by Tony Corden
“3: Affirmative.”
Leah felt the braille, but Thad and Kate obviously heard the voice from their reactions. Kate said, “Leah, your lips aren’t moving.”
Leah spent the next few minutes explaining her situation. A square metal table appeared on the ground in front of them, and then Gèng appeared with a tray with the drinks. She said, “That is Three’s very first table. I brought the drinks but would one of you help Three by suggesting a way to improve the table?”
Kate said, “I can. Three, most of Leah’s outdoor furniture is made of wood or stone. Could you change the table so it matches some of the other outdoor furniture? Wood would be nice, I think.”
Leah watched as Kate tried to explain what she meant. Thad tried to help, but it was almost fifteen minutes before a basic circular dark-wood coffee-style table was between them. Leah said, “Thank you, Three.”
“3: Thank you, Kate.”
“You are welcome, Three.”
Looking at the table, Kate said, “Is that what you did with Gèng?”
“Sort of. She began initiating small changes almost immediately as well.”
Leah didn’t say anything else, and the silence grew with Leah looking into her teacup. Kate looked at Thad with a questioning look but he just gently shrugged. Leah said, “You guys should know I don’t need to be looking at you these days to ‘see’ your movements. I’m sorry I’m a bit introspective, and I really want to thank you, Thad, for not rushing in before. I was attacked by some men, and although I managed to fight them off, I’m still a bit skittish. They spent time telling me what they wanted to do to me, and I relive that over and over in my mind.
“I know deep down that you aren’t like that, but my subconscious and my dreams are mixing all the bits of my life together. They’ve been putting your angry face over the face of my tormentors. I didn’t want to meet you earlier because even though you can’t see it, the wounds on my head, shoulders and back are still there. They’re healing, but the ones inside are taking longer. I was afraid you’d react to my being ugly. I know you aren’t like that, but I’m not one hundred per cent rational at the moment.
“I wanted to hide but my mum, Marie, Gèng and others say I need to be honest with you guys. I know they are right, but I’m still scared. I want to kiss you but at the moment I can’t. Even holding you before almost broke me. I think it’s harder because I know we both want more. I’m just afraid. I’m sorry to say this in front of your sister, but I needed her here because she loves both of us and I needed the support.”
Thad was nodding slowly, but even Leah could tell his face had gone hard. He said, “If we’re being honest, then you should thank Amy, Wisp, and Gèng. I was going to sweep you up in my arms and cover you with kisses. However, both Amy and Wisp sent messages that if I hurt you in any way they would shred me. I was especially impressed by Wisp because I don’t think she even knows what some of the words she used mean. Gèng wasn’t quite as graphic. When I arrived she whispered in my ear. She said, ‘Be gentle, and remember it is not you she’s afraid of’. I’m slow, and I didn’t work things out until you shared, but I can wait as long as you need. I don’t plan on going anywhere unless you tell me to.”
“Thank you. I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. There is no need.”
Kate moved over and hugged Leah, then let the talk move to less personal issues. With ten minutes to go, Leah said, “I have to go guys. I’m sorry, but I will catch up later.”
She kissed their cheeks and watched as the evidence of their presence disappeared from the sensations on her skin. She headed for the gazebo but stopped just short and said, “Gèng, how will this work? Usually the world sends the sensory information straight to my neural system. They won’t know what to do.”
“4: Yes, I know. Three brought it to my attention when you mentioned needing to give your guests a different experience than your own. I’ve been in communication with Stephen. He helped arrange a non-disclosure agreement with Virtual World Studios. He also secured a direct link between Three, who is now your registered AI, and the Virtual World Studios Special Needs AI Liaison. All public-accessible worlds are required to have them. The AI has been updated with your requirements, and the transition should be seamless.
“Stephen has started an application to provide you with Special Needs Status. This would mean you have secure access to each world’s SNAIL. I apologise for the acronym but it is in common use. The SNAIL protocols prohibit information about an individual’s requirements being made public. As far as I have been able to find out these protocols have never been breached.”
