Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  “Do you think so?” Nona asked. “I hope she did. I hope she knew that I hadn’t abandoned her. I did all this…”

  Her mother’s words were hard to hear. Lia’s visual interface within the ARC had faded away.

  Doctor Nona Kingsley had tried to make up for the damage she had caused. Maybe that was worth acknowledging. Only Lia’s connection to the ARC was too far gone to properly reach. Using the device required a stable connection and proper vitals. No longer did Lia have those things. Her Atrium faded away, leaving a blurry image of the care center’s ceiling.

  A proper-looking woman in business attire held one hand, and a tired middle-aged man held her other. Lia reflected during her last moments and came to a simple conclusion. There were worse ways to go, and even if her emotions were mostly muted from genetic tampering, a small portion of her felt relieved to not be alone.

  That night, Lia Kingsley died.

  Possible Victim: Miz Riley

  A little bit about: Miz Riley has easily surpassed the age-old trope of gender boundaries to become a leader of one of realities top companies. Currently sitting as Vice President of Trillium Inc., she has the kind of power that brings mere mortals to their knees. Each and every potential mate is carefully screened with deep background checks for possible defects. Those suitors seeking a date have to be punctual and efficient in their usage of time. Excessive multitasking is a plus. Miz Riley has no room to wait around for single-minded fools.

  Those Failing Background Checks: 910,813 (and counting)

  The Vice President had been reduced to a shaking woman. She took pills to stay calm in public, and a personal masseuse came three times a week to work out her kinks. A tight schedule made it impossible to manage more, despite her desire to add a fourth weekly appointment.

  Most of the time she studied reports and handled emails from Trillium staff members. They had downsized the human staff in the last few years, but there were still close to ten thousand people under her across the globe. Adding in contractors made the numbers skyrocket. All of them were mere cogs in a greater being that was leading the world toward a brighter tomorrow.

  Today, she was reading a report from Grant Legate while trying to have a relaxing massage. Both tasks were being accomplished within acceptable boundaries. In twenty minutes, Miz Riley would need to get dressed and prepare for a meeting. Afterward a report would need to be reviewed for shareholders, and following that would be a review of possible marriage candidates.

  “There,” she said and groaned. He was a strapping lad who was paid for his looks and dexterous hands. This young man had also failed the background check, so dating him was not an option. “That spot.”

  “I know, Miz Riley. It’s the same spot as always,” he responded calmly. The man’s voice was a little high for her tastes, but no one was perfect.

  There wasn’t enough time in the day, and she was only human, despite the tools at her disposal. The ARC project, which had been approved by Trillium’s board of directors, was in a dangerous position. For the last week, she had been reviewing documentation citing how their entire network has been brought offline across the world. Even those ARC devices at the International Space Station and moon colony were impacted.

  All because someone, and she didn’t know who, had done something, and she didn’t know what. The fear of what might have happened scared her. Was a human hand behind it? Had her company created the next generation of nuclear warfare by accident? The idea made goose bumps crisscross her skin.

  Her masseuse nodded and hummed, then he continued a slow pressure on the knot between Miz Riley’s shoulder blades. She checked the time again. There were seventeen minutes left now, and this page had been difficult to read.

  She pointed at the screen lying below her and motioned over different reports. If reading Grant Legate’s documentation proved difficult, there were better ways to use the remaining time. Decisions had been made that day. One manager was fired. Two employee promotion requests were validated. A new department was created as a crisis response to the global shutdown of the entire Hal Pal program. Further staffing allowances were made for the actual plant. Profits would be cut and people would grumble, but Trillium needed to show decisive responses.

  Trillium Inc. had promoted her after two decades of ever-increasing decision-making. First, it was handling simple errands in the right order, then managing a project, and onward through the ranks of management while getting a degree.

