Null Protocol: A LitRPG Space Marine Adventure (Omicron Sector Book 2) Read online

02

  The area around Rand’s makeshift hospital was already full of parked ships by the time we got there. The hospital was a floating rock of a space station with a large glass dome over the top. We landed in a containment field parking lot right outside the main gate.

  I checked my online time to make sure I wasn’t pushing too long. I’d been logged in for a little over seven hours. I’ve been logged in for quite a bit longer than that. They say that a long time ago, people would actually die from playing MMO’s too long. I’ve always thought that was bunk, but, then again, I wasn’t there.

  Schmidt pushed Colin off the ship on a repurposed hover-cart. Norax decided to stay with the ship and finish his inventory. Finally, J.T. practically skipped off the ship.

  “Welcome, guys!” an exuberant man said as he approached.

  He held out a thick, muscular hand, and I took it. His grip nearly broke my hand, but not in that bro-dude trying to prove his strength sort of way. It was more like he simply had no idea how strong he really was. In turn, he shook my, Schmidt’s, and Norax’s hands. Then as gentle as a breeze on a summer day, he took Meiying’s hand and kissed it. Then he wrapped a meaty arm around J.T’s waist, picked her up, and gave her the longest, most awkward kiss I had ever seen anyone give. She gasped when they were done kissing.

  Who did this guy think he was?

  J.T. answered my unspoken question, “Team, this is Rand. He is an old… friend.”

  “Awe, c’mon. You can do better than that,” Rand said. “We were a pretty hot thing for the longest time. At least, until she decided to go straight.”

  He motioned to the building that his people were using for a hospital. “Come in. Make yourself at home. Anything you need, name it, and it’s yours. I do mean anything.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “We’d just like to get our friend seen about.”

  “Nah, surely there’s more you need than that. Seriously, anything?’ he said almost begging to hook us up with something.

  J.T. explained, “Rand is the best in the game at finding random and rare things. It’s like they just fall out of the sky for him. Then instead of keeping them, he gives them away as little gifts to all the girls and boys.”

  “That’s right, there are those who call me…” he paused for dramatic effect, and I could swear I heard someone in the back of the room shouted for their friend Tim, or perhaps I was hearing things. “Santa Rand.”

  “I appreciate what you’re selling. I really do,” I said. “But our friend needs medical.”

  “Of course. Of course. Why didn’t you say so?”

  “I did,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Right this way!” Rand waved the crew into the hospital.

  I was greeted with a notification of quest completion. I didn’t get any experience for it, but I received +1 Team Rank. I wasn’t sure what that was, either. It must have been some new feature since we weren’t part of the Corp any longer. I filed that away for something to check on later.

  Rand was in the middle of describing his accomplishments as the leader of the team that founded “Freedom Base One” when an announcement came over the building’s speakers.

  “Rand Aktar, please report to the comms office. Rand Aktar to the comms office, please.”

  “Well, friends,” Rand said with a bow. “I am needed. Seriously, though, if you need anything at all just let ol’ Rand know, and he’ll get you taken care of.”

  After he was fully out of hearing range, Schmidt said, “Jeez, he’s full of himself. Isn’t he?”

  “Maybe,” J.T. said. “But he’s not exaggerating. He really can find pretty much anything.”

  We continued into the hospital proper where some people dressed in surgical gowns, I assumed they were doctors, took Colin into a side room that had bright lights and a number of medical instruments.

  “Well, that was abrupt,” Schmidt said.

  “I’m just glad they’re looking at him,” I said. “Let’s look around here and see what we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

  I looked out at the shopping mall-sized building. There were people packed so tightly in places that it looked like some sort of concert. I decided that we should set a meetup time.

  “Let’s plan to be back here in one hour. You all have your comms, just message me if you need me for anything,” I said. I was still trying to be the captain even though the Corps seemed to have abandoned us.

