ravnicrasol

Gamma Protocol (029)

[029]

I stood at the center of the death-pit, surrounded with the sizzling gore of the latest trio of F-class monsters that’d been dumped into the arena alongside all those G’s. It had been an ordeal, every few minutes, more monsters would be dumped into the pit, every time I’d finish a wave a new one would be sent in. The buzzard controlling the gates was the bell to signal the next round. The enemies were easy to deal with, individually. But every little slip-...

Gamma Protocol (028)

[028]

There was one thing I’d learned about from the Sewer Saints that I was certain they’d not intended to reveal: that there were other “hunting grounds” like the Well. Points near where monsters would naturally gather. The gangs, naturally, wanted control over these areas since they provided easy access to monsters. And they also, naturally, didn’t like broadcasting the location of such areas for anyone online to find.

But anyone with a baseline und...

Gamma Protocol (027)

[027]

U̸̜͒p̶̤̄g̢̬̓r̘̋͡ȃ̯́d̩̅͢e̡̤͊ ̩͗͜U̴̳ͮn̙̓͘l̴̺̅o͓̓͝c̰̾͟kͩ͏̞e̛̱̍d̯͛̕

Drying myself, I glared at the pop-up.

“What the fuck was that!?” I demanded. “You… what, bump my friendship-o-meter and send me on a hallucination to meet a fish-God!?”

The text did not waver or shift, but it now carried a smarmy smugness about it that made me scowl deeper. The pride was still there, but...

Alchimia Rex (139)

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[139] [Chrysalis](Eva)

The moment they had left one of the stronger Vampires to ...

Gamma Protocol (026)

[026]

As soon as I felt the cool motel lobby air hit my face, I breathed a sigh and glanced at one of the lobby chairs. I would’ve been tempted to collapse there, but they were all torn up and… wet, a matching water-damage stain on the ceiling told a story. My mind was too occupied with everything that had gone down after the hunting-session, it was hard to summon the interest to dwell on the mystery of how the rooms were so spotless yet the lobby so poorly kept.<...

Gamma Protocol (025)

[025]

Rounding the corner, I immediately backpedaled and swung.

SPLAT

G-class pest “Crawler” defeated!
+2 AP

Vesper hadn’t been kidding, this place had monsters all over the place. Exploration hadn’t exactly been optimal when I needed to keep circling back to avoid too many crawlers from stalking me at the same time. I’d barely even managed to see a fifth of the place, every other minute a ...

Gamma Protocol (024)

[024]

“I’ll be damned, this choom really has no augs.” Isia muttered, looking over the readings on her device as she passed it over my arms for the upteenth time. We were in the Motel-18 lobby. Going outside was a bad idea until we were ready to head out, and the trio had insisted on doing a more thorough inspection.

“Do you really need to scan me so much?” I asked, pulling slightly away.

“Yes.” Quinn growled from the side, muttering to their...

Alchimia Rex (138)

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[138] [Glow](Embla)

“Close your eyes, sit down, and don’t move,” Dia comm...

Gamma Protocol (023)

[023]

I hadn’t realized how hot I’d been until I stepped into the cool air-conditioned interior of Motel 18. The wave of refreshing air also made my current sweat-drenched situation more apparent.

“Axel Garcia, this is a reminder that, unless you extend your stay, your check-out is tomorrow.” The droid spoke out as she waved at me. “Would you wish for some refreshing water?”

“Yes, please, and thank you.” I nodded along, breathing a little m...

Gamma Protocol (022)

[022]

Having reached the motel (in a hurry, and having been looking over my shoulder every other step of the way even though I knew no one could recognize me as the “Shush Monster”), I very hastily settled down into my room to follow Moreau’s instructions directly.

“Sit down and listen very carefully, Axel, because this message deletes itself as it plays out, so it can’t be rewound either. Pause if you’re not inside your motel room.” An AI represen...

Gamma Protocol (021)

[021]

I stared at the text as I gorged myself on nutrient-chow.

‘Stomach’
Grade: [G] [3 / 10]

‘Shimmer’
Grade: [G] [2 / 10]

The meal wasn’t exactly palatable, or really enjoyable, or really all that healthy. It tasted like wet cardboard, and had just barely enough sugars, protein, and nutrients to legally qualify as “balanced food”. The only thing that mattered was that it w...

Gamma Protocol (020)

[020]

SKREEEAAAAGH

SPLAT

G-class pest “Mouther” defeated!
+2 AP

For someone seeing with almost 60 points in senses, there was something beautiful about the way mouthers exploded. It was like popping bubble wrap and removing that protective foil from a new gizmo all at the same time. The way their feeble bones crunched upon impact, the way the sickly gore splat...

Alchimia Rex (137)

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[137] [Cracks](Eva)

The shadows of the trenches had become deeper, an ink that c...

Gamma Protocol (019)

[019]

I woke to the sound of gunfire, or to be more precise, of gunfire happening nearby. My ears were still abuzz with the echoes of a shotgun blast as I’d jumped out of the bed, Bulstra in hand.

The room was dark, no movement. Holding my breath, I waited, using the bed as cover as I kept my attention towards the door.

A full five minutes of silence followed before I fumbled around to turn on the light and put my shoes on. Everything inside the...

Gamma Protocol (018)

[018]

My fondest memory was when my father took me to the city-guard’s shooting range, the scent of gun-powder and oil and burnt circuits lingered heavily in the air. It was the exact same scent the gun-shop carried with it, and it bolstered my otherwise frayed mood.

I was going to finally buy my first “proper” gun!

It was like stepping up to a candy vending machine with a free-item coupon. Except I had tens of thousands of credits and a burning desi...

