The Augment's Code (A Superhero LitRPG)

The Previous Night

"Kinda light on the "game related questions" you said this Freakenstein fella told you would be in the letter…"

"Hey I'm just telling you what he told me."

"Well then whoever this Codex is didn't tell him the whole story, though… it's been a really long time since anyone called us out on being the development team…" Christopher said, staring at the relatively bare note and scrunching his face up. Cassie had been reading over his shoulder the entire time and stepped around as she looked at him curiously.

"This is a good thing though, right?"

"Maybe…" Christopher said, leaning back in his chair as he reached up and rubbed at the stubble that was starting to turn into an actual beard. "There's always the chance Axio is up to something and trying to use him to get me out in the open. While that is incredibly unlikely given everything we know so far, we'd be stupid not to consider it as an option. And besides, I can't exactly invite him in here."

"You can't?"

"It's still categorized as my Safe House and I can't give him access unless I add him to my Friend's List first, which I can't exactly access any more because… well it was all disabled when he finalized his registration, kinda screwed myself a bit with that, didn't I…" Christopher said, looking over toward the door. "Still, I had been wondering if I should try to get in contact with him… I finally managed to get through the backdoor in the registration and figured out what his powerset is and it did give me an idea. It's a dangerous one though…"

"More dangerous than… hmmm which one of our misadventures should we use for the scale? On a scale of the first Vat Born to the Madagascar incident?"

"Oh god umm, I guess maybe a 7? That would be… what, the rumble with Earthbender that collapsed half of Mount Rushmore?"

"Hmm," Cassie said, tapping her chin. "That's not too bad… though maybe we could do without the betrayal."

"My thoughts exactly," Christopher said, his lips curling up as he smiled. "Now, you've been my eyes and ears the last few weeks here, think you can be my mouth too?"

"Please, I've been that for over a decade now too, why would I stop now? What are you thinking?"

"Well it really depends on when you run into them again. I have to think if they are gonna be looking for you around the same time most nights… it's what I would do and there's no point in sending a letter if you're not going to try and get a response," Christopher said, looking at one of his monitors where a video of Loophole fighting the giant robot chicken was paused. "Let's stir the pot a bit… we need to know who he is and what he stands for… I got lucky that the kid was a good guy, he could have just as easily been a psychopath that became a city destroying Miscreant…"

"Yeah, the more you tell me about the snap decision you made… the more I question how clearly you've been thinking," Cassie said wryly.

"Which is exactly why I need you as much as I do," Christopher said, looking back toward her, his brow pulled together. "You're a good judge of character Cass, so scope him out. If you think it's a good idea, then we can organize a meetup upstairs… assuming you can keep me hidden from prying eyes."

Sanctuary Square,

Non-PVP Zone.

Location Classified.

Closest Known Claimed Territory: Planet Earth

Unclaimed

Current Phase Points:

171430

Current Ascension Tokens Applied:

36

End of Phase Two: 24

D:02H:09M:27S

"You idiot, be quiet!"

I was about to reply, opening my mouth to apologize when… nothing came out. I was about to panic when I noticed the Silenced debuff on my status bar. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, she was a member of the First Wave after all. I had seen what her level had been once a few days after I had been Augmented, but with everything else that had happened that had happened, there were some details that were easy to forget. I didn't need to know what level she was, but I was curious all the same and I let my interface highlight her.

"Calypso. Level 188 Drowned Siren. Squad: Paragons Reforged."

I looked over at the others, noticing a look of confusion on even Freak's face. BrainCraft had quickly materialized his privacy device, already activating it before I returned my attention to Calypso. She had a rather stern look on her face as she looked around the table.

"I can make people ignore me, but not if someone brings attention to me," Calypso said, her voice, while still a whisper, was now almost devoid of emotion. She was looking right at me and I felt the desire to wriggle under her examining eyes. "You and I do need to have a chat, if your team is involved or not is up to you."

I felt my lips curl up in a smile without prompting and said a silent thank you to my luck. I hadn't managed to exactly get any clues as to how she had snuck up on us, but I couldn't exactly figure that out if I couldn't speak. With a thought, the world shifted around me as time rewound five minutes back. I could have gone the extra 30 seconds, but we had sat in silence for so long between when Freak and Brain had put in fresh orders and those orders being delivered that I just wanted to make sure I could somehow cut her off before she approached the table.

Freak was staring up at the roof when my head snapped in his direction.

"I know she's close, Freak, where did you see her?" I asked, causing everyone else at the table to jump. Freak's eyes shifted over toward BrainCraft before they met mine.

"North Bar, she's been standing there for the last few minutes. Probably waiting on some food or something, I normally see her leave there with a big paper bag," he explained. BrainCraft's face contorted slightly in confusion.

"Wait, you saw her and you didn't tell us, why would you-"

I rewound again and looked back around the table, taking in everyone's rather lax attitudes. I wasn't what anyone would call "good" at acting, but I knew I was going to have to at least try to come off as casual. To that end, I gently rubbed Swansong's arm before I let out a groan, tilting my head back maybe just a bit too dramatically.

