Raine VS The End of the World (40 page)

“I’m glad to hear my influence still lives on,” Tony chirped.

“So nobody knows you’re around?”

“There is a simple decoy program I created. The one you followed here. As far as Guggell and her crew are concerned, it’s nothing but a prank created by a young hacker to mislead people into thinking I’m still alive. I’ve deduced that they believe I’m long gone, which is especially helpful since Lily needs my help to shut down this prison.”

“Do you have the power to do that?”

“Well, yes, no, and maybe. The ‘yes’ part is thanks mostly to your efforts.”

Raine was stunned.
Finally, a lead as to how I fit into all this. I’m sure it has something to do with that game I played against the Stopwatch.

“Let me put it this way. As the last of the original programs, I possess a skeleton key for the mainframe. Theoretically I’d still need to find a direct path that I could take there without running into a dead end or being bogged down by server traffic and checkpoints, but that’s been a bit of a tall order till you arrived. In yours and Lily’s genius, you plugged in from an outdated client and cleared an ancient, unbeaten quest, one written in positively primordial code. Now, to claim the prize – your crown, a unique artifact –
Avidya
was forced to seek and download packets of data from the mainframe. Nowadays absolutely nothing links directly to the mainframe, see. It’s an impenetrable fortress for a reason: if the mainframe in
Neo Eden
and the backup in what you know as Kyoto are both shut down at once, that’s it. All servers will fail, and the
Metaverse
will be taken offline.”

“So what happens now that you have a direct link?”

“Let me tell you a secret. Without the creators of
Endless Metaverse
knowing it, at present the mainframe is vulnerable to a calculated, full-scale attack.”

“You’re going to take this place down! That’s awesome! What are we waiting for?”

SBB chuckled.

“Actually, it would be more accurate to say that ‘we’ are going to take it down. In the original plan, I was simply to hop the shutdown code to the backup mainframe, but yesterday… yesterday Lily informed me that since Gerrit’s MIA, she needs my help to clear a path to the primary core.”

“A path for what?”

“For the lucky girl who gets to pull the trigger.”

“Me again? Don’t tell me…”

“I’m sure she’ll want to brief you on the details personally, love.”

Raine looked a bit peeved at this. Tony continued.

“Don’t fret. It shouldn’t require much work on your part; just that you continue to survive.”

“Even that’s been a tall order so far,” groaned Raine.

“If it’s any consolation, you won’t be alone. As for me, well I’d admittedly need about an hour’s worth of distraction pointed at Lorelei’s team on the surface. The Devs knowing you’ve been looking for yours truly has made me a prime target. There’s so much I want to do, and yet… I’ve survived in
Endless Metaverse
because I’m good at hiding. Lily wants to attack now, but I’m quite keen to take our time planning out the logistics of this whole thing. I’ll say this much: to embark on an op this dangerous without adequate support is akin to suicide.”

“Tomorrow’s not going to be easy, I gather.”

“Nope, especially since your immortal status is set to expire at noon, but fear not. With you and Lily by my side, I can say without ego that it would take a damn good hacker to shut me down.”

The thought comforted Raine for a few nanoseconds, but at the mention of hackers her thoughts turned quickly to Gerrit and she nearly dropped her mug.

“Is everything all right?” queried Tony.

“Oh. Sorry. I’m just… I’m worried about Gerrit.”

SBB fell silent and raised his cup in salute.

“Inside sources report that he’s in
Neo Eden
. But for the time being, he’s safe.”

Raine furrowed her brow.

“Make no mistake, dear, I’m sure Lily’s already hatched a plan to spring him out of there.”

The girl exhaled deeply. She stared blankly at the firewood delicately crackling into falling embers. Closing her eyes, Raine felt the heat through the charred mantle, through the calm, still air, through her layers of clothing, through the digital skin that covered her digital body. And she felt that her own heart was melting.

“This war is all so complicated. There’s just so much going on.” She sunk into her seat, looking to her companion for whatever meager comforts he could provide.

“Hear, hear, Raine,” Tony said, placing a blanket over her body. “You’ve had a long journey and deserve a rest. You’re loads better than most of your kind at processing and retaining information, but even this old codger knows when someone’s tank has been filled up.”

Staring into the fire, Raine contemplated all that had happened. It was beyond anything she could imagine, but oddly enough the basics seemed within her understanding. It was through some sort of sick act of faith that she was able to grasp as much. She hadn’t yet broached the questions closest to her heart, but they were too difficult to ask. Too near, too scary, too loaded with potential disaster.

Why am I here? What of my parents? How am I so good at that arcade game? Do I even have a choice with regards to fighting for Lily? And most of all, how can I possibly get home, if there even is a home for me to return to?

SBB began to hum his theme song, his voice perfectly mimicking the sound card of the particular arcade machine Raine had mastered the game on. He soon progressed past the intro screen and onto the first level.

Raine closed her eyes and pictured herself behind the controls. It was what started this whole thing, anyways. She recalled the patterns, the enemies, the random elements, the way that if the game were played perfectly the music would synchronize to the player’s movements. The entire experience wove itself out before her like an electronic ballet of light, sound, and texture. Before long she’d beaten the first stage, and right on cue with the time it would take to play a ‘perfect’ game, Tony segued into the second level. Her thumbs moving back and forth of their own accord, Raine relaxed her body and let the flames dance over her as she drifted off to sleep.

₪

“Where are you going?” Henry yawned as he awoke in his suite to Ayumi Karuishi putting on her make-up, already fully dressed for work. She looked absolutely stunning, as usual. They’d both had a little too much to drink last night.

“Take a look at your clock, Holdfast,” she giggled.

It was 4:53 AM. He had seven minutes to dress and make it onto the lift down in time for the morning server reports.

