Chương 50: I love it when a plan comes together

HUNTING ROUND—THREE Entering Hunting Room: The Balance Beam Room Type: Duel Maximum Capacity: Two players Maximum Duration: Thirty minutes Ability Notification! Threat Level 1 Knickknack Savant: Level 1 Bonus Event Quest Update! Description: Survive a voting or hunting round. Completed: 4/X Reward: +1 Will, +10 gold, and +1 skill point for each round survived. +50, 000 clicks. Delivered immediately.

Received: +1 Will +10 gold +1 skill point +50, 000 clicks They began the hunting round on a high ridge between two distant peaks. Mountains beyond mountains stretched out as far as they could see. Low banks of cloud crawled through the valleys far below. They stood on a path that looked to have been carved into the ridge by thousands of steps. On either side of the path, scraggly tufts of grass stood out among the rocks. The wind whipped at them but it was warm and not at all unpleasant. >>Alright, Team Nod.

Circle up. We have a map. There is a room on that map that is literally called Safe Room. It'll take some fancy footwork, but we're going there. We're going to hunker down and let all these other assholes kill each other. >>Good? >>Anybody got any other ideas? >>There is only one problem with this plan (other than all the deadly rooms we have to walk through to get to the safe room)… >>I have no idea where we are. >>The nodling hasn't mapped this room yet.

"Has the nodling seen any other rooms that might be safe?" George asked. >>Some rooms are emptier than others, like that Floor is Lava room we started in. The nodling has definitely found some rooms to make sure we steer clear of, though. >>That list includes but is not limited to the following: • The Death Self: Lady Greesh's stronghold. • Step Lively: Sand snake arena • Weirdtown: Like a bad acid trip in a carnival designed by Lisa Frank. With monsters. • Christ Pantocrator: The cathedral the vordigans took over.

• The Sons of Rest pavilion, Tower Grove Park. St. Louis, Autumn 2039: If you want to see what it looks like when a machine army fights an interdimensional menace, go there. • They Stab It With Their Steely Knives: This one has real minotaur-meets-labyrinth vibes. Oh, and the hallways are lined with razor blades and spike traps. >>Rooms with the lowest level of apparent environmental dangers are: • The Distance: That circular ring road where TLX dropped you off. • Hell For Leather: The one with all the vehicles.

• A Change Is As Good As A Rest: Everything is big here. The nodling had a blast and explored it extensively. I think it didn't want to leave. There are tons of tokens just sitting around waiting to be harvested. • Everything Floats Down Here: Aside from some slime that is hopefully still locked in one room, the floating sphere room seemed pretty safe, especially because you essentially gain the power of flight in this room. • What Big Teeth You Have: The snowy cabin in the woods.

• Skunk Works: The big warehouse full of random stuff. The nodling didn't find any obvious dangers, but who knows what all the stuff does? • The Mall, 1995: It is just a big mall… with people and stores and everything. We should stop by and get some cocoa butter samples at The Body Shop. Or Cassie could get her ears pierced at Claire's. >>Lastly, here are the rooms the nodling didn't spend enough time in to rank on the danger scale: • The Trial Nine: The spaceship one. Could go either way on the danger scale.

The nodling didn't spend much time here. • The Khan: A winding maze of narrow alleys. • Mirror Mirror: It is a portal maze inside of a portal maze. Very meta. • The Cloud Gate Phenomenon: Infinite abyss below and a bunch of floating platforms you can jump to. What could go wrong?

"This room seems safe enough," Cassie said.

"This is a duel-type room with a capacity of two, so that means no one else can come in, right? Because there are already two of us. I mean… three of us, but, you know… two." >>That hurts, Cassie. >>But I think you are right. We've got thirty minutes of uninterrupted plot-hatching time.

"Any idea what happens at the end of thirty minutes? We haven't had a room with a duration yet," George asked.

"Beats me," Cassie said.

"Teleported away? Separately, probably." >>Let's find a portal and have the option of walking through it together before the timer runs out instead.

"Which way do we go?" Cassie said.

"Up to you," George replied.

"One is as good as the other." They were in the middle of the path on a low shoulder between the two nearest peaks. The path looked like a sharp, winding rope slung between the two mountains.

"What do you bet there are portals at either end of the path?" George said.

"Bubble gum bubble gum in a dish," Cassie said alternately, pointing either left or right as she sang a little song.

