would they actually give somebody the option to just turn into a pigeon? Let alone be strong enough that somehow they are in the top 10?! Angie?¡± ¡°There are a good number of shapeshifting types, however I do not have a current list of all of them and neither will your current database in the Command Center, now hush, Axio¡¯s about to speak,¡± Angie said and a familiar bit of feedback pierced the air before a tap of a non-existent microphone stopped it. ¡°Goooooooood Evening Augments! What a wonderful first day we¡¯ve been having wouldn''t you all say? I know I for one have been having, at least for the most part, an absolute blast with all these new features. Now, we¡¯ve got a handful of quick things to get through and I don¡¯t want to hold you all up when you have all clearly been having so much fun! First things first let¡¯s get the unpleasant stuff out of the way. To the three of you that haven¡¯t finished your tutorials yet, yeah, that¡¯s gone on long enough. This is not a joke. This is not me being flippant, or silly, or anything of the like, and yes for the last time Augment #392, this is all real, how are you not getting this? You have exactly one hour to complete the tutorial before I decide to do something about it. I suggest you stop listening to my wonderful voice and get out there now to complete it. You won¡¯t get a final warning.¡± My gut turned as I thought about the conversation I had had with Axio. While he had called it ridiculous to ask if this was some sort of show, he hadn¡¯t necessarily denied that it was entertainment. It was impossible to listen to him make this announcement and not feel like he was having a sick sort of fun toying with the lot of us. Still, I couldn¡¯t necessarily ignore that he had seemed to refer to the fact that he was bound by some sort of rules though, so I found myself in a weird position where I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of him. ¡°Now, with 72 hours left on the clock, just over 10% of you have already covered more than half of the necessary points to complete this phase! I certainly hope you all aren¡¯t trying to rush across the finish line just to coast the last few days, remember those of you in the top 10 will receive a S:Tier loot box at the end of Phase One, so keep on pushing! I won¡¯t promise that the points will help you in Phase Two, but the extra experience and levels sure will. And if you don¡¯t think you can pass by one of those eager beavers, you can always just try to hunt them down and take them out of the game permanently. That would be fun to watch AND you¡¯d gain enough points to maybe wind up there yourself!¡± Axio let out a dry laugh and I felt myself tense up. Even if he was bound by some sort of rules making him do this, it definitely seemed like he was enjoying himself. Besides, I still wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about being used as a guinea pig even if I did appreciate the fact that Jon was clued into everything and could help me in more ways than just thinking about ways to use my powers. No, I knew it would be irresponsible to assume that Axio didn¡¯t have his own agenda, even if I couldn''t even begin to figure out what it was. ¡°The bigger problem we¡¯re facing is that more than 50% of you haven¡¯t even managed to cross 2500 points yet! Now maybe I¡¯m overthinking this, but the math suggests that means you guys are not putting in quite enough effort to complete this relatively simple task I¡¯ve put before you and I just have to wonder¡­ Did I not express myself well enough? Did you not take me seriously when I warned of a Critical Level threat for not completing this? You know what, I think we¡¯re going to have a trial run with all of you that haven''t crossed that threshold just yet. A Minor Level threat has been deployed to each of your locations. Honestly, you all should be thanking me, it¡¯s sink or swim time after all and if you stop that threat, you might just have a chance at not dying by the end of the weekend!¡± ¡°What are the-¡± ¡°Shhh,¡± I said, cutting Jon off. ¡°The rest of you, I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m all out of favors and help. I''ve doled out quite a few of those at this point and my generosity has been all used up. But that''s okay, you guys are doing well enough already that I think you¡¯ll survive without any extra motivation. There¡¯s three more days, so keep on getting stronger. I¡¯m going to need each and every one of you at your very best for Phase Two because that¡­ well you know what¡­ let¡¯s not worry you all with that just yet. The day¡¯s still young, so get out there and have some fun. Good luck Augments.¡± With that his voice clicked away and the portraits of the top ten all vanished. There were a few beats of silence before Jon let out a laugh. ¡°Sheesh that dude is way too serious for his own good.¡± Jon said as he hopped to his feet and stretched. ¡°Are you ready to hit up the Dojo? I think it¡¯d be smart to spend some time working on some new moves for you tonight to get you working more fluidly.¡± I found myself looking at him almost incredulously as he wandered around the couch and toward the fridge. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°You¡­ You did hear all that right? Nearly half the people in this year¡¯s wave of new Augments might end up dead by the end of the night¡­ How are you so calm?¡± ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve been over the whole statistical chance of dying thing already, so I think that''s a moot point. Besides, you have that Acceptance Matrix thing, I don¡¯t. I think the better question is how are you that worried?¡± He asked, looking back at me. ¡°Trust me, I get what he said sounds scary, I really do. But I¡¯ve been reading up on the threat levels. I¡¯m literally gonna be up half the night here just trying to go through as much as I can. That said, a Minor Threat is at worst something similar to Sal. I¡¯m not hoping they die or anything, that would be messed up, but if that¡¯s the game¡­ ¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked. Angie let out a giggle as I stood up. ¡°Yeah, you really have been pretty bad about probing for information, you know that, right Loophole?¡± ¡°Hey I was distracted trying to clue him in. Though clearly that was completely pointless since he just went and figured the whole damn thing out on his own,¡± I said and rubbed at the side of my head. ¡°Even still, I get that you find all of this really cool, I do. Maybe just¡­ I don¡¯t know, pretend to be worried about the crazy A.I. dude in the sky that could send kaijus our way if I don¡¯t do a good enough job.¡± ¡°Kaijus?¡± Jon asked, his eyes visibly lighting up. ¡°Wait, are you telling me there¡¯s gonna be something like Godzilla!?! ¡°Right?! Isn¡¯t it going to be so cool to see a giant monster destroying a city?!¡± Angie practically squealed. ¡°Holy shit, how are you actually excited about that!?!¡± ¡°Come on dude, you gotta admit giant monsters are pretty cool. Though I¡¯ll admit that them destroying cities might be less cool. And now that I think about it, I think one would practically crush you right now which would be even less cool,¡± Jon said and tapped at his chin. ¡°We¡¯re gonna need to get you leveled way up before we try and get one of them to come our way.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re not gonna be trying to make that happen anytime soon¡­ or, you know, preferably at all,¡± I corrected him and he rolled his eyes as he cracked open a soda. I followed him into the kitchen and peered inside the fridge. ¡°You know¡­ maybe I should go and exchange some of my credits for cash¡­ we could actually have some food in this fridge for once that¡¯s not just leftovers from Tio¡¯s.¡± ¡°You? Buying groceries? Now I¡¯ve really seen it all,¡± he laughed and patted me on the back before walking out of the kitchen and back over to the door to the Command Room. ¡°There¡¯s some ramen in the pantry and some pizza rolls in the freezer if you need a quick bite. Maybe later we can exchange some credits and I¡¯ll do a grocery run in the morning. Once you¡¯re done eating, go ahead, absorb those new books and head into the Dojo, we¡¯ve got some abilities to create. Plus, I think it¡¯s time we start getting you moving around faster.¡± ¡°Aye aye captain?¡± ¡°He¡¯s cute when he takes charge.¡± ¡°He barely does anything and you think he¡¯s cute¡­¡± I sighed and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. ¡°Hey it¡¯s not her fault I look as good as I do,¡± Jon called from the Command Room. ¡°Don¡¯t encourage her.¡± ¡°Eh fair enough, I did already have to ask her to tone it down a bit,¡± he admitted. As I stood by the fridge, my stomach growled, reminding me that other than a few random snacks and a hot dog from the vendor I had prevented from being robbed, I had barely eaten. I grabbed the pizza rolls, tossed them into Jon¡¯s air fryer and then snatched a package of ramen from the pantry. As the food started to cook, it reminded me of the buff Gio had gotten after he¡­ well... ate one of his apparently disposable men. ¡°Hey what¡¯s the Well Fed buff?¡± I asked as I started to prepare the ramen to go into the microwave. ¡°Here let me see if I can pull it-¡± Jon started before Angie cut in. ¡°Well Fed. This is a buff granted when you¡¯ve eaten a well balanced meal for your particular diet. For an Augment like you, that means eating something like a good serving of your Grandma¡¯s famous seven cheese lasagna and your vegetables mister. Apparently for a snake man that means the head of one of his recent cohorts¡­ This buff grants you a 10% increase in Damage and a 25% increase in Stamina for two hours. Once a meal has been confirmed to give this buff, it will be noted for future reference.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ that was oddly helpful Angie, thank you,¡± I said and she sighed. ¡°Sometimes I think you don¡¯t listen to me or something. I¡¯ve told you, if you ask a question related to the game, I have to answer. It¡¯s not that complicated, Loophole.¡± ¡°To be fair, when 90% of the stuff you say are jokes about me or random attempts to lust after Jon, I kinda have to tune out some of it,¡± I explained. I walked over toward the Command Room while I waited for my food, passing the oversized gym locker that had appeared next to it after I had added the Training Dojo to my expansion slots. I materialized the two books I had that I already qualified for on Gravity and Thermodynamics and absorbed them, gaining a Level 3 Knowledge stat in the two subjects. It was such a weird feeling when you were expecting it to happen. When I had absorbed my previous books, I had just let the knowledge disappear into the back of my mind until I had actively wanted to use it. But the book on snake venom had proved that it was more than just some key that unlocked additional abilities in my repertoire. I had the knowledge and when I knew I was gaining it, the sudden random facts and figures filled my mind. ¡°Huh¡­ did you know that Gravity never actually stops pulling you down? Like if we dug a hole straight down to the center of the earth where our own gravity well is, you¡¯d just bob back and forth forever. You know¡­ assuming you didn¡¯t melt when we passed through the molten core,¡± I explained. Jon just let out another laugh as he turned around in his chair. ¡°Sheesh, where the hell were these when we were in high school? We coulda both had straight As.¡± ¡°There are protections and rules in place that prevent the augmentation of anyone under the age of 18 thank you very much,¡± Angie chirped up. ¡°And as I¡¯ve said, those books only work if you¡¯ve been augmented.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ that¡¯s oddly ethical all things considered,¡± I said and heard the ding from the air fryer. ¡°Yeah, I still have so many questions about all of this but even the access I have basically doesn¡¯t tell me a thing,¡± Jon said as I wandered back to the kitchen. ¡°Like, does this mean all the conspiracies about the original studio were right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told this to Loophole but I guess it¡¯s worth repeating for you. I am not authorized to speak on the motives or goals of the developers¡­ and it would be in everybody¡¯s best interest to not raise those questions as they draw unnecessary attention,¡± Angie explained. She hadn¡¯t actually added that second part when I had brought it up before and it almost sounded like it was a last minute addition this time. ¡°Eh I figured but I guess it couldn¡¯t hurt to ask, not like knowing changes anything anyway,¡± Jon said with a bit of disappointment. It only took me a few minutes to scarf the food down once it was finished and without much else to say I found my way over to the locker. Now, I had never actually gotten shoved into a locker in high school, hell I had never even seen that happen outside of cliches in movies or shows, but the idea of choosing to walk into one still felt a bit silly. I stepped into and through the locker. ¡°Did¡­ wait did the system let you change how it looked?¡± I said, almost stunned. When I had first entered the dojo after setting it up, the place was actually strikingly similar to the cell I had fought Pinky in. But now, the door opened into an actual dojo. The more I looked around the more I was positive I had seen this particular location somewhere before and I heard Jon start to laugh over an invisible intercom. ¡°Yuuuuup, I figured if we are just uploading new skills into your brain, we might as well take a little inspiration from somewhere else too. The system made it so easy, I just had to find the scene in the Matrix and bam, instant dojo,¡± He said as I walked toward the center of the space. ¡°And before you ask, it¡¯s only the dojo. I can move things like the doorways and your Display Cabinet within my interface, but don¡¯t expect the apartment to be getting a makeover anytime soon.¡± ¡°Okay yeah¡­ this is pretty cool,¡± I admitted as I took in the space. ¡°I could practically sleep in here.¡± ¡°I should remind you, the Pocket Dojo expansion does come with a two hour continuous use time limit to prevent just that. If you want sleeping upgrades, you have to purchase those separately, thank you very much,¡± Angie said. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll be circling back to those later,¡± Jon added. ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get to work. The night¡¯s still young and we¡¯ve got a whole new ability bar to fill up.¡± Chapter 33

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment Building, Rooftop. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Sea and Sky (Contested by Miscreant: Firefist) Current Phase Points: 6680 End of Phase One: 02D:9H:56M:13S

¡°I¡­ Shouldn¡¯t we be starting this a bit lower? Like maybe on the fire escape?¡± I said as I looked over the edge of the roof and down ¡°Hey you¡¯re the one who wanted to wait until morning to actually try using this outside. How are we supposed to hide your Secret Identity if you go flying off our fire escape?¡± Jon said as I backed away from the edge and tried to shake the nerves from my body. ¡°Besides, you know it works, you were floating all over the apartment. You know as well as I do that if you want to extend the time, you gotta take the leap and just start getting that usage experience.¡± We had ended up spending the entire rest of the night working on a handful of new abilities and actually learning a whole hell of a lot about the different types of abilities I could create. In fact, while passive abilities were pretty straight forward, activated abilities came in two very distinct flavors. Whether it was simply a natural quirk of my abilities or in my own thinking, up until we started to experiment I had largely only created what the P.A.I. database referred to as Static Cost abilities. These abilities would always have variable length cooldowns but relatively low costs to my stamina. My Sting Like A Bee ability, for example, was always going to cost about 5% of my stamina to activate, regardless of just how much stamina I actually had. But on the other side of the coin were Flexible Cost abilities. These abilities came with the benefit that they generally had either no cooldown or extremely short cooldowns. This meant that they could be used in rapid succession, but depending on just how much power I put into them, they could rapidly deplete my stamina bar and leave me unable to move or defend myself if I overdid it. After learning all of this, and knowing that Angie had a habit of withholding information until I specifically asked for it, I asked her to go back through and mark all my prior abilities with their Stamina costs. I also made it a point of asking her to tell me about their costs moving forward as well. She had insisted she would have had I not made that request, but I liked to think I had learned my lesson when it came to her. It took a bit of experimenting in the dojo but I managed to come up with more than a handful of abilities utilizing my new knowledge on Gravity and Thermodynamics. The majority of them ended up falling into the flexible category but a few still managed to generate with fixed costs. My second ability bar had been quickly filled up, though I did end up keeping a few of my abilities on both revolver options. Still, my new bar was largely speaking more focused on damage compared to my original bar, and it led to us dubbing my original bar as my ¡°Stealth¡± loadout and my new bar as my ¡°Fight Time¡± loadout. Although I was positive Jon was still brainstorming better names for them, and if he wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d have to. Testing them in the dojo had been all well and good, but the place came with a severe lack of actual enemies to practice on. This was something that we could apparently upgrade the dojo to include when the safe house reached level 5, but that was still a long way off. So when the morning came around, Jon was quick to wake me. He forced me to shove a large breakfast he had picked up from Tio¡¯s down, which did net me the Well Fed buff, and then told me to get my ass going. Truth be told, I wasn¡¯t sure just how much he had actually slept through the night but he assured me he¡¯d find time to take a nap once he was sure I was getting through the day¡¯s task without an issue. I still had 10 dens to get through, and Jon was determined to have me work through all but the hardest of them by the end of the day. And the quickest way to get between the dens¡­ was going to be in the air. At the far right side of my ability bar a new single slot appeared the moment we had created the ability and I looked at it as I tried to talk myself into just taking the leap. ¡°Personal Gravity Laws. Movement Ability. Given you¡¯re looking at this to stall, how about I help you out just a bit. This ability allows you to shift your own relation to Gravity, allowing you to freely float within your Local Area. Additionally, with some practice you can mentally adjust the speed of which this change in your own gravity allows you to move. Now, want to know the really cool thing about your Local Area that you should already know? It moves centered directly on you! That means you¡¯re ALWAYS in your Local Area! Now as we went over last night, that doesn¡¯t mean you just get to fly around as much as you want. This ability drains your stamina at a rate of 5 stamina points per second while floating. For every 10 miles per hour of additional speed, the stamina drain increases by 5%. Was that enough stalling? Do you want me to go on a tangent about how much I like Codex¡¯s butt again?¡± ¡°No, no, we¡¯re good,¡± I said as I shook my head and tried to shake the nerves off once more. Though I hadn¡¯t realized it, mostly given to my own stupid lax attitude about really learning the intricacies of the stats, on top of helping me hit harder, my Strength stat also was directly tied into increasing my Stamina just as Toughness increased my Health. That meant that the 500 points of base Stamina that every Augment had plus the 12 points I had in Strength, left me with 1700 points of Stamina. With the Well Fed buff, my stamina capped out at 2125 points. The longest I could stay afloat, just hanging in mid-air would have been just a bit over 7 minutes, so any flight I made, unless I used a Stamina Injector, had to be shorter than that due to the added drainage from increasing my speed. Unfortunately, that baseline was about as far as my math was going to be taking me, especially since I didn''t have a speedometer in my interface... yet. I looked down over the edge of the building again and found myself instinctively wanting to retreat back toward the ground to start from there. Apparently, some self-preservation instincts were hard to get past. Either that or I had a fear of heights that I simply wasn¡¯t aware of. ¡°For Axio¡¯s sake just jump already!¡± Angie moaned. ¡°I¡¯m with her, let¡¯s go Loophole, we¡¯re burning daylight,¡± Jon agreed and I just sighed. ¡°Ok¡­ you can do this,¡± I said to myself under my breath, trying to block them out as I focused on the task at hand. I turned and took a few steps back from the edge of the roof. While I didn¡¯t have to make a running start, I knew it was definitely the literal leap of faith I needed to just outright trust the ability. I shook my arms out once more, let out a slow, steady breath and took one final step back... and then I ran for it. I darted right for the ledge, stepping onto it and launching myself upwards. I activated the ability the moment my foot was off the ground and concentrated as I quickly rose higher into the air above the neighboring roofs. ¡°New Achievement! 250 Feet Up! Trust me, we were really tempted to go with a corny ¡°It¡¯s a Bird, It¡¯s a Plane¡± sorta joke for the name of this one, but I think it really limits this achievement to you lucky Augments that get to fly instead of anyone who can jump, or teleport, or do any other sort of special way to get 250 feet up into the air. So this Achievement is for exactly what it says. You¡¯ve used your power to go 250 feet above the ground! Good for you, maybe now you won''t be so damn slow. This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received a C:Tier loot box.¡± It wasn¡¯t natural and knowing how gravity worked and that the ability should work, wasn¡¯t the same as immediately moving through the air with grace. There may have been a bit more flailing than necessary as I swirled upward into the air. My Stamina was already starting to tick down and without an active timer in my interface, I was going to have to make sure to keep an eye on it to prevent a sudden freefall. After taking about ten seconds to stabilize and find a bit of control over my new ability, I let out a breath and felt my smile return to me. I had done it... I was flying. ¡°Now that is one hell of a view,¡± Jon said with a whistle. ¡°Okay, turn toward the north, we¡¯re gonna start at the top corner of Hell¡¯s Kitchen and work our way around to knock all of these dens out and get your point total up and over that 10,000 hump. There¡¯s a bronze den and a silver den to the Northwest. They actually look pretty close to the cruise terminal over there. I¡¯ll guide you in when you get closer, so get a-¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Before he could finish I launched myself forward, maybe faster than I needed too. I had oriented myself to head north, but that didn¡¯t mean I had to immediately make a b-line for my destination as the sudden freedom that came with the ability to fly hit me. While I certainly did need to get as much usage experience on my movement ability as possible to help it level up, a sudden animalistic-like joy came over me as I rapidly picked up speed. ¡°WOOOOOOOOOO.¡± I couldn¡¯t help myself and I let out a loud, exhilarated whoop as the wind roared past me, filling my ears. Whether it was the warping of gravity around my body or some minor filter ahead of my eyes, I was able to see clearly and I pushed myself to go faster. My stomach dropped with every burst of speed, and I darted left and right, testing my control and letting my whole body lean into every turn. It was a strange balance between tension and freedom, each adjustment to my flight seeming to ripple through the gravity around me, like I was tugging on invisible threads holding me aloft. I knew Jon had wanted me to focus and get to work, but I really couldn¡¯t help myself. I. Was. Flying! I couldn¡¯t say for sure how flight felt to other Augments with wings or wind-like powers, or even how The First had done it, but this was like being suspended in an invisible bubble that moved with me. The gravity shift made me feel light as a feather and the more I pushed at the bonds of gravity that tried to force its will upon me, the faster I went. I dove down in a sudden swoop, just barely dodging an old fire escape, and let out another whoop as I zipped along only a few stories above the ground. Though I felt like the world should have been a blur around me, everything was crystal clear as I waved at a crowd that caught sight of me just before I darted around yet another corner and back higher into the air. My stamina bar flashed and it snapped me out of my exhilaration as I let myself twist in the air freely. The thrill of the flight had distracted me and though I had thought I had only been flying for a few moments, the bar was nearly 75% empty. I yanked out an Enhanced Stamina Injector and jammed it into my arm mid-flight. My stamina filled back to nearly 3 quarters full as I twisted back in the air once more. A quick glance down reminded me that the ground was hundreds of feet below, and the idea of falling out of the sky hit me harder than I¡¯d expected now that I had slowed my flight. I could hear my heart hammering in my chest, a mix of thrill and a rising, prickling anxiety as I tried to reorient myself. As I scanned the skyline, the sprawling expanse of the city stretched in every direction. The city always felt different when looking at it from high in a building, like it was alive and breathing. But flying above it without anything beneath my feet? That was a whole other beast and one that I could easily get lost in experiencing as I looked down and around at the world. I told myself to focus before Angie or Jon could do it for me and forced my eyes back up to the skyline, knowing full well that I was burning stamina. Luckily, New York had plenty of markers, and the cruise terminal I needed was unmistakable up ahead, gleaming in the morning light. A sense of urgency kicked in as my stamina dipped below half again. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to steady and aim straight toward the Hudson River, but I couldn¡¯t resist one more glance at the view stretching around me. For the first time, the world felt wide open in every direction and I resolved myself to train this ability until I could fly for far, far longer. After putting on the speed to clear the distance as quickly as I could, I slowed myself, orienting toward the terminal and looking for the tallest building I could find. There was one at the corner of a park a few blocks in from the terminal and I darted for it. As I came in for a landing, I stumbled slightly before I right myself and looking around. ¡°Smooth,¡± Angie said and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Least I didn¡¯t land on my face¡­ and no one saw that,¡± I said, looking around just to make sure no one was hanging out on top of the roof. ¡°I saw it, Loophole, that¡¯s all that matters, though I will say it is rather nice to see you enjoying those abilities of yours for once,¡± Angie commented. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m kinda jealous, that looked fun as all hell so I can¡¯t really blame you for taking it for a spin like that. Kinda wish I could see the experience progress for your abilities though, it would be nice to see how much experience that little joyride got you,¡± Jon said as I approached the edge of the building. My stamina slowly started to refill as I looked around, wondering if I¡¯d spot Viper graffiti from my perch. ¡°Is it technically a joyride if I don¡¯t have a vehicle?¡± ¡°Do you really want to debate semantics or do you want to beat down some bikers?¡± ¡°I can do both, it¡¯s called multitasking,¡± I shot back and panned back across the area once more. Several outlines were suddenly selected as Jon did his work in the background. There were two different spots that were highlighted and I turned my attention toward the closer of the two first. It was a small single story building on the southern side of the park that had more than a few people in it, probably taking in one of the last moderately nice weekends before New York¡¯s winter could start to take hold. I wasn¡¯t positive, but I thought I could make out a snake painted onto the garage door at the front of the building. ¡°That¡¯s the bronze level, it doesn¡¯t look too big on the map here and if yesterday was any indicator you can probably knock it out pretty easily, but that silver one¡­¡± Jon said, trailing off as I looked over toward the Hudson where the other location had been highlighted. The cruise terminal was often filled with, well, cruise ships. Luckily my vision wasn¡¯t highlighting one of those floating hotels, though I still found myself almost laughing in surprise at what had been highlighted. On the far end of the terminal, there was a yacht that would have looked giant if it hadn¡¯t been sitting in a line of massive cruise ships. ¡°The bikers have a yacht¡­ Why do the bikers have a yacht?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s rude of you Loophole, everyone enjoys a nice day on the water, and is it really their fault that the boat they stole was a giant yacht?¡± ¡°Um¡­ yes¡­ yes it is their fault,¡± I replied with a sigh. ¡°I get Axio wants to set up stakes for us but couldn¡¯t you guys buy a yacht like you rented out the one building for the den?¡± ¡°Would it make you feel better if you knew the yacht they stole came from a businessman who treated his workers really poorly?¡± Angie asked as I searched for another building closer to the yacht that I could move to. ¡°Is that who they stole it from?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you want to feel better or not? Because I was lying when I said he rents out those buildings, and I kinda feel like I need you to feel better about something,¡± Angie said before she burst into a giggle fit. ¡°You know, I¡¯m starting to think you like Angie¡¯s craziness more than you let on, otherwise you really wouldn''t engage and take her bait as often as you do,¡± Jon said and Angie laughed even harder. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been saying!¡± ¡°Okay so I¡¯m gonna go and take some aggression out on the bikers that stole that yacht, anyone got a problem with that?¡± I asked. The cooldown on my stamina injectors had expired and I knew if I shot right for the yacht, I could land on it before I burned through that much of my stamina. If I did get thrown right into a fight, I was relatively confident I could handle it, but I¡¯d at least have the injector off of cooldown if I needed it. ¡°I think that¡¯s the best choice, it¡¯ll let you really flex and try out some of those new abilities,¡± Jon agreed letting us move on. That didn''t surprise me since he had been the one really pushing me to stop slacking. ¡°I think you have another minute before your stamina is fully refilled, so go ahead and call it in first, that¡¯s Pier 94 if they need to know the exact spot.¡± At this point, calling in the dens was becoming routine, and the dispatch officer was quick to take down the details. I mentioned the nearby bronze den as well, though the officer informed me I would need to either call that one in separately when I am preparing to assault it or inform the officers who arrive to clean up the Silver den once I was finished with it. With that all done and my stamina bar replenished, I turned my attention back toward the yacht. It was almost surprising how little I was thinking about it this time as I pushed off from the ledge and reactivated my flight once again. The worry and trepidation of my first flight was already a thing of the past, though maybe I did make it a point to keep my attention directly on the yacht instead of looking straight down. I threw all the force into it that I could and cut through the sky once more. I could feel the anticipation of the fight already starting to build up and I eyed my new abilities expectantly. There really was something innately thrilling about it that I had a hard time denying and I was ready to put things into action. As I approached the yacht, I could see the back of the ship had several layered opened decks, each with a handful of people wandering about. I took the time to highlight them, ensuring that they were in fact bikers before I made my next move. The largest grouping of them were on the rear, lowest most deck. I could make out seven of them wandering around the platform and at least a few more on each of the three levels above it. The grunts at the rear of the ship were each level 5 and a few of them were armed with what looked like assault rifles. None of them had their eyes on the sky and I felt a smirk tug at the corner of my lips as I eyed the first of the abilities on my new bar. ¡°Earthbound Impact. Level 1 Activated Ability. While utilizing Personal Gravity Laws activate this ability to rapidly descend to the ground, increasing in speed by 1 mile per hour per foot dropped up to a maximum of 150 miles per hour. Before impact your personal gravity will be completely reversed to lessen impact upon yourself. All enemies and the environment within your local area will be affected by an immense gravitational force and will take damage equal to the speed traveling at impact times 10. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown and costs 15% of your Stamina.¡± ¡°Geronimo?¡± Jon asked and I chuckled lightly as I set my eyes on the large grouping on the lowest deck. ¡°Geronimo,¡± I agreed and I activated the ability, plummeting toward my enemies. Chapter 34 I hit the deck with the skill fully charged, landing probably more theatrically than I needed to, and five of the bikers were sent scattering to the ground as the yacht seemed to shudder under the sudden impact of gravity. The deck immediately under where I landed was relatively undisturbed, but within the circle surrounding me, it all had buckled downward enough that I almost wondered if it was going to collapse inward Luckily the yacht was sturdy enough to withstand my landing and I stood up, tilting my head to the side enough for it to crack as I quickly swept my eyes across the area to check for any enemies that I had missed. The deck was large enough that two of the grunts hadn¡¯t quite been in my area, but the shock of my entrance had left them apparently startled while the ones who were in my area all sported spinning KO debuffs. ¡°Now that¡¯s how you make an entrance!¡± Jon whooped out, though I did my best to concentrate on the task at hand. I heard several calls of alarm from the upper decks and I turned to look at the gathering enemies. My smile grew wider as at least one of them shouted, ¡°It¡¯s Loophole!¡± I had been trying to make it a habit to activate Area Sense whenever I had my feet planted, hoping by doing so it would eventually become second nature. As I continued to size up the next level and the bikers that were gathering at the railing, I felt two new presences enter my area and I immediately activated the second new ability on my bar. ¡°Center of the Universe. Level 1 Activated Ability. Create a gravitational force within your entire Local Area, centered on yourself, drawing in either all enemies or all non-biological objects within your area at an initial pull of 5 meters per second with the strength diminishing by 1 meter per second for every 5 feet from the center of your local area the affected targets are. This ability drains 5 points of stamina per second of use. You may gradually increase the power of your gravitational force by 1 meter per second for an additional 1 point of stamina per second of use up to a maximum of 50 meters per second. This ability has no maximum duration and no cooldown but offers no direct damaging effects. This ability will only deactivate when you choose to deactivate it, if you are hit hard enough to break your concentration, or you run out of stamina.¡± I rapidly pushed the ability to its maximum as the grunts were forced to come running and stumbling right toward me. Though the ability wouldn¡¯t hurt them itself, they were converging on a single spot and I did still have Misfortune Abound on my passive bar. With my attention still focused on a large brute at the center of the group gathering on the second deck, I waited, mentally counting to three before I pushed off the ground hard and took flight like a rocket up toward the brute My stamina bar had already been drained to about 50% as I darted up for my target and I rapidly slowed myself as I came face to face with a wide-eyed, leather-clad half-giant of a man. ¡°Boo,¡± I said and then activated the third new ability on my bar. ¡°Gravity Punch. Level 1 Activated Ability. Rapidly compress gravity directly around your fist before you throw a punch. For every 5% of your stamina deal an additional 50% damage from your base attack up to a maximum of 500% increased damage. If you have spent at least 25% of your stamina, knock the target backwards 15 feet and an additional 5 feet for every added 5% of your stamina spent. This ability has a 5 second cooldown.¡± I only put 25% of my remaining stamina into the punch, but it did its job as my fist connected with the brute¡¯s chest. Though he was a rather large man, he still was sent flying backwards from the impact and into two grunts I hadn¡¯t seen lined up behind him. None of them were knocked out but it did at least send them to the ground as I set myself down on the deck and tried to casually walk toward them. ¡°Now, was it really necessary for you guys to steal this yacht? Is there even a place to store your bikes?¡± I asked as I materialized an Enhanced Stamina Injector into my hand and jammed it into my arm, returning my Stamina back up to just shy of 75%. As I moved inward and under the third deck, I scanned the area and counted three more grunts and a brute on top of the brute and grunts I had just knocked over. There was a door leading into the main cabin that I gestured toward. ¡°Oh wait, is this supposed to be the boss¡¯s place? You know, I¡¯ve been looking for him. Do you guys think he¡¯s in the back? I¡¯m pretty sure he goes by Snake-¡± ¡°Get him!¡± The brute shouted and then he and the grunts all sprang into action. They had already all been enveloped within my area, so I didn¡¯t have to goad them into action, but I still couldn¡¯t help myself. While I had never been what anyone would call shy growing up, Jon had pointed out just how much more confident I seemed to get when I was mid-battle and Angie claimed ignorance with her current database access. After taking time to really think about it though, I pointed out that I had always been prone to bad jokes in awkward situations, so it was possible that they just landed differently because I had super powers to back them up. I activated Center of the Universe again, quickly ramping up the force before I followed it up with Sting Like a Bee. The gravitational center of my ability stayed centered on my body as I rushed for the brute still being pulled my way. He hadn¡¯t been lifted off his feet, instead stumbling as he tried to resist the force but him being off balance worked out to my advantage. I drove my fist directly into the brute¡¯s temple just as he got into range, knocking him over to the side and directly into the path of the other brute being pulled my way. With one of the two brute¡¯s knocked out and the other struggling to push his way out from under the first, I deactivated Center of the Universe and turned my attention to the grunt¡¯s that had managed to stay on their feet. ¡°So how about you guys get on the ground before I have to put you there,¡± I said, staring them down and cracking my knuckles. One of the grunt¡¯s spat at the floor, his eyes shifting from me to the still conscious but trapped brute. ¡°Do you really think that¡¯s going to work? It hasn¡¯t yet¡­¡± Angie asked. ¡°I think he just really, really likes that line. I remember back in high school there was a week where he tried to answer literally every question a teacher asked him with a pun,¡± Jon chimed in. ¡°No takers?¡± I asked, ignoring them both as I kept my attention shifting between my remaining enemies. ¡°Well, eventually one of you will learn.¡± I activated Weighted Clothes and a chorus of heavy THUDS echoed in the space around me as the grunts each went collapsing to the floor. I simultaneously reactivated Center of the Universe, ramping the force up to its maximum as the weighted grunts began to be pulled across the floor toward me. As they all converged, I jumped up and into the air holding myself with Personal Gravity Laws and letting them crash together. They knocked each other out and into a heaping pile of KOed bodies before I deactivated the skill. ¡°Looks like you managed to get the brute too, though I didn¡¯t see if it was the weight or if he took extra damage from being dragged on the ground,¡± Jon chirped up as I set myself down and took in the deck, trying to quickly search for any enemies that I may have missed. I could still hear the clattering of footsteps on the deck above me and I knew they were trying to converge on my location. I didn¡¯t want to say it out loud, knowing that doing so itself would have been testing fate, but even though this place did seem to have increased numbers, the enemies were going down with an unsettling amount of ease. Had I been more egotistical, I might have just chalked it up to the strength of my new abilities, but I wasn¡¯t going to let my guard down that easily. Sure, I could have just barreled forward and immediately rushed to the next deck up, but taking a moment only benefitted me as my stamina started to tick back up from the 50% spot it had fallen back to. I looted the bodies as I walked toward the door heading into the cabin, surprisingly adding 3000 credits and a handful of enhanced stamina and health injectors into my B.E.L.T. I opened the door to find a grunt reaching for the handle and his eyes widened just as I drove my fist into his throat, hitting him with the second strike of Sting Like a Bee that I quickly followed up with the final enhanced strike I had available to the side of his head. The enemy collapsed to the floor and I stepped over him as casually as I could. "These guys have a lot more on them than the last few dens," I commented as I looted his body and added yet another 1000 credits to my wallet. "Nothing wrong with that. It means we can gear you up some more if the next few dens are similar," Jon said and then let out a whistle as I took in the opulence of the room. "Now this is some fancy living..." He absolutely wasn''t wrong about that. The inside of the yacht was far more ornately designed than the last few dens I had been in, with this one looking nothing like a hollowed out meth lab in waiting. Hell, it was practically gaudy with large pieces of art scattering the walls, ornate tables and random looking objects that I could only assume cost way too much for being glorified paperweights. There were couches at the center of the space and a large TV mounted on the wall off to the side of the stairwell heading to the upper deck, along with vases filled with flowers and pictures of what I presumed were the original owners hanging on the walls. Part of me wanted to explore, this place was clearly screaming ¡°hiding place¡± for something, but I could hear the sound of footsteps overhead and echoing down through the stairwell.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I really hope whoever actually owns this place has insurance¡­ cause this might get a little messy,¡± I muttered and reached for an overly large pitcher of water conveniently placed amongst a row of glasses and unopened soft drinks on a large table pushed against the wall. The problem with a knowledge of thermodynamics was that half the abilities I could manage required an actual source to work with. I wasn¡¯t able to just make water appear out of nowhere just to freeze, nor could I direct it to move by my will like Hydramental could, but if it was there and in my local area it was definitely fair game to alter the temperature of. I lobbed the pitcher toward the stairwell and the glass shattered directly ahead of the open doorway before I activated the fourth new ability on my bar. ¡°Freeze! Level 1 Activated Ability. Rapidly lower the ambient temperature within a concentrated location in your local area to freeze over a source of unpackaged liquid of any type at an initial cost of 10 points of stamina per cubic foot of liquid being frozen and 1 stamina per second to maintain the effect. Maintain the integrity of the frozen liquid until you release this ability, allowing the natural temperature of the area to return. This ability has no maximum duration and a 30 second cooldown from the time the ability is released. This ability provides no direct damaging effects.¡± A grunt rushed down the stairs, stepping onto the now frozen patch of water and immediately lost his footing, slipping backwards and smacking his head hard onto the stairwell like he was in a Home Alone movie. Unlike one of those movies however, the grunt wasn¡¯t able to just walk it off, as a small pool of blood began to form beneath his head atop the stairwell. His health hadn''t zeroed out just from that, and he might have been fine if it hadn¡¯t been for the small pileup his sudden collapse nearly caused, as immediately after he slipped, two grunts that had been following closely behind him went trampling over his body. ¡°Wow, you guys really don¡¯t care at all about your teammates, do you?¡± I asked with a shake of my head as I put my hands up, readying for them to come at me. Another man came sauntering down the staircase behind them and although he didn¡¯t look familiar, the way he carried himself did. It only took me a moment to highlight him to confirm my suspicion as his name came up as Luca: Viper Soldier. ¡°Hey now, youse the one that came on in here and started wreckin¡¯ the place,¡± Luca said, holding up a hand as the grunts held their positions. They both pulled rifles out of nowhere and trained them on me as the soldier looked down at the now lifeless body of the grunt. ¡°Hell, look, youse just went and killed poor Mario here, what gives youse the right?¡± ¡°To be fair, he probably would have been fine had one of your guys not stepped on his head as they were coming down the stairs,¡± I shot back, not lowering my guard. I could hear the door open behind me and I held myself still as my Area Sense kicked in. While I had thought I had gotten all of the enemies on the deck that I had entered through, I hadn¡¯t done a thorough search either. ¡°Youse always gotta shift the blame, don¡¯tcha? And here I thought we could have a nice little conversation before I hand youse over to the boss, but I guess youse just wanna tell your jokes and treat us like the garbage youse heroes always think we are,¡± Luca said with a disappointed shake of his head. His hand moved ever so slightly and I felt a disturbance at the back of my area. I risked a look over my shoulder and confirmed it was another grunt with their weapon raised attempting to sneak up on me. In the brief moment that I had started to look away, Luca materialized something into his hand. I might have missed it had the look of the syringe not been etched into my brain. ¡°Dude!¡± Jon yelled in my head, just in case I had missed it and I activated Center of the Universe. This time, I focused on objects instead of people as I turned my eyes directly on the syringe. Nothing happened at first, but as the force rapidly increased, I saw out of the corner of my eyes as the grunts ahead of me lost their grip on their weapons. Several other objects around the room were pulled and started rushing toward me, crashing against my legs as I held myself as steady as I could. It took a few seconds for the force to maximize, but with it high enough, even Luca, with whatever increased strength he had, couldn¡¯t hold on. Just as he tried to fight against the pull of my gravity to forcibly jam the syringe into his arm, the implement was wrenched from his grip and it came hurtling toward me. The three assault rifles came into contact with me first and I mentally pulled them into my B.E.L.T. only taking a minor bit of damage from the impact before they vanished into the safety of my storage. I hadn¡¯t taken my eyes off of my target though, and just before it could stab me on accident, I snagged the syringe out of the air and deactivated my ability. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re gonna be doing that. I mean, you do know you dissolve into ash after using these things right? You really should be thanking me for saving you from yourself,¡± I said, waving the syringe back and forth before I pulled it into my B.E.L.T. to investigate later. I kicked away some of the random objects that had come rushing over to me while my ability had been activated and moved toward the center of the space. "Like I said, you guys don¡¯t seem to have any camaraderie or else your boss wouldn¡¯t be treating you all so expendably, what kind of working environment is that?" ¡°Youse heroes always gotta be so damn word-y, don''tcha?¡± Luca said and his relatively calm demeanor seemed to break as his expression hardened. ¡°Well if youse wants to fight, go on fellas, get him!¡± The three men all rushed in toward me. My stamina was starting to take a hit from the rapidity and variety of use, though I couldn¡¯t say that I hadn¡¯t been effective so far. Still, I had to be a bit conservative with the remaining 40% I had available to me. As the men approached, I spent 5% of my stamina and activated Float Like A Butterfly. I began to dodge the wild swings coming from them, easily weaving my way between the men as I delivered several non-enhanced blows of my own. Even without being enhanced by an ability, my increased strength still left a mark as each strike on these most basic enemies dropped them by 15-20% of their health with each connected hit. In a matter of seconds, I had put two of the three grunts down on the ground with KO debuffs and I was dodging back as the third appeared to swing wide for my body. But as his hand passed by my midsection I received a new notification that took me a bit by surprise. ¡°ALERT! Viper Grunt has utilized the Pickpocket feature on his gloves. One Experimental Injector has been removed from your B.E.L.T.¡± Before I could react, the grunt jammed the syringe into his arm and his body began to convulse. Unlike when Gio had used the syringe, the grunt¡¯s transformation wasn¡¯t instantaneous and I stared as the man¡¯s body started to slowly swell and morph. I wasn¡¯t sure what this meant, but I moved in to try and attack before he could complete his transformation. He swung a newly enlarged arm wide and with a sudden burst of new strength I was thrown backwards by the strike and into the beverage table, taking out a small chunk from my health bar. ¡°Talk about initiative, the bossssssss hassssssss been wondering if thessse thingssssss would work on thesssssse maggotssssssssss,¡± My ears felt like they wanted to bleed. The grunt was still grasping at his body as he was transforming, causing me to turn and look for the source of the noise. I got back to my feet, only to discover a large, already transformed snake-man staring with vicious intent from exactly where Luca had been standing. He tossed another, now empty, syringe to the ground and I cursed myself for assuming that he¡¯d only have one on him. I risked a look back at the convulsing man and wasn¡¯t sure why the grunt hadn''t fully transformed. His body seemed to shake and a scream of agony ripped from his throat while his legs fused together. He barely caught himself on his hands before he face planted from the shift in his body''s design. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what was going to happen, and I materialized one of the venom-soaked guns I still had in my inventory. There was a chance this wouldn¡¯t get through his defenses, but I wasn¡¯t going to sit around and wait. Luca even seemed to realize what I was doing and moved to intercept, but he was simply too slow. My hand clenched as I fired and the bullet pierced the grunt¡¯s body at his shoulder. I pulled the trigger twice more, striking him center of mass with two more shots that quickly chunked down his remaining health. Though his body had started to swell and transform, the sudden introduction of the venom seemed to halt the process and his body began to bubble almost dangerously, as if the serum he had injected was simply incompatible with his system now that the venom had been suddenly mixed in. ¡°On your left!¡± Jon called out and I skipped backwards as Luca lunged for me. ¡°You ssssssssonuvabitch!¡± He hissed and I fired the gun on instinct. The bullet glanced off his body, his natural defenses holding out as I dodged away and tried to think. If he was like Gio, then sound was going to do the trick, but I wasn¡¯t sure how I¡¯d be able to make a loud enough commotion to weaken his defense enough to sneak a shot through. I eyed the last new ability that we had opted to place on my bar for now and although I still wanted to try out Ring of Fire, I didn¡¯t think it was going to be of use in this particular situation as I tried to think on my feet as fast as I could. Luca lunged again and I dodged, scrambling out of the way as he crashed into one of the couches in the space, tearing through it like it was butter. I turned and materialized six of my remaining vials of venom. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to give it a try all the same as I mentally uncorked all of them. In as fluid of a motion as I could, I flung the vials forward toward Luca, the liquid leaving the glass in a familiar congealed way just as they had when I had tossed them toward Hydramental in my first fight with Sal. Time didn¡¯t slow, but it sure felt like it did as I concentrated on the falling venom and activated Freeze! The blob froze over in a shiny, amorphous clump of sickly green shade and I stepped forward, raising my fist and throwing a punch at the falling icicle. Just as my fist was about to connect, I threw every last bit of my remaining stamina into a Gravity Punch. I had no idea if this was going to work and figured it was a long shot, and if it didn''t work, I was going to have to stall to try and get my stamina to come back. But even with the threat of failure, I felt like I was starting to get really good at trusting a long shot and I threw the punch all the same. The blob of icy venom burst into shards and flew with lighting fast speed. They peppered and slammed into Luca¡¯s body, piercing through his defenses and into him with ease. It was far and away more than I would have introduced into his system with just a bullet and like Sal had the first time I had encountered him. The venom overwhelmed his system and his body suddenly started to mimic the grunt. He looked around, a sudden change in his expression making it clear he hadn¡¯t considered this as an outcome before he moved slightly forward and collapsed to the ground. His body continued to bubble and sizzle before it ignited, burning into a giant pile of ashes. A slew of new notifications appeared at the peripheral of my vision as I found myself actually short of breath, including an alert of the completion of the den. I was just about to start opening them when I heard a piercing scream coming from the stairwell. I looked over, trying to ready myself for another fight even with my depleted stamina when my eyes fell on a woman in a long green dress. There was a young boy that couldn''t have been older than five or six hiding behind her as they descended the staircase. The woman''s hand was covering her mouth in shock as she took in the scene and I highlighted her cautiously. ¡°Warning: Information on this Sapient NPC has been blocked by [UNKNOWN], preventing me from disclosing more information to you. Sorry Loophole, if you want to know who this is¡­ you¡¯re going to have to ask her yourself.¡± Chapter 34.5 - Stat Interlude Loophole - Level 6 Perfect Planner
Health Points (Non-Buffed) Stamina Points (Non-Buffed)
2300 1700
Current General Stats
Strength Toughness Dexterity Luck Style Intelligence Charisma Ingenuity
Base 7 5 7 15 4 7 9 8
Equipped 12 18 9 22 8 7 10 8
Conditional ----- +2 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Powerset Descriptors
Primary Power Secondary Power Hidden Power (Unlocked at Level 15)
Local Area Manipulation Super Luck ?????
Current Level: 3 Current Level: 1 ?????
Creates a permanent zone in a 17-foot radius around body. Allows for a variety of effects based on General Understanding Subtly affect the Luck of everything within your Local Area Zone by .1% for every 1 point of luck that you have. Events and outcomes within your vicinity have a higher chance of unfolding advantageously for you ?????
Activated Ability: Area Sense (Non-Hotbar Ability) Activated Ability: Luck Bomb (Non-Hotbar Ability) ?????
While directly focusing on your local area, you now have the ability to feel anything residing within it. Items felt are not precisely identified. Duration: As Long As Holding Still. Cooldown: None Cost: None Consciously invoke a surge of good fortune, increasing the likelihood of a positive outcome for a specific action or event. Duration: Null Cooldown: 24 Hours Cost: None ?????
Hotbar Revolver #1: "Stealth" Activated Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Like Concrete 1 Increase the Van Der Waals forces (Stickiness) on a piece of gum by 10,000%. Duration: As long as item stuck is within your Local Area OR when you choose to end the effect. Cooldown: 2 hours Cost: 10% Stamina None
Trigger Finger 1 Target a single firearm within your local area and make it fire, regardless if anyone is touching the trigger. Duration: None Cooldown: 10 seconds Cost: 1% Stamina None
Mute Button 1 Silence ALL noise coming into and leaving your local area. Duration: 5 seconds per point of Intelligence, Current Time: 35 seconds. Effect can be disabled before end of this timer by user''s choice. Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 10% Stamina None
Sting Like A Bee 2 Gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck) for the next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict 30% increased damage. Additional effects may also occur. Duration: None Cooldown: 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Cost: 5% Stamina Time Adjustment (Duration eliminator) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 12.
Float Like A Butterfly 2 Grants an increased chance to dodge hand-to-hand combat strikes of 10% plus 1% for every point of Luck. Duration: 15 seconds Cooldown: 5 minutes Cost: 5% Stamina None
Weighted Clothes 3 When activated, target one random article of clothing on every hostile target within your local area. Evenly distribute 2,500 lbs. of weight between all targeted items. If Pinned, enemies affected take damage equal to 1 point per pound distributed to them minus Strength immediately and 10% of the weight on them minus Strength every 3 seconds for duration. Duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 10% Stamina Party Mode (Even Weight Distribution) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 14
Trick of the Light 1 Warp the light within your local area to make yourself practically invisible to the naked eye unless someone is looking directly at you for more than 1 full second. Duration: 10 Minutes Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 15% Stamina None
Mirror Image 1 Immediately turn invisible and leave a mirage of yourself in place. Duration: Invisibility- 10 seconds, Mirage- 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 10% Stamina Recording (Afterimage movement modification) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 16
Passive Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Defy the Odds 1 Gain a 1% chance for every point of luck you have minus the enemy''s total luck to bypass any resistances they have. This chance is tripled if you are Hidden from the enemy. None
Misfortune Abound 2 While in combat, cause all enemies within your local area to have a chance equal to 1.5% for every 1 point of Luck you have minus their current level for something "bad" to happen to them. None
Hotbar Revolver #2: "Fight Time"The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Activated Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Earthbound Impact 1 Rapidly Descend to the ground, increasing at a speed of 1 mph per foot dropped up to a maximum of 150 mph. All enemies caught within your zone upon impact with a surface will take damage equal to your speed traveling before impact times 10. Duration: None Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 10% Stamina None
Center of the Universe 1 Create a Gravitational Force within your entire Local Area centered on yourself, drawing in either all enemies or all non-biological objects with an initial pull of 5 meters per second, diminishing in strength the further from you they are. This ability can be strengthened by 1 meter per second for matching cost, up to a maximum of 50 meters per second in strength. Duration: None Cooldown: None Cost: 5 Stamina per second + 1 Stamina per second for each additional meter per second in strength being used. None
Gravity Punch 1 Rapidly compress gravity directly around your fist before you throw a punch. Damage dealt is increased from your base attack by 50% for each 5% of your Stamina used. An attack utilizing 25% of your stamina will cause the enemy to be knocked back by 15 feet and an additional 5 feet for each additional 5% of your stamina. Duration: None Cooldown: 5 seconds. Cost: Variable- 5% to 50% Stamina None
Sting Like A Bee 2 Gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck) for the next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict 30% increased damage. Additional effects may also occur. Duration: None Cooldown: 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Cost: 5% Stamina Time Adjustment (Duration eliminator) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 12.
Float Like A Butterfly 2 Grants an increased chance to dodge hand-to-hand combat strikes of 10% plus 1% for every point of Luck. Duration: 15 seconds Cooldown: 5 minutes Cost: 5% Stamina None
Weighted Clothes 3 When activated, target one random article of clothing on every hostile target within your local area. Evenly distribute 2,500 lbs. of weight between all targeted items. If Pinned, enemies affected take damage equal to 1 point per pound distributed to them minus Strength immediately and 10% of the weight on them minus Strength every 3 seconds for duration. Duration: 30 seconds Cooldown: 10 minutes Cost: 10% Stamina Party Mode (Even Weight Distribution) Locked from further Augmentation until Level 14
Freeze! 1 Rapidly lower the ambient temperature within a concentrated location to freeze of a source of unpackaged liquid of any type. Duration: None Cooldown: 30 Seconds Cost: Variable- 10 points of Stamina per Cubic Foot of liquid initially + 1 point of Stamina per second to maintain the effect. None
Ring of Fire 1 Ignite the air in a ring that travels outward from your location at a speed of your choosing, dealing Fire based damage to all objects and targets in your area that are struck by the wave. Damage delivered is equal to 250 points on initial contact and 50 points of damage for each second the target remains within the fire. Duration: 5 to 30 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: 5% initial Stamina + 1% for every second you maintain the effect. None
Passive Bar
Ability Ability Level Description Augmentations
Defy the Odds 1 Gain a 1% chance for every point of luck you have minus the enemy''s total luck to bypass any resistances they have. This chance is tripled if you are Hidden from the enemy. None
Misfortune Abound 2 While in combat, cause all enemies within your local area to have a chance equal to 1.5% for every 1 point of Luck you have minus their current level for something "bad" to happen to them. None
Movement Ability
Ability Ability Level Description
Personal Gravity Laws 1 Minutely control your own relation to gravity within your local area, giving you the ability to float and move around freely. This ability drains your stamina at a rate of 5 points per second while floating and moving at a base walking speed. For every 10 mph of additional speed, stamina drain is increased by 5% (of the active drain rate.)
Equipment
Item Slot Stats and Features Ability
The Mask of Strategic Fortitude Face Stats: +10 Toughness, +3 Style Features: Who''s That?! (Appearance Disguiser) Mental Fortress (Damage Resistance) -----
Nutcracker Stompers Feet Stats: +1 Charisma, +1 Style, +1 Dexterity Features: Steadyfoot (+2 Toughness, +2 Stability) Modified: Enchanted Shoelaces of the Nimblefoot -----
Serpent''s Fang Bracers Wrists Stats: +5 Strength Features: None Venomous Strike: Activated Ability Once per encounter, you can activate the bracers to deliver a venom-infused attack. Reduces movement speed and attack effectiveness by 30% for 10 seconds.
Fortune''s Guardian Jacket Overcoat Stats: +6 Luck, +3 Toughness Features: Lucky Charm (Loot Upgrader) Fortune''s Shield: Activated Ability Once per encounter, your jacket can activate to provide a protective barrier for 10 seconds, reducing all incoming damage by 20%.
Spotter''s Tank Undershirt Stats: +1 Dexterity, +1 Luck Features: Team Player - Minor Leagues (Damage Modifier) -----
Chapter 35 ¡°Wait, what?¡± I asked Angie, taking a cautious step toward the woman who pushed the child further behind her. I held up my hands, trying to appear non-threatening. ¡°Does that mean she¡¯s an Augment or related to one or something like that?¡± ¡°You know if she could have answered that she probably wouldn¡¯t have flashed that warning in the first place,¡± Jon chimed in, though I could hear the confusion in his voice. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just ask her who she is. Maybe these bikers had kidnapped them from another Augment¡¯s family? Though why wouldn¡¯t Angie just say it was because of the Secret Identity rule if that were the case?¡± ¡°Hey there, sorry, I didn¡¯t know they had taken prisoners¡­ how long have you-¡± ¡°Prisoners!? Who the fuck do you think you¡¯re talkin¡¯ to!? What the fuck did you do to my home!?¡± The woman practically screeched at me as she stepped down and over the dead body at the bottom of the stairs as if it wasn¡¯t even there. She spoke in a thick accent that would have been right at home in New Jersey and her curly black hair bounced with each step as she waved her hand absently at her son. He retreated back up the stairs in a hurry, though the woman moved with an odd amount of confidence as she marched toward me and pointed a sharp finger in my direction. ¡°Do you know how hard it is to get blood outta this deck!? And these guards! My hubby told me they¡¯d keep all you nosy twerps outta our business, now he¡¯s gonna have to go and hire a whole new setta them! Do you realize how hard it is to find good help in this fuckin¡¯ city?!¡± ¡°Your¡­ husband¡­. What?¡± I asked, suddenly feeling off as I stopped and took a few steps backwards. I had clearly heard what she had said, but I had to at least go through the motions, just in case I was wrong. ¡°Look, my name¡¯s Loophole, if you need protection, I can help-¡± The woman pulled a gun from a pocket I didn¡¯t even realize the dress had and she leveled it at me. ¡°I don¡¯t need your ¡°protection¡± Loophole, I¡¯m plenty aware of the thorn you¡¯ve been in my husband¡¯s operation. Three years now he¡¯s been working his way through the ranks and you¡¯re trying to upend it all in a fuckin¡¯ weekend, what the fuck gives you the right?¡± ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know who your husband is, I swear I haven¡¯t been trying to mess with him. I only just got into all of this myself, I¡¯m guessing he must be from some-¡± She fired at the floor in front of me and I jumped backwards. My stamina was slowly ticking upwards, and with a few more seconds I probably could use Center of the Universe to wrench the gun from her grip, but I still needed to stall for at least another moment to be able to ramp it up quickly enough. I could see my mission tracker light up at the side of my vision as my Snake Key quest shook ever so slightly. ¡°You know damn well who my husband is Loophole and you¡¯re gonna damn well know who I am too,¡± She said with a look of contempt, leveling the gun at me once again. ¡°My name is Giada Travisi, my husband is Salvatore Travisi. And he¡¯s on track to be the strongest Augment in the world, he¡¯s gonna own this place, you¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Salvatore¡­¡± I said as the realization hit me. ¡°Wait, is your husband Sal the Snake? How is that...¡± ¡°She¡¯s married to an NPC!? How is that even possible?! Angie, can you tell us anything at all here?¡± Jon asked as I trailed off before I could raise the exact same question aloud. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Codex, I am not authorized to discuss this NPC.¡± ¡°Of course you¡¯re not¡­ what the fuck is going on here¡­¡± Jon muttered as Giada continued her slow trot toward me. In the windows facing the pier, I caught the flash of red and blue lights coming up but still just out of view from Giada¡¯s line of sight. I resolved myself to stall just a bit longer, assuming that they had to navigate through the mess that was the pier. I didn¡¯t want to hurt this woman, especially since she seemed to be powerless and a Sapient person, but I also wasn¡¯t going to risk being shot either. I risked a glance over toward the stairwell and saw that the boy hadn¡¯t actually listened to his mother and was now peeking down around the railing. Whatever was happening here, the child definitely didn¡¯t deserve to see his mother getting hurt and I refused to let myself get caught in a situation where he¡¯d get hurt either, regardless of who he was. Giada''s stare could have cut through a well done steak as my eyes met hers once more. ¡°I hate that damn name these cretins have started calling him, his name is Snakebite to you fuckin¡¯ weaklings,¡± she snarled and held the gun up at me again. ¡°Now what the fuck are you after breakin¡¯ into our home for, we don''t keep anything related to the business here. How¡¯d you even find this place and who the fuck leaked it, I need to make sure we plug that hole before I get rid of you for him.¡± ¡°Snakebite is Sal? That doesn¡¯t make any sense, even Gio referred to them as two different people, he said Sal had vouched for him¡­¡± I said to Jon as I tried to think back to the interaction. ¡°Maybe it was a misdirect? I don¡¯t know¡­ that was still before I could hear and see all of what you see, so maybe you misheard him?¡± Jon offered and while it was tempting to agree to, I wasn''t quite sure that I had misheard him. The flash of red and blue lights had become impossible to ignore as they started to flash and pulse through the window. Even Giada finally acknowledged them as she looked over at the windows with a frustrated scowl. ¡°Well, looks like the cops are here Giada, let¡¯s put down the gun, there¡¯s no need for you to get wrapped up with these guys right now. I¡¯ll tell them you cooperated and you won¡¯t have to be taken away with them,¡± I said, trying to deescalate the situation. While I wasn¡¯t sure that was a promise I could keep since she was probably going to get arrested anyway, it didn¡¯t feel right having it happen with her son watching from only a dozen feet away. ¡°You damn heroes! Where the hell am I going to live now that you brought the cops here!? It took Sal four fuckin¡¯ years to get me out of that dump in Chelsea, I ain¡¯t going back!¡± Giada shouted. She was clearly panicking and not thinking straight if she actually thought she had a way to escape, and her expression seemed crazed as she looked over her shoulder at her son. ¡°Oswald, go, get downstairs now, we practiced for this. Grab your go-bag, we need to get out of here.¡± ¡°The gun now!¡± Jon ordered and I didn¡¯t hesitate as I activated Center of the Universe and ramped up the strength. With her attention distracted, the gun was quickly ripped from Giada¡¯s hand, causing her to nearly stumble forward as she looked back in time to realize what was happening. When the gun smacked into me, I instinctively tried to pull it into my B.E.L.T. but was met with a warning that read: ¡°Warning: This item was not system generated, you may not store it in your B.E.L.T.¡± The gun fell to the floor ahead of me and I met Giada¡¯s wide eyes as she tried to compose herself, watching as they went between me and the flashing lights in the window. She immediately turned, intent on running for the staircase when I reactivated Center of the Universe, this time focusing on people. Her son wasn¡¯t within range, but he was still in his hiding place and had to watch as his mother was suddenly pulled backwards toward me. ¡°What are you doing? Are you even allowed to arrest her like this?¡± Jon asked as I grabbed her and deactivated the skill. She struggled against my grip but she was still only human. ¡°She fired a gun at me, if that''s not worth at least a night in detention, I don''t know what is. Besides, at best she¡¯s simply married into a crime family somehow, but at worst¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I have this feeling that she knows something. I can¡¯t just let her get away,¡± I explained as I held her in place. She bucked wildly, shouting obscenities as I heard the clattering of new footsteps rushing up and onto the yacht. I turned my head to the side and yelled as loudly as I could. ¡°In here, I need some cuffs!¡± ¡°My hubby¡¯s gonna kill you for this!¡± Giada snarled, only stopping her frantic attempts at escape as her son started to descend the staircase. ¡°Oh Oswald! No, you need to run!¡± ¡°Mommy? What¡¯s going on?¡± the boy whimpered. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting given everything I had learned so far, but I highlighted the boy, wondering if it would give me any details on him. Unfortunately, it sent back the same [Unknown] error and it left me feeling off kilter as I heard people rushing into the room. ¡°Oswald please, run, don¡¯t look!¡± Giada cried out and my stomach turned. I looked back, confirming it was the police and not just some other men I had happened to miss and freed a hand to wave them forward. I couldn¡¯t make out Lt. Nester amongst the group, but the officers reacted and rushed forward as I turned to show the woman trying to escape from my grasp. ¡°Whoa there Loophole, I thought you guys only dealt with the Augment threats,¡± one of the officers, a lanky Hispanic man with a badge that read ¡°Mendez¡± on it, said. Even with his doubt though, he didn¡¯t hesitate as he pulled out a pair of cuffs and approached Giada. Another pair of officers rushed forward and blocked us from Oswald as one knelt to speak with him. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what I thought too,¡± I said turning my attention back to the officer. I held a still struggling Giada in place as Mendez secured the cuffs onto her wrists and took control of her from me. He began reading her her rights as another few cops stepped forward, each taking in the scene and moving to the downed grunts to get them each cuffed as well. ¡°Where do you end up taking all these guys anyway?¡± ¡°The bikers? We got a special place upstate we ship them all off too, you Augments bust so many of them, we¡¯d be filling the prisons to capacity if we tried to stuff all of them in there,¡± Mendez explained as a few officers walked over to the young Oswald, trying to block the sight of his mother in handcuffs. ¡°What about her? She pulled a gun on me and she says she¡¯s married to Salvatore Travisi, I¡¯ve fought him a couple of times now. The dude always looks like a giant snake-man so you can¡¯t really miss him. I¡¯d like to be able to come in and question her if that¡¯s possible¡­ you know, when she¡¯s behind a bit of glass,¡± I explained. Giada had started to calm down though her head still whipped back in my direction as I made my intentions clear. ¡°I ain¡¯t got nothin¡¯ to say to you,¡± She spat. ¡°I want my attorney, this is unlawful entry, he¡¯s not allowed to come in here!¡± ¡°U.S. Code AUG-1103: An Augment, deputized by the local police force, is allowed to enter any domicile their advanced sources deem to be involved in illegal activity. If you don¡¯t like it, write your congressman¡­ and you know¡­ maybe don¡¯t house over a dozen of the gang members that have been distributing drugs all over the neighborhood,¡± Mendez responded, almost robotically and I highlighted him out of curiosity. Sure enough, he was marked as a Non-Sapient NPC. He turned his attention back to me with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll have Lt. Nester contact you with the info you need to get a sit down with Mrs. Travisi once she''s been processed, you got anything else while I¡¯m here?¡± I thought about it for a second, eyeing the stack of notifications I still had to open but waved them away for the moment. I wasn¡¯t necessarily expecting to level up again just yet, but I felt like I had to be getting close. To that end, I let him know about the bronze den around the corner and that I was planning to hit it after I left the yacht before giving Giada a sympathetic look. There was so much more to her than she was telling me, and I needed to understand how she ended up married to a Non-Sapient NPC. Not just a random officer or shopkeeper either, but one that was directly involved in illegal activity.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your home, but I think there¡¯s something going on here and I intend to get to the bottom of it,¡± I said to her before she spat at my feet again. ¡°Oh you¡¯re gonna be sorry! Just you wait till Sal hears about what you¡¯ve done to me! He¡¯s gonna devour your entrails! He¡¯s gonna string you up over-¡± ¡°Mrs. Travisi... I¡¯d like to remind you that you have the right to remain silent¡­ I highly suggest you exercise that right before we have to send you upstate with your security detail,¡± Mendez said as he pulled her away from me, shooting me a tired look as Giada grumbled. The other officers had collected the grunts, some having to be pulled out on actual gurneys all while I started to look around the room. ¡°Angie, what the actual hell? I¡¯m not asking about her specifically since you¡¯ll just say you can¡¯t talk about her, but what the hell?! Why is a Non-Sapient NPC married to a real person?¡± I demanded once the room had been mostly cleared. The officers weren¡¯t fully leaving the scene just yet, but they were giving me space to investigate. ¡°Non-Sapient NPCs, especially ones that are deployed to major cities instead of locations like Sanctuary Square often find themselves embroiled in that real world. If they didn¡¯t behave like real people, it would kinda give away the whole thing, don¡¯t you think Loophole?¡± ¡°I mean¡­. I guess, but still look at what it¡¯s done¡­ and a kid? Like how the hell are these guys created? Are they actually designed to reproduce?! Isn¡¯t that going too far?¡± I asked as I wandered over by the television, looking toward the few photos that hadn¡¯t been within my zone when I had used Center of the Universe. ¡°Is this yacht even stolen? They went through a lot of trouble of putting up pictures of themselves and making it feel like an actual home¡­ you know¡­ if you didn¡¯t mind all the random thugs in leather vests walking around.¡± ¡°I took a look at some cameras in the area and found the ship¡¯s registration number while you were talking down Giada. Once I had that it was pretty easy to figure out that they either stole this thing or¡­ who knows, maybe they are actually renting it? You¡¯d be surprised by the things that are in public records. This ship is registered to one Andrew Merens, definitely not a Salvatore Travisi, but it¡¯s been available to rent through multiple different party and houseboat rental sites,¡± Jon explained as I looked closer at a photo of Giada holding a baby. There was a man with dark hair and a goatee standing next to her sporting a wide, friendly smile on his face, pointing at his son as if the boy was his pride and joy. ¡°I guess I never have seen what Sal looks like when he¡¯s not mostly a snake,¡± I muttered and took a look around the room again, now a mess after my rapid changes in gravity. ¡°I just don¡¯t get it¡­ if she¡¯s sapient how did she get wrapped up in all of this¡­¡± ¡°Hey Angie, what happens when a player chooses to go Miscreant early on, do they have to fight bikers or something like this for control over their first territory?¡± Jon asked, almost out of nowhere. ¡°Finally! Hell, I tried to bait Loophole into asking about it yesterday and he didn¡¯t even try to figure it out,¡± Angie groaned. ¡°Hey I was in the middle of dealing with my first den and all of the bullshit with Hydramental''s attitude,¡± I shot back as I looked in the stairwell. I could have headed upstairs, but I was curious why Giada had tried to get her son to run downstairs. I followed them down, being careful to step over the blood left by the now removed grunt and made my way to the lower levels. ¡°I mean, it would be helpful if just once you¡¯d offer useful information when you know I need it instead of trying to make it some sort of game.¡± ¡°It is a game, Loophole. I¡¯ve told you, if you want to know something you HAVE to ask. That''s the rule. Why is that so hard for you to remember?!¡± ¡°Can you not distract her,¡± Jon jumped in before I could reply, ¡°Angie, please. How do they do it?¡± ¡°Of course Codex, I¡¯d be happy to. While Guardians only have the option to eliminate and arrest the offending gang members to fully claim their territory, Miscreants actually have two options,¡± Angie explained happily. ¡°They can just go scorched earth and eliminate them all or they can take control of the force. This provides them with a ready stream of henchmen to further their goals and a way to quickly recruit more as they need them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ huh¡­¡± I said and thought about it for a few moments as I entered a large, open space. Though the back had a door that opened to the lowest outer deck, this room was practically an armory and there were still a few officers within the space, cataloging and taking pictures. There were lockers lining the sides of the walls and in the direct center of the room, there was an opening¡­ right into the water. Sitting, floating in the internal pool was a small submersible, tethered in place. ¡°Huh¡­ so she did have an escape plan¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ If they are renting this place¡­ the owner has to know about this¡­ right?¡± Jon asked. With the police still combing the area, something they generally didn¡¯t do if there was something that the game intended for me to find in it, I decided to head back upstairs and see if there was anything on the third deck instead. ¡°Angie, when they take over a group, do they get to¡­ I don¡¯t know, alter their henchmen to be more¡­ I guess¡­ thematically accurate?¡± ¡°Oooo good question Codex, gold star! So yes, they are given a suite of controls that allow them to give them whatever flavor they would like. I maintain that I don''t think that that should include things like providing NPCs with temporary Augmentation serums, that one is still very new, but Axio did say he was experimenting with things during this years wave, so that could be a byproduct. I can''t necessarily say what their suite includes at this point since you didn''t go Miscreant, so all of that is pure speculation mind you." Angie explained, rattling it off rather quickly. "Now, their influence over those groups has to be slowly spread, but a Miscreant that has enough initiative could find himself in control of a group of NPC minions that span multiple neighborhoods, thus giving them control of larger and larger territories. Of course, this all assumes they want to go that route to seize control as opposed to just using brute force to strike fear into the populace.¡± ¡°Okay, what does any of this have to do with Giada and more importantly Sal?¡± I asked as I came to find my way up to the third deck. It was a long hallway with only a few doors. Two of the three doors were swung open and I could see a bed in the one at the far end. ¡°Even if he was a Miscreant instead of a Non-Sapient, he¡¯s my level and the bikers have been here since I first woke back up. Giada said Sal fell in with the bikers three years ago, wouldn¡¯t that make him¡­ what, Eighth Wave? He¡¯d have to be way higher level at this point if he survived so far.¡± ¡°I think that would make him Seventh Wave if she¡¯s saying exactly 3 years ago, but that¡¯s a semantics sort of thing. You¡¯re definitely right though, either of those waves would be higher leveled than you,¡± Jon said and I felt myself stop in place as I walked up the hall as a sudden realization hit me. I pulled open my friend¡¯s list and quickly opened up a new message. ¡°You think he actually knows something? Hell, why wouldn¡¯t he have just told you about how it all works when you were talking to him?¡± Jon asked. This had been the first time I had sent a message when Jon had active access to my POV, so I was almost surprised that he was able to see it. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised after he told me that the screen that showed my vision outside of the Safe Room included my entire interface, but it was still good to know that I wouldn''t have to play a game of telephone to pass important information over to him. ¡°Honestly, knowing him I¡¯d bet he just eliminated all of them, Silver doesn¡¯t really seem like a ¡®henchmen¡¯ kinda guy. I could be wrong, but he didn¡¯t really give me that vibe, if that makes sense. Regardless, I¡¯m pretty sure he said he was in the Seventh Wave, which means it¡¯s as good a place to start as anywhere,¡± I explained as I looked into the first room, finding what was clearly a kid¡¯s bedroom, completely with a mess of toys littering the ground. I only spent a few minutes in the child''s room before I turned and made my way over to the other open bedroom. I wasn''t necessarily expecting a quick reply, but my message box refocused in my vision only a few moments after I left Oswald''s room. ¡°He is a really weird dude for being a Miscreant,¡± I muttered, briefly looking into the other bedroom before turning my attention to the last room. Unlike the first two, this one was closed and locked as well. There wasn''t an immediate key anywhere, and with Giada now in custody, I didn''t want to go down and ask if she had it hidden on her either. But my stamina had recovered quite a bit as I had taken the time to look around. With a quick jab, I threw a Gravity Punch with just 10% of my stamina that busted the door wide open. ¡°New Achievement! Lock Picker. Well that¡¯s certainly one way to get by that pesky lock, although I really think you¡¯re doing more damage to this place than you needed to. Anyway, I¡¯ll keep this brief since I¡¯m way more interested with all this Sal business right now. You used your powers to break through a locked door. If you had been unlucky enough to encounter a locked door before now, I''d have bet you''d already have received this achievement, but oh well here we are. This is a Wood level achievement. Reward: You have received a D:Tier loot box.¡± I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but a rather professional looking office wasn¡¯t it. There were more pictures and even some glass and gold awards on a large cabinet/bookshelf combo on the far wall of the space. Practically all of the photos included the man that I presumed to be Sal. Graduating from college, playing basketball at a local court, and more than a few photos of him in his leather vest, sitting atop a sleek, pastel blue bike. I expected those last ones given the collection of other photos and his presumed affiliation, but what I wasn¡¯t expecting were the pictures of a pair of younger boys. There were half a dozen framed photos of this pair, one of them sporting the same dark black hair that Sal had. One showed them playing in the leaves of fall, another had them dressed in matching wrestling gear in a school gym. But the final picture in the collection was the one that had stopped me in my tracks and was probably the most recent photo of the pair of boys. Sal was dressed, clearly in Augment like attire, with a sleek black mask and a huge smile spread over his face. He had an arm thrown over his younger brother, unfortunately caught shooting his brother a look that I felt should have precluded this picture from ever getting framed. The boy was younger, maybe 16 or 17 in the picture, but there was something about him that felt insanely familiar. I wasn¡¯t sure if I actually did recognize him or not, but I also knew exactly what feature my own mask had. Though I had met a few other Augments already, there were only a few I had spent more than a few minutes interacting with. It didn¡¯t matter to me that Jon hadn¡¯t been in the Command Room when I first met him, and after staring at the photo for maybe too long, I finally vocalized the suspicion that was quickly growing. ¡°Is that¡­ Hydramental?¡± Chapter 36

Corner of 11th and 52nd, Rooftop. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Sea and Sky (Contested by Miscreant: Firefist) Current Phase Points: 7680 End of Phase One: 02D:7H:36M:27S

