VR Interactive Game Worlds

Book 2 : Worlds Apart

Contents

Chapter 1 : Nicola's ending, and new beginning

Chapter 2 : Marina celebrates a new age

Chapter 3 : Sharyn's new direction in life

Chapter 4 : The game begins

Chapter 5 : Sides are formed

Chapter 6 : Mission impossible

Chapter 7 : Fortress of doom

Chapter 8 : The great escape

Chapter 9 : Agents and players

Chapter 10 : Spiderman

Chapter 11 : The Space League

Chapter 12 : The milk run

Chapter 13 : Welcome aboard

Chapter 14 : A real mess of things

Chapter 15 : Some real action

Chapter 16 : David and Goliath

Chapter 17 : Lost in space

Chapter 18 : Life threatening dilemmas

Chapter 19 : Parting of friends

Chapter 20 : The way of things

Chapter 21 : A new friend

Chapter 22 : The armoury

Chapter 23 : Pain and pleasure

Chapter 24 : Room by room

Chapter 25 : Hard packed

Chapter 26 : Packaged but not delivered

Chapter 27 : You're under arrest!

Chapter 28 : More time for play

Chapter 29 : Returning from the dead

Chapter 30 : A problem of honour

Chapter 31 : Tight fit

Chapter 32 : Sweating it for a while

Chapter 33 : Truth and acceptance

Chapter 34 : Psychotic episodes

Chapter 35 : To Hell and back

Chapter 36 : Explanation

Chapter 1 : Nicola's ending, and new beginning

What could she say? She'd been duped by the biggest liar around. Not that she didn't half expect it. She'd spent enough time with plenty of guys now, to know what to expect.

Almost. She never considered that he'd end up been this hacker, trying to make humanity pay for its sins, and then try to make his message best known by blowing up lots of people in a game, and then irradiating whoever was left.

She got the message, but not the one he had sent. She was sick and tired of been played the fool. All the players had been wiped out, and as promised, player files had been restored back to near original condition afterwards. The only variations, were with those directly involved with the hacker. Namely seven people, herself included. Her character never felt the same, when she went back into the game after, to find out what happened to everything.

It didn't feel the same any more. Thanks to him, she'd already had a sneak peek at what was coming ahead in the game, and didn't feel challenged any more. She'd bid her gaming partners, those that she could find, a fond farewell, and thanks for the fun, but it was time to find something with more challenge.

She didn't have any of that at home, as her father was a rich business man. And living Mexico didn't give her the opportunities like other girls her age. She was almost 19, and she saw no girls or boys anywhere near her age, unless they came to fix the electric's or clean the house.

She had gotten used to living in Delaware until her father made her family move to Mexico because of legal problems. He never talked about it in front of her, so she never knew what had happened. So her high school was cut short, and instead of continuing in another school, he had her enrolled on an on-line college, and let her do all of her school work on a computer linked to the States.

So she never saw or talked to any other students. Her father didn't have any problem with her seeing other kids, just that he was just over protective.

It was just as well when she turned 18, that he'd had one of the new VR4 computers sent from a friend in the States just for her.

It was a whole new world for her in VR. She found lots of people she could talk to, and get involved with in many ways.

She soon found though, that when some people found out who her father was, they hassled her. So she started using an old friend's address in Delaware and a different name, so she didn't have any more problems.

More and more she found herself getting more involved with the games and having fun, until recently.

He father had taught her one thing right at least. If it wasn't fun any more, then walk away from it.

Well, she had walked away. And after a few weeks doing nothing but school work, she was desperate enough to go into town herself, and find something new to play.

One of her dad's chauffeurs drove her in, and played escort in the department store. He was in his thirties, but she still flirted with him, spinning about in her dress and flashing her bare legs.

He knew his place, and appreciated only what she showed him. Only ever touching her hands to help her from the car, and never making any other contact.

Walking through the small electronics section, she caught the attention of both salesmen. They were young, as they all were, full of the energy to make the sale for their small bonus commissions.

Both were well trained, as one kept the counter occupied as the other approached.

"May I help you miss... ?" He asked.

She heard the question correctly, as he probed for her name. She avoided it easily, redirecting it back to what he should have been asking for.

"Yes, I'm looking for your new VR4 titles." she said.

He was cool in accepting the change, "We have most of our stock in VR4 items on the shelf over here." He said, directing her over to the head height glass shelves, filled with many slim line cases.

"Some items may not be on display, as there is more titles currently available then shelf space I'm sorry to say." He said, "If you are looking for something in particular, it may be listed in our current stocks."

"I think I'll just look for the moment." She said, dismissing him.

"Just call if you need assistance." He said, before departing back to the counter.

She wasn't sure what she wanted, as she didn't have any idea what sort of things were available.

The titles on display were as various as the dresses she had at home. Interactive stories from most of the recent movies and books. Many games from sports, Olympics, warfare, strategies, and the more common platform games. She either hated them or they bored her. There were the education titles of course, but she stayed right away from those.

It was like there wasn't anything to keep her interest in anything here. Not even the restricted titles across the top. They were of the pornographic nature, and mostly directed to males.

She felt almost fed up, and was ready to leave as she took one last look across the top shelf, and realised there were posters above them which she hadn't seen.

Large game advertisements, with holograms printed with photo realistic images that sprang out from the wall.

There was one from Scavengers of the Mutant world, depicting a fight between players and huge arachnids. She'd seen that shot before, and seen the actual spiders up close, but it no longer excited her.

The other posters were just as ostentatious in promoting gaming excitement. One did catch her attention, more with its wording then with the pictures. "Sick of leading a life bound only on one planet? Join the Corps, and be someone. The Corps guards society. A galaxy without the Corps is nothing. Find excitement around every corner, wrongdoers under every rock, and evil in every shadow. The galaxy is just a step away for the Corps."

Well, it did sound kind of lame, but it didn't sound like all the other games she had seen. And the image of the woman in a uniform, leaning over the door of some craft and shooting at a running figure, fit her perception.

She hadn't seen the box on any of the shelves, and hoped they had a copy. It took only a glance towards the counter, and the other salesman came over.

"Have you found what you are looking for?" He asked.

"That game up there." She said, pointing at the poster, and added "Troubled Realms."

"Yes, I believe we do have a copy left in stock." He said, squatting down at the bottom of the shelves, and pulling open some doors.

It took a moment, of sorting through a box, before he found the case, and stood up handing it to her.

"It was released just after Scavengers of the Mutant world." He said. "And only now gaining popularity since the, um recent problems."

She paid with her credit card, that her dad paid the bill for.

"Enjoy your game Miss Dubonis." He said smiling, having read it off the card.

"Thankyou." She replied, relived to have found something, then took the game box in hand and walked out the store with the chauffeur.

Chapter 2 : Marina celebrates a new age

It was an innocuous title. Troubled Realms.

If the game was anything like the title, it was going to be dead boring. But she put on her best smile, and thanked her grandparents for the birthday present, kissing them both.

Marina was fifteen today. Legally allowed in some countries to get married and have children. To drink alcohol you had to be 21 in Britain, and smoking tobacco is actually outlawed in Switzerland, as well as many other European countries. In New Zealand is was still quite legal, if your were old enough to buy the horrible things.

But what never changed, was the age for a driver's licence. She had a whole year yet, before she was even allowed to drive, let alone even think about owning a car.

She could dream. That and play the Cannonball Run on VR. It was the coolest thing around. All the cars were real, from dashboards down to the smallest screw in the engines, from companies all over the world.

From the popular manufactures like Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Chrysler, Ford, Mercedes, as well as test production vehicles that never reached the public. Vehicles that made the humble station wagon look like a chariot.

It was only after her family had finally left her alone, that she got on the computer, and shoved in the disc in.

A minute later, she was pushing past 200 kilometres per hour, along the Death Valley Highway.

She'd learnt how to stick shift with a six and seven speed gearboxes, but she always loved the tip tronix. A short flick, and the engine shifted from a scream to a low roar. The gearbox was still a new thing to her, which she used as an automatic on those tracks with tight corners.

Unfortunately she had to play this in a different body than her own, as she couldn't reach all the controls in a fourteen... no make that a fifteen year old body. She had adapted a body she'd ripped from one of her brother's games. Some type of archaeologist adventurer that he liked playing. She looked ok, even if the proportions didn't look quite realistic. These she adjusted to something realistic, and was able to map her own face and adjust other characteristics like hair colour so it looked like herself with the help of the VR programs.

Whilst the game had no traffic along this section of the road for the moment, there were still other cars racing her.

The McLaren F1 was catching in her mirror, as there was no way she could outrun it in the Mitsubishi HSR5. It handled well, in it's low slung cabin, and accelerated so fast, that Marina couldn't breath. But it lacked the top speed of the new F1.

She would have chosen the F1 to race in, except for a few advances in the HSR design made it more preferable under the current conditions. The zero light levels made the infrared overlay on the windscreen technical marvel. The road would have been pitch black ahead otherwise, and taking the long curves now meant she could see when the road straightened out without having to overcorrect.

The F1 had no such advantage, and it stayed back with only its headlights to say it was still there.

A small bleep from her radar and laser designator got her attention, indicating a police presence somewhere up ahead. Nothing visible for kilometres ahead yet, so they had to have a laser pointed down the highway just waiting for something.

The cop car looked like a speck in the distance first, its headlights growing larger very fast, as it was on the road travelling in the opposite direction.

It's blue and red lights started flashing before she even reached it, and passed it mere seconds later with the sirens whining past rapidly.

The police side band radio crackled into life as an officer spoke to dispatch, "This is X-ray four nineteen, in pursuit of multiple vehicles headed west on Death Valley Highway."

"Roger that four nineteen." dispatch replied.

At just over 300 kph now, they would have no chance at catching her, unless they called in other pursuit cars.

"Assistance will be required. Recommend road block and spike strips set up at I90 turn off."

"Roger that, units two ten, fourteen and three eleven are on route to I90 turn off. Bird dog is on its way."

The voices clicked off, as she concentrated on the road ahead.

The pursuit car was well past now, having missed all the racing cars on the road, but it was still following the group of six sports cars, doing its best to stay up.

In the sky above the highway, she noticed a blinking light approaching. Bird dog. A small twin engine Cessna spotter plane. The well lit headlights of six cars, with the flashing of the pursuit cars were like a beacon, drawing it in.

As the lead car, she could see when it banked about in front, and switched its spot lights on. It slowed a little, to move its lights one at a time over each of the cars.

"Bird dog in position. We have six sports cars, Mitsubishi, McLaren, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Ferrari and a Porsche. Speed of lead car in excess of 300 KPH."

"Roger that Bird Dog. Four nineteen, road block is set up on I90 turn off. Awaiting your packages."

"Roger dispatch. Rounding up the bandits now."

