‘You stupid robot,’ she said. ‘Do you realise what Designer Prime has done?’
‘Yes,’ said Robbie.
‘No, I don’t think you do,’ said Designer Alpha. ‘The entire Game is under threat. As each child wakes, the instability will grow. The longer they have been connected without any physical presence, the more disorientated they will be – and the greater the instability within the Game. The environments will begin to collapse.’
‘What will happen to the people inside the Game?’ asked Zyra.
‘The Game entities? As the environments collapse, they will cease to exist.’
‘No,’ Zyra gasped.
‘Yes.’ The Designer’s voice was bitter. ‘All those years of work … gone.’ She fixed Zyra with a hateful glare. ‘So let me tell you something. I am a vengeful person. And I will make you and the robot pay for what has happened. You may have placed the Game into a state of chaos, but I still control things in this establishment. My guards will get to you. They will bring you to me. And I will make you pay. The brain analysing nanobots are still waiting for you.’
She turned her attention to Robbie. ‘And as for you. I will wipe your mind and use your body for spare parts.’
‘Close communication,’ said Robbie.
Designer Alpha’s image vanished.
‘Can we get people out of the Game?’ asked Zyra, suddenly.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Robbie.
‘Like Tark and I got out,’ explained Zyra. ‘There are lots of cloned bodies available. Burrows told me about them. Lying there … waiting for Game entities to be downloaded into them.’
‘Yes,’ Robbie agreed. ‘In theory that is possible. If I can find a record of your download.’
Robbie straightened, flexing his hands and fingers. ‘I am engaging stealth nanobots,’ he explained to Zyra, his hands speeding through strings of coding. ‘Now… hmmm. No record of your download.’
‘That’s probably why Designer Alpha needed the information from me,’ interjected Zyra.
‘Without that information we can’t download Game entities,’ said Robbie.
‘Bobby,’ said Zyra. ‘He’ll know.’
Robbie turned his attention back to the display. ‘I can’t find him. Search functions are only showing residual traces of his coding.’
‘Oh, he’s there somewhere,’ said Zyra thoughtfully. ‘Watching. Waiting to play. Finger on the pulse of the Game. Can we put out a message that only he will be able to access?’
‘Yes.’
‘Send this,’ said Zyra. ‘Endgame approaching. Details of Tark and Zyra’s download needed to win.’
Within seconds of sending the message, the required information streamed into the portal’s display.
‘That was quick,’ said Robbie.
‘Knew it would be.’ Zyra grinned.
‘Okay then, we’re good to go,’ said Robbie. ‘But that still leaves the question as to whom we are going to download. We cannot simply pull an entity out without warning. Ideally it should be an entity capable of understanding the concept of the real world. Someone who knows –’
‘The Outers,’ Zyra broke in. ‘The Outers helped me and Tark to get out of the Game. They wanted to get out as well.’
‘Good,’ said Robbie, eyes and hands still working over the coding. ‘You will need to go into the Game again and prepare them. I will give you exit key cards like the one Bobby gave you. Now, there are ten cloned bodies on standby. I will have them ready for download shortly. I can set up another round of clones, but we will have to activate the process manually as each of the clones is revived.’
The display changed. ‘I will prepare nanobots to take you straight to your old environment, homing in on the largest conglomeration of non-playing entities. Wait …’ His hands played through the holo-displays. ‘Tark is still in the Game! And he is in your environment.’
‘What is he doing there?’ asked Zyra. ‘Is he okay?’
‘Don’t know,’ said Robbie. ‘I’ll send you straight to him. Okay?’
‘Sounds good,’ said Zyra.
‘I’ve given you twenty exit cards,’ continued Robbie. ‘They are numbered in download order. And are marked male or female, corresponding to the waiting clone. Choose the most resourceful of people for the first ten. The ones who are most likely to adapt quickly and be ready for action. When a clone is ready to receive a consciousness, the corresponding card will glow. Tapping the card will activate the download. Got all that?’
