376: Permission (Patreon)

‘Present token,’ groaned the robed undead, and Junko stiffened slightly.

‘I don’t have a token, but I—’

‘No token, no passage.’

‘But I need to go through! This is really important, I—’

‘You are blocking the way. Clear space for other gate users,’ said the undead, with a lazy wave of its arm.

‘There are no other gate users, just us!’

‘No token, no passage,’ the undead moaned. ‘Next. Next in line. Present token.’

Yue slid forwards, patting calmingly at Junko’s shoulder. The younger woman was glaring at the undead, shoulders tense and fists balled.

‘I do have a token, as it happens,’ Yue said, drawing a piece of silver from one of the many pockets attached to her robes. The silver flashed in the sunlight as she waved it under the nose of the undead, then it vanished back into her pocket. ‘Now, allow us passage.’

The undead barely seemed to register her presence, staring fixedly ahead. ‘That is not the token. You have no token. No token, no passage. Present token if you wish to pass.’

‘She doesn’t need a bloody token,’ snapped Marlowe, stomping forwards to make his own attempt. ‘She’s a Hero of Humanity! You know what that means? She’s here to save us all, including half-rotted pieces of shit like you. Tell ‘em to open the gate!’

‘Yeah!’ said Maverick, letting out a few barks as he lunged forwards at the undead’s ankles. ‘Let us through! If we want to go and get ourselves killed, who are you to stop us, huh?!’

The undead’s head slowly turned to stare down at Maverick, then rose to take them all in, one after the other. ‘No token, no passage,’ it said at last, with, if Serrin was any judge, just the faintest trace of smugness.

He considered stepping forwards and making his own try, but didn’t think he’d do any better than the rest of them, and besides there was something terrifying about the idea of embarrassing himself in front of Junko.

‘Well,’ said Marlowe, turning to the rest of them, palms up in a helpless shrug. ‘I figure we need a token.’

‘Yep. We tried, we failed, let’s go get lunch,’ said Maverick, already trotting back in the direction they’d come from.

‘No,’ said Junko, stepping forward until she was back in front of the undead, scowling up at it. ‘I’m not giving up that easily.’ The undead gazed back dispassionately.

Marlowe rolled his eyes, then caught Serrin staring and glowered.

‘What if I don’t want to pass?’ said Junko to the undead. ‘What if I just want to ask some questions? Are you able to answer questions?’

‘No token, no—’ The undead trailed off. After a moment, it said, somewhat unhappily, ‘I am charged to answer questions. Ask your questions.’

‘Oh, are you?’ replied Junko, with a sudden smile. ‘I want to know all about the Dead City beyond here and I want to know how to get a token.’

‘The Dead City is full of wild undead, and demons, and rogue People, and other bad things,’ sighed the undead. ‘Player portals cannot be opened in or out of the Dead City. The Dead City is very large, much larger than this sector. Most of you would probably die in the Dead City.’

‘Can’t portal in or out, hmm?’ said Yue thoughtfully. ‘How would that affect Players like us, who aren’t supposed to stay in the city for longer than a day?’

‘Players must leave the City at the end of the day, unless they have a residence token,’ said the undead stonily.

‘These people have a token for everything,’ muttered Maverick. ‘Fucking bureaucrats. Almost as bad as back on Earth. You know there’s some fucker somewhere who set it all up to be as annoying as possible, and they’re just laughing themselves silly watching idiots like us trying to find a way through.’

‘Where are we meant to get these tokens from?’ asked Marlowe.

‘Noble houses possess tokens.’

Junko made a face. ‘Is there any other source?’

‘Players can gain tokens as rewards for completing various challenges.’

‘Such as?’ asked Serrin.

A few of the others glanced over, seeming surprised to hear him speak. The undead stared especially long. At length, and speaking with what appeared to be great satisfaction, it told him: ‘I am not bound to answer your questions.’

‘What? Why not?’ he blurted, taken aback. ‘You’re answering their questions.’

‘You are not a Player.’

Serrin stiffened, recognising his mistake, but he was too late. Marlowe was between him and Junko in an instant, big metal fists raised. ‘Just as I thought!’ the man spat. ‘See? See?’ he added, casting a triumphant look around at the others. ‘He’s not human! He was sent here by them, whoever they are.’

Yue nodded. ‘As we thought.’

Maverick did not seem bothered, sitting on his haunches and scratching at his neck. ‘Knew he wasn’t human. Obvious, if you ain’t nose-blind. Besides, what’s the big deal about being human?’

Junko came forward, frowning up at him. Marlowe tried to block her but she waved him irritably aside. ‘You told me you were being honest with us,’ she said.

‘I am!’ said Serrin. ‘I... yes, I’m not a Player. Not… human. But everything I’ve said is true. I’m not your enemy.’

She gave him a slow, thoughtful look, before asking, ‘May I examine you?’

‘Examine me?’ he asked, uncertain. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It’s something every Player can do, but the information it gives is often pretty limited. For me, it’s a bit different, I get more information and I also learn… I guess it’s more an idea of who someone could be, than who they are, if that makes sense.’

