The Card Job, page 11
They traded a few shots from behind cover. Herm wondered when Minc or Protea would show up and what the hell RT was doing. Codebreakers only had a few more combat skills than Gamblers, but he knew a few good hits, and he could take her down due to the critical strike damage. If Sasha went down, the plans to get to the cards in the safe would be finished. With a grumble, he pulled out a grenade out of his inventory. It may no longer have as much of a destructive effect as it would have in Titania’s hand, but it was powerful enough to blow away the cover provided by the table and chairs in the room allowing for them both to attempt un-obstructed shots.
He turned it on with a twist and threw it into the middle of the room. Far enough away that Sasha couldn’t get to it and deal with it quickly, but close enough to blow away the furniture. The explosion turned everything into splinters and shards. The blast and shrapnel only do five damage to both max level players, outside of the visual effects.
Sasha smirked and dropped a shield. Had to be modified using her skills to turn into a one-way type. The gambler activated [Devil's Own Luck] to make her next shot miss and fired into the shield. He knew it would only temporarily protect her before it burned out. “Not good enough, Sash. I expected more.”
He heard clanking thuds and turned to see a large, green, robotic body in a maids outfit running at him. “Angel?”
The AI’s robot body crashed into the Gambler. It’s arms latched around him. “I”m sooorrryyy!” It shrieked as it did this. “I can’t control my body!”
Sasha let out a throaty laugh. “You should have chosen me, Hermanos. Protea and Minc will get past the doors soon and cut the release on the cargo pods on your ship. RT is waiting to haul all your treasures away. But you don’t care about wealth, do you?”
Angel’s body carried the gambler forward toward the safe while the AI wailed through it uncontrollably. “Think about what you’re doing Sash.”
The Codebreaker bent down and kissed the Gambler savagely, biting his lip and pulling on it as much as the game would allow. There was no pain, of course. “I have thought on it for months silly. About how I had let you go too easily, a couple of ships and the mansion on the sea. I had plans, but then you messaged me willingly. This way is so much better.”
“It’s just a game. None of this is real. Win or lose, and I can log back in.”
She tugged him forward and forced his hand onto the safe lock. “Who are you fooling, Gambler? We both know how hard you worked to get every damn card. It’s ironic that the cards are why you allowed me back after you chose them over me. It took you years to get them all. Sure you might be able to earn them back faster now, but the months it will take you will give you a hint of the pain I felt when you went to the championship instead of picking me.”
Herm struggled as she pulled the box of cards out of the safe. “Log out, Sash. You’ve proven your point.”
She turned the box over, dumping the cards out into the floor. Herm watched as one of them hit funny and crumpled to ash as its durability hit zero. The other ones looked damaged and distressed after the fall. Sasha's eyes stayed on her target. “I don’t think I have, lover.”
Herm thought of how she destroyed Captain Cobra’s pride and joy as an afterthought. Herm had seen death and destruction before. When you worked at the retirement homes, people died. He struggled and remembered the pain of death as he watched Sasha point her gun and fire into the cards turning small piles into ash. “Sash…” Herm pleaded with pain in his voice.
The whole ship shuddered. “There goes your collection.” She paused, staring into the distance like she was reading a screen. “Congratulations, you are no longer one of the ten wealthiest players in the game, I know how that has irked you so.”
She pulled out a massive bomb out of her inventory. It appeared magically, only the way a game would allow. A ship launcher he was sure she had modified to go off manually and set it on the pile of cards, more cards disintegrated as they got crushed beneath its weight. “Come on, Sasha. We were good friends.” Herm pleaded.
“You know I have no friends.” She activated the bomb and saw the countdown start from 10 seconds. “I hope your back-up respawn point is nice. It was fun knowing you, gambler.”
Herm struggled. Angel Wailed. Sasha smirked. “Shit.” Herm cursed as he watched it hit zero and the world go white.
[YOU HAVE DIED]
He hated dying. He hated fighting. He watched the countdown timer appear again. Sasha had killed herself as well with that explosion. He supposed that she wanted to watch as his ship and everything else exploded away. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding in and logged out.
He took a beer out of the fridge as well as a frozen meal to heat up. He focused on the look of genuine happiness that was on Sasha’s face as she destroyed everything around him. He opened up the beer and lifted it, toasting to no one, in the tiny empty room he where he lived. “To you, Sasha.” He toasted. Then he took a drink and started heating his meal.
He relaxed in his apartment a good bit of the day until his phone buzzed with a message. Then got up and logged back in. With the Your Debt My Gain gone he respawned at a back-up location he owned. Naked again. The luxurious penthouse suite on the cradle was cheap because it was in a starting zone. His old starting outfit sat on the bed waiting for him. If he had stashed it in the vault, he knew he would have lost it as well. He picked it up and equipped the dirty, stained, one-durability outfit. Angel had had it delivered after he had un-equipped it.
