PROLOGUE
When a man breaks, shatters into millions of pieces, the first instinct is to fix. Sometimes, it’s just easier to sweep away the dust and start over.
In a large room, on the top floor of a building that scraped the clouds, a man sat weeping, a damp picture frame in his hands. His unkempt hair, drooping eyelids, and coffee-stained teeth had become his new uniform, one that he had worn for weeks. From the corner of the room, a woman looked on at the man, with panic in her eyes. She mumbled and he ignored her. Now was not the time for questions.
The man's head and arms sprawled atop the surface of his once pristine workspace as a holographic display appeared before him. The Italian leather strap on his one-of-a-kind wristwatch hung loosely from his thinning wrist. With a sigh he lifted a finger to wipe away the annoyance, as his mind tried to wrap itself around his current set of disasters. How did this happen?
Notifications flickered on the holo-projection of his computer interface. They acted as distractions from the repetitive grumbling and heavy breathing of his unwelcome visitor. How long has she been there? He thought to himself as bright red lettering flashed to life, drawing his eyes upward, back to his work, back to his nightmare.
“Access denied. Universal administrator privileges have been revoked.” A monotone voice accompanied a chime of bells that echoed in the room. The death knells rolled in with each repetitive notification, causing him to blink along with the appearance of each new window.
“Sir,'' an effeminate voice called out, snapping him back to reality. “Sir, what are we going to do? We no longer have remote access to the system.” The voice came again, almost forcing him to lift his head completely. “Should we call someone from technical?”
“Fuck it,” The man said, wiping his face clean.
Placing the picture face down on his desk, his fingertips lingering on its edges. He lifted his head just enough to steal a brief glimpse of Sara, the Vice President of Operations at his company.
“I am the best fucking technician we have. The system has locked down all outside attempts to take control, and the only person who has override authority is fucking gone.” He let out a long sigh, heavy with days of unrest, “We’re fucked.” He said with a whisper chuckle. “They are all gone.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The thump of his fist hitting his desk caused his longtime co-worker to drop her coffee. He stood, staring at the steaming liquid on his polished granite floors, and closed his eyes.
“I’m, I’m sorry sir,” She stammered, kneeling down to clean up her mess.
After taking several deep breaths, he stared through the uncomfortable looking girl before him. Her hands were shaking, and bottom lip quivered as she mumbled to herself. Her hair was a mess and she had been wearing the same clothes for days.
Without an ounce of hesitation, he spoke, “Someone has to sort this shit out, might as well be me.” He locked eyes with the tall blond woman, “Sara, you're in charge until I get back.”
Sarah straightened her back, stood, and rubbed her eyes as she spoke, “Sir, are you sure this is wise? We no longer have control of the system." Her voice grew firm as she crossed her arms, "Going in there now could be dangerous.” Noticing that the man was no longer looking in her direction, she let her hands fall away and sighed with resignation, “What happens if you can’t reach him. What happens if you can't log out? What am I-" Sarah corrected herself, “Are we going to do without you? You’re all we have left.”
“Don't worry about me. Just don’t say a word about what’s going on, to anyone. Do not speak a word about Entarra online, the system, or what happened.” The man's eyes went cold, the once jovial lights behind them having dimmed months ago, “Sara, there’s already over a million people in the situation you just described. But, they don’t know anything is wrong. To them this is all just some bug in the game. They are in danger, many are already completely unable to leave. They are stuck in my, our fucking game. If I don’t go in there, roughly three million others could join them.” He said, before rising to his feet.
“But, sir-” Sarah started.
He cut her off with a wave of his hand, “If something happens to me, or if you don’t hear from me in two weeks then it's time to call the United World Government. Recall all pods by force if necessary, and divert all funds to long term care. Liquidate every fucking asset we have, if you have to. Just protect as many people as possible, for as long as you can. Then do everything you can to disconnect the system. Shutting it down, at this point, is impossible.” He paused, and scratched at a newly grown beard, flakes of dried skin falling to his well tailored suit, “In fact, start making preparations for that very situation right now. If it's even possible Don’t hesitate to shut the whole thing down, even if we are still inside.” The man paused before looking up, staring through a reinforced glass ceiling out into the late afternoon sky, “Then pray, pray to whatever gods you think might listen, that it doesn’t come to that.” he said, a finality to his voice before leaving the room.