Interlude- Brandon (24 page)

Chapter 69

“I asked you a few weeks ago about changing your names, but we didn’t discuss it. How do you all feel about it?” Brandon asked the group.

They were sitting in a local restaurant that had become their regular hangout in the three years that they’d been inside Tygon 1.0, or simply Tygon as everyone now referred to it. Brandon, his Hand, Wesley and Carl were present; Wesley had pulled into town just a couple weeks after they entered the simulation, and Carl had appeared only a couple of months ago. He looked and acted… different in some ways, although Brandon couldn’t tell whether that might be a problem or not. When they asked him what took so long, Carl had just shrugged and said, “Had some housekeeping to do.”

“I have no problem with changing my name,” Alan said. “What are you thinking, Brandon?”

“I’m thinking of making a major move in the business world,” Brandon said. “Not until I turn eighteen in a couple of years, but if this takes off like I think it will, then I’m going to need you all in place close to me. My past is cloudy, being the son of a rich and powerful man who has paid to keep his family out of the press, but you guys could all be easily researched. When everything starts to fall in place, I think it would be easiest if searches turn up nothing.”

Tony nodded. “We can set the parameters on new names so that the net doesn’t retain or pool information about them.”

Brandon nodded, “That’s right.”

Brandon and his hand had all learned a lot about computers in their past thirty year
Sim, and this time around they were all ahead of their field. The five had graduated early from high school and were almost finished earning their university degrees. Easton was nineteen, and the other three were eighteen. Brandon remained the youngest at sixteen; everyone was hanging around waiting for him to become a legal adult before they made major plans.

“What’s the move you’re thinking of making?” Kay asked.

Brandon smiled, “There’s a company called VirtDyne attempting to create working virtual reality technology.”

Wesley laughed. “The timing on VR appearing here seems less than coincidental.”

“Yeah, I think Thorn programmed it to occur this way,” Brandon said. “I haven’t spoken to him, but it seems like we need to control this technology from the beginning or it could turn bad like it did in the Dream.”

“Is it functioning technology yet?” Carl asked.

Brandon shook his head, “No, and it won’t be until I’m eighteen.”

“How can you be so sure?” Alan asked.

“Because I infected the technology,” Brandon smiled. “It won’t work properly, no matter what they try.”

“They can always remove the infection,” Easton said.

Brandon shook his head, “It’s a quantum logarithm which rotates and changes a thousand times per second. They’ll never be able to isolate it long enough to fix it. I don’t think they’ll even detect it, since it mimics legitimate code for much of its life cycle.”

“So what’s the plan?” Wesley asked.

“You all change your names and we live life normally for the next two years,” Brandon said.

Everyone laughed. Being finished school early and having a friend with the richest Dad in the world made for anything but a normal life. They spent most of their time travelling the world and having fun. They all knew that would soon change, but until then everyone was enjoying themselves.

“Okay,” Brandon said. “We live normal lives for the next couple of years. Then, when I turn eighteen, I make a move to take control of VirtDyne.”

“I assume it will be an easy thing to do?” Alan asked.

Brandon nodded, “By then I’ll be able to walk in like the hero and save the day. The only other thing we need to do until then is to make certain that no one else develops working VR technology.”

“We can take care of that,” Easton waved his hand and the rest nodded. They would simply scan the net for any companies working on the technology and destroy their work. For these kids it was a simple task.

“Then I take control of the company and bring you all in to help me run it.”

“Okay, then,” Kay said, “shall we pick our new names now?”

Brandon nodded. “Yes, please. We’ll use the reset function so that when we wake up tomorrow, everyone will call you by your new names and you’ll have new documents that reflect the change. Don’t worry, I’ll make certain it doesn’t alter your past history like a normal name change. The old names will exist with history, and these will move forward from tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to do it,” Carl said.

“Why not?” Brandon asked.

“The only thing I’ve ever had is my name. I was abandoned by my parents and the Centre turned me into a killing machine. I know what they did, Brandon; they Blurred me. They took away my grip on reality and almost drove me insane. Or maybe they did drive me insane, but you brought me back.”

