Sinner's Run Ch. 05

He heard the sound of gunfire in the distance at the same time Larka's round ears pricked up. "Two teams, possibly three," the fraskarian said, drawing her sniper rifle. "Shall we insert ourselves?"

"One sec!" FIdget said. She dashed into a nearby building, and emerged a few moments later. She was combining two more explosives in her hands, pressing the two pieces of ordinance together. They glowed bright pink for a moment, then came together and reformed into a spherical grenade with red stripes along the side. "Here ya go, Larka. Sorry Noah, don't have anything for you."

"That's alright," Noah said, watching her hands as she yanked the weapon off the magnetic holster on her back. "How the heck do you do that?"

"Do what?" Noah mimed combining explosives in his hands. "Oh!" Fidget held up her hands, palms out, showing off gauntlets on her forearms and hands there were lined with glowing circuitry. "These things let me convert inanimate objects into pure energy and combine them with one another! It doesn't work on anything living. Believe me, I tried." She stared off into the distance with a wistful look. "I so wanted a cow with machine gun attachments."

An explosion sounded close to their position. "Tell me more later," Noah said, drawing his Cricket SMG. "Larka, you want to take us in?"

Larka dipped her head, then led the way forward into a copse of trees. As Noah followed her, the fighting grew louder, and a stray bullet zipped through the trees a couple yards away from them. He thanked the loot gods he'd gotten the high-level body shield off the drop. He was probably going to need it.

The fight was happening in a clearing among the trees. Noah took in the six participants at a glance. One one side were Experiment 32, Quirrel and Iago, all of them using the trees as cover as they tried to suppress their targets. Said targets were Nala, Pontiff and Abbess, who were making use of the trees to block incoming shots as they advanced closer. As they watched, 32 conjured up her caustic blood cloud and sent it towards Nala, who quickly crouched down and sprang away. Pontiff and Abbess stayed close to one another, their white religious garb sticking out in contrast to the trees around them. They had good guns, however, and were keeping Iago and Quirrel in check with accurate fire. None of the six had noticed them yet.

"What's the plan?" Fidget hissed, sounding deadly serious for the first time since Noah had met her.

Noah ran through his mental catalog of everything everyone present could do. There were several powerful players on the field, namely 32 and the duo of Pontiff and Abbess. The Pontiff's ability set was all about momentum - he got stacking buffs for every elimination scored that in turn made it easier to eliminate more people, thus keeping the streak going. In turn, Abbess was his natural partner character, her own passive making all of his buffs last longer. If he scored even one elimination, things would get hairy quickly.

Possible strategies flickered through his mind, as if he were sitting at his chair with keyboard and mouse in hand rather than in the thick of it. The most logical way forward would be to sneak up behind Nala's team and wax the Pontiff quickly, removing the threat of him getting a kill and going on a rampage. At the same time, 32 was just as much of a threat as a fully buffed Pontiff on her own, and it would totally be possible for them to ambush her team instead. But Noah felt a pang of guilt at the idea. Even though he and 32 had agreed there'd be no hard feelings if they had to eliminate each other - it was a fact of life on the Run - he still felt guilty at the thought.

"Let's try to take down the Pontiff and Abbess," Noah said. "Then we take on 32's group if they decide to stick around."

"I was thinking the same thing," Larka said. "FIdget, if you would?"

"Gladly!" Fidget cocked her arm back and lobbed one of her plus-sized frags at the Pontiff. The orb bounced once before settling into the loam a foot away from the Pontiff. It exploded a moment later, shredding the body shields of both the Pontiff and the Abbess. Both of them recoiled, retreating a ways to compensate for the new threat.

"After them, go." Larka took off, moving at a speed that belied her bulk. Then again, Noah remembered, all the Primes had the same sprint speed in the game. Fidget blew right past him, hot on Larka's heels and leaving him in the dust. So then why don't I?

Fidget hucked another grenade at where their targets had retreated, then ducked down as gunfire from Iago and Quirrel punched holes in the trees around her. Larka swung her sniper around and cracked Quirrel's body shield with two rapid, accurate shots. His muffled cursing could be heard across the clearing.

