Chapter XI
Sara had not been online since a masked serial killer interrupted our date. At least not with her JolieRouge account. I had trouble defining how I exactly felt about it. Yes, I had a crush on her. But there had always been a safety net in place.
I held part of my emotions back, just in case of rejection. I was in my thirties and that is too old to sob and obsess like some heartbroken teenager. Somewhere I genuinely hoped Sara was having a great time offline. Still, I missed her.
A knock on my door.
I may have used my balcony a bit more often than normally since her first visit. And Riley came to shower every other day. Tonight we had that date we agreed on.
We left our was still cold. But somewhere in the air, diluted like the homeopathic flu tablets on my nightstand, I could sense the smell of spring.
I was nervous to go out at night in this part of town. The world outside looked just like it did on the news feeds. There were homeless people, car wrecks, holes in the pavement. But it didn't sound like it. It didn't have a suspenseful tune and alarming voice-over, but there was music and laughter. Singing from humans and birds.
Surrey wasn't a safe place to be. Just a few years a go there were terrorist bombings in this part of town. A group called White Noise was responsible. One of many radical groups spawned from the OASIS.
Even more than the original internet, the OASIS had a way of putting users in echo chambers. Players that just came for a viking or crusader experience, would enter a vortex that spit them out as right-winged radicals.
The same happened with extremists on the left, religious fundamentalists, but even activists in the animal rights movement. There was one silver lining. The OASIS also kept these folks in their bubble. Their toxicity, homophobia and other hatred nicely sealed off for the rest of the simulation. And the real world.
But White Noise was an international group that radicalized into a real life threat. Their bombings in Surrey were aimed at stores, schools and temples of the many Canadians with Asian heritage. For over two years they lived in fear.
The police had to conduct most of their investigation in the OASIS, but eventually rolled up the Canadian cell. Looking back the terrorists did more to unite Surrey's demographics than divide them.
"Hey, neighbor! Are you still there?"
"Sorry, lost in thoughts. White Noise."
"Ah, yeah. Dickheads."
Riley led me to the old hospital downtown. It went bankrupt years ago. Squatters moved in to claim it for the common good. A place where communal initiatives and a cooperative economy would flourish. It basically just became a place for squatter parties.
The place was called "Emergency" after the big red neon letters above the entrance. I followed Riley inside and entered a realm of strange light effects, surreal art installations and tantalizing sounds.
She took my hand and guided me through hallways packed with people. Left and right I got glimpses of the former operation rooms and wards. The neon lighting unveiled a guru with her followers, drug dens, a SM studio and tattoo shop.
We were getting closer to the bass beats I already heard outside. Riley opened a door and we walked in what looked like the former ambulance station. It was an easy guess, because the emergency vehicles never left. Their red and blue flashing lights were spinning, lighting up the garage and the hundreds of party-goers dancing in it. Covered in graffiti the ambulances served as bars and the DJ booth.
We put our coats somewhere and Riley took us straight to the dance floor and showed some smooth moves. She was instantly part of the squirming bodies whirling all around me.
She looked at me and smiled when I still just stood there. She got closer to me and put her hands on my hips, gently pushing me in motion.
"Shall I get some drinks?" I shouted over the music, still not comfortable with the dancing.
My date just smilingly shook her head. Like she was in on a secret and I was terrible at guessing it.
She stuck out her tongue, it had a pill on it. She pouted her lips and gently danced in my direction. When she was going in for the kiss, I pulled back.
"What's the matter, big guy. Don't like hot girls?"
"It's… There's someone..."
"Here?"
"No, in the OASIS, she…"
She sighed with a mixture of frustration and pity.
"You're going to pass up on something nice, just so you can keep a fantasy alive about a perfect girl you won't ever meet. The perfect excuse to stay inside, hide from life. I don't buy it! You're smart, you know what this is."
Riley might've been right there, I honestly didn't know anymore at this point.
"You wanna be a rockstar? Be a rock star! Don't live the fantasy, experience it," she continued, calmly spelling it all out in my left ear. "Just relax. Just, you know… There are no downsides here."
