“What is this?” Van asked. He could see the numbers changing in real time.
“This map shows the population of the earth,” Trefor replied. He waved his hand over the map, causing it to shift and change. Populations across all countries dropped significantly.
Van frowned. “So, what? I don’t get it.”
Trefor smiled widely. “Of course not. Let me spell it out for you, Van. Draco isn’t particularly interested in profit margins. They aren’t here to make the next fun game. They’re here to change this world and make it more fit for their presence. You see... our world, as of right now, is backwards, weak and foolish. Tell me, how many pointless wars have we started? They say that humanity has had a total of 290 years of peace in all of time. Can you imagine that? Only 290 years of peace! What a shame, that so many people die so needlessly! Then we have things like famine, greed, theft, slavery, needless imprisonment... And why? So that an elite few can reign supreme over the majority of the world. We’re kept in ignorance, poverty, and suffering. Humanity is sick, Van. And Draco’s the cure.”
Van frowned. The way Trefor was talking about Draco seemed different. He spoke as if Draco were more than just a simple gaming company... Van glanced down again and noticed that there were strange symbols and pictures on the map—the same kinds of symbols that Sang had once showed him.
“This world must be cleansed, Van,” Trefor said as he turned and strolled toward a large display on the wall. The screen began to display a very strange picture. There was a large circular pod on the display screen. It was about the size of an asteroid. Van could see that the pod had four green windows on the front. It was a spaceship, he realized as he took note of the shape and complexity of the vessel.
“Draco has come to bring salvation to those who are worthy of it,” Trefor told him.
“That’s a freaking spaceship,” Van remarked with a hushed voice. He was starting to regret making jokes about aliens to Sang.
“Indeed, it is, my friend!” Trefor said. “A craft belonging to Draco. Our friends from another system.”
“Wait... What the hell? You mean to tell me that Draco is made up of a bunch of aliens?” Van asked, shaking his head. “You’re screwing with me—I don’t believe it.”
“You’re standing in a virtual reality simulation that has technological power that is one million times stronger than anything we’ve ever created on Earth—breathing, blinking, feeling—and yet you are the one who wants to tell me that you don’t believe that it’s possible, that highly advanced life from another galaxy has come and brought us this?” Trefor asked with a smirk. “You can’t be that dense.”
“I’m not dense! I’m just not crazy,” Van said.
Trefor smiled again. “I was skeptical at first. But then… then I started doing the math. Draco had no presence before this game, save a small test release they did a while ago. These pods just arrived at various malls and stores with zero ties to manufacturing. Never a single interview or PR move. Announcements all came through game forums. Technology so advanced that the military publicly offered 10 billion dollars for access to the pod technology, and yet they received pure silence from Draco. And then, of course, the Messengers from Draco have spoken many times to me. They aren’t like you and I, Van. They speak differently... understand differently. But they get our culture. Enough to know they have to save it.”
“Messengers?” Van repeated.
“Indeed,” Trefor said. “If you don’t believe me now, you will when you meet one. Of course, you’d have to be willing to join us before you can meet one. They don’t meet just anyone. I’m here to tell you that these Messengers are wondrous creatures. Join Draco and you can meet one. A real live alien.”
“This is all a little too much, man. I need some time to think it over,” Van said. Everything was starting to spin out of control and he didn’t want to be there anymore. Why was his logout still jammed? Trefor might have disabled it somehow, but wouldn’t Sang have figured out some way to get him out of here yet? “I’ll need to log out and get some sleep, at least, and when I get back in, I’ll definitely tell you my decision.”
Trefor shook his head. “I’m not an idiot, Van. I know you’ve made contact with the Others. I know you’re speaking with the enemy.”
Van raised an eyebrow at him. They considered the Others to be an enemy? Now he was even more intrigued—intrigued enough to pretend to be interested in joining up so that he could gather more intelligence. This could potentially help out the CIA, after all. “So, these Others, they aren’t friendly?”
Trefor slowly turned toward the map and waved his hand over it. The map shifted again so that the population numbers were the same as before. “The Others are… problematic. You see, Draco came across Earth a long time ago, and they saw our lives were bleak and meaningless. They saw us overconsuming, overpopulating, and slowly destroying our planet. They pitied us, though, and sought out a way to save us from ourselves. We aren’t like them, Van. They are highly intelligent beings, far beyond our own comprehension. What they have brought to us is salvation. Yet, even in this galaxy that is so vast and endless, there are those who hate humanity. The Others seek to stop Draco from achieving their plans, but they are far away. Draco is here. The Others can only communicate via long distance methods, so they have tried breaking into this game, hacking it with their superior tech. Draco has fought hard to keep their system locked down, of course, so only the occasionally glitch gets through.”
Van nodded, as that made sense. He remembered how it had always seemed like the glitches were fighting against something to stay in the same place for a brief amount of time. He remembered the constellations and the warnings that had come through back at the cave. The Others had been trying to warn Van and Sang about Draco’s intentions.
“So, why do the Others care so much? What’s it to them if they’re too far off to reach us?” Van asked.
“Beats me. Some people believe that the Others don’t like Draco’s methods of changing this planet,” Trefor replied.
Van glanced at the population count lowering again and suddenly realized something. “You’re talking about killing off Earth’s population, aren’t you?”
Trefor grinned. “Unfortunately, Draco’s plans don’t include everyone. See, we had our chance to run this Earth well. But we’ve been here for too long and we’ve squandered it. Draco isn’t interested in giving hand-outs. They made this game so they could find the best of the best. The strong, the savvy, the clever, the brave. All of these people will be moving on to a new world order. A world where Earth is safe and sound, where humanity is free of their illnesses, and where we... oh, we are at the top. Draco isn’t here to make Earth better, Van; they’re here to make Earth perfect. No nations, no wars... just peace.”
“That’s insane! You can’t just kill off most of the world’s population!” Van said.
Trefor shrugged. “Well, I’m not the one who’s going to be doing the killing. Let’s be practical here, Van... this thing in front of us? It’s huge. It involves a powerful alien force with technology well beyond our comprehension. There isn’t a damn thing you or I could do to stop it, so it’s not really a choice of good versus evil here. I mean, let’s be honest, okay? If I could, I’d try to push Draco to change their minds, but that’s not going to happen. They understand far more than we do. They aren’t here to negotiate, they’re here to help us. So… you’ve got a choice, really. You can accept their help or you can die with the rest of humanity. It’s not about good versus evil, Van. It’s about winning versus losing. We’re not doing anything other than helping humanity the best way we can.”