Digital Heretic (6 page)

Chapter 14

  It might not be the most glamorous ability, but humans have always wanted to fly. Perhaps once we invented machines to fly, that satisfied our desire. The average person would never conceive of manifesting the ability to physically fly unaided; we just don’t have the body for it. No wings; we are too heavy; the list goes on and on. 

 
Of course, nothing is ever accomplished by the average person, is it? 

 
Maybe one day a heretic will develop the ability to fly, not because they know it’s impossible, but because they know it isn’t impossible.

“
Unknown”

Danielle - 47

 
“
What are w
e
doing out in the middle of nowhere? Do we have a lead on him?”

 
Stephanie stands beside me, leaning on the car with her eyes closed and head tilted back, soaking up the sun. Without bothering to open her eyes, she answers, “No, we’re not here about him. Raphael’s bringing someone here to meet us. If what he says is true, it might be a nice distraction from this waste-of-time chase you’ve had us on for the past few years.”

 
I look out over the field and bite my tongue. They constantly hound me about stopping my hunt for Carl. Almost eight years of searching and we haven’t come close to him even once. It’s not like

that’s
all I’ve been doing. I started studying the martial arts again; Raphael and Stephanie are remarkable teachers. I am likely one of the best human fighters on the planet. I joked about entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship competition and they both looked upset. A 47-year-old woman walking into the ring and beating a 24-year-old fighting machine in mere seconds would be entertaining, and good for the cause. Everyone was happy enough when I won a gold medal in the Olympics in my thirties. I picked a sport I had never tried, and in less than four years, I was the best in the world. That was a real challenge, and after we succeeded, the movement took our message about the power of the mind and intent more seriously. We gained millions of followers from that little project. Trew was so happy.

  Then
I joined a top secret military organization. 

  Okay, no
, I didn’t join one, but we had their instructors train me. I can kill with so many different weapons now, and take a huge amount of physical pain and abuse. The body doesn’t have to get weaker at this age. It really is all mind over matter, and I’ve been training my mind since I was little. This is just another game, and I win games. Period.

  I’m
so sad.

 
I can’t believe he’s gone. Really gone. The idea of vengeance is the only thing that makes the pain disappear for a while. These two say I’ve wasted the past seven years. I say if we can die and totally cease to exist, it’s all a waste of time. One useless activity is as good as the next. They try to cheer me up by saying that most of us do continue on, even the ones that don’t believe in an afterlife. I don’t know why there are individuals who choose to believe that there is nothing after death. Now that I know it can indeed happen that way, I can tell you it’s horrible. To live for nothing… why take the next breath?

 
I don’t care about the millions who will get another chance, who will get dozens of chances. The one soul I care about is gone, and

the one who did it still draws breath. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? The universe has no idea
just how true that is. I will teach it. I don’t care what happens to me after that. The world can rot, for all I care. 

 
The world is rotting. And I don’t care.

 
At last tally, the Gamers movement continues to grow. It’s at about 70 million people around the world. It can’t be stopped; it’s now a major religion and in no danger of fading. There are hundreds of leaders, many incredible people all working to keep things moving forward. They all look to me for leadership. I’ve exhausted my hunt for Carl on my own; perhaps it’s time to step up and take the stage. An extra 70 million people helping me look for him would be useful. Yes, I think that’s the next step. I need to keep busy so I don’t think of Trew. I miss talking to him, but he’s not viewing me now and he never will. Now I just talk to myself, pitiful creature that I am.

  “
Here they come,” Stephanie says without opening her eyes. I wonder if her hearing is that sharp, or if the Eternals share some sort of psychic link. I’m not in the mood to ask. I start to scan the horizon for them.

 
Slowly a car appears in the distance. It gets closer and I see that it’s a rental. The car stops not far from us, and Raphael gets out of the passenger seat, opening the back door for the two occupants inside. 

 
A girl gets out first; she looks to be in her late 20’s. Then a man about the same age exits the car. He looks relaxed, but the girl looks very nervous. Raph says something to them, and the girl looks over at me. Her face lights up into a smile and she raises her hand to wave at me. I smile and wave back. I might be sad and bitter inside, but I still love people, especially young ones who are happy to be alive. Gotta love their innocence.

