Path to the Apocalypse

The squad took the news of Chris's discovery about as well as you'd expect. Zack freaked out, Carmen and Derek just looked exasperated, and Nadia waffled between the two responses for a bit before putting all her focus into planning. The squad was getting ready to leave and tear through the library, when Sabrina returned and stopped them. “It's gold. We need gold. It's like seventy-five dollars a gram over there.”

“Really?” Chris asked, frowning slightly. Gold wasn't exactly cheap in the City, but it wasn't that expensive. You could easily get a block of it for a few hundred dollars.

“No abilities, remember?” Sabrina pointed out. “They don't have transmuters to mass produce the stuff, so their only supply is what they can pull out of the ground. They even based their entire monetary system on it for a while.”

“So we just buy a block or two of gold and sell it for cash over there?” Derek suggested.

Nadia frowned. “I think it'd be a bit suspicious if a group of teenagers show up to sell something that valuable. Like if a bunch of kids walked in with a crate full of high-tier ability cores, would you think they got them honestly?”

“I'd at least have a lot of questions for them.” Beth sighed. “Then what can we sell for the amount of money we'd need? I can't imagine there's anything valuable out there it wouldn't be suspicious for a group of teenagers to have.”

“We can still sell gold, we just need to be smart about it.” Nadia replied. “We can sell small, reasonable amounts to a lot of people. Because if a kid walks in with one high-tier ability core, you might raise an eyebrow, but you wouldn't make a big deal over it.”

“So we need to figure out who's buying gold and how to get it to them.” Beth muttered.

Nadia nodded. “Right. Let's send Zack, Derek, and Carmen to get some gold, while the rest of us do more research.”

“Send Jello with them too.” Chris added. “For portals.”

Nadia agreed and the squad split. The librarian stared Chris down as he returned with the three girls and headed to the back, even going so far as to follow them and make sure they actually were using the computers, watching them for a few minutes before letting out a huff and returning to her desk. “What was that about?” Chris wondered aloud.

“Maybe she doesn't like you?” Beth offered.

Sabrina snorted and Nadia coughed awkwardly. “She- probably thought we were coming back here to have sex.” Nadia explained.

Beth flushed as Chris nodded. “Ah, that makes sense.”

The four of them began their research in four different directions. Chris looked up the common types of gold to sell, taking pictures and sending them to Derek's team so they could get the gold molded into the correct shapes. Nadia looked up how to sell gold, focusing on what a normal amount would be and how much they could get for it, while Beth looked up the same, focusing on avoiding scams and the like. Finally, Sabrina focused on finding where they could sell gold and how to get there.

“Alright, we got forty-four bars, all twenty-eight point four grams, or one ‘ounce’, all shaped according to the pictures Chris sent us.” Derek announced as his team returned.

Nadia nodded. “Good. We should be able to get about two thousand for each of those, though we can only sell one per shop.”

“There are only four shops that buy gold in town, but with the amount that we get from those sales, we can make our way to the nearest city which has plenty of places we can sell.” Sabrina added.

“So let's plan on having about seventy-five thousand once everything is said and done.” Beth muttered. “How do we translate that into a stable internet connection?” The squad shared a few looks, but no one had any answers. “Alright, let's get money first, then we'll figure out everything else.” Beth sighed.

The squad split into four teams to sell the gold, agreeing to meet back at the library, Beth making sure to warn them of the various scams they might encounter. Beth went with Carmen, Zack with Sabrina, Derek with Nadia, and Chris went on his own, all of them with strict instructions to not get anything less than eighteen hundred for their bar. “How can I help you?” The young woman at the counter asked with standard customer service cheer as Chris walked in.

“I'd like to sell some gold.” Chris replied, pulling out his bar and setting it on the counter.

“Of course! Let me take a look here…” She took the bar and looked it over, performing a few quick tests before nodding. “Looks good! Let's see, you have an ounce here so… how does nineteen forty-four sound?”

Chris shrugged. “Good enough.”

“Cash okay?” The woman asked with a smile.

“Sure.” Chris agreed.

The woman nodded, opening a drawer and counting out the money for him, handing it over along with a receipt. “Have a nice day!”

“Thanks, you too.” Chris nodded back, glad she'd kept things simple, stuffing the money in his pocket and turning to leave when a man wearing a mask kicked open the door.

“Everyone down on the ground, now!” The man roared as he pumped a shotgun menacingly, pointing it at the woman. “Get your hands in the air! Set off any alarms and you're dead!” He glanced at Chris, who was still just standing there as he tried to decide how to deal with this. “I said get on the floor! And empty your pockets!”

“Well that's just not happening.” Chris shook his head. He could probably stand to let this place get robbed, but losing the money he needed to save the City was a definite no go. Even if they could get more gold, there were only so many stores they could sell to.

The man stuck the shotgun in Chris's face. “You think I won't shoot you?!?”

