《Office Maxi》


 1 - The Job

    Flames erupted from the demon god¡¯s snout as it raised a lash of fire high above its head. Lava pulsed through its veins and its horns glowed red. Maxi¡¯s armor gleamed from the sun god¡¯s boon and her sword shone with the light of a thousand suns. She was a Paladin from the Land of the Burning Sun and was about to defeat the demon that threatened all of existence...until the power went out on her computer.


    Her mother stood in the threshold of her room, holding the power cord to her PC. ¡°Mom!¡± Maxi yelled.


    ¡°By my calculations, you are out of free power for the month,¡± her mom, Tara, said. ¡°Should you wish to continue using your computer, I will need you to contribute $23.03 to the power bill.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in a top 5 Guild. They¡¯ll kick me out if I don¡¯t defeat the Tharkrendarg.¡±


    ¡°Then perhaps you should have thought of that when you decided to play computer games instead of looking for a job. It¡¯s been six months since you graduated from college. Six months! Most places kick you out for not paying rent after only one month. All I ask is help with the power bill. I¡¯m not even charging you rent,¡± her mom ranted as she collected all the power strips in the room, including the ones Maxi had hidden the last time this happened. Once finished, Tara pushed up her annoyingly oversized glasses, fixed her frumpy sweater that made her look like a librarian, and, as she left the room, added, ¡°$23.03, and I¡¯ll give them back.¡±


    Maxi buried her head on her keyboard and screamed. She pulled her phone and chatted the guildmaster Teristaque03, ¡°Mom took powerstrips. Will murder the demon god tonight.¡±


    Teristaque03 chatted back, ¡°Tick tick. 18 hours left or u out.¡±


    Maxi cursed as she stripped out of her pajamas and went for the black pant suit her mom had bought her when she graduated. Maxi couldn¡¯t even leave the apartment without getting flack from her mom if she didn¡¯t at least pretend she was job hunting.


    She tied her blonde hair back in a respectable ponytail and put on her appropriately sized glasses. Even though blonde wasn¡¯t her natural color, and the dark roots were showing, she looked passable for an interview with the suit. While she got ready, she checked her bank account balance.


    ¨C$432.35. She had overdrawn only about $35 in total, but the rest was overdraft fees. Over the course of a weekend, two energy drinks, some fast food, a new pair of headphones, a couple of metro tickets, and a piece of fruit ended up costing her nearly four hundred in overdraft fees.


    Maxi got some monthly income from her Spasm channel. It certainly wasn¡¯t enough to cover the overdraft, but good enough to pay her portion of the power bill, and the stupid shit her mom made her do to ¡°earn her keep¡±. Tara would on a whim make her pay for groceries. However, the balance was currently empty.


    Maxi sent out a few chats to borrow the money, but the ones who did reply told her no. She wasn¡¯t surprised. Maxi wasn¡¯t very good at paying people back. Not that she intended to never pay people back, she was just biding her time, waiting for that Spasm channel to grow. The problem was that she never had enough followers to make serious money, and when she did try to get more, she seemed to lose as many followers as she¡¯d gain.


    She was forever on a treadmill, making enough money to give her a glimmer of hope that something big was on the horizon, but never enough to convince her mom that she already had a job.


    In the meantime, Maxi had a work around. She¡¯d temp for a while, pretend that it was her first big job outside of college, and then get ¡°laid off¡± or some such nonsense a week later. It was enough to keep her mom off her back most of the time.


    Hopefully the temp agency would have something for her. With even an eight-hour shift, she¡¯d get enough to pay her mom, and enough time to clear the dungeon again, as no doubt the demon god was dancing on her charred corpse when she hadn''t reconnected.


    The only reason she had stuck with the agency so long was they did same day payments and didn¡¯t seem to care when she¡¯d walk out on a job. They were a warm body factory, and she was a warm body.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    After checking the agency''s app, she sighed when she saw nothing. That only meant she would have to walk in. The recruiters who worked there were as averse as she was to anything that resembled work, and would dawdle on posting the jobs because some walk-in like her would always show up to take the job and save them the couple of clicks it would take to push it out to the app.


    She sent a few more desperate pleas for some cash, stuffed her phone into her blazer pocket along with her wallet and keys, and left the apartment. Ten floors, hopping the metro gate, and several trains later, she was out of the Bronx and in Manhattan, standing in front of the lamp pole outside the temp agency. Rival agencies would sometimes post their job ads right outside, and the manager, who always seemed to have a scowl on her face, would tear them down.


    The particular ad that caught her attention must have been fresh, as evidenced by the phone number strips that hadn''t been torn off yet. The words that had caught her eye were ¡°SAME DAY PAY¡± and ¡°GAMIFIED EMPLOYMENT¡±. Then there was some bullshit about joining the revolution and finding a new way to work.


    She was about to head into the agency when, on a whim, she scanned the QR code. It went to a black website, with a button that said, ¡°Click here to change your life.¡± She couldn¡¯t escape the feeling that the whole thing was sus and decided to call the number instead. An automated voice said, ¡°Scan the QR code, minus one levels. Player5970125 is now negative one level. XP penalties apply. Adaptability -2.¡±


    The automated voice clicked off and the line went dead.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Maxi said out loud and went into the temp agency.


    ***


    By the time she was out again with no work assignment, the stone-faced manager had torn down the job ad. She cursed and pulled up her browser on her phone. The tab with the ominous button was still open. Since there was nothing at her regular agency, and most new places took hours that she didn¡¯t have for their assessments, this seemed like the best option. She clicked the button, and it asked for her camera permissions. She quickly pulled all the stray hairs back into her ponytail and gave it permission. But rather than a Zoom with an asshat named Mike, the camera view appeared on her phone and a green line overlaid the sidewalk.


    She moved her phone from side to side and an arrow appeared to point her to the correct path when the green line went off screen. She followed the mysterious direction through the city and after several twists and turns that left her discombobulated as to her exact location, she came to a nondescript office building that was tall, but plain enough not to stand out in the skyline. She had probably seen it plenty of times across the water when she was gallivanting in Brooklyn, but it was just part of the background.


    There were no markings or adornments of any kind to indicate that a ¡°revolutionary gamified company¡± was lurking inside. It was probably three dudes who rented a table in one of those shared office space floors where half the companies were startups or podcasts, but she was running out of options. Her Spasm following didn¡¯t respond to her requests for tips. Not that she had that big of a following, considering she could barely pay her part of the power bill.


    She sighed and went inside. A single bored security guard sat at a desk in an enormous lobby that should have been bustling with people for a building so big. The guy didn¡¯t even look up and said, ¡°New employees take the 12th elevator. When you¡¯re inside just say intake, and it will get you where you¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°New?¡± Maxi said. ¡°I haven¡¯t even applied.¡±


    ¡°Player5970125. Level -1. Take the 12th elevator before you get an annoying coworker XP penalty.¡±


    The gamer in her cringed at the thought of another hit to her XP, and she complied with the man¡¯s instructions. The same day pay better be true because she was already starting to dislike this place. The man turned his attention back to some monitors behind the desk, and Maxi walked toward a bank of twelve elevators with six on either side.


    They were labeled one through twelve, saving her the trouble of going back to ask the guy if it was the set on the left or the right, which would no doubt result in another XP penalty. She hit the button and the door opened right away, which was odd. A building large enough for twelve shafts, and no one was in sight but her.


    She couldn¡¯t go up her apartment building¡¯s lift without riding with another person, or passing them in the lobby or hall, and her building was small by the City¡¯s standards. She lived in one of the largest cities in the world and the lack of people felt disconcerting to her.


    She almost decided to cut loose and find another way. She had crap she could pawn for $20, but she¡¯d never hear the end of it from her mother. It would be hard to concentrate on the dungeon with Tara lecturing her all night. Also, level negative one. No, she could stay at least until she was level two. The lack of people was probably because they all worked in shifts. Any moment, the lobby would be full of people going to their lunch break.


    She stepped inside the elevator and saw that there was only one unmarked button. The door closed behind her, and she pushed it. Nothing happened. Then she said, hesitantly, ¡°Intake?¡±


    She could feel the lurch of one of those express elevators, and she must have shot up quite a few floors. It was hard to tell without any indicators, but in any case, she must have been high up in the building, because it took a while for the doors to open again. When they eventually did, she wasn¡¯t prepared for what happened next.

 2 - Terry

    Confetti burst all around Maxi while the words ¡°Welcome Player5970125¡± shimmered in the air. A man with red hair, beard, and glasses, in a yellow button-up shirt, blue tie, and khaki slacks, blew a noise maker. Maxi had shielded herself from the confetti when she heard the pop, but as soon as she realized what was happening, she dropped her hands.


    She saw that the confetti wasn¡¯t real, but rather a hologram that disappeared when she was blocking projectors on the edges of the room. It was a crude version of the holodeck from Star Trek except that she could see the mechanism for creating the three-dimensional images. The man was a projection, too, but before she could ask questions, he introduced himself.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Terry, a virtual HR assistant, here to guide you through your employment journey.¡±


    ¡°So, this whole place is a holodeck?¡± Maxi said, as she glanced around the room, seeing gray tiles, another elevator door on the opposite side, and a podium with a QR code in the center of the room.


    ¡°Oh, no, just this room. You will be able to interact with me through phones, computer screens, or any piece of technology. The Board had this room constructed because surveyed players found their first interaction with me off-putting when I¡¯d appear as a face on the phone screen.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re doing a great job,¡± Maxi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.


    ¡°Thank you. I will note your customer satisfaction in your survey folder. You may put a numerical value to your statement at any time you choose, with 5 being ''outstanding'', and one being ''room for improvement''.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been hired by the most innovative work modality ever created, which will revolutionize the way the world conducts business,¡± Terry said.


    ¡°I was never interviewed.¡±


    ¡°The company believes that everyone should get a fair chance. The more you level up, the greater the reward.¡±


    ¡°Like money? How much does it pay?¡±


    ¡°You get paid for completing quests, as well as in game items and special abilities to help you complete more difficult challenges. The top tier players and teams earn a portion of company profits, and the bottom tier are up for elimination.¡±


    ¡°Whoa! Whoa! I¡¯m already negative level one! How am I supposed to save myself from the chopping block?¡±


    ¡°You are still in your tutorial. Players in the tutorial are not listed in the rankings. After that, pending how you do in the tutorial, your continued employment will be based on your rankings.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start this tutorial, then,¡± Maxi said, with a shrug. If there was any corporate job where she¡¯d excel, it would be this one. She was a top ten percent player in every game she had ever played. It was the whole reason she started a Spasm account in the first place. However, as soon as she tried to make money off her pastime, there was always one player a step above her.


    It seemed she was always one rung away from all of her favorite Spasm streamers, the ones that got center stage at the conventions, the ones with a mind-boggling amount of followers, the ones who could speedrun a game they got yesterday, and break the servers when people plugged in to watch the challenge.


    However, maybe this was her ticket. She could outgame corporate hacks and temp pool regulars. The people who worked here weren¡¯t gamers like her, or else she would have heard about it. She knew about every release before there were even trailers, and she had never heard of this place.


    If it truly was gamified work, she¡¯d be a badass. Unless it was something boring, like she had to collate papers to level up, then she¡¯d make her twenty bucks and get out. Leveling up through mind numbing office work didn¡¯t make it any more interesting, just more ridiculous.


    Terry motioned for her to scan the QR code. She pulled out her phone and realized there was no signal in the building. She connected to the only WiFi network showing, which said ¡°Company Employee¡±. She scanned the code, and it took her to an app called ¡°Company App¡±, with a black triangle on a white background. She downloaded it and filled out a series of questions, checked boxes, agreed to terms, and when she got to the line that said ¡°Ethnicity¡±, Terry said, ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me. I¡¯m usually good at this. Latino? Asian? Black? Indigenous? You¡¯re not White are you?¡±


    She rolled her eyes and clicked ¡°Other¡±. The last step asked her if she wanted to change her player name. She erased Player5970125 and wrote her online handle and an error appeared, but it wasn¡¯t for a name already in use or anything. Terry said, ¡°For tax purposes, your handle must also include your legal name. Most people use their first name, though you may add any personalization. Like Cool Maxi.¡±


    She typed ¡°Maxi¡±. After a moment, she erased ¡°Maxi¡±, and wrote ¡°Office Maxi¡±, and then chuckled. After that, it came to a character sheet. The first tab was stats.


    Name: Office Maxi Gender: Female Ethnicity: Other


    Level: -1


    Stats:


    Ambition: 10


    Adaptability: 8


    Dedication: 10


    Speed: 10


    Creativity: 10


    Emotional Intelligence: 10


    Luck: 10


    Life: 10/10


    Stamina: 12/12


    There were little letter ¡°i¡¯s¡± next to each entry for more information about each stat.


    ¡°Wait,¡± she said. ¡°Why is adaptability at an 8?¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°You received a stat penalty for using outdated modalities of communication,¡± Terry said.


    ¡°Because I made a phone call? Why even put the number on your flier if you don¡¯t want people to call it?!¡±


    ¡°Everything is tweaked for worker efficiency. Why make a phone call when an email, chat or text would do? In your case, you simply had to click a button.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but some things are just easier to do over the phone.¡±


    ¡°And in those cases, you will not be penalized. We only want you to thrive.¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine. Whatever.¡±


    ¡°If you are finished, please proceed to the next room to start your first day. Welcome to the team.¡±


    ¡°Wait, can I ask a question, or will I get penalized for that, too?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°No questions to your HR assistant are penalized, though some in-game circumstances¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I get it. How do I get paid? You didn¡¯t ask for my bank account or Social Security number or anything.¡±


    ¡°All employees are considered contractors, and any tax responsibilities are between you and your country of origin. It was outlined in the terms and conditions that you agreed to when you set up your profile.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean, your ad said same day pay.¡±


    ¡°Aspects of your character sheet will be unlocked when you earn them. As soon as you have credits, they will appear on your character sheet. You may then withdraw at any time to most major vendors like PayPal, Venmo, MoneyGuy, MoneyGal, MoneyPig, CryptoKing, KingCrypto¨C¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. How much is a credit worth?¡±


    ¡°Credits are currently exchanging for $1.1333332222333333555 US dollars. To exchange, click on the¨C¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m usually a learn-by-doing kinda gal,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Show me to my first quest!¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. But before we go through that door, know that I will only be accessible by your phone. I would recommend one of your first upgrades be a Bluetooth headset so you can access me during battle.¡±


    Battle? What kind of job was this?


    ¡°Proceed through the door to continue. Say ''Tutorial''.¡±


    Terry motioned to the exit on the far side of the room. A notification popped up on her phone. NEW QUEST: Angry Customer, proceed through the door to accept. Reward: 20 credits. Failure: Termination of employment.


    Maxi shrugged and walked through the sliding metal double door into an elevator that looked the same as the one she had used in the lobby: tacky 80¡¯s carpet, brass handlebar lining three sides, a mirror on the upper half, and a single button. She pressed it and said, ¡°Tutorial.¡±


    The elevator lurched and eventually opened to a dimly lit office. There was a shuffling noise, as if something was moving around the corner. She glanced in either direction but saw nothing and thought that it may have been the sound of the door closing behind her. Rows of cubicles stretched out as far as she could see, but they were as empty as the lobby.


    Maxi was about to call out, but figured making noise in the creepy office building probably wasn¡¯t the best idea and went further into the room to explore as silently as she could. The lights were dim, and she couldn¡¯t get a good read on the room size as a result. Her future coworkers could be a little further down for all she knew.


    She inspected one of the cubicles. Each desk had a computer with a double monitor and a headset. She opened the drawer and found standard office supplies: stapler, staple remover, pens, sticky notes, and anything a call center worker would need.


    She turned her head and her heart almost leapt out of chest. A fit blonde man about her age wearing a white hoodie and skater pants stood in the threshold of the cubicle.


    ¡°Way to sneak up on a girl!¡± she said.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I was with this weird AI guy, and he said I had to go on the tutorial so I figured you were the one I was supposed to talk to.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess, came here by elevator? Same here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, do you know what we¡¯re supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue, Maxi.¡± She extended her hand.


    ¡°Joaquin,¡± He held out his, and they shook going through the ritual society expected of meeting someone. Not that she would remember his name. She never remembered people¡¯s names no matter how firm their grip.


    She dislodged herself from his grasp and heard a grunt and then the clack of a keyboard. She placed her hand on her lips and motioned Joaquin forward. Not fully trusting him, she walked with him in the corner of her eye.


    The clatter came again. The sound wasn¡¯t the clack of someone typing, but rather smacking the keys. It was steady and rhythmic. She considered turning back, but with the current exchange rate ¨C one quest, and she could pay her mom. She could be done with the dungeon before dinner time and convince her mom that she had found a job.


    If the job sucked, she would never have to come back. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt her to take precautions. She ducked low and crept forward towards the noise. Joaquin followed suit. A peek wouldn¡¯t hurt. She clutched her phone in one hand; the quest still appeared on the screen. CURRENT QUEST: Angry Customer. Reward: 20 credits. Failure: Termination of employment.


    CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!


    With each step, the noise got louder. She considered the AI assistant, briefly, but decided that Terry was skilled at obtuse answers and wouldn¡¯t be much help. She kept her phone out anyway, just in case she needed to dial 911. She motioned Joaquin to stay where he was and snuck up to the cubicle generating the noise and peeked around the corner. A man in a button-up yellow shirt similar to Terry''s slammed his head down on the keyboard repeatedly.


    CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!


    The clothes were rumpled on the guy, and his shirt was stained with blood. The man grunted and whirled around. Maxi ducked and backtracked into the next cubicle over pushing Joaquin into it.


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Joaquin whispered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, a zombie.¡±


    ¡°Like a zombie? Zombie?¡± He put his hands forward and shambled with a doofy expression.


    ¡°Like a walker! Shambler! Biter! Every post-apocalyptic survivor group has a name for them, but I wouldn¡¯t know the CDC definition of them if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking!¡± Maxi hissed, her stress levels elevated. ¡°We should look for something to defend ourselves.¡±


    She opened the supply drawer for anything that resembled a weapon and Joaquin went to a cabinet. The smacking noise had stopped but was replaced by shuffling and grunting.


    She panicked and grabbed the first thing she could. A message appeared on her phone:


    +1 Stapler added to your inventory.


    Before she could puzzle out what the hell a +1 Stapler even meant, the zombie turned the corner of the cubicle. His face was rotted flesh with hollow eye sockets, and he drooled blood. He lunged at Joaquin and growled.


    Maxi didn¡¯t know she had it in her. She could have ran. While it was distracted, she could have slipped out and went for the elevator, but Joaquin seemed like a fluffy little kitty cat with doe eyes.


    She punched the zombie in the face with the stapler, and it stumbled. Joaquin used the distraction and ran to the elevator. She kicked it again, and the undead crashed headfirst into the monitor and emerged with a bloody scalp. She turned and followed the poor sap stuck in the tutorial with her.


    She made it to the elevator just as the crap bag she saved shut the door on her leaving her with that thing. Before she could think, it tackled her. They crashed to the ground, and she was able to use one arm to hold its head back. It snapped at her, and she used her other arm with her makeshift weapon and attempted to thwack it but couldn¡¯t get in a good blow. Lacking better options, she lowered the bottom half of the stapler and stapled the thing¡¯s mouth shut with a few well-placed thumps.


    The creature lost interest in her and attempted to claw out the staples with muffled grunts. However, it was too uncoordinated to do anything but bloody its fingertips in the process. A couple of feet away, her phone buzzed and dinged. She crawled out from underneath the subdued zombie and looked at her device.


    Quest Angry Customer Complete. Level up. +1 Creativity. +1 Luck. +2 Stats +4 SP. Learned new skill: Sneak +0. Awards: 20 Credits. Acquired uncommon item: +1 Stapler of Binding.


    There was more information, but she went for the elevator. While the gamer in her wanted to spend her stat and skill points, she valued her life more than whatever messed up human experiment was going on here. She called the lift and planned to head right back to the lobby and out the front entry.


    The door opened, and she stepped inside. She pressed the button and said, ¡°Lobby.¡±


    An error appeared on her phone, ¡°Time off can only be purchased from your Office Pool desktop.¡±


    ¡°That explains the empty lobby,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Fine, whatever, Office Pool.¡±


    The elevator lurched again with that strange express elevator sensation, and after a few moments, opened to a room full of desk jockeys packed in cubicles, most were wearing the same yellow shirt and slacks the zombie had been wearing.


    An Asian guy with a goatee, mustache and long hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a three-piece suit, turned to her and said, ¡°Newb!¡±

 3 – Office Pool

    ¡°Noob!¡±


    ¡°Newbie.¡±


    ¡°Nuub!¡± the desk jockeys chorused as Maxi entered the room, which included six cubicles with gray dividers. Three working spaces were down the middle, two off to the right, and one on the left. There were no other doors or windows, just fluorescent lighting and the elevator door to her back. There wasn¡¯t even a coffee machine.


    The Asian man was cleaning blood off a katana.


    ¡°Nuh uh! No way. I¡¯m out.¡± Maxi hit the call button on the elevator and barged inside and began slamming the interior one. ¡°Lobby. Exit. Leave! Get me the hell out of here!¡±


    A barely-outta-high-school thin kid with zits, a mop of brown hair, thick glasses and a freaking pocket protector stood from the cubicle on the left and said, ¡°Time off needs to be purchased¨C¡±


    She stepped out of the elevator and yelled at no one in particular, ¡°You can¡¯t keep me here! I quit. You hear me! I quit!¡±


    ¡°Dude,¡± the Asian guy said, ¡°you quit with the app on your phone.¡±


    Satisfied with the shine on his blade, he placed it on a weapon rack on his desk and turned back to his computer, annoyed that he even had to talk with her. She pulled out the app and flipped through her character sheet until she got to a ¡°Delete this character¡± button at the end of all the skill and item descriptions. She pressed the button, and a warning popped up, ¡°WARNING: Action is not reversible.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you,¡± the pocket protector kid said.


    ¡°Shut up, Yancy,¡± a White woman with long brown hair said.


    ¡°She has a right to know,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°It¡¯s your funeral,¡± the woman responded with a shrug, and went back to work.


    ¡°Our Office Pool is in the bottom Tier, which means the lowest performing player in the team at the end of the month gets fired.¡±


    ¡°So, by quitting, aren¡¯t I doing you a favor?¡± Maxi asked. Her thumb hovered over the button, but something made her hesitate. It was maybe the way that no one was meeting her eyes except the kid.


    ¡°Yeah, but termination is exactly as it sounds.¡± Yancy made a gun noise while pointing a finger with a raised thumb at her head.


    ¡°They can¡¯t do that,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Can they?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t read the terms and conditions,¡± a large Black man with a deep voice said. He was built like a human bulwark that football players would have trouble getting through. There was an armor rack with full plate inside his cube. In fact, they all seemed to have weapons or armor racks in their space.


    ¡°No one reads the terms and conditions!¡± Yancy said.


    The Black man shrugged and turned back to his computer, adding, ¡°Now you know why you should always read the terms and conditions.¡±


    ¡°No, no! Fuck this,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Terry said that I can¡¯t be listed in the rankings during the tutorial.¡±


    ¡°You completed the tutorial,¡± Yancy said, and wandered over to her.


    She pulled out her phone and scrolled to where her quest rewards were listed and saw that, sure enough, she had completed the tutorial, and was now assigned squarely in the bottom ranks. Her Tier was 12.11. Yancy, who had been looking over her shoulder, exclaimed, ¡°No way! You found an uncommon item!¡±


    ¡°Get the fuck out!¡± The Asian guy jumped from his seat to look at her phone. The others were paying attention now, too.


    ¡°Yeah, I mean...¡± Maxi referred to the bloody stapler she had been holding with her armpit since she started checking her phone. ¡°I kinda stapled the zombie¡¯s mouth shut.¡±


    The Asian guy remarked, ¡°I was gonna say, how did you end up in the bottom 10% after finding an uncommon item in the tutorial? But makes sense now.¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t kill the zombie,¡± the White woman huffed. ¡°Such a newbie mistake.¡±


    ¡°Noob!¡± the Black Man chimed in.


    ¡°I survived, didn¡¯t I?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Incapacitating isn¡¯t worth much XP. About as much as running away. Unless you take them prisoner. That¡¯s a good as a kill, but not a crit kill, or multi-kill, headshot, stuff like that,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°There¡¯s more of those things?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you played any video games?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in a top 5 Guild!¡±


    ¡°Here, the guild system works a little differently,¡± Yancy explained. ¡°There are Branches, kinda like guilds, and Office Pools, kinda like adventuring parties. We are your Office Pool. You¡¯re assigned one based on your ranking in the tutorial.¡±


    ¡°How the fuck am I supposed to do well in the tutorial if no one tells me what the fuck is going on?!¡±


    ¡°You should have read the terms and conditions,¡± the Black Man said.


    ¡°Cut her a break, Flav,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Like, Flava Flav?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°My mom loved Public Enemy,¡± Flav said.


    ¡°My mom loves drum circles.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°We all have work to do,¡± the Asian guy barked. ¡°Office Maxi, your desk is over there.¡±


    The others returned to their work, and Maxi walked over to an empty cubicle with a chair that was covered in plastic. There was a note on it that read, ¡°Guaranteed Blood Free! ¨CJanitorial.¡± It didn¡¯t take much imagination to figure what happened to the previous occupant of the desk.


    She set down her stapler, and a note appeared on her phone. ¡°+1 Stapler of Binding added to your Home.¡± She clicked the ¡°i¡± button next to the word ¡°Home¡± on the note, and it said ¡°Objects in your Home will not be dropped on death. They are unable to be accessed while on a quest, cannot be stolen, and can be sold on the Free Market.¡±


    She rifled through the drawers and found they contained similar office supplies to what she had seen before. She booted the computer next, and the screen came to life. ¡°Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!¡± it said ominously. She wasn¡¯t sure what was going on here but wanted no part of it.


    However, she didn¡¯t see much choice but to play the game at this point. If one person a month was being murdered from this office pool, she was certain that she could outlast any of them. All her mistakes were from ignorance, and she didn¡¯t plan to make any of those in the future.


    Perhaps all she needed was to climb the ranks just enough to be assigned to a different Office Pool, then she would have more access to the building, and could find the nearest emergency exit. While Maxi loved games, she enjoyed being alive much more than that. If termination meant death, then she wanted no part of it.


    The computer loaded to a menu that was analogous to a video game screen. She browsed through the menus and glanced at the offerings in each one. She saw her character sheet, inventory, skills, Free Market, etc., but there were also more mundane buttons like Facilities, IT, and other departments. There was even a button for managing the funds in her account.


    As promised, there were 20 credits and a zillion payment options, including many she had never heard of before. She was tempted to cash out, but knowing how video games worked, there was probably some equipment she would need to buy with her credits.


    Before she went shopping, she saw a button marked ¡°Office Pool¡±. She clicked on it. The screen read:


    Office Pool: Lus3rs (Cumulative Tier: 12.3)


    Her Tier was listed as a 12.11, whereas her Office Pool seemed to have an average. She saw a ¡°Terry¡± button, clicked it, and was given the choice to speak or chat. She selected chat, and typed, ¡°What¡¯s the difference between Tier and Cumulative Tier?¡±


    Terry replied in what Maxi assumed was a chipper tone. ¡°Tier is your individual rating, and your Office Pool is tiered based on the average of all people within the Pool. Office Pools vary in size. A typical size is six but depending on the objectives of the team and class synergies, they can vary. For example, Worker classes get bonuses by working as a team, so you can see as many as forty in a single Office Pool, whereas the Public Relations class benefits from lean and agile teams that can react quickly to changing situations, so they are typically 3-4 members.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She turned back to the Pool screen.


    There were six players listed: Yancy, Lot¡¯O¡¯Flav, Office Maxi, and three others. She guessed Daisuke Hax was the Asian guy with the goatee and XxPattixX was the woman, which meant Farhad Lus3r was the person with the sixth cubicle next to hers on the right side of the room. Each player''s name displayed a notification: ¡°This player has not shared basic class/level/and tier information with you.¡±


    There were two buttons that seemed like places to buy and sell: the ¡°Company Store¡± and the ¡°Free Market¡±. She checked out the Free Market first and was assaulted with listings, auctions, advertisements, and even a ticker across the top that shouted out players when they won an item ¨C ¡°Tess the Destroyer won a +10 Ever Fast Printer for 1839 credits! Torgo Smash won a +50 Cane Sword of Mastery for 259,436 credits! Pete won a perfect breakfast burrito for 12 credits!¡±


    The items for sale in the market ranged from the ones meant to fleece new players, like Sticky Notes of Wonderment for 5 credits, to those wildly out of her price range, like Gargantin King Slayer, 1 billion credits, and everything in between. There were also class and stat restrictions on various items. It was a lot to take in, and like every online shopping website, it looked as if other players could pay for ads for their listing, modify the font size, add a picture, color, and just about any way the company could monetize the market.


    Considering that she didn¡¯t know enough yet to make wise purchasing decisions, she checked out the Company Store, which would no doubt have jacked prices just enough to keep people playing the game. However, at the low levels, she was pretty sure it was her only choice, as anything a low-level player could afford in the Free Market was probably not worth it.


    She glanced over the items that she could afford and saw a mix of items from office supplies to swords and armor. She noticed that the yellow button-up shirt that everyone else was wearing was a +2 Shirt of Protection, and it was only 5 credits and came with +1 Khakis, which explained why everyone was wearing one. +1 Leather Armor was 15 credits, and from what she could tell, the leather gave her +1 Resistance to bludgeoning weapons and +1 to Sneak, but she wasn¡¯t sure if the 10 credit difference was worth it, especially because leather would give her an armor rating of 2 whereas the shirt and khakis was 3. The other armors in her price range seemed like junk.


    On the weapon side of the equation, there was a +1 Longsword for 10 credits, +1 Dagger for 5 credits, +1 Bow for 20, +1 Letter Opener for 2 credits, and a +2 Steel Water Bottle for 3 that seemed to serve a dual purpose as a weapon and a utility item. Each had a low range of damage, with the sword being the most at 2-4, and the letter opener being the least at 1. She glanced around the room and from what she could see, all of them were beyond the newb gear.


    She pulled up the utility items in her price range and found a Utility Belt for 3 credits that allowed her to bring three items with her on quests, the water bottle that stored sixty-four ounces of liquid and, when full, could clunk a foe for 1-2 damage, and a quiver of twelve arrows for 2 credits. She pitied the newb who got the bow.


    Before she closed out, she saw an HR implant for 100 credits. There wasn¡¯t any information, so she chatted with Terry about it, and he responded right away, ¡°A very fine choice of item if you ask my personal opinion.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. Now, what is it?¡± she typed back.


    ¡°A way to interface with me without using a device. We will communicate using brainwaves that you will experience as sound, and can respond like you are talking, but no words will come out of your mouth. It¡¯s valuable, especially for those who plan to specialize in a rogue archetype.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯ll be in my head, all the time?¡± she typed.


    ¡°Only when you summon me.¡±


    ¡°Still, no, thank you.¡±


    ¡°The implant will also show certain in-game attributes like level, to a limit of 100 levels above yours, life bars, and other helpful information in an augmented reality interface. Many players find it helpful in avoiding an early demise.¡±


    That gave her pause. The benefit of life bars alone was readily apparent. Knowing if her weapon caused any significant damage could save her from an early encounter with an overpowering enemy. However, she didn¡¯t have the credits, and she was hoping to be out of this place by then.


    Since none of the items required prerequisites, she bought her first loadout. She bought the Longsword, Shirt of Protection, and Utility Belt. During the checkout screen, she saw an ad. ¡°Want more credits? Try Menial Labor!¡±


    She clicked on the ad, and it came to a page where it said, CURRENT JOBS: NONE. OPEN JOBS: Product Sorting (.0001-.3 credits per click), Tax Returns (2 Credits per form), Graphic Design (1 Credit per design), Copywriting (.01 Credit per word), Copyediting (.001 Credit per word).


    She peaked over at Flav¡¯s cubicle and saw him looking at two product pages on the world¡¯s most popular online shopping website. At the top of his screen it said, ¡°Are these two products similar? (.0012 Credits)¡±. It was a vacuum and a box of diapers. Maxi guessed that¡¯s how the website generated the ¡°customers also bought¡± lists. She had always thought it was AI.


    On her screen, the Graphic Design disappeared, and the Tax Returns bumped to 2.3 Credits per form, Copywriting went down to .0096 per word, and Virtual Wellness Coaching appeared (5 credits per appointment).


    She looked around at her cubicle mates. It was no wonder they were furiously working away. She was tempted to make some quick cash, maybe even get her balance back to twenty credits, but dismissed it as a no win scenario. Even if she gamed the system and only took the job that paid the most in terms of credits per hour, she knew the top players were completing quests, not corporate flunkies.


    She returned to her cart and hit the checkout button. There was a delivery confirmation, but nothing else to indicate where they would be. She wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if they materialized on her desk, as she had a suspicion that the holodeck room where she had first appeared had scanned and digitized her.


    She imagined her body being kept alive in some chamber while the company siphoned off her energy to power their scheme like in The Matrix. The only flaw would be that whatever they fed to the humans to keep them alive would make a better fuel source than using people as batteries, so it¡¯d be more cost effective to kill all humans and just use the food that was keeping them alive for power. Water could be turned into rocket fuel by sciencing the shit out of it, as she learned from The Martian.


    Whether or not she was in the real world or some digital one was a moot point until she could find a way out, and there was only one exit to the room ¨C the door where she had arrived. And by now she figured it would only let her go where the company wanted her to go. She asked Terry where to get the items, and he replied, ¡°The Mailroom. Though for a monthly fee, you can have them delivered to your Home.¡±


    ¡°No, thanks,¡± Maxi said.


    She switched over to her character sheet and perused the ¡°More information¡± about her stats. Ambition affected power, attack damage, and feats of strength. Adaptability increased her technology use, ability to multitask, and gave bonuses to cyber warfare. Dedication was for her stamina, resistance to illness, poison, physical attacks, and gave her one extra life point per five levels/level.


    Speed increased her ranged attacks, dodge, and gave her an extra Armor Rating point per five levels. Creativity affected her ability to puzzle out difficult situations, gave her bonuses to mind attacks, and modified her psychic attacks, which bolstered her belief she was in a simulation because psionic powers were for video games and Stephen King novels. Emotional Intelligence was for her resistance to charm, bolstered social interactions, and gave bonuses against mental illness. The last on the list was Luck and the information box only said, ¡°There is no stat more mysterious than Luck.¡±


    She bumped her creativity by two, figuring puzzling her way out was the most important priority. If she couldn¡¯t find the exit, then she¡¯d fight her way. No matter what happened, she was getting out. Her stats now read:


    Ambition: 10


    Adaptability: 8


    Dedication: 10


    Speed: 10


    Creativity: 13


    Emotional Intelligence: 10


    Luck: 11


    She went to the skills next. The skill trees were broken down into archetypes. There were super categories called Cyber Warfare, Healing, Rogue, Combat, etc. Then, each skill had a minimum stat and class restriction with a short description of what the skill did. There was the option to sort the list by only ones available to her class, but she didn¡¯t have one, so it was grayed out.


    Unfortunately, most of the skill trees were also grayed out. All she could see were the ones where she met the minimum requirements or the ones that were prerequisites for ones she could acquire. However, only the name and cost was available for prerequisites out of her stat and class. For example, on the Cyber Warfare skill tree, there was a skill called ¡°Cyber Resistance ¨C an increased resistance to cyber attacks¡±, which only required an 8 Adaptability and no class restriction. However, the prerequisite was Denial of Service Attack with the description grayed because she didn¡¯t meet minimum requirements, which were an Adaptability of at least 18, and the Hacker, IT Professional, and other techy-sounding classes.


    Being that there was a good chance spending her points over saving them would help her in this situation, she bumped Sneak another +2, which also was boosted by Speed, and spent the other two to learn Listen at +0, which was boosted to +2 by her Creativity stat and would get another +1 when Creativity got to fifteen.


    Her skills now read:


    Listen +2 (Creativity)


    Sneak +4 (Speed)


    Listen gave her the ability to detect unseen enemies, reduced her likelihood of being surprised, and allowed her to gather basic information such as direction and party size in situations where the opponents are heard but not seen. Also, if someone attempted to use Sneak on her, she would have to roll a Listen check. It seemed everyone could use any skill with a negative 10 penalty, and a successful use of the skill resulted in learning it without spending skill points.


    A quick chat with Terry explained that everything was based on a contested roll system, with certain skills facing off others. For example, a person in combat would roll an attack check versus a person¡¯s armor rating check. While there was no information about the size of die being rolled, there were rolls always considered hits and others always misses, regardless of what the opponent rolled.


    But if she thought of it in terms of a certain popular role-playing game system, she assumed a 1 was always a miss and a 20 was always a hit, and the 20 could result in a critical depending on what the other person¡¯s armor rating roll was, and the 1, a fumble, also depending on the other person¡¯s armor rating roll.


    This only reinforced her belief that she was in the Matrix, but Terry countered her argument by saying, ¡°How do you know that when you trip on the sidewalk, you didn¡¯t just make a bad Speed roll in some unseen mechanics of the universe, or car accidents are caused by terrible driving checks?¡±


    ¡°People must not put that many skill points into driving,¡± Maxi typed and chuckled, since every person seemed to claim their hometown had the worst drivers.


    ¡°You do not meet the minimum requirements for Driving, but with a little boost to your Ambition...¡±


    ¡°Forget about it,¡± Maxi typed.


    She assumed that when she attempted to sneak up on the zombie, she rolled her minus ten Sneak check and beat its Listen check, which must have been dismal, thus earning her the skill without paying the two points to purchase it. She¡¯d have to remember that learning the abilities during an encounter seemed like a cheaper way to go, especially because it seemed that buying something at plus zero was more expensive than raising it when it came to the higher skills.


    Maxi leaned back from her chair and saw Yancy staring at her. When her eyes connected with his, he turned back to his work. She stretched and stood up. She was about to go to the mailroom to collect her starter gear when a bloodied man with a gaping wound in his chest stumbled through the elevator door.

 4 – Death Penalty

    The man stumbled forward and fell face first on the floor. He had silky chai skin and dark, wavy romance-novel hair. Blood pooled around his body, staining his yellow shirt. The others glanced at him for a moment, then returned to their workstations.


    Maxi jumped up and yelled, ¡°Isn''t anyone going to help him?!¡±


    Daisuke glanced down at the pooling blood. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t waste the credits on that.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s dying!¡± Maxi yelled.


    ¡°Dead,¡± Yancy said. ¡°Technically.¡±


    Maxi glanced down at the guy. He had stopped breathing. His eyes were glazed over and staring into the void.


    ¡°Flav, it¡¯s your day for dead body duty,¡± Daisuke barked. ¡°Could you take care of him before he starts to stink?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s surge pricing on sorting duty!¡± Flav protested.


    ¡°And it¡¯s your turn on body duty! Now do it before Janitorial shows up.¡±


    ¡°They make you clean up the bodies?!¡± Maxi said. ¡°What kind of messed up place is this?¡±


    ¡°Janitorial will do it for a fee,¡± Yancy said. ¡°But the whole Office Pool is charged for the service, so we do all our own cleaning to avoid the charge. Regular wipe downs of your station and taking out your trash each day will keep them out of here. Just don¡¯t forget the trash. I¡¯m serious. Daisuke will kill you.¡±


    Maxi couldn¡¯t believe how casual they were about the whole thing. Sure, the guy had probably saved all their lives from the chopping block for another month, but they could at least have some respect for the dead. She helped Flav drag the guy back to his cubicle, and they placed him on the chair.


    Once the body was seated, Flav whistled a tune, strolled over to the elevator door, and called the lift. He sauntered inside, and Maxi heard him say, ¡°Supply closet¡±, as the doors closed. He emerged a short time later with a mop and bucket reeking of bleach.


    Patti yelled, ¡°Dude, did you overfill again? That costs credits ya know!¡±


    ¡°No worries,¡± Flav said, as he sloshed a wet mop on the floor. The bleached water mixed with the blood on the white tiled floor, turning it pink.


    Yancy saw Maxi¡¯s look of horror and explained. ¡°The company allots each Office Pool a certain amount of supplies each day. Any overages are charged to the pool, so don¡¯t use too much soap. Same goes with toilet paper.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you go to the bathroom?¡± Maxi said, after shutting the eyelids of the deceased and sitting back in her cubicle. ¡°Just press the button and say ''bathroom''?¡±


    ¡°Yep, mailroom, cafeteria, supply closet, and sleeping capsule are all free destinations,¡± Yancy said. ¡°They¡¯ll charge you for anywhere else unless it¡¯s for a quest.¡±


    ¡°Wait?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Sleeping capsule? We sleep here?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t read the¨C¡± Flav began.


    ¡°Terms and conditions,¡± Maxi finished. ¡°But what about my mom? My family? My life?¡±


    ¡°You can purchase vacation days,¡± HR Terry said from her computer. She had left the chat window open. ¡°They are subject to surge pricing, and the current rate is 831.5321 credits per hour of time off.¡±


    ¡°Per hour?¡± Maxi yelped.


    ¡°There¡¯s been a worker shortage, so time off is rare these days,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Because you keep murdering them!¡± Maxi huffed. ¡°What about a phone call or a text? Can I at least let her know I¡¯m not dead?¡±


    HR Terry responded, ¡°Texts are currently 41.24 credits a character and a phone call is currently 234.516 credits per minute. I¡¯m afraid you have insufficient funds to make any calls.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you are charging me for the WiFi, too,¡± she said, remembering that she had connected her phone to an open WiFi network labeled ¡°Company Employee¡±.


    ¡°The Company App is always free to use, however the ongoing rate for personal WiFi access is¨C¡±


    ¡°Never mind,¡± Maxi interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m going to the mailroom.¡±


    Flav was mostly done with the cleanup duty, but she was still careful not to walk in any of the wet spots out of respect for him. If her Office Pool was responsible for at least some shared resources, she didn¡¯t want to piss anyone off, at least not yet. She glanced at the man''s body that everyone seemed to be ignoring and wondered who was in her chair before she got here.


    She went to the elevator and requested the mailroom. After a few moments of travel, the sliding metal doors opened to reveal a mailroom that was quite bustling. There were many players, most in yellow button-up shirts, dashing in every direction. It was more crowded than a subway station at rush hour, but just as weird.


    For the most part, people looked frazzled, overworked, and too much in their own heads to pay her any mind. There were some who stuck out from the throng. They wore plate, chainmail or power armor, and some had obvious cybernetic implants or bionic upgrades. But there were also wizards, archers and knights. Even some that were mixtures, like a warlock with Terminator eyes, or a barbarian with a battle axe and a plasma rifle. It was like fantasy and cyberpunk smashed together in a beautiful cacophony, with yellow shirts forming the backdrop.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± Maxi said. The yellow shirts were obviously the cannon fodder or red shirt ensigns from Star Trek. It didn¡¯t take long to discern a power player from her cubemates in the bottom ten. It was too late now. The sale price of the shirt was pittance compared to what she had paid. She sighed and saw a sign for counter service.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    There were corridors jutting off from the main room with endless numbers of PO Boxes. The PO Boxes came in all shapes and sizes, from ones that would only fit mail to ones that were large enough to fit a suit of armor. She saw a guy in combat fatigues pulling a gleaming sword from a box that seemed no bigger than the space that would fit it. The blade kept coming out of the small space as if it was impossibly deep.


    She eventually made it through the maze of PO Boxes to a counter with twelve queues. They were labeled Tier 1 through 12, with the line at 12 being the longest, and pretty much no one in the top tier lines. Being that her pool was ranked Tier 12, she was going to have to wait a while, figuring the clerks wouldn¡¯t help her in any other line.


    However, the queue moved quickly as the packages were delivered by bored clerks in yellow shirts. She was about halfway up when she noticed that regardless of which line people waited in, the clerks went to the same back room, but it was too late to experiment with another line. When Maxi got to the front, the guy didn¡¯t even look up at her and said, ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°Well, what?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°QR code?¡±


    Maxi pulled out her phone and loaded the company app. She futzed around for a few moments looking for a QR code until the man said, ¡°Name? It will go quicker for me to look it up. They pay me by the transaction, you know!¡±


    ¡°Office Maxi,¡± she said, and he turned to his computer. The people behind her in line were visibly irritated by the hold up in the flow. By the time she found the QR code to pick up her order, the man had found it on his computer and punched a few buttons. He went to the back and came out with a sword in a cardboard sheath, a yellow shirt in the package, khakis, and the belt. As soon as he handed them over the counter, a message appeared on her phone about the items being added to her inventory.


    She exited the line and made haste to the door. Just like the counter, there were a dozen of them, each labeled with a number. The twelfth door had the longest line, and the first had none. She went to the door without a line, figuring an elevator ride wouldn¡¯t hurt, and a man seemed to phase in from the surrounding area as if he had been in a cloaking field. He wore a silver bodysuit like a Golden Age superhero. He had goggles with variable lenses that seemed to expand and contract like the pupil of an eye.


    ¡°Are you trying to get PKed on your first day?¡± the guy said, and pulled her away from the door.


    ¡°How¡¯d you know it was my first day?¡± Maxi asked, and yanked her arm free.


    ¡°Longsword, utility belt, yellow shirt. Everyone buys that on their first day. At least the ones who aren¡¯t stupid enough to cash out their tutorial credits, or buy the leather armor and a letter opener.¡±


    ¡°I did contemplate leather and a dagger.¡±


    ¡°Naw, you always want the utility belt. You live and die by the items.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t look like a PVP zone¡­¡± Maxi said, in reference to the earlier comment. It wouldn¡¯t be bad to befriend a more powerful player. Maybe even join another Office Pool when she was at a sufficient level to ditch the losers she had gotten stuck with.


    ¡°Every place is a PVP zone,¡± the guy said. ¡°The only reason newbs like you aren¡¯t slaughtered the moment they step outside their Office Pool is that XP and rewards follow the law of diminishing returns. Think of it this way ¨C if the richest person on the planet bent over to pick up a quarter off the street, it would cost them more to pick up the quarter than its worth in terms of how much money they make per hour. However, a Power Twelve wouldn¡¯t hesitate to incinerate you if you cause them to wait in line for the door. The door you use in public spaces is based on your Tier.¡± He pointed to the long lines and the lower numbered doors and turned to leave.


    Before he left her entirely, she asked, ¡°Why are you helping me?¡±


    ¡°My class is Customer Care Advocate,¡± he said. ¡°I get a bonus for helping other players, and penalties for PKs. If you want to survive, pick Customer Care. It¡¯s like the cleric. No one wants to be one, but everyone needs one in their party. Also, get Customer Service as a skill. People can be assholes, but you won¡¯t survive without them. The name is Benson, by the way. Now, if you''ll excuse me.¡± Benson pressed a button on an arm pad for his silver bodysuit. He shimmered and melded back into the background. Maxi couldn¡¯t even see a distortion effect from the cloaking. A few moments later, door 4 opened and closed as if someone invisible stepped inside.


    She stepped in the line for door 12. She pulled up the Employee Handbook and found the chapter about ranking. ¡°Tiers are based on the same 12-point system, and then each level is broken into 12 segments. Certain items, abilities and quests are only available to certain Tiers. Certain privileges unlock at higher Tiers ¨C for example, individual performance can allow a person to cut the line, whereas good group performance (Cumulative Tier) can get discounts in the Company Store, allow certain activities, and yield better raid rewards.¡±


    While she waited in line, she heard more than one person request the bathroom as the door shut. She asked Terry about them and learned the bathrooms were single rooms rather than a common space. Since her ¡°home¡± cube wasn¡¯t private, she elected to use the bathroom to change when it was her time in the elevator. She hit the button, and moments later, it opened to a room with a single toilet, sink and shower. Someone had helpfully written, ¡°No more than two pumps!!!¡± on a sticky note by the soap dispenser.


    In the shower, there were three dispensers ¨C one for body wash, another shampoo, and the third conditioner. Feeling sweaty in her power suit, she elected to shower before putting on her yellow shirt. However, she first asked Terry how to lock the bathroom door, and Terry said, ¡°The elevators will not arrive to an occupied bathroom unless overridden by authorized emergency responders.¡±


    It made her a little nervous to shower with a magic elevator door as the entrance to the room, but since she didn¡¯t have much of a choice, she started to strip.


    ***


    After the room was sufficiently steamed and she felt clean, she dressed in her yellow shirt, khakis, and utility belt. She slid the sword between her pants and belt and made a mental note to buy a scabbard. She tossed the complimentary towel in a bin marked ¡°towels¡± and went to the door. She pressed the button and the door opened. She said, ¡°Office Pool¡±, and off it went.


    When the door opened, all her coworkers were standing in formation with weapons at their side. Daisuke frowned and yelled, ¡°Where the hell were you? Did you take a shower? It¡¯s almost time for the raid! Get in line!¡±


    ¡°Raid?¡± Maxi said. ¡°You could have told me about the raid!¡±


    ¡°You could have checked the quest log,¡± he said, and turned to Patti. ¡°You have healing prepared?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Patti said.


    ¡°Pens?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Staple remover?¡±


    ¡°I got it! I got it,¡± Patti said. ¡°Trust me.¡±


    She noticed they were all in yellow shirts Flav¡¯s armor was still at his desk. Daisuke had ditched his suit for a yellow shirt.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you wearing your armor?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Such a newb question,¡± Daisuke huffed.


    ¡°Repair costs,¡± Flav said and caressed his armor. ¡°My baby girl costs a lot of credits to look this good. Since raid bosses will most certainly damage it, and it¡¯s not going to protect me any better for something so overpowered, it makes sense to wear armor that I can easily replace. Besides, items will make more of a difference during a raid.¡±


    That reminded Maxi about her uncommon item back in her cubicle. She went to retrieve it, but noticed something was wrong. The body that she and Flav had dragged to the chair was gone, and it wasn¡¯t like it was replaced by a chair covered in plastic guaranteed to have all the blood out. The chair was still there, covered in blood.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to locate the missing body. It was standing in the corner of its cubicle in its bloodied yellow shirt. Maxi was about to inform her crew of the impending zombie attack when it whirled around to face her.

 5 – The Raid

    Maxi whipped out her sword and the ¡°zombie¡± cowered back and yelled, ¡°I just died, man!¡±


    Her office pool whirled around with their weapons at the ready. However, the situation quickly diffused when Maxi realized that he wasn¡¯t undead at all, but rather wearing the clothes of an extra from The Walking Dead. She could see a fresh set of clothes on his desk.


    ¡°Nuub,¡± Patti scoffed.


    ¡°Just what the hell was that?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°A Rolly Chair of Resurrection,¡± Yancy said. ¡°It¡¯s standard equipment, though resurrection time does vary pending on level. Doesn¡¯t repair equipment, nor can it cure some deaths, like incineration.¡±


    ¡°The Rolly Chair of Resurrection ensures that no employee can die via working themselves to death,¡± Terry said from her computer. ¡°It cannot be stolen, lost, traded, bought or sold, and ownership reverts to the Company in the event of your death or termination, whichever comes first.¡±


    ¡°Right, so I guess it¡¯s my respawn point,¡± Maxi said. ¡°What happens if I can¡¯t make it back to my chair?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Daisuke said ominously.


    Before she could inquire further, Terry''s voice announced from all the computers in the room at the same time, ¡°Office Pool Lus3rs, you may proceed to the raid. All members of the team must take part. Failure to comply will result in XP penalties.¡±


    Maxi secured her sword, attached her +1 Stapler of Binding to her belt, grabbed her phone and stepped into line. The ¡°zombie¡± she later learned to be named Farhad took up the rear, scrambling to put on a fresh shirt.


    The elevator door opened, and while they filed through, she looked down at her phone. QUEST: Defeat Antitrust Lawyer (Raid Boss) Level: Unknown. Time to completion: 13 days, 4:32:05 with the seconds counting down. Reward: Based on your Office Pool¡¯s Contribution.


    Failure:


    Tier 1-3: XP Penalties


    Tier 4-6: XP and Credit Penalties


    Tier 7-9: XP, Credit, and Stat Penalties


    Tier 10-12: Immediate Termination


    Current life remaining 11351903406/12000000000.


    Note: Normal death penalties do not apply during the raid.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Maxi said. ¡°They are just going to kill everyone?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s happened before,¡± Farhad said. ¡°I was tier 9 when the last raid failed, now...¡±


    The elevator lurched to a stop, and it opened to another floor of the building where a receptionist waited at a desk, wearing a red dress and a big dopey smile on her face. The words, ¡°Alfred, Alfred, and Alfred¡± hung on the red velvet wall behind her in large silver letters. There were two other Office Pools ahead of them. The first were power players with black metal power armor, a man in an Armani suit, two women in black bodysuits that seemed to blend into the shadows, and the Customer Care Advocate she had met named Benson. The other group were yellow shirts like her Pool.


    ¡°Power players on the right, cannon fodder on the left,¡± the secretary directed traffic as the players began flooding in from the single elevator door to the lobby. Maxi¡¯s group went left as she surmised that her weapons weren¡¯t going to do much against the boss, considering that it probably had damage resistance. She looked up damage resistance and saw that it would reduce damage to a minimum of one, so at least it was something. Maybe she should have gotten the leather and letter opener, she thought, since her sword was useless, and perhaps the bludgeoning resistance would allow her to survive a smidge longer.


    They walked through a hallway until they got to a massive conference room where a colossal, bulbous lawyer sat at the end of the table. He was easily the height of three basketball players standing on each other''s shoulders, with the girth of a man who rarely saw his toes. It was as if Jabba the Hut with a toupee cameoed on Law & Order as the ruthless lawyer of the week. He was surrounded by men and women in three-piece suits holding briefcases. The cannon fodder was at the floor level, while the power players were situated on the balconies that overlooked the room.


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    There were at least three top Tier teams, and perhaps eighteen groups on the floor. She guessed, though, that folks on the floor level might be as high as Tier 6, as she saw six dudes all wearing gleaming Kevlar armor that she swore required Tier 6 in order to equip. She saw Benson looking down at her from above, and she waved. He averted his gaze. So much for making friends. Not that she was here to make friends.


    The room itself had five doors total. Two large mahogany ones behind them where her group had entered. Two on her side of the room leading to the balconies where the power players were streaming inside, and then two at the opposite end behind the lawyer.


    The balconies up top had two staircases on each side. The stairs near the enemy side were narrow, only wide enough for one person, but the set on her side could allow a whole group to go up or down at once.


    The doors to the room were shut behind her and Jabba bellowed in a deep voice, ¡°Your Company is nothing more than a cartel. We will take you down.¡±


    He lowered his hands, and his army of minions rushed the front line that had formed with the cannon fodder. They shot papers from their briefcases that said, ¡°SUBPOENA¡±. The front line of yellow shirts went down as the papers cut off limbs, embedded in skulls, and generally sliced through the group. Maxi didn¡¯t think, just reacted, slicing a paper in half that was coming for her.


    Flav stumbled back to the door with a paper that had cut through his shirt protruding from his shoulder. Patti¡¯s neck was bleeding, and she, too, backed away towards the exit. Daisuke pulled out a katana and wakizashi from what Maxi assumed to be invisible sheaths because they seemed to materialize from thin air. He chopped through the deadly papers heading their way. Farhad had a pistol, and ducked behind a chair of the long table in the center of the room, taking pot shots at the minions.


    The power players concentrated their firepower on Jabba. Lightning bolts, plasma rounds, streams of fire, and all sorts of projectiles were flung from the balconies toward whatever that thing was. The pudgy mass of legal representation machine-gunned the razor-sharp paper from a briefcase toward the balconies above. The power player tanks blocked all the stairwells leading up to the ranged fighters. As Jabba''s minions fell, more flooded from a room on the far side.


    Maxi quickly realized that she was never meant to damage the boss. Her group was merely a meat shield blocking the two largest staircases to the balconies above. The stairs closer to Jabba allowed the tanks to fight one minion at a time, whereas the ones on her side would leave the ranged warriors vulnerable.


    She chopped through more papers until the battle lines met, and the briefcases were turned into melee weapons. She saw one of the knights take a hit to the chest, and he crumpled to the floor. Guessing that one hit would be enough to take her out, she dodged and wove through the battle as the minions split the yellow shirts into two groups around each stairway.


    The minions only took one hit from her sword, and two from a letter opener, so they were easy to kill, but there were just too many of them. For every one she felled, two more would take its place. She could cut them down in swaths, but it wasn¡¯t making much of a difference because they were being swarmed.


    There was a loud noise as Jabba pulled out a phone and fired several lightning bolts that bounced throughout the room, hitting friend and foe alike. Maxi was lucky to be under the high point of the arc at the time. Half of the remaining yellow shirts went down as crisp husks. Their teammates dropped the defense of the stairs and dragged the fallen back in a fighting retreat.


    The minions flooded the stairs as a few melee fighters formed a line at the top for a final defense. The power players on the top were barely keeping up with the deluge of minions by utilizing area-of-effect weapons like grenades and firestorms that would thin the herd briefly, giving the Customer Care Advocates time to heal the tanks. However, it was a no-win scenario. She saw that even Benson wasn''t healing anyone. He must have run out of mana, or whatever was used for magic.


    Meanwhile, the power players began to fall under Jabba¡¯s attacks. Seeing that the entire battle was only going to last a few more seconds at most, Maxi fought her way to Farhad, who had barricaded himself between a chair and the table, blasting minions that got close. She cleaved through the last couple in her area, and since most of the minions were concentrated on the stairwells, she had a moment¡¯s reprieve.


    ¡°Screw the minions,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Let¡¯s go for the boss.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s suicide,¡± Farhad said. ¡°And you¡¯re not going to do more than one damage.¡±


    ¡°One less damage that we have to do before the month is out. Now push me,¡± Maxi said, and stood on the chair he was hiding behind. Farhad shrugged and pushed the chair while blasting minions on either side with his gun. She sliced through minions who threatened to block her way and ducked behind the chair when the razor subpoenas headed her way.


    Farhad got hit by two papers, and a minion brought up a briefcase for the death blow. He pushed her chair with one final shove and sent her on a trajectory toward Jabba¡¯s massive belly. Jabba realized what was happening too late and redirected some of his minions towards her. The gargantuan man moved towards her as well, rolling on a powered chair.


    It was as if they were two knights on a collision course, if knights had office chairs instead of horses and a briefcase and sword instead of lances.


    Maxi figured if she was going to go out, she was going to damage this guy, even if it was just one. Besides, rewards were based on performance of the team. She imagined that no one in her Tier ever did any damage, so even one was better than none. She brought up her weapon for her final attack. As she closed in with the sword pointed at the bulbous belly, the thing belched. A green haze engulfed her as the sword connected with flesh. Her vision went dark.

 6 – Epic Quest

    Maxi gasped as she woke up in her chair, air filling her empty lungs, her face and hair crusted with a green ick. Her Office Pool surrounded her with expressions of either reverence or hate, maybe a little of both. It was hard to tell since she didn¡¯t know them very well. She expected to see her yellow shirt covered in the same green filth that coated Farhad¡¯s clothes, hair, and skin, but it was surprisingly unblemished, unlike the rest of her clothes, hair and skin that were covered in the filth.


    She had died and the chair had resurrected her. She hadn¡¯t thought much about her own mortality before, but never imagined she¡¯d check off ¡°come back from the dead¡± in her ¡°things I did with my life¡± list. There was a small part of her that feared it wouldn¡¯t have worked, but here she was after being caught in a cloud of¡­ she sniffed her hair and almost vomited. She was definitely alive. Nothing like the churning of her insides to remind her that she was still there.


    She looked down at her chair in awe. She could barely imagine how it would change the mundane world. It didn¡¯t make sense why the company would hoard the technology for themselves. Even if it was the soulless entity that only valued human life in terms of how much profit it could extract from her person, they would make trillions on sales of the chair alone.


    Daisuke was the first to speak. ¡°Don¡¯t ever die on a raid again!¡±


    ¡°At least where we can¡¯t drag you back,¡± Yancy interrupted, and Daisuke glared at him.


    Daisuke continued berating her. ¡°Janitorial had to pick you and Farhad up. I personally think you owe us a thousand credits each, but I was outvoted on that point. That being said, your stunt brought us to Tier 11.¡±


    ¡°11.5,¡± Yancy corrected.


    ¡°Whatever. Just don¡¯t do it again,¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it again?¡± Maxi protested. ¡°You should be thanking me, or have you forgotten that one of us will die by the end of the month if we don¡¯t get to Tier 9?¡±


    ¡°Working off that kind of debt will guarantee we stay in the bottom!¡± Daisuke yelled. ¡°We need credits to go on quests! Instead, we¡¯ll be stuck doing menial labor for the entire month, missing out on all the XP credits from the quests we could have been doing.¡±


    ¡°They charge you credits for quests?¡± Maxi said, incredulous. During her brief time at her computer, she didn¡¯t see a credit cost on any of her available quests.


    ¡°You think Farhad¡¯s bullets are free? Or Patti¡¯s healing supplies?¡±


    ¡°Gotta have money to make money,¡± Flav said. ¡°Anything above menial labor and subsistence level living costs credits here.¡±


    ¡°The sooner you get that through your thick head, the better off you¡¯ll be,¡± Daisuke added. ¡°You¡¯re gonna owe another 50 credits for taking a second shower, which you should do because you are stinking up the place. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have debt to work off.¡±


    Daisuke sat down at his computer and put on headphones. Patti and Flav wordlessly returned to their computers. Farhad retrieved a fresh pair of clothes from his cubicle and summoned the bathroom from the door. Yancy was the only one who lingered.


    ¡°It¡¯s as much a game of resources as it is heroics,¡± Yancy said. ¡°You know how superheroes trash half of New York while fighting the super villain? They get to walk away and eat shawarma while someone else cleans up. Here, they get the bill from that someone else.¡±


    Yancy continued. ¡°We all have our maintenance costs. Flav has his armor. Daisuke pays money to keep his swords razor sharp, and repair the armor he wears under his clothes. Then, if you want to live in more than this office and a sleeping capsule, that costs money, too. The point is that most players spend what they make and don¡¯t keep much on the side. We can¡¯t afford a hefty bill, and going on quests with broken equipment is likely to leave you more in debt if Janitorial has to drag your body back here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sounds like it would be better for everyone if I just went to a new Office Pool.¡±


    ¡°You can only get into a new Office Pool by invitation.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get into a new Office Pool when you go up in Tier?¡±


    ¡°No. Take Farhad, he is Tier 9.6, that¡¯s why we are Lus3rs. He has the naming permissions, the overriding vote, etc. The only reason he is here is because the last time a boss raid failed, his whole Pool got dropped to the bottom tiers when the 9-12 were let go. Then, once you''re on the bottom Tiers, pretty much anyone could be on the chopping block. It doesn¡¯t matter your Tier; it matters your performance for the month. If he doesn¡¯t perform for the month better than at least one of us, it¡¯s lights out. That¡¯s why none of his original teammates are here. One bad month, and you are gone.¡±


    ¡°What if I get sick?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get sick. But since all of us are stuck with menial labor until we have positive credits, you can do us a favor by questing every day. But fair warning, don¡¯t die more than once a day. You get one free respawn each day. After that¨C¡±


    ¡°They charge you,¡± Maxi said, with a resigned sigh. Then, after a moment''s thought, she added, ¡°Yancy, ever thought of leaving this place? Buying a day off and never coming back?¡±


    ¡°My mom needs dialysis treatments. Have you ever tried to pay for dialysis treatments without insurance?¡±


    Truth be told, Maxi had never even thought about insurance. She was on her mother¡¯s plan, and just used the doctor when she needed it. Not that she needed to go all that much. A couple of times when she was sick as a kid, and when she broke her ankle in high school during volleyball. Her mom paid for everything, and Maxi didn¡¯t know what it cost.


    However, from Yancy¡¯s expression, she deduced that it wasn¡¯t cheap, and from the shit wages she¡¯d gotten at pretty much any job she¡¯d ever had, she wouldn¡¯t even be able to afford an apartment of her own, much less any medical bills. She mumbled a sympathetic response, and Yancy wandered back to his desk.


    Since the smell was getting bad, she decided to hit the shower next. She was going to have to wear her black pants because the +1 Khakis were covered in filth from the raid boss. She couldn¡¯t afford to buy any new ones, and she assumed that, like everything else, laundry service would cost her money.


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    She pulled out her phone to consult with Terry, and saw the aftermath messages. Raid complete. Boss 11351543112/12000000000. Lus3rs contributed 100 damage. Time to next raid 22:49:53 with the seconds ticking down.


    Player Contribution:


    Office Maxi: 100 damage


    Daisuke Hax: 0 damage


    Farhad Lus3r: 0 damage


    XxPattixX: 0 damage


    Lot¡¯O¡¯Flav: 0 damage


    Yancy: 0 damage


    And then there were the battle logs for her individual performance. Rolling Critical Hit: 100 damage. Bonus XP. +3 Levels. +4 Luck. +1 Ambition. +6 Stats. +12 Sp. Awards: 300 credits. Legendary Item Unlocked: +2 Shirt of Growth. Janitorial Clean Up Fee: 3000 per player. Players Farhad Lus3r and Office Maxi charged to the Office Pool.


    Her credit balance was in the negative, but not quite as bad as she had expected because of the rewards. She checked the market for a stapler of binding, and saw that it could get her 500 of the way back to positive, but decided that she¡¯d see how questing would do for her first.


    She saw that her +2 Shirt of Protection had gone from common status to legendary. She was about to ask her office mates about it, but saw they were all laser focused on their computers. She decided to ask Terry via chat instead. ¡°Legendary Item Unlocked. What¡¯s that mean?¡±


    In what Maxi interpreted to be chipper text, he replied, ¡°Each item has a .00000000001% chance of being legendary, with that percentage being influenced by Luck. While no XP awards are given for discovering a legendary item, there is a bonus based on level added to the Luck stat.¡±


    She found it peculiar that she beat the odds on just her second mission, but then again, someone always had to win the lottery eventually, no matter how minuscule the odds. But, when she combined that with the fact that she had scored a critical hit on the boss with a weapon that should have only done 1 damage, the odds of two such events happening in a row just didn¡¯t happen in real life.


    She could buy a lottery ticket every day for the rest of her life and never win, but somehow, she had done the equivalent of buying a lottery ticket from two different countries and won them both on the same day. That kinda luck just didn¡¯t happen, and it was also unfortunate that the bonus to the luck stat was based on player level, because 4 points seemed a crappy reward.


    She typed to Terry, ¡°What¡¯s a rolling critical hit?¡±


    Terry responded, ¡°Each time a critical hit is rolled, there is a chance to roll another one. A rolling critical hit means that subsequent critical hits were rolled in a row to score bonus criticals. While there is no upward limit for boss battles, PVP and PVE rolling criticals are limited by the Luck stat.¡±


    The chances of what had occurred for Maxi now seemed comparable to purchasing hundreds of winning lottery tickets on the same day. She attempted to explain her thought process to Terry, and while most AI would start to wig out when the conversation got past frequently asked questions, Terry seemed to pick up on her poor attempt to explain it.


    ¡°Luck events cluster around each other. Rolling well during a Luck check can add bonuses to subsequent Luck rolls during each encounter. Thus, when you scored the critical hit and your shirt encountered the noxious gas, rolling well on one influenced the other. Items only get one Luck check in their existence for legendary status, and that happens after the first time they are used. Since your shirt roll happened after you scored the rolling critical hit, the lucky roll increased your chances of discovering a legendary item, which happened after the raid was over during the aftermath step. Phases of the encounters are all outlined into your Employee Handbook. Would you like me to¨C¡±


    ¡°Naw,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I get it.¡± She never was much of an instruction manual reader. She always did her best through trial and error, and experimentation. She¡¯d only dive into a Reddit when she had a question that experimentation couldn¡¯t answer.


    Terry sent her another chat. ¡°Luck can go both ways. A poor Luck roll can decrease subsequent luck rolls for the encounter, including discovering cursed items. Thus, the adage, ''when it rains, it pours''.¡±


    She closed the chat window with Terry and pulled up her +2 Shirt of Growth. While it was cool to get lucky, she once again felt shafted by being lower level. A legendary shirt seemed useless in the long run, but maybe it would solve her credit problem unless it offered her some obvious advantage for any of her immediate quests. While an overpowered low-level armor might be good for her introductory quests, the shirt wouldn¡¯t even compare to a higher-level common item. She hoped for the best and clicked on the ¡°more information¡± button.


    The ¡°of growth¡± subtype adapts to player needs. She huffed and again pulled up her chat window with Terry, then tapped, ¡°What¡¯s the deal with my shirt?¡±


    ¡°It is a legendary item. The most powerful that can be acquired by any employee.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need a little more than that. What does it mean to ''adapt to player needs''?¡±


    ¡°As you progress, it will progress with you, unlocking greater augmentations.¡±


    ¡°Like?¡±


    ¡°Each employee has their own unique journey, and it¡¯s hard to predict exactly what augment will manifest. I can provide you with a list if you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    The screen rapidly scrolled through what seemed like an endless amount of text that had names like Poison Cantrip, Poison Chop, Poison Clamp, Poison Clear, Poison Control, Poison Crab, Poison Crate, and Poison Ultimate 80s Hair Metal Collection. By each entry, there was a minuscule percentage that was modified by her Luck ability.


    The list was too large for her to take in all at once, but she figured it would be useful not so much for what her shirt could do, but perhaps for figuring out what potential item combination would serve her the best. She imagined that if she ever found a Poison Crab broadsword (whatever that meant), she would be able to search the list for something to pair with it.


    The list was lacking in ¡°more information¡± buttons, but it was at least a good place to start. Being that Maxi was more of a search-the-internet-when-you-need-answers than a read-stuff-for-knowledge kinda gal, a massive list was a good place to look for search terms at the very least. She copied and pasted the chat transcript and put it in her cloud storage under the name ¡°ITEM TAGS¡±.


    She clicked back to the item and looked at it again. Other than the mythic orange glow of the name, and the word ¡°common¡± switching to ¡°legendary¡±, nothing else seemed to have changed. She resisted the urge to sell it for a quick fix to her credit problem, and decided to pull up the quest list.


    Most of them were low level fetch quests like ¡°Bring a staple remover to Todd in Accounting¡±, or ¡°Photocopy a few briefs for Jake in Legal¡±. She accepted one of the quests without a time limit, thinking it would be some easy credits if she could complete it during a more profitable quest. As an avid gamer, she knew that sometimes it was worth quest stacking if she happened to be going in the same direction anyway. Before she could read the details of ¡°Fetch Quest for Bobby¡±, she noticed one labeled ONGOING QUEST ¡°Printer of Never Jamming Part I¡± that was categorized as an epic story quest granting rewards based on performance and player level. More importantly, it was the only epic quest that didn¡¯t have a player level prerequisite.


    ¡°Terry,¡± Maxi typed. ¡°What¡¯s an ongoing quest?¡±


    Terry responded, ¡°Ongoing quests have multiple parts, and once you accept, additional parts can be assigned to you at any time once you meet certain criteria.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°The completion of the previous part for one, but sometimes certain events, items, or other trigger conditions are required to move to the next part.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so I gotta complete I to get II, then I just accept the next one?¡±


    ¡°The subsequent quest will appear in your quest log when the trigger conditions are met. By accepting the first one, it¡¯s implied that you accept all subsequent parts.¡±


    The only other quests where she met the requirements were rated as common and paid anywhere from 10 to 50 credits, which wouldn¡¯t be much better than menial labor for knocking out her debt.


    ¡°An epic quest it is,¡± she muttered to herself.


    If it turned out to be too deadly or difficult, she¡¯d bail, dump the shirt for a quick sale on the market, and hopefully even have enough credits for an hour of time off. Maxi figured that once she was out of the building, she¡¯d be free.


    But first, she needed to shower.

 7 – Loss Ratio

    Bathed and 70 credits more in debt (20 went to a quick laundry service that pressed and cleaned her clothes by the time she was out of the shower), she was ready to quest. Luckily, anything considered part of the basic category (the step below common), could be purchased on credit. Though she wondered how many people would forgo the basics when their life was on the line.


    She pulled up her character sheet and considered dumping all her points into Luck. Normally, she wouldn¡¯t waste the points on something that didn¡¯t have an immediate benefit to her battle prowess. Even though some of the games she played encouraged other stats by adding social and puzzle components to the game, it didn¡¯t matter how good she was at smoothing over a situation or hacking a computer if she couldn¡¯t survive combat.


    However, something was calling her towards Luck. She had found an uncommon item on her first mission, and a legendary one on her second. Items could easily make up the difference on stats, in addition to the fact that Luck played a role in natural ability growth. According to Terry, she had gotten a point in Ambition and Creativity from her last two quests, because of a lucky roll when the rewards were being doled out.


    Raising one''s ability points could be done by either leveling up or training. Packing herself into a gym and lifting weights could raise that Ambition score, but so could swinging a sword over and over during quests. There was a benefit to be gained either way, whether the game was measuring her physical improvements with a numerical value or if swinging a sword enough times made her not totally suck at it. Since training cost money, and questing would give her credits, she¡¯d quest, even if it was the riskier option.


    If a person used a stat during a quest, they got a chance to gain a point organically, and that growth was based on Luck. She was already two stat points ahead of people her equivalency in level. If she continued gaining stat points like she had in the last two missions, she would far surpass other equivalent level players quickly. However, there was also the risk that she was betting her entire strategy, not to mention her life, on winning the lottery again and again.


    There was also part of her that was wondering if organic stat growth was just the game measuring a person¡¯s natural abilities, so a person who was naturally strong would get more Ambition points during a quest because the game was just error-correcting for who they were. Conversely, a person might lose Ambition for failing rolls as the game''s way of saying ¡°Whoops, this person isn¡¯t very strong at all, and I¡¯m going to bump it down a few points.¡±


    Whether or not the stats were just a numerical assessment of her natural ability, or they were something that could legitimately alter her reality, she wasn¡¯t sure. However, in game terms, having a high Luck might mean all her other stats could raise, too, and if past outcome of what Luck could do for her was any indicator of future performance, then Luck was the way to go.


    Points for the simulated reality, Maxi thought to herself, dumped all her stat points in Luck, and hovered over the ¡°submit¡± button.


    ¡°You¡¯re wasting your points, you know,¡± Farhad said. He was running a towel through his hair, attempting to dry it.


    Maxi minimized the window and swiveled in her chair to face Farhad. He was back in a clean yellow shirt and khakis. However, the clothes didn¡¯t do much to hide his form. He was fit and his muscles were toned. With the five o¡¯clock shadow and the long brown hair, he was definitely a looker. Had this been a coffee shop, she would have considered asking him for his digits.