 
They walk towards me and we do the same. We meet in the middle of the field. Stephanie puts herself between me and the two

as we walk
; I hiss at her and she gets out of the way. When will these two ever give me credit for being able to protect myself? I suppose the answer is ‘likely never.’ I may think I’m old enough to look after myself, but to them I’ll always be a baby. 

 
As we get within a few feet from each other, the girl raises her hand and continues to walk towards me. “No, you’re going to have to stop right there, young lady,” Raphael says pleasantly. The girl stops immediately. Raphael has likely given them clear instructions at least twice on how the meeting will go. He never leaves anything unsaid.

  “Hello,”
I say with a smile. “I’m Danielle. Who are you two and why are we meeting out in the middle of a secluded field?”

  “
Hi, Danielle. My name is Melissa. It’s so good to finally meet you,” the girl says. She’s a pretty thing, with brown, shoulder length hair, blue eyes, about 5 foot 6 and 125 pounds. She’s

wearing jeans and running shoes,
and a light windbreaker. She looks relieved to be here. I can see built up worry and stress in her body; her energy is tense, but not dangerous. “You’re a very difficult woman to get in front of,” she says.

“
Hi, Melissa. I know it can be tough to get together with me. Nature of the beast, sorry.”

  “That’s okay, now
that I’m here, anyway. I really need your help, Danielle.”

  “
Well, you’re direct, I like that. What is it I can help you with?”

  “
I need your protection.”

  “
From whom?” I ask.

 
She looks nervously at her friend. He shrugs and nods. Melissa takes a deep breath and turns back to face me. “I think from pretty much everyone on the planet.”

  “
Wow,” I say. “You must be quite the special person to be afraid of that many people.” I look at Raph and Stephanie. They both raise their eyebrows in agreement with me.

  “
She is, Danni,” Raphael says. “Remember what I told you humans could do if they could just get over their own mental blocks?” 

  “You’ve
said a lot of things over the years about what humans could do if they’d just get out of their own way, Raphael,” I say. “Which thing are we talking about?”

 
Raphael looks at me for a moment, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He’s serious and intimidating to the new people, but I know him — he’s excited. He looks at Melissa and nods encouragingly. “Go ahead, Melissa. Show Danielle what you can do.”

 
Melissa looks nervous, like a deer attempting to cross a busy road. She nods her head, looks at me, and takes a breath.

 
I feel it immediately, and I squint my eyes. She has Talent. Intense, raw Talent, and she seems to suddenly be pulling a large amount of energy into herself. She bends her legs and then pushes upwards, jumping very powerfully for such a young woman. She moves upwards, first a foot, then two, then I realize what she’s doing and within three seconds’ time I’m staring upward as she floats in the air about 25 feet above us.

  She’s
floating in that classic Superman pose — you know the one, where he has his arms crossed and his feet together. It’s my favourite pose, and I can tell she’s practiced it. After about ten seconds she uncrosses her arms and begins to fly forward in a lazy circle. 

I watch
speechlessly as she moves in a large circle. When she gets back to her starting point, she stops, then does one more complete circle, this time much faster. The first circuit takes about 30 seconds. The second one takes less than five. Then she drops quickly to the ground like she’s falling. About one foot from the ground she stops suddenly, then lazily floats the remainder of the way down. She smiles shyly and stands there, waiting for me to speak.

 
I look at her and know there’s no possible way I can hide my amazement. I hear Stephanie and Raphael laugh, and I’m certain they can read my thoughts. 

  “
How long has Carl been walking this Earth?” I ask.

  “
Thousands of years, Danni,” Raphael says.

 
I walk towards Melissa. “How would you like to come live with me for a while, and see if you can teach me this trick of yours, Melissa?” I ask.

 
Melissa shudders with relief. I have a feeling she has spent her life afraid since she discovered this power. I think that she feels safer already. “That would be wonderful, Danielle.”

 
I nod and hug her. Then I look back at the Eternals. “If he’s been around that long, then he can wait a few more years to die.”

Chapter 15

 
Brandon sat behin
d
his desk with Trew beside him. Brandon was giving Trew a thorough rundown of Mainframe and the history of how it — she — had evolved from the Game’s beginning until this moment in time.

  “
So she’s doubled her abilities roughly every two years?” Trew asked.

  “
Yes, that was the formula, to double every two years,” Brandon admitted. “This whole time issue is still perplexing to me, though.”

