Alpha Agent: A Post Apocalyptic LitRPG

Dan

Jane had picked up the pace and sprinted ahead of them, leaving both Dan and Allen in the dust. Jane was so far ahead that they could no longer see her through the thick rain. Allen, outclassing Dan in all stats, could have sped up as well but had decided to stay with him.

“Nice of you to stick around,” Dan said through the private channel.

Allen still kept ahead of him. “No worries, kid. At your rate, it won’t take long for you to level up and get to where I am. So your fastest speed is thirty kilometers an hour already?”

“Yeah, that’s what my HUD told me. Getting chased down by enemy agents is always a good motivator.”

Someone else interrupted their conversation. A familiar female voice entered the channel. “I’m setting a waypoint up ahead. Once you two reach it, hold your positions.”

“Understood, Jane,” Allen said.

Dan and Allen continued their run through the wet streets. So far, not one rebel soldier or Kodak agent had attacked them. Something wasn’t right. Dan didn’t let his guard down as he continued to look from side to side, checking alleyways and rooftops in case of an ambush. So far, nothing. The only thing that kept the two company was the heavy rain and the occasional harsh neon light in their eyes.

The waypoint ahead was a blue circle that directed them another hundred meters ahead. Allen reached the area first, then Dan arrived soon after. Dan was breathing hard after the run while Allen seemed like his normal self.

The waypoint had led them to a collapsed building. Half of it was a large pile of debris on the street while the other half remained somewhat intact.

“Uh, I don’t see Jane anywhere,” Dan said. He slammed his back against part of the collapsed building.

“I know why. She wants us to stay out here while she checks out the rebels’ HQ,” Allen said. “I guess we’re on lookout duty.”

Allen looked up at the destroyed building. From a standing position, Allen jumped what looked like five meters into the air and planted his feet on top of the collapse structure. Dan stared in disbelief.

“How the hell is that even possible?” Dan asked.

Allen turned around and looked down at him. “I do jumps like that all the time. You start doing crazier things the more you level up. Didn’t you notice you were doing things that you couldn’t before you joined us?”

Dan’s record running speed came to mind. He also remembered the long jump he pulled off when he was running away from Samantha Striker and the other Kodak agents.

“Huh, you’re right.”

“What I did just now was nothing,” Allen said. “You should really see Jane in action. Your jaw will get disconnected from your face from looking at the type of shit she does. Stay on the ground for now. I’ll take up position up here.”

Dan remained where he was. He took a few steps only to lean out and see the building that was presumably the HQ. The structure appeared to be a large warehouse three floors high. What Dan found odd was the lack of any guards around the building.

Dan opened a channel with Allen. “So did Jane just walk in?”

“I assume so,” Allen replied.

“Without any opposition? I haven’t heard a single gunshot since we arrived.”

“Yeah, it’s strange. I see some dead bodies of rebels scattered around but no Kodak agents. Wait a second.”

Dan raised his seventy-seven in case Allen spotted enemies.

“Jane’s coming out,” Allen said. “She doesn’t look too happy.”

Seconds passed before Jane finally approached them. She grabbed a brick from the pile of debris and crushed it in her hand, reducing to pieces.

Dan’s stomach tied itself into a knot at the sight. “That’s some muscle you got. Everything okay?”

“Relax, rookie. Just blowing off steam.” She walked passed him and leaned against the collapsed structure. “Everyone in there is dead. Kodak are nowhere to be seen either. We’re too late.”

“Woah, what the hell are you saying?” Allen shouted down. Dan looked up at him standing at the top of the structure. “Their leaders? They’re dead too?”

“Yeah,” she said, staring at the ground. “I scanned the bodies I found in there, all matching the descriptions and IDs of the key resistance members we were supposed to capture and bring in for interrogation. The mission is a bust.”

“Well that fucking sucks,” Allen said.

“I’ve already contacted Alpha command. They’ll be sending in teams to pick us up and get this city under control. In the meantime, we’ll keep our eyes peeled and stay put.” Jane looked over to Dan. “Take some much needed rest, Dan. This mission has taxed all of us.”

***

By the time reinforcements from the Alpha Corp arrived, the storm clouds above had dissipated and dawn had set in. The sky was a fusion of reds, oranges and dark blues. Dan sat on the ledge of the collapsed structure nearby the rebel HQ watching the quiet sky. Occasionally, he would look down to see Alpha agents walking back and forth, collecting corpses and performing further searches within the HQ.

Dan thought back to the mom and her son that he’d saved during his chase with the Kodak agents. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that order and peace would be restored to this city after driving back the rebels and Kodak forces.

