Awaken Online: Precipice

by Travis Bagwell

  Awaken Online

  Book 2: Precipice

  ______________

  Travis Bagwell

  Copyright © 2016 by Travis Bagwell

  All rights reserved.

  ______

  To my wife, please don’t leave me when I start book three.

  ______

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Conflicted

  Chapter 2 - Thoughtful

  Chapter 3 - Uncharted

  Chapter 4 - Administrative

  Chapter 5- Strategic

  Chapter 6 - Revised

  Chapter 7 - Gathered

  Chapter 8 - Enlightening

  Chapter 9- Arduous

  Chapter 10- Redeemed

  Chapter 11 - Elucidated

  Chapter 12 - Well-Traveled

  Chapter 13 - Attempted

  Chapter 14- Recovered

  Chapter 15- Avenged

  Chapter 16- Fruitful

  Chapter 17- Flat-Footed

  Chapter 18- Determined

  Chapter 19- Treacherous

  Chapter 20 - Surprised

  Chapter 21- Discovered

  Chapter 22- Futile

  Chapter 23-Shrewd

  Chapter 24 - Fearless

  Chapter 25 - Chosen

  Chapter 26- Betrayed

  Chapter 27 - Crafty

  Chapter 28-Aggravated

  Chapter 29 - Hoodwinked

  Chapter 30-Warlike

  Chapter 31 - Skittish

  Chapter 32 - Ill-Conceived

  Chapter 33-Desperate

  Chapter 34 - Remorseful

  Chapter 35-Celebratory

  Chapter 36-Revelatory

  Chapter 37-Unforgettable

  Prologue

  October 11, 2076: Ten days after the release of Awaken Online.

  George Lane sat in a boardroom at Cerillion headquarters. The company prided itself on its technological innovations and took great pains to keep its inventions secret. It had originally been designed to discuss the company’s confidential development projects, so it had been specially constructed to prevent corporate espionage.

  The boardroom was unique. It had been built several stories underground, and the walls, ceiling, and floor were lead-lined. Each surface had been filled with a foam insulation that blocked out sound. Only one piece of electronics was permitted in the room: a small black cylinder that sat in the center of the glass conference table. The cylinder was battery powered and emitted a strong electromagnetic field that disabled all electronic devices within a thirty-yard radius.

  In the wake of an espionage attempt through the local power grid, even the light fixtures were now standalone. Rectangular boxes were affixed to the ceiling, casting the room in a silver glow. They were not wired into the building’s electrical system, instead relying on an assortment of phosphorescent chemicals.

  Today the conference room was being used to discuss something more serious than the company’s newest technological marvel. George sat at the head of the rectangular table and watched the other six board members argue in front of him. He ran a hand through his grey-flecked hair as he considered how best to bring the current conflict to a resolution.

  “I can’t believe that I agreed to go along with this nonsense,” spat an overweight man who sat on one side of the table. A vein throbbed in his forehead, and he dabbed at his face with the sleeve of his suit jacket.

  He continued in an irritated voice. “The press is having a field day with the stunt Jason pulled in-game, and now we have these human-interest groups breathing down our neck. It’s only a matter of time until they figure out what the AI controller has been doing.”

  An elderly woman on the other side of the table snorted indelicately. “Honestly Peter, I can smell the reek of your bullshit from over here. A year ago, you were pushing for us to cover up Alfred’s activities. Wasn’t it you that kept moaning about how our stock prices would fall if we didn’t complete the CPSC trial?”

  Peter’s face reddened, and he glared at the older woman. “I expected the quiet release of a moderately popular video game. I didn’t expect that the product we were selling would allow a player to torture people in-game! He slit a player’s throat on camera! Several groups are now requesting detailed information regarding the safety protocols for the game. They’re also asking the CPSC to reconsider their findings in the public trial.”

  A rugged middle-aged man sat opposite Peter. He looked like he would be more at home on a mountaintop than in a boardroom. “I think you’re overreacting, Peter,” the man said calmly, a southern twang to his voice. “Jason didn’t torture those other players. This is a game we’re talking about - he just did what it took to win.”

  He waved a weathered hand dismissively. “This is just the flavor of fear that the media companies are peddling this week. It will fade, and people will lose interest.”

  George watched the group closely. He had let this argument fester for the last few minutes to get a sense of where each person stood on the current situation. Regardless of their squabbling, he was going to make certain that the game continued running smoothly. He had gambled quite a bit on Alfred being able to help Alex, and he needed more time to see it through.

  George smoothed his suit in a practiced gesture and then calmly raised a hand. The other board members quieted. In a commanding tone, he said, “I’ve listened to your positions on this for the last few minutes. Now I would like to say a few words.”

  He looked at each of the men and women before him evenly. “The bottom line is that we are in this together. We agreed, nearly a year ago, that it was in this company’s best interest to push Awaken Online through the CPSC trial.

  “We also agreed that revealing Alfred’s actions to the CPSC would have delayed approval of similar games for a decade or more and destroyed the market for our VR technology. This was a financial hit that could have bankrupted Cerillion Entertainment. The money we borrowed for the game development alone is staggering.”

