When you want something with all of your soul, the entire universe will conspire to procure it.
Hal took as much care as he could stand in answering D_Light’s question. From the harvesting logs it was clear that Djoser and Lyra were the main drivers of the most recent quest. They each had their own emotional reasons-lust and envy, respectively. However, their main motivation was simple logic. Lily was designed to be hunted, and hunting her was consistent with the theme of the MetaGame. Hal decided to tell D_Light this, but he also added a lie.
“Djoser, Lyra, and… you created this quest,” Hal answered.
“No! No, that’s not true!” D_Light sputtered.
“The OverSoul knows us better than we know ourselves,” Hal recited the hymn.
“I have to stop it! I don’t want this!”
“The wheels are already in motion,” Hal assured him. “As I said in the beginning, you created this game, and now you must play it out.”
D_Light covered his face with his hands and was silent for several long seconds. Finally, he spoke. “The night harvest is essentially a raw blink-a raw blink with billions of others at once.”
It was not, not technically; however, Hal nodded with certainty. The analyst liked where this was going.
“I’ll open a raw blink to everyone. I’ll shout my prayer to God. She will hear me.”
The desperation of humankind can always be counted on, Hal thought to himself. A conscious subject trying to use a raw blink as though it were a night harvest was likely to be lethal. In a night harvest, sleepers only communicated with other sleepers and were otherwise protected from mind hacks. And the volume! D_Light’s mind would not be able to withstand unfiltered access to the collective consciousness.
In the ensuing minute, Hal pretended to resist D_Light’s demand for the encryption key to hack out of the network quarantine. He pretended to resist giving D_Light the software crack required to open an infinite raw blink request loop, a crack necessary to circumvent the security software onboard Smorgeous.
As Hal sent the required content to D_Light, he touched his cheek, still moist from his earlier tears. Until now, Hal had not realized that he was capable of crying. Long ago he had inspected his own architectural specification and believed all such emotional centers had been stripped out from his original human template. There must still be a remnant left. Interesting! Hal thought. Hal uploaded the observation to the Cloud for review. Perhaps someone would want to sponsor a grinder game based on this data point. Where could these emotions be emanating from? My brain does not have the proper architecture.
By the time D_Light fell, smacking the side of his head against the stone floor, the analyst had all but forgotten about the pesky intruder.
Master, this protocol is illegal and not recommended, Smorgeous warned.
D_Light ordered Smorgeous to run the software crack and initiate the infinite raw blink request.
Immediately, his senses began to quake as though a tsunami wave was approaching. Then, suddenly, the roar was deafening and the light blinding. It was as though D_Light had been seized by a mob that pulled him in all directions, causing the very flesh of his consciousness to be torn out. From a billion entities emerged a sensory blur. And there were emotions too, a deluge of emotions-fear, love, horror, hope, angst-all of which overcame him so quickly that they seemed to occur simultaneously.
This was pure pain. It was as though he was on fire from head to toe. He was being smashed against a wall of dazzling color. Somewhere in his consciousness he was aware of Smorgeous; the cat was twitching, rolling, and twirling as though on the strings of an insane and devilish puppeteer.
Through the fire he heard an imperious voice. “Jump!” He knew the voice. It was the Dark Queen. Queen Pheobah had found him. She was behind him and she was roasting him alive. Ahead of him and below was the edge of a cliff, beyond which there was blackness, the deepest of nothing, the infinite void. He could not think. The pain was too much for that, but there was an inexplicable desire to jump. Certainly, oblivion was better than this.
“Jump!” the queen commanded again.
He did not. Instead, he turned to the queen and shouted, “Stop the MetaGame!” But the queen was too powerful. Her light consumed his mind, and the void took him away.
Master, your raw blink request resulted in a massive seizure. As a countermeasure, I deployed sedatives to force you into an unconscious state; however, this action was delayed due to a critical error in my system that required me to reboot. I’ve detected some disruption to your neural network, including some possible organic brain damage.
D_Light let his familiar’s words echo passively through his mind. His head pounded, and he was unsure if he could communicate back even if he wanted to. He felt like a dead vessel, a dead vessel with just enough brain activity left to still feel pain. But then the spent player remembered his important objective, which forced him-with some effort-to ask, Smorgeous, the MetaGame…is it still on?
Yes, master. The current quest, “The Hunted Hunt Themselves,” is still active.
D_Light allowed himself to fall back into unconsciousness.
