Exodus: Guns And Gore 24 Another Engineer

[Please choose your race. Race in TAP is mostly cosmetic although there are some minor advantages to each race.]

"Human." QJ didn't need to hear the rest, there were no advantages to be found in race.

[Please wait while the appearance generator comes online.]

"I wish to use myself for all characteristics, including gender and voice.

[Default settings are acknowledged, character generation complete. Please choose a name.]

"Guess I'll go with QJ, why confuse anyone?"

[Welcome to TAP QJ. Do you wish to declare a base cla.s.s now? This option doesn't become mandatory until level 10.]

"I'll wait, thank you."

[Which Fora Town do you wish to start in? Talon, Innisfrae or Q-Town?]

"Q-Town I suppose."

[All settings are finalized. May you find your path QJ.]

A moment later QJ appeared on the platform, next to the Town Square.

"Mom has tricked me somehow." QJ noticed that the Mail icon was blinking so he activated it.

TAP MAIL

Subject: Legacy Account Sender: TAP Admin Attachment: Legacy Pack

QJ,

This account has been tagged as a legacy account. Your benefactor, Talia Riley, has set up certain advantages for you. Legacy account holders are able to pa.s.s down one inventory item, up to 5 million credits and a legacy item. Whatever your benefactor has chosen to grant you will you be deposited into your inventory. There is no monthly premium for Legacy Accounts.

TAP admin.

System Message: Do you wish to accept the Legacy Pack?

"Yes."

System Message: 5 million credits have been deposited into your account.

System Message: A Legacy Item has been deposited into your account.

"Sweet Georgia ... 5 million credits? Fine, I'll overlook the trickery this time." QJ grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Let's see what we are working with, Display stats."

QJ

Level 1

Statistics

Strength 18

Endurance 21

Intelligence 72

Agility 20

Luck 9

Charisma 15

QJ pulled out the Legacy Item from his Inventory. He smiled when he looked at the tattered pages. "This is Mom's old notebook. How is this a Legacy item? I use to doodle in this thing when I was a kid."

Tal's Notes

Unique Item

Description: These are the meticulously written notes of the engineer, Tal. She is widely credited with building the nation of Fora.

Requirement: Base intelligence of at least 60

System Message: Do you wish to activate Tal's Notes?

"Sure."

A moment later QJ found himself enveloped in golden light, the marketplace took notice as the young man floated in the air for a moment before coming to rest on the ground. QJ took a look around, feeling his arms and legs. "That didn't hurt a bit."

System Message: Deviant Engineer Cla.s.s Acknowledged.

"s.h.i.+t... now everyone is watching me." He glanced around the marketplace, taking a step down from the platform. "Real subtle mom... Display Stats."

QJ

Deviant Engineer: Tal's Apprentice

Level 1

Statistics

Strength 18

Endurance 21

Intelligence 72

Agility 20

Luck 9

Charisma 15

"...." QJ.

A clicking sound in the suddenly deathly quite marketplace announced her arrival. "My boy has finally come to TAP."

QJ turned to find his mom standing behind him. Her pretty blue eyes were s.h.i.+ning, she looked so happy that QJ couldn't find the heart to complain. "Thanks, mom."

The silence of the marketplace erupted when the blonde engineer hugged her son. "I've been waiting for a long time to show you Fora. Remmy and I put a lot of hard work into developing it."

"I have time now mom, we aren't meeting up for almost two hours." QJ grinned when she handed him a jetpack. He had used them before in Ravenwood, but he had never had his own. "Now we are talking."

Tal brought up her map and equipped her own jetpack. "See those lakes? Let's check those out first, then I'll show you my Aqueducts."

"Race you there." QJ took off into the sky with Tal following closely.

**********

Ringo checked her hud, it was nearly 1400. Everyone was accounted for except for QJ, she had made a Troupe Master and wanted to show him. A movement up above caught her attention, a winged person was approaching quickly. She couldn't stop the silly smile that jumped up on her face, only one of the Ba'Avriel had pink wings, Remmy.

