Digital Heretic (19 page)

Chapter 41

The human body, or avatar, as we call it, is an incredibly complex vehicle for a player’s consciousness to inhabit. For optimal health and functionality it must be formed and maintained precisely.

 
Yet it is also very forgiving and resilient, and able to withstand extreme abuse and neglect while still functioning satisfactorily.

 
I wonder how it came to be what it is today? Was it just a formless construct until avatars focused on it? Or was it designed so delicately with such staggering detail from the very first moment by Brandon Strayne and the Mainframe?

 
If a few misaligned molecules and proteins can damage the human body catastrophically, can a different misalignment result in creating an extraordinary body?

 
Is the Game an exact replica of Tygon? If it is, then we should ask the same questions about ourselves. Perhaps if Melissa can fly… I can too.

Anonymous Tygon Citizen

Danielle’s
command centre

  “Did she just compare herself to a baby bird being kicked out of its nest?” Michelle asked.

 
Brandon nodded his head and laughed. “Yes, she did. Exciting, isn’t it?”

  “What is?” Trew asked. “What am I missing?”

 
Brandon waved his hand and Michelle responded, switching the focus of the main screen from Danielle’s perspective to a smaller viewer beside it. Melissa’s point of view appeared on the main screen, it was a bit disconcerting to see the view switch from inside one person to the other so quickly, but everyone in the room had experienced this so often it no longer affected them.

  “
Turn up the volume and watch quietly,” Brandon said. “Let’s see how this situation turns out. I don’t want to miss a moment of it because we’re talking.”

 
Trew nodded, confused and concerned as the three black sedans raced towards the women in the field.

***

Melissa

  “I can’t fly yet!” Danielle shouts.

  “
You can float,” I say. “I think we can use that to allow me to pull you out of here. Now summon the Glow and start floating. Close your eyes until I tell you to open them. Hurry!”

 
I can’t fly while holding anything heavy, not more than a few feet. I’m not strong enough. But I know I can pull her if she’s able to float. This is nuts, but let’s see if it works.

 
I fly into the air to see how far away the cars are. They’re coming fast; we need to go.

 
I settle to the ground and try to stay calm as I watch Danielle summon her glow. She’s gotten very good at it; we’ve practiced for stressful situations exactly like this. I smile as I sense her glow appear. Yeah, I can do that. She floats gently above the ground.

  “
Ok, here we go.” I grab hold of her belt and take off. Excellent! She’s light as a feather. Slowly, I begin to move away from the approaching cars.

 
I fly much quicker than I can run. I think we clocked it at around 100 kilometres per hour. I haven’t pushed my speed to the limit,

though. Most
of my time is spent around buildings. Bones will break very easily if they run into a solid building, so I keep it around 30-50 km/h. “I’m going to pick up speed now, Danni.” She nods, eyes still closed.

 
I figure I’m flying along at about 40 kilometres per hour or so now, about five feet off the ground. Danni is doing perfect. I look behind me and see the cars gaining on us; we’ll never outrun them this way. It’s time to take advantage of our ability to move across uneven terrain in a straight line. I see woods coming up fast; we need to gain some altitude. “We’re going up, Danielle. Don’t let that worry you, just keep doing what you’re doing. You’ve got this! You’re going to fly!”

 
I hear Danielle gasp as I soar upwards, but she maintains her state. I get ready to feel her extra weight; if it all goes terribly wrong, I can slow our crash to the ground enough that we shouldn’t break anything. She keeps floating, atta girl, Danni! We clear the trees and continue to cross the woods. I look back and see the cars stop at the edge; there’s no road through the forest.

 
We fly for another five minutes or so, until the woods are well behind us. I hover above the earth, holding Danielle and looking in all directions, but there’s no one around. I wave at a couple of seagulls who are hovering near us. Birds find me a curious sight and often fly close. 

  “Okay
, Danni,” I say. “We are a bit higher than a foot off the ground — more like a couple hundred feet — but don’t panic or drop your Glow.” Her eyes squint and she drops slightly but catches herself. I sigh inside; it’s always mind over matter. “Now I want you to calmly open your eyes and look around.”

 
Danielle opens her eyes slowly, maintaining a strong Glow. She looks from side to side and then downwards. Her face lights up in a huge grin. “That’s it,” I say encouragingly, “Just enjoy where you are, don’t think about it too much. Keep the Glow going. Now I’m

going to let go of you and
you’re not going to drop. Remember that I’m not keeping you up here, you are.”

