"It was called Revelations, and no, It wasn't a prophecy, it was a promise. Most believe the man who wrote it has already seen it. It is a warning that it has all happened before. And will again, There is a pattern," said the man.
"You have seen the truth with your own eyes, what they are capable of. I suppose you would not be the first to turn from the truth," said the man.
"So what, we are opening the seals to the end of days? And it happened before? Yet it's happening now? Really?" Jerome said.
"I will get to the point, The man in the core has a name, Joseph Franks, he had a life and a family. He sacrificed all that and now we need your help. Now we need you to make the right choices, So his sacrifice will not be in vain," the man said.
"What? you're crazy," said Jerome.
"I'm OK with that," Said the man.
"Here, have a look, more truth that you might find interesting?" the man said handing him his phone. A video poised to play at the forefront. Jerome swallowed hard, it was Julia sitting at a table, watching a monitor. As he pressed play and strained to watch each detail, hanging on every word in the scene unfolding before him. It made his blood run cold. It was only 30 or 40 seconds, but it sent his mind spinning as it ended and the man took his phone back.
"Where did you get this?" asked Jerome.
"The question now is what you will do next? Who will you trust? the benefactors? It seems you were given the talent to play God Jerome, you opened the gates. Now we all need you now to do just that. Believe me you were not my first choice, but here we are. The good news is we all want the same thing," said the man as he turned to leave. Jerome followed him out the door.
"What the hell is all that supposed to mean?"
"See you around Jerome," and the man disappeared down the hallway.
CHAPTER 10
"Who were you talking to," a voice hopped into Jerome's ear and he jumped and let out a yell. It was Julia.
"Oh, Damn, you scared me," Said Jerome, Julia's face broke into the faintest smile. Jerome looked down the hall the Man was gone.
"No one, I, just, I was just wondering when you would get here out loud," said Jerome.
"Well get dressed, let's get out of here," Said Julia now hugging him and gave him a quick kiss.
"OK," Jerome said. "Are you hungry?" asked Julia.
"Not really, my stomach is out of sorts still, but we could go to that place you like," Said Jerome, trying to recall the name.
"You mean the Blue Moon Sushi place?" she asked.
"Yes, That's the one," Said Jerome quickly dressing and heading out the door.
"OK," Julia Said.
"My treat, I'm sorry to put you through all this," Jerome said.
"Oh wait a minute." Jerome went back and grabbed the envelope folded it and put it in his pocket and rejoined Julia in the hall.
CHAPTER 11
Through dinner, Jerome sat quietly, hardly eating. He occasionally looked at Julia. She was a beautiful woman. He liked these moments, rare as they were that she sat content, quiet and appeared happy. Julia looked at him.
"What, you have been sitting there all night, what's on your mind?"
"You look lovely, have you done something with your hair," Jerome Asked.
"What? No." Said Julia, cocking her head a little, raising one eyebrow.
"Do you love me?" Jerome asked. The statement dropped like a brick and Julia had no idea what to say. She looked back at her plate.
"Today was just a normal day, a numb day like all the others," Jerome went on.
"That man hung suspended, arms outstretched," Jerome said. He paused.
"You're wrong about Einstein you know," Said Jerome smiling. It startled Julia, and she nearly dropped her glass.
"Jerome, I," Julia started to say.
"Einstein was a profound man, I don't think he was vain at all. What was it you said? he undermined the effort for three decades? What role do you play I wonder?" said Jerome.
"I think that Einstein had a sense of what he was trying to do, he believed in it. Then maybe he found out he was being used, I think I might know how he felt. Maybe what you consider unproductive years were his most productive. He was trying to back out of a mistake he made once, don't you think," said Jerome.
"You think you have this all figured out," said Julia. "There is no simple path. You think you're in control? We are all just part of what they want."
"I imagine now Julia, you feel the way Einstein's first wife felt when she failed to properly motivate him," said Jerome.
Julia swallowed hard studying Jerome. "What are you playing at Jerome? It's not funny,"
"It's not everyday you get up and realize that everything about your life is a lie. I can only imagine how you felt all this time," said Jerome.
"The good news is we all want the same thing," said Jerome. "That's what he said."
"Who? What does that mean?" Julia asked.
"What are you going to do?" Jerome signed the check on the table and got up, putting on his jacket.
"You have given me a lot to think about. I hope you won't mind heading home alone."
"They won't just let you out of this," said Julia.
Jerome did not acknowledge the comment and left.
CHAPTER 12
Truth be told Jerome had no idea what he was going to do next. His brain pattern was on file, for now, it was safe, even he couldn't copy it. But Julia had been right, if they unlocked the core gained access to the scan, what then? And at this point he imagined it would like having him digging his own grave at gunpoint. He needed to get back into the lab. How did the man at the clinic fit into this? first things first. He decided to call Steve maybe he could help.
"Hello," It was a woman's voice.
"Yes, is Steve there, this is Dr. Atkinson, from the lab," said Jerome. There was a silence.
"I'm sorry, Steve died this morning," the woman said.
"What? How?" asked Jerome.
"On his way home, I don't know the story isn't clear," she said.
