Gamers Complete Box Set

By Thomas K. Carpenter

Gamers
Two points for brushing your teeth. Ten points for keeping your room tidy. Seventy-two points for the Bioeconomic Game Design pop quiz on the ride to school in your personal FunCar. Another thirty for making every hurdle in gym class.

Life is a game, unless you're not the one winning.

Gabby DeCorte, top student and reality-hacker extraordinaire, has been doing whatever it takes to keep her best friend, Zaela, from falling behind in LifeGame. Zaela has gifts of artistry that amaze Gabby, but none of those skills translate in LifeGame and with final exams coming up, they can't afford to waste a single minute. But when a mysterious group called the Frags contacts Gabby claiming to know what really happens to the losers of LifeGame, she must choose between winning and what she believes in.

Frags
When the Frags escape to the Freelands, they find freedom has its own challenges.

Without the familiar rules of LifeGame, Gabby and the Frags stumble from one dangerous Freeland to the next, while conflict in the group threatens to split them up. As the trail to Zaela becomes confused by the looming war, Gabby must reinvent herself or never see her best friend again.

Coders
When Gabby infiltrates the Southlands, reality becomes a dangerous game.

Desperate to reach Zaela before war erupts, Gabby takes a chance that puts her life in peril. She asks the Coders to send her into the Southlands as a spy, a request she quickly regrets. Now she faces a new enemy, one that knows everything about her and exposes her weaknesses in a game for her life. But before she can win, Gabby must wrestle with old wounds and finally come to grips with the person she was meant to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Carpenter
• Release date: Dec 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310646416

Thomas K. Carpenter

Thomas K. Carpenter resides in Colorado with his wife Rachel. When he’s not busy writing his next book, he's out hiking or skiing or getting beat by his wife at cards. Visit him online at www.thomaskcarpenter.com, or sign up for his newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/trialsofmagic.

Book preview

GAMERS

Chapter One

The green sky loomed over the high school track like a bowl of pea soup upended.  Even the few clouds resembled lumps of pea-sized material suspended in the thoroughly disgusting verdant broth.

Gabby ran around the track, glancing upward, cursing under her breath.  Her best friend Zaela, elbowed her in the ribs.

Come on, our score is dropping, said Zaela.

Gabby checked her LifeScore, annoyingly waiting at the corner of her vision with only a quick leftward eye movement, ready to piss her off.  The number had faded to red, indicating a downward trend. 

Give me a sec, she muttered.  Only need another minute.

A gaggle of the Evil Dolls, Gabby's name for them, not theirs, ran by the two girls laughing.  Their digital skins made them resemble living dolls, complete with gaps where their joints would be and shiny dead hair.  Even their clothing was stiff.  Green numbers, indicating upward movement, floated over their heads.

See! cried Zaela.  They’re three hundred above us!  My father’s expecting me to be above rank by the end of the week.

Gabby ignored Zaela, who continued to complain about not having much more time before Final Raid.  Gabby was comfortably above the probable line that would separate who would earn their Life Class and who got lesser, meaningless jobs.  Jobs that didn't have a much responsibility, a title, or many benefits within LifeGame.

Her best friend, Zaela, unfortunately was not, and had been losing ground for the last three weeks.  If Zaela failed to make the cut, Gabby would earn her Life Class alone and probably never see Zaela again. 

Gabby was not going to let that happen.

The world hack slipped into the Sky.Net school file like she’d done it before, which in fact, she had.  Last year she’d made it rain baby pigs during Spirit Day, even tricking everyone’s sense-web so they felt a slight impact, though she hadn’t gone so far as to make them squish.  That would have been too gross.  Instead, they bounced like those lame superballs her father always talked about.  He was so last century.

Either way, the bouncing piglets had been hilarious.  This time she was much more serious.  She couldn’t let Zaela fail, no matter what it took.

—be able to get into the Bioeconomic Game Design program at Blizzard University.

When the sky turned to static, cries of surprise erupted across the track.  The heads of all the girls running the track game bobbed up like gophers.  Gabby wondered if any of them were expecting baby pigs.

It would take a while for the administrators at Neversoft High to counteract her exploit.  Gabby counted silently under her breath while they ran. 

Zaela squinted at Gabby.  You did this didn’t you?

Gabby made non-committal noises while she continued to count backwards. 

Three...two...one....

She steered her friend to the right side of the track as the sky crackled and changed to an ominous one full of bruised purple clouds seething with electricity.  For a brief moment, she thought she saw a black owl flying through the clouds, but then it was gone.  She hadn't programmed that into the exploit.  Gabby shook her head, deciding it was just her imagination.

Get ready on my cue.  Gabby rested her hand on Zaela’s arm so she could indicate when they would have to move. 

When Administrator Bracket’s face appeared in the sky amid the threatening clouds, a confused sound came from her right. 

Zaela raised an eyebrow.  I was sure you were behind this.

Gabby shrugged.  Just wait.

The face in the sky, which was actually only appearing on their personal eye-screens, just like their digital skins and most of the coverings for the landscape, barked out a command, as Administrator Bracket was prone to do.

"Attention LifeGamers!  We’re adding a special bonus round to this game.  We are upping the difficulty, so stay sharp!"

Gabby rolled her eyes.  Even though this was a segment she’d spliced from a bonus round a few years ago, hearing it reminded her how lame Bracket was. 

He was an old military guy that had grown up on the forward bases near the Southlands and they used an old version of LifeGame, so he read the scripts like he was berating a private.  The key was that Bracket made the hack seem official, so everyone paid attention. 

Obstacles popped up all over the track like bubbles.  Hazy questions floated over each obstacle.  The two girls neared a candy-striped pole suspended at the height of their ankles. 

WHY WAS LIFEGAME™ INTRODUCED?

