Sinner's Run Ch. 08

"Explain it to me again," 32 said. "But slowly."

Noah nodded as we walked down the A corridor, following the instructions on the piece of paper. His heart thundered in his ears. "Sinner's Run - the game - has developed a strong competitive scene. As such, the developers need to change things in the interest of keeping things balanced. If a large portion of the players are doing exceptionally well with a certain character, in this case you, the creators will adjust your stats to make things a little more fair, such as making your abilities do less damage." He looked back over my shoulder at her. "Believe me, you're hardly the first to get this treatment."

32's jaw was clenched so tight you could've cut gemstones on it. "Who else has been... nerfed?"

"A lot of characters at some point or another. Montana got hit pretty hard after she was added to the game, and even then she's still considered very powerful. Back in the old days both Archangel and Larka had their numbers adjusted, but they haven't been touched in a while mostly due to newer Primes being powerful by default."

She looked up, relaxing a little. "They intentionally made me powerful?"

They reached the back of the hallway, a flat, unmarred metal wall the same color as the rest of the building around us. "Yeah," Noah said. Might not want to mention power creep and how that's intentional because microtransactions, he thought. That'd really send her for a loop.

32's face darkened again. "That doesn't change that everything that's happened to me was designed. Planned. My entire experience laid out in some boardroom somewhere for the entertainment of millions." She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself tight. Her eyes were somewhere far away. "The life I never had never even really existed."

Noah couldn't blame her for having an existential crisis. Her entire world had been flipped upside-down in the space of a day. Her whole reason for being in the Games, seeking information about her lost backstory, had been rendered moot. Because there was no backstory. She was simply a lost woman with crazy powers, with no real life before that. No home to go back to, no family or lover waiting for her. The full magnitude of that had to be nightmarish.

"If it makes you feel any better," Noah said, "this is just as fucked up for me." He gestured around them. "Things like this aren't supposed to just happen. It's the stuff of fiction."

32 looked at him, her red eyes hard. "But you have a life to return to."

Noah couldn't deny that. He ducked his head, face burning, and raised the piece of paper to read the instructions again.

If my guess is correct, you are located within a strange inaccessible area in the in-house build of the game where we keep a dev room. While I cannot tell you exactly how to find the room, I can provide a guess. It's been there since the original builds of the game, so I would venture into the place that's been there the longest. The login changes with every patch; the current one is username admin, password 3D>8RB~{C5b4jFXb. I have no idea where you might input this login information, but that's all that I can offer. If you manage to access the room, try to find a way to send a message. My email is enclosed if that might work. Otherwise, I hope you're resourceful enough to think of something. -Vivian Peters

After thinking on the letter for a little while, Noah had reasoned that the best way to access the developer room would be in the A Hallway, where all the original Primes were housed. He turned and looked past 32 up the length of the hallway, back towards the Atrium. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He'd gotten used to seeing the hallway owing to the many times he'd ducked into Larka's room for their trysts. Where was he supposed to enter that login information?

"What are you thinking about?" 32 asked.

Noah reached up and started touching spots on the wall. "Trying to figure out where I might be able to enter that username and password on the note," he said. "But as far as I can tell it's just an empty wall."

32 joined him, her slender hands poking and prodding at the wall in the same way his were. Noah looked for seams, bumps, rough patches in the metal, anything out of the ordinary. His hand brushed against something warm for a moment, and elation shot through him. Then he realized it was just 32's hand. He pulled his arm back out of reflex. "Sorry."

She said nothing, and kept pressing up on the wall. "I don't even know what we're looking for," she said.

"Maybe it's like in the movies," Noah said, moving to his left a little. "Maybe all you have to do is find the right seam and..."

His fingers found a smooth edge, the digits dipping into the metal wall like he was phasing through it. Noah stopped dead in his tracks, not wanting to let go. "Found it."

32 moved to join him. Her eyes narrowed. "I don't see anything."

