by Ed White
“Yes. Or to play any type of game again. I do feel guilty about everyone remorting, maybe more so now.”
Lisa waves her hand. “No, let me clear that up. They told us starting over is a requirement.”
“Talking of requirements, why do we sleep? It doesn’t seem to matter to those lot outside. Are we experiencing this in real time or does the game impose sleep cycles on us? Is it necessary to assign XP?”
Lying so close to her, I feel Lisa shrug, while her grey silhouette shifts in the glow of the lamp light outside the open window.
“Sleep goes hand in hand with recovery, but it doesn’t dictate awards, especially if you allocate your stat points. When it’s time to level up, for example, there’s no delay, the game doesn’t wait until you go to sleep. We level up at the end of a quest, never during.”
Making a noncommittal grunt I sigh and stare into the relative darkness. “Don’t know that I want to sleep.”
“Worried about having another one of your nightmares?” She takes my hand. “If you tense up, I’ll wake you from it.”
***
Acid builds in my stomach. Darkness surrounds me, humidity weighs heavy. There’s movement at my sides, edging forward with me, almost silent, I sense their presence. There’s an oppressive absence of light and the stench of rot and dampness—I’m in the jungle. The shrill calls of nightlife don’t dispel the genuine stealth of whatever stalks to my left and right. Large forms move parallel to me. There’s very little underbrush to hide them, but the darkness provides ample cover.
“Wake up!”
Lisa holds the side of my head, her face close and filled with concern. I break my eyes from hers. The room is lit much the same as it was from lamps outside, while the crowds around the inn continue to fill the night with the drone and staccato of conversation and laughter. Lisa leans on me, her breasts pressed against my chest, one exposed from her shirt, her skin warm against mine.
“Did you see anything more of that United Nations office?”
“Huh?”
“You were having another nightmare, right? Where you back in the Grey Zone?”
I squeeze her hand and rub my eyes, not so much out of pain, but from habit. “I was out in the jungle.”
“In the Wilds?”
“I think so.” My stomach tightens. “Do people usually dream while sleeping in Lenscape?”
Lisa’s hand sweeps through my hair.
I sigh. “Never talked about it, but I don’t dream, or I don’t remember them. I wake up and morning’s come already, with my HP restored. Look, there’s still time to rest, a few hours until sunrise, and we can sleep in. Unless you’re thinking about what to say to Miss Beechum.”
I half expected Julia to pull me out of the crowds and demand a progress report. She’s no fool—she knows that I’m failing at my sole purpose of entering the game. Interrupted earlier by Lisa, I do expect Julia to return with questions. “I…I don’t know. How do I figure this out?”
Lisa runs her finger along my ear. “I said I’d help.”
I take hold of her hand again as my breath shortens and nausea overtakes me.
“Ow! David, are you okay? What’s going on? Is it a panic attack?”
The room spins, and I lose sensation in my legs. I know it intimately, my old nemesis, my nervous system illness, an anguish I hoped the game might free me from. Is it ever going to end? Is there a cure?
Is this an incentive to hurry up and find the hackers instead of enjoying sexy time?
Is it a punishment? The price of failure? A ticking clock?
Shit.
Lisa slaps me. Strikes again and grabs my head between her hands. Her thumbs stroke my cheeks.
As in the real world, the distraction, the contrasting pain from a secondary source, breaks the grip of pain and anxiety.
She watches me for a seeming eternity before I lean forward, our eyes shut, I breathe her in, and we kiss.
Chapter Twenty-three
Interlude
Texas, a place of savage and fragile beauty. To travel the wild countryside was to experience an air of isolation laced with intimacy. A place of wide open plains and ferocious thunderstorms. Oh, how Julia longed for home. To walk under the alcoves of ancient sandstone cliffs and lost caves of western Texas—the act of exploration a simple pleasure shared with no one. Each one so similar yet different from her home, largely unspoiled and forgotten. But no, here she was, on a dead world, in Connecticut, far from Texas, all because of David Grey.
