《Extra Life Online》


 1: Sim test

    Joel Tristan rolled his shoulders in the newly adapted sim-jacket. The jacket responded in the arms, the chest and the lower back. The new Formgel pouches pulsed, swelled, flattened, and heated and cooled. Sensations of motion and changing environments were going to be much better.


    Simulated movement, G-force and shocks were convincing. Heating and cooling simulated wind and water. Sensations of fire and ice were fast and distinct, though he wanted quicker temperature control still for simulations to be even more immersive. They were definitely on Joel¡¯s want list, but he couldn¡¯t see himself getting the kind of juice that would take. Not anytime soon.


    Joel was the local go-to guy for gaming, VR, simulation hacks, wearables, hardware and software. Secretly, of course. Still at school, he was so unCert it was close to criminal. In closed circles, among those who knew, his hacks were legendary.


    Tinkering with peripherals and wearables was the biggest passion for Joel. He could trick the response time in a motion-tracking glove. Make it so the player could stroke and feel the individual spines of a HyperSonic rodent. So you could swing the handlebars of a Honda 2250 Stratoglide with precision, using only a pinkie finger. The interface between player and machine was what he loved, almost as much as the virtus themselves.


    He had a secret source from a discovery he made on a hunch. When the time was right, he was sure that it could be his ticket to riches and fame. Well, a career and some security at any rate but he had no idea when that time might be.


    Joel noticed that when he tweaked a noise canceling feature, a space battle he had been working through got a whole lot more immersive and involving. Joel wasn¡¯t sure why, though he had a hunch, but from then on he improved noise canceling every time he got the chance. Silencing outside noise just a little better lifted the experience of realism exponentially.


    He found a way to combine two noise algorithms to make faster responses to local sound, canceling noise from the local environment.


    From then on, any time he was asked to mod a headset, an interface, a gaming rig, he would slip in his latest version of noise canceling. And he never told anyone. Not about that part. He was close to being able to build custom rigs and headsets, but he wasn¡¯t ready to risk that secret being uncovered.


    There was no easy path for him to turn legitimately pro and that riled him. Not for wearables, hardware, or even code. Kids like him, kids in the outlands never got to do that kind of thing. There was no route to certification. It took a certified school and those were all in the enclaves.


    Joel¡¯s best shot would be as a gamer. Then maybe he could take his hardware and code skills into a bigger league. Hard as he tried, Joel wasn¡¯t a good enough player to win at the EZone RustMeetRoad or IronShred tournaments, much less the VirtuCon PanNationals. But if he could get into the heats, maybe he could get some of his skills into a better market.


    He faked his way into plenty of online gaming events. He¡¯d won heats. Even took a junior championship title once.


    But, since he had to enter under an alias, there was no way for him to collect his winnings. More important, he couldn¡¯t put his name to the titles. That meant he couldn¡¯t ever make a string of wins into a career.


    Maybe when he was older. Maybe he could get tournament certified. The juice that it took to get even State certification was a serious charge and he worked all that he could to get a stake together.


    Outside school time, apart from work on the kite, which everyone in the village had to do, all the chances he had to scrape any juice together were tech and coding gigs. UnCert gigs, naturally, so all of his payments were technically illegal. He had to be careful who he coded for. The juice didn¡¯t exactly gush.


    But now, he was ready to try the jacket and his newly modded headband.


    From Vulcan: Origins he had a chase. A fast running dogfight through a high, jagged, red canyon. That sequence in Vulcan: Origins was not the most exciting dogfight in the world, or even the best flight sim, but it had fast and detailed haptic, sensory, and neural feedback.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Make a barrel roll or a vertical climb, even wearing the cheapest mesh jacket, the sensation of G-force was phenomenal. The detailed and persuasive sensory output was a big factor in the game¡¯s incredible success. Just don¡¯t ever hit the button for an ejector seat. Those simulations were brutally real.


    Punching straight into the chase, the 3D landscape of the rocky canyon blurred by in a whoosh. The ion-pulse kick of his JetHawk fighter made his blood pump hard. He saw the target fighters ahead and banked hard in pursuit. Two fast, evil, heavily armed RussianFed zone violators were alerted to him immediately. The headband tightened to deepen the immersion. Joel¡¯s blood pressure rose.


    At school, Marco had droned on about his full-body sim-suit. How the calf grips made everything ¡®so total-immersion. You¡¯re not just there, you¡¯re there in the front line.¡¯ Joel was sure what he said was true, but no point fretting about it, he wasn¡¯t going to be putting sim-pants together anytime soon. Joel¡¯s parents didn¡¯t have juice to sling around like Marco¡¯s. Marco had a chair that span in a 360-360 cage.


    Honey didn¡¯t trust Marco and that was good enough for Joel. ¡°If his family has that kind of juice, why do they live here? Why aren¡¯t they in an enclave instead of a village?¡± Honey was smarter than anyone. Though she always said that he was the smart one.


    With perfect timing, Joel¡¯s thumb stroked the red button to fire two plasma missiles. Jarring shakes accompanied the volley of plasma bolts. He felt a burst from his right, along with the explosive shock as the first of the RussianFed fighters exploded. The jacket was working well. Too busy appreciating the warmth on the right side of his arm, chest and head, he almost fluffed the dive into the canyon after the other fighter. Joel stayed as tight to his tail as he could, and fought to remain in position above.


    He flipped and turned into the tight, jagged corridor, trying hard to read the canyon and not rely too much on following his target. The press against his chest and the front of his arms combined with the rocking fluid balance as he tilted the JetHawk. Joel felt the shudder as the jet neared its limits.


    The RussianFed jet blasted vertically and a canyon wall almost filled the view. The suit squeezed and the JetHawk howled as Joel yanked the stick back and turned as he climbed.


    He pulled up too fast. Vibration rattled him and made it impossible to read the instruments. He could see that all the dials and readouts were turning red and flashing. His chest was tight. He couldn¡¯t breathe.


    Climbing almost straight up, he couldn¡¯t get a look at the canyon. He fought to turn the fighter over. The headband shrunk around his temples. His chest was tight. Breathing was almost impossible. He needed to level off, and right away. The JetHawk shook.


    Loud alarms went off all over the cockpit and the calm female computer voice said, ¡®Brace. Brace. Mandatory eject. Commencing immediately.¡¯


    ¡°Noooooooooo!¡± the last of his breath was dragged out in the useless, involuntary shout.


    His whole body juddered. The cockpit jolted. His headband tightened savagely as the exploding bolts that held the canopy blew. His jacket snapped tight. Hard. A sensation of freezing air braced him. Everything tightened harder. His chair was blasted out of the cockpit, parallel to the ground.


    He span and arced downward. All he could think was, I¡¯m the wrong way up. If the parachute blows out now, I¡¯ll fall straight through it.


    It did.


    He did.


    Joel and his seat ripped through the beautifully rendered silk parachute canopy. It billowed gorgeously as his vision tunneled to a dwindling portal. Breath was still impossible.


    He tried to think of a way to quit the game. Or even restart it. Or restart the console. The packs on his arms and chest were too tight for him to move. He couldn¡¯t reach any controls. Even if he still had any.


    When I hit the ground or the canyon wall, he thought, I¡¯m going to find out how hard an impact this rig can simulate.


    From the jacket pads, the neck brace and the headband alone, the sensation of a slow, rotating fall in a heavy metal chair was persuasive. Unable to move his arms, Joel tried to guess how much pain his own painstakingly built jacket was going to be able to inflict on him.


    He¡¯d spent many hours, a lot of effort and all the juice he could scrape together to make it all feel as real as he could.


    If his arms weren¡¯t pinned right now, he¡¯d tear the wiring out of it. Rip it to shreds. If he could only move his arms at all, he could just force-quit the game. Better still, peel off the jacket and headband and have fun watching them pump and blow on their own.


    Brown canyon walls and pale blue sky tipped and spun below and the horizon rolled sickeningly. The suit buffeted him hard. The impression was utterly convincing. He tumbled helplessly and accelerated. Each time he rolled over, rocks and boulders on the ground were bigger. Sharp edges got clearer.


    The suit packs couldn¡¯t do him too much damage, surely. Could they? Drifting out on the edge of consciousness he realized, The headband! He had no idea how hard that might snap. He fought to move his arms, but they were still fixed against the sides of the seat.


    He really couldn¡¯t be sure if he was going to get through this to the next life without injury. Or worse. This really could be one of those. ¡®Die in the game, die for real¡¯ events.


    If I get out of this intact, I definitely need an emergency kill switch. Put it in a glove between the thumb and finger.


    The rocky floor of the canyon spun too fast to see detail. His vision blacked out completely.The impact didn¡¯t feel simulated.

 2: Honey

    JOEL WAS BREATHLESS FOR a few minutes. He waited before he called Honey.


    She didn¡¯t respond right away. When her face came on the screen her hair was tied up. Fresh faced without makeup, her camera was clipped to a shelf so it looked down at her. It also meant she tended not to look up at it too much. He liked seeing her like that. typically unselfconscious.


    She told him she was sorry he had to wait and him where she¡¯d been. He already guessed, anyway. She was visiting her counter-culture hangout for geeky losers with conspiracy theories.


    ¡°Did you save the world from the tyranny of the machin intelligences yet?" He asked her, "Are your pals ready to overthrow USCom and free all of us miserable slaves?¡± She didn¡¯t approve of his disapproval, so they didn¡¯t discuss it too often.


    He¡¯d been along to a couple of meetings in virtu with her. And, he had to admit, there were some pretty cool hackers and techies among the crackpots. He hated the philosophy and the politics just as much as he thought he would.


    ¡°You should come along more often, Joel. Your views would be welcome. And, you know, you might learn something.¡±


    He changed the subject. ¡°Are you going to be riding your board to the hoist tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°You mean am I going with my mom?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± he admitted, ¡°Busted.¡± Her head shook gently as she chuckled.


    ¡°Yes.¡± He told her, stifling a laugh,¡°That is exactly what I meant. Is your mom taking you there?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Joel. I hope not.¡±


    ¡°Me, too.¡±


    He told her about his sim jacket mods and the test flight. ¡°Honey, it was really convincing. Especially the crash at the end. I really didn¡¯t mean to wipe out there. I was nearly scared when I tumbled through the air.¡±


    ¡°Nearly.¡± She had a way of putting emphasis on a pause. The little dimple in her left cheek showed when she teased him. And she did love to tease him. His mouth dried and his lips stretched thin.


    After another moment she let him off. ¡°You are brilliant with the tech, though, Joel.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be amazing, though, to be in a sim that was immersive enough, convincing enough that it was as real as a dream. If you could make simulation that immersive, you could practically live in it.¡±


    ¡°You want to be device independent, Joel? Really, you want to divorce your body? And so young.¡± her voice lowered playfully, ¡°All the things you haven¡¯t done yet.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± he knew what she was getting at. ¡°Maybe not a full full divorce. Possibly some periods of separation is all.¡±


    She mimicked the breathy, sexy Idoru voice in the song that was everybody¡¯s earworm, ¡®Die in my dream, I¡¯ll die in your game.¡¯ He laughed.


    She said, ¡°Careful what you wish for, Joel. There¡¯s still only one real way to become device independent.¡±


    ~~


    Up and out early, before it was fully light, Joel took his airboard and set out for the hoisting. Before he started out, he onelined to Honey. Are you coming on your board? Pre-Reset punk pumped in his headset. ¡®Nice Day,¡¯ the singer snarled, ¡®White Wedding,¡¯ as he leaned into the breeze to shove the board forward. Going up he needed all the speed he could get. Starting uphill he had to begin with the wheel trucks down.


    The more momentum he had on the way up, the more energy he could convert and the faster he could glide around the valley . Should be enough to cruise the top ridge and all the way down to the tethers. The long route up into the hills and around the ridge was a great ride. It gave him the chance to try out the mods he¡¯d made to the board¡¯s airchannels.


    Their valley was surrounded in the shade of an almost complete circle of steep hills, with a gap on the North side. In the cool air along the high ridge it looked like the crater of an ancient volcano. So much that Joel imagined the grassy floor heaving and cracking, bursting upward and hurled by a pent up explosion of glowing lava. Most of their little village was a thin sprawl over the flat plane at the bottom of the valley.


    At the highest point in the road, a clear, winding sweep all the way to the kite fastenings was almost all downward or flat. Way below him was the little village center. The tiny church was pale gray with a squat tower like a finger pointed upward. A little winding string of stores led to the plain, rectangular village hall and the fire department that were finished last year. Behind them, the low sprawl of stilted bamboo sheds around the hall in the center of the schoolyard.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    The air was the cleanest in the center. Green and lush, the well maintained open spaces were safe and pleasant. Stores were always stocked and the eating places were good. People were friendly.


    There were three Edge settlements, inside the valley but outside the village itself. The inner zone, the middle of the village was the nicer place to live and nobody pretended it wasn¡¯t. Of the outside Edges, the two on either side of the valley were the ¡®better¡¯ sides. Amenities in the East and West Edges were adequate, wholesome and for the most part pretty clean.


    Right at the top of the road Joel pinched his glove control to pull the wheel trucks up and leaned into the turn. He loved the dip and the acceleration as the wheels came up and the board took air. Speed picked up as he started the long glide down. A crow briefly tipped his stretched wings to watch as Joel followed the turns and gathered speed. The cool wind made his jacket flap and slap and his cheeks chilled.


    His footing on the board was like an organic connection. He felt that the board, the road and the air and his body all flowed together as one. His legs felt the trembles and bumps on the road and the currents of warm and cool moving air. He was reading the road and the breeze. His body¡¯s concentration in perfect focus connected him to the wind and the land. He felt free.


    And fast. He didn¡¯t use instruments to track his speed. They sucked too much juice. He knew the distance well enough from previous runs. He checked the time at the start and he¡¯d take it again at the end. He must be a little over sixty miles per hour. Each turn in the road, as he leaned in, he lowered his body. Spread his fingers. Picked up another half a mile an hour. Gaining momentum. Channeling energy.


    The tight curve around the halfway point was coming up. A cluster of bare trees on the valley side of the road was the start of a short rise. After that, the bend was around a steep drop. That drop was where he would pick up the most speed.


    He crouched as he passed the trees. One day he¡¯d try taking this run but straight across. Off the road. He¡¯d need a lot more off-road practice first. But he would get there. The time would come.


    Where the road rose he lost a little speed. More as he swung through the uneven curves.


    As much as he dared he cut along the center of the road, drifting side to side to make his course as straight as he could. The blind drop coming up made it risky. If anything came up the other way, it could be game over. The board leaped as he crested the hump and his stomach followed when he plunged and hurtled down the slope.


    The thrill of almost free fall down and around the widest and fastest sweep of road in Joel¡¯s world made him shout. As he did the sound died in his throat. He stiffened and tipped the board and angled it to slow down. Coming into the valley on the far side were four small, black drones, a larger three-rotor drone and a black USSecur transporter.


    His attention was distracted on the dark convoy in the valley. It made him late to spot the rockfall. It was small but it had left a scattering of debris all across one side of the road. He didn¡¯t react as fast as he should have. A jagged stone was right in his path. It wasn¡¯t huge.


    The rock would only have scarred the finish on his board. He mistimed the swerve to avoid it. The airboard slid off the side of the road. Joel splayed and clawed the air as he tumbled after it. He fell with no view of how long the drop was.


    Thorny shrubs tore at his hand and rubble grazed his thigh. He rolled, bouncing hard. On his ass and the heels of his hands, he skidded down the steep slope. When he stopped, he had no idea where the board was.


    Angry with himself, Joel checked over his arms and legs. He¡¯d scuffed his pants and he¡¯d have a few cuts. Nothing was broken though. But he couldn¡¯t see the board. He tried to raise it by calling it from his tablet. It didn¡¯t respond.


    The range was usually only a few feet, ten at most, so it wasn¡¯t so surprising. If he¡¯d had the instruments on he could have called it up that way. As it was, he¡¯d have to climb down and hunt for it. The rocks were steep. He lost footing and slid twenty feet or so.


    Not too far ahead was a sheer drop. If the board had gone over there, he could be in for a long and dangerous climb. He searched, thinking the metallic paint should stand out pretty well from whatever kind of scrub it had dropped into. He couldn¡¯t see it above him, or either side.


    To peer over the ledge, he had to lie on his stomach and lean out. Below him was a seven or eight foot drop. His airboard was belly up on loose rubble and scrub on a very narrow ledge. Over the ledge was a long drop. If Joel lowered himself down, he would drop to the rubble and likely over the ledge.


    He tried to communicate with the board. It lit up. Getting it to move would be tricky. It was the wrong way up. There was a move where he could make it stand on one end and then jump. If he missed catching it, though, he might not get a second chance. He tried it.


    First it didn¡¯t want to move. Then it just shook from side to side. But he caught the timing right as it wobbled and he got the board to stand, nose down. He could almost reach it from there. Rubble shook from under him as he stretched out.


    He made the board jump as high as he could and reached out for it. He caught the side.


    But the board slipped through his grip. Before it fell he turned it up to full levitation. There was hardly enough juice for it to hover. He stretched his hand out as far as he could. A twitch on the lift control and he got it to rise another inch.


    As he got hold of the board, its reserve power ran flat. He had to carry it and climb. Scrambling back up, onto the road, earned him a couple more gashes. He had to snick the wheel trucks down by hand and push to roll the rest of the way to the East winches.


    A winding snake of vehicles, a couple of boards, and people on foot were making their way up the road on the far side.


    Feeling flat, he rolled onto the lot. He stopped and turned to watch the drones and the black transport buzz smoothly into the middle of the village and then fan out.


    Joel shuddered. He had a hunch the operation wasa search for somebody.

 3: Hoist

    MALIK AND TAYLOR WERE at the winches already. Big guys, both of them were firehouse volunteers and they were used to heavy construction work. They had taken the covers off two of the big winches. Taylor nodded to Joel.


    Taylor would reach his full term in the next couple of weeks. The village would throw a huge party for him. Drinks, food, and music. Everyone in the village would turn out. People would dance and laugh. They¡¯d all be there to celebrate his life. His friends would say how it all couldn¡¯t have been better. That¡¯s what people always said, but the atmosphere around a full term was never great.


    At least when someone took early salvage it was fast. Whether it was through an upgrade or with an enduring domain program, it was very fast and they chose the timing of it. Hanging on right to the last minute seemed grim. It was tough on everyone around them. He must have been watching the date get nearer for a year at least. Maybe two or more.


    Taylor had really stretched it out, too. Like he wasn¡¯t looking forward to his productive recycling. He¡¯d served three full tours in USMilCorps. Together they got him a full four years extension. That made him thirty-nine, after all. Even in the enclaves nobody got older than that. Not as far as Joel knew.


    The last few hoists, Taylor had been more and more quiet. More withdrawn. Joel thought if he was so reluctant to let go, he ought to take more out of the time he had left. Spend it in things that made him happy. Not looking inward.


    Joel looked at the winches to see which of the kites they were going to haul down. Number one, the nearest was flabby, so it certainly needed inflating. The other was the last in this barrage, number six.


    ¡°I saw you take a tumble off the road there,¡± Malik called over. ¡°Not like you, Joel. Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I was just distracted. Thanks, though Malik.¡±


    ¡°Glad you could rescue your board. That¡¯s a slick piece. I wouldn¡¯t mind a ride sometime.¡±


    Joel smiled back. Malik was in his late twenties at least. He¡¯d completed two terms of active service with USMilCom. He had an enhanced arm and shoulder to show for it and one side of his face was reworked in matte CarbN.


    Joel asked him, ¡°You know how to ride air?¡±


    Malik shrugged. ¡°You could teach me.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind some juice for the board while we¡¯re up here.¡±


    Malik laughed. ¡°The most valuable juice in town? And while the whole village is here to clean the kites? How could that not go over well?¡±


    Joel helped Malik to slot the handle into place for the winch.


    Malik¡¯s voice was quiet. ¡°You were watching USSecur sneak into the village?¡±


    Joel nodded. ¡°Odd they come while most of the village is on their way up here.¡±


    Malik¡¯s eyes were serious. ¡°They¡¯re going to be waiting. Bound to be looking for someone.¡± Then he shrugged, ¡°Could be they just happened to pick this time.¡±


    Joel said, ¡°And the day of the hoist? Doesn¡¯t seem very likely though, does it.¡±


    Malik¡¯s head shook. ¡°Nope.¡±


    ~~


    Groups of villagers arrived, Joel knew all of them. Some better than other, naturally. He tied to seem nonchalant as he watched each one, looking for Honey among them. She was late. And she hadn¡¯t responded to his oneline. Joel assumed that meant her mom was bringing her.


    Sometimes her mom let Honey come on her own, sometimes not. If she came on her own, they would usually be able to work on the kites together. They would climb over the huge inflatables, she would smile when he had to help her. She would snigger at him, being too protective of one of the younger kids. Or of her.


    If her mom brought her, it was a lot less likely. What her mom had against Joel, he never knew.


    The short, round bot shook as it trundled, rattling out to the lot. A cyclinder a little more than four foot high, the bot showed signs of wear. It had a faint air of burned oil and it wobbled slightly.


    For the hoisting, the bot controlled the drones flying each corner of the kite, keeping it level and facing into the wind. The big inflatable was slowly hoisted and nursed down until the gray underside hung just a few feet above the ground. Parked beside the winches, the bot guided the the wing down as Malik and Taylor wound the cables.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The village had only a few bots. This one was teachbot in Joel¡¯s class, as well as repurposing for other civic duties. Out of school time, it was a police bot for USSecur.


    Thinking of that reminded Joel of the drones entering the village. Malik was right. They were here for something, probably someone.


    As the stronger men from the village worked to keep the cables neat around the number one winch, Malik and Taylor heaved on the cranked handles. Two men on each of the four steel cables held onto the thick sleeves to guide the cable onto the winch drum.


    Adults helped guide the two thick, hot power lines and coiled them around wide capstans. Propellers were set along powerlines at three foot intervals. Teenagers unclipped the propellers as they came down and they handed them off to children to clean.


    When it was low enough, three of the stronger men pulled out the hooks under the kite and hooked them onto the rails on the ground to tether the fat delta to the ground. The kite was under-inflated, so the hooks weren¡¯t tight, but it wasn¡¯t likely to break free. Hovering, sagging over the long grass, the collectors reminded Joel of a very old picture of a whale, stranded as it wallowed over a reef.


    Joel went to the box at the winch housing. Kids, most of them around his age lined up and he shuffled along with the flow. He was distracted. Looking over his shoulder into the valley. Looking for Honey. Kids he knew from school and a few he recognized from the other Edges exchanged nods or waves of the hands with him.


    In turn, each of them grabbed a belt. The belts carried tools, and had a rope attached with a strong metal clip on the end of the rope. Joel checked the clip on his rope to make sure it was securely attached. The clip was there to hold him to the kite. In case he slipped.


    With the kite down to six feet off the ground, Malik and Taylor climbed metal steps and hung chain ladders off the sides of the kite. Joel followed Ty Bannon up one of the ladders. Two other kids from school went up each of the other ladders. The kite swayed. It was soft under their weight.


    The first climb up onto the back of the kite was something Joel always looked forward to. He looked back and out across the valley, to the ridge on the far side. Past that the view stretched through the haze, over the tilted solar array and the windharvesters outside the valley. He could see all the way to the murky clouds around the silhouette of the dead city. He preferred not to think of it by name.


    Grab handles ran over the kite¡¯s top surface. They were made to hold onto as they scrambled up the stepways between the solar panels. In the ridge along the center were the secure rings to clip their ropes. Everybody put on their belts and attached themselves.


    From the center downward, each panel had to be checked for wear or cracks. Then they cleaned each panel. Then they clipped the hand-held meters from their belts to the power terminals, they checked the power output. They¡¯d remove any defective panels and clip them to the belt. If they had panels to replace, Malik would hand them up serviced or new panels to swap.


    The sun was hot and the work was hard and steady, but Joel enjoyed it. He was the fastest in the village, scrambling over the humps of the kites, spotting and removing defective panels, cleaning the rest. He covered more surface than anyone else, so he always wound up with the most panels to refit.


    Honey and her mom didn¡¯t show up until the number six kite was nearly all the way down. They¡¯d brought her little sister, Hannah. A bright eyed, pretty, and mucky faced kid, Joel thought she was too young to be at the hoisting. Honey¡¯s mom seemed relaxed about it, standing close to Taylor and chatting.


    When Honey clambered up onto the back of the kite, she hung on to a grab with one hand and she waved with the other. Her eyes flashed before her smile. Like a trailer for the feature. Joel¡¯s smile lit as he waved back.


    Then he saw Kier Mald¡¯s sly grin following close behind her. Watching her work alongside Kier Mald made Joel¡¯s morning less pleasant.


    All the time they worked, Ty stayed close to Joel and asked him questions. He asked about the hacks and patches Joel made on sim jackets and gloves. And about the code. Joel didn¡¯t want to tell him too much.


    Ty was not a bad kid, but he wan¡¯t super bright. He could easily say the wrong thing without meaning to.


    Joel didn¡¯t really want to talk about it at all. Everything he did was unCert. He could get into some serious trouble.


    Ty asked him, ¡°What about if a virtu was so real, if you died in a sim, you died for real?¡± Joel carried on cleaning the sunlight panel. ¡°Could one of your mods do that?¡± Ty pressed on.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you could say that anything that I do is real modding. Matter of fact,¡± Joel said, not looking at him, ¡°I think I¡¯m done with tinkering for now.


    Ty was sullen. ¡°You¡¯re a hacker, Joel. I know it. Everybody says you¡¯re one of the best.¡±


    When Joel wouldn¡¯t talk about his mods, Ty switched to chatting about the drones.


    ¡°You saw them coming in, right?¡± his voice lowered and his face lit up. ¡°They¡¯re coming for someone, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Ty. Probably.¡±


    ¡°What if it was me?¡± Ty¡¯s voice lit up and his face beamed. ¡°What if it¡¯s something for USSecur. What if they need someone to do experiments on? Or maybe even something for the Gabriel? Something like that?¡± there was a faraway look in his eye. ¡°What if it was me?¡±


    Joel smiled, ¡°Then you¡¯d probably never be seen or heard of again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But I¡¯d be famous.¡±


    Joel chuckled, ¡°For an afternoon, probably.¡±


    ¡°No. For a long time. People would say, ¡®Where did Ty go? What happened to Ty?¡¯ For months. Maybe forever.¡±


    ¡°While USSecur cut out all your bits and weighed them for their experiments?¡±


    Ty¡¯s voice faded and his eyes got a faraway look. ¡°Yeah. Or they¡¯d hand me over to the Gabriel.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. In pieces.¡± Joel shook his head. He couldn¡¯t help smiling.


    ¡°It could be an incarnation. The Gabriel could be looking for a new incarnation.¡± Ty¡¯s voice grew faint and he gazed into the distance.


    ¡°Ty, you need to clean that panel again.¡± He snatched the collector panel from Ty. As he cleaned it he felt bad. He didn¡¯t have to be mean to Ty like that.


    Handing the tile back, he said absently, ¡°You have to be more careful.¡±


    Joelhad a bad feeling about the drones.

 4: Rescue

    THERE WERE THREE KITE barrages in all. The village was saving some of the revenue from exporting the juice to set up another barrage near the entrance of the valley. The hills there were the lowest, so that was the last good site that remained. After that, they would need to have some more territory.


    The morning sun made the valley look magical, even to Joel¡¯s eyes. He heard Honey¡¯s sparkling laugh and he looked up at the sound. He knew her voice instantly. Probably from any distance. Kier was working close to her. She and Kier exchanged a look. Joel felt sick.


    He had twenty-eight panels left to replace. Beside him, Ty was jiggling a panel to refit it. He lost his grip and it skittered away over the edge of the kite. Joel called to Malik to let him know about the loose panel. Then he took some time to show Ty again how to fix them safely and securely. Thinking he ought to have got it by now.


    Ty was still clumsy and after another attempt, Joel just said, ¡°Give them to me, Ty.¡±


    He was annoyed with himself again for being impatient with the kid.


    Lost and broken panels would cut into the village¡¯s income, though. The village was having a hard enough time getting by with only their three barrages of kites. There was enough juice for the village, but they needed more for revenue.


    Every time Joel looked over to Honey, Kier seemed to be closer. Their heads bent nearer together. And he didn¡¯t see her looking up for him.


    Soon everyone was climbing down from the number one kite. Hannah ran around the lot with her arms out, singing and shouting. Honey¡¯s mom was still talking to Taylor. Joel had four more tiles to replace. The kite was very soft now. It had been under-inflated when they first brought it down. After having everyone climb over it, it sagged.


    The whole wide wing tipped to one side. Voices were raised below, but Joel couldn¡¯t see what had happened. Malik called and he saw the call on his headset. His juice was almost completely out, though. The kite tipped and lurched. Joel hear Malik say, ¡®Hannah¡¯ in his headset and the signal cut.


    At the same time, Honey¡¯s mom shouted Hannah¡¯s name, and the inflatable kite was ascending. He saw the fabric tugging by the nearest ladder. People below were shouting. Some screamed. Honey¡¯s mom¡¯s voice was in there. Joel was already down to the edge of the kite, almost as far as his rope would go.


    The wing lurched and dipped. Joel thought he knew what had happened, but he couldn¡¯t believe it. As he gained altitude, it was starting to be a long way to the ground. Joel peered over. As the shadow of the kite shrank on the ground, Hannah¡¯s face was red and screwed up.


    She swung, clinging to the bottom rung of the ladder. She would never have the strength to pull herself up. He would have to climb down the ladder to get her. He unhooked his belt from the rope.


    He hoped Malik and the others were getting the bot to help them steer the kite back down, but now, immediately, he had to get a hold of Hannah. He just hoped that his weight and hers together wouldn¡¯t tip the limp kite too far over.


    If it did, the kite would plunge straight down the side of the valley. With himself and Hannah. There was no other way but to go after her as fast as he could and hope. As he climbed down, he saw that Hannah was distracted by the screams and shouts from below.


    The shouts distracted her and she was panicked already. He wished he could make them all stop. All he could to was to shout to Hannah as he climbed.


    ¡°Look up, Hannah. Keep your eyes on me.¡± Loud, firm and as friendly as he could make it, he called down, ¡°Just hold on tight. Don¡¯t worry about the silly people on the ground,¡± He kept smiling into her eyes and kept up the babble as he climbed. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a nice ride and it¡¯s going to be fun.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He opened his eyes wide as he nodded. Hannah grinned as she nodded back. ¡°Just hang on, I¡¯m coming down to you now,¡± The inflatable was rising more slowly. He was glad that Hannah kept her eyes on him. The ground below swung sickeningly and the drop was dizzying.


    The balloon jerked and Joel almost panicked. But it stopped rising as he clung on. Firmly and as fast as he dared, he went hand over hand to the next to the last rung of the ladder. His shoulders felt like they were going to rip apart.


    ¡°Hannah, Are you okay holding on? Just for another minute?¡± She smiled, but her eyes were becoming nervous as she nodded. Her little fingers must be hurting like hell, he thought. He smiled back, like this was the best fun they could ever have. ¡°Keep a tight grip, okay?¡±


    The ladder swayed. He held a rung tight with one hand as he swung down and grabbed Hanna¡¯s waist. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve got you.¡± He smiled. ¡°You put your arms around me and hold tight onto my belt.¡±


    Her little hands grabbed his waist. She held him so hard, he thought her fingers would go through his flesh. When he was certain her grip was steady, he said, ¡°That¡¯s good. Hold me tight. I¡¯m going to let go of you now.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± her fingers dug into his waist.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Hannah. You hold on to me now.¡± He pulled her and himself up the first few rungs with just his hands, keeping Hannah between himself and the ladder. Finally he was able to get a footing.


    He climbed. The kite sagged toward him. At the same time it began to descend. But slowly. Joel hoped he could get to the top of the ladder. Then he would be able to grab his rope and fix them safely with it. He went slowly, hand over hand up the swaying ladder. When he got all the way to to the top, of course, his rope was blowing in the wind like a ribbon on a tent at the village¡¯s summer picnic.


    Far below, Honey¡¯s mom yelled Hannah¡¯s name. The tension and panic in her voice set sawed at Joel¡¯s nerves.


