Chapter 19
Deirdre felt disoriented. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to hopping between worlds so casually, nor for the eerie feeling of refreshment she felt upon waking. Her hand fumbled for the latch on her sleep pod, and she swung her body onto the carpeted floor.
Deirdre took a moment to collect herself and remember what she was supposed to do next. She padded into the tiny bathroom attached to her bedroom. The mirror showed a bright red notice that was becoming familiar to her.
WARNING: No camera module detected. Evidence of task completion cannot be recorded.
Your privacy is important to us. Any footage collected by this AISPA smart mirror is reviewed only by image-processing software for the purpose of providing a more accurate assessment of your grooming routine. While participation in the personal grooming module of the AISPA program is optional, we would hate to see you miss out on valuable rewards due to a non-functioning camera system.
Please schedule an appointment with a qualified technician at your earliest convenience if this problem persists. Contact AISPA support with any questions or concerns.
Deirdre dismissed this notice as she had on the other days. Her mirror's camera module was not only deactivated but obscured under a textile covering advertised to be opaque to most sensor technology. Being recorded in the bathroom was one aspect of Polaris culture that Deirdre's family was not quite ready to adopt.
Her eyes glazed over as she scrolled past the usual fluff news pieces simplified to her age level. The events she was reading about didn't seem real to her. Deidre had been warned that some dissociation was to expected within the first few weeks of Free Play. She wondered if she was experiencing this now or if her mind was simply preoccupied with the burden she had just agreed to take up in-game.
"Can you show me any news about
Happy Trails?" she asked hopefully.
The mirror was only connected to a specific news service and not to the net as a whole. For that reason, its offerings on
Happy Trails were somewhat limited. Nevertheless, the mirror was soon covered with a smattering of articles. Deirdre could see that most of them were about the various equestrian sports the game offered… score tables, interviews with champions, and the like. Unfortunately, those didn't particularly interest her at the moment. Deirdre had looked forward to competing in the sports once she had sufficiently mastered the riding mechanics, but at that time, her mind was on other matters.
She went about grooming herself with one hand while swiping past article after article with the other. Deirdre had just about given up on finding anything useful when her eyes suddenly rested on a phrase she recognized in the title of an article dated a few years back.
Inside Fort Mallow, Happy Trails' New Virtual Property Up For Auction
Deirdre immediately began reading the article with interest.
Happy Trails had clearly gone through some changes since the article was written, giving it an almost uncanny feeling. The article was accompanied by a few in-game pictures, most notably of the salmon-colored Fort itself, and yet there was something off about them. Deirdre wondered if
Happy Trails had gone through some graphical changes since the shots were taken or if it was simply that sacrifices had to be made in transferring dreams to images.
Deirdre was all too well aware that
Happy Trails had existed long before she joined, but she hadn't fully appreciated how much history she had missed out on. The girls' outfits in the photos looked so basic compared to the ones she had seen in the game. Deirdre realized that she wouldn't have looked too out of place in her beginner's tunic in these old photos.
But what really fascinated her were the follow-ups about the family that ended up buying the property.
---
"You don't have to meet me here every day. I know where the station is," Lee said.
"I don't mind. It's on my way," answered his sister, Mirabelle.
The only sound was the footsteps of the two siblings. School had been dismissed over an hour ago, and the other kids in Lee's after-school classic video game club had already left.
"No, it's not," Lee retorted, "If you get off the train here, they charge you for two trips, not one."
"We can afford it."
Lee sighed. That wasn't really the point. It wasn't that he didn't like seeing her. She was the closest family she had. They weren't biological siblings. Or even step-siblings, really, as that would require their parents to be married. Like everything else about them, the relationship between Lee's mom and Mirabelle's mom was complicated, chaotic, and unstable.
"We're on our own for dinner tonight," Mirabelle explained to her brother.
"What a surprise…"
"It's ok. I was thinking we could order drone delivery. I got another gift code from you-know-who."
Lee gave his sister a look. He did not, in fact, know who. Lee had never met them or spoken to Mirabelle's black market connection. All he knew was that Mirabelle had been engaging in illegal in-game real-money trading again.