‘Yep,’ said Zyra. ‘Got it.’
‘Okay then.’
Robbie pulled down on a holographic lever and a chair came up out of the floor near Zyra.
‘Sit in the chair,’ instructed Robbie. ‘The process is automated.’
Zyra closed her eyes for a few seconds, preparing herself mentally, before sitting down and reclining. A low hum indicted the activation of a force field to hold her still. The chair leaned back, until Zyra was almost horizontal. A syringe and needle descended from the ceiling on a mechanical arm, heading towards Zyra’s right eye.
‘And try to be quick,’ said Robbie. ‘It won’t be long before the guards break through.’
Zyra didn’t have time to reply, as the needle plunged into her eye and she entered the Game.
32: The Outers
‘Zyra!’ Tark’s voice was both surprised and relieved. ‘You’re okay!’
Zyra opened her eyes to see Tark lying amongst the rubble of a ruined building in the City. His hand clutched his leg and blood oozed through his fingers.
‘You’re not.’ Zyra crouched beside him to examine the wound. ‘What happened?’
‘Designer Beta had a gun,’ explained Tark.
‘Well, this is turning into quite the little reunion,’ said a voice from behind Zyra.
She turned quickly, going for her knives.
‘Hello, Mother dear,’ said Hope.
‘Hope?’ Zyra stared at the woman in front of her. A woman too old to be Hope. ‘But you’re …’
‘Old!’ Hope said through clenched teeth. ‘Yeah, I know. It’s already been pointed out to me.’
‘I think time moves differently in here from out there,’ said Tark
‘Yes,’ said Zyra. ‘I know. I just didn’t realise it was so different. It’s been stabilised now.’ She put her knives away and continued to stare at Hope.
‘So why are you here?’ asked Hope.
‘I’m here to ask for your help,’ said Zyra. ‘And to get you out of the Game.’
Hope didn’t say anything.
‘Well?’ Zyra spread her arms. ‘Will you help? Do you still want to get out?’
‘After all this time,’ Hope whispered. ‘After all these years.’ Her voice regained a little volume, but was still subdued. ‘You know, I’d almost given up. All those years of waiting and hoping. All those years of searching for more cheat codes but never finding them. All those fruitless years of watching and waiting for another Zyra to join us.’
‘There weren’t others?’ asked Zyra.
‘No. You two were the last Tark and Zyra to become Outers.’ Hope looked around the ruins of the City. ‘After you left, after the anti-virus program and its antibodies were defeated, after the Ultimate Gamer died, there were no more dangers to face. And we’ve grown in numbers. There are hundreds of us now, scattered throughout this environment – living on the edges; eking out an existence.’
Hope tilted her head. ‘Okay. So how do we get out? And what sort of help are you after?’
Zyra reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the first of Robbie’s exit cards. She held it up.
‘This’ll get you out,’ said Zyra. ‘You’ll be downloaded into a cloned body, so you won’t look like you anymore. In fact, you’ll look like me.’
‘I’m not sure I like the sound of that,’ quipped Hope.
‘Not this me,’ said Zyra. ‘I look different on the outside. And so will you. All the clones have been created from the same two real
people.’
‘And that sounds so much better.’
‘Would you just shut up and listen,’ said Zyra. ‘We don’t have much time. I’ve got twenty exit cards in total.’ She handed the first one to Hope. ‘Are there any more Outers around here?’
‘We’re not far from our base,’ said Hope. ‘Ten minute walk.’
‘Okay, I’ll explain on the way.’
‘Um … hang on,’ said Tark. ‘What about me?’
‘You’re in with these rebels, aren’t you?’ asked Zyra.
‘Well, sort of, I guess.’
‘We need as much help as we can get in the real world,’ said Zyra. ‘Any chance you could get them to break into the Design Institute?’
‘What can they do?’ asked Tark.
‘I’m not really sure,’ admitted Zyra. ‘But just having more people on our side actually there, would be really good.’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ said Tark.
