My Virtual Darcy 🏆 2021 Wattys Shortlister

24 - V

This time, I did not scream as the flock of bats brushed past us. I stood up after their passage, proud of having kept my wits. "Ain't even scared--"

The last flying mammal collided with my face, its membranes slapping me furiously on the nose as its owner clawed my scalp for freedom. With an angry shriek, the bat freed its feet from my hair and flapped after its roosting group.

"What was that?" Theo's voice resonated on my right.

"Nothing." I groaned and wiped something sticky on my cheek.

"Victoria?" Theo fumbled then pushed the door open, startling his mentor, who was sitting in front of Batman's desk. As she turned to face us, a login form appeared, quickly replaced by her screen saver. The supercomputer went to sleep, displaying her signature V, now circled in red, on each monitor.

"We need your help. We think that someone has taken control of InfiCorp using Bridges."

Victoria's jaws tightened. Her stare wavered from Theo to me, and back to Theo. "What makes you think so?"

"I checked the connection times of the technical team and board of directors. They've been immersed for days."

"For days? You know that's impossible to say in-game for so long without perishing." Victoria shook her head.

"It shouldn't be possible, but the logs say otherwise. Our guess is that the same hackers that stole memories until last month have improved their methods, and can now control awoken players."

"Hackers?" She sniggered. "I heard about them on the dark web. These idiots lack the talent and subtleness for such a delicate operation."

Theo shrugged. "And yet they managed to zombify your successor."

"Romano is competent, but he is no genius." She pouted and brushed an imaginary speck of dirt off her skinny leg.

"Are you okay?" The question escaped my lips before I could scold myself against it. "You look like you lost some weight since last time," I added when she drilled her sapphire eyes into my soul.

A shadow crossed her countenance. "The last weeks have been harsh on me."

"Hit a roadblock with your project?"

"Which project?"

"The Empathy prototype?"

"Oh, that project. No, it's on standby. I'm working on something else at present." Her gaze fell on her bony fingers, and she stilled, her mind drifting away from the conversation.

Theo squirmed on his seat. "Victoria? Err, the technical team and board of directors?"

She snapped back to reality. "What about them?"

"Can you release them?"

She let out a dry chuckle, that escalated to an uncontrollable cackle, and bloomed into full guffaw. As we gaped at her inopportune hilarity, she wiped away a tear and snickered, "What? Can't you see the irony? These morons wanted to be loaded into robots, and now they're the robots. Forced to go on with their life and incapable to react as they watch how the Bridge is used to help people fight for freedom and justice." She stifled a last snort. "Pfft. Killjoys. I'm gonna grab something to eat."

The echo of her boots stomping the stone floor faded away to the kitchen.

Theo sighed, his head between his hands as he fought to process today's events. "If Victoria can't help us, we might have to remove Bridges manually. It would have to be a synchronised manoeuvre, otherwise the hackers would have time to react."