Chapter 4: Respite.
POV: Handler:
It was colder than usual as I left my workstation after informing the seeker where he was being sent to after his work within the Altai Moutan range. I felt the air conditioner's chill as I passed through the door that connected my office with the greater hallway. Hearing the soft clicks of my dress shoes as they landed on the tiles reminded me of how empty the place is; despite this complex holding at least a few hundred individuals tasked with the protection of humanity, a sensation of loneliness always swelled within me. Looking up, I notice a CCTV camera pointed directly at me, its cold lenses focusing on my person. Letting out a soft sigh, I begin walking down the hallway.
As I walked, I felt a sense of dread beginning to form within my chest. Right before the seeker arrived at the agreed landing zone, I received a message from the Director informing me that after my duties, I was to arrive at subsector 15 and await an escort. I could feel the gnawing sensation of my instincts telling me that I was most likely in trouble as I was being called into her office. I didn't understand why, but I knew full well that any meeting with the director always leads to a difficult situation.
Turning a corner and heading to one of the elevators that allow access to the deeper levels of the complex. I spot a small gathering of people, each of them huddled around each other, speaking rapidly. Walking closer, I recognized their uniforms and ID badges, showing signs that the huddled group were from a mix of Operations and Oversees Requisitions, as well I spotted a certain red-haired woman from the small bundle.
Giving them a polite wave, I saw the woman. Veronica smiled at me before returning the gesture. Her warm smile almost made me forget that a camera right above them turned to look towards me again. Walking past them, I headed straight to the elevator that I needed to enter to head deeper into the facility.
Looking at the stainless steel doors, I noticed that no one was there waiting for me, raising my eyebrows at this, I walked to the control switch and attempted to reach one of the buttons to open the elevator, however, right as my finger was about to press against the metal switch, the dual doors opened with no one inside. Retracting my hand, I felt my mood sour slightly as I stepped into the elevator turning around as the doors began to close. With a small jolt, the elevator hydraulics began lowering the metal coffin downwards. Watching as the meter above my head slowly counted the subsectors as the elevator lowered deeper into the complex, that same gnawing sensation came back with force.
Remembering jokes, one of my senior co-workers said in our break that those deeper in the facility only had the freedom of ignorance. I felt a frown form on my face as I knew these words to be true long before I entered the elevator, I wasn't new in any sense, I had been with the organization for nearly a decade now, watching the ranks swell and decay over time as the status of the world continued to deteriorate. It was at our hands the world has been slowly shaping into a society where we can all live in a status quo, the organization will tell you it's trying to build a better tomorrow, but I know better.
Hearing a soft ding, I look towards the doors, which once again open up, snapping me out of my thoughts. Taking a step out, I looked around as this was the first time that I stepped into Subsector 15, the deepest I have ever managed to be in was subsector 10, 3 levels lower where my workstation is located. The lighting of the place was dark as I walked forward, no one was seemingly there to "greet" me; looking around, I noticed that there were several glass rooms filled with servers, and even behind the glass, I could hear the soft ticking of what seems to machines working on whatever the higherups wanted them to do.
I was about to stay in place until, on the floor below, a white line appeared embedded in the floor tiles I saw a path that led deeper into the subsector. A small frown graces my lips as I begin to follow the line, letting out a soft sigh, I begin to fix my attire as the line leads me deeper into the room, looking around, I continue to see server room after server room, with no a single person down here, I should have at least seen one technician working away and making sure that nothing went wrong here.
Shaking my head from these thoughts, I begin to gather my resolve to meet with the director. Watching as the line stops at a set of double doors, I finally spot another person, two guards which seem to be wearing a similar mask that the Seeker was given, but this time that Red X is colored instead with a deep blue color. They were armed with rifles, but they simply ignored me as one of them opened the door and gave me a signal to enter.
Not wanting to make the director wait any longer, I walked inside.
POV: Returned
Stepping out of the helicopter, I felt my entire body ache somewhat as the sensation of my eyelids grew very heavy. I won't lie, I am extremely tired after that first contract, and I have four more to go. Turning my head, I watch the pilot wave at me goodbye as the helicopter lifted off and flew off into the distance, I hmm slightly as I look around. Seeing that I was in the middle of butt fuck nowhere, wondering for a moment that this might be an ambush, but silently, I saw that in my right eye that a small message was sent by the handler. Coordinates for a location that was around a 10-minute walk away.
