Pete stretched thoroughly, working his arms and legs as the chair hummed open to release him. Even with the chair’s constant massage and stimulation, it still felt good to stretch out after a session. He relieved himself and took a quick shower, and slipped into some comfy clothes before he went downstairs. He found Jina in the kitchen as usual, with a steaming cup of coffee ready for him on the table.

“Howdy beautiful,” he said with a grin, giving her a fond kiss before sitting down to sip his coffee. A pleased groan escaped him as the hot liquid slid down his throat, ”No matter how real that world seems, nothing beats the real thing!”

“They have coffee in the game?” Jina asked as she sat down beside him at the table.

“Nope, but they do have some awesome tasting honey mead!”

Jina stared at him levelly over the rim of her coffee cup, ”Sooo... you're a virtual reality alcoholic?”

“What? No!” Pete sputtered, “I mean, I've had a few mugs, but you can't really get drunk… well, not for real!”

“Virtual intervention time?” Jina hid her smile behind her cup.

“I'm not an alcoholic!” he stammered, red-faced, “I swear it… Kristius maybe, but not me.”

She couldn’t contain her merriment and burst out laughing, ”Easy there, wild man, I'm just messing with you. I believe you.” She smiled at him affectionately, “Sometimes you're just too easy. So, anything new in Otherside?”

“Otherverse. And yep,” Pete took a deep swallow of coffee, ”I need to learn karate, or maybe MMA.”

Jina sputtered over her own coffee, nearly choking, ”Say what!? Are you kidding?”

“Nope.” He took the time to explain everything Kristius had told him. ”So, I need to learn martial arts,” he concluded.

Jina looked at him for a long moment and then shook her head, ”You do remember that you just turned sixty-five, right?”

“And a damned fine specimen of manhood at sixty-five, I might add!”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Ok, fine — but make sure your life insurance is paid up,” she sighed, as she stood and took their empty cups to the recycler.

As Pete stood up, he felt his pants slide halfway down his backside. He yanked them back up in place and adjusted his belt, smiling to himself as he kissed his wife and started for the front door. ”All that chair stimulation seems to be having an effect on the old body after all,” he thought. Aloud, he said, ”Jerry, please summon a pubcar, and send a list of all martial arts or hand-to-hand combat schools within a 20 mile radius of the house to the car MIAI.” Like nearly everyone, he pronounced it “my-eye”, wryly observing that it kept an eye on the road for him.

“Task completed, Mr. Briggs!” Jerry chimed in his unfailingly chipper voice. Pete went out to the porch and waited for the public transit pod to roll silently up in the driveway. He climbed inside and perused the list of schools Jerry had compiled, until one name in particular caught his eye: Bare Knuckles Training Hall. He swiped a finger at the hologram to bring up some information about the studio. The description claimed that Bare Knuckles was a school that taught a person how to fight in truth, as opposed to the performance of rote forms or katas. The master apparently advocated no particular or specific martial style, but rather favored a proficiency in many different techniques, which could be adapted to fit the needs of the situation at hand.

“Aha! Just what the doctor ordered,” Pete exclaimed, “or at least what Kristius ordered, anyway.”

“Destination not recognized,” the MIAI replied, “Please rephrase and try again.”

Pete snorted a laugh and flung the list entry he’d been reading at the dashboard with a flick of his forefinger. “Destination confirmed.” The little pod rolled out of the driveway and merged seamlessly with the line of traffic on the road.

The car wound its way through town, and the surroundings grew gradually more dingy and ill-kept as it went. It finally rolled to a stop at a store front in a mostly-deserted strip mall in a somewhat less-than-prime area of North Tulsa. He clambered out of the cab and viewed the location with some amount of apprehension.

The school — or what he assumed must be the school — sported blacked-out windows and a single perma-LED vidsign over the door depicting a clenched fist. “This must be the place,” he muttered grimly. Determined, he took a deep breath to steel his nerves and stepped up to the front door, which slid smoothly open at his approach.

Despite outside appearances, the gym seemed to be clean and well-kept, aside from a bit of clutter. Once inside, he found himself in a large open room, around which were scattered padded mats, heavy punching bags, and a variety of barbells and free weights. There were racks bearing what appeared to be carbon fiber swords and staves, along with other kinds of equipment that Pete didn’t recognize. There were several doors leading out of the main room, which he figured led to offices, showers, and changing rooms.

