Chapter Thirty Four: Mommy, Why Does Everybody Have a Bomb?

November 6, 2010

Salt Lake City, UT

South Temple was deserted at seven in the morning. Marc went out for a quick run to stretch out his legs from the long drive the previous day.

Check-in had gone smoothly, but he had missed Ryan and Selina, who had gone out to enjoy the city. The drive had been exhausting, so he had opted for an early night, enjoying the clean, soft bed of the Downtown Marriot. He left a message for Ryan to meet up at the hotel restaurant for breakfast and was asleep in minutes.

The hotel was right in the center of the city and across the street from the convention center where the events would take place. It was also about a block from the Mormon Temple. Marc wasn’t interested in going inside, but the sidewalks surrounding the grounds were large and free of pedestrians at this hour, so it was a decent place to run some laps without having to stop at intersections every six hundred feet.

Marc was impressed by the city planning. Unlike the desert towns he was used to, small spaced out organic growths formed around highway intersections and water sources, this city showed insight and planning closer to the meticulously constructed fortress cities of the Republic.

The entire downtown area was laid out in a grid. Streets were labeled in reference to the central structure, in this case, the Mormon Temple. He turned the corner from South Temple to East Temple. The other streets bordering the central block were North Temple and West Temple. Evenly spaced blocks extended out from the center, named for the direction. 100 South, 200 South, and so on. It had made it a breeze to navigate the city and find the hotel the previous night. The only thing he noticed was that some of the streets were one way, despite being multiple lanes wide. He wasn’t sure why that was necessary, but the large, car friendly roads and city planning was even easier to navigate than the similarly laid out center of El Paso.

After ten laps around the Temple, Marc felt better. The stiffness from sitting in the truck the previous day had been worked out, but he was panting. The air here must be thinner, as usually a five mile jog wouldn’t tax him this much.

He went back to the hotel and took a shower, then checked the time on his phone that he had left charging on the night stand.

He wondered if Torren was bothered. He had asked Cyrus to stop by and check on him, but the dumb dog was probably sleeping the days away in the shade somewhere.

After he had cleaned himself up, Marc checked himself in the mirror. It was odd to have one. He never even got around to installing one in the bathroom of the cabin. He shaved in the shower, so he didn’t really see the value.

Looking at himself in the full length mirror hanging on the bathroom door, Marc was surprised at how much he had changed over the years.

After so many years of always looking the exact same, he now seemed very different from that familiar static appearance. He’d bulked up, now with noticeable muscles and definition. His face had hardened, his sun-browned features were creased with small lines, giving his face a hard, more adult look. Even his hair had lightened up a shade or two. He recognized the face, but now he was starting to look more like his father, than the kid who had spent decades wandering the other world.

He put on his city clothes. A dark blue button down shirt, a carry over from his job interview back at the call center. A pair of clean jeans, the black leather shoes that Shiela had helped him pick out for his Dad’s funeral, and the leather bikers jacket he used when he rode his bike.

Luckily, the weather had been moderate, with no snow on the ground and temperature around 30 degrees. Chilly, but not freezing, and the roads were clear. There was plenty of snow up on the mountains surrounding the city though, and Leeroy had commented that the skiing in the area was supposed to be great.

Having trekked the ice plains of Sobric, Marc had no interest whatsoever of playing around in the snow with sticks on your feet for enjoyment. Paying for the privilege was madness.

With just his wallet and the white, KamiGames issued cellphone in his jacket pocket, Marc grabbed the keycard from the wall slot and left the room. As he rode the elevator down, it felt strange and familiar. Silver City had few buildings large enough to need an elevator. None were as large as the hotel he was currently staying in. In the other world, he had visited enormous palaces. He had stayed in buildings built atop trees canopies that were hundreds of meters above the ground. Even the underground orchards of Clearwater were engineering marvels surpassing anything seen in this world.

Marc had to admit. Elevators were great, one of the best inventions in any world. Stairs suck.

