Regulators are the national law enforcement of the nation of Ventic. Regulators are members of the Ex-Tac mega-corporation. Each Regulator is strictly trained and conditioned both physically and mentally to be an unyielding force of law and order. There are sub-organizations of elite specialists. These groups almost exclusively accept members who have an Adventurer class or Mage class. Among these elite specialist groups are the FrostFire Division, the T3 (Total Termination Teams) Division, and the Stryker Division. Teams and squads from these divisions are loaded out to local corporations for the purpose of legal action relating to the organization that requires brutal force.
I slowly turned the wheel of factions, pretending to examine each of them closely and think hard about the choice. In reality, I was snatching glances at Lynn’s eyes, looking for noticeable features. When I spotted what I was looking for, I spoke up. “I’ll play the Fae Faction.”
“Really?” Lynn asked in amusement. “Feeling whimsical, are we?”
With her comment, I found an opening and had an idea of how to respond with a witty riposte. “There is much more to the Fae, ma’am, than pixies and unicorns. The Winter Fae are particularly nasty. For example, the Grimmalk is a masterful hunter with a wide range of abilities. Among that list is the rather useful ability to see through illusions. This makes them lethal to anyone or anything that seeks to hide its true self from this six-legged feline hunter.”
Lynn sat back and gave me an impressive smile. I was rather proud of the natural flow from answering her question to calling her out and complimenting her, but I was done playing coy.
I picked my first five pieces to start the game. I set down a pixie, and developed a forest on that space before ending my priming phase, and bluntly asking, “Cybernetic eyes or interocular implants?”
Lynn gave me a teasing frown. “Done with our game so soon? If you really must know, they are interocular installments. They are harder to detect and can do just as much as a cybernetic.”
“And you’re not upset because I’m a Darkling or hiding who I am?” I asked.
“Why would I be upset?” She asked. “I recognize you from the screens throughout the city, even with that mask. Grimvale’s most wanted terrorist. The mask would’ve been a smart addition if your skin pattern wasn’t so identifiable. I’d recommend a full face cover next time. But my point is that I understand why you would attempt to vanish from the public eye and seek out support from a group like our little gang. You really don’t seem like the extremist terrorist you’ve been painted as. You really don’t seem like someone who would bomb buildings or attack Regulators unprovoked. How about this: while we play Garden of the Gods, we take turns asking questions. For every piece I take, you have to answer one question, and vice versa.”
I asked, “But what if the answers I need are to let me perform the needed tasks in the gang?”
Lynn gave a noncommital shrug. “Then I guess you’ll need to prioritize your questions. If you don’t take enough of my pieces, then you’ll just have to get that information from someone else.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to play to win,” I double-tapped a finger against the center of the board to trigger the next phase of game preparation. “Since I can’t understand the others in the gang particularly well.”
A hologram of a silver coin appeared two feet above the board and tumbled end over end. When the coin landed, it was tails side up, and my half of the board glowed with a blue light. I gave Lynn a crooked grin. “Looks like I start.” I said as I tapped my first piece, then a space on the board at the edge closest to me. Another digital pixie sprang to life, fluttering around the designated space. I triple-tapped that same space, and a digital glade sprang to life around my pixie. I brushed my thumb against the edge of the board to signal the system that I ended my turn.
Lynn’s side lit as mine went dim. She played an apprentice unit and developed the space beside his unit with a mage tower.
And so it went, each of us preparing for conflict by playing units, capturing and developing spaces, and moving the necessary units into position. As we traded turns and set plans in motion, my friends watched the game intently. Nennel was focusing on my moves, while Kharmor was focusing on Lynn’s. Poor Ferris appeared to have no clue what was going on, but he still watched intently. The game developed at a rapid pace with the vacant lack of conversation. Tension was thick in the air.
That tension was severed like a thread when Ferris stood and moved to get food from the table. Nennel, Kharmor, and I stared at our Elven friend in stunned shock. We then looked at each other to silently confirm our astonishment.
