When I first came home after the debrief I felt like I never
wanted to leave my room again. What could be quite accurately described as the
most stressful time of my life was over and I felt I had finally found the
resolution that I had craved for 10 years. That lasted for about a day.
My body still hurt and I had not attained the state of rest
I promised myself, but there was so much going on. Due to my level of
involvement I was quickly granted access to virtual reality and was working
side by side with Brian on the massive project of reverse engineering. I found
satisfaction in being able to look upon the events of camp woodlands from the
safety of Labresci. I was finally able to properly process what had happened.
But as I thought about it, I felt unsettled.
The virtual reality was destroyed; however it was proven to
be quiet a robust system once established. Forrest discovered a secondary
system at camp woodland which was able to keep up some form of network on the
back of a desktop computer. Plus there were his voices which he heard whilst at
Quintrow as well as everyone else being manipulated in their own homes to show
up at camp woodlands on one day. A thorough investigation found no sign of any
devices which could have worked as a relay for the VR signal in these areas. And
there wasn’t even any proof that whatever caused it was dependant on the VR at
camp woodlands.
We took down the head councillor, but Leila wasn’t taken
into custody. At the moment we couldn’t even get in contact with her due to
some university in Plotvesus claiming information rights. Apparently Maria was
there as well, but at least we had Forrest. Still it felt fishy.
Still I didn’t dwell on them. I was working as hard as I
could to unravel this mystery in support of the rest of the Labresci staff so
there wasn’t any more I could do. Right?
This familiar unease persisted until the day Alice walked
into my room. She generally didn’t have that much contact with the research team,
tending to be based more in the outside world.
‘You haven’t had any contact with Maria recently have you?’
she asked me. That was not a good question.
‘No, not since she moved to Plotevesus. I’ve been a little
bit busy with my work,’ I smiled sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood.
‘Well she has been legally declared missing. Her parent’s
lost contact with her shortly after her return. All attempts to contact her
since have also failed. We think she may have been kidnapped but there is the
possibility that she may contact someone she knows.’
I lowered my gaze as I tried to process this information.
This didn’t shock me; it was almost as if I was expecting it.
‘Wasn’t she at a university, have they lost contact?’ The same
one giving us trouble with Liela.
‘They are denying knowledge of the situation,’ she replied. I
had since come to despise that place.
‘So what can I do to help?’ I asked.
‘First of all, if she contacts you, you get where she is,
what she’s doing and who she’s with in as much detail as possible. Priority on
where.’ I nodded.
‘Meanwhile, focus on trying to locate another source of a VR
signal. Chances are, Maria will be close.’
‘So you think they are starting up again?’ I asked.
‘Of course, and we have to find them before anyone else.
After all, some people will attack them with a little more fatality if they
win,’ she said with a knowing look.
‘So Luck is still at large?’ I asked.
‘Yes, and until he is caught again, consider him a very
worthy rival,’ she said with a smirk.
