Hard Wired Trilogy

by DeAnna Pearce

  “An earring?”

  He flipped the device open. She froze as he moved her hair back to place the device on her ear. He wasn’t big on respecting personal space.

  “I made them in my second year. They are finally starting to catch on around here. Much cooler than those web glasses. You look like a fool reading invisible messages.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to do implants here. Have you seen the new tat implants? They’re amazing. The school claims I need a medical license for that.”

  She cringed at the idea of a permanent implant but kept her thoughts to herself as she didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm.

  “One last thing.” He reached over her to pick up her tablet and handed her a cord.

  “This will help you record any notes you need while inside the VRs. By the end of the year you’ll have whole classes inside. So, don’t lose it.”

  She stared at the cord that would plug into the VR system going into her brain. Surprise and disgust must have been evident on her face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Ari took a deep breath. She couldn’t freak out here, in front of the one person who’d been nice to her. “Sorry, I can’t stand them.”

  “What? The tech I gave you is pretty sweet.”

  “No, virtuals.”

  He leaned back, confusion flashing on his face. “Really?”

  She pursed her lips together and nodded.

  “How are you going to pull off this program?”

  “Not sure. I will though, because it’s my only option. No one gets two scholarships, so I’ll have to make it work.”

  “Then you will.” He stared off at the monitor in front of him. “Have you tried drinking?”

  She watched him for a moment to see if he was serious and then shook her head. “Yes, but never again.”

  He held up his hands. “Just trying to help. VRs, they’re second nature to me. I’m sure we can think of something.”

  Ari wasn’t sure why that meant so much to her. Why would this boy with yellow hair and a ring in his eyebrow want to help her? It didn’t really matter. She would take all the help she could get.

  With a bag full of her new toys in one hand and her old suitcase in the other, she searched out her dorm. It stood on the edge of campus, glass windows covering it top to bottom. No, they weren’t glass, but some type of clear reflective material. Colors, projected on the front, created the look of an abstract painting. By the time she made it to her room on the fifth floor, she would have sold a kidney for motorized luggage.

  She opened the door to her new sleek dorm room. It was a decent size with two beds, dressers and desks, lining opposite walls. A white comforter fit tightly around her mattress. A laundry chute stuck out of the wall near her closet. Ari bristled at the idea of some machine run by a random person cleaning her clothes, her underwear. Brushing aside the unavoidable, she noticed a short fridge inset in the wall. That would be handy. Even a bright shiny bot hid under her bed. It might be used quite a bit, considering her roommate had left enough clutter to house a small family of mice. Food wrappers and old coffee cups littered the desk.

  The room was painted in neutral blues and whites, probably meant to evoke some feeling of peace and openness. The colors felt sterile and cold to her. She couldn’t wait to add some color and her own flavor to her side of the room. She tossed the old suitcase next to her bed, realizing how out of place it was here, just like her.

  Someone entered the room behind her, interrupting her thoughts of home. “Oh, I wondered when I would get a roommate.” A squatty girl with shoulder length purple and pink hair came bustling in with a small interface in one hand and some type of iced coffee drink in the other. She was pretty, or probably was, under the heavy eye make-up.

  “I’m Ari.”

  “Tessa.” She plugged in her computer and took a quick drink. “Don’t worry. You didn’t miss anything, just the regular losers chatting online.”

  “Good.” Ari sat on her bed, not ready to unpack just yet.

  “So, what’s your story?” Tessa looked over Ari as if her life history was tattooed on her tanned skin.

  “Ummm ...” Was she that obviously out of place?

  “I already know you’re one of the few scholarship students here. Do you already have published virtuals or what?”

  “No.” The level of gossip amazed Ari.

  “Huh?” Tessa shrugged off her lack of response and brushed back a strand of pink hair. “Okay then, about me. My dad owns ... well, too much to name, my mom was trophy wife number three, and I’m the gamer they wish they could remake. Don’t talk to me until I’ve had caffeine and don’t interrupt a game.”

  Tessa didn’t wait for a reply as she inserted ear buds, activating the gaming bands on her wrist, and logged into her game. She blinked repeatedly to activate her contacts. “Tessa here.” After a short pause. “No, no. I’m logging in now. I knew that loser couldn’t hold onto our lead without me. I’ll take him.”

  Okay. Ari turned to her bags. She had no desire to unpack. Once she emptied her suitcase, this whole thing would be official. So, instead, she dug out her old tablet and proceeded to finish her book.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, Ari tugged at her purple shirt as she waited in the classroom. Tessa entered the room with a group of guys and took a seat across from Ari with no acknowledgment. She tried to catch her gaze to say hello, but soon stopped, not wanting to look desperate.

  The class was on the second floor of her dorm. The bottom three levels of their building held classrooms, lecture halls and VR labs, while the top three levels were for housing. With the vending machines, the students didn’t even have to go outside.

  As several other students came trickling in, one stopped next to her desk. He had an olive completion and short dark hair standing on end, forming a widow’s peak. His deep set brown eyes perched above a perfectly, almost too perfectly, shaped nose. Some might say he was attractive, except for the smug look which curled his lips.