‘Great,’ said Zyra. ‘Now, we should all get moving.’
‘I’ll see you soon.’ Tark looked at Zyra. Then in a loud voice he said, ‘Exit!’
‘Come on,’ said Hope, heading off through the rubble. ‘Follow me. And start explaining.’
33: Breakdown Begins
‘Done!’
Robbie mouthed the word and sent off the last of the secure commands to prepare the clones, hoping that Designer Alpha wouldn’t pick up on what he was doing. Then he called up the menu of Game environments.
‘Okay,’ he said to himself. ‘Time to check in on Zyra.’
He selected an environment and all the images flickered. It was just a momentary glitch, over in less than a second … but it should not have happened. He scanned over the multitude of images that surrounded him in the display. Everything seemed stable now … except for one image. Robbie’s eyes were drawn to a momentary flicker. He watched the image closely. It had stabilised again, but he continued to watch it, his hand running over a set of controls to set up a scan.
And there it went again – just the tiniest of flickers. Robbie checked the scan. There was a definite instability in the Game structure and it traced back to the hidden environment. The children were being freed!
Robbie’s hand hovered in the air, ready to select the hidden environment, when a high-pitched whining filled the portal room. Robbie looked around. On the far wall behind him, where the door had been, a tiny point of light appeared.
The guards and their drill were finally making serious progress.
***
Zyra woke in the real world to an annoying sound and a burning smell.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, opening her eyes and looking around.
‘Lots,’ answered Robbie. ‘Lots of problems.’
Robbie was still in the midst of the programming portal, displays of coding swirling around him.
‘For starters, the guards are breaking through.’ He indicated the wall where the laser drill was burning a hole, smoke drifting into the room. ‘Secondly, the nanobots have done their work and the kids are all gaining physical presence in the Game. They need help but we can’t go in there now, because we need to go deal with the clones.’ Robbie was talking faster and faster. ‘And we have to get out of here fast because the grunts are breaking in. And –’
‘Don’t panic,’ said Zyra soothingly, echoing Robbie’s words to her when she had first woken in a new body.
Robbie took a deep breath and glanced at Zyra. ‘I do not panic.’ His voice was calm and there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. ‘Thank you for reminding me.’
‘My pleasure,’ said Zyra. Her hand unconsciously went up to her ear, fingering the metal studs that were not there. ‘Maybe there’s another possibility. Tark has gone back to the rebels. He’s going to try and get them to come here and help us fight the Designers and their guards. What if we can get them into the Game?’
‘Yes. Josie. Of course,’ said Robbie, eyes lighting up. ‘But they don’t need to come here. I’ll contact them now and get them to go straight to that environment.’
‘How?’ asked Zyra.
‘Ah.’ Robbie sounded rather guilty. ‘Well, you see … I’ve been in contact with them all along. I’m the informer who’s been feeding them information. I’ve been doing it very carefully, bit by bit, so as not to be caught. But I suppose secrecy isn’t such a big deal anymore.’
‘You are full of surprises, aren’t you?’ Zyra looked at him in a new light.
Smoke was now pouring in through a small section of wall that had melted away. Zyra looked at it nervously. ‘You’d better hurry.’
34: Exit
The lights were flickering as Designer Beta struggled with the controls of his computer equipment.
‘Out of here,’ he muttered to himself. ‘I will get out of here.’
Someone screamed and he looked back towards the tank. Another ghostly apparition pushed its way through the glass. It solidified into a young boy, still screaming. At his feet was a girl, sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, head held in her hands. And then there was that rebel girl. He knew it was a mistake to hook her into the Game, but no, Alpha hadn’t listened. Of course, she was the first one who got out. And now she was trying to calm the other children as they emerged. Hugging them. Whispering comforting words.
Designer Beta turned his attention back to his equipment. Much as he would enjoy dealing with the escapees, his first priority was to get himself out of the Game.
‘Hah!’ He stepped back from his equipment. ‘Got it!’
