Fate of Camlan Page 2

  “Thank you. All of you. Good choice,” Fountain says, as the others take their seats again. “We have a lot of information and details to go over and the sooner we get to the point the better. I want to thank each of you for your trust in me and for your willingness to hear me out.”

  “What is this job you need us to do?” Erin asks, impatiently. “It’s just a video game. And it’s not even your video game.”

  “Oh, but it’s so much more than that,” Fountain says.

  “We’ve already done what Toterra needed. What could you possibly have to gain?” I ask.

  “Is this some kind of corporate espionage crap?” TexBadass asks. “You want the names of some epic swords or secret quests or something?”

  “All good questions,” Fountain says, clapping his hands together once. “The job I have for you has a high likelihood of failure, which is why we need the six of you. Of literally everyone in the world, you are the players that have leveled up the farthest in Camlan Realm. You know it the best. You are the only ones who can complete the job we have. It’s not corporate espionage, Mr. Tanner. I would describe it more as philanthropy.”

  TexBadass snorts in disbelief.

  “You’ll see. Trust me,” Fountain says. He crosses the room to the table where we had signed our contracts. Instead of champagne, Mrs. Buxton has left a cup of black coffee there for him. He holds it in both hands as he continues. “The task I have in mind for you is much much bigger than just the name of a weapon.”

  “Are there any more of those cookies?” SteelFeather asks in a carrying whisper.

  Mrs. Buxton brings him the tray again, and he grins at her as he takes two handfuls. Callidus leans over from his seat and grabs another croissant as well. I wonder if they are even paying attention to what Fountain is saying.

  “How can this be anything even close to philanthropy?” Balderdash13 asks, returning to the topic at hand. “Both you and Toterra are for-profit companies.”

  “I’m getting to that.” Fountain paces to the other side of the room so we are between him and the window. He gestures to the view. “Let me set the scene, tell you about what I can offer you.” He looks at each of us, gauging our reactions before continuing. “Just out this window is the Atlantic Ocean. Fountain Games International makes its headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. Water water everywhere, but also the security of a nearby military base. Every inch of this building is safe, secure and protected. If you accept this job, you will be our guests. As our guests, you will have all of your physical needs met and comforts attended to. You’ll have the rest of this evening to get settled in and make this your home.”

  “Are you literally saying you need the United States Navy to defend your office building?” I ask.

  He ignores me. This is getting frustrating. So much for telling us everything.

  “This really began years ago. Fountain Games developers have been working on a new artificial intelligence to be the base of our games for more than a decade now. The technology that we have been working on would allow processing and machine decision-making lightyears beyond what you are used to. At a minimum. But additional uses may extend to the military, the education sectors, and eventually maybe even art and literature. This AI truly would be the cutting-edge of what we are dealing with, and we are justifiably proud of our progress as well as protective of it.

  “We know Toterra Online has been doing the same kind of development but not quite as long. In spite of this, they seem to have reached their goal before us, as we saw with the release of Camlan Realm.”

  “I still don’t see where we come in.”

  Fountain tilts his head and looks at Erinocalypse. “We believe the reason they were able to leapfrog over our work is because they took a very dangerous short-cut. One that we believe to be illegal, in addition to being unethical.”

  “I still don’t see what this has to do with us,” Erin says under her breath.

  “But … illegal? Shouldn’t you be contacting the FCC or whoever?” I ask.

  “We’re handling all of that.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I notice Callidus raise his hand and wait to be noticed.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  He lowers his hand and shakes his head. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “Excuse me?” Fountain says politely.

  “I want to go home. My mom will be worried.”

  “No, honey,” Balderdash13 exclaims, jumping up from her seat and squatting by the kid’s side. “We’re all in this together. You don’t even know what he wants us to do.”

  “I can’t,” he insists. “He’s talking about dangerous stuff and the military and, like, illegal things. I just … I can’t.”

  “At least wait to hear what the actual job is,” I say.

  Callidus shakes his head. “Huh-uh. My cousin is in jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would kill my mom if something like that happened to me. I can’t do that to her.”

  Throughout the course of this conversation, the expression on Fountain’s face doesn’t change. He steeples his fingers in front of his chest and waits.

  “But, Callidus,” Erinocalypse says gently, “You already signed the NDA. You don’t want to just wait and see what this guy wants?”

  He shakes his head stubbornly. “I want to go home.”

  “We’ll need you, dude,” I say. “We need our scout. We need your Stealth. You can’t let the team down.”

  Callidus meets my eyes and almost whispers. “I need to go home.”

  The room rests into silence. I have no further arguments. He’s only a teenager, after all.

  “Mr. Chapman, I need you to be absolutely sure,” Fountain says. “This is not a choice that can be reversed.”

  “I want to go home.” His voice sounds stronger, more sure this time.

  Fountain nods, and the lawyer swoops to the kid’s side as though from nowhere. He grasps Callidus by his upper arm, and pulls him out of the seat. Without giving us any time to even say good-bye, he marches the kid out the door, closing it behind them.

