“Well, sir…” Van said, taking a deep breath. “The death of a player is nothing to mock. I witnessed Trefor die firsthand, and it was revealed that he died in real life at the exact same time that he died in the game. This type of technology is something that we’ve never before seen, and quite frankly, I don’t think we’d ever be able to develop something so immersive in such a short amount of time. VR was developed 20 years ago, and now we have a game that simulates feeling and taste to such a real degree that… that you can’t even tell the difference between fantasy and reality.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about!” the senator hollered. “I’ve been saying that these games are having an adverse effect on your minds, and you just admitted it.”
“Um, I, I, uh,” Van stammered. He wasn’t sure what to say next.
“Here’s the deal, Yuri. Now, I am a proud sponsor of the CIA’s various programs and you know, when it comes to funding, that I would prefer to keep you guys loaded with all of the resources that you need to be successful. However, if you are going to be using CIA resources on… on alien hunting inside of a damnable computer game... well, you’re going to need to rethink your priorities. I understand that you might have had support from a few other branches of the government, but it is my opinion and understanding that this was kind of a hush-hush type of thing. Even the President seems to think this is a good idea, but honestly...” He paused for a moment to take a drink of water from the glass that had been sitting in front of him. Van could tell he was taking his time with drinking the water, too, building suspense. He finished and gasped loudly. “So, here’s what I am going to do for you. You can cut this program right now and just move on. Or… you can continue it and then I’ll have all of your asses in an investigative hearing as soon as possible. Don’t think that I don’t have the resources or the power to do that, either.”
“Of course not, sir,” Yuri said. “Consider the program to be ending as of today.”
“Frederick!” Sang shouted. “You can’t be serious? This guy is trying to bully us, and we’re so close to the end goal!”
“Bully you? Ma’am, I assure you that my interests lie with the interests of the American people. You do not have the right to come in here and accuse me of bullying when the government has been paying you with taxpayer money to run around and pretend you’re an elf!” the senator spat back.
Van remained silent. He had no idea what to do. As he sank back into his chair, though, he realized something. He was free. With the program ending immediately, the CIA would be forced to cut ties with him. He could go back home and get on with his regular life again. He’d never have to… he paused as he tried to figure out what he would do when he got back home. Van had been playing Dragon Kings of the New World for almost half of his life. If he went back home, what would he do? Buy haptic gear and hope Draco never found out who he was?
The frustrated talking around Van became little more than white noise as he started to realize the implications of everything. If the investigation was ending, Draco would be able to continue in their evil plot against the world. Even if Van was able to jump back into the game undetected, he would be forced to live the rest of his life knowing that, someday, Draco would kill most of the population. And if he stopped gaming… well, he’d be losing a part of who he was. He didn’t want to live in the real world like some kind of a jerk. He wanted to be some kind of a crazy powerful warrior who didn’t live in constant fear. What in the hell was he supposed to do?
“Come on, Van,” Sang said, snapping Van out of his introspection. “We’re leaving. I’m sure as hell never voting for you!” she shouted at the senator as she grabbed Van by the arm and dragged him out.
“Sang, what are we gonna do?” Van asked.
“Wait!” Fredrick Yuri shouted as he ran after them.
“What the hell do you want? You were the one who came up with this program!” Sang hissed at him. “You were the one who made us go in there and risk our lives, and you didn’t defend us worth a damn!”
“There’s no defending against that jackass,” Frederick replied. “I’ve been dealing with him all month. He is insufferable and unstoppable. Look, he said that we need to cut the program, but if we can get something to the President, something good, he can move to shut the senator’s witch hunt down. You said you were on the brink of something? What?”
Sang sighed. “I’m not sure yet,” she said. “The dragon, the Ally, it’s learned how to speak in full sentences. We didn’t get a chance, but we can talk to it. We can get the whole story. I just found out something interesting, something about a sleeper. Give me time to investigate that some more, please!”
Frederick nodded. “Alright. You have one more shot at this. Go in there and find something out. I can only give you a day, and after that… we’re gonna have to shut this program down, at least temporarily.”
“It’s Sleep Time in there,” Van said. “We’ve got to wait until morning.”
“We don’t have time,” Sang said. “We need something as soon as possible. If that senator goes to the news, we’re utterly screwed.”
“Would he really do that?” Van asked.
“It’s the fastest way to get to a committee hearing,” Frederick mused. “Go to the news, talk about wasteful spending and make a mockery of it. Then the phone calls start pouring in, and the next thing you know, we’re all sitting before the entire Congress, being asked if we were able to find little green men. Sang, you know that this was my project, and I do take responsibility for the direction things are going, but I have a career to think about. My personal support of this project is ending tomorrow. Get something good, or I’m out.”
“You’d risk the fate of the world over your career?” Van asked.
Frederick shrugged. “Who’s to say that the world is really at risk here? Find me something to convince me otherwise, Sang.”
“Fine, let’s go,” Sang said as she grabbed Van and began to pull him back toward the pod room.
“Sang, I’m burned out! I can’t do another shift,” Van protested as he tried to fight against her grip. He was too fatigued to fight back, however, and was pulled into the pod room. Neil and O’Hara were there, talking to Kenwar.
“Neil, we need Cwake!” Sang shouted as she stormed over to her pod and began to fiddle with it. “We’ve got enough time to go in once more, but if we blow it, the mission’s over.”
“Damn it, I knew it,” Neil said as he dug into his jacket and pulled out a few white pills. “Here you go—the best amphetamines that government money can buy.”
“I’m gonna need some, too,” Kenwar said, “I’m so tired.”
Sang abruptly stopped from her programming of the pod to face Kenwar. “You little weasel!” she screamed as she punched him right in the eye.
“Whoa!” Van shouted as Kenwar reeled back, clutching his broken glasses.
“Haha, nice right hook!” Neil said.
“Hit him again,” O’Hara cheered.
Van jumped in between them and held out his hands. “Sang, I get that you’re pissed, I know that this is a big deal, but we can’t just go beating the crap out of someone just because we feel like it!”
“Actually, we totally can,” Neil said. “You should try it—it feels great.”
“Sang, take all of this anger and point it toward the game; we need to get in there,” Van said. He had never seen her so angry before. Apparently, she was extremely invested in the game... far more than he’d realized. What had happened? Why was she so aggressive all of a sudden?
“Fine, but you’re not coming with us,” Sang said. “Neil, lock this guy up. He stops coming into the game, understood?”