by Lucas Flint
Funky, apparently ignoring Cy, nodded. “I don’t disagree with your reasoning, but I thought you were more of a lone ranger than a team player.”
“I thought so, too, but …” I shrugged. “Police departments in real life usually have more than one cop. I might not be a cop in here, but I’m still going to be a Hero and try to do the right thing. I imagine it will be easier to protect the innocent and keep Capes Online safe if I have some Teammates backing me up. But if you don’t want to be part of the Team anymore, I’ll understand.”
“No, no,” said Funky, shaking his head. “I definitely still want to be part of your Team. That surprises even me, honestly. I’m very much a loner at heart, but I feel like I can trust you to lead Team Winter well and I want to help however I can.”
Funky sounded sincere when he said that, but I thought I sensed he might have other reasons for wanting to join the Team. I still didn’t know who he was or why he knew so much about the game, but maybe that was for the best. Whoever Funky was in real life, in this game, he was a trustworthy ally, Teammate, and even friend who I knew I could count on when the going got tough. As much as I would like to figure out who he really is, I decided I would just let him decide to reveal his real identity to me at his own pace.
“Having said that, it’s time for me to go,” said Funky. “Now that players can finally log off from Capes Online, I have some important business to attend to in the real world, business I can’t put off much longer. It was nice meeting and working with you, Winter. I hope we can continue to work together well into the future.”
With that, Funky logged off and vanished into thin air, prompting this notification:
Teammate [Hero FunkyFresh94] logged off! Teammates who are logged off can still reply and send personal messages or respond in Team chat. Check your Team List to find out which of your Teammates are offline and online at any given time.
“I need to go as well,” said Recover, brushing back her long dark hair. “My parents are probably worried sick about me. But don’t worry, Nyle. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, Recover also logged off. Interestingly, when she logged off, Brawn disappeared as well, though not before waving goodbye at me and Cy. I got another notification informing me that Recover had logged off and that Brawn had been automatically sent back to Recover’s Base, which explained where he went.
That just left me and Cy standing all by our lonesome in Dark Kosmos’ Hideout.
Cy suddenly sighed. “I miss everyone already. I hope they log back on soon, otherwise it’s going to get really boring around here really fast.”
I smiled. “You know, Cy, a little boring might not be such a bad thing after everything we went through. Come on. Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
It was really easy to get back to our Base from Dark Kosmos’ Hideout. Normally, the trip would have taken us at least an hour to make, having to force our way through the crowded streets of Adventure City to get anywhere, but this time it took us about ten minutes.
The reason for that was obvious as soon as Cy and I exited the building through the now-unlocked front door: The streets were completely empty. Everywhere I looked, I saw no one. No Heroes, no Villains, no Sidekicks, not even any Civilians. It was eerie how Main Street went from one of the busiest and loudest places in the game to quieter than a graveyard at midnight. It even looked a little weirder, probably because I was so used to seeing the streets choke full of people that seeing it empty seemed a little … unnatural, to put it lightly.
My guess was that the Heroes and Villains had all logged off as soon as they could, like the players we freed back in Dark Kosmos’ Hideout, and their Sidekicks had probably been teleported back to their Bases and Hideouts. As for the Civilians, they were all probably still hiding indoors, afraid that it still might not be safe to go out. I didn’t see Sir Stewart the Sewer Croc anywhere, but Cy and I nonetheless kept up our guards as we walked, just in case.
Soon, we reached Warehouse 13, my Base, and entered. As soon as we got inside, Cy went off to his room, claiming that he needed to catch up on his beauty sleep after such a stressful day. I was a little surprised, because I thought Cy was going to suggest we stay up all night and party to celebrate our victory, but hey, I wasn’t complaining. Although I was still enjoying the benefits of Recover’s Full Heal+ spell, it hadn’t done anything to expel the exhaustion from my mind.
