Borderlands Online: Chapter 21 (Patreon)

I glare down at the ten players, a frown on my lips as I disrespectfully take another sip from my drink. "Now... let's talk." 

"I leave for just one week and you lot decide corporate espionage is the optimal path for you..." 

I inhale then slowly exhale. "Let me just first say this: it's not what you did that angers me so... it's how you did it." 

"You see, I'm not really that pissed you betrayed Avalon Industries... your plan... I'll admit, it had some potential of working out. However you were a fucking idiot about it. You go to this criminal Jabba the Hutt ass meatball of a person fully expecting that he'd value you more because you're 'daddy special little boy', like this is some video game and you're the main character. But news flash Kibby-boy. This is real life." 

"If you had just, I don't know, given the key fragment to one of Jabbo's Lieutenants, or another thug, had them present the info and the key to Jabbo... you get in the gang, you get your sick 'easy money' slavery jobs, you get a bunch of bodies to throw into the meat grinder of a vault." 

"Your plan... could have worked." My eyes narrow. "But no. You wanted the credit. You imagined that Jabbo would trust and value some random piece of shit that came out of the woodwork, arrogantly requested a meeting with him, then betrayed their previous allegiances at the snap of a finger... for what? Why would you want to leave a full-on corp, clearly from a trusted position as you had information on a vault, to join a small-time criminal empire? People here aren't stupid. He likely clocked the fact that you were either a rat and were just seeking to use him or a corporate plant seconds into your spiel about the vault." 

"You ruined a plan Argo made to assassinate the fat lard, after she spent the past five days memorizing guard rotations and what times the fat bastard ate... and when best to slip poison into his meal. Had you just spoken to Argo... or any of the other vault hunters here on the planet about your plan? Things might have gone differently. But no. You were Greedy, Impatient, and about as naive as damned infant. You wanted to monopolize Jabbo's time and maybe even become one of those 'super cool Mangalorians' right? You're doing the exact same thing you accuse me of doing..." 

"You're a fucking Hypocrite Kibaou." I scoff, crossing my arms. 

"But no. That doesn't irritate me. What does is the fact that you went to a fucking crime boss... and you ran your mouth. You TOLD a bunch of slimy fucks about Avalon Industries' vault... do you want to know how many of Jabbo's goons have tried to sell that information to other corporations? Tried to sell the info that Avalon industries is the FIRST Corporation known to have opened a vault in the modern day?" 

"One hundred and thirteen... in the past twelve hours." I crouch before the imprisoned players. "One hundred and thirteen of them... tried to sell the info to anyone who would listen. Atlas. Hyperion. Dahl. Maliwan. Hell, even fucking Tediore." 

"You could have played this mysterious angle to upsell yourselves. 'Oh, me and my boys here opened a vault in the past!' Make yourselves out to be badass vault hunters and even better? It'd technically be the truth, and you wouldn't be selling out the millions of players back on Eden five." 

"That's right, Kibaou. You pulled a fucking Marcie Halloway. You didn't keep your damned mouth shut and nearly called down ANOTHER army on Eden five... and one not led by Atlas' nepotism dance troupe general. Your loose lips could have killed us ALL." 

"THAT. Is why I'm so fucking pissed at you Kibaou. You don't THINK. You have no form of long-term planning! You think to yourself 'ooh. This'll be an easier way to clear the vault.' Not realizing you're making everything FAR worse not only for yourself but everyone else! Do you think that the others could take on thirty three mangalorians by themselves?!" 

"Hell no! One. Two at most. They could have killed one or two Mangalorian. And not one of the more impressive ones. Six of our greatest and most powerful vault hunters could probably slay one milk-toast run of the mill Mangalorian. And you got thirty two more of them called to the planet. Not to mention their war chief who's probably worth fifty Mangalorians by himself." 

I stare down at the ten of them for a long moment, rattling my drink. I take a brief second to close my eyes and take a sip. 

"Now..." I eventually breathe out. "What to do with you ten..." 

I crack open an eye. "Reasonably. I could just kick you all into that pit behind you... make an example of you dumb fucks so others don't try and pull this traitorous bullshit in the future." 

They start wriggling in their bindings. 

"But." The wriggling stops.  

