Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (34 page)

"Come on, Donny, just tap out already. You know I can't loosen my hold. Otherwise, you would just escape," reasoned out Kurt.
"No!" shouted Donny. "Aaaaah!" he screamed out again.
After more than a minute passed, it was the referee who decided to end the fight and declared Kurt the winner.
Donny screamed out in protest. Nash and Cacoy quickly went to him, to help him and calm him down.
It was a close fight, but Kurt was still slightly better than Donny.
As he assisted his brother back to the locker room, Nash heard one of the bystanders talk. "The two of them should have met at the nationals."
He couldn't have agreed more, but this was the hard reality.

* * * * * * 

Nash stretched out his arms as he stepped out of his Zectas game pod. He was still in Centzo as the Vigilantez were still there enhancing the city's defenses.
He felt that it was safe for them to stay in Centzo for a little while longer. According to Caid, Burmistrz himself was rattled.
Their defeat in Centzo made Burmistrz recall all of the stationed Cavalry Knights in the outer villages back to his capital in Coatl.
The Beggar Evocati estimated that it would take more than a year for the Burmistrz to recover the loss of his Brandals.
Confident of their situation in Zectas, he logged out as it was time for him to get his monthly check from the game center.
THRASH THRASH THRASH
Yet, he couldn't leave Donny alone as his youngest brother was making a loud racket in their garage.
It had been a full day after Donny lost in the AUTOMATA's city-preliminaries.
THRASH THRASH THRASH
Donny still continued on clamoring downstairs, which made Nash decide to go down and see him. As he passed by the kitchen, he found their Mima sitting in the kitchen table.
"Nash, could you come here for a second," she called.
He immediately changed directions and walked towards her. "Good morning, Mima. How are you feeling today?"
"Still not good, but I had to get up to see what Donny was up to. I heard from Seth about how he lost yesterday, but I think this is going a bit too far," explained his Mima. "It kind of reminds me on how you were like when you first started going into that game pod of yours."
Nash's shoulders dropped. He gave a guilty smile and couldn't come up with anything to say in his defense. He was about to reprimand Donny, but realized that this was the same way he acted when Tristan tricked him.
In fact, this was how he reacted whenever something bad happened to him in Zectas.
Mima then patted Nash's hand. "Just be kind to Donny, okay?"
"Alright, Mima, I will," replied Nash and headed over to his brother.
THRASH THRASH THRASH
Nash walked in on Donny as he was hitting a tin-garbage can into a misshapen figure with his Eskrima sticks.
"Ahem!" coughed Nash forcibly. "Hey, Donny."
His youngest brother stopped hitting the garbage can and looked at him.
"Are you honestly going to tell me that I shouldn't be like this?" asked Donny threateningly.
"No. Of course not," replied Nash quickly. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"Pretty great! Obviously!" answered Donny sarcastically.
"Yeah, I can see that," replied Nash with the same tone.
The two brothers fell silent and awkwardly chose different sides of the garage to stare at.
"Listen, I'm really sorry that I wasn't around to help you with your training," apologized Nash sincerely.
Donny mumbled something inaudible, but Nash decided not to force his brother to talk.
"I was too absorbed in my own thing that I completely neglected you," explained Nash, but he knew that it wasn't a valid reason at all. "I wish I had more time, but I just don't have that much time to spare with your training."
"Don't worry about it, Nash. I understand that," said Donny meekly. "I'm not really mad at you. In fact, I'm more angry with myself."
Nash was taken aback. He wasn't expecting to hear this from Donny.
"I mean Seth is doing his computer thing, and you have Zectas... I thought I had Eskrima. I mean the two of you are doing your own thing without any of my help, but both Seth and you still take the time to check on my progress," explained Donny.
"But, Donny, I think you did really well against Kurt. You were clearly why he got stronger this year. He was intimidated by you," Nash said to his brother proudly. "So, don't give up. Next year, it'll be us who will register to whichever city Kurt is entering."
Donny smiled gratefully, and appeared to have calmed down a bit.
"Also, I know that I've been acting like a psycho with my sudden outbursts before, but I want you to know that it isn't right. I'm working on it myself, and I think I've already adjusted to —" Nash stopped talking as he received a call from his Manager.
"Excuse me, Donny, I have to take this," said Nash and answered his Manager.