Noah was so distracted by seeing where Larka was shooting he almost missed the threat closing in on him until it was too late. He saw a flash of orange in his peripheral vision and threw himself flat. Nala sailed over him with a snarl. She flipped around in midair to land on all fours. When she raised her head to look at him, her eyes were bloodshot. Her ultimate was active. "Hey, Killer," she said in a voice that scurried right down Noah's throat into his stomach and scared the crap out of him. "Hope you don't mind if I cut in."

"I very much do, actually," Noah replied. "Larka, Fidget, little help!"

Nala snarled and lunged at him again. Noah took off running, cutting back the way they'd come. Undergrowth crunched under Nala's claws as she ran him down. Noah waited until he could feel her breathing down his neck, then threw himself to the side and looped back around. Nala cursed and scrambled to turn herself around, and was hot on his heels again in moments.

Larka burst out from behind a tree. "Finyan, down!"

Noah threw himself flat. Larka's shot whizzed over his head and cracked Nala's armor. She cursed again, ducking behind a tree. "Aw, come on Larka, just let me rip him to shreds this once!"

"He is my teammate today, you are not." Larka racked the bolt on the rifle.

"Oh, don't coddle him, come on." Nala stuck her muzzle out from around the tree, then pulled it back as Larka's next shot nearly took off her nose. "If he ever wants to amount to anything out here he's going to have to learn how to defend himself and not be totally useless. And until he does, I'll be waiting in the wings to make the lesson clear."

Larka glowered as she stepped to the side, trying to get a shot on Nala. Noah scooted back closer to her on his butt, looking to his left to see what else was going on outside of their little standoff. A moment later, he saw the flash of a scope from across the clearing. "Larka, get-"

The sniper shot struck Larka right on the side of the head, her armor shattering with a crack. She grunted and tried to move, only for another shot to put her into the downed state. "Cursed opportunist," she muttered. Then a third bullet struck her, this shot in the head again, and she vanished. Her death box appeared a moment later.

"Larka!" Noah yelled.

He heard a rough, scratchy cackle from across the clearing. "Not my fault the polar bear makes the biggest bloody target in the galaxy!" Quirrel called.

Noah grunted as Nala pounced on him again. He looked up into her eyes. Though they weren't bloodshot anymore, they still held pure malice. "Now where were we?" she purred.

Something thumped on the ground next to them. Both Noah and Nala looked at it. It was the grenade with the red stripe on it. Nala began to say, "Oh, motherfucker," but only got through half the statement before the explosive went off. The blast forced her off Noah, and she skidded across the ground into a locked-up downed state. Around him on the ground was a pulsing red circle, and Noah felt some of his strength return as he lay in it. The explosion had done nothing to him, which meant...

Fidget hurried into his field of view. "Personal drama later!" she yelped. "We have a problem!"

Noah got his feet under him, remembering that there were still other enemies around. "What kind of problem?"

Fidget's eyes went wide and she pointed behind him. "That kind!"

Noah wheeled around. Sprinting at them full-tilt through the trees was the Pontiff, his eyes glowing a terrifying shade of blue. That meant he'd scored a kill and could run faster. He lifted an N-99 and sprayed at them from the hip, the shots chipping away at Noah and Fidget's armor.

Both of them took off without a word, their sole focus being to get away from the buffed Pontiff. If he scored another kill, he got a damage buff, and that's when things got messy. With Larka gone, so were their defensive options.

As they ran, Fidget turned and tossed a flashbang over her shoulder. The grenade went off, blinding the Pontiff. "I have no ammo," Fidget panted. "Didn't get a chance to yoink any of Larka's stuff before that maniac came calling. We'll have to plan on the flyyyyyy!"

From out of the trees in front of them came 32 and Quirrel. Blood flowed out of 32's arm nodes, coagulating into large solid spears. Quirrel raised a Jackhammer rifle and started firing at them. Both Noah and Fidget cut to the side, their armor shattering with almost simultaneous cracks from Quirrel's shots as they found a small rock for cover. Noah popped up and sprayed with his Cricket, the weapon kicking like a mule in his hands. The shots still made 32 and Quirrel take a moment before coming closer.

"Pontiff must've waxed Iago to go all scary like that," Fidget said. She pulled a sticky explosive out of her storage deck. "This is all I got left." She sighed, blowing a lock of her poofy hair out of her face. "Well, this blows."

Noah held out the Cricket to her. "You want to give it a go?"

Fidget made a face. "You really aren't good with guns, are you?"

