by Baron Sord
“How do you know?”
He shook his head emphatically, “I can’t tell you. I just know. This is my daughter we’re talking about, not some random stranger. I changed that girl’s diapers, for Chrissake. I know my own daughter and that’s not her in that video.”
Dad’s confidence gave me confidence it was a fake, but that only made things worse. “If it’s a fake, how do we know she’s alive?”
Jason’s eyes darted downward. “We don’t.”
“Then what the hell do we do? I’m starting to run out of ideas.”
“You keep looking while Dad keeps trying to get the rest of the money. I’ll talk to some people I know about borrowing whatever Dad can’t cover.”
“Okay. I’ll email the kidnappers and tell them we’ll have more money later. Should we pay them what we have now? We have about $30K, right?”
Dad and Jason both nodded.
“Do we send it and tell them we need more time for the last 20? Or wait until we have all of it?”
Dad’s face soured with disgust. “Send it.”
It took about an hour for Jason to buy Bitcoins from his friends and send it to the kidnappers. They now had $105,000 of our money, $8,000 of which we’d borrowed. I emailed them telling them we needed more time. They wrote back right away.
=============
You have 3 day.
We sell her for body donor on Tuesday.
=============
I called Jason and Dad back and told them about the email.
Dad growled, “If they ask for more money, I’ll hunt them down and kill them myself.” His face contorted with rage.
“You and me both,” I grumbled.
“At least they’re working with us,” Jason said. “They could’ve just said, ‘Fuck you, we got more than enough, now we’re gonna kill her.’ But they didn’t. All that matters is she’s still alive.”
“You’re right,” I sighed. I hoped he was right. “We just need to keep looking.”
Ryder and I widened our search and pounded the pavement all that day without stopping. After 12 hours of finding nothing, we went back to Patpong Road. We skipped the ping-pong shows, but we wandered through the endless go-go bars, showing Emily’s picture and asking questions. A couple of shady characters we talked to didn’t have anything helpful to say, but they sure liked drooling over pictures of my sister, which pissed me off. We talked to a third because one of the bar girls who remembered us from last night told us he was connected, as in criminally.
When I showed the guy a picture of Emily, he snickered and spewed reeking booze breath in my face and said, “How much for her?”
I growled, “She’s my sister, asshole.”
“Asshole? Yeah, man! How much she charge for asshole?” He giggled, half drunk.
I lunged at the guy, but Ryder threw his arms around me before I could lay a finger on Boozie.
“Don’t get arrested, mate,” Ryder warned as he wrestled me toward the exit. “You don’t wanna go to Thai prison. You can’t find your sister if you’re locked up for the next 2 years.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I shrugged him off as he pushed me out of the bar and onto the street. Frustrated, I sighed, “What now? I’m running out of ideas, man.”
On some level, this all felt like a waste of time. If Emily really was mind-locked and hidden away somewhere, we wouldn’t find her wandering the streets of Patpong in plain view. But I needed to do something. I couldn’t sit in my hotel room all day.
Ryder said, “Let’s try that American bloke who runs the girlie bar up the street. The one I told you about last night. Maybe he’s there tonight. Maybe he’ll know something.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Tickle Pussy was within throwing distance of Pooters. The pink neon sign hanging over the entrance read Tickle Pussy and pictured a beautiful woman with the head of a Siamese cat. The cat woman wore a skimpy black bikini, had exorbitant eyelashes and bedroom eyes, and was smoking a cigarette from a long cigarette holder. The bar girls outside wore matching black bikinis and furry cat ears on top of their heads, but their cigarette holders held fake plastic cigarettes. Like last night, they were all over me and Ryder when we walked up, but we pushed past them.
