Broker
Chapter 287

Another swing, another exertion of muscle, another strain on his body. Temptation dangled in front of his face like a savory treat, instincts built into his own ability urging him to give in and use them. He took another step forward and swung again, grinding his teeth through the motion as the images played through his mind over and over. Rage. The man he had been when the flash had taken place would have surrendered to it without the help of the guide to give him something to focus on.

The guide was gone, though, and he was on his own.

Every step along his path had been one setback after another. Every move he’d made had been the wrong one. He’d been confronted with his own foolishness back in Melionë’s dream world. Staring into the eyes of a nightmare, facing the weaknesses in his own mind, confronting his childishness. He scoffed and swung again, sweat dripping down and stinging his eyes. Without his cheats active, he could only endure it and feel with every drop, every swing, just how imperfect he was as a human being.

It was reaffirming, in a way. If he needed to struggle so much to reach greater heights, what hope did humanity have? He had seen them as an eyesore his entire life, felt nothing for them, and saw no reason to even speak to them. He was aware of what a lack of empathy meant to society and how people would see him if they knew, so he kept to himself and played the role of a bookish boy, a nerd, and he put up with them. Even as it made my skin crawl, even as my stomach churned as I watched them live their pointless lives out. Was it brain chemistry? Something else? Does it matter? 

He could see it now, so very clearly. There was a game at work in the world, and he had fallen precariously behind. Forces were at play shaping the lives of billions while they flitted around like ants. All of them running about like toddlers with forks in their hands. All of them were so eager to crawl over one another to save themselves, only to get pulled down in the madness. His nose wrinkled at how wretched they were. An irritating blight that needed to be stomped out so that something better could rise in its place.

I was wrong about why I wanted to do it, he thought. This is a mercy killing.

He swung one last time, and the floor trembled a little beneath his feet. His shoulders slumped, and he lowered the weapon to his side before holding out a hand. A ghoulish shade reminiscent of a certain monster that rose from a well on a television screen scampered over to drop a towel into his hand. He dabbed his face and let out a breath. “Thank you, Mel,” he grunted and tossed the towel back to the creature that drifted out of the room. He glanced towards the dark-haired girl sitting on the pile of crates to his left. “Is Riot back?”

She was a tiny thing, just a few days away from her birthday. Her mess of black hair and disheveled appearance from the hospital had been replaced with something more fitting for a girl her age. Her long black hair was straight, with bangs cut clean across. She was wearing a fitted t-shirt with the ASTA logo and a pair of long pants that were baggy at the calves, her bare feet poking out at the ends. She’d insisted there was a time and place for fancy clothes, and lounging at home was not it.

The dreary girl leveled him with a stare for a heartbeat before nodding. “Yes.”

He grinned. “I only stuck around long enough to make sure he was really getting the job done,” Otis said thoughtfully. “Looks like he’s finally coming around.”

“You aren’t worried about that hero he killed?” Melinoë asked.

He scoffed. “Hardly, that thing was a bit player at best. Not good enough for my glorious future,” he said with a sigh and brushed his hair out of his face. “Not like my Heralds.”

“And Ishtar’s message?”

He scowled at the ceiling. “She’ll get what’s coming to her,” he growled. “Let her play her games, get the whole world chasing her for all I care. All she’s doing is increasing the lump sum of renown I gain the next time I face her,” he grinned to himself. “Like basting a turkey.”

His Herald of Nightmares frowned. “I think her calling you out on international television did more for you than anything else,” she scoffed. He frowned, and she shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Once she’s done with your original picks, she’ll come after us. She knows about Riot and Felwinter, at the very least.”

He turned to look her in the eyes. “Which means either she thinks too little of them or prefers a known element over an unknown. There’s something else, though. She’s taking them out systematically and making a show of it. Like that call-out of First Wind, she wants me to know it's happening,” Otis mused. “She also needs to do it, otherwise, she’d stop. Those idiots are useless to me now. I have a new team.”

“A compulsion, you think?” Melinoë asked.

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter as long as she continues on her warpath.”

“Your current Heralds don’t match up with the old ones, except for myself and Craftsman, since he was an original pick,” she said flatly. “You need to do something about the others.”

He scoffed. “You’re underestimating Felwinter,” he said. “As for Riot, I do agree it's time I helped him power up to meet my standards. Not how I handled Felwinter, though. There’s got to be a better way.”

