Chapter 2: Skirmish at Tetrachrome
1672 Words
Security Bodyscan Progress
[100%]
Real and Virtual Body Confirmation
[Match!]
Scan Completed!
Welcome to the Syanic Earth, Shien Niang!
Shien opened his eyes, waking up into the virtual world, lying on the soft grass. He stood up and smiled at the sunset’s glory over the serene yellow sky.
Shien’s calendar opened on his notifications page.
“Yep, gonna meet the goons at the Bistro,” Shien then checked on his gear.
Shien appeared his real self. The UICA made players appear as their real selves to promote people’s self-esteem of their true bodies and selves. The visors scan their bodies to make sure players are using their respective player accounts.
He wore his glowing caidercoat that shrouded over his dark blue shirt and gray cargo pants. Shien looked across the sunset to see the nearby city of Tetrachrome.
Shien heard a slight rustle from the trees behind him. He cracked a smile as he knew who it was. Shien moved his head away to dodge a flying kick, placing his elbow at the waist and flicked the upper part of his arm to force the side of his palm to strike the neck. The opponent fell on the ground but backflipped away. As Shien bent his knees and positioned his arms in Wu Sao, the familiar person stood with one leg up as she readied herself in Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg.
“Trying to attack me when I’m not looking, Phoenicia?” Shien walked to his friend. “You remember the Golden Rooster!”
“Of course,” The young android lady with silver hair and large cybernetic green eyes stood with her hands at her hips. “I have a programmed ability to learn different styles of martial arts.”
Phoenicia wore a uniform green shirt along with a gray skirt. The two made a series of fist bumps, ending it with both of them turning around and high-fiving below with their backs facing each other.
“You remember the greeting!” Shien jumped.
“How could I forget such a greeting told by you and your g**g?” Phoenicia adjusted the berry ornament on her hair. “I infer that your presence here means that a meeting at Enshiron’s is taking place, correct?”
“Of course! Wanna join my empire?”
“If I overthrow you, then yes!”
“Not a chance, shortie.”
“That’s a statement is incorrect. Your height is lower than the average Asian young man-”
“Stop it! You know I hate it when you use statistics to make fun of my height!”
Shien jumped with a vein popping out of his forehead as Phoenicia made fun of his height. The two walked through the streets of the majestic skyscrapers blazing with different colors.
Players performed street dances with their glowing attire. The DJs spun the table disks to vibrate the streets with electric music.
“Phoenicia,” Shien jumped. “How have the new players been?”
Phoenicia was Shien’s android guide.
“I’d say, satisfactory,” She responded.
“That’s cool! How many people have you helped today?”
“I assisted at least 12 new players.”
“Is it tiring?”
“Do not worry. As an android in the Syanic Earth, I can resist most forms of fatigue.”
“I see. Nothing new?”
“Nothing that requires notice.”
“What of the Saberdome?”
“Today is the anniversary, the UICA updated me their plans to add a new arena panorama.”
“I didn’t know that! Which one?”
“According to the testing simulations, the new panorama is semivolcanic and icy.”
“That’s cool stuff!”
“I believe Ritom will enjoy the fire.”
“Yes, but he will melt all the ice.”
“That’s the most probable outcome.”
The two chuckled until Phoenicia’s two antenna hairs vibrated at their ends. Usually, it means she sensed danger.
“What is it? Cubic Regime?”
“A possibility.”
Suddenly, an explosion occurred a few blocks away. A black-caped person wearing dark red shades holding a large bag ran away from the Tetrachrome bank. The enemy’s profile emerged.
Cyber Bandit
Level 40
HP: [40,000/40,000]
The two friends looked at each other.
“Cyber bandit,” Shien said.
“Remember what I instructed you about cyber bandits?”
“Yep. Cyber bandits are full of netium credits! Shall we tango a bit before meeting with the others?”
“With the utmost pleasure.”
As Shien pressed a few tabs, his cyber clarinet appeared. As it materialized at the palm of his hands, it transformed itself into a cybernetic shotgun made of clarinet parts. The sleek instrument c****d itself while Phoenicia activated her tabs. Jet-powered titanium arm and leg gauntlets materialized into her limbs.