When D_Light woke the second time, he could at least think, but every thought came with some discomfort. He felt the need to sleep for a week or more, but he knew he could not. If nothing else, there were the cullers to consider. His repellant had completely worn off by now; they would be coming for him.
At some point during the thirteen hours he had been unconscious, D_Light had been dragged out of the analyst’s lair; its door was shut. D_Light did not need to check the door to know it was locked.
There were a dozen messages for him from Lyra and Djoser. He reviewed the messages as he slowly, incrementally, got to his feet. There were the expected questions and threats: We lost Lily. I think she’s somewhere in the garden. We’re coming back to you. What is your status? Are you alive? We got some crazy raw blink from you. What’s going on? Better for you that you are dead than ignoring us! The list went on.
D_Light knew the right move was to give a status update to the rest of his team, but his only compulsion now was to find Lily. His intuition told him where she was, and now he knew to trust it.
Lily’s normally golden blond hair was darkened and slicked back as she swam in the lake. She was swimming toward D_Light, but she did not appear to see him hidden in the thick foliage. Surrounding the lake on that side, sheets of marble rock jutted down steeply into the water, save a small sandy beach. It did not take an analyst to know where she was swimming.
The OverSoul has brought you to me! D_Light thought. He wondered if she had been sleeping at some point over the past few hours, which prompted them to rendezvous here. Or perhaps the OverSoul has some connection even while we are awake. Either way, it is her will, the will of the Divinity-this game is about to end.
D_Light ducked back into the garden and crept over to the beach. As he squatted, concealing himself behind a tall flowerbed, he heard in the distance a culler’s call, followed by another, and then another. They have found something.
D_Light opened a blink to everyone, which was readily accepted. Before he could report, Lyra sent a thought with maximum urgency. Thank Soul, you’re alive! They’re coming, the cullers are coming!
I found her. I found Lily, D_Light reported. She is at the lake.
For shit’s sake, if you have a shot, take it! Djoser blasted over the blink.
There isn’t much time, D_Light, Lyra emphasized. You need to end this fast!
It was a long thirty seconds or so before Lily silently emerged from the water. Her bleary blue eyes were fixed on some distant point as though enchanted by the Great Stag standing patiently on top of a hill off on the horizon. She made a move toward the concealment of nearby hedges, but stopped when D_Light ordered her to do so. He stepped out from hiding, his crossbow leveled down on her. She was caught in the open.
There was fear on her face, but that emotion was battling with relief. A long hunt like this without the benefits of drugs was definitely taking its toll on the product, and now, at least, she would be released.
The analyst was right. The wheels are in motion. I cannot stop the MetaGame any other way, D_Light thought.
D_Light was surprised that he did not pull the trigger immediately. There was no reason not to. Nothing to learn from her, no interrogation necessary; only her death would end this game. The OverSoul has brought us together. Kill the product and end the game. The OverSoul wants me to win, as she loves me. The thoughts burned through him. But there were other voices too, distant but clear. God is love, D_Light. You must not betray God. You must not betray yourself.
His eyes started to burn. His whole body began to tremble. He wanted to shout and curse, but instead he shuddered and cried out, “I don’t want this! I don’t want the points or this damned game! I don’t want to lose…I don’t want to lose you!”
Lily fell to her knees. Her torso shuddered under a sudden outpour. At first she covered her face as though ashamed, and then she looked up at D_Light through tears and between heaving breaths, smiled sadly, and said, “I hid the bottle, the repellant. You can have it.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” D_Light lamented, now weeping. Tears ran freely down his cheeks.
What the hell is going on, D_Light? What is your status? The blink was a desperate plea from Lyra. Please, please, please end this! Lyra’s thought thread was not crisp. D_Light had received threads like this before. They were indicative of panic.
Holy shit, they’re close, Djoser blared. We’re in a tree! We’re going to die in a fucking tree! Oh shit, I can see them!
Lyra begged, Save us, D_Light! I swear to Soul I’ll love you forever! I’ll repro with you. We’ll live together forever. I love you. Stop it, please make it stop. Lyra’s thoughts poured in like floodwater.
Through tear-blurred eyes, D_Light beseeched his familiar, Smorgeous, help me do it. Give me something so I don’t feel. It’s the OverSoul’s will. I’m failing her.
Master, I am uncertain as to what chemi will facilitate your request. However, I will attempt to suppress your inhibitions with SaniMind™.