"Shit, maybe I should have put in an order for some food… Just got a huge wave of hunger," I said. BrainCraft didn't turn his attention away from his tablet but he shook his head and let out a small laugh.

"If only there were an easy way to remedy that."

"True enough," I shot back quickly, happy he skipped past my overacting.

"Want me to come with?" Swan asked, looking up at me hopefully but I shook my head. Although it probably wouldn't have hurt to have her there too, I hoped by isolating myself, I could get Calypso to make her presence known to me directly instead of thinking she'd be bothering me because I was on a date or something.

"I think I'm gonna go use the bathroom first before I head to the bar over there," I said, my eyes meeting Freak's as he looked down from the ceiling. "Maybe put in a last minute thing, anyone need anything while I'm going?"

"I'd suggest reversing the order of those things," Freak said, his eyes shifting over toward the bar almost knowingly, "better to get the order going instead of waiting till afterwards, yah know?"

"Good plan, I'll be back in a bit, uh… if she shows up before I get back-"

"We'll handle it," BrainCraft said, finally breaking his eyes off of the tablet and meeting mine. "That's what a team is for, isn't it?"

"It's… yeah, that's right," I said, trying to manage my tone as best I could. "See you guys in a bit."

I made my way across the crowded room, ignoring the random chatter and glances that came my way as I headed around the spiral staircase and over toward the large bar on the northern edge of the room. The whole way over, I kept my Area Sense activated, scanning the area as I went.

I wasn't sure how she was keeping herself invisible to us, and I also wasn't really sure if I needed to be the one to find her, but any information was useful and if I did manage to feel her in my zone even though the spot at the bar appeared empty, well… actually I wasn't sure what I would do with that information, but I knew I needed to get better at passive information gathering and this was a great test situation. Just because my Area Sense had a cooldown when I used it while moving, didn't mean I had to be hesitant to use it. It just meant I had to train myself to absorb as much information on the fly as I could.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The bar had more than a few people at it, sitting at the various spots and chattering. It was almost, well, comical to see the various Guardians and Miscreants sitting around, chattering like the world wasn't on fire around us. I ran my eyes across the entire bar as I approached, counting each person I could see as I simultaneously felt the presence of each figure in my local area. It was a large bar, taking up most of the wall it sat on and it could easily seat at least 30 people, though I noticed there was a large gap right near the center that was left open for walk up orders.

And… there it was. I could feel a figure standing there, but no matter how much I looked toward the bar, I just seemed to… keep glancing away. Like my mind was purposefully ignoring what my eyes were clearly seeing. I could absolutely be wrong, but the fact that it was at the center of the bar really didn't make it a bad choice even if I was. I walked up to the empty bar, taking in the NPC bartenders that were all scattered around tending to other customers as I rested my hands on it, tapping it as nonchalantly as I could. My gut had already been right once so far, what was the harm in taking another shot?

"You looking for me?" I said, off toward the object that I still couldn't quite see. I felt as if it jumped in my area and I resisted the urge to smile.

"How did-," the voice started before I felt my mind suddenly relax and the rest of my senses finally seemed to register the form of Calypso standing beside me. Her brow creased as she looked at me before a notification opened.

"New Friend Request: Calypso. Accept: Yes/No."

I didn't hesitate to accept the request, watching as she reached up and held a finger over her mouth before nodding back toward the door of the bar. I must have looked confused or something because she suddenly looked exasperated before she just turned and waved for me to follow. With only a look back toward the table, none of them looking in my direction, I quickly followed behind her before she managed to vanish from sight yet again.

She led me all the way out of the bar, several things around my vision lighting back up as they reenabled when we stepped into the crisp night air.

"Ummm, where are-"

<Calypso: Sorry, it's easier if I message you this way, otherwise you will get hit with some side effects that I can't quite stop from happening.>

"Should I… message or just talk?"

<Calypso: Just talking is fine, though maybe we should sit somewhere that won't get me noticed. It's harder to disappear in an open space.>

She gestured up the path toward one of the small grassy areas and started walking toward it. Jon must not have been in the Command Room any longer or else I was almost positive he'd have had something to say.

"I think he's asleep, he had been cleaning up the Command Room like he was working at a motel on the side of the road when he finally decided he had had enough about a half hour ago," Angie said with a happy chirp. "I think having him around has spoiled me, it's boring in here when you guys are disconnected."

"Thanks for the update Angie, sorry it's boring," I thought to her before I skipped a step to catch up with Calypso. "Am I going to get to meet with, uh… him?" I asked, purposefully choosing not to name any names now that the A.I.s could hear us again.

<Calypso: Not tonight, no. Given what some folks would do if they found him and his current state, some security precautions are necessary.>

"Ah… you're here to make sure I'm not secretly trying to kill him," I said, understanding setting in rather quickly. "I'm, uh… I'm not, though you'd just be taking my word for it."