The cute pink-winged gnome landed a few meters from their group, she dismissed her wings and then scanned the crowd. Ringo and Lotte were the only ones who used their real looks so of course, Remmy was able to spot them right away. "Heya GnG friends!"

"It's nice to see you again Remmy." She shook the hand that the little gnome offered her. "Haven't seen QJ have you?"

"Yep, he'll be along in a moment. He's picking up the gun Tal made him." Remmy was wearing a single holster with a sleek looking handgun. She noticed Ringo staring at it, "you like it?"

Ringo nodded, "really nice. Did you make this one?" To her surprise, Remmy pulled it out of the holster and handed it to her.

Defender

Engineered: Custom Glock

Description: polymer-framed,

short recoil-operated, locked-breech

semi-automatic pistol designed by

Grand Master Engineer Tal.

"This isn't a six-shooter, it's a 9 mil." Ringo held it like it was a dragon egg, "Tal made this?"

Remmy nodded, "before she was a TAP engineer, she was Captain in a super strong army. Our Fora Defense militia has things that would scare the c.r.a.p out of you."

Lotte had been listening, "why would QJ have guns? He told me you have to be a gnome or an engineer to fire them."

Remmy turned her head sideways, "Everyone in his family has a deviant ability. They are abilities given because of natural talent. QJ will have one also. Their whole family is super gifted."

Sato had joined the group while they were talking. Unexpectedly he had made a halfling Hunter. Everyone knew who Remmy was, but this was his first time seeing her in person. "I'm Sato. You're really pretty Remmy."

Remmy looked at the young man, her face turning pink. "I'm pretty?"

Sato nodded, "yep, you're a pretty girl."

Unexpectedly Remmy raised both hands over her head and cheered for herself. "Yay! Remmy is a pretty girl!"

Lotte and Ringo were laughing so hard they couldn't speak. Sato just stared at the little gnome, he was completely speechless. His halfling character had curly red hair and a face full of freckles, it was as if his real self had been miniaturized.

"Better not let any gnomes see you hitting on Remmy." QJ had walked up behind them while they were talking. "It's lights-out for you if they do."

The pink-haired gnome immediately nodded. "Yep, Quinn's the only boyfriend of mine that they won't bother." Remmy gave them an innocent smile, "mostly because they are terrified of him."

"That's QJ's dad, right? Sorry I haven't followed TAP history at all." Sato crossed his arms in front of him, "want to go with me to the Apple Festival?"

Remmy nodded, "sure, but don't say I didn't warn ya." She pointed at the statue behind him.

In the center of the market, there was a statue of a man wielding dual six-guns, on the plaque at the base of the statue was a brief biography. As a group they walked over to read it, even QJ was curious.

"That's just the stuff that people know about." Remmy glanced at Sato, giving him a sweet smile. "Things get started around 7 pm, I'll find you then."

*Ba'Avriel*

Remmy flapped her pink wings once and took off into the sky.

QJ and the rest of the GnG group were all staring at Sato.

"You asked Remmy out?" Ringo shook her head in disbelief, "you've got some guts, Sato."

QJ laughed at the look on his face, "it will be fine, we can always rez you."

Ringo's eyes dropped to QJ's holster, "did your mom make you a gun?"

QJ nodded, "yep, she sure did." The young man stopped talking, his face turning serious. Had he realized how much it meant to his mom, he would have made an account years ago. She had been waiting all this time to show him her work in TAP. QJ had to admit, the scope of it was amazing.

Quinn James

Handcrafted Six-Gun: Engineered

Description: Painstakingly crafted by

Grandmaster Engineer Tal.

Description: Uncannily Accurate

+20 Accuracy, +20 Range

Additional Effect: First Hit is always critical.

Bound.

"It's bound, too bad you can't take it to GnG." Ringo noticed another group approaching theirs, she picked out Dessi's blonde hair leading the way.

Breeze pushed her way through her cla.s.smates and threw an arm around QJ's shoulders. "I don't feel like grinding levels in a game I'm only playing for three days."