"I'm not at the point of killing fellow vault hunters. I'm not a damned savage. Despite what you all seem to be claiming I am. Also that'd really turn the consumer base against me. I mean, not even two months in this clusterfuck and I'm already executing people?" I quietly shake my head before thinking on it a moment more. "I mean, if your stupid plan got someone I cared about killed? Fuck yeah, you'd be deader than dirt. I probably wouldn't have even explained to you why I'm doing this; I'd just blow your heads off." 

"I could also just fire you all from the corporation and set you loose... but, knowing you, Kibby boy, you're petty, you're annoying, and above all else you're fucking stupid. You'd find some other way to fuck us over, probably being actively malicious this time instead of just through your sheer stupidity. You'd spread rumors about me being a 'tyrant', go running to the other corporations, saying that we found a 'vault'. Despite seeing how this shit turned out for you. Five steps away from being tossed into a murder pit." 

"But. To prevent that situation where I WOULD have to send someone to take your life, I've given it some thought. You will remain in Avalon Industries. No need to thank me for my graciousness." 

"Instead of death or banishment... I have other uses for you. You'll still be used as an example. Your items and your echo devices are going to be confiscated. Especially that sanctuary item from the vault. Next. You're going to be put on a one-way ship back to Eden five... where you will then be gifted a nice, snug, compact, minimalistic, secure featureless room of a grey color... well, except for you, Kibby, Argo gets to pick out what eyesore you get to live in. As a treat. For not being a backstabbing little shit. I reward my employees." 

"To put it simply, you lot can't be trusted, so you're just not going to be playing anymore. I'm proverbially grounding you all." I frown. "Now. Being locked in solitary could definitely be seen as torturous... but. Don't let anyone ever tell you I'm a heartless monster... you WILL have a television... or the potential of a television." 

"But you have to earn it. You ten are... encouraged to change your jobs to Novice Gunsmiths... then Apprentice Gunsmiths and so on. You all will be given quotas, and when you meet said quotas you may then have your TV time. If you EVER want to make it out of your... child safety boxes, you'd better get pretty good at gunsmithing, right?" 

"Now, let's get you out of here!" 

[Split] 

I step into a dusty bar, almost a skip to my step, my eyes stray over a bartender then to the door to the back room.  

I step over. 

"Oi. Employee's only." The bartender calls out. 

"I own the bar... and likely the entire planet because I just blew Jabbo's head clean off." I deadpan as I swing open the door and descend the into the dark basement passageway. 

As I enter an underground chamber I call out. "I'm back with the milk." 

This was clearly at some point in the past a storage room. It's cool in here, almost chilly. But it appears to have been repurposed recently. There's numerous screens along one wall. 

Instantly a blonde, the only person in the room, dives at me, clinging to my legs like a leech. "Vergil! Vergil never leave us again! Do you have any idea how much of my time was WASTED because that soulless ginger decided he had to make the biggest series of mistakes of his life?! Oh god! There's dozens of mandalorians here now! Please- please tell me you have a plan, right?! They've got the vault key fragments! Jabbo took Kibaou and his goons out of the town about three hours ago and they haven't come back yet! We bought a Sandskiff and Klien souped it up for us, we should be able to catch them and... You're smiling..." 

"I took care of it." I huff. 

"You... took care of it?" The girl echoes. 

I casually twirl the completed vault key around my finger and smirk. "Yep. Jabbo's dead and I've hired a few mercenaries to help us clear the vault." 

"Mercenaries?" The girl echoes. 

"You've probably heard of them. Their leader goes by 'Jango Bett'." 

"No..." She whispers.  

"Yep." I smile. 

"No... you- you didn't..." She repeats as she clings to my legs, glancing up at me with a look of awe on her face. "You- you solved our issue literally ten minutes into being back on the planet." 

"Yep." I repeat, my smile becoming a slightly smug smirk. 

"HOW?!" 

"Money." I simply answer. "Money solves a lot of things... also I did kind of blow Jabbo's head schmoove off before any of the Mangalorians could do so much as lift a finger." 

"What about Kibaou?! Is he dead?!" Her eyes almost glow. 

"Nope." 

"DAMN IT!" She hisses, gritting her teeth. 