The radio calls were a lot more jovial, as they presumed to catch the six cars on the Run.

"This is two fourteen. We have visual now on bandits."

Marina strained her eyes ahead, making out the tiny blips on either side of the road, and one in the centre. It was guaranteed that spike strips were laid out between the cars, and off the road onto the dirt.

She didn't have much time until her ride came to an end, unless she did something. Now she relaxed off the accelerator, dropping back on purpose, and letting the F1 and the Diablo both pass her. She killed her headlights, as she didn't need them with the infrared, and the lights of the two cars in front of her.

Approaching the road block now, she manoeuvred the car up behind the Diablo, keeping it dangerously close. Close enough to read the small badge work on the back.

The AI controlled cars wouldn't stop, they'd run right through the spike strips. If she'd been playing against other players, she'd have to try something else. The F1 headed toward the right side for the supposed opening between the stopped pursuit vehicles.

Before the Diablo could move, she headed left, kicking in enough acceleration to bring her car next to it. The Diablo shifted across, thumping her car, but moved back, not wanting to risk sliding out. Its space was running out, and it tried again.

She had to counter steer to stop from running off the road, forcing the Diablo into the centre of the road straight for the pursuit car.

As soon as she freed her car, she pressed hard on the brakes, slewing in behind the Diablo as it hit the pursuit car. The F1 had already run across the spike strip, ripping out its tires, its speed carrying it past the pursuit cars on its four rims.

Diablo made a loud crunching sound as it impacted, but passed enough of its momentum across to the pursuit car to cause it to overcome the locked brakes and slide down the road with the entangled Diablo.

There was enough space now as she pulled between the two spike strips, both hands turning the steering wheel right then left, then right again to avoid the wreckage. She had to pull the wheel left again, to miss the F1 which had come to a rest further up the road near the side.

The Mercedes following her, saw the opening, but was going to fast to take it, and ran two tires across a spike strip, then slewing off the road. The Porsche and Ferrari had a bit more time, and took the opening at speed, bringing up the rear, leaving only three cars.

The race played hell like that on the leaders, giving the advantages on the cars following. But with no more obstacles in front, Marina floored the accelerator, pulling away from her companions.

All she could hear from the police band scanner was aircraft reporting two cars had made it through, and the one was missing.

She still had her head lights off, so they would never see her in the dark until she hit the street lights of the next town where the current leg finished. The three of them made it to the finish without any more problems. The F1 and the Mercedes that had lost their tyres would be back in the race for the next leg, losing time and points for tires. The Diablo however was out completely, because the car was now a wreck.

Fast and furious, just how she liked her racing. The tracks weren't real unfortunately, but it provided a more intense race feeling for the driver.

The Troubled Realms game got lost in all her other presents until a few days later, when she decided to finally look at it. She pulled out the leaflet and started to read.

Chapter 3 : Sharyn's new direction in life

"But I'm innocent!" She jumped up, yelling at the judge, then pleading to the jury who had just passed the verdict. "I'm innocent."

Two uniformed bailiffs came over to grasp her arms.

"You will be remanded in custody." The Judge intoned, "Where upon you will be transferred to the Avero medium security prison to serve a sentence of nine years, with a minimum of 4 years with probation."

He banged down the gavel. It seemed over, as everyone stood up as the Judge left.

"We'll appeal Sharyn." Her lawyer said, as the bailiffs slowly took her away.

"Where the hell is Avero?" She called.

Her lawyer answered, trying keep her calm, "It's a new mixed prison, but without the usual manual labour, instead they adhere to the original principle of re-educating inmates."

"That's good, but I'm innocent." She called as the door closed separating them. She knew he'd tried his best, but the evidence seemed insanely true.

A security video had captured a shop clerk beaten half to death by a woman, before the shop was cleaned out. The clerk lived, but wasn't able to identify his attacker. The only evidence was the computer enhanced security video, which showed the face of Sharyn Shiels clear enough.

Sharyn did have an alibi for the night, having slept with him. But he couldn't confirm that she'd been with during at the time.

And the fact that she did have a previous record, from when she stole from a shop when she was sixteen threw it for her.

She hadn't understood how it had happened herself, having seen the video. A look-a-like? No it didn't make any sense.

She still couldn't half believe it after they clamped cuffs around her legs and wrists, and led her to the waiting van. Like a ridiculous dream, she hoped to wake up from soon.

But she didn't. She arrived at Avero, and was talked to personally by the warden.

"Your record shows a history violent behaviour." He said, leaning across the sparse desk.

Sharyn would have snorted at the comment. A history? What a load of crap. One bloody conviction, and it's a history.

The warden went on, "This is one thing we will teach you here, and that is violence gets you nothing. Here at Avero, we will teach you what is right. And what is wrong." His eyes seemed to bore into her, like he was trying to beat it directly into her brain with a simple stare.

It almost seemed that way, when Sharyn did find out how education was performed. Inmate's brains were hooked up to computers, and they were taught literally what was right and what was wrong. Both punishment and rewards came quickly.

Do wrong, and you received a reprimand. Pain was sometimes used, like an electric jolt, or a heat, or something else. It always changed so a person couldn't get used to it.

And do it right, you were given rewards, like the feeling of pleasure. This always changed positions on the body, as well as the pleasure, so it didn't become addictive for the inmates when they were finally released into society.

These were only some of the punishment and rewards inmates received, as Sharyn found out.

One women was a convicted murder, who had cut her husband up into small pieces before feeding them to fish in a lake. She'd been caught, sitting on a pier, all covered in blood, throwing one piece at a time into the water.

Her re-education included visions of her husband. Every time she had them, she always killed him again, and again. Soon, whenever she wasn't been re-educated, she was locked away in solitary confinement.

Sharyn was at the prison long enough before her lawyer visited, to find out for herself what rewards were available. Playing any of the small selection of authorised games on the computers, and if they were extremely good inmates, they were allowed to go on-line with people outside the prison.

She finally met with her lawyer in a closed room.

"I'm sorry but the appeal has failed." He said, watching for her reaction. "The court dismissed it, as not having enough new evidence."

She sat there unresponsive, thinking about why this had happened. Nothing came to mind. She'd been a great kid before her mother died, which was why was caught stealing that first time. She'd just lost her mother, and her father had his own pain to deal with.

They both got over it, and lived their lives. He father had retired to some trailer park in California, and was happy. She'd done ok for herself for the 10 years, a steady job which paid the bills, until this.

Maybe it was time for a change, and this was the way. Four years if she was on good behaviour, and she'd be out.

"Thanks Marcus, you did your best." She said.

"I can try to appeal again with another court." He said.

"No. It's not necessary. It's not so bad here. Maybe I'll learn something." She said, with a smile.

"Ok, if you're absolutely sure." He asked.

"Absolutely." She agreed. "Just make sure you get a good price for my things. I don't want you not getting paid."

"It's been taken care of." He said, trying to read her expression.

"Ok. I guess I'll see you some time, between 4 to 9 years." She said.

After he left, she returned to her re-education. It was several months before she had been allowed use of the computers for recreation on-line. She'd been playing one game off-line when she was allowed, and was really thrilled to go on-line for the first time.

The attendant in the sealed booth, loaded the disc into her connection. Sharyn blinked her eyes, and entered Troubled Realms.

Chapter 4 : The game begins

Nicola didn't bother to read the documentation, she wanted to do someone now, and not have to waste her time reading.

So she pushed the game disc in, and started it up. She blinked her eyes to initiate the connection, and nothing happened. Well, nothing seemed to have happened. She was still lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. So nothing had happened. She blinked again, thinking that the computer had somehow missed the controlled response, but still nothing happened. She sat up, and took the headset off thinking that maybe it had broken. It looked ok, but she was an expert on computers. She only used it.

Maybe it was something in the manual. She looked about on the large bed, but it wasn't there. No box either. She stood up, and walked around, thinking they'd fallen onto the floor, even checking under the bed, but nothing. Like she hadn't brought them into her room with her.

She thought through what she did before. Left the chauffeur outside with the car, entered the house. Father wasn't home at this time of day. Didn't see any of the maids that continually kept the house clean. Straight up the long stairs, along the hallway and left into her bedroom.

She'd kicked off her shoes, and dropped onto the bed as she unpacked the game. It didn't make sense. Game packages didn't just disappear did they? A new form of environment friendly packaging? She laughed aloud at the thought.

She couldn't find the box, and the computer didn't work. She was stuffed if she was going to do any school work today.

As boring as it seemed, she decided to go swimming just to waste time. Maybe she'd come back as soon as her skin had gone all wrinkly. She pulled the door closed, in case one of the male help happened to be inside, and dumped her clothes there on bed and started to change into her swimming costume, then changed her mind and dropped the bathers on the floor.

She was in one of those moods now, frustrated at everything and just wanting some excitement to relive the depression. She'd gone skinny dipping in the pool dozens of times, and it sometimes helped her mood. All she grabbed was her towel, which she wrapped around herself so she wouldn't frighten the help by wondering through the house naked.

She pulled open the door, stepping through before she realised something was wrong. About her was a dark and seedy alley. The pavement under her feet was dirty and wet. As she turned about, she found the door she had stepped through, close shut with bang. On this side it was a plain steal door, without a handle to open it.

She rapped finger around the edges to no avail, as it was set back within the wall, and a lock adorning it.

She reverted to bashing on the door with her fists, and calling for help from the house staff. "Can anybody hear me?"

Not a sound came form the door, but something rattled down the alley. She turned about, holding the towel up from slipping. "Who's there?" she called too loudly in the alleyway.

A scuffling sound followed this time.

"Come out, or I'll..." Nicola started to say, but she had nothing to back it up, unless it was hidden under her towel. "I'll have to shoot!"

A garbage can tipped over near the wall, and a figure emerged. "Please don't shoot says I." the figure said, holding up both hands to indicate he was friendly. "James I be. James be but a resident within this refuse. James also be not watching yonder door from which you emerged your gracious one."

He had a light voice with a stilted English accent. But his words were strange, like he was speaking of himself as a third person. Nicola didn't know if he was dangerous, but he hadn't shown any indications so far.

"Then return to your dwelling, and don't disturb me with those sounds." She said, waving her free hand.

"James be thanking you." He said, returning to the trash. "I be but fortunate to have your presence in this here alley." he mumbled once more before the alley was silent again.

Other sounds now filtered through the dark alley. The common street sounds of cars and people. Both ends of the alley showed lights of cars passing back and forth.

She had to go somewhere, rather then stay standing here in the cold all night. More by choice, she headed in the opposite direction of the alley's resident.

The paved road surface was nothing but cold and wet on Nicola's feet. Approaching the end, she could see both cars and numerous pedestrians passing back and forth in under street lamps. Music and other things could now be heard clearly.