QJ nodded, they had been grinding levels non-stop. "Let's go shopping, there are a lot of shops in Q-Town."

He grabbed Lotte and pulled her away from Breeze, "hey you were supposed to feed me today!"

Lotte's lips curved in a small smile, "I did say that. Fine then, lunch is on me."

"Um... well lunch is on me, so is shopping. Unexpectedly I've received a boatload of credits." QJ pulled her towards the armor shops.

"Let's tag with them, QJ's paying." Ringo smiled when she said it, she was surprised when he nodded in agreement.

Sato and Breeze gave each other a nod and invited themselves. Sato kept looking toward the sky, "do you have wings too?"

QJ shook his head. "How the heck would I have wings?"

"Right, you just got here." Sato walked along quietly, his little halfling legs taking two steps to every one of QJ's.

QJ explained to the small group about the Legacy Account and the reason for his sudden generosity. "Did you know that in 1200 miles of Aqueducts, their margin of error is .001 degree?

That's crazy right?"

The rest of the group stared helplessly at QJ while he started talking about slopes and relative margin of errors. Secretly they decided among themselves to keep nodding pleasantly until he was done.

They stopped in the fish market where they sampled some fresh cod. There were halflings everywhere, selling different chowders and 'catch of the day.'

Breeze clapped her hands together, "Fish and Chips sounds good right?"

QJ spotted a familiar sign, "let's go here then. There's outdoor seating."

The group turned into the small pier restaurant known as Turo's. QJ didn't recognize any of the halfling workers, but they were escorted to a nice table that overlooked the harbor. The wind was warm coming off the water.

A moment later a cute halfling with curly black hair approached the table. She had a notebook in her hand and was smiling. "Greetings customers! I"m Tepi, and I'll be your waitress."

QJ smiled at their server, "Hi Tepi. Is Turo around?"

"Turo? No, he's out fis.h.i.+ng." She leaned closer, her brown eyes full of mischief. "Do you know Turo?"

"Yes, I've known him and Ro-Ro my whole life. I'm QJ."

"Little QJ?" She pursed her lips as if thinking about his words. "Turo is my uncle."

"Ecaterina?" QJ remembered that Turo was from a large Portuguese community on the east coast.

"Bleh." Tepi made a face at him. "That's my brat cousin."

He thought about it a bit more, "Yavina?"

Tepi sighed, "my older sister."

QJ slapped the table in front of him making everyone jump. "Celia!"

Tepi grinned and nodded, "that's quite the memory you have QJ."

He shrugged apologetically, he had been introduced to all of Turo's family when they visited years ago. "Fish and Chips for me Tepi!"

"Oi... now that you know my name, go ahead and use it." Tepi wrote down his order and then took everyone elses.

After eating they continued to stroll through the market area. Sometimes the group would break off into two or three people, but eventually, they would reform. QJ was by himself for the first time all afternoon when he felt a pair of hands cover his eyes from behind.

"Guess who?" A voice full of laugher asked.

"Angel... How did the challenge go?" Instead of releasing him she hugged him from behind.

"Worth the move, I won easily." Her warm green eyes stared at him, "I have defeated the Ant Queen."

"Shouldn't you be the Queen of Spiders?" QJ turned in her embrace and hugged her back before stepping away.

"The Spider Queens in GnG are easily defeated, it's the Ant Queen who stands above all at the end." She looked around the shop he was in, "access to my GnG world has been closed off for a few days."

QJ nodded, "I know, shouldn't last more than a day or two."

Angel slid an arm through his as they walked down the narrow aisles. "You've been getting stronger, already you have been given a t.i.tle and a Keep."

"How do you know all of that?" QJ noticed that his hud was blinking, he answered it to see Gin, the Mohawk girl.

"Hey QJ, Dr. Gajendra asked if you could stop by the house after you log off today."

"Sure can." Naomi lived with Ren and Em. Her house was on the far side of the cul de sac, right next to Jinns.

