Authors: Terry Schott
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
It’s difficult to piece together what we’ve missed this past week inside the Game. The screens have come back on and suddenly we’re seeing an Earth that is entirely different from the one we all knew. Civilization has been reduced to small groups of people trying their best to simply survive. All advancement has disappeared, and Earth seems like a very depressing place.
When we focus on everyone’s most followed player, Danielle, the questions come fast and furious. What’s Danielle been doing for these past ten years inside the Game? Who was she battling as the feeds came back up? What’s this talk of Stephanie becoming the Devil and how will that affect the rest of the population?
Most alarming is what fans witnessed when Danielle entered the cave and saw the very matrix of the Game beginning to unravel and shut down.
What does it all mean? Is this all part of the Thirtieth Anniversary celebration events, or is it something more serious than that? Is the Game falling apart, and if it is, what does that mean for our world economy and the lives of our children who are trapped inside while the framework that keeps them alive begins to crumble all around them?
The Game Fan Channel 22
Trew
Danielle’s team sat in the Command Centre waiting for Trew to arrive. Everyone had spent the last few hours watching every live feed they could, specifically Danielle and those around her.
The door opened and Trew strode in. He moved directly to the head of the table and sat down.
“Here’s how we handle things,” he began. “Earth is in utter chaos and we don’t have time to do everything that needs doing. I want the world to watch the Game without me having to hold their hands and answer every little question about what’s going on. The best way to get them off our backs is for me to do a quick press release. I will tell them that yes, this is all part of the Thirtieth Anniversary celebrations and they have nothing to worry about.” He looked around the table and everyone nodded.
“Next, I want as much information as quickly as we can get it. We only have a few weeks with Danni in the Game, and I have no clue how long until the Game comes unravelled. We make sure our girl finishes number one and piece together the other puzzle chunks as we go. Primary focus should be this; we need to make contact with our Timeless on the inside immediately,” Trew said.
“From what we’ve seen so far, that’s not gonna happen, boss,” Michelle said. “They don’t meditate much anymore as far as we can tell, which is how we contacted them. The other avenues aren’t available to us since the news and media outlets remain dead on Earth. There’s no way to contact anyone in the Game right now.”
“This isn’t good,” Cooper announced from his seat. Trew threw him a glare but said nothing. His statement was correct; this was not good at all.
“Then tap into the social network feeds, blogs and Game update programs,” Trew said. “It looks like the best way for us to get up to speed is the same way the fans are doing it... become immersed in the glut of information pouring in and sort it as best we can.”
“What about Stephanie taking over the Colony?” Lilith asked.
“I’d love to know how she became the Devil,” Trew said. “I can’t believe it’s true, but it is. Without being able to make contact, all we can do is watch and hope the right talent is in place for Danni to do well.”
“What if the Game ends before we get them all out?” Nadine asked.
Trew looked at her and shook his head. “That’s not going to happen,” he assured the group. “Keep your focus, people, and let’s spend the next couple of weeks doing our absolute best to win this.”
Trew nodded to Cooper and started to move towards the exit. Cooper followed him out; the two said nothing until they entered the elevator.
“I need to contact Thorn,” Trew said.
“Easy enough,” Cooper kept his gaze on the numbers as they counted down on the elevator wall. “He’s sitting in Sylvia’s office at the moment, waiting for you.”
Trew made a wry face and nodded.
===
“I didn’t realize you knew about Sylvia,” Trew said as he entered the office and saw Thorn sitting at his desk.
“There is very little going on in this simulation that I don’t know about,” Thorn said.
“You know what’s going on inside the Game as well.”
“Yes,” Thorn nodded.
“It would’ve been handy to get updates along the way,” Trew snapped. He was frustrated by lack of information and the snowballing events both inside the Game and out.
“That’s not allowed, Trew.”
“Fine.” Trew slashed his hand dismissively. He knew Thorn only stayed in this reality for limited amounts of time and he had no intention of wasting it on pointless small talk. “Sylvia, what’s Thorn doing here?”
