Heavy Sniper

Jake froze. Of all the people that might have been in the guild. She was the last one he expected.

"My name is Cassandra. Um, are you another player?" Cassandra was looking him up and down. He did the same. She wore a chest plate identical to his. Over the same type of nondiscript t shirt. Instead of pants, she had on a pleated skirt that went to her knees but seemed to be made of the same heavy material as his pants. She was currently hugging a rifle taller than she was.

"Yes." Jake heard himself say before his brain could catch up. His answer came out in a slightly digitized tone, sounding deeper than his own voice as well. Only then did he remember he was wearing the total head covering helmet.

The item actually came as a metal collar instead of a helm as he had expected. Once put on the metal liquified and spread up his head fully enclosing it. Then the helmet vanished from view. As far as his view was concerned there was nothing there. The new HUD gave him health bars over enemies. Their names too if he was close enough and they were in his bestiary.

It gave him access to some help menus, a more in-depth status screen, and the previously important social menu. Not only could he make parties and friends he could even do remote communications if the requirements were met.

Now a health bar popped up over Cassandra. It had no name over it, similar to how it worked when he first looked at a monster.

Cassandra looked around nervously almost shyly. It was nothing like the Cassandra he knew. If she didn't look exactly like her and of course had said her name was Cassandra he wouldn't have believed it was her.

"I uh just started playing. I've never played a game like this before." She was talking to his chest.

She just stood there after saying that and he did too. What was he supposed to do? The long silence was getting awkward. Her eyes darted up to look at his face and he for a moment thought she knew it was him. Then she looked away. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

She started to move as if to go around him. Stepping widely away from him while hugging that oversized rifle.

"Merc." He said again. His voice had that deep mechanical tone.

"What?" She paused to look up at him then down.

"My name is Merc." He replied.

"Oh. Um, that is an interesting name." She gave him a weak smile.

"You shouldn't use your real name. Gamers need a game name." He spoke up, more confidently. Her personality was completely the opposite of what he was used to.

"Oh. What is a game name?" She asked seeming almost relieved he was talking to her.

"Something easy to remember. Four letters is best. You can enter it on your social menu once you get the heads up display equipment." He waved his hand at the counter.

"I have it already." She tilted her head and motioned to the left side of her head. There was an item clipped over her ear with what looked like circuits running across her face to her left eye. Two prongs poked out and he could just see light flickering in them as if they were projecting into her eye.

"I see." He took a moment to look at the oversize rifle. He didn't know a lot about guns but looking at it made him think anti-tank.

"I'm a Heavy Sniper." She shuffled the gun in her arms to reach out her hand almost awkwardly to shake his hand.

Without thinking he took her hand and shook it. A message popped up.

[Would you like to share contact information with Cass?]

"You choose Cass?" He went ahead and accepted. Hopefully, his said Merc not Jake.

"Yes. It would be weird to use something too different, uh Merc." There was a hint of a smile.

There was another too long pause and she shuffled her feet. "Um, would you mind helping me with the basics?"

"Sure." He eventually responded and she gave him a grateful look.

**********

Jake still wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Cassandra was Cassandra he was pretty sure. She just had to be. But she didn't act like Cassandra. She seemed shy and meek. Not bossy, snotty, and with a stick up her butt.

He walked her through the most basic of basics. When he asked what her primary attributes were he was shocked to find out Intelligence and Strength. Dexterity had been his guess and said as much. She explained that the robot had informed her that intelligence was used to calculate the trajectory of her attacks. Strength to handle the heavy weapon. She apparently had to go fully prone to handle the oversized rifle. The range at which she could shoot was crazy but she currently had only the most basic scope limiting her range.

She had only one skill so far, Ballistic Penetration/Wounding. It was a passive that increased her rifle's armor penetration as she got closer to a target at the cost of less damage. In turn, it increased her rifle's damage at the cost of penetration as she got farther away. The way she described it there was a range where she would do normal of both and then it would alter. It gave her options depending on the target. As long as there was plenty of room to work with.

Shrugging he took her to the Dread Spitters as they were the only intelligence monsters he knew of. Mostly he wanted to know what she was up to, there was no way this girl was the Cassandra from school.

