Contest (The Stork Tower Book 6)

by Tony Corden

  Leah had no time to stop though and once more began racing along the branch. Whoever had named the scenario the Supermax had done so with justification. Leah had to stop almost every hour whenever she saw one of the water-collecting vines because she was in danger of dehydrating. Even at the lowest neural feedback settings, Leah’s back and shoulders soon began to ache, causing Gèng to suggest turning off all feedback. Leah asked her to check with Jesse if that would cause any problems, only to find that there was a minimum level of average feedback built into the scenario.

  When Gèng checked what was meant by average feedback, Jesse said some players had disabilities which prevented full feedback and for the purpose of equity some corporations required an ‘average feedback’ because the winner of the scenario would be receiving financial or other benefits. Gèng was able to work with Dr Roberts to distribute the feedback to Leah in such a way as to meet the average minimum feedback while reducing the strain on Leah’s back and shoulders.

  After two hours, Leah stopped for a five-minute break. Gèng said, “Jesse has agreed to hold off on approaching the authorities. At your current speed, you should reach your mother with twenty minutes of daylight remaining.”

  Leah nodded to show she had heard and then after a few more deep breaths, she resumed her run. Five hours in and Leah’s left foot hit a patch of carnivorous moss which hunted by camouflaging itself to look like the tree’s bark. The moss hunted in a symbiotic relationship with an ant-like insect. The moss was both corrosive and poisonous to touch as well as having rigid seta with razor-sharp barbs. Animals would step on the moss and become trapped. The ant-like creatures living under the moss would swarm out and attack the creature. As the ants dissected the dead animal, its blood and tissue would fall on the moss and be used for nutrition.

  As Leah’s foot came down, she recognised the moss and allowed her knee to fold rather than bringing her full weight on her foot. Leah’s rigid sap-shoes had worn down throughout the run, and the tip of one of the spikes pierced Leah’s foot between her sole and her big toe. Leah turned the crash into a tumble and rolled away from both the moss and swarming ants. Ignoring the pain, she hobbled to the next branch before looking at her foot.

  Leah had to also kill two ants which had managed to latch on. One had begun burrowing into her calf, while the other one was digging into her ankle. Leah used one of her water bottles to wash her foot. Some of the moss’s capsules had extended above the hardened base of her shoe and welts and blisters were already forming. As she removed her shoe to apply one of the healing plants she’d collected, she tore the barb from her foot. She made a poultice for her foot and then re-tied the shoe as tightly as she could around an already swollen ankle.

  Leah had a drink and tried to resume her run, only to almost fall from the pain that shot through her leg. She gritted her teeth and started again. This time she managed to put half her weight on the foot before skipping through the step. Leah continued like this for several trees before slowly picking up the pace. The pain hadn’t receded, but she knew she had to keep moving. Two hours later and Leah paused because the still swollen leg had broken out in painful boil-like pustules. Gèng said Jesse was worried as Leah had not only lost the twenty-minute buffer but would have to find her mother on the ground in the dark.

  Leah said several words her mother wouldn’t approve of, then through gritted teeth said, “Feel free to share that with Jesse.”

  “I believe he is watching the feed live.”

  With a smirk, Leah added a hand signal her mother definitely disapproved of and taking her knife, she lanced the boils to release a mixture of blood along with green and white ooze before wrapping the wounds with another healing leaf and some string she’d made. Standing, Leah broke into a run and slowly picked up the pace.

  At the speed Leah was moving, and distracted by pain, she started to make mistakes. Several close encounters left her with a gash along her right thigh, a puncture wound in her left shoulder and only four digits on her left hand. The most debilitating, however was the sting from a wasp-like creature the size of a tennis ball which she’d received between her right eye and ear. Whatever the poison was, it made her face swell until she couldn’t see out her right side. Every ten or so minutes, she would stop and lance the area to get rid of the pus, just so she could see.

