Chapter 5: Collaboration Trials

I look around, I am in a busy area of the Consumer District, people around me are engrossed in their communicators, everyone has a C.I.I. blinking green above their right eye. The simulation pauses and text appears in front of me. You are on a mission to recover information from your contact at VectoMart.

Objective:

1.  Obtain information from contact.

a.  Bonus objective: Identify any Wraiths.

I pull up the map of the Consumer District on my communicator and find VectoMart, it is three blocks north and two blocks east of my current location. I look around and see Enforcers doing random checks. I put my head down and make my way north, being sure to keep out of the way of the Enforcers. I pass several shops selling the newest communicators, virtual reality helmets and other distractions from reality, I pass several stores selling overpriced clothing being promoted by well-known Elites, all the stores are packed full of people.

“Excuse me,” I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see an Enforcer inspecting me. I freeze, my mind is racing on what to do, I can’t run, that would be suspicious. I have to play it cool.

“Yes?” I ask, “How can I help you?”  I stand up straighter and make him look up at me. He has one hand on his pistol and his other his holding his scanner.

“You’re related to known Diamond Collaboration leader, Lykar Dolgaran,” he says, reading the information from the scanner. “You need to come with me,” he tightens his grip on my arm and directs me to a storefront with blacked out windows. Standing by the door is a strange looking woman, I blink and tag her as a Wraith. She nods at the Enforcer and opens the door for him. Inside, the space is divided into cells, the ones in use have tinted glass, he pushes me into a cell with clear glass and once he closes the door the glass tints and a light above the interrogation table turns on.

“I have no connection to my brother,” I say before being forced to sit down in an uncomfortable metal chair. I feel restraints around my ankles and waist. “This is completely unnecessary,” I say as the Enforcer takes off his visor to reveal a truly ugly man, his hair is stringy and grease, his nose takes up more than half his face, his eyes are slightly uneven and to close together and he is missing several teeth. He sits with a heavy thud across the table from me and grins, it’s clear he became an Enforcer just for the power.

“That’s not what the scanner says,” he laughs. “Your brother was the leader of the Diamond Collaboration,” he says again, “you have a high likelihood of being a rebel.”

“I am an engineer for Hox Enterprises,” I hand him my Hox Enterprises ID badge. “Tell me,” I sneer at him, “would Hox Enterprises, the leading contractor for Enforcers and President Woulf, hire a rebel’s sister if there was any chance she would also be a rebel?” The Enforcer stared at me with a dumb expression on his ugly face. “Would I work for Hox, yes or no?”

“You would not,” the Enforcer said, lowering his eyes from mine and pushing a button on the table, the restraints disappeared.

“If I am late to my shift, I will be filing a complaint with Ballast himself, do you understand me” I look at his name plate, “Enforcer Fosston?” He nods at me silently, the wind clearly taken from his sails.

“You are free to go,” he says it so quietly it’s as if he is talking to himself. The glass turns clear and the door swings open, and I leave the cell. The strange woman is no longer by the door when I exit the interrogation center and turn north and walk the remaining two blocks. On the way I notice three other strange looking characters and mark them as Wraiths.

The rest of my walk to VectoMart was uneventful and I mark two more possible Wraiths. I pull out my communicator and pull up the description of the contact, male blonde hair, geometric tattoo sleeves down both arms and brown eyes. Easy enough. I enter the mart and look around, it is busy, low electronic dance music plays over the speakers, I recognize the song, it’s the current number one hit by Gizmos. I search the aisles and mark another Wraith in the dairy sections, the contact is browsing the canned goods section, I go and stand next to him and pretend to look at the variety of canned vegetables, the field grown ones are six times more expensive than the lab grown ones.

“The peas aren’t in season,” I say without making eye contact with him. He doesn’t look at me, I watch out of the corner of my eye as he nods and takes something from his pocket, grabbed a can of peas and put it back on the shelf and walked away without a word. Under the can is a datasheet, a thin flexible sheet of glass that can hold messages, or information. I slide the datasheet into my pocket and turn to leave, the market dissolves, leaving me feeling like I am floating in space and text appears in front of me.

Congratulations, you have passed the first Trial. You successfully proved your loyalty to the Collaboration in this test.

Bonus objective: Seven Wraiths identified.

Next objective loading.

The world builds itself around me pixel by pixel until I am standing in the middle of the sidewalk in the Entertainment District, people in elaborate costumes are passing by me, personal transportation vehicles and long limos fly overhead. I look around and see the Museum and its elaborate gardens a block ahead, the polished metal and the curved fluid like edges of the main building glisten in the spotlights reflecting off it, I take a breath and admire the architectural wonder before me. As I begin to follow the crowd towards the Museum, the people around me freeze and text appears before me.

