A fourth option occurred to me as my decision making time dwindled. I stooped down and made a show of picking the object off the floor.

Excuse me. Somebody dropped this. Is this yours? Does this belong to anyone?

“-Security. There has been an unexpected service failure-”

I added the goggles back into my menu and stepped through the doors with the others, into the blinding lights.

Chapter 21 - ColSec

A white box. I was standing in a white box. A perfect rectangular prism of sharp 90 degree angles. Four walls, a floor, and a ceiling, all smooth and featureless. If I had to guess, I would give the measurements as five feet by five feet, with eight or nine feet of headroom. There were no doors or windows. No way in or out that I could perceive. The box was fully and uniformly illuminated without a discernible lightsource. And no furniture. Just an empty white box.

I didn’t know how long I had been there. Empty minutes bled into empty hours bled into who knows what. And I was completely alone. I stood until my legs ached then leaned back and slid to a sitting position in one corner. When that position caused my back to cramp, I stood again and tried to pace the small area, eventually slumping down once more.

I resisted the urge to open my menu. To read through my history. I would have done anything to kill time. But I had the distinct feeling of being watched, although there were no cameras or viewports.

They want me to open my menu. They are waiting for a moment of weakness. Or is that just paranoia talking? The system likely had full access to my information at all times, so why should now be any different? I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. I replayed the recent events over and over again in my head. Wondering if I did everything correctly. Was the heist successful? Successful for whom, I grumbled.

Deprived of the regular human rhythms of hunger, thirst, excretion, and sleep, as well as lacking any and all external stimuli, I remained in a solitary limbo. An interminable wait.

No sooner had these thoughts crossed my mind than I realized I was not alone. A tall figure stood over me.

Frag me!

I startled and scrambled to my feet.

Perfectly motionless, a humanoid figure stood in the room. It had the familiar appearance of a Polizei bot, complete with impenetrable visor, but instead of black it was completely white from helmet to boot. The crisp white uniform blended in with the sterile box. How it had come to be there I could not say.

Volunteer 01001110 01101111 01100010 01101111 01100100 01111001. Known aliases include: Magpie. I am an officer with Collective Security, assigned to Surveillance, anti-Terrorism, Apprehension, Security, and Investigations. I am here to ask you some questions.

Questions? What kind of Questions?

It sounded just like the Concierge from my orientation, just like the disembodied voice from the information kiosks spread throughout The Collective. I knew the thing I was speaking with was not human, but some type of program. A ColSec program. Did it say known aliases?

As you know, the Repository in The Commons experienced a minor system failure. Collective Security is performing routine questioning of all Volunteers on the premises during the incident to ensure future system stability and data integrity.

You mean the power outage? That was quite a surprise. I almost got lost in the dark. Thankfully another Volunteer helped point me in the right direction when the lights came back on.

I am required to inform you that any responses you give during this interview will be included in the associated quality assurance incident investigation report.

No problem.

What were you doing in the Repository?

I hesitated to answer. I had a measly Persuasion statistic of 10. I had almost no chance of bluffing my way through this. Better to play dumb. Or, try to find a thread of truth to wrap my brain around. Somewhere in the recesses of my lost memory, I had the concept that to beat a lie detector test you needed to mentally ask yourself a different question than your interrogator asked. Huh. Where did that idea come from? Either way, it might not apply to this situation. Better to play dumb and give half truths.

A friend of mine, goes by Camel, suggested I could open an account at the Repository to solve my Crypt storage issues. Another Volunteer, Bigwig, said he uses it for gear storage. I thought I would check it out for myself.

The Volunteer with the known alias of Camel has previously been under Collective Security investigation for possible Terms of Service violations. Are you affiliated with an organization known as Antisoc?

I am not affiliated with any organization.

Technically true. Camel under investigation? The officer used the word ‘previously.’ What did that mean?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Are you aware that it is a serious violation to interact with the System in any manner that could interfere with, disable, disrupt, overburden or otherwise impair the System; to gain access to (or attempt to gain access to) another Volunteer or Citizen’s account or any non-public portions of the System; to upload, transmit, or distribute to or through the System any viruses, worms, malicious code, or other programs intended to interfere with the System, including its security-related features; or to access, search, or collect data from the System by any means (automated or otherwise) except as permitted within the Terms of Service?