Maybe she could get some help form a passer by, and she could get a lift home, or somewhere and get some clothes.

Now at the end, at the corner of the wall, she got a good look at the people walking by, and they got a look at her.

Some seemed not to notice the half naked girl with a towel, while others stared openly, and even pointing as they passed.

"Excuse me?" Nicola called, to a couple. They looked her way, then actually hurried past.

Several more people did the same thing as she asked for help. Each one she looked at, all had a dark complexion. As if they were part Africans.

"Can you help me?" She called to two guys.

These acted a little different, but the effect was the same as they first stared. One started to move over towards her, but the other looked around, then pulled his partner away as they continued along the street.

She wasn't getting any help from any of these people.

"What's this, an albi?"

The voice caught her attention, like a whining child. The voice was one amongst a group of people who'd come from the other side, whilst Nicola's attention was on the two guys.

"Oh, jeez I like albis. She's a pretty one too." Another guy said.

Unlike the other people, this group had taken notice, but it wasn't the attention she wanted. More then likely they were interested in amusing themselves then helping her.

"All wrapped up just for us she is." One sniggered.

"Let's just grab the albi and go huh?"

Two of them started to approach. Nicola's only avenue of escape lay either back down the alley, or into the crowded streets. She picked the street, moving sideways away from the group.

"Ohh, playing hard to get heh? Let's get her."

The group, moved forward in a rush at her. She turned and ran, trying to keep the towel up with one hand, to push between surprised people with the other.

It was a mad rush, pushing between groups of people. She saw an opening of ahead, and made towards it. Almost there, she ran into two of the group waiting for her.

"Dumb albi doesn't know it's easier to go round crowds." One said, as the other grabbed her arms.

"Let go." Nicola called, "My father's got connections."

"She's got a pretty voice too. Let's see what the rest of her is like."

The towel was ripped from her hands before she could react to the comment. With her hands free now, she reacted physically to her tormentors.

The first got her knee to where it hurt most, sending him to the pavement clutching his crotch. The other she slammed her fist into his face, hearing a crunching sound. She followed this with leg kick into the stomach, a friend had taught her.

Voices behind her called out. "There's the albi!"

She turned to see some of the group had followed her through the crowd, trying to surround her.

"She's ours now." One said, drawing out a knife which seemed to spring out of his sleeve.

He lunged at her with the knife out thrust, and she reacted unnaturally now, grabbing the knife hand, and spinning the guy about to twist his hand, forcing him to drop it. As it clattered to the ground, she raised her arm, slamming her fist into his face, and elbowed him as she let go.

Three more were approaching as flashing lights appeared through the crowd. Seeing the lights, the three quickly disappeared into the crowd.

The second guy she had hit came lunging at her, and swept her leg out, hitting him in the face.

"That's enough!" A voice called. Two figures, one male and one female, also dark complexioned, approached wearing strange uniforms clearly marked police.

"Thank god you're here." Nicola said, walking towards them and bringing her hands up as she approached.

Without her knowing it, the first one slapped cuffs on her wrists. "You're under arrest." He said. "Get those others too." he added, and the female cuffed the three guys, drawing them together.

"What am I under arrest for? They were going to rape me!" Nicola said, forgetting her hands were cuffed as she tried to point.

"Assault, disturbing the peace, Albino without a licence, soliciting..." He reeled off charges which she shook her head at. "And indecent exposure."

She had forgotten loosing her towel in the attack. It only took a quick glimpse to confirm she was as naked as they day she was born.

Crowds had gathered close to watch, and Nicola felt sure their eyes were on her. She tried to cover herself with her bound hands, but the policeman grabbed the cuffs to haul her through the crowd.

Another pair of cops arrived to take the other three away. She felt relieved as they hustled her into the back of a car. Neither offered her any clothing. But it did make her feel better that the guy drove, and the female sat next to her in the back.

The car pushed through the crowds, and into the clear.

"It was self defence." Nicola said.

"Save it for the station." the female next to her said, and didn't say another word.

So she kept her mouth shut all the way. At the station, they took her inside just the same. Almost no words. The station entrance was crowded with people, and cops alike, talking and yelling to make words head.

Hardly anyone paid her attention. Those that did, stared obviously.

They stopped at the desk, and the male listed the same charges as before to the female attendant. "Assault, disturbing the peace, Albino without a licence, soliciting, and indecent exposure."

"Uh, huh. And what's your designation honey?" the desk lady asked.

"Nicola Dubonis."

"Sure, and I'm King of the Free Worlds." She said, and then repeated. "What's your designation?"

Nicola had no other answer for her. It was her real name, not the concocted ones she'd used on-line, so she said it again. "Nicola Dubonis."

"All, right." The lady typed at the desk, "Alpha-Jane-One. Put her in lockup twelve, away from everyone else."

"Move along." A hand her back pushed her hard toward an open doorway. She barley avoided falling over, and kept going forward.

Near the doorway the desk lady called out. "Hold a minute. Bring the Albi back."

She was hustled back to the desk, just as roughly.

"Turn around." She said.

Nicola didn't know what was happening, but a thump on the arm made her accept the command, and turned about.

"Stop!" came another command, and Nicola did just that. Now facing away from the desk at the milling people and police. She was able to cover herself somewhat with her bound hands as she stood there.

She could hear the lowered voices behind her. "Can't quite see it. Get her to bend over further."

Nicola started bending before she heard the command, bending over enough to touch her feet with her hands.

"Bloody hell. She's one of them." A male voice said. The cop who had brought her in.

"Yeah, but she's got the authority to do what she wants." The desk lady said.

"And we can't do jack if she destroys the whole city." The other said.

Nicola was still bending over, with the blood rushing to her face.

"Nicky? Did you say your name was Nicky? You can stand up now." The desk lady again.

Nicola stood, up and turned about to face the desk cop. "What's going on?"

The female cop pulled up her hands, and released the cuffs from her wrists as the desk lady said, "I'm sorry, but we didn't know you were operating in our district. We apologise for any inconvenience. If you told the arresting officer's you were from the Corps, we'd have let it go at that."

Nicola was confused now. Having somehow ended up in a strange city at night from her bedroom door. Been attacked by thugs, arrested, and now the cops were sorry?

One word stuck. "Corps?" Nicola asked.

"If you like, we can get someone from your office to bring a car by." She said. "We don't have the personal at the moment to take you back out and the arresting officers that brought you in, will be writing reports for the rest of the night." A short glare at the two, sent them walking away to another doorway.

The car sounded fine to Nicola. "Sure, get a car." Maybe then, she could get home.

The desk lady got on a phone right there, calling a long number.

"Hello? This is police quarters in district eight. We've accidentally picked up one of your people. Could you send a car round to get her? Good, thanks."

She hung up, "One of your car's is in the area, and will be here in less then 5 minutes. If you want to take a seat." She pointed towards a set of benches against the wall.

Courtesy obviously didn't extend far enough for coffee or some clothes. Not that they seemed to care much about either before.

Since the conversation, the atmosphere in the people around her had changed subtly. People didn't stare any more. They now make quick glances, as if checking she was still there.

Nicola sat on the bench, which had miraculously cleared itself. Concerned about her exposure, she crossed her legs, holding her hands on her lap.

Whist she waited, she watched the desk lady, who occasionally glanced up at her from the desk, and sometimes at a digital clock on the wall.

When a well dressed Caucasian man entered the police station, attention seemed to focus on him for a moment before it suddenly evaporated.

Almost by instinct, he came towards her. That, and the fact she was the only other Caucasian person in the room.

The man came up, and stopped a metre away. Nicola slowly rose to meet him standing up.

"Agent. We were worried when you didn't arrive at planetary headquarters. It is nice to see you, unharmed of course."

"Just get me out of here." she said, walking for the entrance.

He matched her pace, as they exited the building. A strange looking car was parked directly in front of the police station. All by itself, the doors opened a their approach, swinging up.

She was still confused at her surroundings, and having gotten around for several minutes, plainly forgot to ask for some clothes.

Only as she strapped herself into the seat did she remember her lack of clothes. Before she could ask, the guy had pulled from the curb, accelerating quickly away from the station.

"The fact that you are ok, seems to indicate that your Corps inducting training was successful."

There was that word again. Corps. She'd heard it earlier today. Thinking backwards, she surprised herself.

"I'm in the bloody game!" She yelled, half relieved that she wasn't lost in an unknown city. She covered her face with her hands, and wanted to cry but instead all she could do was laugh as she considered what she had been through.

"Is anything wrong?" the agent asked, glancing at her momentarily.

She pulled the face from hands as she looked at the agent. She was sure that he wasn't another player. He wasn't even vaguely interested in her body. "No, nothing is wrong. I just didn't know this was my training." She said.

"Everyone is put through a training mission before coming to Corps headquarters. Surely you read your handbook before starting the mission. Its required reading material, as it explains everything."

"Can you give me a short run down on the handbook." Nicola asked.

"Sure." He said, and explained in short detail what she had failed to read. "So before starting you should have selected your primary appearance and uniform for all missions."

She'd done a stupid thing, not only that she'd forgotten clothing, but she hadn't even changed her appearance. She was as she was real-life. Her face, her fingers. Not a single change. She didn't consider if anyone should recognise her, but rather her lack of clothing.

"So I can't get any other clothing?" She asked.

"Not usually. You can be assigned new weapons for missions and things. If you lose any of your original uniform, it can be replaced." He said.

"What is your name?" Nicola asked, feeling awkward.

"Name? We don't use names, we have designations." He said, "Yours should be on your identification. But mine is Tango Hotel Mike X-ray One. But everyone uses a nickname which sounds similar to their designation. I'm called Thomas."

"What's this identification?" Nicola asked.

"Your identification? It should look like a tattoo on your right buttock, with an implant underneath. It makes identifying bodies easier. The police would have identified you by it also."

As Nicola thought about having to bend over in the police station, she put a hand down her seat, and felt for the texture of the tattoo. She found the rough texture with a small bump underneath her she pressed her fingers against the cheek of her bottom.

"Thomas, can you check my designation for me?" she asked.

"Sure, just a moment?" he said. He flicked a few switches, then released the steering wheel. It seemed to turn left and right, on its own violation. Thomas turned to her now. "Turn around and let me look."

Nicola had to twist in her seat to face the door, before Thomas could see the tattoo, and make and to the letters.

"A-T-E-P-3" He read out.

Thomas resumed control of the vehicle as he asked, "So what do you want to call yourself?"

Nicola thought on this. She was quite a fan on Greek mythology

The characters ATEP seemed to match closely with the last player name she used, Athena. She really didn't want to use that particular name in a long while. It took her a long while to rack her memory for another Greek goddess that was somewhat similar. In her current appearance, it seemed to match. The goddess of beauty, as well as love.

"Aphrodite." She said.