"I see, I'm sorry to hear that," said Jerome. "Sorry to have bothered you."
He looked at the phone as he hung up and recalled what Julia had said: "You don't just get out". This was ridiculous, no, it was just paranoia. On the verge of another panic attack, He had to get a hold of himself. The bigger issue at hand was how would he get into the lab now. He put the phone in his pocket, but it would not easily go in. The envelop the man at the clinic had given him stopped him. Pulling it from his pocket, he opened it and looked inside. There was a small paper, and there was a bar code on it. Jerome recognized it was a NR code to a chat private room. Bar code access keys had not been used in years, who would have an old NR bed like that. But he didn't recognize the series, seven, these old codes never started that high, he doubted that they ever went higher than four. he turned the paper over, it was an advertisement card for an old business. 'Sensual exploration, do what feels right' the card said. the address indicated that It was on the outer ring in section five. There was no number to call. He scanned the address into the phone and asked for directions.
"There is no direct route on file, business not in the registry," said the phone.
"Alternative names," said Jerome.
"There are no alternative names," said the phone.
Jerome looked at the card again, there was something familiar about it but he couldn't place it. Then he wondered,
"list businesses in LifeWell with this address."
"Address found, Sensual Pleasure is a registered sub-game."
"List game credits for Sensual Pleasure," said Jerome.
"One name found, Joseph Franks, registered games designer for Gencorp."
"Search Joseph Franks," said Jerome."No listing found. Individual not on file."
Jerome thought about the words 'not on file.' everyone was on file. If you were born or ever existed, you were 'on file' clearly he existed, he had been a game designer and a had a module on LifeWell. He needed to get to get i
n. But there was the matter of finding a way to log on with a bar code. He thought a moment and looked up his sales history on his phone. There it was, he clicked on dial vendor, the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Leroy, this it Dr. Atkinson," said Jerome.
"Hey doc, what's up. I tried that thing, you know the voice code with Mazie. You were right, she should be illegal," Leroy said.
"I thought you said that Avatar can't interact like that."
"She is special, a new thing we have been playing with, I'm glad you like it. Listen, Leroy, would you know of a place called sensual pleasure in the game? It would have been built by a third party," asked Jerome.
"Oh, yeah. That's old. Been around a long time, but it went offline like six months ago. Too bad it was a good add-on. But I guess it being 1.0 and all it would eventually be taken down," said Leroy.
"Six months ago was pretty recent, how did you play it?" asked Jerome.
"There is this place, over in section 5. it has a weird name, 'the dead prophet' or something like that, they have one," said Leroy.
"Thanks, you have helped a lot," said Jerome hanging up.
It made sense, Jerome heard that they were phasing out 1.0 content, but they didn't take it down. The dead zoned it, uncouple it from the rest of the world. It was just easier and safer so the system didn't glitch due to some old back door that a developer might have left. He didn't know what he expected to accomplish, but it was something to look into. He found a business called 'the dark prophet,' close enough he thought, an old cyber-parlor, it must be the place.
CHAPTER 13
The dark prophet lived up to its name, mostly lit with a purple light, it was as hard to see as it was to hear over the loud music they played from every corner. A man at the door looked at him suspiciously, Jerome made his way to the counter.
"Excuse me, do you have access to the NR core from here?" Jerome asked a young woman attending the counter.
"What?" said the young woman.
"The NR CORE," yelled Jerome. The young woman pulled an ear plug out and leaned toward him.
"The NR core, do you have uplinks here?" Jerome repeated.
"Yeah, sure. A private session is 20 credits an hour," She said loudly.
"Do you have an optical reader?" Asked Jerome showing her the code. The attendant smiled at him.
"Sure, we have an old 1.0 link on the back station, for thrill seekers that want a more 'natural' experience. That one is 100 credits an hour, and you wipe down the chair when you're done."
"OK?! Sure. I guess," Said Jerome.
She led him back to the rear of the shop. and they entered an even darker room, but at least the noise mostly stopped when she closed the door behind them. Jerome's ears rang a little.
"How do you stand the music that loud?" asked Jerome.
"You get used to it. The code?" she asked and held out her hand. She took the code and scanned it and confirmed the code with a terminal number.
"All yours," She said and left.
Jerome sat down and closed his eyes. The NR core link could be disorienting at first. He had not actually been in the core for a long time. It took a moment for him to get his bearings. He found himself sitting in the center of a room.
"Hello?" Jerome called out. He got out of the chair to look around. As he did two doors formed on opposite walls. A loading zone Jerome thought. He tested one door, the knob turned, but he knew if he tried to open the door it could boot another area. Best to check the other door first before making a decision. As he started to walk to the other door a figure appeared where the chair had been.
"Steve?" Jerome asked it was at least the image of Steve.
"Hello, Jerome," Steve said.
"But, I called someone and they told me you had died, are you an echo? A residual?" asked Jerome.
"I wish I were," said Steve.
"Then, you're alive? Where are you? people are worried," said Jerome.
"Again, I wish I were," said Steve.
"What then? you're not a program, you're not alive," Jerome strained to understand.
