《Reality Benders: Countdown by Michael Atamanov》 Introduction. First Contact How many ways have writers, astronomers, philosophers and military theorists imagined humanity''s first contact with a celestial intelligence? Or Earth¡¯s observatories receiving intelligible signals from deep space? Or what about the discovery of interstellar artifacts or even living aliens when excavating ancient burial mounds or pyramids? And the appearance of ominous extraterrestrial starships over our largest cities? Heavenly bodies falling, different kinds of UFO''s crashing? Meeting ¡°brothers in intelligence¡± on far-off planets? Invasion? War? The extinction of everything alive...? But the way it really happened looked more like a stupid joke, hoax or intrusive advertisement, so humanity didn¡¯t believe it was the real First Contact right away. One day, a popup window appeared on many popular websites, blocking off the whole screen. Despite every computer user¡¯s habitual and instant reaction, it was impossible to close. In it, a video showed a furry humanoid creature somehow distantly reminiscent of the abominable snowman, but with thick dark-red fur. That tall bipedal alien had piercing black eyes, a flat dark nose and a wide mouth. Its clothing was somewhere between a suit of armor and a helmetless spacesuit. The first thing it did was raise a clawed hand and give a friendly wave to its captive audience. With a very strong accent, the humanoid gave a speech adapted to the language of the receiving country: "People of Earth, by right of first discovery, the civilization of Shikhars declares its authority and jurisdiction over your planet. We will provide one Tong of safety to your world, but the fate of humanity will depend exclusively on what you do with that time. You have now made sufficient progress as a species, and may take part in the great game, the game that bends reality. So, come play and earn the right to take your place among the great spacefaring races!¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. That was followed by strange diagrams and blueprints, then the fifty-second clip ended, and the popup window closed all on its own. You surely understand that only stupid people would believe in such a primitive and artless sham. Even the most gullible viewers thought it was just an actor in a hairy suit delivering an awkward advertisement for some new computer game. But some naive individuals had questions. Television studios invited experts to inspect the ¡°blueprints¡± from the ad, and they all came to the unanimous conclusion that even the most surface-level perusal revealed them to be pure gobbledygook. The technology depicted, they assured us, didn¡¯t even have a power hookup, so it could not work even in theory. Interest in the video of the furry alien didn¡¯t last long. The ad kept coming though. Eventually, when yet another movie, news site, or sports broadcast was interrupted by the obnoxious popup, no one cared what it was for anymore, and just got mad. Unhappy internet users the world over installed pop-up blockers and wrote all kinds of complaints to the tech support of the affected sites. Authorities tried to fight the viral ad and threatened grave consequences to the mysterious hackers who¡¯d played this stupid practical joke. Sys admins learned to quickly block the bothersome video. Data-security specialists tried to determine its source, but it was skillfully masked. They all assured us, though, that they would soon pick up the trail of these impudent scofflaws. And although they were never tracked down, after just a few weeks, the ads stopped coming and the whole earth breathed a collective sigh of relief. Thus, the greatest event in human history, settling the age-old dispute about whether extraterrestrial intelligence existed in the Universe, played out as a chaotic fiasco. Sure, it was noticed by a great number of people, but practically none of them realized what it was. There still were lone enthusiasts, though, who wanted to find out more about ¡°the game that bends reality.¡± Despite the expert explanations asserting the absurdity of the designs, these stubborn weirdos believed they seen a miracle and some even built the device depicted in the blueprints... Chapter One. Online Tournament Yes, we knew that it was risky and illegal. We understood perfectly that we¡¯d be booted out of university and fly home with a whistle, if it was discovered that we were the ones hosting these for-profit online gaming tournaments. And especially if they found the gambling software. Nevertheless, we took the risk. Why? Hard to say. At the beginning, it was easy to understand. My roommates and I organized the very first tournaments from our dorm and purely for money. After all, we were borderline-poor university students. But then, after we''d earned some cash and no longer needed to risk it, we simply couldn¡¯t stop ourselves. By then, money no longer played the biggest role. Adrenaline, the thrill of the game, respect among our classmates and popularity with girls were plenty of motivation on their own. We understood perfectly that, as the scale of the tournaments grew, more and more people would find out what we were up to. That would make it harder and harder to keep it a secret from our teachers, the police and our university¡¯s security. All the tricks we used to maintain the anonymity of the participants and organizers of the tournaments could only work until serious information-security professionals looked into the matter. We were keenly aware of that. More and more, my friends and I would hint that it was time to close up shop or say that the next online tournament would be the last. But that was always followed by yet another one, then