by Dawn Chapman
“It isn’t real,” Pierce muttered. “A simulation, not really an animal. I’m pointing a gun at a creature made of pixels.”
The creature croaked like a frog. It was going to stand there forever if Pierce did nothing. Just do it! he thought, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. He put his gun aside, frowned. “Go away. Do whatever you want.”
The creature croaked again. Then its skin turned blue. It climbed a tree as Pierce watched it vanish into the foliage that matched that thick skin. How real could that thing be? What kind of life could it lead in a virtual environment created by men?
Pierce picked up his gun again and fired a few shots into a rock. It worked just fine; that was enough for him. Something inside him felt shaken. He’d killed so many creatures like it during his training. But this feels way too real. Pierce could only hope that when the big game was on, his killer instincts wouldn’t disappoint. There’s far too much at stake.
He took a step then realized something was grabbing at his foot. The little animal was there, holding his leg, its skin green now. It stared at Pierce with its puppy-dog eye. “Oh, shit, now I got a pet.”
All very nice, but it isn’t what I’m here for.
He decided to explore. Even if it was a simulation, the surroundings were supposed to be authentic. Have other animals around. Animals I can kill, but not cute ones. Pierce walked through the forest with the little pet following his every step. One finger on the trigger. He couldn’t wait to see the gun’s potency in such a realistic VR environment.
“So, what do you think?” asked a familiar voice in his ear.
“Very pretty, Roy,” he said, guessing Wilkinson could hear him in the hotel room. “Is this New Ararat?”
“A simulation. Not as good as the one our friends created. Our version covers two square miles. There was no reason to do the whole planet for this little test.”
“You chose a boring couple of miles. I could use some more target practice.”
“Shoot some trees then. We could have given you more excitement, but it would have cost too much, we—”
“—had to save your money for the sex dolls,” Pierce finished for him. “Sweet.”
Pierce sat on a rock, still holding the weapon. The pet sat by his legs, staring with its big eye. Its skin was yellow now, and two big tongues came out of his mouth. “What am I going to call you?”
“Me?” came Wilkinson in his ear again. “Wait, who’re you talking to?”
“Can’t you see what I’m seeing?” Pierce asked.
“It’s not that simple. Unless you’re willing to have a brain chip installed, which we can do very quickly.”
Pierce sighed. He stared at the pet, considering if it was worth shooting it just to see if the graphics were any good. Instead, he grabbed his knife. Let’s see how real this feels instead.
In one stroke he chopped his left index finger off. Not caring if there were pain limiters in this simulation.
“Those are some pretty damn good graphics,” said Pierce, watching the blood pump out in time to his steady heartbeat. The pain was instant, as intense, as with a clean cut in the real world. He picked the finger off the ground and threw it to the pet, who pounced, and started chewing. “I’m gonna call you Chopper,” he said as the pain grew. His life levels dropped. It counted down as his blood left his body, Pierce felt dizzy. “Wilkinson, get me the hell out of here. Put me someplace where I can actually do some killing.”
Chapter Seven
Drayk
Drayk turned his head. Pain erupted from within. He heard voices, male and female, coming to him in spits and spats. Then came a slap to his face. His hearing improved.
“Hey, Sis, that’s a bit rough,” Torin chided. “The guy collapsed, hit his head, he’s not hysterical. Probably just too much excitement.”
A soft moan escaped Drayk’s lips. Feeling the side of his head, pulling his fingers away, Drayk saw blood.
The flashing red in his vision grew bright.
Mrissa spoke clearly for him. “Damage taken.” And his regenerating health bar dipped again.
HEALTH—90/100
Drei’s face looked worried, her sparkly eyes losing focus as she looked to Torin. “We need to get him back to the guild, or he’ll die before he’s of any real use.”
With a nod, Torin helped Drayk stand. Drei ripped the sleeve of her shirt to wrap around his head. “Is it bad?”
“Don’t leave. There’s something here worth finding. I’m sure of it.”
Drei glanced back to the now-solid wall behind them. Drayk added, “There was something there. Weird voices. Aliens.”