Noah looked back up the hallway to make sure nobody was watching, then planted his feet on the ground and pulled. The wall began to open up, exposing a yawning black void not unlike the one they went through when they were being teleported to the dropship. Which, now that Noah thought about it, was probably a loading zone of some kind.

"What are you doing?" 32 asked.

Noah paused. "You can't see it?"

"See what?"

"The black doom void opening up in the wall?"

She shook her head. "All I can see is you gripping the wall like a fool."

Noah looked back and forth between her and the hole in the wall, then pulled a little more. He opened up a gap wide enough for him to fit through sideways. He moved to stand in front of her, his back to the blackness. "So you can see me now?"

"Yes, obviously." 32 sounded like she was growing impatient.

Noah took a step backwards, stepping into where the wall should be. "And now?"

32's eyes widened. "Noah? Where'd you go?"

Noah took a step forward. "Right here. You can't hear me?"

32 blinked several times, rubbing her eyes with her thumbs. "No! You just...vanished as soon as you took a step!"

Noah looked back over his shoulder. "I'm going in," he said. "Can you wait for me?"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Nope." He offered her a small smile. "But if it'll help me get out of here, I'm willing to risk it."

32 looked back up the hallway. "Better go quick, then."

Noah ducked back into the wall, the blackness closing around him quickly. Through the passage to the outside he saw 32 begin to pace, her body language agitated. He walked backwards as much as he could, watching her grow smaller and smaller in the distance. He didn't want to lose the light of the hallway as his point of reference for where he was going.

The light grew smaller and smaller, until it was merely a pinprick in the distance. Noah gulped, then turned around and faced complete and utter darkness. He put his hands up in front of him and walked forward, waiting to bump into something or for something to bump into him. All he could do was keep moving forward and hope that there was no way for him to move laterally. He'd lost his point of reference to the Barracks, so unless he turned around a perfect 180 degrees and walked in a straight line, he might be lost in this strange in-between for a long...

Noah was suddenly blinded by light and threw his hands up to ward off the glare. After a nothing attempted to maul him, he slowly brought them down. The room he was in was small, square, and stark white, almost blindingly so. Along the wall were racks similar to the ones in the firing range, with one of every gun in the game resting on wall-mounted brackets. Another shelf held consumables, and a final set held kit items such as body armor and storage deck expansions.

"Okay, right place," Noah said, moving into the room slowly. "But now what?"

He moved into the center of the space and turned in a slow circle, looking at each wall carefully. Nothing obvious jumped out at him. He wracked his brain for ideas. What else would they have in a developer room that could enable him to contact the outside?

Noah snapped his fingers as the idea came to him. "MechEngine Filmmaker," he said. Then he deflated a little. "But how would I..."

On the wall in front of him, a panel slid back to reveal a screen and a keyboard. The screen sparked and came to life a moment later, displaying a login form with a blinking cursor. Noah sprinted over to the console, his fingers settling on the keyboard. It felt familiar, like returning to a favorite armchair. He punched in the login and password from the paper, reading the password carefully so as to not input a wrong character from the long string of letters and numbers.

His finger shook a little before he pressed Enter. The screen went black for a moment, then began to display a video feed of the room with a red dot blinking in the corner. It was recording.

Noah spoke quickly, not sure of how much time he had. "You got my message. I lowkey wondered if I was crazy, but looks like I really am stuck here in the game. I don't know how I got here, wherever here is, or why. But that message means you're listening, and I followed the instructions, so hopefully you're seeing this too. I'm safe, if you can call competing on the Run and getting shot up but respawning afterwards 'safe.' Things are holding together for now, but I don't know how long that'll last." He leaned forward towards the screen, unsure of where exactly the camera was but wanting to make the impression of urgency. "Garthex, buddy, if you're listening, get me out of here. Please. I'll do whatever it takes."

After he finished that sentence, the screen shut off. Noah blinked, then took a step back. "Out of time, I guess," he muttered. He looked around, to see if anything else useful could be found in the room. A question occurred to him. What happens if I take something out of here?

