Everyone except Pollyanna woke to the alarm’s whine. I whispered to the others what had happened, answered a worried call from my parents, and then there was no time to get back to sleep.
Hairo boiled some water, made everyone coffee. Freeze-dried, not exactly tasty, but still better than nothing. Any coffee is good coffee when you can’t remember the last time you slept the night through. Hairo saw me struggling, offered me an orange cardboard pack about as long as my finger. One word was written on it: ‘Booster.’
“Tear off the top and drink. It’ll give you energy and clarity of mind for around six hours, but there’ll be a harsh comedown.”
I downed it and felt better almost right away. While we drank coffee and made plans for the day, Hairo showed me a dossier of the people he wanted to hire.
“I served with them all in the Peacekeepers. We can rely on them.
They’re all free right now and have given preliminary agreement. I haven’t told them the details, of course. Sergei Yuferov, engineer extraordinaire, master of fortifications and defensive structures. Suggested contract: two hundred thousand a year. Yoshihiru Uematsu. I’ve told you about him before. He knows just as much about defenses, only digital instead of physical. He’ll be more expensive than Sergei by around fifty thousand. Maria Saar and Roj van Garderen will be bodyguards. I insist on the last two, and it’s only three hundred thousand for both.”
“Bodyguards? For me?”
I expected jokes from the boys, but none came. My friends were listening carefully and staying serious. Hung even nodded along, agreeing with Hairo, who sighed and began to explain things to me with exaggerated calm as if talking to a grown child.
“You’re one of the most famous people in the world now, Alex. I don’t know if you know it, but not only millions of people are watching you; billions are. You have the power to turn Dis on its head, and everyone is trying to figure out what to expect from you and how all this will affect them. You can destroy entire countries in Dis, or make your own state, bring the noncitizens to the Sleepers, monopolize the markets, not just for ore, but for other resources too. And whatever you do, it’s going to affect everyone; from the bottom to the top of the leaderboard. If you think the Alliance will play fair against you, think again. I know their methods, and they’re dirty. Dirtier than you can imagine. And what the preventer leaders said today is total crap. Just a line to calm down the community. If something happens, Snowstorm won’t be able to prove anything. Your power was in anonymity, but now that’s gone. You’re the most valuable prize on the planet for all kinds of shady characters. And you’re “But the capsule will detect coercion, inform Snowstorm and…” I began, not so much arguing as thinking aloud.
“You’re a pain in the neck for Snowstorm,” Willy interrupted me. Hairo:s partner hadn’t spoken much, but when he did have something to say, we all listened carefully. “Of course, they said what they had to say. People would start to refuse Threat status if they knew how dangerous it could be. Sure, they say the founding fathers don’t appreciate it when Dis matters are decided in real life. You all remember the story of the Honest Vagrants, right? It was a clan that laundered money for slavers. They got too cocky and all their players got banned permanently. All their in-game property was confiscated. But that was just the story the public saw. In reality, something else happened: the Honest Vagrants tried to blackmail one of the devs. Not the biggest fish, but Snowstorm stands up even for its lowliest interns. When it turned out that the clan was also putting pressure on some meager Threat in real life, they loosed the hounds and punished them publicly.”
Everyone was quiet a while, thinking over Willy’s words. I heard only the hum of the generator and Pollyanna’s gentle snoring. Finally, I spoke:
“I’m going to sell something at auction tonight. I’ll be selling it personally, because the goblins won’t deal with anyone but me. As soon as the money is in my account, I’ll contact Kiran, a director at Snowstorm. Our last conversation went poorly, but I doubt they expected me to get out of the Nether. I’ll see if their promises are still valid or not. And if they are… I’ll delete my character and announce that the class-A Threat no longer exists.
My friends’ faces brightened. Hung scratched his forehead hard, ran a hand through his hair and hit his fist against the wall.
