A Trap for the Potentate

by Michael Atamanov

  And now, for the last hour, we'd been sailing up river, which was quite swift in these mountainous lands. The Styx here looked nothing like the lazy flow we had seen down below in the swamplands. Here, it was a raging mountain river with lots of whirlpools and dangerous underwater stones. The helmsmen had to constantly be on guard, and the oarsmen couldn’t be stingy with their strength. Everyone in the squadron was cold and having a hard time, but the most bothered, I suppose, was VIXEN. She was the only cold-blooded creature, and the cold could give the Wyvern very unpleasant effects. So, I let my pet fly far away from these unwelcoming climes, promising to call her when I needed her, or when our squadron reached somewhere warmer.

  “Tim, it's time for me to go. The operation is in a half hour. Wish me luck! And when it's all over, let's take a day and go to the sea. I mean, we live just an hour away from the beach, but we haven't been even once since our parents passed.”

  “Of course, Val. I promise we'll go on vacation to the sea.”

  Valerianna Quickfoot started smiling, took a more comfortable seat on the bench and closed her eyes, intending to exit the game. I opened my mouth, preparing to say some words of encouragement before my sister’s upcoming surgical operation, when suddenly a familiar voice rang out right next to my ear. It was Taisha:

  “Amra! You have to exit Boundless Realm right away!!! An assassin has just opened the doors of your cubicle and is coming inside!!!”

  Taisha?! I jumped up in surprise and looked around, but couldn't see the NPC thief girl. Although, how would she have gotten to a boat in the middle of the river in such a hard-to-reach place? Also, if I thought about it, how could the NPC have known who I was in real life, or where I worked? All the other players and NPC's on my boat were acting calm and natural. They clearly hadn't heard the voice. It all looked a lot like a stupid trick, but my heart was beating in terror, so I decided to exit the game just in case to check and reassure myself.

  I opened the game menu, but I didn't have time to click Exit Game. The world abruptly grew dark before my eyes and, at the same time, my body was pierced by a sharp pain in the chest area... Ow! I shouted in fear. In the panic and pain, I couldn’t totally understand if I was in the real world, or still in the virtual one. I tried opening the lid of my virtual reality capsule. It seemed the lid gave slightly, but just a centimeter. Something was stopping it from opening. I felt another sharp pain, as if a red-hot needle had gone into my chest. At the same time, I saw two light spots in the darkness surrounding me. It seemed to be two holes in the virtual reality capsule! I was being killed in the real world while locked inside my virtual reality capsule!

  My fear and desperation gave me strength and I pushed on the lid with my arms and legs, managing to break the latch and throw it back. Then, despite the sharp light stinging my eyes, I saw a figure fall on the floor. Someone had been sitting on top of the virtual reality capsule trying to prevent me from leaving with their mass, but I was stronger! The miscreant immediately leapt up and swung something metal at me. I managed to grab the killer's hand, though, and stop it from jabbing the long Phillips-head screwdriver right into my neck!

  A grievous fight ensued. I grabbed the killer's hand, but leaned too far and fell out of the virtual reality capsule. I also sent my opponent crashing onto the floor, though. His screwdriver flew somewhere aside, but the killer grabbed me with both hands by the neck and started to strangle me. All tangled in wires and smeared in blood, I fitfully tried to unclench his grasp with my right hand and get a breath of air while, with my left hand, I just kept hitting the killer in the face. And at that moment, I recognized my attacker! It was the very same technician who, one month earlier, had helped me set up the sensor suit and other equipment. What was the boy's name... Arthur maybe? I rasped out that name, trying to bring the killer to reason, but being identified just gave him more verve. I was resisting desperately and hitting his sensitive points purposefully with my free hand, like his eyes and the bridge of his nose, but my enemy just shook his head, not weakening his grasp.

  My consciousness had already left me, and my eyes were glazing over when a few other people raced into the room. My opponent was torn off me and I heard a few shots. After that, a dark figure leaned over me and, in a vaguely familiar voice, said:

  “Timothy's lost a lot of blood!!! He's dying!!!”

