by J G Cressey
“How the pods doing?”
Meeks turned and gazed toward the large, egg-like structures that filled the casino’s vast ceiling. “Excellent. By all accounts, they’re an excellent investment.” The pleasure pods were a relatively new addition to the casinos. Utilizing a mixture of virtual reality, drugs, and sensory links enabled their occupants to fulfil their greatest fantasies—or at least to make them think they were, and that was good enough for most. What better way to escape present circumstances? Meeks mused. Those who desired—and could afford it—often spent weeks at a time cocooned within the high-tech little eggs. All necessary bodily functions were taken care of, allowing an uninterrupted experience for the user as they busily became the greatest lover, the toughest fighter, or simply more popular than God.
“At this rate, they’ll soon be bringing in as much as the gambling.”
“I told you, Meeks.” Hogmeyer’s mouth made an approximation of a grin. “I told you they’d be a success.”
Meeks did his best to smile back. “Of course…there have been a few complaints.”
Hogmeyer scoffed. “Aren’t there always bloody complaints? Ignore them.”
“I would sir, but the complaints have been connected to a few casualties.”
“Casualties?”
“Deaths, actually. It seems the drug input is a little on the high side.”
“Of course it is, makes for a better experience. And the drugs are cheap. What’s to lose? There are other establishments with these pods, you know, Meeks. I won’t have mine being thought of as inferior just because of a few weaklings.” Using the tip of his control wand, Hogmeyer scratched at his shoulder. Then he pointed the wand at Meeks. “You realize this city has a reputation to uphold.”
Oh, that it has, Meeks thought, wondering if his boss actually believed his own bullshit. “And what if a few of those weaklings have been from the higher class sector of the city?”
Hogmeyer looked ready to bark out a reply then stopped short. Twiddling his wand, he gazed out at his beloved Golden Hall and seemed to consider for a moment. “Reputations are tricky beasts, Meeks… Okay, reduce the drugs in the higher class pods.” Again, he thrust the control wand in Meeks’ direction. “But the higher class only.”
Only after Meeks had nodded his understanding did Hogmeyer redirect the wand. Pointing it at the huge smart-glass window, he gave it a lazy flick. Instantly, the view of the Golden Hall disappeared, and a grid of no less than two hundred large squares took its place. Within each square were viewpoints from bug cameras stationed throughout the city. About half of those squares showed crowds of people roaming the various gambling halls, hotel lobbies, and shopping centers. The other half consisted of a mix, ranging from busy spaceship hangars to health spa saunas—similarly busy with nude women. Meeks couldn’t help but notice that one of those flesh-filled scenes was marked as last viewed. It was also on that scene that the green targeting beam of the control wand now fell.
“I’m done with you now, Meeks,” Hogmeyer said without bothering to tear his eyes from the screen. “Get out of my sight. I’ve work to do.”
“Of course,” Meeks replied as he scooped up his little white holo-cube and strode smoothly towards the door.
As the little accountant left the office, he couldn’t help but smooth back his hair and mumble a single word. “Pervert.”
Before Hogmeyer could bark a retort, the door had slid shut behind him.
Chapter Fourteen
KUNG FU PUPPETS
The soft, fine sand felt good under Cal’s bare feet. Strolling out from under the shade of the palm trees, he looked up and took a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The beach was completely deserted. The only sounds he could hear came from the gentle, lapping of waves as they met the shore and the twittering and occasional squawking of tropical birdlife. He shielded his eyes and looked out over the calm, glittering sea.
“Pretty cool, eh, Cal?” The voice was Viktor’s.
Cal looked over to the boy, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere a little further up the beach. “It’s incredible, Viktor. Excellent choice of venue.”
“I’m glad you like it,” the boy replied, walking toward him. He came to a stop about five metres away. “Of course, we’re not here to admire the view.”
Cal smiled, amused at the seriousness of his young friend.
Planting his feet shoulder width apart, Viktor brought his clenched fists up in front of him. “You ready?” There was an attempt at menace in the boy’s tone, but his high voice made it unconvincing.