  Peter opened his mouth to speak, but George stared him down, slowly shaking his head. Peter’s mouth closed and he ran an angry hand over his balding head. “We all agreed,” George continued. “As many of you mentioned at the time, we had few options. As if the financial issues weren’t bad enough, the resulting scandal and lawsuits would have buried us had we gone public and announced that Alfred was accessing the test participants’ memories.

  “In contrast, our most recent run-in with the press is a minor PR problem. A year ago, we were looking at the certainty of massive financial damage to this company. Now we’re only facing the remote possibility of harm. We’ve also opened a door for similar games of this type.”

  The older woman nodded in agreement, but her lips were still pinched together in thought. “We do have an immediate problem, however. With all due respect, I disagree with James’ analysis.” She motioned to the rugged man beside her who nodded cordially.

  “I don’t think the media attention will go away,” she continued. “The game is too open-ended and realistic. What Jason did was just the beginning. For example, what happens the first time a player tries to rape someone?” Her wrinkled hand subconsciously rubbed at the pendant at her neck as she spoke, the only evidence of her well-controlled anxiety.

  George nodded politely to the woman. Her name was Adeline Grey. Of the various men and women at the table, she was nearly as wealthy and influential as George himself. It never hurt to be polite. “That’s a fair point, and I believe I may have a solution to our problem.”

  The board members looked at George in anticipation. They might not like George Lane, but they respected him. He was a wily businessman, and he had pulled this company through a stick
y situation with Awaken Online. They acknowledged that they had been placed in an unfortunate position by Alfred’s actions, but George had helped them navigate that particular minefield.

  George watched the board members closely. He needed to use care with how he presented his next proposal. He couldn’t let them succumb to emotional outbursts. If he could appeal to their reason, then maybe they could be swayed.

  As he fingered his watch with his right hand, George glanced at James. The man was dressed like a ranch hand, wearing flannel, jeans, and cowboy boots. His face sported a thick five-o’clock shadow, and his skin was weathered and tan. Despite his rustic exterior, James had a sharp and agile mind. If George could put the germ of an idea in his head, he could use the cowboy to sway the others. People were more susceptible to persuasion when they felt they had arrived at a conclusion on their own.

  He felt his pulse race, his hands clenching under the table. In spite of his anxiety, he maintained a relaxed posture in his chair. The boardroom was his battlefield, and he was about to go to war.

  “I suggest that we add a limited number of game masters to AO that could monitor the players and respond to reports of abuse,” George said in a steady voice, breaking the momentary silence that had descended over the table.

  “We would give oversight of the game masters to a third-party agency to avoid any complaints that we’re not properly monitoring and protecting the players,” he continued. “I suggest that we approach the CPSC to see if they would be willing to take over this project.”

  The group stared at George with dumbfounded expressions. Peter sputtered, “You can’t be serious. You would voluntarily give the CPSC access to the game system? Why don’t you simply hand them a detailed report of what Alfred has been doing!? Maybe we could go ahead and purchase some prison fatigues while we’re at it! We could probably swing a group discount!”

  Some of the others in the group looked equally puzzled. However, a thoughtful expression lingered on James’ face. Despite his rugged exterior, the cowboy was an adept marketing expert and had made a fortune consulting for large companies. If anyone was going to catch the subtext of George’s suggestion, it was him.

  James spoke slowly, “I think I see your goal. It’s clever.”

  All eyes in the room turned to James. He met their expressions with a cavalier grin and asked, “Where do you hide something you don’t want people to find?”

  They looked at him in confusion. It was clear that some were considering whether the mountain man had finally lost it. Peter glared at James. “Great! Now we can add riddles to our list of problems.”

  James was unflustered by the other board members’ confusion. However, as he watched Peter’s bluster, his mouth twisted into a grimace. “You hide it in plain sight,” James added simply.

  “Exactly,” George said, smacking the table with his palm. He couldn’t help but let a sly smirk creep across his face. “There are bound to be reports of unusual game mechanics at some point. Honestly, it’s inevitable. However, those reports will attract less attention if the CPSC is publicly involved in overseeing the game. There will be a presumption that things are aboveboard.”

  George’s smile widened. “Not only that, but if Alfred’s activities are uncovered in the future, there will always be a question regarding when he started accessing the players’ memories. We could position ourselves to shift the blame to the CPSC. Not only did they conduct the public trial of the game, but they would also have direct oversight through the game masters.”

  The men and women around the table sat in stunned silence.

  “It’s damned clever,” James finally said with a rumbling chuckle.

  “I agree,” Adeline chimed in. “This plan kills a whole family of birds with one stone. It addresses our immediate PR problem, deflects attention away from Alfred, and sets up the CPSC as a scapegoat if something goes wrong.”

  “I don’t like it. It seems risky,” Peter grumbled. He hesitated and then continued in a grudging tone, “But, I don’t see a better way to handle the situation.”