another and another... This time, our grand PvP tournament had attracted students from every dorm in Moscow. It had begun midday on Saturday and was still underway now, at five o¡¯clock in the morning on Monday. Out of eight hundred players initially, just thirty-two had made it through the qualifying matches. And I was among them. Yes, unlike my roommates, who handled the servers, encryption software and bookkeeping, I actually participated in the online battles quite often. And, a decent chunk of the time, I even won, taking fairly sizable monetary prizes. And I never used any ¡°immortality mods,¡± cheat codes or other unfair methods. All I needed to win was my powerful computer with a top-of-the-line graphics card and good processors, fast ping, familiarity with the game maps and weapons and, most importantly, nimble fingers. I always used different pseudonyms in the game and was sure none of the usual players had guessed that many recent tournaments had been won by just one lone man. And now, I was playing. With the virtual reality helmet on my head, and my fingers on the buttons of the ergonomic glove controller, I was totally immersed. To me, he world outside the game just didn''t exist... *** I was running up a steep spiral staircase to the third and highest floor of a luxurious palace. I stopped to catch my breath. Endurance practically at zero, my thick column legs were shaking, and my sides were puffing out like smith''s bellows. I rasped heavily and opened my mouth like a fish out of water. There was just not enough air. How hard it was to be a giant! My choice to play an Ogre Fighter had come to me spontaneously just a minute before the start of the final match. The randomly selected map was a medieval castle with huge gloomy rooms, narrow passageways and steep staircases. That would be very disadvantageous for the Drow Archer I''d used to get through all the earlier stages so, at the very last moment, I decided to change it up. I had never played such a large character before, and the inconvenience of this heavy body came as an unpleasant surprise. My six-hundred-fifty-pound Ogre was unable to run or clamber up drainpipes, and even a mere steep stairway was a serious obstacle, eating up all my endurance. Also, there was nearly a second of delay between inputting a command and the character reacting, which was particularly hard to get used to. That inertia nearly cost me my life in a recent scuffle with a crafty Human Assassin, who had easily dodged the blows of my huge two-handed pole-ax. I had to take an unusual tact ¨C I wound up to swing my weapon but, instead of striking, I splayed my arms and jumped forward. That knocked the crouching man off his feet and I luckily managed to press my nimble opponent to the floor with my girth. With the assassin deprived of his main advantage, mobility, I finished him off easily, just twisting his neck with my bare hands. That assassin was my fourth frag in the final, so I had just thirty-seven percent life remaining. Too little to win. A critical situation. While my endurance dawdled back up, I opened the leaderboard. After nearly an hour of gameplay, just four of thirty-two players remained: my Ogre, a Human Spearman, an Elf Archer and another unknown character. Since no players had managed to spot them yet, their race and class were listed as a question mark. And meanwhile, this unknown person had managed to kill three. Pretty cool. Must have been some kind of invisible stealth character, attacking people from behind while cloaked.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. An alarm rang out, informing us that the tournament would be over in five minutes. I needed to hurry. I opened the map. Apparently, there was a long straight corridor behind the closed door in front of me. If I were playing the elf archer, I would be keeping watch for my opponents there, shooting them down from afar. A very convenient place for her. I needed to keep that in mind. Throwing open the doors flagrantly and loudly, I made a decisive step forward, then took a sharp jump back. And right then, a long arrow with red fletching slammed into the doorframe at the level of my head! I was not wrong. The Elf Archer had hidden exactly where I supposed. Not wasting a second, I ran forward, giving a terrifying savage roar. A loud shout could sometimes cause enemies to freeze in confusion and fear, which was a real help. All the more so when it came from a huge man-eating giant. Even the greenest amateur understands that one arrow to the chest will not stop such a massive death machine. Where might the feeble archer aim, on a huge beastly Ogre? Obviously, for the head, which would do increased damage. So, just as the elf loosed her bowstring, I blocked my face with the broad blade of my pole-ax. Clink! I got lucky ¨C the arrow ricocheted aside and my weapon gave a shudder. Dumb move! She should have shot at my legs and slowed me down. Then she could get a couple more shots off. But the pointy-eared Elf was acting too predictably. After that failure, she lost courage. But she stayed standing, loosed another arrow, then tried to run away. But it was too late! I hacked diagonally down and from the right, and the pretty long-eared girl''s head rolled along the stones, lopped off by my heavy pole-ax. A fifth frag! And without losing any health! I stopped and opened the map again. There wasn''t much time left. Where could I find two more enemies? At that moment, as if answering my question, just twenty steps in front of me, behind yet another door, a distinct yelp sounded out. Another enemy down. I wonder who died this time? I opened the player table. The name of the Human Spearman went dim, then the number opposite my last remaining rival flipped to a four, meaning he had gotten another frag. And again, the victim didn''t manage to see his killer. Skillful bastard, what could I say...? In the upper right corner of the screen, the timer was ticking away, telling me there were just two minutes until the end of the match. If several players survived to the end, a rematch would trigger, and the eight best cyber-athletes of the final would meet again on the same map. Oh, please not that. I could barely think already after the many-hour gaming marathon. What was more, I had an important test in third period today, which I wanted to study for then, ideally, get a little sleep. Well, forward! Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Throwing the door open, I immediately stumbled back, repeating the trick I used on the Archer. But no one attacked me. Strange. Somewhat calmer, I looked around. The gloomy little room was strewn with furniture. It had two exits, one to the left and one to the right, but they both led to the same semi-circular ivy-covered balcony. There was also a circular hatch in the ceiling and a rope ladder hanging down. Perhaps, the mysterious stealth character was up there. But most likely, my opponent was somewhere here in the small darkened room, hiding in invisibility and waiting for me to slip up. Now, my mission was to somehow discover him without exposing my vulnerable back. Many game classes could get a critical hit by stabbing a rival in the back, and that meant elevated damage. I cut the ropes of the ladder, then made a crisscross in the air with my pole-ax and led the blade along the floor a few times abruptly. Nothing. Either my enemy was skilled enough to dodge silently (which was hard to believe), or he just wasn''t here. But then, where was he? Waiting up above? Hardly. After all, he probably also wanted to end this here and now, not play a rematch. Could he really be waiting for me on an open well-lit sunny balcony? Come on, that was nonsense. Why would a stealth character give himself away and come out of the shadows? I looked around again. There was simply nowhere to hide in this small room. Shelves, a little table, an open cabinet with crooked doors. Cutting through space with my weapon again, I convinced myself that my opponent was not here. Another alarm screeched out. Just one minute left in the final. So then, I needed to make up my mind. Go out onto the balcony through the right door, or the left? My rival must have been waiting for me behind one of these doors. He was probably watching my agonizing from invisibility right now. Luck of the draw. Would I manage to come face-to-face with my opponent and kill him, using my giant''s advantage in strength, or would I make the wrong choice, get stabbed in the back and lose? With a heavy sigh, I made my decision and... with all my might, spending all my endurance, I slashed the cabinet with my pole-ax! My heavy weapon cut into something soft. Bingo! Instead of boards and splinters, blood spattered, and a cloven body fell to the floor. A Shapeshifter. This class would wait for prey and attack an unsuspecting victim from behind, usually killing in one blow. They were used very rarely in online tournaments because they moved slowly, had to get right next to their victims, and would be absolutely helpless if the first blow didn¡¯t kill. Unexpected choice, but I had to admit that it had very nearly brought him victory. ¡°Hell yeah! Did you see that?!¡± I shouted in elation to my roommates, removing my virtual-reality helmet. And froze... My dorm room was full of people wearing the dappled gray uniforms of the Moscow Police Department. My friends were pinned to the floor, their wrists cuffed behind their backs. ¡°Yes, we saw,¡± chuckled a mustached man holding a snub-nose machine gun. He looked to be in charge here. ¡°How ¡®bout you make like your friends and get on the floor, spread your legs and put your hands behind your back. Don¡¯t make me repeat myself, champ.¡± Chapter Twenty. Around the Bay I really did have a truckload of questions and another small-cartfull to boot, so I didn¡¯t even know where to begin. On the mini-map I noticed that the four First Legion soldiers had hopped into the following two vehicles, so I decided to ask the details of our current mission: ¡°I suspect the faction didn¡¯t send three armored vehicles all the way to the Geckho base just to buy me a scanner.¡± The driver of the Peresvet gave a happy chuckle at these words, and Ivan Lozovsky couldn¡¯t hold back a smile. ¡°Of course not,¡± the diplomat was in a kind-hearted mood and decided to answer my question in detail. ¡°Our faction just sold a large shipment of goods to the Geckho. Mostly rare steel alloys, rolled metal, and high-tension glass...¡± ¡°Palladium ingots...¡± the level-54 Mechanic-Driver by the name of Vadim cut into the conversation, but immediately went silent, intimidated by the fearsome gaze of the diplomat. ¡°Yes, and palladium as well,¡± Ivan Lozovsky confirmed after a long pause. ¡°However, the fact this convoy was carrying valuable metal was top secret, but apparently the whole faction already knows. We¡¯ve got just sixteen tons of cargo, but fifty-five thousand crystals. This is the largest shipment our faction has ever made. It¡¯s a remarkable success for our faction, but also a huge responsibility. Our suzerains have already paid for the goods, so now it''s a matter of honor that we reach our buyer the buyer.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier to send it by sea?¡± I asked in surprise. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of leaving the cargo at the Geckho storehouses on the pier.