Knights Apocalyptica 2: A LitRPG Adventure, page 22
“A coping mechanism. He’s nervous about the drug trip.” Garin shrugged. “Or, you know, making himself an enemy of the Church, probably pissing off his father. Though that part isn’t new.”
“Quiet!” Colin dropped the chalk, both of his hands shaking.
“…Oh no.” Erec let out a deep breath. “Why would you ever agree to join us on that? You know that if Dame Morgana’s ritual does what she says it does, you’ll end up like me.”
Colin didn’t respond. Instead, the Duke’s son crouched near his half-completed glyph, glaring at the work.
“He’s doing it for the same reason I am. Maybe not as selfless, though. I don’t suspect he’s doing it to stay by our side. More so that he can feel like he’s special. Can’t blame him; hard not to look around at everyone and think you’re not doing enough to pull your weight,” Garin said.
Erec sat down against the wall, only for his friend to join him. For the next half hour, they watched Colin work on his glyph. Garin kept pressing Erec for the intimate details about his “date” with Enide, which was a bit of a bullshit title for the whole thing. It wasn’t a date. He was very clear about that, but Garin ignored it anyway. As much as he’d have liked to keep details to himself, his friend tripped him up and pried for more information than he wanted to give. Not that he thought he couldn’t share, but…with such unresolved tension between him and Enide, he didn’t want to call it out and make anything too much of a reality to ignore. So, for the rest of their chat, Garin played a game of sussing out secrets until Colin got fed up with both of them and stormed off.
Garin went off after him, leaving Erec alone in the room.
[Colin normally uses fire and ice glyphs, correct?]
“Yeah,” Erec rubbed his head, feeling wrung out from the conversations with his friend. “Those are the types that he tends to focus on.”
[Why does that glyph appear to interact with electricity?]
— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —
“Told you we’d be together.” Enide twirled around Erec, that gun hung over her shoulder as if it were nothing. “Though…think I like you a bit better not covered in all that steel. Where’s the fun when you’re wandering around like a tank.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Erec’s eyes scanned around them. Boldwick led their group and was about a block ahead. The Pendragons shuffled about, anxious and a bit trigger-happy, but they hadn’t shot anything yet. But the day was young. If that were their intent, there’d be plenty of time for finding silly fights to drag everyone into.
Even if they didn’t find a fight, Erec was sure one would come to them, eventually.
“Just stand behind me if a monster appears,” he said.
“My Knight in shining armor.”
“Doesn’t have the nickname of ‘hero’ for nothing,” Garin snickered to the side, only for Enide to give him a not-so-hidden thumbs-up. “But really, this guy’s an absolute monster on the battlefield. I know I told you that story about him killing the Stag, but I don’t think I can truly describe what it’s like to see him work: kind of terrifying, another part relieving. But I guess maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get the chance.”
“He promised me I would.”
“I promised no such thing.” Erec’s mind went back to the night before, to her sly little grin yanking his attention away. He couldn’t afford to be this distracted on a mission, not with everything around them. Not with so much at risk. Once he got in a fight, then that attention would slip away, but doing it before the right moment wasn’t good. Not with her around. Or the rest of the Pendragons, for that matter.
“You do realize you two don’t have a very favorable future together, don’t you?” Olivia asked, her eyes as observant as his. “Unless this is some dalliance, it’d be difficult for you to enter the Kingdom were you to get serious. But you don’t strike as the type with that intent.”
“Dalliance?” Enide snickered. “We’re nothing but friends. Jealous he gets along better with a stranger than you? I don’t care much for you saying I’m a ‘type,’ since I don’t know you, stranger.”
“Sir Erec and I have a fine relationship. We’re dormmates, after all.”
“Oh—wait, that’s right. Tell me, what’s it like living with him?” Enide shifted gears, brushing aside the insult.
