Raine VS The End of the World (11 page)

What the hell. A little Petit Rouge can’t do much damage.

“I’ve only got one concern,” Henry uttered, his words long-rehearsed. “I’ve been told that Junior Net Manager is a very dangerous position.”

“Pish-posh,” Jon Wrathman laughed, jostling his tray. “Let’s find a good spot and I’ll give you the lowdown on what really happened to Orynbekov.”

Wrathman led him to a secluded VIP booth, covered by sound-absorbing curtains on three sides, with the fourth a tinted, shatterproof window looking out on the metropolis. A gracious hostess lit the candle, intensifying the evening’s awkward romantic air.

Armed with foreknowledge of the fate befalling his good friend, Henry had to feign surprise at learning that Doc Ory was caught modifying strings of code that could open up the Helmet Defense Protocol to outside interference. The code would have been planted into the updated tracking programs, and had the potential to override the entire HDP within minutes.

Henry’s sole (and risky) attempt at mining for the identity of the informant failed. Mister Senior gave the impression of having a loose tongue, but he knew when to protect his most valuable assets. Perhaps that was how Jon survived in the system for so long; he could cozy up to a man, size him up, and use him without giving any of himself away in the process.

“Unbelievable. I would never have pegged him for a rebel. Could it have been some form of hypnosis, or a body double?” queried Henry.

“Nada. It was he, in the flesh. Bit the bullet, too. Probably thought his nano-bots might leak, or he might crack under pressure. Good man. Always thought he was too guarded. Oh, speaking of which, if you have any skeletons in the closet, kid, now’s the time.”

“My entire life and its work are in my personnel file,” Henry insisted. “I’m sure you’re aware that I learned programming from maintaining harvester bots and other equipment for a large commune. But the life of a rebel prole never appealed to me.”

“And right you are to have followed your instincts here. We treat such talents with the respect they deserve. Danger is only an issue to men who’re asking for it,” Wrathman said, leering. “Of course, I’ve got my own selfish reasons for wanting you topside. There’s more than one rat in this outfit, and I’ll wager an outsider’s eyes will see more than this old man’s. They’re desperate. They’ll try to recruit you. And when that day comes, I want names. I want everything you can give me.”

“Should the position go to me, I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Call me Jon.”

Then came the handshake.

So, good old Nico had bought the farm.
Henry wished he could drink to the memory of his one-time mentor, the best rebel hacker in the Northern Hemisphere, but instead he and Wrathman toasted to Henry’s impending one-on-one meeting with the Queen of Hearts.

“Just between us, Her Majesty has been very hands-on lately,” Jon continued, whispering. “When I had my interview… it was quick. Impersonal. But these days she’s brimming with energy. Jumps at a pin drop. And I’ll bet she’s pretty feisty between the sheets, too. Not that I know anything about that, of course!”

Wrathman guffawed.

Henry heard the echoes of the virtual politician’s laughter late into the night, even as he lay awake in his bed. Not wanting to be put to sleep with so many doubts in his mind, he’d smashed his hypno-snoozer in nervousness, flushed away his government-issued 5-Oma stabilizing capsules, and drank until the feast he had that evening came back out.

There was nothing for it but to inhale another glass of bourbon. Now that Henry was next in line to inherit the dead man’s position, every watchful eye would be on him. The HDP’s sanctity took precedence over everything. The constant threat of every indoctrinated man, woman, and child turning on the dominant minority was at the very crux of
Neo Eden’s
draconian rule, justifying their long reach across the globe. There was no use blaming fate, or even Admiral Lillian.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was the backup, the sidekick, the kid. But the important thing is that I’m still alive
, he reasoned.
And I’m not the only pair of eyes and ears she has in here.

At least two others existed that he knew of. But they were ‘Doctors’, higher in rank and longer employed, and his job was merely to provide cover for them and await further orders. That is, until the latest ones came in on his private mail receiver.

HH,

How’s the weather over there? Still searching for the Overseer. The server room’s location is one of Lacie’s well-guarded secrets. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the Defense Ministry. Keep an ear out, but don’t make any unexpected moves. You will have additional duties, and I’ll be counting on you at the end. Earn that JNM position at all costs. Dress your best, and don’t choke in front of Lorrie. She’ll try to psyche you out.

See you soon!

