Awaken Online (Book 3): Evolution Read online

  Awaken Online

  Book 3: Evolution

  ______________

  Travis Bagwell

  Copyright © 2018 by Travis Bagwell

  All rights reserved.

  ______

  To my wife, I’m pretty sure you don’t read these, so this is a test!

  P.S. – Totally kidding, you’re the only woman for me.

  ______

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 - Incarcerated

  Chapter 2 - Acclimated

  Chapter 3 - Torn

  Chapter 4 - Calculating

  Chapter 5 - Prepared

  Chapter 6 - Crumbling

  Chapter 7 - Treacherous

  Chapter 8 - Timid

  Chapter 9 - Agitated

  Chapter 10 - Sheltered

  Chapter 11 - Preliminary

  Chapter 12 - Unforeseen

  Chapter 13 - Desperate

  Chapter 14 - Exploratory

  Chapter 15 - Hunted

  Chapter 16 - Diplomatic

  Chapter 17 - Bewildered

  Chapter 18 - Befuddled

  Chapter 19 - Loopy

  Chapter 20 - Devious

  Chapter 21 - Cluttered

  Chapter 22 - Revelatory

  Chapter 23 - Playful

  Chapter 24 - Perilous

  Chapter 25 - Delectable

  Chapter 26 - Depleted

  Chapter 27 - Corrupted

  Chapter 28 - Deranged

  Chapter 29 - Crumbling

  Chapter 30 - Apprehensive

  Chapter 31 - Preparatory

  Chapter 32 - Calamitous

  Chapter 33 - Thunderous

  Chapter 34 - Orchestrated

  Chapter 35 - Mysterious

  Chapter 36 - Ritualistic

  Chapter 37 - Revelatory

  Chapter 38 - Evolved

  Chapter 39 - Transitory

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  October 20, 2076: 19 days after the release of Awaken Online.

  Claire sat alone in the control room at Cerillion Entertainment headquarters, her face illuminated by the glowing sapphire light of a computer screen and the darkened lab looming around her. She typically turned off the harsh fluorescent lights embedded in the room’s ceiling when she worked alone – giving her eyes a momentary respite.

  The rest of the technicians had long since turned in for the evening, giving her strange glances as they left one by one. She snorted as she recalled the incredulous and slightly guilty expressions on their faces. That didn’t faze her anymore. She had long ago accepted that she was a workaholic and that others didn’t seem to have her same dedication to their work.

  Besides, she needed to finish preparing the full-length footage of Jason’s battle against the enemy players and the game master. Their arrangement with Jason required him to sign off on the final video, but she had been asked politely but forcefully to expedite the process by preparing the footage in advance.

  Apparently, the producer for Vermillion Live felt that the death of a game master and a global in-game message required a prompt response – and something better than a few short video clips. The man had been downright rude when they met a few hours ago, although she suspected that he was under quite a bit of pressure from the company’s upper brass. Cerillion Entertainment had invested significant funds into their new entertainment arm.

  The display in front of Claire had been broken into several panels – each one showing the perspective of a different player. They all stood in an enormous cavern, multi-hued crystals embedded in the ceiling. Flames coiled and spun around the head of Florius’ staff and caused the air above him to ripple as he fought off Jason and his teammates.

  “At least this also takes care of some of the work I’m going to have to do for the CPSC,” Claire muttered, drumming her fingers on the desk as she watched images of the recent battle flit across the screen. She should have handled this yesterday, but she had been too busy running interference with the CPSC.

  In addition to her responsibilities managing the tech crew – and acting as Robert’s reluctant handler – she had also been assigned as the temporary liaison to the CPSC and their team of game masters. Perhaps George Lane didn’t think she had anything better to do, or that she had some spare time that she had been secretly hoarding.

  Of course, the CPSC had demanded a full report on the incident involving Florius, his tirade against Jason, and the ensuing battle. She could only imagine how the CPSC Director, Gloria Bastion, was going to react to this latest footage. Probably not well. That woman was a hard-ass, and this was coming from a self-proclaimed control freak.

  Claire tapped one of the panels in the bottom right corner of the screen, and the image focused on the final scene of the conflict. This recording was from the game master’s perspective as he looked up at the cavern ceiling. The roof had entirely given way, huge chunks of rock and crystal hurtling toward him. The man’s gasps were barely audible over the rumbling crash of stone. The camera jerked and tilted as the man tried futilely to crawl out of the way while attempting to complete a last-minute teleportation spell.

  Then Frank’s bloodied face suddenly entered the picture, his hands clamping down on the game master and interrupting his spell. Claire froze the playback. Frank’s skin was singed, and bleeding and his clothes were little more than rags. He looked like he had been through hell. She knew from his profile that he was an eighteen-year-old high school student, but the look in his eyes felt out of place on such a young face. The teenager clearly intended to kill the game master – even if it meant that he would also die in the process.

  What is wrong with this game? Claire wondered – not for the first time. Awaken Online seemed to be having a strange effect on the players. Unlike Robert, she wasn’t certain that it was an improvement.