"Agent Aphrodite." Thomas reminded her.

She didn't have much time to consider her new name, as Thomas said "We'll be arriving shortly. All the other agents should be waiting when we get there."

To Nicola, that meant other on-line players.

"Can I get my clothes replaced when we arrive?" she asked.

"There should be replacement items waiting for you." He said, making a turn into a well lit underground car park.

Chapter 5 : Sides are formed

"Welcome to the Corps. You are all new here, having just completed your initiation into the Corps."

Marina listened to the drone of the agent in charge from her position in the line of new recruits. There wasn't many, only five actually. But the agent yelled like he was talking to hundreds.

"By now, you will all have been told your agent designations. These are permanently marked on your arse, so if you lose that arse, we can tell who's it is."

The guy to her left sniggered at the comment.

The agent homed in on him, yelling his next words to his face. "That way we know whose next of kin gets notified." He pulled his face away now, "I don't have to mention the sub-dermal implant either, as you should have been briefed on its use before training."

Marina remembered most of the aspects of the small implant under the tattoo. It functioned as an electronic identification, also to keep track of her location, monitor biochemical functions, and some other things which she couldn't remember just at that moment.

The agent continued, "Having been told your designation, you should have all chosen a suitable name for yourselves, so we don't confuse you all. I'm going to do a roll call, and I want you to reply with your names for the record."

He read from an electronic tablet, starting with the first recruit, calling out each letter of the designation as a word "Tango-Delta-Yankee-Victor-One"

"Toady." The first recruit called out.

The stepped up to him, half yelling "That's Agent, and Sir to you. Say it again."

"Agent Toady, Sir!" The recruit repeated.

"Better. Romeo-India-Delta..."

The sound of running feet interrupted the agent, and he turned about to face the intrusion. All eyes watched as a girl came to a stop in front of the Agent. It wasn't that she was intruding, but the fact she only appeared to be wearing a towel got everyone's attention.

Someone let off a whistle, but the Agent ignored it as he questioned the intruder. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Sorry I'm late Sir, but I just arrived. Agent Thomas directed me to come here straight away." The newcomer said.

"Agent Thomas was out on patrol." The agent stated.

"He was called away to bring me in after the local police tried to take me in." She added.

"Yes that's all very well. We've had to begin without you. Join at the end of the line, and answer when your designation is called." He said, pointing to the far end of the line next to Marina.

The Agent resumed his roll call, "Romeo-India-Delta-Echo-Two."

"Agent Rayden sir!" The next recruit replied.

"Beta-Beta-India-Yankee-Three."

"Agent Barbie, Sir!" The third recruit called.

"Alpha-Victor-Echo-Romeo-Two."

"Agent Vader, Sir!" the recruit next to her replied.

"Lima-Alpha-Romeo-Charlie-Two."

Marina called out her name now, "Agent Lara, Sir!"

The agent took a moment to touch the screen of the tablet a few times, before calling out, "Alpha-Tango-Echo-Papa-Three."

The new girl, with only the towel, called out a name Marina wouldn't forget for a while, "Agent Aphrodite, Sir!"

"Good." The agent said. "Now that you are all identified with the Corps computers. You will all be given your first assignments."

"As per regulations, all of you have been paired off and will join a more experienced agent as a group of three for all team assignments hereafter.

Marina heard a whispered comment from the second recruit Rayden "Hope I get Aphrodite."

"Agents Toad and Rayden. You are assigned to Agent Dread. Proceed to conference room S2284 where he is waiting."

Marina didn't hear the muttered comment as they walked off, but saw them turn about to look back before leaving the room.

"Agents Barbie and Vader. You are assigned to Agent Friday. Proceed to conference room S2476 where he is waiting."

Marina watched them walk off, knowing she was stuck with Aphrodite herself.

"Agents Lara and Aphrodite. You are assigned to agent Magnum. Proceed to conference room S2120 where she is waiting."

That was it. Marina had thought they'd get a male agent when she heard the name Magnum. But it was definitely female.

Without a word, she led off towards the main corridor for the lifts. The slapping of bare feet, following on the floor. She pressed the call button for a lift. When it came, she didn't speak a word to Aphrodite, but took a measuring look, trying to understand why she had a towel on.

There wasn't any time to think on it as they reached sub level 21. The corridors twisted as they followed the signs, finding room 20 only a short distance away.

By custom, she knocked once on the door, before opening it. Inside sat a young woman in a comfortable blue jumpsuit.

"Come in, I'm agent Magnum." She said, standing up from behind a table.

"Agents Lara and..." Marina started.

"Aphrodite." the girl finished as she came round next to Marina.

Magnum obviously saw the towel clad Aphrodite. "Another one that F-T-R-T-F-M?" She said, saying the letters quickly.

"Huh?" Marina said.

"Forgot to read the fraking manual." Magnum said.

"Yeah." Aphrodite agreed.

"I must say, you're the worst one I've seen." Magnum said. "Don't just stand there. Close the door and sit down."

Marina pushed the door shut, and took an empty seat near Magnum. Aphrodite sat in the chair opposite.

"Aphrodite, that's your real body?"

Aphrodite only nodded back in response. Marina was astounded that this person had come in with an untouched body. Everyone she knew of made use of bodies they'd either made up or copied. The one she was using now was the same one she'd been using in the Cannonball Run, as she was most comfortable with it.

Magnum continued, "Don't worry too much. You're not the first to have done this, and most likely not the last. I heard from someone else that one particular male recruit turned up naked with only with soap suds."

Aphrodite cut in, "Well actually I didn't have the towel until I got to headquarters."

"But you started with a towel right?" Magnum asked.

"Yes, but I didn't get to keep it long."

"Ok, I'll explain it. Whatever appearance and clothing you choose when you started the game, is the appearance you use for the entire game, and the clothing for any missions where you cannot be assigned clothing especially for the mission. You don't get to keep anything from a mission. If you used your initial clothes for a mission, and they become damaged or lost, the Corps replaces its. No problem there. But you cannot change your initial clothes." Magnum said. "You don't want to go wondering about in just a towel now do you?"

"No not really." Aphrodite replied.

"I only know of one way to fix this." Magnum said, pushing back her chair and pulled off her boots. She started unzipping her overalls next. "Someone has to donate you clothing, and we just claim it as lost so it gets replaced."

Magnum slipped out of her overalls, standing in a plain t-shirt and underpants. She pulled off the t-shirt off revealing a bra, and tossed the t-shirt to Aphrodite.

"This should cover your top." She said, then pulled off her bra.

Marina had never seen so flagrant nudity anywhere before. She was astounded, as she watched Magnum pass over her bra and then her underpants to Aphrodite. When Magnum was finished, she pulled her jumpsuit back on, not looking any different than before.

"Are you sure about this?" Aphrodite asked, slipping the underwear on.

"Absolutely. This is the way the game works strangely. Stuff can be requisitioned for missions, but it is only temporary. You'll get to wear all sorts of cool stuff." Magnum said.

She turned to Marina now, who was a little slack jawed. "You look a little surprised. You are female aren't you?"

Aphrodite looked to Marina as she jerked the t-shirt down over her head. But Marina only nodded in response to the question.

"I sometimes forget that." Magnum said. "Sometimes a player chooses a gender opposite body. The way you just reacted, I just had to ask. Would you be able to donate any clothing to Aphrodite?"

Marina had to look down at herself and think. The clothing she'd chosen was limited somewhat. She had on a halter top and shorts over the usual underwear. Nothing she didn't need herself. "Not really." She replied.

"It'll be ok. I'll use the towel as a makeshift skirt." Aphrodite said, wrapping it around her hips. When it was firmly secured, she sat down.

"There doesn't seem to be any particular format for running these meetings." Magnum began. "But I'm going to conduct it the same way as when I started in another group. I'm going to introduce myself, so we go get to know each other better, then both of you. Then you can ask any questions. My name is Sharyn Shiels, I'm 27, and I live in the United States. Currently I live in the Avero woman's prison."

"Prison?" Marina said.

"Your turn Lara." Sharyn said.

"Oh, um. I'm Marina Zheppa. I'm 15, and I live in New Zealand with my Mother." She said.

Sharyn turned to Aphrodite now. "And you."

"I don't usually give my real name, but since you see the real me, my name shouldn't be to hard to guess." She started. "I'm Nicola Dubonis. 18 years old. And I live in Mexico with my father."

"Dubonis?" Sharyn asked.

"Yes. That Dubonis." Nicola agreed.

"Your father is a real wanted man here. Occasionally we hear news about his avoiding authorities." Sharyn said.

"You don't have a clean record yourself." Nicola shot back, protecting her father.

"Well your half right there." Sharyn said, avoiding eye contact, and looking down at the overalls, cum prison uniform that she thought was appropriate for the game. "I'm doing a prison term for something I didn't do. Somehow I was identified from a security video. Aggravated assault and robbery. I was fortunate not to get attempted murder too. So now I'm surviving the sentence." Sharyn said, before adding "And this is my good behaviour." She waved her hand about at her surrounding, indicating the game itself.

"And Lara? You're 15?" Nicola asked.

"Y.. Yes." She replied, feeling both sets of eyes on her now.

"It's no wonder you reacted." Sharyn said, "How long have you been playing on-line games?"

"Um, this is my first time." Marina confessed a little shyly. "I'm been playing some games already on my brother's computer, but I got this game for my birthday."

"I've been on-line for about a month. And only in this game." Sharyn said. "Which is why I have some experience. Aphrodite?"

"Oh, I've been playing on-line since the system was released. Seven months ago now?"

"So we have a mix of game experience. Aphrodite, you'll have to read the introduction booklet later, right now we have to get into things."

Sharyn touched a few buttons of tabletop, and the lights dimmed down as a three-dimensional display appeared above the table.

"It's like this, the Corps are a law enforcement agency, that enforces galactic law. We as agents of the Corps, enforce this law. We undertake missions as directed by Corps administration, and do our best to complete them."

"For our first mission we are given a specific task to complete. Later on we will be able to pick and choose from a variety of available missions. Each mission can lead us anywhere within the galaxy. Each planet has its own society, commerce, and population." Sharyn said, "I'll just let the mission profile run so we can find out what we're doing." She pressed another button on the table and the display lit up.

Chapter 6 : Mission impossible

A computer rendered head appeared, and began to speak, "Good evening, and good afternoon ladies. Magnum, is your team prepared for its first mission?"

"We are Central.", replied Sharyn.

"Ok, for your first mission if you decide to accept it, will require your team to infiltrate a maximum security prison on the planet Epsilon Draconis Three. Where you will have to break out a political prisoner, by the name of Dr. Alfred Kelly. Kelly has been incarcerated there by the planetary government because of Kelly's views on the dumping of radioactive materials into space. Because this is a male prison, you'll be required to go in by stealth, and only use direct force when necessary. What follows are the mission details." Central finished, as the diagrams appeared over the table.

