Reality Heist - Geordi Riker (ready player one ebook TXT) 📗

me a look, considering something, “You aren't going to randomly just pass out, are you? Get sucked into that place?”
I shake my head. “Good,” He sighs, relief obvious in the way he relaxes against the leather seat, “Imagine you going deep in the middle of a heist, hanging over a roof top or something. That would be one rude awakening.”
“Yeah, that won't happen. I can go in at will. And I doubt she'd put my life in mortal danger, considering the great lengths she's going to to keep me alive.”
“So is she like, a part of your consciousness? Can she talk for herself? Are you schizo?”
“Would you stop acting like I'm some sort of biology lab? I know that this is cool and you want to find out more, but I've already told you everything I know. Can we focus?”
We both glance out the window as we start to enter the city. Rain starts to fall in earnest, pounding the shell of the car. “Just how far out in the country were we?”
“Pretty deep, but this doesn't look like the right place.” The driver steers the car down a narrow road, slowing down. “Sharp eye. I don't think that we're headed to the museum anymore,” Jesse warns.
I try to get a sounding off of the driver's Pressure, but can sense nothing. “Um, Jesse?”
“What? Don't worry, telekinesis should be be to squeeze us through here.”
“Do you sense any Pressure coming from the driver?”
His eyes widen in surprise as he tries to get a read. “Oh, shit.”
“What?”
“It didn't even occur to me that...” He breaks off, talking to himself, “But why? What'd we do?” His eyes go blank, like they do when he's Linking up. He blinks, looking at me. His eyes say it all “This is not good.”
“What's wrong?”
“Everybody has a Black tail.”
“What?”
“Only Chase has noticed so far, but the others all are feeling that weird uneasiness people get around the Black.”
“Wait...” he's not making sense, “You mean that he's...”
He nods, “That's exactly what I mean. We are being taken somewhere by a minion of the Black.”
“Shit. What do we do?” I steal a glance at the driver. He catches me staring in the mirror and smiles toothily. It makes my skin crawl.
“Act natural,” he sneaks a glance outside, “Start telling me a random story, one that doesn't expect much feedback.”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
“Just keep talking. Normal voice, no matter what happens. Keep him thinking that we haven't noticed.” He gives me a lopsided grin as his hand brushes through his hair again, “Just stay calm. And hold on to my bag,” he says, tossing it to me, “I'm gonna try to force the slide.”
“Force it? How?”
“I'll explain it to you sometime, if I can get it to work.” He glances outside, “Start telling me a story.”
I launch into a tale about how Will in second grade got to go to the zoo, and came home in tears because the animals weren't allowed out of their 'jail cells', even though they hadn't done anything wrong. Mom and her had had huge discussion about the issue, finally agreeing that if the animals were released, they wouldn't know how to survive, and would get sick or even worse, die.
While I'm talking, Jesse's eyes go blank again, but not like before. His whole body goes rigid, and I'm stunned as I watch his blue eyes slowly pale to become almost white irises, with shiny flecks of gold or silver glinting in the light. He stares straight ahead, unblinking.
The car slows to a crawl, and finally stops. The doors lock, and the driver climbs out. I stop telling my story and watch as he approaches a shadowed doorstep. A figure, wrapped in some sort of blanket or cloak, pokes out, their face cast in shadow. Deep down, something feels off, like there's something wrong with them. I shudder as the figure steps out from the shadows to stand in the rain.
The hood on the stranger slips back slightly as the two turn to look at us. I freeze, clinging to both backpacks with a white-knuckled grip. Our eyes lock, and it's like I’ve been turned to stone. I can't move a muscle, frozen in place, forced to stare back. Her lips curl into a smile- she can see me! Invisible hands curl around my throat, like a snake, constricting as they try to squeeze the life out of me. All I can do is stare back, choking for air. Her black curly hair glistens in the rain, and underneath her black trench coat , I can see a patch of blood red cloth. She continues to stare and the hands tighten their grip around my throat.
She takes a deliberate step towards us, panic seizes me- I've got to move! But my body feels like a dead weight, like there's some invisible force crushing me. She crackles with black Pressure, tinges of red hovering around the edges. Her Pressure is different from every other one I’ve seen. If it is made of Motes, I can't see them. She takes another step towards us, never taking her eyes off of me even as she says something to the driver, who walks a respectful two steps behind her. I don’t even try to look at him and see what his response is. She is the threat. The fire within me roars, surging, begging release, forming a wall of it's own accord between me and her.
Her lisp curl back further to reveal perfect, white teeth set in even rows. The sight is more terrifying that Ky's filed fangs.
The world suddenly spins sideways, and I dimly feel myself fall to the floor of the car before the black fills the space, sucking me in deeper and deeper into the pit. All I can feel is gratitude as she relaxes her grip on me, albeit reluctantly, as Jesse forces the slide. Enemies

