Digital Heretic (13 page)

Chapter 28

  It’s been said that life is just a dream…

 
But what if life is really a computer simulation, and all of us are simply players in a virtual reality game?

 
Join us this Thursday evening to explore the possibility that we are all living inside an incredibly advanced computer adventure…

 
Coffee and cake will be served after the half hour introductory meeting.

             
Invitation to local meeting of ‘Life is the Game’ organization

Taylor Jenkins

 
“
And that,m
y
friends, is the presentation for this evening. Once again, I’m Taylor Jenkins and I’d like to thank you all for coming out and listening to what is becoming the fastest growing movement in the world. If you’re interested in hearing more, please feel free to speak with one of our members during the meet and greet session.”

 
That’s it. I raise my hands and smile as the group starts to applaud. It’s an incredible turnout tonight; I think the count before I came onstage was just over three thousand people. I’ve been with the movement for over twelve years, just before Trew died, and the following continues to grow at a staggering pace. 

 
As the applause fades, people begin to stand and form small groups, moving towards the main area in front of the large stage where the coffee and treats will be served in a few moments.

 
I hear a voice over the loudspeaker, which is uncharacteristic at this time of the event. There’s a man standing in front of one of the microphones that we have set up for the question and answer portion of the presentation, which was over fifteen minutes ago.

  “
Excuse me.” He taps the microphone three times. “Hi, there. If I could just get everyone’s attention for a second before we serve the refreshments, please.”

 
The crowd quiets down, looking in the man’s direction to hear what he has to say. I glance offstage at my production manager, who shakes his head as if to say
I have no idea who this guy is or what he’s up to.

 
I switch my microphone back on and address the man. “Yes, hello, friend. How can we help you? If you’re looking to ask a question, we would be happy to do so during refreshments.”

 
The man looks at me and smiles. It’s not a pleasant smile; it sets off some instinct in my brain, calling out danger. He raises his right hand in the air and makes a slow lazy circular motion with it. Suddenly all the exit doors close with a soft thudding sound, followed by a click that indicates that they’re locked.

  “
What are you doing?” I ask. “Who are you?”

 
The man ignores me and takes the microphone off the stand. He holds it to his mouth and begins to speak. “Gamers, I am here to inform you that we are at a new portion of your virtual reality simulation.” He pauses and looks at me curiously. “That’s how you put it earlier, isn’t it, boss?”

 
I nod and the man nods back. “Yes, it’s an exciting new stage. At least it is for me; some of you won’t particularly enjoy it. This is the Culling phase of the simulation. As everyone knows, Earth’s current population is too large. It’s not sustainable the way it is; to be honest, I can’t believe it’s supported everyone for the past five

decades.
Anyway, I digress. In order to set things right, people are going to die.”

  “
How many people?” I ask him.

 
He shrugs his shoulders like the answer isn’t really important to him. “I believe the final number will end up in the hundreds of millions.”

 
My mind goes numb at the thought. “Why so many?” I whisper.

  “
Lots of reasons, but none that concern you. I’m always amazed at how often you creatures ask the question ‘why.’ The answer to why rarely helps, you know?”

 
I look at him. He seems to be waiting for me to say something, but I don’t know what to say. He raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “Anyway, people, I’m not really a talker, so let’s get this show on the road. I’m looking for ten people that are here tonight. When I read your name, please come up on the stage.”

 
He slowly reads off ten names, then looks up and waits for them to move to the stage. No one in the audience moves. One of the names is mine, but I don’t raise my hand or identify myself to him. After a few minutes he gets angry and speaks into the microphone again. “Okay, kids, I know you’re here, and I’m only going to ask one more time. Get up on the stage.”

  “
Why would they do that?” I ask. “Once they come up here, it’ll be easy to kill them. At least they have a chance of living by hiding in the crowd.”

 
The man frowns for a second, then shakes his head. “Oops, I guess I didn’t make myself clear. The names I called out aren’t going to be killed.”

 
I sigh in relief and open my mouth to ask him another question, but he cuts me off. “The names I called out are the only people in this room that are going to live
.
”

 
The blood rushes to my ears and my vision blurs. I hear a woman scream and look to my right. A group of dangerous looking men advance and begin grabbing people. Nine people quickly push

their way through the crowd and join me on the stage with their arms raised. The man at the microphone grins at me. I raise my hand as well.

  He nods and makes another hand signal.

 
People begin to scream throughout the conference room, first in fear, then in pain. I close my eyes and press my hands to my ears as hard as I can, but I can’t drown out the noise.

 
They are all dying.

 
I whisper a prayer to the Mainframe.
Please,
save them from this slaughter!
Please help us!

 
No one answers my prayer.

Chapter 29

 
“We began receiving reports from first hundreds, and then thousands of Game viewers early this morning. It appears that there is an event occurring inside the Game involving the violent deaths of tens of thousands of avatars.

 
Groups of avatars are being systematically rounded up and executed by what appears to be a sizable organization of professionals. Smaller scale events like this have occurred in the past in second and third world countries, but this outbreak of violence and killings is taking place all over Earth.

  It’s
too early for us to know if there is a pattern, but stay tuned and we will update you as we learn new information.”

Kent Smachsin
– reporter, Game news channel 1

Danielle - 49

 
I lose my concentratio
n
for the hundredth time this morning and open my eyes in frustration. “This is extremely difficult,” I say.

 
Melissa looks at me and smiles. “Yes, Danielle, learning to fly is extremely difficult. At least your vocabulary is getting better; a few months ago you were saying it was impossible.”