"A ship will bring you in low orbital approach, for a high gee entry into the atmosphere. The ship will make a dust off near the prison at night, and return into orbit to await your recall. From there you will have to plan your entry into the prison, locate Kelly, and exit from the prison with Kelly alive."

"If there's nothing else ladies, I'm going to return to my database now." Central said.

"Thanks Central." Sharyn said.

"You know, you girls remind me of Charlie's Angels. I haven't seen that since..." Central's face faded from the screen.

"That was the Corps main computer." Sharyn said. "Central is as close to a fully sentient computer that I know."

Sharyn hit a key, and the prison blueprints appeared in detail. "Here's where we need to plan. If either of you have any ideas, no matter how absurd, speak up. We have to work together on this, and cooperation is the only way we can do it."

Chapter 7 : Fortress of doom

With the three of them, it took 10 minutes to formulate a plan, and another 5 to sort out the details.

Sharyn requisitioned their gear from the terminal, before they left the conference room.

The lift took them to the stores, where they collected stealth suits, climbing gear, pneumatic stun pistols, and general infiltration toolkits. Several other teams were there also, returning or collecting gear. They stopped to watch a team in front collect large packs with formidable looking weapons.

After collecting their gear, Sharyn directed them to the change rooms. "Ok, get changed and be back here in five."

For convenience of not losing the loaned clothing, Nicola changed out them then entirely, and slipped into the stealth suit. When activated, the suit became jet black, absorbing radar and light on a wide spectrum from infrared into ultraviolet. And with hood drawn over with a mask over her face, she would become a black shadow.

Right now with the suit de-activated, it looked just like a skin tight leather suit, both showing and enhancing her figure.

Nicola used a band to tie her hair back, so she could use the hood without difficulty. The infiltration toolkit attached under a flap of material in front of her torso, so it was out of the way, but still easily accessible. The stun pistol remained in a holster which could be attached to a leg, or as Nicola did, to her left wrist.

She found Sharyn already waiting with the climbing gear. In a moment, Marina came out, with her suit fitting her too perfectly. "What do we do with our clothes?" She asked, holding her bundled clothes and boots.

"They go into stores until we get back." Sharyn said. "They'll hold it safely until then. That's when you get to request replacements for loses."

Nicola deposited her bundled towel and clothes with Marina, before returning to Sharyn.

"These climbing grips are called molecular bonders." Sharyn said. "They'll stick to anything you press it against." Just to demonstrate, Sharyn attached the grippers to her legs via knee pads. One pad to each leg, attached via a thin strap to each gripper. Then stuck one gripper on a nearby wall. Then putting her weight on the leg attached by the strap, she raised the other leg and stuck the other gripper against the wall. Twice she detached the lower gripper, and raised it further up the wall, in effect crawling up the wall.

"Going down is easier, but it's also easier to misjudge and fall." She brought herself down a lot quicker, lowering one foot to the floor before detaching completely from the wall. "An expert with four of these could climb across the ceiling like Spiderman. Just make sure what ever you attach it to can support you. Otherwise you'll fall."

Just for effect, Sharyn slapped one grip against a specially marked wall, and pulled. The paint on the wall pulled right off, leaving a mark the same shape of the gripper. She pressed the release stud and the paint slipped off, to brake in pieces on the floor.

Sharyn handed the gear out to them. "Let's find our transport."

The three of them, took the lift up to the surface, and exited an entrance at the space port. An agent was waiting for them at the lift.

"Agents Magnum, Lara and Aphrodite. Your craft is waiting for you on pad 26. I've got a cart to take you there now." She directed them to a small cart like a golf buggy. The agent took the wheel, and Sharyn sat next to her, while Nicola and Marina sat on the back. The cart took off quickly that they both had to hang onto their seats, or slip off onto the hard pavement.

They wound around a variety of craft, from small one person yachts to large assault craft. Across the port, Nicola saw several craft lifting off or landing on plumes of flame.

The cart jolted to a stop in front of a small sleek craft. Together they hopped off the cart and proceeded towards the craft.

"Good luck agents." The driver called, before wheeling about and heading back.

When they reached the boarding ramp, someone was waiting at the top for them. "'Bout time. When you ladies are ready, we'll lift off this dust ball."

"And you are?" Sharyn asked.

"I'm Cowboy. I'll be your pilot to your little rendezvous." The man answered with a strong Texan accent. "So, you'll want to get those pretty little asses up here, so I can do my job."

Before Sharyn could question him further, he turned about and disappeared into the craft. She turned about to face Nicola and Marina. "I must warn you that as soon as we left the lift, which is part of Corps HQ, we have technically started the mission. It is entirely possible that a mission can be subverted before we even get there. I've heard reports from other Agents, of teams that have been lost here at the space port before lifting off. This guy seems on the level, but just keep your eye's open."

"Maybe we should pilot the ship ourselves then." Marina said.

"That is an option, but I'm sure none of use know how to pilot this thing. Do you?" Sharyn asked.

"No." Marina replied.

Cowboy's voice could be heard from inside. "You girls gonna natter all day, or are ya coming on board?"

Sharyn gave one last look, before turning back up the ramp. "We're coming." She yelled.

Inside they found seats, and strapped in as the engines started up. A couple of shudders ran through the ship as the engines ceased. Nicola could hear Cowboy's swearing real four letter words before the engines restarted.

"Did he just say what I thought he said?" Marina asked over the rising hum.

"You mean, the stupid fucking shit heap of a ship?" Sharyn said coolly. "Try to get used to it Lara. Some of the characters we meet have even worse vocabulary. That and most of them will try to kill you."

"Unless we kill them first." Nicola added.

Cowboy's voice came though a speaker, "Hope your asses are strapped down. I'm initiating launch now."

Nicola felt the sudden acceleration grip her, and pull her down into her seat. The straps on her front, kept her from doubling over. It actually seemed to build, and she thought she could feel the framework under the seat before it started to let up.

"We've cleared the atmosphere, and I'm initiating jump coordinates. It's three quick hops. So hold onto your lunch, or whatever you ate last."

It was the weirdest sensation Nicola had ever felt. Like her entire body was been sucked through a small pipe, in-side-out, and spat out again. Except she had a clear sense of everything around her. Marina looked like she wanted to throw up, and Sharyn was smiling in her direction. It happened twice more, lasting about ten seconds each.

"I wanted to tell you." Sharyn said. "But it is a little hard to explain, isn't it?"

"Really strange." Nicola said. "We'll have to do it on the way back?"

"Back!" Marina complained. "I'll rather hit a brick wall."

Sharyn tried to console her. "Don't worry. It wears off quickly."

The voice of Cowboy returned. "I'm not cleaning any messes you girls leave behind. We are now descending towards the dark side of Epsilon Draconis Three. We'll be entering the atmosphere in a few seconds. So make sure you're strapped in, cause we're gonna shake so hard, you're going to feel it in your tits."

"Damn he's nauseating." Nicola said.

"Most pilots are better." Sharyn had time to say, before the ship started to shake.

It was as bad as Cowboy said. The ship shook like a baby rattle. The only things keeping them from been turned into a bloody pulp on the inside, was the seat straps. The craft settled into a half stable flight, as it kept a rapid descent to the surface.

"30 seconds to LZ." Cowboy said. "Here's where I say goodbye and hope to see you later."

"Get your gear ready." Sharyn said, pulling her hood up, and fixing it around her face.

Nicola did the same, readying the mask to drop down onto her face. The masks collected both low light and infrared sources to produce a reasonable image at any light level.

"Touch down in 10 seconds." Cowboy called. "Don't forget the call back comm unit in the basket by the door. I'd hate not to hear from you girls again. We've had such a swell time and all."

A thump sounded through the hull, as the servo's from the ramp sounded. "Touch down. Ground floor ladies."

They released the straps quickly. Sharyn grabbed the comm unit for the ship before they descended the ramp into the dark. Nicola activated her suit as she pulled her mask down, and the landscape lit up.

She ran away form the ship as the engines ignited, and it lifted from the ground. She turned about to see only the dwindling speck of the ship in the sky.

"Aphrodite, Lara." Sharyn called on the suit comm. "Over here."

"Where's here?" Nicola called.

"Look for the black shape. These masks only allow us to see one another as black shapes."

Nicola turned about looking. She saw the small black shape that seemed to change in shape as she watched. "That you?" She asked.

"Yeah." Sharyn said. "Lara, turn left a bit. That's it. Over here."

They came together now. "The suit's comm will help us stay in touch. Just don't get lost."

The prison was a short distance, perhaps a kilometre away. Together they approached. Seeing the prison the first time, Nicola thought it looked more like a fortress with it's double walls, and stone brick buttresses.

In the dark, it looked formidable indeed.

At the exterior wall, they made use of the climbing gear, ascending it straight up. Nicola's molecular bonders lost grip twice on the loose surface of the old masonry. She got the knack of testing the adhesion before putting her weight on it. With only two climbing grips, she had to get it right.

They mounted the wall, almost to the top where razor wire was stretched across edge.

Nicola waited patiently hanging against the wall, as Sharyn used wire cutters from her intrusion kit to cut an opening. Once it was cleared, they crawled up to the top, one at a time. No guards were visible on the narrow walkway above, but it was still some distance from the actual prison itself. It was a good 30 metre drop down the inside. Instead of climbing back down, a set of stairs was found a short distance away by Marina.

The night was very quiet as the got to the main prison itself, and started ascending.

Two floors up, they encountered bared windows. These had to be the lower floor cells. Their target was the well guarded section near the roof, as they eased around the windows to continue up.

At the top, Nicola's arms felt dead tired. Because she hadn't had the chance to make an appropriate body, she didn't have a strong physical body, not that she didn't exercise this body regularly. Sure there were added game characteristics which she'd used against that gang, but a better body would have been more useful then clothes right now. She'd be ok if they didn't have to do any more climbing. Their plan didn't count on doing any more, but you never could tell.

Several figures were evident on the rooftop. Guards with weapons slung over their backs, moved about the roof. Spot lights were mounted on the corners of the building, but were turned off. They seemed to be on duty, but some of them were just standing about chatting.

Quietly, the they moved across the roof, and crouched at the door that led back into the building. The silent footwear of their suits, never making a sound. Sharyn tested the door, and found it locked. Added security in case prisoners breaking out, made for the roof in hope of a rescue.

Sharyn directed them to watch the guards, as she attempted to pick the old lock.

Nicola heard the snick as the door unlocked, and saw a guard take notice. With seemingly practised ease, Sharyn had the door open, and pulled them both in, before re-locking the door.

They moved down a fews steps and waited silently. The door rattled once, but nothing more happened.

