Virtual Deceit by James R. Stratton

Kneeling on the tatami mat in her room dressed in a white hopi coat and hakama trousers, Joan drew the Japanese pictograph for Sammy’s gaming name on a strip of white cloth. A katana, a modern reproduction of the Samurai long sword, gleamed on its stand next to her. The blade was a ferro-ceramic composite, half the weight of Japanese steel, and electric blue to boot. Grasping the sword in both hands, Joan touched the flat of the blade to her forehead and slid one thumb to the edge. Blood blossomed. She set the katana on its stand and pressed her bloody thumb to the cloth. “For you, Sammy,” she whispered and tied the cloth around her forehead.

Virtual Deceit was deserted when she slipped in. She flipped the lock and walked to the counter.

He stepped out of the storeroom staring. “Hi, Joan. What’s with the outfit? You looking for a game? It’s early.” He glanced at the hilt of the katana jutting above her right shoulder.

“No, I have something to show you.” She held out Sammy’s VR unit. “I found something.”

Lucian grasped the unit with his finger tips, like it was smoking, and held it at arms length. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. “So?”

Lucian frowned, donned a sensor cap and he plugged into the unit. “You going to join me?”

She nodded and slipped her own sensor cap on and hit the activation pad on her unit. The steamy clearing on the banks of the Ganges River appeared, only now it was a tiny glade just the size of the store’s front room. Lucian materialized, head swiveling as he took in the scenario. “Nice. What did you want to show me?” He slid one hand into his back pocket.

“If you watch, you’ll see some interference in the VR.” Joan tapped a button on her unit. Static rained down leaving them standing in the shop for an instant before returning them to the clearing.

“See!” Joan said brightly. “I saw the same thing just before Sammy had his accident, and hacked the code on his unit last night. What did you add to the game program, Lucian? I found it but I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Lucian stood tight-lipped staring, one hand in his pocket. He rubbed his neck with his free hand. “Joan, sweetie, I like you but you’re putting me in a tough spot. Just go home and forget Sammy, please.”

She felt a rushing in her head, pressure that made her ears ring. So, he did cause Sammy’s death! He’s afraid I know.

“Forget him? No!” She breathed deep to slow her breathe. “Now, tell me what you did. Only you could have added that coding. You’re the only VR dealer Sammy bought from. What does it do? You probably killed him.”

Lucian smiled, a grimace that displayed all his teeth but conveyed no warmth. “Joan, I’ll tell you what you want to know, but remember I gave you the chance to walk away.” He stepped closer. “That subroutine was developed for a partner of mine for a little business venture. My partner buys information from businesses and sells it to their competitors. I’m the pipeline between seller and buyer.”

Joan felt a jolt run through her. “No, you don’t pass data along. We do, the gamers using your VR units and game scenarios. Your subroutine uses the wireless network of VR units to pass the data along. But Lucian, your program and the data has to pass through our brains. Something went wrong. Sammy got cut out while his head was full of your stolen data, right?”

Lucian looked away and rubbed his cheek. “Well, yeah.” He turned back and locked gazes with her. “The programmer I hired included a subroutine so each data packet would multiply and stay resident in the brain until it was transmitted. My partner sets up the deals with corporate employees to give us their employer’s trade secrets. With my setup, buyer and seller never meet. The seller transmits the data at a certain time and gets an untraceable debit card pre-loaded with the agreed amount of credit.”

Lucian looked away. “Well, the subroutine is like a computer virus. Once it was uploaded to Sammy’s head, it continued to multiply. When he got cut out of the network, there was nothing to shut it down and no place for it to go. The data multiplied until it shut down his brain.”

“Sneaker advertising? That’s what killed Sammy?” Tears ran down her face as she stepped forward. “Damn you!” Joan whipped out the katana. The noises from the birds and insects around the glade hushed at the ringing shush of the blade being unsheathed.

Lucian smiled but kept his hand in his pocket. “Joan, sweetie, don’t get all medieval on me. Look, there’s a lot of money to be made and I’m willing to cut you in. What happened to Sammy was an accident.”

Joan glanced at Lucian’s pocket. Holding the sword high and to one side, she slid forward. “What kind of a monster are you? You mess around with Sammy’s brain so he dies, and all you can worry about is money? I’m going to enjoy this.”

Lucian’s face changed in that instant. The smiling friendly shop owner she knew vanished, leaving behind a man with a feral grin and a cold, dead gaze. “I’m sorry, sweetie. That’s life in the real world. And remember, I gave you every chance to walk away.” He jerked his hand from his pocket and pointed at her. Except his hand was empty.

Joan smiled. “Lucian, did you forget that this game scenario is based on Norse and Hindu mythology? Guns didn’t exist then.”

Lucian turned his hand over examining his fingers, trying to will the weapon he knew he held to appear as the gaming software erased it from his perceptions. Joan laughed. He’s lucky he hasn’t shot himself. She laughed again when he slapped the cut-off button on Sammy’s VR unit.

A fear-filled rictus flashed across Lucian’s face as she danced forward, sword held high. “Please, Joanie! I’ll do anything.”

“Yes, you will,” she whispered and struck. Lucian screamed wide-eyed as the sword swooped down at him. But the razor edge whispered by him, just ruffling his long gray hair.

Red flashed overhead as a stilted mechanical voice announced, “An inappropriate disconnection has been detected. Emergency shut down has been instituted.” Static rained down and the jungle clearing morphed into the front room of Virtual Deceit. Lucian lay on the floor, muscles jerking. The ribbon cable running from the VR unit to his electrode cap was severed clean an inch from the top of his head. Joan slammed her sword down, burying the tip in the linoleum between his legs so Lucien grunted and jerked. She knelt next to him and yanked her VR unit off her belt.

“Now, you won’t have to speculate about what happened to Sammy. You get to experience it firsthand. But, I’m going to give you the chance you didn’t give Sammy.” She turned and threw her VR unit through the front window of the shop. The plate glass crashed into shards and tinkled across the sidewalk. In the back of the shop an alarm clanged.

“The police will be here soon. You got two choices. One, you can keep your mouth shut about what you did to Sammy. Who knows, maybe they’ll figure out a way to stop the runaway virus in your head. You think they can do that, without knowing what it is? The didn’t have any luck with Sammy.”

She jerked him closer by his goatee. “Two, you tell them and hope the doctors figure out how to stop the virus before it kills you. But, then you’ll be looking at a bunch of charges. Up to you.”

Joan untied her head cloth bearing Sammy’s name and kissed it, tears trailing down her face. “Goodbye, Sammy. Time for me to go,” and looped it around the hilt to her sword so it dangled like a banner. She turned and walked out the front door.


Big Pulp - the magazine of fantasy \| mystery \| adventure \| horror \| science fiction \| romance