  We each set out to explore the sprawling facility. Rand had set up much more than a hospital. He had set up a full-service community. It was hard to think about just how many people played Omicron Sector. It wasn’t quite as popular as the fantasy online multiplayer games, but it was the most popular science fiction based game. There must have been well over a thousand people in this building alone. Fire marshals back in the physical world would have a coronary if they saw the throng.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” a Rohviann asked stepping in front of me.

  I followed the line from his collarbone up to his face. He dwarfed even Norax.

  He shoved a meaty finger in my face and said, “You must be new around here. You look lost.”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “Nah, you’re lost,” another deep voice said from behind me. He put his arm around me and turned me towards a side hallway. “You’re supposed to be going this way.”

  Resisting the giant man was impossible. He wasn’t quite as tall as the first one, but he made up for in width what he lacked in height. His vice-like grip was clamped onto my arm so hard, I thought I was going to start losing hit points.

  “Look, I don’t want any trouble. I’m here as a guest of Rand. You guys know Rand don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” the first giant said. “We know Rand.”

  “Yeah. He owes us money. So, I guess that means, you owe us money,” said the second.

  “Like hell I do!” I said finally jerking away from the second Rohviann.

  “Oh. you do, and we have ways to help you pay.”

  The second Rohviann’s fist connected with my jaw, and I staggered to the ground.

  -125 hp. (125 dam. HEADSHOT(No armor)) HP: 535/760.

  I stood and ran my tongue along my bottom lip, catching the loose droplet of blood.

  “If that’s all you got, you’re gonna need to call some friends,” I said.

  Both Rohvianns burst out laughing.

  I launch an explosion of punches into the small one’s face ending in a roundhouse kick against the tall one’s temple. No sooner than the fight started, it was over, and the two thugs lay unconscious on the floor.

  As I walked further, nursing my jaw, I could smell cooking meats and vegetables. The smell of tacos curled around my head and tempted me like it was some sort of forbidden magic. That’s when I realized I was probably hungry outside the game too. The immersion system of Omicron Sector suppressed the initial hunger discomforts that the physical body usually feels. Only when actual hunger sets in did the system let you know you needed food. Most people never fully realized how long they could go without food if they really wanted to. Even though, I was pretty sure I was only sort of hungry. I had taken a time release calorie capsule before I logged in. Maybe I just wanted some tacos out of some desire for normalcy. Maybe I was avoiding eating outside the game because all I had were the time release capsules. I needed the money from the mission to buy some real food. All I knew was they smelled fantastic.

  I called up my bank screen to check my available funds.

  Captain Aaron Taylor’s Bank

  Available Funds: 706 c.u.

  Latest Transactions:

  Physical Withdrawal (RPCUnion)

  Mission Deposit

  Physical Withdrawal (RPCUnion)

  Mission Deposit

  Physical Withdrawal (RPCUnion)

  Mission Deposit

  Physical Withdrawal (RPCUnion)

  Omicron Sector PX

  Amount:

  -2000

  2000
/>   -2000

  2000

  -2000

  2000

  -2000

  -694

  I supposed I had enough for some tacos. I hadn’t really bought anything in the game for a while. I didn’t need anything. For the most part, I logged in, earned my money, and logged out. I decided to go ahead and indulge myself.

  “How many you need?” the big guy behind the counter asked when I got to the front of the line.

  “Ummm,” I said, not sure how many I could eat.

  “Come on. Come on. Come on. I can do two, three, or four. I tell you what. I’ll give you three for the price of two. That’s only eight credits. What do you say?”

  “I… I don’t know…”

  “Fine. Fine. Here try a sample. You’ll like it. It’s not the real thing. It’s better.”

  He handed me a tiny cup filled with what looked like taco meat. I knocked it back and chewed. It definitely was better than what I remembered from the physical world. My face had obviously lit up enough for the cook to notice.

  “See? Ah. I told you. So now how many, how many, how many?” he said.

  “I’ll take three.”