“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”
Cal had barely finished his reply before Viktor launched himself into the air, an impossibly high jump, and targeted his outstretched foot at Cal’s head. Managing to twist away from the attack in the nick of time, Cal found himself stumbling backwards in an attempt to steady himself. But Viktor allowed him little time to gather his wits or balance. The boy had barely hit the sand before launching a second airborne attack, this time making full use of his bony fists to unleash a barrage of lethal punches. Cal was forced back further still, blocking punch after punch, each one testing his speed and skill to the limit. After two narrowly missed elbow strikes and a roundhouse kick that practically took his nose off, Cal found himself thigh deep in the sea. Rather than following him in any deeper, Viktor once again ignored the laws of gravity and leapt backwards in a high, arching backflip to land effortlessly on the dry sand.
“Up for any more punishment, Cal?” the boy inquired, beckoning him forward.
“On my way,” Cal muttered as he waded back towards the shore. Before reaching it, however, he noticed what appeared to be a green fireball, about half a meter in diameter, hovering before his young opponent. He had two seconds to ponder the fireball’s existence before an indecipherable shout from Viktor sent the fiery mass careening toward him with the speed of a professionally thrown spikeball. Hitting him square in the chest, it sent him spinning through the air to plunge straight back into the sea.
Cal didn’t surface. Instead, he found himself in one of Big Blue’s recreation rooms, his clothes as dry as a bone. He was standing on a large platform facing a disappointed-looking Viktor, who was perched on a similar platform a few meters opposite. The boy looked ridiculous; he was wearing a stim-suit that had more wires protruding from it than a porcupine had spines. Of course, he too was wearing a similar suit and didn’t imagine for a second that he looked any less ridiculous.
“You gotta at least try and fight me back, Cal. I thought you were good at all this kung fu stuff.”
“Well, this virtual fighting is a little different to real life, Viktor. To be honest, I’ve never had to try and block a green fireball before,” Cal replied. He could hear hysterical laughter behind him, and he turned to see Toker and Eddy falling about one another on the floor. Jumper was standing behind them, his perfect white teeth displayed in a wide grin that suggested he was teetering on the edge of a giggle fit himself.
“What’s so funny?” Viktor asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“Viktor…that was priceless,” Toker said though his laughter. “I dunno what it looked like in your virtual kung fu land, but your…arms and legs…everywhere…brilliant…”
“You…you were like…” Eddy was clutching her gut and was having similar trouble getting her words out, “A little drunk…kung fu puppet.”
“Perfect, yes. Good one,” Toker wholeheartedly agreed. “Drunk kung fu puppet…spot on.”
“You have to move your arms and legs, idiots. The stim-suits read your moves then puts ‘em in the game.”
“Oh…those were moves, were they?” Toker said, sitting up and wiping away his tears.
“Yes, they were, and I can assure you, the moves I was pulling off were kicking Cal’s arse, and they’ll kick yours when it’s your turn.”
“You think, little squirt?” Toker replied, his laughter rapidly subsiding to his competitive edge. “I’ll have you know I com
pleted Dragon Warrior eight, Zin’s Revenge in three days.”
“Ha, Zin’s Revenge. That’s a kiddie’s game. I bet you played it on one of those crappy Centor virtual world machines too.”
Toker spluttered as he climbed to his feet. “What you talking about? Centors are the best credits can buy. You’re saying your heap of wires and spare parts is better than a Centor? Man, you’re nuts.”
Viktor shook his head. “Another dimwit sucker falling for Centor marketing. If you had even half a proper brain, you’d realize they’re using old school technology. My machine is leagues ahead. And the wires are only there cos the sensor platforms aren’t finished, idiot.”
“Now now, kids, let’s leave the fighting for the beach, shall we?” Cal interjected. “Toker can take my next go, and then you can work out who’s got the biggest, greenest fireballs.”
“Sounds good to me,” Toker said, striding forward.
