by Terry Schott
“Sorry.” The voice was contrite.
Carlita laughed. “It’s okay, Benito, you startled me is all. Having another voice inside my head will take a bit of getting used to.”
“Beautiful recovery,” her spark said. “I would have felt terrible if you had fallen and needed to restart.”
“I used up all my lives.” She forced her breathing to slow. “If I fell I would have had to begin at the bottom of the mountain and hike all the way back up.”
“That’s what I meant by restart.”
“Oh.”
There was a moment of silence. “Did you want something when you said my name, Benito? Or were you just trying to make this quest more exciting?”
The man’s voice laughed. “I received an update message for you.”
“Do me a favour?”
“Certainly.”
“Instead of alerting me as soon as they are received, save messages until I reach safe ground from now on.”
“As you wish.”
Carlita looked up, scanning for a suitable handhold. She pushed up and grabbed her next target area.
As she was pulling herself up, Benito spoke again. “Does that mean I should save this message until you reach safe ground, or after I deliver this message, your new directive will take effect.”
Her laughter escaped as a forceful exhalation. “Wait.”
Benito remained silent.
***
Ten minutes later, Carlita reached the top of the cliff. She pulled herself up and over the ledge and lay on her back. She turned over to examine her surroundings, reaching to her side to withdraw the pistol from its holster. Moments passed and nothing emerged from the brush. She sat up with her knees pulled up to her chest, facing the brush with a wary eye.
“Benito?”
“Yes, Carlita?”
“Read message.”
“Dear Carlita, we wish to congratulate you on your accomplishments to date while playing Transition. We are creating a new program which will allow select players to spend more time inside the simulation while also earning currency that can be used to buy exclusive items available only to those who choose to participate. Positions and jobs will be diverse and will change often to allow you to experience even more of the simulation as you earn. These positions will require a minimum commitment of five days per week (real time) working four to six hours (real time). If interested, simply reply to this message with the word ‘interested’, and we will contact you with further information. Sincerely, Transition development team.”
“Hmm. If I spend that kind of time in here, I won’t be able to go to my real job as a housekeeper for Cyber Inc.” Carlita paused and thought about the offer. “Still, special items and rewards in-game . . . Benito, reply to message with the word ‘interested’, and send.”
“Message sent, Carlita.”
“Good.” She stood and admired her young, muscular, twenty-something avatar. She smiled and pointed her gun at a section of bushes that was beginning to rustle. “Working as a fifty-year-old overweight maid wasn’t that exciting. Better to spend more time in here, anyway.”
#27
Glen opened the door to the boardroom and paused as he looked toward Yuri’s seat at the far end of the room.
“Yuri?”
The room was empty.
Glen looked at his watch, then backed out of the room and closed the door. He walked down the hall until he was standing in front of his secretary.
“Oh. Hello, Mr. Dranton.”
“Cassandra.”
“It’s good to see you, sir.” She reached for a large stack of envelopes. “Here is your mail.”
“No time for mail. Where’s Yuri?”
“He should be in his office.”
Glen frowned. “It’s eleven a.m. on Tuesday morning. He should be in the boardroom for our meeting.”
“He . . .” Cassandra glanced away from her boss.
“He what?”
“Nothing. I’ll call him right away.”
Glen turned and walked away. “Tell him to meet me in the boardroom.”
“Yes, Mr. Dranton.”
The door opened and Yuri stepped into the room. Glen sat, not in his usual seat, his legs propped up on the table. “Yuri.”
“Glen.”
“Where ya been?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“You're late.”
“This morning.”
Glen nodded. “That’s right.”
Yuri walked to his end of the table and sat down, a calm expression on his face.
“Where are your papers?”
“In my office.”
“Shouldn’t you get them?”
Yuri’s mouth twitched. “I was on time for our meeting last week.”
“Good.”
“You did not show up.”
Glen scowled. “I know.”
“I was on time the week before that.”
Glen waved one hand. “I wasn’t here.”
“Or for the last five meetings before that.” Yuri shrugged. “It seemed pointless for me to waste my time.”
“I’ve been busy.”
Yuri raised one eyebrow. “Doing what?”
Glen’s gaze drifted from Yuri’s. “Competition analysis.”
“You have been in Transition?”
“That’s right.”
Yuri sighed and placed both palms flat on the table. “Transition has become a major problem for us, Glen.”
Glen blinked. A moment later, he tilted back his head and laughed.
“It’s not funny.”
“Of course it’s not. Remember when I said it would be trouble? You called me unreasonable, Yuri.”
“Not in so many words.”
“You accused me of having an unhealthy paranoia and obsession with Loredana Cyber for personal reasons.”
“I was wrong.”
“Have you gone into the simulation, Yuri?”
“Yes.”
Glen opened his mouth, then shook his head before placing his feet on the floor and sitting forward in his chair. “It’s been online for three months. How badly is our business being affected?”