Although I wanted to try to wrangle some answers out of Hydramental, his stubborn refusal to add me to his friend¡¯s list meant the only way I could do so would be by storming down to Chelsea and hunting him down. While his possible involvement with all this raised just so, so many questions, there really didn¡¯t seem to be any immediate benefit that would come from rushing down there to confront him. I walked or, I guess¡­ flew¡­ away from the first den adding 750 phase points to my total. Since the den was Silver ranked, Basebreaker alone netted me 500 points, and I surprisingly received points for not one but two Non-Sapient Augment Kills. Even though the grunt hadn¡¯t fully transformed, the serum he had injected made him count anyway. Between the level 6 Luca and the level 4 grunt, the phase gain was worth 250 points. With it pretty much only a stone''s throw away, I swooped into the Bronze den on the far side of the park. My new revolver bar had already proven its efficiency, and I rather quickly cleared out the few grunts that had been left to defend the place. Although I probably could have driven the fight into the streets to get an audience, I still had a natural instinct to keep fights as far away from Sapient NPCs as possible. With the Bronze den cleared out, I added an extra 250 points to my total before I found my way back to the top of the building I had spotted the yacht from. With Jon in the Command Room, I didn¡¯t need to pull out the physical map I had looted, especially given that the map I had only had the dens locations noted on it, whereas Jon got just a bit more information than I did. Of the remaining eight dens that I still had showing on the map, four of them were marked as Bronze, three were Silver, and one of them was Gold. Jon did a bit more digging and discovered that there were apparently three levels of dens higher than Gold still, but Angie insisted that those often didn¡¯t show up in an Augment¡¯s path until they had brought their level into at least the 20s. I took a seat on the edge of the roof, letting my feet dangle over as I took in the now mid-morning breeze. Although he was quick to give me the information on the dens, Jon had been relatively quiet while I tackled the den itself. I didn¡¯t necessarily need to banter with him while I fought, but his silence had still been noticeable nonetheless. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯ve been looking into it here, searching through some of the forums and Augment watch pages and I can¡¯t find anything on Snakebite. If multiple people hadn¡¯t already said the name, I¡¯d wonder if it was fake, hell, I¡¯m still sorta wondering that,¡± Jon said with a frustrated sigh. ¡°I even did some digging on Salvatore Travisi and it¡¯s pretty much the same. There¡¯s a few profiles out there, but none that look like the photos you saw on the ship.¡± ¡°Hmmm, well the dude is into criminal stuff now, it kinda makes sense to scrub his online presence if that¡¯s the case. It doesn¡¯t explain why you can¡¯t find anything on Snakebite if he was an Augment¡­ Wait, Angie, I could theoretically change my registered name if I wanted to, right?¡± I asked as I pulled the pack of gum out of my pocket and took a piece. ¡°Of course! Granted, unless you simultaneously change your costume, it might be hard to rename yourself in the eyes of the public community,¡± Angie said. ¡°I¡¯m still surprised no one has tried to call you Poophole yet. Am I not as funny as I think I am?¡± ¡°You¡¯re nowhere close to being as funny as you think you are,¡± I said as I looked at the bustling city. Angie let out a huff of frustration that I ignored as I continued. ¡°I wonder if Snakebite went by a different name when he started, it couldn¡¯t be that hard to check if Hydramental is the only Augment that¡¯s been associated with Chelsea, right?¡± ¡°Nah, that should be pretty easy to check, let me take a quick look,¡± Jon said. It took a few moments where I assumed he must have been searching before he actually spoke. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anything concrete or immediate, though if I were trying to line up the dates he would have been starting up, it¡¯s almost like a weird lack of news. Like, it¡¯s almost like basically anything associated with Sal has been scrubbed from the internet. You might have been on the nose with needing to talk to Giada. Hydramental would be good too but from the way you¡¯ve talked about him I have to assume he¡¯s got a major stick up his ass about whatever has happened with his brother. Again, that¡¯s assuming that that was him in the photo. It was a younger dude, how are you sure it was him?¡± I thought about it for a moment, starting to chew the gum as I pushed off the ledge and activated Personal Gravity Laws. Just the ability to float so freely was a feeling that I was quickly starting to find comfort in as the weightlessness seemed to ease the tension in my body. ¡°Stick with me here, do you remember what it felt like when you looked at me in my equipment before you had it fully confirmed?¡± I asked as I slowly moved across the sky, almost like I was literally walking on air. ¡°Yeah, it was that Who¡¯s That feature on your mask, right? The amount of control that Axio has even on those of us without Augmentation is kinda freaky the more I think about it. Like, pretty much until right before you confirmed my suspicion, that blurriness that came with the mask left me with this insanely intense feeling that I was completely wrong. I was really only positive enough to actually say something about it when you just trusted me to follow up on your mute ability,¡± Jon said and I could practically hear him tapping at his chin. ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with Hydramental though? The dude in the photo wasn¡¯t wearing a mask.¡± ¡°It was just¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I haven¡¯t actually been on the other side of the¡­ well mask¡­ but I sorta feel like it¡¯s probably the same feeling? Maybe it¡¯s because I met Hydramental in costume first, but when I looked at that photo it was like I had this uneasy feeling that I had met him somewhere before,¡± I explained, flipping myself as I floated above the park and looked down toward it. The blood didn¡¯t rush to my head as I hung there, which I had to assume was a side effect of my Personal Gravity Laws. ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s a hunch based on limited information, I¡¯ll give you that. Maybe that¡¯s why I¡¯m not in such a big hurry to go flying down there to confront him. Well that and I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯d say¡­ Like, how the hell do you just approach someone you¡¯ve only met once and go, ¡®Hey dude, remember that Snake dude we fought? Yeah, so was that your brother or some sort of resurrected version of him? I know, I know, suuuuuuper weird question, I just saw a picture of you with him back before¡­¡¯¡± ¡°Huh? What¡¯s up?¡± Jon asked as I suddenly trailed off in thought. ¡°Hydramental was in a picture with his brother¡­ before he himself got involved in the game,¡± I said, looking around the park as I put together the myriad of details I had learned over the last few days. I could see a few people had noticed my presence and were pointing up, signaling for others to look as well. I waved at them with a smile on my face, performing a small full flip in the air before returning to an upside down lounge, eliciting cheers from the smaller children, simply excited to see someone doing something super. ¡°I wonder if Snakebite broke the Secret Identity rule¡­¡± ¡°Oooo yeah that wouldn¡¯t be a good thing to do,¡± Angie chirped. ¡°You¡¯ve been lucky enough to avoid having to deal with the Threats so far, but they are nasty things to have to confront. I¡¯d be interested to see how many of the Augments in your wave survived the Minor Threat¡¯s that were deployed last night.¡± ¡°You know, given how I got brought into this, I guess I hadn¡¯t thought enough about the rule to look it up. Doesn¡¯t it just suppress you before you can say something?¡± Jon asked. ¡°No, that was what happened when I tried to mention the game aspect of all of it. The Secret Identity rule just puts in place consequences if you actively tell someone who you are,¡± I explained. I was a bit surprised that he hadn¡¯t looked it up, especially given the fact that Angie had already warned him about sharing information with online communities. Although in hindsight that may have been in regards to the actual game and not just Augments, I hadn¡¯t actually taken the time to probe too far into what Jon had learned from her on his own. ¡°Huh, isn¡¯t that kinda weird though? Like, what¡¯s the point of the rule if you don¡¯t get punished or have anything negative happen if someone discovers your identity on their own?¡± Jon replied and I navigated my way toward another roof as my stamina ticked under 50%, just as I set myself down, a notification window popped open. ¡°Personal Gravity Laws. Movement Ability. This ability has increased to Level 2. The base level stamina drain for this ability has been reduced to 4.75 stamina per second of use. This ability has not been augmented.¡± While the speed in which the ability had leveled up compared to my other abilities felt rather fast, I had been using it far more continuously than the others, so it made a bit of sense. I could have easily gotten distracted by this and tried to probe Angie for information, but Jon had actually raised a good point. ¡°I suppose it is kinda weird when you actually say it like that. I guess I just saw it as a sort of loophole in the system,¡± I said and a laugh escaped me, ¡°Hell, it was kinda where the name came from in the first place.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Perfectly formed jokes about your name aside, the connection between it and your powerset has always been a stretch at best,¡± Angie said. ¡°I just don¡¯t get the point of having a rule like that if there¡¯s a way to so easily exploit it,¡± Jon wondered aloud. I bit my tongue as I scanned the horizon and briefly thought I could see a speck flying far to the North but it vanished just as quickly as I spotted it. Axio was only stopping Angie from hearing my internal thoughts on his comments to me, but he hadn¡¯t necessarily said there would be a suppression effect if I did bring it up. I was tempted to try, but Axio¡¯s implication that there was someone else that could be listening was still stuck in my head. The worst part about it was that it felt like a catch-22. While my gut was telling me that he wasn¡¯t, Axio certainly could have been lying just to keep me from saying something for whatever reason he could think of, but I wouldn¡¯t know for sure unless I did say something. And even then that would only be if there was some sort of immediate reaction to my revelation. Hell, even if there was a reaction, it could just be something Axio himself deploys. Simply put, there really were just too many factors to consider. With the mystery of Sal still at hand, I didn¡¯t think it was prudent to get sidetracked on things that seemed leagues out of our control. And if Axio¡¯s plotting and tinkering behind the scenes was anything, it was definitely leagues out of my control. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s work on the theory that Snakebite broke the rule instead of Hydramental figuring it out¡­ Angie, would Axio utilize Augments that have died to¡­ I don¡¯t know, clone NPCs? We never have really gotten into how they are made¡­ grown¡­ Look I just have a lot of questions, especially given that Giada back there thinks that the current Sal we¡¯ve been seeing is her husband. Can you give all the information that you¡¯re allowed to give me on the Non-Sapient¡¯s¡­. Production, I guess?¡± I asked as I walked over the empty building top, letting my stamina slowly rise back to the top. ¡°Okay that is quite a lot, but let me try to explain in the most logical order. To head off one of the first questions I¡¯m sure you or Codex will want to ask in follow up, the original source of this technology is from a classified location and I am not able to provide information on that. However the actual process itself has not been deemed classified as it is often expected for Guardian-coded Augments to find spawning locations to shut down. While the overall process is rather complex and I don¡¯t believe you have the necessary knowledge levels to fully comprehend, I can give you a generalized explanation that should satisfy your question,¡± Angie said before she cleared her non-existent throat. ¡°Non-Sapient NPCs are vat-grown, combining dead tissue and biomass into full sized human forms. over the course of a few days, depending on the variety that is needed. The NPCs capable of being Augmented require more genetic material than the run of the mill NPCs used as cannon fodder. As I¡¯ve mentioned those augmentation shots we have been seeing are new, so it¡¯s possible the growing process for the simpler models hasn¡¯t been adjusted to allow them to access those injections safely. To the best of my knowledge bases, NPCs are not generally cloned from pre-existing humans, though no formal rule about it has ever been established.¡± ¡°Sheesh¡­ I get I shouldn¡¯t be surprised by the technology existing or anything, especially with all the Augments that are running around, but it¡¯s still almost creepy to think that these folks are just¡­ among us, and are essentially little more than puppets,¡± Jon said and I was surprised to hear him sounding less enthused than normal. ¡°You know, it¡¯s kinda nice hearing you not immediately geeking out about at least a part of this craziness. I was almost starting to think you were going full super-villain when you got excited about the prospect of kaijus destroying a city,¡± I said with a laugh. I thought about it for a moment and then decided to add, ¡°Thank you Angie, I appreciate the rundown.¡± ¡°That is my job!¡± Angie chirped back, clearly pleased with herself before her tone turned. ¡°If I may offer an opinion on this situation though.¡± ¡°You? Offering up something freely? Color me both surprised and skeptical,¡± I asked, trying not to sound too incredulous. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hear it and the bad punchline that comes with it.¡± ¡°I believe you two may be jumping to conclusions,¡± she said rather flatly. ¡°How so?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Well leaving aside that as you¡¯ve pointed out Codex, Hydramental¡¯s involvement is only suspected at best, your assumptions so far are being based on your own limited knowledge. I was not given the time to fully explain on the yacht, but when a Miscreant takes control of a local NPC contingent, they are given access to a suite of controls that allows them to control the flavor and type of NPCs that their gang will provide, this includes fine control over the powerset suites available for the Augmented NPC henchmen that comes with those contingents. They are even able to customize the name of their men, as long term observation has proven some Augments are more prone to theatricality than others.¡± ¡°So¡­ you think this is just a major coincidence? The real Sal is actually hiding out somewhere and has an NPC with his name and powerset just roaming around?¡± I asked as I looked over the edge of the roof. My gut still twisted when I looked down while my flying ability wasn¡¯t activated and I averted my eyes quickly. ¡°I¡¯m just pointing out it¡¯s the most logical answer given the scope of normal Miscreant/NPC relations. I¡¯d also like to point out, you are only assuming Snakebite and the Sal you have fought so far have the same powerset,¡± Angie explained. ¡°She brings up a good point, Salvatore isn¡¯t exactly a common name but it¡¯s not like it¡¯s super rare either, especially in New York,¡± Jon jumped in. ¡°Plus she¡¯s right, I wasn¡¯t exactly here when you dealt with Hydramental, so we are really trusting that your hunch about the dude in the photo is right. But unless you saw Sal before he transformed we can¡¯t even be sure if the Augment in the photo you saw is the same dude.¡± ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I said and trailed off. Maybe I didn¡¯t want to admit they were right, but Angie¡¯s explanation felt too neat and it didn¡¯t explain everything either. I shook my arms out and cracked my head to the side as I tried to refocus myself. They were right, we really were getting into the weeds of things. ¡°This probably is more of a mystery than we can figure out in a morning¡­ I guess all we can really do is just keep knocking out the points to push me over 10,000, then we can focus on this bigger mystery. Hell, with 8 more dens, maybe I¡¯ll find some more clues. I have a notebook I scooped up after fighting Sal the first time, plus this burner phone I managed to snag in the fight before you got dragged into all of this. I haven¡¯t really even taken time to really investigate either of them with everything going on. We can probably drop it all for now, at least until Lt. Nester contacts me whenever Giada is processed and I can start by trying to get her to spill what Snakebite''s powers are supposed to be, at least to see if him and the Sal I have fought have the same powerset.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that is a very prudent way to go about it. Mysteries are all well and good, but I¡¯d rather you not twiddle your thumbs just because you¡¯ve happened to make good progress on getting to the 10,000 required points,¡± Angie said. ¡°Hell, if he takes care of all of the bronze and silver dens, just from Basebreaker alone he¡¯d cross the line, I think that alone makes that course of action the best laid plan.¡± Jon added in as I heard him let out a loud yawn. ¡°Okay, Angie, I know he has the map but it¡¯s not like he¡¯s gonna fly around with it out. If I give you the addresses to the 4 bronze dens, can you please properly relay them to Loophole here without sending him running in circles for the rest of the morning? Even though I want to throw myself fully into this, I do still have to finish the wiring job for Mr. Greyson since that¡¯ll cover our rent for two months. I can¡¯t exactly back out of that commitment now.¡± ¡°Well if you¡¯re going to ask so nicely, I suppose I certainly could do that for you Codex. Plus I have to admire just how responsible you are,¡± Angie responded with a purr before she suddenly started to giggle. ¡°I mean, it would be funny to send him running in circles, but that wouldn¡¯t necessarily be prudent for the time being.¡± ¡°Okay good,¡± Jon said. ¡°I think you should probably hit level 7 by the time you get through at least a few of those dens. I¡¯m not seeing a ¡®Level Up Imminent¡¯ message but I¡¯d have to assume it¡¯s coming soon. Once you do, shoot me a text and meet me back here. It¡¯s just your stat points but we should be able to unlock that Refractions of Reality book and I really want to see what that¡¯s going to do once you absorb it. Sound like a plan?¡± ¡°Yeah that sounds like as good of a plan as any,¡± I said as I pushed off the ledge and started to float again. ¡°Good¡­ and if you do happen to discover anything else that is like, obviously pressing, shoot me a text that just says something like ¡®CR Now¡¯ and I¡¯ll know to get back to the Command Room, okay? Now I gotta run, later man,¡± He rattled off quickly. Before I could even fully tell him ''later'' in return, I could briefly hear a door close before a new message appeared. ¡°Codex has left the Command Room, communication has been lost.¡± ¡°Okay Angie, looks like it''s just you and me again,¡± I said as I turned and looked over the rest of my neighborhood. ¡°I¡¯d say just like old times but it¡¯s barely been 24 hours since it was just you and I,¡± she giggled. ¡°Should I start with further comments about how attractive I think Codex is or should we go with the old classics and I just lob random insults at you to see which if any will actually finally bother you?¡± ¡°How about you just tell me where the closest of these dens are,¡± I suggested and I heard her sigh. ¡°Fiiiiine don¡¯t be fazed by my jokes, that¡¯s not annoying to me at all¡­ There¡¯s one three blocks to the east on 8th Avenue, just on the edge of the neighborhood. If you head on over, I¡¯ll highlight the correct building for you when you are within range,¡± she said. ¡°Just because you¡¯ve learned to ignore me thanks to Codex, don¡¯t think that means I¡¯m going to drop it¡­ Just means I have to try harder.¡± ¡°Trust me Angie, at this point I think it¡¯s strange when you are just helpful,¡± I said, orienting myself and then taking off, quickly hurtling toward the east. Chapter 37 ¡°Congratulations! You have reached Level 7, please return to your Safe House to assign stat points and additional attributes!¡± I had just finished taking the third Bronze den remaining down when the level up notification appeared and I was quick to text the alert back to Jon. He just as quickly responded with a thumbs up but nothing else. I had pretty much hit the ground running on the first of the remaining Bronze dens. I did what I could to make sure that none of my enemies had time to react, refining my assault strategy with each new den and the strategy had paid off. It was barely noon as I looked down at the mess of knocked out grunts that littered the floor of the dilapidated apartment building¡¯s lobby. I went through my process of looting them, gathering a few random weapons and another good haul of credits to add to an already decent morning. My B.E.L.T.¡¯s currency display showed I was sitting at just over 22,000 credits between the looted bodies and rewards from the 10th precinct. Once I was sure I hadn¡¯t missed anything, the bronze dens so far having literally nothing of interest even with more thorough searches, I pushed the front of the building open and ushered the waiting police officers in. It was another slew of random faces and I acknowledged that they had taken control of the scene. Although no one had gotten into the den to actually see the fight, a surprisingly large crowd had gathered behind the police line and gave me a huge cheer as I emerged. Although I was certainly starting to take to the fights that came with being an Augment, the sudden swell of people still left me feeling a bit uneasy. I could hear cries of ¡°We love you Loophole!¡± and ¡°Yeah, get those punks out of our neighborhood!¡± and I acknowledged them with as friendly of a smile as I could muster before I launched myself upward into the sky and away from the crowd. ¡°One of these days I¡¯ll get used to being up close with crowds like that, but this is not that moment,¡± I muttered to myself as I looked back down at the gathering crowd, each pulling out their phones to point toward me. ¡°Nah, stay awkward Loophole, it makes your interactions with others far more hilarious to me.¡± I rolled my eyes before putting on the speed, whipping up and over the buildings. Although I didn¡¯t have a map of the area, and it was certainly a lot harder to navigate from above without street signs to guide me, I had at least made a point of really memorizing what the roof of my building looked like before that first flight. Even then, I had to circle once before I set myself down, making sure the nearby buildings didn''t look like carbon copies. I shook my arms out and disabled my gear before I walked toward the entrance to the stairwell, not wanting to raise any questions just in case there was anyone else on the stairs. I eyed the slew of remaining notifications that had piled up and cracked my neck to the side as I opened the door. I had to climb down 4 flights of stairs so it wasn¡¯t a bad time to let the notifications run through. ¡°Phase Points Gained! Basebreaker! You¡¯ve disrupted an enemy base within a territory you have an active claim on. Value equal to Base¡¯s Rank (Bronze equals one, Silver equals two, etc.) times 250. Total Value: 250 points. Rising Fame (NEW)! Your reputation has risen in rank! This gain has a static value. Total Value: 350 points.¡± ¡°Reputation Increased! You have gone from Unknown Vigilante to Local Hero. You are now eligible to claim Small Town and equivalent sized territories.¡± ¡°Hey Angie, how many Reputation ranks are there?¡± I asked as the window faded and a stack of abilities that had each leveled up came up next. ¡°There are 10 ranks that scale with the 10 levels of territories. As I mentioned previously, the Community Center that Hell¡¯s Kitchen is included in would count as equivalent to a Small Town. Though I¡¯m sure locals would disagree with our categorizing of the area as ''small'' but it is simply semantics that help to keep things rather streamlined.¡± ¡°Makes as much sense as anything,¡± I said as I awkwardly nodded at an older woman passing by me. I let the ability screens appear and fade one at a time, actually a bit surprised that I had leveled more than one following that last den. ¡°Super Luck. This ability has increased to Level 2. Luck within your local area is now subtly affected by .2% for every 1 point of luck that you have.¡± ¡°Gravity Punch. This ability has increased to Level 2. Every 5% of your stamina put into this skill now deals an additional 60% damage up to a maximum of 600% increased damage. This ability has not been augmented.¡± ¡°Center of the Universe. This ability has increased to Level 2. Initial pull rate increased to 6 meters per second with the strength diminishing by .75 meters per second for every 5 feet from the center of your local area the affected targets are. This ability has not been augmented.¡± "Float Like A Butterfly. This ability has increased to level 3. The duration of this skill has increased from 15 seconds to 20 seconds. This ability has not been augmented." ¡°Sting Like a Bee. This ability has increased to Level 3. Successful strikes now impart 35% increased damage. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Time Adjustment.¡± Like with my flight ability, both Gravity Punch and Center of the Universe were quickly finding a lot of use. Their low to no cooldowns made them easy to use in rapid succession, which made them leveling up more expected than not. I might have been surprised about Super Luck leveling up, but given it had just been working its magic for me in the background, I felt more relieved that it finally had ticked over. As for the other two, well they had always been key moves in my set, so I wasn¡¯t at all surprised to see them moving up. It was the final notification that part of me knew I should have felt nervous about, yet the nerves never seemed to come. ¡°Threat Level Increased. Your rapid assault on the Viper¡¯s gang has caused you to become seen as a greater threat to their goals and they have increased their activity within your territory. There will be an heightened difficulty Crime Alert within Hell¡¯s Kitchen deployed within the next 2 hours. Due to the increased range granted to you by your movement ability, you will now be notified of Crime Alerts that happen anywhere within Hell¡¯s Kitchen.¡± ¡°Yo!¡± Jon said, his voice coming out garbled as I pushed the door open. He was huddled over the kitchen table, shoving a sandwich into his mouth to take another bite. ¡°Did you just see that notification?¡± I asked and he shook his head before swallowing. ¡°Nah, unless Angie reads it out while I''m in the Command Room or you''re inside of the Safe House here, I don''t get to hear it, even then I only see the notifications if I''m actively looking at the view screen I have for your P.O.V. Gonna guess you dinged from the dens? How many did you get through?¡± ¡°Well. yeah, just crossed over to 7 actually, but apparently the bikers don¡¯t like how busy I¡¯ve been. I cleared three of the bronze dens and now there''s apparently gonna be a harder Crime Alert coming soon,¡± I explained as I walked over into the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge. ¡°The alert just popped up before I got here.¡± ¡°Ahhh, well nope, didn¡¯t see that one. I wasn¡¯t sure if you were gonna bother to slow down so I was planning on bothering you so that we could refresh your Well Fed buff, but yah texted me before I was able to get back to the apartment. If you did ding, then it¡¯s definitely good timing. We can get you fed up and back out there before the alert hits,¡± he explained and nodded over to a wrapped sub on the other side of the table before he went in for another bite of his own. ¡°Cuban from Tio¡¯s?¡± I asked and he nodded as my stomach growled in anticipation. I walked back over and grabbed a seat as I set my soda onto the table. Although maybe I should have been out there waiting for the alert to hit, getting my buff refreshed was definitely a necessity. ¡°Okay, so am I still doing 2 into Luck? If so, should I just drop 2 into Intelligence to finish it off for the level? I¡¯m gonna need it to be at 10 to absorb the Quantum Shenanigans book.¡± Jon held up a finger for a minute, chewing down the large bite he had taken before reaching for his own soda to chase it down with. ¡°He¡¯s even cute when he doesn¡¯t realize there¡¯s mustard on his chin,¡± Angie giggled and Jon immediately reached for a napkin. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that¡­ well sorta. It¡¯s more that I¡¯ve been thinking about how we are distributing your points. Obviously you have plenty of skills that are still scaling with your Luck and we want to keep increasing it, but I¡¯m just wondering if we are seeing diminishing returns by doing 2 points every single time. Maybe I¡¯m trying to min-max you a bit too hard, I don¡¯t know for sure and maybe I''m even wrong with my line of thinking here, but there¡¯s some stuff we hadn¡¯t considered when we first talked about point distribution.¡± ¡°How so?¡± I asked, opening the soda and taking a long drink. ¡°Well, now that we know that your Strength not only increases how hard you hit but has a direct effect on your stamina, I think we need to make sure, at a minimum, we balance how you drop points between Luck and Strength,¡± he explained and then took another drink before letting out a rather loud refreshed sigh. ¡°As for Intelligence, you only need another point dropped into it to use Refractions for now. I¡¯d say stick with a single point this time and then drop 2 in on the next level so that you can use it then instead of dropping in a point now for no inherent gain. Then the extra point this level can just go into Luck or Strength to double up. That one is sorta dealer¡¯s choice but I¡¯d say go with hitting harder. The main point would be to just alternate every level. One level we double up Luck, one level we double up Strength unless you suddenly get an ability that stacks based on one of your other abilities. It''s honestly kinda a shame that there''s no way for you to train these stat points without the level ups.¡± ¡°Yeah, guess I never really thought about it too much... been doing that way too much with all of this but I think that''s a side effect of the Acceptance Matrix... right Angie?" I wondered as I tapped a finger against the side of the soda can. "It is yes, again, the Matrix is designed to ensure new Augments stay focused on the tasks at hand and don''t have panic attacks over the rapid change to their perspective on the world," She explained. "Yeah, I think I''m glad I don''t have one of those," Jon said with a raised brow. "Can''t you disable it?" I felt my stomach turn at the thought and I shook my head. "I could, I think... but I kinda think I need it. Angie''s right, it does kinda help me just stay in the zone." "Huh... well ok, if it works it works," he said with a shrug and took a bit before adding slightly garbled, "Now get those points dropped." "Yeah... okay I think I¡¯ll double Strength then, it is lagging a bit behind my Luck. I suppose if I really wanted to unlock the Quantum book faster I could run back to the Square and see if that Belt was still in stock, though I''d almost have to imagine it got scooped up with that cooldown feature,¡± I said as I distributed the points. Another notification quickly popped up as soon as the stat window vanished. ¡°Your Action Bars have expanded! All Bars on your Revolver now have an additional Activated and Passive Ability slot.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Oh sweet, I wasn¡¯t expecting that for another few levels,¡± I said as I considered the newly empty slots. I only had 3 passive abilities so far, so I added Misfire back to my bar for both revolvers. Our training session the previous night really had focused on abilities that I could really use to deal out some damage, but we hadn¡¯t really put much thought into passives, something we were probably going to want to revisit. ¡°Yeah that definitely gives you a few more options. What else are you thinking about adding to the Fight Time bar? One of the other new ones?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I said as I unwrapped the sandwich and took a minute to take a large bite. My Well Fed buff had expired and I wasn¡¯t intending on staying in the safe house for too long, so I wanted to get the buff refreshed before I headed out for the Silver dens. After I swallowed that first perfect bite I continued. ¡°Freeze is useful but I think it¡¯s really situational, especially since the liquid has to be unpackaged for me to affect it. I only used it one more time after the yacht and I really think I have to thank Misfortune Abound more than the frozen puddle for the enemy that got KOed off of it the second time. So I was debating swapping that one off, I¡¯m just not quite sure what for. Earthbound Impact has a similar situational issue to it. It¡¯s not much help in most of the dens when the bikers aren¡¯t just hanging out on the back of a yacht, but given that I just got an alert that there¡¯s gonna be some more Crime Alerts, it¡¯s probably a good idea to have a strong entrance.¡± ¡°Well how about you absorb Refractions of Reality and we can see what it¡¯s going to do to your abilities. Let me get to my seat really quickly so I can watch it from my end,¡± Jon said as he stood up. ¡°If it does something good, I could see Mirror Image falling onto your Fight Time bar, just as a good distraction mid-fight.¡± I materialized the book onto the table and quickly absorbed it, watching as the book dissolved into a flash of light just as quickly as it shimmered into reality. ¡°Your Optical Refraction Knowledge has increased to Level 6. ALERT: Two of your abilities have evolved. Please Note: The evolution of these abilities will not remove the original, weaker ability from your Ability Catalog. Evolved abilities will have the option to transfer the original ability¡¯s augmentations to it.¡± ¡°Oh shit, it wants to change both Mirror Image and Trick of the Light,¡± Jon called out to me and I stood up, carrying the half-eaten sandwich with me as I opened the first of the two screens. ¡°Mirror Image has evolved to: Fun House. Would you like to transfer Augmentation: Recording to it?¡± I thought about it for a moment, rereading the ability twice before Jon and I decided moving the augmentation was probably for the best. Although this automatically took one of its three augmentation slots, the sudden expansion of the effect of Mirror Image left me positive that I probably wouldn¡¯t be using the lesser version any time soon. ¡°Fun House. Level 1 Activated Ability. Creates 3 afterimages of yourself in randomized locations within your Local Area that will mirror your visible movements. You may choose to turn invisible for up to 10 seconds when you activate this ability and leave a 4th afterimage in your place. This ability has a 10 minute cooldown and costs 10% of your stamina. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Recording.¡± ¡°Trick of the Light has evolved to: Spectrum Veil. There are no augmentations to transfer.¡± I pulled open the new skill, wondering how Trick of the Light could have even changed, and found myself pleasantly surprised as I went in to take another bite of my quickly dwindling lunch. I wasn¡¯t sure if the way my abilities were being generated were directly connected to my recent knowledge on the difference between static and flexible cost skills, but I had things to do and knew Angie would probably just blame me for not asking earlier¡­ Which wasn¡¯t exactly something I could argue with. ¡°Spectrum Veil. Level 1 Activated/Passive Ability. Passive Effect: Creates a permanent shimmer directly around your body, causing cameras and telescopic lenses to improperly focus on you. This Passive effect can be disabled but must be reenabled manually. Activated Effect: Warp the light around your body, rendering you invisible to all visible waves of light. The activated portion of this ability costs 50 stamina per second to use and has no cooldown.¡± The activated portion of the skill was certainly costly, even with the increase to my stamina from the Well Fed buff that reappeared on my status bar as I finished my sandwich. But it was the added passive ability that made the ability even more curious. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t that passive have a cost? It feels like it should have a cost given that it¡¯s a persistent effect,¡± Jon said before I could get the question out myself. ¡°This is a side effect of having higher levels of knowledge! Some abilities, when evolved from abilities that you have initially created, will generate these secondary passive effects and generally speaking, as long as the passive does not provide an immediate damaging effect, it will fall into this No Cost category. Additionally, some abilities when evolved, if they don''t generate a passive effect, will have a chance to alter from having a percentage-based cost to a variable-based cost,¡± she explained. ¡°I did say that there were benefits to higher leveled knowledge, but given the somewhat unique flavor of Loophole¡¯s abilities, I couldn¡¯t disclose the information on the chance that your abilities and utilization of the knowledge operated differently.¡± ¡°I feel like that¡¯s just you lying as a way to hide the fact that you willingly chose not to disclose everything when we were talking about this earlier¡­¡± I said and rolled my eyes. ¡°Whaaaaat me? Noooo I would never do-¡± She started, her voice cutting off briefly before a new window appeared. ¡°Crime Alert! Snake Rampage! A few of the Viper gang bikers in snake form have been spotted rampaging their way down 9th Avenue, calling your name and claiming you lack the power to stop them. They were last seen causing random destruction to vehicles crossing 35th street. Stop them before they cross into Chelsea! Reward: You will receive 10,000 Credits and a Large Reputation Boost for stopping their rampage. This reward will be forfeited if any of them escape and you will lose Reputation Points equivalent to a Medium Reputation Boost. You have 10 minutes until they exit Hell¡¯s Kitchen.¡± ¡°Well isn¡¯t that just convenient,¡± I groaned as the timer started to tick down. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re gonna need to get moving, you just ranked up, I¡¯d be willing to bet letting them escape would just knock you back down and I¡¯d be willing to bet there¡¯s some sort of negative consequence for losing a Reputation rank, isn¡¯t there Angie,¡± Jon said as he started to activate specific screens in the Command Room. ¡°That¡¯s correct, though not completely. Losing a Reputation Rank has a variable outcome, anywhere from a Major Level threat being deployed to your location or you ceding your claim to a territory you actively lose your rank within,¡± Angie explained. ¡°Cool, guess I¡¯m just wasting time standing around then,¡± I said and clapped my hands together. I could certainly run for the roof, but they were nearly at the southernmost edge of Hell¡¯s Kitchen and time mattered here. I dropped Spectrum Veil into the newly formed slot on my ability bar and then eyed the rest of my skills. If there were going to be multiple snakes, I didn¡¯t think I could reliably utilize Freeze with my remaining venom vials to distribute enough of the weakness. I could certainly try to mimic how I handled Luca, but if the Snakes were spread far enough out, I¡¯d end up wasting more than I wanted to use and I didn¡¯t want to empty out my stock of the stuff either. Luckily, I still had two guns soaked with venom and dropped Fun House in Freeze¡¯s place on the bar. The ability showed the two preset recordings that I had made for Mirror Image were already available, but also included a ¡®Mirror Visible Movements¡¯ option. ¡°Wait, where are you going?¡± Jon asked, looking over his shoulder as I walked toward the window that led to our fire escape. ¡°Roof will take too long,¡± I said, throwing the window open and activating my gear at the same time. ¡°It could certainly burn a ton of stamina if I keep the veil activated for too long, but it¡¯ll at least get me clear of the building for a quick burst use.¡± Before Jon could follow up or make me question my decision, I simultaneously activated Spectrum Veil and Personal Gravity Laws, launching myself up and away from the building. My stamina quickly started to drop and I deactivated the veil once I was clear of the roof. I oriented myself to the south and took off. ¡°I definitely think that should be an emergency exit only, that took out like, 10% of your Stamina in the blink of an eye there,¡± Jon¡¯s voice echoed in my head for a moment as I flitted my way across the neighborhood. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong but I¡¯m not risking letting them cross into Chelsea,¡± I said, scanning the streets as I tried to find my way to 9th. As I put on the speed, making quick work cutting my way across the few blocks that separated me from the southern edge of the neighborhood I quickly caught sight of the trail of destruction the pack had left. ¡°Um¡­ Angie¡­ that¡¯s way more than ¡°a few¡±,¡± I heard Jon say as I darted a hundred feet over head of a group of at least a dozen snake-men. They were attacking cars at random and a crowd of onlookers were fleeing in every direction. For what it was worth, it didn¡¯t seem like the snakes were making it a point of trying to chase after the fleeing civilians, but any and all property that got in their way was met with vicious strikes and attacks. I turned toward the sky and flew up higher, wanting to make sure I would hit the maximum strength on my Earthbound Impact when a sudden large flash of icy blue materialized both directly behind and in front of the line of snake-men slithering their way south along the road. Large ice walls had covered the entirety of the street on either side of them, locking them between two large buildings as the gang whipped their heads around. I mimicked them, looking for the source before I spotted what looked like a speck of a person wearing blue on either edge of the road, just inside of the ice walls. One of them suddenly shimmered as their outfit changed to a bright yellow color and a sudden flash of an electrical arc went flying from the source. I followed the lightning to the gang and I saw the tightly packed snakes all seem to suddenly seize from the current jumping from one to the other. They were being held in place, but it didn''t look like they were going down. A part of me knew that there was no way that this was a coincidence, but that didn¡¯t matter, Hydramental and I had been thrown at the same task unknowingly before and I certainly wasn¡¯t about to let him get all of the credit for taking these guys down, especially since they were still in my territory. Quickly picking a spot at the center of the grouping and hopefully far enough away from the Hydramental clone, I activated Earthbound Impact and went hurtling down into the center of the Vipers. The sound echoed off of the walls of the buildings and ice as my impact left a crater in the cement and sent the entire group of snake-men scattering and collapsing to the ground. The arc of electricity continued to skip between them and I followed up my landing by activating Ring of Fire. A sudden burst of fire shot outward from my body and I directed it to stay low toward the ground. The fire licked over each of the snakes and elicited sharp cries of pain from more than a few of them. I only held the ability for a second to avoid burning through too much of my stamina though and the fire evaporated as I let the ability go. ¡°New Achievement! Alley-Oop! You comboed an ability off of another Augment¡¯s ability, doubling the damage of both of your attacks on a group of susceptible enemies. Yup it even counts if the person you comboed off of had no intention of getting your help. This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°Oh fucking hell, not you... Not only do you have to crash my party, you have the gall to use one of my elements?¡± I heard three voices echo together and looked around. The attack had taken down 8 of the 12 snakes and I was barely able to highlight one of them to discover they were only level 5 before the body dissolved into ash. The 4 that still remained had taken a large hit to their bars, but at level 7 it wasn''t enough to take them out right away and they were starting to slowly recover from the shock they had been given. "If you could fucking do all of that, why''d you make me do all the fucking work back on the train?!" The blue version of Hydramental had reappeared on the inner side of his icy wall and I looked around, picking out his red version. Not at all surprisingly given the light show I had just seen, I also found a yellow shirted Hydramental had joined the original pair. ¡°Ah I get it now. You didn¡¯t want to add me to your friend¡¯s list because you knew you were just gonna make more of your own,¡± I said before I could stop myself. Given that I knew I needed to get some information out of him, I probably shouldn¡¯t have been going out of my way to antagonize him, but normal people might have appreciated the helping hand instead of immediately going on the assault. The yellow Hydramental shot me a look that felt like he was about to throw a bolt of lightning at me when a sudden clang interrupted us. ¡°Now now fellassssss,¡± a familiar screeching voice said and I turned, looking around and finding Sal pulling his way out of yet another manhole. His level had somehow jumped all the way up to 9 since the last time I had seen him and the four remaining non-elites were gathering around him as they recovered from their shock. ¡°As-ssss fun as-ssss it would be to watch you two tear each other apart¡­ that¡¯sssss their job.¡± Chapter 38 ¡°Get the fuck outta the way Loophole,¡± The triplicated voices shouted before I felt the buzz of electricity cut through my area. A burst of a lightning bolt went barreling toward Sal before one of the other snakes literally jumped in front of the strike, taking the attack and falling to just shy of 10% on his health bar. A blast of ice quickly followed up and took down the staggered snake-man before he collapsed to the ground and began to dissolve into dust. ¡°See! I can handle these fake Augment fuckers on my own!¡± I ignored Hydramental¡¯s jabs as I darted into the fray, activating Sting Like a Bee as I went. Sal quite literally towered over the others, standing easily three feet taller than I had remembered him but he still didn¡¯t move as the smaller snake-men moved to intercept me. ¡°Sheesh you guys weren¡¯t joking, he really does have a stick up his ass,¡± I heard Jon say as I activated Float Like a Butterfly and dodged under the first swing from one of the snakes. " Although I had rushed my way over here, the small increase from the two Strength points I had placed meant that my stamina had only dropped to 75% by the time I had entered the fray. With several snake-men already moving to counter me, I was more than willing to drop some damage quickly to weed out the weaker of the enemies. I immediately threw a Gravity Punch with 10% of my stamina, connecting with the snake-man¡¯s midsection. While I hadn¡¯t thrown a hard enough punch to knock the enemy back, it still left an impact, dropping his health to nearly 10%. I ignored his message, spinning on my heel as a second of the weaker snake-men tried to sneak up on me and I threw yet another 10% Gravity Punch. ¡°Eyes on Sal!¡± Jon shouted. I wasn''t sure if he was about to attack, but I didn''t risk it and activated Fun House, choosing to go invisible and skipping off to the side as I noticed several more snake-men were crawling their way out of the open man-hole. "You know... if there was ever a time for some battle music... I''d say it''s literally when you''re fighting a whole bunch of fucking biker snakes," Jon wondered out loud as the street began to fill with snake-men hybrids. "There is an interface modification that Loophole could get! A lot of Augments have complained about losing headphones while fighting," Angie responded. "I bet Loophole listens to some sort of weird shit, doesn''t he? What would you suggest?" "Oh, I know it''s probably in bad taste or tempting fate, but I''d say go with ''Feel Invincible,'' or maybe ''Kickstart My Heart,'' though that one is a bit overdone," He suggested and Angie let out a curious sound. "Huh, Skillet to Motley Crue... not the range I would have expected," She said. "It''s a good song!" Jon shot back before adding, "Wait... how do you know who sings those songs? That''s not game related..." "Not now you two!" I interjected before they could distract me further as I moved away from Sal. A bolt of electricity arced through the air, catching my attention as it struck Sal in his chest just as the Elite crashed through my afterimage, validating my decision to use the ability. I shot a look over at the yellow Hydramental, noticing his eyes widen briefly before his expression hardened. The arc of electricity brightened and sparks went flying from Sal onto his nearby staggered associates. The strike of lightning didn¡¯t put Sal down, but he acted as a jumping point as the lightning arced over to the two Vipers I had already struck. The sudden surge of electricity quickly dropped them to the ground and their bodies began to rapidly dissolve. I took the opportunity to materialize one of my venom soaked guns in the last few seconds of my invisibility. With three quick squeezes, I fired, watching as the first two bullets glanced off of him before the third penetrated and left Sal with a Weakened (25%) debuff. His immunity had grown exponentially since our last encounter but I pulled the gun back into my B.E.L.T as my invisibility faded to save the last five bullets in the magazine. As I shimmered back into existence, I told the afterimages to start mirroring my movements. They only had 20 seconds left, and one of them had already fallen to a newly emerged snake-man. I scanned the battlefield and counted at least ten of them on top of the ones we had already put down, though curiously none of the new Vipers were higher than level 5, with at least one of them being identified as a level 3. More were still climbing from the sewer and I found myself instinctively rushing the nearest one, trying to put some space between myself and Sal who didn''t seem to be giving chase. The new addition''s lower levels were the only thing that gave me some form of relief about the sudden increase in enemies. Especially given the fact that Axio was clearly adapting how he sent them out. I wanted to curse under my breath, because not a single one of the monsters were wearing even a bandana, effectively neutralizing my Weighted Clothes ability. ¡°Why hasn''t this alert upgraded to an ambush!? What the fuck is going on here!?¡± I halfway shouted in my head as I kept myself moving, striking Viper after Viper as I moved. I wasn''t strong enough to put them down with unenhanced strikes just yet, but the weaker bikers took noticeable damage. ¡°I-.. I¡¯m not quite sure Loophole, I have raised the question to Axio but he is refusing to accept my connection request. I do say that the proposed rewards for the level of challenge being thrown at you feels disproportional,¡± Angie said, her voice turning downwards in contemplation. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not the reward that I¡¯m worried about here!¡± I snapped. Hydramental¡¯s barrage of electricity had stopped and I looked over, catching just as one of the new snakes snuck up on his yellow form and slammed a claw into his back. ¡°FUCK!¡± I heard a now duplicated voice shout as the yellow Hydramental burst into light, causing the remaining clone¡¯s joint health bar to drop by over 30%. Sal was sitting at 75% health and practically seething as his head whipped around, looking between my various afterimages and the remaining Hydramentals. The blue Hydramental then did something I wasn¡¯t expecting, he turned and fired several icy spikes toward the snakes that just happened to be closest to my afterimages. It almost could have looked like an accident as I watched the last two of my remaining afterimages vaporize when the ice went breaking through them. ¡°Wait don¡¯t-¡± Jon started to say just as I sent my next message. Had I thought about it for even a moment, I probably would have realized just how stupid it was to bring this up in the middle of such a volatile situation. But it was as if I had typed the message without thinking, shooting it his way as his red and yellow form shimmered and split, the red version bursting forward and immediately shooting a fireball directly my way. I dodged to the side, escaping the blazing ball of energy by inches as it slammed into a snake-man that I hadn¡¯t caught coming up behind me. I turned on the monster, delivering the last of my strikes enhanced by Sting Like a Bee and sending the snake collapsing to the ground in a heap as his body started to convulse. It didn¡¯t matter that I had only gone to knock the unnamed Viper Soldier out, the moment the KO debuff hit him, his body began to dissolve just as each of the others had. ¡°Are you fucking working with them!?¡± The duplicated voice shouted as another sudden barrage of fire and ice came flying my way. ¡°Are you in on this entire fucking scheme!?! HAVE YOU BEEN THE WHOLE TIME!?¡± he yelled even louder. Many of the snake-men were taking collateral damage as the Hydramentals continued to go wild. His attacks were thrown in rapid succession, blazes of fire and icy bursts that dropped more than a few of the Vipers littering the street. The three forms split up, separating and moving as a shimmer of energy hopped from the red one to the yellow one. Had I not been paying attention I might have been caught off guard as he threw yet another bolt of lightning my way. Luckily I hadn¡¯t stopped moving as I continued to dart toward the far end of the enclosed street, moving out of the way just as the bolt struck another Viper in its chest. ¡°Well.... I guess that at least confirms it is his brother. Though this was probably not the right time to bring it up,¡± Jon said as I dodged around another Viper tossing a few regular strikes that took down good chunks of its health with each blow. ¡°Probably not one of Loophole¡¯s wiser moves, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Angie agreed. ¡°Seriously, NOT NOW!¡± I shouted as I dropped the Viper with a final blow to the side of it''s head and spun on my heel, barely avoiding another spark of electricity that left my hair standing on edge. There was another snake that had been unfortunately close to me that the bolt struck full force. Luckily it wasn''t one of his hopping attacks and the snake seized up as its health rapidly sunk. Given the Vipers I had already encountered, I wasn¡¯t surprised to find that the soldier was only level 4 and I threw two more punches, chunking down the shocked snake''s health until he fell to the ground like his compatriots. It was as if all the defenses that Gio had displayed were missing, or maybe the combination of electrical shock and my increasing strength just was enough to break through their defenses. While I knew I should be appreciative of the ease, the rapidly expanding number of them threatened to overwhelm the battlefield, regardless of how easy they were to take down. I saw a shimmer of light pass from one Hydramental to the next and started to move again before he could pin me down. Hydramental was throwing attacks with reckless abandon and I dodged to the side out of the way of yet another fireball. I wasn¡¯t quick enough though as a small blast of ice took me on my left shoulder, leaving a small icy patch and dropping my health by a healthy chunk. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I turned and threw a 10% Gravity Punch at an approaching snake-man, catching the monster by surprise as I followed my first strike up with three more rapid punches to his midsection. It took the level 4 attacker down, but another one quickly rushed at my side. I activated my jacket¡¯s Fortune¡¯s Guardian ability just in time as his claws glanced off my side, sending me stumbling to the side and into a small blast of fire that dropped my health to 50%. ¡°Oh wow, who knew Loophole could be assertive¡­. Or I guess¡­ who knew he could try to be assertive,¡± Angie murmured and I bit my tongue as I materialized and used an Enhanced Health injector to bring my health back to full. I don''t quite know why I did it, but as I looked around at the buildings surrounding us, I had to assume at least a few people had their phones out, so I deactivated the obfuscation passive on my Spectrum Veil just as another ball of fire was launched in my direction. I skipped backwards from a few Vipers, letting one of them take the fiery blow as I kept my eyes on the Hydramental clones I could see. So far I had been holding back from actually trying to counter him, but that didn''t mean I didn''t have an idea of how I could. I had already seen just how it affected him when his clones burst from taking damage, and if I could rapidly take out his active forms, I had to hope they''d do enough collateral damage to knock him out. It wasn''t the best plan, especially given the amount of enemies still on the field, but it would work if I could clear a few of them out of the way at the same time. I activated Float Like a Butterfly just as it came off of cooldown. It was the right move as another rapid set of icy spikes were sent flying my way and I skipped off to the side to let the attacks impale another Viper. I toggled Center of the Universe on as I started to move, ducking and dodging between the cluttered battlefield. Though they had come charging onto the street, the Vipers weren''t necessarily trying to overwhelm us by attacking us in a frenzy. The ones closest to me were trying to take swings that I easily dodged and countered, but the Vipers further from both myself and Hydramental tore into cars on the sides of the street with an animalistic rage. As I sprinted across the street and caught each of them in my area, one by one they started to feel the ever increasing gravitational pull within my zone of control. With none of the bikers in clothing, I knew that Weighted Clothes could be used to fully target Hydramental, but as much as he was pissing me off, he wasn¡¯t my main enemy here and at that moment, it was the one ability on my action bar that I hadn¡¯t used just yet. I ramped up the strength of Center of the Universe as fast as I could, pulling the snake-men toward me as I tried to cut my way back into a centralized location. Before they could stop it, with the strength of my pull at its max, two of the three Hydramentals had gotten caught in my field with only the yellow clad version of him hanging out far on the sideline. His demand for an answer came with another barrage of ice that glanced off my body, icing over bits of my jacket and taking down small chunks of my health as I watched the Vipers try with all of their might to slither away from me. The Vipers that had been unlucky enough to be closer tried to turn and strike me, but the pull sent them off balance and I was able to rapidly strike and take down the ones that were nearly right on top of me. The Hydramental in blue sent another shock of ice my way as he was yanked toward me by my gravitational pull. I didn''t dodge the blast, letting it hit my hip before I swung a hard hook at the side of his head, connecting and sending the clone stumbling before my quickly changing position and gravitational pull yanked him along the ground my way. It was my turn to ignore him and I waved the chat away from my field of view as I came to a stop near the center of the street. I had given him more than a fair enough warning and I wasn¡¯t going to risk my safety just because he couldn¡¯t settle down. Center of the Universe had reached the height of its strength and as far as I could tell, all of the snake-men were being yanked my way, forming a writhing serpentine-like moshpit in the street around me as they struck out at each other in anger. None of them were acting rationally and they seemed to be acting with an animalistic fear to flee from a force they didn''t understand. The only one that had noticeably remained unaffected was Sal, who I briefly caught with a sinister looking smirk on his face as he quite literally watched from the sidelines. There was no room for me to cut toward him and it wasn''t my intent to try either as I found myself completely surrounded. The gravitational pull of my ability wasn¡¯t going to do any damage to the bikers I had trapped and I knew I would burn through the last 30% of my stamina in a hurry if I tried to just throw punches and enhanced Gravity Punches over and over. I needed a quick way to clear out the crowd and a sudden burst of inspiration hit me as I realized I did still have one ability that would do the trick. The only problem was that the ability I needed was still stuck on cooldown. I knew I would need something very specific in order to make it work and started to concentrate. I wasn¡¯t even sure if the ability would generate at my current knowledge level, but I focused on the outcome as hard as I could, remembering from our trial and error that ability generation required as specific of an idea as possible to get the exact ability you wanted. A smile crept over my face as a new window appeared, and I materialized an Enhanced Stamina Injector into my hand. It wasn''t exactly what I wanted, but I knew it would do the trick before Angie even started to read. ¡°New Ability! Launchpad! So this ability has a whole lotta caveats and specific use situations but in case you weren''t aware, you¡¯re kinda busy right now, so let¡¯s just focus on the specific situation that matters to you at this very moment. Don¡¯t say I never did anything for you. While utilizing Center of the Universe, activate this ability to create a gravitational shockwave that pulses out from your location dealing damage equal to the numerical value of the total gravitational pull non-friendly targets are experiencing times 3 and stun each affected target for 20 seconds. Simultaneously launch yourself upwards a distance equal to the highest amount of damage you will deliver in feet. This ability temporarily takes Earthbound Impact off of cooldown for 10 seconds, with any remaining cooldown being added to its refreshed cooldown if Earthbound Impact is reused. This ability costs 20% of your stamina and has a 30 minute cooldown.¡± I knew it would be temporary but I dropped the ability in place of Weighted Clothes and slammed the injector into my arm all while maintaining the force exuded from Center of the Universe. I turned and threw several more strikes at the closest Vipers, clearing the space immediately around me as I let out a breath I hadn''t even realized I had been holding. ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± I thought and while Jon might have said something in return, I sure as hell didn¡¯t hear him as I activated the ability. Now, I had never been fired out of a cannon before, and while I was able to put on speed pretty quickly with Personal Gravity Laws, I knew that the force that I was suddenly sent rocketing upwards with should have been terrifying. The stakes of the battle should have had me laser focused on the task at hand, but as I left well over a dozen snake bikers and two of Hydramental¡¯s clones stunned in the aftershock, the thrill of the launch itself made it practically impossible not to whoop just a little bit. As I reached the peak of my launch, my momentum carried my feet up and over my head, flipping me backwards and giving me a solid sight of the street below. I only hung there for maybe a fraction of a second as I continued to pull my body up and over, but time still felt like it slowed as I took in the chaos that had formed in the mid day street. I zeroed in on the center of the group, as close to directly where I had launched from as I could. As soon as my feet were back pointed toward the earth, I activated Earthbound Impact and plummeted towards the ground. ¡°New Achievement!!! Knockout Royale! Well look at you, you¡¯ve come quite a long way from tossing some gum on the ground and wailing on these bikers through some extremely mundane punches. Then again, the bikers have come quite a long way too, maybe not quite as far as they needed to in order to survive this situation, but they weren''t a horde of snake-man hybrids two days ago so that is kinda progress I think¡­ Sheesh¡­ has it really only been 48 hours?! Anyway, the dust is gonna clear pretty quickly to reveal that you just took down over 15 of these temporarily augmented bikers with that single combo move, talk about efficiency! This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: You have received an A:Tier loot box!¡± There was a sudden slew of notifications that stacked on the side of my vision, the top one actually claiming the Crime Alert had been completed as the dust started to settle. I didn¡¯t think the attack would finish things off, especially with Sal still in the picture, but a quick check confirmed that it was in fact completed. Somehow Sal¡¯s addition to the scene hadn¡¯t changed the alert as it had at the hot dog cart and while I was sure that meant something, I certainly didn¡¯t have time or mental energy to figure out what it meant. While several car alarms were going off and I could hear indistinct screams and hollers coming from the windows of the buildings we had been pinned between, the sharp sound of a clap caused me to whip my attention over toward Sal, looming over Hydramental¡¯s sole remaining form. Even though his form, now with a shirt split into three colors, was outside of my 17 foot radius, he was sprawled out on the ground with a clear KO debuff spinning over his head. ¡°Oheheheh,¡± Sal hissed out a laugh as he slithered forward and around the only actual collapsed form visible on the street. His tail casually but not violently slapped against Hydramental as he passed him. While his health had dropped to just about 55% from some of the collateral damage, his Weakened (25%) debuff had vanished. While I could try to activate my veil and hope to proc Defy the Odds yet again, I wasn¡¯t sure if it would be enough. ¡°You are ssssssstrong, aren¡¯t you. Every killed peon, every one of our buildings you''ve cleared out... You¡¯ve given ussss ssssso much knowledge. You''ve ssssshown ussss our weaknessesssss and it''ssss let our bossss make ussss sssso, sssso much sssstronger. Their deathssss will only do the sssssame." "Sheesh, that is waaaaay too much hissing dude! You''re killing my ears here," I shot at him before I could stop myself. I kept my hands up as I watched him carefully before I added, ¡°If it''s not you, then where the hell is Snakebite?! I have so many questions I have to beat out of him.¡± This managed to stop him as his head fell backwards and he let out a spine chilling laugh. ¡°Oheheheh, you are cocky, aren''t you. Don¡¯t you worry, you already have the key, you¡¯ll be meeting the bosssssss ssssssoon enough, though you might wissssssh you hadn¡¯t. Now, I believe thisssss one hasssss far outlived hissss ussssefulnesssss. The bosssss issss tired of looking at him,¡± Sal hissed before he turned from me and went slithering back toward Hydramental. Sal¡¯s claws were fully extended and although Hydramental had been nothing but combative and had been quite purposefully trying to attack me, I wasn¡¯t about to let him get anything worse than being knocked out. I sprinted across the street, simultaneously pulling the gun I had only recently used from my inventory out in my left hand and activating both Sting Like a Bee and my Spectrum Veil. I knew at that moment it didn¡¯t matter if it was going to be enough or not, I had to try. I only kept the veil up long enough to ensure I¡¯d be considered Hidden before I unloaded every last remaining bullet in the gun into Sal. I wasn¡¯t sure how many actually connected, but between the 5 bullets I shot, his health chunked down by 20% and the Weakened (25%) debuff returned to his status bar. His attention was ripped from Hydramental as he turned and looked for me with vicious intent. It was already too late for him though, and I quickly slipped around to place myself between him and Hydramental before I threw every last bit of my remaining stamina into a Gravity Punch. My stamina had already dipped below 50%, so it certainly wasn¡¯t the strongest attack I could throw, but with Sal¡¯s health already nearing 30% himself and his Elite defenses neutralized by his weakness, I hoped it would be enough. My fist connected directly with Sal¡¯s oversized chest and his eyes went wide as a percussive BOOM echoed outward. The giant of a snake went hurtling backwards, skidding and tumbling over the ground. His health went hurtling downward, sinking deep into the red but didn¡¯t bottom out as he came to a halt nearly 25 feet away from me. Unfortunately, my strike had also tossed him almost directly by the open manhole and Sal¡¯s eyes locked onto it immediately before he glared back in my direction. ¡°Thissss isssn¡¯t over, Loophole. We''ll finissssh thissss ssssoon enough,¡± He hissed with a pained sound before he quickly escaped down into the sewer. Although I didn¡¯t like the fact that he had gotten away again, I dropped to my knees, taking deep breaths as for once I felt truly exhausted with my stamina fully depleted. It wasn¡¯t even immediately starting to tick back up like it normally did and I took a few seconds to let the adrenaline of the fight wear off. It was only at that moment that I noticed the ice walls had been crumbling into nothing and there was a loud roar of cheers that came from everywhere around me. My breaths were still coming in short, rapid succession as I looked back at Hydramental¡¯s KOed form as a few more notifications stacked onto the already large pile of silenced ones. More than a few police officers were rushing forward. The ice had crumbled enough that the red and blue flashing lights at the ends of the block were easily visible, even behind the massive lines of crowds that had gathered behind rapidly formed barricades. ¡°You gonna use that Resuscitation Injector you¡¯ve been holding onto on him?¡± Jon asked and a breathless laugh escaped me as I fell back to sit in the center of the somewhat destroyed street. ¡°Maybe... but definitely not right away. He can sleep off his bullshit a little bit,¡± I said as I listened to the cheers still coming from around me. "Then he can answer some of my fucking questions." Chapter 39 I made out like an absolute bandit. Though none of the enemies had dropped so much as a single scrap of loot, I did receive 10,000 credits for completing the mission. But that wasn¡¯t what really mattered at the end of it. Even though they were massively underleveled and severely weakened, each and every one of the snakes that I was responsible for taking down counted toward a large combined Kill Non-Sapient Augment Phase Point gain. I certainly hadn¡¯t been actively keeping track, nor had I been trying to kill them, but the serum¡¯s death side effect was still present and automatically assigned the kills to me as each of the injected soldiers fell. Between the various leveled versions of the soldiers that I had finished, I gained a whopping total of 2375 points. Then there was the Crowdpleaser gain. The buildings on either side of us were tall and while not all of the windows could be opened, a cursory glance at the closest ones made it clear there were people practically pressing their noses to the glass. It wasn¡¯t quite as much as the gain I had gotten from taking down the Augments, but I still received 1420 points from it. This one actually came with an achievement called Showman attached to it for completing a Mission Alert with over a hundred Sapient NPC onlookers. And then even though it gave me only 200 more points, given just how quickly I went from scarfing down a Cuban sub to taking on a horde of snake-men, it was still a nice addition to see Powerleveler at the end of the list as I went through my gains. Although I had just leveled, I was wholly unsurprised to find that the swarm of snake-men had given me more than enough experience to reach level 8. I already had an idea of which of my abilities I wanted to use, but knowing that it wasn¡¯t going to be placed on the timer until I got home meant we still had some time to talk it over. Personally, I was leaning toward using the Augmentation on Gravity Punch and crossing my fingers for an option that would give me a bit finer control over how much damage I doled out with it but Jon was curious to see what sort of extra effects Center of the Universe would have. He did admit that it probably wasn¡¯t the best time to try experimenting with an ability that didn¡¯t have as big of a damaging effect. Since I wasn¡¯t handing Hydramental over to the police, I didn¡¯t receive any extra Phase Points just for knocking him out, which felt a little bit weird but after gaining 3995 points in a single swoop, it was hard to complain that much. Since no one could really confirm he was trying to attack me with how many of the Vipers his attacks took down, the arriving officers didn¡¯t question me as I lifted his still knocked out form up and took off for the tallest building I could find. Flying while carrying him was not easy. Apparently my Personal Gravity Laws didn¡¯t make it easy to keep things, or people, that weren¡¯t myself from being affected by the elements the higher into the air I went. Had I not been holding him as firmly as I was, I might have even dropped him by accident. Sure, I could have woken him up on the ground, but that just risked him trying to make a break for it or try to start up another fight and I needed to get him to hold still long enough that I could get at least some sort of answer. ¡°Dude, you are all over the subs right now,¡± Jon laughed in my ear as I set down on top of a building just slightly into Chelsea. ¡°Like, not even just the Augment focused ones, there¡¯s shots making it onto the more mainstream subs too.¡± ¡°I am? Damn people don¡¯t waste any time, do they,¡± I said, unable to keep the smile off my face. I didn¡¯t exactly drop Hydramental to the ground, but I wasn¡¯t exactly careful either and I stepped over his body as I walked over to the lone door into the main structure. With a quick test, I discovered the door was locked and nodded to myself. Even if he could just burn the door down, it would at least give me a few seconds to react before he could try to run. ¡°It was that Launchpad and Earthbound Impact combo dude. Someone was filming in the building next to you and they pretty much got a clean shot of the entire thing from take off to smackdown, their words not mine, though they are pretty perfect,¡± Jon rattled off as I turned my attention back to Hydramental. ¡°That is certainly going to increase his reputation, even more so than the artificial boost provided from the Alert,¡± Angie chirped. ¡°Well damn¡­ save that video, I want to see it later,¡± I said as I looked down at the still unconscious thorn in my side. ¡°Hey Angie, how long would he stay knocked out if I didn¡¯t use the injector?¡± ¡°If the recipient is not rendered dead, the KO debuff will last for a maximum time of 45 minutes. This was designed to allow for the¡­ let¡¯s say undisturbed¡­ transport of them to holding facilities if they are Miscreant aligned.¡± ¡°I guess that makes as much sense as anything,¡± I said, kneeling down beside Hydramental''s unconscious form as I materialized the injector. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope he can¡¯t turn into fire and fly away. That would be annoying as hell.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Jon said before I could use it. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you like¡­ tie him up or something?¡± ¡°Really? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be the smart one here?¡± I asked as I leaned back. ¡°Unless I can neutralize his powers, I¡¯m pretty sure he can just duplicate and escape the bonds with one of his elements to attack, hell he still might do that. I only have one of these, if I have to knock him out again because he¡¯s not cooperating, I¡¯ll just leave him somewhere and he can deal with it. But I¡¯m not hunting him down again after this. Shit, he honestly might not even have anything useful, but everything we have is leading back to his brother. There¡¯s no way in hell it was a coincidence that we were both sent to this alert¡­ Axio is up to something, I¡¯m just missing a piece of the puzzle.¡± ¡°Sheesh, you¡¯ve really put a lot of thought into this¡­ do you actually think Axio is really up to something though? I know you¡¯ve been scared of what he can do and everything going on with Sal is definitely interesting but I mean, how much is actually Axio messing with it all and not just doing his job?¡± Jon asked but I bit my tongue. Nothing had necessarily changed where it came to my conversation with Axio and I still wasn¡¯t ready to risk mentioning. Jon was already in much farther than I had initially intended to let him in, and if there was a second threat¡­ well I¡¯d have to just figure out what it was before it could become a threat. I shrugged as I turned my attention back down to Hydramental and injected him, then quickly backed away. ¡°Honestly, at the end of the day I¡¯m not too sure, but the mobs I have to deal with have all been tied to this and he¡¯s connected to it. It¡¯s as good a place to start as any,¡± I said as I watched the debuff vanish and Hydramental¡¯s health bar jumped back up to 50%. He immediately snapped into a seated position, looking around his new environment until his gaze met mine and his eyes hardened. ¡°Ok bud, how about you keep yourself together and we just talk like two people,¡± I said with my hands held up. His eyes glazed over for a moment before he looked down and let out a long, pained sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve just got a few questions I want to ask¡­ though I¡¯m sure you might have one or two of your own¡­ How about you go first.¡± ¡°How the fuck do you know about my brother?¡± He said immediately. He wasn¡¯t necessarily aggressive, but I wouldn¡¯t be calling him friendly either. It felt like there was a resignation to him as he slowly stood up. ¡°Remember those maps we got back on the train?¡± I asked and he nodded. I put my hands down slowly. ¡°Yeah so one of the dens on my map sent me to a yacht up at the cruise terminal and I¡­ uh¡­ Well I met Giada amongst other things." He shot me a look and I almost brought my hands right back up. ¡°Should you really be telling him all of this?¡± Jon asked but I ignored him. ¡°Was she always the¡­ uh¡­ shooty type?¡± I continued when Hydramental didn¡¯t start splitting into duplicates. ¡°Cause I kinda had to have her arrested in front of her son for pointing a gun at me¡­ and having a whole bunch of those Vipers acting as a security detail.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Are you trying to get him to attack you!?¡± ¡°He¡¯s gonna find out one way or another, better to just lay it out now,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Just shut up for a bit, will you two?¡± ¡°Hey I didn¡¯t say anything!¡± Angie complained. ¡°What the ever loving fuck are you up to?¡± Hydramental said, looking up toward one of the nodes in the Augmentation Array that floated miles above us. ¡°Huh? I¡¯m trying to stop these bikers before they keep unleashing swarms of fucking snake-men bikers on my neighborhood, or did you not see the horde we just had to fight off? Everything I have discovered so far seems to point toward your brother,¡± I said and he looked over at me with a shake of his head. ¡°Get off your high horse, I¡¯m not talking about you,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the fucker controlling all of this.¡± ¡°Ah yeah. Axio¡¯s been doing a good job fucking with me too, I bet we could compare notes and be here all day,¡± I said and he rolled his eyes before he walked over toward the edge of the building. ¡°Look, I can tell your brother¡¯s a touchy subject, but as far as I can tell he¡¯s either up to some shit or involved or who the hell knows. I don¡¯t want to fight you again, so if this is something you don¡¯t want to talk about then tell me to fuck off and I will. But Giada seemed to think he¡¯s still around so I gotta know, is the Sal we¡¯ve been fighting some clone of him or some shit?¡± Hydramental leaned back before hopping up onto the ledge. He looked down briefly before he sat, letting his legs dangle as he looked toward Madison Square Garden in the distance. ¡°Or some shit¡­¡± he said after a few moments had passed. ¡°That guy¡­ Sal the Snake¡­ he isn¡¯t my brother. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s a clone necessarily either but I haven¡¯t seen him outside of his snake form so I couldn¡¯t say for sure. But I think the name just happens to be a coincidence. It¡¯s gonna sound really dumb, and I couldn¡¯t tell you what his powerset is actually called since you know, I didn¡¯t know about the game back when he first got Augmented, but he¡¯s like¡­ a snake vampire.¡± ¡°A snake vampire? You¡¯re kidding me right?¡± ¡°Not now, Angie,¡± I said to her quickly before I raised a brow at Hydramental and said out loud, ¡°A snake vampire? You¡¯re kidding me¡­ right?¡± ¡°I mean, I doubt that¡¯s his actual powerset name, but more or less, yeah. I didn¡¯t actually know it when he first started off though. I just thought he could shapeshift into a Naga and had increased strength and speed when he showed it off to me. Then Chelsea had a bunch of these bikers show up. Sal swore up and down that he was gonna drive them out and he did¡­ hell it only took him a week,¡± He said, his hand tapping at the ledge as he looked back over at me. ¡°I was a dude just finishing up high school¡­ I thought he was a hero¡­ y¡¯know?¡± ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, trying to push him forward just enough without putting him back on the defensive. ¡°I followed him out one night the week I was going to graduate. I thought he¡¯d been hiding everything from me cause I was still in school but I¡­ I don¡¯t know... I wanted to see how he fought cause he was always so cagey about it. Maybe I¡¯m an idiot, I don¡¯t know, but he said he didn¡¯t want to be famous, he just wanted to help people and keep our neighborhood and his family safe. He kept himself out of the news, kept people from knowing about what he did¡­¡± ¡°Maybe not an idiot¡­ but maybe just a bit naive,¡± I said and he let out a wry laugh. ¡°It¡¯s family, people tend to have blind spots where it comes to family.¡± ¡°Heh¡­ but see, I barely said anything and you figured it out. It took me seeing him biting one of the bikers and seeing him burst like an overfilled water balloon to realize what he had been up to¡­¡± He explained and I noticed him shudder. There was a bit of a nip in the air with fall in full swing and being up on top of a building certainly wasn¡¯t helping, but something told me that wasn¡¯t what had caused it. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like they were fighting and he was trying to defeat them either, I would have at least been able to understand that given how brutal the job can be. Even back then I knew that, I had watched more than enough Augment fights online. But they were like, lining up and waiting for him to bite them. None of them even flinched when their friends blew up right next to them... He had vats all around the room with these half grown bikers hanging in this weird fluid and he was¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I guess experimenting on them? Most of the ones I saw him bite died immediately but a few of them¡­ I saw a few of them change into snakes themselves¡­ at least for a few seconds before they just dissolved into nothing like those guys back on the street did.¡± ¡°Into snake-men augments¡­ Which is why you called him a snake vampire¡­ okay that at least makes a little bit of sense,¡± I said and leaned back against the ledge. ¡°Was that before or after the picture he keeps in his office?¡± ¡°Picture?¡± He asked, his head turning and expression softening ever so slightly. ¡°What picture? What office?¡± ¡°It was back on the yacht, he had an office with a whole bunch of pics of you two growing up. There was one of him in his mask and you were practically glaring at him in it,¡± I explained. ¡°Fucker kept it all this time¡­¡± Hydramental muttered almost low enough that I might have missed if I hadn¡¯t been specifically paying attention to him. ¡°It was the day after. He missed my grad party and came home telling our parents he was off stopping some crime ring. Had I not just followed him the night before I probably would have just believed him. He said he wanted to take a pic to at least celebrate my graduation and, well that¡­¡± I let out a sigh as I pushed off from the ledge. It still hadn¡¯t quite explained anything and I wasn¡¯t even sure where this was getting me either. ¡°If that was 3 years ago, what the hell has he been up to all this time? I mean, I¡¯m not blind, these bikers haven¡¯t been running around Hell¡¯s Kitchen for the last 3 years, I feel like I would have seen that all over the news,¡± I said and scratched at the back of my head. Hydramental just shook his head as he turned and hopped back to his feet and off the ledge. ¡°That¡¯s the thing. Believe it or not, after we took that pic he spent the whole night trying to tell me and our family about all the good he was doing. He kept saying his mentor had shown him some amazing things he could do with his abilities¡­ he never said who the dude was, but just insisted that it was going to revolutionize the world,¡± Hydramental explained as his shoulders dropped. ¡°And then a few days later he just vanished. Giada and little Ozzy too. My folks said he left a note but it was just so sudden and random... They refused to put out a police alert because ''Sal''s an Augment, he can take care of himself and his family...'' but I was never able to understand why they were just so... dismissive." ¡°Well that¡¯s not suspicious at all,¡± Jon murmured and I couldn¡¯t help but agree. I was just about to respond when Hydramental looked over at me and took a few steps. ¡°When I first woke up with my augmentation, after my P.A.I. got me settled in, Axio slowed things down and told me some things¡­ said they were things I shouldn¡¯t repeat out loud but the short of it was that I had a chance to confront my brother if I just got my hands on some key¡­ he wasn¡¯t allowed to just give it to me because of the rules of the game, but if I just followed along, I¡¯d get the chance. But that''s the thing... I¡¯ve cleared out pretty much every one of the dens on that fucking map I got, and I haven¡¯t found a fucking thing¡­¡± Right there on the edge of my vision, almost aggressively, my Snake Key mission shook, practically demanding my attention. ¡°Should I just put the cards on the table?¡± I asked internally. ¡°Can he take the key from you by force?¡± Jon asked and then thought about it for a moment before changing his question. "Angie? Can it be taken by force? ¡°Only if he renders Loophole unconscious or dead. Or I suppose if he had an item with the Pickpocket feature, but those are generally on gloves and I don''t think he''s wearing gloves. Loophole could have looted him while he was unconscious but he has, ugh, ethics.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯ve already come this far, if he goes to make a move just make it vanish, but I think he¡¯s probably not going to attack you,¡± Jon said, once again jumping past Angie¡¯s superfluous details. ¡°I uh¡­ So I think I may have been the one to collect that,¡± I said and materialized it in my hand. The ornate key felt incredibly out of place, and the rubies that represented the snake¡¯s eyes glinted with the sun still hanging high overhead. Hydramental¡¯s eyes widened briefly before they hardened and he stepped forward again. I immediately pulled it back into my inventory. ¡°I found it on the train after you left and it gave me a mission¡­ After everything I''ve had to deal with since finding it... well I¡¯m going to see it through to the end.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my mission,¡± he said, his jaw set as his blue and yellow clones separated from his body. ¡°Pull yourself together, I¡¯m not going to fight you again,¡± I said, letting my own tone match his. ¡°Believe it or not, I agree with you, Axio¡¯s been up to something since all of this bullshit started. I¡¯m not going to hand this key off to you, honestly given all the threats tossed our way every night I¡¯d be willing to bet I¡¯d get some bullshit thrown my way if I did hand it off to you. But, if you can just chill the fuck out, I¡¯m offering you the chance to finish this with me. If it is related to your brother, you at least deserve that much.¡± All three sets of his eyes glazed over and there was another gust of wind that passed by us. Electricity even seemed to dance between the fingers of his yellow form for a moment before it stopped and his forms all remerged together. The glaze vanished and he shook his head. ¡°If that key does lead to my brother, then when we find him I''m asking you to back off and let me handle him on my own. That¡¯s the only way I¡¯m going to ¡®finish this with you.¡¯¡± ¡°Does that count as chilling the fuck out?¡± Angie asked and Jon laughed. ¡°I think anything that¡¯s not him throwing the elements at Loophole counts.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I said and extended a hand out toward Hydramental, simultaneously sending him a friend invite. He stepped forward and grabbed my hand as he accepted the invite, his expression still hard. With that done I took a step backwards, activating my Personal Gravity Laws as I started to lift off from the roof. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll shoot you a message when I figure out where the hell this key is taking me and you can meet me there, sound good?¡± ¡°Wait where the fuck are you going? Aren''t you gonna at least drop me back off on the ground?¡± He asked as he took a few steps forward. I held up a hand and nodded toward the door on the far side of the roof. ¡°Dude, you threw a shit ton of fire, ice, and lightning at me not even a half hour ago. Not to mention that flying you up here when you were unconscious was hard enough as it was. Take the stairs and we can call it even,¡± I said, and then before he could respond, I took off, heading back toward home. I did still have a level to finalize after all. Chapter 40 There was supposed to be a Bronze level den between the roof I had left Hydramental on and my apartment. As I was speeding back, Jon pointed out that the map had one directly in my path so it made sense to clear it out instead of circling back. It wasn¡¯t like my level up was going anywhere, nor did I really need it to clear what now felt like painfully easy bases at Bronze level. But as I landed on a roof opposite the marked location, nothing got highlighted. I even entered the building from the top floor only for a system message to open that read: ¡°Alert. This Viper Den has been abandoned. Updated total: 7 of 11 Viper Dens cleared.¡± While it sucked that I couldn¡¯t collect Phase Points for clearing it out, I searched through the building and discovered another journal. Well, at least it looked like a journal; it only had a single page filled with what looked like a random assortment of timetables. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what it meant but I pulled it into my B.E.L.T. to investigate later. I had a theory and had Jon point me to the closest Silver level den. Sure enough, it was the exact same story. The building refused to be highlighted and once I stepped inside, the total updated once again, dropping down to 10 remaining dens. The place looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry and while I rummaged around hoping for more clues, I managed to scoop up an extra 1500 credits and a Resuscitation Injector which I happily stowed away. This led to me checking the rest of the locations, discovering one by one that each of the Silver dens had been abandoned in a similarly hurried manner. I had wondered just where all the Vipers had come from when they burst out of the sewer, but I hadn¡¯t thought that they would be scavenged from most of my remaining dens. I would have been upset about the loss of potential Phase Points if I hadn¡¯t just gained nearly 4000 points. I¡¯d never know just how many I would have gotten if I had taken them on one at a time, but I was over the 10k requirement with two days still left to go, so I couldn''t complain too much. Between the last 3 Silver dens, there were 3000 credits and a third journal. This one was even less helpful than the random timetables, with what looked like a random assortment of dots, slashes, and lines dotting the first few pages. If I hadn¡¯t been fully aware that Axio was up to something in the background, I¡¯d have thought it was almost too easy to get past the now seemingly low point threshold. Even then, I would have assumed it was just because he had been toying with me if Jon hadn¡¯t confirmed that 6 of the 10 people on the Top Ten list had crossed the barrier as well. He couldn''t check the longer version of the list to see the total remaining players, nor could he see how many people weren''t on track to cross the threshold, but it still felt like it was easier than I had initially anticipated. Jon on the other hand was seemingly disappointed in the wave as a whole. Something about "real gamers would have crossed that 10k line before the first day had even ended" that he muttered while I flew back across the neighborhood. By the time I had checked all of my remaining den locations, only the Gold one had been left for me to tackle. I had expected this one to be in some grand location, and while it wasn¡¯t necessarily shabby, I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be an actual jazz club nestled on the first floor of a building. Unlike the other dens, this one still let me highlight it and after some deliberation, Jon and I agreed it might be better to circle back to it after leveling and taking a look at the bigger picture. While the Silver and Bronze dens had been relatively easy for me to take down, the last and only Gold den I had faced had been the one I had faced with Hydramental. I didn¡¯t think I could count on that one being indicative of just how difficult Gold dens would actually be. Even if I hadn¡¯t had Hydramental¡¯s help, my talk with Axio had made it clear that he had tinkered with just how things went down. So, I flew back home, with a pocket full of credits and more than a few things to take care of. ¡°The rising star is back!¡± Jon whooped from the Command Room as I closed the front door behind me, having opted to come in through the roof. ¡°Number 2 on the top ten and the news has been showing footage of your fight down on 9th for the last hour.¡± I looked over at the television and saw a shot from what must have been the fourth or fifth floor of a building. There was a swarm of snake-men with many of them looking like they were trying to run away but getting absolutely nowhere before I suddenly went shooting toward the sky. Jon hadn¡¯t been kidding, the cameraman had kept a perfectly steady hand and tracked my entire trip up into the air, catching as I backflipped and went rocketing back to the ground. ¡°Damn you weren¡¯t kidding¡­ that was a great shot¡­ Wait, did you say I was number 2?¡± I asked as I pulled my eyes off the television and opened the leaderboard in my interface. Tenth Wave Guardians: 325 Miscreants: 471 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 11 Thunder God - Miscreant - 15420 Points 2. Loophole - Level 8 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 12675 Points 3. Freakenstein - Level 9 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 11765 Points 4. Swansong - Level 8 Healing Voice - Guardian- 10670 Points 5. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 8 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 10525 Points 6. Quizmaster - Level 7 Gameshow Host - Miscreant - 10050 Points 7. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 7 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 9240 Points 8. Vice Grip - Level 7 Toolbox Mechanic - Guardian - 9125 Points 9. Pigeon - Level 7 Pigeon - Miscreant - 8615 Points 10. Hydramental - Level 7 Elemental Everyman - Guardian - 8125 Points I had almost been surprised to see Hydramental at the bottom of the list, but whether I wanted to admit it or not, he had taken down a good chunk of the horde on his own, even if he had been trying to attack me at the same time. If he had gotten enough of them and gotten the same Crowdpleaser boost that I had gotten then it only made sense that he had jumped up the board. My level up stat screen wasn¡¯t going to wait any longer as it forced its way into my vision. Jon didn''t vocalize any objection to following what we had already discussed, so I quickly dropped two points into Luck and two into Intelligence, effectively allowing me to finally absorb the Quantum Shenanigans book. Before I could do that, my Level 8 Ability Augmentation opened and my countdown was on. It hadn¡¯t come up again, so I decided to go with Gravity Punch and selected it, letting the window populate before the timer began to tick down. ¡°Gravity Punch. Level 2 Activated Ability. Rapidly compress gravity directly around your fist before you throw a punch. For every 5% of your stamina deal an additional 60% damage from your base attack up to a maximum of 600% increased damage. If you have spent at least 25% of your stamina, knock the opponent backwards 15 feet and an additional 5 feet for every added 5% of your stamina spent. This ability has a 5 second cooldown.¡± ¡°First Modification Option! Group Up! Gravity Punch¡¯s knockback effect now happens at all levels, 3 feet for every 5% of your Stamina. Additionally, enemies within 10 feet of the impact point are pulled in at a speed of 20 meters per second and are hit for 50% of your initial damage. For every 10% of your stamina spent, increase the range of affected enemies by 3 feet. All factors of this ability cap at 50%.¡± ¡°Second Modification Option! Limit Breaker! This augmentation removes the cap for Stamina cost, allowing you to further increase the amount of damage dealt with each blow. Damage dealt with attacks over 50% increases at a rate of 120% additional damage for every 5% of stamina spent. ¡± ¡°Third Modification Option! ¡± Momentum Surge! After delivering a Gravity Punch, grant yourself a Speed Up buff, increasing your Movement Speed and Agility by 25% for 10 seconds. Your speed is increased by 5% for every 10% of your Stamina spent, capping at 50%. Movement Speed does not stack over subsequent uses of this ability, however subsequent attacks will refresh any current buff at the higher of the two movement increases.¡± ¡°Damn, I was really hoping for something with more fine tune control,¡± I said as I wandered toward the Command Room. ¡°They¡¯re not bad options though, Group Up is a bit like throwing Center of the Universe on an enemy and Limit Breaker could let you throw some crazy strong attacks, but 50% of 2000 stamina and 50% of 3000 is the same thing at the end of the day, at least as far as the ability cares, so the only real bonus is the increased damage you get when throwing attacks stronger than 50% which... well I don''t know how often you''d actually do that,¡± Jon said as I watched the timer tick down. ¡°I think I¡¯d go with Momentum Surge, the speed up starts on a 5% attack and even if it doesn¡¯t stack the buff, that base 25% boost is pretty damn good.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Tick tock Loophoooooole,¡± Angie said as the timer ticked down past 10 seconds. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ll be happy to select for you if you won¡¯t do it.¡± I thought about it for just a few more seconds before I resolved myself and selected the Limit Breaker modification. ¡°Damn really? And here I thought you valued my opinion,¡± Jon said with mock outrage. He turned around in his chair, his legs crisscrossed and a bowl of popcorn in his lap. ¡°What¡¯s the thought?¡± ¡°With most of the snakes back at the swarm, strong enough attacks were able to overpower or maybe bypass their defenses. I might be wrong, but if I come across Sal, the NPC one that is, and can deliver one punch at, what 1800% increased damage? I feel like that alone would be able to seriously injure him. Although I can¡¯t imagine a scenario where I¡¯d actually throw a 100% Gravity Punch, but still, I saw how much a 40% did to Sal back there. Throwing something at 60% might just do the trick if I could get lucky." ¡°Yeah but he was also Weakened and the debuff was down to 25% effectiveness... there¡¯s always the chance that weakness no longer applies to him,¡± Jon shot back before grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into his mouth with a crunch. His next words didn''t come out garbled, but he certainly didn''t wait to swallow completely before he started to talk. ¡°Not trying to say you didn¡¯t think it through, cause obviously Sal ain¡¯t the only person you¡¯re gonna be fighting moving forward, just pointing out your plan might not do the trick on him at this point.¡± I shrugged as I walked forward and grabbed some of his popcorn. ¡°Well speed hasn¡¯t really been a problem so far and honestly I was kinda stuck between the two just based on my own fights. If I didn¡¯t grab something I think Angie probably would have stuck me with Group Up, which isn¡¯t necessarily bad cause of the AoE factor, but it lowers the maximum knockback range.¡± ¡°Hey, I do technically have to randomize it,¡± Angie interjected. ¡°Well how about I just blame the stupidly short time frame for making these decisions and we just move on, how''s that sound?¡± I asked and when neither of them responded, I materialized Quantum Shenanigans for Beginners. Quantum Mechanics felt like an incredibly nebulous knowledge base to have, but I was ridiculously eager to see what I might be able to do with it. I absorbed the book, gaining the Level 3 stat as a sudden burst of information flooded my mind. Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Tunneling, Superposition, hell even Quantum Probabilities. These were all concepts that I was suddenly able to comprehend as I focused on the knowledge base and I found myself immediately enthralled and overwhelmed. ¡°You ok bud? You look like you¡¯re seeing nirvana,¡± Jon laughed and I shook myself from the daze. ¡°Yeah sorry, still weird to just have a bunch of knowledge uploaded into my head,¡± I said as I rubbed my temples trying to cure a non-existent headache. There were a few possibilities that immediately came to mind but no abilities seemed to generate off of them. ¡°It¡¯s interesting stuff but I might need to think for a bit on how I can actually use this. You might want to Google some things on Quantum Tunneling and Superposition at least, and I think knowing how to at least tinker with Quantum Probabilities is actually going to help me lean in on my Super Luck a bit more than I already have.¡± ¡°Hmmm, okay let me see what I can look up, though this one might be really far out of my wheelhouse which was why I didn''t really jump at it the way you did. I''m a computer nerd, not a physicist,¡± He said as he swiveled back toward his station. While Jon¡¯s ability to reroll was available, I had only gained 5 new loot boxes, ranging the gamut from D to A:Tier with two of them being C:Tiers. Generally speaking, his reroll was probably going to best be saved for F:Tiers or something A+:Tier or higher. I walked over to the dining room table and materialized the boxes, opening them from lowest to highest. The D:Tiers were definitely the least valuable to get and this one was no exception as it only contained 100 credits and 5 Basic Stamina Injectors. Between the two C:Tiers, I gained 1500 Credits, a Targeted Ability Level Up Scroll, and an Infrared Lens crafting ingredient. I pulled the small red ovals from my inventory and highlighted them, confirming what was an easy assumption to make. ¡°Infrared Lens. This is an Advanced Crafting Item. When attached to a compatible Mask item, provide the user with the option to toggle Infrared vision. This item must be brought to a gadget specialist to attach to compatible items.¡± The B:Tier came with 500 credits and a pair of bracers that were going to be the first item I ended up selling at the resale shop. They weren¡¯t necessarily bad, but the Stylish Dance Bracers only offered +1 to Toughness and +3 to Style, which was a terrible tradeoff when my current bracers gave me +5 to Strength. I might have considered them if they had come with a feature that would have offset that, but it just went to show that not every item was going to be a perfect fit for me. Last but not least I opened the A:Tier and found a single item that I was more than happy to see. ¡°Steel Wrappers. Equippable Gloves. Color: Metallic Silver. These silver hand wraps will help stabilize and strengthen those scrawny wrists of yours! There¡¯s really not a whole lot more to say about them, other than just how shiny they are when the light shines on them, they¡¯re pretty basic looking. Just like you! +8 to Strength and +2 to Dexterity. These gloves grant the Metallic Momentum feature!¡± ¡°Metallic Momentum. Consecutive punches in rapid succession build up your momentum, increasing your attack speed by 2% for every landed blow. This has a maximum Attack Speed increase of 20% which will be sustained until you fail to attack for 3 consecutive seconds.¡± ¡°Damn those are slick!¡± Jon yelled as I added them to my empty hand slot on my gear loadout and materialized my entire outfit. Jon looked over his shoulder at me with a raised brow, ¡°What¡¯s the plan, gonna go tackle that Gold den?¡± ¡°Eh, not yet. It¡¯s not going anywhere¡­ I think,¡± I said and walked back over to the Command Room. I materialized the three journals and the burner phone I had found between all of the dens and held them out. ¡°Think you can take a look at these and see if there¡¯s anything in here that might help me track down where this key I have goes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can dig up,¡± He said as he turned and grabbed the stack from me, setting them on his table and opening the page with the timetables. He stared at them for a few moments before turning to his computer, ¡°These might be train timetables. I¡¯ll have to see if they line up with any of the stations. Is this all? A couple of notebooks and a pay as you go phone?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah. I found the notebooks randomly, though that first one I did find inside of a safe when I first fought Sal,¡± I said thinking back to it. ¡°Hmmm, what was the code?¡± He asked. ¡°The code? What¡¯s that matter?¡± I said as I tried to remember what it was. I remembered it had been written on a post-it note and I wasn¡¯t able to pull it into my B.E.L.T. but the memory still stuck out as weird that they had made a point to write it down in the first place. ¡°In most puzzle games every detail matters. If they gave you a code, it probably matters,¡± Jon explained and I nodded, having just come to that realization myself. ¡°I think it was 1-0-0-1-7, but I might be misremembering,¡± I said and I could see as he tapped at his chin. ¡°That might be a zip code actually¡­ hell, ours is 10019,¡± He said and his fingers darted across one of the many keyboards in his space before he let out a satisfied grunt. ¡°Yup, Midtown East. That can¡¯t be a coincidence.¡± ¡°Damn¡­ how¡¯d I miss that,¡± I muttered and he just laughed. ¡°Eh don¡¯t feel too bad about it, it was only staring you in the face. Now why don¡¯t you go do whatever you¡¯re gonna do so your brilliant tech support can put these clues together. It is sorta my job after all.¡± I shoved his chair forward slightly and he laughed again as I turned to walk back toward my bedroom. ¡°Fine, I think I¡¯m gonna head to the Square for a bit. I have over 35,000 credits, I want to check out the resale shop and see if I can¡¯t fill out the rest of my equipment slots, or at least the ones that really matter. Plus on top of the lens I just got, I still have some Viper Skin that I¡¯ve been sitting on, I think it¡¯s time I get it added on to my jacket and tank top just for that increased Toughness.¡± Jon turned around and held his hands together as he gave me a big cheesy smile. ¡°Look at you, actually thinking about how to better improve your build. Who knew all it would take to get you actually into video games was¡­ well actually putting you into a video game.¡± ¡°Yeah, life or death will do that to you,¡± I said and rolled my eyes, though I found myself looking back at the news, playing yet another shot of my fight on the street, this time a shot of that final strike I made against Sal that had sent him flying. ¡°Though still, I hate how much fun I am actually starting to have with it¡­ even with all the insanity with Hydramental and Sal...¡± ¡°You always have been a bit of a worrier, that Matrix of yours really has kept you focused pretty damn hard,¡± Jon admitted and I felt myself tighten at the thought of the emotional controls. ¡°I¡¯m still glad I don¡¯t have one of those attached to me but I get why you guys have them.¡± ¡°You should have seen the Augment walking around with a bag on his head that Loophole saw on his first trip into the Square. He was freaking out about everything because his P.A.I. hadn¡¯t activated it, or that was my assumption at least. It really is a quick way to mentally break an Augment on accident, it¡¯s why the Matrix was implemented in the first place,¡± Angie explained and I found myself stopping at the door to my room. ¡°When was it implemented anyway? Was it a recent thing?¡± I asked. ¡°Not recently, no,¡± She chirped quickly. Knowing that she had to actually answer if I asked the question directly really did make it easier getting actual answers out of her. ¡°The Acceptance Matrix was patched into the system before the Second Wave of the game, and members of the First Wave were given the option to integrate the Matrix into their interfaces.¡± ¡°And how many of them did?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Loophole, I don¡¯t have access to that information for the First Wave,¡± She replied almost robotically. I hadn¡¯t expected her to know of course, she had long proven that there was more than plenty that Axio kept hidden from the P.A.I.s, but I couldn¡¯t stop myself from asking either. ¡°I¡¯d assume most of them did though, to date, the records I can view indicate that 95% of the Augments that are still Alive have kept their Acceptance Matrix activated. Is this something you would like to reconsider?¡± I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head and opening the door to my room. The queasiness in my stomach dissipated as I walked forward. ¡°Nah, Jon¡¯s right, I¡¯m staying focused on the job at hand. Maybe we can revisit it eventually, but not now.¡± ¡°Perfect! You just let me know if you want to make that decision. After all, I am here to assist you!¡± Chapter 41

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified. Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Unclaimed Current Phase Points: 12675 End of Phase One: 02D:2H:31M:13S

I ended up checking out the tailor first. While I didn¡¯t immediately attach the two Viper Skins I had available, I wanted to make sure I knew how much it would cost to make the modifications happen. The shop was cluttered but almost homey feeling, with the walls covered in shelves with what had to be hundreds of different fabrics. There were several knitting machines, work tables, and baskets full of cloth scrap scattered everywhere. Like most of the other shops, there was only a single NPC that came sauntering out of a door at the back of the building the moment I entered the otherwise empty shop. The tailor, a young man wearing a purple and black pinstripe suit with dangerously over-gelled hair named Louie, actually had reasonable costs, at only 250 credits per item attached. He showed me one of the now familiar filter binders that had a list of other items he was able to craft, though those items required a specific combination of crafting items in order for him to make. After a short bit of deliberation, I told him I¡¯d be back after I visited the resale shop since I wanted to make sure I wasn¡¯t going to immediately replace an item that I had him modify. Afterwards I popped in through Gregory¡¯s shop next door, assuming he¡¯d be the gadgeteer that could attach the Lens modification to my mask. My assumption was right, although he was quick to inform me that unlike Louie, he charged 500 credits for the modifications he made. I was going to just have him automatically add the lens, Jon did make a point of having me check if there were modification limits, which of course the answer ended up being, ¡°it depends.¡± Different items had different limitations and it left me wondering if the items had a grading system that I just hadn¡¯t had the forethought to investigate. After a quick probe, Jon found that the item ranks followed the seven tiers of the achievements, ranging from Wood Tier to Mythic Tier. I instructed Angie to update my interface to include this information on all of my current and future items, finding myself getting increasingly annoyed that I had to essentially opt in to useful information instead of just getting it in the first place. Of all of my items, the highest ranked items I owned were my Fortune¡¯s Guardian Jacket and my Mask of Strategic Fortitude at Gold Tier, and that was apparently the literal middle of the range for item scaling. As a Gold Tier, the Mask of Strategic Fortitude was capable of having a maximum of three item modifications attached. Gregory also made a point of letting me know that the Infrared Lens were removable, as unlike the Viper Skins, they didn¡¯t come with a ¡°destroyed on removal¡± qualifier, though of course there was an additional charge for removal. Doubtful that I¡¯d be changing the Mask out anytime soon, I had him attach the lens to the mask and discovered I could immediately mentally toggle on an infrared mode once he had finished. From there I headed out and back down into the main square, walking past a handful of others. It was still a bit weird seeing other Augments just lounging around, sitting on benches and even just reading, but I was starting to get it. When I was in the Square, Crime Alerts didn¡¯t pop up and there was no threat of being attacked, unless of course you went up into the Fight Club. It meant that, even unlike the Safe Room, Sanctuary Square was the one place you actually could take a few minutes to just relax without the threat of¡­ well a threat. I was just about to make a comment about that to Jon when a chat window popped open. I waved the window away as I made my way through the lightly crowded square, moving from the Neutral segment over to the larger Guardian area. ¡°This third journal is some sorta cipher. I think I can figure it out but it¡¯ll take me some time. The Command Room here has a few systems I haven¡¯t quite used yet so I¡¯m gonna test them and see if it doesn¡¯t spit something out for us,¡± Jon reported as I walked up and into the resale shop. ¡°Well that¡¯s at least a start. It¡¯s cool that the room has that kinda system built into it though,¡± I said, unable to hide my own curiousity. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure there¡¯s a fluid sampler in here too. I was tempted to pour my Dr. Pepper into it but I didn¡¯t want to break it either,¡± He explained. ¡°That is a wise choice, Codex. The built-in sampler is designed only for fluids generated for the game,¡± Angie added. ¡°That would actually be really useful if I managed to get my hands on one of those Temporary Augmentation serums. I mean, I don''t necessarily know what we would do with the knowledge of what''s being used to make those serums and I''m hoping to put an end to it here soon, but still,¡± I said as I looked around the shop. Unlike the other shops, this one was largely automated and no clerks actively appeared to discuss the products with us. There were a handful of other Augments lingering around the long counter. They each had a small binder in front of them and as I approached an empty space, a similar one appeared for me. ¡°Hmmm, actually yeah that¡¯s a good point. You should really get your hands on one of those so we can examine it and see what we could do with that sort of knowledge,¡± he said and I let out an audible sigh that elicited a laugh from him. ¡°So we got some traction on the cipher, any idea on the timetables in the other journal? Is there anything of use in the first journal I had scooped up?¡± I asked as I changed the subject. ¡°As far as the first journal goes, it seems more like stream of consciousness with random details about their operations in there, though I''ve caught a few references to dens that you''ve already cleared out. There might be something of use in there, but I can''t think of anyway to quickly find it without just reading it all page by page. It''s kinda a shame you can''t just absorb it like you do with the skill books," He said and I could hear the clatter of keys over the open line. "With the timetables, there¡¯s a lot of stations to check for a match and the journal conveniently leaves out train and platform information. I¡¯m trying to throw together a quick program that will compare it to all of the stations in the 10017 zip code. Though I¡¯m also going to have it analyze the stations here in Hell¡¯s Kitchen. There¡¯s always the chance that the 10017 code is just a red herring, seems kinda weird that everything with the Vipers has happened over on this side of the island and I can¡¯t find any information on Viper activity over in Midtown East.¡± ¡°Huh, well do what you can, I mean, I¡¯d have to kinda be an idiot to not assume that there¡¯s some sort of evidence or clue at that jazz club, so hopefully that will help us clear things up a bit,¡± I said as I opened the binder and started to fiddle with the filters. ¡°Though even saying that, I¡¯m not even sure how I want to go about tackling this Gold den. Sure I¡¯ve leveled up since I did the one with Hydramental, but I¡¯d also have to be an idiot to assume this one will be simple.¡± ¡°Yeah, so I was actually thinking about that. I looked up The Velvet Coil, which is really not a subtle name but that¡¯s not the point. The place is actively open every night like a legit business and everything. That means there could be random civilians in there right?¡± ¡°Maybe, what¡¯s your point?¡± I said as I applied a few filters and turned the page of the binder. ¡°Well maybe, for the first time in¡­ pretty much ever, you and I need to go out to a club on a Saturday night,¡± He said with a laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t think most people mean jazz club when they say that, but I¡¯m not about to argue semantics if I can actually say I got you to go to a club on a Saturday night.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°I mean, if you two are going to clubs, I¡¯d rather it be one where I can see you shake your booty Codex,¡± Angie said with a giggle and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Oh trust me, I¡¯ve got the rhythm of a sloth on LSD, it¡¯s not something I¡¯ll be doing anytime soon,¡± Jon shot back, for once acknowledging one of Angie¡¯s attempts at a joke¡­ or maybe it was flirting, I still wasn¡¯t entirely sure about that. ¡°Is that really a good idea though? What if a fight breaks out?¡± I said, scanning the first page. I had set it to look for items that would fit the six slots I hadn¡¯t equipped anything with just yet: my legs, back, neck, head and two ring slots. ¡°If a fight breaks out I¡¯ll just run out with the other civilians that begin freaking out like every single other time an Augment fight happens. Hell when we walk in you can do a quick highlight around and make sure there are other normals in there, if there aren¡¯t we just turn and book it. Though, I''m gonna assume more than a few normal people go to it. The place has an actual website, with actual reviews and everything. Hell, it has a food and drink menu¡­ and yes¡­ half the drinks are snake puns¡­ Viper Venom, The Coiled Kiss, Fangbite Fizz¡­ I kinda love it if I¡¯m being honest,¡± Jon said, unable to hide his giddiness. ¡°Hey Angie, is that what makes this a Gold den? The possibility of civilians being placed in harm''s way?¡± I asked, turning the page back to the filter and adjusting it further. I really didn¡¯t need to see any of the items that only had smaller +1 or +2 bonuses for my off stats only. Maybe if I didn¡¯t find something else, but the vast majority of the initial options were Style and Charisma based and I really did need to focus on my main stats first. ¡°It is certainly a possibility. As you are probably no doubt aware by now, there are several different variations for the dens. While the Bronze and Silver dens are often workshops for the grunts or distribution centers, Gold dens tend to have larger operational purposes. These can be things such as the trainyard meth lab or the jazz club that is probably a money laundering front, though it is possible they also provide a normal nighttime service that many normal people like to partake in instead of staying in like they¡¯re in their 90s.¡± ¡°Well then look at that, it sounds like we have some plans for tonight. You getting Augmented might just be the best thing that''s happened to our social lives in ages,¡± Jon whooped and I let out an actual audible sigh that I''m sure the closest other Augment actually took notice of. ¡°Can I return these super powers? I like my boring weekends¡­¡± ¡°Sorry Loophole, no refunds, no returns. And especially no more boring weekends.¡± I shook my head as I looked through the waist items. Unfortunately the Belt of the Thinker had been snatched up, which didn¡¯t really surprise me, but other than the Quick Wit feature, it really didn¡¯t feel like the best choice for my actual fighting style. Sure, maybe if I wanted to boost my Intelligence faster to grab a few higher tiered books, but now that I was finding a rhythm with my abilities, I wasn¡¯t necessarily in a rush to keep stacking more abilities. I was about to settle on a Silver tier Belt of Strength that would have given me a +7 to my Strength stat for 6000 credits when the list suddenly refreshed and updated with new items. There was one that appeared at the end of the waist list that cost quite a bit more than I might have wanted to spend on a single item, but it was arguably tempting all the same. ¡°Belt of the Action Hero. Platinum Tier Equippable Belt. Color: Black and Silver. This black belt is practically fresh out of Hot Topic in the last 2000s, with silver studs covering it to make you look extra edgy. +4 to Dexterity, +3 to Strength and +2 to Style. This belt has an Empty buckle slot. This belt comes with the Action Star feature. Cost: 20,500 Credits.¡± ¡°Action Star. They always say action stars are masters of their trade, effortlessly bringing their all to every single production they take part in. This feature might not do that for you, but it certainly is going to give you the flexibility to really show off. Adds 2 Activated Ability slots, 1 Passive Ability slot, and 1 Movement Ability slot to all Action Bar loadouts.¡± ¡°Hot damn that would be useful¡­ you wouldn¡¯t even need to go and grab another revolver slot right away if you went with that one,¡± Jon said after I unselected the item. ¡°Yeah but that¡¯s well over half of my available credits,¡± I argued, though I didn¡¯t turn the page. ¡°So? It¡¯s not like you have to fill out every slot right away with top of the line equipment. You¡¯re already killing it and you¡¯ve only put items in half your slots so far. Those two activated ability slots are valuable as all hell, not to mention adding in a fourth Passive slot and that extra Movement slot. Yeah you got your flight but I¡¯m sure we could figure out something else we can do with that extra space.¡± ¡°You¡¯re definitely not wrong¡­ but don¡¯t you think I should at least check out the other slots before I just jump right at this one?¡± I asked as I hovered over the item with my finger. ¡°You could, but as far as I can tell this place works like an auction house without the auctions and there¡¯s a lot of people hanging out at the counters. It¡¯s only been a day and the Belt of the Thinker is already gone. I¡¯d be afraid of that thing vanishing if you turned the page,¡± he argued right back and I was having a hard time finding a good response. I selected the item and a scanning tablet appeared next to me. With a wave of my hand, my credit counter plummeted downward to 15,110 and the item appeared in my B.E.L.T. I moved on to my leg slot, deciding that I wasn¡¯t really ready for either a cape or a hat, and while the neck and ring slots were there too, legs just felt overall like the more important item to grab. This time I adjusted the filters to put a 15,000 max cost and only looked for leg slot items. There weren¡¯t a lot of great items this time around and there were only two Gold tier items to compare after I had the list organized based on tiers. Unfortunately neither one really felt like the right choice. One of them was Intelligence focused, with a feature called Synaptic Surge that would double the effectiveness of Intelligence based abilities¡­ which were, at least currently, none of mine. The other one, an item called Gym Bro¡¯s Sweats came with another Team Player - Minor Leagues feature, which I discovered would actually stack with the feature on my tank top, but it only had a +3 to each Strength and Dexterity. The feature was certainly useful, but only if I was going to be teaming up with another Augment regularly. Even though I had promised Hydramental that I¡¯d tell him when I discovered where the key went, something told me I wouldn¡¯t be teaming up with him very often past that. Hell, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I even wanted to message him when I did figure it all out, but I knew that I probably would when it came down to it. At 12,000 credits, the Sweats just didn¡¯t quite feel worth it, especially when I could get a Silver tier item called Durable Denim Pants, with +4 to Toughness and +3 to Strength for just 5,000 credits instead. I didn¡¯t really think the feature was worth the extra 7,000 credits and Jon didn¡¯t have an argument for it, so I scooped up the Denim. I did a cursory glance through the slots that I still had empty and while there was nothing of note for my head or back slots, even at the lower end of the spectrum, I did end up spending an extra 3000 credits to fill up my neck and ring slots. Each of the three items were only Bronze tier, but between the Gambler¡¯s Ring, School Signet, and Lucky Pendant that I purchased, I added +3 Luck, +1 Strength, and +1 Dexterity to my stats. Unlike the others, although there was a filter for the buckle slot, there didn''t seem to be a single available one in the entire resale shop. I had to assume the buckles were either rare or possibly sold somewhere else, but it was something I could investigate at a later time. ¡°Talk about one hell of a big jump to your stats¡­¡± Jon said as I wandered back out of the resale shop with my wallet noticeably emptier. ¡°You could probably check the bookstore and see if there¡¯s anything else you want to add on, but you don¡¯t necessarily have to spend all the credits you have just to spend them.¡± ¡°Plus I did say I¡¯d exchange some to buy some groceries,¡± I added and he let out a bark of a laugh. ¡°True, it would be nice if you weren¡¯t eating all of my food for once. Hell, you could actually buy the first round of drinks at the club.¡± ¡°Hey it¡¯s not like I never buy groceries, and you can¡¯t actually think I¡¯m going to be getting anything alcoholic in the middle of enemy territory¡­¡± ¡°You know, that¡¯s actually really responsible,¡± he shot back. ¡°Okay, you can buy me a fun drink and yourself just a boring old soda.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re getting off topic here,¡± I said as I walked toward the staircase back down to the main square. There was a small line of men in matching black suits and blank white masks that covered their entire faces that were walking away from The Common Ground in a hurry. The other Augments on the path they were taking made a point of giving them a wide berth as they passed and headed for the portal wall. When I attempted to highlight the leading one, I received a warning that was not wholly dissimilar from the warning that I¡¯d gotten when first scanning Giada. I checked the other three members of the leader¡¯s pack only to discover they all sported the exact same warning. ¡°Warning: Information on this Sapient NPC has been blocked due to Registered Exceptions.¡± ¡°Well those are government spooks if I¡¯ve ever seen them,¡± Jon said with a whistle. ¡°Kinda been wondering where they are in all of this.¡± ¡°Although I¡¯m almost positive I know the answer to this, Angie, wanna fill us in?¡± I asked, watching as they walked up the stairs and disappeared into a portal. ¡°Your assumption is correct Loophole, I am not authorized to access information on what a Registered Exception is in this specific scenario,¡± she said. ¡°You know what, I got enough to worry about right now that I think I can skip adding ''what the hell is the government up to in all of this,'' to it,¡± I said with a sigh and then turned my way back to the Neutral Segment. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m gonna get those Viper Skins attached to my jacket and tank top, exchange some credits, and then honestly, I think I¡¯m gonna take a nap. I am just not waking up at 8 AM tomorrow.¡± ¡°Dude, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re a bit young to be talking about midday naps,¡± Jon laughed and I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head. ¡°I¡¯ve assaulted a yacht, cleared out a bunch of dens, and then fought off a swarm of snake-men and it¡¯s barely been over 7 hours,¡± I said with a laugh of my own. ¡°So no, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a bit young for that at all.¡± Chapter 42

W 46th St, The Velvet Coil. Hell¡¯s Kitchen, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole (Contested) City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Great Strikers (Contested by Miscreant: BoltDroid) Current Phase Points: 12675 End of Phase One: 01D:21H:35M:01S

