Cursed Blade Online

Chapter 2: Assassins and Thieves

Ian looks at the door that separates him and the inside of a fancy restaurant. "So this is the place, hu." Ian talks to himself before pulling the door open and taking a few steps foreword. Once inside Ian looks around. The smooth walls are painted red and is trimmed with yellow around the ceiling. The tables all have a red with yellow branch like design tablecloth on it, showing how eloquent and expensive the place is.
     "Hello. Would you like a table or is someone here waiting for you?" The female server asks, holding a menu. "Hey! Ian!" The two hear. Ian and the waitress turn at the tables and see a happy man around 35 years old sitting  in a table. Ian turns back at the waitress. "My friend there is waiting for me." Ian says. The AR player walks towards the table and takes a seat in front of the CIA agent.

     "Ian, I'm so glad you make it." The cheerful man says with a bright smile. Ian already knows that the CIA wants something. "Yea well, when an agent sends you an important message via AR and doesn't leave a message in my phone, I'm pretty sure it's highly important." Ian replies as the waitress comes. Ian simply orders water with no ice. The waitress leaves with the drink order. "Well, I'm glad you have a sense as too how important this'll be." The agent says, slightly more serious than he was before. "So. What do you need?" Ian asks as the waitress comes and places the water in the table.
     "Well. Last week, a player was found dead in their apartment-"
"Then shouldn't that be the forensic's job?" Ian interrupts the man after he takes a sip from his water. The man chuckles lightly. "If you stop interrupting me I can tell you more." He says. Ian nods and listens carefully.
      "The man was identified as David White. The second best player of SSO, which in sure you know what that means." The agent says, now ready to hear Ian's comments. "Soldier Strike Online. Yes, I do." Ian affirms his knowledge about SSO. The agent nods and continues his talk. "Well. He was found dead wearing a SSO special NPP. He was found by a janitor that said a foul smell was coming from inside David's apartment." Aaron explains how they found the man. Ian nods and leans back in his chair, taking in the details. "He could've died of starvation...some players of that game are highly dedicated and it isn't unusual for a player to spend an entire weekend on the game non-stop." Ian says, trying to avoid an answer involving the NPP. Aaron shakes his head. "No. The biopsy showed that he did not starve to death. He could've gone a few more hours without food or water, and the NPP didn't showed any warning levels levels before his death." Aaron quickly denies Ian's assumption. "Your not applying that the NPP killed him in some way, are you?" Ian asks, not wanting to deal with another NPP killing since Fusion Online. The agent smirks, which is hinting that Ian is correct. "No! There's no possible way that the NPP could kill since it has all the safety in it. Good day." Ian says a she stands up and begins to walk away. "No wait!!" Aaron quickly grabs ahold of Ian's hood. "Please, stay. Have any desert you want. I'll pay." Aaron says, a bit of desperation could be found in his voice. Ian sighs and sits back down. "You're really not the best CIA agent." Ian says. "Well, if your referring to the way I act, would you have guessed that I worked for the government?" Aaron smirks. Ian sighs. "I guess not." Is all Ian answers. "So. Back to business. Is it possible that you can get killed by a NPP?" Aaron asks Ian the same question. Ian takes a while before responding. Ian knows about all the safety measures applied to the NPP, and he's been taken to the NPP's headquarters where he was shown around. Ever since Fusion Online, Ian has become a celebrity in the AR and gaming community. Everyone knows the name Ian Stalk and everything he has accomplish. The thing they don't know is his username, unless they play CBO or fusion online, which he decided to keep it a secret, the same way that all the others Fusion Online survives have.

"The only way a person could die from the NPP is if the NPP overloaded with information and started working so fast that it causes an electric surge because of how much electricity is being directed to the NPP from the plug," Ian starts his hypothesis. He knows that everything has a flaw, and the NPP is no exception ,"but even at that, the NPP can process what eight laptops cannot. How would you find something big enough and force another NPP to process?" Ian asks. The waitress then comes with a cart of deserts, for Aaron called the waitress to come with one of each so Ian could pick. The rest will be given to the poor. "That's where you come in, Ian," Aaron says as he picks out a slice of chocolate cake while Ian decides in having a flan
,"we need you to enter the game and be our eyes. Our agents can't be in there, since almost all the players know who's part of CIA and who's not. Even if we switch accounts or make a new account, our faces will stay the same. You, however, will most likely not be recognize by those players." Aaron finishes as he takes a piece of cake with his fork and eats it. Ian nods,"how will I know that I'm completely safe?" Ian asks, wanting his security to be assured.

     "To answer that question I need to know if your in first, by signing this contract." The man says as he hands Ian a folder. The player opens the folder and reads the two page contract, not wanting any loopholes or anything of that sort to be in it. "Alright. I'm in." Ian signs the contract with the pen that was inside the folder. Once signed Ian hands back the folder to Aaron. "Now. We have set up a hospital room with the same nurse that took care of you when you were stuck in Fusion Online. We decided to give you a normal NPP, which is currently in the hospital room-"
     "You already have everything set up!" Ian says, almost choking on his flan. "Yes, we do," the agent says before continuing the plan,"we will convert your account using our NPP, once your inside your gonna have to find the killer and place a special item that will start de-coding the player's identification and bam we have him." Aaron says. "Couldn't we just contact the game creators and tell them to just give us the information?" Ian asks, finding an easier way to do it.
     "And risk the killer knowing that we are looking for him just so he can escape our grasps? No. Plus, the original server is in England, and we don't want to bother them." Aaron says as he finishes his cake. "And our best solution is to send me in?" Ian inquires. Aaron nods with a smile. Ian sighs. "Alright. When do we start?" Ian asks.
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