Junco chose to unwind with a long hot shower and his new favorite bathroom sim. This one involved hot springs, a volcanic landscape and several scantily clad females. After this his only plan was sleep. He was just getting out of the shower when his implant told him that Teal wanted to chat. Junco accepted the connection.
“I'm too wound up to rest, do you mind if I come over for a while?” asked Teal
“Sure, no problem.” replied Junco, wondering why she wanted to come over in person rather than in virtual.
“Great, I'll see you in a few.” said Teal
“Look forward to it.”
Twenty minutes later Teal was in his apartment looking much better than when he had last seen her in the Jupiter Moon. This was a little surprising as just about everyone looked better in virtual than they did in real reality so to speak.
“I haven't eaten yet.” said Junco. “Fancy trying out a new scenario? I've got several on my subscription that I haven't even had a chance to look at yet.”
“Sounds great – one condition though. No Retro Rustbelt.”
Junco visibly cringed as he remembered the last time in that particular sim. Scoter had lost his hand to the psycho Vireo and that wasn't even the most unpleasant thing that happened on that day. Fortunately Vireo was now dead and Scoter's new hand seemed to be working just fine. “No no no no never again! I nuked that sim as soon as Vireo was dead.”
“That is a relief” said Teal.
Junco pulled two cartons of nutrient mush out of the fridge, gave one to Teal and opened one for himself. He then leafed through his meal subscription catalog looking for the new entries. Under the new heading 'experimental' were a whole set of entries. These were fictitious settings as opposed to historical or geographic ones and were often produced and directed by those looking to gain a foothold in the more arty side of the virtual reality field.
“This one could be fun – do you trust me or do you want to see the trailer?” said Junco.
“Of course I trust you. Set it up.”
9. AN UNUSUAL MEAL SIMULATION
The musician was playing an instrument that Junco had never seen before, that probably did not exist outside of this sim. It was a metal disc criss-crossed with strings of varying thickness. The sounds that emanated were gentle and harmonious. He didn't know whether this was due to the skill of the musician or the tuning of the instrument. He did know that Teal approved. Her smile told him as much. The musician was not stationary. He was moving in and out of the giant wooden statues that were positioned on a large black and white checkered surface.
Junco stood up and walked to the edge of the checkered surface. Beyond the squares there was nothing. The orange-tinted sky was still above but there was nothing below. Teal joined him and looked down into the emptiness. Junco felt uncomfortable and stood back quickly, but Teal appeared to be perfectly at ease staring into the blackness. He wandered back over to the white linen covered table. Awhile later Teal joined him. The musician was gone.
A young woman appeared from behind one of the wooden statues with a tray and two drinks. Teal took a sip of hers and said that it tasted good. Junco concurred. He could not name the flavors but that didn't matter. Another woman appeared with another tray. This one held two large white dishes with steam coming off them. While Junco was watching the woman approach Teal had returned to the edge of the checkered square. Something was not right. He called out to Teal. She laughed and came back to the table. The soup was wonderful.
Dessert appeared, this time delivered by a man in a strange uniform who appeared from behind the tallest of the sculptures, one that was lathed like most of the others but this one had a cross on top of it. It was the tallest of the sculptures. After delivering the food the man went the way he came but just before he reached the tall sculpture with the cross he tripped, sending himself and the sculpture crashing to the ground. He stood up, dusted himself off and apologized profusely. Junco had no idea why his mood had gone from uncomfortable to one of absolute dread.
They ate their respective meals without further incident and Junco was fully himself again after several more drinks (which were obviously designed to affect more than just the taste buds) and an extra serving of dessert.
The first thing that Junco was aware of when he left the Sim and dropped back into his real body was that he had been sweating – a lot.
“You look awful – are you running a fever?” asked Teal.
“Don't think so. Something about that sim really shook me up.”
“What was that?” asked Teal as she disposed of the empty nutrient cartons.
Junco replied. “You seemed fascinated by the edge of that board thing for one and that waiter knocking over the sculpture was the icing on the cake.” He expanded. “I honestly thought that you were thinking about jumping off.”
“So what if I had. It was only a sim, and unlike Rubidium Beach I could not come to any real harm.” Junco suspected that Teal was more shaken up than she was letting on.
Fair point, thought Junco. He had spent so much time in Ani's sim that he had all but forgotten that it was impossible to come to harm in most of them. “Guess you are right. Must be the stress of recent events.” He was not convinced though. Accepted, the meal sim was at the experimental, arty end of the genre but the feeling it gave him – surely that wasn't the director's intent.
10. THE JUPITER MOON – THE MEAL SIM AND A BIGGER PROBLEM
Junco decided to tell Ani about the meal sim. If the episode was irrelevant in the big scheme of things no harm would be done. On the other hand, Ani may just find something that would help with the saving of his creation, Rubidium Beach.
The Jupiter Moon hadn't changed a great deal since they were last there. The outside sign was looking a little more worn and the furniture was a little more lived in. How much of that was due to the explosion, and how much normal wear and tear was anyone's guess.
