by D. B. Goodin
Nigel had no idea that manipulating others in this fashion was even possible. He was thoroughly impressed with his friends' lessons. He planned to use these skills as soon as he could. The clock in the game room, which featured pool cues for arms and balls for numbers, read 3:35 p.m. He had been at Jet's house for nearly two hours and still needed to finish his pretext for unlocking his account. He thanked the siblings for their help and promised to relay his results.
Nigel checked his email: two more orders for high-level characters, and more for special items. He needed to get back into the game. Being the young entrepreneur that Nigel was, he decided to use another one of his backup accounts to continue his side business. He had to be careful since these backup accounts contained most of the rare and unique items that were sold separately. If something happened to this account, he would be finished.
As soon as he got the account back online, he received an in-game message from Jet. Nigel opened the message. It contained a scroll and a note explaining to use the scroll exactly at 6 p.m. She had some news to share. He put on his augmented reality glasses for access to the enhanced heads-up display the game offered. While it was not as immersive as the available virtual reality goggles, it did provide an acceptable enhanced hands-on experience. He could still move objects in a three-dimensional space, but he still needed his monitors to complete the illusion of immersion.
At 6 p.m., Nigel used the scroll to transport his in-game self to the location inscribed on the scroll. His field of view blurred for several seconds. When his vision cleared, he scanned the room for any signs of Jet. There was no sign of her, but he realized that he was in a sparsely furnished room that appeared metallic. At the opposite end of the room, two chairs and a small table were placed under a window. As Nigel took a seat, he caught a glimpse of the virtual horizon. In the distance, a mountain range with several waterfalls poured into a vast lake. At the nearside of the lake, a small sailboat was tied to an ancient-looking dock. Several animals which appeared to resemble unicorns were prancing in a nearby meadow.
“Hey, Nigel.”
Nigel spun around. It was Jet, or at least the in-game representation of her, known as an avatar. Her in-game avatar appeared to be glowing. She wore a white robe and a jewel-encrusted staff. Her avatar put his lowly rouge to shame; he felt like a bum standing next to a queen.
“Let me guess, a mage?”
“Close, a Magi.”
“Very nice! How did you pull that off?”
“By surviving the three trials and defeating the boss, of course.”
Nigel haven't even seen any other Magi in the game. To become a Magi, the player had to possess the highest level of skill in the game. Nigel heard rumors of players taking months to obtain even the Pre-Magi status that is after reaching max level. He was in awe. There was more to Jet than he realized.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to deal with my father. He doesn’t approve of the game.”
“That’s okay. I was admiring your microcosm.” In the game, a microcosm was a private virtual space.
“Thanks. This isn’t the only one I have.”
“Really?” Nigel was impressed. Microcosms were not only expensive but rare because space was limited on the mega server.
“I brought you here because I wanted to discuss some potential changes that Prezelverse Games is planning.”
“I know that an expansion is coming.”
“As a beta tester, I have access to certain unreleased content. I’ve been authorized to share some of my experiences with a limited number of people. I think the changes will affect your side business.”
“In what ways?”
“It hasn’t been announced, and it may not happen immediately, but it will soon after. The bounty system is going into effect.”
“Bounty?” Nigel looked worried.
“Bounties will be placed on anyone who uses unauthorized programs, or for anyone caught using any automation. That’s not all—the dark denizens are being upgraded.”
Nigel didn’t like the sound of that. The use of even minor scrolls in the game had the potential of summoning a nearly unbeatable foe. “More powerful?”
“In a way, but they will be controlled by real players who can track the offending player. If that weren’t bad enough, you can only access these dark denizens via a connection to the Dark Web.”
“That is good. There will be less players,” Nigel said.
“That is true, but anyone on the Dark Web is more advanced technically and will be almost impossible to beat alone.”
“That is just great,” Nigel said sarcastically. “Do you know when these changes will go into effect?”
“Not sure, but it could be any day. With the holidays fast approaching, it will probably be soon. Pretzelverse will want to maximize profits before year end.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“I would hate to have you waste your time leveling characters only to lose it all. The news was only part of why I invited you here. The final beta of the patch ends tonight, and each tester is allowed to bring in a guest. I chose you.”
“I’m honored.”
With a wave of her staff, she opened a portal. Jet urged Nigel through. Nigel stepped through the portal to find himself at the base of a silver spire. All of the pleasant scenery was gone; instead of prancing unicorns, there were flying gargoyles. One of the flying menaces took notice and started a downward descent. Nigel cloaked himself; one of the rogue's abilities was stealth. The creature kept coming. To Nigel’s horror, he realized that the gargoyle could see through his stealth. Jet stepped through the portal, uttered some words that Nigel didn’t recognize, and the gargoyle seemed to bounce off him. Nigel realized that she had cast a shield spell.
That spell is going to attract a dark denizen for sure, Nigel thought.
“I got you, Kid. Let’s go,” Jet said as she gave him a wink and a smile.
