Excerpt 1 from Ascension Ceres:
Two hours later, E and Perry saw the TGS headquarters building. Once a gleaming glass and electrically-lit edifice, it had now been shattered by projectile weapons and sparked electricity. The bus stopped and E helped Perry get out and sat her down on the stairs to the main door. He saw people scurrying out carrying cardboard boxes full of possessions.
“I’ll be right back.”
E entered the building and found a console kiosk and logged in. He accessed the personnel system, but there was too much to go through. How could he get W’s real name? Useless. Then he remembered Perry mentioning her family. He perused the records for Puncher and found an address. He saved it, but what next?
E ran to the wood and gold building directory and skimmed down the list until he saw “7A-7X.” Hmm. He stopped a security guard as he was leaving.
“Is the seventh floor still occupied?”
“Sorry, no information there,” said the guard, “but you should get out of here ASAP.”
Seeing the elevators were not safe, E took the stairs up. He found himself in a hallway of frosted glass and silver-handled door knobs. Let’s see, A, B, C and he jogged down to W. Finding the door locked, he tried to break in with the butt of his EM gun, but couldn’t. Just then the door opened.
Track 6922 opened the door and E could see a couple of other people clearing out shelves and cupboards.
“A massive cyberattack shut down TGS three days ago,” said 6922. “All management has left. Which model are you looking for?”
“Where is W?”
“She’s at these coordinates,” he said while handing him a mini-crystal. “Be careful out there, and—just know that she won’t know who you are. And you may not like what you find.”
***
E opened the hatch from the selftaxi and a light drizzle hit him. He looked up at the sun covered in red mist.
“Wait here,” he said to Perry. She nodded.
E squished through the mud until he got on the stone path. Around him there was only 5 feet of visibility in the fog.
He walked until he saw a lone domicile in front of him, right where Track said it would be.
He knocked. She opened the door and looked up at him. She was wearing a yellow parka and her green eyes were under black hair.
“You’re real.”
She nodded.
“Do you remember me?”
“One of my favorites,” she said with her natural-sounding voice.
“What does it all mean?”
“I’m just a stand-in. What are you looking for?”
E shook his head.
There was supposed to be companionship in Eden. This was a farce.
“You’re just an employee. You’re complicit.”
“Look, I didn’t mean any harm to you.”
“No one means harm in the virtual world.”
E turned and jogged back to the taxi.
“Wait,” cried W.
E sat next to Perry.
“What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.
The small EV sped toward the aurora nuclearus. They were frightened of what would happen.
***