Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (4 page)

“Alright, you’ll all begin the Tutorial once aboard as agreed," Pharaoh said. "You will be joined by Alan. Rest assured we aren’t brainwashing your leaders or anything like that. The Three, blessed be their name, would never stand for it."

Pharaoh entered the cockpit as everyone sat down.

Once seated, Alan noticed a metallic seatbelt and strapped it over his waist as he looked up at everyone. Not sure what to say he looked up at the person in the white suit seated directly across from him, and said, “So uh, who are you guys?”

"I’m Thiago," he said. "I don’t know how you got yourself aboard, but as far as you're concerned we’re a group of arbitrary players that have arranged to be on the same ship to Khersath. I'm more interested in who
you
are."

"He's a business acquaintance," Kitana answered for Alan. "What happened after I left?"

“After the announcement of the bomb, a force field covering the stage and first few rows was activated while people evacuated," Thiago said. "The shield stopped most of the blast, but the people in the back rows weren’t so lucky. We were quickly extracted and found our way here. Where did you go? You disappeared the instant gunfire was heard.” Thiago glanced at the blood on Kitana.

"I went to find the fighting," Kitana said, calmly staring back at Thiago.

“Well, um, I’m glad to hear the announcement helped,” Alan said.

“That was you?” a short, brawny guy asked. He had dark brown hair and wore military fatigues, but carried no weapon. He had a faint Eastern European accent Alan couldn't place.

"Well it was Eve, my AI, that did it really,” Alan said.

“How?” he demanded.

“Uh, well, she was able to access the base’s network, and detect the bomb," Alan stammered, wanting to change the conversation away from his possibly illegal activity. "Now, wait, so everything the senator said was real, there’s this intergalactic federation or something, but all the territory and what not is determined by this game?”

“Yes, although it’s not quite as dire as it sounds, or at least if it was there'd be more hubbub," a girl sitting next to the short guy said. She was a pretty blonde in a yellow sundress, wearing sandals. That seemed rather impractical to Alan.

"I'm Daisy, by the way, and this is Ace," she said, pointing to the guy in military fatigues. "My mother is the senator. It cost millions to get us aboard this ship, which is partly why Thiago is so flabbergasted to find you joining us.”

Alan glanced around at the rest of the group. They didn’t seem particularly remarkable. Except none of them looked too alarmed at having a bomb blow up in front of them.

“Okay, but how do you know the Legion or whoever they are weren’t telling the truth?" Alan asked. "How do we know the government isn’t already under alien control?”

“Well, we aren’t certain of the details, as the amount of information we can be told is limited before we complete the Tutorial. That is a key point that you may have missed if you left the tent. Do NOT tell anyone information about the Game, or else the Administrators will penalize you strictly,” Thiago said.

How would they know?
Alan wondered to himself.

The Administrators likely have eyes and ears everywhere, scanning the internet, phone calls and mechanical inventions,
Eve informed Alan.

Oh. Okay. Not totalitarian at all.

“Now," Thiago continued, "while we can’t be absolutely certain the government is free, it is unlikely they've been secretly overtaken. The Haxlards allied themselves with us early on and have aided us with new technology and weapons, along with many game capsules.

"I believe the explanation is if we fell to an enemy group, Earth would be a prime staging point for war with the Haxlards, thus they are trying to ensure our defenses are secure as possible. This Legion of Man is likely funded by the Haxlard’s enemies.”

“Wait, you said not to tell anyone anything, yet someone clearly explained all this to you beforehand,” Alan said.

Icewolf gave me information about the Game too,
Alan thought.

“Well, certain information isn’t taboo," Thiago replied. "Yet, exactly what is and isn’t is arbitrarily determined by the Administrators, thus it is better to be safe than sorry, and not really tell anyone anything.”

Well I should have an interesting conversation with my parents then, once this tutorial phase is done,
Alan thought.
What was the Game like? Classified. Have any interesting adventures? Maybe.

The Game has been suboptimal, at least your actions so far,
Eve sent.
Please optimize your actions for better results. I am not sure how to classify “interesting”.

Wait, suboptimal? What would you have me do!?

Yes, you have performed many wasted actions that were unsuccessful, pointless or both. For better results, I would have disarmed the bomb or taken out rebel forces, feats you would have failed at.

Great, so Eve is a backseat gamer too.

Thiago begun talking again, and Alan realized that these conversations with Eve were progressing at the speed of thought… that was interesting, and possibly quite useful.

“Now, there are various Tutorials, and levels of tutorials. Unlike most tutorials which only explain how to play the game, the Tutorial is more of a test. It determines your class and place in the Game, which then determines if you are able to join a decent Academy and Guild. One of the reasons we paid to get here is that we are about to undergo a group Ultihaxlard tutorial, which promises significant rewards should we do well.

"We know there is going to be a group fighting exercise, thus we have determined the following: KingArthur is going to tank enemy attacks, Daisy will be the medic, and everyone else will be either ranged or melee damage dealers.”

“And I shall be THE WIZARD,” MadMerlin shouted, leaping up out of his seat, arms stretched wide. He was the person wearing wizard robes.

“We don’t even know if magic exists in the game yet,” KingArthur, the person in metal armor, murmured to his friend. "Also, seeing as we never read a—"

“We don’t? Or, do we?” MadMerlin grinned and extended his hand. “Let there be LIGHT!” A small glow emanated from his palm.

“What!? How did you do that?” A girl sitting between him and Thiago asked. She was just wearing a pair of black jeans with a grey hoody, yet it was clear she had a supermodel’s figure, with long brunette hair and a pair of designer sunglasses.

“A wizard never reveals his tricks, Aphrodite!” MadMerlin shouted as KingArthur shoved him back into his seat, strapping his seatbelt on, treating MadMerlin like an unruly child.

