by Wolfe Locke
“One of the threads I had my crawlers put out has got a hit,” Kubrick said. Niles made a motion for him to continue. “I mean the Old Dominion, they just logged into the system, and they’re staying for longer than I thought. I’ve been able to actually get a trace on them.”
He pulled out a device and looked around before activating it. The device lit up, and he pushed it over to Niles. Niles could see four dots and a basic GEOtag. In the topmost corner of the device, Niles could see a travel indicator for the estimated distance between them and the nearest red dot.
“Then why are we still here?” Niles asked. Then he knew the answer. “If they realized they had been detected, they would find a way to purge your crawlers, wouldn’t they? You’ve been sitting on this information so that when we act on it, it might not trace back to you.”
Kubrick nodded, seeming surprised that Niles had figured it out. “I don’t just want to chase them down, I want them caught in the act. I know what that thing you have can do. I want justice for my friend, and I want to not worry about being killed too.”
“We have to go,” Niles said. “Whatever they’re doing, I’m going to stop it.”
“No, you have to go,” Kubrick said, raising his hands. “I told you, I just provide the information. You should be happy with that alone. But you really do need to be careful. We might be using SynaCAID, but if those bullets hit you, you’re as good as dead.”
“You sound like Grisham when he’s being agreeable,” Niles said with a wry chuckle. Kubrick shrugged. “Just don’t die.” He pointed outside.
“You should use my bike, it is faster than going on foot, and you don’t want to try to pull a traveler to take you. Besides, it will help me keep track of you better,” He explained. Niles nodded and started heading towards the door while Kubrick followed him outside.
“Remember your limits.” Kubrick reminded him. “The Talon doesn’t make you a god.”
SynaCAID Platform
Currently Transferring to Seven Cities Online
Location: Arcadia - Mainstreet
Seven Cities mirrored the day/night cycle of the real world, and this was no different. Niles was glad to see it was still early. The sun was just now coming up in the distance.
“I’ll be careful,” Niles commented as he heard Kubrick materialize next to him. Kubrick threw the device to him and Niles caught it. It was slim. The screen was as wide as his spread palm. The four red dots were moving. Niles got on the bike. It quickly synced with the interface on his wrist. Through a series of internal commands, Niles fixed the screen to an empty portable space in front of him.
“Your interface controls it, Chief. Just like cars and homes,” Kubrick explained as he watched Niles to make sure the man managed to figure it out. . He was watching the chief. Niles nodded and the bike started. He zoomed forward, blazing through the city. He followed the direction of the device. The bike was so fast. He realized he should have worn glasses at least. He would have to manage.
Arcadia is even bigger than I thought it was. Niles realized. He hadn’t thought it was but seeing it as he drove through it. Things used to look like this. He admitted as he followed the dots on the device. There were floating homes, business sectors that spanned almost into infinity, skyscrapers that pushed past and through the clouds, and oversized entertainment areas that would have been impossible to build in the real world.
He checked the tracker and cursed. Niles slowed down and reversed the bike, correcting the route. He had to swerve to dodge out of the way of a group of knights riding what looked like oversized chickens. His heart skipped for a moment. This feels good. I don’t care what limits Kubrick was talking about. I’m not giving this up.
What are they doing? Niles hadn’t gotten any notification of anyone dying in the system. He pushed the bike to go faster. The way it roared, he could tell he could get a little more push out of it. He was able to close some of the distance until soon he was practically on top of the red dots.
Niles slowed down as he got closer to the dots on the device. They weren’t moving, but where are they? He looked around, following the dots move on the device as he adjusted himself. He stopped when he realized they were in the hardware store. He cursed, who would they want to kill in a hardware shop? Then he saw the name of the shop. Luxury Dropshipping. Cruz’s, Platinums, and Jupiters. Get the car you deserve today.
Very few people could get that kind of car on the ground in real life. He cursed, running towards the store, pulling out his sidearm, the Dominator’s Fist. Then he heard it. The bang of a shot phased him. Niles froze for a moment and than ran in towards the side. Inside, Niles saw a male smiling at the counter, it took only one look to see the man was a robot NPC.
There was a dead body in front of the counter. Two shots to his chest and one to his head. They should still be here, whoever did this. Niles looked around cautiously ready to pursue. They probably don’t know I’m here. There were lots of aisles in the store, he had thought it was a small place judging from the outside. Niles crouched, slowly moving from aisle to aisle, then he heard a vehicle start up outside. How did they get out?
He ran to the body and scanned the dead man’s. His name popped up. He was not a very rich man, but he was well known or used to be, at least. This would hurt Grisham. Niles ran outside, but the car was already speeding off. The bike was fast enough to cover the distance. So long as I’ve the tracker, I can keep up at least, as he looked down and checked the tracker. Their car was fast, he thought. They were a good distance away already. He turned the bike around, gun in one hand. He called Grisham. The synch was faster every time.
“You know James Parker?” Niles asked, not bothering to look at the blue screen.
[Transmission: Of course I know James. We go way back. Why? Before even the military.]
