The Life- Illusion Read online

  The desk had one chair, and a weathered old woman sat in it. She pressed the tips of her fingers together and frowned. “You’re late.”

  With a shrug, Kurt placed the tube container on the desk before the woman. “Wasn’t aware I was on the clock.”

  She reached out and snatched the tube, giving Kurt a sharp glare. “When you work for me, Mr. Kurtis, you are always on the clock.” She popped the top off the tube and unrolled the painting onto the desk in front of her. “Results matter more than strict punctuality, of course.”

  Turning in her chair, she handed both tube and painting to one of her guards, who promptly rolled it back up and sealed it in the container once more. The other guard stepped forward and dropped a black duffel bag onto the desk, before stepping back to his post. Jimmy wasted no time in unzipping it to inspect the contents. He gave a whistle and nudged Kurt, pointing to a large bundle of cash.

  This earned him a sharp look from the woman at the desk, who turned her attention to him. “You simply must introduce me to your charming companion, Mr. Kurtis.”

  Kurt gave Jimmy a quick glance. “This is Mr. James, my associate.”

  She stood and looked Jimmy up and down, her stern expression never changing. “You may refer to me as Crane. Quite the spectacle you gentlemen put on tonight. Gave the IPD an interesting goose chase. It was wise of you not to bring them to my door, and it would be wise of you to remember that while on any future jobs I find for you.” After a moment, she pressed a switch on the desk and illuminated the back wall of the train car. “Take your pick.”

  A wooden cabinet was lit up, with two mannequins on either side also being illuminated. The mannequins were minimalist, with only a torso to display their product. Each of them was wearing an armored vest, but both were rather different from each other. The mannequin on Jimmy’s side was decked out in a heavy armor chest-piece, with a molded plate on the front and shoulder guards. The mannequin on Kurt’s side was far more modest, sporting a minimalist black vest that could be easily concealed beneath clothing.

  Stepping up to the wooden cabinet, Kurt gingerly opened the doors to display a small arsenal. Handguns and submachine guns were on display on one side, with rifles and shotguns on the other. Kurt began scanning his options as Jimmy turned to the woman once more.

  Pointing to the shotgun her guard held, he asked in an unusually diplomatic tone. “How about one of these?”

  She turned to see what he was referencing and waved a hand dismissively. “Such ordinance is not something I hand out to just anyone. We can discuss the matter further once your standing with my organization is on more solid ground. For now, you may each have the armor and your choice of one firearm from the cabinet.”

  With an understanding nod, Jimmy turned and browsed for a moment, not taking long with his decision at all. He drew a black shotgun with a collapsible stock from the cabinet and turned to set it down on the desk behind them, before turning his attention to the armor. Kurt quickly scanned his friend’s choice.

  Benelli M4 Super 90

  Shotgun. Primary/Secondary. Firearm drops upon death and can be picked up by any player in the vicinity.

  Caliber: 12 Gauge.

  Rate of Fire: Semi-Automatic.

  Capacity: 6+1

  He had picked a monster of a shotgun. It sported impressive damage, a seven round capacity, and a terrifying rate of fire for a shotgun. The weapon scan also revealed a list of possible modifications for the weapon that scrolled far down the page, to the point that Kurt simply stopped looking at all of them. An aggro warning was also present, but Kurt was beginning to see a pattern with Jimmy and aggro heavy firearms and was not surprised.

  Frowning slightly, Kurt turned back to the weapons case and raised his wrist to scan his options. He discovered quickly that he wasn’t interested in any of the rifles or shotguns on display, being drawn instead to the selection of handguns. One in particular stood out to him, as it boasted impressive stealth statistics on its scan page.

  The Silencerco Maxim 9 was his clear choice. It was an integrally suppressed handgun that used 9mm ammunition and looked like it would be easily concealed under clothing. It had an impressive ammunition capacity upgrade for him as well, using a seventeen round magazine. It looked like a standard black Glock style handgun on the back end, but the barrel was enshrouded in a blocky suppressor. Kurt was in love at first sight, and the stealth bonuses the scan showed only solidified his choice. The gun allowed him to exchange it for his starting handgun, and gave a significant bonus to stealth based damage.