He didn't want to risk taking a weapon, so he settled for grabbing a healing hypo. It felt the same as it always had before, but this time didn't vanish into a storage deck and remained in his palm as he held it. Noah settled on putting it in his pocket as he moved back to the black void doorway. He looked back at the room one last time. Something told him it wouldn't be the last time he'd set foot in it.

Then he stepped forward, only for the blackness to close around him again. Noah held out his hands and walked forward as best he could, putting faith in his own two feet. After what felt like an eternity, he began to see light again, growing larger by the step. 32 was still pacing, her arms back to being folded again.

Noah stepped out of the wall slowly, not wanting to spook her. 32's head snapped around as his shoe made contact with the floor. "You're back," she said.

"How long was I gone?" Noah asked.

"Only a few minutes."

"Good, no weird time acceleration nonsense happened when I went in there."

"Did you find what you needed?"

Noah looked back at the black passage. "I think so." His hand patted his pocket where the hypo was. The hard outline was still there. Good to know. "I guess we wait to see if they get the message from there, and if they manage to get us another piece of paper."

32's eyes narrowed. "Did you tell them to not put it in my quarters?"

"I don't really know if they have any control over that."

She grunted, turning on her heel and walking away. "Then I guess we're done here. Let me know what happens next."

Noah jogged to catch up with her. "Hang on. You okay?"

He regretted the dumb question the moment he asked it. 32 glanced back at him over her shoulder, pure anguish and sadness in her eyes. "I'm perfectly fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I'll see you out there tomorrow."

Noah didn't pursue her any further. He wondered if he'd managed to antagonize yet another woman who could kill him easily out on the Run not a day after mending fences with Nala. A Casanova he was not.

Administrator, you-!

Are you questioning my decision?

...

Speak your mind. You will not incur punishment unless you are egregiously rude.

I'm just confused is all.

About?

You made such a big deal about Mister Welkin joining our ranks, given his...unique background compared to our other Primes. And now you're providing the means for him to leave us?

This was always the plan. As was ensuring the message from the outside wound up in the hands that it did.

Is it because she's Mister Welkin's ally?

Partly. But mostly because of the power she wields.

...I think I'm beginning to see what you're getting at, Administrator.

I knew you'd get it eventually. All we have to do is continue to give our players a helpful nudge here and there, and then we shall take our Games to even greater heights...

Noah woke up the next day feeling lost. Now that he knew that the world around him was a simulation, part of his mind had reverted to thinking of everything as a dream. Thus, when he was waking up, he should be waking up in his own bed in his own room in his own apartment. But that wasn't the case. He was still in the Barracks, and likely would be for the foreseeable future. Maybe even longer. How in the world were Garthex and this Mechantix programmer supposed to get him out of the game if he didn't even know how he'd wound up here in the first place?

Deciding to get momentum going before his mind started spiraling into despair, Noah swung his legs out of bed and got dressed. He checked his pants from the day before, finding the healing hypo he'd taken from the dev room still there. That was something, at least.

He picked up his tablet from the bedside table and checked the roster. Then he did a double-take. It was teams of three, and due to the odd number of Primes in the game one person always had to sit out three-person squad games. Today, his name was on the bottom of the list. He'd gotten a by, for lack of a better word. Noah frowned. What was he supposed to do on a day like this?

He asked the question almost verbatim to Nala in the mess hall a little while later. Word had spread of him and the kaldar making peace to his other allies, and they were joined for breakfast by Larka and Fidget. The latter's obsession with omelettes seemed to grow on an almost daily basis. She was currently up to three a day, all of them stuffed with different combinations of meat and vegetables. Some were familiar to Noah like tomatoes and onions. Others weren't, such as a blue root of some kind that he caught a glimpse of as Fidget shoveled bite after bite into her mouth.

"It's a free day, you can do whatever you want," Nala answered, staring in awe at the amount of food Fidget continued to put away. "Work out in your room, go to the gun range for some practice. That's usually what I do."

