Chapter 6: Preparations.
POV: Handler
"You know, I didn't expect much from Project Excalibur, especially since their funding has been slashed."
I comment as I flip through the information from the document that was handed to me by Veronica. It was late into the evening when I was handed these documents an hour since I asked for them, at the moment, we are in Subsector 3 Senior Lunchroom. Senior, meaning that anyone in this room was usually with the organization for half a decade or so, however since I needed time to review the information of Project Excalibur's results, I invited Veronica the chance to dine with me as I was forced to admit the results were in fact within my range of high standards.
Moving my hands to pick up a small cup of coffee while I set the packet down on the small table in front of me as I leaned back to the comfortable booth seating. Watching Veronica's eyes looking at my face for any signs that I was impressed by the information, turning my head towards her, I let out a sigh as I nodded my head, and I watched as I saw that a large grin of satisfaction grew on her face as she leaned back against the booth's seat padding.
"Well, I did help them out 556, all the scientists needed was actual field data in order to make the components work, and they got to work fixing its kinks, it is a shame that no one else saw the potential."
She says smugly as looked at me, those brown eyes glowing with satisfaction. Humming for a moment, I turned my head and looked across the room towards the serving area, watching as the small line that was forming for today's dinner, my face soured as it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, while I didn't hate the dish. I would rather have them make those calzones they experimented with a month ago.
"Well, that 'potential' that ripped an agent's arm clean off caused their immediate termination, and the former head researcher was rather reckless with their funding and conducted unrestricted experimentation without permission. While the group behind the project has improved significantly with the tests and lab experiments, your fieldwork data only used sections of the suit rather than the entire frame."
Moving my hand to pick back up my cup and taking a sip, letting the bitter taste wash over my taste buds. This project still didn't sit right with me, I knew that with the new direction the project was going, it might see actual applications as external gadgets, but it still bugs me that Veronica of all people, is supporting this project. Setting down the cup, I would turn my head back towards her and watch her deflate from my response.
"However, a promise is a promise, I'll hand over the Seeker's contact information and try to convince him to accept the extra missions. Also, if you are so kind as to head to the line and grab us a tray, the wait must be rather large now."
I state as I begin to point my finger towards the now 20-person line, the redhead blinks for a moment before turning her head and rapidly getting up from her seat and hastily walking towards the line. Letting a small grin grace my face, I picked up the cup again, I took another sip as I began thinking about the reasons why 892 is supporting Excalibur instead of the GEK program.
Putting my hand on my cheek as I watched the woman wait in line to grab our dinner, I noticed someone rather familiar walk towards my booth and sit down across from where Veronica was sitting. He was a tall African-American with a bald head and strong masculine features. This was employee 598 or Jordan Anderson, my partner working in the information department. He was holding a tray of today's dinner, looking rather happy to be getting his favorite meal once again.
"556, I didn't expect to see you here, you normally skip dinner and work yourself until the day's over."
Offering a smile towards him, I would set my cup down again as I saw it was nearly empty. Leaning forwards, I would wordlessly point my hands to the file and rather a large packet that was in front of me, and after a moment, Jordan would chuckle slightly, shaking his head as he would mumble something about me being a workaholic as he took a bite of the mashed potatoes. Chewing for a few moments before he looked over at me and glanced at the packet, holding out his hand as I, without looking away from the small file I was reading I passed him the papers.
The two of us read in silence as Jordan placed down the documents and let out a soft sigh, I heard cutlery hitting the metallic tray and I knew that a question was about to be asked.
"Project Excalibur? Didn't you veto its increased budget because of the arm incident it caused?"
Nodding my head at his question, I would turn to look at him and answer.
"Yes, however, due to new circumstances, I believe that it may be time to change my vote on the matter, check form 34 A-EX22."
"Already did, the strength and energy conversion is noticeable, but the frame may be too big to have on a regular soldier, not to mention it may only see frontline use and nothing else, kinda worthless for our organization."
Agreeing with his statement, nothing much can be done with its current size, but the people behind it believe they are able to shrink the frame enough where it wouldn't hamper any performances of even the most agile of agents. Still, I saw Veronica beginning to walk back toward us, and Jordan handed back the packet before she arrived.
"Hey, 556, I got our dinners, whos this?"
Veronica's light brown eyes reached Jordan's green, and the latter raised his eyebrows and turned his attention to me. I watched as I saw a grin that immediately made me feel a bit annoyed, before I could get a word, he stood up from the seat and laughed somewhat.