In the center of the room, there was a clear, uncluttered area where two bloody and sweating young men grappled and punched at one another. The sounds of heavy breathing, snarls of pain and grunts of effort, and the meaty slap of fists on flesh echoed across the cavernous room.

A tall, well-muscled young woman stood hipshot, watching the fighters with a fist on her hip and a critical eye. She looked to be in her late twenties, with short, bright green hair gelled to form a row of spikes across the top of her head. She wore gray shorts and a colorless tank top, and every visible inch of her otherwise dusky skin — with the exception of her face — was covered in a kaleidoscopic collection of brightly colored tattoos. Her ears were pierced with huge plugs that stretched the lobes out so much that Pete figured he could put a couple of fingers through the holes. Not that he’d dare try it. The woman’s quick dark eyes analyzed every move the men made, while she wrinkled her small nose and a scowl occupied her full-lipped mouth.

Pete caught himself admiring her lithe physique and attractive features, and flushed with embarrassment when she glanced briefly over at him. He felt like a voyeur caught peeping in a window. She eyed him inscrutably for a moment before returning her attention to the men on the mats.

“Dammit, Michael!” she yelled at the larger of the two men, “You’re usually better than this! Analyze, think, escape!” She threw her hands in the air in frustration, ”Break! Shesus, I’m getting gray hair just trying to teach you yahoos anything.” She huffed a sigh, ”Alright, guys, take ten.”

Both men sat cross-legged on the mat, and she focused her attention fully on Pete, like a raptor facing a field mouse, ”Can I help you?” It was more like a challenge than a question.

“Umm… I, I think I’d like to learn how to fight?” he stammered under her fierce glare, flushing even more deeply.

“You ‘think’ you do, or you do?” Her eyes were onyx, unforgiving and unreadable.

“I, uh, I do?” he ventured uncertainly, nodding his head nervously.

A pale eyebrow rose incrementally. “You asking me or telling me?” she pressed. A hint of a smirk curled at the edge of her mouth.

“Geez, I thought the NPCs in the game were a pain in the ass!” he thought to himself. He forced himself to meet her eyes. ”I'm here to learn how to fight, alright?” he replied in a firmer tone.

She looked him up and down in appraisal, her gaze lingering momentarily on his generous paunch. “What's’a matter, Pops, school yard bully taking your lunch money? I teach people how to defend themselves in a real fight, and how to kick the shit outta anyone who tries to mess with them. I ain’t here to help geriatrics lose their pot belly from eating too many doughnuts.” She crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him with scorn.

Pete’s temper flared. “Y’know what? Screw you! I need to learn to fight for my own personal reasons! Now, you can help me, or I can take it down the road to some other dojo, or gym, or whatever-it-is you call this place!” he shot back vehemently.

That cool eyebrow ascended again, and she pushed her hands out at him in a placating gesture, “Easy there, Pops, don't have a stroke. I don’t think my insurance would cover it.” She looked him over again slowly, and cocked her head in a tiny shrug, deciding.

“Awright, old man, I’m Tajina. You can call me ‘T’. Kick off your shoes and strip the shirt while I call up a waiver for any hips you might break. This tryout is free — after that it’s pay-as-you-go, lesson by lesson if you want to continue. You’ll start with the newbie class, even though you're at least fifty years older than any of them.”

Tajina disappeared through one of the doors, and before Pete could get out of his shirt and shoes, she came back out bearing an itab that she held up to show him. ”Hold Harmless Agreement. Basically, it says I'm not responsible for the heart attack you're gonna have trying to learn anything here. Just tap to do the eye scan, and we can get started.”

“You're a real confidence builder, you know that?” Pete grumbled as he tapped the screen. A bright light flashed, momentarily blinding him in one eye. Tajina tossed the tablet aside and snorted.

“Yeah, and I haven't seen that much flabby white skin since the Maroon 5 comeback tour rerun on the History feed. You want someone to stroke your ego, you’re in the wrong place, old man.” She relaxed, arms held loosely at her sides. “Ok, Pops, show me what ya got.”

“My name is Pete, and what do you mean by that?” he asked.

Tajina vented an impatient sigh, ”Hit me, Pops, with your best shot.”

He eyed her in disbelief, “Wha-at? You're kidding, right?”

“Hit me, you old fart, before I’m as old as you are and you become even more of a fossil!” she snapped, sneering. The two watching students exchanged grins.