    Hannah squealed and wriggled and stretched her arms out and cried at the sound. Joel kept his voice as sweet as he could. ¡°Keep your eyes on me, Hannah. We can do this together.¡±


    Joel kept Hannah gripped tight to him. Malik and the others finally got to the kite under control and winched it down to the ground. When the kite was tethered and he clambered down, Honey¡¯s mom seized the girl and pulled her from him. Hannah¡¯s finger were still dug into his flesh.


    ¡°What the fuck were you doing with my daughter?¡± she shouted in his face.


    Joel just astred after her, feeling his chest deflate. As she bustled away, scowling and shouting at Hannah while she enfolded her to her chest, Malik patted his shoulder. Quietly, with a wry smile he said, ¡°Man lesson of the day, son. No good deed ever goes unpunished.¡±


    ~~


    Malik and Taylor went back to winching and directing the teams. Those two kites were on their way back up for another four weeks. A USCom truck would be up the next day to milk the cells..


    Joel sat away from the others to look over his board. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything worse than some scratches. He hated to see more scuff on the finish. But he wouldn¡¯t know how it was for sure until he got it charged up.


    Sat by the entrance to the lot, he looked out across the valley. He couldn¡¯t see any sign of the USSecur operation. Maybe they¡¯d already got what they came for. Found it and gone. Some chance, he thought. If they had, somebody would have seen them leave and they would have said so.


    It may have just been coincidence that they arrived exactly at the time that almost the whole population of the village was making its way up the hill to the barrage.


    A cool hand rested softly on his shoulder. ¡°Sorry I was late.¡± Honey¡¯s voice was soft and bright.


    He turned his face up. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said. The haze of the sun was too bright and he couldn¡¯t see her face.


    Her mom didn¡®t look at him or her as she whirled by. She grabbed Honeys wrist and yanked her away. Still looking back to him, Honey made letters in the air with her finger. ¡®H A.¡¯ She meant the place on the infranet where she liked to hang.


    She called it H A or Hopes¡¯ He never knew what the ¡®A¡¯ was supposed to be for. For Joel¡¯s taste it always seemed too fringe and too counter-culture. All the odd protocols to get there, every time he visited it the location had slightly altered.


    All the rituals. It wasn¡¯t enough for them to use passphrases. They had a whole creed and they¡¯d make you recite parts of it, like a call and response, before you could even get in.


    He thought that was all too much. They took all of the anonymity a step too far, too. It seemed like the kind of place where conspiracy theories were born and mad rumors got started.


    Honey¡¯s mom threw a glower over her shoulder back at Joel. Then she turned and smiled to Kier. As she dragged Honey with one hand and Hannah with the other, she tipped her head to Kier to encourage him to follow. Kier grinned and looked at Joel as he ran to join Honey, Hannah and her mom.


    Hannah screwed herself around to give him a big smile and a wave.


    With an echoing emptinessin his stomach,hewondered if he was losing Honey to Kier.

 5: Resist

    FURTHEST FROM THE ENTRY to the valley, the South End was the village¡¯s dark side. Dimly lit bars, clusters of stacked trucks, trailers, and containers, inhabited vehicles, industrial sheds and shacks, this was where people would go, often in secret, looking for all the things they weren¡¯t supposed to have.


    Off grid comms, cheap booze, lax and unlicensed entertainment, unCert pharmaceuticals, even some code, and kit were all on sale for whoever knew who or how to ask. Anyone looking for shady pleasures found their way to the South End. The most affordable accommodation tended to be found mainly in the South End.


    Joel lived in a trailer on top of a container with the woman he called his mom. Theirs was one of the few homes with internal ladders. That was their ¡®step up.¡¯ Mom had the container. She always said she wanted Joel to have the upstairs space because it had air and light.


    ¡°But you¡¯re always behind a visor in a virtu. You have the blinds shut most of the time anyway.¡± Which was kind of true.


    It was nice of Mom to let Joel have the space in the trailer and he was grateful to her. Mainly for the elevation. It was practically the highest up space in their Edge. Being so near to the hillside, he got the one of the strongest comm signals in the whole valley floor.


    ~~


    Joel still had the glove he¡¯d uprated for Dale Cartwright with the Neuromesh, and the pyrotechnic spinners. He¡¯d forgotten about giving them to him. The day got so messed up, he didn¡¯t even notice whether Dale was at the hoist or not.


    Before he made his virtual way to H A, Honey¡¯s virtual kingdom of the terminally weird, Joel calibrated his jacket and headband for the Ghost Ops scenario of Vulcan¡¯s Finale. He had a saved level with an armored sandbuggy and a screaming village of Wahaab fighters. He wanted to try the run with shudder, shake and temperature control.


    The frame had particles of a shatter grenade frozen and the sandbuggy hung with its fat tires in mid-air. Joel had the jacket coded for rumble and shock responses. He¡¯d co-ordinated the temperature controls to make a synthesis of heat when the player passed by fire as well as cold and vibration for a rush of wind outside the vehicle.


    It all looked good. Now he¡¯d see if Honey was at her geeky hangout. If he could even find it.


    ~~


    Political slogans greeted him.


    Resist


    Don¡¯t believe the hike


    The Reset was a heist


    He reached the entrance sign. Hopes.¡¯ There was a space underneath the word, like there was more to come or it wasn¡¯t finished. A clown¡¯s face appeared and asked him,


    ¡°And who might you be, lost and alone, out of your way here?¡± Joel took a slow breath as he gave it his throwaway username and address. Then a password. Then the clown said, ¡°Things can change.¡±


    The ritual annoyed him but he gritted his teeth to say, ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be this way.¡±


    ~~


    ¡°Aww.¡± Honey was waiting, just inside and ready for him. Her avatar was a nineteen-eighties pop star in a ninja costume, but with a blue belt and yellow edges on the jacket. ¡°You gave the proper creed response. Well done.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Be the change,¡± he parroted another part of the creed. He wore his usual avatar, the vintage red and black costume of a snarky superhero.


    ¡°Be the change,¡± she grinned as she said it back. Or at least her avatar did. ¡°Joel, you¡¯d be for it. You¡¯d be a part of it if you only gave it a chance.¡±


    When he didn¡¯t say anything she said, ¡°I was sorry we were late and it meant we couldn¡¯t work together this morning.¡±


    ¡°Your mom has ESP about where I¡¯m going to be. What is it about her? She¡¯s happy enough for Kier to be hanging around you.¡±


    ¡°I think she understands Kier. She says that you¡¯re more of an unknown quantity.¡±


    ¡°Really? Is that it?¡± He had never asked her about it before but it was starting to get to him. ¡°She acted like I was to blame for Hannah dangling on that ladder.¡±


    ¡°She went up there because she wanted to see you.¡±


    ¡°Hannah did? You¡¯re kidding me.¡±


    ¡°She idolizes you. You know that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± He blinked. ¡°Does she?¡±


    ¡°Joel.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay. I believe you.¡± He said it, but he still had no idea if it was true. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t explain why your mom acts like I¡¯m the Gabriel¡¯s evil gimp.¡±


    ¡°His what?¡± her chuckle was music to his ear.


    ¡°You know, like Doctor Frankenstein¡¯s dwarf, Igor or something. Some evil thing that goes around evilling everywhere.¡±


    Her voice lowered. Teasing again. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t believe in The Gabriel.¡±


    ¡°I thought nobody really believed in him. Do they?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± she said airily.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°No, I really mean ¡®I don¡¯t know.¡¯ I have no idea about any of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay. Well, I think your mom feels like she should have kept a closer eye on Hannah. That¡¯s why she wants to put the blame onto me. I still can¡¯t believe that she wants to blame the guy who risked his life for her, though.¡±


    ¡°I saw what you did, Joel.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± he tried to walk it back, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that big of a thing.¡± He shrugged, ¡°I was just surprised to get a slap in the face for it. That was all. Really.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She smiled. ¡°Have you seen the drones?¡±


    ¡°Not since this morning.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been all over the East Edge.¡±


    That was where Kier lived. A lot of other people lived there, too. Probably half the people in their year at school were from the East Edge. Joel carefully avoided wondering how Honey was so up on the East Edge


    ~~


    Cool morning air fanned Joel¡¯s face and his chest on the road to school. Honey¡¯s voice was high in his headset mix as he leaned to sweep the air board around the tight downhill bend in the road. Shadows of the kite collectors high above striped the side of the hill.


    The board glided smooth and fast as he swayed through the turns. In his pack was Drake Cartwright¡¯s high end glove and his throwing spinners. Joel lined the glove with nuromesh for him. That was juice, too, even though Drake had tried to chisel him on the price.


    With all the juice that Drake had, trying to penny pinch for high-end kit, Joel didn¡¯t see how the kid could hold his head up. Probably just because there¡¯s nothing to weigh it down, he thought, leaning in the turn toward the highway, where the road flattened out. Joel should definitely not have the explosive spinners.


    Now he was going to have to walk into school with them. His backpack had anti-surveillance lining but so far, nobody knew that. Which was kind of the point of stealth tech. When he gave the spinners to Dale, he¡¯d know that Joel got them into school undetected.


    With a sigh, he realized, his only option was to keep hold of them and not give them to him at all at school. Hold them until that evening and arrange to meet. And spend all day with weapons in his pack that would be super illegal, even if they weren¡¯t unCert tech.


    It felt to Joel like the board was making about sixty six miles per hour. There was no way to know for sure without instruments on. If he put on the dials, gauges and navigation, he wouldn¡¯t have enough juice to get him all the way to school. He¡¯d have to skate the last few hundred yards with wheel trucks down.


    For Joel it was a point of pride to sweep into the schoolyard and still be on air when he flipped up the scuffed and battered board. He would know the average speed from the timer on his tablet, but he didn¡¯t have a tracker set for speed sampling.


    As he stopped in the schoolyard, he said, ¡°Honey have you left yet? You¡¯re going to be late, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Mom says I have to wait.¡±


    ¡°Wait? What for?¡±


    ¡°Joel,¡± her voice dropped. ¡°The drones. They¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t think of a way to say it. They couldn¡¯t be here for her. Surely not. That was impossible.


    ¡°Joel, I don¡¯t know. First mom says I have to wait. Now this.¡±


    ¡°I have to go in to school.¡± He heard the crack in his voice. He wished he¡¯d spoken to her just a minute earlier. He would have detoured and gone straight to her place. Now he was already in the yard. He¡¯d been seen.


    She sounded calm, ¡°I know. It will all be fine. I¡¯m sure it will, Joel. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°No. Sure. I¡¯ll connect at first break.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, okay?¡±

 6: Teachbot

    IN CLASS, TEACHBOT PASSED along the lines of desks taking handprints. The four-foot high can stopped by Honey¡¯s empty chair. Its arm and its eye were still and Joel knew it would be querying the records. He also knew it would be pointless to ask it anything about whatever information it did or didn¡¯t get.


    He wanted to slip a oneline to Honey, but teachbot would detect it. Then his tablet and all of his tech would get impounded for a week for connecting in class time. When the little can slid by his desk he tried saying that he wasn¡¯t feeling too well and he should go home. He instantly wished he hadn¡¯t.


    Kier Mald and Ty Bannon shouted from the back,


    ¡°Aw, Joely got a upset tummy?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he needs early salvage, Miss.¡±


    While it was teachbot, they were required to call teachbot ¡®Miss.¡¯ With only half a dozen independent bots in the whole village, out of school hours this one doubled as a cop. Nobody called it ¡®Miss¡¯ then. It was the bot that had helped out with the kite hoisting, too. At times like those it was supposed to be ¡®supporting the community,¡¯ so you could could call it whatever you liked.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Teachbot¡¯s eye poked out on its long flexcord. An arm cantilevered out and a needle jabbed his thumb for a sample. The eye looked in each of Joel¡¯s. ¡®Miss¡¯ told him, ¡°Open your mouth, Joel.¡± And the eye went into his mouth. He had to keep his mouth wide open while the eye starred down his throat.


    ¡°I detect nothing needing treatment. Do you wish to sign risk exemption?¡±


    Signing the insurance waver would mean taking a full medical examination, at his own expense. If test results showed he was ill, he would get treatment and half the cost of the exam would be covered. If not he would have to compensate the school for the juice of administrative and legal costs, and pay a fine. Unhappily, Joel declined.


    Getting through the rest of the day was going to be hard.


    At the first break he ran out to the yard, eager to call Honey. His tablet had a oneline from an ID he didn¡¯t know. He assumed it would be spam. A huge inheritance from a juiced-up stranger, or a revolutionary way to enlarge is penis. He was going to delete it but just in time he spotted the label.


    It said, ¡®Honey. URGENT.¡¯

 7: USSecur

    THREE ONELINES.


    JOEL. I¡¯M getting my aunt to send this. She¡¯s cool. You¡¯d like her.


    Can¡¯t communicate. Not with you, not with anyone. Don¡¯t call. Don¡¯t oneline. Don¡¯t message.


    Then,


    Joel, the drones asked me about you.


    All of the stories people told about drones involved people either dying or disappearing. Drones came to this or that village or fringe settlement. They took people away. The people were never seen or heard of again.


    It was always a story somebody got from somebody else. Somebody¡¯s cousin or a friend of a friend knew somebody. As far as he could remember, Joel never heard anyone say it happened to anyone in their family or even to anyone they actually knew.


    Mostly what people said about USSecur drones were just scary stories, like things in the woods and outside the fringes, or survivor city horrors. Tales people told late at night to scare themselves and each other. Like stories of the Gabriel.


    But, damn. Honey. Whatever happened in class all day, Joel was there in body only. He did what he was told and what he had to do, but it was all on auto-pilot.


    Middle break was only forty five minutes. Not enough time for him to board up to Honey¡¯s home and back. Over the lunch table, Ty Bannon said, ¡°You know who they¡¯re here for?¡±


    Kier shrugged, ¡°Does anybody have any idea?¡±


    Ty¡¯s eyes gleamed, ¡°It¡¯s bound to be for someone. They¡¯re going to take someone.¡°


    Someone shouted, ¡°Alive or salvage.¡±


    Another voice called out, ¡°Blood for the Gabriel.¡±


    Joel shook his head and muttered, ¡°G T F O¡±


    Ty put on a mock shocked face, ¡°Really. He¡¯s an actual vampire.¡±


    Joel sniffed. ¡°He¡¯s an actual fictional character. He¡¯s a myth.¡±


    Kier waved his finger, ¡°No, Ty¡¯s right, I heard about it from someone who knows. He recruited athletes in high-altitude locations. They have to run for an hour and then give blood.¡±


    Joel was impatient. His head shook, pityingly, ¡°Oh, you really are fucking mad. You really believe that?¡±


    Ty nodded, ¡°No, I read about it, too. The blood gets super-oxygenated or something.¡±


    Someone behind Ty sniggered, ¡°Look at Joely. He all pale!¡± and all his little clique started.


    ¡°Drones come for Joely¡¯s sweetheart?¡± Kier Mald called out. Joel couldn¡¯t have cared less what they said, although the unexpected thought flashed into his mind that starting a fight could have been a useful distraction. It would wind up with him taking a beating but it could still be worth it.


    ¡°Aww,¡± Ty Bannon said, ¡°Honey gone to salvage.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t nice, Ty.¡± Joel told him evenly.


    Kier said, ¡°We¡¯re only kidding around with you.¡± And they all snorted.


    Joel held his eye as he stood to take back his lunch tray. ¡°Yeah. Funny.¡±


    ~~


    Joel got through the afternoon biting his tongue, sitting on his hands, and being convinced that all of the clocks were running slow or had stopped. Whatever teachbot told them about the time of the Reset or the marvels of the juice economy all drifted by him like a cool breeze. He was called on for participation a few times and he said things. He had no idea afterward what they were. Probably not even at the time.


    The moment the buzzer started he was on his feet with his pack over his shoulder and his board under his arm, headed for the door. As he headed out for Honey¡¯s home he contacted his mom.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    He would have onelined, but that would have slowed him down so he called, ¡°Hey, Mom. I¡¯m just going to head over to Honey¡¯s real quick.¡±


    ¡°No, Joel. I need you home right away.¡±


    ¡°Mom, I¡­¡±


    ¡°You hear me?¡±


    ¡°It will only take me a few minutes, I promise. Then I¡¯ll come straight back.¡±


    ¡°Joel, I need you here.¡±


    ¡°Please, Mom.¡± He had to stop and wait for her answer. Joel had never once flat-out defied his mom. Not yet. He hoped that this wouldn¡¯t be the first time.


    ¡°You come straight back here afterwards, Joel. You understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mom.¡± He pushed the board off as fast as it would go. He knew he was going to have to truck some of the way. The uphill parts, he would be faster wheels down.


    The last stretch was a wide, fast curve on a downward incline. Honey¡¯s home was an old bus on top of a pile of sheds and cabins. Joel¡¯s heart raced as he rode nearer and saw Honey out on the deck. Her eyes widened as she moved to stand, looking nonchalantly up and away. She rose and lifted her hands flat, wiping them apart like smoothing a table cover. At the same time her head shook, slowly.


    He slowed, puzzled. He dropped down his visor to zoom to her face. Her cheeks were red and wet. Something bad was happening. She raised her hands, with her palms toward him. Her eyes screwed shut and when she blinked them open, tears ran. How could he leave her like this?


    She moved and he lost her from the screen. When he zoomed out for a wider view, Joel saw that she was not alone. A short black bot trundled on the deck after her. It looked like she was being questioned. Joel tried to think of options. Some scenario somehow where he got to rescue the girl and run away with her. The two of them, riding, heroic, into the sunset on his air board.


    Maybe if he could draw them away. Do something, anything to get them after him. She could maybe run. Whatever, he could give her a chance. In the shadows he made out the shape of an armored USSecur transport, parked by the metal steps leading up to her home. Four drones buzzed up, out of the transport.


    A small drone, black like a shiny beetle, buzzed toward him. Honey¡¯s eyes widened. This didn¡¯t look much like a chance, but it was all that he¡¯d got. He pulled out a spinner bomb. It was only a little firecracker, nothing lethal. Maybe he could get it to do some damage, though.


    giving it all the spin he could, he flung the little bladed firework. it spun in in an arc, over the top of Honey¡¯s deck. It stuck in the side of the bot. The bot spun and wheeled toward the side of the deck. Honey ducked inside.


    From where he was he could hardly hear the crack of the explosion. It was enough to open the side of the bot, though. Sparks jumped through the smoke that mushroomed out. The wrecked bot leaned over and was still.


    Turning back Joel set the wheel trucks down for the uphill run. He made a fast start back up he slope. Immediately he heard the buzz. He didn¡¯t make it to the turn before the four drones caught up with him and surrounded him.


    One of the drones hovered in front of his face. After a moment it descended to his hand and shot out a needle. DNA sampling. It rose back up, level with his face.


    The smooth mechanical voice said, ¡°Joel Tristan. You are required to accompany USSecure mission X-C-22-505-1101-1010-1000-1101. Please extend your arms and prepare yourself for voluntary detention.¡± He heard the engine of the transporter starting up behind him.


    He batted the two drones in front, getting his hand nicked by the spinning blades. He ducked and scooted the board as hard as he could. The top of the slope wasn¡¯t far. If he could make it there, he could be over the ridge, trucks up and boarding downhill fast over rough country.


    Pushing hard, he raced for the ledge. He¡¯d thought about maneuvers like this a thousand times. Practiced in virtu.


    Going over the ledge, the drop beneath him looked impossibly far. The trucks came up. Wind buffeted him as he hurtled straight down toward steep piles of broken, jagged rock. He wound the Airglide up to maximum force, as far as it would go.


    At the first pile of rocks the board slammed and twisted hard. He thought it would crack in two. But it cushioned him down. Swinging his hips, he slewed and slalomed, bumping and hurtling. The drones couldn¡¯t keep track, but they were never far away. Only three of them, though, he noticed with satisfaction.


    About halfway down the slope was a bare pine woods. If he¡¯d had a readout now, he would have seen that he entered the woods at eighty-four point six mph. One of the drones smacked into a trunk and burst into a shower of splinters.


    Dodging trunks and boulders, he took the steepest possible path. A drone shot in front of him and locked itself about ten feet ahead, using his head and shoulders as a follow target. He steered right toward a thick, graying tree trunk. When he ducked and lurched at the last moment to avoid it, the drone mirrored his movement. He swerved again but stayed low. The drone smashed into a rock and Joel had to shield his face from the flying debris.


    The bottom of the woods led to a fast-flowing stream. Joel stopped the board a foot above the middle of the stream.


    The last drone caught him up. He was ready. Joel snatched it by its body. He dragged it under the water on its back.


    The blades were still moving. It seemed undamaged. He stood on the drone as he hefted a rock and put it on the belly of the drone. It could spin its rotors and make bubbles but it wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    Joel crouched and boarded quietly over the stream until he came near the road back into town. If the only reason USSecur came after him was because he was at Honey¡¯s place, that may be the end of it. But that would mean that their target was probably Honey. It felt bad to leave her. He boarded onto the road and took it straight back toward the village.


    At the next junction the USSecur armored carrier was waiting. The bot that lowered out of the back was teachbot. He recognized the smear of uncertain foodstuff that had been on the side from more than a week. When it addressed him, it didn¡¯t use a firm but friendly tone. It was plain, mechanical and direct. And he didn¡¯t call it ¡®Miss.¡¯

 8: Catapod

    THE BOT HAD ONLY one synthed voice. The one he knew as teachbot. But it had a number of ways to inflect and to add expression. It didn¡¯t use any of them as it instructed him now.


    ¡°Joel Tristan. You are required to accompany USSecure mission X-C-22-505-1101-1010-1000-1101. Please extend your arms and prepare yourself for voluntary detention.¡±


    Joel didn¡¯t move. The bots arm extended and grabbed his arm with the claw. An electric shock made everything turn white and it felled him. He was conscious but helpless as the bot spread the end of its arm out and hooked him under his shoulders. It dragged him into the transport. He was dropped into one of the chests in the back and the lid slid over to secure him in darkness inside.


    The vehicle bumped along, he had no idea of the direction. It seemed like hours, but he guessed he was driven for about an hour and a half. Maybe two. Much of it seemed to be uphill. When it came to a halt, the chest he was lying in tilted and the cover opened.


    He was on a concrete apron high on the flattened top of a mountain. The air was thin and a cold wind blustered, making his clothes flap and snap hard against his skin. The transport had pulled up by one end of a long gantry. The single arm tilted to the ground and on the end next to him was an open pod.


    Still unable to move or speak, the arms in the container hooked him under the shoulders and out of the transport. They transferred him into the firm, molded couch inside the pod. Joel had heard stories about catapods.


    Virtus and vids were all over the supernet. Shots of people¡¯s pale and wide-eyed faces as they were sealed in. And then how wrecked they looked when they came out. Joel always believed they were faked. It was one of those things that defied belief.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He shivered hard in the cold as he looked around the wide rusty sweep of the brown and jagged landscape through the thick mist


    Straps strung out and bound him into the pod. He looked along the length of the long, swinging catapult arm. The top half of the pod swung shut. He was snapped into total darkness as it sealed. Then he felt the pod lifted, it swung and was fastened onto something.


    The pod swung back. It leaned, farther and farther. He was head down, feet up. Blood pumped into his head. It felt like a long time that he was hung upside down like that. A grinding vibration ran along the gantry and made the pod shake.


    A cocoon inflated rapidly around him. It snapped, fast and firm. Then the pod pulled back further. It held for a moment. Blood drained into his head as he swung, head down toward the ground.


    Then the was slung forward. The force was like an explosion at his back. The skin of his face was dragged toward he ears. He tumbled end over end. G-force lashed him front to back, head to foot. He felt like he was going through a blender. It seemed impossible to feel sick in so many directions at the same time. He spun and tumbled, telling himself it would all be fine, there was nothing to worry about and it would be over soon.


    The kick from a rocket blast on the back of the pod shot him through one wall of G-force after another. The pod leaped and arced upward into mid air. Breathing was tough. Staying conscious seemed impossible but at the same time, while he felt like he was about to pass out at any second, he never did. Maybe he¡¯d been given a drug.


    There was a point where the extreme nausea peaked. How he didn¡¯t lose his lunch inside the tightly snapped inflatable pressure blanket he had no idea. He was pretty well certain that if he did he¡¯d have choked and suffocated.


    After the pod accelerated in a second downward tumble, Joel fell out of consciousness.

 9: Gamesroom

    HE AWOKE IN A room that was hazy white in muffled silence. He was strapped by is upper arms in a white hospital bed. The room was bathed in dazzling, diffuse light. Six spindly robotic arms rose from the sides of the bed, all craning to poke, probe, and puncture him.


    His arms, stomach and neck were pierced with fine needles. Blood and fluids were extracted. He was injected. For what seemed like a long time he was left, fastened in the bed before another batch of invasive probes. Sharp electrode needles jabbed his skull. Pins pricked the soft arches in the bottoms of his feet. Tiny hammers made sharp taps on his knees and elbows.


    When the arms and probes finally withdrew, a screen in front of the bed lit up and told him, ¡°This way¡± with an arrow that pointed out to a door on his left. The restraints on his arms opened and released him. .


    Baffled, hesitating, Joel looked around him before he pulled himself up. When he lifted himself onto his elbows, he expected to be disoriented. Groggy. Instead he felt fit and alert. Refreshed. He swung his legs out of the covers. He was naked. Hanging on a stand by the side of the bed was a gray jumpsuit. Beneath were it a pair of soft gray slip on shoes with elaborate white rubber soles.


    The sign over the door read, Admission and preparation.


    He couldn¡¯t see his pack or his board.


    As he dressed a rumble of male voices came from the Admission and Preparation room.


    ~~


    Through the double doors Joel came into a large, airy room with no windows but a frosted glass roof. In the middle of the room five males about his own age hunched around a white table. All of them wore jumpsuits like the one he¡¯d just climbed into. Their faces turned as he stepped in. At the far end of the room were wide double doors with a sign above. Games Arena.


    The back of a big guy was nearest to Joel. He barely turned his head and he spoke, still without completely looking round. ¡°The sleeper awakes.¡± His voice was like a rusty saw. Almost bald, he was heavy, muscled and had elaborate ink in swirls on his face and neck. The tatts looked expensive, like fashionable takes on tribal graphics. He said, ¡°We¡¯d given you up for dead.¡± And he turned back to the table.


    A short, stocky, guy with a deep voice said, ¡°That¡¯s just you hoping, Carter,¡± and he scraped his chair as he stood. His head was shaved but for two tight black braided rows. Neat, twin-tracked twists. His quick brown eyes shone and he smiled as he held a hand out to Joel. ¡°Angelo.¡± he said, ¡°Angelo Varofakis.


    Joel took his hand. The shake was firm and strong. Joel felt reassured. ¡°Joel Tristan.¡±


    Carter snarled as he rolled his colorful shoulders and shrugged, , ¡°Would have been one less loser to beat. Would have moved all of us one step nearer.¡± And he leered around the room. ¡°Nearer to the great moment when I win.¡±


    Angelo smiled. ¡°Carter¡¯s bark is worse than his bite.¡± Looking at Carter, Joel doubted it. ¡°We may all be competing, but we¡¯re all in this together.¡±


    The biggest of the group narrowed his eyes as he stood, noisily. ¡°That¡¯s all a bit complicated for me, Angelo.¡± He moved toward Joel. Athletic and bright-faced, his smile was easy and bright, although it didn¡¯t reach as far as his eyes.. ¡°I¡¯m not a fan of complication.¡± he approached with a hand extended, ¡°I¡¯m Molson. Molson Tarn. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be a good teammate.¡± His short mop of black hair bobbed as he looked Joel up and down. Joel was pretty sure what he meant was, ¡®You look easy to beat.¡¯ Molson¡¯s big hand nearly crushed Joel¡¯s as they shook.


    Sat at the far corner of the table, a redheaded guy drawled, ¡°Molson will take good care of you. Show you around.¡± A low chuckle went around the room, ¡°Tuck you in at night.¡±


    Molson blinked slowly, ¡°The friendly, frizzy hunk at the back there is Hacker Guernsey.¡± The redheaded guy¡¯s sleepy eyelids drooped as he nodded. ¡°This,¡± he swept a hand out to pat Carter¡¯s shoulder. Carter shrugged. ¡°The lovely fellow who¡¯s sorry you didn¡¯t die on the way here is Carter Dane. I¡¯m sure he doesn¡¯t mean it.¡± Carter¡¯s face barely registered.


    The last man, still sat at the side of the table was dark and broody. Or maybe just quiet. Perhaps Joel was over-reacting. Trying too hard for detail. He nodded as Molson introduced him, ¡°This is Ben Huggert.¡±


    Joel felt that he ought to try and establish his presence. If there was going to be competition, he wanted to know as much about the others as he could, so he wanted as much interaction as possible.


    Instinctively planting his feet apart and looking around the room he said, ¡°I¡¯m Joel Tristan. Whatever is is we¡¯re all here for, I¡¯m glad to know you.¡±


    Carter still didn¡¯t completely look around. He didn¡¯t completely open his moth to speak, either. ¡°You win a competition to get here?¡± Joel saw the low flash in Carter¡¯s eyes. He was baiting a trap. Still, he¡¯d already seen how eager Carter was to display dominance. He wasn¡¯t the biggest guy in the room. That was either Molson or Ben. And neither of them rose to Carter¡¯s bait.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Joel had been ripped out of his world, catapulted into an alien environment and landed with what looked like a pack of hostile beasts. Keeping cool was taking Joel some effort. But, Joel reasoned, we probably are all in the same situation.


    Brightly Joel threw back, ¡°Why, Carter, is this what you¡¯ve been dreaming of for all of your life?¡±


    ¡°No. But I wasn¡¯t just freighted in fresh from the wetlands. They find you in some kind of a swamp, boy?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve not been sheltered and pampered in an enclave like I guess you must have been.¡± Carter¡¯s voice was the least cultured of the group. Joel was showing that he would stand up for himself. in spite of the expensive ink, Joel figured Carter for a Survivor city kid. Probably one in the North, going by the voice.


    Joel¡¯s chest felt hollow as he said it, but his voice sounded strong. To him, at least. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m from the outlands.¡±


    Looking around he saw that as well as Angelo¡¯s sculpted hair, they were all groomed or adorned in a modern style. To Joel they looked like characters in virtus. Maybe that was the idea.


    Hacker had small jeweled studs over his eyebrows and down the sides of his nose. his jawline and his cheeks were outlined with studs under the skin. Molson¡¯s cheekbones were artificially sharp and his eyes were faintly luminous.


    Ben was the only one who didn¡¯t show enhancements.


    Joel raised his chin. ¡°Yup, Carter,¡± he smiled, ¡°You got me. I¡¯m from the outlands.¡± he left a pause. ¡°That¡¯s here we make the juice for your cozy little lives. We haul kites and grease windharvesters. Grids and celltrucks take the juice for you folks. And we¡¯re damn proud of it.¡±


    Carter grinned, turning round at last and into Joel¡¯s eyes. ¡±Is it true you all got webbed toes?¡±


    Joel grinned. ¡°Is it true that folks in Survivor cities still scare their kids with stories of The Gabriel?¡±


    Hacker called from the far end of the table, ¡°Hey, do a lot of the girls in the wetlands have tails?¡±


    Carter laughed, ¡°Like mermaids?¡±


    ¡°I heard More like alligators.¡± Hacker leered, ¡°Aint that right?¡± he looked at Joel. Challenging. ¡°A wetlands blowjob is when you get your dick bitten off.¡±


    Joel thought he should counter Hacker with something like, Why, that happen to you? But he didn¡¯t feel like he wanted to tangle with Hacker just yet.


    Joel wondered if all the others knew why they were here, but he realized that asking about it right now would put him into a corner. More so if they didn¡¯t know any more than him. A kid like Carter would jump straight to the defensive offense if you gave him a question and he didn¡¯t have a ready answer. Still maybe there was another way to get a clue or two.


    ¡°I¡¯ll forget all of your names, I expect. I¡¯m sure you sophisticated Survivor city kids won¡¯t have that kind of a problem.¡± he looked around. ¡°How did you all get here?¡± He looked at Ben first, because Ben had said the least so far.