  He produced a paper plate with three tacos wrapped in aluminum foil. I picked up the plate and acknowledged the transfer screen.

  -8 c.u. New Balance: 698 c.u.

  “Now, you come back later for some tequila or maybe some of our fresh from the freezer cheesecake. Yeah?” he said as I turned to walk away.

  Before I could fully step away, I heard the vendor catering to the people behind me in line with a boisterous, “Ladies, ladies, ladies, tell me what ol’ Abraham can do for you today?”

  Transfer screens only happened when buying from another player. For some reason, I had expected him to be an NPC. While I sat and ate my tacos, I turned on the nameplates in my view by scanning. The information was overbearing at first, but as I removed sections of players from the scan, I began to notice that all of the shopkeepers and janitors were player characters, too. In fact, I couldn’t see a single NPC in the entire building.

  “Hi, guy,” Rand’s unmistakable voice rang out over the crowd.

  I looked up to see him standing at the table where I was eating. His clothing lit up the grin that stretched from one ear to the other.

  “Mind if I sit?”

  I nodded trying to swallow my half-chewed mouthful of tacos and stand at the same time.

  “No, you keep eating. I don’t want to disturb your meal. I just thought we could chat for a minute.”

  Clearing my throat, I said, “Sure. How can I help you?”

  “Oh, no. It’s not that. It’s how I can help you!” he said.

  I still wasn’t fully sure I trusted the guy. J.T. had vouched for him. I mean, who wouldn’t vouch for a guy who greeted you with that kind of kiss? He just seemed to happy to me.

  “Alright. How can you help me?”

  “Well, Jeanette tells me that your most recent mission couldn’t be turned in, and so you might be looking for some work. And I just so happened to have just come from a meeting with a guy who has a job.”

  I shook my head, “I think we’ll be okay.”

  “Oh, come now. You can trust old Rand. He’s everybody’s pal,” Rand said.

  I really could use the money. My rent was due in a few days and did need some groceries.

  “Okay. What’s the job?”

  Rand’s face fell flat. Slowly a bushy eyebrow raised lifting the entire side of his face into an intrigued half smile.

  “I thought you would say yes,” you sly dog.

  “I didn’t say yes yet. What’s the damn job?” He should have been infuriating me, but deep down I was slightly amused at Rand’s confidence.

  “There’s a small community on Binus Prime, not too far from here. It’s a small farming and mining community. They provide food and other resources to several of my shops and some of the surrounding planets. I’ve gotten reports that they have been invaded. The citizens locked themselves in their bank vault, but they won’t last there more than a day or two. I can pay you double your standard mission rate if you can liberate those citizens from these parasites.”

  Double my mission rate? That was 4000 cu! I could buy a lot of groceries with that. I held my straightest poker face and considered the offer before replying.

  “Double the mission rate for my crew?”

  “Of course!” he said laughing loudly. “DId you think I was going to pay you a measly 5000 credits for a life-threatening, you will probably die and never be heard from again mission?”

  He was definitely trying to goad me into taking the job. The rate struck me as odd and I almost accepted without thinking.

  “5000?” I asked.

  “Jeanette said your mission rate was 2500 for the Corps. Is that not right?”

  “Yes, that’s right. I just wanted to confirm the amount with you.” I lied. I was really bad at lying, but apparently, Jeanette wasn’t. I nodded in agreement with Rand.

  “So it’s settled? Meet me at the administrative offices in one hour. That will give me time to gather all the info I can and refuel your ship.”

  I had totally forgotten that I would need to buy my own fuel now. When we ran missions for the Omicron Corps, they took care of all our transportation needs. The list of things I would need to take care of on my own was growing rapidly.

  “Captain,” Norax’s husky voice came over my comms unit. “I’ve finished the inventory and checked it against the ship’s computers. Do you have a minute to look at this?”

