Cold War Rune: A Virtual Reality novel (Rune Universe Book 2)

by Hugo Huesca

  Francis’ voice blared over the speakers from the corners of the corridor. “But just imagine how it would look in super-carrier blue. I think there’s no doubt it’d be worth the expense.”

  “Dude, if you want it that much, pay for it yourself.”

  “I would,” he told me, “if you gave me my fair share of the loot.”

  “Uh,” Mai said, “is that one of your crew-members?”

  Derry grumbled something to himself and then got close to us. “I told you that you shouldn’t involve anyone else in this operation.”

  Great, how do I explain this… I realized that talking about Francis with Derry would only send him on a trip of paranoia.

  “This is my ship’s AI,” I told them. “Name’s Francis. A ship’s AI is different from the real world deal, so don’t get any ideas, Derry. He’s not hell-bent on world domination.”

  “As long as there’s something good on TV,” Francis helpfully pointed out.

  At least you didn’t choose this moment to take offense at being called an NPC, I thought. It was just like Francis to get upset over something like that.

  “I see,” said Derry, scratching his chin. “There’s no end to this game’s… pleasures.”

  But Mai wasn’t so convinced. “My fighter has its own AI and it doesn’t talk like this…”

  “Well, I’m a Legendary AI,” Francis interrupted. “So I’m naturally better and more charming than the inferior options.”

  Mai was about to respond to him when I heard the distinct sound of a set of power-armored boots clanking somewhere behind me.

  We all turned around instantly, while I drew my blaster pistol from my inventory. The “intruder” was a tall player in black armor with a skull painted all over the visor and helmet. She carried two rifles on her hips, like some kind of over-compensating gunslinger.

  “Stop right there,” ordered Derry. He had drawn his own blaster from his inventory so fast I hadn’t even realized it. “Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

  Walpurgis killed him in one shot.

  “Oh, that wasn’t cool,” I told her while the headless corpse of Derry fell charred to the floor. Mai gasped in surprise and struggled to find cover around the ship. Only the cargo bay was behind us, but there wasn’t enough time…

  “Don’t tell me to ‘stop right there’ in my own goddamn ship,” Walpurgis told the smoking remains. “You noob.”

  Back in the real world, Derry was already demanding an explanation.

  “That’s Walpurgis. She has an attitude problem,” I told him.

  “I remember her,” he said plainly. “What’s she doing here?”

  “Teddy is her ship too.” In fact, it belonged to Beard and Rylena as well. “She must’ve logged out in there before we entered.”

  “Why did she kill me?” he growled.

  “She didn’t like your tone, I guess. Beats me, man, I’m not her dad or anything. Now shush, let me handle this while you log back in.”

  Of course, I wasn’t telling the whole truth to Derry. I was excited to meet with my friend, since she may have news from the real world that I couldn’t reach while captive with Derry. News about my family, and perhaps the CIL.

  Derry started to say something, but my attention was now completely focused in Rune. Walpurgis was looking around the cargo bay, perhaps searching for more intruders. She turned to me soon enough.

  “What’s going on?” she asked me. “I honestly didn’t expect to find you here, but I ran out of ideas.”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing,” I told her. I opened a private communication channel with her so we could talk without Mai overhearing.

  Speaking of Mai… she was still bunkered behind some crates. I switched to open communication. “It’s OK!” I told her. “You can come out now, this is another member of my crew.”

  “She’s a PK,” Mai exclaimed back. PK meant “Player Killer.” For obvious reasons.

  “She’ll grow on you. It’s not like Derry will lose a lot from respawning.”

  Walpurgis ignored the exchange with the careless attitude of someone who has killed her fair share of characters. “Your family is scared out of their wits for you, Cole.”

  I switched back to private chat. “I’ll explain as soon as I can. I’m not here by my own decision, so I wasn’t able to tell anyone. But I’m fine. First, tell me about them…”

  How’s Mom and Van? Are they in danger? And, You won’t believe the amount of shit I fell into.