Wind tugs at my hair, playing with it, pulling it away from my face. I savor the moment, feel the warm air blowing in my face, the sweet scent of fresh cut grass tantalizing in my nostrils. Standing here, I feel at peace, as if a huge weight I had been unaware of had just been lifted from my shoulders. Even my throat, still sore from the sudden encounter with that woman, doesn't hurt near as bad as it should.
You have an odd taste when it comes to the formations of your Inner World.

Reluctantly, I open my eyes to face her. My stomach twists into knots as I see where we are. All around me are buildings, their roofs pointing to the sky above me. Below me, the rocky terrain that the buildings are built on. Perched on the ceiling of the balcony that I'm standing on, Hiyori stares at me, as if hanging upside down. Except her loose white hair falls naturally around her shoulders, while my black hair sticks up above my head as if I were the one upside down.
I would advise against emitting partially digested food here, she says, It would fall all over me.

“What the hack?”
It is as I said, your Inner World formations are extremely varied.

“How the heck can you be like that?” I sputter, “Why is it that it looks like I'm the one upside down, when there's no blood rushing to my head?”
Because you are the one who is upside down. However, the Motes counter gravity so that you may move freely in any direction

.
“How? If I'm the one upside down, then gravity's out of whack, unless the sky's really the ground and the buildings are somehow hanging from the new sky.”
Perhaps this is a discussion for another time. Your Inner World is bound by no such laws as what exists in the World beyond.

I sigh, rubbing a hand across my face, “Do I come here every time I slide or something?”
Yes.

“Why? None of the others do. Far as I can tell, Jesse's always conscious throughout the whole transition.”
Your Inner World is designed to protect you. It fulfills the task of being a transitory world, so that you are prepared for the new world you arrive in. The others, for some reason, appear to be unable to arrive in their Inner World for any amount of time.

“Why do my worlds always appear so messed up?”
It reflects recent events. What were you engaged in prior to the transition?

“Well I don't know what a messed up upside down world has to do with it, but I almost got choked to death by someone's Pressure.”
Not a member or your group. None of them have any sort of real control over their Pressure. Left unchecked, their Pressures merely exist, causing no harm to any universe they come across.

“No, there was someone else. Jesse had to try to force the slide.”
Jesse? That would be the weather manipulator, correct? He has the most control over his Pressure, so perhaps he could be able to accomplish that small feat. Why would he try to force you out of that world though?

“Because the Black hijacked our car. He parked it in some street, got out and started talking to this woman. She's the one who tried to kill me with her Pressure.”
Hiyori thinks for a moment. Can you describe her?

“It's not so much what she looked like or what she did but the vibe I got off of her. She looked like she wanted to kill me for fun, like I was some sort of mouse for her to play with. Her Pressure was black, but there was red too, a deep crimson red. My Pressure spiked, I couldn't center it. It's like it freaked or something, and was trying to place some sort of shield between me and her.”
Hiyori is silent for a moment, her dark eyes gazing cross the open space to the building across from us. This woman, was she wearing red?

“Yeah,” I reply, surprised, “How'd you know?”
Hiyori sighs as she drops down, flipping midair to land on her feet beside me. You may as well sit down. She waits until I do. The woman you met, her name is Magdalene Telemaris. She is a First Rank of the Annihilation Squadron and head of the Special Task Force in Kay Nam Ish Limye.

“Wait a minute. You actually know her?”
For some inexplicable reason, yes. I know her very well, although I do not know how. She is of nobility there.

“Where?”
In Kay Nam Ish Limye.

“What the hack is Kay Nam Ish Limye?”
She sighs, I was not expecting at all to have to explain these sort of situations to you, certainly not so soon. But it is just as well, there is no reason why you should remain in the dark any longer.
In all of your travels thus far, you have been contained to the inVerse, one of the several realms that exist. There are three other realms, including the outerVerse, which