Lights flickered on in the dark, cavernous room that once held the ATLAS teams HQ. There would be a thin layer of dust over everything if the environmental systems hadn’t continued to keep the place clean. The computers were still dormant, which gave the room an eeriness as all the screens were dark.
Chase and Dr. Henderson met Justin, with Alex in disguise, right behind them.
“Mark, what are you doing here?” Dr. Henderson asked.
Chase said, “If this is a farewell party, it is small.”
Alex closed the doors and locked them using a magic spell. By using the spell, his disguise faded, and he looked as himself once more.
“Alex? What on earth are you doing here?” Dr. Henderson asked. “Was that you I met earlier?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Justin,” Chase said, “What’s going on?”
Justin circled the room with hesitation in his breath. “I’m not sure how to approach this. I wish I had more time to figure out how to say this.”
Dr. Henderson said, “Is something wrong? Don’t tell me you found Nova...” the inference was that Nova had perished.
Justin shook his head. “No... well, in a way, yes, we found Nova. But, the situation is far worse than any of us realized. This world, this reality, is all fake. We’re currently trapped in a simulation.” He laid it out and looked at them to gauge their reaction.
Chase shook her head. “No, that can’t be true. This place feels too real.”
“I thought the same thing. But Alex escaped the program and found Nova in the real world, fighting to preserve our lives as we are slowly dying.”
“I’m as healthy as ever.” Dr. Henderson protested. “I checked my vitals this morning, and I was doing fine. Except this darned hunger issue, and...”
Alex asked, “Doctor, tell me what would happen if someone put a human body into a virtual reality situation without providing any medical attention to the physical body while inside?”
“Exhaustion, hunger, thirst,” she admitted.
“Nova has a doctor on the station who is helping. He has our bodies hooked up to support. But, you know that bio-support systems aren’t permanent replacement for proper living.” Alex said this to the doctor, knowing she was the logical person to deduce the situation.
“If this is true, what could do this to us?”
Alex said, “They forced the Ren Wear on us and trapped us in this simulation.”
Dr. Henderson held her head as she groaned, “Oh, I feel funny. I... wait, I remember. Someone attacked me. I… I can see cadet Timothy. He should be in bed… wait… I know… he is attacking me.” She looked up at Justin. “I have this dream of screaming for help, but no one helps me. It’s the same dream each night. It isn’t a dream. Oh, god. It was real.”
“No, this is all a joke or something.” Chase shook her head and walked toward the door.
Justin approached her. “Chase, you can’t tell me you don’t feel something isn’t right. That you’re missing something important in your life.”
“What are you talking about?”
Alex approached, but Justin held up his hand to stop him. “Chase, who is your father?”
Chase paused, “My father is... oh, uh... I don’t... seem to remember his name.”
Justin then said, “Who cares for you more than you will admit? Who has saved your life at the risk of his repeatedly?”
“I don’t know.”
“Made of stone, talks funny, acts like a kid some days. Loves you.”
Chase held her head. “I know. I’ve seen him in my dreams, but I don’t know his name. There is a smile, and a hand held out to me. He… I know him, I just can’t… remember… wait…” she held the wall as she whispered, “Gargoyle.”
“Gar is your best friend and has the biggest crush on you.” Justin said.
She looked back at Justin, “I remember, Santa is my father... EB is the pest I adore having around. How did I forget them?”
Alex said, “It is a long, terrible story. The problem we have now is that the entire world is trapped in this simulation.”
Justin added, “And it is being controlled by Gamer G.”
“Gamer G, but he is our ally.” Dr. Henderson said.
“No, he is not. He is the reason for this. He is working for Drocha to harvest the brains of every living soul on this planet. And, in due time, everyone will die, including us, if we don’t put a stop to this.”
Chase said, “Fine, we go punch that nerd in the nose and force him to let us go.”
“Easier said than done.” Alex pointed out.
Justin said, “Gamer G controls this simulation. He can kill anyone with a stroke of his finger. If you die here, your body has heart failure in the real world. Those still completely trapped by this. You, Dr. Henderson, Alex, and myself are currently protected.”
“What do you mean?” Dr. Henderson asked.
Alex explained the situation more now that they understood the reality.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Henderson retorted to the information, “Then, our mission is to wake up eight billion people?”
“Something like that. We have to wrest control of this simulation away from Gamer G so we can revive the world before it’s too late.” Justin said.
Chase asked, “What do we do right now?”
Justin said, “Act normal. Gamer G cannot realize we are free of the program’s control. Time moves quicker here, so we can consider our next move.”
Dr. Henderson said, “I don’t care how much faster time moves here. We need to save these people sooner than later. Too many lives are on the line.”
Alex said, “True, but Gamer still has the kill switch under his control. He might not be able to kill us, but that doesn’t stop him from killing anyone else.”
Justin gave out orders. “Doctor, go back to the labs and consider options. Alex, go with her and tell her every detail of your experiences. Chase, head down to the planet and get in touch with Arx and other BADGE people. Do your best to convince them of the truth. Be discreet. If anyone asks, you’re just continuing the search for Nova. I’ll keep Gamer G busy in Operations so he remains unaware. Everyone clear?”
They all nodded. Alex put on his disguise again, this time taking on the image of a robotic nurse that normally works with Dr. Henderson.
Justin collected himself and considered how he would keep Gamer G. busy for the time being. Hopefully, Gamer has not figured out anything is amiss yet. Looking back over the past three years in this program, Justin felt like he was looking back at a dream. He had to sort out what happened here from reality. He didn’t want to tip his hand by referencing something that he shouldn’t know in here.
“Operations.” Justin stated, and the lift moved quickly toward the command level of the station.
“I’ll give him a commission, say it has to do with the dwindling staff levels. He’s always wanted to have a rank in BADGE. This way, he can be a giddy nerd playing out his superhero fantasies while we disrupt his plans.” Justin chuckled at the brilliance of this idea. Though, his humor faded as he admitted, “god I wish Nova were here.”
The doors opened, and he found the Operations center lacking anyone outside of the robots. Gamer G was nowhere to be found.
“10915, where is Gamer G.?”
“I see.” Justin walked down to the front of the room and stood before the monitors as he normally would. It made him sick to see this fabricated paradise spread out on the screens before him. The world was slowly dying and all he could do from here was to see the people go about their placated lives in this fake reality.
“Justin, we have a problem.” Chase came through his comm.
He clicked the unit. “What is it?”
“I just found Mark Boswell... he’s dead.”
“What?” Justin walked to a more secluded corner and whispered into the comm, “Are you sure?”
“I was looking for a shuttle to head for earth and I found his body by the maintenance section of the docking bay. Could he have starved to death in the real world?”
“I don’t think so. Alex said that everyone on the station was currently being cared for by a small medical staff. Wait...” Justin felt an icy chill in his stomach, “Alex was using Mark’s face to disguise himself. If Gamer G went asking questions...”
“We have a problem.” Chase answered.
Gamer G. spoke from behind Justin, “Anything wrong?”
Justin jumped and turned. “Gamer... uh... you startled me.” He clicked off his comm.
Gamer said, “How was your little conference with the janitor?”
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