Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The hum of the bus, and the gentle swaying, put Antoinette in a relaxed state. She didn’t mind looking at the dangerous sections of the city they passed through; she even made several jokes while she kept a hand on Midnight scratching behind his ears.

Finally, the bus made a final turn and she was back in familiar territory. She pulled the cord to notify the driver that she wanted off at the next stop. The bus slowed and when the doors opened, she stepped to the sidewalk in front of Wally’s.

With a spring in her step, she entered the shop and waved at him while he concentrated on cleaning the same weapon as every time she visited. She logged on to the terminal and clicked to complete the Sewer Cleaning and Go for a Ride quests.

Level Up!

There was a sound like coins clinking together and she saw her credit total update. There was a new quest that became available:

Don’t be a Hermit – Make 3 Friends

Antoinette wasn’t surprised with the newest quest. Most every game tried to incorporate a social environment; this was no exception. Three friends should be a piece of cake. She already had Ravioli, she just needed Wally and the bus driver and she was in.

“Hey Wally, do you want to be my friend?” She called.

Wally provided no response. She called again, but his answer was the same; which was no answer at all. So, if Wally and the driver didn’t count, there was always the blonde woman she saw get off the bus earlier. Maybe she had the same quest and they could help themselves.

Before leaving, she stocked up on shells. She had her bat in her hands when she left the shop and dealt with two zombies on her way back to the Safe House. With the ease she was able to deal with the shamblers close to her home, she knew that she was going to have to venture farther away.

She entered the Safe House and the woman’s voice greeted her.

"No weapons in the Safe House."

Antoinette was so excited that she forgot she was holding her bat in her hand at the ready. She lowered the bat and dark green zombie gore slid off on the floor. The podium raised out of the floor and she walked to it and waited for it to finish.

"Please insert the coin in the slot."

She pulled the disk from her pocket and slid it into the slot. Just as before, it hummed for several seconds and then retreated back into the floor.

“I’m not sure what the bone means,” she said while looking at Midnight. “Maybe something medical. Or maybe it has something to do with zombie bones, like a research facility and I’m supposed to find a cure?”

Midnight tilted his head to the left and right while she talked, trying to understand what she was saying. When she was finished, he barked and wagged his tail and followed her to the elevator.

When she entered her apartment Midnight walked into the bedroom as Antoinette logged on. The screen flashed:

Level Up – 1 Skill Point to Use

She looked at the changes to her level, Hit Points, Bloodshed and Stealth. Now the decision on where to use her 1 Skill Point. Antoinette still wasn’t clear on the whole correlation with the weapon Blueprint and what that entailed. She decided she would try and ‘bank’ the point, but there was back button.

Maybe if she just left the room, the terminal would hibernate and she could do it after she talked to Ravioli. Yes, she thought that was the best course of action. She walked to her bedroom and sat on the bed next to Midnight, who was taking a nap. She lifted her arm and looked at the watch on her wrist, wishing it was him that was calling her, not the other way around.

Hesitantly she got ready to tap on his name when she heard beeping from the terminal room. She slid off the bed and walked in the direction of the sound. When she made it to the terminal, a message flashed on the screen:

Time left to allocate Skill Point – 27 seconds

The message was in orange letters and was flashing as if announcing the rapture. With each blink the seconds ticked down; now at 21 seconds.

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

Antoinette hated stressful situations like this. She liked a well thought out approach, but there wouldn’t be that opportunity right now. As the seconds ticked away, she wondered what would happen when the timer reached zero. Would the system allocate the point randomly, or the highest skill? Maybe the lowest skill, or she might lose the point entirely; there was no way she was going to let that happen.

She clicked on Weaponsmith with the timer at 8 seconds and the flashing vanished. She looked at her stats:

Name

Antoinette

Level

4

Profession

Assassin

Race

Human

Health

33

Skills

Bloodshed – Rookie 3

Strength

10

Stealth – Novice 2

Intelligence

17

Accuracy – Beginner 1

Wisdom

13

Weaponsmith – Beginner 1

Dexterity

18

Inventor – Novice 1

Constitution

11

Charisma

12

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Special Skills

None

Now that the decision was complete, Antoinette went back to sit next to Midnight and make her call. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous, it wasn’t like she was asking him to Prom or anything else other than trying to get some more information. She tapped on her watch and then his name.

Several long seconds passed and she prepared to leave a message for him, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be flirty or not. She was surprised when he finally answered.

“Hello Annie,” Ravioli said. “What can I help you out with?”

She couldn’t remember him calling her Annie before and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. She tried to determine if they were that close for him to skip her formal name and go with something more intimate.

“I don’t always call you for help,” she responded a bit too harshly.

“That’s true, sometimes you call just to hear the sound of my voice,” he said with a laugh.

Damn he had a good laugh. She felt it roll through her and wondered what it would be like to spend a night with him laughing and talking and more.