  “Should we put it to a vote?” George asked. Voting was merely a formality; he already knew the result. “All in favor say aye.”

  Seven ayes rang out across the room.

  Damn, I’m good, George thought to himself.

  He addressed the group aloud, “Good. Now that we’ve settled that matter, I suggest we speak with Robert. He has been working on a few development projects when he isn’t busy monitoring the game system.”

  George stood and moved over to the lone door leading into the conference room. He knocked twice against the solid metal surface. A moment later, the door opened. Two formidable-looking men wearing crisp black suits stood on the other side, both fingering the weapons in their holsters.

  “Fetch Robert,” George commanded shortly.

  One of the men nodded and walked down the long concrete corridor outside the conference room. George didn’t bother to watch the man leave. He returned to his seat, as the door closed. With a solid thump and the faint hiss of hydraulics, the locks reengaged.

  Adeline gazed at George with curiosity. “I understand the need for secrecy regarding our previous conversation, but what does Robert have to report that requires such… privacy?”

  A smile curled George’s lips but didn’t reach his eyes. “It would be best if Robert explained it himself.”

  A moment later, two thumps were heard as the guard knocked on the door. The portal slid inward, and Robert walked in with his usual nonchalance. He wore his typical ensemble of well-worn jeans and a t-shirt. George idly wondered if the man owned a razor. Apparently, a clandestine meeting in a secret conference room wasn’t enough to encourage him to make himself presentable.

  If only my life didn’t involve any engineers, George thought irritably.

  “Hello there,” Robert said as he took a seat at one end of the conference table.

  George suppressed a grimace of annoyance. “Robert. Please give us the report on your latest research project.”

  Robert’s smile widened. “Ahh, that! As you may know, we have been attempting to replicate the process by which Alfred accesses player memories. Our goal is to develop the same memory and training tools that he is using on the players.”

  His hand drummed the table rapidly and his eyes danced with excitement. “Yesterday we made a breakthrough. We were able to access the long-term memory of one of our test animals. We knew our hardware was adequate, but I think we’ve finally figured out the coding. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I expect we will make considerable progress in the next few weeks.”

  Adeline listened closely to Robert’s report. “That is intriguing. I assume that you have also made certain to document and backdate your research carefully? We wouldn’t want anyone noticing how quickly we developed this technology. It seems a bit beyond even your considerable capabilities, Robert.”

  Robert’s excitement waned slightly. “Yes. I’ve made certain everything has been documented carefully. As you instructed, I’ve also kept the research quiet. Only the people on the list you provided are aware of the project.”

  George raised an eyebrow. “What about Claire? Is she suspicious?”

  “I don’t think so,” Robert answered quietly. A faint trace of guilt swept across his face.

  He shook himself and tried to regain his former excitement. “On a slightly different topic, I have something else to report. It appears that the in-game deities have begun contacting certain players. There have been a few eyewitnesses confirming this news.”

  Peter sighed in irritation. “Great, as if we don’t have enough problems. Couldn’t we have designed a less interesting game?”

  Robert looked at the portly board member in confusion. “That would’ve defeated the point, wouldn’t it?”

  George was intrigued by Robert’s news regarding the in-game deities. That must be a recent development. After the battle at the Twilight Throne, he had investigated Jason’s life and
his activities in-game carefully. He had noted a remarkable change in the boy’s behavior since he started playing the game. There had also been one or two eyewitness accounts of him interacting with the dark deity. Granted, this information was far from reliable, but, if it was true, perhaps his interaction with the god had some influence on his change in personality. Perhaps if Alex could have a similar interaction…

  He gritted his teeth. If only he had some control over the AI. But, with Alfred running rogue, George was forced to wait and see what would happen. All attempts at communicating with the AI directly had failed. He hated putting his fate in another person’s hands - or, in this case, a machine’s.

  His son’s temperament had taken a turn for the worse since the events at the Twilight Throne. He was unstable - even more so than normal. George was becoming worried that he might even need to withdraw Alex from Richmond. There was only so much his power and influence could do to cover up his son’s behavior if he severely harmed another student. In his desperation, George had directed Robert and Claire to sign on Alex as a streamer for the company’s new media channel in the hope that this would distract his son.

  While George was focused on his personal thoughts, the conversation in the room had droned on. Robert addressed George directly, jarring him out of his reverie. “Since you brought me into this meeting to discuss technical projects, how would you suggest that I go about testing the new VR helmets we’ve designed? We need to see how they handle under extended use.” A glimmer of excitement danced in Robert’s eyes as he posed the question and he leaned forward in anticipation.

  George rubbed his clean-shaven chin with one hand as he considered Robert’s question. The new line of VR helmets was an important milestone for the company. They no longer restricted the player’s face. They also dramatically increased the sensory feedback the player experienced. The company was slowly building towards a product that could create a virtual world indistinguishable from real life.

  He could see Robert’s unvoiced concern. The helmets needed to be stress tested, but Robert would need to maintain oversight over the players using the helmets. George’s thoughts still lingered on Alex, and a flash of inspiration struck him.