by Dante Doom
"Anyway, so here's where you're going to be living for the rest of your life," Cindy said. "You can leave your pod every 14 days or so, if you choose. Most of the players here don't want to leave, so you aren't required to. There's a mess hall in the room to the left, but why bother? Nothing you eat here is anything close to what you can eat in the game."
"Good point," Van said. "So, let me ask… who's in charge of security here? Who makes sure that everyone's doing what they're supposed to?"
"Oh, yeah," Cindy said as she waved him after her. "Follow me." She led Van to another room, this one with a gigantic screen and a computer console which a young man was sitting at. The man was asleep, his head nestled atop the large computer instrument. He was snoring loudly.
"This thing over here," Cindy said as she waved to the blank screen, "is how Draco communicates to us. They send instructions here and this operator then gives the information to the team in charge of handling it. The security team takes their orders directly from this machine."
"Fascinating," Van said. There was a bright flash on the screen and words and numbers began to appear. Van couldn't understand the language, but the operator quickly woke up and began to type back.
"Right now, we're getting a scout order," Cindy said. "Draco wants the security team to check the perimeter for any evidence of CIA surveillance."
The man grabbed a phone hanging off the side of the computer and began to speak orders into it.
"This is how Draco tells us everything," Cindy continued. "We get all of our orders here. You gotta realize, Van, the mere presence of you being in this facility means that Draco trusts you enough to know you won't try anything funny. Besides, what can you do here? It's just a bunch of players. No one's going to be riding you, and you're free to leave whenever you want. The problem is that no one here will ever want to leave."
"So am I allowed to go into town?"
Cindy shook her head. "Well, technically you can, but we're in the middle of a desert and you have no map or phone. You won't survive out there. Draco isn't interested in enabling people to leave. Everything that you need is here."
"Great, great," Van said. He was honestly surprised at how lax security in the compound was. It appeared that Draco had built their strategy around only putting the most fanatical and strongest converts into their organization. This would ensure that they wouldn't have to babysit their people. However, this also meant that Van would have a little more freedom than he'd anticipated. All he had to do was get out of his pod and try to figure out how to plug the USB drive that Sang had given him into the pod. The drive, which Van had painfully and carefully hidden from Draco, was designed to steal all of the information hidden inside of the pod. Van wasn't sure how it worked, but Sang had been adamant that it would work. All he'd need to do was make sure the security team wasn't watching him, and he'd be golden.
"Well, there's your tour of the facility. You have a room somewhere here, but you won't use it. No one comes out of these things," Cindy said. "There's no reason to. When sleep time activates, you're transferred from the game to a private simulation of your choosing. That simulation is where you will be able to rest and sleep. When you get in the pod, it'll ask for your preferences."
"Well," Van said, "there's no reason to waste time in the real world, is there? Let's get me into one of these pods."
The operator who had been sitting at the console abruptly snorted and coughed, waking up from his slumber. He began to quietly work on the computer system.
"Yes," Cindy said as she glared at him a little, "let's."
There was some tension in the air, and Van was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable underneath her gaze. It was clear that she had some kind of a problem with him, and her agitation was growing by the moment. He decided to test it a little.
"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Van asked.
"No, you said everything right," Cindy said. "But you asked a lot of questions that I don't care for. Asking about security and whatnot. I'm pretty sure that you're going to be trying something funny around here. I know you made some kind of deal with Draco. I know you're important enough that Draco wants you working with them. But you probably aren't really in it to help us, are you?"
"I'm here to do what's right by me," Van said. "That's all."
"That's all? You're gonna try and take the system down somehow. I know it in my heart."
"And what are you going to do about it?" Van asked as he leaned in close. "You spent the last five years of your life slaving away for these guys, and then suddenly they decide to change the rules on you entirely. You're left with nothing special. You were probably a pretty big deal back in the game, weren't you? Now look at you. You're a freaking secretary. Do you even get to play anymore?"
Cindy scowled at him, but he saw a flicker of sadness on her face. The emotion there was strong enough to cause her to hesitate before speaking to him.
"Look, Van," she said, "let's try to get along here. There's not a lot of talkative types around anymore. I don't want to—"
"To fight? Really? What could you do to me anyway?" Van taunted. He knew he was onto something here. All he needed to do was piss her off enough to sew some seeds of discontent in her. Maybe she'd act independently and sabotage the operation somehow. Was that too much to hope for?
"Why are you acting like this? You were just handed the world on a platter!" she shouted. "You were just given everything that anyone could ever want, and at the last possible second, too. You should be thrilled to be here, but instead you're just trying to figure out how to cause trouble!"
"Cause trouble? I'm just trying to figure out how this place is working," Van said. "You're the one who seems so dead-set on the fact that I'm here to make noise."
This apparently frustrated her greatly, as she growled at him a little more. "Are you really just trying to mess with me right now? I don't need this kind of treatment. Your pod is the only one that's open, so just get in it whenever you're ready to get started." And with that, she stormed off.
Van chuckled a little as he watched her stomping away from him. Maybe that would be enough to set her off later.