Jet led Nigel to the base of the spire. There was no visible door or entrance anywhere he looked. Jet uttered some sort of incantation which sounded like “Un-Por-Vet”—or something like that—and a narrow passage opened in the spire. Nigel followed Jet’s lead. He could barely fit through. More like a crack, Nigel thought. Nigel followed Jet into a dark hallway. Judging from the mini-map on his heads-up display, Nigel suspected that they were on the ground level of the spire. Circular hallways led to unknown regions.
“Watch for sludgelings.”
Nigel tried to say something, but it sounded like a grunt.
Nigel didn’t know what a sludgeling was, but it sounded nasty. He followed Jet through the hallway leading upward. The walls shifted; it was disorienting to Nigel. He realized that it was a sludgeling because it stretched out and tried to attach itself to Nigel’s armor. Jet cast another spell that lit up the room, which caused the sludgelings in the immediate area to flee. The effect only lasted a few seconds before they were back with greater numbers.
When they reached the top of the hallway, the sludgelings were covering every surface. Nigel checked his health meter for damage. He didn’t take any. He realized they were floating. When they reached the end of the hall, the sludgelings vanished. A new threat presented itself. A large three-headed creature with fire emitting from the mouth and nostrils appeared. Jet shielded them but not before the fire from the monster touched Nigel; his armor had no protection. He realized that he had only one health unit left. He normally had a hundred units or more at any given time. Jet realized what was happening and cast a party recall spell.
Then there was darkness.
“You’re safe now,” Jet said.
“That was just a taste of the new content. Sorry, I didn’t mean to take you that far. I got carried away. I patched you all up.”
Nigel finally opened his eyes; they were back at Jet’s microcosm.
“Was that the new content? I haven’t seen anything that advanced in the game before.”
“It is, but, unfortunately, most players won’t get to
experience it.”
“Why is that?”
“It is some of the advanced Dark Web content I was talking about. You need special access to the Dark Web to even gain access to it.”
“Can we go back?”
Jet smiled.
“I would like that very much, but I promised I would eat dinner with my parents tonight. My father is home for a change, and he wants to have a proper dinner, whatever that means.”
Jet gave Nigel a scroll. “Have a look around before you go!”
After days of practice and coaching, Nigel was ready. He decided to start with his own account, in case there were unintended consequences. He spread out several notes he used when creating the narrative for the pretext. He worked out several responses and possible counters. He wanted to be ready for anything. Nigel worked on his pretext for an hour before he got the nerve to pick up the phone and dial the account resolution team at Prezelverse Games.
After waiting for about twenty minutes on hold, he heard a couple of audible clicks, and someone picked up.
“Player Support, Alex speaking,” said the voice on the other end of Nigel's phone. For a second, Nigel said nothing.
“Is anyone there?” asked Alex.
Nigel cleared his throat. As he attempted to speak, he realized that he had forgotten to turn on his voice modulator circuit to mask his voice. He was reasonably sure that he didn't sound like a twenty-three-year-old college student. He quickly turned on the program.
“Sorry, I got something caught in my throat,” Nigel said, regaining his composure. “I’m calling because my account got locked by mistake.”
“Please provide me with your name and account information,” Alex requested.
Nigel provided information on Alan Sommers, his twenty-three-year-old college student persona.
“I see that your account has been locked because two accounts were playing from the same source IP address at the same time,” Alex said.
Nigel was ready to take a big risk. He chose his next words carefully.
“Was the other account Jake Hickham?” Nigel asked.
“I cannot reveal that information unless you answer a few questions. What is your address?”
“701 Front Street in Milford,” Nigel said.
“What is the last four digits of the credit card on file?” Alex asked.
This was an easy one for Nigel since he created Jake’s account and used an online prepaid credit card.
“5115,” Nigel replied.
After a minute of silence, Alex explained that he would need to get approval to get the account unlocked.
“What is your relationship with Mr. Hickham?” Alex asked with a tone of suspicion in his voice.
“Ahh, he’s my cousin,” was the only thing that Nigel thought to say.
“Hold, please,” Alex quickly said.
After a long pause, perhaps two to three minutes, the phone came back to life.
“Mr. Sommers?” said an unfamiliar voice.
“Yes?”
“This is Mr. Chambers, shift supervisor. As an extra measure of security, we require both you and Mr. Hickham to be present on the line before we can unlock either account.”
“Oh,” Nigel responded.
“I have his number on file. I can call him now, if you want?” Mr. Chambers said.
“No, that’s okay. I think Jake is working tonight.”
“All right. Please have Mr. Hickham on the line next time you call,” Mr. Chambers said as he transferred the call to an automated survey.
Jake spent the better part of the morning doing research on Nigel Watson. He was able to find out that he had a kid brother Ralphie who attended Milford Elementary, just around the corner from Milford High School.
“Is there any other information you can find on the twerp, Donnie?”
“No, Boss. I asked several of my contacts at the elementary school, and that is all I have!”
