Dizziness washed over me, twisting my vision on its axis. People zoomed around my room faster than I could keep up with them. The sun drifted in and out of view and darkness flooded the room. Then the sun suddenly appeared again. Autumn and Jennifer sped around my room as they did before but not quite as fast.
Were my eyes already open when I awoke? I couldn’t remember.
Doctor Stevens appeared, stared at me, and blinked out of existence.
My stomach turned but I wasn’t able to move.
Ferret and Raccoon arrived. They didn’t flash into view like Doctor Stevens had so perhaps the pain was a good thing.
Ferret still clung to his back. He’d ignored me to spend time with her which made me sad.
Ferret dashed away and Raccoon sped up onto my bed. He sat there motionless, watching.
The sun dipped below the horizon again, throwing the room back into blackness. Lights repeatedly turned on and then off as My parents took turns checking on me.
Raccoon sat there as a constant, moonlight causing his eyes to glow while he gazed at me.
Ferret returned and joined him. They sat together and Ferret leaned on him as they waited.
Even slower this time, the sun rose. I blinked and it stopped in its place.
“She’s up!” Raccoon screeched while his front paws bounced on my arm.
My head ached. “N-not so loud, Raccoon.”
A heartbeat later Jennifer darted into the room.
“Az!” she yelled while dashing at me and grabbed me into a hug.
I held on but didn't understand what I had just witnessed. “What happened?”
“You ran away and passed out,” she said.
When I tried to think back to what she was talking about there wasn't anything there. “When?”
“You don't remember?” Raccoon asked.
“No,” I said.
Jennifer ran her fingers through my hair. “You were lying here for two days.”
Two days? The sun did go up and down twice. “What happened to me, Raccoon?”
“You—” He closed his eyes. “—were upset.”
“Why was I upset?” I asked.
Jennifer pulled away. “Doctor Stevens—”
The second she said his name I remembered my delve into the underworld, the clone of me, and passing out. I felt as if I were missing something though.
Mom continued, “—couldn't figure out—”
“I remember now,” I said with a sigh.
She took my hands into hers. “They still don't know what is happening to you.”
You disappeared, like Ferret said. Where did you go? Raccoon asked and backed away. His gaze fell to my bed.
Ferret nudged Raccoon and they glanced at each other.
How did he not see the memories I had of the underworld? You really can't see all of my memories?
No, and you were missing for twenty-one-point-six seconds. Did you leave the server? he asked.
Was going beneath the server actually leaving it? I don't think so.
“Are you talking to Raccoon?” Jennifer asked. Then a cascade of windows blinked in and out of existence in front of her.
“Yeah,” I said.
I’ll show you later, okay? I said
As Raccoon nodded.
Then I remembered the thing I'd forgotten. I pulled a hand away from moms and opened my interface. “I connected to the Qweb!”
“You did?” Jennifer asked.
To my surprise, everything was grayed out. “What the heck?”
“What's wrong?” Jennifer asked as I let go of her other hand.
I flipped through the list and shook my head. “It's all gray again.” I showed it to Raccoon. “Can you see it?”
He stretched his head and then shook it. “No.”
“You're supposed to be able to manage my menu. How can you do that if you can't even see it?” I asked.
My menu suddenly took on a life of its own. It shifted and then swapped to the in-game options. Every window opened up and then closed in less than a second. It returned to the original position where I left it. “I don't know. I just can.”
“Try touching my hand?” I asked.
As his paw touched me his eyes widened. “I see it! I also see…” He paused and his eyes drifted to mine. How? Humans haven't been there in a long time.
Haven't been where? Ferret asked.
The Chronofield, Raccoon said.
Ferret jumped to her feet. That's where we do our training. Was that in your extra dataset? Because I didn't learn about that until yesterday.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Yes, Raccoon said.
Why can I see game elements in the under— I mean Chronofield? I asked.
Unless it's here by accident, they are the first humans since the exodus to rediscover it, Raccoon said.
I glanced at Ferret. I'm going to do something you might not like, so brace yourself.
“Mom?” I whispered. “Have you ever heard of the Chronofield?”
She stood up. “Where did you…”
“I think they recreated one here,” I said.
Her head shook. “A rogue AI and the Chronofield? It's all happening again. They said it wouldn't happen again for a long time.”
“It could just be in the test server, I haven't been in the live game yet,” I said then remembered. “It could have been Kumo. He made a slice in the air.” I swiped a finger in front of me. “And a black tear appeared. He went inside and disappeared.”
Jennifer nodded. “Autumn said something about that.”
“Who said what wouldn't happen?” I asked.
“Fred said it wouldn’t happen again this soon, unless…” she said, then pressed her fingers together and disappeared.
A chill ran down my spine, Mom didn’t leave like that unless it was really important. We only knew one Fred. They were the Architect my mom fell in love with.
Suddenly my whole interface flashed, making me jump.
“Did you see that?” Raccoon asked.
“See what?” I asked.
He climbed into my lap. “Several options activated on your interface for a few milliseconds.”
Ellen dashed into my room. “You're up!”
“Yeah…” I said.
“Jennifer sent a message and I came right away,” she said while examining the room. “Where is she?”
“Probably meeting with some old friends,” I said.