"Ain't she a trip?" Van asked the operator who had been quietly watching them fight.
"I suppose," the man said quietly. He had no expression on his face, and nor did he seem particularly interested in what they'd been talking about. Van shrugged at the guy and turned around to return to the pod area.
He could see that there was an open pod in the middle of the sea of silver. And no one else was around, save for one man wearing all black. He was part of the security team, but had no gun. He stood by the exit to the lobby where Cindy was working. Van kept his attention directed towards the man as he walked up to the pod. The man never shifted or moved; he was motionless at all times.
Van walked over to the silver pod and looked at it. The inside of the pod was cushioned with what looked to be very soft fabric. He ran his hands along the bottom of the pod slowly, but didn't feel anything special about it. There were no ports sticking out. He slowly walked around the pod to investigate it. The guard didn't bother to look at him, making Van feel a little more at ease. Maybe this whole thing was just some big farce. Draco might think they were in control, but from the looks of it, the operation was running pretty loosely.
Van grew more bold and bent down to look underneath the pod. There was nothing. He realized now that there weren't even power cords attached to the silver machine. This wasn't good – without any kind of external attachments, he had no clue how he was supposed to hack into this machine. He leaned back up and looked around. All of the other pods were humming gently, content to power their players with everything they would ever need in order to survive.
Van glanced at his own pod and sighed. He wondered if he would ever be leaving this thing of his own free will. No doubt, the Emperor would lock him in for an extended period of time once he got into the thing.
As Van placed his hand on the pod, he he
ard a noise from behind him. It was someone loudly arguing with another.
"This doesn't look at all like I thought it was going to be!" said a familiar voice. Van knew he'd heard the voice before, but couldn't place his finger on who it was. "I thought I was going to some kind of resort and instead they send me here?"
The doors from the lobby slid open as a tall man with bright red hair entered. Cindy was following after him.
"Look, I'm sorry that we had to change the destination on you, but you will find that this place is way better."
"Better? It's in the middle of a desert! I was told there'd be some kind of resort," the man replied. He looked downright infuriated. His voice was still very familiar, but Van didn't recognize the fellow at all.
"These pods are designed to simulate resorts," Cindy said back to him as she waved at the machines. "They're programmed to fulfill your every need."
"I'm tired of being crammed into a tube, Cindy," the man shouted. "I'm starting to feel like all of this stuff is far too insane for me. I mean, first they tell me all about Draco's plans to take over the world or whatever, and then I’m in some kind of magical bunker that can turn invisible to the human eye? I just wanted a job!"
"And you've gotten a job, Peter," Cindy said. "The pay is great, and all you have to do is hang out here for a few years."
Peter? Van slowly remembered that the voice belonged to Peterson, the player who had saved him from certain death. This might be good news for Van, he thought – especially considering the man's outrage.
"I wanted something to impress the woman who left me!" Peter yelled. "This won't impress anyone! I just wanted a nice job, to make some money and to win back my wife. Was that too much to ask for?"
Cindy put her hands on her face. "I don't know what to tell you. You won the contest; you got a job with us. You could have chosen to refuse."
"Like there's any refusing these psychopaths," Peter replied. "Let's face it, Cindy, when I got into that corporate sponsored bus to leave for this place, I didn't have a choice. They told me the whole truth of it on the way over here. What was I supposed to do? Tell the armed men that I wanted out?"
"You have a choice here, Peter," Cindy said. "You can step up and join us, or you can go home. No one is twisting your arm."
Peter was quiet for a moment. "Are they really going to blow up the world?"
"Apparently not yet," Cindy replied. "We got orders last night that things are going to be staying in the preparation phase indefinitely."
"Then I'm going home!" Peter said.
"And you're really going to pass up all of that money?" Cindy asked as Peter turned around to walk off. He stopped mid-step at her question. She continued. "Two-hundred-and-fifty thousand dollars a year is a lot of money. You could work for maybe one, two years and you'd be set, right? Then your wife would love you again, or whatever."
"True…" Peter said. "That is a large enough amount. Tax free, too, right?"
"Definitely," Cindy said. "Tell you what… why don't you just try it out? Get into one of the red marked pods; those are for the new players. Just hop into one of those and see if you like it or not."
Peter glanced over at the red pods that were sitting by the entrance. They were all open and waiting for new players.
"I can leave if I want to, right?" Peter asked.
"Of course," Cindy said. "Just hop in and give it a go. If you don't like how things are working out, if you don't care for orientation, you are absolutely free to leave."
Peter sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll stay. But just to see how I like it. I really don't care for the destruction of earth thing at all, though. But hey, a job's a job, right?"
Van watched with curiosity as Peter walked over to a red pod and climbed in. Cindy closed it over him.
"What a prick," Cindy said. "Runner! I need a runner!"
A young woman came running in from the mess hall – it was the woman who'd said she would marry Van.
"Ma'am?" Number 88 asked.
"Go fetch one of the Conversion programs. Get the strongest one we have. This guy is gonna take a long time to break," Cindy instructed. "Whatever basic program's in there isn't going to cut it."