“Fine. I need you to do something for me.”
“A little fieldwork?” Donnie asked excitedly.
“Yeah, something like that,” Jake said with delight.
At 2:45 p.m., the last bell for the Milford Elementary School rang. Ralphie was in the process of packing his backpack when a kid he didn't know bumped into him. The contents of his backpack spilled on the floor.
“Excuse me,” the kid said.
“Ahh, look what you've done!” cried Ralphie.
The kid started helping him repack his backpack. Ralphie was distracted, putting papers back in his binder, so he didn't notice when the kid slipped a small circular disc into one of the outside pockets.
“Sorry, Man!” said the kid as he hurried away.
Several hours later, Donnie Davis met Jake at a local coffee shop a few blocks away from the school.
“Is it done?”
“It’ll be days before he even notices it,” Donnie said.
Jake pulled out his smartphone and launched the disc-tracking app paired to the smartphone. As Jake reviewed the logs, he noticed several gaps in Ralphie's activity.
“Donnie, I think the disc is broken. I see Ralphie at school, then he disappears until much later in the day.”
“The disc is designed to be attached to a keychain or something else that is portable and will work with any cellular signal within thirty feet of the disc,” Donnie said. “The gaps represent the lack of cell phone coverage.”
“Oh, I see. Ralphie doesn't have a phone.”
Donnie liked Jake, but he could be quite dense at times.
“Yeah. We will get better results if Ralphie gets a phone or is around someone that already has a phone,” Donnie said.
“The twerp needs to hang around more people with phones. It’s starting to get colder, which means he will get more rides from people with phones.”
Chapter 7
To supplement his meager income, Nigel found some helpful websites that acted as a work escrow service. Nigel created a profile, passed several assessments, and wrote several proposals. After monitoring the site for a few days, he lost interest and resumed his unofficial character-leveling business, but the money was starting to slow down now that players were getting banned.
Nigel decided to find work in some low-tech areas. When getting ready for school one morning, he noticed his mother’s copy of the ThriftySaver newspaper. It was folded in half, and several advertisements were visible. He browsed the paper for part-time jobs. Other than advertisements for mall Santas and fast-food positions, he saw nothing he was remotely qualified for. He flipped through a few more pages before an ad caught his eye: “Hardware Hacking Challenge.” Nigel didn't think he possessed the skills for it, but he read on.
“Do you have a mind for figuring out the impossible? Do you have the drive to figure stuff out on the fly? Can you think outside the box? If so, then apply posthaste! Video interviews will be conducted for the lucky few who can get through the initial screening process. Pay is commensurate not only with experience but the ability to solve the puzzles that I will set forth. The most successful candidates will have a mind for games, logic puzzles, and hacking (of course). One word of caution, my chums: If you don't apply yourself befitting to the level of effort that I deem worthy, then you shall be forever banned from my hacking-verse. Any accepted job that is not submitted within the agreed time will not be accepted, and the submitter will be banned from all future endeavors. A résumé, a written proposal, and a cover letter must be attached to each application. Any application submitted without these items will be destroyed.
“If you have the skill, drive, and desire, you shall be greatly rewarded. Bring a lackadaisical attitude or work ethic to the job and you shall reap what you sow.”
The final section intrigued Nigel. He double-checked the age requirements—everyone over sixteen was welcome to apply, so long as they had a work permit if the applicant was under eighteen. The first requirement was easy since Nigel was almost seventeen. The work permit was a bit tricky since his mother wo
uld need to sign for it.
Since most of The Collective was offline for the evening and unlikely to return, Gregor decided to send a secure email to the principal members of The Collective.
Team,
I have confirmed that one or more Chinese IP addresses did have access and downloaded information from one of our development servers. However, it only contained development code which was not yet in production. What this means is that potential attackers did not access any working code or customer information. My team will continue to monitor the situation, and I will provide updates as I get them.
Gregor
Nigel started his day with the work permit weighing heavily on this mind. Fifth period was free for Nigel, so he decided to stop by the administrator’s office to get more information on work permits.
As students began leaving fourth period, Jet tapped Nigel on the shoulder.
“How did the account unlock go?”
“Oh, the unlock is still in progress for my account. I think I messed up because a supervisor wants to talk to both of us at once now,” Nigel answered.
“Let me talk to George and get back to you.”
“I don’t think I got to properly thank you for your help the other day, it meant a lot,” Nigel said.
“Thank us after you get the accounts unlocked.”
“Well, I’ve got to go. Let me know what George thinks,” Nigel said as he walked out of the classroom.
As Nigel entered the admin building, he noticed Fred Rivera was manning the desk today.
“Hello, Mr. Rivera.”
“Hey, Nigel, what brings you in to administration today?”
“I’m inquiring about a work permit.”
“Okay, I can help you with that.”
“Do I fill out an application or something?”
“The process involves one simple form and a grade check. As long as you have at least a B-average and a parent’s signature, I can issue one,” Fred said.
