Chapter 22: Multinationals and Murder Games

  “G’day, Victor,” I said, opening the door and giving the tall moustachioed man a toothy smile. “Come on in, big fella.”

  He returned the smile stiffly, his eyes flicking past me to my team.

  I clapped him on the shoulder, my grin widening. I wasn’t sure why I was being such an arsehole to the bloke, but something about the politician just brought out the worst in me.

  Victor’s unease evaporated as he flashed his bright white smile. “Thanks Allan, I’m glad we’ve been able to put our earlier misgivings behind us.” He strode into the room, my team parting before him. A group followed, diverse in race and size, yet all wearing the same bright white smiles and casual affluence like uniforms.

  “So Allan, the Vault.” He took a seat at the head of the heavy, rough-hewn table. Behind him the fireplace roared. His team followed, taking seats around the table and leaving nowhere for us. I caught Paddy’s eye, he shrugged, then looked to Ariel. The kid rolled her eyes, and with a clatter, a table popped free from her inventory. A moment later, chairs appeared too. The five of us took our seats—and I was glad ours sat higher than theirs. It felt like the adults' and kids' table at a barbecue.

  Tammy and Tyler each cracked a beer, the latter leaning back in his seat and setting his bare feet on the table top.

  “Yeah,” I said, getting us back on track. “The Vault. We’ve talked it over, and I reckon we’ll go for it.”

  Victor smirked. My suspicion sharpened. He had something planned. It didn’t matter. We needed to get stronger and this Vault was a massive opportunity. It wasn’t a trap if you knew it was there.

  “I’m guessing you have familiarised yourself with the rewards, Allan? You know how important it is that we get them early,” said Victor.

  I winced inwardly, I hadn’t checked—hadn’t even known we could. I gave Victor a nod regardless. I was getting better with the system menu, but everyone else seemed so much better informed than I was.

  Ariel answered for me. “Oui. 10,000 Build Points and 15 Tech-Tree Stages. You have a plan for them?”

  I glanced at her as she chatted with Victor, then tuned them out and dove into my menu, trying to figure out what the hell it all meant. I found the glossary and Priorita’s voice filled my head as text scrolled across my vision.

  Build Points: Nobody wants to watch a civilisation reinvent the wheel or extract copper from ore—or some equally tedious nonsense. That would be slow, boring, and highlight just how stupid you lot are! So instead, this generic resource “BP” is used to quick-construct Blueprints of fortifications, weapons, traps, tools and oh so much more!

  Tech-Tree Points: Can be used to unlock standard Blueprints or design new ones! Once a blueprint is unlocked, you can spend BP to quick-construct it.

  I hovered over the bold text of Blueprint and received an explanation. I felt like I was getting pretty good at this.

  Blueprint: Every civilisation starts with a basic set of blueprints, which can be quick-constructed using Build Points. But here’s where it gets interesting! In addition to standard blueprints—unlocked through research or discovered in Vaults—each civilisation can also design brand-new blueprints. These custom creations let you showcase your civilisation’s unique strategies and technological flair to the universe!

  My mind raced as I digested the information. Didn’t this mean we could instantly build anything we imagined? Like what was to stop us from building a car, or drone plane?

  I almost posted the question in team-chat, but thought better of it and kept reading. I had to get used to all this UI system info.

  Tech is limited on this stage to materials associated with your civilisation’s ‘Iron Age.’ Increasing complexity of blueprints will have a higher BP cost.

  Yeah, that made sense.

  The conversation between Ariel and Victor was growing heated. Paddy had joined in, pointing a finger at the big man, while the twins seemed content to watch.

  I tried to catch up on what was getting their knickers in a knot, but before I managed, we were all interrupted by the blaring WARGAMES! Theme, and Priorita’s sugary voice filled the room.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Good morning, survivors! Welcome to Stage Two, Day Two!”

  Priorita’s voice beamed with saccharine cheer, like a game show host on too much caffeine.

  “Gosh, it’s wonderful to see everyone so eager to dive into everything this stage has to offer. Special shout-out to the Lutantha—despite having nearly six million people, not a single contestant is still stuck at level two. You lot really do love killing!”

  That last line came out husky, her voice dropping an octave in a way that sent a chill right through me. Creeped me the fuck out.

  “I only have a few quick notes for you today, but they are like super important! So pay close attention.” Text populated in my HUD as she spoke, I tried to minimise it but couldn’t.

  Home-world Rewards: Based on your civilisation’s performance in Stage One, points have been allocated. Half have been awarded to your planetary leader for discretionary use, while the other half are reserved for popular vote by the entire population! These points can be spent in the WARGAMES! Shop or used to transport custom equipment and items from your Homeworld directly to the playing field.

  The prizes have now been selected, and transferred. BUT, you don’t just get given them! No, no, that would be boring. You’ve got to earn or unlock them! Check your Prizes tab for conditions.

