Void Legion

by Terry C. Simpson

  “It’s not your fault, son,” Pops said. “It’s mine. Are they okay for right now?”

  “That’s the thing,” Frost said, “I’m not sure. Mom and the twins might be worse off now because Just Blaze’s people tried to rescue us. Sidrie claims their EMP shut down the TNT facilities. She wouldn’t tell me anything else. Just sent me back into the game.”

  “Damn it.” Pops pounded his ethereal fist into his palm. “I should’ve seen all this coming sooner. I should’ve seen Sidrie’s actions for what they were. Seen the trap.

  “But I was so fascinated by the research we were doing, the advances we were making, the credits she had poured into the project. I turned a blind eye to her plots for Equitane to be the top Corp, to destroy the other members of the Seven, the personal army she has at her disposal.”

  Gilda spoke, “All the more reason for you to lead us to the protocols and the file or give them to us if they’re a part of you.”

  Pops shook his head. “It’s not that simple. I knew Sidrie would spare no expense in trying to find out what I did with them. So I hid them in Void Legion.”

  “And?” Gilda tilted her head to one side.

  “Each protocol is linked to one of the main bosses,” the holo said. “Killing them while wearing one of my aether rings exposes the code. An additional step in a secret room within each boss area allows the ring to absorb the code and transfer it to the player’s brain by way of TNT. Emperor KiGyaba is the first of those bosses.”

  Frost frowned. “You certain Sidrie doesn’t know?”

  “Positive. Why?”

  “She specifically asked me to clear the Sanctum. Kinda suspicious in light of what you just said.”

  “She doesn’t know for sure, but she’s as practical as she is ruthless,” Pops said. “She’s covering every possibility. Everything’s about numbers for her. Most likely she’s also testing you to gauge if keeping you and the family alive is worth the expense.”

  “Then I can’t afford to fail,” Frost said.

  “You can’t,” Pops agreed.

  “Something always bugged me,” Frost said. “What happened the night you… the night you died.”

  A wistful look crossed the holo’s ethereal face. “When I discovered that Equitane’s security was on to me, I knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to grab my research and my collection of data. But acquiring it wouldn’t be enough for Sidrie. She was already taking out anyone with intricate knowledge of Total Immersion. She would have me killed to shut me up or to stop me from passing off the protocols and the file to Just Blaze’s people. There was also the chance I might give it to the other Corps in the Seven to even the playing field.

  “I remembered your ring and stayed late that night to create a set of them in game that would respond to others with data coded into them in the real word. All it would take was to connect them by way of TNT. You nor Gilda didn’t happen upon your particular quest lines by chance. I designed those to be activated once both your DNAs were discovered together in game.

  “But myself, Uncle Hank Kim, and three other engineers had made a discovery when studying and experimenting with TNT and Whole Brain Emulation. Memories and persona were stored within the nanites. We had a theory on how to upload that data, technically that consciousness, into the game, perhaps into a character to make it functional.

  “We never got a chance to test it. Equitane sent their men to grab me. I took a car I’d pulled off the Grid and tried to make it home. They caught me on the highway. In desperation, I connected to Void Legion and uploaded my data. And a version of my consciousness. The car crash, pain, and the world going black is the last thing I remember.”

  Frost rubbed his aether ring. “I understand wanting to be the top Corp and the things Sidrie’s willing to do to make that happen. What I don’t get is why the game’s so important in all this. She claimed it’s the future of mankind, but it’s just a damned game.”

  “Actually, it’s more than a game,” Pops said. “And its capabilities are the future. Because of me and your Uncle Kim. Because of the work we did interfacing TNT, AI, and Hank’s work on brain emulation.”

  Frost frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “TNT itself isn’t new,” Pops said. “But the breakthroughs in combining those three things are. And it began with you, son.”

  “With me?”

