Drone Metastasis Ch. 02

Zach sighed, slipping on his headset. He didn't like blowing off his dad, but he had truly been waiting for this game to be released for months. He'd arranged with his friends to show up at seven sharp and he didn't want to be late, or they'd leave him behind and skip ahead.

Nothing was worse than being several levels behind friends and having new content spoiled. He was determined to avoid the inevitable disappointment this time by spending all of his spare hours pushing ahead to the end game.

He was fairly confident in his abilities, and knew that his mother wouldn't bother him. He should have at least four to five hours to himself before bedtime.

As soon as his bedroom door had closed, he had stripped out of his normal clothing and climbed into an Encounter suit. It consisted of a two piece outfit made of synthetic material with a sensory mat built into the interior.

Extending up to his neck, it allowed virtual games to apply realistic forces to his body. Yes, it could be used for erotic stimulation, but not without special attachments that he had squirreled away back at his college dorm room. He didn't want to have that particular conversation with his parents.

The headphones surrounding his ears chimed with a soft bong, a welcome sign that he was about to enter an alternate reality where he was actually good at things. Real life had been a big drag on him lately. Sure, he was doing okay at school, but his social life had been a desert.

That's why he retreated into a virtual cocoon where he could be heroic. Save a few galaxies and kiss a few girls. Those the game would allow him to romance, anyway.

The social interface booted up, placing him in a form of purgatory. An infinite number of white blocks surrounded him, slowly building and coloring themselves in as his local world loaded.

He was standing in front of his own personal castle, at the foot of a wooden drawbridge. The portcullis was drawn up, leading to a formidable stone fortress complete with circular towers, murder holes, and crenellations.

It had taken him months to construct properly, and he was properly proud with how it had turned out. Simulated characters walked past him, donkeys carrying cart loads of goods inside.

The material they supplied could in turn be crafted into different types of blocks which he could use to expand his personal fiefdom, if he so chose.

This neutral world was a fun place to build, and since there was only a nominal monthly fee to connect, many people spent all of their time in this virtual reality, endlessly building and destroying their own creations.

Not him, though. He preferred playing more structured games, and fortunately he had a couple of friends that liked to tag along. They should be showing up soon... ah, Nate had just spawned in.

He was dressed in a full suit of plate armor, trotting towards Zach in clanking metal. "Mrmglr mrph mmm," he declared as he approached.

"Oh, come off it, man, it wasn't funny the first time," groaned Zach, shifting the bow sitting on his back.

Nate reached up and pushed his visor open with a metallic click. "Mrgl mmph hmm," he said.

Zach rolled his eyes, jumping when someone touched him gently on the shoulder. He spun around, leaping backward a few feet, heart pounding. "Dammit, Dave, that's dirty pool," he declared, shifting his glasses and blinking.

Corrective lenses weren't necessary in VR, but he thought they made him look cool. Accessories were status symbols in the virtual landscape.

"I'm very sorry, I just couldn't resist, you see - you weren't paying attention and I'm a sneaky rogue character and I thought it would be amusing," he whispered, speaking as fast as possible. His mousey face twitched, whiskers bunching furiously.

"Mmph, grph," agreed Nate, growling in his ear.

He threw up his arms. "If you guys want to be assholes, fine. I'll go play 'Drone Galaxy' by myself."

He punched the air, bringing up his virtual interface. He had preloaded the game last week and all he needed to do was hit the button. His finger itched, but he hesitated. It really wouldn't be as fun without his friends.

A heavy hand laid on his shoulder. "Don't be that way, my good sir," declared Nate in a stentorian voice. "Nobody should be forced to adventure alone."

Better. At least he was speaking now, if only in that ridiculous, ostentatious voice.

"Aw, don't be mad," said Dave normally. "We know you've been waiting for this thing to drop for ages." He opened his own interface. "Let's get this party started! See ya after the intro!" He saluted.

Zach returned the salute and punched the launch button. His avatar swirled and rippled, the world vanishing around him. The vibrant landscape was replaced with an orange loading grid in the shape of a box, a yellow progress bar stretching from the floor to the ceiling.

