by B. B. Hamel
She makes a little face, concentrating. “True. But I don’t know how to apply that yet.”
“We’ll figure that part out.”
“There’s something missing. I just… I feel it.”
I watch her as she picks at her food again. I don’t know how she can be this down after fucking like that for a few hours, but hell, I get it. This is a frustrating job. Blair isn’t like other clients.
Aside from the fact that she’s certifiable, she doesn’t really need our company. She could keep on doing what she’s been doing and make even more stupid amounts of money, even more than she already has. She doesn’t need our help for that.
She wants it because she’s lazy and tired of being a figurehead. I get it, I can relate in some ways. But that doesn’t mean she’s going to like whatever we do, because ultimately, she could probably do it better.
It’s a sticky situation. We need her to relax some control of her vision and her company, but that goes against everything that’s made her successful so far. If I were her, I would never do it.
But I’m not her, and I’m pretty thankful for that. If this building is a version of her mind, I’m kind of happy that’s not my headspace.
Still, I need to do something to help Remi. As we lapse into silence again and I sip my scotch, I can sort of see her point. Blair’s world is so disjointed and bizarre that it’d be almost impossible to bring any sort of marketing skillset to bear. She already brands and markets her own things using her own mixed up mind, so it just makes no sense for us to try and follow through with that.
I can feel myself getting as frustrated as Remi. I don’t know why Blair even brought us here. If anything, it’s only making things more confused. Remi and I are fucking now, which is great, but this place itself is just muddying any creative ideas we may have had about Spine.
I have to believe Blair did this on purpose, but to what end, I can’t really say.
I sigh and stretch my back. I’m feeling tired, blissfully tired, from our long afternoon workout. But I know Blair’s not going to be happy any time soon, not until we come up with a solution.
“Have you used it yet?” I ask Remi as I sip my drink again, cutting into the silence.
She looks up. “Used what?”
“Spine. The virtual reality stuff.”
She frowns. “No, not yet.”
I laugh at her, surprised. “Are you serious? You have to do that.”
“Why? Isn’t it basically just…” She gestures around.
“Not at all. And yes, sort of. You just have to try it.”
“I don’t know. I hear you can get motion sick.”
“Not with Spine’s equipment. And anyway, how are you going to market something you’ve never actually used?”
“Good point…” She trails off, looking timid.
“Seriously, maybe this is what you need. Actually use Spine, see what all the fuss is about?”
“You’re right.”
“Come on.” I push back from the table. “I’ll go in with you.”
“Go in?”
I grin at her. “You’ll see.”
She looks nervous as she follows behind me. We meet Tara in the hallway, leaning up against a wall, looking at her nails. She straightens as I approach.
“Hey, Tara,” I say. “Is there a place we can plug in?”
Her face brightens. “Of course.”
“Remi’s never used it before.”
She looks positively excited. “We better hurry then,” she says, and sets off down the hall at a fast clip.
I grin at Remi and she sighs, following along. We head back toward the front entrance, back into the labyrinth. However, instead of heading out, Tara takes us down one of the strange sets of stairs I noticed earlier.
We descend in little spirals. I don’t know how far we go, but when we reach the bottom, the space opens up into what I can only describe as the cleanest room I’ve ever seen.
It’s completely white. Everything is white, everything in it, the vinyl floors, the walls, everything. Tara scurries into the center and stops at a pedestal. She taps the screen and it powers on. I recognize some kind of control panel. She taps a few buttons and slowly some gear starts to descend from the ceiling.
“Fancy,” I say. “It’s not usually so…”
“Over the top?” Remi supplies.
“Really cool,” Tara says.
I grin. “Both. Normally you have the stuff just lying around.”
Tara makes a face, but doesn’t comment.
A helmet slowly descends from the ceiling along with gloves and a vest. It’s the full system, although most people just have the helmet and maybe the gloves. Few people have the vest, since most users don’t need biofeedback.
Tara gathers the stuff up and gets Remi into position. She puts the helmet on and expertly adjusts it before helping Remi into her gloves and her vest. When she’s done, she looks at me.
“Do you want to go in, too?” Tara asks.
I nod. “I’ll go with her.”
She taps a few more buttons and goes through the procedure again. I’m standing a few feet from Remi but I feel like I’m under the ocean after all the stuff is piled on top of me.
Tara sounds far away. “Are you ready?” she asks.
“Ready,” I say.
“Uh, I guess.” Remi does not sound ready at all.
“Have fun!” Tara squeaks, and the familiar sound of the helmet booting up reverberates through the space.
I stand there and wait as it slowly connects to the world. I blink and when I open my eyes, I’m not in that clean, white room anymore.
I’m standing in Spinopolis, the main city of the Spine world. It’s a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer game, and Spinopolis is like a giant ancient Rome if elves and dwarves and all that stuff were real.
I look around and for a second, I don’t move. Normally I’d have a controller or a keyboard to navigate.