"Sorry, Just wanted to check up on 556, and I'm Jordan, employee 598. Enjoy your dinner you two, and 556? You better tell me about this"
Closing my eyes, I felt my lips press against each other in a thin line before I heard someone enter the booth, as well as the sound of a tray being placed in front of me. Opening my eyes, I saw Veronica inspect her meal and would give a satisfactory nod. The food here was of higher quality than what the other members of the organization would get, perks of being here the longest.
"Jordan, I'm guessing he's a coworker of yours."
"A good worker, someone I have the privilege of working with, although he is a bit of a conversationalist."
"Ah, so he's your opposite, no wonder you get along with him. Anyways I guess he's interested in the project?"
"Among other things, he works in the department adjacent to mine, Information specialist is his official title."
"I see, well at least I know whos feeding you information that's clearly not allowed in your security clearance."
"No comment, anyways I have a question to ask you before we begin."
"Shoot"
"Why are you so interested in Excalibur?"
She looked at me perplexed, as if I had asked if the sky was purple. Blinking for a moment, she leaned back against the booth padding and held up a finger. Offering a smile, she would open her mouth to speak.
"Tell me, what good is an agent who doesn't have an absolute advantage over the enemies he or she will have to face?"
Waving her finger at me, she would pick up the plastic fork with her left hand and stick it into her mashed potatoes, lifting up a small piece and placing it in her mouth. Enjoying the flavors, she would continue after downing a few more bites.
"Not a good one, in my opinion, I mean, if our agents aren't at least a few generations ahead of our competition, then how are we meant to safeguard the future ahead of us? So the Excalibur project is something I think will be a good investment as it could be the potential advantage that may tip the scales."
Listening to her reasoning, I nodded before picking up my own fork, looking down at my meal, I processed her words, it logically sounded alright, as the current data shows promising results, and at this point, if represented, it may actually be passed into the next stage and be handed out to select agents for more in-depth field research. However, right now, it is indeed an agent who is able to stress its abilities to the point where any major issues can be fixed before being sent out for official trials, that meaning that the Seeker will most likely be this candidate, similar to agent Raven receiving my M.A.S.K commission.
"If that is the case, how come you aren't supporting GEK since that program focuses more on enhancing our agents and thus eliminates the need for Excalibur-type programs? The organization receives lots of funding, but in the end, only a few projects will become integrated into our roster."
Watching her stop midchew of her piece of meatloaf, she would shrug somewhat before swallowing and answering.
"I don't think it's the best choice for a lot of our agents. I mean, GEK needs a very specific set of genes in order to work properly, and despite its rather powerful results, most really can't make much use of it since the survival rate for the treatment is very low."
Nodding my head at her answer, I took another bite of my dinner and made a small noise of confirmation. Reaching over to my personal P.A.D in my pocket, I would pull it out and set it on the table. After unlocking the device, I would send over the Data of Seeker's contact information, as his mask allows him to receive calls and messages quickly. After doing so, I finished my dinner, watching as Veronica enjoyed her own.
I wonder how the Seeker is doing, probably repairing and training for the next potential contract the organization will hand him.
POV: Returned
Panting heavily, I stopped at a nearby tree as I caught my breath as finished my morning run, letting myself sit down on the snow-covered ground I smiled as I saw that my running skill had improved by a few levels, but the grind for it sucks!
[Skill leveled!]
[Running] level 5/100]
Feeling my stamina slowly increase as the bar in the mask slowly recovered to the max, and I felt my entire body felt ready to go for another run. Standing back up and dusting off the snow that caught on my pants, I opened my [Menu] and opened the [Skills and Perks] tab and checked the actual use of running, as I perhaps neglected to inspect the skills I was given from the tutorial quest
[Skills]
[Gamer's mind: Rank Novice]
A Gamer is only as good as their ability to calmly think through situations and create tactics to lead themselves or people to victory. And so the Gamer's mind is the right skill for you, as the ability will make sure you will never be distracted by emotions again!
Allows for suppression of unwanted emotions. Increased effectiveness at higher ranks.
Current Limit: Minor suppression of negative emotions
[Gamer's Body] Rank: Novice]
Ever wanted to feel like an RPG character? Well, now you can with Gamer's body. This ability allows the user to be more like a video gamer character, ever wonder why someone can survive a 100-foot drop and not immediately break their bones? Well, wonder no more!
Allows for the negation of negative effects of bodily harm. Increased effectiveness at higher ranks
Current Limit: Small cuts and bruises.