"You can also watch the game from the screen in the Atrium," Larka said, sipping daintily at a mug full of something thick and sweet-smelling. "If nothing else demands your attention."

Noah leaned back in his chair and thought. He could try going back to the developer room to poke around more. But what else was there really to find? He didn't want to risk taking more out of the room just yet, or what might happen if he tried to go inside while the game was going on. He might break the reality of the game around them or something, and then he'd really be screwed.

"Ooo, ooo, why don't you cheer us on?" Fidget piped up, leaning over the table. "I'm matched with Miss Time of the Month today so I could really use some good vibes sent my way."

"Can you not call her that?" Noah said. "It's not nice."

Fidget made a face. "But she's so pissy all the time..."

"You calling her things like that probably doesn't help, you know?" As if on cue, 32 walked into the mess hall. She moved slowly, a dark look in her eye. It looked like she hadn't slept at all the previous night. Then Noah began to wonder if the other Primes even really needed sleep owing to them being part of the game. Thinking about it made his head hurt, and he refocused his attention on Fidget. "Just...be nice, okay? For me?"

That perked Fidget up. "Okie dokie, Welks. Because you asked so nicely and because you treat me so good."

Noah felt his face burn. Larka looked bemused. Nala looked back and forth between Noah and Fidget several times, her tail twitching. "Oh Gods... you two..." She snorted and covered her muzzle.

"What's so funny?" Fidget challenged, leaning over the table more so her perky breasts hung down from her body. "Noah fucks like a champion! I can attest to that!"

The volume with which she said it made several heads turn in their direction, and Noah wanted nothing more than to shrink down in his seat and wither away. "Not so loud..." he hissed.

Nala snorted again, laughing merrily to herself. "You all are something else, I swear," she snickered.

"I'm surprised you find this so amusing," Larka said in a soft voice, taking a long sip of her beverage. "Given the way I have made you purr a few times."

Nala made a strangled noise and clammed up. Now it was Noah and Fidget's turn to have a laugh. "Fine, fine," the kaldar muttered. "Point made."

Noah got himself under control. Then he stilled a little. Wait, Fidget and Larka have hooked up? That's not anywhere in the lore. Is it? He wracked his brain. No, it's not. I mean, people ship the hell out of them in real life, but the developers have never canonized any romantic relationships between any Primes. Given how little attention they've paid the lore recently I doubt they ever will. So then when did...

Fidget hopped up. "Game time!" she announced. "Let's go!"

Noah continued to think as he walked with the ladies to the Atrium. Sinner's Run was, as with any video game with a large fanbase, subject to a lot of fanon in the outside world. People loved to ship the characters, especially the women, and Noah couldn't deny he'd enjoyed plenty of explicit non-canon porn art of the characters. But nothing like that had ever been canonized in-game. The game was more about riddling other players with bullets than telling a deep, complicated story.

It also, as far as he knew, didn't have character models with fully rendered genitalia. Yet both Larka and Fidget had some very real sex organs under their clothes. Noah could attest to that. That fact had never struck him as odd until now. If everything else around them from the map to the Barracks to the Run itself was exactly like the game, why had he been able to have sex with Larka and Fidget? It didn't make sense.

Now I sound like I'm complaining about hooking up with them on a frequent basis, he thought. But it's worth thinking about!

In the Atrium, Noah stood apart from everyone else as the countdown timer began. Just before it hit zero, he looked over to Fidget and Experiment 32. The pale woman looked back at him, her red eyes haunted. Then the timer hit zero, and everyone vanished.

The big screen turned on a moment later, showing the dropship at the angle players viewed it when dropping onto the Run in the game. Noah sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and getting comfortable. He might as well watch. There'd be plenty of time to get exercise or practice with guns later.

Teams began dropping, one group at a time. Noah wondered who the camera would follow, hoping for a team with at least someone he knew. As if the feed operator was reading his mind, the camera zeroed in on the team of Fidget, Nala, and Experiment 32 as they angled towards the Talon on the southern part of the map. Noah folded his hands in his lap, silently wishing them luck.