Winter Harvest Read online

  “Usual game?” she asked, pulling the details up on her screen. I handed over the chip Craig had given me, nodding and catching a sniff of her perfume. Vanilla and oranges. I knew the blend well, her favourite, though the name always escaped me. I gulped back the fear that threatened to drown me, and I slid the pastry box onto her desk.

  “What’s this?” She beamed at me. Then touched the top of the box, and I noticed a faint bruise on the back of her hand. Was that why she’d been crying?

  “Thought you’d like to take a break with me,” I said, then couldn’t help myself. “Are you okay?”

  Her whole demeanour changed at the door chime; Lyndsey smiled over my shoulder. Gone were the sadness and the pain. I turned to follow her gaze. There stood the owner, and when I glanced back to her I saw how gaga she went for him. She would never look at me like that. I cringed.

  I tapped the top of the box and smiled at her.

  “Been nice knowing you, Lyndsey.” Not waiting for a response, I walked away. Either she’d follow me, and the risk was worth it, or it would be the last time I’d ever see her.

  The internal corridors were pristine white, with many accolades for the Core and its tech. I’d spent a lot of time reading everything about them and keeping up to date with what they did. Their tech and business model really interested me, hence the reason I wanted to go to Fremtel’s Tech Vault, their main tech university.

  Noticing Craig waited for me up ahead, I smiled at him. “Come on man, we’re not going in without you.”

  This was what I needed. Some quick fuck-em-up shit. Blast some monsters with the two guys I knew always had my back.

  The game was simple. We’d all had different characters we’d been playing here since the credits rolled in. Mine was easy. I loved to tank. I put everything I had into being as strong as an ox, then I would be the one to take all the aggro. Craig was always melee. No matter what else he liked to double-dip; he had to get in close and nail them. Paul loved all magical sides to the games. He would take healing or shield roles. The three of us did pretty great together.

  But I had to admit that getting into the pod this time, plugging into the game world we’d spent so many hours in over the last few months, my heart wasn’t in it.

  Time sped past. Hour after hour as it always did when inside a virtual world. Of course, we played great—we fought like the team we were.

  They both bounced off each other, tried to lighten my mood and theirs, but this cloud hung over me.

  The final boss in this game for this level should have been hard to hit, hard to kill. And he was—don’t get me wrong. But standing there taking the hits off him I knew I could, there was just too much going on in my brain.

  I blasted him with everything I had till I ran out, then retreated, waited for subsequent cool downs and consequences, then I went in again and again.

  I almost died.

  But I didn’t. I didn’t die, and when he finally did, the game rewarded us for killing him. Lots and lots of loot and then access to a secret vault we hadn’t known were there. Craig and Paul were grinning and shouting like idiots. It was a blast.

  With the blood of my enemies soaking the ground around me and my health and mana bars filled up once more. I broke down. My knees buckled, and I pounded the ground with my fists in utter desperation.

  I felt a hand on one shoulder, then the other. Craig and Paul stood behind me quietly waiting for me to let it out, all of it.

  When I pushed myself back up from the ground, covered in filth and sweat, I smiled at them both and said. “Benny’s burgers?”

  Paul laughed first, then Craig. “Fuck. Last meal on the planet and he wants a Benny’s burger.”

  Chapter Two

  “What would you like today?” the cashier asked.

  “Best burger, fries, water and a toffee dessert, please,” I said.

  I moved to place my hand over the payment pod, but the marker flashed up red. Denied.

  I froze, and heat flushed up my face. What? “Sir, do you have any other way to pay?”

  I looked at them and shrugged. “No, there’s plenty of money in the account. I only paid into it this week.”

  Craig noticed my stance and the red flashing light and came over. He put his hand to the bill.

  “That’s not necessary,” I said. And quickly brought up my bank accounts. It wasn’t like I didn’t have the funds, but when I looked into my accounts, they’d been frozen to cover funeral expenses.

  I could have punched them. Like seriously. Then I noticed there were several messages and other incoming calls from my dad and other friends. When Craig finished paying and we waited, I pulled up one call from my dad, and my heart sank.

  “Kyle, wherever you are, please let us know. I need to see you before….” I collapsed as I heard his voice. It was the tone of his words, the emotion. The floor was the safest place for me. The second message was panicked. “Kyle, I’m outside. They won’t let me in. I’ll wait for you. I—I love you, son.”

  Craig and Paul picked me up, helped me to a table, and they called my dad back for me.

  I never got to taste the burger or kiss the girl of my dreams. My time here was over.

  I didn’t want to say goodbye to my friends, but Dad forced me to. I didn’t hate him for it.

  “Been good knowing you,” Paul said, giving me a hug and a back pat. Typical man style. I punched him in the arm and he feigned an eye roll. “You get a pass for that, shithead.”

  Craig met my eyes, and I stared into them, the blue oceans of emotion so rare from him I didn’t know how to react. It took most of my control to not break again.

  He didn’t speak, just pulled me to him in a hug just like Paul had, but I didn’t punch him. Just held on tight and squeezed.

