Her evasive concentration on me costs her. One of the Leviathan's last tentacles makes a blind swipe and crushes Blazer against the side of a building like a flyswatter to a buzzing insect. I circle underneath, firing torpedoes and severing the tentacle at the body in a plume of flame and gush of blood. A flier whizzes past, chasing after Blazer's upgrades. Bad move. I target lock and take him out.
Something hits my scooter so hard that I tailspin uncontrollably for a few seconds. Disoriented, surroundings blurring, scooter rattling like it's about to fall apart. I press the gun trigger, firing in circles to keep my attacker at bay while I fight to regain control. When I finally do, I spot a circular aerocycle, constructed to look like a miniature UFO.
IllLegalAlien. He boasts the largest number of wins in tournament history. His scooter is outfitted with guns all around, making it possible to target any threat. So while he's weakening my shields with a steady bombardment, he's also gunning down two other fliers as he hovers and spins.
I veer off, whirling to avoid his shots. Toward the crowds on the streets below who stare upward and cheer us on. His energy rounds follow me, tearing into the onlookers. Charred bodies fly through the air as I weave by. Others in the throngs run for cover, laughing and shouting. Death instills no fear in Elysia, not when you can respawn only seconds later.
I whirl around the listless Leviathan, glancing up to where IllLegalAlien battles with the last four fliers. Dabria flits around his rounds like a hummingbird, firing her rifle and weakening his shields. The other three attack IllLegalAlien as well, recognizing him as the most prominent threat. As I fly toward the battle, one of the fliers goes down in flames, exploding against the side of the downed Leviathan. I arm the best upgrade I took from Blaze: a shield disrupter. Targeting IllLegalAlien, I fire it.
Dabria senses the change when the disrupter strikes. Her wings glimmer and razor-edged feathers fly at the spherical scooter with gale-force strength, tearing through the ship as though it was made of cardboard. IllLegalAlien dies fighting, activating a self-destruct detonation that takes the other two fliers down with him.
Leaving just me and Dabria.
Grinning, I fire a volley of unguided missiles while simultaneously firing inferno rounds. I do a lot of damage to the injured buildings nearby as Dabria whirls; wings folded to enhance her speed. I follow in confident pursuit, pressing my advantage. Through the smoldering cavity of a ruined building, out the other side, diving down like brilliant meteors, blazing against the splintered windows of the skyscraper.
Toward the Leviathan.
She flies into the monster's gaping mouth, scattering bombs behind her. I whip past before they explode, firing round after round. We enter the creature's maw, where its innards look like a biomechanical nightmare: moist like an open mouth, steam gusting from cracked and broken metallic bones.
Wires stream from Dabria's wings, lacing together to form a tangled web that slows my aerocycle. I try to shoot through the gleaming strands, but there's too many of them. She blasts a hole the side of the Leviathan and exits as my scooter is snared in the glittering mesh, jerking and twitching as I frantically try to free myself. My finger is on the flamethrower trigger when proximity alarms blare, illuminating my display in pulsing red light.
I try to pinpoint the source, but then it hits me: the bombs Dabria dropped earlier were timed, and all of them are about to explode simultaneously. It's a trap, and I fell for it like the greenest noob on the planet. I can only throw my head back and roar with laughter as the bombs detonate, shredding my scooter and engulfing me in searing flame.
I'm still laughing when Dabria severs the connection by unplugging the v-drive from my neck. She keeps her face composed as usual, but I can sense the triumph that practically emanates from her pores. She finally cracks a smile as she helps me up from the battered chair.
We're in a makeshift Immersion cubicle set up in one of her safehouses, far away from where we encountered Enigma and Cyber Corp. The abandoned wheat milling facility is a pre-Cataclysm relic, full of ancient machinery, dust, shadows, and echoes. Scattered lights give the place a semblance of illumination, blues and golds blooming in the darkness. Her soldiers are stationed in defensive positions throughout the building. Keno and his crew are in one of the oversized rooms, sleeping away their worries. That leaves me alone with Dabria. I wonder if she worries that I'll try a desperate physical attack and try to escape.
I doubt it. I'm sure she knows I'd never be so stupid, especially since I wouldn't stand a chance.
I give her an approving nod. "Okay, I'm impressed. Not bad. Not bad at all."
"Impressed that I can beat you at a game?"
"Well, yeah. Mass Attack isn't just an ordinary game. Takes skills to rank in the top ten. Even more to actually win the tournament."
"It's nothing. You should try real combat. Real stakes." Her eyes grow distant. "I fought in the Red Wars on Mars. Towards the end, we engaged in a battle similar to your tournament. Our enemies constructed a behemoth of a ship; a destroyer created to withstand massive damage and unleash hell. It took everything we had to take it down, but it cost us. I lost many sisters in that battle. No fake deaths, no respawning. Just the final silence. Warmth leaving a body as you hold it. Hearing the panicked gasps from someone struggling for their last words. Dissolution of a soul. That is what real war is like. What real death is like."
I want to touch her. Place a comforting hand on her shoulder. But I know she doesn't need that from me. She doesn't need anything I could possibly offer.
I drop my gaze instead. "I wouldn’t want to experience anything like that."
She takes my hand in hers. "Life rarely gives you what you want, Specter."
"That's the whole point of Elysia. You can have anything you want. Why can't you see that?"
"Because it's a lie. You're really just in a hibernation box, rotting away while the real world spins around you, leaving you behind. You feel it every time you have to leave Elysia and re-enter our world. You know what I'm talking about. The guilt. The shame."
Turning my wrist over, she removes the holoband lock. "We had a deal. Can I trust you to honor it?"
I try not to look at the holoband, focusing on her eyes. Making sure she sees my sincerity. "Right. I don't go into Elysia. I don't contact Hel. I help you on your mission and see it through to the end. I'll do it."
"This is your promise, Specter? I have your word?"
"Yes."
"Good. Get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."
"What happens tomorrow?"
"I tell you your part in this. Everything you need to know."
She strides away, out the door and down the hall. I listen as her footsteps fade. I'm left in the silence and darkness of the storage room, where my thoughts are the only thing to keep me company.
My twisted, manipulative, contemptible little thoughts.
I hear them like dirty whispers in my ear, spurring me on. I try to ignore them. Because I know how it ends. I've betrayed too many people, broken too many trusts. I don't want to see the crushing disappointment in Dabria's eyes when she finds out how weak and pitiful I am. How my word is nothing, just garbage I hand out to anyone gullible enough to accept it. So, I try not to think about Elysia. Or Hel, who is probably in tears right now, wondering if I hate her. Wondering if she'll ever see me again. I think about how I cut her off when she was scared and alone, needing me.
Needing me.
I glance at my holoband.
No, no, no.