ARC of the IMMORTALS/Book 1

Pursuit: 9.4/ Game 7 — Bendel vs. Jac

[Contains VR violence]

Recap: Jac won game six, and Bendel gave Jac a 3,000-point handicap as Bendel prepared to enter game Seven. Before the start of the game, security brought Jac and then Bendel two floors up to Mouloco.

Recap (continued): In the conference room of Gaming Central, Mouloco confronted Bendel. He admitted cheating. Haggling ensued amongst the three until Mouloco forced Bendel into making concessions. Bendel agreed to Mouloco’s terms. He forfeited nine thousand points to Jac giving him an advantage of 15k points.

Yon jumped to Harry’s shell inside the Gata-Cortexorgana brain. Harry’s body had become paper-like layers, only his head, jaw, and throat were still flesh. His eyes were beginning to fray into layers as thin as wisps of decayed parchment.

“Harry, Touzdae sent me to find you and restore you to life,” Yon said and waited for a response.

“Is that you, Jackie?” Harry whispered in a rasp.

“Yes — yes,” Yon hesitated. “What do you need?”

“Take me to Harry in hospital, private…” Harry’s esophagus collapsed. It disintegrated into dust.

Yon stooped and with delicate care gathered the wafer-like body in his arms. Some of Harry’s body turned to swirls of dust. He thought of the other Harry in the private wing of the hospital and jumped.

Yon was immediately detained as he materialized on top of Harry’s restrained comatose body. The paper-thin remainder of the shell of Harry absorbed into the body. Security removed Yon from the from the room. Harry’s vitals returned. The machine life support sensed a life returning to Harry and disengaged.

“Who sent you?” Security personnel asked.

“Bendel,” Yon lied and jumped as if in a nervous hiccup.

Game 7

“Bendel Von Deign is using four of the nine multi-dimensions available along with four of six inter-dimensions. As you may well know beings, these games can be short. Weapon choice and power goes quick,” the announcer stated. The voice continued: “Bendel, on-team gets the choice of four weapons he can use. Jac Kristos can use all four or fewer if he so chooses. If he chooses three or fewer he can change functions of the weapons. He or Bendel can do this in four dimensions — unlimited. Or four times in interdimensional spaces. Watch the data sub screen for up to the second read-outs on the play.” The announcer concluded with, “Players are making ready for Game Seven. This could be the final game.”

Jac tapped the side of his helmet reflexively as the data read-out appeared. It also appeared on the secondary screens. The game program downloaded him onto the first playing field.

Bendel’s weapons: a short hand-held magnetron blast globe; two — a variable length blade-sword; three — a .357 Magnum, a Terra Earth Prime pistol; and the fourth a standard laz handgun.

“Typical Bendel weapons,” Jac muttered to himself as he download first. He appeared on a ground effect scooter-bike (G-E19x2). The playing field was a tan, but otherwise nondescript plain. There were Scatter Purple Death plants near the perimeter. The plain had variable gravity gradients. Some areas had strong G forces, while others had very little or weightless conditions.

Jac’s two weapons appeared on Bendel’s screen. They were a double-blade broad sword and an old generic multipart laz pistol.

Bendel dematerialized on his own G-E scooter bike 99x9 a faster power-hungry model. Jac floated above his scooter one hand on the throttle and steering mechanism. Bendel shot forward on his scooter before realizing that Jac wasn’t escaping. He circled around, laughing.

“Good opening ploy old friend,” he smiled dripping with malevolence.

He drew his long multi-length sword and grazed Jac’s chest. Jac flipped his scooter end over end through two dimensions and back to the original playing field. Full throttle ahead. But Bendel didn’t miss a beat. He was on Jac like a lover attached at the hip. Bendel flipped out his magnetron blast globe, a bit shorter than Jac’s forearm, and flipped the switch. Jac glanced over worried as the small globe began to glow as it charged.

Bendel thrust it towards his face. Jac flipped up backward and down. Bendel discharged the weapon in empty space above the bike. As Jac landed Bendel discharged a second full blast in Jac’s chest area. But Jac blurred for a second and returned after the blast and jammed the throttle wide open.

The scooter shot away far ahead of Bendel’s position.

“Look to the replay, beings. Jac disappeared his body into another playing field as the blast weapon discharged. A point-getter.” the announcer said.

— You’ll run out of fuel Jac if you keep up this pace. I’ll have the advantage, Bendel’s thought appeared in Jac’s head. Bendel fired from two alternating dimensions at the same time. It was a cross fire that set Jac’s coat on fire. Jac skidded the scooter to a halt. He looked to a place he could put himself out. The purple thorn bushes surrounded him — one prick could kill him.

He checked the readout in his visor, selected another reality, and popped into it. It was a low sky of nine feet above Jac’s head. He could almost touch it. Red lightning sizzled out of the brown clouds ahead. But he didn’t have time to make notes. He fell to the ground and rolled putting the fire out on his back. As the point of Bendel’s broadsword landed a few microns away. Bendel’s fist hit him in his jaw in a low gravity pocket. He sailed backward about six feet and skidded to the mud’s edge. He tapped his visor and rematerialized on his cycle moving forward in the previous reality with Bendel right behind in pursuit.

Jac reached down to his laz pistol and turned it on stand-by. Bendel moved up with the magnetron blast globe charging and stuck it on Jac’s helmet.

Jac flicked through three dimensions. He slowed time and removed the blast globe from his helmet. Jac flew through variable gravity pockets in a spiral and heaved the bomb away. Bendel’s scooter was hot on his tail as he ran towards his scooter.

Complex algorithms appeared in orange on the Needle Craft’s black main scope. On two smaller screens was the grid of the planetoid — Gata. On another screen was a scan of Bendel’s Hotel and Saloon the Casa Negra Nola of the past laid over Casa Noir. Pursuer appeared to be Jac except for a single thorn on his backside shooting up out of a torn shirt. His eyes flashed back and forth between the two screens.

“Computer, analyze the trajectory of the Casa Negra Nola blueprints and the Casa Noir Matrix. Based on the data from Gata-Cortexorgana brain look for the weakest access point of the hotel in relation to the gaming table…”

Jac thudded to the ground in an orange atmosphere on a plain of green and deep lavender flesh-eating shrubs. Two missile grenades exploded on either side of Jac. Bendel rode a ground-effect weapons platform like ancient chariot. A mass of laser bugs swarmed and caught him off guard. His shield went up but not before twenty severed and ate his left arm. They expired in the process. Jac pushed a button on his right arm.

“It’s gone,” Uncle Harry said. The stolen open-boat floated through the dark mists of the docking ports.

“Of course,” Touzdae said, “Use the hook to grab that buoy.”

Lost, Harry spaced-out for a moment. Touzdae lunged ahead and extended the boat hook and latched onto the buoy using the magnet. “We don’t have much time.”

Touzdae opened the buoy and disengaged the memory chip. Harry bumped into her as a current heaved the tiny boat. The memory chip dislodged from her fingers and fell into the dark current. All was lost.

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