Monsters of the Reich Read online

  MONSTERS OF THE REICH

  By

  Eric S Brown

  Copyright 2018 by Eric S Brown

  Monsters of the Reich

  Kendal sat on the couch with Lance, Kristen, and Chuck. The three of them were utterly engrossed in the small 3-D image of space on the tabletop in front of them. Within in it, heavy cruisers, battleships, and carriers veered and rolled as volleys of missiles tore through the void between them. Smaller fighters closed ranks as their weapons blazed. Kendal frowned, concentrating his attention on his flagship. Its primary weapon was powering up, and he was about to let loose a beam of energy that he hoped would not only pierce the shields of Chuck’s main battleship but reduce it to a cloud of flaming debris.

  Just as he was about to open fire, the chime of his apartment’s doorway sounded.

  “Pause!” Kendal shouted at the game.

  “Hey!” Kristen snapped at him.

  “You can’t do that, man!” Chuck complained. “I was in the middle of…”

  Kendal reached up to shut off the interface embedded in his neck as he glared at Kristen and Chuck. “Somebody’s at the door,” he growled, just as frustrated as they were.

  If Lance was upset about their game being interrupted, he didn’t show it. He leaned back against the couch, interlocking the fingers of his hands behind his head with a grin on his face. “If you guys can’t handle a simple pause, you’re in even more trouble than I thought you were.”

  Lance’s battlegroup was small in number compared to those of the others, but he had been playing them like a pro, flitting his ships about in and out of the main combat area to strike from out of nowhere before veering away again at maximum speed. So far, he had all but decimated the rear flanks of Chuck’s fleet and crippled a good portion of Kristen’s too. Kendal was glad that Lance was on his side, at least for the time being.

  “You gonna answer the door or what?” Chuck raged. “We need to get back to the game.”

  Kendal glanced at the screen on his smart watch as it called up an image of the hallway outside of his apartment. Derek and Payne stood just outside his door waiting.

  “Open,” Kendal said loudly to his apartment’s AI and the door shimmered. Its density shifted as it slipped out of phase enough for Derek and Payne to step through it before returning to a solid state after they had entered.

  Chuck leaped up from the couch, smiling. “Derek! Where in the heck have you been, buddy?”

  Kristen’s expression was a sharp contrast to Chuck’s reaction. She stared coldly at the two newcomers with a look of something akin to but not quite hatred. She and Derek had been a thing before Payne entered the picture.

  “Hey, Kendal,” Derek said, moving to offer his hand as Kendal got up to meet him. “It’s good to see you.”

  Kendal accepted the offered hand and squeezed it hard.

  “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming back,” Kendal said, grinning.

  “I see you’re still piddling around with 3-D tabletop stuff,” Derek said, cocking his head at the paused digital battle atop the table.

  Kendal let the implied insult slide. They had known each other a long time, and he knew that if Derek was ripping on his game system, then he had brought something even better with him.

  “That’s top-of-the-line stuff, pal,” Kendal said, trying not to sound too defensive about his game. “It cost me two weeks of pay just to get the basic program and more of the cruiser expansion patch.”

  “Right,” Derek replied. “A decent gaming experience should be worth the effort one puts into getting it.”

  Lance sat up, his eyes bugging, as Derek produced a data orb from the inner pocket of his jacket.

  “Holy…” Lance exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you…?”

  “I did,” Derek said. “I scored us an old school, full-immersion war game.”

  Derek held the data orb up in his palm so they all could see it.

  “I thought those were illegal now,” Kristen huffed.

  Kendal could tell she was just as excited about what Derek held as the rest of them, despite how she was attempting to hide it.

  “Where did you score it?” Lance asked.

  Derek waggled the pointer finger of his other hand at Lance. “Trade secret, I’m afraid. All that matters is that I have it.”

  “Dang straight!” Chuck shouted, the fleet battle game on the tabletop completely forgotten as he stared at what Derek held. He was all but drooling at the thought of interfacing with the data orb resting on Derek’s palm.

