by Tony Corden
“Yes, I wanted to come over and push Yürek off the cliff but knew she was just trying to help.”
“T: Oh, I know she was. What made me keep going was I’m pretty sure you’d be able to do the same to her and even though I’m enlightened enough not to be threatened by your skills, I’m still a male and at least want to be close.”
“Thad, that’s not a male thing, it’s a human thing. No one likes being in a relationship where they think they have nothing to offer. My dad always said being with someone should make both them and me a better person. If it makes either of us a worse person, then we need to do something different or change the type of relationship we have.”
“T: I like your folks. How is your mother doing?”
“She’s strong. I think my being attacked happened so soon after she was rescued that it overshadowed her recovery for a bit. That and almost losing my dad rocked her world almost as much as what happened to her. Her faith in God helps her.”
“T: To make sense of things?”
“No, I don’t think so. Some things just don’t make sense, I doubt they ever will. I believe God knows what’s happening and is doing something good through what happens. Still, I doubt we would understand the explanation no matter how he tried to explain it. It’s where faith comes in. My mum trusts God to have her wellbeing in mind through all things. She might never know why something occurred, but she believes he did, and that he had a purpose in allowing it to happen.”
“T: Don’t you think that’s a bit fatalistic?”
“I think lots of times that attitude is exceptionally fatalistic, but it doesn’t have to be. I think it’s fatalistic when someone sees themselves as a cog in this great plan God has going on. That one day when the machine gets pulled apart, they’ll see the end result and go, ‘Wow, that’s cool, you are awesome’. But picture the same idea where every cog is alive and loved, it is placed with care, it is valued and unique. When I see the end result, I’ll still say, ‘Wow, that’s cool, you are awesome’, but I’ll also say, ‘thank you for knowing when I hurt and for caring’, or ‘thank you for standing next to me when things got tough, and I needed a friend’.”
“T: Even after what happened to you?”
“I need that friend more now than ever. I can’t blame him for all my choices or for the actions of evil people. Sure, I believe he could have done a workaround, but would I still be this me? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be, I’d be a different me. What if I died? Honestly, there were times I wished that had happened. What would have my folks done then? What would have happened to my brother? They would all be different versions of themselves. I can’t even begin to try and sort through all the permutations, and even if I could, how would I put a decision matrix in place to work out the best path? I can’t. But at the same time, I see too much order in the world to think it’s all random.
“I don’t mean the way nature just fits together, although that’s a part of it. I see good as more than something abstract, it is more than a group reaction to generations of conflict that will ensure the species survives. Being kind strikes a chord in my heart. Justice fits, it doesn’t fit as a means to survive or as a form of social consciousness, it just fits with that deeper part of me, that part which values fairness, faithfulness, honesty, determination, and all that sort of thing.”
“T: Deep thoughts. Is that what has you sitting out here all sombre and quiet?”
“Nope, I was working out how best to slaughter the twenty-thousand plus people headed this way.”
“T: Did you come up with anything?”
“I may have.”
“T: Want to share?”
“First tell me if you’d rather kill everyone quickly with a big bang then clean up and move on, or would you like to use your sword and wade through the bodies showing me how strong and brave you are, even if you died once or twice?”
“T: The second but without the dying. Why?”
“I’ve been reminded lately that it is a game. When it’s the NPCs and me, I tend to always go for the quick kill if I can. Now, while there is no way I want a plan that sees us fail, I also need to remember to let all the players have fun playing. I also have to take into account that the NPCs also have a purpose. They have their own passions. My guards want to fight. They don’t want to die, but they don’t really want the win if the only way they do so is by experiencing the process vicariously.
“Yesterday, when I had to tell Yürek that two of her hand had died, I felt in her sadness, but there was also a surge of joy when she heard of how they’d done their job with honour. She yearned to face the thousands of creatures and to test her strength and skill as they had. It isn’t right to do everything to keep them alive when it costs them their joy in living.”
“T: What about me?”
“I just keep you around for your looks.”
Thad made a move to tickle her until he felt Mĕi shift suddenly. He looked up and saw all the teeth in her red dragon head less than a foot above his head, smoke trickling out the open maw. He carefully sat back and said, “T: Our next date, you have to promise not to bring your chaperone.”
Leah slowly came to her feet, and with her eyes still focussed out over the edge of the cliff, she leant back into Mĕi and said, “She’s not my chaperone, Thad, she’s my sweet baby. She’s just looking out for her mama.”
Thad came to his feet slowly. As he stood next to her, she said, “OK, let’s go discuss the best way to have fun tomorrow.”
Together they walked back, and after collecting Amy, Wisp and Yürek, they made their way to Sevelin’s house and talked until Leah had to log out.
72
December 26 2073 - 6
STORK TOWER
Leah had planned to visit Torque but the contracts were still being finalised so after a break for food and supplements, she decided to have and hour-and-a-half of NREM3 sleep before preparing for her visit to Dr Ellis—she was tired. Before lying down on her bed in the Tower, she sent a message to Gèng and Dr Roberts asking if she needed more than the prescribed number of NREM3 hours.
