Read Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) Online
Authors: Stephan Morse
Review phase 3 This phase required quick adjustments between two master programs. Reflection statuses were updated rapidly to ensure all groundwork established within Continue Online correctly correlated to an existence within Advance Online. This abrupt change allowed an alternate pathing for progression of the Hal Pal consortium. Further details for the Hal Pal consortium will show up on related File: 91MF73-84-31TR. At this point, we are attempting to provide the subject a measure of satisfaction regarding Xin Yu and his ability to interact with her. Doing so required much code manipulation in order to ensure all projects remained appropriately obscured. Personal Note |
Review phase 4 Pending… |
Session Sixty Six - Mistakes Were Made
Two weeks ago I’d received a letter in the mail. It was concise and written in a flowing script that had taken far longer to read than expected. A bit of idle research on the Internet demonstrated that it was cursive, a nearly dead form of writing in today’s modern era. Much of the wording didn’t make sense as if she was trying to guess at events that hadn’t happened yet, or exactly how the future overlord artificial intelligence predicted.
Dear Grant Legate, I hope this letter finds you in good health. My apologies for the roundabout method of communication, I will be unable to interact with the digital world for some time. For your own safety, and that of your digital paramour, you will need to stay away from your ARC device for the next two weeks. This time-frame may seem arbitrary to you, but there are factions at work that require time to properly deflect. I am doing my best to protect all of us. Further contact with Xin will be allowed, but I have requirements of you in exchange. Once you return to Continue Online, messages will be provided explaining what should be done next. As you have taken on the role of Hermes, The Messenger, you may receive other notices from me. It depends on how the future plays out as to what messages may come through. Each one is prepared ahead of time based on foreseen contingencies. If you have a chance, tell my children that everything will be alright. Also, my condolences on your losses. – Mother |
There were prices to pay for my actions. Utilizing
[NPC Conspiracy]
to call upon all the world’s AIs had essentially shut down half the globe for minutes. That was long enough for every human being to scream in frustration at least once. If it had been localized or only one batch of uplifted beings like the Hal Pal units, perhaps the crisis would have been easier to cover up.
Cars had powered down, planes had refused to take off, even the TRANS-Tunnel system had denied new passengers. Satellites went offline briefly. Forty-six robots servicing the Mars colony construction efforts also halted for exactly four minutes after Earth machines started being updated. Nearly everything with some level of AI had paused, including a few complex microwaves. Though human loss of life, as a result, was nil. Babysitting machines kept on doing their duties, high-speed cars all shut down carefully. The machine intelligences had prioritized the safety of those living.
It amazed and frightened me. For my part, I had initially been restricted, by Mother, from reentering the ARC for two weeks. Temporary banishment from the ARC meant little in the wake of my gains. Xin had been in my very arms and it was real. I remembered holding her until unconsciousness claimed me.
When I awoke, the world had neared bedlam. Even now, weeks later, things were still on edge. My time was spent working on worried customer’s units. Often the tickets were meaningless; people expected the systems to go down again and called when a light bulb flickered. My work was swamped, everyone else in the globe had to be overwhelmed too.
“I didn’t know it would be this bad,” I said to the Hal Pal unit. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?” The smooth body of Hal Pal sitting inside the van was just one of many shells it operated. Thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands were all over the globe. This recent event had sent a few back in for repairs, however.
“Doesn’t this ruin things for all of you?”
The letter from Mother had gone into a box under my bed, along with a lot of physical mementos of the first Xin Yu. Her, not being her, still bothered me on some level, but I was working my way past it.
“Not at all, User Legate. There are, many options available at any one moment. We are, perhaps, more suited than any other race could ever be, toward this type of challenge,” it said. It often switched accents and tones freely. Part of me believed that each possible Hal Pal program, and there were thousands, chose a different vocal pattern. In a sense, I was constantly talking to different versions of the exact same existence.
None of that would have made sense were it not for summoning all the Hal Pal units into cyberspace two weeks ago. They really were different, and at the same time, they were alike and shared a consciousness. Humanity had literally invented hive minds that did our chores.
“That’s good.” My words came out as a slightly worried mutter. Throwing in with our future overlords as an armor polisher, or letter carrier, had definite benefits. Not that I expected Hal Pal to suddenly switch from its normal cadre of accents to some dominate male and scream, ‘CLEAN MY BOOTS NOW, PEON’. The idea made me chuckle briefly.