Something that still didn’t sit right with him was why Kodak was here in the first place. And why did this resistance group choose to ally with them?

Dan’s HUD notified him of an incoming call from Jane.

“Dan, our executive would like a word with you.”

“Sure. I’ll be right there,” he said.

“If you fall from that building, I won’t be there to catch you. You’ll have to crawl your way here,” Jane said.

Dan’s HUD popped up a waypoint for him to follow.

“Wow, thanks, comrade,” Dan said jokingly. Jane cut the connection.

Dan stood up and hopped off the ledge. Luckily, he stuck the landing and Jane’s pessimistic prediction didn’t come true. He followed the floating blue circle to one of the abandoned buildings.

As he walked along the messy streets, two agents walked passed him and glanced in his direction.

“Pretty good for a rookie. Well done, kid,” one of them said.

“What do you expect?” the other one said. “Jane Sunheiser trained him.”

Dan gave a respectful nod to both agents and the pair continued onward. He saw a notification on his HUD.

Congratulations!

You have levelled up twice.

You are now Tier 1 | Level 15

You have earned 10 stat points.

The waypoint led Dan to a closed-down banking branch. He stepped through the shattered window and made his way through the lobby of the place. The blue circle led him up to the second floor. He got up there and saw another waiting room. Jane, Allen and the executive Chad Eisenworth sat at a table. Chad glanced at him and waved him over.

“Dan, you tough son of a bitch,” he said. He had the same winning smile that Dan had grown familiar with. The man stood up from his chair and walked over to shake Dan’s hand. “You survived your first mission under Jane Sunheiser’s command. How do you feel?”

He glanced over at Jane, who had her arms folded and an eyebrow raised at Chad.

“I could be better. Allen says I need to get checked out by a doctor when we get out of here,” Dan said. “I fought some pretty tough guys and gals on this mission.”

“I heard. These two have told me all about it,” Chad said. “It truly is a shame about Kate Razor. I thought we were all family here.”

“It is, sir, but don’t worry.” Dan curled his fist in from of the man. “The next time I see her, I’ll be strong enough to take her on again and make her pay for her crimes against us. Against the Alpha Corp.”

Chad smiled at him. “I heard you tricked her in combat. That’s impressive, especially given your level. You’ll improve greatly in time. Jane will build you up to stand among our finest.”

“He will need a lot of work,” Jane interjected. “But he shows promise. Once you recover from your injuries, we go immediately into training. Is that understood, Dan?”

Dan pulled down his mask and gave his squad leader a big smile. “Yes ma’am. I’ll get myself ready for you to bully in the simulation rooms.”

A mass of movement in Dan’s peripheral vision caught his attention, and he looked through the large window. He saw a sizeable line of rebels, all with their hands above their heads, being escorted by Alpha agents.

Curious at the sight, Dan walked over to the front of the window and watched things unfold. One of the agents, who wore a white coat like Jane’s, held his fist up, and the entire group stopped in their tracks. Dan tried scrutinizing that agent further. He had the same white coat, except his accents were black instead of gold like Jane. He also wore a helmet.

A hand touched Dan’s shoulder.

“What you’re about to see isn’t for the faint of heart, my boy,” Chad said.

“What do you mean?” Dan asked. “Aren’t those rebels being arrested?”

Chad stared at Dan with a serious expression. “No. Those rebels are mere foot soldiers that don’t know a thing. But the Alpha Corporation cannot tolerate such terrorism in our own territory. They must be made an example of.”

The rebels were forcibly lined up against the front of the buildings. Then another line of Alpha agents stood in front of them and raised their rifles.

“Are they doing what I think they’re doing?”

No one gave an answer. He saw the muzzle flashes from their guns. All the rebels dropped dead in an instant.

Dan stood quietly, staring at the line of dead rebels and the Alpha agents. Many of them broke off and walked away, presumably resuming other duties. He glanced to the side and saw a drone flying behind them.

“That whole thing was shown live to the newsfeeds,” Chad said.

“Isn’t that a bit brutal to show on live TV?” Dan asked.

“Our citizens need assurance that we will protect them from terrorism. It also doesn’t hurt to display our might on occasion.”

Dan glanced over to his two teammates. Jane’s expression didn’t change at all while Allen simply lowered his head and kept his eyes shut.

He looked back at the slow and gradual sunrise in the distance. The dark blues in the sky slowly gave way to bright and fiery reds and oranges. Throughout this whole mission, Dan had been hunted down left and right by rebels, Kodak agents and Kate the traitor. He had survived an ordeal that eclipsed all of his previous encounters with the gangs and degenerates of his home town.