Groaning loudly at this, I began my walk toward the coordinates. You know they never show you this in games after the badass hero manages to complete the objective and goes back to base to mess around with his crew. They never show the rather boring trek or ride home as the hero is tuckered out being out….still being out in the gods-forsaken cold! I mean, they could have at least given me a small ATV or something because stomping around in the cold is rather tiring, and I don't want to do it anymore. I just want to head to the safe house and take a long warm shower to destress from a job well done.
My complaining aside, the walk toward the place was rather peaceful. From what I can see, I was thrown somewhere in the more forestry areas of Siberia, the snow was still around, but it wasn't as heavy as the mountain range of the Atlis. With that said, it was still annoying to walk around. My shoulder was definitely bruised from the rile round I took back at the tower, and I hope to god that either the gamer ability I get will have the gamer's body or at least medical supplies at the safehouse the handler's group has given me.
Moving a hand towards the place where I got shot, I pressed my hand on it and felt a sting of pain signaling to me that, yes, getting shot sucked. Still, at least the stupid suit Seeker had before stopped it. Who knows what could have happened if the round had gone through me? I didn't have any medical supplies, so I could have very well not make it. That line of thinking immediately made me stop in my tracks as I realized that I could have died, and knowing how cruel the universe is that this was my last life. I felt sick, and my stomach felt as if it was going to burst as my breathing began growing heavy, unable to bare it, I removed my mask and headed to a nearby tree.
The burn of acid on my throat felt horrible as I looked towards the bark of the tree I was leaning against. Feeling my body shiver slightly from the cold air and the added nausea, I just wanted to rest. And so, moving away from the tree, I moved back to the path, I didn't want that damn mask on me right now, even if it had the directions to the safe house. It didn't feel right, none of this did, I was in another world, risking my life just to make sure I didn't get killed by the organizations that were trying to one-up each other. This was utter bullshit!
After a while of walking, I spotted a weird-looking cave. I was still fuming at this state I mean, who wouldn't be after being forced into fighting a war that you didn't want to be in? Still, no reason to be mad now as I just wanted a hot shower and a nice warm bed. Taking a glance at the mask, I plop it on just for a moment to see that the coordinates lead here; perplexed, I took a step towards the cave and began my trek inside.
After entering the cave, I flicked on my sensory mode on my mask and spotted what looked to be a generator. Confused, I moved over to it and kneeled next to it, trying to find a switch to turn it on. After finding it, I flicked it on, and I was blinded. For a moment, I thought I was going to get shot, but I realized it was just floodlights. Blinking rapidly, I regain some of my vision and look to see what looked to be a mix of a low-tech survivor's camp and a half-finished housing complex.
Standing up, I was about to go inspect the area before another message entered my line of sight. It came from the handler, the details from the message state that what I see here is all mine for now while they try to track down my next major contract. Meaning I was expected to live here for at least a week until the handler's group found Igor the oil man with the big icebreaker ship.
As well as that, the message states that in the housing unit is a bed, a workbench, a radio, and a few other things that may make my life easier to live in this place. However, my bathroom would be in the wild, meaning that….I'll be living like a camper. My eyes closed slightly as I read that. Feeling my anger slowly come to a boil as I knew I wouldn't be able to get a damn hot bath or shower until I found a way to build that myself.
Still, at least the handler states that during my missions, they will continue upgrading the place as this was a temporary discomfort. Doesn't help that I want the throttle said handler for making me live in a damn cave! Sighing loudly, I remove my mask and head towards the housing unit, from the outside, it looks similar to those temporarily housing classrooms that…My mind felt fuzzy for a moment as I tried to remember where I last saw them. Shaking my head, reached towards the door, turned the nob, and walked inside.
Inside, the place was rather simple, I could see the bed was a standard military bed, and across from it was a workbench that looked rather packed with tools and cleaning equipment for my weapons and gear. Hell, I even see some of the tech you get in the game, a drone in the charging station, and what looked to be a Sniper turret!
My excitement grows for a moment, but my eyes move toward the bed, and that tiredness follows me. My legs shake a bit as I walk towards it, but then that fuzzy feeling comes back. Right, I need to go through my nightly routine. Looking around, I rechecked the message and found that the water for the place was near the back of the housing in the closet, filled with food and water to sustain one soldier. Walking towards it, I felt more and more light-headed with each step, not sure what was going on, I each to that little room and opened it.
