Collide Gamer

Chapter 97 – An unimportant town called Franklin two hours away

If Springfield was a small city then Franklin was a big town. This meant that despite being relatively small it at least had its own train station, supermarket and other facilities. Almost everything someone needed in order to never leave their place of birth. “Why would you choose to build an organization here?” John asked.

Victoria kept looking out of the window as she answered, “You will understand in a bit.”

The four of them left the train. The Gamer in a plain black Dota 2 shirt and blue jeans, Rave in a skimpy top and yoga pants (her disguise still on for the moment), Victoria in her rocker outfit with a Metallica shirt and lastly Aclysia still wearing 2B’s outfit. They were a weird bunch to say the least. John had an outside perspective of that, in the form of the verdin following them closely. SecretBlonde had not made the existence of the bird public for whatever reason. It worked out for him.

Victoria took the lead and guided them to the edge of the town. Interestingly, they moved through Illusion Barriers instead of real space. John made sure to keep the verdin hidden. He didn’t want the bird to be revealed as what it really was and the connection would be rather easy to draw if it showed up in an Illusion Barrier. He also used the bird to use Observe on everybody around, none of whom were affiliated with the Bloodfallen. Just random people going about their day.

They went through a field of wheat and finally arrived at an old bunker entrance. A cold war remnant, most likely. The entrance was a somewhat rusty, run-down steel door set into a massive grey, graffiti covered, cement block which in turn was half buried under a hill of dirt. “This is our base.” She explained, as they were pulled into the actual Bloodfallen barrier.

The run-down exterior of the bunker entrance was reinvigorated. The graffiti was removed, the steel appeared polished. ‘So the Illusion Barrier was made when the bunker was still new? The Bloodfallen built this bunker out in the middle of nowhere, for what purpose? To hide?’ John considered.

Victoria knocked twice on the door. A little slit of the solid steel slid aside, revealing a pair of eyes. “State your name and purpose,” a rumbling voice demanded.

“Victoria Beloozero. I return with the Gamer, John Newman and his guild,” the Russian sniper explained.

In a series of clacking noises, keys being turned, bars being moved, chains unhooked, the door was unlocked and finally swung open to the inside. The man holding it was a goliath, even bigger than Travolta had been, with a strongman body, milky white skin, dark eyes and a bald shaven head.

The very definition of a one-track character. Good Strength and Endurance but the rest of his Stats were either absolute garbage or lacking. John made a mental note to raise his Stats a bit more evenly to avoid ending up like that. Agility or Strength should be next.

They passed the goliath of a man and walked down the long flight of stairs that followed, descending further and further underground. A heavy silence surrounded them. Victoria still took the lead and appeared uncaring, John brooded as his eyes darted around, Rave stared more openly at the extravagant decorations, and Aclysia was indifferent. Their steps were muffled by the red carpet that covered the steps. They finally arrived at the bottom.

The Gamer very much doubted that the facility was a carbon copy of the bunker. The first room they stepped into was about as big as the ground floor of John’s house. The red carpet extended throughout its entirety and the attached corridors. It was of a dark red, unblemished and clean like the first day. Where it met the walls, it disappeared under a golden skirting. Hazel brown walls and ceiling extended above. A chandelier hung in the centre of a small dome, dozens of lightbulbs sitting on an arrangement of brilliantly cut glass.

Dozens of people were moving about. It was the first time John had seen so many Abyssals in the same spot. They held conversation or busily moved between the four corridors connected to this room at the left and right side. John wondered just how large this complex was. Even more, he wondered what the massive vault door opposite of the entrance was hiding. It looked like it belonged on the set of a heist movie.

“John Newman!” A voice like honey declared and Igor stepped out of the crowd. The guild master was wearing something more militaristic today. Its functionality was compromised by the bright white colour. He had kept the cane, however. “Welcome to our humble home.”

‘Humble, huh?’ John looked around again but kept his doubts to himself. “Hello, Igor. I obeyed your ultimatum so mind telling me what this is about?” he got straight to the point instead.

“Of course, of course,” Igor said with a warm smile, “I will explain everything, if you would come with me?”

He started walking and John had to remind himself to keep a respectful distance. ‘Keep a semblance of appearances – at least make them consider you could be converted into an ally,’ he reminded himself.

To John’s surprise, they were heading straight for the vault door. Utilizing a terminal, Igor had his hand scanned. In response, the mechanisms within the door began to move. Soon, it began to swing outwards.

“I will take my leave then, guild master,” Victoria excused herself, but Igor stopped her before she could take more than a single step.

“No, Victoria, I think you are ready to see this as well.” He made an inviting gesture and all of them went into the room behind the vault. As the door closed behind them John looked back at the busy Guild Members. They demonstrably faced away from the open vault.

Igor sealed the door from their side and then took the lead again. The corridor they were now in was wide, very wide in fact, and illuminated with fluorescent tubes that covered the middle of the surprisingly high ceiling in a long line that was only broken by the small space between two of them.

“You are here John Newman.” Igor started talking, “because we have to find a new arrangement. Travolta is gone and his betrayal was unfortunate. However, the loyalty Collide has sworn to us is by no means negated. On the contrary, because of what he has done you are now doubly indebted to us.”

 John grit his teeth but shut his mouth for now. They were the ones in control of the situation and he couldn’t do anything about that. He shot Rave a pleading glance, his girlfriend was already about to complain but she noticed in time. Her lips lost their colour, from how intensely she pressed them together.

“However, instead of simply forcing repayment on you, I thought I should extend an olive branch and give you another choice. John Newman, join the Bloodfallen.” He looked at John expectantly, who thought about it.

Not about joining. There was no way in hell he was becoming part of this bunch of weirdos. No, he was wondering how to wiggle out of this most effectively. ‘He seems very intent on me joining, maybe I can pull some information from him?’ He thought and therefore said, “Maybe, I would need to know more about your organization first.”

Igor grinned and they started moving again, he had clearly expected that. “Very well. Let’s start with our name then.” They continued walking through the seemingly endless corridor as Igor told the story of the Bloodfallen. “We call ourselves the Bloodfallen due to our first leader and founder being a runaway of the Soviets after the second World War. He was a general of the Abyssal forces of the ‘Blood of the Proletariat’ who saw what they did. The war, the poverty, the endless wasting of lives – he couldn’t stand it any longer. So, he gathered some other loyal folk and sneaked off. He watched with horror at the continued torment that happened in the name of communism and came to the correct and just conclusion that the ideology and its adherents had to be… silenced, by any means necessary.”

Okay, that took a quick 180 degree turn. John would have loved to point out the hypocrisy here but Igor continued his story with a calm tone. Victoria was all the while nodding frantically. In their hatred, they were just as ideologically possessed as the worst Soviets had been.

“However, he didn’t only steal his own intellect from the enemy, but also one of the worst weapons the Soviets developed.” They finally arrived at another door. Igor let his hand get scanned yet again and revealed a circular room. “This is the answer to the question you surely asked yourself.” The guild master said and stepped in, his voice filled with disgust, “This is her. This is… Thana.”