"Glad we're finally out of that town" Second in command said with a shiver.
"Your first time in no mans land right?" Dominik said with a smile, "don't worry you get used to it eventually"
"I don't think I ever will"
The two continued their wordless march, the crunch of snow under their feet and the soft patter of snow filling the silence.
"So, we have practically no leads" Second in command said with a sigh, breaking the tenuous silence "the only thing we have is a username for a game we never got the name of"
"Not true" Dominik mused, lost in his own thoughts, "people tend to use the same username across multiple sites, and with the dark web, we could check any assassin that goes by that name, besides, I recognise the name"
"You do?"
"Yeah, about four years ago, an assassin using the same 'code name' botched a job, they escaped, and we didn't manage to get much intel on them, they knew where all the cameras where, and the ones that could spot them where compromised"
"So back to square one"
"Yeah, but it does mean that I can settle the score with them"
Dominik uncovered his truck, thankfully nothing was stolen, and hopped into the drivers seat, sticking the keys into the ignition and watching as the engine purred and shook the four by four into life.
"You coming?" he called to second in command.
"I'm still puzzled though, how do you plan to catch him?"
"I have a brother, a twin, spends all his time gaming, if we can get him to find the guy, and the nickname is the same, we can try and get his account info, and track him from their"
"Didn't know you had a brother"
"I likes to pretend I don't" Dominik said with vitriol.
"I won't pry"
"So" Dominik said, wanting to change the topic quickly, "what you picking up on the bug?"
"Static" Second in command said flatly, "have been for a while"
"Figures"
The pair sat in silence for a while as the car made its way slowly back to their home.
"Heh" second in command suddenly let out a small chuckle.
"What's got you so giggly?"
"Just thinking, a pair of twins was assassinated, or at least one of them was, and the only lead comes from a pair of twins, and now it's being followed by a third pair of twins"
"So?"
"Just funny"
...
As soon as the pair had left his shop, Dimitri began to scour every nook and cranny of the small store, only stopping when he found a small, silver disk, no bigger than his thumb nail.
What to do?
Government types where always so stuck up, if he messed with it in any way that was fun, they would use that as an excuse to do something, best to pretend it malfunctioned and leave it at that.
"Ivan" Dimitri called after a quick tinker with the bug, "you can come out now"
A man on the smaller side, with messy brown hair, a lean build, a clean shaven face with few blemishes, almost concerningly pale skin, and a disposition that made him look constantly nervous stepped out from behind a door in the back.
"How's your shoulder treating you?" Dimitri said with a concerned tone.
Ivan looked down at a cast his right arm currently hung in, before tapping the door frame in a rhythmic fashion.
"Makes sense, I mean, any man who can fire a shoulder mounted rail cannon and walk away unscathed is not human"
Ivan responded with some more rhythmic tapping.
"As long as your fine, but are you sure this was the only way, I mean, a few well placed mines could have done the job"
More tapping.
"Ok, maybe they would have found them, but I do not have a problem, explosions are cool ok"
No tapping followed this.
"Guess I didn't pick the best job this time" Dimitri said sheepishly, "we really kicked a hornets nest this time, guess we should lie low for a while"
This provoked some more tapping, with slight annoyance to the rhythm.
"Don't worry, I just got some of those capsules everyone has been going on about, they'll keep us entertained, besides, we should only have to wait about six months before it's safe to take another job"
More tapping, slower, calmer than the last set.
"Of course I obtained them legally, for the most part"
Ivan gave Dimitri a look.
"Ok, ok, I jury rigged two capsules out of smuggled parts on the cheap, you happy?"
Ivan raised an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, their safe, I tested them on Gregor"
Some angry tapping ensued.
"Fine, I swear that I will not use our friends as lab rats, now you want to go play or not?"
Ivan gave Dimitri one last reproachful look, before following him to the basement.
In the dark and musty basement, two rather haphazardly built pods sat.
Unlike the sleek and futuristic capsules Ivan had seen in adverts, the capsules had wires coming out of almost every inch available, exposed electronics and machinery littered the machines, Ivan was not sure if he would step out again if he got in one.
"Stop being such a stick in the mud" Dimitri said gleefully, "trust that your older brother won't fry your brain and let loose for a change"
Ivan tentatively lowered himself into the pod, surprised at how comfy it was.
"There we go," Dimitri chuckled, slapping a helmet onto his brother, "let's get this baby online then"
With a flick of a switch, Ivan felt a jolt of electricity, and then, black.
...
When he woke up, Ivan found himself in a library of epic proportions, Despite his best attempts, he couldn't seem to find an end to it.
Looking up, he found multiple rows of bookshelves forming impossible patterns, making his head hurt just looking at it.
"You finally done with your beauty sleep?" a cold voice asked from behind Ivan.
Turning, he found a strange blue man, dressed in soviet world war two soldier attire, with an ushanka on his head, sitting in a sinch arm chair, a cup of some smoking beverage in his hand.
"What?" the man said as Ivan looked him up and down in disbelief, "was the outfit too much?"
as the figure got out of his chair, he snapped his finger, and in an instant, his clothes roiled and wrapped around themselves, turning into traditional butler attire.
As the figure snapped his fingers, Ivan noticed that the figures fore finger was bigger than his middle finger.
"Just a little warning, we can tell when someone is not using official hardware" the figure said in a friendly tone, giving a wide smile, showing Ivan his shark like teeth, and extending a hand in greeting "you can just refer to me as the librarian, pleased to meet you"
Ivan took the hand, and gave the librarian a firm handshake, this was simply a game, no need to be so on edge.