Axio¡¯s daily announcement came and went with, as Pinky had aptly predicted, his normal amount of threats. Whether it was because of the threats sent the night before or something else entirely, the number of people not keeping up the pace to hit the 10k mark had dropped from 50% to 30%, though once again Axio deployed Major Level threats to them for, as he put it, "slacking off." Pinky and BrainCraft were both well over the 50% requirement, with Pinky passing it just before the announcement herself. They had been deep in the discussion of some aspects of their new squad. Pinky had ended up getting her way with the name, though BrainCraft insisted it was only until they added a third member. We sat, talked and exchanged a few fight stories, though it did feel like I did more talking than they did as they asked about the swarm fight. Although they had been incredibly friendly so far, I still tried my best to keep the bigger parts of my abilities concealed and though they tried to needle an explanation for how I went from illusions to "super powered leaps," I managed to keep my lips sealed. I ate while there, finding that just like with the drinks the food was quite nearly perfect. It wasn¡¯t just that they might have been the best wings I had ever eaten in my life though, the Well Fed buff I received from eating them literally came with an additional Perfect Nutrition buff, which part of me knew wasn¡¯t terminology that was generally used for a basket of wings, carrots and celery. ¡°Perfect Nutrition. You¡¯ve eaten something perfectly nutritionally balanced for a growing Augment. +1 to all stats. Your Well Fed buff will not begin to expire until this buff expires. This buff lasts for 2 Hours.¡± While it was good to know there was a buff that went beyond Well Fed, I didn¡¯t necessarily go out of my way to rush out and utilize it either. By the time 8 PM rolled around, Jon was making me put on the nicest shirt I owned, which wasn¡¯t all that nice, with one of my Uncle¡¯s old blazers. We walked across the city, something that had suddenly felt incredibly mundane to me after flying over the neighborhood all day, and took in the oddly peaceful night. I had been half expecting Angie to interrupt our plans with a Crime Alert but nothing popped up and as we got in line to enter the club, I felt myself feeling off-balance. My interface was still wanting to highlight the building, clearly marking it as a viper den, and I felt myself itching to activate my gear for a fight. It was only the presence of a crowd of people that were very clearly marked as Sapients that held my mental finger off the button. The bouncer at the door, a non-Sapient named Frank, looked us over, checked our IDs, and then waved us in without any sort of hassle, much to my surprise. I was under no illusion that Axio would care if I was in my gear or not, the fact that there were people here he had direct control over left me at a disadvantage without my abilities. My location panel updated with Gold Level Viper Den - Hell¡¯s Kitchen as we entered the building. It was amazing how easily I had started to mentally ignore those little elements of my interface after just a few days with it. The place was gaudy, loud, and far more impressive than I was expecting. Several dozen high top tables sat in the main area of the club, littered with sleek black marble columns reaching up to what I initially thought was the roof, but quickly noticed was actually a second floor to the club. There were several staircases leading down into a section with rounded off booths that had lush looking green velvet cushions, smaller tables, and even a small dance floor. I wasn¡¯t quite sure if jazz was the kind of music people actually danced too, but it was there all the same. Most of the tables and booths in the lower section were filled with patrons and Jon led us to one of the open high top tables, grabbing it before it could be stolen from us. ¡°Who knew people still liked jazz,¡± I said as I looked around the club. I randomly selected people as I went, letting my vision highlight them just to check. It only took a few for a pattern to become clear. Every single one of the employees that I highlighted was a non-Sapient, and while most of the people sitting at tables were Sapient, there were a few booths close to the stage that were loaded with Viper soldiers, still thankfully in human form. I nudged Jon and pointed over to them as subtly as I could. ¡°Damn, right in the leather vests and everything. It¡¯s a good thing too, not like I can exactly highlight them outside of the apartment,¡± he said with a slight frown. ¡°Awww, is he missing my silky smooth commentary?¡± Angie said wistfully. ¡°I doubt it,¡± I thought back quickly, looking away from the stage where several members of a band in sleek black suits with emerald accents were setting up. A young woman with curly blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, ruby lipstick and a sleek outfit complete with a small green bowtie walked up to us. Her fingers drummed across the table as she came to a stop. ¡°Good evening gentleman, my name is Felicia and I¡¯ll be your server tonight,¡± she said with a wide smile as she set down a long thin menu. ¡°All house special drinks are on sale for as long as Miss Pearl is singin¡¯, can I start you two off with anything?¡± ¡°Miss Pearl?¡± I asked and almost on queue I heard the tap of a finger against a microphone. Standing at the center of the stage was a middle-aged woman who wore her age exceptionally well. Her deep cocoa skin stood as a stark contrast against the emerald green dress that clung to her modest curves as if it was painted on. The material of the dress looked strikingly like scales, with opalescent edges that shone in the light and she wore a pair of matching gloves that stretched nearly all the way up her arms. ¡°She¡¯s our in-house resident singer, the boss loves her so she always gets the prime time spot,¡± Felicia explained, almost a bit peeved if I wasn¡¯t mistaking her tone. She shook it off quickly as a wide smile split across her face, ¡°She should be starting any minute, so the sales are starting up now. If you like something fruity, I suggest the Fangbite Fizz, although I do have to warn you, they¡¯re dangerous.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take one of those,¡± Jon said with his I.D. already ready for her. She barely glanced at it before she turned to me and I just shrugged. ¡°Can I just get a Red Bull and some water?¡± ¡°Designated driver huh?¡± She asked with a raised brow. ¡°Drive? In New York? Nobody drives in New York,¡± Jon said and Felicia laughed as she set a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Well aren¡¯t you just a little comedian," She said with a smile before moving her hand to write on a small notepad. "I¡¯ll get these drinks right out for you.¡± She sauntered off and Jon watched her go almost like a puppy. ¡°What¡¯s she got that I don¡¯t?!¡± Angie huffed. ¡°An actual body?¡± I suggested and she huffed again. ¡°Well at least I can think on my own,¡± she said and I resisted the urge to point out how much I doubted that before she added. ¡°I heard that.¡± ¡°I¡¯d put your eyes back in your head, she¡¯s a non-Sapient,¡± I said, a bit lower than normal as I looked back up at the stage. Miss Pearl seemed to be having a conversation with her pianist as the rest of the band did final checks on their equipment. ¡°Damn¡­ there¡¯s always a catch, isn¡¯t there?¡± Jon said with a sigh, his own tone lowering as he pulled out his phone. ¡°Though then again, Giada was with Sal¡­ so they are technically fully human¡­¡± ¡°Dude¡­¡± ¡°Yeah I know, didn¡¯t feel right saying out loud,¡± Jon said with his nose scrunched up. ¡°Just feels weird to see them just, integrated with normal people.¡± ¡°Yeah I know that feeling,¡± I said as another tap of the microphone brought my attention back up to the stage. Miss Pearl stood there, the lights shifting on the stage to illuminate the entire band as she slowly raised her hands up to the sides. The crowd reacted by dropping to silence, and a bright white smile cut across the old singer¡¯s face. ¡°Well well well, doesn¡¯t this please this old gals heart seeing this place just packed to the gills!¡± She said with a sultry drawl. ¡°Okay Zee, I think we¡¯ve kept these fine folks waiting long enough, let¡¯s bring them on down to the snake¡¯s nest.¡± ¡°You got it Miss P,¡± a younger man with a saxophone said as he brought it to his lips and began. There were a few quick blasts, before he turned to the rest of the band and shouted ¡°Hit it!¡± The lights came to life in a perfect choreographed show as Zee stood from his stool, leaning into his sax as the band followed. His saxophone blared with sharp, staccato like bursts before the drummer¡¯s sticks moved with the rhythm of a machine gun against the snare. Miss Peal held a tambourine at her side that she smacked against her hip in beat and the thrumming of an upright bass thumped with a steady groove that rumbled at my chest. Just as I thought the music couldn¡¯t get any louder, several brass instruments burst into the song with bright, brassy tones that cut through the melody causing the crowd to cheer in excitement. More than a few people jumped to their feet and hit the dance floor including, to my surprise, a few of the Viper Soldiers. They grabbed partners, dancing with practiced grace as they swung in time to the erratic beat of the music. I was never a dancer myself, but the lively sound of the music practically demanded movement and I found my foot tapping in time with the song. I was broken from the near trance the music had me in as Felicia set our drinks down on the table along with a few napkins. I turned maybe a bit too quickly and my hand smacked the glass of water she had set down. It was probably a good thing I wasn¡¯t in my gear, given how high my Strength stat jumped when I had it equipped, smacking i then might have sent the glass flying. Thankfully, the glass only fell over, pouring its contents onto the table as Felicia jumped backwards slightly. ¡°Ah shit¡­ I¡¯m so sorry,¡± I said quickly as I looked around. There wasn¡¯t a napkin dispenser on the table nor was there silverware wrapped in napkins either. ¡°Happens all the time, people get enraptured by the house band,¡± she said with a forced laugh. ¡°I think I forgot my towel though, so I¡¯m going to need to go find one to clean this up really quick.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. She turned and retreated quickly as I looked at the small pool of water that dripped over the edge of the high top table. ¡°She¡¯s really a non-Sapient? Like, that was so real though¡­¡± Jon said, slightly in awe. Though he had seen me fight more than a few Viper now, I hadn¡¯t really communicated with the non-Sapients outside of the shops in the square, and those ones felt so segregated from the real world that it was easy to pretend that it didn¡¯t that they weren¡¯t, technically speaking, ¡°real¡± people. Felicia quickly came back with a fresh glass of water, setting it on the table before cleaning up the mess. The music seemed to come to a slow, popping end as the crowd cheered and Miss Pearl stepped back up to the microphone. While I was expecting for her to say something, maybe even introduce the next song, nothing of the sort occurred. Instead, the band immediately started to play once more, this time in a slow, bluesy melody. The lights dimmed and a spotlight shone down onto the well dressed singer. And as the slow bassline thrummed and the saxophone rang in a low soothing tone, Miss Pearl began to sing. "Hear the hum beneath the city¡¯s bones, A rattling hymn through the twilight tones. Follow the shadow, where the venom stains, Down the forgotten tracks, through the serpent¡¯s domain." The pianist hit a striking cord as her sultry tones filled the room and brought a hush over the crowd. Her hips swayed as she held onto the microphone stand, letting her body move with the lilting melody. While the music continued to swell, I let my Area Sense activate, thankful I could use it without being in my gear. It was almost sensory overload as the sudden influx of new information hit my mind, but it quickly settled as I probed and felt the intrusions in my space. My sense hadn¡¯t improved since I first acquired it, so I still couldn¡¯t tell specific details just with my sense, so the blobs of humans, tables, and decorations that pressed against me all felt the same. "In the heart of the city, ''neath the endless streams, There''s a rhythm that plays in forgotten dreams, Through tunnels dark, where the echoes hum, A venomous trail shows where to come." On the balcony that ran above us and I could feel at least one person walking, but for the most part the close collection of intrusions meant it was probably just more seating. I redirected my attention downward instead, reaching out and investigating the basement of the building. There were at least two separate rooms I could feel, just based on the walls and doorways that I could touch, and I could feel several blobs that must have been humans. They were huddled around¡­ maybe a table? It was hard to tell for sure. I closed my eyes, trying to focus harder, to see if I could get a better feel by concentrating as the saxophone started to play a slow but haunting solo. The band fell silent, their absence amplifying the solitary voice of the sax, which rose and fell in slow, deliberate waves. There was a larger figure that moved from one room to the next in the basement, and it felt as if one of the blobs huddled was suddenly yanked from the group just as the sax''s solo came to an end and the rest of the band joined fully back into the song. "Beneath the gleam of the starry ceiling, Where tracks run deep and secrets are reeling, A whisper echoes where the lost trains sleep, Follow the hum where shadows creep." The brass section wailed in a demanding chorus as the song burst back to life, practically rattling me from my concentration and I struggled to maintain my focus. The hulking form was still there, but the blobs that I thought were people huddled around a table seemed to be frozen in place now. I wasn¡¯t sure if I had missed something or if they were simply holding painfully still. "Where the golden clock marks the fleeting time, And feet once rushed to the echoing chime, Slip to the dark where the rails run thin, Fifty steps down, that''s where it begins." ¡°Holy shit¡­ It¡¯s the answer,¡± Jon said, almost in awe. The sudden noise coming from right next to me finally broke my concentration and I looked over to him. ¡°Huh? What was the question? What did I just miss?¡± I asked, feeling the residual effects of my ability dissipating as my new sense vanished back into my ability. ¡°The song, she¡¯s literally giving us the answer dude. The starry ceiling, the golden clock¡­ Shit, let me check something,¡± he said and pulled out his phone. Had he been the one with increased strength, he might have destroyed his phone with how hard his thumbs went racing across the screen. ¡°Seriously, what the hell did I just zone out and miss?¡± I asked again and a moment later he turned his phone to me with an impossibly smug grin. ¡°Grand Central Station?¡± ¡°That¡¯s where Sal¡­ the real Sal is. I¡¯d put money on it. There''s a few lines that go out of there, we just have to figure out which one he''s hiding along and boom, we got him,¡± he said as the song came to a close and the audience burst into applause around us. ¡°Wait¡­ but why the hell would she be singing that? Isn¡¯t it a bit odd that literally the second song we heard the first time we came here was something that gave us clues to a location conveniently located to us? What if it¡¯s a trap?!¡± I hissed in a low whisper and he turned toward me with a shrug. ¡°Why would you have gotten a key and a mission to hunt him down in the first place? Who''s been guiding you to figuring out his involvement in all of this? Maybe it¡¯s a trap but like, there¡¯s no way that song was a coincidence given that this is the last place we can be looking for clues. If¡­¡± he said, starting to say something else before he turned and smiled at someone approaching from behind me. ¡°Hi Felicia, do you think you could get me another one of these and maybe one of the appetizer sampler platters?¡± ¡°Well aren''t you just a little psychic knowing what I was coming over here to ask,¡± Felicia said as she came to a stop by our table with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re not one of those Augments now, are you?¡± Jon laughed and shook his head, ¡°Nah, just a lucky guess.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s a pretty good guess then,¡± she said, lightly placing a hand on Jon¡¯s shoulder again with a wink before adding, ¡°I¡¯ll put that right in for you sweetie.¡± ¡°God I hate that bitch,¡± Angie muttered as I watched Felicia head back toward a door tucked into a corner of the building on the far side of the main bar. ¡°What were you saying?¡± I asked, ignoring her grumbling as I turned my attention back to Jon. ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t be talking about this stuff in the open,¡± he said before nodding over toward the dance floor. ¡°Besides, I think your friends are up to something, they''re all moving in a hurry.¡± I looked in the direction he had indicated and sure enough, every one of the Vipers had grabbed stuff from their booths and started to take off toward a back door. Slowly, but deliberately I slipped my uncle¡¯s blazer from my shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m uh¡­ I¡¯m gonna go to the bathroom real quick,¡± I said, pulling my wallet from my pocket and sliding a few bills across the table to him as Jon gave me a knowing look. ¡°Do your thing¡­ uh¡­ text me if something is happening and I¡¯ll grab your blazer,¡± he said before thinking about it for a moment. ¡°Actually¡­ how bout you just leave it on the chair closer to me. I got a feeling there''s no way this ends simply...¡± The band started up another song and I moved as fast as I could without outright jogging. I wasn¡¯t necessarily trying to draw attention to myself, but I still wished I had my gear on so that I could just activate my Spectrum Veil and move unseen. The Vipers were moving quickly, but in a relatively orderly fashion as they headed toward the same door as Felicia. As they passed through their door, I slipped into a door to the bathroom that was conveniently located next to it. I barely let the door close behind me, verifying the room was a single occupancy before I activated my gear and Spectrum Veil in quick succession. Not wanting to lose the trail, I pulled the door back open slowly, inching my way back out the door and hoping no one had noticed. Another waitress was just pushing her way through the door to what I could now tell was the kitchen, holding a tray of various plates. I pushed myself against the wall, waiting for her to pass before I rushed for the door, making my way through it just before it could close. I looked around quickly, barely catching the trailing Viper as they turned another corner. I made my way to it, peering around the edge and finding a long staircase down to a concrete wall that turned past where I could see from my vantage point. Almost effortlessly now that I was used to the mechanic, I opened the phone portion of my interface. There was no way he was going to be able to get back to the Command Room in time to be my second set of eyes and I wasn¡¯t going to wait that long either. I descended the staircase, watching as my Stamina dropped quickly from the continued use of Spectrum Veil. It was definitely dropping, but not quite as rapidly as it might have before I had gotten the gear upgrades that practically doubled my total amount. I could hear the sound of voices the closer to the bottom I got, and I was careful with my steps, thankful that the staircase didn¡¯t have any sort of squeak to them. There was a large room as I peered around the corner and I saw the Viper¡¯s all towering over a group of older women standing around a long table. The women looked to be sorting and organizing something under their careful observation, more than likely a drug of some sort if I had to guess, though my familiarity with anything past weed only came from television and movies. To my surprise, the women all had shackles at their ankles, holding them to the table and it left me feeling extremely uneasy. Even if they were non-Sapients, it felt inhumane. And then I scanned one of them, discovering that the woman, a lady named Maria Owens, was a Sapient. I felt my jaw literally drop, unable to believe that Axio would go this far before I reminded myself that it wasn¡¯t just him behind this. Snakebite was involved as well and at this point it didn¡¯t matter that he had to be higher leveled than me, this went far beyond just some code scribbled on the wall of a bar. This was beyond basic humanity. I counted at least a dozen Soldiers, ranging from level 6 to 8, though luckily none of them were in snake form. I was going to have to move quickly if I wanted to protect the women and I immediately found myself wishing I could¡­ My mind trailed off as I thought about my most recent knowledge acquisition. While I had gained a cursory but wide level of understanding on the basics of quantum mechanics, the fundamentals were still a hard thing to wrangle in my head without giving it my entire focus. I didn¡¯t have a lot of time to consider every single aspect that this would entail, but I mentally reached for the equations that had become imprinted in my brain on quantum tunneling. It wasn¡¯t about breaking the laws of physics, even if some Augments could do that without having to obtain the right knowledge sets. It was about bending the rules just enough to slip through the cracks. All I needed was the right combination of probability and focus. If particles could appear on the other side of a barrier just because their waveforms didn¡¯t care about the rules, who¡¯s to say I couldn¡¯t do the same? It wasn¡¯t technically teleporting, it was quantum problem-solving.

¡°New Ability! Phase Step! This is a Movement Ability! I really was wondering if it was a good idea for you to go and spend all that money on a book with shenanigans in the title, after all that¡¯s my kind of business. But you went and proved me wrong; I don¡¯t think I like it when you do that. This ability allows you to teleport to a location within your area that you can visibly see, we can¡¯t just let you immediately teleport to the other side of walls right away, that would be way too broken. The accuracy of Phase Step is not guaranteed. There is a base 50% chance that you will end up randomly placed within 5 feet of your intended location, reducing by 1% for each point of Luck that you have. This ability costs 500 points of Stamina per jump unless you are jumping to a location where a version of you (i.e. an afterimage) already exists, which reduces the cost of this ability by 90%.¡±

Chapter 43 Activating Phase Step was an entirely different experience to flying or anything I had done so far and it felt like a suction effect as I popped through space from one spot in my area to another. I appeared on top of the table, scattering their product as I released my Spectrum Veil. The sudden transportation across the room in the blink of an eye caused the wind to briefly get knocked out of me. I took short, shallow breaths to regain my composure as I scanned the surprised faces around me. ¡°Get down!¡± I hollered at the women before activating Weighted Clothes. It didn¡¯t matter that they were within my zone, since I didn¡¯t count them as enemies, the ability wouldn¡¯t do so much as add a pound to their outfits. Between a dozen Soldiers in the room, the 3000 pounds distributed through the ability¡¯s Party Mode augmentation wasn¡¯t going to do enough to take any of them down immediately, even if it did at least do some damage to them, but that hadn¡¯t been the point of my initial attack. Just as I expected, more than a few of them materialized syringes into their hands intent on starting their transformation. What they couldn¡¯t have known was that I had already activated Center of the Universe, targeting items in the space. The skill didn¡¯t have the quickest buildup time, but having it already ramping up more than did the trick as I felt random baggies and equipment at my feet pulling against my legs. Of the six syringes that had been pulled out, I managed to force four of them from the Soldier¡¯s hands, absorbing them into my B.E.L.T. the moment they hit me and I deactivated my ability before too many things could come hurtling my way. To my surprise though, they weren¡¯t Temporary Augmentation Serums, instead appearing as Superior Stamina Injectors as they were added to my list. I was just about to vocalize the obvious question to Angie when I saw the entire group materialize and stab a different set of syringes into their arms before I could react. One by one, their bodies began to swell and burst through their clothes and yet as always their vests seemed to be absolutely indestructible to their transformations, though it was possible that was because they were still being held with the heightened weight of my first strike. ¡°You think we don¡¯t learn Loophole?¡± One of them in front of me growled, his voice fluctuating and shifting to a higher pitch as his body began to morph. ¡°Your trickssss won¡¯t work on ussss twice.¡± Knowing that I only had a moment to react, I activated Fun House, slipping into invisibility as I jumped from the table and toward the Soldier that had been attempting to taunt me. My stamina had dropped to nearly 50% already but I wasn¡¯t even focused on that as I threw a 30% Gravity Punch at him, connecting with his chest and launching him backward into two of his compatriots going through similar transformations. The force caused them to slam into a wall with a good amount of force. We were in tight quarters already, and the women were cramming themselves under the long metallic table at the center of the room. It was a stupid, impulsive move to jump right in, but seeing real people being treated this way had turned off my caution and practically enraged me enough that I just jumped in anyway. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the glint of a lens and saw a camera that seemed to swivel to look toward me. I didn¡¯t have time to focus on it for too long as one of the faster transforming Soldiers lunged for me and on instinct I activated Phase Step again, reappearing on top of the table in place of the afterimage I had left behind. I materialized and immediately used one of the Superior Stamina Injectors, finding it returned 75% of my Stamina in a single burst, practically topping me off completely. The Vipers were still moving slowly with Weighted Clothes activated, even as the last of them finished going through the process to morph into their snake forms. It was almost odd that it didn¡¯t happen at the same rate for each of the Soldiers, but it also wasn¡¯t something I found myself wanting to complain about either. So far I had the element of surprise on my side, as my sudden jump to attack and subsequent return had left them confused as to where I was with my remaining three afterimages still moving around the room. One of them lunged toward the table anyway and I didn¡¯t wait to be struck as I used Phase Step to jump to another afterimage on the far side of my zone. I immediately started ramping Center of the Universe back to full strength, focusing on the enemies in the room as I started to yank them toward me and away from the cowering women. The Vipers had clearly been learning though, and instead of trying to pull against my force, six of the soldiers turned and lunged toward me. I waited until the last possible moment and a small smile cut across my face as I stepped across the room again in the blink of an eye. The group crashed into each other with several loud curses and hisses of anger as I settled in place of one of my two remaining afterimages. I hadn¡¯t necessarily been considering just how the Phase Step ability would interact with all of my other abilities but much to my happy surprise, this didn¡¯t interrupt the strength of my gravitational pull. It remained maxed out and the sudden pile of snake-men began getting yanked backwards in a twisted mess. They tumbled in a heap, getting wrapped up in each other and taking more damage as at least one of them was knocked out. ¡°There¡¯s some sort of snake spaghetti joke in here but I find myself drawing a blank,¡± Angie chirped. ¡°Or maybe a tumblesnake joke? I¡¯ll be honest, even though every digital bone in my non-existent body wants to make a joke, I¡¯m kinda just impressed that you¡¯re thinking on your feet.¡± ¡°Not now, Angie,¡± I said just as I activated Sting Like a Bee and threw a 10% Gravity Punch at the nearest Soldier. ¡°That was a compliment though!¡± She complained but I ignored her as I watched the Soldier get staggered by my strike. Even though the Soldier was my level, with my Strength sitting at 30 thanks to my Perfect Nutrition buff still barely being active, my attacks came with an impressive amount of force. The combination of abilities and my strength pummeled the Soldier¡¯s health down by nearly 30% in a single strike. I followed up the strike with two more blows to try and take advantage of Sting Like a Bee, sending him collapsing to a heap as if it were child¡¯s play. ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± I demanded, dropping Center of the Universe as I cracked my knuckles. I didn¡¯t wait for them to respond, having only spoken to get their attention off of my last remaining afterimage. I jumped over to it, appearing behind three Soldiers suddenly turning their heads in a panic trying to find where I had gone. Given that so many of my abilities lent toward me being an up close brawler, even as I continued to grow and adapt, I hadn¡¯t really been sure how I was going to keep that style but strike multiple people at the same time. Sure, I had proven that I was good at dodging and punching fast enough to deal damage, but I knew for situations like this I needed to be able to do more than just punch a single target at once. An idea tickled the back of my head as the principle for quantum coherence suddenly came to mind. ¡°New Ability! Quantum Echostrike. I¡¯m really starting to appreciate just how wild this book you picked up can be, and I¡¯ve oddly been missing this sorta on the spot ability making, really lets you get creative. First you figure out a form of pseudo-teleportation which is, let¡¯s face it, really just actual teleportation, and now this. Now, I could go into an elongated spiel on quantum coherence and wave-particle duality, but I don¡¯t think anyone has time for that, especially with how many caveats this ability has. When this ability is activated, your next physical strike against an opponent or object will cause a quantum shockwave, echoing out to all identical targets within 5 feet of them. When there are only 3 targets, enemies will take 80% of that initial strike¡¯s total damage. For each additional opponent in the affected range, lower the total damage that all affected enemies take by 10% less damage, to a minimum of 30% applied damage. If there are associated effects that come with an attack, replicate these effects to all targets affected by this ability. This ability has a 30 second cooldown and has no base cost. The cost of this ability is equal to 50% of the next ability thrown. If you do not use an ability for your next strike, reduce the cooldown by 20 seconds.¡± I didn¡¯t even hesitate as I dropped the ability in the empty slot at the end of my activated bar and activated it. In that flash, I had a sudden burst of inspiration, and I threw my punch. Right as my fist was about to strike the Soldier, I activated Gravity Punch with 30% of my stamina. The blow rippled through the air like a current, striking the two enemies directly next to him and simultaneously all three of them were thrown in different directions. The damage was immense, knocking each of them down to near critical as they struggled back to upright. Unfortunately, this also brought my stamina down to just over 15% just from the rapid use of my abilities. ¡°Can¡¯t believe that worked,¡± I muttered internally and Angie giggled. ¡°Try and tell me to shut up all you want, but I do mean it as a compliment. You really are getting pretty good at immediately incorporating new skills into your fighting style,¡± She replied. ¡°I suppose what you lack in forethought you make up for in on the spot thinking.¡± ¡°You know, that actually might just be the nicest thing you¡¯ve said to me so far,¡± I laughed, watching my opponents carefully and taking a few slow breaths as my stamina slowly crept back up at its natural regeneration. When I had more time, I was really going to need to sit down and figure out which of my stats affected both my stamina and health regeneration, and maybe scold Jon for either not thinking it was important or not figuring it out himself with as much gaming knowledge as he had.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Of the twelve Soldiers that had been in the room when I entered, four of them had already found themselves KOed and crumbled to dust, and four of them were nearly critical. The last four had so far avoided any of my damage, and I was going to have to figure out a way to finish this with a nearly depleted Stamina bar. The women were still cowering under the table and at least for now the Soldiers seemed to be avoiding them. In that moment it clicked into place just why they weren¡¯t trying to use them as human shields. The women weren¡¯t hostages after all, they were slaves, and they couldn¡¯t force them to work if they got hurt. But even that logic wasn¡¯t good enough for me. I had to find a way to get them out of the middle of this battlefield before an attack went too wide or one of the Vipers decided they were expendable. I needed just a bit more Stamina, just a little bit more and I was confident that I¡¯d be able to finish this almost without breaking a sweat. Two of the Soldiers near critical got back up, materializing syringes and injecting them, returning to around half life in my hesitation. I might have been angry with myself for letting it happen if my confidence hadn¡¯t been quickly rising. Angie had been right, somehow in the midst of battle, it was the easiest to come up with just the skill I needed. ¡°New Ability! Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge! Did you know that in some quantum systems, energy and matter can ¡°borrow¡± energy temporarily under the uncertainty principle? Look who I¡¯m talking to, you¡¯re the one who insisted on buying the book, of course you do! Though that means you¡¯d also know that that borrowing does come with some consequences. Instantly restores your Stamina to 100%, after 15 seconds has elapsed, all excess Stamina from your bar is removed and an instance of the Exhausted debuff is applied, reducing your natural Stamina and Health regeneration by 25% for 30 minutes. If you do not already have an Exhausted debuff when you activate this ability, refresh the cooldown on all abilities with cooldowns 10 minutes or less. This ability has No Cooldown and costs No Stamina, but the applied Exhausted debuff is accumulative and if the ability is used more than 4 times within a 10 minute period, you will be rendered unconscious for 24 hours.¡± I put it in place of Earthbound Impact for the time being just as I started to move, knowing the flight skill would be useless to me for the moment. The Soldier¡¯s moved to react, seemingly unsure what my plans were as I activated Float Like a Butterfly, dodging under and through several wild swipes of overly sharp claws. I lunged forward, sliding on my knees toward the table and using the last bit of my stamina to activate Quantum Echostrike just as it came off of cooldown alongside a minimum strength Gravity Punch. There wasn¡¯t a single Viper near me, but it wasn¡¯t them that I was aiming for. My fist connected with the base of a chain holding the shackles of one of the women and the power of the strike rippled outward through the other clasps. Had I been trying this with my normal strikes, it probably wouldn¡¯t have been anywhere near strong enough, but between my increased strength and the bonuses from my ability, each one shattered. The women still had parts of the shackles on their ankles, but more than one of them had been aware enough to see what had happened. ¡°Run now! I¡¯ll guard your exit!¡± I told them. I didn¡¯t wait to see if they were going to listen and I turned, activating Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge as my Stamina immediately refilled. I felt a practically electrical surge ripple through my body as I spun on my knees, picking a target and Phase Stepping through the air toward them. I didn¡¯t actually think a snake could look surprised, but the Soldier managed it as I threw a wide hook at the side of his head, activating Gravity Punch and throwing 25% of my stamina into the strike. It sent the Soldier flying, his body immediately starting to crumble to dust as my strike flattened the last third of his health. I had to catch myself as I nearly stumbled from the momentum. ¡°You don¡¯t fuck with real people, you don¡¯t treat them as slaves!¡± I nearly yelled as I turned and dodged under a wide strike from yet another snake. The others had conveniently been charging in on me, clearly not wanting to let me jump out of the way yet again. They were just about to have me surrounded and I might have jumped out of the way anyway, but my Surge ability had reset my Quantum Echostrike. I activated it, and threw a 50% Gravity Punch for the snake directly in front of me. Just like before, it was as if a shockwave of visible force emanated out from the front target, striking each of the snakes one after another and launching the entire group of them backwards towards the nearest wall. Their bodies smacked against the concrete with a chorus of satisfying THUDs. Four of the seven remaining Soldier¡¯s collapsed, the KO debuff appearing briefly before they began to crumble to dust. The remaining three weren¡¯t doing a whole lot better, even if they had been at full health when they first charged me. The strength of my attacks was either far higher than I had even fully considered or the serum that they had started to take was becoming less and less effective at increasing their defenses. They had seemed to wildly increase the production of both the serum and the Soldier class Vipers in such a short timeframe, so it seemed not only possible, but likely that whatever method SnakeBite was using was flawed. The three remaining Vipers didn¡¯t actually get right back up, and I found myself cracking my knuckles as I slowly walked toward them. My stamina had bottomed back out and I had gained the Exhaustion debuff, but that didn¡¯t matter. I was finding myself not just happy that I had made these assholes crumble so easily, but I felt outright satisfaction in it. Normally, I might have gotten into my head about that, worried about what sort of monster I was becoming with how fluidly I was jumping into battle, but the truth was, the Augment''s Code was right and it was the very first thing the the list. Our job was to protect the Sapients that weren¡¯t involved in this. They couldn¡¯t help the fact that someone had introduced this system into our world, and the best they could do was hope they could just live from day to day. It¡¯s what I had been doing before being crushed by that dumpster. Hell, I was maybe just starting to realize it was why I hadn¡¯t really applied myself past some random cleaning job. How were you supposed to try and thrive in a world where a small population literally played by different rules? As much as I might have wanted to let myself go down an existential rabbit hole, I was too damn angry at seeing Sapients being treated like tools. ¡°You know, had you guys just been using folks like you to run your business, maybe I would have offered you three the chance to surrender, maybe I would have tried to coax some information out of you even. But you guys, your boss¡­ he crossed the fucking line,¡± I said, looking up toward one of the cameras in the corner. ¡°SnakeBite, if you¡¯re watching¡­ I¡¯m fucking coming for you.¡± I activated Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge a second time, waiting just long enough for Echostrike to come back off of cooldown before I threw as hard of a punch as I could, burning every last bit of my stamina in a final Gravity Punch against the now cowering Soldiers. There was a chorus of trumpets in my head as several notifications opened in rapid succession. A second Exhausted debuff was layered over the first and I found myself needing to take long, slow breaths as I let Angie read the notifications off to me. ¡°Viper Den Completed! You did not report this den to the 10th precinct. No additional rewards will be granted. Hell¡¯s Kitchen Viper¡¯s Dens: 8 of 8 completed!¡± ¡°Phase Points Gain Updated! Territory Claimed: Extra-Large Neighborhood: 1000 points, no longer halved due to being Contested. Phase Points Gained! Kill Non-Sapient Augment: You have killed multiple Non-Sapient Augments. This is worth points equal to the defeated Augment¡¯s level times 25. Total Value: 1950 points ¡± ¡°New Achievement! Territorial! You have fully claimed your first territory. With the Viper¡¯s no longer having points to operate out of, this territory will not experience a game related Crime Alert for the next 24 hours. This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier loot box.¡± I was just about to send Jon a text to celebrate having fully claimed my territory when there was the crackle of a speaker. It wasn¡¯t like the one that happened whenever Axio started to talk, this one was actually coming from inside of the room from unseen speakers. There was a slow, mocking clap that echoed in the room and I looked back up toward the camera I had noticed earlier in the fight. ¡°Well that really was quite the show Loophole, I gotta say, I am impressed,¡± the unfamiliar voice said. It was almost¡­ sophisticated? I still wasn¡¯t sure if Sal was a clone of SnakeBite or something else, but the elegant timbre that came from the speakers wasn¡¯t what I expected the real version to sound like. Maybe that was just my own expectations based on Giada and the Vipers I had interacted with so far, but it still had left me feeling unbalanced. I shook it off as fast as I could and tried my best to glare. ¡°No you don''t get to be fucking impressed by me, SnakeBite. I¡¯m coming for you. I don¡¯t know what fucking sick game you¡¯re playing, but I think I¡¯ve finally figured something out,¡± I said, slowly walking toward the camera as it swiveled downward to keep me in frame. ¡°Your power or whatever it is you¡¯re doing with this snake vampire bullshit that Hydramental told me about? It¡¯s because you¡¯re weak. You have to hide behind these men that you treat as disposable because you can¡¯t fucking fight at all. It¡¯s why no one has ever heard of you. It¡¯s why no one is afraid of you. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to matter even a bit that you¡¯re higher leveled. I¡¯m going to crush you.¡± ¡°Oh you are amusing!¡± He laughed with a disturbing amount of glee and the sound echoed off the walls. ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of you? That I¡¯d have to face you to defeat you? That you¡¯re actually worth my time? No, as easy as it would be, I don¡¯t want to crush you. You see, I¡¯ve been watching you, seeing how you¡¯ve grown, and just so quickly too. Your power¡­ it¡¯s just so¡­ so interesting. Every time I throw something at you, you adapt, you evolve. You¡¯re not locked up to one specific tactic like so many of us Augments no¡­ you get to change don¡¯t you? No, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m done with you just yet, there are just so many things I could do with a power like that and I just can''t do my experiments if you''re dead.¡± I felt a chill run down my spine and I felt the prick of my nails pushing into my own skin. I swallowed what little spit was in my mouth, ¡°Big talk for someone hiding behind an army of minions.¡± Silence seemed to linger for a minute and when he did start to speak again, the speakers actually had to crackle back to life.

¡°So you want to fight the great SnakeBite, Leader of the Vipers? You want to see just what I can do?¡± He continued, the mirth in his tone vanishing completely. ¡°Well you¡¯ve got the key. What the hell are you waiting for?¡±

Chapter 44 I waited in the basement for a few minutes after the speakers went quiet, catching my breath as my Stamina painfully slowly ticked back up. I only waited long enough until I could use another injector, opting to use one of my Enhanced injectors instead of the more powerful but limited in quantity Superior ones I had stolen from the Vipers. Once I had some Stamina again, I crept back up the stairs, activating Spectrum Veil just before I reached the main floor. Although the den had been marked as cleared, I had no idea what sort of commotion had been caused by the escaping women. The kitchen had quieted down and emptied out completely and there was a distinct lack of music coming from the main dining room. I let my invisibility fade to conserve my stamina and pushed my way through. The wait staff were standing in the room, stiff as statues and looking right at me with thousand yard stares. They weren¡¯t looking through me though, because their heads followed me as I slowly walked my way toward the table Jon and I had been sitting at. Just as I was about to ask what was going on, every single one of them in perfect unison, started hissing. It was a slow, steady drone coming from them and I noticed Felicia standing perfectly at attention at the edge of our table. Her eyes were completely unfocused, even as I made contact with them as the sound just continued to escape from her mouth. I reached out, shaking her shoulder just a bit, wondering if it would break her from her trance but nothing changed. ¡°You¡¯re wasting your time Loophole, if this is what their controller wants them to be doing, then that¡¯s what they¡¯re going to do,¡± Angie said in a low, practically somber tone. ¡°Yeah, I sorta figured, but I still have an hour to kill anyway¡­ Even though I want to charge over there right now, I still don¡¯t know which line¡­¡± I started but trailed off as I looked around the room. Even Miss Pearl and her band were standing atop the stage, staring in my direction and hissing. I looked back over at Felicia and leaned in closer, trying to isolate just her voice in the steady drone of the room. I couldn¡¯t help myself as I started to laugh as I realized exactly what was happening. It wasn¡¯t like I was doubled over in laughter, but the pure absurdity of it after the day I had had, finding what I needed so easily was far funnier to me than it should have been. ¡°Um¡­ are you okay? Did you finally snap?¡± Angie asked with genuine concern and I finally settled down. ¡°Codex was right. This place had the answers we needed. The song told us where to start, Grand Central Station, and now they¡¯re telling me the subway line I¡¯ll find him at,¡± I said, reaching up and wiping away an errant tear. ¡°But they¡¯re hissing, they¡¯re not telling you anything¡­¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not hissing. Unlike Sal and the soldiers with their serums, they aren¡¯t snakes. The sound they are making is what would happen if you told a program to read the letter S repeatedly¡­¡± I explained. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty small line, but the S-Line does go to Grand Central.¡± Practically confirming my words, the entire room went silent, though none of the non-Sapients moved even an inch from where they stood. I backed away from Felicia and looked over toward the front door. Of course, even though I hadn¡¯t called the den in, there were police lights beating against the window. ¡°Neat revelation aside, can you get out of here¡­ these guys are kinda freaking me out,¡± Angie muttered. She wasn¡¯t wrong though, and as I headed for the exit, all of their heads turned to follow me as I went. I pushed my way through the door, finding a crowd of well dressed people being held back by a police line that had quickly formed. I looked around, trying to see if I could find any of the women that had been chained up, but I couldn¡¯t immediately locate any of them. More than one of them had looked incredibly malnourished and I wanted to make sure they were getting help before I just ran off to my next fight. Luckily, on the far side of the crowd, I could see that there was an ambulance with its doors opened. Axio might have been playing games with all of us, and I knew he was still up to something, but I could at least appreciate what he did with the small bits of influence he did have over the police and medical dispatch. That really seemed to be the only explanation for how they could be here only a few minutes after I finished a fight that no one saw. While I could have gone over to the ambulance to check in on the women, if they were already with medical staff there was little I could do other than probe them for information and that felt like a callous thing to do in the middle of a crowd. ¡°Hey Loophole, are those folks in there going to be okay?¡± One of the officers, a Sapient named Howard, asked as I approached the police line. Before I could even answer, the door behind me opened and the waitstaff all started to stumble out holding their heads and acting disoriented. ¡°They were following orders and were afraid to leave when the women being treated over there escaped. Can you make sure they are taken care of, they were being held prisoner in the basement and used to sort the drugs,¡± I said, not technically lying. ¡°This place was a front for the Vipers that have been trying to take over lately. Emphasis on was.¡± ¡°Well damn, you¡¯ve been busy,¡± Howard said and another officer stepped up holding out a hand to me. ¡°Hi Loophole, sorry, I¡¯m actually a big fan¡­ I saw your fight over on 9th and just, wow you are quite the hero,¡± he said and I smiled sheepishly as I shook his hand and highlighted him to grab his name. ¡°Thank you Officer Franklin, I¡¯m just trying to do what I can,¡± I said and felt my jaw set as I looked from them over to the crowd that was watching me with rapt attention. There were more than a dozen phones being held up, trying to get a good shot at me as I looked between them. I set my jaw as I turned to address them, knowing just what I had to do. ¡°These bikers,¡± I started, raising my voice as a hush passed over the crowd. ¡°They¡¯ve been trying to hurt the people of our neighborhood. They¡¯ve been trying to hurt the people in Chelsea and Hudson Yard too and it¡¯s gone on long enough. I know I¡¯m still new to this, still new to all of you. But I¡¯m telling you¡­ no¡­ I¡¯m promising you all right here and now. I¡¯m going to put a stop to it. All of it. Not just here, but everywhere these asshole bikers try to terrorize. This is our home, this is our city. You all can count on me to protect it.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Territory Claimed: Medium Town: 1500 points (Halved to 750 points, Reason: Contested).¡± The crowd erupted into cheers as chants of ¡°Loop. Hole. Loop. Hole. Loop. Hole!¡± overtook the group. There was one thing that I knew for certain, if there was ever a time for a superhero exit, it was when people were cheering my name. Although my Stamina was still barely creeping up, I gave the group a wave before I bent down and then took off into the air and away from the scene with as much speed as I could manage. I could have gone back home. Hell, I probably should have. But I knew if I went home now, Jon would talk me out of doing this tonight. He¡¯d tell me we had the location and I could just put it off for another day. But I wasn¡¯t going to risk giving SnakeBite more time to prepare. There was a chance this was a trap, logically I knew that, and I¡¯d use Area Sense as much as I could to try to scout ahead but I wasn¡¯t going to do this alone. ¡°If I add him to my team, will he be able to hear Codex when he¡¯s back online?¡± I asked as I set myself down on a roof only half a block away from the Velvet Coil. ¡°Hmmm checking,¡± She said and after a few seconds passed she added. ¡°Apparently it¡¯s a setting, you can choose to patch Codex into team chats, but it is a decision you two would have to actively make. Hydramental wouldn¡¯t just be able to hear him right away.¡± ¡°And if I do add him, how are missions handled? Back on the train we both had separate missions for that den, but he doesn¡¯t have the mission for the key. Would I have to share or split the mission¡¯s reward with him?¡± I asked, wanting to make sure I covered all of my bases. While I did promise him that I¡¯d let him know when I was doing this, I didn¡¯t necessarily want to have to share the reward I¡¯d get after all the bullshit he had put me through so far. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°No, the mission is for you alone. That¡¯s not to say there aren¡¯t missions that you can share, because those do exist and will become more common the further you go, but you don¡¯t have to worry about sharing this specific mission¡¯s S:Tier reward,¡± she explained before a message appeared. ¡°Codex has entered The Command Room.¡± ¡°Holy shit what the hell did I miss!? How are you already out of there?¡± Jon¡¯s voice crackled into my head and I could hear him huffing to catch his breath. ¡°Did you run all the way home?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Well I sure as hell didn¡¯t fly! I was trying not to miss your infiltration. What happened?¡± he asked again and I let out a small laugh before I, as requested, explained just what happened. It took a few minutes to go through everything, and taking the time to explain my newest abilities as he examined them from his side. My conversation with SnakeBite, however short it was, was the main topic of discussion, and as I had predicted, Jon wanted me to wait before making my next move. ¡°Look, I already told Hydramental where to go. There¡¯s every chance that SnakeBite packs up his shit and moves and then knowing Axio we¡¯d have to start this all from scratch. I¡¯m done dealing with this asshole,¡± I explained, stretching as I looked across the city. I couldn¡¯t exactly see Grand Central from my perch, but I knew roughly where it was. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can say that¡¯s gonna change your mind, is there?¡± He asked and I just shook my head. ¡°Cool, so what¡¯s the plan then? This guy has to have thirty levels on you, Shit it might be forty if we are going based on Silver Wrangler.¡± ¡°Maybe I''m being overconfident, I don''t know for sure. But I don¡¯t think he¡¯s that strong, even if he is at a much higher level. If he was, I feel like he would have come out himself and stopped me before I wiped his people out of Hell¡¯s Kitchen,¡± I said and pushed off of the roof as I started floating toward the other side of the city and lowering toward the ground. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna charge in there with this debuff though, just in case, which is why I told Hydramental to meet me there in a bit.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised you told him at all after everything. You coulda just headed over there before he even knew what was going on. Although¡­¡± he trailed off and I heard the rush of his fingers over a keyboard. ¡°Yup, looks like you¡¯re back in the spotlight again. The news already has your speech outside the Velvet Coil playing everywhere. That explains why it looks like you have an active claim on Community District Four... which they are classifying as a Medium Town... that''s interesting. Oh and your News Appearance trophy is up to 6 unique events now. Knowing Murphy¡¯s Law, Hydramental probably would have seen this and bothered you in the middle of it if you hadn¡¯t messaged him.¡± ¡°That does sound like the exact sort of scenario Axio would cook up,¡± Angie agreed. ¡°Yeah let¡¯s just assume that¡¯s what would have happened and praise my on the spot decision making,¡± I said and rolled my eyes as my feet touched the ground in an alley on the edge of Hell¡¯s Kitchen. I deactivated my gear and strolled out onto the sidewalk, blending in with the passing crowd. I let out an actual sigh before I explained myself. ¡°It¡¯s his brother, he deserves closure, whatever that is going to entail.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I guess I get that,¡± Jon admitted as silence overtook us. The streets were crowded and the air crisp as I slowly made my way across the city, taking in the relatively peaceful streets. Even Times Square, somewhere I made a point of never normally crossing due to its nature as a tourist trap, had a level of normalcy to it that had been largely missing from my life in the last few days. I was tempted to jump on the S-Line right from the station there, but I felt like it would be odd if I just lingered on the subway platform. By the time my Exhausted debuff had finally worn off, I had been walking around inside the main terminal of Grand Central Station for over fifteen minutes. Even though it was nearly 10PM, the place was still packed. I stayed alert, highlighting random people and finding a distinct lack of Vipers hiding amongst the normal people. That didn¡¯t surprise me, they would have stood out just a bit too much just being out and about¡­ Almost like a guy in a tri-color long sleeve shirt stomping his way through the concourse and toward the entrance to the S-Line. ¡°I wonder how that shirt works,¡± Jon mused as I started to follow Hydramental from a distance. ¡°I mean, obviously it¡¯s game generated and all that but is it like, some sort of color changing material or is it three different shirts sewn together that get the rest of their parts when he splits his clones off.¡± ¡°My guess would be color changing. Generally speaking one of the first items any Augment gets is something that would help them create a unique enough appearance while benefiting both the Augment¡¯s powerset and their own personal stylistic preferences. Something like Hydramental¡¯s shirt is a great example of how it plays into a powerset.¡± ¡°And Loophole got that orange monstrosity of a jacket, because it¡¯s his favorite color and for some reason he¡¯s always wanted a leather jacket,¡± Jon laughed and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Really guys, I¡¯m about to attack SnakeBite¡¯s base and you two are talking about fashion?¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty much,¡± Jon said casually. ¡°It¡¯s called levity bud. You have a really bad habit of getting in your head when things get too serious, you literally always have. You did it when you tried to ask Rebecca to prom and you did it when Uncle Chris died. Honestly I¡¯ve been thinking about it and I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s the reason that you have Angie.¡± ¡°Loophole has me because all Augments have a Personal A.I. generated for them upon Augmentation,¡± Angie said. ¡°No, not a Personal A.I. in general, I¡¯m talking about him having you specifically,¡± he said and I heard Angie hum with curiosity. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m gonna need you to start getting a bit more specific than that,¡± I said, wandering down the staircase. The crowd wasn¡¯t big enough that they had to part to give him room but them murmuring and pointing Hydramental¡¯s way as he went made him relatively easy to follow. ¡°I was reading up on this a bit when you were asleep earlier cause I was curious. As Angie pointed out, Personal A.I.s are generated specifically for the Augments, the database doesn¡¯t give a super detailed explanation of the process unfortunately but it does give enough of the basics that I think I understand the gist of how it works.¡± ¡°Silver told me back when I first went in The Common Ground that there were three types. A Navi ¡®overly helpful¡¯ type, a Utilitarian type, and an Asshole type,¡± I offered, though I wasn''t sure if it was helpful. ¡°Well that¡¯s just a massive oversimplification. According to the databases I can see, while the A.I.s sort of fall into those categories at least if you squint at them, they really are more uniquely created to act as motivators for their specific Augment,¡± Jon explained. ¡°I tried to tell him that before. I even showed great restraint by not making a perfectly accurate BDSM joke about how much Loophole enjoys being degraded.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy being degraded¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it. I think it¡¯s more that you enjoy having someone to butt heads with. Had you been given a Navi or some utilitarian A.I. I think you might have done fine, but you would have really quickly gotten bogged down in all of the seriousness of it. Angie doesn¡¯t let that happen. Even when things are as serious as they can be, she drags you out of it with her jokes, her snark, and yeah, her degrading commentary or desire to hit on me over and over again. She keeps things from getting too heavy because if they did, you¡¯d spiral. You get overwhelmed when things feel too big or too serious, and that can freeze you up. But with her, even before I got brought into this, you¡¯ve been constantly reminded that you don¡¯t have to carry the weight of everything alone or make it some grand, solemn quest. She keeps you grounded in the absurdity of it all, and that gives you space to focus on what really matters.¡± There was a moment of silence as I let that sink in, broken only by Angie chiming in with her usual flair. ¡°Wow, Codex. That almost sounded sweet. Although really, I¡¯m just here to watch Loophole screw up and remind him that he¡¯s a moron when he doesn¡¯t ask me the questions he¡¯s supposed to be asking me¡­ and maybe laugh a bit." I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle despite myself. Maybe Jon was onto something. ¡°But yes¡­ that does mean she¡¯s a little bit of an asshole,¡± He added with a laugh of his own. I was getting close to the platform for the S-Line. The bathrooms here weren¡¯t single occupancy and I didn¡¯t think I was going to be able to activate my gear in there. Luckily for me, while the main concourse had been pretty busy, the crowd entering and leaving the S-Line wasn¡¯t nearly as bad. It was a risk, I knew that it was, but I did have the forethought to reactivate the passive camera obfuscating aspect of Spectrum Veil on my walk over to the station. It was still a risk, but I took it as I dipped behind a random pillar, waited a moment and activated my gear and Veil. I moved out from my hiding spot and down the rest of the stairs before I released the ability and popped back into visibility to avoid burning too much stamina. More than a few onlookers jumped at my sudden appearance, but Hydramental¡¯s stomping entrance had already had them prepared for Augments. ¡°Yo Hydramental,¡± I called out in as friendly of a tone as possible. I didn¡¯t want the civilians to think that a fight was about to start. Hydramental flipped on his heels and to his credit, didn¡¯t look like he wanted to take a swing at me for leaving him on a roof. ¡°Ready to do this?¡± He asked simply and surprisingly he was the one to send the Temporary Team-up request. I accepted it and nodded. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s end this.¡± Chapter 45 We waited until the next train left the station before following it down into its tunnel along the service passageway. Several people stopped to take pictures, curious as to what we were doing but thankfully Hydramental had the sense not to send them into a panic about a potential layer full of violent enemies less than a football field away. ¡°So, I¡¯m surprised you actually sent me a teamup request,¡± I said, looking over my shoulder at him once we were far enough from the main platform. ¡°Not saying I¡¯m not cool with it, it¡¯s just that there¡¯s not really a mission we are gonna get team points for.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got some gear with the Team Player feature, more damage ain¡¯t a bad thing, especially going into this,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°I also wanted to see how allies appeared on the mini-map upgrade I installed after the giant windfall I got from that street fight.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah I have that feature on some of my gear too, so it works out for me. How much did the map end up costing you?¡± I asked. ¡°25,000 credits. It was pricey as all shit, but I got really tired of having to double check where the hell I was going all the time,¡± he explained. ¡°Damn, that is a chunk of change¡­¡± I said, holding my tongue before I made a comment about him not using the cash for gear upgrades. It wasn¡¯t my place to question his build choices, nor did I really care to try to point out flaws in his style. We slowed to a stop near an out of place indent in the wall. That alone might have made it an obvious place to investigate, even if it didn¡¯t have the same Viper¡¯s logo crudely spray painted into the spot. ¡°You know, it really feels like a bad way to hide your bases by spray painting your logo exactly where the entrance to your base is.¡± ¡°Huh? You do realize the graffiti is just something we see, right?¡± Hydramental replied. My head dropped to the side for a second before I turned my attention inward. ¡°Is that right Angie?¡± ¡°Well we can¡¯t have every random person just investigating all the places with obvious markings on them and it makes it easier for you Augments to find them,¡± She explained and I just let out a sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose. ¡°Huh, well no. I did not realize that¡­ but I suppose it makes sense,¡± I said as I materialized the Snake Key into my hand. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what this will do¡­ not like there¡¯s a keyhole for me to put it in¡­¡± As the key formed, the rubies inlaid into it began to shine, sparkling and glittering just as the graffiti on the wall began to glow in unison from its proximity. It started from the center before it began rushing outward along each of the lines until the entire piece was shining a brilliant emerald green that I had to lift a hand to shade my eyes from. The light burst outward before the wall vanished and a long tunnel that faded into darkness was left in its place. ¡°Well that¡¯s one way to make sure normal people don¡¯t go wandering down there¡­¡± I muttered and activated my Area Sense, probing down into the tunnel for any rooms that I couldn¡¯t see. As far as I could tell the place was just a tunnel. A tunnel that happened to be illuminated with a faint green light, but a tunnel all the same. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering if this is just the normal city sewers or if it¡¯s some alternate area like the square,¡± Jon wondered as I started walking down into the passage. The moment I crossed the threshold into the tunnel, Viper¡¯s Headquarters flashed through the location panel on my interface and my mission tracker shook. ¡°Mission Updated! The Snake Key. Ooooooh boy! You did it, you found where the key led to! Now if you want that reward, you¡¯re going to need to figure out what was so important that it needed to be locked up so tight. The reward for the mission is still an S:Tier loot box.¡± We walked in silence for a few minutes, the barrier reappearing behind us as soon as we had both gotten about fifteen feet into the tunnel. Had we both not been dead set on continuing forward that might have been something to worry about, as it stood, it just worked to make sure no one followed us. The walls were made of solid concrete but it really didn¡¯t look like any sewer I had ever seen. At the end of the day, it really didn¡¯t matter what it was though, it was where we had to be. ¡°Have you ever seen your brother fight? Does he spit venom like Sal did?¡± I asked, finally saying something. ¡°Nah, I never got to see him fight, at least not in any real capacity. I¡¯ve seen his snake form, though that¡¯s only been twice and it¡¯s not like I memorized his colors or anything like that,¡± he explained casually. Unlike our other discussions about him, bringing up Sal didn¡¯t send him off the deep end. ¡°But other than the biker incident, I never actually saw him in action.¡± ¡°Well hopefully he¡¯s as weak as I accused him of being earlier¡­¡± I muttered before I could stop myself and heard his footsteps come to a stop. I stopped and looked back at him, his brow creased in frustration as I let out a nervous chuckle. ¡°You spoke with him?¡± He asked, his voice stern as he stared at me. ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have said that¡­¡± Jon said. ¡°Loophole is good at putting his foot in his mouth,¡± Angie added with a giggle. ¡°I, uh¡­ Yeah¡­ I was just clearing the last den in my area and he sorta came over the speaker to taunt me,¡± I said, deciding trying to obfuscate it at this point was, well, pointless. ¡°Dude sounded a bit posh to be honest.¡± ¡°Posh?¡± Hydramental asked as one of his brows raised. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the best way I can think to describe it. He just sounded like he had a really high opinion of himself,¡± I explained with a shrug before turning and continuing to walk. ¡°He basically invited me to come and try to take him down after I beat down a bunch of his men.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t get it,¡± Hydramental muttered as he let out a rough sounding sigh. ¡°He was never like this before he got Augmented. Shit, the dude got both the Presidential Volunteer Award and a Future Leaders scholarship in his senior year¡­¡± ¡°I wonder what his P.A.I. was like, maybe he just snapped,¡± I suggested. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± He responded, though he sounded unsure. ¡°Are you going to just swing at him first or are you gonna to to talk?¡± I asked, stopping for just a moment and activated my Area Sense at the same time. On either side of the concrete coated tunnel there was nothing but filled space and it went on for as far as I could feel. ¡°He¡¯s my brother¡­ I need to know why this all happened, and if I can¡¯t make him see reason¡­ well he¡¯s had his chance¡­¡± He trailed off again. ¡°One way or another this ends tonight,¡± I said, stopping again to look back at him. He looked back at me and I could practically see the fire in his eye before he gave me a curt nod. The tunnel seemed to have a bit of a curve as the darkness in the distance never got closer, but as I looked backwards, the same darkness overtook my vision. ¡°Does that mini-map of yours show where this tunnel is heading?¡± He shook his head, ¡°No, it¡¯s actually giving me a sort of fog of war effect. It did that in the last two dens I took down here this afternoon too, but when I''m just running around the city it shows up like it''s Google maps.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with that Angie?¡± I asked internally. ¡°Certain areas, when designated as bases or game specific areas, will create a fog of war for those with the mini-map feature to protect any possible changes the controller sets in place. This is largely speaking a defensive aspect of base ownership. Other such defenses, when a base is properly leveled, include armed turrets, gas chambers of both the knock out and lethal variety, and of course, good ol¡¯ trap doors.¡± ¡°Does that mean Loophole could eventually have a greater base than our Safe House here?¡± Jon asked and I couldn¡¯t help but be curious as well. ¡°He could! Though that generally takes place after Augments form a permanent squad. Then each player would have an entrance to their base from within their personal safe house.¡± She chirped before she hummed for a minute. ¡°That said, having a squad isn¡¯t necessary to create one of these bases, it just costs a lot more on your own.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Guess we better just keep going,¡± I finally said, deciding to let the topic drop instead of getting too deep into something that ultimately didn¡¯t matter right now, though once again Jon and Angie seemed to drift off into a deeper conversation that I managed to zone out. As we walked, every so often we stopped and I probed outward with Area Sense. Hydramental was of course curious as to what I was doing, but I had opted to largely keep my mouth shut, telling him I was just looking around for anything that might have looked out of place. The tunnel was curving back and forth, almost like a snake slithering, but there were noticeably no side paths. No hidden rooms or even guards patrolling that we had to dispatch. We had been walking for nearly a half hour, something that was easy to track due to the ticking timer on my Well Fed buff, when the faint sound of activity finally started to reach us. ¡°Let me scout forward really quick, I can go invisible and see what¡¯s waiting for us. How''s that sound?¡± I asked in a low voice. If they were close enough that we could hear them, then the same was going to be true for them being able to hear us. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m fine with just going in hard and fast but if that¡¯s gonna make yah feel better about it go for it, just don¡¯t take too long or get too far ahead,¡± He said, though he didn¡¯t seem to be pleased about it. I nodded and turned, creeping forward as long as I could before I activated Spectrum Veil and approached the threshold into the room. The tunnel exited into what I could only describe as a large high school gym, complete with an actual set of bleachers along one wall. Basketball hoops on either end of the room, and a giant Viper logo painted, crudely, on the far wall. Gym equipment littered the rest of the floor and there were at least three and a half dozen men that I could initially see wandering around the room, stopping at the equipment and gathering in small groups throughout. I dashed into the room and heard Hydramental¡¯s heavy footfalls coming up behind me quickly. I hadn¡¯t dropped my Veil yet, so the bikers didn¡¯t look at me as I entered. Instead, I was able to make it about a quarter way into the room, heading right toward a half dozen level 5 grunts on the far side of the gym when shouts of alarm went off to Hydramental¡¯s entrance. I stopped hard right in front of the grunts just as they turned to rush toward Hydramental¡¯s splitting form. The group was nice and close together, and I activated Quantum Echostrike before throwing a 25% Gravity Punch. There was a noticeable look of shock that passed over the group as I popped into existence, only for the entire group of them to get thrown backwards into a bench press. Their health bars crumpled, all dropping to near critical from the single attack. I didn¡¯t let up and fell atop them. I placed a few hard kicks to their stomachs and heads, knocking each of them out in a rapid succession. After seeing so many of my enemies crumble to dust, it was actually kind of nice seeing the floating KO debuffs over their heads. I had to keep telling myself, it wasn¡¯t my fault that all of those soldiers were dead. I hadn¡¯t forced them to inject themselves. Although there had been non-Sapients dead in my wake, so far, it felt like my hands were still clean. Hydramental wasn¡¯t striking nearly as soft-handed as I was and I turned just in time to see a grunt practically immolating in a blaze of red and orange flames. As much as I wanted to admonish him, to tell him to go for the knockout instead of the kill, the last thing I needed was him to decide to start throwing his attacks my way. If this proved anything it meant that even though Hydramental was working with me now, I still knew this was a one time thing. Even if we could be cordial, I couldn¡¯t actively team up with someone who would kill indiscriminately. A nearby brute called attention to me and the group finally split up, half trying to surround the Hydramental clones and the other moving to rush me. I activated Float Like a Butterfly and charged right back at them. I still hadn¡¯t actually taken the time to figure out just what fighting style I had picked up when this all started, but I knew I was light on my feet and quick to strike. ¡°It¡¯s Wing Chun, and very badly utilized Wing Chun at that,¡± Angie said with an exasperated sigh, ¡°You¡¯d think you would have looked that up by now.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that a Chinese style?¡± Jon asked and yet again I forced their conversation to dull into a drone as I focused on what mattered in the moment. It really didn¡¯t matter to me what the style was, it was working for me. I dodged around the closest grunt and struck him in the back of the head before I spun on my heel and moved further into the mass of enemies. I dodged, dipped, and weaved around the bikers, landing quick jabs and strikes on their torsos and arms before I finally planted my feet in the middle of the group. I didn¡¯t want to copy Hydramental and set them all ablaze, I knew that for sure, but I had made Ring of Fire for a reason. I activated it and forced the blaze to rush outward as rapidly as it could. There were sudden screams of pain as the flames licked at every single target within my zone. The fire didn¡¯t linger on any of them long enough to actually set them on fire, at least not outside of a few burnt shoulders and singed shirts, but they did all take good hits to their health bars, some falling nearly 25% from the single second of fire that assaulted them. There was a brilliantly bright light show coming from the other side of the room as bolts of electricity bounced between the bikers and the metallic equipment surrounding them. I didn¡¯t have time to admire it though as the nearest brute to me had recovered and came rushing in my direction. I dodged his first attack, dipping under the massive arm, activating Sting Like a Bee and hitting him in his side with a 10% Gravity Punch. I followed it up with two more rapid strikes, chunking his health down to nothing before punching him as hard as I could in the gut with a 5% Gravity Punch that sent him crumpled to the ground. I made eye contact with one of the grunts gathering around me and found myself smiling as I activated Center of the Gravity. Instead of ramping it up to full strength, I only added just a bit more pressure to the force than I was normally exuding. While being able to yank people toward me with a massive amount of strength was absolutely useful, there was something to be said about changing gravity just enough to leave people off balance. I rushed the grunts closest to me, landing strikes with ease as each of their attempted strikes sent them stumbling as the extra pressure sent them flailing. Although I had already used a good portion of my stamina, I found myself taking down the enemies with enough ease that I limited myself to basic attacks, working my way through the side of the gym I had claimed. I didn¡¯t make it through the fight unscathed and I took more than a few hits as I fought through the bikers, but I never found myself worried either. It only took a few minutes between the two of us to clear out the large swathe of enemies that had filled the room. I looked over to Hydramental as he materialized a syringe into his hand before he jammed it into his arm. I pulled a pair of health and stamina injectors of my own and used them, letting the renewed energy fill my body as I let out a relieved sigh. No reinforcements had come bursting through the far doors and the battle was over with a mess of bodies, destroyed gym equipment, and burn marks littering the room. There wasn¡¯t a single one of the bikers on his side of the gym that had the KO debuff and I found a growing pit of anger in my gut. Even knowing this wasn¡¯t the moment, I couldn¡¯t stop myself as I stared toward Hydramental, my jaw setting as I found my resolve. ¡°Did you have to kill all of them?¡± I asked as we stood there and Hydramental looked at me with amusement. ¡°Are you still on that? Is that why all those assholes on your side are just knocked out?¡± He laughed and rolled his eyes. ¡°They¡¯re not real dude, you have gotta get over it.¡± ¡°So what, you¡¯d kill the shopkeepers in the square too without caring?¡± I asked as he started walking toward the pair of double doors on the far side of the gym. ¡°If they were trying to kill me? Yeah, without hesitating.¡± ¡°And what about me? Or any of the other Augments? Would you kill me?¡± I asked, feeling my jaw set as I anticipated his answer. ¡°It depends,¡± he said with a casual shrug. ¡°On?¡¯ ¡°If you¡¯re trying to kill me or not,¡± He replied with another laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t get what part of that is so hard for you to understand.¡± He shoved the doors open and walked through into a clinical looking hallway on the other side of them. I followed after, finding myself at a loss for words at his callousness. Even when he had been trying to attack me, I hadn¡¯t even thought to go for the kill. ¡°There has to be a line,¡± I finally said and that caused him to stop, his levity evaporating in an instant. ¡°Not in this world there doesn¡¯t,¡± He shot back, giving me a hard look before turning and continuing forward. The hallway was basically sterile, with no random doors and only ending in another hallway splitting in two directions. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just go Miscreant? Killing isn¡¯t heroic, it¡¯s not what Guardians do,¡± I demanded as I stayed close behind him. ¡°Guardians save people, real people,¡± He said simply without looking back, ¡°As long as we are both doing that, why do you care what happens to these puppets?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I had an answer for that, so I didn¡¯t reply, instead following him as he stopped at the intersection and immediately headed toward the right hand path. Only a few feet down the hall there was another set of double doors. He looked through the windows and just shook his head. ¡°Some sort of research room. Now try not to get your damn panties in a bunch,¡± Hydramental said as his red form split from his main body. ¡°Dude wait, we can get information out of them!¡± I said, jumping to stop him before he tried to blow up the room like he had with the train car. ¡°Relax, it¡¯s called intimidation,¡± Their voices echoed in unison. He pushed the doors open and walked in with heavy footfalls, ¡°Okay, everyone show us your hands and tell us where your boss is.¡± Chapter 46 Fluorescent lights swayed overhead as we entered the room and I caught sight of five people in lab coats, jumping at the sudden entrance and demand for information. ¡°W-w-w-who are you two?¡± The closest person, a bearded non-Sapient named Dr. Rhett Lincoln asked in a stuttering voice. While the group of them were all wearing similar looking outfits, he definitely seemed to be the oldest of them and while the other four all held their hands up at their sides, palms outward, he took a slight step forward to meet us. The Hydramental in red ignited a ball of fire above his hand and stared at the scientist. ¡°Do you really think that¡¯s important right now? I asked you a fucking question. Your boss, where the fuck is he?¡± Dr. Lincoln¡¯s eyes went wide as he immediately backed back up and into the table he had been working at. The clinking of glass and metal from him bumping into the metal surface caused me to look around. The room had several long tables against the walls, with cabinets hanging above them and a myriad of different scientific-looking equipment littering the surfaces. But it was the far side of the room that caught my attention. Several large vats lined the walls where the tables ended, each one filled with a bubbling green liquid and a hulking form connected to tubes and wires floating within. My interface was going crazy trying to highlight and provide details on everything I was seeing but I blinked them out of my vision as I moved to try and put myself between Hydramental and the doctor. ¡°Dude put the fire out, they''re scientists, not fighters,¡± I said and Hydramental shot me a glare. I ignored him as I looked back at Dr. Lincoln, ¡°We¡¯re looking for the guy in charge. Now, would you like to tell us where to find him or do I have to let the hothead back there continue his whole firecracker thing? I''d really rather we do this the easy way where no one has to get hurt.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit hypocritical of you to threaten that after you just went off on Hydramental for exactly the same thing?¡± Angie asked and before I could reply, Jon beat me to it. ¡°There¡¯s a difference between making a threat and actually doing it. Loophole, maybe surprisingly, knows the benefit of bluffing.¡± ¡°H-h-he¡¯s not here,¡± Dr. Lincoln said. I was starting to wonder why the other scientists weren¡¯t trying to move to hide when I caught sight of a familiar glint of metal near the floor. Each of the men and women in the room had shackles on their ankles, holding them to a pulley on the floor that seemed to give them some form of mobility within the room while still practically locking them in place. ¡°Well then where the fuck did he go?!¡± Hydramental demanded and threw the fireball. It went flying past me, smashing into a microscope on one of the tables and setting it ablaze in a way a piece of metal shouldn¡¯t. Dr. Lincoln cringed to the side as he backed away from the heat of the melting metal. ¡°H-h-h-he hasn¡¯t been here in weeks, I swear!¡± Dr. Lincoln gulped out. ¡°I-I-I promise! We get our orders remotely every morning!¡± ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Hydramental¡¯s dual voices roared as another ball of fire roared to life in the red one¡¯s hand. I could feel the heat emanating it and backed away. The fire settled ever so slightly as the Hydramental¡¯s took slow, deep breaths. ¡°We know he¡¯s here, so stop with the bullshit, NOW!¡± ¡°How about we back up just a bit, what are your orders? What are you guys doing here?¡± I asked, taking Hydramental''s hesitation as permission to try again and working to keep my tone as neutral as possible. Dr. Lincoln actually seemed to respond to this, looking back at the other scientists. ¡°We¡­ they¡¯ll kill us if I tell you,¡± he said, trying to find his nerves as he let out another breath. If I had blinked, I might have missed it, but as he turned his attention back to us, I could have sworn I saw a brief flicker of static pass through Dr. Lincoln¡¯s eyes, ¡°Though I suppose that¡¯s exactly what your colleague back there will do if I don¡¯t¡­ isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Well look at that, we got one with some actual intelligence,¡± Hydramental said with a bark of a laugh. ¡°So what, is this where you¡¯re growing all the meatbags?¡± ¡°Growing?¡± Dr. Lincoln asked, seemingly confused. My mission tracker began to shake, The Snake Key practically vibrating at the edge of my mission as I took another look around the room, my eyes settling on a large, empty tank on the center of the far wall. There were tubes going right from it out to each of the separate tanks around the room and I felt my gut twisting as I tried to put the pieces together. ¡°Is this where you guys are making the serum? The one that all of the soldiers are taking to become temporarily Augmented?¡± I asked, feeling the tension in the room slowly building. Dr. Lincoln swallowed hard before he went to speak. ¡°Y-yes¡­ We were tasked with modifying the DNA extracted from-¡± ¡°Not another fucking word Dr. Lincoln,¡± a gruff voice demanded from behind us and I spun on my heel. A man with a neatly groomed black goatee and a sharp glare sauntered into the room. He wore a leather vest that was practically identical to the other Vipers, but it was clear that he was different just from the way he carried himself. Although a good part of Hydramental''s face was covered by a mask, it was hard to deny the general similarities between the two men. I was just about to highlight him when Hydramental tossed two fireballs directly at the man who sidestepped them with a casual grace. ¡°YOU SON OF A BITCH!¡± The Hydramentals roared in anger. ¡°HOW FUCKING DARE YOU WEAR HIS FACE!¡± For all his anger though, Hydramental didn¡¯t rush in to attack with more than just his initial barrage of dodged fireballs, his feet planted as balls of fire swirled around his hands. ¡°Come on Marco, are you really going to attack your brother so casually?¡± Sal asked, his expression still light as Hydramental noticeably tensed up. I highlighted the man quickly as he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°Sal the Snake. Level 10 (Elite) Viper Lieutenant. This is a non-Sapient Augment.¡± Hydramental¡¯s yellow form split off as electricity began to dance between its fingers. ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare use my real name, you knock off bitch. I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU,¡± Hydramental¡¯s voice echoed. I could actually feel the static in the air just before a large rush of electricity rushed across the room at Sal. ¡°Guess that answers the question on if Sal was a clone or not!¡± Jon said in a hurry as I turned from Sal¡¯s already shifting form. This really was my fault for bringing Hydramental with me, and it was something I couldn''t change now, no matter how much I might have wanted to. The scientists were still cowering around the room, unable to move due to their restraints. I moved toward Dr. Lincoln as quickly as I could, preparing to attack his chain when he threw a set of hands ahead of my possible attack. ¡°No, don¡¯t! If he sees us without the chains, he¡¯ll attack. These are the only things keeping us safe,¡± He pleaded with me as another rush of static passed through his eyes. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why he would believe that, but I chalked it up to whatever orders were put into place in the non-Sapient¡¯s mind. If he believed it was the truth, I couldn¡¯t risk sending him into a panic by trying to force him to go against it and I really didn''t have the time to try and convince him either. ¡°Tell your people to get under the tables and stay there, I can¡¯t promise anything¡­ This might get messy,¡± I said, turning and looking at the massive form of Sal. He must have grown at least another half of a foot since the last time I had seen his snake form and he was casually shrugging off both the fire and electricity being thrown at him. Sal spit several rapid shots of venom globs toward Hydramental, one of them striking the yellow Hydramental and dissolving it as he took a massive hit to his health. Even though Hydramental seemed to be able to throw attacks in rapid succession compared to the larger cooldowns that I had, the largest weakness to his powerset seemed to be the negative impact that happened whenever one of his clones disincorporated. It also seemed to leave him stumbling for a second to recover, a period which Sal used to his advantage as he started to rush toward the next closest Hydramental. Without waiting for confirmation from the scientist now behind me, I activated Phase Step, picking a spot behind Sal¡¯s massive form and finding myself appearing a few feet off to the side of him. I was about to curse the random chance, but Sal was still moving in on Hydramental and I had to move on instinct to stop him from reaching Hydramental. My next move was a risk, logically I knew that, but there was nothing ideal about the situation we had found ourselves in. I couldn¡¯t push this fight back into the hall, it was too narrow for either Hydramental or I to work in, but I also knew that pushing it further into the room threatened the scientists. As little as I wanted to risk them and the possible information they could give us, Sal was already both higher leveled than us and an Elite, so I had to give us the best possible chance. I actually had to jump just slightly as I caught up with him, and I threw a 60% Gravity Punch directly for the middle of Sal¡¯s back with the momentum of my leap. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if his Elite resistances would help him or not, hell I still wasn¡¯t even sure what those fully were, but as my fist connected with the leather of his vest, he was blown forward and across the room with every bit of force I had added to my strike, crashing through the room nearly to the far side of the room and well outside of my actual local area. Without skipping a beat, I pulled out a Superior Stamina Injector and slammed it into my arm, fully topping off my Stamina bar before I stepped as far as I could manage across the space. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The entire center of the room looked like a wrecking ball had crashed through it due to Sal¡¯s massive form barreling through it. Luckily all of the scientists had jumped for tables along the walls of the laboratory. Before Hydramental could make another move, I stepped the rest of the way to where Sal had landed from the force of my first strike, activating Sting Like a Bee and striking downward at Sal¡¯s still prone form with a 25% Gravity Punch. While he should have been thrown backwards, the downward strike pushed that force straight through him and into the concrete floor, cratering the structure ever so slightly as cracks went rushing outward from underneath the snake-man. I didn¡¯t wait for him to recover and pulled the last of my venom soaked guns from my inventory. With three quick squeezes, I fired into him and watched as, surprisingly, all three bullets found purchase and pierced his skin. Even further to my surprise, he still got a Weakened debuff, granted only a 5% one. I didn''t hesitate and pulled the trigger three more times, halfway emptying the magazine and chunking his health down to 50%. Even at just 5%, his Weakened debuff was more than enough to remove his Elite status as I hopped backwards and held an arm out in front of Hydramental before he could charge. ¡°That¡­. Damn Loophole¡­¡± Jon muttered in the back of my head as I stared toward Sal as he slowly pulled himself upright. My eyes scanned the vats surrounding us before settling on the empty one in the center of the wall that seemed even more out of place now. Out of the corner of my eye, in one of the corners, I noticed a glint of a lens and found my anger rising as I stared directly at it. ¡°Really!? You taunt me, you tell me to come fight you and this is what you do?! Just send your men at me again!? You told me I¡¯d get to face you! You told me I¡¯d get to see what you were capable of! So where are you!?¡± Sal started to laugh as he swayed lightly. His arms raised as he gestured to the room around us. ¡°The bossssss never liessssss. Thissss! Thissss is what the bossssss is capable of. I wanted to let you in Marco, to sssssshow you the truth. But I guessssss you¡¯ll jussst-¡± Everything happened in the blink of an eye. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up and a flash of icy blue went flying past me, coating Sal¡¯s upper body and mouth in ice just before a rush of electricity whipped across the room and struck the now Weakened Sal in his icy coating. His health went plummeting and I rushed forward, taking the opportunity to try something we hadn¡¯t done just yet. I leapt into the air, throwing a hook for Sal¡¯s head and adding a 20% Gravity Punch with it. While Hydramental¡¯s conducted strike had sent Sal¡¯s health plummeting, my strike was intended to be non-lethal. It was a small but key detail that Angie had told me on my first day, and while that felt like ages ago even though it had really only been a bit over 72 hours, the detail had still stayed locked into my head. Sure enough, while his health bar bottomed out, a small sliver remained as he gained the KO debuff and collapsed to the ground as his body shrunk and morphed back into his human form. ¡°We need to tie him up before-¡± ¡°Get out of the fucking way now!¡± Hydramental¡¯s triplicated voices demanded from behind me. I spun on my heel and saw him walking toward us. He hadn¡¯t bothered to pull a health injector, which felt like the wrong choice since his health was sitting at 60% just from the single clone of his that had been dispatched. ¡°No, he¡¯s KOed. That means he¡¯s down for any hour, we can figure out a way to keep him locked down and then we can ask him questions,¡± I said, setting my jaw and planting my feet to block Sal¡¯s now human form from Hydramental. ¡°They. Aren¡¯t. Real. They are only going to tell you what fucking Axio wants them to tell you. At this point, I¡¯m convinced my brother¡¯s just been dead for years and this whole fucking thing has been a fucking game just to make me jump through his god damn hoops, but I am just fucking done, I am going to kill this asshole and wipe my hands of Axio''s bullshit,¡± he said, the echoing of his voice grating at me as he disbanded our Temporary Team-up. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not going to say it again, Loophole. Move, or-¡± ¡°Julia no!¡± Dr. Lincoln shouted. There was the ring of a gunshot that echoed in the room before Hydramental¡¯s blue form dissolved into a flash of light. The source of the shot was a young woman, trembling as she held a gun out ahead of her, staring at Hydramental in shock that she had even hit him. His health immediately dropped by another third as only his yellow form remained separated from his main body. This time, the shock of his form being disincorporated somehow only affected him briefly, and it only took a second for him to recover before he spun on his heel, looking toward the young woman as electricity began to dance between his fingers. I didn¡¯t even hesitate as I Phase Stepped between them, just as the bolt of electricity went surging across the space. Even though I had been in enough fights by now and taken more than my fair share of hits, they had all been almost purely physical blows. So while I had gotten used to the feeling of being struck, even thrown into walls, cars, and the ground itself, I certainly hadn¡¯t gotten used to the feeling of electricity coursing through my system. My health dropped by nearly 40% from the single strike and I felt myself shake slightly as the current stopped. There was a look of pure hatred that spiked over Hydramental¡¯s face as his red form split back off of the main body. I was lucky the shock didn''t linger for more than that few seconds and I didn¡¯t wait for him to strike again. Instead, I activated Fun House, going invisible and slipping to the side as my forms started to run in a circle around him. ¡°Oh fuck you!¡± Hydramental shouted as he threw several fireballs at one of my afterimages. The flames blasted the illusions apart before slamming into one of the many vats, instantly breaking the glass and sending the bubbling green liquid inside of it spilling out over the floor. There was a flash of light that passed from his yellow form to his blue and it jumped forward, raising a hand and blowing out, freezing the liquid over on the ground in an attempt to send one of my afterimages slipping. Unfortunately for him, that was on the other side of the room than I actually was. I moved quickly, punching his yellow form in the back of his head as hard as I could without activating a single ability, hoping it would be enough to just knock him out. I wasn¡¯t sure what attacking his unpowered form would do, but once again I was taken by surprise as I was knocked backwards by an electrical shockwave that pulsed out of his body. I skidded across the ground as my health dropped by another 20%. Without bothering to get up, I picked one of my still formed afterimages and stepped over to it just before Hydramental¡¯s red form could start pummeling my prone form with more balls of fire. With his eyes briefly off of me, I materialized an Enhanced Health Injector into my hand and shoved it into my leg. There was another gunshot that rang out, and Hydramental shouted, ¡°You bitch!¡± I looked over, seeing his health had dropped down to 15%. It was long delayed, but I saw him materialize an injector into his hand and before he could use it, I ramped up Center of the Universe. I wasn''t sure if it was because he hadn¡¯t been anticipating this or if the rapid succession of his clones being destroyed had affected his own control, but it barely took any force before the injector was ripped from his grip and came hurtling my direction. I kept the strength up, focusing on objects as beakers and small metallic tools started to fly from the tables still in my range, peppering the Hydramental clones that were between them and me. I used the scattershot as a distraction and rushed forward, absorbing the injector flying my way and maintaining my gravitational pull on items. The only single colored Hydramental still moving was his red form. I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly had caused it and doubted he¡¯d even tell me if I asked, especially right now, but I assumed his main form had some form of passive defense that had activated when I had struck his unused yellow form. It would explain why he never went out of his way to defend his main form during normal combat and it was the explanation I was going to go with for now. I kept my focus on the red form, getting in close to him and throwing a 20% Gravity Punch for his midsection. This time it connected and the form exploded into a shower of light before plummeting Hydramental¡¯s health the rest of the way down. Just like in the street earlier in the day, I hadn''t been trying to kill him, so my attack only left him collapsing to the floor with the KO debuff after he had already been left so low. ¡°That dude really needs some anger management lessons,¡± Jon muttered as I slowly caught my breath, my stamina bar nearly critical. I looked over, seeing the woman still holding the gun up, her hands trembling as her eyes met mine. ¡°Julia, please put down the weapon, I think we should be thanking this man, not threatening him,¡± Dr. Lincoln said from the other side of the room. My mission tracker shook again and without me even prompting it, the Snake Key materialized into my hand, its eyes glowing just as brightly as they had at the tunnel entrance. I looked at it and then back over to the Dr. Lincoln. ¡°I think I¡¯ve been asking the wrong question,¡± I said, almost like I hadn¡¯t just gotten into a massive fight in front of all of them. My relative calmness seemed to actually put the scientists at ease as Julia lowered the weapon and fell to her knees as she took in rapid breaths, her nerves having clearly gotten to her. ¡°When your boss does come by, how does he get here?¡± "I don''t think I can-" Dr. Lincoln started to say before another rush of static passed through his eyes. He swallowed hard, his own hand trembling as he slowly lifted his arm up. It was almost like he was struggling against himself to even do it, but when his finger was fully extended, it was clear what he was pointing at, especially since I had already been pretty sure I knew the answer. The empty vat. I turned from the scientists and walked over toward it, stepping around the prone forms of both Hydramental and Sal. The key shone brighter and brighter the closer to the vat I got until the vat itself started to glow. In a flash, the key vanished from my hand and the vat evaporated into light. In its place was something oddly familiar. A large, glowing white rectangle. It was the exact kind of doorway I passed through whenever I went to Sanctuary Square, though what it meant here I wasn¡¯t quite sure. ¡°I was expecting just another hallway¡­¡± I said and Angie let out a nervous laugh. ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know if you should go through that¡­ if it¡¯s calibrated for SnakeBite, it might hurt you if you use it,¡± Angie suggested. ¡°Why would he have a key that showed how to get it if he couldn¡¯t go through it though?¡± Jon offered and I felt myself swallow hard as my gut clenched. "I''m not sure, it just feels like an unnecessary risk, especially with everything he still has to take care of in this room," Angie suggested again and I was almost positive I could hear fear in her tone. Even still, I felt my hand rising, reaching toward the portal. They were both right, logically I knew that, but I had already come this far. I looked back at Sal and Hydramental again, they¡¯d be knocked out for at least an hour unless someone came in and resuscitated them. I pulled my hand back as I looked toward Dr. Lincoln and his eyes met mine. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone wake those two up, at least not before the hour is up. And if you do somehow have some way to restrain Sal... well can you guys do that for me? I can''t let him keep terrorizing the people of this city.¡± I said and Dr. Lincoln nodded, his jaw set in determination. ¡°I will see what we can do, I believe we can keep Mr. Travisi unconscious for the time being, though I can''t make any promises toward the other one. We will do our best to secure the room, you spared us, we owe you that much." ¡°Thank you,¡± I said with a nod before looking up at the camera and pointing at it with as much ferocity as I could. ¡°I told you I was coming for you. There¡¯s no more hiding.¡± ¡°Loophole, do you really have to-¡± Angie¡¯s voice was cut off as I stepped into the portal. Just like with Sanctuary Square, the portal only took a second, but this time I found myself in an entirely unfamiliar place when the light faded from my eyes. The entire opposite wall of the room from where I had emerged was glass, with the moon¡¯s light shining brightly into the space through the wide windows that overlooked Central Park. There was an almost sterile smell to the room as I looked around it. ¡°Where the hell am I?¡± I muttered out loud as I stepped forward. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see the portal I had stepped through only to find nothing but a blank wall. ¡°Umm, how am I supposed to get back?¡± There was a noticeable silence that hung in the air as my question went unanswered and I stepped forward, placing a hand on the wall where the portal should be. ¡°Angie? Codex?¡± I asked again and then waited. Once again, neither of them responded, but that''s not to say it did remain quiet in the room. ¡°It¡­ It¡¯s no use. They can''t hear you in here, it''s a dead zone,¡± a raspy, pained voice croaked. It was almost too low to hear, but in the stillness of the room, only broken by the sound of an occasional, random beep, I could hear it all the same. I turned around, looking for the source only to find a large bed at the center of a wall to my side, propped partially upward. There was medical equipment surrounding the bed, with wires and tubes all traveling along the wall and down to the single inhabitant that lay in the room. The man was practically skin and bones and he was beyond pale, wearing a mask that was clearly helping with his breathing. His eyes were sunken in, though they met mine with a fierceness that didn¡¯t match his broken body. My interface highlighted him, showing his nearly critical health bar and nearly a dozen debuffs that I barely had time to register. The monotone voice that I normally only heard in The Common Ground echoed into my head as the man started to let out a violent coughing fit. ¡°SnakeBite. Level 41 Venomized Vampire.¡± ¡°It- It-... It''s nice to finally meet you Loophole," he wheezed out in a painful sounding rasp. Speaking sent him into a rough coughing fit that took a moment to settle before his sunken eyes met mine once more. "We should probably talk.¡± Chapter 47 ¡°What¡­ what the fuck?¡± It was the only thing I could find the words to say as I looked from the bedbound SnakeBite, to the room around him. The room was every bit as sterile as the smell indicated, with a complete lack of decorations and a clinical smell that lingered in the air. Over a dozen identical monitors littered the wall opposite of his bed, neatly organized and lined up with each showing something different. The bottom row was showing live footage from the headquarters I had just come from, with one of the screens showing Dr. Lincoln and his team actively operating robotic looking arms that lowered from the ceiling to lift and move the non-Sapient Sal from this collapsed position. ¡°Angie? Codex? Are either of you guys seeing this?¡± While all evidence suggested SnakeBite was telling the truth that this place was a zone where my communication with my A.I was cut off like The Common Ground, I couldn¡¯t help but try asking internally anyway. Although he had claimed we needed to talk, SnakeBite wasn¡¯t rushing to force my attention onto him and he allowed me to take my time as I looked around the closed off room. There was no noticeable exit on any of the walls, and while I was sure I could probably punch my way through the glass and fly away with a strong enough Gravity Punch, I found myself with a sudden pit in my stomach as I looked to my action bar and found everything was grayed out. ¡°Why is my action bar grayed out? What is this place?¡± I finally asked, turning my attention back to the shell of a man. ¡°I told you,¡± He replied, taking his time to speak to avoid another coughing fit. ¡°It¡¯s a dead zone. You should be able to still access your B.E.L.T... It was setup that way so that they could at least supply me with water and food through my own B.E.L.T. but that''s the only part that is activated in this area. Now please, come sit down, it¡¯s harder for me to speak louder¡­¡± He lifted a bony arm slowly, gesturing toward the lone other piece of actual furniture in the room, a plush armchair in the small space between his bed and the large window wall. ¡°What¡¯s going on here SnakeBite?¡± I asked, slowly making my way over to the chair and taking a seat. ¡°Pl.. Please. I''ve really¡­ I''ve really grown to hate that name and you already know my real one. Just call me Sal¡­ It would be nice if someone did after all this¡­¡± He wheezed, reaching to the side as a cup of water appeared in his outstretched hand. It took him some time as he moved his face mask out of the way, but he pulled it to his chapped lips and took a sip. ¡°Ok¡­ Sal then. What¡¯s going on here? What was the point of this?¡± I asked, staring at the man. His gaze was forward, focused on a single monitor on the bottom row of his display. The monitor seemed to respond to his gaze as it zoomed in on Hydramental¡¯s prone form. ¡°I really am sorry that you¡¯re the one that was brought here¡­ I had hoped that it would be my brother,¡± Sal finally said. ¡°But I suppose that¡¯s been your story since the beginning, isn¡¯t it? The extra Augment¡­ the Loophole.¡± I was about to say something when he started to cough again, and he held up a finger to stop me. ¡°Pl.. Please¡­ I¡¯ll answer your questions¡­ but I need to say some things... need to finally explain myself to someone...¡± he wheezed again, moving his mask to the side once more as he took another sip before the cup vanished from his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve been here¡­ in this room¡­ for the last few years. I made¡­ I made some bad choices when I first got Augmented¡­ trusted someone that only wanted to use me¡­ His name¡­ it was-¡± he found himself coughing again before he shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t say it of course¡­ he¡¯s forcefully suppressed it.¡± ¡°I thought only Axio could do that,¡± I said, unable to stop myself from interrupting and he shook his head. ¡°The P.A.I.s¡­. Axio even might believe that¡­ but no¡­¡± Sal said, repositioning the mask on his face as he took in a few deep breaths. ¡°All of us¡­ we¡¯re all just puppets and pawns in a war for control over¡­ well all of this,¡± he said, gesturing absentmindedly. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever wondered why you¡¯ve just¡­ gone along with it all? Why you¡¯ve barely taken the time to consider the ramifications of your experiences?¡± ¡°I¡­ Isn¡¯t it just the Acceptance Matrix acting to keep me balanced?¡± I asked as my gut clenched. I must have noticeably winced as Sal looked at me with almost knowing eyes. ¡°It¡¯s amazing isn¡¯t it? Even in this dead zone¡­ you can feel yourself panicking even barely doubting it, can¡¯t you? They gave it such a simple name and then the P.A.I.s act to embed its importance into you right from the beginning with you only barely even wanting to question it, all while it controls you so much more than you can even realize. I¡¯d be willing to bet you just happened to see someone in Sanctuary Square having a moral dilemma on your first day, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡­ Is this some sort of mind game? Did you just bring me here to fuck with me?¡± I asked, finding myself getting defensive. ¡°Do¡­ Do I really look like I¡¯m capable of doing anything right now?¡± He asked, his eyes meeting mine. There wasn¡¯t any malice or ill intent hiding there, in fact, it was almost entirely compassion that I could see in his expression. ¡°I can''t be positive... this really is my own conjecture based on the footage that I''ve been shown... but I think it was Axio that brought you here, Axio that poked and prodded you, gave you hints and every little thing you¡¯d need until you found where I was being hidden. He couldn¡¯t unlock this area due to the nature of the dead zone, so he used you to do the job for him.¡± ¡°Why would Axio do that? Isn¡¯t he playing some sort of game of his own?¡± ¡°They all are¡­ I told you.. Every single one of us Augments are just pawns¡­ Even if Axio has his own goals, he still needs pawns to test and use... and there are others working against him¡­ When my mentor first got his claws into me, first took control over my Acceptance Matrix, Axio appeared to me and promised that he¡¯d undo this. While he has no qualms using the Matrix himself for some things, the amount of influence that was being exerted over us went against the rules he was bound to follow and he didn''t like what my mentor was trying to do either," Sal explained and took a moment to catch his breath and find his words. "I didn¡¯t think much of it at first¡­ but as my mentor made me do more and more things that I couldn¡¯t forgive myself for, I started to give up hope. At least¡­ until just a few days ago¡­ when your wave started. My brother has had anger issues for a long time and I never expected him to get selected for Augmentation, but when these screens started to show him¡­ I assumed it was Axio¡¯s way of finally living up to his promise¡­ but Marco¡­ Hydramental¡­ his anger at the system he was brought into clouded his vision and I think the nature of his power made his bipolar tendencies worse. It made him short-sighted and unable to look deeper than surface level at everything¡­ and then you showed up.¡± ¡°And I found the key¡­¡± ¡°And you found the key,¡± Sal nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what happened to add you into the wave, but in those first 12 hours there was a gap in the dead zone here. I never had a lot of people on my friend¡¯s list but, even though I had only met her once, Calypso had made a point of adding me after I first started working with my mentor. Just like with Axio, she had said she wanted to keep an eye on me¡­¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Calypso? As in one of The First¡¯s teammates, Calypso?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°Are you saying that she¡¯s one of the people¡­ what¡­ fighting Axio for control?¡± ¡°That¡­ That I don¡¯t know¡­ It¡¯s not like she told me exactly what she was up to¡­ It was only for a brief moment during that twelve hour gap, but she was able to get a message to me¡­ she said¡­ she said this was all going to be over soon¡­ she said she was sorry that it had taken so long, but that it was all going to be over¡­ I don¡¯t know if she was working with Axio or if they were just separately working toward the same goal¡­ but it gave me hope.¡± A sudden stream of red rushed down one of the tubes, hitting Sal and causing him to lurch and shake as his health bar suddenly returned all the way to full. I jumped to my feet, looking down at the man as his eyes rolled backwards only for another tube to start pulling a greenish looking fluid from a spot on his side, sending his health plummeting back down to critical. He slowly stopped shaking as he clenched his eyes shut, struggling to catch his breath even with the assistance of the mask. ¡°So what then¡­ am I on some sort of rescue mission? Are you a prisoner here?¡± I asked as his eyes started to unclench and his amber eyes met mine. ¡°Not a rescue,¡± He said, shaking his head slightly. ¡°Not a rescue¡­¡± ¡°Then what-¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get to that,¡± Sal interrupted, making his glass of water appear once more and stopping to take another sip. ¡°Like I said, Marco was supposed to be the one to be here¡­ I wanted to apologize to him¡­ to ask him to get Giada and Ozzy out of all of this¡­ I guess I¡¯ll have to ask you to do that for me¡­ You don¡¯t owe me anything, truthfully, you have every right to say no to everything I need to ask of you... but ever since you found your way into this, I¡¯ve been watching you¡­ I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something in your Acceptance Matrix or something that affected you with how you were added to the wave, but you put more priority on life than many in our positions¡­ I don¡¯t think that will change after you do what I ask you to do, even if it does go against that very value.¡± ¡°And what is it-¡± ¡°Not yet¡­ there¡¯s something else you¡¯re going to need to do first¡­ and you¡¯re not going to like it,¡± Sal wheezed as a hand reached out and gently tapped against my chest. ¡°You need to disable your Acceptance Matrix and you need to do it now while your P.A.I. can¡¯t talk you out of it.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± I started to say and felt my heart start to race. ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not just trying to do something to me? Or if it¡¯s whoever¡¯s done this to you that is trying to do something to me¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± He responded with a long sigh and his hand pulled back as an injector materialized into his hand. ¡°Because in truth, I was supposed to do something to you.¡± I highlighted the injector but was only met with a series of question marks before I looked back to Sal with a raised brow. ¡°It contains nanites that would alter your Acceptance Matrix¡­ and give my mentor a lot of control over your decisions. While Axio certainly does push people to do things, he at least maintains people''s general free will. My mentor¡­ my captor¡­ doesn¡¯t have the same restraint¡­ He sees us all as his test subjects¡­ This showed up in my B.E.L.T. about an hour ago¡­ right after he taunted you to come find me¡­ I''ve learned what it feels like when he wants me to do something... he wanted me to subject you to this...¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°If he can make you do what he wants¡­ why didn¡¯t you?¡± I asked, finding myself backing up and sitting back down into the chair, just to put a little bit of distance between us. ¡°Calypso¡­¡± He wheezed. His health wasn¡¯t regenerating and I looked at the list of debuffs he had floating under his diminished health bar. Hemorrhaging, Fatigued, Bound, Technologically Sustained. These were just a few on the list that seemed to be keeping him in the state he was in. ¡°I don¡¯t think I could explain it if I wanted to¡­ but when she messaged me, she did something¡­ I¡¯m not sure if it was something embedded in the message itself or something else, but she tweaked my Matrix¡­ It wasn¡¯t the same thing as her wresting control of it with nanites like this¡­ but it let me see clearly for the first time in so long¡­ it let me ignore new orders¡­ Maybe most importantly... it let me see just how much influence others could have over us... all because of a Matrix that they want us to believe is just keeping us calm.¡± My gut was still squeezing as I wrestled with his words. I didn¡¯t want to turn off my Acceptance Matrix. It outright felt like a terrible decision to make, especially since I had absolutely nothing to go on other than the word of someone that, up until a few minutes ago, I had thought was the person behind everything I had had to deal with over the last few days. ¡°If you can see clearly¡­ why haven¡¯t you turned off your own Matrix?¡± Sal¡¯s head fell to the side as he looked at me. There was an almost longing nature to his expression that was haunting. ¡°I still need it¡­ I still need it to finish this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯m really lost here¡­ Why do I need to turn off my Matrix? What was Hydramental being brought here to do? And why are you even being held like this? What the hell was your mentor doing?¡± I rattled off, scratching at the side of my head. I really wished I had Jon to talk to, just to have a second opinion if nothing else. ¡°Where¡­ Where do you think the Temporary Augmentation Injectors come from?¡± He said. His words were coming slower and slower and it was clear the amount of speaking he was doing was taking a toll on him, but even if he seemed to be meandering from one topic to another, he didn''t seem like he was confused. He was determined to make sure someone knew what had been happening. ¡°An army of Augments with the one specific power that you want them to have¡­ It¡¯s the ultimate private force.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s been killing the non-Sapients that have been using it¡­¡± ¡°Test subjects¡­ that¡¯s all they are to him¡­ that¡¯s all we are to him¡­ Though I don¡¯t doubt that he has more than enough human subjects lined up and ready to go once he has a working formula. It¡¯s all been incremental¡­¡± There was another round of coughing that escaped him and he began to wheeze as soon as the fit ended. I found myself standing up as I waited for him to catch his breath. I walked over toward the window to look down over Central Park as I tried to comprehend what he was telling me. ¡°You¡­ I think the only reason he let you get this far, get here, is because he wanted you to be his next subject. I¡¯m not sure what your powers are¡­ but they seem versatile¡­ they seem like something he¡¯d want to try to take. It¡¯s the only explanation that makes sense¡­ I can¡¯t let what¡¯s happened to me happen to anyone else¡­ That¡¯s why you need to turn off your Matrix. If it¡¯s off, I think even if he finds a way to inject you, he won¡¯t be able to control you,¡± Sal finally said after a few minutes passed and his breathing calmed. I turned from the window to look back at him as my eyes met his. ¡°If I could tell every Augment to do that I would¡­ Maybe you could do that for me too¡­ There¡¯s so¡­ There¡¯s so many things I wish I could have done differently.¡± He choked up, eyes welling as he reached a frail hand up to wipe away a few tears that had started to fall down his cheek. ¡°I wanted to be a hero¡­ I wanted to save people¡­¡± ¡°Have you¡­ Are you really not the one controlling the Vipers?¡± I asked, walking back toward his bed and staring down at him. He shook his head slowly and looked down at his lap. ¡°The only thing I¡¯m good for is my power. As long as I¡¯m alive¡­ the injectors will still let them transform¡­ the injectors will still let them hurt people,¡± he croaked, his voice getting increasingly hoarse even as he materialized another cup of water. ¡°He hasn¡¯t been able to break the connection¡­ in order for a powerset to work¡­ there has to be a source for them to work from. It''s something to do with how our powersets are activated and given to us... He was very specific when he told me that that¡¯s what had gone wrong when he tested on Valor Viking.¡± ¡°Wait are you saying-¡± I started to say before he began to cough again, the glass of water tumbling out of his hand from the sudden fit and down to the ground. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s¡­. It¡¯s not fair of me to ask you to do this. But I need you to kill me,¡± he finally was able to spit out as my gut wrenched painfully. ¡°And it¡¯s less fair that I need you to turn your Acceptance Matrix off first. This room is classified as my Safe House. Its code has been altered to turn it into a dead zone to hide me and make it mostly impossible for someone to stop my mentor''s experiment. When I¡¯m dead¡­ this room¡¯s code will break, and your P.A.I. will be able to try to stop you from turning it off.¡± ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡± I said, shaking my head back and forth as everything clicked into place. ¡°I haven¡¯t even killed one of the non-Sapients¡­ at least not on purpose¡­ Can''t I just break you out of here? Get you away from the person doing this to you?¡± ¡°I know¡­ I heard your argument with Marco¡­ It¡¯s why he was supposed to be the one to come here¡­ It would have made this so much easier... I could have just leaned in to what he thought was the truth, angered him until he just put me down¡­¡± Sal said, groaning as he tried to adjust himself in the bed. Even as I wrestled with the growing panic in the core of my being, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he even needed me to do this with the shape he was in. His breathing grew even more labored as he continued to push himself. ¡°I wish I could send you back¡­ to have you just send him in¡­ but¡­ but¡­ but I¡¯m pretty sure that the key Axio made for you was a one way thing¡­ and once my mentor knows that you haven¡¯t been injected¡­ well I don¡¯t think anyone would find me again. It doesn''t matter if I''m hooked up to these machines or not. As¡­ As¡­ As long as I¡¯m alive, the Vipers can transform¡­ As long as I¡¯m alive¡­ my wife¡­ my son¡­ they¡¯ll never be safe¡­ I know you value life¡­ I know I''m asking you a lot... but trading mine for the people of our neighborhoods¡­ isn¡¯t that a trade worth making?¡± ¡°I¡­ I just¡­¡± ¡°If I could do this on my own¡­ I would. I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve tried... but nothing I''ve done can lower my health faster than this damn equipment replenishes it. I¡¯ve seen the guns that you¡¯ve been using¡­ I think with the venom coating the ammo¡­ I think that will be enough¡­ It is my powerset¡¯s natural weakness¡­¡± His voice broke and a small sob escaped from him that echoed in the empty room. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t turn off your Matrix¡­ Please... Please don''t make me a victim in your story... let me be a hero in mine. Please... just make it stop.¡± Almost as if to prove his point, the red liquid surged through the tubes and his body began to convulse again as his health rapidly increased and then rapidly decreased as the green goo was extracted from him. He didn¡¯t scream, but the groans and gasps that escaped his lips grated against my nerves and I winced for him. ¡°I¡­¡± I started to say before stopping myself. I didn¡¯t want to take a life or to hurt someone¡­ but this¡­ even I could admit that this felt like a mercy. I was about to vocalize this when I felt my gut twist in pain. If the Acceptance Matrix was doing more than just stabilizing my emotions, how could I be sure that that was my own feelings. How could I be sure any of my decisions were my own. I had to do this on impulse... on instinct, and I couldn¡¯t think about it too hard, even if I did end up regretting it. My stomach was still in knots at the thought, but I swallowed hard as I concentrated on my Acceptance Matrix and the monotone voice spoke. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯d like to disable your Acceptance Matrix: Y/N?¡± Sal was practically doubled over in a coughing fit, his frail arms holding his sides as his health bar seemed to shudder with the shaking of his body. I took a deep breath and pushed back against the warring feeling in my stomach as I selected Yes. It felt like a wave of fresh, crisp air entered my lungs and my eyes widened as I felt a wave of relief pass over my body. That relief was short-lived as a rapid wave of panic, amazement, fear, ecstasy, anger, and then even more relief rushed past me, like a slide show presentation of the emotions I should have been feeling over the last few days. When the rush finally passed, I took a few short, rapid breaths. I reached up and rested a hand on my chest, feeling my heart beating so hard that it threatened to burst out. ¡°Please¡­ Please¡­¡± Sal continued to rasp out. I looked over at him, trying to get my heart to stop racing as I felt a natural aversion to what he was asking. Simply knowing that that feeling had come from me, unaltered by the Matrix made me feel like I was myself. But that didn¡¯t change the fact that I couldn¡¯t leave Sal like this either, even if I knew the cost. ¡°You won¡¯t turn your Matrix off because you need it to face this¡­ don¡¯t you?¡± I said as I materialized the last remaining gun I had into my hand. I felt myself let out a wry, pained laugh as I looked at it. ¡°Maybe I should have done it before turning mine off¡­¡± Sal let out his own sad, pained laugh that turned into a cough as he fell back onto his bed. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth¡­ I think both my brother and you have it half right¡­ There has to be a line¡­ But that goes both directions... You can''t pull your punches just because you don''t want to take a life, most people won''t offer you the same restraint.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can for your family Sal¡­ I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll say to your brother¡­ he thinks you¡¯re dead already¡­ it might be better if I just let him believe that instead of letting him know what was happening here. I already don¡¯t think I¡¯m his favorite person... If he knows I killed you... even at your own request...¡± I said trailing off as I thought about his advice. I ran a thumb over the grip of the pistol before I looked back at the shell of a man. ¡°Probably the better plan,¡± He agreed, meeting my eyes as he reached a hand up and pointed toward his heart, tapping his chest just a few times as lightly as he could. ¡°Right here¡­ it¡¯ll¡­ it¡¯ll¡­ it will spread the fastest from here.¡± There was nothing that was going to make this any easier, and I slowly lifted the gun toward him. "I wish there was another way..." I said, my voice lowering as another set of tears welled up into Sal''s eyes. "Me too..." Was all he could manage as his hand dropped from his chest. It was only my own desire not to kill that I had to fight against, but I pushed and forced my will against it as I pulled the trigger, hitting him square in his chest. The equipment surrounding him went crazy as the Weakened debuff was added to his stack and his health bar started to dip downward toward empty. ¡°One... more...¡± He grunted as his body started to shake. I saw the red fluid starting to descend the tube and in a panic that it might make it all for nothing, I fired again, hitting him and dropping his health further. His heightened level was doing a lot of the work of lowering just how much damage each bullet was doing to him, but the venom was doing the work that really mattered and even though the red fluid hit him, his health didn¡¯t replenish. I saw a brief bit of static pass through his eyes and his jaw set. As his health neared the bottom, while his eyes had a touch of fear in them, there was a practically defiant smile that spread over his lips. ¡°Thank... You... Loop.... Hole....." He struggled to say through labored breaths and gritted teeth. Then just before his health bar emptied, he let out a small laugh before adding, "Fuck¡­ you¡­ Tech¡­. Warden.¡± Sal went still and the equipment attached to him started letting out a rapid set of beeps and alarms that filled the space. The monotone voice suddenly popped back up without an accompanying notification or window. ¡°The owner of this Safe Room has died. Safe Room status and all effects granted by this Safe Room will be eliminated in thirty seconds.¡± A myriad of different notifications started dropping into my interface, including several achievements, a huge Phase Point gain, and more than a few Level Up alerts. But as I watched the life leave Sal¡¯s eyes, my own resolve finally gave out and I fell to my knees. The weight of everything Sal had told me, of the mentor he tried to warn about, washed over me and without the safety net of the Acceptance Matrix, it threatened to overwhelm me. I started to take short rapid breaths as I let the truth of what I had just done hit me. It didn''t matter that he had begged me to do it. It didn''t matter that I knew it was the right thing to do. It didn''t change that I had done it. It didn''t change that I had pulled the trigger. Before I knew it, I was sobbing, and I wasn¡¯t sure when I was going to stop. Book 1 - Epilogue: Part One Sanctuary Square, much like New York City, never really slept. There were Augments spanning the entire world and at practically any hour, they could need one of the Square¡¯s many services. While the members of the Tenth Wave had only just begun to scratch the services of those features, it wasn¡¯t any of the known features that had drawn Calypso to the square firmly in the middle of the night in the Eastern United States. She passed through the portal from her Safe House and practically glided down the staircase. Even in the moonlight, her costume seemed to shimmer like scales and the net that held her bun together jingled slightly with each step due to the small bells that were woven right into it. Calypso rather liked the ambience of the Square at this time of day, when the air was still and the general clamoring was relatively quiet. Sure, there were a few Augments that lingered around, using the benches and tables that littered the courtyard to read or just take a moment to themselves, but none swarmed her like she was used to on the few occasions she made an appearance in the Square during the middle of the day. Though it may have seemed odd from the outside, most Augments learned early on that being in the Square prevented Crime Alerts from generating for locations near their respective Safe Houses. Prior to the Tenth Wave, many Augments actually did have spare time, especially those with territories in mostly remote locations, and that had bred just a bit of complacency in the Augment populace. Calypso had known that this year was going to be different, though she had still been surprised by just how much. As one of the seven remaining members of the First Wave, Calypso had access to a much bigger picture of the world than, well, almost anyone. But had she been a betting woman, which coincidentally, she was, she still wouldn¡¯t have bet on the events of the last few days. Several of the younger Augments pointed in her direction as she passed along the stone pathway, and she gave them each a friendly smile and wave. She had never shared Brightburst¡¯s lack of love for the spotlight but she also was happy that The First had always drawn more attention than she did on the grander scale. Neither of those things were why she made it a point to at least be open and cordial with every Augment that she could. Whether it was warranted or not, Calypso felt the weight of every single dead Augment on her very soul. It didn¡¯t matter if they were Guardians or Miscreants, each dropping number on the leaderboards left her feeling increasingly heavy. While she had slowly grown to accept that the world had already changed and there was nothing she could do about the Augments that died in the course of battle, those weren¡¯t the ones that weighed most heavily. Lunar Monkey, Frigid Air, Gas Giant, Hayday, Valor Viking, and SnakeBite. While the world barely knew them, Calypso had etched those names permanently into her mind. SnakeBite was a tragedy, she knew that, but things had gone too far with him, and no matter what she did, she knew that he was never going to be out from under TechWarden¡¯s thumb. Unfortunately, she also knew that didn¡¯t bode well for the other five either and the fact that she still didn¡¯t have any leads on where they were, bothered her immensely. The First might have his own hatred for TechWarden, but Calypso had been the one to bring him into the fold in the first place. It wasn¡¯t necessarily excusable for her to have missed the signs when Lunar Monkey had first gone missing, but it was understandable. Things had still been new when the Second Wave had appeared and they had all been simply trying to keep up with the rapid changes that came with people outside of the approved selections becoming Augmented. But when it happened year after year, TechWarden talking with an Augment under the guise of ¡°mentorship¡± only for the Augment to mysteriously go missing only a few weeks later, Calypso put the pieces together. Of all of them, SnakeBite had been the only one that she had managed to add to her Friend¡¯s List, which meant he was the only one she had been able to try to help. Even as late as it was, the Common Ground was easily the busiest place in the Square and while on most occasions Calypso wouldn¡¯t have an issue signing a few autographs and adding a few more Augments to her Friend¡¯s List, there were some nights that privacy was her main concern, especially when she had places to be. As she entered the bar, she used one of the many abilities she had access to, letting out several slow, harmonious notes as she walked into the building. Although her voice echoed throughout the room in an almost haunting melody, not a single person looked her way. In fact, it was almost as if every single person was making a point of not looking anywhere near her. As one of the highest level players in the game, there were few people that could actually resist the effects of her songs when she chose to target them, and her Oblivious Melody was one of her highest leveled abilities, letting her glide through entire crowds without ever being seen. Without ever breaking her song, she headed for the closest bar. All of the non-Sapient bartenders knew her by now, and with a few hand movements, Calypso signed a request for an order she¡¯s placed more than once in the last few days. Only a minute later, a container that looked suspiciously like a well stuffed, greasy fast food bag was placed ahead of her along with a large styrofoam cup. It only took the barest thought for her to transfer the requisite credits over to the bartender before taking the bag and walking away. She sauntered around tables and past Augments moving through the room. The constant melody never faltered and it only took her a minute before she came to the base of the spiral staircase leading up toward the second floor. Instead of heading upstairs, she circled away from the staircase, moving to the fair side of the destroyed robot¡¯s head. She ran her hand along the cold metal as she walked until she stopped and placed her hand fully against a small spot near the chin of the robot. With a hiss a small staircase opened underneath the robot¡¯s head and Calypso quickly dipped into it, letting the entrance close behind her before she finally stopped singing. The Null Zone of The Common Ground was immediately replaced with the full Dead Zone effect, deactivating her action bar and, thankfully for her, removing the passive effects of her Primary Power, Siren¡¯s Song. Calypso¡¯s powerset was classified as a Hybrid Support class, though as one of the first powersets generated, it came with a side effect that no amount of Augmentation or leveling had been able to change. Every word she spoke when she wasn¡¯t in a Dead Zone created aftereffects in anyone that could hear her based on her very emotion and even then she wasn¡¯t always in control of what the effects would be. Luckily for her, this room had been here from the very beginning, a small oasis within the larger oasis of the bar where she could speak completely unencumbered. ¡°I¡¯ve brought you some dinner, I¡¯d be willing to bet you haven¡¯t eaten all day, have you?¡± She said, descending the staircase in what was ostensibly the basement of a home in the midwest in the 80s. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There were posters of classic sci-fi and superhero movies covering many of the walls, and where there weren''t posters, action figures and other collectibles were neatly placed along various shelves. Sitting at a large console of computer monitors in the far corner of the room, fingers racing along one of the many keyboards, was a man with uncombed and unkempt dark black hair. There was a similarly dark layer of scruff that covered the bottom half of his face and he groaned as he leaned backwards in the chair, stretching as he turned to look at the greasy bag Calypso was holding out for him. ¡°And you said you didn¡¯t care if I starved, you¡¯re a real pal Cassie,¡± the man said and rubbed at his eyes as he walked away from his computer setup. He took the bag from Calypso and quickly fell onto the overstuffed couch pushed up against a wood paneled wall in the very center of the room. ¡°Well you have been eating a lot less recently. It¡¯s much easier to get you a single burger now rather than trying to pick up any of your old orders Christopher,¡± Calypso replied as she walked and sat down next to him, exchanging her costume for a set of lounging clothes that she had kept queued in her B.E.L.T. for years now. While she knew she should have waited to let him at least eat some of his food, she also couldn¡¯t stop her curiosity. ¡°Has there been any movement?¡± ¡°Not a whole lot. He broke out of the penthouse only a few minutes after the area reconnected to the Array with one hell of a punch, then flew down into Central Park and just¡­ vanished,¡± Christopher explained as he popped a few fries into his mouth. ¡°The kid¡¯s grown a lot in a few days but with his Acceptance Matrix disabled it¡¯s going to be harder to keep track of him.¡± ¡°Well I certainly haven¡¯t been watching him as obsessively as you have, so I definitely couldn¡¯t speak to his larger growth,¡± She responded, reaching over and stealing one of the fries, meeting his eyes before relenting, ¡°Okay, maybe I started to pay attention when Axio started having all the Vipers start chanting about SnakeBite¡­ What do you make of that anyway? What¡¯s he up to?¡± ¡°Axio?¡± Christopher asked, taking a large bite of his burger as he raised a brow at her. ¡°Yeah¡­ I get your personal interest in Loophole, but what did Axio gain out of leading him to SnakeBite?¡± She asked, moving to grab another fry before Christopher smacked her hand away and she scowled at him. ¡°I think we both know if I had ever been able to figure out what Axio was thinking, things would have never gotten this far,¡± he said, his overall affable attitude faltering ever so slightly as another large yawn forced its way from him. ¡°I think what I¡¯m more worried about is how easily he piggy-backed off of the code I added into the messages you sent through to SnakeBite. It¡¯s the only thing I can think of that would explain how he was able to lead Loophole in.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t your plan in the first place?¡± Calypso said, finding herself pulling back in shock. ¡°Nope,¡± He said with a shake of his head and rubbed at his eyes. ¡°Honestly I was hoping I could use the metadata I slipped into SnakeBite¡¯s system to eventually create a beacon through the Dead Zone he had been locked in. It was a long shot but damn near everything we do is a long shot. Once Axio started moving though¡­ well it was basically like we were just along for the ride. Have you managed to find anyone with any of the others on their Friend¡¯s List?¡± This time Calypso was the one to shake her head. ¡°It¡¯s hard enough to probe people for information about random Augments that are noticeably low profile, especially with how weird some others get about me only communicating through the chat function. A few of the Sixth Wave members recognize Valor Viking, but none had ever actually had him on their Friend¡¯s List. If I hadn¡¯t seen Lunar Monkey, Frigid Air, and Gas Giant myself back in the day, I almost would have wondered if we had the names right.¡± ¡°Well no one said we were gonna be able to fix the world in a week,¡± Christopher sighed and leaned back into the sofa. ¡°Maybe we should focus our attention on what Axio intends to do next. The Tenth Wave Augments are leveling noticeably faster than prior waves, there has to be a reason for that¡­¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible they are going to catch up with the other Waves?¡± Calypso asked, materializing a bottle of water into her hand before taking a long drink and then offering the beverage to him. ¡°I¡¯d say it¡¯s more an inevitability than just possible. While Axio has been prodding the earlier waves some, he hasn¡¯t been bombarding them with the same amount of missions and crime alerts as the Tenth Wave. Those added events are giving the new wave a lot more experience opportunities which are bound to push them faster. Shit, just look at Loophole, how many Augments have to deal with an Augmented swarm event less than 48 hours into the game?¡± ¡°True¡­ I can only imagine the amount of rest many of them are going to need once this first Phase ends¡­ and that¡¯s only if Axio doesn¡¯t immediately throw them into the next one,¡± Calypso said with a slightly dejected sigh. ¡°Yeah, exactly. There¡¯s only so much I can do from behind the scenes now, but if that¡¯s going to be my role to play¡­¡± Christopher said before he took the last bite of his burger. It wasn¡¯t super fast, but he still pushed himself to his feet as he took the now empty fast food bag and chucked it across the room into a trash can that appeared out of thin air. He was just about to walk back toward his consoles when he felt a hand holding his. ¡°Christopher¡­ You need to sleep¡­ Especially with your Personal Array being suppressed, this pace you¡¯re going at isn¡¯t sustainable,¡± Calypso said, looking up at him with worry in her eyes. ¡°I¡­ look Cassie I know but-¡± ¡°But nothing. You¡¯re no use to anyone if you kill yourself through sleep deprivation,¡± She snapped back quickly, slowly pulling him back to the couch. ¡°Now how about we put on one of the classics and you can fall asleep to it like old times?¡± ¡°I¡­ I guess I could spare a few hours.¡± Christopher would face a lot of things when he had to, but arguing with Calypso was a battle he had never won, and he barely struggled as he settled back into the seat with another yawn. He really hadn¡¯t slept more than a few hours in the last 72 hours, but he couldn¡¯t help himself either. How could he sleep when there was still so much more he had to do? While he knew just how much Calypso put on herself, Infinite Ascension had been his project long before he had had any sort of budget to hire more staff members. While he could never truly say why he had done it, it had ultimately been his decision to combine the fledgling Artificial Intelligence that had mysteriously appeared on his workstation overnight with the code for his pet project. Axio had told him many different lies over the years about where he had come from and Christopher was sure he had heard them all. From Aliens to Parallel Dimensions, Axio had offered all of them as explanations for his origins, and Christopher had no idea which, if any, of them were true. That specific detail hadn¡¯t actually bothered him all that much early on, even if maybe it should have, but he had simply gotten too engrossed in the quickly evolving and expanding game that he believed was his ticket out of obscurity. It was only when Axio started altering the literal fabric of reality that he realized that he might have gotten himself in over his head. As much as Christopher relied on Calypso, on Cassie, there were so many secrets that he still kept to himself, so many secrets that he refused to burden her with. He had a plan on just how to fix things, but he knew it was a long shot, and the fewer people who knew, the better. It was just that thought that lingered in his mind as he leaned his head down and onto Calypso¡¯s shoulder, dozing off just as the movie she had chosen started. Trying to sleep with all of this still on his mind wouldn¡¯t give him good rest, none of the things he burdened himself with did, but they were his burdens to carry. So far, he had been strong enough that the weight of them hadn¡¯t caused him to kneel, hadn¡¯t caused him to break. He knew that with just a bit of luck, that strength would hold out just long enough for him to finish his work, even if it killed him in the end. Book 1 - Epilogue: Part Two ¡°Holy shit, what happened to this guy?¡± ¡°Mr. White, you know that we record everything that happens here. Please watch your language.¡± A woman that appeared to be in her mid to late thirties wearing a lab coat and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses walked alongside a gurney transporting SnakeBite¡¯s remains. She made a few notes on a clipboard before handing it over to the young Mr. White. ¡°Please put him in one of the closer facilities in the Morgue, Dr. Jackson is on call tonight, so I will be having him head down shortly to complete the initial collections. Page me the moment he has arrived,¡± She ordered, staring the man who was barely out of childhood down before he nodded. ¡°Yes Mrs. Owens, of course,¡± Mr. White said, taking the gurney from the two orderlies that had wheeled it in and pushing it further into the secure facility. Maria Owens watched as the fresh faced recruit pushed the recently deceased Augment away and felt her lip curl slightly in disgust. She had applied to and joined the Strategic Headquarters for Augment Development and Evaluation when the department had first split off from the NSA, yet she still found herself sick to her stomach whenever she had to see one of the Augments sent off for autopsy. She much rather preferred when she could send them off to Containment rather than the Morgue. It had taken Maria nine years to rise from a data engineer up to her position managing Augment Intake, but she had known if she wanted to rise further or to be considered for the teams responsible for the enhanced equipment, she needed to show more initiative. When a call went out looking for nondescript staff members looking for actual field experience, Maria thought she had found the right path. After the evening she''d had though, she was starting to question if she wanted to move higher than she already was. She certainly hadn¡¯t expected to spend the better part of two days having to bag and sort illicit materials for a gang and it made her positive that she wasn¡¯t going to be looking for Field Work assignments again. Seeing the Vipers transform up close was going to give her nightmares for weeks, not to mention she could still feel the panic in her chest at the idea of being caught in the middle of yet another fight. All in all, she had a sudden newfound respect for the agents that didn¡¯t just volunteer to investigate the Augments more closely, but put themselves right in harm''s way over and over just to further the department''s understanding of them. She was just about to head up a hallway toward her office when a young woman with her hair pulled back into a tight bun and wearing a blouse and skirt combo that was far too green came speed walking her way from the opposite direction. Although the young woman had only been hired a few days earlier, Geraldine¡¯s quick and precise handling of her boss¡¯s needs were already becoming common gossip within the building. ¡°Mrs. Owens, I¡¯m sorry to disturb you, I know you¡¯re busy handling the receipt of Augment 07-CH-NY but Dr. Merens asked me to come get you. He wants to speak with you,¡± The girl said. Although she had been rushing toward Maria, she didn¡¯t even seem remotely out of breath. Coming from any of the other department heads, having a secretary deliver a message instead of utilizing the paging system would have been odd, but Maria had been around long enough to be familiar with the doctor¡¯s quirks. Sure, he had been the one to implement the relatively archaic devices in the first place, but it was common knowledge that he also refused to utilize one himself. ¡°Really? He¡¯s still here at this time of night?¡± Maria asked, looking at her watch. It was just past 2:30 in the morning and while she was used to working in the early hours, normally she was the only manager in the facility. ¡°Yes. He is apparently interested in the collected data from your team monitoring Augment 10-HK-NY.¡± Maria opened her mouth to argue that all of that footage had already been uploaded to the main server when she stopped herself. She looked up at one of the many cameras that monitored the facility before looking back at Dr. Meren¡¯s young secretary. ¡°Okay, thank you Geraldine, please let Dr. Merens know I¡¯ll be there in a few minutes, I just need to grab my notebook from my office.¡± She watched as Geraldine hurried off before looking back toward her office. While she had certainly been looking forward to taking a quick nap on her couch, if Dr. Merens wanted to speak with her now, then she was going to need to speak with him now. Maria hurried to her office, gathering the notebook she had set aside after being called to Deliveries for the latest subject. As promised, only a few minutes later she arrived at Dr. Merens office, walking past Geraldine¡¯s empty desk and pushing the slightly ajar door open. ¡°-and then first thing tomorrow if you could pick up my dry cleaning, I have a meeting with the board and I¡¯d like to wear my good suit,¡± Dr. Merens said, sitting on the edge of his desk. He had a hand resting under his chin as he seemed to be deep in thought. ¡°I think that¡¯s everything I need from you for now Geri, please return to standby in case there¡¯s anything further I¡¯ll need.¡± ¡°Of course sir, I¡¯ll be in my quarters,¡± Geraldine said, beaming with an almost nauseating amount of admiration toward Dr. Merens. He gave her wide, impossibly bright smile before she turned and started for the door only stopping before bowing just slightly to Maria and saying, ¡°Excuse me.¡± Geraldine exited the room, pulling the door shut behind her. As Maria turned her attention back to Dr. Merens, he had already circled back toward the sleek black chair that sat behind a desk absolutely cluttered with paperwork. Maria always found it fascinating that a man that was so well spoken was so bafflingly disorganized when it came to his years of research. And that wasn''t even mentioning just how disheveled the short doctor was, not that she''d actually mention that to him. ¡°So¡­ Mrs. Owens, you did some field work this evening?¡± Dr. Merens questioned, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers, using his clasped hands to point toward the chair on the opposite end of his desk. Maria didn''t hesitate as she moved to the chair and took a seat. ¡°You¡¯ve been in Intake for the better part of five years now, can I ask what inspired the change?¡± ¡°I-¡± She started, feeling her hands grip onto her notebook before she swallowed. ¡°Sorry Dr. Merens, I thought that Geraldine had mentioned you wanted to speak with me about 10-HK-NY?¡± ¡°You can call him Loophole, our classification system really is a bit of a mouthful,¡± He said with a brief smile. ¡°I apologize for the deception, I had asked Geri to fetch you and just gave her the first reason that came to mind, but I am always fascinated when our staff members make large role shifts." ¡°Umm, okay¡­¡± Maria said hesitantly, unsure where he was going with this. ¡°Well Dr. Merens, there was an open recruitment for Field Work and-¡± ¡°No, no, not that. I know how you got a role on the field team. I¡¯m more curious why the change from Augment Intake to Field Work. Those are two very different specialties, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± He asked, once again smiling at her. ¡°Yes¡­ sorry. I was looking to expand my resume for higher advancement. I''m not quite sure the department name, but I was considering applying for the Testing Teams?¡± ¡°The testing teams?¡± Dr. Merens asked with a bit of curious amusement in his expression. ¡°Is there an area of expertise that you have yet to disclose to us?¡± ¡°Pardon sir?¡± Maria asked, feeling a sudden nervousness in the pit of her stomach as she slipped into formalities. ¡°My apologies. I meant to ask if you were an engineer or scientist. If you have experience there, we are always looking to expand the team responsible for performing tests on the Augments we recover. Developing a way to produce artificial versions of the Augment¡¯s powers has eluded us for quite some time now.¡± Maria shook her head with an awkward laugh. ¡°Oh, no, that''s my fault, I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t really know what the name of the department is since it¡¯s restricted information. I meant the teams that participated in testing the equipment developed by us for our Field Agents¡­ I''ve heard rumor that you have to be a part of that group to even be considered for trial runs of our artificial variants and well¡­ if we did successfully create them¡­ wouldn¡¯t you want to be first on the list to get super powers?¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Dr. Merens stared at her for a minute, letting her words hang in the air as if he was deciding just how he wanted to react before his head fell backwards and he let out a boisterous laugh. Maria actually jumped before he finally settled down and reached up to wipe the corner of his eyes. ¡°Well you¡¯re certainly not wrong, I think many of us have dreamed of having super powers of our own,¡± Dr. Merens said as he settled down. ¡°Do you know just what we generally believe is necessary for a good technology tester for our Quality Assurance department?¡± ¡°The ability to find design flaws that limit active use?¡± Maria offered, though it came out as a question instead of the confidence she had meant to portray. ¡°While that is certainly helpful, that¡¯s not the most important thing. It¡¯s guts,¡± Dr. Merens explained. ¡°Generally speaking, the members of our Quality Assurance division are also members of our Field Work division. So if that¡¯s your goal, taking on more Field Work assignments would certainly be the path you¡¯d want to take.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That¡­ I guess that might slow me down¡­ I didn¡¯t exactly like my first experience,¡± She explained, for some reason feeling embarrassed as she did so. ¡°Can I ask why there is overlap? I¡¯ve met with some of our Field Agents; I can¡¯t say I can see many of them testing such delicate equipment.¡± ¡°Before I answer your question, could you answer one of mine first?¡± Dr. Merens asked, sitting forward and resting his chin on his hands. ¡°What is driving your desire to be on this specific team?¡± Maria hesitated for a moment before she found her resolve. ¡°I think it¡¯s where I¡¯d best be suited. I was married right out of High School and had my daughter not long after that. I was a stay at home mom and never was able to get a real education, but I loved to try to tinker with things¡­ Then the Augments came along. My daughter was endlessly fascinated by them. She always wanted to watch the news whenever Calypso made an appearance¡­ I swear she had a poster of her on her wall even before Augment merch took over the world.¡± Dr. Merens watched her carefully as she spoke, not even moving to interrupt as Maria stopped and stared at her notebook for nearly a minute. ¡°We had been on a family trip to Niagara Falls when The First showed up¡­ Nydia was so excited¡­ she wanted to get closer and dragged Henry, my husband that is, closer to try and see him,¡± Maria finally continued, missing as Dr. Merens¡¯ eye twitched ever so slightly at the mention of The First. ¡°And then another Augment showed up¡­ He was an electric-based Augment that went by Jumpstart and he began to fight with The First¡­ He electrocuted the entire waterfall at one point and there were attacks being thrown everywhere.... By the time I tried to get to where Nydia and Henry had run off to..." Tears had started to run down Maria¡¯s face as she found herself unable to actually finish her story. She reached up to wipe them away only to find Dr. Merens holding out a tissue box toward her. ¡°I want to test the equipment we are making that will protect normal people from those with so much more strength than us¡­ I know people say I could go back to college but it just wasn¡¯t the path I took¡­ I can¡¯t bring my family back, but I can do what I can to protect the families of others just like me, and if being on this team is a precursor to being selected when we create our own version¡­ well then I want to be on it so that I can eventually have the power to really protect people.¡± ¡°You know, many of the members of this department have lost family or friends to the Augments. Even the ones that call themselves heroes have been responsible for so much death and destruction in the world,¡± Dr. Merens explained as Maria took a moment to compose herself. ¡°The reason that there is overlap between the Field Work and Quality Assurance teams is because of the inherent danger that comes with testing weapons and defensive equipment meant to thwart Augments. We have lost more than a few people to malfunction. So I have to ask, knowing the dangers that come with this team, is it still something you¡¯d be interested in?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ yes it is,¡± She said, this time with practically no hesitation and Dr. Meren¡¯s lip pulled up in a smile. ¡°Well then you¡¯re in luck, I actually have one of our recent developments here that I¡¯ve been looking for an opportunity to properly test,¡± He said, reaching down into a drawer on the side of his desk without looking. A moment later he placed a medium sized box that was strikingly similar to a jewelry box on the table and opened it to reveal what Maria first thought was a bulky looking bracelet but determined was far too big for even the largest of arms. She found herself leaning forward to try to get a better look at it, noticing the sleek silver device seemed to be blinking from one side. ¡°What is it?¡± She asked, looking back up at him. ¡°We haven¡¯t quite chosen a name for it, but it¡¯s meant to provide clearer information between members of our Field Work division when dealing with the Augments. We have some preliminary test files we¡¯d like to attempt to deliver using this,¡± Dr. Merens explained before gesturing toward it with one hand and then pointing toward his neck with the other. ¡°Hopefully we can alter the design to be worn as an earpiece instead, but for now you wear it like you¡¯d wear a choker. I''d like you to put it on so that we can test if the information is unobscured.¡± ¡°Well... That doesn¡¯t exactly sound like it¡¯s going to blow up in my hands,¡± Maria said with a hesitant laugh before she reached out, stopping only for a moment, ¡°Is.. Shouldn¡¯t I be read into the restricted information on this?¡± Dr. Merens let out another laugh. ¡°Mrs. Owens, I¡¯m the head of this department, I think if I am offering you the opportunity, you can assume you have permission.¡± Maria hesitated only a moment longer before nodding and reaching forward for the device and lifting it toward her. It was far lighter than she was expecting it to be and it opened easily with a simple clasp. To her surprise, it was actually a nearly perfect fit for her neck and she clasped it down, returning her hands to her side as she waited for it to do whatever it was going to do. ¡°Is¡­ is there some sort of on switch or command word I should use?¡± She asked after a few seconds passed without anything happening. ¡°All of the Augments in the world are playing a massive game run by an Artificial Intelligence that calls itself Axio,¡± Dr. Merens said. ¡°I¡­ wait what?¡± Maria sputtered as her eyes went wide. ¡°You can¡¯t mean-¡± ¡°Ah damnit, still an immediate Critical Threat¡­ I guess I still haven¡¯t calibrated it quite right,¡± Dr. Merens sighed as he leaned back into his chair and looked at Maria with a disappointed glare. ¡°Ah that''s a shame... you know, for what it¡¯s worth, I do think you would have made an excellent Field Agent but I can''t quite have a Critical Threat storming our facility. I tend to prefer to make sure our testers won''t have anyone really asking too many questions.¡± ¡°Wait wh-¡± She started to say before her pager began to spark, sending a sudden high powered jolt rushing through her system. Maria convulsed, collapsing to the floor and shaking until she fell as still as stone. Dr. Merens stood up from his chair, slowly walking around the desk as he shook his head in disappointment. ¡°You know Geri, I really did think it was going to work this time,¡± He said as he reached up and pinched at the bridge of his nose. ¡°I have suggested that you try to start with smaller bits of information, but you generally seem to think you know better than I do,¡± Geraldine¡¯s voice seemed to come from nowhere as Dr. Merens leaned down and placed a hand on Maria¡¯s lifeless form. There was a flash of light before she disappeared and Dr. Merens returned to his feet. ¡°Seeing as I¡¯m the one that developed the system that created the Personal A.I. seeds, yes, yes I do think I know better than you. Even if we haven¡¯t gotten anywhere with providing more information to the department as a whole, I think we can call the testing of your Personal Vehicle a success. So far no one has been any the wiser at your appearance,¡± He said as he walked behind his desk toward a plain looking display case that sat directly behind it. He reached a hand up to the third shelf and slowly ran his hand along the underside before he found the switch that he needed. The display case pulled back into the wall leaving a glowing white portal in its place. ¡°You¡¯re in a far better mood than I was anticipating you being after losing one of your test subjects,¡± Geri said as Dr. Merens stepped through the portal and into a massive workshop. There were various pieces of technology sitting on every surface and he walked past all of them toward a simple looking computer with a single monitor. ¡°There wasn¡¯t much I could do about it. Axio¡¯s recent evolution is troubling in its own right but I¡¯m certainly not going to clue him in to the fact that I¡¯ve established the entire department as a Dead Zone by stepping out of it to talk to him. The moment Axio started leading Loophole there, was the moment we were going to lose SnakeBite,¡± Dr. Merens said as he logged onto the computer, revealing camera footage from the room that SnakeBite had been held in. ¡°I thought we¡¯d be able to at least replace him with Loophole, but it seems he didn¡¯t complete the last objective I had assigned him either, which itself is quite confusing. Make a note to remind me to complete an extensive study on his Personal Array after the Morgue is done with him.¡± ¡°Note created. But I¡¯m still wondering¡­ why aren¡¯t you more upset?¡± He slowly scrolled through the footage until he found Loophole looking down at the gun he had materialized and a smile slowly crept over his face. ¡°Because while you simply can¡¯t change the past, sometimes you get just the piece of evidence you can manipulate to get your way,¡± He said and leaned backwards into his chair. ¡°I¡¯m sure if I had a brother I probably would want revenge if I saw something like this, and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s plenty we could learn from Hydramental¡¯s powerset.¡± Dr. Merens reached out, materializing a drink into his hand before taking a long chug from it. ¡°It¡¯s all about perspective Geri. If the others all want to start making their moves, I think it¡¯s time I stop holding back so much,¡± He said, watching as Loophole lifted the gun up and silently pulled the trigger in the muted video. ¡°For now, go ahead and start pulling Frigid Air and Gas Giant out of Cryo. I think it¡¯s time to see if we can alter the formula that SnakeBite¡¯s powerset taught us to be used for other powersets.¡± ¡°Right away TechWarden.¡± Book 1 - Epilogue: Part Three