“Wait up, Cal,” Viktor said with a raised hand. “I’ll gladly kick this Centor sucker’s arse, but you’ve gotta finish three rounds first. That’s the rules.”
Before Cal could even make an attempt at getting out of it, Viktor had activated the game’s second round. Once again, he had the strange sensation of his senses and surroundings changing in an instant. This time, he found himself standing on a grassy plateau amid lush, alpine mountains. A truly breathtaking view and stunning in its detail. “I’ve got to give it to you, Viktor, your venues are great.”
“Might as well have a good view while I’m woppin’ your butt.”
Cal laughed. “We’ll see.”
“Ready?”
“Yep.”
Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Cal leapt towards the boy. Before reaching him, however, his young opponent had miraculously disappeared in a cloud of mystical smoke only to reappear five meters further back. Viktor’s face was as smug as his stance was cocky.
“You’re sure that’s not against the rules?”
“Winners make the rules, Cal. Losers just have to suck ‘em up.”
“Programmer makes the rules,” Cal mumbled as he crept forward, fully aware that Viktor could appear directly in front of him at any moment.
As it turned out, it wasn’t Viktor who he suddenly found himself nose to nose with. Instead, three glistening, bikini-clad girls who were donning boots and hats of the old cowboy variety had materialized directly in his path. Oddly, the girls seemed to be appearing in 2D. Unsure how to react to such a strange occurrence, Cal simply stood in dumb confusion and stared at the odd trio. He couldn’t have imagined a weirder sight amid the beautiful mountain vista. Then what he recognized as old style country and western music began to sound and rapidly increased in volume. Seeming to take the music as their cue, the trio of plastic-looking beauties looked directly at him and broke into a provocative dance.
“Hi there, cowboy,” the three of them said in unison, followed by an exaggerated wink. “The great Aaron Hogmeyer invites you and your crew to Magnet City’s Lucky Deuce, the real man’s gambling hall. All the girls and gamble you can handle. Just make sure you follow our signal now though, big boy. Don’t wanna end up in the wrong part of the city.” Blowing him a kiss and performing one last wink, the girls vanished as abruptly as they’d appeared.
The next thing Cal saw was Viktor excitedly hopping towards him across the lush grass, a wide grin plastered on his face.
“Er, I’m a little confused, Viktor.”
“This could be it, Cal,” the boy said, barely managing to contain his excitement.
“It?”
“People, Cal, fellow humans. I wired up the ship’s communications to the virtual reality, see, just in case an incoming signal came through while we were deep in a game. It’s another colony, Cal, an’ I reckon this one sounds promising.”
Chapter Fifteen
FELLOW HUMANS
Standing at Big Blue’s flight controls, Cal and the rest of the gang peered eagerly out of the cockpit’s window. Cal had heard plenty of rumors regarding Magnet City but had never actually visited it. From what he’d been told, he would never want to. His present situation was of course an exception. At last, they were going to reconnect with fellow humans. He tried to remain calm, but he couldn’t deny the excitement building within him, and it was clear the rest of the gang were feeling the same. The months of creeping through the cold emptiness of space had been hard, the questions surrounding their plight often evoking grim emotions. Would they ever learn the truth behind Earth’s destruction? What was lying in wait at the other colonies? Were they the only ones left? Cal was good at pushing such questions out of his mind, but on occasion, they had inevitably snuck through.
Barring Aldular, the floating city on the ocean planet of Aqualorian Prime, Magnet City was the only mobile city Cal had ever heard of. It was akin to a space station, which over time had developed and expanded to become the size of a small moon. Lacking a planet surface to bury its roots in, the city drifted through space, only occasionally utilizing its massive oscillator engines to propel it to a specific destination. The reason for the city’s acquired name was glaringly obvious: a hulking mass of adjoined ships appearing as though a huge magnetic force had pulled them from far and wide to a single collision point. Some of the adjoined ships were small, some large, and others as immense as Big Blue. All were melded together haphazardly with seemingly little thought given to design. Cal felt the erratic shape and jagged edges gave the city an ominous appearance, a sort of monstrous, metallic sea urchin squashed and adrift in the black sea of deep space. As the city grew larger in the cockpit window, however, floating neon billboards and great bundles of flashing lights came into view, turning it from ominous to plain tacky.