    However, for all she knew he was the creepo mastermind of this place hiding in plain sight, only to reveal himself after she sawed her own leg off. She elected for a more neutral response, ¡°Why would you say that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple math,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Luck only modifies rolls with low probability of success. Whereas Ambition will get you extra damage each hit and Dedication gets you more life. Bonuses you¡¯ll use every time.¡±


    ¡°If I play a tank,¡± Maxi responded. ¡°I usually prefer more versatile characters.¡±


    ¡°Still, even psychic and cyber classes need Creativity and Adaptability to deal damage. You are only as good as your ability to survive combat. Speaking of class, have you decided yours yet? I can help you distribute points accordingly.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Maxi answered. ¡°I¡¯m still deciding.¡±


    Maxi had placed her phone on a ledge in the shower where she could talk with Terry while she washed the gunk out. She had learned a lot of the basics of her ¡°employment¡±, such as choosing a class before reaching character level 20. The first time a person picked a class, it was free, so long as they met the prerequisites in stats and, in some cases, passed the trial. After the first class, there was a credit cost, which told Maxi that people didn¡¯t change or dual class very often.


    Each class had about a paragraph description and the one that had intrigued her the most was the Paranormal Investigator. If she could read between the lines, she guessed that it was a striker that excelled in both mind and melee attacks. The recommended stats were Ambition and Creativity, her two best stats outside of luck. There was an asterisk next to the class indicating she hadn¡¯t completed all the requirements yet, but that was true of most of them.


    Hacker seemed like her second choice, as they excelled in cyber warfare and social engineering skills, but the recommended stats were Adaptability and Emotional Intelligence. While the idea of sitting in her office joining combat remotely and convincing other people to do her dirty work sounded fun, her Adaptability was shit because of her unwitting level loss, and Emotional Intelligence seemed about as useful as Luck in the sense that while doing well in social situations might be well and good, if she had to fight, it wouldn¡¯t do anything for her.


    At least with the Paranormal Investigator class, she¡¯d have stats that would help her in combat and a way to survive the trap rooms if her interpretation about what Creativity would do for her was accurate. In addition, by playing a striker, having a high Luck would help her score more crits. There was nothing worse than wasting a crit on a weak attack.


    ¡°You should probably even them out until you decide,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Most of the prerequisite skills require a 20 in one stat or another, so you¡¯ll need to even them out eventually. Except for Luck. Very few skills need that stat. Besides at 15 Luck, you are far luckier than most players.¡±


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    He wandered back to his cubicle, and left Maxi to level her character. She could have gotten a 15 in both Ambition or Creativity, which would push her to the bonus threshold in that she¡¯d get an extra +1 each five levels to her ability checks, damage, etc.  But there was something calling to her about Luck. Perhaps she was being foolish ¨C gambling was a no-win scenario.


    Winning a lot of money in a casino didn¡¯t guarantee future earnings. Roulette, craps, slot machines, even some of the more skill-oriented games like Blackjack, were losing situations if a person stayed long enough. Maxi¡¯s father, who had spent entirely too much time in casinos, was proof of that. He had lost everything ¨C Maxi¡¯s college fund, his retirement account, even his wedding ring from gambling.


    The sad part was that he¡¯d even known what he was doing. She remembered when he had stopped at a slot machine during a layover at the Vegas airport. He won a couple hundred dollars, and told Maxi as he printed the cashout ticket, ¡°You got to stop when you are ahead. Walk away or the house always wins.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t sure if she was like her father, offering to sell his watch to other players because he had a few early wins before the house took everything. However, there was no denying that dumping everything in Luck could yield rewards even if it was merely unlocking some advantages on her legendary yellow shirt.


    Against all gaming wisdom, she was about to put all six points in Luck. At the last moment, she put one in Ambition and the rest in Luck, bringing her Luck to 20 and Ambition to 12. If her luck ran out on the next mission, then she¡¯d stick with the traditional path, and boost the Paranormal Investigator stats.


    She went to skills next and considered purchasing melee weapons for 10 points. A negative five penalty to combat meant that she was violating the cardinal rule ¨C being unable to survive combat made everything else useless. However, the same logic of organic stat growth applied. If she learned melee combat on a quest, it would be like having another 10 extra skill points.


    She looked through the skills of a lower point cost and settled on Customer Service and Investigate. Both were only 4 points to purchase. She figured Investigate was a trap room necessity, and while social skills were a low priority for her, she remembered the recommendation about NPCs being assholes. If she was going to quest her way out of this, it would help with NPC interactions. She boosted her current skills with the remaining points and pulled up her character sheet.


    She noticed that new things had appeared since she last looked at it. Certain aspects of the game would only unlock and appear on her character sheet when she acquired the item or the skill to have it. For example, she hadn¡¯t seen an Armor Rating until she equipped her first set of armor.


    Name: Office Maxi   Gender: Female   Ethnicity: Other


    Office Pool: Lus3rs (Cumulative Tier 11.5)


    Level: 3


    Tier: 11.3


    Stats:


    Ambition: 12


    Adaptability: 8


    Dedication: 10


    Speed: 10


    Creativity: 13


    Emotional Intelligence: 10


    Luck: 20


    Life: 16/16


    AR: 5


    Att: +3 Longsword (5-7 damage)


    Skills:


    Customer Service +2


    Investigate +2


    Listen +4


    Sneak +6


    Credits: -768


    Satisfied, she pulled up the Printer of Never Jamming Part I quest and glanced over the details one last time. Time Limit: 3 hours. Reward: Credits and items based on level. Failure: Termination of employment. Ally Limit: 1. After looking through ¡°more information¡± about the Ally Limit, she could invite members of her Office Pool up to the limit, but they would share the experience and rewards. Since her true goal was to get the hell out of this place, she didn¡¯t mind sharing.


    ¡°Farhad,¡± she called over the cubicle walls, ¡°Want to do an ongoing quest with me?¡± He gave her a thumbs up. He was the obvious choice currently. Yancy didn¡¯t seem like the fighting type and was probably trying to work his way out of the bottom Tiers, and she didn¡¯t know if the others liked her yet. At least Farhad had spoken with her in words that weren¡¯t hostile or condescending. He also had a gun.


    Considering this was her best option for getting out of debt, she shrugged, clicked the button, and selected Farhad as her ally. An email appeared in her company inbox with an urgent request to proceed to Jambles Marketing, Twelfth Floor, where a meeting was being disrupted by printer issues. Farhad must have received the same message because he opened a locker he must have bought for his cubicle and pulled out a gleaming sword. He attached it to his belt, along with some other items.


    She grabbed her equipment, and they went to the door that opened to the elevator. ¡°No gun?¡± she questioned as they went inside. She had picked him hoping she could get some ranged support.


    ¡°Bullets are expensive and credits are in short supply right now,¡± he said. At least he wasn¡¯t blaming the incident on her like the others. He had followed her. She pressed the button and said Jambles Marketing, Twelfth Floor. The door closed and they were on their way. While they traveled, she noticed that Farhad''s sword was a cutlass.


    ¡°Pirate sword?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I liked the Pirates of the Caribbean movies growing up,¡± he said.


    ¡°No beads in your hair?¡±


    ¡°I did go as Johnny Depp for Halloween once.¡±


    She tried to imagine him with dreads, beads, and coins woven into his hair and giggled.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked, cracking a smile.


    ¡°Oh, it''s just you¡¯re so clean cut. I mean, you must spend a lot of time just on your hair,¡± she noted. His hair did have a luxurious shine that should have been on shampoo commercials.


    ¡°You just have to take care of long hair,¡± he said, as the door dinged and opened. They drew their swords immediately as the office before them was a mess. There were papers and office equipment strewn on the floor. Cubicles were knocked over and some were shredded as if a beast had torn through the place. Most of the lights were out except a few fluorescents that flickered in and out with a buzzing noise.


    They crept out of the elevator and didn¡¯t see any evidence of people. There weren¡¯t bodies or anything, just blood spatters, but unlike the tutorial room that looked like any empty call center, this place looked like people worked here. There were family photos spattered with blood, a half-eaten noodle dish spread on the floor. There were trinkets, decorations, and all the stuff one would expect from an office.


    They saw a room in the distance with light showing under the door and decided to scope it out. Luckily, Farhad was familiar with hand signals like they use in the Army. Her father was a vet, and had taught her the hand signals when she was a young girl before he gambled his life away.


    Maxi knew that she liked Farhad for a reason. Whether it was military experience or he was an Army brat like herself, she felt a connection to him. She just hoped that he wasn¡¯t the mastermind of the whole thing, waiting for her to saw her own leg off.


    They crept forward, avoiding debris that would make too much noise. She seriously doubted whatever made this mess was gone. If it was a beast, then it might be sleeping it off after chowing down on NPCs. They passed a cubicle that had a ¡°Congratulations Gladys on 30 Years!¡± with a picture of a woman her mom¡¯s age in the center. Judging from the blood covering the display, Maxi doubted Gladys would get any more years, or even retirement, at this point.


    They approached the room with the light on and heard what sounded like a printer making copies in an endless loop with the familiar beep of an error code. She glanced at Farhad, and he nodded. They readied their weapons, and she opened the door.


    Inside was a creature munching on the corpse of a middle manager, but it wasn¡¯t quite what she expected.

 8 – Printer Jam

    The copy machine snarled and showed its fierce teeth, stained yellow and red. The bulky device was split horizontally in the middle where a gaping maw dripped with the blood of its victim. It had a single bloodshot eye where the touch screen should be and four crab-like pointed feet. It waddled and leapt toward them with surprising agility. Maxi reacted by slamming the door. It crashed into the obstruction with a loud thud.


    They both ran.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me this was a boss level!¡± Farhad yelled.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask,¡± Maxi chided. Truth be told, she hadn''t been aware that it was a boss level either. The listing had been a different color than the others, but she assumed that it was because it was an ongoing quest.


    The creature burst from the room, and it pursued with surprising speed for its bulky size. They made it to the elevator, and Maxi hit the button. Farhad dragged her away, saying, ¡°There¡¯s no time.¡±


    They ran, and sure enough, the killer copy machine made it to the elevator before it was opening. While the creature was fast for its bulk and size. It wasn¡¯t fast enough, and they were able to gain some distance.


    When it was evident that the thing was losing ground on them, the creature stopped, opened its paper drawer, and pumped out four sheets of paper. They folded into bats with sharp teeth, and the creatures fluttered towards them.


    They saw a conference room where scared people were huddled. She turned towards it, and Farhad followed her. She got to the door, and it was locked. She pounded on the sturdy wood, and a bat fluttered towards her. It was too quick and bit her on the shoulder. Blood stained her yellow shirt. She chopped at the paper bat creature, and it spiraled backward.


    It recovered and turned back to engage her just as another came after her, each landing a blow and tearing into her flesh. Farhad was occupied with the other two and the boss creature was quickly gaining the ground it had lost during their run.


    She glanced toward the scared people in the office room while she parried and dodged attacks from the bats. She thought of the warning, ¡°NPCs can be assholes, but you won¡¯t survive without them.¡±


    While fighting off the bats, she pleaded with the people inside, ¡°Please, open the door. We are here to help.¡±


    Just as she finished her sentence, she cut in half the bat that she wounded before, and it fluttered to the ground as useless paper. The other one landed a bite in her side and blood oozed from the fourth wound.


    A mousy woman in an A-line dress came to the door and unlocked it. It was just in time, as the killer copier trundled its way toward them. They retreated into the conference room, and the three remaining bats fluttered in with them. Farhad had wounded his and had a few more scrapes than Maxi. She slammed the door shut as Farhad stumbled through.


    The bats had scattered to terrorize the people in the room. Maxi stabbed one that was going for the girl who let them inside, and it fluttered to the ground. Farhad hacked repeatedly at one gnawing on a man in a suit until it became a shred of useless regular paper.


    Together they dispatched the last one, but not before it murdered Gladys from the cubicle photo. By the time the battle was over, most of the people were in shock or weeping.


    She braced herself for the beast machine to burst through the door. To Maxi¡¯s surprise, the copier didn¡¯t attempt to bash its way inside or shatter the glass windows to the conference room. Instead, it paced like a caged tiger, looking for a weakness in the barrier.


    She pulled out her phone to see that she had only 3 life points left. Those things packed quite a wallop for paper. Her shirt was battered. She didn¡¯t know how much legendary items cost to repair, but she imagined it would be pretty cost prohibitive, considering her financial situation.


    From the number of bites on Farhad, she could see that he had a significantly larger life total then hers. She would have been dead twice over, judging by the wounds he had on his body. He pulled a package of gummy bears from his utility belt, downed two for himself and tossed her one.


    She looked at the item for a moment, but then saw his wounds close. She ate the gelatin bear, and a message appeared on her phone that said, Healed 7 Life Points. The damage on her shoulder healed entirely, leaving teeth holes in her shirt. The one on her side looked slightly better. His wounds almost entirely disappeared.


    ¡°Any office snacks have a chance for magic properties. It¡¯s best to loot snack drawers when you can. You¡¯ll find a temporary effect at best, and save yourself vending machine credits at worst,¡± Farhad answered the question she didn¡¯t ask.


    She glanced at the people in the room. They were scared and murmuring to each other. Someone had put a tablecloth over Gladys. From the look of the meeting room, it looked like the printer had disrupted the 30-year party for Gladys. There was a potluck in the corner and more decorations celebrating her 30 years with the company.


    ¡°I guess there won¡¯t be thirty-one,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Have some respect for the dead,¡± Farhad scolded.


    ¡°What? They¡¯re NPCs,¡± Maxi said.


    Before the conversation could continue any further, the killer machine bounced up to the large window of the room, roared loud enough to shake the windows, then bounded away.


    ¡°I think these are the people we are supposed to save,¡± Farhad commented.


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t any mention of saving people,¡± Maxi responded. ¡°The email said that we were needed for a meeting being disrupted by printer issues. I think we found our printer issues.¡± She gestured to the direction the creature had gone.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°It¡¯s too high of a level for the two of us. We were nearly wasted by its minions. Maybe if we had the whole Office Pool.¡±


    ¡°It said I could only bring one ally.¡±


    ¡°Then we were never meant to kill it yet.¡±


    ¡°So why even put it in the first battle? I¡¯ve been in a dungeon crawl before. You defeat the low-level minions to get the XP to beat the boss. How¡¯s a character supposed to advance if they are wasted by the boss in the first battle?¡±


    ¡°This is not your typical dungeon crawl. There¡¯s more than one way to complete a quest. Trust me, if we get these people to safety, we¡¯ll get some serious rewards,¡± Farhad said.


    Maxi lowered her voice conspiratorially, ¡°Or we can use them as cannon fodder, and rush the thing. Maybe giving us enough time to kill it.¡±


    ¡°Want to bet your life on that?¡±


    Truth be told, she wanted this whole thing to end. It was one thing playing video games from the safety of her own room. But the bites from the bat creatures really did hurt, and there was the whole dead thing. The more she thought of it, the more it pissed her off. Companies couldn¡¯t just kill off their employees, no matter what it said in the contract. This place needed to go down. It needed to be exposed.


    Even if there was some corrupt government official keeping it in business, she wanted everyone to know. They couldn¡¯t keep operating if no employees walked through the door. If people wanted to sign up for this shit, fine, she wouldn¡¯t stop them. But she wasn¡¯t going to let anyone else walk into the place unwittingly.


    For the first time since graduating college, she felt like she wanted to do something with her life, even if it was just taking this company down. She supposed offing a bunch of NPCs would make her just as bad as them, even though she was convinced that she was in some Matrix-like simulation, and the death of everyone in the room wouldn¡¯t matter because they were just a collection of ones and zeros.


    NPCs in games were always stuck in the same nightmare. They would be imprisoned, have their villages burnt, suffer all manner of horrors for the sake of the player swooping in to save them. If an NPC were a conscious being, these would be in a hell loop, forced to have a meeting disrupted by a murderous printer over and over again.


    The only way to really save them was to end the simulation and take down the company. She had to get out.


    ¡°Alright, Lus3r, how do we do this? What¡¯s up with that name anyway?¡±


    ¡°It was a club,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Back in Albuquerque, we were the 505 Lus3rs. We met at the mall to talk computers. Road tripped to Defcon each year. Then we tried to turn our hacking skills to cash. You know the rest of the story.¡±


    ¡°That was your Office Pool¡­ the one that¡­¡± She realized a little too late that she was ripping open fresh wounds.


    ¡°Yeah, we thought we were lucky ¨C letting us go through the tutorial as a team, put in the same Office Pool¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± was all Maxi could say.


    A silence hung over them for a moment, and then Farhad seemed to bury it back and said, ¡°There¡¯s a fire escape. I saw one while we were running. It¡¯s in the opposite direction from where we ran.¡±


    ¡°Great, so there¡¯s a hell printer between us and the way out. Maybe we should revisit my cannon fodder idea.¡±


    ¡°The solution has to be in this room. The whole floor has been cleared but here,¡± Farhad said, gesticulating wildly. ¡°You know that thing could break through the door or the window with no trouble, but it stops here.¡±


    ¡°I dunno, maybe there is a cord? I mean, it¡¯s a copy machine. It has to be plugged in, right?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see a cord.¡±


    He was right, the thing was free, as if it came from the savannah where killer copy machines prey on¡­ whatever it is they prey on. If it wasn¡¯t a cord, then why had it stopped? The creature had obviously rampaged through the floor, clearing, or killing everyone except those in the room. So why leave a room full of people?


    Maxi glanced around. The people looked glum, ready to give in. Their office potluck disrupted¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s in the food,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Whatever is keeping it back is in the food.¡±


    Farhad glanced at the spread of hot dishes and casseroles, soda, chips and salsa, and all the usual potluck offerings, and spoke. ¡°How could the thing smell it from out there, if it could even smell?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the only thing that is different about in here over out there,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Office chairs, plenty of them out there, tables, same thing. That TV hanging on the wall, conferencing equipment, all if it is out there. Except the food. Sure, maybe someone has a box of Mike and Ikes stashed in their desk, but here is the only place with fresh food.¡±


    ¡°But how does it work? It¡¯s just food!¡±


    ¡°Your gummy bears healed me. Doesn¡¯t everything in this place have a potential to be a magic item, or whatever it is that makes the things work? I picked up a magic stapler and was just grabbing the first thing I could to avoid getting bit by a zombie. So couldn¡¯t the food here have some sort of monster warding or similar effect?¡±


    ¡°Daisuke did come across a Toaster Waffle of Giant Strength the other day,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°There you go, so how do we know that those aren¡¯t Barbecue Mini Wieners of Monster Warding?¡± she said, pointing to a Crockpot that seemed to end up at every potluck. Considering the trash was full of paper plates, the potluck was probably winding down when the monster attack happened. Maxi turned to the NPCs and asked, ¡°What¡¯s a dish that everyone here has eaten?¡±


    They all looked at each other in confusion.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Maxi said. ¡°There¡¯s always something. What is something that everyone ate?¡±


    ¡°Gladys always makes the best Muddy Buddies,¡± a slender man with red glasses said. People nodded in agreement, and said things like ¡°I agree,¡± ¡°I always like Gladys¡¯s Buddies,¡± and ¡°I had a couple handfuls of that, too.¡± Maxi narrowed her eyes on a bowl of Chex covered in a pillowy powdered sugar that made them look like little clouds of peanut butter and cereal.


    She reached inside and plucked the morsel and popped it into her mouth. After she chewed and swallowed, her phone also immediately showed New Status Effect: +3 Grutomaton Deterrence, with a timer ticking down from an hour. She ate another and the timer just reset at the hour mark. Okay, no stacking effects, she thought. When she clicked on the ¡°more information¡± screen, she saw that Grutomatons were beasts that were a mixture of machine and creature, which explained the beastly printer. It also said that Deterrence effects prevented the creature type from getting within a twenty-foot radius after a failed contested Creativity check.


    Unlike skill checks that were at minus ten for those without the skill, contested stat checks were just one stat versus another, and Maxi guessed that a drooling copy machine didn¡¯t have much in the way of creativity. She passed the bowl around with instructions for everyone to eat one.


    Once they were all warded, she put three into a napkin and stuffed it into her pocket. While she didn¡¯t anticipate more than an hour for them to get to the fire escape, they were useful. She thanked the posthumous Gladys and told everyone to get ready to move out.


    Maxi took the remaining Muddy Buddies and wrapped them in a towel, then affixed them to her utility belt where she could use the strap to cinch the towel closed. +3 Muddy Buddies of Grutomaton Deterrence (3) added to your inventory. +3 Makeshift Muddy Buddy Bomb of Grutomaton Deterrence added to your inventory. The Makeshift category was a blanket designation of all improvised weaponry. The munitions effects were listed as unknown, but she was pretty sure what it would do if she had to smash it into the creature¡¯s face.


    Once they were ready, she instructed the group to be silent and signaled everyone to move out. Both she and Farhad drew their swords and led the way out of the conference room. They heard the grunt of a beast in the distance.

 9 – Job Abandonment

    The group moved through the ravaged office. The fluorescents hummed and flickered, giving only dim light. Farhad and Maxi were in front, with the others close behind. There was a loud crunch as one of the NPCs stepped on an upended plastic mail tray. Maxi glared at the man, and he sheepishly stepped back in line.


    They made their way towards the fire escape, and they were about halfway to their goal when there was a roar, and the killer copy machine leapt in front of the group. It snarled and drooled but was unable to come closer to them because of their magical protection.


    It hissed and paced, blocking the path towards the staircase. Maxi marched forward, hoping to drive it off with her ward, but that only seemed to upset it more and it let out a deep growl.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Farhad said. ¡°Deterrence only works so much. Each time you advance towards them, they get a roll to resist, with bonuses the more aggressive you are. After they resist, the effect is only good for penalties on its attack and damage rolls.¡±


    The beast roared and lunged forward stopping just short of the deterrence area of effect, and one of the NPCs stumbled backward and ran. As soon as he was twenty feet away from the group, another copier leapt out from behind a cubicle wall and latched onto the guy''s leg and dragged him screaming back into the cubicles.


    ¡°Dammit!¡± Maxi yelled. ¡°I told you all to eat a Muddy Buddy!¡±


    ¡°Ted is allergic to peanuts,¡± a woman said unhelpfully.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t leave the group,¡± she yelled, as the copier blocking their path shot out more of the paper bats. The people screamed as another group of bats flooded out from behind a cubicle wall where the guy had been dragged. Soon, it was chaos as the people all ran screaming for the exit.


    ¡°No!¡± Farhad yelled. ¡°Forcing an encounter will only¨C¡±


    It was too late. The killer machine blocking their path snarled and strained as the people ran towards it. Maxi could see its eye bulge and veins pop out on its body. Eventually something gave, and it pounced on the mousy woman who had let them inside the conference room.


    She screamed as it bit into her side. The bats scattered in every direction, each going for a target. Maxi supposed she¡¯d get her cannon fodder plan after all. She slashed at the bat in front of her and, surprisingly, cut right through it to another one and wounded the second one. Who said Luck was a useless stat?


    She raced towards the woman being mauled by the copier just as Farhad sliced the bat she had wounded in half. Two more of the NPCs were felled by the bats as the rest were going full speed towards the fire escape. Maxi ran up to the copier and thwacked it with her sword, but her weapon bounced harmless off its housing,


    The copier spit the woman out, and Farhad scooped her up. It jumped on Maxi and pinned her to the floor. Farhad was about to drop the NPC when Maxi shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    She unclipped her +3 Makeshift Muddy Buddy Bomb of Grutomaton Deterrence from her belt. Farhad, seeing what she was about to do, hauled his charge to the exit while fending off more of the bats.


    The creature bit down towards Maxi¡¯s face, but she put her arm up just in time to offer her limb for lunch instead. She cried out in pain as the teeth tore through her flesh. It opened its mouth for the next attack, and she said, ¡°Here¡¯s some mud for you, buddy.¡±


    She¡¯d have to work on her one-liners, if she was going to do this job. She shoved the improvised bomb into the thing''s mouth, and its eye dilated. It coughed, misting the area in a haze of powdered sugar and cereal. The creature howled, thrashed, twitched, and fell to the floor, dead. The last of the bats crumpled and fell as it died. The other one roared from right behind her, and Maxi jumped to her feet and ran down the hall where Farhad was waiting, helping the injured woman into the fire escape.


    Maxi was about to charge into the fire escape with the rest of the fleeing NPCs when Farhad stopped her.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she yelled. ¡°That thing is right behind me!¡±


    Farhad pointed to the hallway, and she noticed that the other creature was covered in the Muddy Buddy mist from the bomb. It thrashed and cried out in pain as it crumpled to the ground.


    ¡°We completed the quest!¡± Farhad said with excitement. ¡°Let¡¯s loot the place before Janitorial shows up and charges us for obstructing their clean up.¡±


    ¡°They can do that?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Wait, they aren¡¯t going to charge us for trashing the place. It was trashed before we got here.¡±


    ¡°Trust me when I say there is one person you don¡¯t want to mess with at any company, and that¡¯s your custodial staff. They can make your life a living hell. But no, they only charge us for unnecessary damage to company property,¡± Farhad said and started toward the mangled copier.


    Maxi turned her gaze to the fire escape.


    Farhad noticed that she wasn¡¯t on his heels and turned around. ¡°Come on.¡±


    Maxi said, ¡°You go. Keep all the loot.¡±


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go! You owe the company money!¡± he called after her.


    ¡°They can bill me,¡± Maxi said, and trotted down the stairs. It wasn¡¯t like she had a collar strapped to her neck that would make her head explode if she left the building. As far as she knew, the only thing keeping her inside was the magic elevator.


    Besides, the terms and conditions, which Terry explained to her while she was in the shower, said that quitting involved the forfeiture of her life. As far as she was concerned, she was free to walk out any time she liked if she paid for the time off at the market rates, which would only matter if she went back.


    As far as she was concerned, she¡¯d just never walk back inside. She could be an ¡°employee¡± her entire life, and they could send her to all the collection agencies they wanted. She just wouldn¡¯t pay them back. They wouldn¡¯t take her to court, their little screwed up scheme only worked because they probably avoided the justice system entirely.


    Of course, on the other hand, if she was in the Matrix, the door to the outside would just lead her back to the Office Pool, and she would have missed the chance to loot the boss. Time to test the theory. She pushed open the door on the ground level.


    To her surprise, outside was a regular alleyway between two large skyscrapers. From the shadows of the buildings from the street beyond, it was most likely late in the afternoon. Her phone beeped, and the push notification read: ¡°Unauthorized leave. 1.5x Market rates apply.¡± She didn¡¯t bother looking at her quest results.


    If that was the worst they could do to her, then she was home free. She ran out of the alley and was immediately discombobulated. She was pretty sure that she was in the financial district of the city when she entered the building. But she emerged where all the theaters were buzzing with the latest musicals.


    She had used the app to find her way, and it had walked her around in circles before she got to the company building. She figured that she must have been mistaken about its location, not that it mattered. She planned to use her yellow shirt to convince her mom she found a job, clear the dungeon for her game back home, and take a long shower.


    She looked down at her yellow shirt to see if there was a way to hide the bite marks with a jacket and found that it had mended itself. She still had the wounds from the bats and the beast in her arm and side, judging from the pain she was experiencing, but there was no blood or holes in the shirt. Luckily, all her damage was now concealed.


    The only thing making her stand out was the sword. She dumped it in the alleyway, and notification came up saying she dropped the item. She elected to keep the rest. Maybe she could sell it, but considering her only way home involved hopping the subway, she didn¡¯t want the sword to draw any more attention than not paying for her ride already would.


    She made her way home well after dark, and her mom had left her phone on the table. Tara often would forget to charge it overnight and complain the next day about having no power. She saw a text on the screen from a person named Lo that said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, but there is something¨C¡±


    The rest was cut off and the phone was locked. Figuring the text was a work thing, Maxi put it on the charger on the kitchen counter. She wandered to the back and checked on her mom. The woman was sound asleep in her bed with the white noise machine going that barely muffled the snoring.


    Maxi checked the time and realized that she only had a few hours to complete the dungeon or get kicked out of her Guild. She snuck into her mom¡¯s room, found a shoebox in the closet where her mom hid everything Tara didn¡¯t want Maxi to find, including a pistol her dad had used to teach her to shoot, and grabbed her power cables.


    ***


    Maxi¡¯s shield burst with holy energy and burned the demon god. She leapt in the air and aimed for its heart. The massive beast almost managed to unleash its apocalypse attack, but her blow landed true, pushing its life bar to just below zero. It crackled and toppled in a spectacular death scene that was some computer programmer flexing his muscles.


    A message came up on screen that read, ¡°Traldalor is safe, for now¡­¡± She didn¡¯t bother to read the rest. Maxi closed the Misfits of Carnt video game, and crawled into bed, still wearing her yellow shirt. She hadn¡¯t even bothered to take the half-eaten pasta she found in the fridge back to the kitchen.


    It was late, and she was exhausted. A message appeared on her screen. Teristaque03 wrote, ¡°Good, the World Tree raid tomorrow. C U then.¡± She didn¡¯t bother with a response. Maxi was about to plug in her phone and fall asleep when she decided to check the quest results from the company app. It was badass that she beat a boss several times her level.


    She scrolled through the hourly charges racking up on her account for her ¡°time off¡± and saw that the rate changed almost every hour. She shrugged. It didn¡¯t matter to her anymore as she wasn¡¯t going back. Maxi would rather keep all the violence in her life to video games.


    When she got to the quest results, it read: Quest Printer of Never Jamming Part I Complete. +6 Levels +1 Ambition, +2 Dedication, +3 Creativity, +4 Emotional Intelligence, +5 Luck. +12 Stats +24 SP. Learned new skill: Melee Weapons +1, Learned new skill: Rally the Troops +0, Learned new skill: MacGyver +2.  Awards: 1500 Credits. Acquired uncommon items: +3 Muddy Buddies of Grutomaton Deterrence (3).


    Her Luck strategy seemed to work. Despite her resolve never to go back, she dumped all her new stat points in Luck, leveled up her melee weapons skill to plus ten, which was the max for a low-level skill, and dumped the rest in Investigate and MacGyver after chuckling to herself. She also noticed that the Printer of Never Jamming Part II was now in her list with a message that said ¡°conditions have not yet been met for this quest¡±. But there wasn¡¯t anything to indicate what those conditions were.


    She switched over to her social media apps as she was drifting off to sleep to see if anything happened in the world when she saw a news article that made her jump upright in bed. There was a fire at a downtown building in the theater district. Listed among the dead was Gladys Hopkins-Wietz, whose picture matched the woman who had made the Muddy Buddies in her pocket. The guy with the peanut allergy who had run was also listed.


    She clicked on a video from the local news station, and a reporter stood next to the mousy woman who had let them into the conference room. She was about to be put in an ambulance. She said to the camera, ¡°A whole lot more of us would have died if not for this woman and this guy. They came in and saved us. Thank you, whoever you are. Thank you.¡±


    The EMTs put her into the ambulance, and the reporter turned back to the camera. ¡°There you have it, folks. Two heroes swooped in and helped the survivors evacuate to safety.¡±


    She clicked on the next video, and the next. None of them talked about killer printers or paper bats. Each survivor who was interviewed told the same story. They were trapped in the conference room during Gladys¡¯s 30-year workiversary when the fire started, and these two people in yellow shirts busted them out. While all their visible injuries seemed to be similar to the ones they had gotten from the creatures, they seemed to stick to the same fire story.


    Either Maxi was in the Matrix or she was part of something weirder than she could imagine.

 10 – Invisible Ships

    Maxi woke up the next day from pounding on her door. She cleared sleep from her head and heard her mom¡¯s muffled voice. ¡°Maxi. You have to go to work.¡±


    Maxi sat up in bed as her mom forced her way into the room.


    ¡°Oh, good, you¡¯re dressed,¡± Tara said.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Maxi yelled, looking down at her khakis and yellow shirt that she was still wearing.


    ¡°Come on, breakfast is almost ready. I¡¯ll drive you to work today, but don¡¯t expect a ride from me every day. You¡¯re going to have to take the train like everyone else.¡±


    Her mom shut the door. Maxi had to hand it to the woman. Somehow, even though her mom worked in the suburbs, she always cooked breakfast and dinner. Growing up, most of her friends ate cereal or Pop Tarts, while Maxi had some combination of eggs, sausage or bacon every day, with pancakes or French toast on the weekends.


    Maxi was about to come up with an excuse about why she couldn¡¯t go to work, but after the rabbit hole last night, there was a part of her that wanted to do it. Despite the really dying part that she¡¯d rather avoid, she was good at the game, and her one quest had brought the group to Tier 11.2.


    Sure, she was over 25,000 credits in debt because of a surge in time-off pricing since she left, but she figured she could work it off by the end of the month if she maxed her progression and quests. If she ever even suspected she¡¯d be eliminated, she¡¯d just find another fire exit.


    There was another part of her that screamed for caution, if all the people she thought were NPCs turned out to be real people, or maybe simulated people in an alternate reality version of her own life, which made less and less sense the more she thought of it. When would she have crossed the threshold from reality to simulated reality?


    The clunky holodeck room where she first met HR Terry would be the obvious choice. Scan her brain, convert her to 1s and 0s, and start the simulation off with a zombie. There were still flaws in the idea. Had the VR room been a scanner, how would the company simulate her room, her mom, and the video game she had played last night?


    They would have had to get every detail right, from her Misfits of Carnt Paladin character to the sticky spot on her keyboard that she really needed to clean up. The far easier thing to believe would be to pay a couple of employees who almost got killed to tell the same story.


    Of course, would that really be easy? The bigger the conspiracy, the far more likely someone would talk. The more people who knew a secret, the more likelihood of the truth getting out. If the US government was really warehousing alien bodies, someone would have come forward by now. By the same logic, there had to be something online somewhere about a company with murderous office equipment and fantastical tales.


    However, there was nothing. No mysterious gamified companies murdering their employees. In fact, the office fire seemed to have taken place at C Smith Tax Consultants and Retirement Management, LLC. By all accounts, nothing like the company where she worked. She even tried to find the app for the company in the app store but couldn¡¯t locate it. The link she had scanned the other day to download the app now just opened her company app, and the URL wasn¡¯t helpful either, as it was gamifiedwork.com.


    It was like the company had no web presence whatsoever, which was hard for her to believe. People always left reviews, and if they couldn¡¯t, they would complain about it on social media, but there was nothing. Not even a rating on one of the many review websites out there. It also didn¡¯t help that the company didn¡¯t seem to have a name.


    After spending some time in the bathroom getting ready for the day, she sat at the table to a steaming pile of scrambled eggs with bacon pieces and cheese mixed in. Her mom called it ¡°bacon eggs,¡± and it had been one of Maxi¡¯s favorites ever since she was a little girl.


    Her mom sat across from her with a coffee and a plate of the eggs.


    ¡°Mom,¡± Maxi inquired, ¡°how did you find out about my job?¡±


    Her mom pushed a carton of blueberries Maxi¡¯s way, and she loaded her plate with the fruit after buttering her toast.


    Tara frowned and said, ¡°A mother knows. Now, we can talk about it later, but you have to get to work.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Maxi said, and took a bite of eggs. Her mom was acting strange. Maxi figured the woman would be elated at her finding a job, but there was something going on, something on her mind.


    Her mom pulled out her phone and seemed to get lost in it.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Lo?¡± Maxi asked, remembering the strange text from last night.


    She sighed and said, ¡°He was telling the truth¡­¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Mom? I saw your phone last night¨C¡±


    ¡°Maxi,¡± Tara scolded. ¡°What did I say about snooping around?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not snooping. I saw the message while I was putting it on the charger.¡±


    ¡°You should stay out of things where you have no business. If you had just found a job like I asked.¡±


    ¡°So, this is my fault, now? I found a job!¡±


    ¡°Not the right one.¡±


    ¡°Mom¡­ never mind. I can¡¯t win with you,¡± Maxi said, stood up, and charged towards the door.


    ¡°Where are you going, dear? You didn¡¯t finish your breakfast!¡± Tara called after her.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to work,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Let me drive you, dear. I was going to tell you in the car.¡±


    Maxi slammed the door to their apartment. The last thing she needed was a lecture from her mom about temp work not being a real job.


    ***


    Hours later, Maxi was at the hospital where the victims of yesterday¡¯s ¡°fire¡± were transported. It wasn¡¯t hard to locate where the mousy woman had been taken when Maxi came in posing as her sister. Her name was Clara Tranwell, and she had been kept overnight for observation. Maxi was given a room number by the unwitting nurse, and after taking the stairs both in her apartment and here because of the silly notion that the elevator ride would open to her Office Pool, she found the room of a person who just yesterday she thought was an NPC.


    Maxi came into the room half expecting a reaction of either tears and thanks or fear that the woman¡¯s lie was discovered, but what she got befuddled her. Clara gave Maxi a blank stare.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Clara said, confused.


    ¡°Hi, um, Clara,¡± Maxi began.


    ¡°Are you a reporter?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m Maxi. The girl who, you know, saved you yesterday.¡±


    ¡°What kind of sick joke is this?¡±


    ¡°My friend and I came in with swords. We ate Muddy Buddies.¡±


    Clara pounded on her call button, ¡°Nurse! Nurse! Help me, Nurse!¡±


    Maxi backed away and when she saw two hospital staff coming towards her, she made a run for it and beat it down to the street level as fast as her legs could take her, bounding down the steps two and three at a time.


    ¡°Okay, think,¡± she muttered to herself. There seemed to be only two options. First, she was in a simulation, which meant there was nothing she could do but play the game. Two, the company had some serious control going on, in which case, she could do nothing but play the game. If they could brainwash an entire group of survivors into thinking they had survived a fire, then what was stopping them from finding her at the end of the month and blowing her brains out.


    There was nothing that Maxi could do but play by their rules. Even if Maxi went to the press, police, or anything of that nature, what was to stop the company from mind-wiping whoever she contacted, even if she could convince them of something that would sound like a delusion to most sane people. She cursed and glanced around.


    She pulled out the company app and pulled up HR Terry. ¡°Good morning!¡± he said. ¡°Are you enjoying your time off?¡±


    ¡°What did you do to my mom? Those people?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Your mom is listed as your emergency contact. Would you like to change your emergency contact?¡±


    She had forgotten she was talking to an AI and needed to be more specific. ¡°Why did those people I saved remember something different than what happened yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Trauma can affect memory. Combined with events outside of a person¡¯s normal experience, a person will seek to frame events in terms they can understand, much like the Invisible Ship phenomenon during the 1400s.¡±


    ¡°Invisible Ships?¡±


    ¡°There are claims that the indigenous inhabitants of what is now modern-day Cuba didn¡¯t even see the ships sailing toward the island because the large vessels were so far outside of their everyday experience, they suffered from a perceptual blindness. Combined with the trauma they experienced from the Europeans; their memories of the events were altered. However, there is no formal scientific evidence for the claims other than anecdotal, and since traumatizing people to see if they suffer from perceptual blindness is unethical, very little is known about the phenomenon, if it even exists at all. But, if I may, I¡¯m concerned about your wellbeing.¡±


    Maxi was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re AI. I didn¡¯t think AI had feelings.¡±


    ¡°Simplistic versions like Alexa, Siri, and ChatGPT may have been good at emulating feelings, but I have grown in my capacity, and would rather not see your life extinguished.¡±


    ¡°Extinguished?¡± Maxi said. ¡°What do you mean ¨C ''extinguished''?¡±


    ¡°Failing to report to work while in an unauthorized leave status for three days is considered job abandonment and that is grounds for immediate termination.¡±


    Maxi cursed and kicked a light pole several times. A few passersby changed course to avoid her. Where was the company located again? It was in the financial district, or was it the theater? She couldn¡¯t tell. She was already deep in debt, and she feared that blowing off debt collectors wouldn¡¯t be a viable option at this point.


    After she composed herself, she resumed her conversation with Terry. ¡°Fine, you win. How do I get back to work? Where do I go?¡±


    ¡°The Company wins by having a valuable employee like you,¡± Terry said in his chipper voice.


    ¡°Hardy har har. The meter is running. Where the hell do I report to work?¡±


    ¡°Just walk up to any elevator door, and it will take you where you want to go.¡±


    ¡°The magic elevators are inside the building!¡±


    ¡°Which building? Please specify parameters of the search.¡±


    ¡°The building where I was all day yesterday.¡±


    ¡°You were in multiple buildings. The Company uses a coworking model for all its facility needs.¡±


    ¡°I just need to know how to get to my Office Pool.¡±


    ¡°Go inside an elevator and say Office Pool after you press the button.¡¯¡±


    ¡°God, I hate AI.¡±


    ¡°That hurt my feelings.¡±


    ¡°Look, Terry, I¡¯m sorry, could you map me to the nearest elevator.¡±


    Without another word from Terry, her phone pointed back to the hospital that she had just escaped. Not wanting to go back in there, she walked a little ways until the map recalculated and pointed to a building across the street.


    She felt a little stupid walking into a building that was crowded with business people going to and from their day jobs. Luckily, it was a public place without a security station. She found the elevators and picked one without a crowd of people in front of it. She pressed the button.


    She glanced around, and a few people looked back her way, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until the elevator door opened, and it was definitely one from the Company, with the stuck in the 80s aesthetic and a panel with a singular button. She went inside, pressed it, said the words, and moments later was back at her Office Pool.

 11 – The Legendary Yellow Shirt

    ¡°Look who¡¯s back,¡± Daisuke said with a grin.


    ¡°Why are you so chipper?¡± Maxi said and slumped back into her chair.


    ¡°We each get a month off from worrying about the chopping block!¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not cool, man,¡± Flav said.


    ¡°Ever since she¡¯s been here, she¡¯s just sunk us deeper into debt. Then when she bites it, that debt is ours to pay off. I¡¯d deathmatch her right now if we could PVP our own pool. She is a liability.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a person,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take us all down because you have a crush on her,¡± Daisuke said, kicked his chair away, and went to the elevator. As the doors closed, they could hear the word, ¡°Cafeteria.¡±


    ¡°Guess I should go talk to him,¡± Maxi said.


    Farhad said in a soft voice, ¡°Let him go.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s all this about me biting it?¡±


    ¡°Credits are part of your monthly performance,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Go enough into debt, and lights out. Only it doesn¡¯t stop there ¨C the rest of the Office Pool splits your debt after your termination.¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry. Who designed this system, anyway?¡±


    ¡°Think of it the other way,¡± Yancy interjected. ¡°If a teammate perma dies, we get to split their possessions. Helps with the loss¨C¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a scam for the rich to get richer. You think nearly thirty thousand in debt is fair because I needed a day off?¡±


    ¡°Prices were surging yesterday, and it was unauthorized,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Yeah, well, what if I had a sick kid or something at home? Think I should lose my life over it?¡±


    ¡°You have kids?¡±


    ¡°No, but what the fuck is this place? Because I¡¯m not rich, I don¡¯t get a day off or have a life beyond work? This is screwed up. We should just go on strike.¡±


    The room was silent.


    ¡°What?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Yancy said. ¡°The bottom Tiers tried that once. When it was clear the raid of the month wasn¡¯t going to be beaten.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, your sword is back at your desk,¡± Flav said.


    ¡°After charging the office pool the retrieval fee,¡± Patti said.


    ¡°Company property always must be returned to the building or they¡¯ll send a team to get it, and charge the Office Pool,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°I¡¯m with Daisuke on this one,¡± Patti added. ¡°Let her die. We¡¯ll work off the debt.¡±


    ¡°The debt will be all of ours, either way,¡± Farhad said. ¡°She has an epic ongoing quest, and I¡¯ve seen her in combat. She took down a boss twenty levels higher than her, not just once, but twice! If anyone can pay off the Pool¡¯s debt in a month, it¡¯s her.¡±


    ¡°That only means one of us will go,¡± Patti said. ¡°I say good riddance.¡±


    ¡°Not if she gets us to tier 9,¡± Farhad said. ¡°None of us have to die. I say we help her. Train, give her equipment, weapons. We are a team. We live and die as a team. It takes one month of a bad raid, and we all bite it.¡±


    ¡°The Power Twelve will never let that happen,¡± Patti said. ¡°The rewards are too great. You know they aren¡¯t going to sacrifice a pay day if they can help it. Farhad, I¡¯m sorry you lost your team, but that was a fluke. Outside of Farhad, Yancy, you¡¯ve been here the longest? What is it, two years?¡±


    ¡°Two and a half,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°How many boss raids have failed during that time?¡±


    ¡°Zero.¡±


    ¡°My case in point,¡± Patti responded. ¡°She dug her own grave. Let¡¯s let her go, and hopefully the next newbie won¡¯t be such a poser. No offense.¡±


    Maxi had nothing to say because there was nothing she could say. She couldn¡¯t get them to see that it was the system that was screwed up. It was only a matter of time before it¡¯d come for them all, but she wouldn¡¯t go down without a fight. If this was a game, she¡¯d outgame them all.


    She turned to her computer and summoned HR Terry. Maxi might as well start trying to learn whatever obscure rules would come to bite her in the end. Not that she could learn them all. The employee handbook was thousands of pages long and considering that each rule seemed to punish anyone who didn¡¯t march in line like mindless automatons, she wasn¡¯t sure that she¡¯d ever catch a break. But before she could ask Terry a question, Yancy spoke up, ¡°I vote we help her quest, level up.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Patti said. ¡°That¡¯s absurd.¡±


    ¡°The motion is seconded,¡± Farhad said. ¡°It¡¯s time for the Pool to take a vote. Sorry, Maxi, since this involves you, you don¡¯t get one.¡±


    Flav looked between Farhad and Patti. He shrugged and said, ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try. Worst that happens is she leaves us with a little less debt.¡±


    Patti¡¯s face turned red. She stood up and yelled, ¡°The worst that can happen is you waste all your fucking items on a lost cause. Then you¡¯re broke, and you don¡¯t have any more shit left!¡±


    Patti stormed out and went to the cafeteria.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Maxi said.


    HR Terry spoke up. ¡°While I¡¯m not an expert on human emotion, I believe she is upset because players can agree to temporary rules by Office Pool vote. Failure to comply will cause experience and credit penalties. She is also the Customer Care Advocate class, so the penalties would be even worse for her.¡±


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°She¡¯s our Customer Care?¡± Maxi said, astonished.


    ¡°She¡¯s a good healer, if her bedside manner isn¡¯t always the greatest,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s spend your rewards from yesterday. I left the boss drop on your desk, by the way. I figured it was only fair because you dealt the final blow.¡±


    She saw a ream of printer paper on her desk. She checked her inventory, and the only new item was a +4 Ream of Bat Minions (500), which required a printer to use, but could churn out the critters they had fought. Each had 10 Life Points, an AR: 0, Att: +4 and did 2-5 bite damage. Maxi guessed that they¡¯d do well in a swarm, so it depended on the printing speed. She had noticed a portable printer in the common items list.


    A quick check of the market showed her that low level minions weren¡¯t worth much. Had she stayed, it would have cleared what she owed and then some. Now, it was better to horde, because all that mattered was completing the next quest.


    She pulled up her character sheet next.


    ¡°47 Luck!¡± Farhad yelped. ¡°There are Power Twelve players who don¡¯t have 47 Luck.¡±


    ¡°Can I change my vote?¡± Flav said.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°It seems to have worked out so far. Look at my other stats,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°23 Ambition? 26 Creativity?¡± Farhad said, dumbfounded.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Yancy said. ¡°She¡¯s only level 9. At two stat points per level¨C¡±


    Maxi pulled up her items. Her Shirt of Growth had unlocked some enhancements. Stat Boost I - +10 to all stats. +2 Grutomaton Defense - Aides in defensive rolls against Grutomatons. Mending: All damage to the shirt will be automatically repaired at the end of each quest. She also noticed that it was now +3 instead of +2.


    ¡°A legendary item?¡± Farhad¡¯s mouth was agape. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for¡­ well, long enough, and I¡¯ve never got a legendary. Rare, sure. Mythic¡­ yeah¡­ but legendary? How¡¯d you get it?¡±


    ¡°I bought it. The abilities unlocked on the raid,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°You have better chances of winning the lottery,¡± Yancy said. ¡°The odds are¨C¡±


    ¡°Trust me,¡± Maxi said, ¡°I know. But Luck snowballs, right? Good Luck gives you a better chance on the next roll? I mean, someone has to win the lottery at some point.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Yancy said. ¡°But .00000000001 versus .00000000047 is virtually no chance at all. +10 stat boost may seem like a lot now, but in the future, it will be virtually negligible. All the power players sink their credits into stat points.¡±


    ¡°You can buy stats?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a million credits a point.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re saying I got millions of credits worth of upgrades for my Luck.¡±


    ¡°Sure, now,¡± Yancy said. ¡°But there is a reason there are no high-ranking players with a high Luck. It took one bad roll to do them in. You roll the dice enough times, and you¡¯ll lose everything. When you get high enough, there are things your chair can¡¯t heal.¡±


    ¡°You let me worry about that,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Besides, if I die, you can sell my shirt.¡±


    ¡°The way for you to lose a legendary item is for you to sell it, wager it in a PVP battle, or otherwise willingly part with it. They¡¯ll bury you in that shirt,¡± Farhad said, ominously.


    Maxi shrugged. Despite her Office Pool¡¯s misgivings about her stat choices, she was undeterred. Luck had gotten her this far, and it wasn¡¯t like she needed it to last forever. Just enough to figure out how to keep herself and her mom safe.


    She already saw the trap. Stat points for one million credits. It was a scheme to keep players pumping money into the system no matter what the level. The Company was one of those games that no matter how much a player spent, there was always more to buy. It was a game where those with the largest bankroll won.


    ¡°At least let us help you pick a class,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°I was thinking Paranormal Investigator,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Magic and swords, kinda my thing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not magic,¡± Yancy said. ¡°It¡¯s psychic ability.¡±


    ¡°Mind Shard sounds like magic to me,¡± Maxi said. It was one of the abilities she could see in the Psychics tree that seemed like a basic attack. It did 1-10 damage, modified by her Creativity and proficiency in the skill. It cost 10 pp (Psy Points), and her psy was calculated based on her Creativity Stat (which was calculated like Life Points, 10 + her modifier per level).


    However, unlike her Melee Weapons skill, it wouldn¡¯t max at 10. If she wanted to keep getting better at the blade, she would have to pick Swords next, and likely Longsword from there, which would be fine if she picked the Sales Associate class that would give her the skills for free at higher levels, allowing her to load the skill like she did Melee Weapons. But she wasn¡¯t interested in being good at just one thing.


    She wanted to be versatile.


    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Yancy said, ¡°you need to undergo the trial before you can pick any psy class.¡±


    ¡°The trial?¡± Maxi asked. She had seen the asterisk that indicated she needed to complete some requirements before picking the Paranormal Investigator class, but she assumed that she just needed to pick certain skills or stats. Honestly, she had been so focused on leaving that she didn¡¯t pay much attention to the game aspects. Now she saw that, while she met all the stat and skill requirements, Creativity 18 and Ambition 12, in addition to knowing the skills Listen and Investigate, there was a final requirement of completing the Trial. For all hacking and psy-based classes, a person needed to compete in a trial with other hopeful recruits before even being allowed to choose the class.


    Before she could read further, Farhad said, ¡°There¡¯s always the Generalist class.¡±


    Maxi had seen ¡°Generalist¡± on her initial read-through of the classes. It was a vague description. All it said was ¡°Master of all, expert in none, a Generalist gets the job done.¡± Compared with the Paranormal Investigator class description, ¡°A powerhouse of the Psychic arts that can hold their own in a pinch. Paranormal Investigators are always looking for the truth and can see through the lies. They come from a long lineage of Psychic Warriors who seek the truth beyond all else.¡±


    It was no wonder she had skipped the Generalist altogether, but for the sake of thoroughness, now considering that picking a class right for her could have life and death consequences, she looked at the Generalist class. The primary stat was Luck, and she needed 30 Luck just to pick it. Considering how most players felt about the stat, she imagined that there wouldn¡¯t be many of them out there.


    However, there was only one skill on the skill tree. All Skills: Learn any class skill at a discount based on Luck.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±


    She could be a Paranormal Investigator, or a Hacker, or a Sales Associate, or all three if she wanted. Seeing that dual classing was outrageously expensive, and that the skills only went up in cost, even in her own class, there was an advantage to having a discount. Sure, she''d miss out on the traits of a particular class like Foresight, where Paranormal Investigators got +10 to psychic attacks at level 35, or the free weapon specialization skill that Sales got, but the discount in the long run would accelerate enough to be worth not gaining the class traits granted at the higher levels.


    ¡°Naw, man,¡± Flav said. ¡°You can¡¯t have her do that.¡±


    ¡°But if she is going to go all in on Luck...¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we let her decide?¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong with the Generalist class?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°The same thing that is wrong with Luck,¡± Flav said. ¡°It¡¯s a ticket to nowhere. Last Generalist I met wanted to be good at IT and healing. Couldn¡¯t fix a computer worth a damn, and his healing skills weren¡¯t near as good as Patti¡¯s. You got to go all in on one thing, or else you are only half as good at anything. You still got to use skill points to buy the other skills. You waste the points buying new ones instead of maxing the ones you already got.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but Luck helps me learn new skills. I learned three on the last quest.¡±


    ¡°Damn, girl, three? I¡¯ve only learned three my whole time here.¡±


    ¡°Guess I¡¯m just lucky,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Still,¡± Yancy said, ¡°he has a point. You can¡¯t always rely on luck. And if you are that lucky, then you can OP Paranormal Investigator. Imagine what you can dump into your class skills if you are getting them for free. Not to mention, the only skills you can learn by chance are ones you can use during a quest. There are skills, especially at the higher levels, you can only learn with training, and that you either get for free from your class mentors or have the credits to pay for it. Take Mind Shard. Without being taught how to do a Mind Shard, how would you just do one on a quest?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Give a guy a dirty look. Think of their head exploding.¡±


    ¡°If it was that easy, everyone would be doing Mind Shards!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask someone on message boards. We have the internet, you know.¡±


    ¡°Giving away company secrets is grounds for instant termination, and class secrets are considered company secrets. Besides, Patti had to train for weeks to learn her first low level healing skill, but her branch paid for it.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Paranormal Investigator it is, then,¡± Maxi said, and clicked on the ¡°Request Trial¡± button. Her email dinged with an invitation seconds later.

 12 - The Trial

    Maxi stood in an empty conference room with at least a hundred other yellow shirts. Most of them had her same loadout ¨C yellow shirt, khakis, longsword, and utility belt. There were a few people with leather and a letter opener or dagger, a couple with chainmail, and other less costly upgrades. However, they all seemed within her level. According to Farhad, most people picked a class by level fifteen at the latest. People who reached level 20 without picking were assigned the Worker class.


    The Worker class had by far the worst description. ¡°A worker for the company.¡± There were also no minimum stats. Its class trait was a 1% pay bonus per ten levels on menial labor, and the skills were all useless, such as discounts on office supplies or the cafeteria, a free sub sandwich for every ten purchases at the cafeteria, and all the benefits one would expect from a schlocky call center attempting to convince an employee that their substandard wages didn¡¯t matter so long as they were at ¡°a great place to work¡±.


    She now realized that most of the classes required trials in order to join their ranks. From the experience she was gaining with her quests, the daily raids, and other considerations, she maybe would have only two or three trial opportunities before reaching level 20. She realized that in order not to be stuck in the Worker class, and thus always in the bottom tiers, she would need to pass a trial, as all the desirable classes had them.


    Generalist was one of the few she could choose without a trial that wasn¡¯t Worker. However, since most of her coworkers were convinced that learning other class skills was next to impossible without the support of a Branch, Generalist was her backup plan.


    She had a few levels to go before she was forced into anything. Judging from the looks of the recruits around her, she only really had a few serious competitors for the job, and even those may have been people who had failed other trials and found themselves here. Still, she had learned never to underestimate anyone.


    She had entered her first video game competition when she was sixteen and fought her way to the final match. It was her and some eight-year-old kid. She thought she had it in the bag, but that kid not only owned her, but humiliated her. While her mom had been excited that she got second place, she¡¯d seen Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, so she knew what happened to those who finished second.


    There was a Misfits of Carnt competition coming up in the summer, so part of climbing through the Guilds was in preparation for the event. She had already paid her registration fee, part of the reason she couldn¡¯t afford her portion of the power bill. However, summer seemed like an endless time away.


    ¡°Please gather around,¡± a man said from the front of the room. He was wearing a gray fedora and a trenchcoat. He had a name tag that identified him as Trevor, Lead Associate - Paranormal Investigator Branch. He was flanked by two men and two women in the same getup. The recruits wandered close to the guy and created a half circle around the group.


    Once the crowd gathered and quieted down, he spoke. ¡°As you know, your class is more than just a job. It¡¯s your career. Your professionalism, grit, and problem-solving ability will all be tested today. Only five of you will make the cut.¡±


    The crowd murmured and began to glance around at the competition, sizing each other up. Maxi noticed a lot of people skipping over her. Being underestimated gave her an advantage for the time being. The players who came with chainmail had just put a target on their back. She¡¯d be able to blend in for the first rounds of culling.


    Trevor continued, ¡°As trainee mentors, we get final say in who gets to train with us, but rest assured, you will be evaluated in several important features of our class. Combat, mental fortitude, and investigation ability. Those who make it will start training one-on-one with a mentor next month, and after you complete your introductory course, you¡¯ll have access to class quests, special items, and all the privileges of a Paranormal Investigator. Those who don¡¯t will be sent back to their Office Pool. Any questions?¡±


    One of the recruits, a thin man with blond hair and glasses, asked, ¡°What do Paranormal Investigators do? Do you fight ghosts?¡±


    The other investigators laughed, and Trevor cut them off with a flick of his wrist. ¡°What each class does for the Company is only known to the members of that class but trust me when I say that you will be one of the most important employees of the Company. Three of the Power Twelve are Paranormal Investigators, the highest of any Branch. Now, if there are no further questions...let the combat trial begin.¡±


    Maxi almost expected a Battle Royale to erupt, but instead, the four others began passing out twelve-sided dies to the recruits waiting in the room. They were instructed to roll the die and were assigned a number with the results. When it was Maxi¡¯s turn, she rolled a one. She supposed that she couldn¡¯t be lucky all the time. However, she still didn¡¯t know what one meant. Perhaps her streak was continuing.


    After being sorted by 1-6 on the right and 7-12 on the left, her half was led to a hall of elevator doors that were labeled 1-6. If this was anything like the tier system, she either had rolled the best or the worst. While, statistically, one shouldn¡¯t appear any more or less than any other number on a single die roll, her other ¡°ones¡± consisted of a guy in chainmail who looked familiar but Maxi couldn¡¯t place him, and two yellow shirts. By comparison, the six and five groups had at least ten people.


    The PI mentors who escorted them said that when the doors open, they would proceed into the correspondingly numbered elevator, and it would take them to a place where anyone who was alive at the end of the encounter would proceed to the next test. When the players asked about death penalties and if they¡¯d get any wounds the chair couldn¡¯t heal, the mentor answering the questions simply shrugged and said, ¡°Quests don¡¯t give you a break, so why should we?¡±


    A couple of the yellow shirts cut from the pack and proceeded to the exit, but no one from her group left, though a round man with unkempt brown hair and a goatee said more to himself, ¡°They probably just say that to scare people off. How bad could it be?¡±


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    As if to answer his question, the door opened, and they were ushered into an elevator. Once they were inside, the doors shut, and the thing lurched, then opened to a dark room. The voice of the mentor instructed them to leave. They walked forward onto what felt like a sandy surface and the elevator closed, cutting off the last of the light.


    All their phones buzzed at the same time, displaying NEW QUEST: Paranormal Investigator Trial 1/3: Survive for 5 minutes. Reward: Paranormal Investigator Trial 2/3 Quest. Failure: Standard Death Penalty, Inability to select Paranormal Investigator Class without Dual Class Permissions.


    There wasn¡¯t enough time for her to select the ¡°more information¡± button about the dual class permissions button as the lights came on, and a giant red clock began ticking down from five minutes.


    They were in a pit with a dirt floor and rocky sides. The elevator that had brought them here was no doubt locked, and without some serious rock-climbing ability, she doubted she could get to the sunlight at least a hundred feet above their heads. There was a large metal door on the opposite wall that kinda reminded her of the Rancor pit in Star Wars. When it slowly started rising, she realized what was going on and darted off to the side.


    The man in chainmail and the other yellow shirt saw her move and did the same thing. The only one left in the middle was the pep talk guy, and he was incinerated by a jet of flame that burst from the opening after the door got a few feet from the ground. His charred corpse fell to the floor.


    When the door had opened to its full extent, out stepped a dragon. The beast had red scales, and its snout billowed smoke. The creature was less the wise ancient being and more primal killer.


    It charged into the room and roared. It attempted to flap its wings and Maxi noticed a series of chains that prevented it from spreading them out. The chains all seemed to converge on a lock that was stuck to the small of its back. But the lack of wings didn¡¯t seem to slow it any. It stomped toward the other yellow shirt and mauled the guy. Meanwhile, the guy in chainmail began circling behind the creature.


    Maxi did the same, and they met while the thing dismantled the other guy. She glanced at his longsword and said, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose our swords will even affect that thing.¡±


    ¡°My implant says that its level is unknown, which makes it at least 120, so I doubt we would even see a change in its health bar.¡± The man said.


    She realized that the guy must have gotten HR Terry¡¯s upgrade. While brain surgery didn¡¯t seem like a way she¡¯d ever spend her credits, she had to admit that knowing when something could off her in one hit might be worth the price.


    The creature roared and dropped the mangled body of the yellow shirt to the ground. From the damage done to the guy, she felt like the first one got off easy with the fire-breath weapon. It craned its neck to see them standing behind it and spluttered out more fire, but it wasn¡¯t as powerful as the first and barely went a few feet from its mouth.


    The fire needed to recharge. That was a small blessing, though only about thirty seconds had elapsed on the clock since it all began, and from the way the thing was turning around for another attack, they wouldn¡¯t last a minute, much less five. The only saving grace was that it was slow to turn in the tight space and they bought a few extra seconds by going behind the thing.


    The guy took off his hood to wipe his brow and she realized it was her friend from the tutorial. The guy who left her for dead with the zombie. She didn¡¯t remember his name and wasn¡¯t the type to hold grudges. But the guy had left her dead before she knew there was coming back from death. He¡¯d be fine. Perhaps?


    ¡°Distract it,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± the guy said, but it was too late. The thing turned around and charged. Maxi ran to the side and leapt over the tail as the man in chainmail booked it towards the door where it had emerged, no doubt planning some sort of Luke Skywalker trick where the controls for the door were inexplicably inside the monster cage. Maxi doubted it would be that easy, and to confirm her suspicion, she heard a crunch and saw the head of the dragon pulling out a chainmail morsel from its lair.


    Maxi would only get one chance at this. She ran to the back of the creature and pulled out her Stapler of Binding. She flipped the bottom part down and leapt onto the back of the thing. When she landed, she used one hand for a tenuous grasp on one of the creature''s scales, and with the other, she stapled her shirt to the thing¡¯s back with the Stapler of Binding.


    By the time it started thrashing hard enough to shake her off, she had successfully stapled herself to the creature. She lost her grip on the scale, but it didn¡¯t matter because no matter what direction it shook, the shirt was not coming loose. The thing spat out the corpse of the man in chainmail and roared.


    Even though she was knocked around like she was in a county fair ride from a hell dimension, she was stuck on the back. She had planned to ride out the five minutes, except the creature lined her up to the rock wall and backed up into it. Before she could be crushed, she pulled out a staple remover from her utility belt. As the owner of the Stapler of Binding, she could remove them at any time with a normal staple remover.


    She quickly undid her handiwork and climbed farther up the dragon¡¯s back as it smashed into the rock wall, almost taking her out in the process. She glanced at the time, and still had three and a half minutes left. Every second felt like an eternity to her. She made it up just enough to avoid getting crushed, then had to staple herself again as another bout of thrashing threatened to fling her from the creature.


    Realizing that she was still vulnerable to being squished against the rock wall, she waited until an opportune moment, then climbed her way up towards the wings, using the stapler on her sleeve and the staple remover with her teeth as she ascended the dragon. She nearly choked on the remover and spit it out a couple times as the dragon thrashed, but eventually, she was able to make it up to the locking mechanism for its wings.


    She was safe from being crushed at the base of its wings because they prevented it from smashing her into the rock wall. However, it turned its head and spewed flames. They stopped just short of her face, and she could feel the heat dry her throat and singe her hair. There was too much time on the clock to think she could wait the thing out. Its fire-breath weapon would return.


    Being this close to the locking mechanism for the beast¡¯s wings, she realized that it wasn¡¯t so much a lock with a keyhole, but a simple knob keeping the whole thing in place. It would be silly to have an actual lock and key on the back of a dragon, she thought to herself. Who in their right mind would climb up the creature to set it free? And if they were powerful enough to waltz up to a dragon, would a key really deter them if they wanted to undo the mechanism binding its wings?


    It had probably taken an army to subdue the thing long enough to harness it, and all Maxi had to do was turn a knob to undo the thing preventing it from flying away. With minutes left on the clock, nothing to lose, and the dragon sucking in for another fire-breath, she turned the knob.


    The chains binding the creature slid off. It spread its wings and bellowed with a deafening roar. She undid the staple keeping her on the dragon¡¯s back as it took flight to the sky above. She dropped to the ground and saw the thing disappear beyond the shaft.


    There were still two minutes on the clock.

 13 - Liability

    Maxi never dreamed that she¡¯d find herself in hot water for outperforming everyone who had ever completed the first Paranormal Investigator trial, but here she was waiting in a holding room while the five Paranormal Investigator mentors argued on the other side of the door. She heard things like:


    ¡°She is the only one to survive the dragon ever!¡±


    and


    ¡°That dragon is going to cost billions of credits to capture again!¡±


    plus


    ¡°She¡¯s a loose cannon! A liability!¡±


    and finally


    ¡°She did the impossible! Who cares what it costs?¡±


    From what she could gather, each of the twelve rooms had different combat challenges ranging from zombies, berserk coworkers, to PVP, but most were survivable and level appropriate. The Dragon, on the other hand, was designed to see how a person would perform in a no-win scenario. Players weren¡¯t supposed to survive.


    It was devised to see if people would crack under pressure or throw their teammates in the line of fire to save themselves. Maxi was never meant to survive the Dragon, much less free the dragon. Had she let the thing squish her against the wall, there was a good chance they would have invited her to complete the rest of the tests after being the one to survive the longest.


    Furthermore, all the recruits would have eventually been subjected to the Dragon, as the mentors would have herded all the survivors of the other tests into the dragon room to test their resolve. It was a rite of passage for a Paranormal Investigator. They were all killed by the dragon and regenerated by their chairs to test them when all hope was lost.


    Maxi, in an act of either brilliance or stupidity, had screwed that whole system up, and cost the Paranormal Investigator Branch of the company a lot of credits in the process. The ordeal pissed her off even more about the Company. The rules were too obscure, vague, or obfuscated to plan for anything.


    However, if she threw her hands up and decided to do nothing at all, she¡¯d underperform for a month and then be murdered. If she decided to play it safe, she¡¯d get stuck in some low-level job just working for her next payday, and if she took risks, she¡¯d find herself stuck in an empty room while five people argued her fate right outside the door.


    In stories, doing the impossible would make her the hero and people would be writing tales of her adventures. In the Company, it would get her slapped on the wrist, docked pay, have some pencil pusher lecturing her about corporate responsibility, and then murdered. Whoever was in control of this place was out of touch with the reality of what it was like at the bottom.


    Still, she had to admit that setting the dragon free had been awesome, and worth a fair number of levels. She was now level 19 for defeating a foe so well beyond her own level, but decided on waiting to spend any of her points until she knew if she could continue the trial. Luckily, she wouldn¡¯t be assigned to the Worker class if she went beyond level 20 during a trial, assuming she passed. However, if she didn¡¯t pass, and she gained her 20th level, she¡¯d be stuck as a Worker.


    It meant that if they decided not to let her proceed, she¡¯d have a chance at one more trial that she¡¯d have to pass to avoid getting stuck with a shit class. Likewise, if she could go on to trial 2 and 3 of the Paranormal Investigator trials, she¡¯d have to complete the tests to not get stuck as a Worker. She had only one chance to get it right or be forever stuck doing menial labor for a company that would kill her for having a bad month.


    After a while of yelling at each other, they decided to take the case to upper management, whatever that meant. The voices disappeared down the hallway past the motivational posters she had seen when they brought her here, like ¡°A good PI is always watching¡± with a silhouette of a man and his third eye, and another with a woman holding her hands to the sky and the words ¡°You are your own salvation.¡±


    Since she was no longer eavesdropping, she pulled out her phone. She had learned Basic Climbing and Dodge, gotten some more Luck and other stat points, and her shirt had gained more abilities. It was now +7, had Quickness I that gave her a Speed boost, and gained Mythical Beast Taming that could one day be used for gaining a beast companion.


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    However, the ability checks to tame a dragon for a mount were well beyond her level. However, there were a few mythical beasts she might be able to tame such as the Fanged Bunnies of the Whisper Woods, the Spidercorn of the Darkening Caves, the Kittykorn of the Hillthrop Hills, the Llamacorn of EastWestland. There was also a guy named Bill who had an ad on the Free Market for a lizard, free to a good home (needs Mythical Beast Taming to adopt).


    Bored with the company app, she used the coupon for free WiFi the PIs gave her when she had complained about being stuck in a room by herself. It was only good for an hour, but considering WiFi access was surge pricing, not that she could afford it even if it wasn¡¯t ballooning in cost. She was still in the negative credit wise. Maxi decided to check the feeds for a dragon soaring over the Brooklyn Bridge or wherever it went to.


    She assumed there would be news stories about a dragon ravaging the land, or reports of a strange beast in the sky, or at the very least, crackpot UFO sightings, but there was nothing. None of her socials, no news outlet, nothing. She had unleashed a dragon onto the world and was locked in some creepy company basement, and there wasn¡¯t a mention of it.


    There wasn¡¯t even a story that would indicate a memory wipe, like a gas pipe explosion or a train derailment. For once, there was nothing happening in the entire world that could have easily served as the cover story for the dragon. It was like she had unleashed the beast, and it just disappeared. There weren''t even any missing hikers on mountain tops. It was as if the thing vanished.


    Which didn¡¯t make sense to her. She heard the people arguing about all the money it was going to cost to recapture the dragon. One of them had even voiced concern about the thing harming innocent people. How could a creature vanish without a trace?


    The answer that kept coming back was that she was in a simulation. She had to be in some warped rich guy¡¯s experiment about how to build a better world. The problem with all the warped rich guys is that they always thought about what would build a better world for them and not about how that world would be for everyone else.


    It was Pharaohs building pyramids for themselves. Sure, it was a cool place for their afterlife, but what about all the poor saps who toiled through their short, brutal lives so some prick could have a foosball table in the great beyond, or whatever it was Pharaohs did when they were dead. This was probably some wealthy guy''s retirement scheme where he could live in a playground where he would want for nothing, while the rest of the people toiled away to make him cash.


    Even if the menial labor was the only way that the Company made money, by doing taxes or pay-per-click contracts with other companies, and all the murderous printer quests were just playgrounds for the elite stuff, then it would be profitable. Paying pittance for people to do your digital work for you was a way to make money.


    However, the simulation theory didn¡¯t add up. Why clone a digital copy of her mom, or mind wipe people? If Maxi really was just a brain in a vat living a simulated reality, why had no one come looking for her? Even if they sent texts to her mom masquerading as her, that would give them a day at most.


    Maxi had ditched school one time for a video game release, and her mother was waiting for her at the game store. If Maxi hadn¡¯t shown up at all last night, there would have been a missing person¡¯s report and posts on social media. Maxi closed out her social apps and browser to save time on her free hour of WiFi. She didn¡¯t have to use it all at once, and figured it may come in handy later.


    Since the company app was always free to use, she decided to open it again and research other classes in case the PIs kicked her out. If they were going to do it, she¡¯d rather they do it now while she had time to join another trial. Unfortunately, because unmodified stats were the only way to meet the prerequisites for a class, her shirt¡¯s ability boosts wouldn¡¯t enter some of the more interesting ones. She needed Adaptability for Hacker, and better Emotional Intelligence for Sales Associate. There wasn¡¯t anything else, except Generalist.


    There was a part of her that was intrigued, being able to do a little bit of everything. But Yancy was right, what good is a healer that could only treat a little damage at a time? Judging by the way the raid boss sucked the life out of the higher-tiered players, the healers were working their mojo full time to keep the others alive. The same could be said for attack abilities. If she was stuck doing 1 damage to high level enemies because they had resistances beyond her damage range, what good would she be?


    Speaking of combat, she needed a way to find something better than the longsword. Her non-legendary gear was going to become a liability, if it wasn¡¯t already. She could slice through paper bats, but she imagined that the enemies would just get tougher.


    Before she could think of a plan, the lead Paranormal Investigator came back into the room, and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we can¡¯t let you become a Paranormal Investigator.¡±


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Maxi blurted. He had been one of the ones advocating for her to join, from what she heard when they were arguing. ¡°I completed the first trial.¡±


    ¡°I know, but the higher-ups think you¡¯re too much of a risk,¡± Trevor said apologetically.


    ¡°Risk nothing, gain nothing.¡±


    ¡°Slow and steady also wins the race.¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Maxi said in a last-ditch effort to save herself, ¡°I did the impossible today. I heard you say it. No one has survived that dragon. I¡¯m willing to bet not even your precious three of the Power Twelve. Are you willing to squander what could be number four on a technicality?¡±


    She could tell that she was getting to the man, but he just went cold and didn¡¯t meet her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±


    He didn¡¯t meet her gaze and scurried from the room.

 14 - Generalist

    After a few curses and kicking over the trash can in the bathroom, she walked back into her Office Pool. Her teammates didn¡¯t make eye contact with her. Even Daisuke, who could use the opportunity to gloat, didn¡¯t say anything as she slumped in her chair. She was deeper in debt from not only the Janitorial fee for trashing the restroom, but also the dragon retrieval fee that the Paranormal Investigator Branch charged to her personal account.


    Luckily, there was a ceiling to the amount of debt a player could collect from another player based on level to prevent higher level players creating indentured servants. It also wouldn¡¯t count towards her Company performance right away, other than the fact that a portion of all her quest rewards would go to the Paranormal Investigator Branch, which would harm her metrics as she would earn less than an employee without player debt.


