Very well. It may take a few shots before calibrations are able to be set.
Um, okay.
Alan glanced at the countdown, there were two minutes remaining. He started getting a bit nervous. The countdown disappeared.
What—
Four enemies approaching, they appear to have split off from the main pack.
Alan looked at the minimap and sure enough there were four dots rapidly advancing, somehow traversing entire city blocks in seconds. He began hearing noises of crashing cars as the hounds tore through whatever was in their way. Kitana appeared calm, confident, poised. She was smiling. Alan felt like he might wet his pants.
Then, suddenly, a dead silence. The four dots began positioning themselves around the building.
“Watch out, from the—”
A gigantic beast smashed through the wall opposite Alan, pouncing onto the spot where Kitana had been standing a split second earlier.
Kitana stepped to the side, and as soon as the hound smashed through the wall, she cut upwards, slicing its jugular. Her sword gave off a white light the moment before it slew the beast. Simultaneously, Kitana leapt backwards, further into the store as two other enormous masses of teeth and fur smashed in through the entrance. The “hounds” barely fit in the small store. One looked like a black bear, the other a massive silver-grey wolf.
A blue outline appeared before Alan, and he followed it unconsciously, firing his gun repeatedly when his vision flashed green. The black bear’s HP bar immediately decreased to 0 after the first shot, but additional bullets flew, striking the body. Alan, who wasn't ready for the recoil, was jerked backwards off-balance.
Please only fire once when I highlight an enemy, and try to keep your hands steady.
I’M A BIT BUSY, Alan replied to Eve as the wolf-like creature leapt at him. The blue outline showed him turning sideways, leaping over the counter, going deeper into the store away from the entrance.
Alan attempted the jump, but his foot caught on the edge of the counter. He fell face first, but turned it into a sort of roll forwards with Eve’s guidance. He managed to level the gun up at the wolf as it leapt at him again, aiming and firing immediately as Eve highlighted his vision green.
The wolf’s body crashed down onto him, shot in the head repeatedly. As Alan glanced over at Kitana he saw that she had also finished off the fourth hound, a black haired… mole?
What kind of hounds are these? Alan asked.
The hounds of the Predecessors are genetically modified beasts, often used as disposable scouts or in death match tournaments.
Huh, that might piss off some animal activists. Oh, wait, they’re digital creatures. Wonder if it's still animal cruelty.
The wolf’s body glowed softly, and when Alan selected it a small screen opened up, displaying a small vial of blood, and an accept or decline button. Alan thought accept, putting the vial that appeared in his hand into his bag. He walked over to the black bear. It had also been killed by a headshot. Eve had pretty good aim. He got another vial of blood. Checking his XP, Alan found he’d gained a level and a half from the kills.
“Um, good job, shall we head back to the bunker?” Alan said.
“Let me examine this body first.” Kitana walked over to the first brown furred creature.
Negative, Eve responded.
Why not? Alan asked.
You have a decreased chance of survival should you return to the base.
What? Why would we be more likely to die if we were together with the others? Even if we had to help them fight off hounds, wouldn’t it be better for us if they survived in the long run?
Main contributors to a likely death: A 56.36% chance of the shield generator exploding, and a 3.4% chance of betrayal, both accompanied with a high uncertainty.
Wait, the shield generator is going to explode? Also, what do you mean betrayal?
The shield generator was improperly installed by the human named Daisy. As configured, once the shields are at 50% there is a high chance of unstable reactions. Additionally, many actions performed by various group members do not quite align with standard human behavior.
Okay, ignoring this whole “standard human behavior,” which I doubt you’re able to classify correctly, if you prioritize the survival of our entire group as highly as you rank my own survival, what should I do next?
Message Thiago to evacuate everyone away from the shield generator as soon as it begins to reach the 50% level. They are planning on simply firing from behind the force field at the approaching predators. The predators will have to attack the shield, while the shield has been programmed to allow projectiles from inside the shield to be fired outwards. You may send an emergency message to Thiago which will appear in front of him, similar to a Game message set by the Administrators.
Okay, send the emergency message.
I am unable to perform various actions such as sending direct messages to players by rules in the Game enforced by the Administrators. Similar, I am unable to assume direct control of your body or manipulate any of your central nervous systems, only give visual aids.
Um, okay, send Thiago the following emergency message: SHIELD GENERATOR WILL EXPLODE— Wait, can you show the explosion radius on their minimaps Eve?
Affirmative.
Okay, so the message will be this then: SHIELD GENERATOR WILL EXPLODE AT 50%, INCORRECT SETUP. EVE WILL SHOW EXPLOSION RADIUS ON MINIMAP.
Message sent.
A few seconds later, Alan got a reply message from Thiago. A digital keyboard appeared before him and a small chat box.
Thiago: What do you mean incorrect setup?
Alan: I’m not sure, but it’s probably going to explode once it reaches 50%.
Thiago: Why didn’t you tell me earlier? The hounds will be here any minute.
Alan: I didn’t know beforehand! Don’t let the shield reach 50% or get everyone out of the blast range before that happens.
Thiago: All right, fine. We’re going to have a discussion after this though.
Thiago ended the chat.
If you survive, Alan thought darkly. Thiago seemed decidedly ungrateful. Alan might have saved everyone’s lives, after all.
By the way, how did you know that Daisy set up the shield generator incorrectly?
I have been monitoring the actions of everyone who gave me access to their interface.
Wait, when they agreed to let you configure their minimap, they also gave you permission to see what they see?
Indirectly, yes.
Okay, so when you say you saw non-standard human behavior, this was when you were watching what they were doing? Wait, by non-standard, do you mean they’re all aliens or do you mean behaving oddly or do you mean people have been discussing betraying us or something like that?
My conclusion did result from observing the other players from their point of view. By non-standard I mean there have been arguments and displays of both attitude and strength not normally associated with law abiding teens or young adults.
Alan rolled his eyes, he doubted most teens would act in a rational, “law abiding” way when inside a virtual world free to do what they wanted. Was he going to ask Eve for specifics, though? It seemed like an invasion of privacy, but better safe than sorry…