Black Sun (Phantom Server: Book #3) (34 page)

* * *

I opened my eyes and met Liori’s gaze.

She smiled.

Shall we go on?

Nanites swirled up.

Navigational marker: created

Destination point: created

You’ve received a new level!

Your Colonizer skill has grown 1 pt.

New nanite control codes available.

Rubicon planet. A year later

The bunker was located deep underground.

Every object within, every part of its highly sophisticated equipment was comprised of nanites: the product of a top-level Mnemotechnics skill.

Row after row of identical capsules glowed from the inside. The jagged lines of vital graphs meandered across bio monitor screens.

I opened my eyes.

The inside of the capsule stank of medication. The transparent lid hissed, rising and sliding behind the headrest.

Manipulator arms promptly removed countless sensors from my body.

My vision blurred. Still, I soon regained some energy.

I sat up and looked around me, recognizing the room. The neighboring capsules were empty. Had I been the last one to wake up?

I wanted to get up, find some clothes and get out onto the surface but an invisible force held me gently back.

Mind expander Synaps Z+: installed

Semantic processor: installed

Reflex enhancer: installed

Metabolic corrector: installed

You can get dressed. The elevator to the surface is located down the corridor.

A couple of minutes later, the elevator whooshed me up into the sunlight.

A road went downhill. I walked unhurriedly, taking in chestfuls of the breeze pregnant with strange smells. The sun stood high in the clear skies.

The air blurred to my right where a force shield protected the human colonization zone.

A new group of colonists had just arrived. They looked around themselves without noticing me: the force shield was opaque from their side.

These were the colonists’ avatars. Their hosts were dozens of light years away, on board the Colonial Fleet’s cryogenic platforms. They had no idea of survival in an alien environment but their unfailing belief in the safety of respawn would fearlessly confront any potential threat.

They had a lot to learn.

They still had the Founders’ interface to master. But first and foremost, they would have to learn how to love and enjoy life.

The road turned again, revealing the ocean.

The beach was filled with the happy screaming of children.

From where I stood, I could already see Frieda and Jurgen.

And Arbido! Didn’t he look younger! He must have drained the biological reconstruction chamber dry!

Vandal, Foggs, Novitsky and Ralph stood knee-deep in the water, taking measurements and passionately arguing over something.

Liori sat on the shore. The breeze ruffled her cropped hair. She smiled, watching Charon and five-year-old Inge drawing something in the wet sand.

This was our home for many years to come. We were meant to stay here, waiting for those who were now traversing the depths of space.

Once our colony had grown strong, we could go back to where we’d come from. One day we’d switch our cryo in-modes back on and enter a network address. Earth’s address.

The planet that was still breathing its reactors’ heat.

But that would be a totally different story.

- End of Book Three -

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Zander. Level 162. Colonizer

Main characteristics:

Intellect, 42 (+1 as a semantic processor bonus)

Strength, 30

Willpower, 50

Agility, 20 (+2 as a reflex enhancer bonus)

Perception, 50 (+2 as a mind expander bonus)

Stamina, 55 (+5 as a metabolic corrector bonus)

Learning Skills, 30

Charisma, 5

Skills:

Traveler 1

Assigned upon the first independent interstellar identity matrix transfer.

Pioneer 1

Assigned upon the landing on a planet which has either been unexplored or whose information has been lost.

Interaction

Allows the player to interact with real-life objects

Colonizer 1

Assigns Action Points allowing the player to transport spaceships via hyperspace, lay new routes and create new colonies. May also allow access to the heart of Phantom Server (requires a certain minimum number of AP)

Broken Chains 1

Self-stabilizes your identity matrix (requires a personal navigator)

Allows the player to visit any star system, provided he or she is in possession of its coordinates.

