Killstream: Momentum Preview
Chapter 1 of my upcoming novel.
[Eliminated: R3alSteel. +100 XP]
The neon shards scattered across the roof of the train. Digital wind rushed through Winter’s hair. He clung to the roof with one hand while the other held his katana tightly.
The tunnel approached fast. Winter didn’t have anymore obstacles in his way. He sprinted forward. The tunnel was too close. Winter wasn’t going to make it.
Yes, I am.
Winter dropped to one leg and slid across the tin roof. He dropped between the two carts just as the tunnel rushed past him. Winter took a deep breath. He finally had a moment to rest. The other players hadn’t stopped coming. There were too many people on the train. It was the fastest way to the other side of the mountain. The only other ways to escape the storm were going around or climbing over, both of which would take too long.
Well, I’m here now. It might be dangerous, but that’s alright. More XP for me.
He stretched his neck and marched into the car in front of him. Seats lined the left and right, each with a table between them. Winter glanced around. No other players in sight. He strode forward with confidence. The game was almost over. But Winter would have to hunt down the last of the players if he was going to win. The storm kept them on his side of the mountain, but that wouldn’t make it too much easier if they hid from him.
A figure popped up from a seat on the other end of the car. Orange lasers flew. Winter dashed behind a seat and used it as cover.
I can’t reach him. He’s too far away. Maybe I can still move faster than his lasers.
Winter took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on his sword. He had one chance. He activated all of his Skills at once. The ghostly echoes of himself glowed brightly in the dimly-lit train car. Winter used Speed Vault and Dash to get over the seat in front of him in a flash. He sprinted as hard as he could across the car. The other player took a moment to realize what had happened. Winter checked his Skills and Dashed forward again. The other player was close.
Something materialized in the other player’s hand. He rolled it across the ground, but Winter’s charge didn’t falter. His opponent tried to bring his gun to bear, but Winter cut him down before he had a chance to shoot.
[Eliminated: Mr.218. +100 XP]
Winter searched the floor around him until he found a spherical object hiding under one of the seats. A light blinked faster and faster.
Grenade.
Winter gasped. He grabbed the grenade, threw the car door open, and tossed the device. It wouldn’t have any effect on him if it blew up out—
The grenade detonated just outside the doorway. Winter flew backwards and landed on the floor hard. Something screeched outside. Metal grinding against metal. What was that?
Winter pushed himself to his feet. The car rattled, threatening to send him to the floor again. He marched forward anyway, using the seats to stabilize himself. He reached the end of the car and peered through the open doorway.
The door hung from a single hinge, but that didn’t last long. It snapped off the train and landed on the track. The wheels sliced it cleanly in half, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the wheels weren’t on the track anymore.
Sparks exploded as the wheels moved at an angle on the track. If the car was slowing down, Winter couldn’t tell. The only indicator was that the cars in front of Winter sped away from him. He was disconnected from the rest of the train.
And there’s a sharp curve coming up. Perfect.
Winter raced to the back of the car. He threw the door open and found a ladder waiting for him just outside.
He grabbed the ladder with one hand, then the cart rattled, throwing Winter back inside. It flipped through the air. Winter floated in the doorway for a moment as though somebody turned off gravity. He slammed back down as the cart hit the ground. The train rolled for a bit, Winter bouncing off the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Finally, it all came to a screeching, groaning stop.
Winter breathed hard and checked his notifications.
[Left arm injured. -7% strength]
[Right leg injured. -8% speed]
[Torso injured. -5% stamina]
He pushed himself to his feet, using his sword like a cane.
Well, I’m still alive. That’s something.
A click in front of Winter. He lifted his eyes to find a player with plate armor and no helmet aiming a revolver at Winter’s face. The gunshot echoed off the snowy mountain at the center of the battlefield. Winter Dashed to the side. He activated Afterimage and sprinted in a tight arc around the player. The next shot missed, but it’d be easier to hit Winter the closer he got. He needed to make this quick.