    ¡°I was just on my way out of school. A bottruck was waiting at the gates. As I came out, the back of it opened, two droids took me inside. It drove me here. Took maybe three hours drive.¡± He took a breath and his eyebrows raised. Joel felt better, seeing this was hard for Ben, too. He was more convinced of his instinct that they were all in the same situation. Ben said, ¡°I wanted to tell them, ¡®You¡¯ve got the wrong guy¡¯ or ¡®There¡¯s been some mistake,¡¯ but they had my name and my TruID code.¡±


    At the far end of the room a sign lit up over the double doors. A synthetic voice announced. ¡®Interns, move to the games room.¡¯


    Interns. They all looked at each other. Was that what they were? Joel watched all of their faces, trying to guess whether any of them knew any more than he did about whatever was coming. He guessed they didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Damnit,¡± Carter said, rising slowly. ¡°Is this going to be all of us? We¡¯re all guys? I was hoping there would at least be some tushy tail, if only for purposes of relaxation.¡±


    ¡°This, my fated friend,¡± Molson announced, ¡°Is the Gabriel¡¯s lair. His evil villain¡¯s secret hideout. This is not a place for fun.¡±


    As he got up, Ben said seriously, ¡°The Gabriel is a myth.¡± Joel wondered if Ben might be a New Dawn follower. A biobit believer.


    ~~


    The games room was lined with blue tiles on all surfaces. Inside they found six sim-stim suits, one each with their names on. Joel¡¯s fit him perfectly.


    Hacker shouted, ¡°This is too small in the crotch,¡± and everybody laughed.


    Carter said, ¡°Maybe don¡¯t put the sock in?¡±


    Hacker called back, ¡°Not a sock, man. There wouldn¡¯t be enough room for one of your lacy hankies in here.¡±


    Angelo was nearest. Joel asked him, ¡°Have you been in games in here already?¡±


    ¡°This is the first.¡± He said, ¡°I guess Carter was right about that part. We¡¯ve all been waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°You wait long?¡±


    ¡°I was brought this morning. Hacker and Molson were here before me, yesterday night, I think.¡±


    As they examined their headsets, Angelo said, ¡°Then Ben came out about an hour before you did.¡±


    Joel looked over the hood of the headgear and he felt around the tiny prongs in the lining. It was like an inside out hedgehog with tiny, metal quills. The visor was huge and curved. It attached to a responsive headband. ¡°Carter got here after you?¡±


    ¡°Carter came a while before Ben.¡±


    Joel was about to ask if Angelo had any idea why they were there when the suits began to power up and sound started in the headsets.


    Joel heard instructions from a silky smooth female bot voice. ¡°Ensure that your helmet piece is snugly fitted for calibration.¡±


    Joe; slipped the hood over his head with a mix of excitement and apprehension. He¡¯d never used a sim-stim setup anywhere near as slick as this rig. Inside the hood though, the minute forest of neuro connectors could have a lot of uses beyond immersive VR and AR.


    The tiny spikes settled into his scalp, the hood tightened and flexed, forming and adjusting to the shape of his head.


    In the visor, the image of the room transformed. The six of them were now underwater in a circular, tournament pool. Eight feet up, on opposite sides of the pool, trophies stood in recesses. The nearer one glowed blue, and the other was red.


    ¡®A simple task,¡¯ the instructor bot told them, as all six players lifted off the tiled floor with bouyancy. ¡®Take a trophy from one side, put it in the space on the other side. Who puts the trophy in the space wins the round.

 10: Tank

    In his visor display, communicator options listed each of the other players. This all felt like something he knew. The others could all be pro gamers for all that he knew, but at least the sim gave him some sense of familiarity. Carter, Hacker, Huggert, Molson, his name, ¡®Tristan¡¯ was grayed, and Varofakis were listed. Underneath were audio and video controls and options for ¡®synth.¡¯ Under ¡®Synth,¡¯ he found ¡®disguise,¡¯ ¡®weapons,¡¯ and ¡®assets.¡¯


    If this worked the same way as the virtus he knew then the weapons, like the disguise, would be for costume. They might look scary and do flashy things, but they usually wouldn¡¯t deliver any real impact. ¡®Assets¡¯ was normally a way to synthesize clones of game elements.


    The instructions said, Ready? Go.


    On the far side, Carter¡¯s broad frame drifted upward and reached for the trophy behind him. Molson¡¯s dark mop bobbed as he swum at Carter and blocked him. The two wrestled. Red-headed Hacker went for Carter. Angelo powered around the back of the three of them.


    Angelo¡¯s braided head rose behind the group and up toward the trophy. Molson saw him first, but then Hacker and Carter both leaped on Angelo too.


    Joel paddled casually backward to the other end, keeping his eyes on the fray as four sets of arms and legs spun and fought. He rose with his back against the wall. He guessed he was almost to the height of the trophy when Ben¡¯s face rose in front of him and his hands slapped into the wall either side of his head.


    Ben¡¯s cool eyes held Joel¡¯s as his long reach went up for the trophy. Carter and Hacker spotted him and shot back to him. They chased Ben and Joel drifted away. He was content to let the others fight and tire themselves before they¡¯d figured out what the game was. Molson was still locked in a struggle with Angelo.


    While Hacker and Ben wrestled, twisting and turning, Joel was half fascinated by the mechanics, the way the sensory augmentation was achieved. But he pulled himself back into the game.


    Carter had reached Joel. He stretched out his arms to Joel¡¯s shoulders to pull him down. Joel hit the communicator button for Carter


    Joel said, ¡°You¡¯ve worked out that this is a team game, right?¡±


    He was close, so he saw the image of Carter¡¯s face. He blinked behind the visor. Joel told him, ¡°The only way for any one of us to win would be if he killed all the others. Or was able to buy them off or something. While there are two trophies, it can only be won through co-operation.¡±


    Carter¡¯s eyes narrowed. But he said, ¡°Yeah. Of course. I was waiting until someone else had figured that out.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Joel said, stifling a grin before it got started.


    Carter¡¯s hand gripped Joel¡¯s shoulder hard. ¡°I have worked out that I don¡¯t need a wetlander on my team, though.¡± He grinned, ¡°Though the webbed toes ought to give you some kind of an advantage.¡±


    Just for a fraction of a second, Joel synthed a massive dragon¡¯s head in place of his own, ¡°And you know that we can do this, for instance?¡± The reflection in Carter¡¯s visor looked amazing. As Carter recoiled involuntarily, he hoped only Carter had seen it and none of the others. If they hadn¡¯t figured out that ¡®Synth,¡¯ was an option, he didn¡¯t want to be teaching them.


    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Carter said. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Get Hacker.¡± Joel told him, ¡°You and he go around the far side. They¡¯ll all chase you, I¡¯ll grab the trophy.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah. Oh, wait a minute¨C¡±


    Joel held up a hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. When they see I¡¯ve got the trophy, they¡¯ll turn after me. You¡¯ll be ahead of them waiting. I¡¯ll pass it to you. You¡¯ll get through. But get Hacker ready, in case they stop you, and then he can take it home. Either way, we win.¡±


    ¡°No either way about it.¡± Carter slapped him on the shoulder.


    Carter and Hacker tangled with the other three. Joel drifted behind them and slunk up to grab the blue trophy. He was away with it before any of them noticed. Without hurry, he got all the way to the other side. He swam up to the nook and took out the red trophy.


    Carter¡¯s visor drifted up between Joel and the wall. He snatched the blue trophy away and popped it into the nook.


    Carter took out the red trophy and dived fast across the tank. Joel was ready. When Molon and Ben dived at him, he threw the trophy and Joel was ready and right by the nook when he caught it.


    Instructions came over the headsets.


    ¡®Another round.¡® The trophies were instantly restored to their places. A soon as the instruction said, Go! Molson had a huge gun appear in his hand. Carter and Hacker panicked. Joel commed to them both. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s only synth.¡±


    He set a cursor on Molson¡¯s gun and hit ¡®synth¡¯ to clone one for himself. The huge weapon felt heavy on his hands. Joel was impressed by the way the sim-stim suit made sensations of weight and force. He wondered how much of the sensation was implanted through the spikes in the hood.


    Carter immediately snatched the gun from him. He aimed the weapon at Molson. He fired a blast of white and blue bolts. They hit Molson and exploded in the center of his chest. With no effect at all. Carter fired again.


    Molson fired back. Ben got after Molson and Hacker tackled Carter, trying to steal the weapons. So, as he drifted upward and casually reached back for the trophy, Joel thought that was pretty interesting. Carter, Ben and Hacker had not clocked the fact that they could easily clone up one of those scary cannons for themselves. Nor the fact that they were entirely cosmetic and ornamental whizz-bangs.


    Those four seemed not to be as familiar as Joel with the regular concepts of AR and virtu.


    Joel had floated idly to the nook on the far side. Angelo lunged from behind him and swiped the trophy from him. ¡°Nice try.¡±


    There was a smile in his voice as he snapped the trophy home into place.


    The other four swam over. Carter¡¯s face was tense. He did not enjoy losing. Something resentful in his eyes made Joel wonder if that wasn¡¯t because Carter had too much experience of losing.


    So, Joel thought, Why pick him for whatever this contest is about? Why not pick one of the guys who have been beating him all the time? Joel filed the thought away. He could be looking at Carter the wrong way around. It could just as easily be that Carter¡¯s resentment was the rage of a winner, clawing himself up from a downtrodden family.


    He knew that second guessing everything could drive him nuts. It made sense to see and observe everything that he could, have thoughts about it and move on.


    ¡®One more,¡¯ said the instructor.


    Joel commed Carter and Hacker. ¡°Team up on this?¡±


    Hacker raised a thumb. Carter was slower to respond, but eventually he nodded. Joel told them the plan. Carter didn¡¯t like it, but then the voice said, ¡®Go,¡¯ and Joel moved. He grabbed the blue trophy from behind him. Then he synthed copies of it. He gave a trophy to Carter and one to Hacker.


    Angelo synthed up a grenade launcher. Fired it with a grin, right in Joel¡¯s face. The explosion was harmless but forceful. It slammed him backward and he bounced against the wall. The flash left him dazzled for several seconds.


    The first Joel knew of Ben coming up behind him was the huge arms wrapped around him. Ben squeezed hard. After a short struggle, Joel gave up. He handed over the blue trophy with a shrug.


    Molson marked Hacker and Angelo blinded Carter with another grenade. Considering how strong and how fast Carter was, Angelo made quick work of pulling his trophy off him.


    Molson and Hacker were still tumbling and wrestling in the water when Angelo popped the trophy into the nook. Nothing happened. Molson had his hand on Hacker¡¯s face when he finally wrestled the trophy away. He swam it straight up to the nook. Still nothing happened.


    Then Ben drifted calmly to the target and dropped in the trophy he had gotten from Joel. Joel had drifted just underneath the target nook. Carter dashed at him, His hands slapped the sides of the pool either side of Joel¡¯s ears. He commed, ¡°Give.¡±


    Joel handed him the trophy.


    ¡°And the other one. I know you made two copies.¡±


    Reluctantly, Joel shook his head and said, ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of this yet.¡±


    Carter¡¯s victory was short lived, though. Molson was bigger, stronger and too near. He put his feet to Carter¡¯s face and took both trophies from him. He swam up to make the final score.

 11: Stakes

    TWO MINUTES BREAK, THE announcement said.


    Carter was pissed as they floated, catching their breath. He looked at Joel as he snarled, ¡°We shouldn¡¯t ever have formed into teams.¡±.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Molson laughed, ¡°I thought that was your idea, Carter.¡±


    ¡°It was webfoot¡¯s idea.¡±


    Angelo said, ¡°Well the kid was right. There¡¯s no other way to play that without each bout going on pretty much forever.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Hacker said, ¡°By the end of it everyone would get so damned tired, it would be more or less dumb luck who was going to win.¡±


    ¡°Not for me it wouldn¡¯t,¡± Carter¡¯s head shook. ¡°I¡¯d beat all of you.¡±


    Molson¡¯s chin lifted. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll get to find that out.¡±


    Angelo clapped Joel on the shoulder. ¡°You did well, considering you¡¯re easily the smallest here.¡±


    Joel smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a good three inches taller than you are, Angelo.¡±


    Angelo gave Joel¡¯s shoulder a persuasive squeeze. ¡°But I weight about half as much as you again.¡± He looked in his sys, ¡°And it¡¯s all muscle.¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± Joel grinned, ¡°There has to be at least a little bit of brain in there.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why we¡¯re here?¡± Angelo asked him.


    Joel shook his head.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll catch you up on the rumors and wild guesses. Then you can tell me what you think.¡±


    ¡°What are you two girls gossiping about?¡± Carter appeared behind them and slung his arms over both of their shoulders, demonstrating his considerable size while he attempted to dominate them. Joel lifted Carter¡¯s wrist to remove it. Carter held tight. ¡°When we¡¯re in a team,¡± he squeezed his arm Joel¡¯s neck, ¡°Remember I¡¯m the captain and you¡¯re playing for me,¡± and he pulled tighter. Playful, but it clearly was meant as a warning.


    Joel looked in Carter¡¯s face. If he wanted to provoke a confrontation, Joel would appear to be the weakest member of the group to pick on. He¡¯d also handed him the team that took the first and the last win. Carter was not a strategic thinker. And, though it was an uncomfortable thought, if he was a cowardly enough bully to pick on Joel, even when they had been teammates, he was very likely to be cruel and sadistic.


    He might try to make Joel suffer in front of the others in an attempt to frighten them. That was all a few steps out into speculation, but Joel knew it was likely. He was confident enough to be sure that he couldn¡¯t afford to take his eyes off Carter. Not for a second. Somebody so dumb and so full of spite could blindside him at any time. If he did, Joel knew that it would be savage.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know why you¡¯re here, flipper-boy? All of these guys,¡± he waved his arm in a sweep, ¡°They¡¯re all here to push me on. To make my triumph the best it can be. You?¡± He leered, ¡°You¡¯re here to make up the numbers.¡± His face loomed near, ¡°You¡¯re an early casualty, flipper boy.¡± His lips stretched a wide grin. ¡°You¡¯re krill. A tiny little fish for us sharks to feed on.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Carter,¡± Molson said, ¡°It¡¯s getting old now.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Carter rounded on him, ¡°You want to make something of it, big boy?¡±


    He moved to put his nose in Molson¡¯s face. ¡°You got the hots for frog-boy, or are you just trying to get yourself some time in the spotlight?¡±


    Angelo said, ¡°This is a contest, Carter. Whoever brought us here is probably watching. All the time.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Carter snarled in Molson¡¯s face. ¡°They¡¯ll see that I¡¯m the big noise here.¡±


    Joel¡¯s view was flooded with a wash of bright blue light. The others looked around. The floor fell away as the tiled arena morphed into a deep tank. Below was a drop into darkness, and no way to judge how deep it went.


    The air thickened as it began to spin. Hacker twisted to turn in the air. The back of his shoulder loomed into Joel¡¯s face. Joel twisted away. The walls rotated in the opposite direction, counter clockwise. The lit alcoves spun away fast.


    As he writhed to get himself away from Hacker¡¯s back, Joel saw the niche with the blue trophy whirl toward him. He reached for the trophy and the wind was knocked out of his chest by the rounded knuckle of Carter¡¯s shoulder. Carter grinned as he reached past Joel¡¯s face to snatch the trophy. He yanked the glowing prize from its nook and shoved Joel back.


    Shards of light dropped from above. Long colored rods fell fast, like a thick, glowing rain. One struck the blue trophy and Carter¡¯s wrist bent back. The prize was smashed out of his hand. Molson dove and reached for the loose prize. Carter lunged and brought the side of his fist down on Molson¡¯s back. Turning in the almost liquid air, his arm stretched out for the blue cup.


    Angelo came from behind and pulled it from him. Joel commed to everyone except for Carter. ¡°This can only work as a team game. If Carter is determined to play solo, then there¡¯s one very small team. The smart play is for the rest of us to make one big team.¡±


    Joel watched Angelo¡¯s head make a discrete nod. Molson did the same, then Hacker. Joel looked at Ben. His face was still like stone. Eventually he made one slow nod.


    Carter drifted by the spinning wall, waiting for the slot with the red prize. He looked around as Joel and the others surrounded him. When the red trophy came near, Ben dropped on Carter¡¯s back. Hacker grabbed his left arm. His eyes widened as Joel and Molson took his legs.


    Angelo plucked the trophy from his hand, snapped the blue cup into the niche and and quickly passed the red one to Ben. Carter¡¯s face screwed into a snarl. He stretched after Ben. Ben had already thrown the blue cup out, into the thick swirl of air. It hung there until Joel reached it.


    Carter¡¯s arms and legs thrashed. He broke free and dove after Joel. Joel had just time to duck, turn and reach to pop out the blue trophy and snick the red one into place. He tossed the blue cup over Carter¡¯s head to Angelo¡¯s waiting catch.


    Carter spun, thrashing to dodge the falling rods. He lunged at Angelo. Hacker and Molson grabbed him by the waist and hauled him back. Ben blocked him and Angelo grinned as he waited calmly by the spinning wall. When the prize rotated to him, he swapped the blue trophy for the red. He stretched his eyebrows, looking at Carter as he tossed the red cup in a slow for Molson to catch.


    Molson handed the next point to Hacker. By then Carter was wild, flipping around and chasing in every direction. Whenever he went for the trophy that was still on the wall, at least two of the others blocked tackled or held him. Hacker threw next the point after that to Joel.


    Now they all had a score each. All except for Carter. By the time Joel was able to pass to Ben, Carter¡¯s face was red and his eyes were wide. He could see where it was going. The team didn¡¯t care who took the next point. Somebody would win, everyone else would be tied and Carter was the back marker.


    Krill, Joel thought.


    For the next point, Molson, Ben, Angelo, Hacker and Joel threw the cup between themselves, over and over. Ben was holding it when Carter made a fast dive at him, turning like a fish to avoid the rods. Ben shrugged as he popped the trophy home.


    The spining walls slowed and flashing lights began to strobe. Angelo lifted his hands and spread his grin around the players. Carter didn¡¯t have a smile to return. As his eyes found Joel he shoved Angelo. Angelo was thrust into the paths of two falling rods of light. They struck him, one on the shoulder, the other on the back of the neck. He dropped down and vanished in the darkness of the chasm below.


    Immediately, normal gravity returned, the light turned back to white and the walls vanished. The five remaining players were stood in the room where they had started. Angelo was not among them.


    The bot announcement said, ¡®Ben Huggert wins tournament credit for that game. Carter Dane has a demerit and loses that game. Carter Dane would have been eliminated, but due to the loss of intern Angleo Varofakis, Carter Dane remains in the process by default.¡¯


    Joel felt an emptiness inside.

 12: Infranet

    ¡®YOU MAY REMOVE YOUR suits, but keep your headsets on. You will now be guided to your individual quarters.¡¯


    ¡®The intern who is chosen at the end of the process will require a companion. Within the next six hours you must supply a name. Your choice of companion.¡¯


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Hacker looked suspicious. ¡°What would happen to them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not something you¡¯re going to have to worry about,¡± Carter crowed as he peeled out of the sim-suit. ¡°Not you either, web-foot. It¡¯s only for the selected candidate.¡±


    ¡°Hacker scowled at Carter. Really. Enough, okay?¡±


    Molson said, ¡°But, yeah. They¡¯d be brought to you.¡±


    ¡°And installed.¡± Carter leered. ¡°I know who I want. Idoru. Man, she can be my companion.¡±


    ¡®The companion must be somebody with whom you are personally close. Somebody you have already shared feelings with.¡¯


    ¡°I shared feelings with Idoru, for sure.¡±


    Hacker called out, ¡°Did she know anything about the feelings you shared with her?¡±


    Carter laughed. ¡°I sure hope not.¡±


    The display in Joel¡¯s visor changed to icons. Comms and chat, audio and visual controls, and an icon for the supernet. He figured it was an encouragement to contact a potential companion. Joel was sure that any communications he attempted would be monitored.


    There wasn¡¯t much could he say, anyway, even if he thought it was safe to communicate with his mom. Or with Honey. He had no idea where he was, he couldn¡¯t truthfully say that he was ¡®fine¡® or even that he was safe. But then an idea began to form. Maybe.


    As the view settled to fade completely into the normal room again, they headed for the door. They all watched each other warily, but they left the widest circle of space around Carter.


    The bot gave Joel directions and a schematic showed him the way, through double doors at the far end of the games room, down a bright corridor to a door at the far end. All the others were guided to rooms of their own.


    Joel reached his door and caught the flash of Carter¡¯s teeth as he opened the door of the adjacent room.


    ~~


    Joel¡¯s room was a good size. The large bed seemed comfortable. A screen was on a desk top and a dining table had four chairs. He didn¡¯t think he would be doing much entertaining.


    A door let into the neat, tiled shower and washroom. Clothes were hung in the bedroom closet and folded in the drawers. All in his sizes. The screen on the desktop offered gaming, but a sign above it said the supernet connection was unavailable.


    Joel sat in front of the screen and powered it up. The unfamiliar window and icons told him again that the supernet was not connected.


    The voice of the instructor told him, ¡®You have yet to make a valid nomination for a companion. Your companion must be someone with whom you are close, with whom you have trust. Someone you can share your feelings with. Your fear, your secrets. To keep you mentally healthy.¡¯


    The screen popped up a box asking for a ¡®Designated Companion Choice.¡¯ Joel had thought hard. He suspected that if he didn¡¯t give a name, somebody would be chosen for him. He had a hunch he knew who that would be.


    There was no way he could allow the choice to be made for him, although he found it almost impossible to make for himself. But, he¡¯d thought about it, long and hard.


    With no idea what it would mean, what would happen to the person whose name he gave, it was an almost impossible decision. It was a thing that he didn¡¯t want to inflict on anybody. But, if he had to do it, choose or the choice would be made for him, one person could fit.


    He made the only selection he believed that he could and set the name in the ¡®Designated Companion Choice¡¯ box. He was cold as he hit ¡®OK?¡¯ by the ¡®Confirm Selection?¡¯ box. It felt like it could have been a death sentence.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ~~


    With that was done, Joel busied himself on the screen. He hunted around for comm settings. After some poking and guesswork, he found ¡®devices, network, and protocols.¡¯ In there he saw the connection sand ports. Smiling to himself he changed the address to one in an admin level range. That didn¡¯t work. He tried another. Still no good. Ready to give up, he set it to the usual default super-user.


    And that worked. Changing the supernet ports to the infranet, he saw connections lighting up. Joel sat back. Nervous, he got up and moved to sit on the bed. Infranet connections were cloaked and encrypted, at least in theory. He knew there was a strong chance that any communication he made could still be observed. But he had a plan for that.


    If it worked he could get to the place that Honey liked.


    One really good thing about her place on the infranet, the area that she called ¡®Hopes¡¯¡¯ was that it was secure. Fanatically, almost insanely secure.


    Incoming comm from Ben interrupted him.


    ¡°How¡¯s your room, buddy?¡±


    Joel had thought of Ben as strong, quiet and a loner. He was big and good-looking and independent. In the vitrtu, he played his own game. When he took Joel¡¯s suggestion to team up against Carter, Joel had the distinct impression it was first and foremost because he thought it would be to his own benefit.


    Joel trusted his first impre¡¯sion, too, that Ben was a believer. That made Joel doubly suspicious and ¡®Buddy¡¯ seemed totally out of character. It put Joel on his guard.


    Loud and clear, he said, ¡°I expect every drawer and corner of my room is bugged and surveilled,¡± Joel told him, ¡°But it¡¯s pretty big. Comfortable, really. How¡¯s yours?¡±


    When Ben chuckled it was all on one note. ¡°Yeah. My room sounds about the same, Amigo.¡± Then a pause. ¡°Listen, you¡¯re a smart guy, Joel. You got the measure of those games pretty fast. I want to give you props for that.¡± Another pause. ¡°That was a damned shame about Angelo, wasn¡¯t it? Damn. He seemed like a nice guy, too. A good competitor.¡±


    Joel asked him, ¡°Do you have any idea what happened to him after the game?¡±


    ¡°No. None. Do you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Joel said, ¡°I¡¯m kind of assuming that everyone here knows more than I do, but maybe I¡¯m wrong about that.¡±


    ¡°Well, what do you know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything at all.¡± Joel was becoming even more wary of Ben, but what he told him was pretty close to the truth.


    ¡°No?¡± Ben made that chuckle again. ¡°You¡¯re putting on a pretty good show, Joel.¡± Joel was sure he¡¯d been about to say, ¡®Kid,¡¯ not ¡®Joel.¡¯ There was an awkward beat in his voice. ¡°You¡¯re not the biggest or the strongest, but you did well out there.¡±


    Joel waited. Ben went on, ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea what¡¯s coming up next, but so far it seems like you¡¯ve been thinking your way through the games pretty well.¡±


    There was a purpose in Ben¡¯s call and Joel waited to find out what it was. He knew that if it came to games of strength or stamina, his chances against all four of the others were slight. Thinking about the group, all of the rest seemed much more like athletes or combatants than he was. He wondered if Carter could be right. That he was krill.


    The group had only just split up minutes ago. Joel hardly had time to see around his room before the comm came in. Ben must have called him first. He must be thinking about how to win, and in his thinking, Joel had to be a part of him winning.


    Joel thought that Ben was probably smarter than most of the others. Maybe all of them. Carter wasn¡¯t clever enough to keep his mouth shut when he was winning, nor when he was losing. Hacker didn¡¯t seem too bright, though he had sport smarts for sure.


    Moslon was tough to read but Joel¡¯s guess was that he was bright enough to keep quiet, and to watch and listen. Beyond that he had no way to know.


    Ben said, ¡°We should try to work together. You and me, Joel. We can win this. Together.¡±


    ¡°Do you think there can be two winners?¡±


    Ben was starting to say something. Before he did Joel asked him, ¡°What do you think this is all about?¡±


    ¡°This contest?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re into some kind of an elimination for sure. Before you arrived, we all talked about it. Everyone assumed it would be either for the TopFlight USMilCorps scholarship or for The Gabriel¡¯s body quest.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Ben?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue. My gut feeling? This place doesn¡¯t look military to me.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°I think this is The Gabriel¡¯s. I think we¡¯re being recruited.¡±


    ¡°Or one of us is.¡±


    ¡°Maybe more than one.¡± Ben said, ¡°Who can tell?¡±


    ~~


    Joel remembered Ty Bannon and Kier huddled by the container stack in the schoolyard getting worked up over their latest conspiracy stories about The Gabriel. He stole kids in the dead of night. He inhabited a semi-organic cybot and feasted on fresh blood. He ported into USAi and manipulated the intelligence.


    He was an angel of death in a dead human body, kept in motion by a cyber exo-frame. He was behind a conspiracy to poison the water. And another one to keep all of the wars running forever.


    To Joel, all of them were stories that kids told each other so they could get scared.


    Thinking back over the call, Joel decided that Ben¡¯s had been setting out to recruit Joel. He saw Joel had some ability to read the games. Ben seemed to think that Joel could be a part of his own success. He wasn¡¯t a great strategist himself, obviously. He wanted Joel to help him win, but he hadn¡¯t thought to offer him anything in return.


    Joel wondered whether Ben would be a better ally that Carter. At least Carter wasn¡¯t underhanded. Ben was probably calling everybody in turn, making the same offer.


    Hacker was a straight-ahead fighter, as far as Joel could see. He would think a move or two ahead.


    He¡¯d weigh the outcomes of a move, think about where everyone would be when it played out. Joel remembered him watching when Angelo took a trophy, seeing where Carter was going to be, getting in position so Angelo would pass to him. He would watch for the ways that a play could go. But not farther ahead than that.


    Molson was more of an unknown. Joel thought that to be smart, he should call Molson. Like the way that Ben had called just now. Only with a plan. Something to offer. And something to get in return.


    What he wanted was to get on the screen in the room. See if he could hack past the firewalls. Get to the infranet. Then, tunnel his way to Hopes.¡¯

 13: Gladiators

    A MALE VOICE CUT into Joel¡¯s headset. ¡°I hope that you are comfortable.¡± The names of all the players were listed on the comm indicator on Joel¡¯s visor. The message was going to everyone.


    The accent was dry and odd. Like a British rock singer from before the Reset. A lazy edge suggested that every word had layers of meaning. But the speaker, the owner of the voice, was weary that no-one hearing it ever understood any of them. With all his skill, Joel couldn¡¯t tell for certain whether the voice was real or synthed.


    ¡°You all have been chosen and brought here with a purpose. Each one of you has some special qualities that have made you excellent choices for candidates for this process. More will be revealed to you as the process develops. In the meantime, I hope your quarters are comfortable. I wish you luck and success. And, if you have any complaints at all, I recommend that you get over them quickly.¡±


    Joel felt uncomfortable. He felt like the voice was sizing him up.


    ¡°You have now entered your choice of a companion. The selected intern will require someone familiar to accompany them in their journey. It needs to be someone you know well. Somebody you can be comfortable with for a long time. Potentially a very long time.¡± Joel thought about the implications. Especially the implications for the companion. After a beat, the voice went on, ¡°I hope you have chosen well.¡±


    After another short pause, it said, ¡°So. Welcome.¡± Then, ¡°Gladiators, I salute you.¡±


    As the chill in the low chuckle rippled through Joel, he sat on the side of the bed.


    A message on his visor told him, ¡®Food will be in the dining room in one hour.¡¯


    Sat on the edge of the narrow bed, Joel felt hollow and alone. When the cold voice on the com started to talk about a companion, he naturally thought of Honey. But an instinct told him that if he gave her name, it could start a long chain of events for her. There was no way to know what it would it mean to be a ¡®companion¡¯ but Joel had the sense that it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as it sounded.


    Just the thought of Honey and his reluctance to bring her into this process raised the thought for him. If he didn¡¯t ¡®win¡¯ the process, whatever any of that meant, if he didn¡¯t name her as a companion, was he ever going to see her again? Or anybody else he knew? What happened to those who didn¡¯t ¡®win¡¯? What had happened to Angelo?


    Joel had thought of Angelo as a potential friend and ally here.


    And remembering Ben¡¯s call made Joel feel worse. Ben only wanted to try to make use of him, Joel was sure of it. Maybe all the others might be like that, too. Maybe. The only person left in the process whose motives Joel could read and trust now was Carter. If it were only a game or an online virtu, Carter would be Joel¡¯s top pick for an ally.


    But this was real. If Carter betrayed him and shafted him, Joel couldn¡¯t count on having another life to reload. There wen¡¯t likely to be any saved games in this process.


    He shifted his attention.


    The visor offered a supernet connection. The icon glowed briefly after the widecast message. When Joel thought, The voice from beyond the grave, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to shake the idea, however dumb it was.


    He also knew that the supernet connection was a come-on. That it flashed as a reminder, just the way that in a game a buy-in would flash at a strategic moment. When you most needed a power-up or a shield. When players were most likely to be loose with their juice.


    The screen made a point of not allowing supernet connection, but his headset did. He was sure that meant the headset connection was offered because it would be monitored.


    He sat at the screen. It activated with a gesture. There were games, virtus, vids and holo-shows on offer. All the episodes of Vulcan were available. Signs, dialogs and messages everywhere he looked said that there was no outgoing network access. The more they said it, the more certain Joel was that it wasn¡¯t true. There was access. The system was just arranged to block users.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Joel would see about that.


    There had to be a connection. It couldn¡¯t connect to an online play universe like Vulcan without one. Joel looked for a way to talk to the machine with low-level text commands. It could be hard to find but every machine had one somewhere.


    Eventually he found a ComCon control page in plain text to check traffic and transmission. It monitored input and output ports. It was in front of a number of mini apps in a layer of compiled code. He found one labelled,


    Usr/acc/ui.app


    Firing that up he was able to assign himself a user account, from there to a super-user and then an administrator. The account names and passwords were all variations of regular network defaults.


    That made Joel suspect that the whole thing could be a charade. That this had all been laid on for someone just like him to find their way through. When they did they would be tracked and followed.


    That was okay. Where Joel was going, encryption was super-solid. He knew of a site, only a tiny number of scriptkidz used it. The site appeared to be nothing but old, out of cert English literature. Poems, novels, plays, and essays.


