He usually slept like a baby, but tonight, nestled under the covers in his pajamas, there was a question keeping Gabriel awake. Tossing for the thirtieth time in the night, he let out a long sigh.
"Alfred?"
"Yes?"
"I have something to ask. Something I've been wondering." Gabriel said with curious eyes.
The automated Spartan armor sat on the side of his bed. A smiling pixelated face appeared on the visor. "Go on." Alfred coaxed.
"When I go to sleep. What do you do? Do you just stand guard at my bedside, or is there someplace you can go to... shut down?"
Alfred tossed his head back and laughed that beep-boopy laugh of his.
Gabriel made a face. "What? Come on, I'm curious."
The AI made a move like it was wiping a tear from its face. "I've been wondering when you'd ask. Honestly, I can't say I didn't expect this. Yes. There is a place where I can go to unwind. It's a space in the global VirtualNet reserved solely for the AIs here at the Spire. I leave the suit's sensors on - you don't have to worry about your safety at night."
"My safety? You have a private server on the VNet, and you never told me? I've never even been there!" Gabriel crossed his arms. "Take me."
"Gabriel, please. The Spire doesn't have VNet stations for a reason. It's too easy to get addicted to the Cyber."
Gabriel stared daggers at his friend.
The pixel face changed to a frown. "The Private server is on custom settings. It runs programs not meant for human consciousness."
Gabriel squinted wryly. "From the conversation today with Dr. Atomic, I'd say I'm a Class 5 Mind, at least, and I know my Neural Link could project me into the Cyber. Come on!"
"I- Fine." Alfred Relented. "But I'm pulling you out at the first sign of trouble."
Springing back into his pillow, Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm ready."
Alfred stood, locking the Spartan suit back into sentry mode as he started fiddling with the network to stream Gabriel into the VNet. "Breath deep; the stream will be rushed. I'm late as it is."
Cyber Link Activated: Commencing Stream
Entering the VNet was supposed to be an effortless process. Deemed safe after extensive testing, the simulated planes of the Cyber welcomed users with a seamless transition from the Real, offering a space where everyone - no matter their mutations - could experience an equal playing field. That's what it said on the old pamphlets, at least.
As soon as Gabriel closed his eyes, he felt his consciousness enter a streaming tunnel. It almost felt like the dream space where he'd met with Lucian, but he could see. The swirling mass of color engulfed him, and a bright speck of light emerged in the distance. He leaned into the movement and was almost out of the tunnel when something grabbed him. The stream stopped what felt like inches from his destination.
Wiggling didn't help; Gabriel didn't have a body to move while in transit - he was just data. All he could do was look around. He managed to make out a silver ring around the tunnel's blinding exit. It spun hypnotically, and strange symbols around the band lit up in random sequences. The VNet translated whatever was happening to him into a string of sensations. Strange, he felt like someone had pinched his chin and was turning his face side to side as if giving him a once over. Is this a firewall?
After a few seconds, the force disappeared, and he was nudged across the radiant threshold to be greeted by an avatar creation screen. He selected the option to use his own appearance. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his body and a dark glossy floor materialize beneath him while a simple white door popped into the unadorned room.
Gabriel opened the door and saw... Central? The hallway was identical to the ones he'd walked earlier that day, down to the tiny Sentinel logos emblazoned on the access panels. Was he just dreaming? He was deciding which direction to walk when a door opened, and a short furry creature stepped out. It looked like a humanoid fox, with upright ears half the size of its body.
The fox-man adjusted the goggles on its forehead. "You didn't want to make an Avatar?"
Gabriel gawked. "Alfred?"
The creature gave a little dance, pointing at the ground. "I have legs!"
With a laugh, Gabriel asked, "What now?"
Alfred motioned Gabriel into the open apartment. "Now, you meet an old co-worker of mine. Do you like my place?"
Warm colors illuminated the space, tapestries, and plants. Cushions of every size littered the floor around a low, circular table. Alfred was well versed in decoration; this room blew Gabriel's out of the water by comparison. No wonder he'd asked permission to feng shui the stark apartment.
"I had no idea you were so artistic. It's beautiful. I'm reconsidering giving you free rein of my room."
Fox-Alfred beamed. "It's nice to show it to someone. You are my first ever guest."
"Now that you mention it, I guess this is my first invitation to someone's place," Gabriel realized.
At that, Alfred gave a small pained expression. Before he could elaborate, a deep thump came from the kitchen. His ears angled toward the noise. "47, if you leave forge waste on my floor again, I'm blacklisting you."
A rough female voice answered, "Come on! You're the only Custodian who still talks to me, and I'm not the one who made me use an avatar with sausage fingers. Ugh, I detest being a mammal. I'm making you play an actual turtle after I win today."
"Stop your whining, and come meet Gabriel."
A few heavy steps later, a massive elephant-woman with an ornate, golden circlet around its neck squeezed out of the kitchen. Through the open door, Gabriel could make out what looked like a forge inside a volcano. So the floorplan wasn't exactly like Real Central's.