"What was your first clue?" Noah deadpanned.

Gunfire burst from behind the rock. Noah chanced a peek over the top. The Abbess had picked up Nala, and the two of them had rejoined the Pontiff in fighting 32 and Quirrel. The Pontiff's buff was gone, and they were being much more careful with their shots. "I think everyone's running out of ammo," Noah said. "Can we get to Larka's gear and scrounge up something?"

"Worth a shot!" Fidget scurried out from behind the rock, staying low to the ground. Noah followed her close, keeping an eye on 32 and Quirrel.

Of course, the moment he realized he didn't know where Nala was was when her claws bit into his back. Noah howled in pain, drawing the attention of every other combatant for a moment. "You thought you could get away from me?" she seethed.

"I was hoping!" Noah grunted.

Fidget turned around and hucked the sticky grenade at Nala. The kaldar ducked it, hissing as she scrambled out of the blast radius. Noah got his feet under him and sprinted towards Larka's gear box behind Fidget. She was already rummaging through to find anything she could use.

Her being still for a moment cost her. Another accurate shot from Quirrel cracked her armor, and then another dropped her down. "Friggin' frig!" she said.

Noah was struck in the back a moment later, and he felt his muscles lock up as he too went down. Pain seized his muscles, and dread filled his soul as he looked up at Nala about to do him in. She flexed her claws. "Now then."

A coagulated blood missile struck her dead on, the projectile doing full critical damage from being a headshot. Nala was downed immediately, her face right next to Noah's. "Oh for the love of!"

"Hah!" Noah managed through the pain. He turned around, trying to crawl away from her. Fidget was down as well, and he was confused for a moment. If they were both downed with Larka eliminated, they both should have just been automatically eliminated because there was no friendly left to revive them. So why were they still here?

Fidget rolled over and jammed a healing hypo into her own arm, and Noah remembered that she could make one self-revive consumable per match. It just took a long time to use. He willed nobody to notice as Fidget slowly uncurled from her locked-up position, feeling hope bloom in his chest.

At least until another grenade landed between them. Fidget stared at it and sighed. "Ah well. Figures."

Then the explosive went off, and everything went dark.

Nala's fixation on Noah is upsetting the flow of the Games, yet is proving quite the interesting development for those watching.

Is there any reason to head it off?

No. Allow them to proceed.

And what of his message?

Leave it be.

Noah awoke with a jolt on the Atrium floor. He groaned and did a quick patdown to make sure he'd reappeared with all his various limbs attached. That had gone far worse than he could have ever predicted.

A large white paw appeared in his field of view. "A good attempt, finyan."

"If you could call it that," Noah grumbled, accepting the paw. Larka hauled him to his feet, steadying him with a paw on his back.

A little ways apart from them, Fidget jackknifed up into a sitting position. "Man, if only I'd had a few more bullets!" she said. She reached up and pushed her head from side to side, something popping in her neck. "Also, Nala really has a muderboner for you."

"No kidding," Noah said. He looked up at Larka. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked.

"If Nala hadn't attacked me, you wouldn't have had to expose yourself to sniper fire like that."

Larka shook her head. "I was not watching my position."

"You still shouldn't have had to defend me in the first place." Noah pounded his fist against his thigh repeatedly, the blows growing stronger with each one. "She's right about me. I can't do anything besides run away. I've only got one goddamn skill at all and it's useless here!" He bit his lip to keep from yelling any more.

Fidget moved over to them, patting Larka on the arm. "Why don't you let me take this one, Larks?"

"Of course." She looked across the room, and Noah saw Nala stalking towards them. "I need to have a conversation with a certain someone anyway."

Larka moved to meet Nala halfway, even though the kaldar's eyes were locked on Noah. She made a decidedly feline yelp as Larka scooped her up by the waist and threw her over her broad shoulder. "What the? Larka, put me down!"

"No," Larka answered in a flat voice.

Nala hissed and squirmed, but didn't manage to get herself free. She glared at Noah, shaking her fist at him. "This isn't over, Killer! You hear me!" She continued to rant and hiss as Larka carried her off. Noah stared after them. He still, for the life of him, couldn't figure out what her deal was.

"Alright, you!" Fidget took hold of Noah's arm, and he was surprised at how strong her grip was. "You're coming with me!"

