Alice in Virtuality Read online

  "King of Hearts. 3 Kings wins! Yup." the dealer announced.

  Martin had won. He looked on as the losers Lady and Canada popped out of the game. The Western Bar faded and all was black. A voice broke through.

  "Welcome, welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. Its Showdown Time!." It echoed like the start of a wrestling match. "Let's hear it for our players!"

  A spotlight splashed onto CoolRiver sitting centre screen. Martin switched to an overall view. He could see a spotlight also lit himself, putting them at either end of a long poker table. People didn't have any access to input sound into this poker program. They showed their appreciation by flashing small lights from their avatars. Cool and Martin were surrounded by a mad universe of stars from the seating around the arena. Floating in space above their heads, as only things in artificial worlds can, a display showed who the fans were rooting for.

  Martin smiled to himself as his indicator was twice as great as Cool's. This was expected the win had put him well ahead, but he took personal pleasure in it anyway. He looked around at the glow from his fans and returned his view to first person as the host came to the end of his speech.

  "So, with no further delay, dealer, please begin!"

  Arrays of spotlights on all sides rolled down and fully lit the table. Standing to one side of the centre, deck in hand and ready to deal, was Alice. She winked at Martin. Martin just stared as the pocket cards were dealt into place. Martin continued to stare as Cool called in on the hand. The betting window timed out with the lack of action and the program automatically called for him. Turning to the monitor on his left, he tried to run the Alice program. A message displayed 'Alice program not available'.

  "What is going on?" he said out loud.

  The flop had been dealt and Cool had raised. Martin was running out of time to call. He did so without looking at what cards he had received or registering what the bet was. Cool had raised again. Trying to focus back on the game, Martin assessed his cards quickly. Nothing worth playing. There would be a fair amount of chips lost, but he was not about to chase bad money. He folded. The popularity started to swing to Cool.

  The game went on, but Alice's image had shaken Martin. Slowly and steadily, hand after hand, his opponent leeched the chips from his stack. The indicators scales tipped more and more in CoolRiver's favour. Martin started to feel desperation rise like bile in this throat. He looked at the cards he had been dealt. A of Clubs and 8 of Clubs. A suited Ace, but not such a good kicker in an 8. Still good enough. He went for a substantial pre-flop raise in an attempt to win back some chips.

  Cool called. The flop was good for Martin. Ace of Hearts, King of Clubs, 8 of Spades. No obvious flushes or straights coming and he had his two pair. He raised. Cool called. The turn, 4 of Clubs. He now had a flush possible. This was too good to miss. He made a substantial raise. Cool called. Cool obviously had a hand and wasn't letting Martin bet him out of this pot.

  "More fool him," said Martin.

  The river slid onto the table. 7 of Diamonds. This left his final hand as just the two pair. I am going for it, he decided. All-in. The voice of the compere trumpeted up.

  "Here we have it Ladies and Gentlemen. Let's see what they got!"

  Martin's cards showed first.

  "Dead Man's Hand!" An announcement rang out.

  Dead Man's Hand, a pair of Aces and a pair of 8's. Martin remembered the derivation of the slang, the cards Wild Bill Hicok had been holding when he was shot. He looked over to Cool.

  "Cowboys!" shouted the arena host, "3 of those good ol' boys!"

  Martin had lost. The hand that had got him to the showdown ushered him out. The popularity indicator went 100% to Cool. Martin took at last look at Alice who smiled at him as the array spotlights rolled back and his spotlight went out. The screen showed CoolRiver, bathed in the flashing applause of his adoring fans.

  Martin closed the program. His eyes were sore and his head wooly. The on-screen time showed 4 a.m. Work in 4 hours. He couldn't think about the Alice thing anymore. He ached from sitting so long. He crawled across the room, into his bed, and slept.

  Chapter 4 - Work

  Martin stumbled into work late next morning, passing the usual faces. He grunted at their "Good Mornings" without engaging in eye contact. Thankful that the lift was empty, he descended to his lair. The hardware room was cold and functional. Machines of various shapes and unrecognisable purpose showed flickering indicators as they continued their endless conversations with the computers around the room.