Pete stood speechless for a moment, then he lashed out, intending to knock the sneer right off of her face. Despite what Kris had told him, he tried to channel his lessons from sparring with Taggert as he leapt at Tajina, swinging his best roundhouse punch. He’d show her what he could do, by the gods! He was going to…

...get his face up off of this mat, just as soon as he could stop gasping long enough to catch his breath.

“Ow,” was all he managed to wheeze as he slowly climbed to his feet.

“Ok, now try that again, and really put your weight behind it this time… at your size, that should make you unstoppable.”

Pete felt his face flush in embarrassment, and then he lunged at her, trying to grab the smart-mouthed woman in a bear hug. She deftly ducked under his flailing arms and turned gracefully as she side-stepped, bringing a knee quick and hard up into his stomach, once again driving all the wind out of him. He dropped to his knees as he gulped for air and fought the sudden urge to puke his guts up. Tajina squatted down next to him, her mouth next to his ear.

“You're fat, you're slow, you telegraph your attacks well before you make them, and you're fat.”

“You... said… ” Pete wheezed, “...I'm fat twice.”

“Well, you're really fat. Still think you wanna do this?” she asked. As answer, Pete threw an elbow at Tajina’s face. She brushed it aside effortlessly and countered with an elbow of her own to the side of his head, dropping him the rest of the way to the floor. ”Ok, Pops, you got determination, I’ll give you that. When you can get up, we’ll start. Michael! You're gonna go a few rounds with Pops here and devise a training plan. Don't look at me like that! See one, do one, teach one. It's about time you start sharing your knowledge with the ‘younger’ crowd — no insult intended, Pops,” she smirked.

“The name is Pete,” he mumbled into the mat, then groaned and climbed painfully to his feet.

“And hit a tanning booth or something! Although the light reflecting off that belly might blind your opponent long enough for you to get a hit in,” she said as Michael and his former opponent chuckled.

“You should really respect your elders more,” Pete grumped as he moved toward the shaved gorilla known as Michael, ”Fuck my life….”

Jina was sitting in the living room watching a crime drama holovid when Pete got home. He shuffled painfully across the room and collapsed onto the couch, face-first in Jina’s lap.

“While on any other day I might find this exciting, somehow I just don’t think it’s meant that way at the moment,” she quipped, pausing the holo.

“Mmargmph,” came the muffled reply.

“Fun time in class, dear?”

“Frgnkigmaz,” he responded.

She rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh huh… so ya going back?” she asked. Pete finally mustered the strength to roll over and rested his head on her thigh.

“Yeah, tomorrow,” he groaned.

Jina looked down at him in consternation, “Criminy’s sake, Pete, this is just a game! It's supposed to be a fun diversion, not some life-affirming odyssey! So what if the game world crashes, they'll just build a new world and all will be good.”

Pete gazed into her face as he thought about that for a few moments, then blew out a long breath, ”I really don't think so. Something weird is going on with this, and it somehow ties in to stuff happening outside of Otherverse — don't ask me what or how, because I don’t know yet. It's just a feeling. And the way the game AI acted when she put me on this path… well, it was just odd. Why I'm the one they came to for help is beyond me, and I’m dying to find out.”

Jina leaned down and planted a tender kiss on his forehead, ”That’s my knight in shining armor, always looking to do what's right. It's one of the things that made me fall in love with you in the beginning. Just think about what you're doing, and don’t go dying for real.”

“And what makes you love me now, oh lady of my dreams?” he asked, shooting her his best sexy-eyed look.

“Senility,” she laughed, and gave him another quick kiss, ”Jerry, get a hot bath going for Pete please, add one cup Epsom salts.”

“Task in progress, Mrs Briggs!” Jerry responded cheerfully.

“He is just too damned happy all the time,” Pete grumbled. Jina helped push him up to his feet and toward the bathroom.

Ozcar Azadi settled himself comfortably in his office chair before donning a hololens headset. “Archon, insert me into the meeting room please, standard encryption.”

“As you wish,” the deep voice of the personal AI responded.