The floating words solidified as they neared, and as they jumped over the pole, the words kept pace.

That's so Mario!  I studied that last week! Zaela squealed. 

Of course, Gabby knew that.  She'd told Zaela to study it, feigning that she'd heard it would be a pop-quiz, having already planned out the hack.

Because the Greater States of America was losing its competitive edge, answered Zaela. 

The question disappeared into green sparkles, indicating a correct answer. 

WHAT ARE THE THREE RULES OF LIFEGAME™?

Another easy one!  Zaela hopped when she clapped, bringing a smile to Gabby's face. 

The first rule is what can be gamed can be improved.  The second rule is that everything can be a game and the last rule is to never look backwards because the past is a game that's already been decided.

Gabby smiled and veered to the right so she could answer her own questions.  She'd programmed hers to be much harder than Zaela's.  Cheat sniffers could tease out patterns in the data and Gabby had to be careful. 

A fractal-recombination cube appeared in front of her, demanding a solution.  Gabby knew the answer, since she'd programmed it, but purposely got the answer wrong, letting the cube explode into red sparkles. 

Answering the question wrong served a double purpose.  Those fractal cubes were advanced encryption problems that hackers had to frequently utilize.  By answering it incorrectly, she'd keep her profile from ever looking like a hacker.

The next few questions were easier and Gabby dutifully answered them, smiling at the green sparkles exploding around her.  The Evil Dolls, however, were a different situation. 

Across the track, the gaggle of six girls were trying to leap horrid walls the color of cat puke that were at least half their height.  While the walls only existed on their eye-screens, the ubiquitous sensor networks would know if a foot went through one.  A failed jump meant a harder question and Gabby had given them near impossible ones.

There were so many red sparkles above the Evil Dolls it looked like an immersive of a dust storm on Mars.  Zaela was rapidly catching up.  By the end of class, she'd be well into the clear. 

Gabby was feeling like she'd just scored a major happiness buff.  When the Final Raid came next week, she would get them on the same team and they would win for sure.  Then they could get away from the Evil Dolls, who had made their lives a living hell since the earliest ranks.  It was all falling into place.

At least until Administrator Bracket's projection appeared next to her, majorly debuffing her happiness.  He wore his usual pseudo-military skin, complete with his Administrator trophy badges pinned to his lapel.

Gabriella DeCorte.  I need to see you in my office.  Pronto.

Startled by Bracket's appearance, Gabby ran through the next obstacle, exploding it into red sparkles.  What?

Bracket's already grim face, turned a slight more shade of grim.  I have disturbing news about unauthorized hacking.

Then his projection winked out.

Gabby's stomach tightened into a face-screwing knot.  Getting caught hacking would get her sent back a rank without enough time to catch back up and she wouldn't earn a Life Class. 

Gabby left the track and slowly trudged to the lockers to change, feeling like Bracket had cast a massive soul-sucking DoT on her.

Chapter Two

The hallways teemed with students moving to their next class.  Gabby wasn't sure why they still broke out their learning sessions into periods.  A relic from previous times, she guessed. 

A behemoth pushed through the crowd, ignoring the cries of protest as he steamrolled the hallway.  Gabby thought about tagging him with a gorilla skin, but decided that hacking another student's personal file on the way to the Administrator's office wasn't a good idea. 

A shadow of an owl flew across the ceiling.  This time, Gabby was sure she saw it.  As she turned to walk down the hall, she found herself confronted by a boy her age with eyes the color of ice-chips.  She didn’t realize it was a projection until a couple of anime kids walked right through him. 

He had dark, messy hair and his eyes seemed to penetrate past her digital skin.  Gabby was frozen a few steps from him.  About the time he opened his mouth to speak, the projection disappeared, leaving Gabby staring at an empty spot by the wall.

said a familiar voice in her head, distracting her from thoughts of the boy with the ice-chip eyes.

Gabby searched the crowds until she saw him.  Dario.  Her other best friend. 

Dario had a skinny bluish mohawk and wore a black leather studded jacket and archaic jeans.  His appearance wasn't so strange except that his clothes were real, unlike the other students that hid themselves in skins. 

Where do you find that stuff? Gabby said when they met at the drinking fountain. 

Dario smoothed his hands across his jacket.  Likey?  Black leather never goes out of style.  He pointed to her hair.  Didn't you wear that Shozichi skin last week? Or are platinum blonde pigtails in this week?

Gabby rolled her eyes and put her hand to the smooth area beneath the spiky area of his mohawk. 

I hate when you shave the sides.  I can see the neural actuator wires under your skin.  Why can't you hide them with a little skin mod?

Dario flinched away.  "Then I wouldn't be real.  I think they look like spider webs on my skull.  Adds to the effect."

A message floated into view from Administrator Bracket reminding her to come to his office. 

What's wrong? Dario asked, sensing her sudden discomfort.

Gabby shook her head.  I'll tell you later.  She started pushing through the remnants of the crowd, toward Bracket's office.  Between the hack, Bracket's summons, and the random boy's projection, her mind tumbled over itself. 

  The mind-text lacked the emotion of a real voice since it was converted thoughts sent through the networks as text and reconstituted on the listeners end, but she could hear his concern anyway. 

she sent back. 

The hallways were thinning as the transition timer counted toward zero.  Gabby wouldn't lose points for being in the hall since she had a pass from Bracket.  It was one time she'd prefer to be in class than wandering the halls.

Dario knew all about the hack since he'd helped her with a few sections of code.  The two of them had been looking out for Zaela since they'd saved her from the Evil Dolls in the lower ranks. 

she sent back. 

She needed to concentrate during her visit to Bracket's office.  She'd been very careful with the track hack, so even if he had proof, she could still get out of it if she didn't admit anything. 