“You guys want anything?” the Quint asked over his shoulder as he picked up a plate and started piling food atop it.
“I, um.” I stammered.
It was then that Lynn burst into uproarious laughter. When she had calmed down enough to speak, she said “You all are honestly the most strange and fascinating fresh meat I have ever met. A Quint with absolutely no fear. A Half-Dwarf with an eye for the finer things. A Borg girl who walked into the dragon’s den and is more concerned with a board game than the cyber-skavs around her. And a Darkling terrorist with a heart of gold and an educated past.” As she spoke, Lynn wiped tears away from her laughing fit.
I stiffened and restrained myself from snarling at the gang boss. “You recognize Nevierra then. Are you going to scrap her?”
“What?” Lynn looked honestly shocked at my question. Then she looked thoughtful. “How about this? If I win our game, I choose what happens to her. If you win, I will do any one thing you tell me to, if it is within my ability and does not harm myself or anyone under me.”
I looked at Nennel for a long few seconds. She looked terrified, frozen in her seat like she was sitting across from some massive beast that would eat her if she moved. I turned my gaze to the game board and rubbed the side of my index finger back and forth against my mask, where my lips were covered, as I contemplated. If I hadn’t met this woman, I would’ve instantly thought that she would scrap Nel if I lost the game. But this Ceangar woman was intelligent and surprisingly empathetic toward my assumed situation. She might not have Nel scrapped. She might do something beneficial for my sister. This was a daring gamble. From how the game had developed up to that point, it looked like either of us could steal the victory.
Lynn had taken a more aggressive stance to her play style than my own. But she was still making tactical moves. She had played two powerful units, seven strong units, and fourteen weak units. She was using the weak units to capture as much ground as possible without endangering her units or territory. My best guess was that when the conflict started, she would use her weak units as cannon fodder and field control.
I had been playing defensively. While I hadn’t captured as much territory as Lynn, I had fortified the majority of what I did control and had the critical spaces guarded by strong units. If I wanted to win this game, I would have to deny Lynn the field control that she was gambling on. But the Mage Faction had the most ranged units in the entire game. I would need to find a way to counter her range advantage to open the tactical path to denying her field control.
“Fine.” I said before turning to Nennel. As I had expected, she looked stunned, horrified, and offended. “Don’t worry, Nev’. I’m not about to lose this.”
“Oh, and you can stop using those fake names.” Lynn casually said as she moved a unit. “I know her name is Nennel Darrdane.”
A high-pitched squeak slipped from Nel. To reassure her, I reached over and gently squeezed her hand before focusing on the game again. That set my determination in stone. I would win this game. It was during that same turn I took one of Lynn's weak units. I had flanked one of her apprentices between a Sidh warrior and forest troll before removing her piece from play with an ambush from a grimmalk.
Lynn gave a bow of her head in acknowledgment of my taking first blood. She then gestured with me with a sweep of her hand as she said, “First question is yours.”
While I should prioritize the questions that Weaver had given as hints, that would likely kill my cover. Asking questions about gang operations when my friend’s life might be on the line would give a very bad impression. So, I started simple. Plus, I was honestly curious about the answer. “What does the gang have against Nel?”
Lynn sat back, folded one arm under her petite bosom, and scratched the length of her jaw with the thumb of her other hand. “I’m surprised that she hasn’t told you. Her daddy-dearest was a drug runner for us for a while. But when he got in a family way, the lead lobe faked his own death to get away from us and fled with a sum of clat that was noticeable when it went missing.”
“And then you tracked my father down and set fire to his garage, you witch!” Nennel snapped at Lynn. “You killed my father and did THIS,” she gestured to her body, “To me. You ruined everything!”
Lynn gave an exasperated sigh as she leaned forward. “It wasn’t anything personal, kid. He took coin from our pocket and fled. You weren’t supposed to get hurt when we put your old man six feet under.”
