by A W Wang
“What about Jet and Block?” I ask.
“Who?”
“Two people on my team who were together before I met them. They were pulled away to go into a special scenario.”
The broken halo of sunlight glitters in her silver hair as she dips her head in thought, no doubt deciding how much to share. “They were killed.”
Mixed emotions flood into my being. While there is relief at never having to worry about them returning and causing trouble, a spark warms my lower half as I picture Jet.
Haiku adds, “They were in more scenarios than your record, but they don’t count for our purposes.”
“Because you’re only interested in humans and Jet wasn’t human. What was she?”
The silver eyes turn an unsettling shade of blue.
“I mean, you have the AI types and the regular people, but she was something different altogether.”
In a strangely human fashion, the avatar raises her eyebrows and takes a deep breath. “That’s very perceptive. You’re clearly an uncommon individual.”
Cat snickers as Haiku continues, “Because of the high casualty rate, we create AIs to flesh out the numbers required for the program. And yes, the woman from your team was special. However, you won’t see her likes again. The program is now only AIs and humans.”
I think about my thrill from killing the face-painter and the violent, arousing incident with Jet. Two things that will never happen again. My thoughts shift to the Carthaginian girl I killed to save from Jet’s tortures. “I don’t mind battling the AIs, but killing humans is something I really hate.”
“You won’t have to worry about that either. Pitting humans against humans in the scenarios is a practice that has been terminated.”
When the avatar doesn’t add anything else, I say, “It’s hard to imagine anyone killing one, let alone everyone like Jet and Block in one scenario.”
Her all-too-human expression deepens before she replies, “A nine sigma did it.”
“The woman with the red mane?” I say as Cat claws her fingers into my thigh.
Haiku blinks in surprise. “Yes, the nine sigma is a woman with long red hair.” Her eyes return to silver and flatten, the disconcerting effect lasting for a few seconds, before she says, “Oh, my.”
Brushing Cat’s hand away, I stand and stare at the software that isn’t software.
An image of a red-haired woman appears in my mind. She’s so perfect she must be a goddess.
“This is the nine sigma. Is she familiar?” Haiku asks.
I glance at my forearm, imagining my thumbnail slicing characters.
“This sounds silly, but I used to cut something here. I’ve forgotten what it was. Until now. I think the words are ‘Red Mane.’ Is this someone I knew?”
“I can’t say more.”
“Can I see her?”
“She’s gone.”
A terrible sadness washes over me.
Haiku waves her little hands. “That’s not what I meant. She reached ten sigmas and has graduated from the program.”
By the relief I feel, I know the red-maned woman is the reason I came to this place. I have to follow her.
She’s waiting in the real world.
“I’m not even halfway to getting out of here,” I say, thinking of my own 4.75 score.
Cat stands, and her fingernails dig into my arm.
I glance at her, gritting my teeth. The anger I’ve experienced so many times flares in her eyes but with one difference: This look is laced with jealousy.
Haiku ignores the unspoken interaction. “We are implementing a new branch of the program. The real world needs ten sigmas more than ever. If you would like to accelerate your trip there, then you can volunteer.”
“Is it any easier?” Cat asks.
“No, the ten sigma rule is etched into the lowest levels of code. This new branch would only condense the risks into a shorter period.”
Cat turns to me. “Slow and steady. You still have a lot to improve.”
I nod with reluctance. “I guess we’re not interested.”
“That’s too bad. We need the volunteers,” Haiku says with disappointment.
“If there’s nothing else, we’d like to be alone,” Cat says.
The avatar flicks her hand, and she disappears in a sparkle of gold.
“She seemed different for an avatar. Did you notice?” I say.
“Who cares?”
Rather than heighten her already dark mood, I shrug.
She grabs my hand and drags me from the courtyard. “So, we were discussing if we were to get married. If that ever happened, I’d want a sexy wedding dress…”
As I walk through the foyer and exit the museum for the last time, I focus on the woman with the red mane. Unlike everything else from my past, her image burns crystal clear in my mind. I won’t need to cut anything into my forearm.
While Cat continues weaving more stories into our fake existence, I step lighter.
My mission has and always will be to find the woman with the red mane.
Forty-Three
As I lie on my mattress, the first grays of dawn enter the barracks.
Jinn rolls from his bunk with a faint rustle and pads to the exit.
No matter how much I detest the man, I need to speak with him. However, I can’t go anywhere alone because Cat insists on accompanying me everywhere. It’s not that I don’t like her or the pleasing existence we’ve crafted. For a long while, the fake history was the only thing keeping this place bearable and my hidden fury in check.
But now…
My gaze roams over the round space, searching for a way to leave without disturbing my partner. She’s in the bunk below, and any movement will wake her.
“Hey, Chew,” I whisper. “Chew?”
A tendril of smoke drifts past, and I glance upward.