“Right! We’ve earned enough money already, and the citizenship tests are coming up… Time to get off this merry-go-round. I’m worried about my loved ones… And what about Ed’s little sister? Alex may have bodyguards, but who’s going to guard her? Anyway, the clan will still be there! And we have plenty of room to grow!”
Hung was hinting at his own Threat status, about which nobody knew but us.
“So it’s decided, then?” Malik asked.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “Hairo?”
“Nothing changes for Willy and me. Corrections will need to be made in the plan for the clan base, but until everything clears up, I suggest we change nothing.” I’m sure I heard disappointment in Hairo’s voice. He fixed me with an unblinking gaze. “You know, you stepped on a lot of feet while running around in Dis. I know for certain that Colonel won’t let that slide so easily. Whether you’re a Threat or not, it’s a matter of honor as far as he’s concerned. Glyph from the Azure Dragons will want compensation from you too. And the rest… Let me put it this way; it’s too soon to relax… Time will tell. Wake up the girl. We need to move out.”
* * *
Hairo left his compromised flyer by the bunker, covering it with a camouflage net. We went back to our district in Willy’s flyer. The hauler actually wasn’t his. It had been salvaged from a junkyard after many owmers. Perfect for a onetime operation.
The hour or so of flight from the Rock} Mountains was the last relatively peaceful time I had. Relatively because Karina called. The girl was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to see me.
“I knew you’re special, Alex!” she beamed, embarrassing me in front of the boys and security’ officers. “We need to meet up soon! You can’t? What about after school? Not then either? Why not, babes? You want me to come to you…?”
She would never have ended the conversation willingly until I promised to meet her. I felt really uncomfortable because of what happened between us, but managed to hold my ground. All she got was a promise that we’d meet soon, sometime.
“I love you, babe!” Karina said an instant before I cut the call, cowardly deciding not to answer.
And again—no jokes, no teasing. I liked the girl, but this relationship was the last thing I needed right now! Hairo exchanged glances with Willy.
“You need to talk to her properly, Alex. Call her after school and explain the situation. Don’t let her get hurt, even for reasons in her head. If she’s found…”
“She doesn’t know anything,” I interrupted. “And what she does know—who I talk to and who I’m friends with—Liam has seen too. But I do need to talk to her.”
“Explain that she isn’t safe. If you want, we can take her with us,” Hairo added. “Being the Threat’s girlfriend will make her the third highest priority target after your parents’ for getting to you and tiying to force your cooperation.”
“In some people’s eyes, she might even be the highest. Nobody knows what’s between her and Alex in reality,” Willy added.
“She isn’t worth bringing with us,” I said, imagining Karina cooped up in some abandoned bunker with nowhere to sleep. “But I’ll talk to her again.”
“Alright,” Hairo nodded. “Have we tried to contact Melissa? Should we expect any unpleasant surprises from her?”
“She’s offline,” Ed answered. “Been trying to reach her since yesterday. But there’s no way she’ll betray us!”
“But she isn’t answering you…” Hairo said thoughtfully.
“The Ochre Witch,” Willy commented. “I guarantee it. I bet they went to some effort to make sure the girl keeps her mouth shut. Right now she’s an exclusive source of intel for the White Amazo
ns, wiiich means for H interleaf.”
“And for Mogw’ai’s Elite,” I added. “Liam is there.”
“The nephew won’t go against the aunt,” Hairo shook his head. “He made friends with Mogwai at her urging anyway… Alright, descending. Alex, you go out first and take a community flyer. The rest will fly on…”
Hairo equipped us all with holomasks, but even with them, it wasn’t easy to get into school. We could take off straight from the roof, but could only get inside the building from the community flyer platform nearby.
Police droids swarmed the area. Bristling with forcefields, they kept back the raving crowd with their signs and banners. Journalists laid siege to the school’s entrance and media flyers whirled overhead. Hundreds of tiny drones buzzed around like flies, filming events.