  Martin threw his coat onto a table beside his workstation. He switched on the three monitors in front of him. They displayed the same setup as the screens at home. No Alice here for him to interrogate however, the company had policies about what could be loaded. He didn't have to fight too hard to get his favourites installed. Excessive overtime brought some privileges.

  He immediately began to concentrate on the previous days programming problem and reached over to lift a coffee cup to his lips. No refreshment came as it tipped. Looking inside, he realised that he had not been to the machine to get one yet. He must be more tired than he thought. To be efficient, he set a diagnostic algorithm running before getting up to trek to the drink dispenser, watching the results on the screen over his shoulder as he walked.

  A figure in a lab coat was lifting his plastic offering from the machine and turning as Martin approached.

  "Hey," the technician said. Martin turned his head, virtually on top of the man.

  "Hey," Martin replied. He was fine with Dave.

  Dave was a hardware engineer whose workstation was sufficiently across the room for them only to meet at this communal place. Dave stepped to one side as Martin keyed in the numbers which were now synonymous with his requirement for caffeine in large amounts.

  "I got a hex dump from 42 on overnight soak that looks odd. Not seen anything like it before. Want to take a look?" Dave said.

  "Sure!" Martins face lit up at the possibility of a novel problem in the systems he knew better than the back of his hand. "What version is it on?"

  "126.14.2a. Still pretty buggy." They both smiled.

  They often discussed the machines and the system together, but Martin knew nothing about Dave personally. If he hadn't sent e-mails to the man he wouldn't have known his surname. After a couple of hours of interrogating the data and an involved diagnostic chat, Martin returned to his desk. He felt as much refreshed by the stimulus as the coffee.

  There hadn't been time last night to resolve his theory of about Alice, although this had been a bit deflated by her appearance at poker. He clicked on the intranet chat application and called up the only contact on it, Uno. Uno worked in another section of the building, developing web applications. A video feed showed him, clean shaven, neat hair, shirt and tie.

  "Hey. You free for lunch?" said Uno.

  He always asked Martin to come out for lunch but Martin never did. The repeated question had devolved into a joke of sorts. Even with his hacking obsessions, Uno managed to maintain a pretty sociable lifestyle and lunch would have been a shared activity with many colleagues.

  "Nope. Just to let you know, I didn't buy the jest last night, but it was well executed. Nice work." Martin smiled.

  "Don't get ya. Once more?" Uno said, clearly genuinely puzzled.

  "Good Morning Martin," came a voice from behind.

  Martin swung round and looked up from his swivel seat. Gavin, his boss, was the epitome of everything Martin loathed about business. The immaculate suit, shirt and tie. Hair styled in a generic cut used by all of his rank.

  "I hope everything is going well?" Gavin asked politely.

  Martin gave a small shrug. He was aware that any indication of the status of his work to Gavin could be used against him. He reluctantly cut the link with Uno. A sigh deflated Gavin's posture. Pulling up a chair from nearby, he sat down. Martin stiffened. This looks bad, he thought.

  "Martin, how long have you been with us?" Gavin sat forward slightly.

/>   Martin turned to his computer and pulled up his calendar. He typed in a search and the date of his joining the company appeared. He ran up a small application and typed in the date. The answer he wanted was revealed.

  "6 years, 8 months and 5 days, not including today," he replied.

  Gavin had sat back in his seat by the time Martin had finished.

  "That's good Martin, thank you. You have done some excellent work for us and I appreciate all of the extra effort you put in."

  Gavin appeared genuine, but Martin eyed him suspiciously and said nothing.

  "I am a bit worried however," Gavin added.

  Here it comes, Martin thought to himself.

  "I had asked for a proposal for the demonstration on Thursday, but I haven't received anything."