"How many pieces do you wish?" >>As the wind tugged at their cloaks and their imminent danger tugged at their worried hearts, our heroes waited patiently as their fates were decided according to one of the most potent decision-making rites of all. What rite, you say? Casting of lots? No. Ritual combat? No. Sorting through the entrails of a hapless sacrifice in an attempt to augur the most auspicious future? Nay. T'was a rite even more hallowed: the bubble gum bubble gum song.

"Ten!" she said.

"One, two, three…" >>The tiny girl continued relentlessly to sing her inane song, heedless of the towering import of her decision…

"Four, five, six," Cassie pointed in a new direction with each word.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten!" Her hand was pointed toward the rightward path on the last word, so she turned around and resolutely walked down the left path. After a moment, George walked along behind her. >>Hey, George.

"Yes, Nod," George said. >>What is it like to be the only grownup around here?

"Better than it used to be," he said. >>Right, well… >>Cassie, George and I were texting each other about his list of problems during the last voting round. >>I am going to mentally fax you a summary and maybe you can use the magic of "Bubble gum bubble gum" again to cut any proverbial Gordian knots we encounter. >>Ready?

"Ready," Cassie said. >>Zzzzzzap. >>Get it?

"Got it," she said. >>OK. Let's talk turkey. So far, we have only been reacting as items were added to the problem list. How do we get proactive and start removing items from the list?

"Cassie, did you get any training for these trials? In your opinion, how do we parse that list?" George asked.

"We get trained on all of the main types of trials," Cassie said.

"It is sort of like the Nexity but they're a lot better at it than everyone else because if any of their bots win or survive a trial, their consciousness is immediately uploaded to the Nexity minitherium mind and added to the knowledge of every other Nexity machine. We have to have the trial types and strategies incepted into us piece by piece. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"The worst category of problems on your list is that you're in trouble with at least three houses: the Saar, the Rook, and the Moa. That's bad," Cassie said. >>Still, I do feel a strange kind of pride that a level twenty-one couch potato popped up on the radar of three of the Big Boys in, like… two days' time.

"Yeah, well… it's bad," Cassie said.

"Other than the AI, the major Houses have all the power. People are scared of the Collegium but the only reason we haven't been annexed by one of the Houses is that we pay a tithe to the Harrow to be one of their affiliated guilds.

"Besides, I'm just a kid, and even I know Neco's reputation," Cassie said.

"He's got to be at the top of your threat list." >>A strangely assertive, capable, and well-informed kid…

"Oh yeah… that," Cassie looked up at them and gave a sort of wincing shrug.

"The school can incept personality traits that are 'adaptive and functional in trial environments.' So Mentis kids are pretty much all 'assertive, capable, and well-informed.' Like little grownups. It's a survival thing, you know?"

"Neco is our worst problem?" George said.

"Yes," she said firmly.

"He doesn't even have to do anything to kill you. If he presses a button, you're dead. If he dies, you're dead. And you don't exactly know what he'll do or what he wants you to do, which makes it hard to just keep him happy and do what he says."

"Can that token you gave us help us with him?" George said.

"I don't know. Worth a try…?" Cassie said.

"But even if the Rook wouldn't want to mess with a token holder, that doesn't mean Neco will care. He's like… known for being crazy." >>As Carthage and his entourage discovered.

"It strikes me that Murdge knew exactly what to do with his ability orb," George said.

"Those three didn't stand a chance. Neco was playing with them." >>What is with that guy, anyway? Murdge, I mean. What is an Auctarium?

"You guys really don't know anything," Cassie said.

"We learned this stuff when we were kids." >>Cassie, first… you are still a kid. >>Secondly, the general rule of thumb around here is that if you're going to be rude, make it funny. Just pay close attention to everything I say to George and you'll get the hang of it.

"Sorry," she said.

"Mom and Dad say I'm pretty direct and that isn't always a good trait for someone who can read minds. I'll be cooler about it. I just… there is a lot of basic stuff you don't know. Just keep asking questions, and I'll fill in the gaps."

"It's OK, Cassie," George said, giving her shoulder a brief squeeze.

"Don't worry about it. We're lucky we found you and we appreciate any help you can give us." >>So… Auctariums. What gives?

"Well, Murdge isn't really here in the same sense that we are here," Cassie said.

"An Auctarium is like a flesh golem that several people can drive at once, though there is often a primary controller for trials because combat-by-committee doesn't really work. There will be several awarenesses occupying the shell called Murdge. It is a way for people to satisfy the necessity of appearing in a trial with minimum risk to themselves." >>That seems like a real loophole.