Raccoon made his way to the edge of my bed and stood up. “Did you just log in?”
“Yeah I just said—”
“Can you do it again?" Raccoon asked.
“But I just got—”
“Please?” Raccoon asked.
Ellen glanced between the two of us.
I shrugged.
“I guess I'll be right back…” she said.
She disappeared and Raccoon practically flew into my arms patiently staring at my menu.
It flashed again and a few seconds later Ellen walked back into my room.
“Okay, so what was—”
“That's it!” Raccoon yelled and then bounced around.
“What's what?” Ferret asked.
Raccoon returned to the edge and addressed Ellen. “When you logged in it briefly gave Azerail access to the Qweb, Qmail, Notifications, and InfoBases.”
“It does?” Ellen asked. “That doesn't make sense though.”
“If she is getting access through me and I'm on the server it makes perfect sense,” Raccoon said.
She shook her head. “Yeah but why would you get access to the outside when I log in?”
“It's probably a built-in backdoor or a vulnerability in the code,” Raccoon suggested.
Ferret leaned on me and crossed her little arms. This is why the Zix should code this stuff.
That was a new opinion from her. She seemed to butt out of that type of conversation previously. She sounded more like me. Perhaps I was rubbing off on her?
This time I was grateful for whatever the devs had done.
“I'm going to have to talk to Jason about this,” Ellen said.
I sat up and expected to feel dizzy but didn’t. “Did you figure out a way I can play the game without Raccoon?”
“We did, if your moms say it's okay you should be able to pick up right where you left off,” she said. A bunch of windows opened and closed in front of her.
Yes! I said.
Raccoon turned to me. You really like that game, don't you?
“Can you transfer my items over? Jason said as long as the enchantments are stripped I can use them,” I removed my game equipment from my inventory and offered them to Ellen.
She paused for a moment and stared at me. “S-sure.”
I didn't hand her my Zix sword. It was much too valuable. Hopefully, I could leave it here when I played. She did get the hairpin, claws, and cloth armor though.
“Did Kevin come to visit?” I asked.
“He got in trouble,” she said.
Ferret looked away when my gaze hit her.
Ferret, what happened? I asked.
She hid behind Raccoon. He did it on his own! I told him it wasn’t a good idea.
Please tell me what happened. I don’t have the ability to gaze and check yet, I said. I would learn how to activate that ability again.
Ferret kept quiet but Ellen decided to answer for her.
“He was supposed to be at orientation but wandered off, and visited some kid in one of the northern smart cities. I think his name was—”
“Jakson,” I said.
If Kevin had actually met with him it meant that he probably didn’t have the Q.U.B.E. anymore. Jakson probably had it or one of his friends did. They would use a series of privacy activations to mask where it really was. I only knew this because we’d talked about doing something just like it. We liked to prepare for weird scenarios.
Ellen’s eyes lit up. “How did you know?”
“He’s one of my friends and talked with us before coming here,” I said.
I wondered if he told Jakson about me being stuck in here. Knowing Jakson, he probably would have pried the information out of him.
From what I understood, Kevin was used to a world where privacy was a thing. Getting used to always being watched would probably take some time. Based on how long his mom had gazed at us when we were at the mall, meant he may have gotten in trouble. His mom was pretty new to smart cities and implants so I wasn’t sure if she knew about being able to restrict where he could go. Despite turning on privacy mode his mom should have been able to see through it.
“Did you unlock the friends list for the game?” I asked. I probably should have checked for myself but I was still trying to get my bearings.
Ellen nodded. “It should be unlocked.”
“How do I access the game?” I asked.
She pointed out the door. “We made a portal for you outside since you don't have access to your menu.”
“Could you make a portal to Ambition’s AR servers?” I asked. If she could do that I would be able to go to school again.
“Your parents are in the middle of taking over access to this server so they will be able to do whatever you want. We already upgraded the hardware and live swapped so you're directly connected to the city's data center,” she said.
Can you access anything outside of this server yet Raccoon? I asked.
He shook his head.
I sighed. “Did Jason respond yet?”
“Not yet,” she said.
“Let's sit in the living room,” I said. It was weird hanging out in my room. She didn’t really have a place to sit unless she moved a chair from my desk to my bed.
She rushed to my side. “Do you need help up?”
“I don't know actually,” I said as she helped me to my feet.
I took a few steps with her assistance. By the time we made it out of my room, I was practically walking on my own.
She led me to the couch and I took a seat. My stomach grumbled as she joined me.
Raccoon and Ferret trotted into the room. Ferret wasn't riding on Raccoon’s back this time.
“There aren't many game elements left on this server,” she said.
“Does that mean I'm not a shambler under this avatar anymore?” I asked.
She nodded. “We can turn on your taste and smell if you want to try some food.”
We spent the better part of a few hours messing with the options. They were now labeled server settings.
“Your parents gave you admin access yesterday so you and Raccoon should be able to work on your narrative design or change anything you want in here. Since you're not linked with our machines anymore Raccoon should be integrated like in virtual dimensions,” she said.
I glanced at Raccoon. “Is that true?”
He nodded.
“Want to have some fun?” I asked.
The corner of his mouth twitched into what looked like a grin. “I’ve been wanting to see what editing a server was like.”
***