The problem was that you couldn’t get in without showing your wrist to a scanner. I completed the identification process and my profile appeared on the screen. The electronic voice spoke loud enough for the crowd to hear: “Alex Sheppard, tenth grade. Identity confirmed. Welcome, Alex!”
For a few seconds, the crowd behind me fell silent, and then it roared. Thanks to that, Hung, Malik and Ed managed to slip by unnoticed—all attention was on me.
Hiding my face under my baseball cap and pulling up my hood, I walked past the journalists, saying ‘no comment’ a couple of times like Hairo had suggested. Inside, the boys formed a box around me, protecting me from students eager to hug me, clap me on the back or otherwise express their feelings.
My once close friend Aaron Quan expressed the wildest delight at the fact that his classmate was world-famous. Denise Le Bon was a done deal for him; he was sure that now she and I would be more closely acquainted, and then I’d set her up with Aaron! I didn’t want to look like an arrogant dickhead. I promised him that if I had the chance to talk to Denise, then she’d be sure to hear of my friend.
What happened after our victory in the Junior Arena paled in comparison with the fame crashing down on us now. My friends took their share too, but it brought them no comfort yet. There was more at stake, and not just money, but lives—our own and those of our families.
The bell rang, but the classes stood empty. Everyone was following us, streaming, shouting, asking questions about our plans, asking for autographs or to take a holo-selfie with us. We reached the office of the school principal, Mr. Fultz, with a crowd at our backs. Even the teachers didn’t dare obstruct the procession, aware that they were witnessing something extraordinary.
Mr. Fultz couldn’t help but come out to meet us. He was glowing! He and his school were getting their fifteen minutes of fame!
“Mr. Sheppard! Alex! Such an honor!”
He spread his arms and hugged me, clapping me on the back. I don’t know what I expected, but not that. But it worked to our advantage. We walked into the principal’s office as he bowed and scraped. I heard shouting from outside the door and saw media drones hovering outside the windows. Fultz frowned, pressed a button to darken the glass.
“To wiiat do we owe this pleasure, Mr. Sheppard?” He looked my friends up and down. “And yours, students?”
I explained why we were there. The director answered that although ordinarily the question of switching to distance learning would be discussed with the Department of Education, in this particular case, considering the circumstances… In short, he called our parents while we sat there, got their confirmation, got us to put our fingerprints on a statement and…
“That’s it.” Fultz smiled widely. “You have the right to choose whether to attend online lessons in real time or watch the recordings, but regardless, you’re going to have to pass the intermediate tests along with everyone else. And now, if you don’t mind, a souvenir holograph…”
The drone normally responsible for yearbook photos flew into the office and took a few shots; Fultz standing with us, the principal with his arm over my shoulder, me shaking his hand, and then just us four famous schoolkids with the school crest behind us.
The same loud crowd as before followed us to the roof. The police droids’ cordon allowed us to reach the flyers unimpeded.
As we were sitting down, Mr. Kovac shouted to me. Our supervising teacher stood behind the police cordon and waved at us. I walked over to him.
“How are you doing, Alex?” he asked.
“Really tired, Mr. Kovac.”
“I can see that. What’s happening to you is certainly important. But as your teacher, I want to remind you of the citizenship tests. You’ve missed a lot and you’re behind on the program. The commission may take into account the reason for your absences, but all the same… Nobody will even look at your attendance if you successfully complete the final test. Please prepare well. There’s almost no time left, just over a month, but with your abilities… I believe you can do it. And… Good luck, Alex!”
Journalists tried to follow behind the school flyer, but police droids ascended and warned them off. With the flyer on autopilot, I called Karina and calmly explained the gravity of the situation to her, at the same time dispelling any illusion that she would soon be famous.
“You have to understand, babes, all this could end badly. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And please, don’t advertise our relationship. We’ll meet again, but only when everything quietens down. The fame won’t go anywhere if we stay together…”
She seemed to understand. At least, when the girl got it, her eyes widened in fear. After listening to me, she agreed and promised to stay silent.
