Chapter 64
The Agency
Sunday, September 28, 2059
18 days to Armageddon
The six players sat around Mr. Osmond's kitchen table, looking tiredly at each other.
“Then we tried to rescue Crazy Zeke, but it was too late for him,” Mr. Osmond said. “So we went to the address he wrote on the wall with his own blood. That was Dr. Morgan's house, where we found a secret thumb drive stashed in the freezer, along with a high-quality supply of Gavin's medication. Then we rescued the late Dr. Morgan's cat to get the password from its collar. Decrypting the thumb drive revealed a nearby government biological weapon lab where they tried to weaponize the alien protozoa. Though they were unsuccessful in weaponizing it, they did find a chemical compound that made alien protozoa stronger and more aggressive. An injection of that chemical compound—one for each of us, increased the strength of our respective characters.” Mr. Osmond took a deep breath. “But what we don't have is any useful information!”
Leo sighed. It was late Sunday night, and they were all tired. “I've gained thirty-three Demon Tears from the game, and I suspect everyone but Jason, our non-implant-wearer, did okay in that department as well. The game itself is on a much harder setting, due to six of us playing. But with all of us working together as a team, the actual gameplay has been much easier. My game character's development is further along than it was last time when me and Jason were forced to quit playing.”
Jason nodded. “Mine too. Speaking of which, does anyone have a spare?” he pointed at his left wrist. “I even carried this little old lady's groceries home. But she wasn't one of them. She just gave me five bucks.”
Leo looked around. Everyone shook their heads. “I'll keep looking, Jason. In the meantime, some of us should turn up for school tomorrow.” Leo stood up. “We'll meet tomorrow afternoon?”
The others nodded.
“The game's just beginning,” Jason said. “I suspect it will be a while before we learn anything useful.”
“We've played over 30 hours, and we're just getting started. Great.” Mr. Osmond got up and stomped off.
“Ollie,” Mr. Osmond's mother called out. “Doing that much VR gaming is going to make you sick.”
“It's important scientific research, Mom.”
Leo repressed a laugh as he headed home. He divided his Demon Tears between Agility and Intelligence. The thirty-three Demon Tears combined with the twenty-five he'd made previously, gave him fifty-eight total. He put twenty-five Demon Tears into each stat, saving the remaining eight for emergencies. No new character types, though. It was after nine, but thanks to Mr. Osmond saving Dad so much money, Dad was all for Leo helping the man with his scientific research, hoping some of Mr. Osmond would rub off on him.
At home, he found Lydia in front of the TV with Sparkles on her lap, watching a show he was unfamiliar with. She nodded to him when he came in and raised two fingers, then drew a zero. “Twenty hits serpent jelly,” she mouthed, then wrote $1000 on a piece of paper.
Leo nodded. It seemed Lydia's friend did have some of this hard-to-find drug after all. He messaged Mr. Osmond and gave him the information. With everything going on, he'd forgotten about the serpent jelly.
Future Man 10/16: Found 20 doses of serpent jelly, $1000.
Teach: Noted.
Though physically and mentally exhausted, Leo forced himself to take a red pill and work out, before turning in for a night of restless sleep haunted by images of their gaming combined with his post Change memories to create horrible nightmares.
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Monday, September 29, 2059
17 days to Armageddon
The morning was uneventful. Leo ate breakfast while listening to Lydia argue with Mom. Mom still wasn't getting a cat, but he could tell Lydia was wearing her down.
Leo was slowly getting used to this strange pre-Change life. If only he could stop The Change from happening.
At school, while trying to stay awake during his second class, there was an announcement.
“Leo Edwards. Please report to the principal's office.”
Now what? he wondered. What had he done this time?
When he entered the principal's office, he was pushed against the office wall and frisked.
He didn't have a knife, as avoiding the school metal detectors was difficult. But they did take his cellphone, wallet, and house keys.
When they let him turn around, a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
There were two of them, a large man and a smaller woman, plain-clothed, but standing and moving like they were still in uniform. Both had bulges from concealed firearms. Their eyes gave him chills. He didn't know if they would kill a twelve-year-old boy like himself, but he knew they were more than capable of it.
“Leo,” the school principal said. “These two people are Special Agents from a secret anti-terrorism task force. The school urges you to cooperate with them as much as possible.”
Leo nodded, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Yes, sir.” He messaged Mr. Osmond.
Teach: Shit. I warned you. No doubt your irresponsible behavior is behind this.
Future Man 10/16: I know. But I'd rather be irresponsible and get the word out, then be responsible, and see the human race wiped out. Again.
“Leo, please come with us,” the man said. They took him to a back storage room and closed the door behind him. There was the ominous clicking of a lock. Escape wasn't an option.
“Sit down,” the man motioned to a small chair against the far wall facing a small table.
Leo did so. The two sat at the table facing him.
“I'm Special Agent Jones and this is my partner, Special Agent Lopez,” the man said. “Now Leo. We know you're an implant wearer.”
“Did your implant tell you to kill an old lady?” Special Agent Lopez asked. She tossed a manila folder onto the table and opened it. The folder held multiple pictures of Leo, clearly taken by drones, of Leo in front of the old lady's house. “That picture was taken less than an hour after her death.”
Special Agent Jones examined Leo's cellphone and went through his wallet, pulling out and studying his debit card and student ID.
He showed Leo's school ID to his partner, a strange expression on his face. “57-5191,” he said quietly. “You suppose it means anything?”
Special Agent Lopez shook her head. “I'm sure a lot of people have 5191 in their identification numbers.”
Was that his school ID number? He remembered the Beware the Guardian 5191 message. Strange.
Words appeared on his implant interface.
Teach: I'm requesting your permission to access your vision and hearing. Do you accept? Yes/No
Future Man 10/16: You can do that?
Teach: Yes. One of my more recent skill upgrades.
Leo selected Yes.
“Are you paying attention, Leo?” Special Agent Jones asked.
“Are you communicating with your implant friends?” Special Agent Lopez asked. “They're in no position to help you.”
“Yes, sir, and what?” Leo said.
“Because we think you're a good kid who maybe got in over his head and did some things he shouldn't, we're prepared to cut you a break,” Special Agent Jones continued. “If you tell us what you know and sign a confession, you will endure a painless implant removal procedure at the local hospital and be home by tonight.”
“We wrote up the old lady cannibal as a suicide,” Special Agent Lopez said with a chilly smile. “We're still working on how she locked herself in the freezer while she was trapped inside it, but cannibalistic serial killers are very clever.”
“Must be all the brain food,” Special Agent Jones continued. “Now your second option, is you don't tell us what we want to know and refuse to sign the confession. If you do this, we take you in, subject you to many very painful procedures until you do tell us what we want to know and sign the confession. At which time you will lose your arm and go to prison.”
Special Agent Lopez smiled. “We have reason to believe one of your implant-wearing friends, Mr. Osmond, is guilty of insider trading.”