  I turned away from Benny’s and walked with my dad to the car, which then drove us away. I listened while he wittered on about stuff, everything that didn’t really matter to me anymore. I guess it was his way of coping. All I wanted to do was be back with my friends.

  I checked the time, cringed. Too late. It was almost too late.

  We headed back through the town I grew up in and where I learned to love other people, headed out to where my life would end.

  Trees swayed in the breeze, and the lanterns lighting the streets glowed as we passed then blinked on.

  They were the new tech everyone loved to hate. But they did really help the neighbourhoods. I’d miss them. In fact, I’d miss so much.

  I looked to my dad, who was still talking about something that now seemed so meaningless to me, his job, but it was important to him because his life was still going to go on. Even when mine stopped.

  The car stopped, and his voice trailed off. All I could see was their slogan on the wall.

  “Everyone’s dream,” it said. “Play the game.”

  I looked to him, took his hand in mine. I could see there were armed guards at the front of the building. There was no way I could turn back, and even if I did, they’d probably arrest me. Had I heard there was an underground safe place? Sure. But would I risk it and the reputation of my family? No.

  I met his gaze, and I said three words. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Kyle.”

  “Then do one thing for me,” I said, waiting for any reaction.

  “What?” He tilted his head to the side with that funny questioning look a puppy might give his master.

  “Live,” I said.

  I pushed his hands away and went for the door. He pulled me back, hugged me tight, and then when he finally let go, I made a move again.

  I would walk into the facility. I didn’t need anyone else to go in with me. I wasn’t a child. I was a young man, and I’d show them all what I could become.

  I wanted to look back, but I didn’t. I straightened myself up. Stood as tall as I could. Emotion flooded my heart. I sucked in a breath.

  “I will be the best. I will come back. Even if no one else has. Somehow. I will,” I whispere
d.

  I looked up into the grey and silver towers of what loomed above me. The facility was nothing like the universities. It was purely for aesthetics, but we’d also seen the inside of these high-tech transfer units in study.

  They were amazing of course—I mean, how many of us would have ever thought that our minds could be transferred into a digital form let alone transported light-years away to play games or live as another being? They called it a game, but we all knew the truth. This was their call to war. Last defence against the horrors that were out there that tried and tried to get through to Earth, to wipe us all out. Every year thousands of us were sent across, sent to defend against the enemy known as the Vrolsh. They told us it would be great.

  We knew the consequences now. They wiped out memories and programmed us to think it was a game. The best game, one where we could play forever, level up, and become heroes. Many had signed up voluntarily at first—they still took those—but now it was the dropouts, the failures in society that were sent. I was that choice today. I was that failure.

  I only hoped that this way, I wouldn’t be. That my dad would be proud.

  I shivered, but sweat dripped down my back as the guards noted me and waved me in. The light of the moon was starting to show, and it was beautiful. I looked up as the red skies glinted through the building, and I smiled.

  Annex 7.

  Did I go through the motions now? Sure, I did. Everyone in the facility had smiles and was on their best behaviour. I was asked several times if there was anything I wanted or needed, and this was a little concerning for me. Why did they care? It wasn’t like I had a choice, right?

  I was escorted into a quiet room. There was one robotic nurse and a real one, a guy. So this wasn’t just a place where they would shoot me up and ship me off as what I was “brain matter for the war.”

  “Hello Kyle,” he said.

  “I’ll be administering your injection today.”

  “Okay,” I shrugged.

  “How are you feeling?”

  He was fucking kidding, right? I don’t know what happened to me, but it was as if I just didn’t care anymore. I told the truth. I didn’t want to die. “Terrified, like I want to run, but I know I can’t.”

  “Sit for me.” He pointed to the chair.

  I swallowed and moved to sit. My hands were shaking and my vision blurred even before he gave me anything.

  Moving to the side of me he handed a glass over to me. “Drink this.”

  I saw the pink liquid. Reminded me of that stuff you get in the dentist’s chair. I laughed as I brought it to my lips.

  I leaned back, looking around the room. I hadn’t expected death to come to me like this. My life was supposed to be different; I was smarter than most. I was much more than most would ever be, with education and opportunities.

  It shouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t fathom how it had, bar lies and terrible deception from those who were defending all of us. Nothing made sense. I frowned at this. It wouldn’t serve me to fight, argue against the decision. I’d seen the underground videos of people who did that.

  How they were beaten and dragged away, kicking and screaming. I would never have done that to my father.

  My mind fogged over, head pounding. Feeling the effects of something pretty wicked. The drink?

  “I thought the injection was supposed to kill me?” I asked the man.

  His lips turned up in a wicked smile, and I suddenly thought I was in some kind of weird horror movie. But when I tried to move I couldn’t.

  “When they realise we’ve fudged all the entries this year, it will be too late.”

  If I could have done something, I would have, but although my mind was reeling with the information I was stuck frozen in place. There was nothing I could do.

  My eyes fixed on the window at the opposite side of the room. There was nothing there.

  I couldn’t see anything.

