by Tony Corden
Slowly she pulled away from those who were following her, and she began to slow. She looked behind and could see them, she could also see the limousine heading in her direction. She looked around and saw three security cameras focussed on her. If she remained in their view she that this might dissuade any attack. She stopped and waited for the limousine to draw near and stop. She called to the man who was also drawing close, “Stop, talk from there, or I will run away again. I can do this all day. Be careful now as you and I are on camera and I suppose audio.”
“Step inside the car and talk.”
“Not going to happen.”
“You have my word and that of the Kodoman group that you will not be harmed.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Then we are at an impasse.”
He stopped again as if listening, and then said, “Mrs Kodoman invites you to her virtual world. I will send you the location.”
“How about somewhere more public? I have very little faith in any Kodoman controlled world.”
After a moment he said, “At five o’clock this evening Mrs Kodoman will be taking tea at the Café Infinity in the 55 Cancri System, Cosmos Online.”
“I’ll be there.”
He got back in the car as did the other two men who had also stopped near the car. After the limousine left Leah slowly walked back to her gear and after checking nothing had been touched she headed towards the bridge. She was almost there when she saw John and three other gang members running in her direction. As soon as they got close, John said, “Sorry Leah, the bridge was closed, and guards were travelling up and down the river. Our three spotters on this side were arrested for loitering.”
“It’s ok John, the whole day was rushed, and I’m not surprised they managed to close you out. I’m okay, but now I’m in a bit of a rush.”
John pointed to Leah’s things which one of the men took from her. “He’ll bring that, are you ok for a bit of a jog? We can get there in thirty minutes.”
Leah nodded, and she and John, followed by two others from the gang set off toward the bridge. They had to walk across the bridge but then resumed the faster pace. They arrived at the locked entrance to the old Water Plant just moments before the twelve o’clock deadline. Her parents were standing there, and after a quick hug, she turned to watch a government car approach the facility. After it pulled close, an older woman got out and walked over. She looked the group over and settled her gaze on Atherleah, “Ms Carroll, I understand that as the CEO of Guàn Enterprises you are here to take possession of this facility. My name is Margaret Tully, and I represent the local government which owns the property. All of the documents have been signed, and we look forward to a long and profitable relationship with you. Are you ready to assume possession?”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
“Then please accept this Master Key and the Administrators Password for the facility. Please contact me if you have any queries regarding the lease.” The woman then returned to her vehicle and drove off.
Leah looked at the key and small piece of paper in her hand and with a grin moved to the locked gate and opened it. The first thing she did was head for the central office to make sure the code was genuine. The door had a keypad, and the code unlocked the door. The same code allowed her entry into all the rooms of the complex. Gèng directed her to the central security hub for the facilities. Once there she was able to take control of the whole facility. She immediately changed the administration code and had Gèng do a security sweep.
It took Leah and the group almost an hour to look through the buildings. John said that he had been seconded to Leah by Jimmy and available to take over the Security. Leah assigned him an access code and then went with her parents to decide on where she would live. The Centre had been planned with two levels of apartments. Those on the lower floor were similar to the one Leah had been in, though missing Pods and all the appliances. The upper floor was designed with more spacious rooms all around a large central recreation area. Leah chose one of the suites on the upper level.
This decision was made just in time as John sent a message informing Leah that the Pod had arrived. Leah directed the workers where to set it and then watched the whole setup process. After connecting the Pod to power, internet and plumbing they began to fill it with the gel solution. The process took an hour. Finally, they gave Leah the administration code and walked her through initialising the machine. By two thirty the Pod was installed and ready to go. It was almost double the size of her previous Pod yet had the same sleek look. The extra space was needed for a whole suite of advanced diagnostic tools as well as some newer features which allowed the user to stay in for longer periods. Leah was excited to try it out.
But before she did she needed to work out her living arrangements. Water and power were on, and the room had a shower but nothing to cook with. It took another hour to make arrangements with John and her parents to have various appliances delivered that afternoon. Her mother had decided that at least for a few days she was also going to stay and ‘look after’ Leah. Jin told Michael what he needed to bring over so she could stay in the suite next to Leah's. Leah gave John access to a security account into which she put fifty-thousand dollars.
Finally, she was ready to get in the Pod. Gèng had been doing some research, and it would take Leah several virtual hours to enter Cosmos Online and get to 55 Cancri. The only ‘Club Infinity’ in the system was on the public concourse at the primary space station which orbited the third planet called Brahe. This is one of the starter places for those new to Cosmos Online.
Jin insisted on being in the suite with Leah when she entered the Pod. Leah tried to explain that she needed her privacy because she had to enter the Pod nude. Jin simply dismissed the idea that she, as Leah’s mother, couldn’t see her daughter naked, explaining that she had changed Leah as a baby. Leah could find numerous holes in the argument but knew better than to argue.
After a shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and said to Gèng, “Is everything set up for use?”