“There’s nothing there now. Maybe you just think you heard weird voices. You did hit your head.”
Drayk tried to focus as he looked at the wall. Did I? How? He struggled to recall the number of heads the alien had and the sounds it made. He thought of Cale, the bleak future they’d have if he didn’t get this chance to join the guild. Drayk’s heart sank. He felt like quitting, but couldn’t.
“The guild won’t want me if I go back now. We need to carry on. Finish the search,” Drayk pleaded. “I’ll be all right.”
“I’ve no more potions for you. We’ve got to protect you. That can come at a cost,” Drei warned.
“What kind of cost?”
Torin helped him to walk, but Drayk pushed away. “I can do it. Let me be.”
Drei turned to her brother, resting a hand on his shoulder. “He’s resilient enough. Let’s get the rest of the team. Take the other tunnel, see what’s there. Once that’s explored, we’ll return to the guild. The decision’s theirs, not ours.”
Torin smiled. He whispered almost low enough that Drayk could only just hear. “The guild would be stupid letting him go. He’s got something most recruits don’t.”
Drayk wondered, what something was it?
Torin walked away, Drei added, “As you say, not my call.”
It was harder than Drayk remembered. Had it been such a downhill gradient from the main science room that the climb was so steep now? His breathing grew erratic. Laboured.
I’m not that unfit. I don’t get it.
The flashing red light before him made him understand. He had zero stamina; his health waned to near 60. That’s why the game insisted on these start-ups—players had to gather skills to survive. The skills he’d need right now also seemed the furthest away.
Once they reached Haal and the others, Drayk listened as Torin relayed all that had happened. Haal glanced at Drayk with concern only once before turning back toward his team. “There’s no one else left alive in here now. Any other scientists that were hanging around split as soon as we obtained control. There is no reason we should rush down there. I’m pulling us out, back to the guild to recoup.”
Drayk straightened, about to protest, but Torin shot him a glare. The decision made, Haal turned to the others. “We pull out in five.”
Drei approached and, reaching up, she checked her field dressing. “Still hurt?”
Drayk didn’t feel like answering. He lowered his head. “I’ve failed before I’ve even started. What’ll Cale think of me now?”
Drei removed the makeshift bandage. “Haal has all our interests at heart. Cale’s his best friend. He’s thinking of you both here as well.”
Best friend I never actually got to meet. Drayk swallowed, spluttered out, “But the guild…” He tried to say more, but Drei put a finger to his lips. Drayk could only stare into her golden globes, where tears pooled but didn’t fall.
“They’ll make the right call,” she said. “Trust them.”
“How do we exit the game?” Drayk asked, fearing the worst. Would it feel like pulling the plug?
Drei smiled. “That’s a little harder to explain, but I’ll show you.”
Drayk watched as the others secured the room. Haal pulled a device from his pocket, placing it in the room’s centre.
“It creates a stable connection between our current location in the game a
nd our pods.” The others in the team formed a circle around it, and they followed suit. Drei continued, “Haal can set it off with a tap of his foot, but sometimes we need to return without the safety device, something you’d need to learn if you return with us. It’s just a thought, but a special one.”
“Ready?” Haal asked, meeting their eyes with his.
Drayk could only nod when Haal’s glare met his. He didn’t want to leave, but Haal’s foot twitched, and he nudged the device.
The world zipped out of focus. The pounding in Drayk’s head grew stronger; it hurt more. Much more.
Blackness.
Then blinding white light, and again, someone was in his face. Drei, he was sure.
He smelled the fragrance of her hair. She eased back the visor from his eyes, letting more light into the chamber. “Easy, now. Step forward.”
Drayk took a step out. His pod beeped. A rush of air filled his lungs. It caused him to gasp, choke. He fell forward. Drei caught him.
“That’s it, cough it up.” She patted his back. It didn’t help. “It’s always hard the first time.”
Drayk lifted a hand to his forehead, his eyes blurry. There was no blood, but it still hurt like hell. “There shouldn’t be pain, right?”
