"Then I die," he said. Then he paused. "Do we have any proof that if a ghost in the game dies they don't reboot?"
Nika stared at Louella, but didn't say anything.
"Just my wings," Louella said. "Not proof exactly, but when Gaia destroyed my wings, they never healed back. I've been lucky not to die in the game since, but if my wings didn't heal..."
"Then you think you might not reboot," Cameron finished for her, nodding. "I can see that."
He sighed. "If only we had a computer terminal, it wouldn't take long to find out. I almost programmed one for back here, but what good does a terminal do for an NPC?"
"We do have one," Ash said, beating the others to the words and pulling the terminal from the backpack and handing it to him. "But I’m not sure how much good it is now. VirTech has locked us all out. Even the hacker."
"Yeah, they baited me with that last update," Louella said. She was still pissed about that one. "Then they blocked my account."
Cameron chewed on his lip for a minute, his fingers drumming on the closed terminal now in his lap. Finally, he turned to Nika. "I suppose you deleted my account once I passed away?"
Nika's eyes widened, and she took a sharp intake of breath. "No, I didn't. You're still in the system, with all your overrides and everything."
A slow smile crept onto Cameron's face. "Why would VirTech bother to erase a dead man's access?"
He popped open the terminal and within a matter of seconds he was in Gaia's programming. All of it. He cracked his knuckles and then grinned at them all. "So," he said, "where do we start?"
"How about starting with getting us out of here?" Dean's voice sounded a bit panicky. For good reason really, he still might have a body back home.
Cameron's fingers flew over the keyboard. "That's strange," he said. "They have totally deleted the code allowing players to exit the game until they beat Gaia."
"Can't you recode it?" Dean asked.
"Yes," Cameron said slowly. "But it would take me some time. I'd have to do it all from scratch. Without my notes from back home, I'm afraid that would be quite the lengthy process."
"Is there any way to make sure that 'ghosts' can reboot?" Louella asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.
Nika nodded. "Yeah, that's probably where we should start for sure."
Again, the fingers started flying. The man must have a typing speed of over a hundred words a minute. Louella had thought she was fast at seventy-five.
After a few seconds of non-stop keying, he started explaining what he was doing. "I'm going to run a quick test by taking an NPC character, killing them and seeing if they reboot."
"Wouldn't they have to save first?" Ash asked.
"Ah, good point my dear." More frantic keystrokes quickly followed. "There, all set up. Now to kill him off."
"Not Tyler from Riser's Creek, right?" Ash asked. "Tell me it isn't Tyler."
"Or Striker," Nika said, starting to catch Ash's panic. "Those two NPCs are exempt from any and all future testing that might end with less than stellar results."
Cameron gave them all a weird look but shook his head. "Anyone have an objection to killing off an NPC called Harry that runs a horse farm?"
Harry, Louella thought. He was the one they'd gotten Sunshine from and the horse had told her some stories about just how he treated the creatures in his stables.
"No problem at all, sir," Louella said. "In fact, he's the perfect one to test in my opinion. He's not nice at all to his horses."
"Here goes," Cameron said. A few seconds later he shouted. "Eureka! He came back, right at the save point."
Unfortunately, that really didn't make Louella feel all that much better. It might work on NPCs, but she and Cameron weren't just programs and codes. Even if they did reboot, would their souls stay intact? NPCs didn't have that to worry about.
"You still don't look convinced," Nika said.
Louella sighed. "I'm sorry. It's great to know that NPCs can reboot. That way we don't have to worry quite so much about Striker and Tyler getting killed in the game. But, well, I'm more than just code. Even if I do reboot, will I keep my soul?"
Cameron thought for a minute. "I don't see why you wouldn't," he said. "If your soul transfers into the game with your brain connection, then it has to become a part of the code in some way in order for you to stay you. If the soul stayed in place when you rebooted before, it should now. After all, the game doesn't seem to recognize that you're no longer living in the outside world."
She gave him a doubtful look. "Do you really think we'll reboot with no problem?"
He took a deep breath. "There isn't any way to be one hundred percent certain without testing it out, and neither of us is a suitable test subject."
All the eyes turned to Blake, who started backing up. "Hey! I don't want to die either."
Nika sighed. "No, and even I'm not capable of killing him if I thought there might be a chance that he'd stay dead. Besides, we are all hoping right now that we have lives to return to. No way to know that he is alive or dead back there."
Blake sagged back, relieved. Don't get too comfortable, Louella thought. If she found out he was dead in real life, she really didn't think she'd hesitate to end him. Especially if it meant peace of mind for her and Cameron. She was kind of hoping she never had that proof of death because she didn't like having thoughts that brutal. Maybe the game had changed her after all.
Or maybe she just really hated Blake Nolan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Cora Foiled
They got very little sleep that night after planning the lockdown and making lists of what they needed to have ready for their next evening's shift. Les said that wouldn't matter so much because once they were in and locked down, there would be plenty of time to sleep.
Mary's part wasn't all that bad. She was handling the food preparations. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to stock the player's lounge with enough food for them to make it a week. After a week, things would be pretty much over. Whether Nika and her team made it out of Gaia or not, they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer than that.