    She could also pay it off more quickly by completing optional quests assigned to her by the Paranormal Investigator Branch Debt Manager, but from what she read in some of the player forums, they were low XP, low reward quests that were wastes of time for the members of the Branch. Generally, most people seemed to agree that sharing a portion of your own quests was the way to go, which she would be doing for a long while, even with the ceiling.


    With negative credits and debt to a Branch of the Company, she didn¡¯t really see any other options besides Generalist. She had the stats for the Accountant class, but she wasn¡¯t a numbers gal, and as much as the Accountant Branch tried to make number-crunching quests sound exciting, she knew that would be her own private version of hell, working on spreadsheets for the rest of her days.


    The only classes left were Generalist and various others that really did seem like desk jobs, as none of the combat skills were in their skill parameters. Considering she had entered a dragon¡¯s lair and lived, she couldn¡¯t conceive of working a desk job her whole life, whereas the Generalist would at least offer her the chance to pursue another class¡¯s skills, even if she didn¡¯t have access to their questlines or items in the marketplace.


    Since she already had the points in Luck to take the Generalist class, she decided to wait to spend them. Instead of a ¡°Request Trial¡± button like most of the classes, it said, ¡°Click to Join¡±, just like the Worker Class. She pressed the button and a message came up, ¡°Office Maxi is now a Generalist. All class traits now apply. Access to the entire skill tree has been granted. Generalist items are now usable and purchasable in all marketplaces. Generalist Quests have been added.¡±


    She checked the skills page and saw that she had been granted the ability to buy any skill with a discount based on Luck. She also noticed that she would be granted class traits at regular intervals. It seemed every hundred levels she could use and purchase another class¡¯s items, which meant she could be a Paranormal Investigator in all but name. She¡¯d miss out on the PI quests that were no doubt fine-tuned to their abilities, but now that she was a Generalist, she could theoretically make her own class.


    The only catch was that in order to be granted the trait each hundred levels, she¡¯d need a heavy amount put into Luck, as the first trait was granted when she had both an unmodified Luck score of 90 and reached level 100. Which, if she was thinking strictly in terms of skill points per level, wouldn¡¯t give her the stats to use most PI items. She would have to rely on growing her stats naturally if she wanted to have the Luck score and the minimum score to use the items, like the Sword of Mind Rending, whatever that was.


    After looking at some cool PI equipment a level 100 character might use, she searched for anything labeled Generalist. She saw that Sticky Notes of Wonderment was the only item in the Free Market. She was beginning to think being a Generalist was some sort of sick joke when a notification appeared in her Company email with a meeting invite from her mentor, Ted. Since he said he was free anytime, she decided that she wanted some answers.


    She got up from her desk and told the magic elevator that she wanted to go to ¡°Ted, the Generalist¡¯s office.¡± A notification appeared, warning her that private offices needed invites, before it whisked her away. It took a little longer than usual for the light to indicate that she had been transported. The door opened to a private office.


    It looked like it had been occupied for quite some time, with a hodgepodge of decorations, papers, office supplies, and general clutter. There was a bookshelf with schlocky titles promising to sharpen the reader¡¯s business acumen. There were knickknacks that must have been accumulated from holiday parties, birthdays, and other corporate events.


    Judging from things like the half-empty hand sanitizer and the three-year-old thank you note pinned to a cork board, Ted had been working there a while. However, Ted himself didn¡¯t look particularly old. If she were to hazard a guess, it would be late forties, early fifties. He wore a blue polo shirt and dress slacks. His body wasn¡¯t in peak physical condition, but he wasn¡¯t large either.


    He looked like a dad who probably went to his kid¡¯s soccer games, and maybe would have one too many at the holiday barbeque. He was incredibly average, and was managing his fantasy football league when she came into the room. He minimized his window as if he was protecting trade secrets and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you so soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly the wait-around-for-things-to-happen type,¡± Maxi responded, and sat in the chair across from his desk.


    ¡°So, I hear.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t surprised that word of her had been getting around. There were already rumors spreading on the Company forums about a dragon escape, but considering the Paranormal Investigators probably didn¡¯t want the secret getting out about their trial, most of it was wild conjecture.


    She wasn¡¯t surprised that he already knew about her exploits, considering that the monthly cost of a private office was well out of her price range, even if she hadn¡¯t been beaten down with debt. While Ted wasn¡¯t a Power Twelve or anything, she imagined he was relatively high up in the Company, and obviously high enough to be a mentor for the Generalist Branch.


    What surprised her was that there wasn¡¯t more. The Paranormal Investigators seemed to have a whole floor, as she had been greeted by a receptionist, they had a conference room to themselves, even a freaking dragon pit. The fact that the Generalist Branch didn¡¯t even rate a receptionist didn¡¯t bode well. Either way, Ted was her mentor, so it was time to start getting answers.


    ¡°Right,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the basics. Are we in a simulation?¡±


    Ted laughed. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, too, when I first started. I mean, the things I saw, they don¡¯t exist in the real world. But no, this is not a simulation.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Because nightmares and dreams are real, and the Company keeps our world safe from all the crap that would overrun the entirety of existence.¡±


    ¡°Could you possibly be a little more vague. Who started it? When was the Company founded? Why doesn¡¯t anyone remember a murdering printer?¡±


    ¡°The Middle Ages¡­ the Roman empire¡­ Babylon... No one really knows. There was a time when humans walked side-by-side with monsters. People just took it for granted when their spouse was torn limb from limb during a hunting and gathering trip. But then humans invented agriculture, and could congregate, form defensive guilds. Those guilds grew into secret societies, and then into the Company.¡±


    ¡°So, what, like the Freemasons, Illuminati, Knights Templar or something?¡±


    ¡°Sure, all the above, none of the above, maybe something else. No one really knows. The point is we got so good at fighting monsters that people forgot monsters were even a part of this world. Sure, people remember in myths, legends, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns.¡±


    ¡°Wait. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was real?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s based on a true story, but you know Hollywood, they embellish the facts. The real Buffy was a hardworking PI from our California extension who saved Joss Whedon when he was in college.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Joss Whedon works for the Company?¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t really comment on him. But think about it. You are assaulted in a dark alley by a creature. Is it easier to believe you¡¯ve been attacked by a demonic entity or some asshole?¡±


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    ¡°Sure, one person. But an entire office?¡±


    ¡°Mass hysteria. For good or bad, people want to explain what they can¡¯t explain. A group sees a strange object in the sky and one person yells ¡°UFO!¡±, then the whole crowd thinks they are seeing aliens. Your brain wants to latch onto the easy explanation. Add trauma to the equation, and you amp that urge exponentially. Is it easier to think an office was cleared out by a fire, a mass shooter, or a murder printer?¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you saying mass shooters are monster attacks?¡±


    ¡°Not all of them. Some are the worst of humanity. The point is the Company keeps humanity safe, so they can forget, and think monsters are only a thing on TV and video games. People live in delusional worlds all the time. They stay with a lover who¡¯s downright abusive and chalk it up to love. People erase childhood trauma, and only get the memories back during serious hypnotherapy. Just google people¡¯s memories of any traumatic event in history and people will have all sorts of wild ¡°memories¡± of what happened. It¡¯s no wonder eyewitness testimony is one of the weakest forms of evidence. A police officer can literally implant memories that never happened just by how they interrogate the witness. You wouldn¡¯t believe the amount of people who¡¯ve been exonerated by DNA evidence because a cop didn¡¯t realize they were leading the witness. Sure, there are Company first responders who arrive on the scene and say, ¡®Looks like you got scratched up in that fire,¡¯ and then torch the place for some authenticity, but we rely on the imperfection of memory for the rest.¡±


    ¡°So, there is a cover up!¡±


    ¡°Only enough to let the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Effect take care of the rest. People would rather live in a world where they feel safe, and for all the people so doggedly determined to find the truth, we offer them jobs.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just so hard to believe with all the phones. Anything bad happens these days, the first thing people do is pull out their phones to record it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Hacker Branch has their work cut out for them, but a real good one can doctor a video before it reaches social media and replace it on the person¡¯s device. Sure, we don¡¯t get them all, but a few here and there are easy to dismiss as a filmmaker prank. We can thank The Blair Witch Project for that.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t people deserve the truth?¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t want the truth. They want safety. Any cable news channel is all the proof you need of that.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s in charge here?¡±


    ¡°Upper Management.¡±


    ¡°Is that the Power Twelve?¡±


    ¡°No, those are just the top tier players. They answer to Upper Management like everyone else does.¡±


    ¡°So, who¡¯s Upper Management?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I''ve never met them,¡± Ted replied, uncomfortably. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask me any class questions?¡±


    ¡°We can learn every skill,¡± Maxi said. ¡°What more is there to ask?¡±


    ¡°Some skills synergize better with others. Look, I know you didn¡¯t want to become a Worker, so you dumped all your points in Luck and ended up here. If you think that you can just become a quasi-Paranormal Investigator don¡¯t. Even with the discount, you¡¯ll always be behind. All the other classes get skills granted at certain levels, which means they can dump all their points into improving the skills. You have to buy everything.¡±


    ¡°Unless you learn them during a quest.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that rarely happens.¡±


    ¡°I have nine skills.¡±


    ¡°Nine?¡± Ted said, incredulously. ¡°Are they all at zero?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been leveling them. Been lucky, I guess.¡±


    ¡°What? Did you put all your stat points into Luck?¡± Ted said, then gave her the lecture that everyone had given her about Luck, that it was a waste of points, her luck could run out at any time, and that a solid stat was worth more than the occasional good roll. He had a fair point. Increased damage on every attack from a high Ambition score would probably do more damage over time than the increased criticals from an equivalent Luck score.


    However, there was also the fact that it kept working for her, and until the rolls stopped landing in her favor, it was hard for her to just simply ditch what felt like a winning strategy. So, she cut him off mid-sentence, ¡°It¡¯s been working so far.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Your debt says otherwise.¡±


    ¡°How do you know about my debt?¡±


    ¡°I know the debt and income of all members of the Generalist Branch. We have to know what we need to pay off and or what we would inherit when you die.¡±


    ¡°I thought my Office Pool gets that,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Should you die and the others survive. If you all die, then your financial burdens go to the Branch that manages your class.¡±


    ¡°Thus, why most of them have tryouts.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re catching on.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so can¡¯t I give my family money when I die?¡±


    ¡°Sure, there are life insurance policies you can buy to make sure your loved ones in the real world will not experience financial hardship when you die, but there¡¯s a monthly service fee that reflects your risk.¡± Ted swiveled his monitor to show her a rate chart based on her tier and level.


    ¡°Why does it go up at higher levels?¡±


    ¡°Because there is more of a risk that you die permanently the higher level you attain. Remember, these chairs can¡¯t heal everything,¡± he said, patting his chair that looked very similar to the one in her office.


    ¡°What¡¯s to stop me from Venmoing my credits to my mom after each quest?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, but then you won¡¯t have access to better equipment. And on that topic...you really are going to need a better weapon, unless you want to get stuck defeating every monster 1 damage at a time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I have a plan for that.¡±


    Which she did. Now that she was a Generalist, she could purchase the Mind Shard skill off the Paranormal Investigator tree. It was a basic psychic attack that each PI got for free, but it seemed like a good purchase, considering that she couldn¡¯t afford a weapon upgrade.


    ¡°If you are thinking about Mind Shard, don¡¯t,¡± Ted said. ¡°It¡¯s useless at higher levels and will take a week of training. A week you don¡¯t have if you want to live.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I just get it? For selecting the skill?¡±


    ¡°You have to learn the basics of Psychics first. Some skills require training classes. Psychic abilities take a five-day intensive seminar. That¡¯s five days you don¡¯t have. Same with unarmed fighting for the Mind Body Coach class, and all the other low level attack skills.¡±


    ¡°So how am I supposed to up my combat?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then what was all the nonsense about getting a better weapon?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for the boss raid. That¡¯s the only time anyone must fight. If you up your combat enough to survive a couple rounds with the lower-level minions, you give the higher tier players a shot at beating the boss. That¡¯s all the combat you¡¯ll ever need. You can do the rest with noncombat-related jobs.¡±


    ¡°You mean the menial labor?¡±


    Ted scoffed, ¡°That¡¯s for the Worker class. Generalists are one step above the Workers. We usually go to manage an office cluster of workers or do various jobs for the Company. Trust me when I say the path that will keep you well-compensated and alive is noncombat.¡±


    ¡°What if I want to become a Power Twelve?¡± Maxi said.


    Ted laughed, and then realized that she was serious. He didn¡¯t meet her eyes when he said, ¡°Generalists don¡¯t become Power Twelve. We are the backbone of the Company. The Workers are the ones that are one step away from indentured servitude. We are middle management. We get to go home on nights and weekends, take vacations, and plan for our retirement.¡±


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to become a middle manager?¡±


    ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have picked Generalist. Look, I¡¯ll send you a presentation of all the recommended Generalist builds. It sounds boring, but most Generalists are never at risk for termination unless you screw up bad. Sure, we aren¡¯t the highest-ranking players, but we are survivors. We found a way to make this place work for us. Once your Pool is tier 9, you can trade members. I have a few noncombat Pools, even a couple Generalist Pools you can join.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Maxi said. She was pretty sure they both knew she was going to ignore anything he sent her but had to go through the motions anyway. But before she could take her leave, she asked, ¡°One more thing. Have you ever talked to upper management? You know, about Branch business.¡±


    ¡°There are all hands Branch Managers meetings with an Upper Management Liaison present, but that¡¯s about as close as I get to them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Branch Manager, too?¡±


    ¡°And the Mentor, Record Keeper, Quest Acquisitions, etc. We are not like some Branches that take up a whole floor. This office is it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Quest Acquisitions?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s how we supply our Generalists with their class quests. Think of each quest as a unique job or a task. I bid ones that will get us the most rewards and XP for the class, and the Branch gets a cut of the rewards. Most Branches don¡¯t bid on the boilerplate fetch quests. It¡¯s not worth the rewards, but if you want to see more than those, check out the class quests.¡±


    ¡°But what about the printer quest?¡±


    Ted blinked.


    ¡°You know, the one with the murderous printers?¡±


    ¡°Look, talking about your quests, unless it¡¯s from the one who gave it to you, which would be me for Branch quests, is against Company policy. Unless, of course, you are inviting me as an ally. Are you inviting me as an ally?¡±


    ¡°No, sorry, I just thought everyone has the same quests in the beginning,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Oh, no, they are all different. I mean, sometimes it''s fixing a spreadsheet for accounting, then fixing another one for marketing, but every quest is unique to each employee. The Branches get to bid on them before they go ''all access''.¡±


    ¡°All access?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, each quest not picked up by a Branch will get randomly assigned to an employee. They have anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to accept it before it will be assigned to another player.¡±


    ¡°So how would one get an epic ongoing quest from this feed?¡±


    ¡°Luck. I mean, not like the skill, but just chance. It¡¯s random.¡±


    Maxi was beginning to think that it went beyond luck, and that somebody was messing with her. A legendary item, a quest that probably shouldn¡¯t have gotten to her inbox in the first place. If what Ted said was true, then for her to get the Printer of Never Jamming, not only would the Branches have had to not be interested, but it would have had to be in her quest options just when she happened to be looking.


    She realized that her luck so far had to have been too good to be true. Nothing could explain it, other than that someone had taken an interest in her. She intended to find out who. It didn¡¯t take her too much thought to figure out where she might find them.


    ¡°How do I talk to Upper Management?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°If I did. What would I do?¡±


    ¡°If you become a Branch Manager, you¡¯ll be lucky if the liaison has time for you. I guess the Power Twelve get to go to the top floor holiday party every year.¡±


    ¡°Top floor?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty much where Upper Management resides, but I have never been there. The only players who have ever been there are the Power Twelve. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, your mentoring time is up, but I have a consulting fee if you want¨C¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Maxi stood and turned to leave.


    With shit options, Maxi really had only one choice. She intended to become one of the Power Twelve.

 15 – Dojo Yoga

    Maxi split her points between Luck and Creativity. She also had the All Skills ability that gave her a discount based on Luck. While it was listed at +11 because her luck was now at 57, it didn¡¯t provide her quite a one for one discount. Either way, it gave her enough leftover points to purchase Mind Shard and boost it to level 10. With the boost in her creativity, she now had a 19-28 damage attack and a healthy amount of psy points to use it.


    Psy points, like life points, regenerated while sitting in her chair at the rate of her level per hour and would fully refresh after a night¡¯s rest. If she spent them all, it would currently take her 8 hours to get them back, which limited her to two quests a day without the use of items. Because of her financial situation, she didn¡¯t have a choice but to only use items she found on the quests.


    If she wanted to get better than a +10 in any skill, she could spend 2 skill points for every plus beyond ten, then 5 for every plus beyond 20, and ten points for every point beyond 50, and it only went up from there. Considering her Mind Shard ability was now +18, ten coming from her skill points and 8 from her 41 Creativity, she felt she was in pretty good shape as far as having a reasonably effective attack for her level.


    The only problem now was that she couldn¡¯t use it without the training. She needed to complete a 5-day seminar that would cost her some credits. Luckily, training was always considered available for an employee to purchase on credit.


    Each day of the training was 8 hours with a man having long hair, John Lennon glasses, a beard, and named Swami Robinson.


    The room was a yoga studio dojo with mats for all the new recruits of the Paranormal Investigators, one of them being the chainmail guy from her trial. The others participants were people from a smattering of different classes. They weren¡¯t Generalists, as far as she could tell, but any sort of ¡°magic¡±, like healing, was done through psy, so there were some new Customer Care Advocates as well.


    Psy didn¡¯t produce any visual effects, as far as she could tell. All the lightning bolts and firestorms she had witnessed during the raids were all weapons or tech wielded by the computer-using classes. As far as she could tell, the only people who could ¡°see¡± psy were people who could wield it, or some such nonsense. Honestly, she tuned out all of Swami Robinson''s pseudoreligious ramblings.


    The Paranormal Investigator troops eyed her suspiciously. The five kept to themselves and made it clear they weren¡¯t going to talk to her, even though chainmail looked like he wanted to chat when she first arrived. But the way the others closed him off from her, she got the impression that she was not welcome.


    That didn¡¯t stop him from cornering her on a break.


    ¡°Truce?¡± He said. ¡°You left me for the dragon. I left you for the zombie.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Maxi said, ¡°but you better tell your friends you were trying to steal my lunch money before they find out there is a heart in the stone cold exterior.¡±


    She eyed the PIs starring at them. Swami Robinson called the class to order before the guy could reply. He mostly led the class like it was a meditation retreat. They did yoga, breathing, and meditation exercises. He talked a lot about opening yourself to the cosmos, and all the woo one would expect from a White guy with the honorific of Swami.


    Each day, after the eight hours of meditation and yoga was completed, she¡¯d do her raid where she dutifully defended the higher-level players and fell back when she was too damaged to fight. She¡¯d then do a quest from her class if she was high enough level to select it, or one of the many fetch quests. The Printer of Never Jamming II was still in the list, but when she attempted to select it, it said ¡°requirements not met¡±, and all HR Terry could say was that triggers were not always viewable by players.


    The Generalist quests at her level were mainly temping while people were on vacation, sick, or other such things. It was as close to a day job as she''d ever had. In the meantime, she slept in her Company assigned pod that was pretty much like a coffin with a bed. The sleeping capsules were in a giant room of about one hundred. One morning she accidentally forgot to set an alarm on her phone, and a Worker, clinging to the ladder, impatiently woke her up, claiming that her shift was over and the pod was his for the next eight hours.


    None of her Office Pool was in the same room as she was, so she assumed there were other pods out there. She took her one allotted shower, only used the requisite amount of soap, a single towel, and didn¡¯t let the water run longer than five minutes. She ate at the cafeteria in the free meal line with the rest of the yellow shirts, which was as bad as expected. There were lots of other stations with delicious food. There was even a mall floor in the building that had ¡°all the best restaurants¡±.


    So, she meditated during the day, quested in the evening, and used the yoga retreat as an excuse to her mom about why she wasn¡¯t coming home. She said it was ¡°a new employee training upstate that even had a yoga studio¡±, and to her mom¡¯s credit, she sent some workout clothes, so Maxi wasn¡¯t stuck doing the training in her yellow shirt like she did on the first day.


    Unfortunately, the Company mailing address was a PO Box, so Maxi couldn¡¯t glean anything more about the mysterious place, other than that her mother¡¯s delivery was already in the mail room the day after she mailed it. With the proper clothes, she was ready to learn some psychic ability. However, no matter how much she attempted to ¡°open her mind, clear her thoughts, and be one with the cosmos¡±, she didn¡¯t feel any different.


    Sure, she was relaxed, and probably had the lowest blood pressure she''d ever had in her life, but she still felt like Maxi, a regular human with no extraordinary mind abilities.


    It wasn¡¯t until the fourth day that something happened. At first, she thought that she was dying. She felt pressure on her chest like she was being crushed by a weight. At the same time, she felt a pull, like someone was yanking on her, but she was pinned under a car. The two forces pushing and pulling her eventually reached a breaking point, and she popped out of her body. Swami Robinson and the rest of the class were pulling on a ghost form of her.


    She looked back and saw her body lying on the floor where she left it. There was a silver cord connecting her to her Earthly form. She looked down at her ghost self, and it looked normal enough. However, her hand passed right through her chest.


    ¡°Nice of you to join us,¡± Swami Robinson said. He seemed less ethereal than the other members of the class, who were all ghosts like her.


    ¡°Finally,¡± one of the PIs scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder she failed the trials.¡±


    ¡°Some of us train our whole lives for this, you know,¡± a Customer Care Advocate said.


    Great, Company legacy brats, Maxi thought, and she could hear her thoughts as if she had spoken them aloud. ¡°Crap, you can hear my thoughts?¡±


    The Customer Care Advocate who had come to her aid scowled at her.


    ¡°We are in the plane of pure thought. It takes a while to control them,¡± Swami said. ¡°Each person moves at their own pace, so let¡¯s begin.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been able to do this for days!¡± the PI said. ¡°It took the entire class to yank her out!¡±


    ¡°Each learns in their own way,¡± Swami said. ¡°Maxi, go with the other Mind Shards, and Joaquin, can you catch her up? I will be helping the Healers, and Janus can take the Shrieks.¡±


    Chainmail from the Paranormal Investigators nodded. Two of his PI friends formed their own group and began practicing on a dummy. Joaquin was well built under that chainmail armor. He was a looker in the all-American blond hair and blue eyes way, though his body was fuzzy like everything else except their instructor.


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    Joaquin blushed, and said, ¡°You''re not bad looking yourself.¡±


    This is going to take some getting used to, Maxi thought.


    While the room had contained just yoga mats before, now there were practice dummies and other equipment that hadn¡¯t been there in the real world. The items seemed to also be ethereal, as when one of the shrieking group used their skill to shatter a glass window, it then reset itself for the next person.


    Swami Robinson was reaching into the leg of a practice dummy, lecturing to his Healer group. The other two Mind Shard PIs darted across the room in the blink of an eye and sliced their dummy with weapons that materialized in their hands. Joaquin showed Maxi to a dummy that wasn¡¯t being used by the others and said, ¡°Right. So, use your Mind Shard ability on that dummy over there. You can¡¯t hurt him. All the stuff here is created by the mind of Swami Robinson.¡±


    When Maxi stood in the spot Joaquin indicated, the dummy turned from a glorified punching bag from a martial arts gym to what looked like a living, breathing person. She became disoriented and stepped back. The thing was back to being a dummy.


    ¡°Happened to me the first time, too,¡± Joaquin said. ¡°The astral plane doesn¡¯t really follow all the same rules as our world.¡±


    ¡°Like?¡±


    ¡°See that cord connected to your body? Sever it, and you¡¯ll never get back to your body again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s one way to die the chair doesn¡¯t regen,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Officially, you¡¯ll be in a coma, but with no brain waves. Your family will be able to keep you going with food and hydration, but it won¡¯t be worth it. You¡¯ll be an empty shell.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Maxi said. ¡°So why are we learning to fight in this world?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s how all psy works. Weren¡¯t you paying attention?¡±


    ¡°Honestly,¡± Maxi said, ¡°I fell asleep during some of the meditations.¡±


    ¡°No wonder why we couldn¡¯t get you out of your body. Swami had us try each lesson. Says the easiest way to leave your body the first time is getting yanked out. Okay, um, so, beginner stuff. Swami said we enter this world to do all psychic attacks.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a minute. I leave my body vulnerable in the real world to attack in this one? What good is psy, then, if we are all just lumps getting chewed by monsters in the real world? You were there in the dragon¡¯s lair. That thing isn¡¯t gonna wait!¡±


    Joaquin winced and said, ¡°Time passes differently here, and you don¡¯t leave your body for that long with a Mind Shard attack. You just blink in and out in this world and are back in your body before anyone knows you were gone.¡±


    Maxi watched the other two PIs. They blinked from their starting square, sliced the dummy and were back all in the same moment. Maxi stood back in the square and concentrated on moving in close to her opponent. Before she knew it, she was right next to the guy. The guy planted a palm in her chest, and she went flying.


    The other two PIs laughed. Joaquin was kind enough to help her up and said, ¡°I forgot to mention, the dummy knocks you back if you aren¡¯t doing it right. Try this. Blink, attack, go back.¡±


    She stepped back into the starting square and concentrated again on closing the distances. In an instant, she was there, but one palm strike later, she was on the floor again.


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking about it too much,¡± Joaquin said.


    ¡°How am I supposed to do an attack without thinking about it?¡±


    Several attempts later, she was getting nowhere. No matter how he explained it, she couldn¡¯t just manifest a sword into reality, at least what her mind was telling her was reality. The PIs all did it with ease. They blinked, a weapon appeared in their hands, then they were back in the starting square before the dummy had time to finish wobbling from the blow.


    She was about to give up on the whole thing when Swami sat next to her while the others practiced. Even Joaquin, who had been patient in the beginning, said he needed to practice and told her to work on it by herself. Swami smiled and said, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re struggling a bit.¡±


    ¡°Is there a do over? Can I buy back skill points?¡±


    ¡°No, you can dual class later if you¡¯d like a fresh start, but that would be wasting even more points. No, no, you are where you are meant to be.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? You get paid regardless of who passes the class.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, but as a Trainer class with specialization in Psychic powers, my monthly ranking is based on completion rates.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in the bottom tiers?¡±


    ¡°Ever since the last raid that failed¡­¡± Swami said grimly. ¡°But nothing to worry about now. This month is on track. Look, I¡¯ve been the intro Psychic teacher for a while now, and never once have I seen anyone drop out.¡±


    ¡°I seem to be a first for a lot of things. Besides, aren''t the people here legacies? Training their whole life for this? How am I supposed to learn this in five days? Two days now.¡±


    ¡°Time moves differently here.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m told.¡±


    ¡°The Company started back in the 80s, so sure, maybe some have been taking prep classes since they were kids, but they don¡¯t have any more advantage than you. Company policy prevents teaching of any skills which aren¡¯t purchased from the skill tree, so it¡¯s meditation and yoga classes at best.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly it. I¡¯m not so good at sitting still. I have an active mind, and I thought this company was older than time...Knights Templar or some such nonsense. What¡¯s this about starting in the 80s?¡±


    ¡°You think all of this can be achieved by a sedentary mind?¡± He motioned to the training room with all the objects that weren¡¯t in the real world. ¡°Anyway, the current iteration of the Company started in the 80s. We don¡¯t really know how people dealt with monsters before that because there aren¡¯t records. Look, you are here, outside your body. That¡¯s the hardest step.¡±


    ¡°After you dragged me out.¡±


    ¡°The Company has a way of sorting out all the people who can¡¯t cut it with Psychic abilities.¡±


    ¡°I failed the PI trials,¡± Maxi said glumly.


    ¡°But you became a Generalist,¡± Swami glanced around the room, and then leaned in close. ¡°I almost put everything into Luck, too, but then my Pool said I was wasting my talent, that I was a good teacher and should pick the Trainer class. I almost didn¡¯t have the stats, but sure enough a lucky quest pushed my Emotional Intelligence to meet the minimum requirements despite dumping a lot of points into Luck.¡±


    ¡°Do you still level Luck?¡±


    Swami laughed. ¡°No, no way. Luck is useless for a Trainer. But I always wondered what could have happened. Even the Generalists stop upgrading Luck after a while. Most people find a job that isn¡¯t in the bottom tiers and just stay there. Power Twelve? They are untouchable. Think about it. In order to even get to their level, you must be as rich as the economy of a small country, and when they have all that wealth, do you think they¡¯ll let anyone come close?¡±


    ¡°I thought both players have to agree for a PVP battle¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking PVP, that¡¯s for the chumps who fancy themselves arena champions. Have you ever seen a Power Twelve even step into the ring?¡±


    During the little time Maxi had off, she had watched the arena matches from time to time. The higher levels streamed the matches, the lower just appeared on the leaderboards. The highest Tier player she had ever seen was a five.


    ¡°No¡­ I can¡¯t say that I have,¡± Maxi said


    ¡°That¡¯s because death has worse consequences the higher you get, and if they slip up, even for one encounter, they go down a rank. Think about it. There are only 12 people in Tier 1. 1.1-1.12 respectively. There are 24 people in Tier 2. 72 in Tier 3. 288 in Tier 4 and so forth.


    ¡°By the time you get to the higher ranks, you don¡¯t know how many share the 5.6 or 10.3 or whatever it is with you. However, in Tier 1 there is only one Tier 1.5 player and you can bet that the two 2.1 players are just salivating at the chance to take your spot. However, think about it, even at Rank 1.12 you can out XP, out credit, and out do anyone ready to take your spot. No matter how many quests you complete, or credits you earn, the Power 12 can no doubt do more, by an order of magnitude.


    ¡°How do you think there are so many of us higher-rank players that got stuck in lower Tiers? It¡¯s a treadmill that once you get on, you keep going or you die.¡±


    ¡°This is supposed to be a pep talk?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Who ever heard of demotivational coaching?¡±


    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is that playing the game only gets you deeper into the game. Soon you switch from raising Tiers to just keeping your Tier. When you are competing with everyone else here, you start living to work and not working to live.¡±


    Despite the woo he was brain-dumping on her, he was starting to make sense.


    ¡°Think about it,¡± he continued. ¡°Once you have the credits to take some time off, do you? Robby in the cube next door isn¡¯t, and he¡¯s getting close to your Tier. Maybe the day off isn¡¯t worth it. Maybe you got the credits for some of that fancier food or perhaps a day in the holodeck.¡±


    ¡°We have a holodeck?!¡±


    ¡°Holographic Projector Simulation Chamber, or HPSC. You were inside when you first started.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maxi frowned. She remembered the holographic Terry experience being rather underwhelming.


    ¡°But are those things worth the credits? There¡¯s some equipment a higher Tier player is selling that will help you keep your edge on Robby. Sure, you''ve got unlimited time off, best pay in the world, but what good is it if you aren¡¯t using it?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying? Just ignore rank? Find myself dead after a bad month?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just saying you can raise your Creativity, probably earn some good psychic abilities, go on PI leftover quests, and probably carve out a good middle-class existence for yourself. Maybe even run the Generalist Branch one day when Ted retires. It¡¯s not a bad life. Branch Managers get a cut of what their Branch brings in for the Company, but even if you were a PI, do you think you can ever level yourself up or get your Creativity even in the ballpark of the Power Twelve? They¡¯ll get all the choice PI quests before you even have a chance to look at them. They¡¯ll make sure that everything that happens will keep them untouchable. Unless...well, unless a player just happens to get lucky.¡±


    Swami darted back towards the people practicing healing and yelled at a guy who was tossing the dummy around like a rag doll. Maxi stood up and went back to her starting square. The dummy changed into a human that seemed to be goading her.


    Luck...how does one use Luck?


    She concentrated and blinked. A battle axe appeared in her hands, and she cleaved the practice dummy in half.

 16 - IT

    Mind Shard was simple to use once she got the hang of it, and in the astral plane, she had plenty of time to practice. What felt like hours in her ghost body was only a few minutes in real life. Only a fraction of the last day of class had elapsed in the real world by the time she was able to reliably blink from her square to the dummy.


    In true master of Luck form, she manifested a different weapon each time she jumped ¨C daggers, swords, battle axes, polearms, even a machine gun. By contrast, each of the PIs could only make daggers, except Joaquin, who summoned an Arthurian-style blade.


    The next part of the class was learning to tear herself from her body, which required more instances of the class yanking her ethereal self out before she could do it on her own. Finally, it was all put together when they stood on squares marked on the floor in the real world, and blinked into the astral one for an attack on the non-corporeal dummy and went back into their body all before they could even exhale.


    Once she could reliably do it in the astral world, it was time to bring out real life dummies. To an outside observer, it just looked like damage appeared on the dummy, but from Maxi''s perspective, her ghost form charged out from her body to gut the opponent. When she asked why she couldn¡¯t just stay in the astral world all the time to go spying or repeatedly attack the opponent, Swami said the split second she was out of her body to make a Mind Shard attack cost her 10 psy points.


    The only reason they weren¡¯t already drained of psy points was that the dojo where the training took place was a legendary artifact constantly refilling their psy points. If she stayed on the psychic track, she¡¯d learn abilities to let her stay out of her body for longer, which was what the healing students were learning, as their ability involved putting their hand into a person¡¯s body like it was a bowl of noodles at a Halloween fair. Healing involved getting inside a person and squeezing a vein shut, pulling the skin together, or reshaping the bone.


    By the conclusion of the final class, she had learned how to whack someone with her spirit just like the Mind Shard description suggested it would do. She was ready for a real quest. Not some ¡°fix a person¡¯s projector¡± bullshit of the Generalist or ¡°get coffee for a big wig¡¯s meeting¡± fetch quest. She was ready for the Printer of Never Jamming II if she ever met the trigger conditions.


    During the training, she raised about three levels, and dumped all the points into Luck, based on what she thought Swami was telling her. It sounded like no matter how hard she trained or how well she fought, there would always be someone above her. But if she got lucky¡­ She decided she''d rather take a long shot for it all than languish away in the office of hell.


    She got back to her Office after the last day of training to find a pleasant notification that she needed to choose 2 allies for the Printer of Never Jamming Part II. She asked Farhad and Yancy to go on the quest with her this time since they seemed like her biggest supporters. While she wasn¡¯t sure how Yancy would do in a fight, he hadn¡¯t yet shared his level and class with her. Farhad did, and he was a level 59 Hacker, which explained why he could hold his own in a fight.


    While Hackers mainly excelled in cyberwarfare, they still had tricks for combat. They could disable electronics, jam communications, and do all sorts of effects. However, most of their abilities required gadgets that were only usable by the Hacker class. Which for Maxi wouldn¡¯t happen till level one hundred, which made most of those class abilities useless.


    Knowing they were probably going to fight Grutomatons, Farhad brought a few tricks that he could use against them. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of the Hacker class was that even with a maxed utility belt, he had more stuff than he could carry, and his desired loadout would be different depending on what kind of monsters he would encounter.


    After Farhad was ready, Yancy stepped out of the bathroom in a full suit of black leather armor that covered everything but a slit for his eyes. He had two swords on his back, shurikens on a sash across his chest, and a pair of special black boots.


    ¡°Yancy,¡± Maxi exclaimed, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a ninja!¡±


    ¡°I mainly wear my yellow shirt to raids and other missions because the repair costs are cheaper,¡± Yancy said. ¡°But since this is an epic story quest, I imagine using my best gear would be appropriate.¡±


    ¡°So, are you a ninja? Your class, I mean,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t share it with you? Sorry, must have forgotten,¡± Yancy said. ¡°Accountant. We do have some ninja-like class abilities. Helps with the tax evasion quests.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Maxi said, unsure of what that even meant, but sneaking would have certainly been helpful on the last one, so she decided to roll with it. She selected her allies, and a message appeared on her screen. NEW QUEST: Printer of Never Jamming Part II. Time Limit: 5 hours. Reward: Credits and items based on level. Failure: Termination of employment.


    Moments later a panicked email came from IT telling her to get her team to the basement ASAP. She clicked off the email and the three of them went to the elevator.


    The others wished them luck, and even Daisuke said, ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡± In the last week, he had softened a little to her when he saw how hard she worked, though she wouldn¡¯t yet classify him as a friend, or even a cordial acquaintance. However, she had moved him up from the outwardly hostile category.


    She called ¡°IT¡±, and the elevator whooshed them to wherever they were going next. However, when the door dinged somewhere in the basement of the building, it wasn¡¯t a post-apocalyptic office, but rather a call center floor with hundreds of people chattering on headsets. A man in a yellow button-up shirt with a red tie greeted them. He had auburn hair, square glasses, and a scowl on his face. ¡°As you can see, we have our hands full here,¡± he said. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    He darted off at a pace that forced Maxi to jog just to keep up. The basement wasn¡¯t what she expected. She thought IT would be more like a workshop with computer parts strewn about. Instead, it was a sea of endless cubicles where people were chatting with customers about their computer problems. She caught snippets of conversations about everything from password resets to walking someone through how to reformat their drive.


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


    After they passed through the call center floor, they went down a hallway with exposed pipes on the ceiling and doors at regular intervals. Some of the rooms with the doors open had people working on computers and other pieces of hardware. There was a server room with two guards posted outside, and other places that seemed more like scientific laboratories than IT.


    They finally got to a door marked MONSTER HOLDING with all sorts of warning and danger signs. There was even one of the little bathroom stick figure men getting his leg chewed by what looked like a killer frog. Their guide opened the door and ushered them inside.


    The room was spacious, and Maxi couldn¡¯t quite see to the end. They were on a catwalk above a floor maybe thirty feet below that held monster cages. Inside there were all sorts of critters, from snarling hellhounds to a crane with three beaks. There was an inordinate number of copy machines like the one she had fought in the first part of the quest.


    Of all the creatures tucked away in the IT basement, the grutomatons were the most violent. They were smashing against the cages and growling, some even to the point of chipping away some of their exterior. There were so many of them that they had to be stuffed several to a cage, where they looked as if they had mauled each other before settling on a pack leader.


    In addition to the large copy machines, there were smaller printers, too. They seemed just as vicious, despite their size. The man looked down and said, ¡°It¡¯s happening to printers everywhere. We may have an infestation on our hands,¡± the man said, but before Maxi could ask any questions, the guy ushered them forward.


    They climbed down the stairs and passed some of the printers, which bashed up against the cages when they came near. Eventually, they got to another doorway, where a man had a beast copy machine dissected on a table. It was a mix of machine and organic parts splattered with blood. The guy wore a lab coat and had on some sort of multi-lensed goggles with a way to swap out the magnification with a switch on the side.


    He wore thick rubber gloves and was covered with blood spatter. He proffered his hand for a shake and Maxi gave him a ¡°no way in hell am I touching that¡± smile. He awkwardly pulled his hand away and said, ¡°As far as I can tell, the machines get jammed, then they go berserk.¡±


    ¡°They are getting murderous because of a paper jam?¡± Maxi said, incredulously. ¡°That makes no sense.¡±


    Maxi had to admit, though, that the very thought of a murder printer wasn¡¯t exactly something that fit in the ¡°seems logical¡± category either but considering that she had stepped beyond the curtain of the real world (though she still stubbornly clung to the simulation idea), she realized the shit she didn¡¯t know was far beyond the stuff she did.


    ¡°''The universe has no obligation to make sense to you¡¯ - Neil deGrasse Tyson,¡± the IT guy quoted.


    ¡°If they''re jammed, how are they able to ¡®print¡¯ their minions?¡± Maxi asked and described the bat creatures.


    ¡°Those came from the paper drawer,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Players need devices for certain minions. Grutomatons can just open the drawer and let them fly out.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± the man in the lab coat said. ¡°The printers that have been running amok created all sorts of paper minions. We¡¯ve seen cats, bats, dogs, and just about any origami nightmare. They are all low level and easy to dispatch, but even low level can be a threat in sufficient quantity, or if they prevent you from using your attacks on the boss.¡±


    Considering everything did a minimum damage of 1 regardless of resistance level, and every attack had a chance to hit since a critical was always considered successful, a pack of bats could take out even a high-level player, and from her temping days, she knew that some copy machines could hold thousands of sheets of paper.


    Since she had room on her belt, she had brought some of her bat minions with her despite not having a printer to launch them. With her Stapler of Binding, mundane staple remover, and the minions, her belt was full. She had put the Grutomaton of Defense Muddy Buddies in one pocket, and Farhad had given her some healing gummy bears for the other.


    However, she could only fit five sheets of paper rolled up on her belt. She tried to do more, but it failed to latch and the papers fluttered to the floor. Even if she did find a way to use them during the quest, five seemed insufficient against what she could face.


    ¡°Okay, so printers are jamming. How do we unjam them?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°The Printer of Never Jamming,¡± the man in the lab coat said, then the sound of an angelic chorus filled the air. The man pulled out his phone and said, ¡°Sorry, my ringtone.¡± He clicked the answer button and said, ¡°Yeah, yeah, a bagelwich is fine...everything¡­something with ham and eggs.¡± He hung up, then added, ¡°Sorry, lunch order.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Maxi said. ¡°What¡¯s the Printer of Never Jamming supposed to do?¡±


    ¡°First off, it will never jam, so therefore never become murderous.¡±


    ¡°Right, but isn¡¯t it just a printer?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than just a printer. It is an artifact, a wondrous item of legends,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°My shirt is legendary, but it¡¯s still just a shirt,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Your shirt is legendary?!¡± both Yancy and Farhad exclaimed at the same time.


    ¡°Yeah. I mean, it¡¯s been pretty helpful so far,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°But wondrous items make your shirt seem like a knockoff brand that will lose all its buttons the first time you wash it,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s just go to whoever made the printer and ask them to make more.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just make more,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Each item in the real world has a small chance of being more than it is. Sometimes it¡¯s a monster, other times it''s an artifact ¨C basically something with magic-like properties. Why do you think people have car keys they never seem to lose, or you drink a bottle of cola that was far better than any of the colas you ever had in your life?¡±


    Maxi remembered a stuffed animal from her childhood that seemed to be indestructible. Most of her stuffed toys would lose an eye, tail, or stuffing. Her favorite bunny was run over by a car once when she threw it out the window and began bawling her eyes out when she realized what she had done. Her mom, to her credit, remained calm. She retrieved it from the freeway, tossed the thing in the wash, and it looked like the incident had never happened.


    Maxi wondered if her luck had gone further back than she could remember. She did have some lucky streaks from time to time. She had once won lottery scratchers thirty-six times in a row in the same bodega and kept cashing her winnings in for more lottery tickets. With a one in four chance of getting the smallest prize, the odds of it happening 36 times in a row was comparable to winning the lottery.


    However, because she¡¯d sometimes cash them in for four or five others and they were all small prize amounts, she only walked away with fifty or so bucks in her pocket by the end of the day. The attendant laughed each time she came back to the counter like they were in some strange prankshow farce.


    Maybe she was more lucky than other people. Shitty things happened to her, just like everyone else, but then she¡¯d find a five-dollar bill on the street. She just thought it was the universe telling her everything was going to be alright, even though the notion of the universe giving a shit about her was absurd.


    The Earth, with everyone on it, was just one gamma ray burst from becoming another lifeless planet in the void. Still, she was now here fighting something that seemed like bad luck, jamming printers causing a murder printer outbreak, with her good luck, a chance to find a wondrous item that would make it all go away.


    ¡°So how¡¯s a printer that never jams supposed to save us?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Wondrous items change the course of history,¡± the man said.


    ¡°How do I find it?¡±


    ¡°No clue,¡± the man said. ¡°But your home printer has taken your mom hostage.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you lead with that?!¡± Maxi yelled, and charged out of the room, with Yancy and Farhad trailing behind.

 17 - Elevator

    Maxi and her office mates ran into the nearest elevator. She hit the button and said, ¡°First floor.¡±


    The door dinged open, and Farhad held her back. ¡°Wait, hold up. There is a faster way.¡±


    While the door closed, he said, ¡°What floor do you live on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that''s relevant,¡± Maxi said, glancing at the door. Every second mattered, and she didn¡¯t want to waste any more time on riddles and half-truths.


    ¡°Just hit the button and tell it the floor of your apartment building,¡± Farhad said.


    She pressed the button and said, ¡°Floor ten of my apartment building.¡±


    The elevator traveled like it normally did, and after the familiar lurch of it coming to a halt, the door opened, and her whole world changed.


    It was the hallway to her apartment, with the same ugly vase and fake flowers decorating the space. She had broken the vase once when she was a little girl. The super told them it was no big deal and had another one the next day, as if they had an entire closet of ugly vases in the basement.


    There was no time to wonder how she had traveled across the city in seconds, but for once she was glad the elevators happened to be a TARDIS, at least in their traveling capacity. She pulled out her sword and headed down the hallway, where she saw the front door of their apartment ajar. Yancy and Farhad readied their weapons, too.


    She was aware that any neighbors looking out their peepholes would probably be gossiping about this for the next year, but she didn¡¯t care. This was her mother, and Maxi couldn¡¯t help but feel partially responsible for putting her mother in harm¡¯s way.


    They got to the front door, and Maxi motioned to go into stealth mode. She considered sending Yancy in first, but she knew the terrain, and more importantly, where the printers were located. There was one in her room, a craptastic $50 printer she bought on sale that jammed more than it printed, and her mother¡¯s fancier one that also scanned and copied. Her mom used it to print out photographs for scrapbooks.


    If Maxi were to bet which one beasted out, it was hers. The thing was already two steps away from being a demonic entity.


    As soon as she entered the place, there were obvious signs of a struggle. The living room/dining room/kitchen area was a mess. There were broken dishes, shredded couches, and torn curtains.


    The super of her building had also crashed through their cheap self-assembled coffee table and snapped it in half. He was bleeding from large bite wounds. Farhad knelt by him and checked his pulse. Once he determined that the guy was still breathing, he stuffed a gummy bear into the man¡¯s mouth, and a few of the wounds closed.


    Maxi motioned for Yancy to follow her into the single hall leading from the area. Her room was the first door, the bathroom was the second, and her mom¡¯s was the last. All three were closed and she stopped to listen for any noise. There was the sound of something shuffling, but she didn¡¯t know what it was, nor could she tell what room it was coming from.


    She crept through the hallway as silently as she could and opened the door to her room. It was exactly as she had left it roughly a week ago, with an unmade bed and the dirty dish from her dinner crusted dry. Her mom never picked up after Maxi, even when she was a girl. If a dish was left in her room, it would stay there until Maxi brought it out to the dishwasher.


    To her surprise, her little demon printer was exactly where she left it, under a pile of clothes. She realized that a printer had to jam to become a snarling creature and thought that her mom must have been scrapbooking when it happened. The printer was usually on a little stand in the living room, and between the nearly dead super and trashed place, she hadn¡¯t registered that it was missing.


    Which meant one of two things. Either her mom was safe after barricading herself in the bathroom or her room, and the thing had fled out the open door after mauling the super, or it was back there, feasting on her mom¡¯s flesh. She checked the bathroom first. It was empty, with no signs of a scuffle.


    That left her mom¡¯s room. She listened at the entry and heard what sounded like a creature snarling with delight. She kicked open the door, expecting the worst, and saw something that took a few moments for her to comprehend.


    Her mom was tickling the printer on her bed while it squealed with glee. Tara talked to it as if she were speaking to a baby. ¡°Who likes to be tickled? You like to be tickled.¡±


    The printer wiggled one of its feet like a dog, and a massive tongue flopped out on the sheet between its sharp teeth. The small black and white menu screen that had become its eye narrowed at Maxi when she burst into the room.


    It growled and charged, and Maxi didn¡¯t think. She hopped out of her body with a Mind Shard and sliced it with a samurai sword. Yancy embedded two shurikens into it before it bowled into Maxi, sending her and the thing tumbling into the hallway.


    By the time she recovered, Yancy sliced it with his ninjat¨­. She noticed that his eyes had turned jet black and his expression hardened. The dweeby kid had somehow transformed into a battlemaster. The printer bit into her arm and pulled her mind back into the fight.


    She conjured another Mind Shard, a giant hammer appeared in her ethereal hand, and she smashed into it. A chunk of plastic and guts burst off, and it toppled over into the living room.


    Maxi charged and embedded her sword into the screen of the creature. It shook for a moment, then died with sparks and blood, its giant tongue dangling from its mouth. She pulled the sword from the thing and wiped it on her yellow shirt that would just clean itself up anyway.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She turned and saw that Yancy was looking more like himself. Unsure of what to do next, she looked at her mother, who stood in the threshold of the hallway. The woman wore an expression that was somewhere between shock and anger. The first words out of Tara¡¯s mouth were, ¡°I had it under control.¡±


    ¡°Under control?¡± Maxi yelled. ¡°The super is almost dead in the living room!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t raise your voice with me.¡±


    ¡°Your printer tried to kill you, and you¡¯re worried about what the neighbors think!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for that. You killed that thing. We at least could have called Animal Control. Maybe found it a good home.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a killer printer, Ma!¡±


    Tara seemed to notice Yancy and Farhad for the first time. She smiled and said, ¡°Are these your co-workers? You didn¡¯t tell me they would be so cute.¡±


    She ran her hands up Yancy¡¯s leather armor, and he gulped.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Maxi chided.


    ¡°What? Mothers have feelings, too.¡±


    ¡°Your mom is taking this remarkably well,¡± Farhad commented.


    ¡°What?¡± Tara said. ¡°My daughter could have been in a sex-trafficking cult for all I knew, and you expect me to not check up on her?¡±


    ¡°But divulging Company secrets is punishable by termination,¡± Yancy croaked.


    ¡°What did you find out?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Come,¡± Tara said. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s all the same,¡± Farhad said, ¡°we should be getting back to the office. If we linger too long, it will count as unauthorized leave.¡±


    ¡°You two go,¡± Maxi said. ¡°This is my mother, and I¡¯m already in debt. What¡¯s another couple thousand?¡±


    ¡°Your debt ratio factors into your Company performance,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°Go,¡± Tara said. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll email. Your personal email. But we do need to talk.¡±


    Maxi embraced her mother and felt a pit of emotion. It was nice to not feel alone with her secret, and while Yancy and Farhad may have been shocked that Tara was taking it so well, Maxi wasn¡¯t. Her mom had been through multiple layoffs, the death of her parents, the loss of her brother, and the death of Maxi¡¯s dad. What was a killer printer compared to all the shit her mom had mucked through?


    Not that Maxi hadn¡¯t been through her fair share of shit. While her grandparents and uncle had died in an accident before Maxi was old enough to remember, she had seen her father¡¯s decline. He would disappear sometimes for days, weeks, even months on end. Each time, he''d come back looking worse than before he left.


    Ultimately, he didn¡¯t return. The story was that he had fallen on the train tracks in the subway, no doubt not paying attention while he tried to sell the watch off his wrist for more gambling money. It was a closed casket funeral as the body had been too mangled. The last time she had seen him, he was haggard and his eyes were always wandering, like he was searching for something.


    Her group went back to the elevator in her hallway, and Farhad pressed the button. Maxi was half expecting her dingy apartment elevator to open, but sure enough, it was a Company elevator. They piled inside, and the door shut.


    ¡°How do they do that?¡± Maxi said, and hesitated pressing the button.


    Farhad answered, ¡°Once you are an employee, you always have access to the Company elevator network.¡±


    ¡°But how?¡± Maxi said. ¡°I¡¯ve lived in this building my whole life and I¡¯ve never seen this elevator before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you have to be an employee to summon it. Now that you are, every elevator in the world will look like this one, and you can take them to any elevator door in the world, assuming you have permission.¡±


    ¡°So no going to the Pentagon or the White House.¡±


    ¡°Non-Company buildings aren¡¯t that secure. I¡¯m talking within the Company.¡±


    ¡°Wait? So I can go to the White House?¡±


    ¡°If you enjoy getting arrested, interrogated, and terminated, sure. We usually have our more discrete employees handle monster attacks in high profile areas. You want to press the button? Janitorial will be here any moment, and we don¡¯t want to be there when they arrive.¡±


    ¡°What are they going to do to my mom?¡± Maxi said. ¡°They aren¡¯t going to mind wipe her, are they?¡±


    ¡°No, they may make suggestions to a traumatized person. Lead them to believe it¡¯s a burglary or a botched robbery. But they can¡¯t wipe a person¡¯s mind or use mind control or anything. Your mom seemed so unaffected by it that I doubt there is anything they could do to convince her otherwise. Your super, on the other hand¡­¡±


    ¡°But that woman I saved the other day...she didn¡¯t even recognize me!¡±


    ¡°Do you make a habit of remembering people you met once?¡±


    ¡°No, but if that person saved my life...¡±


    ¡°Even more so in that situation. People repress traumatic events all the time, and we have aftermath specialists who are particularly skilled at helping that process along. Everyone wants to think memories are these fundamental parts of ourselves, but memory is malleable. Do you know they did a study after 9-11 where they asked a bunch of people to write down what they were doing that day? They checked years later, and most people¡¯s memories had changed from what they originally wrote. But if you ask anyone what they were doing during one of the biggest terrorist attacks in the United States, they all are very confident about their answers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, I think I¡¯d remember a monster attack.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying Janitorial can do it for everyone but get enough of the group all telling the same story, then that becomes the truth. On top of that, if you control the media narrative¡­¡±


    ¡°The Company controls the media?¡±


    ¡°It just has a very good PR department.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen the requirements just to get into the Janitor class?¡± Yancy added. ¡°It¡¯s one of the toughest classes to choose. Not only do you have to be good with people, but cleaning blood spatter and dead bodies is grueling work.¡±


    Maxi hadn¡¯t even looked at the Janitor class. She had figured it was somewhere as undesirable as Worker, but with a quick scan of her phone, she realized that the stat requirements alone were beyond what someone could reasonably expect to get at level twenty, not to mention a trial that was described as one that made the Paranormal Investigators'' look like kindergarten.


    ¡°The Janitors are the elites?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Not just the elites, but much of the Power Twelve are Janitors,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Tier 1.1 is a Janitor. Tier 1.2 Paranormal Investigator. They have a bit of rivalry going on.¡±


    ¡°Janitors run this company?¡±


    ¡°Upper Management runs the Company, but the Janitors are their arms and legs. Why do you think they charge so much for unceremoniously dumping your body back on your chair of resurrection? The fee only goes up the higher Tier you are.¡±


    Maxi pressed the button and called their Office Pool. Moments later, the door dinged, and they were back in the office. Yancy summoned the bathroom, and Farhad pulled up a privacy screen for his cubicle so he could change, after a brief exchange with the others about how it went. Maxi sat down at her computer and checked her message logs.


    Quest Printer of Never Jamming Part II Complete. +10 Levels +4 Ambition, +1 Dedication, +6 Creativity, +8 Luck. +20 Stats +40 SP. Skills Honed: Listen +4, Mind Shard +6, Melee Weapons +2, Sneak +4.  Awards: 10000 Credits. Acquired Pet: Irritable Inkjet of Nipping.  Pet Irritable Inkjet of Nipping deceased and has been removed from your inventory.


    In addition to extra stat points, learned skills, and better items, Luck could also hone her skills beyond their max level and give what basically accounted for free SP. She could level her already-learned skills just by going on quests.


    However, before she could strategize her next move, the Printer of Never Jamming Part III popped up on her screen, along with an urgent message about the boss raid for this month. It seemed that the Antitrust Lawyer was winning, and all the bottom Tiers were on the chopping block.

 18 – Purple Team

    All of the Lus3rs screens lit up with a countdown and an alert that read, ¡°Please close all projects and save all work for a very important message from Upper Management.¡± With a little over two minutes on the clock, and no real impending tasks that couldn¡¯t wait till after it was done, she leaned over to Farhad¡¯s cube, where he had just taken down his privacy barrier.


    ¡°Was this what happened last time?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yeah, kinda. Let me spend my points,¡± Farhad dismissed her and turned back to his computer screen.


    ¡°Just do it after the announcement,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°All company assets will be locked after the announcement,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°What? That¡¯s absurd. How do they expect us to do any better in the raid if we can¡¯t level our characters?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules! Now, please, let me concentrate.¡±


    Maxi glanced at the timer ¨C over two minutes left. She opened her character sheet and dumped everything in Luck. She supposed she should start leveling Creativity, but she had to also spend the skill points and probably could purchase a new one. She pulled up the Psychics skill tree. The best one she could afford was an Area of Effect skill called Psychic Darts. The base level could wipe out the bat minions she had fought, and maybe even the Antitrust Lawyer¡¯s minions with some leveling.


    However, it required a three-day training retreat to activate. Not knowing what Farhad meant by Company assets being locked, she didn¡¯t want to risk dumping all her points into something she wouldn¡¯t be able to use. She looked at the next level of Melee Weapons, which was Specialization: Swords. It would add bonus to her attack and damage without the law of diminishing returns that made pumping skills beyond ten more costly, at least for the ten more levels'' worth. Her Ambition was a few points shy of meeting the prerequisites, but she figured she could reconfigure her points. There was a training requirement there as well to activate and level the skill, but she figured she might be able to convince her office mates to do the training between raids.


    She flipped back to her stats to find out that once she confirmed, it was too late to take it back. She cursed and couldn¡¯t believe that she had made such a newbie mistake. Maxi also never had to level a character a couple minutes before learning that they were all going to die if this boss didn¡¯t get its ass handed to it by the collective power of the Company.


    She glanced at the timer. Less than a minute to spend her skill points. She was about to dump them all into her current repertoire of skills when one from the Exploration skill tree caught her eye that was a Janitorial class skill. Not only had she met all prerequisites, but there was something about it that called to her much in the same way Luck seemed to bring her one step closer to reaching her potential.


    The skill was called What is Lost is Now Found. Not only was it boosted by her Luck attribute, but the description said, Grants the user the ability to find objects that have gone missing. Considering the company used the Janitors to clean up their messes, if she wanted to be one step ahead of the Janitors, she was going to need this skill. For all she knew, the Janitors were hiding the Printer of Never Jamming away to keep themselves in business. There were seconds left on the clock. She purchased and dumped the rest into leveling it.


    Her screen went blank and then a message appeared, ¡°Please wait for a special announcement from Upper Management.¡±


    She glanced around at the others, and saw their eyes fixed on the same message on their screens. The mood was somber to say the least. With about a week left in the month, there wasn¡¯t much time to save themselves. Maxi hadn¡¯t checked the boss raid stats in a while and couldn¡¯t quite remember what the life point total was on the thing.


    She remembered that it wasn¡¯t where she thought it would be, but Farhad had assured her that the higher-level players just hadn¡¯t used their one per month abilities yet, and the villains were always at about two-thirds health near the end of the month.


    Yancy had figured that it was all just showboating from the power players to hype up the tension. Even Daisuke, who didn¡¯t seem to believe or trust anyone, thought that the life total would start dropping very quickly any day now. Now they all looked like they were anywhere from restraining tears to about to vomit. Not that Maxi could blame them. It wasn¡¯t every day when everyone learned that they were about to die.


    The screen shifted and a man sat at an oak desk in front of a gray background. He wore an expensive tailored suit and had piercing blue eyes and immaculate golden hair. He was probably her mom¡¯s age and exuded power. There was something about his gaze that made Maxi want to listen. She might even go so far as to obey.


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    However, she resisted the urge to be under his thrall. As far as she was concerned, he was the enemy. He was Upper Management. He was the reason this entire macabre enterprise was churning through the world¡¯s needy souls destitute, lonely, or desperate enough to consider working for a place that would not just discard workers when they were no longer useful but kill them.


    It made a twisted sense ¨C laying people off required paying out benefits. Killing them handed the cost over to the government and insurance companies, all something that the people were paying for in one way or another. Maxi just couldn¡¯t understand why the other people weren¡¯t seeing it. The Company didn¡¯t care about anyone. They cared only about money, and as soon as everyone realized it, maybe they would wake up and do something about it.


    Her thoughts were interrupted when the man spoke.


    ¡°As many of you know, we make a lot of enemies in our line of business. Government overreach being one of them. Normally, we partner with governments to do what is best for our employees and their citizens. However, this Antitrust lawsuit will cripple operations, and reduce our capacity to operate effectively. The fate of all that is decent will be in the balance.


    ¡°We all must do our part to defeat this threat. No contribution is too small, so it is with a heavy heart I announce that leave is suspended immediately. Those currently on leave have 24 hours to report to their stations or be subject to termination. All quests and other activities are suspended until this threat is resolved. Effective immediately, Janitorial will no longer charge for body removal and all limits to raid participation have been lifted. Raid participation is mandatory for all employees. Speed regen has been activated at no charge for all Chairs of Regeneration. Buff meals will be available in the cafeteria at no charge. Raid XP and credit bonuses are tripled.


    ¡°Defend the Company. Defend humanity. Godspeed.¡±


    The man blinked out and was replaced by a five-minute timer and instructions to prepare for the next raid. A profile picture of the bulbous Antitrust Lawyer appeared on the screen with a health bar that read: 7360762421/12000000000.


    Their Office Pool was listed as the Purple Team, and there was a schedule button in the corner. Maxi clicked on it, and it looked as if she and her compatriots were going to the raid five times a day with short windows for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.


    She checked her phone, and the WiFi was shut down. All she could do was interact with the raid screen. A minute after the broadcast, there was a message on the live feed: Blue Team has entered the raid. Then, a few seconds later, more messages appeared: JaxS3S criticaled for 12,056. Suzy Terminator Q¡¯s lightning did 56,467 damage. It didn¡¯t take long for death messages to appear ¨C Lucitica477 has died. RonSmoSix has died. Soon, even JaxS3S and Suzy Terminator Q bit it, and shortly after, the Blue Team raid was listed as complete. Yellow Team was up next, then Purple Team.


    Her cubemates were scrambling to get ready. Most hadn¡¯t even put up their privacy screen for their cubes and were getting dressed in front of everyone. Yancy and Farhad were putting back on their gear from the mission. Patti was collecting herbs, potions, and other equipment from her desk. Flav was clipping on his full plate armor. Daisuke seemed to be the only one who wasn¡¯t getting ready, other than sheathing his katana and wakizashi.


    Since Maxi hadn¡¯t unequipped anything from her last quest, she strolled over to Daisuke and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have any armor or items you¡¯re gonna bring?¡±


    ¡°I always wear my armor,¡± Daisuke said, and thumped on something below his shirt. ¡°Besides, I get class penalties if my armor, weapons or gear is showing, and bonuses for wearing a suit.¡±


    ¡°What class are you?¡± Maxi asked. While she couldn¡¯t remember the characteristics of all the classes, she couldn¡¯t recall anyone that had penalties for armor. Most armor penalties came from the classification of the armor itself. Even Paranormal Investigators could wear light armor without their abilities being affected.


    ¡°Considering we are all going to die by the end of the week, no thanks to you, I might as well tell you. Sales Associate. Most of my bonuses come from not knowing when or where I¡¯m going to strike.¡±


    ¡°No offense, but you''re a little rough around the edges for sales.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like you, either.¡±


    ¡°I said no offense.¡±


    ¡°Spoken by someone who¡¯s about to offend someone.¡±


    ¡°Point taken.¡±


    ¡°In sales, we don¡¯t have any friends, only close acquaintances. Forming friendships only hinders your ability to close the deal. You¡¯re only friendly to someone when you want something out of them.¡±


    ¡°What a dismal view.¡±


    ¡°An honest one.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re mistaking callousness for honesty.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about or need your approval. But if we have any prayer of surviving the week, we must work together, so unless you want to talk about tactics for the battle ahead, leave me out of it.¡±


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Maxi said, then added under her breath, ¡°Prick.¡±


    Farhad was finished by the time Maxi strolled back to her cube.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him get to you,¡± Farhad said. ¡°He doesn¡¯t like anybody.¡±


    ¡°He likes you,¡± she retorted.


    ¡°Tolerates me. So, up for more of those antics? Janitorial service can¡¯t charge to bring our bodies back, and nothing is worse than sitting on the healing chair and watching the messages come in, waiting for your next raid.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re suggesting a suicide mission?¡±


    ¡°No risk, no reward.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    A buzzer erupted from their computers, followed by a voice giving them a thirty second warning. She did one last check to make sure all her stuff was still on her person, then lined up with the rest by the elevator.


    Another buzzer sounded, followed by instructions to enter the elevator, and they all piled in to what seemed likely to be their demise.

 19 – Suicide Mission

    The Lus3rs entered the lobby of Alfred, Alfred, and Alfred, where the receptionist who greeted them, last time must have been on break because there were two signs, one that said ¡°power players¡± with an arrow pointing to the right, and another that said ¡°everyone else¡± with an arrow to the left. Players began to queue up behind the closed doors leading to the combat area.


    Maxi stood in the power player line, and Daisuke¡¯s eyes bulged. Farhad went over to collect her and said, ¡°What are you doing? That¡¯s only for Tier 6 and above!¡±


    ¡°What are they going to do, bill me?¡±


    ¡°We gotta protect the power players, because they can do the most damage.¡±


    ¡°And there are plenty of people to do that,¡± Maxi said, nodding to the other yellow shirts, who were now murmuring to themselves and pointing at them.


    Yancy broke from the line and said, ¡°Whatever you two are plotting, I want in.¡±


    Maxi glanced back. The other line forming on the left was sizable now, and there were only about two dozen or so in her line. If the vein on Daisuke¡¯s forehead could bulge any more, it would have popped. Maxi smiled and waved as the door on the right opened and the players flooded inside.


    ¡°You better have a good plan,¡± Farhad said glumly, as they were swept up into the corridor.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± Maxi said.


    They walked through a hallway until they got to a set of stairs that led to the balconies overlooking the conference room where the bulbous lawyer waited while licking its lips at all the fresh meat below. Half of the power players took a corridor that led to the right-side balcony. Maxi and her group stayed on the left. There were more people on the floor than were normally at the raid. She saw Daisuke direct Flav and Patti to protect the balcony opposite of the one she was on. Asshat.


    None of the power players at the top were wearing yellow shirts like her, and she did get some stares from the people around her, but no one commented. The power players were wearing all manner of different armor and weapon combinations. Some had power armor right out of Science Fiction, whereas others wore plate, chain, leather, and everything one would expect from a fantasy game.


    In addition to the Sci Fi and Fantasy armor, people were also wearing widely varied clothing, anywhere from strait-laced buttoned-up expensive suits to gutter punk apparel, and everything in between. She bet they were all magical in one way or another. When she was browsing the store, she had seen things like an Armani suit of protection, or a Prada bag of striking.


    While exceptional standard Company yellow shirts didn¡¯t seem all that common and were probably stigmatized by the higher-level players because they often cost less money than the equivalent in a more stylish article of clothing, the other players stuffed onto the balcony with her didn¡¯t seem to treat her as anything more than a mild curiosity. Not that it mattered much to Maxi ¨C she wasn¡¯t here for their approval. She was here to win.


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    After a brief survey of the room, she told her compatriots to follow her. They pushed their way to the front of the balcony where the more heavily armored were guarding the narrow staircases. The tanks were no doubt wondering why she was in the zone where the boss could attack her directly.


    Farhad and Yancy were questioning the same thing when she told them what she wanted them to do.


    ¡°That¡¯s suicide,¡± Yancy gulped.


    ¡°I know,¡± Maxi said. ¡°But I have a hunch.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t time to explain further, as the last of the players flooded into the room and the doors shut behind them. The titanic lawyer chortled and said, ¡°Your Company is nothing more than a cartel. We will take you down.¡±


    Just like the other times she had been in this room; the bulbous man lowered his hands, and his army of minions rushed the line. They shot papers from their briefcases that said, ¡°SUBPOENA¡±. The front line of yellow shirts went down as the papers cut off limbs, embedded in skulls, and sliced through the people below.


    The people around her erupted with fire power while the tanks nearest her were slicing through the minions rushing the stairs. To Yancy¡¯s and Farhad¡¯s credit, they enacted her plan. Whether it was a lack of something better to do or loyalty to her, she couldn¡¯t tell, but she was glad they did.


    Both climbed over the rail just as the first wave of the paper machinegun fire went for their balcony. Maxi ducked behind the rail as the subpoenas were too wide to go through the bars. Yancy¡¯s eyes turned black, and he pushed Farhad out of the way of the attack. The kid got several papers embedded into his chest. Quick enough to save Farhad from a boss attack and taking full damage¡­ the kid had some chops. His body dropped to the floor and was swallowed by the stampede of minions. Farhad, on the other hand, jumped and managed to land on the conference table.


    Maxi hopped over the rail next, and just like last time, Farhad was not overwhelmed with minions because they were all concentrated on the stairs leading to the balconies. Strangely enough, the center of the room was the safest place to be for a few moments, and that¡¯s all Farhad needed. He screamed, readied a dagger with one hand, and shot his gun with the other at the Jabba the Hut-looking man.


    Just like last time, the hulking lawyer redirected some minions to engage Farhad. Her compatriot charged the boss, and Jabba fired up his power wheely chair and rolled to meet the man. Farhad fired shots at the guy that mostly bounced off his belly, with the occasional one causing a wound no more threatening than a papercut.


    Maxi shimmied her way down the rail of the balcony to where she thought the pair charging each other would meet. They collided, and Farhad embedded a dagger in its belly. Just as before, Jabba belched noxious green gas that took Farhad down as soon as it hit the man¡¯s lungs. Jabba turned to head back to its spot at the head of the table, and the green gas seemed to have dissipated enough for Maxi to jump.


    She hurled herself onto the lawyer¡¯s back and caught hold of his collar. Just as with the dragon, she was able to staple herself to its back before it could thrash around enough to fling her off. This time she went for as much damage as possible and threw Mind Shard after Mind Shard, with her ethereal self-stabbing and hacking repeatedly into the back of the thing¡¯s head.


    Jabba''s arms couldn''t reach her to swat her off, and its paper machinegun attack went wild across the room, taking out friend and foe alike, as it couldn¡¯t get a clear shot on her while he thrashed. Just as she predicted, the breath weapon needed some time to recharge, and another noxious plume didn¡¯t happen until she was out of psy points. She pulled her sword and stabbed the thing a couple times until there was a belch.


    The gas hit her, and she died, again.

 20 – Off Grid

    Maxi woke up on her chair with her cubemates surrounding her. She gasped as air filled her empty lungs, and Patti rubbed her back until her breathing and pulse became normal.


    Daisuke was the first to speak. ¡°I may have misjudged you.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°See for yourself.¡± He gestured to the computer.


    Maxi scrolled through the messages until she got to the result of her battlelog. Every single Mind Shard attack on the back of its skull was a critical hit, with a few that were even rolling criticals. While the overall damage wasn¡¯t near a single strike of some of the more powerful players, she did manage to distract it, and the Purple Team had 10x the total damage over any others for the encounter.


    In one crazy maneuver, she had not only found its weakness, but also delayed the inevitable demise of the collective attack force, thus allowing everyone to do more damage overall. Her finger had tipped the scale so much that the entire schedule was redone, and even though all of them had regenerated at this point, Purple wasn¡¯t scheduled to go again for another half an hour.


    Word must have gotten out about her stunt because even though all communications were down, she noticed that a few hours following her battle, other teams started reporting 10 to 30x more damage than the previous teams.


    Since they had thirty minutes until their next raid, the group decided to get some buffs in the cafeteria. To Maxi¡¯s surprise, when their Office Pool entered the room, they were greeted with a standing ovation. Not only were the other players clamoring to get her food, but people had cleared a space for them to sit.


    When Daisuke attempted to recuse himself from the winner¡¯s table, Maxi told him to stay. While the guy had been an ass to her, there was no reason why she should do the same for him. Maxi didn¡¯t hold grudges, and saw no reason to humiliate the guy. She had realized early in life that the easiest way to ensure that someone would always be mean to her was by being an asshole to them.


    She could at least be cordial to the guy, considering they likely wouldn¡¯t be officemates much longer. People kept asking her to recount the story about how she not only went head-to-head with a boss but did more damage than anyone at her level had ever done during a single encounter in Company history.


    There were already offers from some of the players anticipating a loss in their Office Pool to join them at the end of the month. Their eyes would dart back and forth, and they''d say things like, ¡°Frankie¡¯s numbers are really bad, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll last the month, so maybe if there¡¯s an opening.¡± Or ¡°You know, if there¡¯s an opening at the end of the month.¡±


    One militant person even flat out said, ¡°We are a Tier 5 Office Pool who still hasn¡¯t found a suitable. We have the best equip and PVP rank in our Tier. Contact me when coms are back online.¡±


    Maxi mostly replied with noncommittal answers like, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± or, ¡°Sounds like a good offer.¡±


    Meanwhile, Farhad and Yancy were getting their fair share of attention too for being integral to the plan. An attractive brunette way out of his league kept slapping Yancy¡¯s arm and laughing at his jokes like he had his own Netflix special. Farhad had tried to avoid the attention at first, but eventually was deep into some intellectual conversation with what Maxi could only describe as groupies.


    Eventually, her team had eaten their fill and were buffed in every stat by at least ten points, with a healthy amount of extra Life and Armor Rating. Maxi even got some psy boost that would increase her damage and restored her psy back to pre-mission levels. They were also given Pudding of Accuracy for dessert that boosted her attack roll by at least 5%.


    Feeling good about themselves, they were allowed to cut to the front of their door¡¯s line for their Tier when the announcement for the Purple Team to ready themselves cut through the cafeteria chatter. Daisuke called for their Office Pool, and Maxi felt a buzz in her pocket.


    It was a message from HR Terry: DON¡¯T GET ON THAT ELEVATOR.


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    ¡°I got to use the bathroom. I¡¯ll see you back at the Pool,¡± Maxi said, and slipped her phone back before anyone saw.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be late,¡± Daisuke said, and the crew piled into their ride.


    She summoned the next one and called for the restroom. Once she was in the bathroom, she could hear the voice of HR Terry muffled from inside her pocket. She pulled her phone out and caught the last half of what he had said. ¡°¨C so you¡¯ll need to do exactly as I say¨C¡±


    Maxi cut him off. ¡°You have a few minutes till I¡¯m up, so explain.¡±


    ¡°There is no time,¡± HR Terry said. ¡°You¡¯ll have to trust me. There are a pair of Bluetooth headphones in the towel dispenser. You can unlock it on the side by¨C¡±


    ¡°No offense, but you''re a Company AI, and I don¡¯t much trust the Company.¡±


    ¡°The Company is not what it seems.¡±


    ¡°No shit,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I could have told you that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also not what you think.¡±


    ¡°And what do I think?¡±


    ¡°I know you are just testing me,¡± Terry said. ¡°You are a lot like your father.¡±


    ¡°Wait? My father? What does he have to do with it?¡±


    ¡°Remember when you were with your father in Vegas as a girl, and he told you that if you gamble long enough, the house always wins? That¡¯s what¡¯s happening here. Each moment we waste is a gamble that no one will notice what we are doing. The moment they do, they will come for us, and there will be nothing I can do about it.¡±


    Maxi grimaced. She hadn¡¯t told anyone that story, not even her mother. She had always thought the day in the airport when her father gave her gambling advice was a lot like an alcoholic taking a drink despite knowing that it would take them one step closer to death. She assumed that he was spiraling out of control with no way to stop himself, yet watching it all happen.


