The trio of mini-Priorita upon the stage changed their tune as the squad of Lutantha approached. From bagpipe techno to something wild and aggressive. When I looked at them, little screens had appeared within their jelly, displaying wide emoji grins and glowing red eyes.
Guess they thought we were about to rumble.
I stepped forward to meet the golden-armoured squad head-on. They might have thought they were intimidating in their fancy golden armour, but all were between levels five and eight, and couldn’t hold a candle to me at level thirteen. Hell, none had even unlocked an evolution. Priorita had said this place was protected by some kind of invulnerability field too, so I was pretty sure they couldn’t do shit.
“G’day, bloke,” I said to the Lutantha who obviously led the squad, extending my hand for him to shake. “How’s it hangin’?” He was a big bugger, probably six and a half feet tall with superhero proportions and a ridiculous name I wouldn’t even try to pronounce. I gave him a grin, wiggled my outstretched fingers invitingly and wondered whether the field would protect the alien from a pulped hand. He didn’t take the bait, staring at my extended hand with faint confusion.
Behind me, Ariel let out a little groan. She hated when I put on the Ocker Aussie act, but I enjoyed it.
I shrank my enhanced minimap and pinned it to the corner of my HUD, keeping an eye on the movements of everyone around me. There were a lot of moving parts and I didn’t want any surprises.
The Lutantha puffed out his chest and opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off with a raised finger. “Actually, one sec, chief.” I turned my back to him, suppressing a grin as he let out a hiss of irritation. “Hey, Ariel, there’s one of the Shii over by the stage. You want to head over and open negotiations? I’ll sort this lot out then meet you there in five.”
She gave me a flat look. “Non.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “We’re on the clock here, kid.”
I was pretty sure I could hear the sound of teeth grinding from behind me and had to suppress a grin.
“Non, Allan. Seriously, you’re just going to make a mess of things.”
“Make a mess of things? Kid, we’re going to kill this lot and doom their species to extinction. How much worse could it get?”
One of the Lutantha hissed a string of words in that Russian-sounding language. It required no translation.
Paddy chuckled. “He’s got a point.” The Irishman waved the paperwork in his hand. “I’m going to take a walk and see what else I can learn.” He eyed the empty glass in his hand. “Might get another one of these too.” He turned to Zephyra. “Want to join me for a drink, lass?”
She didn’t respond. Paddy reddened slightly and wandered off.
Ariel held my eye for a long moment, then cocked her head as though listening to someone. “Oui…” she said slowly, then gave me a deeply mistrustful look. “You’re going to make everything worse, somehow. I know it.”
I grinned.
She sighed, cast a glance at Zephyra, and walked toward the stage where the Shii sat, watching the mini-Priorita play.
I turned back to the tall Lutantha in the golden armour. “Sorry about that, cobba. What can I do for you?”
These Lutantha were a pretty taciturn bunch, but with my enhanced sight I could see a vein pulsing at the bloke’s forehead.
“You human are a protected spec—” he began, but I cut him off again.
“Actually, one sec, mate.”
I turned away again. I’d assumed they were here for Zephyra, but the bloke seemed locked onto me. “You really need to be here for this?” I asked the cloaked elf.
I couldn’t see her face, but her hood shook in what I assumed was a negative.
“Right then, off you go. I’ll deal with this lot. Sort out your business quickly though. I want to be out of here in half an hour.”
Her hood shook again, and she didn’t move.
Guess she wanted to see how this shook out.
“Ah well, suit yourself.”
I turned back to the Lutantha at the head of the squad. “Right, mate. What were you saying?”
The elf had his eyes closed, taking long breaths as though meditating. To be honest, I was pretty surprised he hadn’t blown a gasket at this point. The others at his back certainly looked ready to kill me. I wasn’t sure why I was being such a prick to him, but I had a feeling it had something to do with his perfect posture and aura of casual elitism. He reminded me of Victor.
“My name is Al’elthüri?n M’oss’thal?, second-tier general of the People, and I have been sent to negotiate with you.” He said it all quickly, as though afraid I would cut him off again. He tilted his chin to better look down his nose at me. “You are a protected species, unfit for war, ignorant of conflict.” His eyes flickered to my level. I grinned, and a little crease formed between his manicured brows. “While we, the Lutantha, have made an art of war and have found beauty in violence.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him but didn’t respond. He’d get to a point eventually.
