Chương 61: I’ll take a Freddy Krueger hat, and my friend here will have a black cloak and red light

>>We aren't far from the nodling. I'm taking you straight towards the little guy, and then we're going to head hard to starboard for a minute or so. A portal will appear that will take us straight into the hangar of the spaceship. >>That is where the armory is. George leaned in close to the jet ski as it flew forward. Three portals were open in the distance to his left, and two were on his right. They were too far away for him to see what lay on the other side.

Toward the horizon, a thin trail of inky black smoke rose high into the air before dissipating on the wind. Was something burning over there, or was it a feature of the room? >> And if you're sitting on the left side of the cabin, you'll currently be able to see a wad of slime impotently blubbering its way around the hunting room and cursing its fate. George looked left and saw a wide pool of green slime gathering itself together into a stack and leaning in George's direction as the jet ski passed at a distance.

>>OK, champ. Slow down. I'm marking the nodling on your visor. >>Daddy's coming, little buddy! George slowed the dolphin seat as the black dot of the nodling came into view. It was waving its legs in the air, and just as George was about to let go of the controls and draw it into his hand, the nodling seemed to fly toward them of its own accord. Nod's hand reached up, snagged it out of the air, and held it up in front of George's helmet to see.

>>George, tell it thank you for being a good little scout and that you are sorry for putting it in mortal danger and you'll never do it again. George took back control of his arm and shoved the nodling into yet another of the pockets of Webb's trousers. >>Which way? Another line appeared, and George veered off to the right to follow it. >>How much time is left? >>Would you believe there are still thirteen minutes and forty seconds left? That whole drive took twenty-one seconds of jagged time. Weird.

>>Keep this heading for a bit longer, and I'll tell you when to stop. >>I have a feeling that our entrance into the voting room will be dramatic, so I'm going to take this interlude to do a much-needed check-in on some life admin. >>First, you have almost reached level 22. When we make it through this round, we'll cross that threshold with the 50K click bonus. >>That'll put you a hundred thousand or so clicks away from the millionth-click milestone. I have high hopes for that one. >>Also… heh heh.

You're going to think this is funny. A few of your skills upgraded a while back, but it slipped my mind to bring those notifications up, what with the excitement and all. >>Dammit, Nod. >>It's fine! Look at you. Still alive and everything. So… no big deal. >>But let's do those skill upgrades now, yeah? >>Draw and expand are ready for you to choose their next upgrades. The others aren't far behind. >>Take your pick…

Skill Upgrade Unlocked: Draw 3 Choose your upgrade path: • Halt draw • Increase distance of draw • Increase speed of draw Skill Upgrade Unlocked: Expand 3 Choose your upgrade path: • Increase rate of expand • Directional expansion (elongation) • Enable expansion of selected portion of target only >>Halt draw could be interesting. >>Sure. We could hover something over somebody's head and then drop it on them, Wile E. Coyote-style. Or halt something spiky before it hits your hand.

I see a lot of trap potential there, too. >>On the other hand, it might be interesting to have a long-range draw. Maybe you could pull a gun straight out of somebody's hand from across the room. Or what if you could have sucked all those prestige tokens in the Floor Is Lava room straight into your hand at once without going into the bunkers? >>OK. I like that idea. We'll get halt next time. Skill Selected: Draw 3—Increase Distance of draw >>How about directional expansion?

I could see that being useful in your ongoing quest to make a sword of a sewing needle. >>Fine. Skill Selected: Expand 3—Directional expansion (elongation) >>Here is where we stand on the other skills: Skills: • Draw 3: 4% • Bind 2: 66% • Expand 3: 1% • Reduce 2: 91% • Bore 2: 73% >>Lastly, I've been hard at work writing the Chronicles of Nod and George in my free time. Shall I read you a bit? >>No. >>"Now that he had acquired a noble steed, George's knight ensemble was nearly complete.

As he spurred his sea stallion forward on his quixotic quest, turbulent thoughts strove for mastery within him. Would he be able to save his new daughter-stand-in, Cassie, from the peril hanging over her? Would the mysterious family member prove to be on the Red team like Daddy… or not? What fey powers still lurk within the Emissary Shard, and what is an 'Ill-Starred Knight'? When would the brain spider inside him finally complete his nefarious plan to take over and totally renovate his flabby, useless body?

>>"George could barely hold himself together in the grip of these turbid thoughts. He could only console himself with the idea that the next time fate bared its slavering, pitiless teeth at him, he could simply close his eyes, slow down time, and wait for Nod to save him yet again." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. >>Annnnnddd SCENE! >>It still needs editing, but what do you think? >>No comment.