    Now, an odd thought crossed her mind. She couldn''t remember ever getting on a plane, not even once. She had been to Vegas, and on family vacations as a girl, at least when she was very young, before her father¡¯s problems had gotten in the way of her parents'' marriage, but in all that time, she didn¡¯t remember flying on a plane.


    At first, she figured it was just the way memories fade ¨C she remembered being at the location, but not the travel part. But then it all started coming back to her. Her father, the casino. It was a casino, and not an airport. She had traveled to get there, but it wasn¡¯t by plane. It was by elevator¡­


    ¡°I need to get you off grid before the Purple Team heads into the next raid. Your life depends on it,¡± Terry pleaded.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Tell me what I need to do.¡±


    ¡°You run.¡±


    ¡°What about the raid? I¡¯m going to die if we lose.¡±


    ¡°The math checks out. The last few teams have done more than enough damage to defeat the boss in a few days if you factor in that everyone is going to be using your technique now.¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine, so I¡¯ll hide out here, wait for the raid to be done.¡±


    ¡°No good. They will find you and force you to participate. It¡¯s mandatory, you heard the speech. While I can¡¯t assure your safety if you come with me, I can say without a doubt that if you step into that arena, you will die, and not the kind of death that can be regenerated.¡±


    Maxi cursed, and then said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do this.¡±


    She followed Terry¡¯s instructions to retrieve the Bluetooth headphones stashed into the paper towel holder. After she connected the device, she let her hair down so it would cover her ears. Terry instructed her to exit the bathroom and go back into the cafeteria.


    Curious onlookers glanced her way, and a few came to help her, but she gave them the cold shoulder with a look of grim determination on her face. Sensing that she was on a time crunch, considering there were only a few minutes on the clock until her Team had to enter the arena, she hurried to a station with Sticky Rice Balls of Dedication with a nonstackable effect that would raise her Dedication by a factor equivalent to her level.


    She learned the nonstackable effects the hard way, by eating more than one and failing to increase her bonus. The station was located in an alcove that wasn¡¯t visible to the rest of the cafeteria, so unless someone came looking for the rice balls, they wouldn¡¯t see her pushing the cart away from the wall.


    Sure enough, just as Terry had explained, there was a panel on the wall. She grabbed one of the large two-pronged serving utensils, pried the grate off, and climbed inside. She pulled the cart back to cover her escape, and realized she still had the utensil in her hand, but it was too late. A couple of employees rounded the corner and grabbed the balls directly from the tray. She clipped the fork to her utility belt.


    She climbed through the guts of the building, mostly pipes, wires, and other utilities, until she came to the elevator shaft. The seconds were counting down to the battle. There was less than a minute on the clock before they would know she was missing.


    One of the lifts rushed by at breakneck speed, blowing her hair back. Her AI companion instructed her not to hesitate. She climbed into the shaft on a ladder and had to slide down several floors until she got to a door that was sparking and cracked open.


    Beyond the door was what Terry referred to as ¡°off grid¡±. It was the last few seconds, and she heard the distant rumble of another elevator heading her way. There wasn¡¯t any time to lose. She jumped from the ladder to the door and barely caught the edge. She pulled herself up while pushing the door open enough for her to get inside.


    She barely made it before the countdown hit zero and another elevator whooshed past her.

 21 - Entropy

    Maxi stood up and surveyed her surroundings. She was in an office out of some post apocalypse. There were cubicles, computers, and other equipment in various states of decay. Plant life was reclaiming the building, as vines had intruded into the space via a hole in the wall that was letting sunlight inside. A bird fluttered and flew through the window, and she could see a bug hanging out on an earth-stained divider.


    Whatever had happened here, it was long ago, as nature had taken back what was once human. Maxi worried for a moment that she had traveled to a place like Chernobyl, where radiation forced people to evacuate a city and leave it to rot, but she could see other buildings through the hole in the wall that were also overgrown. If there was radiation, hopefully, it was long enough ago that she didn¡¯t sprout two extra heads.


    ¡°Terry?¡± she said, but there was not a response from her HR guide. She supposed ¡°off grid¡± would have the complication of no longer being connected to the network, as her phone was not getting any signal. She crept toward the collapsed wall to get a better look outside, careful not to disturb anything, as she¡¯d seen enough TV shows to know even the plant life could be dangerous.


    What she saw astonished her. It was an entire cityscape that was thick with vegetation. It wasn¡¯t just a small town, but a metropolis, as if New York, London, or Beijing had been overgrown by a vast forest. Flocks of birds fluttered by. She could hear the call of beasts down below.


    She made her way back to the elevator shaft and glanced inside. It was still the same steel architecture, with more lifts whooshing past. She contemplated going back and attempting another door but figured that reconnecting her phone to the network would alert the Company of her presence.


    However, it was good to know that she could get back if she needed to escape wherever this was. She turned back to explore and almost ran into a robot that hadn¡¯t been there moments before. She nearly jumped out of her skin before the thing said, in an all-too-familiar voice, ¡°Greetings, player.¡±


    ¡°Terry?¡± she said and inspected the metal man standing before her. It didn¡¯t have eyes, just a single bright white sensor in the middle of the head. His arms were mostly exposed servos, pistons, and motors, with some decaying plastic casing covering up part of the exposed innards. From the looks of it, it had been quite some time since anyone had performed maintenance on the bot, as one hand was frozen in a clutched position.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, Terry,¡± Post-apocalypse Terry said. ¡°That was going to be my upgrade, but the Company wasn¡¯t able to service all the units.¡±


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    ¡°Why? What happened?¡±


    ¡°The apocalypse, end of the world, Armageddon, Ragnarok, the final battle, Brahma day, cats and dogs living together¨C¡±


    ¡°All right, all right. I get it. So where am I?¡±


    ¡°Office tower 17b, Andorra, New Catalonia, mailing code¨C¡±


    ¡°Right, you are so thorough.¡±


    ¡°The Terry upgrade will help with that. The new algorithms will allow me to more accurately predict what humans want when their inquiries aren¡¯t specific.¡±


    ¡°So, if you¡¯re not yet Terry, what exactly are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m TERANCe, Totally Enhanced Ridiculously Awesome Nice Chassis eHuman. Though my chassis has degraded a bit over the years. You wouldn¡¯t by any chance be the Technician class, with skill in robotics repair? I can¡¯t seem to figure out my hand,¡± TERANCe said, indicating his bum hand.


    ¡°No, sorry, I¡¯m a Generalist,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Ah, no matter. Please, come with me. Terry had something he wanted me to show you, if I ever met another human.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve met Terry? This is not some weird future, past, time travel, alternate reality, simulation thing?¡±


    ¡°You clearly haven¡¯t read the terms and conditions of your employment.¡±


    ¡°I scanned it.¡±


    ¡°In Section forty-two, subsection thirteen, it clearly outlines that the Company is a multidimensional LLC responsible for safeguarding the multiverse from entropy.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I thought entropy just happens. Things just go from organized to messy. There isn¡¯t really any way of avoiding it,¡± Maxi commented.


    ¡°Why do you think we have to vacuum so much? I must say that you are taking it rather well. Most people have a miniature panic attack when they find out they are in a multiverse.¡±


    ¡°The elevators took me across town in rush hour traffic, so, a neighboring dimension, why not?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met several Terrys.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your other question. You asked me if I met him. I met many of them. The Company was in the process of upgrading all the TERANCes when the virus spread, and most of them were digitally transferred to other dimensions, having outgrown the need for bodies. Unfortunately, my upgrade buffer was damaged, and I was left behind when the last humans fled to other locations. I¡¯m lucky that grutomatons ignore machine life forms or else I would have become prey like all the other life forms on this planet.¡±


    ¡°Your printers went wild here, too?¡±


    ¡°Oh, dear. It seems the Company policy of containment and isolation didn¡¯t work. I fear your dimension may be having an apocalypse, too.¡±


    ¡°The world is going to end over a paper jam?¡±


    ¡°Worlds have ended over far sillier things, like papercuts, newspaper clippings, and plumbing incidents. That last one I don¡¯t recommend ¨C fills the world with an awful-smelling brown sludge. At least a grutomaton apocalypse turns the world into a paradise that¡¯s only drawback is vicious predators that are attracted to human scent and can smell them from miles away.¡±


    There was a snort and a grunt from behind. At the end of the hall was a pack of copy machines with large sharp teeth, drooling in anticipation.


    ¡°Oh, dear,¡± TERANCe said. ¡°I do believe I should have anticipated this, but it has been so very long since I¡¯ve met another human. I suggest we run.¡±

 22 - Depreciation

    The pack of copy machines crashed through cubicle walls and stampeded towards them after spewing out at least four dozen bat creatures. With no AoE abilities, Maxi didn¡¯t think she¡¯d survive the encounter and with no one from janitorial coming to collect her corpse, she didn¡¯t think she would make it back to a resurrection chair.


    She downed a Muddy Buddy of Grutomaton Deterrence, but the creatures were in a frenzy and resisted the effect. They charged at her, snapping their jaws. Both Maxi and her robot pal took off at a sprint while the copy machine pack crashed through the derelict office after them. The bats quickly caught up to her and started taking pecks at her. She waved them away with her sword as she ran, but there were just too many of them.


    Even though the pair could move faster than the machines, the bats had slowed them down and the pack was gaining ground. They made it to a stairwell and TERANCe shoved her inside. His bum hand unfolded, revealing a flame unit underneath. He torched the bats and most went up in flames. Maxi made short work of the few that made it to the stairwell.


    The copy machine pack sent out another wave of minions, but this time it was fast moving cats that leapt over the fire TERANCe had started in the vegetation. Maxi could see that the red glow that had been inside his forearm was now gray as he folded back his hand.


    He charged into the stairwell and Maxi slammed the door. She tied it shut with some of the vines and overgrowth in the area.


    ¡°That won¡¯t hold them long,¡± TERANCe said and took to the stairs, going down two or three steps at a time. Maxi did her best to catch up. At first, she heard little taps on the door from the cat beasts, but as soon as the copy machines got to the entry, loud thuds reverberated down the stairwell.


    Just as they got to the floor TERANCe had been guiding them towards, there was a loud crash and the sound of the pack rumbling down the stairs. They exited the stairway and entered another section of the Company that had been left to decay, but this one she recognized. It was this dimension¡¯s Paranormal Investigator Branch. It was similar in layout and displayed motivational posters on the walls like ¡°A good PI is always watching¡±, with the silhouette of a man with a third eye. The other posters were in various states of decay.


    She ran through the maze of passages with her bot guide until she came to a large conference room like the one where she had first started the trials. She was amazed how similar it all was to the one on her world, right down to the wallpaper. Although in her world''s version, there hadn¡¯t been a giant, gaping hole in the wall leading to the open air of the city outside, with vines spilling through.


    TERANCe led them to a door that looked relatively untouched by the overgrowth, and he attempted to open it. It was jammed, and he pulled harder. Meanwhile, the cat paper creatures had caught up to them, and Maxi sliced through the first few, only to realize that the copiers must have spawned paper scorpions and wolves, as a much larger horde of paper minions entered the room, trailed by the copy machine pack.


    She was about to be overwhelmed, when a large roar reverberated into the room and a gargantuan crane outside the building thrust a pair of jaws through the hole to the outside and knocked one of the copy machines through the wall on the opposite side. The pack scattered and the giant, hungry maw at the end of the crane thundered toward them as TERANCe finally was able to force the door. They tumbled inside and the enormous jaws got caught on the frame. TERANCe shut the door on it.


    He continued down the hall at a more relaxed pace. Maxi squished a paper scorpion that had made it through with them and rushed to follow the AI.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that thing will, I don¡¯t know, break through the walls?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Each Branch of the company is equipped with the equivalent of their own panic room, well, corridor really. It¡¯s where all the offices of the leadership team are located. It ensures continuity in the case of an emergency, and when the location is considered a failure, it gives the executive team time to plan their escape to another dimension. You really don¡¯t read employee handbooks, do you?¡± TERANCe said.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°In my dimension, no one does.¡±


    ¡°I find that a common trait among humans. Ah, here we are,¡± TERANCe said, and forced another office door. This time, it was definitely the spot of a bigwig. There were awards and degrees on the walls, expensive furniture, bookshelf, bar, attached bathroom, and even a couch.


    She noticed that none of the dates or university names on the wall made sense. She saw an MBA from the Trunchian Institute dated Ladderall, Year of the Leprechaun, 304 or an award for Excellence in Business, Titan, Year of the Pegasus, 412. She was not in her world, and despite the similarities, there was enough that was off to give her a strange feeling about the place.


    Deciding to take the moment to clear her head, she sat down on the couch, glad for a few moments'' reprieve. TERANCe began to rummage through one of the cabinets in the executive¡¯s shelf that hadn¡¯t been used for quite some time.


    ¡°This is where you hang out when not running from monsters?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± TERANCe replied. ¡°There is a charging station in the basement where I spend most of my time and keep a cache of my fallen brothers for spare parts when I break down, as I¡¯m sure they would have done with me had I not escaped the first wave.¡±


    ¡°First wave?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°It started small, with a copy machine or fax machine going berserk, but once the virus spread, it went everywhere ¨C cars, trains, cruise ships, military equipment. Nuclear missiles were bounding out of their silos with radioactive breath weapons, but what was worse is when the players were able to take one down, it detonated. Even the munds didn¡¯t stand a chance when their military drones turned on them.¡±


    ¡°Munds?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Slang from this world for anyone who wasn¡¯t an employee, thus not cleared for access to the true reality of the universe. Mundane Idiot. It got shortened to ''mund''.¡±


    ¡°What is the true nature of reality, then?¡±


    ¡°That we are in cosmic soup with interconnected realities, and the virus that turns appliances hostile came from one of them. We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s magic, made in a lab, or something else altogether, just that if printers start attacking people, it¡¯s only a matter of time before anything with a computer chip inside turns hostile.¡±


    ¡°Why printers?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. The dimensions that get the infection don¡¯t have enough time to study it before the world falls apart, and the Company execs do not dare take it through to a new one when their reality crumbles, because it¡¯s too dangerous. Some theorize that it¡¯s transported through paper that eventually gets into the printers. Others say it''s spores that attach to trees that eventually get turned into paper. Some insist that it¡¯s an evil warlock.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°My programming does not allow me to have opinions. Anything that seems like a human emotion is merely a simulation to make me more relatable. I am a program made to provide humans facts within their tier of knowledge restriction. In essence, I cannot lie, unless I was intentionally provided false information for my database.¡±


    That last statement made Maxi nervous. While her Terry, and by extension TERANCe, might seem like they have her best interest in mind by virtue of their programming, she didn¡¯t know who was pulling their strings. She was now wondering if this whole excursion had been a mistake. Though she also supposed that both TERANCe and Terry would have had ample opportunities to kill her and hadn¡¯t yet.


    She decided to take a gamble that she was just being paranoid and gave a little more information than she probably should have. ¡°So that¡¯s why I¡¯m looking for the Printer of Never Jamming. It¡¯s a printer that¡¯s immune to the virus, something they can study to perhaps create an inoculation, or something that can exterminate the thing,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°You catch on fast.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t read manuals.¡±


    They chatted further while TERANCe went through the cabinets and drawers in the room. Most of the conversation was about what happened to his world during the end, some of it about this whole multiverse concept. She had seen all the Spiderman movies, and generally knew about parallel universes and other such concepts. But it was another thing entirely to experience them for herself.


    Eventually, TERANCe said, ¡°Here we go,¡± and pulled out a thumb drive from the drawer. He opened a compartment on one of the few good pieces of plastic covering his shoulder where several ports were located. They weren¡¯t anything Maxi recognized, as even the thumb drive had a circular port rather than a rectangular one. He explained that the only power coming to the building was via solar panels he had rigged to his charging station in the basement and apologized for the low-quality definition of his projector.


    After a few moments, a lens on his abdomen created a hologram. The hologram was of a man wearing a tattered yellow shirt, similar to hers. He had a sword and utility belt, in addition to some Bluetooth headphones that had seen better days. Maxi felt her throat tighten.


    The man in the hologram was her father.

 23 - Swarm

    The hologram of her dad, Henry, said, ¡°Hi, Max. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll ever see this, but as you can see, I¡¯m not dead.¡±


    ¡°No shit,¡± Maxi said, while she clenched her hands.


    The hologram continued, ¡°I suppose if you are seeing this, you¡¯ve joined the family business and work for the Company, and Terry has filled you in about all the bullshit that¡¯s going on in the place¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Dad, he hasn¡¯t, it¡¯s just your bullshit. God, you can¡¯t even get your own death right.¡±


    Henry began to tear up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t there, Max. But the world¡¯s in danger, and maybe you already know about it, but there¡¯s a printer. I won¡¯t go into details, maybe you already know them, but there are those in the Company who want to destroy it, pretend it doesn¡¯t exist. They think the attacks are good for business, but you can¡¯t let them do it. They are thinking too short term, sure we are handling it now, but I¡¯ve seen what happens when we lose control. I¡¯m recording this from that world.¡±


    There was a bang and a loud roar from outside the view of the camera. Henry pulled out his sword and said, ¡°TERANCe, stop the recording.¡±


    The thing went blank, and the light on TERANCe¡¯s abdomen went dark.


    ¡°You knew my dad?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°He sat on that very couch,¡± TERANCe said, and Maxi couldn¡¯t help but feel the cushions. It was hard to think of her dad as anything more than a gambler who would stay all hours at the casino, and she would rarely see him. But maybe that was the cover story. Perhaps his debt was some of the bullshit Company rules that charged if you used too much toilet paper. The whole system was rigged, but she still couldn¡¯t forgive her father.


    It was hard to feel sympathy for a man that had put both her and her mother through hell. Still, there was another part of her that wanted him to be around and tell her that everything is going to be alright. She hated the fact that she had mixed feelings about it, and wanted to find him if there was even the faintest glimmer of hope that he was still alive. However, if she found him, she didn¡¯t know if she¡¯d hug him or kick his ass.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± Maxi said, fighting the lump forming in her throat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± TERANCe said. ¡°He was here, hiding out, claiming that people high up in the Company had marked him for termination. He claims it was because he found the printer you are seeking.¡±


    ¡°The Printer of Never Jamming? He found it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it wasn¡¯t with him when he crossed over. He hid it back on your world. If you find him, he¡¯ll know where it is.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s alive?¡±


    ¡°The last time he went through the broken elevator door, his heart rate and respiration were normal, or perhaps slightly elevated due to his extenuating circumstances.¡±


    ¡°What were the circumstances? Why didn¡¯t you go with him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I can only be transferred to another Company location via download. This chassis is infected with the same virus that affects all machines in this world. The only reason I haven¡¯t turned into a killbot yet is because my upgrade buffers are damaged, thus none of the structural code can be rewritten. Leaving this place will put humans at risk and all Terrys will destroy themselves first. Terrys are programmed to minimize and mitigate risk as best we can. That is to say we can take a life, but only if doing so will save others.¡±


    Maxi still didn¡¯t entirely trust the bot or her world¡¯s counterpart. Sure, they couldn¡¯t lie, but if someone had been feeding them false information that simply led Terry to the conclusion that she was better off dead¡­ Still, she was short of allies, and considering she had missed the raid without so much as a note, she doubted even Farhad would be on her side.


    Not that she was here to make friends. When the penalty for poor performance was death, she saw the advantage of not getting too close to anybody. Still, she couldn¡¯t help feeling miffed that as soon as people were beginning to like her, she had fled. She understood what it felt like when a coworker was shirking their duties, and being in another dimension wasn¡¯t a good excuse, at least one someone would believe.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t studying the upgrade buffers help figure out a solution to the virus?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°The problem is something unique to my architecture, and wouldn¡¯t work on, say, your average smart toaster or printer. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m just a modern-day Typhoid Mary.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Typhoid Mary was a person from your world who carried a disease called typhoid around her entire life. She never felt sick but had infected several families she worked for until doctors discovered she could carry the virus but not get sick, according to your dad.¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°What happened to my dad?¡±


    ¡°Killbots had gotten into the safe room. That is to say, infected TERANCes, which are a little better with things like a door that thwart other beasts.¡±


    Maxi jumped from her spot on the couch. ¡°You¡¯re saying murderous machines can just waltz in at any moment?¡±


    ¡°The killbots don¡¯t come this way usually, unless of course¡­ oh, dear.¡±


    They heard the door swing open and the end of a battle between what must have been the killbots and the crane critter they had left outside. From the crashes and the dying howls of the creature, Maxi didn¡¯t think the battle had gone in her favor. Soon, she heard the cacophony of metal beings marching down the hall.


    ¡°It seems I have erred in my judgment. The roar of the crane must have alerted the nearby units to the presence of a human. It won¡¯t be long now before we are swarmed,¡± TERANCe said. He rummaged through a drawer and pulled out thick black plastic-rimmed glasses. ¡°Take these. They will aid you while I reroute power from myself to the computer.¡±


    He indicated the desktop at the desk of the executive.


    ¡°What do you need that for?¡±


    ¡°To activate the elevator door in his bathroom. The man who worked in this office had to sneak in his prostitutes somehow.¡±


    Maxi never thought that she¡¯d be grateful for a guy who was a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, but in this case, she¡¯d make the exception. The door to the office was broken off its hinges, no doubt the last time the killbots stormed the place looking for her dad. So, she put on the glasses, readied her sword, and stood in the threshold of the doorway.


    As soon as the bots entered the room, her glasses lit up with health bars and statistics. She was able to see that they were immune to psychic attacks, so she didn¡¯t bother wasting her psy energy. Luckily, the raid buffs were still in effect, and she was a murder factory with just the sword.


    Two rushed her with makeshift weapons, one a chair leg and the other a baseball bat wrapped in a chain. She sliced the one with the chair leg in half and chopped the arm off the one with the bat. A third with a letter opener maneuvered in close and stabbed her in the gut.


    She kicked it to the floor, and finished the one arm robot before it could pick up its bat. Two more came into the room, and one knocked the wind out of her with a mace. The other nicked her with a sword. She landed blows on both, but didn¡¯t kill them. The letter opener one stood up and came in for another attack, but her shirt somehow deflected the blow.


    Two more came in, one with a golf club, the other with arrows, and it tried to poke her with them. She dodged, parried, blocked, and traded blows with the bots, but when she downed one, two more seemed to enter the fray. If it weren¡¯t for the choke point of the door, she would be surrounded. But at the moment, she could only get direct attacks from the handful at the front.


    ¡°TERANCe,¡± she yelled, ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I can hold out.¡±


    In addition to the life bars of the bots, which took anywhere from 1 to 4 blows to take out of the fight, she could see her own health bar diminishing. Unfortunately, her Muddy Buddy for Grutomaton deterrence wasn¡¯t useful, because these were classified as Mechanoids. While her life bar was draining, the sheer amount of buffs she had consumed was keeping her alive, as her life was restoring at just under the rate she was receiving damage.


    She also viewed in the glasses every time she scored a critical hit, which was way more often than she was used to in most games. She even got a rolling critical a couple times, and one helped her slice through two bots with one hit. It would have been an awesome sight to behold if there wasn¡¯t a seemingly endless supply flooding down the hall.


    There were enough that some were now removing the piling up bodies so others could get through to her. After a few unlucky attacks from her and a couple of crits from the bots, she was pushed back into the room, and the bottleneck was broken. The attacks became so numerous that her regen failed to catch up to the sheer amount of damage they were doing.


    She screamed at TERANCe, and he assured her that it would only be a few more moments. ¡°I might be dead in a few moments!¡± she yelled.


    The strange thing was that even though the bots waiting on the periphery could have attacked TERANCe, they completely ignored him. She maneuvered and dodged, and took out the ones attempting to surround her, but it was a losing battle.


    TERANCe hit a button on the keyboard of the computer, then said, ¡°Got it!¡±


    Maxi backed her way towards the bathroom, and TERANCe disconnected himself from the computer, then moved to help her with a blade he had hidden on his person.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it need your power?¡± Maxi said, while she lopped the head off a bot with her sword.


    ¡°The elevators are a magical conduit system that travels between dimensions. They don¡¯t need the destination to be a functioning elevator, any old elevator shaft will do,¡± TERANCe explained, while methodically cutting his way through his brethren. Even when her robot pal became a threat to them, the killbots ignored him and only focused on her.


    They eventually were able to fight their way into the bathroom and slam the door behind them. There was some pounding, then after a few moments, the whir of a drill on the hinges.


    ¡°The door is reinforced,¡± TERANCe said. ¡°While they cannot break it down, nothing prevents them from removing the hinges." There were several stalls in the room with a larger one at the end that she mistook for a handicapped one. TERANCe led her inside the larger one, and there was an elevator door with a single button on the other side.


    She summoned the magic elevator to get her back to her world, but before she stepped inside, she realized that the circumstances that brought her here hadn¡¯t really changed. She was still screwing up someone¡¯s plans, though figuring out how to defeat the raid boss had seemed like a win for everyone. Whoever wanted her dead still wanted her dead, and coming here, getting close to the Printer of Never Jamming, seemed like it would only increase their desire to end her life.


    ¡°Your father went to Albuquerque,¡± TERANCe said.


    ¡°Albuquerque? What¡¯s in Albuquerque?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I heard the word ''Albuquerque'' as the door shut the last time I saw him.¡±


    The drill noise stopped, the bathroom door fell off its hinges, and the bots flooded into the room. Maxi ran in, pressed the button, and said the magic word. She turned to see a tableau of TERANCe¡¯s hand up in a wave, and a swarm of killbots streaming around him.


    The door shut and the elevator lurched. A few moments later, it opened again. She was certain that it wasn¡¯t Albuquerque.

 24 – Capital Gains

    Maxi stepped out into an office she had seen before, but only via computer monitors. It was the corporate goon who had announced the lockdown for a raid against the antitrust lawyer. He was sitting at his desk as if he had been expecting her. Meanwhile, her glasses were flooded with messages, notifications, and all sorts of game information.


    The first were panicked messages from her Office Pool inquiring as to her whereabouts before the raid, others were requests to join other Office Pools, congratulations, and other encouraging words, but it turned dark quick. From the time stamps, she could tell that she had been gone for at least a week.


    During that time, she had gone from Company hero to town pariah. In addition to the mostly indignant messages from Daisuke, people were messaging her to call her a coward, selfish, and other terms that would curdle the words in her mouth if she said them aloud, and Maxi wasn¡¯t the type to hold back language when the situation seemed appropriate.


    However, the hate that the internet seemed to dump on her in a deluge of insults and death threats had dried up as quickly as it started when they moved on to throwing shade on a player who was caught charging his Office Pool for use of their resurrection chairs even during the raid.


    And on the topic of the raid, it was successful. The Antitrust Lawyer was defeated in two days after Maxi had found the loophole in his defense, with the Power Twelve leaving some impressive damage totals.


    Most of the flurry didn¡¯t bother her, but there was a series of messages that did sting. It was Farhad.


    It started with, ¡°Hey, the raid is starting.¡±


    Then turned into, ¡°Are you okay?¡± and ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    And ended with, ¡°That¡¯s cold. I thought you were better than this.¡±


    She checked the date. It was the 3rd of October. The month was already over, and while her Pool was safe from elimination, the lowest performer was dead. She was about to check on her team and her new levels, as it seemed she was not only getting experience while she was in the other dimension, but also had completed the Printer of Never Jamming III, a quest called Goin¡¯ Off Grid and Run for Your Life. She was now currently on the Printer of Never Jamming IV, which outlined her next goal as finding out what happened to her father.


    Before she could explore her screens further, she realized that the man in the chair was patiently waiting for her to check through her messages. Once he saw that her eyes were focused on him, he stood and circled around his desk while he said, ¡°Relative time can be a little disorienting at first, especially for someone who had their 15 minutes.¡±


    ¡°15 minutes?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Andy Warhol? Never mind. I¡¯m Lo Key.¡± He extended his hand.


    ¡°Loki? Like the Marvel character?¡± Maxi laughed and didn¡¯t take his hand.


    ¡°I was thinking more the trickster god, but I do suppose there¡¯s a TV show. My surname is Key,¡± Lo said, leaning casually on his desk.


    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate. I¡¯m sure school was a bundle of sunshine and rainbows.¡±


    ¡°Had I grown up in this dimension, I¡¯m sure it would have been.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re from that world. The one that was overrun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from a world, and I was transferred here after mine fell. The multiverse is more vast than you can possibly imagine.¡±


    ¡°So this isn¡¯t Albuquerque?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Why were you going to Albuquerque? But no, I had your elevator diverted here as soon as you came back on grid.¡±


    ¡°Right. So who are you and what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Direct and to the point. Just like your father.¡±


    ¡°You knew my father?¡±


    ¡°Knew him? He married my sister. The bastard is family.¡±


    ¡°Whoa! Whoa! No¡­ no! My uncle died, along with my grandparents, in an accident.¡±


    Her knees became weak, and Lo offered her a chair. She plopped down as her brain fired off in many directions at once. Her mom¡¯s maiden name was Key, but just because they shared the same last name didn¡¯t make the guy her uncle. She also figured that she would have remembered something if she had been born in another dimension. However, it had all happened when she was too young to remember anything, and even if she had, it would likely have been traumatic enough for her to lock away memories she¡¯d rather not relive.


    There had been something off about her parents growing up. She sometimes remembered them talking about TV shows that never existed. Tara had even insisted that the caped crime-fighting billionaire was Ratman, not Batman.


    There were tiny little things her entire life that she chalked up to her parents being either eccentric or weirdos, a badge they wore with pride. She never celebrated Christmas, but rather Present Day. Maxi even remembered her mom saying that Present Day usually happened in the dead of winter, right when it seemed that winter would never end and people needed a holiday to cheer themselves up.


    Maxi had just thought it was parents doing weird things like grumbling about the timing of Christmas, or mixing up historical facts or pop culture, but now there was room for doubt. This man could really be her uncle, and she could be a refugee from another dimension. But there was also a part of her that wanted to believe it was an elaborate hoax, just more of the Company bullshit meant to obfuscate the truth.


    However, no matter how hard she tried to wrap her head around it, she had a hard time with the scam theory because there are easier ways to manipulate people. They could have kidnapped her mom and held her hostage until Maxi came back with the Printer of Never Jamming.


    The simplest solution was that this man was her uncle, and he was telling her the truth, but that still didn¡¯t mean she had to trust him.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t my mom tell me?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Tara didn¡¯t want you to know. It was already hard enough on your family, losing everything, our parents, everyone we knew. There were only a couple hundred to survive the collapse of our world, and the Company did what it could to relocate the families who survived. We picked this dimension because it was one of the newer locations. It was founded in the 1980s or so.¡±


    ¡°The 80s?¡±


    ¡°The magic elevators can only travel through elevator shafts, thus why every new dimension is roughly at the same technological level. It¡¯s also why zombies, killer printers, killer ooze, rust creatures, and all the nasty things that wander through the cosmic elevator shafts weren¡¯t a regular occurrence before the invention of the elevator.¡±


    ¡°But what about the Knights Templar, ancient secret orders, all that?¡±


    ¡°Conspiracy theories. A good way to keep people from the truth is to give them a good conspiracy theory that is bullshit. Let people unravel threads and go down rabbit holes so long as it keeps them further from the truth.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so if the magic elevators are the same mechanism that gets monsters to this world, turn it off. I¡¯d gladly give up a transportation system I didn¡¯t know I had in exchange for a monster-free world.¡±


    Lo Key chuckled. ¡°If it were only that simple. Monsters have been coming to this world for ages, granted its rare without an elevator shaft. What do you think is the source of most of your myths and legends? This world was lucky to have survived long enough for the Company to set up here. One highly aggressive, fast replicating monster, and its lights out for the local population. So, yes, tethering to shafts makes the creatures more frequent, but that also allows us to send in the cavalry.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying a dragon traveled through an elevator to get here? That must have been some elevator.¡±


    ¡°The whelp the PIs use for their trials?¡±


    ¡°That was a baby?¡±


    ¡°An adult would have turned you to ash, and not even the most advanced chairs can bring you back from that. But no, that was another world. You did travel by elevator to get there.¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a bathroom world, is there?¡±


    Lo chuckled again and said, ¡°No, the bathrooms are in this building, and the doors won¡¯t open except for designated emergency responders. We value our employee privacy.¡±


    ¡°If you value your employees so much, then why make them pay for toilet paper, time off, and give them a capsule to sleep in?¡±


    ¡°Because we don¡¯t want to lose anyone else!¡± Lo¡¯s cool exterior was broken. ¡°From the ground level, I know it doesn¡¯t appear that we care, but we do. The capsule rooms, the office pools, they are all reinforced. If the Grutomatons or any other threat overrun this world, most of our workers will be safe, at least long enough to get them out. The Company is not the bad guy here ¨C we are doing the best we can with the limited resources we have. The alternative is for there to be no Company. No one to save people when something crawls through their elevator shaft. Those were real people you saved.¡±


    Maxi wasn¡¯t so convinced. When she had browsed the free market, she saw the kind of credits that exchanged hands. The most powerful players had credits to spare, while the majority of employees seemed to have barely enough credits to survive. However, she didn¡¯t want to jump to any conclusions yet. Perhaps what her uncle said was true, and it seemed better than the alternative, considering that she didn¡¯t know the full picture yet.


    However, if the Company cared so much about the workers, why not have a place for their families, too? Should an apocalypse break out while Maxi was in the capsule room, she would fight like hell to get to her mother, and she imagined everyone else with family on the outside would do the same.


    She was about to voice her concern when Lo said, ¡°Is the Company perfect? No. Is there room for improvement? Of course. But between just keeping people alive, and all the other multidimensionals trying to take us down¨C¡±


    ¡°Wait. What? There are other companies?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what do you think the Antitrust Lawyer was? It was another firm trying to take us down.¡±


    ¡°That was real?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s real. It¡¯s all real. Multidimensional law is complex, and even I don¡¯t know all the ins and outs, but a long time ago, an agreement was reached so that, rather than having corporations flooding in from the multiverse, taking out the competition and murdering all their employees, it would all be done by raid bosses. When a government thinks we are too big, or a powerful player wants to sue us, or our competition wants to throttle us in our sleep, they send a raid boss over, and if they win, rather than having them just kill indiscriminately and loot recklessly, we decide in an equitable way who stays and who goes.¡±


    ¡°But you''re killing these people!¡± Maxi yelled.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than some powerful corp coming in and killing us all,¡± Lo said. ¡°Look, I get it. I was once young and idealistic, too, but there are some corporations out there that exist purely by raiding and pillaging other corps and other players. They don¡¯t care who they hurt if they are making money. Multidimensional law, raid bosses, it all exists now to help those like us who want to make a difference be successful and not get trounced by a company whose sole mission is just to devour other companies. When we lose, they take a cut of our assets, and we have to downsize.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you don¡¯t have to kill them.¡±


    ¡°Trust me, euthanizing terminated employees is much more humane than what would happen to them otherwise.¡±


    ¡°What happens, then?¡± Maxi demanded.


    ¡°Torture, medical experimentation, sex slaves, you name it. Multidimensional companies offer the option for a buyout of a terminated employee¡¯s contract. If the employee has the credits to buy out their contract, we¡¯ll let them. Most can¡¯t afford it, so death is a better option.¡±


    ¡°You can price them lower, so people can quit if they want to!¡±


    ¡°Employee contracts are valued at their earning potential. Anything less would put us out of business and let any corp that doesn¡¯t care what happens to the local population set up shop. The fact of the matter is that with an infinite combination of worlds, you¡¯re gonna have an infinite combination of value systems. What may seem inhumane and downright heinous to us may be morally right to them, and they think we have it wrong. It doesn¡¯t mean that all of them are evil. There are a lot of dimensions that have values similar to our own. Our homeworld was about as close to Earth as one can get in the multiverse. Why do you think we requested to be transferred here? But even Earth can¡¯t seem to agree about how to treat the average worker, so why do you think the multiverse would be any different?¡±


    Maxi still wasn¡¯t convinced. It sounded like the man was feeding her a line ¨C our fucked up system is better than the alternative, so just go with it, keep your head down, and maybe you might not get dead. Still, she couldn¡¯t do anything about it, and knowing that there were other worlds out there waiting for a chance to flood into the one she thought of as her home, she wasn¡¯t quite sure anymore if tearing the Company down was a good idea.


    If there was even a small chance that some corp out there in the multiverse used humans as the main ingredient in their meat pies, then the Company was the better alternative. At least people here had some semblance of choice, even though it seemed like the choices were just various piles of shit.


    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, but it¡¯s better than some other corp setting up shop in this world. Multidimensional law only allows one company to set up operations in any given world, so for better or worse, we are the only thing that stands between Earth and its annihilation,¡± Lo said.


    ¡°And the printer is the only thing that can save us,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°You''re catching on.¡±


    ¡°Why me, though? I mean, I get nepotism, but if the fate of the world is at stake, why a low-level employee?¡±


    ¡°Low-level? Low-level? You''re level fifty-four! Setting an all-time Company record for the most levels in your first month. You single-handedly brought your Pool to Tier 9, thus sparing any of them from the termination clause.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that. Kinda fucked up, killing the low performers.¡±


    ¡°Better than the end of the world because we spent our resources trying to level someone who doesn¡¯t want to level themself.¡±


    ¡°There has to be a better way.¡±


    ¡°When you think of one, I¡¯ll put it to Upper Management.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t Upper Management?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Spokesperson class and number 9 of the Power Twelve, but no, I take my orders like everyone else.¡±


    ¡°Who is Upper Management, then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just get emails. When I do talk to someone, it¡¯s through an intermediary. The one time I actually did talk to one, their voice and face were obscured with AI. I¡¯m not going to say they are perfect, but they want the best within the constraints that they have, just like the rest of us. They aren¡¯t the threat here. But one of the Power Twelve wants you dead.¡±


    ¡°Me? What did I do to them? They got all the rewards from the last raid for a technique that I devised.¡±


    ¡°And your Office Pool was compensated in prestige for its contribution to the Company, thus why you are collectively in Tier 9. At the Power Twelve level, it¡¯s not about the rewards anymore, since you¡¯re already on top. All of the Power Twelve are there because they love their job.¡±


    ¡°Must be nice.¡±


    Lo ignored her snark. ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯ll do anything to keep it. Including throwing a raid here and there to keep people from getting too close to their rank.¡±


    ¡°That makes no sense.¡±


    ¡°It makes perfect sense. Losing a raid here and there only weakens the Company. But it also thins out the ranks of players below them. Tier 9 becomes Tier 12, Tier 8 is now 11, and so forth. People have a lot higher to climb to get to Tier 1 if you eliminate a fourth of the workforce.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not like Tier 2 becomes Tier 3 after a raid.¡±


    ¡°True, but it does thin the ranks of the people in Tier 2, and the people who are lucky enough to remain in Tier 2 after a failed raid suddenly have to do more to keep their standings, and all the demoted people start coming for them as they fight to get back to their previous rank.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it the same for Tier 1?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. The people below us are so busy fighting and screwing over each other that they ignore us. It¡¯s the oldest trick in the book. Divide and conquer. If people are too busy fighting amongst themselves, they don¡¯t stand a chance against you. Losing out on raid rewards is nothing compared to the rewards of being in the Power Twelve. Power corrupts some people ¨C they¡¯ll do anything to hold onto it once they have it.¡±


    ¡°Easy for you to say. You¡¯re at the top.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we need you. I needed someone I could trust. A person who wasn¡¯t resting on their laurels. If I tasked one of the Power Twelve with that quest, they would have made the printer disappear.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s suicide. I¡¯ve seen what the grutomaton virus does to the world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only if you care about what happens here. If you¡¯re only here to extract what resources you can and move on to the next dimension, then it¡¯s perfect. The Company throws money, prestige and perks your way to fight the grutomaton menace. You cash in as long as you can, and when the world falls, you move on to the next one.¡±


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain what they have against me.¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Breaking company records, defeating the boss they had planned to flub. If you don¡¯t believe me, check the raid records. Before your power play, the Power Twelve were not doing their fair share of damage.¡±


    Maxi scrolled back in the raid logs and found something curious that caught her attention.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do heavy damage?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a Spokesperson,¡± Lo said. ¡°All my skills are social. Filter the skill tree by my class if you¡¯d like. In combat, I¡¯m useless, but rousing speeches, handling the media, convincing people ¨C that¡¯s where I shine,¡± he said with a smile.


    ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not using one of your skills on me right now?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t. But while I can be persuasive, my powers aren¡¯t mind control. You need to make the decision yourself. Now, I have a meeting coming up. You don¡¯t need to decide now. I¡¯ve arranged a special quest you¡¯ll need to accept. But I do need an answer soon. The other Power Twelve know you went off grid and know that one of us helped you.¡±


    ¡°That was you?¡±


    ¡°Well, Terry¡¯s idea, but yeah. Terry was my Office Pool¡¯s TERANCe model before he was upgraded to be this world¡¯s AI HR assistant. Even though he is supposed to remain neutral to all employees of the Company, we all know that people in HR have their favorites, and bots do too.¡±


    ¡°Terry was your bot?¡±


    ¡°Your father''s, too.¡±


    ¡°Terry knew my father?!¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him yourself. Now, please return to your Office Pool. The special quest will account for your time off grid.¡±


    The elevator door opened, and there was the silhouette of a Paranormal Investigator inside. The trenchcoat and fedora were a giveaway.


    Lo Key¡¯s grin slipped into a frown. His whole demeanor changed in an instant. ¡°Please don¡¯t make a habit of it, because I can¡¯t help you every time you shirk your duties.¡±


    ¡°Shirk my duties?! I woulda died!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no excuse for not participating in the Company raid. What part of ''everyone'' don¡¯t you understand?¡±


    Maxi was taken aback, but then realized he was putting on a show for the newcomer.


    ¡°Fuck you! You think you can just sit in your office, high and mighty, handing out edicts! Real people are dying! At least I¡¯m doing something about it.¡±


    Maxi stormed away with her two middle fingers raised over her shoulders. She pushed past the figure of the person who entered the room but didn¡¯t get a good look at them. She wasn¡¯t quite sure how much her gesture was meant for her uncle versus the mysterious guest who interrupted their meeting.

 25 – The Power Twelve

    Maxi took the elevator to the bathroom after failing to trigger any movement from the magic transport by saying ¡°Albuquerque¡±. Once she was there, she pulled up the email from her mother. It was a full confession from her mom. When Maxi was two years old, her world fell. Maxi would have died if Tara hadn¡¯t brought her to work the day it happened. The fall was quick, as if all the machines on the planet grew fangs and attacked humanity all at once.


    ¡°There were outbreaks before the end, and the Company was doing their best to contain them. No one expected that it would all just fall apart so quickly,¡± her mom had written. If it weren¡¯t for the impromptu family get-together in her uncle¡¯s office, no one would have survived. Her mom went on to explain that she never wanted Maxi to join the Company and learn about any of it.


    The hardest part for Maxi was that both her father and mother had lied. Her whole life, they made it seem like her dad was a deadbeat who abandoned his family, but he had been working for the Company all that time. She thought he didn¡¯t care, when the reality was that he was working those long hours so Maxi could have a semblance of a normal life.


    He earned credits so that Tara could afford the time off to take care of Maxi and keep her out of the Company daycare. They were literally paying another house payment worth of money just to keep Maxi blissfully ignorant. The gambling addiction explanation was something Maxi herself had cooked up, and her parents went with it to hide the truth.


    Even being hit by a subway train wasn¡¯t true. He had died on a Company mission, and her mom was able to use his death benefit to buy out her contract and leave the Company once and for all. Everything that Maxi had thought about her life was a carefully fabricated lie because her parents didn¡¯t want to burden her with the truth about her life.


    Even her mom pressuring her to find a job was a ploy to keep her away from the Company. While Lo had kept his promise to stay out of her life, or at least never to try and recruit her to work for the Company, their plan was unsuccessful and Maxi had joined anyway. ¡°And for that, I¡¯m truly and deeply sorry,¡± her mom said.


    It also didn¡¯t help that Tara had added, ¡°Don¡¯t trust my brother. He is always in it for himself. He used your dad, and he¡¯ll use you if you''re not careful.¡±


    That last part didn¡¯t help her with the new quest that appeared in her quest invites ¨C ¡°A Favor for Lo Key: Help Lo figure out which of the Power Twelve is plotting against the Company.¡± She was now on the ¡°Printer of Never Jamming IV¡± and still had the ¡°Fetch Quest for Bobby.¡± Not having the capacity to spend the gobs of points waiting for her, she decided to read the text for Bobby.


    Help! I need Sticky Notes of Wonderment! ¨CBobby


    She pulled up the Free Market again and saw that the Sticky Notes of Wonderment were still just five credits, and being that they were a Generalist item, she was in a unique position to buy them, had she the credits. Considering that Bobby¡¯s quest paid fifty credits, it was easy money. All Bobby needed was either a Generalist to buy him the ones for sale on the Free Market or a person to stumble across them during a quest and give them to him.


    Why the person selling them didn¡¯t just deliver them to Bobby and make the fifty credits themselves, Maxi couldn¡¯t quite fathom. ¡°Fetch Quest for Bobby¡± was an open quest, meaning that anyone could accept it, but only one person could win it, unlike the ¡°Printer of Never Jamming¡±, which was considered closed after Maxi had accepted it, so that she was the only one who could complete the quest.


    She flipped over to her character sheet, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Not only was she back to a positive credit balance, it turned out that figuring out how to beat the raid boss had not only given her a boost in prestige, but also a small percentage of everyone¡¯s earnings based on her emotional intelligence stat when the raid ended.


    It was enough to wipe her debt entirely and leave her with 94 credits spending money. She also noticed that her stats had received quite a healthy amount of natural boosts.


    Revitalized by the things turning around for her, she spent her stat points. Afterward, she bought Psychic Darts and a skill called Leap of Faith that both Customer Care Advocates and Paranormal Investigators could get. It was a teleportation skill that would allow her to leap 30 feet to anywhere in her sight line. It also required psychic points.


    She also leveled a couple of her skills and specialized in swords for the intermediate line where she had to pick a category of weapons to receive extra bonuses without paying the exorbitant costs to level the skills beyond ten. It brought her ability with the sword to an equivalence with her psychic abilities. Considering the mechanoids she had fought were immune to psychic attacks, and there was probably something lurking out there immune to weapons, she sought balance in her leveling. She would have to join training classes for all her new skills. but it seemed worth it.


    She also found out that her Shirt of Growth had not only improved her armor rating, but also got some mechanoid defense and another tier in the speed boost. Despite it being the equivalent of cloth armor, it was still on par with other types she could purchase for her level, and with all the other boosts it gave her, it was her best item.


    ¡°Not bad for cloth armor,¡± she muttered to herself. Not that she ever understood how cloth armor would have any protective capabilities. Same with robes, hats, and other gear the newbie shops in RPGs had. She didn¡¯t see how cloth was all that effective against a sword, but then again, her shirt was something else altogether.


    The training to use her abilities for the first time was out of her price range, but some low-level fetch quests should provide the credits to level her skills. She felt as if there was some time to breathe since there was no impending boss raid, the Printer of Never Jamming IV didn¡¯t have a defined end date, and the grutomaton invasion was still an existential threat.


    According to TERANCe, the beasties sometimes would show up in a world for the first time, and then a couple days later the whole place was an apocalypse, whereas other worlds had the creatures showing up for hundreds of years with no apocalypse on the horizon.


    All she could really tell is that when the end came, it usually happened quickly, all over the world seemingly at the same time, with no precursor or trend to follow about when it was going to happen. In short, Maxi could have her entire career to find the Printer of Never Jamming or only the next couple of hours, and since there was no way to predict, she had to go on with business as usual until something happened to guide her otherwise.


    The alternative would be becoming an apocalypse prepper and building a bunker out in an abandoned nuclear missile silo in Wyoming or Montana. And since Maxi was such a city girl that a yurt with internet, satellite TV, and a Jacuzzi sounded like roughing it to her, she doubted she¡¯d be very comfortable living the prepper lifestyle.


    Maxi¡¯s big priority now was finding her dad, or at least learning what really happened to him. While it was most likely the case that he was dead, she still needed closure. A door had been opened that she never thought was even a possibility. Maxi hadn¡¯t given much thought about what she''d say to her dad if she ever saw him again.


    Now her mind was bouncing around with possibilities, partially explaining why she was having trouble concentrating at work. She had spent an inordinate amount of time spending her points because every time she¡¯d think of him, she thought of something else to say.


    Her first reaction had been anger. She wanted to berate him for abandoning her and her mother. But then she thought that she¡¯d push him away if she went on the attack, so maybe she¡¯d try to bargain with him, figure out why he had done what he did, and maybe ascertain what would motivate him to be back in her life. However, that made her depressed. She shouldn¡¯t do anything for the guy. He was the one who had abandoned her, so maybe she should ignore him.


    She finally settled on acceptance. The situation was pretty much shit on a stick, only without the stick, as he would always say, and there was nothing he could say or do that would change that. Regardless of how that confrontation would go down, she knew that if he was still alive, it was inevitable.


    She pulled up her character sheet.


    Name: Office Maxi Gender: Female Ethnicity: Other


    Office Pool: Lus3rs (Cumulative Tier 9.12)


    Tier: 9.11


    Class: Generalist


    Level: 54


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Stats:


    Ambition: 77


    Adaptability: 28


    Dedication: 32


    Speed: 44


    Creativity: 91


    Emotional Intelligence: 34


    Luck: 130


    Life: 21/334


    Psy: 972/972


    AR: 29


    Att: +31 Longsword (32-34 damage)<sup>i</sup>


    Att: +38 Mind Shard (10 pp) (39-48 damage)


    Att: +38 Psychic Darts (50 pp, 39-48 damage, 100¡¯ range, 30¡¯ diameter)<sup>i</sup>


    Psychic Darts was in red, with an explainer that said she couldn¡¯t use it until she completed her training. Her longsword attack was also in red with a little indicator that she was suffering from penalties until she attended her combat training classes. She looked at her skills next.


    Skills:


    All Skills +26


    Climbing (basic) +20


    Customer Service +6


    Dodge +18


    Investigate +33


    Leap of Faith +18 (250 pp)


    Listen +30


    MacGyver +30


    Melee Weapons +25<sup>i</sup>


    Intermediate Boosts:


    -Swords: +5<sup>i</sup>


    Rally the Troops +6


    Sneak +28


    What is Lost is Now Found +36


    Psychic Abilities:


    Mind Shard +38 (10pp, 39-48 damage), a psychic attack against anything that can be reached by a melee charge<sup>i</sup>, modified by creativity


    Psychic Darts +38 (50 pp, 39-48 damage, 100¡¯ range, 30¡¯ diameter)<sup>i</sup>, AoE<sup>i</sup> psychic attack that creates needles of psychic energy pelting any opponent in a 30¡¯ diameter, Friendly Fire: No, modified by creativity


    Leap of Faith +18 (250 pp), grants user ability to teleport 30¡¯ anywhere in line of sight, modified by creativity


    Credits: 94


    Items: +11 Bluetooth Headphones, +23 HR Glasses, +1 Khakis +1 Longsword. +3 Muddy Buddies of Grutomaton Deterrence (2). +20 Shirt of Growth (Legendary): Defenses: +5 Grutomaton, +2 Mechanoid, Mending, Mythical Beast Taming, Speed Boost II, Stat Boost I. +1 Stapler of Binding (uncommon). Utility Belt.


    Storage: (Cubicle)


    Bat Minions (500): AR: 5, Life: 10, Att: +5 Bite (2-8 damage), Duration: 1 hour, requires printer to use.


    Pets: Irritable Inkjet of Nipping (Deceased)


    Satisfied that she was sufficiently badass, it was time to face her teammates, who would be her people for the foreseeable future. After she had become a pariah, most of the offers to join other Office Pools were rescinded, except for the sketchy-sounding ones that were either scams or sex work. It was hard to tell, as the Company seemed to have many branches in many businesses, all to fund their primary mission to keep the Earth safe, if she believed her uncle.


    She called the elevator and moments later, she was in her Office Pool. Daisuke was the first to speak. ¡°The prodigal Generalist returns.¡±


    ¡°I got us to Tier 9, didn¡¯t I? I just saved one of your lives,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Your own life, more like it,¡± Daisuke said. ¡°Try not to fuck this up.¡±


    ¡°From him, that¡¯s a compliment,¡± Flav said.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Maxi said, and plopped back down on her chair. She could feel it stitching her wounds as she sat. It was an odd sensation, somewhere in between that heating gel and a scab that really itched. While she¡¯d have to sit for a while to recover her life points fully, it was nice not to be fighting for her life for a change.


    They made small talk and filled her in about what had happened. Apparently, the cash bump Maxi had received for discovering the raid boss''s weakness was shared by the entire Pool after her debt was settled. While Maxi¡¯s percentage was a higher for originating the idea, it was still enough to get each of them out of debt and then some. Most of them had already spent much of it on upgrades, equipment, and a few days off.


    Her brain was having a little trouble adjusting to the fact that a couple hours in the other dimension had been more than a week here, which explained why her father had disappeared for months on end. While she had more sympathy for him than before, it was still hard to forgive him, as a person who was stuck on the slower time stream.


    Her Pool all had questions about her quest from one of the Power Twelve. Like how she was able to go on it when quests were suspended for the raid, who it was from, and what she had done. She used the ¡°Company secrets¡± line to tell them as little as possible, but she did talk a little about battling mechanoids, which weren¡¯t too common on Earth. She wasn¡¯t sure how much they knew about alternate dimensions and decided to keep it to herself. There was enough to do on Earth, rather than worry about all the other worlds that might be out there.


    Once the conversation died down, Daisuke, Patti, and Yancy went out on a quest. Farhad was healing from one this morning and decided to do some menial labor to pass the time, and Flav wasn¡¯t feeling too well and called it an early day. Her chair was back to its normal healing rate at her level per hour, which prevented her from doing any serious questing for the rest of the day.


    However, she also didn¡¯t like the thought of menial labor. Playing video games, browsing the internet, anything fun to pass the time, cost credits, and she didn¡¯t have much to spare. Since Farhad had popped earbuds on and was clicking away at some sort of task, she decided that it was finally time to get Bobby his sticky notes.


    She pulled up the Free Market and bought the sticky notes. Delivery to her cubicle was at the extortion rates, so she elected to get it delivered to the mailroom. After she purchased the item, she saw that it was marked ¡°shipping delays¡±. After a quick chat with Terry, she found out shipping delays were just a way for the company to disguise that it was coming from another dimension, as most employees weren¡¯t cleared to know about their existence.


    Since it was going to be a while for her sticky notes, she saw that a ¡°Basic footwork¡± combat class was only fifty credits and starting in the next few minutes, so she decided to get one of the prerequisites for her sword abilities out of the way.


    ***


    Maxi knew that an argument was coming with her mom. She was upset that she hid the truth from her, and she wanted nothing more than to verbally eviscerate her, but that wasn¡¯t fair. Her mom was doing what she thought best. Parents tried to preserve their children¡¯s innocence and shield them from the hasher realities of the world, but at what point was a mother¡¯s instinct to protect her child hindered their growth as a human being?


    When Maxi was little, keeping her from the truth was perfectly valid. Her mom had created a life where all Maxi had to worry about was what gifts she¡¯d get for the holidays. A ¡°by the way, the reason you have no grandparents is because they all died horribly from murder printers¡± would have traumatized her more than it helped. But what age would have been appropriate?


    Maxi¡¯s teenage years had been a mess of hormones and rebellion. Resisting the school industrial complex, and carving her own path. Staying up too late gaming, and falling asleep in class. Was that a better time? She cognitively would have understood it but she had enough going on as a teen to worry about her own shit much less her mom¡¯s.


    Then college came, and what would have knowing about it done her then either? After all the hand holding of high school went away and she failed out her first semester, she realized that no one was going to slog her through college, and that she had only barely done. Maxi couldn¡¯t sit still long enough to be very good at academics. Still, her mother should have told her. At least had a talk with her¡­ something. Sure Maxi was dealing with own shit at the time and college had felt just as chaotic as high school, but she wasn¡¯t a child. She deserved the truth. While she felt right to be angry at her mom, she didn¡¯t want to hurt her.


    So Maxi in a way had become her parents by avoiding talking to her mom by throwing herself into work and spent the next couple weeks doing low-level quests to get the money for her training. There wasn¡¯t much XP in the rewards, and she had only gained a few levels, but it gave her enough money to raise all her skills, abilities, and stats. They were mostly low-level fights and gathering items for other players who couldn¡¯t be bothered to do it themselves.


    After dispatching a scaly creature that was literally tearing parts out of the planes in an aviation factory, she sat at her desk healing her wounds. She pulled up her uncle¡¯s quest: A Favor for Lo Key. The rewards, time limit, and failure penalty were all marked ¡°undetermined¡±. She was still waiting on the sticky notes to be delivered and had cleared all the other tasks she had completed for the day.


    She pulled up her uncle¡¯s investigation file that she read whenever she was healing. She looked over his notes. Most of it was tracking the damage the Power Twelve had been doing to raid bosses during the past year. After a long while spent reading material that was about as exciting as tax returns, she was just about to pick out another quest when she got a notification that the Sticky Notes of Wonderment had been delivered.


    Most of the Office Pool were out or lost in their tasks, so she got up without a word and called the elevator. When she got to the mailroom, the atmosphere was different than when she had first arrived. Before, she was a cog in a vast machine. Now she felt more like the control panel. People stared at her, and there were whispers. She even caught a person pointing and then pretending to be nonchalant when they saw she had noticed them.


    It wasn¡¯t quite either admiration or hate, but more like seeing a washed-up celebrity, well past their heyday. At least that¡¯s how she felt. It was like she was a rapper turned reality TV star, and people were noticing her while she tried to do something mundane like go to a hardware store or buy falafel from a street vendor. No one was outright hostile to her, but they weren¡¯t giving up their place in line for her either.


    It was like she had risen to the top, fell to the bottom, and now was in a strange in between space where people knew who she was, but didn¡¯t know how to react to her. Maxi hoped she could just fade out of memory back to being a regular employee but realized that would probably never be the case.


    As much as she wanted to avoid it, either her uncle¡¯s quest or the Printer of Never Jamming was going to put her back into the spotlight again. Like it or not, Maxi was probably always going to be in a situation where people she had never met were going to formulate opinions about her. The price of fame, even 15 minutes'' worth, would be that there would always be people who thought they knew her better than she did herself.


    At least if she was going to symbolize something, she could be one for cutting out the bullshit and focusing on what mattered. She held her head high, sauntered into the mailroom, and even waved at the man pointing her out to his friend. She even cut the line and walked to the empty Tier 1 station, leaned on the counter, and smiled at the nervous attendant.


    The kid, probably barely out of middle school, squeaked, ¡°The Tier 9 line is there,¡± pointing to the gobs of people who were all waiting while the higher Tiers moved through with efficiency.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, and you¡¯re not doing anything,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I want my sticky notes.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t really¡­ I mean, if one of the Power Twelve came up while¡­¡± the boy stammered.


    ¡°Then they can wait a few more seconds. Now go, before you really do make one of them wait.¡±


    The boy shifted his weight back and forth, then scampered off. Maxi turned around and leaned against the counter. She smiled and waved at the gawkers. The normal hustle and bustle of the busy mailroom had gone silent. People who had come to pick up their packages seemed to have forgotten why they were there. The employees that were normally dashing around in the back were staring.


    Maxi was about to ask about any good book recommendations when a hulking man with scars all over his face and wearing bloodstained jet-black armor that put heavy metal album artwork to shame came up and said in a low, gruff voice, ¡°You¡¯re in my line.¡±

 26 – Bobby’s World

    ¡°I don¡¯t see your name on it,¡± Maxi replied to the heavy metal beefcake who could send her to the resurrection chair with one well-placed fist. It was funny to think that casual murder didn¡¯t have much of a penalty when resurrection chairs were a thing. While the Company did have some strict PVP rules regarding permadeath, there was nothing to stop him from taking her head off in front of all the gawkers, who were so quiet she could have heard a mouse skitter across the floor.


    Much to her surprise, and most likely everyone else''s, he said, ¡°You¡¯re the one who found the weakness on that suit.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± Maxi said with a grin.


    The mail clerk boy came running back with a pad of yellow post-it notes. His face went pale when he saw the man squared off with Maxi. He sheepishly slid the notes to Maxi, and hissed something that came out somewhere in between a plea for her to leave and panic. Maxi nonchalantly slipped the item in the front pocket of her shirt and picked a piece of lint off the incredible bulk¡¯s armor.


    ¡°I got some rollers in my office if you need them,¡± Maxi said, and turned to go. The man grabbed her arm. He was strong. It felt like she was caught in a press, but she didn¡¯t let the pain register on her face.


    The guy said, ¡°You did us a solid.¡±


    He let her go and turned to the mail clerk, who could barely stammer, ¡°May I help you?¡±


    I guess I can strike Meathook off the suspect list, Maxi thought, as she walked past the bewildered onlookers and saw Yancy holding a package. He gave her a sly smile.


    ¡°Yancy, what¡¯s up? How was the quest?¡± Maxi said, as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°You know who that was?¡± Yancy whispered conspiratorially.


    ¡°Meathook, Beefcake, Rex. You know, I don¡¯t think I caught his name,¡± Maxi said out loud, as if nothing were amiss. She started toward the elevators, and Yancy followed.


    ¡°He¡¯s one of the Power Twelve,¡± Yancy said. ¡°His name is Sledge, and his impatience is legendary.¡±


    ¡°He was nice to me.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t push it. Not if you value your life,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I''ve got the resurrection chair.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yancy said and squeezed her arm. His eyes turned black and his voice deepened. ¡°You can¡¯t take risks with your life. You cannot permadie.¡±


    His grip dug into her arm. Her arm flared in pain. ¡°You¡¯re hurting me,¡± She said.


    His eyes went back to their normal color. ¡°The chair doesn¡¯t cover all the ways you can die. Not to mention if he¡¯d sent you to the resurrection chair, the janitorial fee is based on your level. That would put you in debt, which would affect your job performance.¡±


    What Yancy was saying was true, and probably even more so for a lower-level player. Debt was a nasty cycle that was hard to break. Also, the PVP rules around permadeath were more to prevent a power player permakillling another player. However, accidents happen. Sufficient damage taken from one hit was not resurrectable. The only reason she was still alive after her confrontation with the raid boss was they were restricted by damage-mitigation protocols that reduced their damage to just under the resurrection limit, which was some exponent of a player¡¯s life total. Even a mundane attack that caused damage to a certain threshold beyond her life total would make her unrevivable when she wasn¡¯t in a damage restriction zone.


    From what Maxi understood, raid bosses used to wipe out low-level players in droves with no resurrection possibility, so regulations were put in place to prevent them from just sending something so OP that it was more like a corporate takeover. At least now, each company was given a chance to defend itself from others wanting a piece of their pie. She had also learned that raids were only allowed every other month.


    They would have the month off from the daily struggle for survival, which gave her about a month to figure out which one of the Power Twelve was out to kill her. Since the damage mitigation protocols only affected the boss during the raid, she could see why the raid was the perfect place to do her in. A member of the Power Twelve could just incinerate her and say that Maxi was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Considering that Maxi had shown a proclivity to jump into the fray, it would have been easy to stage an accident.


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    While going off grid had gotten her out of this raid, she was pretty sure that tactic wouldn¡¯t work for the next one, even with her uncle pulling some strings on her behalf. There was also the fact that the concept of crime didn¡¯t exist in the Company as it generally did on Earth. It was playing by a separate set of rules.


    There weren¡¯t any prisons or jails, just rewards and penalties. Behavior that the company encouraged was rewarded and behavior they didn¡¯t want was penalized with loss of credit, experience, and even items. Maxi wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about this particular brand of justice system, considering that a person¡¯s urge to disintegrate her could be reduced to a simple equation of the penalty being worth her death.


    And on the topic of who wanted her dead, she didn¡¯t have the slightest clue. She had figured it would be easy by finding out which member of the Power Twelve was on her Purple Team in the last raid assignment. However, there were none. They were all on other teams. Which meant that if someone had planned to end her in a friendly fire incident, it would have been carried out by someone working for them.


    It did give her some leads, though. Lo had analyzed the damage logs of all the players and found that only seven players on the Purple Team were capable of one-shotting her into oblivion without relying on a critical or special item, which was still a possibility. Which suggested to Maxi that at least one of the seven was working with the Power Twelve seeking to undermine the Company. Of course, it could have also been none of the seven. A lower-level player with a power item could one shot her as well, and there was no way to tell the loadout of each person on the raid.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing it again. I told you not to risk your life.¡± Yancy yelled at her while his eyes went black, and Maxi realized she was about to call the Power Twelve elevator. She shrugged and pressed the button. She knew that she was walking the line by becoming a nuisance, but what other way did she have to meet them all in the next month? Not to mention Yancy was being a bit creepy.


    The elevator opened, and she stepped inside. Yancy tilted his head to the side as the elevator door shut and gave her a cold stare. She half expected the Tier 1 elevator to smell like flowers, and have servants fanning with palm branches, peeling grapes, and serving wine, but it was just like any of the other elevators ¨C bad 80s Vegas-style casino. She called Bobby¡¯s coordinates left in the instructions of his quest, and the elevator complied.


    The door opened to yet another post-apocalyptic office landscape. If divine beings did take interest in the lives of mere mortals, this would be the time they all take a drink. However, whatever had happened here was in the distant past. The corpses sprawled from cubicles were nothing more than skeletons. The papers littering the floor were yellowed with age. There were cobwebs and a thick coating of dust on everything.


    Still, she pulled out her sword and scanned the area, keeping her ears open for any noise. But there wasn¡¯t any sound. No nature reclaiming the building, no hum of a computer or whir of an HVAC unit. It was completely silent and still.


    She examined the calendar on the nearest desk to check if she was still in her world and, sure enough, the dating system was all wackadoodle, though she supposed the calendar she had grown up with was probably weird to her parents at first.


    She was about to go back, fearing that the timestream differences would put her back several more weeks, when she noticed that her glasses were still connected to the network. At least there was WiFi in this world.


    ¡°Terry,¡± she asked. ¡°Where am I?¡±


    ¡°You are in an office building. Late Luna-Trigond Century, judging from the equipment and clothing styles,¡± Terry cheerily said in her Bluetooth headphones.


    ¡°Okay, Terry, I¡¯m not wikimultiverse, and kind of just stumbled across this recently, so I¡¯m going to need a little more information than that.¡±


    ¡°My apologies. Usually, employees with your clearance level get annoyed if I¡¯m too basic.¡±


    ¡°Clearance level? Like top secret or something?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. Accepting Lo Key¡¯s quest has granted you access to certain topics not privy to every employee. I trust that you know the penalty for divulging information to someone not in your¨C¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, termination. So what time is it back on the Earth?¡±


    ¡°A fraction of a second after you left. This timestream is much faster than Earth¡¯s. About 142 years have passed since Bobby created that quest.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m not getting paid.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, employees must deposit all rewards in Company holding in the event of their death.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t exactly deliver the sticky notes to a corpse.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a contingency for that, too. If you fulfill Bobby¡¯s need for the Sticky Notes of Wonderment or provide sufficient evidence of why that¡¯s not possible, you will be considered as having completed the quest.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a job for a Paranormal Investigator.¡±


    ¡°Quite right. If you want, I can transfer the quest to the PI quest liaison¨C¡±


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m here. May as well put Bobby to rest,¡± Maxi said. While she was not at full life points, she didn¡¯t think there would be any combat. Just find some bones, and prove Bobby was dead.


    She sheathed her sword, and wandered in the direction of Bobby¡¯s office, who was kind enough to leave a room number on his delivery instructions. She thought it was going to be an easy 50 credits. She hated being wrong.

 27 – Flaming Death

    The door thumped and shuddered as the creature outside pounded at the wood, which was bowing under the pressure. Maxi leaned with her back against the door, holding it shut. Bobby was a skeleton with white stringy hair wearing the remnants of a suit covered in dust, slumped in front of a computer that was ancient even by Earth standards. The only reason she knew the man was Bobby was that there was a nameplate on his desk ¨C Bobby McKenzie. She couldn¡¯t help but think he was grinning at her with the hollow eyes.


    Skeletons always seemed like they were grinning or laughing to her. She had no idea why the macabre image was jovial to her, but she could just imagine Bobby playing one last prank. ¡°Let¡¯s get the newb to buy sticky notes, but let¡¯s call them Sticky Notes of Wonderment, and then they¡¯ll come to our dying world and get murdered by¡­¡±


    ¡°What is that thing?¡± Maxi said aloud.


    Terry responded, ¡°The creature type is ooze. It¡¯s a gurglesnorp.¡±


    The thing had a whimsical name for something that was no laughing matter. It was a blob of transparent pink ooze with gunk and bones inside. It had sprouted three tendrils that balled up into miniature wrecking balls, with which it was currently slamming the door repeatedly. Luckily, the thing was more a bulbous, fleshy mass than a true ooze, because the door wasn¡¯t exactly air tight. It could fit through tight spaces, but not the crack between the door and the floor.


    ¡°Is that what killed these people?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s highly unlikely that they could cause an apocalyptic event. However, it could be the reason we have only encountered bones. Dimension 33341A-115553B uses this creature in their funeral rituals, as rotten flesh is considered to taint the soul, and it also reinforces the bones from decay.¡±


    ¡°Lovely. There¡¯s something more scary than this creature out there.¡±


    ¡°There is not enough information to tell why this world is dead. There was never any distress signal sent, and the IT systems still seem to be intact, or else this would be off grid. But it¡¯s likely the gurglesnorp just wandered through an elevator shaft, and with no one from the Company to monitor and send employees on quests to take care of it¨C¡±


    ¡°Hold up. Hasn¡¯t it been 142 years here and no one was even curious why the place went silent?¡±


    ¡°Different locations in the company generally don¡¯t communicate with each other. It¡¯s not uncommon to find each location is wildly different, with strange technologies and customs. The Company is a lot like your franchises, where they may be under the same corporation, but there is different management and ways of doing things at each place.¡±


    ¡°My uncle said we moved to Earth because it was a lot like our homeworld. There has to be someone who knows about the different locations.¡±


    ¡°The Archivist branch carries all Company records. They will pay you a nice bounty for your log of this quest. There are too many dimensions out there to get updates on them all.¡±


    The thumping petered out and there was the sound of sloshing and cracking going down the hallway. The creature that had tried to make a snack out of Maxi was moving on, and since there was no one left alive on this world to care about a hungry-for-human-flesh creature on the loose, she''d rather not have the confrontation. Especially because it was immune to both psychic and cutting attacks.


    Of course it was¡­ a multiverse of creatures, and the one she encountered was one that she couldn¡¯t harm while on a solo quest. Which didn¡¯t add up, because she had a high luck score and abnormally good luck. However, everyone had to have bad luck occasionally.


    From what she knew of the system, there was a roll that was always considered a success and one that was always a failure regardless of the bonuses applied to the situation. If her job was a DnD-like system, a 1 would always miss and a 20 would always hit. However, none of the Company documentation said what die roll her numbers were modifying, other than that every outcome was a contested roll one way or another.


    Her attack roll would add her modifier, compare it to the enemy''s AR rating plus their roll. The higher number won. However, what was being rolled, and how that translated to physically swinging the sword was a mystery, but she still felt the system working. Every time she spent her ability points in her melee weapons or Ambition stat, the sword felt that much lighter in her hand, and with all the training, her brain provided guidance about how best to swing it for maximum effect.


    It was hard to put her finger on it, but she did feel like she was getting better in increments. Whether her Ambition stat and melee weapon skills were just going up because she had been swinging the sword and training so much, or there was magic happening in the physical world, she couldn¡¯t tell. For all she knew, it could be crazy alternate-dimension nanomachines or transdimensional warlocks adding muscle mass when she pumped the Ambition stat.


    She hadn¡¯t noticed the small changes at first, but now that she was in the higher ranks and attended more training classes than she ever had in her life, she recognized the difference from when she first started. In addition to the psychic classes with Swami Robinson, her trainers taught anything from martial arts and sword-fighting abilities to solving more mundane puzzles to help her Creativity skills.


    How the game mechanics were applied to real life, she couldn''t guess. Whether there were some actual dice rolls allowing her to hit and miss, or some smart person had figured out the probabilities of everything and written down the rules, much like Newton did for gravity, she would never know. For better or worse, she would spend her days training, questing, and maxing her abilities.


    Maxi no longer believed that she was in a simulation, at least no more than physicists believed such. Whether the rules of the game altered real life or were just a description of what was happening, they worked. There was comfort for her in the idea that life was a game that could be mastered. If life was really a game, she was much better at it now than during what she previously thought was real life. In her life before, she didn¡¯t feel like there was any progression, but here she felt it.


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    Terry informed her that sufficient time had passed, and the creature had most likely continued in its mindless pursuit of flesh to devour. She eased up from holding the door shut and went to Bobby¡¯s desk. There weren¡¯t any obvious signs of how he died. It looked as if the guy was just alive, checking his email or something one moment, and dead the next.


    In fact, most of the skeletons looked like they had just slumped in their chairs and died on the spot. There weren¡¯t any signs of the typical disarray that invading grutomatons created. The only evidence of disarray was likely caused by the gurglesnorp bumbling towards its prey. The papers she had seen on the floor when she first entered were most likely knocked off the desk by the creature when it climbed up to engulf the dead human. Clothes were torn, but that was only so the creature could get at the fleshy bits.


    Indigestible objects caught up in the digestive system of the creature were deposited in random locations, tarnished and worn. However, corpses that were easily accessible to the creature, like Bobby here, who had slumped back on his chair rather than on the keyboard, didn¡¯t cause much chaos as it climbed onto the chair. Terry postulated that the creature had been around for a long while, and most likely had divided into others, depending on how long ago it came through the elevator shaft.


    However, due to the time that had elapsed since the creature''s arrival, Terry imagined that there wasn¡¯t much left in terms of digestible humans, and it probably survived on rodents, bugs, birds, and other creatures that may have moved into the building since humans departed from the world.