I did consider allocating my Stat and Power Points, but decided I would do that in the morning after I caught up on my sleep. I didn’t trust myself to make wise decisions in regards to where I should distribute my SPs and PPs when I was too exhausted to even think.
So I went to my room as well, tossed the Darkbane (which I had brought with me and was still covered in ice for some reason) onto the floor, and dropped onto my bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I closed my eyes and was about to fall into a deep, hopefully dreamless sleep when a voice suddenly said, “Trying to catch a little shuteye, Mr. Maxwell?”
My eyes snapped open and I looked over to see Charles Omar—or, as I liked to call him, Chuck, occasionally Chucky when I was feeling humorous—sitting on the chair at my desk on the other side of the room. I hadn’t noticed him sitting there when I first entered the room and now I wondered if he had always been sitting there waiting for me to arrive or if he showed up just to mess with my sleep schedule.
In any case, I knew I couldn’t just close my eyes and tell him to come back in the morning, although I didn’t feel like getting up, either. “Hi, Chuck. You look like you could use some sleep as well.”
I was right. The bags under Chuck’s eyes were darker and heavier than the last time I saw him, which was less than an hour ago, although I figured it had to be more time in the real world due to the time difference between Capes Online and real life. His beard was also still quite messy and looked like it needed a trim, although his suit was less wrinkled than before, which made me wonder if he had changed into a new one at some point.
“Yes, I plan to catch up on my sleep as soon as I get off work and go home to my very patient wife,” said Chuck with a tired smile. He stretched his arms. “I keep forgetting that I’m not as young as I used to be. When I was in my twenties, I could go weeks without getting enough sleep. Now that I’m an old man, though, my body doesn’t like it.”
I chuckled. “If youth is what you want, maybe you should start playing Capes Online. Heard your character doesn’t age in that game.”
Chuck shook his head. “Oh, I could never play this game. It’s work for me, so if I played this game, I would view it as work rather than play. Besides, I am no good at video games. My seven-year-old niece always beats me whenever I play games with her.”
I chuckled again, but then stopped and said, “Right. Well, I take it you didn’t show up just to say hi.”
“No, I did not,” Chuck agreed. He cleared his throat and then began speaking in a more formal tone, like he was giving a prepared speech. “Firstly, I have come to congratulate you on defeating Dark Kosmos and freeing all of the players trapped in Capes Online. Everyone at SI Games and the Department of VR is quite grateful for your work. Even the President of the United States asked me to thank you personally.”
I nodded. “Right. The President’s daughter was one of the trapped players, wasn’t she?”
“Correct,” said Chuck. “From what I heard, she has already logged out of the game and is currently scheduled to be medically-evaluated for psychological issues. Nonetheless, she is physically unharmed, at least.”
I nodded again but frowned when Chuck mentioned psychological issues. “Yeah. Are all of the players going to suffer psychological damage after this?”
“Possibly,” said Chuck. “So far, there have been no confirmed deaths from prolonged time in the GamePods, but it is possible that many, if not most, players will require some sort of counseling or therapy to recover from the Blackout. Seeing as everyone was freed literally half an hour ago, ho
wever, it will probably be a few days or weeks at least before the full extent of the damage is revealed.”
“What will happen to SI Games and Capes Online?” I said. “Are they going to get sued into oblivion?”
“Again, possibly,” said Chuck, “but right now no one has launched any sort of lawsuit against SI Games. I am aware, however, that SI Games has its lawyers working furiously on possible legal defenses to protect the company from taking too big a hit in court. I imagine they’ll be successful in defending themselves because SI Games employs some of the best lawyers in the world. But again, it remains to be seen.”
It bothered me how calm Chuck was about SI Games possibly being sued into oblivion—which would definitely jeopardize the existence of Capes Online and, by extension, my own—but I decided not to ask him about it further. He was right. Only time would tell what the fallout from the Blackout was going to be.
But I still had other questions to ask Chuck, ones he could answer right this very instant.
