PlayaSlaya
Class: Cybernetic Knight
Faction: Maximus (leader)
Level: 60
“Yo! The man of the hour,” PlayaSlaya said with a casual nod. “That was an ass-kicking if ever I’ve seen one.” He slapped his thigh and laughed. “Ooh man, I’m not gonna let Nassus live that one down. She’s been killing it down there for weeks, but there’s always a bigger fish. Even if their level doesn’t show it.” He rose and strode over to Titus, then reached out for a bro hug. Titus seemed to react on instinct and clasped hands, then went in for the one-armed hug.
“That’s what’s up,” PlayaSlaya said as he pulled away. “Titus, right?”
The big man nodded.
“That was a hell of a show, Titus. We’ll need to get you some more levels, obviously, but once you’re ready, man, I can’t wait to get you into the mix. Can’t wait to have a go myself,” he said, looking the big man up and down with a smirk. He shook his head. “That could be a fun fight.”
“With all due respect,” Titus said, careful with his words, “I don’t want to join Maximus. You guys are... cool... and all, but I’m a bit busy right now.”
“Busy?” PlayaSlaya frowned as if the word was new to him. “Dude, you won the tournament! The lower branch, admittedly – the real fights start in the level fifty-six to sixty tourny – but still. Since you’re a champion, I can offer you immediate membership in Maximus and an officer position. That’s huge, man. What are you busy with that’s better than that?”
All right, here’s your chance, big guy, Kaiden thought. Honestly, he wanted to step up himself and handle this. But it was Titus who’d won the tournament and earned this meeting. PlayaSlaya had come to meet with Titus, not his friends who’d tagged along and watched the whole tournament from the sidelines. It’s fine. Titus has got this. He knows what to do. We just have to be careful about how much we say. This is a delicate topic, so we’ll introduce it slowly. Don’t want to just blurt out our plan to take down—
“I’ve been busy tracking down a database of government crimes and plan on using it to topple the Party,” Titus said simply.
Ah. Uh. Well, that’s one way to do it.
A stunned silence followed in which a series of emotions played out across PlayaSlaya’s face. He frowned at first, then his eyes narrowed with suspicion only to be replaced a second later by what looked to be shocked disbelief. Then, a frown again.
He waved dismissively at his guards.
“Get gone.”
And they did, moving without hesitation and disappearing back down the ramp so that only Kaiden, Titus, Zelda, and Thorne were left atop the stadium with the guild leader.
And one other. Kaiden hadn’t noticed him at first; had taken him for just a guard. He was a dour-looking guy, with black hair and a pale face set in what seemed a perpetually sad expression. Kaiden’s visor pulled up information on him.
Nando
Class: Brawler
Faction: Maximus
Level: 60
Considering he was still there, he must have been important to the guild. The number two in charge, maybe?
As Kaiden considered what in the hell to do next, and everyone stood in a stunned silence, one of the massive, billowy clouds that eternally circled Kyraxis’ atmosphere swept over them. For a moment the whole of the world was foggy and dark, then it passed and the sun beamed down once again, fierce and bright.
“Care to elaborate on that statement?” Nando finally asked, breaking the silence with a voice full of doubt. “Or were you just going for shock value? Trying to make an impressive entrance?”
“Kai?” Titus said, nodding back to him. “You’re better at this than me. Take it from here?”
Oh, gee. Thanks, dude. Drop a bomb and let me come in and clean up the mess.
Kaiden took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“What’s up, Playa?” he said and extended a hand in a rough imitation of the bro hug Titus had been greeted with.
PlayaSlaya frowned at him and didn’t move. Nando coughed, directing attention to him.
“Uh, yeah.” Kaiden dropped his hand back to his side and stood up straight. “So, here’s the thing…”
At this point, what was there to hold back? He started with the backstory on the database, then moved on to examples of the information it contained. He finished off that bit by trading the sample file Zelda had uploaded – just a taste of some of the more damning files – then transitioned into what they’d been doing, the attack on the grinder, and what they were planning to do next.
“And that’s why…” Kaiden hesitated before going further. If I tell this guy our plan and he sells us out to the Party, we’ll be dead in the water. But we need his support.
“And that’s why we’re going after Warden HQ. If we can get to the All-Frequencies Broadcast System, we can share this database with everyone in the game. We can expose the Party’s crimes to the masses.”
“Nando,” PlayaSlaya said after Kaiden finished. “You hearing this shit?”
“I am. Not sure I’m believing it, though,” the apparent second-in-command of the guild said, still eyeing them with suspicion. “You have the database on you, right now?” he asked.
PlayaSlaya nodded at the question, as if asking it as well. His expression had been the same throughout Kaiden’s entire explanation: a mix of amusement and disbelief. As if the thought of the idea was good fun but too good to be true.
“Of course not. This is a PVP zone,” Zelda said. “We’re not that
