Virtual Prophet (The Game is Life)

by Schott, Terry

  “You’re lookin’ good, sugar,” Carl drawled.

  “I feel like garbage,” the robed figure said in a husky, ragged voice, “unless I’m killing or causing pain to others.”

  “I know the feeling,” Carl nodded. “Let’s take a good look at you, then.”

  She raised her hands and slowly removed the hood covering her face.

  Carl scrutinized Stephanie’s overall appearance. The beautiful young Hispanic girl was still there, but she no longer appeared healthy and vibrant; her features had become narrower and darker. The energetic, glowing girl had been replaced with a sullen, darker version of her old self.

  “I know old crack whores who would be glad they didn’t look like you right now, Steph,” Carl said.

  “There are days when I look even better than I used to.” She wasn’t pleased that Carl seemed happy to see her looking like this.

  “Yes, I’m sure there are,” Carl chuckled. “When you’re elbow deep in blood and misery I bet you look absolutely stunning.”

  She looked at him with a cruel smile, the crimson in her eyes flashing brightly as they swirled rapidly.

  “The girls say I’m almost out of the initial phase of the change,” she said.

  “They are good at what they do,” Carl nodded. “I’m glad they’ve been able to keep you alive. I can’t recall the last time a brand new Infernal became their leader.”

  “It’s never happened before. It wouldn’t have happened now if not for the help I received from you and Raphael.”

  A thought occurred to Carl and he looked around the open area, again searching for the presence of others.

  “To fast track this change you need to kill a powerful Eternal. Is that why you called me here, girl?”

  Stephanie looked at Carl with a fierce grin; it was evident that she struggled to control her new urges and impulses. Carl knew he’d guessed correctly, she was looking at him like he was the sheep and she was a hungry tiger. Carl chuckled to himself and took off his trench coat.

  Before his coat hit the ground she closed the distance between them, screaming in rage with a cruel looking dagger in her right hand, thrusting powerfully towards his eye.

  If anyone had been present to watch, they would have missed the entire charge; the attack was simply too fast for the eye to follow.

  With the slightest sideways movement Carl shifted to avoid her attack. As she streaked past him he grabbed the blade from her hand and hit her on the back of the head with the flat of it. Hard.

  In the space of a breath, Stephanie was lying on the ground stunned, while Carl looked at her with amusement, examining the blade that he now held in his hand.

  Stephanie groaned and moved slightly. Carl streaked downwards and jabbed her with iron fingers in the back of the neck, at her kidneys, a spot on either leg, and between her shoulder blades. Then he flipped her roughly onto her back and stood up.

  His strikes had hit pressure points, she couldn’t move at all.

  “Over the past few years I really started to take a shine to you, girl,” Carl bounced the dagger lightly on his shoulder as he looked down at her. “For that reason, I haven’t killed you. Everyone who knows me — including you — would say that selecting me for your prey isn’t smart.”

  The rage in Stephanie’s eyes melted away, and was replaced with anguish and suffering. Tears began to flow as forceful sobs wracked her body. Carl looked at her blankly.

  After a few moments Stephanie calmed down and regained her composure. Carl retrieved a handkerchief from his jacket and bent down to gently wipe her eyes.

  “I know it was stupid to challenge you,” she said. “I convinced the sisters that I could beat you like I had Daniel, and they reluctantly agreed to let me try. I knew there was no way that I could beat you, though.”

  Carl stood up and nodded with understanding. “You wanted me to kill you,” he said.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “I can’t do this, Carl. I know you and Raph told me this would be difficult, but I had no idea just how hard it would be. I’ve killed so many, and it has been so...”

  “Pleasurable.” Carl finished her sentence.

  She nodded slightly and blinked as tears came to her eyes.

  “If I let you go, are you gonna try being stupid again?”

  Stephanie continued to cry, shaking her head that no, she wouldn’t.

  Carl reached down and restored control to her body. She sat up and brushed dust off the front of her clothes.

  Carl sat down beside her.

  “You can do this, sugar,” he said. “So you’ve had to do some unpleasant things. We all have to do unpleasant things from time to time. If the Game is about balance, and it is, then I expect you have quite a bit more evil to do before you come close to balancing it out with all the good you’ve accomplished.”

  “How can I continue to do this?” she asked.

  “See that tower over there?” Carl asked.

  Stephanie nodded.

  “Before the Day, that tower was a fun place full of children and laughing families. Everyone from miles around came to spend time in that building. There were treats and entertaining events held there that made other entertainment destinations seem dull in comparison. I haven’t had many good days over the centuries, but my absolute best memory is from spending time in that tower.”

  “Wow, really?” Stephanie looked at the ruined tower with interest, trying to imagine the good times that Carl was describing.

  “No, not really,” Carl said. “I lied. That tower was actually one of the worst places in the world. People who went inside never came out alive. Residents who lived close by would wake up in the middle of the night from the screams of pain and terror emanating from inside. I went into that tower once and experienced the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. To this day, I have nightmares about being in there.”

  Stephanie looked at Carl with a frown. “Is that true, Carl?” she asked.

