Play of Shadows

Chapter 47: Moonfall

The news of the mission came down officially a day later. Ann was moved back to her own room, deemed as healthy as she could be after two and a half days stuck in a collapsing instance. Ann was not so sure; she caught glimpses of a red dress at the corner of her eyes every time she turned her head. The phantom numbness in her legs eventually went away, but not before scaring Ann thoroughly.

"It's VR afterimage," a VELES representative told Ann when she pressed the issue at her sign-out physical. After extracting every minute detail about the strange affliction from Ann that he could. Not exactly the most comforting approach.

"Never heard of it," Ann told the man.

VR technology had its shortcomings. A bad sync and poor equipment could lead to any number of awful results, from mild migraines to aneurism and death. Dissociation to the point of hallucination and derealization – the 'VR afterimage' affliction the VELES representative introduced so very casually – was not a known issue in the field.

"VELES technology is more advanced than what is available in the wider market. The player experience is naturally unique," the VELES representative said. Faced with Ann's dubious silence, he added a few placating words, "VR afterimage is a known and entirely temporary condition. There is no cause for concern."

Ann was not at all convinced, but she couldn't pry anything else from the man and was forced to let the issue drop. The red dress did disappear by the end of the first full day she was awake. Her body stopped overbalancing for legs her brain thought she didn't have shortly thereafter. The entire experience left Ann feeling rather like a lab-rat and highly apprehensive of entering a VELES pod again.

The mission was announced in person to every player selected for a spot on the super-team. Ann's messenger was familiar, and came armed with a lawyer and military escort. Ann received them in her pajamas. She was too tired to mind much, although she did leave the group hanging awkwardly in the living area while she ran to brush her teeth and wash the grit from her eyes.

"Apologies for the unannounced visit, Miss Sufort," Barton said once Ann joined them.

"Please, just Ann, Miss Barton," Ann said.

The woman gave Ann a quick smile. "Maya," she corrected, then went on to add a few platitudes around Ann's performance in the last instance before going down to actual business.

Barton outlined the upcoming mission in general strokes. The VELES tech department had managed to locate the source of the glitch – a small, incomplete game world that had been in the process of creation and inexplicably became corrupted.

"Kellan was in charge of the project. We are certain that his primary avatar is trapped in that incomplete world. It is paramount that we locate and extract him," Barton said.

Ann grasped at an important point. "Primary avatar?"

"Yes. Kellan has a unique position within the VELES universe. He is able to operate an infinite number of avatars that serve as moderators within smaller game worlds. You can think of them as puppets. They exist in each game world and operate independently along preprogrammed trajectory, but can be possessed and used directly if the need arises. The primary avatar is the active consciousness – the real player, in a sense," Barton explained.

K's ubiquitous presence in the mission worlds made a lot more sense in light of that information. The reason for the man's strangeness in Cicada Manor was also now clear – the players had been interacting with a puppet avatar initially, hence the detached, NPC behavior. Ann wondered what it was that had called the real K to the instance.

"Why wait until now to attempt extraction?" Ann asked.

"We were not certain of Kellan's location," Barton replied.