"I have other plans for him." I reach down and slowly free myself from the girl's grasp. "And on that note. Congratulations, Argo! You get to design a prison for him! That's my gift to you." 

"REALLY?!" Her eyes almost sparkle. "You're the best boss ever!" 

"Haaaah." I run a hand through my hair. "I am, aren't I? I really do wish you had let me continue my little vacation, though." 

"NO MORE VACATIONS." The girl growls. "I swear, if you even THINK about leaving me in charge again, I'm handcuffing myself to you and you'll just have to live with me clinging to you every step of the way!" 

"Really not beating those 'Harem Girl' allegations." I stare for a long moment as I take a seat on a nice plush couch. "ooh. This is nice. Not a bad base of operations, Argo. Better than the sewer, at least." 

She seems to realize something as I stretch my arms up. 

"Wait a second." She mutters. 

She walks over and promptly lifts my shirt. "What the hell is this?!" 

"Oh my, how forward, Argo! Please be gentle with me! It's my first time-"  

"Shush!" She glares for a brief moment, a flustered blush crossing her cheeks before she glances back to my stomach. "Why'd you get these tattoos?" 

She flinches back as they abruptly glow, she trips, falling on her ass. "Eh?!" 

"My vacation was... very fruitful." I give her a small smug wink. "Anyways, let's call in some drone operators and start scouring the planet for the vault. You can message Kiriko and whoever's on lookout that I'm back, Jabbo's dead, and the Mandalorians are on our side now... but admittedly, they don't know who you all are, so maybe steer clear of them." 

"Anyways, I found another vault." I hum, kicking my feet up on the table. "We're not getting to it until late-game though... what I DID collect, however, is the loot and research from that vault... as another corporation opened it in the past, stepped inside to an obsidian and green crystal landscape... and didn't realize they were walking on a vault monster." 

"Anyways, one of the things the previous company researched was teleportation. However, it's quite limited. Planet-wide at most. Can only teleport to a more or less static pad supplied by energy." 

"TELEPORTATION?!" 

[Split] 

Argo finally calms down after skimming through the information I had collected. Copies are made, it is split up among numerous drives. We are doing everything to ensure that this knowledge can't be misplaced. 

"So... uh..." She mutters under her breath. "What's the deal with your level... it's a skull..." 

There's a setting you can toggle to hide your level. But it's not perfect, it shows your level if you're within ten levels of whoever's looking at you, if you're ten levels higher or above? You're just a skull. 

"What level... are you?" 

I glance up. 

Argo: {Level 64} 

My eyes stray back to my level. 

Vergil Sparda: {Level 163} 

"Enough." 

"What? Dude that's a fucking cop-out just give me a fuckin' level. And what's the deal with the tattoos? You brushed me off earlier." 

"Level one-six-three." I roll my eyes. "Oh, and you unlock a second action skill slot at level one-fifty." 

"WHAT?!" She shrieks. 

"And the tattoos... one of a kind pearlescent class after I glitched the game." I note. 

"Wh- What the hell do you mean glitched?! Can WE do that?!" 

"Nope. I was only able to do it because of class-modder. You see. People on Gehenna- as you saw from the data I recovered, used a substance known as 'Core'. 

"BUT. One of the uses that wasn't on there, was something discovered more recently. When a gang of outlaws called the Devil Riders started using Core as an additive to their Tattoo ink, in order to make glowing tattoos. But they inadvertently discovered that infusing yourself with 'Core' in this manner... gives you super speed." 

"SUPER SPEED?!" She gasps. 

"A form of it, at least. The action skill has a fairly long cooldown for the uncommon version. One hundred and eighty seconds for fifty percent enhanced perception and movement for around five seconds." 

"In this universe, there are six women known as 'Sirens'. Girls with glowing markings over their bodies with supernatural powers. I met one on another planet, this one's level range from about forty to one hundred, and convinced her to let me create a class-mod of her powers... her pearlescent powers." 

"Now, class modder has a special feature later in its skill tree, one where I can EQUIP the class mods of other classes to gain the skills from them... and even gain their action skill." 

"I went to Gehenna, I tattoo'd my arm a bit- REALLY painful. Wouldn't suggest, I did around fifty thousand points of damage to myself to get even a simple band around my arm- although I probably used the highest purity core on the planet to achieve that, so lesser core will probably do less." 

