Cyber

by Terry Schott

  Glen chuckled. “It does.” He sat down across from them.

  “I see that you’ve managed to land on your feet.” She reached out to touch the sleeve of his white robe.

  Glen’s smile disappeared. “I’ve made the best of things, but I am not where I wanted to be.”

  “Don’t tell me you would rather be inside Transition?” She smirked. “What would your followers say to hear such sacrilege?”

  “I’m going to show you something that will make you very angry. Please stay calm.” He looked at his soldier standing ready near the door. “For your safety.

  Loredana shook her head. “I don’t hate you for what you did to me, Glen. You aren’t a bad person, you were just looking out for the company when you usurped me. Don’t worry, there are no hard feelings.”

  “It’s not that.” He pulled at the collar of his robe, then looked at the commander standing beside the door. “Go ahead and turn the lights off for a minute.”

  The commander flipped the switch and the room dimmed. Light still entered through the windows, but Loredana and her companions gasped when they looked at Glen.

  “You’re glowing.”

  “Oh crap.” Ivan stood, his chair scraping against the ceramic-tiled floor.

  “Don’t move!” the commander shouted, his weapon raised and trained on Ivan. “I will shoot you unless you sit down. Now.”

  “Please.” Glen’s body glowed with a white-gold aura. “Sit down.”

  Ivan sat, glaring at Glen as he nodded and the lights were turned on once more.

  “You caused all of this,” Loredana whispered. “You helped them escape.”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose.” Glen’s expression conveyed his anguish. “I was just a Dreamer inside Transition.”

  “You were Troy,” Ivan spat the words. “The best Dreamer inside Transition. And you let them out.”

  “It was an accident.” He shook his head. “There was a zone that no one could access. When I became number one, an idea came to me and I tried it. I managed to open a portal. I promise you, I had no idea what I would find in there.”

  Loredana closed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her forehead against her hand.

  “I only went in one time. I met Desdemona and she was so nice.”

  “I bet.” Ivan snorted.

  “Once I took a look around, I saw nothing that made me want to return.” Glen reached for his neck and withdrew a round gold talisman attached to a chain with faded symbols on it. “She gave me this and then I left. Then all of you showed up.”

  “Do you know what happened after that?” Shawn asked.

  Glen shook his head. “I can’t re-enter Transition. Loredana did something when she kicked me out. I’ve tried but—”

  Loredana laughed. “I thought that ejecting Troy would kill him.” She looked at Glen. “I figured someone that immersed in the game would have no body to return to.” She shook her head and laughed again. “Instead, I saved you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They created a virus to kill all Dreamers.”

  Glen turned pale. “What?”

  “That’s right,” Shawn said. “Over four hundred million Dreamers have died, and I doubt many of them had bodies to return to as you did.”

  “And we are pretty certain that’s just the start of it all.” Ivan’s eyes burned with hatred. “Once they finish with the Dreamers, they will likely kill the rest.” He laughed, a harsh bitter sound. “All because you wouldn’t allow Loredana to inherit her position. One stupid decision has destroyed everything. Twice.”

  Glen looked down at his hands.

  Loredana exhaled, clutching her head. “We have to let that all go. We agreed to meet with the Light for a reason.” She looked up, glancing at Ivan and then Shawn. Both men nodded and she looked across the table. “Glen?”

  He continued looking at his hands.

  “Glen?”

  He raised his head and his eyes met hers.

  “We can’t change the past,” she said. “All we can do is try to make sure there is a future. Do you understand? I have no time to be angry. There are still more than a billion people living on this planet, and billions alive in Transition. We can mourn the dead later, but I have to move fast to try and save those who remain.”

  Glen nodded. “Of course. What can I do?”

  Ivan made a rude noise and Loredana elbowed him in the ribs. “We have an idea, but it is most likely going to strand us in Transition. I want to make sure that this world is protected.”

  “That is Purity’s purpose.”

  Loredana nodded. “Good. Here’s what you need to do. Make certain that everyone left knows that if they enter Transition, they will surely die.”

  “It might be tough to stop them from going in.” Glen frowned. “The tickets.”

  “What about them?”

  “I figured out the truth. They are not necessary to enter Transition.”

  Ivan chuckled. “They were at first.”

  “Really?” Glen arched one eyebrow. “Early on I had my people analyze the tickets. They were only tape.”

  “Yeah, they were a placebo, nothing more than tape. But they did serve a purpose. They were a focus point. People believed that by applying the tape and then following the breathing procedure, they would enter virtual reality.” Ivan shrugged. “The truth was that the breathing and focus was all that was required to allow the brainwaves of a player to sync up with the other reality so that they could cross over. Still, the majority needed the tape to accomplish it and always will.”

  “I will record an announcement,” Loredana said, “telling everyone that the tickets have been de-activated and no longer work. The majority will believe me, which will prevent most from making the attempt to enter Transition. If they no longer go in, then they won't be tempted to stay.” She looked at Glen. “I will rely on you to spread that message. Keep that knowledge alive so that, years from now, people will still know there is no way to enter Transition.”

