Darknite 1 by J T Olsen

Author:J T Olsen [Olsen, J T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-30T22:00:00+00:00

17

I woke up back on the plane.

“That was, like, CRAZY, man,” Dob said in a surfer’s voice.

It was crazy, alright – I was still trembling. Like waking up from a dream where you fall off a skyscraper and hit the ground.

After I calmed down, I looked around the plane for Nova.

Nope… guess she’d made it to safety.

Which meant I had to go recruit on my own… hopefully without making the same mistakes I’d made last time.

I immediately stood up and tapped on the shoulder of the nearest player, a 5’10” frog in Speedos and a backpack.

“Uh, excuse me,” I whispered.

The frog turned around and stared at me with its big yellow eyes and little black pupils.

“Have you tried logging out recently?” I said quietly. “I tried, and I can’t.”

The frog just stared at me.

Maybe he didn’t hear me.

I spoke a little louder. “I said, have you tried logging out? I did, and I can’t.”

The frog stared at me… opened its mouth… and went, “RRRRibbit.”

“Look, dude,” I said angrily, “if you don’t want to talk, fine, just stand aside and – ”

“I think it’s a bot,” a voice said over to my right.

I looked over to see who was talking –

Great.

Superguy, the sniper who’d just tried to kill me two minutes ago.

Even worse, he was probably right.

I turned and peered at the frog.

It just stared right back at me.

I poked its nose with my finger, which would normally be provocation for a fight –

But it just stood there and stared.

Well, stooed there and stared and went, “RRRRRibbit.”

“Ah, crap,” I muttered.

Bots were computer-generated users that the game threw in so it didn’t have to keep 97 other players waiting while three finalists duked it out in the final round.

In general, bots were stupid… really bad shots… and didn’t say anything. Except maybe –

“RRRRRibbit.”

“Duuuuuude, how EMBARASSING,” Dob guffawed from his seat.

Superguy laughed. “Don’t sweat it, it’s harder to tell at first when they’re not human. If they’re human, they sort of have a glazed-over look, like a stoned cow.”

Well, at least he was being nice about my faux pas.

“I’m Hal,” I said, extending my hand over the seat.

He shook it. “Eric. Was that you I was trying to kill back in Waterston Gorge?”

“Yeah, that was me.”

He grinned. “Sorry. Nothing personal.”

I smiled back. “The game is the game.”

“The game is the game,” he agreed.

“You get nailed by Deer Hunter?”

“Deer Hunter, that’s good… yeah, he got me. He get you, too?”

“More like he got the bridge I was standing on over a 300-foot canyon.”

“That’ll do it,” Eric agreed. “Hey, it looked like you were paired up with a pretty cute chick – is she your girlfriend or something?”

“He wishes,” Dob said as he peeked over the back of his seat, standing in the chair like a toddler.

“Quiet, you,” I growled.

“Ah, I thought I saw him, too,” Eric said, nodding towards Dob. “So today’s your first time, huh?”

Wow, it really was obvious to everybody that I was a newb.

“First time in VR. I’ve played a lot at home.

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