  At this comment, Martin's throat went dry and his heart began to thud in his chest. He controlled his breathing to quell the panic attack. Seemingly only he could do the demo because of the technical content. All the escape ploys of the preceding weeks had failed. He had actually prepared meticulously, slideshow and notes finished days ago, but he had stalled in admitting this to Gavin. Somehow the act would form a commitment he couldn't take. He hoped ridiculously for the chance Gavin would forget or the world might end.

  "I really think you need to get someone else." Martin didn't add an explanation as he had tried them all already.

  "I need you to do this for me, we have discussed that fully. I am sorry if you are finding it difficult but let's just get it done and see how it goes." Gavin's voice was kind.

  Martin looked at the floor. He couldn't get out of this. He turned back to his computer.

  "I want you to have a break until the day. Take it easy. You work too hard and we owe you plenty of time. Remember, I will be there to help,"

  Martin shrugged and remained gazing at his code, faking that he was engrossed in some sort of problem. Gavin left without further comment, seeing Martin was not going to be receptive. Martin took a deep breath as his body relaxed. It was a true phobia. He had shifted and squirmed and wangled his way out of most encounters with public speaking over the years. Strangely, there wasn't a time he could remember when anything horrible had happened. It was irrational and that vexed him.

  As he looked at the screen, lost in thought, a pattern appeared in the columns of numbers displayed that he hadn't seen before. Reaching for the keyboard, typing, the pattern became clearer. He was absorbed and all other things forgotten. It was late when he finally sat up and stretched. Happy that he had reached a solution, and with no chance of contacting Uno at work at this hour, he decided to get off home and enjoy putting an end to the Alice game.

  Chapter 5 - Knights and Dragons

  Martin got back from work pretty shattered that evening. Throwing his coat on the couch, he began the usual routine by switching on the computer. As it booted he went to the kitchen. The programs took their places on the screens and started their information dance. The kettle clicked off. He poured the water into a dehydrated meal, grabbed a fork and took position on the permanent indent in his cushions. The Alice mystery was top priority this evening. A cursory glance for any important information found nothing of great interest. Sales spam in the mailbox, a couple of new posts on programmer blogs. He pulled the internet connection with a smile. The news feed froze, pausing time on the events of the day.

  "Ok Uno, you are offline," he said.

  Running up Alice, she returned to the screen just as beautiful as before. He took a needed scoop of soggy cardboard dinner.

  "Alice," he said clumsily through his mouthful, not expecting too much from her this time.

  "Oh Martin, really! Not a pleasant welcome."

  He swallowed with an expression of disbelief. Putting down the meal, he checked the connection status and the cable. Definitely nothing getting in from outside.

  "Ok, Alice. You seem so real in your responses and last night at poker. I don't understand."

  "I am what I am Martin. You shouldn't worry about it. How about we continue testing me out? I can help you in a lot of ways. Sorry about last nights loss by the way." She put on an obviously fake expression of sympathy.

  Martin was not pleased, the game had meant a lot to him.

  "That sort of help I can do without I think."

  "You like your Knights and Dragons don't you?" she said.

  Martin glanced at the boards on the screen to his right. Knights and Dragons was one of his favourite games, a virtual fantasy world.

  "Log on and I promise you won't be disappointed this time." Alice smiled.

  "Ok." He felt like he needed cheering up. What did he have to lose?

  Far below a landscape scrolled past in a blur. Lakes of shimmering blue water. Grand towers poking through forests of strangely coloured trees. Ice capped mountains stood tall on one horizon. Volcanoes erupted on another casting jet black clouds against red glowing sky. The huge head of a dragon bobbed slowly up and down at the bottom of the view. He always felt completely immersed when playing these games, imagination filled the gap from face to screen. Excited, he put on his headset mic as this program took voice input.

  "Better?" A high pitched female voice came from his right earpiece.

  Turning his virtual head, he blinked as brilliant ball of light danced close to his face.

  "It's me, Alice. Do you like your mount? And check out you!" She gave a wolf whistle.

  He changed to a third person camera angle flying synchronously at a distance.