As the yellow bar reached the top, the loading chamber faded out, filling with a black background full of stars, his avatar drifting through space.

A sonorous voice over talked about how bad things had gotten in the galaxy and that there were billions of people crying out for a hero. A standard introduction spiel. He was tempted to skip it, but was glad he didn't when a splash screen floated in from the side.

"Drone Galaxy," it declared with an unsettling wavy spiral, white on black. Silhouetted was a figure of a man kneeling, a leather leash leading to the hand of a woman wearing stilettos.

He knew this game was adult in nature, but like most of these RPGs, he expected that it would take quite some time to get to the good stuff. He'd play around a bit, make some saves, and hopefully would have access to his sex harness at his college dorm when the good stuff came up.

He'd make do if he had to, but not in front of his friends, of course. That would be damn embarrassing.

The screen faded out and a room materialized around him. He'd never been in a ship cabin before, but he had plenty of experience from playing other games. This looked like a standard science fiction setting.

He picked up a pad from a side table and looked it over, clicking it on. He was captain of an automated ore hauler, and from the manifest he was shipping a lot of it. To some place named Praxus III, not that it mattered.

His main goal right now was to break out of the tutorial mission and get to work on leveling up his character so he could find his friends. Talking to them right now would be a distraction, so he didn't bother booting up the comm interface.

Instead, he marched through the sliding door of his quarters, looking left and right in wonder. The bridge was a literal bubble of glass, giving him excellent visibility into the blackness of space all around him, interrupted only by reinforcing structural members. In the back corner near a bulkhead was a cylindrical container containing a spacesuit. Doubtless for external inspections or emergencies.

The detail the devs had put into the game were amazing. Texturing on the interior was high quality and must have taken a large chunk of time and money to get right.

And the exterior! My goodness! He could see thousands of stars out there, and he knew for a fact that they hadn't been procedurally generated, as he recognized some of the constellations from his schooling. They had probably taken a real map of the galaxy and loaded it into the game. Yet another detail they hadn't skimped money on.

Hopefully they hadn't spent everything on making it look pretty. Good graphics were nice, but in his experience the story would make or break the experience.

A warning klaxon echoed around the small bridge, stealing his attention. Adrenaline pumping, he rushed up to the center console.

If he failed the tutorial mission or took forever to get it right, he wouldn't be able to look his friends in the face. He could already imagine the jeers, which simply increased the pressure to figure out what was going on.

He clicked on the interface, pressing on a section next to an area that was blinking. No, that displayed a picture of his ship along with his speed and cargo containers. It looked like his ship was some kind of tug, magnetically connected to the containers it was hauling.

Dropping the load would likely speed him up, but could also fail him the mission. Best to keep that as a last resort.

He clicked back, looking for the source of the alarm, which was beating itself into his brain making it harder for him to think. Intentional on the part of the devs, he was certain.

The touch screen went back to its original display, filled with irrelevant numbers. He peered more closely at the flashing section. Ah, he had pressed the wrong button. He needed to tap the red arrow.

That accomplished, the display blanked and replaced itself with a top down view of his ship, showing an arc in front of him. A red dot was approaching from starboard.

Was it an asteroid? Was he about to hit something? It did appear to be approaching at a fast rate.

He needed to steer out of danger, and quickly. He looked around for controls, spotting a large wooden wheel at a forward station.

A bit anachronistic perhaps, but this was a game, after all. Who knew? It could actually be realistic. He certainly hadn't captained a real star ship before.

He leaped over the center console, dashing to the front and spinning the wheel to the left. The ship lurched, sending him careening to the right.

Of course! The containers behind him were jackknifing, unable to follow his commands smoothly. Perhaps he should have been more gentle? He'd try that next time.

At any rate, the klaxon was still sounding, the throbbing in his temples reaching critical mass. He trotted back up to the center console and cursed. The red dot hadn't moved position. Whatever he had done hadn't been successful. Or it had adjusted course to intercept him.

The ship shuddered, tossing him forward. He barely missed hitting his head on the display, rolling and moaning as his shoulder impacted the steering wheel.

