Adam Online: Absolute Zero

MARIAM SPOKE unhurriedly. The pauses between her sentences could have been measured with a stopwatch.

"You failed to kill Leonarm without attracting attention. But we are satisfied with the result. No, we are not entirely satisfied with the result."

Fortunado listened carefully, while Grisha clicked his pincers thinking: A nuclear explosion in Rim Zero sure does draw attention.

"We have analyzed the course of the operation," Mariam continued. "We cannot give you another nuclear bomb."

"Shame," Grisha said, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his pincers.

Fortunado nodded. "I understand. Too much noise. The explosion is the talk of the town. The atomic bomb was an urban legend in Adam Online, but now everyone knows that they actually exist."

"We cannot give you another nuclear bomb," Mariam repeated for some unknown reason.

It wasn't that she had no facial expressions, but it was as if she was following a certain rhythm.

Crusher couldn't help himself. He messaged Most Ancient Evil privately: This girl bothers me.

She scares me too, the bizoid answered.

Grisha tapped his pincers on the table, demanding attention.

"Then we'll have to increase our fee, Mariam. Killing high-level players costs a lot in ranking points. Sometimes those players take us out, after all. Our guild is already off the top ten.

Fortunado nodded his agreement with his brother.

After a pause that seemed unnecessary, as if the girl was imitating a pause for thought, she asked,

"How much?"

Fortunado examined his guildmates inquiringly, then turned to the screen. "Another five hundred million."

Holy shit, Crusher and Most Ancient Evil said to each other.

Now there's a demand.

"The world of real business and big bucks."

Mariam shook her head. "Too much. We are forced to request services from the Golden Horde and Langoliers guilds. Thank you for your collaboration..."

Grisha waved his pincers. "Hey, hey, ain't ya heard of haggling?"

"Haggling?" Mariam said pensively. It seemed to everyone as if something like arrogance appeared in her blue eyes. "We already pay a lot."

Fortunado stretched his mechanical mouth into a smile. "No harm in trying. Alright, Mariam. How much extra can you give us?"

"Another hundred million for every level three hundred player. The amount will reduce in direct proportion to reduced level."

Grisha and Fortunado exchanged glances. Still a hell of a lot, Crusher messaged Most Ancient Evil privately.

Yep. We're rich. Even in real life, after converting it into money.

What's the exchange rate right now?

Sixty-two thousand gold per buck.

Fortunado brought a doc.u.ment up on the projection panel. "Agreed. Who's next?"

"Any player from the leaderboard with an obvious intention to explore the borders of Rim Five," Mariam signed the contract. "Or even if he's trying to approach it."

"What are our orders for Leonarm?"

"None."

"But he'll level up again. Wouldn't it be simpler to camp him in Rim Zero?"

Mariam took another artificial pause, then finally explained,

"He would simply exit his pod, wait another rotation and enter a new ranked character. The MSB constantly levels them up for their purposes. We do not need that. We cannot give you another nuclear bomb. Any questions?"

The guildmates exchanged glances. "I don't think so," Fortunado said.

"Get started, then."

Mariam disappeared.

Grisha gleefully rattled his pincers on the table. "Five hundred million!"

Even Fortunado smiled indulgently. "Don't take it for granted. We need to level back up to three hundred. And keep others from doing the same. First let's figure out what to do with the people at the top of the leaderboard right now."

* * *

Fortunado pulled up the current leaderboard on the projector panel. The top ten now looked like this:

Adam Online Ranking Leaderboard (Asian Cl.u.s.ter)

1. Jamilla — 331 (Fallen Angel).

2. David Kronenberg — 322 (Bizoid).

3. HyperNoob — 290 (Mechanodestructor, Guild: Langoliers).

4. Evil Transformer — 280 (Mechanodestructor, Guild: Golden Horde).

5. Knight_Ivan — 266 (Human, Guild: Viatichi ).

6. Your Mom — 253 (Super).

7. Slippery Joe — 250 (Bizoid, Guild: Golden Horde).

8. Blondie Lee — 245 (Fallen Angel).

9. Henrich Saidullaev — 240 (Mechanodestructor).

10. Alan Kachmazov — 231 (Super, Guild: Langoliers).

Crusher the fallen angel skimmed through the champions' profiles. "Boss, the trouble is..."

"Yeah, I know," Fortunado said, shaking his mechanical head.

"I don't," admitted Most Ancient Evil. "Why's everyone so down?"

Grisha pointed at the leaderboard. "To knock down at least Jamilla, we need at least five of us."

"And even then, it might be tough," Crusher said.

The bizoid retracted his head and snarled. "I'll tear her apart right now for five hundred million. I don't care about the levels. I need cash."

"So does everyone," Crusher replied. "But that's not the only problem."