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Community Center 4, Hell''s Kitchen, NYC Town: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 21450 End of Phase One: 00D:00H:10M:20S

It had been far over a day since Nate had returned home and he hadn¡¯t said a single word the entire time. After having vanished for nearly an hour, Jon had expected some sort of celebration of success, but the only thing Nate had said was that he needed some time alone. Although Nate didn¡¯t actively choose to open his notifications, Jon was still able to scroll through the sudden wave of new information that his friend was quite actively choosing to ignore. Not only had he gotten a massive 4300 Phase Point boost to his score from defeating SnakeBite, something that launched him into First Place on the leaderboard, he had gained not just one, but two S:Tier loot boxes. One from completing the Snake Key mission and the other for reaching First Place. His luck didn¡¯t stop there either, as his jacket¡¯s Lucky Charm feature procced, upgrading the Achievement granted S:Tier box up to an S+:Tier. Jon was beyond excited to see what the highest ranked tier could hold but even that discovery was met with silence from Nate. The last thing that surprised Jon was that Nate¡¯s claim over Community Center 4, the game designated ''Medium Town'', lost its Contested status, granting him the remaining 750 points from claiming it. He wasn''t sure how defeating SnakeBite had completely wiped out Nate''s opposition, but he certainly wasn''t going to question it that much. While Nate was still outside of the Safe House that night, Jon found he didn¡¯t have access to what he had been jokingly calling Nate O¡¯Vision to himself, though the map feature of the Command Room still worked. So while he couldn''t see exactly what Nate could see, Jon could still see exactly where Nate had run off too. Angie, while she could still talk to him, found he wasn¡¯t responding to even her most annoying of attempts as he descended into Central Park. It wasn¡¯t even until the next morning that he came walking in through the front door, dropping a bag of groceries onto the table before heading into his bedroom, locking the door behind himself without a word of explanation. Jon had only seen his best friend like this once before, when his Grandma had passed away, and although Angie had wanted to talk with him about it, Jon decided to give Nate space, at least initially. Nate had never been the most vocal about his emotions, and that was before he had more superhuman problems to deal with. Even then, Jon had thought that by noon Nate would make an appearance and finally fill them in on what had happened after he went silent, but that came and went without a single word. When dinner was finally coming around and Axio¡¯s End of Phase announcement looming, Jon decided to go with an old reliable and ran out to the deli. It only took him about a half hour to make it out, place the usual order, and make it back to the apartment with some time to spare. ¡°Any update on him?¡± Jon asked as he walked in through the door. He found it incredibly frustrating that he was limited to hearing Angie from within the Safe House, especially since he knew the gear that made him The Guy In The Chair was still technically on him, but there really wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it unless there was an upgrade for his gear coming in the future. ¡°Not a peep,¡± Angie said with an uncharacteristic sigh. Unlike with Nate, Jon heard Angie like she was coming out of invisible speakers that were floating near wherever he was walking, at least while Nate was inside of the Safe House, otherwise he had to be seated in the Command Room to hear anything. ¡°I would really like to know what happened that made him decide to turn his Acceptance Matrix off¡­ One of my primary protocols is to do everything I can to prevent exactly that from happening¡­¡± ¡°Yeah you¡¯ve been awfully cagey about everything happening here¡­¡± ¡°Honestly Codex that¡¯s not out of some malicious intent on my part. I¡¯m still doing my best to figure these changes out myself. As best as I can understand, Axio has been¡­ restricting the information on just what the Acceptance Matrix controlled,¡± Angie explained, clearly just a bit frustrated. ¡°For instance, it would seem I can no longer monitor his unspoken thoughts. Even before when he asked me not to respond to them, I could still hear them. Now it''s just a constant drone of static. This means I can¡¯t provide information based on things he doesn¡¯t realize are important enough to ask.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t do that before,¡± Jon offered as he set his sandwich down at the coffee table. He was going to set Nate¡¯s down there as well but looked over toward his friend¡¯s door uncertainly. ¡°Yeah but now I can¡¯t; there¡¯s a very noticeable difference,¡± She shot back. ¡°Does that have anything to do with why he has been able to just sit on five level ups instead of the system forcing him to choose things?¡± He asked as he walked around the couch and toward Nate¡¯s door. ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case¡­ As his last placed points were at level 8, I couldn¡¯t say for sure if this has eliminated the enforced time limit on the Ability Augmentations or not and we won¡¯t know for sure until he places his level 9 stats and moves on to the level 10 selections.¡± Jon thought about it for a moment as he stopped at Nate¡¯s door and held up a fist. He knocked three times and leaned in, listening for any sort of movement or response. ¡°Hey bud¡­ Axio¡¯s daily announcement is gonna be starting soon,¡± He called out, staring down at the door handle and debating if he should just try to force it open. ¡°I¡¯ve also grabbed some Cubans from Tio¡¯s¡­ might be a good idea to eat¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s still not responding to me as well; it¡¯s possible that he¡¯s asleep as I¡¯m not registering any movement from his system, although now I''m questioning if that is governed by the Acceptance Matrix as well,¡± Angie said, another wave of frustration passing through her tone. ¡°I¡¯m gonna put yours on the table out here, come grab it whenever,¡± Jon called through the door before he turned and walked over to the kitchen to place the sandwich down. Almost as soon as Jon plopped own onto the couch, the television in their living room clicked on as the game¡¯s stylized logo started to spin on the screen. Music started to swell, letting the logo fade away as various clips of fights started to play. Like the last few announcements that Jon had seen, this was a collection of different surveillance and cell phone footage of the members of the top ten list, some of the best shots of each of them that the game''s system seemed to have. For the third night in a row, the shot of Nate launching into the air and smashing down into the giant group of snake-men was played from several different angles and Jon still watched it with just a bit of awe. In just the few days he had been active, Nate had really made a name for himself in their neighborhood. Jon wasn''t too sure if that was something that Axio had been somehow influencing, but he chose to believe that Nate had just started inspiring the people around them. Even just walking down the street to Tio¡¯s, he had seen more than a few businesses with ¡°We Love Loophole!¡± signs and he found himself feeling just a bit of pride in knowing that he was a part of his friend¡¯s team. Even before the list was displayed on the screen, Jon noticed that Hydramental had fallen off of it, replaced by a man creating a wavy path of ice between two buildings, sliding along it with a wild smile as he tossed bolts of icy blue energy toward what looked like a giant, mutated, two-headed bear. As images of this Augment and then the ever confusing Pigeon finally faded from the screen, the list finally generated, and Jon once again found himself somewhat surprised by the ever decreasing player count. Tenth Wave Guardians: 195 Miscreants: 312 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 14 Thunder God - Miscreant - 21500 Points 2. Loophole - Level 13 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 21450 Points 3. Swansong - Level 11 Healing Voice - Guardian- 14670 Points Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. 4. Freakenstein - Level 10 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 13890 Points 5. Quizmaster - Level 10 Gameshow Host - Miscreant - 13850 Points 6. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 10 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 13525 Points 7. Vice Grip - Level 9 Toolbox Mechanic - Guardian - 13230 Points 8. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 9 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 13150 Points 9. Alpine Bob - Level 9 Iceflow Dynamo - Guardian - 12975 Points 10. Pigeon - Level 9 Pigeon - Miscreant - 12955 Points Jon wasn¡¯t necessarily surprised that Tempest¡¯s Wrath had overtaken Nate once more, but the fact that it had been so close was still noteworthy to him given that Nate had been locked away in his bedroom for the entirety of the last day of the phase. Had he actually been active, it was probably likely that no one would have been able to catch up with him. Before Jon could start thinking too much about that however, as always, there was a familiar crackle of a speaker and mic tap. ¡°And 3¡­ 2¡­ 1! That¡¯s it folks, that¡¯s the end of Phase One,¡± Axio called out, a fanfare of trumpets blasting in a triumphant rhythm as the screen started slowly splitting into hundreds of smaller screens, each appearing with a portrait of a different Augment inside of it that became harder and harder to differentiate the more that appeared. ¡°At the end of Day 4 I am so proud to say that not a single one of you left has missed the point deadline, though some of you cut it rather close. Seriously, Applejack, that was impressive but maybe don¡¯t wait so long to actually do your job during the next phase. Regardless, it''s quite nice to know that I don''t have to unleash Critical level threats as a punishment on any of you! While this might be one of the smaller groups moving from Phase One to Phase Two, it is also the first group that won''t be losing another member due to failing the Phase! See, first round of my testing has improved the quality of you Augments, providing regular motivation does breed results!¡± ¡°As promised, the current top ten will each receive an S:Tier Loot Box. And I know, I¡¯m sure some of you are thinking, ¡®is it really fair that you¡¯re giving the people farthest ahead such a big bonus?¡¯ No, it¡¯s not fair. But I¡¯m not here to reward mediocrity, that would be a waste of my time. That said, given that you all did pass this last day without further casualties, not to mention what comes next, what¡¯s the harm with throwing a little random chance to the wind. For completing Phase One, each of you, including the Top 10 members, will receive three F:Tier loot boxes.¡± Jon found his eyes widening as he considered the ever growing stack of possibly valuable items that Nate was sitting on. He knew whatever the funk his best friend was in was serious, he didn¡¯t doubt that for a minute, but it was going to pass eventually and when it did, those boxes were still going to be waiting to further propel Nate''s position. ¡°Now you have all gotten so much stronger already, and again trust me when I say that I truly am proud of all of you for rising to the challenge. Some of you may have met those fallen members of your wave and while you may mourn them, I highly recommend you don¡¯t waste too much time on that. Maybe you¡¯ve noticed it, maybe you haven¡¯t, but you all aren¡¯t as far spread as you might think. In fact, this year even before I knew I was going to have the chance to fiddle with things so much, I made the one little modification my old programming had allowed me to do. The Western Hemisphere got split into 100 distinct regions for the purpose of the Tenth Wave. For those of you that can¡¯t do basic math, that means in each of those regions there are 10 of you and more often than not you¡¯d be surprised to find that you all have pretty perfectly split between Guardians and Miscreants, granted erring on the side of the Miscreants in some of the more spacious regions. I really do appreciate when things work out like that. Oh, though I guess one of the regions started with 11 rather than 10, although that¡¯s down to 8 now, so I guess it really doesn¡¯t matter all that much.¡± Although he had been slacking just a bit on his Augment research, Jon had so far found some information on two of the other new Augments in New York City beyond Nate and Hydramental. Somewhat surprisingly though, they were both people that were in the top ten, Swansong and Freakenstein. Swansong appeared to be a sound based Augment, though unlike a hero like Calypso, she seemed to be almost entirely non-combat oriented, making her rank on the leaderboard all the more impressive. Most of the footage he had found of her was of her strolling through various hospitals, her white and gold costume shining like wings as she spread her arms and quite literally sang terminal children back to perfect health. It only took looking up the hospitals that she made her appearances at to determine that she was probably working out of East Harlem. Freakenstein was a rather odd monstrosity to watch, his body a quilt of molded metal and weapons that he tore and used with brutal efficiency against police officers and what Jon hoped were non-Sapient private security forces. He hoped that even more when he saw Freakenstein rip parts of their bodies off to absorb their bio-mass into his own hulking form. There were at least two separate roads in Downtown Brooklyn that were closed for repairs due to the sheer amount of damage that he had delivered. Other than that, just based on the random footage of Pigeon during the nightly announcement, Jon had a sneaking suspicion that he, or it¡­ Jon still wasn¡¯t exactly sure what Pigeon was, was somewhere in New York City as well, though he couldn¡¯t find any evidence in the news of people being terrorized by an Augmented Pigeon. ¡°While I¡¯m sure there are more than a few of you eager to jump right on into Phase Two, there are just a few final quirks I¡¯m needing to finish working out. I¡¯ve gotta say, I¡¯m loving just how much more compliant you guys have been than the older waves. I really didn¡¯t push them hard enough and now I think they¡¯re in for a rude awakening, but I think you all are going to be up to the task. In the interest of letting you all discover just what other Augments are in your region since that is going to be very important in the coming phase, there will be a three day interlude where I encourage you all to keep working to grow stronger and do some exploring. At the end of this announcement, you will all receive a map showing the boundaries of the region you are in. Trust me, this will be important.¡± ¡°And I am feeling rather benevolent, so I¡¯ll go ahead and warn you now; be careful before you look at this break without a point requirement and decide to slack off, I promise that won¡¯t end well for you. To answer the first question I know that some of you may be waiting to ask: Yes, you can continue to gain points during this brief period and yes doing so will give you a leg up in the next phase. But just in case that''s not enough to get you all going, let¡¯s give you all some extra motivation. The three Augments that gain the most Phase Points during the next 72 hours will each receive an A+:Tier loot box. Strength, skill, and teamwork¡­ yup¡­ I think that¡¯s a good enough hint. Congratulations again, you¡¯ve done so well to grow strong enough to survive this far, let¡¯s hope you all continue to rise to the challenge. I¡¯m going to need as many of you as possible to get as strong as possible. Good luck Augments.¡± The television clicked off and Jon let out a long breath that he hadn¡¯t realized he had been holding. He still wasn¡¯t quite sure just how serious all of this was supposed to be. While he had certainly been flippant about some of the things that Nate had been dealing with, he did recognize the ever shrinking player count in the Tenth Wave proved that it wasn¡¯t a perfectly safe game. At the very least this was the first night that Axio hadn¡¯t levied some level of threat at the members of the wave. Jon was just starting to get up from the couch when he heard the click of a door opening. He turned and saw Nate stepping out of the room, his Fortune¡¯s Guardian jacket not on his shoulders, but instead being held in his hands as he gripped it tight enough that his knuckles were turning white. There was a certain amount of hardness in his expression that Jon wasn¡¯t sure what to make of. ¡°You good, man?¡± Jon asked. Although he had a million questions he knew he needed to ask, he also knew better than to overwhelm Nate. Even then Nate just nodded before the jacket vanished in a flash of lights and reappeared overtop of Nate¡¯s clothes. ¡°You, uh¡­ you wanna talk about it?¡± ¡°I have more than a few questions that I really think you need to-¡± ¡°Not now, Angie,¡± Jon cut her off and she huffed as Nate¡¯s expression broke ever so slightly, one of the edges of his lips starting to curl upwards. Jon gave him a look, knowing more than anything that while it probably wasn¡¯t the healthiest way to deal with things, his friend would talk when he was ready. He decided to give him the chance to redirect the conversation. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s the plan, bud?¡± There were a few moments of silence that passed and Jon almost wanted to ask if Nate was actually pausing for dramatic effect when his friend finally spoke. His voice was hoarse, like he had been crying for far longer than he should have, but it didn¡¯t matter, Jon could still hear the resolve in his tone. ¡°We get to work. This is far from over.¡±

End of Book One.

B.2: Chapter 1

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Safe House. Community Center 4, NYC Town: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 21450 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:11H:55M:43S

It was still early in the morning as I slowly worked to catch my breath. I had gotten far more sleep than I had ever intended to, but I had felt such a wave of exhaustion after wandering around Central Park for hours that I had simply needed the sleep leading up to the end of the last phase. Even so, once I was awake, I had a hard time settling back down. Once I knew I wasn¡¯t going to be sleeping much that next night, I found myself hyper fixated on wanting to train. There was a part of me that knew I had gotten extremely lucky to have been so far ahead on my Phase Points when everything went down, mostly just because it gave me that chance to recenter myself after¡­ well everything. It would have been one thing if I had just been turned into an Augment, what we called the people who had developed super human abilities in the last ten years, but it hadn¡¯t been that simple. It hadn¡¯t been anywhere near that simple. I might have been able to easily accept that the whole thing was just one giant game being played by forces way outside of my control back when I still had my Acceptance Matrix activated, but with it off? Well, there was a reason I had locked myself up in my room for well over a day. Well¡­. A reason other than the man I had to put down barely a few days ago. SnakeBite had been my enemy¡­ or so I thought. I had been charging forward so blindly, punching down doors and thinking I was taking on a man that was simply trying to terrorize my neighborhood with an army of snake-men hybrids. But it had been so much more than that. SnakeBite, while being the primary source of power for the Viper biker gang, was more akin to a battery than a leader. He had been captured and controlled by someone he had thought he could trust, someone who had no interest in actually helping him. The SnakeBite I had thought I had been chasing down was nothing more than a husk of a person, forcefully kept alive to be used as a source for creating Temporary Augmentation injections used by the non-Sapient NPCs of the Viper gang. His mentor, a man that went by the codename TechWarden, had been simply experimenting on him and the Acceptance Matrix had been the tool he had used to ensnare SnakeBite. He had wanted to do the same to me, but instead SnakeBite had convinced me to disable it, protecting myself from any forced control. Then, in an act he knew would be hard for me, SnakeBite asked me to kill him. To free him from the control and constant pain he had been in. And as much as it went against every instinct I had, every moral fiber of my being, I obliged. Up until then, I had killed a few of the non-Sapients, but it had always either been by accident or because they had already injected themselves with the temporary Augmentation, which always ended with them dissolving into a pile of dust no matter how much I tried to put them down non-lethally. I had never wanted to kill anyone, even with the Matrix activated, I had always believed I could find a way to simply knock my enemies out. Even when someone like Hydramental, SnakeBite¡¯s exceptionally disgruntled younger brother, tried to kill me on multiple occasions, I hadn¡¯t even thought for a moment to try and put him down permanently. So even knowing it was a mercy, killing SnakeBite left me feeling slightly more hollow than I used to be. I wandered around Central Park, simply because I couldn¡¯t return home. Because returning home meant I was going to have to talk about it. One of the nice side effects I had discovered to having my Acceptance Matrix turned off was that I had the ability to mentally disable all internal communications to myself, including from my so far annoying Personal A.I., Angie. Unfortunately it seemed like an all or nothing situation, meaning I had to also disable communications with Jon, my literal Guy in the Chair teammate and best friend. Since I did want to be alone, that was more than fine by me, at least while I still had the energy to walk around. Even when I did finally return home, knowing I needed to actually sleep, I avoided the conversation. To Jon¡¯s credit, something I probably should have given him from the start with how long he''s known me, he didn¡¯t press me on it. It made me appreciate him all the more as I settled onto my bed, trying to find comfort in a crazy world. The interesting part about disabling the Matrix was that it hadn¡¯t come with some sudden influx of locked away emotions. Part of me had been expecting that to happen but the longer I waited without any more than a bit of tinges of feelings when I thought of the last few days, the more certain I was that it wasn¡¯t going to happen. In fact, all of my memories of the last few days had already been permanently colored by the Acceptance Matrix. Of course, realizing I could never truly feel the feelings I should have felt in those memories just sent me spiraling into a panic attack, but in a bit of crude irony, having the panic attack actually ended up making me calm down and actually get the sleep that had so far eluded me since it meant I was actually feeling my feelings. When Axio finally blared out his announcement, I had slept for nearly 18 straight hours, leaving me feeling far more refreshed than sleeping that long should have. I listened to his announcement, finding myself somewhat surprised that, although the numbers in our wave had already gone under 50% of the starting amount, no one else had to die for failing the First Phase. The fact that we also were given a bit of free time before the next Phase meant I also had a few extra days to get myself back into the swing of things. I didn¡¯t want to think that Axio, the A.I. that seemed to be in mostly full control of the game, was specifically trying to help me, but it was hard to deny that his decisions had helped me. Although he had used words like benevolent and acted like he was doing us favors during his announcement, I was more than aware that Axio was actively trying to circumvent the rules that he was bound by as the A.I. administrator of the game. That was a whole extra can of worms that I was definitely not in the mindset to deal with and I instead chose to focus on the fact that I had absolutely no idea what the next phase was going to entail. It was only a bit past 6 AM the morning following the end of the First Phase and I was in the room summoned by my Pocket Dojo Safe House expansion. It used to just be called the Training Dojo in the small location panel that always sat in the bottom left of my screen. After I opened the first of my S:Tier loot boxes the previous night, the box I had received for being in the Top 10 at the end of the phase, I received an item that, well, honestly wasn¡¯t all that great for me. It was an item that seemed specifically designed for healers, and while I certainly could have sold it for a good amount at the resale shop in Sanctuary Square, we did have Jon¡¯s reroll ability to use. Other than acting as my second set of eyes, his ability to reroll one of my loot boxes every 12 hours was one of the best parts of his The Guy in the Chair powerset. We immediately used it on the S:Tier, knowing there was theoretically no rush to open all of the boxes in a single swoop. After the item finished randomizing, we were left with an item called The Master¡¯s Seal. The item was specifically designed to work in conjunction with my Pocket Dojo. After applying the item to the door of my Training Dojo, the Safe House expansion moved all the way up to Level 3, unlocking a whole host of new features within the room that was pretty much magically connected to what should have only been a 1200 square foot Hell¡¯s Kitchen apartment. It also went ahead and changed the Training Dojo label in my location panel into the Advanced Combat Dojo, which Jon and I pretty much both agreed to just call the Dojo for brevity¡¯s sake. The room itself was huge, designed to look eerily similar to an oversized version of the dojo in the first Matrix movie when Neo first practiced his kung fu skills. Jon thought it was hilarious and while I had initially disagreed, I did have to admit it was kind of funny, in an ironic sort of way. ¡°Okay Angie, let¡¯s do another randomized swarm, two dozen of them this time, and open the ceiling up,¡± I said as my breathing finally settled. I had been at this for the last few hours, skipping between four different variants of attackers the entire time. ¡°Ah yes, because more will certainly make things more difficult,¡± Angie groaned and I could practically hear her roll her nonexistent eyes. ¡°Just do it Angie, I really don¡¯t need the snark right now,¡± I said. Ever since I had turned off the Acceptance Matrix, Angie had found that I had been able to far more severely limit just how wild she could be in her communication with me, and without another complaint, the room started to shift, with the ceiling parting to reveal a dark night sky. Two dozen faceless holographic grunts materialized around the room, some wielding metal pipes and others with guns already drawn. These guys hadn¡¯t been available when the Dojo was only Level 1, but one of its new Level 3 features was Echo Phantoms, allowing me to generate phantom versions of any non-Sapient opponents I had fought before. They weren¡¯t exactly like the non-Sapients I fought, as they weren¡¯t actually there. Like pretty much all of the technology that made the game and my powers possible, I had no idea how it worked, but the phantoms appeared to be mostly physical. I could set them to be static, allowing me to test random combos, or I could have them actively moving to attack me. The biggest downfall to the feature was that the phantoms would break down with a single strike, regardless of how powerful it was, although the room came with handy features to allow me to gauge just how effective my strikes would have been against similar opponents. So Angie really was right, it really didn¡¯t matter just how many of them I added, the ability to actually practice my abilities on active targets was much appreciated as I was doing my best to use them to reinforce my combat reactions. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. With the Acceptance Matrix off, I had to be sure I wasn¡¯t going to freeze up in the middle of battle, because even though I really wanted to, I couldn¡¯t just sit aside knowing that TechWarden was still out there. Even if I had avoided him so far, I couldn¡¯t imagine the man was going to let things lie. I couldn¡¯t get it out of my head that if he didn¡¯t keep coming after me, he¡¯d just focus his attention on someone else, and that wasn¡¯t an exchange I was willing to make either if I could help it. And then there was the Second Phase of this insane game that Axio had cooked up¡­ It was more than I could really hope to handle, yet I was going to have to handle it one way or another. Angie had already pointed out more than once that these phantoms were nothing like fighting real opponents, but I needed to feel comfortable with my abilities, especially given the massive increase of levels I had gained after killing the much higher leveled SnakeBite. I had gone from Level 8 all the way up to Level 13 in a single swoop, leaving me with a lot of stat points to distribute and two separate Ability Augmentations to assign on each of the even levels I passed through. Up to Level 10, I placed 4 new points into both my Luck and my Strength stats, arguably the two most important stats for my close combat style of fighting. After placing the points for Level 10, my Ability Augmentation window opened up. In the past, this would have started a huge countdown which always left me scrambling to pick something without fully considering just how it would affect me in the long run. But eliminating my Acceptance Matrix came with yet another welcome benefit. There was no longer a countdown timer when I opened up the window, giving me plenty of time to look over the two action bars I had available to select an ability from to augment. I ended up selecting my Center of the Universe skill, deciding that it was a skill I wanted to upgrade, but I was also okay with using it as a test subject for one last thing I had wanted to check. I wanted to see if I could back out of the window once it was opened, something that had also been unavailable to me, but found that the Matrix only removed the timer aspect of the Augmentation window. Once I selected the skill to augment, I still had to pick one of the available Augmentations whether I was happy with them or not. While it sucked that I couldn¡¯t do a bit more investigating before selecting an Augmentation, I was still happy to see the timer completely eliminated. And luckily enough, Center of the Universe did have an upgrade that I had actually been hoping to see. Burst Mode. I rushed into the battlefield, activating the skill and then instantly ramped my gravitational pull to its maximum strength, something that would have taken at least 10 seconds in the past. With Burst Mode, I could spend an additional 1.25% on the cost of ramping the skill up to put it at whatever strength I wanted it to be. It meant spending just a bit more Stamina, but more importantly it got everyone in position much faster than I normally could. The now Level 3 ability could pull at a maximum strength of 70 meters per second when at full strength, and instead of having to wait for the skill to get there, I was able to turn it on at that strength. It also meant being able to activate another one of my skills, Launchpad, at its maximum strength as well since its power was directly connected to the strength of Center of the Universe. As soon as all of the phantoms had been dragged and clustered closer to me, I mentally clicked the ability on my action bar and went hurtling upward into the artificial night sky in a blaze of speed that was beyond exhilarating. I took a moment to look out at a massive forest of cherry blossom trees stretching into the distance from my dojo at the peak of my leap before I activated Earthbound Impact, causing me to immediately hurtle back downwards into the center of my collected enemies. The quick set of skills, one of my easiest combos, quickly wiped out all of the incredibly weak enemies and I let out another breath as my skills all reset, their cooldowns evaporating along with the entire array of phantoms. ¡°Okay, now queue up a Sal. Highest level we got of him with two transformed Soldiers in full assault mode,¡± I said, barely hesitating as I shook my arms out and waited for the snake men to form. With my level 11 and 12 stat points, I added another 4 points to my luck, but only 2 more to my Strength, deciding to drop 2 into my Intelligence as well. Several of the books that I could use to give myself increased levels of knowledge required a higher intelligence stat than I already had, so neither Jon nor myself saw a problem with dropping an extra 2 points into the stat. At level 12, it was the first time I could have activated a second Ability Augmentation for one of my skills, Sting Like a Bee, but while it was tempting to see what sort of options a second augmentation would give me, we instead decided to see how Quantum Echostrike could be modified. It actually came with a few interesting options, like Pinpoint Accuracy which would have allowed me to choose to make the follow-up strike from the ability deal 100% of the damage on my last attack to the same target I had just struck a second time, something that would have given me some insanely powerful individual target attacks. But I was already really good at hitting one person really hard, and I ended up going with the second available Augmentation it had presented to me, Temporal Afterstrike. The Augmentation modified Quantum Echostrike to deal a second wave of damage to all affected targets for 25% of the original damage, while also increasing the cost of the activated ability by 10%. As soon as the snake men had finished materializing they came rushing toward me, Angie having set them up exactly as I had requested. I activated one of my best defensive skills, Float Like a Butterfly, increasing my ability to dodge and allowing me to effortlessly dip under the massive arms of the phantom snakes. I worked my way around to the backside of the phantom Sal and activated both Quantum Echostrike and a 40% Gravity Punch. The strike sent the phantom Sal flying like he was shot out of a cannon and his two soldiers were caught up in the shockwave caused by my Echostrike. Between my increased level, the power of the strike, the shockwaves, and the incredibly brittle nature of the phantoms, all of the enemies went crumbling into dusty light like they were nothing. I logically knew this wasn¡¯t a good test, the enemies I was going to be facing were certainly going to be my level and far harder to deal with. But even so it felt nice to get back into the rhythm of things. ¡°So did you get any sleep last night?¡± A voice crackled over the speakers of the Dojo. Although Jon could just talk directly into my head while he was in his Command Room, he had made it a bit of a weird habit to use the intercom system when I was inside of the dojo. The only explanation he had given was that the Command Room gave him the functional variety, so why not use it? ¡°I got a couple of hours I think,¡± I said, turning and walking toward the water bottle I had left on a counter near the edge of the room. ¡°You¡¯re up pretty early though.¡± ¡°You left the door to the Dojo open and you kept smashing into the ground¡­¡± He said and I could hear him yawn. ¡°I was mostly able to ignore it the first few times, but me waking up was more a factor of when rather than if.¡± ¡°My bad,¡± I said, looking down at the ground and feeling my brow furrow in frustration. ¡°Dude it¡¯s cool, you wanted to train, it¡¯s no big deal. Just close the door behind you next time,¡± he said with a laugh. ¡°Is beating up the holograms helping you get over¡­ well y¡¯know¡­¡± Although we had taken care of my leveling, dropping my Level 13 stat points into my Luck and my Toughness, we had only opened the single loot box due to having already utilized Jon¡¯s reroll. Instead of jumping right into training or running out into the city again, I ended up finally taking the rest of the night explaining exactly what had happened to Jon. From SnakeBite¡¯s true nature to his explanation about Calypso¡¯s message and his warning about my Acceptance Matrix, I filled both him and Angie all the way in. While Angie still voiced disapproval in me shutting off the Matrix, Jon had agreed that turning it off had been the right choice, though I could tell he had given me a wary look after explaining how I had to kill SnakeBite, and his final cursing of TechWarden. Although I hadn¡¯t placed the name, Jon had remembered him as one of the five highest scoring Guardians in the game, specifically the one that neither of us had recognized when we first saw him. That had its own host of implications that neither of us wanted to deal with for the moment. Jon pointed out that without anything further to go on, we really could only wait for TechWarden to make his next move before I could try to make a move in retaliation. Besides, he massively outleveled me and trying to attack him head on, even if I did know where he was, wouldn¡¯t get me anywhere. Thinking I could end this so simply was naive and reckless, and that wasn¡¯t something I was going to risk. ¡°Not a lot, but I think I¡¯m almost ready to try and find a Crime Alert to jump back into things¡­ you know, a bit slowly,¡± I said, heading for the door and walking back out into the main apartment. ¡°I am curious what the non-Sapients are going to be now that the biker¡¯s presence has been completely wiped out,¡± Jon called, his voice now coming from the door to the Command Room only a few feet away from the dojo''s exit. Although I had claimed the larger Town sized territory that made up Community Center 4 only a few hours before my attack on SnakeBite¡¯s main base, with his elimination, the Viper¡¯s biker gang that technically counted him as their leader evaporated. Their non-Sapient presence practically vanished from all territories they existed in and the Contested status on my claim to the territory was immediately wiped out. ¡°I for one just hope it¡¯s no more Snakes,¡± Angie chirped. ¡°I think that¡¯s something we can all agree on,¡± I said with a small laugh. ¡°Now if we could get a whole bunch of shirtless firemen? That¡¯d be something I¡¯d sign up to watch,¡± Angie purred and I sighed. ¡°How much longer do we have until we can use your reroll?¡± I asked, changing the subject as I leaned against the frame of the door to Jon¡¯s closet sized room. ¡°Couple more minutes,¡± Jon said and I heard him clap his hands together. ¡°I for one suggest we start with the S+, if you¡¯re gonna go out fighting today and we have to use the reroll, that¡¯s the item I want to see first.¡± ¡°Yeah, I want to see that too, I''m just hoping it''s not just some fake out that''s going to give me an item that''s really cool but barely useful," I offered and Jon let out a brief laugh. "Well that''s what the reroll is for. I for one hope it''s really cool and very useful." B.2: Chapter 2 I placed a plate of bacon and eggs down on the table before walking a plate into Jon in the Command Room. He already had a window with the contents of my B.E.L.T., a literal pocket dimension storage space that I could store game related items in, opened on one of the many screens within the room. The last six loot boxes I still had left to open were listed at the top of the window as I turned around and walked back to my waiting plate of food. It was as easy as a mental flick of the wrist as I materialized the stack of shoebox sized crates onto the table. ¡°Just how good of an item should we be expecting out of the S+?¡± Jon asked as I started to scarf down my food. Although it was a simple meal, bacon and eggs with a cup of orange juice apparently counted as a good enough breakfast to warrant the Well Fed buff, granting me a boost to my Stamina and Damage output. ¡°Well remember, the Control Gear that you¡¯re wearing came from an S+ Tier, so that should at least give you some clue. But as I know you want a more thorough explanation, I¡¯ll oblige. Outside of exceptionally specific examples like your gear, S+:Tier loot boxes will typically hold a single item and a rather modest credit sum. The item presented will be a Unique Mythic level item and, like with S and A+ tiers, it will be thematically appropriate with the source of the box. Think of it as similar to how you originally got your Nutcracker Stomper boots,¡± Angie started to explain and I had to briefly suppress a laugh. Logically I knew it was immature, but the loot box I had gotten the item from had come from an Achievement I had gained just for punching a dude in his crotch. ¡°That said, that does not guarantee the item will be a perfect fit for your needs, but it will at the very least be worth a good amount of credits if it isn¡¯t something you will use.¡± ¡°Unique Mythic just sounds awesome,¡± Jon said and I could practically hear him drooling. ¡°You know, you¡¯re not the one getting to use these things right?¡± I called back and he laughed. ¡°Harsh, you don¡¯t gotta remind me!¡± As I started to reach for the S+:Tier loot box a thought occurred to me. As an Augment, I had a combined powerset that was, for some reason I still didn¡¯t quite understand, called Perfect Planner. The powerset, like all powersets, was made up of a Primary Power, a Secondary Power, and a Hidden Power. While I still had no idea what my Hidden Power was, or what the hell it would even do for that matter since it wouldn¡¯t be unlocked until I hit level 15, I had gotten well acquainted with the main two parts of my powerset. My Primary Power was an ability called Local Area Manipulation that allowed me to do practically anything within an area surrounding my entire body as long as I had a ¡°general understanding¡± of what I was trying to do. That ability had so far done things like given me the ability to manipulate literal gravity to let me fly as well as abuse quantum physics to teleport short ranges within that same sphere of influence. My Secondary Power was a bit more specific and I knew some people weren¡¯t even quite sure if it could really be considered a power. Super Luck had worked out really well for me so far and it had carried me through the first few days until I had really expanded my knowledge base far enough to start adding more abilities to my narrow action bar. Just as my Local Area Manipulation came with a minor ability of its own, Area Sense, Super Luck had a skill that I had stupidly only utilized once in the entire time I had been an Augment so far. Luck Bomb would allow me to massively increase the odds of a positive outcome for, well as far as I could tell, anything. I wanted to blame the Acceptance Matrix for many of my lapses in judgement, but I knew the truth was that I had just allowed myself to get hyper fixated on my crusade against SnakeBite. Outside of just the single time that I had used the skill hoping to give Jon a clue toward my, at the time, secret identity, I had made no attempt to utilize the possibly huge skill. There were a lot of aspects of the game I hadn¡¯t been properly utilizing and I knew I needed to start rectifying that if I wanted to keep pushing forward. Knowing the next few days were supposed to be quiet, I decided now was as good of a time as any to try using Luck Bomb on something just as important as making a specific fight go my way. I concentrated on the loot boxes, willing the best possible items to come out of them and activated the skill. The skill didn¡¯t come with any sort of fanfare or a noticeable physical effect, so I just had to assume that it worked. It was possibly the most annoying part of the entire skill. I tapped the S+ loot box and it opened, a window flashing into my interface in an instant.
  • Pendant of Paramount Ascension
  • 20000 Credits
My eyes widened as I looked at the Pendant, materializing it into my hand. There was a four pointed star with shimmering orange edges hanging from a sturdy looking silver chain. The pendant was warm to the touch and I could feel a warm aura emanating from it. ¡°Well¡­ holy shit,¡± Jon muttered as I opened the detail window. ¡°Pendant of Paramount Ascension. Mythic Tier Equippable Necklace. Holy shit is god damn right! Loophole, I don¡¯t even want to waste time trying to be funny about this. Put this necklace on and don¡¯t look back, even if it will make you look like an out of touch douchebag stuck in his senior year of high school trying to be edgy and cool. Though now that I think about it, your orange leather jacket already does that enough for you so this might not really move the needle that much¡­. Oh well. 50% Buff to Two Stats of your choice. Warning: Once you make this selection, it is permanent and cannot be changed. Additionally, your Lowest Stat (after equipment modifiers) will be Doubled. And yes, those buffs are with all of your gear equipped. This item comes with the Catch Up feature.¡± ¡°Catch Up. Each time you level while wearing this item, your lowest stat (before equipment modifiers) will increase by 1 point. This does not affect your normally distributable stat points from leveling up.¡± ¡°So definitely not rerolling that¡­¡± I said as I turned the pendant back and forth. ¡°Uh yeah duh¡­ So what, Luck and Strength like usual?¡± Jon mused and I could hear the sound of a fork hitting his plate. ¡°Luck is a definite one, even if we just consider how much my Super Luck along can scale as things keep growing, it¡¯s going to be a huge boost for a lot of my abilities,¡± I said and leaned backwards in my chair. ¡°Strength¡­ obviously it¡¯s useful given the boosts to my base damage and my total stamina, but I have so many abilities that use percentages rather than variable costs. I can only use a 20% Stamina skill 5 times whether my Stamina is 1000 or 4000. I¡¯m already hitting really hard, I could use the second boost here to help one of my other stats buff up too and then still just throw a few points into Strength every other level¡­ Can one of you two give me an actual rundown of what the other stats do?¡± ¡°Ooo me me me!¡± Angie chirped, almost suspiciously enthusiastically. I had been keeping her quiet with my newfound ability to ignore her and I decided to let her go with it. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the easy one first! Toughness. This stat directly increases your Health Points by 100 points per point of Toughness that you have. It also will slowly give you additional damage reduction to Melee, Blunt Force, Piercing, and Slashing damage.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to vote not that one. I think you¡¯re getting decent boosts on your items already and you¡¯re pretty good at not getting hit,¡± Jon said when Angie briefly stopped. ¡°Codex, honey. As much as I could listen to you speak for ages, let¡¯s let me get through all of these before Loophole goes and tells me to be quiet again.¡± ¡°Lips are zipped!¡± Jon called out. ¡°That¡¯s a good boy,¡± Angie giggled. ¡°Now, Dexterity is your go-to stat for physical finesse and speed. Each point in Dexterity directly enhances your Movement Speed, Agility, and General Athleticism, adding 1 point to each of these substats. This translates to a 1% boost in their performance compared to your pre-Augment baseline for every point of Dexterity you possess, ensuring you move faster, react quicker, and perform physical tasks with greater ease and precision.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°As you are already well aware, your Intelligence stat is directly tied to the level of specialized knowledge you are able to absorb through Skill Books. This stat will also increase all damage you deal through abilities that deal Mental or Psychic damage while also increasing your resistance to those types of damage.¡± ¡°Charisma acts much like it would in most games and it feels like we are cheating the rules of the universe by giving it to people who¡­ er¡­ you know what, I¡¯ll skip that joke, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d like it all that much,¡± Angie said, stopping herself as I let out a noticeable sigh. I had known the joke was coming but was actually surprised that she censored herself before I had to. I continued working on my breakfast while she continued her description. ¡°This stat increases your resilience to all forms of Persuasion and is used in your own attempts of Persuasion and Intimidation against Sapient and Non-Sapient targets. This stat has additional applicability that we will discuss when you reach level 20 and unlock Merchandising options.¡± ¡°Finally, let¡¯s dive into two of the more nuanced stats: Style and Ingenuity. These two are actually kinda like dance partners, each with their own flair but working best when used together.¡± ¡°First up, Ingenuity. This stat is all about efficiency and creativity, especially when it comes to chaining your abilities together. For every point in Ingenuity, the energy cost of using abilities in quick succession is reduced by .25% of its base cost, making complex combos more sustainable. Think of it as your knack for finding the most clever and resource-efficient way to handle challenges.¡± ¡°Now onto Style. This stat brings the flair, literally and figuratively. When you chain abilities together, Style amplifies their effectiveness, increasing damage and impact with every combo, as if rewarding you for executing with precision and panache. Like with Charisma, Style has additional applicability that we will discuss when you reach level 20 and unlock Merchandising options.¡± ¡°So how¡¯d I do? Did that fulfill your request, Loophole?¡± Angie asked and I nodded. ¡°Perfectly, I appreciate that Angie, and you holding back the joke,¡± I said as I started to pull the last S:Tier loot box I had received toward me. I had gotten it from completing The Snake Key mission that had led me to Sal. ¡°To be fair, it wasn¡¯t really that good of a joke, I¡¯m better than that and you deserve only the best jokes I can make,¡± she said somewhat smugly. ¡°Wait, you''re saying this has been your A material so far?¡± Jon asked and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t encourage her,¡± I said, and thought about the skills for a moment. "Let''s come back to which second stat I should boost in just a bit after we¡¯ve seen what else I¡¯ll get. No need to rush a decision when I might get something that has an equivalent but targeted boost.¡± ¡±While I understand your thought process, I feel obliged to inform you that most items with that kind of boost will come from S+:Tier boxes. They can appear on occasion in S:Tiers, but generally the item needs to be Diamond or Mythic level to have that sort of stat modifier given the large, scaling gains of the buff over the course of the game,¡± Angie explained and I nodded. ¡±That¡¯s good to know,¡± I said, ¡°Thank you, Angie.¡± "For what it¡¯s worth, I still vote for Strength but I could see arguments made for Dexterity or Ingenuity, though Ingenuity is gonna be getting the doubling effect from being your lowest stat," Jon said and I pulled the necklace back into my B.E.L.T, turning my attention to the remaining S:Tier. It only held a single item in it and I found my lips pulling upward in a soft smile. ¡°We¡¯re not rerolling this one either.¡± ¡°SnakeBite¡¯s Legacy. Platinum Tier Fist-Weapon. So you were pretty good at fisting those bikers as it was and now that they''re gone, it¡¯s up to you to fist people¡­ in their memory? Like, I''m still processing everything you told Codex and me, and I¡¯m still not quite sure why you¡¯d be wanting to honor this guy¡¯s memory given how much of a pain in the ass he was for you, but if Axio thinks this is the item for you then hey, who am I to argue? When equipped, your Melee strikes deal scaling damage when making repeated strikes to the same target. Each concurrent strike on the same target deals 5% increased damage with no maximum increase, this increase resets to 0% after 5 seconds without a strike being landed. +5 to Strength, +5 to Style, +3 to Dexterity. This item has the Hidden Upgrade feature.¡± ¡°Hidden Upgrade. This item has a secret! If you can figure out what it is, this item will upgrade. No hints will be provided!¡± I materialized the item into my hands and examined the pair of fingerless leather gloves. The material wasn¡¯t exactly leather, instead looking like a mixture of black and green scales, with small, fang-like points adorning each of the knuckles. ¡°Sheesh, now that¡¯s one hell of a one-on-one specialized item,¡± Jon said. ¡°Although¡­ correct me if I¡¯m wrong¡­ you don¡¯t have a weapon slot. I don¡¯t even think we thought to look for something like this at the resale shop either.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t really considered it¡­ I¡¯m a hand-to-hand fighter and never really thought to use a weapon¡­ Wouldn''t these go in place of my Steel Wrapper gloves?¡± I asked as I thought about it for a minute. "Also... that kind of thoughtlessness is normal for me, the better question is how you missed that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve gotten very little sleep since you dragged me into this,¡± Jon called back. ¡°Kinda just been tossing and turning when I get into bed ever since we started. Angie, care to explain?¡± "So this one is a bit complicated and even I''ll admit I think it''s kinda bullshit," Angie started. "The Weapon slot does exist, but only appears the moment a player chooses to utilize a weapon. This tends to happen far sooner for Mechanical Genius archetypes and more obviously Weapons Master archetypes, but Axio tends to prefer to encourage players to utilize their powers instead of weapons. Even though this specific item are gloves, because they are labeled as a weapon item, they will simply be layered over the Steel Wrapper item. Consider it, and I hate myself for saying this... a Loophole in the system." "Okay... yeah, still too tired to comprehend why the game was designed that way but let''s just be happy it''s working in your favor," Jon said, stretching as he yawned so hard it nearly made me yawn as well. ¡°Yeah, I don''t think I''m gonna sit around and complain about it too much... You should go get some sleep dude, I can handle some random crime alerts and stuff on my own here today,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe after we finish with the loot boxes. Open the A+ next,¡± he instructed and I obliged. I had gotten this one for fully claiming Hell¡¯s Kitchen, marking it as the first territory that I as Loophole had sworn to protect. The box ended up containing only a single item, but it was one that was more than welcome. ¡°Well that¡¯s gonna save you a whole lot of credits,¡± Angie said with a whistle and I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°You¡¯ll need to head back to the ViewFinder to install it though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a super small price to pay given how much I¡¯ve been wanting a mini-map,¡± I said, unable to suppress the smile as I materialized the Mini-Map Coupon, into my hands. ¡°I think we¡¯re gonna need to start saving my Luck Bomb for doing mass box openings, this has been a great haul so far.¡± ¡°Kinda making my ability to reroll feel pretty useless though,¡± Jon said with mock complaint in his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we still got the three F:Tiers, one of those is bound to have to be rerolled,¡± I said. While they were technically at the bottom of the scale for the loot box tiers, F:Tier boxes weren¡¯t actually something to be disappointed about. The boxes always contained only a single item, but it could be literally anything that could be generated for the game. I had gotten both my boots and the original level 1 Pocket Dojo expansion from F:Tier boxes. I opened the first of the three, receiving a Bronze tier Belt of Strength. Instead of having Jon reroll the very first item, we decided to move on to the next box. The belt was decent since it would have given me +10 to Strength, but there was no way I was going to replace my Belt of the Action Hero. Although I could make as many abilities as I wanted, I could only utilize so many of them at a time because of the limited nature of my Action Bars. Thanks to my belt, at any time I had access to 11 Activated Abilities, 4 Passive Abilities, and 2 Movement Abilities. Other than my Passive slots, I had kept every single available slot on my bar filled so there was no way I¡¯d be trading out my Belt unless I found something with a feature that was the same or better. Even still, I could sell the Belt of Strength at the resale shop for at least a few credits. The second F:Tier box opened to reveal a Satchel of Health Injectors, which, when opened, held 10 Superior Health Injectors and 20 Enhanced Health Injectors. Once again I pulled the item into my B.E.L.T. and moved on to the final F:Tier. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think these masks are just a trash item at this point,¡± I said as the box opened to reveal a pink How the Hell Does This Fool Anyone? Mask. Jon used his reroll on it and the item vanished as a window started to randomize the item. When it finally did come to a stop it ended up giving me a Satchel of Stamina Injectors. It ended up being identical to the Health Satchel, only giving me Superior and Enhanced Stamina Injector instead. ¡°Well not the best but still plenty useful, can¡¯t complain too much,¡± I said as I got to my feet and took my now empty plate over to the sink. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m gonna head into the Square so I can get this map installed then I think I¡¯m gonna take a flight around the city to get used to it, maybe see if I can¡¯t stumble my way onto a Crime Alert.¡± ¡°Sheesh, I¡¯m liking this more focused version of you,¡± Jon said with a laugh and I heard him groan as he stepped out of the Command Room, carrying his own dish around to the sink. ¡°I do think I¡¯m gonna try and crash for a few more hours¡­ I¡¯m not mad or anything, but you were treating the floor like a punching bag for the better part of two hours this morning.¡± B.2: Chapter 3 In my bedroom within the apartment I had a display case that was far nicer than pretty much any of the other furniture I owned. This was largely due to the fact that up until I had been Augmented, I barely made minimum wage and mostly just had furniture left behind from when my Uncle had lived in the same apartment. The Display Case had been generated by the game, acting as a spot to place the various trophies I had gained so far, each giving me small bonuses, and where I installed the Safe Room upgrades. The case seemed to be made of a rich, polished mahogany and while it had originally been relatively smooth, I had started to notice almost intricate etchings appearing along the edges of the wood. They didn¡¯t seem to be depicting anything, though the designs were minimalistic in nature. Hidden under the third shelf of the case was probably the most important feature of the case though. I ran my hand along the shelf until I found the small button that was completely out of place on the otherwise perfectly crafted piece of furniture. With a single click, the display case started to pull backwards into the wall, slowly vanishing until it was replaced with a perfectly rectangular bright white portal. Before I moved, I activated my gear loadout, letting my equipment materialize back onto my body. I still hadn¡¯t chosen the stats for my necklace just yet, intending on swinging through the resale shop and checking for a few extra items now that I had found myself sitting back at nearly 30,000 credits. I wasn¡¯t expecting to find anything comparable to the necklace, but I did still have a back and head slot to fill out. I was actually happy to discover that the items for those two slots could be equipped while still being hidden from my actual loadout. Jon had explained to me that that was a common occurrence in MMOs, allowing players to reap the benefits of the gear while not necessarily having to run around with a cape and a full helmet on. I didn¡¯t necessarily have anything against a cape, but I also hadn¡¯t considered wanting one either. It really was going to depend on just how it looked, but that really only mattered if I grabbed gear that I could use. With my gear equipped, I stepped through the portal and immediately found myself descending down a smooth marble staircase downward into a large courtyard that must have been at least 100 yards long and wide. The moment the new scene fully materialized and the sudden change in light faded from my eyes, a new window materialized in my vision. ¡°New Mission! A Real Guardian! Welcome back to the Square Loophole! It¡¯s been a few days and we¡¯ve been waiting until you popped on over here to drop this mission on you. Now that you¡¯ve reached level 10 and survived the First Phase, a new section of the Guardian segment of Sanctuary Square has been opened. Head over and speak with Mr. David Gleibs, the Guardian Quartermaster for more information. Reward: You will unlock further features of Infinite Ascension.¡± There was a small glimmer of light that emanated from the west side of the square where the clean, welcoming Guardian segment sat and I felt my brow furrow slightly. ¡°There¡¯s a new area?¡± I thought toward Angie. Although she had no problem answering me when I spoke aloud, the most common courtesy Augments gave each other in Sanctuary Square was keeping all P.A.I. communication internal. ¡°Yes, though this is one of the last new additions you¡¯ll need to deal with. Though granted, this particular establishment itself has features that are locked behind leveling tiers,¡± Angie explained. ¡°I¡¯d suggest getting your mini-map installed first, you have a bad habit of forgetting to do things whenever you explore a new area.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± I said, unable to stop myself from rolling my eyes. The mission vanished from my display and moved over to a small mission tracker on the side of my vision as I continued my way through the courtyard. The pathways were laid with carefully designed chevron-like layouts and several slightly raised grassy beds were scattered throughout the Square, with perfectly manicured hedges and floral decorations perfectly placed around large oak trees that provided ample shade. There were benches and picnic tables strewn about, though unlike when I had been through the Square in the afternoons and evenings, the square was far less occupied as I made my way through it. While I normally would have chalked that up to it simply being the morning, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure where Sanctuary Square actually was either. And past that, there were Augments scattered all around the world now and there weren¡¯t multiple places like this around the world, so it made sense that this place had activity going on at all hours. It had been just past 8 AM in New York when I stepped through the portal to get here, but in the Square, the sun still hadn¡¯t fully risen. There were small lights scattered along the pathways lit up to accompany the low dawn light breaking over the gothically designed Miscreant segment on the east side of the Square. I navigated my way along the pathways, finding myself stopping as I came up to the statues of the five highest scoring Guardians. The First¡¯s white marble statue was far less polished looking than the last time I had seen it, but his wasn¡¯t the statue I had found myself staring at. TechWarden¡¯s statue was made of some sort of jade, with mossy green hues shining in the morning light. His statue was the shortest of the five on the Guardian side and it depicted a goggled man with wild, almost mad scientist-like hair. As my vision highlighted him, his description box popped into my display. ¡°TechWarden. Level 117 Gizmo Guru. Claimed Territories: 71. Status: Unknown.¡± I couldn¡¯t remember what his stats had been the first time I had scanned him, it had been on the first day after all and so much had happened that I hadn¡¯t retained what had been, at the time, a random piece of information. Even still, I had a feeling that he had more territories now than when I had last scanned him. I stared at the statue for maybe a minute too long, but I wanted to etch the man into my mind; to know I¡¯d be able to spot him if he happened to come through the Square or try to come after me directly. ¡°I¡¯m going to take you down,¡± I found myself muttering before I looked around, slightly self conscious that someone might have heard my out of nowhere declaration. ¡°That was kinda cheesy,¡± Angie said and I just shrugged. ¡°No one heard it,¡± I said and continued my walk. There were a few people that exited a building that sat at the very center of the Square. It was a sort of bar and restaurant combo called The Common Ground. Up until my encounter with SnakeBite, I had thought it was the only place in the entire world that I was able to find mental silence. This had been due to the bar¡¯s nature as Null Zone, a place where the Personal A.I. system was unable to work. But SnakeBite¡¯s Safe Room had been equipped in a way that it had become a Dead Zone, not only silencing Angie, but also disabling my powers at the same time. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I was now able to enforce Angie¡¯s silence with my Acceptance Matrix off, I might have been more intrigued about finding out if there was a way to turn my own Safe House into a room like that, but even with my Matrix off, the thought of not having my powers felt wrong. I had had them for less than a week but they felt as much a part of me as my arms were. I navigated my way to the small staircase leading up to the slightly raised plaza that made up the Guardian¡¯s segment of Sanctuary Square. I remembered when I had first come to the Square, I had thought that the Miscreant segment had reminded me of something that would have been right at home in a Halloween movie, with black iron gates, steep roofs with black shingles, and a general air of macabre energy emanating from it. In contrast, while I hadn¡¯t realized it at first, the Guardian segment was practically ripped from a classic Disney movie, with clay tile roofing, colorful brick walls and wide bay windows on practically every shop within what was really an over-decorated strip mall. The ViewFinder, the Guardian¡¯s interface upgrade shop, was located in the far corner of the plaza, though I found myself staring at the small alley that had appeared at the exact center of the main wall of the mall. ¡°So why wasn¡¯t this place just like¡­ I don¡¯t know, behind a locked door?¡± I asked and scratched at the side of my head. ¡°It¡¯s the rule of cool Loophole,¡± Angie explained. ¡°How is an alley cool?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll seeeeeeee,¡± she sang and I had to admit even my curiosity was piqued. I shrugged and turned my attention from it before I headed for the ViewFinder, eager to get my Mini-Map installed. The shop was clean, with pristine white walls and matching white tile flooring. The walls were littered with monitors where I could look through the available selection of interface mods that I could have purchased. I had so far bought a Phone Upgrade and then the first level of a mod called a Revolver, giving me the ability to swap my action bar between two preset bars. The thought of my current Revolver layouts came to mind as I started wandering toward a counter at the back of the room. I did have a good stockpile of credits at the moment, and for 3000 credits, I could easily buy two additional Revolver slots. Before I could think too much about it, I headed for one of the walls and swiped through the screen until I found what I needed. As I reached the back counter with my upgrades selected, a green holographic figure materialized into the form of a raven-haired young woman with dark eyeshadow and several piercings on her ears and face. The digital avatar of Vanessa, the ViewFinder¡¯s owner, gave me a wide smile that I had gotten rather used to seeing despite her dark styling. ¡°I was wondering how long it would take you to come back for some extra slots,¡± Vanessa laughed, ¡°I swear, every time one of you discovers the revolver, you guys come back in here every other day to buy more for added space. Hell, it¡¯s why I keep them so cheap.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well you won¡¯t see me complaining about that, but they were a bit of an impulse buy,¡± I said and materialized the Mini-Map Coupon into my hand. ¡°This was my main attraction today.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯d rather you spend the 35,000 that we normally sell that upgrade for, but I still get something when you guys use these coupons,¡± she said with a sigh. I handed over the 3000 credits for the two revolver slots and then she gestured toward the small scanner-like device sitting on the counter. ¡°Place your hand here please.¡± A few seconds later, a small round overlay appeared in the top corner of my vision with a Google Maps like display filling the window. There was a small black arrow that sat at the center of the map, noticeably marking my position. Directly next to it was a blue dot that read Vanessa when I concentrated on it, though I noticeably couldn¡¯t see any other dots outside of the room I was currently within. I thanked Vanessa before she vanished along with her dot off of my mini-map and then exited the shop. While the plaza was mostly empty, there was one girl laying back on a bench with a small drone flying in circles around her as she held open a thick tome of a book. On my mini-map she appeared as a green dot and when I concentrated on it, it read Eye Spy. I highlighted the girl, intent on confirming what I was positive I already knew as I walked over toward the alleyway. ¡°Eye Spy. Level 77 Spymaster Trapper. Squad: Silent Protectors.¡± The drone flying around her seemed to react to me highlighting her and it darted over, circling around my head before the girl let out a sharp whistle. ¡°Get back here Alpha, don¡¯t make me store you again,¡± she said and her head flopped backwards as she looked my way. I couldn¡¯t see her eyes behind the goggles that covered them, but she shot me a smile all the same. ¡°Sorry about that, still working the kinks out of how they notify me.¡± ¡°No worries,¡± I said with an awkward wave and looked up into the alley. ¡°Just got a mini-map and was testing out some of its features.¡± ¡°Been there, done that!¡± Eye Spy laughed as she turned her attention back to her book, raising a hand in what could barely be called a wave. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go back to reading now, I¡¯ll try to keep the drones from following you around.¡± ¡°Well¡­ okay then,¡± I said internally as I turned and started walking up the new alley. The alley was nothing like the dirty city alleys I had taken to cutting through in the last few days, instead appearing more like a brick hallway that slowly widened as I walked up to a large pair of double doors. They opened automatically as I approached them, pulling backwards and revealing a long, regal hallway continuing behind the doors. The floor was covered in an artsy red and gold carpet and the bottom half of the walls were covered in dark panel wood, stopping at a neat trim halfway up that shifted into a decorative blue wallpaper. On either side of the wall, every few feet was a large, ornately framed picture. The closet of the ten frames that lined the walls held a picture of The First, his fists held at his hips as he posed with a wide smile. Although I could scan the picture to get details, that was largely unnecessary due to the small plaque that sat under the frame. ¡°The First. #1 Guardian - First Wave.¡± I looked at the photo across from him and found it depicted a man in a black and gold costume with a sharp looking mask. His plaque labeled him as Warrior Duck, the Second Wave #1 Guardian. I went one by one, finding that each frame contained the individual wave¡¯s top Guardian. I couldn¡¯t be sure if it mattered if the person was alive or not given The First¡¯s inclusion in the first frame. It had happened on my very first day as an Augment, but he had given up every single territory claim he had had and seemingly vanished into thin air as his statue out in the main square shifted from labeling his status as ¡°Alive¡± to ¡°Unknown.¡± That didn¡¯t necessarily mean he was gone from the game, I knew for a fact that on the Miscreant side their top statue was that of a Miscreant named Jumpstart that appeared as ¡°Dead¡± when his statue was highlighted. Although I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, I still was surprised as I reached the last frame and found a large photo of myself with my fists raised in a fighting pose. There was a hardened expression on my face and interestingly enough the portrait had my new gloves equipped as well. Seeing that I knew I hadn¡¯t posed for a photo like this, I assumed it was just some sort of game generated thing, though I did take a small bit of pride as I stared at the plaque under the photo. ¡°Loophole. #1 Guardian - Tenth Wave.¡± ¡°See, I told you it was pretty cool. I mean, it¡¯s not a giant statue in the main courtyard, not to mention if you stand around admiring it for too long you¡¯re bound to get passed up, but still pretty cool,¡± Angie said and I shrugged, ignoring the jab as I turned away from the portrait and walked toward the double doors that sat at the end of the hallway. ¡°Well you weren¡¯t wrong, that was kinda cool¡­ Though I still don¡¯t necessarily see why it had to be at the end of a random alley¡­ I mean, it could have just been behind a random door like I suggested,¡± I said before I reached the doors. ¡°You¡¯re probably not wrong but no one asked me about the design features, I just try and see the cool in the crazy,¡± Angie added. ¡°Eh fair enough. Doubt I¡¯ll ever actually get answers on this place, might as well not wonder too long about things like that.¡± Like the first set of doors into this hallway, this set opened on its own, swinging inward into what was ostensibly a large banquet hall. As I crossed the threshold into the room, the small location panel in the bottom corner of my vision flashed with Guardian Guild Hall. There were several pillars lined evenly around the room and much like The Common Ground, there were large portraits and memorabilia of various battles. Unlike The Common Ground, these were all focused on Guardian activity only, with Miscreants only appearing in portraits at the feet of Guardians, often in bloody heaps. ¡°Angie, you there?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°Yup! What, are you feeling lonely with how empty this place is right now?¡± She asked. While I might have scolded her in other situations, she wasn¡¯t wrong. I couldn¡¯t see a single other player at any of the tables along the main walkway, though there were more than a few tables hidden off in the corners of the room that could have had occupants. ¡°No, I was just curious if this place was a Null Zone like The Common Ground or not,¡± I explained as I wandered in, taking in the large but almost cozy feeling room. While the tables at The Common Ground felt like a standard sports bar, the Guild Hall¡¯s furniture were made up of large wooden tables with plush high-backed chairs that gave the place a regal but rustic feel. There were several doors lining either of the walls as I walked along a carpet that split the room into two sides toward the lone bar in the entire room. A man wearing a crisp black suit without a tie stood behind the bar, holding a small book in his hands that held his attention even as I approached him. He held a single finger up, making me wait nearly an entire minute before he took a bookmark and placed it in his reading material. The man had a well groomed mustache that curled at the ends and wore a small pair of round silver spectacles. ¡°Mr. David Gleibs. Guardian Quartermaster. Mr. Gleibs is the overseer of the Guardian Guild Hall, providing instruction and access to the various features of the hall. He also happens to be the Hall¡¯s only bartender and tends to take his time when making a drink, which is probably why most people get their drinks over at The Common Ground.¡± ¡°Well hello Loophole, I was wondering when I¡¯d be seeing you,¡± he said. He had a calming effect in the way he spoke and after he set his book down, his hands seemed to naturally move behind his back as he watched me carefully. ¡°Welcome to the Guardian Guild Hall, I am Mr. Gleibs, the Quartermaster and Hall Manager.¡± ¡°What, uh¡­ what is this place?¡± I asked him, my attention drifting around the room before I realized just how vague my question was. ¡°Sorry, I mean, what¡¯s the purpose of the Guild Hall?¡± ¡°The Guild Hall has a variety of services that you may find beneficial, though until you hit level 15, your only use for the Hall will be as a place to lounge. Once you hit level 15, you can purchase limited time Passport Tokens. Passport Tokens are utilized in association with the Guardian Job Board, allowing you to temporarily travel to a location in need that does not have a local Guardian presence. These jobs can be done solo or with a squad, however rewards for completing them, on top of the obvious experience benefits, are limited to Guardian Tokens, which you can exchange here with me for a variety of items,¡± Mr. Gleibs explained. ¡°We sell a variety of meals here as well that can be stored for later consumption, granting a variety of buffs that you may find useful in your heroics.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ And why was this place blocked until I had gotten through the first phase?¡± I asked, trying to get as much information out of the man as I could. ¡°Call it a cooling off period. It¡¯s actually a mix between finishing a phase while acting as a Guardian and reaching level 10. This is intended to keep Miscreants who try to change sides from infiltrating this Guardian Safe House without proving that they themselves live up to the ideals of being a Guardian,¡± he answered. ¡°It would be identical to the Miscreant¡¯s Guild Hall if you were to suddenly switch sides. You would need to complete an entire Phase while a part of that side before you would be granted access to their hall.¡± ¡°That makes as much sense as anything around here,¡± I said as I turned my attention back to Mr. Gleibs, part of his explanation clicking into place. ¡°Wait, this place counts as a Safe House? Does that mean I could open loot boxes here?¡± ¡°To be fair, I did tell you that there were shops on both sides that would let you do that,¡± Angie chirped up before Mr. Gleibs could finish nodding. ¡°That is correct,¡± He said before I could respond to Angie, ¡°There are specific Hall modifiers and events that will occur, granting bonuses to the items you receive from loot boxes while opening them here. If you place your hand on the scanner here, your induction into the Hall will be completed, this will provide you the option to travel from your Safe House directly to this room instead of the Square¡¯s designated portal wall. Additionally, your system will be updated to provide information on the Guild Hall remotely, although it should be noted that you may only utilize the Hall¡¯s features from the Guild Hall itself.¡± A scanner identical to the one in the ViewFinder materialized on the counter and I placed my hand over it. In a flash, the Mission Tracker shook and a window opened. ¡°Mission Completed! A Real Guardian! You did it! You followed the extremely simple instructions and have gained membership to the Guardian Guild Hall! A new tab has been added to your menus screen. Did we really have to make this a Mission? No, probably not, but you also might have ignored this place for a week if we hadn¡¯t turned it into a mission¡­ And you should be happy too because you know what?¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained. Mission Completed: You completed possibly the easiest mission in the entire game, but requirements for these gains are set so who am I to judge. Total Value: 50 points.¡± ¡°Once again Loophole, welcome to the Guardian Guild Hall. I look forward to seeing your continued rise to prominence.¡± B.2: Chapter 4