"It isn't something everyone wants to do," she went on, "Joining a trial via an Auctarium is not a pleasant experience. The body doesn't tend to last long and the secondary consciousnesses are vulnerable to being controlled by the primary consciousness. The primary consciousness controlling Murdge is whichever one was nasty, strong, or ruthless enough to rise to the top. That is also the reason that Auctariums are usually pretty vicious players."

As they walked, George couldn't help but stare at the scenery all around him. They had come a few hundred yards and the path had begun to slope up toward the summit in front of them. At times, it opened up and ran through a wide meadow. In other places, it narrowed to a sharp ridge with steep slopes that dropped down on either side. Toward the summit, it gradually leveled out as it wound through what looked like large boulders.

>>Speaking as someone currently residing inside your head, the Death Helmet pretty much guarantees Neco's place at the top spot on the threat list.

"The whole Moa thing is high on the list, too," Cassie said.

"But that also might be an easy one to fix. If you can convince Sarala that you didn't kill Webb, you're in the clear, right? I could vouch for you if we meet her. I'm sure she knows who I am, too."

"We can always try to talk to her," George said.

"But something tells me she won't be easy to convince. And it won't be that easy to dig this gem out of my hand." >>Yeah, spill about the emissary shard. What do you know about those things?

"Sorry guys, I don't know what that one does," she said.

"The Moa are super secretive about all their tech. Other people can't even use it, most of the time. Like… if you find a Moa gun, you can't just pick it up and shoot it.

"Other than that, TLX seems at least a little bit on your side, and there isn't much you can do about your low level. I think we should just avoid meeting Neco, Sarala, or the two Saars if we can. Maybe one of them will get voted off," Cassie said.

"Actually, your biggest advantage could be—" >>The node spider George is lucky enough to cohabitate with…

"Um… yeah," Cassie said.

"And also that conceptual flare in your storage." >>What the heck is that thing? We picked it up in the floor's lava room, and we still have no idea what it is.

"It is a way to get help from the concepts that are in the game. Most trials have hidden aspects and bonuses, and you found one. If you use it when you're in the room with one of the Concepts, it makes them help you. And Concepts can be extremely powerful entities, so they can help you a lot." Cassie shrugged.

"But with the flare-type bonus, you don't know what help they're going to give you."

"So we will add finding one of the Concepts in the hunting maze to our to-do list, then," George said. >>Okay, next topic: prestige tokens. >>Stratification on the leaderboard is going to become a thing. Already, both voting rounds have been decided by players on top of the leaderboard. The haves will only become more dominant over the have-nots as the trial continues.

"But it might also make us a target," George said.

"Look at what happened to Carthage." >>So we don't open a round by accusing the grossest guy in the game.

"If you think about it, your connection to Neco does have a silver lining," Cassie said.

"If he thinks you'll do what he says, he's not likely to target you in either the hunting rounds or the voting rounds. He'll want to bring you to the end like a goat."

"A goat?" George said. >>Goats get sacrificed, Cassie.

"So we ride his coattails to the end and then double-cross him before he can do it to us," George said. >>How do we do that without Neco noticing and pushing the kill switch on that helmet?

"We have to make it look like an accident," George said.

"Or come up with something that can't be traced back to us." >>Ok. I like the proactive thinking, but do you have any ideas about how to accomplish that? George was silent.

"My other ability orb is called Bippity Boppity Boop," Cassie said.

"It adds ten points to my vote. That is the one that was randomly assigned to me. Could we use that?" >>Wait a daggum second. >>You read minds.

"Yes?" Cassie said. >>Your Identify said you Collegium Mentis people specialize in compulsion and inception and all that stuff. TLX alluded to you being able to do that, too.

"Yes, we can do those things," Cassie said.

"That's why we don't have friends who aren't also telepaths." >>OK, so… If you know what team people are on, then you should be able to know what ability orbs they have, right? Why can't you just Jedi mind trick them into handing over their orbs?

"Yeah, I can do that," Cassie said. >>Wait, really? Just like that?

"It isn't quite that easy," she said.

"If they are a much higher level than me or if they have some item or ability that shields them, it won't work, but otherwise, sure… I can do that." >>OK, then I've got an idea. >>We do some reconnaissance on the orbs to see who has what, get Cassie to brainwrestle them out of the hands of their current owners, and then we hit Neco with all of the ones that will help us get him suddenly voted out at once. >>Boom. Problem Solved. >>Mic drop. >>Take that, Mr. Epiphanic Gestalt Shifts!

