by Audrey Auden
The Mohira’s voice grew distant as she intoned,
“If you would have your answer, you must first build a temple to the mystery of enduring beauty.”
Dom felt anger bubbling up within him. The Oracle still withheld all hope of his answer.
“Enduring beauty deserves no temple,” Dom spat, “The world of the enduring is a barren one, cold as stone, ever crumbling, ever shrinking —”
Dom took a ragged breath and held his tongue. He knew such words were reckless. There was no telling what the Oracle might do, if provoked. The Mohira looked upon him with pity and stepped down from her stool to kneel beside him. She spoke now as only a woman.
“Be patient, Artifex.”
Rage reared up in Dom’s chest at these words. He seized the Mohira’s wrist and pulled her toward him.
“Ava herself offered me this knowledge freely,” he growled into her ear.
Frightened, the Mohira struggled to loosen her wrist from his rough grasp. Then she paused, looking curiously at Dom’s hand. His loose sleeve had fallen back, revealing the grid of scarlet threads just visible through the skin of his forearm. Dom followed her gaze and let go of her quickly, shaking down his sleeves and glaring at her with a look of defiance. But in his heart, he feared she had guessed his secret.
The Mohira considered him, her expression a mixture of compassion and bemusement. At last she stood and made a gesture of blessing.
“I wish you well on your way, Dom Artifex. Devote yourself to your task, and your answer will surely come.”
Dom rose to his feet without looking at the Mohira and turned away.
∞
“What was that all about?” Emmie whispered, trotting down the stairs after Dom. The two girls at the foot of the dais returned his belt, which he fastened once more around his waist, and his cloak, which he threw over his shoulders. As he walked back down the path toward the boulevard, the Oracle’s voice rang out, “Anteo Artifex,” and another man passed them on his way to the Oracle.
Dom could not answer Emmie’s question until they were out of earshot of the Mohirai, so he descended the long staircase to the first tier of the city in silence.
“Ugh,” she sighed, trudging along behind him, “It sucks being a ghost.”
When at last he re-entered the privacy of his sleeping quarters, Dom turned to her and said,
“All right. I’ll log you out. Then we can talk.”
She nodded, then unconsciously followed his lead back to her body in the Augur greyroom.
“So?” she said, kicking off her shoes and flopping onto the springy floor to massage her feet, entirely unaware of the true distance she had just crossed. Dom considered how best to explain what she had seen.
“The women you saw in the Temple City,” said Dom, “They are called the Mohirai. They serve the Oracle, carrying out her wishes, speaking with her voice.”
“And who is the Oracle?” asked Emmie.
“The Oracle,” Dom said slowly, “Perhaps not a who so much as a what. She is the source of life for all that lives in Dulai.”
Emmie leaned back on her hands, listening with the air of a connoisseur of worlds.
“She’s some sort of goddess figure? The Mother Earth of Dulai?”
“Perhaps,” said Dom, “But she is also the source of knowledge, which she reveals only through the Mohirai. Anything that is known among the people of Dulai came first from the Oracle, through the words of a Mohira.”
“So if you want to know something, you ask the Oracle.”
“The Oracle does not simply hand out answers, though,” said Dom, “To receive an answer, you must first swear an oath … to complete a task the Oracle gives to you. Once accepted, the task cannot be abandoned.”
He fell silent, until Emmie prodded him.
“And what about that priestess, the one you were talking to at the spring?”
“That Mohira was serving as the Oracle’s vessel.”
“But you didn’t ask her a question. Well, it didn’t really sound like a question.”
“I already asked a question. Now I wait for my answer.”
“You don’t seem too happy about it.”
“I have been waiting for a very long time.”
Emmie cocked her head to the side and seemed about to ask him a question when another thought popped into her head.
“So … the Oracle gives you a shot at a great reward — the answer to any question — but she could require you to do anything, and once you agree to it, you can’t get out of it.”
“Yes. Exactly,” Dom said through clenched teeth.
“You could lose everything trying to get your answer,” Emmie said, drumming her fingers against her lips, “A high stakes gamble.”
The look of realization that Dom knew so well now dawned on Emmie’s face as she said,
“High enough stakes to excite the courageous and keep away the faint of heart. A fantastic premise for Atlantis!”
Emmie beamed at him. Dom drew back his lips in a smile that did not reach his eyes. Once again, in the moment of her understanding, he was left behind.
∞
The swish that accompanied the opening of the greyroom door startled Emmie. She glanced at Dom in alarm, afraid she might be caught conversing with a network hacker, but Dom had already vanished. Owen stepped inside, looking around at the papers and takeout containers that the spinning treadwheel had driven to the margins of the room.
“Good workout?” he said.
“I think I had a breakthrough, Owen!”
Owen took in her flushed face and bright eyes and nodded slowly.
“Well, let’s hear it.”
Emmie paced the room, her hands waving as she chased after her stream of thought.
“So,” said Emmie, her words flowing rapidly, “We’ll make Atlantis a secret. Secrets are the one thing people love to talk about most, right? So we’ll plant some in-domain characters in Athenai or somewhere to leak info. Pretty soon everyone will be talking about it. And everyone who can afford it will want a piece of it. But we can control the crowds by making entry contingent on accepting a task that might cause them to lose everything. And if what they have to lose is a whole lot of temens —”
“Whoa, Emmie,” said Owen, “Slow down.”