“Then why was she attacked?” I asked, my tone and gaze intense with controlled anger.
Lynn looked toward me. “That’s a second question, but I’ll give you this one for free. We were given information on who she was, who her father was, what she looked like, and the general location of her residence in town as payment to balance some scales. I couldn’t have cared less about the info, but some of the boys were chomping at the bit. They acted without my permission.” She sat back again. “I’m not one to have a kid owe me anything if the parent is the one who did the wrong. Plus, we put him six feet down, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re square and clear.
Nennel remained silent as the game continued. Ferris was snacking on a plate of exotic meats and fruits while we played. Kharmor was silent and stalwart, as per the usual. Two turns later, Lynn took one of my Sidh warriors with a Sorcerer piece. “My question. What actually happened that got you labeled as a terrorist?”
I chewed at my lip for a second before answering with a portion of the truth. “We were delving into the Undercity. We had been planning the trip for a while, and almost nothing went as planned. I was almost eaten by ghouls and a garden elemental. I almost fell into a bottomless pit, and again into a pool of acid. I lost almost all of my gear and got chased by cannibals. But the terrorist thing was because we accidentally woke a stigmagaunt and led it to the surface while trying to get away.”
Lynn let out a laugh of surprise. “That was you!? Boy, kid, did you screw up in a monumental fashion. And the bombing and Regulator things?”
I gave her a look of amusement and teasing denial. “You’ll need to take another piece for that answer.”
I knew that this action was a serious gamble, which I was hoping would win me the bigger gamble for Nennel. This woman scared me. On the surface she spoke well, acted polite, and played friendly. But this woman was also deviously smart, well informed, the leader of a dangerous and powerful gang, clearly had money to throw at problems, was openly armed with a weapon that would easily kill, and was playing with lives like she was trading playing cards.
Lynn gave me a very serious look and quietly held my eye contact for several seconds before ending her turn and sitting back to watch. I very well might have just upset the bee queen in the middle of a hive of carnivore bees.
I needed to prove to this woman that my answers were worth fighting for, while at the same time making that fight a struggle. If I could play a mind game while playing a holo board game, I might be able to split her focus enough to pull out a win.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
I moved a Treant in to capture one of her towers. The space was in the center of her territory boundary and gave me a wedge-point to push from. I doubled down on my tactic and double-reinforced that freshly spawned glade, upgrading it past forest and into a jungle. Next I discarded two of the units in my hand of ten to give me an additional two actions. I kept my initiative and breached another hole in her border on the western side of the board with a Wolf Pack by removing a Spark Squad. I knew that the Wolf Pack was a goner, but I was fine with that. It was a taunt with a sacrificial piece. For my last action, I played an Arch Fae just behind the new jungle I had spawned, which was still guarded by the treant.
Before I ended my turn, I asked my earned question for removing the Spark Squad. “So, this next question is gang business. I know your ZipVane drug is Zyzivane. I am aware that the drug’s formula was released to the net but was snatched up by Evea-Life Corporation. So, where did you get the formula?”
Lynn looked at me with an even harder stare than before. “Where did you get that information?”
I had made the deduction myself. Bit, Byte, and Gig had mentioned a new drug called ZipVane that the gang was selling and that it was killing people. Weaver told me to ask where the gang had gotten the Zyzivane formula. The math was pretty simple.
“My question firs-” I started. But before I could finish, I was looking down a rather large gun barrel.
“No.” Lynn said in a frosty tone that sent lightning up my spine. “I’ll answer this question now, and you’ll keep answering my questions until I say otherwise.”
Ferris and Kharmor both reached for weapons, but I shoved an arm in front of them to signal to them not to try anything. “First, do you promise to keep to your word about the game?”
“That entirely depends on how you answer my questions.”
“Okay.” I said, quickly throwing together a story from pieces of Weaver’s history, what the gangers had assumed about me.