  “If you’ll excuse me,” I said to Rand. He nodded and left. “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

  03

  Norax stood, shirtless, outside the ship. He thumbed a large clawed hand at the cargo bay.

  “You’re gonna want to see this.”

  “Show me,” I said walking up the ramp.

  The cargo hold looked much more full since I left Norax. There were crates stacked on crates stacked on crates.

  “Where’s all this come from?” I asked.

  “The walls.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. I noticed a loose panel over there.” He pointed to the corner of the room where a half-destroyed crate and a bent wall panel were sitting on the floor.

  “You just noticed it?”

  “Well, I might have gotten a bit angry at you and threw a crate at the wall, but that’s neither here nor there. When I went to pick up the crate, baby formula, by the way, I noticed there was a crawl space behind the panel. All this extra stuff was tucked away,” he said.

  “Good.”

  “Not exactly. Ain’t none of it on the manifest.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. See what I’m gettin’ at?” he asked rubbing the back of his neck. “If it ain’t in the ship’s databases…”

  “It’s not legal,” I finished the sentence for him. “What parts aren’t legal?”

  “Mostly just the weapons and armor, but there’s some other contraband as well. Looks mostly like untaxed and unregistered booze and such.”

  “Weapons, I get, but why would they be smuggling booze?”

  “I’ve heard stories of booze that can actually extend out into the real world. Maybe it’s some o’ that.”

  “Well, whatever it is, let’s keep it buttoned up in the…” A loud beep from the intercom scared both of us to the point of jumping.

  “Yeah? Who is it?” I asked through the speaker.

  “Captain Taylor,” a gruff voice came over the comms. “My name is Director Harmashk. I’m from dock inspections. Rand sent me to help get your ship ready for your mission.”

  “Oh shit!” I said to Norax. “Get it all back in the walls.”

  Norax looked at me with all the incredulity of a teenage girl grounded before prom. “How am I supposed to do all that?”

  “Just do it. I’ll stall him,” I said and rushed off to greet the Director.

  Outside, the Director was waiting, his
arms across his barrel chest. He couldn’t have been taller than a meter. His wide nostrils quivered as he exhaled a puff a smoke through his nose. His long red hair was pulled in a tight tail behind him. Flanking him stood two identical, tall, thin men. Their eyes were large, black, and round. Their heads looked almost segmented from their bodies, and their skin looked a bit too shiny. I must have lingered too long because the Director stormed up to me and squinted.

  “What’re you lookin’ at, Captain?” Harmashk spat. “You ain’t never seen a Lobian before?”

  I shook my head. “No. I haven’t.”

  “Well, get used to seeing things you haven’t seen before, boy. Omicron Sector is a lot bigger than you marines ever get to see. The Corps keeps you in a tiny bowl. With this new threat and whatever’s going on at the Base, all you so-called soldiers are in for a rude awakenin’. Now let’s get this inspection over with so’s we can get you fueled up and out of here.” He started up the cargo ramp.

  “Umm, wouldn’t it be better if we started inspecting the outside of the ship first?”

  “Why, d’ya think I brought the Lobians? Boys….”

  The Lobians jumped from the ground to the top of the ship. Their long thin legs carried them over twenty feet in the air. Lobians sort of reminded me of humanoid crickets. Once atop the ship, they took out clipboards and pens.

  “Alright. Now that’s done, let’s look at your ship systems and make sure everything is good on the preflight.”

  I imposed myself between the Director and the entrance of the ship. “You mean, you aren’t going to help them with their inspection?”

  Director Harmashk looked himself up and down and then looked at the ship. “You want me to jump on top of your ship? Like a Lobian? I’m a Kigle. We’re mostly an underground species. You really don’t know much about aliens, do you? I’ll be having a look inside your ship.”

  He shouldered past me nearly knocking me off the ramp. He wasn’t even all the way in the door before he stopped and turned on me. “I can see now, we have a massive problem.”

  I deflated and swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. These cargo crates need to be secured to the wall.”