The Renegades Read online

  Here, I exaggerated—I didn’t have any social life to speak off but it’d be a sin to pass up on the chance to squeeze the tight-wadded Toad when the chance presented itself.

  “Uh-huh. And you’ll have to buy us VR capsules,” Straus pointed out. “And pay for our accounts. They’re not exactly cheap.”

  The entire band nodded in unison.

  “All right, I’ll think of something. Maybe find some sponsors. Barliona’s a global brand after all so it’s worth the investment. As for now I want you lot to take some cold showers and deal with your business. Once we get the capsules, you’ll be emerging only for band practice. Come on now my little chicken-hawks, left right left right…” Toad began to clap his hands the way he liked to do whenever he wanted to rally us.

  “Are you daft?” Charsky rushed to deflate him. “What language do I need to tell you in that we’re not doing a thing today?”

  Michaels looked over our faces closely and waved his hand in resignation.

  “Ah the hell with you artsy types…” He rummaged in his pocket and produced our pay. “Just don’t go blowing it on spikes and Doc Martens.”

  “We’re not punks, in case you haven’t noticed,” Charsky reminded.

  * * *

  As per tradition, band practice was held in the old garage that belonged to Straus’ parents. Compared to us, Straus had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet he never abandoned our band and would always contribute some scratch at the moment we needed it most. In return, we never gave him grief for his privileged origins. Today, instead of practice, we were doing our monthly planning. Shiny new gaming capsules—which Toad had acquired who knows how or where—were already installed in our apartments. Michaels teared up as he paid for our gaming accounts. All that was left was to figure out what we were actually going to do.

  “I ain’t deleting my main, don’t even think of asking me to,” Straus announced. “So we’ll have to play for Kartoss. I transferred my character there last week.”

  “In that case, you should tell us what races to choose and where to start,” Charsky offered.

  “I’m partial to goblins,” Straus said—ignored the immediate gibes of ‘bro, you’re a goblin as it is’—and continued, “so it’s better if you start with that race. The closer together you spawn, the easier it’ll be to level up.”

  “Hang on,” I spoke up, sensing that this thing was getting away from us. “Why are we doing this? To gain new experiences and new inspiration. But how are we going to gain anything new if we keep staring at our own ugly mugs? I see you guys out here all week as it is. And if we go in together, then we’ll see all the same stuff and have the same thoughts et cetera. Nah. I suggest that we choose different races, get into the atmosphere of the place, level up a bit and only meet up later. We can share what’s going on at our band practice and generate ideas based on it.”

  “Kierá’s got a point,” Charsky agreed. He opened a guide on the races of Barliona. “Goblins are taken, so let’s choose from the other options.”

  Beast immediately grabbed a red orc, while Yuri settled on a drow. Hal couldn’t make up his mind between taurens and trolls. In the end, he flipped a coin and got the former—a horned Kartossian minotaur.

  “I like biotas,” I announced, looking at the race of humanoid plants.

  “That’s a bit hardcore,” said Straus, checking the guide.

  “So I’ll be a hardcore biota. If I can’t handle it, I can always delete my character and roll a new one. The song inspiration’s what’s important and I’ll keep that either way.”

  “Well, whatever you think’s best,” Charsky shrugged. “Since we seem to have figured things out, let’s head home and enter the game.”

  Chapter Two

  My old beater—my former capsule, which had seen better days—had been shoved into the far corner to make space for the new, shiny, glinting model. I could hardly turn around in my room now, but I wasn’t about to get rid of ‘that heap,’ as the Barliona technicians had referred to it. Call it what you like, but it’s mine.

  It took over six hours to set up the new system and adjust it to my psychosomatic metrics. I spent the time studying the guides and tutorials for new players. In principle, the basics were all pretty standard: HP and MP for health and mana, an array of character stats, and a leveling system based on gaining experience in the form of XP. Anyone who’s played an RPG before would understand it intuitively. As for the nuances…Well, I could always consult the guides during the game. Plus I’m not so interested in the details. I’m playing this game to gather material, not to reach its top ranks.