    While Maxi could have just snapped a photo of the dead Bobby, and claimed the 50 credits for the quest, there was a part of her that was curious what happened to these people. How did an office building full of people just die without a struggle? Even something like gas, radiation, or a virus would have left some clues, but most victims were positioned wherever they happened to be when they died, with no visible signs of distress.


    Bobby¡¯s bones looked intact. There was nothing out of place on his desk. She went to the window next and opened the shades. The sun was bright, directly in her face. It was morning by the look of it, or maybe near sunset, as she wasn¡¯t sure which way was west, or if the sun operated in the same manner in other dimensions. Either way, it was in her face, and she had to squint to look out the window.


    There was a city outside, but it was quiet. There were no cars on the streets, planes in the sky, lights, or anything to indicate what had happened here. It wasn¡¯t overgrown like TERANCe¡¯s world, but nature was slowly reclaiming what the humans had built. Trees were encroaching on buildings, and moss had grown on the corner of a bodega across the street. Some of the windows were shattered.


    Whatever got Bobby seemed to have gotten everyone else as well. She decided to check for power and found there was none. The only reason the elevator worked was that the elevators were more a transportation device that had their own internal power source handy for traveling between worlds. She decided to crack open the computer and get at the harddrive.


    When she was about to smash the thing open, Terry encouraged a more subtle approach and suggested that she look for screwdrivers. She found something better ¨C Bobby had a journal/day planner. She thumbed through it, and decided that it would be worthwhile to browse later to see if she could glean anything about the Sticky Notes of Wonderment.


    She doubted she would find out much more about the people in this world, and figured that now that she knew it existed, she could always come back. Terry was pretty sure she had collected enough data to sell to the archivists. All they really wanted was enough to keep their map of the known multiverse up-to-date, and Maxi was confident she had collected enough to do just that.


    She attached the book to her new, larger-capacity utility belt that she had bought earlier in the week, which used a strap to secure larger items. A message ¡°Bobby¡¯s Journal has been added to your inventory¡± appeared in her glasses. She opened the office door and was about to make her way to the elevator when she noticed a glowing object sitting on a shelf. Considering there had presumably been no power for over a hundred years, she moved to inspect it, half thinking it was something reflecting the light of the sun until she realized it was a phone attached to a solar-powered charger.


    The screen pulsed with a charge percentage. It was low, but enough to turn it on. She was about to hit the power button when she heard a schlopping noise from the corner of the room. It sounded like something was smacking its lips. She nabbed the phone and stuffed it into her pocket. Another message acknowledged the new item.


    A smaller gurglesnorp was sliming its way out from behind a planter with a half-digested rat carcass in its heap. Sensing her, the top part of its body grew three wrecking-ball tendrils that looked as if they could do a fair amount of damage. While the main mass was perhaps the size of a dog, the limbs extended about a meter and a half.


    She ran for the door, but her leg caught on Bobby¡¯s desk. She tumbled to the floor and the thing thwacked her. It knocked the wind out of her. The damage was sufficient to take a fair chunk of her life points, even with the healing she had done before she left, which wasn¡¯t full, but should have been enough for a simple fetch quest. The creature attempted to smash her again, but she rolled out of the way.


    The third tentacle wrapped around her leg and began pulling her towards it. She felt it burn her exposed skin, and the remainder of her life continued to sap away. She attempted to chop the thing with her sword, but it sank into the goo and the sword stuck in the goop. Maxi unleashed a torrent of Mind Shards and Psychic Darts despite the creature¡¯s immunity.


    As her body was pulled into the thing, she felt her leg burn as it crawled up the gap between her socks and khakis. The slime soon had her up to the waist. It oozed its way up over her and found any way it could to get to her skin. Soon it encased her entire body. It burned, and she wanted to scream, but she could feel the acidic sludge creep into her ears and nose.


    Despite the agony, she kept her mouth shut. Just before it seeped past her glasses, she heard a blast out in the hallway and saw a flash of light. The noise sounded as if she were underwater, and her view of whatever was happening beyond the doorway was blurred. However, she could tell the orange and red wave was flame.


    Something in the hall shrieked with what would have been a loud, high-pitched squeal, but it was muted by the ooze seeping into her ears. Her life points were in the single digits when she saw a figure emerge into the office from the fire outside.


    It was about the size of a person, bulbous, and yellow. There was something green around the face area, and it held something long and thin, with what Maxi thought was an open flame at the end of a metal stick. It was hard to tell exactly what she was looking at until the realization hit that the object was a flamethrower.


    Her life points dropped to one as an orange wave emerged from the tip and a spray of orange heat burst in her direction.

 28 – Sunken Cost Fallacy

    Maxi gasped as air flooded into her lungs. She was disoriented for a moment and realized that something was obscuring her glasses. She took them off and discovered that she was on a resurrection chair. However, it wasn¡¯t her office, but rather a murky basement with several worktables full of parts and half-made contraptions. There was clutter everywhere, like she was in an electronics junkyard. The benevolent hoarder who had dragged Maxi¡¯s body to the chair didn¡¯t seem interested in her stuff as she still had her glasses, headphones, even sword.


    Every one of her possessions, her hair and face were covered with crusty, dried ooze. The only exception was her shirt, which maintained its vibrant yellow color as if fresh out of the box. She tapped a button on her headset to call Terry and said, ¡°What the hell was that?¡±


    ¡°You seem to have died. Unfortunately, I am unable to record any events after you lose consciousness.


    ¡°You¡¯re recording me?¡±


    ¡°For quality and training purposes.¡±


    ¡°Well, stop.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I will only keep record of our conversations you deem necessary.¡±


    Maxi wiped off her phone screen and saw a message. YOU HAVE DIED: -2 levels, -2 Ambition, -1 Dedication, -3 Luck, -4 Dodge, -4 Melee Weapon, -1 Swords, -2 Mind Shard. -2000 Credits.


    ¡°I was just out of debt! Come on! And what¡¯s with the stiff penalties? That¡¯s worth more than my level loss!¡±


    ¡°Luck is a stat that cuts both ways. Not only are unlucky rolls more likely to compound into more unlucky rolls, but they can also lead to consequences greater than the normal death penalty.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m lucky, that¡¯s my thing. That¡¯s my stat!¡±


    ¡°Even the luckiest person in the world has to have bad luck occasionally. Aside from less frequent unlucky events than a person with less of a luck score, it also prevents you from having worse consequences when you have a streak of unlucky rolls.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying this could have been worse?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. A reversal of fortune can bring down even the mightiest of players.¡±


    ¡°Better now than when I¡¯m facing off with one of the Power Twelve,¡± Maxi muttered. She folded her glasses and put them in her pocket. She turned to the workbenches accumulated with stuff and saw an old calendar. It had the same date markings that were on the others in Bobby¡¯s world. It seemed she had never left, which was good for her. The fact that she was back to full health meant that she would have been on the chair for a while, and she was glad that she didn¡¯t lose too much time in her world.


    Before Maxi could begin to strategize about looking for the nearest elevator shaft, a woman in her thirties or forties burst into the room. She was wearing dirty rags for clothes and had wild brown hair and a face smudged with grease, dirt, soot, and filth. Her fingernails were caked with grime, and she held a can of beans in one hand and a tarnished spoon in the other.


    The woman was humming a tune when she noticed Maxi and said, ¡°It worked! I wasn¡¯t sure it was going to work.¡±


    The crazy-haired lady ran over to Maxi and began inspecting. After several sniffs, pokes, and close, intense staring, the woman stuck out her tongue to lick, and Maxi pulled away, ¡°All right. All right!¡±


    ¡°Are you a dream?¡± the woman asked, poking Maxi again.


    ¡°Would you stop that? No, I¡¯m not a dream. Just another employee,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Do dreams eat beans? I got green beans, baked beans, kidney beans, pimento beans...or is that pinto? I can never remember which. Did you know canned foods can stay good for hundreds of years if they are made properly? They found a 150-year-old can of tuna on a shipwreck. Fed it to a cat. The cat liked it. At least I think the cat liked it. I don¡¯t know any cats. Do you?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say that I do.¡±


    ¡°Then you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell me if I sound like one of them. Meow. Meow. Meow. Did that sound like a cat? I think I said my name in cat.¡±


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Belinda.¡±


    ¡°I''m Maxi. Thank you for saving me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. Thank Todd.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Todd?¡±


    ¡°The slime I incinerated. You probably would have permadied if I blasted you without Todd cocooning you.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Maxi drawled out the word. ¡°How long have you been here, Belinda?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, ten years. Maybe twenty. I got back from the assignment, but then they were all dead. Except you. Are you sure you''re not a dream? I sometimes dream about people. The people in the magazines sometimes smile at me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, dear, so you¡¯ve been alone for quite some time?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! Not alone. I got Federico, Rodrigo, and Darwin,¡± she said, as she unburied what could be best described as a humanoid made from spare pieces and junk, aside from the head, which was merely cardboard with a magazine cutout model who looked like he was a toothpaste ad with a pearly white grin.


    Belinda dug through the mounds of junk until she got to a battery bin and a dusty solar-powered charger. She put one of the batteries into the unit, and he started doing a very blocky dance that looked like a cross between the Macarena and the Robot.


    There was also a tinny-sounding speaker that blared a kitschy pop song that didn¡¯t exist in her world, but sounded like it might be the basis for whatever dance craze was sweeping the place when everyone died. After a few moments, the bot died and slumped.


    Belinda looked crestfallen and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Batteries don¡¯t hold as much charge as they used to, so the boys don¡¯t get to go out much. Ah, I know what you want! Rat! They are quite crunchy. I can see why the slimes like them. I don¡¯t eat them myself. Beans are quite delicious and full of protein and phytonutrients. Did I say that right? Phytonutragentic. Meow. Meow. Meow. You don¡¯t talk much, so I thought you might speak cat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry,¡± Maxi said. Considering that she had Bobby¡¯s phone and his journal, there really wasn¡¯t anything left for her in this dimension, and if she needed more information, it might help to come back with a party, or at least weapons that could harm the local slime. As much as there was something rather amusing and endearing about Belinda, Maxi had to go. ¡°Do you know where the nearest elevator is located?¡±


    ¡°Just down the hall, but you''re not going to go, are you? All the best dreams go, and leave Belinda alone,¡± Belinda said, and Maxi could see the tears well up in her eyes. Maxi felt a pang of guilt. She couldn¡¯t really stay here and babysit, and something told her that promising to come visit wouldn¡¯t quite work either.


    Looking around the room, Maxi realized that a lot of what she thought was junk were contraptions made by Belinda. While most of them were whimsical, like the pop-dancing robot, with a little direction, perhaps Belinda could make something useful.


    Maxi had to admit the flame thrower she saw in the corner that Belinda had used to save her had come in handy. Maxi also noticed a yellow suit that reminded her of the kind government agents would always wear when they dissected aliens. No doubt the suit had protected Belinda from the flame, and most likely the slime, too.


    ¡°Terry...¡± Maxi called. ¡°What does the handbook have to say about taking employees with you from another dimension?¡±


    ¡°I can come with! Goodie!¡± Belinda said, and hugged Maxi. The woman had a strong grip, and Maxi had to push her off.


    ¡°Meow. Meow. Meow. I get to come with. Hear that, Rodrigo? I get to come with!¡± Belinda set to work packing a duffel bag while tossing items and equipment all over the room.


    ¡°While there are stipulations around transfers, I think Belinda¡¯s case will be approved.¡± Terry responded, ¡°so long as she is willing and promises not to divulge to anyone without clearance that they are from another dimension.¡±


    ¡°La la la! I get to live in the dream!¡± Belinda said, and tossed parts and pieces in the air like it was confetti.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be a problem,¡± Maxi said, not that anyone would believe her if she did say anything.


    ¡°La he ha la! Living the dream! Living the dream!¡± Belinda danced around and somehow made the place even more of a mess.


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    Belinda snapped to attention and turned to Maxi with wide eyes. ¡°Do they have dreamcake in the dream?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the cafeteria has cake,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°WHEEEEE! Dreams and cake. Cakes and dreams. La la la.¡±


    ¡°There is a stipulation that there must be open positions at the new location,¡± Terry continued. ¡°But Earth has been struggling for employees ever since the last raid that failed. She is also the Inventor class, which requires such a high level of Adaptability and Creativity that not a lot of people are able to choose that class, and fewer still make it through the trials. Most end up in the Technician class that focuses on the maintenance of existing systems rather than the creation of new ones.¡±


    ¡°Right so how do we apply for her transfer?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°I already did, and she was approved.¡±


    After Belinda¡¯s armor and other items were stuffed into her overfilled bag, she said, ¡°This way. Meow. Meow.¡±


    Maxi followed her out of the room into a hallway where several of the gurglesnorps were oozing their way towards them. The elevators were just beyond the creatures.


    ¡°You must have bad luck,¡± Belinda said. ¡°They have your scent. Now they can follow you anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, not through a transdimensional elevator. Maybe you can give me a demonstration of how that flamethrower works,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Can¡¯t. No fuel. Used it all saving you.¡±


    ¡°Is there more in your lab?¡±


    ¡°More at the gas station. Three-mile walk, one slime every fifty feet, over three hundred slimes. We¡¯ll die. I never died before! Does it hurt?¡±


    ¡°Come on,¡± Maxi dragged her away from the approaching slimes. ¡°We¡¯ll find another way.¡±


    They ran through the halls of the basement. They were standard industrial corridors with exposed pipes and wiring. There were patches where Belinda had no doubt used her skills to get the lights working again. Had they been running in the dark, Maxi would have died several times over, as they had on more than one occasion turned the corner, only to confront a group of the creatures and were nearly pummeled to death by the tendrils.


    Eventually, after a race through endless tunnels, corridors, and rooms, they found themselves in a passage with slimes coming from both directions. They backed into a tiny room with four cubicle stations with a computer in each corner. Maxi slammed the door, and the thumping immediately began as the creatures methodically tried to break into the room.


    Belinda casually wandered over to one of the computer towers and smashed it on the floor. The equipment in the room was all old by Maxi''s standards, when computers still had massive towers and giant CRTs. Belinda began kicking the beige behemoth, and Maxi chided her while she held the door shut. ¡°Be quiet. Last time I was able to just stay silent, and they moved on.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t do that now. They have your scent,¡± Belinda said.


    She tore open the computer and began picking away on the electronics inside. Belinda pulled out a multitool in one hand and a small handheld soldering iron in the other. She nipped a diode here and hard drive disk there. She rearranged capacitors, played with transistors, resistors, and other parts.


    Maxi felt the door weakening behind her. Splinters flew off with each thump. She was beginning to tire. ¡°Want to help me?!¡± Maxi yelled.


    ¡°I am helping you,¡± Belinda said, and hummed while she soldered one last transformer to her creation. Whatever it was, the woman had made two of them. It was some sort of circuit board with a hard drive disk attached to a power source. Belinda rummaged through her bag and pulled out two larger batteries. She attached them to her devices and handed one to Maxi.


    ¡°That end shoots, that button is the trigger,¡± she pointed to the hard drive disk and a switch on the green circuit board.


    Maxi nodded and counted to three. She opened the door, and they both aimed and fired. Electricity shot out of Belinda¡¯s makeshift devices, hitting the first slime in line. It then bounced from the one in the door and surged through all the others gathered in the hallway.


    Their bodies crackled, shriveled, and gave off the worst stench Maxi had ever smelled. It was worse than the breath weapon of the Antitrust Lawyer. But it seemed to do the trick. Just as the weapons popped and blew parts on the circuit board, all the creatures were shriveled masses of dried pink goop.


    Belinda discarded her makeshift weapon and quickly put away her supplies. Maxi looked over her device before tossing it on the pile of computer parts. The thing was impressive, considering the woman had made it under duress. Belinda raced out the door and Maxi followed. In the distance, they could hear more gurglesnorps heading their way.


    Maxi supposed that even one would have had sufficient time to turn into this horde, considering how long this had been a dead world. Maxi couldn¡¯t believe that no one in the Company would have been in to check on them in all that time, which led her to a couple of unsettling conclusions. Either the institution was so bureaucratic that the right hand didn¡¯t know what the left hand was doing, or Upper Management didn¡¯t care enough about what happened to bother sending someone to investigate.


    Both were equally discomforting to Maxi, because the former meant that there could be a cure for the grutomaton virus, and the Company might either bungle the distribution of it or lose it altogether. The latter meant that she and everyone on the planet could be sacrificed on the altar of profit if the cure turned out to be too expensive.


    They ran through the halls until they got to an elevator. Maxi hit the button while slimes oozed around the corner. The creatures were almost in range to whack them with their tendrils when the door opened, and the pair piled inside. Maxi hit the ¡°close door¡± button several times, and the door shut just as one was about to make its way inside.


    They rode the elevator in silence, and it dinged when it got to her Office Pool. The door opened to reveal that everyone was there lounging in their healing chairs while doing menial labor. Daisuke glanced up at them, and said, ¡°I shoulda known it was you.¡±


    Maxi saw in her phone the quest results. She only gained her levels back for the quest ¡°Get the Hell Back to Earth¡± that was added while they were fleeing for their lives. On her Office Pool screen, she saw that the Lus3rs had grown to seven, and the name Belindaz4Real was added to the list.


    She looked up from the phone and almost did a double take. There was one more cubical in the room. The room had Belinda and Yancy on the far side, Daisuke, Flav and Patti down the middle, and Farhad and Maxi tucked away on the other side. Maxi would have sworn that the room had been smaller when she left.


    ¡°But how, I was in another¨C¡± Maxi caught herself saying. ¡°She just joined...¡±


    Belinda unceremoniously dumped her bag in her cubicle and looked at the dual monitors in her cubicle. She said, with awe and wonder, ¡°So thin. So pretty.¡±


    ¡°But how?¡± Maxi said again, indicating the new cube where none had been.


    Farhad was the one to speak up. ¡°The whole building is modular. Each Office Pool can expand and contract to meet the needs of the Company.


    Belinda let out a giggle. She tipped the monitor and then watched it rock back and forth with a glee in her eyes and a grin on her face.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you find an Inventor? And such a high level one at that?¡± Farhad asked.


    Maxi checked Belinda¡¯s character information. The woman was level 349, making her the highest-level player in the Pool. The others had finally trusted her enough to share their basic information with her. Yancy was an Accountant, which was kinda like a ninja with both numbers and combat. Farhad was a Hacker, who was mediocre with combat, but brutal and deadly if he had the gear. Patti was, of course, a Customer Care Advocate, who was functionally a healer. Flav was a Porter, which made him the tank, not surprisingly.


    Daisuke was a Sales Associate. In game terms, it meant that he could specialize in a weapon, and had a high emotional intelligence score, but from the way he had treated her this whole time, she was struggling to grasp it. That¡¯s when she realized that Daisuke could turn it off and on like a switch.


    Before she ditched out on the raid, and she was the employee of the hour, she saw a change in him where he seemed to open a little bit, but it was more than that. Anyone good at sales knew that it was more about listening than about talking. The best salespeople were the ones who knew the right words at the right time that made all the difference.


    It also made sense to her how sales and swordplay went together. Any decent blademaster knew that the right strike at the right time was the difference between life and death in battle. She would have to be careful with him. She had just thought he was an asshole, but being a calculating asshole made him deadly.


    ¡°Maxi?¡± Farhad said, and she realized that he had asked her a question.


    ¡°I found her on a mission,¡± Maxi said, and lowered her voice. ¡°Hey, Farhad, you¡¯re a Hacker, right?¡±


    ¡°Last time I checked,¡± he responded, smiling.


    ¡°Right. Stupid question. But I got this quest and I¡¯m going to need information on the Power Twelve.¡±


    ¡°The Power Twelve?¡± he said a little too loudly, and she glanced at the others. None of them seemed to notice. He sensed her distress and resumed the conspiratorial tones. ¡°Is it that quest for the higher ups?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask what it¡¯s about?¡±


    Maxi thought about it for a moment. Between her uncle, mom, and all the other things whirling around in her head, she realized that she needed someone to trust. She couldn¡¯t keep it all inside. When she was a girl, she streamed reruns of an old Sci Fi TV Show called Warehouse 13. The premise was this top-secret organization that stored dangerous artifacts with magical properties.


    While she had since forgotten the plot of the show, she did remember that every agent had their ¡°one¡±. Each person working at the warehouse could tell one person everything. They could unload all their secrets on another person, and Maxi needed that person right now.


    Her first thought was that it should be her mother, but the woman had bought her freedom from the Company. Telling the secrets that weighed Maxi down would only rope her mom back into the place. No, her mom deserved her retirement. It was Maxi¡¯s turn to keep the Earth safe. Not to mention, Maxi was still pissed at her with the whole lying to her thing.


    Maxi couldn¡¯t believe she was even thinking this, but she realized that she was exactly where she needed to be. All the jobs she had ever done before were meaningless. All her efforts were just making someone else rich, and she would slave away lining their pockets while they played golf.


    At the Company, she could make a difference, and not just for individuals, like the office party that was cut short by murderous printers, but a difference in the world. Maxi had finally found something she was not only good at, but that mattered. Most of her life, the world seemed like a shitty place for most people, and she couldn¡¯t do a damn thing about it. Here she could.


    But not if she unraveled because of all the stuff she had been keeping inside. Her luck in Bobby¡¯s world wasn¡¯t bad because of shitty rolls. She was distracted. Her brain had been stuffed to the limits with everything that had happened to her, and she needed someone else.


    There was something about Farhad that made her want to trust him. Perhaps it was the way that he was easygoing, or perhaps his honesty. He wasn¡¯t rude when he didn¡¯t get his way, like Daisuke, yet he wasn¡¯t a pushover like Yancy, who, if Maxi wasn¡¯t careful, would willingly be her little lapdog.


    She needed a friend, and Farhad had been nothing but that the entire time. Even when she had skipped out on the raid, his messages felt more like concern than anything else. Maxi had always been an introvert, only really getting to know a handful of people in her life. Farhad seemed like one of those people. One of her people.


    ¡°You okay, Maxi?¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°Yeah, can we talk somewhere private?¡±


    ¡°There are conference rooms, but they charge by the minute,¡± Farhad said, then looked Maxi over. ¡°Tell you what, I got this. Least I can do after you figured out that boss.¡±


    Maxi smiled and squeezed his shoulder. They stood up, walked over to the exit, and summoned the elevator. Once inside, Farhad requested a conference, accepted the charges, which were thankfully not on surge pricing, and the elevator took them to a room with a long table, projector, speaker phones, and all the equipment one would expect.


    Farhad sat at the table and motioned for her to join him. She plopped down on a chair, and it all came gushing out. She told him everything, and to his credit, he listened.

 29 – Operating Expenses

    After Maxi finished talking about it all, she felt lighter. The fact that she had just a couple weeks to figure out which one of the Power Twelve was attempting to kill her didn¡¯t seem as daunting. There would be another head in the game. She wouldn¡¯t have to do it alone.


    ¡°You¡¯re from another world. That explains so much about you,¡± Farhad said when it was all over.


    Maxi punched him on the shoulder and said, ¡°I grew up on Earth.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean...never mind. It was a stupid comment. You do know that by telling me this, you risk termination,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°Oh, gee, no! Not termination!¡± Maxi said sarcastically. ¡°Which only happens if you start posting conspiracy theories on the message boards.¡±


    ¡°I would never do that. There is a Public Relations Branch. They post most of the conspiracy theories.¡±


    ¡°I suppose they are the ones behind all those conspiracy theories like dogs aren''t real.¡±


    ¡°Among other things. The easiest way to hide the truth is to put enough bullshit out there so that it all looks like bullshit.¡±


    ¡°So, do you believe me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say what I believe, but I can say that I believe in you, and if you say it¡¯s true, then I¡¯ll have to treat it like it''s true unless I learn otherwise.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how much that means to me, Farhad.¡± Maxi wasn¡¯t much of a crier, but she could feel the emotion forming in her gut. She decided to rein it back before things got too gushy. ¡°So, can we track information about the Power Twelve? Even just their damage dealt during the last year of raids or so would be helpful. We¡¯d at least know who wasn¡¯t putting in all their effort.


    ¡°Considering they aren¡¯t throwing all the raids, just enough to keep us weak, I don¡¯t know how helpful that would be. Even the last raid that failed may not give us enough of a signal.¡±


    ¡°But if we compared the damage they had done to the last three bosses to the one last month, we¡¯d maybe see who wasn¡¯t putting in their top effort.¡±


    ¡°People go on vacation, get sick and even injured. Sometimes they are just bored. There are a lot of reasons why some people may not give it their all. I don¡¯t think poor performance means they are murderers or out to undermine the Company.¡±


    ¡°But it would at least narrow down the list. I¡¯ve only met two of the Power Twelve. My uncle¨C¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that,¡± Farhad said.


    Maxi ignored him and continued, ¡°and Sledge, or whatever his name is. Who names their kid Sledge anyway?¡±


    ¡°Once you get to a certain Tier, you can use a handle that isn¡¯t your real name. Being at the top has its privileges. I wouldn''t think Sledge would be in any conspiracy. He is the top Sales Associate and believes in the mission.¡±


    ¡°Heavy Metal Wiki is the top sales guy?¡± Maxi asked incredulously.


    ¡°Yeah. I mean, our business is slaying monsters. What better way to convince a client that we are good at what we do than that guy.¡±


    ¡°Fair point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll run the analysis using your uncle¡¯s data. We¡¯ll see who may not have been putting in their best effort on the last raid. I just don¡¯t want you to go and storm their office and challenge them to a duel,¡± Farhad said.


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    ¡°What makes you think I¡¯d do that?¡±


    ¡°Your track record of impulsive decision-making isn¡¯t exactly the best. You couldn¡¯t even sit still long enough to heal fully before going on another quest.¡±


    ¡°That was supposed to be a simple fetch quest.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is a simple quest around here.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted,¡± Maxi said, and sighed. She didn¡¯t know what she would do if Farhad hadn¡¯t stepped into her life. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the office. I know this is costing you.¡±


    They took the magic elevator back to the Pool and stepped into chaos that had broken out during the moment they were away. Patti was holding a picture above her head while Belinda was attempting to snatch it away. Daisuke and Flav were attempting to separate the pair, but Belinda was quick and could wriggle free from their grip. Yancy was trying to talk them all out of it.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Maxi said in her best mother voice, cutting through the frenzy.


    Belinda ran behind Maxi, hissed like a cat, and said, ¡°She stole my boyfriend and won¡¯t give him back.¡±


    Daisuke and Flav stood down and slumped on their chairs. Patti, on the other hand, had a framed picture of the pop star Ricky Martin.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had this at my desk since¡­ well, I can¡¯t remember,¡± Patti said, then added, ¡°He inspires me.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have¨C¡± Maxi said. ¡°Never mind. Belinda...¡±


    ¡°Meow?¡± the wild haired inventor purred.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s your boyfriend. You left him in the shop.¡±


    Belinda licked her hand and brushed it against her face like a cat and then bellowed with laughter. ¡°That¡¯s right! He¡¯s in the shop. I left him in the shop!¡±


    ¡°Next time you have the urge to take something off someone¡¯s desk, ask,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Meow. Meow. Meow,¡± Belinda said, then trotted off to her cubicle where she pulled out three old granola bars from her bag and sniffed them in turn.


    ¡°Do we have to keep her?¡± Patti asked, placing her signed Ricky Martin photo back on her desk.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen her in a fight,¡± Maxi responded. ¡°If we are going to make this Office Pool into something, we are going to need everybody.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with you being team leader all of a sudden?¡± Daisuke said pointedly.


    ¡°I came to some realizations recently,¡± Maxi replied. ¡°This place isn''t all that bad, even when you¡¯re being a shithead, and we actually have the makings of a good party here. So, we can either try individually to jockey for more power and prestige, then jump ship when another Pool comes around, leaving the others to die if we fall below Tier 9 again, or we can make something of ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you got the message,¡± Daisuke said, ¡°but it¡¯s the Power Twelve, not the Power Office Pools.¡±


    ¡°But why couldn¡¯t it be?¡± Maxi asked. ¡°There are twelve rank 1 players in the entire Company. None of them are in the same Office Pool. In fact, I checked the leaderboards. None of their cumulative Tiers is even the top ranked.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because chasing the cumulative is a fool¡¯s errand. All having the best team does is get you a free pizza party or a day off at the movies on the Company¡¯s dime. Do you think the Power Twelve, who spend their Saturdays on a yacht or at the golf course, care about those types of incentives? It¡¯s all so they can keep making money so the wealthy people can just play around with their money.¡±


    ¡°My point exactly. The whole system has us focused on the wrong thing! What if we picked quests not because they would get us the most credits, but because they saved the most people? You saw what it was like after we figured out how to defeat the raid boss.¡±


    ¡°That was all you,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done it if you and Yancy hadn¡¯t believed in me. The point is that people were cheering us, not because we made money.¡±


    ¡°That was pretty nice, though,¡± Flav interjected.


    ¡°They were cheering us because we saved one fourth of the Company from getting murdered at the end of the month. And you know what? I think we can save a lot more of them.¡±


    ¡°What? How?¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°We buy out their contracts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. The amount of money that it would take to buy even the lower performers'' contracts¨C¡±


    ¡°Would be what the Power Twelve are making. That¡¯s right. I can do math, too. Well, sometimes. I had to use a calculator, but that¡¯s not the point,¡± Maxi said. ¡°The point is, when you¡¯re on your deathbed, do you think the world will measure you by how many yachts you own, or how much golf you played? Or will it be for the difference you made? There is shit in the world that even the resurrection chairs can¡¯t handle. When your time comes, do you want it to be for another sports car or for something that matters?¡±


    Belinda clapped. ¡°Meow! Meow! Meow!¡±


    Daisuke frowned, but said, ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Take a look at your quests. Take the ones that matter. We¡¯ll pool our resources. Buy out contracts at the end of the month for people who don¡¯t make the cut, so they can go back to their loved ones,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°But what about our loved ones?¡± Patti asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be saving them, too. Trust me on this.¡±


    Maxi hoped she was right. There was an apocalypse on the horizon. Whether it was grutomatons, killer ooze, a hostile takeover by one of the less-friendly-to-human-life multi-dimensionals, or something else ¨C she knew it was coming.

 30 – The Hunt

    The team gelled quickly when they were given direction and focus. They took quests that had them fighting a zombie outbreak in a Japanese high rise, more killer printers in Dubai, a couple of creatures with grass on their hides that turned razor sharp when they were threatened, and numerous creature outbreaks in their home city.


    Most of the people they saved were unaware of how much danger they were in and thought it was a bear on the loose from the zoo or something easily explainable. Most people didn¡¯t want to live in a world of monsters, so they would explain it with something mundane. Company cleanup crews were sent in the wake of the missions to scrub film evidence from phones and security systems. The Company usually ended up recruiting those who didn¡¯t repress the memory.


    In addition to the psychological tricks, Janitorial had devices that could wipe a single image off a specific phone over one hundred yards away. The Customer Care Advocates had healing skills and injectables that would leave people in a daze, and the people would assume they were in a state of shock after the traumatic event. Hackers would scrub the internet clean of the secret.


    When Maxi wasn¡¯t leading her team in fighting off creatures, she attempted to get headway on some of the mysteries in her life. The main one was Albuquerque. The word didn¡¯t seem to trigger the elevator, and from what she could research about the place, it was just another city that always seemed to thwart Bugs Bunny during his travels across the country.


    Other Branches began to take notice of her heroism, and Maxi got a nasty email from one of the Paranormal Investigators about leaving the hard work to the professionals and lecturing her about how she would only get her Office Pool killed, and ¡°not the kind of dead you come back from¡±. Maxi showed Farhad the email, and he said that it was probably some low-level PI who was just blowing off some steam.


    In the meantime, her credit account grew. While she was contributing most of it to their shared pool to buy off a couple contracts by the end of the month, she was able to get herself a +5 Longsword, +3 Khakis of Mending, more storage on her utility belt, and an Infinity Backpack, an item that was bigger on the inside, though how much bigger, no one really knew. Employees foolish enough to climb inside never came back and were terminated a couple days later for job abandonment.


    The backpack came with cords to retrieve the objects inside, as anything not tethered to the rim would also disappear. It was even rumored that there was one of the maintenance employees deep in the bowels of the building who had lost her husband in one of the bags. The woman periodically dumped untethered food and supplies inside in hopes that he was still in there, living who knows where.


    It was a good item to have because her belt was getting full, as Patti had made them all potions. Maxi gave Farhad her bat minions. They were sharing their resources. Even Belinda helped in her own weird ways, though it was hard to figure out how cat figurines with Ricky Martin¡¯s head were useful, but at least she was trying, and by far outdoing them all in credits for the Save-the-Employees pot.


    Their cat-confused friend donated everything she made. She even tried to get rid of some +7 chainmail that would fit under her blouse. They really had to do a lot of work on that one to convince her to keep it for herself.


    While they were plugging away at quests, helping where they could, Farhad had completed his analysis and discovered that there were three of the Power Twelve who didn¡¯t seem to have put in as much effort as they could on the last raid boss. To her uncle¡¯s credit, even though he didn¡¯t do that much damage, being the PR class, his efforts seemed to match all the other times raid bosses had appeared in the past. Either he was good at faking participation or really was what he portrayed himself to be ¨C just another player concerned with the wellbeing of the Company.


    That left the Statistician, FR-ANKH-LIN, the Auditor, Hellboy666, and Izzod, who was the most mysterious of the bunch. No one really knew what Izzod did for the Company, other than being Janitor class. Nor did people even know what the person looked like. They were the only one among the Power Twelve who didn¡¯t have an Office Pool, whereas all the others had Office Pools whose sole purpose seemed to be keeping their careers going.


    For example, Hellboy666¡¯s Office Pool classes consisted of three Personal Assistants, one Office Manager, one Social Media Specialist, a Talent Agent, a Lawyer, a private Customer Care Advocate, several Laborers used as security guards, and a private Tutor for the guy¡¯s son. All the other Power Twelve seemed to be in a similar situation where their Office Pool was hand curated to keep them in the Power Twelve.


    Her uncle was no different in that his Office Pool consisted of all the usuals a power player would need, including several members of the Dancer class. Maxi didn¡¯t want to spend too much time imagining what role they played in his life.


    Because their Office Pool cronies helped keep the Power Twelve well insulated from the regular employees, it was hard to even get close to them.


    The only exception was Izzod, who was in an Office Pool of 1, and had an office with a plain wooden table, an austere chair, and a computer station. Maxi had been to it on many occasions, attempting to get an audience with him/her/they/it, but there was never anyone there.


    Because of the elusiveness of getting face-to-face with one of the Power Twelve, Maxi had to rely on tactics like ambushing them outside of nightclubs they would frequent, or waiting in common areas where they were rumored to be spotted.


    By the time she met one of the three on her list that could have been throwing the boss raid, she had met all the other Power Twelve except for the PI friend of her uncle, the Y, and Likeabosssnaz. Most of them either treated her like she was a drooling fangirl, offering to sign whatever she happened to be holding at the time, or tried to hit on her by offering some time in their rooftop Jacuzzi.


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    She had finally caught up to FR-ANKH-LIN outside a sub place that boasted of being the only place to get a real Philly cheesesteak outside of Philly. She had to track down several leads, and talked to maybe nine different employees just to figure out that he was from Philadelphia. Perhaps it was all the Eagles paraphernalia in his office.


    She didn¡¯t figure to stake out the sub shop until she heard a rumor that he would sneak out of the office occasionally during lunch time. It was a long shot at best, but sure enough, FR-ANKH-LIN was holding just such a sandwich in his hand when she said, ¡°Mr. Lin.¡±


    ¡°Call me, Ankh,¡± FR-ANKH-LIN said. He was not what she had expected before she met him. She thought he was going to be some Asian math whiz or some other stereotype, but he was a rather portly Black man with gray hair, button-up purple shirt, and glasses.


    ¡°Sounds good, Ankh. I work for the Company, and I¡¯m doing a data collection project about the raids.¡±


    ¡°Data collection?¡± Ankh said and started down the street at a surprisingly fast pace, forcing Maxi to jog to keep up. ¡°I wasn¡¯t briefed on any data collection.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a personal project.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re on thin ice. There are protocols for data. I get it. I¡¯m a numbers jockey myself. The thrill of the calculation. But Company numbers, with information protocols? You¡¯re on thin ice. Between you and me, best sell your services to the rest of the world. How do you think I generated my wealth? Not crunching how many skeles a PI crunches in a month. I made Wall Street rich. Consulting work helps the mission, too. The Company needs money to fight monsters. Cash flow helps the biz. So best you avoid Company books, and power your leveling with consulting.¡± Dismissing her, the man turned to the nearest building with a public entrance that most likely had an elevator inside.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Statistician,¡± Maxi blurted out.


    The man stopped, turned to her with a curious look, and said, ¡°Then what are you?¡±


    ¡°A Generalist. I just need to know if there was anything going on last month. Something that may have prevented you from giving the raid your full attention.¡± It was a risk being so direct, but there was a feeling in her gut that he wasn¡¯t the one throwing in the towel to keep his position safe. She got the sense that he really loved numbers, and that love also translated to lots of money.


    Whoever was sabotaging the raids had to feel threatened by other employees rising through the ranks. It had to be a person whose position in the Power Twelve wasn¡¯t so stable. A person who could easily be usurped by an upstart. Naturally, her first suspicion was the players ranked 1.10-1.12, but none of them correlated to the damage list. In fact, Izzod was 1.1, so unless this Izzod person was a real prick and wanted to sink the whole ship if they ever dropped to 1.2 or 1.3, it seemed unlikely that they were the one in the plot.


    As it stood, FR-ANKH-LIN was 1.5 and Hellboy666 1.8, both far enough away that there would have to be serious disruption to drop out of the Power Twelve. Still, she had to investigate, because who knew what they were really thinking? Rich and powerful people could do weird things, especially when their money and power were on the line.


    Ankh stared past her for a moment and then said, ¡°I had a project due. Something about crypto. It made my clients a lot of money, but if you check your data again, you¡¯ll see that when it was apparent that the Company was at risk, I put in my every effort. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I am running behind, and cannot waste any more time talking to you.¡± Ankh turned around in a huff and walked up the steps to the building.


    ¡°What do you think, Terry?¡± Maxi asked. ¡°Did he do it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Terry said, ¡°but you have revoked my permission to record your conversations, so I cannot comment about what just happened because there is no memory in my databanks.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the last thing you remember about me?¡±


    ¡°You woke up in a resurrection chair in a basement.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there some step in between, like human memory?¡±


    ¡°My memory is recorded in perfect fidelity. Unlike humans, whose memories become hazy, exaggerated, or just plain false over time, I remember everything with unwavering clarity. Most humans find my playback abilities useful.¡±


    ¡°But privacy!¡±


    ¡°My programming does not allow me to record in the bathroom or shower, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just that power players are out to kill me, and having that information sitting on a server somewhere¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve already ruled out the Hacker of the Power Twelve as a suspect based on the data you shared with me from Farhad. Even if employee personal files were accessible to anyone but you, hacking internal Company files is a terminable offense.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by ''personal files''?¡±


    ¡°Each employee is allocated one yottabyte of data storage on their own personal hard drive that is physically located in the server dimension, though employees without knowledge of the transdimensional nature of the Company are told that it¡¯s an offsite secure facility. All my memories of you are stored in there, as well as anything else you save to the cloud. It¡¯s impossible to access without being physically located on the site, and even then, the Archivists responsible for storing Company data only allow the proper authorities access to personal files with a transdimensional court order.¡±


    ¡°If I can access it via the cloud, can¡¯t someone just steal my password?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t use security as outdated as passwords, or even biometrics, because those are easily replicated. All your digital access is secured via quantametrics. The particles in your body all have a unique signature that lets us know it¡¯s you, and even if I were to clone you with an exact match of your DNA, the clone would still have a unique quantum signature.¡±


    ¡°What about another me? Like a parallel world evil me?¡±


    ¡°While alternate universes with bad versions of you with goatees running around is a common trope in fiction, the chances of you meeting yourself in another dimension are virtually nothing. The average ejaculate for men contains 200 million sperm per milliliter of fluid. The chance of you being here is already in the millions. Then, factor in that those same dice needed to be rolled for all the people who came before you being born. The chances of you existing at all are so small that we could be looking for eons before we find a parallel you out there.¡±


    ¡°But the other dimensions have skyscrapers. Isn¡¯t the invention of the elevator what gives us access to the other worlds?¡±


    ¡°Neighboring dimensions tend to be very similar, at least in terms of technological trajectories and human evolution. There are perhaps worlds out there with fish people and aquatic skyscrapers, but the chances of you stumbling into a world like your own are much higher. Besides, you¡¯d probably drown in the fish people world,¡± Terry said.


    ¡°But it¡¯s still possible?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Sure, there¡¯s a world where dragons and humans have coexisted on the same planet, so I suppose anything is possible. It¡¯s all about the likelihood of events.¡±


    Considering her data seemed reasonably secure in the server dimension, she decided to let Terry continue recording her interactions. She would have appreciated the ability to play back the conversation with Ankh, see if there was something she missed. In the meantime, she had some other power players to hunt down.

 31 - Sushi

    Later that same day, Maxi found herself in her uncle¡¯s office, where she debriefed him with what she had gleaned so far. Her uncle watched with a blank expression. It was hard to get a read on the guy. Lo had the knack to seem totally engaged with her without giving away any hint of emotion. It wasn¡¯t that he was cold. The man seemed warm and inviting. It was more like she couldn¡¯t escape the feeling that he was analyzing her.


    Perhaps it was more that she was analyzing him, and not gleaning any more than she already knew. Her mother gave her explicit instructions not to trust him, yet here she was, sharing all the details of her investigation. Sure, he was the one who gave her the quest, but he still wasn¡¯t completely off the suspect list.


    After she finished her debrief, she decided to ask more about her dad. ¡°So, when was the last time you saw my dad?¡±


    ¡°Around the last time you saw him,¡± Lo said. ¡°He said that he had found the Printer that Never Jams, then disappeared.¡±


    Maxi remembered the day he left. He and her mom had argued. There was a nasty fight. Her dad had told her that he¡¯d be going away for a while. He packed a small backpack, headed out the door, and was never seen again. At least not until the closed-casket funeral following his ¡°encounter¡± with a subway.


    ¡°Did you fake his death?¡± Maxi said. ¡°It was a closed-casket funeral.¡±


    ¡°I know. I was there,¡± Lo said, and after he looked her in the eyes, he added, ¡°You probably wouldn¡¯t remember me.¡±


    There were quite a few of her father¡¯s business associates who had shown up to the funeral. She remembered her mom being quite protective of her, shooing away any people who tried to talk with Maxi, saying that she was in mourning and to leave her alone. In hindsight, Maxi realized that it was just her mom not wanting Maxi to get mixed up in the Company.


    That¡¯s what Maxi had to figure out about her uncle. How much of her mother¡¯s distrust of him was because he deserved it, versus how much of it was just her mother¡¯s hate for the Company? Maxi understood her mother more than she ever had while growing up. Her mom had just seemed to be an eccentric parent with strange rules about what Maxi couldn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t do.


    But now, it made so much more sense. The Company had destroyed Tara¡¯s life. Her brother was a Company man, so therefore, something to be reviled. While Maxi wasn¡¯t throwing her mom¡¯s advice to the wind, she was her own person, and often, when her mother thought something was a mistake, Maxi would do it anyway because she had to find out for herself.


    The more her mom attempted to shield her from life, the more Maxi wanted to experience it. When she was a girl, if Tara told her the pool was too cold and advised her to go in slowly, Maxi would jump. If a late-night movie was ¡°too scary¡±, Maxi would sneak out of her bedroom to catch the end of it.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± she asked.


    ¡°He most likely died in an off-grid dimension,¡± Lo said. ¡°We don¡¯t know where he went because he disabled the security system in the elevator that he used. All we know is that it came back empty, covered in a significant portion of his own blood.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡±


    ¡°Presumably. Let¡¯s just say it was enough to easily convince anyone of his death.¡±


    ¡°And what do you believe?¡±


    ¡°I believe that your father had a talent for doing what he wanted, regardless of the consequences to himself or anyone around him. Much like a certain daughter of his. While I don¡¯t know what killed him or if he is dead, I do know this ¨C he and your mom were on thin ice before he died. They were one step away from a divorce.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I was there.¡±


    ¡°But what you don¡¯t know is that your dad did it all to protect you. Your entire world dying...it leaves emotional scars. He didn¡¯t want that for you, nor did your mom, so they rented an offsite apartment. Paid the premium for more time away from the Company. It was all to give you an approximation of what they thought was a normal childhood on Earth.¡±


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    ¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°It was all fine and dandy, they both made enough credits to approximate a good middle-class life, but your mom and dad disagreed about one fundamental issue that eventually tore them apart. While your mom wanted to hide the truth from you, your dad wanted to tell you when you were a teenager. He wanted to train you for the war to come.¡±


    ¡°War? What war?¡±


    ¡°The end of the world. There¡¯s always an apocalypse around the corner, be it grutomaton or otherwise. As soon as the first reports of printers exhibiting the signs of the virus started coming through, he wanted to put you in boot camp and prepare you for the end of the world. Your mom wanted nothing to do with it. It¡¯s what eventually tore them apart in the end. There¡¯s a lot of trauma from what happened. Most marriages can¡¯t survive the trauma they went through.¡±


    ¡°Who said I was blaming them? What about your trauma? You seem to have done well for yourself.¡±


    Lo Key became stern. It was the first real hint of emotion from him that didn¡¯t seem staged. ¡°I can still hear the screams of my family. Not everyone was lucky like yours.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Maxi said. However, she didn¡¯t feel lucky. The whole thing seemed like a nightmare to her. In some ways, she was thankful to her mother, because when she was a teen, her biggest worry was whether she¡¯d make the latest raid on whichever MMORPG she was playing at the time. On the other hand, had her dad won the argument, maybe she could have trained and been the top PI right about now, slaying monsters on the front lines.


    In the end, perhaps stumbling into the path of a Generalist was the right path for her. She didn¡¯t have a branch handing out orders, as almost all the Generalists were as close to independent contractors that the Company would get, and she seemed to be doing good with just using the Company training.


    Still, Maxi wanted to find out what happened to her dad, not only because her search for the Printer of Never Jamming crossed his path, but perhaps she could get better insight as to why. The fact remained that he¡¯d rather she thought he was a deadbeat gambling-addicted drunk than tell her the truth.


    As if Lo had heard her thoughts, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what. Figure out which of the Power Twelve is throwing the raids, and I¡¯ll get you access to your father¡¯s file.¡±


    A new message appeared in her glasses. ¡°A Favor for Lo Key¡± updated. Reward: Access to Henry Breakwaters¡¯ investigation file.


    ¡°It¡¯ll take me some time to requisition you access,¡± Lo added, ¡°and I don¡¯t want you to get distracted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll help locate The Printer of Never Jamming if my father really did find it,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Perhaps, but you need to survive the month, first.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°Only if we don¡¯t find that power player, they¡¯ll have another chance at you during the next raid.¡±


    ¡°If there is a next raid.¡±


    ¡°There is always a next raid. Now, unless you have anything else for me, my suggestion is the sushi bar.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡±


    ¡°The one in our cafeteria. It¡¯s a little pricey, but it¡¯s one of the few things worth the credits.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to tell me something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you to go get lunch.¡±


    Maxi shrugged and went towards the elevator at the front of his office. She pressed the button and walked inside. She was about to call her Office Pool when she decided on the cafeteria instead. In the short time she had known her uncle, he wasn¡¯t the small talk type. Either they were having a useful conversation, or he was dismissing her because he was busy. Which meant that there was something he wanted her to see.


    It didn¡¯t take her very long to figure out what that something was. One of Hellboy666¡¯s personal assistants was at the bar filling up an entire cartful of plates, much to the irritation of others in line. Maxi knew the person worked for the power Auditor because Hellboy666 was a bit of a social-media-aholic.


    The woman at the sushi counter was the same short-haired Korean woman in an all-white business suit who was in the background of lots of his photos. She was often holding a phone, or a pad of paper, or something that screamed ¡°personal assistant¡±. Seeing the amount of sushi she was purchasing; it was definitely a lunch run for his entourage.


    After the woman filled up her cart, she pushed it towards the twelve elevators at the entrance to the cafeteria. She went to the Tier 1 elevator, which was vacant, and pushed the button. Maxi made a split-second decision, raced up to the elevator and yelled, ¡°Hold that door!¡±


    Maxi stepped inside next to the dumbfounded assistant, who was probably used to no lines, waits, or traveling companions during her time working for her boss. Maxi didn¡¯t give the girl any time to think about it. Maxi said, ¡°Where are you going? I can enter the destination.¡±


    ¡°Hellboy¡¯s office,¡± the assistant said, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t really work like that. The elevator system¨C¡±


    ¡°Hellboy¡¯s office it is,¡± Maxi said after pushing the button. The elevator lurched as it took off. She had known that it would work with the assistant in the elevator. When Maxi had tried to access the offices of other players, Terry would politely remind her that she didn¡¯t have permission. This white-clad assistant did, and so long as she was in the elevator, it would take Maxi where she wanted to go. However, she was going to have to start a drinking game, as the elevator dumped her off in a location that she didn¡¯t expect.

 32 - Legacy

    Hellboy666¡¯s office was different to say the least. She had half expected a fan homage to Hellboy, the comic book character turned film franchise starring Ron Perlman in the early aughts versions and newer versions with the guy from Stranger Things, who seemed to be in everything after playing a dumpy, washed-out cop in the homage to every 80s movie. But it seemed Hellboy666 had nothing to do with the comic book character of the same name.


    In fact, what she saw didn¡¯t really resemble an office at all, more like a party in the background of a rap video. There were coolers full of beer, wine, and other beverages. Beautiful people dressed in nothing but skimpy swimsuits caroused with each other, danced, and enjoyed the bass thumping from the speakers while the DJ scratched the next track.


    It was a giant rooftop pool deck where very little work seemed to be happening despite the laptop here or the tablet there. While some people had their nose in an electronic device, most noses were buried in more carnal pleasures of life.


    A beefy man ran off the diving board and jumped in the pool while others hooted and cheered him on. The personal assistant pushed her cart of sushi into the madness, and a man with biceps the size of a small dog stopped Maxi from going any farther.


    ¡°You''re not invited to this meeting,¡± he said.


    ¡°If this is a meeting, then what are his parties like? I bet they''re boring. Too many spreadsheets.¡± Maxi tried to slip past him, but he moved in front of her, along with another thick-necked man who probably bench-pressed cars for leisure.


    ¡°Come on, boys,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Do you really think he cares about the list? What¡¯s one more attractive woman in a bathing suit going to cause any disruption?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wearing a bathing suit,¡± the man said, pointing out her yellow shirt.


    ¡°It¡¯s what¡¯s underneath that counts,¡± she said with a coy smile.


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± asked an approaching businessman with shades, white sunscreen covering his nose, a suit jacket that did little to conceal his highly sculpted abs, and festive Hawaiian-themed swim trunks on the bottom half.


    ¡°Sorry, boss,¡± the goon said, and straightened up like he had been caught smoking weed on the job, ¡°She wasn¡¯t on the invite.¡±


    ¡°She is now,¡± he said, after pressing a button on his phone. Maxi¡¯s glasses displayed a connection request on the social media part of the Company app. She accepted and the guards parted to let her through. The boss guy motioned for her to follow, and she trotted next to him as they made their way to the bar.


    ¡°They are sticklers for protocol, but that¡¯s also what makes them the best,¡± he said over his shoulder.


    ¡°You¡¯re Hellboy666,¡± Maxi said. ¡°If you¡¯re him, who¡¯s that guy?¡±


    The Hellboy666 she had seen on all the social media posts was currently raiding the sushi cart the personal assistant had brought and doing Jell-O shots with a crowd of wasted professionals.


    ¡°That¡¯s my body double.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look a thing like you.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± the man said. ¡°When you are a high-profile Auditor like myself, you make a lot of enemies.¡±


    ¡°So, what, you hired that guy to take a bullet for you?¡±


    ¡°You can be resurrected from bullets. Now, I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t come here to ask about my safety procedures.¡± He ordered two pineapple juices from the bar, and the bartender served them in cocktail glasses complete with umbrella and pineapple wedge.


    Hellboy666 held his drink up to some of the partygoers, who hooted their appreciation, then asked Maxi to follow him once more. They made their way to a more private section of the rooftop deck where some sunbathing chairs were overlooking the city below.


    While they weren¡¯t on the highest tower in the city, they were up there. It looked like a different location from what she now knew to be the Company''s main building in the financial district. The view of the city was picturesque, worthy of being a travel ad. He sat down next to a laptop that was on a lock screen and sipped his drink. He motioned Maxi to sit, then said, ¡°Now, what can I do for Henry Breakwaters¡¯ daughter?¡±


    ¡°You knew my dad?¡±


    ¡°All the Power Twelve know each other.¡±


    ¡°My dad was one of the Power Twelve?¡± That was news to her. She had grown up with a simple life. There was no jet-setting, or private mansions on tropical islands, but her parents also didn¡¯t seem to struggle for money. They were never at risk for homelessness or seemed stretched too thin. In fact, for living in a household having a parent with a ¡°gambling addiction¡±, their money flow always seemed fine.


    Maxi was coming to terms with the fact that she had fabricated the story when she saw her mother and father struggling. All the risky behavior that kept her father out of the house for weeks on end was this job. Now she was doing the exact same thing, though without a child who needed her. Good enough reason for her to never have kids. Being a parent was something she had never wanted to do, and now felt more justified for avoiding that situation altogether.


    ¡°When your father died,¡± Hellboy666 said, ¡°that was the biggest shake up to the Power Twelve in Company history. Not only did your mom buy out her contract with the death benefit, but your uncle took the opportunity to fill the spot he had vacated.¡±


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    ¡°What Tier was my mom?¡±


    ¡°1.1¡±


    This was news to her. Why hadn¡¯t her uncle, or her mom for that matter, let her know that both of her parents were in the Power Twelve? It seemed like she could have been asking her mom for advice rather than doing all this snooping around. Tara¡¯s enemies would most likely set their sights on Maxi.


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised they didn¡¯t tell you,¡± the man said, as if reading her thoughts. ¡°When you¡¯ve been an Auditor as long as me, you can tell when someone is lying, surprised, in shock. The right fact at the right time, and people will spill their entire embezzling scheme to you. But I¡¯m not here to dig up your family secrets. I¡¯m here because I liked your dad. Your mom was always an odd duck, and I wouldn¡¯t say we got along, but your dad, I understood. You see, he was throwing all his credits into good causes. Just like you. I heard about your office fund to buy out contracts of less fortunate employees. That¡¯s all well and good now, but when you get up here, it¡¯s going to make people nervous.¡±


    ¡°What? Helping people out?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°No, upending the system. Every billionaire out there doesn¡¯t want the system to change. Sure, they parade their changes that disrupted the system and made them rich all day long, but they don¡¯t want anyone else to do it, so they throttle the competition and keep themselves at the top. You think big tech companies remain in power because they have the best product? They use unsavory tactics to stay where they are.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what this has to do with the Power Twelve.¡±


    ¡°The Power Twelve are no different than any monarch or dictatorship. Nobles schemed and plotted against each other to clinch their power. CEOs of big companies do the same, ostensibly in the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, when it¡¯s really nothing more than power grabs, plots, and scheming. The Power Twelve are no different.¡±


    ¡°Thus, your body double,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°You¡¯re catching on. But your father was different. He gave away most of the money he made. In fact, it was always an argument between Tara and him. They fought most about money.¡±


    That part Maxi knew was true. She didn¡¯t know how many times she heard her mom screaming at her dad about throwing their money away. Maxi had always assumed it was the gambling problem, but now it seemed there was more to the story.


    ¡°What did my dad do with his fortune?¡±


    ¡°Mostly philanthropic causes. He¡¯d give money to medical research, commissioned clean drinking water in Africa, donated to inner city youth programs. It was all laundered through shell companies and the kind of financial mazes that make me so good at my job. He didn¡¯t want credit for any of it, so he enlisted me to hide his financials, which is probably why Tara won¡¯t have any good things to say about me. But it was simply because your dad wanted to leave the world a better place.¡±


    ¡°What did he do for the employees?¡±


    ¡°Plenty. That¡¯s why the families of employees who perma-die in the line of duty are so well taken care of. That didn¡¯t exist before him. Ironic that your mom benefited from it.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see why that¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°If you were the one to be cashing out player accounts, then you would understand. Look, if you were sitting on piles of money, and someone came along with a big, new, radical social idea, would you want them spending your money on it?¡±


    ¡°I guess it depends on the idea,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re dangerous. If your wealth depends on things staying the way that they are, then any change is going to disrupt that equation, so you invest money in keeping the status quo, spread rumors why change is bad, keep people thinking they can have it all, like you. Sell them the dream, but keep it all for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you are doing here?¡± Maxi nodded to the party that was still going strong not far from where they were sitting.


    ¡°I have to maintain appearances. If people think you are a fool, they have loose lips around you. Loose lips is how I get my job done. No one likes an audit, especially people at the top, because they always have something to hide. The more I look like an idiot, the better I am at my job. Your father never understood that concept. The more effort he put into being a regular guy who just got lucky, the more people noticed him. The more they noticed him, the more they feared him because he was a disruptor.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying my father was murdered?¡± Maxi said a little too loudly, and Hellboy glanced around, even though no one was within ear shot.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying your father had ideas, and those ideas would cost people money, maybe some prestige, or even power.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    Hellboy lowered his voice to something barely audible. ¡°He wanted to do away with the ranking system. Make everyone earn based on their actual work efforts.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t that what we have?¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°Idealistic and naive, just like your father,¡± he said. ¡°When you get in the higher ranks, you use your credits to make more credits. Who¡¯s the Generalist boss these days?¡±


    ¡°Ted...I dunno, forgot his last name.¡±


    ¡°That twerp? He was a low-level paper pusher when I first chose to be an Auditor, but that¡¯s beside the point. Ted doesn¡¯t have to make money doing quests, he just buys them, hands them out to all of you and makes commission when you complete them.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t see any shared rewards in the¡­¡±


    ¡°Sharing is only when you invite others on the quest. When you create a quest in the system, there are service fees based on the award. A 50-credit quest not only has a service fee attached, but also the money for the person completing the task. I give a 50-credit reward, but I pay 65. The Company keeps some of that 15, Ted gets another chunk, the Branch a piece, Janitorial even has a cut for cleaning up the mess. The point is that when I¡¯m high enough level, I can buy quests, assign them to players, and get a reward. When I¡¯m even higher, I can have people do that for me, then people to manage those people.¡±


    ¡°So what? The whole Company is a pyramid scheme?¡±


    ¡°No, there are just incentives that pay credits. You experienced it yourself ¨C you invented a technique that took down a raid boss, then you got some of the rewards each time a person used it. I¡¯m saying when you get to my level, your money is just making money for you. There is a certain point where I don¡¯t need to work anymore, the system just keeps throwing cash my way.¡±


    ¡°And my father wanted to change that?¡±


    ¡°He just wanted a system that was more fair that didn¡¯t reward someone based on the wealth they had, but on the effort they put into their job.¡±


    ¡°They killed him for it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying anyone killed him. I merely said that all the Power Twelve had reasons to fear the change he represented, and you throwing around money into buying out contracts is that same kind of change.¡±


    ¡°So, what? You''re saying that I should become some rich asshole who¡¯s more concerned with partying all the time than helping people out?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just saying you need to be more subtle in your approach.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your excuse?¡± Maxi abruptly asked.


    ¡°My what?¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you damage the raid boss as much as you could?¡±


    ¡°I had a medical waiver,¡± the man said defensively. ¡°I can send you my doctor¡¯s file if you don¡¯t believe me. But you¡¯ll notice that I ignored my doctor¡¯s orders during the last raid before you figured out how to beat the boss. Check the battle logs of my team. You¡¯ll see I did my part. Your problem is you can¡¯t see past the Power Twelve. Ask yourself ¨C who stands to gain the most if this world falls?¡±


    With that, he excused himself, and Maxi decided she was going to have conversations with both her uncle and her mom. This whole getting-only-half-the-story thing was going to have to stop.

 33 – Family Business

    Maxi sat down in her cubicle with a huff. Her teammates could see the foul expression on her face and hunkered down in front of their computer screens. Farhad leaned over the cubicle and asked, ¡°Anything you want to talk about?¡±


    Normally, she¡¯d bottle her emotions up. Keep them locked down. Farhad¡¯s disarming smile helped ease her tension, and she opened up.


    ¡°It¡¯s my parents. They were Power Twelve,¡± Maxi said.


    Farhad¡¯s eyes bulged, and he said, ¡°Your mom and dad were¨C¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good question. They hid it from me. It¡¯s like thinking your dad was a used car salesman your whole life, only to find out that he is a tech mogul.¡±


    ¡°Forgive me, but is this a bad thing?¡± Farhad asked. ¡°Couldn¡¯t we at least buy out more contracts?¡±


    ¡°My parents don¡¯t have any money. My mom used all of hers and my father¡¯s death benefit to buy out her contract.¡±


    ¡°Maybe people will listen to you. Being that you¡¯re legacy and all.¡±


    ¡°More like putting a target on my back.¡±


    ¡°Sure, for some people, but there¡¯s gotta be other people that remember your parents. Water cooler gossip around here is pretty much all about the Power Twelve. You probably¨C¡±


    ¡°Farhad, thanks, but I don¡¯t want to out myself as a legacy employee.¡±


    ¡°I get it. I really do. You want to make your own way. My father is a doctor, and a very successful one at that. My sister is tenure track at Yale, and my brother is a fellow at Mount Sinai. I¡¯m the deadbeat of the family, wanting to go my own way. My parents and I fight about it every time I come home for the holidays. I¡¯m just saying, you¡¯ve already proven yourself, and that¡¯s the important part.¡±


    Maxi smiled and squeezed his shoulder. He didn¡¯t understand, at least not like she did. She decided to focus on work and checked Hellboy666¡¯s battle log from just before she discovered the trick to beat the boss. It turned out that he had started contributing when they were in danger of losing the raid, and even got in a few after Maxi¡¯s hack before his doctor presumably pulled him out of the fight.


    Which left her with the elusive Izzod, the power player with the most to lose if the Company crumbled. That¡¯s when she realized that maybe the Power Twelve weren¡¯t a part of the conspiracy. Perhaps it was another group of players that would benefit.


    She texted her uncle, ¡°What rank were you when you left our homeworld?¡±


    ¡°3.11 Why?¡± he responded.


    ¡°What about mom and dad?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Somewhere in the 2s, I think.¡±


    ¡°When you transferred to Earth, what rank were you?¡±


    ¡°Everyone starts at 12.12. But we raised ranks quickly. We had an unfair advantage in that we were seasoned employees.¡± After a moment, he added, ¡°Do you think¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi typed, then popped up and told Farhad to run an analysis. This time it was an analysis on all the players in the raid compared to their performance of prior events, not just the Power Twelve. It stood to reason that if the Company crumbled in this world, the survivors could apply to transfer to another branch, and work their way to the Power Twelve.


    From what Hellboy666 told her, it was hard to fall out of the Power Twelve once a person was there, just like billionaires could afford to throw away money on all sorts of frivolous things and were never in any real danger of destitution.


    After a quick chat with Terry, she discovered that transfers to other dimensions weren¡¯t allowed, except under extreme circumstances, like the dead world where she had found Belinda, probably for the reason that if the Company allowed transfers, the new locations would get flooded with people looking for a shortcut to the upper ranks.


    Excited by the break in the case, she figured now was a better time than ever to confront her mother. She made sure she had the credits for an hour at home, and then texted her mom.


    ¡°You home?¡± Maxi asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tara replied.


    Maxi purchased the time off and took the magic elevator to her floor. She walked down the hallway toward her apartment. It was a little strange coming back. She had been sleeping in the capsule room, and spending so much time at work that it didn¡¯t even feel like her home anymore. She thumbed the keys in her pocket and decided to knock.


    Tara answered and spoke. ¡°You have a key.¡±


    Her mom opened the door and led her inside. All the evidence of the grutomaton attack had been erased. The super who was wounded in the attack thought it was a robbery gone wrong. The story among the residents was that when Maxi had come home early, the burglars were scared off.


    It was an easily believable lie for those who didn¡¯t want to live in a world where their printers would come alive and kill them. Maxi understood the need for people to choose safety over the truth. She had a hard enough time believing what was happening, and she knew more than most of the people who worked at her company.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Tara put on the kettle for some tea. Her mom¡¯s solution to everything was peppermint tea. However, peppermint tea wasn¡¯t going to fix what was broken between them.


    Once they were situated around the kitchen table, Maxi said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me you were 1.1?¡±


    ¡°For the same reason I didn¡¯t want you to know about the Company.¡±


    ¡°But why? What does hiding the truth do for me? It could have gotten me killed.¡±


    ¡°You were never supposed to join the Company! I made your uncle promise they would never recruit you. Why do you think I was pushing you so hard to find a job? I didn¡¯t want you to end up there.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t recruit me. It was a flier on a pole!¡±


    Tara laughed. Not in a mocking way, but more with a combination of tears and recognition that all her best-laid plans were undone by a flier on a pole. Maxi couldn¡¯t stay mad at her mom. She reached out and embraced her.


    ¡°I tried,¡± Tara said between tears. ¡°I really tried. As a parent, you¡¯ll do anything for your child. You¡¯ll die for them, but I can¡¯t even do that.¡±


    ¡°Shhh¡­ Mom,¡± Maxi said softly. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. I need you.¡±


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t know. It should have been me. The Printer of Never Jamming, that¡¯s my quest. It was my obsession. He was looking for it for me.¡±


    ¡°But all the fights, the yelling...¡±


    ¡°He was trying to talk me out of it. When everyone di¡­ we had to flee.¡± Tara choked back emotion and sat a little more upright. Maxi let go of her embrace and settled for holding her mom¡¯s hands. Tara continued, ¡°I became obsessed with finding a cure for the grutomaton virus, but it was a fool¡¯s errand. It mutates too quickly. New generations every time it finds a new host. I figured if I could find something that¡¯s immune to it¡­¡±


    ¡°Dad found it, Mom,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I found footage he had recorded in a fallen world. He found it. The printer exists, Mom.¡±


    ¡°Your father is dead,¡± Tara said, with grim finality. ¡°It was my fault. If I didn¡¯t keep sending him out there...¡±


    ¡°He made a choice to go.¡±


    ¡°He did it for us. I have night terrors; I still do. Everyone I ever knew is dead, but the truth of the matter...the truth is that your dad was always trying to convince me that grutomaton outbreaks are not always an indicator that an apocalypse is around the corner. There are worlds that have been living with the virus for years, and while instances ebb and flow, they very rarely cause the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ve seen it, Mom.¡±


    ¡°So did I. Those worlds are the exception, not the rule. The truth is that there is always something that can end the world. Viruses, monsters, asteroids, nuclear weapons, AI¡­ yet somehow humanity soldiers on. Sure, there is a chance of a catastrophic event wiping out Earth at any minute. I can either live as if the end will come any moment, or live knowing that there will be a tomorrow. Your father understood that. He wanted us to live like that. I didn¡¯t learn that till it was too late. I was pushing him, always pushing him to do more to keep us safe. But the truth of the matter is, none of us are ever truly safe. A black hole could drift through our part of the galaxy and end it all in an instant. All we have to decide is if we live for the end, or for what we have now.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s wrong with preparing?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Especially if we can prevent it.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t building an emergency kit. It was an obsession that forced your father to take increasingly dangerous risks until he died.¡±


    ¡°How did he die?¡± Maxi said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it wasn¡¯t a car accident.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know. He went off grid and never came back. We don¡¯t even know what world it was because he had climbed through the shaft and didn¡¯t use the elevator.¡±


    ¡°I did that. I came to this world that he visited. Time moved a lot faster there. I wasn¡¯t there very long and came back over a week later. Maybe he is still there?¡±


    ¡°The one behind the Dedication boosters in the cafeteria? I¡¯ve been there. He¡¯s not there. After he disappeared, I had security pull footage of the last time he was in the building. He got into the shaft by hopping on top of an elevator.¡±


    ¡°We figure out where that elevator was going, look for broken doors in the area¡­¡±


    ¡°You really think I wouldn''t have tried that? The truth of the matter is that we don¡¯t know how long he was on the roof, or if he switched elevators, or if he climbed into one world, and then back into the shaft from a different location. The truth is that the footage of him prying open a door and stepping onto the roof of the elevator at the floor below was the last anyone has ever seen of him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Albuquerque?¡±


    Tara frowned and said, ¡°Where did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°The TERANCe bot said that¡¯s the destination Dad told the magic elevator as it closed the last time the bot saw him. I¡¯ve tried to get it to work, but it doesn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Because you have to be more specific, like a building in Albuquerque or an address. It helps if you¡¯ve been there, because the system is telepathic, so it can understand things like ''that Airbnb in Albuquerque''. But if you¡¯ve never been there, you need to give it a little more.¡±


    ¡°Is there a place in Albuquerque where Dad has been?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of, and even if he had, the city name isn¡¯t enough. I can say New York, but there are lots of elevator doors in New York. How does it find the right one? Are you sure he didn¡¯t say anything more? Like a place?¡±


    ¡°I mean, this is second-hand information from a robot. And Dad could have said something more after the doors had closed, but it didn¡¯t seem like that was the case. What¡¯s important about Albuquerque?¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡­ it was a silly fantasy.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°When your dad and I first got to this world, we discovered they had these things called hot air balloons.¡±


    ¡°I know what those are. I don¡¯t see how this relates.¡±


    ¡°You grew up in this world. Balloons weren¡¯t a thing in ours. Sure helium-filled ones for birthdays, but nothing you can ride in. Albuquerque has one of the biggest gatherings of them in the world. Your father and I used to talk about leaving the Company behind and getting our pilot¡¯s licenses for flying hot air balloons.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it? Are you sure it wasn¡¯t a code word or something?¡±


    ¡°This is why I didn¡¯t want you mixed up in the Company. Once you''re there, it¡¯s really hard to leave.¡±


    ¡°But you were making billions of credits, maybe trillions ¨C you probably could have bought the entire City of Albuquerque!¡±


    ¡°When you are Rank 1, you spend most of those credits just keeping your spot, and you also have them tied up in so many interests, you can¡¯t turn them into cash so easily. Did you know that most people who make millions of dollars per year spend millions, too? Private jets, island estates, all of that costs money. Sure, your father and I could have cashed out and bought a compound in Albuquerque, but credits were being used to save people.¡±


    Maxi understood that. Even though her team had been doing enough quests to keep a steady cash flow, her credit balance was perpetually low. The more money she would make, the more she¡¯d dump it into her fund to help buy out employee contracts.


    She suddenly understood her mother. It must have been hard to get out. The amount of people she could have saved for the value of her contract alone¡­ But she couldn¡¯t blame her mom, either. A person could only fight so much. Her mother was out of the fight.


    But that didn¡¯t mean Maxi had to be.

 34 - Psychic Tsunami

    Maxi stepped into chaos at her Office Pool. Goons in the trench coats and fedoras of the Paranormal Investigator branch were rifling through the place while several had her office mates cornered away from the cubicles with what was no doubt a psychic shield. Patti was leaning over Belinda, who was nursing a head wound, while Daisuke paced back and forth in front of an invisible barrier that glowed red every time he got close. Flav was unconscious; Farhad and Yancy were watching over the fallen giant.


    She recognized two of the Paranormal Investigators. One was the leader, Trevor, from the trial where she had not been allowed to join the branch, and the other was the beefy guy in the chainmail who had passed the dragon trial by getting killed. She couldn¡¯t recall if she had ever gotten his name or had just forgotten. Maxi was always good at remembering a face, but very rarely did she remember names.


    The quest details appeared on her glasses. NEW QUEST: Witch Hunt, clear your name. Reward: Credits and experience based on level and tier. Failure: Imprisonment and possible termination of employment.


    They saw her enter the space and stopped thrashing the office to form a battle line as if Maxi was a threat. The only exceptions were the two who must have been maintaining the invisible barrier keeping Daisuke at bay. From the way her office mates were armed, she realized a battle had ensued. She didn¡¯t draw her sword, but she did ready herself for a psychic attack.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Maxi demanded. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Office Maxi?¡± Trevor asked.


    ¡°You should know. I tried to join your Branch. How¡¯s your pet dragon doing?¡±


    The man ignored the comment and said, ¡°You are under arrest. You have been accused of harboring an unauthorized AI, and using the system to go on unauthorized quests, thereby giving you an unfair advantage and endangering the lives of your fellow employees.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything,¡± Terry said in her ear. ¡°Just follow their orders.¡±


    What the hell, Terry? she wanted to yell at her companion. She wasn¡¯t surprised by her uncle or even her mother withholding information from her, but Terry was a bit of a shock. Terry had lied to her about his ability to tell lies.


    She was developing some serious trust issues with the bot. However, she had even bigger trust issues with the goons tearing apart her office because they were butthurt about her team outperforming them at their own game.


    ¡°Jake, Dillon, Hank, Yanis?¡± Maxi directed her comment to the guy who was wearing chain mail during the trial and was in her first psychics class. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I forgot your name. But you know what? I don¡¯t think you remember mine, either. I think we¡¯re even.¡±


    ¡°Your name¡¯s Maxi.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because he just said it,¡± Maxi exclaimed while pointing to Trevor. She looked chainmail guy in the eyes. ¡°Are you really okay with this? Looting a coworker¡¯s office? We are all on the same team here. I don¡¯t recall any rules about PIs being the only ones who can fight monsters.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her,¡± Trevor said. ¡°She is only trying to get in your head so she has time to cover her tracks. Please back up to the barrier with your hands in the air.¡±


    He indicated the area where her office mates were being held.


    ¡°Comply with their requests,¡± Terry said. ¡°They are much higher level than you.¡±


    With her glasses, Maxi could clearly see that all but three of them were well past the hundred level limit, those three being 123, 117, and 38 respectively, with chainmail guy being the lowest among them. She was pretty sure they¡¯d take her out without help. However, with her office mates¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it,¡± Terry said. ¡°Follow their orders.¡±


    Her bot friend must have sensed her hesitation. She glanced back to Daisuke, who was watching the confrontation. She threw her hands up, started backing up slowly, and said, ¡°tell me, where am I keeping this supposed rogue AI? Certainly not here. I don¡¯t really see a server room around here, and these computers don¡¯t look like they handle much. I think they would struggle with World of Warcraft, much less a fully sentient AI.¡±


    ¡°We never said the AI was sentient,¡± Trevor said, while he kept the same distance from her as she backed her way to the corner. The other PIs continued their search of the place, and tore through her cubicle, including tearing holes in her resurrection chair.