She kissed me. And while doing so slipped me the pill. I swallowed.
"What did I take?"
"Some modified amphetamine. Army stuff. Makes soldiers fierce and brave, ready to commit genocide."
"The fuck?! Is this stuff safe?"
"Hell do I know! Never tried it."
She pushed me back, threw her hands up in the air and spinned around.
A confidence boost completely alien to me kicked in. Dancing no longer seemed daunting, but the perfect way to assert a sense of supremacy I suddenly felt.
Riley was beaming with pride and affection, like I was a toddler taking his first steps. She danced closely against me.
She seemed to know a bunch of other people at Emergency tonight, but kept it at a minimum when they came saying hi. Her complete focus on me made me feel warm and fuzzy.
I lost track of time. We might've danced for three hours before Riley asked me to follow her. We went up the stairs, taking the touristic route passing each floor. There was an OASIS bar with people plugged in, a community repair shops, sex workers, a sauna.
On the higher floors the sounds quieted down to softer tunes. There were people heavily debating around a sort of hookah, ateliers of painters, vertical farms. After eight floors, we reached the roof.
"Look," Riley said. "The real world. Not so bad, is it?"
All around us Metro Vancouver was alive with lights, sounds, movement. Drones flying around.
"Why do you hate the OASIS so much?" I asked her. "It's an experience made possible with technology. Just like the light shows here, the music, art installations, the designer drug. What's so different?"
She kissed me for the second time tonight.
"Does this feel different?"
"I don't know, let's try again to be sure."
"You know," she said, pulling back a little to look me in the eyes. "That pill was just a placebo, some vitamin D. That dancing back there, the smooth talking a girl way out of your league, it's all you."
"Really?" I said. "Wow…"
Riley bursted into laughter.
"Just messin' with you!" she cried out, wiping away a joyful tear. "No, you're high as fuck. Sorry."
We were both laughing like we had been best pals since kindergarten, watching the sun rise between the skyscrapers.
On the way home we passed parcel sorters that just finished graveyard shifts, while maids were up early to clean houses downtown.
In our hallway we stood idle in front of our apartments for a moment. Riley sniffed her armpit.
"Could probably use a shower… But maybe sleep a bit first."
"Yeah," I said softly.
We hugged and said goodbye.
The night was already at an end, forcing a moment of passion felt off. Besides, I had no idea if there was actual chemistry here or maybe I was just the latest pet project to a very liberal college student.
I brushed my teeth and tried to fall asleep, but the drug kept me awake. A couple of online searches taught me that this was actually one of it's main purposes. Turning you into a fearless warrior and keeping you awake during long missions.
Probably I could've used one of those pills during my duel with Ghostface, I thought to myself. My mind started wandering off to all that happened the past few weeks in the OASIS. A great emptiness took over my stomach.
After losing contact with Sara, I realized I had barely any pictures of her. Nor could I look her up on social media without knowing her real name.
I watched Fire and Ice, the 1983 movie with the microkini girl. It was basically softporn and I wondered how this stuff was legal if the princess was really supposed to be 15 in the film.
The movie is mainly about Teegra's curves, but there is somewhat of a story present too. In the opening scene primitive humans are guarding a wall of ice. The front of a glacier that moves up from the north, where an evil ice queen rules.
I chuckled when I remembered how Sara called it "Ice and Fire" with such disinterest. She didn't care for fantasy stuff at all and wasn't subtle about it.
My mind subconsciously already connected some dots and all of a sudden a hunch popped up. I brought up a browser and searched for "ice", "fire", "wall", "north".
It resulted in elaborate encyclopedia entries. Not for the movie I was watching, but another fantasy franchise. A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. A story described in multiple books, made into a hit television show and milked out in various spin-offs.
But it all started with the very first book, called A Game of Thrones. It was published in 1996.
"Fuuuuuuuck," I whispered.
I walked towards my monitor and typed a quick message to Finn: "Show all that you've GoT."
