Bitter Ch. 566-570 (Patreon)

There was a very definite increase in interest in the game at school.

When the game was first announced, there had been some talk, some predictions (both positive and negative), but the chatter was mostly among a small group of boys who were into that stuff. The same boys who watched trailers for movies that wouldn’t be out for a year and scoured the internet for the latest news of advancements in nanochip technology. Nerds.

Interest quickly faded after the game was released because of the lack of any new information. People who were playing didn’t say much about it and it was hard to appreciate what the game was like from videos, of which there were only a few.

There was still a large rumour mill in operation on the net, but it was just gossip, and there was always some other new thing to talk about.

Britta was sure the way New World had been slowly dripped into the public consciousness was completely deliberate. She had no idea why it had been done like that or what they hoped to achieve by doing it in such a cautious manner — the game was bound to be massively successful whatever approach they took — but there were clear signs that everything so far had been carefully orchestrated.

Which was good in that it showed a firm hand behind the steering wheel. And at the same time, it was a little worrying how tightly controlled they planned to make the gaming experience.

Now that there had been an announcement about a new range of helmets coming out, interest had once again picked up. People were aware of the game’s proximity once more. It was close, and they had a chance to try it.

Not just that, there was talk of dedicated VR centres where you could try before you buy, or hire time inside full-immersion pods. It wasn’t just a revolutionary gaming system for the select few, it was affordable and available to all. Or it would be soon.

Coupled with that came the videos. Dad’s short films were already quite popular, and they showed amazing things, but nothing a few million dollars and some deft CGI couldn’t replicate.

The difference was that this was CGI you could live inside and experience as real as real-life, but you couldn’t really tell that while watching a video on your phone.

Testimonies from people who had played the game did raise expectations, but enthusiasm from early adopters was a common reaction that often proved naive in retrospect.

Cautious optimism was as far as it had gone until now. But the new video that had caught everyone’s attention didn’t show off the graphics or the monsters. It focused on something else entirely.

“That’s hilarious,” said a tall boy in Britta’s geography class. He had three earrings in one ear and a hairstyle that had been very trendy about six weeks ago, but was in need of a trim now. His comment was aimed at the video a group of six people were crowded around while the teacher sat at her desk browsing on her own phone. Probably not watching gameplay vids.

The lesson was over but the bell hadn’t rung yet. People were quietly amusing themselves.

“Look how upset they are. They got properly demolished.” The tall boy seemed very pleased.

“They’re so good-looking,” said one of the girls. “Where are they from? Do they speak English?”

“They’re Chinese,” said Lewis, who was at the centre of the group. “If you listen carefully, you can hear them when they speak.”

“When they cry, you mean,” said the tall boy. He chuckled to himself. “Their faces when they rubberbanded to the start… priceless.”

“They don’t look Chinese,” said the girl.

“You can look however you want,” said another boy.

“At least we can beat the Chinese in something,” said someone else.

“Yeah. We might not be able to stop them taking over this world, but at least we can stop them in a new one.”

“Look at how much better their gear is. This was just a fluke. You really think they’ll fall for something like that again? No way, bruv.”

The chatter turned to talk of how Chinese dominance in the world of finance and business was corrupt and underhanded. Somehow these children seemed to think they could right all previous wrongs by playing a video game.

Britta felt a bit uncomfortable. Not least because Wendy Lee was Chinese and was sitting a few seats away. She had been born here and had never even visited China, but it can’t have been nice hearing the people around her say derogatory things about her race.

What would it be like in the game once more people were playing and buying into the them-versus-us mentality that seemed to be growing? Racism and sexism had always been prevalent in gaming, maybe even more so than in normal life. You could get away with more heinous behaviour when you were anonymous behind an avatar and goofy username.

New World’s option of completely changing how you looked and removing all sexual organs made it much harder to pick on someone for those sorts of reasons, but would that just get replaced by some kind of xenophobia? Nations fighting wars in cyberspace?

“Your Dad’s vids are great,” said Lewis at lunch.

Britta pulled a face and indicated for him to keep his voice down.