 
Trew nodded in agreement. “You thought she’d evolve on Tygon time?”

  “
I thought she would evolve on Tygon time, but what I hoped was that she would evolve on Earth time.”

 
Trew shook his head. “And she did. It staggers the mind. A computer that is based in our reality, but instead of doubling fifteen times in the past 30 years, it has doubled every two years for… tens of thousands of years by Game time standards?”

  “
Only about six thousand years in the Game, actually,” Brandon confirmed. “The hundreds of thousands of years that are in the fossil and geological records of Earth don’t count. We only count it from the time that players were put into the Game; the rest is just filler.”

  “Okay
, then, six thousand years. Impressive enough, right?”

 
Brandon nodded. “Miraculous. It’s what I hoped for, but when I designed it I couldn’t be certain it would play out that way.”

  “
So she’s an extremely evolved life form, but you still have her under control? How did you manage that?”

  “
You can play chess on a board, and maybe over time the game can evolve and become more than it was originally, but at the end of the day you are still limited by the board and the pieces. You can’t play anything but chess,” Brandon said.

  “
Hmm… that might be too simple an analogy, Brandon.” 

  “
Yes, it is, but it can quickly get very complicated. The fact is that Sylvia is bound by universal laws and mandates that she cannot change. She has immense power, but at her very core she exists to serve the Game.”

  “It’s
brilliant,” Trew said.

  “
Yes. And the universe can change, but it’s the players who change it. Sylvia can influence the players, but it’s the constant flow of players exiting and entering the system that affect everything, not her.”

  “
The classic ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg?’ argument,” Trew said.

  “
Kind of.” 

 
Trew looked at the computer screen and the icon that would access the Game’s divine being. “What are you really playing at here, Brandon?”

 
Brandon was quiet for a time, then said, “It’s just an educational game, Trew. An attempt to teach our kids something more than old-style schools did, along with a way to make some money in the process.”

 
Thousands of questions flooded Trew’s mind. Brandon’s explanation didn’t make sense. This was more than just a children’s game or a business to generate revenue. He remembered meeting an old man in his past life on Earth. The man played the ancient board game called ‘Go.’ It was one of the first board games played on Earth, and this old man was the world’s top Go master. Trew and Danielle had spent months learning to

play Go, and they had spent hundreds of hours talking with the master. It soon became apparent that even a simple board game like Go was much more than just a game. The Go master had played so much that the world and all
its workings could be explained in relation to Go. By mastering the game of Go, this old man had gained valuable insights into life and the universe that most would never uncover. Trew had learned much about games from the old man; he'd also learned that games were always more than mindless recreation.

 
Trew decided to let it go for now — no pun intended. “So how do we talk to her?”

  “
We just click the icon and open the program,” Brandon said. “She’s a fully sentient program, but she has limited access to Tygon. She isn’t able to interfere with any of the electronic workings of our world. She is contained in the Mainframe of the Game, and it has no direct way of interacting with our world. We’ve gone to great lengths to make sure she can’t access any networks or mass media channels.”

 
Trew snorted. “So what you’re saying is that you have no confirmation that she has access to Tygon.”

  “
No, I’m saying that we have large resources committed, both people and technology, committed to keeping her contained inside the Game,” Brandon said. “You certainly seem negative about this topic, Trew.”

  “
Really? I think I’m being very positive. Just because I take the opposite view doesn’t mean I’m being negative. You’ve heard about the frogs on Earth that can change their sex, right?”

  “
Yes. Put an entire population of female frogs into the proper setting and some of the females will spontaneously transmute into males and babies will soon be born. You’re convinced that the same can happen with Sylvia?”

  “I’m
saying anything’s possible. Where there is a will, there is always a way.”

  “
Perhaps,” Brandon said. “We are doing the best we can to keep Mainframe as it was intended to be.”

  “
I can accept that,” Trew said. “And your resources are considerable. I’m certain you have it all under control. I just like to ask questions.”

  “
Keep them coming, Trew. We need questions to move everything forward.”

  “
You might regret that request someday,” Trew said.

  “
Likely,” Brandon agreed. “Ready to talk to her?” 

  “
Yes, I am.”

  “
Then let’s begin,” Brandon said as he double clicked the Mainframe icon on his computer screen.