Futurality

By Jason Howard

Zavier Williams is a computer hacker, so he thinks he knows what he’s getting into when he steals the code for a video game that hasn’t come out yet. When he tries to sell it on the black market, his buyer turns out to be an NSA agent with orders to detain or kill. Zavier soon learns that the game’s title – Futurality – is way more literal than he thought it was.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781626756700

Book preview

gifts.

Chapter One

The cool night air streamed over my cheeks. It would have felt good if I could forget that I was falling to my death. There was a Blu-Ray disc in my left hand – its luminescent sheen reflected the lights of skyscrapers as I plummeted. I could hear police sirens over the air thundering past my ears. Hovering neon billboards blurred – I picked up quick snatches of the advertisements. One said, SkyAngel Jetpacks FOR SALE!

If I only had one of those right now…

I glanced up and saw police hovercars. They didn’t see me yet, but it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t need to arrest me when I became a street pancake. Headlights washed over me – a hovercar swerved to avoid me, nearly flying into the side of an office building. The cops saw me. Their headlights glared at me as they dove. They wanted the disc, but they wouldn’t die for it, so they pulled up and let me fall.

I felt the cold plastic of the disc in my hand, and I glanced at it. I wish it was a week ago and I could tell myself not to steal the damn thing. I closed my eyes. It had been my eighteenth birthday a week ago...

***

I was sitting on the roof of my apartment building in a fold up chair, looking out at the Philadelphia Underground District – we call it PUD for short. The lights of the city twinkled thirty stories below me. Hovercars wound around buildings in spirals – their red taillights looked like insidious eyes. Far away a glowing billboard marqueed the time and date, as well as the name of new movies that were playing.

They built PUD for people that can’t afford air purifiers. The air topside is so polluted that you need a gas mask to walk around. But if you put a purifier in your home, or on your balcony or whatever, it can keep the air clean for you to breathe. Some of the rich neighborhoods, like Society Hill, have machines that can purify miles of air. But that costs a lot of money, and the housing prices rise accordingly. That’s why poor people end up in PUD, where the pollution is naturally a little thinner. Plus, down here we’re only allowed to use fuel-efficient hovercars, fire-resistant buildings, and low energy quotas. And you better believe it’s enforced – not by just the cops either. If you drive some gas-spewing SUV around town, you’ll probably get pulled out at a stop light and catch an ass beating. There are kids around here, and giving them lung cancer because you wanted extra legroom and a badass thruster set just doesn’t fly.

The ceiling of PUD was carved out of the bedrock Philly was built on. They have a fake sky displayed on it, which changes from day to night. The only problem is that if you look closely, you can tell it’s not real.

That almost real night sky is what I was looking at as I drifted off to sleep.

I fell off my apartment building in the dream. Instead of landing on the street, I ended up falling through trees – I was in a rainforest. I ripped through the trees and landed on the soggy ground with a thump. I got to my feet – I was draped in mud. Rain and starlight wended their way through the jungle canopy. The chittering of insects, the screech of birds, the howl of an ape, and the thrum of dense life – all of these washed over me.

I walked through the trees, pushing aside wet, leafy branches. I shivered. My skin was buzzing with adrenaline. There was a glow about ten feet ahead of me. Twin blue circles. Eyes?

I froze.

The eyes blinked.

I wanted to turn and run, but I couldn’t tear myself away from them. I was paralyzed.

The eyes approached me, and the silouhette of an enormous creature – at least seven feet tall – materialized. It looked like some kind of cross between a praying mantis and a man. I couldn’t make out its face, but I could see that its skin was a glossy black.

I woke up with a start. I was back on the roof of my apartment building – cold sweat soaked into my shirt.

That was a weirdass dream, I thought, rubbing my eyes. I stood up and folded my chair. When I got on the elevator, I punched fifteen.

I stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to my door. I leaned forward, and looked into a retinal scanner. I pressed my finger against the doorknob, and waited while it checked my fingerprints. I typed my six-digit passcode into the keyboard next to the door. Sometimes I get annoyed at all the steps I have to take to open my door – then I remind myself that everyone in my neighborhood has these security measures. It’s way better than someone breaking in. I reached for the doorknob but stopped. Something wasn’t right. I looked back and forth anxiously. Living in the roughest part of Philly teaches you something: trust your instincts.

I punched a button on the side of my wristcomputer, which looked like your standard digital watch. I held out my arm and my wristcomputer projected a screen in front of me; it shivered in the air as my arm trembled slightly. I double tapped the screen a few times to start a program, then waved my hand over it and turned off the monitor. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pair of wireless earbud headphones, putting them into my ears. I dropped silently to the floor, carefully took off my wristcomputer, and slipped it under the crack of the door. I reached into my jacket and put on a pair of sunglasses. The sunglasses were linked to a small camera in my wristcomputer.

My heart fluttered. I heard breathing inside the apartment, and the enhanced nightvision image in my sunglasses showed a few pairs of shoes pointed at the door. They were waiting for me.

Who were they and what did they want? I stood up and reached into my jacket with both hands, pulling out two chromed pistols. Maybe I should run. I shook my head. If they had managed to beat my security they would just chase me down eventually, they somehow had all my information. I would have to kill them, maybe leave one alive so that I could at least figure out who was after me. I looked down the hallway and considered running again. Instead I clicked the safeties off.

I took a few steps and waistbanded one of my guns. I walked to my neighbor’s door. I knocked and waited – he wasn’t home. I pulled up the data screen on my wristcomputer and started a new program – I reached out and tapped at its floating monitor.

Initiate override sequence, I said.

A few seconds later my neighbor’s lock clicked open. I swung his door open and walked quietly into my neighbor’s house. There was no way I was going to use the front door of my own place when there were people waiting for me. Better to give them a surprise.

I walked out onto my neighbor’s balcony – fake starlight greeted me. I used my wristcomputer to access my home network – think of it as a universal remote that controls air conditioning, security settings, alarms, windows, and so on.

Open my front door in ten seconds, I told my network.

I ran a few steps and leapt – landing hard on the railing of my own balcony. I pulled myself up and stifled a groan. I stood and put my hand on the sliding glass door to my apartment. I gripped it tightly as I waited. I squinted through the glass door – I could see shadowy silhouettes in the darkness. My front door opened and light from the hallway poured in – it was a perfect decoy, and the three intruders had their full attention on it.

I pulled the sliding glass door of my balcony open and exploded through it, guns ready. I aimed and my fingers brushed against the triggers.

Surprise! they yelled. Happy Birthday!

What? I thought. My hands relaxed.

Where is he? my friend Tyron said.

What’s going on? I said.

They all turned around.

What, did you think we were robbing you or something? Elise asked me.

I don’t know...I looked under the door and saw you. Thought you were…I don’t know, feds or something.

I put away my guns and turned, shutting my balcony door. My pulse was slowing back to normal.

Wow, man. You’re a little too high strung. I think you need to get laid buddy, Daz said.

Your Mom doesn’t think so.

You two can have a catfight later – we’ve got a bus to catch in ten, Tyron said.

I cocked an eyebrow. A bus?

Yeah. We’re going aboveground tonight. And you’ve got a free ticket to Dave’s.

I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

We knew that you got off of work around now so we wanted to surprise you. We got transportation, food, the whole deal, Daz said.

You guys...thanks. This is going to be awesome, I said.

A few moments later we were outside my apartment building, walking under the endless spirals of hovercar traffic that lit the sky like some frenetic tableau of shooting stars. We waited at the corner until a hoverbus picked us up.