Nicola now took the lead down the circular stairwell to the first landing, the political prisoner wing. A closed door bared their entrance, but unlike the first door, this could be unlocked from their side with the twist of a knob.

Nicola eased the door open slowly, but stoped dead still when she saw a guard just inside, leaning back in a chair. She tensed, thinking the guard would see her, until she realised that he was sound asleep.

She opened the door ever so slowly, keeping and eye on the guard, and taking brief glances to check if there were any more.

Nicola moving inside a little further so the others could see the problem. She wasn't sure what to do. If they disturbed him, an alarm could be raised. And if they left him, he could wake up and still raise an alarm.

She watched as Sharyn dealt with the problem, by firing her pneumatic stun pistol into the rising chest of the guard. At almost point blank range, the pistol made almost no sound, and the guard wasn't going to wake up for a while.

Once clear of the doorway, Marina closed the door, so it wouldn't be noticed if another guard inspected it.

This guard had a ring of keys attached to a belt which Nicola removed whilst holding the keys so it wouldn't rattle.

Now they had to locate Kelly from all the other prisoners. With their mission information, was a profile on Dr. Kelly, complete with the latest pictures of him.

They all went down the corridor, looking through the bared openings in each door to check if Kelly was there.

Nicola was lucky enough to recognise him lying face up in his cell. It took her a few more moments to signal Marina and Sharyn by waving an arm about.

Finding the right key took some time, but they got the door open with only a few tinkles of keys touching.

Sharyn drew them all into the cell, and had them close the door and stand in front of it to muffle any sounds. This portion of the plan, they'd had trouble deciding on. Whilst an unconscious Kelly would make less sound, it would be too difficult for all of them to carry him out. They'd agreed to wake Kelly up, and have him walk out.

Sharyn detached one the climbing grips from her leg, to hold it ready as she gave Kelly a gentle touch on the shoulder. "Dr. Kelly?" Sharyn said quietly. It took two more tries before Kelly woke up suddenly. She slapped the grip down on his mouth, turning the adhesion on to keep his mouth shut as she held him down. "Please be quiet Dr. Kelly. We're here to rescue you."

He seemed to relax now, and stop struggling with her.

"I'm going to take this off your mouth now. And I want you not make any noise, or say anything. No one knows we are here, and we'd like to keep it that way."

She released the grip, and lifted it away.

"Who are you?" Kelly said, a little too loudly.

"Shhh. We are from Corps. Please, don't say anything else."

"Where are you, I can't see you." Kelly said, making an effort to keep his voice down.

"Here's my hand." Sharyn said, gripping his hand. "Just hold on. This mission can be jeopardised, if you talk any more We will stun you if necessary and carry you out."

Kelly took Sharyn's word, and kept his mouth shut as they led him out of the cell.

He wasn't as quiet as they were, but in bare feet the noise wasn't noticeable.

Marina led the way back to the way they came in, as Nicola closed Kelly's cell door again. She didn't lock it, but did reattach the keys to the guard. If he did wake up soon, he wouldn't notice anything unless he searched all the cells.

Here's where their planning became sketchy. Sharyn lead Kelly down the stairs slowly so he wouldn't slip or make a sound, whilst Marina stayed back so they weren't followed, and Nicola went ahead to find any obstacles in their path.

The idea was to exit at the ground floor, and steal a vehicle from the prison garage to make their escape in. They passed through three floors, reaching the ground before Nicola had to call a halt. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairway, and passing through another locked door, she entered a corridor that led directly outside. Ahead of Nicola on her left, stood a wide open doorway, spilling light and the sounds of many voices.

The others kept back behind the stairway door with Kelly, as she advanced up to the open doorway, and peeked around the corner. Inside was a guard post, but instead of guarding, there were seven guards, sitting about playing cards. There was laughing and guffaws as one or another player won the hand, scraping a pile of tokens their way.

After taking a good look at the room, Nicola backed away to consult with the others at the end of the corridor. The sound of the guards masked their words as they spoke quietly.

"Seven guards, all playing cards round a table." Nicola said.

"Weapons?" Sharyn asked.

"They look like pistols and shotguns. All within easy reach of them."

"This is a backwater planet, so they probably are."

"We can't get past without them noticing Kelly and three black shadows." Nicola said.

"So we need a diversion then?" Marina suggested.

"This place is mirrored remember. There should be and exact same corridor on the other side." Sharyn said. "Someone should go back upstairs, and come down the other side."

"Who?" Maria asked.

"It should be me." Nicola said.

"Why?" Sharyn conjectured "Neither of you are experienced in this game. If something should happen, I can handle myself."

"No so." Nicola said. "I've had experience, not necessarily in this game. And you don't have and idea on how to get their attention do you?"

"And you do?" Sharyn said.

"Yes." Nicola replied.

Sharyn relinquished. "Ok, go. When you get to the other side, tell us when you're ready."

Nicola, turned about, and dashed up the stairs. Actually she didn't have any idea, but she knew she'd have one by the time she got to the other side. She slowed her pace up the stairs, so she wouldn't wear herself out, or make too much noise.

She wanted to cut across at level one, but there was no guarantee that the guard would be asleep there also, so she had to go back up to level 4, where they had stunned the guard. He should be asleep for a while yet, so she had some leeway in making noise.

The guard was still there, sleeping as soundly as she had discovered him. Across the corridor and past the cells, she opened the other door, and locked it shut again.

She took her time down the stairs to think now, and an idea slowly formed. Actually she'd seen it in an old movie once, except she'd have to make a few changes to the script.

She got through the ground floor door and prepared herself before informing Sharyn and Marina to get ready.

Chapter 8 : The great escape

"Magnum, Lara. I'm in position." Nicola's voice came through.

"Ok, what do you need." Sharyn said.

"I'm going to get their attention. When you hear the signal, you and Lara come around the corner and fire at anything close to you. I'll get the rest."

"Ok. Give a moment, and then move in." Sharyn said. She turned to Kelly now. "Kelly, I'm going to let go of you now, I want you to stay right here. We'll be back in a minute."

Kelly nodded understanding.

"Lara, keep close." Sharyn said.

Marina followed until they reach the doorway. They both waited there for a moment, until they heard wolf whistles and men calling "hey babe!"

Sharyn took it for the signal, and moved across the doorway enough for Maria to get a view inside. All she could see were the backs of the seven guards, all standing up from their chairs. Some were further away.

Together Maria and Sharyn drew their pistols and took careful aim, firing at the closest two. They dropped quickly, but the noise of the gun and the dropping guards got the attention of the rest of them. They fired twice more in succession, but Marina missed her third shot.

Without any help from Sharyn, her guard dropped suddenly, and then the last one. The only person left standing in the room was Nicola, standing there naked with her pistol in her hand.

Marina understood how she got their attention now, without having an alarm sounded. She followed Sharyn into the room, as she checked all the bodies, to make sure they were all stunned, and not faking.

Looking at Nicola, Marina had to ask, "Where did you hide the gun?"

Nicola turned about, to show one of the climbing grips stuck to the centre of her back. "Had it attached to the strap." Nicola reached up to the handle, but couldn't release it. She looked over at Marina. "Give me hand can you? I can't get this off."

Maria, stepped around the bodies, and pulled the release. It came off easily, leaving only a red mark on the skin.

"Here." She said, handing it back to Nicola.

"Thanks." Nicola replied.

"You said, you had experience." Sharyn said, standing up from the last guard. "But now I wonder what you have experience in."

"Only in games. It's not my fault I have a good body." Nicola said, releasing the strap on the grip. "I'll go get back into my suit. You'd better get Kelly."

Marina stood and waited as Nicola ducked back out and Sharyn went out the other way to fetch Kelly. In a moment, both came back. Nicola fully dressed again, looking like a black wraith in the full light compared to her heavenly appearance to the guards, and Sharyn leading Dr. Kelly.

Marina and Nicola met Sharyn at the doorway.

Kelly broke his silence now. "Are they all dead?" he asked.

"No, merely stunned." Sharyn said.

"How?" he asked.

"I'm a real Medusa." Nicola said, "I just looked at them with my uncovered eyes."

"Yeah, it stuns men on sight." Marina added getting into the swing of Nicola's tale.

"And you said you might have to stun me." Kelly said, surprised now.

Sharyn led them all down the passage to the exit. "Best be quiet now. We haven't gotten out the prison yet."

Marina stayed as tail, as Nicola took the door. This one wasn't locked like the others, considering the guards were supposed to have free access.

Nicola went outside for a moment, then waved them outside into attached compound. On entering the prison, they'd come in from the side, and hadn't seen it. In the front now, she could see the entire compound as it had been on the map. Closing the door behind her, she followed the others across to a shed where the vehicles were supposed to be kept.

Guards patrolled the area around them, and they did their best to avoid been seen. One did see them, or Kelly rather, and Nicola was already on him before he could open his mouth, and eased him to the ground beside the shed after stunning him with her pistol.

The shed was a simple metal walled building, with a high roof. The door they found was unlocked, but as soon as Nicola started to open it, it squealed loudly. Shouts could be heard almost instantly to locate the noise.

"In quickly." Sharyn called.

A small variety of vehicles presented themselves. From a small industrial bulldozer, to open back trucks. In between however was an open sided rugged terrain jeep, looking much like a twentieth century hummer. Whilst Sharyn led Kelly over, Marina rushed over, and jumped into the driver's seat. The key was in the ignition, she pushed the clutch in, and ignited the engine.

She waited long enough for Sharyn to get into the back with Kelly, and Nicola jump in beside her before throttling it. The gear range was different than the average sports car, and she shift it up to second as she ran through the sheet metal door, tearing it half off its hinges, and bashing the rest out of the way before shifting up to third.

Spot lights were on, searching the ground for the intruders.

Marina didn't even think about the head lights, as her mask showed the road clear enough to navigate towards the front gate.

There was a roar of gun fire now, as the guards realised a vehicle was making an unscheduled exit from the prison.

Nicola returned fire at some of the guards, putting some of them down.

Posted at the gate ahead, were several guards, who could hear the jeep approaching at high speed. Having heard the gunfire already, they opened up on the approaching jeep without hesitation.

The windscreen took some of the rain of shotgun pellets and bullets, before finally breaking up into little pieces in front of Marina. "Keep your heads down." She called to her passengers, shifting past fourth gear now. She hoped it did have a 5th gear, and not a second reverse. The engine caught, pushing the speed up as she kept her head down.

The gates were two sets of wooden frames with cyclone fencing, between the mammoth stone walls, which broke apart on impact with the high speed jeep. The gun fire died down behind them as they made their escape form the compound.

"Is everyone all right?" Sharyn asked.

"Ok, here." Marina said, keeping the jeep on the dirt road.

"Fine here." Nicola said.

"Dr. Kelly?" Sharyn asked.