  Kendal gave Payne a questioning look, wondering if she had been with Derek when he had obtained the new game. She noticed and shrugged at him as if to say she didn’t know any more about Derek’s new game than he did.

  “So, guys,” Derek purred, “who’s up for some real gaming?”

  “What kind of game is it?” Lance asked.

  “It’s a war game, of course,” Derek told him. “First-person shooter set in WWII.”

  “WWII?” Chuck asked.

  “World War II,” Derek explained. “Real old Earth stuff…from back when folks fought mainly with tanks and guns, not orbital strikes and fighters.”

  “Wow,” Chuck said, “that sounds awesome.”

  “The best part is that it’s full immersion,” Derek bragged. “It’s supposed to be like you’re really there, living it all as it happens.”

  “Those games were banned for a reason, Derek,” Kristen growled. “How do we even know it’s safe?”

  “Oh, it’s safe,” Derek answered. “I’ve tested it myself.”

  “Has he?” Kendal asked Payne.

  She fluffed her long blonde hair and shook her head. “How would I know? It’s all he’s talked about since he got it though.”

  “You know, I think I’m a bit insulted here.” Derek met Kendal’s eyes. “Have I ever brought you guys anything that wasn’t what I claimed it was?”

  “The man has a point there,” Lance interjected.

  Kendal sighed. He knew there was no way of escaping trying the new game Derek had managed to get his hands on. Despite his bad feeling about it, he was excited about it too. He had never played anything that was full immersion like Derek claimed the game in the data orb was.

  “Okay,” Kendal said, “how do we play?”

  “For starters, you can shut down that fleet game,” Derek answered. “We’ll need the table to sit the orb on.”

  Kendal powered off the fleet game. Derek moved to place the orb in the center of the table.

  “Everybody find a comfortable seat,” Derek ordered. “Once we log in, we’ll likely be in the game for a long time.”

  Kendal and the others took seats on the couch and in the chairs surrounding the table in the center of the room as Derek fiddled with the data orb.

  “Getting started should be as simple as logging into the orb,” Derek told them.

  “Should be?” Kendal asked. “I thought you said you had tested the orb.”

  “Oh ye of little faith,” Derek said, laughing. “Just relax, Kendal. Everything is going to be awesome.”

  Derek activated the orb. “Now, we all need to log in at the same time for this to work, so be ready with your interfaces. Got it?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “On my mark.” Derek started counting down. “Three… Two… One!”

  Kendal interfaced with the data orb and the world around him was consumed by a blinding burst of white light so intense that he nearly screamed.

  ****

  It was cold. That was the first thing Kendal noticed; cold and wet. The blinding light had subsided so he opened his eyes. He was lying on his back in the snow. Kendal shoved himself up onto his elbows, looking around. The other
s were all there. They were just beginning to come around too, except for Derek. Derek was already on his feet, working the lever of the rifle he held as if checking to make sure it was loaded.

  “Where the heck are we?” Chuck moaned.

  Kendal got up, brushing the snow from his clothes. He was dressed in combat gear beneath a thick, brownish coat. A metal helmet was held tight to his skull by a strap that went underneath his chin. There was a pistol holstered on his hip, and he could feel the bulges of extra magazines inside the pockets of his coat. Kendal spotted a larger weapon that had to be his as well in the snow next to where he had been lying. He picked it up as Derek looked over at him and whistled.

  “You got an M3 there, buddy,” Derek said in appreciation of the gun. “That’s one heck of a submachine gun for this period.”

  Chuck was on his feet now too. He hurried toward them. “Hey! Derek, I asked you a question.”

  “Calm down,” Lance said, stepping into view from behind Kendal. “We’re in the game, you idiot.”

  “I know that,” Chuck snapped. “I meant where is this place in the game?”

  Kendal looked at Derek, waiting on his answer as eagerly as Chuck was.

  “World War II,” Derek said.

  “That’s not very helpful,” Lance said. “Admit it, you have no idea, do you?”

  “Uh, Normandy, maybe?” Derek said, shrugging.

