[CHAPTER 1000]
"...what respect do you want us to do the stars out the window...?"
James Lovell
E.A.R.T.H
00110010 00110000 00110111 00110011
'Thanks for playing, Adav72!' The sweet computerized and highly synthetic voice called through the crackling earphones of her headset, 'I look forward to seeing you next-'
'OI!' The teenager's final moments within HORIZON were cut short by a beastly shout from downstairs, 'Your shift is over! GET OUT!'
Eva yanked off the headset as quickly as she could, dumping it on the rusted stand in front of her. Only once she'd untangled herself from the visor's cables did she scamper out of the room.
Poking her head outside and Eva wearily examined another ten doorways lining the damp corridor. Paint peeled from the walls to form white shavings across the stained floorboards.
Footsteps sounded on the creaking stairwell and the teenager ducked out of her booth. The strip lights overhead flashed on and off almost in rhythm with her fluttering heartbeat. The owner of the small establishment was known to be a very angry and aggressive man. Eva tighten her shoulders, staring at the floor and praying for the best.
The hallway door was flung open.
A small boy, barely more than a child, bounced through. Eva breathed a sigh of relief. It was only the next shift worker. The child, barely older than ten, would take up where she left off. He glanced in her direction as she shuffled past, a sparkle of excitement in his eyes. That fact alone sent alarm bells ringing inside Eva's head even as she fought through yet another headache. It was clear the child was a new recruit. Give him a few days and shifts wouldn't contain the same wonder he thought they would.
There were a number of establishment buildings spread across Inverness but they were all the same, even as far as the name. Eva had been working inside the shady VR booth for most of her miserable life. She'd come across the job by accident and been a fool to accept it.
At first, Eva believed all the lies told to her about working for the establishment. It was a dream job! She'd be free to play around inside the virtual world of HORIZON for five to six hours a day and get paid for it too. The proposition was obviously too absurd to be true...but it was too late now. Back then Eva had been too naive to know otherwise. Work for an uneducated young-adult like herself was hard to come by.
She sighed heavily, plodding downstairs. During long evenings like these, it was always the same thought that popped into her head:
Technology had changed the world
Even as a young girl, Eva had understood that. Her Scottish home hadn't weathered the break-up of the UK very well, nor the rest of Western Europe. Inverness had once been a pretty city. It sat on a firth reaching out the North Sea, great for trade and travel. A river ran through the city centre from lochs to the south and a brisk breeze perpetually tumbled down from the Northwest Highlands. It had once been the centre of culture in the far north. Now it was a backwaters.
Such stories were whispered over drinks in the squat pubs dotted throughout the city. Two decades of no jobs, no industry, and migration of anyone with any sense had left Inverness a ruin. The city was a pocket of deprivation without law and without order. It had been abandoned by the state before Eva was even born.
It was no wonder that people turned to online entertainment. Virtual reality was an easy escape from the shithole that modern life had become. And what better place than HORIZON - the global host of simulated gaming environments offering everything the internet had and more. Almost overnight, cheaply-available SONY Dreamcatcher hardware (and even cheaper imitations) meant that anyone could buy their way into the realms of virtual reality. Early adopters gained a hold in the new markets that come with any significant concentration of humans - advertisements and propaganda.
Whilst GOKIA has fervently banned advertisements on their platforms, there was one thing they couldn't ban...People. For the genius ideas of infinite customization of individualized avatars, there was one downside. Your body became a canvas. Sure. Now you could change your hair colour and skin tone to whatever shade of the rainbow. But you could also paste 'Fuck Britannica' across both cheeks, or all four if you were so inclined.
The establishment offered access to HORIZON at a steep price. Your avatar became their own. At first that didn't seem to bad to Eva. All she had to do was wander around as an advertisement avatar (or adav for short), a faceless person whose pink eyeless body was covered head to toe in grim text. Eva was forced to traipse between between the various worlds where such blatant rule breaking could go unnoticed. Places which, for a mere fifteen-year-old like herself, should have been far far off limits. Mature rating didn't even come close. It was outrageous, but Eva no longer had a choice. What had started off as small stints through red tape had become full exposure of her tattooed avatar throughout the cesspit of human fantasy.
The establishment didn't pay in money - they paid in tokens. Each token had the equivalent value as euros but could only be spent in grimy establishment centres across the city. No matter how many tokens Eva made, she'd always be as poor. Eva was trapped. Completely reliant on a system that dragged her back each day to do the same thing over and over again. There was no joy in HORIZON, only the continuous shunning that an adav like her got. Not to mention everything else that virtual players tried to do to her.
The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds.
Eva didn't know where she had heard that quote, but it seemed to fit the situation. It seemed that no matter how far humans progressed, they only learnt the same thing over and over...We hadn't come far enough. Humans messed shit up more quickly then they could fix it again. The sustainability crises was just one example of humankind scraping through. Mass social change, along with a hectic climate system, had thrown Europe into disrepair.