At this, Olivia’s tone perked up. “Well, he spends a lot of time alone in his room. Nearly as much as Colin, which I can only assume is a symptom of a lack of socialization as a child. When he’s outside of it, he’s a diligent worker, though, from the rumors I’d heard, he’s been rather inept running his estate. Do you happen to have any background in courtly affairs? Perhaps you can give him some pointers.”
“Ma’am, I shoot guns and kill monsters.” Enide, for once, seemed baffled. “Where the hell do you think we are?”
“I thought as much. You didn’t seem the type, after all.” Olivia looked away from her, earning a glower from Enide.
“Look lively! First target is coming up!” Boldwick shouted, interrupting the conversation. Erec pulled his axe off his back, tightening his grip. If Enide wanted him to show her who he was deep down, then let it be on the battlefield. Nowhere else felt quite as much like home.
CHAPTER 36
LAYOFFS
DAN: Goddamn government, they keep pressuring us and sticking their noses in our business. Did you know the Los Angeles facility had three separate visits this week? Of course, they pay, but it’s annoying as all hell, especially when dealing with the oncoming litigation.
PATRICIA: I’m well aware of the visits. I authorized them. Don’t forget that Uncle Sam’s promises of a bailout are what’s keeping us afloat at the moment. Don’t worry about the litigation. They’ll resolve it for us. They always do, just like the last one.
DAN: The only suit I trust is the ones on my payroll. And the Army isn’t on ours. Politicians are one thing, you can buy them, but I don’t like the look in those generals’ eyes.
PATRICIA: You sound stressed, Dan. You should take a vacation. I hear that Japan is lovely this time of year. We can rent you one of those old-school bathhouses and put it on the corporate card.
DAN: Jesus, Patricia. We just laid off an entire department, and you’re suggesting I take a company-sponsored vacation?
PATRICIA: We were going to fire them anyway, lawsuit aside. Their research wasn’t showing enough promise. This is normal in the corporate world. You know this, even if you’ve only been with Vortex since you were a kid. Relax. No matter what happens, we’ll be fine.
- Dan Brovski, private recordings, tape no. 9 transcription (2110, 2nd Era)
The first location on the map was a dud. It led to an empty neighborhood with no perceivable vault. The group split up and investigated what they could, but it yielded nothing. There were a couple of minor monsters, horrible manlike creatures with no eyes and pallid sun-scorched skin; they died with a small fight, and it didn’t take Erec’s axe to do the job. Bullets and Enide’s las-rifle were too effective against them.
Despite the setback from the first place, they found what they were looking for on the second attempt.
A pit marked the spot on the second map, seemingly dug into an intersection with reckless abandon. Broken rock and asphalt decorated the nearby street, making way for a yawning chasm. Shovels, burned-out fires, and discarded food wrappers betrayed a place where people had recently been. They took a moment to consider it before ducking back around the street as a little buzzing machine flew out of the chasm, flashing a red light.
“Gone,” Boldwick said a couple of minutes later.
“A fucking drone?” Yniol asked, lighting a cigarette.
“Drone?” Boldwick rattled his sword in its sheath, loosening it.
“Old-world tech. Magi have a few they’ve found and repurposed for scouting. Since they fly and you can use them remotely, they’re supposed to be useful. Don’t think we need to look further if old tech like that is active here. Has to be it,” Yniol said.
“If there are drones, I’m willing to bet there’s a network,” Corey piped up, stepping forward.
Boldwick stared at the hole. “Can we confirm that? Provide me more details before we move in.”
Corey nodded and took the lead, sitting in the middle of the road but still some distance from the chasm. Out of all the Pendragons, he was the lightest-armed, carrying only a pistol. But this—this was supposed to be his specialty. One after another, he pulled different devices out of a backpack. Starting with a folded piece of metal with a screen, then a handheld power bank, and some odd black box. After setting it up, he pressed a few buttons, and the screen lit up. Seconds later, he was tapping away.
