by J P Carver
The news hadn't picked up on any of it yet, which was strange, as they usually had this kind of stuff on air in minutes. Someone had to be trying to keep it quiet, probably to keep things calm until they knew exactly what was going on. But if something was harming VR users, then people deserved to know. I contacted Plotigan, as he was the only one still online.
"What's up, Doll?" He gave me a lopsided grin. His shaggy brown hair was a mess as usual. His face suddenly turned grim. "Why are you at the hospital? You crash your bike again?"
"What the hell are you doing cracking in on my location, asshole?"
"Ziller was worried and told me to keep an eye on you and Nina after we couldn't find Winter." He had the good sense to look sorry even while lying.
I rolled my eyes, blocked my location tracking, and kicked him out of the server he was using. "Sure he did, and who told you about me crashing my bike?" I sighed. "Ziller."
"Guy has a big mouth for being the head of a cracker group." He grinned and sat back in his chair.
"Apparently." I made a mental note to rip Ziller a new one the next chance I had. "I'm just here for observation. Something weird is going on with Winter."
"What do you mean?"
I told him what had happened after everyone logged out. He nodded slowly. "That's insane. They really have no idea what's causing it? Jeez… so what do you need from me?"
"Leak the info I'm gonna send you. No one is talking about this, and I think someone is squelching it because it could cause problems for them. People have to know. It's something with the VR systems. Everything I can see points that way." He turned on his second monitor as I sent the info to him. "The nurse didn't confirm it, but I'm pretty sure someone already died. I can't find anything yet, so they're hiding it pretty well. I want you to see what you can find. Contact Merigold too."
"And tell her what?"
"To dig out her old license and meet me here," I said. He gave me a questioning look. "She'll know what I mean. Also, if you find that person who died, I need to know where they're keeping the body."
"Anything else, oh bossy one? Would you like me to send you flowers too?"
"No, and cut the snark. This is for Crow and Winter, so do your damnedest."
He laughed. "Wouldn't give it anything less. I'll get back to you."
His box winked out, and I was left in the quiet of the room for a few minutes before someone yelling pulled me from my thoughts.
"Get the hell off me! Where's Winter? Where's Raggy?" I fought a grin as I slipped out of the covers and made my way to the door, careful of the wires. Two nurses were barely able to hold the small woman as she struggled against them. "If you don't tell me what's going on—"
"Yo, Nina, keep it down," I called and watched the anger disappear from her face as her gaze found me. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Raggy? What's going on?" She tried to get free from the two nurses but lost again. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Precaution apparently. Let them do what they gotta, and then we'll go see Winter together, all right?"
She slumped in their arms. "For how long?"
The nurse who had brought me in looked between us and shook her head. "We can't let you leave the hospital yet, but I don't see much of a problem letting you both see your friend once we're sure you're in no danger."
Nina nodded and let herself be carried into the room I had been taken to. I went back to the bed and searched again for the file of a dead person.
Nina broke down in my arms a few hours later when we went into Winter's room. It was on the large side, but only Winter's bed was occupied, which meant they were keeping others away from him. He looked dead already. The helmet obscured his face so that the only sign that he was alive came from the beep of a monitor and the slow rise and fall of his breathing.
Nina moved from me and went to the bed, where she took Winter's hand and placed her forehead against it. I gave her space, feeling awkward as I tried not to watch her. I pulled at the gown and wished they had let us dress. Apparently, they'd burnt our clothes. I was down to one good pair of jeans.
I sat down in one of the plastic chairs against the wall and looked around, stopping at a glass separator that played the news. There was no news about the incident yet, which meant Marcus was having trouble.
"What are we gonna do, Raggy?" Nina stared at me, eyes welling with tears.
"If the docs can't figure it out, then we will. I already got Plotigan looking into it. It's gotta be something with the VR system… but that's all I know."
"Then can't we just take it off?" She reached for the helmet.
"Don't!" I shouted and barely made it across the room to stop her. I took her hand back, squeezing it.
"Wha—why not?"
"Just don't touch anything yet until we know what's going on."
"You're keeping something from me." She pulled her hand from mine. "Tell me, Ragan."
I took a deep breath. Whenever she didn't call me Raggy, I knew she was serious as she could be. I turned to look at the glass separator, unable to meet her eyes. "I have a suspicion that someone died from this already."
"What?" Her eyes went as big as plates, and she stumbled back into the bed.
"I haven't found anything about it, so I could just be overthinking. Don't go freaking out, all right?"
"Too damn late. Why the hell would this happen to Winter?"
"I honestly don't know anything more yet. Give me some time." I continued to watch the screen, hoping Marcus would come through.
"We met in the game. Did you know that?" she said after a few minutes.
"You did?" I turned to face Nina.
She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and stared at Winter. "I saved him from a mob one day, and that's how we met. We talked all the time until a few months ago he asked me out. I already saw the real him in video chat, so I took the chance." She stood over him and placed her hands on his arm. "He really likes me, Raggy. I don't know why, but he does, and—I don't want to lose him. I don't."