Once we got on the bus, I couldn’t help but look for an easy mark. The bus was a great place to get some easy IP; all you need is to find an old person with weak security. I noticed one forty-something man with an ancient wristcomputer. He was typing with a pair of Vboard gloves on, tapping away at the open tray table in front of him. I couldn’t see the keyboard – only he could with his glasses – but I could imagine where the keys were as I watched his fingers moving. I waited until he typed in a security code. I smiled slightly and nudged Tyron.

I got his code, I whispered.

How?

He was typing, and I watched carefully. Want to mess with him?

Tyron shrugged. Why not. You got anything in mind?

I nodded and turned on my wristcomputer. In less than a minute I had hacked the man’s computer. I brought up the man’s desktop and watched for a few moments as his cursor moved. Then I took over. I turned up the volume on his external speakers. They weren’t very loud but they would work for my purposes.

A moment later a mechanical voice from his wristcomputer spoke.

Would you like to purchase another six bottles of Viagra? Your auto-order payment has run out.

The man turned bright red and frantically tried to mute his computer. A few of the people on the bus glanced over.

Purchase accepted. You will be getting a bottle tomorrow. Would you like to buy penile enlargement medication? If the answer is yes, input how many…thank-you for the purchase of four bottles of Xaltex, the ultimate in male enhancement medication. Would you like to look at any related products?

The man tore off his sunglasses and looked around the bus at the amused glances of the other riders.

I swear I didn’t just buy any of that, my computer is malfunctioning. Really, he stammered.

I buried my face in my hands to smother my laughter, and peeked over at Tyron. He was nearly crying.

Automatic reminder, the man’s computer said. Your subscription to Playgirl Magazine has expired. Would you like to repurchase?

The hoverbus came to a stop and a metallic voice said, Sub-Broad and Sub-Locust Streets.

The man stood up and strode quickly to the door. He took off his wristcomputer, burying it in his pocket as he walked. Once he was outside, the four of us couldn’t hold it in any longer; we burst out laughing.

Tyron said, Did you see his face?

Oh yeah – that probably wasn’t even his stop. Betcha he bailed early.

How did you do that, Z? Daz asked.

I saw him type in the code, that’s all.

And you could follow that? Your eyesight is insane, bro.

I shrugged.

We’re going above, Elise said.

The hoverbus had just reached the exit to PUD, and we could see up into the cool night air. Philadelphia. The buildings loomed around us as the airbus flew toward their glowing spires. The city was beautiful here, but also oppressive. There were so many people walking along the glowing, suspended walkways, so many hovercars whizzing around, their headlights cutting through the smoggy darkness. The airways were clogged tonight, and our bus was one in a long line. There were similar lines above, below, and to the side of us, and the route to the waterfront took a winding path through the buildings of Center City. I didn’t care though; a trip to Dave and Buster’s is well worth waiting in traffic.

***

Identification, a bouncer in front of Dave’s said.

I allowed him to scan my eyes and take my fingerprint. Then I talked into a voice recognition device and was allowed to move through. I emerged into a multi-tiered labyrinth of lights, buzzes, beeps, voices, and ceaseless motion. Dave and Busters. The ultimate seizure-inducing arcade. The place looked like a Vegas casino for chrissakes.

What do you feel like playing, Z? Tyron asked me.

Let’s warm up with some First Blood.

We got in the elevator and went up to the First Blood floor.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The four of us stepped out. There were hundreds of game terminals in the room, most of them were occupied, but we found four that weren’t. I sat down in my terminal and pulled a virtual reality helmet over my head. I shut my eyes and pushed an input bud into my ear.

I was transported to an entirely blank and infinite space known as The Lobby.

What weapons would you like? a female voice said.

Weapons whizzed into a formation in front of me. I chose a sniper rifle and the Volt 405. The Volt is a small, semi-automatic pistol that belts out condensed electric charges. It has no recoil, and reloads by lightweight energy clips you can quickly shove into the handle. I own one in real life, but I usually set it to stun. But this is VR; I turned up the intensity of my gun to maximum – what Daz calls organ bursting mode.