  “Neither story is true, girl,” Carl said. “I’ve never seen that tower before in my life.”

  “Oh.” Stephanie looked confused.

  “My point is this. Nothing is inherently good nor bad in this or any other universe. It is the thinking that makes it so.”

  “I know that.”

  “You thought you knew that,” Carl said. “This new experience has either made you question it, or you realize that your definition was good up to a certain point. I’m here to tell you that taking lives inside this Game is just as important as saving them.”

  “You are condoning killing,” she said.

  “The Devil does not make butterflies and throw parties for little children,” Carl said. “You must become the worst demon in the world so that you can prevent the other demons from doing what evenI would consider evil.”

  “I see.”

  “I don’t think you do, but I hope that you start to, and soon, because the other demons have felt the change in power. They know Daniel is gone, and they will come to take his place. You must either fight them all, or make them so scared of you that they won’t bother to challenge you.”

  “Which I do by killing.”

  “Yes,” Carl agreed. “You do that by killing... both players and NPCs.”

  “Players and NPCs...?” Stephanie said. “You’re right, Carl. I forgot.”

  “Don’t ever forget, girl. This is a Game. Play it to win.”

  The two of them stood up and Stephanie hugged Carl fiercely. Carl laughed in surprise, but after a moment he returned the hug.

  “You’ll be close to your normal self when the initial phase has passed,” Carl assured her.

  “I want that to be soon,” she said.

  “It will be,” he smiled, “but until it is you must do your best to get out there and show the Infernals what the new Devil is made of.”

  Stephanie stood straighter and nodded.

  Carl winked at her. “Players need to be ejected, sugar. Do your part.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

>   “How are you finding life in our Colony so far?”

  Thirteen looked up from his bowl of soup and met the eyes of his lunch host. He couldn’t believe that she was sixty-three years old; she looked decades younger. The spoon in his hand paused close to his mouth as he answered her.

  “Life is good, even in this new world in which we find ourselves.” He quickly put the spoon in his mouth to finish his last taste of soup and then he politely placed it on the table beside the bowl, then he smiled politely and waited for Danielle to ask her next question.

  “Did you seek us out, or did the winds of fortune just drop you at our doorstep?”

  Thirteen looked around the table as he considered how to answer. He was surrounded by very powerful creatures; Eternals. He’d been in the camp for less than a month but others had been quick to talk about them. Now that he was sitting so closely to them he observed that they looked much like normal people. The stories from others had been anything but normal, though. Thirteen decided that it would be in his best interest to answer each question truthfully if he wanted to stay in the Colony, and he did want to stay here — for the moment, at least.

  “No, I never intended to come to live here,” he answered. “At first I just wanted to join a group where I could be safe. I wish I’d had more time living in the world when technology existed. I think I would have done better in that reality.”

  “In that reality?” Daniel asked. “You’re in the same reality as before the Day, Thirteen.”

  “Not really,” he shrugged. “Reality has changed. Even though the stage appears the same as it once did, the rules and props are not the same as they were.”

  “Interesting way to think of it,” Raphael said from beside him.

  “I suppose so,” Thirteen shrugged.

  “Why do you want to stay?” Miranda asked.

  “Safety,” he replied. “I’m not strong, or skilled at combat. This world has become lawless. If you can’t fight back, then the odds are good you’ll be beaten down, a slave to others.” He reached for a piece of bread and tore off a chunk, popping it into his mouth and chewing. “The basics are like treasure. Warmth, food, and safety. I will do whatever I can to prove my usefulness in this community so that I can stay.”

  “What do you think of the Gamer philosophy?” Danielle asked as she poured coffee for everyone at the table. Coffee was becoming scarce; it was a treat Thirteen hadn’t had for quite some time.

  “It’s an interesting theory,” Thirteen said. “From a quantum point of view, it makes a lot of sense.”

  “Before the Day, most quantum scientists said the theory didn’t make sense,” Danielle said.

  “That’s because most quantum scientists were still too far behind in their knowledge,” Thirteen explained.

  “You’re from the Zoo, right?” Miranda asked.

  Thirteen’s mouth became dry and his skin felt as if a warm sweat were forming on his arms and chest. Slowly he looked at Miranda and nodded. “Were you there too?”

  It was Miranda’s turn to nod. “Do you recognize me?”

  Thirteen shook his head slightly. “No, but the old man told me there was another in the Colony who’d been there. He said Three was in the camp. I don’t remember anyone from there.” He looked at Miranda hopefully. “Do you remember me?”

  “No,” Miranda admitted. “The only one I would recognize is the boy called Seven.”

  “His pet,” Thirteen said. “I would recognize him too. He was often present when the Man would talk with me.”

  “What would the Man talk to you about?” Raphael asked.

  “Advanced quantum mechanics and computer theory. It was refreshing to speak with someone who seemed to understand what I was talking about. After I was freed and before the Day, even the best scientists didn’t seem to understand what I was speaking about.”

  “He did, though?” Danielle confirmed.