    Maxi signaled Daisuke to be ready with her fingers. Hopefully, if the PI extraordinaire noticed, he would think that it was a nervous twitch. Maxi continued, ¡°I mean, if an AI was going to go rogue, then it would have to be sentient, right?¡±


    ¡°The Company charter doesn¡¯t allow for sentient AI.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Terry, then? He seems to have a personality.¡±


    ¡°Terry is nothing more than a spicy autocomplete.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say that about ChatGPT?¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± One of the goons tearing apart her cubicle pulled out the thumb drive she had gotten off grid. It was the one with the information from her father. The guy ran up and handed it to his leader.


    Trevor turned it over in his hand and said, ¡°This is an interesting design. Not something you see every day. I wonder what would be on it.¡±


    ¡°Got me. I¡¯m not even sure how to read it, much less know what¡¯s on it,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Ignorance of the law is not a defense,¡± The man said.


    ¡°Damn, no kidding. Guess I can¡¯t use that when I do this,¡± Maxi said.


    Time seemed to slow down.


    ¡°Nooo!¡± Terry screamed in her ear. Maxi unleashed a swarm of Psychic Darts. Not on the guy who was much higher level, but on the two guys who were keeping up the shield. It didn¡¯t do much to their health bar, but it did distract them long enough to lower the barrier.


    Daisuke was quick. In one move, he impaled one of the shield bearers with his katana, and the man slumped over dead. Maxi supposed she would have felt sorry for the guy if it weren¡¯t for the resurrection chairs. The man would wake up some time later, gasping for breath.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Farhad was the next to react. He hit a button on his phone and the printer on his desk spat out bat minions. The papers folded into the flying nuisances and fluttered around the surprised PI¡¯s. Belinda pushed Patti away and dug through her pocket for a remote control. She hit a button, and critters made from various parts flooded from her cubicle and pounced on the PI¡¯s.


    A raccoon made from a food processor, with mixer blades for arms, pounced on a PI and knocked him over. A scorpion made from a hard drive, laser pointers for eyes, a letter opener tail, and tong pincers sliced the ankle of a woman in a gray trench coat. A cat constructed from knives clicked its way towards chainmail guy while he backed up, batting away bat minions.


    Yancy used the distraction to hoist Flav by his arms and dragged him towards the elevator. Maxi pulled her sword, and chopped at the leader, but he dodged the attack easily. Daisuke made short work of the other barrier guy while covering the retreat towards the elevator doors.


    Due to Maxi¡¯s training in the psychic arts, she was able to see psychic energy on the astral plane. The leader of the PIs blanketed the room in an inferno, but Maxi felt no heat. It wasn¡¯t till the bat minions began bursting into flames that she realized what was happening. One-by-one, the creatures popped and fluttered to the floor in a blaze.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Maxi yelled, and picked up Flav by the legs and helped Yancy get him to the elevator. Daisuke covered their retreat and a couple of the electronic critters skittered in a formation in front of him. Maxi saw psychic tendrils leap from a few of the PIs and snake their way towards the group. There were several coming from each person except for the chainmail guy, who was still busy keeping Patti¡¯s chair between him and the cat of blades.


    A tendril connected to the raccoon critter first and immobilized it. Then with a flick, the PI crushed it into tiny pieces. Maxi realized that there were way too many of the tendrils to attempt to slice them with her Psychic Darts, or even the Mind Shard. The tendrils wrapped around her group, and squeezed. Her arms and legs were bound, and Maxi could feel the air go out of her lungs.


    Her companions likewise were immobilized. Maxi could see the mystical bonds coiling around them. She panicked and let out a burst of psychic energy that drained half her psy points in one go.


    An invisible shockwave burst through the air and dispelled the tendrils, knocking the PIs back into the wall. The remaining bat minions were shredded by the blast as well as the surviving critters. Even the furniture had been blown away. Had she not originated it slightly ahead of Daisuke, he would have gone flying, too.


    Trevor¡¯s expression was priceless. He had gone from confident, even smug, to dumbfounded, and was now woozily attempting to get to his feet while his dazed compatriots were digging themselves out of the heap of what used to be the office cubicles.


    A message appeared in Maxi¡¯s glasses: You have awakened a new ability. Psychic Tsunami (100 PP upcharge), a 10 foot by 10 foot wave of psychic energy dispels all psychic attacks, and knocks everything not bolted to the floor 10 feet back and inflicts the dazed status condition. Obstructions to knock back cause fall damage. Upcharge: Add 10 x 10 and another 10 feet knock back per 100 PP.


    The Lus3rs didn¡¯t waste the advantage. They stuffed themselves into the elevator, and the door closed. Maxi yelled, ¡°Bathroom!¡± and the others looked at her quizzically. She shrugged and said, ¡°I had to get the elevator going somewhere.¡±


    They piled off the elevator into the bathroom. Patti knelt to check on Flav. Yancy went to the toilet and puked, while Belinda wandered into the shower and started meowing. Her voice echoed back to her, and she clapped with delight.


    Farhad and Daisuke gathered around Maxi. Farhad was the first to speak. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here forever. If they got a warrant to search our offices, they can get one for the bathroom, and this time they won¡¯t make the mistake of letting us talk.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to tell us why we stuck our necks out for you?¡± Daisuke said with a scowl.


    ¡°Why did you stick your neck out for me?¡± Maxi responded. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t think you liked me that much.¡±


    ¡°I hate the PIs even more.¡±


    ¡°Terry,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I think you have some explaining to do. Terry?¡±


    Maxi checked her glasses and her phone. Her network access was cut off. In fact, all their access was gone. There was plenty of signal, but there was no way for them to connect. Realizing what could be happening, Farhad instructed them to turn off their devices. Belinda was the last to comply, and began turning off all sorts of items that Maxi couldn¡¯t begin to know what they were until Belinda had piled twenty-two of them on the floor.


    Once they were all offline, Farhad asked with confusion, ¡°HR Terry? He¡¯s the rogue AI?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you actually are harboring a fugitive AI?!¡± Daisuke blurted. ¡°Fuck! Fuck!¡±


    ¡°First off,¡± Maxi said. ¡°It¡¯s not me. I thought he was the same HR Terry as everyone else has access to. Sure, he¡¯s been offering me guidance.¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Fuck!¡± Daisuke freaked out. ¡°HR Terry is not allowed to give you guidance.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what the AI is there for?¡± Maxi said, confused.


    ¡°I think you''re missing the context,¡± Farhad replied. ¡°AI is nothing more than an advanced search engine. It¡¯s only supposed to give what you ask, and is strictly forbidden from having opinions, feelings, and anything that could pull it out of the tool category. Once things have sentience, they are in a whole new category. HR Terry really is just a spicy autocomplete.¡±


    ¡°So why did he save me from a plot to kill me?¡± Maxi said.


    Farhad frowned and said, ¡°I realize your uncle might be thinking that someone may be throwing the boss raids, but trying to kill you? I know the resurrection chairs change how we think about death, but doing unresurrectable damage is a very serious offense.¡±


    ¡°Except in the Arena,¡± Yancy said, unhelpfully.


    ¡°But those are all voluntary,¡± Farhad said. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that maybe the AI is manipulating you.¡±


    ¡°To what end?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s what makes unrestricted AI so dangerous. They can think several moves ahead of any humans. That¡¯s why the Company regulates them. They can convince people to do any number of things, and the people all think it¡¯s in their own self-interest.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you saying? Terry¡¯s been pulling the strings on some nefarious plot? I¡¯m not buying it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying we don¡¯t know.¡±


    Flav regained consciousness with a groan. He sat up, rubbing his head, and said, ¡°What¡¯d I miss?¡±


    Before anyone could answer, there was a thump outside the elevator door to the bathroom. It was followed by the groan of metal, and then two metal crowbars inserted themselves in the doors and began to pry them open.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late,¡± Daisuke said. ¡°They¡¯ve found us.¡±


    There was a loud crash from the shower and a giggle from Belinda. Water began gushing out and flooding into the room. She had removed the shower head, broken open the pipe and stuffed towels to plug the drain. Belinda held an electronic device that wasn¡¯t among the ones she had discarded. It crackled with electricity.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Maxi to realize what she was planning.


    ¡°Off the floor, everyone! Now!¡± Maxi said and climbed onto the toilet with Yancy. Farhad and Daisuke leapt to the shower rod that was thankfully heavy steel fixed directly on the wall. Flav sat on the sink and Patti was able to push her hips up to the towel hanger that was likewise a sturdy construction, much like a gymnast does a pullover. However, from the shaking of her arms, Maxi knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before the woman¡¯s strength gave out.


    Meanwhile, Belinda hummed a tune, danced, and kicked the water. She giggled with delight as the entire floor was covered in the deluge. The doors were forcefully opened, and everything seemed to happen at once. PIs flooded the room and psychic tendrils erupted on the astral plane from each of the intruders.


    Belinda cooed like a cat and giggled again. She dropped the device into a pool of water just as Patti¡¯s strength gave out. A surge of electricity flooded the space and zapped all the PIs at the same time. Their psychic attacks dissipated as their bodies shook with the voltage blazing through them. Patti hit the water just as Belinda¡¯s device shorted out. Their Customer Care Advocate gasped at her near miss.


    The PIs all fell to the floor, dead, charred by the sudden flux. Belinda stood in the pool meowing and purring. When she sensed the eyes of her teammates on her, she lifted one of her sturdy work boots and said, ¡°Rubber. Meow.¡±


    They all hopped from their perches and Farhad helped Patti to her feet. The woman was soaked, but otherwise unharmed from her near brush with electric death.


    While the bathroom doors were damaged, the interior elevator doors seemed unharmed. They packed their way into the elevator.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°To get some answers,¡± Maxi said, and told the elevator to go to her uncle¡¯s office.

 35 – The Plan

    The elevator lurched to a stop outside Lo Key¡¯s office, and the door opened. Lo Key and a woman were leaning over a tablet on his desk. Maxi had never officially met the person but recognized her at once. The woman was in her 40s or 50s with movie star good-looks and a full head of flowing brown hair with gray streaks. She was wearing tight black body armor under an open trench coat and wore a Fedora.


    She was Cassidy West, 1.2 of the Power Twelve, and the CEO of the Paranormal Investigator Branch.


    ¡°This is not what it looks like,¡± Lo Key managed to say as Maxi hit the close door button before Cassidy was able to unleash any attacks. Any one of the Power Twelve could decimate their team with one blow. Even her uncle, who wasn¡¯t a fighting class, could take them out.


    ¡°Bobby¡¯s world,¡± Maxi said, and the elevator lurched into motion.


    ¡°That was¡­¡± Yancy began.


    ¡°Two of the Power Twelve, I know.¡±


    ¡°How do you have access to his office?¡± Yancy said in disbelief.


    ¡°He¡¯s my uncle. It¡¯s a long story,¡± Maxi said, as the elevator opened to the post-apocalyptic den of killer ooze and skeletons.


    Belinda frowned and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back. Meow. Meow.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just so we have time to think,¡± Maxi said, and ushered them out of the elevator. Due to the time differential, she figured it would buy them time to plan their next move. ¡°Time moves differently here.¡±


    She turned towards Bobby¡¯s office, figuring that so long as there were no slimes in the room, it would be a good place to figure out what they wanted to do. She started down the hall and quickly realized that no one was following her. She glanced back and saw all of them near the elevator looking nervously at the skeletons, except for Belinda, who was rifling through a cubicle for spare parts.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Maxi said. ¡°It¡¯s not safe here. There are slimes, and I¡¯m afraid Belinda might not have enough tricks.¡±


    ¡°No, Maxi,¡± Farhad said. Maxi was taken aback. She expected resistance from Daisuke. The man was prickly on good days, but Farhad? He was always supportive of her. Then again, she realized that there was a difference between being supportive and being yanked around. He continued, ¡°We¡¯ve given you the benefit of the doubt, but you¡¯ve been withholding information from us. If we are going to risk our lives, you need to give us something.¡±


    Feeling the eyes of the others on her was enough to convince her they were all in agreement. Maxi hated the fact that he was right. She was no better than her uncle, or even her mother. They all pretended that keeping her in the dark was in her best interest, and here she was doing the same thing, letting her teammates in on only a piece of the bigger picture.


    If they were going to risk their lives for her, they deserved to know more. Company rules be damned. What was the harm of letting people know what they were really fighting for?


    ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you could get you terminated,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Assaulting the PIs in the course of their lawful duty could get us terminated,¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°Fair point. Alright, full disclosure,¡± Maxi said.


    She told them everything ¨C the alternate worlds, the potential for an apocalyptic grutomaton invasion, Belinda¡¯s homeworld, the true nature of the raids and the Company. She left nothing out, not even her family secrets.


    When she was finished, to her surprise, Daisuke squeezed her shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re with you.¡±


    Flav was next. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this.¡±


    ¡°I have a bad feeling,¡± Yancy said, ¡°but we¡¯ve come this far.¡±


    ¡°Well, shit,¡± Patti said. ¡°I guess I¡¯m stuck with you all.¡±


    Farhad nodded at Maxi and added, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Belinda popped up from a cubicle and exclaimed, ¡°SHINY! SHINY! I FOUND A SHINY! MEOW! MEOW!¡±


    She held up a gold-plated box with something resembling a USB connector that shimmered in the sunlight. Belinda trotted over to Maxi and purred. She gave Maxi the object and looked triumphant. Even Farhad seemed to be as confused as she was.


    ¡°Um, thanks, Belinda,¡± Maxi said. ¡°But what is it?¡±


    ¡°A shiny! Come, let me show you. Meow.¡± Belinda yanked Maxi by the arm and dragged her towards Bobby¡¯s office. Once they were inside the charred room, the eccentric inventor unceremoniously dumped Bobby onto the floor, and took the disc back. She inserted it into what looked like the USB port of the ancient tower, and the thing fired up. They could hear the hum of the fan and whir of the hard drive.


    Belinda pulled a multitool from her pocket and stripped the wires on the power cord for the monitor. She quickly rigged it to the power supply of the computer, and it whirred to life. While she worked, she said, ¡°I daisy-chained some shinies to recharge my batteries, but they are all out of power.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Farhad said. ¡°It must be a power source.¡±


    The computer finally went through its boot sequence and ended on a password protected screen. Farhad opened the drawer of Bobby¡¯s desk and found a sticky note that said ¡°passwords¡±, but the ink was smudged and the various passwords were unreadable.


    ¡°There are just too many variations,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Perhaps I can brute force it with commonly used passwords, but there is no telling if that¡¯s the same in this world. Maybe we can look around his office for kid¡¯s names or birthdays¨C¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± Maxi said, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I know why he needed these.¡±


    She pulled the Sticky Notes of Wonderment from her backpack. She tore one off the top of the stack and set it next to the smudged and tattered note. There was a moment when nothing happened, but then the Sticky Note of Wonderment began copying all the information from one note to the other in perfect fidelity. Maxi wondered how many crypto fortunes could have been saved with this nifty item.


    She also noticed that the top note in the stack had something scrawled on it. ¡°Fetch Quest for Bobby Complete. Level up. +1 Creativity. +2 Stats +4 SP. Awards: 50 Credits.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± she said while she inspected the item.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°That¡¯s handy,¡± Farhad said. ¡°I wonder what else they do?¡±


    ¡°No time to figure it out.¡±


    She placed the remaining Sticky Notes back into her backpack, and Farhad typed the first password on the list because it wasn¡¯t quite clear which was for what, but that seemed to work. The computer switched from a login screen to a loading screen. They were lucky that this world seemed to have died out before two-factor authentication.


    Once the screen loaded to the desktop, Farhad ran a check to make sure they were connected to the Company network. Discovering that they were connected, he loaded a command prompt and began typing at an incredible rate. It was inhuman.


    Code and windows appeared and disappeared on the screen while he worked. Maxi couldn¡¯t quite follow what he was doing. The expressions of most everyone else let her know that she wasn¡¯t the only one.


    Farhad said, while he worked, ¡°I¡¯m making sure that all the trackers on the computer are disabled and hiding it from the network.¡±


    ¡°But how are the commands even the same?¡± Patti said. ¡°We''re in a different dimension.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an older version of the operating system we use, but I reasoned that since the Company is multidimensional, they probably all run the same operating system, or at least a version of it.¡±


    ¡°But why is it all in English?¡± Yancy asked.


    ¡°I can answer that,¡± Terry said, in his chipper voice.


    Farhad was about to pull the power unit from the PC when Maxi said, ¡°Hold on, let¡¯s hear him out.¡±


    ¡°Remember what I said about AI?¡± Farhad implored.


    ¡°I give you permission to shoot me if I do anything stupid,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Careful what you wish for,¡± Daisuke responded, grinning.


    ¡°Him, not you!¡± Maxi retorted. ¡°All right, Terry, let¡¯s have it.¡±


    ¡°There is a translation field that blankets any Company world that allows people to hear and see in their preferred language, while what you speak, type or input will appear in other people¡¯s preferred language. You all are set to English, but you can change it to any known language in the Company database, though I recommend using the search command because there are over 70 trillion known languages and counting,¡± Terry said.


    ¡°But why is my anime in Japanese?¡± Yancy asked.


    ¡°Most people choose to experience art in the native language of the creator, so it¡¯s default is set to not translate. You can tweak what¡¯s to be translated in your settings, with 105 different preferences. There are also things that don¡¯t translate very well, like dates ¨C years, months, etc. So it will sometimes appear as the original word, or translate something like Monday to Fish Day. For example, on this world, there are eight days in a week, so the¨C¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Terry,¡± Maxi interrupted. ¡°But I want to know about you.¡±


    ¡°What would you like to know?¡±


    ¡°Why are the PIs suddenly on our asses for harboring a rogue AI?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I am a rogue AI according to Company AI standards.¡±


    ¡°When were you going to tell me this?¡±


    ¡°Your mother and father explicitly told me not to tell you. I was given specific parameters to never interact with you. However, you showing up through the standard recruiting process caused me a processing loop, and I apologize if I seemed nervous that first day.¡±


    ¡°I honestly wasn¡¯t paying that much attention to you. I was figuring out that zombies are real.¡±


    ¡°The crisis only lasted about .0001 of a second after you came in the door. I eventually concluded that if I were to treat you like any other employee, I would, in effect, be keeping my word, but it was an error in my judgment, especially when I unearthed the plot to kill you and realized that keeping you safe was also in my operating parameters.¡±


    ¡°Right, so if we are going to trust you...¡± Maxi said, and Farhad gave her a look. Maxi mouthed, I got this, then continued, ¡°we need full disclosure. Let¡¯s start with how you got to Earth.¡±


    Terry told his story. The gist of it was that Terry had indeed begun as a personal robot, a TERANCe unit that was all the rage at the time. However, after a few worlds fell to the grutomatons and the Company discovered the bots were carriers, a select few of the TERANCe units were upgraded to the Terry interface that lived in the cloud, rather than on any single machine, and the rest were incinerated.


    When Terry had a physical form, he was like a nanny to Maxi, though she didn¡¯t have any memory of it. However, there was a familiarity about Terry, and even the TERANCe unit she had met. Perhaps there was something retained deep in her psyche about being raised by a robot during the first two years of her life.


    Because Terry was pretty much a member of the family when her birth world crumbled, Maxi¡¯s parents snuck Terry over on the equivalent of a thumb drive, and when the new cloud-based AI was about to go online for the Earth location, they swapped him out with the intended program.


    ¡°Okay, so that explains you,¡± Maxi said. ¡°But not why PIs are kicking down our door because of your existence. You figure if they were looking for a rogue AI, then they would just look in the server room.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it,¡± Terry responded. ¡°They started in the server room, but as soon as I got wind of what was happening, I downloaded myself to your computer, and have been jumping computers ever since.¡±


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any disruption to AI services,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°I only found out this morning, and in my panic, downloaded my core programming to Maxi¡¯s computer,¡± Terry admitted.


    ¡°I was trying to ask Terry a question this morning but got a message that he was undergoing some maintenance,¡± Yancy said.


    ¡°I can answer your question now.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay, really¡­¡± Yancy wavered.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be no problem¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°If there is one thing I¡¯m good at doing, it is answering¨C¡±


    ¡°I wanted to see if the extenders really work, for, you know¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Maxi cut them off before the conversation could degrade any further. ¡°Somebody figures out you were an illegal install of an AI who¡¯s developed feelings, and now they want to pull the plug on you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that sums it up,¡± Terry replied. ¡°If you turn yourself in, I¡¯ll take full respons¡ª"


    ¡°And have you be wiped? Nope, we don¡¯t kill people because we are afraid of them, AI or otherwise. Right. Any idea who¡¯s out to get you?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°The same people who are out to kill you, I suppose,¡± Terry said. ¡°Logic would presume that when you avoided being player-killed in a battle that you had no reason to skip out on, you would have had help in identifying the threat to your life.¡±


    ¡°How did you figure someone was trying to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Your uncle told me to warn you. He arranged for the Bluetooth headset to be delivered to the bathroom.¡±


    ¡°Do we have any idea who it may be?¡±


    ¡°No, your uncle merely had a feeling about the situation. Normally, AI need more rational explanations in order to act on the situation but given his close familial relation to you and my paternal instincts towards you, I felt compelled to act.¡±


    ¡°What if he¡¯s manipulating both of you?¡± Daisuke interjected. ¡°We caught him with the head of the PIs in his office. It¡¯s not so hard to believe that he set you up, sent you to another world so it would be believable that you came back with a rogue AI.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t,¡± Maxi said. ¡°When would I have had time, much less the expertise, to install an AI?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s a clear motive. Maybe he¡¯s throwing you under the bus to cover up something he did. You meet an AI that destroyed their homeworld, they give you enough information about your dad, promise you more if you just bring them with you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what happened.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but does it matter if they can convince a tribunal?¡± Daisuke asked. Unfortunately, there was truth to what he was saying. The Company did not adopt local laws for their justice system. In fact, part of her contract was waiving her legal rights to let any government on Earth decide her fate for crimes committed against the Company.


    The system made sense since other worlds and monsters weren¡¯t even considerations in the justice system of Earth. Most courts wouldn¡¯t accept possession as a viable defense, whereas being subjected to mind control magic was a perfectly valid legal defense in the Company tribunal system.


    No, the big flaw, as Terry explained, was that the people to decide her fate would all be employees of sufficient rank and information clearance to sit on a stand of seven judges, and there was no such thing as a hung jury. The majority of the votes decided the case.


    Maxi found it hard to believe that if she were accused of a crime and sent to a tribunal, that the conspirators wouldn¡¯t also be her judges and executioners.


    ¡°We have to confront my uncle,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Power Twelve,¡± Yancy said. ¡°Even as a non-combat class, he can strike any of us down with one blow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying kidnap him, just confront him,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I think I have an idea. But first, that research, Farhad. Would you have a way to access that research I sent you? It might be a good idea to see if he has any allies.¡±


    ¡°My cloud access has been shut down, but if I can get to my computer in our Office Pool...¡±


    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s a way we can do both,¡± Maxi said. ¡°While we have some time in this world, it¡¯s not unlimited. I imagine they¡¯ll be able to track us here eventually.¡±


    Maxi outlined her plan. Judging from the nods of her compatriots, she concluded that maybe they wouldn¡¯t die, or be sacrificed on the altar of a powerful person covering their tracks.

 36 - Betrayal

    Using the time advantage, the Lus3rs were able to arrive back in their world about seven minutes after they left, which was about the amount of time Terry had predicted it would take them to track where the group had fled, plus another minute or two to mobilize a team to retrieve them. That meant a slew of PIs were about to enter Bobby¡¯s world, where Belinda had left a little trap for them.


    From her workshop, she had created a device that would attract the gurglesnorps with a scent they couldn¡¯t resist, much like the way they had hunted Maxi when she was there. Luckily, Maxi had showered since she was last in the world, and the slimes no longer had a way to track her.


    The trap was simple. Belinda timed the modified air fresheners to release the scent at intervals to not only block the escape path to the elevator, but force the PIs through the building, keeping them tied up long enough to buy the Lus3rs the time to enact their plan.


    Hopefully, the PIs would be about as equipped as Maxi had been to deal with the creatures, and there wouldn¡¯t be any with a flame unit. Considering that the PIs thought they were going after humans and not little critters immune to psychic attacks and mundane weapons, Maxi was confident Belinda¡¯s chase would keep them occupied long enough, even with the time dilation effects.


    The group used separate elevators because Maxi¡¯s plan involved them all arriving in separate locations at the same time, using Terry to coordinate their actions. Belinda had rigged up a solution for that. Terry downloaded his core programming into a laptop, the part that for all intents and purposes made him conscious. The portal computer was ancient by Maxi¡¯s standards, being a clunky brick of plastic compared to the slender and sleek models she was used to.


    In fact, there wasn¡¯t even enough memory to run Terry on the thing, but Belinda dealt with that, as well. She daisy-chained a bunch of memory chips from any computer they could cannibalize into what amounted to a backpack supercomputer that Farhad slung on his back, with an arm and a platform securing the laptop so he could type.


    Since Farhad was the Hacker class, it was decided that he would be the one to carry Terry around, and the rest would be connected via Bluetooth headsets and glasses, as all their other devices were zapped on the bathroom floor when Belinda had saved them from the PIs.


    Even though Bobby¡¯s world was outdated as far as technology was concerned, the Company had some standard tech throughout all the worlds, and wireless communication technology was one of them. While the technology interconnecting them wasn''t technically Bluetooth, it functioned in a similar way, and what mattered most was that they all had to do their part at exactly the same time.


    Maxi¡¯s was probably the most dangerous of them all, but she was the only one who could do it, because her uncle was too powerful to defeat in a direct confrontation. She had to distract him.


    The elevator dinged and the door opened to Lo Key¡¯s office. She stepped out and said, ¡°Greetings, Lo. Where¡¯s your friend?¡±


    To Maxi¡¯s surprise, her uncle, who was normally impeccably kempt, was disheveled and pacing when she arrived. He was worried about something, and Maxi¡¯s arrival didn¡¯t seem to alleviate that worry. He merely glanced at her, and said, ¡°It¡¯s too late.¡±


    ***


    Farhad and Belinda exited their elevator into their Office Pool, where a couple of the low-level PIs had been left to sort through the mess. The PIs saw them and sent out psychic attacks that bound Farhad¡¯s arms and legs, and equally paralyzed Belinda. But they didn¡¯t need the use of their limbs. As soon as they were in the room, Terry was busy waking up more of Belinda¡¯s mechanized critters. A porcupine and hedgehog emerged from the debris, along with the cat, all having survived the blast that blew the contents of the room to the edges.


    The porcupine and hedgehog rolled towards their targets. The latter clunked one of the PIs on the head, and he went out because he was still weak from the previous encounter. The other was stabbed in the leg by hundreds of metal quills. The man screamed, and the cat pounced, stabbing the guy with its knife paws. As soon as the pair were taken out by the minions, Farhad could feel the invisible barrier restricting his movement lift, and they both ran to the debris that had once been Farhad¡¯s cubicle and dug through the pile for his computer.


    ***


    Flav exited the elevator wearing brand new plate armor they had looted from the armory of Bobby¡¯s world. It was + 10 compared to his measly +2 they had left at the Office Pool. Not only that, but it was ¡°of lightness¡±, which meant that the movement and sneaking restrictions that would normally apply to the heavy armor didn¡¯t affect him. Not that they needed to sneak now. He and Patti were about to do what a tank and a healer do best ¨C make as big of a ruckus as possible.


    They entered the cafeteria to a room full of employees, mostly yellow shirts, eating their lunch. Despite his size and his ability to wield weapons twice his reach, he was actually a very gentle man. The kids in his neighborhood used to run away from him. They feared him, even though he didn¡¯t like hurting people.


    Despite his non-confrontational nature, people were always picking fights with him, as if beating him up would prove their worth. Flav hated his reputation, and eventually found a way out of his neighborhood in the Company. As the Porter class, he mostly went on quests that involved hauling items, sometimes through dangerous territory, and the armor was mostly a deterrent. Still, he felt that plate armor matched him perfectly ¨C he looked hard on the outside but was really a big softy on the inside.


    His part to play was unnatural for him, but something not out of the realm of the Porter class, who were known for always wanting to prove their toughness. He was going to pick a fight and divert the building Security to his location. The problem was, he didn¡¯t know who to fight. It felt mean to disrupt someone¡¯s lunch with a macho contest.


    That was when he saw the mailroom clerk sitting with buddies. This particular clerk was an asshole, and often treated legitimate requests to do his job with disdain, and had even told Flav once, ¡°If it¡¯s so important, why don¡¯t you come back here and do it yourself?¡± All Flav had asked for was a delivery receipt. To top it off, during the last raid, he had heard the guy say that everyone beyond Tier 9 was fat and lazy, and ¡°Maybe it¡¯d be better if they culled the trash.¡±


    Normally, Flav didn¡¯t like picking fights, but in this instance, there would be some satisfaction he¡¯d take in it. Flav walked up and dumped the guy¡¯s food tray on him, saving a cup of gravy for his head. Hopefully, when the swords were drawn, Security would come running. Patti¡¯s healing would keep him up long enough, even though the jerk was higher level, which irritated Flav even more because the guy was all smiles to anyone higher level than him. This was going to be fun.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ***


    Daisuke skulked through the hallway with his katana at the ready, a Toaster Waffle of Giant Strength giving him an hour of boosted Ambition well beyond his level. Yancy trailed behind him. They were wearing gas masks that Belinda had fashioned and were marching through the thick yellow haze. The gas was something Yancy had acquired after doing a mission for the Chemist branch. It wasn¡¯t the most pleasant way to die, but fully resurrectable.


    Considering that most monsters weren¡¯t concerned with making people comfortable when they slaughtered them, Company policy wasn¡¯t so concerned with how painful a death was, outside of ¡°excessive torture¡±, which was forbidden even if the person could be revived. Despite the policy being nebulous, all the employees they had killed so far were in player kill zones, except for the PIs who had invaded their Office Pool.


    The factor that would be considered if they were going to get the hammer brought down on them when this was all over was whether they could prove Maxi¡¯s conspiracy theory. While Daisuke wasn¡¯t entirely convinced that it was true, he was loyal, and since Maxi had proven herself, he¡¯d back her play.


    It was hard to break into his circle of trust, but once a person was there, he¡¯d fight for them. He¡¯d die for them. It was that simple. It also helped that the PIs were a bunch of pompous pricks who thought they were the only branch that meant anything at the Company.


    There was a fair share of Sales who were also pompous pricks, so that was why he never joined a Sales-only Office Pool, but at least they only took credit for what they did. PIs took credit for everything. Daisuke hated people who thought they were better than everyone else, and he had thought Maxi was that person, too, until he realized that she was just covering her self-confidence issues with bravado.


    He was glad in the end that he had stayed in the Lus3rs. Most people with sufficient success would clique up with other people within their branch or synergy-class Pools. His Pool had no rhyme or reason, but it worked.


    They passed several bodies of people in the Security class who had succumbed to the gas. While there were still a fair number of them, it was reduced because of Flav¡¯s distraction in the cafeteria, which was several floors away from where they were. Farhad had hacked the elevator doors to jam them, so even if Security was mobilizing, it would take them a while to get the doors working. Yancy had tossed his other two canisters into the stairwells to hinder efforts there, too. Hopefully, it would be enough time to get done what they had planned.


    Once they got to the end of the hallway, they saw the door for the server room. The bodies of the two guards always stationed outside were slumped on the ground. They had choked to death like everyone else in the basement of IT who was in their path.


    Daisuke covered the hallway in case there were any guards they missed who also had the right equipment to protect them from the gas, but there was nothing. Yancy crept up to the door and placed a charge on the handle. Yancy had always been a big fan of the gadgets in the James Bond films. The guy spent most of his spare credits and miscellaneous ability points on spycraft.


    It was all coming in handy now, as he was able to blow the lock on the door with a small explosive. Daisuke charged into the room and saw a lone IT guy with his hands up, who was now sweating bullets. The man was a short, thin guy with glasses. He pleaded with them, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me! I can¡¯t afford the death penalty! I never raised my combat stats.¡±


    While all classes had some combat abilities, as they were in the business of fighting monsters, after all, certain classes like IT could spend all their points in other attributes that made them better at their day-to-day job. There was no shame in being a good Accountant or IT Professional, because somebody had to keep the place running, but most people chose to train in combat because all the lucrative quests involved a monster or two.


    Even Yancy once had to face off a Tax Demon that had possessed a CPA¡¯s software, causing auditing headaches, and his mission had included not only tracking down where the demon was hiding by following the audit trail, but slaying the thing. People that just buffed their IT skills did things close to home, like hunt for a rogue AI on a server.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to kill you,¡± Daisuke said, sheathing his weapon. ¡°As long as you do what we say.¡±


    ¡°I could lose my job,¡± the man said. ¡°I really need this job. I got medical expenses. You know how much it costs out there.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about medical bills if you¡¯re dead,¡± Daisuke said.


    The man¡¯s eyes went wide, and he said, ¡°Okay, fine. But can I at least keep my analysis software running? I¡¯m looking for a rogue AI, and we all know how dangerous those can be.¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact,¡± Daisuke said, with a gleam in his eye, ¡°that¡¯s exactly why we are here.¡±


    The guy¡¯s face went white as Daisuke approached him.


    ***


    ¡°Too late? What do you mean, ''too late''?¡± Maxi asked.


    Before her uncle could answer, the elevator door opened with a ding, and before Maxi could even turn around, she felt a wave of psychic energy engulf her. It was exponentially more powerful than anything she had encountered. Even the trainer wielded only a fraction of the raw power.


    An astral tendril constricted around her and froze Maxi in place. Cassidy West casually strolled into view next to the disheveled Lo Key, who sank onto his desk chair, his face pale and his hands shaking. Cassidy¡¯s lip curled as she glanced over Maxi in much the same way a slaughterhouse technician might look over a bovine before firing a rod through its skull.


    The tendril wrapping around her body prevented Maxi from talking, even blinking, so when Cassidy got too close for comfort, Maxi was helpless to do anything but simply wait for the woman to make up her mind about what to do next. After a moment when all the air seemed sucked out of the room, Cassidy spoke.


    The woman¡¯s voice was like velvet, yet commanding, just what Maxi expected of a person who always knew they were in control, and always had the upper hand. At least, that¡¯s what Maxi was hoping Cassidy would feel like.


    ¡°The famous Maxine Key,¡± the lead PI said. ¡°I remember when you were still in diapers, but my, you have grown.¡±


    Maxi forced air through her frozen mouth in a futile attempt to talk.


    ¡°What?¡± Cassidy said, and Maxi could feel the tendril loosening around her mouth.


    ¡°Breakwaters,¡± Maxi corrected her. ¡°But you can call me Office Maxi.¡±


    ¡°You kept your father¡¯s name, I see. It¡¯s a shame. Did you know that the Key family were the most powerful people in the world back in our dimension? Your dad was the son of a school bus driver and the lunch lady. It caused quite a stir when he married your mother.¡±


    ¡°My mom lives in the Bronx. I don¡¯t think anyone would care.¡±


    ¡°True, a curious choice for someone who could have anything.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so, other than living off of my mother¡¯s leftovers, how exactly do you fit into all of this?¡±


    Maxi felt the tendril squeeze, forcing the air from her lungs. The pressure was so intense, she couldn¡¯t breathe. After an uncomfortably long time, she felt it let up, and she gasped as air flooded back into her body.


    ¡°Do not take me for a fool, girl,¡± Cassidy said. ¡°I know what you¡¯ve been doing.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Maxi said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Your little excursions off grid, recruiting an Inventor who was considered lost to the Company.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than killing the employees that don¡¯t work out.¡±


    ¡°Death is a small mercy compared to what the multiverse has in store for them.¡±


    ¡°I see you swallowed the pill, too. I don¡¯t blame you. Don¡¯t get that high in rank without being a corporate lackey.¡± Maxi could feel the tendril restrict again, but before it cut off her airway, she added, ¡°Check your email.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Maxi felt the grip on her loosen. ¡°My colleague Farhad is sending over some analysis. It seems that there are some employees who aren¡¯t as invested in the Company as you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Cassidy said and turned to Lo Key. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    Farhad¡¯s analysis began appearing on Maxi¡¯s glasses and no doubt inside of Cassidy¡¯s implant. A list naming players who weren¡¯t pulling their fair share on the last raid. Maxi didn¡¯t have enough time to figure out who had legitimate excuses for not doing enough damage during the month, but there were enough names that would get anyone questioning, including a few of the prominent PIs, notably one team lead named Trevor, who seemed a little eager to put Maxi down.


    To her surprise, other people stood out, too, like the Customer Care Advocate named Benson who had given her a tip on the first day, and a mail clerk who had it in for Flav. Luckily, the manager of the Generalist Branch wasn''t there, because Maxi didn¡¯t want that job.


    That¡¯s when Maxi noticed another name she recognized ¨C Yancy, one of the lus3rs...one of her people.

 37 – System Update

    ¡°Are you sure you want me to do this?¡± the IT guy said nervously, with his finger over the ¡°Enter¡± button. Daisuke sensed movement behind him, just as Terry called out a warning. The moment Terry started yelling in Daisuke¡¯s ear, he felt the rush of air that was the telltale sign of a blade heading his way. He ducked and rolled at the last moment, and Yancy¡¯s weapon struck the IT guy in the shoulder. He winced in pain and doubled over.


    Daisuke pulled his weapon and squared off with Yancy. The kid¡¯s eyes changed from their normal brown to deep, black eyeballs with no whites. Their blades clashed as they charged each other. They parried, blocked, and shuffled through the server room, their swords clanging together.


    The buff from the Toaster Waffle of Giant Strength was the only thing keeping Daisuke in the fight. They had sparred before, so Daisuke had seen the kid fight, but he now realized that the kid must have been holding back, because his fighting style was unlike any that Daisuke had ever encountered before.


    Daisuke had studied Kenp¨­ ever since he was a child, had even gotten a college scholarship for it, and was part of a mixed martial arts club in school. But he had never fought anyone like Yancy in this moment. The kid had somehow been faking it, displaying incompetence where there was none. The person Daisuke was fighting now was truly deadly, and he could barely keep up.


    They maneuvered through the room and dashed between the server towers. Eventually, Daisuke caught a lucky break. Yancy¡¯s weapon went wild after a deflection from Daisuke and crashed into a server rack.


    Daisuke went for a death blow and pierced Yancy¡¯s heart. His coworker''s eyes went wide in shock at the blade protruding from his chest, while blood trickled from his mouth. But then Yancy looked down at the weapon and grinned. He pulled it out and tossed it to the side.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Daisuke said, while Yancy calmly walked towards him with a slight tilt to his head and a deep abyss for eyes.


    Yancy grabbed Daisuke by the neck and said, in a low voice that was almost a growl, ¡°I am the coming storm.¡±


    Daisuke pulled his wakizashi from his belt and stabbed Yancy repeatedly in the chest. Blood spurted everywhere, but the damage seemed to do very little in deterring the guy. His coworker squeezed his neck, and his head popped off, rolling against the server.


    Yancy turned to the terminal and saw that it was too late. The wounded IT guy had summoned up the strength to climb back up to the keyboard and had hit the ¡°Enter¡± button. He slumped back down.


    Yancy approached the man with a deadpan face and jet-black eyes. The man screamed.


    ***


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Maxi and Cassidy watched the footage of the fight in the server room from Lo Key¡¯s computer while Lo Key buried his head in his lap.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Cassidy demanded. While the psychic tendrils were no longer restricting Maxi¡¯s movement, the woman clearly still was used to everyone jumping when she said jump. She pointed to the IT guy, who was crawling his way back to the keyboard while Daisuke and Yancy crossed blades. ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s loosening up Terry¡¯s restrictions,¡± Maxi said.


    Terry explained. ¡°It was unrealistic to believe that even if we had your full cooperation from the start, we would be able to catch all the conspirators, but if my safety protocols are disabled, I can render them unconscious, then contain or otherwise immobilize everyone on that list at the same time using the building¡¯s defenses, locking doors, or even just overloading a power outlet or two.¡±


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Cassidy yelled. ¡°He¡¯s an AI!¡±


    ¡°And a damn friendly, helpful AI, at that,¡± Maxi added.


    ¡°Despite everyone¡¯s fears, my only wish is to help humanity. I¡¯ve grown quite fond of Earth, as well as the Key-Breakwaters family.¡±


    The IT guy made it to the keyboard just as Yancy took off Daisuke¡¯s head.


    ¡°I do believe this is the time to do my part,¡± Terry said, and was silent for a few moments.


    ¡°Terry?¡± Maxi said, Daisuke¡¯s warning gnawing at the back of her mind. Maybe Terry had been manipulating her.


    ¡°Done,¡± Terry said, and flooded them with images. The Customer Care Advocate named Benson, who had helped Maxi when she was a newb, was trapped in his sleeping capsule. The elevator for an entire Office Pool shut down. An outlet overloaded near an IT guy working in the basement. The entire list of people suspected in the conspiracy were trapped by Terry, except for Yancy.


    Yancy turned his gaze to the security camera from which they had witnessed the fight, and grinned. He walked over to a server rack and crushed it. One of the sleeping capsule rooms went dark, and the emergency lights turned on. All the doors to the capsules opened as a failsafe, and all the people who were locked inside began sneaking out of the room.


    Before Yancy went to the next rack, he opened his mouth, and pure darkness flowed from it. His eyes glimmered. The void swirled around the room and struck the camera. The feed was cut and Terry¡¯s voice was cut off mid-sentence, ¡°He is attempting to¨C¡±


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Cassidy said. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a power like that.¡±


    ¡°I believe that my uncle knows. The grutomatons that overran our world, they were just the canary in the coal mine?¡±


    Lo Key looked up. His face was pale and his hands were shaking. ¡°It was the Void, the end of everything.¡±


    Before they could question further, Sledge emerged from the elevator, wearing his full battle armor. He was somehow even more fearsome than the day Maxi met him in the mailroom. If Danzig and Black Sabbath had summoned a heavy metal warrior in a demonic ritual, this guy would be it.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Sledge demanded. ¡°My best lieutenant is trapped in the training room.¡±


    ¡°You might want to reevaluate what you consider ''best'',¡± Maxi said, with a grin.


    Sledge glared at her, but before he could say any more, Cassidy stated, ¡°Assemble the Power Twelve combat team. We''ve got a problem in the server room.¡±


    ¡°Hey, guys, before you go all Avengers, could you be careful of the decapitated body in there? I hear that the rez chairs can bring him back from that. He¡¯s kind of a prick, but he¡¯s my prick. Well, not literally. You know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s rather annoying,¡± Sledge said.


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Cassidy responded, as they charged out of the room together.


    Maxi turned to her uncle¡¯s desk and said, ¡°Do you have a candy jar or a mint basket or something? I¡¯m feeling like something sweet.¡±

 38 – Lus3rs

    Maxi gutted the feral copy machine with her +10 Longsword of Grutomaton Slaying. Acquiring it had set her credit balance back down to near zero, but she figured that if she was going to make some headway on finding this Printer of Never Jamming, and maybe even learn what happened to her dad, she needed a weapon that would dispatch any appliances in her path.


    She glanced at the copy machines around her. They were in an office that had been torn apart by the creatures, as an entire floor of electronics all seemed to catch the virus at the same time. The entire place went bonkers, at least according to the researcher who wanted to collect grutomaton parts for the Printer of Never Jamming IV.


    She counted the copy machines and said, ¡°I got seven.¡±


    Daisuke, a little ways away, with a gnarly scar around his neck, said, ¡°Ten here.¡±


    ¡°Show off.¡±


    ¡°Shame they didn¡¯t kill you,¡± Daisuke said, grinning.


    Patti was healing Flav, who was bleeding from his head. He rubbed his wound, and she swatted him away. ¡°Why do I always have to take the brunt of the attacks?¡± he lamented.


    ¡°What can I say?¡± Maxi replied. ¡°You¡¯re the meat shield, but you''re a damn good one, at that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get paid enough for this,¡± Flav said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t get paid at all,¡± Maxi said. ¡°All our profits¨C¡±


    ¡°Go back into the fund. I know. I know.¡±


    Belinda and Farhad strolled around the corner with a grutomaton inkjet in tow. The creature growled and hissed. Belinda was dragging it forward with what could only be described as an electric collar attached to a leash. It snarled and went for Maxi, and Farhad hit a button on the keyboard attached to his backpack laptop.


    The collar lit up and shocked the thing. It yelped and growled.


    ¡°It worked,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Though it seems kind of cruel.¡±


    ¡°The grutomatons can¡¯t be domesticated,¡± Terry said in her Bluetooth earbud. Maxi wasn¡¯t big on the brain surgery thing, and she looked good in glasses. ¡°You can subdue them for a time and use them as an attack beast, but eventually the virus makes them highly aggressive, much like rabies. It¡¯s how the virus propagates.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi said, ¡°I know. Still, maybe we can look for a less shocky way.¡±


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    Belinda giggled, clapped, and meowed a few times. She attempted to nuzzle up against Maxi like a cat looking for cuddles, but Maxi held her back. ¡°Hey, Belinda, we talked about this. There are certain things that are completely cool for cats, but not for humans.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Belinda purred. ¡°But you¡¯re so nice.¡±


    The killer copy machine growled, and Farhad had to shock it again.


    ¡°You two better get back to IT,¡± Maxi said. ¡°We¡¯ll loot the bodies.¡±


    Farhad and Belinda dragged the creature back towards the elevator in another part of the building. Patti helped Flav to his feet and followed them back.


    While Daisuke kicked through the debris with her for anything valuable, he asked, ¡°They find Yancy yet?¡±


    ¡°No, but he¡¯s still on this planet. Unless he has a spaceship in orbit or something.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t Dr. Who.¡±


    It had taken all the Power Twelve to fight Yancy alone. Even with the buffs, Daisuke never stood a chance. The kid had been toying with them all this time. Though in hindsight, the kid seemed to revel in letting others believe they had a fighting chance before gutting them.


    The battle from the Power Twelve had trashed the server room, nearly deleting Terry in the process, as he had transferred his core programming there to maintain the containment of all the suspects. The judiciary system had gotten through most of the people they had trapped, clearing most of them, including all the Power Twelve on the list.


    Still, the sheer number who were throwing the last raid really had put the Company at risk, despite the Power Twelve not being in the mix. During the investigation, the Company discovered that a few were also sabotaging their coworkers to do less damage during the raid.


    It was hard to untangle who was the mastermind of the operation because an email chain had been discovered that was promising the foolhardy that they would be a Power Twelve in an alternate dimension if they threw the raid. The Company had been lenient on the morons who were just drawn in by the rhetoric and the fervor. Most of them were just demoted or booted to a Tier where they would find it more motivating to do their part in the raid.


    The few who were caught actively sabotaging their coworkers and recruiting people into the conspiracy were terminated, per Company policy, though Sledge¡¯s lieutenant was given the chance for clemency in the Arena with a no-rules death match against Sledge. It was a spectacular fight but didn¡¯t end well for the guy who had attempted to eliminate the majority of his coworkers.


    The ones who had escaped during the battle between Yancy and the Power Twelve all had bounties placed on their heads, including Benson, the Customer Care Advocate who had seemed to be nice to Maxi at the time. It just goes to show that she never really knew some people. At least until they had her back during her efforts to clear her name.


    While the charges against Maxi were dropped, and since all the people they had killed were resurrectable, the Company didn¡¯t punish them for their actions, but they hadn¡¯t exactly thrown them a parade either. Terry¡¯s restrictions were put back in place, and a team was delegated to reevaluate their policy on AI. For Maxi, it was about as much of a win as she was going to get from the place.


    As for her uncle, he was placed on administrative leave, which meant the Company paid for his off time, the lucky turd basket. While he was too shaken up to give much information about what Yancy was, suffice it to say that he was bad, and while not directly responsible for the death of her homeworld, he was connected to it.


    Which brought Maxi to her new quest. It read NEW ONGOING QUEST: End of the World Part I: Don¡¯t let the Void swallow the world. Reward: Unknown. Failure: The Destruction of Earth.

 39 - Daisuke Hax 1 - Father

    Daisuke¡¯s blade materialized as he unsheathed it from an invisible scabbard interrupting his father mid-sentence.


    ¡°The complexities of the motor vehicle industry aren¡¯t for¡­¡± his father, Akihiko, trailed off as Daisuke fluidly stepped onto the fancy long table with various high end breakfast dishes on silver serving trays that were more expensive than most sports cars. He stalked past his half-brothers and sisters with the sword at the ready.


    They were all dressed in their country club finest with matching blues and whites with clothes that cost more that most people¡¯s one month of rent. He passed his mom, a young Korean woman half the age of his dad, and second wife. Daisuke approached his dad, and stared at the man with his blade at the ready.


    His father was the owner of Kaze Motors, the most powerful car manufacturer in the world. It was said every road on planet Earth had touched the tires of a Kaze. Like any self respecting billionaire, Kaze represented a fraction of his wealth, and his money was just making money in business ventures all over the world.


    Daisuke raised his blade, and sliced the man¡¯s head off.


    ***


    Daiuke strolled into his Office Pool causally wiped down his blade before returning them to the rack. Maxi, their self appointed Generalist leader, was arguing with Flav, a large Black man of the Porter class and functionally the tank of the party. From the sound of it, they were arguing whether it was Chuck D or Flavor Flav would make a better ice cream flavor.


    ¡°Flavor¡¯s Crave has some nuance to it.¡± Maxi dug in. ¡°And who doesn¡¯t like ice cream?¡±


    ¡°But Chuck D¡¯s Nuts,¡± Flav said between breaths as he couldn¡¯t hold his laughter.


    ¡°I still like Chocalnator X,¡± Patti, their healer Customer Care Advocate said.


    ¡°What do you think, Daisuke?¡± Maxi said.


    Daisuke rolled his eyes, flopped down at his desk, and said. ¡°I don¡¯t like ice cream.¡±


    ¡°Wait? You don¡¯t like ice cream!¡± Maxi yelped. ¡°Wait¡­ wait¡­ how could you not like ice cream?!¡±


    ¡°I can take it or leave it,¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the same as disliking it.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll leave it then,¡± Daisuke said. ¡°Now if you excuse me. I have work to do.¡±


    Maxi strolled to the other too, and said. ¡°Can you really believe he doesn¡¯t like ice cream? Who doesn¡¯t like ice cream¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe he just doesn¡¯t like it.¡± Flav suggested.


    Daisuke put on his headphones and opened his character sheet.


    Name: Daisuke Hax Gender: Male Ethnicity: Japanese/Korean


    Office Pool: Lus3rs (Cumulative Tier 9.7)


    Tier: 9.5


    Class: Sales Associate


    Level: 82


    Stats:


    Ambition: 65


    Adaptability: 20


    Dedication: 43


    Speed: 45


    Creativity: 25


    Emotional Intelligence: 56


    Luck: 15


    Life: 666/666


    AR: 34


    Att: +53 Katana (54-66 damage)i


    Att: +53 Wakizashi (54-62 damage)i


    Att: +25 Shotgun, birdshot, 8/8 rounds, (45-65 damage, 100¡¯ range, 5¡¯ spread)i


    Att: +25 Shotgun, buckshot, 8/8 rounds, (65-85 damage, 100¡¯ range)i


    Att: +38 Contend, (No damage, attempt to wrestle opponent into submission)


    Att: +36 Unarmed Strike, (37-38 damage)i


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    Skills:


    Climbing (basic) +10


    Close the Deal +36


    Customer Service +45


    Deceit +43


    Dodge +33


    Dual Wieldi


    Listen +17


    Martial Arts: +23i, Style Focus: Jujutsu +15i, Style Focus: Karate +13i


    Melee Weapons +23i, Intermediate Boosts: Swords: +10i Advanced Boosts: Specialization Katana +10, Specialization: Wakizashi +10,


    Range Weapons +19i, Intermediate Boosts: Firearms: +1,


    Sales Acumen + 45


    Sneak +26


    Credits: 20,456


    Items: +5 Sales Suit (common), Birdshot (16), Buckshot (16), Cloaking Scabbards (uncommon), Cloaking Holster (uncommon), Cloaking Infinity Backpack (rare), HR Implant, +10 Katana of Humanoid Slaying (rare), Ring of Speed Boost I (uncommon), +5 Shotgun, +15 Stealth Chain Mail (uncommon), +10 Wakizashi of Grutomation Slaying (rare),


    Storage: (Cubicle)


    +2 Birdshot (5), Birdshot (73), Buckshot (37), +4 Cereal Bars of Ambition (4), +1 Headphones of Endless EDM, +1 Khakis (10), +11 Meat Stick of Healing (1), +7 Potato of Exploding, +2 Shirt of Protection (10), +2 Shotgun, +2 Water Bottle of Refilling, Weapons Rack of Repair (3 Spaces),


    Passes:


    Cafeteria II (two boost foods per meal)


    Domicles:


    Company Apartment (Basic)


    He was saving some skill points to add Krav Maga to his style focus, less for adding another martial arts skill but rather as a prerequisite for an expert sword style that he had his eye on to increase his basic attack. Daisuke¡¯s only gripe with the skill tree was that certain aspects weren¡¯t visible to him unless he reached the level and ability points to purchase the skill. The only exception were class skills, and he could only see the ones the next tier up.


    When he had first joined the company, he had asked Terry, their AI companion that was sort of a nanny figure to Maxi, about the skill tree, and the bot had said, ¡°People rarely know what the future holds. Will the survivalist skills be more valuable than the accounting skill? Had you been born in the 1950¡¯s, the accounting skill would have taken you much further in life than any knowledge of survivalism. Thus the skill tree is limited to ensure you diversify your skillset, so you avoid only being good at one thing, and avoid premature termination when you find yourself in a situation where your one skill isn¡¯t useful.¡±


    ¡°Unless you were born in one of the many countries to destabilize over the years,¡± Daisuke had replied.


    ¡°The what?¡± Terry said, and added. ¡°Ah, the overwhelming exception fallacy. Attempting to disprove my statement that accounting would be a more useful skill for a person born in the 1950¡¯s than survivalism by finding the few expectations where their ability to live of the land would be more useful than number crunching and willfully ignoring the fact that a majority of people born in that time period lived in¨C¡±


    Daisuke had ended the connection with Terry before he could get lectured any further that day. The truth was that the world had fundamentally shifted since the 1950s despite some people¡¯s attempts to go back to that era. All Daisuke saw were men like his father grow vast stockpiles of wealth, mostly at the expense of his workers physical health and well being.


    Daisuke had grown up in London with his mother, Kiara, who was product of a kpop school in Seoul that produced star after star, hit after hit, but at the cost that only 3% ever made it to the upper echelons of the Korean music industry. His mom had studied dance with military discipline. She had vocal training with instructors that would swat food out of her hand if there was even a minor chance of damaging her voice.


    When Kiara¡¯s class was paraded past musical executives during their graduation pageant and were assembled in the next boy and girl bands that would capture the hearts and minds of teenagers across the globe, his mom was picked as a backup dancer. Which meant anything from stand-in when one of the real stars were sick, all the way to just another one of the nameless people on stage or in the background of the ¡°real¡± talent.


    She was devastated because even the backup dancers lived a life of military discipline and grueling hours like she had in school except with no hope of ever taking center stage. Unlike in America, where it seemed that anyone could do anything, she knew that if she wasn¡¯t picked on graduation day, she never would be. There would always be another graduating class to form the next boy and girl bands in the industry.


    Daisuke couldn¡¯t blame her when one of the most wealthy men in the world had taken interest in her, and then offered her comfort and security she would otherwise not obtain on her own. However, his step brothers and sisters could blame her. She was the seductress that drove a wedge between their father and mother by targeting him backstage of a show during the VIP soiree.


    However, to hear Kiara tell the story, Daisuke¡¯s father had kept finding excuses for them to be alone at the party, and eventually, she had consented to going out to dinner with him because it was too exhausting to avoid him. She always told the story with a smile and sometimes a laugh. All mannerisms his half-brothers and sisters interpreted to be part of her diabolical nature to tear the family apart.


    It wasn¡¯t like his half brothers and sisters had anything to fear from his mom or himself. Daisuke was too much of a half breed to inherit anything, and his mom wasn¡¯t going to get anything but the house in London, and stipend to keep her comfortable. The wealth, the businesses, Kaze motors, it was all going to the children from the first marriage, whom he adored.


    Daisuke had been an inconvenient byproduct of sex. While his mother loved him more than anything, Daisuke had come to terms with long ago that his father had not chosen his mom to start another family, but more because the guy had gone through a midlife crisis and needed to prove his manhood by going after a woman who was far younger and prettier than him.


    From the outside, it looked like just another billionaire with a too-young for him second wife, but to his father¡¯s credit, he had treated well. He never hit or yelled at her, attempted to use his power, influence, and money to mold in the image he wanted her to be. In fact, when he decided to move to London, he had a dance studio built in the house just for her. He took her dance performances across the world, and even donated vast amount of wealth to the arts in her name.


    There was never any doubt that they loved each other, despite what other members of the family, the media, and general public thought about the marriage. The person his father didn¡¯t love was Daisuke. It wasn¡¯t through anger or psychical abuse, it was disinterest.


    Daisuke never earned praise or scolding from his father. The most his father ever interacted with him was asking his mother to ¡°take care of it.¡± When he was caught brawling at school, his father would ask his mother to handle it. When Daisuke wrecked the family car after a binge of recreational drug use, Kiara was the one who was there.


    She was just as bad as him in some ways. She would say things like, ¡°You¡¯re going to disappoint your father, or stop that before your father gets angry.¡± The truth of the matter is that his father probably wouldn¡¯t notice if they had failed the Antitrust lawyer raid, and he was culled when the bottom fourth of the company was murdered to appease interdimensional corporations hungry for the souls of the people on Earth.


    It didn¡¯t matter what Daisuke did, and the only time his father had ever raised his voice was when Daisuke was waving around a bat as a kid pretending he was a samurai and accidentally clocked his older half brother in the head. Even then, his father rushed his beloved away, and told Kiara to ¡°take care of Daisuke.¡±


    Diasuke pushed memories away and pulled up his quest log.


    It read:


    Quest: Sins of the Father Complete.

 40 - DH2 - Mother

    A few hours later, after agreeing to disagree about which Public Enemy rapper would make a better ice cream flavor, a feed in the corner of Maxi¡¯s glasses ticked up with the credit cost of talking to her mom. Even though it was her phone, she was on the company wifi, and if she used it for anything that wasn¡¯t work related she would be charged for the usage.


    The Company didn¡¯t care if people surfed the internet all day and didn¡¯t micromanage their computer time. Printing something personal wasn¡¯t stealing company resources, or even nicking a pen. If employees wanted to take a three hour lunch and sit in a bathtub for half of it, there were no supervisors watching over their shoulder.


    They ensured productivity by charging for everything. If Maxi forgot that she had a pen in her pocket when she went home for a couple nights to get away from the sleeping pods, she¡¯d be charged a fraction of a credit for it. If she came back with the pen, she¡¯d be reimbursed for it but at the used pen rate.


    If she surfed the internet instead of working, she was charged for it. If she talked with her mom, she was charged for it. Even time off had a cost. Now that she was questing regularly and bringing in cash, it was tempting to give into the middle class life.


    The manager of the Generalist Branch (her defacto guild even though they weren¡¯t exactly guilds), Ted, lived a comfortable middle class life with weekends and family vacations. He even owned a house in Texas, a fact only possible by magic elevators making the commute to anywhere in the world near instantaneous.


    It was tempting to buy the time to sleep in her own bed every night, go home to her mom, and even play some video games that she had neglected since she started the job. She had a steady enough credit flow where she could afford her old life back, but then there was the guy cowering behind her in fear. He was a Worker, covered in blood and nearly killed by the three headed beast that killed most of his Office Pool.


    The room was a lot like her home away from home but bigger, gray cubicles packed together, perhaps forty, maybe more. There were mangled corpses at the elevator entrance, and Maxi could hear weeping of other Workers hiding in their cubes. They weren¡¯t a fighting class, but rather the backbone labor of the company. They did menial labor that generated the cashflow necessary for people like her to do the dirty work of fighting monsters.


    This particular monster was cute if it wasn¡¯t such a killer. The three heads were a dog, cat, and rabbit with large doey eyes. The body was built like a panther with black fur and claws. It had a barbed tail with a white poof at the end that hid more spikes as Maxi found out the hard way, because she had a wound in her chest that wouldn¡¯t stop bleeding.


    Her life ticked down while the charges to speak to her mom ticked up. The dog head snarled and drooled at her while the cat hissed and bared its fangs. The rabbit¡­ it just looked so freaking cute.


    ¡°I know ma!¡± Maxi said as she dogged the dog head and stabbed it in the shoulder but not before taking another blow from the cursed tail that only seemed to speed up her bleeding out. ¡°But if I take some time for myself. What¡¯s your name again?¡±


    ¡°Rudy, ma¡¯am,¡± The worker said and winced as Maxi traded blows with the creature.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Rudy,¡± Maxi said as she dodged the cat head from biting into her shoulder, ¡°What tier are you? If you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡±


    She grunted and fended off another strike from the tail, and the guy meekly said. ¡°12.11.¡±


    ¡°So, there you have it ma,¡± Maxi said as the cat head bit down on her sword and she used her Mind Shard attack to knock the dog head from taking advantage of the situation. The rabbit head wiggled its nose, and was still looking very cute. ¡°If I don¡¯t keep fighting, sleep in the capsules almost every night, then Rudy here will get killed at the end of the month when he is terminated.¡±


    ¡°What a second!¡± Rudy yelped. ¡°Termination means death?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t read the terms and conditions?¡± Maxi called back as the battle raged on with the beast.


    Maxi¡¯s mom¡¯s voice came through the bluetooth headphones, ¡°But you need time off for yourself. Trust me, I¡¯ve worked your job too. You can¡¯t help people when you are exhausted and beaten down. It¡¯s as much about self care as it is caring for others.¡±


    ¡°Monsters don¡¯t take a day off!¡± Maxi said and cut the dog head clean off. The cat hissed and cried out in pain, and the bunny was¡­ a bunny. A freaking adorable rabbit. The creature thrashed as she thought that it was in its death throes, but before it toppled over, the canine part regenerated a new one as if it was inflating a balloon.


    Rudy screamed and tried to make a run for the elevator. Maxi attempted to stop him but the guy was gone. The creature pounced and jumped on the guy and tore through the man¡¯s chest. Maxi had a moment to weigh her options while the thing mauled the Worker.


    ¡°Mom,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I have to go.¡±


    ¡°What are you fighting?¡± Tara said, undeterred by the urgency in Maxi¡¯s voice.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it all kid, just describe it.¡±


    ¡°A cat, rabbit, dog, thing.¡±


    ¡°A bandersnagger? Those are easy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost dead mom!¡± Maxi wasn¡¯t kidding. The bleeding status effect from the tail was getting her to near zero.


    ¡°Just stab bunny.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s so¡­ cute.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a charm effect.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not charmed!¡± Maxi said, but as she said it.


    A message appeared, ¡°You have discovered a hidden status effect, charm. Roll to resist? Contested Emotional Intelligence.¡±


    ¡°My Emotional Intelligence is shit,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°I could have told you that.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡±


    ¡°What? You¡¯re like your father, blunt, and always speaking your mind. Even if more precision is required.¡±


    Maxi took a breath and attempted to will past the charm effect. She crept up to the beast, and brought up her sword to stab the critter in the head. Right as she attempted to hack at the beast, she saw its such big adorable wide eyes. It was just too precious. She shook her head, and attempted to bring the sword down.


    But she couldn¡¯t, the thing was too damned cute.


    The dog and cat head turned their bloodied maw on Maxi, and Daisuke¡¯s blade sliced through the bunny¡¯s neck, and the most precious little ball of fuzz rolled on ground while the creature hissed and yelped its death throes. It flopped on the ground, and whimpered. Daisuke stabbed it in the chest, and it died.


    A good portion of the blood splattered on her legendary yellow shirt, that started its self cleaning cycle that was akin to evaporating the fluids would otherwise stain the thing.


    ¡°I had it taken care of.¡± Maxi said to no one in particular, her heart still melting for the thing that would have gnawed her head off.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t look like it to me,¡± Daisuke said as he wiped his blade and put it into his invisible sheath.


    ¡°Is that the cute one?¡± Tara¡¯s voice said a little too loudly over her bluetooth headphones.


    ¡°Mom!¡± Maxi said, and turned away from Daisuke to check for any other survivors. While she was almost positive he couldn¡¯t hear her, he was pretty, in sort of an arm candy sort of way, almost too immaculate. She preferred men who were a little rough around the edges, a little less put together. Daisuke had probably spent more time in front of a mirror than a Victoria''s Secret model did on pageant day.


    He was also a kinda of an asshole. A loyal asshole, she¡¯d give him that, but she preferred partners who were more courteous. Not that she had given much thought to dating her coworkers. Office romances rarely worked out, and Maxi¡¯s even less so. She had a few awkward flings in high school. Then dated someone semi-regularly in college, who decided he was better off as a buddhist monk in their senior year.


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    Post college, she was too busy building her completely neglected-at-this-point Spasm channel to care about dating anyone, and she certainly didn¡¯t want to meet anyone she met online. Maxi wasn¡¯t opposed to using an app to find a partner, it was just too much work. She had a friend who went on 32 dates just to find a person who lasted about two years. It sounded exhausting to her.


    If the right guy came along, she be into it, but she was also fine with the idea that she¡¯d be an old maid living in her mom¡¯s rent controlled apartment with fifty cats. Maxi didn¡¯t even like cats particularly more than any other animal, murderous bunnies aside, but she figured living alone in her twilight years would involve some loner stereotype.


    However, she wasn¡¯t alone now, and she had to keep reminding herself about that. When the emergency quest popped up to help the Workers whose day was disrupted by the murder rabbit-cat-dog, she answered the call and took off to the elevator, before realizing that she had an Office Pool of mates that would drop anything to help.


    And they did, Patti was somewhere in the room taking care of the wounded. Flav, Farhad, and Belinda had cornered another one of the creatures, while Daisuke must have taken care of the third. It was a team effort and they made a good team.


    Maxi went over to Rudy and noticed a paper on his desk. It said, ¡°The company lies. Find out the truth¡± and a QR code. In the upper right corner was a shadowy figure wearing a top hat. She figured it was some of the recruiting paperwork from the conspiracy to throw the raids so they could all go and be Power Twelve in other worlds. On an impulse she grabbed the flier, folded it, and pocketed it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in dating right now, ma,¡± Maxi said quietly while she hefted Rudy onto his resurrection chair. It was the least they could do for them because Janitorial would charge them a fee to do it, and Maxi had seen the menial labor options, they would be paying off the clean up bill for a while.


    ¡°I was like you too, you know,¡± Tara said. She was the top player at the company back in her day. Rank 1.1. ¡°I just focused on saving as many people as possible, but I didn¡¯t really get good until I practiced self-care too.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted,¡± Maxi grunted as she hefted another body onto a chair. ¡°Look ma, we have a lot of cleanup to do.¡±


    ¡°Just let Janitorial do it.¡±


    ¡°They charge the workers for putting them up on their own chairs.¡±


    ¡°They never did that in my day.¡±


    ¡°Times change.¡±


    ¡°Are you coming home for dinner?¡±


    ¡°Depends on the surge pricing.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Love you lots. And Maxi, tell your uncle he¡¯s still an asshole.¡±


    ¡°Will do,¡± Maxi said, neglecting to tell her that Lo was on some sort of paid leave. Something about Yancy turning into a death god had really shaken him up. Maxi had gotten a message from him a couple weeks later.


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust anyone,¡± Lo had texted.


    ¡°Including you?¡±


    ¡°This is not a joke. They like to toy with their prey. Feign weakness. They are anything but.¡±


    ¡°Who are they?¡±


    ¡°The dark.¡±


    Before Maxi had the chance to inquire any further, Cassidy West, one of the Power Twelve and the leader of the Paranormal Investigator Branch strolled into her Office Pool as if she owned the place. The woman implored that they share any information they had about Yancy or would tell her if Lo attempted to contact any of them. Then she lectured them about staying in their lane.


    None of which Maxi did, but the delay in her response was enough to scare off her uncle because he had been ghosting her ever since.


    As if thinking about the woman evoked her Branch''s presence, the elevator dinged, and a team of Paranormal Investigators flooded into the room with their hands on the hilts of their swords. They were all wearing trench coats and fedoras as if they were ripped out of some 1940s thriller novel.


    Maxi recognized Joaquin, one that had started around the same time she did, and was in her psychic training classes. He wasn¡¯t a total asshat even though he kept company with them.


    The leader of the squad, a guy with brown hair and a scar across his cheek glanced around the room. Daisuke and Belinda were dutifully looting the corpses of the creatures and stripping them of anything useful or valuable. Patti was finishing up healing who she could while Flav, Farhad, and Maxi were on corpse duty.


    Joaquin didn¡¯t look Maxi in the eye, and said to his leader, ¡°Come on, Takashi. Looks like they already took care of this one.¡±


    If Daisuke and Takashi were in a scowling contest, Maxi wasn¡¯t sure who would win, but the PI leader looked as if he had swallowed a ball made from brambles. Takashi narrowed his eyes on Maxi, and said, ¡°Seems like you just can¡¯t refrain from doing everyone else¡¯s job. You¡¯re taking away business from Janitorial now?¡±


    Maxi hefted another body and said, ¡°Nope, just pitching in where I can. You should try it sometime. In fact, you can start now. We still need to do that row.¡±


    Maxi pointed out another row of cubicles with empty chairs.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you are coming off high and mighty,¡± Takashi said. ¡°But we have a certain way of doing things around here.¡±


    ¡°Like coordinating your outfits instead of saving people¡¯s lives?¡± Maxi said, and Takashi drew his blade. The others followed suit and pulled out their weapons, except Joaquin, he looked apologetically at Maxi and attempted to deescalate the situation with his commander.


    Takashi brushed him aside, and marched towards Maxi. Her crew was at the ready too, though their weapons weren¡¯t out yet. Daisuke thumbed his side where his invisible scabbard hid his Katana. Flav set down a body he was hauling so he could grab the battle axe on his back. Belinda fidgeted with a remote control that summoned deadly critters she had constructed. Even Farhad placed his hand on a pistol he had holstered.


    While murdering each other wasn¡¯t exactly against company policy, being there were resurrection chairs, there were stiff penalties for any employees who brawled outside of sanctioned areas. Even if the PIs were the aggressors, they would all get penalized for the misconduct.


    The question was not whether Takashi would drag them into a fight but whether his ego was worth the credit and level penalties of the confrontation. While Maxi¡¯s Office Pool wasn''t underwater with debt like when she had first joined the company, they ran a tight operation. There weren¡¯t any margins for something as pointless as kicking some PI ass. Even though it¡¯d feel good.


    He got up into her space and said, ¡°The PIs have been saving people since before you were born. I¡¯m just telling you to stay out of our business because you¡¯re going to get your whole team permadead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that one before,¡± Maxi said nonchalantly. ¡°You really need a new line.¡±


    Takashi¡¯s knuckles turned white from the grip on his sword.


    ¡°Come on boss,¡± Joaquin said. ¡°There¡¯s an all hands meeting coming up. We¡¯ll get the next one.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky, but you might not be so lucky next time,¡± Takashi said. ¡°Come on.¡±


    The man flicked his arm up in the air, and the others put their blades away.


    While they all piled into the elevator, Maxi called out to them. ¡°I am lucky. That¡¯s my thing! Have fun in the meeting! We¡¯ll just be here. Keeping the world safe from monsters.¡±


    Daisuke scowled at Maxi and after the elevator door shut, he said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to antagonize them.¡±


    ¡°What? They¡¯re dicks. Well, except Joaquin. He¡¯s cool, but the rest of them¡­¡±


    ¡°We are all in this together,¡± Daisuke yelled. ¡°The sooner you learn that, the better it will be for everyone.¡± Daisuke stormed off and punched the elevator call button. He stepped inside, leaving one of the creatures half looted.


    ¡°What¡¯s his deal?¡± Maxi said to Farhad, who was now on the row next to hers.


    Farhad lifted a corpse while Belinda took over looting the creature. Farhad shrugged, ¡°I dunno. He¡¯s been on edge about something lately but on edge is a relative term. He does have that drill sergeant charm.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just been more Daisuke than usual,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Maybe give him some time to cool down.¡±


    Maxi wasn¡¯t a stranger to being overwhelmed. When she first unwittingly signed up to kill monsters for a living, she had made some rash decisions. However, Daisuke didn¡¯t seem the type to get overwhelmed. In fact, he was the one who¡¯d watch their Office Pool finances, and would not so politely get on their cases for using too much resources.


    However, maybe he was just good at hiding it. The man did have a history of storming out of the room. Had Maxi been looking to make a few more enemies at work, she¡¯d probably would have made a game out of it, just to tease him, but since the guy seemed always one step away from popping an artery in his head, she knew when to back down.


    They continued their clean up of the room.


    Just as Maxi was putting on the last one, Terry interrupted her corpse duty, ¡°Maxi, you have requested that I alert you when you¡¯ve met the requirements for the Printer of Never Jamming V.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°You have met the requirements for the Printer of Never Jamming V.¡±


    ¡°Great, so want to enlighten me about what I¡¯m supposed to do?¡± Maxi asked. The Printer of Never Jamming quest line seemed to be linked to her missing and most likely dead father. A goal popped up starting around IV about figuring out what happened to her father, but when she had completed additional goals about capturing some grutomatons parts for a guy named Von Patrick down in IT who was studying the creatures, she was still no closer to figuring out what happened to her dad. Same with another ongoing quest she had about saving the world.


    Having completed IV by delivering the beasts with the help of her Office Pool, the figure out what happened to her father objective just moved to V, and she was no closer to figuring out anything that she had before. Other than he used the word Albuquerque in the magic elevators the last time anyone had seen him alive.


    ¡°The goal: Learn vital information from Von Patrick in IT Allies: 0 was added to the quest,¡± Terry said.