Second Test Objective: You have been given enough credits to qualify for the Cycle’s End Gala as a Sub-Elite, once inside obtain information from identified Wraiths and report back to HQ without being caught or detected.

Bonus objective 1: Mark any Wraiths you see.

Bonus objective 2: Release a combination of at least three Breeders or Servers.

The text disappears and the people around me start moving again, I pause and look at my reflection in the glass of a shop. I am in plain clothes, I need to change, I scan the screens mounted to the skyscrapers around the Entertainment District, they are all currently showing the Flushing of the Sewers with a countdown clock to the start of the Cycle’s End Gala, three hours and twenty-two minutes. I pull out my communicator and find several boutique clothing shops a few streets over and head in that direction, on the way I mark four potential Wraiths.

I decide to look in the shop with a beautiful vine-like dress on its robotic mannequin in the display window. The light scent of lavender and sage wafts over me as I enter the shop, it is dimly lit and a woman with snow white hair and icy blue eyes sits behind the counter working on a sophisticated sewing machine. I mark her as a Wraith.

“Hello dear,” the woman says not taking her eyes off the garment she is working on. “How can I help you?”

“This is embarrassing,” I say while looking at all the exquisite dresses and outfits displayed throughout the shop. “My Cycle’s End outfit was torn to shreds when the delivery drone malfunctioned and I need a new one.” The woman pauses the sewing machine and looks up at me, she studies me for a moment then nods.

“That’s not embarrassing dear,” she says as she stands and walks towards me. “Unfortunately, that happens all the time. Is this your first Gala?”

“Yes, I just got enough credits to move up a class,” I say.

“You must always buy your Gala outfits in store my dear,” the woman takes out a device and circles me, raising and lowering the device as she does. “Several online sellers use cheap or repurposed delivery drones and the overuse during the rotations near the Cycle’s End leads to what happened to the drone delivering your outfit, malfunction and non-refundable profit for the seller. What style are you looking for?”

“I like the vine dress you have on display there,” I point to the mannequin, it has turned and is now spinning, the vines flying out from the dress in a wild display.

“That’s too plain for you,” the woman says, “let me show you a couple showstopping options, you want to wow at your first Gala.” She leads me to a large screen at the back of the shop and places the device she scanned me with on the screen, in second the screen lights up and there’s an image of me standing in my under layer. Several dress options appear on the top of the screen, the woman swipes through them and taps on one. My avatar is now in the dress, it’s a corset top with a ballgown skirt, the fabric is sheer silver, working cogs and gears rotate on the corset, a model of Avaliss bullet train races around the skirt in several levels up and down. The woman spins the avatar around revealing an open back laced with a moving assembly line controlled by the gears on the front weaving its way in an intricate pattern up and down my back, in my hair is a tiara that replicates the iconic smokestacks of the Industrial District.

“How is this for the head Engineer at Hox Enterprises?” The woman asks, she looks at me with a perfect smile.

“I like it, but let’s look at some more, I want my first Gala to be unforgettable.” This ignited something in the shop owner and she furiously taps on the screen, four new dresses appear above my avatar. She taps on one and it appears on my likeness, this dress is an A-line with a mermaid skirt, it’s obsidian base layer has an oil like sheen, embedded in the bodice are neon lights that flow like circuits around a screen with a EKG reading on it, the skirt hugs my hips tightly and is paneled like a motherboard, the rivets are flashing in a random pattern, around my waist is a track with a model G5 transport vehicle levitating over it. My tiara is a rotating gear with blinking lights on the cogs. I point out the parts of the dress I like and the woman shows me three more, each more elaborate than the last. I check the time, I have an hour and fifteen before the Gala starts and I need to be at the Red Carpet.

“Which one would you like, dear?” The woman asks, “are credits an issue?” I bring my hand to my chin and bite my lip.

“No credits aren’t an issue,” I say, I’m contemplating which would be the best for infiltrating the Gala, I don’t want to standout, but I also don’t want to be under dressed, in either case I would be remembered and identifiable. I need one that comes with a face cover, at least then it would be more difficult to identify me. I swipe through the dresses we looked at and tap on one.

“Very good, follow me, my dear.” The woman taps a button and leads me back to a changing room, each wall is a mirror, and I take a good look at myself, she closes the door behind me, and I hear the whirring of machines. The mirror in front of me opens and the bodice of the dress is wrapped around me by mechanical arms, next the skirt is placed around my hips, the tiara is placed in my hair, and the mechanical arms return with a makeup kit, I select the WOW look option on the pop-up screen.

