by Ryan Burnett
“So you’re the one holding me here right? How long do you plan on keeping me stuck?” I asked resisting the urge to smack him. Knowing that harming this projection of him couldn't possible harm his physical form.
“Only as long as it takes for your friend to realize something is wrong and panic and divert course. Once he is far enough way we'll have plenty of time to move just far enough away to keep you chasing your tail a little longer. It’s a simple solution. I like to keep things simple from time to time.”
I wasn't in any immediate danger so I began to wrack my brain. What information could I get out of him? What leads? I thought maybe by revealing my hand a little bit I could get something out of the man who thought himself utterly in control of the situation.
“You know Alex's father is very worried about him...” I began but this time the man burst into laughter so uproarious that I am positive he would have fallen out of the chair if this was the real world, even if the rotund man had the balance of a trained acrobat.
“I am sure he is, but for so many reasons you do not know about. Besides what you and your employer ... I am assuming it is Cid who hired you? It makes a lot of sense now.... At any rate what you and your employer fail to understand is that Alex as you know him is gone.” he stated.
“Gone? He's not dead. He can't be.” I replied deliberately misunderstanding in order to get as much as I could from the rounded chatterbox.
“No not dead. Gone. Just like the caterpillar is gone after he has metamorphosed into a butterfly. One being is replaced by something utterly different and new. One of nature's greatest achievements and something that he and I have replicated in ourselves.”
“I'm not following.” I responded hanging on his every word.
“Well some were born to lead and some were born to follow I suppose. I've been entirely loose lipped around you and although Rex doesn't have what you would understand as a temper it would be unwise to displease him.”
I turned away from him trying not to let the smile show on my face. He had stopped talking but I knew a lot at this point. I knew he was involved with Alex and that they were both involved with a Rex or that Rex was an alias that Alex was now using. I knew that they were both capable of shit I had never even heard of before and that at least for the time being they had no plans to kill me. Good news on all fronts. Maybe my luck hadn’t run out after all.
“I am surprised though as clever as you are you didn't ask me the most important question.” He said the mocking ring back in his voice again.
“Oh and what is that” I reply,
“What we're after, what we're trying to accomplish.” he said impishly
“You wouldn't tell me anyway and as useful as that would be I don't really need to know as long as I can get my job done.” I replied trying not to rise to him baiting me too much.
“Simple. I like you. I don't think I've introduced myself by the way, you my friend may call me Shange.” He said. He paused as if he was waiting for me to introduce myself and when I did not he simply shrugged. “No matter. You can get to know someone without knowing their name. How does that old saying go? 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet'”
I decided to ignore him and figure out a way out of this predicament. It didn’t appear I could browse through the limitless information of the VRN network like usual. All my mind had access to where the functions and programs from my own virtual library and while reviewing my expense accounts, or listening to my favorite musical compositions were all essential for running my life they were not a great use to me here. The few moments I took to ponder did give me an idea though.
“Shange, has Rob ceased his pursuit yet?” I asked innocently
“Not quite yet. He seems to be quite focused on the task at hand” The man frowned for the first time at this statement. Whether for better or worse the rest of the world barely existed for Rob when he pitted his reflexes against the autohighway, I could be sprouting a horn from my forehead in the passenger seat and he would still probably take a while to notice. Eventually he may figure out something was up and take the next exit to figure out what the hell had happened to me, but I didn’t know if I wanted that or not. It could be my only way to escape my own mind however it would also be giving this asshole exactly what he wanted.
I started looking at the door across from my desk wondering if there was a rest of the tower to explore. Was there an escape or hidden exit in my own mind? If I could exit the building would it matter? Would I hit an invisible wall? Could I really just take a walk back to reality? Regardless of it was possible or not I had to give it a try. It was better here than just waiting around and listening to the fat man talk.
I crossed over to the door, and began to walk into the hallway which was lined with other offices with doors similar to my own.
“Grown tired of me already? Trying to escape your own mind? It won't work you know, but I am rather interested in seeing you try. For all I know it may even be possible I haven't exactly been doing this a long time.” He followed me out the door strolling with that bizarre stride of his.
I tried the doors along the hallway frustrated that each one seemed to be locked and wouldn’t budge no matter how hard I forced the handle.
“You'll probably need a bit more force than that” he called mockingly while trying to fold the perfect paper airplane to send sailing down the hall. I threw my shoulder into one and although I could not feel any pain from the exertion I could feel the solidarity of it and the lack of any give whatsoever. In a virtual world a door that was not meant to open would not open. I knew my office was not on the ground floor though so logically an elevator must exist somewhere. I only had to turn 2 corners before I found it and pressed the button that would summon it to where I was. This was uncharted territory for me. While I knew this space must exists I had never actually taken the time to explore the entirety of my headspace. All my tools for my center of command could be conveniently summoned to my office. The rest of the building was more of a symbol of my mind than anything else but I desperately hoped that it held some secret that could lead to my freedom.
