The Core: The First Guest

48. Without imagination

After touching my new helmet a bit I discovered that the cr had coated my entire head, ears, and neck with the thinnest layer of cr armor. This gave me a clue on how to start using my cr to clean off the rest of my skin without injuring myself.

I was just starting to spread out and direct my new mass of cr into a film covering my hand when I heard something that instantly put me on guard and made me freeze time. It was the sound of someone whispering the word "Ready?"

So, was it Cavii who had found me or another PVP group? If it was players then I would have to get very creative to survive the next few seconds. Everything thus far could paralyze me, spear me, and slice and dice me in a matter of moments. What could players with possibly hundreds of years under their belt do to me? I had no idea.

I wasn't looking in any particular direction, I had been focused on how the tiny cr was flaking crusty matter off of the back of my hand at the time when I heard the whispered words. The sound had come from the down tunnel a dozen feet from me. The good thing about the tunnel system was that the path that I was on was a continuous curve around the outer edge of the mound so unless they already had a key that allowed them to see through walls I might be able to blend back against the wall and hide with my Blidda's natural camouflage.

Who was I kidding? All I needed to do was lay down and I would be invisible to anyone looking directly at me. I was covered in muck, the floor, walls, and ceiling was dripping in everything vile... so that is exactly what I did. I left quick time and dropped to the ground with a splash, making sure that my head and helm copied the surrounding colors as best as possible. I stilled the blades of my Blade Barrier and made them into a deadly invisible trap hovering in the tunnel. My skin prickled and warped slightly, taking on the sludge-like appearance of the biological remains around me.

Once I was prone I used my Prime Speed Control key again, giving myself time to develop a new plan of attack from a different position. Because of the way my eyes were situated, I had a perfect line of sight down the tunnel with my two upper eyes. How was it having four eyes? Not really that different from having two, the field of view was just a lot greater than normal.

"Invicta is there a way to see an enemy's cr or a way to trace where the owner of the cr is located?" I asked.

-Not as far as I am aware. New developments might have occurred in that department since I was separated from the network but from my knowledge, they couldn't detect cr if all of the currency banking tabs were turned off.-

"Gah! So I have been basically walking around waving my location and wallet in the wind?" I asked. That was probably how Magus the 2nd was able to rob me.

-Yes... I thought that was on purpose.-

I went into my settings and found the banking tab. There were tons and tons of options available within this tab. I had to ask and work with Invicta to figure out which ones were the right ones to turn off and what the ramifications would mean once they were disabled. Basically, from what I gathered, having them on was an easy way for a Citizen to pay for their instant purchases or events without having to go into their settings and authorize the purchase. Kind of like taking out your wallet, I supposed.

With these options off, it was as though the money or cr was hidden away. You had to physically have the cr to do this, however. Money saved within the Banking System, like the 5 million cr that I hadn't transferred to my habitat, still resided within the bank and wasn't a giveaway to my location.

"How can I have cr make a sound?" I asked as I had an idea forming inside my head.

-Simply create the size and design of the speaker specifically for the function and volume that you desire out of cr. Then program it with the sounds and tones that you want.-