Void Legion

by Terry C. Simpson

  Sidrie shook her head. She could not imagine partnering with anyone of a lesser stature than herself, a person who could not measure up in multiple ways. Perhaps, it was the reason she was still single. No such person existed. And if they did, she had no desire to fall in love, become so attached that she’d want to reverse her infertility. After witnessing the continual weakness mothers had for their children, she counted her inability to bear children as a blessing.

  She rubbed her arm where the Taylor boy had squeezed it. The area was still sore. How dare he touch me! She grimaced. He’d been unusually strong for his age and slim stature. She would have to be more careful around him in the future. But for now, he needed a lesson in action and consequence.

  “Remind me why you are trying to save her. And why I should allow it. The little sister is adequate enough for the boy to do our bidding.”

  “Additional insurance,” Dr. Redmond said, standing a step behind her to the right.

  “But I already have that with his immigration status.”

  “More motivation is always better,” the doctor argued.

  “Always?” Sidrie raised a quizzical brow. “It depends on the motivation. It has to be the right one. When too much emotion is involved, it can be as much a hindrance as a help. Emotion is a flaw, a weakness, too often blinding a person to an obvious mistake. The very reason we’re culling it from the gameborn, making them better than humans in every regard.”

  “Killing her now doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Redmond said. “Saving his family drives him. And Imanok Sanctum is only one of numerous extremely difficult challenges we suspect hold the keys to the protocols. Suppose he achieves what no one has and clears it, but returns to find them dead? It might destroy his will to carry on.

  “There’s also the chance Alphonso confided in her. She might have knowledge or insight into exactly where he hid all the protocols and the rest of his research. As well as Hank Kim’s brain emulation work. Or she might even know where Hank is hiding. We wouldn’t need to rely on the testers then. We could perfect the gameborn.”

  “Estela, show me 2041’s controls,” Sidrie said under her breath.

  Her optical implants flashed. A Heads-Up Display appeared in the air before her face. Numbers rolled across the HUD, calculating the cost of the attempt to heal Theresa. The forecasted result was still uncertainty. The time and money seemed a waste for such an unremarkable piece of flesh.

  “There is a chance she could die anyway,” Sidrie argued. “No matter which choice we make.”

  “Then we must be extra vigilant,” the doctor said.

  Sidrie scowled. Ending it now was the better option. Perhaps, the more merciful. She could then divert the resources to other programs in need of TNT. Killing the woman was so tempting.

  Alphonso had earned that much for breaking her trust, stealing from the company that had given him a new life in the Republic, for ruining her plans, costing Equitane hundreds of millions of credits. And for locking her out of the brunt of Void Legion’s controls. She could not yet make the bastard himself pay, but taking the life before her was the next best thing.

  And it served the purpose of showing the boy he could not touch her. Ever. Just as upsetting was that the boy appeared as temperamental and stubborn as his father. She seethed inside. Not only at the similarities in character, but that Alphonso had also challenged her authority.

  She shook her head at the thought of the boy turning down a million credits. What was he thinking? The income could have solved his problems. Well, except for his mother’s plight. But to discard such a windfall over a promise? Over a set of misguided morals? Emotions? The boy was naïve like his father had been years ago.

  Why am I surprised? Is that not a typical human failing?

  She wished she had found the boy sooner. But Shane Constantine had done well to secretly employ the boy at one of his many obscure companies. There, Andre would have remained. If not for fate.

  Sidrie smiled at her good fortune. After so much time spent searching for Alphonso’s family since they disappeared soon after his crash, they had landed in her lap due to an accident involving one of her employees sent to search Coney Island for them. The chance of such an occurrence were one in a million.

  But she would take it. As she would take this chance for a measure of satisfaction. She raised her hand.

  But what if Theresa knows about the protocols? The files? The location of Hank Kim’s research on Whole Brain Emulation? The location of Hank himself? What if she was the key to regaining full access to Ataxia? No. Alphonso wouldn’t have been that stupid.