“Asking me for random Earth measurements and figures, specifically regarding areas that are disintegrating into the base matrix structure.”
“What can you tell me?” Trew asked as he looked at Thorn.
Thorn scanned the information he’d compiled. “I can tell you that Brandon shouldn’t have gone into the Game.”
“Why?”
“His energy signature is uniquely measured by the simulation called Tygon,” Thorn explained. “It was constructed for him.”
“So?”
“It’s complicated,” Thorn shook his head. “The easy answer is this; the energy used to power this simulation is linked with Brandon’s position inside of it. When he is on Tygon there’s a certain amount of power being used by the computers running the simulation. When he’s out of the simulation, it takes considerably less power to run it.”
“So when he died and returned to the Dream, that gave Tygon more time before power is lost and the simulation ends?” Cooper asked.
“Yes,” Thorn nodded, “but he negated that benefit by coming back in. That didn’t matter too much because we were still operating on the same timeline. Now that he’s entered the Game, however, it’s accelerated the power usage. Going into a simulation within a simulation draws exponentially more power from the grid. Since we only have a limited amount of power left in the Dream to run this simulation...”
“Brandon has shortened the overall life of the entire project,” Trew finished Thorn’s sentence.
“Exactly.”
“Did he know this would happen?” Trew asked.
Thorn nodded.
“How much time remains?” Cooper asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to determine,” Thorn said. “I’m having Sylvia report all incidences of Matrix break down inside Earth and using the information to calculate how much time is left.”
“Any luck?” Trew asked.
Thorn barked out a bitter laugh. “If luck is what you can call it,” he said. “I have a reasonable idea of how long things will last at the current pace.”
“And...?”
“Danni intended to live to the age of one hundred and forty years inside the Game, and for whatever reason, Sylvia was willing to allow it to happen.”
Trew nodded.
“That meant seven Tygon weeks remained to her inside the Game, or seven more weeks before the Game ended for good. With Brandon entering the Game, the number has been reduced... drastically.”
“How long?” Trew asked.
Thorn looked uncomfortable. “Thanks to Brandon’s decision to head in, the Game will cease to exist in less than three weeks. Instead of seventy years, they now have less than thirty to reach their goal.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Danielle
I look at Raphael and wink. He smiles back and nods.
We’re waiting at the Colony’s front gate. When we first strolled up, it took only a few moments for guards to shout down and ask our business. Both young men, likely no older than eighteen, they didn’t seem to recognize me as they scanned us with bored looks. Giving them my name and announcing who I wished to speak with seemed to wake them up. They told us to wait here, and that’s what we’ve been doing for the past fifteen minutes.
The doors screech open and two women stroll out to meet us. They appear strong, limber, and confident in their movements. As they get closer I can see them smiling at Raphael with excitement. Both women are red haired and beautiful, the woman in the lead is about two inches shorter than the other, but other than the height difference they could be twins.
They are fair-skinned, with smooth white complexions. The shorter one has bouncy, curly hair that rests lightly on her shoulders, while the other’s matching auburn locks hang midway down her back. They both possess lean, muscular builds and their bearing matches that of martial artists who’ve been training all their lives. They wear black leather leggings, vests, and comfortable looking thigh-high boots. Blade hilts are visible at various places on their bodies; the shorter one has one in her boot and another on a sheath attached to her left arm, with the handle pointing downwards to allow for a quick draw. The taller of the two has a small throwing knife on her left shoulder and a longer blade sheathed cleverly on her right thigh. I can see what looks like the same pattern on the ornate silver hilt of a long blade that must be similar to my own peeking up behind each of their left shoulders. As they get close I notice bright crimson flecks swimming lazily in their eyes. These must be the sisters that Raphael spoke of.
“Raphael, you old dog, look at you! I swear he gets more handsome as the years go on, doesn’t he, sister?” The tall one spreads her arms widely and Raphael embraces her with a hearty laugh.
The shorter one grins and watches me with a friendly smile on her face until Raphael releases the first woman and hugs her.