>>"The grumpy, middle-aged man was stunned speechless by the overwhelming majesty of the spider's prose, struck dumb by the trenchant analysis, flabbergas—" >>Where is the portal, Nod? The line disappeared during your story. >>Oh yeah. We passed it back there. Sorry about that. Forgot. >>Just slow down and turn around… yep. That's it. Just back a ways. There you go. >>It is open for a few more minutes so, no worries.

😳 George turned around and sped back in the direction he'd just come from toward a rectangular portal standing upright in the featureless, level plain. He slowed down as he neared it and looked through. He could see a large, busy room full of people carrying crates of supplies or climbing around on what looked to be spaceships. >>It's the hangar bay of the big spaceship. Go in. George moved the dolphin seat through the portal.

None of the people in the hangar seemed to notice the entrance of the man in black armor and a floating jet ski. They went about their tasks and didn't even look in his direction. Entering Hunting Room: The Trial Nine Danger Level: • Medium: Act I • Extreme: Act II Room Description: A wandering superstructure older than any of its current occupants, the Trial Nine is a colossal starship that drifts between galaxies carrying out missions no one fully understands.

Entire cities, biomes, ancient ruins, and civilizations exist within its vastness. All players eventually pass through the ship during their ninth trial, serving some role in its endless operations. Over untold ages, the vessel has accumulated immense power, artifacts, factions, secrets, and dangers. Not even the captain—one of the most powerful figures in the game—is believed to understand the ship in its entirety. >>The armory store should be just toward the back of the room… oh no. >>Oh, no, no. This is bad.

How did I miss this? >>What? What is it? >>It's him. >>Look. >>The dummy. George noticed the attendant at the store counter at the back of the armory just as Johnny Johnny noticed him. The legless dummy waved with its long wooden arms, and George waved back and guided the jet ski to the armory.

"Hello, sir!" Johnny said.

"I can't tell you what a joy it is to see you again! And alive and whole as well!" >>Well, Johnny, I'll take a Freddy Krueger hat, and my friend here will have a black cloak and red lightsaber. Make it snappy. George stopped the jet ski in front of the counter and dismounted. >>You're sure that this is the armory? >>Yep. The map data says nothing about dealing with this guy again. Good to know that it may not be as comprehensive as advertised. >>What do you think we should do?

I almost got writhing bloodworms last time we crossed paths with this guy. >>Well, we aren't trapped in his carny closet this time. If the situation goes pear-shaped, we just hop on the dolphin and hoverzoom out of here, right? The jet ski was slowly floating sideways, so George withdrew the keyfob and triple-clicked it. It shrank into a keychain and flopped onto the floor. George drew it into his hand and slipped it into a pocket.

"Hi, Johnny," George said.

"I thought you were stuck in that closet store."

"Multiple instances, one unforgettable being," Johnny said.

"That's why the two first names." >>What?

"Do you run all the stores in this trial?" George said.

"Indeed! I am the owner/operator of all the storefronts in this trial. Let me tell you that I am especially pleased to have seen a customer mutiple times. Your competitors have not availed themselves of my services nearly enough," Johnny said.

"I must say, however, I am surprised to see you here now. Aren't you supposed to be voting one of your fellow players out right now?"

"I had an ability orb that let me stay in the hunting maze," George said.

"The Home Alone Contingency, Corwin of Amber, or Shite and Onions?" the dummy asked.

"The first one," George said.

"Ah. A classic," Johnny said.

"Incidentally, I do have a few other ability orbs on offer if you'd like to see my selection." He waved his arm at an open doorway behind him. George leaned around the counter and saw a large warehouse of long, tall racks through the doorway. He saw two children standing in the warehouse just inside the door, a boy and a girl. The boy smiled and waved when he saw George notice him. He was dressed in a t-shirt and orange athletic shorts. He looked to be the older of the pair.

The little girl beside him was dressed entirely in black with a black balaclava over the lower half of her face and her red hair pulled back in a ponytail. As soon as George noticed her, she scampered sideways and was out of sight.

"Come in here, you two," Johnny said.

"We have a customer." The boy walked through the doorway and swiped his hair out of his eyes. He put his hands in his pockets and looked at Johnny.

"They're the captain's children," Johnny said.