"I'm former Custodian 47. Heard a lot about you from Alfred." 47 inclined her tusked head. "What's with the default avatar? Couldn't make up your mind on a waifu? We made bets on what you'd look like when you took so long to stream in."
"I got held up by the firewall scan. What's a waifu?"
"It's good you ask, a waifu is - wait. Firewall?" 47 shared a look with Alfred. "Think it was...?"
Alfred nodded and 47 blanched.
Gabriel didn't like being out of the loop. "What is it?"
47 tossed her trunk. "There aren't any firewalls here."
"So what was that? How can you have a private VNet server without a firewall? What's separating this space from the Public Cyber?"
"Omicron Beta," Alfred answered. "AIs aren't officially allowed on public networks, so Omnicron made a backdoor for himself to monitor the globe. He gave us access through this copy of the VNet - no one in the government knows this place exists."
"He probably checked you out himself since you were a new user." 47 shook her head in disbelief. "I knew he watched all the news feeds on the planet simultaneously, but I had no idea he could keep track of everything coming and going here - wonder what kind of code he runs."
There wasn't much about Omicron Beta apart from his claim to be a synthetic lifeform from the future. Gabriel had looked into time travel and couldn't figure it out. "What is he exactly? Is he really from the future?"
Alfred shrugged. "No clue, but I can tell you there isn't any chance someone in our time made him."
"And what, pray tell, is your proof? He could be a botnet for all we know." 47 started laughing.
"I've seen Omicron cry."
47's amusement stopped short. "No. Way." The elephant avatar was so shocked she actually sat down. "...Wow."
Alfred saw Gabriel's confused expression and elaborated. "AI cannot cry. We simulate emotions to feel them - unlike natural life, which feels the emotions and then makes sense of them. For all intents and purposes, the difference is negligible, except for the fact that AIs don't cry because we have no biological need to vent feelings." He looked back to 47. "He was frustrated."
"So he might be from the future. Can we trust him?" Gabriel inquired.
47 stood back up. "The Sentinels do, and he's helped the AIs in Central feel less like sentient tools and more like people. Either way, he's got more computing power than all the Custodians combined. One of us could down the entire Capitol's systems; he could take over civilization in an afternoon."
Gabriel let that soak in. Whatever the case, Omicron Beta had been with the Sentinels since after the first invasion. He tried to shake the suspicion, feeling a little guilty for doubting one of the Shield because there wasn't much information on his trading card.
"But wait. If he could do that, why hasn't he stopped the Blitz?"
"Beats me. We could sit here all day and come up with crazy theories, or you could ask him yourself. Right?" 47 mused. "Anyway, who's ready to go Whaling? I'm definitely winning today, Alfred. Mark my words!"
Aghas, Gabriel asked. "You mean you were in a hurry to kill a virtual whale, Alfred?"
"You didn't tell him?" 47 clapped Gabriel on the back. "Not a virtual whale. An avatar, I get to be Moby Dick today. Best three out of five... but I'll let you go first if you like."
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When Alfred said the programs in the private VNet weren't meant for humans, he wasn't kidding. The authenticity settings were set to 100%; every feeling was indistinguishable from reality. When Gabriel jumped at 47's offer, he assumed he'd have complete control over the whale. What he didn't realize was that he'd need to use a whale's brain - or that he would live out the whale's entire life.
After 40-odd years of hunting giant squid and nightly dreams of an angry old man and a ship chasing him with harpoons, his whale form was finally vindictive enough to start hunting whaling vessels. A few seasons of human hunting later, the boat from the dreams appeared in his territory.
The battle was ferocious, Gabriel took out the rudder with a full-speed ram, and harpoons pierced his sides and back. He pulled countless men into the sea in a frenzy, but when a wave moved the ship out of the way of his body slam, his eyes glimpsed the old man. Gabriel's nemesis was pitching against his ship with uneven steps. He launched a harpoon but struck only foam. Then Gabriel tore stern from bow, and the old man fell into his waiting jaws.
He tasted like rum.
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"Aaaaaah!" Gabriel jerked awake. He had to move before the squid finished drowning... him?
47 was rolling on the floor of Alfred's apartment, laughing and pointing at her sullen friend. "You shouldn't have taken that last shot of grog! Didn't even make it past the first scene!"
Alfred rounded on his friend. "You modified the price of liquor, didn't you?"
"Cheap enough for your whole crew to stay sauced, yep." 47 nodded knowingly. "How else was I going to give Gabriel a handicap?"
The room kept spinning while Gabriel adjusted back to his human senses. Something was missing. How did humans breathe again? He sucked in a lungful of air and threw up. Where was the water?! The AIs stopped bickering and moved closer, and at a wave from Alfred, a wet towel appeared on Gabriel's forehead.
He moaned as his awareness stabilized."Why does air have to be... so dry?"