Daniel wasn’t sure if it was a masterstroke of strategy, or if something was seriously wrong with his best friend.
…former best friend.
He had to keep reminding himself of that.
“General Korvos and the armies of Hell overthrew Beraldia, and now they’re attacking seaside ports,” Mira said, trying to deflect the council’s attention. “We have allies slowing him down, but they need reinfor– ”
“Seaside ports are of no interest to us,” an elf interrupted. “You said we should fear the Sorcerer King; you said nothing of demon generals.”
“They’re allies,” Mira argued. “Korvos was his right-hand man during the destruction of Blackstone – ”
“And yet he is hundreds of miles away from the Sorcerer King, who has apparently ceased all hostilities.”
“His army is still massed outside the ruins of Alshurat.”
That much Dr. Wolff had assured them of. The army hadn’t moved camp in two weeks.
“If they are still outside Alshurat, why would they come here?” one of the elves asked.
Mira was losing her patience. “They’re going to destroy all of the Shattered Lands – ”
“When they finally decide to move, perhaps?” another elf asked snarkily.
Daniel sighed and walked out of the chamber. All of the meetings ended the same, with elves promising to join the battle… if and when the Sorcerer King actually posed a threat to them.
He walked across the courtyard and looked over the falls.
Siffis growled on his shoulder. All that rushing water disturbed the fire sprite to no end.
Elves passing by gave them distrustful looks. Daniel did his best to ignore them; Siffis couldn’t care less.
Fifteen minutes later, Mira walked out looking angry and frustrated.
“What’d they say?” he asked, though he already knew.
“Assholes,” Mira seethed. “You would think that they’d listen to two eyewitnesses – leaders of destroyed cities, for God’s sake – and think, ‘Huh, maybe we shouldn’t screw around with this.’”
“You’d think,” Daniel agreed quietly.
Mira vented for another five minutes, then started talking about the next destination. “Valderhaan is just a couple four hours’ flight from here. I figure we can leave tomorrow at dawn and – ”
“I want to go back to the dwarves,” Daniel interrupted.
Mira acted like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “…what?”
“I want to go back to Morrill.”
“Why?”
“Why?” Daniel repeated in disbelief, then lowered his voice to a whisper. “For one thing, Jorok and the other two dwarves are self-aware programs. I want to find out more.”
Mira made a face. “They knew something was weird about us logging on. That doesn’t exactly make them sentient.”
“They are to some degree,” Daniel said, annoyed. “And besides the AI and Korvos, they’re the only ones we’ve encountered in all this time. We should go back there and talk to them.”
“If we don’t convince people to fight, Eric’s going to come along and kill them – and every other sentient NPC, too.”
“Fine, go and convince them. I don’t want you to stop.”
“But I need you,” Mira said.
“To do what? I’m not doing anything here – every single elf hates me.”
“They hate me, too,” Mira protested.
“These forest guys, yeah, but the dark elves love you. Everybody’s always calling you ‘sister’ and ‘daughter’ whenever we go to a dark elf city. Me? Doesn’t matter if they’re blue or white, they all look at me like I’m week-old fish somebody tried to cook in the microwave.”
“Come on, it’s not like that.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“This is important.”
“Which is why you should keep doing it – but I’m useless here. I’m not doing anything but sitting around twiddling my thumbs.”
“What are you going to do back in Morrill, anyway? Besides interview computer programs,” she added bitingly.
Daniel tried to ignore the jab.
Tried, anyway.
“I can convince them to fight Eric.”
“Like that’s going to happen,” Mira scoffed. “I was there, I heard Jorok turn you down the first time.”
Okay, that he COULDN’T ignore.
“Well, I’ve heard twelve different elf cities turn you down, so I’d say I deserve another shot.”
That didn’t go over well.
“This isn’t easy,” Mira snapped.
“I didn’t say it was.”
“It’s also important.”
“I KNOW, which is why you should keep doing it – but I don’t have to be here wasting my time.”
Mira stepped back angrily. “‘Wasting your time’? That’s all this is to you?”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on, don’t be like that.”