“Ani, something weird happened back on Level Zero.” Junco opened.
Ani looked at him. “Go on.”
“Teal and I chose a meal sim and it kind of went weird.”
“How so?” Ani appeared distracted, only half there.
Junco plowed on anyway. “Some new meal sims came up on my subscription page so I thought we could try one.”
“Were you expecting these new additions?” asked Ani.
Junco thought for a moment. “No, I usually get updated every half year and it has only been two months since the last new ones.”
“Interesting.” Ani now seemed to be at least three quarters in the moment. “Didn't you think that your provider giving something away was a little odd!”
Junco replied. “Not really, every so often they throw in a freebie or a demo. Saying that this was a pretty big addition, and thinking about it, there were no promos or anything.”
Ani was now completely present. “Well I think this is important. Tell me what happened.”
Junco did as requested. He started off by describing the surreal setting, the sculptures, some the same some different and the black and white tiled floor.”
Scoter the historian, who had been silent up to this point, piped up. “Chess, you are describing chess.”
“What is this chess?” Teal asked.
Scoter filled them in. “It is an ancient game that is based on war. Very strategic. It incorporates no luck, only skill, so in some ways is more akin to a sport. The tiled surface is the board and the 'sculptures' are the pieces.” He thought for a moment. “I always thought that it was a game played on a table top and not on human scale. Guess I must have been wrong about that.”
“What happened to spook you?” Ani prompted.
“A couple of things,” said Junco. “Where the checkered board ended, there was nothing. I have never known a meal sim to not be detailed right up to the edges. Granted the background may be little more than a two dimensional backdrop, but there is always something. Anyway, Teal walked up right to the edge a couple of times and just s
tared. It was as if she was hypnotized.”
Teal nodded her agreement. “Yes, that part is really fuzzy to be honest. I know that I remembered it straight after it happened and when we returned to Junco's apartment on Level Minus Zero but since then it has faded – too fast.”
Ani was now looking worried. “What else happened?”
Teal continued. “There were servers in the scenario and one of them tripped and knocked over one of the game pieces – what we thought were sculptures. That seemed to really shake Junco up.”
Junco didn't deny this and continued with the telling. “The piece was a tall one – one with a cross on the top.”
Scoter spoke. “That is the main piece in the game. It is called the King. The game is won by trapping your opponent's King.”
“So the toppling of the king piece could be symbolic?” asked Teal.
Scoter replied. “More than that. If a player's position was hopeless he would knock over his own king to symbolize acceptance of defeat.”
Ani was obviously agitated. “What color was the king that was knocked over – I think that this is important.”
“White.” Said Teal. “Definitely white.”
Ani then changed the subject. “Something happened while we were gone. I am not getting any data at all from a large section of Rubidium Beach. Nothing, not even a blip.”
“How big a section?” asked Junco
“Big. Miles perceptually, millions of terabytes data-wise.” answered Ani
“Wow,” said Teal. “Do you think it's the Mechanik?”
“Hard to see how it can be anyone else,” replied Ani.
Teal said. “I suppose that we are going to have to go to the site and have a look.”
“That is about the size of it. I don't like it but I don't see any other choice.” replied Ani
“Any idea what we can expect?” This time it was Scoter with the question.
Ani replied. “There are two broad possibilities. Either there is something there which someone is shielding from me or whatever was there has been completely destroyed. There is no way of telling from the readings, or rather complete lack of readings, that I am getting.” He continued, “I cannot even conduct a remote viewing. I can do a virtual flyby right up to the edge, but then nothing. I don't know if I am seeing nothing or if I'm being blocked.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Junco spoke and Scoter and Teal nodded.
“Look, I have no idea what it is that we are about to walk into. I cannot in good faith expect you to accompany me on this trip. Remember, if you get injured so badly that we cannot get back to the body shop you will die – for real, forever.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Said Junco. This time the others nodded their agreement much more vigorously.
For a while no one spoke. Junco was, truth be told, terrified. A known enemy was one thing, however bad the odds. Walking into a situation where nothing could be taken for granted, even basic physical laws, was a different matter altogether. Scoter looked to be having similar doubts. Teal, on the other hand had a spark in her eye that suggested that this was what she had been waiting for.
11. THE ABYSS
The transporter panel opened and the group stepped down and walked towards the anomaly. The wind was light but constant. Ani made the transporter stop a mile or so from the hard edge for a couple of reasons. He wanted to see the area for himself, to see just how bad things really were and he did not trust the transporter to do its full speed to dead stop in an area where physical laws were likely to be extremely unpredictable.
At first things seemed relatively normal but that changed as they made their way towards the center of the disturbance. The vegetation became patchy. Some areas were relatively unaffected but others were almost stripped bare. The colors were also becoming unstable. Blue and purple were fast becoming predominant with only the occasional patch of green.
Further in still, and the wind was picking up speed. It was now at their backs and pushing them towards their objective. It wasn't yet an effort to fight it but at its current rate of increase that time would not be long in coming. There was no vegetation now and what soil there was had turned to dust. The wind was blowing the dust and all of them were struggling to see.