  “Yes.” Pops stared at him, eyes intense. “All those years I made you play VR games and simulators, then Uncle Kim and I would test your retention afterward. To see what you actually learned. Part of your retention was due to our work. Especially your uncle’s experiments with brain emulation and TNT. The easiest way to describe what Hank achieved would be to compare it to procedural memory. Muscle memory. Years of daily repetition like a bodybuilder.

  “But it wasn’t just the knowledge you gained. There’s also the physical gifts. Strength. Speed. Skills. Things that would take a body, a mind, years to harness in real life could be achieved in a fraction of the time in VR linked to our TNT system. We lacked two things to perfect it. Financing and a working Simulated Reality engine.”

  Frost opened and closed his mouth. He’d jokingly asked Dr. Redmond about such a possibility, not knowing it was all too real.

  “Total Immersion,” Gilda whispered.

  Pops looked to her. “It’s why you’ve remained in such good shape despite not working out as much in real life.”

  Frost shook his head. So much made sense now. Technically speaking, he was the first gameborn.

  His mind ran rampant with the ideas of how such technology could be implemented. In a person like Sidrie’s hands, who craved power, not much of it was good. More than ever, he was intent on stopping her.

  “The chance Sidrie would discover that you were among the first that I used a stable version of our tech on was why I made you stop playing the game,” Pops said. “I was also afraid she would use you as one of her testers. I needed time to program the necessary precautions.”

  From outside came the clash of steel. Men shouted. Spellcasts echoed, their explosive impacts resounding down the hall.

  “You have to go,” Pops said. “Kill Emperor KiGyaba. His treasure room will open. There, you’ll find a Void Gate room where you can complete the first protocol. Gilda, you have a minute to deactivate your ring.”

  Back at the entrance, a line of dvergar flung spells at an unseen opponent, lighting up the night. Frost returned his attention to the water. The old nightmares came to haunt him tenfold. He glanced down at a tentative touch. It was Gilda. She was staring up into his face.

  “You can do this.” She twined her fingers into his, reached up on her tip toes, and kissed him.

  He let himself melt into her kiss, into those lips, the feel of them. The feel of her. Her smell. Taste. She caressed one of his horns, sending a shudder of need through him, a barely restrained excitement. But his arousal stopped short of the hunger, the primal need from in Equitane Towers, the real-life breathless euphoria that made him giddy.

  Gently, he pulled away. Looking down at her, he smiled as realization dawned.

  For all the amazement and advantages of SR, how it allowed him to live in a dream world, it couldn’t match reality’s raw feelings. Yet, SR had its place, allowing him to do things he couldn’t achieve in life.

  But there was something missing. Something different. Something he couldn’t explain. It was one of those things that simply… was. He understood now that SR and reality needed each other.

  He looked to the holo that was his father. There was so much he wanted to say. He warred with himself, with the feeling that he wouldn’t see Pops again, speak to him. Tell him how much he missed him. “I-”

  Pops disappeared.

  Frost squeezed his eyes shut. A tear trickled down his cheeks. He missed the old man al
ready. And he was at once angry and yet saddened by his absence. The emotions fought within him. When he opened his eyes, he stared at the algae-covered water and focused on the game.

  Epic players do epic things.

  Still holding Gilda’s hand, he leaped into the algae, pulling her with him. The water was cold and stink, the algae clinging around him as he waded forward. When he and Gilda got even with the statues, Frost stopped.

  He looked down into her eyes and smiled. “See you on the other side.”

  She returned his smile. “No doubt.”

  Frost let go of her hand and dived. At first, the cloud green water felt as if it sucked at him. His aether cannon dragged behind, threatened to pull him down. He started to fight it. To fight the idea of drowning, the weight on his chest, the need to open his mouth to try to suck in air, the need to try kick to the surface, which seemed so far away, a dull glow above, darkness waiting beneath. He wanted so badly to flail. Blood roared in his ears.

  It’s all in your mind. Just kick your legs. Sweep your arms. Kick. Sweep.