    A selection of two to four hundred digit prime numbers were coded into the text. The base sauce for any encryption. The numbers were regularly refreshed. He copied one from the middle range. When a casual user went to that page, they would see the text but not the numbers.


    He hacked up code for a communication wrapper. It used a common code, referenced from the long prime number. It was rock solid and bulletproof as far as he knew. It relied on a pattern, buried deep in an end-to and stream of static.


    All of his gestures, keystrokes, clicks and commands went out wrapped. Everything that came back, came the same way. A line of random code at the edge would act to confirm secure transmission. It was slow, and crude, and it meant an annoying lag on his interaction, waiting to see if a click activated the button.


    No observer would be able to read through the tunnel of white noise though, or even trace the destinations of communication. Not without his prime number, two-hundred and eighty digits long. And now that he had it, it was replaced and forever gone from the code site.


    It took a while for him to adapt to the delay that the tunnel imposed. A couple of times, he clicked a button twice when it didn¡¯t respond immediately, but he got used to the discipline the speed demanded. Waiting was not his best suit and now, when he felt pressured, it was hard.


    The time it took to reach his destination, and then to get into it, he wished that he had saved his trail somehow. Something to replay if the connection dropped or if he was interrupted. He was aware that his hour before dinner was dwindling away.


    Finally he reached the sarcastic, unwelcoming ¡®Welcome¡¯ panel. He was prompted for his username and password.


    The discouraging clown¡¯s face appeared. That was unusual. He never before saw the same face twice in Hopes.¡¯ Even Honey had a different avatar whenever he saw her here.


    The clown spoke, ¡°I can change,¡±


    With a sigh, Joel responded, ¡°You can change,¡±


    The clown smiled as they said together, ¡°Make the change,¡± and then, ¡°Be the change.¡±


    ¡°Can I go in now?¡± Joel didn¡¯t know how much time he would have to himself. He wanted to get in and get busy. Find Honey as fast as he could. The clown raised a hand in a red glove. Then he raised a finger to his lips.


    He produced a pencil and pad of paper. The cartoon pad made a smart ¡®Shhhck¡¯ and rolled over a fresh page with a flourish. The yellow cartoon pencil flopped and wobbled at one end. On the paper he wrote, ¡®Don¡¯t speak. Only read.¡¯


    Joel didn¡¯t want to play the clown¡¯s game and he tried to think of a way past him. The clown stuck his hand up with the fingers spread out. He wrote fast, ¡®Wait, she¡¯s not here,¡¯ when Joel had read it, the clown flipped another page. ¡®She left a message.¡¯


    ¡°For¡­¡± Joel started top speak, but the clown face¡¯s eyes widened as he held his finger to his mouth again. Joel didn¡¯t have a pencil and paper. He mimed to the clown to lend him his, but he¡¯d already written on the paper, ¡®For you.¡¯


    Joel reached for the pad. Trying to control the floppy pencil strained Joel¡¯s patience. The clown obviously enjoyed his discomfort. With difficulty he wrote, ¡®How do you know who I am?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t,¡¯ the clown scrawled, ¡®But I know who you are to her.¡¯


    Joel snatched back the pad, ¡®Do you know who she is?¡¯


    ¡®Only here. I know who she is here.¡¯


    ¡®What¡¯s the message?¡¯


    ¡®Is your connection secure?¡¯


    ¡®I believe it is. I can¡¯t say better than that.¡¯


    ¡®Good enough. Because it¡¯s you. And because she says you¡¯re good people.¡¯


    Joel saw a file transmission on his visor.


    The clown wrote, ¡®You¡¯ve been here long enough.¡¯ Joel knew. Their paranoid obsession with what they called ¡®discretion.¡¯ He worried about the fact that he could have brought somebody. Something. The Gabriel, even could have followed him to their door. Was he really starting to believe in that?


    The clown wrote, ¡®You¡¯re welcome back, though. Any time you need to be here.¡¯


    Then, ¡®It doesn¡¯t have to be this way.¡¯


    Joel sighed as he wrote, ¡®Things can change.¡¯


    The clown smiled. The file was still downloading. Before Joel left the clown wrote, ¡®We¡¯re going to be on the same side.¡¯ He looked at Joel before he finished the note with, ¡®You¡¯ll see.¡¯ And he was gone.

 14: Virtu

    JOEL WAS LATE TO the dining room. A hatch at the far side of the room had a plate of food waiting with a plastic seal over it. The others were all sat around the big table. They had all started eating. There was one vacant chair.


    Carter was almost finished with what was on his plate. He ate fast, like a kid who¡¯s had his food taken away more than once.


    ¡°What kept the krill,¡± Carter looked up and asked the room, ¡°Don¡¯t they need to eat like the rest of us?¡±


    Nobody reacted. ¡°The food¡¯s pretty bad anyway.¡± He said, this time directly to Joel. ¡°I can eat yours if you want.¡±


    ¡°You obviously like bad food.¡± Joel made his way to the hatch and collected his plate. The plate was warm. He couldn¡¯t tell what the food was. It looked like a dollop of some kind of a stew, with some cut greens and mashed starch.


    The empty seat was at one end of the long table. Molson, Hacker, Ben and Carter were around the other end.


    Joel didn¡¯t bother to move the chair. He sat and took the cover off the food. The smell was good. That surprised him. He was apprehensive, but took trouble not to show it as he scooped up some of the stew.


    Then he tried not to show surprise. It tasted great. Joel hadn¡¯t realized how hungry he was. The mash and the greens were good, too. If anything, he ate faster than Carter.


    As he ate, he heard the others talking about the game. First, everyone mentioned that Joel had read the games faster than any of them. Everyone except Carter. His face reddened. He scooped up the last of his food and put the cutlery down with a clatter.


    Ben took time to complement Joel, and then everybody else in turn on their performance. He told each of them something that he thought they¡¯d done well. When he told Hacker he¡¯d made a great save and that his reactions had been really fast, Hacker sounded impatient.


    ¡°We all bring skills. Mine are mostly sporting. I¡¯m in the athletics squad, I play basketball for the school and I¡¯m a sprinter. I press a hundred and five percent of my bodyweight. I¡¯ve run four marathons and six half marathons.¡± He looked back at Ben. ¡°What are your strengths?¡±


    Ben¡¯s face colored. His eyelid twitched. Only Molson and Joel were still eating. They both kept quiet and everyone waited for Ben¡¯s answer.


    It was an anticlimax. Ben talked about his minor sporting achievements. Hacker looked around the room. When he caught Joel¡¯s eye, Joel realized he had been smiling at Hacker. Hacker made a small nod as Joel slipped the smile away.


    Carter couldn¡¯t wait for Ben to finish before he began to brag. ¡°I throw javelin, I run half-mile, mile and four mile. And,¡± he paused for effect. ¡°I¡¯m a quarterback on the football team.¡±


    Joel thought they must be a small, skinny team. Carter was muscled and agile, but he looked about two-thirds the weight of the football players in Joel¡¯s school. Maybe less.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t decide which of the cheerleaders I¡¯m going to bring as my concubine when I win.¡± Eyes rolled. Even Ben drew a slow breath. Hacker winced and slapped the table with his palm.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Joel took the last mouthful from his plate and put down the cutlery. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to the tales of sexual heroism that Carter was obviously warming up for.


    The instant he put down his plastic knife and fork, a square metal serving bot appeared at the hatch and put out five bowls.


    A perfect, synthesized female voice announced, ¡°Ice cream and chocolate brownies.¡±


    Carter frowned as he looked around the table. ¡°We all have to wait for the krill before we get our ice-cream?¡±


    ~~


    Carter was able to eat ice-cream and a chocolate brownie at an impressive speed at the same time as whipping up a bragstorm about his exploits with cheerleaders. His brief anecdotes majored on how desperate the girls all were to have him do whatever he did to them, all over again. They were all, as he told it, ¡°destroyed,¡± when he let them down.


    ¡°I tell them, ¡®You know it, girl Everybody knows it. I¡¯m a one and done guy. Always have been. Always will be. And your moment was last night.¡¯ And I remind them, ¡®You better remember it good, honey, cos you¡¯re never getting loving like that again.¡¯ And that¡¯s when they all cry.¡±


    ¡°And then they throw themselves off cliffs,¡± Joel hadn¡¯t meant to speak, but the words started out before he could stop them. ¡°Or they wander, lost and alone, into a dead zone, never to be seen again.¡±


    Carter faltered. His voice was weaker. ¡°I¡¯ve had girls at my feet. Sobbing.¡±


    Hacker stood. ¡°Of course you have.¡±


    Molson pushed his chair back. Ben looked around, from one to another.


    Joel finished his brownie with the last of his ice cream. He looked at Carter and felt a little sorry for him. He wondered how long this ¡®process¡¯ was going to be.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯d rather have a bot, anyway.¡± Carter said, though no-one was listening. He stood and stretched. ¡°fleshbots don¡¯t get tired out.¡±


    ¡°How about you,¡± Hacker said. ¡°Don¡¯t you get tired out?¡±


    Carter strode and stood in front of him. Hacker was about an inch taller, probably weighed seven or eight pounds more. Carter¡¯s nose wrinkled and he bared his teeth. ¡°Want to try me?¡±


    They all froze as the sardonic male voice from the earlier announcements filled the room.


    ¡°I hope you have all enjoyed your supper. The next game will start in ten minutes.¡± Hacker didn¡¯t speak or move as he looked at Carter. Molson and Ben moved back from the table. Carter took a step back, too.


    The voice said, ¡°The contest is going to be a lively samurai simulation, which I hope you will all enjoy.¡±


    Joel and the others looked at each other.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be late changing. Your equipment is ready in the games room.¡±


    ~~


    Pegs and hangers with their names on held harnesses, jackets and helmets to fit over the headsets, and gloves that would connect to the harnesses. Joel¡¯s ears were starting to ache and feel tired from the earbuds and from wearing the visor.


    The harnesses were complicated to strap into. There were braces for their arms and legs, down to the wrists and ankles. The whole rig was like a flimsy exoskeleton. It was heavy and awkward. Molson was nearest to Joel, so Joel helped him on with the equipment. He returned the favor, but he stayed quiet.


    As the helmet pressed down on Joel¡¯s visor and earphones, he wished he¡¯d had his own headset with him.


    None of the others had thought to help each other. Joel helped Hacker while Molson offered to help Carter. Carter said he didn¡¯t need help. Moslon shrugged and helped Ben. Carter was still struggling with his harness when all four of the others were ready.


    Joel went to where Carter wrestled with the poles and hinges. ¡°Let me help you.¡± Carter scowled. Joel said, ¡°You heard the announcement. Did it sound to you like the contest might wait and be held up for stragglers?¡±


    Carter scowled but he let Joel help him.


    Ben privately messaged him. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you leave him to it?¡±


    Joel scowled in his direction. He couldn¡¯t see Ben¡¯s face behind his visor. He wanted to tell him, that if this turned out to be a team game, they¡¯d all suffer being a man down.


    Instead, he concentrated on getting Carter¡¯s rig on and adjusted.


    Before he was finished, a scene began to fill their visors. A medieval Japanese village spun in a blur. Joel made out a wide stream, running through the center of the village square. As well as the babble of the water, the clang of deep, low bells rotated in the distance. The village was surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The whole scene rotated around them.


    As the landscape spun, Joel saw long, large shapes, close by. They were blurs of green and red, close to the ground. Coming near. He braced himself and pulled out two large daggers.

 15: Lizards

    AS THE SPINNING STOPPED, Joel saw what the shapes were. Huge lizards surrounded them. They stretched their wide, jagged jaws and banged them shut. Joel felt the air ripple as a set of razor like teeth snapped shut, fractions of an inch from his hand.


    He barely registered the intricate and fearsome samurai gear that all the others wore. He assumed he was armored the same way, but he hadn¡¯t time to check. Jabbing upward fast with the knife in that hand, he felt tough resistance. The animal roared. Then the scaly skin gave way.


    Hot blood gushed over his hand. He buried the knife, the shorter of his two daggers all the way up. Shoved until the hilt was against the reptile¡¯s throat. He pushed, hard. He tried to stab it to reach the creature¡¯s brain. The blade was too short.


    He dragged the dagger toward him and pressed it away. The creature¡¯s head rose and shook. Blood sprayed and splashed on him. The lizard¡¯s jaws bit the air. Teeth cracked and snapped at him. It was still fast, even though the flesh of its throat flapped and gaped.


    Joel drew back the knife and lunged. He pointed his arm and the knife where he guessed the monster¡¯s heart must be. He ducked under the twisting jaw. The blade slipped off tough scales. He twisted up and pushed the point in.


    As he jabbed and turned the dagger, he saw Molson, Ben and Carter, struggling with more lizards. He hadn¡¯t time to count, but it looked as though there were more lizards than there were of them. One or two more, at least.


    Hacker, fighting next to him, turned and jabbed Joel¡¯s lizard in the eye. Its feet stamped and it roared. Joel jammed his other blade next to his first, aiming again for the heart.


    A clawed foot lifted in front of his face. Then, as Hacker pulled his dagger from the beast¡¯s skull, Joel twisted both knives in its chest. The pale green belly rose and quaked. Then it trembled. Then the lizard turned and fell.


    Joel pulled his knives back. Hacker had injured his lizard, stabbing it in both armpits. It thrashed and roared. Its head waved between Hacker and Joel. With both blades, Joel aimed to stab it in its two red eyes.


    One blade went straight in. The other only cut a nostril. Giving the knives a twist, he pulled them out. Then drove them up. Under the scales, he stabbed deep in both sides of the throat.


    The roaring began to gurgle. Blood and other fluids gushed and oozed as the lizard rolled over onto its back. It stopped moving.


    Carter had a dagger in each hand and a lizard pinned on each dagger. Both of them were still moving, but he¡¯d done them serious damage. Ben was on the back of one reptile with his knives in its neck. But another jumped at his back.


    Joel grabbed the end of its tail. Hacker jammed his shorter dagger into the tail. That was all they could reach. But the animal snapped around. Hacker slammed his longer knife straight into the gaping mouth.


    His arm was all the way in. If the reptile could close its jaws, it would bite his arm off at the shoulder. The lizard¡¯s eye widened and reddened. It convulsed as the point of Hacker¡¯s blade popped out through the back of its head. And it froze.


    Carter had both of his monsters beaten, but he needed help finishing them off.


    Molson stood with a lizard impaled and his foot on the neck of another. Both dead.


    Joel¡¯s visor display told him,


    Skills Acquired: Strategy skills + 5Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    They looked around at the large, deserted village square. The fast-flowing stream divided the square down the middle, and it swelled to a large pond at the center. All of the buildings around the square were simple, made from bamboo with woven walls and roofs.


    Joel paused to take in the wide, ornate Japanese leather and fighting coats, hats and boots of the other four players. Joel looked down to check his own.


    He figured this would be an introductory scene. There could be important information but he raised his visor. The audio in his earphones stopped at the same time as the immersive video display shut off. He wanted to be sure that Carter was fitted in his harness and had all his equipment properly connected.


    Coming back to the sight of five guys in suits and exoframes in a big, dark room was disorienting. There was a movement at the far end of the room, but Joel couldn¡¯t make out whether this was a person or what it was.


    Joel moved toward Carter who jumped back and waved his arms, like he was under attack by a giant moth.


    ¡°Carter, relax. I just want to make sure your gloves are hooked up.¡± But Carter swatted at him. Joel scowled, but he gave up and pulled his visor back down.


    Pulling his visor back, he was back in the scene. The four samurai figures searched around the village square, looking at the spaces below the village hall and the houses around the square.


    Furtive scratching, rustling sounds came from the crawl spaces under the buildings all around. They looked all about them. Joel ducked down, fast. Below the large hall he saw a movement in the shadows.


    He heard the others draw swords and knives. He held up a hand behind him. He saw a small silhouette. It looked like the crouched figure of a small child who had been scurrying in the darkness. It froze and peered back at him. He saw the eyes blink.


    The figure held on to one end of a long pole with something bushy on the far end. Joel dived in and made a quick grab at the pole. For a moment, the child didn¡¯t let go. Joel dragged them toward him. Then they turned and scurried away, out under the far side of the hall.


    Joel smiled. Hacker was there waiting. The child¡¯s feet left the ground.


    Joel and the others found Hacker grinning and dangling the squirming, kicking child aloft. He held them up by one arm. Joel had the long pole. On one end were sprigs of dry bamboo rushes.


    ¡°So,¡± Joel grinned as he crouched down, level with the angry child¡¯s face, ¡°You made noises, rustling under the buildings. You tried to make us think that we were surrounded by an army of fierce warriors.¡±


    The young child¡¯s scowling face was that age where they could be a boy or a girl. Somewhere between a mature eight and a young-looking eleven maybe. Dressed in boy¡¯s clothes and with sharp white teeth bared. Joel shoved his face nearer.


    The child¡¯s lips closed and the face screwed up tight. Joel smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s clever.¡± He patted the child¡¯s head. ¡°And it was brave of you to come out, all alone.¡± He watched the child¡¯s eyes. ¡°To come out with nothing but a broom.¡± He smiled again, ¡°Was that your own idea?¡± The child¡¯s eyes narrowed. Then, quickly, the little head nodded.


    ¡°Was it? Really? Nobody helped you think of it?¡±


    Another pause. Then a quick shake of the head. Joel saw the child¡¯s eyes slip to the left. He ruffled the mop of black hair. ¡°Brave. And very clever.¡± He crouched down lower to be right in the line of the child¡¯s eyes. ¡°You did well. You saved everyone in your village.¡± He stood back, ¡°But now we¡¯re going to find them all.¡±


    The big round eyes shot to the left. To a building set back from the square. Then they grew round and moist as they came back to Joel¡¯s.


    Joel lifted the kid¡¯s small frame from Hacker. He was sure it was a girl. He perched her on his hip. ¡°I¡¯m called Joel.¡± He smiled. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The child hesitated, but he took her hand to shake it.


    At last she said, ¡°Kiko,¡± still scowling.


    He took her on his hip and walked to stand in front of the building. Hacker, Molson, Ben and Carter followed and stood behind him. He called out, ¡°Your great warrior did all in their power. And they were heroic.¡± He smiled at Kiko again.


    There was no sound from inside the gray bamboo building.


    ¡°But we are not your enemy.¡± He said. ¡°You have nothing to fear from us. We are here to help you.¡±


    He looked down at the child. ¡°Tell them, Kiko.¡±


    The door to the building opened. The pale and drawn face of a man peered around the door.


    Joel said, ¡°Is Kiko your daughter?¡±


    The man was close to tears. He nodded.


    Joel smiled down at Kiko and his voice was gentle as he held her out to the man. ¡°You should be very proud. She is a fearless warrior.¡±


    The man¡¯s hands shook as he took the girl. Her big eyes went from Joel to her father as he handed her back.


    ¡°Now.¡± Joel said, ¡°Are you all hiding from the lizards?¡±


    The man¡¯s head hung as it shook.


    Gently, Joel asked him, ¡°Tell us who it is that your village is so afraid of.¡±


    Kiko¡¯s face darkened and her head shook.

 16: Samurai

    SLOWLY THE VILLAGERS CAME out from the darkness of the buildings and into the square. They told stories of samurai raids. Vicious attacks.


    A woman¡¯s eyes pleaded up at the five men, all in samurai garb. ¡°They took all of our crops.¡±


    And an older woman said, ¡°They waited until now. Until harvest. Now they will return and take everything we have, all over again.¡±


    A man pushed forward, ¡°They will leave us to starve.¡±


    Carter said, ¡°We won¡¯t let that happen.¡± He looked around at the group, then back to the huddling crowd of villagers. ¡°We will stop them.¡±


    Joel smiled as he watched the light in Carter¡¯s face. Quietly he said, ¡°You don¡¯t even know how many of them there are.¡±


    Carter¡¯s eyes flicked side to side. Then he cleared his throat. ¡°It doesn¡®t matter. We are warriors.¡± He stood tall, ¡°We will save your village.¡±


    Joel looked at him, wondering. Does he think we¡¯ll have multiple lives, that if we get killed, we¡¯ll magically regenerate? Carter smiled back at him, full of confidence. Joel thought, He¡¯s swept up in the game.


    ¡°There are waves of archers,¡± the old man said, ¡°And there are horsemen. Maybe fifty.¡±


    Ben¡¯s eyes were wide. ¡°Is that all?¡±


    The villagers looked down as their heads shook. It was Kiko who piped up, ¡°No. They bring also the army of the dead.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Carter said. ¡°You almost had me worried there for a moment.¡±


    Joel asked which of the villagers had archery skills. He told Ben, Carter, and Molson to get them armed and prepared.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Carter said, ¡°Are you in charge now?¡±


    Joel¡¯s eye narrowed but he bit his lip. He didn¡¯t want to be arguing. Especially not in front of the villagers. They needed confidence in their rescuers. After all, he was going to tell them to risk their lives.


    ¡°Do you know what comes next, Carter?¡± He spoke quietly.


    Carter was silent. Joel kept his voice even. but he chose his phrasing carefully. He said, ¡°Help Ben and Molson.¡± Carter¡±s eyes blazed but he did as he was told.


    He sent half of the remaining villagers to bring in the harvest. Try to keep everything looking as normal as possible, he commed to the others. He and Hacker took those left to remove panels from the roofs and walls from every possible building. Only from the sides away from the direction of attack.


    They left the village looking normal to the bandits, even though it was practically demolished from the back.


    ¡°They will attack with burning arrows first. We¡¯ll soak all the panels with water from the stream. We¡¯ll need fence posts to prop the panels up as shields. Our archers, commanded by Ben, Carter, and Molson, will fire from behind and between the shields.¡±


    Carter jeered, ¡°What will you two be doing while we¡¯re having all the fun?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll take off wide. We¡¯ll go either side of where the enemy archers make their firing line. We¡¯ll come in from the sides and kill them.¡±


    Carter nodded. ¡°Well, props to that. That¡¯s a ballsy move.¡±


    The shields were laid flat on the floor until the attack began, to make the village appear unprepared. All those working in the fields were told, as soon as an attack begins, they were firefighters. Their orders were to run to fill buckets from the stream. Put out the fires from burning arrows.


    They and the villagers waited all day for the attack. When the sun was starting to go down, over the high hills and mountains in front of the village. Joel cursed, ¡°I should have realized. Of course the bandits would wait for the sun to be straight in our eyes.¡±


    Waiting was a strain.


    The stillness, not moving but staying ready, gave him cramps in the backs his legs.


    It must be harder on the archers, though, he thought.


    He knew the enemy would wait. The moment was theirs to choose The sun was on their side.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The red disc boiled in the streaking sky as it sank below the mountain ridge. When it was a third gone, the dazzle was painful.


    Tiny black streaks were hard to see in the distance. Longbow archers had let off a blanket of deadly darts from the bottom of the hill. They flew from a quarter mile away. They arced like a slow mist. Half of them trailed smoke. They seemed to hang, high in the air.


    Everybody pulled to get the shields up. Then a rattle of thuds. The shafts rained hard into the shields. Villagers ran with buckets. Fires lit all around.


    Joel saw Carter struggling to hold a shield. He hadn¡¯t got it propped up. His hand kept grabbing and letting go. His face in glowed red in the light of the spreading fires. Joel figured his glove wasn¡¯t fully connected.


    He pulled up his visor as he ran to Carter.


    His eyes were slow to adjust to the darkness. As fast as he could, he pulled Carter¡¯s glove. The plugs were only halfway connected. He tried to shove the plug into place. Carter shook and resisted. Naturally.


    Something in the room was odd, out of place. In the jarring scene of the men in their helmets, black suits and white exoframes, someone didn¡¯t fit. A chill like a trickle of ice-water dribbled down Joel¡¯s spine.


    Another person, not one of the group, stood nearby in the shadows. Tall and gaunt with sunken eyes, beside him was a large trolley with rows of winking and flashing lights. The figure appeared to be attached to the trolley by tubes and cables.


    The sunken eyes glowered at Joel.


    ¡°You have a burning village to save.¡± And he waved a hand.


    Joel recognized the sardonic British inflection. A tilt his chin and a small stretch of his eyebrow matched the sarcastic tone. He knew. Then.


    Blinking and shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Carter¡¯s kit. He convinced himself that he¡¯d forgotten about the encounter. Tat it never really happened. After one last struggle with Carter and his glove, Joel snapped his visor back down into place.


    A burning arrow flew at him. He had to doge fast. It missed his knee by inches.


    Quickly Joel stamped out the flames from the arrow before they spread. The last of the shields were up. The archers from the village shot waves of arrows back at the attackers. Ben, Molson, and Carter lead and directed the defensive barrage.


    When Joel could see and hear the virtual world properly, he heard Carter saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t think that was you at first.¡±


    Joel shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± Carter frowned and grabbed his arm, ¡°Something¡¯s happened. Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Dodging another arrow, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Come on, we¡¯ve got a village to save.¡±


    Carter grinned, ¡°Nothing to it.¡±


    Joel told him, ¡°There¡¯s going to be some kind of a quest as a part of this, too.¡±


    Carter nodded. ¡°You called them all this far.¡±


    If he didn¡¯t know better, Joel would have thought that Carter was starting to show him respect.


    ~~


    As they made their way out to the edges of the woods, Hacker and Joel kept in com contact. Joel had Hacker¡¯s view in a corner of his visor. They went wide, out of opposite sides of the village. Joel kept low, hearing the lethal swish of the arrows, watching them fly toward the village.


    Waves of arrows shot out in regular salvos, upward from the edge of the woods.


    Joel tried to read where in the wood they were coming from. As he crept into the cover of the trees, sound became softer and muffled. It became darker as he made his way deeper.


    On Hacker¡¯s cam he saw the dark woods and a clearing ahead. A flight of burning arrows shot out of the clearing. Joel saw the smoke trails in front of him. He still couldn¡¯t see the archers, though. He couldn¡¯t even locate exactly where they were.


    A grotesque warrior¡¯s mask jumped right in front of his face. The samurai was huge. Joel saw the glint of a vicious curved blade. He jumped to the side. He hadn¡¯t time to get his own knives out.


    A message appeared from Hacker. He ignored it. there wasn¡¯t time to stop and read a line. All he caught was the word ¡®ninja.¡¯ He launched himself at the bandit¡¯s head.


    He was too big and too strong for Joel to bring him down. Joel¡¯s arm wrapped around the warrior¡¯s eyes, but the weight of his whole body was hardly enough to hold down the man¡¯s arm with the knife.


    When the other arm came around, Joel twisted as fast as he could. As he sprang away, he tried to pull the big knife with him. It didn¡¯t work. The man came after him. Fast. All Joel could do was to swing up his foot in a high arc.


    He caught the man hard in the ear. It seemed to make no difference to him. But a message on the visor told Joel,


    Skills Acquired: Ninja skills + 10


    Joel jumped at the bandit¡¯s neck. His thighs scissored the man¡¯s head and he twisted hard. One bandit fell in the woods.


    Another two bandits appeared in front of him. He leaped in the air. In one move and almost in slow motion, he cut the throat of one and skewered the other between the eyes. Two more loomed up. He stabbed one through the heart and opened the other with the dagger, from his chest straight down to his pelvis.


    Next there were four bandits. Joel jumped and spun in the middle of them, decapitating all four. When he landed, crouched low, he saw the position where the archers were shooting from.


    Only there were no archers. He saw the same thing on Hacker¡¯s cam, too. A dozen children scurried to load arrows into four wooden frames. Each frame had six bows. They were wound back by one strongman. When the arrows were all in place, the strongman wound back a handle to draw all six bowstrings.


    One man stood by the nearest machine. Huge like a sumo wrestler. Bald but with a long black ponytail and mustache. He had heavy shoulder pads but was was stripped to the waist. He wore wide, leather chaps and heavy boots.


    Joel understood. The man raised, or lowered the archery mechanisms to aim. The children ran along to light all of the arrows, and the man aiming shot off all the machines. One after another in fast succession. Twenty-four bows each shot burning arrows into the air and at the village defences.


    Tireless bows and no archery skill required.


    Joel commed to Hacker, I¡¯ll get the guy in charge. You start on the strongmen.


    With his ninja skill, Joel dived low at the aimer, cutting both his Achilies tendons as he passed. The man pulled an ax from his belt and swung it as he fell. Joel swatted it aside as he jumped to land with the side of his foot on the fallen man¡¯s windpipe.


    Hacker had killed one of the strongmen. Joel took the ax from the aimer and slung it straight into the face of the next, and they knifed the other two, one each.


    That left only the children.

 17: Slaying

    ABOUT TWENTY YOUNG KIDS glowered at Joel, narrowing their eyes and jutting out their jaws. Joel crouched to their height. Forty big eyes burned back at him. They could have been bandit children, raised on robbery. But his guess was they were captives.


    ¡°You can run that way,¡± He pointed to the village. ¡°Join our friends, fight with us. You¡¯ll be given good homes afterward. And,¡± he beckoned them nearer. His voice low, he told them confidentially, ¡°We¡¯re going to win.¡±


    One keen-eyed, black haired boy stepped forward and put his hands on his hips. ¡°What if we don¡¯t go with you?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Joel said sadly, ¡°Then either we¡¯d have to kill you all,¡± the boy¡¯s eyes were hard and firm, ¡°Or we could let you all go.¡± All the children¡¯s eyes widened. Joel made a sad face. He exaggerated it for them as he told them, ¡°But we would need to cut off all of your hands and feet. So you wouldn¡¯t turn and fight against us.¡±


    He looked in the boy¡¯s face. The boy smiled. He knew Joel was kidding.


    ~~


    Hacker and Joel set two of the archery machines on fire. They dragged one of the two remaining. The children hauled the other one and carried the buckets of arrows.


    Carter commed, ¡°I guess our brilliant shooting killed all their archers.¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Joel told him, but he was in full flow.


    ¡°Mostly my great shooting, I expect.¡±


    ¡°There weren¡¯t any archers, Carter.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°They were machines. We¡¯re bringing two of them back, you¡¯ll see them.¡± Then, ¡°Is everybody okay there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Naturally.¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Joel waited but Carter didn¡¯t go on. Joel prompted him. ¡°The others, Ben and Molson?¡± Hacker was listening in but he didn¡¯t say anything.


    Carter said, ¡°Oh, I think they¡¯re all fine. Molson stepped in front of a burning arrow. Looked like it only stuck in his coat and grazed him. When he pulled it out he had to put out the fire on his coat, but he looked okay.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re all heart, Carter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a game, right?¡± Is it, Carter? Joel thought, Where¡¯s Angelo? ¡°Anyway,¡± Carter was still talking. About himself, of course. ¡°I¡¯m going to win. Everybody knows that.¡±


    ~~


    The villagers repaired the wall and roof panels they¡¯d used as shields. With help from the recruited, Joel and the others set the archery machines behind the line of shields. Joel noticed Kika making a particular effort to show the tousle-haired, black eyed boy that she knew more than him. And he seemed to give as good as he got.


    Hacker selected the strongest of the villagers and taught them to draw the bowstrings and let off the volleys of arrows. Joel said, ¡°We¡¯ll lower the aim. The next wave of attack will be horsemen.¡± Joel pointed to the sun, which was down almost to the horizon. ¡°That¡¯s the direction they¡¯ll come.¡±


    Carter laughed, ¡°Is that your magic strategy skill at work?


    ¡°No, Carter,¡± Joel¡¯s patience was brittle. ¡°That¡¯s my magic ¡®listening and remembering what the villagers said,¡¯ skill. Didn¡¯t you hear them?¡±


    ¡°I take what comes in a game as it comes.¡± Carter said, ¡°Always expect a new threat. Always be ready for the unexpected. That way I¡¯m never taken by surprise.¡±


    ¡°Were you born an ass,¡± Molson asked him, ¡°Or did you have to study and practice?¡±


    Molson didn¡¯t flinch as Carter strode up to him. Quickly Joel said, ¡°There are swordsmen coming after the horsemen. We need all the skills and strength we¡¯ve got.¡±


    Carter scowled. Joel told him, ¡°Kick the living shit out of each other after we finish the contest, okay? For now, we¡¯re all in this together.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Sulkily, Molson said, ¡°We might do better without this dickhead.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t.¡± Joel¡¯s voice sounded firm and authoritative. If anybody heard the catch in his throat, there was no way to tell. He hoped he didn¡¯t need to do too much more of this. Keeping discipline on these raging alphas wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d rank in his skill set.


