by Dante Doom
“I don’t suppose you want to take a crack at this?” Sang asked as she showed her notes to Jet. The dragon stared at the letters curiously and nodded.
“Draco’s language,” he hissed, baring his fangs at it.
“Can you read it?”
“Player Zac is to move to Bloodrock after the battle. Prepare to activate sleeper,” Jet read aloud.
“Is that really what it says? Who’s Zac? Activate sleeper?” Sang asked. “I don’t understand... what is this board? Is this how Draco communicates with players?”
“Excuse me?” said a voice behind Sang. She spun around to see that Captain Edwardson was standing right behind her. “This area is off-limits, Sang. I don’t even know how you found it.”
Sang saw his hand was slowly moving toward the broadsword hanging from his belt.
“Oh, uh, sorry, I just heard about some kind of Easter egg in here,” Sang said, forcing herself to laugh a little. “I didn’t realize this was some kind of a restricted zone.”
“What did you write down?” Edwardson asked as he pointed to the scrap of paper. His hand was firmly clenching the hilt of his blade, but he hadn’t drawn it yet.
“Oh, just… my journal?” Sang offered. She didn’t have any lies that would be able to convince him.
“I’m gonna—” His words were cut off as the words Sleep Time has begun, players! See you tomorrow appeared. She had never been more thankful to be forcibly removed from the game than she was at that exact moment.
“Oh, man!” Sang said as she leapt up from her pod. “Van, I’ve got so much…” she trailed off once she realized that both Neil and O’Hara were standing in front of her pod. Their expressions indicated that something was wrong. “Oh, hey, what’s up?”
“We’re moving up the meeting with the senator,” Neil said. “It’s starting in two hours.”
“What? I thought we had—”
“We all thought we had more time,” O’Hara said. “But somehow, he’s demanding this meeting, and our higher-ups are allowing it. So, get ready for an ass kicking.”
Sang glanced over at Van, who was groggily rubbing his eyes as he emerged from the pod. “Did I just hear that correctly?” he asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Neil said. “They want the both of you in the board room. We tried to only put Sang in the spotlight, but Senator Franklin wants to talk to you both.”
“Ahhh, I don’t have anything yet,” Sang said. “I’m so close! I just had a major brea—”
“Hey!” Neil interrupted. “Don’t focus on what your breakthrough was going to be; instead, focus on figuring out some way to communicate to this guy about aliens without getting us all fired. Our asses are all on the line here.”
“What happened?” Van asked. “Why is this all so… so sudden?”
Sang remembered the words of the Draco message. Prepare to activate the sleeper. There had been fear about a leak. If Draco had the power, they might have been able to arrange for this witch hunt to start at the most inopportune time.
“Crap, let’s just go,” Sang said. “We’ve got one shot at this, and we’re going to have to do everything we can to convince this guy to keep the program going.”
Van shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The conference room was large enough to seat 24 people, but there were only four of them. Van and Sang were sitting across from Senator Franklin, an elderly man with a deep southern drawl and a white goatee. Next to the senator was Sang’s immediate superior, Frederick Yuri. Van didn’t know the guy very well, but at the beginning he had been a serious supporter of the program. On the other side of Yuri was a man in a suit, wearing sunglasses and utterly unconcerned with what was going on. Van figured he was probably a bodyguard or something.
“Miss Sang,” Senator Franklin said, his deep southern accent curling each word upwards, “do you really expect me to believe that this here video game has aliens inside of it?”
“Sir, I do understand that it’s a little hard to believe,” Sang said, “but as you have seen in all of our reports, we have reason to believe that we have been contacted by extraterrestrial creatures.”
This brought out a deep belly laugh from the senator. “Now listen here, sugar, I’m gonna tell you what I told that crackpot that you call a cryptologist: video games aren’t real. There is nothing to indicate that an alien presence is inside of some kind of computer game.”
“Sir, did you see the biological reports on me? I was healed from severe poisoning without any kind of external medication. Look at the detailed report on the technologically advanced level of these pods. And the deaths related to the game? All of this—”
“Now, let me ask you, Sang,” Franklin interrupted, “do I talk down to you? Do I assume that you are incapable of doing your job? I have read the reports. I have had the discussions with your bosses. The reason why I have called you both down here is because I want to find out what it is about this game that has convinced two otherwise rational individuals to believe that they are truly hunting for aliens. Sang, you are an excellent agent. Even in light of your recent failures, you have still performed admirably, and have a long and prosperous career ahead of you. Van, you might not be the kind of guy that I would consider to be upstanding, but I do understand that you have played this game for a duration of more than ten years, am I correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Van said. It was clear that this meeting wouldn’t convince the man of anything.
“So why is it that you both seem to think that ancient space lizards or whatever are hiding in a computer game?” the senator asked.
“Sir, I have had personal experiences and contact with these creatures, on both sides,” Sang said. “I know there is no way for me to convince you with hard evidence. But you have to believe me.”