[M.A.S.K integration] Rank: EX]
Description: The Marksmen Assistance Sight Coordinator is the magnum opus of the one you know as the "Handler" a culmination of years of testing and constraint failures his work will be honored.
Allows Integration of Perks, skills, and HUD (When you unlock it)
[Running Level 5/100]
Running is the first thing a human does after learning how to walk, and such a skill like this does not need much introduction.
Increases the length and speed of the user's running
[PERKS]
[Graced by the Dvine]
[You survived contact with a being that is considered Divine in many aspects, despite the damage done, you are blessed]
[Grants Accesion]
Reading over what I had, I raised an eyebrow on how this really worked, I mean, I noticed on how each lap I did around my little area I was "patroling," I could go slightly further than before, but that's about it, and the vague explanation doesn't help with my confusion.
However, what really caught my eye was the little line under [Gamer's body] planning to test it out, reach over to the small knife I had on me, and cut the tip of my finger, while there was pain, there wasn't any visible damage, nor any blood on the finger or knife. This confused me as I didn't know if I was immune to small cuts and they won't lead to my death or if I had health points like in the games.
I let out a sigh as I felt some annoyance growing inside of me, however, I noticed it wasn't as pronounced, I could feel it there, but it felt more muted, as if there was a small thin wall from a very noisy neighbor. It didn't help much, but it was something, still standing up, I headed back to my cave, as it was morning since I had unlocked the [Gamer] thinking about it now, I wished I wasn't just thrown into this hell but thanks to this I could very well make it, and if I remember correctly I'll be able to jump between worlds, meaning I could very much achieve my goal to touch some demon ti-
My internal thoughts were interrupted as I received a call from the Handler, confused the call was answered automatically.
"Seeker, Apologies for the interruption of your training, however, would you be interested in completing another contract outside the one you are currently in?"
Blinking for a moment, I speak out in order to reply to the message, still, this wasn't in the game…..wait is this the explanation for multiplayer!?
"I…..I wouldn't be opposed to it, what are the details of the contract?"
Crap crap carp crap, This isn't good, if this is multiplayer, then I am out of damn luck, I never played it the servers were always empty whenever I tried to find a match, and none of my…..friends….erm.
[Negative mental effect negated]
Thanks, game….but still, I had no idea why the Handler is contacting me like this, and honestly, it's making me freak out slightly. At the same time…maybe I could get some loot out of this, or maybe a quest?
"This particular contract will take you to Alaska and under a different handler as you will be operating outside of my district. To avoid confusion, you will refer to your mission operation assistant as Control."
"…..huh?"
This was like a face slap to me as this….wasn't in the game at all, in fact, CONTROL? Who the hell is Control? And the Handler had his own district to operate? What the hell does that mean, does he only handle anything in Siberia or Russia? I have so many questions, but they stopped as the Handler sends over a data packet, once it is done, I see a large number of files and relevant data.
….This is an intruder's map….an entirely different game….this smells like the Administrator had his grubby hands all over this. I was about to decline until I was sent another data packet, however, it was labeled "External Operating Suit," and after reviewing it, I got a notification from the [Gamer]
[New Quest Detected]
[Side quest]
[Alaskan Escalation Situation]
A new contract was handed out to you by the handler, but this time you're going to be working under new Management and getting new toys! Oh, and I didn't influence this, even if it would be funny.
[Complete the contract]
[Bonus: Complete all objectives without raising the alarm]
[Rewards: [[infiltrator] Perk, 5 Rare Gatcha Tokens, [Sneak] Skill]
[Bonus Reward: Ascension Quest Key]
[ACCEPT / DENY]
Blinking at the notification, my eyes are glued to the new skill and perk….along with the Gatcha tokens, which may be helpful….oh wait, I haven't used the common token I got yesterday. Still, I need to reply to the handler.
"Well, I accept, it doesn't seem to be too difficult. However, I will be doubling my fee since this is a rush order."
"1.5 times your normal fee,"
"1.75."
"1.25 and sending over your new weapon with a suppressor and Scope pre-installed"
"Deal"
"Very well, now with that managed, Control will speak to you soon. Now about your current contract, your next target has been found, prepare for pick up as a air transport vehicle has been dispatched to your location. I hope you are a ready Seeker."
With the call ended, I stopped to process that conversation, still having that Quest notification in front of me, I reread the description, and this wasn't one of the Administrator's plays and was, in fact, something that was natural in the game. Still, it genuinely surprised me since I only remember the only DLC we had was gun and weapon skins, so I had nothing to base this off from.