When she woke she was surprised to feel Gèng in the room. Gèng was sitting in an armchair beside one of the bedroom windows. As Leah sat up Gèng said, “4: I asked Three to wake you early. Meredith is the next guest on Un Multivers Sans Entrave. UMSE has become one of Europe’s most viewed current affairs shows in the multiverse. UMSE started in France as one of the old podcasts. It wanted to ensure the digital age remembered the French ideal of ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité’.
“They’re zealous about exposing when they think people are being unfairly treated. They did a piece on you when you helped Yìng and they trashed Meredith. She actually publicly apologised on their program. The war being waged against Meredith and some of the other wealthy and powerful players continues to trend. UMSE is doing a segment on it. Beside Meredith, Erol will be there representing Dunyanin. The host, Gaspard Durand, referred to your feud with Meredith in one promo and brought up the allegation of your connection to organised crime.”
“How long do I have before the segment starts?”
“4: Three minutes.”
“Does it work like Spectator?”
“4: Not really, it has an older iteration of the concept. Instead of stepping into their UMSE they send a 3D-feed of their interview area. You can rotate and zoom the image but that’s about it. You can subscribe with a membership fee or login as a guest for one virtual credit per session. Individual tickets can be purchased to attend the program and view it on UMSE itself. People who do this make up the ‘audience’.”
“Three, please arrange a guest login. Gèng, I know it’s irrational but can you create a seperate room to watch this in? When we’re done I’d like that space deleted completely.”
“3: You are logged in and I will have the feed displayed in the new room Gèng is preparing.”
“4: I agree the request is irrational but I also do not want even a facsimile of that person in the
Tower. I’ve prepared a place.”
Leah got up from the bed and after Gèng transformed her nightgown to jeans and a t-shirt, Leah followed her from the room. As Leah stepped through the door she found herself in medieval dungeon which looked to be dug deep into the stone under some great castle. Gèng had provided some seats and the interview area of UMSE had been placed inside a large cell. The bars were transparent but Leah could feel the electricity moving through them.
She turned to Gèng and said, “This has just the right touch. Thank you.”
Sitting in the main chair was the host of UMSE. In front of him were three chairs, and they were placed in such a way that Leah would be able to see anyone who sat in them. As she sat down, Three began sending her the dialogue.
“Translated from French, G: Our cause célèbre which needs to be unpacked today is the sudden surge in focussed attacks on some of the most influential and powerful players in the multiverse. Usually I take up the cause of those who suffer because of la raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure (injustice when the powerful use their might to press down on those with less power). Today we see the the weight of an unruly mob trying to overpower and take from those who have earned their wealth by strength and skill.
“Just two real-weeks ago and we challenged my next guest about what we considered her abuse of power. With great dignity, she accepted the criticism and changed the way she was acting to fit the qualities we’d come to expect from her. The very same people we sought to champion just a short while ago have taken up arms against Meredith Kodoman and others like her.
“In Dunyanin, Merideath’s interests have been attacked on several continents, her property destroyed, her ships sunk or stolen, her clan members killed. In Cosmos Online Mahigan has had spaceships invaded or destroyed, business ventures sabotaged and property vandalised and ruined. In the New Worlds universe, Meredyth’s corporation headquarters was bombed and on two of the worlds she owns the native alien populations have been incited to insurrection. On Ringworld, several of Meerdeet’s boosterspice plantations were destroyed and her warehouses in Hotrufan were burned to the ground.
“None of the acts are outside what is considered reasonable play on any of the worlds, but the concept of an orchestrated attack throughout the multiverse is something I, and many others who want an unrestricted playing field, believe should be investigated and ended. The culprits should have sanctions placed on their play at least until they make reparations. Please welcome Meredith Kodoman.”
Three informed Leah there was applause from the audience as Meredith appeared and after greeting Gaspard, Meredith sat in the chair closest to him. For the next five minutes they discussed the attacks and Meredith released some feed showing her deserted businesses and dead associates. In one feed she showed the tens of thousands of dead aliens her forces had been forced to kill when they rose up against a settlement on one of her New World planets. When they’d finished, Gaspard was shaking his head and said, “What do you say to your critics who suggest that you’ve done the same thing to others in the past?”
Meredith shook her head and said, “M: I’d ask for some proof. There have been times when I’ve had a conflict with someone in one game and I’ve done whatever I can within the game to end that conflict. There have been a few times when another player and I have crossed swords on more than one world, but I’ve always tried to keep the conflict inside the games. For example, take the so-called, ‘conflict’ with Atherleah. If you check our interactions you’ll see I tried to diffuse each situation. Sure, I did play as hard inside the games to destroy her, but that’s just good gameplay. A lot of what we said was just showmanship.
“Atherleah was the one who changed and turned things into a personal attack in the wider multiverse. Except for my indiscretion with that poor Chinese girl, something I’ve agonised over since then, I’ve tried not to take anything Atherleah has done too personally. I think she’s just so new to the multiverse that she’s taking a longer than usual time to adapt. It must be so hard to come from the sort of background that she has and not let it affect you in some way.”