"I'm fine. That was quite a rush." He said.

"Yes. Good driving Lara." Sharyn said. "Where'd you learn to drive like that, at your age?"

"As I said before. I've been using my brother's computer for quite a while."

"You'll be a good asset to our team." Sharyn said.

"Well, you want to call down our ride, before I tip us into one of these potholes?" Marina complained.

"Sure." Sharyn pulled out the comm unit for the ship. "Hey bird eye. You want to come down and pick us up now?"

The Texan's voice came though, mingled with comm static. "So you girls made it through heh? I'll be down in a jiffy." His voice went away for a moment, then came back. "You girls are moving right?"

"Yep. We're putting a little distance between us and the prison, in case of pursuit." Sharyn said.

"Ok, stop in about five minutes near a clear area. I should be dropping on you by then. Cowboy out."

"Can you keep this bucket on the road for another five minutes?" Sharyn called to Marina.

"Sure." She replied, dodging a hole big enough to swallow a person whole.

Less then five minutes passed, and a bright light appeared above them, of glowing flames stretching out every few seconds as the ship above, descended towards them. Marina pulled the jeep to a stop at the edge of the road, killing the engine.

As soon as the ship landed, they hurried over, storming up the ramp before it had lowered to the ground completely.

"Let's get strapped in." Sharyn called, making sure Kelly was secured in a seat before getting one herself.

Seeing everyone settled, she called out "Punch it Cowboy."

The ship started to lift, although not a quickly as last time, but still fairly fast.

Marina saw Sharyn turn her stealth suit off, and did the same, removing her mask and hood.

"I thought you stunned men on sight." Kelly said, now seeing their uncovered faces.

"Only when she takes her suit off." Marina said, making an effort to lift her arm and point to Nicola.

She saw Kelly's eye's move down Nicola, "Oh." He said, seeing Nicola's form under the suit. He turned to look at Sharyn and Marina in turn. "I must say, you would all look stunning."

Marina didn't know what to say.

Sharyn replied for her, "Thanks Doc.".

"How the ride back there." Cowboy's voice came over the speaker. "I tried to make it a little smoother for our passenger."

"Just great." Nicola said.

"Good, 'cause we're about to jump. You know the drill now. Just don't make too much of a mess of my hold."

The folding sensation in her stomach passed easier than last time, and Marina didn't want to throw up this time. It felt like mild dizziness which disappeared quickly after the third jump.

"Not so bad heh?" Came Cowboy's voice, "How's the passenger?"

Marina looked over, at Kelly. A stench wafted over her face, as she saw the contents of meal down his front.

"Not so good." Sharyn replied. "Looks like prison food doesn't do too well in jump."

The ship started to shake, as it entered the atmosphere. "You had better clean it you when we land. Scraping shit out of my ship isn't how I like to spend my down time, if you know what I mean." Cowboy said.

Sharyn wasn't able to form a reply, as the shaking reached its worst point during descent. Kelly was looking better now. He must be one of the many who suffered severely from hyperspace jumps. The ride slowly smoothed out, with only some jarring.

Chapter 9 : Agents and players

"In approach to planet Wayside spaceport now." Cowboy's voice said.

Not much was said much on the way down, not until they landed safely at the port.

"There's a small party approaching for your guest." Cowboy said, as the engines wound down.

"Thanks." Sharyn replied. "It's time to leave." she told everyone as they got up from their seats.

"Aphrodite, stay with Kelly on the ship for a moment." Sharyn said. "Lara, come with me."

The both descended the bottom of the ramp to meet their reception party. Two men and a women. They looked like a team of players. After dismounting their cart, they approached Sharyn and Marina.

"Agents, we've come to take custody of the prisoner." The front one said, as they stopped a few metres away.

Sharyn understood who they wanted. But why was he asked for as a Prisoner? They'd freed Kelly from a prison, so no longer could be called a prisoner. Was he to be put back into a prison? "I'm sorry, but we don't have any prisoner with us, as you can see." Sharyn pointed to Marina and then herself. "We've finished our mission, now we'd like to return to HQ." Sharyn said, taking a few steps forward.

"Not so fast." The second male said, putting up a hand to stop her. "You don't mind if we search the ship do you?"

"Not at all." Sharyn replied, "It isn't our ship."

"Cunningham." The first one turned about to the female now. "Go make sure no one else is on board."

She moved off without any comment, and walked around them to the boarding ramp and on up. There was a silent staring match for about a minute between the four of them, until a crash sounded from inside the ship.

Cunningham came flying out of the hold, crashing down the ramp half way down, to slide the rest of the way to the ground.

Cowboy stepped out, and walked down the ramp smoothly as if he hadn't done a thing. "Agent Magnum, I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave any trash on my ship. You know I hate having to clean up."

"I'm sorry Cowboy, but these people believe a prisoner is aboard your ship." Sharyn said.

"No prisoners." Cowboy said. "Just this..." Cunningham was halfway up from the ground, when he pushed her over with a foot on her bottom, sending her sprawling to the ground again. "trash who was ripping my ship apart. Now I've got to clean it up."

"We're looking for prisoner, that was retrieved by this team." The first guy said, indicating Sharyn and Marina. He looked at them both, then realised something was wrong. "Where is the other member of your team?"

"Who?" Marina said.

The second guy, helped Cunningham off the ground as the first guy replied "The third person of your team. Three of you were reported to have boarded this ship."

"Does it look like three of us got off?" Sharyn interjected. When the guy shook his head, she raised her voice as she continued "That's because she died, and we couldn't complete our mission. You happy?"

"I apologise. We must have been misinformed that you were returning with the prisoner." He turned away with the other two without another word, and returned to their cart. In a moment they sped off.

Sharyn stood there and watched until after she couldn't see the cart any more, before turning back to the ship.

"What was that all about?" Marina asked. "Weren't we supposed to turn Kelly over to them?

"Maybe..." Sharyn said stepping back up the ramp, "But I just didn't like how they kept referring to the Prisoner."

The main hold looked like someone had been pilfering through the lockers, with items strewn across the deck. Cowboy in behind them, and started throwing the loose item back into any locker.

"Aphrodite? It's clear now." Sharyn called.

No answer came back for a moment, until Cowboy spoke up. "They can't hear you, because they're in a storage locker under this deck. Give me a hand to get them out."

They both joined in, shifting the items into lockers, until the deck was clear. Cowboy pressed on a small panel, which popped up to reveal a keypad. He punched in a few digits until the pad lit up, then he stepped back. A small section of deck around the pad lifted up to revel a double deck plate, and underneath that, a small cargo space where Nicola and Kelly were lying close together in the small space.

Without the side walls for support, they fell apart onto the deck proper.

"I must say, that's the most comfortable confinement I've ever suffered." Kelly said, picking himself up.

"Well your bones need some more flesh on them." Nicola complained.

Cowboy gave the displaced edge of the deck a push down, and it started to drop back down of its own accord, until it was perfectly flush again. Finally he kicked over the panel, coving up the keypad again.

"Well, my services are finished here." Cowboy said. "From here, you're own your own."

"Did I say thanks before?" Sharyn said, "Well I'm saying it again. Thanks for the help Cowboy."

"It's just my job." He replied. "Now get your asses out of here before I throw them out myself." turning back to the cockpit, he added once last comment "Though I might actually enjoy that."

They filed out the ship now, all four of them. No one waited for them this time, and neither was there a cart. The walk back to the nearest mag lift was some distance. Once in, they returned to Corps Local HQ directly.

An Official agent was waiting for them, to take Dr. Kelly into protection. They gave a short debrief to this agent, before they were by themselves again. Sharyn led them to the lift to return the equipment to stores.

"So those three people waiting for us were bogus agents?" Marina asked.

"Something like that." Sharyn replied. "They were agents yes. But not from Corps. From what I know, there agents they go about pretending to be Corps agents, but they have their own agenda."

"Cowboy seemed to know what was going on." Nicola said.

"Yeah. Beneath that Womanising attitude, and Texan accent, there was a real player." Sharyn revealed.

"An agent?" Marina asked.

"Not necessarily. Some people get to play as single player, with specialised missions. Cowboy got to be a pilot."

The lift doors opened on the stores level. At the stores desk, a clerk returned their clothes, and took their equipment back after they changed.

"So we might see Cowboy again?" Nicola asked.

"That's a possibility." Sharyn replied.

Chapter 10 : Spiderman

When Nicola logged off, she was still lying on the bed, in her dress. The same one she had worn out earlier that day. That was today? She thought. It seemed more like a week ago to her.

Time just seemed completely unreal in VR sometimes, that you can think you've been in there for a week, and really be only half a day.

That was probably why it was such a popular and growing form of entertainment. Just five minutes in a VR spa, and you feel like a new person.

It wasn't quite the same thing, but Nicola did feel like relaxing after the stress of the mission. It had been an intense experience.

She found the case and the manual there on the bed next to her. She stared at them, lying there, thinking that this was reality now.

After a moment, she picked up the manual and flicked through the first few pages on starting up.

It stated that "To then initiate entry into the training mission, you need a physical door, one that can be opened. If the door is already open, close it, and then open it. If there is no door within your environment, just instruct your computer to 'Initiate training mission'."

She flicked back a few pages, to read about creating a game character. "The starting area is replicated off the player's current environment when they enter. This increases the sense of reality within the game, as the player enters it directly from what they consider to be real. The first time a player enters the starting area, they are given the opportunity to create their player character. This would be commonly done by using a body editor to create or load a character suitable for the gaming environment. It should be noted, that player characteristics are permanent. The body cannot be altered during game play, and neither in the event that a character dies. This is the same with character clothing, though some game areas will make available alternate clothes, depending on the circumstance. So please, pick your character appearance wisely."

Nicola put the book down, wishing she'd read it earlier. Nobody had mentioned the dying part either. If she died, she still couldn't change her appearance? What does it mean to die in the game then?

She needed to relax a while, before her father came home. That is if he was coming home this evening. Sometimes he didn't.

The easiest form, was the spa. This time she decided to use the swimming costume. As she was about to step out of her room with towel in hand, she looked at the manual. Sitting in the spa was pretty boring by herself, so she grabbed the book for something to read as she soaked up the warm water.

Nicola spent the previous night reading the thin manual all the way through almost twice, so she understood it perfectly. Parts of it made sense, and other parts didn't.

One she hadn't realised, was that if she logged on again, she wouldn't necessarily play in a team with Sharyn and Marina again. It came with the need to form game teams, even when people from all over the world logged on from varying time zones. But there was the provision for requesting to be assigned to the same team as previously.

It made good sense to be able to play with your friends. But currently, she knew that Sharyn and Marina wouldn't be logged on. Sharyn had said she didn't get on-line access too often, but when she did, it was always at the same time each week.