  My friend got the gist of it. “I went to them right after I realized something was wrong during last night’s raid. The street was too silent for an FBI sting, and you weren’t answering your phone. So I called Van to see if she knew anything.”

  “But they’re supposed to keep the apartment hidden from everyone—” I stopped myself when I realized how absurd it would be for me to complain about breaking the law. “Never mind. Are they okay?”

  “They were worried sick. You didn’t come back when you were supposed to and neither did the FBI agents that were staying with you. They were assuming the worst, I think. So I figured they were no longer safe hidden there and, well, moved them.”

  The news fell over me like a bucket of ice down my back. “What do you mean ‘moved them’?”

  “Well, if the agents were in the hands of the enemy and they knew where the safe house was hidden, they could reveal that information under torture,” Walpurgis explained. “I brought them to my place. It’s safe enough, since I already had to take… measures… for my safety anyway.”

  I decided to process this later, so I forced my brain to cancel any strong reaction. In any case, I couldn’t find any fault with her reasoning. Would I have done anything different in her situation? Calling the police could be an option, but if they were really compromised like Derry had told me…

  “Are they still with you?”

  “Not really,” she said. When she saw my expression she added: “Dude, what did you expect? For them to stay quietly hidden while the big, manly Cole went into an adventure and saved the day for his damsels? Your mother met with some policeman… Sargent Garrison or something. She was looking in every hospital in the area for you. Van is with them, but I believe she wanted to contact your other friends to see if they knew anything.”

  This meant she would look for people like Darren and Roscoe. I trusted both of them, but it wouldn’t mean Van would be safe running around asking questions about me. Those surveillance drones probably had the net bugged for something like this.

  We were running against time. “Can you call them back?”

  “Obviously. Its’ not like smart-phones suddenly aren’t a thing.”

  That was a relief. But Walpurgis wasn’t done talking.

  “First, there’s other thing we have to talk about. Remember the Script you used to spy on Caputi’s minion?”

  “Yes,” I replied. With all that was going on, it had slipped my mind a bit, but I was well aware our lives may depend on having all the information possible. “You found it?”

  “I already read it,” she explained. “The guy turned out to be a plant for her in some Gov’ agency. They believe this financial mogul is using a cult to infiltrate the FBI and the police. He sent Caputi a list with some suspects.”

  “The cult is the Church of the Intangible Lord,” I told Walpurgis. “And the woman’s name is Charli Dervaux. She’s supposed to be this bigshot from a decade ago.”

  Walpurgis expression was unreadable, which meant she was keeping something close to herself. “I’m familiar with the name. You want to see the list? I’m uploading it to my mindjack as we speak.”

  I nodded at the same time that Mai approached us. “Folks, I don’t want to sound overbearing, but you talking in private is kind of a security risk right now. Cole, you’re already debriefed over why secrecy’s important—oh, c’mon, you aren’t going to shoot me…”

  Walpurgis lowered her weapon. “Terms have changed,” she told Mai.
“I’m already involved, so you may as well fill me in.”

  Mai was quiet for a stunned second, then recovered. “I don’t have the clearance for that. Cole—”

  “Wait a sec.”

  Back in the real world, I told Derry: “By the way, I’m adding Walpurgis to the crew.”

  The man took the news in stride. To his credit, he was probably used to his collaborators messing up his plans all the time. “This is not what we agreed, Dorsett.”

  “Yeah, well, tough luck. She’s already risking her life and helping my family hide. And Irene is her friend, too, so she won’t just wait around calmly for us to…” I was going to say “save” her, but was it really what I was doing? “Help Irene out. To be totally honest with you, I’ll probably bring in the rest of my people as well, if I need to.”

  I trusted Roscoe and Darren more than I trusted some random mercenaries like the guys Panarin was bringing to the table. Besides Beard, I knew nothing about the other people, or what they wanted.