He returned the look with an apologetic one and looked around to see if anyone had heard, which only made him look more suspicious.

“Did you see Rick?” he said in a whisper, too excited to stop talking about the game completely. “He was the one in the black cloak. He was the leader of the winning group. He’s the reason we won.”

His admiration was bordering on hero-worship.

“He must be very happy,” said Britta.

“He is. He says this is the time to push, while we have momentum on our side.” Lewis dropped his voice even further. “He’s going to take over. He’s got a plan, we just need to wait for more players. Three weeks. I’ve already pre-ordered mine.” His eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Then all those Chinese bastards will get what’s coming to them.”

Britta winced, and looked around in case Wendy Lee was close by.

It wasn’t only at school that the game was becoming big news. Every gaming site had articles on it, which was to be expected, and so did every news site.

Unlike last time, though, it wasn’t just about the cool concept or the realistic graphics, this time there were numerous links to official and unofficial websites dealing with the game and how to be successful while playing it.

Up until now, APE had kept a tight lid on external services dealing with the game. Other than a few rumours, it was very hard to find any details. There were Dad’s videos you could watch, but they were under tight supervision, and they were very much a second-hand experience. Third- hand, even.

But now there were a whole slew of sites you could check out for insider information. Those detailing the different classes, various abilities, ways to level up. And also those dealing with the hardware and various items you could buy to make your gaming experience more immersive.

Some of it was very vague, and in some cases flat wrong, but there was a lot more information available than when Britta had started. New players would at least know where to go when they first entered the game.

But there was also a lot missing. None of the problems with trying to level-up were mentioned anywhere. Neither was the issue of rival servers competing against each other.

Britta sat in her bedroom with the laptop showing her the different links simply by being asked to. It knew all the best places to get information, which made Britta wonder if all these sites weren’t all really subsidiaries of APE and its parent company. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they tried to keep control of their product by pretending to be both supporters and critics. Easier to find the troublemakers that way, and also the biggest fans willing to pay the most money.

It didn’t really matter either way. It wasn’t as if independent sites were averse to playing ball with games companies if it meant more content for their readers. Dad was always going on about how unreliable reviewers were once they were compromised by needing the games companies patronage. You couldn’t get clicks if all the latest exclusive early peeks were on some other site, and if you pissed off the big companies with a mean review, you would be blackballed.

So it was even more surprising when she came across Dad being interviewed on one of those sites — actually one that he criticised all the time for biased and overly-positive reviews of crappy games — with regard to his videos.

It was a print interview, so he didn’t appear and his voice wasn’t heard, but his game name was used, and it was obviously him as soon as she read the first answer.

Q: Tell me, Guildford, the game is impressively realistic, but once the novelty wears off, is there enough to keep the customer satisfied?

GU: Yes. Definitely, yes. Wandering around is impressive, as you would imagine, but it’s the interactions with the world that will surprise people. You don’t have to be a gamer to appreciate what you can do in New World that you can’t in this one. No one can tell you what to do, and you can do anything. This is what a sandbox should be.

Britta read through the whole interview. Dad said surprisingly little about the actual experience of playing. Perhaps his answers had been vetted, or maybe he just didn’t want to give people any information they could use to improve themselves. He was still a player, after all, and they were his competition.

There were also more videos by other people. These varied in style and content, some showing off the lush scenery, others focusing on nature and the weird fantasy creatures. There were players who had focused their builds on being acrobatic and agile, who managed to get into seemingly unreachable places, up mountains and on rooftops.

The views were spectacular, the creatures unbelievable. That was maybe part of the problem. No one would believe you could really sneak up on a unicorn in a woodland glade. But someone had done it, and they had the footage to prove it. Which could easily have been faked, so proved nothing.

Everything she saw was from New World. That was the only name used, and all the videos and players interviewed came from there. How was it possible that no one was talking about the Legendary World server?

Even if APE wanted to focus on the Western server for the Western audience, could they really shut down on any attempt to talk about the other communities playing the game? Were the nerds not interested?