The dress is a combination of several my avatar tried on for me, the bodice has rotating gears and cogs that control the conveyor belt weaving its way up and down the open back, in the center, over my heart is a screen with the simulated EKG curve rhythmically pulsing, the base layer is sheer silver. The skirt is tight on my hips and flares out at the hem, it’s plated with an oily obsidian sheen. It’s connected to the bodice by a belt of moving gears that control the replica of the Avalis high speed train racing up and down my legs, following the train are a wave of green LED lights. My hair has been pulled up around a working smokestack, the tiara is the rotating gear with its cogs dotted with blinking lights, finishing the fit is a electronic mask that covers my nose down to my chin, it displays a pixelated pair of lips that sync to mine. The mechanical arms pull away from my face showing a stunning winged eyeliner look in a vibrant violet shade, sparkling golden gears have been fitted above my left eye. My accessory is a spinning gear purse with flashing LED lights that alternate green and blue, I do a spin and look at myself from every angle, satisfied with the look I exit the dressing room and the shop and head to the Museum with thirty minutes to spare.

Your alias is Jacenia Resson, Sub-Elite and head engineer for Hox Enterprises, proceed to the Museum.

I mark three more Wraiths on the way to the museum, if this simulation is accurate then we have a substantial problem, not only did they take over Avalis, they’ve slowly begun to take over our bodies. I reach the perimeter and hand my invitation to a heavily armed Enforcer, he’s in full body armor, shatter and electro pulse resistant helmet and visor, the weapon he’s holding is a Stol-88 Custom, one hundred high impact laser rounds a second with a pulse option that will electrify anyone within 5 meters. On his hips are two electron pistols made by Hox Enterprises. I look at the other guard by the entrance, he has the same setup, they’re heavily armed and on alert. The guard scans me and waves me through the gate of the neutron shield perimeter around the Museum.

The loud buzz of the Entertainment District fades away and I hear the low chatter of conversation and the loud announcing of Sutter Cals and Rucs Draiff, they’re gushing over President Woulf’s costume.

“Excuse me, Miss Resson,” a servant approaches me, the smell of roses and lilacs wafts over my nose followed by the strong smell of ammonia and fish. His kidneys are failing, and the smell is why he’s an outside servant tonight. The poor man is gaunt, his cheeks and eyes are sunken into his skull, and I can see the bones through is loose fitting servants’ outfit, black robes with a white sash.

“Yes?” I ask, trying to sound as kind as I can. He averts his eyes when I look at him.

“You’re to be behind Pollar Chissnoks,” he hurries away before I can thank him.

I follow the conversation and the sound of the announcers to the red carpet and find the line of Elites and Sub-Elites. I look up at the Museum and take in it’s magnificent design, it’s truly a breath-taking structure. I each Elite family has a servant holding a sign with their name flashing across it, Hox, Klineburg, Wollon’s, Brayer’s and Hathfrow’s. I hide my face as I pass Zylen and Kixia, I’ll need to avoid them as much as I can tonight. I clock several of the Elites as Wraiths, that makes sense. I reach the Sub-Elites section and find the Chissnoks sign and right behind it is my section, the servant holding my sign is a short woman, she looks malnourished, but not as malnourished as the first servant I encountered. The female servants’ outfits are much more revealing than the men’s, her tiny breasts are showing through two holes cut in the chest of the black robes.

“You should cover yourself,” I say looking her. She shakes her head and looks away, avoiding eye contact with me. I don’t push the issue, I don’t wanna give myself away.

Finally, it’s my turn to walk the stretch of red carpet that I’ve seen at the end of every cycle on the screens in my apartment. To my right is a wall of advertisements and to my left are cameras and reporters.

“And you don’t see this to often, a woman alone working her way into the Sub-Elite class.” One of the announcers says. I reach the spot where I am supposed to pose and answer questions, its right in front of the announcer’s desk, Avalis News One is on the front of the desk.

“Miss Resson!” Several reporters and influencers shout my name, I decide to answer one question. I point at a reporter.

“When do you plan on starting a family?” Several other reporters shout follow up questions to the reporters’ question.

“When I find a man that won’t be intimidated by my success.” I turn and ignore the eruption of questions bombarding me.

The interior of the Museum is glamorously decorated with crystal effigies of the president and his advisors, brilliant lights hang from the ceiling in a dazzling rainbow of colors. Servants in elaborate costumes walk around the space with platters of appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, and glasses of sparkling Glissip Tea. Fountains of amethyst Hristch flanked a table filled with foods, many of which I had never seen, sweet smells of desserts and fruits mixed with the smoky smells of smoked meats and grilled vegetables. The bass thumped below the clamor of the conversation.