“My father worked for Vartex. He was working on the formula of Zyzivane. I don’t have all of the details, but he said that there was something wrong with the formula and that the corp was pushing to release it regardless. Well, a Vartex striker offed my father after we had moved to a small town in a hurry. I used almost all of the clat from my father to get here so I could get some bloody vengeance. Not long after I got here, I met a few kids on the street who told me about ZipVane. The name was too close to the drug’s original name. I also recognized the symptoms the dead druggers had. My father had mentioned them a couple of times. So, I connected the bots and came looking for you.” The entire time I spoke, I kept my eyes locked with Lynns and did my best to cover up my spiked anxiety.
The revolver remained aimed at my face for a few moments longer before Lynn lowered it and sat back, propping the ankle of her right leg on the knee of her left. “You’re lookin’ for blood? From who? Vartex makes sense, but what about us? We’re peddling your dad’s drug, and we’ve stacked up bodies.”
I knew that the gang was kidnapping people off the street to test the drug. That meant that they were making changes to the formula. Understanding what I did of Lynn, she wouldn’t be so stupid as to keep pushing a lethal drug on the streets until she knew that she had something that would turn a profit. So I would play dumb to the testing, but show that I knew she wouldn’t be selling it.
“Well, I don’t know how you got the drug’s recipe, and I would like to know that. But I do know that you’re definitely not moronic enough to keep trying to sell something that piles up bodies like an alcoholic piles beer cans. I would have a problem if you kept trying to push the toxic stuff. But I want to take Vartex heads, and maybe a few others, depending on where the formula you got came from.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what you’re asking, and then some. I might just have an offer to perk your ears. Let’s start with the answer to your question. We were contacted by a stranger who promised us a drug that could make us some serious coin. This dealer was the mysterious sort. Definitely a Human. Darker skin and pale hair. A bit taller than yourself and dressed in a top-plat quality suit with a wolf mask. The mask was silver with orange eyes. This scum sucker told us it was a new type of performance-enhancing designer drug that hadn’t hit the market yet. We paid a heavy purse to get the formula and a sample batch. I handed the designs to our Street Alchemists to see if it was legitimate. They said that they hadn’t seen anything like it before, but that it should be good. But my crew is made up of a bunch of idiots. The samples hit the street without any testing because someone thought it was fast and solid coin. At the same time, the Alchemists started cooking up a balk batch because they got excited to the point of imbecility for a new toy. Before I knew what had been going on, we had enough corpses to fill a graveyard.”
Lynn had my sympathies for being surrounded by idiots, but she was still having terrible things done, so I needed to stay focused. “Did this crop-rat give any kind of name?”
“Yeah. He went by Gentleman Wolf. Pretty bad name, if you ask me. Is the guy a high-class corp-rat in the kink community?”
I gave an embarrassed cough at the question before bringing things back on topic. “You said that you had an offer for me?”
“Ah! Yes.” She said. “We’ve been knocking off Vartex corp-rats on the coin of some mysterious stranger. Given how you handled Herk, I’d be willing to add you to the hit teams if you're up for it.”
“Uh, yeah.” I said in shock. My astonishment was genuine. She just offered to give the answer to another puzzle piece Weaver had handed me. He had told me to ‘Ask the Razor Wing boss about their newest list of hits. Well, I was practically offered the keys to the proverbial kingdom. I centered my thoughts and gave Lynn a better answer. “I mean, yes. Hells yes. Can you flick me the target list right now? I want to see if there’s anyone I know on it.”
“Sure.” she said as she activated her therra. Six hand motions later, I had a new message notification on my therra. I pulled it up and scanned it. Five names and an IP address. “Anyone you know?” she asked.
“Sadly, no. But I’ll still join the teams.” My plan was to let the gangers find the targets and for me to act against them as subtly as I could to save the targets. I’d likely get some of my Order team to help me get the targets to safety. Suddenly I had a thought. “Hey, Lynn. Who’s flipping the coin of these hits?”