Two metallic plinths rose up from the floor, each with a silver orb on top. The Designer positioned himself between the two. He looked at Mel and the other children by the tank and grimaced.
‘What a waste,’ he murmured.
He reached out, placed one hand on each orb and called, ‘EXIT!’
A fanfare of music echoed through the chamber. Designer Beta went rigid, his mouth twisted into a rictus grin, as energy crackled from the orbs through his virtual body. With a burst of light he was ejected from the Game.
***
Designer Beta groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His eyes fluttered open and his body gave an involuntary shudder.
The light was dim, mostly coming from the monitors and equipment that surrounded him like a cocoon. It was a small room in an off-limits area where no one ventured.
He lifted an arm experimentally. It was aching and stiff, but the muscles were responding. His arm, and the rest of his body, was covered in electrodes that had been regularly stimulating his muscles, keeping them toned and operative in case he ever needed to use them again. An IV drip fed into a vein on his arm and computer equipment monitored his vital signs.
He gagged. Reaching up he lifted the mask from his nose and mouth, pulling the tube from his airway.
‘I’m back.’ His voice was hoarse, his throat dry and raw.
He was about to get up when he heard someone enter the room. He pushed the tube up into the mask and replaced it over his mouth and nose, closed his eyes and lay still.
‘Well, well, well,’ said Designer-in-training Welbourne, pushing equipment aside to reveal the prone Designer. ‘Who would have guessed that you were still around? It was quite a surprise, finding out that you were not dead. Everyone thought that Alpha had disposed of you long ago.’
Designer-in-training Welbourne approached Designer Beta’s prone body. ‘But it’s too late for you.’ A smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. ‘She wants you out of the picture. And she sent me to do it. Do you know what that means? It means she forgives me for letting Zyra escape. It means she still trusts me. It means that my training is over. It means that I’m going to be the Beta to her Alpha.’
Welbourne lowered into a half crouch so that his face was level with Designer Beta’s. ‘How does it feel, I wonder?’ he asked. ‘To be obsolete? No longer of any use? Replaced by a younger model?’
He straightened and reached out to the IV bag. Touching it, he ge
ntly ran a finger down the length of the tube that fed into Designer Beta’s arm. Taking hold of the plastic where it connected to the needle, he yanked it out. Beta breathed deeply and slowly, keeping himself still. Green liquid spurted from the end of the tube, and blood welled up in the crook of the Designer’s arm.
Designer-in-training Welbourne switched off one monitor and then another and then another. He unplugged the equipment that kept the Designer’s body in working order and finally, he disconnected the ventilator. Then he leaned in over the Designer’s body. ‘Perhaps she’ll let me have your cadaver?’
Designer Beta’s arm shot up, his hand closing around Welbourne’s throat.
‘Don’t count your corpses before they …’ His voice was raspy and dry. ‘… before they … hatch? Before they die? Oh … doesn’t matter.’
The Designer-in-training’s eyes bulged as Designer Beta wrapped the breathing tube around his throat and pulled it tight.
35: Josie and Tark
Tark rubbed at his sore eye as the rebels waited for him to speak.
‘We’ve got to go to the Design Institute, now,’ insisted Tark. ‘Zyra and Robbie have started a rebellion. They’re waking up the kidnapped children, they’re downloading more people from the Game and they’re fighting the Designers and their guards. They need help.’
‘And exactly what are we going to be able to do?’ asked Josie. ‘My rebels are a bunch of kids. Very resourceful kids … but still kids!’
‘Well, they’ve broken into there before to kidnap me,’ Tark pointed out.
‘That was different,’ said Josie, pacing up and down the makeshift laboratory. ‘They weren’t fighting anyone. They were sneaking in. They knew exactly where to go because our informer gave directions, and neutralised some of the security. And despite all of that we still lost Mel.’ Tark saw the pained look that crossed Josie’s face. ‘Besides, we don’t have any weapons.’
Gamers' Rebellion Page 13