The darkness of the headset brightened, quickly resolving into a spacious and well-appointed board room, with plush carpeting and rich, wood-paneled walls. Azadi sat at the head of a massive mahogany table facing nine other individuals — three women and six men. He kept his face carefully neutral, but Azadi allowed himself to feel a satisfying sense of accomplishment at having been elected the chairman of the board — head of a committee that represented some of the most powerful people in the world. Wordlessly, he scanned each of the faces in turn, until his gaze finally settled on Riku Ishida, the man he’d replaced — although actually ‘deposed’ would be a better description. He let Ishida glimpse a slight smile as he rapped his heavy ring on the table to bring the meeting to order.

“Shall we begin this emergency meeting?” Azadi leaned back and casually twisted the heavy ring — the symbol of his leadership of this group — around on his finger. He noted in the periphery of his vision that Ishida’s face went crimson with suppressed rage. Quite gratifying. Letting nothing of his inner monologue show on his face, he thought, ”Choke on it, you sanctimonious prick. It’s that lack of self-control that cost you this position.”

Annette Fontaine, major stakeholder and head of the Western European coalition cleared her throat delicately, and then spoke, ”I called for this meeting, if I may begin?” At a nod from Azadi, she continued, “There have been some concerns about the implementation of project NanoMentor. I have information here that one of the modified chairs was delivered to the wrong address… ?” Fontaine was a petite woman, aging well and still fairly attractive, with sandy hair, a small nose under cool blue eyes, and an ample mouth that was quick with a friendly smile that had disarmed many adversaries. Azadi knew better — she was as cold-blooded as any reptile that crawled on the planet. She was the type of woman who would eat her own young if it would advance her position. It truly bothered him that she knew about the mishap. If she knew, then everyone on the council knew, and she would certainly try to use it as leverage to oust him. She trained those icy blue eyes expectantly on his face, while the other directors regarded him with stony faces.

“Yes, that is correct. One of the project units was unintentionally delivered to a person not on the target list. Incredibly, an AI in the Midwest American shipping department suffered a malfunction. However, it poses absolutely no risk to the overall project, which is still proceeding according to schedule,” he said smoothly. “A standby unit was made ready and delivered to Senator Keeler on time.”

Fontaine consulted the tabletop in front of her, on which information was being displayed, and then flashed that disarming smile at him, ”That's good to know, Ozcar. Apparently it was sent to one Peter Briggs — a former employee of ours, I believe?”

“Yes, yes, Mr Briggs did work for us in AI service and repair, and just recently retired.” Azadi continued to toy casually with his ring, while internally he raged at the fact that he either had a leak, or Fontaine had planted a spy on him. One way or the other, he vowed that the situation would soon be rectified.

“Yes, I see here that he worked for us for almost 37 years. Clean record, no disciplinary remarks — a model employee, by the looks of it. I’m curious to know, though, how an employee of IRcorp ended up with an augmented VR chair intended for one of the heads of state of our fine planet? Also, I find myself wondering why it hasn’t been recovered and the mistake corrected by now?” she cooed.

“Fuck!” Azadi thought, “The bitch knows.” He forced a casual smile on his face before answering, ”Mr Briggs had already activated the chair before it could be recalled.” Azadi held his smile steady even as several of the board members gasped, and they all regarded him with consternation.

Fontaine raised an elegant eyebrow in mock surprise, ”And you didn't think that such an alarming occurrence might warrant contacting the council to inform us?”

Azadi quit spinning his ring and spread his hands out before him, “There was no need. The error couldn't be undone, and the damage is negligible — the Senator received his modified unit with no interruption in the schedule. Mr Briggs is under continuous scrutiny. He is completely unaware of the situation, and Kronos is monitoring him closely.”

Fontaine smiled a shark’s smile and pounced. “Ah yes — Kronos. Since you mentioned it, that brings up another point we must discuss. Are you aware of the irregular power fluctuations that have been taking place in some of the smaller nations that use Kronos to maintain their power grids? I was under the impression — because of your repeated assurances — that Kronos has not even come close to his full computational power. And yet, it appears to be failing to handle even these relatively simple demands on its capabilities. Would you care to make a statement about that? After all, it is your pet project.” She placed her hands on the table in front of her and looked at him with a smug expression.

Azadi was caught completely by surprise. He hadn't known about the power grid fluctuations. That should never have happened! Kronos had a nearly limitless capacity to monitor and regulate countless other AIs controlling any manner of systems operations all around the world. He managed — barely — to maintain his composure and respond calmly. Can’t let them scent blood in the water!

“Actually, I was not aware of that situation, thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’m certain there is a simple explanation. I will investigate the matter personally,” he said.