  After that, darkness washed over me...

  Questions without Answers

  WHEN I CAME back to my senses, I was feeling somewhat the worse for wear. I had come to a few times, seen some dark figures, a bright light, an IV, heard muffled voices sounding as if from underwater, then darkness came over again. But this time, I was finally awake, as if surfacing from a clammy nightmare that just didn't want to let me go.

  After my eyes unstuck, I took a look around. I was in an unfamiliar place, but immediately guessed that it was not a hospital room. The furniture was just too luxurious and ornate. The stucco work on the ceiling, paintings and gilded columns were also totally uncharacteristic of medical clinics. I was lying on a large unfolded couch, covered with a light blanket. My clothing was hanging next to me on a hanger.

  Just then, I remembered the attack and my desperate fight with the killer, the blood and the pain. Naturally, that spooked me. But I listened to my feelings, and felt surprisingly alright. My arms and legs could move, my body obeyed me, my brain could think. The only discomfort was this feeling of strange tightness in my chest and above my stomach, as if I had been glued back together, and my skin was stretched. I had read that such a feeling could be caused by stitches after an operation.

  I threw back the comforter and carefully lifted the thin fabric of my long underwear, seeing two bandages and traces of dried healing cream. Apparently, the first screwdriver stab had gone right into my chest cavity, and the bone had stopped the sharpened steel from getting deep inside my rib cage. The second wound was in the upper part of my stomach. I was lucky that the sharp steel had not hit my heart or internal organs in either case. The bandages weren't making me too uncomfortable, though, just a dull pain when I pushed on them, but that was nothing.

  I finally got up my courage and, readjusting my long johns, got up from the sofa. I was expecting weakness and dizziness due to the serious loss of blood, but there was nothing of the sort. Great, that meant the wounds really hadn't been as severe as they seemed at first. First of all, I walked over to the closed curtains of a huge window and lifted the blinds, wanting to figure out just where I was. And the view from the window was very familiar: a city park, a lake with catamarans, a ribbon of highway, always busy in the daytime and commercial skyscrapers... And although this vantage point wasn't totally what I was used to, I had already seen this scene from the windows of the Boundless Realm skyscraper many times. So, I was still somewhere in the building...

  After getting on my clothes and not discovering my cell phone in my pockets, I walked through the available rooms, looking at the pictures and sculptures. There were pretty posters of Boundless Realm on one wall, and a bar with expensive alcohol on another. The refrigerator was filled with groceries, and the all-in-one PC on the computer desk was off. The virtual reality capsule was of the newest model (though to be fair, not hooked up) in the far room. I pushed on the exit door, found it locked and sat down to wait. Although I hadn't noticed any security cameras, I had no doubt there was one, so I was sure I wouldn't be left to sit around long enough to get bored.

  And I was right. Just five minutes later, I heard a beeping and the door opened. A stylishly dressed tall man of middling years walked into the room. I would have to say thank you to Kira when given the chance, as she'd accused me of being thick for not knowing who was in charge of the company. I had taken that to heart and found the time to carefully familiarize myself with my place of employment, and its leadership. So, I immediately recognized the man who'd come to visit: Thomas Heywood, President of the Boundless Realm Corporation.

  “You can sit, Timothy. Don't stand.” he warned me when
he saw my attempt to get up from the soft armchair.

  After taking a cursory glance from side to side, the corporate president commented:

  “I hope you like this room because, from now on, it is your personal office. Today, I promoted you to lead corporate tester, and such valued employees deserve separate offices on the upper floors of the building. If you have any adjustments you’d like to make to the room layout, fill out a form and send it to Office Support Services. But you can do that later... You must have tons of questions about what happened to you. I'm prepared to answer them all in detail.”

  “As for the past, I actually have no questions,” I chuckled, sitting more comfortably in the chair, “but I do have a ton of questions about my present and future.”