  Some extra-special, and high value rewards have been hidden in WARGAMES! Vaults. So we recommend you level up, and challenge them as soon as possible.

  The room was filled with a buzz of discussion. I flicked a glance to Ariel and she didn’t seem surprised in the slightest. Catching my eye, she gave a small nod.

  Priorita made a funny little squeak, giddy to the point of struggling for words. “I am happy to announce the return of a much beloved system this season, with a brand new twist!” A drum roll began, and I could hear her breathing heavily behind it. More text appeared, accompanying her words.

  Spiritual and Religious Traditions: Have been activated! Oh my, I am personally so excited for this one. It was actually my idea! There are trillions of us, and I’ve never had a suggestion accepted before, oh, oh, oh, so this is a really big deal for me!

  Calm down, Dear.

  Yes, Prime. My apologies.

  Continue.

  The voices were identical—almost like the showrunner was talking to herself. It was damn confusing, but it confirmed my suspicion that there was more than one of the jelly cube aliens. The text on my HUD backspaced, deleting everything and starting again.

  Spiritual and Religious Traditions: Have been activated! Almost every civilisation boasts its own strange and wonderful belief system. Under this exciting new feature, weapons, armour, and artefacts linked to your deities are now part of the game. Discover and equip them to show the universe what makes your planet special—y'know, before we strip-mine everything edible and slag the rest!

  For full details, check the Spiritual and Religious Traditions tab.

  OK! That’s it from me today. Good luck, everybody!

  She was almost singing by the end. I was pretty sure this was a different alien from the one who normally did the announcements.

  For a long moment, nobody spoke. Both the ‘Prizes’ and ‘Spiritual and Religious Traditions’ tabs had opened automatically at the end of Priorita’s announcement, and my eyes flickered over the details. She had made it sound like most rewards had to be specifically awarded to a contestant, so I didn’t have high expectations.

  After all, who would give a reward to a random Aussie electrician?

  I froze.

  The menu overflowed with rewards—too many to fit on the screen.

  “Are you yanking my bloody chain?” I muttered.

  The prize at the top of the list was, I kid you not, a McDonald’s Cheeseburger. Beneath it were lines of other entries. All of them iconic products of major brands. I tapped on the cheeseburger and absentmindedly read the text out loud in disbelief.

  “I’m lovin’ it.”

  I nearly crapped myself as fireworks exploded all around me. People shouted and one of Victor’s team fell backward off her chair with a scream.

  A cheeseburger appeared in my hand, still warm. Everyone stared.

  “Yeah,” I said through a mouthful of burger. “Pretty sure the fucking multinationals are using me to advertise their shit. Good burger though.”

  The twins absolutely lost it, laughing their heads off. But nobody else looked amused.

  “Hey, Allan,” said Ariel, carefully. “Are you telling me that McDonalds has spent our homeworld points to send you a cheeseburger?”

  I nodded, still chewing. I was in heaven. I loved their pickles.

  She knuckled her eyes. “Please tell me that they’re the only ones. These points are meant to give us the advantage we need to save our planet.”

  I eyed the prizes page. From toiletries to t-shirts, I had pages of the bloody things.

  “Uh.” I said. “Yeah let’s go with that.”

  Tammy and Tyler continued to cackle with laughter.

  Victor cleared his throat to draw attention, but I ignored him.

  Instead I muttered “Just Do It,” and once again digital fireworks erupted around me. I caught a pair of sneakers, fighting back a grin.

  “I mean, there might be one or two more,” I said. Tyler howled, slamming his fist against the table again and again as he laughed. His beer toppled and rolled across the table, falling to the floor.

  I tossed the shoes to him—he’d lost a boot when he’d been mauled by the Wuu-Tang.

  Victor cleared his throat again, louder this time. His smile stretched, brittle as cracked plastic.

  “Jokes aside, Allan,” he said, his voice smoothing out like polished chrome. “You understand the importance of time. The Vault will not wait. Other teams—rival species—are already hunting for theirs. I trust you won’t squander this opportunity.”

  I swallowed the last bite of cheeseburger and wiped my hands on my pants. My grin didn’t fade.

  “Nah, reckon we’re done squandering.” I pushed back from the table, feeling the group shift with me. Tyler slipped his new sneakers on, still snorting. Ariel stood, eyes flashing, already scrolling through menus.

  Victor rose too, clearly expecting a speech. Or at least a handshake. I offered neither.

  “Well, good to see you, Vic,” I said. “But we’ll take it from here.”

  Before he could respond, I turned to my team. “Alright folks—weapons ready. Burgers and brand deals aside, we’ve got a vault to crack.”

  A chorus of agreement followed—some eager, some wary—and we filed out. The door slammed shut behind us, cutting Victor off mid-reply.

  The air outside was thick with humidity, heavy with burger-stink and promise.

  I breathed it in deep.

  This was step one—becoming strong enough that no one would ever control me again.

  My stomach growled. And maybe, just maybe, I’d snag another cheeseburger while we were at it.