“As long at I get what I want,” she answered and laughed. She hoped he felt the same way hearing her voice, as she did hearing his.

“I already told you that you need to be a much higher level for that,” Ravioli said.

An electric chill flowed through her body and she had to take a breath.

“You keep bringing that up,” Antoinette said. “I bet you can’t wait for me to hit level 10.”

“I said you had to be level 10 to be able to engage in that type of activity,” he said. “But I generally don’t sleep with anyone below level 15.”

“Good, I thought you were some sort of gaming pedo,” she laughed.

“Hold on,” he said. His tone became very serious. “There are plenty that prey on lower-level players, especially in PvP zones, where the only escape from losing a good chuck of loot is to succumb to the demands of those predators.”

“What!” Antoinette exclaimed. “You either get dunked and loose a bunch of loot, unless you want to give out a ‘handy’ or blow-job?”

“If it was only that easy,” Ravioli said. “The higher level you get the bigger target you become when entering a PvP zone.”

“So how many blow-jobs have you given out?” Antoinette asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“More than you would think,” Ravioli said. His voice was steady, but void of any emotion.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Unfortunately, there comes a time where you need to venture into those zones for various reasons, or you will just go mad with nothing to do,” he said. “So, getting back to why you called.”

“Well, you’re right, I need some information please,” she said. Her mind was still reeling with the revelation of what possibly was to come.”

“Sure, what is it?” He asked. His tone was all businesslike now.

She felt terrible about how quickly their conversation turned, all because she was trying to be funny. There was always the possibility he was lying about it, but she didn’t think so.

“I found this piece of paper with some numbers on it. The numbers are 36-24-36,” she said.

“It’s a combination,” he answered.

Antoinette felt stupid for not guessing that. She was so caught up in thinking it was somehow related to a woman’s measurements she didn’t allow herself to think about other possibilities. If the numbers had been 15-32-07 she could have solved the easy riddle she thought.

“Are you still there?” He asked.

“Yes, I was just thinking that somehow I should have been able to figure that out,” she answered.

“Are there any lockers or safes that you’ve encountered so far?” He asked.

She didn’t have to think long before she remembered the first building she entered where she found her bat.

“Yes, I remember finding one the other day,” she answered. “I’ll go try that. Thanks again for the help Ravioli.”

“You’re welcome, Antoinette, have a good day,” he said and the connection ended.

Fuck, he went from calling her Annie to ending calling her Antoinette. Normally she loved hearing her name rolling off his tongue, but this time it stung like a punch in the belly. She turned to Midnight and gave him several pets to make her feel better. Finally, she shook her pup and stood up.

“Let’s go see if this combination works on the safe,” she said.

She made her way down to the exit of the Safe House and couldn’t shake the melancholy feeling that surrounded her. Antoinette left the building and held the bat in her hands while walking in the direction of the alley.

During her trip she disposed of three zombies without incident. When she arrived at the side door, the lock was still busted and she pulled it open. The brief encounters with the zombies helped to clear her mind, and as she walked into the office she walked right to the safe and started spinning the dial.

Right three times, stopping on 36.

Left twice, stopping on 24.

Right once, stopping on 36.

She took a breath and turned the handle. It clicked and she pulled. The small door opened easily and she looked inside. The found a keycard with an image of a beaker on it, a Blueprint and a pair of Goggles.

Her mood took a turn for the better as she pulled out her loot. She put all of it in a pocket, resisting the urge to put the goggles on. Antoinette didn’t know if there were cursed items that might affix to her head like one of those creatures from the movie Alien. She could wait for the system to identify them for her.

She left the room with a new attitude and when she got outside, she ran back to the Safe House. Once she was back to her apartment she slid the keycard into the computer.

"Laboratory now available"

A Laboratory! Get the fuck out of Dodge! She ran into the bedroom and there was a door next to the one that opened to the bathroom. She walked quickly to the white metal door and noticed there was no handle; instead, there was a place for her to rest her chin for a retina scan. Without hesitation she set her chin on the spot and a flat beam of light moved over her eyes both horizontally and vertically. Seconds later the door made a ‘hush’ sound and slid open.

Antoinette didn’t know what to expect, but she was disappointed. It was a laboratory all right, but one that looked like it hadn’t been used for twenty years. There were tables to work on and plenty of cabinets; the cabinets having glass doors to see what was inside. Unfortunately, the tables and cabinet shelves were empty.

She left the laboratory and returned to identify her other loot. First, she clicked on the screen and tapped the identify option. The message appeared:

Place new object on the circle to identify.