I looked directly at Chuck. “Bryce Cunningham is in Capes Online.”
Chuck shifted uncomfortably on his seat. “Yes, I am aware of that. Or became aware of that once you killed Dark Kosmos and we got a chance to watch the security footage from Dark Kosmos’ Hideout.”
“You mean you didn’t know that Bryce was in the game at all?” I said in shock. “Bryce said he was in Project Second Life. Isn’t that what you’re in charge of or something? How can you not know—”
“I don’t know,” said Chuck, interrupting me before I could continue my rant. He rubbed his temples. “Somehow, someone in the government or in the Department of VR got Bryce into the game. How and why, we don’t know. We are currently investigating it.”
“Aren’t you also investigating the leaker?” I said. “Seems like all you guys do is investigate stuff.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Chuck. “The leaker has been caught, found out, and arrested. He was a relatively new recruit, a young man not much older than yourself named James Osaka. We discovered that he had been in contact with Atmosfear, who he had been feeding information about you to for some time now.”
“Why?” I said. “What did this Osaka dude hope to gain from leaking my information to Atmosfear?”
“We are still investigating that,” said Chuck. “I believe it is possible that James Osaka arranged for Atmosfear to get downloaded into Capes Online, but we don’t know for sure yet.”
“Don’t know for sure?” I repeated. “Can’t you guys interrogate him?”
Chuck shrugged. “Actually, we can’t. James Osaka was found dead in his office—where we kept him while we waited for the police to come over and arrest him—a couple of hours ago.”
My eyes widened so much they nearly fell out of my eye sockets. “Dead? Who killed him?”
“The cause of death is still to be determined, but it appears to be suicide via cyanide pills,” said Chuck. He didn’t even remotely sad about that, almost like a robot. “As well, he appeared to have somehow deleted most of the incriminating evidence before his suicide as well, meaning we have no idea who he might have been working for or if he was simply a rogue agent doing his own thing.”
My fists clenched tightly. “Meaning that whoever he worked for is still out there and might still want to kill me. Right?”
“Right,” said Chuck, “but don’t worry. Director Johnson has ordered yet another investigation to look for any security gaps in the Department of VR and instituted stricter hiring practices to ensure we do not hire another man like James Osaka again. Additionally, we sent SI Games a message suggesting that they upgrade Capes Online’s security systems. That way, no one will be able to hack into the game and either expose private information or unleash unfinished characters like Dark Kosmos onto the world again.”
“Guess that’s all you guys can do now, huh?” I said. “But what about Atmosfear? If he’s enrolled in Project Second Life, then you guys can find him, right?”
Chuck smiled apologetically. “Ah, there’s the rub. We can no longer track Atmosfear’s movements in-game. And haven’t since he was uploaded to the game. Which is why we didn’t even know about him until now.”
“What?” I shouted. I sat up and looked at Chuck in anger and shock. “How is that even possible? I thought you guys had tabs on everyone in Project Second Life!”
“Somehow, Atmosfear disconnected his character from the Department’s monitoring systems,” said Chuck. “Even SI Games can’t find him. We think that whoever uploaded Atmosfear into Capes Online must have also found a way to hide him from both the Department and SI Games. We are doing our best to find him, but he seems to be completely disconnected from the systems which we use to monitor all Project Second Life participants such as yourself.”
I wanted to punch Chuck in the face, but knew that wouldn’t accomplish anything, so I lay back down and said, “Guess I’m going to have to keep my guard up at all times from now on, huh?”
“I would suggest doing so,” said Chuck. “Until we can catch Atmosfear, it is up to you to keep yourself safe from him. But if you manage to find any clues to his location, simply contact me via the ‘Help’ button and let us know. Trust me, we want to catch Atmosfear just as much as you do.”
I sighed. “Thanks, Chuck. I’ll definitely keep you guys updated if I run into Atmosfear again.”
“Of course,” said Chuck. Then he hesitated, and said, “Nyle, do you remember the deal we made in Dark Kosmos’ Hideout during the Blackout?”
