Virtual Prophet (2 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

Non Player Characters. NPC’s.

Trew’s head moved slowly from side to side, looking at the people around him scurrying from one task to the next. He couldn’t hear them over the buzz in his brain. They seemed to move slower than normal.

None of us are real
,
he thought to himself
.
Billions of us, bits of computer code with minds programmed by some mainframe master to complete tasks
.

He didn’t have time for this. Why had Thorn showed him the truth?
Was it even the truth? If it was, and they were all NPCs, then did that change anything?

Trew shook his head quickly, trying to clear thoughts that he didn’t want to consider
. I don’t know why Thorn wanted me to know this, but it doesn’t matter. This life feels real to me, to all of us. The lives I’ve experienced in the Game may have been virtual, but they made me who I am today. If I don’t snap out of this, we will all die, and that’s not something I’m going to let happen.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said forcefully.

“What doesn’t matter, Trew?” Michelle asked.

Trew looked around the table. It was full of team members waiting for him to begin the meeting. Brandon had dropped a little over a day ago. They’d lost contact with the Game at the same time.

No one on Tygon had any idea what was going on inside the Game.

Hopefully that was about to change.

“Give me the news, Michelle.” Trew said. He was sitting at the head of the table — Brandon’s seat.

Michelle stood beside the main viewer which displayed various graphs and charts. She looked weary and haggard; the last twenty-nine hours had felt like weeks to all of them.

“It’s a mess,” she said. “Brandon is in stable condition, but there’s no sign that he’ll wake up. As far as the Game is concerned... we still can’t get a signal.” She paused to look at Trew, hoping he would announce that she was wrong and he’d somehow found a way. Trew nodded in agreement and Michelle continued to speak. “Ejected players are being separated and sequestered according to the geographical regions that they were playing in. From hours of intense interviewing as they wake up, we’re slowly beginning to piece together some of the major developments happening in there.”

“How’s Danielle doing?” one of the team mates asked.

“She’s doing well,” Michelle said. “She’s surrounded herself with Timeless and carved out a base of operations in what used to be Cambridge, Canada. It’s been almost two years since ‘the Day’ occurred inside the Game, and they’ve built themselves an impressive colony.”

“How impressive?” Lilith asked.

“Ejected players all refer to the groups that are forming as ‘tribes.’ Most tribes consist of less than twenty individuals,” Michelle pointed to a graph. “There are reports of some extraordinary leaders who’ve managed to build groups somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 to 400 people.”

“That’s a serious accomplishment, considering the conditions,” Lilith said. “The simple task of growing enough food to feed that many mouths would require a lot of hard work and cooperation. Preventing dissension, squabbling, and challenges to authority would be a constant threat to the stability of groups.”  

“Yes,” Michelle agreed. “Most tribes seem to reach a certain level, and then they implode for the reasons you just mentioned.”

“How many people are in Danielle’s tribe?” Trew asked.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Michelle said. “If we can believe the reports from players exiting the Game, and they all seem to agree with each other, then Danielle’s tribe is large.”

“I didn’t hear a number in that sentence, Michelle.” Trew said.

“Forty-five thousand,” Michelle said.

Everyone sat in stunned silence.

“How are they able to maintain a group that size?” someone finally asked.

“The Gamers,” Trew guessed.

“That’s right,” Michelle agreed. “Gamers are flocking to her. New groups of Gamers appear almost daily to join her. When they arrive, Gamers are welcomed as brothers and sisters and given portions of the city to settle. There is order, law, and a sense of togetherness that the entire group embraces.”

“What do they do with non-Gamers?” Trew asked.

“They interview all newcomers,” Michelle said. “If the admissions committee doesn’t like what they hear, they send them on their way.”

“That must cause trouble,” Lilith said.

“Not very often,” Michelle said. “Most accept a safe escort to the border and cross the bridge into Buffalo. A group of Gamers maintains a post at the border to keep the area secure and to make certain no one tries to come back once they cross over into Buffalo. Those who are denied entrance into Danni’s colony are in no position to argue, and there are good opportunities in Buffalo. There are safe communities over there, just not many large ones.”

“Any other large colonies like Danni’s?” Trew asked.

