OtherLife

by Jason Segel

  For the first time, James appears genuinely intrigued. “You fixed the problem? Are you telling me you managed to debug the disks?”

  “No, no, that’s far too complicated. I just built electronic body armor for my avatar,” Daisy replies humbly. She pinches the invisible fabric that covers her body and pulls it out for him to see. “Something like this probably wasn’t an option when you arrived in Otherworld. I’ve heard you’ve been here since the Dark Ages. But with the tech available to us today—”

  “You made your avatar invulnerable,” James says. “Very clever.”

  “Thanks!” Daisy chirps.

  “The armor isn’t perfect, though, is it?” James notes. “Technology is forbidden in Albion. Your invention must not work here.”

  I swear I just saw one of the NPCs twitch. They must be listening after all.

  Daisy laughs. “That’s why I brought the boys. They’re programmed for hand-to-hand combat.” She glances over at Bird. “Your realm is peaceful, I’m sure. But you can never be too careful, am I right?”

  Bird doesn’t dignify Daisy’s question with an answer.

  “You want me to tell you how to achieve digital immortality,” James says. “So you can rule Imperium forever and keep Otherworld’s residents enslaved.”

  “Yes,” Daisy says. “And in return for that information, I’ll cut back on the Children’s work requirements and allow them more free time to do…whatever it is they do.”

  James shakes his head. Her offer is nowhere good enough. “I will give you the answers you seek if you agree to free the Children and help my friends Simon and Kat destroy the Company back on Earth. That is my only offer.”

  James Ogubu knows how to play hardball.

  “You want me to free the Children?” Daisy’s aghast. She doesn’t seem nearly as concerned about the Company. “Did you see what they were doing to this place before I arrived? What’s the point of immortality if you have to spend an eternity in a hellhole like that? Look, it’s like Mr. Gibson says—sometimes someone has to step up and take charge. Isn’t that what Bird’s done in Albion? Nobody here has a choice when it comes to technology.”

  “They have a choice whether they come to Albion or not,” Bird says. “And they’re able to leave whenever they choose. Can you offer your citizens that?”

  “Are you kidding?” Kat can no longer hold her tongue. “She won’t even give them a day off when they’re injured. On the way here, we met the sister of a Child who fell from a tree while he was working. When he couldn’t make his work quota, the Empress here had him killed.”

  Bird has been silently listening. Now she gasps in horror. “Is this true?”

  “Absolutely not!” Daisy snaps. “I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to that creature. I thought I told you—everything is automated. His band informed the system that he hadn’t been working and the system sent a mechanical beast to deliver him to the Ice Fields. I didn’t press a single button. I didn’t even know about it.”

  “But you designed the system,” James Ogubu points out. “That makes you responsible, does it not?”

  “Fine,” Daisy huffs. “I promise I’ll change it as soon as I’m back. I’ll even send these two thugs out to the Ice Fields to search for the kid just in case he managed to survive.” She gestures to the two NPCs who’ve accompanied her.

  I see Bird studying the two soldiers. They’re standing side by side, their backs rigid and their eyes focused on an invisible horizon. “They’re that loyal, are they?”

  “What?” Daisy asks. “Them? Of course. Don’t you have NPCs here? They’re digital sl—” She catches herself before the word slips out. “Servants.”

  I see a familiar twinkle in Bird’s eye. She knows something. “No, we don’t have many of their kind here in Albion,” she informs the Empress. “They’re bound to the realms in which they were created. They may not leave without the permission of the realm’s ruler.”

  “Well, they’re here with me, so permission granted.” Daisy’s getting bored. “Do you mind if we get back to the reason for my visit?”

  “I told you. I have already provided my only offer,” James reminds her. “Unless you free the Children, we no longer have anything to discuss.”

  Daisy sighs. “I was really hoping we could come to an arrangement. I am such a huge admirer of yours. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

  “It’s come to this, has it?” James asks as though he’s suspected it would all along.

  “First I ask nicely. Then I take what I want,” Daisy says.

  Kat instantly pulls an arrow out of her quiver, but James only laughs at the Empress’s threat. “I know I don’t have the physique of a soldier, but I don’t think your avatar will stand much of a chance against mine, Ms. Bristol.”

  “I don’t do my own dirty work,” Daisy tells him. Then she points to the NPCs. “They do.”

  This time James and Bird both laugh. The Children passing by on the street all turn in our direction. From a distance it must look like we’re all having a jolly good time.

  “They’ll do what you want in Imperium, certainly,” Bird says. “But not in Albion. The old magic rules this world. When you brought your…servants into my realm, you set them free. It will be their decision whether to do your bidding.”

  My mind is reeling. Are NPCs capable of making decisions like that? If so, what does it mean? All along, I’ve considered them part of the game, each NPC designed to play a specific role. Milo gave them the ability to improvise, which made them seem lifelike when you encountered them in their realms. But if they’re capable of what Bird just described, I can no longer say for sure whether they’re real or unreal.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the NPCs standing behind the Empress take a quick step forward. In a flash, my dagger is out. Kat still has an arrow nocked. But the soldier isn’t going for James or Bird. Instead, he comes up behind Daisy. Before we know what’s happening, he’s taken her head in his hands. With one fast twist, he breaks her neck.