It seemed very unlikely that the internet would ignore such a massive component of the game. The video of the Chinese players had already been seen, so people knew they existed. Did they think it was just another part of New World? Go far enough east and you’d find them?

What kind of power did you need to manipulate the entire internet like that? And why even bother? People would find out eventually. It didn’t make much sense.

Britta’s phone rang, which in itself was an unusual occurrence. She checked the name on the screen and got a lump in her throat. It was Lin, and while that was no cause for alarm, she couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. She had glitched the game, after all. She could be about to be fired and lose her extremely lucrative contract. Although it was unlikely Lin would be the one to inform her of that.

“Hello?”

“Britta, hi. It’s Lin, here. How are you?” Her voice was silky smooth and supremely confident. Even if Britta managed to emulate the kind of education Lin had, she would never be able to be so suave, she was sure.

“I’m fine, thanks. Erm, how are you?”

“Wonderful. Are you busy right now? You don’t have a tutor coming over tonight?”

Britta didn’t recall ever telling Lin about her tutors, but it wasn’t that surprising that she knew about it.

“No, not tonight.”

“Excellent. I’d like to invite you to dinner. There are some things I’d like to talk to you about. Can I send a car for you in an hour?”

“Oh, ah, okay. I mean, I suppose so. I should really…”

“I’ve spoken to your mother, she’ll be joining us, if that’s alright?”

Everything was taken care of, nothing to worry about. She could tell whatever this was about, it would be handled with the utmost competence and grace.

“Yes, that sounds lovely,” said Britta, feeling at ease. “See you then.”

It was very odd. A few minutes talking to Lin, and Britta didn’t feel anywhere near as anxious as she had a moment ago.

Britta’s plan was to become smart and educated and she has assumed the rest would follow — a fulfilling job, confidence, respect from the people around her. If she had expertise in a field, not just the minimum level of competence required, then people would want her services and consider her a valuable addition to their team.

That was the theory.

But Lin seemed to have a whole other level of engagement that could affect people around her without the need to demonstrate her accomplishments or throw her weight around.

How did she do it?

Mum was already going through her wardrobe looking for a suitable outfit when Britta went to find her.

“What about Dad?” Britta asked her.

“Oh, he doesn’t want to go.”

Britta got the feeling he hadn’t been asked, but he probably wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway. He was far too involved with his new role as worldwide media spokesman for the game.

“What kind of place is it? Do I have to dress up?” It was supposed to be a business meeting but with Lin there was the strong possibility it was going to be quite a swanky place. Going in jeans probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Wear that dress you wore for Gayle’s wedding.”

Gayle was Britta’s cousin. She had married a guy she met at university who was going bald even though he was in his early twenties. It was a superficial and shallow thing to focus on, but there wasn’t much else to do at a wedding.

“It’s a bit too… fancy, isn’t it?” The dress in question was made of brown chiffon with a cream bow on the back that made sitting down awkward. Something she didn’t realise when trying it on in the store. “And I haven’t worn it in two years. It might not even fit.”

“It’s just a business dinner,” said Mum. “Don’t worry too much about it.” She smiled encouragingly, and then pulled out her nicest black dress that she only wore when she was going to a family event where she wanted to make sure her relatives were suitably impressed.

Britta tried on the brown dress but it only made her feel self -conscious. She went through her wardrobe and realised how few clothes she had for going out. It hadn’t mattered until now since she never had anywhere to go. With all the money she now had, she really needed to get at least one outfit for a posh outing.

She liked shopping as much as any girl, but what kind of functions would she need to be prepared for? How would she know what was appropriate? It made her anxious to even think about it.

The doorbell rang and since Mum was changing and Dad was lost somewhere in cyberspace, Britta answered it. The tall driver stood there, carrying a bunch of bags.

“You’re a bit early, aren’t you?” It had only been ten minutes since Lin’s call.

The driver held out the bags. “Miss Wu asked me to give you these.”

They were clothes from shops she’d never heard of, but the quality of the carrier bags was enough to tell her they were not cheap.

“Thanks.” Britta took them from him. “Do you want to come in?”