He took a few moments to regain his breath and lick his wounds. At least he wasn't in too much pain. This game wasn't pulling any punches!

There hadn't been a game over, so this must be an expected outcome, or at least there was more he needed to try before restarting.

A tone sounded, followed by a calm voice from the computer. "Autopilot released. Possible cargo damage. Hull breach on deck two."

That didn't sound good, but he didn't know what to do. Not a problem. This was a game, and games were all about experimentation. If he failed, he'd try again until he figured it out. If he got stuck, he'd go join a chat server and talk it out with his friends.

He needed to be down on deck two to get the measure of his enemies. Casting about, he located a ladder near the rear of the bridge. There was probably a lift somewhere, but he didn't have time to find it.

Rushing over, he started to climb down, noting stencils helpfully applied to the walls of the shaft. The next floor down was deck three, which meant the ship must be numbered up from the bottom.

Passing a locked hatch, he continued down, stopping at the next one. This must be it.

He wrapped his hands around a large red wheel, startled when it moved smoothly under his hands. Some would probably complain about the shitty starter vessel, but at least it was well maintained.

He rotated the steel hatch inwards, stepping into a corridor. There were no klaxons here, but orange lights ran in two strips down the hallway, interrupted by doorways.

It was at this point that he brought himself up short, realizing that he was being incredibly stupid. He was about to encounter either a hull breach or some form of invaders. Dressed in a uniform which contained... wait, what did it contain?

He furrowed his brow and rifled through his pockets. A comm unit, yes, that was expected. A wallet with a plastic ident card. Some change. No weaponry, mores the pity. He'd need to look elsewhere.

Curious, he walked up to one of the nearby cargo doors. Large, and imposing, they failed to register his presence. A red light highlighted the periphery. Locked, perhaps, though as captain he should have access to all parts of his ship. Probably just the game designers putting in some guard rails to keep the players focused.

He shrugged and continued on, a niggling worry at the back of his brain that he had missed something from earlier which could have helped him. No matter, he'd look for it next time.

He walked to the next section of the corridor, frowning and stooping down to inspect a collection of metal spheres lying on the ground. They were odd and out of place in the otherwise meticulously clean space ship. Spare supplies?

He picked up one of the globes and examined it more closely. The metallic surface was finely textured, intricate circuitry visible just below the transparent surface. Even stranger. What was advanced technology doing aboard a cargo freighter?

Turning it over, he thought he caught a glimpse of blue light. That couldn't be a reflection - the orange warning lights couldn't possibly create that attractive hue. There, at an intersection of several creases of circuitry, there was a hole leading deeper inside the device.

Peering into it intently, he barely noticed as his jaw dropped open and his curious thoughts circled the drain. All he could do was look closer, look at the small amount of light filtering from within the sphere. The mystery here was his to unlock, if he could but figure it out.

Stiff, he failed to notice as two more large, spherical robots arrived, rolling down the corridor. Small port holes opened in their chrome exterior, robotic legs unfurling from inside. Smaller robots rolled along the ceiling, blue liquid sloshing in their bellies.

One by one they dropped to the floor with loud metallic clunks. Zach paid no them attention, so absorbed was he by the fascinating light which had seized control of his mind.

Prehensile tendrils extended from the robot closest to him, wrapping around his legs and levering itself upwards onto his torso. Two of its appendages wrapped around his shoulder blades, moving the heavy orb closer to his face, hiding the globe which held his attention.

Before he could react, a rubbery mask attached to the side of the robot slipped over his nose and mouth, sealing against his head with a sudden suction.

He smiled uncontrollably as blue gas diffused into his lungs, carrying his conscious mind away.

***

Zoe wasn't sure how long she had been dancing. The bright lights swirled back and forth as the band played on. She couldn't make out the lyrics, but they were making her body feel comfortable as she gyrated. Her entire body felt warm.

The thick blue mist on the dance floor made it impossible for her to tell who she was even dancing with, but the slender silhouette indicated it was a woman. A faint frown creased her brow before vanishing. She wasn't like that. She was into guys, but here she was bumping and grinding with a woman. How strange!