“Ooooh are we going to the ground floor?” Shange asked as the elevator came up to my level and opened.
I didn't answer him as I stepped inside and pressed the one button refusing to acknowledge that he had correctly guessed my course of action.
“You know you try to be reserved but I really admire your spirit, I sincerely hope it doesn't get you killed one of these days” he said in that same humored voice. The thinly veiled threat was encouragement. It meant that he hadn't really considered this and didn't know what awaited us on the ground floor either. Still he didn’t seem overly worried and hadn't made any attempt to stop me. Could he even bar my passage in this world? I mean normally it would be impossible but normally I could disconnect whenever I wanted as well. Not for the first time I wondered what exactly I was dealing with.
“I hope so too...” I found myself saying back quietly. Totally unsure as to why I was sparing words on this annoying kidnapper in his ridiculous suit. In the proximity of the elevator I wondered if he would make a move but all he did was chuckle and whistle to himself as we passed floor after floor heading towards the bottom. It wasn't long before we hit and the elevator opened and I looked across a vacant lobby
Although in the virtual scenario I had set for myself this would be the control center my personal secretary operated from there was a little note on the lobby counter that simply red “Out to lunch, -Love Stephanie” in curvy feminine cursive. Shange read it and laughed “It is the little touches that make this world so unique, don't you think? I wonder if she would be working here right now if you spent more time imagining what she might look like.....at any rate....after you.” He said smiling again and gesturing to the big glass doors that were the only thing that separated us from the mass of white flog that blanketed the building.
Chapter 17
20:02:39
Cid
My body felt wrong after my time spent monitoring the Jack. I felt weaker somehow, and I would get light headed from sudden movements. Although I knew these side effects were temporary I hated them all the same. Not just because of the sensation of physical fatigue, it was the reliance on the bunker’s medical staff that really scraped against my nerves. I needed to be feared to be respected and it is very difficult to fear a weak man. My current quarters were comfortable with projector panels concealed into the walls, a mattress that constantly monitored muscle tension in order to soften or harden to the optimal level of comfort, and a color pallet that never strayed more than a shade or two away from my favorite regal merlot red hue. However, despite all the effort that had gone into insuring the room was to my liking the fact that an IV had to remain next to my bed for the time being left me in a constant state of prickling annoyance.
Another point of annoyance was the presence of Dr. Edgar Frait standing over my bed viewing my vital readouts through a VRN overlay with data generated by the diodes stuck to my chest.
Even I had to admit the man was a cut above most of the professionals in the medical field.
There was a reason he was being paid one small fortune for his work as a chief consultant in my private R & D team and another small fortune to be kept on retainer as a member of the bunker’s medical staff; but the man was an unkempt weasel. He had pale skin that gave the impression of a pallid sickliness, hair that was dark brown and slicked back, and fingernails that seemed to have dirt perpetually trapped under them whenever he was outside of a laboratory or medical facility.
“You’re recovering nicely Mr. Sitavi” Dr. Frait said, his eyes occasionally flickering to the side in order to focus on the VRN projections that only he could see. I grunted my acknowledgement and followed with a question of my own. “When will I be able to use it again?”
“The monitoring program? Mr. Sitavi don’t you think it’s too soon to be considering that? You need to be focusing on a full recov...”
“Don’t feed me bullshit! All I want to know is when! When!?!” I barked back at him. I repeated my question once more in a calmer matter of fact tone that I had found was sometimes even more effective at showing my pleasure than screaming with some people.
“Mr. Sitavi a first person remote viewing experience like the “Eagle Eye” program effectively tricks the brain into interpreting foreign optical signals as its own. It does not register the signals like it does the dream like virtual stimuli but rather as reality. Instinctively when you use this program the brain will try to react. However because your brain does not have control of the body or the eyes in question it begins to send stronger and stronger signals to your own nerves and muscle to assert control and this causes your tissue to stretch and spasm beyond their usual limits. No permanent damage has been done yet but even if you had fully recovered using it
again would still run a risk….it would just be less likely to happen. I couldn’t recommend a time to use it. Not for a week at least.
“Useless. All of it. Just go.” I said as my anger ground itself down against my exhaustion.
“What I can say is that you’d benefit greatly from a temporary break from all VRN activities. At the very least it would reduce the nausea and vertigo. I stared into his eyes with a look of condescending confusion. How could someone be so long winded and yet manage to say absolutely nothing of use? Not for the first time I wondered what kind of farcical world I must be living in where someone such as him could possibly be the best that money could buy. As he exited the room I couldn’t help but wish I had something to launch at his back but in my body’s feeble state the search for a suitable missile was too big of a chore. Besides regardless of my abhorrence of Dr. Frait it was now time to don a mask of composure for my conference with Mr. Ostan.