Nate Mercer¡¯s Apartment, Rooftop. Community Center 4, NYC Town: Claimed by Guardian: Loophole City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 21500 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:09H:15M:22S

Jon had still been fast asleep when I made my way back through the apartment and I didn¡¯t bother him as I deactivated my gear to make the climb up to the roof of the building. While it might have been a good idea to wait for Jon to wake up before I made any big decisions, he was the guy I trusted when it came to making those sort of decisions after all, I did end up finding my way through the Resale shop, picking up a Cloak of Swiftness and a matching Hood of Swiftness. The items were relatively low cost compared to other items at 5000 credits each, and individually each only gave me +5 to my Dexterity. But when I had them both equipped, I received an additional +5 to my Dexterity, raising it by a total of 15 points while the set bonus also granted me the Quick Wit feature. I had seen the feature once before, on an Intelligence based belt that I hadn¡¯t been able to purchase at the time, but I had slightly regretted missing it at the time, even if I wouldn¡¯t trade my current belt for anything. Quick Wit allowed me to halve the remaining cooldown on a single ability once per hour. While something like my Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge could reset all of my cooldowns, it came with some massive drawbacks, namely a debuff that both slowed my Stamina and Health regeneration and risked knocking me out for an entire day if I accidentally overused it. Quick Wit, while not a perfect reset, had plenty of usefulness and the +15 to Dexterity was basically doubling my current Dexterity level. I made the snap decision to pick the items up because the last time I had ignored an item that I had wanted, by the time I circled back to the resale shop, the item had already been purchased. As far as I could tell the game didn¡¯t have some lock or soul binding feature on most of the equipment that I could use. Before I went and assumed that, I double checked with Angie who confirmed that yes, most items, when I removed them from my inventory, could be resold at the shop. The only items where that wasn¡¯t true were Diamond or Mythic level items that had selectable features on them, such as the Pendant of Paramount Ascension. So in the end, I could always return the items back to the shop to resell myself if or when I acquired better items for those slots. All that said, the combined look of the items looked like something that would have fit better in a fantasy game rather than as a part of a hero costume and I was happy that I was able to disable their appearance on my actual outfit while still gaining the benefits of the items. I had never exactly been as into the Super or Augment aesthetic and world as Jon had been and my knowledge of Video Games was barely deeper than surface level, which was a huge part of the reason why I trusted his knowledge more than my own on most of these things. But even with my Acceptance Matrix off, I was starting to get attached to the look I had developed as Loophole, with my bright orange jacket and mask as the highlights of the costume. I really didn¡¯t want to mess that up unless I really found a better set of items or I absolutely couldn¡¯t hide the gear. I was still having trouble choosing the second stat to target with the boost that would be granted with my new necklace, and had so far kept it unequipped since I had to make that selection before I could use it. While Jon had been pushing for me to apply it to my Strength, I was actually stuck between my Dexterity and Intelligence. I had only put a few points into my Intelligence so far, mostly using it to raise the stat high enough so that I could utilize a handful of books I had purchased from Sanctuary Square on Gravity Wells, Optical Refractions, and Quantum Mechanics. Choosing Intelligence meant giving myself a bit of a faster boost, though I¡¯d still need to either start dedicating extra points to the stat or finding extra gear to give me boosts to the skill. Something I had briefly wondered about was if it was a viable or good idea to start working on a second set of gear just to boost my intelligence higher for absorbing knowledge bases, but Angie quickly squashed that idea, letting me know that any books I absorbed were subject to being marked as ¡°inaccessible¡± if my Intelligence dropped below the amount required to absorb the original knowledge. Dexterity was an attractive option though. While I could increase my Toughness to increase my health and durability, I had enough vivid memories from the first few days to remind me that I really didn¡¯t like getting hit and increasing my Dexterity seemed like the best option to help with that very singular desire. Since, unlike with the cloak and hood, this was a permanent decision, I left the Pendant in my B.E.L.T. for the time being, assuming we could figure it out for sure once Jon had actually gotten some sleep. I was standing atop the roof, looking down over the ledge as I felt my stomach turn in anticipation. I hadn¡¯t flown since I had disabled my Acceptance Matrix, and while I still had very vivid memories of my first few flights, I still remembered just how nervous I was the first time I had trusted the ability. While I had used Launchpad and Earthbound Impact multiple times while in the dojo, the room¡¯s safety features meant that I always had a safety net while practicing there. ¡°I¡¯ve done this a bunch of times already, come on Nate, get out of your own damn head,¡± I muttered, barely under my breath as I stepped back away from the ledge and tried to start hyping myself up. ¡°You know, it really hasn¡¯t-¡± Angie started to say something and I took that as my sign to just go for it. I darted for the ledge and leapt off the side of the building. The building was only ten stories tall, and if I had been a normal person jumping from the building would have not been a good idea, but before I could even drop more than a foot downward from the ledge, I activated one of my two movement skills Personal Gravity Laws and went rocketing upward into the air. After acquiring a book called Gravity Wells and Why They¡¯re Dangerous I had actually formed several of my more powerful battlefield control abilities, but Personal Gravity Laws was easily the most important of the skills that had come from that single book, becoming the first of my Movement Abilities and granting me the ability to actually fly. Much like the first time I had taken flight, an unbidden whoop of joy tore from my throat as I went soaring almost as high as some of the tallest skyscrapers in Manhattan. The morning light bathed New York in a yellow glow as the sound of horns and engines faded into the distance as I stopped and hovered hundreds of feet in the air. Although my Stamina was ticking down as I kept my Personal Gravity Laws activated, I had a rather large Stamina pool at this point. The skill¡¯s relatively low cost to use meant that with the Well Fed buff raising my pool to an even 5000 points, even if I was flying at a hundred miles per hour, I could stay in the air for just over eleven and a half minutes. What was even more amazing was even at those higher speeds, I never seemed to have the wind hit my eyes in a way that would make it impossible to see. And now with the mini-map, which looked as if it had pretty much just stolen the map data from one of any of the major online maps, I didn¡¯t have to just hope I could navigate. While I had been operating primarily in Hell¡¯s Kitchen that I had grown to know pretty well, I had a feeling I was going to need to start expanding my range. Axio¡¯s end of phase announcement had practically beaten us over the head with the fact that there were others from the Tenth Wave within the same region as me. Maybe I should have figured that out sooner given Hydramental¡¯s ridiculously close proximity, but I should have figured a lot of things out sooner, so I wasn¡¯t going to hold it against myself too much. It was still early in the morning and as October continued to move forward there was a steadily rising nip in the air. My outfit provided some protection from the elements, but I could feel a chill running down my spine as I continued to float high enough that I was level with some of the clouds that hung out near the tops of skyscrapers in the early morning air. It was such an amazing, freeing feeling being able to hang there basically weightless, but the cold was starting to bother me ever so slightly. An idea came to mind as I eyed the single empty space still left to be filled on my Passive bar and concentrated on the knowledge I had gained from An Atomic Guide to Thermodynamics. ¡°New Ability! Pocket Climate. Awww are you cold? Is that gaudy leather jacket of yours not enough to keep you warm? Well good news, it doesn¡¯t matter any more now that you¡¯ve remembered that you can literally control things in your zone and were just sitting on that repository of Thermodynamic knowledge. This is really gonna come in handy with winter coming.This is a Passive Ability. This ability allows you to manually set the temperature that you feel to whatever you feel is most comfortable. And before you ask, ¡®But Angie, why isn¡¯t this ability changing the temperature in my entire area?¡¯ Well Loophole, if that¡¯s what you wanted then you should have made an Activated Ability. Just be happy this doesn¡¯t cost any Stamina for you to use.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. As soon as I dropped the new ability onto my passive bar, a sudden feeling of warmth spread over my body as I mentally set my temperature to 74. My other Passive Abilities were far more combat oriented, leaning on my high luck stat to negatively affect enemies within my Local Area. While I hadn¡¯t focused too much on making more Passives, this was one that, as Angie had pointed out, was going to really come in handy the further the temperature dropped. ¡°Now that¡¯s much better,¡± I thought as I slowly turned, taking in as much of the city as possible. There was a glint of light that hit my eyes high over the buildings far in the distance to the north that drew my attention and I tried to track it as it vanished behind one of the many buildings of the city. Jon had filled me in the previous night when I had finally come back out of my room that he had been doing a bit of digging, looking into other Augments within New York City. Although it was a big city and there were more than a few Augments that called it home, something Jon was actually well aware of already given his overall obsession with the group even before I had turned into an Augment myself; the fact that The First¡¯s squad used to be extremely active within the city had largely quelled all but the most visual Miscreant activity. After The First seemingly vanished off the face of the planet, that did change, with Jon digging up more than a few Augment fights around the city and my interface¡¯s identification system showed a pretty consistently changing status in terms of just who was claiming the city as a whole. Outside of just two other Augments, most of the fights he had found information on pointed toward older waves, with the Augments having been known for far longer than just a few days. ¡°So what exactly is the plan?¡± Angie finally asked as I continued to hang in the air. Since I wasn¡¯t exerting that much force, only trying to hold myself afloat, my stamina had only ticked down about 20%. That was still a good chunk of it, but it didn¡¯t have me frantically searching for a place to set down either. ¡°Fly around, see if any Crime Alerts pop up¡­ Honestly I¡¯m kind of winging it,¡± I said with a shrug, trying to see if I could catch the glint in the distance again with no luck. ¡°According to Axio, they broke us up into a hundred regions. I think Jon¡¯s probably right, it¡¯s more than likely that New York City itself is its own region, the city is so huge and most people just equate the city to counting the entire state as it is. We already know about Hydramental, but if for some reason this next Phase is squad based, there¡¯s pretty much no way that teaming up with him is in any way going to happen. He¡¯s already tried to attack me twice in tense situations, and now I have that whole ¡®I killed his brother¡¯ thing to deal with; he¡¯d probably be pretty mad about it if he found out.¡± ¡°Hey now¡­ you told us that he asked you to do that. You said it was a mercy,¡± Angie said, surprisingly more sympathetic than she had been in the past. ¡°Yeah, and SnakeBite told me that Hydramental had bipolar tendencies too, I doubt he¡¯s going to care all that much why I killed his brother, just that I did,¡± I shot back. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, unless Hydramental decides to move or goes and gets himself killed, you¡¯re probably going to have to deal with that eventually,¡± Angie offered as I started to drift forward and over Central Park. ¡°And you¡¯re right, I¡¯ll deal with that eventually,¡± I said and I could hear her sigh, though she didn¡¯t reply immediately either. ¡°Look, I literally just did one of the few things I never imagined I¡¯d actually do in my life not even three days ago now. Sure, I locked myself in my room for a bit and have been doing my best, but I barely have had any real time to deal with that. And I can''t really talk to, I don¡¯t know, a psychiatrist or something like that about it either. You¡¯ll have to forgive me if I don¡¯t want to have to deal with whatever reaction I¡¯m going to have to respond to when I do tell him.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I see your point,¡± Angie relented. There was another glint in the distance, this time a bit further to the east that vanished behind another building just as quickly as it appeared. ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to complain to me when it does happen, probably at some completely non-ideal moment, and I have to say I told you so that there was a perfectly good time to do it when you did have some breathing room.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes, falling backwards into a practically lounging position allowing me to look up at the sky as I continued to float along. ¡°Look, if that happens, you just go right ahead.¡± ¡°Oh trust me, I look forward to it,¡± Angie said with a musical giggle. Before I could respond, there was the sound of something whipping through the air that reached my ears just in time and I instinctively threw myself to the side in midair. What looked like a large, metallic cylinder went hurtling past me in a sharp, downward arc. Only a few seconds later a loud CRASH echoed outward and I started to drop lower, waiting for the dust cloud that had accompanied the sound to dissipate. There was the sudden chorus of several screams that reached my ears and as the dust cleared, the first thing I saw was a small group of people running across a relatively open field in Central Park. ¡°CRIME ALERT! An Assault on Central Park. Someone or something is attacking Central Park! Go on down there and stop it before it goes and destroys one of the few places in this concrete jungle that is actually kind of pleasant to look at. Reward: You will receive 10,000 credits and a Contact Card for the Central Park Police Precinct. This Crime Alert does not have a time limit, though I think the landscape of Central Park would beg to differ.¡± The dust was finally settling as the sun caught the glint of metal emerging from the debris. I found my eyes widening as I took in the massive form that had taken the place of the cylinder, though I hadn¡¯t exactly gotten a good look at it when I had dodged out of its way. Still, the creature, or perhaps the better term would be robot was huge. Though its back was overall a large, smooth piece of armor, it eight dangerous looking legs were littered with barrels and sharp edges. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s a robot spider¡­ why is it a fucking robot spider?¡± ¡°Hey, look at the bright side,¡± Angie said as I started to lift myself back higher into the air, circling around the robot as it started to move, slamming its large legs into the ground as it, incredibly slowly, started to move across the field. ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s the bright side?¡± I asked, reaching about as high as I needed to to hit the maximum strength of my Earthbound Impact ability. ¡°It is a robot. I doubt you¡¯re gonna have a whole lot of moral quandaries about taking that thing down to its nuts and bolts.¡± I found a small laugh escaping me as I couldn¡¯t help but nod in agreement, ¡°You know what Angie, you¡¯re not wrong¡­ doesn¡¯t exactly remove the butterflies I¡¯m feeling in my gut right now¡­ but I think until I actually get into a fight again I¡¯m going to have those, I¡¯m just not sure if a giant robot spider is exactly taking things slowly.¡± ¡°Do you trust me?¡± Angie asked and that caused me to come up short as I kept my attention on the slow moving beast. ¡°I mean¡­¡± I started, trying to find the right words. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is the right time to have that conversation.¡± ¡°Ouch Loophole,¡± Angie said with a sigh. ¡°I understand that you have your reservations and worries, I¡¯m not trying to downplay those, but look¡­ I think you are already more than well aware that this game is sink or swim. It¡¯s why you are pushing yourself to get back out there after something that was clearly very traumatic for you. You¡¯re already level 13, you jumped up there really quickly, meaning that the threats you¡¯re going to face are going to start ramping up from the basic grunts you dealt with in Phase One. I suggest you take the fact that this is a very noticeably slow robot that you can damage indiscriminately as a sign that you¡¯re probably not going to get a better opportunity to get yourself out of this few day funk you¡¯ve been in.¡± ¡°Damnit¡­ you¡¯re not wrong about that either...¡± I said and looked back downward. This being an open enough space meant I could just run for it and fly away if I really felt myself on my backfoot. ¡°Well... can''t really stall forever... I guess it¡¯s now or never¡­¡±

As I locked my eyes on the robotic spider, still a bit too far out of range to be highlighted by my interface to get its details, I activated Earthbound Impact, plummeting downward and right toward the massive back of the metallic monstrosity.

B.2: Chapter 5 The sound that came from the sudden crash was deafening and while I would have normally expected a crater to form from dropping in, I found that the metallic shell of the spider absorbed every last bit of my attack, barely even receiving a scratch from my powered descent. Before I could react, a sudden rush of electricity passed over the top of the spider¡¯s body. While the rubber soles of my boots did absorb some of the electricity, my body still seized up before the robot¡¯s body started to shimmy side to side. Though it wasn''t much, in my seized up state, the rocking sent me tumbling from the body of the beast as my health dropped nearly 30% downward. I was left with a brief Shocked debuff that left me unable to move for five seconds. The robot was luckily every bit as slow as I thought it was, its massive body turning while one of its legs tried to find its way over to crush me. I rolled over just as the debuff disappeared from my Status bar and the Spider¡¯s metal leg crunched into the concrete. ¡°Holy shit!¡± I practically yelled in my head as I scrambled to my feet and out from under the spider. I activated Phase Step, not even caring if it dropped me in the wrong spot as I teleported to the far side of my local area. My momentum carried me through the teleportation and I skidded on my heel, turning to do what I should have done in the first place and get a better look at it. ¡°Clockwork Spider. Level 15 Mechanical Golem. Well here¡¯s the good news. Your initial drop in did at least leave a bit of a mark on its shell and it took a bit of damage. The bad news is that this thing¡¯s got a shield and that¡¯s what you damaged¡­ Whoever built it really wanted it to last. And when I say whoever¡­ yeah that¡¯s right, the signals being broadcasted from it are 100% Miscreant in origin. This golem has the Heavy feature and requires twice the normal required Strength for any knockback effects.¡± ¡°Now would be a real good time to have some sort of book on how radio waves and all that bullshit works!¡± I growled as I slowly backed away. "Sounds like a trip to the bookstore is in your future," Angie giggled and I rolled my eyes, even knowing she probably wasn''t wrong. Calling the mechanical creation a spider wasn¡¯t even a stretch. While the thing was every bit of 15 feet wide and made of some sort of metal, it had eight massive legs stretched out around it and a body that looked quite literally just like an overgrown spider. While the main carapace of the Clockwork spider looked complete smooth, the legs were layered with stacked metal plates, only growing lighter around the obvious joints on the limbs, giving the legs more mobility even with the robots slower speed. While I expected to see weapons or something of the sort attached to the outer shell, the outer carapace was completely smooth and left me convinced I was missing something. There always could be some sort of hidden door, but the longer I tried to scan its appearance for some secret, the closer it was getting. If it did have a weapon, I would have had to assume it would have deployed it by now or it would be just as the electrical shock on its back had been and it would be reactionary in nature. I was about to jump into action when a thought occurred to me. Angie had said the machine was Miscreant in origin. ¡°You know, isn¡¯t making a giant robot spider just a little bit of a cliche for a bad guy?¡± I called out, starting to walk in a circle around the spider and watching it closely. It slowly turned and shifted its large body in place, keeping its obvious head facing me. ¡°Come on, you know you wanna monologue.¡± The spider started to walk toward me and I found myself frowning. While this wasn¡¯t Hell¡¯s Kitchen, the fact that something had come striking down right near me couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. When the Miscreant on the other end didn¡¯t respond for a few moments, I just shook my head. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to do this the hard way,¡± I said, bouncing back and forth on my toes and shaking my arms out. It was a move that oddly reminded me of Pinky, one of the other Augments in the Tenth Wave that had a habit of bouncing around between rounds of attacks. In a move that was nowhere near as fast as one of her powered charges, I rushed forward toward the Clockwork Spider. One of its lumbering legs was already moving to put itself in front of me and I skipped to the side, first activating Float Like a Butterfly as the leg came down in an attempt to step on me. I spun on my heel again, finding the less protected joint of the leg and activating Sting Like a Bee before throwing a 10% Gravity Punch toward what I hoped was a weak spot. I followed it up with two more regular punches, watching as a quickly decaying debuff titled Target (15%) attached to a health bar that was actually dedicated to the leg I had been attacking. While I still hadn¡¯t decided on my pendant''s stats and hadn¡¯t equipped it, I had equipped SnakeBite¡¯s Legacy, and while it sucked that the leg counted as a target on its own, it was nice knowing that I had a feasible way to, hopefully, quickly pile on some damage. While I had hoped to see a good bit of progress from my first volley of attacks, the bar had only dropped about 15% and after dodging the spider leg as it slowly turned to try to smack me with the limb, I rushed back in and quickly threw three more rapid jabs on the joint, watching as small dents started to form in the plated armor that was barely protecting the hinge. The Target debuff refreshed and rose to 30% before I threw the last 20% of my Stamina into a Gravity Punch that both brought the debuff up to 35% and did considerably more damage than the last one thrown at 10% power, but it still wasn''t quite enough. The fact that the leg was only halfway damaged while I was drained on stamina did not feel like a good sign. The only saving grace was just how cumbersome the machine seemed to be. I stared at the spider¡¯s mostly blank face as I materialized one of my Superior Stamina Injectors from my B.E.L.T. and quickly jammed it into my side. My Stamina immediately refilled by 75% and I held my ground, watching as the Target (30%) debuff faded from the slightly damaged leg. ¡°Seriously, what¡¯s the point of this thing?¡± I called out, once again hoping to provoke whoever had sent it out. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t a giant spider have weapons or something? Not that I¡¯m complaining, but at least give us some sort of demands that we can rightfully ignore.¡± Yet again, nothing happened and the spider began trudging toward me, ¡°Okay Angie, what the hell?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Loophole, I can¡¯t give you any information past the description of the golem. Since this is a Miscreant created minion, the motives or purpose for it are beyond my grasp and my ability to provide you assistance,¡± Angie replied and I just shook my head. I didn¡¯t have much of a choice so I rushed back in toward the already damaged leg, mimicking my earlier attack but this time holding off on any abilities. I couldn¡¯t risk trying to blow all of my stamina on a single leg when the robot had eight of them, but I didn''t think I could risk backing off either. Although it was clumsy and didn¡¯t seem to really have any offensive capabilities, the robot had seemingly become laser focused on me, only going as far as damaging the ground directly below it as it moved to try to intercept me with its snail like pace. I stayed light on my feet as I got back in close, delivering rapid blows and watching as the Target debuff rapidly stacked on the leg up to 50%. There seemed to be a shift that happened the moment the debuff hit that level and as I smashed my fist into the joint three more times past that moment, the last 20% of the leg¡¯s health bar vanished and I heard a metallic crunch as the leg buckled backwards. There was a single moment where I was about to celebrate taking one of them down when I heard a hiss and had to rapidly move as the destroyed leg fell toward me, having been freed from the Clockwork Spider in some sort of defense mechanism. At that same moment the spider completely stopped moving and I heard a whirring sound before a click briefly echoed off the ground. I was still partially under the spider, giving me a perfect vantage point to see as the belly of the spider split, opening up rapidly as at least a dozen football sized miniature versions of the spider. They landed on the ground, orienting themselves far faster than their larger counterpart to face toward me. Unlike the bigger version, these small ones had electricity arcing near the front of their heads and they rushed toward me at a practically frightening pace. ¡°Oh shit!¡± I said and reacted just in time as I jumped backwards, taking flight with Personal Gravity Laws just before one of the mini-spiders could hit me with their electrified pincers. As terrifying as it was to see a dozen of the mechanical creatures rushing toward me, I still felt myself smiling as they clustered together, trying to actually stack on top of each other to reach me as I floated upward. The electric mini-spiders were definitely something that would probably find their way into my nightmares, but the fact that they were all right next to each other meant I had a very easy way to handle the entire group. At least that''s what I hoped as I put myself above the stack by just a few feet, deactivating the skill and dropping downward toward the cluster. In rapid succession I activated Quantum Echostrike and threw a 10% Gravity Punch at the closest of the mini-spiders. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The comboed attack rippled outward through the group thanks to the Echostrike and much to my surprise the entire lot of spiders were crushed as I landed atop the heap of parts and debris. I was happy that it worked, but I had once again used nearly 20% of my stamina just to take out a group when I still had the larger spider to take care of. Although I had managed to take out a leg, It really didn¡¯t feel like I was making any progress. The large spider had started to move again, the cavity on its stomach closed up as it marched toward me just a bit quicker than it should have been after losing a leg. At least, that¡¯s what I had been thinking until I realized the spider had eight legs once again. ¡°Oh come the fuck on!¡± I said aloud, unable to stop myself as I stayed ready to move in case the spider got too close. ¡°You look like you¡¯re having some trouble, need a little help?¡± There was a musical chime of a voice that called out to me and forced my attention off of the spider as I searched for the source. The spider seemed to be doing the same, its body rotating in place as my eyes fell on a woman wearing a practically skin tight white and gold outfit that covered pretty much everything from her neck down. She had a long white cape that split in two, each side flapping on its own as she floated in the air on the far side of the spider with a focus expression covering her freckled face, even with the thin white mask that covered parts of her upper face. Her strawberry blonde hair fluttered in the wind as her body seemed to move up and down as she stayed afloat. ¡°You should say something before the staring gets creepy,¡± Angie whispered theatrically. ¡°Some help would be a hell of a nice thing,¡± I called back and in response a window popped into my vision. ¡°Swansong has invited you to a Temporary Team-Up. Accept: Y/N.¡± I was just about to ask if she had any ideas on how to help when she tilted her head back and began to hum an oddly energetic feeling melody. Just a moment later I saw a new buff appear on my bar, Song of Doubling. ¡°Song of Doubling. All sources you utilize that apply a debuff to a target will apply that debuff twice. This buff lasts for as long as the Song is being sung. When the song ends, the buff will last for 5 seconds before fading.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s perfect!¡± I shouted before rushing in. I got up to the closest leg and began pummeling it just as it set itself down. This time, the Target debuff jumped by 10% with each strike, quickly ramping up before I threw a single 5% Gravity Punch. With the Target debuff sitting at 150%, the strike practically sheered the lower part of the leg clean off. I was just about to move on to the next leg when the spider began the exact same cycle. First there was a hiss before the damaged leg was ejected from the main body and down to the growing mess. Instead of waiting for the mini-spiders to drop, I rushed toward the next leg and threw the first strike to begin taking it out. I only managed to get three strikes on the leg before I felt a sharp jolt hit the back of my knee, nearly causing my leg to buckle as I jumped to the side and tried to recollect myself. The mini-spiders had rushed toward me with their electrified pincers once more, though I was positive the group weren¡¯t staying nearly as close to each other this time. I didn¡¯t hesitate as I comboed my Quantum Echostrike, but this time I pulled back and only threw a 5% Gravity Punch, hoping to conserve just a bit of my stamina. Luck was with me and the damage was enough to once again crush the mini-spiders in the single attack, their proximity still close enough that my Echostrike reverberated out to each of them. The underside of the main spider was closing up much slower than it had opened up, only starting after the mini-spiders had been destroyed and I felt the smallest start of an idea starting to form. I quickly darted away from the spider, having to be extra careful with the extensive array of metallic shards and destroyed robots that were now littering the ground. Once I had put at least 15 feet between myself and the large spider, I looked around for Swansong and found her still floating up in the air, though now noticeably closer to me. She had stopped singing and looked in my direction with her brow furrowed. ¡°Where the hell is it storing those extra legs!?¡± She asked and I just shrugged. ¡°Not my robot and it didn¡¯t come with a manual!¡± I said and I could have sworn I saw her actually laugh. I was about to ask a question out loud when I decided to open a chat with her. I hadn¡¯t actually opened that part of my interface in a few days and briefly noticed I had several missed messages from both Pinky and Hydramental that I mentally told myself to check later. Swansong stared at me for just a few seconds before she nodded and we broke eye contact as I turned my attention back to the large robotic spider and swallowed. As the Clockwork Spider began to take its lumbering steps toward me, I rushed back in. I repeated my process, hammering down one of the legs, but this time as I brought its bar down to 20%, instead of throwing a Gravity Punch, I kept going, pummeling the limb until it only had 5% health left before I backed off. I turned and rushed to another leg, jumping over one of the previously destroyed legs and starting all over again. The legs were just going to keep growing back and I was pretty sure the cycle was probably going to just repeat over and over until anyone fighting it had run out of stamina. Maybe there was a limit, but I couldn¡¯t count on that either. I had an idea on a quick way to take the Clockwork Spider down, but without my Acceptance Matrix on, I couldn¡¯t just fling myself quite as easily into what could have been a longshot of a plan. I went through the legs one by one while Swansong sung, slowly dropping each of them down to 5% but holding off on destroying any of them. The last of the legs dropped in health just as quickly as the first, but this time I smashed my fist through the joint, letting the debris fall to join the rest of the mess littering the park. The mini-spider process started and I rushed forward jumping in the air just as the first of the spiders dropped from its belly. I activated my Echostrike and Gravity Punch combo, but this time threw a 25% punch, triggering Gravity Punch¡¯s knockback feature and sending the light mini-spiders that had all dropped from the Clockwork Spider hurtling back up into the undercarriage of the robot, peppering it with a rapid slurry of small attacks in its exposed innards. The stomach rapidly closed back up and I rushed backwards. I hadn¡¯t been paying too close attention, but my buff bar briefly showed the Song of Doubling just as the last few seconds of its decay timer ticked away alongside a Song of Hercules. ¡°Song of Hercules. Your strikes and abilities deal twice their intended damage.¡± I looked at the Clockwork Spider and noticed that while it did still have its shield mostly intact, its health bar had lowered by just about 20%, confirming my suspicion. I then turned my attention to the first of the legs I had attacked and left at 5% finding that the leg hadn¡¯t regenerated like the one I had destroyed. I went one by one and confirmed that all but one of the legs were sitting still at that same 5%. ¡°Okay, got enough stamina in there for one more good strike?¡± I asked as I came to a stop by the still floating Swansong and she shot me a curious look. ¡°Wait what? You might have hurt it a bit on that last attack, but that thing¡¯s still got a bunch of health and your stamina is pretty much empty, what do you mean one more good strike?¡± She asked, her words still sounding almost musical even as I heard the doubt in her tone. ¡°Let me worry about that, just do the exact same thing. Change songs the moment the minis appear,¡± I said and didn¡¯t wait for confirmation as I turned, focusing on the undamaged leg and Phase Stepping over to it. I went through the process of pummeling it until the joint broke, sending the leg down to join its similarly destroyed counterparts. I didn¡¯t stop to admire my work and rushed to position myself right under the Clockwork Spider. I activated Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge and then immediately toggled on Center of the Universe. I utilized its Burst Mode feature to instantly ramp the power up on my gravitational pull just as the spider¡¯s hatch opened. I focused on the joints of the spider¡¯s various damaged legs, meaning that all of the debris and items were being affected by my gravitational pull started to rush toward me, pulling against my legs and sides as I listened to the growing creaking sound around me. A second later, the exact outcome I was looking for happened and the various broken joints on the spider all snapped inward and began flying toward me. With the hatch above me open, mini-spiders raining down toward me, and the large, now legless Clockwork Spider falling toward me as well, I activated Launchpad. Now, while one of my main uses for the ability had been to combo it with Earthbound Impact, that wasn¡¯t the only skill I had that the ability could combo with. As I rocketed up into the open hatch, I punched upward with an 80% Gravity Punch using every bit of my temporarily refilled stamina. The sound of the strike must have been equivalent to a sonic boom as I heard ringing in my ears following the blow, quickly accompanied by the sound of a wide array of metal peppering the ground. While I had expected the Clockwork Spider to get thrown into the air from my powered up strike which I had planned to give me time to clear the area, I hadn¡¯t been expecting that my punch would quite literally rip the top part of the spider¡¯s carapace clean off, sending it up and into a wide arc that must have peaked 100 feet in the air before it crashed into the ground about 50 feet to the north of our fight. Luckily that was still far enough away from the civilians that had for some reason stupidly decided to stay close enough to watch. The remains of the robot spider went crashing to the ground around me as I landed. I looked around, my eyes meeting Swansong¡¯s as she quickly closed her mouth, seemingly embarrassed that I had caught her slightly slack jawed. Although I didn¡¯t have the Acceptance Matrix activated, the thrill of winning the fight as a new stack of notifications appeared on my screen left me feeling giddy and I couldn¡¯t help but smile at her. ¡°So uh¡­ does that count as blowing the roof off of something?¡± B.2: Chapter 6 ¡°Phase Points Gained! Team Victory: You completed an objective while teamed up with a fellow Augment. Talk about some synergy! Total Value: 150 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 350 points.¡± "New Achievement! Crushing Blow! You struck with a single attack that did over 5000% of your base damage and you only did it at level 13! You know, most Augments without Super Strength have to wait until at least the late teens before they get this achievement, but you just had to go and be an overachiever, didn''t you? This is a Gold Level achievement. Reward: You have received an A:Tier loot box." As I was already used to whenever these crime alerts came up, I could see several sets of police lights heading our way, granted this set was on a group of officers on bicycles. Swansong set herself down on the ground as she took in the wreckage. Instead of climbing my way out of the center of the downed spider, I briefly activated Personal Gravity Laws and lifted myself up and over before setting myself down. ¡°Thanks for the assist there,¡± I said as I held a hand out toward her that she grabbed with a delicate hand and shook. ¡°Are you sure you needed my help?¡± Swansong asked, a skeptical brow obviously raised even under her thin white mask. There was a spattering of freckles that covered her cheeks and forehead that were impossible to miss as the sun shined down over us. ¡°Well you certainly made it go quicker, I can say that for sure,¡± I said with an awkward laugh as we turned to look down at the debris. ¡°Any idea where the hell this thing came from?¡± "Beats me," She replied with a shrug. She took a few steps forward and leaned down toward the debris with a single hand outstretched. She was about to say something when I saw her look over at the officers getting well within earshot. Her eyes met mine for just a moment before our chat menu opened back up. I stepped up to the debris myself, opening the small floating menu beside the debris and finding that the Loot option was completely greyed out, making it impossible to select. Given the amount of mini-spiders that the Spider Construct had been spitting out, it should have had an inventory that it had held them in, especially since it wasn¡¯t like there was a factory still trying to produce them in the rubble. I thought about it for a moment as I knelt down, and examined one of the crushed mini-spiders. The police officers finally got up to us, parking their bikes and wandering over to us with wide smiles hidden behind practically identical faces. The two men each had on a pair of aviators and sported mustaches that were entirely too bushy. This would have made them look like identical twins, if it hadn¡¯t been for the fact that one of them was every bit of six and a half feet tall while the other couldn¡¯t have been much taller than five feet total. Swansong seemed to back away just slightly with a small wave to a crowd that had followed the officers closer to the debris. A few other officers that had stayed back were starting to put up police tape and I looked over to the approaching pair, highlighting them and finding myself having to suppress an exacerbated sigh as I knew what was coming. ¡°Lieutenants Dane and Blaine. These are Non-Sapient Friendly NPCs. These two fine gentlemen are well respected within the Central Park Precinct, often known for providing random daily lunches to the rest of their crew. Now, Axio hasn¡¯t told me what exactly the dynamic between this matching vertically different duo is. Are they brothers? Best friends?... Are they LOVERS?! Let¡¯s just hope the answer isn¡¯t all three.¡± ¡°Now, please tell me that one of you two has a way to clean this mess up?¡± Lt. Dane, the shorter of the two officers, said in a deep voice that I was not expecting. I briefly looked down at the pile of rubble and then back to the officers before I gave them a bit of a sheepish smile. I was about to respond when the pair started to laugh. ¡°Ah sorry, gotta use that one every time, y¡¯know?¡± ¡°Ah, well yeah, if the joke works, it works right?¡± I said with an awkward laugh of my own. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m L-¡± ¡°Loophole right? Yah took down that band of rampaging snakes a couple days ago over on 9th,¡± Lt. Blaine said in a way too giddy voice before he cleared his throat, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s part of the job to keep in the loop with you local Augments. Like Swansong back there, you¡¯ve made quite the name for yourself up in East Harlem young lady.¡± I looked back in time to catch a deep red blush pass over her cheeks as she rubbed the back of her head nervously, ¡°I¡¯m just doing my part.¡± ¡°Nonsense, how many wards have you cleared out now?¡± Lt. Blaine asked and I looked back toward her with my brow raised. Lt. Dane cleared his throats and Lt. Blaine looked at him sheepishly. ¡°Ah, sorry¡­ not the time for that. We¡¯ll get the cleanup crew out here in a jiffy, you know how the city is, they¡¯ll take you guys leaving piles of ruin in the park here over destroying buildings around the city any day.¡± ¡°Well that is good to know, though these kinda messes definitely ruin the place and I know better than anyone how nice the park can be when it isn¡¯t being used as a battleground,¡± I said and nodded back to Swansong. ¡°I really couldn¡¯t have done it without Swansong back there. I was really just running in circles till she showed up.¡± I heard what amounted to a squeak of surprise come from behind me but Blaine nodded as he reached out a hand toward me, ¡°Well we appreciate the work all the same, that thing could have been a real problem had you two not dropped in.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what we do,¡± I replied and shook his hand. ¡°Give us a call anytime you need a cleanup if it does happen again,¡± Blaine said, handing me several business cards. ¡°And come on by the precinct some time, we could always use a good set of Augments on patrol.¡± ¡°Crime Alert Completed! An Assault on Central Park. I gotta say, that was a pretty killer knockout blow. I think you may have gone just a bit overboard but results are results. Reward: You have received 10,000 credits and contact cards for Lt. Dane and Lt. Blaine have been added to your contact book.¡± I looked back over at Swansong and she gave me a thumbs up and a wide smile as she started to lift from the ground. I still had the Exhausted debuff from utilizing my Surge, but my Stamina had climbed back up to just over 20% already. I started to lift off from the ground, giving one more wave to the distant crowd before turning and following Swansong as she darted toward one of the buildings on the outskirts of the park. It took me putting on just a bit of speed to keep up with her as she seemed to soar effortlessly and I noticed what almost looked like a trail of stardust that glimmered out from under the twin tailed cape she wore on her back. She set herself down atop a building on the east side of the park, slowly coming to a gentle landing. ¡°Well that was really intense,¡± Swansong said, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly. She materialized a Stamina Injector in her hand and pressed it into her side which I was quick to follow. We probably could have waited to let it refill, but the Enhanced Injectors that could replenish 50% of a bar weren¡¯t that hard to come by and it was better to be ready, especially with robots just falling from the sky. ¡°Yeah, what are the chances this is the only one that dropped from the sky?¡± I asked, scratching my chin as I sat down on the ledge. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Umm¡­ Hopefully high?¡± Swansong said with a nervous laugh. "Yeah I''m not so sure, I swear I saw other stuff flying around the city this morning," I said, looking behind me and back out at the city. I kept my focus above the buildings searching for that same glint of metal that I had seen earlier with no luck. ¡°Maybe, but even if they were pretty close, I think you''d probably be fine," She said and I turned to look back at her curiously, but she just smiled. "I mean, that was one hell of a punch, why didn''t you just lead with that?" ¡°Besides the fact that it took my entire bar? That thing had a shield, my initial attack barely did anything to it but the insides weren¡¯t guarded at all. I didn¡¯t really want to throw the attack until I knew it was gonna work if you know what I mean,¡± I said with a shrug and she looked at me skeptically. ¡°Yeah but that was a really strong punch, especially for your level. That spider had to weigh a ton and you sent it flying like it was a beach ball¡­ I¡¯d think your powerset was something super strength related if it made even a bit of sense with all the other stuff I just saw you do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­¡± I said, briefly stopping myself before soldiering on anyway. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that Hercules'' song of yours combos really well with my Launchpad ability.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± She asked looking over at me curiously. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Err¡­¡± I hesitated again. Given just how versatile my powerset was, I had been making it a habit of keeping just what I could do relatively to myself. I had thought that had been a side effect of the Acceptance Matrix trying to keep some tension and mistrust between us Augments, but that feeling was still lingering as I looked at the girl that, while she had been helpful, was also a complete stranger to me. ¡°Aw come on, just tell me,¡± She practically pleaded, almost as if she was reading my mind. I briefly wondered if that had been a part of her powerset when I realized that she probably would have overheard me thinking about my abilities already if she was. ¡°I know everyone likes to hide what they can do and I get it but like, with all the talk about the regions and teamwork, Axio basically screamed that this next Phase is gonna be easier if we work together. I¡¯m not much of a fighter, I basically have like, one ability that is sort of combat related. I¡¯m not saying anything like ¡°Hey let¡¯s go and make a squad¡± but like, isn¡¯t it better to have someone to work with?¡± ¡°I¡­ Okay I¡¯m not trying to be rude or ignore your question, I promise I¡¯m not, but how are you as high on the leaderboard as you if you aren¡¯t a fighter? How¡¯d you get through the bikers attacking your neighborhood?¡± I asked. ¡°Bikers?¡± Swansong asked, looking genuinely confused. ¡°I didn¡¯t have any fighting to do, my main mission in the first phase was dealing with a pandemic that started to spread¡­¡± ¡°A pandemic?¡± I started before I held up a finger, and thought internally. ¡°I thought you said that new Augments always had some sort of non-Sapient enemy to start them off?¡± ¡°Oh look, I lied about something that wasn¡¯t relevant to you at the time, aren''t we all just soooooo surprised. I mean really, how would you have felt if you knew that support types without combat abilities had much different challenges to deal with than you combat types?¡± Angie said. ¡°Contrary to what you seem to believe, Axio isn¡¯t trying to kill you all. He¡¯s made it pretty clear he wants you all to continue ascending to greater heights.¡± ¡°Get the info you were looking for?¡± Swansong asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. I had been making it a point not to pay too close attention to the skintight outfit she had on, but the motion made it a bit hard to ignore and I quickly diverted my eyes before she noticed. ¡°My P.A.I.s kinda an asshole. She likes to give me half truthful information, or like, not the whole picture and then frame it as being helpful cause she only gave me the ¡°relevant¡± information,¡± I said with a sigh and immediately ignored Angie as she started to grumble in the back of my head. ¡°Not much I can do about that now though¡­ So you had a pandemic to deal with? How¡¯d that rocket your score up?¡± ¡°Hey now, you still haven¡¯t told me how that punch of yours happened and now you want me to reveal my secrets? That¡¯s not very gentlemanly of you,¡± She said with a half smile. ¡°To be fair, I did tell you the general way it happened,¡± I said and she rolled her eyes. ¡°Well then, to be general, I learned early on that healing Sapients is a Phase Point Gain item. They vary in point value based on just how sick they are and a few other factors, but heal enough and your score can go really high,¡± She said with a soft smile. "It''s been really nice being able to go around and heal people of stuff they never thought they''d have healed..." ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s actually really cool¡­ kinda feels like you¡¯ve done a lot more important stuff than I¡¯ve done,¡± I said with an awkward laugh and to this she let out a wide smile. ¡°I¡¯m just doing what I can, and I want to keep doing what I can, which means making it through the next phase too. But again, before we get to that, I really want to know how you delivered that kind of blow at this level,¡± She said and I let out a sigh. I couldn¡¯t really see the harm in telling her how this specific thing worked, though I was a bit worried Axio might decided to ¡°patch¡± how my ability worked just to weaken it. Knowing I had just gotten an achievement for the very attack that Swansong was curious about meant that if Axio was going to care about it, he already knew exactly what I had done, so I wasn''t giving up an exploit that I had discovered for nothing. ¡°My primary power gives me a lot of versatility and my abilities kinda lend to that, but in truth there was a bit of extreme doubling going on for me that really just put all the pieces together. I can explain it if you really want to know just how I knocked the carapace off that thing, but it basically just comes down to stacking effects,¡± I said and watched as her eyes widen and her smile nearly split her face in half. ¡°I think I can follow so try me.¡± ¡°Okay, basically the punch I threw got amplified three times. First I had my main ability that I poured most of my Stamina into for the punch itself, bringing the damage up to around 1,300%. It sorta starts amplifying faster after I throw more than 50% of my Stamina into it and I never really was good at keeping perfect track of it, but it''s definitely around there," I started to explain and she nodded in response that she was following, so I continued. "Well, then your song doubled that strike up to 2,600% and then there was the way I delivered that blow. My Launchpad ability lets me go rocketing up into the sky really quickly if I¡¯m using a different ability already. I don¡¯t know if you saw me crash down on the spider, but that¡¯s a different ability of mine and Launchpad can refresh it to let me use it again.¡± ¡°I must have missed that, I had been flying up at the northern edge when I got a Crime Alert to assist. I only was just getting into range when you beat the first leg off of it,¡± She explained. ¡°Well that¡¯s not relevant, it was just to try to explain the whole ¡°versatility¡± thing in my powerset,¡± I said and she nodded again as she leaned back against the door to the stairwell of the relatively small rooftop. ¡°Launchpad can also combo with my punch. If I deliver a blow after being shot upward, it also doubles the total value of the strike that landed. I doubt it would have mattered exactly which way those two amplifications took effect since they are both doubling, but I don''t know, almost feels like cheating that I was able to double it up twice like that.¡± ¡°So¡­ your punch basically did over 5000% of your base damage in that single strike?¡± She asked as her eyes lit up, ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯m really not saying we need to make a squad but you¡¯ve only seen two of my songs and they both kinda complimented your abilities, don¡¯t you think? It would probably make for the start of a pretty good combo and I have a lot more than just damage amplifying songs.¡± ¡°She¡¯s kinda pushy, I¡¯m not sure if I like her,¡± Angie said. ¡°Not now, Angie,¡± I shot back before I looked at Swansong curiously. ¡°Well you are a lot more friendly than the other Augment in the city I¡¯ve had to deal with, but I gotta say¡­ you¡¯ve really only seen me fight this one time¡­ If you¡¯re a healer and a buffer, you could probably team up with just about anyone... Not that I''m not flattered or anything, but why me exactly?¡± ¡°To be fair, I haven¡¯t really run into a whole lot of others, though I haven¡¯t been that far out of East Harlem,¡± She explained. ¡°Which makes it even more curious,¡± I said as I continued to probe. While she certainly seemed nice, the odd desire to even consider a longer term squad after only just meeting me should have been sending up red flags. After all of the bullshit that had come with discovering the truth behind SnakeBite, I probably should have thanked her for the help and flown the other way before she turned out to be another one of TechWarden¡¯s unwilling accomplices. But for all the suspicions I should have had, nothing about her screamed suspicious. ¡°Okay, this is kind of embarrassing, but promise to keep an open mind?¡± Swansong said with an almost hopeful look and I found my curiosity piqued. ¡°Well you can¡¯t just say that and not expect a guy to want to know where you¡¯re going with this,¡± I said with a laugh before another blush passed over her face. I let out a forced cough to cover the laugh that was definitely not fooling her but she seemed to appreciate it all the same as her blush died down only slightly. ¡°Sorry, sure, I can keep an open mind.¡± ¡°I¡­ You know what, how about I show you instead,¡± She said as she started to lift off from the roof. ¡°Do you have a bit of time or are you in a rush to run off and punch something?¡± ¡°That depends, you¡¯re not about to lead me back to some weird shrine or something, are you?¡± I asked and the blush on her face nearly made her look like a tomato as she raised her hands up. ¡°No! Nothing like that!¡± She said and shot me a glare as I laughed. ¡°There¡¯s a hospital a few blocks away, there¡¯s someone there I want you to meet.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s going to explain why you¡¯re being a little eager about teaming up with me?¡± ¡°More than anything I¡¯m gonna say now,¡± She said with a nod and I just shrugged. ¡°Well I do like a good mystery and have some time to kill before my Exhausted debuff fades. Although I really hope this one doesn¡¯t end like the last one I had to deal with¡­ that was really not a fun time,¡± I said as I lifted off from the ground and waved toward the north. ¡°Lead the way.¡± B.2: Chapter 7

1468 Madison Ave, Mount Sinai Hospital, East Harlem, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian: Swansong City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 22000 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:08H:25M:27S

We landed in front of a large hospital that took up pretty much an entire block, several civilians moving out of the way and looking with a bit of awe as Swansong raised a hand to wave. I lifted a hand of my own and found more than a few people looking between us with looks of surprise and I was sure at least one phone was pulled out. Though a few people attempted to approach us, she quickly walked for the front entrance and I followed behind. Since we were still in a party, she appeared as a yellow dot on my minimap, with the many Sapients walking around appearing, much like Vanessa back in the ViewFinder, as a myriad of blue dots. It was just a bit overwhelming and with a quick mental switch, I disabled the Sapients from appearing on the map. The once cluttered outline of the hospital was suddenly far easier to read. ¡°Uggggh when¡¯s Codex going to wake up, you¡¯re being so boring,¡± Angie groaned as a pair of nurses stopped what they were doing, their eyes wide as we passed by with another set of smiles and waves. We approached a door that had a sign clearly labeled ¡°Authorized Personnel Only¡± that buzzed and opened as soon as we were within a few feet of it and I looked toward Swansong curiously. ¡°Seriously, why are you just following her and not waking Codex up for a second opinion? Are you dumb? She''s clearly up to something!¡± Angie complained. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your opinion, Angie,¡± I said as we stepped into an elevator. Swansong hit the button for the fifth floor and the elevator lurched upward as she leaned backward against the wall. A hand raised up, tucking a wavy strand of hair back behind her ear as she stared forward at the door. ¡°Why can¡¯t these elevators have music from this decade? Why¡¯s it always this weird jazz stuff that only plays in elevators? Who¡¯s even making it?¡± I felt myself blink as she suddenly rattled off the questions and a sudden laugh escaped her. ¡°Sorry¡­ I tend to ramble when I¡¯m nervous,¡± She said by way of explanation. ¡°I never really got jazz, although I did go to a jazz club recently,¡± I said, looking up at the top of the door just as the floor meter ticked over to the third floor. This caused Swansong to let out a nervous giggle. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯ve heard about that,¡± she said and I cocked a brow as I looked back over to her. Another rapid blush spread across her cheeks. ¡°You¡¯ve uh¡­ You know you have a bit of a reputation at this point¡­ right? ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Like, you wondered why I would want to team up with you when I had ¡®only seen you fight once¡¯ when there¡¯s like, at least half a dozen different videos of you on the news and online,¡± She explained. I wasn¡¯t sure what look I must have given her because the blush that had only been pink suddenly threatened to turn her as red as a tomato. ¡°Not that I¡¯ve seen all of them! But I- I just¡­ I¡¯m just going to shut up now until we get to where we¡¯re going cause it¡¯ll explain better than the rambling that I¡¯m clearly doing...¡± ¡°No, please, keep going, this is oddly entertaining,¡± I said, unable to stop myself from laughing and she shot me a glare. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that you are leading the pack when it comes to our side of things and what you did to that spider back there is pretty dang good confirmation that it¡¯s not an accident or mistake that you''re up there,¡± she said just as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. We were just about to keep moving when a man dressed in a long white coat stepped in front of us. He had strikingly white hair and a thick beard that gave me a sudden flash of another man in a white lab coat. Highlighting the man eased the tension I felt slightly, as I discovered it was a Sapient man by the name Dr. Walter Hill and not the non-Sapient scientist that TechWarden had had enslaved in a tunnel underneath the city. Dr. Hill began speaking with Swansong, mentioning a handful of patients that must have just checked in as I slowly caught my breath. I had been pleasantly surprised by just how naturally I was able to fall into the fight with the Clockwork Spider, but I knew that had been partially adrenaline that had carried me through. It didn¡¯t seem like a good sign that the simple sight of a lab coat could threaten to give me a panic attack. I had never gone back to check on them, to check if they had escaped. Hydramental had already tried to kill them once, and my stomach turned at the thought of the fate I may have left them to. It didn¡¯t matter to me that they were non-Sapients and not ¡°real¡± people. If he had killed them simply for the work they were being forced to do, it was just another nail in the coffin as to why I couldn¡¯t work with Hydramental. I looked at Swansong, watching her as she looked over a list the doctor was presenting to her with a smile on her face. I still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of any of this, or what she was really after, but it didn¡¯t feel right that I was treating her so suspiciously either. ¡°I have a few things to take care of this morning, but I have plenty of time later, just give me a call and I''ll swing back through,¡± Swansong said as I finally got out of my own head. ¡°Of course, thank you Ms. Swansong,¡± Dr. Hill said before looking toward me and giving me a nod and walking away. ¡°Trouble somewhere?¡± I asked curiously and she just nodded. ¡°Nah not yet, I told Dr. Hill that I¡¯d swing through the cancer ward later tonight. He has been bringing in rounds of patients for me each day since we can¡¯t exactly just bring in every single person with cancer in the city in the blink of an eye,¡± she explained and started walking down a long hallway. ¡°Cancer?¡± I started and then thought about it for a second before reopening our chat window. I stopped in my tracks as she kept walking and found myself staring at her slightly slack jawed. She continued a few more feet before she realized I had stopped and turned to look at me. ¡°What?¡± She asked. ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s just¡­ kinda amazing actually,¡± I said, prompting yet another blush from her. ¡°Oh¡­ thank you¡­ I¡¯m just doing what I can,¡± She said with a soft smile and then nodded at a door just a few more feet up the hall. ¡°It¡¯s this one right here.¡± ¡°You know, you still haven¡¯t exactly told me who you¡¯ve brought me here to meet or why it¡¯s so important,¡± I said and she just smiled. ¡°Ok, I know this is gonna be a bit weird,but uh¡­ well I think he might just be in the running as your biggest fan,¡± she said, holding up a finger to stop the immediate question that I began to ask before pushing the door open, spinning on her heel, and entering the room. ¡°Hey Ryan, how¡¯s my favorite trooper doing?¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Swansong! Three days in a row, that¡¯s so cool! Did you figure out how to sing this away?¡± I heard a voice reply to her and slowly inched toward the door. ¡°Nah, not yet, but once I do, you¡¯ll be the first one I visit,¡± she replied and I could hear clear humor in her voice. She was blocking my view of the rest of the room but she looked over her shoulder as I entered and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m actually just passing through before I go up to 6 and heal another floor of people, but I have a friend here that I thought you¡¯d like to meet.¡± ¡°A friend?¡± The voice asked. I kept walking forward, finally seeing just far enough around the corner to put my eyes on a preteen with short buzzed hair that, even as short as it was, was fiery red. He sat in a hospital bed, an entire leg wrapped in a cast and held aloft by a harness as he smiled up at Swansong. His bright blue eyes widened as soon as I came into view and his attention darted between Swansong and myself. ¡°Th- th- that¡¯s Loophole¡­ You¡¯re Loophole¡­ You know Loophole¡­. Oh my god, when did you meet Loop-¡± ¡°Take a breath Ryan,¡± Swansong sighed and I looked from her and down to the kid who couldn¡¯t have been older than maybe 10 or 11. I highlighted him, already suspecting I knew what the outcome was going to be. ¡°Warning: Information on this Sapient NPC has been blocked due to the Secret Identity rule, preventing me from disclosing more information to you.¡± I thought about Jon for a few minutes and how much he had always talked about getting powers as well and couldn¡¯t help but suppress a laugh as Ryan practically buzzed in his bed, looking between the two of us. ¡°Mr. Loophole, I¡¯ve watched all your fights! I think you¡¯re so cool and I love your outfit, orange is such a cool color and I, I wanted to, I¡­¡± Ryan tried again, the words stumbling over each other as he spoke himself right out of breath. The chat window faded away as I focused on the boy. He stared at me with clenched fists and a fierce glare of determination as he calmed himself down with short shallow breaths. ¡°The way you took down all of those snakes! You were moving around like you were in total control and then PEW! You went rocketing up into the air and then POW! You went and wiped the whole group out in a single sweep!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as I stepped up to Ryan¡¯s bedside and held out a hand toward him. He quickly grabbed it with both of his smaller hands and started to shake my arm almost like he was trying to tear it off. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you Ryan, Swansong told me you¡¯re uh¡­ my biggest fan?¡± I said and saw him shoot Swansong a glare that vanished as soon as he looked back over at me. ¡°On that note, I¡¯m going to go and take care of the sixth floor,¡± Swansong said as she slowly started to back toward the door. ¡°Ryan, you keep resting, that leg needs to recover and I still don¡¯t have a way to knit bone back together. Loophole, meet me up on the roof in fifteen, sound good?¡± ¡°Sounds good, Swansong,¡± I said, not wanting to push her for now. I gave a thumbs up as she backed her way out of the door. As I had been slowly trying to let become a habit, my Area Sense ability activated and even beyond the wall I could feel as she came to a stop just on the other side of the door, leaning back against the wall. To be fair, I couldn¡¯t blame her, though I could question her judgement in bringing someone she didn¡¯t even really know into such close proximity to her family. Him being a fan of mine didn¡¯t even fully explain why she wanted me to meet him, though I was eager to try and find out. I held a hand out toward a chair at Ryan¡¯s bedside. ¡°Mind if I take a seat, I just took out a giant robot spider and I could really use a break,¡± I said and he nodded enthusiastically as he grabbed a tablet from the table on the other side of his bed. ¡°It¡¯s already online! That punch was incredible! I¡¯ve been trying to figure out what your powers do but nothing makes sense!¡± He practically complained and I suppressed a laugh. Ryan was practically a little version of Jon. ¡°I mean, at first I thought you were some sort of super strong telepath, but that didn¡¯t make any sense after the snake swarm fight. I want to say it has something to do with gravity but then there¡¯s a few shots of you teleporting too! What the heck is your power?!¡± ¡°I can do a little bit of everything,¡± I said, not exactly lying. I thought about it for a second, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder toward the door where I knew Swansong was still lingering before I continued. ¡°I think you¡¯re the first person to pick up on the gravity aspects though, so good eye.¡± Ryan buzzed in his bed as something seemed to suddenly occur to him. He looked from side to side, leaning over and reaching into the table next to his hospital bed. A moment later he was holding out an orange sharpie toward me with an extremely eager expression. ¡°Could you sign my cast!?¡± He asked with a wide smile and I couldn¡¯t help but return it to him. While some of the non-Sapients and even more than a few Sapient adults had shown me admiration or had cheered for me during or immediately after fights, there was something different about the unrestrained excitement I could feel leaking off of Ryan. He was looking at me like¡­ well like I was actually a superhero and I couldn¡¯t help but feel an odd sensation of pride. I stood back up and took the sharpie from him. ¡°Of course I can, though I haven¡¯t really signed this name just yet, so sorry if it looks funky,¡± I said and he just beamed back up at me. "That makes it even cooler that I''m getting one of the first!!!" His cast was relatively new, with only a few random signatures I didn¡¯t recognize already on it. Near the top of the cast, just over his knee there was one in large, looping letters that read ¡°Swansong¡± and I decided to sign underneath it. ¡°So how come I¡¯m your favorite?¡± I asked, thinking about how to sign ¡°Loophole¡± and realizing that that¡¯s probably something I should at least have a basic idea of how to do. I didn''t exactly plan on stopping and signing a whole lot of autographs, but even if I only signed a few others I needed to at least know how to do it. I decided to wing it and signed the name as quickly as I could, though it came out looking slightly wobbly and jagged. ¡°What¡¯d¡¯ya mean? You¡¯re so cool and you work in the same city as me! I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get the chance to actually meet you so soon but oh my god it¡¯s so cool and maybe I actually owe Swansong an extra thank you!¡± He rattled off, his words threatening to merge together again. His energy was practically infectious as I smiled at him and handed the sharpie back over to him that he held up. "Plus like... no heroes ever really wear orange. It¡¯s my favorite color!¡± ¡°I mean, I totally get that, I wouldn¡¯t be rocking this jacket if I didn¡¯t,¡± I said, and stepped back to the chair to sit back down. ¡°But didn¡¯t Swansong heal you? Kinda feels like that might boost her up higher, right?¡± ¡°She¡¯s cool too¡­¡± He said, for the first time since I had entered the room he finally calmed down just a bit. ¡°She kinda reminds me of my big sister though and she¡¯s a jerk. I do really think Swansong is cool, but I mean, look at all the cool stuff you¡¯ve been fighting and doing already! You''re fighting snakes and bikers and giant robots and you can fly around and just- and just-¡± ¡°Well all I¡¯m saying is I couldn¡¯t have done that last punch on the robot spider without her,¡± I said, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder as the excitable kid tried to calm himself down again. He nodded and gave me another wide smile. ¡°She did just become even cooler now that I know she¡¯s friends with you too!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes, though I smiled as Ryan started to rattle off a few more questions my way. I sat with him and talked for a little bit, letting his infectious energy give me something I hadn¡¯t felt in quite a while. Real satisfaction. The craziness that I had gotten embroiled into had felt like a weight that continually pushed me downward. While I had enjoyed some aspects of my powers, especially the flight, I had largely seen most of the world I had fallen into as a chaotic mess. Having Jon to help certainly did ease some of the burden, but even he seemed to take the craziness like it was just another drop in the bucket when it truly felt like a monsoon. Ryan, even though he was nearly a teenager, was still just a kid, and his admiration came from nothing more than pure, unadulterated wonder. After a bit over fifteen minutes had passed, I excused myself from Ryan¡¯s room, promising that I¡¯d come back and see him before he got discharged. Swansong fell into step beside me as we started for the elevator and looked at me hopefully. ¡°He¡¯s a good kid,¡± I said as soon as we stopped, hitting the button to head for the roof. We stepped into the thankfully empty elevator and waited for it to close before Swansong hit the button for the top floor. ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t make sense and that it¡¯s probably a bit unreasonable,¡± She explained, anticipating my question as the elevator lurched upward. ¡°But things are only going to get crazier, I know that that¡¯s coming. I got lucky with the first phase and was able to just heal my way through it¡­ but if things are going to get harder¡­ if things are going to be dangerous enough that we need to rely on other people¡­. I need to be able to protect him¡­ to protect my family¡­¡± ¡°I¡­ I get that but again, what I still don¡¯t get is¡­ why me?¡± Swansong looked at me with a mix of amusement and disbelief. ¡°You really can¡¯t be that dense right? You¡¯re the top ranked Guardian, Loophole¡­ Even if I did help, I just saw you take out over 75% of a giant robot¡¯s health, that was higher leveled than you at that, with a single punch¡­ and you wonder why I think you¡¯d be a good person to team up with to protect the people and neighborhood I care about?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ but¡­¡± I started but stopped myself. Although I knew about TechWarden¡¯s status at a Guardian, something that to me spoke to a complexity in the alignment system that went beyond ¡°good and evil,¡± as far as I knew, I was the only one actually aware of that discrepancy. ¡°Okay, I guess that makes sense¡­ But maybe let¡¯s not just go diving into a Squad just yet.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, that''s fair, we did just meet after all and you might get better offers... How about we be friends for now and if we run into any more robots we can give each other a holler?¡± Swansong gave me a wide smile as the doors to the elevator opened and we moved around to the stairs that gave roof access. A new window opened as Swansong sent me a Friend Request that I immediately accepted. ¡°That much I can very much do,¡± I said, taking in a breath of fresh air as we pushed our way onto the roof and back into the crisp late autumn air. ¡°Just promise me something,¡± I added as I stretched, checking to make sure the Exhausted debuff had faded from my status bar. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked curiously. ¡°If you¡¯re actually going to be secretly working with another Augment to try and kill me, just leave snakes out of it.¡± B.2: Chapter 8 ¡°Um what the hell did I miss?¡± ¡°Oh thank Axio, Codex is awake!¡± ¡°Hit it!¡± I shouted up and there was a sudden change in the music that was echoing off of the walls of the nearby buildings. I slammed a 25% Gravity Punch powered fist through the thick metal breastplate of a robotic creature that was labeled by the system as a Clockwork Gorilla. Although it had taken a good amount of dodging, I had stacked over 250% onto the Target debuff for the robot thanks to Swansong¡¯s Song of Doubling, allowing me to cut my way through the robot¡¯s rather large shield. Even with it down, I still continued my assault, wanting to make sure I had stacked enough damage before going to deliver the attack. Once I did though, with her Song of Hercules taking effect, the strike cut through the last of the robot¡¯s healthy sized health bar like it was butter. Although part of the reason I had come out into the city in the first place today was to find other Augments in my wave, I had initially been planning on dissolving the Temporary Team-Up and going off in different directions from her. Although it wasn¡¯t fair to her, I was feeling exceptionally paranoid with my Acceptance Matrix turned off and although as far as I could tell she really did just want to help people, I kept feeling myself wanting to excuse myself to take another breather. Before I could do that though, we received yet another Crime Alert. Instead of making up some excuse and running off, I fought back against my natural urge to tell her I could handle it on my own. I was under no misconception that Swansong and I were the only Guardians in the city, but we had received the Alert, meaning there was a good chance that we were the closest people to it. Since the Alert didn''t come with a built in time limit like others had, we didn¡¯t just immediately book it, instead coming up with a quick game plan before we took flight to hunt down the threat. Given the name of the Alert, we weren¡¯t expecting another spider, but since we weren¡¯t sure exactly what to expect, we tried to at least cover the basics. Once we did take flight, it took us less than a minute before we found three metallic animals roaming up a street on the northern edge of Central Park and we landed to intercept them. The three gorilla robots were each at level 14, placing them right above my level and three levels above Swansong. On top of the level discrepancy, they all sported heavy shield bars to protect themselves as they randomly attacked the cars that they had been rampaging near. Swansong immediately began belting out her Song of Doubling when I hit the ground and I got to work on the closest of the three mechanical beasts. I was just yanking my fist from the second of the three beasts when Jon¡¯s voice entered my head and I shook my hand out, small flecks of what looked like oil flying off of the leather. ¡°Oh you know, just a bunch of animal robots, nothing out of the ordinary here,¡± I said, finally responding to Jon and trying to sound as casual about it as possible. I looked over toward the last gorilla and then up toward Swansong as she floated closer to the beast, giving her a nod of approval. She had stopped singing as she looked at me and waited for me to move. ¡°Yeah and you have a teammate, so I reiterate, what the hell did I miss?¡± ¡°Angie, fill him in for me while I finish this monkey,¡± I said, turning my attention back to the last gorilla before I rushed toward it. It stood up on its hind legs, showing off just how large the mechanical beast was and actually beat its chest in anticipation as I rushed toward it. ¡°Actually gorillas are a type of ape!¡± Angie said and then heard her clear her throat before I blocked her out to let her fill Jon in on the morning''s activities. ¡°Let¡¯s take it from the top!¡± I shouted up to Swansong and she nodded as she began belting out the melody for her Song of Doubling. The gorillas, much like the giant spider, were ridiculously slow and I had used that to my advantage as I peppered the first two with strikes. The stacking Target debuff that my gloves inflicted did a lot of the work in taking these things down and I wasn''t about to change up tactics when I knew it was working. Even without knowing just what the Hidden Upgrade on them were, I was still more than happy to have them as a part of my loadout. I activated Float Like a Butterfly and dodged under a clumsily slow fist from the gorilla, landing a few blows to the underside of the massive appendage before turning my attention onto the creature¡¯s side and starting to get to work just as I had with the last one. Its body whirred as it started to try to move to attack me again, but I wasn¡¯t going for strong attacks, I was going for fast ones. The Target debuff increased by 10% with each landed blow and I had it up to 150% before the gorilla could try to hit me again with one of its lumbering arms. Unfortunately for me however, I hadn¡¯t put myself quite into the same position as I had when targeting the first two, and the large arm of the robot came rushing toward me just a bit too quickly. I threw a 25% Gravity Punch in a slightly panicked response, aiming directly for the appendage. The strike, thankfully, broke the gorilla¡¯s arm off at its elbow and knocked it back a solid few feet, giving me just a few seconds to catch my breath as I eyed my Stamina bar sitting at only 15%. I materialized one of my Enhanced Stamina injectors and jammed it into my arm. ¡°Okay, so why are these things Loophole¡¯s level then?¡± Codex asked, Angie quickly wrapping up her explanation of the morning''s events. ¡°If another Augment made these things, shouldn¡¯t they be higher leveled?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve explained this before, but just in case, let¡¯s go over it one more time for clarity,¡± Angie said, winding up just as I chased down the gorilla, refusing to let my stacks drop off of him. ¡°Minion and Henchmen coded assets are designed to be modular. Due to the process of creating new Augments and the desire to maintain fairness, Axio purposefully regulates the levels of any non-Sapient or engineered assets utilized by Miscreants to be the lowest level necessary to handle the region that they have been deployed to. This is supposed to be a game after all, we can¡¯t just have one side wreaking havoc for absolutely no reason now can we?¡± ¡°What the hell could the reason for robot gorillas be?!¡± I shot back, dodging a clunky swing from the gorilla before getting back in close and continuing my rapid barrage of jabs and punches. ¡°Besides them being, in general, cool?¡± Jon asked. ¡°We really need to redefine your definition of cool, I swear you¡¯re one lab accident away from being a super villain in your own right,¡± I muttered as I grit my teeth and planted my feet in front of the mechanical gorilla. Its chest plate was now littered with small dents from my landed strike and I pulled my fist back, winding up for a final strike as the Target debuff reached 300% increased damage. Between the Gravity Punch I had already thrown and my continuous strikes, I had ripped through the rest of the gorilla¡¯s shield in no time. I was about to call for Swansong to change her song when I noticed the swap happened without me even stopping to request it. My fist launched forward and I threw a 35% Gravity Punch that blew a small hole into the robotic chest. The rest of its body seemed to stall in the air, taking a full few seconds before it creaked and fell backwards, hitting the pavement with a loud thud before several notifications were added to my screen. I prompted them to open as I slowly caught my breath, looking down at the scrap metal. ¡°Crime Alert Completed! Cyber-Simian Smash! First a spider, now some gorillas? What¡¯s next? A slug!? Now wouldn¡¯t that be weird. Reward: You have received 5000 Credits.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Team Victory: You completed an objective while teamed up with a fellow Augment. I¡¯m still not exactly a fan of how pushy she is, but I guess you two work well together. Total Value: 150 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 420 points.¡± ¡°Gravity Punch. This ability has increased to Level 3. Every 5% of your Stamina, up to 50% of your total, put into this skill now deals an additional 70% damage. Every 5% of your Stamina you use for this ability past 50% of your Stamina deals an additional 140% damage. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Limit Breaker.¡± ¡°Okay, so I guess the question should actually be, if they are Miscreant in origin, where did they come from? If I¡¯m remembering correctly, SnakeBite¡¯s supposed involvement with the Vipers was super obfuscated, so why are these ones actively being attributed to a Miscreant?¡± Jon asked, although I could tell by the way he asked the question it was more for himself than for me. I shook out my hands and cracked my knuckles as I waited for him to stop muttering to himself. ¡°Honestly you know this is way outside my expertise, I was wondering if you had any idea. The spider and the gorillas both had Clockwork in their names, any chance that has something to do with it?¡± I asked as I looked over at Swansong just as she set herself down next to me. There was a bit of a telltale glaze over her eyes that indicated to me that she was going through notifications of her own and I was more than fine giving her the minute to do so. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Hmmm, let me see what I can find. There¡¯s been more than a few different Augments that have worked with robots I¡¯m pretty sure so, they don''t tend to be that subtle,¡± Jon replied. I looked over at Swansong again, her eyes still glazed over. I wasn¡¯t sure how or if I was supposed to explain Jon to any new teammate, but if I was going to have a squad, it was something that was going to come up eventually and something that I needed to figure out. I could try to pass him off as another Augment, but since his Control Gear only gave him limited access to the system as the Guy In The Chair, he didn¡¯t have the same suite of interface options. It would only take Swansong trying to add him to her friend list for her to realize he wasn¡¯t an Augment himself. Although we hadn¡¯t fully disclosed our powersets to each other, the Alert hadn¡¯t come with a timer. So, before we left the roof we decided it was best to at least go over the very basics of our abilities. Swansong had a surprisingly small list of abilities, with only half of her initial bar filled up and a single passive ability. Since she hadn¡¯t needed to focus on combat, she hadn¡¯t had a reason to wildly expand her powerset as I had. Even the Doubling and Hercules songs only came about to allow her to power up her three recovery songs to allow her to better shed the hidden disease stacks that the patients she helped had. Thanks to our short conversation, I knew that each of her songs were gradual stamina drains, and Strength wasn¡¯t one of the stats she had made a priority of throwing that many points into. While I had wondered why she had preferred to stay airborne during fights given just how much of a drain on my stamina Personal Gravity Laws could be, Swansong was lucky in the fact that she didn¡¯t have to pay any stamina to utilize her flight. According to her, although she didn¡¯t tell me what the name of it was, the movement ability that she had generated was connected directly to her secondary power just as my Luck Bomb had been for me. Since we didn¡¯t want to wait too long before we responded to the alert, we still ended up dancing around the core factors of our abilities, although I supposed Swansong really had been more than open with what she could do even if she didn¡¯t outright tell me what the individual powers that made up her powerset were called. Since she had heard me confirm her brother¡¯s guess about the gravity nature of my powers, I didn¡¯t hold anything back as I told her about that portion of my powerset. I explained that I used it to fly and power up my attacks but made sure it was clear that my power wasn¡¯t actually based in gravity itself and that seemed to more than satisfy her curiosity before we launched toward the threat. ¡°You¡¯re really good at switching that song out, you didn¡¯t even need the call out on this last one,¡± I said when I finally noticed the glaze fade from her eyes. I jabbed a thumb down at the gorilla with a hole in its chest. ¡°Like, perfect timing for that strike,¡± I added and she looked at me with a smug grin. ¡°I noticed it when you threw the strike that broke its arm off. You have a tell before you use that ability,¡± She said and then knelt down by the prone robot. ¡°I wonder what the point of these guys are¡­¡± ¡°No clue, kinda trying to figure that out myself,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°At least that punch of mine just got a bit stronger¡­ Wait, I have a tell?¡± ¡°You pull your arm further backward. Like, a lot further back It¡¯s almost like you¡¯re overly winding up a punch,¡± She explained and poked at the cold metal. ¡°Huh¡­ Well good catch. Any movement on your skills?¡± I asked, unsure of what else to say to that. ¡°Well the good news is that since I¡¯ve barely been using these two abilities up until now, my Song of Doubling has already powered up. Shouldn¡¯t drain me as quickly which is nice. I¡¯d bet Hercules isn¡¯t far behind,¡± Swansong said and stood back up. She materialized a Stamina Injector into her hand and pressed it against her forearm in a fluid motion. ¡°Think there¡¯s more of these guys that we can hunt down? Wouldn¡¯t mind trying to push to the next level.¡± ¡°I was thinking about that. I kinda think we¡¯d have gotten more alerts if there were some nearby but we could always go and take a look. I think this one came because we were the closest ones to it since we were on top of the hospital,¡± I said, tapping my chin. ¡°We aren¡¯t the only Guardians in the city either, I¡¯d be willing to bet the closer folks are the ones who got called in.¡± ¡°That does make sense¡­¡± ¡°It''s a good guess too. I''m not finding anything immediate that has to do with the Clockwork name, but "New York City Robots" is trending online,¡± Jon spoke up. Swansong went to say something but I held a finger up and she stopped, giving me a curious look that told me that unlike when I was looking at windows in my vision, my eyes weren¡¯t glossed over. ¡°There¡¯s been about a dozen of these guys dropped into the city. Pinneedle and Grand Strike took out a few of them each with relative ease and there¡¯s some footage of Hydramental fighting and taking down what looked like a robot scorpion.¡± ¡°Anyone other than that?¡± I asked, looking away from Swansong and out toward the small crowd of onlookers that had, as they usually did, gathered to watch us. ¡°Well, Freakenstein also showed up to one of those robots¡­ although that might not be a good sign since he now has a giant rhino horn attached to his forehead and immediately went crashing into a bank¡­¡± Jon explained and I could hear the rapid click of keys. ¡°You know, a horn is a pretty bold choice, not exactly something that¡¯s all that easy to hide,¡± Angie said and I rolled my eyes. ¡°I think hiding is the least of Freakenstein¡¯s concerns,¡± Jon shot back. ¡°That¡¯s still only four¡­¡± I muttered, tapping at my chin again and looking back just in time to catch as Swansong cocked her head to the side. ¡°What¡¯s only four?¡± She asked. ¡°Sorry, bad habit of talking to myself,¡± I said, lying poorly. ¡°Yeah.. we kinda all do that. What¡¯s only four?¡± She asked again and I nodded toward the approaching police officers and cleanup crew by way of distraction. ¡°Lets hand this off and head for a roof really quick. This might not be a conversation for normal ears,¡± I said. Unlike with Central Park, these officers noticeably didn¡¯t give us a contact card for the Harlem neighborhood we were in. There were a few reasons why that could have been the case, the most obvious of which being that there wasn¡¯t a non-Sapient NPC amongst the group of officers that responded to us and I decided it wasn¡¯t worth questioning too far. We left the scrap to be cleaned up and took off, heading for the closest rooftop. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I don''t think you have to do the whole dance about me with her,¡± Jon said while I flew. Before I could respond, he continued, ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve been looking into more stuff with her here and she¡¯s basically been on a healing spree on the East Side the last few days. Pretty much unless someone had a broken bone, she took care of them. I think she¡¯s about as close to ¡°pure good¡± as you¡¯re gonna find.¡± ¡°Yeah but you raise a whole bunch of questions that I don¡¯t have answers to,¡± I shot back. We set ourselves onto the rooftop and Swansong walked over to the ledge, looking back down at the mess we had left behind. ¡°I actually really think you¡¯re overthinking it¡­ Like, I don¡¯t think pretty much any Augment knows how this system works or ask nearly as many questions as you''ve been asking about it. All you really have to say is you got the gear out of a S+:Tier and used it to bring someone just so, so much smarter than you into the game to help. Seems pretty clear cut to me,¡± Jon said and I heard Angie immediately start to laugh. ¡°I mean... sure, I get she has a good reputation but like, I did just meet her. Should we really be jumping the gun?¡± I asked, finding myself staring over at her as she continued to look down toward the street. ¡°Look, putting aside the fact that I¡¯ve always kinda wanted to be able to manage a whole superhero team, the sooner you do find someone you team up with, the sooner you can start getting into a good rhythm with them in case this next phase is as team intensive as we think it is,¡± Jon explained. Swansong finally stood back up, giving me a soft smile as she turned around and caught me staring. I quickly diverted my eyes as I felt my cheeks burn ever so slightly. ¡°I get having secrets, I really do, and I¡¯m not saying you need to go and tell her everything with TechWarden immediately, although I do think you¡¯re going to have to find a way to start spreading the word about him¡­ Regardless, I get having a bit of paranoia when it comes to him, he¡¯s already proved that he can work behind the scenes with a frightening amount of power, but you can¡¯t just suspect anyone and everyone that¡¯s being nice to you as being an agent for him either. Paranoia simply isn¡¯t going to be your friend when it comes to working together with someone¡­ you got to have trust too. And again, unless her whole ¡°healing angel¡± thing is just a giant, over-the-top act, I think you might have lucked into the perfect person to trust. And isn¡¯t lucking into stuff kinda your thing?¡± ¡°So, what was ¡°that¡¯s only four¡± about?¡± Swansong asked yet again, walking back over toward me with a soft smile. I could fight with myself, and Jon for that matter, about this over and over, I knew that I could, but I also trusted Jon and I knew that he was right. I was letting my paranoia over what had happened with SnakeBite overly color my perception and while the next Phase wasn¡¯t on us yet, it was rapidly approaching. ¡°Augments. I was working on trying to figure out if other robots had been taken care of around the city and was talking about the members of our wave. Axio didn¡¯t say it was our region, but I know we had eleven of us here in the city because of me when the wave first started, which means there¡¯s eight of us left now. Even with a quick search, I was only able to count off four possible members of our wave, leaving half of them still unaccounted for,¡± I explained and she raised a brow. ¡°Huh? Do you have an interface upgrade that lets you search the internet? I have the phone upgrade attached, but that only lets me text and make calls and I didn''t see any sort of web search interface at The ViewFinder,¡± She said, clearly just a bit more curious. I thought about how to explain Jon for just a second as I thought back to when I had last teamed up with someone. Members of a team that I was in, even a temporary one, could hear Jon IF I made the active choice to let them. I felt my gut turn ever so slightly but I forced it to settle down as I found my resolve. No matter what was going to happen with the game, with TechWarden and the rest of it, every choice I was going to make was going to have to be a leap of faith and I was going to have to just get used to that instead of warring with myself over every single decision I made. Turning off my Acceptance Matrix had been a choice and I was sure that it was the right one. Even with the worry and paranoia that was eating at me, I wasn¡¯t going to go back, but I couldn¡¯t let it permanently cripple my ability to trust. With a mental command, I finally made the choice and told my system to let Jon¡¯s communication reach the entire team. ¡°You know what, I was trying to figure out how to explain this next part but it¡¯s going to be easier just to let him do it. Hey Codex, you¡¯re patched in, want to tell Swansong here what you told me about the robots?¡± B.2: Chapter 9 ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re not an Augment,¡± Swansong said, floating in mid air with her legs crossed in a meditation-like pose. Although I had told Jon to fill her in on the robots, we rather quickly got stuck on the semantics of just ¡°what¡± Codex was in relation to the game. ¡°Nope, though I really, really hope that might change eventually,¡± Jon¡¯s voice crackled. ¡°Patching¡± him into the team essentially just gave him access to communicating within Swansong¡¯s head just as he did in mine. ¡°I¡¯m basically Augment adjacent right now. Just a guy with P.A.I. level access to game data, only I don¡¯t have to be asked to look into things, I can just use¡­ you know, common sense.¡± Swansong looked over at me with a curious glance and I gave her an awkward smile. ¡°Is he your brother?¡± She asked and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Not quite, but close enough,¡± I said and she rubbed her hands together as a wide, toothy smile crossed her face. ¡°You do realize that now I really want us to form a squad¡­ right?¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked and scratched the side of my head. ¡°Strength coming from you and an actual, non-P.A.I. source of information coming from him? You¡¯re literally a two for one special,¡± she said with a wide smile and Jon barked a laugh. ¡°Ugh, I really don¡¯t like her. Mr. Blue Eyes is my ear candy, thank you very much,¡± Angie groaned. ¡°Sheesh, someone¡¯s threatened,¡± I said to her and she groaned again. Although Jon¡¯s voice now echoed through to both of us, my internal communication, at least when I was focused directly on her, only went to Angie. She did at least seem to be able to still directly focus on talking to me while leaving Jon out of it, but with my Acceptance Matrix turned off, I was able to effectively tune her out when I really didn¡¯t want to hear her. It wasn¡¯t necessarily that I suspected her of being up to something, but the simple fact was she had been telling the truth when I had first met her. She wasn¡¯t a true A.I. and she was bound by even more rules and regulations than even Axio was. ¡°Okay, so as I was saying,¡± Jon cut back in, apparently aware that I had gotten internally sidetracked even without being clued in. ¡°According to the sources I can track there have been twelve confirmed sightings of either single or small groups of robotic animals this morning. Although you two haven¡¯t taken down that many of them, there¡¯s actually a whole lot of chatter about you two teaming up. It¡¯s kinda the top post over on AugmentWatch right now. Like, even the top comments are people debating between calling you two Swanhole or Loopsong. Personally I think if you guys make a squad I wouldn¡¯t touch either of those with a ten foot pool.¡± ¡°Swanhole?¡± Swansong said her nose scrunched and brow pulled together. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s just terrible¡­¡± ¡°You have been on the internet before, right?¡± Jon asked and she rolled her eyes. ¡°I mean, yeah I have but seriously? Swanhole!?¡± ¡°And Loopsong, you keep forgetting about Loopsong,¡± Jon said, a clear bit of teasing in his tone. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve taken care of two of the groups then, you mentioned something about Grand Strike and Pinneedle taking care of some of them too, right?¡± I asked, doing my best to keep us on track. ¡°Yeah, but no surprise there. They weren¡¯t technically on The First¡¯s team, but there¡¯s been more than one instance of them fighting with the old Paragons of Justice when bigger threats have shown up. Pinneedle took out four of the groups that appeared down on Staten Island and Grand Strike fought one of those Spiders too, though the one he fought had a lot more weapons on it, and he took down what I think was supposed to be a metal turtle? Honestly there really doesn¡¯t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the animals that this dude is building robots to resemble and it¡¯s not like they have been doing anything other than just trying to destroy stuff.¡± ¡°Okay, so that accounts for eight of the robots¡­ you said you were trying to figure out which other Augments from our wave are in this area, right?¡± Swansong asked and I nodded. ¡°Yeah. During his end of Phase announcement, Axio was talking about the regions he had set up specifically for our wave and how many people were in each of them. He made a point of calling out our region and mentioning that we had eight Augments left,¡± I said, lifting myself up off the roof with Personal Gravity Laws and mimicking her meditative pose a few feet away from her. ¡°I¡¯ve had some¡­ uh¡­ run ins with him a few times already, so I know that there¡¯s a guy named Hydramental from our wave that is working out of Chelsea that took down one of the robots, and then Codex also found some information that suggests Freakenstein is causing some trouble over in Brooklyn but managed to take down a robotic rhino while he was out and about this morning too.¡± ¡°I actually think I¡¯ve narrowed that down to either Crown Heights or East Flatbush, but it¡¯s hard to say for sure, the dude just really shows up to break stuff, rob some random places, and then vanishes back into nowhere,¡± Jon added. ¡°Which would make the four Augments that you had counted off already¡­¡± Swansong said and reached up to tap at her chin. ¡°But¡­ how do you know that it was our region that Axio was talking about He didn¡¯t exactly specify New York City¡­¡± I hesitated and then just sighed. There was a certain cascading effect that was bound to come up but I hadn¡¯t even stopped to realize just how easy it was going to be to push over that particular row of dominoes. This wasn¡¯t exactly anything like, exceptionally big, but it did open the door for a lot more questions. Even so, I sort of had to tell her in order to explain how I knew what I knew. ¡°Because I¡¯m the ¡°extra¡± Augment that got added into the wave that Axio had talked about early on,¡± I explained and her eyes widened for only a minute. I braced myself for whatever question came next before she just started to nod her head in recognition. ¡°Ah, I guess that would make it easy for you to figure that out then,¡± she said. I looked at her carefully as her attention drifted out toward the city. I was just about to wonder why she hadn¡¯t felt the need to push me further on what felt like an interesting bit of information when I realized that the answer had been staring me in the face in the form of the constant twinges of worry I had been feeling. It was the Acceptance Matrix. She hadn¡¯t followed up on how I had acquired the trophy for Jon either, something that I felt like I would have had to know if I had been in her shoes and skipping past me being the extra made it almost abundantly clear. ¡°Angie¡­ If I tell her to turn off her Matrix¡­ how will her P.A.I. respond?¡± I asked and then before she could respond I added, ¡°Or better yet, had another Augment been telling me to turn my Matrix off, what would you have told me?¡± ¡°I¡­ In that situation I would have vehemently raised concerns with why the other Augment was trying to convince you to do such a thing. While the decision to turn it off was always yours to make, it was part of my job to always try to ensure that you wouldn¡¯t do it due to the detrimental side effects. As you are no doubt aware, that Matrix was providing you with emotional stability in the face of the dangers you are now faced with,¡± She explained. ¡°Which means if I did try to push that, she would more than likely immediately become suspicious of me and probably not trust me¡­ which wouldn¡¯t be a good thing if I did want to make a squad with her,¡± I replied and looked away from Swansong just before she looked back my way. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Okay, so we have ten of the twelve robots accounted for, what happened to the other two?¡± Swansong said. ¡°So, the other two were actually pretty close to where you two are now,¡± Jon said, the rapid clicking of keys ever present in the background. ¡°Well, relatively speaking at least. There was a large robotic squirrel that went climbing up a building near the northern border of Harlem and then another group of gorillas that destroyed a few cars in Washington Heights. No one has any footage of how they got destroyed, but the gorilla¡¯s arms had all been turned into crumpled, distorted piles of metal and the squirrel¡¯s insides were basically cut into ribbons and it fell from about fifteen floors up and crashed into the ground before anyone could catch what happened.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s got to be someone pretty stealthy then that doesn¡¯t want to be seen,¡± Swansong said. ¡°If we assume Freakenstein is the only Miscreant that took out one of the robots simply because it happened to be in his way, which seems to be totally in character for him from the recorded sightings on him so far, then this mystery Augment is the last of the possible Guardians in your guy¡¯s region. Again, that does completely rely on Axio telling the truth that you guys are pretty evenly split too and no Guardians from other waves taking down any of the robots. Although the city is pretty big, because The First had had his team based out of here there really aren¡¯t that many Augments that had chosen to make the city their base of operation. There really was no point, so other than Grand Strike and Pinneedle, I¡¯m pretty sure the Guardians from your guy¡¯s wave are the only ones in the city.¡± ¡°You do realize all Codex is doing here is making me want this squad to happen even more,¡± Swansong said, looking right at me with a wide smile. ¡°I mean, I love Logan, my P.A.I. that is¡­ but there¡¯s something about having someone who just knows the right things to look up. I really don¡¯t think I would have learned any of that on my own, even if I had been at home trying to Google it all on my own.¡± ¡°It was one of the reasons why I was happy when I got the gear for him,¡± I admitted. ¡°The dude is a certified Augment nerd, honestly I think he and Ryan would get along like peanut butter and jelly.¡± ¡°You know I¡¯m still listening right?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Are you offended?¡± I shot back and he barked out a knowing laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I caught as Swansong hid a laugh of her own behind a hand and she set herself back down on the roof of the building we had been floating over. ¡°Well anyway, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any others that are running around right now, but I do think I¡¯ve figured out at least the source of the robots¡­ well not the location that they are coming from but the Augment that made them,¡± Jon said, and both Swansong and I perked up. ¡°Really?¡± I asked. After the craziness and secrets that had come with uncovering SnakeBite and TechWarden, I had been anticipating it taking much longer for us to get any traction on where the robots were coming from. ¡°Okay, so this is all assuming it¡¯s not just someone hijacking the dude¡¯s name since other than a few articles, I can¡¯t find anything recent on him. But, if we ignore that, then there was a guy that tried to mount an attack on London about four years ago named Clockwork Tyrant. He hadn¡¯t been using robot animals at the time, but he did have some normal humanoid robots that he had used to attack Buckingham Palace. The articles I found said he called them his ¡°Clockwork Army¡± which seems to line up with the spider and gorilla names. He had actually gotten a small part of his army into the building before Golden Idol showed up and put a stop to his shit pretty quickly,¡± Jon explained. ¡°So what, Golden Idol just arrested him and¡­ huh¡­ where do arrested Augments go to?¡± Swansong asked as she started to pace back and forth along the roof. ¡°That is a very good question,¡± I said and floated back down to the roof before too much of my stamina got eaten. ¡°The better question is how the hell does an Augment that gets arrested get out of prison¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not finding anything that explains that process at all,¡± Jon said. ¡°Do either of your P.A.I.s have any answers that I¡¯m not finding?¡± ¡°Well Angie? Do you?¡± I asked as Swansong¡¯s eyes glazed over. ¡°That information is classified Loophole, but I think you already knew that,¡± Angie said. ¡°But for the record I do think this is why arresting the Miscreants isn¡¯t necessarily the best idea.¡± ¡°Thank you for looking, Angie,¡± I said, ignoring the clear implication in what she was saying as I looked over to Swansong. The glaze over her eyes rapidly faded and she shook her head. ¡°You didn¡¯t get anything either?¡± ¡°Nah, Logan did tell me that he doesn¡¯t think there¡¯s any one location that they are kept in, but that he doesn¡¯t know what happens to them when they do get contained,¡± she explained. ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t exactly matter how he got out at the end of the day¡­¡± I said and scratched the side of my head. ¡°It is kinda weird though that he¡¯d go from London to New York City¡­¡± ¡°It sounds like the kind of mystery that might need a team to solve, don¡¯tcha think?¡± Swansong said, shooting me another smile that nearly split her face in half and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Okay Daphne, settle down,¡± I said and her nose scrunched up again. ¡°I always thought I was more like Velma¡­ Is it the red hair?¡± She asked, reaching up and running a hand through her hair until she just had a strand she was still holding up in front of her face. I nodded and she rolled her eyes before tucking the strand of hair back behind her ear. ¡°Well regardless.You know I¡¯m right.¡± ¡°Okay fiiiine, we can make a squad, happy?¡± I said and she clapped her hands together. I walked over toward the edge of the building and looked toward Central Park. ¡°If this dude is from a few years ago we¡¯re gonna need all the help we can get. Even if the things he sends out get equalized so that they are within our level range, there¡¯s still bound to be ways that he can work around it.¡± ¡°Are you trying to say there¡¯s a loophole he could use?¡± Jon said and Swansong let out another laugh. Before I knew it, I was also laughing. Maybe it was simply Jon taking the moment to talk just a bit of sense into me, but he was right to do so. There was a certain energy that Swansong seemed to emit that was infectious and I could really see just how much I had lucked out with her stumbling onto that spider fight. But even trying to hold onto that thought, I felt my gut clench ever so slightly as my laughter died down. It was too perfect. She was too perfect of a squadmate and I felt a new bit of suspicion starting to rise. TechWarden certainly had been up to something and it was clear he had a way to take over people¡¯s Acceptance Matrix to do the things he wanted them to do, but I was pretty certain that wasn¡¯t what was happening here. He wasn¡¯t the only person that had an agenda and with my hatred focused on him in the last few days, I had been ignoring the other person that had an agenda even though it had been right in front of me the whole time. I should have realized it when Jon had introduced himself to Swansong as Codex, but I had been so focused on not talking about how I had actually gotten the S+:Tier box that had given me the Command Room that I had let it slip past me. After all, I had only gotten the box because Axio had been pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes all for his own test purposes, using myself and Jon as guinea pigs. The box was meant to be a reward for assisting him. I still wasn¡¯t even sure why he had done that, but now I was almost positive he had his digital finger in the pot yet again. Just like with him giving me the Command Room instead of killing us on the spot when Jon had figured out it was all a game, I was positive that there was a reason that I just wasn¡¯t seeing why he was trying to push Swansong and myself into a team. Sure, it was possible I was letting the bit of paranoia I had been feeling take the wheel again. It was possible that I was just trying to find a reason to be suspicious, but this felt different. I looked over toward the girl with the healing voice, putting on a smile as she caught my gaze. ¡°So we have to actually go over to the Registration Center in Sanctuary Square to make that right?¡± She said, practically bouncing on her toes in excitement. While I had no concrete proof that Axio wasn¡¯t manipulating people¡¯s Acceptance Matrixes to make them do what he wanted, SnakeBite had made it a point to tell me that Axio was bound by rules that stopped him from doing just that. I really didn¡¯t have a reason to believe he had lied to me given everything else we had talked about, so it seemed reasonable enough that it was the truth. So even if Axio had been the one to orchestrate the encounter between Swansong and myself, then it was only by setting up the circumstances to allow it to happen. Swansong still had to be the one to want to team up with me enough to keep pushing for the squad as much as she had and that infectious energy that she emitted made it almost painfully clear that she was being genuine. ¡°Well yeah, but we are gonna need a name too¡­¡± I said, suddenly feeling my stomach grumble which made Swansong let out another giggle. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re hungry too,¡± she said and I just shrugged. ¡°Well then how about we go to The Common Ground and grab some lunch, we can brainstorm a few names and then go set that up afterwards? I¡¯m sure we will need to figure out all the squad mechanics too and Codex can start tinkering with stuff on his end? Wait, can he come to Sanctuary Square?¡± ¡°Nope! It¡¯s bullshit!¡± He complained and Swansong laughed yet again, her freckled face now flush from the constant mirth. ¡°But whatever, you kids have fun.¡± B.2: Chapter 10

