Lost in Space

by Dmitry Raspopov

  ***

  Mission complete.

  Select the available trophies to be added to your warehouse.

  Quickly ticking the items and choosing to sell them immediately, I exited the mission that brought me 200,000 credits. Should I return to the real world to get some rest? I thought once I approached the teleport circle. Or should I take a look at what the research module has achieved?

  After spending almost twelve hours in the game, I could use a break. But my curiosity was overwhelming, so I ignored common sense and went to the hangar. I heard no drone sounds. All were still in their nests, which meant that their work had been completed and that I could see what I had gotten from all those missions I had completed after the break-up.

  The very first component, priced at 150,000 credits, made me gasp with delight — it was an advanced scanning module, way better than my ship’s current one. Looking at the characteristics and the remaining operation time, I decided to install it into my fighter.

  The next part on the list could be installed into troop carriers only. I marked them for sale. So weird. Who would buy a troop carrier? I recalled the list of ships in the shop. Every mission has big carrier ships and smaller ones for landing troops. Why buy one of your own?

  Having no answer to this question, I returned to the list of studied items. Everything else was either incompatible with my ship or worse than what I already had. What a pity. That made me really sad, but then my gaze fell onto the last item on the list. Prior to being studied, it had zero value and no characteristics. Now it was described as Al’de’ral relic and priced at… I rubbed my eyes as my vision got blurred by all those zeros.

  How much?! My eyes widened when I finally managed to concentrate and count nine zeros. Is this for real?!

  Concluding it had to be a mistake, I looked up from my tablet and massaged my temples. I stared at the plain small pyramid that I had gotten in the swamp and which was now standing on the shelf in my hangar. I then shifted my gaze back to the screen. Nothing had changed. The damn inconspicuous thing with no characteristics was priced at one billion credits. A billion!

  Such an amount was beyond my wildest imagination. When I converted it into USD, my breath was taken away.

  Why the hell is it so valuable?! I screamed internally. The characteristic windows were empty save for the description stating that this relic was wanted by the Wargs, that it was a top priority item, and that the one finding it would be immediately paid their reward and given the maximal reputation bonus.

  My hand trembled as I moved it to put the pyramid on sale, but my mind protested against this step dictated by greed. If it’s so valuable, I’d rather study it myself first. I barely kept from selling the item. A billion! With tears in my eyes, I put the tablet aside.

  My heart was pounding, my hands trembling, and my mind was a total mess once I approached the shelf to take the plain-looking item into my hands. Three grooves in the otherwise smooth surface of unknown metal alloy instantly became warm under my fingertips. That was all I could see and feel. Just smooth, identical surfaces with no signs, separated by the three grooves.

  No. Not all. Taking a closer look, I saw four spots, one on each side, where the metal seemed to be worn out.

  I put my fingers on said spots. Once I did that, the pyramid started to heat up fast. From its top, a ray shot up, unfolding into a holographic interface. In that holographic field appeared big letters forming words in my native language.

  Scanning... Primary bearer’s mind damaged. Interface adjusted. New user’s identification number: 136. Administrator rights confirmed by the direct transfer from ID 135 owner.

  “Fucking hell.” The game kept amazing me. Weird missions. Strange artifacts with fantastic prices. Where else could you find any of that?

  “How can I work with you?” I asked aloud, putting the pyramid into the research module and warily removing my fingers. Nothing changed. The ray and the hologram remained where they were.

  All interface types supported, including mental. Select the preferred interface type.

  The new sentence flashing above the pyramid made it clear that I had been heard. Growing even more curious, I said: “Then I’d rather have mental.”

  I wish I knew what that means, a thought flashed through my mind.

  Adjustment accepted. Synchronization with the primary mind bearer initiated.

  Once this message appeared, my eyes burned as if got sand in them.

  “AAAAAA!” I screamed. My eyes hurt so badly that I collapsed onto the floor and rubbed them, trying to stop the pain. Then I got a splitting headache as well. Blue liquid dripped from my nose and then from my ears, too; I could feel it. But the pain in my eyes was the strongest, so strong that I could only shriek in agony.

  Synchronization complete. Interface type set as mental.

  The tormenting pain was gone instantly. Opening my eyes, I saw the somewhat blurred lines floating before them without obstructing my vision.

  The pyramid standing on the research module frame vanished.

  “Hey!” I looked around completely at a loss as to what was happening. “Where the hell is my billion-credit thing?”

  The physical carrier was transformed into a mental structure and integrated with the primary mind.

  “Primary mind?” I recalled hearing the phrase before.

  The mind living in the body of the bio-robot created by the Warg technology.

  “Hey, what the hell?” I was totally confused by the new words. “Bio-robot? Warg technology?”

  This body is an artificially created organism into which any external mind can be integrated. In your case, the mind transfer has been implemented by the Warg technology. There are apparent traces of Naybos, the third-generation neirocognitivator, being applied.

  At least it was willing to share information. What should I ask it next? “Wargs. Yes, Wargs. Who, or what, are they?”

  One of the oldest Silicoid races. Native planet: FP0DF1. Currently occupying the planet systems from A1ZF0 to ZX9AE8.

