Either that card’s nano-surgery sucked that bad, or else I’d just been that exhausted because when I next opened my eyes, the slate gray of dawn was filling up the skies and the rain had ceased. The furry lump of Patches was nestled next to me, having wormed his way into the crook of my arm. My movement woke him up, and he nuzzled me a few times, whining before getting on all fours and barking at me.

 

I stood up, expecting creaks and cracks. Instead I rose smoothly to my feet, my muscles rock hard and ready to rumble. I felt like I was in high school all over again. 

 

What had I been thinking about before a dozen mechanical assholes burrowed their way into my back and attached themselves to my spinal column? I took a look at Patches, and reconsidered. It came to me. 

 

“I need an Insight,” I said. 

 

Nothing. 

 

“Come on, Intelligence check me or whatever.”

 

I waited, but again, nothing. Patches and I started in the direction of the edge of town, frustrated. About a half mile later, I pulled up short and stabbed a finger up at the sky. 

 

“No, hey, look, I need to figure out how to give my dog some protection here. Does he level up? Can I give him cards? Do I deck him out in some power armor? That sounds amazing. Patches, buddy, I’m going to put you in a giant mech suit and you’re going to destroy all of everything that opposes us.”

 

I peered back up into the foggy darkness. “In the meantime, a hint would do.”

 

The entire trudge to the edge of town had me worrying about Patches. He’d been hurt, and badly. I’d blacked out and left him without protection for the whole fucking night. I’d lucked into healing items, wondered whether they could be crafted by my minions, shelved that, and turned my attention back to the matter at hand. 

 

I’d arrived. 

 

“I should’ve known.” Actually I had pretty much guessed this.

 

A huge highway ran the length of the city’s border. Traffic from the southbound highway was now merging into this ring highway at speeds difficult to imagine. Any attempt to cross would be met with tremendous splatter, and an abrupt exit from the system.

 

Several more drones hung in the air overhead, lifted by some funky energy propulsion I didn’t have a name for. The game even showed me a popup of my stupidity when I stared at it for too long.

 

Holy Hell, Einstein. Wipe off that drool and close your mouth. Your lack of understanding in the fields of Engineering, Material Sciences, Physics, even opening cans at home for that matter is way too low. Why don’t you try understanding the awesomeness of the science involved when you’ve gotten a bit smarter?

 

I flipped off the popup and continued scanning. Several other boxy things caught my attention, and it turned out these were retractable gun turrets. These were situated at the points where the cars merged into traffic, and another one I spotted maybe a half mile off. My Military skill did the trick that time, showing me the serial numbers on the closest one, and the stenciled words TRAFFIC SECURITY TURRET. 

 

I wrinkled my nose in frustration and made an annoyed snort. For as much fun as I was having here, I didn’t like having my freedom restricted in any way, and this nano thing had certainly done that. 

 

The card To The Victor! mentioned something about the end boss. I brought the card back up and re-read the text. The amount of text and the size of the card made it tiny, but it all blew up in my vision when I focused on it. 

 

Hard Core: Activate when you defeat the leader of this borough, before you take the borough’s final reward. (Unique ability)

 

“Okay,” I told Patches. “We’re going to figure out who the leader of the borough is. Then we’re going to go take him out. Or her out. I’m into equal opportunity destruction.”

 

Patches woofed his agreement.

 

We retreated, back toward where I’d fought the first hunter-killer, received a notification that another hunter-killer had been dispatched to my area, received a second notification that several of my workers had leveled up or were in need of my assistance, and received other notifications after that. 

 

Then we passed under the highway again, tripped several times since the hunter-killer wasn’t bathing us in its headlights, climbed up the embankment, and headed back towards base. From there it was only another twenty minutes walk until I’d left them around an hour and half ago, and I watched on my character sheet as my credit account rose bit by bit. 

 

Passive income was my second favorite new thing, right next to the ability to punch robots to death.

 

“I need a gun,” I told Patches. 

 

If I was going to get a gun I was going to have to head to a market. Probably something skeezy, slimy and dangerous. I reached down and patted Patches, thinking ahead to the scene. It’d be prozzies, gangsters, probably some quest givers and shady dealers. 

 

Not the sort of place for a good boy like Patches. 

 

That’d have to wait for later though. I kept on my heading, back to base. It’d wouldn’t be a long stop, but I really needed to do leader stuff. Check on things. Order some people around. See what was going on.

 

Turning around, I started back the way I came from. A wet breeze sighed by, a hint of another storm to come, and I thought about the world of before. There’d be umbrellas, people chatting and laughing. This time of morning probably some squealing and hollering as the last drunks of the night finally headed home.

 

But here it was quiet. Just, nothing. Nobody. There was that electric hum background, the freeway alive and buzzing, but it was all different now.

 

Maybe even better.

 

My steps took me back up the slippery slope and around the bend to my territory and paused to reflect on that thought. 

 

My territory.

 

It had a ring to it. I was king poobah here and I could do stuff that made sense. Maybe get us all through this intact.

 

A smile curled my lips.

 

I could maybe make this place the sort of place worth coming back to after years in the goddamned mountains and deserts. Or if I couldn’t do it, maybe I could help out the person who it turned out could.

 

Stepping up to the doors of the lobby, I saw two identical NPC guards, decked out in a mish-mash on heavy clothing and armed with what seemed to be zip guns.

 

Beside them stood a guy that I kinda recognized.

 

I tried to picture him wearing a threadbare blue uniform with plasti-copper buttons and that did the trick.

 

“Zack?” I spluttered. “The Handy-man?”

 

He smiled revealing a grill of broken teeth and bad hygiene.

 

“At your service, Kevin.”

 

“Game name’s Dirk,” I plainfaced. “Dirk Stone.”

 

Zack cracked up laughing and I joined him. “Yeah, Kevin is a great name but I figured maybe I could jinx the system and get some extra intimidation or something. Anyways, I’m glad to see that you made it.”

 

His face sobered. “Yeah. Stuff was wild there for a moment. I been watching the TV and that stuff is unreal. Got folks down in Louisiana. Baton Rouge. From what I’ve been seeing, it’s all swamp monsters and black magic now. I’m optimistic, you know. Gotta be. But my dad’s a dentist and my mom’s a dental assistant. I don’t like their chances.”

 

I favored his teeth with a pointed look and he shrugged. “Sometimes the best thing to do is not push a kid to brush and floss three times a day, aight? Anyways, wish I could get the hell out of here and join them. But for what it is worth, I’m glad you're here helping us. I don’t know if we could have survived this long otherwise.”

 

I nodded and opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again as a wave of emotions threatened to make me squeak like a pubescent teen. 

 

“Thanks man. I do what I can.”

 

Zack opened the door and I entered into the building.