Don’t you mean magician? Whatever.

“Okay, yes,” Thiago said, “and MadMerlin will be the wizard, whatever that means. Now, what role were you thinking of, Alan?”

Well I was thinking being a sort of scout/sniper, maybe tactician, does that sound good to you, Eve?

Affirmative.

“Well, I was thinking I could be a scout, maybe set up traps, gathering information. I think I could be a tactician with my AI's help.”

“A scout? Do you have any combat experience?” Ace, the guy Alan had thought was a soldier, asked.

“Well not really, but I usually played a rogue type character in role-playing games, umm…”

Eve. Help.

Permission to attempt to access other players’ maps.

Granted.

A message apparently appeared in front of the other players in the ship.

“Should I accept this, Alan? An Eve is requesting the ability to access my UI,” Kitana inquired.

“Um, yeah, that's my AI. She should be able to give you a minimap and maybe update it, that’s what she’s been doing for me.”

Eve currently showed the ship in space, the nine other passengers and three other beings in the cockpit. The dropship was now passing by Saturn.

Wait, we’re passing by Saturn already?
Alan sent.
Damn, the Game must have given these ships some improvements.

Negative. Such speeds should be achievable in real life as well with the correct materials.

Wait, really? That’s impressive. Hey, why didn’t you answer my question this time?

It was deemed rhetorical
.

Oh, right, keep up the good work.

“Interesting,” the final person who hadn't introduced himself commented. He looked Chinese and wore a black suit with a black shirt. Holstered to his side was a submachine gun, making him look like a gangster.

“I am DaLong," he said. "We should be approaching the Titan soon then. It’s on a space station beyond Pluto, outside of our solar system. Another reason you shouldn’t worry about the Haxlards: their ships and agents above a certain rank aren’t allowed into our solar system.”

Yeah, but you did just tell me they built a space station right outside of it,
Alan thought.
 
He didn’t say anything aloud though. He was on a Haxlard ship, and felt like a certain degree of paranoia was necessary.

Alan hadn’t ever really liked picking sides in games before - he more enjoyed picking sides apart. Playing the rogue mercenary, loyal to whomever paid him the most. Now that the fate of humanity and the control of Earth hung in the balance, maybe he should reconsider his main goal of trying to make a bunch of money…

Negative,
Eve sent.
Remember the debt you owe Icewolf. Current objectives of wealth and power best course for ability to impact the fate of humanity.

Uh, okay. Sure Eve. Is it dangerous if I start thinking of Eve as a crazy dictator? Wait, she heard that, didn’t she? Shit.

Negative, as my master I exist to ensure your safety and growth. Also, I did hear that. However, as you have directed I will never divulge information about what you think or act in such a way that would harm you.

Uh, great. Cool. Good job me for programming you… sort of.

“Alright, this will be fairly helpful," Thiago said. "As you noted you don’t have any combat experience, I feel like it would be best if you went out with one of our more experienced members, Ace or Kitana.”

Alan looked over at Kitana hopefully.

“I will be paired with Alan,” she said.

“Excellent. Is there anything else someone would like to say?” Thiago asked.

“Uh, well unlike you guys it is probably fairly clear I don’t really have connections. So, um, I’m a couple million in debt, and I’m going to try to play this game to make money,” Alan said, wincing as he remembered how much money he owed.

“Yes, that’s fine, even expected. We don’t expect you to play solely for the sake of humanity. But if Earth is invaded, you would hopefully help defend it. I’m not sure how this all works out, but certain guilds are often stronger than governments, so I’m not going to tell you how to play. We all have different plans,” Thiago said, looking at everyone else, implying something. Alan wasn’t quite sure what.

Alan noted that most of the group seemed to defer to Thiago, yet often various people didn’t look like they completely agreed with what he was saying.

“Wait, we’re not going to be expected to actually kill things, are we?” Aphrodite said. She looked to have been quite shaken up by the bombing and ensuing escapade.

“Well, that is sort of the point of being a ranged damage dealer, which was the position you agreed to,” Thiago said, deadpan.

“Oh, uh, right. Well actually I think I might be better suited to be a healer then like Daisy, or maybe a negotiator. We might not necessarily need to fight, right, just survive?”

“I’m not sure, we should let the tutorial begin, and then figure it out,” Thiago firmly replied.

“Um, okay,” Aphrodite murmured quietly, eyes downcast. Alan thought he might have seen a tear or two emerging, and he felt like he should say something. Thiago, for some reason, was rolling his eyes, but didn’t say anything else.

Alan still wasn’t sure who these people were or how they had met, and he swore he saw a few members of the group throwing weird glances at him. There were a lot of names and faces to suddenly remember. Something Alan had never been good at.

Looking at the minimap, Alan saw that they were approaching the space station. The lights above turned from a fluorescent yellow to green. Pharaoh emerged from the cockpit. Aphrodite wiped her eyes and sat up immediately, looking remarkably at ease for someone that appeared to be in a great deal of distress seconds earlier.

“Alright my little earthlings, we are about to land on the Titan. Please remain in the designated areas, although you won’t be able to see your quarters until you finish the Tutorial. Once we land on the ship, you will be guided to the capsule room, where the Tutorial will take place.”

"Wait, we’re going into capsules within a capsule?” Alan asked.

“Yes,” Pharaoh answered, glancing at Thiago, “Evidently their explanation wasn’t very good. Capsules are one of the key features in this Game, allowing you to access your Home Base, teleport to various nearby locations and exit the Game.”

“The majority of mock battles, tournaments and tests take place in worlds accessible only through a capsule or simulation room. The Tutorial may take place in one of these simulated worlds, or it may take place within the Game. Now, I’m sure this and more will all be explained when you enter the capsule. Please follow the guards, I need to get to the bridge.”