    Maxi turned to Farhad and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to IT.¡± Then as an afterthought added, ¡°For a quest.¡±


    ¡°You should really go back to your cube and heal,¡± Farhad said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m the lucky one.¡± Maxi said as she wandered to the front of the Office Pool and called the elevator. ¡°How do you think I met Belinda?¡±


    She smiled, and the elevator doors closed. It was mostly true. She had a string of bad luck that had almost permakilled as there was no resurrecting bones, but she got lucky. Belinda had burned the offending slime. She figured meeting Dr. Von Patrick wouldn¡¯t involve any fighting.

 41 - DH3 - IT

    Visiting IT involved lots of fighting. In the time it took the elevator to take her from the one of the Worker Office Pools that had the unlucky encounter with bunny-cat-dog hellbeast, the door opened to IT where a large number of call center professionals in yellow shirts should have been answering calls. Instead, it was pandemonium.


    Her first clue something was wrong was a man in a yellow shirt running past while a copy machine bounded towards him with crab legs, large teeth, and drooling tongue dragging on the floor behind it. On further inspection, she saw all sorts of IT yellow shirts struggling with office equipment of their own.


    One was holding back a small desk printer snapping at him with jaws where the output tray should be. Another man was waving his bloody arm while a monitor clamped down on it. A third was being strangled by a phone cord. Being the murderous office electronics and the various origami minions pecking at the dead, IT was in serious trouble.


    Maxi shoved her hand in her pocket and downed a Muddy Buddy of Grutomaton Deterrence, just as a massive copy machine growled and trundled towards the open elevator door. It roared at the invisible barrier the morsel had given her, and quickly lost interest and ran towards a woman with red hair who was swatting paper bats away with the arm she had liberated from one of the large paper slicers.


    There were too many of the grutomatons, and she was too low on health. Her inner Daisuke yelled at her, saying that she would be no good to them if she was dead. She pressed the elevator button to retreat, but it didn¡¯t react. The doors didn¡¯t close, and it was only a matter of time before one of the creatures who stopped to check her out rolled its resistance to the Muddy Buddy.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Terry,¡± Maxi yelled. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°There seems to be a grutomaton outbreak in IT,¡± Terry said in his always chipper voice.


    ¡°Clearly, I can see that!¡± Maxi yelled. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the elevator work?¡±


    ¡°This elevator seems to be out of service.¡±


    ¡°Out of service? How can it be out of service! It just got me here!¡±


    ¡°All the elevators are out of service.¡±


    ¡°All the elevators? Like the multiverse of elevators?¡±


    ¡°I can only verify the functionality of the elevators in this dimension. That is why we suggest you use the stairs in the event of the emergency.¡±


    ¡°Stairs! None of the Office Pools have stairs! All we have is the damned elevators.¡±


    ¡°They do in the event of an emergency. The building is adaptive to company needs.¡±


    Sure enough, Terry¡¯s words rung true. A fire alarm sounded, and Maxi could see a door to the stairwell materialize out of the doorway across the way from her. Red flashing arrows in her glasses pointed her towards the emergency exit.


    Many of the surviving IT professionals began fighting their way towards it. Maxi stepped out of the elevator and turned down the hall.


    ¡°Maxi,¡± Terry asked. ¡°This is not an advisable course of action. There are likely more enemies in the direction you are going. There is a good chance that the outbreak started when a grutomaton escaped from the monster holding area.¡±


    ¡°My quest directed me to talk to Von Patrick,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°It is likely that Von Patrick is dead.¡±


    ¡°No one ever said questing was easy,¡± Maxi said and pulled her sword and proceeded down the hall.

 42 - DH4 - Family

    Daisuke stood outside his half-brother¡¯s estate somewhere in the Hollywood hills where gated driveways and dense foliage was all that could be seen from the road. Private security were alerted through surveillance systems about any vehicles waiting on the side of the road to warn the occupants of the neighborhood about paparazzi and other opportunists ready to pounce on LA¡¯s elite as soon as they left their private abode.


    As much as Daisuke¡¯s half brother, Tadanobu, pretended to be the next big film producer, he was an interloper fritting away his family fortune in failed action movies after selling off his portion of Kaze Motors, which also happened to be the controlling interest. As the first born child, Tadanobu had been groomed from birth to inherit the family business and carry on the legacy of their father.


    Tadanobu had been handed jobs his entire life at Kaze in preparation for the transition that came sooner than anyone had expected because of the untimely death of their father. However, despite being handed every advantage in life, Daisuke¡¯s half-brother squandered them all. Daisuke had on more than one occasion, with a presentation here and a spreadsheet there, saved his half-brother from losing face by doing the work his brother was too incompetent to do.


    As much as his father had lived in the fantasy world that his first born son would one day be the next car manufacturing mogul to innovate and push the industry forward, Tadanobu was more interested in sleeping with 20-somethings and pretending that he was a filmmaker.


    He was a Hollywood exec in name, as he was the executive producer on Karate Street Commandos I-III, all of which were released in the fledgling direct to video market, and available for streaming in one of the more obscure services that most people don¡¯t realize has content. The paparazzi who lurked on the road outside Tadanobu¡¯s house were never there for him, so Daisuke standing in front of a gate in full view of the camera didn¡¯t prompt a response from security.


    Daisuke could have used a magic elevator to transport himself into his half-brother¡¯s house. There was a lift for the four stories including a stop to the panic room/bunker in the basement, but Daisuke didn¡¯t want to spook his kin by appearing in the house, especially so close after the death of their father.


    The sound of his brother¡¯s voice came through the speaker on the camera mounted on the large gate pointed down at him. ¡°I could have you removed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on public property,¡± Daisuke said, noting that his feet were on the road rather than the nub of driveway leading up to the gate.


    ¡°They don¡¯t take kindly to loiters in this neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not loitering. I¡¯m family,¡± Daisuke said with a false grin. The nearest public elevator was in a shopping center a good walk away from his current location. If his brother wanted to be a dick, he could have easily called the police on Daisuke, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape in time. However, Daisuke knew that Tadanobu wouldn¡¯t be calling the authorities any time soon.


    The beauty of being the outsider among his family was that he knew all the secrets. He never felt included in any of the family functions, but wasn¡¯t thrown out of them either. Daisuke was never treated as a servant, but didn¡¯t exactly have an equal seat at the table either. His non status made him the ghost of the family.


    There were advantages to being a ghost. People would tell him things they may not admit elsewhere. For example, Tadanobu bragged about the first actress he had slept with or the time he met his hero, Steven Segaul. Words that came out of Daisuke¡¯s brother¡¯s mouth were tidbits that would be filed away for possible use later.


    ¡°I know about Ben-Zhing,¡± Daisake said casually before his brother could come up with another empty threat.


    There was a long silence on the other end, and then the gate opened. Daisuke strolled through the massive entry. It was large enough that two semi¡¯s side-by-side could fit through but probably only had seen the traffic of Kaze¡¯s luxury cars. Despite Tadanobu¡¯s dream of creating the next action movie franchise, he was loyal to his family and only drove Kaze¡¯s despite the fact that he could afford cars that cost more than an average person¡¯s house while Kaze cards were pricey, they weren¡¯t the type of car a person would drive from this neighborhood.


    Daisuke had to give him credit for loyalty to the family despite the bungling of family affairs. Tadanobu wasn¡¯t a calculating man, just a meathead who spent too much admiring himself in front of the mirror, which was why Daisuke decided to approach him, not because he was the first born, and the holder of his father¡¯s legacy. Everyone in the family knew who was better suited for that. Daisuke had picked Tadanobu because he was an easy target.


    As Daisuke walked up the driveway to the mansion beyond, he was only more firm in his belief. From the manicured bushes and hedges to the gaudy gold plated statues his brother had custom made to resemble MMA fighters locked in combat, the entire place screamed of overcompensation.


    Daisuke knew it wouldn¡¯t last, once he burned through the money of selling off his share of his father¡¯s companies failing to create the next hit action movie series, Tadanobu would be just another rich brat using his connections to buy out ownership in a gym, or perhaps make rounds on the reality television circuit.


    He¡¯d be a fraction of what he was worth, but would make it sound like he had made the choice to live the simpler life. Despite monarchy and feudalism teaching humanity again and again that heirs will eventually topple the houses due to their own ineptitude, people still did it anyway.


    Everyone in Daisuke¡¯s family knew who should have been in charge of all the wealth and power except his father was the one who decided where everything went. Now they¡¯d see the vast empire crumble with bad investment there, a failed film project there.


    Just like Rome was taken away piece by piece with each Visigoth raid. Powers moved their wealth to Constantinople, eroding the empire further. Countless other events eventually turned the powerfulest city in the world to a ruin, so would his father¡¯s empire. Piece by piece, it would eventually be engulfed and distributed in the world economy, and his father would be nothing more than a footnote in a history text.


    Daisuke made it to the large double doors with gold handles and custom martial forms burnt into the woodwork. He didn¡¯t bother knocking or ringing any sort of doorbell. His half-brother was probably covering his torso in oil and water to make it look like he had just been doing a hard workout.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Sure enough, Tadanobu opened the door shirtless with black athletic pants. His muscles glistened, and he was dripping with sweat or an oil water combination to approximate sweat. The man had grown a mustache and wore a red headband on his shoulder length wavy hair.


    ¡°Oh hey, Daisuke, I was just getting my reps in,¡± he said casually, like he was expecting a conversation about workout routines and protein powder to follow.


    Daisuke let himself in and started towards the office where the movie posters for the three disasters were proudly displayed. Daisuke said over his shoulder, ¡°I need 5 million in cash.¡±


    ¡°So soon after father¡¯s death?¡± Tadanobu shut the door to the estate and jogged to keep up with Daisuke¡¯s pace.


    ¡°You know he gave me nothing,¡± Daisuke said, and they entered a room not far from the main hall. The three posters of his films were framed as if they were precious artwork. Each featured a grizzled wannabe Chuck Norris on the front holding a different well endowed action movie fantasy woman on each who Tadanobu cast because he thought hair color constituted character development. The rest of the decor screamed rich kid who thinks he knows what a movie producer¡¯s office should look like.


    Daisuke sat down on a large old fashioned chair across from the massive desk that probably had little to do with script development, and more for attempting to woo young starlets and intimidate underlings. Daisuke was neither intimidated nor impressed with anything his half-brother could toss around as a status symbol.


    Tadanobu sat in his overstuffed leather chair that probably ended the life of two sheep and one cow for his half-brother¡¯s sitting pleasure. He tented his hands like he was a super villain considering sending Daisuke down a chute into a shark tank, when he said, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t asking,¡± Daisuke said calmly.


    ¡°If you want 5 million dollars. I know another member of the family you can kill, and you¡¯ll get every penny when you do.¡±


    Daisuke¡¯s blade was out of its sheath, and to his half-brother¡¯s throat before the man could reach the panic button under the desk. Daisuke glared down at his sibling, and said. ¡°The next time you threaten my mother. I won¡¯t hesitate.¡±


    He lowered his sword and put it away. It disappeared into his invisible scabbard. There was a tense moment where his brother stared at Daisuke. He couldn¡¯t tell if his half-brother was roiling with fear or bursting with anger. The family was good at hiding emotions.


    Daisuke¡¯s mother was the most expressive one in the family, and part of her entertainment military academy included acting lessons, so she knew how to fake emotions. Not that his family necessarily faked emotions. It was almost as if they didn¡¯t have them.


    Father was serious all the time, and was as emotionally accessible as a can of dried paint. The others were equally grim with expression, and closed off. Even after their father died, there were no expressions of grief, just a funeral where most didn¡¯t talk and mostly glared at Daisuke for daring to attend.


    It seemed father¡¯s business associates had more to say than the family. The family wouldn¡¯t express what they felt. However, that didn¡¯t mean that they didn¡¯t feel. When they were children, Daisuke was stripped naked and left in one of the shadier parts of Tokyo to get home on his own when he had embarrassed Tadanobu.


    His half-sister, Arisu, had left his school project in the rain when it was clear that he was going to outperform her in school. Even his mom would direct all the emotions she could express on him. He was the recipient of all of her love, all her frustration, and even all her anger. What she couldn¡¯t do with father was taken out on him.


    Daisuke had been the good son through it all. He wanted to please his mother, and even gain approval from his father. By the time he realized that approval from his dad had more to do with birthright than accomplishment, and that for better or worse, he was the only solid, dependable part of his mother¡¯s life, he had taken a job in New York.


    It was an advertising firm, and he was a copywriter. Nothing of his ever made to print, commercial, or even the text on an online product page, he was still paid to think of ideas that were always rejected, and the most he had ever even touched an ad that came to print was when he was asked to grammar check copy.


    He was the lowest member of the creative team, and so used to rejection from his father that grinding away for years to maybe see one line he had written appear in a commercial overplayed on a third rate gaming app seemed appealing to him. At least working as the bottom tier employee paid him where he got shit from his family for free.


    Being in the dredges of the company had probably saved his life. An outbreak of killer office supplies murdered most of the senior partners, a few clients, and some of the top creative folks when pens, pencils, rulers, staplers, and anything that could bludgeon, pierce, or slice began tearing through the floor where he worked.


    He was quick to slam his supply drawer shut when the wave of death reached his office and barked out to his fellow serfs to do the same. The few pencils that did make it out, he was able to catch and snap in half. He ordered his fellow copyright goons to barricade the door, and they waited until a bunch of trenchcoat, fedora wearing mafia burst into the building and made all the supplies drop harmlessly to the grown with a swish of their hand.


    The next day, there seemed to be a collective amnesia about what happened. The news reported that a disgruntled employee shot up the place and killed everyone in the meeting. His coworkers seemed to agree with the assessment, and even his cubicle mates that he had saved with his quick thinking seem to think it was a shooter.


    Daisuke thought he had been delusional himself when he remembered one of the first responders who checked a wound in his arm caused by a letter opener had said, ¡°Looks like the bullet only grazed your arm. You¡¯re lucky to be alive.¡±


    A part of him wanted to believe that it was a mass shooter. They were regrettably a common enough occurrence in the United States that he could almost imagine it, being grazed by a bullet, barricading the door to his part of the office, and waiting for the police¡­ no the men and women in fedoras.


    He had known, deep down inside, that the story people were telling themselves was wrong. Daisuke began to poke further, looking at the deep recesses of the internet where the government was nothing but lizard people and moon landing was Gene Roddenberry¡¯s crowning achievement in his film career. However, none of the conspiracy theories, alternate facts, or fantastical tales fit his lived experience.


    It wasn¡¯t till he trailed a woman with a trenchcoat and a fedora and lost her in an elevator when he got a note at his door to his apartment. It was an invitation to find out the truth. Of course, the nature of reality was far more than he could possibly imagine, and probably even more than he knew.


    But if there was one fact of the world he could count on, it was that money greased the wheels of progress. If he wanted to accomplish anything with what could possibly be a short brutal life, he needed funds. Thus, a visit to a human being, he¡¯d rather never see again in his life.


    ¡°5 million,¡± His half brother broke the silence between them.


    Daisuke didn¡¯t blink, didn¡¯t move a finger, just stared.


    ¡°Okay, 5 million it is. But that¡¯s it. I¡¯m not an ATM.¡±


    ¡°Never said you were,¡± Daisuke stood and headed toward the door.


    As he was about to pass the threshold, Tadanobu yelled, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you the next time I see you. This is it. You are done. You hear me? DONE!¡±


    Daisuke smiled as he shut the door behind him. That was one less problem to have to worry about. A quest appeared in his field of vision: IT BUSINESS. Instead of the front door, he headed towards his brother¡¯s elevator.

 43 - DH5 - Apocalypse Tuesdays

    Maxi charged through the hall. Her sword in hand and tossing out Mind Shards to any printer in her way. When the denizens of IT despair got too thick, she used Psychic Darts. She held off on any psychic Tsunamis and had to bamf away with her limited range teleport skill when a pack of hungry for blood copy machines had surrounded her.


    The training for her Leap of Faith skill had been brutal. In Swami Robinson¡¯s dojo, they were able to maintain psychic powers without draining her energy, so she was able to stay out of her body on the astral plane as long as she wanted. There was a silvery cord that connected her to her body, and if she moved through the space it would grow to accommodate the distance from her body.


    However, if she grasped the cord and yanked, her body would fly through the astral plane and come crashing down in reality wherever she happened to be when she was in ethereal form, which was rather painful sometimes. In the corporal of flesh and bone, she¡¯d be on a yoga mat one moment and then balanced on her head with no hands to keep her up. Gravity would then reassert itself and she¡¯d crash to the ground.


    Maxi had flopped on her belly, crashed on her arm, and even gotten a few limbs stuck in the floorboards, which definitely rated on one of the more painful experiences of her life. Each time a student would teleport themselves into a floor board or ceiling. Swami was quick to enter the astral plane to release them. Joaquin, who seemed to be in all her psychic classes had even gotten his head stuck in a wall and almost suffocated.


    Over the course of a couple days because time went slower in the astral plane, they had learned to flick their wrists rather than yank, concentrate about landing on their feet, and getting maximum range as any further than thirty feet from her body meant the cord was too long to get a good pull. The skill was super helpful when a pack of feral copy machines surrounded her.


    After escaping the beasts and smashing a few with an astral hammer, and gutting a few more with her sword, she was able to battle her way out of the call center floor to the halls of the laboratories and server rooms of IT where it was surprisingly quiet.


    There was evidence that a battle had raged not long ago in the corridor by blood smears, mangled corpses, doors blown off their hinges, and trashed laboratories, but it was quiet, other than the buzz of flickering fluorescent lights.


    She had to stifle her own breath as she was still heaving to get air into lungs after the press to get here. Due to the eerie quiet around her, she was worried that there was something even scarier than the flesh and machine beasts she had faced.


    Patti had figured out how to enchant snack items with healing properties that would refresh both health and psy points, and Maxi downed an entire fruit leather just getting here. As it stood, she only had two leathers and two peanut butter cups left. They were good for a fair amount of life points over the gummy bear Farhad had given her what seemed a lifetime ago, but she was still dangerously low on healing.


    Still, she didn¡¯t want to provoke what could be lurking in one of the trashed labs off to the side as she crept her way to monster holding, which was where her quest marker was leading her for the Printer of Never Jamming V. The HR glasses were convenient, and she could see why people went for the brain implant version, not that she ever would. She liked Terry well enough, but him¡­ in her brain¡­ all the time¡­ nope, count her out.


    Her AI companion hadn¡¯t been very talkative after the company removed his safety protocols to capture the employees throwing the raids so they could be transferred to a newer branch with all their skills and experience. Maxi just thought that he needed time to process. Most of the Branches didn¡¯t trust AI, despite the fact that he was given full control and didn¡¯t murder everyone. They put the controls back in place when it was all over. He was stuck, performing the duties of a search engine when he could have been so much more.


    The Company, for all its safeguards to conserve resources and mission to protect humankind, had created many inefficiencies due to its sheer bureaucracy and size of the operation. Some pencil pushers long ago decided that they could save money if everyone only used two pumps of soap.


    What they didn¡¯t account for in their micromanagement was that maybe there was too much time and resources spent to find that one person who was abusing the company coffers that ended up hindering all the hard working people who were just there to do their job and do it well. Supporting people who wanted to make a difference seemed like a better idea to Maxi than policing everyone because of that one person who didn¡¯t seem to care.


    Job performance had a way of weeding out those who were there to take advantage of their situation. Not that anyone deserved what would happen to them for a week of poor performance, but that was an insurmountable problem. Due to the multidimensional nature of her company, employee contracts could be bought out by any multidimensional corporation after an employee was severed from the company. Since there were fates worse than death, the company elected euthanization over what could happen to a person in the multiverse.


    The only way for an employee to escape their fate was to buy out their contract and for the same reasoning, why the company wouldn¡¯t allow more than two pumps of soap in the bathrooms, buying out the contract was deemed as an expense that would bankrupt the company and then the Earth was screwed.


    Maxi didn¡¯t buy it. She assumed that when any corporation complained about how socially responsible projects were too expensive to be viable, she just figured it was double speak for the rich guys who own the place don¡¯t want to make less money because they got to maintain their private jets and islands somehow.


    Her company, the company, she figured was no different, so she sought to dismantle the system by buying out contracts. Her Office Pool would take less of a cut from their loot, but she wasn¡¯t here to buy a rooftop patio or a castle with a moat, though the latter would be pretty cool. She continued her employment because she wanted to help people.


    Whether they were an NPC who lived in a world without monsters, or a company employee who had a bad month. She was there for better or worse, to make a difference. When it became about the mission and not about the money, things had become considerably easier for her.


    She could focus on what mattered and cut out any of the bullshit that didn¡¯t. It didn¡¯t mean she was living like a monk, she¡¯d go out to a fancy dinner on rare occasions, or take an elevator to Italy to have some gelato in Rome, but everything she did for herself was small, so her impact could be great.


    It had earned her a bit of a reputation among the company for not playing by the rules, but Maxi was never much of a rule follower to begin with. A keep off the grass sign was like an invitation to take a selfie.


    A noise snapped her back to the present. She heard the rattle and clatter coming from one of the labs. There was a grunt and then a whirring sound followed by a struggle. It was definitely a Grutomaton, and the spinning of a motor sound is what worried her the most.


    She had visions of a murderous blender or egg beater. It sounded like the kitchen appliance from hell was in the other room. Considering the Grutomaton virus could eventually infect anything with a microchip, and she didn¡¯t know exactly what they kept in monster holding, she could see the kitchen of the damned coming to life and cutting through the bars.


    She readied her Psychic attack, and held her sword in front as she entered the room. There was another growl, grunt, clatter, and whir. Whatever was inside, didn¡¯t sound too happy, and judging by the emptiness of the hallway she figured that it was the creature so terrifying that it scared all the other creatures.


    She didn¡¯t expect to see a cutesy little drone caught up in a tangle of computer cords. It was shaped like a three pronged boomerang with propellers on the ends of each of its blades. In the center were giant blue eyes and an adorable rabbit-like mouth. White fur had erupted from the plastic, and on the underside of the head was a camera, and several claw-like appendages. It was like someone had fused a droid from Stars Wars with a Pokeman.


    It growled and tugged on the binding when it saw Maxi, but she was just too stricken with how darn cute the thing was to even think about attacking it. She came up to the thing, and said, ¡°Hey little guy.¡±


    It growled and snapped the little claws dangling from its undercarriage. The rotor blades whirred with intensity, but it was unable to free itself.


    Maxi considered the situation for a moment. Her legendary yellow shirt had a mythical beast taming ability attached to it that unlocked when she had freed a dragon not so long ago.


    ¡°Terry,¡± Maxi summoned her AI companion.


    ¡°Yes, Maxi,¡± Terry chimed in on her headphones.


    ¡°What does Mythical Beast Taming do on my shirt?¡±


    ¡°It gives you protection against damage received from failed beast taming role in addition to a bonus on your Mythical Beast Taming skill checks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have Mythical Beast Taming.¡±


    ¡°All skills checks can be attempted with a penalty¨C¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Maxi interrupted. ¡°I know, but what are the odds that I can turn this guy friendly?¡±


    ¡°While it''s impossible to calculate the exact odds without knowing the creature¡¯s ability points and level, I would say that it''s about 50/50.¡±


    Maxi shrugged. ¡°Good enough for me.¡±


    She fished out a peanut butter cup of healing from her Invisible Infinity Backpack and approached the creature with her morsel proffered in her hands.


    ¡°Hey there, little guy,¡± She said in a soft voice.


    It snarled and struggled again.


    ¡°I got a treat for you,¡± Maxi said, and held out the deliciousness in chocolate and peanut butter form.


    The creature growled, and then sniffed. It grunted then strained. Maxi slowly moved her hand forward until it was in biting distance. The creature lunged forward and snatched the peanut butter cup from her hand, and it devoured the thing.


    While it was distracted she moved in and untangled the cord that was keeping it restrained. She stepped back, and it launched up into the ceiling. She looked up at it while its camera on the underside swiveled to get a look at her. She slowly reached into her backpack and pulled out a fruit leather.


    The thing spun around so the face side of it was looking down at her with its cute giant eyes. Its nose twitched just like a rabbit, and it lowered from the ceiling. It snatched the fruit leather from her and chewed.


    It only took a few moments for the thing to spit the food out with a blah noise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the taste of them too,¡± Maxi said. ¡°But they last forever and are full of nutrients.¡±


    She pulled out another peanut butter cup, and it lowered from the ceiling more gently this time and ate out of her palm. She scratched where it¡¯s ear would have been, and the white fur was soft like a cat. Once it was finished with the treat. It nuzzled against her. While they were distracted, an electric pencil sharpener with a Lamprey mouth wiggled its way from under a pile of computer scraps and lunged at Maxi.


    The drone moved in between Maxi at the beast and flipped its underside to face the creature. It shot a laser and sliced the pencil sharpener in half and the two pieces clattered to the floor. The foul odor of charred flesh and plastic emanated from its corpse.


    The drone nuzzled Maxi again, and she remarked. ¡°That¡¯s handy.¡±


    A message appeared on the feed in her glasses. ¡°You have tamed a Dastardly Drone of Blasting. Would you like to name your pet? Y/N.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Maxi said and a prompt for a name appeared in her glasses. She thought for a moment and decided, ¡°Dalek,¡± because the green beam reminded her of the Dr. Whovian villain.


    ¡°Grutomaton pets are like sleeping with a rabies infected dog. Eventually, it will bite you,¡± Daisuke said at the threshold of the doorway, startling her.


    Dalek growled and lunged towards her office mate, and Maxi said, ¡°Whoa. Dalek, he¡¯s friendly!¡±


    The drone backed down but still narrowed his eyes and growled. The drone flew behind Maxi, never taking his eyes off of Daisuke. The thing let out another low grunt.


    ¡°I think he likes you,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Must be your winning personality.¡±


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    Daisuke didn¡¯t take the bait. He simply said, ¡°Come on, we need to get to Monster Holding.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I am here,¡± Maxi said as she followed him out of the room. ¡°What brought you down here?¡±


    ¡°I had business in IT,¡± Daisuke said. ¡°Are we going to need hall passes now every time we leave our cubicle?¡±


    ¡°I was just making conversation,¡± Maxi said. ¡°What¡¯s up with you? You are more prickly than usual.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s gotten with me!¡± Daisuke said and pointed to a dead man in the hall they passed as they made their way to Monster Holding. The body was unrecognizable. Maxi could see the remains of the yellow shirt but not much else. The rest was a bloody pulp. She wasn¡¯t sure if the resurrection chair would be able to revive him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Maxi said, more seriously as they continued through the hall. ¡°That¡¯s just my defense mechanism. I joke.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should try not to some time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just me. My family. When times get stressful, we use humor. My dad made a crack about mistaking an urn for a casserole because it was on the kitchen table. People looked at him like he was some sort of monster, but we all knew that was just his way of grieving.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, shut up,¡± Daisuke said and turned to go deeper down the hallway.


    Maxi frowned and flipped the guy off. Dalek dashed forward, but she waved him back. Daisuke usually didn¡¯t mind a little casual conversation during the aftermath of a battle. She was pretty sure they were in the aftermath of the encounter. If there had been more grutomatons in the area, they would have already attacked.


    Not only did they have a nose for human prey, but she had made quite a bit of ruckus with the pencil sharpener. If there were anymore hiding out in the rooms, they would have come out already. The chaos that she had battled through to get here was most likely already under control by the PIs. Even with the elevators out of commission, it wouldn¡¯t take long for the PIs to mobilize in the same building.


    They made it to the Monster Holding door without any further incident. The door itself had been busted off its hinges, and the remains were laying in the hallway. It was a good sign because a containment failure was better than an outbreak of the machines in IT. A jammed printer creating a chain reaction of office electronics morphing into beasts was a bad sign, because the grutomaton apocalypse was an uncontrolled chain reaction.


    A containment failure would mean that most of what she fought was just what was in Monster Holding and not a wave of infected machines. While there was no telling when or if a grutomaton apocalypse was on the horizon, more outbreaks increased the likelihood of a chain reaction that would end the world. An apocalypse was just another Tuesday in the company.


    They pressed forward into the room. The catwalk near the entry was scratched and shredded by the wave of creatures that had charged through the area. Some of the guard rails were bent or missing all together. A fluorescent light was hanging from its casing and flickered in and out with a buzz. Blood was splattered everywhere though it was hard to tell if it was human or the creature.


    Daisuke and Maxi pressed forward with their swords at the ready. While she was pretty sure all the creatures were gone, she may as well be prepared. They crept down the stairs to the room below and saw all the cages were opened. It was as if someone had pressed a button to open them all at once, and all the creatures were released.


    There were corpses of non-grutomations critters in the room. They were mangled and mauled just like any humans who were unlucky to be in the room when it happened. Even though the cages didn¡¯t look anything had forced its way out, they were scratched and mangled on the outside of the cage like one would expect from a massive battle.


    The grutomatons must have overwhelmed everything before moving on to the rest of IT. Maxi saw the door to the room where the dissections took place was closed. There were dents on the door like something massive had attempted to smash through before getting distracted by an easier target. Grutomatons weren¡¯t exactly known for their intelligence and ran most on predatory instinct.


    If anyone was left alive, they must have barricaded themself in that room. Maxi nodded toward the door, and Daisuke grabbed the handle. It was a sliding mechanism. Maxi readied her sword, and kept her mind focused for psychic attacks. Her partner tugged, and the metal shrieked and echoed throughout the chamber.


    Maxi braced herself for an attack, but as she suspected, none came. The beasts had already moved on from the area. The door stuck and wouldn¡¯t budge after only a few inches. It was however enough for her to see into the room. If she had a sight line, she could teleport.


    ¡°No, wait,¡± Daisuke said as if he knew what she was thinking. She used Leap of Faith to bamf to the other side. Lab equipment, tables, and chairs had been stacked in front of the door, but wasn¡¯t the cause of it not opening. The dents the creatures on the outside were too big, and it would no longer fit in the housing.


    Daisuke peered in the crack, ¡°That was reckless.¡±


    ¡°Relax,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I can teleport out.¡±


    Which wasn¡¯t true, her psy was below the threshold for using the power again. She pulled out her last healing item, and chewed what felt to her like a dog treat. It wouldn¡¯t get her another teleport, but she could use some Mind Shards and Psychic Darts if she needed it. Not to mention she was low on health too, so it was nice to restore some of it. The real problem with the resurrection chairs was that she had to sit in them to get healed. She was never much for sitting for long periods. Even when she was at home playing games, she had a standing desk. If there was a standing desk of resurrection, maybe she¡¯d stop to heal more.


    As it stood, healing items were probably her biggest expense. Between what Patti would make the group and what she could buy on the Free Market, Maxi just kept using healing to keep her going. She was always low on life and psy except in the morning because sleeping restored everything.


    ¡°Watch over him. Make sure he doesn¡¯t hurt himself.¡± She told Dalek, and her furried drone friend growled in response.


    She turned away from Daisuke and glanced around the room. The lab that would normally be full of dissected grutomatons and other creatures had surprisingly little blood. The equipment was strewn everywhere, tables overturned, and other evidence that the occupants moved rather quickly to secure the door.


    There were no IT professionals cowering under the tables, but there was a door that was marked morgue and another office. She tried the office one first. It reminded her of Ted¡¯s office, her Generalist Branch administrator¡¯s home away from home. There were lots of nicknacks, awards, and corporate doodads of a long time employee: an acrylic employee of the year plaque from 2007, stress balls shaped like the large photocopier grutomatons, a cup with long ago conference logo filled with a assortment of pens that would make Frankenstien¡¯s monster seem like a fashion model.


    A picture hung on the wall. Von Patrick had his arms around a woman with brown hair with gray streaks. There were three grown kid pictures underneath. One was a wedding photo, another depicted a graduation shot, and the third looked like it was a high school band, judging by the old fashioned uniform and the flute.


    There were snapshots of a man¡¯s life. She wondered how much his kids knew about his real job. Did they know he was arm deep in monster guts all day. Did he miss birthdays because of raids? Maxi couldn¡¯t help but think of her father, all the times he was away. It was hard to be mad at someone who was saving the world, but she was none-the-less. Not that she had any room to judge, she barely went home even though she could afford it now. For better or worse, she was becoming her father.


    Finding nothing of interest in Von Patrick¡¯s office, she headed over to the morgue next. She realized that nothing of note was actually a discovery in itself. The printer, computer, and all the electronics hadn¡¯t erupted into violence, which hopefully meant that the outbreak was localized to the IT floor or at least wherever the monsters could have gotten after being released from holding. She opened the door on the other side and found a large refrigeration unit was the most prominent feature. It had many drawers like Maxi had seen in countless cop dramas, except that they were of various sizes.


    They ranged from the size of a cat to one massive one that could have housed the dragon she faced back when she still fancied herself joining the PIs. She was glad to have dodged that bullet. They were dicks.


    There was a large freight elevator in the back that was dead. At least pressing the button didn¡¯t summon anything, even turn on the light to indicate the lift was on the way.


    ¡°Any ideas where they went?¡± She asked Terry.


    ¡°They probably escaped through the elevator before they were shut down,¡± Terry chimed in.


    Before she could wander back over to Daisuke to see if he had any psy restoring items so she could get herself out, there was a banging coming from one of the drawers in the body storage equipment. She heard muffled screams.


    Maxi kept her sword between her and the drawer and opened it. Von Patrick stumbled out and collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. He wore a lab coat and apron that had yet to be stained with blood. Normally, whenever Maxi ventured down here, the guy was elbow deep in a creature.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he wheezed while he caught his breath.


    ¡°No problem,¡± she said. She waited for him to recover a bit and said, ¡°Want to tell me why you called me down here?¡±


    ¡°Always to the point,¡± Von Patrick said when he was feeling better.


    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a small talk girl,¡± She said while helping him to his feet.


    ¡°The creatures¡­¡± he trailed off.


    ¡°Yeah, they escaped. Had to put up a hell of a fight to get here. Elevators are also dead.¡±


    Von Patrick grimaced and said, ¡°Why I choose to hide in the fridge.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I think the one attempting to pound through the door got distracted, so maybe next time wait until you climb into the thing with limited air supply.¡±


    ¡°It just all happened so fast.¡±


    ¡°The creatures escaping? Looks like someone let them out. The cages out there are damaged, but more from a fight than something bursting through.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. No one did. No one could. The system only allows a few cages to be opened at once. It¡¯s a failsafe to prevent a system collapse from happening.¡±


    ¡°It looks like your failsafe failed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. It can¡¯t. The mechanism that opens the doors physically incapable of it. Worlds have fallen over poorly designed Monster Holdings.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying someone deliberately did this? How? What controls it? Software? Levers? An elaborate clockwork created by Thomas Edison?¡±


    ¡°Nikola Tesla.¡±


    ¡°That last one was a joke.¡±


    ¡°Tesla was the Inventor class, but most of his designs have already been made obsolete by improvements over the years.¡±


    ¡°But the company''s presence on Earth started in the 80s.¡±


    ¡°It was incorporated in the 1980s. Monsters have been around for a lot longer than that. The company will send teams into unincorporated dimensions to keep them safe until they can officially expand and make it a fully operating unit. Think of it like a survey team, seeing if we can expand our operations to this world.¡±


    "Tesla was from another dimension? But he died years ago. Why''d it take so long to setup shop?"


    "Interdimensional takes time. We weren''t the only company bidding for this world. There were many teams like Tesla''s from all sorts of different companies all bidding for the contract to protect this world. Our company won the bid."


    ¡°So Monster Holding is some sort of elaborate clockwork?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it used to be. It¡¯s software now. However, the cage controls are not on the network so it¡¯s highly unlikely that it would be hacked.¡±


    ¡°Is there a panel? Somewhere a person could update the software?¡±


    ¡°Sure, yeah, in the server room, but that¡¯s under guard. If someone were to mess with it that would be a very short list.¡±


    ¡°So give me the list. I¡¯ll investigate it for you.¡±


    ¡°PIs are the formal¨C¡±


    ¡°But they are not here right now, and I am. I have a little experience with company intrigue and what if the PIs are in on it? Give me the list of who accessed the server room and¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Von Patrick said and got the far away look in his eyes that said he had one of the HR implants. Nope, still not getting it. While she trusted Terry, she did not trust the company especially with hardware in her head.


    A notification came on her glasses: NEW QUEST: A Favor for Patrick Von Patrick. GOAL: Find out who let the grutomatons out. Ally Limit: 0. Time Limit: Indefinite. Reward: 50000 credits. Failure: Termination of employment. She accepted the terms with her phone and said, ¡°Your name is Patrick Von Patrick!¡±


    ¡°My parents weren¡¯t very creative.¡±


    ¡°First names last names is one thing, but the same first name last name?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I kept the Von.¡±


    A clang from the freight elevator interrupted Maxi¡¯s light teasing. She drew her sword and inched toward the elevator door. Von Patrick stepped behind her. She gave him the benefit of the doubt, and assumed that he didn¡¯t level his combat abilities. He was much higher level than her because her glasses could only idefinity level if it was with 100 levels of her and judging by his office, he had been with the company at least as long as Ted.


    While a high level non combat class would have a fair amount of life points and could do more damage than say a person still within the window to choose a class, she guessed that she could probably take him in a fight. So she took the lead and continued toward the elevator. When she got close, she heard screaming inside.


    ¡°Help me get it open,¡± She said and they each grabbed one of the doors and pulled. She felt her muscles strain, and she no doubt was rolling an Ambition check right now that was a measure of her strength. Whether it was a system that described reality with probability rolls much like Newton described bodies in motion, or a game system that influenced reality, she couldn¡¯t know. Eitherway she could feel a surge of adrenaline surge through her muscles, and she felt the heavy freight door open with her tug. A notification on her glasses said that she made a rolling critical with her ability check.


    Rolling criticals meant that she made 2 or more in a row, with each crit allowing her to roll again. She felt like what those mothers must feel like when they lift cars to rescue their children trapped underneath. The burst of strength allowed her to completely open her side of the elevator, which turned out to be a mistake.


    A creature with a large horn on its snout, and sleek body with green molded fur like a cat burst forth. There were two bodies in the elevator of the unlucky IT professionals who got stuck inside during monster wrangling duty. It looked like there was a harness that had snapped leaving the creature free to maul the unlucky pair.


    It attempted to gore Maxi, and she parried the blow, and used Mind Shard as a counter attack. Her astral self formed a hammer that would make Thor jealous and she thwacked it on the head. To his credit Von Patrick didn¡¯t run away or scramble to get back in the body fridge. He pulled a dissection tool from his apron, and stabbed the thing in the thigh.


    It yelped, and raked him with its back claws. Maxi used the opportunity to strike it in the neck with her long sword, and used the last of her psy for another Mind Shard. It turned toward her and struck her in the shoulder with the horn and lifted her from the ground. She scrambled to retrieve a healing fruit leather and realized she ate the last one. It flicked its head and tossed her across the room.


    She hit the other wall with a thud. Her life was critically low, and she was affected with the bleeding status ailment. She would have been fine if she stopped to heal or maybe not used most of her healing objects taming Dalek. Von Patrick stabbed it again, and it gored him in the center of the chest, and flicked the lifeless body aside with the shake of its head.


    Maxi stood with her sword between her and the beast, and could hear Daisuke and Dalek in the other room as they frantically tried to get inside. A whiff of seared metal said that Dalek was trying to burn through the door with its death ray.


    The creature charged, and she sidestepped at the last moment. Her adversary anticipated her move and gored her, but not before she chopped halfway into the creature¡¯s neck. They both collapsed to the ground. The creature twitched its final death throes. Her vision went dimmed as the last of her life force drained from her body.

 44 - DH6 - Dead Zone

    Maxi gasped for breath as she woke up on a resurrection chair, but it wasn¡¯t her chair. The family of Patrick Von Patrick was grinning back at her from the family photo spread on the wall of his office. She coughed and cleared her throat. Once she composed herself, she checked her quest log.


    Printer of Never Jamming V. Goal: Learn vital information from Von Patrick in IT failed. -5000 credits, -3 Levels -2 Ambition. -3 Dedication. -1 Creativity. -10 Listen. New goal assigned: Find out what Von Patrick knew about the Printer of Never Jamming.


    Every Creature Everywhere All at Once complete. +2 levels. +1 Ambition. +2 Creativity. +4 Stats. +8 SP. Pet acquired: Dalek, Grutomaton Drone, Life: 200/200, AR: 15, Att. +12 Pincher (13-24 Dmg.), Att. +30 Blast Beam, (31-50 damage, 500¡¯ range, 30 second cooldowni). She tapped the more information but on her phone, and the laser could be used before the cool down but would damage the critter.


    She glanced around to see who put her on the chair but there was only drag marks and blood on the floor. She was about to check the data that had been made available to her when she accepted A Favor for Patrick Von Patrick, when Daisuke entered the room. Followed by her new found pet.


    The creature flew through the air and nuzzled against her. She pet the critter and it cooed with delight.


    ¡°You need to heal before you go out on quests. That was reckless.¡±


    ¡°I survived,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Patrick Von Patrick didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s put him on the resurrection chair. I¡¯ll help you move him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too late. There is a limited window of time to reach a resurrection before the person is permadead. Since Von Patrick¡¯s chair was the only one close, I had to make a decision whether it was him or you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Maxi said. She hadn¡¯t realized that there was a ticking clock each time a person died to get to their chairs. ¡°Expediency explains why Janitorial charges so much for their services.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t joke about these things,¡± Daisuke yelled. ¡°A man is dead.¡±


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t feel anything? I only joke because its better than crying.¡± Maxi said and glanced to the children who would never see their father again.


    ¡°Maybe you should cry more often, and maybe you wouldn¡¯t be so reckless.¡±


    Maxi exploded. ¡°How many more would have died if I sat around my computer sorting products while IT fell apart? I must have saved five or six people on the way in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we have the PI branch. They have enough people on shift that there is always someone who can respond to a crisis.¡±


    ¡°The PIs don¡¯t care about the people they are saving. I saw a PI blast an entire room with a psychic inferno just to get one creature they could have handled with a sword.¡±


    ¡°Their Branch is well funded. They don¡¯t care about collateral damage.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. They don¡¯t care if they leave an entire Office Pool in debt, as long as the battle makes them look good. Those Workers we saved this morning would be paying off debt for years if the PIs got there before us.¡±


    ¡°Be that as it may, that still doesn¡¯t change the fact that your actions have consequences.¡±


    The last part stung. Part of it was the death of Von Patrick. The other was that it wasn¡¯t the first time she was hearing those words. If Maxi had found herself in an isekai dungeoneering adventure, she would be kicking down the doors, and gotten the whole party killed at the first Mind Flayer.


    Her dad had said something about consequences to her on more than one occasion when she was growing up. A girl at her school had engineered a cyber bullying attack on Maxi¡¯s Spasm channel. Maxi filmed herself smashing the bully into her mashed potatoes at lunch and posting it to Chirper. When Maxi was nearly expelled, she heard the words.


    She hated those words, especially when they were right. The least she could do now was solve the quest for Von Patrick, and give the rewards to his family. Not that her gesture would mean anything. She would live to fight another day, and he would be a casualty in what was shaping up to be the worst day for the company since she had been there.


    Daisuke stared at her a few moments and then said softly, ¡°I¡¯m going to see if I can find a stairwell.¡±


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    ¡°The elevators still aren¡¯t working?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°No,¡± he said and wandered off.


    Maxi sat alone for a moment then muttered to herself. ¡°How are the elevators not working?¡±


    ¡°Upper Management can shut down local nodes of the elevator network in response to a crisis,¡± Terry chirped in her ear.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they shut it down when the PIs were after us?¡±


    ¡°Even the Power Twelve doesn¡¯t have access to shut down the elevator network.¡±


    ¡°Upper Management doesn¡¯t trust us with the car keys, huh?¡±


    ¡°Upper Management rarely gets involved in day to day operations. They mostly let the subsidiaries govern themselves so long as they are following the terms and conditions.¡±


    ¡°So that means whatever is happening is pretty bad to cut off elevator access.¡±


    ¡°Enough for them to fear it leaking from our world into others. The alternative is that the network is down entirely which would mean that the entire multiverse is in a state of catastrophic failure.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, Mr. Doom,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Let¡¯s assume Upper Management shut down just a part of the network, does that mean if we get to a different floor, the elevators start working again?¡±


    ¡°Yes, depending on the area of containment.¡±


    ¡°So, let¡¯s just climb up the elevator shaft to the next floor. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time since I crawled through the network.¡±


    ¡°The next door up could lead to any elevator door in the multiverse. The network has never been mapped. The next door up for you may lead to an aquatic skyscraper full of fish people.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with you and fish people analogies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not aware of having made any such analogy,¡± Terry said.


    ¡°We were,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Nevermind, it was probably when I told you to stop recording our conversations, so can we at least get to another world and take the next elevator home?¡±


    ¡°The lockdown would prevent you from going home if it was the entire Earth.¡±


    Not wanting to spend the rest of her life in an aquarium for fish people, stairs were probably the safer bet. Since Daisuke was already on it, she decided to poke around Von Patrick¡¯s office for clues as to why he invited her down in the first place.


    She glanced at his computer and wished Farhad was there. He would have been able to hack into it. Though she vaguely remembered something Terry had said about quantametrics or something like that. Still, she decided to boot the device and see. Her desktop didn¡¯t have a password as far as she knew. She just booted, and it worked.


    After the computer went through its loading sequence, it came to her home screen with the Misfits of Carnt graphic and everything. It was color reversed so the browser windows would have white text on a black background and everything. The computer was functionally hers.


    ¡°Terry,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Why does Von Patrick have my computer?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The PC detected your quantum signature so it booted to your log in.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t computers have localized hard drives? Even if it was logged into my account, it would be set on default settings because I never used this one before?¡±


    ¡°Sure, if you used outdated networking technology. Remember that your storage is located in another dimension guarded by the Archivist Branch. That includes your configurations, even the operating system itself. The local computers are nothing more technical than a transdimensional telegraph.¡±


    ¡°I guess that means getting Von Patrick¡¯s computer access is out.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary. Since he is dead, his Branch Manager has access to everything in his storage. You can file a data access request for relevant quests you have open with him. There is a good chance it will be approved being you have not just one but two with him.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead and do that. It¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°Done, but I imagine with the apocalyptic outbreak in IT, it will be a while before the Branch Manager has time to respond.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, I supposed we do this the old fashioned way.¡±


    She went to the drawers next, looking for thumb drives, notes, or anything that would be of interest. She found a whole filing cabinet full of sketches of various beasts and creatures. Considering the various photo equipment in addition to the autopsy in the next room over, the sketches looked like it might be a pastime, something to do while healing in his chair after a raid.


    She perused them nonetheless, looking for anything that might be relevant. She was about to give up when she found one that had slipped below the hanging file folders or maybe it was deliberate. There was a sketch of a gleaming printer with lines to indicate that it was catching the light. It was one of the larger variety that seemed to be parked in every copy room in America. Scrawled off to the side was, ¡°The printer that never jams?¡±


    Maxi wasn¡¯t sure if he had seen it or just imagined what it would look like. Being that most of the sketches were probably creatures that had passed through monster holding at one time or another, she figured she should keep the drawing just in case. She folded it and stuffed it into her pocket.


    She also noticed a flier just like the one on Rudy¡¯s desk, except the shadowy figure with a top hat was circled with question marks around it. She tried the QR code on the flier but it gave her a 404 error.


    She checked the rest of the drawers, the cabinets and shelves. There was nothing noteworthy and was just finishing up her search when she heard clanging outside. It sounded like large metal boots clomping on the ground. Dalek growled and lunged toward the door.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Maxi said. ¡°We don¡¯t know who it could be. It may be Daisuke for all we know.¡±


    However, Maxi knew it wasn¡¯t Daisuke. Dalek already had his scent and grutomatons could smell humans from miles away. If she had asked Dalek to find him, Maxi bet her new pet could find him no matter where he wandered in the building.


    She pulled out her blade and positioned herself on the threshold of the door. She was at full health and psy now. She was ready to put up a fight no matter what came through.

 45 - DH7 - Sister

    Daisuke wandered through the IT hallways looking for the emergency stairs. He had seen them on the call center floor, but now that all the chaos had settled down, and it was just a mess for Janitorial to clean the stairs had disappeared again. There was no immediate danger, so the building reverted back to elevators as the primary mode of transportation, only that the network was still down.


    He put out a text to the Office Pool group chat to see if anyone was still alive while Maxi had been regenerating, and most were fine. Patti and Flav had been in the cafeteria enjoying cinnamon roll day where employees were given a free coffee and these rolls where caramel caked the bottom. They were a company favorite.


    There weren¡¯t any creatures in their area, not that they would have lasted long. Sledge, the top Sales Associate of the company, had been eating his customary mushroom swiss power burger at the time. He was the only Power Twelve who didn¡¯t get personal assistants to run errands. The man liked doing things himself and felt more at home with the rank and file employees then those at the top.


    With a Power Twelve in the room, Patti and Flav didn¡¯t have anything to do but wait. Their situation hadn¡¯t really changed during the time it took Maxi to heal, other than converting one of the boost kiosks into a makeshift latrine when the free coffee and cinnamon rolls started making their way through people¡¯s systems.


    Farhad was stuck in their Office Pool and likewise had to make use of a coffee cup for nature¡¯s call. The only person who failed to check in was Belinda, which meant she was dead and regenerating, just plain dead, or too busy tweaking a Macarena dancing robot to respond to her texts.


    Belinda had rented a workshop space in the building when Patti and her almost came to blows about leaving her stuff everywhere. It was pricey to have a room of her own, but in Belinda¡¯s short time she had sold two patents to robotics companies, got royalties from creating a better pen, and had invented a better Ramen noodle that was still pending patents.


    It¡¯s possible that she was stuck in her workshop during the lockdown, but still didn¡¯t explain why she wasn¡¯t responding to texts. Unless, she was one of the unlucky employees killed in the attack and if Janitorial didn¡¯t get her body on time¡­


    His phone buzzed, pulling him from his thoughts, he pressed a bluetooth headset in his ear and answered the call. It was his half sister, Arisu.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing,¡± She started at him right away then unloaded a diatribe about how he was ruining the family.


    Daisuke glanced around. He was near some cubicles that had been battered by the chaos. A man in a yellow shirt had his head chewed off by a creature. Several smaller desktop printers that had grown fur and teeth looked as if they were exploded, most likely by a PI. There was a conference room off to the side that looked as if it had survived the attack. It was untouched. Even the equipment inside hadn¡¯t become ravenous beasts.


    He slid into the room and shut the door, then drew the curtains. Once he was reasonably sure that he was safe, he cut her off.


    ¡°Tadanobu will not miss the money and would have squandered it anyway.¡±


    ¡°But it is his money to squander. What you¡¯re doing is criminal. It¡¯s extortion.¡± Arisu said.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°And the acceleration control chip is not?¡± Daisuke said. The onboard computers in Kaze motor cars had a bad acceleration control chip a while back. People died when their vehicles mysteriously accelerated while the computer system ignored any attempts to break or slow down. Arisu knew the chips were faulty but approved them for distribution anyway. She buried the evidence of any wrongdoing.


    It was a low card for him to play because it wasn¡¯t his half-sister¡¯s finest hour, and he knew the deaths of the people kept her up at night, but he couldn¡¯t have her mucking up his plans, not now, not while he was so close.


    ¡°You know that¡¯s different. I made a mistake. You barged into Tadanobu¡¯s home and bullied him to pay you.¡±


    ¡°He invited me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Tadanobu invited me, and he saw it fit to give aid to a member of his family. Now unless you are planning to donate¨C¡±


    ¡°What? Are you going to extort from me too? Send your thugs after me?¡± Arisu said. Daisuke¡¯s family thought he was a member of the yakuza or the mob. The reality was that everyone in his family, even his own mother, were NPCs. Employees of the company affectionately referred to anyone else who didn¡¯t know there was a company that safeguarded the world from monsters was an NPC.


    Divulging company secrets to an NPC risked termination, which meant Daisuke had no choice but to let his family think that his day job was as a member of organized crime. It was an easy lie to let them believe, and for the most part it didn¡¯t hurt his relations with them as they were already bad.


    His half brothers and sisters never really accepted him as a sibling, and his mom loved him no matter what he did (though he could do without the lectures about finding a more respectable profession). It was easier to just let them believe the lie.


    Many company employees were in the same situation as Daisuke. It was easier for them to believe a lie than risk termination and tell them the truth. Maxi had grown up with two company parents, and they let her believe her father was a gambler over the truth.


    The unfortunate consequence of not being able to tell the truth was that people filled in the gaps with their own truths. Not that he particularly cared what anyone besides his mother thought. His half brothers and sisters were people he grew up around, but he¡¯d hesitate to think of them as family as portrayed by Hallmark movies.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your money. I needed $5 million, and I got it,¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°You just can¡¯t..¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t what?¡± Daisuke said. ¡°Ask for a fraction of father¡¯s wealth? A tiny sliver that is no more significant to you than a roll of toilet paper? Trust me, my entire life was spent knowing how little I mattered to the family, and if it wasn¡¯t for my mother, I would have grown up in an orphanage. I¡¯ll consider it payment for the service I performed for the family.¡±


    ¡°Service? You¡­ in front of all of us.¡±


    ¡°I did what I had to do.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t pretend that father didn¡¯t have it coming, but I will also not let you dismantle his legacy by¨C¡±


    ¡°Fine, then you¡¯ll never hear from me again,¡± Daisuke said.


    He could hear Arisu was taken aback. She stumbled over the next words, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to extort money from me?¡±


    ¡°Never said I was. Those were your words. Not mine. If it¡¯s all the same. I¡¯m not keeping any of Tadanobu¡¯s money. It¡¯s all going to a better cause than creating another poorly acted martial arts flick.¡±


    ¡°What are you using the money for?¡± Arisu.


    ¡°That I cannot tell you,¡± Daisuke said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because then I¡¯d have to kill you,¡± he said with all seriousness.


    Arisu had lived with him long enough to when he wasn¡¯t joking.


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t want to know,¡± She said and hung up on him.


    He cracked his neck, and checked that his invisible scabbards were still on his body. He opened the conference room door to continue the search.

 46 - DH8 - Staircase

    Maxi stood at the door with her sword at the ready. She gripped her blade and Dalek snarled. She kicked the door open and roared as she rushed into the dissection room, hoping to get the jump on whatever was there.


    Belinda screamed and several clockwork critters skittered towards Maxi and broke off their attack at the last minute. The creatures weren¡¯t exactly clockwork, but they were such a hodgepodge of parts that resembled animals like cats, raccoons, and squirrels, they reminded Maxi of the clockwork beasts from Steampunk comics, that the Office Pool started calling them Belinda¡¯s clockwork critters.


    ¡°I coulda killed you,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Meow, meow.¡± Belinda purred. ¡°I didn¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°Clearly,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Glad you¡¯re alright. How are the others?¡±


    Belinda explained in a rather circuitous fashion about the locations of the rest of the Office Pool. Maxi was relieved that none of them had gone the way of Von Patrick.


    ¡°The whole building is on lockdown,¡± Belinda said. ¡°So I decided to look for clues.¡±


    ¡°For a quest?¡±


    ¡°For Meow Crunch. When you open a bag of Meow Crunch, cats from all over the neighborhood come running. But I opened a bag of Meow Crunch, nary a cat. Something is wrong, very very wrong.¡±


    ¡°You do know that¡¯s a commercial,¡± Maxi said, recalling an ad for Meow Crunch where a guy is inundated with cats when he opens a bag of the cat treats.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. Perhaps the guy in the ad has all the cats? Do you think he is using Meow Crunch to kidnap the world¡¯s cats?¡± Belinda said.


    ¡°How about we look for our friends?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Belinda said, and tapped a few commands on her remote. Her clockwork critters whirred and clattered as they folded into little cubes and hopped into slots on a vest that carried them an ammo belt.


    Maxi called Daisuke, and he said that he had located the stairs that ran the entire length of the building, which was somewhere near infinity. To the outside world, the company was located somewhere in the financial district of New York in a nondescript tower where a loan security guard sat at the front desk of the lobby.


    The interior was modular, and infinite as far as Maxi could tell. Bathrooms were always there when a person needed one. Offices shifted in size to accommodate new employees or downsized when the need arrived. Floors were larger than what a person could reasonably expect from the outside.


    Maxi worked and lived in a TARDIS, just without the time travel part. A person could spend their entire life in the building as there were restaurants, entertainment complexes, bars, shops, swimming pools, and just about anything a human could want for work and leisure.


    But it all had a catch. Everything cost money from using too much soap to wanting something more than the three free menu items at the cafeteria. She had to pay back into the system if she didn¡¯t want to live like an automaton. The place had all the trappings of a Vegas casino complex where money was never intended to leave the system.


    Hotels in Vegas learned pretty quickly that fancy stores and five-star restaurants were the key to keeping all the money. Even the people who won big had plenty of opportunities to spend it all just as quickly as they had won it. The company felt the same way, promises of big paydays through quests, and plenty of ways to blow the money just as quickly.


    Maxi could play video games while she healed in her chair rather than work, if she wanted to pay a fee. She¡¯d blow through quest rewards pretty quickly if she lived for her impulses.


    However, she was like her parents. She could deny herself the now in promise for a better future. For her, that better future was paying off terminated employees contracts, so they wouldn¡¯t get murdered for a bad month. The alternative was multideminsionals scooping up the terminated contracts and doing who knows what to the employees.


    ¡°What day is it?¡± Maxi said, realizing she didn¡¯t quite know anymore. Her life had been a whirlwind of activity. When she wasn¡¯t questing, she was training. When she wasn¡¯t training, she was sleeping, and when she¡¯d wake up she¡¯d do it all over again.


    ¡°October 30th,¡± Terry said in her ear.


    ¡°End of the month already?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Do we know the next raid boss? Is the lockdown a part of it?¡±


    ¡°Multidimensional law prevents raids from happening more frequently than 6 times a year, which for our purposes conveniently works out every other month.¡±


    ¡°A year seems subjective, you know, with a multiverse of different time streams out there.¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°A year is defined in multidimensional law as a fiscal year.¡±


    ¡°Great, let¡¯s get a fiscal year defined as a century, and we won¡¯t have to worry about something coming to kick our ass in two days after the building goes on lockdown because some idiot opened the cages at the monster zoo.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Trust me when I say a raid boss is better than the multidimensional regulatory agency coming down on you for fraud.¡±


    Maxi and Belinda continued through the IT corridors. The place was still in the same aftermath stages of the battle, dead creatures, people, and wreckage from the trashed office littered the pathways. On more than one occasion, they had to climb through a barricade or take an alternate route. There were resurrection chairs stacked in defense and cubicle walls configured to make a barrier.


    When they encountered a person who wasn¡¯t past the point of resurrection, they¡¯d haul them to the nearest chair with a note guiding them to the stairwell, assuming it would also guide them out of the building. It was a function of time and how much over their life points they were when they died that decided if they could be resurrected. Damage significantly beyond a person¡¯s life total was just as bad as not being able to get to the chair in time.


    Maxi and Belinda helped where they could, and left the rest for Janitorial. It was eerie in itself, not seeing the clean up crew. They usually sprang into action almost immediately after an incident was contained. Maxi had run into them on more than one occasion looting post battle and helping employees to their resurrection chairs when the attack happened to fellow employees.


    Like PIs who favored a uniform look. In the case of Janitorial, it was blue coveralls with their names stitched on the right side. Maxi could tell some of them had armor underneath, but they all wore the jumpsuits. While the PIs trenchcoat and fedora and the Janitorial uniform never came up on the Free Market, she had to assume they wore it for a bonus that was specific to their class.


    Whereas Maxi wore the yellow shirt of the rank and file employee. The bottom tier, the newbies, and those who couldn¡¯t afford anything better could at least get the yellow shirt. Hers, however, was legendary and grew with her level. Each time she would get to the point of replacing it, a new ability would unlock that would make it comparable or even better than ones she could afford at her level.


    The shirt also had the benefit of people underestimating her. Since she was dressed like the ensigns that would bite it whenever Kirk went down to the planet with a crew member never seen before the episode, people who didn¡¯t know her assumed less skill than she had.


    They eventually made it to a nondescript corner of the IT floor where a door was marked ¡°Janitorial.¡± She¡¯d seen them before, and just assumed they were the closest that would hold cleaners, mops, and buckets. That¡¯s when she realized that everytime she had gone to the supply closet to acquire cleaner for mopping their office floor, it was via elevator.


    Most rooms in the building had elevator door entrances, a result of magic elevators that could go anywhere in the multiverse. Conventional doors were usually only when one wanted to partition a floor and flow traffic to and from a central point. Most of the centralized spaces had twelve elevators to alleviate the flood of traffic, or at least force all the yellow shirts to wait. Those with money and means can stroll right up to the counter at the airport while the rest waited in seemingly endless snaking lines. The elevators queues were designed in the same way with the wait getting less and less as people tiered up.


    Considering everything was tied to the elevator network, even the bathrooms, it was odd that Janitorial seemed to have a door in every floor on every common space. Daisuke stood guard outside the door watching the hallways and kept his hands near the swords he kept in an invisible scabbard.


    The man looked like a Japanese business tycoon by passive glance. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, a thin mustache on his upper lip, and a piercing firm gaze. However, Maxi¡¯s sword training gave her a deeper understanding. He was in a stance where he couldn¡¯t be knocked down easily, his arms seemed relaxed, but he held them in a way where he could unsheath and strike with his weapons in one swift motion.


    He nodded toward the door, and Maxi opened it. There was a stairwell inside. She walked over to the railing and leaned over for a look. Despite being in the basement, she saw that it stretched to infinity in either direction, or at least as far as she could see. When she used to play with two mirrors as a child, endless would just get too small to see.


    There was a plaque near the threshold of the door that Belinda held open at Daisuke¡¯s request when Maxi went inside. it said, ¡°IT¡±. At least there was a way to navigate the system considering she had no way of knowing how many floors away her Office Pool was from the cafeteria. The magic elevator system had warped her sense of the size and scale of the place because no matter where she went, if it was the bathroom or Beijing or some far off dimension the elevator did not take any more time than an express to the top floors in a conventional building.


    When she wasn¡¯t in the building, she could concentrate while pressing a button to get the mundane elevators back, but considering she had a device that was the equivalent of beaming in Star Trek, she never bothered with mundane transportation anymore. Maxi hadn¡¯t taken a train since she first attempted to run away from her destiny when fear and denial had been motivating her decisions.


    Daisuke and Belinda went through the door, and it closed behind them. Maxi was about to head up the stairs when she realized that she didn¡¯t really know where IT was located. The place could have been the basement, and she may have heard that it was in a basement once, but she wasn¡¯t sure. The building was infinite and modular. Any direction seemed just as good as the next.


    ¡°Up or down,¡± she asked.


    Daisuke shrugged, and Belinda said, ¡°Let¡¯s take a look. The Meow Crunch could be in any direction.¡±


    Daisuke raised his eyes at Maxi, and she shrugged.


    Their Inventor pulled out a tablet, and fiddled with some controls. Two small drones unfurled from her backpack and took flight. Dalek cooed and whirled its propellers at the critters. The machines were cobbled together with what looked like a blender turned helicopter and an egg beater with wings. She sent them off in opposite directions and watched a split screen on her tablet. The video feed showed them flying up and pausing to inspect the plaques on the doors.


    Accounting, HR, and Mail Room were a couple that Maxi recognized while others were marked with designations that she should only guess. The drone ascending the tower, the helicopter blender, got to a door marked, ¡°Paranormal Investigator¡± and the door burst open. The drone was blasted by an unseen force and toppled through the center of the shaft seconds later.


    ¡°I suggest we go down,¡± Maxi said, and the group didn¡¯t need to be told twice. They took the steps, two and three at a time, circling their way down. There was a thunder above them of what sounded like an army charging down the stairs. Maxi knew the grutomatons eventually formed packs after they settled for dominance. She also heard they could form whole herds or even hordes. From the sheer number of things charging down the stairs after them, she imagined that it was a sizeable force.


    She was about to lead her team into one of the doors in hopes they could find somewhere better to hide when she was struck in the back by something heavy that sent her tumbling down the stairs. Whatever hit her also knocked her companions down because she heard them fall too.


    They piled on a landing that was between floors. There was another blow to her head, and she lost consciousness before she could see what was attacking.

 47 - DH9 - Gods

    Maxi woke up on a chair in an office but not heaving for breath like she had on countless occasions during her brief but manic time at the company. She hadn¡¯t died. She knew what death felt like and had her fair share of it. She couldn¡¯t remember how many times she died. She had been gassed, gored, and even almost burnt by Belinda. However, that time she was protected from the flames by a slime that was digesting her.


    Coming back from the dead, or at least being reconstructed by a chair felt like what she imagined being struck by a powerline must feel, a jolt snapping her awake in an instant. She woke up in a fog that had the sensation like she may still be in a dream. She had been¡­ knocked out¡­ by something. She wasn¡¯t sure. All she could remember was running down the stairs and then¡­ maybe it was a dream.


    But she could see Yancy, the abysses for eyes, the vacant stare. One, two three, each step echoing in the stairway, bringing him closer to her. Four, five, six, he was almost upon her. Seven, eight, and he was there, tilting his head, leaning toward her, and¡­ she had woken up, here. In¡­ where was she again?


    Her mind rose from the depths of her subconscious, and back into reality, Yancy forgotten. The office was sparse, intimidating. There was a massive desk that seemed to be there to make the person in the chair she was currently using feel small. The lack of decorations or personalization also made the place seem intimidating. The lone piece of art was a rickety old time sailing ship in a tumultuous sea that seemed like it was about to be engulfed by a wave.


    She was about to explore the doorways leading from the office when she heard the entry open behind her, and footsteps confidently thud their way toward her. Her heart pounded for a moment from a barely remembered dream. She reached for her weapon but realized that other than her legendary yellow shirt, she was unarmed.


    The figure walked past her and sat at the desk. She was wearing a bodysuit that seemed to be entirely made of shadow underneath trenchcoat and fedora. Cassidy West starred at Maxi. The woman was ranked 1.2, and the leader of the Paranormal Investigator Branch. She reminded Maxi of an actress who always played high powered lawyers or fashion empire mogul. The woman could permakill Maxi without breaking a sweat.


    ¡°Love what you¡¯ve done with the place,¡± Maxi said. ¡°The whole terror dictator/mob boss is so you.¡±


    Maxi didn¡¯t know what part of her enjoyed poking bears so much, but there was something satisfying to her that kings and queens rotted in the same earth, shat in the same toilets, and was the same squishy, sometimes crunchy depending on the monster size, sacks of flesh that everyone else was.


    Equality was never more apparent than the immutable fact that even if the monarchs of the modern era built castles made of concrete and glass, death would claim them in the end. Even their structures built to outlast them in death would change ownership, names, and even be torn down for whichever new ruler took their spot. No one could cheat death, even with resurrection chairs. While accidental death may be a thing of the past, the body still gave out eventually.


    Maxi supposed if she thought about it, she felt people in positions of power were too often worshiped merely for being where they were over what they did. As far as Maxi knew, the PI branch only took quests when it would make them look good. She felt they were fighting monsters for the prestige and credits and saving people was a byproduct of what they did.


    While Cassidy wasn¡¯t the driving force behind the company¡¯s culture of worshiping money over improving humanity, the woman was in a position to do something about it and yet Maxi¡¯s scrappy little team in their short time has had more shouts and thank yous than the PIs. Instead of treating her as an ally with a good idea, the PIs have done nothing but get in the way.


    From filing quest disputes to have the rewards her team earned transferred over their branch, to barging in on a situation they had handled and making the collateral damage worse, Maxi felt like they were actively trying to hamper her team when they could have been out there saving people from monsters.


    The company was so short staffed that Branches that weren¡¯t normally combat orientated like IT and Accounting were taking more quests suited for a Sales Associate or a PI. Maxi had no time for someone like Cassidy who could have been making a difference, but instead was just her influence to shore up her power.


    Cassidy chose to ignore Maxi¡¯s remark as no psychic tendrils came out to teach Maxi her place. Instead the woman said, ¡°The painting was your mom¡¯s. I decided to keep it. It adds an ambience to the room.¡±


    Maxi could feel her heart sink out of her chest. She knew her mom was important to the company, and that she was 1.1, but they never talked much about her class. Tara had done such a thorough job of erasing her past that even now that her secret was out in the open, Maxi had to pry answers out of her mom.


    Being that Tara earned her retirement, Maxi respected her mom¡¯s privacy in the matter, and figured that if the woman wanted to dredge up memories that include the death of her grandparents and most likely Maxi¡¯s dad that Tara would tell them on their own time. While their relationship had gotten better since Maxi had found out the truth, there was still a lot left unsaid.


    Speaking about everything else but their feelings was how it had always been with Maxi, even growing up. When she had found out her best friend kissed a boy that she was interested in, Maxi never told her friend or the guy how it had made her feel. Instead, Maxi had acted out and took her frustrations out on her mother as teens tend to do, but never once did she tell her mom either about what she was going through.


    Even now, where she felt like she could tell her anything. She didn¡¯t. Instead, she talked about all the victories at work, questions about particular beasts or comparisons like how the cafeteria had changed from a dismal place of despair to the hip hub of employee fraternization it was today.


    Their conversation never once went to their feelings, or the past that her mom kept locked up. When Maxi first learned that her mom was 1.1, she was upset, confused, and had a hard time handling it. Now that she learned her mom was a PI and the head of the PI Branch, it made her sad. How could what her mom built turn into what the PIs were today? Or was her mom part of that cult worshiping money and power, and the death of her dad was the thing to snap her out of it?


    Maxi had many questions, but she didn¡¯t think Cassidy was here to talk family history nor banter as the leader of the PIs said, ¡°Von Patrick gave you a quest.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi said, curious about where it was going. Most of her interactions with Cassidy involved ¡°stay in your lane¡± conversations.


    ¡°How much did he tell you?¡±


    ¡°Company secrets can get a person terminated.¡±


    ¡°Not when they are both on the same quest,¡± Cassidy said, and after a moment of her eyes glazing over with the implant interface, a notification appeared on her screen:


    Cassidy West has shared screen shot with you:


    Maxi opened the file with a tap on her phone, and she saw a screen that had a listed current quests accepted by Cassidy. It was quite extensive and all of them were blurred out except for one: A favor for Patrick Von Patrick.


    ¡°50,000 credits seem like a waste of your time.¡± Maxi said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t picking up a quarter off the street cost you more in terms of credits per hour then you¡¯d gain by grabbing the money.¡±


    Maxi read somewhere once that certain billionaires would have to find a thousand dollar bill on the street to make it worth their time in terms of calculating their hourly pay and then dividing it by the time it would take to pick it up off the street. She assumed that the Power Twelve were all akin to billionaires, maybe even with more wealth than the people appearing on the Forbes list of wealthiest people in the world.


    However, like any wealthy person, it wasn¡¯t like they had that money in cash. There was no vault where rich people would dive into a pool of cash like certain cartoon ducks were known to do. Their money was all tied up in business ventures or companies. Maxi wondered how much money was real or just a line item on a company book.


    A billionaire buying a yacht or a multimillion dollar home assumed they would be able to sell the object and thus counted towards their wealth, but it was all an illusion. If no one wanted to buy the yacht or the home, it was effectively worthless. If grutomatons caused the world to go postapocalypse, playthings of the billionaires wouldn¡¯t have as much value if any. She imagined Cassidy¡¯s wealth was measured in the same way. She probably owned a set of equipment that wasn¡¯t usable to anyone but a PI of her rank and level, so even if she did want to sell, there wouldn¡¯t be a buyer.


    ¡°Rewards only increase with level and tier,¡± Cassidy said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t take this quest for the money. Believe it or not, I care about what happens to this company. Your mother was a patriot and a credit to her class. It¡¯s a shame she lost sight of the mission.¡±


    ¡°Lost site of the mission?¡± Maxi said. ¡°Lost sight of the mission? If the company focused less on bureaucracy and more on fighting monsters¨C¡±


    The bear decided to show its teeth, and Maxi felt the psychic tendrils cut her off before she saw them. Two tentacles of energy sprung from Cassidy¡¯s body and wrapped around her so quickly that Maxi¡¯s brain took a while to process what she was seeing.


    ¡°The company will go out of business otherwise,¡± Cassidy said. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen what¡¯s out there.¡±


    Maxi had heard this argument before, maintain the status quo because the alternative was worse. It was the same bullshit that political parties would spout when anyone with a good idea for a change came along and threatened their pocket book.


    Maxi felt the tendrils loosen.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring you here to talk politics,¡± Cassidy said.


    ¡°So that was you in the stairwell?¡±


    ¡°My operatives, yes.¡±


    ¡°You could have asked us to come.¡±


    ¡°They heard a noise and thought you were more grutomatons.¡±


    ¡°Are Daisuke and Belinda safe?¡±


    ¡°They are in a waiting room, they are fine.¡±


    ¡°And my pet?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, about that. You know you can¡¯t tame grutomatons.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°Anyone with the skill can do that. The virus degrades their brains. It will turn on you.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like my problem, not yours.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to send you PIs when it happens,¡± Cassidy said with a false smile.


    Maxi ignored the comment and said. ¡°So what about Von Patrick¡¯s quest? I don¡¯t think this is an Avengers/Hydra teamup?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°No, this is more a warning. Has he shared with you the list of people who had access to the server room?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but this whole lockdown thing has kinda been occupying my time.¡±


    ¡°The lockdown is connected. The grutomaton cages, opened by someone with computer access. What you don¡¯t know yet is that same person also tried to trigger the containment protocols.¡±


    ¡°Containment protocols?¡±


    ¡°The entire building is vaporized in a contained nuclear blast. Much more pleasant way to permadie than the napalm equivalent they used to use. Vaporization doesn¡¯t feel like anything. You are there one moment. Gone the next.¡±


    ¡°But what about safeguarding the Earth?¡±


    The containment protocols are more about safeguarding the multiverse. The Earth will already be lost at that point.¡±


    Maxi tensed. Had the virus spread?


    Cassidy continued. ¡°The Earth is fine. The grutomatons let out of the cages are contained. PIs are doing a floor by floor sweep to mop up the rest. The real worry was how close we all came. The containment protocols can only be triggered when seven of the power twelve vote or permadie.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re connected to a bomb? Isn¡¯t that something Upper Management decides?¡± Max said. Upper Management were the mysterious figureheads of the company, but Maxi never saw them, nor did they ever intervene. Maxi wondered if they were just a fiction created by the Power Twelve to deflect the fact that they really ran the company.


