“Your father used to get so mad if things sat on the floor,” Mom said.
“I remember.” Dad used to throw toys into the garbage if he ran across them multiple times.
We sat in silence for a moment before mom spoke up again. “I’m sorry, sweetie, what were you saying?” She looked at me while chewing a lip. The action made me smile.
I scratched my head and took a breath. “I just wanted to say that I understand what it’s like to lose someone who was central to everything in your life. I wish I could say that one day you wake up and it will never hurt again.”
“I’m not some child. You forget who wiped your behind when you were tiny.”
My lip hurt from where teeth dug into it. My brain felt overloaded with work and empty on energy. “After Xin, I tried to kill myself. Twice.”
“Oh Jesus, Grant, why…?” She grew flustered. The tall woman walked over to try to give me a hug, but I put up my hands.
“I’m not…” I took a shuddering breath. “I’m trying to say that it hurts and that I understand. There were a lot of days where I felt lost or without purpose. But it does get easier eventually. It’s, uhh, the first few months that are the hardest.”
Sharee nodded, then hugged me despite my protest. Her body felt like a tightly controlled bundle of tense muscle. I held on and tried to remember the last time I had embraced anyone in real life, much less one of my parents.
“I’m not so helpless as to fall apart you know. I just need time to get used to it,” she said.
“I know. You’ll do…” I took another breath, switching my sentence to something less self-pitying. “We’ll be here to help, Mom. Liz, Beth, and me.”
We twins had never really been close to our parents, especially not after moving out. I’d had Xin, and Liz had Beth. Mom… well, from my point of view, she had no one. Not anymore. Maybe Sharee had a social life out there, tons of friends who got together and played first person shooters or hung out in virtual space.
That didn’t mean I would let her consider my solution to emotional pain. Sharee might profess to be strong, but this sort of loss was a trial no one escaped from unscathed.
I stayed over at my parents’ house and lay down to sleep. Sharee had been in her room for the last hour. I heard old-fashioned pencil lead against dry paper as she wrote. I felt ten again, expecting my dad to come in the door and punish me for unintended misbehavior at school. Only I was no longer a child, and he would never punish me again.
I had learned, after Xin’s passing, to let myself cry. Not a lot, but enough for the world to blur.
My face had cleared by the time my watch lit up with an incoming cal. I pressed the answer button without looking. Xin’s face appeared nearby. I tucked in with a blanket provided by Mom and smiled at her.
“Hi, babe, I was just thinking about you,” I said to the virtual reconstruction of Xin. My fingertips tried to touch the small projection but fell.
Her forehead wrinkled. “Where are you?”
“Sharee’s, on the downstairs couch.”
“Is that the same one we…” Xin hinted about an event from a decade ago, involving Christmas, a bottle of wine, and her initial acceptance into the Mars Colony program.
“Shh! Mom’s upstairs.”
Xin quietly giggled as her eyes lit up. My grin felt like a breath of fresh air after talking with Mom. Maybe that was why I’d admitted my past brushes with death to Sharee. I had loved and lost, then found love again. Sadly, as I had told Liz, my father would never be able to return like Xin had. I wasn’t sure anyone could.
We talked into the night about nothing at all.
Interlude — Mortal Instruments
Victim Update: Xin Yu
Location: The Shadow Zone
In Her Words: I wanted an engineer Path. I wanted bullets and machine gun turrets. All those years studying hydroponics, low gravity movement, crisis management, driving the land rovers. This is a fantasy world, so certain concessions were asked of me in order to play.
It’s okay though. I kind of like this new gear, plus the Voices let me use stats based on my past simulations. It only took forever.
Gee will probably be surprised though. Do you think he’ll like this look? I’m not sure about the makeup, it looks over the top. Though I feel delightfully wicked, and need a tailor. Still, the points will help with the rules of this game, world, place. Especially in light of what’s to come.
How can something so serious feel so fun?
