You are attempting to hack this Metaverse, specifically the system that governs The Collective, from the inside? How did you learn to do that?

>The simplest assumption is that we were hackers in our previous lives. Or knowledgeable about computer systems. Somehow the skills came naturally to each one of us. Skills that ColSec would rather us not put to use<

You said you’ve been watching me. There was this time I was in the firing range at the Armory. You’ve read my history so you must know what I’m talking about. I was in a shooting contest with another Volunteer. I was aiming my gun, and I felt something take control of my arms and hands. It felt like my body was being hijacked. Was that you? Did you all hack me? I made a shot I never would have been able to otherwise.

>Why would we care about the outcome of some random shooting match? And even if we did, why would we choose to help you? No, that wasn’t us. You hadn’t even come to our attention at that point. But it is possible that you were acted on by an external force. There are powers at work in the Metaverse beyond what many perceive<

Okay. This is a lot to take in. What have you all discovered so far?

>Not so fast. If you want access to our information, if you want to be part of the solution, you will need to prove yourself. You will need to help us<

Help you hack the system? I just want to fulfill my contract and get out of here. Go back to whatever home or life I’m supposed to have in the real world. I am not trying to get a target on my back, although that seems to be what I am best at.

>If you are truly a Volunteer, you should understand this. The System is rigged. They call us Volunteers, but not one of us is able to access the details of our contracts. During your orientation, you were told that ‘dissociative amnesia is an uncommon reaction when entering The Collective.’ The System lied to you, and is lying to us all. Not a single Volunteer awakens in The Collective with their autobiographical memories intact. And not a single Volunteer has since regained memories of their so-called previous life<

Huh…

>Also, if the Corporation’s true goal was to rid this virtual world of invasive entities, why would they not supply us with everything we need to accomplish the task? Why nickel and dime us, withholding weapons, materials, and powers that would help us to accomplish the supposed goal?<

That’s an interesting point. I’ve been wondering about that myself…

>Every time Volunteers find a leg up, a way to exploit the system, the Corporation shuts it down with a patch. For a time, some Volunteers would dupe items by exploiting the Restoration system. The first response was to make Restoration prohibitively and progressively expensive, but some items were so valuable it would still be worth it to off yourself. The next patch, a big one, was to make every single item have a unique chain code. Now, if two items with identical chain codes are ever detected existing in the Metaverse simultaneously, one is instantly annihilated. Another popular exploit was Volunteers placing large deposits on expensive items they never intended to buy, using vendors as free banking services. That was squashed pretty quickly<

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Antisoc was making some strong arguments. I remembered a comment Camel once made to me, that ‘the only [thing] Reality Inc. cares more about than having us clean up The Collective is making a profit.’ But I was no hacker. I had no special talent with navigating computer systems and networks. At least, not that I was aware of.

Tell me, is the Round Table part of this? What I mean to say is, are they involved in this resistance movement or whatever you call it?

>If you truly are new to this world as you say, there is something you need to understand. There are different factions at play with very different goals. There are the so-called Citizens, of course, the one-percenters trying to live their Best Second Lives. We rarely deal with them directly. Then there is ColSec, made up of the Security bots, Polizei bots, and worst of all the Stasi bots, working to keep things under control but inexplicably incapable of suppressing the invasive entities<

>But for us Volunteers, there are only three main factions. The rest are the unaffiliated plurality, blindly scraping along in a meager, cyclical existence<

That about sums up my experience so far. You said three factions?

>There is the Round Table. Elite warriors. The best of the best. Their goal is to WIN the game. They naively think there is a way out of this place, that they can truly rid the Metaverse of all invasive entities and fulfill their contracts. The problem is, as we stated before, the System is rigged. They disagree. You might say they’re optimists<

>The next group are the Serpents. They have been called different things over time. The Serpent Society. Children of the Serpents. The Family. More of a religious cult than a gang. Their goal is to RULE the game. We see you have already had a few encounters with them. Their leader is a man called Schlächter. You should avoid him at all costs<

Why is that?

>Schlächter is a very dangerous man. A man of enormous appetites. He would just as soon snap your neck as sodomize you. His second, Ishmael, is not so nice either<

Shiva…

>Then there is us. Antisoc. Our goal is to HACK the game. To exploit the glitches and vulnerabilities within the System and tear the veil off this corrupt world<

>So there you have it. Three factions, all with different ideas of how to achieve salvation<

Salvation? Now you are the ones sounding religious.

>Not at all. Salvation can mean many things, including liberation from ignorance or illusion, preservation from destruction, or deliverance from slavery. If you want to be an ally of our cause, you will need to prove yourself. That is, if you ever want to find out who you really are<