The Battle (20 page)

"But they will surely wipe out the Maoists."

Lazar nodded. "It’s inevitable. But to make the enemy die at their own grave fits the local philosophy perfectly."

I stared into space thoughtfully, tuning out for a few minutes and warming up my consciousness. As I returned back to the real world, I saw something interesting: the officers watched the clan leader’s thought process with fascination, expecting the birth of another salvational ingenuity.

Can’t disappoint them!
I thought.

"Good plan. Solid tactics…" I told Lazar.

He accepted my praise calmly, taking it for granted.

I continued, "But… strategically, it’s a flop. It doesn’t account for our long-term interests and sacrifices our allies too lightly. Basically, it needs improvement!"

Lazar raised a brow ironically, then used my own words on me, "When you criticize, advise! I’m no leader, I don’t plan for centuries in advance. I was presented with a task, so I came up with the cheapest and most rational solution."

I nodded reassuringly. "Like I said, good plan. But we will make it even better. First, we will seize one castle ourselves. The best castle! We don’t need the crust, but we will take all the filling! A quality castle probably has goodies worth ten million gold, and boy, do we need the money."

My greedy pig purred in agreement, toadying to me by massaging my shoulders. My officers also expressed approval: the beating our golems had gotten called for reparations.

"Secondly! This is all way too small-scale! Why just half the castles?! What's this about leaving the prey wounded without finishing it off? Why just the Chinese? What about our two alliances which will be left penniless, if not by the Chinese, then surely by the light-siders?! Do they not need money for repairs?"

Again, everyone agreed. Lazar acted like a curious parrot – his head tilted sideways, he listened attentively and without interrupting.

"So, here’s what we’ll do," I said. "We’ll summon all the clan leaders in our alliance, then make them an offer they won’t be able to refuse. Let them pile up the Reset Potions and prepare their armies. They will all fight! We will strip the castle to its foundations, sell it, then retreat. We will have a place in the Valley to store loot. That’s where we will go after selling our own citadels. It’s a temporary solution anyway, whether we win or lose."

My officers wondered at these last words, while I went on, "I’ll make that same offer to a coupla Japanese clans and our Korean Gimhae friends. They’re not gonna want to miss out – the Chinese are their age-old enemy. With the Maoists, our alliances and the Japanese, we will take at least fifty castles, leaving the Royalists registered bums."

Lazar woke up. "They won’t forgive this. Some of them will surely scatter, but Mao’s Legacy will be done for. Even an encounter with a few army left-overs will quickly end in their crushing defeat."

I smiled. "And this is the best part. No need to wait around for revenge. They can pack up, sell their lands, and move to our Valley. They’re hard-working, peaceful, loyal and grateful. Where else are we to find such vassals? Plus, an extra six thousand fighters won’t hurt."

"Whoa, hello, fifth column!" Orcus gasped in alarm. "Hostile agents will surely sneak in with the rest!"

"That’s why we have you! All right, cool it! They’ll first have to pass Tianlong, then the hounds."

Lazar shook his head. "Max, you don’t get it! You can’t let the Chinese come here: they won’t assimilate even in a thousand years. They’ll multiply, get their relatives to come over, preserve their culture and language and turn into one giant pillar bound by one faith. Our ancestors had welcomed newcomers many times – then got sick of chasing them out. Entire Chinese battalions served the Commies following the revolution. They all either got shot or sent back to their homeland. They’re not like us. To befriend and help them is a must. But to invite them over to live in your own home is a death sentence!"

I thought it over. The Grumbler was worth listening to. He was a smart guy, clearly familiar with Asians, and didn’t just learn Chinese for free, like some of us did. "What do you suggest?"