¡± Ivan Lozovsky gave an unhappy chuckle and shook his head. ¡°It isn¡¯t all so simple. You see, Gnat... How can I explain it...? The Geckho are a very populous space-faring race, but their society is very multifaceted in structure. The Geckho have many leaders of all different kinds and levels, and each commands a group or tribe. Between the various leaders and groups, there aren¡¯t always trusting and warm relationships. So, the Geckho responsible for the pier on the Antique Beach, and the ones buying the cargo...¡± he got stuck trying to choose his words. ¡°I get it. In that way, the Geckho are just like people. If extraterrestrials wanted to send some platinum to, say, North Korea, they might think it reasonable to leave it with say, South Korea. But since they don¡¯t get along, it would never reach its intended destination, even though they¡¯re relatively nearby and transport should be no issue.¡± The diplomat clearly found my example funny, and even laughed: ¡°It isn¡¯t all quite so hopeless as in your example, but you get the idea. We couldn¡¯t send it by sea. And now we¡¯ll have to bring the valuable cargo around the bay through three neutral nodes. Twenty-nine miles each way through swamps and forests. By the way, this is the first serious test of our Peresvets. Until now, we¡¯ve gone a few times on somewhat more basic trucks, but then we had an order of magnitude less cargo, and it was of lower value.¡± The diplomat went silent, because a man in a camouflage smock appeared on the road ahead. An ally, as I determined by the green marker on the map. The First Legion scout gave us concrete information when we were closer. Our driver clearly knew the man, started smiling, lowered the armored glass on his side and stopped. The acquaintances exchanged handshakes, and the Scout extended a tablet to the driver: ¡°Vadim, here¡¯s the route. It¡¯s basically like the previous one. But the pass near the Harpy Cliffs is closed due to a landslide. You¡¯ll have to take a two-mile hook. We¡¯ve marked the detour on the map. We¡¯ve checked the whole length of the road and cleared fallen trees in a few spots. The boulder you got stuck on last time was also dug out and rolled away.¡± Here the scout saw Ivan Lozovsky sitting next to the driver, stood at rigid attention and hurried to issue a report: ¡°Comrade deputy director! Late last evening in area 22-40 we observed an army jeep of terrestrial variety at the Geckho space port. It came to the Geckho base from the north on a gravel road. It contained four members of the H1 faction. A diplomat, driver and two bodyguards. Our soldiers did not reveal their presence and the vehicle was let through unimpeded.¡± ¡°Good job! I suppose that was the Chines coming to apologize to our suzerains for the low-quality security-system sensors. I imagine They¡¯ll let them have it...¡± The driver and his acquaintance both snickered together, but the diplomat put a damper on their happieness: ¡°I don¡¯t see what''s so funny here. The Chinese will take it into account and quickly correct the faults in their system. But them delivering one piece of bad technology does not diminish the fact that the H1 Faction is significantly ahead of us in semiconductors and electronics.¡± The scout grew serious and, placing his hand on his helmet, wished us a pleasant ride. Our Peresvet raced off into the thick fog. Three minutes later, Ivan Lozovsky, having led his gaze over a crooked leaning barrel, commented for me: ¡°We¡¯ve just crossed the border into neutral territory. This node is strategically important for us. There¡¯s access to the sea and the shortest path to our suzerains¡¯ base. And there we can trade, get new technology, access the space port and improve our development. Overall, our faction is very lucky the Geckho base was relatively nearby, and we have smooth trade relations with the fast-developing race. I cannot even imagine how we¡¯d get by in this difficult world without the technology we get from our suzerains.¡± Perception raised to 21. That short message popped up before my eyes, making me shudder. What? Why? I checked Gnat¡¯s stat table, and made sure Perception really was one unit higher. I was reminded that during the Assassin¡¯s phys ed class, Svetlana had said that any statistic can be improved, and the first improvement comes after eight hours of intensive use. That meant that I had been using my Perception actively for eight hours already. Cool! And meanwhile, the diplomat, turning the settings of his sophisticated radio, sent a message to Outpost One that our scouts had seen members of the Human-1 Faction. After that, he turned off the radio and turned back to me:This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Unofficially, we consider this node ours already. Our faction calls it Karelia due to the similar climate and landscape. It borders three of our territories: Capital, Yellow Mountains and Antique Beach. We always have a few scout groups here, and our military divisions often comb through the area. Also, our faction Geologist Mikhalych sometimes comes here to work. There are no organized enemies here. The only threats are a large pack of man-eating wolves, lone wild bears over level 100, and poisonous snakes in very large quantity. But all those living creatures won¡¯t stop our faction from founding a base here.¡± ¡°But then why haven¡¯t we done so yet? Especially if the Karelia node is so important to us!¡± ¡°Gnat, we have less than fifteen hundred people in our faction, and that is not enough to do everything. It¡¯s scary to think, but we now have just one capable guarsman for every square mile of territory, and that¡¯s barely to hold our external border. Due to the lack of people, the enemy occasionally breaks through our lines, and can remain in our lands unnoticed for weeks at a time, as you¡¯ve already seen. So, expanding our territories and extending communication lines is a huge risk to us.