L

How the devil did she know about his impending promotion? Wrathman was out of the question. He was clearly the Queen’s lapdog.

It wasn’t the sort of message that inspired much confidence.

Additional duties?
Not only did Lillian hint at more dangerous work coming his way, could she really not have a single mole in the Defense Ministry?
I guess even the Sky Admiral has her limits.
General Lacie ran a tight ship, to be certain, and the
Eden
forces were mostly android in nature. The odds were not looking to be in their favor.

He plopped in front of the holo-tube and munched on some jerky as a nature show bombarded him with sharks tearing through the living room. It was all too easy for Henry to picture himself in the place of the poor porpoise; the program was quickly switched to a recording of the evening news. Henry swished two fingers to the right, skipping through the less enlightening content, based on his preset preferences.

“—said this morning in a nationwide address that internationally-based militant rebel groups have been isolated in the Eastern Sectors.”

Speak of the devil. The scene cut to a hologram of General Lacie, supreme commander of
Neo Eden
’s military forces.

“Reports of insurgents advancing from the East are baseless,” Lacie began. “Our military rules the skies, land, and sea. Nothing flies on this planet that I don’t know about or approve. Nevertheless, vis-a-vis the terror attack in Jakarta, we’re taking extra precautions. With Macleod cleaning up the trash abroad,
Eden
must focus on threats within her borders. The cowardly attack on our outer walls will not go unpunished.”

All-out lies.
Henry shook his head.
Exactly like Lily said it would happen.
The
Eden
Armada pre-emptively burned Sector Thirty to the ground and looted its resources, and yet even with all the recordings, they have the audacity to claim the genocide as the work of rebels.
Then again, it’s not like anyone’s left to rise up and challenge the official story.

I must assume that my higher-ups on both sides are in on a lot more information than I am, and the less I know, the safer I’ll be. Nonetheless, the similarities between the Sky Admiral, the Queen, and the General are downright uncanny.

Any way he tried to look at it, Henry was just a pawn in a much larger scheme. As one of the world’s foremost programmers, this wasn’t at all a fair position to be in, hovering inches away from the frying pan and soon to be dipped in the fire.

Am I going to be able to endure the flames? If I still have doubts, there’s no way I’m ready for what’s about to happen.

While there were no tests that could determine a man’s true character until the defining instant, Henry did have one thing going for him. His self-doubts could not hold a candle to his convictions. He was fighting for a free society, one that struck a balance between localized authority and personal responsibility, a world similar to the one he was born into. He was fighting for an end to the Queen’s reign.

The dimmed fiber bulbs highlighted a framed print of a sunset over the Australian outback. The photograph was mounted just below eye level, the way it looked when he was sitting atop the cliff face with his grandpa, overlooking the aerial windmills flying high above his commune, dreaming of a new life far away, where he could put his computer skills to work for the emergent freedom fighters and make a difference for the kids of the future.

Oh, that feisty brat got what he asked for, all right. All that’s left is to see whether he’ll deliver the goods.

≡

Two hours after sundown and much shivering in the cool night air, Raine and Chance arrived at a wind-sheltered hamlet nestled into the hillside. The girl felt she must have walked ten miles. The strangest thing was that the exhaustion was completely mental, not at all physical. Her legs were ready to keep on trekking, but she was in danger of falling asleep on the pathway.

Chance lit the way to the inn, and as Raine finally stole inside, the large hearth warmed her bones.

“Good evening, young miss. What brings you out this way?”

Raine managed a sleepy response to the olive-skinned woman. “Looking for an old friend, I guess.”

“When one seeks, one shall find. One bedroom will be 5 Gold. Have you eaten yet?”

“Dinner sounds lovely,” she mumbled, barely coherent. “But the sandman’s got my number. Such a jerk. What did I ever do to him? You know, it’s so unfair. I just got here today. I don’t wanna leave. But oh, that cushion looks real soft.”

“Er, we’ll be expecting you for breakfast, then. Your wake-up call is in nine hours.”

After paying the innkeeper, Raine lumbered down the hall, scanned her watch at the blinking door, and tripped over her feet until she fell onto the soft mattress.

Before fading away from consciousness, she wondered if this would be an end to her dream-journey. If so, it would be a disappointment, if only because there was so much else that she wanted to accomplish.