“Why not just replace him with someone more useful?” she asked. “I’ve seen your mind, and I still don’t understand why you keep him around.”

Otis dismissed his sword and waved a hand to pull up his menu as a smile crept across his face. “That’s because I didn’t have a goal in mind for him at that time either,” he said. “No, I was grasping at straws, and his power seemed useful. Now I see him for what he will become.”

“And that is?”

“My prophet.”

The menu appeared with a flicker of text.

<Cheats>

<Walkthrough> - Disabled

<Quest Log>  - Disabled

<Status> - Alert!

<Abilities>

<Skills> - Alert!

<Renown> - Alert!

The Walkthrough is still disabled, not that I intend to make much use of it, he thought. It has done nothing but lead me astray since the beginning. I wonder if that bitch Pandora left some manner of trap in it, come to think of it. I’ll make that ghost pay in time.

His status screen announced that his Attack and Defense had gone up another tick. It was satisfying to see the little bar rise, but not more important than the other two notices. He selected Skills.

<Your Swordsmanship Skill has advanced to: Apprentice>

A flood of information burned into his brain and muscles, raw instinct and muscle memory becoming something so natural it felt like his own. He knew how to use his strength better, how to apply it, and how to control his body and motions. He clenched his fist. Something I earned. It feels strangely good, addictive even. I should pick up more skills. I wonder if there is a magic skill. Magic is a thing in games, right?

He moved on to his Renown to savor the best for last.

<You have risen to Level 2 Renown: Popular>

<The base maximum potential attribute cap from training has increased. Increasing your attributes through training will further increase your maximum cheat values.>

<A Choice has been presented:

You may make improvements to the Walkthrough function. Walkthrough will now include quest chains generated by the feature that will be updated into your Side Quests. Its ability to perceive paths towards victory will be improved, increasing the functionality threshold of the feature. Note: In its current state, choosing this option will reactivate Walkthrough.

Or.

You may choose to consume the Walkthrough and one of your available cheats and combine them into a more stable feature, updating the Side Quests feature into the ‘Quest Log’ feature, which does not depend on the Walkthrough for functionality. Every month you may request a new quest to be generated. These side quests will come with rewards.

You will not be able to revisit these options in the future. New options will be made available at higher levels of renown.>

Another choice. This one was even more prescient than the last one. It was the opportunity to restore the Walkthrough function and give it even more power to offer him a path to victory. Or he could choose to finally strike off on his own and eliminate the feature almost entirely, getting vague guidance that he could act upon in his own way.

Monthly. That gives me more time to do as I please in between the quests. I’d prefer more regularity, but I can live with it, he thought, only to pause immediately afterwards. It wants me to sacrifice a cheat?

His lips thinned.

Fine. I don’t need them all.

He selected the second option.

<Please choose a cheat to sacrifice.>

- <Max Attack>

- <Max Defense>

- <Max Speed>

- <Max Senses>

- <Max Health>

- <Immunity>

- <Anonymity>

- <Identify>

- <Pause>

- <Edit NPC>

- <Edit Dungeon>

- <Debug Ability>

- <Create Item>

- <Recharge Stamina>

- <Unlock>

- <No-Clip>

- <Disable Electronics>

He rubbed his chin. I can only have three active at a time anyway, and I primarily use the top three when I’m fighting. He tilted his head. Max Health is only useful when I don’t get blown away by an attack, otherwise my Immortality kicks in. Immunity deals with effects of abilities. I like having Anonymity on hand even if I don’t use it as much anymore. Identify is good too.

He hummed a little. Pause is a huge strain on the body and absolutely worthless during a fight. I refuse to drop the Edit, Debug, and Create cheats. They are the most important, in my opinion. Recharge Stamina is only really useful for other people; I didn’t even use it against Ishtar. He frowned. Though admittedly she kept killing me and resetting my stamina in doing so. Bitch. 

As for the last three, Unlock was useful in the Pandora Prison. No-Clip was amusing to use to rip the bomb out of Felwinter. Disable Electronics… With so much post-Pandora hardware floating around these days, how useful is it?

He selected Disable Electronics, and it vanished from his menu.

The flood of power and sense of more opportunity to grow raced through his veins as he savored the level up. Otherwise, he didn’t feel much of a change, though he did note a small alteration in the text on his Renown page.

<Renown Level 2 / 10 - Popular>

So my peak is at level ten? Only eight more to go.

“Was the level-up satisfactory?” Melinoë asked.