Winter used his second Dash charge. He swung his katana over his opponent’s torso. Steel clashed against neon steel. A loud clang sounded, but no notification appeared.
Winter bared his teeth. That’s some tough armor. It’s too bad he didn’t have the cash for a helmet.
The other player aimed his revolver. Winter pushed his arm aside with his katana. The shot kicked up some dirt. Afterimage exploded. The other player held his ground and tried to blink through the stun blast’s effect. Winter pushed his blade along the other player’s arm and sliced through his neck. He instantly shattered into thousands of glowing, neon shards, which clattered like glass on the rocky ground.
[Eliminated: SouthPaw. +100 XP]
[Victory!
Eliminations: 4
Placed: 1st
XP: 500
Level up!]
Winter grinned as the world faded around him and he found himself in the lobby with the other players in the match. He strode out onto the glowing streets with his head held high.
I’m getting pretty good at this. It won’t be long before I can start making some regular money from The Arena. Just a few more months. I’m sure of it.
A notification appeared in the upper-left corner of Winter’s vision.
[Ares: Meet at my place?]
Winter opened the floating menu screen and found the Social tab.
[Winter: Here, or outside?]
[Ares: Here.]
[Winter: I’ll be there in a sec.]
Winter switched to the travel menu and selected Ares’ house. Ares finally figured out how to give Winter full permission to go into his place, so Winter could pop in any time he wanted. The glowing streets of DevSoft City vanished along with the crowd of avatars, and Winter found himself in a large living room with a half-circle couch in front of a blue fireplace, a glass coffee table, and a ping-pong table in the back. Posters covered the wall, and every flat surface was covered in comics, weapons, and magazines.
Ares’ armored avatar was already sitting on the couch with his legs crossed and arms spread when Winter appeared. “Took you long enough.”
Winter plopped down next to his friend. “I was in the middle of a match. Got to level seven.”
“Nice,” Ares said. “You’re getting pretty good at this.”
Winter shrugged. “What can I say? I’m pretty incredible.”
Ares laughed and rolled his eyes.
“So,” Winter said, “finished getting set up?”
“Not yet. I still need to unbox most of my things, but it’s close enough for now. I couldn’t wait too long to hop back into the Metaverse. By the way, thanks for helping me move. It would have taken me ages to haul everything up those stairs by myself.”
“More than that. There was no way you were about to get that whole couch up there on your own.”
“I would have figured something out.”
Winter laughed. “Sure, man.”
“I’m just glad I finally have my own place,” Ares said. “After Mom broke my last headset, I needed to get out of there. Things were bad before, but they were only getting worse. Besides, I’m nineteen. Isn’t it time I get my own place?”
“I guess,” Winter said. “Most people don’t move out until their mid- or late-twenties. People our age are usually stuck, and the economy is only getting worse.”
“I don’t know. I was reading an article saying that things might be looking up for us in the next few years.”
Winter squinted at his friend. “Since when do you read finance articles?”
Ares shrugged. “It was just the one.”
“Things might get better,” Winter said. “But I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to be a little more optimistic from time to time. By the way, how’s your mom?”
“She’s doing fine. We’re making it work. It’s just hard now that we’re in such a crammed space. But at least we can actually afford it, and we aren’t struggling too badly to keep up with rent, groceries, and all the other junk.”
“But you still need Galaxy Burgers?”
“Until I can make up for that money with The Arena, yes, I still need Galaxy Burgers.”
“That reminds me, are you going to that meeting?”
“I mean, it’s mandatory, so yeah.”
“But he’s not even paying us. He thinks he can get us a few pizzas and that’ll make up for it.”
“I know, but I can’t risk losing this job.”
“If he fires you because you didn’t attend a meeting you’re not getting paid for,” Ares said, “you can sue him. You’ll probably get, like, a year’s worth of pay from that.”
“Yeah, if I could afford a lawyer.”
The door behind Winter burst open. Winter spun around to find Raven marching from the training room. Her neon green jacket flowed behind her. She didn’t acknowledge either Winter or Ares as she opened her menu and logged out of the Metaverse. Her avatar vanished.