"I see a few holes in that plan, Nod," George said. >>George, Cassie and I will not let your dour, no-can-do attitude stand in the way of a good brainstorming sesh. >>All we need to get started is a list of all the voting-related orbs that were on offer before the game started. >>Oh, would you look at that! You have a node spider with perfect recall, superior powers of organization, and the ability to print text directly onto your vision.

>>Here are the orbs we have to work with: • Yoink: Steal another player's vote. That player does not get to vote and you may vote twice. • What Happens in Vegas: Summon all players who voted with you in the last voting round to your location in the current hunting round. • Said The Spider To The Fly: Summon all players who did not vote with you in the last voting round to your location in the current hunting round. • Nuff Said: End the current round immediately. • Full On Switcharoo: Change another player's vote.

• Apples To Apples, Dust To Dust: Two people are voted out this round. If used during the resolution phase, the two players who got the most votes are out. • Same Thing We Do Every Night: Reduce the votes of two other players by half. • Sock Full of Dimes: Trigger an immediate vote in the voting round. • The Flip Side: Send all players in the same room as you to the voting round immediately. Can only be used during a hunting round.

• And The Last First: Invert the outcome of one vote so that lowest players on the leaderboard have the voting strength of the highest players, and vice versa. May only be used during the Resolution phase. • The Vacant Into the Vacant: Nullify another player's vote. • Fishing In The Quantum Foam: Your vote is assigned randomly but it always goes to a member of the other team.

• In For A Penny: Boost the strength of your vote by a number equal to the cumulative voting strength of the players who did not vote this round. Can only be used during the Resolution phase of a voting round. >>So, team. There is our palette. How do we use those colors to paint our masterpiece?

"Which of those have already been claimed by players that we know of?" George said. >>Well, you have the one that lets you skip a voting round. Cassie has the plus ten votes one. >>Sarala has " Said The Spider To The Fly," the one that summons everyone who didn't vote with her to her current location in the Hunting round. >>Tinntannabel has 'Nuff Said. >>Beyond that, the voting-related ability orbs have either already been used or were assigned randomly and secretly.

"Loveland has the one called 'And The Last First' that swaps the outcome of the vote so that the people on the low end of the leaderboard vote with the strength of the highest people on the leaderboard." >>Wow. Had a little rummage through his brainbag, did ya? Cassie shrugged.

"So the mission is to use one of these to pull a fast one on Neco at the last minute like Murdge just did to Carthage," George said. >>Easy. >>What could go wrong?

"If we used that Apples to Apples one, then the two players who got the most votes would both be out," Cassie said.

"If one of those were Neco, that's the problem solved."

"Vacant Into the Vacant could knock someone out of the vote at the last minute," George said.

"That is basically what Murdge just did to Carthage."

"The 'In For A Penny' one could really shake things up, but in order to really work, you'd need a lot of people who didn't vote but have collected prestige tokens," Cassie said.

"What if Neco has something like a combat log that tells him what everyone does?" George said.

"I bet that would be my last mistake before a short, hopefully painless death by helmet neurotoxin."

"I can incept whoever has the orb with a compulsion that activates when the votes reveal that Neco is on the chopping block," Cassie said.

"You can do that, too?" George said.

"Yep. Once again… this is why telepaths don't have friends," Cassie said.

"We would just need someone low-level enough to act as our patsy—and who won't try to kill us on sight when we bump into them." George and Nod had the same idea at the same time.

"Top," George said. >>Top.

"He's the guy next to you, right?" Cassie said. >>He's chummy, naive, in over his head, and looking for pals. In other words, he is perfect cat's paw material.

"So, first, we find out who is carrying which ability orb," George said. >>Then Cassie makes them fork over their orbs, and we set up Top to do our dirty work.

"We'll have to get close to them to do that," George said.

"That is going to be hard in a game where any interaction could be life or death. Then we have to find Top." >>It'll be fine. >>If we get into a pickle, you just freeze time, and I'll poke them in their eyes, and we'll high-tail it to safety. >>Who is with me? Cassie raised her hand. >>George, you're with me by default because of the whole "brain parasite" thing.

"I guess that's just in the 'cross that bridge when we come to it' category," George said.

"Like everything else."

"Look," Cassie said, pointing ahead as they rounded a bend in the path.

"The portal."