  For some reason, the President found that very funny. Thomas Heywood walked up to the built-in refrigerator, opened it like he owned the place and, running his gaze over the shelves, stopped on a can of beer. He took one can for himself, and threw a second to me, which I deftly caught in midair.

  “Are you sure it's ok?” I asked, pointing to my bandaged chest. He answered with a chuckle:

  “I wouldn't have offered otherwise. The doctors said you have no more health-related limitations. The sharp point pierced your mesentery artery, which caused serious loss of blood. It could have ended tragically, but help arrived in time, and the wounds were dressed and stitched. By the end of the week, the only thing left will be two small scars. But, as they say, scars are a man's jewelry.”

  I gave a heavy sigh. Good that everything had ended well. I opened the can and took a sip of the foamy blood of life. The president of the corporation did the same and took a seat in the neighboring chair, crossing his legs:

  “So then, Timothy, first about the present. Many people know about the assassination attempt. When the incident occurred, there were dozens of employees on the tester floor. That, by the way, was why the reaction of the Security Service was delayed. After all, no one imagined the murder would happen so flagrantly in the middle of the day. What was more, he was an experienced technician who had long worked for our company and didn't arouse any suspicion right up until he opened the door of your cubicle. But absolutely all witnesses present in the corridor at that moment have already signed nondisclosure agreements. And you, Timothy, I also ask to sign such a document.”

  Clearly, I twisted my face into a none-too-satisfied grimace, because Thomas Heywood abruptly grew more severe. The smile crawled off his face:

  “It was an unpleasant incident, that cast a serious shadow on the reputation of the whole corporation, so it is in our common interest to avoid any leaks. We’ve basically managed to avoid the information spreading so far. The circle of those in the know won't get any wider, and even your direct boss and coworkers in the game haven’t heard. Your sister knows. She started calling you on the phone after the successful operation to implant her new legs, and we had to tell her everything. But I suggest we keep it to just those people. You will also receive appropriate compensation for the psychological and physical trauma.”

  I understood that now was not the time to negotiate or be fickle. The president of the corporation was in a very determined mood, and arguing with leadership was rarely worth it. So, I confirmed that I understood the full seriousness and would sign a non-disclosure agreement.

  “That's great then! And now let's talk about who ordered your assassination. I imagine you know them well.”

  “Was it Taisha?” I guessed, already having no doubt in the reply. And I wasn't wrong.

  “Yes, it was Taisha. But as for who or what she is, it is still hard to give a one-hundred-percent confident answer. One thing is already clear. The NPC is just the tip of the iceberg and, based on the files and fragments artfully hidden on many game cluster servers, it is something truly huge and powerful. Think of it like a mushroom colony. We see just the fruiting body, but most of the organism is hidden safely underground. We have already discarded the possibility that a person may be controlling her. But that means that before us is an independent electronic mind, cautious, tricky and unprincipled. This thing has a very good understanding of the game it lives in, is capable of using admin privileges and tools and, if need be, can even change the world around it to suit its needs.”

  “Artificial intelligence?” I clarified, but the president just shrugged his shoulders unconfidently.

  “That may be, but we still haven’t figured it out. The most frightening thing is that Boundless Realm isn't enough for it, and it is very actively interested in the real world. But here, it would be on our territory and we can track, control and even direct the activity of the mind wherever we want it to go. So, our corporate specialists immediately figured out that this being... let's call it Taisha, was searching the global Internet through a special data gateway we provided and have complete control over. It was looking for information about you and your past, the metropolis, humanity in general and its history. It made a whole bunch of phone calls, and even found its way into the video observation system for the building. The vast majority of Taisha's search requests, which we found very curious, were somehow connected with the possibility of writing a consciousness into the brain of a living creature or other media, and obtaining a body. And that means that Taisha could technically be removed from this whole confusing system of encrypted files in a kind of clot, a concentrate that can be separated, and which will contain a self-sufficient fully functioning mind. We want to allow it to do that, but only under our observation, and according to our rules. And to do that, we'll need your cooperation, Timothy.”