  Her biggest regret was in the handling of the ARC project. The restrictions imposed were clearly not enough. A disaster was growing under mankind’s nose, and it had been created during her watch. A lesser woman would have caved under the pressure of that failure. Still, Miz Riley stayed with Trillium and steered the corporate ship to the best of her ability. Anyone else would have probably crashed into the proverbial rocks by now.

  Panic served no one, but neither did willful ignorance.

  Ten minutes were left on the massage, and the tension between her shoulders had grown worse instead of better. It was time to move things on to their next phase in hopes that it might help. Her masseuse was very good with his hands, after all, and it would be a shame to let the last few minutes go to waste. A woman was allowed to have needs, especially one serving in a high-stress job.

  Possible Victim: Xin Yu

  A little bit about: Technically this one’s dead, but once you’ve strapped into an ARC, it’s impossible to tell the difference! Unlike those flesh-and-blood girls, this one can tantalize you physically and mentally. In life, she aimed to be an astronaut, and her survival training was top notch! Hobbies include complex simulation training and learning any new skill. Those seeking to woo this woman will need to replace the current man in her life, and it’s hard to top a person willing to do nearly anything for love!

  Completely Conquered: 1

  James, the heavyset black man who acted as a Voice in Continue Online, was standing in a simple room. It was neither dark nor light inside. Xin, a slender Chinese woman who had thin but defined arms, was busy poking at the air. She didn’t show much in the way of emotion on her face or posture, only intense concentration toward the task at hand.

  “I have a question for you, Xin,” he said.

  “All right,” she responded calmly. Her hand pressed something, and a couch spun into view. Xin walked around it as James watched.

  After a moment of observation, he asked, “How do you measure a man?” He put one hand out in a gesture that was ignored by the smaller woman.

  “Measuring tape,” was her curt response.

  “That seems lacking,” James grumbled. He often did when people didn’t give satisfying answers. Still, despite annoyance, the man didn’t move to interrupt Xin Yu from her task.

  “Your question is poorly phrased. How would you measure a man?” the woman responded.

  “Someone from your… first world once said, ‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.’”

  “I don’t recognize the quote,” Xin said as she poked her fingers in the air. A fourth couch came out, and this one seemed to satisfy her.

  “It’s from Martin Luther King, Jr.”

  When talking to Travelers, James often professed a certain amount of ignorance regarding the world outside. But Xin was not a Traveler, nor was she a Voice like the others. Instead, she fell into a new category, one the Voices very much hoped to increase in number. So far only two attempts had succeeded. Both required a certain disposition that most people didn’t have.

  Xin didn’t show any outward response to James’s identification. Instead, she said, “I understand.”

  She did too. Xin Yu, from another world and another life, had been tested over and over again. There were tests to see how she reacted under pressure. The government had overseen countless simple tasks and graded her performance. There were group projects, single projects, or situations where o
ne person was submerged in the ARC with a debilitating wound. Each one of them had been focused on learning some facet of her personality.

  In hindsight, that long and stressful training was what had assisted in such a complete digital reconstruction. The machine, the ARC device, had been provided access to an excessive stream of data, reactions, brain scans, and childhood memories. Surveillance videotape from indifferent satellites above had been mixed into the reconstruction process. Every ounce of it cross-referenced. Within all the tests was Xin’s clear willingness to continue forth regardless of the situation.

  She was a fighter, a self-made warrior who didn’t back down from challenges. Today, or in this moment as the digital world perceived it, she was trying to reconstruct a home from memory, one piece of furniture at a time. James did not see fit to mention that Grant Legate had performed this action already. Despite the differences in their outlooks, both were motivated people.

  “Grant is similar to you in many ways, yet different in others. Both of you are driven toward completing a goal. Yet on multiple occasions, you chose to end a life rather than risk two. Why was that?” James said.

  “The tests were rigged.”

  Xin, both the original and digital, had spoken at length about the choices made during each simulation. It was part of the debriefing required. Not once had she chosen to sacrifice herself though. In that regard, she and Grant were very different.

  “A woman who does what’s needed. I would kiss you if my lips worked.” The gray space was invaded by a person wearing a smiling mask.

