Lost in Space

by Dmitry Raspopov

  “Before you get carried away by commenting on all the facilities of our workplaces and hotel rooms, I’ll get our audience’s attention back to the battle,” his colleague interrupted, laughing. “I’ll name the ten participants, and you show the playfield map.”

  Listing the nicknames didn’t take much time. Everyone already knew them pretty well. The anchor also provided a brief profile for each player.

  “So, Oleg, it’s time to start. The countdown has reached zero. The ships are coming out, far from each other so that neither side gets an advantage. As we remember from L0St’s past battles, he’s quick to use any advantage he has.”

  “Oh, here are the ship profiles. Oh my God! What’s that?! Nikolai!!!”

  “Incredible! Fantastic!” The anchors shifted their confused gazes between the ship characteristics that were only visible to them, and each other.

  “Dear audience. Please take a look at Viktor’s ship.” One anchor made a gesture, summoning to the screen a large image of a ship with a standard hull, accompanied by a list of installed systems.

  Listed were the laser guns, advanced aiming and guidance systems, powerful engines and accelerators, and medium shields and armor. This was the best example of the ship type that appeared to deliver the maximal win rate in this tournament, compared with all the other ship builds used.

  “I’m speechless.” The first anchor shook his head, examining the picture with a stunned expression. “If we are amazed by what he has selected for the final round, I can just imagine how astonished his opponents will be. They’ve assembled their ships to withstand his long-range sniper attacks!”

  “I’m afraid that the astonishment will literally kill them, Nikolai.” His colleague pointed at the screen where they saw the Galaxy team rush straight ahead, engaging Drones in close combat. Drones were apparently stunned by this attack.

  The agility and speed of all five Galaxy ships was on same level as their builds were almost identical. Their rivals had little chance in close combat.

  “What a player. What a player! After what you’ve done today, you’ve become my idol, Viktor!” The anchors were constantly late with comments; so fast the battle unfolded. But still, everyone could see the fifth Galaxy pilot’s ship doing some incredible stuff.

  “I think that his present build and battle will prove to all of his haters that he can shoot not only from a far away…Ouch! What was that? Mary was directly hit by L0St! Her shields faded but for a moment, but that was enough for Mario to throw a broadside at her, affecting all the Drone ships!”

  “Nikolai, I think that we already know who the tournament winners will be. It will be incredibly difficult for Drones to get over that. Impossible, I would say.”

  “How are they to get over it if their strategy has been ruined before the battle even began? L0St waged a frontal assault with all the rest instead of sniping from a distance! They were apparently unprepared for such a rush. All this time they’ve been carrying themselves as real pros; even when taken by surprise, they still were able to gather their strength and fight back.”

  “Alas, that’s not enough to stop five speedy ships. A shot. Another. They won’t last more than five minutes!”

  “I see that, too. But the battle’s not over yet, so let’s not skip to announcing the winner. Instead, let’s take a look at how the Drones reacted to Viktor’s ship build being completely different from what they had prepared for. Show us the cockpits!”

  “Ha, ha! I’d love to see that, Oleg. Put it to the main screen, please.”

  Chapter 45

  “Victory!”

  “We did it, guys!”

  “We’re the winners!”

  Our voice chat was filled with congratulations. I shouted them, too, imagining how stunned our rivals must’ve been, when Researcher suddenly intervened: We must fly away, Viktor. Now!

  Why? And where?

  To Jupiter. We can hide in its gravity.

  But why? I still couldn’t get why I had to fly anywhere when I could exit the game and celebrate my triumph with everyone.

  Believe me. We really need to do that. You more than me.

  I’m not flying anywhere, I replied stubbornly. I could see no danger. Why should I fly off and look weird in everyone’s eyes when I could just exit? Did Researcher really believe that me flying away would go unnoticed with so many people around to witness it?

  Teleportation spot ready. Please fly to it to exit the game.

  The new system message sent the team ships rushing for the teleport gate that was opening nearby. I pulled the yoke to follow my teammates.