  The Empress of Imperium falls to the ground. Somewhere back in the real world, Daisy Bristol has died too.

  The assassin turns back to his fellow soldier. “Come,” he says. “Let’s go home.”

  We watch in shock as the two giant soldiers march toward the border.

  The shock keeps me frozen in place. It hasn’t had the same effect on Kat. In an instant, she snatches the dagger out of my hand and drops to her knees beside the Empress. With her back to me, I can only see her arm pumping back and forth as though she is sawing. I can’t even begin to guess what she might be doing to Daisy’s avatar.

  Then she stands up in triumph, a swatch of strange fabric in her hand.

  “Sorry,” she says when she sees our stunned faces. “I wanted to get this before the Empress’s body disappears.”

  Kat holds out the piece of fabric for James Ogubu to take. He glances down at it and then back up at Kat.

  “You can use it to reverse engineer her body armor,” Kat explains. She waves the swatch in the air. “With something like this, your avatar will be safe from now on.”

  James smiles at her but doesn’t take it. “Thank you,” he says. “But that won’t be of much use to me, I’m afraid. If Bird will let me, I would like to stay here in Albion. The armor will not work in this realm.”

  “I would be honored to have you remain in Albion,” Bird says. “As for the armor, I could make an exception.”

  “Allow no exceptions that aren’t necessary,” James insists. “I saw what happened to the White City. If you want to preserve Albion as it is, no technology is safe. You must monitor it all closely, or it will develop in ways you can neither control nor predict.”

  “But what about you, James?” Kat argues passionately. “Someday you may need to leave Albion. What will you do then?”
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br />   “I don’t know,” James replies. “And that’s perfectly fine with me.”

  Kat still isn’t prepared to accept his answer. But before she can say anything, her attention is drawn away. The Empress’s avatar is flickering. James gently plucks the scrap of fabric from Kat’s fingers and lays it on Daisy’s chest. When her avatar disappears, her invention will go with her.

  I don’t know how to feel looking down at her body. Daisy was a danger to everyone here and on Earth. With her death, the enslaved Children of Otherworld can finally be free. And yet I can’t celebrate her passing. There’s no doubt Daisy was a genius. Skills like hers could have made life better for her fellow creatures. But she never understood humans or Children. To her, we were all just flesh-covered machines.

  With her death also comes a new urgency. Back in Manhattan, Daisy Bristol’s corpse is lying inside a capsule. How long before it’s discovered? When Wayne finds out, he’ll know something is up. There’s a good chance he’ll shut down the lab—and move his hostage.

  “We’ve got to get to Declan right away,” I tell Kat.

  “Follow me and I’ll take you to him,” Bird says. “He’s with the beasts.”

  * * *

  —

  As she guides us through the village, the residents on the streets stop to stare. I see eyes peering out at us in wonder from the windows of every building.

  “They’re still not used to seeing avatars in Albion,” Kat notes.

  Bird’s rumbling laugh sounds rich with experience. I’m reminded that she’s seen far more than we have. “Yes, but that’s not why they’re watching. You don’t know how important you’ve been to all of us. Everyone here has come to Albion seeking a safe haven. Without the two of you, this realm would not be what it is today.”

  We pass the last building in town and find ourselves facing a wide-open prairie. Golden grass sways in the wind. In the distance, a herd of elephants wades peacefully through the tall stalks. It’s hard to believe this is the same dystopian realm Kat and I visited only a few Earth days ago.

  “It’s incredible what you’ve done here,” I tell Bird.

  “I wish I could take the credit,” Bird says. “Volla is responsible for bringing Albion back to life.”

  “Volla? The Elemental of Gimmelwald?” If she’s alive, it’s the best news I’ve had in ages.

  “Yes. She and her offspring were among the first to arrive,” she responds. “They’d been wandering the Wastelands for ages. Our Elemental restored her power. Now she and her children tend to the four corners of the realm. This prairie occupies the western corner of Albion. There are jungles to the north, mountains in the east and forests to the south.”

  Startled by something hidden from view, a deerlike creature springs out of the vegetation a few hundred yards in front of us. We watch its horns cut through the grass as it makes its escape.

  “The beasts seem to be thriving,” Kat says.

  “We send scouting parties out to the realms and Wastelands to search for them. In some cases, we found the last of their kind. We’ve managed to save some species. But I’m afraid that many are gone for good.”

  Bird turns up a path toward a hut at the edge of the prairie, and Kat and I follow her inside. Sitting on the straw-covered floor is a young man feeding a creature from a bottle. It’s the size of a large sheep, with coarse red hair and a long, elephantine trunk.

  “Oh my God! Is that a woolly mammoth?” Kat marvels.

  “She was smuggled to Albion from the Ice Fields,” Bird says. “When she arrived she was small enough to hold in my arms. I didn’t think there was much chance she’d survive, but Declan dedicated himself to saving her life.”