"All glory to Draco!" the messenger replied as she ran off.
"Draco can go to hell," Cindy murmured as she pulled out a cigarette and began to light it. She glanced over at Van then, who'd watching the whole thing. "Something wrong with your pod, scrub?"
"No, ma'am, was just curious about that Peter guy," Van replied.
"Yeah, this is the basic treatment for new people who are joining our high level operations," Cindy replied. "This kind of guy would never make it into a facility like this with that kind of attitude, but for some reason, Draco decided to host a contest to give away five slots."
"Wait a minute," Van said. "You mean to tell me that that guy won a contest?"
Cindy looked at him blankly. "Yeah, didn't you hear about the big tournament they ran?"
"No," Van lied. He had another way to piss Cindy off even more. "So let me get this straight… this complete and total stranger wins a one-way ticket to the most powerful simulation system in the world, and what did he have to do for it?"
"He survived some kind of tournament; it was really intense, from what I heard," Cindy said.
"That's it? He won a tournament?" Van chuckled a little at her. "And you don't find that a little unfair?"
"A little, but whatever… I'm sure Draco has a good reason for bringing him in."
"You'd have to hope, right?" Van asked. "I mean, first they change up the big event, and now they're letting total scrubs in here? I really hope they know what they're doing."
Cindy paused at Van's comment. The words were sinking in deep, and he could see the dissatisfaction on her face. "Yeah, I guess. No, I'm sure… sure they're doing fine." She let out a sigh as the messenger came back in from another room. Van wasn't sure what was inside the door she'd come from, but he assumed there was a reason Cindy didn't tell him about it. The words Authorized Personnel Only were printed on the door.
"Thank you," Cindy said as she took a small data stick from the messenger. It was the exact kind of data stick that Sang had given Van. He took in a deep breath as he watched her walk up to the pod where Peter was resting. She placed her hand atop the pod and waited a few seconds.
"Authorization confirmed; maintenance mode activated," the pod stated. A few holes and slots opened up on the exterior of the pod. Cindy plugged the USB drive into a slot and pushed a few holographic buttons on the pod's interface.
"And that should do it. Sweet dreams, Peter," Cindy said as she chuckled to herself. She placed her hand back on the pod, instructing it to deactivate from its maintenance mode. The pod hissed a little as it sealed itself back up.
Van glanced at Cindy's hand. He would need her authorization in order to get his own pod open. This was not going to be easy in the least. There were two ways he could get the data stick into his pod, he realized – he could convince her to work with him, or he could knock her unconscious and drag her over, forcing her hand against the pod. Both solutions were equally implausible. Still… maybe he had a way to convince her. It would take a lot more time, however. Of course, with his current situation, time was all he had.
"Get your ass in there," Cindy said as she finished up her work on Peter's pod. "I’m tired of looking at you."
"Ha, like you have the authority to tell me what to do," Van said as he walked over to the mess hall. "I'll go in whenever I like."
Cindy opened her mouth to argue with him, but said nothing. Van grinned at her smugly. He was a VIP, wasn't he? If Draco had marked him as important, then he could take full advantage of this status and drive Cindy up the wall with it. He chuckled a little. Hopefully, this would work.
Chapter Sixteen
Van stood in front of the Emperor. He was inside of the castle where the feast had been held and the entire place was a wreck. His character’s stats were different, as well. He glance
d at his character sheet.
He'd been able to retain his old character, but been given all sorts of incredible powers and developer tools. He could change reality as he saw fit. The power was kind of intoxicating, in fact, but he would have to use restraint. If he got too carried away, he'd lose sight of his objective.
"I see that you have settled into your new pod," the Emperor said. "I am glad to know that you were able to reach your new home without incident. I feared the government would try to kill you for abandoning them."
"Well, they didn't like it," Van replied, "but they didn't have much of a choice, either."
"Hahaaha," the Emperor laughed. "It is now time for you to embrace your destiny, Van. We must go to the mothership and make preparations for building an entirely new world."
"Right," Van said as he grimaced a little. "About that..."
"What is it?" the Emperor asked with a little growl. "Your tone indicates hesitancy."
"Look, I'm all about joining you and assisting you with conquering the world, I really am," Van said, "but something came up when I left the pod. Apparently, I got a call from my father when I was in the game. My mother had a terrible stroke and is in the hospital. They don't think she's going to make it."
"Such a shame," the Emperor said without a shred of empathy in his voice. "I ordered my own parents to end their lives for the good of the nation a long time ago. Ha… to watch them comply without a moment's hesitation. They bore the same expressions as when they ended my brother's life for being too 'free-willed.'"
Van balked at the Emperor's comment. He had no idea how to respond to the Emperor's words. "Uh… right, well, on earth we have close emotional connections to our parents. So… I really want to say goodbye to her before she dies."
"I see," the Emperor said. "So you logged into the game to ask for permission to visit her."
"Yes, sir," Van replied. "I know it wasn't what we agreed to and you have every right to say no, but I thought I'd try."
The Emperor shifted a little upon his throne. Van could see that he was thinking about something. "And if I allow you to visit your parents, you will return?"