She glanced at his head. “There’s a bruise developing. Maybe you hit your head on the pod’s side coming through?”
With a wave, she motioned to Torin. “Call one of the meds. I think they need to take a look here.”
Torin moved to place a palm on a panel and spoke calmly. Moments later, several technicians rushed in. Some moved to the pods to scan them over, but two came toward Drayk. The older man spoke first. “I’m Doctor Wie. If you’ll come with me, I’ll take some blood. Run a few tests.”
Drayk’s heart quickened, but when the doctor placed a hand on his shoulder to move him out, he allowed himself to be ushered out of the main chamber.
“I’m not going to be kicked out, am I?”
The doctor didn’t answer. Drayk was done for, he knew it. A washout. Not worth a thing.
A female nurse pointed to a bed for him to hop onto. She soon had his sleeve rolled up. “We’re going to attach this device around your arm.”
It pinched. A flashing, orange light beeped steadily with his heart, and moved across his torso. Drayk could only imagine he was getting a full body scan. He’d never had the money to afford a full bio workup; it felt strange being poked, prodded.
Doctor Wei moved closer, pulling up a 3-D computer screen from a side panel by the bed. The image fully displayed Drayk’s body. The doctor flicked through the layers of skin, muscle, down to his bones and circulatory system. It fascinated Drayk. The technology here was so much better than where he studied. If only I could get my hands on their equipment.
“What systems are you operating?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Doctor Wei looked through the image at him. “The best, of course.” He returned to his concentration, zooming in toward Drayk’s head, going through it to his skull, then his brain.
Doctor Wei called over the nurse. They whispered, with Drayk only hearing, “—long was he immersed for?”
The nurse reached for a handheld device, brought up the information. “No more than three hours in the game, twelve hours internal.”
Doctor Wei took a step closer. He took out a penlight, shone it into Drayk’s pupil. “Reactions normal, but his body’s reacting as though he’s suffering from immersion.”
The nurse tapped information into her device.
Immersion. Drayk had heard the term before.
His father had used it only once, when he told them a story about being inside the game for too long, in its early days. The players had suffered substantial brain damage and losses to extremities. But that wasn’t true for me. I’ve been inside for less time than the real guild trials, at least the trials they used to do many years ago.
Doctor Wei paused his scans to inform Drayk, “I’m going to monitor you for a while and give you this.” He produced an injection device and some fluids. “A stabilizer; it’s not been needed for a while, but it’ll make you feel better.”
He injected it, then watched the 3-D image as it spread through Drayk’s system.
Drayk’s head spun, the blurry vision fading. “Better, yes?” Doctor Wei asked.
Drayk nodded, focusing on the 3-D image. He scooted to the bed’s edge, touched the screen.
The nurse was about to protest, but Doctor Wei interrupted. “What is it?”
Using his fingers in to expand his view, Drayk zoomed in on a section of his torso. They both saw a solid object close to his heart.
Drayk’s eyes met with Doctor Wei’s. “What is that?” the nurse asked.
“I’ve only read about them before,” Doctor Wei responded. He grabbed the handheld from her, searched through it, tilting his head. He stopped, tapped the screen for her to see. “This—this is why.
“Drayk,” he sat on the bed’s edge. “Tell me, who was your father?”
Drayk swallowed but spoke clearly, “I’m son of Teegan and Grayce Vellis.”
The nurse raised an eyebrow. “I’ll go tell Commander Styx.”
“I don’t understand.” Drayk watched as the nurse hurried away. She passed Haal and Torin at the door. The doctor bid them in, but didn’t look too happy; deep furrows wrinkling his forehead.
“Feeling all right now?” Haal asked, but his eyes didn’t meet Drayk’s. His gaze settled on Doctor Wei.
Neither spoke, while waiting in silence, eyes on the door. Moments later, the nurse returned with Commander Styx.
Haal almost fell over snapping to attention as did Torin at the foot of Drayk’s bed.
