“No,” Ethan replied in a loud but calm voice as he raised a hand and sent his shimmering orb of force at the lead car.
The sphere expanded as it flew through the air, becoming a rippling wave of power that washed over the vehicles in the police convoy. They rocked and warped as the unearthly energy slammed into them. Windows exploded, and metal screeched as it bent. There were screams from nearby civilians who had been watching from a safe distance, but there were also a few cheers. Those surprised Ethan, but he supposed that even in an employed area, there were probably plenty of people who hated the Bureau of Economic Harmony.
Mercilessly, Ethan hurled several javelins at the lead police vehicles. The crystal projectiles hit the cars’ wheels and detonated, flipping them over. This created a roadblock that prevented any of the other vehicles from moving closer or even seeing Ethan clearly.
Still standing in the same spot, Ethan drew his pistol and took out the surveillance drones flying overhead. Several had been torn apart by his aether wave, but most had survived, either by dodging or simply being too high to be hit. He got about a dozen more of them with his pistol before the rest scattered out of sight.
That done, Ethan took a moment to simply stare at the completely trashed convoy in front of him. It was an impressive piece of work for an unemployed gamer, but he was much more than that now. He could no longer be ignored or manipulated so easily.
The street was full of the sound of fearful yelling and distorted sirens as Ethan turned and walked into a nearby alley. Once in the shadows, he ran until he was sure he wasn’t being observed. Then, he stopped and quickly pulled his stealth cloak out of his support drone and put it on before resuming his escape.
CHAPTER 42
THE LONG WAY HOME
As Ethan stalked home, sirens were shrieking along streets in all directions, and swarms of surveillance drones began flying overhead. It seemed like the government was locking down the entire city to catch him. However, it was easy enough for Ethan to avoid the police and the roadblocks they had set up to catch him. His adaptive camouflage also hid him from hidden cameras he passed and from the occasional surveillance drone that swooped down to scan an alley or side street.
It took Ethan over half an hour to get out of the search area, but once he was, it was a simple matter to call a drone car under an assumed identity and take it back to the warehouse district where his hideout was. Thanks to the incredible amount of data being fed to them by all their surveillance, the government was far too dependent on automation and algorithms. Such things were easy for Ethan to avoid or alter.
The first thing Ethan did after getting home was take a shower. In real life, his armor got quite sweaty after sustained use. Smelly too, since it didn’t appear to contain any super sci-fi versions of deodorant. However, once he was cleaned off, Ethan began going through the documents he’d taken from the Tekko server. There were a lot of them, but it wasn’t like Ethan had much else to do right now. Lying low in his hideout until the heat was off was probably a good idea.
Most of the first bunch of files seemed to be secret Tekko employment information about Lily. There wasn’t much in them, but they did reference her as Patient 001, which led him to a string of arcane medical documents of some kind. Ethan browsed through them quickly, but very little of it made sense to him. There were several descriptions of complex surgeries and treatments using jargon that was beyond him. After looking up some of the terms, Ethan realized the medical documents were about someone with a rare type of brain cancer.
Ethan’s heartbeat quickened as he considered this. Did Lily have brain cancer? Was she dying? Maybe he had completely misunderstood what was going on with her and why she had cut ties with him.
Feeling very guilty all of a sudden, Ethan read through the rest of the documents. It seemed like the cancer treatment had been abandoned, and soon after, the reports referenced something he instantly recognized: ascension. Lily had gone through various experiments designed to make her ascend. She’d been one of the original test subjects whose experiences had led to the process Ethan himself had gone through. She’d also been the only one to successfully bond with an AI. As he read on, Ethan’s attention was caught by another string of words. Complete physical death.
According to the reports Ethan was reading, Lily had died months ago.
What? That was impossible! He’d talked to her yesterday. Ghosts weren’t real…
As Ethan sat back in his chair, a sudden shocking thought occurred to him. Disturbed, he got up to grab a snack. However, he couldn’t help but think about Lily as he ate.
“I need to distract myself and get some perspective,” Ethan said to the empty air as he walked into the workshop and looked around.
But how could he distract himself? He was still stuck in this room and really didn’t want to play Worldshift. He’d had enough of that for now.
“I should contact Kyle,” Ethan said as soon as the thought popped into his head.
Thankfully, phoning Kyle was super easy. He already had his number, and he could do it through his implant. Ethan nodded and activated his calling program. The line rang a few times before it was picked up.
“What the inglorious hacks did you do?” Kyle hissed as soon as he answered the call.
“Er, hello,” Ethan replied in surprise. His friend’s tone caught him completely off guard. He sounded very angry for some reason.
“What did you do?” Kyle repeated.
Ethan hesitated before answering. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Your fight with the bureau has been all over the net. I recognized your armor, so don’t say it wasn’t you!”
“I was just looking into Lily at some Tekko office, and they got in my way before I could escape,” Ethan replied defensively. “Anyway, why does this matter to you?”