Emmie took a breath, trying to think of a way to explain so Owen would understand. When ideas came to her like this, they were always just a tangle at first. But she could tell that there was something in this one, some idea just waiting to come clear, if she could coax it out into the open.
“Okay,” she said, “So, the business owners in Temenos know the value of new subdomain real estate. Everyone’s been clamoring for it for months. Tons of them would pay an arm and a leg for first development rights, right?”
Owen nodded.
“So, if we put out a rumor that Augur is going to give away first development rights to users who have demonstrated the greatest ability to put in-domain resources to profitable use, they’ll all jump on it. Who would want to risk missing out?”
Owen squinted, trying to follow.
“But, why a rumor? Why not just make it a product announcement?”
“For the buzz,” Emmie said impatiently, “It’s free marketing! All the rumor forums, right?”
Owen seemed stuck on this, mulling it over, but Emmie couldn’t help pushing on,
“All our big Temenos businesses will sink temens into their existing properties in a bid for first rights to develop new properties in Atlantis. We’d see a revenue bump even before we open Atlantis to the public. Then, the businesses who actually get the rights will sink even more temens into developing their Atlantis properties. And so,” she paused for effect, “Once we finally open Atlantis to the public, all the content the chosen business owners have developed for their new properties will be ready and waiting, which will distribute new user traffic evenly around the subdomain. We solve the Temple City crowding problem and the new subdomain content sparsity prob
lem in one fell swoop.”
Emmie crossed her arms, self-satisfied. A pleasant afterthought occurred to her, and she added,
“And, as a bonus for our team, this would dramatically reduce the scope of content creation we need to complete internally before the release deadline, which might actually give us a shot at beating Zeke’s concept.”
Owen nodded slowly, thinking it over.
“Sounds like a plan worthy of Ty Monaghan,” he said at last.
Emmie scowled. Being reduced to comparison with Ty was not something she would ever be proud of. Owen laughed at her expression.
“I meant that as a compliment. I think this could actually work,” he said.
“Okay,” she said, invigorated, “Let’s get the word out to the rest of the team. It’s going to be a mad dash to the finish.”
CHAPTER 11
The Spliner
One month later, Emmie and Owen stood in the windowless corridor outside the entry to the Augur spliner. They had just finished their own immersive Atlantis demonstration for Ty and Ahmet, and now there was nothing left for them to do but wait for Zeke to finish presenting his competing concept. Owen paced back and forth. Emmie thumped her head rhythmically against the wall.
“They can’t be much longer now. They’ve been in there for over an hour,” said Emmie, “OMG, I’m nervous.”
“That’s good,” said Owen, trying to sound upbeat, “You’re usually sharpest when you’re nervous.”
“I don’t think it’s going to help things if I throw up on the conference table,” said Emmie, wincing as she delivered a particularly vigorous thump to her head. She refocused her anxious energy on twisting the rings on her fingers instead.
“You’ll be okay,” said Owen, “You’ve had nothing but coffee for the last seventy-two hours. The worst you could do is dry heave.”
Emmie giggled, giddy with lack of sleep.
The whirring sound of the spliner powering down cut through the quiet hallway. Emmie wiped her sweaty palms on the black fabric of her immerger leggings. The east doors of the spliner slid open, and Ahmet and Ty emerged, peeling off the outer layers of their immersion gear, followed by Zeke, looking tired but cheerful. Zeke shot Emmie a self-assured smile. She surprised herself by smiling back. She could not remember the last time she had seen Zeke looking happy.
“Okay, guys,” said Ty, “Let’s go on up to my office, and we’ll hear your final comments on your concepts before we talk about the release rollout.”
Ty led them all out of the spliner building and across the grounds toward the main office.
“Great job, Zeke,” Ahmet said, clapping him on the shoulder, “Those creatures … really fantastic! I think I’ll have nightmares tonight.”
“And you two,” Ahmet dropped back to walk between Emmie and Owen, “I was just floored by the level of detail in your Temple City. Evocative. Beautiful. And your in-game characters — just wonderful.”
Owen shot Emmie an encouraging thumbs-up.
Ty led them all up the stairs to the second floor offices, where Owen and Emmie at last parted ways. Owen mouthed, Good luck, to her and continued up to the third floor. Emmie followed Ty through the CEO office suite and into the adjacent conference room.
Ty and Ahmet sat at one end of the conference table. Emmie and Zeke sat at the other end facing each other. Emmie could not quite bring herself to meet Zeke’s eyes.
“Guys, I know that the months since Tomo died have been really stressful,” said Ty, “Losing our Creative Director has been hard on everyone, especially you creatives, who depended so much on Tomo’s guidance. And it’s not lost on me that splitting up the team like we did for this release has put you two at odds. Pressure from the board convinced me this was necessary, and I hope you’ll forgive me for all the trouble it’s caused.
“In spite of all that, the work you showed us today is some of your best. You should be very proud of yourselves.”