  “Mine? You want to take advantage of Taisha's trust in me?”

  “That's exactly right, Timothy. And there's no need to squirm, point to your friendship, conscience or warm feelings. You cannot have sympathy and mercy for this spiteful being. Although it has no physical existence, it ordered your death and could, in fact, have killed you. Yes, we uncovered a money transfer to the account of the unsuccessful murderer, a conversion of fifty thousand in-game coins into a real five thousand credits. The transaction system used was very, very confusing, so the financiers will need time to uncover the schematic and trace it to its source, but just look. Who else would use in-game coins other than a resident of a virtual world!”

  Yes, that sounded logical. In the real world, there were tons of ways to securely send anonymous payments, such as cryptocurrency, crypto-offshores and temporary accounts in one-day banks. So, if the hit had been ordered by a real person, they would have used one of these methods to avoid being exposed. In-game coins would be used only by someone who finds such things natural, and doesn't know about the existence of other kinds of payment.

  “On the other hand, if she is confirmed to be an Artificial Intelligence, we have a working model already in our hands...” the president's eyes lit up with these words, his voice quavering in anticipation. “Timothy, you have no idea what possibilities this gives to humankind!!! After a bit of adaptation and algorithm decryption, this could be infinite self-teaching scientists in virtual laboratories, and highly intelligent obedient war robots, this is flying cars and electromobiles without pilots or drivers, this is honest judges and politicians who cannot be bribed, this is billions of androids for heavy industry and dangerous factories, this is new and never-before-seen spheres of entertainment and the gaming industry and, beyond that, this is a huge step toward interstellar flight! This is a colossal jump into the future for all humankind, and that very future will depend on us! That is trillions and even quadrillions of credits! That is power over the whole planet!!!”

  Thomas Heywood stood sharply from his seat, walked over to the refrigerator and took out another can of beer. He offered me one, but I refused.

  “If you say so.” The president drained the beer in three big glugs and threw the empty can into the hatch of a trash incinerator. “But now, listen carefully to the introductory information. Not long after Taisha's attempt on your life, she appeared next to Amra. She had di
ed and was brought right to the boat after respawning.”

  “With Amra?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yes, Timothy, you heard right. Amra is still in the game. The sudden disappearance of your player would have caused unnecessary questions, and we also decided to test out some ideas, so we replaced you with an experimental bot that imitates the behavior of a specific player based on previous gaming sessions. Anyhow, we’ve only had to intervene and correct it two times since you were last in the game. The first time, he decided to kill the rougarou regent for a large amount of experience but, because you had already decided against doing that once, we didn't let the bot do it either. The second time, the bot tried to take advantage of the high relationship of the rougarou Princess and started taking an amorous line of behavior with her, but we put a restriction on such actions because you didn't do anything like that, and the result might not be to your liking, or that of Taisha.”

  Here I was in complete agreement with the leadership. Chai-nee Shu was more like a ward or even an adopted daughter, not an object of amorous intrigue. Thomas Heywood then continued:

  “However, despite all our attempts to imitate Amra as authentically as possible, Taisha behaves very guardedly with the bot and, it seems, can detect some falseness. And that is the very reason we need you in the game. We have to restore the trust of the NPC thief girl, and preferably in a reasonable timeframe, then take Taisha to the citadel of the Dark Sovereign. And that is where your role will end. After that, it will be our concern. Here, the new patch coincided very well with the route of your squadron. No one will be surprised by that or put on guard, and meanwhile, we have created a separate server for the citadel of the Dark Sovereign, which has intentionally not been activated yet and will not be included in the common cluster. As soon as Taisha goes inside, and we make sure her digital consciousness is capable of fully functioning in this isolated area, the server will be instantly shut down and we will catch her! You then will get such a reward that you'll never again want for anything in this life!”