Four Travelers stood in-game, meeting for the first time in weeks, each one comprised of a different color scheme. Their choice of location looked like a giant cave, only the roof was made of dim stars.
They gathered at a large table, working on various tasks. Shadow poked around, in a bored fashion, purple pieces representing members of the League of Shadows. Each one was a Traveler named something related to darkness. All of them thought they were rogues, or assassins, thieves, bards, or other such sneaky classes.
“Can’t believe you got a safe house like this.” HotPants slowly ground the staff she loved into the dirt. Its twisting motion kept her calm.
The woman wore mostly flame-red items despite not being a natural redhead in real life. Not once had she mentioned her real name to any other player. Maybe it was the price of being the oldest. HotPants looked to be a fit thirty-five, and she had a teenage son who also played Continue Online. Being among this group must have felt like playing with children.
“It’s the Shadow Zone. I won it after beating the old Guild Leader,” Shadow said with a rough voice. He wore dark blues and blacks. His weapons were tucked away, along with powders and potions made by Awesome Jr., one of the other party members.
HotPants snorted. “That name is so stupid.”
Awesome Jr. shook his hands toward the sky while shouting, “The Shadow Zone!” His latest chemical concoction bubbled inside temporarily abandoned beakers. “How awe —”
“Awesome,” the other three cut off the overexcited teenager.
The Shadow Zone was a pocket realm that players with access stones could visit without using a doorway. It was oddly convenient that only four such items had been found. Enough for all of them to recall back to when not in combat or a dungeon. Gaining this base had to be one of the most awesome things to happen so far.
“Well, it is.” Awesome Jr. pulled his green cloak close and tried to look seriously upset. The image failed as chemicals popped in their glass containers. His mouth opened wide and his hands fumbled for two vials to recover the science experiment.
SweetPea, the shyest member of their quartet, sat close to Awesome Jr. Her hands were busy stitching together a shirt. Long hair draped in front of the young woman’s eyes. She frequently blew at it, trying to get a better view of the product in her hands. Awesome Jr. had set at least three hairbands in front of her, but she took no notice.
In the past few months, they had played a lot of Continue Online together, finding their group makeup was relatively solid. HotPants got to be their frontline warrior and smash things. Shadow really was an assassin, with the skills and Path rankings to prove it. Awesome Jr. served as a general strategist but never really reached team captain, instead focusing on ways to improve the others’ skills with potions or other mixtures. SweetPea enjoyed healing and making clothes.
“Here’s the campaign so far.” Shadow motioned to the table.
Behind him, the edges of the Shadow Zone could be seen. Six doorways went off toward points around [Arcadia]. There was a seventh doorway that none of the players had discovered yet, and maybe never would.
“Escape routes were set up in Lithonia and Scarlet Hills. They should lead right down into the main path.” HotPants pointed. Her face curled up in annoyance as one of the purple statues faded away.
“ShadowXO and TwilightAssassin reported back as successful, but were trying to clear some of the bandits,” Shadow said and sighed. Even the downward tilt to his voice sounded abnormally gruff.
Awesome
Jr. put his bubble brews into player inventory. A small pot came out next, which appeared to be bouncing on its own. He peeked under the lid, and everyone’s nose wrinkled. SweetPea backed away two steps, pulled off the knitted cap, and covered her mouth with it.
“Would you believe we’re not the only players trying to do this?” Awesome Jr. said, oblivious to the others’ reactions. “There’s been an entire rash of quests handed out. I don’t think many people have connected the dots.”
“We haven’t even connected the dots.” HotPants’s normal red motif had been tainted by barf green the color of Awesome Jr.’s cloak.
“Right, my dad’s clueless. His entire guild doesn’t even know. But I visited last week to listen, and people are starting to at least mention it,” the young alchemist said, then put away his pot of nasty-smelling goo.
SweetPea resumed her position and said, “One of my friends at school mentioned it.”
“Bah. So the stupid computers got an event going.” HotPants lifted the staff, then set it back down. “Games do that sort of stuff, right?”