  To my surprise, Derry was less opposed to the idea than I had thought he would be. “I do need capable players to stop Dervaux. But you have to know you’re risking their lives, Dorsett. You’re using people you care about to further your plans. If they die, it will be your responsibility. You think you’re up to the task?”

  “Why do you suddenly care about my well-being?” I asked, squinting my eyes.

  I won’t put anyone in danger if I can help it, it’s not like I plan on bringing anyone to a shootout. But I won’t avoid asking for their help if it’s safe to do so. That was something I’d learned a year ago.

  “I don’t,” he explained without missing a beat. “But I care if you break down in the middle of battle because you caused your girlfriend’s death.”

  The table shook and almost broke when someone smashed their fists against the table. I discovered, to my surprise, that person had been me. “No one is dying for you. Or me. If stopping Dervaux makes me risk my friends, I’m turning everything we know to the police and letting them handle it.”

  Derry didn’t flinch with my outburst. Instead, he smiled briefly. “You do that and you’ll trade a couple lives for the lives of millions. But it’s good to know your limits, Dorsett. Makes you less of a wildcard and more of a known quantity. When the time comes, it will allow me to do what’s necessary.”

  “Likewise.”

  “Tell your friend I’ll brief her myself,” he told me. “Now, please, bring that ship of yours to Earth so I can avoid waiting for this dreadful shuttle to bring me back to Argus.”

  I didn’t bother replying. I was back in Rune. Walpurgis was towering over Jarred, with Mai at her side, looking like someone who was quickly losing control of the situation.

  What’s her deal? I thought. I expected a CIA agent to be more… decisive? At least a bit more Derry-like, I guess. She’s a bit meek for a badass sniper.

  “He’s part of a Quest,” I explained to Walpurgis.

  “I know, I already accepted the prompt.”

  “Good.” I turned to Mai. “Derry’s OK with bringing her in. Walps, welcome to the crew. We’re saving the world, I think.”

  “That’s one hell of a way of putting it,” whispered Mai.

  “I know, right? Walps is a terrible nickname. Call me that and I’ll shoot you, by the way,” she told Mai. Then, back to me: “Cole, here’s the list. See if any name rings a bell, it did nothing for me.”

  “What list?” asked Mai, but I wasn’t listening to her. The file Walpurgis mentioned appeared in my field of vision after I accepted her transfer.

  Most of the names made no sense to me. I vaguely heard Francis’ voice in the background:

  “From what I overheard, Master Walpurgis was in some secret mission of her own. Let me fill you in, save Master Cole some processing memory. Human brains suck at multitasking, you know…”

  The list of names went as follows:

  Willis Shannon

  Ricard Foyer

  Patrick Glass

  Lillian Buyer

  Jennifer Wood

  Calvin Miles

  Kris Martinez

  Bill Fields.

  “Oh, shit.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Just ask nicely

  What followed was a long talk between myself, Mai, and Walpurgis, with brief interventions by Francis while he piloted the Teddy to pick Derry up from the starter area back on Earth.

  Our chat consisted mostly of each of us asking: “Wait, what?” a lot of times, followed with brief, garbled explanations that created more questions for everyone.

  “I don’t understand it,” I told them. “If Martinez was a mole, she knew about the apartment in the first place… She could’ve delivered me to the CIL on a silver platter any time she wanted to… She lived there!”

  Mai was skeptical. “You sure this intel is valid?”

  “It was one of Caputi’s informants,” I told her.

  “Never heard of her,” Mai said.

  “Case in point.” said Walpurgis. “By the way, I don’t know about the intel’s veracity. I only retrieved it.”

  “You sure?” Mai asked her. “No offense, but I read your file. There’s a… strange lack on useful information about you out there.”

  “I lived an unremarkable life. You don’t get to be Rune’s top marksman while having a social life.” Walpurgis shrugged. “You’re saying I could be a mole, too?”

  “You did shoot my boss back in the cargo bay.”

  “It’s kind of a tradition with us.”