“I’ll wait in the car,” he said, his voice neutral and devoid of any warmth. His presence was still reassuring, but in a completely different way to Lin. Where Lin made things feel at ease because you were her equal (even though you weren’t), he made it feel like you definitely weren’t his equal, but he would take care of any problems, so there was nothing to worry about.

Britta got dressed in the clothes Lin had sent without even looking them over. If Lin thought this was appropriate, then it was. Britta was actually quite interested to see what Lin would put her in.

The dress was red and black with a floral pattern down one side. It was a very tight fit, but exactly the right size for her, which as both surprising and not surprising. It was made of satin which was very pleasant to be in.

It had a vaguely Chinese look to it, but not in a way you would be able to pinpoint. Britta looked at herself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognise herself.

Mum helped her with her hair and kept telling her how lovely she looked, which Britta didn’t really know how to deal with. Accepting the compliments would only make her feel bad when she had to return to her normal state.

The driver opened the car door for them and they set off in the luxury minivan with tinted windows and seats that would have been at home in an aeroplane.

It was a Chinese restaurant, but unlike any Britta had ever been to. Everything was red and gold, and the chandeliers sparkled like diamonds. There were a lot of people, dressed in a variety of styles, but no jeans and tee shirts.

The driver led them through the noise and colour to where Lin was seated at a large round table by herself. Even though the place was crowded, the three tables around her were all empty. She looked utterly stunning, without makeup and wearing a very simple dress that showed off her shoulders and arms, but was very conservative otherwise.

Lin greeted them with kisses (not the driver, who only received a dark look).

“Welcome. So nice to see you. Please, sit down.”

Waiters immediately appeared and danced around them, taking orders for drinks. Britta asked for sparkling water, which seemed like a safe choice. Food had already begun to arrive without being ordered. Britta was relieved she wouldn’t have to pick anything from a menu. She felt way out of her depth.

“You look lovely,” said Lin to Britta.

“Thank you. It was nice of you to send me something to wear. I didn’t have anything, um, suitable.”

“Nonsense,” said Lin, more playful than scolding, “you could have worn whatever you pleased as long as it was something you felt comfortable in.”

It was both a fair point, and by the same token, a very unfair one. Britta would have felt uncomfortable no matter what she chose. That was the problem.

“So, I hear you’ve met with L-15,” said Lin, as they started with small balls of fish that tasted sweet at first and then salty.

“Yes,” said Britta. “Is that unusual?”

“You’re the first player he’s ever interacted with,” said Lin. “So, yes, it is quite unusual. The others who’ve been sent to make contact with him have all failed to even meet him. And yet he searched you out. Unique might be a better word for it.”

Britta wasn’t sure what she was meant to say in response to Lin. It wasn’t like she had done anything impressive to attain her unique place in the game. It felt like it was just random. It could easily have been someone else who caught the attention of the game’s many AIs.

But then again, they had tried to replicate what she had done, and not managed it. Didn’t that mean it was something specific she was doing or was capable of that no one else was? Did that mean she was special in some way? She didn’t feel very special.

The restaurant was full of life and noise. Britta looked around as she ate the food that kept coming to their table without being ordered. Many of the dishes she didn’t even recognise, but all of them were seriously delicious.

The other people enjoying their meals were mostly Chinese. This was a high-end restaurant, Britta could tell, but the clientele didn’t seem like a stuck-up crowd. It wasn’t the sort of place where the chef produced tiny works of art for people to write articles about. Everyone here was too busy stuffing their faces.

“This is wonderful,” said Mum. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted Chinese food like this. Honestly, I can’t stop eating.”

“It’s the chef,” said Lin, smiling. “He is a genius. Many people have tried to tempt him back to the mainland, but he refuses. His children are all here and happy as they are, but once they are grown, I imagine he won’t be able to say no any longer. So, please, enjoy while you can.”

Unworthy thoughts flitted through Britta’s head, of a talented chef being dragged back to China against his will to serve dinner to an unscrupulous billionaire, but those ideas came from gangster movies and the like. In the real world, you just had to throw around enough money and people would eventually give in. If not immediately, then once their kids had gone off to college.