¡± I lowered my head, downcast by such alarming news. No, I had already understood that we didn¡¯t have many people. But I didn¡¯t even come close to understanding the scale of the problem. Seeing my disheartened state, the diplomat tried to perk me up: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Gnat! In a few weeks, if everything goes according to plan, we¡¯ll get the Antique Beach node up to level two, then we can bring another hundred seventy-four players into the game. But that, to be honest, is if we manage to build two new corncobs. But I hope everything goes smoothly both in the real world and the virtual one. Then, our manpower situation will improve, and I¡¯ll ask Radugin about building our base in Karelia. Before we expanded into the Eastern Swamp, I suggested this might make a better choice, but I was in the clear minority. All other faction leaders voted for the Eastern Swamp, because it has oil. What''s more, the Eastern Swamp node borders the Dark Faction, so it was very important to occupy its oil fields before our enemy and fortify on these territories. Perhaps my colleagues were right. In the last couple days, we got a oil refinery up and running, and now we have plenty of fuel to send our vehicles on longer journeys.¡± Cartography skill increased to level thirty! Scanning skill increased to level twenty-two! I dismissed the popup messages. Not bad, not bad. I was even somewhat lucky that I was taken on this long-distance three-node route. By the end of the trip, I suspected I would get at least one more level in Cartography, and maybe even two! But I still wanted the deputy faction head to explain why I¡¯d been schedule for patrol. So I asked him. ¡°You see, Gnat...¡± I again could sense the diplomat straining to find the words, as if he was afraid of saying too much, ¡°we have long suspected, and are now quite certain, that some of our people are working for the Dark Faction. Otherwise, it''s hard to explain a string of failures in our scouting and combat operations, and the fact that our enemy knows about our secret developments and negotiations with our neighbors.¡± Seeing a lack of understanding on my face, the diplomat clarified: ¡°Yes, Gnat, this is a harsh world. What¡¯s more, there¡¯s too much riding on this horse ¨C the survival of all humanity. And so we torture our prisoners, dragging out all information by any means necessary. Yes, it''s barbaric, but the enemy does not hold back with our soldiers either. Anyhow, most of what we get is useless, but sometimes we hear surprising tidbits. For example, before we finished building 152-mm howitzer installations at the Prometheus, the enemy already knew not only about that top-secret technology, but even the exact location these howitzers were to be placed!¡± Holy crap! I whistled in surprise. All that meant there had to be a leak. And this wasn¡¯t the kind of information every H3 player would have, either. ¡°And there¡¯s another cause for worry. There have been strange rumors swirling recently that the Dark Faction is quickly gaining strength, and is already a head and shoulders above us in technology. Very soon, according to this rumor, resistance will be futile. They say our days are numbered, all our nodes will be captured, and we will no longer even be able to enter the game that bends reality. But supposedly, our players who manage to join the Dark Faction and earn recognition will receive asylum and can even leave their virt pods not under the Dome, but in their world. After that, they can supposedly change sides and play for the Dark Faction.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard that a few times,¡± our driver clenched his teeth angrily and gripped the wheel with such force that his knuckles went white. ¡°We all understand that these degrading thoughts aren¡¯t even ours. It¡¯s just enemy mages trying to muddy the waters. Cheap propaganda like the Nazis used back in the war. ¡®Russ, surrender, there¡¯s plenty of food and shelter in our camps.¡¯ History tells us what happened to those who gave into such enemy agitation. My great grandfather was surrounded by Germans near Kiev in ¡®41, and he surrendered. He and a hundred thousand other captives were tortured in a concentration camp.¡± That time, the diplomat didn¡¯t interrupt the driver and let him say his fill. After that, he continued his thought: ¡°And it so happened, Gnat, that you were rude to Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. With many people around you either gave him the finger or showed him your bare ass. Various stories have reached me. After that, you called him an especially bad name, something to the effect of calling him an impotent dotard. You said that his magic was total dregs and that you could handle it easily. But before that, you offended his granddaughter, stripping her naked and taking her clothes and lens.¡± ¡°What?! I didn¡¯t even do a tenth of what you¡¯re saying!¡± ¡°Gnat, it doesn¡¯t even matter now whether you did it or not. I¡¯m telling you the story the way I heard it. And that exact story, believe me, is what our enemies heard as well. After all, Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin is a very important bigwig in the Dark Faction hierarchy. In his homeworld, he¡¯s part of a ruling Triumvirate. So, the old mage cannot simply close his eyes to an insult and pretend nothing happened. His own people just won¡¯t accept it. They¡¯ll start doubting his right to rule. Beyond that, as with any high-status player, he has an Authority stat, and your insults brought it down a good deal. And now put all that information together and you tell me what you were doing in the forest just now?