“Nothing even comes close,” Michelle shook her head.

“We need to be able to see what’s going on in there,” Trew said. He looked around the table expectantly, but everyone avoided his gaze.

“No one has any ideas on how to re-establish a video link?” he asked. The room remained silent.

Trew stood up. “Okay, this isn’t really our area of expertise, anyway. Cooper, come with me. The rest of you do what you can to sort the information coming in. I want to know what caused this and what we can do to end it. At the very least we need to bring the video feeds up so fans can keep watching and spending money. An event like this has never happened before, and from a business end of things we’re missing out on making massive profits.”

Michelle frowned at Trew. He noticed her look and nodded his head. “That’s right, I’m not just Trew the player anymore. I’m Brandon Strayne’s successor, and I intend to surpass his accomplishments, impressive as they were.”

Trew looked around the room to make certain everyone understood, then nodded and walked out the door with Cooper and Michelle following closely on his heels.

CHAPTER FIVE

Danielle

I stand on top of the main gate and watch the Greeters meet a new group. The sun feels warm on my skin, and I grip the wooden ramparts lightly as I look down at the tired little tribe that has arrived to join us. Guards sit comfortably on the ground as well as on either side of me up here.

Angelica smiles comfortably as she moves amongst the newcomers, stopping to speak with each person, and then nodding pleasantly before moving on to the next. After a time, she looks up to meet my gaze and raises her hand to make a simple signal.

I nod and return the signal. She’s telling me that they are Gamers.

I turn away and look towards the large courtyard off in the distance. We built the main settlement to resemble an old fort from the past. It adds credibility and a sense of safety to residents, although the Colony hasn’t faced any major threats since it was created over a year ago. The courtyard is full of activity today; they’re making preparations for a big celebration tonight.

Today is my 62
nd
birthday.

Everyone says I look more like I’m in my late thirties. I laugh and tell them I don’t think I look a day over twenty-eight... but I must admit that I do look good for my age.

When I made the decision to live for 140 years, I wanted to reach that age with Trew, but he’s been gone from the Game for over twenty years; I haven’t seen him in more than two.

I smile. I wouldn’t get much sympathy if I complained about such a thing out loud. ‘Poor me, it’s been two years since I’ve lain with my husband who died twenty years ago!’ I did have it better than the rest, and I appreciated every second of it.

I don’t think they can see us since the Day of Darkness occurred — the fans on Tygon, I mean. It’s impossible to know for certain. Maybe only the meditation link stopped working. The old methods of hearing from Brandon and the others have stopped as well; newspapers and internet technology no longer exist. We’re all running blind, which is both scary and comforting at the same time.

If no one can hear me, then why do I still talk to myself?

I shrug and climb down the rampart. I needed the break, but it’s time to get back to work. This enormous group of souls can’t function smoothly without a leader.

I walk towards my office building, nodding and smiling to people as I pass them.

“Happy Birthday, Danni!” a young girl calls out from across the street. “Are you excited about the big party tonight?”

I smile and wave, “Can’t wait,” I lie cheerfully. “See you there!”

There’ll be thousands of people gathered to celebrate in the main courtyard, and thousands more all over the city. I shudder at the thought of the extra food and stores that will be consumed because everyone wants to celebrate my birthday, but Stephanie assures me we have the supplies to spare. Harvests have been bountiful, and the people need a reason to unwind. Life hasn’t been kind to most of them since the Day.

The Day. That’s what everyone calls it. Its official title, ‘The Day of Darkness,’ is too much of a mouthful to say every time, so it’s been shortened to ‘the Day.’ Not the big mushroom clouds of radioactive destruction, or toxic clouds of chemical weapons, or even the outbreak of deadly disease that we all guessed would end civilization; no, none of those things. 

Just inconvenience. That’s what brought the world to its knees and kicked us back into the dark ages. The power stopped working. We could no longer send messages to our friends across the world. The lights no longer came on when we flipped the switch.

Of course, it was much worse than that. Electricity, oil, gas — none of these things function anymore. Automobiles were pretty useful, when they worked. As dead husks of metal, they are one of the biggest pains in the arse we have in this new world of ours. Horsepower reverted back to horses; it’s a shame so many people started eating them when they got hungry. I could use another thousand horses to help us work the land.