"We can take some migrants, but no more than ten percent of the Valley’s population. Second: since everything’s such a mess, and the Maoists are of more use to us as loyal allies, we must aid them within the limits of our native cluster. If we force them to flee, the rest of the world will think the Russian cluster craves vengeance. I’ll get in touch with Vietnam and India with the Company’s help. There’re enough volunteers there who wish to safely bite the lion and loot its den. Your plan will have another dimension as we shorten the lion’s agony and display the true might of the bear woken during winter!"

The officers were pleased at that. I nodded my assent and stood up straight. "Accepted! You men are to finalize and perfect the details. We barely have time. The mission will begin at 5 a.m. sharp. Now get to work!"

Chapter Fourteen

N
SA City. The Virtual World Department

The AlterWorld Sector (Underground floors 61 through 74)

Strategy and Ops Planning office (Zone "Yellow" - limited access)

Aggregate group number 7, Forces of Light Headquarters ("FOHL")

Staff:

AIs: 409th flow of the registered AI "Grand," 12
th
flow of AI-378, pseudo-AI systems: 831АА, 933АА and 982АА.

Premium staff: Analyst, Predictor, Strategist, Tactician.

Advisory groups: Game Death, Shrinks, Slavists, Crowd Control, Unit-0, Cassandra.

Operating reserve and enhancement tools: Agencies in both real and virtual worlds, Power supply group, Legal protection group, Tech and Special Tools supply group, Available funds: "Gold-9."

Headquarters conference at the end of the working week.

A fragment of the intercepted internal security cameras’ video stream.

Decoding of the infopackets: AI "Isayev".

...The man with eyes of steel sitting at the head of the table firmly held the Analyst’s gaze, making the latter sweat. The Analyst once again adjusted his tie that felt too tight, and went on with his report:

"During the capture attempt, Puppet employed artifacts with hitherto unknown properties that are not compatible with our current game stations (dump urgency: 97.3%).

"Now, the Staff. Warrior casualties due to the artifact are 47%. The virtual SWAT avatars became useless following an irremovable debuff."

The holoprojector silently came on, displaying a 3D image before the NSA intellectual elite.

The sight of the First Priest frozen in the middle of the fight instilled fear. The ideal beauty of the Impossible fascinated even the most dispassionate pros. Blurred outlines of the pink blade had turned the air into boiling plasma.

"The Dagger object. Warrior casualties equal 34%. Avatars – fully destroyed. The physics of this process remain unclear. The game mechanics don’t really allow it."

The next shot was a psychological resilience test for those present. Blood, shredded bodies, twitching piles of bluish bowels, and a lumpy sea of furry spiders.

None were squeamish. Everyone had interested looks on their faces, craving knowledge and sensing their chance to gain something.

"The Armed Forces casualties had almost gone comatose during the standard electroshock ‘perma’ check. They all claim that they have been in Lloth’s halls. The casualties’ state of feeling showed that the torture continued non-stop from one to three weeks."

Clank, clank, clank...

The pictures changed, showing the frightening goddess, the comatose bodies and the blackened eyes of those who returned from warrior Purgatory.

"Two of the SWAT guys reported achieving Lloth’s Junior Priest status. The others remain withdrawn. They refrain from talking and are fully immune to hypnosis and partially immune to psychotropic drugs. The warriors have been committed to the Military’s Mental Hospital. They exhibit a severe virtual-world phobia. Their ability to work in full immersion is highly questionable at this point."

The speaker downed some pricey bottled water, then looked askance at the Department head and continued hurriedly,

"Following a series of strange incidents, the patients were transferred to Arizona-6, the quarantine unit with maximum Prime Module security. They demonstrate strong spikes of psion activity, spontaneous hypnocoding of others through direct contact, and the ability to instill emotions, including uncontrollable fear, panic, and fanatical devotion."

Clank: the 3D image of a technician who had hung himself made the Predictor cringe. His hyperactive mind quickly filled in the omitted details – the bowel stench and the squeaking sound of a leather belt from which the cold, pale body dangled in the AC breeze.

Clank: Guardhouse incident. A quarrel that had ended in a shooting. Three surprised-looking corpses.

