Exodus: Guns & Gore

QJ lay in bed for a moment after logging out. "Annabelle seems a bit different than other NPCs in GnG." He walked over to his desk and opened his hud, a young Indian woman with dark brown skin and black hair answered.

"Dr. Gajendra's Lab, this is Indira." The woman smiled in a friendly manner, although she didn't know the young man.

QJ bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Naomi did mention that she had three very lovely assistants."

"Flirt with him!" Naomi's voice seemed to come from a different room, a moment later her smiling face replaced her assistants. "I'll send Indy's holo right over if you are interested."

QJ laughed, he could hear the protesting girl in the background. "Sure, she seems nice. I've got a question for you, Naomi."

Naomi stopped her teasing and looked serious for a moment, QJ had his dad's uncanny ability to figure things out. This coupled with high intelligence made him someone who didn't ask questions very often. "What can I do for you QJ?"

"A GnG NPC is exhibiting signs of an LAI. Tell me about the GnG intelligence core."

Naomi didn't bother to hide her surprise, "seems like you know something already. Impress me." Naomi gestured at some people in the lab after a few moments Indy had rejoined her along with a girl sporting a black mohawk.

"GnG NPCs seem fragmented, given just enough core parts to simulate performing as an LAI." QJ pulled out the notepad he regularly scribbled notes in.

The mohawked girl shook her head, "not really fragmented."

QJ leaned back, carefully considering what she said. "No? Let's see, there are ten servers, an NPC shell in each. They must be anchored then, to a central core. Each shell uses the core to access its intel needs."

Mohawk girl stared at him, then back at Naomi. "Holy Shit."

Naomi held up her hand, "please continue QJ."

"NPCs that are deemed more important, are able to allocate high core functions." QJ turned the page in his notes. "What happens when an important NPC gets singular access to the core?"

Naomi had her own notebook out and was writing while she listened. "How is that possible?"

"Across all servers, two high-value NPCs have been eliminated due to gaming elements. On the Phoenix server that just opened up, these two NPCs survived for the first time. As a result new content was released." QJ had grown up with TAP NPCs, so he was particularly sensitive to the differences between them and other NPCs. When Lilly encountered the Freeborn, the change was starting to become noticeable. When he had met with Annabelle in the carriage, she had changed also.

Mohawk girl looked over at her supervisor's notebook and then back at QJ. "I'm Gin by the way. Singular core access could cause fusion."

"Leading to trait development, exploration, curiosity. Without any sort of limiter." QJ scratched his cheek, "this should be stopped now. Or we could be looking at a developing AI, maybe even an HAI, (High Artifical Intelligence) although those are theoretical."


"Why aren't you one of my assistants QJ?" Naomi frowned at him, "I need to end this conversation and contact my friend at GnG."

"Shouldn't I give you the NPC names?" QJ watched as Naomi froze in place.

"See? That's why I need more help. What are their names?"

"Lilianna Strom and Dixie Jones, aka Annabelle." QJ didn't know Annabelle's last name, but he had given enough information for them to pinpoint her.

QJ closed comm and walked into the kitchen, no one was around, but he could hear Anna's voice upstairs. "Going to the neighbor's house Anna."

Anna walked out to the railing a moment later. "Gotta date with one of those pretty sisters?"

QJ nodded, "you know it! Don't wait for me, you guys go ahead and eat."

"Okay, we'll talk about Thunder Keep and Guild Bases if you get back in time." Anna watched as he ran out the door and closed it behind him. "Too much of your dad in you, those girls don't stand a chance."

He walked over to the Hall home and knocked, a moment later the door opened and a pretty girl with long dark hair stood in the doorway.

"Hey QJ. You meeting Char?" Jo absolutely refused to call her younger sister by her GnG name.

"Yep." QJ didn't know what to make of the oldest daughter. She started attending a dance school in the city but seemed bitter and disinterested in everything else.

"Is that QJ? Tell him to throw a swimsuit on and hurry back!" Lotte called from her room.

Jo rolled her eyes, "what an idiot. You heard her right?" She watched as QJ ran back to his house. "She always gets the best of everything, yet somehow manages to mess it up."

QJ quickly changed into a swimsuit and returned a minute later. The garage door was now open and Lotte was sitting in her wheelchair waiting for him.

"Thanks for coming QJ." She had her hair in a ponytail that exposed all of her face, normally she would hide the scars under her long hair. "Feel like helping me with some physical therapy?"

"Yep, I can do that." QJ walked passed her and opened the access door to the backyard. She was wearing a full body suit meant for swimming. Only her hands and feet were exposed below the neck.

"Mostly I need you to make sure I don't drown, normally the twins help me out but they are visiting mom at the TAP Academy." Lotte wheeled through the door and moved the chair to the edge of the pool before applying the brake.

"I'll help you get to the edge first." He lent her his arm and she slowly walked to the edge of the water, her dark hair smelled like lilac. "You smell nice."

"Um.. thanks?" Lotte sat on the edge of the pool and then slid into the water. Since they were in the shallow side it was only four feet deep. "I start by treading water for ten minutes, I can only do about two minutes at a time."

QJ eased into the pool and moved toward the deep end, he turned his hud timer on so it displayed right above the water. He started it when Lotte began treading water.

"Jo seems a bit withdrawn." QJ kept himself afloat by just kicking his legs, he watched his classmate exercising.