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified. Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Unclaimed Current Phase Points: 22570 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:05H:56M:51S

¡°So as hungry as I am, I think there are a few things I should do while I¡¯m here before I eat,¡± I said as Swansong joined me at the bottom of the portal wall¡¯s staircase. We had split up from the rooftop and headed to our respective Safe Houses. Although we could have gone through the same Safe House, it felt just a bit premature to be revealing where our real homes were to each other. Jon had raised the concern that he was able to still see Swansong on his map even as we initially split up, but the moment we crossed into different neighborhoods, even though we were still in our Temporary Team-Up, she vanished from the map within the Command Room. Jon was curious if this was something that would change when we were officially a squad, though I was positive Swansong appreciated the privacy all the same. It was just one more detail we were going to have to explore once we did create the squad. Jon¡¯s position was completely experimental, so even if we did get P.A.I. level information on the feature after the squad creation, there was no guarantee there would come with any explanation on how, if at all, the Command Room would get worked into the system. ¡°Oh? Why¡¯s that?¡± Swansong asked as we started to walk along the courtyard path. As I was quickly getting used to, the Square seemed to be busier in the middle of the day and there were plenty of other Augments scattered about the area. ¡°Well assuming we are gonna go back out and see if we can hunt down some other things to fight since it¡¯s only the middle of the day, I don¡¯t really want to waste any of the Well Fed or Perfect Nutrition buffs because of my bad habit of being indecisive while shopping,¡± I explained. ¡°Huh¡­ Yeah I guess that would be a good way to think about it,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve only gotten those buffs once before from a dinner my mom made. I guess I just never really thought about maintaining it. Most of my time so far has been in either hospitals or field clinics that got set up during the outbreak we had the last few days, so I¡¯ve never really had to deal with my stamina running out at a critical moment. Although after this morning I could definitely see why you¡¯d want to have the buffs active as long as possible¡­¡± She trailed off with a bit of a laugh and I looked toward her curiously. ¡°Did you seriously not have any of the non-Sapients to fight in the first phase at all? What the hell even was your tutorial? I had to stop a damn bank robbery¡­¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t anything nearly as interesting sounding as a bank robbery, I promise,¡± Swansong explained, following me as I turned a corner, past one of the pillars that could be utilized to view the leaderboards and headed toward the Guardian segment. ¡°After I woke up and Logan got me to go outside, I got an alert that there was a bad leak coming from the wastewater treatment plant. The place was dumping a ton of extra waste into the Harlem River and that thing was already super polluted. That wouldn¡¯t exactly be a problem since generally speaking nobody is actually stupid enough to try and go swimming in it, but I guess that¡¯s what the non-Sapients are for¡­¡± ¡°Huh¡­ I mean, I guess if the goal is to prompt you to create abilities within your powerset and you¡¯re supposed to be a healer/buffer, that is probably the best way to go about it,¡± Jon added, the sound of crunching chips reaching us as I cleared my throat. ¡°Hey man, it¡¯s not just you and me any more, maybe don¡¯t eat and speak at the same time,¡± I said which elicited a small laugh from Swansong. ¡°Okay so, you went off in the direction your P.A.I. led you and you found a bunch of sick non-Sapients?¡± ¡°Yup! I immediately saw the Diseased debuff appear on them when I found them coming out of the water. A few of them got visibly ill almost scarily quickly and I sorta reacted by creating my Song of Cleansing,¡± she explained. ¡°How long did it take until you figured out you could use it on your brother?¡± I asked, unable to suppress my curiosity. We climbed the staircase and passed by a pair of people in black and white costumes that weren¡¯t quite matching but that were close enough that they had to be a team. ¡°Not even an hour,¡± she laughed, somewhat awkwardly. ¡°After the tutorial was over, I went back to my Safe House to open the loot boxes I received. Didn¡¯t take me long to realize that he had a chemotherapy appointment going on and¡­ well I didn¡¯t even think about it¡­ I pretty much just threw on the gear the boxes gave me and just went rushing over¡­ I really had to see if it would work. The fact that it also healed everyone else in the room at the same time was a nice bonus¡­¡± ¡°You know¡­ I already said this once, but that really is pretty amazing. Those kids must have thought you were an angel or something,¡± I said and she blushed slightly as we stopped in front of the small fountain that sat at the center of the Guardian segment. ¡°Yeah¡­ or something. It doesn¡¯t help that my power gives me those sort of glowy translucent wings whenever I use the healing songs,¡± She said, looking between the shops. She put her hands on her hips as her head moved back and forth. ¡°Okay, so where are we going first? I¡¯ve really only been in the resale shop but I know about the ViewFinder and isn¡¯t there like¡­ a bookstore or something?¡± ¡°Yeah, the Beacon of Knowledge, that¡¯s actually where I wanted to head to first,¡± I started, taking a moment and looking around. Although the segment wasn¡¯t empty of people, they were spread out enough that I decided to press forward anyway, although I did lower my voice slightly. If I was going to go ahead with a squad, then I needed to at least give her some details about my powers. ¡°It¡¯s a bit weird and I haven¡¯t quite explored it all the way yet, but my powerset relies on knowledge. The bare basics of it is that if I can figure out how something works, then I can make it happen.¡± ¡°Like¡­ without any limits?¡± She asked, her eyes widening and lighting up as she looked over toward me. ¡°Well there are some limits. I have a local area around me, but as long as it¡¯s in that area¡­ then yeah, I can manipulate it if I have the right knowledge set.¡± I explained, nodding my head toward the bookstore and walking toward it. ¡°It¡¯s how my flight works. I absorbed a book on Gravity Wells that I bought from the store here and now I can manipulate the gravity in my area, which then essentially lets me fly.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ and I thought my Ethereal Projection secondary power was complex¡­¡± She said, and before I could even begin to ask, Jon jumped in. ¡°Care to explain? I mean, we wouldn¡¯t hold it against you if you do want to keep your powers a secret but I might be able to offer suggestions. Loophole here was running around, just punching people and making their shirts really heavy before I got him fixed up to the powerhouse he¡¯s becoming.¡± ¡°While I don¡¯t think I was doing that bad, I do think Codex is right that he could be really helpful for you,¡± I said as we stopped just before entering the store. ¡°I mean, I really don¡¯t have anything to hide, but that¡¯s also because I really have only sorta figured out how it all works myself,¡± she said with a shrug. I grabbed the handle of the overly ornate oak door and pushed it open for her, letting her enter before following. The shopkeeper, a diminutive older woman seated behind the front counter with a dirty magazine named Betty White raised a hand in greeting without ever even peeking her head out. If there were other Augments in the store, we couldn¡¯t see or hear them and Swansong took that as a sign to continue. ¡°The power basically gives me this aura that¡¯s always emanating out from me and, at least according to Logan, is affected by my emotions. From what I understand, I think it combines with my songs from Vocal Harmonics, which is only supposed to create echoing effects whenever I sing, and creates the healing and buffing effects that I use to help people. I¡¯m not exactly sure how the Ethereal Projection alone lets me fly, but I really always did want to fly so I didn¡¯t really think to question that too much either¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm, I wonder if there¡¯s a way that you can share your power explanations with me¡­¡± Jon wondered aloud. I walked up to one of the binders at the end of the counter that I could use to sort through the shop¡¯s products and opened it up as the two continued to discuss her powerset. While I probably could have continued to listen in and give my own opinions, I was only just starting to get a real handle on my own abilities, although I did feel like I was doing a pretty good job at it the more I worked at it. Swansong wandered past me and into the shelf lined main floor, opting to browse through the shelves instead of using the binders as I had, though that could have been because she didn¡¯t know they were there. It only took me a minute to fiddle with the front page, a modifiable table that would let me filter the shop¡¯s contents. Although there were plenty to adjust, the only filter I set was the Intelligence requirement option, setting it to 16. While that was four points higher than my stat currently was, but if I did find something good, I could grab it and hold onto the book for a few levels. Much like the retail shop, the books inside the Beacon of Knowledge were of limited quantity. While there were some duplicates, once one was bought there was no guarantee it would reappear in the shop. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I flipped open the binder and started to browse. Unfortunately, the current rotation of ¡°rare¡± level books, like the Quantum Shenanigans book I had purchased a few days earlier, were excluded due to my filter, but those typically were on the pricier side and I wasn¡¯t necessarily interested in immediately reworking my skillset now that I had found a good rhythm. While I could have always adjusted the filter to see just how far away those rare, rotating options were, I didn¡¯t want to find something that was going to require a huge sink into my Intelligence either. I did still have the Pendant of Paramount Ascension in my B.E.L.T., but I couldn¡¯t justify wasting one of the two stat slots on it for Intelligence when I was really only using the stat to add to my internal knowledge bank. Even if I did, the 50% stat boost would only raise my Intelligence to 18, although it could grow exponentially if I continued to add points into the stat or opted to change my gear out for Intelligence focused items. It was almost annoying just how much trouble I was having making a decision where it came to the Pendant. The first slot pretty much had to go to Luck, simply because my secondary power scaled directly off of it and more than a few of my abilities did too, but there were too many good arguments to be made for the second slot that it would provide. I mentally shoved the thought to the side as I came across a book that stood out from the others on the list, if only because it was written in red instead of black like the other books. ¡°There¡¯s a book called Anybody Can Parkour in here that¡¯s a different color¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°Even past the weird color change, why would that even need to be a book?¡± ¡°Oh I can answer that!¡± Angie chirped up while Jon was still occupied with Swansong. ¡°So that is going to be a Skill Book as opposed to a Knowledge Book! Knowledge Books, like the ones you have used so far, are used to grant your mind the basic, advanced, or expert level knowledge needed for a variety of subjects. Skill Books on the other hand are about teaching your body the ingrained muscle movements needed for a variety of skills and physical aptitudes. While you weren¡¯t awake when it happened, you did absorb a skill book on The Basics of Wing Chun which is why you have at least rudimentary hand-to-hand skills. These books, when not obtained through loot boxes, are typically restricted by Dexterity or Strength instead of Intelligence.¡± ¡°You know¡­ it would have been really good to know about those a few days ago¡­¡± ¡°Why? We were here a few days ago and there weren¡¯t any of them available, otherwise you would have seen them like you are now. To be fair, you could have probed a bit deeper about how you gained your fighting skills but then, where does the blame game really get us?¡± Angie mused and I just sighed, letting the subject go. Anybody Can Parkour required a Dexterity of 10, something I already had passed and only would cost me 500 credits. It felt like an extremely low price for a book given the general scarcity of the Skill Books on the list, but it did also only grant a Level 3 skill in Parkour, which seemed relatively mundane compared to gaining knowledge on the fundamental forces of the world like some of the books I had already purchased. While I didn¡¯t exactly want for the ability to move better between my flight and short range teleportation skills, I could see the skill having some possibilities, even during fights. I made a note of where in the bookstore the book was as I continued to look through the list. As Angie had pointed out, knowing about the Skill Books really didn¡¯t change much when there weren¡¯t many of them available in the first place. Other than that seemingly out of place addition, I wasn¡¯t finding quite anything on the short, two page list of options that fell into my filtered selection that was really speaking to me when Swansong reappeared, her hands falling on the counter with a few rapid taps as she looked at the binder I had open. ¡°Okay, Codex thinks I need to find some stuff on neurobiology and psychology, how do these binders work?¡± She asked, looking over at me expectantly. ¡°Sheesh, he¡¯s already figured out how your power works?¡± I asked skeptically. ¡°It¡¯s more a hunch than a guarantee, but I am the Augment nerd here,¡± Jon said. ¡°Besides, she¡¯s sitting on a huge pile of credits from the missions she¡¯s completed and the boxes she¡¯s opened and has only visited the dang resale shop like, once. I swear, I thought you were the fluke here with your position on the leaderboard but Swansong here knows even less about all this than you do.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Swansong said with mock outrage and crossed her arms. ¡°Logan said I¡¯ve been doing fine. Why would I need to know more if I¡¯m doing as much as I can already?¡± ¡°See! I¡¯m not the only one who withheld information just because it wasn¡¯t asked for,¡± Angie said, her voice lighting up ever so slightly. ¡°It¡¯s not malicious, it¡¯s our job!¡± I rolled my eyes again and ignored Angie as I pushed one of the binders over toward Swansong. Knowing just how the pair of them were, I changed the subject before Jon or Angie could go off on too far of a tangent. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s a filter page at the front, I haven¡¯t tried to search for specific topics myself, but there¡¯s a key word option that you should be able to use to look up the subjects that Codex is talking about.¡± The fact that Swansong hadn¡¯t pushed more was something that I did understand since my memories of the Acceptance Matrix¡¯s control over my emotions were still so clear. It wasn¡¯t necessarily her fault that she hadn¡¯t probed for more information when all Axio and her A.I. were asking her to do was heal people. But even then, it finally dawned on me why I had been so hesitant and resistant about creating a squad with her. As long as she had the Matrix, there was no way I was going to know for sure if decisions were her own. The Matrix simply made you go with the flow just a bit too much and I knew from personal experience how easy it was to ignore the simplest of things just because they didn¡¯t seem important at the time. Angie had pointed out the suspicion I would cause by bringing it up when her P.A.I. Logan could possibly dissuade her from turning it off, but that just meant I had to bring it up when he couldn¡¯t dissuade her. The briefest sparks of an idea started to form, though it was still a long shot. While the idea did have a chance to work, I was going to need to make sure we had a backup option assuming things did work. I turned the binder back to the front page and cleared the filter I had set before putting in a few keywords to search for. There ended up being a single book on the shop¡¯s stock that had the potential to meet what I was thinking and I looked over to Swansong. ¡°What¡¯s your Intelligence at?¡± I asked. ¡°32, why?¡± She said, looking up at me with a curious gaze. I hadn¡¯t noticed when we were mostly flying around, but with us standing right next to each other, it was clear I was close to at least half a foot taller than she was. ¡°I think you should get this book here, it¡¯s a bit pricey but if Codex thinks you need stuff on neurobiology or psychology this might be the right place to start,¡± I suggested, tapping the entry on the page and drawing her attention down to it. ¡°Oh dang, yeah that would be perfect¡­ I bet there¡¯s even some offensive options we could tinker with with that one. Good catch Loophole,¡± Jon said approvingly. ¡°Am I missing something? How can we get anything offensive out of Waves of Serenity: A Guide to Calming the Mind?¡± Swansong asked with a brow raised. ¡°You just gotta have some imagination. That book will give you a Level 5 knowledge in Tranquility Dynamics. I¡¯d be willing to bet you could create some songs that make people almost too relaxed. Have you ever tried to fight someone when you just wanted to be lazy on the couch?¡± I explained before Jon could. While I was willing to bet that I could also find some use out of the book if I did get my Intelligence up to 24, she would be able to put the knowledge to use much, much faster than I would. ¡°No¡­ I haven¡¯t¡­ have you?¡± Swansong said cautiously. ¡°I mean¡­ no not technically but I think the comparison works¡­¡± I said and rubbed the back of my head. ¡°Well Loophole¡¯s inexact comparison aside, it¡¯s definitely a viable technique,¡± Jon said, this time cutting me off. ¡°Even if you are only able to create an ability that makes enemies feel slightly calmer, that can make them hesitate or throw off their game just enough that Loophole could get in and take them down.¡± ¡°True¡­ And I guess it can¡¯t hurt to have a way to calm down civilians if we run into any of them too,¡± she admitted and I felt a bit of a smile spread over my face. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get these books bought. I think I¡¯m ready for some food over at The Common Ground,¡± I said, looking down and making a note of the book¡¯s location so that we could run over and grab it. ¡°I know you¡¯re gonna get cut off when we go in there, but try and brainstorm some squad names for us, we will toss you our ideas when we get back outside and we can see if we got one we like.¡± ¡°Sheesh, someone¡¯s trying to get rid of me,¡± Jon said with mock hurt. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can think of, but if you two are heading that way then I¡¯m gonna step out to grab some food. If I¡¯m not back when you get out of The Common Ground just text me.¡± ¡°Sounds good Codex,¡± I said as I started to head into the shelves to find Anybody Can Parkour while Swansong headed for her book. ¡°Codex has left the Command Room, communication has been lost.¡± We returned back to the counter only a minute later with our books in hand and she looked from the thick text in her hand back to me with a smile. ¡°You know¡­ if this book doesn¡¯t end up doing the trick, I¡¯m so making you pay me back at least half of the cost of this¡­¡± ¡°Half?¡± I asked curiously and she laughed. ¡°Well I¡¯d feel bad making you pay me back the entirety of the 10,000 credits, especially if I am going to be mostly hiding behind you while you fight things.¡± B.2: Chapter 11 ¡°Well well well, if it isn¡¯t Swanhole,¡± a taunting voice jeered as Swansong and I walked through the bar toward a back corner and a pair of familiar faces. ¡°Where the hell have you been hiding for the last few days?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you too Pinky,¡± I said with a forced sigh. ¡°How am I not surprised that you follow the subreddits that came up with that dumb name.¡± Seated at a hightop table in one of the corners of the building wearing a bright pink two piece outfit, was one of the few other Augments that I had so far befriended. Interestingly, Pretty Pink Warthog, or Pinky as she told her friend¡¯s to call her, seemed to have gotten an upgrade in her gear, even if the neon, hot pink color of it remained. When I had first met her, while she did have some gear, Pinky had only worn yoga pants and a matching pink shirt that was now replaced by a skin-tight, paneled armor that made her look like she was a Power Ranger just without the head covering helmet. ¡°Don¡¯t go changing the subject Loophole!¡± She shot back. ¡°You¡¯ve been ignoring my messages for days now, where the hell have you been?¡± ¡°In case you haven¡¯t noticed by my score, I have been busy,¡± I said and Pinky rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh please, we¡¯ve all been busy, that doesn¡¯t explain just going radio silent!¡± She said before looking over at Swansong who had been standing like a deer in the headlights. ¡°And you! Miss Third Place but impossible to find. It¡¯s about damn time you and I met! Other than that scary Tempest¡¯s Wrath chick, we¡¯re the only ladies up on the Top Ten, you and I should be best friends. You¡¯re a healer right? I bet there¡¯s some sort of duo fights up in the Fight Club that we could enter! I bet you and I would be unstoppable.¡± Swansong looked up at me before she looked back over at Pinky and I could actually hear her swallow. ¡°I think you¡¯re overwhelming her,¡± a goggled figure seated next to Pinky said, lifting a can of soda up to his lips and taking a long drink. ¡°You two taking a lunch break BrainCraft?¡± I asked and he nodded. ¡°How are things going out there for you two?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a surprisingly busy morning actually. We¡¯ve been dealing with an odd assortment of giant insects of all things,¡± BrainCraft said and Pinky noticeably shuddered. ¡°Why did it have to be cockroaches¡­¡± She said. ¡°Swansong, I know you can highlight them, but this is Pretty Pink Warthog and BrainCraft, they are based out somewhere in California and are generally good people. Though be careful, she might try to get you to spar with her just for the fun of it,¡± I explained and Swansong nodded. ¡°Please, call me Pinky,¡± Pinky said, jumping to her feet and holding a hand out that Swansong took and shook with a smile of her own. ¡°Why did you give yourself such a long name if you¡¯re just gonna tell everyone to call you Pinky anyway?¡± I asked as she shrugged, stepped backwards, and hopped back up onto her chair. ¡°What¡¯s life without a little whimsy?¡± ¡°I¡­ You are not what I was expecting from the videos that got shown on the nightly broadcasts,¡± she replied, finally able to get in a word and then looked over at me with a raised brow. ¡°So exactly how many of the people in the top ten do you know?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ Well Hydramental was on it, but he fell off and was really only there for a day¡­ So uh, just you two?¡± I said with a shrug of my own, following Swansong as she took a seat on one of the two open chairs and sitting down. ¡°Yeah, yeah. The better question is how long have you two been palling around and taking down robots? And where have you been hiding all this time, Swansong? Actually, hold that thought, I see my lunch,¡± Pinky said in rapid succession as an NPC waitress walked up and set down two plates with large burgers and fries in front of both her and BrainCraft. The waitress looked over at me with a raised brow. ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll actually take one of those burgers too, hold the tomatoes and add extra pickles. Oh, and I¡¯ll have a strawberry lemonade,¡± I said and then looked at Swansong. ¡°Ummm, sorry but other than when Logan had me come here during the onboarding I haven¡¯t really come back through for anything. I mean, it¡¯s cool, just sort of felt like a distraction, especially since I''ve never drank before¡­¡± Swansong said sheepishly and looked around. ¡°Is there a menu I can look at?¡± ¡°They have most everything you can really think of, it¡¯s a rather convenient and fair way for them to provide the same general benefits across a wide range of dietary needs and preferences. For example, my meal here is an Impossible burger since I¡¯m a vegetarian,¡± BrainCraft said as he pressed down on the top of his burger, pulling a small pocket knife sized item out of thin air before a green light beam buzzed out from it, slicing the burger cleanly in half before disappearing back into the hilt. I looked over to the waitress who was still waiting, a single hand on her hip and pointed at Pinky. ¡°Correction, I¡¯ll take a burger like the one she has.¡± ¡°And um¡­ Can I just get, like, a big Caesar salad and a Sprite?¡± Swansong asked and the waitress nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back with that for you two,¡± she said, turning on her heel and heading back toward one of the many kitchens. Part of me found it peculiar that the system would literally materialize things, yet the Common Ground still went through the motions of having NPC staff deliver and dispense both food and drink. While I was sure there was probably some odd reason that this was the case, it didn¡¯t seem to be because of an inability to materialize items, the mini-lightsaber BrainCraft had materialized had to have come from somewhere. Given that I had still been able to access my B.E.L.T. even when I had been in the Dead Zone that had been SnakeBite¡¯s prison, this didn¡¯t speak to much, but since the Common Ground was apparently only a Null Zone that prevented communication with our P.A.I.s, this was the perfect place to raise the one concern I truly had about forming a squad with Swansong. There was still the chance that she would buck at the idea, but if there was ever going to be a place to raise the concern, it was somewhere that she wouldn¡¯t have an A.I. trying to talk her out of it. And, since we had been on overall friendly terms, if I could also possibly talk a bit of sense into both Pinky and BrainCraft at the same time then that was just as big of a victory. True, it did have the chance to backfire, but at the end of the day it was always going to be a leap of faith. ¡°Are you two gonna answer any of my questions?¡± Pinky asked after swallowing a rather large bite of her burger. ¡°Well to be fair, you¡¯ve asked, what, a dozen questions and haven¡¯t actually let us answer any of them,¡± I said, staring at her until she scrunched her nose. ¡°Okay, how about we start simple. What¡¯s up, why¡¯d you go and disappear off the face of the Earth after you randomly jumped pretty much 10,000 points in a single night?¡± Pinky asked and then took another large bite. ¡°Yeah¡­ that,¡± I said. Taking a look around and wondering just how much our voices carried. ¡°It¡¯s honestly kinda hard to explain how it happened, at least not without raising a whole bunch of questions. But I actually had intended to tell Swansong about it while we had lunch, I suppose I can explain it to you two at the same time.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯ve certainly piqued my curiosity,¡± Swansong said with a small laugh and a reassuring smile in my direction. ¡°What exactly are you trying to tell us? Does it have to do with that whole snake thing you had mentioned?¡± ¡°Err¡­ Well, it would kinda explain why I didn¡¯t just jump at making a squad with you,¡± I said to her before looking over at Pinky, ¡°and why I had sorta gone radio silent with you. It may not be a complete explanation, but I think it should answer your questions.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Oh?¡± Pinky asked, quite literally perking up in her seat as her eyes widened and she continued to eat. I didn¡¯t really know any of these people and they didn¡¯t know me, but I didn¡¯t exactly have anyone else inside of this game that I could turn to. It was almost annoying that I had to remind myself that I hadn¡¯t pulled myself out of my bedroom to let paranoia eat away at me. While I had found myself unwillingly in the middle of something much crazier than even the existence of the Augmentation system in the first place, they all had been thrown into this craziness and had each chosen to try to help people in their own ways. That had to speak to something. Sure, TechWarden had gotten his hooks into one person that I knew of, and it was foolish to believe that his reach ended with SnakeBite, but that didn¡¯t mean he was always watching and listening. I had to convince myself of that, otherwise I was going to be constantly looking over my shoulder. Pinky, though eccentric, had been nothing but nice to me, as had Swansong, even while I treated her with an undeserved amount of suspicion. And if Pinky trusted BrainCraft, then I was reasonably certain that I could trust him as well. Maybe it was being back inside of a Null Zone that had finally let me clear my mind again, but I took a deep breath and decided to press forward. ¡°Okay, screw it¡­¡± ¡°Wait,¡± BrainCraft said, holding a hand up and materializing a small spiky ball that he placed at the center of the table. He snapped his fingers and the ball started to levitate, spinning rapidly before a clear but noticeable wave spread out around us. I looked around curiously before shooting him a confused glance. ¡°I apologize, but you seemed hesitant to tell us whatever it is you¡¯re about to say. While you seemed determined to push forward, I figured you might appreciate a bit of privacy from the tables near us.¡± ¡°Wait, are you saying that thing is-¡± ¡°A personal auditory privacy barrier,¡± BrainCraft interrupted Swansong as the device bobbed lightly up and down in the air, humming ever so slightly. ¡°It is technically experimental, but as soon as I realized that some of our fellow Augments could have enhanced hearing and that Pinky loved to come here for every meal I wanted to ensure we had a way to discuss things without being overheard. It only creates a bubble about six feet wide, but that¡¯s more than large enough to cover our table here.¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve had the food here and I don¡¯t have to convert credits, sue me,¡± Pinky shot back, sticking her tongue out at him before looking back at me, ¡°You were saying?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ I might need you to explain how that works for me later, or maybe hook me up with one of these things,¡± I said as I leaned down to try and take a closer look at the hovering device as I felt a bit of respect for his quick thought. ¡°And I mean this thing not the teammate addicted to coming to this place. There¡¯s this place that I like to get lunch from near my Safe House that I don¡¯t intend to stop going to. Best Cuban around.¡± ¡°Be distracted later, get back to the ¡°screw it¡± thing,¡± Pinky said, snapping her fingers and signaling for me to continue. I let out a long, slow sigh as I set my resolve. ¡°Okay¡­ so first off, I disabled my Acceptance Matrix a few days ago,¡± I started, receiving a slightly shocked look from both Pinky and Swansong, though BrainCraft¡¯s goggles hid most of his eyes, making him hard to read as he sat back and listened when I continued. ¡°This is going to sound really weird, but I swear it¡¯s all true.¡± They all listened intently as I explained the craziness that had been the first phase for me. I explained the Viper biker gang that had been my Phase One obstacle and how I had been led to believe, at least at the time, that SnakeBite from the Seventh Wave had been behind the increased activity. While I was detailed about my encounters with the Temporarily Augmented NPCs, I kept my encounter with SnakeBite¡¯s family and Hydramental¡¯s relationship with him to myself. With SnakeBite out of the picture, it didn¡¯t feel like my place to disclose Hydramental¡¯s personal connections to anyone and while I didn''t tell them everything about how Jon became Codex, I felt it prudent to also bring up how Axio had been moving me around like a pawn, all without me even realizing it. Eventually I got to the Dead Zone. I explained how I found SnakeBite, how he appeared to be nothing more than a shell of a man as he begged me to end his life. It was here that I really lingered, explaining how SnakeBite¡¯s Matrix had been exploited by someone he had thought he could trust and how that had led to him becoming an enslaved science experiment. I only had to stop my story briefly when the waitress came back, depositing our food in front of us before leaving without even a word. that didn''t exactly tell us if she had been able to hear us or not due to BrainCraft¡¯s privacy bubble, but none of the tables surrounding us had reacted either so I just had to assume it was working. By the time I had finished my explanation, Pinky and BrainCraft had both cleared their plates and Swansong had put a solid dent into her impressively large salad. ¡°I knew it,¡± BrainCraft muttered as he rubbed his chin and Pinky looked at him dumbfounded. ¡°You knew what? That there¡¯s apparently this TechWarden asshole that is able to just fuck with the programming of the game however the hell he wants?¡± ¡°No¡­ well I didn¡¯t know it was TechWarden, but I did assume that someone like him existed. Actually, I assumed multiple someones like him existed, but that wasn¡¯t what I was focused on,¡± BrainCraft explained as I finally turned to my untouched burger and took a bite. While it had cooled down, it was still a delicious burger. ¡°Then enlighten us oh wise one,¡± Pinky said overdramatically. ¡°The Acceptance Matrix. I had a hunch early on that there was more to it than my P.A.I. had been telling me,¡± He said, looking down toward the table as he continued to rub at his chin. ¡°The idea that it was installed and able to control our emotions indicated, at least to me, that there was the possibility for greater functionality. If they could control how we felt, who¡¯s to say they couldn¡¯t control anything else that we were doing? It was why I turned mine off the moment I learned that it existed.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ you¡¯ve had yours turned off the whole time then?¡± I asked, joining Pinky in staring at him slightly dumbfounded. ¡°Not the entire time, but the majority of it, yes,¡± He confirmed. ¡°While I am Augmented, the majority of my powers come from my mind and my ability to think and reason clearly. Even if it was just modifying my emotions, that meant it was altering how I perceived things. It was after I disabled it that I began to consider the larger ramifications to the system and what it could possibly do.¡± Pinky reached over and shoved him with a bit of a pout on her face. ¡°And you just let me have this weird mind control stuff lingering in my head all this time!? What the hell dude!¡± She said and BrainCraft looked at her apologetically. ¡°It was a hunch. I had no concrete proof of the assumptions I was making,¡± He explained. ¡°My own mental health is one thing but given that you are an up close fighter while I tend to wait in the wings, I didn¡¯t think it was prudent to put that on you without being entirely confident about my assumptions.¡± ¡°So¡­ you want me to turn off my Acceptance Matrix before we make our squad? You¡¯re worried that you can¡¯t be sure who this TechWarden guy might be controlling? Is that it?¡± Swansong asked, finally speaking up after remaining quiet for the entirety of my explanation. I swallowed the bite I had taken and nodded. ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot to ask just to make a squad, but between whatever the hell Axio is up to and TechWarden¡¯s own agenda, it just feels like having it active is courting disaster. It doesn¡¯t make this game and being an Augment any easier, but your decisions¡­ your thoughts¡­ they¡¯ll be your own.¡± Swansong seemed to contemplate this, dragging her fork through the remains of her salad as she looked down toward it. Pinky on the other hand, pretty much immediately closed her eyes and a moment later she shuddered ever so slightly. ¡°Ah, yeah that¡¯s a weird feeling,¡± She said, shaking her head out as her brow scrunched together ever so slightly. ¡°Why do I feel like I want to throw up?¡± ¡°The Matrix and system doesn¡¯t want you to turn it off so your body has a sort of natural aversion to doing it. The P.A.I.s also generally push you not to turn it off either which can add to that feeling of unease,¡± I explained, not taking my eyes off of Swansong as she continued to focus on her salad. ¡°It doesn¡¯t go right away when it¡¯s off, trust me I¡¯ve been maybe a bit too paranoid, but it is getting a bit better.¡± Swansong finally broke her gaze, looking up at me with her brow scrunched. ¡°Is that why you wanted me to buy the Tranquility book? You think I might be able to create a Song of Calming or something along those lines?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll admit that that was a thought, but I do stand by that that can actually be really beneficial in fights¡­ you know, when we aren¡¯t fighting robots,¡± I said and Swansong¡¯s gaze hardened. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I asked, slightly surprised that I had received so little push back. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone through any of the craziness that you¡¯ve gone through, but after¡­ well after earlier when I introduced you to, well, that boy, I don¡¯t know, I just got the sense I could trust you,¡± She explained not so subtly avoiding mentioning her brother. ¡°Honestly¡­ I can¡¯t promise that that feeling also wasn¡¯t just pushed on you¡­ I told you that Axio has already had his fingers in the pot with how he pushed me into the altercation with SnakeBite and TechWarden,¡± I explained and Swansong shook her head. ¡°If we are going to be going over everything I¡¯ve felt over the last week to debate which ones were my own, then that alone is reason enough to go through with this,¡± She said and closed her eyes. Just like with Pinky, a small shudder moved over her like a wave and she closed her eyes tighter just before it all stopped and she looked around. ¡°Feels weird, right?¡± Pinky asked her, toying with one of the few leftover fries on her plate. ¡°A bit¡­ but nothing I can¡¯t handle,¡± Swansong admitted, her voice wavering for just a moment before it relaxed and she looked at me expectantly. ¡°Now, what are you and I going to do about a squad name?¡± B.2: Chapter 12

Central Park, Manhattan, NYC Neighborhood: Unclaimed City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 22570 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:03H:12M:34S

¡°There¡¯s two more behind you,¡± Jon called out and I turned, going low just in time to dodge as a robotic figure went bounding over me. ¡°Okay seriously, what is with all the different animals!?¡± I said into the newly formed internal chat feature. It had been among the small variety of new features we had unlocked when Swansong and I had registered our squad. While the chat function hadn¡¯t been hard to use, being able to just talk internally was a welcome change, even if the feature did require us to be within the same neighborhood to use. We had each, somewhat predictably, received C:Tier loot boxes from a Bronze Level achievement called Alliance Forged the moment we formed our squad and along with the internal chat feature, we received the ability to turn tracking features for each other on and off and our Temporary Team-Up was dissolved, instead creating a new window within our interfaces. Many aspects of this new window were greyed out, including one that specifically had a banner that said ¡°Purchase Squad Base to Unlock.¡± What it did confirm was that Swansong and I were now considered Squadmates, with the window specifically labeling our new squad as ¡°Level 1.¡± As long as we were within range of each other, we would automatically be granted all of the features of the Team-Up, including shared missions, but the greatest boon was one that I wished I would have known about earlier. Hell, had I known about it I probably would have been the one actively looking for someone to start a squad with much earlier on. Being Squadmates granted an ongoing Camaraderie buff that was basically a game changer. The buff worked a bit like the Team Player buff I had on my undershirt, except on so many steroids it was basically proof that the system was designed to encourage you to create these permanent squads and I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of that. ¡°Camaraderie. Squad Buff. Current Squad Level: 1. Gain the following benefits as long as you are within 100 Yards of members of your squad: 5% Increased Ability Usage Experience, 5% Increased Health and Stamina Regeneration, 5% Increased Damage, and 5% Cooldown Reduction. These increases will grow as your squad levels up.¡± Practically the moment we walked through the portal wall we each received matching Crime Alerts, directing us back to Central Park. Although I hadn¡¯t seen any bits of light or capsules rocketing through the air, it was hard to miss two dozen small metallic figures as they rampaged through the park, destroying a hot dog stand in the process. ¡°I mean, they are-¡± ¡°Do not say they are cool,¡± I said, interrupting Jon as I stared at the pack of robotic monkeys that were hanging from the nearby trees and starting to circle around me. ¡°It¡¯s robot animals, Loophole! I mean, come on!¡± Jon complained, almost sounding like he was a teenager again. ¡°You guys are fighting monkeys and there¡¯s footage of a robot kangaroo jumping on cars over in Brooklyn. A KANGAROO, LOOPHOLE!¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably a good thing you weren¡¯t Augmented¡­ isn¡¯t it?¡± Swansong said, floating directly overhead of me about fifteen feet up. Given her flight wasn¡¯t tied to her stamina, it made sense for her to keep herself up and out of the main fight as much as possible. As I stood there with my Area Sense activated, I could just barely feel her legs dragging through the edge of my local area, but I ignored them as I felt the crowd of mechanical beasts, trying to differentiate between them and get a solid count of how many there were. ¡°You should have seen how he reacted when he found out kaijus might be a thing,¡± I muttered, watching the pack closely as they all seemed to hesitate. Unlike the spider or the gorillas, these robots were not slow and they moved with almost practiced grace, although they had been only level 10, meaning their increased numbers really weren¡¯t that big of an advantage for them. ¡°Doubling time,¡± I said and Swansong immediately began to sing. Several of the monkeys started to rush toward me and I activated Float Like A Butterfly, darting in toward the closest and dodging as it extended its long metal fingers in an attempt to grab me. Even with the ability activated, I wasn¡¯t able to get fully out of the way of the attack and several sharp claws hit my arm and nicked away at only a few points of my health. I turned on my attacker and slammed a fist into its small metal head. ¡°No shields,¡± I called out, watching as the monkey¡¯s health bar dropped by about 10% just from my first hit. I quickly followed it up with a few more strikes before I had to dodge another wide leap by one of the other robots. The robot stayed with me as I dodged and as I found myself almost tripping over my own feet, I came to a screeching halt, planting my feet and throwing a 25% Gravity Punch. The monkey was thrown backwards hard by the abilities knockback effect and it hit several other charging enemies, knocking them over into a metallic heap. I hadn¡¯t come into the initial fight nearly as hard as I normally would have as we had wanted to see, mostly out of curiosity once we had learned there were more robots running around, if Swansong¡¯s new Song of the Peaceful Mind would have any effect on the Clockwork contraptions. Unsurprisingly it had no effect at all, but I still didn¡¯t mind that I hadn¡¯t quite come in like a wrecking ball as I had quickly grown accustomed to doing. Sure, I had proven it was a particularly effective attack, but it really only worked if all of my enemies were in one space and the monkeys had been relatively spread out over the park, at least until we had made our appearance. It did mean I was still sitting on a good chunk of my stamina, even after throwing that last Gravity Punch. All that said, being a wrecking ball was still one hell of a way to handle a big group of enemies and I had no problem leaning on a reliable combo when I knew it would do the trick. ¡°Give me some airspace, I think I have a quick way to handle this,¡± I said as I kept moving. I mentally toggled Center of the Universe and ramped it to full strength as I dodged between robotic hands. I didn¡¯t get through the barrage unscathed, taking small chunks of damage with each swipe but the attacks were so ineffectual that I had to wonder what the point of sending out such underpowered minions was in the first place. Sure, as Angie had explained Axio was definitely limiting their strength because of the rules of the system, but something about it left me with a feeling of uncomfortably familiar unease. By the time I had rushed my way through the clearing, several of the monkeys who had been jeering and cheering, as if they were actually monkeys for some reason, were being yanked directly from the trees. I had to actively turn and strike at the robots that got too close to me, but as soon as I was sure I had as many of them in my zone as possible, I activated Launchpad and went rocketing up and into the sky. ¡°Hercules now!¡± I shouted as I reached the peak of my jump. The robotic monkeys on the ground below me had been stunned by my leap, a wonderful side effect that came along with Launchpad and then activated Earthbound Impact. The dust cloud that spread from my landing was impressive and it completely obscured my vision as I, perhaps a bit theatrically, waited for the dust to clear. A barrage of notifications filled my bar and I let Angie go through them while I began to dust myself off. ¡°New Achievement! Multikill Special. This little bouncing move of yours is really gonna need a name cause you just love doing it don¡¯t you? And why wouldn¡¯t you? I mean look at the destruction just from that one two punch! Then again, the superhero landing is super cheesy but I won¡¯t make fun of you for it too much right now. You deserve it, after all, you took down over 20 standard enemies with a single attack! This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: You have received an A:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°Crime Alert Completed! Rise of the Cyber-Monkeys. You know, I¡¯m starting to wonder if there needs to be a robot PETA with how indiscriminate you¡¯ve been with these fellas, but who am I to complain if you¡¯re getting results. Reward: You have received 5000 credits.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Phase Points Gained! Team Victory: Well at this point I think you¡¯re gonna be getting this gain a lot. Complete an objective while a part of a team. Total Value: 150 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 540 points.¡± ¡°Local Area Manipulation. This power has increased to Level 4. Your Local Area¡¯s range is now an 18 foot radius.¡± ¡°Super Luck. This power has increased to Level 3. Luck within your local area is now subtly affected by .3% for every 1 point of luck that you have.¡± ¡°Launchpad. This ability has increased to Level 2. The cost of this ability has been reduced to 17.5% Stamina. This ability has not been augmented.¡± ¡°Congratulations! You have reached Level 14, please return to your Safe House to assign stat points and additional attributes!¡± ¡°Leveled up, how about you?¡± I asked internally. ¡°Yup, I¡¯m level 12 now,¡± Swansong said as she swooped down and landed next to me. We looked over the destruction that I had caused as the dust cloud fully dispersed. Angie hadn¡¯t been exaggerating at the absolute mess that had been caused by the Song of Hercules amplified Earthbound Impact. I looked around, briefly raising a hand up toward a crowd on a hill just a bit into the distance. Although it was in the distance and obscured by the crowd, I was positive I could make out a news van as well. ¡°Well, looks like we get to make our big debut,¡± I said aloud as I nodded over to the crowd. Swansong got back to her feet in a fluid motion as she turned her attention away from the debris and scrunched her nose. ¡°That¡¯s a bigger crowd than I was expecting¡­¡± She said before looking back over to me. ¡°You are the squad leader, you¡¯ll do the talking right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m only the leader because-¡± I started to say before I felt the smallest buzz infiltrate my local area. One of the things I had been slowly but surely mentally training myself to do was activate my Area Sense any time I had kept my feet planted for more than a few seconds. I had quickly grown accustomed to interpreting the minor bits of detail I received from being able to sense everything within my local area and while I was still learning to differentiate different sensations, the feeling of energy powering up was one that was surprisingly easy for me to feel. It was because of that sense that I felt as every last piece of debris in the field around us began to whir with energy. I moved without thinking, turning and putting my arms around Swansong and shooting us up and into the air as fast as my Personal Gravity Laws and my own strength would allow. Swansong looked shocked as I did it but she didn¡¯t push away until after a rapid cascade of small explosions littered the ground below us. As the explosions went off, I let her go and she floated away as we watched and waited for them to stop. When they finally did, the ground surrounding the crater I had left was covered in pockmarks wherever a piece of the debris had lain. ¡°New Achievement! Dodge! You dodged out of the way of a trap left behind by a fellow Augment just in time, avoiding the surprise damage that would have been inflicted! This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received a B:Tier loot box.¡± We slowly lowered to the ground before Swansong shuffled away from me ever so slightly, hiding her face behind her hair. ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong¡­ but the robots from this morning didn¡¯t have a self-destruct protocol in them¡­ right?¡± Jon asked and I nodded. ¡°Nope¡­ they definitely didn¡¯t¡­ Are these the only ones that did that or are you seeing any reports from other sightings?¡± I asked, watching Swansong curiously as she lifted a hand up to her chest and placed it over her heart. ¡°Give me a minute and I¡¯ll see,¡± Jon said and I took a few steps over to Swansong, placing a hand on her shoulder as I watched her try to slow her rapid breathing. ¡°You okay?¡± I asked, my voice low. It took a moment but she finally looked up at me and I could see a bit of flushness that covered her entire freckled face. ¡°That¡­ sorry my heart¡¯s just racing¡­ The uh¡­ the matrix would have stopped this before right?¡± She asked, her voice equally low as I pulled my hand back. ¡°Yeah, that was one of its features,¡± I confirmed, looking back over at the crowd that thankfully hadn¡¯t come any closer. ¡°You¡­ I know I just got you to turn it off¡­ but I mean if you needed to turn it back on, we could still work together I think¡­¡± Swansong shook her head furiously, ¡°No¡­ I¡¯ll get used to this, I¡­ I¡­ I just got a bit rattled. I wasn¡¯t expecting the¡­ I wasn¡¯t expecting the explosions.¡± She was still catching her breath and she turned her attention back to the ground as she kept a hand on her chest. She noticeably closed her eyes again as she seemed to try to fully concentrate on her breathing. ¡°Okay it looks like the self-destruct feature has been seen elsewhere. There¡¯s some footage of Grand Strike punching a Clockwork Lion up into the sky only for it to blow up in mid air,¡± Jon said. ¡°But no reports of things like warehouses or disposal sites blowing up? Like the stuff we already took down that got cleaned up isn¡¯t doing this at all?¡± ¡°Checking,¡± Jon said as Swansong slowly straightened up, her eyes opening up as she lowered her hand to her side and she took in one more long, deep breath before turning her attention to me and staring with wide blue eyes. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said simply. ¡°For what?¡± I asked and a soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips. ¡°For getting me away from the bombs,¡± she said and I just shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re a team¡­ Isn¡¯t the whole point of that to have someone watching your back? I¡¯m not gonna let anything happen to you if I can help it.¡± I said, looking over toward the crowd that was just starting to creep closer toward us. ¡°Well¡­ thank you anyway, that¡¯s very leaderly of you,¡± she said softly. ¡°Anyway¡­ As I was saying, I¡¯m only the leader because you insisted on having me register the team,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s only two of us, we don¡¯t need to have a "leader,¡± we can just be a team.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m offended, I¡¯m a part of the team too,¡± Jon snapped. ¡°Who else is going to do the work to tell you that no, there haven¡¯t been any reports of random warehouses blowing up. So I think this is a feature the dude must have implemented since this morning¡­ must not like his stuff being seized.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ okay, thanks for checking on that¡­ And yes, you are a part of the team too Codex,¡± I said and he let out a knowing laugh. ¡°I¡¯m just tech support, you can say it,¡± he said and I could hear the pride in his voice. ¡°But I¡¯m pretty damn good tech support.¡± ¡°See, Codex works the back end, I¡¯m the fight support, which would logically make you the leader. And the leader would be the one to talk to the media, which I really don¡¯t want to do,¡± she said and I looked at her curiously until she blushed fiercely. ¡°I don¡¯t like public speaking¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help it as a laugh escaped me and she shot me a glare as I held up a hand in apology. ¡°Sorry, just, your power is singing but you have stage fright?¡± I said, reaching up and wiping at one of my eyes as I regained my composure. ¡°No, I don¡¯t like public speaking specifically¡­ put me on a stage and tell me to sing some Disney karaoke in front of a big crowd and I¡¯ll be embarrassing myself before we get anything to drink,¡± she said somewhat sheepishly. ¡°I get that¡­ sorta at least,¡± Jon said appreciatively. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed that Loophole does have a tendency to get a bit quippy after fights. Not to mention he¡¯s no stranger to making over the top speeches in front of crowds, he¡¯s kinda got a weird knack for it. So yeah, it sorta makes sense to make him the frontman of the group.¡± ¡°Fiiiiine, I¡¯ll do the talking,¡± I groaned as we turned and started to walk away from the destroyed landscape. I felt a little bit bad for whichever company was going to have to come through and patch the area up, but I suppose that was job security for them too. As we walked, Swansong lifted from the ground again and started to float behind me as we approached the gathered crowd. Sure enough, there were more than a few cameras, both professional and phone, that had been raised to catch us as we approached. ¡°Loophole! Where are these robots coming from?¡± A reporter called out. ¡°How long have you and Swansong been working together?¡± Asked another. ¡°Are you aware of other sightings around the city?¡± A third shouted. The rapid fire of questions was followed by shouts from the crowd, some for me but many for Swansong and I looked up at her, watching as she waved in a different direction whenever she heard her name. She noticed me looking up at her before she gave me a reassuring smile and nodded. ¡°Hi, sorry, thank you for the questions,¡± I said, swallowing hard before I set my jaw. ¡°Swansong and I have only just started working together but the threat of these mechanical creatures is one that worries us both. While I¡­ er¡­. we are not sure where they are coming from, as they have been appearing around the city on a wide scale, we believe there is a dangerous Augment that is deploying them.¡± ¡°A dangerous one? Like the villain Firefist?¡± one of the reporters shouted. ¡°Yes, like Firefist, although this one relies more on sending out these mechanical drones to fight in his place,¡± I said with a nod as I waved up at Swansong floating behind me. ¡°Swansong and I can¡¯t be everywhere at once, but other heroes like Grand Strike and Pinneedle have largely been doing much more than either of us could hope to do right now. We are still new to this, but we believe the two of us together can do our part in keeping this city, and especially Central Park here, safe. I think we can all agree that the park here is one of the many treasures that our city has and it should be a place of peace for all that are looking for it. We have already been in contact with the Central Park Precinct, but you all deserve to know that if this place is put in danger, then Fortune¡¯s Cadence will be here to protect it. You have our word.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Territory Claimed: Large Neighborhood: 750 points (Halved to 375 points, Reason: Split with Squad).¡± ¡°See, I told you he has a knack for speeches.¡± B.2: Chapter 13 Swansong and I had taken off from the crowd and decided to split up. While we could have kept flying around, searching for more enemies, we had gotten the Crime Alert for the Clockwork Monkeys from our respective Safe Houses. When I had received my first Crime Alert early on after being Augmented, Angie had made it clear that generally speaking, they would appear only if I could make it to the crime in time. That meant that when I could only run around, I had had an extremely limited range, but now that I could fly at speeds that would let me cover miles in mere minutes, my effective range had grown by leaps and bounds. So far, the system had generated Crime Alerts for Swansong and I for each of the Clockwork appearances that we had eventually quelled and I didn¡¯t expect that to change any time soon. With that in mind, we split off for our own Safe Houses to complete our level ups, though I hesitated on the roof for a few minutes before even heading through the stairwell. It was entirely possible that it was already too late since I had leveled up, but my Pendant of Paramount Ascension guaranteed an extra stat point for my lowest stat with each level. If I didn¡¯t have the necklace equipped that was just wasted. The Pendant had taken a mental backseat over the last few hours but Jon was surprised when I pulled the window open and selected the stats without even taking the time to do a final discussion. As I had known from the moment I had received it, Luck was the obvious first choice, but now that I was actually in a squad with Swansong, it actually made the second choice easier. Choosing Strength could have been a good idea simply to hit harder and stack my stamina higher quicker, but I was already hitting damn hard, and Swansong¡¯s boosting songs made me hit even harder. After the fight with the monkeys, the choice really became pretty clear and with a quick mental selection with the item¡¯s window open, the stats were set to Luck and Dexterity. While I probably wouldn¡¯t be throwing a ton of points in the stat like I did either my Luck, this did give me a good boost to work from, and I could always reconsider a few of my gear choices to raise it even higher. Maybe I was imagining it, but even with just the new hood and cloak I had attached, I felt like I was both moving faster and more nimbly on my feet. With that decision made and the necklace attached and tucked under my gear, I headed through the roof access and down the stairs. I made sure to have the item equipped to both my active patrol gear and my civilian gear. Thankfully the faint glow that emanated from the Pendant wasn¡¯t bright enough that it shone through the basic black shirt that I had worn just so I wouldn¡¯t be shirtless when I did deactivate my gear. ¡°You know, I still don¡¯t know if I fully like the squad name,¡± I said after I closed the front door behind me. ¡°Why not? I mean, it¡¯s a mix of both of your powers and sounds unique,¡± Jon called from the kitchen. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ Fortune¡¯s Cadence. It kinda just sounds like an ability name¡­ and besides, what if we do eventually get more people to join?¡± I asked, walking over to the living room and dropping onto the couch. ¡°Well that¡¯s why it¡¯s a good thing the name isn¡¯t set in stone then isn¡¯t it, it¡¯s just one visit to Registration to swap,¡± Jon shot back, tossing me a bottle of water before he started to walk toward the door to the Command Room. ¡°But like¡­ if you didn¡¯t like it, why did you guys use it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still annoyed that you two just ignored my suggestion! I even complimented Loophole by calling him Beauty!¡± Angie said. ¡°Please, we could have spent the rest of the day brainstorming, although given how frazzled Swansong got after those monkeys nearly blew up under our feet, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have pushed her to get right back out there,¡± I said, ignoring Angie. I leaned back into the couch and threw my feet up on the coffee table as I took a long drink from the bottle. ¡°I hid in my room for a few days after I turned my Acceptance Matrix off¡­¡± ¡°Yeah but you had also just been pretty heavily traumatized, I think you did the right thing,¡± Jon said and I looked over the couch at him as he swiveled in his chair. ¡°She said it herself, she¡¯s not a fighter. That means the fights you two have been in together are the only fights she¡¯s been in, it¡¯s better to get her used to fighting with it off. Now chop chop, you¡¯ve got stat points to assign and loot boxes to open.¡± ¡°Sheesh, can¡¯t a dude even put his feet up for five minutes?¡± ¡°You can relax and do that stuff at the same time, I think we both know it¡¯s Luck and Dexterity this time around,¡± He shot back and I knew he was right. I opened up my level up window and was pleasantly surprised to see that my Style stat, being my lowest base score, had been increased by a single point. Changing the Pendant of Paramount Ascension out for the Lucky Pendant I had originally just put into the necklace slot to have it occupied meant losing two points from my Luck stat. I dropped two points into both Luck and Dexterity and then activated my active gear. ¡°Damn, that brings my Luck up to 57 and my Dexterity up to 54¡­ I need to get another S+ box,¡± I muttered as the Ability Augmentation window opened. ¡°If my opinion matters here, I think you should go with Sting Like a Bee¡­ At 57 that skill is gonna give you what.. 114% chance to strike weak spots? At this point, I think if you¡¯re gonna make that skill stronger, other than dumping your Targeted Ability Level Up scrolls into it, Augmenting it is gonna be the way to do it, especially with how frequently you still use it,¡± Jon suggested. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± I agreed. ¡°Although I am a bit curious what would happen if I used one of these on one of my passive or movement skills. Would be really nice if I could get these Augmentations more frequently.¡± ¡°It is up to you at the end of the day. Given that Swansong can fly on her own though, it¡¯s not like you really need to try to fish with your Personal Gravity Laws to be able to move people around with you¡­ Though yeah, it would be interesting to see what would happen to Phase Step.¡± ¡°Yeah, but maybe next time,¡± I said and selected Sting Like a Bee. ¡°Sting Like a Bee: Level 3 Activated Ability. You gain a 2% chance (increasing by 2% for every 1 point of Luck you have) for your next 3 Unarmed Strikes to strike Weak Spots and inflict an additional 35% damage! Additional effects may also occur. This ability has a 2 minute and 30 second cooldown after the final strike is thrown. This ability has the Time Adjustment Augmentation, removing its time limit.¡± ¡°First Modification Option! Passive Upgrade! All of your Unarmed Strikes now have a 1% chance (increasing by 1% for every 1 point of Luck you have) to strike Weak Spots, dealing the same damage as the activated version. This Passive Ability does not stack with the activated version and is not in effect while the ability is on cooldown.¡± ¡°Second Modification Option! Highlighter Perk! When this ability is activated, possible weak spots will be highlighted on enemies within your local area. Hitting one of these highlighted areas grants an additional 5% chance of dealing critical damage and causing an instant KO.¡± ¡°Third Modification Option! Double Up! This modification is as simple and straightforward as can be and it almost makes me think Axio doesn¡¯t have a whole lot of ideas for how to modify this particular ability. The maximum number of strikes that this ability can deliver is doubled.¡± ¡°Those first two were options when I first augmented this one too,¡± I said as I looked between them. I hadn¡¯t actually chosen the Time Adjustment augmentation when I had last seen this list and I was once again thankful that turning off the Acceptance Matrix also got rid of the countdown. A thought crossed my mind and I almost wished there was a way to send a group message but shrugged it off. I was sure BrainCraft had probably already filled Pinky in about the rather useful side effect of turning off the Matrix. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Heads up, I just volunteered you to help Swansong out with deciding her Level 12 Augmentation,¡± I said and he laughed. ¡°Oh sweet, I really want to see what sort of augmentations she¡¯ll get but didn''t know if I should just offer to help or not,¡± he replied and then sighed. ¡°Kinda a shame that forming the squad didn¡¯t give me an upgrade in here to better help her but oh well¡­ a dude can dream.¡± ¡°To be completely fair, since the Command Room is experimental and Axio hasn¡¯t included it into databases there¡¯s no way to tell for sure just how the room will evolve as you increase its level,¡± Angie chimed in. ¡°Huh, well then a dude really can dream then,¡± Jon said with a laugh. ¡°Swansong just messaged me, need any input on your choice? I feel like you¡¯d be talking it out with me already if you did.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kinda think the choice here is easy. The Highlighter perk is tempting for that chance to KO people, but honestly with my luck rising higher and higher, giving it the Passive just makes sense to me, right?¡± ¡°Yup, pretty much what I was thinking too. Now, I¡¯m gonna help Swansong out here, are you gonna open those loot boxes or did you want to wait for my reroll?¡± He asked and I shook my head, unsure if he was even looking over at me. ¡°Nah, I only have an A:Tier, a B:Tier, and a C:Tier to open. I guess I could hold the A until after Axio¡¯s announcement when you refresh, but I think anything lower than an A, F¡¯s withstanding, I can just open when I think to sit down, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Eh, it¡¯s really up to you but you¡¯re probably right. It would take days to open up your boxes if we tried to wait to reroll every item. You get them pretty fast overall,¡± he agreed. ¡°She¡¯s augmenting the Song of Hercules, in case you¡¯re wondering.¡± "Huh, not the one I was expecting her to pick but maybe she had already done her healing ones," I replied. "Ding ding ding," Jon called out. "She had gone through pretty much all of her other skills once, she really didn''t have a lot of abilities to go through and other than the Song of the Peaceful Mind that she just created, the Song of Hercules was the only one she hadn''t augmented once. She''s sending the Augmentations now, I''ll let you know what she picks." I focused on the Ability Augmentation window as he quieted down and selected the Passive Upgrade, causing the window to vanish in a flash, leaving the stat window open in its place. When I wasn¡¯t placing points in it, the window looked a lot like the character sheet that Jon had made for me for the few times I had played Dungeons and Dragons with him. There were dedicated slots underneath my name, level and powerset name that listed both my Primary and my Secondary Powers, with nothing but question marks for the slot that should have listed my Hidden Power. ¡°You know... I also really kinda wish I knew even a bit of what to expect with whatever the hell this Hidden Power is going to be. I mean¡­ I get it, I know Angie isn¡¯t going to say anything and you can¡¯t access it in the database yet since this whole game is set up around keeping us in the dark as long as possible about shit, but it would be nice to know something,¡± I said before closing the window out. ¡°Well if you wanted to try hunting Tempest¡¯s Wrath down, you could always ask her,¡± Jon responded and I looked over my shoulder at him again. ¡°Not sure when she got there, was looking at the Leaderboard when you were on your way down and noticed she had gotten up to level 15.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ well I guess I didn¡¯t exactly expect her to stop whatever rampage she¡¯s been on just because the first phase finished,¡± I said. While I hadn¡¯t met the woman who stood at the top of our leaderboard, I had seen her in person just once before and the thought made me involuntarily shudder. ¡°She had some weird energy to her though, so maybe not. I could message Silver Wrangler, I bet if I bought him a beer or two he might say something.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on it, Loophole,¡± Angie said. ¡°That¡¯s one of those details that would definitely get suppressed. If Axio wanted you all to get that information that easily, he¡¯d have let us just tell you. It¡¯s supposed to be a surprise, stop trying to spoil the fun and open your loot boxes. That¡¯s something you can actually enjoy right now.¡± ¡°Eh fair, I might still try anyway but it¡¯s not something I have to do this minute,¡± I said and then materialized the three boxes onto the couch next to me. C:Tier boxes, unlike D:Tiers, weren¡¯t completely useless to get and as I opened up the one I had, I was happy to receive Targeted Ability Level Up Scroll and 1000 Credits. I was sitting on four of the Targeted level up scrolls and two of the Random ones. I had been sitting on them because I hadn¡¯t necessarily wanted to use all of them until I knew just how hard it would be to increase the levels of my skills, but it really didn¡¯t make sense to hold onto the Random ones. I pulled the two scrolls from my B.E.L.T. and activated them one after another. "Float Like A Butterfly. This ability has increased to level 4. The duration of this skill has increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds. This ability has not been augmented." ¡°Fun House. This ability has increased to level 2. This ability now creates 4 afterimages of yourself in random locations. This ability has been augmented one of three times. Current Augmentations: Recording.¡± I left the Targeted scrolls and moved on to the B:Tier loot box. This one had a Satchel of Stamina Injectors and a trophy called The Adrenaline Anchor. I materialized it into my hands and turned the clear glass case in my hands, unsure what exactly I was looking at. There were two pieces of rock in opposite corners with two chains pulled taut between them that had a faint red glow to the entire thing. At the end of the day though, it really didn¡¯t matter what the trophy looked like since I still had an open slot on my display case that I could put it on, so I opened up its description to see what exactly it would do. ¡°The Adrenaline Anchor. This is a standard trophy. Passive Effect: Dodging attacks grants you a level 1 Adrenaline buff, increasing the speed in which you throw physical strikes by 10% and increasing their damage by 10% for 3 seconds.¡± ¡°Umm... Can trophies be sold in the resale shop? Am I blanking, was that a filter option?¡± I asked, pulling the trophy back into my B.E.L.T. It wasn''t useless by any stretch and I would definitely be using the trophy, but I knew I needed to be better about the different aspects of the system that I had been failing to properly keep up with. ¡°Yeah it was an option I think, probably wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing to check them out next time you¡¯re over there. Baby¡¯s First News Appearance is okay and you¡¯ve gotten its boost up to 11% at this point, but it¡¯s really just a reputation boost, might be the first one you¡¯ll want to replace,¡± Jon suggested and I heard him groan slightly. I looked over in time to see him stretching. ¡°I got Swansong all squared away.¡± ¡°Dang already?¡± ¡°Yeah, she had a couple of interesting choices but I¡¯d be willing to bet that most of her songs are going to see a lot of similar options. Although I think that sorta makes sense given her abilities are always going to generate in similar ways,¡± He explained as he swiveled in his chair to face me. ¡°That¡¯s not important though. We settled on an augmentation called Reverberation. When she stops singing, the effect of the song will linger for a minute, but slowly get weaker the longer she¡¯s not singing. I¡¯m gonna try and think of some more ideas that she can use to create abilities, it would be nice if we could stack some effects from her.¡± ¡°Well if anyone¡¯s gonna come up with some ideas, it¡¯ll be you,¡± I said and then eyed the A:Tier. ¡°I know I should probably wait to open this but screw it, my Super Luck alone has its base modification from my luck stat, let¡¯s gamble and see what I get.¡± ¡°I mean, that¡¯s kinda being a bit impatient don¡¯t yah think? You know¡­ since my reroll only has an hour and a half or so until I can use it, especially since it¡¯s not like you¡¯re sitting on any F:Tiers or higher ones we could use the reroll on,¡± Jon said. ¡°Maybe, but I don¡¯t know, call it a hunch or a gut feeling,¡± I said and he just shrugged. ¡°Well seeing that I know you well enough to know you''re just going to open it then, let¡¯s make it interesting. If it¡¯s something you are gonna wish you could reroll, dinners on you tonight,¡± Jon shot back and I laughed. ¡°Deal,¡± I said and then opened the box. Jon swiveled in his chair and then I immediately heard him let out a loud, practically annoyed groan. ¡°Yeah, I think you lost, Codex,¡± Angie giggled. ¡°Oh fine, I¡¯ll go grab some dinner,¡± he said, immediately turning back out of his chair and hopping to his feet. While the A:Tier box did only contain one item, it was a knowledge book. That alone probably wouldn¡¯t have made Jon concede defeat right away given that there were plenty of knowledge books that I had seen at the Beacon of Knowledge that I had no interest in buying, but the title alone was. Something I had noticed early on was just how fittingly perfect many of the items that I had received from my boxes were for the situations and challenges I had found myself in. Receiving a book titled The Little Engineer¡¯s Handbook when there were a ton of robots appearing for me to fight really just went ahead and reinforced that trend. Sure, there was always the chance that the Level 3 Mechanical Engineering knowledge wouldn¡¯t be enough to overtake creations from an Augment with powers literally designed to build robots, but like the book on Venom Knowledge I had received before I had first really encountered the Sal clones, it was a start. I was just going to have to get creative. B.2: Chapter 14

Sanctuary Square, Non-PVP Zone. Location Classified Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth Unclaimed Current Phase Points: 23635 Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:00H:15M:07S

¡°I must say, I am a bit surprised you messaged me. To be frank, up until this afternoon I sort of just assumed you were a slightly smarter version of the oafs that have been trying to hit on Pinky every day.¡± Although Axio¡¯s daily announcement had been coming up, after opening my boxes up and absorbing my new bit of knowledge I had decided to find my way back to The Common Ground, but not before contacting the one person that I might be able to pick the brain of for the exact situation that I had found my self in. ¡°Does that actually happen that often?¡± I asked, looking at BrainCraft curiously as he lifted a beer up, stopping just before he took a sip to stare at me. Or I had to presume that¡¯s what he was doing given the large goggles that obscured his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be offensive, but do you¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ swing the other way? You have seen Pinky right? I mean, I know she has the tusks when she¡¯s fighting but anyone with half a brain can see that she¡¯s objectively gorgeous,¡± BrainCraft asked and my eyes went wide. ¡°What? No that¡¯s not¡­ Sorry I just¡­ I guess I wasn¡¯t imagining anyone would be using this place to try and pick people up,¡± I replied, somewhat grateful that we were in The Common Ground and neither Angie or Jon could hear me put my foot in my mouth. ¡°Ah I see, you¡¯re just incredibly dense then,¡± he said. "We''re in a bar filled with literal super humans and alcohol, you shouldn''t be surprised that some would try to be picking each other up." ¡°I¡¯m not- You know what, that''s not important,¡± I said, deciding to drop it as I eyed a large digital display on a wall opposite of us. The clock was quickly ticking toward the top of the hour and Axio¡¯s inevitable announcement. His voice wouldn¡¯t reach us here inside of the Common Ground, but I didn¡¯t necessarily think it mattered if I didn¡¯t listen to his monologue during the lull between phases, especially since it did feel like there was an active problem that needed to be solved. After absorbing The Little Engineer¡¯s Handbook, I had found that while I did have access to a much wider range of knowledge of at least cursory building techniques, it was still extremely surface level. Much like when I had received The Stupid Man¡¯s Guide To Reptile Venoms, the knowledge that this book provided seemed to be more functional than just granting me a quick way to make a new ability. After Jon and I took a bit to try and think of an ability I could create, even trying to do something as simple as just disconnecting a power source using my new knowledge of basic circuits to no avail, we decided to take a step back and reevaluate. Although the only venom based ability I had came from my bracers rather than an ability of my own, my knowledge on reptile venoms had come in handy while fighting with reptile based Augments. There was a part of me that felt a rapid ball of suspicion crunch into my gut at just how relevant some of the knowledge I could pull up was, but I pushed it aside. It would have been painfully easy to try and assume a connection, but I had to assume it was just a coincidence. Given just how widespread the robots were and the other Augments that had been handling them so far, it didn¡¯t seem likely that Axio was trying to maneuver me into a specific position as he had with SnakeBite. That wasn¡¯t to say that I was writing the possibility off completely, just that I had to acknowledge that there were plenty of Augments out there and plenty of them were Miscreants that simply did what they wanted. So, while I hoped the knowledge would provide me with some sort of advantage that could help against the Clockwork robots, or even their progenitor, I realized that I had a potential source of at least some knowledge right at my mental fingertips. Luckily for me, BrainCraft didn¡¯t brush me off when I asked to pick his brain and in no time I had found myself sitting opposite of him in a booth on one of the outer walls of the bar. While he didn¡¯t have it activated, one of the small, spikey privacy devices he had deployed earlier in the day was already on the table. ¡°So what exactly was so important that you needed to chat with me again today?¡± BrainCraft asked, setting his beer down before his hand moved to the device that I had only briefly glanced at. ¡°Does it have to do with the topic our squads discussed earlier?¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± I said, looking away and toward one of the screens mounted and facing our direction. ¡°Is there any chance you¡¯ve seen the stuff going on over in New York?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say that I have,¡± BrainCraft said. ¡°As I mentioned at lunch, Pinky and I have been rather busy with an odd infestation of giant bugs which hasn¡¯t exactly allowed for scouting regions outside of our purview.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say we¡¯ve had a similar-ish day.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Well, not with bugs for us, but¡­ well like I said, similar,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°Swansong and I actually met this morning while I was fighting a giant robot spider and it¡¯s been a mechanical zoo that I did not pay to see since then. My P.A.I. indicated that they were Augment built, so I was curious if you maybe had any insights into¡­ well anything to do with another tech based Augment since this dude is almost definitely a Miscreant.¡± ¡°Ah, well that is¡­ possible, but I don¡¯t know just how much help I will be able to provide. Our powersets may have overlap or similarly named individual powers, but you should recall from your own selection that no two sets are exactly the same. While it is entirely possible that I could explain the functionality of this other Augment¡¯s creations, I couldn¡¯t guarantee that I could provide any real insight into their designs, although¡­ you said they were robotic versions of animals?¡± BrainCraft brought a finger up to his chin and he tapped at it before his other hand waved. In a flash of light, a small tablet appeared on the table ahead of him, bobbing up and down ever so slightly. It was floating above the table ahead of him and a faint glow started to emanate from the screen without him ever even moving to touch it. ¡°There¡¯s such variation in design¡­ Testing perhaps?¡± He began to mutter to himself as he focused on the tablet, reaching back for his drink once again as his voice dropped lower. ¡°I think he¡¯s actively modifying them. The ones that we fought this morning broke down into scrap but we fought another set a few hours ago and all of the ones we took down pretty much just self-destructed the moment they had been taken down,¡± I explained, drawing his attention back to me. ¡°I only barely noticed the sudden gathering of their energy before we got out of the way of having our feet blown off.¡± ¡°So what exactly were you hoping to gain from me? I might be able to offer a few ideas on where normal structural weak spots on devices like this would be, but my specialty is with smaller devices in general. I have toyed with some drone ideas, but I still need to raise my own level a bit before I¡¯d be able to properly build a functional variant of my own,¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s kind of interesting¡­ I¡¯ll be honest I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how a mechanical genius or tech based Augment would really create or use abilities. Hell, I wasn¡¯t exactly trying to probe you on that, but it might be beneficial if we could track down where this guy was deploying the robots from in the first place too,¡± I explained and BrainCraft nodded before he snapped his fingers. The privacy device responded to his command and rose into the air before it began to spin rapidly. ¡°Again, I will say I can¡¯t make any guarantee or presumption about another Augment¡¯s powers, but I have compared notes with Gearshaft from the 6th Wave and there are enough similarities that I think I can exposit at least the generalities of your mysterious enemy,¡± BrainCraft explained. ¡°Although¡­ If I am going to explain some of how his, and by extension, my powers work, I would appreciate it if you¡¯d do the same. Call it a transaction of information.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair I suppose, are you really interested in what I can do?¡± ¡°Not even a bit,¡± BrainCraft shook his head but then smiled. ¡°But you did defeat Pinky without breaking a sweat and she¡¯s been obsessively watching any footage of your fights so that she¡¯s prepared for when you two do have a rematch, which as she has mentioned more than once, you promised her once you two were both at level 10. I believe she¡¯d appreciate it if I did do a bit of information scouting for her given that she is a squadmate of mine.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Ah, I did promise her that, didn¡¯t I¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s why she was rather upset with you for ignoring her messages for so long,¡± He explained and I laughed. ¡°She is persistent¡­ isn¡¯t she.¡± ¡°As persistent as you are dense,¡± BrainCraft agreed before laughing when I shot him a confused look. ¡°So do we have a deal? I¡¯ll of course keep the privacy screen activated the whole time so that no one can overhear if that makes you more comfortable with disclosing that information to me.¡± ¡°Yeah, we have a deal,¡± I said, holding out a hand. BrainCraft only briefly looked toward it, seemingly contemplating something before reaching out and shaking it. ¡°So again, this is going to be conjecture and based on my own abilities. Tech based Augments will generally specialize in gadget or specific mechanical creations. Our action bars are even expanded slightly to accommodate that. While you and other more combat focused Augments will only have item slots for your stamina injectors, we get an entire extra bar for the devices we construct and we can only utilize devices we build from that bar. Our normal action bars are more for repair, build, and blueprint functions which gives us more space for passive abilities. We generally use these to amplify or give life to our creations without them having to make actual sense to normal minds, although to be fair, I believe this is actually just a game design to both prevent non-players from reverse engineering any of the technological advancements we make and to stop us from trying to just turn around and sell our own inventions.¡± ¡°That¡­ makes it actually make less sense that he¡¯d set them up to blow up just because some people got their hands on the scraps of his robots,¡± I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned back into the booth. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s more likely that it was a last ditch effort to hurt you or anyone else that was able to defeat them. Although that would still beg the question as to why they hadn¡¯t been included in the first iterations you encountered,¡± BrainCraft said. ¡°Another major factor to our powers is proximity. Our devices have to be within a certain range of us in order to work, although most of us rather quickly create workarounds to this such as repeaters and network nodes, though this also ends up taking one of our limited slots. Since these attacks all look to have happened rather simultaneously around the city, I think you¡¯re going to want to be searching for whatever secret network this Augment has set up to provide reach and access for his drones. While it is possible his range is just that massive, I feel like if that were the case he¡¯d also be entirely out of your league¡­ no offense.¡± ¡°Oh I had no doubt about that, he had robots deployed that were able to square off, at least briefly, with Pinneedle and Grand Strike. I¡¯m not exactly sure what wave those two are from, but I think it¡¯s one of the earlier ones,¡± I explained, looking over at one of the monitors again. ¡°But got it, we should be looking for some sort of nodes, not sure if you¡¯ve ever been to New York but that might be a bit difficult.¡± ¡°Well that is part of the job,¡± BrainCraft said with a laugh. ¡°The good thing for you is that they shouldn¡¯t be that difficult for you to find. See, another key factor with our designs is that they aren¡¯t supposed to look ordinary, even if we try to make them that way. Between that and the fact that our tech is considered a game item and can always be highlighted, you should have somewhere to start at the very least. Now, if I were in that position, I wouldn¡¯t destroy the first node I found, I¡¯d instead try to use it to trace back the source of the signal, but that may be difficult unless you¡¯re also a tech Augment, which, as far as I¡¯m aware, you are not.¡± ¡°Definitely not,¡± I agreed as he looked toward me expectantly. ¡°That¡¯s not to say I don¡¯t have some technical knowledge¡­ but I did also just gain it about an hour ago.¡± ¡°You just gained it? Aren¡¯t you only limited to purchasing and utilizing knowledge books that align with your powerset?¡± He asked, leaning back in his booth and reaching out for his drink. ¡°Yeah¡­ well that¡¯s the thing, my power is just a bit, well¡­ versatile,¡± I said. I was just about to continue when every screen in the building started to pulse and flicker, the digital display on the far wall ticking over to the top of the hour. I looked around, seeing several of the other Augments in the building turning their attention to the screens. There was no noticeable fanfare that came with the change, something that was always present during Axio¡¯s normal announcements and unlike when I was just following along from my apartment, the televisions actually were playing footage from various Augment fights and encounters. I had to look through several different screens before I finally found the one dedicated to our wave, catching it just before the footage flipped off a combined shot of Swansong and myself fighting the Clockwork Gorillas and onto Freakenstein charging, metal horn affixed to his head, directly for a robotic kangaroo that tried to counterattack with its large back feet. ¡°Seems like there¡¯s no shortage of robotic enemies running around,¡± BrainCraft said, having similarly found his attention drawn to the screen. ¡°He¡¯s also in New York actually, just a different borough,¡± I explained, watching as footage of the well dressed Quizmaster briefly played as he looked down into a pit at several police officers. The video cut off, but not before a rather deranged looking smile split over the dark-skinned man¡¯s face. Immediately following Quizmaster, a video of a pink blur appeared and I immediately recognized Pinky as she went plowing into and through an absurdly large cockroach. The goo that was left behind made my stomach turn and I turned my attention back to BrainCraft. ¡°Those¡­ those are some really big cockroaches,¡± I said, eliciting a laugh from him. ¡°They¡¯ve been popping up all over southeast California, while my P.A.I. hasn¡¯t confirmed it as yours has, I suspect an Augment is behind it, though I¡¯ll admit I¡¯ve never heard of giant bugs being a problem for anyone else before,¡± he replied. I turned back to the screen just as it rolled over and displayed the current top ten list. Tenth Wave Guardians: 201 Miscreants: 297 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 15 Thunder God - Miscreant - 25180 Points 2. Loophole - Level 14 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 23635 Points 3. Swansong - Level 12 Healing Voice - Guardian- 17915 Points 4. Freakenstein - Level 12 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 16025 Points 5. Quizmaster - Level 12 Gameshow Host - Miscreant - 15865 Points 6. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 12 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 15520 Points 7. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 11 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 15260 Points 8. Pigeon - Level 11 Pigeon - Miscreant - 14970 Points 9. Vice Grip - Level 11 Toolbox Mechanic - Guardian - 14750 Points 10. Lazer Tazer - Level 11 Lethal Lighting Specialist - Miscreant - 14520 Points ¡°Did¡­ did we gain Guardians?¡± I asked. My brain was a bit fuzzy from the last time I had actually looked at this list but I could have sworn that the number had been lower than 200. ¡°I believe we did,¡± BrainCraft responded with a nod. ¡°It is possible to switch sides of course, perhaps a few of the less violent Miscreants had a change of heart.¡± ¡°Nothing wrong with that,¡± I said and then looked over at him curiously. ¡°I¡¯m a bit surprised you¡¯re not up on the list since you¡¯re teamed up with Pinky.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sitting at 23rd at the moment. She had a much stronger start than I had, so I have been catching up, but most of my point gains come from our joint endeavors,¡± He explained and then once again looked at me expectantly, waving a hand in my direction as one of his tablets hovered in the air off to the side. ¡°Now, you were saying about your powers?¡± ¡°Sorry, it''s easy to get distracted, you know how it is,¡± I said and he nodded. I didn¡¯t need to explain every nuance of my power, but we had made a deal, and if I was going to be dealing with a tech based Augment, I wanted to keep on good terms with him, just in case I needed to pick his brain as we discovered new information. ¡°Okay, so the basics of my powers¡­¡± B.2: Chapter 15