Clank: the image of a guard with a vacant stare trying to unlock the airtight door of a module. A Taser's charge was reaching out for his neck from the contact block in the ceiling – the Security Service AI had quickly responded to his unauthorized attempt to breach the perimeter.

"Controlling the isolation ward is difficult due to the insane aggression of the local spiders. They crawl in from all over the desert, destroying the equipment and attacking the staff. Extermination is in progress."

The info panel on the wall flickered, drawing the speaker’s attention as it displayed a picture of a lean-looking middle-aged man with a patch of gray on his head. The AI Grand’s visual avatar made the remark,

"The object catalog has grown by one category, the new ‘A+.’ Acquisition and studying of class ‘A+’ artifacts have been given their own separate flow and assigned to group 32."

The Analyst nodded his thanks and carried on:

"The Armed Forces Group has saved 19% of its avatars, but their psychological state is unsatisfactory. The warriors are undergoing rehabilitation. Because all administrative control of the AlterWorld is now lost, acquiring new warriors is not currently an option. The login server is ignoring all attempts to create hidden and service class characters."

Looking at Grand, he paused for a bit, awaiting the AI’s reaction. Receiving only a slight shrug in response, the Analyst sighed heavily and continued speaking,

"The remainder of the Virtual SWAT are no longer subordinates of the FOLH headquarters. Their premium staff groups have been assigned a low professional fitness score. That’s all I have."

The Department Head tensed his jaws, tapped his fingers on the table pensively, then turned to the info panel. "Grand, can you add anything?"

"The priority of seizing Puppet has doubled. Current state: Alpha Prime. The task of establishing contact with Lloth has been given its own separate flow and assigned to group 34."

Taking over the projector, the AI launched a presentation that it generated on the go. As always, it was overloaded with charts and diagrams.

"...According to the admin base dumps, the AlterWorld contains six adamant artifacts. We suspect that ten more do exist, but this information is secret. We know the certain location of only two of the artifacts.

"The tactical Stealth group was destroyed while attempting to steal the Yu-Huang Bell. The avatars received a permanent Curse of the God debuff.

"There’s no known way to get Asclepius’s Scalpel right now. A group of analysts and programmers is trying to create a chain of minor level-1 interventions. These are designed to lead to our acquisition of this precious artifact.

"I have no further information and will proceed to work on the current stack of tasks. AI Grand-409 has finished reporting."

While everyone kept staring at the panel after it went blank, the Head called the next specialist up front. "Strategist! Report the real-world-group losses on the territories of Russia, Little Russia, and New Russia!"

A bulky man, his eyes red from insomnia, got up from his armchair with some effort. "The military escort groups have lost 72%. They had been used at random. They can be replenished with petty criminals, the youth opposition movement, and frontier state fighters. The losses were justified.

"The Agency, including the top-secret undercover units, constitutes 17%. Up to 41% are suspected of reenlistment, disclosure, double game. Losses deemed critical. Agents were transferred to sleep mode. Measures will be taken to test their loyalty and check for third-party surveillance."

Clank: a 3D footage of a gray-haired old man being pushed into a prisoner transport vehicle. His guitar made plaintive sounds as it was dragged across the pavement.

"Staff instructors, local coordinators, and controllers: 243 people. Arrests, accidents, thug attacks, alcohol and drug poisoning."

Clank: an image of two bloodied corpses on the front steps of a hotel. The contactee Simon and his bodyguard. Who would have thought that a mere junkie could see off such hardcore pros? But the surveillance records confirmed the police’s story, including the death of the attacker upon arrest. The investigators were open to collaboration and even showed someone’s corpse wrapped in the mist of the morgue’s cold chambers.

Clank: the cold body of the Embassy's First Counselor - the group's undercover agent - sitting on a bench in a park. The wide-open eyes were covered with a web of broken blood vessels. White froth caked on his lips. A small spray can was in his tightly clenched fist. A drug overdose. It would never be established now exactly who had sprayed a lethal dose of ‘gray’ in his eyes, and where had this happened.