Max was in charge of packaging the evidence and copying what they had. Their plan was to send a copy to the local media in the hopes that perhaps they wouldn't have been as likely to have been bought out by VirTech. And one copy was going in with them to help convince the staff of nurses.
How Les planned to get the other non-essential employees out of the lounge before the shutdown, she didn't know. But Les wasn't one to leave such a detail uncovered, and it might be better to be kept in the dark on this one as much as possible. Fewer things to worry about that way. Besides, she couldn't see how there would be that many to worry about, anyway. If Nika was anything like she seemed, the player's privacy would be a big issue to her. Especially as one of those players was her.
They had planned to get to the company a full hour before their shift to take care of the final items on the list, and then at clock-in time to lock up the lounge area for good. When Max popped his head into the living room where she and Les were filling their duffel bags, the expression on his face told her he had bad news.
"They're doing it tonight," Max said, giving a big swallow. "They're killing the team tonight."
Thoughts raced through Mary's mind and then settled on one. "The mirror chip?"
Her brother nodded. "I was reviewing the computer's keystrokes for the last couple of hours, and Cora must have used this terminal for some reason. She sent a message to a Clyde Trenton to be on alert at the start of the second shift because she was going to take care of the loose ends in the Player’s Lounge tonight." He paused with another swallow. "The message said the project was complete."
Les and Mary's eyes met. She knew hers must be a bit panicky right now, but his were as cold as hardened steel.
"Then it looks like we skip dinner and head straight there," Les said, hurriedly stuffing the rest of his gear into his bag.
"Who is Clyde Trenton?" Mary asked.
>
Les glanced at her and then back to his task. "My boss," he said. "Head of all the security at Gaia's Rebirth. VirTech's pockets must be really deep to have gotten him on board. He's been with the company for years."
"Yeah, but maybe he was pulling a double paycheck that whole time too," Max said. "You guards pretty much have full access to the company."
"True, but not the technical parts, just the building. I didn't think a guard would be on their list of recruits, but VirTech is a little more thorough than I'd thought."
"You really think we can do this?" Mary asked. Knowing in her heart it didn't matter. Les would go ahead no matter what.
To her surprise, there was a tiny bit of fear in his eyes when he turned them on her. That was something she had never seen from him. Fear. It should have terrified her, but instead, it seemed to fill her with resolve. Anything that made her man, whether he knew he was her man or not, be afraid was something she had to deal with.
"I'm not sure," Les said honestly. "But I know it's something I have to try. I can't let that company get away with murder if I can help it." He hesitated. "I'm thinking maybe it's something me and Max could handle. Why don't you get the food and then you can be our outside contact?" He nodded. "Yeah, we just might need one of those."
"No way in hell," she said, grabbing her duffel and swinging the heavy bag onto her shoulder. "I'm coming too."
Les didn't look too happy about his plan now, but he nodded. No way was he cutting her out.
They made their way to the Gaia building at a jog. They would be cutting it close as it was. If Cora and her pet guard were even a few minutes early, they might catch them in the act of the shutdown and be able to stop them. Then it wouldn't be prison they would have to worry about. Once Cora knew they knew, it would be a grave for each of them too.
All the preparations went as planned and Mary was just finishing the stocking of the little lounge kitchen when she heard Cora arrive. Shit, she thought, glancing at the clock above the sink. She was a full hour early.
Mary shot a quick text message to Les and her brother and went to stand by the door to the kitchen to hear what was going on.
"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Cora said. The woman had one of those voices that didn't allow anyone to ignore it. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned her way.
When Mary had gotten there with her cart from the kitchen laden down with supplies, she had done a quick head count. Besides the players, there were two nurses and one man whose job she didn't know. At the time it had made her feel better as it meant they would be facing even odds, with conscious people at least, once the shutdown happened. A quick peek around the corner told her that Cora hadn't come alone. There were two men with her. And not small men at that. Thinking quick, Mary saw a mirror on the wall and realized that if she positioned herself just right she could see what was going on out in the main lounge and still stay hidden.
Hidden was good. The only good thing that Mary could see was that the men weren't armed. That would have been really bad.
Still, it made the odds two to one, and that wasn't exactly great. They'd hoped to be firmly ensconced in the lounge before Cora and company showed up.
Once she was sure all eyes were on her, Cora gave the room a smile. "Gaia's Rebirth wants to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication on this project," she said. "We have arranged for these two men, both qualified nurses and highly respected in their fields to relieve you all for the night so that you can have some much-needed downtime."
"Excuse me?" said one of the nurses. She was a smaller woman, but her voice sounded strong. "Nika assured Ash Tanner that her nurse would be a female. I wouldn't want her to come back and find herself in the care of a man. I'll stay."
Cora's smile snapped off her face in a heartbeat. "Okay, so much for being nice," she said. "You are hereby terminated for insubordination." She looked over at the other two in the room. "Do you two of you want a night off? Or to stand in the unemployment lines with your friend here?"