  “Wait… Are you the girl who killed him?”

  I briefly considered letting them fight, but I was tired of having to clean virtual blood from my ship. “People, stop. I trust Walpurgis, and I…” Well, I didn’t trust Derry to go get a carton of milk from the virtual store, but we had a partnership or something like that. “And Derry and I have an understanding. He certainly doesn’t seem to mind last year’s… clash with us. Can we put this behind us?”

  “Besides,” Francis chimed in, “if Master Walpurgis wanted to betray us, I’d know it. I have memorized the entire crew’s psychosomatic signatures, so I know if they’re lying at any time.”

  “What the fuck,” said Walpurgis.

  “What the fuck,” said Mai. “AI aren’t supposed to do that.”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying all along!” exclaimed Walpurgis.

  “It’s only fair. You can trust me to use this information for good.”

  I’m the captain of a crazy-cruise, I realized with dismay. This was the supposed team to face an evil overlord and rescue (or whatever. She’d probably would get pissed at me saying “rescue”) Irene?

  We’re doomed.

  “The prisoner is waking up,” Francis informed us. “He’ll regain full use of his motor controls in about five more minutes. I’d say you can start interrogating him in four.”

  “Thanks, Skynet,” said Walpurgis. “I’ll do the questioning.”

  “I think you’ll leave that to a trained professional, thank you very much,” Mai told her.

  “Oh, so how high is your Intimidation skill, Miss Trained Professional?”

  I tuned out of the discussion. I couldn’t care less who interrogated Jarred. I was thinking about Van and Mom.

  Walpurgis had already called and left a message for them before we sat in the cabin to discuss our next move. I’d speak to them as soon as Van reached her own mindjack, which was hidden safely in Walpurgis’ place, wherever that was.

  It was a conversation I needed to have, but at the same time I feared.

  Mom had been right about the FBI stint. She had told me I was needlessly risking my life. That something weird was going on with that request.

  I had refused to see that, thinking it was normal parental fear about her son being in danger.

  I’d been wrong. Been an idiot. She had seen the signs I completely glossed over.

  What was I thinking?

  The only reason I was of any
use to people like Derry was because I lived in a weird transition time where a videogame had jumped into the geopolitical spotlight and they just hadn’t grinded enough levels yet.

  Strange alien technology and software, crazed cults led by terrorists, a CEO that somehow had recruited my girlfriend into working for her and was now trying to profit from the world’s instability… And I was in the middle of it all.

  I wasn’t some hero like the ones in the science fiction books that Kipp gave me. I was some kid in the wrong place and in the wrong time—whose decisions had done exactly what I hoped to avoid. Everyone was in danger because of me.

  And before this was over, I would put them in even more danger. Because I couldn’t save them by myself. I wasn’t some hero. I needed the help.

  The thought of Van, or Irene, or anyone dying because of me was too terrifying. For my sanity, I’d have to pretend everything was fine.

  If you manage to get them all in one place, I thought to myself. Perhaps the smartest option would be to book it out of San Mabrada. Go hide in the prairie, somewhere far away from cults and John Derry. And just hope that when the world self destructs, there’s a chunk wherever we’re standing big enough to live on.

  But if I managed to run, what kind of person would that make me?

  Did you know how things would turn out, Kipp? But my friend wasn’t there to answer. Even if he could, he knew less than I did now.

  Still… If he were in my shoes, perhaps he’d make all the right choices. The fact that I wasn’t the most adequate person for the job was clear to everyone, me most of all.

  It didn’t change one bit that I was still going to try my best and get everyone out alive at the end.

  “Are you feeling okay, Cole?” asked Francis, returning me to the present. “You’re looking a bit pale there, buddy.”

  “No, he does not,” muttered Mai. She inspected my face closely and I had to take a step back before it became awkward.

  “I meant the real Cole. You know, the one wearing this one’s skin.”

  A dense silence enveloped the cabin while everyone thought on the meaning of Francis’ words.