Our meeting place was a huge landing pad for a shopping mall where we could easily get lost. I landed the flyer expertly next to Willy’s hauler, and while the journalists tried to land nearby, we quickly changed over and took off. Violating all rules of air traffic, Willy took the flyer up to the maximum altitude and rewed the engine, firing off like a shot northwards.
* * *
An hour later, we landed again to change flyers. A quick black Toyota Swift awaited us on a landing pad.
A dark-blue flyer of the same brand was parked next to it. Four people climbed out.
Hairo introduced them all in turn:
“Sergei.” A tall and muscular bearded man nodded and gave me a firm handshake.
“Maria.” A svelte and long-legged blonde with her hair tied back in a ponytail raised a hand in greeting.
“Yoshi.” A thin Asian of indeterminate age waved to us.
“Roj.” A brown-haired man with a piercing cold gaze and razor-thin lips shook Hairo’s hand and looked us over.
“And this is the terror of the preventers and his friends,” the security officer nodded toward us. “I won’t name names, you know them already…”
After the exchange of greetings and handshakes, Hairo suggested something that put my back up. The boys didn’t like the sound of it either.
“Yoshi can remove your child protection chips. He can also block geolocation streaming from your citizenship chips.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise our escape means nothing!” Hairo raised his voice. “The stakes are high and people are weak. Someone with access is sure to give you up.”
His words were reasonable, but what could stop Hairo and his ‘reliable friends’ from just carrying us off to the preventer base? Or to the Triad? I read the same in the eyes of my friends and was erring on the side of refusing, but then the short and lean Japanese man called Yoshi spoke: “We don’t have to remove the chips. You can put on shielding bracelets, that’ll do it.” He showed us some broad steel bracelets. “They’re easy to take off and you’ll always have the chance to play again.”
“Let’s try.” Malik stretched out a hand and put on a bracelet. He turned his wrist, then pressed the button and it opened. Then he handed it to me. “Try it.”
Once we’d all put on the ‘shackles,’ Yoshi analyzed the signal from our chips:
“The shielding isn’t absolute. The bracelet filters the source and transforms the coordinates, changing them to the ones
we want. I’ll imitate a flight to somewhere else. Alright… Where should we ‘send’ you?”
“Into the Mariana Trench,” Hung asked, smiling. “The Triad will have plenty on their plate then.”
“Yeah, let ’em go diving!” Malik laughed…
The booster effect ended during the flight and the comedown hit me. I slept the whole way to Alaska. Through a haze of sleep, I heard the security team talking quietly and discussing the contracts with Ed. Once we arrived, they d all signed agreements just like Hairo and Willy. The clan now had more employees than founders, and counting the miners and builders… We were growing!
The two flyers landed on the shore of a big lake. The water reflected the sky like an azure mirror frozen with scenes of ancient fir trees and hills wreathed in wispy smoke.
We’d changed timezones; it was midday here. The sun was high in the sky, but I still felt the cold, though it wasn’t as bad as I feared—plus forty-three, with no wind. More than bearable.
It didn’t take long to find out where we were going. Hairo and Willy led us into the forest, to an old two-story log cabin hidden in the debris. A satellite antenna was cloaked in the branches of a tall fir that was as if embracing the structure.
Willy placed his palm on a sensor. The door panel rose. Shivering with the chill, we walked inside. The house looked like a visitor from a distant past from the outside, but inside it looked perfectly modern. The ceiling lit up, the windows filled with transparency. It was a cozy house, though palpably unoccupied.
“You guys take the second floor,” Willy told the boys. “Any room. Alex, you’re with me. Yoshi is going to set up the access system.”
By the time he and I left Yoshi to install a capsule and returned to the lounge, Hairo had already lit a fire and switched on the holovisor. Maria was busy making dinner. Pollyanna was ‘helping’ her. The girl hung around nearby and showered the bodyguard with questions. Maria smiled grudgingly and answered while she moved around the kitchen with a catlike grace.
Holy War Page 21