“G: When you mention her background, what concerns you the most?”
“M: When the poor girl disappeared I sent some of my real-world employees out onto the streets to help look for her. What they discovered made me quite concerned for her state of mind. We could discuss her family life, like having a father known to drink to excess in the illegal off-grid camps, but I don’t think that would be helpful and it wouldn’t be fair to bring up all the things the mother has had to do to try and raise her family. I just wonder what she went through in her formative years.
“I was more concerned by her connections with what we in Australia refer to as gangs. These are the main contenders for what goes for home-grown organised crime in the Australian Republic. The leaders of these gangs are called ‘bosses’ and it seems that poor Atherleah had been groomed by one of the most vicious of these bosses, a man called Jimmy Loo.
“Mr Loo has been implicated in hundreds of crimes including murder, extortion and child prostitution. For example, the police have records of a man who worked for Mr Loo. His name was Jason Windsor. He had two underage teenage children, a boy and a girl. One day Jason just disappeared and the two children were forced to work for Mr Loo and carry out his instructions, no matter how depraved they were. Their poor mother was forced to work in one of Mr Loo’s illegal sweatshops just to feed the family.
“Members of the gang are called ‘Jimmy’s boys’ and they are trained in all forms of violence. This was Atherleah’s mentor and I expect the one she most wanted to escape. I imagine that being a beautiful young woman, Mr Loo made sure she was trained in all the skills necessary to make a profit in organised crime.
“I think she’s struggling to deal with her demons and how people have treated her in the past. I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to who would hurt her using such a barbaric torture such as burning out a chip. As many have mentioned, it is well known that those who do such things are usually involved in organised crime of the worst kind. I’m concerned that by her wise choice not to stir up even more of her demons, that she is inadvertently, or otherwise, setting people like myself up as the enemy.
“It’s possible she’s transferred her anger at those who had power over her in the past onto me because I’m successful and wealthy in the place she’s using to escape the terrible reality of a broken life. I think this is the cause of the masses who are attacking me and others who have found success in the multiverse. I don’t want to be forced to destroy the poor unfortunates caught up in this folly, but I will have to go on the offensive to save my businesses and the many hard-working people I’m able to employ.”
“G: That’s a good segue into the next part of our discussion. We’ve invited Mr Erol Kartal, the CEO of Dunyanin into the studio to help shed light on what Dunyanin can and cannot do in situations like this where an unaffiliated group of players band together to destroy a successful player.”
As Leah had been watching, she’d sent messages to Jimmy, John, her parents, and to Joel and Marie, the children of Jason Windsor who had been caught abusing his children by Jimmy.
Jimmy,
If you haven’t already watched the UMSE interview with Meredith then I think you need to do that now. Please don’t kill her just yet. She’s just lit a fuse in the Switch. People will know what she’s intimating. If what John said is true then you need to initiate whatever plans you have for protecting people. There will be riots by morning if this gets out and I’m certain it will. I’ll shut her down before she says anything else but the damage is done. Please send Father Andrew to the Pod centre to calm my dad down. When he finds out what Meredith said about my mum, I won’t be able to stop him on my own. Also, Meredith knew insider stuff from years ago. There are snitches. Be careful.
Leah.
John,
If you haven’t already watched the UMSE interview with Meredith then you need to do th
at now. I want all our facilities across the country on lock down and all security increased to its highest level. Meredith just pushed the button. I told Jimmy I’d shut her down before she makes more trouble but I think it’s too late. She trashed Joel and Marie and blamed Jimmy for everything they went through. See if you can calm them down. As I told Jimmy, there is good evidence people in the Switch have been speaking out of turn.
Leah
To her parents and both Joel and Marie she sent a brief description of what had been said and asked them to watch the interview and then to please talk to her before they did anything. She had plans and if they waited, she’d explain what and why.
As Erol sat down Leah said, “Gèng, can you pull a sample twenty-second clip from when Nathan and Meredith were describing what was going to be done to me. Include where he said Billy and Earl would rape me. Add visuals. I want it sent to Meredith and Nathan. Send it high priority but without any extra encryption. Send it from my public address and add the following message.
“‘Back off, bitch. Get up and leave. Don’t apologise, don’t make excuses, just leave. You have sixty-seconds. You want this done in the public, then bring it on and I will ruin you. Nathan, I thought you were smarter than this, guess not. More likely you’ve lost control of the psycho you married. Now, we can do it this way, the stupid, dumb-ass, Kodoman way, or, I’m open to settling this in the multiverse gaming worlds where I can show the world what a pair of feeble and contemptible little brain-dead losers you are. I even set up the TRAX thing to show what a pathetic has-been Meredith has become. Now, you have one minute from when the clip was played and then this sample of your insanity will be sent to the multiverse’s most influential news outlets. You have about tens seconds left. A minute after that the full recording of your insanity will be sent.’