  “You might also consider that her babies would make great additions to the gameborn,” Dr. Redmond said.

  Sidrie paused. She had not given much thought to the twins. What had the boy named them? Regi and Rayne?

  Dr. Redmond cleared his throat. “Using them would save us the trouble of contacting our people in the FPC for new subjects over the next few months. Or trying to rely on clones whose growth constraints have hampered progress. With the latest scandals and Governor Morrison’s anti-corruption campaign, it might be best to keep a low profile. Not expose ourselves.”

  “I was thinking that very thing,” Sidrie said. “Now wouldn’t be a good time to have the authorities looking into us, particularly the FPC or NAIL. Even if we could stymie any investigation, it would still interfere with our schedule.” Reluctantly, she swiped her hand across her optics. The HUD disappeared.

  Her aurals beeped. Estela’s voice piped in through the implants. “Incoming from the Ataxia control room, madam. It’s Zhi Yin. Do you wish to take it?”

  “Yes.”

  The HUD flashed on. A smiling render of Zhi Yin’s moon-eyed, goose-egg face popped up in a small box at the top left. Beneath it was her title: Head of BioGen VR development. “Sorry to bother you, Miss Malikah.”

  Sidrie tensed at the nervous titter in the normally jovial, girlish voice. “No bother, Zhi. What is it?”

  “Anomalies have popped up in Void Legion again.”

  Sidrie ground her jaw. “Show me.”

  The HUD changed to a full view of the Ataxia Online control room as seen through Zhi’s smart contacts. A holo map of Mikander encompassed the entire front of the room. Techs worked feverishly at holographic computer consoles. The buzz of conversation filled the air.

  But it was the map that held Sidrie’s attention. Green dots indicated Total Immersion testers. Blue were those playing the old version of the game. Red dots represented the anomalies. Off the top of her head she knew the locations of several aberrations: the cities of Deshem and Aprunis in Khertahka; Kituan, the capital of Ignis; Kesharai in Puria; Imanok Sanctum on Maelpith Island.

  “Have we managed to identify the cause?” Sidrie asked. “Or what they mean? Are any of the systems compromised?”

  “We’ve been unable to tell exactly what they are, but we know the cause,” Zhi said.

  “Go on.”

  “A study of the data in those areas and a bit of reverse engineering has revealed them to contain snippets of the code Alphonso uploaded.”

  “He placed them there?”

  “We believe so. And that’s not all. They move.”

  “Move?”

  “Yes, since identifying the code, we’ve been able to track them at times. The one from Aprunis is now in Deshem.”

  “So, they’re either players or NPCs.”

  “Of that, we’re uncertain. We haven’t been able to get a team near them when they’re active. Surveillance and GMs found nothing out of the ordinary in their vicinity. They’re like ghosts.”

  Holographic feeds popped up near each anomaly. Sound piped through Sidrie’s aural pods, the sound of the living, breathing world of Mikander. Players and NPCs went about their business as normal. The murmur of a thousand conversati
ons filled the air.

  On another display the words from every conversation flitted by in a constant stream. Estela worked to pick out any keywords pertinent to her learning or that hinted at illicit activity, particularly hackers. The AI filed immediate profiles for players who triggered the latter, then assigned Game Master NPCs or gameborn to hunt down and eliminate the offenders. Yet, for all the information collected, Estela was unable to derive an obvious connection to the aberrations.

  “Continue monitoring,” Sidrie ordered. “Tinker with the algorithms used to track them. And send me a reminder of the full recordings around these anomalies. Whatever they are, whomever it is, they’re bound to make a mistake.”

  “Yes, Miss Malikah.”

  On a whim, Sidrie said, “Show me the Taylor boy, A200.”

  Estela opened another holo feed ringed in green. Andre had chosen an erada with dark magenta skin as his avatar. He was in Niba, in the company of two more of his kind. One of them was another alpha tester, a girl who’d dominated the previous version of the game after Andre had stopped playing.