“Perhaps you are attempting to juggle too many obligations at once. Maybe we should assign you to a position of less responsibility, so that you can concentrate on the issues closer to home that seem to be escaping your attention,” Fontaine purred menacingly.

“So there it is. She’s sprung her trap now, the hag,” Azadi thought. He arched an eyebrow at her with an air of superiority, ”That will not be necessary. As I said, I’ll look into it and provide a full report to the committee. My leadership has brought MetaMentor up to this point with no complications. I had explained, when we initially approved this project, that it would undoubtedly encounter a few minor setbacks along the way, and this one is not insurmountable,” he said confidently. ”If that is all. then I suggest we adjourn so I can gather the answers you require.”

Ishida spoke for the first time, “I can only speculate on how many other potential catastrophes you might be hiding from us, or just plain don’t know about.” His mouth curled in a sneer, ”How long will this take? I want a full report on how much of a disaster these issues are, and if they are somehow connected, as soon as possible!”

Azadi glared at the man, ”Forty-eight hours, if not less.”

Fontaine looked brusquely at the members seated around the table, “Then we’ll reconvene in 48 hours. I appreciate everyone taking time from their schedules. I’ll speak to you all again in two days.” Without even another glance at Azadi, she winked out.

Azadi fumed silently at the blatant breach of protocol, but he just offered a quiet chuckle to the other members, ”Well, I suppose this meeting is at an end. Good day, gentlemen and ladies.” One by one, they all winked out of view — Ishida offering a feral grin as he left — until none remained but Azadi and Alvin Miller.

Miller was an old man, and he showed his age. He had refused any sort of augmentation or treatment to maintain his youth, declaring that if the universe wanted people to live so long, they’d have been part redwood tree.

“Talk to me, Ozcar.” Miller leaned back in his chair with a dour expression, ”What’s going on right there in your own backyard? I know you have a report started, if not already completed. If you don’t, then I damned sure didn’t train you right.”

Azadi absently spun the ring on his finger as he looked at his mentor — and probably the only living person he trusted besides himself, ”As you already know, there was a misdirected delivery — one of the augmented chairs got sent to the wrong person.”

“How could that happen? Those addresses and the deliveries are set up by AIs, and as far as I understand that technology, there just can’t be any mistakes.” The virtual Miller pulled a cigar from his jacket pocket, rolled it between his palms for a bit, and then tucked it in the corner of his mouth. Azadi had never actually seen the man light one up, since, according to Miller, “That shit’ll kill ya….”

“Believe me, Al, I had them tear into the controlling AI, its logs, and every possible detail about shipping out that unit. Incredibly, my engineers are reporting that it was caused by a slight electrical fluctuation. In line with our plan, the augmented chairs have been worked into the shipping line covertly, with the names of the recipients carefully tagged in the shipping list. According to the log files, just before the augmented chair was to be labeled for delivery, there was a sudden electrical spike in the system control electronics, causing one name to be dropped from the list, which just happened to be the intended recipient of the Mentor chair. Briggs was next in the queue, so he wound up getting the augmented chair instead of the one after it.”

Miller pondered that for a moment, “Hmm, okay, so what about this Briggs fellow?” he asked around the cigar.

“As you heard earlier, he’s a 37-year employee, worked in AI maintenance, now retired. Solid work record, few absences, no write-ups. He has a wife of 45 years, three kids — Jennifer, Amanda, and Miranda — all of whom are married and live near him, and six grandchildren. From all appearances, there’s nothing special about him, just another faceless drone.”

Miller pulled the cigar out of his mouth and looked down at it, ”I’m guessing you’ve pulled his psych eval from the chair fitting?”

Azadi smiled sardonically, ”Why, that would be an illegal act and a violation of his privacy rights, Alvin.”

Miller snorted, “So what did it say?” He popped the cigar back in his mouth.

“He has a strong sense of morality — obeys the law, but doesn’t feel constrained by it. He believes in true justice, and that right over wrong can surmount the law in some situations. He exhibits strong tenacity when he feels he’s in the right, almost to a fault. And he shows fierce loyalty to family and friends. No past indiscretions of note, no skeletons in the closet, pretty much a plain vanilla life.”

Miller rolled his eyes, “Real Kid Scout, huh?”