Kyle made a series of incoherent angry noises. “Because it has thrown the entire government into a panic. They’ve declared martial law and have been arresting everyone who has even entered the Tower of Ascension! People are being dragged from their homes.”
Ethan winced. “Oh.”
“Yeah, and not everyone is taking it lying down. A lot of players actually do have access to game weaponry now and are fighting back. The bodies are starting to pile up. I also hear that Jude’s people, Red Revolution, are preparing to move. They plan on seizing several unemployed districts and warehouses.”
“Well, it was going to happen eventually,” Ethan countered defensively. “Jude’s mission has always been to overthrow the government, and there are several other groups trying the same thing.”
Kyle let out a deep sigh. “Ya, maybe. I guess I was just hoping things would settle down and go back to normal, but after the tower was unlocked, that became impossible. I never thought I’d see the day. The streets are going to erupt, for real.”
“Victor Crown knew what he was doing. He rigged this all up to totally destroy society, which he thought was stale and dying anyway.”
“What an asshole.”
“He was very affected by the loss of his daughter, and he had a point,” Ethan replied before telling Kyle all about the mind control the government had been about to implement and the other things Crown had revealed to him. Ethan found himself agreeing with most of Victor’s conclusions. Even if Victor hadn’t intervened, society probably would have collapsed before too long. Despite the bloodshed, perhaps it was better to let things fall apart quickly than struggle to keep a dying system together. Many people would still suffer and die if the bureau and the government went full authoritarian. If that happened, things could get worse for years before they got better.
“Well, I have no idea what to do with myself now.” Kyle moaned. “Everything is getting too crazy for me, and I don’t really want to join in any glorious revolutions against the government. Those people scare me. Violence comes to them a little too naturally.”
“Yeah, I’m not a fan either,” Ethan said in agreement. “I don’t think th
ey’re any better than the bureau, and I can’t see their ideology working very well once all this technology gets out. It’s going to be very hard to control everyone and ensure they are all acting ‘fairly’ when everyone is armed and self-sufficient.”
Kyle snorted rudely. “People like Jude and her allies are also the last people I’d trust to decide what’s fair and what isn’t.”
Ethan chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, it’s probably quite different from what I think fair is.”
“I suppose I could just sit back and see what happens,” Kyle mused aloud. “You know, use some of this new technology to help people when the power goes out and food starts getting short. I think that’s what a lot of people in the church are planning to do.”
Ethan nodded as he remembered how Lily had told him to help people. “Sounds like as good a plan as any. It’s going to be the Wild West out there for a while until we get some new sort of equilibrium.”
“So, about that fool’s quest of yours. Did you find anything about Lily, or was your trip a complete waste?”
“I have some leads, but I haven’t tracked her down yet,” Ethan admitted with a grimace.
“I can’t believe she has cut you off like that,” Kyle remarked. “I mean, she seemed to really like you, and she did spend all that time journeying with us, especially you. She was always watching your back. To just vanish without saying goodbye, that’s cold.”
“Er, yeah. It is,” Ethan mused aloud. Kyle may have had more of a point then he knew.
Lily had said she wanted him to help guide the world toward the new future. She’d distanced herself from him as a way of pushing him toward that, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t keeping an eye on him. Maybe she just wanted him to think he couldn’t contact her.
Blinking, Ethan focused on Kyle again. “Anyway, pal. Thanks for everything. I got to go, but keep safe, okay?”
“All right, you too, man. Talk to you later. I got plenty of stuff to do too,” Kyle replied. “I may not be able to do evoking out here in the real, but you’re not the only one that has been building themselves some new toys. I’ve always wanted a real-life energy sword, and now I can make one.”
“Just don’t cut your fingers off. Outside of the game, that would be much harder to fix.”
Ethan was smiling as he disconnected the call. He was glad Kyle was doing all right, and he now had an idea on how to contact Lily. First though, he wanted to check the news for himself. He was feeling slightly guilty about triggering the government crackdown, and he wanted to know how bad it was. Even if corporate news that had been licensed by the government was unlikely to be accurate, he could probably learn something.
A short walk brought Ethan to his hideout’s wall-mounted entertainment screen. He could have watched the news on his visual interface, but looking at an actual physical screen was nice sometimes.
It only took a few seconds for Ethan to switch the device on and find his favorite news channel. However, the blonde woman from before was gone, and Ethan didn’t recognize her replacement. He was a neat-looking man in a business suit, and Ethan didn’t like the look of him. The man was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Everything about him looked fake and insincere.
“And please don’t leave your homes. All citizens should remain inside until further notice,” the newscaster explained. “Your area is currently being purged of violent criminals, and it is not safe for you to go about your daily activities. Remain calm and ignore any unexpected noises that resemble gunfire or explosions. The Bureau of Economic Harmony will soon finish their operations. They have everything under control. If you do have concerns or spot something suspicious you’d like to report, you can contact the bureau using their automated call center.”