Julia looked out over the lights of the city and the dark desolation of the sky. No wonder humans stopped dreaming of travel to the stars. Light pollution. Who sees the stars anymore? Now they look inward, they desire a virtual reality over an expanded one, fooling themselves into thinking they’ve developed augmented realities. They have no idea, there are no more stars here.
Stepping away from the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, Julia studied the reflection of herself. A lock of hair out of place. She swept it over her ear. She sported a fresh suit and flat shoes, ready to present her latest report—another meeting to discuss Mr. Grey’s progress. What progress? There was none. Her eyes shifted to a second reflection, to David, who sat on the office couch waiting to join her in presenting the team’s technical updates. Only his body of course, a Dream Walker while David roamed the Lenscape. The diagnostics her staff gathered from David’s time in the Lenscape was of great interest. The most important was the effectiveness of Dream Walking. David’s body continued to show signs of strong health and took part in the operations of Julia’s department, working as some might describe an automaton.
She smiled. David provided a sizeable data set for further study. As most players entered the Lenscape from their homes, David’s friends and other beta groups remained essential to the study of Dream Walking. Their bodies remained within the Connecticut headquarters under constant study and this latest meeting interrupted that work.
Anomalies following the events of the latest game instance prompted the Board to call for an immediate meeting with all departments involved in the Lenscape.
A beep from her office phone pulled her attention from the city lights. “Miss Beechum, they’re ready for you.”
They. A meeting between Julia and the decision makers before they spoke with anyone else on the Lenscape staff.
Minutes later, Julia entered the primary boardroom, a vast space on the north-east corner of the top floor overlooking the river. All of it, a show. Joe Beechum sat alone in the room, but “they” watched from afar—the founders of the Conglomerate.
“Julia, how are you this evening?”
Julia tipped her head and smiled. “I’m well.”
David’s Dream Walker passed her and sat beside Julia’s designated chair at the end of the long table.
Joe gestured for her to sit. “Before we discuss this afternoon’s intrusion into the Lenscape, update me on the latest with Mr. Grey.”
Glancing at David’s body, Julia considered her response. “Mr. Grey disappeared during the intrusion, which isn’t unusual. As the system slows during an intrusion, errors occur. I’ve yet to brief him since it ended.”
A silence grew as Joe Beechum clasped his hands and studied David. “We chose this place to achieve several goals, which is to say there’s no preoccupation with Mr. Grey or any one element. However, he is of great interest.”
That sounded like a contradiction, but Joe Beechum wasn’t one to be questioned and Julia knew the two of them, she and Joe, weren’t alone.
Joe flicked his hand. “System analysis indicates there is a particular intruder who is key to the increasing frequency of intrusions. Such an individual would be desirous of Mr. Grey and what he did to extinguish the intruders. It is important to locate and identify this individual. Mr. Grey is a means to that end. No one else but the intruders could know, and only ‘the’ instigator of the incursions possesses the intimacy to perceive Mr. Grey’s potential.”
“David is more than bait
. What he did is unusual.”
Joe Beechum placed his elbows on the table. “David?”
Julia felt unease fall on her shoulders and stir her gut. The room darkened and her body hung in place as if suspended, alone but for Joe, lit within an eerie glow. The ceiling lights dimmed and shadows spread enveloping all in darkness, yet the sudden, unmistakable presence of the Board members, like the table, David’s body, and the room itself, pressed against her senses.
A melodious voice resonated in her head. “What you say, young miss Julia, is correct. It is our belief that two potential Battle Avatars survived the incursion, together, feeding off and triggering each other’s latent abilities. Whether Mr. Grey is aware, we believe this allowed entry of the intruders.”
Joe sat in silence. The disembodied voice continued and Julia listened. “Your research shows as much, young Julia, what have you to say on the matter?”
Julia swallowed before she answered. “The woman? But we know she doesn’t log in from our kiretic variance. During these instances, the system has difficulty maintaining any but the most localized of users, as with the system guardians.”