“We don’t have to worry about that, Carl,” Alan said.

“I know,” Carl shrugged. “Even coming into this Sim, the rest of you had it good and I had to fight and claw my way out of a garbage heap to get here. It’s fine — there’s nothing I can’t handle and get through, but there have been a lot of times when the only thing that got me through was having something to hold onto, and that was my name.”

The table was quiet; Carl looked up and shrugged. “I’m not saying I won’t do it, Brandon, if that’s absolutely what it’s gonna take. I’m just saying I don’t want to.”

Brandon nodded and thought about it for a moment. “Okay, Carl. You can keep your name, and so can anyone else who wants to. Raise your hand if you want to keep your name.”

Carl’s hand was the only one that went up, and Brandon nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “It looks like Carl and I will both keep our names, and everyone else will change theirs. Each of you tell me what you’ve decided on.”

Wesley spoke up, “I like the biblical names they have in this world. I pick the name Daniel.”

“Change my name to Gabriel,” Tony said. “Not sure why, but I like that one.”

Kay laughed, “You can start calling me Angelica.”

“Alan?” Brandon asked.

“A lot of names ending in ‘el’ here,” Alan said. “I wonder if that’s some sort of sign? If it is, then I guess I’ll add to it. I choose the name Raphael.”

Brandon nodded and wrote the name down. “That just leaves you, Easton. You want one that ends in ‘el’ also?”

Easton squinted his eyes and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “No, I think I’ll be like Kay and pick a name that ends differently.”

“Okay,” Brandon said. “What’s it gonna be, then?”

Easton smiled. “I think I like the sound of the name Shane.”

Chapter 70

Cooper travelled ten levels below the main floor of the Game Facility to meet Thorn in the medical zone. He was standing beside the General, who lay quietly in a bed hooked up to
monitors. He still wore the VR helmet.

“How long has he been like this?” Cooper asked.

“A couple of days,” Thorn replied. “The helmet should have lost power and ejected him back to this reality long ago, but the power indicator shows that it’s almost fully charged.”

“The same thing is happening everywhere,” Cooper said. “At first the helmets powered down after twelve hours or so, but now they all seem to last until the person dies.”

Thorn nodded. “We’ve brought subjects here to figure out what’s going on. The helmet seems to be much more than it appeared at first.”

“Any theories?” Cooper asked.

“Yes,” Thorn said. “I think the computer programming inside it has evolved, learning how to recharge itself from the bioelectric energy of the wearer.”

“The person wearing it actually recharges the unit?”

“Exactly.”

Cooper looked at the General. “Why isn’t he hooked up to life support?”

“We’re letting him die,” Thorn said. “The helmet is supposed to sense any stresses or health issues, and eject a player so they can receive medical attention. Where ever the General is, as his body becomes stressed from deterioration, he will hopefully return to us.”

“Or die,” Cooper said.

“Or die,” Thorn agreed.

“Any idea where he is?”

Thorn nodded. “We traced the manufacturers of the helmets to their true source. Our enemies own the companies that build the helmets.”

“What? How was that allowed?”

“It wasn’t
allowed
, but it happened the same way we infiltrate their society and businesses — through time, patience, and layers of deceit.”

Cooper nodded.

“Have you secured control of the General’s military forces?” Thorn asked.

“Yes,” Cooper said. “The chain of command has always fallen to me in the absence of the General. It was an easy transfer of power.”

“Has the President contacted you?”

“She’s left messages.”

Thorn chuckled, “I would enjoy hearing those, I’m sure.”

Cooper smiled. “She doesn’t seem too pleasant in most of them.”

“I want you to bring the bulk of the military to this location. Have them bring rations, water, and as much weaponry and ordnance as they can carry.”

“I’ll begin the process immediately.”

“How long will it take to get them here?” Thorn asked.

“Less than a week.”

“Good,” Thorn looked up as the door opened and two nurses and a doctor entered. Thorn sand Cooper stepped aside to give them room.

The medical team began to hook the General up to additional sensors and they inserted an intravenous tube into his arm.