“It looks like he’s the most recent victim of the Old Dominion. They just gunned him down. I’m in pursuit, but you should send somebody over right away. They might be able to save him, or at least catch them in the real world.”
[Transmission: Yeah. I’m on it. You be careful. Keep me updated. If the opposition is on the move, assume something is happening. Just remember, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Stay alert, stay alive. It might not work, but we’re preventing log out procedures around you for the time being. Do what you have to.]
The call ended, and like always, the synch’s end gave him a headache. He pushed the pain away. He was too close to closing this case now to let a little headache stop him. He sped past angry users as he closed the distance between him and the shooters. But at least they won’t be able to log out. Hopefully.
Niles knew what they would do. At least, what I would do if I was in their shoes. I’d aim for my tires, try for an L-Shaped scatter and hone in to make sure I couldn’t dodge. Up ahead, he finally saw the car. They were riding in a Jupiter. He swerved to the right, flanking the car. There were two men in the back while another one was driving.
One of them turned to see him and brought up his gun. Niles let the bike slow down, and then he fired it up and allowed a car to pass before he flanked the car from the right. He pointed the Disruptor at the man on the left. He unleashed a devastating attack as a ring of energy slammed into Jupiter, nearly pushing it off the ground. The opposition was quick in response. Niles sped the bike forward, but he was not fast enough; bullets caught his thigh and hip.
System Alert: Auto-Counter Failed. Weapon – Disrupter is currently out of ammunition.
That’s annoying. The bullets had an effect on him that they shouldn’t have. His throat and back felt hot, sweaty almost. He wanted to pull off his armor. Niles felt like he was on fire. The effect was almost instantaneous. This isn’t good. “Flash Step,” he muttered, disappearing and reappearing much further away. His chest felt tight, and already he could see in the distance the men were following him. “God’s Eye,” a beacon of light appeared on the ground where he was looking, and a flash of electricity and hot fire rained down fr
om the skies. Whether the opposition or not was sent to respawn, he didn’t know.
He wanted to pull off all the clothes he had on him but he couldn’t even move his hands. He could hear sounds. He could hear voices and horns off in the distance. In the darkness that was swallowing him, Niles tried to say something, but it was difficult. He was dying. They hit me. It wasn’t the outside shots that were killing people. It was this.
Niles coughed. His mouth was stained red. Where did I mess up? Leaving myself open like that, I guess. Rusty. The thought made every ache in his body magnify.
A far away voice spoke out. “Talon. Override command, log out initiation. Ping medical” And the darkness became absolute and thick. Niles knew the owner of the voice would be so pissed on the other end. I’m just too tired to care.
*******************
A beep showed up on Kubrick’s interface.
He was watching two women enjoy a hot mocha. He couldn’t quite hear them, but he could imagine. They were standing at the counter, which meant they wouldn’t be staying. That’s a shame. He wouldn’t have minded being distracted for a while until the Chief came back.
The taller of the women turned and looked at him. It seemed like she had some kind of detector ability or software because the way she turned to look at him freaked him out. She saw me. But she smiled and winked before they both left. He cursed. SynaCAID was both a community and a dating platform. Since everyone met in the virtual space, it was easy to meet and connect.
He sighed, contemplating if he should follow or not. But as he was getting up to follow them out, another ping came in. A red. Immediate danger. Kubrick felt a moment of panic, thinking at first, maybe they had caught up with him, but then realized it was his bike.
Something must have happened if the bike is showing damage. Kubrick rushed outside. The backdoor trainer he had installed on his Rig gave him a few extra abilities he could abuse when needed. Like now, when I need something. He retrieved a bike from his own inventory, a bit of force spawn code he had stolen when the system was newer.
The bike he’d force spawned was nowhere near the speed of the bike he’d given Niles, but it was manageable. He tracked the distress signal of his bike. I should have bugged the Chief. I didn’t think he’d get taken down already. It’s risky going in with this face on, but I need to get to Niles. Did he die already? Kubrick went ahead and shot a quick message to the Colonel and refused the transmission after. Military men and power. I’ll never understand it.
It wasn’t long before Kubrick found his bike, and Niles not too far from it. The man was a bloody mess when he got there. He had some deep scrapes on his face, his hands, and bad lacerations on his legs. But he knew the man was bleeding too much for it to be just a scrape. Did they get him with a glitch gun? Kubrick wasn’t sure.
Death in the system meant for most people only an uncomfortable amount of downtime while the avatar was reassembled at a starter location. He should be gone already. Kubrick realized. He pulled out his interface. “Talon. Override command, log out initiation. Ping medical.”
One of the things that Kubrick was fairly convinced of was that the attacks outside of Seven Cities were to cover up the truth. The attacks within the game caused the body to fail. If that had happened to Niles, his best shot at survival was immediate medical care and an override to separate himself from the Rig. The world is moving on old man, you need to figure that out.