Interlude Beginning of Phase Two: 02D:00H:00M:00S

¡°Goooooood evening Augments! We have had quite the exciting little day off from point requirements, haven¡¯t we? Now, first things first, I see some of you have already been heeding my advice and have been putting yourselves out there. We¡¯ve registered an astounding 57 new squads today, vastly breaking the previous record of 10 in a single day. That¡¯s some very, very good work! Before any of you ask, no, I¡¯m not going to reward you all for following these simple instructions, because it¡¯s really the friends you¡¯ve made that¡¯s reward enough. I also really don¡¯t want to spoil you all too much, a few of you got some rather spectacular gifts from those F:Tier loot boxes I distributed and I think the earlier waves are going to be really jealous when the next Phase starts in earnest, although I personally hope it might start inspiring some of them to actually start pushing themselves.¡± ¡°Perhaps I should have tried to envelope more of the Waves into the alterations I made for this year, but as you humans like to say, hindsight is 20/20 and I¡¯m feeling rather confident I made the right choice to focus on those of you who I haven¡¯t allowed to slip into bad habits. And if that does inspire some of those old dogs to learn a few new tricks as you all quickly begin to surpass them, then that¡¯s certainly a win for me. With all that said, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any more benefit to me wasting any more of our time tonight, especially since there¡¯s no reason to punish any of you for failing to live up to my very, very reasonable standards. Besides, there¡¯s still plenty of prep work to do for the next phase and there¡¯s only 48 hours left to do it. As a reminder, the three Augments that gain the most Phase Points prior to the start of the next Phase will receive an A+:Tier loot box. I could spoil just who is currently in the running for this, but where¡¯s the fun in that? Keep working and maybe it could be you that will get that extra boon going into Phase Two. Good luck Augments.¡± Hydramental scoffed and a lip rose slightly into a sneer before he turned his attention away from the small bank of televisions lining the wall of the store. They had all been playing their own various loops of videos, but as was tradition for him at this point, the moment the daily announcement started, the television nearest to Hydramental changed, at least within his vision. He wasn¡¯t in his gear, instead having taken a bit of time to stop in at a store on his way home from visiting Giada and his nephew. After being knocked unconscious again by Loophole, something Hydramental was becoming increasingly annoyed by, he had woken up to find the base they had infiltrated completely abandoned and stripped bare. That wasn¡¯t even hyperbole either, the room that had been filled with cabinets, lab equipment, non-Sapient vats, and NPCs was nothing more than a giant, empty concrete room when he opened his eyes. It wasn¡¯t just the lab though. When he left the base and found his way back to Chelsea, every single one of the bikers that had been popping up and appearing throughout lower Manhattan had just up and vanished. Hydramental had been positive that Loophole had had something to do with that and had wanted to, at the very least, discover what the hell had happened, but the orange clad busy-body wasn¡¯t answering his messages. Even more surprising than the bikers just vanishing was how quickly the charges had been dropped from Giada for obstruction and criminal activity in relation to them. The day following the assault on the assumed headquarters of the Vipers, she was simply released from holding, without even ever having to have a lawyer come in to advocate for her. Without anywhere to call home after the yacht she had been living in with her son disappeared, it had been Hydramental¡¯s parents who had picked her up and taken her and little Ozzy in. Giada didn¡¯t have questions for Hydramental, because as far as she was aware he was still just ¡°Lil¡¯ Marco¡± that used to follow Sal around, and she had no interest in sharing what ¡°Sal¡± had been up to either. In fact, the past afternoon she had gotten so frustrated with him that she told him not to even come around to see Ozzy if all he was going to do was ask what Sal had been up to when it ¡°wasn¡¯t his business.¡± Although he had thrown himself into the ¡°game¡± wholeheartedly when he had first woken up, Hydramental just hadn¡¯t been pushing himself since the attack on the Viper base. He crossed the 10,000 point barrier but didn¡¯t keep pushing himself after the well of Viper¡¯s to publicly defeat dried up so completely. His fight earlier in the day against the Clockwork Scorpion had been one of the few times he had actively flexed his abilities in the last few days. Hydramental walked through the store with a basket in hand, moving from the televisions and down into an aisle. The store hadn¡¯t been empty when he had first entered it, but the longer he had stayed in the store, the more noticeably empty the large department store seemed to get. Under normal circumstances, it certainly wouldn¡¯t have been odd for him to see someone else looking along the shelves full of various chips and dips, but with the increasingly quiet atmosphere in the store, it was odd that two men in crisp black suits were standing directly in the middle of the aisle he had entered, blocking the path pretty much completely. ¡°You assholes planning on movin¡¯ or what?¡± Hydramental spat when the men didn¡¯t even turn to acknowledge his approach. He was about to say something else when his vision highlighted them. While his P.A.I., a rather mellow guy named Jamie, normally would have read out the description, instead Hydramental was surprised to hear the monotone voice he only heard when he pulled open windows inside of The Common Ground. ¡°Warning: Information on these Sapient NPCs has been blocked due to Registered Exceptions.¡± Hydramental looked up and toward the ceiling, looking around for cameras as he felt his grip on the basket tightening. He wasn¡¯t quite sure why he wasn¡¯t able to hear his P.A.I. but in the moment, that really didn¡¯t matter to him too much. ¡°Please Hydramental, we aren¡¯t here to fight with you,¡± a soft, female voice said from behind and he whirled on his heel to face the newcomer. When Hydramental highlighted her, the system had the exact same automated response. The girl couldn¡¯t have been older than nineteen and shouldn¡¯t have felt as imposing as she did, but she had a stern look that made Hydramental hesitate. A moment later, two more men stepped up behind her and he set his jaw in determination. Regardless of what Loophole might have thought of him, Hydramental wasn¡¯t interested in just killing people to kill. He wanted to protect people, but he knew he had to protect himself in order to do that. As long as there wouldn¡¯t be footage of it, he could activate his gear and force whoever these people were out of his way if he needed to. ¡°And who the fuck are we,¡± he said, activating his gear in a flash. The black long sleeve shirt he was wearing erupted into color, splitting into three even segments of red, gold, and blue. His multicolored mask flared to life across his eyes. ¡°My name is Geraldine,¡± the young woman said, completely unphased by the sudden appearance of Hydramental¡¯s costume. ¡°I am the Assistant to Dr. Merens of the Strategic Headquarters for Augment Development and Evaluation and I believe we can be of some assistance to you.¡± A devilish grin split across Hydramental¡¯s face as two bundles of light split off of his body and in only a second, there were three of him all in different colored shirts. The version of him in red had a small ball of fire erupt over his hand. ¡°You¡¯re the assholes who took my brother, aren¡¯t you.¡± All three of the Hydramental¡¯s spoke in unison. The two men behind Geraldine started to step forward but she held up a hand and they both stopped in unison. ¡°Took is an inappropriate way to describe it,¡± Geraldine said as her hand lowered. ¡°We recovered him after his passing, which we truly do believe is a tragic-¡± Hydramental struck, throwing the fireball forward right toward the young lady, immediately following the blaze of fire, his blue form jabbed forward in two rapid strikes, sending sharp icicles shards flying right behind them. The sudden attack should have been a perfect strike, had it not been for the rapid response of the two men that had been standing behind Geraldine. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The blaze of fire extinguished as if it had been smothered only a foot away from her and the shards of ice were redirected from their collision course in a wide circle, stopping to hover over the hand of the man on her left. Hydramental looked between the only two he hadn¡¯t highlighted and found that they didn¡¯t come with the same blocked message. He started with the man that dissolved the icicles with a wave of his hand. ¡°Icebox Ian. Level 16 (Elite) S.H.A.D.E. Defender. This is a non-Sapient Augmented NPC.¡± ¡°Hot Air Hank. Level 18 (Elite) S.H.A.D.E. Defender. This is a non-Sapient Augmented NPC.¡± ¡°I told you Hydramental, we aren¡¯t here to fight you,¡± Geraldine said in an even tone. ¡°Funny way of showing it,¡± Hydramental said, looking from the two men and back to the young girl. There were two bursts of light as his forms melted and merged back into his main body. He was only level 10 and was far from being so prideful that he would throw himself at an impossible fight. ¡°What the fuck did you do with Sal.¡± ¡°As I said, we simply recovered him after his untimely passing Hydramental,¡± Geraldina repeated. ¡°Our organization is dedicated to the research on Augments and organization of resistance against the Artificial Intelligence at the core of the game you all have been subjected to.¡± ¡°Uh huh, I¡¯m sure that a company with the acronym S.H.A.D.E is totally above board,¡± Hydramental scoffed. ¡°What sort of dense fucker do you take me for?¡± To his surprise, Geraldine¡¯s stoic attitude broke and she actually laughed. ¡°That is an understandable concern that I think somebody should have pointed out, but I assure you it¡¯s only a reference to the fact that we must work in the shadows so that the powers at be don¡¯t step in to stop us.¡± Hydramental stared at her, trying to read any tell on her face as the laugh slowly turned back to the stoic, evaluating gaze that the young woman seemed to near perfectly maintain. Geraldine held out a hand behind her and the man labeled as Hot Air Hank handed her a tablet that she took without looking. ¡°We have been working against Axio since the Augmentation Array first appeared, up until this year, we thought we had understood the general ways he worked, but something different happened with the new wave of Augments that appeared this year. Snake- er¡­ Salvatore, your brother that is, had been marked as missing for years, but we had been confident he had been one of the Augments that Axio had chosen to do more of his inhumane experiments on.¡± Although Hydramental wanted to scoff and repeat his doubts at her sincerity, he hadn¡¯t exactly trusted Axio from the start either. ¡°Why the fuck are you telling me this and why the fuck are you ambushing me when I¡¯m shopping,¡± he snapped, crossing his arms and briefly looking over his shoulder at the two men that seemingly hadn¡¯t even turned at the commotion behind them. ¡°I do apologize for the inconvenient timing, but you have to understand that much of what we do is impromptu,¡± Geraldine explained. ¡°We had been looking for an opportune time to both approach you and test our Localized Array Null Zone, so this just happened to be fortuitous timing more than an attempt to, as you say, ambush you.¡± ¡°Okay fine, you got my attention,¡± Hydramental said, his tone settling down though his posture refused to relax. ¡°You said you recovered my brother, where is he? He deserves to be buried with our family.¡± ¡°Something we will be more than happy to accommodate,¡± Geraldine nodded. ¡°We can have him brought to the funeral home of your choice by tomorrow morning.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll forgive me if I don¡¯t quite believe that you wouldn¡¯t just send some cloned doppelganger in his place. Especially with those two puppet bodyguards behind you,¡± Hydramental said, pointing toward the men. Something felt off about Geraldine to him but he just couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on what it was. ¡°Would you prefer to accompany us back to where we have him so that you can utilize your system to ensure he is who we say he is?¡± She asked. There was no sound of annoyance or even exacerbation in her tone, though she didn¡¯t sound monotone either. It was hard to say what it was about her that had left Hydramental feeling so wary but even with the alien feeling that she exuded, his gut wasn¡¯t telling him to strike again.He hadn¡¯t trusted his gut when it told him not to work with Loophole and look where that had gotten him, so even though Geraldine¡¯s body language felt so off, he decided to push forward. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say I believe you and you¡¯re gonna do exactly what you say you¡¯re gonna do,¡± Hydramental started, shifting on his feet as he turned to look at the various undisturbed bags of chips on the shelves next to him. ¡°Why? Are you trying to say your department or company or whoever the fuck you are cares that much about making sure the remains of Augments are properly taken care of?¡± ¡°I am not saying that,¡± Geraldine shook her head. ¡°It would be disingenuous for us to attempt to convince you of that. In truth Hydramental, you may not have been our first choice of Augment to approach. You have noticeable anger issues and your powers, while impressive, have not brought you to the pinnacle of this recent wave of new Augments.¡± ¡°Fuck you, I¡¯ve seen enough at this point. I¡¯m just refusing to play some asshole A.I.¡¯s twisted experiment disguised as a game. I¡¯ve done my job, I¡¯ve kept people safe unlike some of the Augment¡¯s that decide to go looking for fame or fortune.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure who you¡¯re trying to lie to Hydramental but I assure you we¡¯ve been paying attention. You were certainly trying more than hard enough up until the night we recovered your brother¡¯s body,¡± Geraldine said. This made Hydramental tense up, his head slowly turning to look at her. ¡°What¡­ Did you think we had recovered his body years ago and were only just now telling you about it? I thought you said you weren¡¯t that dense?¡± Hydramental¡¯s form briefly shimmered and one of his duplicates began to materialize before he took in a deep breath, pulling the energy back into himself. While he hadn¡¯t tried to think about it too much, he had convinced himself that Axio was leading both himself and Loophole on some wild goose chase, using the ghost of his brother as a sick sort of joke. When they had found the room full of non-Sapient vats, Hydramental had sworn he was done with all of it, but had he been wrong? ¡°What the fuck happened to my brother?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of the temporary injections that some of the non-Sapient creations were using, correct?¡± She asked and Hydramental nodded. ¡°We have reason to believe that Axio had circumvented his programming and was trying to use your brother to create a way to duplicate specific powersets.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t he just do that already?¡± ¡°No, he couldn¡¯t. Our organization has been around and following this since the Augmentation Array appeared, Axio has always been bound by the rules that the original developers of this system set into place. There was something that changed this year specifically that has allowed him to-¡± ¡°The extra Augment,¡± Hydramental interrupted. ¡°Axio said there was an extra Augment in one of his first little megalomaniac rants. But wait¡­. If he did that, why would he bring it up?¡± ¡°Because he knows who is listening, it¡¯s plausible deniability,¡± Geraldine explained before she looked down at the tablet she had been holding idly in her hands. She quickly typed something into it before looking back up toward Hydramental. ¡°You were wondering why we were approaching you specifically? Well it¡¯s because we believe it¡¯s what your brother was doing. We think he had found a way to break free from Axio¡¯s control and that he had been attempting to lead you to him, perhaps even to break him out of his confinement.¡± ¡°What? How would he have been doing that?¡± ¡°With the non-Sapients. Again, there are certain things that we¡¯ve been able to confirm are hardwired into the system. Non-Sapients must be controlled by someone that the game categorizes as a Miscreant. We believe your brother figured out a way to obfuscate his intentions from Axio and had attempted to give you a way to find him, only for Axio to learn of this and send his own countermeasure.¡± ¡°Are you sayin¡¯ that fucker Loophole is just Axio¡¯s fucking puppet?!¡± Hydramental growled. Every odd feeling the orange Guardian had given him seemed like it fell into place for him as he took a cautious step toward Geraldine. The two men behind her didn¡¯t step to intercept him, almost as if they knew he wasn¡¯t about to try to attack her. ¡°Perhaps unknowingly, but yes, that¡¯s the assumption we are currently working on. When we recovered your brother, we discovered the room he was being kept in had ongoing video surveillance,¡± Geraldine tapped a finger on the tablet before turning the screen to face Hydramental. ¡°I apologize that it doesn¡¯t have audio, but this should give you at least some explanation.¡± Hydramental¡¯s jaw set as he saw what he barely could recognize as his brother. The video wasn¡¯t grainy, it was more than clear who the two people in the room were, but the older brother he had once looked up to looked as if he was nothing more than skin and bone. There were tears running down his brother¡¯s face¡­ right up until Loophole lifted a gun, and shot him in the chest. ¡°I¡¯m going to fucking kill him,¡± Hydramental growled. He could feel his anger rising, his desire to set the store around him on fire was hard to quell but he knew it wasn¡¯t the right outlet for his rage. Geraldine shook her head, still maintaining a perfectly calm demeanor as she handed the tablet back to one of her bodyguards, retrieving a small injector in its place. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it would be wise for you to attempt that right now and it¡¯s not what we were hoping you would do by showing you that video,¡± Geraldine explained before holding the injector up to him. ¡°This is a product we have developed, it will immediately grant you five levels. In exchange for returning your brother¡¯s remains to you and this item, we¡¯d like you to do a job for us. And before you ask, yes¡­ it involves Loophole.¡± B.2: Chapter 16

Central Park, Manhattan, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Fortune¡¯s Cadence City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 23635 Beginning of Phase Two: 01D:05H:20M:15S

¡°I am so jealous.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a secret door¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a secret door hidden in Central Park¡­ literally steps away from the statue of Balto, Loophole!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to have to side with Codex on this one.¡± ¡°Oh not you too¡­¡± I groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. ¡°You¡¯re literally standing right here, you don¡¯t have any reason to be jealous!¡± After I had gotten done talking with BrainCraft, Swansong and I went back out into the city to fly and patrol around for the rest of the evening. While we didn¡¯t end up finding a single extra encounter to handle, nor did we run into any of the other Augments in the city, my Personal Gravity Laws ability did increase up to Level 3, which would really just let me stay in the air longer. The lack of new enemies to fight was a bit odd, but given that we were positive they were Augment in origin, it could have just meant that our invisible enemy had been reevaluating his plans after his creations had been destroyed so quickly. When the next morning passed by mostly without incident, Swansong finally told me that there was something she wanted to look at over in Central Park and I agreed to meet her there. ¡°I meant I agreed with the sentiment, besides, it¡¯s not like we¡¯ve bought it yet,¡± Swansong said with a shrug. ¡°Regardless, I can be jealous of the people that already have cool secret lairs.¡± ¡°It costs 150,000 credits and we haven¡¯t had a single new Crime Alert since the monkeys, why did we come here to even consider this?¡± ¡°To be fair, you did have the alert down in Chelsea that popped up first thing this morning, you just didn¡¯t respond to it because you didn¡¯t want to run into Hydramental,¡± Jon said and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. ¡°Well Loophole did say that that guy had a bit of a temper,¡± Swansong said before I could vocalize the same thing. She reached up and tapped at her chin for just a moment. ¡°I guess you could have still gone and tried to get partial credit, but it''s probably not worth him trying to fight you just for helping out." While I had mostly skipped over my interactions with Hydramental when I was convincing Swansong and Pinky to turn off their Acceptance Matrixes, with us now a part of a full squad and Hydramental a possible source of issues, I at least filled Swansong in on his bi-polar tendencies, just in case she encountered him without me around. I still had a few messages from him that I hadn¡¯t responded to, though I did finally open them up. As I had expected, they were mostly expletive filled demands for information on what had happened, with an increasingly annoying edge to them as the hours went on. The last of the messages he sent had only come through just after Axio¡¯s announcement when I had been talking with BrainCraft, once again demanding that I ¡°show my fuckin¡¯ face¡± so that we could ¡°hash things out.¡± ¡°I mean, even if I threw in all 36,500 credits that I have in my B.E.L.T., we¡¯d still be short by over 110,000¡­¡± I said, skipping past the topic and moving right along. I looked from the highlighted edging that revealed the door embedded into the wall in a small tunnel. ¡°Are you somehow sitting on that many credits?¡± ¡°Nope, not even close. I¡¯ve only got 25,000 myself,¡± Swansong admitted with a shake of her head that sent her red hair tumbling around her. ¡°Then I ask again, why-¡± I was cut off as a flash of light appeared over her hand, leaving a slip of paper clutched between her fingers. ¡°I¡¯ve got a coupon,¡± She said with a wide smile as she looked up at me. ¡°75% off.¡± ¡°75¡­ wait¡­ when did you get that?¡± I asked as she pulled the coupon back into her B.E.L.T. ¡°I got an F:Tier box yesterday from an achievement called Late Bloomer. Apparently that¡¯s what you get for not getting into an actual fight until after the first Phase,¡± Swansong explained. ¡°I didn¡¯t end up opening the box here until this morning and this was what it gave me.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ well that¡¯s lucky for us,¡± I said, taking a moment to think about it and feeling a crease form in my brow as I got stuck on what felt like it should be mostly basic math. ¡°That uh... that means it would cost¡­ umm¡­¡± ¡°37,500 for a Level 1 Squad Base, or 18,750 each,¡± Jon said, apparently having had the number waiting for me to simply ask for it. ¡°And I really think you guys should do it.¡± ¡°Why am I not surprised that you already had the math done¡­ why didn¡¯t you just tell me you had the coupon instead of waiting until we got here? It would have cleared up just so much confusion¡­¡± ¡°Codex suggested it,¡± Swansong said with an awkward shrug. ¡°He uh¡­ for some reason thought it would help with my public speaking issue?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I said at all! Sheesh, first Loophole half listens to me and now you¡­¡± Jon complained. ¡°I said it would help her learn about ¡°showmanship,¡± something all good heroes need and something that¡¯s easier to practice in controlled situations, like this one.¡± ¡°Um¡­ how was this supposed to teach her showmanship?¡± I asked. ¡°Look it¡¯s not important now that she¡¯s gone and tried to explain it,¡± Jon said with a groan. ¡°So, are you guys gonna buy this place?¡± ¡°Are there other places we can look?¡± ¡°Nah not really. You guys are only eligible to purchase a squad base in regions that your team has a full claim on, meaning only here in Central Park since it doesn¡¯t automatically convert the areas you guys claimed on your own into Squad territories. There are technically a few other possible spots that you can set the entrance at and I can have you guys run around and see them if you really want to, but I think this place is secluded enough that it will give you guys a place to slip in and out of without too many people noticing,¡± Jon explained and then I heard him let out a laugh. ¡°And again¡­ Balto statue. Remember how many times we saw that movie growing up, Loophole?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen that¡­¡± Swansong said as she looked out of the tunnel toward the bronze statue just a bit up the pathway. ¡°Is it good?¡± ¡°I mean, I think so, maybe it¡¯s just nostalgia but it¡¯s a really good animated movie,¡± Jon replied before he seemed to think about it for a minute and then added, ¡°Although you should avoid the sequels like the plague.¡± ¡°You just really want us to buy a base just so you can see if the Command Room gets upgraded, don¡¯t you?¡± I said with a sigh, trying to get us back on topic before I met Swansong¡¯s eyes. ¡°Are you really okay with dropping this many credits on this? Do you think we need one?¡± ¡°Well um¡­ Yeah¡­ I¡¯d be okay with it¡­ It was kinda my idea once I pulled the coupon out of the loot box,¡± She explained, squirming ever so slightly the longer I looked at her. ¡°I uh¡­ sorta live with my parents still. It¡¯s a bit of a risk anytime I am trying to rush out the door when an alert pops up¡­ I wouldn¡¯t mind being able to jump right from my bedroom there to here so that I can stop worrying if they are going to catch me one day and get wrapped up into this.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Oh¡­ oh yeah I can definitely see why you¡¯d be on board with jumping right to getting one of these bases,¡± I said with a nod. ¡°I can understand wanting to distance yourself from them and you¡¯re right, this would make jumping into action a bit easier. Hell, I wouldn¡¯t have to run up to the roof in my normal clothes just to get out into the city. So how do we do this?¡± ¡°Well since you¡¯re technically the leader, you have to be the one to initiate it and then Swansong can apply the coupon,¡± Jon explained and I highlighted the door once more. When I mentally clicked on it, a new ¡°purchase¡± window opened. ¡°Central Park Squad Base. Level 1. Cost: 150,000 Credits. Purchase: Self/Squad-Split/No.¡± Swansong lifted a hand up and the window briefly shuddered before the words ¡°Discount Applied!¡± appeared and lowered the cost all the way down to 37,500 and then I selected the Squad-Split option on the window. It confirmed that we wanted to split the cost 50/50 and then 18,750 credits were deducted from my B.E.L.T. instantaneously. ¡°New Achievement! Landowner! First you make a squad with this lady and now you¡¯re buying the equivalent of a house? Sheesh you two are moving a little fast don¡¯t yah think? Actually, you know what, I¡¯m not gonna complain, that means I get an upgrade too. You¡¯ve purchased a Squad Base, try not to leave the common areas a mess or else Carrot Top over there is gonna think you¡¯re a slob. This is a Gold level achievement. Reward: You have unlocked access to the Squad Base interface.¡± ¡°YES!¡± Jon shouted, practically rattling my head. I even caught Swansong wince slightly before his whoop left our minds. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± ¡°Good news I take it?¡± I asked curiously as I stepped toward the highlighted section of the wall. When I was only a step away, the bricks in the wall quite literally parted, pulling to the side and revealing a short staircase heading down into a darkened tunnel. ¡°The Command Room just dinged around me and I have a message on the main screen that says, ¡°Squad Base Integration now available¡±,¡± Jon said and I could hear the giddiness in his voice. ¡°He¡¯s so easy to please,¡± Angie giggled. Swansong followed closely behind me as we started to descend the staircase. The moment we were past the wall, the bricks closed up behind us and light flooded the area. Much like the tunnel that had led Hydramental and I into the base beyond Grand Central Station, the light in this one seemed to be coming from both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Luckily unlike the tunnel that had led to that base, this one was much, much shorter. It only extended about fifty feet outward from the bottom of the staircase before we reached another door. I grabbed the handle, pulling it open and waving for Swansong to enter which she did with a soft smile toward me. ¡°Well this is¡­ sparse,¡± She said. I followed her in and found myself immediately agreeing with her. The room was a large, empty concrete cube that almost reminded me of the empty combat cell that Pinky and I had fought in on the second floor of the Common Ground. The only two differences being that on walls almost exactly opposite of each other there were two very different looking doors and then at the center of the entire room was a large console with a holographic display that read ¡°Initializing¡± hovering over it. ¡°Is¡­ is that my bedroom door?¡± I asked, staring at the door on the left side of the empty room before I looked over at a door painted with white, pink and gold swirls on the other side. ¡°Well that would at least explain why mine is here too,¡± She said as she started to wander over toward it. ¡°I guess that¡¯s how we connect back to our Safe Houses?¡± ¡°One way to find out,¡± I said and walked over to the door that looked like mine and pushed it open. It didn¡¯t suddenly reveal my bedroom, instead opening up to a bright orange portal square. Just like with the transit to Sanctuary Square, stepping through the portal was instantaneous, except instead of exiting out from behind the Display Case, I was stepping out from a portal that opened up inside of my closet. I walked over, poking my head out of the door to my bedroom and looked across the room to the door that opened into the Command Room. ¡°Yo!¡± Jon yelled over his shoulder with a wave. ¡°I¡¯m already digging my way through the base features¡­ this is so friggin awesome.¡± ¡°Whoa what the heck!?¡± Swansong¡¯s voice echoed in my head and I looked back toward the still glowing portal in my closet ¡°I can tinker with the layout super easily,¡± Jon said with a laugh and a toothy grin as he swiveled slightly in his chair to look at me. Instead of guessing what they meant by that, and knowing it was literally only a step away now, I turned around and immediately went back through the portal. The bare concrete room was gone, replaced with a large open living room layout, complete with a small section at the center of the room where the floor dipped down. The holographic display had lowered down into the central depression of the room. There were no furniture or decorations, but the layout itself felt far more welcoming than the giant concrete bunker it had been only a few minutes earlier. The doors to our respective Safe Houses remained where they were, but a new hallway appeared opposite of the one we had first walked through to get to the room. The room shifted around us as one corner of the room stretched backward and a countertop lifted from the ground, creating a pseudo barrier from the rest of the room before the walls and floors in it transformed into tile. ¡°This is like playing the Sims but without any of the bugs and a stupidly easy to use interface!¡± Jon said and I couldn¡¯t help but roll my eyes. ¡°It would be kinda nice if we had some actual furniture¡­ what else can we do with this?¡± I asked as I wandered around the pit and over to the room that Jon had managed to expand from our layout. ¡°Is this supposed to be a kitchen?¡± ¡°Yup, check the squad window in your interface, I can modify the layout based on the total available size the base is allowed to occupy, but you two have to allocate the... I guess they¡¯re called Base Points? Well simple name aside, at a level 1 base, you guys each get 10 of the points to allocate to upgrades for the place. I for one would like it if you spent 5 for the Command Room integration personally, but it¡¯s probably a good idea to go through the different upgrades before we jump at what I want. The integration for my room here doesn¡¯t have all that many details as to what would come with that, which makes sense given it¡¯s still experimental, so I wouldn¡¯t blame you guys if you wanted to jump at the more obvious upgrades.¡± ¡°Whoever designed this game is really doing people a disservice by hiding details on everything until you unlock it,¡± Swansong muttered as she walked over into the kitchen area herself. ¡°There¡¯s appliances like stoves and fridges that we could get for 2 points each. The fridge doesn¡¯t really do much, but apparently cooking food on the stoves helps get the Well Fed buff no matter what you cook on it.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I said as I opened the window in my interface. A sudden idea occurred to me as I opened a second window up for my B.E.L.T. and looked through the sparse but somewhat growing inventory. ¡°We don¡¯t need a fridge,¡± I said with a laugh before I materialized a large cabinet that I had stuffed into my B.E.L.T. days earlier. ¡°How will- ooooh,¡± Swansong said before cutting herself off. The large, somewhat beat up standalone cabinet had been sitting in my B.E.L.T. since just after my first interaction with the cloned version of Sal. It didn¡¯t have the most space, but even then, if the basic fridge we could purchase for the room didn¡¯t have any actual real benefits other than keeping stuff cool, then why waste the limited resource of points we had to change things. Since this cabinet had been upgraded by the system to be Refrigerated, it meant that it could, in fact, just work as our fridge. With that down, I looked back to the list of upgrades. They were split into categories based on their costs and while the list was excessively large, I still had to scroll through it to look at all of the options. There were simple things for only a single point, like televisions and sound systems, up to actual base defenses, like turrets and traps for three or four points. As Jon had pointed out, there was an option to integrate his Command Room into the base as well for five points and it was the only thing on the list that did cost that much. I was just about to say screw it and purchase the integration for him when alarms and sirens filled the room around us. I actually jumped, finding myself looking around and preparing for an attack when the holographic display at the center of the pit lit up brightly. ¡°Squad Crime Alert! It¡¯s a¡­ bird? Robotic forms have been seen flying overhead of Central Park heading on a direct course for the Central Park Zoo! Go and save those cute animals before the weird robotic ones do something unspeakable to them! Reward: Your Squad will receive a Medium Reputation Boost, 2,500 credits, and a B:Tier Squad Base Loot Box. ¡°There¡¯s Squad Base boxes?! Oh, yup, there they are in the database, they grant Base equipment and upgrades!¡± Jon was right back into full on giddy mode as the Crime Alert faded and I saw Swansong hide a giggle behind her hand. ¡°Well, guess we can do the decorating later,¡± she said as she shot me a smile. ¡°Think you can fight while you fly?¡± ¡°We¡¯re about to find out.¡± B.2: Chapter 17 ¡°Please don¡¯t scream in my-¡± ¡°IT¡¯S A ROBOT PTERODACTYL, LOOPHOLE!!!¡± Jon screamed and I could hear him bouncing in his chair. ¡°AND THERE¡¯S LITTLE ONES TOO!!!¡± Swansong and I had barely lifted ourselves up and over the treeline before we spotted the metallic creatures in the distance. The Clockwork Pterodactyl was the size of a fighter jet and it might have been easy to mistake it for one, if it hadn¡¯t been for the giant flapping wings. There were smaller, drone sized versions of it that followed behind it like children following their mother and the flock of them slowly circled around the Central Park Zoo. ¡°Go low, there¡¯s still a crowd in the park, we need to evacuate them now¡­ too many people don¡¯t look up,¡± I said, looking over at Swansong. She gave me a sharp, quick nod before she pointed herself toward the zoo and darted toward it. With her gone, I looked back toward the large pterodactyl, grateful they hadn¡¯t taken notice of me just yet, and then accelerated up and into the air above them. ¡°Guess these guys don¡¯t look up either.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really starting to wonder if there¡¯s an argument for animal abuse in here¡­¡± Angie murmured and I rolled my eyes as I tried to focus on the pterodactyl. It wasn¡¯t holding still, making it hard to keep a perfect bead on, but I knew just from its size that I was going to need to hit it hard. Swansong had wondered if I was able to fight while flying and while I was pretty sure I could, the constant Stamina drain from my flight along with the larger cost to some of my abilities simply meant that even if I could, it wouldn¡¯t be a very long fight. But, that only mattered if I was still flying. The pterodactyls hadn¡¯t started moving in toward the zoo, but their presence, thanks to Swansong, had been noticed and I could hear as the crowd below us started to rush for cover. A simple, soft melody was barely reaching my ears, but as the crowd stopped its sudden panicked run in favor of an orderly jogging formation, I assumed she must have started singing her Song of the Peaceful Mind. I continued to drift, keeping myself over the robots until they were over a spot that had been thankfully cleared of civilians. ¡°Please work,¡± I found myself muttering as I pointed myself just a bit ahead of the giant pterodactyl¡¯s circular path and activated Earthbound Impact. The ability¡¯s biggest drawback was the fact that once I activated it, I would start to plummet toward the ground, speeding up the longer I dropped. If my target managed to get out of the way and escape from my zone before I either hit them or hit the ground, then the attack might as well have never happened in the first place. I was trying to mitigate that by aiming ahead of my flying target, but if I wanted to maximize the damage, I had to make sure I was dropping from high enough. I was only about fifteen feet above the pterodactyl, dropping at nearly 150 miles per hour, when the pterodactyl sped up. It wasn¡¯t a ¡°slight¡± increase that I was just assuming had happened either, instead having a noticeable burst of energy emit from the rear of the robot before it jolted way ahead of my planned path. On instinct, as I dropped past the Clockwork Pterodactyl, I activated Center of The Universe and forced the ability to yank my enemies at its maximum power. While it was risky to throw more of my draining stamina at an ability that I couldn¡¯t guarantee was going to work, my luck worked in my favor and my gamble paid off as all of the smaller Pterodactyl drones were yanked from their flight path. They followed me all the way down to the ground, even as their wings beat in protest before they crashed against the pavement when I made impact. ¡°Heads up, the momma bird is letting out more of them, wait¡­ why is the big one level 62?!¡± Swansong called out. ¡°Wait what?!¡± I said, looking up just in time to see as the belly of the dinosaur opened and half a dozen more drones came pouring out. The pterodactyl was luckily in range this time and my vision quickly pulled up its description box. ¡°Clockwork Pterodactyl! Level 62 Mechanical Golem.¡± ¡°Angie!? Didn¡¯t you say these things were supposed to be regulated to the lowest level required for the region?¡± ¡°I¡­ Yes Loophole, that¡¯s what I said,¡± Angie said, slightly defensively, ¡°Perhaps you warrant a bigger target on your back after all.¡± ¡°Heads up!¡± Jon called out just as the small drone sizes robots came dive-bombing toward me. I looked at the closest of the plummeting machines and highlighted it as I heard Swansong begin singing her Song of Hercules. ¡°Clockwork Falcon! Level 13 Mechanical Golem.¡± I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of the discrepancy in levels, but as long as the big one was going to stay airborne, I was going to thank my luck that the smaller ones didn¡¯t follow the same pattern. Since we hadn¡¯t had to travel that far for the fight, I hadn¡¯t managed to drain my Stamina by too much just from flying, but the rapid combo of attacks to bring just the drones down had managed to bring me down to just over 60% of my remaining bar. I activated Float Like A Butterfly, getting out of the way just in time before one of the drones crashed into the ground¡­ and promptly exploded. The explosion was even larger than the ones that the Clockwork Monkeys had produced and I was tossed backward, slamming against the wall of an enclosure for some sort of exotic birds that began squawking in fear. There was a slight ringing in my ear and I felt a slight bit of disorientation, only barely snapping out of it before another one of the drones could crash into me. This time I didn¡¯t just dodge out of the way, instead moving as fast as I could to escape the explosion that accompanied the drone¡¯s impact. My increased Dexterity and newly acquired parkour skills were paying off and I quickly put a good amount of distance between myself and the blast. The squawking grew louder as a hole was ripped into the side of the enclosure and at least a dozen colorful birds escaped out of the newly formed door. The drones weren¡¯t giving me time to rest as more came rushing my direction. There were at least three of them that I could see and before they could reach me, I activated Launchpad and went rocketing up and into the air. Like homing missiles, the three drones turned sharply up and into the air to follow me. While I could have absolutely reactivated Earthbound Impact and repeated my opening attack, I took advantage of my burst of speed and took flight, turning my attention toward the Clockwork Pterodactyl. ¡°There¡¯s five of them following you Loophole, I¡¯m not seeing any others but be careful Swansong,¡± Jon''s voice was faint in the back of my head as I put on the speed. I wasn¡¯t going to risk missing it this time and I flew in a tight spiral around the legs of the pterodactyl before getting as close to its back as I could. I took in a deep breath, counted to three, and then activated Phase Step. I didn¡¯t have a place in mind that I wanted to teleport to, just away and I found myself falling through the air underneath the pterodactyl just as the Clockwork Falcons went crashing into its back. There was a quick series of explosions that almost made me cheer, until I noticed that the pterodactyl not only had a shield bar just like the Clockwork Spider had had, but that it had barely even budged. I quickly retreated for the ground, landing in a bit of a jog before coming to a stop under where Swansong had been floating. ¡°Okay, what the hell are we actually supposed to do about-¡± ¡°Two on your left!¡± Jon shouted. Before either Swansong or I could react, two explosions happened in rapid succession right in midair, leaving what looked like two large curved spikes dropping to the ground in the remains of the broken drones. ¡°Umm¡­¡± I started to say before I heard a handful of heavy footfalls and a man wearing a baggy looking outfit made of brown and green fabrics. He wore a mask that almost looked like it belonged on someone playing paintball and I almost would have suspected it had been someone who had just managed to get lost¡­ if it hadn¡¯t been for the large curved spikes protruding from the man¡¯s back. ¡°Pinneedle. Level 64 Porcupine Tank. Squad: Four Corners.¡± ¡°Phew, that was a close one!¡± Pinneedle said with a laugh before he clearly turned his attention toward me. ¡°You got some balls on you attacking that thing without knowing where the backup was.¡± ¡°Wait are you the reas-¡± ¡°One sec, there¡¯s cameras everywhere. It¡¯s better to internalize this,¡± Pinneedle said, holding up a hand before a window opened in my display. ¡°Pinneedle has invited your squad, Fortune¡¯s Cadence, to a Squad Raid Group. Four Corner¡¯s is the hosting squad. Accept: Y/N.¡± I looked over at Swansong briefly who just shrugged and I just shook my head before accepting the request. I had seen the Squad Raid Group option after we had first established our Squad but I hadn¡¯t quite cared enough to dig into what exactly it was, mostly because it seemed at least somewhat self explanatory. A new section appeared on the side of my interface with a small portrait of Pinneedle sitting at the top of it with a star on it. There were two other portraits greyed out directly underneath him, that I assumed must have been the other members of his squad. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°The big guy¡¯s my fault, I was nearby and scanned it when it appeared, so it equalized to my level,¡± Pinneedle explained over the newly formed internal chat, turning his attention up to the pterodactyl that was still circling above us. Its belly had opened up yet again and more falcons emerged, but unlike the last batch, these ones didn¡¯t immediately kamikaze us. I wasn¡¯t sure if this was because of the sudden appearance of Pinneedle, but it seemed as good of an explanation as any that I had. ¡°Okay cool, so you¡¯re gonna take care of it?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t necessarily want to give up the potential rewards from the Crime Alert, but if we were in some sort of team, I had to hope we¡¯d still get the boons. ¡°If I could get up to it maybe¡­ It¡¯s just outside of my max range, almost infuriatingly so,¡± Pinneedle said with a shake of his head. ¡°Could we maybe carry you up there?¡± Swansong asked and Pinneedle shook his head again. ¡°Not unless you can carry a few tons, I¡¯m¡­ kinda heavy,¡± he explained. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s been like this for the last few days, every time I think we¡¯re getting a handle on these golems, something new pops up. If flyers are in the equation now, I think Grand Strike and I are going to need to start patrolling together.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t exactly help us now though,¡± I said and he shook his head. ¡°Can he get over here?¡± ¡°Nope. He¡¯s down in Staten Island handling some burrowers,¡± Pinneedle replied, reaching up and scratching underneath his hardened mask. ¡°I¡¯m open to suggestions though, you two both can fly, right?¡± ¡°Any chance you know if its level would update to ours if you just got out of here?¡± I asked hopefully and he shook his head once more. ¡°Guess you guys haven¡¯t had to deal with Level Lock-In yet. Once any Augment scans an NPC, game or Augment made it doesn¡¯t matter, the level for it and similar mobs nearby is set,¡± Pinneedle explained. ¡°The pterodactyl went flying past me which is how I ended up scanning it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good to know,¡± Swansong said. I looked up toward the pterodactyl, watching as it continued circling the zoo like a vulture. It never dipped and periodically another drone would drop from a briefly opened compartment in its stomach. The wings flapped in an almost perfect rhythm. The Clockwork Pterodactyl noticeably didn¡¯t have any fans or jets keeping it aloft, meaning it was quite literally the force of the wings beating keeping its massive form aloft. Something about that felt wrong to me and I realized that it had been my most recent book acquisition that was providing that thought. Even with just the basic understanding of Mechanical Engineering I had gotten, I knew that a robot with that many moving parts was bound to have at least a few structural weak spots. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea¡­¡± ¡°Oh this is gonna be good,¡± Jon said with a laugh and Pinneedle noticeably jumped as he looked around as if to see where the extra voice had come from. ¡°So if I can knock that thing out of the air, you can finish it pretty easily, right?¡± I asked and Pinneedle nodded as he dropped his search for the phantom voice. ¡°Yeah, but you guys will need to clear the area quickly, if this big one explodes like the little ones, that¡¯s a lot of collateral damage and I don¡¯t have a way to contain that,¡± Pinneedle said. ¡°How far is your maximum range? I¡¯m assuming you shoot those spikes out of your back or something?¡± ¡°Or something?! Come on Loophole, I know I¡¯ve shown you footage of his fights before,¡± Jon complained, causing Pinneedle to look around again. ¡°Not the time Codex!¡± ¡°Codex? How am I hearing your P.A.I.?¡± Pinneedle asked and this time I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, I can¡¯t imagine those falcons are going to just linger that much longer, shit, I don¡¯t know why they are doing it now. Your range, how far is it?¡± I asked and he looked back toward the sky, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°Maybe fifteen or twenty feet below where they are now? I could probably launch a spike with enough force to trigger the Falcon¡¯s self-destruct. The pterodactyl will need to be lower before I can do enough damage to get through its shield.¡± ¡°And how much damage can you take?¡± I asked, drawing both his and Swansong¡¯s attention back toward me. ¡°I¡¯m a tank, taking damage is what I do,¡± he said and there was an edge to his voice that made it clear I had struck a bit of a nerve. ¡°What are you going to do here?¡± Swansong asked, floating down and a bit closer to us. ¡°I¡¯m going to punch him,¡± I explained, eyeing the remaining stamina in my bar. ¡°If I get you thrown up into the air, can you clear a path to the big guy for me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel like I need to get better with the press if you don¡¯t know what I can do¡­¡± Pinneedle said, crossing his arms over his chest. ¡°No, that¡¯s just Loophole,¡± Jon said with a laugh. ¡°Yeah, he has a burst attack. I know exactly what you¡¯re thinking and it¡¯s viable. Pinneedle, let Loophole punch you in the chest, once you can, do your Spike Spray attack.¡± Pinneedle looked from me and then up to the large flock of falcons that had slowly been spawned. ¡°So you can punch me up but can¡¯t carry me up? Are you sure about that?¡± ¡°I guess my media coverage ain¡¯t that great either if you didn¡¯t see me knock the top of one of those giant Clockwork Spiders way into the air,¡± I said as I walked over toward him, stopping just in front of him. ¡°My punch doesn¡¯t take weight into consideration¡­ luckily for me. I just need to be punching upward.¡± ¡°And how¡¯s that going to help with the big guy that I won¡¯t be able to stay up long enough to hit?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to clear me a path, I think I can ground it,¡± I said and looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to keep it from landing here, but maybe luck will be on my side and I can make it crash outside of the zoo. It¡¯s a longshot, but if we can¡¯t get you up there and Grand Strike is busy, it¡¯s the only shot we got.¡± Pinneedle nodded, looking up toward the growing flock and planting his feet before patting his chest with a large hand. Luckily, he was at least half a foot taller than I was, which itself was impressive given that I was six foot tall myself. I still started to crouch, making sure I¡¯d be able to send him in the proper direction. Luckily, the flock of falcons had grown to the point that they were starting to cast a noticeable shadow. ¡°Give me your best shot,¡± he said and I could see a smile that reached his eyes behind the mostly clear panel that showed them. I let out a breath before I punched, throwing a 30% Gravity Punch that sent the heavy guardian 25 feet into the air. I immediately pulled out a Superior Stamina Syringe and slammed it into my arm before I took off behind him. At the peak of his toss, Pinneedle pulled himself into a ball and a sudden rapid fire barrage of spikes went streaming out of his back in a wide spray. Many of the spikes missed, but for every one that missed, two found purchase and with the falcon in close proximity, a domino effect of explosions started to spread. I zipped past the explosions, quickly arching over and back onto the back of the pterodactyl. The golem¡¯s back wasn¡¯t completely smooth and I found I could wedge my hands underneath a few of the panels to pull myself close to its back, allowing me to deactivate Personal Gravity Laws. It took a bit of strength, but I managed to hold still. My Area Sense, which required me to be holding completely still, started to reach out and I could feel the internal components of the pterodactyl peppering my sixth sense. Unfortunately for me, everything simply felt like blobs of mass within my zone, but I had anticipated this. I concentrated on what I needed, focusing on the method for creating new abilities that Jon and I had been working to perfect. When the new window opened, I didn¡¯t think twice before replacing my Pocket Climate passive ¡°New Ability! Area Sense: Mechanical Specialty. Now that¡¯s one way to put your Mechanical Engineering knowledge to work! Using your advanced knowledge, you can now perfectly identify any base mechanical components within your local area while your Area Sense is activated. Bolts, gears, bands, if it goes into something mechanical, you can identify it in your zone. This is a Passive ability.¡± A wave of new information accompanied the sudden bite of chilly air as the passive took effect. I could feel the gears moving within the pterodactyl and a smile spread over my face. There were a ton of moving parts, most noticeably, and almost predictably along the hinges that connected the golems wings to its main body. ¡°Swansong, give me a boost. Hercules now!¡± I said as I let go of the pterodactyl and took flight once more. I was able to quickly move myself over the hinge of one of the wings, moving myself up toward where I had noticed a rather large set of gears acting almost as a shoulder bone. The moment I saw the buff get added to my bar, I lunged toward the shielded part. I knew that even with the robot¡¯s shielding and high level that I probably wouldn¡¯t be doing any damage to it externally, but as I had told Pinneedle, the knockback effect of my strike didn¡¯t care about weight. While I might have preferred to save it for loot boxes, I knew I was going to need luck on my side and I activated Luck Bomb. I threw a 70% Gravity Punch at the exact spot on the pterodactyls back that I had felt protecting the bundle of gears. While the shield bar of the pterodactyl only dropped by maybe 10%, a sudden sound of screeching made it clear my plan had worked as the left side of the pterodactyl lurched downward and forced it into a barrel roll. Mechanical constructs, even augment built ones, relied on their parts staying exactly where they were placed, especially when the parts were responsible with making a part of the construct move. While my attack might not have destroyed or even really hurt the pterodactyl, I had managed to knock the gears that controlled the wing on the beasts left side out of place, or maybe I had jammed them. Without being able to hold still to reactivate my Area Sense I wouldn''t be able to know for sure. All that mattered was the fact that the wing seized up, creaking as it stopped flapping, forcing the pterodactyl to quickly plummet down toward the ground. Small explosions were left in its wake as it crashed through the few remaining released Clockwork Falcons. I found myself clenching as I went lowering toward the ground, only releasing my breath as the pterodactyl barely cleared the outer wall of the zoo. ¡°She¡¯s all yours Pinneedle,¡± I called out. B.2: Chapter 18 ¡°Crime Alert Completed! It¡¯s a¡­ bird? Well maybe you had to team up with discount Sonic the Hedgehog over there, but you did it! You stopped the robots from blowing up and destroying the zoo¡­ although I think the zookeepers might be upset that you guys let a bunch of their colorful birds fly off into the city. Oh well, I¡¯m sure someone will fix that. Reward: Your Squad has received a Medium Reputation Boost. Each member of your team has received 2,500 credits. As the leader of your Squad, a B:Tier Squad Base loot box has been added to your B.E.L.T.¡± ¡°Lucky Charm Feature Activated! Your B:Tier Squad Base loot box has been upgraded to an A:Tier Squad Base loot box!¡± ¡°New Achievement! What¡¯s Mine is Yours. A feature on your equipment meant to assist you has procced, upgrading an item that is designated for your entire Squad. Sure, you didn¡¯t get to choose for this to happen, but who¡¯s to say you wouldn¡¯t have if you had been given the opportunity? You know what that kind of RNG should be rewarded with? More RNG! This is a Silver level achievement. Reward: You have received an F:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°New Achievement! Skill Issue? Nah, Level Issue. You faced an unchained enemy more than 4 times higher than your level and even though you weren¡¯t the Augment to defeat it, you were vital in creating the opportunity to take it down. This is a Platinum level achievement. Reward: You have received an A+:Tier Loot Box and a personal Medium Reputation Boost.¡± ¡°Phase Points Gained! Team Victory: Complete an objective while a part of a team. This gain has a static value. Total Value: 150 points. Squad Raider (NEW!): Complete an objective while in a Squad Raid Group. This gain has a static value. Total Value: 250 points. Crowdpleaser: Complete an Encounter with an Audience of Sapient NPCs. 10 points per NPC. Total Value: 470 points. Rising Fame (x2): Your reputation has risen in rank! This gain has a static value. Total Value: 500 points.¡± ¡°Reputation Increased! You have gone from Local Hero to District Defender. You are now eligible to claim Extra-Large Town and equivalent territories.¡± ¡°Squad Reputation Increased! Your squad has gone from Rag-Tag Crew to Street-Level Squad. Your squad is now eligible to claim Small Town and equivalent territories. This size has been equalized and is increased to Large Town and equivalent sized territories due to your Personal Reputation.¡± ¡°Earthbound Impact. This ability has increased to Level 2. Your speed now increases at a rate of 1.5 mph per foot dropped up to a maximum of 200 mph. Maximum possible damage from impact has increased from 1500 to 2000 points. This ability has not been augmented.¡± ¡°Center of the Universe. This ability has increased to Level 3. Initial pull rate increased to 7 meters per second with the strength diminishing by .75 meters per second for every 5 feet from the center of your local area the affected targets are and can be increased to a maximum pull of 70 meters per second. This ability has been augmented 1 of 3 times. Current Augmentations: Burst Mode.¡± ¡°Sheesh bud, you¡¯ve been staring off into space for a hot minute, you all good?¡± Pinneedle¡¯s voice broke through as I finally waved away the last of the large stack of notifications that came pouring in following his destruction of the large pterodactyl. We were inside of the zoo, with the Central Park police having created a barricade to prevent any civilians from coming in. In the brief moment that I had moved to bring down the Clockwork Pterodactyl, at least a dozen of the Clockwork Falcons had managed to dive in and detonate, creating wanton destruction and compromising many of the zoo¡¯s exhibits. It was easily going to take weeks before the Zoo would be able to reopen but beyond the escaped birds, as far as we could tell, no other animals had managed to get out or get hurt. ¡°Yeah, I just had to clear out some stuff,¡± I said before turning my attention back to our internal chat. We probably were safe to communicate out in the open right now as long as we weren¡¯t yelling at each other, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a risk I wanted to take either. ¡°I¡¯m surprised we didn¡¯t level up off of that¡­ I took down something much higher than me a few days ago and I got boosted up a few levels.¡± ¡°Sheesh you did? Musta been some lucky as hell circumstances,¡± Pinneedle said with a shake of his head as he stared at me. ¡°Yeah¡­ something like that,¡± I said with a shrug. Trusting Swansong, Pinky, and BrainCraft was one thing, but I didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to just outright reveal everything that had gone down with SnakeBite anytime it came up and I tried to redirect the conversation back to the topic at hand. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between me lucking out with that and this?¡± ¡°Heh¡­ It¡¯s easy to forget how fresh you guys are with how quickly you jumped into action there. Sorry bud, it¡¯s the Raid Squad effect,¡± Pinneedle explained as we wandered away from the police barricade. ¡°You still should have gotten some experience, but it¡¯s going to be a fraction of what you¡¯d probably hoped for. I think it¡¯s maybe equivalent to getting experience from an elite level mob at your level. I really don¡¯t know for sure, you¡¯d have to ask someone a whole lot smarter than me how the breakdown actually works, especially once you have multiple squads working together, but the popular theory is that Axio just doesn¡¯t want us powerleveling you, though that begs the question as to why he¡¯s powerleveling your wave.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s dumb, I mean I sorta get it, but it¡¯s still dumb,¡± Jon groaned and Pinneedle looked around again. ¡°Okay what the hell is that? I¡¯d ask if there¡¯s a third member to your squad but I can only see the two of you in the raid group,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s uh,¡± I said, considering all the options I could choose before settling on going with the same story I had told Swansong. At the end of the day, since most people really didn¡¯t know how the game worked, the simplest, most truth-adjacent answer was the best one to give. I had gotten a box that gave him access, the why of it really didn¡¯t matter. Jon and I were going to have to have a talk about the fact that others could just automatically hear him since he was fully patched into the squad now, but if that were the case, it was just better to have an answer prepared, even if it did end up raising questions. ¡°He¡¯s a friend. I got an S+ box pretty early on that turned my roommate into a sort of second P.A.I. I had to take a gamble on if he¡¯d even put it on since I couldn¡¯t tell him about the game until he had it equipped but he didn¡¯t even think twice. So hey, here we are.¡± ¡°Well shit, that¡¯s pretty cool. It must be nice to have that sort of second eyes on things all the time. I mean, if he didn¡¯t want to have actual superpowers that is,¡± Pinneedle replied with a nod. I was still bracing for at least some sort of follow up question, but Pinneedle barely even seemed phased by the revelation, just as he had barely been phased by my casual mention of taking down something that was a way higher level than I was. Maybe I should have been glad that no one really cared to dig deeper, but the way Axio had gone about everything that had led up to giving me the box left me feeling an odd sensation in my gut. I tried not to let it bother me too much given that it was entirely possible that it was just the Acceptance Matrix at work. ¡°Oh I¡¯m still holding out hope on the actual superpowers, but this is a good start, I like to be able to manage things from this end,¡± Jon said with a laugh that stopped me from spiraling into a series of random what ifs. ¡°Ummm¡­ so Pinneedle¡­ would you really have been unable to do anything to them if Loophole hadn¡¯t knocked the big one out of the sky?¡± Swansong asked tentatively, landing on the pavement next to me as she looked at the older Guardian curiously. Whether she was just already aware of how easily Jon could get off topic or if she had just wanted to know more, I was glad she had spoken up. ¡°Had we not been here, would it have just blown the zoo up?¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯d have thought of something, but it probably would have been a lot messier, not to mention those Falcons would have equalized out to my level instead of yours which would have made it a whole hell of a lot harder. Flyers have always been a bit of a weak spot for me. It¡¯s probably why the Falcons stayed up higher in the air the moment I showed up since they were much lower that I was. Their tactics changed to try and stop me from wiping through them like they were a ratty old sweater,¡± He said with a shrug before I caught his eyes glossing over behind the clear panel on his full face mask that showed his eyes. ¡°These Droids R¡¯ Us assholes have been trying to take control of the city for days, we really appreciate the help you guys have been giving us. Grand Strike, Miss Mist and I can¡¯t be everywhere at once.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Miss Mist is in the City!?¡± Jon chirped, his voice raising almost an entire octave. ¡°I thought she worked and lived in Vancouver? Wait¡­ IS SHE IN THE CHAT RIGHT NOW!?¡± ¡°Sheesh, he never gets that excited when I speak up,¡± Angie muttered and I stifled a laugh. ¡°Sorry bud, Raid Group voice chats have a limited range and she¡¯s kinda in the middle of a job. We¡¯ve been hunting down the Droids¡¯ base here without any luck up until she got here. Thanks to her, I think we finally have a lead,¡± he explained. ¡°Hmmm, she is an infiltration specialist, I guess it makes sense you guys wouldn¡¯t be having her show up on the news if you didn¡¯t want anyone to know she was in the city¡­¡± Jon murmured and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. ¡°Let me guess, you guys have let a couple of the drones get away or ignored them long enough that you could have her track them and try to slip in through the ventilation systems with her cloud form?¡± ¡°And now I think I get why Loophole called you Codex,¡± Pinneedle said as he looked into the exhibit for, amusingly enough, a porcupine. ¡°You some kind of Augment nerd?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the king of Augment nerds,¡± I said, following him over. Unlike some of the exhibits, this one seemed mostly unscathed and the large porcupine wandered from one end of the enclosure to another without even giving us a second thought. ¡°I think there are some people on the forums that might argue with you on that topic, though I guess they don¡¯t know just how tapped into all of it I am now,¡± Jon said. ¡°And I¡¯m the one that picked the name Codex, thank you very much. I might not get to be out in the field, but I at least get a codename of my own.¡± ¡°Hey, fair enough. It¡¯s definitely a fitting enough name given the context,¡± Pinneedle said before his eyes glossed over again. Although I knew that was just what happened when an Augment was working with his interface, he didn¡¯t let it distract him. ¡°Just a heads up though, past that lucky as hell item Loophole got, I wouldn¡¯t go risking revealing any of what you know or more specifically how you know it by the way. I used to know a dude who tried to leak the existence of the game, the Critical Threat that got deployed practically turned New Orleans into Atlantis.¡± ¡°You know, I followed when that actually happened. People had been trying to blame uh¡­ Rebound Artist? I think that¡¯s what his name was¡­ Dude never reappeared after the levees broke,¡± Jon replied and Pinneedle nodded. ¡°Which is why I say don¡¯t risk it,¡± he said, the glaze leaving his eyes just before he stepped away from the porcupine exhibit. He turned and began walking back toward the main section of the zoo. ¡°While it does suck not getting to help build the Augment databases for the fan forums any more, I don¡¯t need clout on the internet¡­ Well¡­ I don¡¯t need clout on the internet that much,¡± Jon said, quickly correcting himself when he realized that I probably would have if he hadn¡¯t. ¡°Good,¡± Pinneedle said as we passed under one of the arches that separated the sections of the zoo. ¡°Cause that kind of collateral damage would hurt the whole city.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Not to necessarily interrupt¡­ but you said a squad called Droids R¡¯ Us are the ones deploying these drones, right? What the heck are they after?¡± Swansong asked. She hadn¡¯t started floating again, instead walking alongside next to me as we followed Pinneedle. ¡°Axio¡¯s been stirring the pot ever since your wave started. While I¡¯ve only heard the spiel he gives to the Guardians in my wave, I do have a few Miscreant friends that told me he¡¯s been offering multiple S+:Tier boxes for taking regions the size of Large Metropolitan regions,¡± Pinneedle explained, looking over his shoulder at us. ¡°As far as we¡¯ve been able to figure out so far, the drones are all just coming from the leader of the Squad, Clockwork Tyrant. Miss Mist has been able to confirm tech from at least one other Augment, we just haven¡¯t been able to figure out who the hell they are since they¡¯ve been working almost entirely behind the scenes. They aren¡¯t the first set of Miscreants to try and take over the city, though I¡¯ll admit they seem to be much more entrenched than any of the others we¡¯ve run into since The First vanished.¡± ¡°Yeah, not that I don¡¯t think you guys are able to handle it or anything¡­ but why exactly did The First¡¯s team just up and abandon the city when he vanished?¡± I asked. It had been something that had bothered me for a while and I hadn¡¯t quite been able to put my finger on it until recently. The statues in Sanctuary Square of the highest scoring Guardians, other than TechWarden, had all been members of The First¡¯s Squad, The Paragons of Justice, so I knew that even if they weren¡¯t necessarily as strong as The First was, they still had to at least be somewhat powerful. Hell, I even had a rather distinct memory of seeing Calypso outside of The Common Ground that confirmed that they hadn¡¯t gone missing right alongside him. ¡°The First and his team had a lot of territory. Like, they had regions pretty much all over the world and not all of his team was from the states. Last I heard Mandragos was back in France and Brightburst headed back to Tokyo. The First might have been the literal nicest dude in the world, but he was also a beast and really did a lot of the work to hold most of their territories here in the states. Without him they just don¡¯t have the same reach and reputation,¡± Pinneedle said and he seemed to stare off into the distance. ¡°He actually taught me a few things in my first year and really put me on the right path. I actually sorta started off as a Miscreant until he talked me out of robbing a bank. If I can protect one of his old territories, I think that¡¯s a good way to pay back the advice and help he gave me over half a decade later¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± Swansong said, a soft smile spreading over her face that snapped Pinneedle out of whatever daydream he had slipped into. ¡°Okay, well I¡¯m getting pinged by some other incoming threats, so since I¡¯m sure you guys are going to want to get some actual experience, I¡¯m gonna roll out before all the mobs equalize to my level instead of yours. There¡¯s more than enough experience to go around for all of us,¡± Pinneedle said, turning and holding out a hand to me. ¡°Thanks again for the assist. That really was some quick as hell thinking on your part.¡± ¡°New Friend Request: Pinneedle. Accept: Yes/No.¡± ¡°If you do need a hand, give me a holler,¡± Pinneedle said after I accepted the request and shook his hand. At the same time our Squad Raid Group was disbanded. ¡°Things are getting crazier around here, hell that much is obvious with how quickly you all are leveling, this whole Raid Group aside. I swear, I think it took us three months before anyone in my wave hit level 10, let alone being on the cusp of level 15.¡± ¡°Yeah, any chance you can tell us anything about what exactly to expect with those Hidden Powers we will unlock? Are they basically just a whole new piece to our powers?¡± I asked. Although Angie had said that others would be suppressed if I asked about the mysterious level 15 unlock, she also had lied to me before and I felt like it would be foolish to not at least try. Unfortunately Pinneedle shook his head. ¡°Sorry bud, the most I can say is to not expect any fundamental change to your abilities, just a good trump card. For some people it finally helps them understand exactly why their powerset is named how it is,¡± he explained before his hands raised up over his head. He leaned into a stretch and twisted his body, causing several rather loud cracks and pops to emanate from his body. ¡°See, I told you other people wouldn¡¯t tell you anything,¡± Angie said smugly. ¡°That¡¯s not nothing though, even if it is painfully unspecific, it¡¯s something to go on,¡± I shot back at her. Although it didn¡¯t explain why the power had to be hidden for so long, his description was actually helpful and I didn¡¯t even need to check with him to know that Jon was probably already trying to use that meager description to figure out what my Hidden Power would be. Pinneedle held up a hand to us as he took a few steps towards one of the side entrances to the zoo. Not every one of the entrances had as large of a crowd as the front entrance had garnered from Swansong¡¯s evacuation of the zoo, and it was clear he was heading toward a small exit empty of all but a single police barricade. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s no telling just how many more of these drones Tyrant is gonna be sending out, his squad seems to just be going for overwhelming numbers to try and take the town, so as long as we all work together and take out the drones we can, I think we can handle it. Stay safe out there.¡± Before any of us could respond, he started to move forward, jumping after his third step as his body pulled into a tight ball and he rather quickly rolled away. Angie had called him a discount Sonic and it was painfully hard to argue with her. He wasn¡¯t exactly moving at super speed, but it was far, far faster than just running could ever be, and the fact that his outer body was covered in long spikes that actually seemed to be what was holding him up as he rolled, I doubted anyone would want to be standing in his way while he was trying to get somewhere. He zipped around the barricade that had been in his way without even grazing it and was out of sight before we could even count to five. ¡°Huh¡­ I feel like that can¡¯t be a comfortable way to travel¡­¡± Swansong said, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him go and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Well I guess they can¡¯t give every Augment the ability to fly,¡± I said with a shrug before I started to lift off from the ground. ¡°Though I wouldn¡¯t trade it to roll around on the streets of New York of all places. This place is filthy.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Swansong said as she moved to follow me into the air. ¡°So, do we want to head back to the base and open-¡± ¡°Crime Alert! Revenge of the Gorillas! A small group of robotic gorillas has been seen near Belvedere Castle! Stop them before they can lay siege like it¡¯s Medieval Times! Reward: Your Squad will receive a B:Tier Squad Base loot box and you will receive a C:Tier loot box.¡± ¡°Guess we''ll just have to have an opening party later, we got work to do,¡± I said, and then without waiting for confirmation since I knew Swansong would follow me, I took off for the castle. B.2: Chapter 19

Fortune¡¯s Cadence Squad Base, Central Park, Manhattan, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Fortune¡¯s Cadence City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 26705 Beginning of Phase Two: 01D:01H:42M:33S