“Hello, Sisters,” Raph says. “It looks as if nothing can take the smiles from your faces, even all of this pain and strife that we now see in the world.”
The shorter woman laughs and slaps him on the back lightly before disengaging from his arms. “We are Infernals, Brother. The worse things get, the bigger our smiles become.”
“Then the two of you must be joyous all the time,” he says.
The taller woman shakes her head slightly as she looks my way and meets my eyes. “That’s not the case, Raphael. There are always challenges to face, but we are happy to see you today, that’s for certain. Are you going to introduce us to your friend? The guards claim that she’s Danielle. Is it true the leader of the Gamers has returned after being away for so long?”
Raphael smiles and walks over to put his hand on my shoulder. “That’s right, ladies, the prodigal daughter returns to claim her flock. I’m pleased to introduce you to Danielle Radfield. Danielle, the shorter of these two beauties is Skylar, and the taller is her baby sister Courtney.”
Both women offer their hands in greeting, and I smile pleasantly as I shake each one in turn. “These are the two who can’t seem to control the leader that they helped make?” I ask.
Courtney, the taller of the two laughs at my comment and nods her head. “Of course we can’t control our leader, darling. What kind of leader would Stephanie be if others could force their will on her?”
“Exactly,” Skylar agrees. “Are you going to tell us that Raphael can get you to do anything that isn’t in your head already?”
I grin and nod. “I suppose she wouldn’t last long if she was seen as weak,” I admit.
“Exactly,” Courtney admitted. “I’m proud to say that among the Infernals, Stephanie is being hailed as one of the strongest leaders to take the position of Devil in ages.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” I say. “I will wish her continued prosperity in her role... as soon as she agrees to move on and leave my people alone.”
Skylar giggles and looks at Raphael playfully. “This girl is a treat to listen to, Brother,” she says. “She’s like a baby kitten, convinced that it’s a mighty hunter.”
Raphael raises his eyebrows and nods. I wonder what game they’re playing at. Neither woman seems impressed by me in the slightest. I guess that’s no surprise, considering I’m a young mortal and these women have centuries of experience under their belts.
“We aren’t here to discuss details, Sky,” Courtney says. She walks over and grabs her shorter, older sister gently by the arm. “Let’s escort them to the rendezvous point as instructed.”
Skylar nods in agreement. “Of course, Sister. If the two of you would be so kind as to follow us, we will take you to Stephanie. She looks forward to seeing you again after all these years apart.”
Raph and I start to follow the two women, expecting them to head for the front gate. They guess our thoughts and shake their heads in unison.
“She isn’t in the city,” Courtney says. “We will take you to her, but first we must show you something on the way.”
“You have to see it for yourself.” Skylar’s tone echoes the seriousness of her sister’s. “We’re going to fly over certain portions of the city. You have to understand that we’re not responsible for what you’re going to see.”
“What is it?” I can tell from their faces that it isn’t good.
“People are dying,” Courtney says. “Not just a few; tens of thousands of people.”
“What?” I ask in alarm. “How? Why?”
“We don’t know,” Skylar says. “It started only a short time ago. At first we thought there was a disease or plague going through the Colony, so we began to quarantine the sick from the healthy. We have healers as good as Samantha here, and they haven’t been able to cure the sick.”
“What are the symptoms?” Raphael asks.
“First, they get tired and weak,” Courtney says. “Then they stop eating and their complexion becomes grey. A couple days later they simply lie down and die.”
“No coughing, fever, visible signs of illness?” I ask.
The women shake their heads.
“Curious,” Raphael says.
“It gets worse,” Skylar says. “We started hearing from the other colonies around the globe.”
“What other colonies?” I ask.
“Stephanie will tell you more about that,” Courtney says. “In a nutshell, she’s set up colonies all over the world to enable people to live safely.”
“That doesn’t sound like any Devil I know,” Raphael says.