"The diplomatic corps and the State Department are already working on getting the detainees released. The transportable patients were transferred to German and Israeli hospitals by special aircraft. Due to the high number of casualties, approval was granted for the Shroud cover operation. The losses were deemed inadmissible. Serious measures are being taken to detect the information leak sources."

Strategist took a breath and continued,

"Technical and financial resources amount to $252,630,000. Field machines, EW vehicles, Pseudo-AI’s personal crystals, communication, encryption, and neutralization devices. Personal equipment, gold ingots for reimbursing the services of those involved. Expenses are deemed super critical. An audit group has been dispatched by headquarters."

Clank: a photo of a concrete mess speckled with steel. The description indicated that a cable on a building crane had broken. The floor slab fell and destroyed an armored van packed with expensive electronics.

Clank: an embassy’s empty yards and armories. Empty gun racks, empty slots for AI crystal locating blocks.

"The total real world results of this operation have been rated as unsatisfactory. Primarily due to the confidentiality breach and the active resistance of local special forces disguised as a series of accidents and other acts of God.»

The pencil in the Department Head’s fingers snapped in two. Looking at the split ends with disgust, he flung the pieces aside and said,

"Have a seat. In a week, I want to see a similar analysis with conclusions and potential solutions on my desk. Tactician, what do you have on the AlterWorld?"

This recently summoned virtual battle genius still retained his usual imposing air. Leaning back comfortably in his armchair, he pressed a key on the controller. "I have prepared a digital report. A video track is attached. Everyone should have received a copy on their personal communicators.

"The AlterWorld operation progress:

Phase one: public opinion and enemy image formulation, introduction of correct terminology and proper emphasis, enemy dehumanization, creation of appealing monetary incentives for the campaign, placement of controlled figures into key positions, mass encoding machinery usage.

Total audience reached: up to 23% of players. Top long-term campaign nucleus: 70,000 people. Potential peak and undulating surges among event participants: up to 300,000 people.

Rating: excellent.

Notes: some perma-communities, larpers and rioters of principle are likely to resist the popular trend. Of these, we highlight the following clans: The Texas Rednecks, Commandante, Free Iceland and Dark Heart.

Phase two: preservation of secrecy, accumulation of ammo, supplementary target exploration and gathering of coordinates, informer recruitment, operational deployment, synchronization of the nucleus’s actions, direct or indirect resubjection to the FOHL headquarters.

Rating: good.

Notes: unable to plant agents into Puppet’s close circle. Local disregard of reality correction attempts. The keyloggers are an unreadable mess. Suspecting class A entity opposition.

Phase three: financial attack on the Russian cluster’s auction market, blocking of the employment pool, capture of some of the enemy staff, terrorist activity in newbie locations, siege of several targets on a priority basis, cluster economy disruption.

Rating: good.

Notes: partial loss of control over the engaged nationalist divisions. The Guards of the First Temple responded with unforeseen quickness. Mass resistance against the invasion forces is growing, even among the light-siders of the Russian cluster.

Phase four, the current phase: complete paralysis of leveling up within the cluster, seizing key locations, capturing and destroying primary targets, initiating List B target pursuit, Tianlong siege initiation, organization of the first game peak protest, obliteration of the bone fortress, intentional deployment of hired captives.

Rating: satisfactory.

Notes: the Russian cluster’s resistance greatly surpasses our initial estimates. Incredibly fast responses and Children of the Night warrior regeneration. Premature Chinese Revanchist intervention. Partial loss of control over the invasion forces, difficulty breaking the captives psychologically. Only pressuring their real-world relatives directly seems to work..."

...The intercepted video track ended. The inner encoding changed systematically. Approximated decryption time equaled 117 hours. AI "Isayev."