Mini-Grand 5101 [Round 3: Xilyon Odyssey]

Mini-Grand 5101 [Round 3: Xilyon Odyssey]
#7
Re: Mini-Grand 5101 [Round 1: RMS Titanic]
Originally posted on MSPA by BlastYoBoots.

The maiden struggled in his arms. "UNHAND me you brute! I would-" *THWACK*

A quick pistol-whip to the temple was all it took to knock the NPC unconscious. An explosion of some sort had rocked the upper deck, sending the chaos he'd created into a blind frenzy, most running without knowing exactly what they were supposed to be running from. Ironically, this offered Nathan a great deal of freedom of movement.

Used to the noisy chaos of a VR war, he strolled around and took proper stock of his surroundings. The level of detail was fantastic! Wooden walls and baseboards felt like real wood, probably from a type of tree that'd been extinct for decades. No wonder the development costs were so astronomical: imagine all the research!

Nathan holstered his sidearm and swept up a glass of something brownish-orange from a nearby table. He took a sip... not just cold and delicious, but with real alcohol in it! Most simulations have their material delivery set to synthesize this fake metallic-tasting stuff to remain kid-friendly; Xilyon Odyssey was clearly going for a mature rating. But would this be in the final version?

For that matter, what was with that awkward loading sequence, earlier? He struggled to remember the poorly-rendered voice's hurried introductions. What was the goal, again? Why had it mentioned him by name and job description? The name was understandable due to his RF identity implant, but that reference to his fame must have been statically programmed in. Did Matrix really expect to win him over with such a corny easter egg?

He started to meander the deck's halls past fleeing passengers, sipping his Punch Romaine and waiting for the obligatory guard to show up in response to him 'sounding the alarms', so to speak. Somehow, he knew the layout already. He'd seen this environment in VR before, he thought; a long time ago, with a different color scheme. But it hadn't been nearly as detailed, of course. Or hectic. Perhaps this game was an homage?

He ascended into another hallway to find a different source of screaming, and at least one source of psychotic laughter.


"Well well, if it isn't the video gamer?"

Far down the hall, the same cybernetic angel of death he'd seen in the loading sequence strode toward him, slowly and purposefully. His glowing core compensated for the shattered fixtures he'd left behind him, illuminating six wings dripping with the gore of those unfortunate enough to pass beside him. Diced corpses fragrant with fresh blood littered the hall to his back. It was - needless to say - quite intimidating.

The obvious phrase 'final boss' jumped to mind.

The first thing Nathan did was drop his glass and reach to the pin at the heart of his shirt, squeezing it several times to snap pictures with subtle, satisfying 'click's. The second thing he did was bolt out into the maze of passageways leading deeper into the ship, narrowly escaping a ball of white-hot death.

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Re: Mini-Grand 5101 [Round 1: RMS Titanic] - by GBCE - 05-31-2011, 07:57 PM