* * * * * * 

His Manager called him, and told him to come thirty-minutes later than the agreed upon time. Nash promptly arrived in the game center on the newly set schedule.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in, Nash. You're the only one who doesn't seem to understand my open door policy," said a friendly man sitting in his manager's table filled with stacks of papers and paper clips.
"Mr. Kohle, sorry. I keep on forgetting to just enter your office, Sir," sheepishly explained Nash as he sat down in front of him.
After he spoke, he instantly noticed that Mr. Kohle's hair had started to grow thin and that his face looked worn out.
"Is everything alright, Sir?" Nash voiced out his concern. The game center manager had always been like a second father to him, and it was because of him that he is playing Zectas now.
"It's nothing. Just not getting enough sleep lately," replied Kohle. "Anyway, here's your check."
Nash reached out his hand and took the check, but Kohle grabbed his hand.
"Listen, it's been over a year since you started playing Zectas and I wanted to know if you're experiencing any side effects?" Kohle asked apprehensively.
"Side effects? I don't think so?" he answered as he tried to recall any semblance of a symptom.
"Really? Because I got a call from your grandmother, telling me that you've been having outbursts lately? And now even Donny is acting the same way?"
"Mima called you?" asked a surprised Nash. "And what outburst?"
"She told me that she's been hearing you yelling inside your room," spelled out Kohle. "On the plus side, I asked that if you've been violent towards her or your brothers, but at least she hasn't noticed anything like that."
Nash was taken aback. He didn't know where all of this was coming from. Although it was true that he felt a bit irrational at times, but it was only because of the circumstances in the game.
He didn't respond and only stared at Kohle with a perturbed expression.
"Based on what I'm seeing, I guess your grandmother was right to worry," he spoke with great concern. "I think something inside Zectas changed you."
"Mr. Kohle, people change all the time. If I got a job somewhere else I bet I would've changed there too," countered Nash defensively.
"True, but I have it on good authority that there could be side effects to people who get too immersed in the virtual reality world," flatly stated the game center manager.
"For example," said Kohle as he suddenly picked up some paper clips on his desk and threw it at Nash.
Nash instinctively dodge all the paper clips and cried out. "Hey! What's the big idea?"
"Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove my point," said an astonished Kohle.
"A group of researchers in MIT tested Zectas players and Non Zectas players with a similar experiment," Kohle began to explain. "They would catch test subjects off guard and throw random stuff at them."
"Let me guess...all of them filed a lawsuit against the researchers," said Nash sarcastically.
"No," added Kohle quickly. "Some of the Zectas' players could dodge them just like what you did while others would block the thrown objects. Whereas, the non players would always be hit by some if not all of the objects thrown at them."
"So, we've got superpowers now?" asked Nash with a raised eyebrow.
Kohle strongly shook his head. "Of course, nothing like that. They just said that Zectas players have better reflexes."
"I don't think that's a bad side effect." Nash shrugged his shoulders. "In fact, that could be very useful in sports."
"True, but now the researchers are also doing some psychoanalysis on the players...and one of their initial findings is that some Zectas players have experienced personality changes."
"You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Kohle. I've got it handled," he waved his hands passively.
"Maybe, but I don't want to risk that with you. That's why I'm offering you a different job. It doesn't pay as much as your earning now, but at least it's safer," explained Kohle as he grabbed some sheets of paper and offered it to him.
Nash forcefully turned the papers back to Kohle, and stared at him angrily. "I don't want another job. I'm happy playing Zectas."
"Please, Mr. Kohle, I don't want to quit Zectas. I'm fine, honest," humbly pleaded Nash as he quickly changed his demeanor.
"Are you sure?" asked Kohle with uncertainty.
"Yeah, I'm positive. So, I have to run," said Nash hurriedly and stood up. "Thanks again for the check. I'll be back next month."
Nash sprinted for the door and left the game center in a flash.
Kohle stared at the door. He took a deep breath, picked up his phone and called one of his contacts. "Hello, Dr. Z? I think something's wrong with Nash. No! You told me that even if his game capsule was the first of its kind, it was suppose to be safe."
He abruptly stood up after he heard the answer on the other line. "I know that you used his data to create the special capsules you launched a few weeks later."
"If something happens to Nash, I'll tell the world the truth about what Zectas really does to its players," threatened Kohle and dropped the call.

* * * * * * 

Smoke awoke at the sights and sounds of the salubrious city. Yet, this time, it was not the sounds of plays that filled Centzo. Instead, he heard the clamoring of steel, the sawing of wood and other production works of enhancing the city's defenses.
The capital was less crowded as many of the citizens have already gone with Incitant and other members of Centzo's Sonstwelter Alliance. They had set out to rebuild the villages given to them. More than 40% of the capital's population had been reduced after they left.
Sharur, Jinggu, and Sharanga have also developed mounted ballistae, which allowed them to increase the range of their attack from the walls. They were placed slightly higher above their iron-curtains and enabled them to attack while defending at the same time.
There were plenty of things that Smoke needed to do in order to assassinate Burmistrz. He had thought of one method, but that was more of a suicide mission than an assassination.
Together with Adder and Espion, Smoke went to see Prosjak. He would have taken Sierra with him, but she had already left Centzo. She took all of her Therianthrope army for company as she went to complete her Hidden Job Quest.
"This way," said Espion as he led the way to Prosjak's office.
The royal adviser's door was open. "Prosjak, may we come in?" asked Espion humbly.
The middle-aged man sat behind his desk, looking at stacks of papers. "Of course," replied Prosjak. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, Smoke, wanted to discuss about the Duke's next assignment," began Espion.
"Yes, about that," replied Prosjak. "I just spoke with my colleague who's a part of the Avendre. I think he could help you out. If the city wasn't in such a bad shape, military-wise, I think we could have spared sending the Mercenaries with you."
Prosjak then took out a letter and handed it over to Smoke.
 

