The Outlaw (Phantom Server: Book #2) (22 page)

The cave gave me the shivers. A complex mechanical structure listed across its far end. It looked suspiciously like a fragment of a spaceship. I could make out parts of its hull structures and the shimmer of an unusual force field streaming across its armor plates. In places, this shimmer condensed into the shapes of fiery tridents: the Disciples' logo that the Dargians must have used to seal the power shield confining the ancient evil.

I caught myself thinking that I'd developed a tendency to mystify the events. Still, I couldn't help it: this was the impression these caves gave me. Everywhere I looked, I saw evidence of a desperate combat that had scorched these rooms a thousand years ago. The floor was covered in a hardened layer of long-decayed burnt remains. The skeletons of cyber machines towered like pylons around the room. Light beamed through the holes in their bodies, its flecks playing over the metallic stalactites.

The Disciples' weak signatures were almost lost in the background hum. Now I could understand why they were so confident. Between the massive power unit feeding the force shield and lots of minor emitters still functioning in the caves, potential enemy sensors would have a hard job detecting the Dargians' advance.

The dark deserted halls we'd left behind were only a foretaste of the unique dungeon.

We lay low, watching. Vandal and Foggs cast anxious glances around, craning their necks to afford themselves a better view. Their standard-issue implants were not a patch on my and Kathryn's Synapses. I had to stream our data to them.

My self-learning mind expander kept improving itself, re-calibrating the sensors to increase their efficiency. Now I could “see” the Dargians as 3D figures filled with some clear jelly. I still couldn't make out any details but I didn't really need to for the time being. All I needed was to understand what they were doing.

Two Disciples approached the force field and parted, walking along its edges in opposite directions, tracing the outline of the mysterious ship (if it was indeed a ship).

I could see where the generators were located. Why wouldn't they simply disconnect them? I got the impression that the Dargians knew some other way of penetrating the shield. They walked past the emitters, stopped in front of two of the fiery tridents and began manipulating them.

The tridents disappeared. Immediately one of the shield's segments just opposite the ship's oblong hatch lost its intensity and died, revealing a safe passage.

The Disciples weren't in a hurry to go in. Their group split. A few of the Dargians began setting up some weapons opposite the entrance, their transparent shapes dexterously assembling mountings and plasma generators.

We exchanged glances.

I began checking the mnemonic communications channel. There was no way we could use regular comms. Kathryn's weak reply was tinged with fear. She didn't say anything; still, her mental state left a bad premonition in me.

Vandal was all nerves too.
Zander, that place must be packed with loot! I mean, super loot!

His thoughts were ragged and awkward — he apparently wasn't used to this type of contact.

Foggs was remarkably calm. He was busy appraising the Dargians' positions. His comments were clear and to the point,
They're a bit too far from the entrance, don't you think? They must be setting up a field of fire. I don't think we'll have any problems going in. I doubt they'll notice us.

One of the Disciples headed for the oblong hatch. His outline flared up as he walked through the weakening force field, then disappeared from my mental eye's view. Simultaneously, the massive armor plate of the hatch which was twice his height slid aside.

A dull yellow light seeped from within.

* * *

The inside of the passage smelled of decay.

“Zander,” it was Kathryn who couldn't keep still anymore. “Are you sure we need to risk this?”

“You have any other option?” I asked calmly even though the pressure kept building with every step I took. Both Vandal and Foggs followed our mnemonic dialogue as she hadn't bothered to PM me.

“We can go back and look for an emergency exit in one of those large halls,” she said haltingly.

“Just relax and enjoy the game!” Vandal butted in. “Shame the Disciples can't give us a free ride. At least we'll have a look around. We might even find an exit that will open up somewhere past their cordons. Why not? It's been quite a hike!”

“You two don't know what you're talking about!” there just was no stopping her. “And Zander is taking advantage of it! The artifact the Disciples want to activate will kill us!”

“Calm down,” I cut her short. “Vandal is right. As long as we have the Disciples leading the way, we have nothing to fear. True, we won't get any XP from the mobs they'll kill but at least it'll allow us to get close enough to Genesis.”

“And then what?” Vandal raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“I'll use the technology scanner to scan it and create its exact copy.”

“Will a copy count?” Foggs asked, businesslike. “Aren't we supposed to deliver the artifact itself to this hybrid?”

“Don't you worry,” I said. “Ingmud will be more than happy to make do with the scanner files.”

“Count me in, then!” Vandal had apparently seen enough of the Disciples' weapons and gear to realize that the local mobs and bosses might be way out of our league. “We'll do as much of this dungeon as we can. As for the artifact, it's the luck of the draw, isn't it?”

“The location might be contaminated with deadly viruses,” Kathryn began.

“That's exactly what we have metabolic implants for,” Foggs said.

“It didn't help me much with the Daugoths' venom,” she snapped.

“You're alive, aren’t you?”

“You're saying this because you don't know what it feels like to be rotting alive!”

“Suit up,” I ordered. “Kathryn, you don't have to go if you don't want to. Stay here and wait for us to come back.”

“So much for your quest, then?” she quipped.

“It's not my quest anymore. It's
our
quest,” I turned to the others. “The reward is variable, remember?”

Neither Vandal nor Foggs needed convincing. Both were experienced players who knew very well that this was the only chance they might ever get with this location. This was a quest dungeon open as part of some mysterious “alternative plot line”. So they absolutely had to jump on the bandwagon. Apart from a few apparent problems, the ancient laboratory could also offer some very useful surprises.