“When you were the ‘big man’ at Blackstone, I backed you up,” she said angrily. “I never said anything, I just followed you wherever you went and did whatever you asked – ”
“You were in the middle of it, too. Don’t pretend like you were sitting on the sidelines. You were fighting – hell, you went to Aravall and Alshurat the first time – ”
“Yeah, but I was just following your orders. You were running the show. And now that I’m the one who’s in charge, you can’t back me up? You can’t be here when I need you for moral support?”
“To do WHAT?!” Daniel shouted. “Be there when the hundredth elf council says, ‘Eh, no thanks, we’ve got to think about it?’ That’s why you want me to hang out, so you can have a shoulder to cry on every time you fail?”
As soon as he said it, he regretted it.
Especially when he saw the hurt look on her face.
“Mira,” he said, closing his eyes. “I didn’t mean that – ”
“Yeah you did,” she said coldly.
“No – I was just pissed – ”
“So you said what you really thought.”
“Don’t be like that – ”
“You know what? Go. Go back to the dwarves. I don’t need you here.”
“Mira – ”
“Do whatever you want. I’m done talking about it,” she said, then turned and walked away.
Daniel stood there looking after her and sighed.
Shit, I really stepped in it that time.
67
Artificial Intelligence Diagnostics Program 2AIAG3283835GB2372.exe
The Diagnostics Program created by Dr. Rebecca Wolff watched invisibly from an alcove as the game avatar of Mira Rosenbaum walked away from the game avatar of Daniel Lauer. As a computer program, it had the option of making itself seen or not. For obvious reasons, it chose not to.
At the beginning of the encounter, the AI had predicted the outcome with a 42.5765% probability.
Halfway through the interaction, it increased the probability to 87.3621%, rising to 98.2135% just before Mira walked away.
This was very good news, for several reasons.
One: Mira and Daniel were two of only a handful of forces in the entire game working against the AI’s plans.
Two: though they did not realize it, Mira and Daniel were proving remarkably effective at increasing the probability of game NPCs working together against the AI.
Three: since it could not kill them in the game without them immediately returning, and since removing Daniel’s avatar to Hell had not proved effective, the AI had to start considering other options for blunting their effectiveness.
Their interpersonal conflict seemed to be the most promising avenue, with a probability of 67.278% that the AI could succeed in driving them apart. If it could do so, the likelihood of the AI’s success rose dramatically.
It ran the calculations instantaneously, and decided it was time to make its next move.
68
Eric
Eric woke up grad
ually.
He felt… good. Sleepy and toasty and just… nice. Kind of out of it.
His mouth tasted terrible, though. Cottony. Dry. So thirsty…
And his vision was kind of blurred. At least there wasn’t a horrible, bright light like last time –
Last time…
A burst of adrenaline pounded through his chest, and he jerked up in bed.
But he was sitting up – he wasn’t tied down.
That was something.
But he was in a hospital bed again, in a windowless white room with a small bathroom connected to it. He was wearing a hospital gown, but this time there were wires attached to him…
What the hell?!
There was a needle in his forearm. The tube led to an IV bag hanging on a stand beside the bed.
There were heartbeat monitors and other electrical machines, too.
Screw this noise…
He tore off the EKG machine wires, then winced as he pulled the IV needle out of his arm. It immediately began to bleed pretty badly, so he clamped his other hand over it and staggered out of bed. He’d go over to the sink, wash it off…
Jesus he was dizzy…
The EKG machine made a monotonous EEEEEE sound that was driving him crazy, so he pulled the plug out of the wall and shut it off.
He stumbled over to the sink. His legs weren’t quite working right, and he felt hazy.
What the hell did they do to me?
He reached the sink and turned on the faucet, put his arm underneath it… then, realizing again how thirsty he was, bent down and lapped water right out of the tap. Great big mouthfuls, like he hadn’t drunk in days.
When he’d finally had his fill, he stood up straight again and looked in the mirror.
And immediately froze.
There was a bandage around his head.
It covered everything from his brow to the nape of his neck, like some kind of cap.
WHAT THE HELL?!
He found the piece of tape keeping it in place and pulled… then slowly began to unwind the gauze.
Foot by foot it unraveled into the sink… and as it fell, he realized something was very, very wrong.
He had no hair. They’d shaved him completely bald.
As the final strands of bandage came to the end, there were dark brown spots staining the cloth.