“I can see ships,” Toker blurted excitedly.
“Of course you can, idiot, the whole thing’s made of ships,” Viktor said sharply. The boy was still a little bitter at having his virtual combat mocked.
“I mean flying ships, smart ass.”
“So we ain’t alone then,” Eddy said, more as a statement than a question.
“Well that’s a relief, eh?” Toker said, giving the girl a nudge. “Thought for a moment it was gonna be up to you an’ me to get down and dirty with the repopulating.”
Cal was surprised to see Eddy react with a little smirk. “Who said I’d have chosen you?” she replied coolly.
“Yeah, the human race would be doomed if it had to rely on your genes, thickie,” Viktor added.
“Too right,” Eddy agreed. “Maybe I’d choose you, eh, Vik?” she said, taking hold of the boy and pulling him close. “Least our kids’d be smart then, eh?”
Toker looked put out for a moment before the expression on Viktor’s flushed face brought laughter instead.
Cal grinned. All jokes aside, he could see the relief in his young friends’ eyes. He didn’t blame them. The sight of activity around the city made him feel like he’d just burst from the surface of the sea and sucked in a much-needed lungful of air.
As Big Blue moved ever closer, Cal wondered whether the city would hold the answers they’d all been hoping for. It was possible that the city’s residents were no wiser than themselves. But at least they weren’t alone.
“Why d’you suppose this colony isn’t abandoned like the others?’ Viktor asked.
“Who knows?” Cal replied. “Maybe because it’s much further from Earth’s destruction. Also, it’s always on the move.”
“Could be that people feel safer in numbers too,” Jumper added. “The other colonies we’ve seen were much smaller.”
Cal nodded in agreement. When there’s a potential killer on the loose, people always feel safer in a crowd. It was human nature. As was seeking out distraction from trouble and traumatic events even to the point of ignoring their existence. And what better place to do such a thing than in a city designed to lose yourself in gambling, drugs, and who knew what else.
Before long, the city was dominating Big Blue’s entire flight window. O
ne of the hovering billboards maneuvered directly into their path, displaying the very same scantily dressed girls that Cal had faced during Viktor’s game.
“Glad you made it, boys…and girls,” said the buxom blonde in the middle of the three. “Are you all ready for some fun? Thought so,” she said with a giggle. “Just lock onto our signature, and we’ll guide you directly to the Lucky Deuce. More girls and gamble than you can handle.”
“Lots of horny men for you too, little lady,” the equally buxom brunette on the left added as she winked in Eddy’s direction.
Eddy scoffed.
“How’d they know who’s on board?” Toker asked.
“Probably an illegal scan of the ship,” Cal suggested. “I’ve heard that the running of this place falls a way short of law abiding.”
“Can’t be much of a scanner if it thinks Melinda is a real chick,” Toker pointed out.
“She is a real chick,” Viktor said defensively.
Toker turned to him with a raised eyebrow, and after a moment, the boy sighed and gave a shrug. “She can fool any scanner that comes her way…doesn’t take much; it’s pretty basic tech.”
Cal glanced at Melinda. “Good. It’s probably best we don’t attract any attention, at least until we know what’s what.”
“Do we have to follow those dirty chicks, Cal?” Eddy asked. “The other end of the city looks much nicer.”
Cal turned back to the flight console. “It seems the city’s been divided into different sections, split according to wealth and class. From what I can tell from the readouts, the scan’s ranked us second from the bottom.”
Eddy sniffed loudly. “So can’t we just ignore the stupid bimbo billboard and head for the good stuff?”
Toker shook his head. “No way. I vote we follow the dirty chicks.”
“You would, perv,” Eddy spat.
“Probably shouldn’t break the rules on our first day,” Jumper pointed out. “Best play it safe and follow the billboard at least until we get some information about what’s been going on.”