  Leah had just killed one of the six-legged Ghost Weavers when Gèng said, “Leah, you are three kilometres from your mother, but night is almost here. You need to get to the ground soon. You’ve been in Survival for almost nine-and-a-half hours. Jesse says their protocols will kick you out after ten.”

  Leah didn’t respond, but every time she changed trees, she now moved down towards the forest floor. Leah was two kilometres from her mother and twenty metres above ground level when the light slowly dimmed. Leah could see the way down and said, “Guide me using footprints.”

  Then, without pausing to explain Leah continued the dash down the branch guided only by the faint phosphorescence of the night and the sudden footsteps Gèng added to her vision. As she stepped to the floor, Gèng highlighted a set of gleaming eyes to Leah’s left. Not sure what it was, Leah took a step to her right and swung the spar in an arc to bring it down between the eyes. Whatever she hit was wounded enough not to continue the attack, but it also wrenched the spar from Leah’s arms leaving her without the weapon.

  She didn’t turn to retrieve it, but palming one of her knives she raced toward her mother’s position weaving between the trees. Leah evaded predators twice more in the dash to her mother. One was a dog-sized flying insect called a Wolfbug that managed to open a wound along her torso. It went from her right shoulder to her left hip. The other was by a carnivorous vine which Leah ran into. Leah managed to cut her way free but only after losing one of her remaining knives and leaving behind a winding arm’s length of skin which had been ripped from her left arm.

  Fifty metres from her mother’s position Leah’s run came to an abrupt end when she ran directly through the hanging tentacles of a Deathdrape. The tentacles had missed her face, but they wrapped themselves around her arms, then as she flinched in pain, they caught hold of her back and legs. Leah screamed in agony but slowly pushed herself to her feet and managed to take four steps toward her mother before being brought once more to the ground by the pain. Leah was lying face down as the Deathdrape dropped toward her laying more and more tentacles to her back and legs. Wriggling her arms beneath her, she managed to lift herself into a pushup and then came to her knees before starting to fall forward.

  She expected to hit the forest floor, but instead, she came to rest against the body of her mother. Gèng had explained what was happening to John and he’d sent Lin in early to wait for Leah. When Gèng had explained that Leah was trapped, Lin had followed the screams to see the Deathdrape falling on Leah. Knowing she would be caught, Lin had thrown herself forward to stop Leah from crashing into the ground.

  Leah looked up to see her mother and started to speak the words she’d memorised and practised time and time again. “Hi mum, your daughter is a thieving bitch. Remember, ...”

  Before Leah could finish the sentences she’d prepared, she died.

  Moments later, Leah reformed in the reception area of Survival. The same people were sitting there. The woman said, “Hello Ms Atherleah Carroll, in case you forgot, my name is Lisa. It looks like your scenario has been reset. Would you like to re-enter the scenario, receive a refund, or talk through the options with a consultant?”

  Leah was still recovering from her ordeal and was in shock from not knowing what had happened to her mother. She ignored the woman and logged out of Survival.

  STORK TOWER

  When she arrived in the Tower, she almost slumped to the floor but was caught by Gèng. Gèng said, “Leah, breathe. As soon as you said the passphrase, Jesse was able to identify where Lin’s PAI was being stored on his server. He isolated it and used his administrator privileges to both pause, and enter, Lin’s scenario. He’s cle
aning, updating and reconfiguring her PAI as I speak. Lin should be logging out soon with both her memory and her PAI back where they belong. I’ve been granted access to his feed. He has isolated the code used to arm the device and is currently removing every possible access to the arming mechanism. I suggest you log out for a break and spend some time with your mother.”

  Leah looked up hopefully, then logged out to see the Pod door sliding back into its open position.

  74

  Chapter 74

  December 18, 2073 - Evening - Part 4

  HOME - REAL WORLD

  Leah wanted to leap out of the Pod, but her whole body ached. She thought some of it was a type of residual pain from her time in Survival, but whatever the cause, it added to her already stiff shoulders and back, and kept her horizontal until Lacey reached in to help her from the Pod. What Leah thought of as residual pains dissipated as she stretched her leg and arm muscles before hobbling to the bathroom. Leah wanted to rush, but Gèng kept her informed of Lin’s progress. Finally, after rinsing off the gel left on Leah’s body, Lacey helped Leah to dry herself and get into a robe.