“Yes! Everything has been transferred to this new Pod. The Tower is set up, and I have access. The configuration and performance of the Pod are within specification. It is six generations newer than your previous model.”
“Great.” She then looked at her mother and said, “Okay mum, what happens now is I get in the Pod, and the door will close. I expect to be in for three hours. There is no need to stay in here, but please keep everyone else out except that they need to bring my clothes and some food. I’ve given you access to this room, along with Dad. When I finish I will need something to eat, so please have them set the food on the bench.”
Jin gave her a hug. Then, a little self-consciously Leah dropped the towel and got into the Pod. It was roomier than the other one, and the gel was even more comfortable. She closed her eyes, and Gèng transferred her consciousness into the Tower.
The Tower looked the same, and Leah sat down in the Sofa and was pleased when Gèng came and sat at the other end. “So, how do you like the new place Gèng?”
“The data access rate is 19.36 thousand times faster than the previous Pod. The diagnostics in the Pod have allowed me to evaluate your progress better and I can give a detailed analysis of what has been happening to your body. The medical data that was on the Neural Enhancement Chip combined with the greater detail I can see has provided some answer for why you feel residual pain when you leave the Pod.”
“Something is causing the pain?”
“Yes. Some of the disorders that the researchers were hoping to control affected the signals from the brain to the muscles, these disorders often resulted in patients having inadequate control of their muscles as well as reduced muscle tone and strength. The experimental procedure looked to connect the functioning parts of the brain directly to the muscles using an alternate signal transmission system constructed with carbon nanotubes and designed to interact with an experimental carbon fibre matrix built within the muscles. Experiments sho
wed that it was also prudent to strengthen the skeletal system by depositing a mixture of graphene tubules and other carbon-based fibres. I believe what you have been feeling is the deposition of these materials throughout you musculature and skeletal systems. The diagnostics suggest that these might be available for use within several weeks of nanite insertion. This also explains your increase in food. In fact, I think you will probably need to increase your intake, even more, when they come online. The system is designed to be energy neutral by using the body's heat as to power it. Part of the programming will increase your metabolism as the system comes online."
"What will it mean for me, what changes will it mean?"
"In patients with the disorder, it was expected that they might have a normal life. With you, it will mean an increase in your strength and speed to levels that might be considered superhuman. With the changes to the skeletal and muscular systems, you may be upwards of ten times stronger and faster."
"What are the downsides?"
"It is experimental. All attempts to utilise the added architecture had failed. The patients were all unable to control the additional connections."
"So no disastrous downside and more likely, no benefit. Again, I can live with that. Please keep an eye on it and wait till we discuss it before allowing the system to come online. I will need to do some research, but for now, it's Cosmos Online.”
"The basic cost is double that of Dunyanin, so for one month's access, you will need eighty Virtual Credits. This is the world's premier space game, and they advertise a membership of over 1.2 billion players. Space is divided among six major space nations and numerous smaller ones. The 55 Cancri System is unaligned, neutral and a favourite starting point for entry into the game. With the basic package, you have access to all races and alignments. You will start with no weapons but will have a basic set of space gear; suit, thrusters, and toolkit. The setup procedure is streamlined and impersonal. If you want a personalised setup that costs extra."
Gèng arranged the money transfer, and an airlock appeared on the wall. Leah walked toward it, and the door opened. She stepped inside, the door closed and the second door opened. She stepped into a pristine white, empty room. Before she could do anything, a lady, dressed in white walked in and said, "Welcome Atherleah Lin Mu-Ling Carroll. I have your ID as FQC3465278 and your Interface as AI 628B44CE81. Is this correct?”
"Yes."
"You have a choice of seven species. These species do not interbreed so there are no cross-breeds. Each of the species is dominant in certain areas of space, except for humans who live in all systems. They all have distinct advantages and disadvantages. When you have made a choice, please let me know."
An example of each of the species appeared in the room. Leah could see her resemblance in all of them and concluded they represented her possible avatars in the game. Besides the human, there was a figure that looked elven and was from a race called Teldarians. There was a smaller stocky dwarven analogue, though, without the hair, it had rock-like skin and was called a Ulturian. There were also canine, feline and lizard based species. After a quick look at the various advantages, she decided that she felt most comfortable as a human and she said, "I would like to be human."
"Do you wish to change your physical form?"
"No, thank you. I would like longer hair, but I imagine that could be a problem in space."
"No changes. You are correct; long hair can place you at a disadvantage."
"What name would you like to use. There is no restriction that it be unique."
"Atherleah."
"Any last name or descriptor, such as Atherleah Carroll or Atherleah the Brave?"
"No thank you. Just Atherleah."
"Do you wish to identify as aligned or unaligned. Aligned means you have chosen a side in the galaxy-wide space race, un-aligned gives the option of choosing later as well as the freedom to visit all areas of space."
"Unaligned."
"Where do you wish to start?"
"The public Space Station in the 55 Cancri System."