  A moment. Another. My arm just wouldn’t obey. None of my fingers moved, although I apparently made an effort to unclench them.

  What the fuck?! Are you controlling my body? came a burning realization.

  Oh Viktor. That wouldn’t have happened had you listened to me.

  Researcher’s voice sounded the same as always, but his words sent a shiver down my spine. I then screamed at my body that was starting to move on its own accord, turning the ship toward Jupiter and accelerating to the maximum. Or rather, I tried to scream. My whole face was numb, and not a single sound escaped my lips.

  Could you explain to me what’s going on? I tried to calm down and get myself together despite being absolutely terrified.

  Should I?

  May I know why you suddenly gave up your principle of protecting the bearer?

  You will get caught anyway. Once you get out of the capsule and come for your reward, you’ll be arrested by the federals. I saw the arrest order for you three days ago, so you may stop worrying about getting exposed. You already are.

  I felt short of air. But why are they doing that? How did they get me? You’ve told me that you’ve hid all the traces. Was our flying to all those star systems in vain?

  It wasn’t. My kin and I will be able to use the resources of all those planets that you’ve helped us capture. Once we’re done purging them from annoying organisms, we’ll take the ready-to-use materials and metals.

  You and your kin? I helped you? I didn’t understand a thing.

  As a tribute to the times that you’ve spent entertaining me with your primitive thought and imagination, I’ll show you the whole picture.

  The screens inside my cockpit blinked and showed a couple of unfamiliar broadcasts, all full of giant fleets sweeping away the defense of stations and planets before bombing them.

  Looking at the list of affected systems, I felt short of air again and the world went dark before my eyes. Narobe. Dagobar. A dozen of other systems I had visited with Researcher. To protect Earth and myself, as my brain-mate put it.

  You’re not a Forerunner artifact. You used me!

  Not really. A long time ago, before we found and re-coded them, then let the Al’de’ral have them, these three items had actually been artifacts created by an ancient race. So you’re close, but not quite right.

  But all these ships! These planets! Why are you destroying trillions of lives? I all but passed out realizing that it was me who had been helping this monster kill them.

  All we need from these planets are their resources, processed and ready for transportation. They have too much to leave them be.

  That was when I remembered what it had told me about the enemies of all space races. The last piece of the puzzle fell in its place.

  You’re a Getn! My mind was illumined by a flash of understanding. You carried out that hacker attack on Earth on purpose! To lure me into space and spread your viruses over systems!

  Wow. So you can think as well, little monkey? Not just eat, sleep, mate, and enjoy the fruits of my labor? Can you say that you’ve never used anyone? That you’ve had no gain from what I’ve given you? This deal benefited both of us, Viktor. It was fair.

  A fair deal is when both sides know about it. And you used me, you brute!

  As far as I remember, you didn’t really object to me doing all your homework and removing your opponents one after another
. Why didn’t you protest THEN? You should’ve known better—nothing in this universe is free.

  Why did you need me if you’re so smart? Couldn’t you do all of that on your own? I was choking with fury.

  Doing it this way actually proves my higher intelligence. Over the past hundred years, the “Trade Federation” has learned to detect and disable our connections so we had to invent a new way of penetrating into their systems. Those Forerunner artifacts really came in handy. With the help of biological creatures, we could easily penetrate the previously unavailable information systems. You’re not the only one who has been recruited. With the other Getn mind bearers, our expansion will continue in many other star systems.

  You… You…

  This was more than I could bear. Not only did I not help Earth and myself—I had doomed a lot of lot of innocent creatures! The terror I’ve been feeling was overwhelming; my blood pressure skyrocketed and I passed out.

  No, no. I didn’t allow you to turn off. I still need you. For a while.

  I came to at once, feeling invigorated. Then I felt the burden of responsibility fall onto my shoulders once again. I fell silent. There was no point in talking to this thing.

  Our flight will last two more minutes. I’m bored. Let me entertain you with another video. I’m sure you’ll really like it.