With a jolt of pain I removed my own IV and pushed the unit into a closet. Ostan wasn’t like the parasites that infested my empire. He was an apex predator with a kingdom all his own. A man of unshackled ambition. I did not fear him, nor did I desire his approval but I had to at least appear to consider him an equal if I wanted his cooperation in recovering my son. I took a deep breath before saying, “Comm. Private Code. Vigil.” I knew the doors would now be locked and that this room was now isolated from the rest of the buildings monitoring systems. I tried to adopt an air of casual relaxation as the wall in front of me color morphed from crimson to black. In a few seconds that solid hue was replaced with a feed of Ostan’s handsome face. The full head of salt and pepper hair and piercing vibrant eyes speaking of both wisdom and youth.
“I was expecting to hear from you after the …incident but not like this. Video conferencing is so archaic Cid, this is a secure channel I hope?” He said.
“You know as well as I do that I wouldn’t contact you unless I knew for a FACT it was secure Ostan! Don’t insult me by implying...” I said feeling my ire already beginning to rise to the surface.
“Calm down Cid, my intention was not to offend. Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on”
He said. I paused for a little bit trying to regain my composure.
“After Alex escaped your facility…” I began
“Staffed by your security team” he interjected
“….. After Alex escaped your facility. I sent some of my best men as well as some nonconventional agents to stop a public disaster like this from happening and to of course recover the research data from this latest version of the Dominance program. “I continued
“How fatherly of you.” He spoke back
“Spare me. At any rate as you can see my men have proven themselves to all be equally useless. The riots are still going on and I wouldn’t be surprised if the university is nothing but rubble by the time they are over.”
“Rubble? Surely you’re exaggerating Cid they don’t have C4 down there. It is merely the regrettable effect of the incomplete dominance program on some unknowing subjects. It is limited to just those who connected to the school’s servers right? I mean it is contained, and
no one knows the cause of the mass hysteria do they?” He asked.
“Impossible. The authorities will have a very difficult time taking anyone into custody alive and even then they would not cooperate. No one is even aware that VRN based programs can so severely affect central nervous system. Even if someone decides to examine the VRNs of
the victim the program degrades into strings of junk code once it stops receiving organic input. A failsafe we incorporated to prevent anyone from stealing algorithms off of deceased test subjects. They’ll most likely cite the cause of the riots as the result of a new kind of nerve agent or a dangerous hallucinogenic. Drugs and extremists. The media’s usual scapegoats for the tragic and unknown.” I said
“So In actuality there’s nothing we need to take care of?” he said in a questioning tone.
“Well… from the preliminary reports my men were able to briefly make some sort of contact with Alex but he seemed strange…” I returned
“With all due respect Cid, Alex was always a bit strange.” He said in a light tone.
“Ostan this is not the time for jokes! He is out there with the program we developed doing god knows what! And apparently my best operatives are powerless to stop him!” I shouted at him
“How?” he said suddenly serious.
“I don’t know. These reports are unreliable I am meeting with my lead operative later today and I will try and get to the bottom of this mess. We need to recover him.” I said honestly.
“I thought I was to leave that task to you. That I had already caused enough problems…” He said levity in his tone again.
“This is a lot more than I anticipated” I said.
“Understood. I will have my people be on watch for him. Anything else Cid?”
It was hard to suppress a grin. He didn’t need to know how close Dr. Frait’s team was to success. How the data that could be gleaned from Alex’s VRN would be more than enough to create a working Domi
nance Program. Knowledge was power and I would be damned if I willing let
anyone become as powerful as me.
“That is all Ostan.” I said
“I see, well thank you for the update, although for our own privacy I think these talks would be better conducted through VRN…Oh and by the way Cid, take care of yourself. You seem a bit under the weather.” With that Ostan logged off and the wall briefly went dark before returning to its usual deep red. The moment that it did the urge to smash something against it rose in me again. The rage caused me to tremble and shake. Ostan’s charisma did nothing to lessen the sting of his subtle jabs just as his flippant nature did nothing to aid me in this delicate situation. The vague promise to alert his underlings had little meaning when the mercenaries personally recruited from my best man had been so soundly defeated. I spent the next fifteen minutes contemplating the Jack’s continued failure. How he could just throw away his years of near flawless service now when he was most needed. A voice split my irate silence “Agent designation “Jack” is here to report Mr. Sitavi. Shall I direct him to your quarters or to the conference room?”
“The conference room. Tell him to wait and I will meet with him shortly.” I responded.
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“Why do you not have the Ace, Jack? What excuse do you have this time? You had a full team of specialist and there was plenty of chaos to cover your actions. What explanation can you possibly have?” I asked him, as I looked into his unblinking narrow eyes across the conference table from me. Those eyes were both honest and infuriatingly calm.
“Explanation? I have none. I cannot explain what I saw. What he could do defies explanation. You saw it yourself sir.”
I rose my eyebrows at this,