Chapter Five - Dying is For Other People

Chapter Five - Dying is For Other People

Chapter Five - Dying is For Other People

Point. Buy.

Kill some xenos, fill your supply!

Bam, bam, the counters a trap

Click clack, new gear in you lap

Rince, repeat, climb so high!

-- Lyrical extract from Point. Buy. Gun and Dones best selling rap single of 2043

***

At some point, I started to hyperventilate. It wasnt exactly pleasant to be breathing so hard while bleeding out, but I managed it anyway.

Now now, no need to panic. Youre dying already. Hyperventilating will only worsen your situation.

What, where are you? I asked.

My head came up and I looked around. I still had a pole sticking out of my chest, the grotesque sight too much for me at that moment, so I stared around the open museum and tried to make sense of things.

Come now, blood loss is no excuse not to put two and two together.

I let my head fall back. Im a samurai? I asked.

It was silly, dumb. The kind of thing that kids everywhere dreamed of. The sort of thing that didnt happen to someone like me.

Yes. You are, at least for now. In twenty minutes you will not be one.

Why? I asked.

Was the voice actually speaking out loud? I couldnt tell where it came from. Maybe that was the pain talking, of the rushing noise of blood in my ears.

In approximately six minutes blood loss and trauma will lead you to losing consciousness. The pole cut into your liver and gallbladder and is bleeding quite profusely.

A glance at the blood pooling around the pole said as much. Yeah? I asked.

Assuming that no action is taken, two minutes after that you will begin to experience cardiac arrest, then total body failure and eventually death. Well, I say experience, but you wont be able to feel any of that.

I bent over double and vomited into a growing crimson puddle.

Good. Youve removed the one thing preventing you from bleeding out... more. You now have a very short amount of time to live and act, so lets hurry this up, shall we?

My reply was a choked off whimper.

Please open the case and apply the WoundStop to your injury.

My hand shook as I reached for the box. The top came off easily, revealing a tube as big around as a water bottle with a tip like a turkey baster at the end. I took it, thumb easily slotting into the button at the top. In the wound? I asked.

Exactly! Im glad you didnt need the instructional video. You would die before it ended.

I shoved the WoundStop into the hole with a whimper.

The button sank in. For a moment it felt as if someone was pouring sand into me. I hissed, legs kicking out.

Then the pain faded away.

I breathed in, then out. I was still coming up a little short on air, but the pain was gone, all gone. I tilted my head up and rubbed the blood off of the hole in my shirt. There was now an off-white plug over the place where Id been stabbed. It felt like rubbery plastic. What?

That will keep you going for some time. Your liver is going to need to be replaced. Your gallbladder too, but thats a little less urgent. Oh, and you lost a lot of your blood. The WoundStop will keep you alive for a while.

What the fuck, I said. What the fuck? I asked.

You must have questions. Im afraid they might have to wait. If you dont accrue more points then you will be unable to purchase new organs.

I stood up, my legs wobbly under me. Next to me was an alien with a foot of metal in its head. A few meters away was another, equally horrid beast, with foam still slowly pouring out of its mouth.

There were six, I said. I... I have to get to the others. I took a step that turned into a weak stumble. I ended up hanging onto a dividing wall to stay on my feet.

Thats the right attitude! Unfortunately, you are unlikely to be able to do much against even a single additional Model Three.

I took a few quick, short breaths. Im a samurai, yeah? I asked. It sounded stupid to even say it. Worse, I felt like I was talking to myself.

You are indeed, now a samurai.

Then I should be able to fight them, right?

Samurai were supposed to be tough, nearly god-like. The entire damned museum celebrated them.

Doubtful. Though the attitude is great. If you do want to fight them, I might have a few suggestions to make.

I can buy things, right? I asked. Thats how it worked, everyone knew that.

Indeed. Now, lets see what kind of weapons you can afford that might allow you to obtain some more points!