She gave an uncaring shrug before leaning forward to inspect the game board. “Never met the guy in person. He goes by G3ar Gh0zt. He contacts me through the net and pays half up front and half after the job is done. He always seems to know when the deed is done, though, and he pays with a very weighty purse.”
I intently watched Lynn for a brief few seconds, looking for any hint of deception. She lowered her guard rather easily. “I’m sorry, Lynn, but… You warmed up to me rather fast. Is there a reason?”
She glanced up at me before looking back to the board. She stroked a thumb across her nose and gave a sharp inhale through it before answering me. “Let’s just say that I can empathize with bad ties to corps. I have more than enough venom in my veins for any corp-rat or Regulator. And I did hear how you dropped an Arsenal Reg, which earned you my respect. Now, how about we get back to the game? You’ve put me in a rough spot, but I think I have an out.”
“Sure.” I said as I inspected the gameboard just as she had. The game made it four more rounds when calamity struck.
I was just about to move my Arch Fae unit into a position that would force her to move her Alchemist unit to the east when there was a rumble through the building. My head shot up, and I looked to the door of the room. My instincts were telling me that something nasty either had just occurred or was about to occur.
I was about to stand to move to the door when I froze at the sound of a gun hammer being cocked. I didn’t dare to even move my eyes, but I knew Lynn was aiming her Executioner revolver at my head.
“I had a sense that you were hiding something.” She said in a cold voice. “There is no way that corp could know we were here unless they were lead. You’re the only new blood and fresh to the gang. So, who did you bring? Is it Dryzor corp, hm? Maybe Black Jade Hydra? No. I think it’s Vartex. Just like them to send a mole claiming to hate them for dark dealings.” She pressed the muzzle against my temple. “I don’t take kindly to moles. Now, if you are honest with me, I’ll make it quick.”
I reflexively moved to look at her but froze when she ground the muzzle against my head. “I’m no mole, you schizo witch.” I lied. “I’m aiming to drop Vartex.” I lied again.
“Oh yeah?” She said in a sarcastic tone. “I bet your father wasn’t even killed. Is he a corp officer?”
At her words, I spun with a snarl on my face. I pressed forward, locking eyes with her as I made sure to put enough force to make the gun barrel leave an imprint on my forehead. “Don’t you speak a word about my father. If you utter anything about the man who died a hero, I will take as many rounds as I must to ensure you won’t walk away.”
I didn’t blink as I stared the Ceangar down. After my threat, I thought I might’ve seen a crack in her stalwart stance. But I would never know if I was right. Gunfire and screams rang from the outer room. Lynn looked to the door only to find a nasty surprise.
A bolt of pure light flew over my shoulder and struck her wrist, throwing the weapon aside to spin off into the corner of the room. Lynn instinctively pulled back her hand and bared her teeth at me, like a feral cat. I kicked over the table atop the Ceangar gang boss and leaped to my feet just in time for the room to be subsumed by darkness. Magical shadows filled the space like a thick gas. But I could see through it easily. The magic only gave the world around me a gray tint. But I could tell by the expressions and body language of the rest of my group that they were totally blind.
I snatched Ferris’s wrist and drove his hand into Nel’s own hand. I did the same with Ferris’s other hand and Kharmor’s. In a hiss, I whispered, “Hold tight, we’re about to move fast.” just loud enough for my friends to hear. Then, I grasped Nennel’s free hand in my left hand and led the others at a brisk base to the exit of the room.
We stepped through the entry into a world of natural light, or as natural as fluorescent bulbs can be. The room was in total chaos. Figures in black tactical outfits and gear were breaching the room and opening fire on anything that moved. I looked at the rest of my group to find them all blinking against the sudden difference in light.
Ferris and Kharmor were moving to arm themselves even as they adapted to the light. Meanwhile, Nel already had her Lash Gloves armed and ready even as she rapidly blinked. I caught sight of an armed stranger lining up a shot at Ferris, and I threw him to the floor by his neck, myself dropping with him. As Ferris was thrust to the ground, he gave a strangled “GAK!”
