Andrea plays the Game—a massive, interstellar, virtual reality experience—as often as she can. And she plays well. Really well.

...Well, she cheats, actually, which she feels ambivalent about to be honest.

Except on Level Nine. Because no matter how hard she tries, Level Ten remains out of reach... until a wholesome newcomer arrives.

A light-hearted, feel-good story about the power of online gaming to bring people together.

Level Nine

INKLET #19

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Liana Brooks

www.InkprintPress.com

LEVEL NINE

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Andrea stood at the edge of the clearing studying the opposing force. She counted three hundred and seven killerbots loaded with every armament the engineers could think of. They stood there, a lethal wall of AI menace separating her from her goal.

The bushes behind her shook. Puzz-led, she watched a man roll into view. Lasers seared the bush, setting it on fire. The man stood up and brushed the dirt away. He looked... wholesome.

Andrea tried to find another word. Crazy? He only had a small destabil-izer, no armor, no vanguard of cohorts.

“Hello.” He smiled.

Andrea smiled back. “All alone?”

“No one else could play today. You?”

“Flying solo,” Andrea confirmed.

“Can’t figure out how to get past?” the man asked.

“I can’t figure out how to get   past without cheating,” she corrected. “This is only level seven, I’ve gone past a dozen times. But I always cheat.”

“You can’t cheat the game.”

“You can,” Andrea said. “You aren’t supposed to, but you can.”

“How?” He looked over the massed infantry of death in confusion.

She knew what he was thinking. The gate leading to level eight was plain to see. All you had to do was charge in, kill all of the killerbots in your way, and run through the level gate.

“If you’re very fast...” he began.

“No. Just lazy. Watch.” Andrea lift-ed a small stone; she weighed it in her hand. “Watch.” She threw the rock, arcing it into the center of the killer-bots.

As a unit, the droids turned and opened fire on each other. Within sec-onds there was nothing left of the wall of death but the hiss of cooling metal.

“Impossible. It must be a system glitch. They are programmed so they can’t attack each other.”

“They each attack the rock and most of them miss,” Andrea said. “If the rock shatters it gets even better. Then they start shooting at the fragments.”

“And they don’t reset?” Intrigue and respect were written on the man’s face.

“No,” Andrea said. “It really is cheating though. I feel guilty just walk-ing past their charred corpses.”

“Is a melted droid really a corpse?” he asked.

Andrea punched a code into the controller at her wrist and the level reset.

The bushes shook again. This time an entire band of warriors rushed in, armed to the teeth and yelling.

“You need to go through?” one asked.

Andrea looked at the first stranger; he shook his head. “We just reset the level to try a different tactic. Not enough challenge the first time,” she said.

“Mind if we charge through?” one of the heavily-armed men asked.

“Go for it.”

Andrea and the wholesome man with the charming smile watched as the band of berserkers rushed the killerbots.

“We could try that,” he suggested.

“They lost two people.”

“Ah, good point. The odds aren’t in our favor.”

“Any suggestions?” Andrea asked as the level reset yet again.

The man picked up a rock.

They stepped through the level eight gate casually—almost too casual-ly. Andrea had to grab the man by his shirt to keep him from making a fatal mistake.

“Trip wires under the leaves on the path,” she explained.

“Ah,” he looked down at the jungle path in front of them. “How do we avoid the trip wires?”

“See the wood planks outlining the path?”

He looked at the narrow span of wood. “Yes.”

“Stay on that until we hit the clear-ing.” Andrea balanced easily on the beam and waited for him to follow before she began moving. “The wires trigger the killerbots and skydroids on the other end. If you don’t trigger the wires the ‘bots don’t come out.”

“I thought the rules said you had to stay on the path,” the man said.

“The rules were written by the same people who designed the killerbots. Think about it.”

“Good point. I suppose they aren’t rooting for the gamers.”

“If they are, I’ve never noticed.”

They moved through the artificial jungle, listening to the sounds ahead. A battle raged and fell suddenly silent.

“Do you think the berserkers died?”

“Charging doesn’t work on this level. I’ve seen lots of groups try that and it never works. Level seven is the  last one you can survive by charging. By eight, you need actual tactics.”

“Do you play a lot?” the man asked politely.

Andrea looked at him, weighing her possible responses. “I play when I can, but it isn’t often.”

“Do you always come alone?”

“Do you?”

The man laughed. “I’m not trying to pry. I’m harmless. Really. And yes, I usually play alone.”

“But you pick up the odd damsel in distress if you happen upon them?”

“Nope. Never met one. Although   I don’t mind picking up beautiful women who know how to cheat two levels in a row.”

“Do you meet many?” Andrea asked.

“Nope. But after I met you, who else could I need?” His smile was dazzling.

Andrea snorted. “Nice line. But what you’re going to want is someone who knows how to get past level nine, because I don’t.”

They stepped into an empty clearing with monumental buildings on each side. The doors to the buildings were closed, locking in the hordes of death.

The level gate loomed ahead of them.

“Suggestions?” the man asked.

“Level nine is dark, pitch black. Outside light sources don’t work. The level gate is to the left but there’s a cliff and a river between you and the gate. I’ve died in each of them. And there’s a couple of killerbots. It never seems like a huge number but there are enough.”

“Maybe we should try splitting up? One go left, the other go right?” he suggested.

“Bad plan. There are synergy bombs. If you and your buddy stand on the corresponding demolition plants at the same time, everyone in the level dies.”

“Great.” He checked his charge. “So, want to try again if we die?”

Andrea blinked at the thought. “I’ve got to get to work.”

“Maybe we can meet up later? Where are you at?”

“Tetraterren, Alpha Side,” Andrea said. “You?”

“Homely.” A planet on the far side of the system.

“Thank goodness for faster than light relays, right?”

“Right.”

“Our best bet is to try not to die,” Andrea said. “Failing that, remember every detail you can so you can map the level when you die.”

“When are you coming to play next?” the man asked.

Andrea shrugged. “I don’t know.” She stepped into the darkness of level nine.

Five minutes later, simulated leg broken, a killerbot honed in on An-drea. She shot out its sensors, trying to buy herself a few more seconds in the game.

Light flashed, a fire flare. “I’ll find you!” the stranger shouted as he died.

The killerbots fired. Andrea died. The black and green grid of the ten-by-ten game room replaced the encircling dark of level nine. Andrea checked her watch. “Flippers!” Her shuttle for the space station took off in ten minutes.

She raced out the door, stripping her game suit as she went. She tossed the controls to the tech outside with a smile and grabbed her raincoat from the hangar.

“Good game?” the tech asked as she pushed herself out the door.

“The best!”

He’d find her—or she’d find him. And together, they’d figure out a way to conquer level nine.