“Yeah, no kidding. He’s a shareholder in the company through his deceased mother, which is how he had enough money to buy the latest immersion chair and a silver account to go with it. He retired about a week ago, which is when the unit was delivered, and he jumped in-game within an hour of the chair getting set up. That’s why I didn’t bother with a recall — by the time the error was discovered, it was already too late.”

“Anything else?”

“I have a couple of people keeping a close eye on him, both at home and in the game. So far the only thing out of the ordinary is that this man in his sixties has suddenly started taking martial arts training, at a run-down dive called the Bare Knuckles.” Azadi leaned back in his chair, “Maybe he’s just trying to impress his wife, I don’t know.”

Miller plucked the cigar out of his mouth again and chewed his lip as he looked at it for some moments. He finally tossed it down on the table and looked up at Azadi.

“There are a lot of uncomfortable coincidences here, Ozzie. An AI just happens to have a power spike at just the right moment to cause a glitch which accidentally causes a chair that was to be gifted to to the committee chairman of the Trans-African Coalition — a guy who needs to be on our side in the upcoming Virtech talks — to be delivered instead to a man who has strong morals, has some undetermined amount of access to IRCorp systems, who coincidentally has a deep understanding about AI operations, and who suddenly decides to become a martial artist at sixty-something? I don’t believe in that degree of coincidence, Ozcar.” He looked dyspeptic.

“Nor do I,” Azadi replied grimly, ”but I took care of one issue just recently, and it attracted unexpected attention. Apparently Russell Upton had somewhat more of a following in the game than we anticipated, which led to rumors circulating about faulty equipment and conspiracy theories about rogue AIs. It took a lot of man-hours, finessing the various game forums to get things settled back down. I don’t think it would be prudent to remove another player this soon.”

Miller pulled a sour face, ”What the hell was that all about, anyhow? That little stunt set Otherverse and IRCorp back a shit-ton of money.” He gestured at the empty seats around the table. “You’re lucky these sharks didn’t catch scent of that one.”

Azadi stopped twirling his ring and looked at Miller flatly, ”A number of encrypted messages were found to have been sent from Eliza to Upton. Kronos couldn’t break the encryption, so he suggested that Upton be removed from the game.”

Miller’s bushy eyebrows rose, “Kronos… I thought Kronos was supposed to be the greatest computational thing ever created, but he couldn’t break the code? And I thought AIs couldn't harm humans.”

“Not so much that he couldn’t break it as that it would take him more than a year to do it. And Kronos didn't recommend that Upton die, he just said he felt Upton should be removed from the game. Kronos was more than 80 percent sure that Eliza was helping him in some way, maybe through an exploit of some kind, so he advised that Upton should be removed for cheating. I found out that Upton had a strong following as one of the up-and-coming darlings of the PVP gaming world, with commercial sponsorships, gameplay holos on Tikker and YouView, and hundreds of thousands of followers in various gaming forums, so I felt that framing him up for cheating would cause widespread suspicion in trying to prove the charges. We don’t need that kind of scrutiny at this stage of our plan. I decided that a tragic but convenient heart failure would circumvent that kind of trouble.” Azadi shrugged, ‘To be honest, I thought it seems to have worked out quite well.” he said smugly.

Miller stared at him for a moment, then just gave a noncommittal grunt. “So what are you doing about Briggs then? Another heart attack?”

“That might be easy to believe, given his age and weight, but no, nothing for right now. I’m afraid that another incident involving one of our chairs this soon would send a lot of heat our way. Until we get this project under way, we already have some powerful people questioning the wisdom and safety of full immersion techniques, and two accidents this close together could lead to an investigation. Like I said, we’re monitoring Briggs, and if it seems to be developing into a problem, I'll take care of it.”

Miller nodded. “Has there been any of that suspicious traffic between Eliza and this Briggs fellow?” he asked.

Azadi shook his head, “First thing I looked for. So far, nothing.”

“And the augmentation from the chair? Has it been activated?”

“The initial injection is administered automatically at first startup. Other than that, no, I don't see any reason to implement it. We have nothing to gain from him if we did.”

“Good. So what about those power grid fluctuations? Right now, it’s just little pissant countries out in the middle of nowhere, but it still shouldn't be happening. Find out what the hell the problem is, before something like that happens in one of the major countries.”

Now it was Azadi’s turn to grunt, ”Yeah, I have no idea what that’s all about, but I will find out.” He nodded briefly. “Good day, Alvin,” and with that he disconnected. He removed his hololens and called his secretary, ”Sandra, get Leon Hensfield up to my office please. I need to have a word with him.”