"This was not supposed to happen, Jerome, you were never supposed to be involved like this. I, I used you. I had to, but I never intended for this to fall on you," said Steve.
"OK," said Jerome. "No need to apologize, why not just explain it to me."
"A few years ago I worked for GenCorp. I was addicted to VR, had a wife, a kid inside. It got too much I lost my job. I wouldn't have cared, but I ran across this program, that's when I met him," said Steve.
"Who? Joseph Frank? He built this didn't he?" asked Jerome.
"No, Aries. He built it," said Steve.
"Aries?" Asked Jerome.
"This place isn't what you think, this wasn't programmed, it's not VR like you and I know," said Steve. "It's more."
Jerome had met people with VR addiction before, Steve definitely fit the profile. Funny that Jerome had not noticed. Perhaps, thought Jerome, Steve just had a psychotic snap. But the phone call, this encounter, it didn't add up.
"If this hasn't been programmed, how did it get here," said Jerome trying to get Steve to see how what he had said sounded.
"They built it! Aren't you listening? They also set up my job working with you. I got an ID card in the mail and I went to work. No interview, I just showed up. I was in the system, got paid. Aries promised if I helped him, he would help me. My wife, my kid, how could I say no. We needed to lift the protocols," said Steve.
Jerome tried to fathom what Steve was saying, it was at the edge of his thoughts, but it couldn't be.
"You're saying an AI built this, and promised if you helped him, he would? How exactly would he help you?" Asked Jerome.
"I know how it sounds. Just walk out the door, I never intended for it to go like this," said Steve.
"This door, this is the exit to the loading zone then, right?" asked Jerome pointing back to the door he had almost opened.
"And so where does the door behind you go? Is Aries there? You know this can't be real Steve," said Jerome.
"This is just a program, it's registered to a man named Joseph Frank, I can believe he is another addict. That's all," Jerome said trying to reason with him. Jerome listened for the telltale voice pattern of an AI, to see if Steve was a program. This could be a Quest Avatar he thought, a drama intro to a set of stories. If that was the case then it was as useless to interact with it. But he could not tell for sure.
"No, you're wrong," said Steve.
"So let's both go through that door and we can get together and talk about it," said Jerome.
"I want you to go, but I can't go with you," said Steve.
"Why not? Because you're dead? You're here talking to me, listen to yourself, you have had an episode of some sort we can fix this. Is it the benefactors, are you afraid of them? For calling me to the lab without authorization. I can speak to them," Jerome said.
Jerome felt the situation was getting a little desperate. This could end very badly indeed if he didn't do something soon it wasn't unheard of for someone to get locked into the delusion of the addict.
"I tried to download Aries, I had a stroke and so you see, I can't go with you. The same will happen to you if you try," said Steve. This was getting ridiculous and dangerous, Steve was out of his mind and Jerome needed to do something. Something to shake Steve's belief, if even for a moment. Break him out of this loop he had himself in. If he could induce a logical paradox, it would drop him out of the NR core even without the exit. It was a safety installed to help talk an addict out of a core program.
"OK, OK. Steve, listen to me this is in your mind. It's only real in your mind, Let me show you," said Jerome.
"NO, Don't," Steve implored but Jerome started for the door. Jerome grabbed the handle started to twist the handle.
"Don't! It's not a door it's a soft proxy," Steve said again. A soft Proxy? It was like up-linking inside an up-link. It used to be how people moved from one part of a core program to another. I
t was old 1.0 tech but not dangerous, Steve needed to see that. Jerome pulled the door open.
There was no disorientation this time, it was more like a white searing spotlight in his eyes. As colors started to return and he could focus he was standing now in a field, trees dotted the distance, the grass was tall and swayed with a gentle breeze. Steve was no place to be found, no doors here. A man sat under a tree a distance away.
"Hello?" Jerome called and looked around. He made his way over to the man.
"What is this?" asked Jerome arriving at the tree. "Why am I hear?"
"Why are you here?" said the man. "We all make choices.
"looking closer the man looked familiar. "Joseph?"
"No, I am Aries. I can understand the mistake, Joseph was my father. To answer your question, this is a back door."
"A back door? to where? What system ID is this in?" Jerome asked.
"System? No, no system," said Aries.
"Where then? What are you?" asked Jerome. If this was Joseph, the depth of his delusion was even worse than Steve's. A den of addicts, in an isolated section of the core. Jerome looked around, no doors here.
"In part of my father's mind," said Aries. "We are all, in my mind. It's the only place dark to the benefactors; no one is logging here."
"That's not possible. You're saying we are not in the core," Jerome said. This was exceedingly bad, Jerome started to scan around to look for an exit method. The first and second protocols were designed to prevent this, firewalls to keep the core from using a biological brain as an extension, it was far too hard on the synaptic relays. It would explain a lot, but made even less sense. If was true and Joseph's mind collapsed while he was here, Jerome would be cut off from his own brain.
"I can see your thoughts. you have many questions," said Aries.
"But we don't have time, do we," said Jerome. "How do I get out!"
"I'm sorry," said Aries. "I'm the exit. I am the fifth protocol."
Down World - Prophecy: Book 1 (Quantum Clockwork Series) Page 3