A metallic voice spoke in my head said, Game commencing. 3...2...1…

Then I was in Montezuma, the virtual reality map Tyron had chosen for the match.

A volcano loomed above me - steam and smoke spewed from its mouth. All around me were tropical trees and cooled lava flows that provided cover by way of deep trenches, boulders, and other outcroppings. There were three hundred people currently on this map; all of them were in teams of four. Right now the objective was simple; get kills.

Tyron yelled, Duck!

We all dropped – a swath of Volt 405 charges crackled over our heads. I rolled to the side and fired a few bursts at a shadowy figure in the trees.

Target eliminated, the computer said.

Nice shot, Elise said.

Thanks.

The four of us ran through the tropical forest at the base of the volcano, leaping over a rivulet of lava that cleaved the trees. The shade of the canopy was underlit by the flickering red and orange hues of the lava.

Four on our six, Tryon whispered urgently. We’ve got maybe five seconds.

I caught his eye, then looked up. We both climbed a nearby tree and found vantage points.

Elise and Daz continued for a few seconds, then took cover behind a fallen tree trunk. The enemy team came on, unaware of Tyron and I. Elise and Daz fired blindly toward them as they advanced. When the enemy team passed underneath us, I nodded to Tyron we unleashed a volley. There were four thumps as they fell.

Tyron and I jumped down – I turned to him and we slapped hands. We rejoined Daz and Elise and continued down the path.

There was a rumbling sound from the mountain, and a hail of molten rock erupted from it. A fast lava flow cascaded from its brim – straight at us. There was a large boulder a few yards away and I ran for it. The lava was burning a wide swath of destruction through the forest, swallowing trees as it went. Just as the lava was about to reach me I leapt onto the huge boulder. I found handholds and clambered on top of it. I turned and offered a hand to my companions, but it was too late. They disappeared into the lava and promptly disappeared from the VR plane.

That is such bull-

My thought was interrupted by the sound of someone reloading. I looked up. Maybe sixty feet away, someone had slapped a clip into a submachine gun. I fell on my stomach and hugged the boulder – the shots flew over me. I holstered my pistol and pulled out my sniper rifle. I fired. A super condensed burst of electricity entered the submachine-gunner’s skull. It exploded an instant later, leaving only the gushing stump of his neck. His body stood for a moment as if confused, then keeled over.

I stood up and looked down at the rising lava. I could feel its heat wafting up as the lava pooled around the bottom of the boulder. My boulder was now a small island on a vast red lake – and it was disappearing fast. I reached into my pocket and screwed a metal tube onto the front of my sniper rifle. It was a barrel augmenter, and it would change the electric charges to a stream of liquid nitrogen. I aimed the sniper rifle at the lava and hosed it. The nitrogen hit the lava and supercooled it, turning its surface into a greyish gelatin. I leapt onto the cooled lava and fired my rifle just ahead of me. Then I started sprinting, creating a path with the nitrogen as I went.

When I was on solid ground again I heard the computer’s female voice say, New mission objective. Reach volcano peak. All other parameters remain the same.

I changed directions and sprinted up the face of the volcano. A group of enemies opened fire – I threw myself behind a rocky outcropping. I peeked around the side of my cover. There were three enemies and two of them were sneaking around to flank me. I picked up a rock with my left hand. I peeked around the outcropping again and was greeted by a flurry of laserfire. Great. I poked my gun out and sprayed blindly in their direction.

One of them leapt out from the other side of the boulder. He aimed at me and I plugged the barrel of his gun with the stone. I closed my eyes. He didn’t. When the stone exploded the sting of it ripped my cheeks – and I heard a scream as the same happened to the enemy’s eyes. I kicked his gun hand, followed that with a jab, cocked back my right arm – and pistol-whipped him – hard. Before he could fall to the ground, I put him in a chokehold and used him as a shield. His allies hesitated for a moment as they tried to get a good shot, and that was all the time I needed. Their electrified bodies were rolling down the rocky mountainside a moment later. I hurled my hostage head-first into a boulder.

