Gaia Verse

I woke up and frowned, wondering what the blade contained. I’d like to say in the Real World I was a fearsome hacker—wanted by the C.I.A., F.B.I., Interpol, and half a dozen other organizations.

Unfortunately, I’m not. As far as computers went I was average at best, but I knew people in this place who were all of those things and more.

I rolled out of bed and phased into a different outfit. I flexed a few pairs of claws before donning a simple pair of gloves.

Bmp. Bmp. Bmp.

I sighed and peeked through the eye hole—Leon.

I opened the door and stared at him expectantly.

Nothing.

I rolled my eyes and smacked him upside the head. I heard a dull thunk and whirr of wheels, and stepped back to see what he would do.

“Good morning, Una909,” I grunted in reply. “We have many w-w-w-w-w-” I growled. The poor CP had been a tragic victim of a trapped Gaian who had been a Predator in the Real World. They had attempted to provide some ease in life by erasing his hard-drive—like a fresh start, but there were too many glitches.

“Leon,” I gently prodded. The CP stopped and rebooted itself. This was one of the reasons I avoided being home.

“Good morning, Una909. We have many wonderful things going on in the Verse today. Will you be joining us?”

“Not today Leon,” the phrase uttered by over half the population when he came knocking. I watched him walk away and wondered if Giz could fix him.

Niya flew down and perched on my head.

“And good morning to you, too,” I murmured. “Can you run this to Giz?” With a rough caw she grabbed the blade and flew off.

…

I walked through the forests, enjoying the early morning. It wasn’t always like this.

At first they had tried to give certain places certain weather patterns, but no one liked it. In some places there was only sun, and in others, solely rain. They eventually created a random weather creater that modeled itself on the Real World.

I reached his house and didn’t bother knocking.

“Yea, thanks fer knocking,” he muttered to himself.

“Welcome,”

“I don’t know what they were looking for,” he sighed. “There is nothing on there of importance.” I flopped down into a chair and glared at the ceiling. With a half thought I transferred a grand into his account, bypassing his authorization. That was about my limit with the hacker capabilities.

“This isn’t worth that, or anything really.”

“I know,” I sighed, getting to my feet. “I want you to fix Leon. I’ll pay more if it proves necessary,” he blinked at me in shock.

“I’m not sure what’s wrong with him though,” he looked confused and unsure.

“You and I both know you can do it,” I said as I left. “Just ask him if he wants some help.” Niya flew out as I was closing the door.

I liked Giz well enough, but his house literally buzzed with energy. Most of the better hackers hummed, that alone should tell you something.

…

I reached Barton Town and headed for the market. I took a moment to take in the place I had once called home and sighed. People had certainly accepted their fate. I could see children—even newborns among the people at the market.

I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. Either way it was what it was, and I certainly wasn’t looking for a way out anymore.

A bell went off in my head signaling a PM from someone.

To: Una909
Subject: Mission

I sighed before opening it and reading the assignment. I frowned before making it disappear, and headed out of B.T. and into the woods.

Not many headed out here, mostly because of all the Animated that lurked behind every object and shadow. The combination of rings I wore prevented all but the stronger, or hard headed from challenging me.

After a time I reached the fountain. I could see Rufus perched on the outer rim watching birds flit from tree to tree.

“You called?” I said, stepping into the clearing. Okay, I admit, I have a thing for the dramatics. Not only did they actually work to intimidate, they also told people whether or not they were dealing with imposters. I say some cheesy stuff, but when the bigger players know when someone’s trying to be and is laying it on way too thick.

Rufus nodded. “Indeed. We have a mission of the utmost importance and require your assistance. You are the best in your field and we wish to purchase your services.” All my senses roared their head in suspicion.

I was by no means the best—didn’t want to be, I like living. The fact that he said I was meant one of two things: One, it was dangerous and if I wasn’t killed in the mission they would kill me after. Or two, the best had given it a shot and had failed. Either way I couldn’t back out, and they knew it.