But sometimes...sometimes human's got it right.
Out of the ashes of climate change and the singularity (or the "exDEV Awakening" as the media liked to call it). Britannica had rose to fame. It was the perfect image of what human society could be like in this new world. What had previously been Northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands had joined forced with most of England to form a free state outside of the Eurozone. A state with control of its own laws and populations. At first the UN had disregarded the petty attempt at independence - until the Scandinavian countries, along with Scotland, had done the very same thing.
Eva had lived in the 'North Atlantic Alliance' or the NAA for all of her miserable life. Across the horizon and Britannica seemed to be a whole world away. It was a place of fame, fortune, and stability. The birthplace of GOKIA - a modern corporation for a modern world attempting to make technology acceptable once more. The grass always looks greener on the other side...but maybe in this case it was actually true. The Scottish media doing their utmost to shed negative media coverage on the new state of Britannica only seemed to emphasize the fact.
What did it matter? She'd be stuck the backwaters of Inverness forever.
'Welcome Adav72!' The synthetic voice welcomed Eva as she pulled on the knock-off virtual headset the next morning. The sweet computerized tones crackled as her earphones buzzed. A small crack in the lens before her left eye ran a fuzzy crack down the visuals.
'Welcome to Horizon. Your account has been tailored to Adultzfunzone can your confirm your choi...choozzz…chzzzzzzz…'
The sickly voice turned to static, trying to rephrase the question as the headset screen went black. Eva groaned in annoyance. This wasn't the first time the imitation SONY headsets had died on her. She went to pull off the equipment only for a new voice to awaken.
'Hi Eva.'
'Wh...what?' Eva froze in fear. How did HORIZON know her name?
Holding back her breath, heart beating, Eva tried to make sense of the situation. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. Usually the mock headset failure-screen faded into numerous hacked spam or phishing messages. Eva was already in the process of pulling the goggles off her eyes when the screen flashed to life once more.
'It's ok Eva. I'm Baba! I see that you've been accessing HORIZON via illegal means and-'
'No!' I nearly shouted into the mic. Baba, a common figure in the spam message, had never spoken to her like this before. Not wanting to draw attention to herself from the other rooms, Eva dropped her voice to a whisper.
'This isn't illegal! I'm just playing online and..and…'
There was a long pause. For a moment the screen flickered from white to purple before a loading graphic appeared. However, this was different to anything Eva seen before. A buffering circle rotated before her eyes before text popped into view. The message welcomed her once more into HORIZON.
'I don't want to shut you down Eva. In fact, I want to help you.' The voice, Baba, continued. Eva sniffed, rubbing at her nose only to bash the side of the headset. Cursing softly, she jumped in surprise when virtual reality suddenly appeared before her eyes. The hacked headset displayed a new world steadily growing around her. Eva tilted her head, cheap motion sensors capturing her change in perspective as she stared around the grassland environment.
'This isn't real! You can't just pull me into a new environment like this! This...this can't be happening!'
'Ha! Isn't that the point kiddo?'
A tall woman strolled into view. She was almost angelic, if not for the freckles dotting her pale cheeks. Golden blonde hair was bundled up behind her head in a neat tail, revealing bright blue eyes. Smiling warmly, Baba brushed off her maroon cardigan. Her statroll was empty of everything but a single asterisk. That alone suggested to Eva that the avatar might not be everything she claimed to be. Hackers were always unable to mimic statrolls.
'Where am I?' Eva demand, looking down at her avatar to find it too had changed. Gone were the endless streams of bright advertisements for e-cigarette's and rude slogans. Most had been along the lines of 'Britannica abandoning Earth, time we abandon them!' or 'Earth first!'. There even used to be a rude 'Bollocks to Rockets!' stenciled across her chest. Eva's hands looked like hands were supposed to, rather than a homogeneous pink skin printed with phone numbers and offers of a good time. She now had shoes, clothes, and even a satchel hanging loosely off a shoulder.
Eva had never seen anything like it. Spam messages were never this good.
'Ah yes. This is the real HORIZON.' Baba explained, waving around the virtual world. For now it consistent of a flat grassy plane as far as the eye could see. 'Or at least, a small bubble inside of it I created so we can have a chat.'
'You...you created?' Eve babbled, eyes widening under the headset. That was impossible.
'Uh huh.' The woman smiled warmly, 'It's kinda my job to keep things running smoothly. And that's why I need your help.'
There was a long pause during which Baba looked at the girl expectantly. No. This wasn't the first time it had happened. A person calling themselves "Baba" had attempted contact before. Behind the angelic smile was most likely a balding man trying to force Eva into a situation even worse than at present.