“If you’re looking for some fun, the Breeders are on floors three and four,” a man dressed as a large cyborg panda says as he takes a glass of Glissip Tea from a servant walking past me. “I highly recommend trying it once, they know how to please anyone.” He winks, I state at him and raise my glass in a silent toast, hoping he would leave. He lifts his glass and wanders off. I take a drink and admire the art, the paintings and sculptures in the foyer and main floor are all classics, created before the Invasion and they are beautiful, landscapes, portraits, and still life’s dot the walls. I am drawn to an abstract black, yellow and blue painting that reminds me of an extinct insect I learned about in the academy that was able to pollinate flowers.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A man dressed like a rose stands next to me admiring the painting, his suit is a deep green with leaves and thorns, he wears an elaborate hat that looks like a blooming blue rose. He’s tall and muscular with thick black hair pulled back to his shoulders below his rose hat, and striking green eyes with little emotion to them.

“It is,” I say, bringing my attention back to the painting, the details are entrancing.

“Fernando Ballavaca,” the man says as he lowers the drink from his lips, I look back at him and a cold chill creeps over me, I mark him as a Wraith and smile, encouraging him to go on, “a classic abstract painter from several years before the Invasion, his art depicted nature in a bright and colorful way meant to evoke strong feelings of connection and desire.”

“He does a very good job of that,” I say, nodding at the man and looking back at the painting, “I feel like I’m looking at a bee and a flower yet nothing from the painting would indicate that’s what it is.”

“Exactly,” he sticks out his hand, “Gion Juanturn.”

I take his hand, “Jacenia Resson,” he smiles at me recognizing the name.

“You’re the star Engineer at Hox,” he bows his head, “That statement on the red carpet was perfect.” He’s charming, and I need to obtain information from Wraiths, so I play along and nod.

“That’s me,” I giggle and take a sip of my drink. “This is my first Gala, do you think you could show me around?” I place my hand on my chest, “I don’t want to make a fool of myself and end up in the Sewers or at the Farm.”

“Of course,” his smile widens, showing perfectly bleach white teeth. “The first Gala is always a bit intimidating.” He notices my drink is getting low and leads me to the fountain of Hristch and table of food. “Let’s start by getting you another drink and some food,” he hands me a glass overflowing with Hristch and a plate with some strange grilled vegetables and a smokey cheese. I take a sip of the Hristch and bite into the grilled vegetable, it’s meaty and savory with sweet undertones, it pairs very well with the smoky nuttiness of the cheese.

“You know your pairings,” I say, batting my eyes at him. He laughs and gets me another plate.

“Once you’ve been to as many Gala’s as I have you start to learn what food is good and what should be avoided, pro tip, stay away from the fish.” He makes a face and leads me through the maze of people and servants to the stairs. “The real fun is upstairs,” he takes my free hand, and we go up to the second floor.

The second-floor balcony overlooks the main floor of the party, I look over and examine the comings and goings, who is talking with who and where the Elites are off too, I mark several more Wraiths before Gion leads me down a hall with several provocative black and white photographs of men and women intertwined in a variety of acrobatic poses.

“Franz Urchi,” Gion says gesturing to the photographs, “he wanted to capture the intimacy of strangers, express how we’re all the same at our core, lustful creatures searching for carnal affection.”

“I disagree with his take,” I say, “look at the eyes,” I stop in front of a photograph where a woman is on top of a man, arching her back and looking into the camera, even in the black and white medium the eyes shine, “you can tell a lot by someone’s eyes. This isn’t a stranger to her, this is a lover, someone she feels safe with and knows.”

Gion clicks his tongue, “very well, we’ll have to disagree on this one.” He continues to lead me down the hall. Music radiates from a room to our right and he pushes the door open, it’s dark with strobe lights pulsing to the bass, I see dancers in neon outfits in cages, Elites and Sub-Elites dancing with their hands all over one another. “Care to dance Jacenia?” He doesn’t wait for my answer when he pulls me to the middle of the room and pulls me close.

After dancing he takes me to a balcony on the third floor, there are several other suspected Wraiths talking quietly with one another, I pretend to dig for lip liner in my bag, and while I do so I hit the record button on my audio capture device.

“Another drink?” Gion asks, handing me a glass of sparkling Glissip Tea, I take it, and we clink our glasses. Despite the pollution it is a nice night and the air through my respirator smells of flowers not gasoline.