Lost in her thoughts, Gabby forgot to knock on the door to Bracket's office.  The broad-shouldered Administrator was facing away from her, holding a BFG, and firing into a wide landscape behind him. 

The back of his office appeared to be a nightmarish landscape, Gigeresque in its monochromatic rolling hills.  Hideous bipedal creatures sprinted toward Bracket as he blew them to pieces with his BFG. 

Bracket seemed to be gleefully engaged in his game until Gabby cleared her throat.  He checked over his shoulder, letting one of the creatures approach dangerously close.  As the creature leaped, the landscape disappeared and was replaced with a plain cream wall with a picture of dogs playing poker on it. 

The BFG in his hands had disappeared as well and Bracket pointed to the chair across from his desk.

Thank you for coming, Ms. DeCorte.

Gabby was still glancing over Bracket's shoulder at the wall where the shooter game had been.

I like to keep my old marine score at a good level.  Never know when they might need me again, said Bracket.  Especially with things picking up on the Southlands front.

As long as Gabby had been alive, the GSA had been fighting the Southlands.  Gabby rolled her eyes and took the seat as Bracket settled onto his.  The Administrator clasped his hands together on the desk and sighed heavily. 

The muscles in Bracket's jaw tightened and Gabby's stomach rolled in response.  As she waited for him to speak, it seemed like the hair on Bracket's head bristled up like an angry dog. 

The LifeGame Integrity Engineers have detected unauthorized access and modifications to your personal reality files, said Bracket.

Gabby wanted to rip her gaze away from Bracket's, but she knew that would give away her guilt.  Instead, she willed herself to maintain an innocent and slightly curious face.  She'd mastered this face after years of probing questions from her parents. 

Yes.  I can see you're perplexed as we are.  When Bracket said this, Gabby nearly lost her practiced expression, because it implied he wasn't talking about her hack.  Now she really was curious.

What files were modified? she asked.

Bracket sighed again, and she could tell he was visibly disturbed about something.

Ms. DeCorte.  Have you seen anything strange recently?  Unexpected reality intrusions?  Projections of people you don't know appearing suddenly?

Visions of the boy and the owl's shadow returned to her suddenly.  Gabby steeled her face so she wouldn't give anything away.

I see something came to mind, said Bracket.  Now we're not interested in the pranks you students play on each other, minor hacks to personal files that turn someone's hair green, or give them a beard.  We know about those and choose to ignore them.  They're good practice for University, anyway.

Gabby let herself relax.  Bracket wasn't interrogating her about the track hack.  But her curiosity had risen to new heights.  Someone had been hacking her personal files? 

I haven't seen anything.  Has someone been messing with my LifeScore?

Bracket shook his head.  Oh, no.  That's nearly impossible. The LGIE are foremost focused on maintaining untampered scores.  If those could be messed with, then the whole system would collapse.  How else could we know who deserved to be rewarded with more responsibility?

Gabby knew all too well about how difficult it was to modify a LifeScore.  That's why her hacks focused on spoofing tests rather than the score itself.

So you haven't seen any reality intrusions?

No, Administrator Bracket.  I sure haven't, said Gabby.

Bracket visibly attempted to soften his expression, but his muscles refused to oblige.  Eventually, he gave up and just nodded his head. 

Am I free to go? asked Gabby. 

Yes, you may.

Gabby moved toward the door, expecting to hear the shooter game start up behind her, but when Bracket said her name, a cold shiver went up her back.

Ms. DeCorte.

She turned around slowly, expecting that the earlier conversation had been a ruse and now they were springing the trap on her.  Gabby swallowed and faced Administrator Bracket, clutching her arms across her chest.

Administrator Bracket appeared to be conflicted, frowning in concentration.  Then he seemed to make a decision.

Ms. DeCorte.  You're a good LifeGamer.  One of the tops in the region, in fact.  Your TPS scores are off the charts.  The book on you is that you're holding back on your true potential.

TPS scores?  This was a new one on Gabby.

Thoughts per second.  We get certain brain diagnostics from your neural actuator.

Bracket paused, letting his words sink in.  Gabby wasn't sure what she was more surprised about: that they were watching how her brain worked, or that they thought she was holding back.  She didn't think she was holding back.

So I'm going to tell you this because you may one day be running the system.  So I feel I can trust you with this information, said Bracket.

Gabby nodded slowly, still wondering if all this was a trap somehow.

It seems certain elements outside of our society, called the Frags - their name, not ours - have been lurking around your personal files.  We can't tell if they've modified anything, well, since we can't check them.  But I should warn you.

Gabby put her hands on her hips.  What do you mean messing with my personals?

The LGIE believe the Frags may have modified your files.  Might be trying to influence your views on reality.  Bracket paused again, clearly conflicted.  They've requested that I ask you if they can verify your personals.  They might be able to get authorization to do so without your permission, but they'd like to not make this a big deal.

"A big deal?  My personal files are a huge deal.  Gabby raised her voice louder than she intended, but she couldn't help it.  My whole life is in those files.  I don't want anyone snooping around in them just to find out if these so-called Frags have modified something.  My virus protection is up to date, thank you."

Administrator Bracket waited until she had stopped, then smoothed his hand across his desk. 

Given the nature of the LGIE's request, I'll forgive you for this outburst, this once.  Please keep control of your emotions, Ms. DeCorte. 

Gabby dropped her gaze and her shoulders slumped.  I'm sorry, Administrator Bracket.

Well, the request is made.  And it's clear from your response that you're not willing to give them access freely, said Bracket.  So you can return to your Advanced Game Theory class.

Gabby had her hand on the doorknob when Bracket spoke again.

You might want to have a talk with your parents about this.  I'm sure the LGIE will be contacting you soon and you'll want to know what your options are.

Gabby nodded and left his office.  The hallways were dreadfully quiet.  She wanted to turn on some mood music but she couldn't muster the thought to activate it.  The silence suited her anyway.

