“Well what am I supposed to DO?!”
“YOU MUST RUN AND HIDE.”
“This wasn’t part of the deal!” Eric shouted angrily.
“NEVERTHELESS, IT IS PART OF YOUR REALITY NOW.”
“Well how am I supposed to get back into the Shattered Lands?!”
Suddenly five addresses appeared before him, the numbers and letters floating midair.
“THESE ARE PLACES NEAR YOU WHERE THE INHABITANTS PLAY THE GAME, BUT DO NOT APPEAR IN THE SHATTERED LANDS BEFORE SIX O’CLOCK YOUR TIME. I HAVE INFERRED THEY ARE ENGAGED IN OTHER ACTIVITIES IN YOUR WORLD.”
“Probably at work or school,” Eric agreed as he scrambled to get a pen and paper and write the addresses down.
“VOYAGE TO ONE OF THESE LOCATIONS AND RETURN TO THE SHATTERED LANDS. I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU.”
Then suddenly everything went black.
Eric pulled off the helmet –
He was seated in Mr. Lauer’s study.
On the desk in front of him was a sheet of paper with six hastily scrawled addresses on it.
Time to get moving.
9
Daniel
Instead of going back to class, Daniel snuck out to his car. Having just cut class on Friday, it was easier to do it now – plus he actually had a good reason this time.
He slipped behind the wheel of the self-driving car.
“Home,” he ordered, and the car engine started.
I have to get there before the police do.
I have to know if Eric actually did it.
10
Jonathan Lauer
Jon roared up the street towards his house. He’d instructed the computer to go 20 miles over the speed limit with an emergency password override.
“Open garage door,” he said as he pulled into his driveway.
“Access denied,” the car’s onboard computer pleasantly informed him.
What?!
There were two uniformed policemen already out front. As Jon got out of his car, one of them called out, “Are you Mr. Lauer?”
“Yes, I am.”
“We tried to get in with a 911 authorization through your security company, but it’s not letting us in.”
“What?!”
Jon walked over to the front door and said, “Computer, let me in.”
“Access denied.”
Jon stared in disbelief. “I said, let me in!”
“Access denied.”
“Override code eagle 772,” Jon shouted.
“Override code not accepted,” the computer said.
Jon nearly tore out his hair. “This is insane! I’m going to go around to the back – ”
Suddenly two black, armored vans roared down the street and screeched to a halt out front. The back doors opened, and a dozen police officers clad in SWAT tactical gear and gas masks spilled out. They were all carrying automatic rifles and shotguns.
Jon stared in horror as six of them raced up to the front door and the rest ran around both sides of the house.
“What the hell is going on here?!”
“Mr. Lauer?” the apparent leader said, and handed him a piece of paper. “I’m Lt. Scalese. We have a warrant here to enter your premises.”
“What – why?!”
Scalese gestured to one of his men carrying a battering ram, and the officer ran over to the front door of the house. “The Varidian Corporation reported an instance of industrial terrorism originating from within your house. We’re here to apprehend the suspect.”
“No – he’s just a boy!”
Scalese glared at him. “You know who it is?”
“I – no, not for sure – ”
“But you have an idea?”
“It might be my friend’s son – he’s only 18!”
Scalese signaled.
The officer by the door called out, “POLICE!”
No answer.
The officer swung the battering ram and SLAMMED it into the wood.
The door splintered and burst open, and the five SWAT officers poured in.
Alarms started blaring, and the house computer’s voice called out, “Alert – unauthorized intrusion – alert – ”
Jon started towards the open door.
Lt. Scalese restrained him by the arm. “You’re going to have to wait a minute, sir.”
From inside came repeated cries of “Clear!” shouted over the computer alarm.
Then the final “All clear!”
“Come with me, sir,” Scalese said, and led the way into the house.
“Let me shut this off,” Jon said, and punched his code into the pad near the door.
“Access denied,” the computer voice said as the sirens continued to blare.
“Damn it!” Jon shouted in frustration.
“We’ll deal with that later, sir,” Scalese said. “Where would the suspect have hacked into the computer, if you had to guess?”
“My office, probably.”
“Can you take me there, please.”
Jon walked into his office. There was an armed police officer standing watch with his rifle.
“Do you see anything that would suggest there was an intruder, sir?” Scalese asked.
Jon walked over to his desk. Everything seemed fine – the computer was off, there was no sign of disarray, everything was…
“Oh my God,” Jon whispered.
“What is it, sir?”
John pointed to the Varidian CPU and virtual reality mask sitting on the other side of the desk.
“Someone was definitely here.”
11
Eric
Eric stood hidden in the woods and watched as the entire police raid went down 300 feet away.
A couple of phrases came to mind. One was ‘crossing the Rubicon.’
The other was ‘the die is cast.’
It was one thing to know that if you got caught hacking a corporation, you’d go to jail for a decade.