  He gave the idea life. Repeating the words became a soothing mantra. The aether cannon became an extension of himself as if it had always been. His mind relaxed, the water a comfort rather than a hindrance, an old acquaintance, the safety of Mom’s womb.

  IM clicked. Exp gained for a Reunion quest. Two hundred KDC and IDC. Did Pops do that? He dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter. He was finally level ten. And a skill he looked forward to was now available.

  Stand and Deliver

  Requires Aether Overload activation

  Cast time: 3 seconds

  Recharge Time: 3 minutes

  Consumes: Aether Overload

  Available Shards: 2

  Effect: Fires Aether Shots and Korbitanium Projectiles in a quickly increasing progression. Standing in position for 6 seconds brings cyclic rate to 100 revolutions per second. Slows enemies after 6 seconds. Moving cancels skill. Reduces recharge time for Piercer to 2 seconds for duration. 50 percent chance to eliminate recharge for Divergence, Aether Bomb, and Aether Fusillade. Continues firing until Aether Overload expires.

  One part of the goal given to him by Sidrie was complete. Yet, he felt no joy. No fulfillment. He doubted he would until his family’s well-being was assured.

  Knowing at least thirty seconds had passed, he swam up and broke the surface of the water. He was greeted by Dante and Sigrid near the pool’s edge, hiding behind one of several huge pillars at the start of a flagstoned path lit by bloomglobes along an adjacent wall. There was no sign of Saba. Sigrid’s desert sand complexion was paler still. Sweat trickled down her brow. Dante wore a smile. Frost followed their gazes.

  Less than two dozen feet ahead was a patrolling pack of ten gigantic scaled void wolves. The voidstorm’s power leaked from their bodies in dark and light tendrils. On occasion, the beasts stood on two feet like men, snouts to the air as they sniffed.

  Frost’s breath caught at what waited behind them. At the start of a roofed colonnade was a man the size of a gurash. He wielded a mist sword to match his height, its namesake power coiled around the blade. His scaled metallic skin was the infection of gray, deep green, and electric blue possessed by draconid grunts.

  CHAPTER 32

  Sitting at her desk, Sidrie took a sip of sparkling water as she answered her comms. Senator Kirkland popped into her HUD. “Tell me we have the votes.”

  “We-we have the votes.” Senator Kirkland dabbed at his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief.

  His nervous demeanor said there was something more. Sidrie waited.

  “To send the SDF supported by NAIL into the First Ward,” he continued, “to capture or kill the DeGens responsible for the attacks.”

  “And the rest?” Sidrie arched a solitary brow. “The cartels’ involvement?”

  “Any action against the South American Conglomerate—um, I mean the cartels, have been shot down. I-I’m sorry.” He licked his lips, the fear of delivering the report alive in his round eyes. “Neither Senator Constantine’s murder nor the discovery of the cartel guns could convince those against. They require more proof. Proof the guns were supplied directly by the cartels and not bought off the black market. They weren’t willing to take the words of some DeGens under interrogation.”

  “Then we can only hope NAIL and the SDF discover the proof during the assault in the First Ward,” Sidrie said. “Send me a list of all those who voted against. If they are any you feel were close to seeing things our way, then offer them whatever they need for the next time.”

  “Yes, Miss Malikah. Right away.” He dipped his head.

  Sidrie severed the connection. She needed to see exactly which dissenters voted solely due to their affiliation with the other major corporations. Equitane’s so-called competition. With Constantine out of the way, there were but six other competing AI and bioengineers or developers who could harness Estela and TNT if they got their hands on the protocols and the associated file. Five were members of the Seven. The last was an independent. She would make certain none of them had the chance.

  She wondered if any of the opposing senators had connections to the cartels. It would not be the first time for that sort of corruption. The army, and the dead zone that was once Central America, had stymied the flow of drugs, but there were still billions of credits being made here and elsewhere in the world. The cartels were paying handsomely in an attempt to regain their chokehold on North American soil.