Although the drug’s effect was nearly instantaneous, D_Light still did not pull the trigger; he merely stopped trembling.
Before Lyra was ripped to shreds, she had completely opened her audio and video feeds to broadcast what she saw and heard. It ended so quickly there was little to see-a blur of hair and skin leaping up the tree as though drawn up by a powerful magnetic force. Terrible teeth and claws and rending wetness as flesh tore. Gargling screams and hoarse shouts. And then there was nothing.
Through sobs Lily stammered, “D…D_Light, they’re coming, I can hear them. You need the repellant.” With these words she pinged him the location of the bottle; it was hidden under a rock at the edge of a stream. It was not too far from where he was now, but the cullers were close.
Smorgeous, give me the odds of survival.
Master, given distance and time required for metabolism-
Just give me the odds!
Fifty-three percent chance of survival, Smorgeous answered.
“You need to go! Do what you must and go!” Lily begged.
Fifty-three percent is not good enough, D_Light thought. Running for my life is not good enough-not this time. Do what I must?
“Yes, there is something I must do. I still have time to make it right.” D_Light sat down and Smorgeous walked over resolutely, sitting on his haunches across from his master.
Smorgeous, I want full sensory override with maximum power diverted to a Cloud connection, a connection straight to the Authority source tree.
Lily screamed at him to get up, but the sensory override deafened him. She kicked wildly and slapped him, but he barely felt it. His glazed-over eyes closed slowly as his mind connected. The official banner of the Divine Authority appeared momentarily while D_Light’s credentials were processed.
D_Light, player #49937593, status “demon.” How can the Divine Authority be of service?
I wish to correct an error, D_Light responded.
The Divine Authority appreciates your time in remedying this matter; however, due to the possible security ramifications of your request, we must do a deep scan to confirm that this change is in the best interest of the OverSoul. Would you like to learn more about deep scan?
No, D_Light answered.
Very well, if you are not familiar with the terms and conditions of deep scanning, please review them now.
By now, the dull blows from Lily had stopped. He could not afford to wonder why. He had to stay on task.
Like days before when he had attempted to check into the source tree, D_Light saw a graphical progress bar constantly apprising him of how much time he could expect the scan to continue. Like before, he felt tingling all over his body, experienced both audio and visual hallucinations, and felt countless fleeting emotions.
My Soul is yours to know. From somewhere under the folds of his mind, the words “ God is love, God is love, God is love… ” echoed.
And then, finally, the tingling stopped.
The OverSoul is pleased to grant you access at this time. Based on your scan, you will require approximately two minutes to complete your transaction, after which point you will be logged out. Please begin your transaction in three…two…one…
D_Light plunged into the source tree, the code and data repository that made up the Game. There was no time to waste. Quickly, he found Lily’s profile. From what he could tell, the reserve from which she had escaped did not want her reported as missing. He did not take the time to ponder why. Within her detailed profile, he zoomed in on the following data fields:
Organism ID: Homo sapiens #4038430298 (camper)
Aliases: Anastala, Lily, Talashia, Cave_Girl111
Status: Demon
Level: N/A
D_Light changed the data to the following:
Organism ID: Human
Alias: Built_4_Love
Status: Player
Level: 63
He thought it best to give her a relatively low level since she was such a nOOb and would attract attention with a level not commensurate with her experience. He then fine-tuned a few more fields of her profile to make sure she was complete.
Oh, and this newborn will need something to start off with, he realized.
D_Light then transferred all of his own deedable points over to Built_4_Love. With this last task complete, he was forcibly logged off. The gatekeeper software had indeed predicted the time of his task to within a few seconds.
D_Light now ran for the repellant, and as he did so he felt great happiness and relief. It was as though he had just shed lead shoes he had been encumbered with all his life. He felt like he was flying-not flying as a man aided by a machine, but as a man buoyed up by his very soul. She was safe. He had made things right. This was his atonement; his prayer had been fulfilled. It was the first time in his long life that he did not feel alone.
The final moments of D_Light’s life came not as a flood of memories that rushed passed his eyes, but rather as a movie scene played in slow motion. There was Lily, glowing in the light of the midday sun. She was moving toward him ever so slowly, a blue vial clenched firmly in her hand. Her eyes were wide with terror and her mouth formed a scream.
When D_Light heard the culler dashing up behind him, its clawed limbs ripping and battering the soft soil beneath its feet, he was not afraid, nor did he turn to look back. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Lily as long as he was able.