“Thank you. And thank you, Three. How long do I have?”
“4: Less than thirty seconds. I’ve changed your dress. It is a mostly black qípáo. It touches the floor and has three-quarter sleeves with a mandarin style collar. The edging and embroidery are in a snow-white thread. The collar, sleeves and hem are embroiled with Phoenix rising from the flames.”
“It sounds lovely. What shoes?”
“Simple black silk flats with the phoenix motif done in pearls.”
“Then, I’m ready.”
With that Three transferred Leah to the Virtual World Today Studios.
23
December 25 2073 - Morning and Afternoon - Part 3
VIRTUAL WORLD TODAY STUDIOS
When Leah arrived, she was standing backstage in the area set aside for guest arrivals. It took a moment for the new sensations to settle on her skin, and then for her to recognise the same preparation area she’d been in before. People were moving around, but it was a few moments before she saw two people walking in her direction. As they approached, she saw them suddenly stop when they recognised her. One hurried away excitedly while the other approached and said, “Atherleah? How can you …? I mean …? Um, are you the mystery guest?”
Leah stepped forward and carefully put out her hand to greet the woman while trying to focus on where the image of the woman suggested her eyes were. Using her left hand, she typed, “Hi, I am Atherleah, and I suppose I am Lisa’s mystery guest. I’m sorry I’m late, but things have been sort of hectic the last few days. Where do you want me to go?”
The woman shook her hand and said, “Wow, um, how…? No, um, hi, my name is Wylda. If you will follow me, I’ll take you to the entry area. Lisa is just finishing the last bridging segment. The panel was discussing the best new worlds of the year. She has already introduced three guests, all from Merkize. She is almost ready to unveil her mystery guest before they discuss the Odyssey itself and the competition so far. Is there anything I need to warn her about?”
Leah’s avatar didn’t say anything for the few seconds it took for her to finish reading the message. Then, her voice appeared to sound from her unmoving lips, “If she could speak just a little slower, that would help, as I’m using braille to read what people say and I’m still getting the hang of it. Two people speaking at the same time will be hard, though not impossible. As you can see, it also takes a few seconds longer for me to type the answers.”
Wylda nodded then spoke really slowly and said, “I am so sorry.”
Leah smiled, sort of, and typed, “Not that slow, Wylda. Speak normally. I’m able to keep most of the time, but Lisa does sometimes speak quickly.”
Very nervously Wylda stopped in front of a doorway. She said, “Yes, yes, she does. I will let her know. If you wait here, then when I give the signal you move through this portal but just listen to what she’s saying.”
Leah typed, “I’m deaf, but I’ll ask my AI to send me her voice. What is the signal? Maybe you should also remind her I’m also blind and some of the smallest movements I’m still getting used to.”
“Blind, yes. How did you follow me? No, never mind, I’ll wave my hands wildly, will that do?”
“That would be great.”
As Wylda stopped talking, Three started sending Leah what Lisa was saying. “Now to my mystery guest. For lots of reasons, I wasn’t sure if they’d be
able to actually get here, but my producer says they have arrived. I never should have doubted, as this person seems able to do the impossible. Less than five days ago we heard of her capture and kidnapping, four days ago we saw the terrible pictures of her torture and maiming. Both in the real world and in the virtual multiverse, millions, if not billions, were poised to look for vengeance and yet she asked for calm. She said she would be back and she is. Please welcome Atherleah.”
Leah could see Wylda start waving before the message finished. Still, she waited the couple of seconds to hear all of Lisa’s introduction, then stepped through the portal and into the middle of a small raised dais on the stage. Again, Leah waited a moment for the image to fully settle on her skin, then she nodded to Lisa and smiled in the direction of the three men she could see sitting in armchairs. On the other side of Lisa were two longer lounges with what she imagined were the panel.
Each of the figures was clapping, and all three of the men came to their feet. Leah carefully typed, “Three, let me know when there is quiet, so I know when to speak.”