    About all of what he knew was not to think about what would happen if they challenged him.


    A private message from Hacker said, I¡¯ll step in if you need it. Joel appreciated it. Not as much as he would have appreciated actual help, but the promise was maybe better than nothing.


    A noise like thunder on the ground came from the hills. Silhouettes of men on huge horses hammered clouds of dust. They pounded out of the sun in flapping coats. Joel couldn¡¯t count them through the dust and the dazzling haze.


    Carter, Molson, Ben, and Hacker jumped back behind the archery machines. Carter raised a three-bolt crossbow. There wasn¡¯t time to light the arrows. Hacker aimed the machines and the first two salvos flew. Joel crouched by a machine with his two blades out and ready.


    The two horsemen leading the charge fell. Wide-eyed, panic stricken, the first rider¡¯s horse rolled over him. The crunch of his bones seemed louder than the thud of the horse hitting the ground. In the tingle through the soles of his feet, Joel felt the thunder of the approaching horsemen. The other fallen bandit jumped to his feet. He swung a spiked ball on a long chain. It spun above his head as he yelled. He ran straight at Joel.


    A wave of riders stormed into the second hail of arrows. Three waved long, thin, glinting curved blades. Two pulled arrows back on long bows. Carter shot off his crossbow. Two of his bolts pierced the arm and the leg of a mounted archer. He rode on to Hacker and Ben, who pulled him down and finished him with their blades.


    Carter dropped the crossbow and lifted a sword.


    The horseless rider with the ball and chain swung at Joel. Joel dodged him and turned to strike back. As he did, though, something he felt against his leg made him think of the hooded figure in the games room. He missed his strike and rolled to dodge the swinging ball. Dust and earth flew. The ball thumped into the ground beside his head.


    The bandit was pulling the ball back out of the ground. Joel thrust his dagger straight up. Under the protective leather flaps, his blade cut deep and high into the man¡¯s abdomen. Joel rolled again to avoid the spill.


    The second wave was on them. The children fled. They ran for the protection of the buildings. Carter brought two horsemen down. Ben, Hacker, and Molson stopped another three. Two more circled back and galloped at Hacker and Molson.


    Two riders had gotten through. They chased after the children. Joel jumped on one of the free horses and pursued. From just behind he jumped on the nearest rider. He cut the man¡¯s neck and took his long sword. The other was reaching down to scoop up the running black-eyed boy. He shoved Kika away ahead of him.


    Joel stood on the back of the dead horseman to jump, ninja style, onto the other bandit. He impaled him through the center of his back. Kika dragged the boy and pulled him as she ran shrieking.


    Joel and the dead rider fell. The rider landed face down in the dirt. Joel pulled the long sword from his back. He looked to see that the children were okay, then Joel ran back to join the others. All four men were in the fray of a fight with about six bandits. All of them swung heavy weapons.


    The raiders all wore tough protective clothes. Some even had metal plates as armor.


    Joel rushed at the backs of the two nearest raiders. They both wore armor over their backs and over their chests, and chain mail flaps over their asses and thighs. He slipped a long sword between the breastplate and the back piece of one. A rib stopped the sword. Joel pushed. The thin blade cut part way through the rib. It drove in another foot and a half.


    The warrior dropped his sword. His arms and legs twitched convulsively as he fell.


    The other bandit turned. Joel¡¯s sword was still jammed part way on the dead fighter¡¯s rib. He tugged and jerked on it, trying to yank it out.


    He whipped his other sword up to the angry bandit¡¯s throat. The attacker grinned. Chain mail protected his neck. The sword sprang free from his dead colleague and up.


    The man¡¯s grin froze. Joel¡¯s sword had cleaved through whatever protection he wore over his groin. Again, the blade had cut into bone and was jammed. Joel pulled it up as hard as he could.


    It moved only slowly, and barely a few inches, but the man¡¯s eyebrows arched and his mouth drooped open as his eyes rolled. They glazed over as he fell back.


    One of two raiders attacking Hacker turned back to Joel. He pulled back a long spear. Joel swung his free sword at the side of the man¡¯s neck. A curving red arc spurted out as he fell sideways.


    Hacker flicked a tight-lipped smile to Joel. His eyes stayed on his own fight as he drove a sword through the chest of his other assailant.


    Together they helped Carter deal with his three samurai, for which he looked more annoyed than grateful. Ben and Molson were right then dispatching fighters of their own.


    There was quiet. A last single ray of the setting sun flashed over the mountain as dramatic pink and gray strata patterned the sunset sky.


    Looking around, seeing the devastation, but knowing that all five of them had made it through, Joel laughed.


    Maybe from exhaustion, maybe from the tension, they all started to laugh. The two old men of the village came out from hiding. Both of the thinn, wrinkled elders waved their hands and they laughed too.


    ¡°You have saved us,¡± one said.


    ¡°Defeated all of our enemies,¡± the other grinned so wide he almost couldn¡¯t keep his eyes open. ¡°You killed the golden horseman!¡±


    ¡°And our treasure is safe.¡± The old man clapped his hands. Then the expression fell from his face.


    The other man¡¯s long wisps of white hair blew in the wind as he made a little jump and elbowed his friend in the ribs. Quickly he said, ¡°The golden horseman. Did you really beat the golden horseman?¡±


    Carter said, ¡°Of course we did.¡±

 18: Simpanion

    A RUMBLE SEEMED TO come from the woods. Ben, Molson, Hacker and Joel looked at each other. Then at Carter. Ben said, ¡°Did you slay a golden horsemen?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Carter said. ¡°Two or three probably.¡± The old men¡¯s faces fell. They looked at the ground. The rumble grew louder as the two old men looked at all of the bodies. One looked up, accusingly at Carter. His neck jerked and his eyes narrowed, ¡°Where is the golden armor?¡±


    The pounding grew louder. Joel looked around. Thundering towards them, a huge horse had golden reins and armor. As he bounded through the dust, light flashed on the long spike of the rider¡¯s golden helmet. A round, domed golden shield had a savage gold blade. And the curved sword he waved over his head flashed and gleamed gold.


    Carter said, ¡°You didn¡¯t mean him, did you?¡± But the old men had vanished.


    The five men swarmed to surround and attack the horseman.


    He held out both arms as he galloped at the trees on the edge of the square. The glinting edge of his shield cut through the branches as easily as his sword. He roared and swooped down.


    The sharp sword out on one side, the shield on the other, he leaned down on the great warhorse¡¯s neck. Ben, Molson, Carter, Hacker and Joel stood their ground. They stretched their swords forward.


    When the hot breath of the horse¡¯s fierce snorts was on them, they scattered. First Ben and Molson. Even though they were at the back of the group. Then Hacker.


    Carter and Joel were the last to peel away. The golden tip of the long sword cut across Joel¡¯s cheek as he dove away. Carter¡¯s grin was bright enough to shine through the dust at the far side of the stamping hooves. The massive horse reared up as the armored rider pulled him to turn.


    Ben and Molson were nearest as the golden horseman leaned for another charge. They both held their blades out but stretched their arms as far as they could. And they kept their faces away. The horseman¡¯s eyes blazed as he swept their swords out of their grasp.


    Joel and Carter lunged. Carter¡¯s sword clanged against the horseman¡¯s golden blade.Joel deflected the shield upward and away. The rider had passed and dust clouded in Joel¡¯s face. He hadn¡¯t had time to swing in the other sword, or to strike closer to the rider¡¯s body.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The horse¡¯s hooves skidded as the rider spun to turn back again. On the far side, Carter pulled himself up from a crouch. Joel turned to square up for another charge.


    He crossed the two swords ahead of him to catch the rider¡¯s weapon. It worked better than he planned for. The three blades tangled at the hilts. While the rider tried to pull his sword away, Joel held his blades firm.


    With a ninja jump he was stood on the saddle. Even accounting for the high point on his helmet, the rider was huge. He laughed in Joel¡¯s face, but he couldn¡¯t pull back his sword.


    On the ground, Ben and Hacker were on the sword arm side. While Joel had the man¡¯s sword, his side was exposed. Ben lunged at the gap in his armor and Hacker jumped. Still his grin stretched wide and he held Joel¡¯s eyes.


    He couldn¡¯t pull his sword away. So he pushed. He shoved Joel down, until he lay with his back stretched out along the horse¡¯s mane. Joel pushed as hard as he could to shove the swords up and away. But the golden blade came nearer.


    Then the rider swung his shield. Joel had to roll away. The edge of the shield whispered through the air, right by his ear. A fraction slower and he was sure he would have been decapitated.


    He tumbled to the side and he still had the raider¡¯s sword trapped between the hilts of his own. As he slid sideways off the galloping horse, he pulled the rider with him. Joel fell to the ground and the rider fell after him. On top of him.


    The rider was too heavy for Joel to twist or wriggle away. The golden horseman¡¯s laugh turned to a loud rattling cackle as he pulled back the sword and pointed it at Joel¡¯s neck.


    Then his chest felt like it would crack open. The rider¡¯s weight was joined by Hacker¡¯s. Hacker landed on the rider¡¯s back and plunged his sword through the horseman¡¯s neck. Blood sprayed as the thin blade punctured the far side. The rider¡¯s body jerked in a last convulsion.


    Hacker grinned as he was spattered. He stood tall on the bandit¡¯s back. The spinning shield arced through the air. The golden disc seemed to stop atHacker¡¯s neck but it only slowed and veered. His head popped cleanly off.


    Joel lay stunned. The scene in his visor froze and grayed.


    Text appeared:


    Level complete


    Health restored


    Next level: Treasure


    The sardonic voice that Joel recognized came into his earphones.


    ¡°Well, interns. Thank you, that was all very informative. And all of you performed well. The next level will be your challenge tomorrow. Tonight, by way of a reward, you will each be joined in your quarters by a companion. Proceed now to the dining area for your briefing and induction for this phase of the process.¡±


    Joel was still stunned as he began to lift his visor to take off his rigging. A chill, a cold breath fanned the back of his neck.


    He heard the voice beside him, as well as in the headset. ¡°Not you, Joel.¡±


    Behind him he heard the sound in the room. Something heavy was hauled away across the wooden floor.


    Fingers lay cold on his shoulder. ¡°You can come with me.¡±

 19: Crown

    HE SHOULDN¡¯T HAVE SEEN him. Maybe there was some kind of a punishment coming. He knew that he shouldn¡¯t have taken off his visor. He probably shouldn¡¯t have even been stepping out of his game role to help another player. And, Carter, of all people. He had to be the most likely in the group to shaft him or anybody else, not to mention the least likely to come to his aid if he needed it.


    The tap on his shoulder made him jump. Thinking about what happened to Hacker ¡ª Joel had no way to know what really happened, but he was pretty damned sure it wasn¡¯t good.


    ¡°Come on. Take off the kit. The visor, the headset. All of it.¡±


    As he lifted the visor, Joel was shocked by the hollow, hooded eyes in the dark sockets. He wasn¡¯t prepared for them to be so close.


    The cloaked and hooded figure stared into his face. He felt as though he were being read. Scanned like a stretch of code. Line by line.


    When the face smiled, the smile was one that could have been a response to seeing food.


    ¡°Come.¡± The cloak flowed around the tall figure as it turned. The large box followed behind with soft, hydraulic ¡®shooshes¡¯ and the hum of quiet motors. Joel saw that the box was attached. Something thick and flexible, wires or pipes or tubes, connected up and under the cloak.


    A chill shuddered from the base of Joel¡¯s spine as he followed.


    He was led though a door, then down a long, dark hallway. The doors along the hallway were all shut. All except for one. There was light inside the room. As they passed, Joel heard scraping. Something heavy, being dragged.


    He glimpsed a wall of cabinets, all about waist high. With upturned glass bell jars on top. Colored liquid filled the jars. And inside were dark shapes like coconuts. He stopped looking. As he followed the gaunt figure and its box down the hall, he told himself he hadn¡¯t seen what he thought he saw. He was mistaken.


    At the end of the hallway, his tall host opened a door. He held if for Joel to enter. Joel was cold. Shivering. But he wouldn¡¯t let it show.


    Fear can make you imagine things. That was what happened. The shape that he saw in one of the jars somehow looked like he recognized it. But it was only a glimpse. It may have been domed and like it had thick tufts running over it in ridges. Like two tight, parallel lines of braids. But it was a trick of the light. Or something.


    The room seemed large, but it wasn¡¯t easy to tell. The light was dim and low. The sound in the room, the pad of Joel¡¯s feet and the rustle of his clothes gave him more of a clue than his eyes. His footsteps and the trundling wheels of the trolley.


    The Gabriel followed him in and closed the door. The trolley shushed along behind him. A large table was in the center of the room with a chair on either side. The Gabriel extended a hand to point Joel to the chair on the far side.


    The room was cold and the light was low. So low that as Joel sat, he could only just make out the door. The Gabriel kept his sunken eyes on Joel as he lowered himself into the seat opposite. The thin smile didn¡¯t seem to have much cheer.


    ¡°How are you enjoying the process?¡±


    ¡°Enjoying?¡± Joel almost said what was on his mind, but then he thought better of it. Joel only knew what was whispered and muttered about the Gabriel. Until now he doubted that he was real at all. He certainly didn¡¯t believe any of the wild tales.


    Seeing him in the flesh, if it was flesh, it was easy enough to see what prompted the myths and horror stories. He existed, Joel couldn¡¯t doubt that.


    Since he had brought Joel for a private interview, Joel decided that opening their conversation with a frank review of his hospitality may be unwise.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°So far it¡¯s a very interesting process. The virtus are about the best I¡¯ve seen. Not that I know much.¡±


    A grin spread across ¡°Oh, Joel,¡± Hearing his name on the Gabriel¡¯s lips, Joel¡¯s whole body tingled and tensed, ¡°That really isn¡¯t true. Your interests and insights in simulation are remarkable.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± DAMN! He was too tense. He shouldn¡¯t have said that out loud. He needed to take control of himself.


    The Gabriel¡¯s eyes narrowed as his thin smile spread. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re here, Joel. That¡¯s one of the most important qualities that you bring to the party.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it going to come down to a test of strength and reactions? A battle of skills?¡±


    As the Gabriel began to say, ¡°The process is not what it appears to be,¡± Joel had a flash of insight. ¡°You¡¯ve worked that out though, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    Insight or imagination. A fantasy, perhaps. Maybe he had worked it out. He pushed the idea aside. It was absurd. More ridiculous even than the evidence in front of his eyes.


    The Gabriel produced a data crown and held it toward Joel. Smoother and simpler than any Joel had seen. Even in the rumors and speculation he read in tech blogs in Hopes¡¯ the most fantastic concept renders were crude compared to the lightness and the soft, organic lines.


    It appeared to be only a smooth ring with soft curves, ear pads and dark eyepieces.


    ¡°Put it on.¡±


    Joel hesitated. But his curiosity got the better of him. When he slipped the crown over his head, it silently adjusted as though it were alive. Small movements that felt like minute breezes adjusted inside the ring to fit the contact points to his cranium.


    When it activated, it seemed like his mind was opening. As if wide hangar doors rolled back and light streamed in. A landscape opened, like a bright, multi-colored desert. Mountains in reds and oranges brooded gorgeously at the horizon under a teal and turquoise striped sky.


    Joel¡¯s head turned to take in the horizon, to see as far as he could to the left and right. Then he looked all the way up at the bright sky. Then all the way down. Beneath him, on the desert floor grains of sand blew in wisps. But he didn¡¯t see his feet. Or his body. And he wasn¡¯t moving his head on purpose.


    He felt the Gabriel¡¯s smile inside his mind as he saw a rendering of his hand, lightning in front of his face. He felt the rise of his arm and he tried to resist but the arm wasn¡¯t in his control.


    An undercurrent of sound had a thin band of white noise. At the back of the sound was a low thrum. The rhythmic frequency spread like a thin mist through his mind.


    His hand turned. Rotated so he looked at the palm. He saw it turn and he had no control over it. The arm moved to his right. And his head turned to follow.


    He heard the Gabriel¡¯s voice. ¡°Relax. Don¡¯t fight it.¡± The voice was inside his head. ¡°Nothing bad is going to happen to you.¡±


    He stood. The scrape of the chair echoed clearly in the room. He felt the seat against the backs of his legs. His arms spread out wide. Then they rotated to turn his palms down. They turned again to twist his palms upward.


    A terror rose deep in his gut. Without looking and without intending to, he stepped back, around the chair.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± the Gabriel was telling him. ¡°We¡¯ll do some harmless exercises. That¡¯s all.¡±


    He stood with his palms together. Holding his feet parallel felt odd. His knees locked, then released. His hips tilted. Then tuned. He raised his arms up, and leaned back. ¡°Good,¡± the Gabriel¡¯s voice was like a breath inside his head.


    His spine lengthened as his body folded forward from the waist until his hands reached the floor. One leg stretched back and his head tipped up. His other leg went back. He held his body straight, then lowered his hips to the floor. His legs were flat on the ground as he stretched his torso up and his head back.


    The sensation of stretch in his body was powerful and exhilarating. The fact that none of it was in his control terrified him. ¡°Just a little more,¡± the voice blew like a breeze through his mind.


    His feet came forward. The movements were precise. Not mechanical, but disciplined in a way he didn¡¯t recognize. Then he stood, straight again.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take off the crown now.¡± As he lifted off the crown he felt an emptiness, like a powerful force inside him evaporated. The Gabriel still sat at the table. The smile glowed over his whole face now.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Terrified. Disoriented. But good, in a strange way.¡±


    The Gabriel nodded slowly.


    Joel said, ¡°You did that, right? You drove my body. Like a sim.¡±


    ¡°Much better than any sim.¡±


    A short cascade of cold trickled and shuddered through Joel¡¯s body. He staggered and slumped into the chair.


    ¡°You missed the introduction and orientation for your simpanion. But you¡¯ll figure it out. They¡¯ll be waiting in your quarters after you¡¯ve eaten dinner.¡±


    Joel didn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°Do not mention our meeting to the others in the process.¡± The Gabriel rose. Joel knew that meant it was time to go. He was exhausted but he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d mention it as he hauled himself back up to his feet. ¡°Not. One. Word. You understand?¡±


    He understood. It was a task. A test. He thought as he left about the sound of the white noise. He¡¯d heard something like it before.

 20: Seeming

    His mind was a fog as he walked head down to the dining hall. Joel thought about the file from Honey. He had been aching to open it and more than anything now, he wanted to dash back to his room. See what she said. Maybe hear her voice. See her face even. He knew, though, the longer it took him to get to the dinner table, the more difficult it was going to be to explain where he¡¯d been.


    As he entered, Carter¡¯s voice greeted him.


    ¡°Man, the girl I¡¯ve got, that little fox? I cannot wait to get back to my room.¡± Carter shoveled food in his face as he bragged about the sim pet he had been assigned. ¡°She is going to get herself recalibrated in a hurry. She¡¯s going to experience whole new levels of completion.¡±


    Molson said, ¡°Don¡¯t let us keep you.¡± Joel saw Ben¡¯s eyes flash. Carter didn¡¯t seem to notice, though.


    ¡°Sure, don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t. But I want to know where our outlander has been. Did you get lost, swamp boy?¡± He grinned and chewed at the same time. To Joel, it didn¡¯t seem like a great look. He flinched as Carter¡¯s mouth opened. ¡°Spill.¡±


    ¡°I just took my time coming.¡± Ben and Molson watched him. ¡°I wanted a moment. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Carter laughed. ¡°See, you¡¯re too sentimental. You¡¯re lucky to have gotten this far in the process.¡± He chewed as he talked. ¡°Still, you get to watch more of my inevitable triumph. Lucky krill.¡±


    Molson¡¯s eyes part closed. Joel saw him restraining himself from shaking his head.


    Ben spoke. ¡°We¡¯re each of us here with a skill-set, a different range of abilities.¡±


    He looked around the table. ¡°Angelo was a socializer. A team maker.¡± The way he spoke in the past tense disturbed Joel. ¡°He would have forged us together into a force. If he¡¯d had the chance.¡± Joel kept the memory of the colored lights and the liquids in the room he¡¯d seen. The jars.


    Ben said, ¡°Hacker was a competitor. He was athletic and he had super sport-smarts.¡± The idea that had occurred to Joel before seemed to take on more solidity. Still he couldn¡¯t believe it. But it fit the facts. So far.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Ben jabbed his fork at Carter, ¡°You¡¯re a fighter. You would be a special ops recruit if you were a bit smarter.¡±


    Carter¡¯s eyes blazed. ¡°The fuck you mean¡­¡± Ben held a hand up.


    ¡°Easy, Carter. Special ops are covert. You can¡¯t be covert while you¡¯re shouting all the time about how great you are.¡±


    ¡°How could I not, though?¡±


    ¡°Carter, while you¡¯re alone, brushing your teeth, I bet you¡¯re telling the mirror how great you look.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to,¡± Carter shook his head. ¡°The mirror would be telling me if it could get over the orgasm. So, where do you fit into this little scheme of yours,¡± Carter demanded, ¡°Your magic map of the contestants. What¡¯s your place in this big picture?¡±


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m a schmoozer. A strategist. I¡¯m a planner.¡±


    Joel said, ¡°You¡¯re political.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Okay.¡±


    Carter leered, ¡°I don¡¯t think he means that in a good way.¡± Joel pressed his lips together. It would be great if Carter could just get out of his own way once in a while, he thought. And everyone else¡¯s.


    Ben squeezed his lips together, ¡°Nobody ever means ¡®political¡¯ in a good way.¡± He looked around the table again. ¡°But it is what it is. So we¡¯re all here with our own specialties. All except for you, Joel.¡±


    Joel noticed that nobody seemed ready to challenge Molson with what his specialism might be.


    Carter grinned, ¡°Webby has been our natural leader.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ben sighed. ¡°Joel has led, but only because he¡¯s been right. Could all have been good guesswork so far. As soon as he guesses wrong or leads someone down the wrong tunnel, that¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Carter said, ¡°You have been good at reading the games but, really, I think you¡¯ve only gotten there a little bit quicker than the rest of us.¡± He leaned across the table, ¡°Maybe Ben¡¯s onto something. What¡¯s your specialism, Joel?¡±


    Joel¡¯s fingers spread in front of him and he shook his head. He gave it some thought. ¡°Nothing that¡¯s shown up here, to be honest with you.¡± Crazy as it seemed, he thought that the others, Ben at least, was coming around to the same idea that had sprung up in his own mind.


    He said, ¡°I¡¯m pretty good at code, and I¡¯m an ace with hardware. Peripherals, input devices. Biofeedback.¡± And he lifted his eyebrows.


    ¡°Cool,¡± Ben said, ¡°But you¡¯re not going to get a chance to tamper with any hardware here, are you? That¡¯s not going to win any of these competitions.¡± Joel saw that all three of them were looking at him now. And maybe they were starting to see the idea that he¡¯d been avoiding.


    Ben came close to it when he said, ¡°Somehow, it¡¯s like we¡¯re all here in a circle around you. Like we¡¯re your team. Why is that? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    He remembered the Gabriel telling him that the process isn¡¯t what it seemed. The first thing he thought then was, It seems like a competition.

 21: Aisha

    SHE STOOD AS HE stepped in the room. She had been sitting on a chair by the dining table. He¡¯d forgotten about his assigned companion as he hurried to get back. Some privacy so he could see the file from Honey was all he could think about. That and the dark reverberations from meeting his hooded host.


    ¡°Hi,¡± she smiled. Her smile was open and friendly.


    Her face reminded him of Honey. Little red cupid¡¯s bow lips, wide, high cheekbones and a delicate, pointed chin were like Honey¡¯s. A small, narrow nose and dark, serious, almond-shaped eyes. She was petite and very curvy. And he couldn¡¯t tell whether she was real.


    ¡°You¡¯re Joel? Call me Aisha. Do you like that?¡±


    Joel¡¯s mouth was dry.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to tell me how I can entertain you best. What do you like?¡± He couldn¡¯t speak. Even if he knew what to say, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to make the words come out.


    She smiled again and tilted her head down. Then she looked up at him. ¡°You like me forceful or passive?¡±


    She waited a moment.


    He held up his hands and said, ¡°There¡¯s something I need to do. Privately.¡±


    He frowned. She paused and watched him for a moment. Then she moved near and touched his hand. ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯ll go and get you a drink, okay? Beer, rye, what would you like? Maybe a sandwich.¡±


    He asked her, ¡°What are you going to have?¡± She waved a finger. Then he began to wonder. Maybe she was a fleshbot. Would he be able to tell? He¡¯d heard of fleshbots but there weren¡¯t any in his village, at least not as far as he knew. They were talked about, usually in huddles and whispers. Mostly they were a thing in survivor cities.


    He was becoming more confused by the moment. He had almost no experience with alcohol. ¡°Man, I¡¯m¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll have a beer, yes?¡± She waited.


    ¡°I know, I¡¯ll get us both a beer and a rye. You want a fresco, too?¡±


    He shook his head. By a ¡®fresco¡¯ he thought she meant a synthetic fruit cordial. But he wasn¡¯t sure. They didn¡¯t have too much manufactured product in the village. When she stood to go to the kitchen, she leaned forward and gave him a smile. ¡°We¡¯re going to have fun. Okay?¡±


    He nodded. Joel wasn¡¯t sure how any of this was supposed to work. He thought that it was probably a trick or some kind of a trap. That Aisha was here to observe him and report on him.


    All he wanted was to see the file from Honey.


    He set up the tunnel as quickly as he could. The code wrap was easy enough to pull together but he was anxious. That made him impatient. And nervous. Whether Aisha would come back before he¡¯d read or seen the file. If she would be able to see what had been on the screen. Whether she would report what she saw, or even if she was monitored while she was in the room with him. He had no idea about any of it.


    He hoped he could get a look at Honey¡¯s file while Aisha wasn¡¯t here. Then at least that part wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The tunnel was up. He found the file. It was audio and video.


    He clicked to open it. It was slow to respond. Impatient with the delay he clicked again. That cancelled it opening.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Once more he clicked it to open. Clenching his fists to stop himself rattle clicking, his knuckles whitened.


    Her face appeared on the screen. His heart banged and his throat tightened up.


    She was pale and static. Leaned toward the screen. She looked anxious. The background wasn¡¯t her room. From the frozen blur, he couldn¡¯t tell where she was.


    The file said it was video, but she wasn¡¯t moving and there was no sound. It was the lag from the tunnel. He sat on his hands to make himself wait.


    Finally it started to play. His chest filled and his breath caught.


    Honey blinked slowly as she smiled. ¡°Joel, I¡¯m going to give this to someone, okay? I hope you¡¯ll come looking for me. I think you know where.¡± How long ago had she recorded this? It looked like she was at home, in the kitchen maybe, but he couldn¡¯t see enough to be sure.


    She grinned as she blinked, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that you will look for me. It was sweet that you used the calls and the passphrases when you are there last. I know you only did that that on my account.¡± She looked around, nervous. He felt an actual tug of pain in his heart.


    In the background he heard vehicles.


    She frowned. Her eyes moved rapidly. She looked anxious. ¡°Joel, they¡¯re coming for me now.¡± She bit her lip. He wanted to reach out to her. ¡°It¡¯s because they took you, I know it is. I don¡¯t know any more than that. I just want to tell you,¡± He choked as her eyes darted around, ¡°Look, don¡¯t worry, okay? It isn¡¯t your fault. None of it is. Whatever happens, don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re to blame.¡±


    She bit her lips together. ¡°Joel, you¡¯ll always be the best friend I ever had.¡± Then, quickly, she said, ¡°Keep the faith. Be the change.¡±


    And she nodded, ¡°Remember.¡±


    The image went dark. He sat still, looking at the blank screen.


    Aisha opened the door and came back in with a tray.


    Empty inside and deflated, he watched her.


    Her walk had confidence, like it was a slow dance. She was nicely rounded and in all the right places. She¡¯d brought a bottle of water, a tall glass of ice, two beers, shot glasses and a bottle of bourbon. She set out the glasses and bottles onto the small table.


    ¡°That should see us through for now.¡± She smiled. She asked him, ¡°You like to dance?¡± he shook his head. ¡°You like me to dance?¡±


    He didn¡¯t want to do anything. Nothing at all except bust out of there and find Honey. He couldn¡¯t even fantasize a way that he could do that. It crushed him inside. He didn¡¯t even know where he was. He could be anywhere. Anywhere at all. He had no idea.


    And she could be anywhere, too.


    He said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s supposed to happen here, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Nothing is supposed to happen.¡± She touched his forehead with her finger. Then she lifted his chin. She gave him a soft, sweet kiss on the lips. Just for long enough to be too short. Her voice lowered. ¡°This is a time for you, soldier. You can do whatever makes you feel good. Whatever will help you to relax.¡±


    His lips were tight. He looked in her eyes. Not knowing if they even were real eyes. She was close. And soft.


    He raised a hand and ducked away. Standing he said, ¡°Look, I can¡¯t do this right now.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t doing anything, Joel. And we aren¡¯t going to do anything. Nothing you don¡¯t want to do.¡±


    His fists balled. He bit his lip.


    She smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s a friend, right? You¡¯ve got someone special?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ kind of. Not really.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saving yourself.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He thought about that. ¡°Well, no, I didn¡¯t think I was.¡±


    ¡°You are though, right?¡±


    ¡°I guess I am. I never thought about it that way before.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re lucky.¡± Her smile softened. ¡°Do they know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably not.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Her head tilted to one side. She nodded. ¡°I think they do. They¡¯re still lucky anyway. Even if they don¡¯t know it.¡±


    His eyes lowered.


    She said, ¡°Did you go to leave a message?¡±


    He looked back up. He hadn¡¯t thought of that. If he left a message at the gate of Hopes,¡¯ would they take it? If he left it there, she might be able to get it.


    His voice was firmer. ¡°There¡¯s something I have to do.¡±


    She smiled as she nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± he sat in front of the screen. Before he opened the tunnel he looked in her face. ¡°Can I trust you?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she smiled, ¡°Of course you can.¡± But her head was shaking. She pressed her lips together. Her eyes were insistent as she shook her head once more.


    He understood. ¡°Can you get us something to eat?¡± Her smile spread. ¡°Maybe some eggs?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Joel. Of course. I could fix a salad, too.¡±


    He was about to tell her ¡®no.¡¯ Quickly she said, ¡°I know a great dressing for salad. It takes me quite a long time to make it, though.¡±


    She was giving him time. ¡°That sounds perfect.¡±


    She nodded and picked up the tray. ¡°Eggs and salad. And I¡¯ll make toast.¡±


    He knew he shouldnt shouldn¡¯t trust her but he had no choice.

 22: Tunnel

    JOEL OPENED THE tunnel. His nerves jangled at every step. Every move from point to point down the digital warren of rabbit-holes to get to Hopes.¡¯ In his mind he composed a message. Then he rejected it. Then he composed another.


    He got to the infranet and finally he reached the gateway of Hopes.¡¯


    As soon as he connected to the unwelcoming ¡®Welcome¡¯ page, the annoying clown popped up.


    ¡°Data is noise.¡± He grinned.


    Oh, joy, Joel thought, impatient, The whole ¡®Things can change, I can change, Be the change¡¯ bullshit isn¡¯t enough now. Now we have to do the fucking articles of their foil-hat faith.


    He bit his lip as he said, ¡°Understanding tunes it.¡± He hoped that would be all. But no.


    The clown said, ¡°Information is powerless.¡±


    Joel resisted a groan as he said, ¡°Understanding sharpens it.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He was ready for the next part, ¡°Knowledge is in darkness.¡±


    And wearily he replied, ¡°Understanding lights it.¡±


    Then, he and the clown said together, ¡°Wisdom is peace.¡±


    The clown smiled, and paused. Then, ¡°What do you seeking in Hopes¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Somebody left a message for me.¡±


    The clown nodded.


    Joel started, ¡°She,¡± the clown frowned and raised a pointing finger. ¡°They,¡± Joel said. The clown¡¯s smile returned. Thinking he¡¯d probably blown any chance he might have had of getting any help right there, he said, ¡°I wanted to leave a message for¡­¡± he hesitated, ¡°That user. Them. If that could be possible.¡± He seethed inside as the clown grinned at him.