Winter blinked. “What was that all about?”
“She’s been using my place for training,” Ares said. “She hardly ever talks. It’s… creepy.”
“You still don’t trust her?”
“How can I? I don’t even know her. You don’t, either.”
“She told me her name.”
“Which she totally could have made up,” Ares said. “She could be a dude for all you know.”
Winter shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
“I’m probably going to just call in sick.”
“Huh?”
“To the meeting.”
“Oh,” Winter said. “You’ve done that three times this month already.”
“And it worked all three times. What’s a fourth?”
“He said this meeting was really important,” Winter said. “I think we should go.”
“How much do you want to bet it’s something that could just be a group message?”
“Rhys.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll go. Not because I want to, but because I wouldn’t mind some free pizza. I didn’t realize how expensive groceries would be until today.”
“Alright. In that case, I gotta go freshen up.”
“Yeah, you always smell after a game.”
Winter laughed. “How do you know? You can’t even smell me?”
“Your stench is so strong that it’s leaking into the digital world.”
“Very funny.”
“Alright, I’ll see you around.”
“See you.”
Blake logged out of his headset and pulled it off. He rolled out of bed and set his headset on the nightstand.
“Hey, honey,” Mom said. Her hair was still soaked from her shower.
“Hi,” Blake said.
“Was that Rhys?”
“Yup. We have a meeting today.”
“Meeting? What kind of meeting?”
“Galaxy Burgers,” Blake said. “Robert said it was important.”
Mom crossed her arms. “Are any of the meetings ever actually important?”
“The one where we found out Robert was taking over was.”
“But after Robert took over?”
“I guess the one about the kitchen being replaced by automatons. But other than that, none that I can think of.”
“Okay. Well, at least you’re getting paid.”
Blake scoffed. “Yeah. In pizza.”
“You’re not getting paid?” Mom asked. Her eyes bulged.
“Nope.”
“Then you don’t have to go.”
“I know,” Blake said, “but it sounds really important.”
“Okay. It’s your choice.”
“It shouldn’t be long.”
“Okay. Tell Rhys I said hi.”
“I will.”
Almost everyone else was already there by the time Blake arrived. Galaxy Burgers had been closed for the evening so Robert could have the meeting.
That doesn’t make any sense. Robert would never close the store for a whole evening. He’s losing a lot of money. That’s unthinkable for him.
“Blake.”
Blake paused. “Jessica?”
“I… Hi.”
“Hi. What’s up?”
“I just… nothing. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“Well, I guess it’s not really my fault. It’s just… I know you and your mom have been having a hard time.”
“How do you know?”
“You and Rhys are pretty loud,” Jessica said. “You know that, right?”
“Oh. I know that now.”
“Look, I don’t like this any more than you do. I just wanted to say that, if you need anything, I’m here, okay?”
Blake squinted at her. “You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
Jessica looked around the room and lowered her voice. “You’ll see. Good luck.”
She marched over to another table with some of the other shift leads. Blake watched her as she left.
What was that all about? Am I going to get fired? What’s happening?
“Blake.”
He turned and found Rhys waving him over. Blake marched across the restaurant and sat across from his friend.
“What did Jess want?” Rhys asked. “Was she finally asking for your number?”
“I… What? No. There’s nothing like that between us.”
“Have you seen the way she looks at you?”
“What?”
“Never mind. What were you talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, I don’t know,” Blake said. “She was saying something weird. She kept apologizing and stuff. Said I was gonna find out what she meant.”
“Huh. Weird.”
“Exactly.”
Rhys took a bite of pizza. “What do you think she means?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“I don’t like this,” Rhys said. “She always knows more than everyone else.”
Blake nodded. “Yeah. Hey, I’m gonna grab some pizza real quick. Be back in a second.”