Isn’t holding onto a dream just delaying the inevitable? The more I immerse myself here, the more miserable I might be when I wake up. That is, if I wake up.

Raine recalled the eventful day she’d spent in the
Metaverse
, woozily hopeful that there might be more to this dream world, and that SBB really did have some answers for her. The sandman swept her away in minutes, leaving Chance to stand guard by the doorway.

∞

Queen Lorelei rolled the tiny brass badge between her fingers.

“It appears we’re running out of time,” the hologram across her desk lamented.

“We always were, Lacie.”

The Overseer’s evening checks complete, Lorelei switched off her console. The badge, shaped like a digital watch, glimmered like a magical token in the dimmed fiber optic lights.

Lacie’s hologram looked on, intrigued. “Re-opening old wounds, Lorrie? Or are you having second thoughts?”

The Queen shrugged. “I have no idea why I keep this thing.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“Join me for dinner, sis. There’s a lot on my mind.”

“I’ll have to take a raincheck. Claire’s adamant about my taking her to the opera.”

“Very well. Enjoy yourself, for tomorrow may come too soon. Long live
Eden
.”

“Long live
Eden
.”

After taking supper alone, Queen Lorelei perused Miss Guggell’s lengthy report on the rogue player’s cache of hazy memories. What little could be gleaned from them was most enlightening.

‘Raine’ seemed to be under the delusion that she was from a world long gone; namely, the Alpha worldline, that first universe before the death of Lily’s parents sent the
Belladonna
into its major reset. She actually believed that she was from the Gregorian year 1992, living in North America. These recollections may hint at some bigger puzzle, but the overall message was clear as day. The girl was an operative for Lily. A rogue piece, a Joker injected to shake up the game.

Still, when facing such a foe, it was best to lay one’s cards on the table one at a time.

The girl was staying at an inn, recovering her strength. Tomorrow, she would be put to the test.

VII. Lily

“The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.”

- William Gibson

At sunrise, Raine and Chance had a breakfast fit for royalty, left their cozy lodgings behind, and continued down the path. The black pixel droplets fell again, this time like warm snowflakes, radiating as they touched her skin.

Raine was ecstatic, bounding with energy. She’d made it through a night in this world without coming back to her own.

Please let me stay here just a little longer
, she hoped as they approached a rather wondrous attraction: an imposing wall that stretched on as far as the eye could see. Its height and make varied drastically throughout, and arches opened up for the carpet paths, but the one constant thing about it was a steady stream of strange scribblings etched into the stones.

She pondered this gibberish, which made no sense at all.
“Retroactively 57 synchronized hivemind if Billy pigeons could tango sausages owning 1101 Arctic eel condensers…”

Rocking back and forth on her heels, Raine wondered who chiseled all these tiny letters into the wall. An even stranger and slightly less cheerful thought came to her – how long would one have to study before one could begin to understand it?

As if on cue, she saw through the falling pixels a squareish, well-dressed man inspecting the wall with a magnifying glass. He seemed to be floating up and down the hilly landscape, but after he emerged from behind a patch of brush it became clear that he was actually standing atop a large tortoise-like creature that boasted many thick, tiny legs.

The poor tortoise!
She strained to catch a glimpse of its face. It wasn’t easy. So intent was the girl that she crossed the field to stand face-to-face with the odd little man.

“Ex-cuse me, miss. There are pressing matters at hand requiring my immediate attention,” he blurted out.

Raine was quite taken aback.

“Matters,” the odd man continued, “that matter.”

“With all due respect, sir, you shouldn’t p-presume that I don’t have some important matters to attend to myself. Or that yours are more… legit.”

“I didn’t say legitimate, I said pressing. Now, I cannot imagine any matters a plucky human might have that are in any way more important, pressing, or legitimate than my own. In fact, if I may make a query, I’d like to know why you seem so compelled to waste my time.”

What’s this guy’s problem?
Raine asked herself, before the gray text above his head confirmed what she’d suspected: he was an NPC, a fuddy-duddy program. There would be no use expecting a real response, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to fire away anyhow.

“Well for starters, I’d like to know what this is,” she gestured towards the expanse of the never-ending wall.

“It is our well-guarded secret,” the program said coldly.

“The secret to what?”

“To everything. To freedom, and to happiness.”

He returned to his work and said no more.