“What are they doing?” Cooper asked. “I thought you were going to let him deteriorate?”

Thorn shook his head as he watched the doctors and nurses go to work. “I allowed that when I thought the helmet would lose charge. If someone has the General, that isn’t good news. The longer they have him, the greater the chances of him spilling secrets.”

“So what are you doing?” Cooper asked.

“Now we are putting his body into accelerated distress.”

“Killing him?”

Thorn nodded grimly, “If we have to, but I’m hoping our good medical professionals can trick the artificial intelligence of the helmet into thinking he’s dying so that it’ll eject him.”

“What if they can’t do it?”

Thorn looked at Cooper and shrugged. “Then we remove the General from enemy hands and continue on without him.”

===

The General’s head hung downwards, weak and exhausted from the current session with Brad.

He wished that he could raise his head, but this time they’d locked it downwards so he could watch. Brad had slowly and painfully skinned the General’s lower torso. As the fiery pain spread and lingered, he’d had screamed so loudly, and for so long, that his voice had eventually left him.

Then Brad told the General he could heighten his sense of pain, which he did before resuming his work with a knife to remove the tendons and select muscles from the Generals flayed lower torso.

The heightened senses had shown the General that he could still scream some more.

For a few moments the General had lost consciousness, but he awoke to feelings of fire and throbbing liquid white pain. Through the haze, he saw Brad shake his head and heard him say that passing out
wouldn’t be allowed. The torture resumed.

That was hours ago.

The General had endured more than he thought he could. He knew that if he’d been in the normal world, he would have died days ago.

The General now knew the meaning of true helplessness and despair. Yet he still retained his sanity.

Early on, the General remembered his military training enough to form a small compartment in his mind and allow his true self to be hidden away safely. Then he’d locked the door and hoped it would hold long enough to survive this ordeal.

Now, inside the inner recesses of his brain, he could see Brad had found that door, and he was beginning to hammer at it with all his considerable might. Cracks were forming, and soon the door would break.

When it did, the General would be lost forever.

Suddenly the General felt a jolt. Something rushed through him that didn’t hurt, but felt very strange. He lifted his head and looked at Brad questioningly.

Brad’s confident smile was replaced by a frown. He walked quickly to grab the General’s face and peer into his eyes. Then Brad’s eyes turned to steel.

“Damn it! I was supposed to have more time. A lot more time!”

The General didn’t understand, but he was too weak to speak. He just looked at Brad with confusion.

Brad looked at the General with disgust and spat on him. He turned away, and then suddenly he swung around and punched the General forcefully in the chest.

The General’s eyes bulged as Brads hand penetrated his chest and gripped something deep inside him. With a laugh, Brad pulled his hand quickly towards himself, and the General felt the most horrifying pain. It made all the other pain seem like gentle tickles. Tears streamed down his face and he began to scream, but this time it was a primal, shrill screech.

In his hand, Brad held the General’s beating heart. Blood ran down over his fingers as the heart pulsed strongly. He let it go and it floated in the air in front of the General’s eyes. Brad turned around and walked to the sink. He turned on the water and washed his hands calmly, taking his time to scrub under his nails with soap.

The entire time, the General screamed in agony and watched his heart pump forcefully, suspended in the air in front of him.

Brad turned around and smiled at the General as he toweled his hands dry. “They want you back, Donovan,” Brad said. “I don’t think they can get you in time, but I hope they do. It’s been fun, and well worth the wait. If they’re able to bring you back, then I’m certain we will see each other again.”

Brad walked towards the General and patted his face with the flat of his hand. “In the Sim, I own you now. If you live and come back in here, I will find you.”

The General was beginning to lose consciousness. His eyes faded shut but he heard Brad’s voice as he drifted off.

“When we meet again, I won’t be so kind to you, General. Remember that.”

===

The General opened his eyes and sat straight up on his hospital bed. He blinked twice, looked around, and then let out a blood curdling scream.

Thorn looked at Cooper calmly and nodded. “Looks like we got him back,” he said.