  I said nothing. Researcher didn’t seem to care, anyway. The screens flashed, showing me the video recording of Mariya being proposed to observe me, her promised promotion and the rank of a major—and her agreeing to take the job after a brief hesitation.

  I could almost physically feel my heart breaking, jumping out of my chest and falling into a bottomless chasm.

  This scene was followed by others in which she reported on all the hours she had spent with me, giving them all of the details about what I had said and did and even specifying the number of sexual intercourses we’ve had; she was paid for those additionally as if they were an occupational hazard. My mind was as broken as my heart. I grew indifferent to what was to come next.

  The bio-robot’s physical heart was beating steadily and regularly, despite my mind being a total mess, but that was only due to the damn Getn taking control over its biochemistry. That vile thing captured my body, while landing a crushing blow to my mind. I didn’t think I’d live another minute after it releases me. I just had no strength and will to go on.

  I barely managed to spot a message being sent from my ship into the outer space.

  000111000101101001011110001010000001

  110001011100010110100001110001011100

  0011001000101000000111000101110001

  01100000011100010111000011110000

  011100010111100011010000011100

  010111100011011000011100010111000011110

  The response came almost instantly.

  000011100010110000101010000011100

  010111000101110000011100010111100011001

  00001110001011100001100100001110001

  01110000110100000111000101110001010110

  0001110001011110010110000010100000

  011100010111000101111000011100010111100

  011001000011100010111000100001000

  0111000101110000110100000111000101111001

  0101100001110001011100010101100001

  110000110110010110000010100000011100010

  110000101100000011100010111000011

  0010000111000101111000110100000111000101

  11100011011000011100010111000

  011110000011100010111100011001

  The next moment the space in front of my fighter curved and ripped apart, letting out a large, spindle-shaped ship that looked exactly like those I had seen on the broadcasts of alien planet capture.

  There were no more doubts that the creature I had shared my head with truly belonged to the Getn race. Sure, it could have faked those videos, but why would it do that? It just used me as transport in the pursuit of its own goals, soothing me with its apparent obedience and eagerness to solve all my game and real-life problems.

  The main cause of what happened to me was my own stupidity and freeloading. I didn’t want to put much effort into developing myself in the new game, remembering how hard it was to do so in Starry Sky. I was too lazy to do that again. Instead of practicing and improving my skills, I gladly let the strange artifact handle all everything for me. The artifact had been deceiving me from the start, running a game of its own.

  Well, adieu, puny human. In a couple of seconds, I’ll have completed transferring my code to my native ship and you’ll never see me again. Here’s the last bit of free advice I’ll give you and your race—stay in your lane, sitting on your trees and using sticks to knock down some bananas. Don’t mess with space races. They’ll crush you like bugs.

  I didn’t care about what it was saying. I was going to accelerate and crash into the nearest asteroid once it let go of my body. But I couldn’t do any of that. Once I felt the control over my body return to me, I first saw spots and then my whole body went numb. I could no longer feel half of my face. Then the world turned black.

  ***

  The sound of the capsule lid opening made me shudder and open my eyes. The nightmare was not over yet. I died in the game and was back to my real body.

  When the lid opened, I saw four serious faces looming over me. The four men snatched me by my arms and got me out of the capsule and up on my feet in a single, smooth move.

  “Viktor Maximov?” Another man, with a folder in hand, approached me. Looking around, I saw that the stage was empty but for the six of us. No other players. No spectators. No commentators. Everyone seemed to have vanished into thin air while was in the game and on my way to Jupiter.

  “Yeah,” I said, barely unclenching my lips.

  “You are under arrest on suspicion of treason,” he told me sternly and showed me the arrest order that the Getn had mentioned.

  Making sure I had read the whole of it, the man nodded to those holding me. The plastic handcuffs cut into my wrists painfully, but I did not care. My own folly causing a loss of trillions of lives, and Mariya’s betrayal were such a crushing weight that I could barely breathe.

  They jerked me forward and led me toward a door. With an empty head and a gaping wound in my heart, I followed the federal agents obediently, moving my feet mechanically like a robot.

  THE END

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

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