Just beyond the top of the bed, ruby eyes glow in front of a floating dragon body that is more mist than substance.
Surprised by the noiseless entrance, I say, “Can you take me out of here without making a sound?”
As if understanding my need for secrecy, the avatar replies in a barely audible tone, “Yes, is there a location?”
“Just the Commons.”
An instant later, golden sparkles recede, and I’m standing in the middle of the green, rectangular area. The ghostly form of the dragon waits for a moment but disappears when I stay silent.
So much for curiosity among the software.
Not that I mind.
Thinking of the excuse I’m going to tell Cat, who will be miffed at best, I trot toward Jinn’s meditation place in the eastern skyline. When I arrive at the round building with a panoramic view, I thump up the looping stairs two at a time, not caring about stealth. After the staircase circles the giant construct twice, I jump onto the roof platform as a sliver of sun pokes over the saw-toothed peaks of the distant mountains.
Bathed in faint orange light, Jinn sits in a meditative pose near the ankle-high rim circling the rooftop.
As I move behind him and gather my breath, he remains motionless. He’s in no hurry to start this inevitable conversation.
After several moments, he tilts his head and says, “Your piggish breaths are ruining my concentration.”
I smile, happy with yet another reason to detest the man. “It’s time for our little chat.”
“About what?”
“The woman with the red mane.”
He gracefully rises and faces me. “You mean my goddess.”
Despising his perfectly chiseled frame and tone of worship, I reply, “The very same.”
His palms twist up in a mock gesture of submission. “What shall I say?”
“The truth.”
“I don’t understand your obsession.”
Like many things in this universe, I don’t have the answer either. “She’s important to me.”
“You haven’t even met her.”
“How would you know that?”
“If you had, you would not have forgotten.” With a glare, he points toward the staircase. “Leave. Do not force me to end the team and send you away from your partner.”
I smirk. “I’ll trade you information.”
“What could you possibly have to offer?”
“I know where she is.”
His lips part in surprise, but a moment passes before any words come out. “Impossible, you lie.”
“An avatar told me yesterday in the museum. Do we have a deal?”
He scans the vicinity as if his goddess might suddenly appear. When no deities reveal themselves, he nods. “Very well.”
“You start.”
Unlike a normal story where his eyes would wander as he searched his memories, he stays focused on me as if reciting a religious experience.
“After a restocking is when I first glimpsed the goddess with the red mane. Such perfection you have never seen.”
I nod, remembering the image the avatar put into my mind, although for some unknown reason, I picture her in front of a sunlit window. However, Jinn’s not exaggerating; she is flawless.
“As such, my eyes were drawn to her. Soon, I noticed that hers were drawn to me. True to this place, for me, there was no lust or even love, just a platonic appreciation for her beauty.
“During the next movie night, I introduced myself, but she dodged my first attempt and made me pursue. After I was judged worthy, she led me into the shadows of the museum.”
Jealousy sparks inside me, but I force my hands to remain at my sides.
If Jinn senses the reaction, he hides it well, and his words continue in the same reverent tone.
“Once there, she attacked with a passion. I wanted to please her, to perform as a man should, but there was nothing. And then she pulled off her clothing and threw me onto the grass. She tried to push me inside her, but I was unworthy.”
He gestures in a wide loop. “Such is the nature of this place.”
I dip my head.
“What I shall say is how I understand what took place next,” he explains. “This perfect being forced me to pleasure her with my mouth, and I was happy to try. But as I was doing her bidding, something strange happened. I could taste her excitement. Somehow, she had conquered what the overlords had taken away. And I knew she was special, a goddess. But, because of my inadequacies, she became angry, even violent. She pressed harder onto my face, suffocating me with her sex. Her muscles tensed and squeezed my head as her wrath built. Then she raised her hands to strike me down, and in that instant, I was on the edge between life and death.
“Have you ever been there?”
Thinking of when I came the closest to death of anyone, I reply softly, “More times than I care to remember.”
“Good, then you understand the helplessness of having your ultimate fate in someone else’s hands.” He thumps his perfect chest. “And then, she struck the ground, choosing to bless me with life. Life!”
“Did you ever see her after that?”
“No, I tried to coax her for more, but she disappeared into the darkness. I have never seen or heard from her again. And that is why I worship her memories. Never before has there been a more perfect creature. And perhaps never again.”
My muscles tense, and suddenly, I want to push him from the platform.
What am I turning into?
I don’t even remember this woman.
His smug expression returns. “Does that answer your questions?”
“Yeah, for now.”
“And forever. We have no reason for further pleasantries.”
“You might need friends.”
“I am blessed by the goddess, who has deemed me worthy. Now, state where she is.”
My lips curl with malice. “Nowhere in this universe. She reached ten sigmas. She’s back in the real world.”
He glances toward the blue dome, lips tight with disappointment. The weakness is only temporary, and he recovers quickly, tapping into his spiritualness. “That’s where someone like her belongs. This program is about creating gods for the real world.”