“What do you think L-15 wants from me?” asked Britta, in between bites.

“It’s hard to say. He doesn’t tell anyone what he plans to do. That is unfortunately the nature of the virtual world. Once it was decided we would let the artificial intelligences curate each region, it became necessary to allow them the space to do so. We are often as much in the dark as anyone else.”

“But why is the game so hard?” said Britta. “If they have to compete for the players’ attention, should they have made it easier, so more people would want to play.”

“Ah,” said Lin, elegantly picking up her food with chopsticks in a way that made Britta feel self-consciously gluttonous (yet unable to stop eating), “that is how many of the AI tried to arrange their systems during testing. You were part of one of those earlier simulations, I believe. What they learned was that making the game too easy appealed to players at first, but they quickly grew bored. They still continued to play, but there was no attachment to a particular world or style of play. They would basically wander off.”

“What’s wrong with that?” asked Mum.

“Nothing, really,” said Lin. “But the idea in letting the AI take control of the game’s development was to take it in a direction beyond what had previously been seen as possible. That’s where Britta’s effect was so important. It showed there were possibilities no one had considered. Even now, she is attracting AI intention like no one else.”

“Maybe they’re sending in the wrong kind of people,” said Britta.

“Every kind of person has been tried. Several thousand, but they have all failed to trigger any of the events you did. And none of them have emitted light from their bodies, either. Have there been any more occurrences like that?”

“No,” said Britta. She had tried her best not to think about the strange glowing hairs on her arms. It made her feel uncomfortable.

“There has been some talk of asking you to come in for more tests,” Lin said quietly. “But it’s been decided it would be more productive, at this stage, to let you forge your own path. For the time being.”

Ask her to come in… what did that mean? Would they make her an offer she couldn’t refuse, like with the chef? Perhaps she should adopt a couple of kids and use her family as an excuse

“I’m not sure I trust L-15,” said Britta.

There was a pause as Lin bit into something green and curly. She dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “No, you probably she shouldn’t.”

“I shouldn’t?” That wasn’t what Britta had expected her to say. “Doesn’t he work for you?”

“Independence comes at a price,” said Lin. “After it was discovered that making the game easy wasn’t a valid long-term strategy, the next obvious approach was to make it balanced. You work hard, you gain abilities, you face harder challenges, you grow stronger. A linear and rewarding approach.”

“And what was wrong with that?” asked Britta. Clearly, they had not kept to that line, either.

“Nothing. But it led to an equivalence in the system. Everything settled into a static impasse. Frankly, it was no different to any other game — meaningless.”

“You expected something more?” said Britta.

“Exactly. The point of allowing the AI so much freedom was for them to innovate, to go where no human mind could reach. They were set up in competition with each other and given limited resources to fight over. In order to succeed, they had to ensure the failure of others. It was deemed the only way to see true progression.”

It didn’t sound like progress to Britta, it sounded like business.

“I still don’t see what that’s got to do with me,” she said.

“No, I don’t either, to be honest with you,” said Lin, smiling. “But it is becoming clear that you are important in this process. And as such, interest in you has increased. I am hearing more and more that you should be… guided.”

“They want to tell me what to do?”

“Yes. And then there are those who believe you should be allowed to do as you please, given the same latitude as the AI. The people who think they know what’s best for you have not achieved a fraction of what you have, so why would their involvement be a good thing?”

“And what do you think?” Britta asked her.

“I think you should talk to L-15. If you can get him on your side, no one will be able to tell you what to do.”

“You really think that’s a good idea?” said Mum. “From what you’ve said, it seems like this L-15 person intends to use whatever method is the most convenient to get what they want. Do morals even figure into their programming?”

After not having said very much so far, Britta was a little taken aback by Mum’s sudden forthrightness. Clearly, she had been paying attention. Her questions were all on point.

“They are bound by certain limitations,” said Lin, “but it’s hard to define morality for people, let alone a computer. In a world where death is a temporary state, and objects are infinitely reproducible, how do you teach someone not to kill or steal?”

