Shadows

by Terry Schott

Sam nodded. "Yeah, it makes sense that since the kid is a dipwad, there is a parent with the same traits sniffing around."

  "You're hilarious."

  "So are you. I was waiting for my baby sister to stand up and defend my honour." Sam raised his pitch to imitate his sister. "My brother is a real businessman! Network marketing is a valid, legal way to make money, so stop belittling him!" He shook his head in mock sadness. "That's the kind of protection I could have used right there, Sis."

  Dawn giggled. "He didn't say anything negative to you at all, goofball! Besides, you know if he had attacked you then I would have said exactly that kind of thing to defend you."

  Their dad had always been an entrepreneur, although never a very successful one. Over the years many of Harry's businesses had failed, but he had told his children that failing was not bad; quitting was. Harry had lived those values, remaining positive and open to opportunity. By the time both of them were thirteen, they had read some of the classic self-help books and listened to some speakers on the computer. Then, six years ago, Harry had gotten involved with a network marketing opportunity. The timing must have been right, because he had built a very successful business in no time. When Sam had turned eighteen, his dad already had a plan for him. Sam had become a distributor, and in less than six months he was earning ten thousand dollars a month. They had also begun playing SHEPHERDS a few years before that, and it started to pay off around the same time. Money was not difficult for the family to spare, but time was. Harry had said to expect a big party, but a private little celebration dinner meant more to Dawn than any party they could have planned.

  "I want to talk a bit about Wallace—"

  "Don't start with that tonight, please," Sam said.

  "But—"

  "No buts. I don't want to talk about Wallaceton tonight. I'm still weirded out that you ask about that place, and suddenly we're running into it everywhere we turn." Sam finished his steak and laid down the utensils. "We have lots of work to do, and none of it involves Wallaceton."

  "We shouldn't be talking about this in public."

  "I know," he shrugged. "It's a bad habit that comes with acquiring the ansible. These things put out a small distortion field so no one can eavesdrop on what we're saying."

  "You mean tech devices like microphones or cameras?" Dawn asked.

  "Sure, all those things, but even people can't hear us properly." He looked at the tables closest to them and then back to his sister. "The folks beside us can't quite make out what we're saying. The sound waves get slightly warbled, enough so it doesn't enter any listening device properly, including the human ear."

  "Lip readers?"

  "Nope," he said. "Light is slightly wobbly too, just enough to mess people up. If a true pro wanted to read our lips they probably could, but that would require aid from tech devices, and then our ansible would chirp to alert us."

  "Wow," Dawn said. "That seems pretty high-tech."

  "It's the highest tech," Sam admitted. Dad says SHEPHERDS tech is more advanced than government stuff. I guess that's the perk of hiring the best young minds and tech geeks in the world."

  "Just to play a game?" There must be more to it, thought Dawn. We get paid a lot to play an online game. That doesn't make sense on so many levels.

  "Just to play a game," Sam agreed.

  The waiter cleared their plates and they ordered dessert. After the waiter had left, Dawn asked, "So what's on the agenda tomorrow?"

  "Meetings," Sam said, "Same as always."

  "Sometimes I miss the days when all we had to do was patrol a territory and shear every target in the area," Dawn said.

  "They still call us in to shear the tough spots," Sam said. "I'd much rather be calling the shots, like we do now."

  "I guess."

  "If you want to go back to being a newb, I can suggest it to dad," Sam offered. "Of course, I think he would likely throw you back down to newb pay as well."

  Dawn laughed. "No, that's okay. I think I'll tough it out for a while where I am, thanks."

  "Let's enjoy the rest of this meal without any more business talk," Sam suggested. "Tomorrow morning we can meet with Dad and make a plan of attack for the rest of the week."

  "Deal."

  6

  Kerstin stood patiently in line and waited to order her morning coffee. She took out her phone and logged into SHEPHERDS to make sure that Rebecca, one of her new operatives, had this location locked down for the day.

  A new message marked 'confidential' appeared on her profile page. Kerstin turned her phone off and waited until she got her coffee, then retreated to a quiet corner booth and opened the message.