 
She nods and I let her go. She continues to float solidly in place. I drift backwards about twenty feet. “Now come towards me, slowly,” I say.

 
She turns the palms of her hands to face behind her and she slowly moves closer to me, adjusting her hands as she reaches me to once again float in the air.

  “
Perfect!” I say. “Now let’s float down to the ground. It’s the same floating a few hundred feet up as it is floating just one. “

 
Together we descend. I touch down first. When she touches the ground, her glow fades and she runs to throw her arms around me. “That was incredible!” she exclaims. “I can fly! Wow, Melissa, I don’t know what to say. How do I ever begin to thank you?”

  “It’s
me who should thank you, Danni,” I say. “Your company, your friendship, and your training has allowed me to live a life I never dreamed I could have. I’m honoured that I could give you something in return. Remember, though, the flying is all you. I can show you what to do, but it’s you who had to do it. This is the result of thousands of hours of boring, tedious practice. You’re the extraordinary person for the commitment you have displayed. You bought this skill with belief and paid for it with hard work.”

  “
I appreciate that,” she says.

  “
So,” I say, “are you tired? It’s not supposed to sap your strength, but the first few times you fly you’ll likely forget to channel energy from around you and draw off of your own resources.”

  “
I am a little tired,” she admits. “I think I have the energy for one more quick flight, though. It beats walking out of here. Let’s find a safe place away from whoever was chasing us.”

 
I smile. “Okay, then, follow me.” I summon the Glow and take to the air, going slow and watching as she quickly joins me.

 
We fly west for about five minutes and Danielle quickly grabs my arm. “We need to go a different way,” she says. “There’s a black car parked on the side of that road ahead.”

 
I nod. “That one’s safe. Follow me and promise not to get angry.” I smile and she nods.

 
As we get closer to the car we can both make out a man standing outside, leaning against the side of the vehicle and looking up towards us. We land and Danielle laughs.

  “
Hey, Raphael,” she says.

  “
Hi, Danni,” Raphael says, walking towards her and grabbing her in a fierce hug. “Look at you, flying around like a little bird! Congratulations, girl.”

  “Whose
idea was this?” she asks, returning his hug briefly, then slapping him on the chest.

  “
A combined effort,” I say. “You’ve been ready to fly for a while now. I thought it might just be fear holding you back, so we orchestrated this little crisis to help push you in the right direction. Danger can be healthy sometimes.”

 
“You pulled it off nicely,” Danielle admits. “I saw those cars coming towards me and wasn’t thinking about issues that normally hold me back from trying. Thanks, I guess. But don’t make this a habit. My heart almost stopped beating at the thought of being caught by our enemies.”

  “
I know, Danni,” Raphael says. “I swear to you that the news about who took the Mark off  came to me coincidentally at the same time we were doing this exercise. I won’t be pulling any more scenarios like this from now on. It was important for us to know if you could fly. You have a new and powerful escape route available to you from now on.” Raphael looks over at me. “Now teach her how to fly erratically so she presents a difficult target to shoot down.”

 
I nod. “Are you up for a bit more flying right now to try it out?” I ask.

  Danielle’s
eyes light up. “Yes, let’s.”

Chapter 42

 
The greatest secret is that we are more powerful than we think.

 
The greatest tragedy is that we believe lies and ignore truth.

 
The greatest hope is that we will wake up from the dream that we all share and free ourselves…because the dream is a nightmare.

 
There is a better life waiting patiently for us all, not just outside of the Game…but here inside it as well.

 
The dog that appears to be growling at us as we approach is actually looking slightly behind us, trying to protect us from the danger that grasps us tightly. We hush the dog and remain trapped.

 
Ignorance is not bliss.

 
Wake up.

An excerpt from a Trew Radfield talk when he was in the Game

Miranda

 
I hear
a
voice and my eyes focus on the man on the other side of my cage. It’s him, and he’s smiling at me.

  “
Pardon? Did you ask me a question?”

  “
Indeed I did,” he says. His voice is melodic and smooth, like warm honey dripping off of a spoon into a glass of tea. His smile is warm and comforting, I bet people find it easy to trust him. His entire bearing makes him seem fatherly and concerned. Maybe he

drugs us too
; I feel groggy. “I asked you if you think I’m stupid.” he says.

 
His question throws me off; it doesn’t match his pleasant demeanour. I think cautiously before answering. “No, I don’t think you’re stupid. I don’t even know you,” I say.