I looked at Chuck again suddenly. “I remember that. You mean where I made you promise to tell Sally I am still alive if I beat Dark Kosmos.”
“Yes, that one,” said Chuck. He bit his lower lip. “As soon as I verified that Dark Kosmos was dead, I called Sally and informed her that you are still alive.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You did?”
“Yes,” said Chuck. He leaned forward suddenly, a severe look on his face. “But that is all I told her. And I have still disabled all communication with the real world, so you cannot call her, email her, text her, or contact her in any way, shape, or form. Understood?”
I smiled. “Sure thing, Chuck. Thanks for keeping up your end of the deal. I guess you’re pretty good for an obstructive government bureaucrat.”
Chuck actually looked surprised when I said that. “Oh, um, well, I simply believe in fulfilling my promises. That’s all.”
“That’s a good thing to do, Chuck,” I said. “So, is that all you needed to let me know or—?”
“There is one last thing we need to discuss,” said Chuck. “Your Teammates, who are all players who are now aware of your true nature and Project Second Life in general.”
I froze. Chuck was referring to Recover, Dillo, and Funky, who were all aware of my true nature as a human mind uploaded to Capes Online. In all of the excitement over the last few hours, I had forgotten that no one outside of the UN and SI Games was even supposed to know Project Second Life existed. Yet now at least three other people did, as well as Atmosfear’s Teammates.
“Do you mean my friends?” I said slowly. “Recover, Dillo, and Funky?”
Chuck nodded swiftly. “As well as the Teammates of Atmosfear, who were also players.”
I sat up again. “Chuck, I know I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but I was forced to. Please don’t arrest my friends or delete their profiles or whatever you’re going to do to them. If anyone must be punished for this, it’s me.”
Chuck was silent for a moment, as if he was considering each word before he spoke it. “Do not worry, Winter. I will not punish you.”
“Really?” I said. “But why?”
“Firstly, it was Atmosfear who revealed the existence of Project Second Life to your Teammates and his Teammates,” said Chuck. “Up until then, you were very good at keeping that information to yourself. You only had to reveal it to your Teammates under unusual circumstances. Had the Blackout not happened and Atmosfear not said what he said, I am
sure you wouldn’t have done that.”
I sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear. I—”
“But,” Chuck interrupted me, as if I hadn’t said anything, “we are going to have to take certain measures to ensure that your Teammates and Atmosfear’s Teammates do not reveal the existence of Project Second Life to the general public. The Department of VR will be contacting each player present for that confrontation and force them to agree not to tell anyone about Project Second Life without facing severe consequences.”
I wanted to ask Chuck what he meant by ‘severe consequences,’ but knowing the federal government, I had a feeling it would involve making people ‘disappear’ for a very, very long time. “Are they still going to be allowed to play the game?”
“Your Teammates will be allowed to keep their accounts,” said Chuck, “but we are looking into deleting the accounts and characters of Atmosfear’s Teammates, whose absolutely reprehensible behavior during the Blackout—up to and including collaborating with Dark Kosmos—smashed SI Games’ Terms and Conditions into itty bitty pieces. I expect all of Atmosfear’s Teammates will be banned from Capes Online for life, at the very least.”
That sounded good to me. Anyone who thought Atmosfear was worth following was probably a psycho in their own right. I was glad my Teammates weren’t going to lose their accounts. It meant I could still see them and perhaps go on missions with them again, once they decided to return to Capes Online, that is.
“Is that all you needed to talk with me about?” I asked. “Or is there anything else you need to talk to me about?”
“That is all,” said Chuck. He sat upright again. “The Department of Virtual Reality will continue to observe you and the other Project Second Life participants for as long as Project Second Life remains funded. As always, if you need anything, just click the ‘Help’ button in your character menu and I will appear.”
With that, Chuck disappeared, leaving me sitting on my bed alone in my room.