The two men gave their fellow worker a sad look but left the room. Mary noted the female nurse was still standing her ground, her arms crossed over her chest.
"You don't have the authority to fire me," she said. "I was hired personally by Cameron Logan and his daughter Nika. And only Nika has the right to terminate my employment."
Cora glanced over at one of the men who nodded. He'd been watching the others leave.
"Well, then you give us no choice," Cora said sweetly. "You can stay. And I promise you that you'll be there for Nika and poor Ash right up to the end."
Ah, shit, guys, Mary thought. Where are you?
As if in answer to her unspoken question, they stepped through the doorway. As soon as he was through, Max turned and immediately hit the emergency lockdown control and then started keying furiously on the small keypad. Mary knew he was changing the password to the one they had all agreed upon. If he had time, of course. It wasn't something that could be done in a matter of seconds.
"What the hell are you doing?" Cora screeched, signaling the men beside her to stop them.
Les gave them both a grin and stepped out between the men and Max, who didn't even hesitate in his keystrokes. Mary stepped through the kitchen doors and went to stand closer to the nurse who had stood her ground. Very likely, she'd be an ally in this and Mary was almost sure she could take Cora if the woman made a move on either of the women.
After all, she'd been taught self-defense by a master cage fighter. She wouldn't go down easy. None of them would.
Cora didn't even notice Mary as she joined the group, her attention focused on the now closed fire door and the action in that direction.
Mary gave the nurse a silent nod and a wink to let her know she wasn't with Cora's crew and then turned to watch the fun. The men Cora had brought with her were muscular and big, but that didn't worry Mary all that much. With the muscles, an overconfidence seems to come hand in hand. Especially when faced with a much smaller, leaner adversary like Les. He didn't know it, but she'd seen some of his cage fights and the man was very, very good.
The first man to reach Les made the mistake of trying to push him out of the way. Les used the momentum of the man's own actions to send him flying across the room. He hit a table along the way and cried out in pain and fury. Before he could rejoin the party, man number two had turned to Les, now seeming to realize that he was the real danger to their plans.
With a silent grin, the man advanced on Les. Slowly at first, and then with a quick right fist flying out toward Les' beautiful face.
The woman beside her gasped, but Mary remained fairly calm. She'd seen worse fights than this one. Besides, if things went really south, she and Max would step in. But until they did, she knew Les would take that helpful action as a doubt of his ability.
As they watched, Les ducked beneath the fist in what seemed almost slow motion to deliver a powerful blow to the man's mid-section while continuing to move completely out of the man's way as he passed him by. Now there were two somewhat injured and very angry men to deal with.
"I don't suppose you'd let me join the fun?" Max asked from behind Les. "I'm all done with my part."
Les gave him a quick grin and then a nod. "I'm in a sharing kind of mood tonight," he said.
Her brother wasn't quite as proficient at the sport of fighting as Les, but that didn't mean he was a wimp. Between the two of them, the big burly male 'nurses' didn't stand a chance.
Obviously, that fact wasn't lost on Cora, either, as she maneuvered around the fight to reach the control panel. Keying furiously, she seemed to get more and more aggravated by the second. Finally, she whirled around to face the room again, just as Max took the second man down for good. Les' opponent had already gone before him.
Mary nudged the nurse beside her who was still standing with her mouth open staring at the rest of Mary's team. "I don't suppose you know if there is anything we can use around here to tie those two up?"
/> The nurse turned to her and their eyes locked. "Are you three the good guys here?"
"Oh, yeah," Mary said. "I promise once we have them safely wrapped up, we'll fill you in completely as to exactly what is going on here."
The nurse nodded. "That would be very nice."
With her help, they located enough cable and zip ties to secure the two men to nice heavy equipment. Luckily, they managed their task before either of them started coming around.
Then they turned their attention to Cora who was staring at them in horror. "You don't realize what you've just done!" she cried. "You've got to release this door immediately."
"Or what?" asked Les calmly.
"Or else die!" Cora said, flinging her arms about dramatically. "This whole place is set to go up in less than two hours."
"Go up?" Mary took a step toward her. "You're blowing up the building?"
Cora whirled on her. "Not the whole building, you idiot, just this lounge." She pointed to the massive structure at the end of the room that housed the main brains of the entire Gaia system. "We're taking that out," she said. "Anyone in this room will go with it. We have to get out of here!"
"And what?" The nurse asked, motioning to Nika and the other betas in their little curtained off areas. "Leave them here to die? Their brains are far too connected to the game right now to simply unplug them."
"Yes, we leave them here," Cora said. "Are you really willing to give your own life because of them? All of us can die right along with them, but it won't change the outcome for them one bit." She turned to Max. "How much for you to open that door? Name your price and I'll meet it."
Max looked at his two friends and swallowed. "My price is that nobody is left behind or endangered."
Cora screamed in frustration. "You don't seem to understand. The devices have already been placed, and the timers engaged. We have less than," she quickly checked her watch, "one hundred and ten minutes to get out of the building."
"I thought you said just the lounge was going up," Les said.
Gaia's Rebirth Box Set Page 42