“That can’t be right, man. Neither of those things should be a secret from anyone. Isn’t happiness simply what you make of it?”

“It is against
Metaverse
code and civil protocol to talk of such things.”

“All I want is to know the truth.”

“There is no ‘truth’. Truth is relative to the observer.”

“No, it isn’t!” Raine cried. “There’s only one truth about this place, and I want to know what it is!”

“I can see there’s no reasoning with you. Answer me, child. Why are you here, so far from any approved entertainments? This path is forbidden.”

“Hardly. I’m walking on it. Please answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

“It is not in my programming to negotiate. Due to your suspicious thoughts and behavior, I cannot in good conscience permit you to travel any further. Now, there is a teleport pad near the inn, so I suggest---”

“You’re trying to ditch me.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

Exasperated, Raine made to continue on the path, but found her way blocked by an invisible wall.

I was standing a few feet ahead of this spot just a minute ago. What the hell?!

“You can’t do this! Let me through!”

No response.

Raine plopped down on the grass, leaning against the unseen barrier.

There’s stuff out there the game makers don’t want me to know. I can’t just sit here and let them shut me out. Yet, what can I do?

Nothing, it seemed. But within a few minutes, the black pixel rain intensified, and in a rush of heat the invisible wall gave way. Raine fell flat onto her back. Before the pompous bureaucrat could take notice, she’d already started back down the path.

“Leaving so soon?” he called.

When she spun around, the man’s countenance had changed completely. His brow puckered into wrinkles, as if he really was sad to see her go.

Raine struggled for a reply. “Yeah. I’ve got places to go, people to see. Time waits for no one.”

“Peculiar. You know,” he began wistfully. “Prior to your arrival, I was ordered to bar you from this path. But in light of this new data clarifying your rights under common law… it seems that request was in error. You are a walking paradox, girl. My previous orders are now rendered unethical.”

The man descended his faceless tortoise and simply stood and stared at her.

“Do you like Ferris Wheels?” he asked.

“Yes!” Raine replied energetically. “Very much so.”

The AI hung its head, as if confirming a chilling suspicion.

“That’s dangerous data you’re carrying. Go on, human. Get out of here before I am commanded to end you.”

“But---”

The tiny man picked up a pebble and threw it in her direction.

“Can you not understand the common tongue? Begone!”

The legislator fell to his knees, tearing at his wig. The tortoise hobbled over, presumably to comfort him. Raine had more to ask, but the program looked incredibly distraught, and Chance was already far ahead, meowing for all he was worth. She felt a tinge of deep, unexplainable sadness as she continued through the archway and down the red carpet path, leaving the incessant wall behind.

◊

The girl hadn’t been on the road much longer when an isolated forest beckoned from the Northeast. Raine thought it looked almost like a façade, and left the path to investigate. Just as she ventured towards the woodland, however, a gray flying craft about the size of a car rose slowly from within, activated powerful jet engines, spun like a top, and disappeared in an explosive flash of fire a few seconds later.

“That was amazing,” she began to say, but at ‘zing’ the machine reappeared, this time coming in towards the other side of the small wood. It set itself down amongst the trees.

Chance growled and stood before Raine, ready to defend her.

A diminutive figure sped from the forest on a hover-scooter, closing in on her at a ludicrous speed.

She flinched as it approached, but the scooter stopped abruptly just ten feet away, and its rider, a girl about eleven or twelve years old, leapt, flipped forward, and landed before Raine’s feet with a large thud merely inches away from Chance, who was now clawing at her legs, trying to play-fight.

“Salutations, stranger!” the girl proclaimed, grabbing Raine by her shoulders.

This mystery girl was wearing the oddest clothes – a metallic helmet with goggles adorned with faded stickers, a dark outfit that was part punk, part goth, and part heavy metal, with a suit of literal heavy metal in the form of glowing chain mail, giant cybernetic gauntlets that ran up to her elbow, and a matching pair of knee-high leg enhancements that clamped onto her steel platform boots, putting her a good five inches off the ground. They repelled Chance’s electric claws with a small electromagnetic pulse, sending him screeching back to Raine’s shoulders.

“Leave him alone!” Raine yelled.

“I can’t play right now, Chance, we don’t have much time.”

The Rainbow Cat mewed in understanding and transformed back into a scarf.