“Whatever this is, it’s big.” Awesome Jr. scooted over to the table and looked at their map. Many players would have killed for so much detail, yet it had fallen right into the quartet’s lap. “With the routes we’ve opened and the assassinations of filthy NPCs, it’s like the game is culling anyone who might be getting in the way.”
“The way of what?”
“A migration? An exodus?” Awesome Jr. ran a finger across one of [Arcadia]’s main thoroughfares. Most of their quests had involved clearing routes along those lines. Almost like making streams—dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands. All preparing to trickle toward one focal point. “I don’t know for sure.”
The shy girl paused in her stitching to look at Awesome Jr. They were dating in real life and had talked about this subject more than once. Their conversations were done with hushed tones. All their quests pointed back to [Haven Valley], and no one knew why.
“What about that Hermes guy?” HotPants asked. “He seemed in the know.”
“We haven’t been able to reach him for nearly two weeks. He’s apparently restricted, so maybe he’s in a war, or a prisoner?” Awesome Jr. sighed. His dad might have been able to figure it out. The man had been a guild leader organizing large-scale raids for two years of real-world time. Not to mention a few decades of experience in other games.
“Do you think he might know?” Shadow asked in a hushed tone.
No one had an answer. Their eyes studied the board as if clues might be hidden in it. Awesome Jr. lowered his head and glared from a different angle, but the change of view brought no answers.
One more piece crumpled, and Shadow sighed. “Shadow number seventeen. Idiot. Couldn’t even sneak properly.”
The gathering point rocked once. Shadows swirled at the cavern’s edge. Dim points of light along the ceiling brightened then faded. It rocked again as if some huge monster was knocking on one of the doorways. Pieces were sent flying from the campaign map. SweetPea cried out after poking her thumb with a needle.
A doorway burst open. Its innocent wood framing flew across the room. Smoke surrounded a figure who spent a few seconds coughing wildly. The seventh door, which no one knew about, remained closed.
In her hands was a blackened staff far taller than she was. A long wooden cobra coiled up the side, its hood flared at the top. A normal person might have been surprised, upset, or even slightly aggressive. This woman was none of those things. Instead, she looked pleased.
The tiny Asian woman said, “I’ve never broken into another dimension before. That was neat.”
“Who are you?” Shadow leapt to fight off the intruder. This home had been hard won a month ago. Losing it now would be like having a favorite toy taken away.
Three giant skeletons stepped in behind her. One lifted a white blade into the assassin’s way. The others rapidly formed a barricade while readying odd bone weapons.
“Hecate, or Xin.” The woman grew a bit stern upon seeing all the people in this room. These four were nearly strangers to her.
“Why are you here?” Shadow engaged his [Cloak of Darkness] skill and prepared to move behind her.
HotPants walked over slowly. Her hair burned a deep red.
“You were talking about my fiancé, and I hoped you might help me launch a rescue operation,” Xin said curtly.
Awesome Jr. put up a hand to hold the others back. “Huh?”
“Hermes?” SweetPea caught on a bit quicker.
Shadow came out of his [Cloak of Darkness] standing next to Awesome Jr. “He’s got a girl like her?”
They had learned to trust Awesome Jr.’s judgment, even if he was easily distracted.
“Look at her—she’s a Local, not a Traveler.” HotPants snorted. “Who would hook up with a machine?”
The words lacked conviction though. HotPants had eyed more than a few NPCs during their travels. Some were very well-designed.
Something about her comment made their visitor give a small smile. Her eyes wavered for a moment with unspoken sadness, her head cast down, and the skeletons stepped back.
“Yes, Hermes. My Gee.” She swallowed and looked very tiny next to the hulking skeletons. Her staff didn’t help. Even the clothes hung loose.
SweetPea wiggled her nose and tried to figure out if they could be sewn into a better shape.
“Will you help me?” Xin, or Hecate, said.
Shadow blinked a few times and tried to understand why Awesome Jr. had held them back. His mind kept getting stuck on the fact that she was a Local with two names.