He stood and marched over to two tables pushed next to one another in the center of the dining room. Pizza boxes lined the tables. Paper plates and napkins sat on one side while discarded boxes sat on the other. Blake grabbed a plate and napkin and began picking out his slices.
Rhys is right. Jessica is always ahead of the game somehow. She always knows what’s about to happen before anyone else. I guess the shift leaders had their meeting before this. They would know more than we do. Still, that felt like a really dramatic reaction. There’s no way I’m getting fired. I can’t. I work hard, I do what I’m told, and I’m never late. What grounds would Robert fire me on?
Blake sat at the table with Rhys again and twisted open his water bottle. He looked around the room as he took a sip. People shifted in their seats and spoke in hushed voices. There was usually laughter in meetings like this. But Blake couldn’t find a single smile. What was happening?
“Something’s wrong.”
Rhys nodded. “I feel it, too.”
“What do you think—?”
“Good afternoon, everyone,” Robert said. He stood at the center of the room next to the pizza boxes. He didn’t seem nearly as worried as everyone else. He wore a smile that almost seemed genuine for a change.
Maybe people are just spreading rumors. Maybe everything’s fine. Right?
“I’m glad you could all make it today. You guys have made an awesome team over these last few months since I became the owner of Galaxy Burgers, and I’m so thankful for all the work you’ve put in. You made this store what it is, and I am truly appreciative of that.”
Blake rubbed his chin and knit his brow together. Get on with it.
Robert pursed his lips, but it seemed less genuine than his smile earlier. “This isn’t easy news to break to you, and I’m glad everyone could make it so that you all hear it at the same time.”
Blake’s eyes widened. Are you moving? Is there another owner coming in? Are you getting replaced? I can finally get the hours I’ve been needing. We might actually get someone who cares about us more than his own paycheck.
“Effective next week, Galaxy Burgers will be fully automated,” Robert said. “That means we’ll be using automatons to complete all the tasks. A few of the shift leaders will stay as supervisors during this transition, but everyone else is, unfortunately, going to be let go.”
Blake turned to Rhys, who was already staring back. No words passed between them. Blake struggled to form his thoughts together.
Robert’s lips twitched upward. “I can’t thank you enough for your service here. You’ll all receive recommendation letters that will help you on your hunt for your next job. But for today, eat as much pizza as you can. Hang out with your friends. The current schedule up to this Sunday is still in effect, so don’t forget to come in for those shifts. Thank you all for the amazing time we had together. You’ve been the best team I could have asked for.”
Robert stepped away from the center of the dining room. His footsteps clicked loudly against the tile. No one spoke. No one moved. Hushed whispers began to spread, then the talking grew back to normal volume. Blake glanced around the room. Some of his coworkers were in tears. Others stared at their empty plates with blank eyes.
“Blake,” Rhys said.
Blake looked up. “Yeah?”
“I just moved out. What the heck am I supposed to do?”
Blake shook his head. “I don’t know, dude.”
“Oh, crud.”
Rhys buried his face in his hands. Blake stared at the table and twiddled his thumbs.
What are Mom and I supposed to do? Without Galaxy Burgers, it won’t be long before we lose the apartment. We just lost our house. We can’t lose that, too. This is so stupid. And without much warning.
Rhys took a deep breath and put his hands on the table. “You know what? It’s gonna be alright.”
“Huh?”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
“How do you expect us to find another job? No one’s hiring.”
“That might be true,” Rhys said, “but automatons can’t play The Arena the way we do.”
“It’ll take a while before we make any real cash playing.”
“That’s what I thought until you almost won the Rookie Tournament.”
“They’re not gonna have another one until next year,” Blake said. “Besides, we’ll both be at too high of a level to participate.”
Rhys crossed his arms. “There are other events, Blake. We’ll find a way. We can do this.”
Blake took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Well, no time like the present. We should start figuring out how to make this work.”
“Agreed.”
Killstream: Momentum releases this Friday. Catch up with the first book on Amazon now!
What’s the premise of your novel?
I always like to know what something’s about before I dig into it. I think it might be an ADHD trait.