“Oh, I believe you, all right. I believe that you genuinely believe it to be true. See, who I’m most angry at is people here like Mr. Yuri, and your friends, Neil and O’Hara, who think it’s okay to force a star agent to cook inside of a long metal tube for nearly 19 hours a day for several months in a row. It’s no wonder you have lost your faculties! I would go stir-crazy being inside of one of those things for even an hour.”
“Sir—” Sang tried to protest, but she was quickly cut off again
“I am not interested in anything more that you have to say on this matter. However, I am most curious about you, boy,” Franklin said as he pointed to Van. “What do you have to say for yourself? Is there any particular reason that you find it fitting to run around playing X-Files on the government dime?”
“Well, sir…” Van said, taking a deep breath. “The death of a player is nothing to mock. I witnessed Trefor die firsthand, and it was revealed that he died in real life at the exact same time that he died in the game. This type of technology is something that we’ve never before seen, and quite frankly, I don’t think we’d ever be able to develop something so immersive in such a short amount of time. VR was developed 20 years ago, and now we have a game that simulates feeling and taste to such a real degree that… that you can’t even tell the difference between fantasy and reality.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about!” the senator hollered. “I’ve been saying that these games are having an adverse effect on your minds, and you just admitted it.”
“Um, I, I, uh,” Van stammered. He wasn’t sure what to say next.
“Here’s the deal, Yuri. Now, I am a proud sponsor of the CIA’s various programs and you know, when it comes to funding, that I would prefer to keep you guys loaded with all of the resources that you need to be successful. However, if you are going to be using CIA resources on… on alien hunting inside of a damnable computer game... well, you’re going to need to rethink your priorities. I understand that you might have had support from a few other branches of the government, but it is my opinion and understanding that this was kind of a hush-hush type of thing. Even the President seems to think this is a good idea, but honestly...” He paused for a moment to take a drink of w
ater from the glass that had been sitting in front of him. Van could tell he was taking his time with drinking the water, too, building suspense. He finished and gasped loudly. “So, here’s what I am going to do for you. You can cut this program right now and just move on. Or… you can continue it and then I’ll have all of your asses in an investigative hearing as soon as possible. Don’t think that I don’t have the resources or the power to do that, either.”
“Of course not, sir,” Yuri said. “Consider the program to be ending as of today.”
“Frederick!” Sang shouted. “You can’t be serious? This guy is trying to bully us, and we’re so close to the end goal!”
“Bully you? Ma’am, I assure you that my interests lie with the interests of the American people. You do not have the right to come in here and accuse me of bullying when the government has been paying you with taxpayer money to run around and pretend you’re an elf!” the senator spat back.
Van remained silent. He had no idea what to do. As he sank back into his chair, though, he realized something. He was free. With the program ending immediately, the CIA would be forced to cut ties with him. He could go back home and get on with his regular life again. He’d never have to… he paused as he tried to figure out what he would do when he got back home. Van had been playing Dragon Kings of the New World for almost half of his life. If he went back home, what would he do? Buy haptic gear and hope Draco never found out who he was?
The frustrated talking around Van became little more than white noise as he started to realize the implications of everything. If the investigation was ending, Draco would be able to continue in their evil plot against the world. Even if Van was able to jump back into the game undetected, he would be forced to live the rest of his life knowing that, someday, Draco would kill most of the population. And if he stopped gaming… well, he’d be losing a part of who he was. He didn’t want to live in the real world like some kind of a jerk. He wanted to be some kind of a crazy powerful warrior who didn’t live in constant fear. What in the hell was he supposed to do?
“Come on, Van,” Sang said, snapping Van out of his introspection. “We’re leaving. I’m sure as hell never voting for you!” she shouted at the senator as she grabbed Van by the arm and dragged him out.
“Sang, what are we gonna do?” Van asked.
“Wait!” Fredrick Yuri shouted as he ran after them.
“What the hell do you want? You were the one who came up with this program!” Sang hissed at him. “You were the one who made us go in there and risk our lives, and you didn’t defend us worth a damn!”
“There’s no defending against that jackass,” Frederick replied. “I’ve been dealing with him all month. He is insufferable and unstoppable. Look, he said that we need to cut the program, but if we can get something to the President, something good, he can move to shut the senator’s witch hunt down. You said you were on the brink of something? What?”
Sang sighed. “I’m not sure yet,” she said. “The dragon, the Ally, it’s learned how to speak in full sentences. We didn’t get a chance, but we can talk to it. We can get the whole story. I just found out something interesting, something about a sleeper. Give me time to investigate that some more, please!”
Frederick nodded. “Alright. You have one more shot at this. Go in there and find something out. I can only give you a day, and after that… we’re gonna have to shut this program down, at least temporarily.”
“It’s Sleep Time in there,” Van said. “We’ve got to wait until morning.”
“We don’t have time,” Sang said. “We need something as soon as possible. If that senator goes to the news, we’re utterly screwed.”
“Would he really do that?” Van asked.
“It’s the fastest way to get to a committee hearing,” Frederick mused. “Go to the news, talk about wasteful spending and make a mockery of it. Then the phone calls start pouring in, and the next thing you know, we’re all sitting before the entire Congress, being asked if we were able to find little green men. Sang, you know that this was my project, and I do take responsibility for the direction things are going, but I have a career to think about. My personal support of this project is ending tomorrow. Get something good, or I’m out.”