  “There will still be some who try and succeed,” Glen said.

  “Yes, but not many.”

  “We are leaving,” Shawn said. “It looks as if Purity is the saviour for those who remain. It is up to you to make sure that future generations forget about Transition.”

  “Forget?” Glen frowned. “Shouldn’t we remember so that the mistake is not repeated?”

  “Absolutely not,” Loredana snapped.

  “Why?”

  “Transition is powered by the Magma units on this planet,” Ivan said. “They will continue to provide power to the virtual matrix until their batteries lose power. That won’t happen for a long time. While it is online, people can enter Transition.”

  “Surely the batteries will die out in a year or two,” Glen said.

  “Three thousand years.”

  Glen’s eyes widened. “What?”

  Loredana nodded. “For the next three thousand years, people could access a virtual reality controlled by the Displaced.”

  Glen swallowed. “Can you not beat them?”

  Loredana shook her head. “No. They have won, and we can’t stop them.”

  “Then why go back in? You should stay out here where it is safe.”

  “We should.” Loredana sighed. “But I can’t.”

  #54

  Henry looked over Desdemona’s shoulder, then gave a loud sigh and turned away, leaning against the closest wall. She ignored him and continued tapping the console, bringing up different statistics. When she finished, she moved to join him.

  “This is a ridiculous system.” He glared at the console.

  “I know.”

  “We walk out of here and find only open fields and the occasional player stumbling about.” He shook his head. “That’s one of the first things to change.”

  “You’ve made that very clear, Henry. All zones will be consolidated into four or five.”

  “At the most.”

  “It might end up being mo
re. There are a lot of souls in Transition.”

  He opened his mouth, paused, then nodded. “You know what? Let’s make it an even ten zones.”

  Desdemona’s eyebrows raised. “I am surprised to hear you want that many.”

  “We can create different groups and experiment with them to find the best methods for moving forward.”

  “Ah.” Desdemona smiled. “It won’t be ten forever, then.”

  “Of course not. It will end up being three or four. How is phase one progressing?”

  “The list of available zones to play is down to only a few pages.”

  “Still too much variety.”

  “It used to be hundreds of thousands.”

  “Then it is moving in the proper direction. How many Dreamers are still alive?”

  A player walking by slowed and turned to look at Henry. He glared at them until they moved on. Desdemona chuckled. “They should be completely extinct within the next week.”

  “Good. Fewer games, all players living together again in large zones, and creativity culled.”

  “For now.”

  “Avia and Thorsten have ideas for identifying creative people as they appear. We will use that to keep the problem from getting out of hand in the future.” His expression hardened. “What about Loredana?”

  “No luck finding her, Ivan, or Shawn.”

  “Because there are too many zones for them to hide in.”

  “We will fix that soon enough.”

  “Are they doing anything to counter us?”

  Desdemona laughed. “What can they do? The Malcode killed the Dreamers before they realized what was happening. They have no clue what happens next, so they won’t be able to plan for countering it.”

  “I want them alive. I know that we can turn her to our cause, given a little time. Her blood wants the same things mine does.”

  “Perhaps she wants to be the one in charge.”

  Henry snorted. “They all do at first. I can deal with that and have her eating out of my palm quickly enough.”

  “What about Ivan and Shawn?”

  “I want to talk with Shawn. His knowledge seems to be of the future and other realms. I want to know everything he does.”

  “And Ivan?”

  Henry made a wry face as if he had taken a bite from a raw onion. “One Thorne by my side is enough. Kill him on sight.”

  Desdemona bowed.

  #55

  They waited in the longest line.

  At first they waited quietly, surveying the rest of the centre for any signs of Desdemona or danger.

  “We’re safe.” Ivan scanned the players in the line to their left. “She’s on another server. There’s no way she can get here before we enter a game.”

  “Have we timed it properly?” Shawn wondered out loud.

  “Absolutely.” Loredana took a step forward as the line moved up. “The virus has been extremely steady in how it kills its victims. The last remaining Dreamers will die out within the next hour.”

  “Are you sure you don’t all want to play the same game?” Ivan asked.

  “We can.” Loredana shrugged. “But there’s a very good chance your plan won’t work. I say we should each pick our favourite game, in case this is it. Better to go out doing what we love the most, I say.”

  He opened his mouth, but then nodded. “I’ve done the best I could, Lore.”

  “We all have.” She patted him on the shoulder. “If this does end up working, all three of us deserve a portion of the credit.”

  They said nothing while the next five players made their selections and went to enter their games, each person walking to a different point on the outer wall of the centre and exiting through personal doorways.

  “I should have guessed what they would do,” Shawn said.

  “There’s no way you could have. If these are the Displaced from your stories, then they do not know it,” Loredana said. "I think they are from before your visions, glimpses, or whatever you want to call them."

  “Does that mean the stories I wrote won’t come true?”

  Ivan laughed. “Who knows, Shawn. We created a virtual reality that turned into hundreds of thousands of distinct realities for people to play in. The universe could be infinite, with unlimited realities of its own.”