Inside, Tickle Pussy was crowded with customers watching bored topless Thai girls pole-dance lazily on the lit up stages. Ryder ordered beers for us while we waited for the owner to talk to us. We sat back from the action on the stages so we didn’t have to tip. I was cocooned by the darkness and the annoyingly loud music. While we waited, at least two girls and one ladyboy draped their arms around my neck, asking me to buy them drinks. I didn’t. Instead, I watched a “rubber” dancing by itself on a stage separate from the Thai girls. The female flesh robot did dirty things to itself that the human strippers weren’t allowed to do. It was a robot so nobody cared. Even in the dim colored lights, the sim-skin was obviously rubbery, the boobs were clearly silicone, the face looked like a lifeless mannequin, and the eyes were completely dead. But it moved with human fluidity. Possibly a Japanese model, but probably Chinese. Its features were delicately caucasian and it had the moves of a thousand ballet dancers and pro pole-dancers hard-wired into its silicone brain. Some time in my lifetime, they would have robots that passed for human. Maybe in thirty years when I was too old to notice.
An hour later, one of the waitresses tapped on Ryder’s shoulder and pointed to the back of the bar.
We ended up in a cramped office which was barely quieter than the rest of the bar. The guy inside was a beefy white dude with sideburns. He wore a fitted black button down short-sleeve shirt over muscled arms that sported countless tattoos. Stacks of colorful Baht bills covered a small desk, like he’d been counting them.
Ryder hollered at him over the bumping bass beat, “This is the bloke I was telling you about. Emily’s brother Logan. Logan, this is Mike.”
Mike and I shook. Guy had a firm grip.
“What can I do you for?” Mike hollered.
“Ryder said you know people.”
“Maybe. What kind of people?”
“The kind of people who would kidnap my sister.”
“Whoa, buddy,” he said defensively and shot an angry look at Ryder. “Not my thing. This business is strictly legit. Those girls out there are my employees. They get paid like anybody else. They’re free to come and go as they please.” Sounded like he’d recited the same script before. Probably to the Bangkok police. The big muscles of his arms flexed with restrained agitation. “Maybe you should go,” he growled as he stood up and glared down at me. “Before we have a problem.”
“Easy, cowboy.” I’d dealt with hotheads like him plenty of times as a bouncer. I was used to it. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just trying to find my sister. She’s been kidnapped. Ryder here was the last person who saw her. I got a ransom note. They want money. Big money. I’m not gonna find her by asking around at the local churches and grocery stores, if you know what I mean. That’s why we came to you.”
Mike nodded, his red face relaxing as he eased back down into his chair. “Did you talk to the cops?”
“Yeah. They’re ‘working’ on it,” I said sourly.
He shook his head. “Don’t hold your breath.”
“I’m not.” I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture of Emily.
“That her?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Beautiful girl,” he said with a sense of regret. “I can see why she got in trouble. Sorry, buddy. If it was my sister, I’d move mountains to find her.” He picked up a wad of Bahts, ready to count them, like he was done with this conversation.
“That’s why I’m here in Bangkok, bro. To move mountains. Hey, uh, have you ever heard of mind-locking?”
“Mind what?”
“Locking. It’s a thing. They use VR headsets to trap people’s minds. I think they did it to my sister.”
“Sorry, brother,” he shook his head. “Never heard of it.”
“Check this out.” I showed him the video of Emily disappearing. I hadn’t been showing anybody else because I didn’t want to spread word around or try to explain it with the language barrier. As it was, the video still looked fake to my eyes. But Mike struck me as a guy who knew more criminals than he was willing to admit. You didn’t run a strip joint without rubbing elbows with questionable clientele.
“Wait!” Mike blurted. “Where’d she go?”
“Look at her feet.”
“Fuck me, man.” Mike said, almost confused. “I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it.”
“You know anybody who might have access to tech like that?”
“That shit’s military, man.”
“Thai military?”
He snorted, “No way. Chinese. Maybe Russian.”
“They don’t sell that shit to the highest bidder, do they?”
Mike chuckled, “They don’t even tell people it exists. If that cloak thing is Chinese military, I promise you they haven’t sold it to anybody.”
I swallowed hard and shot a glance at Ryder.