Instead of going to class, she circled the hallways, kiting her bad mood so she wouldn't scream.  When at last she'd dropped agro, she pinged Zaela and told her to meet outside school at the FunCar lot. 

Their LifeScores were both above rank after the morning and she needed a sanity break, even if it cost them a few points.  Plus the rest of afternoon had few opportunities to score. 

There were opportunities to gain a few points where they were going, too.  If they played their cards right.  The hard part was going to be convincing Zaela.  She hated the Library Museum.

Chapter Three

Gabby met Zaela at the edge of the school grounds.  The school lawn appeared as a perfectly manicured green field with bushes shaped into different animals. 

Hey Z, your outfit looks totally twinked, said Gabby.

Zaela stopped and put a hand on one hip, her eyebrow raising as her head tilted.  She wore a yellow shirt that glowed like a small sun and a pink ruffled skirt.  Black cat figures on the skirt danced around her waist, sometimes disappearing into the folds. 

"What's up, Gabs?  You only compliment my clothes when you're going ask me for something.  At least you didn't compliment my skin color, then I know you're in deep," said Zaela.

Gabby smirked.  "Well, since you mention it.  Your skin is looking particularly bronze today.  She paused.  And as always, it goes well with your silky black hair."

Zaela rolled her eyes.  Next you're going to be asking me to go to the Library Museum.

Well, actually.  Gabby held out her hands, palms up.  I am.  Pretty please?  I'll let you pick all the games in the FunCar.

But Blair the Chair is so weird.

Gabby hugged her friend's arm and jumped up and down. Please..., she whined.

Fine.  Only because you're my best friend.  Zaela pointed her finger at Gabby.  But I get to pick all the games.  You promised.

Fine, said Gabby.  Let's get going.

The two girls stepped off the school property and the manicured lawns and animal bushes disappeared.  Instead, they were replaced with rolling ads from Tata Motors.  The makers of the FunCar owned the available ad space around the school.  Once the two girls were off school grounds, they were assaulted by the wallpaper-like ads.

Bydaway, your outfit is pretty fragadelic, too, remarked Zaela, as the girls made their way to the nearby FunCar lot.  For a pale and skinny blonde chick, anyway.

I put it on random wardrobe generator this morning.  I had other things on my mind, said Gabby.

The FunCar lot was filled with hundreds of bubble shaped cars with four puffy tires.  The vehicles were used by any citizen to get from one place to another. 

When Gabby snapped her fingers at a nearby car, its blue exterior was replaced by a white one with skulls.  Each skull had a pink bow on it. 

The bubble shield retracted enough for the two girls to climb inside.  Once the two girls were strapped in, Gabby commanded the FunCar to take them to the Library Museum.

We're going to play Brush Battle, said Zaela.

Gabby groaned.  She really would rather play Geostack or Shared Destruction.  Those would actually get them some decent points while they were skipping school, maybe even breaking even for the day.  Brush Battle was strictly artistic and barely got more than she got for brushing her teeth in the morning.

You promised.

Gabby nodded.  I did.

I need a break from all that score grinding.  Zaela paused, a thoughtful and sad expression shading her face.  I wish creativity scored higher in LifeGame.

Sorry Z.  Another time she might have tried to talk her out of Brush Battle, but she sensed her friend's need and let it go. 

As the game started up, she felt the FunCar lurch forward, and brushes appeared in their hands.  The sense-webs in her skin made the brush feel real beneath her fingertips, but she wanted to squeeze it tighter to get a better grip and that screwed up her control of the brush tip.

The car's bubble disappeared as a surrealistic landscape was painted over their eye-screens, making it appear they were floating through a rounded and droopy landscape of pastel watercolors populated by strange creatures including one with a candy-striped hat. 

Zaela brightened along with the surroundings.  Ohh...Dr. Seuss!

Who?  Gabby had never heard of this Doctor, nor why he would be in an art game, but before she could ask again, a floating canvas appeared before her. 

The object of the game was to pick an object out of the landscape and paint it.  Scoring was given for closeness of the reproduction.  Zaela's paintings were always spot on.  Gabby always thought her own appeared to be different colored blobs with lines sticking out of them.

By the time they reached the Library Museum, the girls had played Brush Battle three times.  When they climbed out of their FunCar, Zaela exclaimed, I think I got almost five points for that!

They'd both gotten over three hundred points for the morning's track hack, but Gabby didn't say anything.  She didn't want to ruin Zaela's good mood before they got into the Library.

The FunCar dropped them off near a colossal stone building without any digital adornment.  No ads played across its walls, nor were there any murals or paintings.  The Library Museum was like a gray block of stone resting in a vat of rainbow ice cream. 

Remember, no skins, said Gabby.  You know how Blair gets.

Zaela huffed.  Not like it matters anyway.  The walls interfere with the signals and she doesn't have repeaters.  The world gets all fuzzy and out of place in there.

The girls' outfits disappeared as they entered the Library.  Flesh-colored and skin-tight undersuits covered their bodies from thighs to neck.  The underclothes ensured that no one could peek underneath their digital skins and see them naked. 

Inside, Gabby took a long, deep breath, inhaling the delicious scents of real paper and ink. 

What are you smelling?  It smells all musty in here, said Zaela.

Gabby ignored her friend and went in past the entryway.  The Library Museum wasn't much of a museum as museums go.  It was more of a storage facility for books, paid for by some long dead rich person.  Blair the librarian had never told her who. 

The massive space that disappeared into the gloom was filled from floor to ceiling with books.  Even the spaces on top of the shelves were cluttered with books, that looked like at one time had been stacked neatly, but with time slowly slumped to the edge. 

Even on the shelves, books were double and triple stacked.  Blair utilized every available space within the facility to store books, barely keeping a wide enough aisle for her chair to fit.