The hotel breakfast lounge was… okay. Nothing special. A mix between a cafe and a library. Orderly tables and chairs. A small buffet table with chafing pans full of scrambled eggs, sausages, toast, pancakes, and oatmeal. A large serving plate full of cut-up fruit.

Marc looked around, but didn’t seen any of his companions yet, so he poured himself a cup of coffee and set it down on a table by the window.

He hit the buffet, filling just half a plate with the warm food, then filling the rest up with fruit. He sat down, He loaded up the toast with eggs, sausage, and a slice of sad, canned, pineapple. He chewed slowly, then placed the creation back onto the plate and took another sip of coffee.

“Morning!”

Marc looked up from his disappointing breakfast to see a bright and smiling Leeroy, followed by Selina.

Leeroy had a plate with just fruit, while Selina stood behind him with a surly expression, carrying a Starbucks cup. Marc motioned for them to sit down.

“How’s the food?” Leeroy was uncharacteristically chatty and cheerful.

“It’s… food,” Marc said as he took another bite of his sandwich, then placed it back on the plate, likely for the last time.

“Yeah, figures. I asked if they have anything vegan and the pointed me to this,” Leeroy gestured to his plate, loaded full of nothing but fruit.

“So much for big city life,” Marc said with a chuckle.

“What about you? Not eating?”

Selina gave him a sour look.

“I know what hotel kitchens are like, you know,” she deadpanned.

Marc looked back at the sandwich again. Placing a napkin to cover the remains, he declared breakfast over.

“Where’s Ryan?”

“Probably still sleeping. We got in pretty late,” Selina explained.

“Late? What’s there to do in this place? We’re parked in front of a giant church.”

“You’d be surprised. We found some bars and clubs just a couple of blocks from here. Not bad ones either. Better than the redneck dives we have in Silver City anyway.”

“Well, we better go get him. We need to be at the registration point in… 18 minutes,” Marc said looking at the countdown on his phone.

“Hey! We have plenty of time!”

Ryan dropped a heaping plate of food onto the table.

“Hey guys. How was the drive?” He asked, starting to shovel food into his mouth at an impressive rate.

Within minutes, the plate was clean.

“You gonna throw that out?” Ryan asked Marc, looking at the half eaten sandwich under its paper napkin shroud.

“All your’s buddy,” He said, pushing the plate across the table. He also placed his mostly full cup of coffee in front of Ryan.

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“Thanks. Hey, not a bad sammie. I like the pineapple.”

Selina mimed a stomach emergency and Leeroy and Marc couldn’t contain the laugh.

Five minutes later they were in front of the Salt Palace, the convention center where the KamiGames event was taking place. Marc had hoped they would be going to the headquarters, but it seems that the office location was outside of the city. It was also a secure, with no guests or press allowed on the property, so everything this weekend would be taking place here.

There was already a large crowd gathered. Marc could see that delegations from other countries were present, complete with translators. There seemed to be even more press in attendance than betas. Camera crews and broadcast vans, as well as reporters mingled through the crowd doing impromptu interviews. You could identify the beta users by their special white iPhones.

Marc had heard the stories about how the new white iPhone models had been delayed because of a manufacturing problem, but the discussion on the internet forums had quickly dispelled that rumor. Every beta had been sent a white iPhone 4 with special software, and apparently a few hardware tweaks. One beta had postulated that the delay was, in fact, KamiGames’s doing. Indeed, as word spread, and more of the phones appeared in the wild, buzz around the game only increased.

A murmur spread through the gathering as the timer ticked closer to zero. Marc watched as the number finally hit zero and the screen flickered, then was replaced with a strange box filled with a random pattern of white and black squares.

A group of staffers spread out amongst the crowd. They were all dressed identically. Each was wearing jeans and black t-shirts with a strange runic symbol in bright purple script covering the front.