  That explained little to me. “Where’s the pyramid?”

  Transformed into a mental interface as requested by Administrator ID 136.

  “I get that. But where’s the item? It was right here.” I pointed with my finger.

  The physical carrier was transformed into a mental interface as requested by Administrator ID 136. A new line appeared before me, clarifying nothing.

  “Well then... Can you return to your physical form from a mental interface?” I came up with a decent way to express my panicking thoughts.

  Reverse transformation possible, but involves a risk of damaging the primary bearer’s mind. Not recommended unless needed.

  “Um… Did anyone before me use the mental interface?” I asked warily. I’d rather avoid any risk of damage to my mind.

  This interface type is preferred by the majority of bearers, I was informed.

  “But how do you transfer it to the next bearer then?”

  The reverse transformation required for that is harmful to the bearer’s mind. In most cases, that results in a complete termination of brain activity.

  That alien shrimp didn’t look badly injured, I recalled. But still it died right after giving me the pyramid.

  “Was ID 135 a bearer too?”

  Yes.

  “Did it die because it transformed you back into physical form?”

  Yes.

  Well, no reverse transformation then. A pity I wasted a billion credits. I should have left that pyramid as it was.

  “Okay. But what are you? What is your purpose and function?” If I could not change my choice, I could at least figure out what exactly I now had in my possession. “Please put it simply. Not in terms of third-gen cognitivators.”

  Narrowing it down to the developmental level of your race, the process intended by my creators is data collection.

  “How much have you already collected?”

  All.

  “Well... Let’s stop h
ere. I’m feeling giddy already.” I realized that I badly needed some rest. I was overwhelmed with new information; not to mention that I had some weird fucking shit installed into my head. Yes, I needed some rest badly.

  Exit game.

  Chapter 29

  I opened my eyes. Not moving from my capsule, I tried to fathom what had just happened. Find a thing of astronomical value and reduce it to a collection of pixels through unawareness. The worst blunder in my life.

  The bearers of a module like me are always paid high.

  Before my eyes, at arm’s length, the letters forming this sentence appeared. It looked just like the messages I had just before exiting the game.

  I froze and glanced around quickly just to make sure that I was back home in the real world. Am I hallucinating? I reached my hand to touch the letters but only grasped air.

  “Hey... Is that real? The thing I’m seeing right now?”

  Depends on what particular thing you mean, Bearer ID 136.

  Was it just me, or did this new sentence seem full of venom? Every single letter of it?

  “If I’m out of the game, how do I still have in-game stuff?” I did my best to remain calm.

  Reminder: the carrier has been integrated with the primary mind.

  “And by primary mind you mean my real body?”

  Yes.

  “So my game body is a bio-robot? It actually exists somewhere in the real world and not just in the game?”

  You are absolutely right, Bearer ID 136. Your thinking is praiseworthy, particularly for a creature at the developmental level below PQ12.

  “What level is that?” I was offended by words uttered by the damn weird thing in my head.

  It stands for the level of a space race’s development.

  “Um… And what the scale is that? Put it so that I can understand.”

  Wargs, for instance, are at the developmental level PQ69.

  That was even more offensive for me and the whole of humanity. “Well... Is there anyone below PQ12?”

  All of the underdeveloped civilizations that had not mastered space travel rank below yours, Bearer ID 136.

  “Call me Viktor. I’m damn sick of your ID 136,” I said, losing my temper. The aliens were using us for some murky business of theirs this entire time. And they were calling us dumb.

  Adjusted.

  “Good evening, Viktor.” The sound of my home AI’s voice almost gave me a heart attack. It did make me jump in surprise, however.

  “Hi.” It took me a moment to realize that it was Home, and not the alien mind, that had addressed me. I calmed down. “Make me a meal.”

  Viktor, may I synchronize with your local network? I need it to obtain data about your civilization.

  “ Just make sure to leave no traces,” I grumbled, “I don’t want my IP showing up anywhere.”

  Protecting my bearer is one of my core purposes. You have no reasons to worry, Viktor.

  “We’ll talk about that when some fucking alien shit comes to live in you,” I grumbled under my breath, standing up.

  It heard me nonetheless. Viktor, your request is rather confusing. Please specify it.

  “Do your research. I’ll go take a shower and have a meal. I need some time to wrap my head around this.”

  My new brain-mate said nothing. I didn’t care about it, anyway. My mind was full of ideas. I had to sort them out. Getting into the shower, I stood beneath the water jets for a while, trying to regain my senses. So, the aliens brought their technology to Earth and disguised it as a military game? And now bio-robots with human minds are fighting their space wars? Can that be real?

  It sure looked like it could. If all of that was true… What was I to make out of this information? I had no idea. Should I write a social media post about it? I would get killed for that; or declared insane and locked in a mental hospital.

  The saddest thing was that I couldn’t talk to anyone about this. People wouldn’t believe me. They would think I’m crazy.

  Masha’s not here, I recalled. I could use her opinion.

  “Home. Did you get any messages from Mariya?” I inquired.

  “No. Just five cold calls during your absence.”

