“Alright…” I trailed off without taking my eyes off the orb, “I’m thinking really hard about sitting down now.”
“Good,” the orb said somewhat flatly, “now, stand up. Stand up and walk away from your computer.”
“Gladly,” I replied somewhat bitterly, “this was gettin’ a bit too Lawnmower Man for me anyway…”
And then the strangest thing happened.
I couldn’t stand up.
I couldn’t move.
And then I was in the game.
But I was always in the game.
It was different, but it wasn’t.
“Slow down,” the orb warned as my mind started circling the drain, “take a deep breath. You’re okay.”
“How could I be okay!?” I barked, “You’ve… you’ve drugged me or something…”
“I haven’t, I promise. You’re just coming back. Think, Zoey, you must’ve noticed things by now,” the orb proclaimed matter-of-factly, “you see people’s emotions despite the fact that you’re walking around in a game, and you haven’t once stopped to eat or sleep since you started this last pass.”
“‘Pass’?” Chad asked, ignoring the fact that I was hyperventilating pretty intensely.
“Yes, pass.” the orb clarified, “Like I said, Zoey is fragged. I am trying to fix her by defragging her.”
“What do you mean you’re trying to fix her?” Paul snapped defensively, “She’s not broken!”
“But she is. She was a part of a beta team in the Re.Generation program.”
“The what?” I practically gasped out.
“Re.Generation, you, and your friends, were among some of the first players to test out two-stage diving. It did not go well.”
“Evidently…” I muttered, still not quite believing what I was hearing.
“I understand that this is all very difficult for you, that’s why I’ve been trying to keep you away,” the orb said with what could almost be mistaken for sympathy, “at first I thought destroying your bunker might be enough because finishing it last time led you here. But when that didn’t work I put Julian in front of you, and helped destroy that bridge, and spawned in that guard dog that was supposed to scare you away.”
“Guard dog?” Chad asked.
“The glitchy komodo thing.” Paul clarified out of the corner of his mouth as he helped me straighten back up.
“But why?” I asked, “Why try and scare me away? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Because the longer you’re in the simulation, the more I can consolidate.”
“Consolidate what?”
“You.” the orb said.
“What about us though?” Paul asked, “I mean, are you trying to consolidate us? Are we fragged too?”
“No,” the orb replied flatly, “Zoey was the only one that was recoverable. I hope that saving her will help bring you back, but as of right now you’re just echoes, here because Zoey believes you should be here.”
“What?” Chad laughed, hiding the very real concern in his voice, “I’m real, of course I’m real. Zoey, tell it I’m real.”
I couldn’t though, all I could do was stare at him and hope to God that I could hold onto one last part of him as I became more aware of the truth and he started to slip away, vanishing into thin air like nothing with a continued, disbelieving laugh being the last thing of him to ring through the air where he had been standing.
“Zoey?” Paul pleaded as I turned to face him with tears in my eyes, “Zoey, please tell me I’m real.”
“I… I’m sorry…”
“No… No, don’t say that, I’m real. Zoey, I’m re-”
And then he was gone.
Yeah… this got pretty fucking heavy quick, huh?
Chapter Ten
I simply stared at the place where Paul had been standing for the longest time after he disappeared, leaving me alone with the orb as it continued to thrum and let out the occasional concerned sound.
“How are you?”
“My two closest friends just vanished because they were figments of my imagination,” I replied coarsely, “how do you think I’m doing?”
“You’re right, I apologise.” the orb said somewhat disingenuously, “I truly am sorry, but it was important that you know just how far this goes without having to deal with it all yourself.”
“You’re a caretaker and a spiritual guide? Well, isn’t that just nifty.” I practically growled, “Now, let me the fuck out of here.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the orb replied, sounding uncomfortably like Hal 9000, “not because I don’t want to or anything, simply because there’s nowhere to go.”
“What? What are you talking about? I want to go back into Thren.”
“You can’t. It’s gone.”
“What do you mean ‘gone’?”
“I mean that the simulation is collapsing in on itself. Now that you’re aware of what’s really going on, the world out there is going to cease to exist and, eventually, so will you.”
“So, what? More and more stuff’s just gonna disappear until there’s nothing left?” I asked, making absolutely no effort to hide how pissed off, sad, and utterly confused I was.
“Yes. That is what I am saying,” the orb sighed out, “which actually leads us onto what happens now.”
“And what would that be?”
“A choice,” the orb clarified, “you must choose. Stay here, disappear, be deleted, whatever vernacular you wish to use, or you can have your memory cleared and run another pass.”
“Death,” I replied before falling on my arse with a defeated sigh, “I choose death.”
“But… what? No, look, you won’t remember any of this, and we’re so close. So unbelievabl-”
“I don’t care,” I interjected, “let me die. I don’t want to do this again.”
“That’s what I’m saying, you won’t be. You won’t have any knowledge that this happened in the first place. For you mere moments will have passed in the time it takes me to run a thousand passes with you.”
“That’s what I’m saying, I don’t want any more passes. I just… I just wanna stop…”
After that things fell quiet, and I was actually sort of convinced that the orb had been the next thing to go in the deletion process, but then it let out a slightly annoyed huff.
“Fine, if that’s your choice, so be it. Goodbye, Zoey.”
“Goodbye… giant robot thing…” I trailed off before looking between the two points where Chad and Paul had been one last time, “See you soon…”
stopProg Zoey_Frag-d.exe
…
…
…
killProg Zoey_Frag-d.exe? (Y/N)
…
…
…
…
…
…
Epilogue...ish
scanProg Zoey_Frag-d.exe
…
…
…
Zoey_Frag-d.exe Report:
Previous Fragmented Space Scan = 78%
Post Run Fragmented Space Scan = 74%
runProg Zoey_Frag-d.exe pass again? (Y/N)
…
…
runProg Zoey_Frag-d.exe
…
…
…
Good morning, Zoey. You’ve been asleep for a long time.
“No I fucking haven’t.”
END OF FRAGGED
ZOEY’S FIGHTERS WILL NOT RETURN BECAUSE THAT’S KIND OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SERIES ENDS.
You successfully reached the end of the book, congratulations! Now, I know how annoying these things can be, you know, author-to-reader-but-not-really-to-the-reader-because-there’s-no-real-face-time-just-a-note-at-the-end-of-a-book things, but I needed to say it anyway;
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.
I know, I know, ‘How unprofessional!’, but I promise I wouldn’t be leaving this here if I didn’t think it was 110% necessary.
You see, reviews really help me out. Whether it’s a negative one and it gives me the opportunity to improve, or if it’s a positive one so I know what’s working, it doesn’t matter, they all help.
Anyway, thanks, it means a lot to me that you got this far without running for the hills.
Other Works by Zachariah Dracoulis
Code Jumper – A GameLit Novel
Legends of Tarthirious: Kylia’s Story – Books 1-5
Just A Taste: A Collection of Short Stories
Æthyrium Rising : Guardians
Æthyrium Rising : Spectres
The Fallen Legion : Accidental Renegade
DilDozer : Parts One & Two
The Mulligan Planet
Peaceful Protest
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