  Welcome to Barliona! Please set your sensory perception level.

  Warning! We have not received permission to disable your pain filter.

  Warning! We have not received permission to disable your pleasure filter.

  Owing to the lack of permission, your minimum possible sensory filter setting is 70%.

  They’re a bit nuts here in Barliona—it’s pure bureaucracy here. Okay, well, I’ll just set my sensory filter to 90% and we’ll see what the deal is later.

  Choose initial settings.

  Choose a faction to play for.

  Selection made. Your faction is the Dark Empire of Kartoss.

  Choose your race.

  Biota. A race of humanoid plants. These creatures’ odd appearance had really struck a chord with me. I’ll check out the starting location, take a dip in a new culture, and if I don’t like it, I’ll make myself a new character.

  You have chosen the biota race.

  At the moment, it is daytime in Barliona. If you create a character during daytime, it will become a solar biota. If you wish to create a lunar biota, please await the coming of night.

  Ho-hum. The game hasn’t even started yet and I better RTFM. Turns out that the time of a biota’s creation determines not just her type but her stats too. At least the race’s stats were in the official game guide. Let’s see now. What’s a lunar biota all about?

  Racial bonus to Intellect: +100%. Stat point cost: +4 for 1.

  Racial penalty to Strength: -75%. Stat point cost: +1 for 3.

  Racial penalty to Constitution: -50%. Stat point cost: +1 for 2.

  Racial bonus to Agility: +25%. Stat point cost: +4 for 3.

  Racial weakness: Cold sensitivity (+10% damage from ice).

  Racial weakness: Fire sensitivity (+10% damage from fire).

  Racial trait: Your character must drink water at least once every twelve hours to avoid the Desiccated status effect (+300% Stamina cost per action, -50% to MP regeneration).

  Racial trait: Any drink that does not do damage, instantly restores Stamina completely and grants +100% to MP regeneration for 10 seconds.

  Racial trait: Any bonuses from alchemical elixirs and potions are doubled. Biota do not consume solid food and receive no bonuses from it. There are numerous drinks that grant random effects to biota.

  Racial trait: +100% to all damage types dealt by the character when fighting in natural terrain.

  Racial trait: Due to their intimate bond with the natural world, biota are negatively affected by urban locations or other locations that are too different from their natural habitat. The strength of the Unnatural status effect depends on the type of location and the duration spent in it.

  Racial trait: Immunity to herbal (and some other) poisons.

  Racial trait: Most predators do not perceive the biota as prey and do not attack them.

  Racial trait: Night vision. The biota’s magical nature enables them to see even in utter darkness.

  Racial ability: Natural camouflage. When in a natural environment, like a forest, biota gain the stealth movement ability.

  Racial trait: Many of the other races do not trust biota.

  Solar biota received a greater bonus to Agility and a smaller one to Intellect than lunar ones. I prefer spellcasting so I guess I’ll have to wait until night falls. I suppose I’ll spend the time reading up on this topic.r />
  According to the game fora, the biota were introduced less than a month ago along with the last major update. Their home was in the borderlands of the Kartoss Empire. Though it wasn’t clear where exactly. Maps of biota locations weren’t publicly available and when I saw the asking price for a map of Kartoss, I began to consider a career in cartography. They sure do seem to be making hay in Barliona.

  Walkthroughs and specialized guides for biota were likewise prohibitively expensive. Half the search results led to public versions full of incomprehensible gibberish, while the rest led to paywalls. What’s there to pay for? What’s so secret that I can’t discover it after a few weeks of playing? A quest list full of ‘go there and slaughter ten deer for dinner?’ Nah. Human greed knows no limits. Stranger still was the utter absence of any videos about the biota starting locations. Was this paid content too?

  The system notified me that night had come and I finally got back to creating my character.