  Silencerco Maxim 9

  Pistol. Sidearm. Weapon drops upon death only if equipped in the Primary/Secondary slot.

  Caliber: 9mm.

  Rate of Fire: Semi-Automatic.

  Capacity: 17 Round Magazine.

  Once they both had taken their new guns and armor, Crane gave her guards a nod. The men stepped forward and escorted Kurt and Jimmy from the train car. As they walked to their car, the train groaned into motion and pulled away. While it was leaving, all of the NPC guards in the area bustled into black SUVs and drove away after it.

  Jimmy looked after them with a scowl on his face. “Who the hell are these guys? I’m not even playing Kurt; those guys were better armed and organized than any faction I’ve seen in this game. They make the Russians look sloppy, and that’s saying something.” He seemed to remember something, and began scrolling through his phone.

  Kurt realized he had shut off the reputation and skill notifications, and quickly pulled up the menu on his own phone. He had gone up two more levels each in Liar, Small Arms, and Stealth, while getting a single level up in Planning. His Cartography skill had shot up by an impressive three levels, and there was a personal reputation gain with a faction named The Lace as well. His new rank in Stealth combined with his faction reputation allowed for the use of his Maxim 9 handgun, and showed that he had unlocked several new modifications and clothing options.

  His new skills were pleasing to see as well.

  Secondary

  Sneak Attack Rank 1. (Combat)

  “Catch you fuckers at a bad time?” -Blade, 1998.

  Attacking your opponents while they are unaware has clear advantages in combat. Increases damage and armor piercing of all attacks made while opponent is unaware of your exact location by 2%

  Secondary

  Gunslinger Rank 1. (Combat)

  “God may have made men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” (Thought to be a Colt Industries advertisement, mid 1800s)

  A handgun or revolver is an adaptable and commonly used firearm platform in all criminal activities. Skilled use can produce incredible benefits. Armor penetration is increased with handguns by 1%. Damage with revolvers is increased by 1%. Additional handguns and revolvers are unlocked for purchase. This skill is currently stacking with Small Arms.

  Secondary

  Strategist Rank 1. (Interaction)

  “To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.” Sun Tzu-The Art of War. (roughly 5th century BC)

  Making and executing plans in combat is not a simple thing, but can result in victories where defeat was all but certain. Increases combat tactics success rate by 1%, increasing by 1% with each team-mate included in said tactic. This skill stacks with Planning when applied to combat scenarios.

  Kurt’s new reputation gains had also unlocked more clothing and modification options, but the big thing that drew his attention was the mention of safe houses and front businesses having been unlocked. His latest reputation gain information screen sported a link to the map and highlighted several areas that claimed to contain either a safe house for sale, or an available front business.

  “Hey Jimmy, what’s the whole ‘front’ thing about again?” He scanned over the map zones, zooming in to see the areas better.

  Jimmy barely looked up from his own wrist, walking slowly towards the back end of the car. “The money is split into dirty and clean. When your mon
ey is clean, it’s safe from other players and can be traded on the real-world market. But you have to do stuff to wash the cash, like run it through a front or pay a broker to change it out. Brokers are a rip off, but they work fast.”

  With a frown, Kurt hefted the duffle bag of cash and tossed it into the trunk of Jimmies lowrider with his new armor. “So we can’t spend this?”

  With a quick shake of his head, Jimmy popped the driver’s side door open and leaned on it. “We could, for the most part. Stuff like safe houses have to be bought with clean money though. It’s really more about not getting other players stealing your take, you know? There’s a handful of ‘safe’ places you can stash stuff, but the sizes are limited.” He paused in thought for a moment. “Hey, how much is that, by the way?”

  Kurt zipped the bag open again and tilted his wrist to scan it. After clearing the results and re-scanning it twice more, he looked up at Jimmy with an unbelieving expression. “Six million.”

  “Woah.” Jimmies eyes went wide, and he nodded in appreciation. “I like our new crew, we should grind this rep out a bit more. Three mill each is a healthy take, and this was just the start up run.”

  Hauling the zipper closed again, Kurt shoved the bag behind Jimmies new armor and shotgun before slamming the trunk closed and moving towards his side of the car. “Two mill each. We never would have made it out without Gadot.”