Piloting of Small Spacecraft, 30

Allows the player to fly fighter, assault and small cargo craft

Piloting of Medium and Large Spacecraft, 20

Allows the player to fly corvettes, frigates, cruisers and their formations

Combat Maneuvering, 45

Also allows the player’s ship to enter a planet’s atmosphere

Navigation, 39

Allows the player to lay courses and calculate optimal routes

Mechanic, 5:

Repairs

Allows the player to repair any equipment he or she is familiar with

Equipment building

Allows a player to build new devices by combining parts of any equipment he or she is familiar with

Science, 98

Allows the player to create scanner files, read power imprints, modify existing devices and create replication matrices from known samples (requires Mnemotechnics skill)

Alien Technologies, 55 (allows the player to study alien equipment)

Mnemotechnics, 95 (Each Mnemotechnics point gives a player two points for developing his or her Mnemotechnic skill)

Allows the player to use his or her Mnemonic abilities and receive nanite control codes

Technologist, 30 (allows the player to connect to technology databases)

Exobiologist, 1 (allows the player to connect to exobiology databases)

Combat skills, 49:

Light weapons

Heavy weapons

Energy weapons

Accuracy

Critical hits, 4 (+40% to the possibility of dealing critical damage to the enemy)

Defense, 3 (lowers all incoming damage 30%)

Mnemotechnic skills:

Replication, 25 (on your command, a small group of nanites uses a selected source material to self-reproduce until the total number of nanites reaches 100,000)

Self-Replication, 1 (nanites are preset to seek new source materials and create new colonies)

Steel Mist, 10 (protects you from enemy scanners)

Active Shield, 10 (requires a Founders’ neuronet module)

Allows nanites to automatically react to any threat by forming a protective cover. Expends both energy and nanites quickly.

The Call, 20 (brings available nanite groups under your control, including small numbers of enemy nanites)

Differential Nanite Control, 1 (requires a Founders’ neuronet module).

Allows simultaneous control of up to 10 nanite groups which have been assigned different tasks.

Object Replication, 19 (allows the use of available nanites and power to build working copies of various devices)

Piercing Vision, 15 (allows the dispatch of nanite groups on reconnaissance missions with further reception of data from them in real time)

Global Network, 1 (allows the scanning of star systems using the hyperspace network)

Disintegration, 15 (destroys molecular bonds in a selected object)

Plasma Blast, 15 (allows a selected nanite group to self-destruct, forming a cloud of ionized gas)

Plasma Lash, 9 (requires a generator built by Object Replication)

Self-Sacrifice 10 (allows your nanites to self-destruct in order to exterminate enemy nanites)

Integration, 5 (allows you to upgrade your weapons and gear)

Advanced Integration, 14 (allows you to upgrade complex equipment, including spaceships’ subsystems)

Nanite Deactivation, 1 (requires an emergency control code to deactivate enemy nanite groups)

System failure, 5 (temporarily disables cybernetic parts of a selected device)

Breakdown, 5 (temporarily disables moving parts of a selected device)

Critical Damage, 9 (permanently disables moving parts of a selected device)

The Edge of Reality (Phantom Server Book #1)

He is a cyber dweller. A gamer who's grown up in the web of virtual illusion woven from hundreds of phantom worlds. His biggest dream is to dump the real world for good.

His desperate hunger of new experiences forces him to take a risk and become one of the first proud owners of a neuronet implant. The new gadget becomes part of him — but soon it's not enough. If only he could finally burn all his bridges and make a step beyond the real world!

He soon gets this opportunity. A new universe, overflowing with mystery and unimaginable, mind-blowing authenticity, opens up before him.

This is Phantom Server. The game of the future where your pursuit of an adrenaline rush soon turns into a battle for survival. But the most terrifying mystery lies ahead when you gradually start to realize: this is a road of no return. Your every decision may become your last. Your every step leads you further along the abyss between life and death.

The Outlaw (Phantom Server Book #2)

The Eurasia fleet has entered the Darg star system. The unsuspecting players look forward to the adventure of their lifetimes. Zander alone is now facing a harsh and unpredictable “alternative storyline”.

The girl he loved is gone. His nervous system is impregnated with artificial neurons that contain fragments of ancient AIs and their identities. Zander's body is implanted with alien artifacts that allow him to survive in the deadly cyberspace of Phantom Server. But his unique development branch pushes him toward the edge of the precipice where his every step may become his last; where future itself is vague and uncertain.

The Island of Hope

An intergalactic war has scorched dozens of planets and destroyed millions of lives, leaving in its wake dead carcasses of drifting spacecraft where desperate battles used to unfold. These are perilous places unfit for habitation... or are they?