He glanced her way with a smug smile and willed the first Side Quest to be generated. A brief pause hung before he was presented with two options.

<Please choose a Side Quest:

Flesh and Bones:

Interfere with your hated enemy’s plans for a Reward and upgrade for Herald Felwinter.

Kingpin:

Draw out and eliminate a notable local Villain for a substantial Renown increase.

Once a Side Quest has been chosen, the other will not be available. These side quests are time sensitive and may be failed if not completed promptly.>

He smirked and chose the first option. “Very satisfactory.”

<Flesh and Bones coordinates: -30.1742, 120.6646>

He pulled out his phone and tapped in the coordinates before turning to his Herald and nodding towards the door. She hopped off her spot and fell into step with him as he proceeded out of his private training room and into the living room of his apartment. He glanced down at her as she crossed her arms behind her back, eyes forward. From there they made their way to Felwinter’s bedroom. He stopped at the door and eyed the knob; it was jet black, and white mist wafted off of it. 

Melinoë’s lips faintly curled in mute distaste next to him, but he could only smile as he swapped out to Immunity and grabbed the handle, turning it and yanking it open.

The bedroom was not anything a human could live in. Every surface, even the furniture, was coated in black ice, creating a geometric and rigid look. Felwinter was lounging on her bed in a short nightgown and thigh highs, reclined and reading a book as two horrors stood on either side of her. Human skeletons coated in jagged black ice were holding treats out to her that she tilted her head towards and bit at as he shut the door behind him. One of the skeletons turned and eyed him, white mist curling helplessly around its ribcage as its off-blue eyes glowed with an unspoken agony.

“Your Majesty!” she crowed and slipped off her bed. “What brings you-” She paused when she saw Melinoë. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Don’t be like that. We’re all friends here,” Otis laughed. “I’m here to pick you up.”

“Oh? Where are we going?” the Herald of Torment asked.

“On a trip. Pack your things.”

—

Craftsman crossed her arms and walked slowly around the vat as Kaidan went over the last few checks. This would be the first attempt of their joint experiment. The both of them had been working for a while on their own projects while working on and off on the one that Otis had assigned to them. It wasn’t a high priority, even according to the man himself, but they’d both hit their own respective dead ends when it came to inspiration and decided to give it a go.

“Not happy about using your cloning vat for this?” Kaidan asked absently.

“At least it’s easier with you around,” Craftsman muttered. “It took far more time to grow a body without your ability on hand.”

“It was inspired to suggest creating pseudo-hosts ahead of the real thing,” Kaidan said. “Obvious in retrospect. Better to master the techniques of a particular operation before performing it on the intended patient.”

“Still don’t know how we’re solving the hard part,” Craftsman said.

“It’ll probably have something to do with Felwinter,” Kaidan pointed out. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Our job is just to get everything working as intended.”

Craftsman grunted noncommittally and rolled her shoulders. “Speaking of which, I hit a bit of an inspiration block on what I’m working on for Felwinter. Conceptualizing a magical item depends a great deal on theming, and I can’t quite pin down what I should make for a woman who can make her own weapons.”

“Buy her a pony, I don’t really care,” Kaidan said, and the tube started to glow; the body floating inside was grotesque. It looked vaguely like a man with dark hair but had twisted proportions and scales growing on one shoulder. Its veins were a bright, almost luminous red color that spiderwebbed up its arms.

“Not a fan?” Craftsman asked, raising a wand to wave over the tube. The creature twitched and jerked once before opening its eyes. They blazed with a similar redness, but it didn’t move as it stared forward in an almost catatonic state. Good, it’s still alive. Responses are good too. Just need to test it out.

“She’s changed a lot from the sniveling brat she once was, but I know her kind,” Kaidan grumbled. “A butcher playing possum until she has no more excuses to pretend to be a weakling. I’m surprised she hasn’t accidentally hauled off and slaughtered a small town yet. If His Majesty is so keen on keeping her around, fine, but I have no interest in playing nice.”

Craftsman barked out a laugh. “Fair enough. I personally like her,” she said before pausing. “Oh, actually the pony suggestion was a good one. Great thinking.”

“I wasn’t trying to be helpful there,” Kaidan growled before tapping one more button, and the creature inside the tank shuddered, its fingers twitching and flexing. “Okay, all green. Where do you want to send it?”

Craftsman rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a moment before snapping her fingers. “Ah! I know,” she turned back to her coworker. “How about Dharan?”