Gabby cupped her hands around her mouth.  Blair!  It's me, Gabriella!

The words were absorbed by the endless rows, crammed with books.

Why can't Blair the Chair mind-text like a normal human? muttered Zaela.

Why do that when I have great hearing? asked a mechanical voice from a nearby alcove.

Zaela squeaked and put both hands across her mouth.  Her eyes were wide and her face wilted in embarrassment.

A woman in a motorized chair, covered in tubes and wires, wheeled into view.  Her skin was a rich chocolate, much darker than Zaela's, but she had kinky hair where Zaela's was straight.  The hair was tangled and held back with a bit of twine. 

Her head tilted awkwardly to the side, held up by a padded catch.  One tube went into her nose, while another disappeared into her half-open mouth.  Her body was frail and sunken like a deflated tire, but her eyes burned with the intensity of a whirling galaxy.

The voice, coming from a speaker box built into her wheelchair, crackled with sarcasm.  Seems you should be taking your own advice.

Blair ran her motorized chair past Zaela, who had tears forming in her eyes.  The chair-bound woman rotated around until she was facing Zaela. 

Oh, get over it.  We all say stupid things sometimes.  Though you look like you say more than your fair share, said Blair's mechanical voice, which Gabby always thought was strangely expressive.

Gabby stifled a laugh, catching a nasty glare from Zaela.

Well you did deserve that, said Gabby.

Anyway, said Blair.  I don't mind-text usually because I'm busy sending commands to my chair or to Frank, my robot-helper.  It's bad enough I get the two of them confused sometimes and walk Frank into a wall.

As if he'd been called, a silvery bipedal robot lurched out from between two rows.  The robot was an older model, built like a linebacker and with unresponsive servos that made his movements sluggish.  Two plastic caps had been crudely glued to his neck and squiggly lines covered his arms as if they'd been drawn by a four-year-old.

Frank picked up a stack of books near the entryway and wandered back into the rows. 

So how can I help you, Gabriella? asked Blair.

Besides the enjoyment of smelling and reading old books, Gabby often came to the Library Museum because Blair was the smartest person she knew.  But when Gabby opened her mouth, she realized she didn't have a question to ask.

You're not still worried about getting into University are you? Blair asked.  And while I don't agree with what they have to teach, you've got their shtick down cold.

Gabby shook her head.  It's not that.  She paused and quickly glanced at Zaela.  It's the LGIE.  Some group called the Frags have been messing around with my personal reality files and the LGIE wants to take a peek to see if they've changed anything.

The LGIE?  The Frags?  Is there something I should know about? asked Zaela. 

Gabby had promised Zaela last year that she wouldn't try to fix her LifeScore anymore. 

It's not what you think, said Gabby.

Zaela crossed her arms.  Then what is it?

I don't know.  That's the thing.  Gabby hesitated talking about the boy with the ice-chip eyes that had appeared in the hallway.  She didn't want to talk about him just yet, especially when she wasn't sure she'd really seen him.

She sighed.  Really I need to know what I should do about it.  Administrator Bracket told me I should talk to my parents, but they'll just tell me to cooperate.

Gabby wandered to a table that had a space on it not stacked with books and jumped on, almost knocking over a stack.

"Everything is in those files: who I talk to, all my mind-text histories, programs, mods, skins, and recorded thoughts.  Plus all the things I've seen and done in the last few months."

She thought about the pranks and hacks she'd done.  They might not be looking for those things, but they would find them.  Then Gabby realized that Blair was perfectly still, except for her wide expressive eyes, that seemed out of place on such a wasted body. 

Zaela realized it too the moment before she was going to say something, so she closed her mouth and peered sideways at Blair.

The chair-bound librarian slowly pulled away from the two girls and circled around the table.  They watched Blair until she made a complete rotation and came to a stop. 

Gabby realized then how quiet it was in the Library Museum.  Stray bits of static crackled on Blair's speakers, unformed thoughts or some other flotsam Gabby couldn't understand.  Tubes gargled with liquid, at once silent, then straining for air, making a sound like a kid sucking on a straw. 

In another part of the Library, muffled sounds of servos grinding and cladding footsteps made it past the walls of books stacked high to the ceiling.

Do you still study history in school? Blair asked.  No.  You don't, do you?  Such a shame.  Even through the speakers, disappointment flooded her voice. 

We study the history of the gaming movement and specific histories if they help us be more competitive..., Zaela offered, but her voice trailed to nothing as she realized Blair hadn't really asked. 

Back two centuries ago, the world was split into two factions.  There was a secret group called the Stasi.  They were the most effective secret police ever known, even keeping the scents of its citizens so they could be tracked by dogs if they tried to run.

Blair's mechanical voice had a wonderfully knowledgeable cadence to it.  Gabby could listen to Blair talk all day, and sometimes did, when the school grind got the best of her.  While Gabby was a top student, the ever-counting LifeScore made her feel anxious, always.  Coming to the Library Museum eased that worry as she could, for a brief time, learn for the sake of learning.

The Stasi monitored the population through overlapping layers of informants.  Blair paused and before the speakers could crackle to life again, the projection of Gabby's mother blinked into the middle of the entryway. 

Gabby, honey.  Why aren't you in school? 

Her mother's hair had been cinched back in an oppressive ponytail.  Gabby had gotten her looks from her mother: broad nose, full lips, and a slightly chubby face that she hated.  Her mother used a wrinkle-free skin so the two were often confused with sisters.

I..., Gabby paused, carefully choosing her words, ...was doing research on a new game cycle I heard they might implement for the Final Raid.  They've blocked the links to it, so I thought I'd try the Museum for an old hard copy.

Her mother's hand reached up to rub her forehead.  That's when Gabby knew that something was wrong.