“Just walk,” I hear someone call from nearby. I look around, but there’s only one other person, and I’m pretty sure that’s Remi.
Oh, right. Tara’s still in the room.
I take a step, and I feel the floor underneath me react.
“Omnidirectional treadmill,” Tara calls out. “You can just walk but you won’t ever run into something in the room.”
I laugh a little and test it out. Sure enough, I can walk, and I respond in the game world like I’m moving in the real world.
“Amazing,” I say softly, looking around.
Remi’s standing nearby. Her avatar looks a lot like she does, and I guess Blair had her people create these characters for us when we first arrived. I walk over to her and wave.
“Hi, Remi,” I say in the game.
She stares at me. “Hi,” she says, tentatively. “Holy crap.”
“Right?” I laugh a little and I know my avatar’s laughing with me. I can smile, frown, blink, everything, and the helmet reads it all and responds in real time.
“This is….”
“Incredible,” I finish for her and look around.
The world is real. I don’t mean that as some philosophical thing, but rather that this game world feels incredibly real. The graphics are incredible, on a whole new level, and everything reacts like it would if we were actually in this place. Of course, I can’t touch any of it, although I know the vest will give me some feedback if I get into a fight or something like that.
“Come on,” I say to Remi. “Follow me.”
I start waking, and Remi comes behind me. She laughs, almost giddy. “This is amazing,” she says.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
I know where we’re going. Tara dropped us into Spinopolis at a really sparsely populated area, probably to keep Remi from freaking out. But I want to plunge her into the real experience as soon as possible.
We move down a few side streets. Game characters wave at us, beckon us into their stores. They’re all computer characters,
of course, since they look like normal people.
“Where is everyone?” Remi asks me.
I look back at her and grin. “You’ll see.”
She frowns and I keep going. We move down a few more streets and suddenly step into an open square. I hear Remi gasp behind me.
It’s packed with people, and not just fake people. These are real, live humans, all logged into the game. They’re wearing armor, carrying swords and spears and shields, and casting magic spells. It’s chaos, pure and simple.
“Welcome to Market Square,” I say. “This right here is what Spine’s all about.”
Remi just stands there, taking it in.
People are yelling. “LEVEL TWELVE STAFF OF HEALING FOR SALE,” someone screams nearby, a short, fat guy in robes with a long white beard.
A humanoid lizard walks by, a goat following him. People are chattering everywhere, laughing and getting close to each other. It’s madness, but it makes sense.
It’s like any other place in the world. People want to talk to people.
“They could be out doing anything,” I say softly to Remi. “There are quests, monsters to slay, damsels to save, all that crap. They could build a house or destroy a mountain. Instead, they’re all here.”
“Because people want to be with other people,” she says softly.
“That’s right.” I turn to her game character. “This is what Spine’s all about. The graphics are cool and feeling like you’re actually in a place is fun, but that’s not why people keep logging in.”
“It’s social.”
“Exactly. The internet is made up of people, so everything is social. Spine is the same way. Without other people it would be…” I shrug a little. “It would be just another game.”
She laughs softly. “I wouldn’t picture Blair as the creator of something like this.”
“You’d be surprised. There are a lot of people like Blair that need a place like this to survive. They can’t socialize in the real world, so they rely on the game world.”
“Is that sad?” she asks, sounding genuinely curious.
“I don’t think so. Without the game world, they’d have nothing. I think it’d be sadder if this didn’t exist.”
She nods a little and wades into the crowd. I follow after her, keeping my distance.
There’s a cat-sized person walking around with a cane followed by a woman wearing a bear costume. A guy with four arms helps a completely naked and hairless pig-looking monster up to its feet with a laugh. Two lovers hug, their legs wrapping around each other in a pretzel twist.
It’s a massive mess, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
There are other games for Spine, but this is by far the biggest and most popular. It has the best graphics, the most intense experience. People can live entire lives in here, and I suspect a lot of people do.
Remi stops toward the center of the Market where a large black obelisk stands. She’s bent forward slightly, reading the inscription on the front.
I don’t need to look over her shoulder. I know what it says.
To my mother, the real reason for all of this.
“Blair?” Remi asks, looking back at me.
I shrug. “I’m not sure. But I’d bet it was her.”
“Hm.” Remi takes a deep breath. “Okay. I think I get it.”
“You haven’t actually played the game yet.”
“I don’t care about the game.”
“It’s fun. You can use magic and fight trolls.”
“I don’t want to use magic or fight trolls.”
“You sure? You’d kick the shit out of a troll.”
“I’m sure.”
I shrug. “Okay then.” I use my fingers to access the menu and I log myself out. Once the system shuts down, I remove the helmet and return myself to the real world.
The room is white and clean and empty. Tara’s sitting on a stool nearby, looking at her phone.
I step off the treadmill and walk over to Remi. I help her log out and take her stuff off.