Not to mention the Handler talked about a new weapon, I haven't ordered one nor know about my usual fee, guessing about the payouts in the game as a basis, that's around 150k for the last mission….that was honestly a lot lower than I thought the Seeker would sell his services for. If I remember correctly, the later contracts pay a lot more, but still, that's a crappy payout…Then again, it was more than I had ever made…or seen in my old life….
Shaking my head as another Negation notification appeared out of my peripheral vision, I continued my way back to the cave. Now being ordered to head out to a new contract, I had much to prepare in such a small amount of time, the Glock was still disassembled on the table, so I had to rush to slap that back together, the memories of how to do so surfaced to my mind, the memories I gained from the seeker came out either like I was in them or watching a video on it on youtube. The only thing the Administrator has really done since he fixed my soul issue with using the Seeker's soul to repair my own, thinking on that, how much is that going to affect me?
Entering into the cave and making sure to turn off the gun turret that aimed directly at my head, I walked into the little home unit and entered inside, making sure to kick the snow off my boots I entered and began doing a mental checklist of everything I was going to need. If I remember correctly, the mission was going to take place in the Dockyard level, and the first place the seeker in-game was dropped off was a massive lighthouse where I had a clear view of the small boat where….some hard hat man.
Still, what scared me is the realism of the world I am in, in-game if you're caught, only the local area begins to mobilize against you, and the other areas will act like you don't exist until you mess up in their area. I didn't have to deal with that in the first contract I was in since I managed to take down the communication center and cause all radio communication to be limited to local areas. And I don't remember anything about a communication center in the dock mission, so I have a very high chance that messing up here can cause me to fail a contract….If that happens, who knows what will happen to me?
Still, heading to the supply room, I take off my mask since I intend to make use of my new ability, the inventory. During the morning, I messed around with the damn thing and discovered that I could really put anything in there so long I can place it in my hand. Anything like water that wasn't in a container doesn't count, so it answered that problem, however, I am not sure about the actual limit. I placed my XRC rifle in there, which filled out a 2 by 16 space, but what if I placed an engine or a large rocket launcher or something, how much would that take up?
Entering the small room, I spotted food supplies that I raided earlier, which brought a smile on my face, nodding my head, I kneeled down and tried to find the boxes of ammo that the handler would have provided me since I doubted they would just give me ammo when I entered into the mission, that would be too game-like. Finding the boxes I smiled as there was a few extra mags in there and so I collected what I could and slowly wadded my dumbass towards the workbench, dumping my cargo on it, I sat down and began looking into my memories on how to do….well preparation.
My hands moved on their own as I set each magazine in front of me in a neat little line and began inserting rounds in every one of them, in the end, I had around 20 mags filled up, but the only issue is that I only had enough pouches to carry 8 of them. Luckily for me the cheese of being a gamer will help as I tried my best to "suck" in these mags into my inventory, after a few tries, I managed to add all twenty in my inventory, Watching as each mag took a 2 by 1 area, filling half my inventory. Nodding my head, I now turned my attention to my Glock, gutted and looking to be cleaned and untouched since two days ago, I began to slowly assemble the damn thing, it felt familiar to the first time I aimed down my scope and shot a target a few days ago in my familiarization training for my M.A.S.K, and I kinda liked it.
Still, after reassembling the damn thing, I now had to do something that I dreaded, changing out of my warm clothing and into my skin-tight body suit….I will spare you the details on how I took it off, but now I do not envy wet suit divers as I know their pain. After moving to the small box under my bed and beginning to get dressed, I began to wonder what I was going to do after the contracts and how am I going to tackle other worlds as, from my knowledge, I am still a base-level human who can very easily get bodied from anything from anime or comics, hell some TV show worlds can easily destroy me.
While it wasn't ideal, my best plan was to see what the hell gatcha was going to give me to tip the scales, since I saw that I'd be getting 5 rare tokens, its a chance I'll grab something useful…then again I have no idea what the gatcha will give me, is it going to be weapons armor or equipment? Or just simple nicknacks. I mean, there was genetic research by that one Siberian lady who had data on how to make super babies…maybe I could make a deal with the handler to give me a modified formula to make me at least stronger than the average human.