  Just Blaze.

  Sidrie growled under her breath. She hated mysteries. Research into Just Blaze’s past had revealed too little.

  The girl was an orphan. Her parents had died during Hurricane Ezra fourteen years ago. From three, she’d been raised by her grandmother, who was also dead, killed five years ago during a DeGen raid in the Second Ward. In the immediate years afterward, she’d eked out a meager living by playing Ataxia Online and selling her services in game as a mercenary.

  Sending agents into Just Blaze’s home and subsequent surveillance had done little more than expose her as a thief who frequented the Mid Wards to ply her trade on unsuspecting shoppers and tourists. The crimes had been her undoing. Faced with prison or join the alpha tests, Just Blaze’s choice had been obvious.

  No records existed of a proper name for the girl. Knowing she was Asian was of no help.

  Sidrie grimaced at the lack of complete information. She wished she could return to a time when such details were readily available, a time before the storms of the Climatic Shift, the Second Civil War, and the War of the Americas. A time when the internet connected everyone before the Chinese had corrupted it and America had turned to creating the Grid.

  All these events had conspired to rip apart the country, destroy countless databases and knowledge. One day, she would be able to brave the First Ward to retrieve some of what was lost.

  “Whose quest line are they on?” She was certain she knew but confirmation wouldn’t hurt.

  Estela’s voice replied, “Setnana Botros.”

  Sidrie smiled. The Nomarch should prove quite the challenge. Setnana was one of the more advanced and newer gameborn, designed after Sidrie herself. “Good. Manipulate the emotional levels as needed and keep me updated.”

  “Yes, madam,” replied Estela.

  The two gamers had intrigued her ever since the first Ataxia. Frowning, she tilted her head to the side and began to tap her lips with her index finger, struck by a sudden niggling suspicion. She couldn’t quite think of a reason for the feeling, but she’d achieved her success through intelligence, ruthlessness, and instinct. She wasn’t about to ignore any of them now. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the HUD.

  “Is everything okay?” Dr. Redmond asked.

  “Yes, for the most part. The anomalies appeared again. Zhi’s team has linked them to Alphonso’s work with the protocols.” She gazed upon Theresa and lauded herself for discerning the importance of keeping the woman alive for now. And the added boon of two new gameborn. “The Taylor boy is playing the Botros line.”

  “The Botros line?” The concern in the doctor’s voice was palpable. “You think he can handle that? Wouldn’t he be better off–”

  “We’re not here to coddle, Dr. Redmond.” She looked upon him piteously. “I know you have a soft spot for the testers, but I need them at their best to achieve our goal, to improve upon our current gameborn. If that means some testers die, then so be it. Grow a spine.”

  “Yes, Miss Malikah.”

  “Now tell me, have you made any progress with Hank Kim’s work?”

  He shook his head. “Not a great deal. The closest we’ve gotten is by having clones in Total Immersion repeatedly interact with recordings of the subjects. They return with those thoughts and mannerisms.”

  “That’s simple learned behavior. Someone who knows the person intimately would eventually see the difference. Try harder.” She turned away from the observation window, and strode down the hall.

  As she walked, she envisioned the day when she had the protocols and the accompanying file in hand, making Estela, the TNT system, Total Immersion, and Equitane completely safe. The day when she would have the secrets of Alphonso and Hank Kim’s team. When she would have eliminated all competition and every person who’d conspired to stop her. The day when not only New New York, but also the entire North American Republic was under her control. And the DeGens and South American Conglomerate were at her mercy. She smiled.

  CHAPTER 9

  They headed down Killiam’s Avenue en route to the East Gate, the war drums fading behind them. Their pace was slow at first, particularly when they encountered another wagon.

  Nebsamu instructed Melori to veer off onto the lesser traveled lanes. That brought them a few streets over from Niba’s wall, the stone structure curving its path around the city. They trundled at a steady clip, the wagon jerking to-and-fro, Melori bellowing at the folk trying to flee the city. When a seven-foot gurash with a voice like thunder screamed at your back, and four snorting crevids bore down on you, you got the hell out of the way.

