A small animated program somewhere on the Internet.
- Enter from the left.
- Damn, they're everywhere.
- We can't merge and lose.
- Agggghhhh
- Damn the ranger, they killed him.
- Let's go with plan B.
Chitauri army in New York. While that battle had long since passed in reality, the chance for regular players to relive it was enticing.
black, tight-fitting suit with a cloak thrown over it and a sniper rifle that was larger than herself, watched all this action with interest.
It's been a week since the game, console, and accompanying immersion equipment from Stark Industries came out , and a little less than a week since all the news was filled with the attempted assassination of Alexander Ledov during his speech.
Certainly Yumiko knew he was fine, but she hadn't been able to contact him for over a week, which raised a lot of questions. Honestly, Ledov and Stark have become almost the center of much news right now, considering they've been nowhere to be seen since the assassination attempt, save for a few photos of the Avengers spending time with their children, which suggested everything was fine.
But they can be dealt with later after they appear in her line of sight, but a squad of players who are progressing quite well, even with losses, will not take long to appear.
The game itself created a sensation across the entire gaming market. "Buy a console and play" was the main slogan. Good advertising, good quality, and a reasonable price meant that all stocks were sold out within the first half of the day, and then everyone started complaining about not being able to buy them. Naturally, this rush created a black market for consoles, which were sold at, at best, several times the price.
She aimed her huge rifle at one of the players in military uniform, who was sitting behind cover and shooting back at the alien infantry, and fired from one of the skyscraper's windows. The player who was supposed to hold the flank left the game session and could only watch the rest of the team.
- The devil shot the young man.
- Fuck, it looks like we have her.
- Now I will definitely deal with her.
- No, we must retreat.
- It looks like she's against us this time.
The idea of having influence in such a game really appealed to the teenager who found herself in the digital world, so going into a session and deciding who exactly she would play for was a lot of fun.
Alex explained to her exactly why he wanted to create the game, and Yumiko herself asked to make it so that she could also participate, and the introduction of an unaccounted element into some battles that could both help and hinder only helped achieve the goals of this game. It is not surprising that in the end, her programming skills made her one of the leading developers whom no one saw, and for everyone, she worked remotely, which in this industry was normal and did not raise questions.
From the moment players began hosting their first battles, many complained about the difficulty, but as some groups began to achieve success, such complaints began to fade. Communities began to emerge where groups gathered as if for a boss raid. Various tasks and various Avengers who appeared kept the game from getting boring and added variety. So far, there have been two such maps, New York and London, but we haven't yet been able to complete either. Besides the fact that the group had to complete the objectives , the process was further complicated by the fact that the tasks were timed. Therefore, teams that ran behind time saw either a bright explosion or complete darkness at the end of the session, depending on the map.
Of course, after firing a few more shots and eliminating several key group members, the entire team began to lose ground and ultimately lost. This wasn't surprising, as the squad was simply struggling to get through the alien army, and then a new enemy appeared. But over time, even Yumiko herself would find it more difficult to carry out such executions. Just the day before, the first player to obtain a perk that enhanced their gameplay had been reported on the forums. Over time, such perks will appear more frequently and in greater variety. All these perks will be considered superpowers by the system, which will only further attract players eager for rewards and add more work for Ultron's analytics system .
- Well, just one more ride and we can rest. Otherwise, I need to fly in this Stark suit again.
Of course, it wasn't limited to just one tub.
The scorching sun warmed the endless sand. No matter which way you looked, all you could see was sand. The only thing that stood out was a small stone shack , miraculously not yet buried beneath the sand. The entrance was no longer visible; only the roof and a few walls remained exposed to the desert. A hole had now formed in that roof, and in it were visible the three motionless bodies that had created it.
- Agghhhh – a heavy groan escaped from the throat of the long-haired blond – water, give me water.
The unusual sensations beneath him made him check what he was lying on.
Having fallen onto the stones and broken through the ceiling, Thor took the brunt of the blow. Waking up, he stood up abruptly and fell over dizzy.
The second attempt went better, but this time he was in no hurry to get up , instead surveying his surroundings from a sitting position. His two comrades were now sound asleep, and there was nothing around but sand and the sun shining into the hole that had formed.
The thirst began to torment me more, and there were no nearby sources of water in sight.
Unable to see his hammer, he tried to summon it, but there was no response, which clearly worried him. Several more attempts didn't change the result; his favorite weapon was still missing.
Leaving this question aside for the time being, it was decided to inspect where it was, hoping that this would provide an answer to why there was no response from Mjolnir .
Having climbed out of the hole, he looked around and saw nothing but sand, but something bothered him.
- It looks like I'm not in Midgard - looking at the sky he saw three stars that warmed this planet with their warmth - where are we now?
Hoping that his brothers in arms would have the answers, he went back inside and started waking Alex and Tony up, which was quite difficult considering they didn't want to wake up, but a few good nudges did the trick.
- Oyyy my head/what are you doing – both were unhappy with such a sudden awakening.
"My friends, we have problems." This attracted the attention of both of them, although their appearance was not much better than his.
- So what we have is that we started drinking and found ourselves on another planet without communication, abilities and without reinforcements.
The Thunder God screamed into the sky for his gatekeeper, but the Rainbow Bridge never showed up to take them.
Does anyone remember what actually happened?
Finding himself in the desert and unable to find any water sources, Alex lost most of his combat arsenal. Just like Tony, he couldn't do anything without his suit.