She set the Goggles in the circle and the screen changed:

Goggles of Shadows: Increases player’s Stealth +1 Lvl

Antoinette smiled and picked up the goggles. She replaced them with the Blueprint and the screen displayed the result:

Crotch Rocket of Darkness: LEGENDARY – Lvl 15

She stood in shock with her body trembling. She wanted to scream in celebration, but there was no one to scream too; except Midnight. She wondered if she would be able to find or build a sidecar for her furry companion. Maybe that’s what the laboratory was for? She picked up the Blueprint and walked to her bedroom to retrieve the Sniper rifle one also.

Once she had both in hand, she went through the access process to the laboratory and set both of them on a nearby table. There had to be so much more to the laboratory to be able to craft anything, but how was she going to transform this room to a fully-functional facility?

After spending several minutes contemplating how that might happen, she exited the room and headed for the elevator; it was time to gamble. Antionette took the elevator down, half hoping that there would be a new shop, but it was still just the Boutique.

When she exited the Safe House, the bus was waiting. Without thinking, she climbed aboard and was surprised to see the same blonde woman from before sitting in the back of the bus. She stood rooted to her spot as the door closed behind her and the bus started to move.

If she was going to finish her most recent quest, she was going to need to break out of her shell a little bit. She walked slowly towards the blonde woman, who looked roughly the same age as her, but her clothes were nicer; and she had cleavage that not even a blind man would miss.

“Hello, my name is Antoinette,” she said. She had stopped about ten feet away. For several seconds she wondered if she should have used an alias of some sort.

The woman looked up and smiled. She was wearing a black corset that helped to accentuate her breasts, but she wasn’t wearing a cool hat. Suddenly Antoinette felt very self-conscious at the way she looked. Boots, shorts, a white tank-top and a cool top hat didn’t exactly convey the message of fashion icon.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m Rebecca.”

Her hair was light brown and hung lightly on her shoulders. She had blue eyes and her face was sprinkled with freckles.

“I don’t mean to intrude, but I’m looking for friends,” Antoinette said, realizing that she sounded sad and pathetic.

Rebecca smiled before replying with a short laugh, “Me too! How do we do it?”

“I’m not sure,” Antoinette said. She moved to sit in a seat close to Rebecca.

“I have this communication thing,” Rebecca said. “Some high-level guy gave it to me.”

“Really? The same thing happened to me,” Antoinette answered. “Don’t tell me his name was…”

Before she could finish her sentence Rebecca shouted, “RAVIOLI!”

“Oh my god, it’s the same guy,” Antoinette said. She started to think about what she really knew about him.

“What else did he tell you?” Rebecca asked.

“I’ve kind of been using him for information so far,” Antoinette admitted. “So far everything he’s told me has been the truth. What has he told you?”

“It sounds like we are two peas-in-a-pod,” Rebecca laughed. “Anyway, lets get this friend thing set up so I don’t miss my next stop.”

“Let me add you to my device and see if that works,” Antoinette said.

She tapped on the surface of the watch and quickly added Rebecca to her contacts. She scrunched up her face thinking about something.

“How does the device know it is you I’m trying to add and not some other Rebecca?” Antoinette asked. “Unless you are the only Rebecca and I’m the only Antoinette?”

“Ravioli said it works on proximity if there are multiple names the same,” Rebecca answered.

“I guess that makes sense,” Antoinette replied.

“Nice meeting you Antoinette,” Rebecca said as she pulled on the stop cord. “This is my stop.”

Antoinette made sure she wasn’t blocking the aisle as Rebecca walked to the side doors of the bus. She noticed that Rebecca had a rifle strapped to her back, along with a machete.

“It was nice meeting you also Rebecca. Good luck on your quest!” Antoinette blurted out.

The doors opened and Rebecca was gone. Antoinette immediately felt jealous of Rebecca. She thought Ravioli took a special interest in her, but it seems like he had his eye on Rebecca too. Maybe there was much more to Ravioli than she initially thought.

The bus rambled on and Midnight nuzzled against her side. She reached down and gave him a scratch behind the ears as she was lost in thought about Ravioli.

“NEXT STOP IS THE OLYMPUS CASINO!” The driver yelled, startling Antoinette.

The bus slowed and she made her way to the doors. Once the bus stopped, the doors swung open and she stepped to the sidewalk, making sure Midnight got off with her. The bus drove away and she finally looked around at her surroundings.

The casino was set back quite a bit from the road, and looked just like the one from the movie Army of the Dead, where the zombie leader holed up. She laughed at the connection until she saw that there were several zombies walking around, and they all had a light red outline to them; maybe this was a chance to tally up her killing of higher-level zombies.

Antoinette knelt down next to Midnight and whispered, “Should we go in guns a-blazing or take things more on the low-down?”

With a wag of his tail, Midnight gave her his answer, “WOOF!”

“Got it, guns a-blazing it is,” she answered. She stood up and grabbed her shotgun. “I know that you can’t get hurt, but if a bad guy starts sneaking up on me, give me a bark or two to let me know.”

“Woof!”