  The white and silver walls went blank. It was the strangest thing, not being able to move. I struggled then, tried everything. But it didn’t do anything; I couldn’t lift my arms, legs.

  My breathing slowed, I tried to fight it. Panic set in. I couldn’t get the oxygen inside me quick enough. It felt bad, wrong.

  Darkness surrounded me, pressed down. Whooshing noises, and talking, though I had no idea who, where.

  My body was lifted up. I expected something else. Pain maybe. But nothing else came.

  Just more darkness.

  I had thought that it would be different, that everything around me would be forgotten. That was part of the stories that we were told over the years. It would all be perceived as a game. That it would be kind of fun, even though we knew it was service still. I didn’t expect there to be pain.

  Sharp stinging. Deafening noises. I tried to cover my ears, but there were no hands for me to do so with. I tried to move and realised I had nothing. I was nothing. If I was indeed nothing, then why was it so cold? So damned cold. I didn’t know any other way to describe what I was feeling, thinking.

  Everything around me hurt. So cold. Mind-numbing. Horrendous.

  The more I tried to think of a way to escape what was happening, the harder I found it to focus.

  Sounds formed in my mind, words I knew.

  ERASING MEMORY

  So they were going to do that—it just hadn’t happened yet. Fuck.

  1%

  I didn’t want to forget who I was, what I loved about life. My friends, my father.

  2%

  I had to stop it. Somehow, anyhow. But I didn’t know how.

  Piercing screeches assaulted my ears. Ears? Yes, I felt them now. I cupped my hands around them and tried to forget what was going on around me.

  “No, Kyle. Do not forget,” a strange new voice whispered in my ear.

  MEMORY ERASE PAUSED =AUTHENTICATION CODE 013822AD=

  QUEST COMPLETE YOU HAVE DIED

  REWARDS – REBORN AS A DENTI CLASS FIGHTING MACHINE

  TRAIN HARD. PLAY THE GAME.

  Then there was light. It hurt my eyes as much as the noise around me.

  CHARACTER CREATION STATISTICS COMPLETE

  Name - Kyle Ranz

  Species - Human/Denti

  Year of death - 2629

  Class = Fighter

  Age 18

  Level = 0 Basic

  Respawns = 0

  Memories = 98%

  Health = 87%

  Mana = 0

  Nanites x 99

  Body Type = Model 7812 A Class

  Structural Integrity = Camite Silver

  Internal AI Chip = X Class

  Skin Strength = 0

  Blood Capacity = 0

  Healing Speed = 0

  Strength = 0

  Dexterity = 0

  Constitution = 0

  Intelligence = 0

  Wisdom = 0

  Charisma = 0

  Luck = 0

  Quick Points = 0

  Skills = 0

  Special Traits Awarded x 3 – Any extras here do not show on your Stat Sheet Totals.

  Healer = Internal AI Chip X Class – Crystalline and Silver metal chip with integrated healer nanites led by Xe Aria.

  Intelligence = Internal prototype AI Chip, inserted on 17th birthday……..with ….blanked out….

  Shade Brain – One in a million, you managed to not only keep your memories, but you can also hide them. Your character sheet is elusive to even the strongest of will. Be aware, this will be your downfall in high company (expert and above).

  Spell - Passive - Minor Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 2 and x 1 Mana per second.

  Spell - Passive - Medium Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 7 and x 10 Mana per second.

  Spell - Passive - Intensive Healing = Requires BATTLE MAGE RANK of 14 and x 100 Mana per second.

  I shivered. Level 0. I understood games. Most systems were similar; they just had different math. I knew I would need to build myself and my body up. My health seemed pretty straight
forward, and knowing there was some kind of magic here was amazing. My eyes shifted as sounds brought me around more. I noticed a naked red-headed woman getting dressed beside some kind of metal pod; she winked at me and her statistics flashed up.

  Name - Anna Demanski

  Species - Human/Denti

  Year of death - 2624

  Class – Fighter

  Age = 21 + 5

  Level 10 = Basic

  Respawns = 17

  Memories = 83%

  Health = 89%

  Mana = 8

  Nanites x 321,181

  Model 7812 A Class

  Structural Integrity = Camite Silver

  Internal AI Chip = X Class

  Skin Strength = 2

  Blood Capacity = 3

  Healing Speed = 4

  Strength = 12

  Dexterity = 10

  Constitution = 8

  Intelligence = 4

  Wisdom = 5

  Charisma = 7

  Luck = 4

  What? She was a Level 10! Quickly doing the math, it was easy, five stat points gained per level. I looked around more; all the others were level 10 and above. I didn’t understand. What the hell happened to me? I was way out of my depth here.

  The more I saw the more it didn’t make sense; this was no newbie spawn point. I had points in nothing. But I would get them, right?

  Excitement coursed through my body in waves as I tried to take it all in.

  But the memory stuff was also confusing, Shade Brain? I had to laugh at that one. Why had my memory wipe stopped? And what memories had I lost? Questions whirled around in my head as I grew accustomed to the pain. I thought things had started to settle a while later, and peeking through my hands, I finally saw lights. Teal lights. Above me. I turned my head.