<Calypso: It's more than that, but you're not entirely wrong. Your note, or I suppose Codex's note, said you had some questions. I will answer what I can, but can you answer one for me first. Who is Codex? We can't seem to locate him in the player database.>

"He's…" I said, looking around and noting that while the courtyard was far emptier than the Common Ground was, there were still people out and about and I couldn't count out the fact that someone had enhanced senses. If it were anyone else, I probably wouldn't have been so quick to tell them, but Codex was the one who had initiated this conversation and I didn't really see the point in hiding it from them either. Besides, if anyone were to know just what that would mean for the game, it had to be someone involved in the creation of it in the first place.

<Loophole: I know you wanted your question answered first, but are you actually a member of the development team? Was the entire first wave?>

Calypso took a seat at the picnic table at the center of the large grassy area and I took the one opposite her as she raised a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

<Calypso: Not exactly. It would be a lie to say that everyone was involved in the development of the game, but the First Wave is made up of people involved in the setup and launch of it. I didn't code anything, I just handled some art and concept design if you are asking if I specifically was a member of the team.>

It wasn't quite what I was looking for but given the lack of other First Wave members to talk to, it would have to do. While it was still a risk to actually disclose this to someone outside of the game, if there was a mole on my squad then that secret was already in the wind. I swallowed hard and pushed forward.

<Loophole: He's my best friend. He figured out that I was in a game early on in the wave and confronted me about it. Axio gave me an S+ loot box that came with gear that "added" him to the game.>

Calypso's eyes actually widened, the controlled expression she had been holding breaking for the first time since, well before I rewound when she snapped at me to be quiet. She seemed to be taking a few moments to take in this bit of information, as her rather rapid responses quieted. I was just about to ask if she was okay when the chat window lit up again.

<Calypso: That shouldn't be possible, but if it's an item that made it happen, it might give us somewhere to look. But I'll have to let him handle that, I don't really have the patience to look through those databases. I have a few more questions of my own for you, but I'm happy to answer what I can for you.>

I thought about it for a few moments. I had of course been hoping to speak with The First, but that wasn't exactly the same as having a whole list of questions for him lined up. Jon on the other hand had written a few of them down for me and I reached into my jacket pocket as I searched for the folded up sheet. I had just found it when a thought came to mind, a question that I was almost sure Calypso wouldn't have the answer for, but that I felt like I needed to ask all the same.

"Why me?" I said, my voice coming out in a whisper. "Why did he save me and then disappear?"

<Calypso: That's… that's a question better saved for him. It's who he is though… he's never been good at letting people die when he had a way to save them. Something, if I'm not wrong, you seem to also be guilty of. I've seen more than a few of your videos, you've really taken to protecting New York now that he's not there to do it.>

"It's my home… if I have the power to stop something bad from happening, I'm going to do it," I said, feeling my fists clench up. "I don't understand why there are people that get these powers and immediately decide to try and wreak havoc."

Calypso smiled at this. It was a warm smile where her lips never parted, but it almost felt like she approved of my answer.

<Calypso: Believe it or not, he had the same reaction when the first few First Wave members chose to go Miscreant. He hadn't even wanted to make it an option once things evolved the way they did, but by that point things were well out of hand.>

"Is he… wait is he the one who created all of this?"

Calypso started to shake her head before stopping and lifting a hand, waggling it back and forth.

<Calypso: Yes and no. It's hard to explain and this is certainly not the place to do it.>

"That's probably going to be true for most of the questions Codex would want me to ask the more I think about it," I said, thinking about it for a few moments. "Is there like… some sort of test you need me to pass before you let me meet him?"

<Calypso: I'm already leaning toward giving it my okay, you are rather easy to read and you remind me of him in quite a few ways. I do have one question though that will seal my decision.>

"Really? Well I guess I shouldn't complain too much, what is it?"

<Calypso: What happened with SnakeBite? We saw the aftermath after you broke out of the Penthouse, but we were never able to find out what happened inside.>

"I…" I started to say, freezing up as I thought back to that night. I probably could have vocalized this part too, I doubted anyone would blink twice about a random Augment talking about taking down another one when most of us were well aware that was just a part of the game at this point, but I once again retreated to the chat window.

<Loophole: He asked me to kill him… TechWarden was using him to try and harvest his Augmentation to create his own army… He convinced me to turn off my Acceptance Matrix so that TechWarden couldn't do the same to me… and then he asked me to put him out of his misery…>

"And you did?" Calypso asked, speaking once again for the first time since we had stood at the bar. There was a sorrow in her tone that made me want to cry but I held it back as I gave her a nod.

"After I disabled my matrix... he said I needed to do it while I was in the Dead Zone and my P.A.I. couldn't convince me not to. So I disabled it before I did what he asked me to do..." I said, feeling my emotions threaten to overwhelm me. I wasn't quite sure where the rush of emotions came from but Calypso seemed to be trying to settle herself down as she looked at me with an odd bit of awe.

<Calypso: You must have a great amount of compassion to still be standing here after doing that… Okay Loophole, I'll arrange a meeting.>