Read Online Multiplayer by John C. Brewer - Free Book Online

Further inland to the north, green hills marched toward the snow-capped Taurus Range.
    “So how you going find this douche?” Darxhan asked.
    Hector zoomed in until they could see the line of ancient walls zig-zagging across the ground, nearly four miles of them, completely encircling the high ground at the end of the peninsula. It was a perfect defensive position in the middle ages and beyond. An attacking army would have to march uphill into the complex of walls and fortifications. At the highest point, a last, inner-loop of wall formed a final perimeter, and within it, the citadel. It was there Izaak and Mal-X had fought their battle. And Mal-X had cheated.
    Izaak suggested they slip in on the top of one of the lower hills that overlooked the town to the north, just in case the fortress was occupied, as he suspected. Omega had several million subscribers spread out over the entire planet which meant it was still sparsely populated. So they were hoping that besides Mal-X and a few friends, the rest of the area would be virtually empty, since there was no reason for anyone to go there. There would, of course, be the usual thorks and scarobs, but there might also be an opportunity to harvest some valuable tech.
    There was no slipgate in Alanya that could send them back to their lairs, or anywhere else for that matter. And if they were killed, they’d lose everything they were carrying and have to be respawned in a replication chamber, a process that could take up to a week. So, they decided to take scout characters. In just a few minutes, Deion had created a nearly naked, black, female barbarian with enormous, mail-covered breasts and shiny steel panties he named Laquisha, after a girl at their school. Hector created an awkward smuggler with dark skin and funny clothes and named him Sand-JarJar. Both were completely expendable.
    They entered the coordinates of a hill just north of town into their passports, a spot that overlooked the peninsula from the coastal mountains. “You okay?” asked Deion.
    Hector had grown quite still, staring at the 3D image. “It was the last place I saw my dad alive,” he said quietly.
    “Are you sure you’re ready to go back?”
    “I’ve already been back. And now I have to go again.”
    “Is she worth it?” asked Deion. “Is Vera worth it?”
    “It’s only a game,” answered Hector, with a lump in his throat. “What could happen?” And they stepped through together.
    Sand-JarJar appeared on the other side and Hector quickly oriented his character. He was standing high above the coastal plain looking out toward the sea and the peninsula, which seemed to rise from the water like a turtle coming ashore to lay eggs. Between the mountain on which he stood and the peninsula, lay the town of Alanya. From a distance, it didn’t look like a ruin. The realism was staggering. Hector could almost feel the wind in his hair and smell the fresh sea breeze wafting in from –
    “Uh, Hec,” said Laquisha, bringing him back to the present.
    Sand-JarJar spun around and came face to face with a hoard of snarling thorks. He and Laquisha were dead in less than thirty seconds.

Ch. 8

     
     
    Hector stared at the screen in disgust as Sand-JarJar and Laquisha were ripped to pieces by the snarling, orcish beasts. He wasn’t exactly angry. More irritated. He’d not been killed by thorks in a long time. The cut scene changed, and barely identifiable chunks of Sand-Jar-Jar’s head, torso, and limbs drifted in the thick, greenish fluid of the Sulako’s replication chamber. He’d take a week to rebuild, not that Hector cared. Hector brought up a list of his characters and selected Izaak Ersatz. The lid on a cryo-tube opened with a sigh, and Hector’s point of view suddenly switched to Izaak. It felt like donning a comfortable set of clothes.
    Ω
    Izaak pulled the flush lever of the replication chamber, and watched as the fluid and chunks drained away, eliminating Sand-JarJar permanently. He’d