"Wait, wha-"

Fidget yanked him away from the Atrium, leading him down the D hallway to a door that was decidedly different than all the others. While most of the Barracks doors were a uniform gunmetal gray, Fidget's was a violent shade of pink. She tapped the access panel on the frame, and the door slid open. "Come on in!"

Noah followed her inside - not that he had much choice, owing to the vicegrip she still had on his arm. Despite the ostentatious door, the inside of Fidget's quarters was much more muted. She had a massive king bed shoved off into the corner, with a privacy screen around it that was drawn back and open at the moment. The rest of the space was taken up by several work benches, all of them festooned with bits and bobs of mechanical things that Noah couldn't identify. A padded chair with wheels sat in front of one of the benches.

"Have a seat," Fidget implored him. She spun him around as if they were partners on a dance floor, before putting her hands on his shoulders and doing a little hop to force his butt into the chair. "So, tell your friend Fidget all your problems!"

Noah blinked. "We're friends?"

"Of course we are, duh. You think I invite people I don't like into my room? The very thought!" Fidget tutted as she set about removing her gear. The large belt went first, the metal tools clattering onto the workbench behind them. She undid the catches on her constructor gauntlets, taking both of them off with practiced motions.

"Hey, can I see one of those?" Noah asked.

"Sure!" Fidget set one of the gauntlets on the table and held the other one out. "You can even push the buttons if you want! The other one's powered down, so there's no chance of any accidental merging attempts."

The piece of armor was much lighter than Noah had anticipated, only a couple pounds. He played with the fingers of the glove part, finding them to be more of a carbon fiber material rather than the metal he'd expected. The insides of the gauntlets were padded with an incredibly soft material, to avoid chafing against Fidget's hands. "You made these, right?" he asked.

"Mmm hmm!" Fidget hopped up on the workbench, kicking her legs like she had in the dropship earlier. "I started working on them after I got the idea futzing around in my teacher's lab at university. I had a bunch of mishaps at the start." She made a face. "My first trial run was an attempt to make sausage by combining two types of meat. But it made the molecules unstable, and rather than compacting them together, just wound up blowing them all over the lab. My teacher was nooooooot happy about that one."

Noah cocked his head. "You attempted to make sausage first? Why not something smaller?"

"I was hungry!" Fidget protested. She lifted her shirt, exposing a slightly pudgy belly. She gave her abdomen a dramatic poke. "Girl's gotta eat, you know!"

The sight was quite cute, and Noah shifted a little in the chair. "What was the first successful thing you merged together?"

"I made a combination screwdriver and hammer out of two tools I yoinked from the engineering lab!" Fidget proclaimed with pride. "Of course I had to pony up some money to replace them, but it worked!" She eyed him intently, leaning in close. "My turn for a question: why did I enter the Games here?"

Noah answered without thinking, the answer leaping to the front of his mind from his inner lorehound. "One of your experiments caused an accident that got some important people seriously hurt. You came to Sinner's Run because if gave you amnesty to continue your work to fine-tune and perfect the design."

"Correctamundo." She lifted a finger and tapped him on the nose. "You really do know more than you should, Mister Welkin! So you really are trying to contact someone from the outside because you're not sure about what's real and what's not?"

Noah groaned as he realized he'd been duped into all but admitting out loud that he knew things he shouldn't about the Primes. "Yeah, that's about it really."

"Cool! Can I help?"

He blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Knowledge is power, Noah!" Fidget hopped off the workbench and leaned over him in the rolling chair. "My main talents might be gadgetry, but if all this is just a simulation, then I want to try to build something that can interface with the simulation! The pursuit of science is absolute!" She pouted. "So let me help! Please please please pleeeeeeeease?"

Noah thought about it for a moment. Having Fidget in on things likely wouldn't be the worst course of action. It gave him and 32 another set of hands to leave messages. Plus, in terms of the game's lore, Fidget was one of the smartest Primes. If anyone might actually be able to puzzle out how to get him out of the simulation - if that's what this was - it would be her.

He nodded, once, then held up a finger. "One condition."

Fidget's face lit up. "Anything," she deadpanned.

"Do not tell everyone about this," Noah said. "I'm serious. I'm trying to keep this on the down low as much as possible. There's a lot of...interesting characters around here that might react in a decidedly negative way if this is all just a simulation. You, me, and 32 would all become targets."