A few moments later, there was a knock at the door that Herm had been expecting. “Come in.”
He watched as the crazy dwarf-like Pilot hobbled into the room. “How did it go, RT?”
The Pilot scratched his beard. “Aww. Herm. You can call me Tyler now that we are alone. I’m just happy you finally invited me to game with you.”
Chapter Eighteen
"The universe is the cards, and the cards are the universe. Believe in them, and all will be possible."
-Lore of the Change-Set
Herm knew he broke his self imposed rule when he invited the cherry jello loving old man to play with him. He knew he needed a friend for this. He remembered when he offered, cherry jello in hand. “Codebreaker help you figure out the problem you were having?”
Sasha’s plan to form a team to steal the advanced card had been on his mind since they had figured out the puzzle on the Discordant Fortress. “Yes, but now she wants to help me steal it.”
“A pretty thing on a space adventure for treasure isn’t a bad thing.”
Herm let out a groan. “If that is what she actually wanted to do, then it would be fine. I know Sasha. None of this is about helping me. She wants what she always wants.”
“To play the game?” Tyler asked.
“To make those who annoy her suffer as much as she can while playing a game. And I know who annoys her. I do, and I can’t figure out how I’m going to dodge her wrath this time.”
Tyler started to laugh, cough, then wheeze. Herm checked to make sure the old man's vitals were stable. “Then don’t.” He said after finally catching his breath. “You’ll always have friends who are willing to help you through this.”
Herm pondered as he handed over Tyler’s red-colored jello. “Yeah, I think I can use some friends to help with this.”
Billy G helped too. For a price. He set aside all commissions and worked for days creating a forgery of each and every copy of the change-set cards. The fragile replacements were tricky to make he claimed. Making sure that Tyler’s character RedTide was the only viable Pilot on the list for Sasha to pick from had been tricky but not impossible. Protea and Minc had been the wildcards.
Herm brought his thoughts back to the present. “How did the heist go? You ever figure out the Brawler and Glimmer Blade?”
Tyler just shrugged with his avatar and plopped into a chair. “Those younglings hate the rich and powerful. They were a bit disappointed when two of the cargo pods were empty but still gave me my cut. I can give you back some of your wealth if you want.”
“Had to pay Billy with something. You can keep it. You earned it. It’s not why I play anyway.”
‘Yeah, all those years working in the home I never figured you for a Change-Set player. Most card game players prefer ones where the cards are less difficult to find. “
He reached under the bed and pulled out the box of Change-Set cards to make sure they were still there. He then checked his in-game status to make sure Sasha was blocked and not sharing any quests or on his friend list anymore. “How about you come to get that advanced card with me?”
There was still a line to get into the bank again. This time, however, once they received the Gambler's documentation, both the guards saluted while RedTide followed behind. “I can’t believe you bought the bank.” He muttered.
“It wasn’t that bad. I just had to sell most everything else.” He briefly wondered if this was pay to win. Then dismissed the thought after thinking of all the hours playing to build up his wealth to this point.
An NPC rushed out to greet them instead of them having to wait in line to get to the vault. “Such an honor to have you, Sir. How may I help you?”
“I need access to a certain safe deposit box.” The box was supposed to be empty according to the bank records. Herm had been wary of going while Sasha shared the quest, just in case he accidentally completed it. He figured the worst that can happen now is another clue for a different quest, but at least this time he could do it without worrying about Sasha. He was pleasantly surprised when inside the box was a card in foil wrapping. It wouldn’t open, but had words to place it on the completed basic Change-Set collection. “Back to the penthouse.”
A short journey later and Herm reached under the bed and pulled out the collection while grinning. “One question, Herm? Why go through all the trouble with Sasha?”
The gambler paused, thinking before speaking. “I like her. She deserves closure. Now she can feel satisfied with how she destroyed me and move on to her next target. For her, she’s won this game, and now she can move on. Only you and I will know the truth.”
He laid the foil-wrapped card on the completed collection and watched as the covering dissolved. A flash of rainbow lights shot out of the card passing through both players and Herm watched as it shot out the window and over the planet and away. That was a little weird, he thought. The Gambler turned to Tyler, or tried too. He couldn’t move. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tyler similarly frozen. This kind of bug had happened once before, a notice that the servers would go down for emergency maintenance.
[World Notice: Hermanos Granger has unlocked the Change-Set advanced card. All the worlds have Changed as a result of this feat.]
The world started up again, and Herm stared at Tyler, watching him read the notice. World notice, every single player will get this message. Sasha will get this message. With a painful sigh, he muttered. “Fuck me.”
-End
About the Author
Kit Falbo has loved science fiction and fantasy since he learned to read. He spends his time in the Pacific Northwest taking care of his wife and two children. And now wishes to including writing as a new chapter in his life.
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Kit Falbo, The Card Job