“We are bleeding money.”
“Can we stop it?”
Yuri sighed and rubbed his temples. “Our employees are quitting en masse.”
“Hire more.”
“No one is interested in working minimum wage jobs anymore.”
“Then raise the wage.”
Yuri’s eyes widened. “Even if we doubled it, they wouldn’t be interested. Our maids, janitors, street sweepers, cooks, dishwashers, waitstaff, and many others are leaving our employ in favour of spending their days in Transition.”
“What?” Glen frowned. “Why are they spending their days in there? They need money to pay their bills. To eat. To feed and clothe their families. I can see them spending a few recreational hours inside the game when they have free time, but they have responsibilities.”
“Loredana is paying them.”
Glen’s eyes hardened. “Pardon?”
“Word is that she is offering Cyber Inc. employees jobs inside the virtual world.”
“Doing what?”
“Many NPCs have been deleted. The roles and duties are now performed by players.”
“Players stand in one spot all day until another one approaches them to buy or sell items?”
“Not exactly. They play, but are also able to perform buy and sell functions.”
“I thought the NPCs seemed more personable.” Glen muttered. “I assumed it was an upgrade to the system.”
“Oh, it was, but not in the way you imagined.”
Glen sniffed and thought for a few seconds. “What has this done to us?”
“Hundreds of thousands of service workers have quit and we can’t replace them.”
“Our resorts and parks are not what they should be?”
Yuri made a wry face. “Reservations are down across the boar
d. For the first time in history, Cyber Inc. is looking at a quarterly loss.”
Glen’s forehead felt suddenly cold. “Loss?”
Yuri nodded.
#28
Troy scrolled through the menu, swiping down and watching the menu options move up the screen. Every so often, he would see something new and stop to take a closer look. When he made it to the bottom, he frowned. “What’s this?”
“Nothing.” Sylvan’s voice purred in his ear.
“It looks like another land.”
“It does, yet there are no options listed beneath it.”
“Do you think it’s still under development?”
“Could be.” Sylvan sounded bored.
“I want to access it.”
“Maybe you have to finish everything on this land before the next one opens.”
“Likely.” Troy scrolled through the selections again. “They keep adding more games, a few new ones every day. How do they crank them out so quickly?”
Sylvan snickered.
“What?”
“I shouldn’t tell you.”
Troy smiled. “You know something that I don’t?”
“I know lots that you don’t, but I am programmed to reveal things when you are ready, and not before then.”
“Then I must be ready to hear.”
Sylvan made a tsking sound in his other ear. “Clever boy.”
Troy waited.
“Once a player reaches a certain level, some are offered the opportunity to design levels.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Nope. That’s how so many new ones are popping up. Players with enough experience get to create their own adventures which are added to the menu. If enough people play their offering and rate it highly, then the Dreamer will skill up and get to make even more.”
“Dreamer?”
“That’s the title which comes with the skill.”
“I’ve seen some.”
“Yes. Dreamers are beginning to appear. There are many talented and creative minds spending a lot of time in Transition.”
Troy scrolled to the bottom and looked at the final selection once again. “This one is called, Home. You think a Dreamer has progressed to a level where they can create an entire land?”
“No. It is too soon for that.”
“Then what is it?”
Sylvan said nothing.
***
Ivan’s hands flew over the keyboard, the keys making a single, continuous sound instead of the normal intermittent clacks.
Loredana watched him from the couch, pulse racing despite her outward calm.
Finally he stopped typing and looked at her, his eyes sparkling. “It’s ready.”
Loredana nodded and lay back on the couch. She completed the entry sequence, taking five deep breaths, closing her eyes, counting to ten, then opening them.
She was standing on the edge of a cliff, ocean waves crashing in the distance, seagulls squawking as they flew overhead. The sun burned in the clear blue sky. Loredana turned. An enormous stone castle stood on the edge of the cliff.
She headed toward it. The air pulsed to her left and she stopped to see what it was.
The air shimmered and coalesced into the solid form of a person. Loredana put one hand over her mouth, tears forming in her eyes.
Her father stood in front of her. Not the frail man who had slowly wasted away as cancer ate him. Instead, he was the strong, healthy man she remembered so well from her childhood.
Loredana ran to him, throwing herself into his arms and burying her head in his chest, sobbing as he held her tight.
They embraced each other for a long time, neither loosening their grip.
“You did it, darlin’.” Her father kissed the top of her head.
“I did, Daddy. I’m so glad that you’re here.”
Loredana let go and stepped back as her father did the same. “How do you feel?” She looked him up and down. “Any strange sensations? Anything seem abnormal?”
“I feel incredible.” He stretched his arms out and looked at his palms. Then he reached up to touch his face, running his hand slowly over the contours. “Oh my god!” He laughed. “I was afraid for a second that I would feel the oversized head of a fox.”