  “Anyone else?” Fountain asks.

  Chapter 4

  After the door slams behind Callidus, the room settles into silence.

  The remaining four players and I exchange looks. What does this gap in our lineup mean for any future gaming? Up until now, our team has been successful and all but invincible, but now we’re down one key member. Callidus’s Stealth, Night Vision and Backstab abilities have saved us more than once. Now we will have to progress through the game without all of it.

  Of course, that is assuming that we even decide we can take on whatever challenge Fountain has for us. I still have very little idea what it is he is even suggesting.

  “Well,” Fountain says with a soft sigh. “That is a shame. I did hope we would be able to get the entire party. The loss of his specific abilities will undoubtedly make your job harder.”

  “Our job, which would be what, exactly?” Erinocalypse asks.

  I grin at her, admiring her dogged determination. This girl isn’t going to let anything by.

  Fountain tilts his head, eyeing her. He smiles faintly as he lets out a long breath. “Your job is to liberate that technology.”

  “Come again?” TexBadass says.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Cool,” SteelFeather says with a chuckle.

  “How?” Erinocalypse says sharply.

  “From where you ended the game previously, we can only move you so close to the objective without raising suspicion. So your job will be to travel north through Camlan Realm to the Citadel. Once there we will get in contact again and direct you through the technology extraction.”

  I wait, assuming he’s going to tell us more. When he only looks at us expectantly, I reply, “That’s it? There’s no way that’s it. What are you even talking about?”

  “That’s all you need to know at the moment, Mr. Duncan. There is a main road that runs up the western coast of the rea
lm. You will, undoubtedly, need to deal with mobs, quests and other obstacles, but the path itself should be relatively straight-forward.”

  “No way. I’m not going in blind.”

  “You go into every game blind,” he says smoothly.

  “Not at the behest of a big dangerous corporate espionage mission.”

  For the first time a hint of anger flashes across Fountain’s face, but it’s so quick I wonder if I imagined it. “Do you really think that you would not be under our guidance and protection every step of the way? Are you really so arrogant as to think that you know better than my team of brilliant, capable, and ingenious developers? Men and women who have been working with this technology for years? You will have the next details when I decide you are ready for them.”

  I hesitate between wanting to tell off the older man and wondering how the security gorillas behind him will take it. I bite my tongue, but seethe.

  “Mr. Fountain,” Erinocalypse says, stepping in. “Maybe it’s been a long time since you have played a MMORPG, but rarely is the quest linear. It’s almost never just a straight list of steps. We need to know the bigger objective so we can improvise when we need to.”

  “When,” I repeat. “Not if. She’s right.”

  Fountain smiles enigmatically and shakes his head. “We have to assume that Toterra is watching you. You must be very cautious about what information you communicate within the game. I apologize, and please understand we want the best for you, but the less we tell you the better.”

  “And what happens if we can’t make it to the Citadel?” I ask.

  “We will have a team observing your progress and will send in assistance if needed.”

  “Come on. It’s a Toterra game. It can’t be that easy. How will we know the assistance is from FGI?”

  “Ah, excellent question, Mr. Duncan. Always thinking ahead.” He pauses as though weighing his next words. “The password is Guinevere.”

  “Guinevere?” I repeat.

  “That’s correct. If someone—actual player or NPC—approaches you and offers you help or information, ask them who they fight for. The answer is Guinevere. If you’re asked the same question, give that answer.”

  I shrug and mentally file that information away. “Okay, but I’m still not clear what we’re doing for you. I’ve seen enough movies to know you don’t just take a job from some nefarious technology corporation. Especially right after they just drugged and kidnapped you.”

  I’m surprised by Fountain laughing heartily. “Well said, Mr. Duncan. Only in this case, it’s Toterra Online you should be wary of.”

  “Oh, yeah, fine to say that now,” I mumble.

  “Why should we believe you?” Erin says. “So far you’re no different than them. Actually, I’d say you’re worse than them.”

  That sobers the CEO. He brings his hand to his chest as though wounded. “On the contrary, my dear. I am very different from Jeffrey Talbot.” He turns his back to us and paces toward the window again, looking out at the ocean. “You’re right, though. I know better than anyone that an NDA is not the same as trust.”

  “Yeah,” I say. “All we have is your word that this isn’t illegal. I’m not doing anything without more information.”

  He nods to me in agreement, but is slow to respond further. I’m almost ready to get up and leave, just go home and forget the whole thing when Fountain clears his throat.

  “As I said, your goal will be to get to the Citadel and liberate the technology. The very technology that we believe Toterra Online took dangerous shortcuts to develop.” He pauses. He glances at the black man holding our signed NDAs, who nods. Fountain continues. “The fact is—and here I remind you that you have all signed agreements stating you will not disclose a word discussed here—we have engaged in corporate espionage.”

  “Goddamn it,” TexBadass says. “I told y’all.”