"Shall I divert the enemy's attention?" The silver-haired android said with her pupils became glowing red in combat mode.
"Yeah!" Shien smiled.
Phoenicia charged towards the bandit's direction with the jet power from her gauntlets boosting her speed. Shien faced his clarinet shotgun at the ground behind him, releasing a powerful shot that propelled him onto the tall buildings.
***
"Jeez, I'm a bit late," Elysia told herself as she twitched her Vulpi fox ears, seeing the bandit run across the street with his fat bag full of netium credits.
She was looking forward to catching the cyber bandit. Their appearances weren't the most common, and it's her opportunity to restock her netium stash. As a lone fighter, she used her netium credits to upgrade her old school weapons, her steel-tipped brass knuckles, tungsten machete, and her trusty pair of machine pistols. She used such weapons for a long time in the real world.
Elysia is a Vulpi, a race of humans who have fox ears and tails. In the real world, she used to be part of the Waxing Sickle, a radical Vulpi group that fought against the Kneapexist Global Federation.
Now alone with Master Fermato in the real world, she fights alone in the Syanic Earth, hoping to free herself from her past. She never liked humans, despite the lectures of the so-called "good" in humanity Fermato told her. She couldn't forget the Reaper Squad dressed in black, the sinister red glow in their helmet visors, the voice scrambling that spoke the languages of demons, the b****y bayonets grinning in the dark, the ones who murdered her Vulpi friends like pieces of meat.
The Vulpi girl jumped across the rooftops of the colorful buildings, across the uproar of electronic music.
“It’s my chance,” Elysia said, preparing her brass knuckles as she rushed atop the buildings like a ninja. “Those credits are mine! Huh? Who’s that?”
She spotted the bandit shooting at an android girl with his plasma pistol. The android jumped towards the bandit with the jet force ejecting from her leg gauntlets for every step as she blocked the plasma fire with her arm gauntlets. The bandit dodged a crackling knuckle and a burning kick as fast as the speed of light. He backed off to fire at her. She blocked the blasts with her gauntlets, swiping the air with her arms and legs with finesse.
Elysia could view the bandit’s profile, but not the android girl since they don’t know each other. The UICA made a twist where you cannot view another person’s profile until you get to know them in person except for duels. The UICA used this method to encourage players to interact with one another.
Cyber Bandit
Level 40
HP: [14,519/40,000]
“No! Someone got ahead of me!” Elysia exclaimed, running across the buildings. “I need to catch up now. That cash is mine!”
***
The crowd watched the Phoenicia fight the cyber bandit. A bullet shot the side of his head from above. His health bar lowered to the red zone, but he didn’t want to give up his money that easily. He pointed his pistol in the air.
Shien jumped across the buildings with his clarinet shotgun. He and the bandit exchanged fire at each other from afar. While Shien distracted the bandit, Phoenicia dashed through the street with the boosts from her gauntlets, launching her jet-powered soles at him. The bandit winced, dropping his bag and pistol.
Shien landed on the bandit's shoulders to crush them with Hawk's Talon. He then backflipped and made a sideways kick at the bandit. The opponent fell as his dark shades cracked. Shien's clarinet then transformed into a long staff. He slammed it at the bandit as a finishing blow. The bandit's health reached zero. He disintegrated into blue hexagons, which faded into the air.
Phoenicia held the netium bag while her red pupils reverted to normal green. She winked, giving Shien a thumbs-up. A tab confirming their victory and rewards appeared. The surrounding crowd clapped. Shien smiled and waved to the crowd while Phoenicia bowed.
She walked to Shien with the bag as Shien skipped towards her, closing a tab that deactivated his clarinet, making it disappear into thin air. The android girl placed the bag down and closed a tab that deactivated her gauntlets to give Shien the handshake Dorian taught them. They fist-bumped a few times before spinning around to high five below with their backs facing. Shien and Phoenicia then looked at the reward tab.
Congratulations!
Netium Reward: 500,000
EXP: 20,000
“Wanna split fifty?” Shien asked. “After all, it was teamwork!”
“A thoughtful gesture,” The android girl said.
“Hey, you two!” A voice shouted over the booming crowd as Phoenicia’s two antenna hair stood, vibrating at its ends once again. “That’s mine!”
- Writer