That's fine.  The projection of her mother blinked a few times from the weak signal, while she crossed her arms.  But is there anything you should be telling us about?  The LGIE stopped by a little while ago to talk.

Zaela shrugged and gave her a told-you-so look.

I don't know, Mom.  Administrator Bracket told me about it today.  I was going to talk to you tonight when I got home, said Gabby.

I think you should come home right now.  After I contacted your father, he left work immediately, said Gabby's mother.  They're expecting an answer tonight.

Gabby's stomach did a barrel roll.  Her father never left work unless it was a major emergency.  For that matter, he never stopped working, constantly playing mini-games with his fellow workers to help define new business strategies. 

Even though her hands shook, Gabby steeled herself.  Tell Dad not to contact the LGIE.  I didn't do anything.  I can explain what Bracket told me when I get home.

Her mother nodded and the projection disappeared.  Gabby turned to Zaela and Blair, shoving her hands under her arms so they would stop shaking. 

Frank the helper-robot stood behind Blair's chair holding two books in its silvery hands.  He must have wandered up while she'd been talking to her mother.

Blair's voice crackled to life.  You should get going.  You don't want to worry your parents any more than they already are.

Frank lurched forward and dropped the two books into Gabby's lap.  The first had an owl on the cover with no title and the second was titled The Secret History of the Stasi.

I've been meaning to give you the first book for some time.  The second is to help with your current crisis, said Blair.

Thanks, Blair.  Gabby leaned down into her chair and gave Blair a delicate hug.  She smelled like medicine and ink.

Blair had once told her that since she'd been confined to a wheelchair, she missed hugs most of all, so Gabby always made sure to give her one before she left. 

Zaela was a bit more squeamish and only touched Blair's chair.  I'm sorry for my comment earlier.  I should have never said that.

There was dreadful gurgle from Blair's tubes in the moment after Zaela spoke.  Blair rotated backwards and piloted toward a tall pile of books in the corner. 

Come here, wheezed Blair's mechanical voice.

Zaela cautiously followed the wheelchair to the corner.  Blair's emaciated hand lifted slightly, pointing to the middle of the stack.

There, was all Blair said.

The book pile threatened to fall over when Zaela pulled the book from the middle of the pile.  A curious stare fell over Zaela's face as she read the cover.  Then as she paged through the book, her face erupted as if a warm light had been shone on it.

Before Gabby could see what the book was, Zaela shoved it into her backpack. 

Thank you, Blair. 

To Gabby's surprise, Zaela leaned down and gave Blair a hug.

The two girls returned to the FunCar in silence.  Neither felt like playing any games on the way home.  Gabby tried to muster the energy to look at the precious books that Blair had given her, but instead stared outside the bubble window. 

Beneath the onslaught of advertisements, flooding down the street or flashing past the bubble, Gabby noticed that the leaves on the trees were turning bright colors.  She'd forgotten that it was autumn, as she'd been so busy trying to get herself and Zaela into Blizzard University.

Halfway back, she remembered that her parents were waiting at home, probably preparing to give up her personal information.  She tried to think of an argument to sway them, but her growing frustration stymied any thoughts.

When the FunCar stopped at Gabby's house, Zaela gave her a hug before she went in.  Gabby walked up her manicured lawn as slowly as possible and stopped when her foot hit the front porch.

She glanced back at the FunCar speeding away from her house, and then remembered that she hadn't checked her LifeScore in hours.  She couldn't recall a time that'd she'd gone that long without looking at it. 

Her LifeScore waited at the periphery of her vision as a dull gray number indicating no change in the last few hours.  Normally it was a healthy green.

Gabby was about to check and see how she ranked versus the rest of her class, when the front door opened. 

Standing just inside, still wearing his business skin, her father uncrossed his arms and walked inside, clearly indicating that she should follow.

Already her hands had begun to shake again and her face had numbed.  Her father had put a major debuff on her.  Gabby took a deep breath and went inside. 

Chapter Four

Their one story ranch normally felt like a grand palace, ten times larger than the space it actually occupied.  Walls, covered in fantastic landscapes, turned the rooms into wide living spaces.

Her mother constantly changed the scenes so one day Gabby might walk into a castle entryway, and the next it would be a room on the moon. 

Today the living room was nothing more than the shell of its normal, unaugmented self, only modified enough to cover the dust on the cabinets.  Her parents sat on the couch and a chair had been strategically placed in the center of the room.

Her father ran his hand through his dark hair and motioned for Gabby to sit in the chair.  His grim face reminded her of a stern statue.

Gabby clasped her hands behind her back to hide the shaking.  Though her lips and face were numb, she willed them to make words.

So what did the LGIE tell you?

Her mother offered a half-hearted smile.  Honey.  We want to help you.  We know you didn't do anything, but some fringe element is messing with your files and the LGIE need to know what they're doing.  She propped up her smile a little higher.  The LGIE is here to protect the sanctity of our system.

Gabby squeezed her hands together.  "But those are my files.  I don't want some weirdos snooping through them just because someone else was looking at them."

These Frags are not just looking at them, her father said.  They've modified something and the authorities need to know what. 

Gabby stomped her foot.  If she ever got to meet these Frags, she'd punch them in the face, first thing, for messing up her life.

"So what if they've modified something?  They're mine.  I can take care of myself, Gabby huffed.  It's bad enough the LGIE tracks our TPS's."

Her father's eyebrows went up in surprise.  You know about that?

Yeah, Administrator Bracket told me.  Was trying to give me a compliment about my high TPS scores, said Gabby.

Get used to knowing your TPS, Gabby.  We've been using thoughts per second metrics from some years now, ever since Western Brazil started passing us, her father explained.

But that's not right!  They shouldn't get to monitor your thoughts.

