Free The Unseen by Jake Lingwall Page A

mumbled.
    Karold was still busy defending Kari’s flag, holding the assailing mech at bay. Kari ordered Gorilla to attack the other mech guarding SeptemberMist’s flag. As Gorilla approached its next target, it dodged an array of light fire and closed in on the enemy quickly. It has bigger guns—why isn’t SeptemberMist using them? She’s going easy on me. The thought frustrated Kari. She didn’t want any pity or help from her new friends; she wanted to be respected by them. Well, she won’t make that mistake twice. Gorilla heated its blades again and leaped for the kill.
    A blue light flashed from SeptemberMist’s mech and washed over Gorilla while it was in midair, dropping it offline immediately. Kari’s perspective from the now defunct mech lasted long enough for her to see it collide haplessly with the enemy mech. A message flashed across the game, alerting everyone that Kari had lost another mech.
    “Happens,” Hermes said.
    “Only to you and her,” Motorcad said.
    “Gotta watch out for that EMP, Freelancer,” SeptemberMist said. “Don’t get too close to a mech, or you’ll get fried.” Well, that would have been nice to know about before this game started. So they have access to the EMP tech here as well? I should have expected that. Apparently, I’m the last person in the world to know about it.
    Kari refocused on Karold, her only remaining mech. The forest in front of her was a war zone; trees were blown to pieces where energy blasts had passed through them, and fires were everywhere she could see. Energy blasts volleyed back and forth between the two mechs, as neither of them had managed to gain an upper hand yet. I’m too slow to knock her out, and she’s too weak to defeat me. Kari searched her mind for a way to even the score against SeptemberMist. Before she could think of way to win the battle, her mech exploded.

Chapter Eleven
    “Easy kill,” Motorcad said. Kari’s perspective left her destroyed mech and floated above the battlefield, where indicators marked where every remaining mech was on the map . Motorcad still had three mechs left while everyone else only had two. He had apparently sent his extra mech over to Kari’s flag to cause some unexpected havoc. Guess we all can’t be professional gamers.
    “You can’t be too focused on one thing, Kari,” Joseth said. “You have to keep the big picture in your mind at all times.”Joseth’s voice was unexpected, but Kari managed to keep herself from jumping. She exited the game and let her eyes see reality once again. Joseth was seated in one of the cushy chairs across from her, one leg folded over the other and a smile on his face.
    “Don’t tell her anything else,” SeptemberMist said. “Motorcad won’t be able to handle it if she starts to beat him anytime soon.”It was the last time one of her three new friends addressed her, as they returned their focus and conversation to the game.
    “Great tip,” Kari said. “That big-picture advice will keep me from running a mech into an EMP weapon that I didn’t even know was part of the game.” She wanted to come off as carefree, but the frustration from being eliminated from the game spilled over into her tone.She tried to laugh at the end of it, but it only made her feel more uncomfortable. Joseth stood and motioned for her to join him on a walk. It was an invitation she gladly accepted.
    “The EMP got you, eh?” Joseth said.
    “Yeah—I thought only the Middle States had localized EMPs. I didn’t even know that technology existed until the other night when it blasted my mind chip and drones offline.”
    “You didn’t think they invented that themselves, did you?”
    “No, I had my doubts—but if you invented it, how do they have access to it?”
    “Oh, I didn’t invent it personally; some of the guests here figured most of it out. My involvement was minimal, I assure you. It actually came as the result of the game you just played. We’ve found that when we