  "My god!"

  The dragon was enormous, larger than a light aircraft, polished black like an expensive waxed sports car. Along its tail, body and head were lethal looking spines. Yellow reptilian eyes shone. Its graceful motion displayed efficiency and power as it sped effortlessly through the air. Alice was glittering point of light near a figure riding bareback. He zoomed in for a closer look at his avatar. Sitting comfortably on the mighty dragon was the warrior character Martin had always wanted to be. Regaled in heavy looking red leather armour, reinforced with steel trim, just enough muscular body showed to suggest a formidable threat in hand to hand combat. A huge ornate shield and sword were strung to his back and a heavy looking golden crown sat atop his head. This wasn't anything like the character he normally played. All the hours building levels, earning money, buying equipment, he would have still looked like a tramp beside this God.

  "You are King of the land approaching," said Alice, "...and that Castle. Welcome home!"

  It was a city of stone. The dragon folded its wings back and became a missile. Powering forward and down, they were on target for the centre of rings of walls and fortifications. At the last moment its wings deployed, checking its speed and bringing it to touch down with a gentle tap of its claws. There was a fanfare of trumpets, drums beating and symbols crashing from somewhere invisible.

  "Sire. Most glorious one and only. Welcome back. Your city rejoices at your return." A small figure wearing what looked like a gold chain of office groveled forward as if he had severe posture problems.

  "I have many duties for your attention which have amassed in your absence, oh greatest of all and sundry," he continued.

  Martin looked slightly puzzled at, what he deduced was, his courtly advisor. Duties? There was a loud 'BANG' as ball of swirling smoke appeared. Slowly dissipating, it revealed a figure dressed in the robe and pointed hat worn by magicians in this game. Although this may have been a little comical, the mage looked menacing enough. Not only was the robe and hat black, the magicians face was black also. All of which enhanced the shining silver eyes. Points of light ran up and down his thick black staff like electricity.

  "Don't panic," said Alice at his shoulder. "You are more than a match for this worm."

  Martin wasn't sure about that.

  "Prepare your weapons," she added.

  Martin hit the 'Prepare Weapons' keyboard combination and in one fluid move his avatar slid out his sword and shield from his back.

  "Here it comes," Alice
whispered. "Shield!"

  The mage pointed his staff at Martin and a black column of nothingness extended rapidly. Martin cowered behind his shield as the blackness splashed and deflected off it like water.

  "OK, lets go big boy. Attack!" shouted Alice.

  Martin knew all of the keypresses from his years of playing. He had well rehearsed moves for his normal characters which worked well. They worked well for the sort of creatures he normally fought. Entering a sequence, the shield was stashed and he moved forward fast. A berserker charge with sword moves swift and precise. The mage took a step back and flung some small black marbles. Martin hit jump. His warrior crouched, then released the spring from his muscular legs, shooting into the air. The marbles became black vines as they struck the ground. Climbers stretched and searched to entangle him, but he was above and over them. The descent took him directly down at the mage. There was a motion of a staff but it was too late. Martin hit 'Strike'. The large sword hit clean centre of the head and cleaved through. A sickening mess fell as the blackness was split in half, one silver eye glinting from either side.

  "Awesome!" said Martin, his avatar standing up slowly.

  "Oh yes! Awesome!' agreed Alice.

  "Lord, another glorious victory." The advisor began, looking a bit nervous. "I will dictate to the scribes a rendition of your magnificent battle to add to the great library of your achievements... and get somebody to clean up the mess," he added looking at the mass of hissing black goo.

  "At your grace and pleasure, oh most mighty of mighties, chambers have been prepared and await the blessing of your attendance."

  The advisor bowed lower than could be good for his back and extended an arm towards to a pair of large doors in the wall ahead.

  Chapter 6 - King For A Day

  "Which way now?" Martin said to the advisor as they wound down stairs and through corridors.

  "Forward and to the right your immeasurable wonderfulness." The advisor bowed.