“I myself reside in the same underground biome as you,” continued the tall elf. “One of the three species you must wage war against in order to survive. We welcome the chance to test ourselves in battle against any who might challenge us, but a Gosporian titan waits in the southeastern quadrant. Our scouts have spied it attempting to breach the barrier.” He shook his head gravely. “War is a fine thing. Noble battle against a skilled foe is where glory is earned and legacy is forged. But none of us are equipped to fight such a foe.”
I remembered the titan from the previous stage—a monstrous amalgamation made from millions of drones, like a skyscraper come to life.
The bloke had a point. What the hell could we do against something like that?
“So what are you saying, mate? You reckon we’re rooted?”
“I propose an alliance. We three—Lutantha, U’l Ciacco, and Human—will combine forces to defeat the Gosporian. Only then will we turn our blades against one another.” He levelled a finger at me in an overly dramatic gesture. “What say you, Al’lan of the Humans?”
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Scratching the back of my head, I looked slowly about the room. “What do I say?” I shrugged. “I say, why the hell are you asking me? I’m just a sparkie from Kanumbra.” I chuckled. “You need to talk with Victor.”
The elf’s face screwed up in an exaggerated scowl. He gestured to one of the others at his side. The smaller female alien with an equally ridiculous name drew close and they held a short, whispered conversation in their native tongue. Priorita’s software didn’t translate it, but fortunately for me, Victor’s watch did. A series of subtitles appeared in my HUD as they spoke.
Al’elthüri?n M’oss’thal?:
Mi’retheli?n U’sarüngae:
Al’elthüri?n M’oss’thal?:
Mi’retheli?n U’sarüngae:
I backed up a step and turned to Zephyra as the Lutantha held their whispered conversation. If anyone knew what they were thinking, it’d be her. “Why do they think I’m the leader?” I muttered, still watching the Lutantha.
“Seriously?” I chuckled. “What are the odds? They haven’t even met Victor and they already know what a prick he is. Maybe I haven’t given these blokes enough credit.”
Zephyra tilted her hood, almost as though in confusion.
I froze.
She hadn’t spoken.
The voice had been in my head.
On my wrist, the watch was hot, sending electrical impulses up my arm and into my brain. I looked at it—the cracked glass screen, the destroyed display.
What the hell was this thing?
The tall Lutantha snapped his fingers, silencing his counterpart. He stepped forward to face me again.
“It is the right of the strong to rule, Al’lan. A burden that must gladly be taken up. I will overlook your insult in offering a lowly Vi’ctor to treat with us. But I will not forget. You, Al’lan, are the one called upon to lead your people. You must make the decision to treat with us.”
This was all taking too long and my headache was worsening, like steel bands tightening about my skull. We needed to get the hell out of the Parlour and back to our castle, where the vault rewards I’d gained could be put to use. We needed to get back before we were overrun by the monster waves. There were six more vaults in our sector too, and I wanted to knock them off before the barriers came down.
So much to do.
But even if I managed to get it all done, what then? What good would ancient armour do against a kaiju bug the size of a sports stadium?
“Right, mate. So let me get this straight. You want to work with us and those pig-looking aliens, to knock off the giant bug, and once that’s done we can go back to murdering each other?”
The Lutantha smiled, showing perfect white teeth. “That, and more, Al’lan. As I said, your people are not suited for war. As such, I propose a secondary alliance.” That white smile broadened. I was pretty sure he had more teeth than a human would. “Once we defeat the Gosporian titan, the Lutantha and Humanity will ally to eradicate the U’l Ciacco. Only then will hostilities commence between us. This gives you the greatest chance of survival—a fifty-percent chance.” He nodded sagely, as though that math made any sense. “What do you say, Al’lan of the Humans?”
He raised his arm, fingers out in some weird version of a handshake.
Given the choice, I’d rather wipe out the elves and face the pigs last—they seemed bloody hopeless and we’d slaughter them. But they weren’t here offering an alliance and I didn’t really give a shit if I was honest. I massaged my temples, wishing Ariel was here to tell me what to do. She’d been right, I was going to make a mess of this.
Like a bolt out of the blue, realisation struck. I felt a little smile creep onto my face. None of this yammering mattered. None of the political choices. I really was just a sparkie from Kunumbra and I didn’t have the authority to make these kinds of agreements for my civilisation—this bloke just thought I could.