  “Normandy.” Lance laughed out loud. “Normandy is a beach. We’re dressed in winter gear and standing in the middle of the woods somewhere.”

  “Derek…” Kendal said in an angry voice.

  “Okay, okay. I never really tried out the game,” Derek admitted.

  “Did you at least scan the instructions?” Lance asked.

  “It didn’t come with any,” Derek said. “The guy I got it from said it takes place behind enemy lines in World War II and that our mission is to stop some top-secret project the Nazis are developing before they can perfect it and bring about the end of the world.”

  “Oh, that’s just awesome.” Kristen moved to slap Derek hard across the backside of his helmet.

  Derek accepted the blow. It was Payne who got upset at it. She started toward Kristen, her eyes blazing with anger, but Kendal stepped into her path, blocking her.

  “Whoa,” Kendal said. “The last thing we need is to be fighting amongst ourselves right now. We’re in the game, folks. That means it’s time to act that way.”

  “I don’t want any part of this anymore,” Kristen huffed. Her hand shot up to where her interface nodule should have been on her neck, but it wasn’t there. Kristen’s eyes bugged as she realized it was gone.

  Derek flashed her a weak attempt at a smile. “Uh… Sorry, Kristen. Once you’re in, you’re in until the game is over or you die.”

  “What?” Kristen roared and then realized she was holding a rifle in her hand. She brought up its barrel at Derek. Lance was faster than she was though. He slapped the weapon’s barrel downward as she squeezed its trigger. The rifle bucked in Kristen’s hands as it cracked and she fired a round into the snow.

  “Frag me!” Derek shouted, jumping backward with his hands in the air.

  Payne raised her M3 at Kristen but didn’t fire because she noticed that Chuck already had his rifle pointed at her in return.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Chuck cautioned Payne.

  “Everybody settle down, dang it!” Kendal screamed, taking control of the situation. “I’m serious.”

  Kendal glanced around to make sure everyone had lowered their weapons and given him their attention before he continued. “Like it or not, we’re all in this game together and apparently stuck here.”

  “He just said we could get out if we died,” Kristen argued. “Maybe I’d rather just blast him in the face and let his new girlfriend blow me away than stay here.”

  “That might be a very, very bad idea,” Lance cautioned her. “Derek, this game… How did you set its safety protocols before we entered it?”

  “Set its what?” Derek stammered, caught off guard by Lance’s point-blank question.

  Lance wasn’t the sort to get rattled easily. Kendal had known him a long time and knew he always kept a cool head and thought things through. That was why he was one of the best gamers Kendal had ever played with. Lance looked pretty shaken up right now though.

  “These total immersions games, Derek, they have safety settings. Because everything is so real in them, if those aren’t turned on, they can actually hurt you in real life. It’s one of the main reasons they were banned from the market. They were just too dangerous for the average gamer to handle most of the time,” Lance explained.

  “Holy crap!” Chuck sputtered as what Lance had just said sunk in.

  “You’re just messing with us,” Derek stuttered. “You have to be messing with us, right?”

  “I wish I were,” Lance answered. “Odds are, we are playing the game for real, folks. We die here, then we die or at least become vegetables in the real world too.”

  “There has to be a way out,” Payne spoke up. “Total immersion games always have an out in case something goes wrong.”

  “And I am sure this one does too.” Lance didn’t sound too reassuring, and his next words killed any hope Kendal had left of hearing some good news. “But we have no idea what that out is or how to activate it.”

  “Frag, frag, frag,” Chuck was muttering more to himself than anyone else.

  “Then what in the devil do we do?” Kristen asked. “We can’t just stand here freezing our butts off for all eternity. If this cold is as real as Lance is saying, then we’ll get hypothermia eventually.”

  “I suggest we get moving,” Lance said. “We just fired off a shot behind enemy lines. If there are any bad guys near here, you can bet they’ll be coming to check it out.”

  “Right,” Kendal agreed. “We’re too exposed out here, and not just to the elements. We need to find somewhere to hole up until we can figure out what to do next.”

