FICTION: Bad Trip part 8 - When Two Sides Go To War
100% SP Payout .
This is the continuation of the Bad Trip series.
The earlier chapters can be found here (part one)(part two)(part three)(part four)(part five)(part six)(part seven)
Jim stood watch over Robert as he listened intently for a signal from the simulated world. It had been fifteen minutes since Jim's disconnection; but that didn't always translate into the exact duration of time within the simulation. When time difference occurred it usually showed itself through a difficulty in picking up the signal. Which is where Jim, Robert and Zack found themselves now.
“So we have his last known signal where I left him, in the forest?” Jim sought out some clarity for the situation, the silence was never his ally, not while he had a job to do.
“That's correct. No new signal since then.” Robert confirmed his fears.
“Is there any indication of when I can get back in?” Jim looked to Zack for an answer.
“I still don't know why you were evicted in the first place. I've been running tests to try and find the cause, but everything is coming back negative.”
“Which means what exactly?”
“No known cause. Or no problem in the first place. It's possible the software has never encountered this problem before, and isn't set up to deal with it.”
Jim thought through the ramifications of this news. If the software was encountering a new problem, then it would need to be patched up before he could get in. Or to ensure his safety. His employers would need to know about this.
“Were you able to make contact with Dr Sepalino?”
“I sent an email off several hours ago, whilst you were in the simulation. I hadn't heard back last time I checked.” Zack responded.
“And how long ago was it you last checked?”
“Not since you got back.”
“Do me a favour and check if he has responded.”
Jim sat in his seat, and watched the two technician. His mind was full of thoughts, none of them good. Being ejected out of the mind hack had never occurred. Their journeys in had always been stable, from the technical perspective. Inside the world was not always an easy ride, but that was the nature of the business. They were there to rescue people kidnapped. People wired to another machine, some place unknown, usually to lure them into revealing something. Most time it was something extremely valuable. Before that could occur, the kidnappers would have to make them break somehow. Introduce enough fear and apprehension into their ordeal to trigger something within their own minds. That's the point when the information pours out. It was Jim's job to get to them before that occurred. That was proving immensely difficult at this point in time.
“He just responded! He emailed through his phone number.” Zack relayed the news excitedly, snapping Jim out of his metal self torture.
“Perfect, I need to speak to him about this whole scenario.”
Jim typed the number into his phone, and waited for it to dial through.
“Hello, Joe speaking.” Dr Sepalino answered promptly, having anticipated the call.
“Dr Sepalino? It's Jim calling, regarding a situation that Zack emailed you about.”
“Yes Jim thanks for calling. Sounds like we need to have a chat. Whereabouts are you currently located?”
“We're in the old port district. Currently stationary. How far from here are you?”
“It would take me an hour to get down that way. I can drive over if needed, but let's first establish what the situation is. What do you know so far?”
“We were getting interference early on, before I even entered the simulation. That was the first point of concern. It was throwing our signals out. That's when I asked Zack to contact you. But I got in okay. And located our man just fine. Just as I was wiring him up to track his body's location I was removed from the mind hack.”
“Removed, how do you mean?”
“I was no longer in the hack. I was back here, and Taylor - our client - was still inside stranded.” Jim explained. “In your experience has such a thing ever occurred before?”
“Not officially, no. But rumours have been circulating recently about some kind of software adaptation.” Dr Sepalino was privy to more than he was letting on. But he knew a case like this may need some delicate release of information. How best to do that was the real issue.
“Software adaptation? Do you mean that the software itself is evolving?”
“It would appear so.”
“Because that is a possible cause that we discussed here amongst ourselves.” Jim explained, remembering the trio's earlier conversations.
“It's the actual reasons behind the software's capacity and need to self evolve that is most alarming.”
“Do you know those reasons? Is there anything you can inform me of that would help this case?” Jim was inquiring both for help with this case, but also with an eye to the future. If he could get into Dr Sepalino's network it would do wonders for his career. Of course, if he failed here it may also be game over. He was all too aware of that possibility.
“I need to be careful of what I say over the phone. But what I can tell you is that tests have been conducted of the system. Software penetration tests, and actual mind hack penetration tests, and current analysis shows that there appears to be a rogue operating within the simulation itself.”
“A rogue? From where? Is that a rogue piece of software?” Jim had many more questions, but needed to take a breath. He decide to allow Dr Sepalino time to respond.
“We aren't exactly sure. Best current guess is that someone who entered the simulated world became stuck there. Possibly someone who wasn't rescued, but also didn't seem to die there.”
“Someone entered the hack, but didn't die there, or exit? Then their body would have to be somewhere, wouldn't it?”
“It would appear to be even stranger than that.” Dr Sepalino informed Jim.
“How so?”
“It would appear that they died, physically. So their body is dead. But they didn't die inside the mind hack. Leaving them trapped in a software simulated world. Why they didn't die inside the simulation also is the mystery.” Dr Sepalino relayed the bulk of what they knew, without all the finer details of military excursions into the simulated world. They had found this information out through much trial and error. But he wasn't sharing this out of the goodness of his heart. Jim found himself at the heart of this mystery, making him suddenly a very valuable asset.
“And are they just out to cause havoc? Is there some purpose to their actions?”
“We believe there is.”
“And what is that?” Jim asked.
“Killing off all the Cognitive Retrievers.”
Jim paused as he considered this news. “There have been deaths of other CRs inside the simulation? Why haven't I heard any of this?” Jim asked, referring to his fellow Cognitive Retrievers. His fear levels rose as he started to grasp the deeper implications of just what was happening here. As a Cognitive Retriever he tended to work alone. Alone from the others of his kind. He was always in a team, but with technicians. But he preferred not to socialise with the others in his field. The job stressed him out enough as it was, and being around others, and discussing it further was the furthest thing from his mind. He wondered if this had lead to him being so out of the loop.
“It has been kept very quiet, from everyone in the industry. Not just you.”
“So was anyone going to inform me that I was in danger?” Jim was suddenly hit with the realisation that Dr Sepalino and possibly others had been aware of a potential danger for some time. And never informed him. He wondered to what degree he could truly trust the man he was speaking with on the phone.
“We weren't certain that you were in danger. I am hesitatingly coming to that conclusion from speaking to you now. The problem I have though, is something is different here. Something that did not occur to the others.”
“And what was that?”
“You were ejected from the simulation.”
“And the other's weren't?”
“No, they were killed within, and their bodies all died as a result.”
“So why would this rogue element remove me then.”
Dr Sepalino paused to consider his words very carefully. “I don't believe the entity that killed the others was the one who removed you.”
“If it wasn't the rogue then who could it have been?”
“The simulation itself. And the only reason it would do that is to protect you. It would appear the software and the anomaly within it may be at war with each other.”
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Pixabay.com and Unsplash.com
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