Three targets eliminated, a disembodied voice told me.

I smiled and continued my ascent of the mountainside. I sneaked past some of the firefights along the way.

I neared the peak of the volcano. I sprinted hard. The humid air clung to me as I picked my way up the mountain, running where I could, climbing where I had to. The last leg of the climb was a steep vertical rock face, and before long my hands were bleeding. I heard voices below me.

Shoot him down!

Shots slammed the rock around me. I reached for the lip of the mountain and a charge landed a few inches from my face, showering me with sparks. I pulled myself over the ledge and stood up. I was on the rim of the volcano. I stared down at the broiling stew of magma below.

Mission objective complete. Victory is yours, Zavier, the computer informed me. What would you like to do now?

Log off.

A moment later the scene around me disappeared and all I could see was the inside of my VR helmet. I took it off.

Nice work, Z, Tyron said.

Thanks.

I hate that game, one shot and you’re dead, it’s so stupid, Daz said.

It’s realistic, that’s all, I responded.

It sucks compared to Year 3010. 3010 lets you respawn, and it doesn’t throw dumb stuff like lava flows at you. That was the cheapest death.

What do you guys want to play now? I asked.

***

Three hours later we had answered that question a half a dozen of times, but we still hadn’t even played a fraction of the games available at Dave’s.

I’m kind of tired, I said. Let’s get something to eat.

One more game, Daz said. It’s my turn to pick one. How about a fighter?

I smiled. Sure. Or I could kick your ass in real life. Or both. Your call.

I was just talking trash though – fighter games were Daz’s favorite.

***

We picked a tag battle on the stage of a large opera theatre, the fake crowd was watching with wonderment as Daz and I fought. There were small bars above us that showed the health and energy. I ducked as Daz swung at me with a punch, and I quickly uppercuted him in the stomach. Daz’s health diminished slightly. I drop kicked him in the chest and he fell backwards, sliding across the floor. The crowd roared in approval. I splayed my hands out and a ball of energy formed in my hands. I fired the blast at Daz, but he rolled out of the way and zapped me with bolts of electricity from his hands. I couldn’t move for a moment and Daz leapt forward and roundhouse kicked me – I sailed off the stage and toward the crowd. They scattered in all directions. I hit the ground hard.

Daz fired an energy beam and I put up a defensive shield to block it. I leapt at Daz with a snap kick but he leapt to the side and then fired another beam of energy. I managed to dive out of the way at the last second and Daz jumped onto me. He dropped an elbow strike onto my head.

Three percent health, Zavier, the computer said to me.

I rolled out of the way in time to avoid a vicious knee drop. I turned and faced him as he charged toward me. I slipped a punch and returned one, brought up my elbow to block another punch. I leapt to the side as Daz kicked at me. He fell forward off balance and I brought my elbow into the side of his head. He was stunned. I fired off a four-punch combination, each one smashing his chin.

Daz crumpled to the floor and the computer said, Daz eliminated.

I waited for it to announce my victory and for Daz to disappear. But instead Daz opened his eyes and blasted me with a beam of energy.

Zavier eliminated, the computer said.

A moment later we were back in reality – people bustled around us on Dave and Busters’ main arcade floor.

The computer said you were dead! I yelled.

Daz smiled and ripped a small piece of tape off of his throat.

Voice mod chip. Makes me sound like the computer. Sucker.

You can’t be serious, I said.

You got me, Z. I was just kidding. You actually won, he said with a sneer. Here, let me announce it for you. Daz’s voice changed to the computer’s cold female tone. He said, Zavier is the winner…sike.

I couldn’t help but smile.

I guess it’s the only way you could have won, I said.

I would have gotten you anyway, this was just funnier.