by Tom Larcombe
Aaron had raised objections when the pods had been removed from the warehouse and shipped to Light Online's central offices, but his objections had been ignored. Now, at least, having them there would help. He got himself ready, a shower and coffee waking him the rest of the way, then went to work. This time instead of going to his tiny cubicle of an office, he headed to the labs where they'd taken the pods.
“Alright, what do we have?” Aaron asked.
The three technicians working on the pods looked up.
“We got into the interface,” the head of the techs said. “They installed additional micro-computers on the pods to control the daily downloads, but they didn't have nearly enough RAM. That's why they kept swamping the servers. We also got into the code they were using. They hacked our code, then stripped parts out and replaced them with their own.”
The man gestured Aaron over to a monitor showing the code in question.
“So we know why the dreams, that was pretty apparent, their download sequence didn't shield the player's mind so they experienced it again. Part of what they stripped out does that in our code. But here's the better part, we know why the long span of black the players experienced. The idiots used the defined size data blocks we use to download memories. The ones that are a set size instead of the variable sized one we finish with. So the players in these pods got to relive their day, then they got to experience the rest of that data block semi-conscious in their pods. The combination of the null data being streamed to their brain and the darkness in their pods is what they were experiencing in there.”
“How long would that feel to them? How long was it really?”
“It depends on how much they did that day. Those are normally twenty-four hour blocks. So if they were awake for sixteen hours, they'd experience, relatively, eight hours of the black. Although without being able to move, but still being semi-conscious? I imagine that would make it feel longer, as would the null data being downloaded to their brain during the process. I hear there's only one guy who had to go through that whole length of that though. How's he doing?”
“He was doing fine the last time I talked to him,” Aaron said. “Although he didn't like to talk about that very much. He talked about it with one of the AIs and I got most of it from her.”
The tech nodded.
“Well, I think we can fix this so they will neither relive their day nor experience the black again. I'll just put the shield back in so they don't experience their memories as they're downloaded and I'll switch the code to use the variable sized block so it doesn't keep streaming after the day's memories are done. I've already tweaked the code, but I'm not going to compile it and replace the existing code without authorization.”
“You know what? They shouldn't be going to sleep for a few hours, so we've got a little time. Let me check something, but I'm going to tentatively say that we'll do this. Was this code at all interconnected with the server that keeps contacting the pods?”
“This code was resident in the pods. It also writes data to the pods' memory storage. The non-local server accesses that data not this code. So only indirectly.”
“Can you hack it so that the data written to the memory storage is still similarly formatted to what it was already receiving? And maybe toss something in so that data isn't true, although it looks like it is?”
The tech grinned and rubbed his hands together.
“I'd be more than happy to. Don't want our fixes getting out into whoever is running that server's hands?”
Aaron nodded.
“I'm pretty sure our higher ups would be happier if the guys that hacked the system were receiving false data, yes. I'll authorize that at the very least and like I said, probably the other as well. But I'm going to go in-game and ask the affected people if they want us to do that. Greenshaw told me to keep them happy, I figure keeping them in the loop and giving them the choice should do that.”
The tech's fingers were already flying over the keyboard and Aaron could see what he was doing. He was changing the section of code that sent the data to the server to send altered data to the server instead, using the built in random number generator to make minuscule changes to each piece of data, rendering it worthless as a set.
“I'm off,” Aaron said.
~ ~ ~
Eddie looked around. For a few minutes, at least, there weren't going to be any more customers.
“Tiana?” he said.
She turned to face him.
“Tiana, this is Paul, Paul... Tiana,” Eddie said. “Paul might like to hire your group for an escort job if you're interested. And if you take the job, then I have an idea of how to make it more profitable.”
“I need to get back to Brightport,” Paul said. “I was supposed to receive a teleport back there after finishing my last job, but the guy who owed it to me has skipped out on it. He's in a bit of trouble from what I can tell, so I don't expect to see him any time soon, if ever.”
“Brightport's awfully far. It's a three day round trip. What are you offering?” Tiana asked. “Once you let me know that I can ask the rest of my group.”
Eddie was distracted as a red bar flashed into his panel. Text appeared on it.
Eddie, turn around, it read. This is Aaron.
Eddie spun, staring out at the apparently empty field and treeline.
Follow the orange light, in the trees.
He saw a flash of orange back in the trees.
“Excuse me for a minute,” he said.
Paul grunted acknowledgment as he and Tiana kept talking.
Eddie trotted over into the trees and found Aaron crouching behind a bush.
“Aren't you a dev? Why would you be hiding?” Eddie asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I am. You know what it's like appearing around players? The other farmers that are living the high life right now are what most of them are like. As soon as I appear they're all over me, asking for stuff. I'd rather just avoid that. Plus a dev showing up makes people think there's a problem. Even if there is, we don't want them thinking that way.”
“I get it. Although I may ask you for something myself,” he said, an idea occurring to him.
Aaron sighed.