“There’s a complication, I believe?” The commander asked that the 3-D image be brought up. He turned to Haal and Torin. “Leave us.”
Haal glanced at Drayk, who could do nothing but shiver. Drayk reached to his knees and pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. The icy glare from Commander Styx was enough to scare even Haal, but it made Drayk want to run away.
But I can’t. What if everything they ever had here, now, was meant to be?
Commander Styx turned then. “You too, Doctor. Leave. Now.”
To Drayk, he merely asked, “You’re feeling better?” The way the commander looked him over, Drayk knew something was terribly wrong.
“A little, yes. I don’t know why…”
“I knew your father.” Styx paced the room. “Do you know much about his guild membership?”
“He used to tell us stories, many stories. I didn’t think any of them were real.” Drayk couldn’t meet the older man’s gaze now. He was here but… My father’s stories, none of that seemed true. Couldn’t be.
Commander Styx leaned against the wall, his strong shoulders slumped. “Teegan was my best friend. We trained and lived for nothing other than joining the guild. Becoming the best we could.”
Drayk fidgeted under the blanket. “What’s inside my chest?”
Styx faced him, cheeks tinged pink. “A safety device meant to stop you from being inside the game. Your father never wanted you to join.”
“But, that means…”
“I’m not going to remove it. Teegan put it there for a reason.” Styx moved toward him. “There’s a way around it, but we can’t take it out.”
“How do you know there’s a way?” Drayk touched the side of his head and winced, remembering when he smacked into the sharp rock floor.
“I can’t explain any of it to you. It’s top-tier knowledge.”
“I—”
Styx leaned forward, his breath tickling Drayk’s ear. “There are things going on even I don’t know the truth about. We’ll talk again, but not here.”
When he pulled away, Drayk finally met Styx’s gaze.
There were real tears in his eyes. “The guild won’t pass me? Will they?”
Styx shook his head. “I’m sorry, Drayk. You’ll be discharged when you’re feeling better. You’ll
be returned to the Halls.”
Drayk’s heart sank, he scrunched the blanket in his fists. There was no other way out from slavery for himself or Cale. Having achieved their Dragawn, they’d be scripted into the Arkillion War. Soldiers, though more like slaves. Most likely die before our next birthday.
That was it then. It was over.
Chapter Eight
Pierce
Doctor Ewan Curtwood had seen a bit of everything during his thirty-two years as a psychiatrist. Before getting a government job, he’d worked with people with various degrees of insanity. Perhaps that was why the report on Pierce didn’t impress him all that much.
“He’s unstable,” Wilkinson said. He sat on the couch in Curtwood’s virtual office holding a plastic cup of water. The cup and couch were real, but the rest was a computer projection of an office.
Curtwood had his eyes on Wilkinson’s hands. If they shook anymore, water could spill everywhere. A wet couch didn’t bother Curtwood as much as the waste of water. It wasn’t cheap.
“There are many definitions of unstable,” Curtwood began. If anything made him lose his temper, it was hearing laymen offering a diagnosis. “Mr. Pierce has been examined before, you know.”
Wilkinson bristled. “By whom?”
“Yours truly. I’ve been to his apartment. I’ve seen his living conditions.”
“How did you get to this guy in the first place?”
Curtwood inhaled slowly, purposefully, as he constructed his words. “Pierce is a big deal in the gaming world. He won several championships by himself.”
“By himself…” repeated Wilkinson. “We should send the army into this kind of thing.”
“We did. Four times, we sent groups of soldiers to partake in the game. It might work for the Maxol, but it doesn’t work for us. This is a game of brains as well as muscle. We need someone who’s able to think and act by himself.”
Wilkinson finished his water. “So, he can push a few buttons, solve riddles. It doesn’t change the fact he’s an unstable, arrogant prick. He only cares about himself.”
Curtwood stared at his tabletop, wondering if it was worth explaining further. Wilkinson was still upset, and Curtwood couldn’t blame him. On the other hand, Curtwood had always been opposed to making a star out of Pierce. Pierce wasn’t the kind of person who felt comfortable on the stage.