Foggs gave my words some thought. “Count me in.”

“And me,” Vandal nodded his agreement.

Kathryn didn't say anything. She was sulking. But she must have been scared of staying behind all alone. Those caves had no other exit, and she knew it.

* * *

A dimly-lit corridor led from the entrance into the depths of the ancient structure.

While we'd been arguing, the figures of the Dargians had disappeared in the dark. Our sensors had lost them.

“Come on, quick!”

The sleepless night and all the trials and tribulations of the previous day were now showing. My Physical Energy indicator faded, shrinking, as it turned yellow.

I noticed that the others had a much better reading. Before, I'd never bothered to ask myself how much of the body's energy our brains actually consumed. I believed that fatigue was a purely physical state. Only after I'd had the neuroimplant installed did I realize that brain activity could exhaust our bodies, completely depleting them of energy. I’d especially noticed it during my fighter pilot training.

Direct neurosensory contact with cyber systems had hardened my mind but apparently, that wasn't enough to power the constant use of my new skills. I understood why so many players back at Argus had only had the most basic implants installed, delegating the lion's share of mnemonic load to their built-in gear modules.

I tried to contact Liori but the system rejected me,

The external neuronet is currently busy and not available. You don't have enough energy to maintain mnemonic contact. In order to continue, you should have a higher level of your Mnemotechnics skill. Alternatively, have some rest and try again.

“Kathryn, do you have any exo for mental abilities?”

“Will a buff to Intellect do?”

“Dunno. I can try.”

“Wait,” she gave me a close look. My skin prickled, awash with scanning waves. “I'm surprised you're still standing,” she said.

I was surprised, too. My metabolic implant was in constant overdrive. She must have worked it out by her scanner's readings.

“Here, take it,” Kathryn handed me a clip of syringes. “Click it into your life support slot. Your implant knows how much to inject. Don't quit the overdrive mode quite yet. It can be dangerous.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

Kathryn may well have been an expert in her field but I just couldn't suppress my dislike of her. It was probably mutual.

Actually, I felt much better. I could finally think straight. I used the chance to check on my abilities. All active. The nanite replication icon had activated too. I could see much better now, focusing on the details that only a moment ago had escaped my attention.

“I love their interior design,” Vandal stopped, casting a wary look around.

We exited the tunnel and found ourselves in the doorway of a rather unusual large room. It had no partitions, only the framework and small dimly lit platforms set up at different heights off the floor. As I scanned the open space, I realized that in the past the structure had been divided into several floors forming a tall tower. Judging by the presence of numerous disused emitters, each of its floors had once been split into a great many rooms separated by force fields.

A gravity elevator shaft ran the whole height of the tower, its rings reaching up to an infinite height. That was good news: apparently, there
was
another exit here after all.

The Disciples were still about a hundred feet ahead of us but now they'd split, hiding in the shadows of the gigantic machines.

I kept switching between various perception modes trying to work out what had forced them to take cover.

The organic life detector was going off the scale, reporting the highest levels of bio hazard. Everywhere you turned, every object was highlighted in red. I queried Kathryn for more information, then took a better look. Only now did it dawn on me that everything around me was covered in living flesh.

The Dargians had noticed the danger just in time. Had they advanced any further, they would have betrayed their presence. The floor around was bulging with muscles, occasionally shuddering as they contracted. All vertical surfaces showed the same activity. I adjusted my sensors. Now I could see clearly: every beam and piece of equipment in the room, the acceleration rings and even the overhanging cables were all woven with living tissues!

Kathryn's answer only made things worse. The scans I'd received from her showed clearly a complex interlacement of nervous and circulatory systems all over the room. Which meant that these lumps of flesh were in fact one single organism!

We just couldn't make it any further. I could understand the Disciples' predicament. They had apparently counted on sliding past the local mobs unnoticed but there was no way they could do it now. Personally, I'd have never risked stepping onto this living carpet of muscle. The creature was obliged to have felt it and react. The question was, what would its reactions be? Somehow I doubted the thing would be so kind as to allow us to walk all over it.

“What do we do now?” Foggs whispered.

“Nothing for the moment. Just watch.”

I didn't have a solution yet. The creature seemed pretty unkillable. We still had no idea where exactly this Genesis was located. I could very clearly see the reactor's signature: it was located below, leaking radioactive waste. The lab's force shield was definitely on its last legs.

I tried to look for any functioning power cables while asking myself: what did that creature actually live on? Surely it needed some sustenance to survive?

Liori? I need your help.

For a moment, I blanked out. A vague image appeared before my mind's eye.

I focused on the reactor's signature and sent a command to the nanites. They left my armor and seeped into the cracks in the rock.

I began streaming their data into the group network. “Kathryn, if I start flagging, do whatever it takes to bring me round, okay?”

She nodded. No questions asked.

A picture started to form in my mind. The nanites must have already reached the reactor as radiation levels soared. But this wasn't what attracted my attention. I could see another cave: in the past it must have been securely insulated but now many segments of its protective layer were damaged. The place was flooded with light. You couldn't see the power unit amid all the lush alien vegetation. Climbing vines with fat crimson leaves intertwined, forming impassable thickets. Their roots dug deep into the cracks in the floor, apparently reaching for ground water. I noticed that the vine's stalks weren't homogenous. Thick and wooden underfoot, they reached up to the room's ceiling, gradually taking the shape of pulsating veins of flesh.