We were running out of time, so, even thought I knew it would piss off the Lutantha when they figured out I’d made a fake agreement, I did what would get the bloke out of my face the quickest.
“Yeah, mate. Whatever,” I slapped his hand with mine, copying his weird alien handshake. “Works for me.”
I nearly shat myself as a fanfare practically blew out my eardrums.
“Negotiation Accepted!” squealed Priorita. “With no formally elected leader, you, as the highest-level contestant, have claimed the right of rule by might. See your Alliances tab for details about your new arrangement!”
She giggled as the trumpets cascaded through a glissando.
“You are now King of your quadrant!”
I let out a long, long, controlled breath.
The Lutantha started waffling on again, but I raised a finger to silence him and waved one of the mini-Priorita over.
“Another pint. Quick.”
It appeared in my hand with a magical *pop* and I tilted my head back, draining the glass in a long, continuous series of gulps.
Couldn’t help but see that a golden crown now floated above my head.
I braced myself, finger still raised to silence my new ally and closed my eyes.
It wouldn’t be long.
Nah.
Any second now.
“Mais t’es malade?!” snapped Ariel.
Yep. There it is, I thought, eyes still closed.
There was no bloody way I was ever going to live this down.
“Tu te rends compte de ce que t’as fait, ou tu fonces juste tête baissée comme d’habitude?” she hissed, jabbing me in the chest over and over again with a pointy little finger.
“Ouch!” I tried not to chuckle.
Victor’s watch provided subtitles, but even without them I got the point.
Ariel berated me for about five minutes straight, half in English, half in French. With the alliance now forged, the squad of Lutantha edged away mid-tirade, staring at Ariel with wide eyes. Guess they were smarter than I’d given them credit for.
Eventually, the kid ran out of steam and dragged me to the Shii she’d negotiated with.
I kept an eye on Zephyra as Ariel led me. She’d slunk off while the kid was shouting and made a beeline for the stairs, taking full advantage of the distraction. I thought she would follow her fellow Lutantha, but to my surprise, she took the spiral up two floors while the golden-armoured squad descended three.
Ariel gave me some background on her negotiation with the Shii, her words clipped, her tone terse. I barely listened, merely grunting in response. It didn’t really matter to me, and I was dead curious about whatever Zephyra was doing.
As far as I knew, she’d never been to the lounge before, so she shouldn’t know where to go. She couldn’t have arranged to meet someone ahead of time either, having been with us the whole time. Regardless, up the stairs she went, taking a swift, direct path to what appeared to be an empty room.
A secret area behind the bar on that floor.
Her red dot remained alone in the small room, motionless. I wondered what she was doing and scanned the floor for any approaching dots. None appeared.
The Shii was making small talk with Ariel. It had a tiny, croaky voice that reminded me of a child with a sore throat. Hearing it reminded me horribly of the way one from the previous stage had begged for its life.
“We’re running low on time, kid,” I said. “Might be time to cut the waffle and get to the point.”
Ariel glared at me, but muttered, “oui,” and turned back to the Shii. I was surprised to see its name was Adam—an oddly human name for an alien. “Prove to me the cost of producing the atomiser modules and we will pay three times the cost.”
“Oh, no. Couldn’t possibly. Five times,” replied Adam the Shii, hiccuping as though suppressing sobs. “Oh, hick, it’s got to be at least five or else I will be… punished.”
The way it said punished gave me the creeps. It sounded lewd in that croaky little voice.
Ariel said something else, but I missed it as I froze, staring at the map. Another dot was in the room with Zephyra. Nobody had approached, or I would have seen them.
One second she was alone; the next, it had appeared.
I checked the name, my stomach turning.
███ ██ ██ █
Admin
Level ???
What the hell did that mean?
“Deal!” shouted Ariel, clapping her hands together. “Allan, pay the lovely lady.”
I eyed the multi-armed, shaggy creature named Adam. “Lady?”
Ariel narrowed her eyes.
I let it slide.
“Am I going to get paid back for this?” I asked, still wary of admitting I had an almost limitless amount of BP.
“Consider it payment—and punishment—for your agreement with the Lutantha,” she said.
I sighed. Yeah. She was never going to let me live that one down.
A contract popped up in my HUD, but I barely read it before hitting accept.
I didn’t give a shit about the BP—because Zephyra’s dot, and the Admin’s, had just vanished from my map.