    ¡°The visitor will be made aware at the first opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Do you¡­ have you any idea when that might be? Have they¡­¡± He wanted to ask if she had been back since his last visit. Or since she left that message. Or anything. Anything at all.


    The clown said, ¡°The visitor will be made aware. Your wishes and intention will be communicated. At the first chance that arises.¡±


    ¡°Have you any idea, any clue when or if that chance would be,¡± He desperately wanted to know if they had any idea about her whereabouts. And he felt sure that they did. He was certain they knew more than they were telling him. But he wasn¡¯t going to get any more out of them.


    ¡°Okay. I haven¡¯t recorded a message. May I do that now?¡±


    ¡°They will know that you came. They will see that you were here. And how much you care. That much is evident. Is there something more important that you wished to communicate?¡±


    There was, but Joeldidn¡¯t know how to say it.

 23: Soldier

    AISHA RETURNED WITH the tray. She said, ¡°She¡¯s a lucky girl.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°To be thought of like that, the way you think of her. That¡¯s something.¡±


    ¡°How do you know how I think of her?¡±


    ¡°If I couldn¡¯t tell by the look on your face, I¡¯d know by how much effort you put into that.¡±


    Wearily he asked her, ¡°Doesn¡¯t somebody think of you like that?¡±


    ¡°Joel, I¡¯ve been rendered. There¡¯s no reason for anyone to ever think of me again. That way or any other way.¡±


    ¡°Rendered?¡±


    ¡°I was taken out of my body. Put into a bot.¡±


    ¡°This bot.¡±


    ¡°This bot and others. There are eight girls here. Eight girls and twelve bodies. Different personalities, different bodies. We¡¯re mixed and matched. Adapted to an individual visitor.¡±


    ¡°And this is your life now?¡±


    She looked down for a moment. ¡°Yes.¡± Then her face came back up. ¡°I had a life before. Obviously.¡± She blinked. Then smiled. ¡°But this was a good opportunity for my family.¡±


    ¡°You have a family?¡±


    ¡°I did. I¡¯d prefer not to talk about that, though. If you don¡¯t mind. Actual emotion is pretty inconvenient.¡±


    Feeling numb, he took a sip of the cold beer. It wasn¡¯t his first taste of bee but, like each time before, he wondered how long it would take to get used to the bitterness.


    He asked her, ¡°You¡¯re not drinking?¡±


    ¡°I got it to keep you company. Actually drinking, though, it¡¯s,¡± she hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s kind of inconvenient.¡±


    ¡°Does it do anything? If you drink?¡±


    She waved a finger. ¡°Nothing good. Only things that involve maintenance.¡± And she smiled. ¡°Usually I do, but I like you. I¡¯d rather be real with you. Or as real as I can be, at least.¡±


    ¡°You are inside a bot, then?¡± He was thinking about the Gabriel. About sitting across the table from him. Then being made to stand. Stretch and move. He was thinking that he knew how Aisha might feel. But he realized he didn¡¯t. What he knew was how the bot felt.


    The light dropped from her face.


    ¡°Kind of. I¡¯m a person, or I was. And now I live inside the bots, as you call them. I inhabit the bot for my work.¡±


    ¡°And this is your work. What you¡¯re doing with me.¡±


    She kept her eyes on him as she nodded.


    ¡°And so, will you be reporting back about me to¡­¡± he hesitated, ¡°To whoever it is here?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± but she nodded as she said it. Her eyebrow raised. He understood. Their conversations could be monitored.


    She looked at the blank screen. ¡°Did you do you wanted to do?¡±


    He nodded. Then he realized, ¡°You knew¡­¡± she held up a hand to stop him. He narrowed his eyes. She motioned for a pen and paper. He shrugged. Quickly she hunted in the drawers. She came up with colored pencils and a drawing pad.


    She set the pad on the table in front of him. With a colored pencil she began to write. Her big scrawl was hard to read. Joel was puzzled. H thought she could barely even write. Maybe English wasn¡¯t her first language. Maybe it wasn¡¯t even her first alphabet.


    He looked in her face and then he saw. She wasn¡¯t looking at the pad. Her head was turned away so that she couldn¡¯t see it. Writing that way she could communicate with him without being observed.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    But, if she didn¡¯t look at the pad, he wouldn¡¯t be able to answer. He couldn¡¯t communicate back to her.


    She wrote, ¡®Don¡¯t tell me about her. They¡¯re looking for a companion. For you.¡¯ She turned the page to cover it. Then she looked down to see if he had understood.


    She looked away again and wrote. ¡®You don¡¯t want it to be her.¡¯


    She turned the page again to cover what she had written. There was a determination in her eyes as she looked back to him. She tapped her finger on the pad. For emphasis. I don¡¯t want it to be her? he thought. His eyebrows tightened as he shrugged. He shook his head, pleading. Eventually he mouthed, Why not?


    Aishas¡¯s eyes blazed. She pointed to herself. Her hands swept down from her face to indicate herself. Her body. He understood.


    What Aisha was telling him sank in like a rock falling in dark water. You don¡¯t want it to be her, because then she¡¯ll be like me.


    ~~


    She said, ¡°I have a job to do. Results, you know? I have to deliver satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°Look, I¡­¡±


    She put a finger to his lips. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be that way. Although it still can be if you¡¯d like to.¡± Her eyes lowered and then batted open at him. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±


    ¡°You have to say that, right?¡±


    ¡°I have to say something like it.¡± She nodded. ¡°But I don¡¯t have to mean it.¡±


    ¡°Now you are just saying that.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    He didn¡¯t know what to say.


    She shrugged and saved him. ¡°So, ¡®satisfaction¡¯?¡±


    He looked at her, puzzled. She said, ¡°Let¡¯s dance.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t dance.¡±


    ¡°Good. So.I¡¯ll teach you. It will be good. You¡¯ll like it. I promise.¡±


    Before he found a way to say, ¡®No,¡¯ she found music. Nineteen eighties music that he¡¯d forgotten about. A song called Let¡¯s Dance. A rhythm that jerked and slid. Slunk in a way that his body moved. They danced. They moved across the floor. Moved to a space where he felt them flow.


    When she put his hands on her hips she sighed. Her eyes sank and burned and he laughed. He thought about moonlight, dancing in moonlight.


    With a beat and a glow in her face, she told him, ¡°Feel it. Feel it here.¡± Her stomach rolled. ¡°I dance. For you. All you do is you appreciate. And demand.¡± She moved away. ¡°Show me. Show me what you feel.¡±


    He wanted her to drink with him, but he didn¡¯t say it. As his mind relaxed he began to think about all that had happened since he boarded out of school to Honey¡¯s place.


    Almost like a blow he felt the beer and the tiredness washed over him, covered him like a wave. Aisha¡¯s hand softened on his stomach. She looked up.


    ¡°You need rest, soldier.¡± Joel blinked. He wasn¡¯t sure about where this would go. She put a finger to his lips. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of you, okay? I¡¯m here to help you rest and relax.¡± He frowned. She smiled. ¡°Let me do my job.¡±


    She took him into the bathroom and ran the shower. After she slid off his jumpsuit she shrugged out of hers. Underneath she wore a bodystocking. She kept that on as she guided him into the shower and stepped in with him.


    In the warm cascade she ran her firm hands over his body to wash him.


    As she lathered him she said, ¡°All this, soldier. It¡¯s all you. No implants, no enhancement, no extras. Its all you.¡± She looked in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re something. You know that?¡±


    As she moved back to take a look she shook her head. ¡°Lucky girl.¡±


    She toweled him and led him back to the room. ¡°Get up on the table. I¡¯ll give you a proper massage.¡±


    Her hands ran expertly over his body as she oiled him, stretched and pulled his limbs and pressed the kinks out of his muscles. She stood over him and slung his leg over her shoulder. Popped all the joints from his toes to his hip. Next she hauled up the other leg and did the same. Then she rolled his spine and made every vertebra pop.


    She massaged his fingers and the whole of his hands and wrists. After his toes she flipped him onto his front and massaged his back, muscle by muscle. After she reached his head, she turned him over again.


    His face, his neck and his skull felt like she took him apart and then with perfect skill and precision, put him back together again. Cleaned and refreshed.


    A full service massage. She cleaned his body, oiled his skin again, gently rubbing the oil into the pores. She found gentle music, set the lights and brought a cover. When he opened his eyes and his mouth to speak, she put her finger on his lips and closed her eyes.


    ¡°You have your job, soldier. I don¡¯t know what it is. It doesn¡¯t matter to me. I have my job. Let me do my job. Okay? For you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t believe he was going to be able to sleep with her voluptuous body anywhere near him. After she covered him with a sheet, she laid her warm body on top it, over him. He heard her whisper, ¡°Lucky girl.¡±


    Her warmth and her steady breathing soothed him away to a deep sleep.


    In the morning he awoke alone. He looked around for her. The sweet perfumes of the oils and of her were still with him. He stretched as he got up to shower. He felt an inch taller. And strong. He felt powerful. More than he had ever felt before.


    And when he stepped out of the shower, rubbing his hair with the thick white towel, she was there in his room. She had laid out a tray of breakfast for him. She touched his neck and traced the line of his jaw.


    ¡°Thank you, soldier.¡±


    Before he could speak, she touched his lips with her finger. Then she stretched up to kiss him on the lips. Just long enough that it ended too soon. And she was gone.


    He wondered if she would she be back that night, or if he would survive long enough to find out. But none of that troubled him now.


    He had been in a kind of contact with Honey. The talk with the gatekeeper at Hopes¡¯ had encouraged him. People there cared about her. He even thought they might care about him. A bit.


    He had a strong feeling about the games. Or the ¡®process,¡¯ or whatever it was. Not a good feeling.

 24: Ninja

    IN THE GAMES ROOM, Carter brayed, ¡°Those playpets have got stamina, there¡¯s no problem there.¡± Molson didn¡¯t react. Ben¡¯s eyelids drooped. Joel took a breath, expecting a long stream of brag and crowing, but that was all there was.


    When he didn¡¯t get a reaction from the others, Carter just shrugged.


    As they all kitted up there was an atmosphere. With even Carter being quieter than usual, Joel wondered if there was something he didn¡¯t know about. Then he wondered if they¡¯d all compared notes on his absence at the dining table the evening before.


    If they had all been paired with a companion for the evening, he wondered why they were all so subdued.


    After everything he had seen and learned, Joel wasn¡¯t at all sure that he wanted to win this process, whatever it was. He had a deep unease about what ¡®winning¡¯ would lead to. But he knew for certain that he didn¡¯t want to be one of the eliminated participants.


    Ben came near to help Joel fit his exoframe.


    ¡°Six to five to four. Looks like we may not be too much longer about this process.¡±


    Joel helped him tighten up his own rig. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    Ben lowered his voice to ask, ¡°You remember we talked.¡± His eyes flitted around the room. ¡°Think we could take the other two?¡±


    Joel suppressed a sigh. ¡°It isn¡¯t us who decide which sections are team games.¡± He lowered his voice again, though he wasn¡¯t sure why. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure we really pick our teammates.¡± He looked into Ben¡¯s face. Ben¡¯s eyes still flicked and fled. ¡°Not since the first game, at least.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something else at work here, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Ben sounded sullen. Sulky. He was in the last four, but his face said that he was beaten already. Joel didn¡¯t want to be around that.


    ¡°You have to follow your instinct and do your best. That¡¯s what the process is for.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Just like a game.¡±


    Joel understood. He was thinking about what happened to the ones who didn¡¯t reach the end. Again, Joel had to push the memory of those jars away. He pulled down his visor.


    The swirl into the village scene was harsher than it had been, and darker.


    LEVEL UP :NINJA SKILLS UPGRADE


    WEAPONS UPGRADE


    BASIC MAGIC SKILLS ACQUIRED


    HEALTH BONUS + + + + +


    A scroll of text followed after that, but Joel was distracted checking out the swag. He was interested in the magic but, apart from seeing some ornate scrolls, he couldn¡¯t get any idea of what to do with it.


    The whole village was gathered. Everybody stood still and straight with their heads bowed. Joel, Ban, Carter and Molson were in dark, samurai robes. They stood in a line on a raised platform, along with the village elders. A somber ceremony had begun.


    The spike on top of the Golden Horseman¡¯s helmet glinted in the morning sun. Wraiths of black smoke rose from the ceremonial pyre in the center of the village square. The warrior in his full armor was stood, lifelike, facing away. Slowly his body was pulled on a sled, toward the smoldering pit.


    Ben, Carter, Molson and Joel all stood in ceremonial robes at the back of the platform. Their function was to honor the fallen warrior. Joel commed to all of the interns. Where¡¯s the old man? The one who talked about the ¡®treasure¡¯?


    Ben commed back, We can¡¯t do anything until after the ceremony. The samurai are touchy about their rituals and their demons and gods.


    The Golden warrior moved in a slow glide until he reached the edge of the pyre. The sun burst off his helmet and his huge shoulder plates. Joel knew that the others were painfully dazzled, just as he was. None of them moved. Even with his eyes closed, the intensity of the glare was a painful glow that seared through his eyelids.


    Squinting and opening his eyes by the smallest possible crack, Joel watched. The great golden samurai slid away, toward the smoke. At the edge of the pit, he slowly turned. Rotated. When he stopped he looked right in Joel¡¯s face. Through the square holes in the center of the gold coins over the horseman¡¯s eyes, Joel felt his stare.


    With a shock, as the warrior fell straight back into the flames, Joel recognized him.


    The image was hard to shake. The eyes he saw through the holes in the coins were his own. Gripping on to reality, or whatever passed for it here, he told himself the others could well have been shown images of themselves.


    The golden warrior¡¯s eyes could have shown a different view to every one of them. Another version of their fate.


    He looked around at the others. All three of them were looking back at him. The black smoke and the crackle rose as the golden warrior¡¯s armor melted and his body was consumed in the fire.


    Did they all see themselves in the golden Warrior¡¯s face, or did everybody see me?

 25: Quest

    BEN pointed. ¡°THERE HE IS,¡±


    The old man with the wispy white hair. The one who spoke out of turn was slipping quietly away from the side of the gathering. Hunched over and shuffling in his gray robes, the thin old man was surprisingly quick.


    Ben first, then Carter, Joel and Molson slipped along to follow him though the village. Ducking through the crowd, keeping close to the walls, darting from doorway to doorway, they stayed low and kept quiet.


    Often the old man stopped abruptly, turned to peer suspiciously behind him, before he scurried along again. He wove his way down steaming back alleys, through darker passageways. To keep out of sight, the four contestants were having to stay farther behind.


    Then they were in a silent, empty inner courtyard with a bleak and simple shrine in the center. There was no sign of him. Three doorways led out of the square, plus the entrance they came in by.


    Ben commed, Three of us can take a doorway each. Com when one of us finds something. They looked at each other. Carter¡¯s face was set firm, We stay together.


    They all looked at Joel. He commed, It¡¯s the shrine.


    He walked around it. A dusty and untended Buddha sat grinning. Some dry twigs and stalks were littered around him. Joel watched the magic scrolls in his inventory as he paced around the shrine. Nothing happened, they didn¡¯t illuminate or pulse. He couldn¡¯t see a feature on the shrine.


    He stood in front of the Buddha, looked down at where the statue seemed to be looking. In the dust, a symbol was marked on the floor. Two lines, swashes that looked like a dragon. Joel stood on the mark.


    At the base of the shrine was a sprinkling of salt. The scattered white crystals were only on the ground, none were on the shrine. Not even on the side or the step. And the spread seemed to go under the base.


    ¡°It¡¯s here,¡± Joel said. He stood on the mark in the dust. He looked for something to push. He didn¡¯t know if he needed a magic spell, or to say a magic word. He looked down at his feet to see that they were either side of the dragon mark in the dust.


    As his head bowed, with a creaking of stone, the statue of the Buddha tipped backward. A dim shaft of light made the Buddha¡¯s grin seem to widen as he tilted back. Beneath him, the entrance to a dark staircase yawned open.


    A chill blew out of the stairway. As Joel started down the narrow stone steps into the gloom. Ben commed, Man, are you sure? Joel nodded, but he didn¡¯t look back. At the bottom there was almost no light. As an afterthought, while he waited for his eyes to adjust, he commed to all the others, You don¡¯t have to follow.


    He judged that this was a ¡®quest¡¯ phase of the game, with the main prize at the end. If cobwebs and a chill made them want to hang back, that would be okay with him.


    Ahead of him was a narrow tunnel. It was hardly high enough to stand up. The walls and roof looked like a knotted weave of gnarled and knotted branches. Tree roots, he realized, the tunnel was formed of tree roots.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He kept low and moved as quickly as he could through the tunnel. the others had followed him down. The light grew even dimmer as he heard the statue swing back to shut off the top of the staircase.


    Spiders dropped from the tree roots above them. Each writhing spider had dozens of beady black eyes, bodies twice as big as a fist, abdomens twice as big again, and long, long, furry legs. They jumped around to wrap Joel and the others in their web silk. the sticky strands were too strong to break.


    While they all struggled to free themselves from the webs, Carter took his long sword and cut one of the spiders in half. As it split wide, writhing and kicking, its abdomen spilled out another dozen spiders.


    Bad move! Ben commed.


    Thanks for the tip, Carter commed back. Molson sliced with a smaller blade, cutting all the legs off a spider. Cutting as close to the body as he could, he cut first one side, then the other. She won¡¯t give us much more trouble, he commed to everyone.


    Joel struggled on through the webs. It was slow going. Every spider he encountered he chopped off the legs. Ben and Carter did the same. Soon the floor was covered in the writhing bodies of the beasts.


    Don¡¯t step on them, Molson commed.


    Clambering close to the walls, Joel held on to the tree roots. The limbs were disturbingly cold and clammy. They were so slimy Joel was sure that some of them moved as he grabbed them.


    Then, as he clung to a root to swing over a pulsating pile of spiders¡¯ bodies, the root he was holding wrapped itself around him. He pulled himself free just in time. Looking back he saw that the roots were coming alive and going after the others, too.


    Carter, naturally, was about to chop his way through. Not even comming, Joel shouted, ¡°DON¡¯T!¡±


    Carter had cut into a thick, gnarled root. Where his blade had split it, it divided. Now two roots entwined around him instead of one.


    Skipping and jumping with ninja skill to avoid the spider bodies, Joel dashed back. He used all his strength to pull the roots back and give Carter just enough space to pull free.


    ¡°Why did you do that? You could have just gone on.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re best off with as big a team as we can have right now.¡± It wasn¡¯t completely true. Joel¡¯s hunch was that if the roots were able to consume one of them, they would get a taste. And they could easily swallow them all, for sure.


    Carter was winded and Joel helped steady him while he stepped around the wriggling spider torsos and they ducked the swinging roots.


    Ben and Molson kept close behind. At the end of the tunnel was an arched door. Joel reached for the huge, black, iron handle. A shrouded figure, a faceless human form rose in front of him.


    The figure had no face, only darkness where a mouth would open. It held its hands toward him. Eyeballs rolled in the palms. When it began to moan, Joel¡¯s stomach quivered. He was sure that cutting it would be disastrous. The figure leaned closer. He tried a magic spell from his inventory.


    He used up a spell. It did nothing. All he could think of was to treat the thing as a ghost.


    Covering his eyes in the crook of his elbow, he leaned straight through the apparition to grab the door handle. The shuddering, damp chill that ran from his hand, down his arm and through his whole body was like a desperate cry of depression in ice-cold liquid form.


    He leaned through the spectral figure and its hollow, hopeless moan spread deep inside him. Almost in tears he pressed on to reach the handle. He found it and his strength ebbed. The mournful wail inside him dragged and pulled at him like quicksand. The effort to turn the door handle drained him. He had only his weight to shoulder the door open. It didn¡¯t feel like it was going to be enough.


    He rolled, hoping for more leverage. The crack in the doorway widened just enough for him to fall through.


    MAGIC SKILLS INTERMEDIATE + 5


    MAGIC GOLDEN ROPE


    HEALTH BONUS ++


    A SECRET

 26: Treasure

    JOEL LANDED ON A cold rock in darkness. Pulling his senses back together he commed to all the others to let them know what he had done to pass through the door at the end of the tunnel.


    Molson came through the door first. When Carter stumbled through the doorway, his cheeks were hollow and his face was pale. Joel felt for him. As Ben crawled through into the darkness on his hands and knees, he disturbed some stones.


    All four of them listened as the stones rolled, bounced and then fell, leaving tiny echoes behind them. They all listened, but they never heard the pebbles reach a floor. Joel and Ben felt on the ground for some small rocks. Joel tipped one, rolling it straight in front of him.


    It puttered and clopped, like it picked up speed on a short, steep slope. Then it bounced.


    Then silence.


    The light was so faint Joel could hardly see where the other three stood. Carter said, ¡°Has anyone got a spell for light?¡±


    Ben picked up two rocks and banged them together. Carter laughed and he shouted, ¡°Man, why not start evolution all over?¡± A small tumble of stones accompanied the echo of his voice.


    Molson¡¯s voice was low and hard. ¡°Careful with the noise you¡¯re making.¡± Carter glared at him. Molson said, ¡°You could start a rockfall.¡±


    Joel said, ¡°Maybe we do have a spell for light. Check your inventories.¡± And, ¡°Did everyone get a secret?¡± they all nodded. He opened his.


    The treasure is precious and rare. For no man to own and for all to adore.


    Ben read his out. It was the same. Carter nodded, so was his.


    Above them about twenty feet ahead, a green flame danced. At first the light seemed to show that they were on the rocky shore of a wide lake with small islands. As their eyes adjusted, they saw that the lake was merely an abyss and the islands were just rocks, hanging in the cold, dark space.


    The green flame had a shape, like a sprite with big, red, almond shaped eyes. Joel clearly saw a pair of stubby arms and a crown of green flame. On the far side of the chasm, on a steep rocky ledge like the one they stood on, a stone rolled aside to reveal an opening in the rock wall.


    ¡°We just have to jump from rock to rock to get across,¡± Carter said. ¡°How hard can it be. Right?¡±


    Molson swept his open hand. ¡°After you.¡±


    Carter leered as he jumped to the nearest rock, then to another. As he looked for a path across, the sprite threw a bolt of green lightning. It split the rock Carter stood on. He was just able to make a leap to another rock, but it was ten feet lower down. Immediately he jumped sideways to land where he could reach another rock.


    Carter jumped from rock to rock, until he was almost at the far side. He had only one jump to make. The sprite seemed to grin as it blasted his only way forward into dust.


    ¡°He¡¯ll have to come back to go forward,¡± Ben said.


    And Molson added, ¡°If we wait while he does that, there won¡¯t be a way across.¡±


    Ben jumped. He had seen a route. Joel followed him. Molson took a wider path.


    Joel commed, Put on your cam displays. Seeing another route could save any one of us. We all need all the help we can get here.


    All three cam views tacked in miniature around Joel¡¯s visor display.


    Joel wondered if the demon would be able to attack all four of them at once. The rock under his feet split and he was barely able to get a hand-hold on a stone beneath him. He pulled himself up fast and ninja-sprang sideways to another perch, then up, then across.


    Molson timed his jumps perfectly, but his path was wide and that made him slow.


    Ben was erratic and panicky. Every stepping stone he landed on got blasted immediately. He was working hard but not progressing far forward.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Carter meanwhile was still working his way sideways. No farther from the other side, but not much closer, either.


    Seeing all the islands near their destination getting blown apart, Joel looked hard at the rock face ahead. He saw an opening, a single cave, lower down and there were a dozen ways to get there. Thinking it was worth a chance, he wanted to com to the others, but he could never risk being still long enough. As he made the jump nearest to the entrance, he called out.


    Then he jumped. Hoping. He got a foot hold. He was steady. The demon wasn¡¯t shooting green lightning at him. Now he just had to hope there was a route from the cave mouth to their destination. Whatever that was.


    Quickly he commed, I¡¯ll let you know if this works. As he looked back, he saw all three of the others were making their way down already. Not even Carter or Molson rated their chances of beating the fire-sprite to make the crossing.


    Peering into dripping the cave, Joel saw light glimmering far down the rough tunnel.


    Then, on his display,


    HEALTH BONUS +++


    A BOOK OF SIGNS


    The signs were symbols, next to what seemed to be Japanese or Chinese script characters. Next to each was a drawing. They seemed to be mostly animals. He noticed one that looked like the symbol on the floor by the Buddha¡¯s shrine where they first stepped into this netherworld.


    When Carter, Molson and Ben reached the ledge, he led them into the cave.


    A monk stood and blocked their path. He wore a reddish brown robe with a large hood. His hands were clasped in front of his chest, his head was bowed, and his face was in shadow. He stood still until they all stood still in front of him.


    Joel clasped his hands in the same way as the monk and bowed. The monk sprang back and raised a hand with a finger pointed. Without looking up he drew four vertical lines, parallel in the air in front of him. As he drew, green fire burned the lines in the air. He drew five lines horizontally across them to make a grid.


    He bowed to Joel and stepped back.


    Joel had an idea. He looked in the book of signs. By the sign for the dragon and the drawing was a script character. The character was complicated and he wasn¡¯t sure of his skills in calligraphy, but he attempted to make the character. He drew with his finger in the air, over the grid.


    As he drew, his marks blazed with white flames over the green grid. When he was finished, the monk bowed low. Then he looked up. He had no face. He bowed again. Another eight monks stepped out of the shadows to join him.


    They all took out their swords. Joel felt more than saw Carter reaching for a weapon. Urgently, Joel put back his hand to say, Don¡¯t. Miraculously, Carter took the hint and relaxed.


    The eight monks with their swords raised formed two lines along the cave wall. The first monk led Joel. Ben, Carter and Molson followed.


    The monk led them into a tall chamber. Arched and almost gothic in shape, the space was constructed or grown, Joel couldn¡¯t tell which, but all from the trunks and roots of trees. Dim, flickering, ghoslty light was waved and thrown from fat candles that burned long, green flames.


    At the back of the chamber on a raised stone platform, the old man with the white wisps of hair was putting on a green robe with wide sleeves and elaborate embroidery. Joel and the others were quiet as they came in.


    Behind the group, the monks filed in. A stone door slid shut to seal them in.


    The old man put on a wide hat like a shallow cone then stood in the center of the platform. He pressed his hands together like he was in prayer and he bowed forward. Joel couldn¡¯t believe that he hadn¡¯t seen them come in. It could only mean that he didn¡¯t care.


    Joel realized that wasn¡¯t it either. As the old man straightened up, Joel saw him look out at where they stood. He expected them.


    ~~


    The old man¡¯s voice was as dry and as cracked as his papery skin. He addressed the four candidates. ¡°Many have come,¡± his head shook, ¡°Many, many have tried to take our precious treasure.¡± Behind him, light slowly revealed a carved green column.


    ¡°If that was jade,¡± Ben whispered, ¡°Then it would be worth a fortune. And not a small fortune. A big one.¡±


    The column seemed to burn. To twist and to glow like a flame. Carter said ¡°Is it the shape as it rotates, or is it actually moving?¡±


    ¡°Is it stone or a flame?¡± Ben asked. Nobody replied.


    The old man closed his eyes as he intoned, ¡°Our life¡¯s work here has been for centuries to worship and to protect our jade fire. It is our duty, and our honor.¡±


    The eight monks formed a circle around the group.


    The old man¡¯s arms spread wide. ¡°We are her protectors and our lives belong to her.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t look good,¡± Carter said. ¡°We all lift our swords. We have our daggers, too, that we can cross-draw. We take two monks each.¡±


    ¡°Good as far as it goes,¡± Ben said, ¡°But I think the fact that they¡¯re already dead is going to be an issue here.¡±


    ¡°And we will guard the goddess with our body, and our mind, and our spirit.¡±


    The monks raised their swords in front of their bowed hoods.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make the first move,¡± Joel said, quickly. ¡°And don¡¯t try to kill them.¡± He added, ¡°Use the ninja skills and take their swords if you can. That¡¯s all.¡±


    All at once, the monks¡¯ swords cut the air to point down. The group were surrounded by blades. Joel reached to grab at the sword handle of the nearest monk. Holding on, he jumped in a mid-air cartwheel. Keeping hold as he leaped over the monk, he held tight to the sword handle from behind. He forced the sword down. Then, pulling the monk back by his arms, Joel rolled backward to the ground. The monk wheeled over him and Joel had his sword.


    Quickly he stood. He and the monk bowed to one another.


    The monk¡¯s robe drifted, fluttering, empty to the floor.


    On the platform, the green sculpture was definitely moving with a life of its own. To Joel it seemd to be taking on a female human form that he recognized.

 27: Goddess

    DISARMING THE SECOND MONK was not so easy. Joel jumped in front of him, held the hilt of his sword and pivoted, twice. The monk raised the sword and pulled it back over his head.


    The radiant green form on the platform stood behind the old man. From the corner of his eye, Joel registered a shock of recognition. He knew her. It was ridiculous. Impossible. He dismissed the thought.


    Still holding on, Joel spun. With his back to the monk, he pulled to drag the monk over him and to the floor. Lying on his back, the monk kept his grip of the sword. With a leap he ran up the nearest wall. Joel swung to clasp his legs around the monk¡¯s waist. The sword swished through the air. Joel ducked, but the blade caught the side of his head.


    He ignored the warm trickle down the side of his neck as he somersaulted to land and roll over and over. Still he and the monk held the long grip of the sword. until Joel rolled again and the blade stuck into the ground. Joel was ready and the monk was off balance. Twisting, he turned with the monk. He gripped the sword and he pulled the monk¡¯s arm until he had possession.


    The monk stood, put his arms together and bowed low. Joel bowed with him. And the robe fell. Empty. Only Moslon had defeated both of his monks, but Carter was soon done, and Ben was not long behind.


    The green statue was not only smoke. As it moved the old man¡¯s face shone. He watched like he couldn¡¯t tear his eyes away. He bowed his head and began to kneel. ¡°Jade Fire,¡± he said, ¡°Our goddess has returned at last.¡±


    Her lovely face was shadowed with sadness. And it was definitely Honey¡¯s face.


    ~~


    The goddess must appear as Honey to me, and as somebody else to each of the others, Joel reasoned. He checked that other three cam displays in his visor. Nope. They were all Honey.


    The old man moved to the front of the platform. Raising a hand, with the fingers pointed up, he swept his other hand in front of him. As he turned his raised hand, a luminous green mist swirled around his robed body. His eyes glowed and he stared right at them. Sparks crackled in the green mist as it wreathed in intricate patterns.


    With a knee raised and his palms down, he made two throwing gestures.. Puffs of mist billowed into columns either side of him. The columns thickened and the green faces of foxes appeared at the tops. Robed like the old man, two six-foot high foxes bounded off the platform.


    Tongues lolled from their wide, grinning jaws as they leaped at the four candidates. Carter swung a sword at the nearest of them. His blade cut through the green smoke. The mist thickened back into shape and the fox¡¯s head tilted like it was laughing at him.


    He swung again and cut the fox in two lengthwise. The two columns of smoke swirled like liquid. They formed up to make two foxes, both about the same size as the first one. As he lunged again, they seemed to actually laugh. In a single stroke he cut them both horizontally into two.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The top half of one joined the bottom half of the other. The two remaining halves formed up, wrapping themselves around Ben. The mist transformed Ben into a fox. Carter grinned as he cut the first fox into two again lengthwise. One half formed back into the laughing fox. The other half slipped behind him and turned into Ben.


    When Carter spun, around, he cut the fox in half at the waist.


    But he cut the wrong fox. As Ben¡¯s twitching bisected corpse fell convulsing to the floor, the mists all swirled. The thick column divided quickly into two columns. One of them was wrapped around Molson. The columns formed into two foxes. Carter whirled around, facing Molson.


    Without hesitation, Molson raised his sword and split Carter in two from his head to his pelvis.


    ~~


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that!¡± Joel yelled.


    Molson said, ¡°You saw what happened to Ben,¡± but his voice was unnervingly calm. He approached Joel, moving like a cat. Like a hunter. Joel sidestepped.