"What else?"

"The ranked players are in some guild. What do you think will happen when we start knocking them out?"

"Guild wars? Haven't had those in a while. The Black Wave will show who rules Adam."

Fortunado and Grisha were silent. The mechanodestructors' facial expressions were primitive: their smile was grimace-like, and an attempt to knit their brows (or what they had in place of them) lead to such a deformation of the head (or what they had in place of it) that it was hard to follow what was going on.

"Nobody is tearing up anybody!" Fortunado snapped. "We're too weak to start a war against the other guilds. We need to prepare."

"Agreed," Crusher said.

"What if this Jamilla heads out to the border with Rim Six, to get into unexplored zones?" Grisha objected. "That's exactly what Mariam is afraid of, as I understand it."

"That's why we need to be as fast and level-headed as possible." Fortunado brought up a list of Black Wave guild members on the projection panel. "Let's plan our work for the next five days. We need to bring in all members above level two hundred."

Fortunado, Grisha and Crusher looked at the cards, noting the zones with the highest level black wavers in. Most Ancient Evil was the only one that didn't understand the tables. He just opened the description of the Jamilla character, thinking that he'd need to level up to destroy the super-strong fallen angel.

"As commanders, we have to not only get back to level two hundred, but also strengthen our battle skill leveling," Fortunado summarized. "If you see strong upgrades, DNA modifications or spells for sale, buy them all up, don't haggle. The more we buy, the less the people we have to kill can buy. We have plenty of money. Buy it all up. You'll have access to the guild budget."

Most Ancient Evil grunted contentedly.

"Each of you will create a group of ten of the best warriors," continued Fortunado. "Each group will pick a target from the leaderboard. We'll figure out who gets who as we go along. Make the groups based on who complements who. Meaning you, Crusher, shouldn't just pick angels or fallen angels. You should have a couple of each race..."

"But nonetheless, put an emphasis on mechanodestructors," Grisha interrupted. "They're expensive to maintain, but effective. Also, our guild Depot will maintain them for free."

"Question," Most Ancient Evil raised a paw. "Do we accept anyone, or only guild members?"

"Anyone. Moreover, I'll start by trying to lure the best warriors from other guilds to our side. Then we won't have to kill them. The main thing is not to mess around with Rim Six or any zones after Rim Five. I'll also increase recruitment. We need to expand the guild and help our warriors level up."

The bizoid scratched his furry chin. "Hey boss, what's in those secret zones? And who is this Mariam person anyway?"

Crusher also pricked up his wings waiting for Fortunado's answer.

"I don't know who she is or what her endgame is."

"Right, but all the same..." the bizoid said, lowering his voice. "What if she's one of those... what do you call 'em, Tutors?"

"Mentors," corrected Crusher.

"I don't believe in the Mentors," Fortunado spoke decisively. "More likely the special forces of Moscovian Rus and the Kazan People's Republic are plotting against each other again. Or China against India. Or the south against the north."

"But don't you wonder what's in those new zones? What if..."

"It's irrelevant to our commission," Fortunado interrupted. "Let's get to work, boys. I'll expect lists of your group candidates in twelve hours. In twenty hours, we need to drop Jamilla down to level one hundred."

Grisha pointed his pincers at the map. "Hmm, she's heading straight for Rim Five..."

Fortunado gestured for Crusher and Most Ancient Evil to leave. "Good luck. Keep in touch."

* * *

After the newly promoted guild bosses left, Fortunado turned to Grisha. "How long you planning to walk around n.a.k.e.d?"

"Patience, bro. Nika is making me a mechanodestructor body the like of which nobody in Adam Online has ever seen. We're going to crack players like nuts."

"All the same, put yourself in a tank or a mech at least. Anything could happen, someone might step on you. And by the way, the group stuff applies to you too."

"But not you?"

"No. I'm overseeing all of you. Or do you think you could do better than me?"

Grisha leapt off his chair, clanging his monowheel. "Nah, bro, I'm a bad organizer."

Fortunado approached the projection panel and brought up a log of the battle in Rim Zero.

"Can't get Leonarm out of your head either?" Grisha asked.

"He's a dangerous enemy. He fights as if barely thinking about it."

"So? He still went down."

"Anyone would have gone down to a nuclear blast. It's as if Leonarm doesn't take Adam Online seriously. That ease is what makes him dangerous. We need to keep an eye on him."

"But we don't have anyone in Rim Zero, or even in Rim Three. Nothing but scrubs there."

Fortunado turned. "Alright, I'll do it. You fulfil your duty."

Grisha rolled to the exit. "Then I'll head over to see Nika. I'll try to convince her to rejoin the guild."

"Don't forget to get changed!" shouted Fortunado at his retreating back. "You're tempting fate to take you out."