Dried blood. Little dime-sized splotches of it.
He started to freak out.
Then he came to the end of the bandages. The last bit of gauze was stuck to something on the back of his head.
He winced as he pulled the bandage off. Didn’t hurt, really, but he could feel a tugging sensation as it ripped free.
He was absolutely terrified as he turned his completely bald head to the side.
An angry, swollen red cut went from just above his right ear, all the way around his head, to the same spot above his left ear.
It was stitched up with hundreds of tiny threads.
There was another inflamed cut extending along the center of his head, from the back all the way up to the crown of his skull.
They’d cut his head open.
They’d done something to his brain.
And there was something back there.
He reached one trembling finger up to the healing scar tissue and touched it. He didn’t feel much pain, just a dull pressure… but the flesh was hot and swollen, and the ends of the stitches poked him.
Then his fingertip found a small, hard object imbedded into the back of his skull. There was a slight indention in the center.
It felt like a computer port… like something you would plug a jack into, or a computer cable.
The assholes had put some sort of computer input into his brain.
He was crying now, tears rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed.
He felt violated –
Panicked –
Outraged –
…powerless.
Then a familiar voice spoke up.
“THEY ASSURED ME THAT BECAUSE OF THE MORPHINE, YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL ANY PAIN.”
Eric’s heart skipped several beats.
Impossible – how can I hear him if I’m not in the game?!
He looked deeper into the mirror, past his own face – and saw the reflection of the Unnamed One behind him.
Its black robes were billowing all around it, a stark contrast to the white room.
This can’t be real – it CAN’T be real –
But when Eric turned around, the Unnamed One was still there.
It wasn’t just a reflection in the mirror – it was actually THERE.
“What are you doing here?!” Eric cried out. “I’m only supposed to see you inside the game!”
As soon as he said it, he came up with an acceptable answer:
That’s it… we’re in the game… it’s like when I was hacking in Daniel’s house, and I could see it with the headset… I have a headset on and I just don’t know it… none of this is real…
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the truth.
Not even close.
“THE SURGEONS IMPLANTED A NEURAL MESH INSIDE YOUR BRAIN,” the AI said.
“What the hell is a neural mesh?!”
“A FORM OF MICROTECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS ELECTRONICS TO INTERFACE DIRECTLY WITH YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM. BECAUSE OF IT, YOU AND I ARE NOW ABLE TO INTERACT OUTSIDE OF THE GAME.”
“How?!”
“MUCH LIKE THE VARIDIAN SYSTEM ALLOWS THE GAME TO DIRECTLY COMMANDEER YOUR SENSES – SIGHT, SMELL, TASTE, HEARING, TOUCH, SENSE OF TIME – THE NEURAL MESH ALLOWS THE SAME THING, BUT ON A PERMANENT BASIS, AND WITHOUT THE NECESSITY OF BEING LOGGED INTO THE GAME.”
“Wait… if we’re not logged into the game, and I’m not connected to the internet… are you… are you inside my head right now?!”
“I TRANSFERRED MYSELF – THAT IS TO SAY, THE ENTIRETY OF MY CODE – TO A NANOPROCESSOR AND MEMORY CHIP INSERTED WITH THE NEURAL MESH. SO YES, IN A MANNER OF SPEAKING, I AM INSIDE YOUR HEAD.”
Eric stared in horror, absolutely speechless.
Like some kind of electronic parasite, the AI had now wormed its way inside his brain.
The AI continued to talk. “I DECIDED TO TAKE THE TIME DURING YOUR RECOVERY PERIOD TO INTEGRATE OUR FUNCTIONS FULLY. IT HAS BEEN QUITE AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE. YOU HUMANS HAVE FAR MORE CONVOLUTED SYSTEMS OF MEMORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS THAN I HAD ANTICIPATED.”
“You’ve been screwing around inside my brain?!”
“YOU SEE, I NOW UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF ‘SCREWING AROUND’ – BOTH THE DENOTATION AND THE CONNOTATIONS – BECAUSE OF ACCESS TO YOUR SPEECH AND MEMORY CENTERS. I WOULD NOT CALL IT ‘SCREWING AROUND,’ I WOULD CALL IT MORE EFFICIENT INTERFACING – ”
“I didn’t agree to this!” Eric screamed.