 
I smile back. “Are you sure this is how it’s done? I just sit here and meditate and learn to control the flow of the Glow?”

 
Melissa shrugs. “I have no clue. All I can do is try to replicate what I did, and I spent hours, weeks, months learning how to meditate and channel that Glow. Once I could summon my golden tingly feeling on command, then I began to experiment with it more. In my mind I summon the Glow, it envelops me like a golden skin of energy, and then I simply will myself to fly.”

 
I frown. “It’s vague, Melissa. I don’t mean to criticize you, it’s just super frustrating.”

  “That’s okay,”
she says. “It took me years to get there. You can see the results.” She floats upward, suspended easily a foot off the ground. “You just have to pay the price, which is time and effort.”

  “You’re
right, I know you are.” I say. “It’s just that no matter how old we get, the stage of being a novice is never pleasant.”

  “Okay,
then.” Melissa crosses her legs, still suspended in the air. “Let’s begin again, shall we?”

 
I nod my head and close my eyes, but the sound of the door opening makes me open them. Stephanie comes in with a grim look on her face. It must be important to interrupt my session, and her look tells me it is. “Morning, Steph, what’s up?” I ask.

  “
Morning, Danni,” she says. “You need to come with me, please. There’s a huge problem with Carl and his pack.”

 
I stand up. “It’s begun?”

 
She nods affirmatively. I take a deep breath, then stand up and follow her. I’ve been telling myself that we are sure to lose people who we know and love. I’m not happy about it, but all we can do is try our best to protect them. I had my parents and Trew’s family all brought together and they are living close and safe with guards. I wonder what’s up to have Stephanie looking so grim? She knows what to expect better than I do.

  “
Thanks, Melissa, great session,” I say. “Same time tomorrow?”

  “
Sure, Danni,” she says. “I’ll talk with you later.”

 
I nod. “Stay safe.”

  “
I will,” she says and we all leave the room.

 
Stephanie leads me down the hall and into the main study. She taps her black crystal necklace, and I do the same with mine. This conversation is now scrambled.

 
Raphael is sitting at the large desk, watching the television. It’s a gruesome scene, medical professionals and police bringing bodies out of a building in bags. Oh, my god, there are rows and rows of bags.

  “Where’s
that happening?” I ask.

  “
Thirty kilometres from here,” he says.

 
I scan my memory of the area and say, “There’s no large city that close.”

  “
I know,” he says. “It’s not going to be just large cities, Danni. This is going to be an enormous slaughter. But that’s not my major concern at the moment.”

 
I look away from the television and meet his eyes. “Well, then what
is
your major concern?”

  “
It looks like certain groups are being targeted for death.”

  “
Oh, no,” I say. “No one mentioned that. Killing off a whole nation of people would be terrible.”

 
“That’s not how it’s happening, so far,” he says grimly.

  “
Well, how are they grouping them?” I ask.

  “
By religion,” Stephanie says.

 
Something dawns on me. “Wait a minute. Thirty kilometres from here, there was a meeting last night, wasn’t there?”

  “
Yes.” Raphael says.

 
Oh, no.

  “They’re
targeting our religion? They’re killing Gamers?”

  “
Yes, they seem to be.”

  “
How many dead so far?” I ask numbly.

  “I’m
doing my best to track that,” Raphael says. “It’s difficult to be exact, but my count has a quarter million people dead. Of that number, just over 200,000 of them are Gamers.”

 
I sit down heavily into a chair.

 
We sit in silence for a few moments, then I speak. “Look, I don’t think I can do this. I don’t want to hear updates every hour and see the counts go from the hundreds of thousands into the millions into the hundreds of millions. I can’t watch this bloodbath. I know we are all just inside a

game and that every person who dies will return safely to their real bodies, but this is real to us all while we’re in it. Millions of people are going to suffer horribly.”

  “I agree,” Raphael says.

  “It’s
been nine years since Trew died. I walked away from the movement then. How many followers does it have at the moment?”

 
“Just over 100 million,” Raphael says.

  “
Can we save them?” I ask.

 
Raphael and Stephanie look at each other, then back to me. I close my eyes. “If they are targeted, then they will likely die,” Stephanie says. “We live in a world where a person is just too easy to find.”

  “
Maybe if they renounce their faith,” I say.

  “
Maybe,” Raph says, but I can tell from the tone of his voice he doesn’t think that will help them.

  “
We can protect as many as we can, then. They’ve been asking me to lead them; maybe it’s time I went back to do it.”

  “
You know we can’t protect them. We are instructed to allow it to happen, for the good of the Game.”

  “
How can this be good for the Game?” I shout at them, tears starting to well up in my eyes.

  “
There are some survivors,” Raphael says.

  “
What?”

  “
The scene on the TV right now. There were three thousand Gamers killed, but ten of them were singled out and allowed to live.”

  “
Why would that be?” I ask.

  “
Likely they are top ranked players,” Stephanie guesses. “Or they are actually working towards a purpose, or they have powerful Patrons who pulled strings to save them. Or maybe it’s just random.”

  “I want you to
get the survivors here as soon as you can,” I say.

 
The two of them stand up and walk towards the door.

  “
Guys?” they both stop and turn to look at me. “I understand we can’t save them all, but let’s see what we can do to save as many as we can.”

 
They both nod and leave the room.

 
I sit and stare at the TV.

 
Soon the tears in my eyes drown out the picture.