  Congratulations, Shepherd!

  You have successfully activated five frontline operatives into your direct team.

  This qualifies you for a larger share of the group profits, and unlocks a new feature in your shearing menu.

  Your efforts further the cause...

  -The Shadow Council

  Kerstin looked around, then opened the game and tapped the fist icon to open the shear menu.

  "Oh wow," she whispered. There were new targets on her screen, and they were moving.

  She watched one small blue triangle labelled 'Dianne Japes.' It looked as if the target were standing at the counter, where Kerstin saw a woman ordering coffee. A few moments later, the woman doctored her coffee and exited the store. When she did, the blue triangle labelled as Dianne Japes also disappeared.

  Kerstin looked at another target, matching it up to with an elderly man sitting at a window seat. She tapped the triangle and it came up just like a property targets, displaying kb and digicash rewards per hour for shearing it. She took a deep breath and tapped the 'shear' command. The bar appeared, then a success message two seconds later. With one more touch of her screen, Kerstin completed the operation.

  Kerstin smiled. Wow, I can shear actual people! This game keeps just keeps getting better as I level up.

  Kerstin spent the next hour drinking her coffee and shearing people as they entered the coffee shop.

  7

  "Shouldn't I be learning something?" Dawn asked. "I think you've dropped the ball on this whole homeschooling thing, Daddy."

  Harry chuckled and looked up from his ansible. "What would like to learn, Kitten?"

  "I don't know. Maybe I should spend the morning doing trigonometry 'til my brain hurts, or something like that."

  "If that is what you would like to spend the day doing, then let's go buy a new textbook and get to work."

  "I hope you're joking, Sis," Sam took a drink of orange juice and leaned back in the booth of the diner. "You've already graduated from high school earlier than other kids, which frees up a bunch of productive time. A day with trig? Sounds positively horrible."

  "I was joking," Dawn said. "Sometimes when it feels like there's going to be a lot of work to do, I pretend that I have to go sit in a classroom all day, and it helps me realize that things could be much worse. I'm happy you homeschooled us, Daddy, and that we blasted through the regular curriculum so quickly."

  "And through much that isn't in the curriculum," Harry said. "If you do decide to go to college or university, you'll find that that you're already about two years into most programs."

  "You're right," Dawn said. "I think I'll put that off...until I'm old enough to drink."

  Sam laughed with her, and Harry shook his head. "Okay, let's get down to business, shall we?"

  "Isn't Josh coming?" Sam asked.

  "Not today," Harry said. "He's meeting with Kerstin to teach her how to use her new skill."

  "Nice," Dawn said. "She's shearing moving targets now?"

  "Individual people and pets so far," Harry confirmed. "She will need to level up before she can access transportation and security vehicles."

  "That's exciting," Sam said. "Her income should go up nicely next month."

  "Likely." Harry paused before raising the next issue. "Unfortunately, one of her operatives has squawked already."r />
  "That's happens," Sam didn't sound concerned. "The system will fix that, right?"

  "It should, but just in case it doesn't, I want you to take Kerstin and meet with the kid. Apparently he let it slip to his father. Usually that wouldn't be a problem, but the dad is one of those rare individuals that likes to be involved with his kids' games."

  "Wow, what a loser parent," Sam deadpanned. Dawn snorted.

  Harry grinned. "Normally, I think it's a good thing, but now I have to check this guy out and see if he's someone we want to let into the game."

  "Why not just let him play on a guest pass account?" Dawn asked.

  "That might be how it turns out," Harry said. A guest pass account allowed a person to play the game at the entry level, unable to earn money or unlock new skills even though the group of 'real' players benefitted from the guest player's shears and holdings. "A quick look at this guy makes me think that we might like him as a full-fledged player. Perhaps we lucked out. I just have to make certain that he doesn't get so excited that he starts telling others about it."

  "I never understand why that's an issue," Dawn said. "An average search in the app store doesn't bring SHEPHERDS up. The only way to play is through a personal invite. Even then, the head office runs a check on them first, right?"