Eva sighed, unsure whether the sound came through to the virtual world.
Oh how much she wanted it to be true.
'No.'
'Seriously? Straight off the bat?' Baba stared at the girl in awe. 'Wow.'
'It's nothing personal.' Eva replied quietly, 'It's just...it's too good to be true. Sorry Baba.'
The teenager pulled off her headset without even waiting for a reply. Checking over the electronics, she knew the blame was going to fall on her when the repair bill came through. Hacked headsets were usually fried on the inside.
She was amazed at just how much better VR scams were getting. That almost looked genuine! At least, if Eva wasn't already being stalked by an identical avatar under the same name for the past month. Like, seriously? Just how far were they willing to go to target her...and who would pick a name like Baba?
It was raining when Eva walked home that evening.
Inverness was a bleak city, even with the sun shining. With the addition of a grey sky overhead the world turned into a bleak sandbox of concrete. Huge raindrops tumbled from the heavens to splatter on the pavement underfoot. Puddles only acted to reflect a scene of black clouds above. A few electric cars whizzed by silently, but otherwise the street was empty. Eva hurried through the cold drizzle.
Many of the shops adjacent to the River Ness had closed down years ago. Only a handful were turning a big enough profit to keep their doors open. Many limited to selling the bare essentials. Nobody would part money for anything else. That being said, It was amazing how the grimy electronics store on the corner of Gordon Terrace was still going. In the window, soft screens and archaic televisions displayed the evening news in multiple copies.
Yellow subtitles did little to explain the ongoing debate. The colourful television set being depicted contrasted the bleak world beyond. A number of trimmed professions in suits and dresses were in the process of shouting over one another.
"Britannica have been continually investing in launch capabilities and failed attempts at returning humans into space! It's a waste of money and-"
"Yes! But what proof do we have of these space ventures? For all we know this is simply a facing for their new weapons development programme!" It wasn't clear who was speaking. On a stark white sofa a large man argued expressionlessly with his wide hands. The main speaker however, seemed to be a rather petite dark woman. Her eyes were shadows as she interrupted.
"That is besides the point! We have so many problems to face here on the only planet capable of supporting life! Britannica is failing in its responsibility as a stable economy following the Eurozone crash to care for European citizens beyond their own-'
"I agree! We must look inwards at what matters, not gazing outwards.' The subtitles matched a second, wider woman. Eva found it hard to follow the block yellow text with so many people involved in the televised debate.
"And where has that got us?" A skinny male butted-in across the sofa. The television camera turned to see the controlled anger across his face. "We're stagnant! Britannica is leading the European economy because in the post-sustainability crises world, it's pushing industry rather than trying to conserve it! GOKIA is a-"
"Sorry but I-"
"Let me finish!" The man didn't stand down. He tugged at his red tie before continuing, "GOKIA is a prime example of a modern company continuing to advance technology and create jobs. Following the technological revolution this is how-"
"In reference to GOKIA" The interviewer cut through, changing the topic; "What are your opinions on the possibility of the...uh 'Uploader' that GOKIA are…"
Eva sighed, refrained from watching the subtitles any longer. Of course they'd cut out any pro-Britannica babble. Now the politicians would simply fight over whether GOKIA had indeed uploaded a human boy into the computer world. Eva didn't care either way. That was old news now.
A splatter of rain trickled down her nose. Without a raincoat the teenager couldn't afford to stand out in the cold for too long. An elderly couple walked down the street opposite as she solemnly put one foot in front of the other. Eva followed the river south towards the slums of Stratherrick. Given her present situation, there was nowhere else she could afford with only worthless credits to offer. Only a tiny coffin-like bedroom on the edge of what had once been a tidy housing estate.
Eva was thoroughly soaked when she finally got inside. Locking all three of the latches behind her, she shook of her hoodie and trudged up two flights of stairs to her attic room. Wind whistled through the tiles above her head. A cold draught was already pushing its way under the door. Eva almost tripped-over upon trying to get inside. Swearing loudly, she lifted her foot and studied the unexpected item occupying the floor at her feet. It was a cardboard box. Rectangular in shape and about the same size as a shoebox. Eva's name and address were clearly stamped across the top.
'What the hell?' She mumbled to herself, picking up the box under one arm while pushing her door open with the other. The door opened about one foot before hitting the end of her bed.
Eva performed her normal evening routine of changing clothes in the space equivalent to the volume of a small coffin without hitting her head. The remaining room in the closet was filled by her damp clothes hanging over hot water pipes running across the ceiling. Lying back in her bed, Eva puffed out a large sigh. Refraining for a few minutes longer and her curiosity finally overwhelmed her.
'They must know me.' She mumbled, staring at her name on the package. The again, it wasn't like she had any friends to send her things anyway. Shaking the box vigorously in an attempt to discern the contents, Eva couldn't help but rip it open.