I blink…then blink again as I feel a toothbrush in my mouth and that familiar feeling of toothpaste inside of my mouth. Looking around, I seem to be somewhere outside, near a small stream of water and a cup next to my boot. Pulling the toothbrush away from my mouth, I turned around completely to check my surroundings and saw the cave entrance a good distance away. Confused, I look up at the sky and see the sun beginning to rise. I stand there for a solid minute trying to remember what the hell happened right as I reach the supply room and nothing comes up.
Picking up the cup, I see some water inside, and after rinsing my mouth, I head directly back into my home. And It….organized. The snow that I tracked through when I first came in was gone as well I spotted the sniper turret I saw in the workbench perched up behind cover with a good view of the cave entrance. I don't remember any of this as I continued exploring the place. I see traps and supplies littered around the place, and the more I look, it seems like the goddamn place is a fortress. That damn fuzzy feeling came up again, and I tried to make sense of what the hell happened,
Shaking my head, I realized that the mask wasn't on my person and so I walked over to the housing unit, and the inside was completely overhauled, and I nearly shit myself as I barely saw the mine at the entrance of the housing unit. Stepping over it, I saw that the military bed I was in was neatly clean as before, but the wall next to it had a small frame where my trusty sniper was. As well at the workbench was the drone, and my Glock was disassembled and looked like it was in the middle of a cleaning that I only knew how to do in my memories.
This scared the shit out of me as the puzzle pieces snapped into place, how the hell did I do all of this without noticing, what the hell was that fuzzy feeling, did I somehow go automatic and do a massive redesign of my damn cave? Shaking my head, I spotted the mask and the radio on a nearby desk, walking towards it, I picked it up…that fuzzy feeling came over me again before I slipped it back on. Watching the mask bootup, I saw that I had a few messages, mostly system updates and another message from the handler. The message stated that the supplies I ordered were due to arrive by the next day by airdrop. Confused, I tried finding where the supplies were ordered, but I got nothing back, all I did get was a system saying that I had a deleted message.
I smacked my lips at this as I couldn't for the life of me understand what was going on. Thinking for a moment, I tried something.
"System"
Speaking those words out, all I am rewarded was a small blue text that showed the countdown until the Reboot process would take place.
[Reboot in progress]
[ETA: 1:20:22]
Smacking my lips again, that explained that it wasn't the gamer making me blank out for an entire six or so hours. Feeling more annoyed than ever I was about to start complaining until I felt my stomach growl. Oh…..wait I don't know how to cook.
OH FU-
Cooking was pretty easy, I didn't know why I was panicking earlier.
I stirred the canned strew and bits of dried bread in a pot with a wooden spoon I found in the supply room, I added some tomato paste along with some extra salt and a bay leaf in there. And from the god-like smell, this was going to taste pretty good. The fire below it warmed my body as I slaved away, and with each second, I felt myself yearning more and more for the meal I was prepping myself.
Humming happily, I summoned the counter again and saw that the damn thing was less than 30 minutes from finishing. And…I am going to be honest, I felt rather scared. From the message I got when arriving here, I was going to meet the administrator, and from the sounds of it, he's the reason why I was pulled into this world in the first place so, meaning that I am going to be forced into doing something else besides fighting for my life in this world.
I mean, I'm grateful, but I would be rather ho-
"The soup was almost done, the smell is great!"
I say as I feel another gust of wind wash over me, the warmth from the fire making sure I don't freeze in the snow. Pulling the spoon away from the stew, I blow on it slightly before taking a small sip, nodding my head I knew that the meal was ready, tossing the spoon into the pot, I pick up the pot, and with the gloves I used on the contract on my hand it wasn't much of a hassle. Looking around I spotted a semi-flat rock where I could settle down and enjoy my hot meal. Sitting down, I lean back slightly with the very hot pot between my legs and enjoyed the relaxing scene of a snowy forest.
I never appreciated the outdoors in my old life, and honestly, I should have gone out more often.
"..."
That fuzzy feeling washed over me again, and I felt some sadness wash over me. Looking down at the pot, my face soured somewhat. Shaking my head, I quietly started eating the hot stew, ignoring that hole in my heart as I bit down on the pretty decent strew I made for myself. After finishing up, I don't really feel full, as I just head back into my cave after putting out the fire by kicking some snow into it.
Checking the timer, only a few more minutes now. Welp, I better go get ready to meet the big man himself.