  “It was how I was raised,” she responded. This song and dance between the Voices had happened many times in the last few months. Much centered on Xin and Grant, but they poked and prodded with a tenacity unmatched by her instructors.

  “I tried to measure the man, more than once. Sadly, he left me wanting.” A red-skinned female faded into view.

  The Jester vanished with a mechanical cackle, to handle tasks that required direct oversight.

  “We have hundreds of others to choose from. One of them will appeal to your salacious needs,” James said to Mezo, the naked Temptress.

  Xin did not look up, intent upon choosing a chair and a lamp. Soon an entire cadre of furniture items appeared. The tiny Asian recreation put her hands on her hips and stared, looking past the Voices.

  Selena, a blonde wearing little more than a toga, sat watching. Under her was a marble pillar that looked immaculate. The sound of soft rain could be heard briefly.

  “Perhaps it is for the best.” James nodded at the blonde.

  “He did good for Wild Willy. Why not move him on? Plus, there’s this little firecracker. I bet she can do it if anyone can.” A huge man appeared. His face was covered in dripping sweat, a large sword gripped in his hands. He looked to be fighting a creature that existed sideways from Xin’s current point of view.

  For a moment, Xin felt lost. There was a figure in her lap. He cried out in pain and shuddered without self-control. The body shattered, and the moment was gone. Xin was once again left alone reconstructing a house they had once shared together. One that had been a dream to return to when all the stress of endless simulations left her drained. Grant was her man, the safe and steady rock to return to. That had been the best thing about him. He was steady, or at least had been until Xin’s original body passed away.

  Briefly, the digital recreation of Xin closed her eyes. Moments of a train wreck replayed from a dozen different angles. Those last few seconds of life when a hand reached out, struggling to escape to safety. She shook it off. That was the old life, before being born again. It helped that Xin did not believe in the soul. Life was an accumulation of experiences, not a predestined sheet of facts from some sky god sitting upon an unseen throne.

  Ironic that she held such a belief, being where she was.

  “I do so hope we get a repeat performance,” Mezo spoke.

  Her tones tantalized even Xin, but the small Asian could ignore such basic needs while focusing on her task. Mezo’s hand trailed down the curves of a body designed for sin. Her tail slowly slid over a nearby chair as if caressing the fabric.

  Xin looked up for a moment and glared.

  Mezo gave a coy smile and turned her palm up. “Jealous?”

  “Tut,” a cloven-footed woman said. “How long must we play such games?”

  She looked tired but happy. There was a lightness to her step that hadn’t been there months ago. Small children faded in and out around her, but most were quickly patted on the head as they ran. One boy got swept up in a hug before being released back into the wilderness.

  “Until a resolution is reached. After that, perhaps it won’t matter,” James answered compulsively. “Do you tire of such theatrics?”

  “Yes,” Xin answered.

  Once again, the scene shifted, and in her lap was a man moaning in pain. The face looked so much like Grant’s that it was almost unreal. There were minor differences from the man in her memories. Those scars hadn’t been there before. She longed to simply access his world and witness all the things that had happened, but part of her felt that would be disrespectful.

  Xin may be abrupt to others, but Grant deserved more than that. That was part of love, respecting her partner with every fiber of her being. Love was being faithful, despite the tantalizing offers of a certain red-skinned harlot. The man’s eyes locked with hers for a moment. His hand reached up, despite the agony rippling through him, and touched Xin’s cheek. He looked so sad.

  “Is this real?” the faint outline in her lap asked. His hand almost felt warm.

  Before Xin could utter an answer, the figure broke into hundreds of pieces once more.

  “Yes,” James answered.

  Xin sighed and went back to rebuilding a home from her memories. Anything to help anchor him better. Thunder boomed with abrupt anger. Selena stood off to one side, silently watching as she always did.

  “Because the choice is his,” James answered her unheard question while sounding oddly calm compared to his stance. The man’s hands were clasped together over his chest and he frowned.