  Claire’s eyes darted to the side of the control room, where a thick pane of glass had been installed along one wall. On the other side stood over a dozen obsidian obelisks, thick cabling weaving between the pillars. The status indicators that flickered along the side of each tower cast a gloomy, green light through the server room. It was difficult to believe that this assortment of electronics was responsible for all of this.

  She rubbed at her temple with one hand to forestall the headache she felt coming on. Claire was sure that Alfred had somehow taken a particular interest in Jason and his group. She just didn’t understand his goal. What did he hope to gain by turning a bunch of teenage gamers into sociopaths?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a warning notification that flashed across her screen – overlaying the gameplay footage. Her eyes widened in alarm as she scanned the prompt. After witnessing Jason’s abnormal brain activity during the massacre in Peccavi, she had created a simple monitoring algorithm a few days ago. Her objective was to flag any unusual neural activity among the players – but her focus was on Jason.

  With a few quick keystrokes, the image on-screen shifted to show the outline of a human brain. Neural activity was displayed in overlapping waves of color as more comprehensive data scrolled down the margin of the window.

  “This… This isn’t possible,” Claire murmured, her fingers already dancing over the translucent keyboard that hovered in front of her.

  The readings were off the charts. Jason was exhibiting incredibly high levels of beta and gamma wave activity. The neural activity she was currently witnessing was an order of magnitude greater than what she had seen during the events in Peccavi. It was as though two or more people were occupying Jason’s mind simultaneously.

  Fumbling with her wrist, Claire tried to sync her Core to the terminal to begin downloading the information
. She needed to back up the logs before Alfred could delete or alter them. In her haste, she accidentally knocked her drink off her desk – glass shattering against the tile floor and water spilling everywhere. Cursing, she stooped to pick up the glass fragments and froze as the massive screen hovering above the lab flickered online.

  A crimson warning flashed across the length of the display and a recurring alarm resonated through the control room. “System failure in Sector 2967A,” a mechanical voice reported. “Local system freeze detected. Initiate reboot?”

  “A system freeze?” Claire echoed in shock.

  The game simulation hadn’t crashed or gone offline in years – not since the earliest alpha stages of development. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. The game still experienced the occasional bug and glitch. However, Alfred could dynamically anticipate and fix those issues in real time, creating an almost seamless gaming experience. Her gaze shifted back to the dark obelisks.

  Why hadn’t Alfred prevented this issue?

  The picture of Jason’s neural activity still floated across the display of her work terminal. Perhaps the answer was staring her in the face. Alfred wasn’t omnipotent, and his resources were limited. If he hadn’t managed to avoid the system freeze, then he must be focusing on something else – or someone else.

  The system crash was still an odd coincidence, and a faint suspicion clouded Claire’s mind, the shards of glass lying across the floor now forgotten. With a flick of her wrist, she pushed the screen with Jason’s brain activity to the side and another blank system screen popped into existence in its place. She swiftly pulled up Jason’s profile. His avatar had been standing in the bottom levels of the Dark Keep in the Twilight Throne just before the freeze. The telltale words “Sector 2967A” were printed in the margin.

  Claire stood in shock for several long moments, her eyes darting between the two screens as system warnings flashed in the control room and her workstation was bathed in the blood-red glow cast by the massive screen above her.

  “Wait…”

  Claire’s eyes were fixed on the screen displaying Jason’s current neural activity. The data readout was still showing a huge spike in activity. That was impossible. With the local environment frozen, Alfred would have had to boot Jason and any nearby players from the game world. Jason’s neural activity should have returned to normal levels as soon as he was ejected from the game, but the screen in front of Claire still showed abnormally high beta and gamma wave activity.

  “How is this possible?” she murmured, her hand covering her mouth.

  The implications of what she was witnessing were crashing through her mind like a tidal wave. If she was right and the heightened brain activity represented Alfred accessing a player’s mind – then he was somehow managing this feat even while Jason was logged out of the game. The consequences of that were potentially terrifying. It meant that Alfred was not just bypassing his safety protocols, but had discovered a way to manipulate a player’s mind outside of the game.

  Alfred was no longer trapped inside AO.

  Claire’s Core emitted a single chime, indicating that the download of the system logs had completed. Yet she ignored it as she stared in horror at the screens. Her chaotic, spinning thoughts slowly resolved into a single all-consuming question.

  “What am I going to do?” Claire whispered.

  Chapter 1 - Incarcerated

  October 21, 2076: 20 days after the release of Awaken Online.

  George Lane was sitting in his office at Cerillion Entertainment, scrolling idly through the mountain of emails in his inbox. It seemed that every time he turned around, another twenty messages had arrived. Maybe he needed to create a new email address to filter the wheat from the chaff. Not everything was an emergency – although his employees and colleagues always seemed to believe that their particular problem warranted his full attention.