"We used to be best friends, that was before my accident." Lotte was breathing easily as the first two minutes counted down.

"Just use me to catch your breath." QJ didn't react when she placed a wet hand on his shoulder and rested in place, for some reason his heart was hammering in his chest.

"There's a shooting range at the new Guild Base, did you know that?" Lotte's face was only inches away from his, she tried to relax knowing her scars were visible.

"Nope, I didn't know that." Ringo had told him to keep the instances under wraps until the next Guild meeting.

She moved away and started treading water again. "You are really something QJ. Doubler Canyon,

Main Event Quests, Guild Bases. We've only just started and you are creating waves."

"You helped with Doubler Canyon and the Keep assault that earned us the Guild Base." QJ was just starting to calm down when another two minutes elapsed and she rested against him. She was breathing harder this time, her fine features were focused.

"I'm just going to stick closer to you." She smiled when she said it, their eyes watching each other. "You have your mom's pretty eyes."

QJ frowned at her, "from now on refer to my eyes as manly, if you don't mind."

Lotte laughed as she moved away once again. "Fine, very manly blue eyes." She trod water while they talked, this time she struggled a bit. By the end of the two minutes, she was plainly very tired.

QJ moved closer and placed an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "You're doing great, just rest up. This is why I'm here."

She had an arm around his shoulder, the contact didn't bother her as she leaned her head against his. "Thanks."

After a few more sets that were brutally hard for her, she moved to the shallower side of the pool until the water was shoulder deep. "Not much for you to do now, I just walk back and forth in five feet of water."

QJ looked very interested, "looks like they want you to have better range of motion."

"Right, I'm supposed to use exaggerated movements." She started her exercise while he stayed in the deep end easily treading water.

"Hmm, looks like you move pretty well. Are you getting EPO injections?"

"I just started, our old insurance wouldn't cover those kinds of treatments." She marched steadily through the water, this was much easier for her then the treading.

QJ didn't know what sort of benefits TAP Academy offered, but he knew his mom would definitely make sure medical treatments were covered. "Is your mom enjoying teaching at the Academy?"

Lotte nodded as she continued walking. "She loves it, I can't believe how lucky we are. Just a few months ago we were staying with our relatives in Texas."

QJ leaned back and floated in the water without moving. "See that house that butts up against your backyard?"

"Yep, that's on another cul de sac right?" Lotte finally stopped and swam quietly toward QJ.

QJ felt her presence and started treading water, she stopped suddenly, her face turning red. "You weren't going to dunk me were you?"

"Yep, that was the plan." She sighed heavily and moved closer, both of her hands resting on his shoulders while they both moved their feet slowly. "What about that house?"

"It's my house. Pops originally bought it for himself, I guess living with newlyweds and an infant was a bit taxing." QJ moved his hands in small circles, not minding that he was doing most of the work.

Lotte glanced at the house, barely visible over the fence. "It's empty?"

"Yep, eventually I'll move in. Once I know a few more people willing to go with me." QJ's hud blinked at him and a moment later Ringo's face popped up. If she was surprised seeing them so close, her face didn't show it.

"The Phoenix Server has gone offline, it will remain so for the next day or so." Ringo noted that only one of her students looked surprised at this news.

QJ sighed, "where's that leave us?"

"In TAP actually." Ringo grinned at the face he made. "Leah Fintree contacted me, the Apple Festival is about to kick off."

"Attending would require having a TAP account." QJ had grown up in Ravenwood and had attended the TAP Academy, neither one of those required a game account. You could take a portal to either location directly from Exodus.

"Yep, we have no issues getting 3-day temporary trial accounts for everyone."

"My dad's going to eat this up." QJ knew without asking who put Leah up to contacting Ringo.

Ringo laughed. "I notified Rachel Brenner that she will have to hold the fort for a few days, both the 1st years and the 3rd years will be attending the Apple Festival."

Lotte finally realized that she was completely wrapped around QJ and moved away quickly. They had squeezed together to talk on the hud. "Are their guns in TAP?" She literally knew nothing about the game.

"Only if you are a brilliant engineer, a gnome or an NPC assassin." He knew all about the classes and gameplay. Just about everyone he knew was a TAP hero.

"What should a slinger like me play then?" Lotte was a GnG fanatic, she knew nothing about TAP, other then they kicked everyone's ass in the arena every year.

Ringo leaned forward, paying attention to the question.

"Slingers should play Rangers, their range damage is awesome." QJ moved to the edge of the pool and climbed out while Lotte waited in the water.

"I've sent notifications to everyone to meet up in Q-Town at 1400, that gives you two hours to make a TAP character. All extra duties are suspended for the duration." Ringo closed the comm before she laughed at the face QJ had made.

QJ gave Lotte an arm and helped her settle back in her chair. "Guess I'll finally get to see the Apple Festival."

Lotte tried not to laugh at the face he made while he pushed her chair back into the garage. "I got it from here QJ. Thanks."

QJ walked back to his house a few minutes later, he had a towel draped over one shoulder. The house was empty. He made himself a quick sandwich and then slid on the VR suit. He decided to use the VR chamber, it enabled slightly better response times, despite what the experts said.

"Log On TAP."

TAP Interface Acquired. Do you wish to proceed?

"Yes."

Welcome to the character creation interface

Legacy Account Detected... Please Stand By.

"Very funny dad, just you wait. I'm going to get..."

Legacy Account Located: Talia Riley

"Mom?"