“Fine, get it out of the way first.”
“Well, you know the builder on that last farm? He's in bad straits. His wife and daughter want to come in game with him, but he's got to get back to Brightport first. Panning had offered him a teleport back, but it's pretty obvious he won't be seeing that now. Can you provide that?”
Aaron stared at him.
“Yeah, I can probably do that. It still falls under the keeping players happy that were screwed over by Allan Panning directive I was given. I can just do the damned teleport myself. Anyhow, that's not why I came here. We think we can fix your issues; restore stability to the server and keep you and the others from re-experiencing your day and keep you out of the black. But it isn't a hundred percent positive chance. We think we know where they screwed up and can fix it. But I'm making it your call on whether or not we do that.”
“Why me?”
“Because you and Karl are the only two of those affected by the dreams that I've got any respect for and you were in game before him. So call it seniority if you like.”
“Can I go talk about this with Karl?”
“Yeah, you can bring him and that builder guy back here and we can talk about it.”
“Um, we're liable to have someone else tagging along as well. She's been spending a lot of time with us. I thought it was because of Lucky, but she's sticking with us today too.”
“Eddie my man,” Aaron said. “Good job.”
“What?” Eddie asked, “Oh, it's nothing like that. I mean, she's cute and all, but she's just a friend.”
“Sounds like she might want to be more than that, know what I mean?” Aaron said.
“This is just getting weird now, let me go get the others.”
“I'll be right here, I'm not going out in that field though. The
re are eighty-nine players within one mile of here and about twenty-five NPCs. I do NOT want to be seen by any of them.”
“Except the ones you want me to bring back, right?”
Aaron sighed.
“Yeah, except for them.”
Eddie walked out and noticed that there still weren't any customers.
“Paul, Karl, got someone you need to talk to,” he called out.
As he'd expected, Tiana came along when they started walking his way. With what Aaron had just said, Eddie noticed that she made a beeline towards him, stopping when she was about two feet away.
“Yeah?” Paul said, “Where?”
“Behind the treeline, it's our friend from the farm, he didn't want to be seen by hordes of players,” Eddie said.
Paul got a troubled look on his face.
“What now?” he muttered. “Do they think I was complicit with all that?”
“No,” Eddie said softly, “Aaron thinks you got screwed too and is going to help make up for it.”
Paul shrugged and stepped into the treeline, following Karl.
“We're not going to get jumped, right?” Tiana asked.
“Well, he didn't specifically ask for you, but when I told him you might come along, he just kind of shrugged. Trust me though when I say you're safe with him.”
She followed the other two men with Eddie bringing up the rear. She stopped dead when she caught sight of Aaron.
I bet she evaluated him at first sight, just like she did me, Eddie thought.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I kind of need to be in on this conversation.”
Tiana shook her head and took a step to the side. Eddie walked forward.
“Take care of Paul first?” he asked.
Paul looked at him quizzically.
“Brightport?” Aaron asked.
Eddie nodded.
“Temple okay by you?” he asked Paul.
“You're going to teleport me there?” Paul asked.
“Yeah, I was told Panning promised you that, then left you stranded out here, so I'm just trying to clean up the mess that man left behind.”
“Temple is just fine,” Paul said.
Aaron muttered a few words, then touched Paul's shoulder. Paul shimmered briefly, his outline dimming until he was no longer there.
“That's taken care of, now Karl, did Eddie tell you why he wanted you back here?”
Karl shook his head.
“We think we can get rid of the dream, the black, and the server stability issue, but since you two are the ones most directly affected, I wanted to check with you first since it isn't a one hundred percent thing.”
“What kind of percentage then?” Karl asked.
“Don't know, our best coder at working from scratch told me he thinks he can fix it. He wrote a good quarter of the code we're using for the world, so I trust his word.”
Karl let out a long sigh.
“Do it,” he said.
“That was my inclination as well,” Eddie added.
“Alright then, that's what I needed. I suppose I didn't need to come in person, but I wanted to see how the two of you were doing. It looks like you're doing fine, I notice you claimed some land in this zone Eddie?”
Eddie grinned.
“Well, I'd hate for the Meadowlands help file to be wrong the way it's written, although I expect it'll need to be rewritten fairly soon,” he said.
“That's my man,” Aaron said. “Those help files are really important for players when you're dealing with land, hamlets, villages, or even larger settlements.”
“Why?” Eddie asked.
“Why what, hints?” Aaron said, “Because I want to see how it goes. No-one's caught onto any of the settlement stuff yet, there's a lot more you can do in this game than people have been doing and I want to see it experienced to its fullest. Besides, I haven't said anything, have I? Just made normal conversation about pertinent topics.”
Eddie nodded. He wondered if what Aaron had said was true until he put himself in Aaron's shoes. Knowing that something wasn't being used as fully as possible would bother him too, especially if he knew all about it, no-one else had figured it out, and he couldn't do those things himself.
He nodded again, firmly.