  "Yes," Harry agreed, "but the fewer searches and inquiries the better. All it takes is one overly curious person to bring the wrong kind of attention to SHEPHERDS, and problems could develop very quickly."

  "Exactly how long has this game been online?" Dawn asked, another long-brushed-off question.

  "Just under two years," Harry said.

  "We've been playing it longer than that."

  "We played during beta testing, when it wasn't live. That phase lasted a while. And we don't want everyone playing the game. If SHEPHERDS was well known, it wouldn't take long before everyone wanted in."

  "I disagree with that," Sam said. "I'm sure most people would think they wanted in, but I can't see a grandmother getting up every day to go farm her route in hopes of earning a promotion a few months down the line."

  "There are grandmothers doing exactly that, Sam," Harry said. "You're right, though; everyone might think they can play this game, but most wouldn't."

  "You're going to check out that dad, then?" Dawn asked.

  "Yes," Harry looked at his ansible and pulled out money to pay the bill. "I want you guys to go tell Kerstin about her problem. Make sure she speaks to her operative so this doesn't happen again." Brother and sister nodded.

  "Any alerts to take care of?" Harry asked. There were thousands of players to manage, but leaders had access to software that automated most of it. A situation requiring leadership involvement might only happen once or twice a week.

  "I've got nothing," Dawn said. Sam shook his head.

  "Okay," Harry said. "We have a few more promotions in the field. Go over your groups and send out congratulatory texts, then get out there and do some shearing. A slow leader day means a great chance to build your personal network."

  "Sounds good. Come on, Sis, you can drive with me. I'll show you some of the new shears we get with the ansible."

  Dawn stood and kissed Harry on the cheek, and the two of them left to spend their day playing and making money.

  8

  Sam carried two drinks through the disorderly obstacle course that was the mall food court. At Kerstin's table, he sat down, and they speared their drink lids with straws. Sam took a long pull and scanned the crowd. "What's this guy's name again?" he asked.

  "Kenny. I'm really sorry, Sam. I never would have guessed he'd go and shoot off his mouth like this."

  "I doubt it's a problem, Ker." Sam crumpled the straw wrapper. "Every once in a while a new kid will get excited and slip up. Sounds like Kenny and his dad share this kind of stuff; I don't know if I could keep a secret this big from my dad."

  "Of course you could. If not, you wouldn't be such a leader in the game by now."

  "Well, don't worry about it too much. He must be a good friend if you gave him this mall as part of his route. This place is shearing heaven with so many targets clumped into such a compact area."

  "This isn't his area," Kerstin said.

  Sam's eyes flashed mild annoyance. He shook his head. "Not a good move."

  "What?"

  "Asking him to meet us here," Sam spread his hands.

  "I don't understand."

  "You'll understand soon enough. Is this him coming toward us?"

  Kerstin looked and nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

  "Okay," Sam took another sip. "Introduce me and then watch quietly. Someday you'll likely have to deliver this same type of speech."

  She nodded.

  "Heya, Kerstin." Kenny plopped down beside her.

  "Hey, Kenny. This is Sam from the other day, remember him?"

  "I do." The boys shook hands. "Good to see you again, Sam. Is this your sweet territory?"

  "Not mine," Sam shook his head. "This is a newbie position. I farm tougher targets at my level."

  "Why didn't you give me this spot, Kerstin?" Kenny asked. "I have to walk up and down ten blocks to get this many shearable targets. Takes me hours to do what I could accomplish in less than one here."

  "Well, um–" Kerstin stammered. Now I see why Sam said not to invite him here. Not good to show the troops there is easier work being given to someone else.

  "Doesn't matter, Kenny," Sam said. "It's looking like you might not be playing SHEPHERDS much longer anyway."

  Kenny frowned. "Why you say that, Sam? I'm really enjoying the game, so far. I think I'll do really well at it over time."