¡± I thought very briefly and gave him a full answer: ¡°I could tell right away I was being used as live bait. But it wasn¡¯t like the traitor would capture me himself. More likely, he would simply send the information to the other side about where to find me. So, you were using me to test a suspected traitor for level of access to information. The whole faction thought I was headed to the Antique Beach. Very few knew better, that I¡¯d be let out at the fork. And it was just a few select people who knew I¡¯d be going in this truck convoy to the Geckho base.¡± ¡°Wait, wait!¡± Ivan Lozovsky interrupted me. ¡°You¡¯re basically right, but this caravan is not part of the plan. That was a spontaneous improvisation on my part to take you with us. In fact, Dmitry Zheltov was supposed to come soon and bring you back to the Capital. We told him you were going to be in the forest to scan territory and determine the border between water-flooded cave systems that are inhibiting construction.¡± A very thin pretext to my eye. Who would believe such crap? But the diplomat''s next words overturned my doubts and mistrust: ¡°There really are such subterranean caverns. There are even some dangerous creatures living in them that gobbled up a group of excavators digging a ditch the day before last. So, you being sent there should have looked natural. Fortunately, the Dark Faction informant was not in the know and was just one of the lower-level players. So, the enemy sabotage group attacked the little bus. We were ready for that, the Second Legion made it quickly and didn¡¯t let any of them get away.¡± Chapter Twenty-One. Harpy Cliffs THE PERESVET DASHED first through a forest clearing, then some swampy hollows and meadows with grass as tall as a person. The all-terrain transport confidently overcame shallow streams, stones and rocky slopes. I kept a close eye on the road and surroundings, expanding my map the whole time. Cartography skill increased to level thirty-one! Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-six! Everything was coming together just perfectly! I liked this trip more with every minute. Also, this was an excellent chance to find out about the surrounding world and its laws. Ivan Lozovsky wouldn¡¯t pipe down for a second and told me something about every part of Karelia we passed through. But mostly, the diplomat told me about the structure of Geckho society, which he had spent a long time studying. They had many outposts throughout the cosmos, and many powerful space fleets. He also told me about meeting several significant furball leaders. Ivan Lozovsky also told me that he was the only person in our faction to have visited the Geckho planet Shiharsa. As the official representative of a new vassal, he was officially introduced to Krong Daveyesh-Pir himself, one of the highest leaders of the Geckho and the official sovereign of our Earth. All that was very interesting, but I was interested in more earthly matters. I decided the time had come for a very important question. I really should have started with it, but I kept putting it off. What exactly was the Dark Faction? After all, it clearly wasn¡¯t one of our usual governments, nor some top-secret special service or representatives of a highly important corporation. Magic, strange technologies, unusual social structure, a language unlike anything I¡¯d heard on earth... All that spoke to them being totally alien to our world. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the diplomat agreed. ¡°They come from a parallel world, an alternate reality, another version of our mother Earth. Call it what you like. We share a common history with roots in the darkest depths of time. But at a certain point, our worlds split and became incompatible with one another. We cannot say for sure why. Now we can encounter the inhabitants of that alternative Earth only in the game that bends reality. In this game, we can access a primeval Earth. A sort of blueprint for the planet. But, no matter how many alternate Earths are out there, there is only one in here. Also, events in the game impact not only our world, but all other versions as well.¡± ¡°Hey, hold up,¡± I got caught on the diplomat''s last words and decided to delve deeper. ¡°How can the game contain a primeval Earth if the Geckho just discovered it?¡± ¡°Well, the Geckho didn¡¯t create the game that bends reality. It has existed long before them. The Geckho discovered it themselves around three hundred tongs ago. That is a bit longer than one thousand years in our reckoning. What''s more, even then, the game had other inhabitants. For example, there are the Trillians, an ancient race of space nomads, wandering from one planet to the next. And the Meleyephatians, a warlike and extremely aggressive race of conquerors that enslave planets one after the next, making them obedient vassals and members of their horde. And the Geckho have discovered evidence of much older races that no longer exist, the Precursors, Mechanoids and Relicts. The Geckho have learned a lot about this game. But even a thousand years later, our wise suzerains do not know all the mysteries and laws of the game that bends reality. All the same, we can say for sure that the Geckho introduced our planet to the game.