A black box tumbled out of the wreckage along with a single white slip of paper.
The teenager froze, eyeing the second package with suspicion. Snatching up the piece of paper and she turned it over a few times, confused at the short message. "For Eva. From a friend." were the only words printed across the page.
Eva was almost disappointed. It had to be a ruse.
That was, until she studied the black container. It was a painted steel case, large enough to hold in both hands and surprisingly light. The words "SONY" were embossed across the dark lid. Eva's heart started to beat faster. With a deep breath she steadied her hands and pried the tin open. For a moment time froze. Her eyes widened in shock as she failed to rationalize the sight before her.
Inside sat a gleamed VR headset like nothing she had seen before. There were no cables or external leads, only a sleek all-in-one set of goggles with a sleek black design. SONY was stamped on the side in silver letters, so perfect that it just had to be real. Nobody could fake something as good as this! In Eva's hands the technology felt as light as a feather. She seen leaked adverts for this headset years previously and been fantasizing about it ever since.
This was the real thing. All her life she'd been pretending, but here it was! A real SONY Dreamcatcher!
Eva didn't even bother to think about where the headset might have come from, nor who had given it to her. With a wide grin, tears of happiness streaming down her eyes, she pressed the ON button. Without even waiting for the headset to load, Eva lifted the goggles to her face. Instantly, the highly immersive virtual screen came to life.
A holographic buffering screen played across her vision. The SONY logo appeared along with a short was a pause before a soft voice sounded perfectly through the earphones, so perfectly that Eva could have sworn there was somebody stood right next to her.
'Hi Eva.' A woman appeared in front of her.
'Wait? Uh...Barbar?' Eva trembled. A pang of panic started to build in her stomach. The scene around her loaded a few seconds later. A woodlands scene was built from the ground up into a huge green canopy overhead. The scene was startlingly beautiful.
'It's pronounced Baba, Kiddo.' The angelic woman grinned cheekily, 'I thought you might take me more seriously if gave you untapped access to HORIZON. You can think of it as a welcome gift.'
'I told you...I don't-'
'Let me finish this time.' Baba lifted her hands up in defense. 'I need someone with experience of HORIZON to help me out with a project. I'll give you a trial run. If you like it, I can set up weekly Payfriend installments if you accept. No more credits. Fair?'
Eva gulped, mind whirling at the proposition.
'What does it involve?'
'Being a friend.' The freckled woman rolled the word around her mouth. 'A friend of an uploader in fact. You might have come across him on the news. I need somebody that knows HORIZON to show them around.'
Eva's eyes widened. 'It's true?'
'Why wouldn't is be, kiddo?' Baba smirked, 'So you up for it...or you still unsure?'
The teenager's silence confirmed the latter.
'Well you've got the kit now. Hey! Why don't you have a play with a free trial and get back to me?' Baba didn't even wait for a reply. 'Enjoy!' the angelic woman called. A gust of wind caught her maroon cardigan before, without warning, she suddenly disappeared.
'Waaaa...?' Eva turned in her bed, the headset picking up the motion. There was no sickening lurch as the teenager expected. Instead, the the goggles matched the action perfectly. She jumped back in fright when she found herself face-to-face with a greying man. He grinned widely.
'Hello there! Welcome to the world of Pokemon! My name is Oak!' He smiled again, adjusting a white lab coat over top of a red shirt. 'This world is inhabited by creatures called Pokemon! For some people, Pokemon are pets. Others use them for fights. Myself...I study Pokemon as a profession. First, what is your name?'
The teenager paused, staring at the text pop-up. This couldn't be happening. Pokemon? The SONY Dreamcatcher failed to pick up her eye roll. Still, Eva was lying to herself if she tried to deny the knot of excitement in her stomach.
"Rikola" She tried.
'Sorry that name is already taken' The Pokemon professor replied cheerily. Eva swore but was instantly met with the patient grin of the researcher. 'Try another' he suggested.
"Rik0la"
There was a pause.
'Hi Rik0la...Welcome to the world of Pokemon!'
END
EOrRRor is a 'big picture' fic which attempts to pull together a few different threads (as have been revealed) into the main story. Obviously, this chapter is set before the events of the previous chapters in order to introduce Rikola/Eva in a logical way. Much like Bagheera/Richard, I'll stick to using either of the two names depending on whether the character is inside or outside of HORIZON.
There's not too much trivia this chapter, with only slightly more world-building than usual. "The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds" is a JFK quote in reference to pushing the Apollo programme and space exploration. The NAA was a concept I developed for Blackout, so it's good to finally squeeze it into a story. As always, thanks for reading! Sunday updates will continue to benefit Aussies and early-risers in Europe! Enjoy!