“You, my friend, are in a league of crazy by yourself,” I say, unsure of the reference.
“One person’s crazy is another person’s path.”
“That’s a long, long path for you.”
“It is for you as well,” he says without his usual calm.
“I promise you I’m getting out of here.”
“As shall I.”
“Friends or not, you’ll need help. Bullets and knives don’t care how much you worship the woman with the red mane. Even if she’s a deity, you’re only a man. Cat and I are your best chance to get out of here, so you better stop threatening to break up the team.”
His eyes meet mine.
“Understand?”
After a moment’s consideration, he gives a shallow nod.
Without a goodbye, I pivot and head for the exit.
As my hand touches the railing, he calls out, “Do you think you are worthy of a goddess?”
Anger floods into me, and I turn and say, “Do you think you’re worthy?”
Before an answer comes, I continue, speaking with as much venom as I can muster, “You betrayed your own teammates, not because you wanted harmony or Cat dead. You wanted me dead because you’re afraid your goddess is meant for me. How’s she going to react when she finds out what a treacherous snake you are?”
Although his reply comes in a level tone, his smug expression wavers. “You aren’t a god, my friend. If you meet her, she won’t believe anything you say. The goddess with the red mane will laugh in your face.”
With a great effort, I step down the stairs, forcing myself not to turn around and attack him.
However, as I descend, I realize my emotions have nothing to do with Jinn.
I’m angry at his goddess.
As I tread down the last of the stairs, doubts arise from the pissing contest.
Am I truly worthy?
Jinn’s parting salvo certainly struck a chord.
I misstep and grab the railing, wobbling. When I regain my balance, I bring my head into my cradled arms.
What am I doing?
Like everything, I have no answers, and every avenue I pursue leads to more questions.
What do I actually know?
I visualize “RED MANE” in gory letters cut across the smooth skin of my forearm. I need to find the woman with the red mane.
What else?
Besides Jinn confirming how difficult it would be to attempt to have sex in this place, the affair was a single chance encounter. Most likely, he was only chosen for his exterior and not for any inner beauty. Something reeking of desperation. But why would someone want a release like that?
I shake my head, now having more riddles and no new answers.
But what do I really need?
The woman with the red mane is important, and she’s back in the real world.
Where I need to be too.
Anything else can be solved after I leave this place, which despite my partnership with Cat, is still fraught with danger. The future where I deal with these issues may never happen.
So why worry?
With that debate settled, I hustle off the staircase.
When I touch solid ground, Cat waves from a long shadow cutting across the Commons and jogs in my direction.
After she stops in front of me, I send her a reassuring smile.
She says breathlessly, “When I got up, you were gone.”
“You looked like you needed more sleep.”
“I figured you went to the museum.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head and feeling stifled from the attention, “a promise is a promise. I’m not going back there again.”
“Then where did you go?”
Because of the suspicion in her tone, I take a moment to compose an acceptable answer that doesn’t reference the woman with the red mane.
“I was just out walking and needed to think.”
“About what?”
A convenient lie slides onto my tongue. “Maybe the next phase of our stories should include the actual wedding. We can ask Chew to perform the ceremony.”
Her eyes study me for a moment before her face lights up. “Oh, that’s wonderful.”
“So you’re not saying ‘No?’”
A slap hits my arm, and I yelp.
“You stupid, silly man,” she says, smiling. “Of course, I’ll say ‘Yes.’”
“So what do you want to do now?”
Her hand wraps around mine. “Let’s head to the cafeteria. We’ve got a wedding menu to plan.”
While we walk across the Commons and she cheerily chats about our coming union, I look to the blue dome and picture the goddess with the red mane.
Forty-Four
Although the battles remain intense, the path stays slow and steady. What started against the six face-painters in the reactor blossoms, and Cat and I destroy all opposition.
We wipe out medieval knights clad in glittery silver armor during our eighteenth scenario, then for number nineteen, we face enemies in a modern city.
Cat and I navigate hidden passages between piggy-backed buildings and arrive behind our opponents for the final firefight. We burst through a doorway and twirl down a wide avenue with our bodies perfectly synchronized and our senses perfectly attuned to the other’s actions.
AIs wearing high-tech defensive plating die in sprays of crimson as our high-powered rifles crack in unison.
When there’s only one left, Cat and I roll apart and blast the AI in a crossfire. The deadly projectiles carve the body into chunks that tumble into the recessed entrance of a glass building.
I pull off my helmet, appreciating the quiet in my head. Whereas in my first scenarios, the threads constantly blasted all sorts of advice, I now know the right thing to do instinctively.
Cat lifts her clear visor. “That was fun.”
Even though the victory wasn’t exactly a good time, I send her a reassuring smile.
As the golden sparkles take us, Cat says, “You’re…”
“… getting much better, and it’s pretty sexy.”