Emmie forced a smile. Zeke maintained an expression of nonchalance.
“Do either of you have any final comments you want to make before —”
Zeke put up his hand.
“Okay,” Ty nodded, “Go ahead, Zeke.”
Zeke stood.
“First, I’d like to thank you, Ty, and you, Ahmet, for giving me the opportunity to work with my own team to develop my concept for Atlantis. I think our beta feedback just underscores the fact that our users are ready for a rich, surreal fantasy environment like the one I’ve shown you today, to complement the … simpler concepts that have characterized our previous releases. I think any of our users would be thrilled to visit my Atlantis.
“Thanks again for the opportunity.”
Zeke settled neatly into his seat. Emmie chewed her lip. Ever since Ty had split the design team into two camps, she had wanted nothing more than to solidly trounce Zeke’s concept, but now she felt a bit deflated at the thought that one of them would have to lose this fight.
“Emmie?” said Ahmet, “Would you like to say anything?”
She stood, glancing at Zeke before saying, somewhat haltingly,
“Well, guys, this was not the smoothest project I’ve ever run. I definitely missed Tomo’s guidance, and I’ve been struggling from the beginning to imagine what he had in mind for this release.
“I know that the island I showed you today isn’t the flashiest environment you’ve ever seen. Because I had so much trouble developing the initial concept, there are large stretches of the subdomain that still need a lot of content to feel really complete. But the environment foundation is strong, and elegant, and beautiful, and I think you both saw today that the locations we did manage to flesh out fully are really compelling.”
She swallowed. She seemed to hear Ollie’s confident voice in her head, and she tried to imitate it, gaining more momentum as she said,
“I know there are concerns about whether the simplicity of the subdomain we’ve put together will drive the user traffic we need for this release to be considered a success by the board. The team and I debated this at length, and we’re confident that putting out a release rumor will generate buzz and domain investment at a level that could not be achieved with a more typical release marketing strategy. I think it’s the kind of thing Tomo would have loved to try.
“So,” she looked from Ty to Zeke and, losing her train of thought, concluded lamely, “I — I hope you’ll give it a shot.”
Emmie sat down, flushing slightly. She knew she had sounded pretty weak, but still Ahmet nodded and smiled at her. Ty leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together.
“Thanks, guys,” he said at last, setting his feet back flat on the floor and looking from Zeke to Emmie, “I appreciate what you’ve said, and everything you’ve showed us today, and I don’t want to leave either of you hanging. I know you’ve both been waiting weeks for this decision.”
Emmie turned white and pressed her lips together. Zeke leaned forward eagerly, a bright pink spot appearing on each of his pale cheeks. Ty folded his hands on the table in front of him and turned to Zeke.
“Zeke, we were very impressed with the depth and originality of the content you developed for your concept, and I’m sure we’ll find a way to incorporate it into subsequent releases. However, at this time we feel that Emmie’s concept evokes a greater sense of continuity with the domain’s established aesthetic. We want to demonstrate for now that we’re remaining faithful to the things users have come to love about Temenos.
“We’ve decided to proceed with Emmie’s concept for this release.”
Emmie slumped in relief. Zeke sat rigid in his chair. Ty went on,
“Good work, both of you. We’ve still got a long slog ahead before this release is ready to go out the door, but I hope it’ll be smooth sailing from here. Or smoother, anyway.”
Ty pushed back from the table.
“I’ll let you two get back to work, then.”
Zeke scrambled up from his chair and rushed out the door without
a word. Emmie, looking slightly dazed, rose more slowly and was turning to leave when Ty said,
“Emmie, could you come with me? I’d like to speak with you privately.”
Emmie looked over her shoulder before she followed Ty into his office. Through the glass wall of the conference room, she saw Zeke stopped in his tracks, watching her. His face turned an angry shade of pink before he stormed off toward the elevators.
∞
Ty pointed Emmie to a chair that faced his expansive, glossy desk.
“Coffee?”
Emmie shook her head, and Ty made his way to the high-backed chair across from her. He pressed his fingertips together and swiveled to face the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the San Francisco Bay. The lights of the Golden Gate Bridge were just starting to twinkle against the deepening violet of the winter twilight.
“I want you to know I understand what a tough time you’ve been going through.”
Emmie pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and sighed. She couldn’t imagine that he did.
“Please don’t mention this to anyone,” said Ty, “But our investors and the board just about lost their minds a few months ago with all the delays we were having. Authorizing Zeke’s backup concept was the only thing I could think of to buy you some more time. It’s not lost on me how bad that was for your team’s morale.”
Emmie let out a humorless laugh.
“Yeah. Just a bit.”
Ty rubbed his chin.
“You took it in a stride, though. You demonstrated real leadership, and you kept your cool despite all Zeke’s posturing.”
Emmie raised an eyebrow. Ty chuckled.
“What? You think I’m blind? No. He’s a smart kid, but … Well, anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk with you about.
“You’ve probably been expecting this. Frankly, I would have done it sooner if it hadn’t been for all the goddamn politics I’ve had to deal with, considering all the qualified candidates, doing interviews, etcetera etcetera.”