  Pulling the car out of the train yard, Jimmy shrugged and nodded. “Oh yeah, she was kind of helpful…after she shot me in the face.”

  He began to drive towards the nearby residential areas, giving Kurt a chance to inspect his new reputation.

  New Faction Unlocked; The Lace.

  The Lace is a secretive group of high end heisters. The less said about them the better, as they demand absolute discretion. Your contact within The Lace will tell you more as your reputation increases.

  Current Rank: 1.

  Current Contacts: “Crane”

  Jobs successfully completed: 1

  “So this new faction of ours looks interesting.” Kurt closed his wrist phone and looked out the windows, happy to see regular looking houses going by.

  Jimmy nodded as he made a turn into a neighborhood. “Yeah, I browsed the forums real fast and there’s nothing on there. Probably new, or just that secret, but either way I’m all in.” He paused to yawn. “You know. Tomorrow.”

  Kurt nodded, feeling the fatigue of their marathon session. It had been a hell of a first night though, and he was really not looking forward to dealing with the real world in the coming days. He turned to say something to Jimmy, but stopped with a frown as he saw the Jeeps sitting at the end of the cul de sac they had turned down. They were up on large off-road wheels, and sported what appeared to be armor plating on the doors, painted with light blue digital urban camouflage.

  Cutting the wheel, Jimmy used his lowriders bulk to block the street, narrowing his eyes. “Oh man, not these jokers. What the hell are they doing on my turf…” He swiped at his phone for a moment, shrugging with a heavy sigh. “Right. Guess those turf pings I’ve been ignoring were them clearing out my NPCs. Only thing they can be here for is ownership. Stay out of it buddy, they might let you live.”

  Getting out of the car, Jimmy opened his arms wide and faced the men lounging around the jeeps. There were eight of them, with various gear and weapons strapped across their bodies. They all wore the same style of ballistic helmets, bulky across the top and back of the head with rather undignified chin straps holding them in place.

  “Hey there boys, you lost?” Jimmy approached, casually unfolding the magazine well on his SMG as he went.

  The man out front raised a hand as his men began to lift weapons. He stepped forward and offered Jimmy a handshake, smiling sadly when Jimmy just looked at his hand with disdain. “Captain Ocelot, GoonStorm 43rd armored. Good to meet you.”

  Shifting from one foot to the other, Jimmy casually eyed the others around him. They were sporting various military style rifles, and all of them seemed ready to turn on him. “Yeah, I know the Goons. You guys get matching kneepads with those helmets?” His eyebrows went up and down twice as he smirked at the men in helmets.

  Captain Ocelot shook his head, his lips going tight in an unpleasant smile. “This guy’s a funny one, I like that. Spirited too. Look funny man, I’ve just wasted my night cleaning out your turf and sitting here waiting for you to respond. I’ve been authorized to make you a cash offer for the territory, if you agree to work for the GoonStorm Company.”

  Jimmy scratched his ear for a moment, squinting one eye. “Yeah, I heard you guys are snatching up turf all over Illusion. People really bite for the buyouts?”

  “Oh, you might be surprised. Considering the other options, I would recommend the buyout.” He thumbed the release on his holster, clearly trying to look bored as he spoke.

  “Yeah, I bet. I’ll take the other option.” Jimmy spoke while raising his SMG. He opened fire, taking down four of what Kurt assumed were NPCs that reacted faster than the player in front of them. The player was no slouch though, and had hauled a massive steel revolver from his thigh holster. He put two booming rounds into Jimmy at point blank range as the other man was swiveling his SMG to him. Jimmy’s round pinged off the side of Ocelots helmet, while the second revolver shot went into Jimmy’s face and dropped him. The whole fight was over before Kurt could even get his gun out of its holster, so he calmly let it go and raised his hands.

  Captain Ocelot held up a finger to him, checking his wrist. “And…there we go. Turf transferred to GoonStorm and I can get out of this rat hole.” He scowled as he looked at Jimmies SMG on the ground in front of him, bending down to pick it up. Holstering his own revolver, he raised the SMG and fired a couple of test shots up into the night air with a smile. “Hey, not bad.”