    As Molson advanced on Joel, he pulled two of the monks¡¯ swords from the ground. ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one who had a meeting yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡± Joel had to duck as the blade slashed the air where his neck had been. ¡°I mean, yes. I was taken yesterday to meet¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t take his eyes from Molson¡¯s. He knew that could be fatal. He stepped back. Reaching out for swords, there were none near enough to grab.


    ¡°I know.¡± Molson said, ¡°I know all about it. I know about your deal.¡± He lunged forward and brought a blade straight down. Joel was flustered as he dodged.


    ¡°What deal? I don¡¯t have a deal.¡±


    Two green foxes stood tall and circled around Molson and Joel.


    ¡°You fooled Ben and Carter and those other saps.¡± He stabbed. Joel had to guess which way to jump. Still no swords in his grasp. His ninja skills and Molson¡¯s were at the same level. And Molson was strong. And very athletic.


    One of the foxes formed itself to look like Molson. The other like Joel. They danced around the pair of them. Neither Joel nor Molson let their eyes off each other for an instant.


    Molson¡¯s blade swished at waist height. ¡°You never fooled me, outlander.¡± A ninja jump was Joel¡¯s only option. But timing it was hard. He felt like he¡¯d left it too late. Everything seemed to slow down. Joel didn¡¯t think that was a good sign.


    His feet were wide apart and only just cleared the blade. The other sword stabbed and just missed his crotch. If Molson just thrust upward, he¡¯d be bisected. He grabbed Moslon¡¯s wrist.


    Gripping that sword hand, he flipped. The blade went into the ground. Molson still had the other sword. Joel twisted and brought up his knee. Kicking down, he slammed his heel into Molson¡¯s ear.


    Toppling to the ground, Molson landed on his shoulder. The shoulder of the arm that stretched out with the sword. Joel jumped back. Molson thrust upward with the sword. Straight for Joel¡¯s heart.


    He kicked Moslon¡¯s wrist. In a slow arc, his foot and his leg followed through. Molson¡¯s arm was deflected. His wrist turned, bent unnaturally. The gleaming blade flashed in the green light.


    Half the length of the sword was buried in Molson¡¯s throat. Molson shuddered and shook. His hands twitched, his eyes rolled, his legs thrashed, and his feet hammered on the ground.


    Joel looked up. Honey¡¯s eyebrows were knotted. Her hands reached out toward him.


    A monk stood in the shadows at the back of the platform. The old man stepped in front of Honey. His head lifted.


    The scene began to fade as the old man slowly shook his head.


    Level complete


    Health restored


    Joel was wrapped indarknessand silence, colder and deeper than heever knew before, like a shroud made of fear.

 28: Dogtrain

    IN SILENCE AND total darkness, Joel¡¯s sense of balance drifted and began to slip away. He put out an arm to steady himself. That made it worse. Sensations and sounds inside his body seemed to be amplified.


    The complete lack of sound disturbed him. Shuffling and tapping his foot on the polished floor, he didn¡¯t catch the slightest sound.


    He couldn¡¯t catch any of the tight metallic, jagged zing that he associated with even the best phase-shifting audio inversions. Not even the faint liquidity of sound that hot predictive AI noise maskers made. As he lifted his hand to one ear to move the earpiece away, his balance was unsteady.


    He scraped the floor with his foot softly as he pulled the earphone a half-inch away. ¡°Ah, ah,¡± The grinning voice made him jump and he let go the headphone. He recognized the voice. It seemed to come from inside his head.


    Shaken, he caught a faint whiff of the polished floor in the gaming room. He focused a moment on his sense of smell. That brought him a sense of reality. It helped him to relax. His balance was better but he still felt unsafe.


    He concentrated on the weight of the headset and visor. The sim suit, exo frame and gloves. The resistance that the fabrics made to his movement.


    He wanted to take off the headset completely. Before he lifted the visor, out of the darkness, Molson approached him.


    Joel physically reeled. Trying to steady himself, he lurched forward. his hand was out. When it reached Molson, it went straight through. Still unsteady and confused, Joel said, ¡°You¡®re not here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here in virtu.¡±


    ¡°Not physically?¡±


    ¡°Physically, no.¡±


    ¡°Where are you? Physically.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not do that now.¡± Molson told him, ¡°The Gabriel said to me that for anyone else to win, there was only one way. That was to kill you.¡± Molson¡¯s face darkened. ¡°I was pretty sure that he was lying.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think there was ever any way. Not really.¡±


    ¡°So, why do you think he told you that?¡±


    ¡°I think he told me because I was the only one who would stand a chance of bringing it off. I could have made it happen. I had the training. But still you beat me.¡±


    ¡°I guess he knows what he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°He wanted you to be fully prepared.¡±


    Joel nodded. ¡°Do you know what it is that he wants me prepared for?¡±


    Molson looked sad. ¡°I have an idea. Actually, I think I know.¡±


    Joel waited.


    Molson¡¯s head shook. ¡°No. I can¡¯t tell you.¡± He blinked. If I did, he¡¯d wipe me anyway.¡±


    Joel said, ¡°Wait¡­¡± but Molson faded away. Was that really Molson or was it some AI construct? It seemed like Molson. it reacted like him. And it was evasive like Molson. If it was faked up, it was way better than any AI synth Joel had seen.


    If it wasn¡¯t faked, then that meant Molson was still alive, at least in some sense. Maybe that meant that the others were, too. But how? Joel shivered.


    From the dark, he heard a voice behind him. ¡°I thought it was you from the start, if I¡¯m honest.¡± Angelo!


    Joel was happy to see him his smiling face. Then he started to wonder what it really meant.


    Angelo told him, ¡°You do deserve to win it.¡±


    Joel said, ¡°I¡¯m not so sure that¡¯s even a good thing.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Angelo¡¯s smile glinted. ¡°Neither am I. Good luck to you, though.¡±


    Joel started to ask him, ¡°What happened¡­¡± but he was gone.


    Hacker¡¯s voice approached. ¡°You were good. No taking it away from you. You earned it.¡± He stepped up and shook Joel¡¯s hand but the grip was virtual. Then Hacker too faded away into the darkness.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Joel turned to see Ben standing beside him. ¡°You were the one I thought was going to win.¡± Ben¡¯s smile looked genuine. ¡°That¡¯s why I tried to team up with you.¡±


    ¡°Ben.¡± Joel laughed. ¡°You tried to team up with everybody.¡±


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s true. But I did call you first.¡± then Ben said, ¡°If you¡¯d gone for it, if you took the pitch, I don¡¯t think I would have called any of the others.¡±


    ¡°I do, Ben. I¡¯m sure you would have. And I think you know it, too. You¡¯re a schmoozer.¡± he laughed. They both did. Joel¡¯s head shook, ¡°You¡¯re still schmoozing me. Even now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Ben¡¯s chuckle sounded completely real. But his handshake was simulated in the glove. Joel knew that from the touch. But Ben¡¯s voice was still real, ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°How is it there? How are you, Ben? Where are you?¡± but he was gone, too.


    Joel felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. From behind him, a loud voice he knew well enough. ¡°You fucker.¡±


    Joel turned, ¡°Carter!¡±


    ¡°I should have won, you fuck. In any sane and real universe, I should have been the winner, easy. There¡¯s no fucking way you should have beat me. You didn¡¯t beat me, in fact.¡±


    ¡°No. No, Carter. Molson did.¡±


    ¡°Right. Fucker. And there¡¯s no way I could have seen that coming.¡±


    ¡°I would bro hug you, Carter.¡±


    ¡°Could be tricky.¡± And then Carter grinned as he started to fade.


    Joel called after him, ¡°I want to talk to you some more.¡± With Carter¡¯s fading smile, Joel saw the nod. ¡°What if I need to get in touch?¡± but by then he was talking to himself.


    Alone in the dark silence, his balance was unsteady again. Like he could only keep equilibrium with a point of reference. Something external to relate himself to.


    ~~


    The scene of the high chamber began to resolve in front of him.


    The same arched space was bathed in warm daylight. The old man stood taller, more straight. His alert posture made him look younger, more vigorous. As though all the time he had been playing the part of an old man. The shadow of the hat still covered his face, but the gleam of his eyes shone straight out at Joel.


    Behind him, the goddess statue of Honey was formed of luminous green smoke, billowing in clouds and whirls. The statue¡¯s form was static. The face, Honey¡¯s face, was at rest.


    The old man¡¯s finger crooked and beckoned him near.


    He had no intention of moving but Joel¡¯s feet began to drag him to the platform as the old man started to nod. A hollow grin stretched across the old man¡¯s face.


    Joel felt like a puppet. It was like he was being operated, but from the inside. He had a sensation of falling as the scene dissolved again. As the green smoke statue of Honey faded to a wisp and vanished, it left him hollow and empty inside.


    His arms were dragged out in front of him. His body and neck jerked and felt like they would snap as he was hauled forward. His hands gripped on a bar that yanked him. The bar was pulled on a long, taut cable, harnessed to a team of six huge, ghostly, howling arctic dogs.


    He rode on a pair of skis. They hovered like his airboard. Obscured in freezing mist, the landscape was cracked and collapsing ice, punctuated with thick, bare, black trees like dead hands, and tall, white rocks. His skis bounced a foot above the jagged, icy wasteland. The cold cut him like thin knives.


    Joel found control of the dog team through the bar. He twisted on one side and the dogs sped up. Tilting the bar, the team of dogs turned. But they steered slowly. There was a lag.


    As the dogs rushed at a rock on the right, Joel left it late to tilt the bar. When his signal told the dogs to turn, they were already at the rock. They leaned and took it sideways. Like ninja dogs they ran horizontally. But he couldn¡¯t tilt. He almost smacked into the rock head on.


    All he could do was to swing the skis out in front of him. The hover force was only just enough to stop him splattering against the hard stone. Not enough to stop his ankles and knees from taking a heavy hit.


    All the joints of his legs hurt enough that he wanted to stop. The dogs weren¡¯t going to allow that. Deep inside his mind he heard a chuckle. That dripped through him, colder than the ice.


    The dog team rushed right at a distant glacier. Vast chunks of the ice creaked and moaned on the glacier face. Parts of it split off, collapsing in a slo-mo tumble. Massive shards splashed into pale blue water.


    An albatross wheeled and dived over the dogs. its beak spread wide as he rushed toward it. He ducked but he couldn¡¯t get far enough out of the way. His hunched shoulder collided with the beak.


    The bird squealed and squawked as it spun away. Joel¡¯s shoulder hurt like it had cracked. The dogs tore on across the tundra. As he stretched and wriggled to get his balance and poise back, Joel realized that the sensations of impact and the pain, the jars and tears and lingering soreness and aches were all synthesized.


    His concentration drifted as he marveled. The experience was so incredibly convincing and persuasive. A low tree branch whacked his head as he passed. The burst of white stars and the red in his eyes reminded him just how persuasive.


    More low tree boughs were ahead. And more rocks. Joel crouched and he concentrated on steering early. He wanted to take a hand off the bar. To try and find some weapons or defenses.


    He could free one hand if he could just move the other to grip the bar at the center. As soon as he slackened his grip a fraction, he felt the bar ready to tug away from him. He knew that he couldn¡¯t chance it. All that he could do was to hang on to the bar as he hurtled behind the dog team. He ducked and body-swerved to dodge the tree stumps and branches trees and birds and debris.


    The dogs snarled and leaned forward. They pulled him faster over the ice and snow. They were headed for the cliff face of the collapsing glacier. A choppy, roiling stretch of green and blue water was between them and the ice cliff.


    When the dogs turned again, Joel saw they were aimed at a dark crack in the cliff. It was across about a hundred feet of water. Ready for a softer thrill ride on the skis as they flew over the surface of the water, Joel tightened his grip on the bar.


    The dogs leaped off the ice-shelf and plunged straight into the water. Joel was pulled behind them until the cable slackened. He and his skis dropped into the water.

 29: Gasping

    HIS BREATH STOPPED AND he was paralyzed by the cold. The skis dropped away slowly into the deep. As the cable fell, limp into the depth, the dogs paddled away in six different directions.


    He began to sink.


    Sink or swim were the only options he could see open to him. His limbs were stiff and heavy. The cold was sharp and it burned him numb.


    Swimming had never been a strength of Joel¡¯s. He gasped, throwing his arms with all the strength he could find. Did the Gabriel know that about him? He wondered.


    Wet clothing dragged heavy on his tired arms and legs as he swam for the ice cliff. In the breaths where he could look ahead, he aimed as best he could for the jagged fissure. Sensation faded from his feet. Then from his calves. He was losing feeling in his hands. He turned, stretched and twisted his ankles and shook his knees as much as he could against the weight of the water. And he wriggled all of his fingers and toes.


    And he had no sensation to tell him whether his limbs were even moving.


    Tactile sense was receding from his wrists. Then his forearms up to the elbows. And his calves. Fighting a sense of panic, he told his arms and legs to move with no way of knowing if they were obeying or not.


    When he was able to pull his face up to look ahead, he saw how unbearably far the fissure was. And how desperately slowly he was moving. But he was moving. The numb signals he was sending to his limbs were making him move.


    He put more mental effort into motion, and did all he could to calm his mind. And he thought he had a sense of what this exercise might be about. The idea terrified him. Fear spurred him on.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    His torso, his shoulders and hips were all that he could feel. Coordination was getting harder. And he was slowing down.


    He didn¡¯t think he could finish the swim.


    ~~


    Joel held the few gasps of breaths he could take for as long as he could, shaking in panic for the surface every few strokes. His arms were too tired now. He swam with his hands by his sides and his legs together, propelling himself with his legs and feet. He made each breath last for as long as he could bear. Whenever he had momentum to carry him forward he rested.


    Every stroke, every yard he moved forward felt like it would be his last. For all of the last twenty feet, he was sure he couldn¡¯t do it. But he did. After an impossibly long time making flicks with his legs and feet, he floated in the freezing water by the tiny ledge. He stayed in the water, hoping to gain strength to heave himself out.


    Eventually he bobbed up to land his elbows on the ledge. It took all the strength he had to writhe and coil himself up. When he did, the ice and snow burned and he couldn¡¯t tell whether the sensation was because the ground was colder than the water, or because it was warmer.


    Whatever it was, it was agony, but still he couldn¡¯t get up past his knees and elbows.


    That wouldn¡¯t be enough mobility to get himself up to the crack in the ice. A hollow laugh shook him as he realized that the cleft in the cliff could just be an opening to a chasm. The shake in his chest made him cough. The cough racked him and hacked on uncontrollably.


    His hacking cough started a small avalanche directly above him. the fissure was going to be blocked. Joel forced himself to his feet. He felt like his feet were gone and he was stood on the stumps of his ankles. Falling through the crack was all he could do.


    He toppled forward and tumbled. Putting out his arms, his hands hung limp and useless. He remembered being afraid to shake his wrists, because he thought his hands might fall off. He saw something, a figure as he plunged headlong into the darkness.


    Then nothing. And then a blur of color and noise.

 30: Hacking

    COMING AWAKE, JOEL FELT refreshed. He guessed that only a few moments had passed. His body felt normal. The light weight of the headset and the exo frame felt like they should. He didn¡¯t feel any after effects from the cold or the stress.


    All around him was nothing but darkness. He couldn¡¯t see walls or a floor, he was in a void. That didn¡¯t bother him. It was a virtu. He had the sense of not being alone but he put it down to nerves.


    The motionless quiet began to unsettle him. It was like his mind was trying to alert him to something he couldn¡¯t hear or see. He tried to relax, wondering what more tests he was going to have to endure.


    Joel felt his temperature drop. ¡°That was a bit of a workout.¡± The figure of the old man was morphing like smoke out of the darkness. ¡°The dog train, the snow and the cold water. You feel okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Joel wanted to appear open and unguarded. He had never felt more exposed and at risk, but he needed to learn as much as he could. Smoke drifted and the old man morphed into the Gabriel.


    Around them, numbers and lights came on and flickered. Sparked into life above them and below, stretching down farther than Joel could see. And higher up. It spread and faded, seemingly to infinity on all sides.


    They were inside a complex, abstracted display. A massive amount of data, structured in layers of rows and columns. A huge, terrifying structure of order. Joel had no way to guess what any of it was. He tried only to observe. Numbers in columns. Formulas. Logical and mathematical expressions. Rules maybe?


    It seemed like it could be a massive visualization of the contents of a datacenter. He had no way to guess what the data might be or what it represented. It was numerical, though. Not binary or hex. Not a coded abstractions for a machine to use. Numbers. And currency symbols.


    ¡°This is one of USCom¡¯s nodes for currency exchange dealing. Foreign currencies and futures are negotiated and traded. Mostly automatically.¡±


    ¡°Is this a picture of it or is this it?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s kind of an interesting question.¡± Joel thought, Is the Gabriel here a picture, or is it the Gabriel, standing next to me in this constructed virtu?


    The Gabriel supplied an answer. ¡°It¡¯s both.¡°


    Joel looked harder as the Gabriel went on with his explanation. Joel didn¡¯t expect to understand any of it and he didn¡¯t particularly care. He wasn¡¯t listening. He was playing for time. Trying to recover and to get some sense of what it was that the Gabriel wanted from him.


    The Gabriel had the result that he wanted from the ¡®process,¡¯ at least the parts that involved the other ¡®interns¡¯ or whatever they were. Why did he put the six of them through that sham contest? What was he aiming to get?


    Joel figured for sure that he wasn¡¯t there for his expertise on the currency markets. That wouldn¡¯t be any more than his experience at managing or hacking big, super-integrated data systems. Joel was sure that the Gabriel had more experience with all those things than he did.


    He was also certain that the Gabriel had put him through the last tasks, maybe all of them, so he could take readings of Joel¡¯s nervous system. The dog sled dash was designed to make Joel hold on hard while he ducked and dodged fast objects and hazards. Testing his reflexes under stress.


    Cutting off the feeling in Joel¡¯s limbs and extremities and at the same time making him swim for his life was a way to see how he could push with only determination when his body was exhausted and worn out.


    It was like his whole motor nervous system was being mapped. All the paths of instruction from his brain through his body ¨C the signals that operated his limbs and all of his reactions and reflexes. But he could only guess at why.


    The Gabriel was talking. ¡°There is more juice in these numbers than you could ever count. More than you would ever guess.¡± His voice was softer and slower. Close and confidential.


    ¡°This,¡± he gestured to a cell bordered in blue. It was different from the others. A string of numbers at the top looked familiar. At the same instant Joel identified them, the Gabriel said, ¡°This is a port to your mom¡¯s account.¡±


    Joel was conflicted. He knew he shouldn¡¯t be startled by the Gabriel having such intimate information. At the same time he wasn¡¯t surprised. But his reflex was to say what he always said when someone referred to his ¡®Mom.¡¯


    The Gabriel was ahead of him. ¡°I know,¡± he said, ¡°I know she¡¯s not your birth mother, Joel. That you aren¡¯t directly related.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Joel chewed the inside of his lip. It felt like he was being invaded. Like the Gabriel had showed up at his home, acting like he belonged there.


    ¡°You can put an amount into the account, Joel. Here,¡± he pointed to a pair of up and down arrows by the blue cell. ¡°Try it.¡±


    Hesitant, Joel touched the up arrow. As soon as numbers appeared in the cell, the word Deposit lit above it with an ¡®OK?¡¯ Button. He held the up arrow. The number span and blurred as it got bigger.


    Joel kept his finger on the button as he said, ¡°This is a gag, right? I¡¯m not really going to be able to just drop some huge amount of juice onto Mom¡¯s account.¡±


    Joel heard the mischieous v in the voice. ¡°So suspicious.¡±


    Joel ran the number up to half a billion. He looked at the Gabriel. The Gabriel grinned. Joel pushed the arrow for more. ¡°I can give her any amount, can I?¡±


    The Gabriel shrugged, still grinning.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t really going to happen.¡± Joel said, when the number reached two billion. ¡°Is it?¡±


    The Gabriel¡¯s face didn¡¯t give anything away.


    ¡°Will I ever be able to ask her, to find out for sure?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unlikely.¡±


    Joel ran the number up to ten billion before he hit the ¡®OK?¡¯ button.


    ¡°You could ask her, across the supernet,¡± the glasspaper sarcastic edge was back, ¡°but I could easily fake the communication, so you wouldn¡¯t really know for sure.¡±


    Joel was sure the Gabriel was steering him away from what he¡¯d just told him. He also had a sense that somehow, he could be under surveillance on the inside. Like he suspected his nervous system could have been. To be safe, he wouldn¡¯t think about it until later. Assuming he might get some private time again. Ever.


    ¡°Can I send her a note?¡± Joel asked, switching the subject back. ¡°She could pay for the village¡¯s new kite barrage, fund another one, even. She¡¯d still have enough to be impossibly wealthy.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± the Gabriel grinned, ¡°No little notes. You¡¯ll have to trust her goodwill to get some community spirit going.¡±


    Joel reached for the cell again. The Gabriel raised a finger and the cell vanished. He guided Joel back to a dense concentration of cells. Most of them were red or orange.


    ¡°This is the entrance to the site. All users have to enter their identity and credentials here.¡± Joel saw boxes asking for usernames, passwords, biometric data. ¡°All except us, of course.¡±


    His grin was razor-sharp. ¡°We can just step around the security.¡±


    He pointed to a cluster of cells in the middle of the mass. ¡°Here are the welcome screens and inputs. See if you can hack your way in. I¡¯d be interested to know if you could do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really that kind of a hacker.¡± He does, Joel thought, He wants to watch my brain or my synapses or whatever while I try to hack a problem. Joel shuddered.


    ¡°I think you sell yourself short, Joel.¡± The voice was low. And very near. ¡°You¡¯ve engineered your way around some fairly tough systems.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡±


    ¡°Should I name a few indie gaming tournaments?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, okay. That¡¯s not really the same thing, though.¡±


    ¡°No?¡± there was a pause. ¡°You¡¯d hope not, wouldn¡¯t you. It would be nice to think that USCom¡¯s financial centers and trading networks were better protected than some virtus or games. The truth is that games corporations often have way better security than financial institutions and even government systems.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It makes sense when you think that games companies are full of people who love what they do. They stay up through the night tinkering with systems. Persuading hardware to do what it isn¡¯t supposed to. Squeezing extra bandwidth, wrenching a couple of ticks more value out of a processor cycle.¡± He cocked his head to one side. ¡°Like you do, Joel. Banks and government officers, eh, not so much.¡±


    ¡°Now,¡± he urged Joel toward the welcome screen. ¡°See how far you can get.¡±


    Joel asked him, ¡°Why did you do that before?¡±


    The Gabriel¡¯s grin was still fixed in place but it had lost its shine.


    Joel approached him as he went on, ¡°The thing with the account. I wondered if it might be a prize. But that doesn¡¯t seem like you. I couldn¡¯t see why you would do that. And I wondered if you would be testing me. Would I break the law? Would I do it while you were watching? But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that. You¡¯d already said enough about the fact that I wouldn¡¯t be caught or punished. So I guess it was just to see what number I would be at when I stopped.¡±


    Standing back, the Gabriel looked at him for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s a big part of it. Probably not for the reason you think, though. But, since you mention it, I was impressed by the number you did pick. Most people would stop a lot lower than that.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How many people have played that game?¡±


    He saw a new kind of a smile on the Gabriel¡¯s face now. Like a fat, purring cat. A satisfied, Cheshire cat grin. ¡°Good, Joel. Good. I have chosen well.¡± He turned. Then, as he started to leave, he said, ¡°You did give me what I needed, Joel.¡±


    ¡°In what way?¡±


    ¡°You were right, I wanted to watch you solve the gateway security. Or at least try.¡± Joel¡¯¡¯s breath caught. ¡°But watching you figure out how to keep me distracted while you didn¡¯t do that was just as useful. And even more interesting. So thank you for that.¡±


    ¡°Will my Mom get the juice?¡±


    ¡°She already has it.¡± then, cocking his head a little to one side, ¡°The choice you put in for your companion was intriguing. If I hadn¡¯t already decided, I think that would have made the choice clear enough. I want to hear you tell me why you gave that name, though.¡±


    ¡°I knew they were the right person. They told me so. In so many words.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yup. The day the drones came to the village, they said they wanted it to be them that the drones had come for.¡±


    ¡°Ty Bannon?¡±


    ¡°It was what he told me that morning. He wished that he were going to be chosen.¡±


    The Gabriel¡¯s head shook and he turned back to face Joel fully. ¡°Giving you that chance with the money, like most of the choices in the process, the selection you made wasn¡¯t what was most interesting to me. I wanted much more to see how you would make the decision. More than to know the choice itself.¡±


    ¡°But with that one, the juice, I also wanted to let you see some of the upside. You may have misgivings about having been through the process and coming out as the¡­¡± his eyes narrowed as he paused, ¡°As the chosen.¡± His eyebrows lifted like he was surprised and pleased by the phrase. ¡°There are benefits.¡± And he turned away. As he left, he called back over his shoulder,


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±

 31: Body

    JOEL LEFT THE EXO frame in the echoing, empty games room. He felt drained and empty himself as he shoved through the double doors back into the dining area. Even the empty space behind the serving hatch seemed lonely. At the table, there was only a single chair. He pulled off the headset and left it on the table and took food from the serving shelf.


    He sat to face the door. Not like he expected anyone to come in. With the headset by him on the table he ate mechanically, not tasting the food.


    He wondered if there could be a way for him to contact his Mom. He had the connection over the SuperNet, back in his room. That probably wouldn¡¯t work as a way to reach her. She almost never used anything but DirectMessage or onelines. He thought she might if she was looking for news about him.


    There was no way for him to DirectMessage her. Not without his own com. That made him wonder about where it was. Probably less than a hundred feet away, but he doubted he¡¯d ever be able to get it back.


    Mom wouldn¡¯t be looking for him. When the Gabriel had him lifted, USSecur and the local law surrogates were involved, as well as the drones and bots from outside the village. Somebody or something would have been to see her. They would have given her an official version.


    He felt bad now for not having tried to contact her before. Worse maybe that this was the first time he¡¯d thought of it. Their relationship was difficult at the best of times.


    He felt that bringing him up had been a weight and a burden for her. Like she was always on the edge of saying so. It was like a ledge where she would step to the verge. Like if she went one more step, if she gave a hint of what she was thinking, there would be no going back.


    He never knew why she had taken him on. Or why his birth parents took the early grade. Why would anybody do that?


    The door opened. Aisha was different. The careful way she closed the door behind her, the spark in her eye as she looked up at Joel, she looked more like Honey than ever. He was sure that her face was even a little wider. Her eyes flashed and then her smile followed. Almost exactly the way that Honey would do that.


    It wasn¡¯t her. It couldn¡¯t be. But the look in her eye, the way that one corner of her mouth pulled. Confused, he stood.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The body was Aisha¡¯s for sure, or it was that one he¡¯d seen her in. But slightly reshaped. She was definitely softer. Even more it showed in the way that she moved. When she leaned back against the door with that half-smile, he almost choked.


    His head jerked forward and he he sprang across the room. She leaned against the door behind her and looked at him.


    She said his name and he welled up. ¡°Joel?¡±


    ¡°Honey?¡±


    She was already nodding. He wanted to hug her. She held up a hand. Palm down. Stop. It meant, not now.


    He stepped back as he swallowed. ¡°What happened?¡± He looked in her eyes, not quite believing it, but sure, all the same.


    ¡°Joel, they took me. Not long after they took you. Those drones and bots that were there when you came to me? Then. They took me that evening.¡±


    He followed her over to the table. She blinked in that way she had. She pointed her finger at the tabletop as she looked up and away. She did this in the school lunchroom. It was their code when they didn¡¯t want to be overheard.


    She moved her hand, careful not to touch the table. Marking only in the air. Her finger traced out the letters, ¡®I WANT TO TALK¡¯ and Joel nodded. He wanted to out his arms around her so badly. Her mouth tightened and eyes pleaded.


    He was about to speak but she held up her hand to stop him. Then over the tabletop she wrote, ¡®NOT HERE.¡¯


    He blinked and then he nodded. He frowned. He wrote in the air next to where she had, ¡®Where?¡¯


    She looked back at him. If he had any doubts left that this was really her, that Honey was here, inhabiting the body that he was certain had been Aisha¡¯s, they all melted away now.


    She looked at him, half smiling and she waited. Her cheek even got that dimple as waited for him to get it. She was Honey. Definitely.


    He nodded. Ready to laugh and almost even to choke on a tear, he nodded. Yes, he knew where she meant. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time they¡¯d sat next to each other and still been speaking via the supernet or even her conspiracy village on the infranet. Where they would be headed now.


    Much more important to Joel, though, he knew that she was really here. Again, he had an urge to hold her. But he fought it.


    His throat was thick as he told her, "I didn''t want them to bring you. I wanted to keep you out of this."


    She nodded. ¡°I know," her eyes sparkled. "He told me. It was sweet of you. It was always going to be me, though.¡± she blinked. ¡°Just like it was always going to be you."


    "Then why would they even ask? It makes no sense." he balled his fist. ¡°They were asking me about a companion. Telling me I had to choose. But they¡¯d already taken you. What was the point of that?¡±


    "Probably he wanted to know what you would say.¡± She was saying ¡®he¡¯ while Joel said ¡®they.¡¯ He was thinking about how USSecur had been involved but maybe Honey was right, that they were all just doing what the Gabriel set them up to do.


    ¡°He wanted to know everything about you, Joel. I mean everything. The last two days I''ve done nothing but answer questions about you. Often the same questions, over and over. And he didn''t care if I gave him different answers. He just wanted to know what I was going to say."


    She frowned, ¡°Why, Joel?¡±

 32: Hints

    JOEL WAS CLUMSY. He felt awkward showing Honey into his room. Like his hands and feet were too big. Her being in a body that was so like Aisha¡¯s didn¡¯t help. Was it Aisha¡¯s?


    He ached to know what happened, how she came to actually be here. Into this body. But he still couldn¡¯t bring himself to ask her. More than anything he wanted to know about her. Her own body.


    They would have to talk about it. Probably not in the open, though. Not actually face to face. She was keen to get to her nest of weirdos and he figured that would be as safe a place to talk as they were ever going to find.


    He closed the door. She stood close and whispered. "Has he told you what he wants you for yet, Joel?"


    "No."


    "Or dropped any hints?"


    "Nothing I can make any sense of, no."


    "He has something huge in mind for you, I know that.¡± Her eyes were the same color as Honey¡¯s. He was annoyed with himself for not knowing or not noticing, but he thought that Aisha¡¯s were brown. And he was irritated with himself getting distracted while Honey was here with him.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    She tugged on his arm. ¡°And I don''t mean ¡®something huge¡¯ in a good way." Her eyes were full of fear.


    He sucked his lips between his teeth. Trying to distract himself from the nearness of her. "How do you know that? You''re just guessing."


    "No, Joel. Look at the time and the effort that he''s put into all of this." She took his hand. He looked into her eye as he stroked her cheek.


    ¡°I can feel it when I hold your hand, Joel. When you touch me. It¡¯s intense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± he let go. ¡°I don¡¯t want to upset you.¡±


    She pulled him close and brushed her fingers over his lips. ¡°I can feel your face, too.¡± her eyelids lowered slowly, but her eyes gleamed and shone. She traced his mouth with her fingers. ¡°It¡¯s strange but in a way I can feel you better than I ever could before.¡±


    She took his hand. Put it on her waist. Then moved her body closer. ¡°I can feel you, Joel.¡± she bit her lip. ¡°Can you feel me?¡±


    He could. Even if the body was the same fleshbot that Aisha inhabited, the motivation was all Honey. He wondered how much she knew about what had been happening to him while he was here. Did it matter? He felt like he ought to tell her.


    Before he could speak, she reached to pull him by the back of his neck. Pulled his face down to hers. Her lips were waiting for his. She tasted like Honey. She felt like her, too.


    Gasping, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t we have to,¡± he nodded toward the screen on the desk. She pulled him toward the bed.


    ¡°Sure we do,¡± she said. Her soft warmth pressed against him, her curves molding to his body. ¡°Soon.¡± she breathed, stretching a hand down to his hips.


    ¡°Really soon.¡±

 33: Kludge

    THEY WERE CLOSER THAN they had been, ever before. Holding her he felt like a different man. His arms felt strong, gently wrapped around her bare shoulders. He pulled her head to him. The scent of her hair was just like Honey. It almost choked him, wondering how that could be.