The Pendragons took this as a sign that things would take a while, dispersing and checking over their weapons. Boldwick took heed of this and began contacting the rest of the Knights.
Erec lingered over Corey’s shoulder, staring at the blinking strings and lines of letters as he worked.
[You should recruit him for your laboratory back home. If we can begin automation and delegate software creation, it’ll be helpful in the long run. Though this one seems a bit underdeveloped. More likely used to cracking into security systems.]
There wasn’t anything to make of that, since recruiting a Pendragon was far out of reality.
“Could you do what he’s doing?” Erec asked under his breath.
[Unfortunately, I have directives limiting me from such overt unethical actions. Taking control of unbranded Armor? That’s asset acquisition and research. But breaching a different company’s facility is a very restricted action. The only ones who could authorize such a hostile and illegal maneuver are Dan Brovski or a majority Board vote.]
“Can you at least tell me what we’re getting into?”
[Let me check… Oh. That’s not good. Military. Really? In a city?]
Military facility? Old-world military?
Not long after VAL declared that, Corey’s screen blinked red and blue, suddenly filling with alerts. The boy cursed and slammed the lid shut on the device, looking around with wild eyes. “Get ready!” he called, reaching for his sidearm. Erec stepped back from the boy, grabbing his axe and feeling those alarm bells run.
A fleet of those drones flew out of the hole, headed right towards where they’d made their brief pause.
Boldwick was among the first to move, only beaten by a couple of Pendragons pulling their triggers. He formed a red glyph, and a second later, his sword morphed into a pillar of fire. With a broad sweep, the column of flame seared over the drones, melting their parts. A couple of the things crashed into the ground as melted slag; others avoided it with swift maneuvering.
Then the Pendragons opened fire, and the bullets flew back from the drones.
Boldwick’s Armor took the hits, the shots denting and ricocheting off the Armor; one of the Pendragons yelled out in pain as a bullet tore into them.
Their unarmored allies pulled back into cover, meaning it was time for the Knights to shine. Erec sped forward, throwing a hatchet cleanly through a drone, able to track right where it’d be thanks to the Q.A.P. It crashed into the ground in two parts, sparking and skidding.
Another flew near, which he grabbed it from the air, ripping it apart with both hands.
Bullets bounced off Erec’s Armor, making a highly annoying dinging sound as they ricocheted off steel. Erec felt that bit of Fury flare deep down and kept up the offense.
With the full might of six Knights and a host of Pendragons providing cover fire, destroying the drones that swarmed outward didn’t take long. By the end of it, Erec was left longing for more of a fight. This hadn’t let him go wild to revel in his power.
He took a small look at Enide, who, to his dismay, noticed. The girl gave a thumbs-up and a smile. A “you did well!” but not the reaction he wanted.
This wasn’t him; he hadn’t shown her the true part of him lingering inside. If she wanted to see that…if she could accept that…
[Showing off. By Dan, youth never changes. These drones aren’t the only defense in a facility like this, so I wouldn’t get cocky. You might have magic and Armor but have yet to deal with the full might of science.]
“Sobering.” Erec shook his head and sighed, walking forward with the rest of the Knights to inspect the pit now that Corey had failed.
Below, in the chasm, were several of the bodies of people Seven-Snakes had sent, their corpses scattered on the broken pavement stuck in the dirt. Fresh, too, from all indications, and shot in the back. Scraps of drones also mingled with the bodies. They’d tried to run from the vault, but weren’t fast enough to escape bullets. A bit of sadness washed through Erec, but it was hardly his first exposure to death. Unlike the Kingdom’s soldiers and Knights he’d watched die on the battlefield, he didn’t know these people. In all likelihood, if they’d arrived sooner, they might’ve died at the hands of the Knights.
It was a waste, though, for them to die like this.
Without a word, they pressed lower into the pit. Several was nowhere near the number of thugs Seven-Snakes was reported to have, so the only answer for why was that there’d be more down here.