  I won’t call her, I decided. It’s no longer just about money. I’m sick of her picking on me. When I’m busy making money, she’s yelling that I’m never there for her. When I’m not making money, she’s saying the same. I just can’t please her.

  Realizing that I was alone made me sad, but my mind instantly focused on other things. Mostly on the new dweller in my head and Galaxy not being a game at all. This was so fascinating that I could barely take it all in. Focusing on it, I quickly forgot about Masha.

  Finishing the shower and plumping down onto the sofa, I pulled closer the table with my simple meal. “Home. Video wall on. The news.”

  The screen showed an agitated anchor who spoke excitedly, pointing at some charts behind his back. I turned up the volume. “…wave of traffic coming from all over the World Wide Web did great damage to the economy of every single country in the world. All stock exchanges and banks are down. Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled and lots of trains have been stopped. These are but a few consequences. The total damage is far greater. No one can say what caused this attack, what end it pursued, or how similar incidents can be prevented in the future. According to experts, the broadband traffic attack started at 7 p. m. Moscow time. As shown on the chart, at that very moment…”

  I didn’t listen any further. That was when I had gotten out of the capsule and allowed the unknown alien technology to connect to the web!

  “Hey, you! Was that your doing?” I pointed at the screen.

  Almost instantly, words flashed before my eyes. Yes, Viktor. But I left no traces of my activities. I’ve cleaned everything up, starting with the moment of my activation. Don’t worry.

  “Are you kidding?” I was beyond myself with rage. “Starting tomorrow I’ll be wanted by all security services in the world for what you did!”

  Alas, your networks are too primitive to hide my data flow. I had to disguise it as a hacker attack.

  “What about bearer safety being your top priority?” I was honestly scared for my life. I knew people who had been jailed for many years for much smaller crimes.

  As I’ve said, you have no reasons to worry. The data collection process was distributed among billion devices in all corners of the globe. No one will ever find you.

  “Yeah, sure. And what if they report to Wargs after failing to find me? Do you think they won’t get what’s up? As far as I remember, they’ve recently destroyed a whole planet just to get you. I don’t want their ships coming to ravage Earth.”

  No answer. That convinced me I had all the reason to worry.

  “Hey! Rubik’s cube! Answer me!”

  I have never analyzed the networks of civilizations at developmental levels below PQ20 before. I admit that there may be problems if they share information with more advanced worlds. Situation analysis and search for ways to prevent intervention in progress. More time needed.

  “Well… Just don’t forget to keep me in the loop,” I caved in, still very unhappy with the whole matter.

  ***

  Moscow, Kremlin

  An emergency meeting of the Security Council

  “Mr. vice president. The situation is critical. All governmental mail services were hacked as were all other objects connected to the web. All internal messages were leaked.”

  “The banking sector is on the verge of collapsing. The unknown malicious party received the data of all banking service users. All attempts at detecting the attack source, or understanding what technology it had used, have failed. The only thing we know is that it was disguised as a broadband attack.”

  “The insurance and retirement fund data was copied as well, not to mention passport and visa databases,” said an elderly man in a tired voice without standing up. “My men can’t find out who did that and how.”

 
; All eyes turned from the said man at the head of the table to the state security head seated on his right. “I fear I’ve got no good news for you, gentlemen,” he replied gloomily. “I can only assure you that all of our top secrets, including the nuclear missile launch codes, have never been stored on any devices connected to the web.”

  “You’re not really helping the situation, Maxim Vasiljevich,” a woman with long hair addressed him. “Where’s the president?”

  “The leaders of major nations called him at once, asking if it were us behind this attack. He must be trying to prove to them that we’ve suffered damage as well and try to prevent the Third World War,” informed the head of foreign affairs.

  “So we don’t know who or what it was, but it affected the whole world?” a young man, the only cheerful one in the room, resumed. “If we don’t know that… Could it be our special friends?” He pointed his finger up.

  “We’ve asked them just in case. No answer so far.” winced the head of security. “The Warg representative listened to me without uttering a word. They might know something, but there’s no way to make them say what.”

  ***

  Somewhere in the depths of space

  “Are you sure that that was the doing of an Al’de’ral custodian?” screeched a stone mountain, swimming in a salty solution extremely beneficial for its body.

  “Yes, my Lord. The consequences of a low-level information network like those reported by the locals could only be caused by an artifact of the Forerunners. Since the bearer was not found during our last operation, I have no doubt that it has penetrated Earth.”

  “What if the Orgali found and pocketed it? And are now trying to convince us that they didn’t see it to avoid paying?”

  “I would have thought exactly the same, my Lord, had it not shown up on Earth. But now… Looks like we’ll have to put up with the Orgali paying only half of the agreed amount. They were so outraged by the loss of the artifact that they refused to pay for our mercenary forces.”

  “Then we’ll have to check everyone who was on that mission. Although, as far as I remember, the last bearer of the Hoshtlog artifact is still lurking somewhere. I don’t think this module is less smart than that one. We have to check, anyway. You can seldom conceal a power like that from those around. Contact our rep on that vile sourcing planet. Have them start digging with our Firmness Service.”