This Is Not a Game (10 page)
Read This Is Not a Game Online
Authors: Walter Jon Williams
Dagmar closed her eyes. She could kill
two whole new crews.
two whole new crews.
“Not to worry,” she said. “Right.”
“Things have calmed down a little in Jakarta. When the Palms burned, it scared
everybody.
So a lot of the local Islamic associations have mobilized to guard their own neighborhoods.”
everybody.
So a lot of the local Islamic associations have mobilized to guard their own neighborhoods.”
“Islamic associations? They’re like—what, militias?”
All Dagmar could think about was Sunni and Shiite terrorists in Iraq, and that didn’t sound encouraging.
“Some of them are self-help groups,” Zan said, “but most of them are martial arts clubs.”
Bitter laughter exploded in Dagmar’s head. She thought of the film posters in the music store, with their bare-chested heroes. These were the same people that had looted the store and the hotel.
“They’re going to protect the neighborhoods with
kung fu?
” she asked.
kung fu?
” she asked.
“With silat,” Zan said seriously. “That’s the indigenous style. Indonesian martial arts always had a close relationship with religion.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Of course,” Zan said, “some of these groups are political. Some are pro-military, some are against. I’m sure none of them are
for
the government anymore, but they have different ideas about what kind of government to have next. So if they start fighting each other, there could be more problems.”
for
the government anymore, but they have different ideas about what kind of government to have next. So if they start fighting each other, there could be more problems.”
More problems,
Dagmar thought.
Dagmar thought.
As if murder and riots and starvation weren’t enough.
It was her hour of answering the phone. After Zan hung up, she heard from Austin. The squishy, warm feeling that came from talking to one of her oldest friends multiplied when Charlie called only a short while later.
He said he was trying to find a tanker aircraft to fly north of Sumatra in order to provide in-flight refueling for the new helicopter.
“How much is this costing you?” Dagmar asked.
“Your next Christmas bonus,” Charlie said. “Maybe.”
Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you,” she said.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Charlie said, “you’re not going to tell me that you love me again, are you?”
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
“Whatever I’m spending,” Charlie said, “I can afford. No one else, including me, is going without a Christmas bonus, okay?”
“Right,” said Dagmar.
“
My
Christmas bonus,” Charlie added, “is going to include a Maserati.” There was a pause.
My
Christmas bonus,” Charlie added, “is going to include a Maserati.” There was a pause.
“Have you been thinking about
Planet Nine
?” he asked.
Planet Nine
?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Dagmar. “Yes, I have.”
He liked what she told him.
Late that morning, Dagmar heard the throbbing of helicopters outside, and she dared to draw back the curtains and look out. The Palms stood like the one rotten black tooth in the city’s gleaming modernist smile. The fire had gone all the way to the roof. A few threads of smoke still rose from a window here and there.
The copters were orbiting behind the destroyed hotel, black, businesslike silhouettes spiraling to a landing somewhere to the northwest.
Evacuating the Japanese.
Dagmar couldn’t stand the sight of the Palms and let the curtains fall back into place.
She paced the room for a while, restless, and then went to the laptop she had been typing on when Tomer Zan had called. She was in the middle of a letter to the gamer she knew as LadyDayFan, thanking her for an email of concern.
Unfortunately I don’t know anybody in Jakarta,
LadyDayFan had written,
but let me know if there’s any way I can help.
LadyDayFan had written,
but let me know if there’s any way I can help.
Dagmar scrolled along her list of emails, answered and unanswered. There were even more than there had been the previous day, an impressive number. Many were from people that Dagmar knew only as online presences floating around the online game blogs.
She considered again this circle of which she was the temporary center, and the further circles that emanated from each of the members. There was a latent power in this group, a wide variety of skills and acquaintance. This group, she thought, could get things done.
Everyone, supposedly, was within six degrees of separation from everyone else.
Dagmar reflected that LadyDayFan maintained her own ARGRELATED online bulletin board, called Our Reality Network, where industry gossip was retailed and games were discussed, analyzed, and eventually solved.
The games that Dagmar created were designed to be solved. She created the puzzles, or suggested them to the team’s professional puzzle designers, and the solutions were buried somewhere for the players to find. The games were finite: they led to a particular place, like the wedding in Bengaluru, and then they were over.
Her current situation, which had her placed at a hotel in a state of Schrödingerlike uncertainty, was a puzzle that perhaps had no solution. Certainly
she
was incapable of solving it.
she
was incapable of solving it.
Perhaps, she thought, her dilemma could be solved not by any individual but by a Group Mind.
She sat down and began to type.
From: DagmarSubject: Indonesia
Perhaps you can help me after all. I seem to be at the center of a puzzle that is in need of a solution.
I’m at the Royal Jakarta Hotel, on the fourteenth floor. This is at 6°11’31.8”S, 106°49’19.48”E. The situation is deteriorating and I’m worried for my personal safety.
The embassy has been of no use at all.
I want to get out of Jakarta and to a country that isn’t having a revolution. My sole assets consist of US$180 in cash, a high-powered PDA/telephone, a computer, and some credit cards that don’t seem to be worth anything in the current situation.
Most of the police have gone home. The army has besieged the city but has not entered it. The government is holed up somewhere. The streets are in the hands of rioters or Islamic societies, most of which are composed of martial artists.
If you know of anyone who can help me, I’d appreciate hearing from them.
If you don’t, thanks anyway.
Bests,
Dagmar
She clicked the Send button without thinking, then sat back and wondered just what it was she’d set in motion.