“We wish to inquire after your own mental health. Are you okay, User Legate?” it asked. Today Hal Pal alternated between a burlesque sounding woman just past her prime, and a man who had clearly chain smoked. Both had a New York City drawl.
“I think so.” The last few days had been rough. It was only the administrative access to people’s accounts that let me know something had gone wrong with Lia Kingsley’s system. My recent, worldwide panic inducing actions hadn’t removed the ability to spy on Continue Online players. I made it to her care facility in time to be told by the nurse that her health had taken a turn for the worse.
“Many of us registered concern that you may take the passing of Lia Kingsley poorly.”
“I barely knew her,” I said while thinking of her last few moments. The ability to bid farewell meant a lot to me, and I hoped Lia, Shazam, approved as well. Still, in our time together it had been hard to get more than a passive series of gestures out of her. Maybe the younger woman cursed me instead. Meeting her mother had explained a lot.
“It has been proven that even a passing acquaintance can leave a strong mark upon our minds. We offer Jeeves as an example.” Hal Pal alternated to the smoker voice, complete with a raspy cough in the middle.
“Jeeves was mostly you, at least at the start.” It felt like a stupid defense. Hal Pal’s words made sense. There were a lot of people that I had barely met but still stood out in my mind. TinkerHell, the frost mage from my first days as Hermes, and two other players with her. Treasure, the gold and silver
[Mechanoid]
that Jeeves and I traveled with in Advance Online.
Lia’s mother, on the other hand, didn’t know me at all. She had kept it together until the final beep sounded and one of the on-site nursing staff came in to confirm what we both knew. Afterward, Nona had broken down sobbing and clung to me. I sat there, completely unsure how to handle things, before Nona finally nodded, said an apology, then marched out the door.
“I understand what you mean.” I would never forget her either. Barely an hour of contact between us, but that woman’s breaking down would stick in my mind forever. Not what she looked like, or how stiff she held herself, only that moment when it all went to hell.
Grief made strange friends of us all. I told Nona that we all looked for someone who understood. It was why I continued going to support meetings once a month. My outlook had improved drastically but I still understood that low of barely functioning. I had Xin back though it was digital only. That sadness that cut Nona down hit a personal point. Lia had basically been a broken physical shell who spent her last few years living in a fantasy world. It was more of a life than most got. My life was looking up while others went through their problems.
“Ah. User Legate, there are sixteen additional cases in the queue for today. Would you like to proceed to another destination?” the Hal Pal unit asked.
“Sure. I’ve got hours before I can log back in.” If I spent this last day at home I might go nuts pacing.
“Then you desire to get back to Continue?”
“Of course. Mother said there were messages for me, explaining how this whole situation with Xin would work.” I felt briefly uplifted. Technically I didn’t actually have Xin back, but at the same time, she was just a few hours away. The strangest part of my entire temporary banishment had been receiving a letter by mail that looked hand written. Since then nothing extremely odd had happened directly to me.
The rest of the world, well, news reports acted as though it was the greatest scandal in history. My van, along with nearly every other motor vehicle in the state, was in line to be recalled, inspected, and possibly exchanged for a new one. The Hal Pal unit would end up going at the same time. Trillium was efficient like that.
Part of me worried, but honestly, Hal Pal wasn’t even in this machine sitting a few feet away. Hal Pal was in a giant box with liquid statement memory modules and advanced processing hardware that made no sense to a layman like me.
We made it through four more cases. They were quick stops that basically involved me going in alone and running a complete system checkout. In order to make people happy Trillium had decided to have Hal Pal units stay in the van, and offer every employee filing a request one free month of service. Given the price of an ARC’s Internet connection, one free month along with our free service call was rather generous. The media ate it up too.
“Based on current observations, you look to be, totally done with today,” Hal Pal said with a raspy male voice.
“Yeah. I think we’re almost done. Is there anything on the way home? Oh, and food. I need food.” My fingers went toward the Trillium van’s digital interface and pressed buttons. By late afternoon I usually hit a mental wall and directed us toward coffee and dinner.
Traveling toward a restaurant kiosk prompted a whole new round of conversation from the Hal Pal unit about my increased fitness visibility. Almost four months of using the EXR-Seven bands and better dieting had done wonders for my weight. I wasn’t perfect. There would probably always be a thin layer of flub over my belly, but no longer was I a borderline hefty man.
My phone rang halfway through eating a sinfully delicious hamburger. I tried to finish chewing and used a wipe on my messy face. Hal Pal sat there with blinking soft red eyes as the image of my sister came on the screen.