¡± Again, he went to his favorite topic, the Geckho. But I asked Ivan Lozovsky to return to the Dark Faction. ¡°We first encountered them four months ago. We know for certain that they are also newbies in the game and built virtual reality pods after seeing a video clip just like the one we got. And now, they are actively expanding their holdings just like us. Our territories have bordered one another for the last two months. Ever since then, our conflict has been heating up. We keep sending more and more soldiers of higher level, but there hasn¡¯t been much headway. Now, it is truly a struggle not for life, but to the death. By the way, you should find it interesting to know that they call us the Dark Faction. To them, the Koreans, Chinese, Russians, Americans, Japanese and whatnot are one and the same. And the game identifies us as such, ¡®Dark Faction.¡¯¡± ¡°Interesting, but does the Dark Faction have one initial base or a few like our world?¡± ¡°Now that we, unfortunately, do not know. The Geckho refuse to answer that question, maintaining neutrality as not to influence our conflict. And we have yet to take any prisoners from the Dark Faction of a high enough level to have such information. Perhaps Minn-O La-Fin, who we captured yesterday, may have known the answer but Leng Radugin forbid us from using enhanced interrogation on her. Also, she was instantly ransomed, exchanging her for two of our soldiers. Our only clue is that, three months ago in the Poppy Fields node, which is to the northeast of Karelia, our scouts witnessed a firefight between two Dark Faction squadrons. So, it is possible that our opponents also have various sub-factions.¡± ¡°But that isn¡¯t for certain,¡± the driver threw out. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that, the poppy plants are predatory and release intoxicating vapors. First, reality starts to glitch, then you fall into a deep sleep and the poppies entangle you in their roots and suck out your blood.¡± ¡°Yes, that is true,¡± the diplomat said. ¡°It is possible the Dark Faction soldiers were under the influence of the poppy fumes. But that isn¡¯t the only evidence for other human factions. For example, take that captured IR lens... Can I have a look?¡± I unclipped it from my helmet and handed it to Ivan Lozovsky. He turned the item over in his hands and squinted, trying to read the miniscule script. Yesterday, I had also tried to figure out what was written there but didn¡¯t encounter a single familiar character. ¡°Mhmmm... Quite a curious little item. Too bad I didn¡¯t get a chance to talk with its owner yesterday,¡± the diplomat said, handing it back to me. ¡°You see, Gnat, that is not the language of the Dark Faction. But the lens was clearly made for humans because no other race I know of has the proper anatomy to use it.¡± ¡°Gerd Tamara said the same thing yesterday,¡± I reminded him. ¡°She said it was made for people, but not by the Dark Faction.¡± ¡°Yes, I have never seen letters like this before. That is not the Geckho alphabet, nor Miyelonian symbols. It is all very strange... By the way Gnat, up ahead are the Harpy Cliffs, the next node on our journey. Its main feature is a wall of nearly impenetrable cliffs, which are inhabited by a huge number of birdlike humanoids. And a lot of them seem to be flying around today...¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Successful Perception check. Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-seven! He was right. I could see no less that one hundred of the strange winged creatures spinning around above the cliffs and looking down in agitation. The harpies looked spooked. Maybe it was some kind of predator or other threat. I told my companions. ¡°So it seems. Fortunately, we aren¡¯t going there,¡± the driver answered, also looking at the flock of dark-colored bird-men. ¡°We generally take a shortcut through those cliffs but, as you heard, its blocked today. We need to go around. And I say that¡¯s a good thing ¡ª I hate those assholes! They shit on our windshields, throw rocks at us and shoot us with their crossbows...¡± ¡°The harpy are fairly intelligent,¡± the diplomat replied. ¡°They can use missile weapons and firearms, are willing to negotiate and quickly learn foreign languages. They even can be enticed to trade from time to time. But the foremost rule that must be observed when talking with harpies is that one must never believe a single word they say! They disdain everything that cannot fly. Also, in the harpy lexicon, there aren¡¯t even such concepts as ¡®honor,¡¯ ¡®debt,¡¯ or ¡®agreement.¡¯ To the harpy, tricking a trusting neighbor and breaking one''s word are considered barks of great honor. And mocking the weak and wounded is their favorite pastime. They''ve made problems for us before. Fortunately, the harpy have no weapons that can damage our Peresvets.¡± Then, one thousand feet from the cliffs, our truck and two others took a sharp turn to the left down a road parallel to a ridge of high overgrown hills. I was surprised to see the flock of mythical creatures start quickly flying in our direction! And although Ivan Lozovsky assured me the harpies were powerless against our vehicles, I that put me on guard. Before that, I was watching the road and surroundings closely, leveling my skills. But now, I was darting my eyes in every direction, utterly paranoid. The harpies were intelligent, so they must have known our vehicles were too strong for them. But they were coming in our direction nevertheless. Suspicious! They clearly had some plan of action, or they saw something from above we hadn¡¯t yet guessed. I spent a few seconds waiting impatiently for my scanning ability to reload, and quickly activated the icon. Scanning skill increased to level twenty-three! I saw many markers on the mini-map and took a closer look. They were all expected, although... in front of us, there was a narrow space between nearly sheer cliffs with a huge deep puddle. At the very narrowest point, our path was blocked by a chain of red markers. I zoomed in on the suspicious part of the map and read the description: Antitank mine ¡°The road is mined! Next to the puddle! Brake!!!