CHAPTER NINE
This Is Not Folly
FROM: LadyDayFan
Dagmar Shaw, whom most of you know as the executive producer of games like
Curse of the Golden Nagi
and
Shadow Pattern,
is stuck in Jakarta, where supplies of food and medicine are running out and people are being killed. We all saw the hotel burn. Dagmar wants to get out and the government ain’t helping.
Curse of the Golden Nagi
and
Shadow Pattern,
is stuck in Jakarta, where supplies of food and medicine are running out and people are being killed. We all saw the hotel burn. Dagmar wants to get out and the government ain’t helping.
Her original email is
here
and describes her situation.
here
and describes her situation.
It’s possible that our combined efforts may be of assistance.
I have set up several topics.
News and Rumors
has to do with the situation in Jakarta, Indonesia, etc. Please post any information, along with a link to the source.
Finance
has to do with money issues. As detailed in
her email
, Dagmar has only a small amount of viable currency. If we can find a channel, possibly we could get money to her or otherwise finance an escape.
has to do with the situation in Jakarta, Indonesia, etc. Please post any information, along with a link to the source.
Finance
has to do with money issues. As detailed in
her email
, Dagmar has only a small amount of viable currency. If we can find a channel, possibly we could get money to her or otherwise finance an escape.
I have set up a special PayPal account to which people can contribute. Details are in the
Finance
topic.
Finance
topic.
The Escape Topic
has to do with actual plans to move Dagmar to someplace safe.
has to do with actual plans to move Dagmar to someplace safe.
We’ll keep this topic as an arena for general discussion.
TINAG . . . I think.
FROM: Hanseatic
TINAG, hell! I think it’s a damn game! But I’m willing to play.
FROM: Corporal Carrot
TINAG?
FROM: LadyDayFan
This Is Not A Game.
FROM: Corporal Carrot
Thanks.
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
Corporal Carrot, TINAG is an ARG design aesthetic. The characters are required to believe they live in the real world, the puppetmasters are required to make a world that is internally consistent, and players should be able to function in the world as well as the characters.
FROM: Hippolyte
This really
isn’t
a game! I got email from Dagmar yesterday. She’s really stranded in Jakarta, where the hotel burned and all those people were killed.
isn’t
a game! I got email from Dagmar yesterday. She’s really stranded in Jakarta, where the hotel burned and all those people were killed.
How much should we contribute to PayPal?
FROM: LadyDayFan
Twenty bucks each?
FROM: HexenHase
Chatsworth, I disagree with you about TINAG. The effects you describe are entirely the result of the puppetmasters’ abilities to skillfully craft a game while remaining behind the curtain. The fictional characters are
actors
scripted by the puppetmasters—if the scripts don’t work, the players will never believe the game world is real, and the illusion fails.
actors
scripted by the puppetmasters—if the scripts don’t work, the players will never believe the game world is real, and the illusion fails.
FROM: LadyDayFan
I have removed twelve flamewar posts to the
Hell Topic
.
Hell Topic
.
Civil
discussions of game aesthetics may take place in the
Meta Topic.
discussions of game aesthetics may take place in the
Meta Topic.
If this continues, someone is going to lose access privileges.
FROM: HexenHase
Sorry.
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
Me too. I’ll make nice from now on.
FROM: Joe Clever
I would like to state for the record that I think it’s a game. But I’m always willing to play along, even if it’s going to cost me twenty bucks.
FROM: Hippolyte
It’s not a game, Joe. But feel free to hack the Indonesian military if it makes you happy.
FROM: HexenHase
I can’t believe we’re engaging with Joe Clever on this or any topic! That cheating shit-for-brains!
FROM: Corporal Carrot
Careful, Hexen. Don’t start another flamewar.
FROM: LadyDayFan
Don’t worry, Corporal Carrot. Abusing Joe Clever is an Our Reality tradition.
FROM: Corporal Carrot
Can I ask why?
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
Because the crap-head’s style of play totally violates the spirit of TINAG. He cheats.
FROM: Joe Clever
It’s not cheating when there aren’t any rules.
FROM: HexenHase
There are rules to any community, whether they’re written down or not. We agree not to poke behind the scenes because it spoils the fun for all of us.
Corporal Carrot: What Joe Clever does is dumpster-dive Great Big Idea to find clues that might have accidentally been thrown away.
He followed the actors around to see if they might accidentally drop a script. And he twice hacked Great Big Idea to locate pages that hadn’t yet been uploaded to the Web.
FROM: Joe Clever
You say that as if I should be embarrassed. What I do is
win games
.
win games
.
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
Joe Clever is a complete egomaniac. Totally ruthless. Borderline sociopath. Probably crazy.
My guess is that he lives in his mother’s basement and has no friends.
We despise him.
FROM: Joe Clever
What I have done is to recognize that ARGs
are in fact games.
That’s what the
G
in ARG stands for!
are in fact games.
That’s what the
G
in ARG stands for!
Games have winners and losers. I am a winner. You people are losers.
FROM: LadyDayFan
Are we not overwhelmed by Mr. Clever’s personal charm?
FROM: HexenHase
And he’s
even more
charming in person.
even more
charming in person.
FROM: Corporal Carrot
Can’t you ban him from the bulletin board?
FROM: LadyDayFan
I could, but he would immediately rejoin with a new handle.
FROM: Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
Ahem. Aren’t we supposed to be talking about Dagmar?
FROM: LadyDayFan
Good point. We need to get back to Indonesia.
FROM: Joe Clever
It’s a game.
FROM: LadyDayFan
You go on thinking that, J. C.
FROM: Desi
I’ve just found this topic. My god! I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.
I don’t know if this will be of any use, but one of my cubicle mates ranks high in penchak silat, or however it’s spelled. I’ll see if his school has any connections to martial arts groups in Jakarta.
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