“Emergency protocol.” Corey pointed out cavities in the wall as they broke into a concrete tunnel. There were metal plates on either side of each, most now askew and open. “If they got in, they didn’t breach the network to do it. This was a sort of trap to deal with anyone trying to access their security remotely, but if we can find a port, I might be able to find out more about this place.”
“Understood,” Boldwick agreed, looking down the rest of the tunnel. “For now, we’ll pull back. The rest of the Knights will be inbound; we’ll try to catch up with our target. Erec, Robin, and Julia. I want you on the tunnel. Make sure nobody gets out.”
The group left the three assigned guards in the tunnel, which gave Erec an eerie feeling. Staring at a concrete pathway lined with powered lights made him shiver. What else hid down there? His fingers tapped against his side, the metal clinking softly in the silence. Vortex Industries wasn’t geared for combat and held a lot of dangerous research. This was the supposed old-world government’s facility?
Not much was known about it, which he figured might be an intentional device of the Kingdom.
The tapping continued, and when he finally drew his head away from the tunnel below, he noticed Dame Juliana and Robin looking at him.
“Sorry, I’ll stop.” His fingers stopped their tapping.
“It wasn’t that,” Dame Robin said. “You’ve come a long way. It could be that three is better than two guards, but he decided to pick an Initiate to help. And not Gwen, the second-year. It means more than you know, Erec.”
“Huh?”
“About on par with a Knight Errant.” Dame Juliana shrugged. “Abnormally responsible when it comes to his Knighthood. Now that he’s had his first indiscretion, he’s probably brought the relief in tension Boldwick hoped for. Often you test new Initiates to find their breaking points. Getting involved with a wastelander during a mission like this must be a better one than others.”
“You’re reading too much into this,” Erec argued.
“Or you’re not reading enough. You’ve killed a Cataclysm-level threat. It’s silly to think that accomplishment only mattered in the eyes of the Kingdom but not your own Order,” Robin pointed out.
“Were it not for strict educational requirements, you’d likely be a Knight Errant. Boldwick is treating you like one, since it’s the rank he sees you as,” Juliana said. “Fine enough, but he shouldn’t forget you’re still young. Powerful or generally responsible as you are, you’re still green. Though getting used to this treatment will probably help when we return to the Kingdom.”
“Does it scare you two?” Erec asked, feeling that pit stir in his stomach. “It feels like we’re far out on a limb here in the middle of the wasteland, and when we left the Kingdom, there were a lot of things stirring in the shadows.”
Dame Robin touched his shoulder as she was wont to do. The gesture resonated with Erec, always stirring that latent ghost of his mother in his memory. “Of course we’re scared. Feeling fear is part of being a Knight, as is pushing past it. Together, we can take on anything this world throws our way. Change is the most natural part of life, and it’s been coming for our Kingdom for a long time. People outside our walls exist, and they’ve grown as we have. No matter how the Church wants to deny it. Our way of life was fine for a long time, but we must never forget why we came back to the surface to begin with.”
“We’ll reconquer this world for humankind.” Dame Juliana spoke up and folded her arms. “Don’t lose sight of the goal.”
CHAPTER 37
IN-BETWEEN
Waiting was pure torture. Guard work was always going to be boring when compared to marching into an old-world government vault. But it was ten times worse than Erec expected. He walked back and forth and tried his best to keep his nerves together; Robin and Juliana had gone on about him proving capable, but part of him craved war. Staring into a dark tunnel and picturing what was ahead without being able to explore was worse than pulling teeth.
So it was with great relief that an hour later, everyone finally arrived.
The standard operation was simple. Knights led the way, since if they got peppered with bullets, they could take them. Meanwhile, those with guns would move behind them, forming an effective two-layer strategy.
It also had the benefit of letting Boldwick look at any possible traps, though, as they found out by the occasional body, any traps had already been triggered.