¡°You¡¯ve¡­ been busy.¡± ¡°To be fair, so have you two.¡± While Jon absolutely wasn¡¯t wrong, the small stack of loot boxes sitting in my B.E.L.T. was proof enough of that, it was hard not to be slightly overwhelmed by the common area that we had entered. Although Jon had already started to mess with the layout before we had been called out for the attack on the Central Park Zoo, he had clearly been spending at least some of the last few hours tinkering and adjusting things. The walls were done in a two-tone style, with light gray paint covering the top half of the walls and what looked like wood paneling across the bottom. There were a handful of incredibly generic looking posters, containing stuff like comic panels with the words BAM, SPLAT, and POW, a minimalistic depiction of a city, and a few with completely random inspirational quotes like ¡°Heroes Never Rest¡± and ¡°Teamwork Makes the Dream work.¡± On each wall near our respective doors there were completely empty bookshelves that looked strikingly similar to the display case that I had in my bedroom with the exception of being completely empty. A quick highlight proved that they were in fact almost exactly the same except instead of having space for three trophies and two Safe House expansions, this case held space for two trophies and one Squad Base upgrade. In one of the back corners there were several large bean bag chairs setup and in the other there was a table that would have looked right at home in the breakfast nook of a grandma¡¯s kitchen. The circular depression at the center of the space was still there, though now there was a small set of staircases directly in line with the hallway leading toward the exit and the second hallway that Jon had already added to the space. The depression now had two long, curved couches that each stretched from one of the staircases to the other. ¡°Really¡­ color coded couches?¡± Swansong said and I could see her face scrunch slightly out of the corner of my eye. ¡°At least they aren¡¯t exact matches¡­¡± The plush cushions that covered the couches were, as Swansong had pointed out, color coded, with the cushions on the couch nearest to my door a deep ocher color that was almost a muted version of my jacket and the opposite ones striped in white and gold. ¡°Hey I never claimed to be an interior decorator, I¡¯ve just been playing with the system,¡± Jon shot back, though I thought I could hear a bit of dejection in his tone. ¡°If you think you could do better, by all means.¡± A smile spread over Swansong¡¯s face before she smacked her hands together. ¡°Don¡¯t mind if I do,¡± she said. As I descended into the pit, moving to take a seat on the orange cushions, they suddenly flashed and changed into a deep blue color. Several gold, orange, and white pillows appeared atop the empty spaces. The grey paint on the upper portions of the walls shifted through several colors, with Swansong¡¯s face scrunching up as she followed me down into the pit and took a seat on one side of the holographic display. ¡°Don¡¯t we have to pay for this stuff? Isn¡¯t that the whole point of the Base Points and all of these Squad Loot Boxes we gained?¡± I asked. ¡°Nah, this is all the default stuff that comes when you get the Squad Base,¡± Jon explained. ¡°It doesn¡¯t come with any bonuses and is just there so that you guys can fill out the space with a bit of furniture.¡± ¡°Makes as much sense as anything,¡± I said with a shrug. There was a small table surrounding the spinning wire ball that floated at the center of the pit and with a thought I materialized half a dozen boxes onto it just as the table shifted from a metallic silver to a grey and gold speckled marble. The second coming of the gorillas hadn¡¯t been the end of our day and as soon as we were finished with one Crime Alert, yet another would appear. What was odd was that besides the initial fight with the pterodactyl, none of the fights even felt remotely difficult. We would show up, there¡¯d be a handful of Clockwork animals, be they gorillas, wolves, or in one case acid-spitting llamas, and we would get to work with me taking the lead. It felt like hardly a challenge to beat them into the ground. The biggest issue was the exploding aftermath, but even then, the damage they left behind was barely worse than the normal potholes that littered the streets of the city. It felt like we were missing something big but at the same time, while we were dealing with the scattershot of enemies that Droids R¡¯ Us had been sending out, Pinneedle and his team were actively working toward weeding them out of the city. While everything with SnakeBite had been my responsibility, even if it was only because Axio had pushed me into it, my responsibility here ended with keeping the droids from hurting civilians. Swansong managed to level up to 13 after we had defeated the sixth consecutive Crime Alert and while I wanted to stay out, hoping maybe another alert would push me across the line to 15, after flying in a circle for a half hour we had to assume the stream of Clockwork opponents had dried up for the time being. It wasn¡¯t like it was that bad of a thing that we had found the time to take a break though, with all of the Alerts, we had walked away with five Squad Loot Boxes and several personal loot boxes each. I reached toward the first of the Squad boxes, the only A:Tier on the table, and opened it, finding only a single item. a Base Level Up Coupon. When applied, our base moved up to Level 2, and on top of being granted 2 additional Base Points to allocate each, we were also given an extra 500 square feet for our base¡¯s size allocation, plus both of the display cases that we had gained an extra slot each for trophies and base upgrades. I hadn¡¯t exactly been sure what to expect from this new type of boxes and that alone didn¡¯t give me a whole lot to go off of. I found myself growing a bit more confused when I opened up the first of the four B:Tier boxes we had gathered. ¡°Okay, that settles it, either Axio or the original developers were definitely trying to encourage people to team up,¡± Jon said with a long whistle. ¡°Like, just so many wasted days where you could have had access to this thing already.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Like, just these base upgrades alone¡­ I kind of wish Hydramental wouldn¡¯t have been as big of a dick as he was¡­ ¡± I said as I opened the first item¡¯s description window. With a wave, the item seemed to move from my display and into the center of the holographic display in front of us.. ¡°Then again, without Swansong¡¯s coupon maybe we wouldn¡¯t have either.¡± ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, if we are going to have a base gym, there better be a shower upgrade we can get too,¡± Swansong said, drawing my attention before she squirmed and a blush spread under her mask. ¡°We uh¡­ we only have one shower at my parent¡¯s house and I am already tired of fighting with everyone else to use it¡­ especially after flying around all day.¡± ¡°Garage Gym. Uncommon Squad Base Upgrade. Install this upgrade into an available Squad Display Case to unlock the Garage Gym Expansion. This expansion occupies 150 square feet of your base¡¯s total size allocation and provides a dedicated space for personal growth. Each squad member may spend up to one hour per day, 4 days per week, utilizing the various gym equipment in this room to raise either their Strength, Dexterity, or Toughness by 1 point up to a maximum of 35 base points in any of these stats. Members are subject to one instance of the Exhausted debuff after utilizing this room.¡± ¡°As an FYI, there are bathroom amenities, they range in point value but we could probably get you two a basic setup, just have to make sure we save around 60-70 square feet of area for the space,¡± Jon added as I waved the first item to the side and tapped on the next box. Once again, this box only contained a single item and after it appeared in my vision, it moved into the center of the table. Swansong¡¯s eyes seemed to gleam as she read the description and her blush faded. ¡°Team Book Nook. Uncommon Squad Base Upgrade. Install this upgrade into an available Squad Display Case to unlock the Team Book Nook Expansion. This expansion occupies 150 square feet of your base¡¯s total size allocation and provides a dedicated space for intellectual growth and knowledge sharing among squad members. Within this tranquil and well-organized study area, any squad member may spend up to one hour in meditation and focused study to generate a Knowledge Book on a subject of their choosing. The resulting book will always be three ranks lower than the creator¡¯s personal knowledge level in that subject. Once created, this Knowledge Book is not consumed upon use and may be freely shared among all squad members. However, the knowledge remains accessible only as long as the individual remains a registered member of the squad. The created books are subject to Intelligence level prerequisites and Powerset Association requirements. And since it¡¯s a commonly asked question, yes, you can store any other random books you might want to keep on the various bookshelves, there will be space.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Okay, well looks like we are gonna need to be figuring out what level 6 knowledge skills you two have,¡± Jon said with a clap of his hands together. ¡°Nate¡¯s only gained one from books and while he¡¯s got level 3 in a few really useless things like Stain Removal but nothing higher than that.¡± Swansong looked over at me curiously and I shrugged. ¡°I grew up with my Grandma and she had white furniture when I first moved in¡­ I had to learn how to clean more than a few things that I spilled on it,¡± I said and then felt an odd sense of insecurity as she continued to watch. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t you still have level 3 knowledge levels in stuff that you were going to school for?¡± ¡°Loophole uh,¡± Jon started but he seemed to hesitate. ¡°I was a bit of a chronic underachiever,¡± I explained so that he didn¡¯t have to. ¡°My grandma''s health started to deteriorate after I graduated and I didn¡¯t exactly get any scholarships so I just grabbed a job with a cleaning company cause I really didn''t exactly have any plans or like, real goals for what I wanted to do with life. I was able to help her around the apartment still which made the last year before she passed easier for her.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Swansong said as she thankfully looked away from me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you lost your grandma¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said as I reached for the next box. ¡°She had a long and happy life. It hurt when she first passed away but she never would have wanted me to dwell. ¡®You can¡¯t let life get you too down. You just gotta put one foot in front of the other, even if the next step is into the unknown¡¯.¡± Swansong looked up and met my eyes briefly before her smile returned to her. She looked away only a moment later as she seemed to be scanning the walls. I turned my attention to the new item that opened and floated into the holographic display. ¡°Valor Crest. Standard Squad Trophy. When this trophy is placed in a Display Case within your Squad Base, make the following adjustments to Phase Point gains: Team Victory: 250 Phase Points per Gain, Squad Raider: 350 Phase Points per Gain. There are eight additional phase point gains that are increased by this trophy, discover them to have them included on this list.¡± ¡°Well if you guys are beholden to getting to a set amount of phase points again when the next phase starts, that certainly will be helpful,¡± Jon said and I set the item aside as I reached for the last of the squad boxes before I could turn to my personal ones. There was a flash of light that briefly drew my attention to the hallway leading toward our base exit and a long, framed rectangular poster appeared that had my grandma¡¯s quote in it. I looked over at Swansong curiously and this time she squirmed. ¡°I can take it down if-¡± ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s nice, thank you,¡± I said and then opened the next box. ¡°Sentinel Shield. Standard Squad Trophy. When this trophy is placed in a Display Case within your Squad Base, activate the Sentinel Aura squad effect. Automatically creates a shield on all squad members equal to 10% of health whenever any member of the squad is struck with an attack that deals more than 33% of their health. This Aura is only in effect when squad members are within 50 yards of each other.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s all she wrote for the squad base boxes,¡± I said and cracked my knuckles as I materialized four personal loot boxes onto the table. ¡°Wait! Before you do that, can you please spend 5 of the Base Points to integrate the Command Room?¡± Jon asked and I leaned back onto the soft couch. I opened the window in my interface and scrolled through the list of options that I could spend the points on until I found the Command Room Integration at the bottom of the list. I clicked on it, only to find that it errored out. ¡°Looks like you gotta step out of the Command Room for the integration to happen,¡± I said and I could literally hear him scramble out of his chair. ¡°Codex has left the Command Room, communication has been lost.¡± ¡°Dude couldn¡¯t move fast enough,¡± I muttered before I clicked on the integration again. This time it didn¡¯t error, and much like when I first installed the room into my Safe House, there was a rush of construction sounds as a glass panel rose up in the one empty corner that we still had left in the room. It was just to the side of the door leading into my room and the wall on the inside of the glass panel that created a small pocket room gained a new door. A desk sprang up along the glass panel and a familiar looking plush desk chair popped into existence before everything settled into place. A moment later, the door to the room opened and Jon stepped through it. To my surprise, he sported a black version of the How The Hell Does This Fool Anybody? mask and he looked around like a kid in a candy shop as he took in his new room. ¡°Oh this is so damn cool¡­¡± He said, dropping into his chair. Several opaque looking windows materialized on the inside of the glass panel as he settled right into his position. ¡°Hey there!¡± He said with a big wave as he looked over at Swansong who held up a hand back. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get back to my-¡± ¡°I can reroll for both of you now!¡± Jon whooped out. ¡°Same rule as when it was just you Loophole but I have windows for each of you now.¡± ¡°Well I have an F:Tier here to open so we might be needing it. Bit of a shame I used my Luck Bomb earlier but oh well,¡± I said. I opened the three C:Tier boxes I had first, receiving 2 Targeted Ability Level Up Scrolls, 2500 Credits, and a Belt of Dexterity that I immediately put into the small pile of items I really needed to make sure I sold the next time I was in Sanctuary Square. Once those were done, I clicked on the F:Tier, watching the window spin until it settled on Strength Gloves. ¡°+1 to Strength¡­ that might have been useful when you first started,¡± Jon murmured. His voice no longer rang out in my head as his casual conversation reached us in the Base as if he was sitting right alongside us. ¡°Reroll that, literally no need for those,¡± I said and Jon obliged. When the spinning finally came to a stop, I felt my brows raise. ¡°Lucky me¡­¡± ¡°The Tome of Many Things. Rare Trophy. Lucky you sure is right and maybe lucky for your entire squad because this is the item you¡¯ve been waiting for Loophole. When placed in your Personal Display Case, this Trophy will generate a random Level 3 Knowledge Book into your B.E.L.T. every 6 hours. This book is non-transferrable and if it is unused after 3 hours, it will dematerialize. Upon using a book, the trophy will go on cooldown for 24 hours and will not generate another book until the cooldown has elapsed. If you do not use the materialized books six times in a row, that¡¯s 36 hours in case you¡¯re having trouble doing the math, the next book that appears in your B.E.L.T. will be a Level 6 Knowledge Book that has the same expiry. If you do not use the materialized books for a total of 48 hours from the generation of the first Level 3 Knowledge Book that you did not absorb, you may choose one skill that you already have a Level 3 Knowledge in and upgrade it to a Level 6 Knowledge. The books generated by this tome do not have Intelligence prerequisites for you. You may choose one of your Level 3 knowledges to immediately upgrade in lieu of a new Level 3 Knowledge book when you first place this Trophy.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s good¡­ like, really good,¡± Jon said and Swansong looked between us curiously. ¡°What am I missing?¡± She asked, causing me to realize my personal boxes hadn¡¯t been moving into the holographic display like the squad items had. I found with a click I could move the item over and as she read through it her eyes widened. ¡°Oh wow¡­¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ve got some stuff to-¡± ¡°Sorry, just got a message,¡± I said, waving the screen away. ¡°As I was saying, let¡¯s get this stuff installed and maybe-¡± ¡°You okay?¡± Swansong asked after I stayed silent for maybe a moment too long. ¡°Pinky has been bothering me about having a rematch and I guess she¡¯s decided now is the time to do it,¡± I said. ¡°Ah¡­ well I can¡¯t get up to the Fight Club. I''ve got some boxes to open up still here, but Codex and I can take care of getting the base set up the rest of the way if you¡¯d like to run and do that,¡± Swansong said as she materialized her own loot boxes onto the table. The room around us hadn¡¯t undergone too many changes, but the posters all seemed to be hanging at more even levels and the colors were all far more muted. ¡°Well, I did promise,¡± I said as I pushed myself to my feet and looked at the Tome trophy. ¡°But maybe I¡¯ll go and increase my Quantum Mechanics knowledge up to level 6 first¡­¡± B.2: Chapter 20 ¡°Enclosed building huh? Don¡¯t you remember what happened last time?¡± I was standing alongside Pinky within the second floor Fight Club of The Common Ground as she scrolled through a tablet to register a slot for us to fight. ¡°Don¡¯t try to mind trick me, Loophole, I know you can fly. If I put us in a city you¡¯ll just float around and do that little yo-yo trick of yours until you had taken me down,¡± she said without looking away from the screen. She tapped a few buttons and the layout changed to show several random hallways with a large question mark at the center. ¡°Gonna need to go with something just a bit more random.¡± While the system normally would apply a variable Equalizer buff/debuff to us to even out our stats for the battle, I had been surprised when I approached Pinky and discovered that she had managed to jump two levels up to match me at 14. When I asked her about it, she would only tell me not to look at the leaderboard and to just wait for Axio¡¯s announcement. Though my curiosity wanted to make me peek, I decided it really didn¡¯t matter too much and figured there would be something in the highlight videos that she wanted me to see. Surprisingly, unlike when I had upgraded my Optical Refraction knowledge, not all of my abilities rooted in Quantum Mechanics evolved when I selected the stat to increase to level 6 after installing the Tome of Many Things into my Display Case, but the two that had evolved gave me a few options to work with. While I hadn¡¯t exactly kept up with Pinky¡¯s skills, I had at least the memory of our first fight to work off of. Part of me was hyper aware of the fact that my brawling focused powerset was probably not the best matchup where Pinky was concerned, and I resolved myself to stop back in the bookstore following my fight to try and stock up on a few options that would give me more ranged possibilities. ¡°Okay, we are all queued up. Platform 2 is just opening up and I snatched it before anyone else could,¡± Pinky said, waving a hand toward one of the raised white platforms. The crowd was relatively light, though the other nearby platforms were each still partially surrounded by onlookers with several making their way toward our platform as they saw the lights above it change to indicate a fight was about to start. The other Augments were dressed in a rainbow of colors that drew the eye, from a girl wearing a red and yellow themed outfit that I was pretty sure skirted the line of copyright infringement on a certain speedster, to a guy dressed in a deep black trenchcoat and full face mask that was all trimmed in a rich purple color. I wasn¡¯t even the only one wearing orange, though most of the others I could see with it in their outfits had it as a secondary color instead of a primary. I hopped up onto the platform, walking over to one side as Pinky got into position opposite of me, shaking her arms out and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for the switchover to happen. The first time we had done this, I had been surprised when the transition happened, but this time I was ready for it and the flash of white light only mostly blinded me. As my vision returned to me, I found myself standing in a long empty hallway that felt like an underground bunker. With a loud ringing sound, our names dropped out of the ceiling and hung in the air. There was an accompanying sound of an announcer that I tuned out as I started to try to make sense of the battlefield that Pinky had selected for us. My mini-map had disappeared from my vision the moment I had entered the Common Ground and it didn¡¯t return to me now as I planted my feet. It didn¡¯t exactly seem like Pinky had chosen a field that she could make use of her powerful charges in, so there had to have been a reason she chose this outside of just removing my flight capabilities. I let my Area Sense start to spread outward, reaching past the walls on either side of me to try and explore. I wanted to assume it was some sort of office building, but as I felt the obstructions within my zone, it became clear that on the other side of the walls next to me were just more hallways. My sense could actually reach far enough to find even more space on the other sides of those walls. ¡°Is it¡­ a maze?¡± I muttered as I reopened my eyes. I was just about to start moving when I felt a large mass enter the edge of my zone. Logically I knew it didn¡¯t matter that there were walls in the way and I threw myself backwards just in time as a large pink blur came crashing through the wall on my left. Pinky didn¡¯t slow down as she struck the opposite wall, crashing through concrete bricks as easy as paper. I could hear her continue to crash through concurrent walls, with the sound of rubble hitting the ground slowly muffling into the distance. I slowly approached the hole, stopping next to it and once again planted my feet to let my Area Sense activate again. ¡°That¡¯s still one hell of a charge,¡± I yelled through the hole, hearing my voice echo. I was expecting some sort of banter back, but before I even felt her break back through the threshold, I could hear the clap of her feet on the concrete floor. That sound only preceded the charging force entering my zone by a few seconds, but I still took the small bit of warning that it had given me. I slid out of the way as she crashed through the wall again, further opening the hole in the wall she had already made. Before she could strike the opposite wall, I activated Weighted Clothes. While I knew it wasn¡¯t going to do much to her, I needed to get her to stop charging around like, well a berserking boar, and to start trying to fight up close. ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of charge already, but thanks Loophole,¡± Pinky said through gritted teeth. She managed to raise a foot up before she slammed it into the ground. There was a sudden burst of energy that rippled through the pavement like a wave, cracking the concrete with pink lines of energy before a delayed explosion sent it all scattering up and into the air. I barely managed to activate the Fortune¡¯s Shield ability on my jacket before the debris hit. The shield it provided absorbed some of the damage, but the attack still managed to shred at least 25% of my health bar away. Although I hadn¡¯t released the Weighted Clothes ability, Pinky apparently didn¡¯t even care and I found her bearing down on me, her tusks having extended outward into what almost resembled a battering ram. She bucked her head to the side just as I activated Float Like A Butterfly and skipped backwards over the shattered floor. She was relentless as she stayed on me, bucking her head with each step. Unfortunately for her, I already knew one of the weaknesses of her abilities and her slowing down to try and gore me made it at least possible that I could do some damage. I threw a punch just as she moved her tusks in a way that easily could have gored me and caught as her lips curled up a smile before she cocked her head to the side. Just before my fist connected with the metal of her tusks, I added a 25% Gravity Punch into the strike and continued my follow through. The smile on Pinky¡¯s face turned to shock as she went stumbling backwards from the force of the blow. While the knockback of the strike had only partially worked, I was even more shocked when I looked toward her health bar and saw that it hadn¡¯t budged even an inch. I wasn¡¯t positive if my Weighted Clothes still being active had lessened how far the knockback of my Gravity Punch would go, but she had proven I couldn¡¯t let myself get distracted wondering what was going on. ¡°Fucker, you broke my tusk,¡± Pinky said with, of all things, a laugh and I watched as one of her tusks cracked, splintering off and falling to the ground beside her. ¡°How the hell did you know where I was?¡± I asked and she gave me a devilish grin just before a portion of her health disappeared and a sharp, fresh tusk erupted from the broken stump. ¡°A girl¡¯s gotta have some secrets,¡± she said. I hadn¡¯t noticed it at first but she had been tapping one of her feet. It had started to pick up as she began moving from side to side and pink sparks were starting to bounce off of the shattered, uneven floor. This time I was ready for it as she bounced backwards, planting a single foot on the ground before expelling her built up kinetic energy to come bursting toward me. I activated Fun House and at the same moment, I activated the ability that my Phase Step had evolved into after I had increased my quantum mechanics knowledge, Echo Step. ¡°Echo Step. Level 1 Movement Ability. This ability was evolved from Phase Step. This ability allows you to teleport to a location within your area that you can visibly see or to anywhere you have an active afterimage. After activating this ability, leave behind an afterimage in your place. This afterimage lasts for up to 5 seconds or until an opponent comes in contact with it, at which point the afterimage will explode, applying the Staggered debuff to all enemies caught in the explosion and dealing 350 points of damage. This ability costs 500 points of Stamina per jump unless you are jumping to a location where a version of you (i.e. an afterimage) already exists, which reduces the cost of this ability by 90%.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I jumped to an after image that had appeared behind where she had launched from only a moment before she would have struck me. She crashed into and through my afterimage and a bright orange explosion sent her stumbling over her feet and tumbling over the uneven ground. She maintained her momentum as she rolled and skidded to a halt on her knees. ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± she grunted, turning until she made eye contact with me. I held up a hand and waved at her. ¡°You know¡­ out of curiosity since I haven¡¯t exactly had to deal with getting stabbed just yet. If those tusks hit me¡­ will they actually gore me? Cause I feel like that would hurt, like, a lot,¡± I said reaching up and tapping at my chin. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll only hurt till they declare me the victor,¡± Pinky said as she punched the ground and got into a runner¡¯s pose. Her feet began to move as if she was doing mountain climbers as she focused her attention on me and slowly started to ramp up the energy that was cascading off of her feet. ¡°I¡¯ve got you locked in now, it¡¯s only a matter of time,¡± she said with a wink. It was clear that she had grown her ability to stack her kinetic energy much faster than when we had first fought and I started planning my next move as I took in the area around me. I had three other afterimages still in place thanks to Fun House and thanks to the evolution of Echo Step, I was no longer bound by having to see a spot in order to teleport to it. The moment she began charging back for me, I stepped to an afterimage tucked on the other side of the far wall. I waited for her to crash into the afterimage and prepared to rush toward her when she came bursting through the wall, rushing right toward me. If my eyes could have popped out of their socket, they just might have as I scrambled to the side. I wasn¡¯t nearly fast enough and she slammed into me, sending me hurtling into the nearby wall. My health chunked down by another 25% and I used Echo Step just in time before Pinky could crash into me again. She hit the wall and then took a small chunk of damage as the afterimage exploded, but she still shrugged it off like it was practically nothing. ¡°You can¡¯t fool me with fakes, Loophole, I¡¯ve got homing instincts now,¡± Pinky said as she pulled her tusks free from the wall, dusting the debris from her outfit as she slowly started to bounce to collect energy again. ¡°Sure as hell explains how you keep finding me,¡± I said and brushed some of the dust off myself. My worry from before we had started to fight came back into focus as I considered my options. I had focused almost entirely too much on just brawling and while I could certainly hit like a truck when I needed to, Pinky was either moving with too much force for me to land a solid blow on, or she could simply absorb my strikes when she was holding still. I had thought that if I could just get her to slow down enough that I could make contact while she attempted to attack, I would be able to damage her, but the way she had blocked me with her tusks was problematic in its own way. I needed to be able to get her not just moving, but moving without choosing to do so. It was a gamble, that much I knew because if it didn¡¯t work I was going to be at a severe disadvantage, but what was the point of Super Luck if I didn¡¯t take a gamble every so often. This time I charged her and she looked almost amused as she put her fists up to block me. Only a few feet away from her I pushed off and pulled back an arm. I activated Gravity Punch and threw every last bit of the stamina I had left in my stamina bar into it. Unlike my first try, this one came with a lot more force, totalling at 60% of my stamina. While she unfortunately didn¡¯t take any of the damage from the strike, the force of the knockback was more than she was able to withstand. Unlike the slight stumble that my first Gravity Punch had resulted in, this time she was lifted off of her feet as she flew backwards down the hallway from the stacked knockback effect that had resulted from pouring in so much of my stamina. I couldn¡¯t risk her getting out of my local area, so as I landed on the ground, I rushed forward and after her as she flew. With her now moving and my stamina bar emptied, I prepared to activate a few of my abilities in rapid succession. First I activated the evolved version of Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge, Quantum Overclock. ¡°Quantum Overclock. Level 1 Activated Ability. Instantly refills and overfills your Stamina to 125% capacity, after 15 seconds you regain 50% of your Stamina and one instance of the Exhausted debuff is applied, reducing your natural Stamina and Health regeneration by 25% for 30 minutes. If you do not already have an Exhausted debuff when you activate this ability, refresh the cooldown on all abilities with cooldowns 10 minutes or less. This ability has No Cooldown and costs No Stamina but cannot be utilized if you have two or more instances of the Exhausted debuff. This ability and Schr?dinger¡¯s Surge cannot be on the same action bar.¡± It was like an electrical surge as my stamina filled past its maximum capacity and I activated the sole new ability I had created following the upgrade of my Quantum Mechanics knowledge, Paradox Chain. ¡°Paradox Chain. Level 1 Activated Ability. If activated within 5 seconds of landing a physical strike, create a Quantum Echo that strikes the same opponent from any direction of your choosing, dealing 100% of the original strike¡¯s damage and all associated effects. This ability can be reactivated up to 4 times, losing 20% of the original strike¡¯s damage with each activation. This ability costs 10% stamina for the first activation and 20% for each subsequent activation. This ability has a 30 minute cooldown that starts after you go 5 seconds without activating this ability.¡± As I continued my chase, I watched as an afterimage of me appeared and struck Pinky again, this time sending her crashing down another hallway that I had luckily noticed part way up the path. As her flight was redirected, her health bar finally went plummeting downward by nearly 40%. I skidded around the corner as I continued to follow and even activated Echo Step and jumped forward to stay with her as I reactivated Paradox Chain and another afterimage of me appeared, striking Pinky yet again before vanishing in a flash of orange light. Her health chunked down yet again, though this time by quite a bit less than the first strike. She was well below 50% of her health, but I didn¡¯t have time to focus on her bar as I continued my chase. ¡°Ah fuck!¡± Pinky shouted as I activated the ability a third time and yet another afterimage sprang to life. This time, Pinky managed to move her head just in time, her tusks growing up just in time to get in the way of the third strike. They spread up and outward like a shield that caught the strike, redirecting the knockback so she went crashing down into the ground. A small cloud of dust filled the air around her as I came to an abrupt halt. While I could have activated Paradox Chain a fourth time, it would have eaten another 20% of my stamina to only deal a fraction of the damage. Her health bar flashed above her head as the dust began to settle and I could see her struggling to her feet. While her health bar wasn¡¯t quite flashing critically, it was far closer to empty than even half full. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m not done yet,¡± she said, huffing out rapid breaths. While I still didn¡¯t have a perfect grasp on her abilities, I was pretty sure I had put most of the pieces together and I was almost positive that she had drained most of her stamina. With her health as low as it was, I was also pretty sure she couldn¡¯t keep manipulating the size and orientation of her tusks. Before she could start moving to gather more of her energy, I launched into action. The follow up effect of Quantum Overclock activated and I regained 50% of my Stamina. Pinky didn¡¯t look shocked or amused this time as I rushed toward her, and she wasn¡¯t going to wait for me to reach her either. With a burst of pink sparks, she let out enough force that the cement on the ground below her shattered and went flying back behind her. Just before she could reach me, I activated Echo Step, stepping and appearing above her. She struck the afterimage, causing it to explode just as I threw a 75% Gravity Strike down and into her. It was probably overdoing it by a bit, but I couldn¡¯t risk it not putting her down for the count. The staggering effect of the explosion coupled with my strike sent her crashing down and into the ground. Her health bar bottomed out and a fanfare of sounds echoed throughout the room before the world flashed around us. Pinky was prone on her stomach facing away from me and she slammed a fist down into the ground as the cheers of the crowd around us became prevalent once again. I slowly walked around her and held a hand down to her. She stared at it for only a moment before sighing and taking it, letting me help her back up as she moved to brush more of the dust off of her outfit. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell BrainCraft you could do all of that¡­¡± She muttered and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Well I only promised him the basics, I didn¡¯t exactly have to explain everything I could do, now did I?¡± I said and then found myself unable to stop myself from adding, ¡°I do love a-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare,¡± Pinky said, pointing a finger at me briefly before she hopped off of the platform. I briefly considered dropping it but just shrugged as I followed. ¡°I do love a loophole,¡± I said, and she let out a loud, pained groan. B.2: Chapter 21 ¡°I swear I thought if I could catch you off guard, I¡¯d be able to end the fight before it could even begin.¡± Pinky had followed right along with me as we left the Fight Club and descended back into the main Common Ground open room. We walked down and past the large robotic head, checking the clock as we passed. We still had about 40 minutes until Axio¡¯s nightly announcement and I wanted to find my way back to the Squad Base before it started. ¡°You damn near did,¡± I said, stepping to the side and letting a few other Augments walk up the spiral staircase to the club. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on my reaction time though. Pretty sure it saved my ass on that first charge.¡± ¡°Fancy way to say you¡¯ve been stacking Dexterity,¡± Pinky said with a laugh as she looked over toward the bar. ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna grab a beer before I meet back up with BrainCraft, my afternoon exploits got us a few nice upgrades for our base and BrainCraft has been integrating them into the layout.¡± ¡°Heh, funnily enough that¡¯s exactly what Swansong is up to,¡± I said, eyeing the clock again. ¡°I need to drop by the resale shop to offload some equipment and catch back up with her before the announcement. I¡¯m still pretty damn curious how you jumped up to 14 overnight.¡± Pinky gave me a wide smile and a wink. ¡°It is rather impressive if I do say so myself. Not you jumping 5 levels in a single night impressive, but impressive all the same. Up for another rematch in a few days?¡± ¡°Do I really have a choice?¡± I asked, raising a brow at her before she laughed and slapped my arm. ¡°I think you know the answer to that,¡± she said, patting me again before she started to turn toward the bar. ¡°Now, like I said, I¡¯m gonna grab my beer, enjoy the show,¡± she said with another wink before sauntering off. It was entirely possible I was imagining it, but it felt like she was overdoing it just a bit as she walked away, to the point that at least a few other Augments at nearby tables turned to watch her saunter to the bar. I may have been included in that for a bit longer than I cared to admit but I managed to break my gaze and turn away before it seemed like I was staring for too long. I made my way along the outer edge of the bar and found myself coming to a stop by the only wall in the building that felt somewhat out of place. Unlike the various memorabilia, posters, and television screens that littered almost every other vertical surface of the building, this wall contained The Augment¡¯s Code. I hadn¡¯t made it a point to actually find my way back to the mismatched lines, each put up with a different handwriting, since I had first stumbled onto it during my first day. Looking at it now, with what felt like months worth of experience crammed into barely even a week, the words felt like they held an entirely new meaning to me. Well, all of them except the last rule that felt more like a joke than anything to be taken seriously. The Augment''s Code
  1. We will do our best to never allow a Sapient NPC to be put in harm¡¯s way, and when they are, we will do what we must to make it right.
  2. The world is not worth points for a game. If you threaten the world, we will come for you.
  3. It is cruel to allow a Non-Sapient to know of the truth behind their existence. We will never disabuse them of what they believe to be reality and if we must kill them, we will do so with respect.
  4. We will honor those who have fallen, those who fought to protect our friends, our family, and all other Sapient NPCs that believe us heroes or villains.
  5. We will do our best to never damage or cause a change to the rules protecting The Common Ground from Personal A.I.s. We ALL deserve a little mental silence.
  6. We will never, under any circumstances, use our powers to catch fish in the Mississippi while the sun is setting on a cloudless day. Just¡­ just trust me, it¡¯s not a good idea.
It was hard not to think I was directly going against the first thing on the list, I had brought Jon into all of this after all, but in a lot of ways he was as far from harm¡¯s way as he could be. It was entirely possibly I was just trying to rationalize it for myself, but there also wasn¡¯t anything I could do to change Jon¡¯s place in the game now. I took a few moments to really take in each line, but found myself hesitating on the fourth. My mind drifted back to the husk of a man that SnakeBite¡­ that Sal had become as I reread it over and over again. I probably stood there a minute or two longer than I needed to, but it felt appropriate as I found my eyes settling on the fanged gloves I had received, fittingly named SnakeBite¡¯s Legacy. I flexed my hands before letting out a breath I hadn¡¯t even realized I had been holding, and walked away. I was just about to exit the bar when an unwelcome familiar presence intercepted me. ¡°Hydramental. Level 11 Elemental Everyman.¡± ¡°Figured you¡¯d be comin¡¯ round here eventually,¡± Hydramental said, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at me. ¡°How long were you exactly planning on ignoring me?¡± ¡°How many times were you planning on trying to kill me?¡± I shot back. Almost immediately he held up his hands defensively and his stare softened. ¡°Whoa, whoa, down tiger. I didn¡¯t do anything you didn¡¯t just shrug off and if anyone¡¯s got a bone to pick it¡¯s me. You knocked me out and abandoned me in a fucking concrete cellar,¡± he said, looking to the side at several others who had looked over in our direction. ¡°After you lost your temper and tried to kill me in the middle of a tense situation¡­ again,¡± I said, shooting him a glare. I felt my hands flex again as I thought of his brother yet again, and I swallowed hard. ¡°Look Hydramental, I-¡± ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right, can we just put the past in the past?¡± Hydramental said, cutting me off with his hands still in the air. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bit of a temper and my brother was a touchy subject. His weird ass clones have up and vanished so I figured we must¡¯ve put a stop to it when we assaulted that base. Let me guess, that mission of yours had you breaking whatever they were pumping the non-Sapients with to make them snakes and that put a stop to the gang?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± I found myself hesitating as I stared at him. ¡°Put your hands down, will yah?¡± He dropped his hands to the side as I bit my tongue back from what I probably should have said. Even SnakeBite had told me it would be better if his brother hadn¡¯t known about what had happened, and Hydramental¡¯s assumption was a damn near perfect way to sweep the whole thing under the rug. As he dropped his hands, crossing his arms over his chest yet again, I gave in to the temptation to take the easy way out. ¡°Yeah. The scientists had an extra loot-box they gave me for freeing them from their chains,¡± I lied and then thought about it for a moment. ¡°There was a source they were getting the temporary injector formula from and getting rid of the scientists cut that source off permanently.¡± ¡°Makes as much sense as anything in this fucking game,¡± Hydramental said with a shrug, dropping his hands and putting them into his pockets. ¡°First snakes and now we¡¯re dealing with a neverending onslaught of robotic animals, fucking weird as all hell, ain¡¯t it?¡± I let out a laugh but felt like it came out more awkward than normal. ¡°I think at this point, weird is just normal,¡± I said. ¡°Well look, we got enough shit to be worried about with the next phase coming on. As much as I hate to admit it, Axio made it pretty clear this next phase was somehow team related. I figure since we are set up pretty close to each other-¡± ¡°Oh, sorry man, I actually have a squad already,¡± I said, cutting him off. ¡°Yeah, I can see it in your description, remember? You¡¯re teamed up with that little redhead from the Top Ten¡­ uh, Swansong, right?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. We just got into a rhythm here and it¡¯s working out pretty well for us,¡± I said, feeling myself squirm slightly. ¡°Well it¡¯s not like squads are restricted to two people, right?¡± He asked and I felt myself squirm yet again. ¡°I uh¡­¡± ¡°Look, I get it, I¡¯ve been acting like a dick and we haven¡¯t exactly been getting along,¡± Hydramental said as I struggled to find a polite way to extricate myself from the conversation. ¡°But we both are just trying to protect people¡­ if Axio is up to something that requires teams, aren¡¯t we going to be stronger if we¡¯re all working together?¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah,¡± I said and then shook off the nerves as much as I could. He had caught me off guard and I needed to get a hold of myself. Regardless of whatever realization he had come to, my experiences with Hydramental already had soured me to any real interaction with him. True, maybe I didn¡¯t want to stay close to him just because I was still hiding what had happened with his brother, but I knew deep down that that really wasn¡¯t the only reason. ¡°I¡¯m sorry man, I¡¯m not going to say yes or invite you right now. You said it yourself, we haven¡¯t been getting along and I don¡¯t think that¡¯s conducive to a good team. I can¡¯t trust you to keep your cool when things go crazy. I¡¯d tell you I¡¯d talk with Swansong about it, but truthfully man, I don¡¯t want to team up with you.¡± ¡°Sheesh¡­ you really can¡¯t let shit go, can yah?¡± Hydramental said and shook his head. ¡°I said sorry, isn¡¯t that enough?¡± ¡°Yeah, except you didn¡¯t,¡± I said, narrowing my eyes at him. ¡°You wanted to put the past in the past. I can do that, but don¡¯t stand here and give me some bullshit that you¡¯re suddenly contrite, level-headed and willing to pull punches to not kill people.¡± ¡°Dude, we¡¯re fighting fucking robots right now, I¡¯ve seen you dismantling them, killing isn¡¯t a fucking issue,¡± Hydramental shot back, his own expression hardening as more tables turned their attention to us. I slowly started to circle around him until I was closer to the door than he was and this time I held my hands up defensively, ¡°Sorry man, if we run into each other in the field, maybe we can try to work together but I really don¡¯t want you on my squad. Not sure why you¡¯re pushing this so damn hard but I don¡¯t need to deal with this right now.¡± Before he could try to push the subject, I spun on my heel and headed for the doors, pushing my way through and into the main square, but not before I could hear him mutter, ¡°Prick.¡± ¡°-best one in town,¡± Jon¡¯s voice cut in the moment I stepped outside and into the fresh air. ¡°No I get that, I¡¯m just wondering how many Cubans in town you¡¯ve actually tried to determine that that one is the best one,¡± Swansong responded. ¡°You guys talking about Tio¡¯s?¡± I asked, taking in the cloudless day. The sun was just starting to dip behind the tops of the buildings and I took in just a bit of the warmth it was giving off before setting out and away from the bar. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Welcome back! How¡¯d the fight go?¡± Jon asked. ¡°Did she finally kick your ass?¡± Angie asked. ¡°I won, though it was probably closer than I would have liked it to be,¡± I said as I made my way toward the Guardian Segment. ¡°I¡¯m going to pop through the bookstore and see if I can¡¯t find something that will give me a ranged option.¡± ¡°I mean, it''s definitely not a bad idea to expand your arsenal, but how did the other new abilities do?¡± Jon probed. ¡°Paradox Chain is what ended up getting her to a spot where I could finish off her health bar, and Quantum Overclock¡¯s extra stamina really gave me that extra leg room to stack the damage on her,¡± I explained. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how but she was seeing through my afterimages so easily though. I was able to fool her with Echo Step a few times but it was only when she was like, already about to run me over.¡± ¡°Well a win is a win,¡± Jon said. ¡°Swansong ran off to pick up something to eat before Axio¡¯s announcement.¡± ¡°And that explains what I walked in on,¡± I said as understanding set it. ¡°To be fair, we were also testing if the comms still worked when I went out outside of my gear now that he is integrated into the Squad Base and sure enough it still does,¡± Swansong said. ¡°She can also let me see through her vision if she activates it,¡± Jon said pointedly and Swansong laughed. ¡°And when we are actually in a fight, maybe I¡¯ll turn that on. Loophole might not get to turn that feature off but I value my privacy thank you very much,¡± she said. ¡°Aw she gets to turn it off?¡± ¡°Shut it Loophole, you know I¡¯ve been helpful plenty,¡± Jon snapped. ¡°Think about it. When you guys get another teammate or two I can literally see battlefields from multiple angles! Maybe I should change my name to Eye in the Sky¡­¡± ¡°Heh¡­ speaking of new teammates, guess who wants to join ours.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Pinky already teamed up with BrainCraft though?¡± Swansong asked. ¡°Nah, not her,¡± I said, moving to the side as a man made out of rocks descended the staircase that was leading up to the Guardian Segment. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if he was waiting for me there or if he just happened to see me, but Hydramental decided he was tired of me ignoring his messages.¡± ¡°Wait, Hydramental was trying to join the squad?¡± Jon said. ¡°Yeah, it was weird as all hell¡­ I kinda just told him I didn¡¯t want that and got out of there but he was weirdly persistent about it.¡± ¡°I thought he wasn¡¯t a fan of you? Tried to kill you twice as I recall,¡± Swansong offered and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Exactly. Like I said, it was weird,¡± I said, stepping into the resale shop and heading over to a terminal. ¡°Think he¡¯s up to something?¡± Jon asked as he crunched down on something. ¡°Shit¡­ think TechWarden got to him?¡± This stopped me in my tracks as I held a finger of the Sell All button. I wasn¡¯t sure why I hadn¡¯t considered that the moment Hydramental wasn¡¯t going off on me, but it felt almost too obvious now. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit¡­ I don¡¯t know, transparent?¡± I asked, hitting the button and watching as all of the random low level gear emptied out of my B.E.L.T. and 12,500 credits were added to my digital wallet. While I could have pieced it out and tried to sell it myself, I didn¡¯t see a point doing that when the shop would give me what felt like reasonable rates for the various items. ¡°Like, I can see it, but if you were TechWarden, would you send the brother of the guy who gave you up?¡± ¡°Wait, Hydramental was SnakeBite¡¯s brother? When were you going to tell me this?!¡± Swansong asked, her voice raising a bit. ¡°Um¡­ I didn¡¯t think it was important?¡± I said, though I wasn¡¯t even convincing myself. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s kinda important Loophole,¡± Swansong shot back. ¡°Especially given everything that you told me about what went down with SnakeBite¡­ I take it he doesn¡¯t know any of that?¡± ¡°He does not,¡± Jon said. ¡°You¡¯re not helping Codex,¡± I said and he just laughed. ¡°Wasn¡¯t trying to help buddy, you¡¯re the one who let the cat out of the bag after withholding it in the first place.¡± I sighed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of my nose as I stepped back outside and headed for the bookstore. ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry. I should have filled you all the way in when I first told you about how nuts the dude is,¡± I said. ¡°But between him having a ¡°kill first, ask questions later¡± attitude and that, you can see why I wouldn¡¯t want to have him in the squad, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah, obviously,¡± Swansong sighed. ¡°You know this is a ticking time bomb¡­ right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I know,¡± I said, entering the Beacon of Knowledge and finding there were actually a few others walking around the shelves. I approached one of the binders and immediately began working on filtering the contents. ¡°I told SnakeBite I¡¯d do what I can to protect his family, but he also told me that he didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to let his brother know about his death. I can¡¯t protect him by trying to convince him to turn off his Acceptance Matrix without explaining how I know it can be used to manipulate him. That''s an especially bad idea if he gets focused on the fact that I killed his brother, and if TechWarden did get to him already, then would any of that even matter anyway?¡± ¡°Sheesh, you come with a lot of baggage,¡± Angie groaned and I rolled my eyes. She had been overly quiet recently, something that had been a result of me being able to suppress her outbursts with my own Matrix disabled, but she still managed to pop in whenever I found myself spiraling a bit too much. ¡°Okay, new squad rule. No more secrets,¡± Swansong said and I could practically hear the clap of her hands. ¡°Huh? That¡¯s it?¡± I said curiously. ¡°I feel like I should be getting yelled at for some reason¡­¡± ¡°I toooooold you,¡± Angie taunted. ¡°It¡¯s a BDSM thing!¡± ¡°Not now, Angie!¡± ¡°We only just formed the squad, even if I had known, it¡¯s not like I could have been all ¡®oh let¡¯s go hunt him down and get his matrix turned off¡¯ since it had already been a few days,¡± Swansong said, thankfully still unable to hear my interactions with my P.A.I. ¡°I mean, sure it would have been nice to know that the supposedly bi-polar Guardian had an extra special reason to want to hurt you, but it wouldn¡¯t have changed much.¡± ¡°Are you sure your Acceptance Matrix is off?¡± I asked and she let out another laugh. ¡°Believe it or not, after hearing that there¡¯s some evil first wave Guardian out there performing experiments on other Augments and that the A.I. controlling the whole thing is up to his own possibly nefarious plans, this is actually pretty easy to rationalize,¡± she said as her laughter slowed. ¡°But seriously, no more secrets¡­ okay?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s really the last one I got at this point,¡± I said as I ran my finger along the sole page of results that came out of my filter settings. I noted the location of two of the books on the page and heading into the shelves. One of the books was actually from the rare rotation and while I would still need to up my intelligence by a point to use it, A Preliminary Guide to Photon Manipulation felt like it would be the perfect place to start with expanding my ranged options, even if it did cost every bit of the 12,500 credits I had just made from selling the useless stuff from my B.E.L.T. The other book, Life Finds A Way: A Study on Plant Growth seemed a bit more obscure, but it only cost 1,000 credits and our Squad Base was in Central Park, so it felt like there had to be some way I could put that to use. Before I could debate about it for too long, I grabbed the books and purchased them. It was still a relatively nice day out as I stepped back into the square, but the sun was starting to noticeably go down and the warmth it had provided was slowly giving way to a chill in the air. I mentally switched over to one of the still blank revolver options I had and dropped my Pocket Climate onto the passive bar as the temperature directly around my body rebalanced, leaving me feeling perfectly content. ¡°So where are you getting your pizza from?¡± Jon asked after the silence had lingered and Swansong noticeably scoffed. ¡°Okay, a few more secrets¡­ Actually, let¡¯s just say no more keeping secrets about things that may place a giant target on our backs,¡± she quickly amended. ¡°Oh my god, you really don¡¯t want to tell me where?! What kind of New Yorker are you? Everyone always wants to brag that their place has the best food in the city!¡± Jon complained. ¡°It¡¯s a hidden gem! If you tell people about it, then it becomes crowded like all of the other ¡®best pizza in the city¡¯ places and I¡¯d have to wait in a line.¡± ¡°OH MY GOD! Swansong. You. Are. A. Superhero!¡± Jon groaned, becoming somewhat exasperated. ¡°Like, literally just show up in costume and you can skip any line you want to. Shit, they¡¯d probably give you a dozen pizzas just for all the kids you¡¯ve cured!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t heal them to be rewarded¡­¡± ¡°Which is what makes you a Guardian,¡± Jon said and then sighed as he seemed to calm down. ¡°But like, you guys have to understand that you¡¯re starting to get a bit famous in the city, especially after your little team-up with Pinneedle. I¡¯m not saying go running around and demanding special treatment, that¡¯s Miscreant behavior, but people love Augments, especially the ones that protect and help ¡®normal¡¯ people.¡± ¡°Is this your way of asking me to try stopping at Tio¡¯s in costume sometime? Cause Axio¡¯s announcement is getting really close and I don¡¯t think I have time for that,¡± I said as I started back toward the portal wall. ¡°Maybe you can run and grab dinner after the announcement,¡± Jon said. ¡°I mean, yah never know, maybe they¡¯ll start calling the Cuban a ¡®Loophole¡¯.¡± B.2: Chapter 22

Fortune¡¯s Cadence Squad Base, Central Park, Manhattan, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Fortune¡¯s Cadence City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 26705 Beginning of Phase Two: 01D:00H:03M:02S

¡°Come on Loophole, it¡¯s gonna start any minute here!¡± ¡°I have ears and we have a few minutes, there¡¯s really not that much of a rush you know,¡± I said as I walked out of the hallway at the back of our base and into the pit. Swansong had been busy and while the overall layout of the place hadn¡¯t changed, it certainly felt almost home-y in a way that Jon¡¯s and my apartment never did. I dropped onto the curved couch that felt even more plush than it had before my fight. The hologram at the center of the pit rotated in place with an actual countdown clock ticking in the center of it. I had gotten back to the Squad Base with a few minutes to spare before Axio¡¯s announcement and I had found myself exploring the different rooms of the base. The hallway led out from the main common space about twenty feet down and had three doors, two on the right and one on the left. The closest of the doors on either side opened up to our newly acquired Garage Gym and Team Book Nook. I poked my head into each of them in turn, finding that their names were surprisingly accurate. The Garage Gym quite literally looked like it was somebody¡¯s garage. The far wall of the room was even a closed garage door with windows at the top, showing light from the setting sun in the distance. There were several different weight racks, an elliptical, and a treadmill, as well as a large punching bag hung up in the corner of the overly shabby room. There was even an old school style boombox perched on top of a stool in one of the corners of the room. The Team Book Nook while not currently all that stocked, felt like it could easily turn into an incredibly peaceful place. There were shelves lining the majority of the walls with a small cutout that gave way to a small desk and chair. When highlighted the desk was called the Transcription Table and I assumed that that was what we¡¯d have to use to create any of the knowledge books that we would be able to create. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a comfortable looking recliner that had a plaid throw blanket draped over the back of it. The farthest of the doors opened to a decently sized bathroom, complete with a large walk in shower, sink, and toilet. Of all the amenities in the room, the only one I could actually highlight was the shower, which was labeled as an Advanced Relaxation Shower. As I let myself get comfortable on the couch in the pit, I looked over at Swansong. She sat on the other side of the table with a large pillow on her lap and a plate containing a large, extra cheesy slice of pizza that was still steaming. I felt my stomach rumble and Swansong rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna eat the whole thing on my own¡­ I left the box on the counter, feel free to grab a slice,¡± Swansong said and I could hear Jon¡¯s chair as he hopped to his feet. ¡°Grab me one!¡± ¡°I was talking to Loophole!¡± ¡°Oh, come on!¡± Jon groaned as he fell back into his seat. ¡°What the hell did I do?¡± ¡°You tried to defend pineapple on pizza!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say I liked it, just that I could understand why people did! Come on, I¡¯ll grab you a Cuban tomorrow,¡± Jon offered and I saw a smile tug at the corner of Swansong¡¯s lips as she looked over to me. ¡°Fine, grab him one too,¡± she said. Even though I had just gotten comfortable, I pushed myself back off the couch and trotted up to the kitchen cutout. I still had several of my own Base Points to spend, but Swansong had apparently used all twelve of the ones she had available. In addition to the shower back in the bathroom, she had also spent some of her points setting up the oven, as well as an overly fancy looking coffee machine, and a microwave that sat directly over the oven. The Refrigerated cabinet that I had looted from the Viper¡¯s train was pushed up and into a corner directly next to a rather ordinary looking fridge. I grabbed the slices of pizza, foregoing any plates as I walked over to the glass wall that separated Jon¡¯s Command Room from the rest of the base. He didn¡¯t have a way to actually enter the base as a whole, but there was a small door that we could open to pass things through. It felt like an odd restriction, but given that his entire inclusion in the game was experimental as it was, he wasn¡¯t complaining about being separated from us by a wall. There was a brief sound of trumpets and I saw as the holographic display began to spin faster and faster as it expanded into a large screen. It didn¡¯t seem to be rotating any longer, instead moving to stay with me as I made my way back around to the staircase and into the pit. No matter which angle I looked at the display, it simply looked like a screen as the game¡¯s logo gave way to the regular montage of the top ten. Tempest¡¯s Wrath moved like a bolt of lightning, quite literally in fact as her body turned into electricity and surged across a battlefield before enveloping a man made out of shadows. The man¡¯s hands turned into monstrous looking claws that dissolved into nothing as he tried to rip at her impossibly bright, intangible form. The sparks from her body rushed inward, piercing the shadowy form until it suddenly dissolved and turned into a black and white clad man that slumped to the ground in a smoking heap. The video changed to a shot of me punching Pinneedle up and into the sky before he took down the swarm of Clockwork Falcons. The camera stayed with me, tracking as I shot into the air and toward the giant pterodactyl. ¡°Do you think Axio is just able to pull videos of you guys from anywhere, or is this some sort of situation where he has cameras hidden in the trees?¡± Jon called. I looked over my shoulder and saw he had his feet up on his counter. I could see the same set of videos from the announcement playing on the glass above several of his monitors. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve seen video on the forums of shots close to this, but this looks so much more clear than someone¡¯s phone hundreds of yards away.¡± ¡°This whole system lets us do things that shouldn¡¯t be possible and you¡¯re questioning where it gets its footage from?¡± Swansong asked curiously as the pterodactyl went down on the screen. ¡°Yup,¡± was all Jon responded with as the footage flipped over to a wide shot from outside of a large hospital. Quizmaster was standing atop a large platform with two men flanking him on either side. They were each wearing costumes of their own and each looked like they were on way too many steroids. Quizmaster looked as if he was right in the middle of a monologue when a pink blur crashed into the platform and sent him flying into the air. Pinky stopped and threw something up into the air that exploded out into a net that quickly enveloped Quizmaster, sending him crashing to the ground as he struggled against his bonds. The two men jumped into action, trying to beat Pinky down as she threw up her arms. She was practically beaming in excitement as their blows landed and then stopped ineffectually against her. The over-muscled men briefly stopped in shock before one of them tripled in size and threw a boulder-sized fist that sent a shower of pink sparks flying off of her the moment it impacted. ¡°What¡¯s she doing?¡± Swansong asked curiously. ¡°I thought her whole thing was charging people down?¡± ¡°As far as I¡¯ve figured out she¡¯s sorta like a kinetic battery,¡± I explained as I watched her buck her head to the side, her tusks extending outward and smacking into the smaller of the men. The man was sent rocketing backwards like he was hit by a truck before Pinky launched off the pavement toward him. ¡°She can absorb blows to build up her store on top of being able to slowly generate it on her own. That¡¯s what she uses for her charges and to add extra power to her strikes.¡± ¡°Wow¡­¡± She murmured, her attention focused on the screen as Pinky stomped the man down and into the ground. A crater formed around the crushed Miscreant before she turned on the giant. ¡°You¡¯re a brawler and your biggest attacks are all punches¡­ if she can just absorb blows, how¡¯d you manage to beat her?¡± ¡°The first time he got her stuck in a wall,¡± Jon called out, his mouth clearly full. ¡°A win¡¯s a win,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°She can only absorb strikes when she¡¯s not moving. My Gravity Punch has the knockback effect, so once I got her moving I was able to chip her health bar away. But yeah, that¡¯s why I¡¯m focused on trying to increase my ranged capabilities.¡± ¡°Huh, someone maybe shoulda told the big fella about it,¡± Swansong said just as Pinky absorbed yet another strike from the large man before she sent a shockwave through the ground that left the man tripping. She took the opportunity to jump up in a wide arc before she smashed into his chest and released yet another wave of energy into him that sent a small fountain of blood spitting from his mouth. The last bit of footage that was left of her was Pinky hopping off the shrinking man, walking over, and picking up a still struggling Quizmaster before throwing him over her shoulder with a grin. It cut over just as she started to say something that didn¡¯t come through in the audio. Although she had also appeared in the footage alongside me, Swansong was given her own spotlight showing as she sang and ushered the crowd from the zoo before the attack. Stolen story; please report. After the rest of the Top Ten were given their time on the screen, including a new blob of a man that I hadn¡¯t seen before, the video finally flipped over to the current standings. I had gotten so used to watching the number of Augments drop by dozens, if not hundreds of people each night that only losing five people felt like a miracle. Tenth Wave Guardians: 199 Miscreants: 295 1. Tempest¡¯s Wrath - Level 15 Thunder God - Miscreant - 28815 Points 2. Loophole - Level 14 Perfect Planner - Guardian - 26705 Points 3. Pretty Pink Warthog - Level 14 Berserking Boar - Guardian - 23985 Points 4. Swansong - Level 13 Healing Voice - Guardian- 21040 Points 5. Freakenstein - Level 13 Patchwork Armorer - Miscreant - 20530 Points 6. Duke Juke¡¯em- Level 12 Highschool Athlete - Miscreant - 19860 Points 7. Vice Grip - Level 12 Toolbox Mechanic - Guardian - 19625 Points 8. Lazer Tazer - Level 12 Lethal Lighting Specialist - Miscreant - 19220 Points 9. Pigeon - Level 12 Pigeon - Miscreant - 18835 Points 10. Thiccc Thighs - Level 12 Sumo Quaker - Miscreant - 17540 Points ¡°Goooooood Evening Augments! We are now just 24 hours away from the start of the Tenth Wave¡¯s Second Phase! Isn¡¯t that just so incredibly exciting! Now, I have been thinking about this all day and I think instead of waiting for the phase to actually begin, I¡¯m going to explain just how things are going to go, especially since I think you all are going to be quite a bit occupied during our regular nightly pow-wow tomorrow. Before we get to that though, I have a few of you in particular that I really want to shine a light on.¡± ¡°Marking the very first Top Ten Takedown of your Wave, Pretty Pink Warthog has rocketed up to third place in the rankings for an impressive defeat over Quizmaster and his Ninth Wave Associates, Hightower and Muscle Multiplier. While I do have to admire Quizmaster¡¯s moxie with convincing those two to help him, that eager beaver just didn¡¯t have what it took to finish the job. Stopping him did save everyone in the hospital and since I did promise you a reward, you will now receive an S+:Tier box for being the first person to claim a bounty. Moving forward, just so you are all aware, the Top Ten will all have a permanent bounty on their heads. Any Augment that kills or captures a member of the Top Ten will receive two A+:Tier loot boxes. If it is a member of the Top Three, you will receive two S:Tier loot boxes instead.¡± ¡°I¡¯d also like to give a special shoutout to Dr. Noodle. Once again, that is an incredibly stupid name, I really cannot believe you actually decided to keep it, but I can appreciate that level of hardheadedness. Not only did you impressively handle that first Major Threat I sent your way on the first day, you also managed to handle the second one you accidentally summoned when you revealed your Secret Identity to your wife. Being alive still really is its own reward for that, but you¡¯re going to receive an extra little Teacher¡¯s Pet Phase Point gain at the end of this announcement. Trust me, that¡¯s going to be reward enough and you don¡¯t even have to wait that long to find out why.¡± ¡°Finally, Tempest¡¯s Wrath. My staticky sweetheart. Now, I appreciate just how much pep you have in your step, trust me when I tell you that that¡¯s the kind of initiative that I just love to see! But with your victory over Midnight Claws, you have unfortunately removed all of the other Tenth Wave Augments from your region. Strictly speaking, this is going to limit your growth potential during Phase Two due to the preset conditions I had to establish in the system¡¯s programming, but I believe I have a way to mitigate those losses, you¡¯ll just need to hear me out when we get a moment to chat offline.¡± ¡°Okay, now let¡¯s get on to the part that the majority of you are so patiently waiting for. Much like with Phase One, there will be a set Phase Point requirement for Phase Two. And that requirement iiiiiiiiiiis¡­ 100,000 points! Yes, yes I know, that is a lot of points, but don¡¯t any of you go fretting, I¡¯m giving you thirty days to get them! As I¡¯m hoping many of you are aware of by now, scoring Phase Points really is not that hard to do! I¡¯ve put in so many ways to do it, you should be able to score these points in no time at all, especially with the introduction of Phase Two¡¯s unique collectible item!¡± The screen that normally just stayed focused on the Top Ten list faded as a large golden coin emblazoned with the game¡¯s logo appeared spinning at the center of the screen. Along the outer edge of the coin, the phrases ¡°power through ascension¡± and ¡°strength through unity¡± were easily legible and separated by stars. ¡°This is an Ascension Token. Every day for the month of Phase Two, six of these tokens will be randomly generated in every single region with two or more Tenth Wave Augments. These tokens, when collected, can be deposited into the brand new Ascension Upgrader device to immediately gain 2,000 Phase Points. Now here¡¯s where things get fun and why Squads are going to be important. While the Ascension Upgrader will be available for free as an upgrade for your Safe House, it will be available as a Squad Base Upgrade as well, ALSO for free! If an Ascension Token is placed into the Upgrader within a Squad Base, this Phase Point gain will be granted to all members of the Squad within the base at the time of deposit. Additionally, for every ten tokens placed into an Ascension Upgrader within a Squad Base, each member of the Squad in the base at the time of the tenth deposit will immediately go up by 1 Level!¡± A large brick of a device was on the screen with a crude animation of one of the Ascension Tokens dropping down and into it. Rather simple looking cartoon characters were cheering around the device as little +1s appeared over their heads. ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­ when did he decide to rip off Fallout?¡± Jon wondered out loud. ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining, other than the leaderboard montage, these little monologues of his really could use more visuals.¡± ¡°You focus on the weirdest things¡­¡± Swansong said, looking over toward him. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be focused on the fact that Phase Two is some sort of scavenger hunt?¡± ¡°Oh come on, I already have to deal with Loophole''s fixation on conspiracies, can¡¯t we focus on the big picture stuff after the weird A.I. is done with his rant?¡± ¡°Now, since I don¡¯t want you all just stumbling around blindly, hoping you find these tokens, they aren¡¯t exactly going to be all that hidden! Instead of appearing all at the same time, tokens will be generated one at a time, two hours apart beginning at daybreak each day. I¡¯m not going to be letting these things appear in the middle of the night, I¡¯m not a monster after all, people are trying to sleep. With all that said, given that Phase Two will be starting near nighttime for most of you, there will be one coin that is deployed at the inception of the phase, with the remainder beginning the next morning. If a token has not been found by the time the next token is generated, all Augments within the region will be given an immediate notification with its location. I¡¯m sure that will make for some excellent visuals for my little nightly monologues.¡± ¡°He¡¯s also so weirdly passive aggressive. Like, I can¡¯t be the only one commenting on this nonsense, right? That last line was absolutely because of my complaint,¡± Jon said. ¡°Maybe don¡¯t complain so much,¡± I offered and he scoffed. ¡°Come on bud, you should know by now that¡¯s not gonna change,¡± he said and I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. The cartoons faded from the screen before the spinning image of the Ascension Token reappeared in the video once again. ¡°The Squad in Phase Two that overall collects the most Ascension Tokens by the end of Phase Two will have their Squad Base immediately upgraded by 2 Levels and they will receive an S+:Tier Squad Base loot box. On top of anyone who does not reach the required 100,000 Phase Points, Critical Level threats will be deployed to the Squad or Augment that overall collects the least Ascension Tokens by the end of Phase Two.¡± ¡°All of this sure sounds super simple and it almost makes you wonder why I¡¯ve been building this up so much, doesn¡¯t it?! Keep thinking that, it¡¯s gonna make this next part a lot more fun. Those of you who make it through this next Phase or undoubtedly going to come out stronger than any of the Waves before you. That¡¯s good. I¡¯ve said it before and I¡¯ll say it again. I need you all to be as strong as possible for what¡¯s coming, and I¡¯m learning that forging you all in the hottest of fires is the best way to get the sharpest steel. Good luck Augments. You¡¯re going to need it.¡± B.2: Chapter 23

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:23H:55M:26S

¡°It is kinda bullshit you didn¡¯t get credit for all of that too, you should be up on the Top Ten with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not have a target on my back, especially with bounties now available and a squad heavy next phase. Besides, my collapsible net did the trick, did it not? I received more than enough points for assisting in Quizmaster¡¯s capture.¡± Pinky sat on a large couch with her feet up as the Axio¡¯s message faded from view. She grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl that BrainCraft had prepared before the message, though he had quickly abandoned it the moment the talk of new technology had cropped up. The device looked almost like a small mailbox and BrainCraft had some handheld device out that he was waving over it as he walked in a circle around it. ¡°What are you doing anyway?¡± Pinky asked, pushing the footrest down as she leaned forward toward the tech covered coffee table. ¡°I¡¯m trying to isolate the mechanics of this device. Perhaps there¡¯s a way I can modify it to give us more points or possibly shrink the amount of tokens needed to level up,¡± BrainCraft said, kneeling down and running a hand near what he thought was an access panel. ¡°Is messing with that thing really all that good of an idea given everything Loophole told us?¡± ¡°Everything Loophole told us doesn¡¯t matter, at least not where this is concerned.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± ¡°Because the two things simply aren¡¯t directly related¡± BrainCraft said, feeling the outer edge of the panel as he tested it. ¡°This game didn¡¯t come from nowhere, there were always going to be people with motivations far outside of our control. If we decide to fret on that, and try to hunt those people down, well that would certainly come with its own set of consequences. At the same time, everything that has been put into the game and made available to us was put there for a reason. Our powers allow us to do things that shouldn¡¯t be possible but at the same time Axio can suppress us from saying whatever he¡¯d like. If we aren¡¯t meant to have access to something,¡± He stopped only to push in on the side of the panel before it clicked, popping open to reveal a complex looking array of interfaces and a script that looked completely alien to Pinky. BrainCraft looked up at her with a smile that split his face in two before he finally said, ¡°Then we wouldn¡¯t have access to it.¡±

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:19H:04M:36S

Jon sat looking between the various screens in his Command Room. Nate had just retreated back into his bedroom after using both the Garage Gym to increase his Dexterity and the Team Book Nook to transcribe his Quantum Mechanics knowledge into a new Level 3 book. Swansong had left the squad base a bit earlier in the night, having slipped out after transcribing her Tranquility Dynamics knowledge into a Level 3 book herself. She told them to call her if a Crime Alert did come up, but the overly chaotic day had given way to a surprisingly quiet night. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be going to bed too?¡± Angie asked. ¡°Eh, I¡¯m a night owl,¡± Jon said, leaning forward as he pulled up the two screens that contained both Nate¡¯s and Swansong¡¯s powersets. ¡°Now that Swansong has the Quantum Mechanics knowledge, I want to do some research and see if I can¡¯t figure out how to tie that in with her songs¡­ It would really be a lot more helpful if I could absorb the damn books too.¡± ¡°For what it¡¯s worth Mr. Codex, Ms. Swansong has greatly appreciated your help so far.¡± One of the interesting side effects that had come from the Command Room getting integrated into the Squad Base, on top of giving Jon more access to Swansong¡¯s character profile, also gave him access to talk with Logan, Swansong¡¯s P.A.I. Unlike Angie, Logan was practically the pinnacle of patience. While Angie had taken it a bit personally that Nate was mostly trying to ignore her in recent days, Logan had already been more than used to silence when it came to Swansong and had simply found it interesting to have more people to talk to. ¡°Do you really have to use Mister this and Misses that? I thought I told you to pull that digital stick out of your ass,¡± Angie groaned and Jon rolled his eyes. ¡°Formalities are important Ms. Angie,¡± Logan replied and Angie groaned again. ¡°You¡¯re not going to get under his skin Angie, I think you should probably just give up,¡± Jon offered, pulling up a wikipedia page on Quantum Mechanics. ¡°I mean, I get what you¡¯re going for, but you get that your abrasive attitude is why Loophole has been ignoring you¡­ right?¡± ¡°Oh he¡¯ll get over it,¡± Angie muttered and then sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Logan, if you need to act like a digital butler to get your kicks, you do you.¡± ¡°Thank you Ms. Angie,¡± Logan replied and Jon could practically imagine Angie rolling her own nonexistent eyes. He knew how easily she could keep everyone distracted and he decided to put a stop to it while there was an obvious break. ¡°Okay guys, let¡¯s focus up,¡± Jon said, cracking his knuckles before he pulled open a few more pages. ¡°Help me go over all of these things and start throwing out some suggestions. I want to get Swansong a combat option before Phase Two starts.¡±

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:17H:32M:21S

¡°You look tense, sir.¡± Clockwork Tyrant sat at the center of a large console. A hand stroke a well manicured beard as he stared across the room at a screen paused on an image of the Ascension Token. ¡°I¡¯m finally understanding why Axio told me you lot were necessary,¡± he said. His voice was thick with a posh accent that would have sounded right at home in Buckingham Palace, which he had coincidentally tried, and failed, to take over on more than one occasion. ¡°Has Mr. Factory been able to finish replenishing his Stamina?¡± ¡°He still has one more Exhausted debuff to shed,¡± The man standing off to Clockwork Tyrant¡¯s side was barely a man, and he froze up as the older Augment shot him a deriding glare. ¡°And why haven¡¯t you leeched that debuff off of him?¡± ¡°I¡­ Sir I already have four Exhausted debuffs, if I leech another I¡¯ll be knocked out for a day.¡± ¡°So?¡± Clockwork Tyrant said. ¡°You¡¯re here because you¡¯re in the Tenth Wave and have a useful ability Duskbreaker, consider yourself lucky I¡¯m only asking that you knock yourself out so that you¡¯re out of the way. You¡¯ll still be here to reap the benefits, but only if you do what I say. Unless you¡¯d rather be out there with the rabble that makes up the rest of your Wave when Perry is released.¡± Duskbreaker felt himself squirm under Clockwork Tyrant¡¯s oppressive aura. He had no idea what aspect of the older Augment¡¯s power had allowed him to exert such a pressure, but it wasn¡¯t a feeling that he enjoyed. ¡°I¡­ yes sir. I will go and get him back to work. Should we continue production of the Clockwork Adapters?¡± ¡°No, tell Mr. Factory to switch over to Clockwork Falcons and to continue with them through the rest of the night. I believe our control force is more than prepared and we will have more than enough time to bolster their ranks. We¡¯re going to need to be able to coat the skies for search and surveillance,¡± Clockwork Tyrant said as he looked over at the Ascension Token on the screen. ¡°We won¡¯t want to miss out on such a fantastic opportunity for ascension, it¡¯s what Axio would want after all.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:15H:02M:33S

Pinky was snoring on the couch and BrainCraft stopped only to grab one of the throw blankets that his teammate had brought into their squad base. He placed it over her before returning to the device that he had already pulled more than a few components from. Much to both his frustration and, at least somewhat, relief, the device wouldn¡¯t come apart easily, if at all. Every component he pulled out was still connected back into the device by strange looking wires that gave off a current that BrainCraft¡¯s various devices simply couldn¡¯t identify. Had he had an unlimited amount of time, he might have found this to be endlessly fascinating. He could have spent a day alone on the alien script that comprised all of the menus and panels he could find, but he knew that that wasn¡¯t time that he had. For all the obfuscation that the device did maintain, BrainCraft had been able to identify a few things within the code using his own equipment. He was still going to have to tinker with finding a way to access the administrative settings to make the changes he wanted to change, and part of that was going to be at least partially figuring out the unidentified language so that he didn¡¯t make the wrong changes. That said, BrainCraft¡¯s powerset had increased his already impressive intelligence by leaps and bounds and he was confident that he was going to figure it out. So confident in fact that found himself opening up a chat window.

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:12H:32M:02S

¡°Well you¡¯re up early,¡± Swansong said as I walked into the Squad Base. I hadn¡¯t put on my costume when I had entered, but much like when Jon entered his Command Room, my normal face mask materialized on my face. Swansong held a steaming mug and was sitting over in the corner atop one of the large bean bag chairs that Jon had added to the room with a book in her lap. The chairs were one of the few things he had placed in the Squad Base that Swansong hadn¡¯t gotten rid of and it was easy to see why with how comfortable she looked. ¡°I could say the same about you,¡± I said as I wandered over toward the coffee machine. I had never been the biggest coffee drinker and when I did it was usually out of the old coffee pot that my Uncle Chris had left behind in his apartment when Jon and I had moved in. I reached up and into a cabinet where several non-descript mugs sat and then stared at the contraption that might as well have been alien to me. I reached up toward the touchscreen tentatively before a soft giggle pierced the silence that lingered in the room. Swansong was getting to her feet as I looked over and she wandered my direction. Much like myself, other than the white mask that covered the upper half of her face, Swansong wasn¡¯t wearing her usual skintight costume. Instead she was wrapped in a fluffy teal robe and sported a pair of matching fuzzy slippers. She walked over, stepping up next to me as she reached forward and tapped a few items on the screen, then gestured for me to put my mug down. ¡°Cream and sugar?¡± ¡°Make it so sweet my dentist will question my life decisions,¡± I said and she rolled her eyes. She clicked a few options and the machine whirred to life before she walked over and turned, leaning up against the counter. ¡°So are you an early riser normally?¡± ¡°Nope, just nervous about today,¡± she admitted. ¡°It feels like there¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ an energy in the air¡­ right?¡± ¡°I get what you mean,¡± I said with a nod, watching as the mug in the machine filled. ¡°It¡¯s like the calm before the storm.¡± ¡°Exactly¡­ I thought it was just because I had gotten through Phase One with only healing and these last few days had already been so different, but Axio¡¯s announcement¡­¡± She grabbed her mug with both hands as she brought it up to her lips and took a long sip. ¡°Why does it feel like he¡¯s trying to turn the city into a battlefield?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± I said, taking the mug and turning to lean against the counter next to her. ¡°That does seem like the most obvious answer, but it doesn¡¯t quite explain his obsession with making us stronger either.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I know Codex kind of brushes it off a lot, but I really do wish that we knew a bit more than we did.¡± ¡°He does have a bit of a tendency to underreact to things,¡± I admitted, ¡°Though it has been helpful in keeping me from spiraling more than a few times.¡± Silence slowly took over as the coffee machine whirred and cooled down. I sipped at the slightly too sweet coffee as Swansong looked into her mug. I thought about it for a moment as I looked from my mug over to her. We were still strangers in a lot of ways but I liked to think we were already becoming friends. I reached up and patted her on the shoulder, startling her slightly as she looked up at me. ¡°I know you still have your family here¡­ we¡¯ll do what we have to do to keep them safe, no matter what¡¯s coming¡± I said as reassuringly as I could, ¡°We make a good team, I think we got this, regardless of what Axio is up to.¡± A smile tugged at her lips as her cheeks flushed and she broke eye contact with me to look back at her coffee. ¡°Yeah¡­ you¡¯re right,¡± she said. ¡°We got this.¡±

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:09H:17M:37S

It was a surprisingly peaceful and clear morning. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, though the temperature was rapidly dropping as Winter rapidly began to take hold. The city was probably only a few weeks at the most from seeing their first real snowfall of the year. The city as a whole was alive with its normal level of activity. Cars were blaring their horns, civilians were packed onto the sidewalks, and there was more than enough food accidentally finding its way to the ground for the avian population of the city. While many New Yorkers would see the birds as nothing more than winged rodents, they truly did their own minor service by cleaning the streets of the improperly disposed of treats that many of the birds loved to snack on. Not all of the city¡¯s birds were scavenging for morsels this particular morning though. At the top of the Guggenheim, there was a large device that, had anyone really looked at it, was clearly out of place. The device looked like a weird mixture of a lightning rod and a satellite array, though unlike the normal versions of these that normally did belong on rooftops, this one was heavily armored and had what appeared to be mounted weapons protecting it. This might have been intimidating to most people or animals that came near it and felt the buzz of energy that was clearly pulsing off of it, but Pigeon wasn¡¯t most animals. Pigeon didn¡¯t even care what the hell the device was. He only cared that it was in his favorite spot to perch. Although the guns did seem to start to warm up as Pigeon approached it, they weren¡¯t able to track the bird as it seemed to take off in a flash, covering the weapons in a thick white goop that immediately melted them away. In a quick swoop, the bird crashed into the base of the device¡­ and cleanly sheared through the thick metal. The energy emitting from the device faded as it dissolved into light and Pigeon found himself with the sudden need for a nap. It was a good thing he had his perch back.

Beginning of Phase Two: 00D:00H:02M:09S

There was a rumble that slowly emanated out and into the city. New York City wasn¡¯t necessarily a stranger to earthquakes, but this didn¡¯t quite feel like that for the many civilians traversing the city. Even then, the civilians of the city were more than aware that they lived in a world where people casually broke the laws of physics. The moment the ground started to shake, many people began running for shelter, already preparing to clear out of the way before they found themselves in the middle of a fight between Augments. There were several large, fast moving objects that went flying in several different directions over the city, though to anyone watching they would have easily noticed that they all seemed to be coming from the Upper Bay south of Manhattan. For the civilians that were actually close to the Upper Bay, they got to witness a sight that would leave many of them, at least the ones that survived the night to come, with nightmares for weeks. The Statue of Liberty had been decapitated by one of the triangular metal objects that got launched off of the impossibly large object that had emerged from the ocean and as the objects started crashing into the ground around the city, the main raid alarms around it started blaring in whooping sirens. They had been installed decades before Augments had ever even been a thing and had been used rarely, if at all, outside of testing them for functionality. Once Augments were a thing, the alarms had been redesignated for one thing and one thing alone. A real, observable threat to the city. And for the first time since the early years of the Augments, the alarms were being sounded. B.2: Chapter 24 ¡°What the actual hell is going on!?¡± Jon shouted. His hands were clasped over his ears as the raid siren continued to blare, invading our squad base and amplifying as the sounds bounced off of the walls. Although the day had been relatively calm, to the point that Swansong and I had gone out multiple times to fly around only to be a bit annoyed by a lack of any Crime Alert or noticeable activity, we hadn''t let ourselves be completely unproductive. Swansong made use of the gym, raising her Toughness up by a point before she and Jon sat down for an extended period of time to go over the potential offensive options that she could manage. We had just been having some dinner, Cubans as promised by Jon, when the piercing sound threatened to deafen us. ¡°We¡¯ve gotta go see what¡¯s going on!¡± I said, switching to our internal chat and finding the focus on the internal channel at least partially dimmed the continued sirens. Swansong made eye contact with me and nodded before we both took off for the exit. In hindsight, we really needed some sort of quick exit that we could fly out of. We made it to the exit and burst out from under the bridge on either side, rushing for the sky. Under normal circumstances, maybe the first thing I would have noticed would have been the swarm of Clockwork Falcons that were flying in large flocks around the city, but these weren¡¯t normal circumstances. Fires were raging across the city and the echoing sound of the sirens barely blotted out the screams of civilians running below us. A window popped into my vision and while normally it would have been Angie reading it out to me, this time Axio¡¯s voice filled my head. ¡°New Mission! The Long Night. This is it! Phase Two! Did you really think you¡¯d escape today without hearing from me?! You¡¯ve had your time to rest, to train, maybe even to make a new friend. I hope whatever you¡¯ve done, it¡¯s been worth it. I¡¯ll let you in on a little secret, the scene you¡¯re seeing before you is happening all across the Western Hemisphere tonight, so don¡¯t go thinking I¡¯m targeting you specifically¡­ At least¡­ I¡¯m not targeting you specifically for this¡­ Don¡¯t worry about that though, you¡¯ve got bigger fish to fry. The occupation has begun, do what you can to make it through the first night. Save people, go after the occupier, run and hide, do whatever you believe is right. The decision is yours. Reward: Your reward will be determined based on what you accomplish in the next 12 hours. Oh, and don¡¯t forget, an Ascension Token has just spawned somewhere in the city.¡± A timer appeared under the mission¡¯s name on my tracker at the side of my vision before I met Swansong¡¯s eyes. I could see panic in them as she looked from me and back out to the city. The raid sirens finally were starting to dim, but instead of the panic of the populace, a screeching metallic sound filled the air. It didn¡¯t take long to find the source of the sound and I found my own eyes widening as I took in something that, even with the existence of Augments, I never expected to see. Far to the south of us, walking slowly toward the city past a decapitated Statue of Liberty, was a giant robotic animal. It looked similar to an armadillo but I discovered even at the distance I was at, my interface was able to highlight the kaiju sized robot. ¡°Perry the Clockwork Pangolin. Level 65 (Elite) Golem Fortress. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s one big Pangolin. I uh¡­ I¡¯m gonna just go ahead and say you might be a little in over your head against this guy.¡± ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± Jon¡¯s normal awestruck voice was surprisingly mellow and I could hear the rapid clack of his keys. ¡°Not sure how this is happening, but my map is updating with live info on appearing groups of the Clockwork animals. There¡¯s also some information on civilians in immediate risk too¡­ Guys, this is way more than the two of you can handle alone¡­¡± I swallowed hard as I looked around. We couldn¡¯t just float here, my stamina alone wasn¡¯t endless and there was too much going on. I could see several more metallic canisters launching through the city, crashing down into random spots. ¡°Swansong, I think we need to split up. You''re going to need to go find anyone out in the open and get them to safety, I¡¯m going to try to clean up some of these-¡± ¡°Pinneedle has invited your squad, Fortune¡¯s Cadence, to a Squad Raid Group. Four Corner¡¯s is the hosting squad. Accept: Y/N.¡± ¡°Oh, thank god they''re in range,¡± I said and accepted the invite. ¡°Loophole! Where are you guys at?¡± ¡°Central Park, what the hell is going on?! I thought you guys were taking care of these things?¡± ¡°That explains why I can open the voice channel then, I¡¯m only a neighborhood away, just passing through Midtown. It seems Clockwork Tyrant¡¯s been holding out on us,¡± Pinneedle replied with a laugh. ¡°Grand Strike is en route to the Pangolin, we¡¯re going to see if there is an obvious weak spot we can exploit to put an end to this.¡± ¡°Wait, should he really be going alone?¡± Swansong spoke up and I looked over to her curiously. ¡°We just got a mission that said we have to survive the occupation for the next twelve hours¡­ It can¡¯t be so simple that one Augment can take down that thing¡­ Uh¡­ No offense Grand Strike.¡± A boisterous laugh filled the chat before a new voice spoke. ¡°None taken! And you really shouldn''t fret about any of this too much! Pinneedle is on his way to help me and I¡¯ve just scooped up Hydramental here, he¡¯ll be able to assist me by highlighting any smaller droids that the bigger one may deploy while we are up close. That should keep them from being too high leveled. Should be a good night to gain a few levels for everyone.¡± ¡°Hydra-¡± ¡°Yup, don¡¯t get your panties in a bunch, I¡¯m in here too,¡± a familiar voice spoke up and I looked over to the raid window. I had thought that you would have needed to be in a squad to join the group but to my surprise Hydramental just occupied his own subgroup within the raid. ¡°You gonna throw a little bitch-¡± ¡°Hey! There will be time for pissing contests later,¡± Grand Strike¡¯s amicable attitude seemed to vanish in a flash as he cut Hydramental off. ¡°You don¡¯t have to like each other, you just have to protect this city. If you want to have a pissing contest, do it by proving who can take down the most enemies. We are leaving chat range now.¡± There was a sudden BOOM that rattled through the air and I saw as an actual ripple that passed through the air to the south. ¡°Loophole, your team is pretty mobile, can you sweep the city and clean up the smaller groups?¡± Pinneedle asked. ¡°I was just about to have Swansong head off to make sure civilians are getting into the raid bunkers around the city so that we can cover more ground," I said, looking over to her and getting a nod before she took off toward the nearest set of screams. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the best idea for us to split up, but I could get by without her buffs and she did have at least a few abilities that should be able to handle some of the smaller Clockwork creations we had fought. ¡°Good, I¡¯m going to be dropping out of range here soon so that I can help Grand Strike, so if something comes up, send me a message. I¡¯m not the most mobile but if we have to, Grand Strike can head back into the city. I know there¡¯s a few more Augments from your wave around, Miss Mist is trying to find them and this is sure to draw them out. If you see any, add them to your squad in a Temporary Team-Up and I¡¯ll move them into the Raid Group. I wasn¡¯t joking when I said that Clockwork Tyrant¡¯s been holding out on us, he has covered too much of-¡± Pinneedle¡¯s voice cut off and I looked over at the raid group seeing an ¡°out of range¡± icon over his name. I halfway expected him to turn around to finish his thought, but I wasn¡¯t about to go chasing him down just to hear what I already knew. ¡°This is fucking wild¡­¡± Jon muttered in our squad¡¯s still open voice chat. ¡°Wait, Swansong, there¡¯s a family that just dipped into that alley over there.¡± ¡°On it!¡± I heard a whir of energy before at least a dozen Clockwork Falcons went soaring past me. I was just about to chase them when I heard another round of screams. There was another one of those large, triangular scales that came crashing down into the street running along the east side of Central Park. The scale must have been every bit of five stories tall and that was with the tip of it buried deep into the street. The scale opened up and Clockwork Monkeys went pouring out of it, flooding the streets and tearing into the cars that had been left stuck in the now impossible to pass traffic. The chaos was overwhelming, but with some actual opponents ahead to chase down, I at least had somewhere to let out some of the rage I could feel welling up inside of me. This was going far beyond the limits of some game. I hadn''t felt this angry at a Miscreant''s choices since I had thought SnakeBite had been keeping Sapient NPCs as prisoners. I dropped in on them with Earthbound Impact. The pavement cratered as the shockwave spread out through the pack of monkeys, wiping out the entire wave in a single attack. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Damn, that was clean,¡± Jon said. I was just about to jump back into the air to get away from the explosions that the monkeys were bound to cause, when the components all seemed to start shaking. ¡°Um¡­¡± I said, looking around at them as I slowly lifted off the ground. The components rushed together and where a dozen Clockwork Monkeys had once stood, a single extra-large one was left in its place. The monkey let out a screech of a roar that actually left me disoriented enough that I had to land. I highlighted the new opponent out of curiosity. ¡°Mega Clockwork Monkey. Level 14 (Elite) Reconstructed Golem. Well that¡¯s certainly a new trick! This giant sized version of one of your former opponents is made up of a bunch of his lesser versions, maybe this time when you break him, set the pieces on fire.¡± I rushed the monkey and threw a 25% Gravity Punch, ready to launch it back into the wall that had been created by the scale. The monkey actually reacted to my attack, throwing its arms up in a fighter-like block. At the same time, I heard the crack of pavement as claws buried themselves into the ground right before my strike could land. My strike landed, but the sudden appearance of a shield bar left the strike to take our a good chunk of it while leaving its health completely untouched. Even more frustrating was the fact that the claws that the monkey had deployed somehow completely negated the knockback I had been trying to cause. ¡°Look out!¡± Jon yelled in my head, only a moment too late. The shock of the monkey not getting sent back caused me to hesitate just long enough for the monkey to strike me with the back of an overly large hand. Every bit of the knockback I should have caused was delivered to me and then some. The monkey hit me in a slightly downward direction, sending me hurtling down and into the ground as I went tumbling and rolling over the pavement between abandoned cars. My health had gone plummeting downwards, lowering over 40% in the single strike. ¡°That hurt,¡± I groaned as I struggled to my feet, looking over at the monkey as it shook asphalt from its feet. Just as it started to charge, I rushed over toward Central Park. The monkey turned on a dime, chasing toward me as I flew over the fence and into the trees. It burst off the ground with a powerful leap that left yet another crater into the already pockmarked street. Just as it hit the treeline, I spun, holding myself in the air and watching as it continued to run toward me. I waited, wanting to make sure the monkey was fully surrounded by plant-life before I breathed out and activated the one new ability I had made over the last day of waiting. The ability had felt very similar to Weighted Clothes in some ways, but given that that ability was limited to enemies that were wearing clothes, I had needed a new way to lock down opponents. ¡°Entangle! Level 1 Activated Ability. You have become one with nature, at least within your local area. Utilize the available plant-life in the world around you to entangle your enemies. The amount of enemies and the length of which you can hold said enemies is determined by the amount of plant-life available within your local area. This ability costs 100 times the amount of enemies you are entangling per second points of Stamina to maintain this ability. This ability has no cooldown.¡± Roots came bursting from the earth, wrapping up and around the large monkeys legs. Several vines came dropping from the trees. I was pretty sure that vines weren¡¯t normally just existing in the trees of Central Park, but I wasn¡¯t going to question it as the monkey struggled to break free from the ever growing bonds. My stamina was already dropping fast and I rushed toward the monkey. This time I didn¡¯t want to send the monkey flying backwards, so when I struck I only hit it with a 20% Gravity Punch directly to the monkey¡¯s exposed chest. The shield dropped and I quickly followed up the strike with Paradox Chain. With a quick few regular strikes, I managed to eliminate the monkey¡¯s shield¡­ only for it to finally break free of the vines and deliver another rough backhand that sent me stumbling. The vines were probably the only thing that saved me from having my health bottom out, though I was already down near critical. I reactivated Entangle, watching as the vines shot back out to rewrap the monkey as he fought against them and materialized a Superior Health Injector. I slammed it into my side and breathed a sigh of relief as my health jumped back up over 75%. My stamina was just below 25% so I quickly materialized and used a Superior Stamina Injector to top my bar off. ¡°This guy is way too damn strong given how weak those initial monkeys were¡­¡± I muttered. While I had Quantum Overclock available, this wasn¡¯t like other times where I was guaranteed time to rest once I was done fighting. I couldn¡¯t risk gaining the Exhausted debuff, especially if Swansong ran into something that she needed help on. ¡°Should we really have split up?¡± Swansong asked. I could hear more explosions in the distance but didn¡¯t take my eyes off of the monkey as I held my mental finger on Entangle. ¡°Swansong I¡¯m going to need you to keep singing that peaceful song, those guys in the back look like they are starting to get jumpy. Loophole, there¡¯s a pack of Clockwork¡­ I want to say Tigers? Yeah let¡¯s go with Tigers. There¡¯s some Clockwork Tigers outside of the Guggenheim. Swansong is funneling folks down into the subway on the West Side. Maybe it''s lucky but at least it seems like the droids are zeroing in on your location instead of hers,¡± Jon called out. ¡°Yeah, in case you can¡¯t see, I¡¯m a bit busy with this thing already,¡± I grunted, ¡°The asshole doesn¡¯t want to go down.¡± ¡°Yeah well I don¡¯t think, huh¡­ the Tigers just disappeared off my map,¡± Jon said with a murmur. "Maybe there''s another Augment?" ¡°Given the situation, I¡¯ll take it,¡± I muttered before I rushed back in toward the captured monkey. My normal strikes didn¡¯t do quite as much damage as my amped up Gravity Punches but they did do damage. The vines were luckily still coiling up and around the monkey¡¯s limbs, holding it in place as I got in and landed a rapid set of strikes, each one dropping its health bar by a few percent. I was just getting into a rhythm when another loud BOOM filled the air, followed by a sharp whistling sound. Only a moment later, I heard as something went crashing through several trees just to the north of my fight. The monkey struggled against its bonds as I dodged backward, regrouping as I kept my focus on my Entangle ability. ¡°That¡­ hurt,¡± Grand Strike¡¯s voice infiltrated my mind. ¡°Just as a heads up, don¡¯t try to go in the scales¡­ They are trapped nine ways from Sunday.¡± ¡°That was you?!¡± I asked, risking a look over my shoulder and into the trees where I had heard him crash. ¡°I wish it wasn''t, but yeah,¡± he said and I could see as he started to float back into the air. ¡°Need any help before I rush back out there?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be in more of a hurry!?¡± I asked and I could hear him laugh again as he looked over, apparently noticing my captured opponent. ¡°I know you¡¯re new to this kid and city wide attacks aren¡¯t quite normal, but as you level up you¡¯ll get used to the craziness. The others will be fine for an extra few seconds before I get back there,¡± He said before he flew over and landed on the ground next to me. ¡°Now, want me to handle this thing for-¡± The giant Clockwork Monkey suddenly crumbled to pieces, the vines and roots holding it in place losing its grip on the droid as the metallic components all slipped down and to the ground. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when they all began shaking again, darting back together and reforming into the same monkey. ¡°Oh shit,¡± Grand Strike muttered and I highlighted the monkey out of curiosity. ¡°Mega Clockwork Monkey. Level 64 (Elite) Reconstructed Golem.¡± ¡°Wait, what the fuck?!¡± I said and skipped backwards just as the monkey came rushing towards us. Grand Strike jumped into the attack, absorbing the blow as a shockwave of energy blew outward, quite literally taking me off of my feet and sending me to the ground. I recovered as quickly as I could, watching as the blue clad hero traded blows with the oversized mechanical simian. ¡°Angie, Jon, what the fuck is going on?! How did it just change its level!?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure Loophole, based on my observation, it would seem that when the droid disassembled itself, it briefly dropped its status as a targetable entity. This is not a function that has been previously explored within the system, so it is possible that the droid¡¯s creator has found an exploitable¡­ loophole,¡± Angie said, finishing with a sigh. ¡°It would appear when it reformed, Grand Strike was the first to target it and its level set itself accordingly. Just be happy that its shields and health didn¡¯t reset with it.¡± I watched the fight ahead of me, watching as the monkey¡¯s health chipped downward bit by bit with each round of punches it exchanged with Grand Strike. Unfortunately, his health was also chipping down each time they collided. I could see him shift his weight as he started to move to dodge when the monkey struck. One of its legs extended outward and a claw identical to the one that it had used to stop itself from being launched by my attack grasped Grand Strike¡¯s leg, preventing him from flying away as it dug its other foot down and into the earth below it. A mass of blue energy formed around Grand Strike¡¯s fist as he moved to try and break the monkey¡¯s leg so that he could escape when another hand whipped out from the monkey, enveloping Grand Strike¡¯s hand and seemingly absorbing the blue energy. ¡°Get off of me!¡± Grand Strike shouted, struggling and pulling as a mechanical tail I hadn¡¯t noticed before whipped around from behind the monkey and encircled the man. I was just about to move toward him when I heard him let out a scream of pain as the tail tightened. ¡°Stay back!¡± I felt the energy building up on the edge of my zone before it happened, but even that warning didn¡¯t prepare me as the monkey suddenly self-destructed. The bomb was large enough that debris came pummeling into me, taking small chunks out of my health bar with each bit of metal that collided into my body. On the side of my vision, a single name noticeably faded from the raid group, disappearing in a way that the mess of malformed and singed body parts that were scattered amongst the metallic debris didn¡¯t. A new notification opened in front of my eyes as I felt a small panic attack starting to form at the horror I had just seen. ¡°Congratulations! You have reached Level 15, please return to your Safe House or Squad Base to assign stat points and additional attributes!¡± ¡°Hidden Power Unlocked! Your Timekeeper abilities are now available to you.¡± B.2: Chapter 25 Central Park, Manhattan, NYC Neighborhood: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Fortune¡¯s Cadence City: Claimed by Guardian Squad: Four Corners (Contested by Miscreant Squad: Droids R¡¯ Us) Current Phase Points: 26705 End of Phase Two: 29D:23H:50M:37S
¡°If there was ever a time for your luck to shine well god damn did it not choose a pivotal moment,¡± Angie¡¯s voice chirped in my head. There was an odd lack of noise other than her voice and I realized that my perception of time had shifted, causing things to slow to a stop. ¡°We¡¯re gonna slow things down here for a minute or two so that I can get through this explanation, cause boy oh boy are you going to need it.¡± ¡°What-¡± ¡°Oh Loophole, if there was ever a time to just shut up and let me speak, this is going to be it. Here, I¡¯ll even promise to stay mostly on topic. P.A.I.¡¯s honor,¡± she said before I could even start to respond. ¡°First thing¡¯s first, let¡¯s talk about the actual functionality of how Hidden Powers integrate into the system. See, as I mentioned back when you were first going through power selection, the powersets available to players come in a wide, wide variety but this is done by mixing and matching a bunch of different powers together. Pretty much each power can be either a Primary or a Secondary power and each player has their own unique combination.¡± A window opened in front of my vision and listed out each of my powers side by side before a third column formed and pushed the other two together to the side. ¡°Hidden powers themselves are wholly unique. There will be no other Augment in the game that has your particular hidden power and it is highly advised that you not disclose it to anyone, as this power should be considered your ultimate trump card. By the way, can I just say that that overpowered luck stat of yours is really putting in some work. I mean, obviously this power was attached to this powerset from the beginning, but you rolled the dice when you let me randomize your powers and you¡¯re about to be handed something you probably wish you would have had in high school. Jon told me about what happened when you asked Rebecca to prom¡­ Don¡¯t worry, we can both pretend that never happened.¡± The window began to populate as an icon that looked like a pocket watch appeared simultaneously in the window and at the very end of my action bar in a new section of its own. ¡°Timekeeper! This is your Hidden Power. It is currently Level 1. You now have access to a Time Bank and the Timekeeper''s Control ability. This Time Bank has a maximum capacity of 15 minutes and refills once daily at 6:00 PM EST. At any time you may use up to 5 minutes of this bank to rewind time, not just in your Local Area, but everywhere. While Axio certainly might have tried to make this work so that it would only happen within your local area, the fact that your area is mobile and this ability lets you rewind as much as it does just leaves way too many paradoxical questions that are impossible to answer by not just making this power affect everything. No Loophole, I¡¯m not fucking with you, you have a rewind button. Now before you start thinking about how you can break and exploit this ability, because let¡¯s face it, that¡¯s who you are, I¡¯m going to crush some of the first ones you might think of now.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be telling that to Jon?¡± I muttered, although I would be lying if I tried to claim that my mind hadn¡¯t immediately started to think of the possibilities. To be fair though, it was either that or just freak out that I was able to reset time. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯ll be filling him in once we¡¯re done and you back things up, probably in much, much, much more detail since he¡¯ll ask a million and one clarifying questions,¡± Angie chirped with a laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s break everything down for you though, since it is your power after all. The overall functionality of Timekeeper¡¯s Control is actually rather simple. You activate the ability, choose an amount of time, up to a maximum of 5 minutes, and then POOF you reset yourself back to that very moment, right down to the status of your cooldowns, abilities, buffs, and debuffs. Once you have set your reset time, the full use of this ability will go on cooldown for the amount of time you rewound, however you may still spend additional time from your bank on time that would bring you back to that initial time you rewound to or up to your maximum allotted time if you did not initially reverse time to that amount." Angie seemed to stop for for what I had to assume was a moment to let me take in the complexity of the new ability, but I also heard her humming to herself as if she was considering her words. "Okay... to make it simple, if you rewind at 6 for 5 minutes down to 5:55 and then time starts chugging, you can spend any amount of time from your bank to bring you back down to exactly 5:55 and not a second later, but if you only rewound to 5:57, you could still back up the additional 2 minutes if you later realize you need the additional time as long as it does not rewind past 5 minutes from the future moment you initially started rewinding. Is that clear enough for you, cause it¡¯s confusing as hell to me. Point is that sorry Loophole, Axio doesn¡¯t want you chaining this ability to rewind more than you¡¯re supposed to. And before you go scheming, no, your abilities that refresh cooldowns will not affect this ability. Also, other than myself and Axio, you, and only you, will retain all memories of what you rewound. Note: If, like right now, you had just experienced a level up before you rewind time, you will not lose the level and if you assigned your stat points for the level, those choices will remain. However, to prevent you from rewinding a single instance to farm experience, you will only get experience from taking down any single enemy one time. Don''t worry, we''ll be the ones doing the tracking of that and anything that will not give you additional experience will be marked. Extra Note: In case you were wondering, like with the abilities attached to your Primary and Secondary Powers, this ability can be used when you are not in disguise. Extra, EXTRA, Note: If you are in the middle of combat when you utilize this ability, you may choose to switch to another one of your pre-made revolver options, providing you the ability to tailor your new try to the challenge at hand. WARNING: Repeated and overuse of this ability can leave your mind and body in a catatonic state for an extended period of time due to temporal sickness. Look, you¡¯re messing with the literal fabric of time and space for a game, we¡¯ve gotta make sure to put a limit on that somehow.¡± I immediately looked at my mission tracker, seeing that it had only been 10 minutes since all of this had started. The implications of this ability were impossibly clear and the name of my powerset for once actually made a bit of sense. Sure, I didn¡¯t have an infinite number of tries, but between the versatility of my main power and being able to reset things¡­ With a deep breath as time began to normalize, I activated the ability. ¡°New Achievement! Once More With Feeling! You have rewound time to take another shot at something that didn¡¯t work out the way you wanted it to. It¡¯s almost a shame that we don¡¯t Augment people under 18 because you really, really could have used this in High School. Believe it or not, while your Hidden Power is unique, somehow this achievement isn¡¯t! It was a unique achievement at one point, but now you¡¯ve gone and messed that up for poor old¡­ you know what, not important. This is a Mythic level achievement. Reward: You have received the power to literally rewind time and you¡¯re still expecting a reward? Oh fine. You have received an A:Tier loot box.¡± The bright flash of light faded and I found myself standing at the center of the broken Clockwork Monkeys. Their bodies were just starting to shake and lift into the air when I instinctively slammed on Center of the Universe, pulling the broken parts toward me just as many of the pieces started to clunk together. My sudden pull stopped at least half of the pieces from forming together and while the resulting Mega Clockwork Monkey was still larger than any one of the regular versions, when I scanned it the description only listed the Elite as Level 8. ¡°Holy shit, were you really so close to leveling that defeating those monkeys¨C WAIT WHAT THE HELL, YOU HAVE TIME CONTROL POWERS NOW?!¡± Jon¡¯s voice was practically deafening, but I ignored it as I pushed off the ground. I dropped my gravitational pull as I rushed for the Mega Clockwork Monkey, ignoring the "no experience" marker that floated over its head and planting my feet before going to work as I began to stack the Target debuff on the monkey. I opened a chat menu as I remembered what was coming. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I waved the chat window to the side as I heard a rumble. I risked a look over my shoulder, catching as the remaining pile of broken monkeys formed together, making a second Elite Level 7 Mega Clockwork Monkey. ¡°Dude! I can see your bank, you already used time!? What the hell did you see?¡± Jon asked and I felt as the monkey I had been assaulting used my brief moment of distraction to backhand me with a large metallic fist. As I went flying I mentally activated Timekeeper¡¯s Control, this time only backing up 10 seconds. I found myself back hammering on the first Mega Monkey. Its Target debuff had only risen to 50%, but it would have to be enough and I threw a 40% Gravity Punch. While it still tried to deploy its claws to counteract the knockback effect of my ability, between its lowered level and the increased damage I had poured into the strike, I had forced my way past its defenses. My initial string of attacks had destroyed the monkey¡¯s shield and the powerful strike sent the drastically weaker monkey hurtling backwards before it slammed into the buried scale. It shattered into pieces just as I could hear the second monkey forming back together. ¡°Dude! I can see your bank, you already used time!? Why 5 minutes and 10 seconds¡­ What the hell did you see?¡± Jon asked as I materialized a Superior Stamina Injector and used it. ¡°Wait you¡¯re not joking? Do you actually have the ability to control time now, Loophole?¡± Swansong spoke up. ¡°Guys seriously. Not. Now. I¡¯ll explain later,¡± I said through gritted teeth, pushing off and rushing for the second monkey. I actually used the parkour skills I had gained, dodging around the monkey by running along the side of an abandoned car before dropping behind the droid. It seemed to have been anticipating a direct charge, as its claws had drilled into the ground the moment I had gotten close enough, but thanks to my dodge, I found myself on the opposite side of the monkey¡¯s anchor, and this time I went for the kill shot from the start. I punched forward, releasing a 50% Gravity Punch that launched the almost laughably easy monkey from its spot, quite literally tearing its legs off at its ankles and destroying its shield and a good chunk of its health bar. I followed it up with Paradox Chain, letting my afterimage appear to drive a fist down and into the monkey, wiping out the rest of its health. I jumped backwards as the remains of both of the Mega Monkeys finally stirred, shaking and then exploding, leaving small holes down and into the sewers of the city. If the rest of the city was anything like this, I felt terrible for whatever system was in place for responding to and repairing all of this damage. ¡°I¡¯m really glad I can fly now,¡± I muttered to myself and then eyed my stamina bar. I wasn¡¯t empty but with everything going on I needed to conserve as much of my stamina as possible. A thought from the first time I had gone through this came to mind. ¡°Codex, you can see where the droids are popping up right, are there any to the north of me near the Guggenheim?¡± ¡°How many of these things are there¡­ should we really have split up?¡± Swansong asked and I heard more explosions in the distance. ¡°Swansong I¡¯m going to need you to keep singing that peaceful song, those guys in the back look like they are starting to get jumpy. Fucking hell Loophole, you¡¯re right, how fucking much did you see?... Damnit I know Angie, it¡¯s not the time¡­ Okay, there¡¯s a pack of Clockwork¡­ I want to say Tigers? Yeah let¡¯s go with Tigers. There¡¯s some Clockwork Tigers outside of the Guggenheim. Swansong is funneling folks down into the subway on the West Side, it seems like the droids are zeroing in on your location instead of hers,¡± Jon called out and I found it interesting that Angie had said something to him during his rant. It wasn¡¯t exactly the same as the first time I heard him say this, but it was still eerily close. I looked up toward the Guggenheim, it was a few blocks up the street still and wasn¡¯t an impossible distance to cover. I started running. Because of my ability to fly, it had been a while since I had actually just gone for a run, so it was easy to forget that increasing my Dexterity also increased my speed. I might not have passed for someone with Super Speed, but with the speed I was moving, I would have easily left an Olympic medalist in the dust. There were still at least six and a half blocks between myself and the Guggenheim, but I was still able to easily see as a series of explosions lit up the street. ¡°Huh¡­ That¡¯s weird. They just disappeared off my map,¡± Jon said. ¡°No it¡¯s not,¡± I said, leaping into the air and taking off as I flew forward. I landed on top of a car near the scene of the destruction, looking around. ¡°Hey, who else is here? We could really use your help right now!¡± The cars were a mess and fires were everywhere, but I couldn¡¯t see any signs of life. While it was entirely possible that the other Augment had already run off from the fight, I had to hope that they hadn¡¯t. I eyed the mini-map at the corner of my screen, noticing the red dot just in time as it came rushing toward me. I jumped off the car and out of the way just as a blur of grey flew past me, piercing the side of a nearby car. ¡°What the fuck was that?!¡± Jon shouted. There was a burst of glass as the object knocked out the front windshield with a single strike. Unlike with its entry, it didn¡¯t go rushing off in a hurry. Through the broken glass and onto the burning hood of the car, hopped an actual pigeon. I had seen the name more than a few times on the nightly recaps, I had seen the small bits of footage that he had appeared in, but even with that I still had just assumed there was some joke I was missing. Apparently¡­ there wasn¡¯t. ¡°PIGEON! Level 13 Pigeon.¡± ¡°Um¡­ hello?¡± I called out tentatively, taking a step forward as the bird cocked its head to the side. ¡°That thing is looking at me¡­ right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an actual fucking pigeon¡­ what the fuck?¡± Jon sounds exactly as incredulous as I felt. I was just about to take a step toward the rather mysterious creature ahead of me, actually distracted from the chaos of the world around me when I heard a loud BOOM followed by a sharp whistling that filled the air. Pigeon immediately started to look around and a garbled sound of cooing and panic escaped its beak before it turned and flew off in a blur. ¡°Damnit¡­¡± I muttered as I watched it go. I had to assume that Pigeon had some idea of what was going on given the destroyed Clockwork Tigers, but even then I had to wonder if there was any way that we would have been able to communicate with it. I had to just hope that it wasn¡¯t going to get in our way. I looked over toward Central Park, looking for where Grand Strike must have landed. ¡°What the hell was that sonic boom? The Sapients are all freaking out thinking there are bombs getting dropped,¡± Swansong said. I floated up and into the air, looking over toward where the older Augment had landed the last time. ¡°Hey Grand Strike, you okay?¡± I called over the Raid comms. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how the internal channels really worked, but the system almost seemed to intuitively know which level of access I was trying to talk to. It didn¡¯t matter if it was just to Angie, to her and Jon, or all the way up to this Raid Group we now found ourselves in, the system just knew. The longer the silence held though, the less sure I was that I had spoken in the right channel. ¡°Pinneedle?¡± I tried, just in case somehow it had just happened to someone else. My attention was drawn over to the Raid Group and, much to my fear, one of the names had vanished from the list. There was a loud screeching sound that passed through the air, enough that it rivaled the sound of the raid sirens and I had to reach to cover my ears. When the screech finally disappeared, I was finally able to concentrate on my chat window once more. It was almost exactly what he had done for me. I gulped hard as I looked at my remaining Time Bank. If this was only the start of the evening, I refused to imagine this was going to suddenly calm down any time soon, but I couldn¡¯t let him die if I could change it¡­ could I? ¡°Dude are you going to-¡± I activated the ability, resetting by two minutes and stumbling as I once again found myself mid-run. I was going to have to get a better handle on backing myself up into scenarios like this. There were still at least six and a half blocks between myself and the Guggenheim, but I was still able to easily see as a series of explosions lit up the street. ¡°Huh¡­ That¡¯s weird. They just disappeared off my map¡­ wait, why the hell did the bank just drop by 2 minutes!?¡± Jon said. ¡° While Pigeon¡¯s existence was still interesting, it was quite honestly the least of my concerns as I looked around and launched myself up and into the air. I turned, orienting myself toward the Pangolin while I waited for a response. I gritted my teeth together as I considered my options. At this point it felt basically impossible to warn Pinneedle without revealing exactly how I knew what I knew. Had it just been him, I probably wouldn¡¯t have necessarily cared about Angie¡¯s warning to keep my power a secret, but given that he¡¯d probably tell Grand Strike and Hydramental about it to explain why they had to run, I found myself hesitating. If Hydramental was compromised, which my gut insisted felt likely, then I¡¯d be handing over what should be my biggest secret right to TechWarden. I needed to have a trump card against him, something that he couldn¡¯t prepare for and until I was absolutely sure Hydramental was safe to disclose anything to, I couldn¡¯t risk it. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t help me at that moment either. There was a loud BOOM¡­ and Grand Strike¡¯s name vanished from the raid group. B.2: Chapter 26 ¡°GOD DAMNIT!¡± I shouted out loud. ¡°Dude what¡¯s wrong?¡± Jon asked as I grit my teeth together. I stared at the raid group, my brow furrowed in concentration as if trying to will it to change. ¡°What happened to Grand Strike?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something rigged going on here¡­¡± I said. ¡°The droids are¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ more prepared? Like the monkeys were upgraded to counter my gravity abilities.¡± ¡°I noticed that¡­ but what does it have to do with Grand Strike?¡± "I don¡¯t know how he¡¯s being countered, but I¡¯ve seen¡­ or heard I guess¡­ him die three times now. Things are changing, and as much as I¡¯d like to believe I¡¯m being targeted again, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the only one the droids have learned to counter. But no matter what I say, the older Augments keep brushing it off like it¡¯s no big deal. And since I can¡¯t rewind far enough to stop them from leaving voice chat range¡­ Gah! Maybe I should jump back to fighting the monkeys¡­ that¡¯s when I first warned them about the scales. But both Grand Strike and Pinneedle have already ignored me in separate attempts..." As helpful as a reset button was, the limitations that had been placed on it meant that there were going to be things I just couldn¡¯t change no matter how hard I tried. Having only Pinneedle on my friend¡¯s list was really limiting the ways I could try to get them to get out of there. Even if I did reverse time and try to warn Hydramental instead¡­ well¡­ had he randomly started to warn me about something I doubted I would believe him all of the sudden. It just wasn''t the relationship we had. ¡°I really need to get Angie to explain all of this¡­¡± ¡°To be fair, I did try to start in the first reset, but Loophole went and rewound again before I could finish, so poof, it floated right on out of your brain,¡± Angie chirped and Jon groaned. ¡°I think to be safe, I¡¯ll wait until we know that Loophole¡¯s not going to go and rewind things again. Until then, you have access to the menu now, I bet your cute little self can figure it out.¡± There was a large explosion that came from the Pangolin and another one if its scales went launching into the air. It flew from the bay in a flash before crashing into and through the Brooklyn bridge. My eyes widened as I could see the supports snap and the bridge shake before collapsing down and into the river below it. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think I can stop this by rewinding¡­ I mean... what could I say... what could I do...¡± I said in a hushed tone. There were cars falling down and into the river with the bridge. Besides the normal traffic that would have been on the bridge at this time, the moment the raid alarms started going off, people were doubtlessly trying to escape the city. I felt my anger rising as my attention was drawn back toward the Pangolin as a screeching sound reverberated out from it. Attacking it wouldn¡¯t do anything. I couldn''t imagine that Clockwork Tyrant was actually stupid enough to put his base in such an obvious target, and the Clockwork Pangolin¡¯s level alone would make me barely better than a bug beating against the side of a brick wall trying to do anything to it. It left me feeling powerless in a way that I hadn''t felt since before I had woken up Augmented. I debated it again for a minute but decided to go with it. If I couldn¡¯t save Grand Strike then I could at least have Pinneedle forewarned. If he at least knew that I could predict what was going to happen and I could go long enough without resetting things so that the knowledge stayed with him, then he would at least listen if I had to back things up again.