“One thing you need to see at your first Gala are the Breeders,” he tips his glass towards me and smiles, my mask read my lips and he furrowed his brow, “I felt the same way my first time, but really there’s nothing to worry about. Trust me,” he smiles and I give in, I have to play the game to not be discovered, so I allow him to take me to the third floor. At the top of the stairs is a glass gate connected to a large screen.

“What kind do you prefer?” he looks at me, “since it’s your first time I’ll let you choose.” I step up to the screen and swipe through the options, there are a disgusting number of Breeders here tonight, several are booked out for the whole evening, I select “available” from the drop-down filter and the selection reduces to fifteen of the one hundred and eight possible. They’re all women and my stomach churns.

“Don’t be shy Jacenia, all the Elites let loose tonight.” I grin through bared teeth and pick a random woman, her profile describes her as a wild and adventurous lover that will do anything to please. A room number appears on the screen, and the glass gate opens, and I step through and let Gion lead me to the room.

The woman is objectively beautiful, large breasts, thick buttock, and twinkling brown eyes, her long black hair is pulled back into two braids that flow down her back and frame her moon like face.

“Fantastic choice,” Gion is already entranced by her, and I am trying my best not to be. “What do you wanna do first?” He lists off several things we could do, he’s foaming at the mouth as he undoes his belt and takes two steps towards the goddess on the bed.

Before he can take another, I take my hollow point knife out of my clutch and stab him in the back of the neck. The Breeders mouth falls open and before she can call for help or scream, I am on her with my hand over her soft lips. Gion’s body collapses to the floor in a pool of blood.

“Get out of here,” I say to the trembling Breeder.

“I can’t,” she whimpers, “I have no clothes and they know this was my room, what did you do?”

“Use the sheets as a toga and take this,” I rip out my tiara and give it to her, I stand and pull her off the bed and wrap the sheet around her. I take some gears off my dress and pin them to her. “There,” I say, it should get her out of the Museum. “Use the south entrance and contact this number as soon as you can,” I hand her an encrypted datasheet that she shoves between her breasts.

“Now get out of here,” she nods and heads to the door and disappears. When she’s gone, I sit on the bed and look at Gion, he was a disgusting entitled creature, I am not sure what came over me, but I feel like it was the right choice. We have the room for another twenty minutes, so I clap my hands together and get to work. While I clean, I listen to what my recorder captured while we were out on the balcony. Plans for expansions of weapon manufacturing and arming the Enforcers with heavier weapons. I pull wrap Gion’s belt around his neck and tighten it to stop the bleeding. Someone on the recording is talking about setting up a terrorist attack in a busy area to roundup more bodies for experimentation and Biosyncing. I pull Gion’s lifeless body out of the pool of blood and lay him face up on the bed and tuck him in, I tie the loose end of the belt around the headboard and heave the bed over the blood, I see a wet bar in the corner and empty a bottle of Hristch over Gion’s body. I have five minutes to get out of here. I pause the recording and use my communicator to project a three-dimensional map of the Museum, a flashing red dot shows my location. The closest exit is out the door and to the left, I memorize the route, close the map and head out the door.

The Museum gardens are beautiful, I pass several inebriated Elites bragging about exploiting their workers, others cackle and brag about their following on the Network and how they can get anyone to believe what they say. I walk with purpose towards the exit, nobody stops me and I’m free to leave, the guard at the exit nods to me as he opens the gate on the neutron barrier. The sounds and smells of the Entertainment District overwhelm me as I exit the Gala as I do text appears in front of me.

Congratulations, you have succeeded. Main objective complete.

Bonus Objective 1: 39 Wraiths marked.

Bonus Objective 2: 1/3 released.

Final Trial Beginning in 3….2….1….

The Entertainment District fades away pixel by pixel and I am standing in an arena, hundreds of thousands are cheering and chanting in the stands. Obstacles begin to appear before me, dotting the arena with walls, empty buildings, abandoned vehicles and other city like objects.

Final Objective: The City has fallen, Enforcers have been told to kill onsite. Manage to survive three rounds.

Bonus objective: Obtain 5 kills.

A horn explodes through the silence, and I run for the nearest building, I pull the door open and barricade it shut with a shelf of CripSnax. I have nothing except my communicator. I peek through the window and see two Enforcers walking shoulder to shoulder down the street. The first thing I need to do is set up surveillance, I search the ceiling of the shop and find what I am looking for, a security camera, I grab it without thinking and when I pull it off the wall an explosion sends my world blinding white and then darkness. In the darkness before me text appears.

Trial 3: Unsuccessful. Ending trials.