  “I didn’t think the school had such nice stuff.” He touched the edge of her new tablet.

  Ari grimaced and didn’t reply, hoping he would just go away.

  Of course, just her luck, he took it as an invitation to bend down and move even closer to Ari. His overpowering cologne wafted around her, and she leaned back against her chair.

  “We’re all trying to decide what you did to worm your way into this program.” His fake smile displayed perfectly polished teeth.

  “I tested my way into here,” Ari said, then clenched her teeth. Testing into programs was the official way, but desired slots like VR always had exceptions for daddies with big paychecks.

  He flicked Ari’s long brown braid back over her shoulder and leaned down, his voice taking on a disturbing husky quality. “Maybe you did more than just a test, maybe ‘who’ is a better question?”

  She swallowed her revulsion and realized her initial plan of ignoring him wasn’t going to work. Before she could shove him back, Tessa appeared behind him.

  “Really, Wake? That’s the best you got? You’ve screwed the pooch in more games than I can count.”

  Wake turned towards Tessa, his shoulders tightening as if ready to attack. He wouldn’t hit Tessa? Would he? “Daddy’s unwanted little miscreant is going to give me a hard time?”

  “Drop the act. Your sales couldn’t pay for my coffee.”

  Wake stepped forward, but the professor spoke, “Please take your seat, everyone. We have a lot on our agenda today.”

  Ari mouthed “Thank you” to Tessa as her roommate took a seat.

  She took a deep breath, rattled from the encounter, and turned towards the teacher, Professor Speltman. A tall middle-aged man, he appeared a bit wild. His beard was short and unkempt, and his brown hair swept long across his forehead. A defining nose took up major real estate on his face, but behind the facial hair and bushy brows were intelligent eyes.
And once he started talking, Ari realized she had more trouble than some jerk named Wake.

  Back in middle school, she was the top of her class, despite her fear of virtuals or, maybe, because of it. She had to work twice as hard studying books to achieve the feel of the world, while her classmates experienced a VR for an afternoon and came away with all the answers. The only reason the whole school day wasn’t in VR was due to the health risks involved. Even after school, she spent her time reading or drawing, while most of her friends preferred the virtuals whenever they could afford them. Dances, and other school events, were always cooler in another country, on the top of the world, or wherever. Ari spent many nights with her nose in a book thinking it was the safest form of travel.

  Even with Ari’s top grades, she only caught about half of what Professor Speltman said regarding his programming class. She knew how to program, but not in VRs. It couldn’t be that different, but from what he was saying, it obviously was. She turned on the auto-record on her interface and hoped she could make some sense of it later that night.

  The lecture lasted over an hour, and when it was over Ari sat there stunned for a minute. The homework he gave would fill her entire evening, and she hadn’t gone to second period yet. As someone walked by, they smacked her tablet to the floor. Ari’s head snapped up in time to watch Wake and his friend walking towards the door.

  “Rand, you should be more careful.” Wake’s voice dripped with insincerity. “I bet scholarship girl doesn’t have money for another one. She’ll have to take out a work loan.”

  Laughing, they left the room. Ari didn’t have the energy to be angry anymore. She bent over to pick up the small flat tablet and prayed it still worked. It appeared unharmed, so she shoved it in her bag.

  She stood up and found Tessa watching her. “No one ever said this program was gracious or obliging.”

  Smiling, Ari narrowed her eyes. “I never asked it to be.”

  Second period proved to be easier. Professor Tollingston taught History and Interactive Storyboarding, two things she knew about. He had a gruff personality that matched his gray hair and thick mustache, but the homework was simple enough.

  Her next class, Biological Psychology, was on the second floor of their dorm. Taught by the only teacher who was a doctor and a woman as well, Ari looked forward to it.

  “Welcome to the study of the human mind.” A thin woman stood before them with a serious expression. Her hair was wound up in a tight brown bun, but a few curly hairs fought themselves free. “I’m Dr. Cox. In this class, we will delve into the study of human behavior, to help you create realistic portrayals of humans in the virtual world. In programming, you may be given scripts by the writers, but you need to know human behavior inside and out to realistically portray the emotion and behavior needed in all types of situations.”

  Ari hoped she’d learn something helpful about herself. If she could kick this fear, she might be able to graduate. Dr. Cox gave her a good chunk of homework as well, but Ari looked forward to it.

  She stayed in the building for their lunch break, eating from the vending machines. The HUB on her wrist gave her permission to purchase food from anywhere on campus. The machines were well stocked with a wide variety of everything from meal bars to steaming fresh pasta. She sat in the lounge on the first floor and reviewed her notes. Even Speltman’s lecture made sense the second time through it.

  Her HUB vibrated on her wrist, and Ari noticed she had a message from Garrett.

  Survive your first day? He really wasn’t joking when he’d said he had her number.

  Her hand hovered over the screen, deciding what to write. I haven’t been eaten alive by implant wearing monkeys if that’s what you mean.

  Good to know you’re safe from exotic animals but watch for those domestic guys though. They can bite.

  Thanks for the heads up.

  Thankful to have one friend at the school, she headed upstairs to her next class: VR Lab.