"My Remmy keeps me up on the latest news. Which of course is why I'm here." Angel pulled him into one of the darker corners in the shop.

QJ frowned at her. "You better not put spiders in my mouth."

"I need some hidden reserves. I want to leave some fighters with you as part of your forces."

QJ raised an eyebrow, "what you mean is that you want me to train up your fighters in the event that one day you need a hidden card."

"That makes it sound bad. They'll help defend your Keep unless I'm in need of them." Angel stepped closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Five hundred seasoned Ant Soldiers."

"Won't that weakens your forces too much?" QJ understood that this was an important time for Angel, she would be vulnerable until she established her power.

"A bit, but I will have to take a chance." She held both of his hands with her own.

QJ shook his head, "give me a thousand of your weakest troops, your enemies are bound to notice the disappearance of elite forces. Don't suppose you have any bee drones?"

Angel tilted her head to one side, "I have a lot of drones, they're just cannon fodder QJ. They are the weakest of my forces."

"I'll have them ready to go when you need them." QJ bent forward and kissed her forehead, "how many times have I led you wrong?"

Angel smiled, "never QJ. Fine, we'll do it your way."

QJ smiled as she stealthed, the sound of her footsteps walked away. "Cya Angel."

A light touch of soft lips made him jump, "gotcha again QJ!"

Her laughter faded in the distance, QJ kept his guard up just in case she returned. Angel was a born trickster.

QJ found Breeze and Lotte sitting down by the pier. They both turned when he started toward them.

"TAP really is beautiful QJ." Breeze had her hair untied for once, it was blowing in the gentle winds.

"We were discussing something interesting." Lotte winked at Breeze, "that's a pretty big lake next to our new Guild Base."

QJ nodded in agreement, "there's a big chunk of land attached to the Guild Base. Tell me you aren't thinking of starting a fishery?"

Breeze shook her head, "waterslides, amazing ones that make you scream."

QJ scratched his chin, "You're not serious right? Bring this up again after we can handle the Doubler Canyon Raid without using fodder accounts."

Ringo and Dessi showed up a few minutes later, they were both holding several bags. TAP goods were almost all Exodus compliant. There were even some items that could be brought into GnG. If you used your hud to scan an item, it would tell you which game it could be brought in. QJ had scanned the jetpack he had received, it said TAP and Exodus Arena only.

Ringo opened up her hud and sent a message to her cla.s.s. "Official Events over for today, the Apple Festival tonight is not mandatory. Meet in Talon at 1845 if you are attending. 0800 tomorrow morning, meet at the TAP Academy Platform in Exodus. Saffron Daybreaker will be giving us a tour."

Lotte noticed the smile on QJ's face, "you know Saffron?"

"Yep, Professor of TAP history and Politics. She's pretty awesome." QJ picked up the back of things he had purchased. "Going to log out, want to visit a friend of mine with me?"

Lotte nodded, "Since I can't grind levels, might as well let you entertain me."

Breeze scowled, "I'm gonna visit you soon Lotte."

Lotte patted her on the back, "she's from Arizona QJ."

"I can use my dad's truck, we can road trip out to see her."

"To Arizona?" Nina chose this time to show up. The purple haired 3rd year was carrying a half dozen packages. "I live pretty close too, Shoshone California."

Breeze made a face, "hey, no third years allowed."

QJ laughed at Nina's expression, "Flagstaff is four hours away, we could all meet there."

Nina frowned at Breeze, "me too?"

QJ covered Breeze's mouth with his hand, "you too. We could stop by Henderson and pick up Sato on the way."

Ringo glanced at Dessi who nodded at her. "If you guys are serious, since our server is down, we can give you some time for a trip. This kind of thing is great for team building."

Nina smiled at her teacher. "I just have to let my roommates know."

Breeze shrugged, "I live with my older sister, she won't care a bit."

QJ opened his hud and sent a quick note to Anna. "Let's push forward and see if it works with our schedules, I'll contact everyone later."

"Log-Off TAP."