4: The Outers
Zyra glanced around nervously as she walked through the City with Tark, following the mysterious stranger taking them to meet the Outers. They had used the monks’ old robes from the vestry, packing up the food and weapons into three bundles that they each carried over their shoulders.
Tee’s patches seemed to be working. Theywere almost at the edge of the City and had not encountered a single ball of static. Yet Zyra still didn’t trust him. The way he kept looking at her was unnerving. And he wasn’t giving them the full story she was sure of it. And then there was the fact that he looked so much like Tark. Could he be Tark’s father?
‘Oi, Tark,’ Zyra whispered, shifting her pack from one shoulder to the other.
‘Yeah?’
‘Notice anythin’ about the ways he looks?’ Zyra indicated Tee.
‘Nah.’
‘Don’t ya thinks he looks kinda familiar?’ she persisted.
Tark stared intently at the back of Tee’s head for alittle while before answering. ‘Nah.’
Zyra exhaled, long and loud. Tee glanced back at them over his shoulder and smiled. Tark smiled back.
‘I don’ts trust ‘im,’ Zyra hissed.
‘Why?’ asked Tark.
‘I just don’ts.’ Zyra swiped at her hair, trying to keep it back. ‘He coulds be leadin’ us inta a trap.’
‘But then why woulds he gives us the patches?’ Tark tapped his cheek knowingly.
‘Lullin’ us inta one of ‘em false senses of security.’ Zyra scowled. ‘Then, when we least expects it -’
Tark shook his head dismissively. ‘Ya knows, sometimes ya thinks too much.’
They continued in silence, Zyra brooding over Tark’s acceptance of Tee at face value. Zyra’s mood was matched by the dark, overcast conditions.
Reaching the edge of the City, they passed a gang of mutants lurking in the shadows of a partially collapsed building, the glint of their mirrored shades winking from beneath their hoodies. It looked like they were rifling through the pockets of a couple of dead travellers. None of them so much as glanced in the direction of Zyra and her companions.
Zyra eyed them cautiously as she passed. If Tee could see her and Tark, she reasoned, it was possible they might encounter others who could as well- others who might not be as apparently benign as Tee.
Entering the Forest, with its thick foliage, thingsgrew darker still. Zyra kept a close eye on Tee as he led on.
***
It felt as though they had been walking for ages,although neither Tark nor Zyra knew exactly how long. They were finding it difficult to gauge the passage of time. Since they no longer participated in the game, they had noticed that there was no regular pattern of night and day, and the sun in the sky could be anywhere at anytime. Not that they could even see the sky at the moment, with the thick canopy of trees blocking their view. Tee insisted on staying off the paths, so they had been fighting their way through dense vegetation.
It was a great relief when the Forest suddenly gave way to barren, rocky ground, which extended into mountains. At the base of the mountains, amidst the massive boulders, they could see a dark opening. That was where Tee was taking them.
As they approached, Tee motioned for them to stop. He unclipped a device from his belt. It made a musical chirruping sound when he flipped it open. He twisted a dial and lifted it to his face.
‘Tee here. Let us in,’ he said into the device. A muffied voice answered.
Tee clicked it closed and hooked it back onto his belt. The air in front of the cave entrance shimmered briefly.
‘Force-field,’ explained Tee as he led them to the mouth of the cave. ‘Keeps the VIs out. Always be careful. Touching the field feels like having a pile of rocks dropped on your head.’
They entered the darkness and walked alongthe rocky passageway. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, Tark and Zyra noticed tunnels and alcoves branching off in all directions. Continuing, they realised they were heading for a dead-end. Zyra glanced nervously at Tark.
‘No need to worry,’ Tee assured them.
He placed his palm against the rocky wall. Light flared beneath it and the wall melted away, revealing another passage. This time the walls were lined with sconces, each supporting a softly glowing orb.
‘Magik,’ breathed Zyra.
‘Rechargeable batteries, actually,’ corrected Tee. He looked back at Zyra. ‘You can take the patch off now. You’re quite safe in here.’ He continued along the passage.
Zyra yanked her patch off and winced. Why did everything have to hurt? Dropping it to the ground, she glanced at Tark as he peeled the patch off his wrist.
Tee led them down the passage, through an opening and into a spacious cavern lit by large orbs hanging from stalactites. The area was filled with a mishmash of furniture, equipment and people. Tark and Zyra looked in wonder. A group of people sat on a circle of chairs and sofas in the centre of the area, deep in conversation. There was a makeshift kitchen under a rocky outcrop to their left, with a vaguely familiar man in a chef’s hat bustling about, preparing food. Crates of food and drink were stacked to either side of the kitchen, forming improvised walls. To the right of the cavern was a target range with a rack of crossbows attached to the wall. A couple of younger teenagers were practising, their bolts thudding into the bullseye.
Zyra placed her pack on the ground. Tark’sdropped with a clatter of weaponry. Conversations stopped, activities ceased, as heads lifted and eyes stared.
‘We refer to this as our common room,’ said Tee placing his pack on the ground. He stepped forward, spread his arms and turned full circle. ‘Welcome to my world. The world of Outers.’