  "You do, huh? You're already breaking the rules. The most important rule, actually." Sam paused and leaned forward. "You're not supposed to tell anyone outside of the game that you're playing."

  Kenny looked first confused, then embarrassed, and then defensive. "What makes you think that I did?" .

  "There could be many reasons. When the game loads up for the first time, you have to click 'agree' on the terms of playing, Kenny. Maybe by clicking that, you give the game permission to listen to every single thing you say. Or maybe someone else heard you and reported it for extra points." Sam shrugged. "I suppose it's even possible that we have this conversation with every new recruit to see if they're being honest, because the ones who do tell other people always look guilty."

  Kenny stared blankly at the table top.

  "It doesn't matter how we know. It just matters that we do. The point is, you can't go around telling people about the game. I was very clear about that. Now I have to decide if this was a one-time mistake, or if you're going to continue making up rules as you go along." He blanked his expression and stared at Kenny.

  Kenny stared at Sam defiantly, and then his face softened. He leaned forward to whisper, "I'm sorry, I thought I could keep it a secret. My dad loves to play games with me, and he asked what I was up to on my phone. The first few times, I evaded his questions, but he knows me too well. I felt like I had to tell him about it. I know I shouldn't have said anything, and I promise that I won't tell anyone else. He didn't load up a copy or anything. I won't mention it to him again, and I won't play it around him anymore."

  "It's too late for that," Sam said. "Bigger fish are looking at your dad, you, your whole family now. They will decide whether your dad will get invited to play, or if you'll get kicked."

  Kenny looked worried. Good. The kid might not be a lost cause after all. "You said you enjoy playing SHEPHERDS...being a Shepherd."

  "I do," Kenny nodded.

  "What level you up to?"

  "Twelve."

  "Impressive. You're doing what go-getters do, going and getting it."

  Kenny smiled. "Thanks, man. I'll keep at it and wait to hear from you." He stood and hugged Kerstin, then left.

  "That went well," Sam raised his cup and chewed on the straw. "Usually I hear whining and excuses when a player messes up. He fessed up and promised not to do it again. I'm i
mpressed."

  "Yeah, Kenny is good that way. It's one of the reasons I picked him. I hope he doesn't get booted."

  The sound of air over ice declared Sam's drink empty. "I'm beginning to hope the same thing."

  9

  Kerstin inserted her earbud and tapped it lightly to answer the incoming call. "Hey, Sarah-Marie, what's up?"

  "Someone else controls my territory," Sarah-Marie said in panic.

  "We went over this," Kerstin said. "You shear everything, then about twenty-two hours later someone else will shear it all away from you. That way our teammates get double kilobytes for shearing controlled targets, and you avoid being charged the expensive data costs when the counter reaches twenty-four hours. Then you go back and do the same thing to them twenty-two hours later. That's the system, remember?"

  "Yeah, Kerstin, I remember. Did you happen to send a different player to shear the mall?"

  "No."

  "Well, someone new has taken all the targets and I can't shear them back."

  There was a pause on the line.

  "Hello? Ker, you there?"

  "Give me a second to think," she snapped.

  After a longer pause, Sarah-Marie spoke again. "Listen, I can stay here for a few minutes if you want to get back to me."

  Good, because I have no idea what to do. "Yeah, I better call you back. Don't leave 'til we speak again, okay?"

  "I can stay here for a half hour, hour tops," Sarah-Marie said.

  "No," Kerstin said. It was an order, whether it rubbed Sarah-Marie wrong or not. "You'll stay there until I get back to you. This could be a really big problem, Sarah-Marie, and we need to fix it as soon as we can."

  "K," Sarah-Marie said in a clipped voice.

  Kerstin wanted to apologize, but didn't. "I'll call as soon as I can. I promise I'm not looking to waste your time."

  "I know, Ker." The phone line clicked and went dead.

  Kerstin held the button down on her phone to activate its personal assistant. It beeped once to indicate it was listening for her command. "Call Sam," she said.

  Sam looked at his phone and then sighed as he put his fork down. "That's Kerstin calling," he said. "Again."