-I remember how we started drinking what my father sent, and then moved to another place.
- We found ourselves in some kind of house.
Now Stark was watching the recording on his glasses, which he almost never parted with, without access to the network and Jarvis, these glasses could serve well as a camera.
Everyone started watching a fast-forward recording where the glasses had been lying in one place for several days and recording.
- How long did we drink there? Several days?
- Oh , we went to harden ourselves.
- And I remember this, we ran out of what I brought and you went for... - here Thor thought for a moment, remembering - for grandfather's tincture.
- Exactly! You said it would go away like water and there wouldn't be any consequences.
The glasses' owner continued watching the recording. Meanwhile, the water lord began to recall what had happened and began to feel embarrassed by what he had done.
"Wait, is that a bear?" The camera showed a close-up of the bear's skin, as if they were hugging it, and then, just like with their brown friend, everyone started chatting and pouring him drinks. "What were we even doing there?"
- I remembered. We went for fish.
- What the hell fish?
- Well, for fish to Alfheim - two intent glances were directed at the blond - at that moment we decided that we needed to feed him some good fish and so I suggested it.
The last thing the camera recorded was the bright light of the rainbow bridge.
It took everyone a moment to realize this.
- That is, we got so drunk that we found ourselves not just in another country, but on another planet!
- Don't worry Stark, I'm sure Heimdall is already looking for us , and when he finds us, he'll take us away. We somehow got here through the rainbow bridge.
"If Heimdall could, he would have taken us already. If he hasn't, then something is stopping him."
"Maybe this is another test from your father, like in New Mexico ." Tony put his glasses back on and checked that they still had charge.
- I don't think that's true, if it was a test, he would have left a message or let people know about it.
- All this is of course fun, but what are we going to do, comrades?
- Let's wait until night, maybe I'll recognize some familiar stars in the sky.
The prince's education, costing over a thousand litas, was comprehensive. Astrology was also studied. This could be especially relevant when traveling among the stars.
Fortunately, all three stars had moved away, allowing the night to take hold. The unfamiliar moonless sky made everything gloomy and dark, but at least it lowered the temperature. Unfortunately, it didn't produce the desired results.
Thor didn't recognize any of the constellations. Somewhere else, there were similar star positions, but that made it clear he definitely hadn't been in that part of the galaxy.
So the only option left was to move in some direction. The likelihood of not finding anyone was just as likely as meeting someone .
While Thor was looking at the stars, Tony's glasses detected some energy in one direction , so it was decided to go in that direction.
Walking without food and water was difficult. Luckily, there were a couple of hours when all the suns disappeared from view, and before the first sun rose, they were able to collect some of the condensation from the suns before it evaporated. This quenched their thirst somewhat, but it also gave them time to avoid dying of thirst.
Unfortunately, a new day arrived quickly, and with it came the heat.
"I'm not even going to sit at the table with you again, you damn alcoholics. " Covered by a small piece of red cloak that had been divided between them, they moved in a direction known only to them: one god of thunder can't summon a little rain. The other controls water and can't properly collect it.
- Hahaha , but when we get out of here there will be something to remember and tell our grandchildren.
- Yes, you're right - even the Asgardian was affected by the intense heat, not to mention the others - all that's left is to figure out how to get out of here.
Their journey lasted several days. They waited out the intense heat in the shade, if there was any, and tried to move around when it wasn't so hot. Of course, water was scarce, but there was one way to get a little, which they agreed never to mention again.
Small bugs or other creatures that crawled out of the sand on an empty stomach also went down well, especially after Thor tried them with pleasure first.
One day, the now practically wandering dead, crossing one of the dunes, noticed something else besides sand.
"Look, there's a chariot there— a simple chariot pulled by horses. And around it, digging in the ground, were humanoids."
Several days of such travel had forced them to be grateful for any form of life, as they were likely to have a source of water. So the group sped up to reach them, but as they approached, a problem arose.
As they approached, they noticed something was wrong with the humanoids. They weren't wearing their usual clothing. Their entire bodies were wrapped in bandages, but in some places these bandages had already torn or slipped, revealing patches of withered flesh. This didn't hinder their movement or work .
- Wait, these are draugrs .
- To be more precise , these are mummies.
- Thank you, Captain Icicle, we have other problems now.
As the travelers noticed them, several mummies also noticed them and dropped what they were doing to check. Grabbing their cleavers, they set off to greet the guests.
There was no greeting or any gestures, the inhabitants of the sands simply rushed into battle.
Thor took on the first mummy, intercepted the blow, drew his cleaver, and severed the attacker's head. Mummies weren't particularly difficult opponents for the thunder god, but fatigue was taking its toll, and even several of them could catch him and strike him if he wasn't paying attention.
While several mummies decided to settle on the largest member of their group, Alex, using his version of Extremis , dodged one blow and ran his heated hands through the body of one of the mummies, splitting it into two parts.
In just a couple of minutes the fight was over with a score of avengers/mummies 1:0.
- Damn, there is no water, no food, where are they all coming from?
- Perhaps their city is located on some fertile land.
- Either there is nothing there at all, but maybe there is an answer there as to why Heimdall can't find us?
- But we have transport, OOO. yeah , the chariot was big and could easily accommodate ten people standing there, so it was pleasant for the only person who hadn't been improved in any way to lie down on the hard surface.
Time was against them, so having made a decision, they took this chariot and the horse-like zombies carried them back while the traces of the transport's former owners' movements were not yet covered up.