Usually after any chase or evasion of those kinds of assholes, Dan was on the verge of a panic attack. The shallow breaths, the tears in his eyes, the sense of hopelessness. Just getting himself to calm down and push through the rest of the day was a demanding task.

But since the end of the mission, Dan hadn’t felt such symptoms. Not at all. Just now he held a conversation with his superiors without much issue.

“Is it strange that I don’t feel any emotions after all that’s happened?” Dan asked Chad. “Half my new team is gone and I just survived a bunch of horrific situations back-to-back. Is this normal?”

The executive brought back his winning smile and patted Dan on the shoulder. “You are completely fine, my boy. Part of the augmentation process of an agent is strengthening not only your body, but your mind as well. Your psyche is much more resilient to mental and psychological trauma compared to any non-enhanced being.”

Dan stared blankly at Chad. He looked down at his gloved palm. He curled it into a fist with renewed strength. If he kept up his training and continued working with Jane and Allen, two veteran agents, he would get stronger. Everything he had endured and survived just now was only the beginning.

Mission completed.

Time: 04:02:14

Total kills: 45 | 22 Kodak agents | 23 rebels

Favorite weapon: CMA-40 rifle

Efficiency rating: C

12000 credits earned | You have unlocked the (base) ZK-77 assault rifle and its modifications.

“Holy shit,” Dan said out loud. “I ranked up and got a bunch of credits. This is awesome!”

“Keep up the good work,” Chad said. “Remember, competence gets rewarded in this world.”

With an additional six thousand credits to his name, Dan contemplated the possibilities of the new gear he would buy once they got out of this city. The current ZK-77 model he had could be improved with new sights, muzzle attachments and maybe even upgrades to its rounds.

“Well, unfortunately I cannot fully debrief you in this territory. We’ll have to head back to the much safer confines of Cerulean City,” Chad said. “Deal with whatever business you have left in this area and take a dropship. Dismissed.”

With that, the executive gave each of them a polite nod before walking off the floor. Both Jane and Allen stood up and approached Dan.

“Way to go, kid,” Allen said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Once you heal up, we need to do some more training. We gotta build you up to make up for our loss in numbers.”

Dan initially smiled at Allen acknowledging him, but then frowned at being reminded of the state of their team.

He looked at Jane and asked, “So what will happen to Ben and Hailey? Their bodies are still out there.”

Jane’s expression remained serious and uncompromising. “Their bodies are being collected by our forces. Agents are expensive to train and maintain. If possible, the shard will always try to extract dead agents. It’s the bare minimum.”

Dan’s face was hit with a ray of sunshine from the window. He turned around and walked towards the glass, taking time to bask in the rare sight of sunlight.

Jane walked over and stood beside him. “It’s a sunrise like all the others.”

“While I’m inclined to agree, the kid has been through a lot, Jane,” Allen said. “Maybe that sunrise is a bigger deal to him than it is for us. We’ll be waiting for you, Dan.”

Allen’s footsteps could be heard as he walked off the floor and eventually out of the building. Dan glanced down and saw Allen on the ground walking.

Jane remained by his side. Without even looking, Dan could tell she was growing impatient.

“We’ve already overstayed our welcome here as it is. We should get going,” she said.

“You’re right,” Dan said as he turned. “I don't get to see the sun often, you know?”

Jane raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

“Where I come from, the pollution is so shitty that we didn’t get to see the sun too often. And when we did, all the rays of light had to shine through layers of smog and the other crap we’d put into the air we breathe.”

Jane didn’t say a word, and Dan didn’t mind. To her, a simple sunrise was as routine as ever. But to Dan, seeing one after a harrowing mission felt liberating. He had lived to see another day, just like he always had before joining the Alpha Corp.

“Hey Jane, when I recover, I’m going to put my all into improving myself to reach the positions you and Allen are.”

Jane gave him a smile, something that was rare. “You surprise me. I’ve seen a lot of our younger agents witness the true hardships of being an agent and being unable to handle it.”

“I’m not letting Kate get the last laugh,” Dan said, locking eyes with her. “I need to get stronger if I’m going to take her on again. Plus, it would be a shame to quit on you and Allen. You guys have grown on me. I hope you can say the same about me.”

Jane looked at him and patted him on the shoulder. She gestured towards the stairs and they walked together. “I’ll forge you into something great, Dan. One day, you’ll stand among the likes of myself and Allen and many other high-ranking Alpha agents as equals. But for that to happen, I’ll need one hundred percent of your loyalty and dedication. Is that understood?”

The pair reached the stairs. Dan flashed the biggest grin he could muster at his squad leader, and by extension, his new found family. “You got it, Jane.”