    He could tell that it wasn¡¯t her. And yet it really was. He would tell her. It would make her happy that he noticed. But not yet.


    First he sank into the moment and enjoyed the afterglow of the hot, wild, thrashing race of tumbling ecstasy they¡¯d just run. She lit up feelings in him that were immense. In those moments he felt ready to do anything.


    Whatever lay ahead, for the first time since he arrived he felt ready. Whatever it took, he could do it.


    ~~


    Honey sat on the bed. She was able to get to Hopes¡¯ using connections in the fleshbot. Joel shivered, trying to shake off the cold implications of Honey and her body being separate. Separated. He knew that something similar awaited him the next morning.


    At the screen, he tunneled through the infranet to the entrance to Hopes.¡¯ The clownface was accompanied by an athletic looking girl wearing big boots, a heavy belt, a tee-shirt and tight shorts.


    The clown said, ¡°We are stardust.¡±


    Wearily, Joel said, ¡°We are golden.¡±


    Honey snickered.


    The clown told him, ¡°We don¡¯t need the passphrases now. Your companion is respected and she vouches for you.¡± the girl nodded and made a small grunt that could have been agreement. The clown grinned as he said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t resist making you do that one, though.¡±


    The clown led and Joel followed him. They passed through a dark tunnel and emerged at the drawbridge over a moat. At the end was the stone arch and raised iron grille of a medieval castle. They crossed the moat toward the huge stone gateway. Crows squawked and dived at them. The clown raised a hand and the crows halted, fixed and frozen in mid air. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for any of that now.¡±


    Joel followed the clown into the castle grounds. Looking around warily, jumping from one crouch to another, the girl followed behind Joel. Inside the castle, the clown swung open a heavy wooden door and led them into a high golden chamber. At the center, a mist of water vapor rose from the surface a huge square bath.


    He closed the door behind them. When the door was shut, Honey rose from beneath the water. She walked up a set of steps. She stepped out of the water, in a filmy turquoise muslin wrap.


    ~~


    With the clown and the athletic girl, Joel and Honey sat by the steaming bath in the high room. It felt ceremonial Joel was torn between being impressed at the beautiful chamber and feeling like it was all a bit of hocus-pocus. A voodoo sideshow. Not for the first time, he thought the people here with their global conspiracy theories weren¡¯t so different from the New Dawn believers. Honey said,


    ¡°Joel, thank you for coming here. It means a lot to me.¡± She spoke with urgency. He was uncomfortably aware that their time would be short and pressured. He wished it could just be the two of them.


    ¡°I want to talk to you, Honey.¡± he said, ¡°Not to these¡­ avatars or whatever they are.¡±


    Athlete girl said, ¡°Joel, Honey has made a very big sacrifice.¡±


    ¡°Is that how you see it, Honey? That you¡¯ve ¡®made a really big sacrifice¡¯?¡± he looked hard at her. He worried about how much she bought into what he thought of as the geeks conspiracy bubble. ¡°I don¡¯t think it is. That¡¯s maybe how it¡¯s been described to you. But you didn¡¯t choose to be ¡®making a sacrifice.¡¯ You were abducted and now you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, Joel. But I have paid a price. And I¡¯d like to get something back for it.¡± Her head cocked to one side, ¡°I want to take the opportunity that it offers. I¡¯m near to the heart of something now, something that I,¡± she looked at the other two, ¡°That we, our community in Hopes¡¯ have talked about for a long time. Now I may be able to see whether what we believe is true. And if there¡¯s anything we can do to make things better.¡± She took his hand. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t have to be something for you to have to fix, Joel. I can find a way to deal with it myself.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Honey, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait. Please. Joel, you¡¯re going to have incredible access to the Gabriel. An inside track, in fact. You¡¯ll be able to see what he¡¯s doing. I can¡¯t tell you how important this is.¡±


    Athlete girl and the clown both leaned closer, nodding agreement.


    Joel held her hand. ¡°It¡¯s important to you, Honey. I can see that it is. But I don¡¯t even understand what your conspiracies are all supposed to mean. I¡¯m not a part of it.¡±


    ¡°No, Joel. Nobody could make the choice for you. And I wouldn¡¯t put any pressure on you to choose. Maybe there¡¯s even a way that you can escape from the Gabriel. If you could, I wouldn¡¯t blame you for taking the chance.¡± She looked into his face. ¡°But Joel, if you would stay and work with him, we would have the best chance at freeing the world from the grip of the machine intelligences that we ever had."


    ¡°You really think he¡¯s that important?¡±


    She nodded. Athlete girl and the clown did, too.


    ¡°And what is it, can you tell me in little words, what is it that the machine intelligences do that you want to stop? They were what brought us back after the reset, weren¡¯t they? They run the world for us and keep us alive, don¡¯t they?¡±


    The athletic girl¡¯s voice was strong and clear. ¡°Joel, the machine intelligences caused the reset. They engineered the devastation that led up to it. They¡¯re responsible for the endless states of war that exist. And the outbreaks of ¡®terrorism,¡¯ we¡¯re sure of it. It¡¯s nothing more than a way to keep everyone afraid and in their power.¡±


    Joel had heard that stuff before. She went on, ¡°And now, Joel, now they keep us just to produce the juice that they run on.¡± her eyes darkened, ¡°And they keep exactly the number of us that it takes.¡±


    ¡°Joel, I can see that you¡¯re skeptical,¡± Honey squeezed his hand, ¡°And that¡¯s you. I understand, I really do. Cassandra can send you flash data that you¡¯ll be able to keep safe. You can read about what we¡¯re telling you. Make up your own mind.¡± She squeezed again. ¡°Please. Just read a little and think about it.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Honey. Of course I will.¡± After a moment he said, ¡°I can something I could do. A way that I might be able to help.¡±


    The clown said, ¡°You two have things to talk about, I know.¡± Joel hated the clown ¡®knowing¡¯ anything about Honey. Or about himself.


    Cassandra and the clown both waved as their avatars sparkled and dissolved.


    Honey leaned toward him. ¡°Will you help?¡±


    ¡°I want to read some before I¡¯m committed. You know I¡¯m really torn now, Honey. I really want to help you, and at the same time, you know that I really believe a lot of this stuff is paranoid, superstitious nonsense.¡±


    She nodded. Quietly he asked her, ¡°How did he get you into the¡­ the body¡­¡±


    ¡°Into the fleshbot?¡± her smile was tired, like a rough storm had passed. ¡°You have to admit, there are some fun aspects to it.¡±


    He blinked.


    ¡°She¡¯s a lot more athletic than I ever was.¡±


    He wanted to know what had happened to Aisha, too. But he couldn¡¯t see away to ask. Not right now.


    ¡°But how did it work?¡±


    ¡°He made me put on a data crown. A really slick one. I thought of you, Joel. You¡¯d have loved that. And he gave me instructions to relax. You know, deep breathing, clearing the mind, all that.¡± Her face was blank as she recalled. ¡°Then there was a sound, like a white noise, with a rumble underneath it. And then, after a minute or two, he put a picture of a flower into my mind. I¡¯ve tried to remember what he said to put it there, but I can¡¯t. I just¡­ can¡¯t.¡± her eyes narrowed. ¡°He told me to move into the middle of the flower. As I did, it opened its petals.¡± She was quiet for a moment with a painful recollection. ¡°After I slipped out I was free floating in the datasphere.¡±


    "He extracted me, Joel. Like a tooth.¡± Her face clouded. She was quiet for a moment. He reached out to her but she closed her eyes and made a tiny shake of her head. ¡°I never thought before how much it might hurt the tooth.¡± She paused and swallowed. ¡°I felt both sensations, Joel. The pain like the gum has when a a part of it was ripped away grip and at the same time, the shock of being dragged out of the socket. A part of itt felt liberating and kind of wonderful. Does that make any sense?¡±


    He made a tiny nod. He didn¡¯t want to say anything to break her flow.


    She said, ¡°Maybe it was an effect like an anesthetic. I don¡¯t know.¡± Her eyes searched his, ¡°Joel, it felt like I was really free. A bit like I do now.¡± her face darkened. ¡°But there¡¯s another part. He has something, Somehow I think it may be in the vibration of that sound. He can call me back at any time. He showed me, Joel.¡± Her eyes darkened. ¡°It¡¯s like he has me on a leash somehow.¡±


    ¡°Do you know¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t finish the sentence. But she did.


    ¡°Where my real body is?¡±


    He almost choked, seeing the virtual Honey so completely like the real Honey, and thinking at the same time what might have happened to the real Honey. ¡°I think I know, Joel. But I don¡¯t want to think about it.¡± She frowned. ¡°I think you know, too. But if you do, please, let¡¯s not talk about it. Not now.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± He blinked and he tried to smile but without much success. He took her hand. That felt good and her face lightened. ¡°If I can do anything to help your group of conspiracy nuts, I have an idea how. I need to get back and do something IRL.¡±


    She smiled and nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m not promising,¡± he told her. They both knew, he totally was.


    ~~


    Joel followed the cable from the back of the screen and found the processor boards fixed to the underside of the desk. He stayed up most of the rest of the night tinkering with chips he pulled from the board.


    Before he set out in the morning, he taped the awkward kludge of components together onto the back of his neck, at the base of his skull.

 34: Assimilate

    The datacrown gleamed in the middle of the table between them.


    ¡°SO.¡± THE GABRIEL SAT on across the table. Like he did before. Now Joel wondered whether Honey had sat in this seat, too.


    With an eyebrow raised, the Gabriel extended his open hand toward the crown. Offering it. Joel didn¡¯t hesitate. He didn¡¯t want to do anything to arouse the Gabriel¡¯s suspicions.


    Smirking the Gabriel watched as Joel fitted the crown and sat back.


    ¡°You¡¯ll hear sounds. See some things. Don¡¯t worry. Just relax. Whatever you see or hear, it¡¯s going to be fine.¡± Joel heard gentle forest sounds. The rustle of wind in bushes. A soft rain. Running water. He was dimly aware of a thrumming behind it all.


    His mind and body relaxed. He felt drowsy. Detached. Disconnected


    ¡°Follow the sound,¡± the voice was flat and low. A butterfly appeared in front of him. It¡¯s wings beat slow. Slower. The pattern on the wings drew inward like it telescoped down. His mind faded to silence and gently swirled.


    His vision blurred. The Gabriel seemed to be melting. Shapes became liquid and colors ran as the white noise swirled in his head.


    Slower and slower. Deeper and darker. He felt himself drawn, pulled, moving out of his body. He followed the slow beat of the wings of the butterfly.


    ¡°You are just going to sleep. Just for a little while. Sleep.¡±


    The chips under the tape on the back of his head played a sound. He had tuned it to counter the beat of the white noise. And it worked. While his body slid down into an induced trance, he was able to keep a spark of his conscious mind awake.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    If the Gabriel was planning what Joel suspected, the difficult part was going to be keeping his mind relaxed and quiet.


    The Gabriel¡¯s voice entered him through the datacrown. He felt the invasion into his body of a whole foreign consciousness. The Gabriel was dark. Jagged. Heavy and too big. He shoved his way in and Joel had to remain still.


    Mental stillness was a massive lack of effort. A concentrated un-concentration. A highly demanding inertia. And a focused presence of mind to allow a complete absence of thought.


    The Gabriel filled him. Stretched into his arms and legs. Breathed slowly and deeply. Shouted, roared at the top of his voice and yelled, ¡°Yes! Yes, at last! And inside, Joel heard the thoughts, How long has it been since I felt anything, any real, physical sensation? Fuuuuck! Then, Actually, that¡¯s not a bad idea. Add it to the list.


    Joel jumped up. Ran out of the room and down a long corridor. His noisy footsteps took him to a heavily sealed door. He flung open the door and bounded through it. Down a flight of metal steps. In the air.


    The AIR! They had been inside a huge pod. It looked like a vehicle. It could probably fly. But Joel didn¡¯t get enough of a look at it. He bounded through a lush landscape. Hills and woods. And mountains in the distance. A wide gorge ahead was so deep, Joe couldn¡¯t see the bottom of it, only sheer, rocky sides, straight down.


    The Gabriel marveled at the warmth of the sun on his body. On his chest and his back. The warm breeze on his cheek. The softness of the grass. He jogged. Trotted. then ran. The mountains were blue and green. Some had white peaks. Joel had no idea where they were located. And it was beautiful. He kept his thoughts quiet.


    He ran. Faster and faster. Straight up a hill. Then down the other side. Downhill, hurtling toward the fantastic canyon. Right to the edge. He didn¡¯t slow. He ran faster. Joel didn¡¯t believe he could run this fast. His trembling legs were getting watery. His breath heaved in desperation and his chest felt like it would explode.


    Joel managed not to hesitate but when he leaped out over hundreds of feet of cool clear air, he couldn¡¯t help himself from flinching.


    He plunged straight down. His view spun around. The trees along the edge of a tiny ravine on the canyon floor came more into focus as he hurtled at them. Just above treetop height, a buzzard squawked. Shrank wide-eyed out of his way. The clear water was inches deep. A bed of jagged rock below. He gasped.


    The world exploded then turned to black.

 35: Die

    Joel stood in an an echoing black hangar by a big, smooth pod the size of a building. He was cold.


    ¡°Okay, Joel. You don¡¯t have to act like you¡¯re not here now.¡±


    He blinked. Frantically he turned to look around. He heard the Gabriel but he couldn¡¯t him. The voice was nearby, just behind him. Whichever way he turned.


    ¡°I know you tricked something up, Joel. I expect it¡¯s the thing attached to the back of your head.¡±


    Joel¡¯s hand almost twitched but he forced himself not to move.


    ¡°Admirable in a way.¡± The Gabriel¡¯s voice was sad. ¡°Well, there¡¯s only so much I can do. How does the song go? ¡®Die in my dream, I¡¯ll die in your game.¡¯ This is it, Joel. We may as well have some fun with it. Are you ready?¡±


    Joel thought, No!


    The sarcasm was thick in the Gabriel¡¯s voice. ¡°Good.¡±


    Joel stood in a hot, gray, blasted desert under a sickly reddish sky. Gray mountains stood all like a far off ring of shattered glass in the far distance. The ground was thick with soft ash.


    A creature that looked like it as made of stone rose up out of the cinders. Seven feet high and red-eyed, its wide body seemed to be very roughly chipped out of broken, jagged rocks. The dome of its head jutted like a pebble between the wide, craggy shoulders. It stood on three short, thick legs.


    A single red eye burned in the center of its head. Four arms were multi jointed like a crude string of misshapen beads. A big boulder hung on the end of each arm. It lumbered toward Joel. Joel tried to move away but he found that he couldn¡¯t. He was rooted to the spot.


    The mass of rock drew back and pulled all four arms behind its head. As it swung them at Joel he couldn¡¯t make his body move. The four boulders swung at him. they were almost at his head when he found he could jump. Straight up. That was all that he could do.


    He was out of the way when the boulders shook the ground and pounded up a cloud of thick, choking dust.


    He cleared about twelve feet in the air and came straight down again. But he was able to land both feet in the middle of the rock-critter¡¯s back. the stones that made up the beast all shuddered and shook.


    When Joel hit the ground, the creature pulled back its arms for another strike. Timing the jump as late as he could, Joel sprang into the air. He felt one of the bludgeoning boulders graze his cheek. It stung.


    When he landed on the monster¡¯s back again, it rattled and rumbled, like it could fly apart. But it didn¡¯t.


    The rock creature swung its huge stone hammers at Joel, time and again. Each time, Joel barely avoided being crushed or smashed. Each time, when he slammed his boots into the creature¡¯s back, it came closer to rattling apart. Joel knew that it would break sooner or later.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    He didn¡¯t know if his strength would hold. Or his luck.


    The Gabriel wouldn¡¯t let him move at all. The pogo jumps, straight up, were all the fighting ability he was going to have. The ash choked him. The movement of air on his cheek was worryingly realistic.


    The next time he jumped on the creature¡¯s back, it fell to the ground. Even before he had landed on the ground and gotten his balance back, the monster rose back up onto its short legs. As the great rocks at the ends of the four arms swung upward, a sharp edge of one of them gashed his cheek.


    Out of balance he jumped too soon, but he got out of the way of the huge rocks. When he fell back, this time he landed straight on the stone creature¡¯s domed head. The arms flew up and the big pummeling blocks spun past his face. One ripped into his chest but the creature came apart completely.


    The rocks all disconnected and separated. All of the boulders rained down over the spot where he crouched. Still unable to move. Two big stones landed on his right shoulder and one hit his left thigh.


    All the separated hunks of rock sank and buried themselves into the dusty ash on the ground. Joel heard the mournful wind as all became quiet. The gash on his chest hurt. His cheek stung and he felt a warm flow of liquid down the side of his face. He was light-headed and breathing hard.


    ~~


    The ground rumbled. Then shook. Rising up, shaking through clouds of ash, two more rock beasts stood either side of him. They were both bigger than the first. Maybe half as high again. The stone monster on his left slung his arms back over his shoulders. His red eye gleamed and flashed as he leaned, ready to thunder the four enormous blocks onto Joel.


    Joel waited, tired and hurting. He ached so much he wished the creature would move. Standing ready felt like an almost impossible feat. His shoulders and thighs were weary and his back felt like it had been knotted.


    When the rock creature moved, Joel¡¯s reaction was slow. He still had nothing but the wild pogo jump to defend himself. The upward heave took him into the path of one of the monster¡¯s swinging boulders. His arm took a heavy slam and the rock caught his hip on the way down.


    As he fell back, Joel aimed his feet for the creature¡¯s head. His aim was good. But the other rock beast slammed the center of his back. He fell, sprawling painfully over the rocky back of the creature he had aimed at. His hands and face took grazes as he slid down to fall on the soft ash.


    He saw the second creatures arms flail toward him. He rolled painfully and was agonizingly slow. He pulled his legs to get his ankle out of the way of a huge rock that thudded and bounced on the ground. He was able to scramble and crawl to his feet, but he didn¡¯t feel like he had the strength to stand.


    The two creatures turned to face him and both pulled back their arms ready to strike. Exhausted, he waited, hunched down and gasping. When they swung he jumped. Every bone and muscle felt like it was being bent in fire. At the top of the jump, he was only just above the heads of the massive things. He kicked out with both legs, aiming for the tops of their heads.


    The ground shook as their eight blocks pummeled the ash. Gray clouds burst and rose up. Joel¡¯s heel caught the top of one creature¡¯s head, but it slipped straight off. His other leg twisted as he wheeled in the air. His balance was lost. He slammed his fists toward the head of the nearest beast. All he did was hurt his wrists.


    The other creature was swinging its rocks back up. One caught Joel in the stomach and he cartwheeled up in agony. As he fell, he twisted. The creature saw him coming and swayed to avoid him. But his heel slammed down. He connected with the center of the dome.


    It seemed like slo-mo as the rocks lost connection with each other and tumbled back to the ground. Joel tumbled in the middle of them. And the other creature swung all four of his fist rocks, straight at him.


    Painfully tired, rolling against his momentum, Joel struggled to move out of the path of the boulders. His movements were agonizingly slow. But he got out of the way of the first and second and he hauled his body to avoid the next. It slammed into the ground and the force of the vibration shook his insides. But he¡¯d dodged them. All of them.


    All except for the one that smashed his knee.

 36: Ash

    IN PAINHE ROLLED AS far as he could. Which wasn¡¯t far. The restrictions of his movement made him wonder if the Gabriel was trying to get him killed. He had to shake the idea away. It was not impossible. It wasn¡¯t even slightly impossible. He could have decided that Joel was not going to be any more use and now he would just squeeze out some fun before expending him.


    But, if he wasn¡¯t any use to the Gabriel, then Honey probably wouldn¡¯t be either. The shadow of the hulking, clattering stone monster spread to cover him. Its arms were already flung over its back.


    Joel dragged himself up to his feet. No timing, no thought, he yelled as he tried to jump. The hurt knee left only one leg to function. He barely reached the beast¡¯s shoulder. But he clung to it.


    The creature twisted and turned, confused. Joel couldn¡¯t stand. He could barely crouch and hold on at the same time. Stretching out his remaining good leg as far as he could, he banged his heel into the monster¡¯s head.


    Beneath him the piles of rock shook. It swung heavily from side to side. With his teeth gritted hard he gripped and stayed on. And he banged the heel of his boot on the rock thing¡¯s head.


    Until it collapsed.


    Joel fell. Hunks of stone followed him down. His back and hips hit jagged edges and hard corners of stone. A heavy stone cracked the ankle of his good leg. A big fist block banged his temple.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The rocks that had been the huge monster began to sink, slowly, one by one, back down into the ash.


    Joel rolled, groaning. His knee hurt like it was smashed and his felt like it had been packed with broken glass. His hips ached bad, the left one especially. His shoulder was probably broken. And whatever had happened to his chest and the side of his head, they were wet, sticky and they hurt like hell. The ground trembled as he clambered up to crouch. On fire with mind-numbing pain, he dragged himself up to stand with his hands on his thighs.


    He almost lost balance as the ground bounced and heaved. Coughing, he rose to stand.


    Clouds of ash burst all around him. Four more rock creatures cracked the surface of the ground. Earth and fine gray dust poured and shook from them. A hail of smaller stones fell from them as they broke upwards. They were more than twice the size of the last two.


    The ground dropped from beneath him. As it descended, he was left in a narrow, circular pit, up to his shoulder height. With the four beasts all around him.


    With everything he had left, he summoned up all the energy he had to concentrate on a single jump. He would time it to get out just above the falling blocks. Climb up the arm of one of the beasts. Get to the shoulders and heads. If only he could take a rock with him. But he didn¡¯t have the strength. Even if he could find one.


    The stone creatures had all swung back and were about to sling all of their rocks at him. If he jumped as high as he could, it would just get him above ground level.


    They all swung down towards him. He couldn¡¯t move. He was paralyzed. The Gabriel held him from inside. He couldn¡¯t even look up. Or away.


    Sixteen swinging blocks of stone. Not that he could count them or tell them apart. All he knew were the impacts.


    Red and black and flashes of blinding pain. His vision split off in two different directions. Sickening crunching, tearing and squelch. Wet, unwilling rips and tears. Bolts of pain like barbed lightening.

 37: Rework

    JOEL AWOKE IN THE hospital bed. He recognized the ugly pale green and white walls immediately, and the six tentacled arms poking in from the sides of the bed. His arms and legs were weak. Both elbows and knees were numb. His whole body felt like there had been a fight inside and a lot of furniture got broke.


    Beside the bed he heard the faint sounds of hydraulics. When he tried to speak, the side of his face was stiff.


    ¡°The facial rework suits you.¡± Joel knew the voice immediately. ¡°It¡¯s an eggshell ceramic. I think you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know I needed a rework. Was the damage in that rock-men thing real?¡±


    The Gabriel¡¯s low chuckle was chilling. ¡°No. You needed enhancements for some of the work you¡¯re going to do.¡±


    ¡°My face?¡±


    ¡°No, your face was fine. Still is. I had you fitted with some co-processing and additional organic RAM, plus a few interfaces.¡±


    ¡°Facial interfaces. Sounds nice.¡± Joel wondered if the Gabriel could detect sarcasm as well as giving it out.


    ¡°Well, Honey likes it.¡±


    At the sound of her name, Joel¡¯s whole body tried to get up and out of bed. Bad idea.


    ¡°You¡¯re restrained. While you heal.¡±


    ¡°Where is she?¡±


    ¡°Soon enough, Joel. You¡¯ve got some recovering to do.¡±


    Too tense to rest, too tired to think. Bound by the restraints, Joel couldn¡¯t even move enough tot tell whether the chip that he¡¯d jammed in the back of his head was still there or not. The Gabriel knew about it, he¡¯d said as much. Joel knew that his encryption was good enough that nobody would break in. Not that he was any genius at encryption, far from it. Just because the chip was coded to scramble itself if it was interfered with. An unprompted passcode had to be put into a particular, un-obvious place or, instant melt.


    That was when he started to wonder how much the Gabriel was able to surveil him, to observe his thoughts. If he could read what Joel was thinking, he wouldn¡¯t need to read the chip. He would just have to watch while Joel read it. While that was in doubt, if Joel was going to be secure, he would have to acquire information without looking at at, and pass it on without seeing it. And without giving away who he passed it on to.


    The last part might not be quite as hard as it looked, since he didn¡¯t know who the people were at the other end of the chain. And, not reading or interpreting what he found, well, he didn¡¯t know what half of it was about. And the other half he didn¡¯t believe.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    So he was left thinking about Honey. Also not a comfortable thought while he was tied down. Feeling responsible for her having been taken, even though he couldn¡¯t have prevented it. He tried the best he could. There was nothing he could have done about it, other than what he did.


    Still, knowing that the Gabriel had almost total power over her. He was jumpy about her while he couldn¡¯t see her.


    Unable to sleep, unable to do anything else, Joel worried about what it was that the Gabriel had recruited him. Those thoughts didn¡¯t take him anywhere good. He veered off to think over the promise that he made to Honey and her weird friends.


    He didn¡¯t care much about them or their crazed ideas. And he had no idea who any of them were. Literally none. They could be people he¡¯d known all his life or they could be on another planet. He had no way to know.


    Honey liked them and trusted them and he didn¡¯t want to do anything that would disappoint her. As he turned their conversation over in his mind and the things the clown and the girl had said, he felt some faith. He couldn¡¯t have said why, but he felt like there was some truth behind it. That their group with its odd passphrases and ritual greeting, was founded on something that mattered.


    Maybe he only felt that way because he knew that Honey had a lot of faith and believe in them. In his life before, he realized, he had been okay with staying on the fence and skeptical about them. She could have her connection with them and it didn¡¯t matter too much to him, as long as she was safe and she was happy.


    Now, he felt like his life was on a faultline, a crack between the world that he knew, the view from the virtual nerve center of counter-conspiracy theory dwellers and the Gabriel himself.


    In the village, the world that now seemed to be a place of simple values, and a world he thought he would likely never see again, back then he thought the Gabriel was a fairy tale. A fiction. A booga.


    Now his life was in the booga¡¯s hands.


    Eventually he drifted into sleep. The dreams and phantoms there weren¡¯t any more comforting.


    ~~


    Honey was at his bedside when his eyes flickered. He jumped to hug her, but he was still fastened to the bed, unable to move.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She nodded but her faint smile made him doubt it.


    she stroked his arm. ¡°It somehow wound up with me getting what you wanted, Joel. My life is almost entirely virtual now, Joel. I guess it¡¯s a kind of immortality, but I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s a win or not.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t know whether I really won or not. But I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here with me. Is that very selfish?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Joel.¡± she said, ¡°But not in a bad way.¡±


    He was happy while she stayed, but he couldn¡¯t tell whether he was being brave for her or she was being brave for him.


    He asked her as she left. She looked back with a smile.


    ¡°Both. Silly.¡±


    ~~


    Later he heard the door open and Gabriel¡¯s trolley shooshed behind him. Fixed horizontal in the bed, Joel noticed that his body shivered when he recognized the sound of that trolley. Yet he never heard the Gabriel¡¯s feet.


    The hooded figure stood my the bed and loomed over him. Uncomfortable, Joel asked him, ¡°So is the interview stage over?¡±


    ¡°There never was one. The process was set up to look like a contest, Joel, but really it was all training and induction. You were selected to be my incarnation. The others were chosen for their ability to test your strengths and bring out the necessary qualities in you.¡±


    Staring into those eyes, Joel wondered how much of the Gabriel was human. Obviously some. And, also obviously, not all of him. ¡°I have some terms and conditions.¡±

 38: Sacrifice - Epilogue

    The sarcasm in the Gabriel¡¯s voice went up a notch. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re in a position to negotiate?¡± Joel tried his best to seem relaxed.


    ¡°With the amount of effort you put into recruiting me, including the elaborate and carefully orchestrated ¡®training and induction,¡¯ and now that you¡¯ve had me fitted up with enhancements, yes. I¡¯d say that you¡¯re pretty well committed and you should be open to some flexibility.¡±


    He smiled. For once it just seemed like a smile. ¡°Okay, Joel. You really have learned some things in this process. Try me.¡±


    ¡°You used Honey as a lever on me. And you brought her in even though I asked you to bring someone else. So you owe me there. And her. I want her to be free.¡±


    ¡°Joel, she can¡¯t go far without a surrogate for a human form.¡±


    ¡°The fleshbot.¡±


    ¡°If you want to put it that way.¡±


    ¡°So. Let her keep that one. Give her autonomy and free access to all the net protocols and let her make her own choices.¡± ¡­ ¡°And don¡¯t surveil her.¡±


    Joel didn¡¯t enjoy the pause. the Gabriel looked down at him for what felt like a very long time.


    Ultimately he said, ¡°You saw the jar room.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question.


    ¡°You left the door open. On purpose, I assume. Did you show it to all of the others?¡±


    ¡°Only to Molson.¡±


    ¡°Was he your fallback choice?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a fallback.¡±


    ¡°So why show him?¡±


    ¡°I wanted him to try really hard.¡±


    The Gabriel said he was instructing the bed to release Joel, to allow him to get up. He and his trolley moved back, to the corner of the room. He watched as Joel swung his legs over the side and took a moment before he stood.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The weakness in his stiff body made him angry and sad at the same time. Not wanting to show emotion in front of the Gabriel made the frustration worse and more intense. He was afraid that if he tried to move too quickly, he would falter or stumble. Instinctively, he thought that it was important not to show weakness to the Gabriel.


    Joel made his voice as relaxed as he could as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t really know what this ¡®incarnation¡¯ thing is all about.¡± Joel looked up into the darkness of the Gabriel¡¯s face. There didn¡¯t seem too much point in holding back. ¡°I never paid much attention to what people said about you before. I didn¡¯t really believe you even existed. Maybe that sounds strange to you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t. Most of my public image is fiction, and much of it is contradictory. Deliberately. Most people are happy believing in, what was it you said, ¡®booga¡¯s¡¯?¡± Joel gulped. He may have got that from Honey. If not, it mean that he¡¯d been under surveillance for some time before he was rendered or extracted or whatever the preferred term was.


    ¡°The incarnation is a vehicle for me. Places that I need to go or situations where this is inconvenient,¡± he waved his hand to indicate the trolley that he was umbilically attached to, ¡°You will be my arms, and legs. My hands, head and voice.¡±


    He drew Joel out of the recovery room, through a door he hadn¡¯t seem before. They stood on a walkway outside the pod to watch the stars rise over the desert.


    ¡°You won¡¯t see very much of that aspect of your work. Your conscious mind will be free to explore the datasphere and virus and games while your body takes me into meetings.¡± He turned his head to look in Joel¡¯s eyes. ¡°If I told you what those meetings wre, they would probably sound unbelievably exciting and interesting. But I promise you, if you were actually there, the boredom would make you scratch your own eyes out.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that you can trust me?¡± Joel thought about the chip. He hadn¡¯t risked touching it in the Gabriel¡¯s presence. Tilting his head, though, he felt it at the base of his skull.


    The Gabriel said, ¡°I think I have good judgement and instincts, Joel. And, if the worst comes to the worst, which we¡¯ll both very much hope never happens, I have Honey.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, you ¡®have¡¯ her?¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to spell it out? I don¡¯t mind, but you might regret asking. She is here to keep you happy and to give you company, but most of all she¡¯s here to keep you bound to me. For all of the time that your service is not required, and that will be most of the time, I¡¯m happy for you and she to do whatever you like.


    ¡°But it¡¯s worthwhile for you to keep in mind, Joel that I can switch her off, Joel. Sacrifice yourself if you wish, but know that at the same time you will be sacrificing her.¡±


    Joel pressed his lips together. This wasn¡¯t a time to risk speaking.


    The Gabriel was looking at the stars. ¡°The most important part of your mission is not your work as my incarnation. That¡¯s practically cover, Joel. You know what I mean by ¡®cover¡¯?¡±


    ¡°A story to hide the truth inside.¡±


    ¡°Precisely, Joel. Very good. Your real work is to find someone for me.¡± there was real sadness in his voice now. ¡°There are places you can go where I cannot. And that¡¯s where you¡¯ll find her.¡±


    ¡°Her?¡±