“Where do these coordinates go?” Titus asked, but Zelda already had a galactic map up and was searching them.
“Here,” she said, pointing to a nondescript planet. “Aqukinho.”
“But there’s nothing there. Just an area of the game waiting for future DLC,” Thorne said with a shrug.
Kaiden looked closer at the spot designated by the coordinates. She was right. It was just a patch of ocean. No land around for miles.
“I mean, we have to go anyway, right?” Kaiden said.
“Could be a trap,” Thorne said. “That area is a PVP zone.”
“I don’t know,” Kaiden said. “It doesn’t feel like a trap.”
“What good trap would?” Titus asked.
Fair point.
“I don’t think Nando would set us up, though. I mean, I know we just met the guy, but… I don’t know. I felt like we had a connection. I think he might be more like us than he knows.”
“I’m not risking the database on an imagined connection,” Thorne said. “If we go, we leave the database on the Veritas II. We’ll take the Borrelly down to the planet and hightail it at the first sign of trouble.”
“’The organization I represent,’” Zelda said, reading aloud from the message. “What do you think that means?”
“I think it means whoever these guys are, they don’t want to give us their name,” Thorne said. “Not a good way to start a relationship.”
“Wait,” Kaiden said as he understood what Zelda was asking. “You don’t think…?”
“I don’t know anyone else melodramatic enough to talk about themselves like that,” Zelda said.
Realization dawned in Thorne’s eyes. “The Syndicate?”
Titus perked up at that. “No shit?”
Zelda shook her head. “There’s only one way to be sure, right?”
“All right, all right,” Titus said as he pulled his VR headset off. “Let me get this straight. First, I kicked that tournament’s ass. Then I impressed PlayaSlaya so much he wanted me to be a guild officer. Then Nando liked our plan so much he passed it along to The Syndicate, and now we have a meeting with them tomorrow?” The big man leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and smiled wide. “All in a day’s work, I guess.”
“This is insane.” Kaiden placed his own headset on the table and then held his head in his shaking hands. He still couldn’t believe it. Everything was happening so quickly now. Three days ago it’d felt like they didn’t have a chance in the world, and now? They were meeting The Syndicate tomorrow. Probably.
His breath shook in his chest and he felt dizzy.
We can really do this. We can really take down the Party.
It was almost as if some part of him hadn’t actually believed it was possible. Despite all of their efforts, all of his efforts, it was like some deep part of him had still been in denial. Had been, but was no longer. Now... well. Now they were going to take on the world, and for the first time, it looked like they might have an actual chance at winning.
“All right, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Thorne said, bringing everyone back down to Earth. “If this even is a meeting with The Syndicate, that doesn’t mean they’re immediately on board. We still have to convince them of the plan. But we can figure that out in a bit. First of all, everyone needs fluids and food.” She headed over to the kitchen and began switching on appliances. As they warmed up, she tossed a water bottle to each of them.
“I don’t even know how long we were in-game there, but it’s a sure thing we’re all dehydrated. Not to mention exhausted. If we’re going to convince The Syndicate tomorrow, we’ll need to be fed and rested.”
Kaiden took a long drink and realized just how parched he’d been. His throat was dry and swollen. Hurt a bit as he swallowed, but the water was doing its work. He was feeling better by the moment. Food would be good, too. It was easy to ignore the body’s needs in-game, but now that he was out, he could feel the hunger inside of him. How long had it been since he’d eaten last? Fourteen hours? More?
We’ve been busy, he told himself. Busy, and making progress.
He took another long drink of water and leaned back to take in their surroundings, the small bunker they’d been calling home. He’d been in Nova so long he’d almost forgotten they were living here. Hiding out in a swamp while a savage crackdown searched for them back in the city. It was easy to forget, honestly. They’d been so busy in-game and he’d been so focused on the goal. Thorne was right, though. They couldn’t allow the game to be their only focus. They still needed to eat, drink, and sleep. And probably shower, too, if he could make time for it. It was suggested to never spend more than a few hours a day in VR but they’d been putting every waking moment into the game.
“Guys,” Zelda said from where she’d been coiling her headset cable into a tidy pile on the table. “I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I’m pretty sure Bernstein would be proud of us.” She hesitated a moment, then nodded. “We’re finishing his work. Finishing the work he dedicated his life to. The work that the Party killed him for. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it feels like we’re finally making progress. Real progress.”
Kaiden nodded at that, thoughts of where they’d started and how far they’d come welling up inside of him. It’d all begun less than a year ago – half that, even – and still it felt almost longer than everything else in his life. Probably that was just because the warden program, the hunt for Bernstein’s database, and now their struggle to topple the Party, had consumed his every waking moment since it’d all begun. But for the first time, there was an
