Андреа Хёст - The Starfighter Invitation

[[We’ve never programmed an entity that has achieved self-realisation—nor do we truly want to—but we can produce Constructs with behavioural processes complex enough to fool you Bios. In virtual Challenges, you will for the most part interact with Constructs, but an administrating Cybercognate might step in at any time, to handle unusual interactions.]]

"And which am I talking to now?"

[[Cybercognate.]]

Cycog or a Construct of a Cycog. I frowned. "The world administrator was, um, Arefiel. You mean I’m talking to an administrator pretending to be a fledgling? Or, who was…in the demos the Cycog was Ryzon, and te called terself a Concierge. Which are you?"

[[Which do you think I am?]]

But there was no real way for me to be sure I wasn’t just talking to a Construct, and I still definitely mostly didn’t believe Cycogs were anything but fictional, and I suppose my expression said that clearly enough, because Dio laughed, and drifted down to hover a few inches in front of my face.

[[In a world game like this, several Cycogs would ensure its running: a combination of the city administrators and the world administrator, and perhaps even a dedicated Concierge on particularly populated worlds. It only takes a fraction of an administrator’s attention to supplement the work of the Constructs, so a city administrator could be…entertaining many thousands of Bios at the same time.]]

Ter tone held clear note of innuendo. "Cycogs sort of do sex work, then?" I asked, surprised. "It’s not something they find uncomfortable? Or boring?"

[[Is breathing boring? So little of a city administrator’s attention would need to be devoted to any individual Bio that it is almost autonomous. And some of us enjoy the puzzle aspect of Bio psychology. Besides, just as Bios go through a process of learning themselves, most of us put on a synthsuit at least once, to experience a Bio sense range. Some of us like it a great deal, and amuse ourselves mightily, while others wear synths simply because at times it is convenient to have hands.]]

"Oh. So like you are…you can’t touch things? At all?"

[[Not in a way you would find meaningful. Synthsuits also help us move about: in this simulation we are cheating, but a Cycog in The Synergis moves at perhaps a quarter of a Type Three’s walking pace. So slow, so dull. We could, of course, just ride our Bios, but they have a sad tendency to fall off cliffs, or down wells, so we often wear fast things, and leave you in our dust. Fledglings have their own progression in The Synergis, and I should gain at least one synthsuit during the game.]]

I wasn’t sure I liked this development. Did that mean any person I met could be a Cycog pretending to be a Bio? And Dio was an uncomfortable enough companion as a glowing mote. Giving tem hands seemed like a recipe for mischief.

Then again… "So you could wear a synthetic Chocobo and I could ride you about?"

Dio laughed. [[You can ride me any way you wish, small hare, should the occasion arise.]]

I blushed, and then was annoyed with myself for reacting. I wasn’t sure if Dio had just figured out a new way to tease me, or was actually flirting, but it wasn’t a complication I wanted to deal with.

"What happens if someone who’s young—really young—plays Veil ?" I asked, in hopes of distracting my own personal peanut gallery.

[[Look at the player details of that junior guild fellow of yours.]]

I frowned, then searched on Sprocket’s new name.

Wraith

[Roach]

Rank: 0

Under Eighteen, Content Access Limited

Status: Online/Challenge

Accepting: [Email] [Message]

Guild: [Corpse Light]

Location: [Vessa]

"How is the content limited?"

[[A number of Challenges are unavailable, and others present modified content. Consumables adjust to age restrictions, and certain player interactions are blocked.]]

"Blocked how? With the hate-mail those players decided to send to Nina Stella, they still sent it, but email can be blocked at the server level. What happens if someone tries to, uh, grab a kid?"

[[This.]]

I gasped, because a blue light had gripped me. It looked very similar to the lan that I had been struggling to control to gain my rank, but felt like icy jelly, with barely enough give for me to breathe.

[[That, again, is a convenience of this simulation. The actions of Bios are naturally more difficult to control in The Synergis itself.]]

"What if the player lies about their age?"

[[Good luck with that.]]

Starting with a Core Unit based on your self-image would make that difficult, but unless Ryzonart really could read minds, Dio seemed over-confident to me. There were so many potential pitfalls to true virtual reality, and it surely wouldn’t have been possible for Ryzonart to anticipate them all.

I realised I was stressing about this, picturing outraged newspaper headlines and point-scoring politicians, because I was worried that The Synergis would be snatched away from me. That I wouldn’t get my virtual spaceship, or attend a magic school, or experience any of the thousands of life goals true virtual reality could let me achieve. I was far less concerned about the possibility that Ryzonart was run by aliens with a secret agenda, or the chance that Cycogs were real.

Well, I supposed it depended on the secret agenda.

I packed away all the tight-stomach feelings, deciding that since I would not be able to impact how governments might react to the reality of the virtual, I’d best just focus on enjoying as much of DS as possible, as quickly as possible.

"I’m going to log out, Dio," I said. "If it’s true that jumping in and out will maximise the number of times I can work on ranking each day."

[[Yes, you can optimise the mandatory shut-out that way.]]

I was reading the logout information. "Do I really have to put myself in the Soup before I log out? Aren’t I safe in my Snug?"

[[Safe, yes, but if you log out in that chair you’re likely to wake with a crick in your neck, and sitting in a puddle. The Soup will place your Core Unit in suspension.]]

"So the beds are just decorative?"

[[The beds are most certainly being put to use.]]

I grimaced at Dio, but otherwise ignored ter amusement. "Do I need to sleep at all in the game?"

[[It’s not uncommon for players to experience a level of mental fatigue in extended virtual environments. That is part of the reason you are required to log out—and why you will usually be transitioned to at least ten minutes of natural sleep during any standard logout. Physically, you will tire less easily than outside the simulation, but there is nothing to bar you from sleeping if you wish.]]

"If I log out in the bed, will you leave me there, or move me?"

[[That would depend on how long you are gone.]]

I really didn’t like the idea of Dio moving me while I was gone, even though none of this was real, and Dio was probably a Construct. Sighing, I walked over to Storage and opened it, contemplating myself in the mirror-reflection of the technomagic goop.

Before facing the mint-chill, I took a moment to sign up for the limited player Challenge voidMaster had recommended, purely because it was apparently the most prestigious. It looked like I could register for it without starting it right now.

Proving Ground

Seven circles to the Crown.

Solo

Narrative, PVP, Prestige

Length: one to four hours, staged (1 of 7).

Virtual (94,234/100,000).

Custom suppression modal.

Then I selected the [Logout] option, and was given five seconds to put myself away.

I obediently stepped in, wondering if logging out of such a solid reality would be rough, and then my thoughts greyed out to sleep.