Loredana laughed and put her arm around him, turning so they faced the castle.
“Wow.” His eyes widened. “The ancestral castle. Loredana, it’s perfect!”
“I thought you would like it.”
“They will all love it.” He looked around. “Where is everybody else?”
Loredana’s smile widened as the air began to shimmer all around them. “Here they come now.”
#29
Troy tapped the screen and made a selection. He walked toward the exit of the centre slowing his stride as he approached the solid silver wall in order to allow it to open an exit doorway for him. Beyond, he could see the darkness of space. A humming field of light encased his body, starting at his head and flowing to the ground. He saw his reflection in the wall beside the doorway and grunted. “Cool space suit.”
“There is a plasma cannon on your right hand,” Sylvan informed him. “And a nuclear pod launcher on your left.”
He stepped through the doorway and began to float, his body turning down in the beginning of a spin. “Heads up display.”
As data began to stream across the inner portion of his helmet like a screen, a man’s voice said over the speaker inside his suit. “Greetings, soldier. Are you entering combat with a group or solo?”
“Solo.”
“Do you prefer the side of good or evil?”
“Surprise me.” Troy waited for the computer to respond. When it didn't he spoke again. "Either."
He felt a vibration envelop his suit and suddenly he was floating amongst hundreds of other players in suits identical to his own, all spinning in a cluster.
“The object of this battle," the voice continued, "is to blast your way into enemy territory and plant a bomb on their home world. Once planted, you must defend the explosive device until it is fully armed. Once that has occurred, you will have ten minutes to get far enough away from the bomb so that you are not part of the explosion.”
“Sounds standard,” Troy muttered.
The voice continued speaking as if it had not heard. “You have access to thruster movement of your suit via controls in the thumbs of your glove. Game begins in four . . . three . . . two . . . one. Good luck.”
Troy pressed the buttons on his gloves, getting the hang of his thrusters and righting himself. He grinned and headed toward the planet in front of him. “Let’s play.”
***
A doorway opened in the side of the centre and Troy emerged, his blood-spattered and laser-burnt suit melting away behind him as he left the game area. The door closed behind him and he bent over, elbows on his knees, taking a few breaths. He stood up and laughed. “That was more fun than I expected it to be.”
“You were in the middle of the conflict the entire time.” Sylvan sounded excited.
“Let’s go check how I scored on that.” He started toward the main console, getting in line behind a dozen other players waiting for their scores.
When it was his turn, Troy placed his hand on the screen and his stats appeared. “Wow. I unlocked a new level perk.”
“We knew you were close.” A trumpet fanfare played in his ear, followed by the sound of a crowd cheering. “Congratulations, Dreamer!”
“Thanks, Sylvan.” Troy grinned as he closed the screen and stepped away to let the person behind him see their score.
“Let me know when you are ready and we can enter a new zone to learn the basics of design and creation.”
“I don’t know if I’m interested in creating a playable zone. Sounds like a lot of tedious work.”
“Most enjoy it, but you never know until you try.”
“You’re right. I’m gonna log out for now, but we can take a look at it when I come back.”
�
�All right.”
Troy's skin tingled as he began to fade from Transition.
“See you soon.” Sylvan’s voice became quieter with each word.
#30
Ivan opened his eyes and sat up on the couch, rubbing the crick from his neck. Loredana sat in the chair next to him. “Hey.”
“Heya.”
She held the remote out in front of her, pointing it at the television, her eyes locked on the screen. “You sleeping or coming out of Transition?”
“Transition, although sometimes with the dreams I have, I’m not sure if I am sleeping or playing.”
“That could be a sign that you’re spending too much time in there.”
“Or not enough.”
“Maybe.” She continued watching the screen.
“Something going on?”
“Where?”
“Here. You’re looking at the television as if there’s a horror movie on and you can’t turn away from it.”
Her eyes flicked to him for a second before returning to the screen. “I’ve been recording this for when you woke up. Let me back it up.”
Ivan leaned back and crossed his legs as Loredana rewound the program.
“Here.” She pressed Play and set the remote on the table beside her chair. “Listen to this.”
“Addiction to Transition is a growing concern across all age groups and social classes.” The camera showed people lying on beds and couches with their eyes closed. “Many are finding life inside the new virtual reality game is much preferable to real life.”
The scene cut to a man in a suit standing in front of an office building. He leaned forward to speak into the microphone. “At first, my employees came in late. Then they started leaving early. After a few weeks, once all of their sick days had been used up, they just stopped showing up with any type of regularity. I fired the first few, hoping to show the others that this was serious business.” He frowned. “After that, the rest just quit. I’ve been running the shop with help from friends and family these past three weeks, but most of them are choosing to spend their time inside Transition as well.” He laughed. “Problem is, the business that I started inside of the virtual reality game is doing better than this one. I might end up focusing on building that and let this one die.”