  Fountain holds his hands up to forestall further protests. “That is not what we are asking you to do. I merely mention it to explain how we know what we know. We have a source on the inside who has revealed to us exactly how Toterra reached the level of technological advancement that they have. It is those details that have directed my legal team to believe that such technology is actually, legally, rightfully, not the intellectual property of Toterra Online.”

  “What?” I’m confused. “How?”

  He shakes his head. “That’s not relevant, Mr. Duncan.”

  “Of course it’s relevant!” I’m up out of my chair and striding across the room towards him. “We’re not pawns. We’re not your employees. We’re not— hell, I don’t even know. That’s a hell of a claim to make and— ”

  “That’s it,” Erin says, interrupting my tirade. “I’m gone. That’s all I need to hear. Ridiculous claims of corporate espionage are plenty to convince me this whole plan is garbage. Too much. Too dangerous. No thank you.”

  She is already out of her chair and almost all the way to the door of the study when Fountain calls out over both of our protests.

  “Toterra stole it!”

  Chapter 5

  Silence descends over the room as each of us wrestle with the detail Guy Fountain just tossed into the room like a grenade. It explodes in my mind, wreaking havoc on my perception of the game, the technology and the company. I play back all my interactions with Jeffrey Talbot. I try to remember all their press conferences, announcements, and steps along the way up until when Camlan Realm was released. How could they have stolen the tech?

  Had I missed something? Some huge indicator that the company is corrupt?

  Or, heck— How do we know Fountain is even telling the truth? If he’s not, why does he think we’ll believe him?

  “I can see by your stunned expressions, further explanation may be needed,” the CEO says smoothly. “Please. Come back and sit.”

  He gestures to our chairs, and I’m too dumbfounded to argue, instead taking my seat and waiting for him to say something, anything, that will make all of this make sense. Walking around the front of the table, he continues to hold his coffee cup in both hands, sipping slowly. When Erinocalypse and I are both comfortably seated again, Fountain half leans back on the table, taking a casual, intimate approach to the conversation for the first time.

  “I, um … ” He trails off.

  I’m surprised by his being inarticulate. I would have expected whatever this ground-breaking claim he has to be rehearsed. Fountain catches his lawyer’s eye, and the other man again nods encouragingly.

  “Yes. Right,” Fountain says, steeling himself. He takes another sip of coffee before continuing. “As I mentioned, FGI has been working on this tech for over a decade, and Toterra almost as long. I’m not sure if you know this, but Jeff and I—that is, Jeffrey Talbot—we used to work together.”

  “All In Technology,” Balderdash13 offers from her chair.

  “That’s correct.” He smiles at her gratefully. “We were friends since college. We had a company together. We had big ideas about where to take the industry.”

  “But,” I venture, “wasn’t that, like, thirty years ago?”

  Fountain takes a deep breath. “It was, yes.” His voice is quieter now, almost tender, as he continues. “Almost thirty years ago, when I was much younger, when my family was young. Jeff and I took out an enormous loan, mortgaged our houses and everything to invest in the technology we envisioned. We were sure that we could create something ground-breaking.

  “But the whole project called for much more than just money. In order to reach the next level of gaming experience, our goal was to replicate human thinking as closely as possible and, as such, we needed a human model to base it on.”

  “Really?” Erinocalypse’s eyes light up, fascinated. “How did you— ” She stops when she sees his expression. “Sorry. Keep going.”

  “We found our model in my daughter. She volunteered,” Fountain continues with a shrug. “Said she wanted to be part of it. To be honest, she was just …” His gaze fades to som
ething we can’t see, as though imagining his daughter standing in front of him. “She was one of the most brilliant people I have ever known. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter.

  “So. We did it. We modeled her brain. Using all the data we could scan, store, and get our hands on, we replicated my then-nineteen-year-old daughter into a form of artificial intelligence. When our joint company dissolved, the agreement was that neither of us would use her model, but, as I say … ” He gestures his hands wide, as though to say ‘look what has happened.’

  I am stunned. His daughter? His actual, flesh and blood, breathing daughter is the basis for the Toterra Online artificial intelligence?

  “I don’t know about this…” TexBadass says suspiciously. “Serious?”

  “Serious,” Fountain echoes him with a small smile. Now that the revelation has been made, he seems back to his confident self. “In fact, that is how we managed to enlist the team we have infiltrating Toterra. Many people knew and loved my daughter, and want to see her likeness protected.”

  “Wait,” Balderdash13 says, holding her hand up. “Loved? You don’t mean…”

  “Oh, yes.” He gives a hollow laugh. “My Gwen died in college. She was hit by a drunk driver, more than ten years ago. The technology Camlan Realm is based on is now the only thing left of her.”

  Damnit.

  “And now,” he continues, “Toterra is using that stolen tech, based on someone who cannot defend herself, to make millions of dollars.”

  “That ain’t right,” SteelFeather says.

  “Dude. That’s…” I can’t think of a word bad enough for what I mean. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you’ll help,” he responds promptly. “Say you’ll help my team get into that Toterra interface and end their illegal use of my daughter’s intelligence.”

  “I still don’t understand how— ” TexBadass begins.