Rifle Range

“Alright Johnny, I’ve got to head to my time slot at the Inferno. You’re welcome to join me.” They walked through the fast-travel barrier between the hospital and the center of town slowly, hand in hand.

As if on cue, his text tone went off. He checked it to see a text from Caroline, and opened the conversation as he replied, “I’d love to, but I don’t think I can. I’ve got some bounty hunter stuff to do, apparently.”

“If you decide to come in later, text me first, you doofus. Love you.” She pecked him on the cheek before exiting the barrier, and he leaned against the wall as he texted back.

Caroline: I have your rifle finished if you want to come test it out. After any final notes, it’ll be done! Meet me in my lab.
John: Sounds good! So… I’ve noticed some of my friends getting assigned their first contracts. Any idea if I’m going to get assigned one?
Caroline: Actually, yes. I was approached by the hunter One Man Armory and asked when your sniper was going to be completed. He’s a Jarako based agent, so based on your prior experience there, you’re probably going to get a contract for it.
John: Wait, how did you guys know I had experience in Jarako before?
Caroline: It was on your file. Other than that you’re asking the wrong gal.
John: Okay then… I’ll be there soon.

Since when did they have a file on me? I guess it makes sense, and considering I saw the same vampire girl in that bar in Jarako and in the base, they were obviously spying on me. And again, how the hell do barriers work? I thought I made a barrier, which was Jarako, but it’s a Kingdom? Do my barriers act as pathways to Kingdoms? Do I take a piece of a Kingdom when I make a barrier? John turned heel and started walking back towards the hospital and by extension the base. He briefly considered whether or not his apartment was closer, as he could teleport from it, but figured it was about the same distance.

“This is it.” Caroline hunched over as she held the sniper in both arms and presented it to John. Noting the weight, he reached out with both hands to take it. He was surprised to find that it felt light by comparison, then remembered his Strength stat was more than twice of hers. When it made contact with his duster, it disappeared completely. She tilted a bright spotlight on a nearby desk at it, and it shimmered into view.

She giggled at how easily he handled the weapon, and motioned with both hands toward an artificial arm. “I actually had to make a special implement to test how it fired. I hope you don’t have the same problem.”

Well, I get why she wanted to meet in the lab instead of the firing range, John thought, examining the rifle in his hands. It was obsidian colored, with snow white details on the grip, scope, and receiver pad. She held a button on it and a retractable bipod slowly lowered itself, like the landing gears on a plane. “So, should I go test it out?” He wore a dopey grin, he was very excited to test out this new toy.

“Of course! And remember, when you’re holding it you'll become invisible too, unless you're in direct light. There are some enchantments and runes which can get around that, but they were all outside your price range.” She presented him with a metal tin filled with ammunition, and upon adding it to his inventory, he learned it had two-hundred and fifty bullets. “That’s on the house. Now let’s go test my baby out!”

After a short elevator ride, they were back at the firing range. She led him to the longest lane, which was 2,500 meters. “Normally, when firing at such a long distance, you’d need to account for the rotation and curvature of the Earth as I’m sure you already know. Most Kingdoms don’t have the same problem though,” Caroline explained, pressing the button to reel the already destroyed target in. “It’s so inconsiderate when people don’t replace the target after they’re done! I better not catch you doing that!”

John let out a nervous laugh, not remembering if he had when he was done testing out his pistols a few days ago. “Of course, that’s just common courtesy.” He looked through the scope to find that it was set to zero meters, denoted by a small overlay in the bottom right.

“You can adjust the elevation and distance with the adjustment knobs, but the elevation preset should work just fine for a level target. If you ever need to reset them, I made both click when set to zero.” Caroline wound the distance dial, and his view jumped forward.

He fired through the target, and the recoil felt like a punch to the gut. The target, usually paper but this time cardboard, was ripped to shreds nonetheless by the impact. “So power won’t be a problem then.” John moved over a lane and adjusted the scope accordingly.