“Steph had a couple ideas that required bodies and souls,” Skylar flashes him a grin. “That doesn’t matter at the moment. Reports are telling us that the same thing is happening all over the world.”
“Do the victims have anything in common?” I have a feeling that she’s going to nod.
Both women nod and a chill comes over me.
“All the people who are dying,” Courtney says, “are NPCs.”
===
Trew
“Not one single player is dying from this plague?” Trew looked away from the monitor where Danielle was meeting with the Sisters.
“That must be the case,” Michelle said. “Almost no players are being ejected from the Game. Just the normal number of old avatars who are dying from old age and a few accidental deaths from bad luck.”
Trew felt his chest tighten in panic. The rest of the people in the room didn’t know the truth. Only Trew knew that every single person living on Tygon was an NPC as well!
What if it’s a digital plague that can jump to our reality?
He thought.
“We need to find a solution to this,” Trew said. “We need to help them.”
“Why?” Michelle asked. “Shouldn’t we be glad it’s only affecting computer code? If it crosses over and starts killing players, then we have a concern, but it’s only killing NPCs.”
Trew’s pulse hammered loudly in his head. The sounds in the room faded away as thoughts and feelings overwhelmed him the same way they had when he’d first watched the video of Brandon’s life and learned the truth about NPCs. He wanted to stand up and scream at the top of his lungs. He wanted to tell everyone in the room there was no such thing as ‘just an NPC!’ He wanted to share this incredible burden that had been thrust upon him so he wouldn’t have to carry it alone.
With wild eyes he looked at Cooper who was watching him intently as if he could hear the struggle going on inside of him. Cooper nodded softly and held his palm flat and lowered it gently towards the floor.
He’s telling me to calm down
,
Trew thought.
I can’t lose it, especially not over something like this. There’s no way anyone will believe me anyway.
Memories of being George Knight inside the Game surfaced. Believing with absolute certainty that he was living inside a computer simulation, while no one believed him. The looks and ridicule that had resulted from his attempts to share what he knew to be true, while being believed by almost no one.
For some reason Trew knew the same thing was happening again, only this time it was the knowledge that Tygon was populated entirely by NPCs.
Trew closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing. He summoned the golden glow, letting it bathe him in its calming embrace. Eventually the anxiety began to fade. When the waves of terror, fear, and loneliness had subsided to a faint pulse, he opened his eyes.
Everyone in the room stared at him with concern. He stole a quick glance at Cooper who nodded slowly and smiled encouragingly. It had passed. Everything was okay.
“There must be a reason for this,” Trew said out loud.
He looked at the monitor again and watched as Danni took flight with Raphael and the sisters. In silence he watched as they flew over large areas of the Colony. Once vibrant sections of living subdivisions were now empty, dark areas along the outer edges of the settlement. Immense burial sites had been excavated, and people worked slowly to place the bodies of the dead into the gigantic pits they had dug.
Trew looked around the room at the faces of Danni’s team. They watched with curious interest, but it was obvious that they didn’t mourn for the loss of these NPCs. It was apparent that they felt no connection with the empty, digitally manufactured avatars that were being buried in mass graves.
Trew felt something, though.
He knew that if his friends and family died, he would be crushed. He knew that perhaps in the Dream, viewers would watch with detached interest as NPCs lived and died on Tygon, but to Trew and every other citizen, the losses would be very real.
His mind began to race, wondering why he’d been shown the truth of something that no one else could know, first in the Game as George Knight, and now on Tygon as Trew. His mind worked furiously to put the pieces of a puzzle together that only he seemed capable of seeing.
And then, in a flash, he had it.
“Oh, my God!” he said.
The others looked at him with curiosity.
Lilith thought she saw tears in his eyes and wondered at what was making him act this way. “What is it, Trew?” she asked in concern.
“I think I just figured it out,” he whispered in awe.
“Figured what out? Why the NPCs are dying off?”
“No.” Trew looked seriously at Cooper, who scrutinized him closely and raised his eyebrows in surprise at what he saw.
“I think I just figured out the entire purpose of the Game.”