"Then... I quickly looked over the class' upgrade paths with my Class Modder skill... and I saw it... 'Core-Touched Siren'. Also pearlescent, but... its requirement needs you to have a core tattoo and 'have the infinitely small chance of Siren Powers randomly awakening in you after one of the living sirens die'." 

"But. As it turns out. I had siren powers on hand. I channeled them through the tattoo... blew up my arm, did around two hundred thousand points of damage to myself. Boom. I'm now a siren despite not being a girl... and despite there only supposed to be six at one time. Thus, the glitch. Which has likely been patched by the numerous Ai running this game so nobody else can ever attempt it again." 

"I am now a deterrent." I admit proudly. "I was casually boxing level two hundreds back on Gehenna and winning. Realistically, I could probably solo the next thirty or so vault monsters quite easily." 

"However. What good would that do? What happens when I am no longer able to do that? Progress grinds to a halt. People who are unexperienced in fighting vault beasts now must face the fortieth one underleveled and underequipped?" 

"No. I'm going to sit on my ass. Stay in the back and make plans. Like I always have. Frankly? If someone figures out I'm secretly a raid boss in disguise? I'm doing something wrong." I decide. 

"Now... let's see here. I've got three papers granting Seraph classes. Kiriko gets one, but I'm not sure about the others. Not Philia as she's working towards her own Seraph class. Diavel could be a good choice?" 

"Uhm... what about me?" Argo smiles, a glint of greed in her eye. "I'd loooooove those Seraph Class Benefits! 

"No. You're not a 'Monster Hunter'. If you're in the front-lines something has gone horribly wrong." I wave off. "We'll get you some other Seraph class or better." 

[Split] 

"So?" I prod. "How is it?" 

The black haired girl looks down at her hands, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Huh... it's really good, actually. The action skill has an hour long cooldown, but I can designate any non-robot, human, or vault-monster as my 'target' and gain greatly increased damage and damage reduction against them. Fifty percent and twenty five percent respectively... and it has no duration. Lasting until either it dies or I use the action skill again." 

"The skills are ludicrous as well, a five-rank skill with ten percent health per rank and five percent melee damage. There's a skill that lets beasts and animals drop 'unique crafting materials', oh! There's even a grappling hook skill. Less like a Mandalorian, more just hurling a grappling hook with my hands it seems. An 'Energy Tether' to my 'Target' that pulls me onto their backs if they're large enough. 

"Well, let's see if this class can upgrade any. Give me your hand for a sec?" I hold out my hand which she takes a moment later. 

My Class Modder alternative action skill activates. 

"Huh... Vault Monster Hunter. Pearlescent Class. you just need to participate in the deaths of five vault monsters." 

"Only five?" Argo asks from where she is sat nearby. 

"Keep in mind I got this from a late game planet. There'd likely only be anywhere from ten to twenty vault monsters left at that point. Each of them being utter bullshit in their own rights." 

"But... this just means that soon we're going to have four early game pearlescent classes!" I smirk victoriously. 

My smile falls slightly. "It would have potentially been more if SOMEONE let me continue my vacation."  

"Yeah!" Argo agrees. "That damn Kibaou!" 

I huff at her immediately throwing the man under the bus. "Sure. Sure. That damn Kibaou." 

[Split] 

A woman with blue hair slips into a shady looking building, a slight frown on her lips. 

The music thumps against her chest, her hand tightens slightly around her bag, people mill about, dancing and drinking, overall just having a really good time. 

Her efforts in searching for the siren on this planet led her here. A night club. 

She stops at the bar. The bartender glancing up with a frown on his lips. "What'll you have?" 

"I'm looking for some information?" Maya quietly announces, voice nearly drowned out by the music around her. 

"Oh? That doesn't come cheap." He grounds out. "Price changes depending on what you're looking for. What sort of info you want?" 

"I'm looking for the Tiger of Partali." She can see the bartender's eyes widen slightly before narrowing. 

Maya's eyes snap down as she raises her hand, there's a faint pulse of purple as the gun he was reaching for slides along the underside shelf of the bar. Not quite a 'phase-lock' more of a 'phase-shove'. A brief tap into her powers to move the gun without trapping it in a bubble. 