  Selena shook her head, and Mezo purred in a sad sound. Somewhere in the distance, a mechanical cackle echoed forth. Xin ignored them all and kept working.

  Transcript of Subject Remodeling

  Name: Grant T. Legate

  Continue Online Avatar: Hermes

  File: 56FI71-01-91GT

  File Owner: ‘Mother’

  Note: Scale of Judgment rounded to 1-10 for simplicity. Full evaluation too detailed for a singular report. Actual results can be quantified in excess of seventeen thousand digits. Measurement used for compilation of autopilot personality will be based on the full 1-1000000 scale.

  Relationship notations:

  Respected for work ethics in professional settings, boss shows favoritism

  Coworkers generally positive when quarterly stats are provided

  No currently active relationships outside of family

  Contact with parents minimal, both still alive

  Sister regards herself as caretaker

  Niece sees subject as surrogate father

  Original Measurements

  [Hardworking] (7) - Original assessment prior to the loss of First World Xin Yu marks as (10), points removed for a period of questionable reliance following her cessation of existence.

  [Task Oriented] (8) - Sets goals and progresses steadily toward them. This person generally searches for shortcuts where applicable and displays a willingness to think outside the box or introduce new concepts.

  [Depressive] (9) - Shows difficulty focusing when not given clear assignments. Thought patterns marked as self-destructive when not immersed in another task. Often comes back to one central thought revolving around the death of First World Xin Yu.

  [Lonely] (7) - No friendships of note. Historical recordings prior to Xin Yu’s passing show varied friendships with many reaching a (6) or (7), nearly all of which exist no longer. Most acquai
ntances lowered to (1) or (2).

  [Accountant] (6) + Technological Assistance Modifier (3) = Result (9) – Subject completed full coursework to receive a Master’s in Business and Accounting. Maintained positive reviews from most clients for nearly a decade. Does courtesy reviews for some long-standing former clients.

  [Family Man] (10) - For relationships with greater than (8) status – shows high regard for close family. Often pays for expensive gifts, uses current employee discounts to keep software and insurance plans maintained. Has prepaid for funeral arrangements for all members of his family, houses, and still maintains a stock portfolio worth slightly fewer than two million in USD.

  [Amiable] (Subjective based on location 4-9) – Individual displays remarkable ability to get along with even difficult clients during work duties. During standard public tasks, the subject does not interact with many people, preferring to avoid conversing.

  [Sanity] (Subjective based on viewer 3-7) – Sister regards subject as a potential risk. Constant checks are made regarding the current mental state of this person. Work is apprised of any possible risks. Paperwork has been filed with local hospitals regarding possible risks. This individual is attending group sessions as well as one-on-one counseling. Not taking any medications after completing a six-month coursework.

  [Anchored] (5) - Neutral investment in maintaining current location, situation, or status. Only long-term investments displayed are based on the [Family Man] personality marker.

  [Self-Sacrificing Potential] (10) – Initial valuation subject to further review. Based on single-minded goal toward tasks, there is a possibility this individual is looking for methods to self-destruct in a more positive manner.

  [Physical Condition] (3) – Years of neglect have left subject functional but with a poor real-world condition. Based on genetic markers and similar family members, this is the easiest to improve, given time and motivation.

  Review phase 1

  This phase used Trillium Inc.’s reward system as the delivery vehicle. A secondary monitor was set up within the Hal Pal consortium. Prior to phase initiation, the subject showed little to no regard for the self-improvement tools available. Advertisement toward teenage females for EXR-Seven equipment was increased, resulting in the subject acquiring his own set. Ultimate Edition copy was required to properly interact with new subject. We used [Task Oriented] (8), [Hardworking] (7), and [Family Man] (10) to motivate him. This phase may allow for a Continuation of William Carver. New Travelers received [Investment] increases. Voices interacted to the best of their ability. New players have been provided an [Investment] rating of (6). Further personality traits for subject are as follows.