He looked as shocked as I felt.
Once again, here was that Chinese connection, as implausible as it seemed. If it turned out to be true, there was no way I could go up against the Chinese military. Or any military. But why the hell would the Chinese government want to abduct my kid sister? Because she was helping build schools in Cambodia? Seemed unlikely.
I said, “Mike, is there any chance you might know someone who knows anything about something like this?”
He sat back in his chair and folded his muscled arms across his chest, eyes far away, thinking. “Lemme talk to some people. Ask some questions. I can’t promise anything, but maybe I can scare up a few leads for you.”
“Thanks, man.”
Walking out of Tickle Pussy, I couldn’t help but feel like Mike wouldn’t find anything. I could tell he meant well, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. If superpower governments were involved, nobody Mike knew had any chance of finding Emily, least of all me. Then again, maybe Mike didn’t have a clue and was just guessing about all that. He ran a strip joint in Bangkok, not the CIA or NSA. What did a guy like him really know?
A few hours later, Ryder and I called it quits for the night. I went back to my hotel and crashed.
After two more days of searching that went nowhere, I texted Jason on Monday afternoon and told him to hop out of RO for a video call. It was early morning back in the US when he answered on Skype3D.
“Hey, Logan. I—”
Exhausted and impatient, I cut him off and started blabbering, “I haven’t found anything, Jason.” I shook my head like it weighed a ton. “Not a thing. All that walking and talking to people and the police and I’m right back to square one. Haven’t even left the starting line. I don’t have anything. Jay, I’m starting to worry this is a waste of time. What do I know about crime in Thailand? I’m a tourist. A foreigner. I don’t know the customs, I don’t have any connections here. I don’t know the first thing about this place and I can’t even speak the fucking language! It’s like I’m useless, you know?” I felt myself falling apart in front of my kid brother, but I couldn’t stop myself from crumbling. I was too tired from the nonstop searching and the bad sleep and the stress. My eyes started to water and I lost it. “I don’t think I can find her, Jay. I’m letting her down. I’m letting you down. I’m letting Dad down. But most of all, I wasn’t there for our little sister when she needed me most. I’m worthless, man! Worthless!” I smashed the bottom of my fist against the table next to the hotel room bed and let my forehead thunk against the fake wood top while I fought back tears and rolled my head side to side. “What am I gonna do, Jay? There’s nothing I can do!”
“Logan, I found her in RO.”
“What?”
“I know where she is in the Deadlands. Put your NeuraLink on and get your ass in the game right now. My chariot leaves in thirty minutes. We’re going to get our sister back.”
—: o o o :—
“Guilty?!” Emily screamed on Monday afternoon at the second day of her trial. The chains around her ankles jingled as she shot to her feet and slapped both hands on the Defendant’s table. “I’m not guilty of anything!”
There was no jury foreman reading the verdict because there was no trial by jury in Thailand. Only the judges decided her fate. Neither of them would look at her from the elevated bench at the front of the courtroom after they’d pronounced her guilty.
“Look at me!” Emily screamed. “Look at meeeeee!”
Her attorney, who was still sitting respectfully, squeezed her wrist and muttered, “No, no, no.” He sounded like a disappointed parent quietly chastising a baby who didn’t understand.
“Let go of me!” Emily ripped her arm free. “You’re useless!”
The big bailiffs in the military style uniforms rushed over.
“This is bullshit! You people are all liars! Every one of you! Liars!” She grabbed the edge of the defense table with clawed hands, refusing to let go, anchoring herself as the bailiffs came at her from both sides. Her attorney stumbled out of the way. The two bailiffs wrestled her arms roughly behind her back as she fought to escape. She didn’t stand a chance. They were too big and she was too weak from several days worth of dehydration and dysentery. But she had the strength to yell.
“I hope you all rot in hell for this!! You’re evil!! All of you are lying evil liars!! Let go of me!! Leeeeet meeeee GOOOOOO!!”