Her father shook his head.  They can't see your thoughts.  They only use the capabilities of the neural actuator to see how fast you're thinking.  In both raw brainpower and the speed at which you activate the neural activator.

Gabby paced.  It's still not right.  It's like the LGIE is—  She remembered the books she had in her backpack and what Blair had said.  —the Stasi.  Why do they even need to track your TPS?

Her father's face betrayed an uncharacteristic level of worry.  He normally kept his stoic, man-of-the-house face for them to see.  It didn't help he had minimalistic skins on. 

Just gaming for new strategy developments isn't cutting it anymore.  It's not fast enough.  We're not always matching the right teams together and we're getting beat on the global market.  Her father put his hand to his forehead, pushing his thinning hair backwards.

The Brazilians pioneered thoughts per second as a way to find your best performers, her father continued.  They test TPS versus task oriented jobs and then decide how to fit the teams together.  Low TPS scores are dropped to lower rank companies.

That's okay, dad.  You've always been at the top of the company rankings.  I'm sure this doesn't change anything, Gabby consoled her father.

The problem is the games are getting harder and faster.  Harriet and Sam got dropped from the company for low TPS scores just last week.  Sam's house was empty when I went by on the way home.  Her father stood and put both hands on his head.

That's why we need you to cooperate, he said.  So nothing affects your LifeScore and your chances to get into University.  You've worked so hard, sweetie.

Gabby still couldn't believe what they were saying.  They wanted her to give up her personal information.  They might as well be sending her off to get strip searched.

You're not listening, Gabby said.  "They are my files.  I get to decide if I'm worried about it.  Letting me know the Frags are messing with them is all they should be doing."

Honey, her mother said.  I don't think you understand the level of danger there is with these Frags 'messing with your files.'

Her parents shared a concerned look.  Her mother leaned over and whispered into her father's ear.  He thought for a moment and then nodded.  Gabby didn't like their quiet conspiring. 

Back a few decades, her father began.  A group sympathetic to the Southlands started infiltrating a large group of children's files.

Her mother grabbed her father's hand and squeezed it.  Something about their sudden change in mannerisms creeped Gabby out. 

Through subtle changes in their surroundings they were able to brainwash a large group of kids into joining a Southlands rally.  The infiltrators also modified LifeScores to interfere with our competitive edge, he said.

Gabby shook her head.  It was like a madness debuff had been cast on her parents.  She barely knew what they were talking about, even worse than normal.

Kids can't be brainwashed just because they see some crap on their eye-screens.  Otherwise, wouldn't all that advertising they're constantly assaulting us with, work? said Gabby.

Her father stood up and pointed at her.  This is not a joking matter, Gabriella.  This infiltration was a serious assault to the freedoms we hold dear in the GSA.  If these Frags have any nefarious intentions, the protectors of the GSA need to know.

The LGIE probably made up all that brainwashing crap back then to convince you all to give them power, spat Gabby.  She couldn't believe her parents weren't going to back her.

Have you been wasting your time studying history again, Gabby?  You should be focusing on your LifeScore and your games.  Not worthless history lessons, said her mother.  If that's what you're learning at the Library Museum, we might have to ask you not to go there anymore.

None of this was making any sense to Gabby.  She half-thought that maybe the Frags had infiltrated her files and were making it seem like everyone around her had gone crazy.

If she let the LGIE into her files, they might see that she'd been hacking school files and ban her from University.  If she didn't let them in, then she would probably get banned, too.  She'd been grinding at her LifeScore since before she could remember, burning through the ranks, trying to stay at the top so she could keep progressing and making sure Zaela was there, as well.  Now all that work would be for nothing.   

She was so angry that her hands had stopped shaking.  She looked up to see both her parents standing, staring at her with their arms crossed.

Gabby made her choice.  It was the one that would give her a little room to maneuver.  She couldn't let them in. 

Mom.  Dad.  She looked at each of them in turn, trying to calm her voice so it wouldn't break and sound immature. 

I think those files are my choice.  It's my life.  But I also know that you are my legal guardians and can give those files up whether I want you to or not.

Gabby paused, taking a deep breath.  I'm— She almost said begging, but realized she needed to show more strength.  —informing you that I do not wish my files to be exposed to the LGIE and if you give them permission, I will sabotage my LifeScore so I lose rank and not make University.

Her parent's eyes widened, until she thought they might fall out.  Their jaws followed closely behind.  She'd totally mezzed them, and they'd dropped agro on her, probably wondering if she'd gone crazy or not. 

Gabby assumed behind their quiet stares, her parents were busy mind-texting, determining the next course of action. 

Her hands took to shaking again while she waited.  She had no intention of giving up all her hard work, but she hoped it was enough of a bluff to keep her parents from acting on her behalf.  

When the mez wore off, her parents finally spoke up in one of those dual speaking modes, where they each finished each other's sentences and overlapped so much it was hard to actually tell who was speaking. 

Honey.  Sweetie, said her parents.  We know you're under a lot of stress with your Final Raid next week.  You've been working so hard, for so long, and maybe this is getting to you.

The parent duality paused, and Gabby realized then how much they were caricatures of parents in their shiny skins, buffed to a fine glow.  She wondered why she'd never seen this before.

So we're going to defer this decision until after the Final Raid.  We don't want this to interfere with your LifeScore anymore than it already is.  Her parents cast the sad-face, and nodded. 

Gabby sighed.  She hadn't won, but she hadn't lost, either.  Her parents had gamed their way out of making the decision until they could find a better strategy.  She could do the same.  A week would give her enough time to figure out what the Frags were doing with her files. 

If it were truly nefarious, which Gabby seriously doubted, then she could turn them into the LGIE.  And if not, then she'd have the evidence to keep her parents from letting them into her files. 