The thumping music vibrated her body. She moved to the primal beat, pressing herself against the unknown woman. It felt nice. There was a sense of rightness, as if she was doing exactly what she should be.

Suddenly, the hand grasping hers began to tug her, leading her away from the dance floor. She stumbled, confused. An arm wrapped around her shoulder, helping to guide her up the steps, towards the rear of the club.

Escaping the cloud of mist, her thoughts began to clear just a little. She was being led forward by a blue skinned woman, her left hand clasped as she was urged onward.

"What is going on?" she asked with vague concern, giggling.

A shiny metal helmet pressed against her head, a warm breath against her ear. "You're doing just fine. I'm taking you to a more private setting. Your friend will be joining us soon."

That seemed odd. How did this woman know that she had come with a friend? Her lips moved with apprehension, but all thoughts flew from her mind when the woman's hand wrapped around her neck, keeping her focused. She marched forward, like a doll.

"Good girl," whispered the feminine voice. "You're going to have so much fun!"

Zoe marched, her legs moving robotically. They walked through a set of double doors and down a long corridor, past openings closed off with dark blue curtains. Cool laughter and cheerful voices chased them as they moved on.

The guiding hand squeezed, and she halted in front of one of the curtains. Her curiosity had seized control. At this point she just wanted to know what came next.

The woman moved in front of her and pulled the curtain aside, revealing a small chamber.

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior, but once they did she blinked with astonishment. Sitting on the back end of a couch was a large, blue skinned woman, completely nude. She was entirely hairless, except for her eyebrows, a sparkling blue gem shining from her breastbone.

Her arms hung negligently over the necks of two nude women who nestled into her body on either side. They weren't blue skinned as she was, but appeared entranced, kissing and licking the sides of her breasts. One of them mouthed a purplish nipple, gently sucking. The woman grunted, but didn't shift her posture. She sat up straight, as if on a throne, lending her an air of regality.

In front of the women was a large spherical glass sculpture that took pride of place in the center of the room, the circular sofa surrounding it like a half moon.

The sphere was three quarters full of a blue liquid, bubbles spiraling up from below. Lit from within, it looked similar to a lava lamp.

A hazy blue gas gathered near the top, where it was fed into numerous curled loops of glass. At the end of each loop was a spigot that connected to a woven tube.

As she watched, the two submissive women inhaled from tubes that were coiled over their arms. As they exhaled, a blue mist swirled towards the ceiling, spiraling around the head of the alien looking woman nestled between them. They were clearly smoking the liquid.

They cooed and their bodies relaxed back into that of their mistress, jamming their heads under her arms. Eyes dulled, they looked like they belonged there. Belonged to their Mistress. What power did this woman wield over them?

She felt a faint urge to leave, but after a few deep breaths, it left her. She felt calm, and curious.

"Why have I been brought back here?" she asked, her words a little slurred.

The woman sat up, despite the protests from her groupies. A bright smile lit her rouged lips. "We've been watching you, and I find you interesting."

Zoe frowned, her thoughts moving more slowly than usual. "That's... an invasion of my privacy."

The woman chuckled. "It's hardly illegal. We watch everyone who enters the club as a matter of course, but you are more interesting than most."

She gestured at the globe in the center of the room. "Would you like to take a seat and try it out? We can discuss this further while you relax. It's a very exotic mixture, quite difficult to obtain."

The container burbled, bubbles dancing as the gas swirled inside. The two girls took another pull from the canister, groaning with ecstasy as they exhaled.

Zoe stared at her, waiting through a pregnant pause with lifted brows. There was no way in hell she was about to accept mysterious drugs from a stranger, even if her inhibitions were currently deadened.

The woman shifted, sitting up and looking at her with intensity. "Very good. The way you finessed the bouncer, my dear, showed a range of independent thought we've been looking for. Your refusal to venture into the unknown via our special mixture demonstrates intelligence. The sort of intelligence that is sorely lacking in much of the general populace. We need people like you."