 
His lip curls into a half smile. “Each time I bring you out of the Haze you react so differently. We appear to be making progress, then the next time it’s as if you don’t recall the previous day’s interaction.”

  Okay, it’s
showtime. I quiver my lip and start to tear up, not really so difficult for me to do; I’m in a hopeless situation that’s likely going to end in a very slow painful death, followed by oblivion and the loss of my soul. “I’m trying very hard to do what you want, mister,” I say. “I’m finding it very difficult to concentrate. I hurt sometimes and I don’t know why. Other times I’m so dizzy and groggy that I can’t keep a single thought in my head. Then when I feel good, like right now, I look around me and discover that I’m in some kind of underground jail. I just want to go back to my normal life, and I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”

 
I break down and sob. He waits politely for a few moments as I lose myself in the moment. I finally look up and accept a handkerchief from his hand, wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. I try to access Sparx, and my heart skips a beat. Where her presence usually sits I find nothing. I feel alone.

 
He must detect my surprise; he smiles and nods sympathetically, then taps a spot on the right side of his neck. There’s nothing there; he must be signalling for me to… I reach up and feel a small bandage covering my neck. I’m not acting this time as my face drains of colour and my stomach does a complete turn.

 
He smiles, “Yes, that’s right, Miranda. We found a way to remove it. Your nanocomputer is no longer inside you. My young associate,” he points to the teenager in the cell with the computers, “is taking a look at it right now. It’s much more intelligent than you

let on
; I’m disappointed that you are such a convincing liar. We will have to work harder to gain your cooperation.”

 
I sit down heavily on the bed, crushed that they found a way to get Sparx out. I was doing so well; I wonder what they did to me to make me break. This is horrible, all of this planning and scheming for nothing.

  “Don’t
look so disappointed, my dear,” he says. “You were very entertaining for me. I haven’t run up against resistance like this in centuries. The good news is we are just getting started. I know you will live a long time, being an Eternal.” I flinch. “Oh, yes, I figured that part out, too. It’s been some time since I captured one of your kind in my web. We are going to have lots of fun, for a very long while.”

 
He snaps his fingers and I look at him. He waves his hand to summon me closer to him; it’s time for him to put me back under. I stand and walk numbly towards him for the tap that will allow me to forget my failures for a brief time. I don’t even care if he makes me suffer during the Haze. I’m broken.

 
He grabs my chin forcefully and tips my head up to look into my eyes. He nods in satisfaction as he reads the defeat and hopelessness.

  “
Who are you?” I ask meekly.

 
He pauses and smiles. Small motes of gold and red swirl around lazily inside his icy blue irises. Do I also detect small flashes of silver? “My name is Shane. Enjoy your rest, Miranda. Our work will finally begin when I bring you out of the Haze next time.”

 
He taps my forehead and I disappear.

***

  I gain consciousness a short time later, lying in the darkness on my bed. I keep my eyes closed and wait for Shane to say something, but he doesn’t. I begin to smile inside.

 
‘Tell me it worked?’
I think silently.

 
‘Like a charm,’
Sparx replies. Once again I can feel her presence.

 
‘It was so real, your absence.’

 
‘That was the plan,’
Sparx says.
‘It had to be, for the performance you needed to deliver, and you did it. Incredible job, Miranda. A shame no one can see what you did.’

 
‘You can play it back from my memories when we get out of here,’
I say.
‘How did the delivery go?’

 
‘Our computer expert has what they believe is me,’
Sparx confirms.
‘It will keep them busy for quite some time, and I’m able to direct and control it.’

 
‘And the others?’
I ask.

 
‘Copies of myself were released and travelled by air to inhabit the other inmates. I have begun gently working to establish silent contact with their brains and psyches.’

 
‘Excellent,’
I say.
‘And you are able to communicate with all of your individual copies?’

  ‘Not
yet, but I know they are working. They send out tiny pings to let me know all is on track. They will establish contact when they have set up house in their hosts. We have not been detected by any of Shane’s or the computer kid’s technology.’

  ‘Dare
I hope there’s still a chance for me to get out of this?’
I ask Sparx.

  ‘Believe
you will, and you will, Miranda. You have been trained for centuries for this mission. It’s all going as planned. But Shane can change the rules at any moment, let’s stay sharp.’

  ‘On
to phase two,’
I say.

 
‘I’ll wake you when we are ready,’
Sparx says.