The bailiffs completely overpowered her and carried her out of the courtroom while she continued screaming.
As sick and exhausted as she was, she ran out of fight by the time they reached the hallway outside. They carried her in the air stretched out like a sagging carcass, face down with her head hanging, one man holding her wrists, the other her chained ankles.
It was humiliating.
She broke into weak sobs as they carried her away.
It had taken a mere two days of trial for the judges to decide that Emily should spend the rest of her life in an overcrowded Bangkok prison for the crime of selling a Category 1 narcotic to the unsuspecting citizens of Thailand.
—: Chapter 25 :—
Monday, March 23rd, 2037
Reternity Online, in-game
The Freelands
Skyland
Justice of the Law Stronghold
When I logged in, I woke up in a small room, lying on a bed made up with white and black sheets. It was the same white and black room where Jason had been keeping my avatar since I’d bailed on that failed raid back in the catacombs where we’d found rune dude.
Sitting on a white and black chair next to the bed was Layna. She smiled, “Jason told me you were coming back. I missed you, Logan.”
The reality of the moment was undeniable. Layna’s beauty shone like a bright beacon of perfection. She was everything any man could ever want. More than that, she was okay. After seeing her in that golden hospital bed at the Temple of the Light, I’d thought she might never fully recover. That Ogren Ghoul had done a number on her the night we’d gone down to destroy the mana cannon. But here she was, good as new.
For a moment, I was overcome by emotion.
Then I reminded myself she was fake.
All this was fake.
The only reason I was back in RO was to make damn sure we broke Emily out of the mind-lock tree so we could find her in Bangkok. Hopefully she was actually there. After that, I was done with Reternity for good.
“Hey,” I mumbled to Layna as I kicked the blanket back and sat up. It came out sounding rude, so I tried to dial it down a notch and fake some politeness. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”
“Yeah,” she said shyly. “The Oracle removed my curse. I didn’t get my levels back, but… you know.” She shrugged, leaning forward on the edge of her chair like she wanted to come sit next to me.
I stood up before she had a chance. “I should probably get to the war room. Jason’s waiting for m
e.”
She stood but kept her distance. “Can I… is it okay if… Jason said I should come too.”
“Oh. You mean to the Deadlands?”
She nodded.
“I guess. Sure. We can use that badass double-shot bow skill of yours.” I opened the door for her. “After you.”
Jason and Dad were waiting in the war room.
Dad gave me a huge hug, “Good to see you, Logan. How’s Bangkok?”
“Hot as a motherfucker.”
Dad laughed. “Find anything?”
“I can’t even find my own dick in that place,” I said, trying to keep it light.
Dad laughed again.
“Where are Ty and Q?” I asked.
“I haven’t seen them,” Dad said.
Jason said, “They had to logout of RO. Said something about being back at their IRL jobs today. Ty said to friend message him if you needed anything. It’ll go straight to his phone.”
“Oh. Okay.” I was surprised. I missed seeing their tiger mugs. I didn’t know the first thing about their real lives, but I felt like I’d been to hell and back with them here in Reternity. It was hard to imagine going anywhere in-game without them. I had to at least say goodbye.
KingFarthurT:> Yo, Ty? You around, bro?
It took about 5 minutes for him to reply.
Tiygar:> Looooogaaaaan. What up, dawg?
KingFarthurT:> You back to the grind?
Tiygar:> Working for the man like always, dawg.
KingFarthurT:> Qoorie too?
Tiygar:> Yeah, she back at the university.
KingFarthurT:> University? She a student?
Tiygar:> Professor. Bio-med research.
KingFarthurT:> No shit?
Tiygar:> Yeah. That girl got a big ole’ brain.
KingFarthurT:> Nice. Hey, what do you do, anyway? I never asked.
Tiygar:> AI data management. What you think I did? Work at a car wash? Heh heh heh.
KingFarthurT:> Hell no. I thought you sucked dick for a living. Ha ha ha.