Old farmers are the most treasured resource in our Colony. They live like lords and ladies as they teach us how to use knowledge which almost died out with them. Overnight they went from being ignored fossils to revered teachers.

Life can be funny like that.

I open the door to my office and grab a cup of water from the pail before I head to my desk. This is my private office, my thinking place. Most people leave me alone when I come here.

“Happy birthday, old girl.”

Most, but not all. I smirk as Carl steps from the corner of the room. There’s barely any shadow there, but he doesn’t seem to need much to wrap it around him like a cloak of invisibility. Out of habit, my eyes flit to his, verifying that he’s still on our side. Yep, gold flecks instead of red. Checking Timeless eyes is a habit I developed after one changed unexpectedly last year. The first thing this one wanted to do when she changed was start killing innocent people. Carl says that doesn’t happen often, and Raphael agreed with him. Still, that was a bad day. If more had been around to see it, things could have turned unpleasant for our Timeless.

“Old girl?” I ask. “Coming from an ancient, withered creature like yourself, that’s funny.”

He smiles, although his smile still looks somewhat like a starving tiger that has come across a baby deer all alone. Either the last few years of practice have made it look less intimidating, or I’m getting used to it. “I’m told by many that I don’t look anywhere close to my true age.”

“What number is that again?” I ask.

He shrugs, “A few thousand years.”

I squint my eyes and look him up and down critically. “Okay, then, I would have to agree with them. I would have guessed only a little over a thousand. If you’re more than that then, yeah, you look decent.”

He sniffs dismissively and sits down in my chair. “So tonight is gonna be a big party.”

I frown and grab him a glass of water. Then I place it on the seat across from mine. He slowly gets up, walks over to pick up his cup, and sits down. I move to my chair and sit, putting my feet up on the old, worn surface of the pale wooden desk, crossing my feet at the ankles and putting my arms behind my head. “Too big a party for too small of a reason,” I say.

He nods, but I know he doesn’t agree. Try as he might to show us all otherwise, being an Eternal agrees with Carl. The easiest way to tell is when the small children attack him and start playing with him. He grumbles and roars at first, but the kids see through that, and in moments he’s throwing them into the air and safely catching them. He mutters and complains, but spends hours entertaining the little ones.

“How do you feel about skipping out of the party early?” he asks.

“If the reason is good enough, count me in. Come to think of it, even if the reason is lame, feel free to count me in,” she smiles. “What did you have in mind?”

He drains his cup of water and puts it on the desk. Then he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and gives me a serious look. “The other day I detected a stray Timeless, so I went to check it out.”

I swing my legs off the desk and sit up straighter. “Who did you take with you?” I ask.

“No one,” he shakes his head. “This was a powerful energy signal, and one that I was pretty sure I recognized, so I went to check it out by myself.”

“That was stupid, Carl,” I say.

Carl shrugs and stares at me blankly. He doesn’t like being scolded, and I don’t do it often. I take a deep breath and decide to let it slide.

“What colour eyes?” I ask.

“Crimson.” He turns his head towards the front window and pretends to look out. “Someone you know, too.”

“I don’t know many Infernals,” I say.

“I don’t know much about that,” he stands up and walks to the glass pane. “There’s been a safe meeting offered. For tonight. I’ll be your escort.”

“And Raphael,” I say.

Carl shakes his head.

“You know Raphael wouldn’t agree to that,” I say. “He insists on being with me when meeting new Timeless.”

Carl looks back at me and shrugs his shoulders. “What can I tell you, Danni? Anyone else shows, the meeting doesn’t happen.”

I look at him for a few moments.

“You know you’re safe with me,” he says. “No matter what colour my eyes are.”

I don’t know that. But I would bet on it, under most circumstances. “Who is it?”

Carl comes back and sits down. He grins, and this time it seems less pleasant. “The Devil himself has travelled from far away to wish you a happy birthday, Danni.”

“Daniel?” I ask. My gut jumps and I feel anxious.

“The one and only.”

I look at him for a few seconds. Then I nod.

“Set it up.”