Chapter 22: Contingency
Niles woke up in a cold sweat. He fell over to the ground. He didn’t scream, he didn’t yell. He was shaking, though. He was sweaty. His body felt like ice.. I thought I died.. He remembered being shot at and then the odd sensation that followed. One minute he was shooting the Disruptor, the next, he was scrambling to avoid dying. Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. It felt like I was dying.
When he realized he was back in his quarters, sprawled out on the floor, Niles laid back down. He was still in just his briefs, and he heard the beeping of the Rig. Is it still on? Yeah, it’s still on. Which meant he had dragged himself out of the Rig without being aware of it. What was that in there? He checked his interface to see if there were any messages waiting on him. There was only one. Grisham wanted to see him immediately. Was nobody monitoring me?
Niles laid back down and stared at the ceiling. The memory was clear now. He could remember the sound of people bustling around him while he was on the ground, him almost dying in the System. He would have died. He wondered what Grisham would want to with him. To gloat? To tell him this was why they didn’t want him in the military after his injury? I get it, Grisham, I’m not as good as I used to be.
He made himself get up and turn the Rig off. His synthetic leg was numb completely like it didn’t exist, and his arm wasn’t much better. Niles knew it would return to normal soon. At least I hope it does, I’m still not sure what they hit me with. He got in the shower and washed up and when he came back—more relaxed and clear-minded—the pain was back. He groaned as he dressed quickly.
He felt hungry, but he knew Grisham would be waiting, he needed to see the man before it seemed like he was being intentionally stubborn after ruining an opportunity that would have gotten them a good lead.
He met the Colonel in his office. Grisham nodded at the chair for him to sit down. He was not smiling, not even the usual friendly smirk. He was all business. He leaned back, his greying hair looked good, and the air between them was tense. Niles wanted the Colonel to say whatever it was he wanted to say and move on.
“Did he—” Niles asked, hoping that the man at the store had somehow survived.
“He was already dead by the time we got there,” Colonel Grisham said.
Niles shook his head in frustration. I couldn’t stop them, I couldn’t fight them. I couldn’t even save their target. He felt like his body was going to explode with the anger he was carrying. He wanted to smack or smash something. He settled on scratching his face infrequently.
“You get anything?” Niles asked.
The Colonel seemed to be watching him intently. Colonel Grisham shook his head. “Nothing. Just another dead end.”
“Niles?” Grisham asked with his voice edged with authority. “You want to tell me what happened today?”
Niles frowned. He was sure Grisham already knew what happened, but he looked sincerely interested.
“It seems you had a massive heart rate spike today while you were in the System. You want to tell me what happened? It was almost like you…. died.” Grisham stopped there when he saw Niles flinch.
“I got shot by the opposition. It didn’t hurt at first, but it spread through my body like wildfire, and that part hurt. Real pain, Grisham. I wanted to rip my skin off. I was wondering how I got out of there. I thought I was going to die for a minute.”
“But then I woke up out here, and it was over, but Grisham, it felt so real,” Niles explained.
Grisham nodded, looking grim. He stared at Niles like he was about to do something really bad, and then he smiled. It was a quick change that left Niles a little bit surprised.
“I just realized you haven’t been training,” Grisham said. “And why would you? That was wrong of me to assume.”
Niles frowned. He knew what Grisham was trying to say, and it was probably true. When he’d been a soldier, he’d been required to get himself in shape and to consider himself as a weapon system to be maintained. He remembered where he had read that. In one of those books, Grisham suggested for him when he was discharged as if that kind of thing mattered to him at all. He could recall Grisham telling him that he would be having so much time on his hands now, it would be a shame not to use it properly.
“You should be hitting up the simulation rooms now and then. Maybe even using the entertainment and game zones of SynaCAID. You’d be shocked to see what you’d gain by chasing monsters or being around other prior service folks. Trust me on that. I’ve always tried to do right by you, Niles. That is why I brought you back in. I know what you can
do, or what you could do. Now it is up to you to show us,” Grisham said. Niles nodded.
“ Thanks,” Niles responded dismissively. This isn’t like him.
Grisham shook his head, and his entire demeanor changed. “I want results, boy, not you groveling and almost dying like some fucking dog in the street,” Grisham said in a low growl. “I want you to bring them down and out in bags. Them and whoever hired them. You need to step up and start bringing me results. No more excuses.”
“Understood,” Niles responded. Yeah, there’s the Grisham I know.
He still felt like a complete piece of useless tool, but at the moment, he knew what he had to do and how to do it. He was a sword that needed oiling and sharpening. His skills needed to be worked on, and he finally knew who helped him back in the system. I can make this work. Niles was too excited to remember that Grisham was the bastard that discharged him as Grisham waved him out of his office.
Outside the office, he used his implant to find the simulation room. There were other soldiers there training. He watched them for a while. He remembered when he used to lead his men into a place like this before. They walked seamlessly. Niles pushed the memories back.
He figured he had to do something about the dreams. They were back, it took nearly dying in the System to bring them racing back—fear, that was the trigger. All the security he had pulled up to push them back had been torn apart in a second. He needed something real. He needed to make them go, or he would keep waking up sweating like he just had a run through the rain.