She blinks, acclimating back to the real world. “It’s almost…”
“Fake?” I grin at her. “Who says it’s not?”
She rolls her eyes. “Great one. You’re a real high school philosopher.”
I laugh and help her off the treadmill. Tara perks up, noticing us for the first time.
“You’re done already?” she asks, slipping her phone away and standing.
“Yep,” I say, looking at Remi. “What do you think?”
“I’m done,” she says.
I grin at her and take her hand, squeezing softly. I look back at Tara.
“I can get us back,” I say.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay then.” She sighs and walks over to the equipment. “I’ll clean up.”
“Thanks,” I say, and lead Remi back up the stairs. I remember the way through the labyrinth and soon we’re standing outside of our rooms in the residential area.
“I have to work,” Remi says, reading my mind and pulling her hand away.
“That’s no fun.”
“Never is.” She moves over to her door and hesitates. “Thanks for showing me that.”
“Did it help?”
“I think so.”
“Good.”
“I’m going to come up with some ideas tonight, and tomorrow…”
“We’ll work on it together.”
She nods, biting her lip, looking uncertain. “Justin?”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you hate your dad so much?”
I go still, watching her closely. I know she remembers, she has to remember… but we were so young. Maybe she’s not sure. Maybe she doesn’t know.
“Nothing,” I say, turning away from her. “He’s just an asshole.”
“Yeah,” she says softly.
I unlock my door and step into my room, shutting it behind me. I flop face-first onto the bed and breathe deeply. Remi’s scent fills me and I pull the sheets close, trying to forget.
21
Remi
I wake up slowly the next morning, alone in my room. I wonder where Justin is until I remember the day before.
His father, the Spine world. The flight I should’ve gotten on, but couldn’t.
I stare up at the ceiling. It’s nearly six in the morning and I don’t know why I’m up so early. I don’t have long to wonder, though, when a sharp knock comes at my door.
I frown. Who the heck is knocking this early?
They knock again and again. “Go away!” I yell, not ready to get up.
The knocking keeps coming. I groan and slowly roll out of bed. I throw on some clothes and stumble toward the banging.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” I yell, “I’m coming.”
I pull open the door only to feel all of my annoyance melt away into mild terror.
Two enormous men stare back at me wearing black suits, sunglasses, and earpieces. They’re at least as big as Justin, and rippling with muscle. They’re both bald and they must be brothers or cousins because I can hardly tell them apart.
“You must come with us,” the man standing slightly closer to me says.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Please, Miss Brooks. Blair requests your presence.”
I frown, blinking bleary and tired eyes.
“Don’t bother fighting, Rem.” Justin’s voice comes from nearby, and I crane my neck around the goons. He’s leaning against a wall, looking annoyed, hair mussed up in a bedhead nest. “They’re very persistent.”
The guys don’t react. “Come with us,” the man repeats.
“Can I have a second?”
“Two minutes,” he says, checking his watch. “Starting now.”
“He means literally two minutes,” Justin calls out as I slip back into the room. I grab a bra, some underwear, and clean clothes, throwing it all on. I straighten myself up and manage some deodorant when one of the black-suited freaks
pushes into my room.
“Time is up,” he says. “Come with me.”
I slip my feet into sandals and step out into the hall. Justin gives me a little smile.
“I think we’re about to be killed,” he jokes.
“Not funny.”
“What do you think Blair wants?”
“Results, I guess.”
He shrugs a little. We fall into step behind the two goons as we move down the hall, back toward the labyrinth.
“I’d say this isn’t like her,” I say softly, “but I don’t think I really know her that well.”
“I doubt anyone does. I mean, look at this place. It’s a shrine to escapism.”
That catches me off guard. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know, all the weird rooms? The Viking room, Ikea, that weird shrine, the science room. Plus, I’m sure there are a bunch more places just like those. They’re all escapes from reality.”
“I thought they were parts of her past.”
“That was my guess at first, but when we went into Spine, I realized… well, she created a VR company, right?” He’s heating up to his topic, starting to talk faster. The goons don’t seem to hear him as we leave the residential area.
“Yeah, true.”
“VR is all about escaping into another world. This whole building is like escaping into another universe. I think… that’s what this is all about. Escaping reality, not embracing the chaos. It’s building a new orderly existence somewhere else.”
“Huh,” I say, blinking. I hadn’t even considered that.
Up until now, I was assuming that this compound was a reflection of Blair’s personality, a big hodgepodge mix of her memories, things she likes, stuff like that. But it makes just as much sense to assume that it’s all just one big game for her, an enormous escapist fantasy, just like the Spine VR games are.
“Maybe we’ve been coming at this the wrong way,” I muse, and I feel him nudge against me.
“Are you starting to actually listen to my ideas?”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t get excited.”
“It’s a big step, you know.”
“Hardly. You’re still an asshole.”