  Unable to stop himself, Kurt stepped forward. “Captain? Look, I dunno what all this was about, but that’s my friend’s favorite gun. Be a good sport and give it back?” His mind raced at the thought of the stash in the trunk behind him.

  Captain Ocelot just smiled, lowering the gun and shooting Kurt four times in the chest. Each impact flared pain at him, and he fell over with his vision going dark. Before his character died, he heard Captain Ocelot speak once more. “Yeah, not bad at all. Let’s go men!”

  He spawned in a house a few seconds later, moving quickly to a nearby window. Shoving the curtains out of his way, he watched the GoonStorm troops ram into Jimmies lowrider as they drove out of the cul de sac.

  Jimmy stepped up behind him, nodding to himself. “Yep. That’s GoonStorm for you. Worst crew in the game, I swear.” He flopped down onto a luxurious leather couch nearby. “At least they were too stupid to check the trunk.”

  Kurt sighed in relief. “What the hell was that?! Why’d they just kill us like that?”

  With a smirk, Jimmy shrugged. “GoonStorm is taking over all of Illusion, if the forum conspiracies are to be believed. Guess they might be if they came after my pathetic little tract of turf. It’s literally just this cul de sac, and the block around it.”

  They went out and retrieved the car, driving it into the garage of the house. Jimmy hauled the duffle bag of cash out of the trunk with his new shotgun and armor, taking them down into the basement with him. A large metal safe stood in the middle of the room, and opened to Jimmies thumbprint to show an interior with a few small cloth bags and bundles of cash inside. Jimmy shoved the duffle bag onto a lower shelf, before turning to carefully place his new shotgun into a rack set against the wall and hanging the armor next to it on a coat hanger.

  He turned to look at Kurt. “Stuff is safe in there, it’s my personal stash. You get one when you buy a safe house. Space is limited is all. We can deal with all this tomorrow, I’m gonna log for the night.”

  Kurt eyed his friend carefully, but only nodded as Jimmy played with his wrist. As he watched, Jimmy pressed his finger to a space in the air above his wrist and vanished. Kurt followed his friends example, an
d the world around him faded out to black before being replaced with his room once more.

  He quickly pulled up Jimmy on his phone and sent him a text. “You good man?”

  His response was nearly immediate, as it always was from Jimmy. “Yeah. Great session, just kind of heavy, you know? My turf is no big thing, I’m just really tired.”

  Kurt nodded to himself, feeling guilty for having put off this game with his friend for so long. He thought for a moment, and then text Jimmy back. “Lunch tomorrow? I’ve missed our fusion joint.”

  As he moved from his plug-in couch to his bed, his phone chirped at him one more time. “Hell yeah man, pick me up at like eleven.”

  He was barely in the sheets before he was asleep, dreaming of Illusion.

  6. New Friends

  Chapter 6

  New Friends.

  Kurt woke to his alarm, set for an hour before he was meant to pick up Jimmy for lunch. As he arose from bed with a yawn, he checked his phone to see a prominent message in a group chat established for himself, Jimmy, and Gadot. She had apparently set it up sometime in the night and sent them both a message, which read simply; “Can we meet today, IRL?”

  Jimmy had responded already, and the two of them had gotten into a short back and forth. Kurt read through the messages, gathering that Gadot lived in Phoenix Arizona, and would take a mag lev train to meet them for lunch. With a shrug, Kurt sent a simple text; “I agree with everything said.”

  Jimmy replied immediately; “Nobody asked YOU Kurtis.”

  Chuckling to himself, he went to shower and dress before pulling his car around to pick up Jimmy. His eyebrows raised when he saw his lifelong friend exiting the house. Jimmy was using a pair of crutches and a more aggressive system of braces to move around. He awkwardly closed the front door of his parents’ house behind him and turned to navigate the steps and sidewalk to the car.

  Kurt leaned over and popped the door as Jimmy approached, using the car’s roof as support to place his crutches in before he sat down with a sigh. After he was in, Jimmy turned to Kurt with a big smile and leaned over to hug him. “Great to see you again man! I don’t want to act like I’m happy you got kicked out of school, but I’m totally happy you got kicked out of school.”