  “Declan?” I guess I was expecting to see the ogre who accompanied me on my first trip to Otherworld. But now I recognize the boy I met back on Earth. His new avatar is a few inches taller and years older than his real-life body.

  He rises to his feet and gives me a bear hug. I can’t find the words to tell him how happy I am to see him. I think some people were born to be on your team. It doesn’t matter who they are; you know them when you find them. I recognized Kat and Elvis for that almost instantly. It took a little while longer with Busara. I didn’t even know who Declan was when I first met his ogre avatar. But I knew he was someone I was meant to meet.

  Declan lets go of me. “Sorry, Simon,” he says, sounding more mature than he looks. Suddenly it strikes me. Declan’s been here for so many Otherworld years, he’s now far older than me. “I went back to New York to help you, and you’ve had to save my ass again.”

  “Everything happens for a reason.” I can’t believe those hokey-ass words just came out of my mouth—or that I actually believe them. “If Kat and I hadn’t returned to Otherworld to find you, James Ogubu could have died. You did us all a big favor.”

  “You’re serious?” he asks skeptically. “You’re not trying to make me feel better?”

  “Nope,” I say. “How’d you end up getting captured, anyway? Bet you didn’t go down without a fight.”

  “I went to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital,” Declan says. “They got me there. Still don’t know how they did it.”

  The hospital? “What were you doing there?”

  He seems to think that the answer should be obvious. “I went to see Scott Winston.”

  I can’t imagine why Declan thought visiting the man I’m supposed to have shot would somehow help me. “Why?”

  “When I saw the video of the shooting, I knew it had to be a fake. I don’t have any idea how they did it, but the Company obviously switched the real assassins’ faces with yours and Kat’s. I figured there was also a pretty good chance that Scott Winston’s bodyguard was in on it all, since he never said anything. But there was one person who saw the shooters that day who might be able to prove you’re innocent. Scott Winston.”

  I think back to the video. Declan’s right. Winston was looking directly at the assassins when he was hit. If he’d died as the Company had planned, it would have been a perfect crime. But Winston survived. The Company left a loose end. It was a brilliant piece of detective work on Declan’s part. If only his rescue plan had been as good.

  “And you thought the hospital would just let you in to see him?”

  “It’s not as dumb as it sounds. I figured I stood a decent chance. I was so young back then that people didn’t see me as threatening.”

  “So it worked?”

  “Hell no,” Declan admits. “I never even got past the lobby. It’s like the Company saw me the second I stepped through the door.”

  “They probably did.” Wayne must know that Scott Winston’s a liability. He needs to get rid of him, but Winston’s probably under heavy guard. I bet the Company has people hanging around the hospital, waiting to finish the job.

  “Some guy came up to me and grabbed my arm. Next thing I knew I felt him stab me with a needle right in the ass.” Then Declan grins. “I did get a few good kicks in before I passed out. Might have broken the guy’s nose, too.”

  “Nice,” I say. “Any idea where they’re keeping your body?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say I’m still at the hospital,” Declan tells me. “Last thing I remember is being hauled up to the third floor. I’d bet I’m still there somewhere. They’re probably pulling the same bullshit they did before, keeping me in a coma.”

  I hope he doesn’t notice me cringe. It’s not going to be easy to get him out of the hospital. The Company clearly has the place staked out.

  “All right. We’ll have you out in a couple of hours’ Earth time.”

  “Just—” Declan seems to be struggling to find the right words.

  “What?”

  “I’ve spent decades here in Otherworld, but back on Earth, I still look thirteen. Please don’t treat me like a child. Don’t send me back to my parents.�
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  “Why the hell would we send you back?” I ask with a smile. “We’re going to need you.”

  The second I remove my headset, I can hear arguing from the next room.

  “I’m not going to talk about this now. We don’t know who’s listening.” The voice belongs to Busara. I imagine her sitting on the living room sofa, arms crossed and eyes focused on a wall in front of her.

  “You do what you want.” This time it’s Elvis. “I’m not going to shut up. I want to know why you’ve gone cold. Back on the island, everything was fantastic. Then we get to New York and you’re a different person. What happened to you?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing.”

  “What sort of thing?” Elvis’s voice is rising in frustration. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

  I climb off the treadmill and head to the door. They’ll have to finish their fight later. The four of us have a life to save.

  Then Busara shouts, and I freeze with my hand on the knob. “I don’t want to talk about it!” I don’t hear anger in her voice. I hear anguish and terror.

  “What the hell is going on out there?” I hear Kat whisper. She’s returned from Otherworld too. She sets her headset down softly and comes to join me at the door. I don’t feel comfortable eavesdropping like this. But something tells me we shouldn’t enter the room.

  “You know Simon used to hate me, right?” Busara says, taking me by surprise.

  “He didn’t hate you. He thought you might be a robot. It’s not the same thing,” Elvis says.

  “Has he told you what I did?” She sounds so guilt-ridden. I honestly have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “Annoy the hell out of him?”

  “He didn’t tell you, did he?” Busara says miserably. “I tricked him into going to Otherworld for the first time. I even gave him a disk. I thought Milo had killed my father. I wanted Simon to kill Milo’s avatar.”