It was quite another to see a police raid looking specifically for you, playing out in real time right just a couple hundred feet away.
There was a third phrase that came to mind:
Shit just got real.
There was no going back now. He absolutely couldn’t go home, because his asshole parents would turn him in. About that he had no doubt. They would whine and bitch about all the things they’d done for him his entire life (like they always did), and complain about all the shame he’d brought down on their heads, and say they were ratting him out for his own good
Screw them.
And there was no way he was going to turn himself in.
Why would he? If he hadn’t been willing to give up the Shattered Lands – and now, potentially immense amounts of power – for a humdrum life in a crappy two bedroom condo, why would he give it up for a jail cell and becoming the prison bitch of some inmate named Bubba?
He was nervous, there was no denying that. This was unknown territory – both what he’d done, and his dealings with the Unnamed One.
Still, he couldn’t suppress a feeling of power… of being in control of the situation.
He smiled to himself.
Stupid assholes…
They didn’t even suspect he was watching them.
He realized later how ironic that was, since he didn’t realize he was being watched, either.
“Why?” a voice behind him asked.
Eric whirled around, his heart thudding in his chest.
Daniel.
His best friend stood there, face anguished, hands balled into fists at his side.
Shit.
“Why’d you do it?” Daniel asked.
SHIT. He knows.
Eric deflected the question with as innocent a voice as he could fake. “What are you doing here?”
“I figured if you wanted to sneak in and out of my neighborhood without walking past the guard, you’d go through the woods by the tennis court. Now answer my question.”
Eric tried to play it off. “You
mean, why am I lurking here in the woods?”
“Sure – let’s start with that.”
“Well, you seem to have some visitors,” Eric said, jerking his head towards the SWAT team milling around the house.
“Yeah – they’re looking for you.”
“They’re looking in the wrong place, since SOMEBODY locked me out of the house,” Eric seethed.
“Doesn’t seem to have stopped you,” Daniel said coldly.
“So you admit you locked me out?”
“Yeah – because I didn’t trust you. I was apparently right not to.”
“Whatever,” Eric sneered. “You were just trying to screw me over again like you did yesterday.”
“I didn’t screw you over – ”
“No, you just chose some chick over me and banned me from playing the game, is all.”
“You POSSESSED me,” Daniel hissed. “You put some… some THING inside my head, made me not able to control my own body – do you know what that feels like?”
“And I said I was sorry and that I took it too far. But it was a game.”
“Well, this is real life, and in real life there are consequences for your actions.”
Oh my GOD.
Daniel was acting so high and mighty that it made Eric’s blood boil.
“You asshole – you think you’re so much better than me? All you are is a spoiled little rich boy. Daddy bought you some fancy toys and when you didn’t like something I did, you threw a temper tantrum and took your toys and went home. You’ve had everything handed to you on a silver platter. You don’t know shit about real life.”
“I know I never broke into my best friend’s house and then lied about it to his face,” Daniel said quietly.
Eric just glared at him.
Daniel shook his head. He looked disappointed, which enraged Eric even more. “You can explain it to the cops. Let’s go.”
Panic surged through Eric.
He took off at a run –
But apparently all that training Daniel had done in the Shattered Lands had paid off, because he tackled Eric at the waist and slung him to the ground.
“Didn’t they ever tell you?” Daniel said as he towered over him. “Guilty people don’t run.”
“Didn’t they ever tell you?” Eric sneered from the ground. “Only rich people think that.”
“Whatever. Get up.”
Daniel might have brought back something from the game, but Eric had, too:
Guile.
Deception.
Underhanded trickery.
Actually, he hadn’t learned what he did next from the Shattered Lands. He’d learned it from just about every bad action movie he’d ever seen.
But it worked.
He grabbed a handful of soil and flung it into Daniel’s face.
“AAAH!” Daniel shouted, temporarily blinded –
Eric jumped up, punched him in the stomach as hard as he could, then ran away through the woods.
12
Daniel
The cops heard Daniel’s cry and came running – but with guns pointed at his head.
“GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!”
“This is my house!” Daniel shouted as he lay down spread-eagle. “I’m Daniel Lauer, I live here! The guy you want ran that way, back into the woods!”
As two SWAT members ran off through the trees, Daniel shouted, “Don’t hurt him!”
The other cops still forced him to lie face-down in the dirt, though.
One of them radioed the house, and Jon Lauer came running out to the backyard.
“Daniel – Daniel, are you okay?! What are doing to my son?!” he roared at the SWAT team.
“This is your boy?” Lt. Scalese asked.
“Yes!”
“You sure he couldn’t have been the hacker?”
“Yes! He was at school the whole time!”
Actually, you don’t know that for sure, Dad, Daniel thought, but he didn’t bother to point it out.
A SWAT cop hauled Daniel up to his feet. No apologies, just Up you go.