“Are you sure that we had to do this part in person?” Junco asked.
Ani replied. “Yes positive. Some things have to be experienced. The network is great but so much gets missed. I need to see the boundary first hand.”
“Fair Enough.” said Junco. He was not convinced though.
Teal was thoroughly enjoying the experience. “We should do this more often.”
“No we shouldn't.” Scoter chipped in.
More and more mirror tiles were becoming visible on the ground. These were not neat rectangles or squares like the ones on the shoreline, but were crazed without any apparent pattern. Some of the ground was now covered by what looked like powdered colored glass. This glass was resistant to the increasing wind, as if it was glued in place. Patches of azure and crimson were predominant. The mix was nightmarish. Cracked mirrors reflected the reds and oranges of the sky, the light bouncing off the powdered glass and dust that seemed to be coming from nowhere.
The group went over to using the private communication network as the wind and the dust were conspiring to make verbal communication all but impossible. Ani handed out goggles to the group. “Where did they come from – thought you said that you wouldn't be able to do your magic tricks because of the instability of this area or something?” asked Junco.
“Thought I'd risk it – wasn't sure that it was going to work though. To be honest I could have ended up holding four tuna sandwiches.”
Junco laughed despite himself.
Scoter said. “Well, I am glad that you risked it. I've hardly been able to open my eyes for the last ten minutes.” They all put the goggles on.
Five black crow-like birds came out of nowhere. The first Junco knew of their existence was when one of them flew within an inch of his left ear. Its squawking drowned out the sound of the wind as it flew past. One of the birds flew straight into the back of Scoter's head knocking him to the ground. Another attacked him as soon as he fell. This one got in half a dozen pecks on Scoter's forearms before the others could drive it off. The one bird not involved in the attack issued an ear-splitting sound and the other four flew up and followed it away from the scene. Scoter's arms were both bleeding but he had managed to protect his face.
Ani indicated a portion of wall off to their left that would act as a windbreak. Junco and the others attended to Scoter. No serious damage but he was a little shaken. The wall turned out to be a single slab of stone that was more than large enough to give them all shelter from the wind.
“How much farther?” asked Teal
“Not far.” Ani replied. “three or four of hundred yards or so.”
Junco: “Ani, do you have any idea of what we are walking into yet?”
“None at all. I am still being blocked from the actual site. I suspect that we won't know any more until we are looking at it – if it is anything at all.”
After resting for twenty minutes or so the group continued on. The first couple of hundred yards were more of the same. The wind increased slightly but there were no new surprises. Over the next hundred yards though, everything changed. The wind stopped altogether and the ground became a mirror. The sky became clear other then the gigantic red sun and the smaller of Rubidium Beach's two moons. The sun was midway up the sky directly ahead of them and was reflected in the mirror below.
Junco tried to make sense of the change by looking behind, seeing where they had just been. There were no signs of any wind or of anything other than clear pink sky and a perfectly mirrored floor.
It was impossible to make out a horizon. The pink sky had to meet the mirrored ground somewhere in the distance, but where was anyone's guess. They were, to all intents and purpose, in a gigantic pink room with walls and ceiling an indeterminan
t distance away. The effect was disturbing. They kept walking. Fortunately their implants would let them know if they were going around in circles or going, as intended, in a straight line. Ani appeared confident that they were on course.
“What are we looking for exactly?” Asked Junco
“Don't worry.” Responded Ani. “We will know when we find it, in fact we won't be able to miss it even if we wanted to.” Ani communicated verbally as their was now no wind to contend with.
Junco found the relative silence disconcerting to say the least. He looked over to Teal and Scoter who were walking a few yards to his left and obviously caught up in their own conversation. “Hey, everything okay?”.
They were both laughing. It was Teal who responded. “Everything is great. This is really weird but in a good way.”
Junco found their cheerfulness disturbing. He managed to detach enough to wonder if their actions were really disturbing or if this place was doing something to make him borderline paranoid. He decided in favor of the latter and turned to Ani. “This place is starting to get to me and I don't know why.”
“Yup me too.” Ani responded without further elaboration.
At some indeterminable distance ahead of them a thin black line appeared. As the group closed in on it the line became thicker. It stretched from one side of their field of view to the other. Junco looked over his shoulder and saw that the black line extended all around them, three hundred and sixty degrees. The laws of physics no longer applied to the space they were in. That much was fast becoming obvious.
The four of them carried on walking until they reached the edge of the black circle. The thing was, it wasn't really black but rather nothing, an absence of everything. Junco kneeled down and slowly put his hand into the nothingness. His limb sunk below the level of the surrounding pink tinged mirror. “Well, it is three dimensional and not two.”
Ani appeared unsurprised by this statement. “It is dimensionless, that is why I wanted to see it for real, so to speak, and not just virtually.” He continued. “It really is nothing in the technical sense of the word.”
The Rubidium Beach Series - Episodes 1 Through 4: Cyberpunk/Dystopian Science Fiction Page 10