Chris rolled his eyes, going to push the shotgun away from his face. “Listen, buddy-” He cut off as the shotgun fired, taking a chunk out of his head.

The woman screamed and the man went pale, dropping the shotgun. “I- I didn't mean-” He stammered, not even noticing when Chris's body disappeared. “I was just- it just went off!” He exclaimed, turning to the woman who was now hiding behind the counter, furiously pressing the silent alarm button, hoping the police would arrive before the man killed her. Suddenly a portal opened in front of the man, his eyes widening in horror as a clawed hand reached out to grab his face, a scream ripping from his throat as he was yanked into Chris's space, feeling like a damned soul being dragged into hell.

Chris tossed him to his minions before collecting his clothes, quickly putting them back on and stepping back out, kicking the shotgun through as he closed the portal. “Have a nice day.” He waved to the stunned woman peeking over the counter, walking out of the shop and heading back to the library, picking up the pace slightly as he heard sirens in the distance. She watched him go before scrambling for the security tape, rewinding it to see just what the hell had happened. She saw the body disappear, but after that, all she saw was a white barrier go up, and a few minutes later, it went down, the man gone and Chris standing there like nothing had happened. If she hadn't been there herself, she would have sworn it was a bad magic trick. She gulped, hoping the police would be less skeptical.

Chris arrived at the library about the same time as everyone else. “Alright, how'd everyone do?” Beth asked. “We got twenty-one forty.”

“Twenty-one fifty-four.” Sabrina reported with a slight smirk.

“Twenty forty-two.” Nadia added

“Nineteen forty-four, a shotgun, and a prisoner.” Chris announced, shrugging as everyone turned to look at him. “Someone tried to rob my shop.”

“Please, please, please tell me you handled it without using any abilities.” Beth groaned.

“I would have, but he shot me.” Chris sighed. “It was out of my hands at that point.”

“Chris, you need to stop getting shot.” Derek commented seriously.

“Hey, it isn't like I asked him to do it.” Chris retorted. “I was just trying to talk him down and then boom!”

The squad eyed him suspiciously for a moment, clearly not buying it. “In any case, you need to stay hidden.” Nadia sighed. “Give us the money and get in your space. Sabrina, you're in charge of getting to the next city. Take the money you need and go.” She paused for a moment. “I'll go with you, just in case. The rest of you are looking up ways to get us access to the internet.”

Everyone nodded, Chris heading into his space and Sabrina leading Nadia to a nearby bus station where they could purchase a bus ticket to the nearest city while the rest filed into the library to use the computers again. Chris considered his options for a moment, before shrugging and heading over to his new prisoner. He found the man properly bound by T'ka with her, Fribolt and Jinolt standing over him. “Any problems with him?” Chris asked.

“No, Master.” Fribolt replied with a bow, Jinolt copying her nervously while T'ka just rolled her eyes.

Chris sighed. “Fribolt, I told you you didn't need to do that.”

“I do not wish to form bad habits, Master.” Fribolt retorted, bowing again. She was convinced that even if Chris didn't demand any respect now, he definitely would in the future, and she would rather annoy him now than then.

Chris shook his head, having gone over this a few times with her, but since he couldn't conclusively say he wouldn't change, it hadn't helped. Even worse, she'd dragged all the other imps into it with her, so they all acted like prim and proper servants, whether he liked it or not. He put the matter of the imps aside for now and focused on his new prisoner, who was staring at him fearfully. “Hey, T'ka? Why is he gagged?”

[He kept babbling about demons and begging for mercy.] T'ka explained. [It was annoying.]

“Demons?” Chris cocked his head, glancing at the imps and T'ka. They certainly didn't look like eldritch monstrosities from another dimension. Though technically… “Shit, I guess we kinda are, huh? Weird.” He shrugged, refocusing on the man. “Alright, here's the deal. You killed me, so I'm going to make you my minion. Only seems fair, you know? That part is inevitable, but the process of it can go two ways. If you cooperate with me, all I'm going to do is get some information from you, maybe have you do me a few quick favors, and send you on your way, with instructions to not commit any crimes ever again. However, if you fight me… I don't know, I'll do something horrible to you. Maybe use you to test for better ways to die. I could use someone for that. Anyway, it's up to you.” Chris finished, pushing the connection at him. There was some slight resistance, but apparently Chris's speech was convincing enough, and the connection slipped into place. Chris pulled T'ka’s threads into his space, along with the man's mask, revealing the man to be somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties. “So… what's your name?” Chris asked.

“An- Anthony.” He answered nervously.

“I'm Chris.” Chris offered. “Why were you robbing the gold place?”