  “Or unlimited universes,” Shawn offered.

  Loredana took a breath and shook her head. “It makes one dizzy to think about it too much.”

  Eventually, they were at the front of the line. Loredana stepped to one side. “Go ahead, Shawn. I’ll go last.”

  Shawn nodded and approached the console. He scrolled through the choices and made his selection. “So few choices now that the Dreamers are gone,” he said over his shoulder, “but still some great games.” He tapped the glass and turned away from the console. He looked at the other two and smiled. “Good luck.”

  “To all of us,” Loredana said.

  Shawn walked toward the shiny wall and disappeared through the doorway as it appeared.

  Ivan made his selection and hugged Loredana. “See you soon.”

  “I hope.” She smiled. He laughed and entered his game.

  Loredana looked at the screen and scrolled. Twice she stopped and looked up, feeling as if someone was watching her. The second time she laughed and shook her head, then made her selection and strode to the wall.

  Her father, Oscar, watched from a few lines away. He smiled sadly when she disappeared, and then moved forward a step as his line shifted.

  #56

  Tania whooped as her laser bolts hit the enemy in front of her, obliterating it in a burst of bright light. The display on her panel shrieked and a quick glance showed her that two more enemies had appeared behind her.

  “Damn it! Crystal, deploy decoy port side.”

  “We are out of decoys, Tania.” Her spark’s voice sounded clipped and occupied. “Keep your nose up, girl. There are three more incoming from above.

  Tania’s gaze flew to her score indicator. “Ah, we were so close to breaking my record, Crystal.”

  “It was an excellent fight. We’ll get them next time.”

  A big smile spread across Tania’s face as she punched her thrusters, dodging one of the ships. She spun left and shot her cannons. “Come on. One more kill.”

  The enemy ship burst into flame.

  “We did it! That’s high score.”

  Before Crystal could reply, bolts of red energy pierced Tania’s ship and it exploded.

  Tania sat up in her bed and gasped for breath. Then she frowned and looked around. “What am I doing here? Aren’t I supposed to return to a centre of some kind?”

  The thought faded and she shook her head. “No. I think that was part of the dream.” She looked at her clock on the stand beside her bed. It read 6:59. “Ah, really?” She groaned, just as the time kicked over to read 7:00 and the alarm began to blare. She flopped back and lay on the pillow. “Why do I always wake up one minute before the alarm goes off?”

  She laughed and got out of bed, then went downstairs. Her mother and brother were already sitting at the table eating cereal.

  “Morning, Sweetie.”

  “Morning, Mom.” She sat down and reached for the box of cereal. “I had the craziest dream.”

  “Really?” Her mother was reading a newspaper. “What about?”

  “I was playing this awesome game.”

  “Sounds incredible.” Her brother made a face.

  “It was so real, though. And it wasn’t just one game. It was many different types. Then, when I needed a rest, I lived in this cool house where all I had to do was think about something and it would appear.”

  Her mother looked up from her paper, a frown on her face. “That does sound pretty awesome. It also sounds familiar.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, as if I had a similar dream.”

  Her brother laughed and grabbed the cereal box, pouring more into his bowl. “I don’t think that’s a dream. Isn’t that
one of the TV shows on Friday night?”

  “What’s it called?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But I can remember what you’re talking about too. Only it wasn’t a dream, I think it was a show or movie.”

  “That must be it.” Tania’s mother looked at the paper again.

  Tania shook her head and opened her mouth, then paused. “Yeah, maybe I had a dream about a show or movie. I’ll have to look it up later and see what it was called.”

  “Mhmm,” her mother said. “Let me know when you do, dear.”

  “It was so real, though.” Tania reached for the milk and poured it onto her cereal.

  “Dreams can be like that sometimes.” Her mother took a bite of cereal and chewed as she turned the page.

  ***

  The man was sitting on a bench again, feeding pigeons at the far end of the park. Loredana walked toward him, frowning as she got closer. When she was three feet away, she stopped.

  “Beautiful day.” He reached into the brown paper bag, grabbed a handful of crumbs, and threw them onto the ground.

  “It is.”

  “Pigeons are hungry.”

  “Nice gloves.”

  The old man looked at her and smiled. He raised one of his hands and shook it. The red pop bottle caps chimed. “Thanks.” He ran the glove over his messy white hair. It flattened for a moment, then sprang back up.

  She continued to stare at him. He winked and patted the seat beside him. “Why don’t you join me, Loredana. We need to have a little talk.”

  She sat down and he held the bag toward her, waiting while she grabbed some crumbs. He watched for a moment and then raised one eyebrow, looking toward the ground and tilting his head suggestively. “Oh.” She threw the crumbs onto the ground and the pigeons scrambled for them.

  “We did it, then?” she asked.

  The old man nodded. “Looks like you did.”

  She smiled and looked up at the sky, closing her eyes. “I’m glad.”

  He chuckled. “I bet you are.”

  She looked at him, her expression serious. “Did they track us?”