by Dante Doom
Van felt his skin crawl at that. This place was getting weirder and weirder. He didn't know what else to say to this strange, brainwashed woman, though, so he chose to walk forward instead. As he walked, he became acutely aware that the ground beneath him was not made of sand, but was instead concrete or maybe even steel. His footsteps clunked and thunked with each step.
Everything in front of Van was the desert, too – until he blinked and he was indoors.
"Whoa!" Van shouted. He had been expecting some kind of trickery, but this was almost like magic. He was inside some kind of a lobby where there was a receptionist sitting at a desk. He looked up to see Draco's logo hovering above the desk, flickering with holographic lighting. Next to the desk were two men holding AK-47s. They were motionless, staring straight forward.
"Welcome to Draco," said the receptionist. She looked different from all of the other Draco stooges who Van had met. She was chewing gum and rocking back and forth in her chair. She seemed more alive than the others.
"Uh, hi," Van said as he walked up to the desk. His eyes were transfixed by the two men with guns.
"Don't worry about them – they're harmless as long as you don't try to leave," the woman said. "I'm Cindy. My guess is that your name is Van?"
"Yeah, I’m Van," he said as he leaned up against the desk and looked over at the journal that Cindy had been writing in. It turned out that she had been sketching a picture of a cat biting down on a bunch of flowers.
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Honestly, it's nice to meet anyone who isn't some kind of emotionless freak," Cindy said as she went back to doodling.
"What's the deal with that?" Van asked. "Everyone here's so lifeless. I had one girl tell me that she was gonna be my wife and there wasn't a hint of emotion in her voice."
"It's those tubes," Cindy replied. "You get stuffed into those things and you come out a little less than you. They run a simulation that's designed to teach you how to be like them, I guess. Reduces your ability to emote, express desires or whatever. It's interesting stuff."
"Why are you so different?" Van asked.
Cindy shrugged. "I'm a PR gal. We're tasked with helping new recruits figure stuff out and also with handling any non-Draco members who end up in this facility. We get the occasional reporter or snoop in here. I'm in charge of smoothing things over so Draco doesn't have to kill them. Dead bodies usually lead to larger investigations."
"Oh," Van said. "So you're pretty sold-out for Draco, aren't you?"
"Apparently," she said with a sigh as she worked on her drawing. "Five years ago, it was a big deal to me, but now I'm getting impatient. We all just found out the entire plan has been changed. The collective has decided that humanity will not get their comeuppance. So now what? You know what I mean? I've been waiting for a long time and the rules completely change on me. It's stupid."
"Right…" Van said. He had no idea how to communicate with a woman who was dead-set on the utter destruction of mankind. She seemed nice, but really, how nice could someone who wanted mankind dead be? "So, what am I supposed to be doing here?"
"I guess I'll give you the tour," she said as she stood from her desk and walked over to a large steel door on the righthand side of the room. "This is the entryway to the compound. You're allowed to leave and wander around the desert for 1 hour every 14 days. This is because Draco recognizes that some humans claim they need natural sunlight, and so they have allowed for one hour per two weeks, if you so choose.”
"Okay," Van said.
"So once you're done running around or whatever, you come back in here and you press your hand against the door. It will read your DNA and recognize you. Only Draco members are allowed in here – if it doesn't recognize your DNA, it will burn your fingers."
"Good to know," Van said as he watched Cindy place her hand against the door. It made a chittering noise and slid open, allowing them to enter.
Cindy led him down the hallway and into a large room that was full of haptic pods. There were hundreds of them. Van whistled as he walked up to one of the pods. This one was far more complex than any he had ever seen before. They were slick silver pods with no visible buttons on the outside. He couldn't even see the seam where the pod sealed itself shut.
Cindy waved a hand over the pod and it beeped at her loudly. Displays appeared on the pod itself, as if the pod were a screen made for viewing the vitals and statistics of the person on the inside. Van glanced at one of the vitals and gasped.
"It's saying the current session is 7 weeks long. Has this player been in there that long?"
Cindy nodded. "Indeed. You've been using consumer pods, so you're used to having to leave in order to get food and water every few days. These things are entirely self-contained. A Draco Vitals Sustenance Pod is designed to allow unlimited time inside of the pods. You will be living there. Of course, we only give these to the very best players, the ones who are at the top of the hierarchy. You are very important, and thus you qualify for one."
"Yeah, I'm very important," Van joked back to her. She didn't seem amused by his words.
"Let me be honest with you, Van," Cindy said. "I know why you're here. You're here because Draco decided to change the rules on us. It's a little out of character, I must admit. For the longest time, we’ve had one singular goal, and with less than an hour from the event… everything changes."
"Life's crazy that way," Van replied. He could see there was real tension in Cindy's voice. Her dissatisfaction did make some level of sense, too – after all, Draco had promised that they would be kings and rulers. Now she was stuck doing the same thing until further notice. This was a real crack in the Emperor's armor here, Van realized. Cindy couldn't be the only one feeling this frustrated, right? But then again, the brainwashing that took place might strip away the individuality from all of the players, meaning that they wouldn't much care what Draco decided.
"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 i
s 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 heard 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."