  “So,” Frost yelled over the churn of wagon wheels on cobbles, “I thought the Coalition had given up on the Hand of Freedom after her self-imposed exile. What changed?”

  A cheerless expression crossed Nebsamu’s face. “Not long ago, Nomarch Setnana had the Azureguards pass word throughout Coppertown that the mystics in the Temple of Nif would offer coin, food, clothing, and medicine to the poor and needy. Many went to accept the offer. Many never returned. Most of the missing were unreported. We assumed some of them had used their newfound good fortune to move to smaller villages or towns or to travel to bigger cities like Aprunis or even to another nome or dominion.

  “The truth was far worse. Nomarch Setnana had made a pact with the grand korae. She was sending poor folk off to grand kora slave camps that fed their korbitanium mining operations. Poor folk who had no family, no one to investigate their whereabouts, no one to care for or miss them.

  “At the camps, those unfit for work were killed. The slavers harvested the horns of the eradae among those taken. So, your mother took up the fight again.” Nebsamu’s hand brushed the stump behind his left ear.

  At a loss for words, Frost stared at the man and shook his head. Finally, he asked, “Why the hell would the Nomarch do that to her own people?”

  Nebsamu shrugged. “The same reason she would send the Battleguards to defend against an assault she allowed. To hide the truth. She cares only for power. All she knows is what she wants. She will do anything to get it. Murdering your family or mine is nothing.”

  “Why didn’t any of you warn the people in Coppertown?”

  “We tried. But the promise of wealth proved too tempting for most.” Nebsamu heaved a sigh. “And Setnana used her position. You see, Nomarchs have ever been the shepherds of common folk, leading the flock to lush pastures, protecting them from the wolves.

  “But oftentimes, the wolves are the land’s own nobility as much as they are a foreign enemy. The sheep love the shepherd for his protection, accept a meager existence, even as they’re led to the slaughter.”

  “But some of you knew better,” Frost said. “Why didn’t you report her to Exarch Bakui Assam? Or hell, go above him t
o the erada Kalarch.” The drums had picked up again, but uneven, with less rhythm.

  “We sent word to the Exarch. We’ve yet to receive an answer.”

  “This doesn’t make sense. Did you try the Coalition? They mighta hated Anefet because of her past, but they put an end to slavery and outlawed it.”

  “We sent ravens and messengers to them. None returned.”

  “I’d have thought a famed relic hunter like yourself woulda gotten your hands on a Communication Orb,” Frost said.

  “I could only wish I had such a hierka. I doubt there are even five of them across the Network.”

  Brow pinched, Frost stroked the aether ring on his little finger. He thought about mentioning the letter. “Any idea why the Coalition hasn’t answered?”

  “We assume they had their hands full with the draconids and their Void Legion at the Dagoda Front. We lost a major battle there. And there was also an outbreak of the Gray Death.”

  Frost’s brows shot up at the news. “The draconids defeated the Vindicators?”

  “Yes. In fact, all of this began soon after. And the strangest thing happened a few days before we got word of the defeat. A wave of blue light swept across the heavens. The clouds boiled. A maelstrom formed that could be seen from halfway across the world. Within moments, it became a voidstorm, its center spewing lightning as it swept across the land before settling over the Empyrean Sea. When it dissipated, there was a new island off the eastern coast of the Ignis dominion within sight of Kituan. The Coalition named it Maelpith Island.

  “The storm left devastation, famine, and disease in its wake. The Coalition burned entire cities and villages to prevent the spread of the Gray Death.

  “Then came word of renewed draconid activity. Not just along the Front, but there have been sightings of draconids and void monsters in Puria, Khertahka, Ignis, and Nimri.”

  Frost frowned. “How’s that possible without anyone seeing them at the Front? Concealment, maybe?”