  Leah headed for the door, but Lacey said, “Leah, you should wait. Kevin needs to check your back. Some of the bandaging is loose, and you’ve reopened one of the wounds.”

  Leah shook her head and said, “Tell Kevin to meet me in Mum’s room. He has to check her over, and I can’t wait.”

  “OK, but let me tie the robe a little tighter so it doesn’t come undone as you walk, and maybe put on a pair of shorts or panties.”

  Leah nodded, and Lacey helped Leah into some underwear and then redid the robe before opening the door. As Leah exited the room, she was surprised to find the hall filled with people who started to cheer as she appeared. Conner rushed toward her and would have grabbed her if Lacey hadn’t gotten in the way.

  Lacey said, “Careful Conner, careful. Leah still isn’t up to too much contact.”

  Conner nodded and said, “Sorry, I forgot.” Then turning to Leah, he flashed her a smile and said, “Thank you. Dad’s helping Mum with a shower, then we can visit. He told John she’s OK, and she remembers everything. She wants to see you.”

  Leah leant forward and rested her head on Conner’s but found she couldn’t speak for the tears that welled up. Instead of speaking, she just started to sob gently. He wasn’t sure what to do and tentatively reached up to gently pat her shoulder. Unfortunately for Leah, it was her right shoulder and he managed to land directly on a wound. She flinched subconsciously, making Conner whip his arm away. Looking up with tears starting to form in his eyes, he began to say he was sorry when Leah used her left arm and reached up to place her finger against his lips.

  She managed to get her emotions under control and said, “It’s OK Conner, it’s OK. Let’s go see Mum. Just let me lean on you.”

  Conner moved to her left side and let Leah lean on him as they moved towards Lin’s room. They found John waiting outside the room. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and he had wet hair. He watched Leah as she approached. When she got close, he smiled and said, “Well done, Leah. Lin is almost ready, and Kevin is on his way. He wants to see both of you. You should know that Gèng arranged for Michael and me to watch the last two hours of your run with Jesse. I’ve never seen anything like it. I will warn you, though, that Michael’s struggling to cope with everything that’s happening at the moment. Seeing you in that much pain almost broke him.”

  Leah nodded, and after squeezing Conner’s forearm, she removed her hand and tried to stand straighter. Lacey understood, and as she saw Lin’s door begin to open, she stepped back from Leah. As Michael saw Leah, he was about to step toward her when Conner stepped in front of her and wrapped his dad in a hug. He said, “Is mum OK? Can we come in? Don’t forget Leah’s still a bit sore and she’s been acting like a whiney baby when anyone touches her.”

  Michael stepped back to let Conner look into the room. As he saw his mother, he rushed in to hug her. Leah stepped toward Michael and leant her head against his shoulder. Resting her weight on him, she heard her dad say, “She is, and she remembers everything that happened. She wants to see you both.”

  Leah used her left arm to push herself off Michael and looked in to see Lin staring at her. As Leah stepped into the room, Michael closed the door behind the family to give Leah and her mother some privacy. Lin stepped close and looked up into Leah’s eyes. Lin said, “I see your pain. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for all you’ve endured, but I can say I know you and I love you more than you can ever imagine.”

  Leah very carefully embraced Lin, and the two of them cried in happiness only to be joined by Michael and Conner. After several minutes, Leah wiped her eyes and gently pushed the family apart said, “Sorry guys, I need to sit down.”

  Michael helped her sit, but before anyone could speak, there was a knock at the door. Conner went to see who it was, but before he got there, the door opened, and Kevin stuck his head in. He said, “Sorry to disturb you, but Lacey said Leah was bleeding again.”

  Both Lin and Michael turned to Leah with concern on their faces. She said, “I’m fine, Kevin. I want you to check Mum out first.”