  You have chosen the biota race.

  At the moment, it is nighttime in Barliona. If you create a character during nighttime, it will become a lunar biota. If you wish to create a solar biota, please await the coming of day.

  Race selection confirmed.

  Gender: female.

  Do you wish to apply your real appearance to the character or create a custom appearance?

  I paused for a moment and then chose the former option. I’m no beauty among beauties, but I’ve gotten pretty used to my face over the last 24 years and am perfectly happy with it.

  The facial scan ended and a strange-looking creature appeared in the preview window. My avatar resembled a plant as much as a person. And its face resembled mine and someone entirely different too. At closer inspection, the green skin was an epidermis of cellulose—the superficial layer covering the stalks of a plant as I recalled from my botany courses. The system offered me a broad palette of colors to choose from, ranging from black to milk-white. I spent ten minutes turning my alter ego into a tomato, an eggplant, a rose, but in the end settled on the green option with whimsical little blue veins coursing through it.

  The face too went through a series of transmutations. The system had recreated my general features, but the details were left up to me. As such, my eyebrows could be simple thick growths of the epidermis, thin lines of bark, petals, moss, lichen and a bunch of other options I’m at pains to describe. I suppose I don’t remember my botany lectures that well.

  I chose the small blue petals because they bore the closest resemblance to my ordinary brows from afar. The biota’s eyes were larger than human ones. The irises were enormous and filled almost the entire pupil, which could be variously-colored too depending on what I wanted. The biota’s ears were slightly pointed and consisted of leaves or flower petals. Hair was an entirely different story. It could be a bunch of twigs sticking out every which way like horns, it could be petals of various lengths and varieties, it could be stalks with leaves and even a topiaried bush.

  I’m ashamed to admit that I spent no less than two hours fiddling with the various options and details. I swear I’ve spent more of my life playing around in character editors than watching make up tutorials and preening myself in front of a mirror. The result was well worth it though. My blue-green clone really stood out. Large, oblong flower petals covered me to my shoulders like a bird’s plumage. I looked like an unholy combination of a tropical parrot, a liana, and the Original Sin. One of those unexpected love triangles.

  “A creative salad,” I concluded, lovingly examining the plant I’d created. “I guess it’s time to experience the life of a vegetable!”

  Attention! You may choose your character class if you like. Do you wish to do so now or will you make your selection later?

  Yeah I wanna do it now! It’s go bard or go home! This class was launched with the last update and there weren’t any guides for it, if you didn’t count random rants and observations to be found on the fora. Music was my life and I wasn’t about to part with it, even in Barliona.

  Your character is a bard.

  Please enter a name.

  A name…I paused to think. Well, it sure as hell isn’t going to be my meatspace name. I need to come up with something symbolic. A musical name for a musical bard. One that has a ring to it. One that’s memorable. Dispelling the sudden urge to have a laugh and name my character ‘Franzlizst,’ I went through the other options until Heinrich Heine’s verses about an ancient legend floated up to my consciousness. Yup. That was it!

  Your name is Lorelei the Captivating.

  Subject scan complete.

  Synchronization of player and character physiology in process…Physiology synchronized.

  Starting location selected.

  Character generation in progress…

  The first thing I saw was a cocoon of a pleasant lavender color. A complete cocoon without a single seam or opening. And how am I supposed to get out of it?

  Blinking in puzzlement, I reached out my hand and touched my prison’s wall. Smooth and cool to the touch, it reminded me of something very familiar that I couldn’t place. Try as I could, I couldn’t remember it and, meanwhile, the walls around me began to part, at first in the top of the cocoon and gradually lower and lower, so that a minute later I found myself in the center of a giant flower. Similar cocoons—some open and some still closed bulbs—grew around me. But I forgot about this unusual sight as soon as I saw the tree. And I mean, the Tree! A giant, colossal Tree, one of whose branches supported the bouquet I’d found myself in.