Mirabelle only gave her brother a confident smirk in return. Lee didn't dare confront her about the risk she was taking in earshot of the drones. They weren't supposed to have the capability to monitor conversations, but Lee wasn't convinced. Instead, he quickened his pace and diverted the conversation to lighter topics. The two siblings discussed the day they had and their progress toward their respective AISPA goals the entire train ride back to the apartment block where they both lived.
Once they were safely inside the apartment where Lee lived with his mom, Mirabelle placed the order through her a tablet hanging by the front door.
"I don't really see the big deal about this," Mirabelle said, noting Lee's slightly disapproving look. "If being good at real-world stuff gets you in-game rewards, why shouldn't it work the other way? How is it fair that my free-play skills are only good for free-play stuff while other people live good lives in both worlds?"
"I think… isn't the idea that the free-play rewards are supposed to make you work harder in the real world? Doing it the other way kind of defeats the purpose…" Lee's heart wasn't really in what he was saying. By now, his stomach was growling, and it was becoming difficult to maintain his principles in the face of a hot fresh meal.
"So what did you do to earn this?" Lee asked curiously as the two of them sat down to unpack their meal.
"Oh, you should have seen me. I had to track down this girl halfway across the continent and bring her back before the reset. There were barfights and wolves, and bandits…"
Lee listened spellbound as Mirabelle gave him a blow-by-blow account of her free-play adventures. With his stomach full and his imagination fired up, all the stresses of his life just seemed to melt away for a time.
"I really wish you could join me in
Happy Trails sometime," Mirabelle finished wistfully, "I know how those girls can be but… you know I would protect you, don't you?"
"I know. You always do," Lee answered, "But I feel better knowing that for a few hours a day, you don't have to."
---
"We spotted three more Ottoman planes last night. Kazuo thinks they've set up an airbase somewhere in the archipelago," announced Gabe as he sat sideways with his knees bent and his feet against the loveseat armrest, a tablet resting on his thighs.
"Sounds like it," agreed Ben from the couch set perpendicular "But if they're still searching by air, that means they haven't realized that the entrance to the Kaiser's tomb is underwater. We still have our lead."
"Yeah, but we better explore it soon. You up for taking the boat out tonight?"
"Can't. Mom's making me transfer to
Happy Trails, remember?" answered Ben, "My application goes through tonight. You and Kazuo can go."
"Oh yeah, I remember now. Well, if we manage to find the scepter and send it back to Tokyo, you can help us choose the reward when you get back."
"Thanks. Wish I could go with you."
"Well, at least you'll get to see the Fort again," responded Gabe sympathetically, "It is kind of fun getting to boss around all those girls, isn't it?"
Ben grimaced. There was a time when he also enjoyed the fawning attention he and his brothers got every time they visited their mother's property in
Happy Trails. But lately, the idea had started to lose some of its charm. "I guess…" he agreed reluctantly, "But doesn't it feel a bit… wrong?"
"What do you mean?" Gabe asked in genuine confusion, "Mom says it's ok… and it's not like the girls have to be there. It's just the price they pay for being part of Mom's awesome Fort…"
Before Ben could respond, his mother's voice cut through the room like a knife. "Ben, you missed out on all the fun last night. If you had started your transfer application sooner, you could have been there," she chided.
"Mom, I sent it as soon as you told me you were sending that Sarah girl after her two days ago." Ben answered evenly, "And we only found out that she succeeded yesterday." As soon as it was clear that the conversation was directed at Ben, Gabe had taken his tablet and scampered off.
"Well, I can't always predict when I'll need you back at the Fort. I can't do everything myself, you know. If you boys would spend more time there, we could… "
"Well… what can I do? The AISPA guidelines say that kids my age shouldn't spend too much of their free play with their caretakers…" Ben answered hesitantly. Of course, his mother knew this. There was a good chance she was the one who wrote that guideline.
"I'm just saying that we're going to have a lot of catching up to do tonight. And you should be more excited. Don't you want to take your revenge on that girl who harassed and humiliated us?"
Ben didn't, especially, but he knew it was the wrong answer to say so. "Yeah, I guess so… I just kind of don't want to think about…" His hopes of bringing the conversation to a swift end faded quickly as he realized she would not let this go.