Leah stayed where she was for a moment, then stepped off the dais and toward Lisa. It was almost a minute before she read, “3: The applause is tampering off. Start typing now.”
Leah said, “Merry Christmas, Lisa, thank you for the welcome. It’s good to be back.”
Lisa stepped forward and gave Leah a hug before stepping back and saying. “Wow, it is just so good to see you. I believe you have met most of our panel.”
Leah’s brain put the signal together, and she’d filled in the different pieces, so she was able to sort out who was who. She said, “I have. My amazing Public Relations manager, Sharon Trang, said that Kostya Alekseyev, Erica Morrison, Chéng Shí, Mark Stevens, and Deathmaster would be here and I recognise them. I don’t think I’ve met the sixth panellist.”
“3: L for Lisa”
“L: besides those five you mentioned we also have Heinrich Mueller from the European-based Virtual Universe news desk.”
Leah nodded a greeting toward the other panellist and said, “A pleasure to meet you.”
“L: My other guests need no introduction as I know you’ve met all three.”
Leah stepped toward them and said, “I have. They are good friends.”
Ivan had been sitting in the far seat and stepped toward Leah. He gently took hold of her shoulders, and after looking into her eyes, he gently kissed both her cheeks.
“3: I for Ivan.”
“I: It is good to see you. Thank you for your message, Gashka sends her love.”
“Thank you. Tell her I’ll catch up soon.”
Ivan had been watching her face and noticed her mouth hadn’t moved. He looked down as her words were generated and saw her hands moving. The hands on her shoulders gripped hard for a second before stepping back and letting Noah step forward. Noah reached out carefully and gave Leah a gentle hug. He also looked into her eyes before speaking.
“3: N for Noah.”
“N: Merry Christmas, Atherleah. Carol sends her love.”
“Thank you, Noah, and a Merry Christmas to your family.”
Noah also noted the hand moving and the voice but stepped back so Yuè Fēi could greet Leah. Like Ivan, he placed his hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
“3: Y for Yue Fei.”
“Y: Atherleah, I doubted, but Ying Yue said you would be here as you promised. I’m sorry.”
Leah leaned her head so her cheek rested on his hand for a second, then she typed, “It’s good to see you. Please thank her.”
Leah then carefully sat down in the seat beside Lisa and turned her face toward Lisa. Lisa said, “L: Wow, it is so good to see you, and you look amazing in that dress. When I saw those terrible photos that someone released so maliciously, I must admit I doubted you would ever get back into the multiverse.”
“I must admit I had some doubts myself. My friends and family have been very supportive and helped me overcome the challenges.”
“L: Can you explain what is happening, I don’t see your mouth move, and it looks like you are manipulating something with your hands.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing. The people who attacked me destroyed the part of the brain which forms speech. Our PAIs can measure the minute signals that go along the neurons when we want to form words. I can’t form sounds anymore. Maybe my brain will learn how to one day, but at the moment, I have to type what I want to say with my hands on a virtual keyboard. My AI translates this into sounds using recordings of my voice.”
“L: My assistant who met you when you arrived said you are still also blind and deaf.”
“Yes, the AI translates your speech into symbols which it virtually presses into one of the finger-tips on my right hand. I read these braille dots as I would in a book. There is a far more complicated method by which I ‘see’, but it is similar to an old two-dimensional screen with pixels that are pressed against parts of my body so I can build up an image of what is around me.”
“L: That must take a lot of concentration.”
“It does. I’m just interested to see how it translates into a sword fight in Dunyanin or a quest in Cosmos Online.”
“3: M for Mark Stevens.”
“M: How can you possibly fight? I thought you would have to withdraw from the contest.”
Leah turned to Mark and said, “I know it will be difficult, but if I want to beat your other three guests to Merkize, then I’ll have to make it work.”
“3: 7 for Deathmaster.”
“7: I’m a hopeful sceptic, but if anyone can succeed it is you. Do you know who did this?”