  “Welcome,” a younger woman, maybe in her twenties, greeted her. “If you’ll give me your name, I’ll find your assigned virtual.”

  Ari nodded as her gaze traveled over the room, full of larger chairs set up next to their individual VR machines.

  “Your name?” The girl repeated, snapping Ari out of her state of awe.

  “Ariana Mendez.”

  “I’m Mica, the teaching assistant.” Mica was tall and slender with ink black hair, cut pixie short, barely reaching her ears. “I have you up front.” She directed Ari to her chair, a comfortable recliner with the monitor and wires connecting to the computer next to it. A small portable desk hung from the side.

  Ari tensed, as every cell in her body told her to run.

  “Have a seat,” Mica told her impatiently. Ignoring Ari’s frozen stare, she continued, “Pull out your tablet. I’m sure Dr. Coleman will have you take a few notes first.”

  “Notes,” Ari repeated. I can do notes. Sitting down, she exhaled not realizing she had been holding her breath. She opened her tablet and tried to ignore the machine to her left. She stared at her screen and opened up a game to keep her mind occupied.

  Her mind kept drifting back to her nightmares. Corpses floating through virtuals, talking and dancing, unaware that their bodies were decaying while they lived a half-life inside a machine. The smell of death poisoning the air and amidst it all, her father.

  She reminded herself, it was only a dream. I am not my father. Graduating in this concentration would provide for her family in a way her father had never been able.

  After losing at cards for her fifth straight time, she realized the classroom was full. The professor appeared in front and cleared his throat. He was young, which surprised her. His dark skin was rich and black, and his hair cut short.

  “Welcome to the virtual programming lab. I know many of you come in here with an expectation of getting to hang out in virtuals for free, but this isn’t rec hour. There will be nightly homework, reports, and tests just like any other class. It’s not easy. Ask around.”

  He jumped right into the syllabus which gratefully distracted Ari from the inevitable. They spent the first half of their two-hour class going over the long list of rules and expectations.

  “Now, I have the address of all of your ports from the student tech store. I will be able to access each of your systems individually, or we can connect as a group for particular assignments.” He came towards Ari, using her virtual to point out the hardware. “I shouldn’t have to remind you to take care of your gear, and get it serviced regularly at our student center.”

  Then Dr. Coleman continued to go over more specifics for data storage. “Okay, I’m throwing you all in a common virtual that you guys probably used in middle school. It’s from the early stages of our Continuing Struggle for Human Rights. I want you to pick out at least five discrepancies before pulling out. I’ll be in and out of several of your programs to observe. Go ahead and plug in,” Dr. Coleman said with a smile.

  Ari’s heartbeat picked up as she leaned back in her chair like the rest of the students. She moved her braid and cleared the way for the cable. Clicks of cables sounded throughout the room as people plugged in, while Ari still struggled with snapping it in place in the base of her skull. Her fingers shook badly, and the wires clattered to the floor.

  Mica appeared beside her, taking the port from her hand. “I’ll help.” Her hands were cold but fast as she inserted the thick metal cord. “It’s okay. A lot of kids get nervous on their first day.”

  Ari tried to console herself that at least she wasn’t in the olden days when they had to port into several spots in the brain and blood stream. It had been almost barbaric. Ari lay back in the chair and clamped her eyes shut, forcing herself to go to the one place that scared her the most.

  She opened her eyes to the war-torn chaos that surrounded her. Bullets screamed past while explosions flared in the distance. Cries of the injured bombarded her, while camo-covered men rushed the broken city with guns at th
eir sides.

  All students in her middle school were required to complete VR military training to select those capable for duty. And while Ari had read about this war, she’d never lived it. She’d never smelt the dust of the desert mixed with the smoke of destruction.

  A bomb exploded in a small shop down the block. The ground shook, making her stumble. This wasn’t some old 3D movie. These people could hurt her, as much as one could be hurt in a VR. She took off, running as fast as possible. She wasn’t sure where she was going but standing out in the open was a sure way to get shot. Her logical mind told her that she wouldn’t die. VR programs muted any painful experiences, so it was only a shadow. But even the shadow of a gunshot or bomb would be more than she wanted.

  She sprinted around a corner and stopped short, almost running into two men, one severely injured.

  “Help,” the soldier begged. It was awkward to hear an English ancient from such a foreign looking man with dark and pointed features. Ari stood dumb for a second before she realized he wanted her to help with the injured man.

  She hurried forward and helped lift.

  “We need to take him to the hospital. We’re almost there.” The soldier continued forward, sweat dripping down his temple.

  As they rushed into a nearby building, bullets and debris rained over their heads. At the entrance to the hospital, Ari froze. There were lines upon lines of beds, with injured people crying out in pain. The smell of blood and dirt overwhelmed her.

  “Come on,” the uninjured man urged her forward.

  Medical personnel dressed in bloody scrubs took the body from them.

  With her arms now empty, her hands began to shake. People always joked about never leaving their VR vacation, but what if she remained stuck in this living hell? None of this is real. It isn’t real. Cold dread seeped into Ari’s bones, despite the heat. Glancing down, she noticed red splattered against her purple shoes. Blood.