  Ignoring her, Kevin said, “Conner, go wait outside and take your dad with you. Send Lacey in then go get your sister some food. From the story John’s telling everyone, I imagine her body is in serious need of nutrition.”

  Conner grabbed a protesting Michael, and together they left the room. Kevin said, “Lin, John said that you remember everything which means you know who I am and what’s happened. Grab a towel so Leah can cover her front and then help me remove the robe from her shoulders and her back.”

  Lin quietly and quickly did what Kevin asked as Lacey entered the room with some bandages and a green wrapped bundle. Kevin took the bundle from her and slowly unwrapped it. He said, “This is our first attempt at making sterile kits for the Switch. Just imagine, kits like these have been around for more than a hundred years, but no one has access to such things in the poorer parts of Brisbane. It’s like the Dark Ages here sometimes.”

  Lin ignored Kevin as she sat in front of Leah and held her hands. She said, “Ling, thank you for rescuing me. When my memory was gone, I knew something was missing. Some important part of my soul, some part of my self. It was you. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, Mum.”

  As Kevin worked, Leah shared some of what had happened and listened to her mum tell of the hours she’d been with the Kodomans. They hadn’t ever shown themselves, but Lin had no doubt at any time who’d taken her.

  She said, “I prayed that God would protect the family, and he has. I believe he did it through you. I thank him all the time for you. I thank him that you’re my daughter.”

  Leah smiled and said, “I prayed. We all did. Dad is even on friendly terms with Father Andrew at the moment.”

  “I know. I also remember our conversations during my memory loss. I meant what I said about you and being a Christian. It’s sometimes harder to see good in the ones we love than it is to see it in perfect strangers. I’ve been guilty of judging you based on thousands of little things from your past instead of seeing who you’ve become. Forgive me.”

  “I do forgive you, but I don’t think it requires forgiveness. If it does, then I’ll have to ask Conner to forgive me. I was thinking how mature he was all of a sudden, but as you were talking, I realised he’s been slowly doing that for a while. It took this horrible situation to show me how strong he’s become as a person.”

  Kevin finished his work and said, “Leah, you need to slow down. The wounds are still healing at a phenomenal rate, but your natural tissue is struggling to keep up.”

  “I’ve three more big sessions, then I hope I can scale back a little. What about Mum?”

  “When you go I’ll give her a full physical, but I already did that earlier today, and she’s in good health. Anything more than that, she can tell you herself. While I have no problem talking about you in front of yo
ur mother, I do have some ethics about invading her privacy.”

  Lacey helped Leah slowly come to her feet and then Leah said, “I’ll leave then.”

  Lin said, “Hold on Ling, what does he mean by ‘natural tissue’?”

  Kevin’s face fell as Leah smirked at him. She said, “Good one, Doctor. I’ll let you work out how to extricate yourself from my mother’s questions without either invading my privacy or crossing John’s ‘say nothing’ provisos.”

  Then turning to her mum, she said, “I’m sure Dad will fill you in if you can’t pry it out of the good doctor. I really have to go. I’m very late for one of my classes.”

  Lacey helped Leah to the door as Lin began firing questions at Kevin. Once they were outside, Leah was hugged briefly by her dad and then was walked back to her room by Lacey and John. Leah shared that Kevin might need to be reminded about secrecy and John said, “I’ll make sure I deliver the appropriate mixture of threat and encouragement. I should mention that Kevin has a really old PAI chip. Are you OK if, as part of the carrot, I offer to have the chip replaced?”

  “Sure, just make sure he gets the full security upgrade. He knows too much and he loves to overshare.”

  “I will. It’s good to see you out of your room. People were beginning to worry.”

  “I had to see my mum. I can’t believe how much lighter I feel.”

  “Everyone here has felt the pressure. Most people don’t know what’s been going on, but they know Lin’s forgetting you was at the centre of it. If it’s alright with you, I’ll let people know Lin remembers everything.”