Marc instantly recognized the mark. Three wavy lines in parallel within a circle. It was an old character from a dead alphabet. One used by the Juujin slave tribes Sett. It was a character that meant different things depending on how it was positioned.

The first time Marc had encountered the symbol was back in the Witch’s Den. It was carved into the pendant of the Witch of the Void, his teacher. When the lines were positioned top to bottom, the symbol meant road, or journey. It had become the symbol of the sectarian philosophy known as The Path. A group that Marc had spent more than a lifetime as a member. That was until he had betrayed them and destroyed the sect.

But the symbol on the chests of the dozens of young staffers was different. Rather than vertical lines, it was on its side. The lines running from right to left. Marc also knew the meaning of this configuration.

Departure.

It was the symbol of leaving, setting off on a new path. Abandoning the old and embracing the new.

It was also the symbol for death.

To see these young children smiling and happy, while wearing that shocking icon, chilled Marc to his core. The mystery continued to flow like a stream towards a waterfall, and he felt like little more than a twig caught in the current.

What was happening to his world? Why was he pulled into it, given a front row seat for whatever was going to happen? Who was responsible?

In the past few years Marc had often wondered about his own sanity. He even entertained the idea that he was now living through some kind of purgatory. A prison created to somehow force him to atone for his sins. For everything he had done in the other world.

But if this was a punishment, his life was incongruently pleasant. He had friends, close people who cared about him. His father had ensured that he would not want for anything. He even had a dog.

Things were not right. He was at times haunted by his memories of the other world. He could still recall every moment, every smell, every taste.

He still remembered holding little Safan as a baby, and teaching him how to use magic and play the guitar. He could perfectly recall the cold, wet blood dripping through his fingers as he cradled the old man’s head, on the last night he had stepped foot in Clearwater.

How could he accept all those memories, and still inhabit his ordinary life here now? What about the game? The strange portals? Beasts from the other world, monsters with no right to be in this world, appearing and interacting with this one.

Marc wanted answers, but he didn’t know what the questions were, or even who to ask.

Except for one person. One entity? He wanted more than anything to see Mary and ask her to explain what was going on. What had happened.

A small voice in the back of his head added one more question.

How was the other world doing?

Marc knew he had no right to ask that question. Not after what he had done to it.

Shaking these thoughts from his head, he followed his group as they approached the entrance. Staff were running around, corralling all the betas to one doorway, while press and other guests were being escorted to another part of the convention center.

At the doorway, a staffer with a large hand scanner was pointing it at the phones of each betas waiting in line to get into the hall. After a second, the scanner made a loud beep, then the participant was allowed inside.

Suddenly, a commotion arose when the scanner made a different noise. A loud buzzing sound.

Immediately, two large security guards, also wearing the same casual uniform, appeared out of nowhere. They were obviously security, despite the identical clothing, as there were each larger than three of the other staffers combined.

There was no discussion, no questions were asked. In a flash, a phone was confiscated, and a shocked young man was unceremoniously dumped in a heap, ten feet from the entrance.

A minute later, another man, this one sputtering and babbling in half sentences was brought out of the hall and dumped next to the first.

A staffer, a middle aged woman, stepped forward as though she had been hiding in one of the giant’s shadows.

“You have been identified violating your beta user contract. Your rights and access to the program is hereby revoked and all property, data, and permissions have been reclaimed by KamiGames. Your room and travel arrangements have also been cancelled and the hotel has been informed to remove your personal items from your room for collection at the front desk. This is your notice of contract termination, effective immediately.”

The woman pulled out a sheet of paper and dropped it on the lap of the second man.

“You are also notified by the management of the Salt Palace that you are banned from the property for the duration of the event, and if you do not leave immediately, you will be arrested for trespass. You will be contacted by the end of the day by our legal representation, notifying you of our actions against you for personal liability as a result of breach of contract. These are the relevant clauses in your contract. I suggest you contact your own legal defense before then.”