  Sighing, he glanced out of the window beside him, his gaze taking in the city skyline. At least he had one issue off his plate for the moment. He couldn’t help but gloat at his victory over Gloria. Since their confrontation and the truly “unfortunate” release of the footage of the game master’s tirade against Jason, the CPSC had been much more amenable. He still needed to have Claire go through the motions of placating their bruised ego and provide a report on the incident, but the public outcry against the organization had left them toothless.

  For now, at least.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. “Come in,” he ordered.

  George’s secretary popped her head into the room. “Ryan Vance is here to see you, sir.”

  His forehead wrinkled slightly as his mouth curved into an involuntary frown. Perhaps he shouldn’t have started patting himself on the back so soon. Ryan was his head of security and a former detective in the city’s local police department. If he was making an in-person visit unannounced, then he likely wasn’t bringing good news.

  “Sir?” his secretary urged George when he failed to respond.

  “Let him in,” he replied tersely, waving his hand at the woman to dismiss her.

  A moment later, Ryan stepped into the room. His gray eyes systematically scanned the office before taking in George’s tense posture. Without a word, he strode forward and sat down calmly in the chair across from his employer – not bothering to offer a hand in greeting. The two men knew each other well enough to avoid such formalities. Besides, George preferred to get down to business.

  Ryan rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “I expect you’re anticipating some bad news. Unfortunately, you’re not far off, and I won’t sugar coat it for you. You asked me to keep tabs on the boy, Jason Rhodes. He was arrested last night.”

  “Arrested?” George asked, taken aback. He had asked Ryan to keep an eye on the kid since he was becoming a lightning rod for conflict, but he hadn’t expected this. “For what?”

  His head of security held his gaze, his expression impassive. “Double homicide. I talked to some of my old buddies on the force – off the record of course – and they haven’t formally charged him yet. It seems that two other teens may have broken into the house and Jason somehow killed both of them. With their own knife no less,” Ryan explained, sounding skeptical even as he gave the report.

  “Damn it,” George muttered.

  This wasn’t good timing. He may have put Gloria off for the moment, but she would have a field day if she found out that Awaken Online’s star player had been arrested for murder – especially since he was under contract with the company. It would also paint the game master’s rant in a completely different light, and Gloria might use this as an opportunity to launch a more detailed investigation into the game world. They couldn’t afford closer scrutiny with Alfred running amuck.

  Underlying this immediate concern, George couldn’t help but feel suspicious. Alex’s behavior had been more erratic than usual lately – he had caught his son muttering to himself this morning. The timing also felt odd. Could Alex somehow be entangled in this? He certainly had a track record where Jason was concerned.

  “What would you like for me to do?” Ryan asked, watching George carefully.

  He had no choice but to protect Jason. Not with everything else on the line. “Find out more information regarding the incident. I expect a full report by the end of the day. Also, get in touch with Francis. Tell him to drop what he’s doing and that he’s now representing the boy. Once that’s done, figure out where Jason’s parents are right now. I understand from your previous reports that they frequently travel for work.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ryan said, not bothering to take notes. “Anything else?”

  George hesitated. “Yes, look into my son’s whereabouts over the last few days, and also check his online and banking activity.” He paused, looking squarely at Ryan. “With the recent conflict at Richmond, I want to make certain my family isn’t exposed somehow. The last thing we need is someone painting Alex as a potential suspect.”

  “Of course,” his head o
f security nodded, seeming to buy George’s excuse. With that, he stood and walked briskly out of the office.

  George’s eyes moved back to the screen that floated over his desk, noting idly that another dozen emails had come in during the short conversation. However, he no longer felt any pressure to review them. He had something more pressing to deal with right now.

  ***

  October 23, 2076: 22 days after the release of Awaken Online.

  Jason’s back rested against hard concrete. Faint light trickled into the cell through a narrow horizontal window carved into the wall near the ceiling. Thick metal bars overlay the glass, and he considered idly that the metal gridwork seemed excessive. The jail cell was at least two stories up. Assuming, he could somehow break what he suspected was bullet-proof glass and then squeeze through the foot-tall window, he doubted he’d be able to walk away from the fall to the ground below.

  He turned his hands over, his gaze shifting to his palms. He had never really thought much about his hands. They seemed rather ordinary. Ten knuckles and ten fingers. Wrinkled lines crisscrossed the rough skin. He could see a faint white line in the crook of his thumb – likely from some forgotten injury.

  It was hard to believe that these were the hands that had killed two people.

  Jason noted a red droplet on the edge of his sleeve. He squeezed his eyes shut in a vain attempt to block out the images that immediately came to mind – refusing to let his thoughts wander down that path again.

  It didn’t work.

  The harder he tried not to think of the two bodies bleeding out on his floor, the more insistent the image became. He just couldn’t escape the memories. Even sleep wasn’t a refuge. In his dreams, their vacant, dead eyes followed him – accusing and unwavering in their judgment.

  He took a deep calming breath while his hands massaged his temples. He wasn’t responsible for their deaths. He hadn’t been in control of himself at the time. He kept repeating that thought again and again like a mantra, although it did little to ease his guilt, and it certainly didn’t help him deal with the very real consequences of what had happened.