Gamma Protocol (017)

[017]

“Excuse me, could you tell me the name of the street we’re in?”

“Fuck off.”

I watched the random stranger walk off and my shoulders deflated, staring down at the tablet. Moreau had quickly ad-hocked a map of the city into it. The issue was that the device was still disconnected from everything… and New Francisco had a severe verticality aspect that Frontier City 02 never had.

Walking at ground level, with cars moving up and down the...

Gamma Protocol (016)

[016]

“You lot stay there and no funny business, we got the NFPD on speed-dial, and for a GeoSynth loader, they’ll come right-quick.”

While tattoo-guy was giving us the pep-talk, I realized his right arm was cybernetic. It’d been hard to notice under the overall and the gloves, but now that I had a good angle, the seams of synthetic skin were glaringly obvious.

“You must be paid well to afford a cybernetic like that, sir.” I complimented, tryin...

Gamma Protocol (015)

[015]

There wasn’t much to do other than watch the live feeds of the outside or just read up on cached content. I wasn’t feeling much like reading, though, I was far too fascinated with the monsters down below. Despite how much I’d read up on monster behaviour, it’d all been within a vacuum, describing what to expect when confronting the creature. This was something else entirely. Some monsters would pair up and travel together, others would attack any monster...

Gamma Protocol (014)

[014]

“Here.”

Waking up without an alarm was weird. It was just so… smooth. Opening my eyes and my brain taking a minute to register that I wasn’t looking at an ad. Despite the humming engines of the AV, I still felt like my waking up was too quiet.

Without my neuralink, the flight became far more of a slog than I would’ve expected it to be. I had nothing to read, nothing to watch, and nothing to hear but the hum of the engines and the wind whipp...

Gamma Protocol (013)

[013]

City guard combat doctrine was one of the optional courses in the academy, it taught how they worked from a more managerial point of view, with emphasis on the very careful balance between success and sustainability. Which made perfect sense. If you kill today’s monster but don’t have enough bullets left for tomorrow’s, then you are dead meat. It was why training and simulations emphasized on bringing the right gear to the right fight, and disengaging rath...

Alchimia Rex (136)

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[136] [Through Fire](Dia)

DUCK.

Dia hesitated, the feeling withi...

Gamma Protocol (012)

[012]

+Strength: 5 -> 5+

Drenched in sweat, panting heavily, legs wobbling like protein-gelatin, I glared at the little pop-up. On one hand, I still couldn’t get over just how much… more I could do. I hadn’t been in a bad shape, becoming a guard required passing a physical test, and I’d been training five hours every week. So when I had set out to run around the AV, I was fairly sure it would take me an ...

Gamma Protocol (011)

[011]

The world was warmth and light, a soft floating cloud that opened to an infinite sunny blue overhead and a refreshingly clear breeze. It took a moment to realize I was dreaming, this had to be a dream. There was no way I’d woken up without alarms, buzzing, ads, or tight confining pod-space.

It took a minute to realize I ought to start waking up properly. With a flicker of thought, I sent the command for my pod to slide me out.

Nothing happened.

Gamma Protocol (010)

[010]

The hiss of automatic doors greeted my arrival into the slightly warm, temperature-controlled lobby of the Clarke building. It was covered in clean, polished metal surfaces, and I could spot at least four different hidden turret emplacements, meaning there were probably a dozen more I couldn’t see. The whole area had clearly marked defense points with an almost spartan efficiency to it, its design clear and obvious: it was a kill-zone.

Any monster or ass...

Alchimia Rex (135)

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[135] [Stripes of every color]

The plane had crashed.

Rick didn’t know w...

Gamma Protocol (009)

[009]

“Please come back again.” Despite the impassivity of the AI’s tone, I could’ve sworn there was a snarky edge mixed in. I glared back at the 24/7 auto-clothes shop and grumbled, no less happy than the AI had been. I was wearing a set of sweats and shoes, the cheapest items in the catalog. And it’d still cost twice as much as my academy uniform. 

“Now, how the hell do I get home?”

Looking around to orient myself, I pinged my neuralin...

Gamma Protocol (008)

[008]

“I know what you’re thinking right now,” Moreau spoke through gritted teeth, howling red sands bursting out from either side of the matte blue AV. We were trapped within a localized sandstorm. “But I’m going to need more time to break into the AV. We won’t be able to take it far, but so long as…” She was trailing off, but I wasn’t paying proper attention.

I was pretty certain Moreau in fact did NOT know what I was thinking right now, beca...

Alchimia Rex (134)

[BOOK 1][BOOK 2 START][PREVIOUS][NEXT]

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[134] [Phase 2] (various)

The bombardment began cautiously, falling upon the ea...

Gamma Protocol (007)

[007]

“Fascinating.”

Moreau was doing… something. She was jacked into the elevator controls, a cable running from the back of her head to the panel. Her electronic eye was mostly off, which I guess was a sign she was using her implants to their limit. But I wished she’d been keeping her focus on whatever she was doing, because having her looking at me so closely was creepy.

“You know, you’re not a monster.”

I immediately snorted, crossi...

Gamma Protocol (006)

[006]

G͔̖̱̣̫͒͝R̥͓͛̓͒̓̄A̷̗̍ͪ͋̚͝N͖̥̲͒ͥ͂͜T͎̱͎̓̂̓ͯẼ̷̵̖̀͒͢D̬͕̖̬̋̍̈́

With the disappearance of the pop-up, it was as if a veil had been lifted from my mind. The feverish half-dream vanished, I could think clearly again. Yet everything immediately stopped registering correctly. I blinked, each time finding the floor slightly further below. My mouth opened and ...