Anthony gulped. “I- I needed the money. I'm four payments behind on my mortgage, and if I don't pay it soon, I'll lose my house! The house my wife inherited from her grandmother! The only reason we even have a mortgage is because I broke my back skiing and we needed the money to pay my medical bills! I- I didn't have any insurance because I only worked a part-time construction gig since, with the house paid off, that's all we needed, and- I wanted to be able to do things… Like skiing. Of course, I ended up losing that job, and now no one will hire me, because I'm a back injury waiting to happen in construction and I don't have the skills for anything else. I'm halfway through getting my electrician license, but they're threatening to take my house now, and I just- I just-” Anthony was practically in tears by this point. “-I need the money.”

Chris cocked his head. “How much do you need?”

Anthony blinked. “About- about twenty thousand? That- that should be enough to keep the bank happy until I can start earning again.”

Chris nodded slowly, eyeing him thoughtfully. “How's your internet?”

*

“Carol?” Anthony called out nervously as he got home.

Carol rushed out of the kitchen. “Anthony! Where have you been?!?” She asked in a mix of suspicion and concern. “Please, please, tell me you didn't do anything stupid!”

Anthony coughed awkwardly. “N-no, I- I found renters!” He gestured to Chris and Beth waiting behind him.

Carol blinked as Beth waved awkwardly. “Renters?”

Anthony nodded. “For the extra bedroom. With the money we get we can keep the bank happy until I get my license!”

Carol nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes slightly. “And how did you find these renters?”

“We just moved to town, but the place we were looking to rent turned out to be a scam.” Beth explained with a sigh. “We checked it out online, but they used pictures from ten years ago, and the last person to live there was a hoarder or something. I don't know if they thought we'd take it anyway or what, but we ended up at a bar and I was complaining rather loudly, which is when your husband approached us and offered us the room! We just need it for a bit until we can find our own place, but your husband explained your situation, so if this works out, we can stay as long as you need.”

Carol hesitated. Anthony wouldn't get his license for another two years. That was a long time to have renters. But if it was between that and losing the house… “Okay, let me- let me make sure the room is usable for tonight.”

“Oh, no, please, we were expecting to spend the first few nights sleeping on the floor.” Beth stopped her. “The fact we have a bed at all is more than enough.”

Carol nodded tentatively, still not quite sure what to make of the situation, but Chris and Beth looked nice enough that she wasn't too worried. Besides, they'd already sold everything valuable they owned. The worst that could happen would be the two of them trashing the house before they lost it anyway. “Then… would you like to join us for- dinner! Shit!” She exclaimed, rushing back into the kitchen.

Anthony breathed out a sigh of relief, turning to Chris. “Thank you for this. I- I don't know how I could ever repay you-”

“Don't mention it.” Chris cut him off, waving dismissively. “Honestly, money is a non-issue for us over here.” He paused. “Kind of a non-issue issue over there too, actually.” He shook his head. “Having a place where we can get reliable internet is more valuable for us than what we're paying you.”

Anthony hesitated for a moment. “Where- are you from?”

“Do you know The Maze?” Chris asked.

Anthony blinked. “Vaguely? It came out after my accident, so I've never had the money or time to get into it, but there's always something about it on the news.”

“Well, that's where we're from.” Chris shrugged. “The real version. We're actually here to figure out what happened in the game so we can stop it from happening back home.”

Anthony just stared at him, unable to reconcile the reality he understood with the fact that he knew Chris wasn't lying. Plus, the demons and this connection they shared did seem to support the claim… “Fuck.”

Chris sighed. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

*

Chris and Beth shared a meal with Anthony and Carol, which was tenser than either of them would have liked as they tried to make up answers to all of Carol's questions. They kept to the truth as much as possible, but they had to make up a few things, like the fact that Chris had gotten a job in the city nearby, or that he had a degree in mechanical engineering, which was helped along by Anthony feeding him information through their connection. Even so, by the end of the night Carol was eyeing them weirdly, but she seemed to err on the side of keeping her house, rather than outing the strange people who were helping her do that.

The next morning, the two of them worked with Anthony on setting up the internet while Zack and Derek got the game and Sabrina, Carmen, and Nadia finished selling the rest of the gold. They only needed to purchase a single helmet, which Chris copied using his space, and then they could purchase accounts through them. Thankfully Anthony dealt with the finances, so Carol wouldn't question why they were now paying for seven game accounts, because for some reason the game didn't take cash. Then it was just a simple matter of running an ethernet cable to Chris and Beth's new room, sending it through a portal to a router, which then connected to all their helmets.

“Everyone ready?” Beth asked, looking around Chris's space. He'd set everyone up on a bed so they'd be comfortable while they were in the game.

“I feel like this thing is going to fry my brain.” Zack grumbled.

“Good thing we're in Chris's space then, huh?” Derek chuckled.

“Would that be a good or bad way to die?” Chris wondered.

“It's sort of what my ability does, so probably?” Sabrina offered.

“Why does it always come back to death?” Carmen complained.

“Guys, focus!” Nadia snapped.

Beth sighed. “I'll take that as a yes. Alright, let's see what The Maze has to offer! Start in three, two, one…”