"Thank-you Atherleah, while we process that information and prepare your gear it is important that you learn some of the basic skills. If you fail to learn these, it is found that your stay in Cosmos Online is limited. Please walk through the door indicated in green, and a tutor will be with you shortly."
Over the next hour-and-twenty-minutes, Leah learned how to repair a pressure leak and the correct way to get in or out of a space suit. There were no points to distribute as the game mechanics emphasised improving by obtaining better tools, spacesuits or bionic upgrades. When she was finished, she was handed a duffle bag, a belt with a toolkit and dumped onto the public concourse of the space station. She was still dressed in her jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. She was surrounded by people from all the seven species and from other species which were played mainly by NPC's, though she knew those who paid more could choose from as many as twenty different species. She had one hour to get to the café and decided to have a brief look around.
Before she had taken two steps one of the large dog or wolf analogues, which she remembered were called Gorgians, stepped in front of her and said, "You're early, come with me."
Looking up at the two and a half metre beast she could see the features of Meredith's man from earlier in the day. She stepped back and said, "Stop trying to order me around Fido, I agreed to five o'clock, and I have some time left. Go water a tree or something. I'll come when I'm ready."
He growled and grabbed her arm, she responded by ducking underneath and slamming her fist into where she imagined his genitals were. As he folded forward in pain, she slipped behind him, removed his belt, picked his external pockets and stepped into the crowd. One of the things the tutor had emphasised was the need to be aware of your surroundings; people would and could steal everything you had on you. Her training as a pickpocket had come in handy. She quickly resized the belt and swapped it for hers. Her belt went into the duffel, as did his blaster and holster, she would wear them after learning how to use them. There was also a switch-knife, and she kept that. She had also stolen a small datacube and a plain keycard from his pocket and these she placed in her toolkit. He had eight coins in his belt pocket, a five-sided coin stamped with a '10' and seven square coins, one stamped with '500' and three with '100', two with '10' and one with '1'.
Money in Cosmos Online was reckoned in credits and was mostly electronic. People couldn't always access the banking system, and there was a compatible system using precious metals. The lowest coin was a thin square piece of gold and was equal to one virtual credit. There were thicker and purer versions which were ten gold, one hundred gold and 500 gold. The numbers '1', '10', '100', and '500' was also stamped on them. There were also five-sided Platinum Coins and six-sided Rhodium Coins. One Platinum was worth one thousand Gold, and one Rhodium was worth one thousand Platinum. Leah now had ten Platinum and eight hundred and twenty-one Gold.
As soon as she could, she stepped into an outfitter store to buy some new clothes. Ten minutes later she was unrecognisable. She was now wearing a one-piece suit which could be used in space. It was armoured to withstand a direct hit from a blaster or needle-gun. Her duffel had been replaced by an armoured backpack which also powered the suit and provided up to three hours of oxygen. She was wearing a communications unit that allowed her to understand and speak all the various languages. She had opened an account at the Cosmos Bank and now had a compact bracelet which kept a record of all earnings and updated with the bank daily. She coloured the suit in a similar fashion to the dragon armour. She had spent almost everything she'd taken from the Gorgian. She kept the blaster in the backpack but bought two expensive nano weapons called Nano Sabres. The outfitter had explained that though technically legal on the station they were highly dangerous and rarely used in crowded places as people struggled to wield them effectively. He said that many people referred to them as Light Sabres, but for copyright purposes, they were sold as Nano Sabres. Shaped like a sword
grip, when activated, they extruded an extremely strong microfilament less than a micron in diameter. It could cut through most materials with ease. Most people had the filament emit a visible aura so that it could be seen. Leah set the length and shape of the filament to match her swords from Dunyanin and removed the visible aura. She had also purchased several other interesting gadgets in preparation for her meeting.
It was nearing five real-time, so she made her way to the Infinity Café. It looked like a very expensive place. She was asked if she had a reservation, so she said she had a meeting with Meredith Kodoman. They went to check and then ushered her in immediately. Meredith was seated in the middle of the room, and empty tables surrounded hers. Behind her stood two Gorgians, one was the one she had met earlier. He was glaring at her and growling quietly. She ignored them both and went to sit opposite Meredith. Before she could sit Meredith looked up at her and said, "Don't sit Atherleah, I am sorry you didn't trust me this morning. I only wanted to discuss several things. This meeting time is for someone important, not you, so you can stand."
Leah didn't reply, she simply sat down opposite Meredith. One of the Gorgians made a move toward her, but she ignored him. Merideth waved her hand, and he stepped back. Meredith said, "You should take care, my employees are very loyal."
"Your employees are mostly stupid and should be house trained."
Meredith ignored the comment and said, "You are aware that the international virtual authorities are making vile and horrid claims against my family and, in particular, against my son Jackson. Much of their action I believe rests on evidence which you have reportedly supplied to them. I expect you to withdraw your support for their action and claim you made the evidence up. Something along the lines of, 'Jackson spurned me, and I wanted to get back at him.' I have a document to that effect that you will sign."