Negative. Personal AIs are not allowed to directly interface with Administrators.
Oh, any chance you can tell me why?
That information is classified.
Of course. Although, wait, is there any chance that you could perhaps transfer this data about Administrators to Eve?
Querying… please wait.
A couple seconds passed, until a message popped up:
Purchase data from the Administrators for 10,000 credits?
Eve, I should purchase this information, right?
Eve remained silent.
After a second of contemplation, Alan agreed to the purchase, and a bar appeared before him displaying the amount of data transferred, at about a rate of 1% every other second. There were ten minutes until the third tutorial round started.
That is all the current Administrator data you have access to. Good luck, traveler.
A connection broke off in Alan’s mind as he sensed Eve reappear.
Where did you go? Alan asked.
The Game prevented me from interacting in a particular manner, Eve responded. Analyzing data now… I believe you should ask the Assistant about this classified information.
Won’t that piss off the Assistant?
The Assistant does not have feelings.
Um, okay.
Alan refocused on the Administrator, trying to pay attention to the connections forming in his mind. This time he physically felt Eve’s disconnection right before he was connected to the Administrator.
Yes, traveler? I do not believe I can answer any additional questions that your AI can’t answer for you now.
The mechanical voice sounded almost exasperated despite Eve’s assurance it had no feelings. Maybe it was just Alan projecting.
Um yeah, you might not be able to tell me, but perhaps you could tell me who can? Are there any players with the information you considered classified in the nearby vicinity?
Searching… Yes, there are.
Could you tell me who and where they are? Or is that information hidden?
The player has opted to be seen in public searches. Please wait… Player notified of search… Considering options…
Wait! Notified of search!? Stop. I don’t want—
It seems like they’re willing to come to you.
A new message popped up before Alan:
The Survival Test: Bonus Round
You’ve managed to acquire the attention of a powerful being! Time will tell if that was a good idea or not. If you manage to survive both the Survival Test: Round 3 and defeat the Predecessor in battle, they are willing to share information with you, and more.
Requirement: Adampwnage must survive the Survival Test: Round 3
Rewards: ???
Bonus Wave: Predecessor, Lvl ???
Enemy remaining: 1
Estimated time until arrivaclass="underline" 0:24:36
As Alan closed the message he looked up to see the rest of the group staring at him. It seemed as though they had also received this updated quest.
“Um wait, I can explain,” Alan said. He hesitated, wondering what he should tell them. DaLong motioned for him to continue. “Uh, well, I asked the Administrator to look for a player with answers about the Game, and apparently such a search notifies that player and so that resulted in this quest. That’s really it, actually.”
“All right, well, additional rewards and challenges are a good thing," Thiago said. "Although, I doubt we’ll be able to handle a Predecessor even if we manage to defeat the Haxlards. It looks like the Haxlards will be arriving by ship, thus they’ll need to dock or unload somewhere. All of us will meet the landing party on shore, while you snipe at them from afar, with Kitana as support if they manage to get past us.”
“All right, sure,” Alan said, and they headed out.
Chapter 8
As everyone emerged from the bunker an unnaturally thick mist greeted them. It had appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the afternoon, shrouding everything beyond a couple of feet. It was eerie. As the sounds of battle in the distance were gone, it suddenly seemed as though all of civilization had vanished, leaving them alone surrounded by a grey wall that disintegrated into nothingness.
Kitana and Alan split off from the main group, making their way slowly to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge. Eve had determined this was the most defensible position, as their enemies would need to enter one of the entrances before they fired upon them, and it gave a view of nearly the entire coastline. Although it would be difficult, Eve told Alan that she could assist him in making a shot by triangulating an enemy's likely location using only sound. As a result, Alan kept an open communication channel with Thiago so he could hear everything Thiago could. Unfortunately, Eve had been permanently banned from directly accessing another player’s vision, and there weren’t any portable cameras for sale.
As they walked next to the main road towards the bridge, Alan kept expecting a car to appear on the road, yet none ever did. In fact, there weren’t any signs of another living being. More and more, Alan had the peculiar feeling that he was leaving the last vestiges of human society behind him. He mused that this might be one of the last moments he had on Earth for a while. Earth in the Game, at least.
The silence continued.
***
They reached the center of the bridge shortly. Alan fired a test shot to determine how large the gap was, and based upon the time until the shot struck something, Eve calculated it to be at least 300 meters long. This made things slightly easier though, as Kitana could simply guard the entrance to the bridge while Alan set up a few hundred meters away.
A minute later, the timer for the third round disappeared, though Thiago let Alan know that they hadn’t engaged the enemy. They had no idea where along the coast the ship might have landed. Squinting his eyes, Alan tried to make out something in the distance, yet all he could see was the grey wall of fog.
A few more minutes passed as Thiago split the group up to scout along the edges of the coast, trying to find the Haxlards before the Predecessor arrived. Although Alan couldn’t see the rest of the group, Eve displayed blue silhouettes showing their location. Suddenly, Alan heard a yell, along with a sickening thud. Weapon fire sounded off in the distance.
Laser fire and muzzle flashes emerged, penetrating the fog. Multiple red silhouettes appeared, standing on the edge of the coast, barely within Alan’s line of fire as Ace leapt forwards into the enemies.
Alan focused on the nearest silhouette, firing into the mist. The shot hit, but simply depleted 10% of the Haxlard’s shields. His next shot was a headshot as Eve got a better estimate of where the Haxlard was, eliminating another 80% of the shields. The enemy dived to the side, and Alan’s next shot was met by a barrier of some sort he couldn’t see.
“They’re wearing black power armor of some sort,” Thiago yelled above the burst fire of his assault rifle. “There’s a miniature shield they set up to defend against our fire." There was a grunt of pain. "Damn, DaLong took a shot to the head.”
Alan heard a tremendous roar emerge, followed by multiple heavy footsteps.
“Holy shit. DaLong has gone mad. He’s emitting a red aura, charging at the Haxlards firing into their shield dual wielding two sub-machine guns. He’s broken through their shield now, but they’re taking him apart.”
It sounds like the Last Stand ability, a common Berserker ability, Eve sent. Resume firing.