Pushing those thoughts away as I zipped up my hoodie, I slapped on the vest and felt pretty secure on the mission I was embarking myself in, looking towards my XCR on the wall, I smiled as I reached over and inspected this beauty while it is my favorite rifle in the game, the Sturm 50. It was the best one, in my opinion, even if it was louder than my baby here. With that said, I set it on my bed as I summoned out enough magazines to fill out the pouches on my vest, thumping my chest and felt some excitement flow through me. This was my first mission with the power of the gamer, and who knows how much this is going to help out, Hell if I get lucky I might figure out how skills work, and perhaps get observation or a better way to "mark" targets since that power was strong in the game but it was vastly weaker in real life.
Grabbing my rifle and my trusty pistol, I stepped out of the housing unit and closed the door behind me, walking out of the cave I spotted that I got a landing zone marker on the small mini-map, and with that, I started walking towards it, rifle on my sling I marched off to war.
Nothing can go wrong
A few hours later
Location, Kolchak Seaport.
Time 1527
Ok so things…. Can go wrong but not in the way I thought it would.
"Seeker, contacts are heading rapidly towards your location from the east, keep a low profile."
It wasn't my fault, or anyone's really, in fact, I never even accounted for something like this to occur in any of my missions. Crawling through the snow, I let myself relax as I slowly inched myself towards a small ditch on the side of the road which concealed my position from the rather large patrol going my way. Looking up I can see the warm sun rays and slightly gray sky being contrasted heavily with extremely dark gray clouds roaring in from the southeast.
Hearing heavy footfalls from the half-a-dozen group slowly marching towards one of their designated patrol routes, I held my breathing in a steady pattern. An hour and a half ago, I was dropped off about a few miles away from the docks themselves and marched my way to the compound, luckily for me, the place was the exact same size as the one in the game, not to mention the contract information was similar also. My target for today was Igor Sekhov, a Cheif staff member of his and His girlfriend Olga Kurchatov, along with the three idiots, recovering Igor's phone after I killed him and grab some data on a laptop and blow up a massive icebreaker ship.
The weather should have been sunny with light cloudy skies, yet I have a feeling I have invoked Murphy's wrath by saying nothing will go wrong with this contract. Yet from what my handler told me, it should only be a minor snowstorm, I'll freeze my ass off sure, but it should make my life easier since I can sneak around without being worried about getting spotted. The only issue with this is the automated gun turrets on the mission, if I remember correctly, the turrets use Thermal cameras, so I'll have to avoid them like the plague. Still, after the patrol passed, I climbed myself out of the ditch and dusted myself off before continuing my march towards the "starting" area of the contract, I was still going to that lighthouse since that vantage point could help out with my planning on how I was going to inflate that damn boat where that staff member guy is at.
"Warning Seeker, from my estimates that storm is going to arrive earlier than expected. While your mask is able to assist and direct where to fire your weapon, the unpredictable winds may cause long-distance sniping to be ineffective."
"Thanks Handler, keep me posted on that storm and any more updates about the area?"
"None so far, but keep vigilant."
So, I can't exactly snipe from a long distance once that storm hits, fuck that ruined my plans since I normally snipe Igor and his girlfriend from a range at the end of the level while sneaking in with my rifle at closer range and pistol was fun, I wasn't sure I was ready to be sneaking around in the open like that. Hell from what I know the only way to get skills is through quests and I remember that Sneak Skill was a quest reward from that odd contract I was offered so I'll have to rely on my own personal sneaking ability, which gave me little confidence. Still, I think I can do it, the only problem is that my Glock still wasn't suppressed so I got to play it smart or else I will end up dead.
After 5 or so minutes of my boots crunching snow, I spotted it, the lighthouse which overlooked the entirety of the small dock where that chief staff guy was in. A smile graced my lips as I began heading straight towards it as no one was around to stop me, and after a while of walking up a snowy hill I made it, where the game's starting location.
Right before I walked into the lighthouse, I saw that I received a notification from the [Game] blinking I opened it and out came a Quest.
[New Quest!]
[Main Sub quest]
[Boats and hoes]
[The organization the Handler has given you a quest to take down Igor and his operation, make sure you succeed my little project]
[Complete all Main contract Objectives]
Bonus: [Kill all bounty targets]
Reward: [Skill] Sniper, Gamer's mind Or Gamer's body Upgrade quest]
[Bonus Reward: [Skill] Observation]
I was already going to do all of these, so this was a nice cherry on top, still looking up the lighthouse, I smiled as I made my way inside. This was going to be easy.
A/N: And another chapter is live! I hope you all had a happy Halloween!