I… I don’t recall ever reading the Terms of Service before. Can I get a copy?

You have insufficient system privileges to access that information.

Sigh.

That seems to be a running theme. Many of those things you just mentioned I would not know how to do. Not even if you paid me.

It is an accurate assertion that you have very low ratings in your Processing statistical subcategories.

Exactly! I was interested in, and am still interested in, opening a data storage account. But now I’m not so sure. Is there a problem with the Repository? Will my data be safe there with power outages going on?

I will be the one asking the questions. You have a storage discrepancy of 10 metabytes. You have 249 metabytes of storage in use, but only 239 metabytes of discretely detectable data.

As the officer did not ask a question, I remained silent, trying to stare as vacantly as possible at the robotic helmet in front of me.

How do you account for this discrepancy?

Discrepancy? How do you…

I opened my menu and scrolled through it carefully, squinting at the text.

All my weapons were held at the security station before my tour, but I see all the items and numbers I should expect to have. At least I think so.

Your History records you making the following statement just prior to exiting the Repository: ‘Excuse me. Somebody dropped this. Is this yours? Does this belong to anyone?’ What exactly were you referring to?

In the lobby, when all the Volunteers were leaving, I found a piece of equipment on the floor. I thought somebody must have dropped it or misplaced it. Maybe when the lights were out?

What piece of equipment? Show it to me.

Reluctantly, I fumbled about in my menu for as long as I could until I materialized the thermal goggles. I held them up before the inscrutable gaze of the officer. It regarded the item in silence.

I’ve seen lots of Volunteers wear goggles or headgear, but I have no idea who these originally belong to.

Which was technically true.

This item is contraband and will be confiscated immediately.

I watched sadly as the thermal goggles floated out of my hand and winked out of existence.

Oh! Really? Contraband? As I said, they aren’t my property. I’m still very new here. I have a lot to learn about how things work.

It is an accurate assertion that you are relatively new. You remain low level, with only two completed Tasks. However, the amount of time you have spent here is not commensurate with so few Tasks. You signed a contract, and the Terms of Service state that you are to fulfill the duties of that contract. Volunteers with low Task completion rates are cause for concern. Idle hands, as the proverb goes, are the devil’s playthings.

Just what I needed. A program spouting off idioms.

I fully intend to complete more Tasks, I just–

The fact that you were in the Repository during the recent system failure is cause for concern. The fact that you were in possession of a contraband item is cause for concern. Additionally, your connection to Volunteer 01000010 01100101 01110100 01100001 00111001 is cause for concern.

Who?

On the other hand, your lack of experience and low statistics may help validate your repeated claims of ignorance. You also have very little recorded Crypt or other property of value.

I’m no criminal mastermind. I’m not anybody, really.

That may be so. But you are now a somebody - somebody of interest who warrants further monitoring.

Wait. You’re putting me on a watchlist?

Collective Security will be reverse engineering the contraband item to determine its true origin. We may arrange further interviews if you continue to be somebody of interest to our ongoing investigations. In the meantime, if you are contacted in any way by a group calling themselves Antisoc, you are to immediately present yourself at Collective Security headquarters and report this. Collective Security is prepared to richly reward any Volunteer possessing information about this terrorist organization.

Terrorists?

Affirmative. The terrorist group known as Antisoc is actively jeopardizing the very survival of the human race through their continued interference with The Collective. They must be stopped at any cost.

Survival of the human race? That sounds… serious.

It actually did.

If you have at any time been in contact or have collaborated with Antisoc or any affiliate thereof, it would be in your best interest to turn yourself in and disclose everything you know, rather than have Collective Security discover this during the course of our ongoing investigations. Do you understand? I must warn you that the consequences of violating the Terms of Service are serious.

Yes… I hear you loud and clear.

There is another option.

Oh?

The system administrator has authorized me to make the following offer. In order to remove yourself from all suspicion in connection to the recent incident, I am prepared to offer you the choice of an enhanced system reset.

What does that mean?

Your achievements and all data accumulated so far during your time in The Collective will be erased. Your History, including your memory and awareness of your time in The Collective will be reset. You will re-enter the orientation as a brand new Volunteer. However, I am authorized to offer you significant perks in connection with this reset. You will be awarded a sign-on bonus of 10,000 Crypt, in addition to an expanded living arrangement in the north Residential Tower.

Holy Shiva…