The voice interrupted her, soothing with subtle menace. “The purpose of the network requires stability across the sacristy. If this cannot be overcome, then our goals must be made piecemeal, over multiple systems. We expect redundancies, but cannot allow waste. You understand the monumental efforts to enable a unity of variances. Lady Mavros seeks to complete what her father failed to achieve. Will you fail in this?”
Julia understood fear, but never experienced horror. Why should she? She was a Beechum. Those few words from that cold voice in the darkness drowned her in true fear. Julia wanted to escape it.
The darkness transitioned to shadow as brightness returned to the room. The walls and ceiling reappeared as the electric pulse of the city beyond the windows returned. The meeting was over.
Joe Beechum reclined in his chair. “This is the testbed for broad implementation. If David fails—if you fail—we will act on the Board’s decision to purge the Lenscape.”
Julia fought to control the emotions roiling within, her shock and anger seethed below the thin veneer of stoicism thrown up to mask her fear moments before.
“A Planar Shift will kill those travelers.”
Joe shrugged. “Their Dream Walkers will walk on and the public will be unaware. Resources will be collected and we will start fresh, free from intruders.”
***
Staff never spoke with the Board. For Julia to interact with Joe Beechum, as a member of her family, remained an exception. The presence, the melodic lilt of the voice in contrast to the eerie environment of the darkness, disturbed Julia as much as the final words of the speaker—Lord Neth.
Julia refused to fail.
Alone now, with David sent back to the research levels, Julia understood the irony of entering the Lenscape to speak with him.
A thin crescent moon sat low over the jungle. The tumult of an anxious crowd pressed in around Julia as she took control of her NPC avatar. Time to find David and his friends. Dropping her serving tray on the nearest oak table, she pushed through the adventurers and crafters, striding into the tavern hall, ignoring their requests and cat calls, buttoning her shirt in an absent motion. Glancing about the congested room, it cost her several minutes to locate the avatar of David’s childhood friend Jonesy, sprawled on corner seats, with a number of women in various degrees of undress.
“Come with me.”
Jonesy looked over the shoulder of one of the three women straddled atop his chosen muscled model body type. “Yes, ma’am, if you’ll give me a second to untangle myself.”
A moment later, Julia and Jonesy stood in the service corridor to the kitchens.
“You are to watch Mr. Grey and report back.”
“He’s asleep, and not one to wander off.” Jonesy gestured upstairs.
“Oh? And where was he and Miss Cline during the intrusion?”
Jonesy grimaced. “Where was he? A lot of things happened.” He looked confused.
Julia did not respond.
After a moment, Jonesy understood her question. “We accepted the War Maker quest and he and Cline went on a side quest to a sky island.”
“The Path of the Fallen?” Julia shifted on her hip.
“Yeah, I think so. But that wasn’t all, the Chol attacked and captured us.”
Julia nodded.
Jonesy raised his hands. “Wait, what do you mean they disappeared?”
Julia ignored the question. An NPC approached the pair, a nondescript male cook. Waving Jonesy away, Julia eyed the NPC.
“I have news of Mr. Grey,” the NPC said and nodded towards the rear supply docks from which large wagons arrived with food stocks of all sorts.
Registering the identity of the NPC as the in-game Chol skinwalker Boss, Julia was shocked. “You survived the planar shift? What are you doing here in that avatar?”
“I saw something incredibly interesting.”
“Following Mr. Grey? Your role is to challenge and test him.” Julia directed the fellow Conglomerate member onto and away from the Wilds Edge loading docks.
The NPC lowered his voice. “Yes, I lost contact with HQ during the recent incursion. It’s becoming a pressing concern.”
“Agreed. We lost Mr. Grey and Miss Cline during that time. I’m told you were the next to encounter them?”
“Assuming the guise of a skinwalker Boss.”
“I already know that. You are meant to operate in isolation within the Lenscape without our aid and send reports when able. The intrusions will continue to cause such anomalies until we destroy the intruders. You needn’t have contacted me in this fashion.” Julia made to walk back to the inn.