‘Oh, I see,’ said Serrin, who didn’t. He had a vague feeling that Nicolai had mentioned this whole “examining” thing, in one of the number of briefings Serrin had been made to endure before they came to the City, but standing there, caught in her gaze, the memories seemed miles away. ‘Sure, go ahead.’

She touched him with her right hand and the golden pattern drawn on the back of it flashed bright. Then she just stared at the air in front of her, frowning slightly, the seconds stretching until Serrin was shifting uneasily from foot-to-foot.

All of a sudden she smiled. ‘Okay, I see. Good!’ She looked to the others. ‘There’s nothing to worry about.’ This elicited a frown of doubt from Marlowe, who exchanged glances with Yue. Meanwhile Junko turned back to the undead, who had been watching all this without any interest at all. ‘Answer the question. What are these challenges?’

‘I do not know,’ it said, and she let out a groan of annoyance. ‘That information is hidden,’ it added smugly, ‘there to be uncovered by those who search. Certain Houses or noteworthy individuals may know more.’

The group exchanged irritated glances then retreated and formed a cluster, grumbling to one another. Serrin stood uncertainly to the side, half-in, half-out. They were talking about what they could do, how to get through, and Serrin could quickly see that this discussion was not going to lead anywhere.

‘Our only choice is to join one of the houses,’ said Yue.

Marlowe and Maverick both looked hopefully at Junko, who was already shaking her head.

‘I’m not doing that. It’s just a bunch of people fighting and killing over nothing. It’s the last thing anyone should be doing!’

‘I agree with you,’ said Yue, putting a hand on Junko’s arm. Serrin’s mandibles twitched beneath his helmet as he eyed her, thoughtful. She was the only one practised in hiding her spiritual emanations, but she wasn’t perfect at it. From the minuscule leakages, he knew that she was lying. ‘But what else are we going to do?’ Yue continued, her focus on Junko. ‘We need the token, and joining a House is the only apparent way to gain one.’

Junko scowled and glared at the floor. ‘We can… I…’ she trailed off into stony silence. After a moment she looked up at the rest of them, face twitching from one unreadable emotion to the other. Serrin knew that all of her companions felt similarly as Yue, sensed their emotions like an invisible weight, and Junko seemed to feel it, too. She sighed. ‘I really wish I had another idea, but I don’t. Fine. It’s just… I’m meant to be a hero. This doesn’t seem like what a hero should do.’

‘Cheer up, maybe we won’t even be able to join,’ spoke up Maverick, attracting frowns from the others. The dog shrugged. ‘A lot of them have already started their trials. I think the whole process is halfway through. I don’t know what options we’ve got for joining a House. I’ll tell you one thing, we don’t want to be soldiers. I had a look. That’s obviously a shit job. We want to get a proper role, one of those titles.’

Marlowe shook his head dismissively. ‘We’ve got nothing to worry about. Junko just has to call on Striker or one of the others in front of some nobles, they’ll be falling over themselves to make her a member.’

‘Only because they’ll want to use me for their own gain,’ she said.

‘Yeah, well, I mean… yeah, but at the same time, we’ll be using them for our own gain, right?’ he replied, scratching at his metal jaw.

‘Which House shall we join?’ mused Yue.

Serrin saw his chance. ‘I have an idea,’ he said, once again receiving surprised glances from all of them. Surprised and, in some cases, irritated glances. Except for Junko, who looked at him expectantly, and Maverick, who was sniffing with what looked like great interest at a stain on the ground. ‘My friend is currently trying to join House Thrynn. So... how about that?’

‘Are you also a member of this House?’ asked Marlowe, for some reason suspiciously.

‘Uh, no,’ said Serrin, and he looked away. ‘I probably can’t join. I guess I’m not eligible since I’m not a player. I don’t have one of the stupid Marks. So.’ He did a big human shrug, which was meant to be dismissive and unconcerned, but he realised from the emanations he felt in response—especially from Junko—that it had likely displayed far more of his actual feelings than he’d intended.

‘Well, I can solve that,’ she said, and she reached out, grabbing his wrist. ‘Would you like to join my party?’

There was something very serious about the way she said it. Serrin sensed that this was a momentous moment, but he struggled to comprehend exactly why. Looking down at where she held him, then back up at her eyes, he wondered if he ought to ask for clarification, to ask what exactly she meant by that, what she was offering, what she expected. But he feared that if he did, he might lose whatever chance he was being given, whatever opportunity this was. More than anything, he was encouraged by the way Marlowe’s eyes bulged and Yue frowned.

What would Nicolai do? Serrin wondered, and drew a total blank.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I would like that.’

Her Marked hand flashed once again, and he felt a strange heat shoot through him and coalesce in his hand. Junko let him go at the same time as something sprung out in front of him. He stumbled back with a shocked gasp, staring at the floating screen that now dominated his field of view.

A Hero of Humanity, Junko, has used one of her party slots to grant you the status of Player.

Welcome to the Great Game.

###

Getting the box away from these attackers will not be easy, said Cyberwarfare, in a tone calculated to sound perfectly reasonable.