“Oh, yes. My chip wasn’t burnt out until they had finished gloating.”
Leah paused for a moment then said, “Nothing I say is admissible as evidence, so I won’t say who because they’d probably sue for defamation. I was trying to think if it would be slander or libel. I mean I’m typing it so it could be libel but slander because you are hearing it. Either way, I’m a little wary of the police at the moment so I’ll probably deal with it privately.”
“M: That sounds like you will seek private vengeance.”
“Not really Mark, more like private justice.”
“M: We have laws against taking matters into your own hands.”
“I know, and I respect those laws. I’ll either have to find a way around them or try not to get caught.”
“3: Ivan is gently laughing.”
“Thank you, Three.”
Leah turned to Ivan and saw his head was moving in a chuckling motion. She smiled at him and winked.
He started chuckling again, and Lisa asked, “L: Ivan, what is so funny?”
“I: Those poor fools. I would not like Atherleah coming after me.”
“L: You don’t really think Atherleah has a chance against such terrible people?”
“Lisa, I never said I would do it all by myself. I do have friends.”
“3: Ivan and Noah are both laughing.”
Leah looked back, and both men had big grins on their faces, as did Yuè Fēi.
“L: Do you gentlemen have something to add?”
“N: Not really. I think I’m just happy Atherleah wasn’t going to leave me out of the party.”
His face went hard. “N: Lisa, you don’t do this, period. You don’t do this to anyone, and you certainly don’t do this to my friend and expect to get away with it. Like everyone else I have some idea of who did this. Atherleah asked us to step back so she can look for justice herself. I don’t doubt that will happen, but she hasn’t ruled out asking for help. She knows my hand is up. Sure, I’m grinning, but not because it’s funny but because I’m a class A operator who’s at the top of their game. I’m a warrior, and I enjoy the hunt. I get a thrill just watching someone who may have the edge over me do their thing. It gets my adrenaline pumping.”
“L: Well, Atherleah, it looks like you have some people convinced.”
Leah was watching Lisa but noticed Yuè Fēi pick
up his drink, empty it then throw the glass at the back of her head. Leah swayed out of the way and caught the cup as it went past her right ear. She then lobbed it back over her head to land in Yuè Fēi’s outstretched hand.
Yuè Fēi moved forward and said, “Y: Lisa, I have just shown you that we are not convinced without reason. But there is an issue we need to discuss that is larger than Atherleah. I have been watching the numbers, and several billion are now watching the feed from this segment and more join every second. Why? Because these worlds that we have built to live our lives in have made us stagnate as a species. Atherleah has become a symbol for us of what is wrong with the system. I have been hovering around Level 500 for three years and almost got beat by a player who has been playing for just over a month. In truth, I think she could have beaten me if it was a single battle. I play in Cosmos Online and for ten years have enjoyed the challenges to wrest a bauble from a mine or to overcome a slightly stronger opposing force with my team. Atherleah found the first Class Five space station in just over a month.
“I have sparred occasionally with Ivan over the years and had no idea he was holding back. I had stopped pushing myself. I had stopped growing. We all have. How has Atherleah found so many new things that others have walked past for years? It is because she is still curious, she still has wonder in her eyes at the incredible ingenuity of what we’ve created. Maybe it is because she grew up without it, but if that is the case then when I have children I will keep them from it. We are complacent, we are lazy, we let others so define our destiny that we forget to challenge ourselves to achieve it.
“In one month, at the next contest, I hope to be almost at level six-hundred. If the other players want to have a chance, they will need to be close to that. What makes me so upset by what happened to Atherleah is I have discovered that tens of thousands just like her have been shut down, bullied, and attacked while I did nothing. One of my countrymen stood strong to help Atherleah in Cosmos Online. She was bullied and almost gave up playing in the multiverse. I had heard of what happened, and I had done nothing. Atherleah found out and arranged for justice. This player is now the head of a small clan that is earning some serious credit and uncovering quests others have bypassed for years.