“Oi, great, wake me up at the last minute on D-Day, will ya?” he joked, tossing a pillow at the Doctor, who immediately returned fire. Henry dodged the feathered fluff while jumping into his pants, and quickly smoothed down his hair. He grabbed the coffee that his new suite prepared for him upon sensing that he was awake, clunked a couple of ice cubes in the thermos, and wolfed down the plate of cloned bacon and eggs.

“Someone’s in a rush,” Ayumi observed.

“I just hope we all make it out of this alive,” Henry huffed as he adjusted his tie in the mirror beside her.

She gave him a peck on the cheek, and then followed him out the door. The view outside promised a clear day – he’d half expected the Queen to cloak the city in clouds.

“Congrats again on your promotion, by the way,” Henry offered.

“Thanks. But… it just seems weird,” she said, twiddling her thumbs.

“You mean Hoshua?” he observed, recalling that the clueless tweed-wearing bloke was now in the deep freeze. “You can’t blame yourself. If you hadn’t interfered at the dome, who knows what might have happened? I miss the old dag too, but we’ll thaw him out.”

“Yeah. It’s not just that, it’s…”

A passing monitor droid had Henry elbowing her lightly for silence. In its wake, Ayumi’s expression sank.

“Don’t let it get to you. You’ll be fine. Zee should have our strike team out in a few hours.”

“Who’s comforting who, now? I hope you know what you’re doing,
baka
,” she whispered.

They kissed again as the lift arrived. Henry held Ayumi’s hand as they descended the
Spire
’s dormitory level and met up with the elevator traffic heading into the
Nexus
.

♥

Moonlight reflecting off the waves turns my skin blue, but I’m far from cold on this tropical island.

It’s the vision again, only this time it’s clear as clear can be.

The boy takes one hand in his, and the girl takes the other. The meal is done now, our stomachs filled with delicious seafood.

I’m sure I recognize them now: Gerrit and Lily.

Then we’re lying down, backs against the cool sand, counting the shooting stars.

“It doesn’t look so empty from here,” Lily says.

“You mean the cosmos?” I ask.

“Precisely. But it could just be that the company’s good.”

I pull the girl towards me and give her a noogie.

“Ah, that’s the spot,” she giggles as I knuckle a little bump on her head.

Dandruff falls from her scalp and I back away. Lily puts on an adorable pout.

“You ought to consider some scalp treatment,” I joke.

She sticks her tongue out. “Yes, ‘Mom’. Geez.”

Gerrit points up at the sky. “There! Please tell me you guys saw that one.”

It’s me who cries out. “Ah! Missed it!”

“Sorry, Ray-Ray.”

He marks a tally on a small notebook. The notebook that I am sure contains our master plan scribbled out in code.

“Say,” I begin. “What are my chances, precisely, of remembering any of this?”

Lily’s snapped back into a thoughtful mood. “Sixty-forty, approximately. The methods we’re using for the rewrites are vastly superior to the
‘Verse’s.
We’ll find out when this is all over.”

“It’s such a scary thought,” I continue. “To not know who you are. Without memories to define us, what are we, really? Just a bunch of kids.”

Gerrit gives my hand a light squeeze.

“I don’t see how that’s a bad thing,” he says. “Kids carry humanity and its memes to the next stages of evolution. Successive generations have the opportunity to learn and improve from those who’ve come before.”

“That’s what troubles me,” I posit. “What if we haven’t studied hard enough?”

A head leans on my other shoulder.

“There will always be those who’ve studied harder,” Lily interjects, ending our little game. “But every quest starts somewhere. I learned the hard way that if you don’t take the future by the horns, someone else will do it for you.”

Gerrit nods. “Dead mystics can show us the path, but they can’t walk it for us. ’The truth is not for all men, but for those who seek it.’”

“Ayn Rand,” Lily replies, sitting up to play a tune on her sitar. “But I’m more hopeful than she is. I’m of the belief that everyone has the potential to rediscover and embrace the truths of this universe, to know right from wrong, and to govern themselves.”

“The potential, but maybe not the will,” says the boy. “One cannot bring about a cause by emulating its symptoms.”

“Every person on this planet is seeking the ultimate truth, whether they know it or not. Though she’s oppressed it for nearly two centuries, Lorrie’s been unable to extinguish human curiosity. With the
Metaverse’s
failure, every indoctrinated individual will face a choice: to deny the reality presented to them, or to embrace it. It is my belief that most will reject the virtual realm. Experiential confirmation… it’s a fractal leap that can’t be thwarted by petty Pavlovian incentives.”

“To shift one’s perception, to dispose of a false premise in order to further glimpse the bigger picture…” Gerrit has that expression again, like he’s far away. It’s sad, but kind of beautiful. “That’s the path of a seeker, all right. Einstein said that reality is merely a persistent illusion. But history has taught us that those who strive for the truth walk a lonely path. Right there’s the problem of civilization: the vast majority prefers to follow. That’s where we need the courage to lead. ‘To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.’”

I know this one. “Bertrand Russell, I believe. I see where both of you are coming from, but it’s all just speculation to me. ‘The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but an illusion of knowledge.’ Who can predict how the end of the
Metaverse
might affect the human zeitgeist? Earth will have a clean slate. It’ll be a different world, altogether unpredictable. If nothing in this universe is static, then why should our minds be? Once freed from Lorelei’s social engineering and their dependence on the system, the very concepts of leadership may become obsolete. Of course, that could be my idealism talking again.”

Lily smiles, strumming a happy note. “I admire your uncertainty, Raine. ‘The wise man is one who knows what he does not know’, and there’s much we may never comprehend. This is why the learning never stops, not until we’re dead and gone.”