Some of the Outers smiled, some frowned. One young man raised a hand and waved. And then they all returned to what they had been doing.
Tee pointed to three openings in the far wall.
‘That one leads to the sleeping quarters, that one to the storage areas, and that one ...’ He paused as a strange-looking man in a white coat emerged. ‘That leads to Research.’
The new arrival laughed and clapped his hands, then hurried towards them, his frizzy grey hair wafting about as he walked. He was very short and wore thick glasses reminiscent of goggles.
‘Hello, hello, hello, hello. Welcome, welcome.’ He stared at Tark and Zyra, looking them up and down carefully, his eyes darting about behind the lenses. ‘So very, very, very nice to meet you. Very nice, indeed. Indeed.’ He ran his fingers along his neat goatee and looked at Tee expectantly.
‘Tark and Zyra, this is Professor Palimpsest.’
The professor clicked his heels and inclined his head.
‘Please, please, just call me Professor,’ he said eagerly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. ‘Indeed, yes. Just, Professor.’ He turned to Tee.
‘And I have made progress. Yes, yes indeed. Yes,indeed, I have. The project progresses. When you have a moment, we should talk. Yes, yes we should. Indeed. When you have a moment. Yes.’
‘I’m afraid that will have to wait,’ said Tee. ‘I have a lot to discuss with Tark and Zyra.’
‘Of course, of course.’ The professor backed away.
‘Indeed. Tark. Zyra. Yes. Much to discuss. Indeed. I shall leave you to it, then. Ja, ja ... I mean, yes, yes.’ And with that, he turned and walked back through the opening that led to Research.
‘Weirdo,’ breathed Tark, glancing at Zyra.
‘He is actually rather brilliant,’ said Tee. ‘I don’t know what we’d do without him. He designed and built the force-field that protects us. He adapted the medical patches, allowing us to move about undetected by the VIs. It was he who discovered that bolts tipped with Interface static could be used against the VIs. And now, he is working on an even greater project. Something that will hopefully shift the balance of power in our favour.’
‘He talks weird,’ said Tark.
‘lwhat? You don’t?’ Tee looked sternly at Tark.
‘Each of us has been programmed with certain stereotypical speech patterns. All the scientists have unusual speech patterns, with odd accents. He tries to overcome it. But when he was in the game, he never used Designers Paradise and he never had an avatar, so he never experienced speaking in any other way. It is difficult for him.’ Tee stared at Tark for a moment, and Zyra again marvelled at their similarities. ‘Unlike us, who have had avatars, who have spoken in different ways. All thievers speak the gutter speak, like you. Like I used to. But I overcame the programming. I now speak how I wish to speak.’
‘Woteva,’ said Tark, looking away.
‘Both of you,’ Tee continued, ‘can stop the gutter speak. You just need to try. You need to want to.’
‘Wot’s in there?’ asked Zyra, hoping to change the subject. She pointed to a small opening in the cavern wall by the kitchen.
‘l,’ said Tee, walking towards the opening. ‘That one, and others like it, lead to nothing.’
‘Huh?’ said Tark.
‘Take a look,’ suggested Tee, leading them to the alcove.
Tark and Zyra could see the static nothingness ofthe Interface glowing in the darkness.
‘Designers Paradise,’ said Tark.
Tee pointed at the static. ‘The Interface between the environments. These caves are right on the edge of our game environment, of what the people here call the World. It’s just a peripheral place. No active play happens here, so things aren’t always fully formed. There are passages that lead to the Interface. There are unstable areas.’
‘So you can goes into the other places?’ said Zyra.
‘Like Suburbia?’
‘No.’ Tee shook his head. ‘You can’t enter another environment without a key and payment. And you have to go through the whole process of getting a path from an Oracle and making your way to Designers Paradise. We are no longer part of the game, so we cannot do that. If one of us were to enter the Interface, we would be stranded there until
... until eventually absorbed.’
‘Isn’t its a bits dangerous bein’ ‘ere then?’ asked
Zyra.
‘The force-field shields each of these unstable spots,’ explained Tee. ‘We need them. We use these unstable spots for static to tip our weapons and adapt our patches. And this area is not used in the game, which is why we have been able to set it up as a base.’ Tark sighed and shook his head slowly.
‘I know it’s a lot to take in,’ said Tee. ‘And there’s still a lot more I have to tell you.’ He looked from Tark to Zyra. ‘A lot more.’
Zyra yawned, which set Tark off as well.
‘Perhaps you should rest first,’ Tee said, noticing for the first time how tired they both looked. ‘How long has it been since you slept?’
‘Dunno.’ Tark shrugged.
‘Of course.’ Tee nodded knowingly. ‘When you first stop playing, it can be quite disorientating. We don’t have a regular passage of time in the World. Night only happens when it’s needed for the game. We have clocks and calendars here to help us keep track of hours, days, months ... years.’ He pointed up to the far wall, where a digital clock showed 14:04. ‘We have regular sleep periods and meal timesto help maintain health and -’ He stopped, looking at Tark and Zyra. ‘And now I think I should be quiet and show you to your rooms.’ He paused and smiled.
‘Actually, one room with two beds.’ He headed off.
‘Follow me.’