“Can you all see?!” I shouted over the gunfire.
“I can!” Nennel replied even as she lashed two molten-red threads against a Ceangar assailant in tactical gear. One thread wrapped around their myst lance rifle and cleanly severed the front-most third of it. Her other thread wrapped around the Ceangar’s ankles and pulled taut. The poor man or woman was pulled completely off their feet, literally. Their feet stayed standing on the ground, severed, as the rest of them were pulled and fell onto their back.
I was about to unsheath Devil’s Tail when I found a boot striking my shoulder and shoving me sideways. When I righted myself, I looked for whoever had pushed me, ready for a fight. I found the same Grytess Orc who had stepped in on my behalf earlier, when I had asked the Ceangar ganger about the Zyzivane, and he had gotten suspicious. In the wall where I had just been standing, at my neck level, was a combat knife, still quivering from the force of the throw. This Orc stranger held a Snuffer elemental pistol in his left hand, firing off shots of Myst Fire, while hurling shots and spears of Lumina and Umbra Myst from his free hand. He looked to be attacking everyone who wasn’t part of my group.
Ferris pulled me to my feet, and I reinspected my surroundings. I saw a Human ganger who had noticed that our new Orc friend was attacking both gangers and the assault team. This Human was charging my Orcish friend with a heavy-headed sledgehammer pulled for a powerful swing.
I didn’t hesitate. I raised my right hand and aimed my Shockbites at the Human and shot a single one. The lone spike bloomed into a flower of voltage as it flew and latched onto the poor guy’s face. While I felt bad for the ganger, I didn’t feel bad enough to do anything.
In a single fluid motion, I drew a small caliber kinetic pistol in my left hand and Devil’s Tail in my right. The moment my sword arm had enough space, I activated the expandible shield in my cybernetic arm. The defensive device was no larger than a buckler, only a foot and a half in diameter. But any cover could help keep me and my friends alive.
I cracked off two shots at a female Elf ganger who had started blindly firing a fully automatic rifle. She had been putting rounds into everything in front of her, friend or foe. My first shot struck her in the arm, only throwing her off balance. But my second shot punched into her right lung and dropped her to the floor where she struggled to draw gurgling breaths.
I mentally commanded the shoulder Loklink piece to activate. The right shoulder of my leather jacket split as six iron-glass vials extended and began filling with my blood. I sidestepped closer to the friendly Orc and shouted to the entire group. “We need to move, NOW! The boss is out for blood and will leave the dark room any time now.” The Orc nodded in confirmation, and I took the lead to move the group to safety.
The assault team had entered the room and spread out to clear the space, leaving only two members on either side of the exit. I fired three rounds against the guard on the left, and the Orc threw a bolt of shadow at the one on the right before firing off two shots at the same target.
My first bullet bounced off her chest plate. The second round clipped her barely on the side of the neck. But the last round struck her in the center of the neck. The poor Human woman clutched at her neck with one hand even as she attempted to raise a sidearm at me. But I closed the distance and launched a sidekick into her kidney, bouncing her off the wall and to the floor.
The Orc’s attack was a bit different. The shadow bolt struck the Elf guard in the center of his body. It didn’t seem to do anything until the Myst Fire shots hit in the exact same spot and punched through the armor, which should’ve been resistant to the attack. The guard dropped his weapon and pressed his hands on either side of the wound, but he dropped all the same. I was about to push through the doors when I heard Lynn scream, “IVEN!” as she spotted me immediately after entering the room.
I kicked open the doors in a panic, even as I heard a high-caliber gunshot I knew came from Lynn. When I didn’t feel any pain as I rushed into the hallway, I thought myself lucky. I hurried toward the stairs even as I checked myself for damage. Her shot had punched through the back of my cybernetic hand and out near my thumb. I thanked the Goddess that nothing worse than losing my illusion had happened. But I was wrong. Very wrong.