The defence system hrrrm’d in response. It was unhappy he was still up on the spire, rather than flying at full speed back to the Orb’s original home. The assassins down there were spreading out, flanking him. He’d engaged stealth and cool running but the box was still screaming loud, and he knew that before long they’d all work out his precise location and start shooting him. Precise or not, a few were already taking pot-shots, the odd high-calibre round taking a chunk out the tower with a sharp crack and a spray of obliterated stonework.

The spire crackled with green energy in response to one such random shot, then fired a bolt down at some distant assassin. There weren’t many undead guardians remaining, either. He only counted a total of eight, three floating in a vaguely protective fashion up here around his tower, the rest scattered on the rooftops down below. There wasn’t much sign of either lot picking a fight.

Nicolai and the Modules knew why. The defence system was still including them in its overall commands, after all.

The system was deeply concerned by the number of guardians and undead it had already lost, in fact it seemed convinced someone important was going to be angry about all this. Nicolai found this somewhat interesting, but he didn’t have the time to work out whether this place was actually real, or if Heaven had simply created all this for the Trial and implanted very convincing false memories into the defence system. Either way, the system was convinced that it needed to juggle longer-term responsibilities with what happened here, and was acting accordingly.

That in mind, he and the Modules had come up with a pitch.

But I have an idea, continued Cyberwarfare. A way to make sure the enemy doesn’t stick around. No more fighting, no more losses. They’ll leave by themselves!

The defence system hrrrm’d again, though he judged it a hesitantly interested kind of hrrrm, at the very least. Following his refusal to immediately fly off and take the Orb back from whence it’d come, the system had gone from very chatty to a sulky, grumbly presence.

The problem is this box, said Cyberwarfare, and then explained the plan.

The defence system didn’t like it. I need the box to keep track of the Orb! it said, the spiritual impression that was its voice practically a snarl. It must remain inside!

Nicolai and the Modules tucked that little fact away with delight. I know, but it is too loud. They are following it, said Cyberwarfare regretfully. Look at all the damage and losses we have already taken. If they pursue back to the centre, we will have to fight all of them. By the time this is over, there might not be any guardians remaining—and we might lose the Orb anyway!

The defence system churned with thought, so much so that it was somewhat loud in its deliberations. Through his connection to it via the Infiltrator, he and the Modules were able to feel the shape of its thoughts—mostly revolving around a deep worry about the opinion of authority figure, a worry that was tied to two things: Losing too many guardians, and losing the Orb. Some of the Modules did in fact feel a little bad for it, as after all it was kind of like an AI, but alas Nicolai had “authority figures” of his own he needed to look good in front of.

If you tell me how it works, continued Cyberwarfare, twinned now with Psychology, I’m sure I can open the box without leaving any sign. Once these invaders are gone, we will return it to where it belongs, make a new box for it, and no one will be the wiser…

The defence system deliberated, Nicolai and the Modules waiting. A .50 cal round blew a hole in the spire a few metres away from him, and Threat Analysis warned him the remaining assassins were on the way. They’d been communicating with one another, some of them were coming up here through various methods of flight, and in a moment they’d triangulate his exact location.

Conveniently, it was at that moment the defence system made its decision.

Thank you, master! said Nicolai-Cyberwarfare-Psychology. You won’t regret this!

[Author Note:

You’ll notice this chapter is shorter than they have been recently, aaaand... that’s because I’ve decided I’m going back to the shorter lengths. I realised that I really wasn’t happy about last weeks chapter - one of my main goals is to write great action, and I know it wasn’t up to the standard I’ve set in the past. And I also know that the reason for that, is because again I just don’t have the time. I don’t know what I was thinking with these longer chapters tbh, the whole point of going down to 1 chapter a week was that: I’m not able to write at the speed/volume I used to be able to write, the story was suffering as a result, so I wanted to reduce to a rate I could actually write at, so I went down to 1 chapter… then immediately said oh but these chapters will be the length of 2 chapters. ???.

Well, it’s becoming clear to me that this isn’t working. I still am writing each week’s chapter the week I upload it, usually I get them finished on Saturday an hour or two before I post… except, they’re not even properly finished because really I’d like to do a lot more editing. And the fact that I barely have time to finish, halfway edit them, then post them, obviously means there’s no chance of building my backlog. Which is also really bad for quality because my best work always comes when I write a chapter like a month ahead, sit on it for a bit, then in the weeks before posting it, go and do a big edit. I’ve not been able to do that for, idk how long, long time now. The only way this is ever gonna improve is if I just come to terms with the fact I physically cannot write as much as I used to and legitimately cut down.

I’ve also decided that, tho I want to keep you guys reading weekly happy, I also want to make sure that all the readers who come after and binge the story are reading a good quality story, and that the stuff I’m writing will be good to go when I finally put it on amazon and doesn’t need tons of editing (last weeks chapter for example… I feel that one needs a serious edit).

So, yeah… from here on out I’m just going to post an amount I feel comfortable with, something I can actually manage in a week while also being able to write a bit to build a backlog and hopefully edit to a point where I can actually say, yeah, I’m pretty happy with the quality of this chapter. I’ll aim for about 2-3k, some might be longer, some might be shorter, and hopefully I will be able to actually get back to where I was quality-consistency wise…]