"He likes you because you're awesome and because he's not dumb." I smiled as I stood next to her. "He would trust we'd figure this out, so don't worry too much."
She leaned into me and sobbed. It had been a long time since Nina had found anyone outside of my group to call even a friend. She'd been like an abused puppy and had attacked me with a blade when I caught her breaking into one of my crash spots. She stopped after I knocked some sense into her, and from there, I took her on and taught her everything I knew. She became my kid sister, and seeing her crying over one more thing tore at me in ways that were hard to describe.
A doctor came in while I was trying my best to comfort Nina—something I was never good at. She went to the foot of the bed. She was about thirty with long, thin blond hair. "So what do we have here?"
I smiled when she looked at me. "Where'd you get that outfit?"
She stuck her tongue out and bit down on it, grinning. "You wouldn't believe the number of unlocked doors in this place or what one of these will do for you." She held up a badge with her face on it. "Had to update the picture, but everything else pretty much checks out… as long as no one does much of a search."
"You created a doctor's license for yourself?" Nina asked her, wide-eyed. "If you get caught, they'll—"
"Come on, little Crow. Don't you worry your pretty purple-haired head. I got this fair and square."
"Merigold was an actual doctor before she lost her marbles," I said.
"Oh, good one. Glad to see you've still got a sense of humor, Ragan. I'll remember that remark the next time I work on you." Merigold walked around the bed.
"It's true," I said as she waved a hand at me and bent down to stare at Winter from the side. "So what do you think?"
"What I think is that the doctors here are slower than a nineties-era processor. This isn't a disease. Idiots."
"It's the VR system, right?"
"Aye, but what exactly is causing it, I can't tell unless I
pick his brain." Merigold stood, and her wide brown eyes searched over us. "And I don't think you two would much like it if I did so. It would kill him."
"Raggy…"
I held my hand up to Nina. "No, let's not kill him."
"Then I need someone else to look at if you want me to do anything other than look super snazzy in my doctor's outfit." She struck a pose. "I really don't mind."
I shook my head, laughing at her. It was probably the most fun she'd had all month. "Marcus tell you about the dead person? He find the body?"
Merigold cocked an eyebrow. "You're calling him Marcus now? How cute…"
"Wh—huh?" I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Nothing. He did mention something about that, though… oh, right. He said that the guy is already in the morgue under lockdown. Apparently, there was a lot of tight security, and you owe him bigtime, as he almost got caught."
I shrugged. "Well, can you get us in?"
"I can, but not with you in that gown. Why don't you ever wear something like that when I work on you?"
"Now you're being creepy."
"Hey, I'm just saying that if you're gonna walk around in something that shows off that little butt of yours, let me know."
"Perv."
She grinned. "A bit. Anyway, we need to get you dressed in something a little more professional. I wonder if they got any nurse outfits with that cute little hat—"
"You keep this up, and you're gonna be glad we're in a hospital."
"Can't even have a bit of fun with you anymore." She reached into her bag and tossed blue-and-purple scrubs at me. "Got these in the same closet. You're my nurse, and we've come to lend our help to this well-respected hospital."
"I'm sure no one will question that." I went into the bathroom and changed, much to Merigold's sadness. She made suggestive comments just to mess with me, but I had feeling she wouldn't complain if I actually did swing her way. Once dressed, I tore a strap from the gown and used it to put my hair up so it didn't look so messy, and went out.
"Eh, I've seen better," Merigold said, and I gave her the finger. She laughed and tossed me a digital badge. "Hold it up so it can take a picture, and then we'll be all set."
"What about me? What should I do?" Nina asked while I recovered from the flash of the badge's camera.
"You stay here with him." I connected her to the hospital's network through the same hole I used. "Contact me if anything changes with him."
"All—all right, but be careful."
"You know us." I opened the door to let Merigold out.
"Yeah, which is why I told you two to be careful."
"Good ole Crow," Merigold said, and I pushed her out before she could make some smart remark.
Three
Morgue
"Will you stop it, Ragan?" Merigold pulled on my sleeve to make me look at her. "You keep acting like you don't belong, and people are gonna notice."
"Sorry. There's just so many people here. I feel like they're all watching us."
Merigold shook her head as we went down a set of stairs. The halls were full of people going everywhere, and we slipped between doctors, on-break nurses, and technicians. "No one gives a damn about us, so keep your insecurities in check."
"You're gonna get decked if you keep trying to play therapist."
"Promise?"
"I sort of hate you right now."
"Almost as good as love," she said.
We turned down a hallway then down two more sets of steps. The pale-beige walls fell away to concrete, and drop ceilings became block and pipes as we headed deeper into the building. We followed the signs to the morgue, feeling colder with each step as we neared it.
A man wheeled a cart past us, a white sheet on top of it in the silhouette of a body. Sweat broke out across my skin, and my memory dropped back to the time I saw Park dead in his office all those months earlier. I froze as the man gave me a slight wave with a half-smile as if he was just transporting produce.
"You ladies lost?"
"Looking for the morgue, dear. We're from Mummery Hospital. I was told you have a body here that may be part of an ongoing epidemic."