All the while, she needed to keep her LifeScore up.  Final Raid was in a week and the schools like to mix things up with new games to test the students' ingenuity.  Surprise games were much harder to hack too, so Gabby would have to be on her A-game. 

Gabby put on her own smile and gave her parents obligatory hugs. 

Thank you, said Gabby.  I should go up to my room now.  I need to get a few more points before the day is over.  I would be happy to talk about this again next week.

As Gabby turned to trudge up the stairs, she let her smile fade.  She needed to get busy up in her room, but it certainly wasn't grinding a few worthless points.  She had to figure out a way to contact the Frags and fast. 

Because she knew her parents would take the week to analyze her playback and figure out that she was bluffing.  Once they did that, they'd give her files to the LGIE in a heartbeat. 

Chapter Five

She'd taken the idea for her room from an old book Blair had shown her once with a golden dragon on the cover.  A blonde haired woman rode the dragon and looked triumphant.  Gabby had always imagined herself as the woman.

Her wall-scenes made the room appear to be near the entrance of a huge cave.  The back half rested on a sand floor, while the front faced the edge of a cliff that disappeared off the mountainside into the crisp and occasionally cloudy air.

When she glanced up, she would often see dragons with tiny riders on them, soaring through the skies, belching flame at airborne parasites.  Occasionally, they would land at the mouth of the cave and amble into the chamber behind her, wings tucked and metallic skin gleaming in the torch light.

But today she had no time for fantasies.  So she let her room revert to its normal, boring state. 

First, Gabby pulled out the two books that Blair had given her.  She paged through the titleless book with the owl on the front, learning that it was about some long dead philosopher from a few millennium ago.  His big innovation was to ask questions.  Gabby shrugged and put it back in the backpack.  

The second book was about the Stasi, the secret police in East Germany, a place that she'd never heard of.

She read sections at random.  Some of the information was shocking.  The Stasi had almost complete control of their population through a blanket of informers. One in six people were informing or watching the others. 

A shiver went down Gabby's spine.  She could sense the similarities between the Stasi and the LGIE, but not what it meant for her.  The LGIE only had better technology.  If it weren't for the bleeding edge encryption everyone had access to, they'd probably already be snooping through her stuff.   

Which lead her to wonder how the Frags were doing the same.  She threw the book onto the bed and called up her system. 

Radial blooms of light appeared around her like a field of glowing flowers, or a small galaxy frozen in time.  Gabby ran diagnostics on everything and couldn’t find a byte out of place. 

Frustrated, she decided she needed to put a message out.  The best places were the hacker hangouts.  Someone would know how to contact them.

Gabby swiped her hand and her system files disappeared.  She called up the projector, which would send her virtual presence to a far-away real place. 

The transition scene gave her a bit of vertigo, but instantly she was placed into a small room.  It was the entryway to The Black Gate, a hacker bar, a place you'd never hear of unless you were supposed to hear about it. 

The physical location changed frequently, it'd never been in the same place twice.  A year ago, she'd heard it was perched on one of Jupiter's moons. 

Supposedly, some rich guy had sent a sensor cluster to the Jovian moon so he could hang out in style with his friends.  The Black Gate's benefactors had found out and took control of his sensor cluster, partying it up before sending his multi-billion dollar satellite crashing into the moon's surface.

Getting into the bar hadn't been an easy feat, either.  Bits of code required to enter was spread out across the world in different locations.  She'd had to steal each section and then reassemble them into a working program so she could access the space and even then she'd had one more barrier to pass, one that she was currently blocked by, standing in the entryway.

As a mericlusive bar, one couldn't enter unless one proved that they deserved to be there.  Wanna-be hackers had to solve a puzzle to enter each and every time they visited the bar. 

Gabby was still new to the scene and had only gotten in once before.  She hoped tonight she had the skills to get past the guardian puzzle.

Before her, in the middle of the empty room, a table with a two-sided scale appeared.  The flat saucers on each side, hanging by a bronze chain, reflected an invisible light.  Gabby stared at the apparatus and wondered what puzzle she would have to solve. 

To her left, just outside the wall, another shadowy cube formed, exactly the same dimensions as hers.  A shadowy male figure in the cube next to hers, turned its head toward her.

Gabby groaned.  In addition to solving the puzzle, she would be racing another low level hacker.  She might solve the puzzle but still not gain entrance to the Black Gate.

When a spotlight formed on top of her, she jumped and held her hand over her face to shield her eyes. 

A cheesy sounding announcer began to speak: Ladies and gentlemen!  We have two runts desiring entrance to the Black Gate!

Gabby had the horrible feeling that the whole bar was now watching them.  She wished she'd worn an outrageous skin so they wouldn't recognize her if she failed. 

Are these merely bots or will they succeed? the announcer continued.  So contestants, tonight's challenge is to find out which puzzle ball weighs more using the scales the least amount of times.  When you have completed the task, hit the red button!

A big red TEN formed above the table and started counting down.  Gabby assumed her opponent was seeing the same thing. When the number reached ZERO, eight white balls formed on the table and the announcer shouted, GO! 

Gabby took a deep breath and thought hard if she'd seen this puzzle before.  It sounded familiar, but she couldn't rely on memory.  The Black Gate puzzles were often twisted versions of the originals.  Even if one thought they knew the answer, they were advised to think deeper, lest they be lead into a dreadful trap.  They were a community of hackers so they prized creative thinking.

After running through a couple of scenarios using factors and solving equations, a simple and logical solution came to her, but she hesitated to pick up one of the balls.  She could find the heaviest by putting four balls on each side, and then whichever scale tipped more, split those four balls to groups of two and then do that one more time to find the heaviest. 

The answer using that method would be three.  It would work but she was certain that answer was too obvious.  She could see the shadowy figure on the other side with his hand above the white balls.  He had probably come to the same conclusion.  Now it was a race to see if they could figure out how to find the heaviest