“You know each other?” Raine asked Chance, putting two and two together. “Were you the one who--”

“The name’s Lillian. First things first, I’m not as young as I look in this gaudy place. My unique avatar doesn’t age. I’m also a proper super genius. Not your typical run-of-the-mill genius, mind. It’s important you don’t forget this, so look me in the eye when I’m talking to you!” she suddenly ordered.

Raine obeyed, more out of shock than anything else.

The girl cleared her throat, and spoke with utmost authority.

“Don’t pop the blue balloon.”

“What?”

“DON’T POP THE FRIGGIN’ BLUE BALLOON. WHAT DID I JUST SAY?”

“Um…”

“I SAID TELL ME WHAT I JUST SAID.”

“Don’t pop the blue balloon,” Raine repeated.

“Good,” she said, and then pushed Raine. “That’s so you don’t forget it!”

Raine took a step back, regained her footing, and decided that she’d had enough of this bully. She pushed back. Lily should have toppled right over, but one of the girl’s large gauntlets activated as a sort of defense mechanism. Her arm jutted out and bent suddenly towards the ground, snapping her body into an odd somersault. The little girl made an awkward landing on her heels, and then whirled around to face Raine.

“What’d you push me for?”

“You started it!”

Now the girl was furious as a Viking warrior. She pulled her headgear off. Raine worried she might toss it at her.

“Urgh! I’m just trying to make things better!”

“I don’t understand how,” Raine said.

“And I’m not telling.”

This girl is awfully familiar,
thought Raine.
It’s like I know her. In fact, I’m absolutely sure of it. I read once that every face you see in a dream is a face of someone you’ve seen before in real life. An old classmate, maybe? Perhaps we met at an arcade?

“Are you a time-traveler?”

The look on Lily’s face gave her away.

“Wait. What. W-why would you think that?” She asked, and all of a sudden to Raine she looked like a little girl again.

“Your machine reminds me of the DeLorean from
Back to the Future
.”

Realization dawned on Lily’s face.

“Ah. Well,
that
thing isn’t a time machine, per se. It’s… a modified transportation device. Gets me from here to my hub without leaving any traces.”

Raine couldn’t shake Lily’s questioning stare; she looked Raine up and down as if she were a wax statue of someone famous.

“You turned out to be an odd one all right, and I expected no less,” the little girl said. “At least you’re all in one piece. It’ll be hard getting you to trust me, but you’re gonna have to.”

“I don’t even know who you are. Why should I trust you?”

“Because in all probability, I am the only hope this or any other worlds in existence have left,” Lily replied, pulling out a business card and handing it to Raine.

The sixteen-year-old took a quick glance at the card, but found her eyes drawn back to Lily as she kick-started her scooter’s engine.

“Where are you going?” she asked as Lily strapped her helmet back on.

There’s something I had to ask her! It was on the tip of my tongue, only, I just can’t remember it…

“Someplace I don’t need roads. Anyway, that’s none of your business, Raine.”

It took a split second for the girl to realize she hadn’t told Lily her name yet, although the green text could have tipped her off. Lily’s username, on the other hand, was hidden in a scrambled mess of static.

“Don’t forget that every action first exists in the mind, and the untrained mind can be a tricky thing. So for your own sake, keep it free of fallacies, cravings, aversions, and attachments. And be careful what you say and do. Don’t mention any movies. This whole place is insane, and not by accident. Confusing these people and AIs is a surefire way to attract attention.”

“They don’t have movies here?”

“Yes, yes. No books, no films, no videos, no history. Only approved edutainment tomes, holograms, games, and music. Everything else is too dangerous, or not dangerous enough; take your pick. Just do us both a solid favor and don’t pop that blue balloon, okay?”

With that, Lily sped back towards the forest. Raine took a gander at the card.

Lily H. (Lillian_2212)

SpaceTime Traveler and Future World Savior

If For Some Reason You Need To Contact Me (And It Had Better Be URGENT!), Write A Message On This Card With The Date, Time, and Place You Want To Meet And Send It In An Addressed, Stamped e-Invelope to: P.O. Box 1101001 Helium-Corneria Kingdom Central

PS: Disregard that text. Don’t send me any mail, Raine. Just keep this card so that in case of any emergency, you remember that we’ve met.

She bagged it thoughtfully, before snapping her fingers in recognition of her suppressed memory.