He stood straight, a round belly pushing against his blue scrubs, and rubbed the back of his head. "Jesus, yeah, that one's a mess. No one said anything about you coming down, though."
Merigold gave a twittering laugh. "Isn't that how it always is? Communication is still shite even with all the tech we have." She placed a hand to the man's shoulder and held out her badge. "I'm an expert on disease, so they wanted me to take a look and see if I had any guesses as to what's causing it."
He studied the badge and nodded. "Can't count the number of times they don't tell me important stuff. Come on. I'll show you where he is."
We followed him as he pushed his corpse cart down the dimly lit hallways. He made idle conversation with Merigold, and I got the impression he had few visitors who could talk back. I tried to blend into the background.
We came to a double door, and he stopped to pull a card from his pocket. He slid it through the card slot, and the doors clanged open. I noticed a camera in the corner of the room and turned my face down. If they noticed me, it wouldn't take much to figure out I wasn't what the badge made me out to be.
Mentally kicking myself for not thinking, I tugged at Merigold's elbow. "The cameras," I hissed.
"I wouldn't worry." She tapped her temple. "I took care of that. They don't see us as us."
"What do you mean?"
"New camera-obfuscation tech one of my regulars has been working on." She pulled away from me and hurried to walk beside the guy with the cart. "I'm sorry. I don't believe I caught your name."
"Ian," he said after a moment and seemed shocked at being asked. "I'm a morgue technician."
"It's wonderful to meet you. What can you tell me about the man? He was the first to fall to whatever this is?"
Ian nodded. "As far as I know, yeah. He's just seventeen. Damn shame… I hate when young ones end up down here."
Merigold shook her head. "Tragic when a life is cut short. They didn't tell me anything about him."
We passed through another pair of double doors, which swung open as we neared. Ian pushed his cart to the middle of the room then turned to put it under one of the painfully bright lights. "It’s not really surprising. They've been keeping it all quiet. Anyway, here we are. You know the procedure?"
"Refresh my memory, please?" Merigold said sweetly, trying her best to charm.
I didn't see how it could work, but Ian smiled stupidly and nodded. "They're different everywhere, so I understand. Since we still don't know the cause, the kid is in glass. Can't go in without a suit. You both going?"
"Yes, my assistant is quiet and a bit slow, but she's a great note taker."
I plastered on a squinting smile as I thought of ways to hurt Merigold once we left. Ian went to the other side of the room and opened a cabinet as tall as him. He removed two dark-blue suits from it and laid them out on the table. He put two helmets down beside the suits. "I'll stay out of your way. Got enough work to catch up on. If you need anything, just pound the glass."
"Thank you. You've been so very helpful." Merigold went over to the table and removed her doctor's coat in a show for Ian. "Could you perhaps turn off the cameras in there? I get paid for what I find, and if they have it all on video, they might not pay me."
"I've never heard of that—"
"Oh, it's a big problem in my line of work." She frowned. "You don't have to, of course, but it would make my life a bit easier."
Ian sighed. "Can't do anything about it, but there ain't no audio on the cameras in there."
Merigold shrugged and picked up the suit. "That'll have to do. Thanks."
Ian went over to the computer, his gaze down, and only gave me a passing glance.
"Why are you worried about the cameras now?" I asked.
"I really just wanted the audio off, as I don't need them hearing us. There's a lesson
here, Ragan. Ask for the moon, and you may be able to get what you want anyway."
"Yeah, but I think he's more afraid of someone with level-six clearance." I tapped her badge. "That's gonna create a flag in the system and probably with him."
"We'll be long gone before anyone cares to take notice, so just get in a suit."
Once suited up, I followed Merigold into what looked like an airlock. When we were inside, Ian tapped a few buttons, and the air pressure changed. A light above the door went from yellow to green before the door opened. We stepped into the room, the light thick with some kind of haze that lingered over the body bag on the table.
Merigold unzipped the bag to reveal the face of a young man with lavender-tinted skin. I swallowed hard and felt a twinge of sadness. He was far too young to be lying on that table.
"Help me flip him," Merigold said, and I just stared at her. "Come on. I want to take a look at his neural."
I fought back a shiver and helped her turn the guy over. She pulled back the plastic and ran her gloved hand across his neck then stopped. "He doesn't have one."
"What?" I bent over, and she removed her hand. His neck was empty save for the I-Dent chip port. Most kids had a neural installed when they were nine or ten, so it was strange to find one so young without at least the basic setup. It had become routine, but if he didn't have one, that meant he used a helmet like Winter did.
I turned to the glass and tapped on it. "Ian? Did this kid have a VR set?"
He looked up to the ceiling in thought and nodded. "Yeah, should be in there… the back cabinet, I think?"
In the cabinet I found a helmet that looked a lot like Winter's. I turned it around in my hands and held my breath when I found a series of burn marks inside. "Merigold… look at this."
She took the helmet as I pointed to the back of it. "That's really not good." She went back to the body and ran her hand through his hair. "Yeah, that's not good at all. He's got major burn marks along the back of his scalp. His head was cooked."