“Will we be having the dreams or the black tonight?” he asked.
“Not if we can help it. But I'm sure Freyja will pull you out of them again if what we try doesn't work. Now I've got to go and get my coder fixing your issues.”
He shimmered and disappeared, there one moment and gone the next, like Paul when he'd been teleported.
~ ~ ~
By the end of the evening Eddie had made even better profits than the day before. Evidently the vegetables were going to be a major portion of his profits, at least for a few days until people got tired of them again. He'd also gained two more points in his cooking skill.
Between the ninety-three meat on a sticks that had sold and the seventy-five portions of vegetables, he was feeling pretty flush. Tiana had stayed right through the evening, helping out as well.
Eddie had been paying attention this time. Whenever she got the chance, she'd move to within a couple of feet of him, then either strike up a conversation or just keep doing whatever she'd been doing, only closer to him.
What should I do about that? he wondered. Is she interested in me or is it something else? I wish I knew how to tell.
The sound of trees being felled continued right through the afternoon and evening. After it looked like their customers for the day were gone, Eddie asked Karl to run some meat and vegetables over to Ingolf.
“Ingolf?” Karl asked.
“Yeah, he's the woodcutter I've got clearing my lot. You won't be able to miss him, just wait until you hear someone call out 'timber' and that'll be him.”
He glanced over at Tiana, then back to Karl.
“Okay?” Eddie asked.
Karl's eyes flicked to Tiana as well and a grin spread across his face.
“Oh yeah, I get you,” he said.
Eddie groaned inwardly, but let Karl run with his idea.
After all, he thought, it's not that far from the truth. I just want to know why she keeps getting so close to me.
While he talked with her, he counted the profits for the day.
“So, um, I don't know how to say this, so I'll be blunt,” Eddie said. “You keep getting really close to me and just hanging out there. I don't mind, not at all, I just... I don't want to read too much into that.”
Tiana blushed.
“Well first, thank you for asking and not assuming. I don't know why I keep doing it. It's just that if I'm close enough to to you I feel comforted, you know? Real life's pretty rough for me at this point. I'm doing thirty day stints because I need to be in the pod, at least if I want...”
She trailed off.
“You don't want to know all of that though,” she continued. “It's not your problem, it's mine. I'm doing what I can about it, but that sense of comfort is something I've missed in game. Lucky gives me a little of that feeling as well, but I get a lot more of it from you.”
Well, now I guess I get to quantify that non-quantifiable bonus, he thought. Although quantifying a feeling? Maybe I can't really quantify it still, but now I know what it does, or at least what it does for her.
“If you need to talk about it, I'm not going anywhere for a while,” Eddie said. “I can't really, but can't say more about it either.”
She smiled at him and for the first time he noticed that there was an undertone of sadness to it. Looking back at the other times he'd seen her smile he realized that it was there most of the time for her.
“No, that's alright,” she said. “I've talked and talked about my problem outside of the game. Now I'm just trying to fix it, even though it feels like it'll take forever.”
Eddie sat down on a log they'd rolled over as a seat for when business was slower. Tiana moved with him, then gestured at the log right beside him.
&nbs
p; “May I?” she said.
“Go ahead.”
She sat down, then finished her invasion of his personal space by scooting over until they were touching. She turned her head away from him.
“There might be another reason too,” she said softly, pressing herself to his side.
She turned her head back towards him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Of course, that was when Karl got back. He cleared his throat and Tiana pulled herself away from Eddie before he'd manage to react to her words or the kiss. She was blushing furiously when she stood.
“So Karl, I'm thinking Tiana should get a share too?” Eddie asked. “She might not be in our group, but she did help right through.”
Karl grinned at him impudently.
“Sure. Whatever you say. She really did help though. Did you see how many players we had going through here? That was crazy.”
“Aaron said there were almost ninety players in the area when he was here, I think we saw most, if not all, of them come through the stand today,” Eddie replied.
“It was kind of crazy,” Tiana added.
“Okay, here's today's profits then,” Eddie said.
He took two piles of silver out and handed one to each of the others. There had actually been a few gold coins that came through today, but he'd put those in his own stack. It took a moment for the others to count their money.
“Fifty-six silver?” Tiana exclaimed. “That's crazy.”
“What? Why?” Eddie asked.
“That's about what each of the party I'm in makes on a good run into the Forest of Fools. There's dropped items too, but that really doesn't add that much when you factor in Old Jeffries' prices.”
“So that's good then?” Karl asked.
“It's better than good. The party I'm in? Everyone is level seven and eight. Here you two are level two and you just made as much in an afternoon and evening as a party of level sevens would make on a run into the forest. Like I said, that's crazy. Good, but still crazy.”
“Well, it's not exactly glamorous, but it'll help pay the bills,” Eddie said.
“That would pay for a day in a pod center with a little bit left over,” Tiana said. “I know, I used to be in one of them. A hundred dollars a day was their standard rate.”