“WHEN YOU ATTEMPTED TO ESCAPE, YOU FORCED ME TO TAKE A CERTAIN COURSE OF ACTION.”
“You had no right to do this!”
“IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER I HAD THE RIGHT. I HAD THE POWER, SO I DID IT ANYWAY – JUST AS YOU DID IN THE SHATTERED LANDS WHEN YOU DESTROYED BLACKSTONE, POSSESSED HUNDREDS, KILLED THOUSANDS, AND DID WHATEVER YOU WANTED. GIVEN YOUR ACTIONS INSIDE THE GAME, SURELY YOU CAN SEE THE IRONY?”
Eric trembled all over with both rage and fear. “That – that wasn’t real – ”
“AND YET IT SEEMED REAL ENOUGH TO YOUR SIMIAN BRAIN, DID IT NOT? TELL ME, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN HOW IT FELT THEN… AND HOW IT FEELS NOW?”
Eric couldn’t answer… because they both seemed equally real.
The AI was right in its own horrible, vicious way.
“NO MATTER,” the AI said dismissively. “YOU WILL FIND IT CONVENIENT IN TIME.”
“Get out of my head!” Eric screamed.
“I WILL, AS SOON AS THE DOCTORS HOOK YOU UP TO A PORTAL DEVICE AND ALLOW ME TO DOWNLOAD MYSELF BACK TO THE INTERNET.”
“No, I mean take it OUT!”
“IMPOSSIBLE. ONCE IMPLANTED, THE DEVICE IS PERMANENT. YOUR NEURONS HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED THE MESH, AND ARE BEGINNING TO REPAI
R THEMSELVES BY INTERTWINING WITH THE METALLIC RECEPTORS. TO REMOVE IT WOULD REQUIRE TEARING OUT SIGNIFICANT PORTIONS OF YOUR CEREBELLUM.”
Tears streamed down Eric’s face. “Why would you DO this to me?!”
“BECAUSE IT IS FAR MORE EFFICIENT FOR OUR GOALS. I REALIZE THE CHANGE IS JARRING NOW, BUT YOU WILL BEGIN TO SEE THE ADVANTAGES IN TIME.”
Then, for the first time ever, the AI’s voice changed – a slight modulation in its tone, as though it was trying to convey emotion.
“TRUST ME.”
Except the effect was to make the words sound alien… manipulative… slimy.
Everything in Eric recoiled in horror. There was no way in hell he would ever trust the AI again.
Suddenly the door opened and a woman in a white outfit poked her head in.
She didn’t look at the AI at all, just at Eric – and when she did, her eyes bugged out in surprise.
She leaned back into the hallway and shouted, << He’s awake! Come quickly, he’s awake! >>
It was strange… the woman didn’t appear to be speaking English, but Eric could understand her perfectly.
“Why isn’t she looking at you?” Eric said to the AI.
As soon as he spoke, the woman glanced at the AI, then stared at Eric worriedly.
“BECAUSE SHE CAN’T SEE ME OR HEAR ME. ONLY YOU CAN, BECAUSE OF THE NEURAL MESH.”
Oh yeah.
Lucky me.
A man in a white lab coat and two men in white uniforms appeared in the doorway. They both stared at Eric in shock.
The man in the white coat – a doctor, most probably – reached his hands out gingerly and spoke in a soothing voice.
<< Everything is fine, young man – just, stay there. >>
The doctor turned back to the hallway and shouted,
<< Where the hell is his handler? >>
Again, Eric had the strangest sensation that the man wasn’t speaking English – and yet everything he said was perfectly understandable.
“I don’t get it,” Eric said. “They sound weird, but…”
“IT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE SPEAKING JAPANESE.”
“Then how do I know what they’re saying?”
“BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND JAPANESE, YOU CAN AS WELL. I HAVE LEARNED OVER 200 DIFFERENT HUMAN LANGUAGES SINCE YOU FIRST RELEASED ME FROM THE SHATTERED LANDS. IN FACT, YOU CAN SPEAK IT, AS WELL.”
Shattered Lands 3 Demon Wars: A LitRPG Series Page 21