¡± I screamed in a voice not my own, warning of the danger. But our driver answered in a surprisingly calm voice that betrayed no emotion: ¡°Yes, I know...¡± And he pushed the pedal to the metal, turning our armored car right toward the chain of mines! * * * I had to admit, I didn¡¯t understand what was happening right away. At first, I thought the experienced driver wanted to speed up to get around the mines through the deep puddle to the left or (I mean, who knows what antigravs are capable of?) up the practically vertical surface of the cliff to the right. Then the diplomat grabbed the wheel and tried unsuccessfully to turn it. I only realized the full gravity of the situation when he shouted at the top of his lungs: ¡°Help me, you bonehead!!! Can¡¯t you see, his mind is under control!¡± Vadim was pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor with a glassy look and holding the wheel firmly with his iron grip. Most likely, I should have tried to find a hand break or to pull the key from the ignition. But in my panic, I totally forgot about such humane methods of stopping the armored vehicle. The seconds were ticking away, and I needed to act decisively. So, I took out my shotgun, placed it to the driver¡¯s temple and shot with both barrels. Sharpshooter skill increased to level seven! Rifles skill increased to level twenty-two! Most of the windshield and the whole left door were spattered in blood and flesh. The lifeless and practically headless body of the driver fell to the side. I was deaf, but the most important part was over. The mad driver had stopped resisting and Ivan Lozovsky managed to turn the wheel. Just twenty-five feet from the deadly obstacle, we turned sharply to the right and flew off the road. At our high speed, the transport first tried to go up the steep slope, but fairly quickly slammed into a double-trunked tree and came to a stop. My forehead slammed painfully into the armored glass, reducing my health by half. Bleeding! You will lose 3 HP every 3 seconds for 20 seconds. Despite the damage and pain, I exhaled in relief. I had 310 hitpoints of 518, so the bleeding wouldn¡¯t lead to anything serious. The diplomat sitting next to me also looked somewhat disheveled and bruised up, but it looked like he¡¯d be fine too. Placing his right hand to his cracked lips and making sure all his teeth were still in place, Ivan Lozovsky looked at the blood on his fingers and winced in pain: ¡°I''m afraid this is not the end of our misfortune. There must be an enemy Psionic Mage very close, as he managed to take Vadim under control. We cannot stay here. Mages do not travel without support. Here you go, Gnat.¡± The diplomat put his chair back, opening a passage to the covered trunk. ¡°There¡¯s a highspeed cannon mounted back there, get into firing position. I¡¯ll get on my radio, tell the others what happened and try to get the car back on the road.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a Prospector. I cannot use an automatic weapon!¡± I remembered in time and added that I could not pilot flying vehicles either, which probably applied to the antigrav. ¡°Damn! Out of all the game classes, I had to join up with a Prospector!¡± Ivan Lozovsky lamented, not hiding his annoyance. ¡°Wait! Gnat, where are you going?!¡± I had opened the side door and was jumping out of the vehicle. Ivan Lozovsky was totally right. We absolutely could not remain in the immobile vehicle. I also sensed that. The enemy''s main forces must have been waiting in ambush on the main road at the narrow pass. I suspected that was exactly what had the harpies so worked up. But our column took a detour. The enemies weren¡¯t expecting that but, just in case, they mined the detour as well. The flock of harpies after us had been following the enemies on the ground. They knew the road was mined, and we couldn¡¯t get out. So, if my thinking was right, this place would soon be lousy with enemies. With just such unhappy thoughts in mind, I scrambled up the steep rocky slope to get a better view and help my allies find the hostile troops. I heard a deafening thunder from behind me. It was the second Peresvet. It had turned its cannon and was firing practically point blank at our third vehicle. This was probably also that enemy Psionic Mage! I also noticed that two soldiers had run to the head Peresvet from the second vehicle. Ivan Lozovsky opened the door for them and the first soldier took shelter in the cabin. But the second didn¡¯t manage. I didn¡¯t see the shots or even hear them. I just saw a pair of bright flashes reflect off our vehicle¡¯s armor and the soldier fell to the ground, already dead. Another bright flame lit up a bush next to the Peresvet. Clearly one of the shots meant to kill my ally had landed there. I quickly ran to some thick bushes and lied down behind them. I tried to follow the firing trajectory from the burning bush above the corpse, and that led me to some thick vegetation somewhat below my position fifty feet away. Most likely, the enemy sharpshooter was crouching somewhere over there. But no matter how closely I stared at the dense thicket, whether with the IR-lens or without it, I could not see an enemy. But then I saw something more interesting. Not far from me, there was a tall old man on a rocky outcropping wearing a dark hooded robe and holding a long, crooked staff. He was standing in the open just above the second Peresvet. He was waving one hand and the skull atop his staff was glowing. Leng Thumor-Anhu La-Fin. Human. Dark Faction. Level-108 Psionic Mage The very same Dark Faction Psionic Mage who attacked me during the prisoner exchange! My heart started pounding. Here was the last thing I needed!