Chapter 45 - Cassius's Mech Shop

Whilst Vicky and Mia were captured by Manic. The captain logged into the game. He was in the safe house, waiting for Vicky to send the coordinates to the race.

The captain was seated on the sofa, when he got a voice message from an unknown player in the game.

"Max! We got two priced possessions of yours. I bet Connor would want to know too. Get to Cassius's mech shop. There's a gift waiting for you. Good luck finding the coordinates," Dash's voice said, when the captain played the voice message.

The captain opened his gauntlet, and typed in Connor's player identification. He then opened a channel to communicate through the earpiece.

"Connor you there?" the captain asked on his earpiece.

"Max! Did she send you the coordinates?" Connor asked.

"No. I got a message from Dash. They've got her," the captain replied.

"What do you mean they've got her?" Connor asked.

"We can't talk this out on comms. We need to meet somewhere," the captain replied.

"Fine. Meet me behind the plaza," Connor said.

"Okay! I'll meet you there," the captain replied.

The captain walked out of the house, and saw Vicky's car parked outside. He got into the car, and drove to the plaza.

At the plaza, the captain parked the car, and walked behind the building, just as Connor requested.

"About time you showed up," Connor said stepping towards the light, from the shadow of the building. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and trousers. He had two pistols on his hip holster.

"We need to get to a Cassius's mech shop," the captain said.

"Where's that?" Connor asked.

"I don't know," the captain replied, sending the voice message to Connor.

"What's this?" Connor asked checking his gauntlet.

"The message Dash sent me," the captain replied.

Connor listened to the message on his earpiece. He walked towards the car park. The captain followed Connor.

"We'll talk to Violet. Maybe she'll know where Cassius's mech shop is," Connor said. He walked to a pickup truck, and continued "Get in."

"You sure about this?" the captain asked, getting into the passenger seat of the vehicle.

"It's worth the shot," Connor replied.

Once they arrived at the club. Connor took the lead and walked to the entrance.

"We need to meet Violet," Connor said to the bouncer. The bouncer called a staff member, who led the duo to hidden town.

"What can I do for you?" Violet asked, as the two of them walked into her tent.

"We need to find Cassius's mech shop," Connor replied.

"You're teaming up with him now too?" Violet asked, looking at the captain.

"You got a problem with that?" Connor asked.

"As long as he doesn't go running back to his old friends," Violet said.

"Do you know the coordinates to the mech shop or not?" Connor asked.

"I do. But first a favour," Violet replied.

"We don't have much time, to be doing favours for you," the captain said.

"What did I tell you the last time you were here? You don't have a say here," Violet replied.

"Do you want Manic to win?" Connor asked.

"Whoever wins, is not a problem for us. We'll still be down here," Violet replied.

"Trust me, it will be a problem for you too," the captain said.

"Just give us the coordinates, and we'll leave," Connor said.

"Partnerships with me are not that easy. I need a favour first, and then you'll get what you want," Violet said.

"We'll do your favour afterwards. We're in a hurry," Connor replied.

"Well then finish my favour soon," Violet said. Connor looked at the captain.

"What do you want?" the captain asked.

Connor glanced at the captain one more time, and took a pocket knife from his pocket, and held it at Violet's neck.

"One time! I ask you for help, and this is how you repay me?" Connor asked, his voice sounded rough, and aggressive. His eyes turned red, and the white in his eyes were black.

"I'm not afraid of you," Violet said. A few other players were in the tent. They pointed their guns at Connor.

"You should be," Connor replied, he turned around to the other players and walked towards them.

The captain stepped back, as if he wanted nothing to do with what was going on. Connor looked at the captain, and back at the players pointing their guns at him. He took a step towards them, flipping his knife. Connor threw the knife at one of the player's head. The other two players started shooting at him. Connor walked towards them. The bullets hitting him did no damage to him. Connor walked near the two of them, and broke their necks, and turned to Violet.

"I'll send you the coordinates," Violet said, looking at the three players that Connor just killed.

"Now!" Connor replied. Violet sent the coordinates to Connor. Connor looked at the captain, and said "Let's go!"

The captain followed Connor. Connor's eyes turned back to normal, his voice did too.

"You didn't have to do that," the captain said.

"I did have to. How else were we going to get the coordinates?" Connor said, as they walked back into the club.

They left the club, to follow the coordinates Violet gave them.

"How much longer to the mech shop?" the captain asked.

"Just a little further," Connor replied.

They arrived at Cassius's mech shop. They got out of the vehicle. Vicky's mask was near the gate.

"That's Vicky's," the captain said. He looked at Connor, and took his gun out. Connor opened the gate. The lights were switched off. The captain walked towards the switch on the wall, and turned the lights on. They saw Mia tied up to the railing.

"Mia!" Connor said, walking towards her. Mia was unconscious, her head was bent down. Connor raised her head up, and noticed the slit on neck.

"There should be a HUD jammer here, causing her to not respawn," the captain said. He looked around the garage, and found a small device with a flickering light. He smashed the device on the ground.

Mia's body disintegrated, and she respawned next to the place she died.

"What took you so long? They got Icicle. They're planning an ambush," Mia said.

Meanwhile, Cassius's mech shop was being watched by Manic and Dash. They were in another safe house in the city.

"They found her," Dash said, staring at the screen in front of him.

"Good. Everything is going according to plan," Manic said.

"What about her?" Dash asked, looking at Vicky, who was chained to the wall, her mouth was tied too.

"She'll watch her family and friends finally lose the fight," Manic replied.

"You think she'll work according to our plan?" Dash asked.

"She will, once we make her," Manic said. He took Vicky's karambit that was on the table, and walked towards Vicky. He made a cut on her hand.

Back at the mech shop, Mia was explaining how they got captured by Manic.

"And that's why you shouldn't trust anyone," Connor said.

"How were we supposed to know Cassius was going to snitch us out to Manic," Mia said.

"We need to find Vicky. That's our first priority. We need to call in the team for this," the captain said. He noticed the camera on the wall, and shot at it.

"What are you doing?" Mia asked.

"Someone's being watching us. Let's go," the captain said.

They arrived at the safe house. Connor was pacing the room, trying to devise a plan.

"How are we going to track her?" Connor asked.

"Ray…" Mia said, and was interrupted by the captain.

"Sarah. She knows how to track players," the captain said and continued, "Stay here. I'll be back."

The captain logged out of the game. He got out of the pod, and walked to Miles's room, and knocked on the door. Miles opened the door to his room, in his night clothes.

"Why are you waking me up this late at night?" Miles asked. He looked half asleep.

"Get in the game now. Manic has Vicky," the captain replied. Miles's eyes widened at what he heard.

"Okay. I'll meet you in the game, should I tell Colton and Kane too?" Miles asked. The captain nodded his head. He walked away and took a phone call.

"Max," Sarah said answering the phone.

"Manic captured Vicky. We need to track her," the captain said.

"Hold on. Okay! There's a number on the back of the pod. Find that out before we go into the game. I should be able to hack into the game, and track her to her exact location, instead of the method used in the game," Sarah said.

"Just give me a minute," the captain said. He ran to Vicky's room and looked at the numbers behind the pod. There were four different sets of numbers. The captain looked at the pod, and said "There's four numbers here. Which one do you want?"

"The one that has four letters at the beginning and end, sixteen characters altogether," Sarah said.

The captain looked at the pod, and told the number to Sarah.

"Is that the right one?" the captain asked.

"Yes. Give me a few minutes," Sarah said. The captain heard typing, and then Sarah said "Got her. I'm sending the coordinates to our game characters."

"Good. I'll see you in the game," the captain said, and cut the line.