She dropped two more sheet of paper on the man, now shocked into silence. Then she turned to the first man.

“As for you, these gentlemen will be speaking to you about your illegal attempt to enter a private event, as well as possible charges of fraud and identity theft. Just so you know, we will be pressing charges.”

The man’s eyes went wide as two officers from the police walked up from the street, talking into radios on their shirts.

The first man jumped up, and almost started to make a run for it, but immediately realized that it would be useless. The police officers were steps away.

The crowd watched as the two men were led away. The entire incident took only a minute, and the line to enter the hall resumed, though this time there was a noticeable buzz of whispered conversations.

Marc grabbed Ryan by the shoulder.

“Let me see your phone for a sec.”

Ryan initially recoiled, then after that knee jerk reaction subsided, sheepishly handed Marc his phone.

“Unlock the screen.”

Ryan hit his code, then watched over his shoulder as Marc compared his own screen with Ryan’s.

“Damn, that’s hardcore.” Ryan said with a whistle.

Selina and Leeroy had gathered around to look as well. Then they compared their own screens.

“Each pattern is unique. Like big name concert tickets. But I have never heard of phones doing this. Pretty high tech,” Ryan said, impressed.

Marc handed him back his phone.

“They really take security seriously. Good to know,” Marc warned.

“Yeah Leeroy. Watch where your fingers wind up. Try to palm anything and they’ll lock you up without a trial,” Ryan taunted.

“Fuck you.”

They all laughed, but it was a strained laughter. The Ryan-Leeroy feud was background noise they all accepted by now, but the cold efficiency of the staff in cutting off a beta for breaking the rules was stark warning.

Fortunately, there were no further incidents and the party entered the event hall without problem. There was a loud buzzing of conversations filling the large room as betas from around the world were brought together. Some were outgoing, introducing themselves to everyone in reach. Others seemed shy, standing off to the sides of the room. There were groups of people speaking in foreign languages, and a few lonely individuals looked absolutely terrified.

Ryan had run ahead to the middle of the room. The space had been laid out like a theater. Long rows of chairs facing a large stage at one end.

Already the chairs were starting to fill in, and Ryan waved the group over to a section on one side, about halfway to the stage.

“Never sit in the front, center, or the back,” Ryan explained as though he had been through this before.

Marc gave him a dubious look.

“Trust me. I had to sit through countless briefings. All the bad stuff happens to people in the front or the back.”

“What about the center?” Leeroy asked.

“Harder to leave for the latrine without being noticed.”

Marc had to give him credit. It was sound advice. Their seating settled, the party waited as the staff started to move the remaining attendees to their seats.

Marc noticed that there were still no press present. It was just staff and betas.

The room darkened and the buzz of conversations dropped to a whisper. Then as the room went completely dark, not even the exit signs were visible. There was total silence.

A spotlight lit up curtains blocking the stage. Slowly the curtains opened and a voice boomed out from the PA.

“Welcome Beta players! My name is Mary Lopez, CEO of KamiGames. Thank you for coming all this way for our special event.“

There was some murmuring and Marc looked up at the stage with a frown.

“I’m sorry I can’t be there with you right now. I’m currently speaking to you from our headquarters, where our systems teams are getting ready to test out next big step. A step we are hoping you will all take with us this weekend. Are you all up for that?”

The room erupted in roars. Marc stared at the face projected on the large screen on the stage.

“That’s the spirit! Our director of operations will take you through the schedule in a moment, but before that, I have a question I’d like to ask you all.”

Mary stared straight into the camera. Marc could almost feel her eyes on him alone. That familiar face and voice, he could barely breathe.

“Everything up until this moment was nothing but a prologue. We are ready to move to the next stage, not just in the game, but in the way the whole world looks at games. The question I have for you all tonight is perhaps the most important question you have ever been asked in your life.”

Her big head stared intensely down on them as her voice boomed down from above.

“Do you all want to go to another world?”