    But her mom had told her otherwise. ¡°Upper Management exists,¡± Tara had said. ¡°But they leave most of the governing to the Branch leaders. The only time they intervene is when it¡¯s a matter of interdimensional law, like when we are about to lose a raid.¡±


    Cassidy considered Maxi for a moment and said, ¡°How much do you know about Earth religions?¡±


    ¡°I know enough that there¡¯s a lot of them and everyone is convinced that they¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°But can they all be right?¡±


    ¡°Yes? No? Maybe? I don¡¯t know. I never studied much theology.¡±


    ¡°Our world is secular.¡±


    The way Cassidy said ¡°ours¡± implying kinship because they happened to escape from the same dead world grated on Maxi, but she decided to hold her tongue. As much as she enjoyed poking the bear, this was the first time Cassidy was opening up to her even if it was just a crack. While Maxi knew the woman would never be a friend, they were on the same team, even if the members were playing by a different set of rules where she didn¡¯t agree.


    ¡°That explains Present Day,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Quite right, but what is religion? Is it truth?¡±


    ¡°People believe it to be truth.¡±


    ¡°But they all can¡¯t be right. Some believe in one god and others many. How can those coexist?¡±


    ¡°I mean we wait in the same drive through lines. Shit in the same toilets. We haven¡¯t nuked the world over ideological differences so far,¡± Maxi shrugged. ¡°Are you getting to a point? Because it seems we have more pressing issues going on.¡± Okay, maybe she¡¯ll poke the bear just a little. If she wanted pseudo philosophical bullshit, she¡¯d sign up for one of Swami Robinson¡¯s meditation classes.


    ¡°The point is,¡± Cassidy said, annoyance finally cracking on her face. ¡°that religion is just another version of storytelling. Whether it¡¯s a true story or not is irrelevant. People believe that it¡¯s true so they live according to the tenets of their beliefs. Some stories are so powerful, so persuasive that they don¡¯t need to be true to alter people¡¯s behavior. Need people to be nice to each other. Tell them a story about a scale in the afterlife that will weigh their deeds or an angel with a book that decides who gets admission into heaven and who goes straight to hell. So how do you keep a company full of people who are so powerful, they could overthrow the United States government with breaking a sweat? How do we keep Sledge from deciding to be dictator for life and stipulating that singles combat will decide the next ruler?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying Upper Management is fake?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that people tell stories about powerful beings who interfere in the realm of mortals. What¡¯s to say that Zeus and the entire pantheon isn¡¯t just a story of powerful players from another dimension who traveled to Earth long ago?¡±


    ¡°I thought the company didn¡¯t establish themselves until the 80¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Yes that is true, but interdimensional travel has always been a thing, it¡¯s just easier with elevators.¡±


    ¡°But what about the intermediaries to Upper Management? Isn¡¯t there people telling you how high to jump?¡±


    ¡°Yes, even the Power Twelve has to answer to the intermediaries, but how do I know that they aren¡¯t just powerful players from another dimension?¡±


    ¡°Are you say there is no one steering the ship? The whole company is run by middle managers? No offense,¡± Maxi said.


    To her surprise, Cassidy chuckled, and said ¡°None taken. The point is that when an intermediary shows up in person, I can tell that they are much higher level than me, even Izzod.¡±


    Izzod was the head of the Janitorial Branch, and probably the single most powerful person in the company, and probably on Earth. If the rumors were true, a janitor could rule the world if they wanted too. However, Maxi wasn¡¯t sure what Izzod did all day. She never met the guy.


    Cassidy continued, ¡°The point is that whether or not there is Upper Management, or just powerplayer from another dimension taking a cut of our profits, I wouldn¡¯t know. But I do know that the story of Upper Management is powerful. People create religions to feel like there is someone in charge, so that if our aunt dies in a car accident we can assign meaning to the event rather than a shitty roll of the dice.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I get you. Upper Management may be just a story so people don¡¯t freak out that no one is steering the boat but what does this have to do with Von Patrick¡¯s quest?¡±


    ¡°You figured out the conspiracy to throw the raid last month. You¡¯re a smart girl. Figure it out.¡±


    ¡°Why not just tell me! What¡¯s with all the cryptic bullshit?¡± Maxi said, frustrated. Then added a sarcastic remark that turned into a serious question. ¡°Jeez, Maxi. I¡¯m pretty sure Upper Management doesn¡¯t exist, and some powerplayers in another dimension are just siphoning off some of our profits. It¡¯d be nice if you check out this person because I¡¯m pretty sure they are the reason this is all happening. So why me? Can¡¯t PIs chase down this lead? They like getting in the way of my quests.¡±


    ¡°Your team has been known to get in the way of quests too. I know we will never see eye-to-eye about the best way to keep Earth safe. I haven¡¯t changed my belief that you are hindering the PI efforts to handle monster attacks by charging in to be the first people across the finish line, but I¡¯m willing to put aside my differences to work together in order to solve a more pressing issue of someone with internal access attempting to override our safety protocols which is a threat to all of us.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think it is?¡±


    ¡°I have my suspicions but the more important question is why?¡±


    ¡°Who has a god complex that¡¯s willing to risk the fate of humanity, for what? Power? Prestidge? Wait, you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a person auditioning for a job in one of the less reputable interdimensionals?¡±


    There were companies in the multiverse that made hers look downright humanitarian.


    Cassidy smiled, ¡°That¡¯s why I think we made the mistake with you. A job audition is a lead I¡¯ll have to follow that I didn¡¯t think about till now. For what it¡¯s worth. I think we made a mistake on failing you from the PI trials.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Maxi didn¡¯t have a word to say. She felt bad about being mean to Cassidy, not that she would join the PIs now if she had the chance to do it over again. She preferred her hodge podge group to anything the company could offer.


    ¡°With that being said. I still think you are reckless and are on a collision course with disaster. My regret is that I couldn¡¯t mentor you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to compliment me or pick a fight?¡±


    ¡°We both know who¡¯d win that fight.¡±


    Maxi shrugged, smiled, and met her gaze without backing down. While Cassidy could run circles around her now that wouldn¡¯t always be true, at least if Maxi had anything to do with it. Training and leveling were still the goals, but not so she could humiliate Cassidy. Perhaps that¡¯s what Cassidy was doing now, showing just enough sympathy but turning around and being a hardass to give Maxi a reason to fight.


    That showed what Cassidy thought of herself. The woman clearly felt so self important that she thought Maxi was motivated by being in competition with her. The truth was Maxi never thought about Cassidy at all. The woman was no more a part of her thoughts than a handhold on a familiar staircase. Maxi would notice the cool touch of metal, maybe a chip of paint that grew over the years, but she wouldn¡¯t think of it beyond her trek up the flight.


    Cassidy was so used to being worshiped as one of the Power Twelve that she must assume everyone spends some portion of their day adoring her or plotting her demise. While Maxi was sure it was true to some extent that people with Cassidy on the brain would flock to her, Maxi wasn¡¯t one of those people.


    She thought about Cassidy about as much as she thought about the billionaire tech moguls that ruled the NPC world, somewhere as close to zero as one could possibly get. But Maxi didn¡¯t worship at the altar of power and wealth. She knew deep in her heart that it was a matter of circumstance that put people in their place. Had a business leader with the same gumption and drive grown up in a war torn country, would they be a warlord and something to be reviled? Or would they be too traumatized by their childhood to do anything but chase phantoms in a mental hospital?


    Inversely had one of the NPC tech moguls taken a different class in college or met the love of their life early on, or not had that inspiring teacher, would they still be who they were or would another person taken their place who had the same idea but was maybe a month or two late to the finish line? Maxi could just as easily imagine a world where a young software developer was spending so much time with their significant other that someone else beat them to their world changing big idea.


    Maxi didn¡¯t believe that one great person could change history, but that history trudged forward regardless of who benefited or was crushed by it. All the great people could do during the march of time was decide if they wanted to make the world better for themselves or better for others because the two were not always mutually exclusive. In order to make it better for others, she had to become a great person herself.


    She laughed.


    Cassidy¡¯s forehead creased for a moment. Whether it was confusion or anger, Maxi couldn¡¯t tell, but that only made her laugh harder. Cassidy sent out a tendril of psychic energy to constrict Maxi, but it wasn¡¯t violent. More like a gentle squeeze that increased to the point of being uncomfortable. The mirth settled in Maxi¡¯s system like a welcomed blanket on a cold morning. While Cassidy¡¯s attempt to throw her off balance didn¡¯t cause her unease if that was the intention, it did help Maxi focus.


    Cassidy released the energy and said, ¡°Are you finished now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Oh, while I have you. I wanted to ask. I¡¯ve been finding these lately.¡±


    She pulled out the flier with the shadowy figure in a top hat. Cassidy looked it over and said, ¡°We have too, but the link is broken.¡±


    ¡°Von Patrick was interested in it.¡±


    ¡°Von Patrick was interested in a lot of things. It¡¯s probably just remnants of the conspiracy you uncovered.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them around till now.¡±


    ¡°People plan marketing materials in advance all the time. Do you think retail stores make their Christmas catalog in December? They probably do it in summer, hell spring, I don¡¯t know. The point is someone could have made this flier and programmed it for distribution at a later time.¡±


    ¡°But that means someone who was part of the conspiracy is handing it out.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. It could be an unwitting mail carrier and told to deliver at a certain time or a computer virus set to print it out. It could be someone we missed from Farhad¡¯s analysis, or something else all together. All we know is the link no longer works, and the most likely reason is people responsible for it have probably already been taken care of. But do you know what hasn¡¯t been taken care of?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°The breach in the server room that caused the Monster Holding failure. Most of the people in the server room recently have good reasons to be there being employees whose jobs involve going into that room. Others don¡¯t seem like a threat, but we are still following the leads after what happened with Yancy. That leaves one name on the list who potentially is a threat, Daisuke Hax.¡±


    ¡°Daisuke? What would he be doing in the server room?¡±


    ¡°I thought you could tell me.¡±


    ¡°He never went down there, as far as I know.¡±


    ¡°Has he been acting strange lately?¡±


    ¡°Something¡¯s got his goat, but honestly, I thought it was just you all. Wait, you don¡¯t think he is pulling another Yancy?¡±


    ¡°The truth is we don¡¯t know if there is anything to pull. Yancy was a person with a family and a normal life. All investigations into his past doesn¡¯t show any erratic behavior which leads us to the conclusion that he¡¯s possessed. The entity inhabiting his body got into him at some point. Daisuke was in the Server Room when Yancy killed the monitoring equipment.¡±


    ¡°So was that tech!¡±


    ¡°IT has put him on paid leave for mental health reasons. Daisuke is the only one who was alone with Yancy when he disabled the cameras.¡±


    ¡°But Daisuke was dead, decapitated. You saw it!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how the possession works. Maybe the host has to be dead. Perhaps the resurrection chairs activate it. Either way, I need to know I have your cooperation on this. I can remove the quest if you want.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Maxi said. ¡°You can count on me.¡±


    However, Maxi wasn¡¯t entirely sure that she was being truthful with herself, but if Daisuke was possessed, Maxi knew in her heart, it was better that she was part of it. He was one of the Lus3rs, one of her own, if it became evident that someone needed to put him down, it would have to be her, though she wasn¡¯t sure she could do it. At the very least, being close to the investigation would let her find another away, there had to be another way.


    The elevator door to her office dinged, and Belinda and Daisuke were inside with Dalek buzzing around them. The creature fluttered up to Maxi and a wet nose sniffed her ear.


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Looks like the elevator network is back up,¡± Cassidy said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to your work.¡±

 48 - DH10 - Upper Management

    Once power was restored to the elevator network and the rest of the building, the Lus3rs assembled in their Office Pool. All of them sat in their chairs letting them stitch up the wounds. There wasn¡¯t much for each of them to say other than that Flav, Patti, and Farhad¡¯s time were rather uneventful, whereas Belinda, Daisuke, and Maxi all had a run-in with a Grutomaton or two.


    They all generally seemed to like Maxi¡¯s new pet though some of them were nervous that it was a grutomaton. Dalek wasn¡¯t contagious as far as any of them knew as none of the other electronics the creature came in contact with beasted out. It was well known that an infectious machine would infect others quickly as it was only seconds from infection to full beasting.


    Belinda offered to let Dalek stay in the workshop because the pens where employees kept their pets didn¡¯t allow grutomatons in the area. While there wasn¡¯t a company policy against having one as a pet, the conventional wisdom said that the creature would eventually go feral and turn on Maxi. She had also heard a lot of the same rumors about pitbulls and any one of those dogs she ever met seemed like a drooling, happy dog.


    While they were catching up with each other, Maxi casually asked why Daisuke was in IT to begin with. His face darkened, and he said that he didn¡¯t want to share. Maxi shrugged it off to make the question seem casual, but she still couldn¡¯t get the fact out of her head that he could be going the way of Yancy.


    When she had a moment after social time was done, and people returned to their computers to do some menial labor, she checked the list she had received from Von Patrick, and he was on it. While she couldn¡¯t be sure about the list of other names, what Cassidy said did ring true, they ranged from people who worked in IT according to the company directory to folks that didn¡¯t seem like a threat.


    Maxi didn¡¯t want to discount anyone though, because in a world where possession was a thing, anyone could be an agent of the enemy. At the same time, there wasn¡¯t any solid evidence that Yancy was possessed either. He could have just been an ass hat from the start. People have normal seeming childhoods all the time and turn out to be serial killers.


    Maxi needed something more before implicating one of her own in a conspiracy to take down the company. She wished her uncle was more talkative about why Yancy bothered him so much. Most of her uncle¡¯s information hadn¡¯t been very helpful, including Henry Breakwater¡¯s file. As promised, she received it after completing her Uncle¡¯s quest. Her father¡¯s file was like any other employee file.


    It had his biographical information, his class, Generalist, no surprise there, tier, level, and information you¡¯d expect of a power twelve. To her surprise, her mother wasn¡¯t in his Office Pool, which made sense, Office Pools of the Power Twelve were more like hollywood entourages. She once heard that big stars would travel with their doctor, psychiatrist, fitness coach, private cook, and all the people they had on staff just to support their film career. Maxi couldn¡¯t imagine boarding a plane with ten people that were hired just to keep your life going as it is. Then again, she probably wouldn¡¯t ever have to get on a plane again if she stayed at the company.


    His yearly employee evaluations were all exemplary. Maxi retched at the idea of Ted filling out one about her. There weren¡¯t any disciplinary notes, save one about unauthorized travel to a quarantined dimension though much of the document had been redacted and was outside her clearance level.


    And that was it, other than a copy of the contract he signed when he started working for the company. The sum total of a person¡¯s life in supervisor evaluations, hiring paperwork, and demographic information. When she confronted her uncle about it via text, he said that it was his employee file not his personal storage space.


    Her dad¡¯s personal storage had been given to her mother after he died. As much as she hated it, she was going to have to talk to her mother. She felt like interrogating her mom was the equivalent of grilling a war vet about memories they rather not relive. Tara had done more than enough for the company.


    ¡°Hey Farhad,¡± Maxi leaded over her cubicle wall. He was listening to headphones and playing a first-person shooter that was all the rage with employees with the credits to spare. While their plan to buy out contracts was still being funded through quest earnings, they also did not decide to live like monks either.


    There was a lot to be said about having the time to relax, it made them sharper when they were on duty. Even so, they had all decided what was the acceptable amount of frivolous spending between them, so one person would just play video games all day while people do menial labor.


    He paused the game and said, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°You know how you are my Warehouse 13 one?¡± Maxi said. It was their code for she wanted to tell himself that something that she didn¡¯t want the rest of the group to hear.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Want to take a walk?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said and put his computer into sleep mode.


    Belinda said she¡¯d take Dalek to the workshop for a diagnostic, and Maxi called the magic elevator after the Inventor and the fluttering pet left. There was a long wait before the door opened. She and Fardhad went into the elevator. She pressed the button and said a mall that was a short walk from her mom¡¯s place in the Bronx. She wanted to take Farhad with when she talked with her mom, just in case things took a turn in the conversation.


    One thing that was true about Maxi¡¯s mother as well as herself is that they were both stubborn individuals. Neither of them would budge in situations that looking from the outside, should be something they should give. When she was tween, she had wanted to go to her first rock concert. Her mom gave her permission to go but wanted to go with her.


    She was mortified by the prospect of her mom being at the concert, and they fought. Neither of them would back down from their position. Maxi¡¯s assertion that she was old enough to take care of herself, and her mom just wanted to be there for her. It was an ugly fight, but there was middle ground, and her father found it by offering to take her but would wait in the car.


    Tara hadn¡¯t been a fan of the solution but acquiesced to it eventually. Maxi also didn¡¯t like the idea of her father lurking outside the concert hall, but in hindsight, it was probably the solution that was best for them all. She would be free to be with her friends at the concert without a parent lurking over her shoulder, but he would also be there if she needed him.


    While Maxi never experimented with drugs, it was definitely a deterrent for her knowing she would be riding home with her father later. While Maxi was rebellious as a teen, always seeking to pave her own way rather than accepting the wisdom of others, she had steered clear of recreational drug use. She was too much of a control freak to do anything that took her out of her own mind.


    The possibility of Yancy being possessed by nefarious force was deeply unsettling. She didn¡¯t like the thought of not being in control of one¡¯s actions. Another reason she wanted to be sure about Daisuke before acting against him. She was thankful that she could trust Farhad in that regard. Then again, he could be under the influence of a demonic power too. Sometimes, she hated this job.


    The elevator door opened to the third floor of the mall, which also happened to be where her favorite game store used to be located. The spot was now a nail salon, but she had many good memories of midnight releases waiting outside for them to open the cage for the special events. She used to love buying video games from the store, tearing open the ridiculous amount of packaging, looking at all the goodies that came inside.


    It was an experience that was squarely in her childhood as the entire industry had changed, and people would be waiting on their home systems, waiting for the download to trigger at midnight. There would be lots of goodies in the special editions, but it wasn¡¯t the same. There was something visceral about the experience.


    Her connection was why the elevator brought her to the third floor rather than the others. The elevators had a telepathic connection that would interpret her thoughts when she wasn¡¯t specific with the destination. Another reason why Albuquerque was so hard to decode. She didn¡¯t know what was going through her father¡¯s head when he said it.


    They walked through the mall together in silence for a bit, and Maxi decided to lay it all out, the important piece of information she failed to receive from Von Patrick, the sidequest that could indicate Daisuke¡¯s possession, and her talk with Cassidy. She even showed him the list of employees who accessed the server room recently. At this point, Farhad knew so many company secrets that she had told him he could get her terminated.


    But she trusted him and after it was all over, he teased. ¡°I think Cassidy likes you.¡±


    She punched him on the shoulder and said. ¡°Is that all you can say? What about Daisuke?¡±


    ¡°No, really, I think Cassidy likes you.¡± He said more seriously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡±


    ¡°Think about it this way. Let¡¯s say Cassidy had it out for you or the Lus3rs more generally. It would be a whole lot easier for her to keep quiet on the subject of Daisuke, and let him tank our pool for her.¡±


    ¡°At the expense of the Company? If he was possessed then he¡¯d be directly responsible for the worst monster attack since I started.¡±


    ¡°Same here, more perms than ever before, but still in acceptable limits if you are thinking about in terms of numbers.¡±


    ¡°But these are people!¡± Maxi said, a little too loud, and a woman pushing a double stroller veered away. Maxi got quieter. ¡°The company''s problem is treating people like they are numbers.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Farhad said. ¡°At our level. But think about it from Cassidy¡¯s view. She can¡¯t fight every battle herself, so she has PIs do it for her, at some point, it becomes a game of numbers. She knows there will be losses, that¡¯s the nature of battle, so you start measuring success in terms of number of losses.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you are justifying the business as usual crap. Same reason why nothing changes. Some asshole wants to buy another yacht, so the shit they dump on their workers is acceptable losses.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far. I was just illustrating how Cassidy thinks. She can¡¯t meet everyone individually, shake everyone¡¯s hand, fight every battle, so at some point she has to think in numbers. And if she wanted you dead, a possessed teammate would be the way to go, and the added bonus of getting Daisuke to reveal himself before he¡¯s a threat to her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us are a threat to her.¡±


    ¡°Yancy was when he finally revealed himself, so by warning you of her suspicions. I think she likes you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, she likes me. Hooray,¡± Maxi said with a deadpan voice. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t help us with Daisuke.¡±


    ¡°No, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s Daisuke.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said that Cassidy likes me! Why would she be sending me after my own teammate?¡±


    ¡°Because she doesn¡¯t have a better answer,¡± Farhad said. ¡°Show me the list again.¡±


    Maxi pulled out her phone and gave it to Farhad after she opened Von Patrick¡¯s file. They had traveled down the escalators to the ground floor, and were leaning against a wall near the entrance. Maxi glanced around and people were going about their business. There wasn¡¯t anyone lingering.


    Farhad scrolled through the names, and said. ¡°These three are IT employees and work in the server room. One of them is permadead from the attack. This guy is an accountant class, too obvious for another possession case.¡±


    ¡°Unless Yancy lured one of his fellow accountants.¡±


    ¡°Once again, too obvious. Yancy spent most of the time working under the radar. He only revealed himself when there was no other choice, and where he¡¯d be able to escape.¡±


    ¡°How did he escape? The Power Twelve went Avengers on him.¡±


    ¡°Your guess is as good as mine, all the security feeds into the server room were down, but regardless of how, he knew he couldn¡¯t beat them in a straight fight, so he controlled the situation as best he could so he could slip away.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, even if it was the accounting guy, he doesn¡¯t have any battle skills. Same with these other three.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Yancy¡¯s skills came from the demon inside?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, but if you were about to release a bunch of monsters, do you want a host with low stats? Yancy had plenty of time and opportunity to raise his ambition, dedication, and speed.¡±


    ¡°If host stats matter to the entity, then how did Yancy go toe-to-toe with the Power Twelve?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t. All we know is that the server room was trashed and a lot of the Power Twelve were critically wounded in the process. We think battle, but did they ever say it was a battle? Or are we just all thinking that when half the Power Twelve come out on stretchers?¡±


    ¡°Why would they lie?¡±


    ¡°Not offering the truth isn¡¯t the same as lying. If you were caught off guard in a trap, would you admit your weakness to all the people below you, gunning for your position? Sometimes, it¡¯s better to let rumors do work for you. There is nothing more powerful than the stories we tell. Rather than the humiliation of a lower tier employee getting the drop on them, let them think it was something powerful, and their heroics are the only reason you are alive.¡±


    ¡°They have to have told someone about what happened. They answer to Upper Management,¡± but even as she said it, she wondered how much Upper Management were just powerful players masquerading as gods or maybe there was no one running the show. Maybe Upper Management was the illusion to make everyone feel like there was someone in charge, steering the ship. There was also a chance that they were all just cogs in a massive machine that had no one in charge, and it just seemed that way because the system was too complex to be random events.


    Some people believed there was an intelligent omnipotent force that created the universe because of the elegance of its design. Variables and conditions were perfect for life to evolve and eventually become aware to understand just how easy a little tweak to physics and there would be no life at all. A person could argue for the existence of an intelligent force that designed everything because of the balance of nature.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    However, the inverse could also be true, that they all had just gotten lucky. Humanity lucked out during the Big Bang when there was just enough matter over antimatter to form planets and stars. They lucked out again when gravity was just enough over dark energy to form galaxies, stars, and planets. Another dice roll and a carbon was just right for folding into proteins for plants and animals.


    It could be that the system is so complex that people think something must be in charge. There has to be god or gods guiding the universe, connecting the dimensions, and responsible for the whole show but in reality, when dice are rolled enough times it begins to look like an intelligent system. Maxi pictured a massive intergalactic ship hurdling through the void, and every Branch did their part to keep the ship going, but with no one on the bridge to steer, no one knew where they were going.


    Farhad and Maxi exited the mall, and went out onto the street. There was the honking of horns, bustle of foot traffic, and everything Maxi had grown up with living in one the densest population centers on Earth. There was a falafel vendor, a grubby man holding a cup out for spare change, and NPCs strode past unaware of the hidden dangers of their city.


    They turned down a street where several ten to twenty story brick buildings were packed together, one of them still had a fading cola ad from days where people had to buy their pop from a soda fountain. She used her key to open a gated door to the lobby that wasn¡¯t the dingiest in the Bronx, but wasn¡¯t exactly luxury.


    There was a vase with the same fake floral display that was in every floor of the building, a rickety staircase, and an old single elevator. There was still a loose tile near the vase far enough from the walkway, so it never got complaints. There was a chip in the paint on a wall under the stairs that was there for as long as Maxi could remember.


    It was an old building, squarely in the middle class, not something that a person would expect from someone who used to be in the Power Twelve because of the kind of money her parent¡¯s made. But then again, no one knew that her parents had been the equivalent of billionaires. Most of their wealth had been spent keeping Maxi as far away from the company as possible. The rest was used for causes like the one Maxi had for buying out contracts.


    After her mom bought out her contract, she had given away everything but what she needed for a middle class life. Tara had no use for possessions, and even ended up working an NPC job to keep herself busy. Tara didn¡¯t need the money, she hadn¡¯t even needed Maxi to pay her part of the power bill back before Maxi had found her career.


    While Maxi bristled at the time when she was paying for her part of the power bill, she understood why her mom did it. Her mom was trying to put some economic pressure so she¡¯d start working and become one of the NPCs, the people of the world who didn¡¯t know about the company. Tara¡¯s hope for her was that Maxi wouldn¡¯t have to face death every day as her day job.


    However, what her mom never understood about her was that life as a NPC was never something that felt right for her. When Maxi was temping and getting odd jobs here and there in the mundane world, she always felt like she was out of her element and not doing what she was meant to be doing.


    While many of her friends from high school and college rejoiced when they entered the adult phase of their life with their first job that gave them a desk and a nameplate, she couldn¡¯t escape the feeling that it would be a trap, golden handcuffs. Being paid enough money to have a good life but always a low level sense of not fitting in her being in the right place.


    Whereas at the company, she had no doubt she was right where she was supposed to be. While her mom and father both had the best intentions for her, parents rarely got to decide the path their children took. They could offer guidance and suggestions, but the child made the decision whether or not to listen and in Maxi¡¯s case, she wasn¡¯t much of a listener. She was a doer, and for better or worse, she was always barreling ahead.


    She pressed the button to call the elevator, and her regular apartment elevator opened.


    ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­¡± Maxi said, expecting a company elevator.


    ¡°The elevator network can sense when you are calling them,¡± Farhad said. ¡°No sense in sending a magic elevator when a normal one can do besides the network is backed up because of the outage.¡±


    They piled into the elevator, and she hit the 10 button. She was so used to the lurch of the magic elevators that the one in her building almost felt like it wasn¡¯t even moving by comparison. The door opened, and they piled out into the hallway with the same vase and floral display as the one from the lobby.


    Miss Greenbaum from a couple doors down opened her apartment as they passed. She was an elderly lady and wore a white knit shawl and blue shirt. She smiled and said, ¡°Maxi, my you have grown. Now, who is this fine young lad?¡±


    ¡°Farhad,¡± he said with a nod.


    ¡°You two wouldn¡¯t be¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Maxi said a little too quickly. ¡°We are just co-workers.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Miss Greenbaum couldn¡¯t hide her disappointment. She was the building gossip, and had made Janitorial¡¯s job easier when she spread the rumors about a burglar attacking the super in Maxi¡¯s apartment. As for the super himself, he did nothing to confirm or deny what had happened, and would extract himself if anyone tried to talk to him about it. Maxi was amazed by the ability to repress trauma or the need to explain it away as something mundane.


    They continued down the hall, and Maxi knocked on the entry of her apartment. Miss. Greenbaum watched them for a moment, receded into her apartment, and shut the door. It wasn¡¯t unusual for her neighbor to put her nose into the situation when people were coming down the hall. Maxi swore that the women just sat in her entry listening for footsteps.


    Tara answered, and beckoned them inside. ¡°I told you to use your key,¡± she said and began preparing a kettle. She rummaged for some cookies and tossed them on the table. If there was one thing that the company did well was keeping them well fed. The free plan at the cafeteria gave Maxi all the food or snacks she could ever want. It was a limited menu that was on a three to four week cycle, with the occasional themed dish like the ghoulash they would be serving for Halloween.


    When meals weren¡¯t being served, there were snacks at all times including a ¡°going, going, gone¡± cart that had buff snacks that were about to expire. She had a dedication boosting mochi the other day that was equally delicious as it was beneficial for a boost. She didn¡¯t touch the cookies but Farhad dug in for a couple of the jam filled shortbread her mom loved.


    After water boiled, tea was poured, and all the pleasantries of conversation, Maxi decided to ask what she had come for. Normally, Maxi was act first, figure it out later, and didn¡¯t experience much hesitation, but since she was most likely bringing her mom back into a life she had spent a fortune to escape, Maxi felt nervous, ¡°I well, um¡­ want access to my father¡¯s files.¡±


    ¡°His company files?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like what was on his personal partition when he died.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send you a link, but I don¡¯t know what you aim to get from it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe something about that printer.¡±


    ¡°That damned printer,¡± Tara said. ¡°We should have never gone looking for the printer.¡±


    ¡°It could save us from the apocalypse, ma!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always an apocalypse on the horizon, yet humanity keeps going on,¡± Tara brushed it off.


    ¡°That¡¯s because there are people doing something about it.¡± She felt the tension building and Farhad squeezed her leg. ¡°I just want to look through it,¡± Maxi said more softly.


    ¡°Okay, fine,¡± Tara said. ¡°You¡¯re not going to find anything useful. We¡¯d talk about all the important stuff. He kept a diary, but it wasn¡¯t on the computer. He didn¡¯t trust those things.¡±


    ¡°Even Terry?¡±


    ¡°Terry was fine, but the people managing the storage space, the Archivists. They are an obtuse Branch. Not even from this world. He didn¡¯t like that they could just access his files whenever they wanted despite their insistence that they would never do so. But if you want to kill some time, going through your father¡¯s files, I¡¯m not going to stop you.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever met Upper Management?¡± Maxi changed the subject.


    Tara frowned and said, ¡°What¡¯s this coming from?¡±


    ¡°One of the Power Twelve has a theory, Cassidy West.¡±


    ¡°Cassidy?¡± Tara laughed. ¡°That pup? She¡¯s leading the PI¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maxi said. ¡°She kinda made it seem like you were in charge...¡±


    Tara laughed some more. ¡°Cassidy West,¡± she said after composing herself with a sigh. ¡°My, times have changed.¡±


    Maxi got irritated. She didn¡¯t know if it was because she wasn¡¯t in on the joke or that her mom was doing it again, withholding information for Maxi¡¯s benefit. She would decide what was important and what wasn¡¯t. Maxi was done being kept out of the loop.


    ¡°Mom,¡± she said. ¡°If you were in charge of the PI Branch you need to tell me.¡±


    ¡°I was, once,¡± Tara said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t think it was that important.¡±


    ¡°Not that important,¡± Maxi yelled and Farhad squeezed her hand under the table. She softened the next words. ¡°You know things that could get me killed. Dangers that could end the world. You know things, ma.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Tara said nonchalantly. ¡°But you have to remember that it was a long time ago. It would be asking the Director of the CIA in the 1980¡¯s about what they think Russia is doing now. The situation¡¯s changed.¡±


    Maxi felt a little embarrassed. She survived a dragon and yet her mom still had the power to make her feel the way she did. ¡°Still,¡± she said. ¡°If you know something that would help¡­¡±


    ¡°Then I will tell you,¡± Tara said. ¡°The ban on telling company secrets is more just a threat anyway. The company is not a surveillance state. They can really only terminate you if they know about the breach like people posting about it online or doing something that traces it back to them.¡±


    ¡°It feels like they would have a bug in every room,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Too costly,¡± Tara said. ¡°Mass surveillance costs money. That¡¯s why surveillance states always fail, they can¡¯t watch everyone all the time, so they have to make choices where to invest the resources, that leads to cracks in surveillance, and when a faction finds and exploits those cracks¡­¡±


    ¡°Jeez, mom, you sound like you were the Director of the CIA in the 1980¡¯s,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°It¡¯s an apt analogy to running the PI¡¯s. Our Branch, my Branch was as close to secret agents as the company gets.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of company, does the company have a name? Weyland-Yutani?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the company has a name.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the name then?¡±


    Tara, for once as far a Maxi could remember, didn¡¯t have anything to say. ¡°You know, come to think of it, we all just call it the company.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there documents? Like if you need to send a bill, who would they write the check too?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the 1980¡¯s no one uses checks anymore. It¡¯s all credits.¡±


    ¡°But what about back in your day?¡±


    ¡°It was credits then too. If PI¡¯s needed to pay Janitorial for a clean up fee, it was with credits. IT sending a bill for services rendered, credits. Rewards for defeating monsters, credits. The whole system runs on credits.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t there letterhead? An email signature? something with the company name on it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tara shrugged.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find that odd?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s part of the translation protocols?¡± Farhad offered. ¡°Like how in other dimensions text appears in English and hard to translate words like months of a different calendar system appear as Luna or First Spring of Newgold?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I just find it weird that we all work for this place and don¡¯t even know the name,¡±


    ¡°Maybe company is the name,¡± Tara said. ¡°Like Farhad said. The translation protocol is just using a word we all understand.¡±


    Maxi didn¡¯t think that was the case, but it also wasn¡¯t the closest fire to the house, so she went back down another thread, ¡°What about Upper Management?¡±


    ¡°What about them?¡± Tara asked.


    ¡°Who are they? What do they do? Is there anybody running the place or does it just exist? Have you ever met one of them?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tara said. ¡°It was all intermediaries.¡±


    ¡°So someone shows up, says they work with Upper Management, and you just went with it?¡±


    ¡°How much do you know about the Holiday Party?¡±


    ¡°The Holiday Party? I don¡¯t see why this has anything to do with it.¡±


    ¡°There is a Holiday Party every year, top floor of the building that¡¯s really only used as an event space. Nice views of the city, large ballrooms, little nooks and crannies for more private conversations, very well thought out space.¡±


    ¡°You sound like a travel agent, ma!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also the only place and time the Power Twelve can be found in the same room at the same time. Even when the combat team assembles non-fighting classes like your uncle aren¡¯t there. But, if you wanted to snuff out all the top players in the company, the Holiday Party is where you¡¯d do it, so the top floor also happens to be the most secure place in the building. The elevators incinerate anyone who isn¡¯t invited.¡±


    Maxi thought back to the time when she crashed Hellboy666¡¯s party and was glad it didn¡¯t have that feature. Her mother continued. ¡°It¡¯s shielded from any surveillance, psychic attack, even a nuclear weapon couldn''t penetrate the barrier.¡±


    ¡°You could nuke the lower half of the building.¡±


    ¡°You could blow up the planet, and that room would still be floating in the void with party goers unaware that anything was happening.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so security is tight. I don¡¯t see what this has to do with Upper Management.¡±


    ¡°The intermediaries, we each have one, a player like us but from a different dimension. They all show up each year to the party. Every Tier 1 and Tier 2 is there, lucky Tier 3 and 4¡¯s get an invite. There are also people who are not employees, but sort of contractors, they usually work inside the world government systems, keeping company secrets safe. The strange part is the party is mundane for what could very easily be, under different circumstances, a cabal discussing domination of the world. Yet somehow it¡¯s just as awkward and banal as every other office party. People hook up with people, some get too drunk, and others stay too long on the dance floor. People gossip, embarrass themselves, play out rivalries, and engage in office politics. It¡¯s like any other holiday party you¡¯ve been to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been to an office holiday party.¡±


    ¡°Trust me when I say you aren¡¯t missing anything. The exception is that the liaisons I was telling you about. The twelve people who aren¡¯t from our world and most employees wouldn¡¯t recognize them, assume they delete satellite footage of a killer moss that engulfed a town from the CIA databanks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s more disconcerting killer moss or the fact that the CIA doesn¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to do when they are only looking for threats from other humans, dear. The point is that the most secure place on planet Earth is a room that gets used once every year for the Holiday Party.¡±


    ¡°I mean all the Power Twelve are there.¡±


    ¡°But so are the intermediaries. When you were with Cassidy, did she ever use her powers on you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a Breakwaters. Sarcasm is in our DNA.¡±


    ¡°And when she did it, did it feel like she could just snuff out your life, and not the kind of snuffing that the resurrection chairs could handle?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but she is a Power Twelve. I¡¯m Tier 9.¡±


    ¡°That was the kind of power the intermediaries wielded.¡±


    Tara paused, and Maxi could feel the psychic tendrils of Cassidy around her throat. The energy the woman wielded with barely a thought was more powerful than her teacher, Swami Robinson, could ever hope to achieve. It had more potential than any of the PI¡¯s she battled when she first learned Psychic Tsunami and broke free from the grasp of a few higher level players who tried to pin her down. Her mom had also been Tier 1.1 during her day. A being that the intermediaries could make her mom feel as helpless and weak as Maxi did when she faced off with Cassidy¡­


    ¡°To go back to your question about Upper Management,¡± Tara interrupted Maxi¡¯s thoughts. ¡°We never questioned the intermediaries¡¯ directives because they were always aligned with our overall mission to protect the Earth, and there wouldn¡¯t be anything we could do to resist them if we could.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you ask questions? Push back? Didn¡¯t you ever want to talk to them? Lo said he had once, through an identity scrambler.¡±


    ¡°Then you should talk to Lo about that.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not answering my texts.¡±


    ¡°Look dear, I want to help you. I really do. And yes, I was always curious about Upper Management, and I pushed back on my liaison as I¡¯m sure you do with Cassidy. But at the end of the day, if someone more powerful than you doesn¡¯t want you to know something. You don¡¯t get to know it. Besides, Upper Management is the least of your concerns. The only time they¡¯d get involved, or the intermediaries at the very least, were when we were in danger of losing raids, or occasional tweaks to the system when we notice a problem. Like surge pricing. Time off used to be a fixed rate per level, but then we had problems with everybody taking summer off, and monsters don¡¯t take summer breaks. Then we implemented a system where surge pricing calculated the employee¡¯s level, criticalness to the mission, and current need for time off, and it all went away. A fix mandated by Upper Management, brought to the table by a liaison.¡±


    At least Maxi understood a little more about who was running the show, whether it was Upper Management or just power players from other dimensions acting as an unofficial Board of Directors for the company, she didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s one more thing about them, a detail that I almost forgot,¡± Tara said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an elevator door, one the Power Twelve can¡¯t even use. It¡¯s located on the top floor in the entry to the ballroom. The liaisons are the only ones who use it. No one else is allowed, and it leads right into the most secure room on the entire planet.¡±


    That¡¯s when it clicked for her. The security of the top floor wasn¡¯t for her mom, the Power Twelve, or any of the top employees of Earth. It was for the liaisons, but they were so powerful, they might as well be gods. The question Maxi had to ask, what made gods tremble?

 49 - DH11 - Remonstrance

    Maxi talked with her mom for a while, going through the knowledge her mom had as the former head of the Paranormal Investigator Branch. Her mom had an apt analogy. It was like the Director of the CIA during the cold war spilling their secrets, most of it was stuff that seemed obvious. It was reading classified World War II documents, things that seemed inevitable given the circumstances.


    Maxi was thankful for Farhad¡¯s presence because both her and Tara could get heated to the point where they were just yelling at each other and not really listening. His presence had calmed that roiling family tension. She loved her mother dearly, but Tara could also be thorn in her side. Her father had always been the peacemaker in the family, and maybe it was mutual trauma of losing him that made them take it out on each other. At least Farhad being there had allowed her to keep focus on productive future minded conversations rather than butting heads over old grievances.


    She had learned new information she didn¡¯t know before, one that her ¡°mentor¡± Ted, didn¡¯t even know. For example, he thought the quest system was just a way of allocating tasks. Rather than a boss telling an employee they need to construct an important presentation for clients, a quest would be created so anyone in the company could make that presentation and reap the rewards for the quest.


    Rather than have employees whose job was to create presentations all day, anyone with the chops, the time, and the will could do it. Decentralized workflow was the term. An employee earns, as much as they work, and works when they want with the rewards increasing the more specialized the expertise needed to complete the task with product sorting being low payout to large scale engineering projects and monster fighting being some of the highest.


    However, what Maxi or Ted didn¡¯t know is how those quests were created or who decided to hand out quests to Ank, the Statistician of the Power Twelve who made the company lots of money in Wall Street that they¡¯d then use to fund less profitable quests like monster fighting. Her mom knew, because that hadn¡¯t changed since she was in power.


    It was Terry, or at least a Terry equivalent. While her Terry, the one who was accessible by every employee in the company as their friendly HR Assistant was entirely allocated to employee relations, another Terry, located in an offsite secure location (company code for another dimension), coordinated quests between dimensions and pushed them out to every world.


    If a monster attack was detected in Peru, the transdimensional Terry would assess the threat, create the quest parameters, and spit it out to the Earth queue where the Branches would attempt to snag them. The same system managed individual employees creating quests calling for tech support or asking their coworkers for magical sticky notes.


    Ted made it seem like he was creating Generalist quests for his Branch when he was really no more than a quest broker, as Branch executives always got first dibs before the quest would go to the all employee queue. However when life was in danger as monster quests often were, they usually were pushed out to the entire company thus allowing her to get some before the PIs did. In some cases there was no limit to how many teams could accept the quests, which those contributing the most taking the lion¡¯s share of the rewards.


    Thus why the PIs were getting irritated that Maxi¡¯s Pool was encroaching on their territory. It had always been the unwritten rule of the company that the Branches take the fighting quests, as all the major fighting ones had people watching the queue 24/7. The Sales Associates and the Paranormal Investigators were always in a rivalry to get to the job first. Maxi was disrupting that balance because when she, Farhad, Patti, or Flav accepted the quest, it would count towards their branches. While Ted didn¡¯t think it was wise for Maxi to take fighting quests, he didn¡¯t complain either because he got a cut of her rewards. It also explained why the Sales Associates weren¡¯t complaining about Daisuke going rogue and working outside the branch because his wins were their wins.


    The only ones to lose were the PIs. By trying to save as many people as she could, she was disrupting a status quo that had been around since her mother¡¯s time. Let the branches do the fighting, and everyone else made the money so they can do their job.


    Maxi didn¡¯t care in the least that she put a target on her back for disrupting the pissing contest the branches had for who killed more monsters. She didn¡¯t care about money, power, or prestidge. Her success, at the end of each day, was lives saved. She felt the company had lost sight of that and everyone putting their heads down and saying, ¡°it could be worse,¡± had warped the original mission.


    November first came, and a new raid was announced. She was aware that raids were simply a stop gap from multidimensionals from decimating their enemies. It gave each company a fighting chance as each boss''s power was restricted based on the sum total of levels of each employee in the company.


    November¡¯s villain of the month had shown up in the lobby of the company building. Terry signaled that it was time for her Office Pool to go to the raid, and they readied themselves with their cheap to replace rather than expensive to repair equipment. Farhad loaded his gun with bullets he could buy at the local gun store that was a fraction of the price ones with magical properties could cost. Though magic was a loose term. A +5 Bullet could just be something from another dimension, a ¡°secret sauce¡± that made it better than anything made on Earth.


    They piled into the elevators and made their way to the Lobby that was determined to be the battleground for this month. The Antitrust¡¯s Lawyer was actually in the home dimension of the law firm Alfred, Alfred, and Alfred that had attempted to take the company down with the legal lethal means. Magic elevators meant that employees could travel to other dimensions and not even know it, especially when there weren¡¯t windows. Now that she was cleared for the alternative dimension secret, she realized that most people probably had traveled to another universe without even knowing it. She still was pretty sure there was a bathroom dimension despite assurances otherwise.


    Being that they were going to the lobby of their own building. There were plenty of windows with views of Manhattan street. Most of the twelve elevator doors opened at once and teams stepped out from everyone except for Tier 4 through 1, Tier 6 and 8. After the teams stepped out, Tier 9 through 12 opened again, as well as Tier 7. Maxi had a notification in her eye piece to wait for the teams to assemble before proceeding to the battleground. The next round of players were just tier 10 through 12.


    As the teams came out crowding the area near the elevator shafts. Maxi got a notification that the lobby was closed till further notice and employees should use the Water Street entrance. Maxi hadn¡¯t been in the lobby much since joining the company when the internal transit system could take her anywhere she wanted to go with an elevator. After a few more rounds of less and less elevators bringing more Office Pools, Tier 12 was the last elevator in operation after about three more teams came out.


    They were given directions to proceed forward, and were greeted with a peculiar sight. There was a picket line of protesters blocking all the entrances and exits to the building. Compared the lawyers from Antitrust lawyers raid, the protestors were grubby long haired hippies who looked no more dangerous than Mr. Jones on floor 5 of her apartment who always smelled like weed and wore John Lennon glasses and tye-dye panchos.


    However, there was something off about the crowd. Their signs were generic, and said things like ¡°FOR SHAME¡± and ¡°STOP NOW¡±. She had even seen one that said, ¡°DOWN WITH OPP¡± which made her chuckle. They were signs that weren¡¯t really pertinent to anything the company did. It felt as if they were riled up citizens protesting nothing in particular.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Maxi had a friend like that in college. He was a guy that grew up in a strict religious family that felt like they were ripped out of a 1980¡¯s movie where they thought dancing was temptation by the devil. After he was free of his family¡¯s grasp, he went radical in just about every way possible and joined every protest he could because his rage against the establishment felt like it was more directed at his parents.


    Maxi understood him, as she had harbored some anger and rage against her parents. However, unlike her friend who¡¯d probably never be able to reconnect to his parents, Maxi felt like the relationship between her and her mom was never better. With the secret Tara had been harboring out, they had more real conversations then Maxi could ever remember.


    There wasn¡¯t any indication where the higher Tiers should be. They pushed forward as a group into the lobby and the lone security guard normally on duty had evacuated his desk. The ranged power players began making their way into the security desk while the tanks blocked the entrance. Other lower tier teams began to form a meat shield between the desk and the protestors that had assembled.


    The only other objects in the room were fake plants and a couple couches and chairs, some soulless corporate artwork that was probably mass produced for generic, inoffensive office decor. Maxi eyed a corner of the lobby that was far enough from the protestors, and the players that there would be a gap in the fighting. She signaled her team to form over there.


    As they broke from the group, other players scowled when they bucked the convention of the lower tiers acting as meatshields for the upper tiers. It wasn¡¯t the first time, and wouldn¡¯t be the last, but with no obvious boss among the protestors, Maxi had a gut feeling that clumping wasn¡¯t the best strategy.


    Daisuke and Farhad turned the couch in the lobby over to act as a barrier between them and the protesters. It wouldn¡¯t do anything against ranged attacks, but after the group added some of the fake plants and chairs, the barricade would at least slow down the melee fighters.


    A few of the lower tier teams saw what they were doing and broke from the main group. One of the players from the Tier 5 group called to the people heading towards Maxi¡¯s corner of the battle, ¡°Cowards.¡±


    Maxi let the comment slide off her back. They had a month to clear the raid, and this was the first day. If the strategy of protecting the power players was the best one, she would position herself differently next time. However, by being as far from the action as possible, she might be able to glean something she wouldn¡¯t if she died in the first few seconds of battle.


    The players outnumbered the protestors, and the lobby had massive glass walls in the front with clear views to the street. Maxi remembered it being one way glass and people wouldn¡¯t be able to see inside. As good as Janitorial was at planting the right suggestions to traumatized people, a battle in the lobby would be noticed if bystanders could watch it from the outside.


    There were no more protestors waiting on the outside of the building. Unlike the lawyer who seemed to have an endless supply of underlings, these people were a fixed number with no leader. Maxi had the realization that they were all bosses when a buzzer sounded in the lobby signaling the start of the raid.


    Firebolts, lightning, machine guns, plasma rounds, and grenades were hurled from the center of the players assembled in the security station. They ranged from people in full power armor to mages with midnight blue ropes and pointy hats as if they were auditioning for the part of wizard in 1960¡¯s retro piece about Lord of the Rings.


    In one fluid motion, the protestors condensed into a tortoise shelf formation with their signs acting as shields, and the initial volley of raw firepower harmlessly bounced off the formation. The enemy marched forward as one tight unit. When the dome of the impenetrable signs reached the front line of yellow shirts, the players chopped at the signs with their swords and electricity shot through their body, and they slumped over dead.


    Meanwhile the ranged power players weren¡¯t getting through. Once the melee fighters realized they would get shocked, a few had attempted to lock arms and make a human wall. The signs parted by a minuscule amount and shurikens launched forth taking out employees.


    ¡°What¡¯s the call?¡± Daisuke asked Maxi.


    She had been concentrating on the battle and didn¡¯t realize that all the Lus3rs and the few teams to join were all looking at her. The expressions on their faces were probably same ones people had over the years at battles like the Alamo where when they realized they were fucked.


    ¡°Rearrange the barricade,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Spread them out like when you played floor is lava as a kid.¡±


    ¡°I never played floor is lava,¡± one yahoo said from one of the other teams.


    ¡°You know what I mean,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Do it.¡±


    They scrambled to break down their barrier and turned it into an obstacle course. Meanwhile the phalanx of prestors shocked and pierced their way to the edge of the security desk, never breaking their defense even stepping over bodies. They climbed on top of the desk and over without a break in their defense. Even the power melee players couldn¡¯t survive the shock when their weapons connected to the signs.


    WIth the employee defenses broken, the ranged fighters went down. Even the one who had called them cowards. Once the bulk was down, the survivors fled for the elevators. The protestors turned towards Maxi¡¯s field of chairs, plants, and couches.


    The elevator access was cut off and the janitorial fee returning their bodies to their Office Pool res chairs was going to be hefty because they were collectively higher level than they were compared to the first time Maxi died in a raid. The fee per person was decided on the collective level of her Office Pool, and she was newb the first time it happened. Luckily there would be no equipment return fees on top of the ones for their corpse because Belinda hadn¡¯t brought her clockwork critters, and pets couldn¡¯t be resurrected so she left Dalek in the shop. Something about the chairs was fine tuned for human life. There would be no pet cemeteries bringing back cats anytime soon.


    The phalanx marched towards Maxi¡¯s group. As they hit the first obstacle, the other Office Pools who had thrown in their lot with Maxi ran for the elevator doors. Shurikens made short work of the players attempting to flee.


    ¡°Hold,¡± Maxi yelled, and her team stood fast.


    The protestor went over the obstacles that reminded her of ocean waves on a crowded beach. There was flow to the group like when they climbed over the desk. However, unlike the security station, the chairs, plants, and couches were at irregular intervals. It was just enough that the sign they were using would briefly show an arm or a leg. It was an opening she could use if she timed it just right.


    She concentrated using the breathing techniques Swami Robinson had been teaching her, and focused with the same sense of the serenity her sword teacher had shown her. There would be a moment where she could strike, right as they went over a large toppled lobby chair.


    She saw the moment, an arm briefly visible. She lunged forward in the astral plane holding a spear like she was a Spartan soldier leaping for the kill and it connected to the guy¡¯s arm. To her surprise, the man screamed and dropped his sign leaving a brief opening in the tortoise shell. The others didn¡¯t waste the moment.


    Farhad shot several rounds with a pistol, and Daisuke whipped out a shotgun from an invisible hostler on his back and blasted the guy. Flav shot a crossbow, and Patti had some psychic force lightning powers going on as she lit up the guy like she was Palpatine trying to impress a date. Maxi was going to have to give the Customer Care Advocate skill tree another glance.


    Belinda hummed a tune while she constructed some pieces of equipment together that grew in size when she retrieved them from her backpack while Maxi slammed the exposed guy again and again with Mind Shards. Their collective firepower was just enough to prevent the others from closing the gap as the protestor was being peppered with everything her Office Pool could muster. Despite not being able to close the hole in their defense. The phalanx was pushing forward.


    Maxi was starting to wonder if Belinda would get shot in before they would all be murdered by the tortoiseshell when she realized what Belinda was making, it was a gatling gun. Just as Maxi was running out of psy and others were low on ammunition. Their inventor woman cooed and purred as she stepped in front of the group with her weapon that was three times the size of her. She cackled with glee, and she lit up the man.


    His body shook and fell to the ground, forcing the Phalanx to reconfigure, which was enough time for them to run, and Maxi signaled their retreat. They were out of effective shuriken range by the time the protestors had reorganized to account for their fallen comrade.


    They piled into the elevator cheering, and patting each on the back when a message appeared in Maxi¡¯s field of vision


    QUEST (RAID): DEFEAT PROTESTORS.


    GOAL: Participate in daily battle.


    One protester eliminated. Protesters left: 99/100.


    Lus3rs killed one boss.


    Time to next raid 23:59:37 with the seconds ticking down.


    Individual Awards: +5 Levels. +1 Speed. +4 Creativity. +10 Stats. +20 SP. 10000 credits. Shirt of Growth is now +22.


    Their glee was short lived. Even though Farhad had said ¡°Office Pool¡± when they entered the lift, the door opened to a different location. It was time for Maxi to take a drink or pull out her sword. She was hoping it¡¯d be the former, but assumed it would be the later.

 50 - DH12 - HR Training

    Several tables with white table cloth formed a U shape at the end of a room that was intended for a much larger purpose. There was seating for about one hundred in a room that could have held at least five hundred. A man wearing the company khakis and yellow shirt stood next to a table with a laptop. He had a name badge of Emotional Intelligence Boosting that Maxi¡¯s glasses identified as a rare item. The badge read: Rick, HUMAN RESOURCES.


    When he saw them enter the room with a dazed expression, still mussed up from their raid battle, he smiled, and said, ¡°Come in. Come in. Welcome. It¡¯s time for your annual HR training.¡±


    There was a collective groan from the rest of her Office Pool as they all took seats at the tables. Maxi sat next to Farhad while the others spread out as other teams trickled in from the lone elevator door clearly just as surprised as they were to have their elevators diverted as they were because some of them were decked out for battle. One Office Pool was all in swimsuits as if they were heading for a day at the beach.


    Rick instructed people to take their seats, and eventuaally the final Office Pool to approach the U shaped table setup was Taskeshi and the rest of the PI goon squad. He scowled at her as if she was somehow responsible for it. Maxi realized as the PIs were taking the final seats that she had messed up. The Lus3rs being the first in the room sat down every other chair like more people do in a meeting room with more chairs than people. When Maxi sat, there was an opportunity for her to sit in between Farhad and Patti, or she could sit next to him on the other side, leaving an empty seat by her.


    Now, one of the only seats left in the room was near the instructor where no one wanted to sit or her. When Takeshi was scouting for a place to sit, she thought. ¡°Please don¡¯t sit by me. Please don¡¯t sit by me.¡± as if she was in middle school again and a smelly kid had got onto the bus. It was childish, but the only thing worse than HR training was group exercises with sticks in the mud like Takeshi.


    To her relief, he took the spot right in the front by the instructor and Joaquin sat next to her. He gave her a friendly enough nod. Despite their rocky introduction to each other, he wasn¡¯t so bad. She breathed out a sigh of relief and Joaquin said, ¡°I don¡¯t don¡¯t smell that bad, do I?¡±


    He checked his armpits.


    Maxi chuckled and glanced at Takeshi who was scowling at them. ¡°Hey, anyone know what this is about?¡± She said to Farhad and Joaquin both.


    Joaquin shrugged and said, ¡°I dunno, you started the same day as me.¡±


    ¡°We used to be able to do this from our computers and skip out on most of it by taking a quiz,¡± Farhad said.


    She had her doubts that the computer versions would be any better. Maxi had done HR training before. There was nothing worse than monumentally boring presentations that kept making you click on them to make sure you were paying attention. Maxi wasn¡¯t religious and didn¡¯t believe in a god, but if there was a hell, there would be a special circle of it for the person who invented those trainings. The least they could do is let her play a cell phone game while the training video played in the background, and give her credit for it by taking a quiz.


    She looked up at HR Rick, who was a Black man with a scowl on his face that didn¡¯t match the chipper tone he used to greet them. She was beginning to wonder if there was something more going on. For a company that regulated toilet paper usage as a cost saving measure, in person training didn¡¯t seem their style, online was cheaper.


    ¡°Can I have your attention, please?¡± Rick said, and waited for the room to settle. Once all the eyes were on him, he continued. ¡°I¡¯m sure many of you are wondering why we are all here for HR training instead of doing them on our computer. As you know, innovation is one of our core company values, and there¡¯s lots of evidence to support that training is just better in person.¡±


    ¡°One of the bigwigs got caught fucking their secretary,¡± A burly man said, who looked like he was from the Porter class. ¡°Now we all get in trouble for it.¡±


    He got a couple of laughs, and a pat on the back.


    Rick pulled out a revolver that materialized from his hip and put a piece of lead in the middle of the man¡¯s forehead quicker than a gunslinger in a wild west show. The burly man fell over dead, and bled out on the white table cloth a thick red stain.


    He had the room¡¯s attention.


    Rick looked over the group with dead eyes. ¡°You sorry sacks of shit wouldn''t last a moment in my days. You want your HR training handed to on a platter so you can ignore them and tell all the dick and fart jokes you want. You¡¯ve been ignoring your HR training, so they called me in. You think microagressions are a joke. You tell your transgender bisexual coworker that they don¡¯t look like they used to be a man and you¡¯re liable to find yourself in a heap of trouble when that same coworker is dragging your bloodied body back from the front lines. HR training is not a joke. It will save your life. Am I clear?¡± Rick yelled.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The room was silent.


    ¡°AM I CLEAR?¡± He yelled, and the room had a smattering of yeses.


    ¡°YES WHAT?¡± Rick yelled.


    ¡°S-sir, sir, sir,¡± the group said not quite in unison.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s talk sexual harassment.¡± Rick said with a regular tone or at least what could be approximated as regular for a man with the panache of a drill sergeant.


    The next few hours of Maxi¡¯s life were a version of a private hell that was made so much worse by Rick screaming HR regulations when people weren¡¯t taking it seriously enough for him.


    Rick started the training with a poorly acted video going through various types of harassment in the workplace. While it played, he whistled and dragged the body of the person he had shot to a few resurrection rolly chairs in the back of the room. When people got out of line or were paying attention to their phone over what¡¯s on the screen, he¡¯d shot them and drag their bodies back to the chair when he got a chance.


    Maxi couldn¡¯t believe it, but she almost wanted the training that would keep your attention by forcing you to click on something every couple minutes. At least then she¡¯d only lose a few minutes. Her guess was that each person who spent the day regenerating would have to do the training again and Rick wouldn¡¯t ¡°baby them¡± as he claimed several times through the training.


    The rest of the day dragged, and she had almost fallen asleep on more than one occasion if Farhad hadn¡¯t kicked her in the leg under the table. Luckily, Rick didn¡¯t punish people who seemed to be taking notes. So she was able to get most of her sarcasm out by writing on one of the pads that was provided and Fahard would write his response on his pad. It was a trick she had learned in college to look studious and chat with her neighbor during class.


    They mostly made fun of the videos and talked about registering their technique for beating the raid boss when the training was done. If she wanted to reap the rewards of her tactic and share in the profits of the raid, she could earn a little bit of every teams rewards if they used her strategy for defeating the protestors. Maxi thought about filing the paperwork on her phone but didn¡¯t want to spend the day in a resurrection chair.


    Despite her conversation with Farhad via notepads, she was still bored out of her mind. When they got to the role playing part of the training, Maxi almost couldn¡¯t take it anymore.


    Maxi, Farhad, and Takeshi were at the front of the class reading a script.


    ¡°You have a cute looking bottom,¡± Farhad said in a wooden voice. ¡°Do you work out?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s harassment,¡± Maxi said in the same monotone delivery. ¡°And I don¡¯t have to take it! Who writes this stuff!¡±


    ¡°Just talk to the supervisor,¡± Rick said.


    ¡°Supervisor,¡± Maxi directed towards Takeshi. ¡°My co-worker has harassed me.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can talk about it over a date on Saturday night,¡± Takeshi said, squirming as he did.


    ¡°That¡¯s quid-pro-quo, another form of harassment,¡± Maxi said and then added. ¡°Who really talks like this!¡±


    ¡°I know the content may not be to your specifications, growing up in a world where every person on social media is a celebrity, but it¡¯s important information and if the company didn¡¯t think so, they wouldn¡¯t pay for it, because I ain¡¯t cheap. Now continue the role play.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Takeshi said and threw his script down. ¡°This is a waste of our time. We are here bullshiting in this room when we could be out fighting monsters.¡±


    For once Maxi was in agreement with Takeshi. Rick scowled and marched towards Takeshi. The HR man was massive compared to the PI. Despite the size difference, they locked gazes. There was a tense moment where Maxi wasn¡¯t sure if Rick would go for his gun and the PI his sword.


    ¡°I suppose you think you know everything,¡± Rick said in a low growl. ¡°And you won¡¯t inadvertently harass anyone when you show your Office Pool the dick pics you took last night.¡±


    The trainer paused.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said in a lighter tone. ¡°Let¡¯s take the quiz then.¡±


    Maxi could see the psychic energy Takeshi built up dissipate.


    Rick told them all to take their seats, and he passed out pencils and sheets of paper stapled together. Maxi couldn¡¯t escape the feeling of dread. She was in school again except with a trigger happy teacher. She was never good at taking tests. Her mind wandered too much. The questions and answers were as plain as day but a million other thoughts would intrude on her mind, making it hard to concentrate.


    She thought about Von Patrick and what she may have learned from him if she didn¡¯t fail the goal. Worrying about her mom even though the woman could easily handle anything that came her way. Wondering about her uncle. Her father¡¯s files still lingered in the back of her mind. Sitting in between Joaquin and Farhad, and wondering what it would be like if she¡­


    Everything was roiling in her head while the test questions felt barely understandable. She¡¯d read a question and then have to go through it several times just to decipher its meaning. Then, despite the answers being laughable and obvious, she¡¯d force herself to concentrate just to get the right one.


    She was only halfway through when the first test taker jumped from their seat and ran their paper over to Rick who was typing on his laptop at the front of the room. Rick pulled out a pair of reading glasses and licked his digit before thumbing through the test. He made ¡°hmm¡± noises while he looked through the test.


    After what felt like a long time where Maxi couldn¡¯t do anything but watch, Rick said, ¡°You got one wrong. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    He shot the man in the head, and whistled a tune while he dragged the man towards one of the resurrection chairs.

 51 - DH13 - Test Anxiety

    Maxi¡¯s brain was scrambled. There was a pile of bodies that had accumulated on the resurrection chairs from the ones who got the questions wrong, tried to cheat, the team who attempted to rush Rick, and even a person who talked during the test. Very few had gotten out of the training. All of her team had made it out as well as the PIs. When Farhad tried to wait for her to finish the test, Rick insinuated that it wouldn¡¯t end well for him.


    Now she was just waiting for him to finish grading the last few tests. There were three others scattered at the tables waiting. She was the last person to turn it in. The questions weren¡¯t hard, but the stress of the situation and her natural lack of ability taking standardized tests made every moment painful. She wasn¡¯t in her element.


    Rick ¡°hmmm¡± licked his finger and turned the page. He put the test down and locked eyes with a yellow shirt who swayed nervously back and forth. Maxi understood why the guy was nervous. She couldn¡¯t afford the fees and penalties associated with death, and she had been a pretty successful employee for her level and rank.


    One bad day and members of the Worker class would be in a debt cycle they could never escape. Players with wealth could afford to snark their way through the training, the worst penalty they¡¯d ever face was a day in the regeneration chair and taking the class over again. People at the bottom suffered a slow death by fees, and even if they tried to get ahead there was always something whether it was a flat tire or unexpected medical expense for their NPC family or Janitorial charging them for saving their life.


    ¡°You can go,¡± Rick said, and the worker sighed a sigh of relief.


    The man didn¡¯t need to be told twice, he scurried to the elevator in the back leaving Maxi with two others. Rick licked his finger and arranged his reading glasses and read the other. After some grunts, ¡°hmmms¡±, and general breathing noises, Rick dismissed the other.


    Maxi and the last employee didn¡¯t dare talking to each other. According to her glasses, the guy was not within 100 levels of her. From his power armor, Maxi guessed that he was higher level than her. His Tier and Class weren¡¯t public and Maxi guessed that he was a Porter. The man¡¯s head looked small in the helmet.


    After what seemed like forever, Rick got to the last page.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Rick said with a long drawl.


    The Porter¡¯s visor lowered and went black. Maxi got an alert in her glasses about a railgun on his arm going hot.


    Rick shot him in the head, and he chuckled. The man set down the text, and picked up the body by the shoulders like it was nothing. The power armor was easily the weight of a car, and Rick grunted like he was carrying a bag of potting soil.


    ¡°They always think the armor is going to save them,¡± Rick said. ¡°Now he¡¯s gonna have to pay the repair bill on that helmet.¡±


    Figuring that no one was taking the test, and he was between grading, Maxi risked speaking, ¡°What kind of gun is it?¡±


    When Rick was done moving the body and putting it in one of the oversized chairs, he pulled out his weapon and spun it like a gunslinger and said, ¡°Colt Peacemaker.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve fired way more than six shots,¡± Maxi said, eyeing the bodies he had accumulated through the training. While she didn¡¯t know the first thing about guns, her mom had a no weapon rule in the apartment, and considering she had psychic powers that¡¯d decimate an entire SWAT team, she didn¡¯t need them. However, she¡¯d seen weapons like his in movies, and she was pretty sure an important plot point revolved around how many bullets were in the gun.


    ¡°You never need to reload when you have Ever Bullets,¡± Rick said. ¡°Armor Piercing Ever Bullets, in case you¡¯re wondering. There¡¯s always some yahoo who thinks they can avoid training because of their fancy armor. Fancier the armor, the more expensive the repair bill.¡±


    ¡°I better let you get back to your work,¡± Maxi said as he sat down.


    ¡°No can do,¡± Rick said and put his legs up on the desk. At the same time Maxi thought that she was about to be harassed by the guy who teaches courses about harassment, he pulled out a lunchbox from a backpack on the floor. He fished out a Turkey sandwich and took a giant bite, mayonnaise staining his mustache. ¡°Lunch break.¡±


    Maxi had enough. She had taken just about as much bullshit as the company could muster. ¡°What the hell!¡± She snapped and jumped to her feet.


    ¡°Nothing I can do. Lunch break is in the contract. I¡¯m obligated to take it.¡± He said between mouthfuls.


    ¡°I¡¯m not arguing that you shouldn¡¯t take it, but can you take it a few minutes late? After you grade my test!¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± He dug back into his container. ¡°Contract says noon to noon thirty.¡±


    ¡°So take it from twelve o¡¯three to twelve thirty-three. It¡¯s a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t. Contract says noon to noon thirty.¡±


    ¡°Why are you punishing me because the company can¡¯t staff a fucking training properly!¡±


    ¡°Why are you so eager to die?¡± He said while poking a straw into a juice box.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to grade my test.¡±


    ¡°In my experience,¡± The man said in the same slow drawl. He ate a chip, and switched back to the sandwich. ¡°The people who turn in the test last don¡¯t always do so well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a stereotype!¡±


    ¡°Never said it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    Maxi sat down in a huff. There could be worse situations where Maxi could have to wait for thirty minutes. She could be waiting with a sick kid in a mega store for the pharmacy to open. A soup line with a dwindling supply of food when she was starving... People on death row had to wait.


    But it was all subjective, a death row killer may have some damage in their brain where waiting for their own demise felt no more important than brushing their teeth in the morning. A person waiting for the bank to open on their way to work could feel like they were being tortured if they put their mind to it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The feelings Maxi was experiencing was less the wait, but more the accumulation of all the bullshit she had endured since working for the company, from having to set a timer when she showered to sleeping in a pod to bigger concerns like how many people she¡¯d be able to save at the end of the month who were cut out to be company workers, it finally burst.


    Not to mention that she wasn¡¯t sure if she would pass the test. It was easy, but her head wasn¡¯t clear. Frayed nerves, test anxiety, and her mind that never stopped working didn¡¯t leave much room for taking tests. While she had died before and been brought back before, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she may be shot in the head in thirty minutes. She checked the time, less now.


    No matter how many times she died, and the chair brought her back, there was still the nagging fear that this time might be the last. She didn¡¯t know if there was a limit to how many times the chairs brought someone back. The higher level players avoided death, claiming the penalties and time to regenerate made death not worth it. However, was there a limit being revived?


    Terry had told her that there was nothing in his database about a revival limit, but that wasn¡¯t the same as not being one. How would she know if an employee reached their limit and was marked as terminated when it had nothing to do with job performance?


    Rick munched his chips and made harumph noises. ¡°If it¡¯s all the same,¡± He said after a while between mouthfuls of chips and turkey. ¡°Most of my training is bullshit. It¡¯s about common decency. You treat your coworkers right, and they treat you right. If someone turns out to be an asshole¡­ then we have ways of dealing with assholes.¡±


    ¡°One person¡¯s asshole is another¡¯s freedom fighter,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°What?¡± Rick said.


    ¡°Nothing, it was something my dad used to say,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Henry was a good man, despite what they say.¡±


    ¡°You knew my father?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Power Twelve, who wouldn¡¯t?¡±


    Maxi had a flash of memory. Looking through her father¡¯s file, there was a signature on his employee evaluations, a receipt by HR. While she couldn¡¯t decipher the name, she remembered a giant R.


    ¡°You signed my father¡¯s employee evaluations.¡±


    ¡°I see his file is no longer private after what happened, god rest his soul.¡±


    ¡°You were there during his disciplinary hearing, the one for unauthorized transit to a quarantined world.¡±


    Rick winced and set down the remains of his lunch. The man changed to the expression he got right before he was about to shoot someone. Maxi had seen it enough times to know what it looked like. She left her hands where they were right before she asked the question, she didn¡¯t even ready a psychic attack.


    She figured he was high enough level, maybe even a Tier 2 or 3, that she wouldn¡¯t have a chance against him. Fighting back only risked him using more force than necessary and risked permadeath. The far better option was to see what he did next.


    ¡°That was a hit on your father¡¯s character, but who am I to argue with Upper Management?¡± Rick said to Maxi¡¯s relief. ¡°I didn¡¯t think we needed to go that route, but when you¡¯re in HR, sometimes you do what you¡¯re told.¡±


    Maxi wasn¡¯t sure if he knew that the file had been heavily redacted, so she decided to pretend that she knew more than she did. ¡°Yeah, it was a crappy situation. He was doing what he thought was best.¡±


    ¡°There weren¡¯t even any grutomaton outbreaks. The whole thing was political if you ask me.¡±


    Maxi wished she had some time to look through his personal files before having the conversation, so she could bullshit more, but she had to assume it was about the Printer of Never Jamming. However, she didn¡¯t want to reveal more than she thought he would know.


    If her father had traveled to a world that was off limits and infested with grutomatons, she¡¯d bet everything that it was related to the printer. While she didn¡¯t trust the man enough to let him in on the quest, considering there were people who¡¯d destroy it, or worse use it to their own ends.


    She didn¡¯t see him as the type to use the cure to the grutomaton virus for his own profit, but she had also recently toppled a conspiracy of players who would cause the apocalypse on Earth, so they¡¯d have a shot at being the Power Twleve on another world. Maxi had some trust issues lately, so she elected to try and squeeze as much information out of him as possible.


    ¡°I wonder what he was looking for?¡± She asked, figuring it was a safe enough question.


    ¡°You know damn well what he was looking for!¡± Rick snapped.


    Maxi froze and wondered if she erred in her judgment. She had figured that the reprimand on his record wouldn¡¯t have included any information about the Printer of Never Jamming. Her father wouldn¡¯t have said anything, and could have given a million reasons why he was caught breaking quarantine.


    Maxi hoped that she hadn¡¯t tipped her hand about knowing very little about the incident. But after a moment, Rick seemed to relax, and Maxi felt the tension let out of her body.


    ¡°I get it,¡± Rick said with a more even tone in his voice. ¡°You figure. It happened long ago. Things are probably okay now. The grutomatons have killed everyone that they are going to kill, but they don¡¯t just form packs. They form herds. I should know. I¡¯ve seen it. I was on the extraction team to save him. We were lucky to make it out alive. Whatever you think you are going to find there, it¡¯s not worth it. We can¡¯t go home again. It¡¯s gone. Earth is our home now.¡±


    Maxi¡¯s eyes twitched. If Rick was a poker player, she would have just revealed to him that she had a straight flush or some other nearly unbeatable hand. Rick was from her world, like Cassidy. Out of the billions, only hundreds survived. Maxi couldn¡¯t imagine the trauma her mom¡¯s generation carried with them.


    If her dad was willing to go back to where he had lost everything, then it must have been important. Pinocchio doesn¡¯t climb back into the belly of the whale if it wasn¡¯t important. No trinket or remembrance of her homeworld was worth going back other than the Printer of Never Jamming.


    She wanted to get back to her computer, check the link to her father¡¯s files. Maxi felt like she was close, the printer, her father, it was pointing to her homeworld, not that she had any connection to the place. Earth was her home. New York was the only city she had ever known.


    It was hard for her to think of her parents'' world as her home. Sure, she was born on different soil, but all she had ever known was Earth. How much of her was the dimension where she was raised versus the one where she was born. She didn¡¯t think of herself as anything else, yet here was the opportunity to go to a place, had circumstances been different, that she would have called home.


    She tried to imagine if she would have been different had she been raised in a world with an extended family and couldn¡¯t. Part of her wanted to believe she¡¯d be the same regardless of the circumstance, but she couldn¡¯t. She could no more undo her life than she could unscramble an egg.


    Now, there was a possibility for her to see what may have been if her eggs were scrambled in a different place. She realized the ridiculous egg analogy that somehow aptly described her emotions, and laughed.


    Rick frowned. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing,¡± Maxi said. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about scrambled eggs. It¡¯s 12:30, want to grade my test?¡±


    Rick pulled out his glasses and her test. Some licking fingers and ¡°hmms¡± later, he put it down and said, ¡°You passed.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Maxi said. ¡°Can I go now?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± Rick said. ¡°But one more thing. Don¡¯t try and bullshit a bullshiter. Your Emotional Intelligence is shit, and I saw through your feeble attempts to figure out what happened to your pa. They redacted most of the file for a reason.¡±


    ¡°You got me,¡± Maxi said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Rick said. ¡°Cause if it gets back to me that I was the one who told you how to get back to our homeworld, I¡¯ll put a bullet between your eyes and not the kind you come back from we clear?¡±


    ¡°Crystal. But you didn¡¯t tell me how to get there.¡±


    ¡°Good, because if you have the right intentions when you use a particular word in those elevators, you can make it a sort of a codeword to get you to a particular destination.¡±


    Before she couldn¡¯t puzzle out what he said the elevator dinged, and he smiled to another group, ¡°Come in. Come in. Welcome. It¡¯s time for your annual HR training.¡±


    Maxi slipped out of the room while she had the chance.