“One moment!” Caroline took a sheet of a dull gray metal out of a pouch at her hip and held it in front of the barrel. “Try it now.”

He fired, and watched as the cardboard target was disintegrated by the **** of his bullet. Looking away from the scope, he saw the piece of metal she held was unscathed. “Titanium. The inubrix-infused bullets bypassed it completely. Those are specially made to be compatible with Manasteel; normal bullets will work but won't be as effective. I can get you tins of two hundred and fifty bullets for around five hundred dollars.

Two dollars per bullet isn’t cheap, about four times the cost of my pistol’s bullets, but I bet these deal way more damage. John opened the chamber and let the two expended casings fall out before replacing them. “It’s great! I have no complaints at all. I’ll let you know if I need more ammunition.”

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. I’m going to let the One Man Armory know that your rifle is finished. If you ever need special guns or steampunk gear, you know where to find me.” With a sly smile and a gentle caress of the new sniper, she bid him goodbye. He was somewhat surprised at the self-awareness the engineer had to call her own gear steampunk.

He put it in his inventory, intent on leaving the range. No sooner than the moment she had left the barrier, his phone went off again.

Unknown: I hear you’ve gotten the equipment you requested. Are you ready for your first contract?
John: News travels fast. Who is this exactly?
Unknown: Page of Swords: One Man Armory, I’m sending the official request over now.

He checked the Rider-Waite app, which informed him that he had been officially assigned a contract with Codename: One Man Armory to escort a woman named ‘Jackie Anor’ through most of Jarako. He tapped on a file labelled ‘dossier’. The immediate summary seemed like enough to form an opinion.

Operation: Cyber Run
Location: Jarako (City), Jarako (Kingdom)
Time: 8/22/17, 10:00
Client: Anor Family
Hunters: One Man Armory, The Gamer
Objective: Escort technomancer and heiress Jackie Anor through the six sections of the City-Kingdom Jarako to the Anor Safehouse. Most of this travel will occur by Platinum Class Bullet Train, tickets paid for by the client. Her powers are largely unknown, but believed to be unstable and erratic. Under no circumstances is she to be in combat. Keep a low profile, and expect little resistance.
Payout: $100,000

Huh, that doesn’t seem so bad. Taking a rich girl through a city in a luxurious train and getting paid fifty-thousand dollars for it? I’d do that any day. Wait a minute… that’s today! John exited the barrier and reopened the conversation with One Man Armory.

John: So where am I meeting you?
One Man Armory: I’ll be in the transportation hub of the Jarako Kingdom. We have half an hour to pick up our ward. Should take around fifteen minutes to get to her from here. Be quick.
John: How did you know I’d be available in time?

After five minutes of not getting a reply, he just made his way to the travel room, texting Jenny on the way.

John: I just got assigned my first contract so I won’t be able to make it to the show
John: Nothing too dangerous and I’ll probably be able to make it home in time for dinner :D
Jenny: It better not be! Good luck, babe, I love you <3

John left the headquarters at a dead sprint, knowing he’d make it to the travel building with plenty of time to spare. In about five minutes he was there, noticing that it had to be open for business based on the people going in and out. Going through the front entrance, he noticed a row of screens similar to what was in the lobby of the main building, a large sign above them reading ‘purchase travel’.

Approaching them, he inserted his ID card into a slot on the machine. A barrage of messages greeted him, all closing out automatically to reveal the pop-up “Welcome ‘The Gamer’”. The interface was much the same as the app, except with an option to purchase travel from a specified location to another. Entering ‘Springfield’ in the ‘from’ category and ‘Jarako’ in the ‘to’ category, the fee was waived due to his active contract.

Not at all pressed for time despite this minor delay, he quickly weaved his way through the base and various lines (it helped that, since he was actually a member of the Guild, he was able to skip most of them) until he wound up in the main mirror room.

The name ‘Jarako’ hung over a mirror closer to the left than the center and on the first row. Taking a deep breath, he walked through it… and into a new world.