“Immediately, Mr Azadi,” came the crisp reply.

A short time later, Leon Hensfield and his guest stepped quietly into Mr Azadi’s office after getting flagged through by the crypt-keeper of a secretary. Hensfield’s companion, Shaun Innman, one out of a multitude of Otherverse helpdesk drones, was permitted to accompany him after he informed the secretary that Shaun had some pertinent information that Mr Azadi would want to hear. Shaun’s head was swiveling in all directions, trying to see everything at once.

“Jesus, this kid has no idea where the hell we are!” Hensfield thought. Throughout his time with the company, he’d heard a lot of disquieting rumors about Azadi, but he’d only encountered the man in person one other time — and Azadi had scared the shit out of him back then!

As if reading his mind, Azadi spoke from where he stood staring out of the window. “Mr Hensfield, it's nice to meet you again. I remember your presentation to the board on the progression and evolution of artificial intelligence four years ago. It was very enlightening. And your associate here must be Mr Innman, from Otherverse customer support, I believe?” He turned to face the room, fixing his raptor’s gaze on Shaun, ”I understand you handled an incident with one of the players personally — one Peter Briggs, a silver account holder, am I correct?”

“Yes sir!” Shaun beamed, stepping forward, ”I overheard Mr Hensfield telling the senior engineer that you were wanting his account scrutinized for anything strange, so I thought I should tell him about my encounter with Mr Briggs. And I would just like to point out that Mr Briggs was very pleased with the service he received!”

“Ah, excellent! Client satisfaction is of course one of our most important objectives,” Azadi said with a terse smile of his own, ”I'm sure you have a bright future with our company. So now, how did you come to overhear Mr Hensfield’s conversation, by the way?”

Shaun’s smile slipped a bit as his face went red, ”Well sir, um, I was passing by his office on my break, and it caught my attention when I heard him mention Mr Briggs’ name, so I thought he might want to hear what I knew.”

“Ah, I see — you were eavesdropping,” Azadi said smoothly, his smile widening, ”Not the most noble of pastimes, but perhaps forgivable in this case. Please, continue.”

Shaun swallowed hard, his confidence wilting under Azadi’s gimlet eyes, ”Um, yeah, well… Mr Briggs contacted Otherverse support about a game-related complaint. He claimed that his character in the game wasn't the one he created.” Shaun stuttered uncertainly to a stop. Azadi raised an eyebrow in inquiry, causing Shaun to blurt, rapid-fire, ”He said he’d created a half-elf ranger, and was supposed to be in the starter town of Hampton. His complaint was that he wasn't a half-elf, wasn't a ranger, and wasn't in Hampton.” Shaun looked over at Hensfield, who avoided his gaze, then back at Azadi, who motioned for him to continue. ”Um, so… anyhow, when I pulled up his character data and logs, it showed that his character was just what he created: a half-elf ranger, located in Hampton. But he swore he was in some dark place, felt like he was a human character, and that he didn’t seem to have a class! The logs didn’t reflect any error messages, so I told him to log out and log back in again, that it was probably just a temporary glitch in the system. I also credited two gold coins to his in-game account… um, I know that's not normal protocol, but he is a silver account holder, so I wanted to make sure he was happy. I hope that was okay?” He gulped air as he babbled to a halt.

Azadi gave Shaun a reassuring smile that never reached his eyes, ”You took the initiative to keep a VIP happy, a commendable action to be sure. But Mr Hensfield mentioned there was something more?”

The young man regained some of his assurance at Mr Azadi’s encouraging attitude. “Yes, sir. After hearing about Mr Briggs’ account being under scrutiny, I went back in and looked at his character again. He’s actually not a half-elf ranger anymore, he’s a human monk! He was still in Hampton though, and had the extra coins I gave him.”

Azadi pursed his lips as he stared at the floor for a moment, ”There’s no mistake?”

Hensfield spoke up, ”No sir, I had the engineer pull up every available detail concerning this account. The kicker here is that, according to all of the logs, Briggs started out as a human monk in Hampton. There is absolutely no record of any other character creation, or any other activity on this account.”

Azadi cocked an eye at Hensfield, “So Mr Innman here is the only other person who knows about this… irregularity?” he asked. Hensfield nodded, and Azadi focused on the tech once more, ”Excellent work, Mr Innman! You were indeed right to inform Mr Hensfield and me about this incident. I have no doubt at all now that your future is assured.”