  “Absolutely,” Thirteen confirmed. “I think he knew even more than I do. Some of his calculations and hypotheses were beyond my scope of comprehension. The Man was brilliant.”

  “Do you think he could have done this?” Danielle asked.

  “Done what?”

  “This,” Danielle spread her arms to indicate the world as it currently was. Could he have caused the Day?

  “Of course he did,” Thirteen confirmed. He looked at Miranda with a puzzled expression. “You must have known this; why haven’t you told them?”

  Everyone at the table was shocked. The question had seemed small and insignificant, just part of the conversation with Thirteen. Danielle had just stumbled onto the answer to the most important question everyone had been asking for the past three years. Possibilities and ideas began to tumble through her head.

  Miranda recovered first and answered Thirteen. “I wasn’t there when it occurred. He ejected me from the Zoo weeks before the Day.”

  “I wasn’t there when this happened either,” Thirteen said. “One day we all woke up from the Haze and found ourselves standing outside of our cells,” he explained. “Somehow the Man had reintegrated our broken halves. He told us we were no longer either a genius or a disconnected regular. He told us that we were whole, and then he gave each of us a bag of money and supplies and told us that we were free.”

  “Then how do you know he’s responsible?” Danielle asked.

  “He informed us that we could go anywhere and do anything that we wanted, but that we had best get to where we wanted to be within thirteen days.”

  “On day thirteen,” Raphael said. “What happened?”

  Thirteen spread his arms to mimic Danielle’s earlier symbol for the current state of the world.

  “This happened,” he said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  An hour later, Danni and her Eternals concluded their meeting with Thirteen. Miranda, Raphael, and Danni travelled to one of Danni’s houses which overlooked the rest of Galt, one area of the city. They assembled in the great room. Carl, Angelica, and Samantha arrived before long and Raphael filled them in on the information they’d learned.

  “We thought it might be Shane,” Carl said. He reclined in one of the chairs with a water glass full of dark amber coloured alcohol. They had all seen him drink, but no one could recall ever seeing him get drunk.

  “Guessed,” Danni corrected, “but now we know for certain that it was him.”

  “What do we do with this knowledge?” Samantha asked.

  “We find Shane and make him turn things back on.”

  The room erupted into laughter. Danni looked around the room; apparently everyone but her and Angelica found the idea funny.

  “I didn’t say it would be easy,” she said.

  “What you should have said is that it’s impossible,” Raphael said. “Eternals have been hunting him for thousands of years, Danni. There are squads whose only purpose for being inside the Game is to find Shane.” He shook his head in frustration, “The squads are augmented and trained specifically to find this creature, but no one has ever done it. Finding Shane is, for the most part, a key Timeless goal. Except for Daniel and a few other Devils along the way, finding and subduing Shane is a Timeless Alpha order.”

  “What’s an Alpha order?” Danni asked.

  Raphael nodded at Angelica and she spoke up. “No matter what operation or task is being performed at any given moment, Alpha orders require the Timeless to abandon everything else in order to complete them.”

  “So, if someone is three steps away and about to plunge a knife into me and you’re rushing to save me from certain death, if you see Shane you abandon me and take off after him?” Danni asked.

  “Absolutely,” Angelica said with a sly grin.

  “In most every case,” Samantha corrected. “Using your example, Danni, we would still rush to save you. That’s because you come with a complete set of very concise Alpha orders that focus on you.”

  Danni nodded and looked at Miranda. “You almost had him,” she said.

  Mira
nda shook her head. “I saw him, but there was no way I ever had a chance at him. The plan there was for me to get a location and Sparx would report back to a larger force that would come in to neutralize him. I didn’t find him, though. We guessed that he liked to fish for broken avatars, so I volunteered to be broken and dangled out there as bait on the hook. It took a long time to get him to bite, then it ended up failing.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Raphael said. “He may have slipped the trap, but if not for your time spent in the Zoo, we wouldn’t know what we do today.”

  “Why did he release them?” Carl asked. “Why not just kill them when he was done?”

  “Not everyone plays that way,” Danni said.

  “Shane does,” Carl assured her.

  “Then he must have a plan for them,” Raphael said.

  “I think we need to find them, and bring them here,” Angelica said.

  Everyone considered her idea. Heads slowly began to nod in agreement.

  “Any chance they give off a distinct energy signature?” Carl asked.

  “There’s always a chance,” Samantha said. “I’ll examine Miranda and Thirteen to see if I can come up with anything.”

  “Good,” Danni stood up and walked to the window. “Any suggestions on how to start looking for them?”

  “Even if they have signatures, it will be like finding a specific grain of sand on a large windy beach,” Raphael said. “I don’t know if this is the best use of our time, Danni.”

  “I know who would be willing to do it,” Carl said.

  “Who?”

  “Tracker squads,” he said. “If you can convince them it’s the best chance of finding Shane, I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting them to agree to it.”

  “Great idea,” Raph said. “That raises another problem, though. The only one who can locate and give new orders to Trackers is our leader. I haven’t had any luck locating Gabriel since the Day.”