'Prosjak's colleague was the leader of the Avendre Mercenaries?' thought a surprised Smoke.
"Thank you, Prosjak, but can you tell me how to get to Mount Alouer?" asked Smoke.
"Certainly," replied the middle-age man and wrote it on a piece of paper. He then handed it over to him.
A notification window popped up after he read it.
 

'It's not that far from here,' observed Smoke to himself.
"I'm not sure what you're actual plans are, but I do know that the Burmistrz forces have been greatly reduced," explained Prosjak. "In fact, I heard that he has recalled all of his Cavalry Knights back to his capital. I estimate that he should need a—"
"A year in order to rebuild the force he lost from his Brandals," interjected a surprised Smoke, as he finished Prosjak's sentence for him.
Smoke knew this because this was exactly the same thing that Caid told him earlier.
"Oh, so you already knew about this? That's good," stated Prosjak cordially. "For the time being, I think going in with the Avendre Mercenaries would have the highest chance of success, but I am not sure how long that might take."
Smoke thought to ask Prosjak on the other method he thought of. "What if an elite strike force could secretly penetrate the city and attack Burmistrz? Do you think that would work?"
"Hm..." Prosjak tapped his desk and looked at Smoke intensely. He then turned his gaze on Adder and Espion. "I think the chances for success on that method is less than 50%. Furthermore, I think that someone like you would never choose such a method."
"What makes you say that?" asked Smoke curiously.
"Because you would never intentionally endanger the lives of your comrades, right?" stated Prosjak flatly. "Sure you would take them to war, but you always expect that all of them would come out alive."
The royal adviser then pointed to Adder and Espion. "Without a doubt, your private army will follow you anywhere. I bet they would even jump over a cliff if you ask them to."
Prosjak stood up, walked over to Smoke's side of the desk and patted his shoulder. "Thankfully, you're not that kind of a leader. That is why I think that you would never choose this method."
"But I'm not sure that even with the Avendre's help that we could take on Coatl itself. I mean a full frontal attack would involve a full scale war," explained Smoke.
"What if we came at them from a different angle?" asked Adder abruptly.
"Well, I guess that could work, but digging a tunnel to reach Coatl would take longer as well," replied Smoke.
"No, what I meant was—" Adder wasn't able to finish his proposal as he was interrupted by Prosjak.
"When facing an insurmountable task, there is no shortcut. But if you're patient enough. I think that charging in with the Avendre will still give you the highest chance of success," Prosjak repeated what he just said earlier.
"Alright," said Smoke with uncertainty. "Thanks for the recommendation. I'll visit the Avendre's HQ soon."
As the three Vigilantez left Prosjak's chamber with a muddled expression. Prosjak called out for Smoke to remain behind.
"About my other recommendation to you, it is not your actual level per se that stops me but your current rank. If you could move that to the next level, then I'll tell you more about it then," suddenly explained Prosjak.
Smoke had given up on asking him about that, but was pleasantly surprised to learn more about Prosjak's requirement.
"I think I get it. Thank you for that, Prosjak," said Smoke and started leaving again.
"Oh, and Smoke. Don't do what I said just because I said it. Think everything through. After that, I know that no matter what you do, it will be the right thing," stated Prosjak confidently.
Smoke briskly walked after his two Zectian friends in the corridor.
"What did Prosjak want?" asked Adder.
"Oh, he just told me about the other condition for another recommendation," explained Smoke.
After they got out of the building, Adder finally shared his thoughts. "Do you think Prosjak wants us to do what the Brandals did to Centzo?"
"Do you mean harass the entire city, and cut out their food supply?" asked Espion.
"I don't think so, but what he said about it having the highest chance of success does make sense," reasoned out Smoke. "I just don't like the time frame that it entails, and that is also if we could hire enough Avendre Mercenaries to match Coatl's Knights."
Smoke then pulled his two friends to a discreet corner. "I'll leave for the Avendre's Headquarters after I gather some supplies, while you two start preparations for our journey back to Verbrannt. Leave as soon as you can. I know that Caid said Verbrannt should be safe, but it's best to be vigilant always."