  Although disappointed in the Senate’s overall decision, she still had a first step. Assaulting and subsequently controlling the First Ward would provide her with an endless supply of test subjects for her newest gameborn. And she would secure a measure of vengeance against the DeGens. She smiled at that last. It was a beginning.

  “I take it the Senate wussed out when it came to the SAC?” Keenan looked up from the tactical holo he’d been studying.

  “Cartels,” Sidrie corrected him with a scowl. “Drug cartels. Purely criminal enterprises. The worst kind.”

  “Pardon me, ma’am.” The coffee-skinned man dipped his head, but his gunmetal eyes did not waver.

  “It was as we expected,” she said. “Which means you will turn over every stone for more evidence during the raid. And won’t leave the First Ward until you produce some. And of course, you will discover where those ungrateful ex-employees of mine are hiding down there and get rid of them.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good. Now, your theory on the assaults?”

  “We have a spy.”

  “Explain.” She had her suspicions, but knowing he had come to a similar conclusion said she was on the right path.

  He pointed a thick finger at his tactical holo. Red, blue, and green dots and crosses marked positions from the assault. “There’s no way whoever is leading the DeGens just happened to attack on the same night we planned to frame them for Constantine and the silos. Or that they happened to find the pod room. Someone told them. They added their assaults as a diversion for the authorities in order to get to you.”

  “It almost worked.” Sidrie grunted. She respected the effort. “We will have to set up a decoy at some point. Until then, do what you can to discover who it might be.” It troubled her that someone could get so close, but she kept her poise.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Keenan said. “But what troubles me more is that it all speaks to a level of organization we overlooked or discounted.”

  “Or maybe doesn’t exist,” Sidrie said. “Now, you’re giving the DeGens too much credit. They were lucky. Find the spy, and we will be rid of the threat.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Keenan nodded toward his holo, which had changed to the Apex Solutions skyrise. “Which gameborn do you want me to send out on this one since C9040 died during the Sunrise assault?”

  “D600,” s
he said.

  The gameborn in question would have been a Mid Warder. His pregnant mother had surrendered him to the FPC when her family couldn’t afford to pay the cost for an additional child under Better Tomorrow.

  “I’ll have the techs get on it,” Keenan said. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go prep. With your leave, of course.”

  “You may go.” She dismissed him with a wave.

  “Ma’am.” He stood and strode from the office.

  A communication from Zhi Yin beeped in her aurals and flashed across her optics. “Yes, Zhi, what is it?”

  Zhi Yin’s pasty face popped onto the HUD. “There’s been a dozen new anomalies, Miss Malikah,” she said, voice breathless with excitement. “I was able to pinpoint two that spawned close together. Both not long ago. The only reason they stood out was their location at the time I was inputting a new tracking algorithm.”

  Finally, a mistake. And a bit of luck. “Where?”

  “Maelpith Island.”

  Sidrie sent out a comm to Dr. Redmond. He appeared beside Zhi Yin seconds later. “Doctor, I need to get in the game.”

  “Now?” he asked.

  “Yesterday. We have a good lead on the anomalies and possibly the hackers.”

  Dr. Redmond shook his head. “It’ll take at least thirty minutes to prep you, Miss Malikah.”

  She scowled. “That’s not good enough.”

  “It’s the best we can do with the limitations Alphonso set.”

  Sidrie snarled. She wanted to order the man to do better but also knew it would be a futile demand. Inserting herself into Total Immersion without adequate preparation might be at the expense of her sanity. “Fine. Zhi, send in two GameMasters to the locations and link me to their feeds.”

  A few minutes passed with Sidrie tapping her foot impatiently. Her pulse quickened at the thought of catching the hackers. Or better yet, if the anomalies were as Zhi said, a part of Alphonso’s code, then they were a lead to unearthing the protocols. At worst, she hoped for better insight into the reason for the disturbances and how they functioned.