I heard a pneumatic burst of air followed by a faint clank of metal on stone. Then, there was a low buzz that reminded me of a fishing line being reeled in.
"What's that sound?" I whispered to Teddy.
"We're in party chat," Teddy informed me at normal volume. "They can't hear us."
"Oh."
"And that's the sound of rappelling," Teddy continued. "The air burst and metallic impact are the sounds of a grappling hook being fired. That buzz is the winching mechanism. Someone's scaling the building. They're trying to trap us in so that we can't escape to the roof. Most likely, they're going to sweep the building floor by floor until they find us."
"Does that change our plans?" I asked.
"No, it does not," Teddy replied confidently, adding slight pauses after each word. "In fact, by splitting up even more, they've actually stacked things in our favor. Since they already had two snipers, having a person watch the roof is redundant. But, as they say, never look a gift horse in the mouth. You remember the plan?"
"Of course," I was affected by his confidence. "My Ivy League brain won't forget that easily."
"Good. Then go," he commanded. "Get into position and wait for my mark."
******
"Kkshh, this is Assassin reporting in. Rooftop clear. No tangos on sight. Charlie Mike. Over."
"Kkshh, Archer here. Copy that. I have visual on you. Over."
"Kkshh, Saber reporting. I've rendezvoused with Berzerker. Sweeping first floor. Charlie Mike. Over."
"Kkshh, roger that. Westside windows are clear. Charlie Mike. Out."
As the chatter ended, a mousy, brown-haired girl cracked her knuckles and readjusted her grip on her mouse and keyboard.
"Let's do this," she muttered to herself.
******
On the fifth floor, in a room on the east side of the building, I knelt behind an overturned bed frame. Facing the door, I repeated pressed and released my right mouse button. I watched as the crosshair converged towards the center of the screen before jumping back to the edges.
As I was practicing, I noticed a rectangular frame with a red dot in the middle of it. It was mounted on a set of rails that ran across the length of the assault rifle. This must be the red dot sight I bought earlier. A question popped into my head.
"Hey, Teddy," I called out.
"Yeah?" came the reply.
"How do I used the red dot sight I bought earlier? Or is it some passive effect that makes it easier to aim?"
"Wow. I'm just getting more and more disappointed in the tutorial. They don't even go over the difference between aiming and ADS?"
"Maybe it does," I said, "but neither of us will really know because someone didn't let me finish it."
"Hhhhhhuhh," Teddy sighed. "Aiming is simply holding down the right mouse button. It brings the crosshairs close together. You are more accurate, but there is still some bullet spread. ADS stands for 'aiming-down-sight' which is exactly what it sounds like. If you double tap the right mouse button and then hold down the second tap, you'll ADS."
I did as he said and soon found my viewpoint shifted so that I was looking through the rectangular loop on the gun. The round red dot replaced the crosshairs at the center of the screen.
"When you ADS," Teddy kept speaking while I experimented, "you have perfect control of where the bullets of your gun land. They will always hit where you are aiming. In close to medium range combat that is. At long range, you will have to deal with factors like wind speed, wind direction, and bullet drop."
"If that's the case, then what's the point of having regular aiming?" I inquired.
"The first con of ADS is speed. Not only does it take longer to double tap the right mouse button, but the ADS animation is a fraction of a second longer. It might now seem like much, but those seconds decided whether you live or die."
"The second con is camera sensitivity. Regular aiming-," Teddy suddenly fell silent.
"What? Is something happening?"
"They're coming. I hear them on the south stairs," Teddy said. "I wouldn't recommend ADS unless you're pretty familiar with your gun, which you are not. Stick with regular aiming. I'll lecture you on the nuances of aiming and ADS later."
******
"Kkshh, we're moving through the fifth-floor hallway. No tangos in sight. Everything clear on your-"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Shots whizzed through the hallway at the two players.
"Kkshh, contact north! I repeat! Contact! Fifth floor! North end of the building! Over!"
"Kkshh, understood. Assassin, Oscar Mike. Out."
"Kkshh, this is Saber. We are returning fire. One hostile spotted in a room northeast end of the building. Second target location unknown. Over."
"Kkshh, oh shit! He has a grenade launcher!"
******
As gunfire erupted in the hallway, I readjusted my position behind the overturned bedframe so that only my head peeked over the edge. My gun was trained on the door.
"Get ready!" Teddy's voice rang in my ear. "I'm firing...now!"
My view shook as one of Teddy's impact grenades exploded in the hallway. The second explosion was closer. Then, the third one blew off the door to the room I was in.
As the splintering wood flew away, I saw two players prone on the floor just outside the door. They were taking cover from the explosion behind the existing debris in the hallway. I couldn't stop the grin from creeping onto my face as I felt everything go exactly according to plan.
The player on the far side of the hall, with a female avatar, swiveled to look at her partner. In doing so, she saw me. If this were a movie, I could imagine things going into slow motion as her eyes widen and her mouth opening to shout a warning.
But this wasn't a movie. I had them already lined up in my sights, the red dot resting on their bodies. At this distance, only a complete amateur would miss.
I squeezed the trigger and emptied my magazine.