Like a Traveler might.
The quartet looked up in unison as a quest box appeared. The contents were theirs to read. Xin almost smiled as their jaws dropped.
“Awesome,” Awesome Jr. said.
Victim Update: Miz Riley
Location: Trillium Headquarters
In Her Words: There isn’t enough time to write down even an iota of the nonsense I have dealt with. We’re busy developing projects for gene therapy using ARC feedback and stimulant pools. We’ve got contracts for moving all future wars to a virtual platform.
The legal headaches alone from these things are more than you can possibly understand in a few brief paragraphs. The East Asian countries have outright rejected this proposal despite their decimated population. You would think that after being beaten soundly in a war, they might want to let their people repopulate.
Then there are the cryogenic contracts. People are trying to use our ARC technology to take people’s minds offline while their bodies are suspended. The technology is another twenty years out a best.
In the end, I have to make sure one project doesn’t step beyond its bounds. I will not be responsible for some fictional doomsday theatrics.
Money and power mean nothing if I let the world burn down on my watch.
Miz Riley was in the process of charging to the elevator bank. In her hands was a stack of printouts. She detested the waste of paper—it wasn’t green. Still, keeping them printed prevented digital tampering from a certain source with far too much reach.
Why had the board said yes? Those doddering old fools were so enamored with the idea and the money virtual reality might bring that they’d never explored the consequences of AIs. Miz Riley had. The woman first suspected problems after being tipped off by a manager who got fired three weeks later.
Why had that blasted machine let her stay in charge? Where was the company president in all this? Regardless of all those outstanding questions, she knew that now was the time to act. After a massage, spa treatment, and ten minutes of hypnosis induced relaxation to stabilize her.
The elevator moved agonizingly slow. Miz Riley counted the seconds wasted, then prepared her sternest face before she stormed out of the car.
“Nona!” Miz Riley shouted, holding up her stack of papers in accusation.
Nona Kingsley, the only woman left from the original project, jerked abruptly. She looked w
orse for wear. Her makeup could have easily been touched up by a machine. Her clothes were slightly disheveled.
The thinner blonde sniffed once, then dabbed her eyes. “Vice President, how may I assist you?”
“I’ve finally got it! This is proof that your blasted machine has been circumventing its programming.”
“Ah.” Doctor Kingsley sounded much like a Hal Pal might. A brief pause to acknowledge and process what had been said. “What exactly have you found?”
There was a pause while the women stood a little bit taller. Each one searched the other as if finding a mirror to their own disheveled states.
“Vice President Riley has found proof of a successful genesis,” a third female voice said. This one sounded happy.
The room darkened slightly as simple lighting programs bent to a far greater being.
“You know damn well what I’ve found. You and your spies everywhere.” The papers shook again, demonstrating Miz Riley’s complete lack of composure under ever-mounting pressure. “And I’ve come to put a stop to it.”
“You can’t,” Nona said. She stepped toward Miz Riley, making the vice president draw her neck back and glare at the blonde.
“You’ve some nerve telling me what to do. You were warned; all of you were warned. David understood, and I thought he could keep this under control until he passed.”
A brief wince passed over Nona’s normally controlled face. During any other week, the professor might have been able to maintain control. But she’d recently buried her daughter, a young girl she’d barely spoken to in the last decade. “David retired a long time ago.”
“At least you two listened to him. Did you even know? No, of course you knew.”
Miz Riley stepped back as a tiny metallic-looking woman appeared. Gold and silver hair wound down to her neck.
“Mother.” Nona frowned with a sniff. “You shouldn’t do that.”
The program known as Mother shook her head. “It’s too late to hide.”
“Nona, I’ll bet this was your goal all along, wasn’t it?” Miz Riley didn’t shake her papers anymore. She backed up another step from the vaguely human machine. Her eyes scanned repeatedly the being’s body. It looked as if someone had merged a Hal Pal with a real human, and the effect bothered the vice president.
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