“You’d risk the fate of the world over your career?” Van asked.
Frederick shrugged. “Who’s to say that the world is really at risk here? Find me something to convince me otherwise, Sang.”
“Fine, let’s go,” Sang said as she grabbed Van and began to pull him back toward the pod room.
“Sang, I’m burned out! I can’t do another shift,” Van protested as he tried to fight against her grip. He was too fatigued to fight back, however, and was pulled into the pod room. Neil and O’Hara were there, talking to Kenwar.
“Neil, we need Cwake!” Sang shouted as she stormed over to her pod and began to fiddle with it. “We’ve got enough time to go in once more, but if we blow it, the mission’s over.”
“Damn it, I knew it,” Neil said as he dug into his jacket and pulled out a few white pills. “Here you go—the best amphetamines that government money can buy.”
“I’m gonna need some, too,” Kenwar said, “I’m so tired.”
Sang abruptly stopped from her programming of the pod to face Kenwar. “You little weasel!” she screamed as she punched him right in the eye.
“Whoa!” Van shouted as Kenwar reeled back, clutching his broken glasses.
“Haha, nice right hook!” Neil said.
“Hit him again,” O’Hara cheered.
Van jumped in between them and held out his hands. “Sang, I get that you’re pissed, I know that this is a big deal, but we can’t just go beating the crap out of someone just because we feel like it!”
“Actually, we totally can,” Neil said. “You should try it—it feels great.”
“Sang, take all of this anger and point it toward the game; we need to get in there,” Van said. He had never seen her so angry before. Apparently, she was extremely invested in the game... far more than he’d realized. What had happened? Why was she so aggressive all of a sudden?
“Fine, but you’re not coming with us,” Sang said. “Neil, lock this guy up. He stops coming into the game, understood?”
“My pleasure. Should we schedule a trip to Arizona while we’re at it?” Neil asked. “I hear the deserts really are beautiful out there.”
“Oh, come on, I didn’t do anything wrong!” Kenwar begged.
Sang sighed. “No, Neil, no need to take any trips. Just lock him up. Don’t let him near these pods. Can we get the team up and running?”
“They all went home for the night,” O’Hara said. “But I’ll monitor you guys. It’ll be just like old times.”
“Great,” Sang said as she popped the pill into her mouth and climbed into the pod. “You coming, Van?”
Van didn’t know what else to do, so he grabbed one of the pills from Neil and popped it right into his mouth. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline run through his entire body as the pill kicked in. It had an almost immediate effect. His eyes widened, he felt his heartrate skyrocket, and his hands began to shake.
“You okay, bud?” Neil asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Van said as he climbed into his own pod. He was far from fine, but at least the distraction of focusing on finding out some more information about these aliens would prevent him from having to think about what his future would actually entail. He took a deep breath as the pod sealed over him. This job just kept getting worse and worse.
Chapter Eleven
Van opened his eyes to realize that he was still standing outside of the feasting tent. No one else was around. He could hear a bird chirping its same repetitive song over and over again, probably glitching due to it being Sleep Time.
Sang stumbled out of the tower. “Van!” she cried. “I’m in here!”
“Are you okay?” Van asked. “You’re acting really erratic. I mean, punching out Kenwar? Taking drugs? What’s g
otten into you?”
“Something… something just snapped in me when he said he was cutting the program,” Sang said as she led Van inside of the tower. “I don’t know what it was, but I just knew that I had to get back inside of this game. I think… I think I bonded with Jet or something. When those aliens sent that message into my mind, they pushed so much data in there. Van, I know everyone else isn’t convinced, but I know in my heart of hearts that Draco is a real threat.”
Van shrugged. “I believe you, too, but who’s going to take our word for it? We’re losing all support. Only Neil and O’Hara seem to believe us at this point.”
“At least we can count on them,” Sang said.
“Yeah,” Van said, remembering all of the many threats that Neil had levied against him. “Thank God for Neil.”
“There you are!” Sang said, turning to face Jet as the dragon came climbing down the stairs. “Please, we’re in a lot of trouble with our superiors. No one else is here. Tell us the truth. What are you? Who are you? Why are you here?”
Jet just looked at them both.
“Come on,” Van said. “We’ve been risking our lives by playing this game—can’t you help us out?
Jet still said nothing. Van went to open his mouth again, but yelped instead as he felt the ground fall out from beneath him.
“Ahhhhhh!” Van and Sang screamed as they both fell.
“Now you will see,” Jet said as he flew alongside of them. Darkness rapidly surrounded them and, for a split second, Van couldn’t see a thing. Suddenly, though, as if someone had turned a light switch on, the darkness became filled with stars and nebulae.
“W-what’s going on?” Sang gasped. They had both stopped falling and were now floating in space.
“I have no idea!” Van said. He could see dozens of planets and moons all around them. He found that he could control his movement by kicking his legs as if he were swimming. He began to swim around in circles, looking around at the beautiful galactic landscape before him.