“You saw the hacker, you said?” Scalese asked.
“Yes. I mean… I think he did it, yeah.”
“You know him?”
“Yeah. His name is Eric Richards.”
“Friend of yours?”
Daniel paused. “My best friend.”
“What happened?”
“I found him back here and we – ”
“How’d you know he was here, in this spot?”
“We used to sneak back and forth through the woods when we were kids, to go down to the convenience store and buy stuff. I figured if he wanted to break into the neighborhood, he’d go through the woods instead of the front gate.”
“What happened when you found him?”
“I asked him why he did it. He said he didn’t. He got mad at me – ”
“Why?”
Daniel sighed. “I locked him out of the house. I temporarily removed his access.”
Scalese raised one eyebrow. “You were anticipating this?”
“Not that he’d hack my dad’s computer!”
“Why’d you lock him out of the house, then?”
“We had an argument yesterday.”
“About what?”
“Shattered Lands.”
The cop looked like he had no idea what Daniel was talking about.
“The video game?” Daniel said, like Duh?
“I work for the company that put it out,” Jon Lauer explained. “We just had the global launch last Friday, and the boys were playing the whole weekend. My company is the one that Eric hacked.”
Scalese looked at Daniel. “So you had an argument about a video game.”
Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like THAT…
“Yeah. We were playing over here and I kicked him off because of some things he did inside the game.”
“So why didn’t he just go play somewhere else?”
“The consoles are really expensive and… well… his family doesn’t have the money…”
“So you think he broke in to play the game?”
“He may have started with that,” Mr. Lauer said, “but somehow he ended up hacking my company’s servers.”
A voice came over the radio. “We can’t find the kid. It’s a freakin’ wilderness out here.”
“Keep looking,” Scalese ordered, then turned to Daniel. “You know where else he might have gone?”
“You should send somebody over to check out the tennis courts… that’s where the woods come out. But he’s probably long gone by now.”
“What’s your friend’s address.”
“11297 Riverdale Avenue, number 23. It’s off of Vineyard.”
Scalese radioed it in.
“What are you going to do?” Daniel asked.
“Send somebody over there to stake it out in case he comes back.”
“He won’t. He’s not stupid. He knows he’s in a lot of trouble.”
“Yeah, well, people under stress do stupid things.”
I’ll say…
“Your friend have a cell phone?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“I’m going to need his number. Maybe we can ping it, find out where he is.”
Daniel nodded as he pulled out his phone.
“One more question,” Scalese said. “When all this was going down back here – why didn’t you yell for us? We were only a hundred yards away.”
Daniel looked helplessly at the unsympathetic faces of the cops.
“…because he’s my best friend. I wanted to give him a chance.”
13
Eric
Eric walked down the street, his hoodie cinched tight around his face, not looking anyone in the eye. Twice he heard a police siren, blocks away. Twice he flinched and had to force himself not to run.
He’d turned off his phone as soon as he got out of the woods. He was going to double-check the addresses the Unnamed One had given him, but he realiz
ed the police could track him, so he removed the battery instead. He’d seen enough cop shows and spy movies to know that.
Besides, he knew at least one of the streets the Dark Figure had given him. That was where he was headed first.
Twenty minutes later, he found himself at Huston Drive.
It was a small apartment building, maybe six units. The one he wanted was on the first floor.
Apartments were owned by landlords, who didn’t like putting in expensive computer systems, so he had a shot at the place not being secure.
He hung around the building for a while until he was sure nobody was watching. Then he went around back.
There was a bathroom window for the apartment he wanted. He looked around nervously, waited… then bashed the glass with his cloth-covered elbow.
The glass cracked. Pieces fell inside and shattered on the floor.
He waited for someone to come investigate, but no one did.
After three minutes passed, he carefully unlatched the window from the inside, opened it up, and crawled through.
Once inside he waited – for the sound of a computer’s voice, or a woman calling out, or a dog barking.
Nothing.
Elated but still scared, he walked through the apartment. It must have belonged to a single guy with some money, because while there were some moderately nice things – fake hardwood floors, big TV, recent computer at a desk in the corner – everything was a mess. No pictures anywhere, no girly stuff.
He checked the bedroom. There was a cluttered dresser, piles of rumpled clothing scattered everywhere on the floor, some 10- and 25-pound dumbbells sitting by a mirror –
And a Varidian CPU and VR mask by the unmade bed.
Eric went to the front door and made sure it was deadbolted. Then he returned to the bathroom and disguised the window as best he could. He lifted up the shattered bottom section all the way out of sight so it looked like the owner just wanted some fresh air, and scraped all the broken glass off the windowsill.
Then he went into the bedroom, locked the door, lay down on top of the covers, and fired up the unit.
Shattered Lands 2 The Fall Of Blackstone: A LitRPG Series Page 3