Shaun released the breath that he’d been holding, and a huge smile lit his face, ”Thank you, Mr Azadi! I'd be glad to help keep an eye on Mr Briggs if you like. I’m guessing you’re suspecting that he might be cheating or something like that?”

“Yes, it's something like that,” Azadi replied, ”Would you be so kind as to return to your duties, please? I need to speak to Mr Hensfield alone.”

As the door swung closed behind Shaun, the smile left Azadi’s face, and he turned cold eyes on Hensfield, ”Are you certain that you and he are the only ones who know about this?”

Hensfield’s mouth was suddenly dry. “Yes sir,” he rasped.

“See to it that it stays that way.” Azadi commanded as he sat down in his opulent office chair and leaned back, ”In future, I suggest you ensure that your office door is secure before discussing delicate corporate issues, yes?”

“Y-yes sir!” Hensfield hurried out of the office.

“Archon.”

“Yes sir,” came the rich-toned reply.

“Secure communication for Mr Ward, maximum encryption. Please advise him that I have a situation needing his particular skill set, and forward the personal details of Otherverse employee Shaun Innman. Normal fee. No records, Archon.”

“Message sent, sir.”

Azadi swiveled idly back and forth in his chair and began to twirl the heavy ring around his finger, his brow furrowed in thought.

“So I have a leak somewhere in the company, and someone is tampering with things they shouldn’t. Eliza, what are you up to?“ he muttered quietly.

Pete dropped heavily on the couch next to Jina, his entire body one major ache.

“So, how was the third day of training, tiger?” she asked, with a twinkle in her eye and a smirk.

“‘Ouch,’ is about all I can say. I’ve been training with a bunch of thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds. It’s pretty sad when a fifteen-year-old can kick my ass,” Pete groaned.

“Well, some teenage kids are pretty big anymore. Is he a big kid?” Jina asked sympathetically.

“Actually, no, she isn’t very big at all,” he replied, his face flushing red.

“Ooh, yep, definite ouch. So, what's on the docket for today?”

“I’m supposed to meet up with Kristius today and head for the capital city. Today, we take off the training wheels… or at least, I do anyhow,” he answered.

“Well, at least in the game it was you beating up a girl instead of the other way around,” she teased, giggling.

“Hey! It wasn't like that! It was a fair fight!” Pete hung his head, ”I can't believe I said that.”

Jina laughed merrily, ”Go grab a shower and get some chair time. We’re going to see the grandkids later tonight.” She leaned over and gave Pete a peck on the cheek.

“It really was a fair fight,” Pete grumbled as he levered himself up from the couch.

It had been fifteen years since Officer Reid had seen an actual automotive accident, and back then it had just been a minor fender-bender. That one had turned out to be a bad sensor on one of the cars, but this — he didn’t even know where to start! He walked around the mangled mess of re-plast and carbon fiber that sizzled and sparked in odd spots as the slow drizzling rain hit exposed electronics. The largest portion of the wreckage consisted of a large cargo carrier, designed for hauling massive loads, while the other vehicle — what remained of it, anyhow — had been a small personal transport. You could barely make out pieces of the smaller car under the heavy hauler.

“Jesus,” Reid muttered, wiping rain from his eyes, ”This one’s gonna cost somebody a mint! How the hell could a MIAI screw up this badly?”

His partner, Wilkens, stepped up next to him. “I can’t even figure out what the hell happened. Street cams show the p-pod just suddenly swerving and going sideways right in front of the hauler. Truck hit the left side of the pod, and basically mowed right over it before the AI could get it stopped.” Wilkens stepped a little closer to the smoldering heap, peering into the debris. He heard the wail of emergency vehicles approaching in the distance, ”This one’s too late for the medics, he just needs someone with a shovel and a shoebox!”

Reid scowled at his partner as he wiped more rain from his face, ”Do we know who it was?”

Wilkens, oblivious to his partner’s disapproval, tapped at a bio-screen on his wrist, “Yeah, near-field ID of the occupant just came through… some young guy named Shaun Innman. No next of kin listed. Poor bastard.”

“Hey! We need you all to step back a bit!” Reid yelled at the gathering crowd. One man in the crowd, a nondescript, average-looking fellow, blew out a plume of spice-scented smoke as he strolled slowly away.