"Your brother's still out," the librarian said gesturing to Dimitri, who was lying on the floor, a small fleck of drool coming out of his snoring mouth, "looks like he's having a grand old time"
Ivan moved over slowly and began to rock his brother awake.
"Ten more minutes," Dimitri muttered, rolling over.
Ivan gave a frown but did nothing more, he was never able to wake his brother.
"So, not very talkative are you" the librarian said, returning to his chair, "there a reason ooorrrr?"
Ivan was a bit taken aback, before he could make a response, the librarian let out a small laugh.
"Just kidding, of course I know about your, condition, your entire body is scanned when you enter this game"
A silence was held between them, only broken up by Dimitri's obnoxious snoring.
This continued for ten agonizing minutes.
"Aaahhh, where are we?" Dimitri asked with a yawn, looking around in a blurry haze.
"Oh your up" the librarian said in a cheery tone.
"How long was I out for?" Dimitri asked.
"I am so sorry," the librarian said, walking over and placing his hand on Dimitri's shoulder, a pitying look on his face, "you've been in a coma for 5 years, your jury rigged pod malfunctioned, the world has come to an end, we did everything we could to bring you here so your brother could give you one last goodbye"
"Hahahaha, you are a funny man," Dimitri laughed, looking over at Ivan, his face falling when Ivan showed a teary look, "it's a joke right, come on"
The librarian pondered for a moment, and then gave a shrug.
"Yeah, just a joke" the librarian said in an offhand way, before switching to a slightly more serious demeanour, "well then, let's get you two ready for your new world"
"Come on, chop chop" the librarian said in an impatient tone when the two did not follow.
The brothers did not move, mainly because Dimitri was having an existential crisis.
"I SAID CHOP CHOP" the librarian roared, his features distorting into a hideous mockery of human anatomy.
The two promptly hurried after at a rapid pace.
...
A short while later, they arrived at a cosy little corner of the library, a pile of read books littered around the place, three irresistible looking armchairs, and a large globe between each.
"Now, first question your faction, what will it be?"
"Which one is neutral?" Dimitri asked almost instantly.
"May I ask why?"
"You get the most jobs when you play both sides"
"You made your choice," the librarian said with a wide smile, revealing his shark like teeth "but I don't think things will play out the way you want"
[You have chosen the dawn faction]
"I assume your brother will do the same?"
Ivan gave a small nod.
"Excellent, now will you choose your class first, or the race? I should preface this by saying that depending on your class, certain races may be unlocked, and some may be restricted, and vice versa"
"Class" Dimitri said firmly.
"Right away, would you like a tier five or a fusion job"
"Fusion, who would want a basic tier five when you can have a pretty much unique class"
"A sound argument, well then, pick away"
Ivan perused the classes for a while, in the end, he just decided to pick every class that sounded vaguely ranged focused, rookie gunslinger, novice ranger, archer. Then novice thief and artificer for the hell of it.
"Have you made your choice yet?" the librarian asked in a slightly bored tone.
"Yep" Dimitri said with a bubbly tone, Ivan nodding in agreement behind.
"Excellent" the librarian said, clapping his hands together, "lets begin the infusion, what class will be the base?"
"Artificer" Dimitri said quickly.
Ivan held up the novice gunslinger book.
"Splendid, no let us begin"
In that instance, the world went black and Ivan found himself on the top of a mildly medieval looking building, with a bit of modern or steampunk charm, completely shrouded in the darkness of the night.
"Hush now" A gruff voice said next to him, "you'll mess up my shot"
Ivan turned to find a masked man sitting by a window, a sniper rifle propped up against the frame, at least, Ivan thought it was a sniper, it was exceedingly steampunk.
The man was wearing a large black trench coat, black jeans, and a black t-shirt, making him almost blend into the darkness. His build was impressive, but not too showy.
Ivan sat down next to the man, and grabbed an odd, telescope like device by the man, looking at where the rifle was pointed.
It was a mansion, the architecture was similar to many surviving French mansions, not that he had ever visited, but virtual sight seeing was fun.
A party was in full swing, and way too many guests to count stood outside in a brightly lit courtyard.
"Should be wearing a neon green suit" The man said.
Ivan gave the man a look.
"Hey, I'm not the one that chose his wardrobe, does make him an easier target though"
Ivan found the man rather quickly, a portly man, with a warty face.
"Tell you what, you tell me when to shoot, and if you get him, you get a prize"
Ivan sat in wait, the man was in a large crowd, no clear shot, if only he would leave.
After ten minutes, the man made his way towards the building, moving up a flight of steps, an empty flight of steps.
Though not yet, he was to exposed, the building was too close, basically just in front of the gate, any gunshot would alert the guards, but the screams would make the guards either rush back to the party, or head straight to their location, the escape would be to close, not worth the risk.
The terrace was also empty, luckily, and that was the right moment.
Looking around, Ivan found no direct witnesses.
The accent up the stairs took a minute to make, running, around twenty seconds.
Once the gunfire was shot, the sound of the party would drown out most of the noise, but people near the fringes, including the guards would hear it.
The party seemed high profile, guards would probably be of high quality, but they would still take time to react, and they where at the fringes of the party, besides, they probably wouldn't find the body for a while.
The target leaned over the edge, so he couldn't fire yet, the blood from the wound may drip onto the guests, or worse, the body could fall.
Looking around, Ivan saw another man heading towards the stairs, if he just passed by, fine, if he stopped to talk to the target, the chance was gone, he may never get anther shot.
Ivan tapped on the windowsill, and the gun let out a thunderous roar.
The target was nailed right through the head.