She lets out a gasp as she suddenly lurches backwards, a large glowing hand reaching up through the floor, nearly trapping her in a bubble eerily similar to her own phase-lock bubbles. 

A bar stool cracks slightly as she swings her own hand out. 

She is trapped in a bubble just as another figure is trapped within her own phase-lock. 

They wear a brown cloak that obscures their body, a faint glow shining from within on their left side. 

"Hoh?" The woman in the cloak gasps. "No... really?" 

The hand slowly releases her, causing Maya herself to allow the figure free from her Phase Lock. 

The cloaked woman pulls her hood back, revealing a dark skinned woman with long dark hair tied back into a ponytail. 

"I heard someone was looking into me, but... another siren?" A smile slowly crosses her lips. "What brings you to Partali, I'd like to say... friend? You didn't hurl me with that power of yours, so I'd call you a friend." 

Her gaze strays around the club before she taps the side of her head. "Ah! Right, we should probably take this elsewhere." 

The woman reaches out, her arm quite muscular. "My name's Amara. The Tiger of Partali!" 

"Maya." The blue haired woman replies, shaking her hand as they step past the bartender into the employees only area. 

[Split] 

"So! Maya. What brings you to my little shithole?" Amara asks, kicking her feet up on a dusty sofa. 

"I heard you were a siren." 

"Hoh? Is that it?" The dark-skinned beauty hums. 

"Honestly? Yes... all of my life on Athenas... I didn't even really know I was a siren... I've had these powers since I was an infant. I was- to be completely and totally honest- worshiped as a goddess by a monastery of monks, the Order of the Impending Storm." 

"But they were just using me as a threat to the surrounding villages... using me as an easy excuse to extort them for whatever they wanted..." Maya admits quietly. 

"Then some kid, one who was too sneaky for his own good, broke into the monastery to kill me... but seeing as I had no idea what the monks were doing, he decided to speak with me. To tell me about The Sirens." 

"And you believed him?" The woman across from her asks. "He just showed up, told you about sirens, and you decided to go out into the world." 

"It's less that I believed him... more... things weren't adding up." Maya shakes her head. "He told me about how Athenas had a 'Siren Queen' in the past and, well, I just so happened to remember the titles of a few books I was forbidden from reading, such as 'the Siren Queen' and 'Rein of Dido' which was her name according to the boy... I reappropriated those books before I left, but I haven't had much time to read them cause I was looking for you." 

"Wait- you were looking for me? Did this kid tell you about me as well?" 

"He said you were out here fighting crime." Maya nods slowly. "And well, The people back home are scared of me, so I figured I might as well get out of their hair. But it's my fault that they were extorted. I heard of how the monks planned to release a wild pantherbat into one of the villages- the kid had recorded their voices as they plotted- and, well, I wanted to go out and try and redeem myself." 

She rolls back her sleeve, glancing down at her arm as the blue markings she had hidden glows slightly. "Do some good with these damned powers. Maybe find out a little more about sirens along the way." 

"Huh..." The other siren simply hums glancing to her own marked arm. "You know, I haven't really heard much about sirens in the world. Sure, I looked a bit when I first got these powers a few years back, but aside from a few internet posts about how Atlas' got one as a commander or whatever, I really haven't heard much... well, aside from the core rules of 'They're always women and there can only ever be six of them'." 

"Sorry about the rough welcome. These powers haven't exactly been the largest blessing at times. I've gotten a lot of heat because of them. Lot of bounty hunters. I've had to rip my fair share of Mangalorians limb from limb just to get people to leave me be. So I get kind of worried when I hear someone's looking for me." 

"Oh, I understand, the boy who brough me here just kept stressing how much someone would pay for me and that I should keep my arm hidden at all costs. The patherbat's out of the bag now, eh?" 

"Mn, maybe. Your power's fairly similar to mine from what I saw, most people might assume it was all me." Amara shakes her head as she stands offering a hand. "Regardless. You want to do good? Alright. I accept!" 

"S-Seriously?!" Maya blinks. 

"Damn right. I've personally managed to clear out around thirty percent of the crime in this hell hole. How much would I be able to do if I was joined by another badass like me!" 

Maya stands, accepting the handshake. "Alright! I'll help in any way I can!" 

"Glad to have you, Maya!"