  The giant’s silhouette mesmerized as its myriad flowers glowed fluorescent against the background of a night sky. A forest version of Las Vegas, minus the deafening roar of the city. A wondrous fairy-tale giant in the midst of a no-less-fairy-tale night. A night filled with sounds that were both quiet and unusual. An owl hooted nearby, interrupting the singsong of the other birds. Cicadas were chirring happily, drowning out the already barely audible snatches of someone’s conversation. There was neither the howling of security systems, nor the burble of advertising, nor the hiss of cars.

  It was only too bad that I barely sensed any smells. In fact, I sensed very little at all. My sensory filter setting had a numbing effect on my body. I still felt touch, but the sensation was blunted.

  This wasn’t very pleasant on the whole, but I soon forgot about it all as I looked down. Even the darkness couldn’t save me: Thanks to my night vision racial trait, I could see the entire length of the enormous distance that separated me from the ground. My mouth went dry and my head began to spin treacherously. I’ve been afraid of heights since childhood and even the certain knowledge that a fall here would result in a mere 12-hour rest from the game didn’t do much to calm me (when you died in Barliona, you’d be ejected to meatspace and have to wait 12 hours before respawning again).

  I quickly glanced away from the terrifying landscape and only now noticed the NPC biota standing beside my flower. From the petals on her head to the strange appearance of her floral dress, she was decked in shades of pale pink and red. Framed by the glowing shoots of the local flora, the NPC looked as regal as a garden queen.

  “Lunar greetings to you, oh sister,” the stranger smiled amicably, revealing a milk-white film in her mouth that was barely different than teeth.

  Unwittingly I felt around my own teeth with my tongue and discovered a similar cellulose film there. Oh that’s right—we can’t eat anything. We can only drink. I guess the developers added this film as a reminder to the players.

  “Erm….” I mumbled thoughtfully in reply. I still couldn’t keep myself from glancing at the precipice beside me. What a start to my bard career—the eloquence was just pouring forth. If things keep on this way, I had better wait until they introduce a mime class.

  I tried to focus on the NPC to stop thinking about the immense height separating me from the ground. At the same time, the thought that I should’ve chosen a dwarf as my race popped into my head. A dwarf wouldn’t as much as clamber
up a horse, much less a giant tree.

  “Don’t worry,” said the imitator, noticing my discomfort. “Your Twilight Dream has ended and you shall now leave the Branch as a free citizen. The Tree never bore free citizens in former times, but lately many things have changed. In your Dream you beheld the world through the eyes of your brothers and sisters, but this knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete. I will help you gain your bearings and teach you everything you must know. My name is Amaryllis,” the NPC introduced herself. “What is the name that came to you in your Dream? What is your name?”

  “Lorelei.”

  “An unusual name.”

  Uh-huh. Right. And Amaryllis is so usual. Although…Maybe in the vegetable world it’s as common as John, Li, Ivan, Mohamed…?

  “Free citizens frequently dream unusual names before they wake,” the NPC went on. “Come with me. We’ll find you some proper integuments.”

  Great idea, I thought, following the biota—at the moment my ‘integuments’ could be only described as ‘what the tree grew me in.’ The typical loincloth of these kinds of games was in this case clusters of flowers in the proper locations. Moreover, I wasn’t even really wearing this loincloth—it was growing out of me. I wonder what takes place in the local bordello? Do the petals simply vanish or do they kind of recede?

  While I was contemplating the particulars of the local adult entertainment industry, Amaryllis confidently led me along the branch. Its width kept me from considering the long fall and the abrupt deceleration at the ground at the bottom, but my mind could not abandon the topic of falling. I wonder if anyone ever died right after creating their character?

  To avoid looking over the edge, I began to look around, examining the neighboring branches. Most of them had bulbs like the one I started the game on—and here and there, I could see their petals opening to usher a new resident into Barliona. To my surprise, there were a lot more players than NPCs.