The NPC took hold of her arm. “I saw Lord Neth, young Lord Glyn and I believe, the Bounty of a Billion Souls.”
Her veneer of control strained, Julia fought to hide her astonishment.
Cast Cone of Silence.
Cast Invisibility.
Neth? In the Lenscape? Not a chance. The Bounty of a Billion Souls? She gripped the shoulder of the NPC. “What do you mean?”
“During gameplay, Mr. Grey fell to my AoE attack, but more than simply enter and control his avatar, I shared some form of vision, perhaps a memory.”
Julia leaned in.
The NPC continued. “I stood on the Earth, as it is, ruinous. Surrounded by captured players and shadows, the location shifted around Mr. Grey and I saw the impossible.”
Much of the value of David Grey came from his witnessing the planar shift—the fractal weaving of Reality reset in the plexing mend of the Lenscape. Somehow, he pierced beyond the Lenscape? She leveled her gaze. “Seeing Lord Glyn, if truly him, is of more value than a vision of Lord Neth. How did you see Lord Neth’s fallen protégé?”
The NPC paused. “And the bounty…”
Initiating zeugmatics, Julia initiated a spell chain to form a small bubble of reality, further shielding herself and the NPC from view.
Cast Binding.
God and Ghost Exchange.
Bound in place, the NPC fell silent and unresponsive, the pneuma within the Lenscape avatar drawn into Julia. Safe from prying eyes within her hastened, makeshift sanctuary, Julia splayed out the recent memories of her staff member. The blank space around her shimmered and darkened, as the grim view of barren land spread out around her, true enough as described—very much a grey limbo of dread. Greyed out players, the black smoking shadow mists of the Chol—all to be expected of the abilities and skills of the Chol Boss. Julia huffed with impatience between the seconds before the smoke parted to reveal the infamous Glynn Manor.
“How the hell?”
Glynn Manor, home of Lord Neth long ago, where he lost his promised protégé under unspoken circumstances, from which countless rumors spread.
Three figures stood on a broad stone patio among rolling hills beneath a blue sky.
Lord Neth, all in grey.
Lord Glyn, steeped in the finest fashion of the time.
And an unknown third figure, surely, the Bounty of a Billion Souls, so named because it is said that Lord Glyn was killed by a young vizier, close in age and in service to Lord Glyn. The bounty placed was the largest and greatest reward offered—a billion souls.
It’s all about the souls.
“If this is a memory, only one of the three present is the source,” she said to herself, studying the image of frozen memory, a fragment of time, a memento of collected experience.
Julia pursed her lips. Of the three, she knew to rule out Neth, but Glyn and the Bounty…could Mr. Grey be one of them?
The Bounty of a Billion Souls remained an elusive figure, an enemy to Lord Neth, to the Conglomerate and the Board members. Perhaps he led the intrusions. She failed to stifle a laugh. Bounty of a Billion Souls. “Bob.”
If this figure wasn’t Mr. Grey, then he might well be the hacker David was bound by his soul to reveal.
Julia unraveled her Cron Sphere and dispelled her castings. Having assigned a minor system daemon to operate as the NPC, she hastened back into the Wilds Edge.
Her dead staff member would not be missed, already listed lost in the recent planar shift, his knowledge and pneuma safely bound to Julia.
***
Climbing the main stairs to the second floor, Julia marched straight to, unlocked and entered David Grey’s room. Leaving the door open to allow light in from the hallway lamps, she found Mr. Grey and Miss Cline laying undressed in the single bed in the small room. For a moment, she considered maintaining her identity as an NPC staff member of the inn or to speak with David alone. She chose neither.
“Mr. Grey, always in a state of undress. Just what is it with you and being naked?”
David jerked the sheet over himself, confusion crossed his features before he and Miss Cline shared puzzled glances.
“Uh?” He managed.
Julia knew the Board suspected that Lisa Cline, like David, possessed the potential to be a Battle Avatar. No sense in maintaining a pretense of falsehood, nor one of acknowledgment as she had early in the night.
