Chapter 6: Absence of Proof
Josh was on the tenth cycle of the second arm block course when he heard Jess talking on the vid-screen. It doesn’t take long for him to realize that there are differences in the scores reported. It is a real-stat game, meaning it will reflect his real body. Time is the only option to improve. [You have completed this afternoon’s training. Select next mission.]
“Jess,” he calls as he walks out of the sim room. “We need to talk about this last job interview.” He was startled to notice the woman with an FBI shield branding mask. “It’s probably good you’re here as well.”
His calm attitude didn’t match the sour look on his face. “In order to complete the application for the job, I’m required to play [Pandemic]. But I’ve had a few strange messages.”
Agent Royce’s gaze became markedly more concentrated on Josh. “That’s interesting. Your interview wouldn’t happen to be with Virtual Enterprises would it?”
“Yes. Initially on the 1st, but I stopped playing as soon as the message came on until it was all clear. My first message indicated that cancelling my account could be dangerous to everyone in my family.”
Jess scowls. “And you didn’t tell us?”
“I thought it was a spam or virus message. I’ve been running the cleaner software ever since. The thing is, we’re getting close to the 11th. The message indicated that something will happen to the NPCs in the game on then and that [players] will be marked NPC if they don’t play for 5 days. There was a countdown timer on the screen until I heard you on the vid-screen. It vanished immediately.”
Agent Royce turned to him. “Although it’s circumstantial, I’ve reason to believe it’s authenticity. I’m in this town, because it’s one of the few towns that has active player accounts in the game. If even half of what you’ve said is true, we need to move your family out of here.”
Josh passed over his phone, the screenshot from the warning displayed. “I don’t know if we can.”
“I can’t prove you didn’t create it, especially with your history and stats, but it’s enough to confirm you are either a target or part of the problem. As I was repeatedly told growing up: if you can’t prove it, try to disprove. Otherwise you’ve got nothing.”