  “Shhh!” Lance motioned for the others to be silent. “Do you hear that?”

  From far in the distance, the echo of voices speaking German could be heard on the wind.

  “They must have heard the shot like you said,” Kendal whispered.

  Lance nodded. “If I were the game’s AI, I’d have troops coming at us by now too.”

  “This way,” Lance ordered and took off through the trees.

  Snow crunched under the group’s heavy boots as they ran. Kendal had no idea where Lance was leading them. He doubted that Lance did either, but he trusted the man’s instincts. Any way had to be better than where they were. The thought of entering combat with the Germans scared the crap out of Kendal. He didn’t want to die. Game or not, if Lance was right about the safety feature stuff, then all this might as well be real. Taking a bullet was going to hurt just like it would in the real world.

  The sun was sinking in the sky, the temp dropping with it. Kendal could see his breath as his legs pumped beneath him. Chuck was huffing and puffing with a hand clutched to his chest. None of them were really in shape except for Lance, but surely the game compensated for that in some way. By entering the game, surely they had become the characters they were meant to play even if their avatars, clothing and equipment aside, looked just like them. All of them had kept their own physical appearances.

  Kendal didn’t know how long they ran before they stumbled onto the small cabin, but it felt like hours. The cabin sat in a clearing, and Lance signaled for them to stop at its edge. Kendal could see Lance’s gaze gliding over the snow between them and the cabin.

  “I don’t see any tracks leading in or out of there,” Lance told him. “Could be this place was abandoned when the war swept through here.”

  “I’d say that’s a safe bet,” Kendal agreed, not knowing what else to say.

  “Still, we should approach it cautiously,” Lance warned. “We don’t need any surprises catching us with our pants down.”

  Ken
dal made a face at Lance’s odd expression.

  “What about the Germans who were following us?” Kristen asked.

  “I think we lost them,” Lance told her. “I haven’t heard them in quite a bit. Have any of you?”

  Kendal shook his head. No one else said that they had either.

  “Even if we didn’t lose them entirely, taking them on from inside there will be a lot easier than making a stand out in the open.” Lance gestured at the cabin. “Kendal, Derek, you’re with me. Let’s go make sure nobody’s home in there. The rest of you stay put and keep quiet.”

  “Who exactly put you in charge, Lance?” Chuck demanded, still trying to catch his breath from the run through the woods.

  “Shut up, Chuck,” Kendal snarled. “I trust Lance and you should too if you want to get out of this alive.”

  Derek raised an eyebrow at Kendal, giving him a questioning look. He knew that Kendal was the group’s normal leader. They played in his apartment anyway. Derek must have thought better of saying something about Lance’s sudden leadership though because whatever was going through his mind, he kept it to himself.

  “How are we doing this?” Kendal asked, making a show of turning to him for guidance.

  “Derek, you head around back and scope things out there. I’ll head straight up the middle to the door. Kendal, you follow and cover me. Nobody shoots unless they are one hundred percent sure they have a Nazi in their sights. Got it?”

  “Roger that,” Derek agreed and started moving around the clearing toward the rear of the cabin.

  “You sure about this?” Kendal asked when he and Lance were far enough away from the others so that they couldn’t hear him.

  “You got a better plan?” Lance said, grinning at him.

  Kendal checked his submachine gun, making sure it was ready for action. As he did so, he realized he knew all about the weapon he carried. The game must have equipped them with some basic knowledge of things inside its world that their characters would know as they interfaced with it. He hadn’t known anything about the M3 until he thought about trying to use it and then it was as if the knowledge was suddenly just there. The knowledge restored some of the confidence he had lost in his ability to function in the game now that they knew it was just as deadly as World War II had really been. He put one foot in front of the other, keeping pace with Lance but also making sure to lag some behind him. His attention was focused on the cabin’s sole window. There was no light coming from inside the cabin that was visible in the growing darkness. The last rays of the setting sun were dying away. Kendal didn’t know enough about the time period to be sure if the cabin could even have electric lights or not, but the knowledge the game had implanted within his mind told him that it was unlikely.