"They get into trouble everywhere else, so the captain… uh… invited me to take them on as shop assistants. They have their uses, mostly for fetching merchandise from the armory since I—well, you know." He gestured down at his body, which, just like last time, ended at the hips. His torso was bolted onto the waist-high counter. His overly long arms could reach all of the shelves behind the counter, but that was it.

"The boy is Marcus—" Johnny began to say but the boy cut him off.

"Lightning," he said.

"Right. Lightning. Anyway," Johnny said.

"Lightning is mostly alright and is occasionally helpful. It is the little one you have to watch out for. The girl." As soon as Johnny said that a throwing star embedded itself into the side of his wooden head with a solid thunk. George glanced back to the doorway and saw the small, black figure dart out of sight.

"Lavender!" the boy shouted. Johnny tried to grab the triangular throwing star out of the side of his head, but the upper part of his arm was too long and he couldn't quite make his hand reach all the way to his head. He tried to lean his head toward his hand but it was still just out of reach.

"Right," Johnny said.

"The little girl is Lavender but prefers to be called…" George heard a voice from the other side of the doorway say, "My name is THUNDER!"

"You are so annoying," her brother said under his breath.

"Dad said you weren't supposed to play with the weapons anyway."

"Ohmygosh!" Lavender said, coming around the corner and poking her brother in the ribs.

"You were just waving that sword around the warehouse. I saw you!"

"Well, I'm nine," Marcus said.

"That's older than six! Six is nothing."

"Cute kids, huh?" Johnny said, apparently giving up on the mission to extract the ninja star from his head." Ahem, children," Johnny cleared his throat and got their attention.

"As I said, we have a customer. Perhaps you can pause your incessant bickering for the space of a few consecutive minutes so that I can tell him the rules." Marcus leaned against Lavender and Lavender elbowed him in the ribs.

"I'll take that as consent. Sir," Johnny cleared his throat again and turned back to George.

"As might be evident, this is a weapons and armor emporium. However, unlike the last store instance you experienced, prestige tokens are not the medium of exchange at this establishment. Here we only barter. You have access to a vast array of armaments, however, they may only be traded for items of commensurate value." >>Annoying. >>Just when we're rolling in the prestige tokens…

"Furthermore, there is a limit of one item per customer. That limit is enforced with a strict enchantment over the warehouse, so I'm afraid my hands are tied no matter the inducement," Johnny said with a plaintive shrug.

"Lastly, I will mention that this is a premium establishment, and while we also have an assortment of basic items, the value of the bulk of our inventory is… of a certain caliber. These are game-changing items, and, as such, I cannot part with the most powerful of them except in exchange for similarly unique items and materials," Johnny said as his round, wooden eyes distinctly rolled downward to stare at the Emissary Shard embedded in George's hand once again. >>Oh. He's after our shard again.

>>The answer is still no, dummy.

"Want to see our fort?" Marcus, the boy, said.

"Be quiet, Marcus. Customers are not allowed behind the counter, as you well know," Johnny snapped and then pasted on a too-wide smile as he looked back at George.

"Now, sir, how can I help you?

"Voidmetal armor synergizes well with active camoflauge. We have a full culture of light-bending nanites that could be sprayed on that armor. Or, perhaps you're interested in a wrist-mounted mini-railgun to match that light grapple you have on your other hand. They're expensive, but they can accelerate a metal slug to 2000 meters per second with only a thought. That's self-defense you can count on.

"Come to think of it, we might even have some kind of laser turret that could be retrofitted for that floating dolphin you rode in on."

"It's pretty cool. The fort, I mean," Marcus said.

"We used this ablative plating to make the walls and a supply drop pod to make the headquarters. No one can go in but us or they get fried. But you could come see it… if you want."

"I said, NO, Marcus. That's final. I will report your insubordination to the captain," Johnny said. Lavender, the girl, had pulled her balaclava down away from her mouth and whispered in the boy's ear. He nodded and whispered something back. Then she pulled the balaclava back up over her face again so that only her eyes showed, then screamed, "ATTACK!" She threw another throwing star at Johnny. It embedded itself in the dummy's chest.

"That is absolutely enou—" The next throwing star clattered off Johnny's face. Marcus ducked down and waved George forward before scampering through the doorway to the warehouse. Lavender threw another throwing star and then ran away laughing. George shrugged and went in after them. Johnny stretched out his arm to stop him but George ducked and was inside the warehouse and out of reach.

"Come back here immediately!" Johnny shouted.

"This is irregular. I am filing a complaint." Lavender pulled the mask off of her face and smiled.

"Come on," she said.

"We'll show you around."