Frowning, Ethan watched the news for another few minutes, but then the man repeated himself, and Ethan realized the feed wasn’t live. In fact, it was on a loop. A quick flip through some other news channels revealed that all of them had similar loops running, although they had different newscasters. Their smiles were eerily similar in how insincere they looked. Were they even real people? Ethan supposed it was possible the bureau had seized the airwaves and replaced all the feeds with virtual avatars they could control completely.
“That’s a little concerning,” Ethan remarked to himself. Obviously, he needed a better source of information.
A quick check revealed that all the social media sites were completely down. It didn’t surprise Ethan since they were heavily controlled by the government, and they were obviously trying to keep word of what was going on suppressed. Momentarily stumped, Ethan decided to message Kyle again. If anyone knew how to get around the censorship, it would be him. Indeed, Kyle quickly got back to him with several links to some shady websites where people discussed the news. Even the bureau couldn’t monitor and shut down the entire internet.
It turned out they could get most of the them though. The first two websites Ethan checked were down. The third was still up, probably because it was smaller and was operated by people employed in data security.
The news section of the message board was full of people discussing what was going on outside. Apparently, most the cities in the entire country had been locked down. Wild speculation was rife on what was really happening, and everyone was posting their own experiences as they pooled their knowledge. Some cities were experiencing rolling blackouts, which was unheard of. People were also reporting swarms of surveillance drones flying over cities and roads being cleared so troops could move into population centers. There were pictures to back these reports up.
More concerning were the reports of heavy gunfire and explosions from all across the world. It seemed the rebel groups like Red Revolution were now armed and actively engaged in guerilla warfare with the government. Ethan didn’t like to think he was responsible for people being shot, even if he knew he really wasn’t. He hadn’t created this situation. The government and Victor Crown had.
Ethan couldn’t blame the people for rebelling either. Society was obviously corrupt, and many of the people on the message board reported having family or friends arrested and dragged out of their homes simply because they’d played Worldshift. It was tens of thousands of people at least, although the bureau seemed to be focusing on unemployed neighborhoods. As unsurprising as the news was, it still infuriated Ethan. The bureau must be thinking the unemployed were more likely to rebel and that going after the more politically connected employed would cause them problems. It was a great reminder of the petty corruption inherent in society.
In some areas, the police were basically going door-to-door and grabbing people. Anyone who resisted arrest or even talked back was dealt with violently, and no one had any idea what happened to the players once they were taken. They just disappeared, and it wasn’t like the government had jails for that many people. Many of the people online feared the worst, and Ethan knew they might have a point. The bureau had a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, and every single player was a threat to the social fabric in their eyes.
One forum post in particular caught Ethan’s eye. It was by a user called Kat465.
Please, someone tell me what’s going on? It’s crazy! My block has been taken over by these people called the Children of Liberty. I’d never heard of them before, but now they’re just outside my home with heavy weaponry! How could they have appeared from nowhere like this? I don’t understand!
Ethan frowned as he read the message. He felt sorry for the writer, and he was very tempted to go check on his old neighborhood. Had there been a rebel group of some sort lurking among the nearby empty-looking townhouses? Were they now producing high-tech weaponry and seizing territory? Thinking back on the rows of empty-looking apartments, Ethan was curious to find out, but he resisted the urge to actually go outside. If he got himself entangled in everything that was happening out there, he’d swiftly find himself mired in a never-ending series of other people’s problems and probably fighting the government again.
He didn’t have time for that. He had his own concerns now, and deep down, he didn’t much care for society and other people’s problems.
Harmony was a lie. Ethan rejected that dogma completely now. He understood that the government abused the term to justify its own actions, but even the general concept was empty of real value or meaning. It sounded good, but no one these days took the time to ask themselves why they thought it was so important.
Being against malicious selfishness like murder didn’t mean you needed to accept harmony as some sort of intrinsic good. If you took a moment to think about it, wasn’t it obvious why it would be? How did harmony in itself do good regardless of its consequences? Why was it more important than everything else? The constant reputation of the dogma by others simply made them accept its value without question, and questioning it aloud made you a target for the mob, which further prevented dissent and allowed the powers-to-be to control everyone.
Even Lily bought into the harmony ideology to a certain degree. She’d asked Ethan to save society after all, and she’d wanted him to be a leader who could unify people and protect them. It sounded like the work of a lifetime, and a huge sacrifice on Ethan’s part. He didn’t feel like doing that. An urge to control or lead others wasn’t something that came all that naturally to Ethan, although experience had taught him that he’d step up if no one else could or if someone needed help.
So, fuck harmony. It was time for Ethan to do something utterly selfish.
Ethan turned away from the screen and headed for the hideout’s bedroom. Once there, he pulled on the VR visor and logged into Worldshift. That’s where what he was looking for was.
Since he’d already beaten the fourth floor, the game gave him the option to spawn at the beginning of the fifth level. That was as good a spot as any for Ethan’s purposes, so he accepted. Thus, in flash of shimmering blue light, Ethan appeared in an unfamiliar environment. He was wearing his armor and had all his equipment though.
Worldshift- Virtual Revolution Page 49
