Recoil stood at his in-game home with his attention divided between eating pizza and reading a report on the Reaper.
Any new rule made by the developers had been established: Any artifact earned or stolen will first have to spend a full day in it's vulnerable state before upload can be allowed, giving a random player enough chance to steal it.
The new rule would make the game more competitive, interesting and of course difficult as players would now have to worry about protecting their artifact for a full 24 hours.
The rules served to help Recoil in his new objective which he dubbed his very own Mission impossible: Retrieve The Artifact From Reaper.
On this very note he had assigned Smoke the job of keeping tabs on the Reaper. Where he goes, who he speaks to, where he eats, what he eats. Everything.
The what he eats question was a bit of an unnecessary info. Which only proved to inform him of Reaper's dietary needs. Recoil's work desk was filled with reports Smoke could compile.
" Video chat from Tyrion" Nova chimed. " Put him through" he muttered. " Hey Man! Tryna relax okay I'm confident we'll get it back" Tyrion said.
" We have to" Recoil murmured . " Okay so I've been thinking… what about your little warrior goddess friend?" Tyrion asked with a grin.
Recoil paused from his reading while he tried to comprehend what was now a private joke between them. " Athena? What about her?" he asked with a chuckle.
" I think we might need to make her pay in some small measure after what she did to you". Recoil's eyes narrowed while he considered it. " I haven't thought of that but… you're right. She will in full measure." "at the right time" he added, his tone ominous.
" Incoming Video chat from Smoke" Nova said. " Put him through and merge the call". Soon Smoke's face popped up the holographic interface alongside Tyrion's.
" Howdy boss man" Smoke called. " Any update on him?" Recoil inquired. " yeah apparently there's a quest on Enoverse like some kinda treasure hunt"
" Did you say treasure hunt man?" Tyrion asked. " Yeah something about finding a pressured box rumoured to contain valuables ranging from Class C weapons to a meaningful sum. Of course it will be depending on the kind of box you find" Smoke said.
" I guess the boxes would have colors like Gold, Silver and bronze yeah?" Tyrion cut in.
" Yeah pretty much" Smoke confirmed. " Rec?". " So here's the plan we'll do the usual: join in the quest as a guild, do a little recon to sharpen our edges then lie in wait. The main objective will be retrieving our artifact from Reaper. Nabbing one of those boxes could be an interesting bonus" Recoil said.
A grin spread across Tyrion's face. " Now Tee update Vapor on our plan and prep yourselves we might have to go in full force." " Will do boss man" Tyrion said and went off.
" Do you need me to stay on the line?" Smoke asked. " Unless you wanna watch me prepare I'd recommend you hang up" " you got it" Smoke replied and the line clicked dead.
" Nova?" Recoil muttered. " Yes Recoil?". " Where can I get a change of clothes…?"
***
A few hours later, Recoil met himself at a mall performing a near radical refit on his dressing. He wore a Matte black tech-fabric bomber jacket with glowing blue circuit-like etchings along the arms and underneath it was a Graphene-fiber compression tee, dark grey with subtle hex patterns and a barely noticeable logo over the heart: a skull fused with a digital crown.
For trousers he favoured Tactical-fit cargo pants in jet black, reinforced knees, slim but flexible, with hidden zippers and magnetized pockets. A chain dangles loosely from one side, engraved with a gamer tag bearing the insignia: SS (Silver Syndicates).
" Great look Recoil" Nova approved. " But what about the shoes?" " I'm not done yet" Recoil grinned.
As scanned through the available shoes and their stats before finally settling on what the NPC assistant called Xtreme.
It was a sleek, high-top combat sneakers with kinetic soles that glow faintly with each step—customized with initials etched in neon red along the heel. He topped everything off with black fingerless gloves.
" Completely radical Recoil sir" the NPC approved all smiles. " May I suggest a name for this outfit?" He asked.
Recoil stared at himself in the mirror, impressed with what he saw grinned. " Yeah sure" The NPC a consummate salesman smiled. " Let's call it the shadow's protocol"
The whole outfit was light but surprisingly reduced hits by 10 points. The shoes were advertised with the ability to increase the wearer's jump ability.
" I'll take it" Recoil said and watched his coins rapidly reduce. " Transaction complete" the NPC chimed. The outfit had nearly depleted his coins but it helped him prepare for the upcoming mission.
" Incoming voice chat from Vapor" Nova pinged… " Hey mate! Things are slowly getting under way over here" Vapor said.
" Has the quest started?" Recoil inquired. " Nope but it's scheduled to start in three minutes. You might need to get here before then Rec." Vapor replied. " Yeah no prob, I'll be there in a sec"
He exited the mall while Nova summoned his car. He slid into the driver seat with a sigh. " Nova, what's our chances of success in this quest?" He asked playfully.
She knew he meant much more than just the quest. " Probability of success 32%". " I can live with that." He shrugged.