"Here is good. They just popped up for me." She stopped him. Glancing over Jake could see a hand full of Dread Spitters shuffling around far in the distance. Cassandra looked down at the packed dirt around them uncertainly.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

Cassandra glanced at him then back away. "No." She hurriedly replied and gingerly laid down prone. It was still so odd seeing her act so… not Cassandra.

She tilted her head so her right eye looked through the scope while her left stayed open. Her little display flashing rapidly. He watched as she took a deep breath then pulled the trigger as she let out the breath.

He felt the report through the ground. A rush of crimson dust shot out to both sides of the tip of the barrel as well as rolling away from it. Tiny rocks bounced and danced on the hard packed dirt. Jake felt the shockwave of the gun in his chest. In the distance, one of the Dread Spitters exploded.

"I got it!" She said excitedly, glancing up at him.

"Good. Now get the rest." Jake was just glad his helm protected his ears. He noticed the HUD item she wore now had a section plugging her ears as well.

Four more times she fired and four more of the Dread Spitters exploded. Jake almost missed what she said after the final shot. The shockwave from her firing caused her skirt to flip slightly each time. It had slowly crept up until he knew what color underwear she was wearing.

"What?" He guiltily turned his gaze to her face. She didn't seem to notice where he had been looking thanks to his face being covered.

"I am out of bullets." She was getting up now. He looked out and there were still two of the Spitters coming. They would be within firing range soon.

"I'll get these." He started jogging trying to get his head back in the game.

Killing just two Dread Spitters required him to just dodge a few times to close in. They looted all seven. Only five of them had mutagen. When he told her to butcher one of the corpses she looked like she was going to be sick. Still, she took the knife he offered her with shaking hands. When she stood frozen over the dead body he sighed and did it for her. She was so grateful he ended up doing them all.

"The first two you killed, you managed to destroy the mutagen." He was showing her the pulsing balls of flesh that she looked disgusted at.

"The first two were outside my normal range. I did extra damage to them." She shivered looking at the pulsing wad of flesh. Jake remembered how the first two had practically exploded while all the rest just had massive holes in them.

Jake again looked at the Dread Spitters. Her bullets had ripped right into them and blown them apart. The entrance hole was big enough but the exit was massive. In most cases, half of them was splattered around behind where they were shot. He had started to feel his class was pretty powerful but looking at the damage he felt weak now. The last two they looted, the first ones she shot. Were mostly a bloody mess splattered on the ground.

"The Heavy Sniper needs to be nerfed." He said.

"Nerfed?" She asked confused.

"Yeah. It is a gamer term. Means you are too strong and need to be weakened." He pointed to the dead monsters. "Doing that from so far away is crazy."

She nodded. "My class description says that the extreme long range and damage are the primary positives. The cons of my class is the gun is too big to move with easily. I have to be completely prone when firing it until a much higher strength. Oh, and all my abilities are self only. Plus the bullets are supposed to be expensive?"

"How expensive?" Jake asked.

"Three credits each? They are heavy too." Jakes's eyebrows went up. Even if she one shot everything. Thirty percent of her profits went straight to ammo.

"Hmm, well let us go buy you some more ammo then." Jake turned towards the guild.

"Thank you!" Cassandra said suddenly from behind him. When he stopped to look back she looked down. "For helping me."

"Sure no problem." He paused and then asked the question he had been wondering the entire time. "You don't seem like someone who plays games. How did you end up playing this one?"

"My brother had the system. I happened to get the game in the mail. Some early access thing. I don't know why it came to me and not him." She shifted the heavy gun she hugged to her while it leaned over her shoulder. "I don't know why I decided to play it." She sighed. "Probably because the boy I like apparently got a stupid girlfriend." Her face took on an angry look that seemed more like what he was used to seeing. They had been walking and now Jake skidded to a stop.

She stopped too and looked embarrassed. "I know it seems stupid. I just thought maybe doing something different could take my mind off it." She smiled some. "It actually has. This game is so realistic. I can't believe it."

"Yeah." Jake just said as he turned to resume walking, glad his mask hid his shocked expression.

'Was she talking about me?'