“That is terrifying,” said Mum. “Please tell me these AIs won’t be allowed to operate in this world. I can only imagine the harm they would do in the name of progress.”

Mum sounded like Dad when he talked about the future of mankind under an evil robot overlord, which he did quite regularly.

“I agree,” said Lin. “It would be extremely dangerous, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t make it happen.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t have the kind of influence or power to stop these things from happening. If it’s any consolation, it’s still some way off before there’s any chance of it becoming a reality.”

Mum put down her chopsticks and looked like she’d lost her appetite. Then a new selection of dishes arrived and she picked them up again.

“So the idea is to let the AI fight it out so that they push the limits of what’s possible to their extreme, and we discover something new and amazing that the normal human brain would never be able to think of?” asked Britta.

“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,” said Lin. “I don’t know where we’ll end up, but I’m sure you can see the possibilities. The greatest advancements come at times of war.”

“The greatest casualties, too,” said Mum.

“Very true,” said Lin.

Britta looked around the restaurant again. She noticed the driver sitting at one of the tables, partly hidden in shadows even though the place was ablaze with lights, alone with a single plate of boiled potatoes. Even if he was on some kind of special diet, potatoes weren’t considered that healthy. Maybe they weren’t potatoes.

“Why am I really here?” Britta said.

Lin stopped delicately dipping a tiny dumpling in sauce and looked up at Britta through large brown eyes. “You think I have an ulterior motive?”

“No, I think you have one motive,” said Britta, “I just don’t know what it is.”

Lin sat back, straightening her back and looking even more regal than before. She was Britta’s idea of a princess made real. It was almost laughable that Britta aspired to be more like her. She would need to change everything about herself to get anywhere close, probably twice over.

“The truth is, I believe you are more important than anyone has realised. They are aware that you are special, but only up to a point. You are still a player, just one who has slipped in through a specific opening, and they believe they only need to find that same opening to be able to follow you.”

“And you don’t think that’s true?” asked Britta.

“No. I think you can make openings wherever you choose. That is the thing that’s special about you. You.”

Britta wasn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment or not. Wasn’t it another way of saying it had nothing to do with her, it was just a passive effect she wasn’t really controlling? Like a pretty girl who was born beautiful, and got everything she wanted without even trying because of it.

Only, Britta wasn’t beautiful, and she didn’t get what she wanted. People were just waiting to see what use to them she could be.

But then, didn’t pretty girls have the same problem?

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do,” said Britta. “The more aware people become of me, the more they’re going to want to take control of what I can do.” She could see herself being dragged off to be tested on. She’d already felt that kind of interest when she’d met with President Wu. His daughter probably wasn’t all that different. “What do you think I should do?”

“I think,” said Lin, “that you’re very smart. You can see the potential for attracting the wrong kind of attention, and you’ve kept a low profile, as far as you’ve been able. I suspect you plan to leave the game as soon as you find yourself in a position you aren’t comfortable with.”

“Isn’t that what anyone would do?” asked Mum.

“No,” said Lin. “Most people in Britta situation would cling on and try to make a deal that benefited them. They would, of course, be tricked into thinking that’s what they had achieved, while being stripped of all control over their own actions.” She began eating again as though what she’d just said wasn’t a horrifying representation of the world.

“I’m not going to let that happen,” said Britta. She didn’t really know how she’d be able to live up to those words, but she felt saying them out loud was the first step.

“I believe you,” said Lin. “But I think it will be hard, assuming things continue the way they are going. You could just reduce your activity in the game to the bare minimum and hope events proceed in a manner that leaves you as a minor anomaly no one really has time to investigate, but I doubt that will be possible now that the AI themselves have expressed an interest in you.”

“They’ll force me to play?”

“They’ll… do something. And I don’t think that’s anything to be too worried about. You have proved yourself more than capable of standing toe to toe with them. What you need to be careful of is having to fight on too many fronts at once. You need someone to watch your back. Allies.”

“You want me to make friends?” Now she really was asking too much.

“At least one or two. Which is why I’d like you to consider forming a party. With me.”