And Marina's only problem was computer access. It was her brother's computer she was using, and he wasn't too happy if she hogged it all the time. So Marina had agreed to try to log on when Sharyn was on, so they could continue playing together.

Nicola had agreed to this also, but it left her bored meanwhile. Unless she tried the off-line training. She'd already completed her language tutorial for the day, as it's not that difficult to speak Spanish when living in Mexico, just her writing skills needed improving.

She jumped on her bed, and loaded up Troubled Realms, initiating the game. This time, she knew she was in the game, as her bedroom didn't change, but her clothing did. From the skirt and pink t-shirt she'd been wearing, to the towel and white t-shirt.

The game play automatically progressed from wherever she left off, unless directed otherwise. Nicola spoke her command now, to change this routine. "Load off-line training."

Nothing seemed to physically change, but she went and closed the bedroom door, and opened it again. Looking through she found a large open area room, decorated with various objects. A sign posted just inside, had Training Centre printed in large letters.

This was it, she told herself as she stepped inside. It looked like a large gymnasium, with various equipment, both strange and familiar covering walls, floor and ceiling. There were also additional doors on some of the walls, with words printed across them.

Before she could even read these, an image formed in the middle of the room, taking the appearance of a female face. "Hello, I'm Trinity, and welcome to the Corps training area."

To Nicola, she looked vaguely like Central.

"Do you wish to do some Corps training Aphrodite?" Trinity asked.

"Um, yes." Nicola said, unsure what she could do. "What sort of training areas do you have?"

"Main training areas consist of combat, vehicles, intelligence gathering, gymnastic control and specialist tools."

The first one sounded interesting enough, "What's in combat training?" she asked.

"Combat training consists of weapons familiarisation, and the use and defence against particular weapons."

"What in the vehicle training?" She asked.

"This consists of familiarisation and instruction in utilising any vehicles that you may come across."

"What's gymnastic control?"

"Training to increase body control for physical activities such as unarmed combat, assisted vertical assent and close confines movement."

This was more like she wanted. Some physical challenges. "Lets do some vertical assent." She asked.

"It is recommended you start assisted vertical assent at the easiest level, and progress to harder levels as you successfully complete each."

"Sure, just show me where to start." Nicola said, waving a hand about.

"Initiating training protocols." Trinity said. The face hung there for a moment before it shifted towards one of the walls, and Nicola followed.

Nicola found herself standing at the base of a masonry wall. Its foundation stood further out than the rest of the training area, showing that it wasn't totally vertical like every other wall.

"First stage is bare rock face climbing. Assent is made up a bare rough broken surface, at near vertical. This is done without any tools."

"Can I have a demonstration?" Nicola asked, not totally understanding.

"Running training model." Trinity said, and a figure appeared on the floor next to her, slightly muscular looking man as if he worked out often. Wearing only shorts, and some sort of shoes.

Nicola watched as the man walked up to the wall, and first hooked fingers up high into a narrow crack, then reached for another spot with the other hand. Then he brought up a foot, wedging the toe of a foot into another crack. From here, she watched as he climbed up the surface, finding holes in the wall to either wedge fingers or toes in, to hang from the wall. He didn't move fast up the wall, and sometimes moved down a step as he sought out a different place to get a hand hold. But eventually reached the ceiling, where he vanished on contact.

"Training model finished." Trinity reported.

"Ok, I've got the idea." Nicola said. "Give me some of those shoes, and I can start."

A set of shoes appeared on the ground next to her. These she pulled them onto her bare feet, finding they fitted her perfectly.

She followed the route of the model initially, getting her hand and foot holds between the rocks, and started up. A few times a foot slipped, but she held on with her hands as she regained her footing. Once or twice she looked down, and wondered what would happened if she slipt. She locked up at these points, but found she had to start moving again unless her arms became tired.

As she approached the ceiling, she didn't touch it until her head was almost against it. When she tried to, it disappeared, and reappeared 10 metres above her. Nicola was surprised, finding no ceiling all of a sudden, and lost her grip on the wall. Thoughts of falling to her death rushed through her mind as she toppled backwards, expecting to fall dozens of meters onto her head. Instead she hit the floor before she could let out a yelp of astonishment, finding her self on her back looking up at the ceiling. Falling off, she realised that the floor had caught up to her when she reached the ceiling, and all she had done was fall over.

Slowly she sat up, and looked over at the wall. She could half make out the last foot and hand holds she had been using as she tried to touch the ceiling. Seeing this, she understood now that the ceiling and floor had moved up with her progress. The ceiling had been a goal for her to reach, whilst the floor still presented the effect of getting further away. When she had achieved her goal it, a new one had been set. A person could probably do this all day, if they didn't tired first.

Nicola felt her arms, feeling the sore elbows from hitting the floor unprotected. Luckily that was all that she had hurt apart from her dignity.

"Next stage thanks." She asked.

Trinity explained the next part now, "Second stage is bare rock face climbing, progressing to a smooth brick face, with climbing grips. Running training model."

This time the demo guy appeared without Nicola asking. He was fitted with legs straps attached to little hand grips. These Nicola recognised right off, as she watched him stick a grip against the wall on a smooth part of a rock, then follow up with the other grip, higher than the last.

It was exactly the same as she had used during the last mission. This time she was able to watch the casual grace of the demo, as he went up the wall without too much effort.

Now that it wasn't black night, she wanted to do it again. "Ok, give me the climbing gear." She asked, before the demo finished.

She affixed the padded wraps about each knee with the velcro straps. These wrapped about two times, one strap above the knee, and one below. To each wrap, the grippers were attached by thin straps.

Knowing how to do this, and seeing what she was doing helped immensely. Up the wall she went one grip at a time, until she reached the ceiling. This time as the ceiling disappeared to appear further above, she took a look at the floor.

Whilst the ceiling had shifted, the floor was still getting further away. She decided to continue up, and saw the wall changing as she progressed.

The rocks were getting closer together and smoother as her feet didn't slip into the cracks any more. Further up she hit the ceiling again, and stopped to look down. The floor was even further away now. If she fell off a real building at this height, she knew she would die. It gave her some comfort that this wasn't real, and continued up.

The rocks now looked like large bricks, that fitted perfectly together, providing a smooth brickwork surface. She had no difficulty in placing the grips anywhere, including over the joins. When she reached the next ceiling, she'd had enough. Without looking down, so as not to frighten herself, she simply disengaged a grip and stepped off. The floor felt solid as she put her foot down, and then disengaged the other grip, and stood on both feet before asserting with her eyes that the floor was actually there.

She felt relieved as she let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Ok next stage." Nicola called.

"Third stage is smooth brick face climbing, with multi limb grips." Trinity explained, "Running training model."

This time Nicola looked closely at the grips on the demo man. He had a grip on each hand, affixed in a sort of glove. In addition to this, were two grips attached directly to each knee. A thin black cable ran from each knee grip, under the man's shorts, and crossing through a small harness on the man's shoulder's and down to each glove.

Nicola stood close to the wall and watched, as the man first attached one hand, and then the opposite knee to the wall. Next followed the other hand and knee further up.

Nicola was unable to see what the guy did with the glove, but the first hand and knee detached, and gripped further up the wall.

Nicola stood back to watch his progress up the wall. Looking at his out stretched arms and legs, she though he was a little spread eagled. But this seemed to make it easier to stretch up higher every time he moved up.

This time, instead of heading straight to the ceiling, he turned about on the wall. Nicola marvelled as he started across the wall, and then turned down head first, back towards the floor. When he was close to the floor, both of his knees disengaged from the wall, and he tipped over, crossing his arms to land on the floor, where he then his disengaged his gloves. Stepping away from the wall, he disappeared.

"Training model finished." Trinity reported.

"Cool." Nicola commented. She was willing to give it a try. "Equipment please." she called.

Nicola had to remove the old grips and pads and left them on the floor near by as she first attached the knee grips. These attached by straps as the same as the other ones, except for the long cable coming out of each.

She took a look at the grip, which seemed a little different then the other grips. Experimentally she touched the grip surface, and she found out why. The grip rotated under her finger. This was why it was so simple to turn about. Both the gloved grips had the same ability to rotate as she looked at them each.

Continuing, to attach the gear, she pulled on the shoulder harness, and threaded the cables through, crossing them over her shoulders like the demo and but skipping around her makeshift skirt. Last on were the gloves. The fingers stuck out the ends of the open fingers, making it easy to snap the cables into sockets on the back of each glove. Looking the gloves over, she found two buttons on the side of each forefinger, labelled with "knees" and "hands".

She found she could press these with her thumbs, either individually or together.

This was new to her, so she decided just to experiment on the lower part of the wall first. Stepping up to the wall, she found that all the grippers stuck to the wall on contact. She depressed one button on her right hand, and found her left knee detached. When she released the button, it gripped against wall again. Pressing the other button, released her right hand, which gripped again when she released the button.

Now she pressed both buttons together, releasing hand and knee together. Stretching up, she released the buttons, and re-attached them to the wall. It was a little uncomfortable, with two limbs stretched out, so she pressed the buttons on the other hand, releasing that hand, and the opposite knee from the wall.

She had the idea now, as two diagonally opposite limbs always maintained contact with the wall, as she moved the other two up. It wasn't as easy as using only two grippers and she didn't move as fast, but Nicola found it was less tiring. When she hit the ceiling and it shifted up to it's higher position, she stopped to take a break. Actually she found it was easier to relax, and not feel like she was going to fall off.

Now she concentrated on turning. Whilst the demo man had made this look easy, she found it the most difficult part, as it felt like she was hanging only from the two limbs that were uppermost on the wall. Sometimes it was only one limb, as she shifted that forward.

She gave up on this after less than a metre, and turned towards the floor. This was the strangest of all, hanging upside down from her knees.

Looking down gave her vertigo, as around her hair she could see the floor as if it was the ceiling. Each time she detached the upped knee, she felt the jolt as she dropped down to where the other knee held her up, pulling on the straps holding the molecular bonders to her knee.

She didn't like hanging this way too long, and decided to turn around again, shifting one limb at a time around. She'd only turned a portion of the way, before deciding to try and swing around. She positioned her hands first, so they were already crossed. When she released her knees together, she found herself regretting the decision, closing her eyes and screaming as her body swung about to pendulum a few times before settling.

When Nicola found the motion had stopped, she opened her eye's to find her knees reattached to the wall below her. It was only a few metres now, which she descended carefully before disengaging from the wall.

The floor seemed like the appropriate place to settle as she sat down, then lay down, and stared up at the wall and ceiling.

"That was an experience like no other." She said, more to herself. "What could possibly come after this?"

Trinity interpreted as a request for the next stage, and started to speak "Forth stage is multi surface, with full limb grips. Running training model."

As Nicola watched the wall and ceiling changed, to become one surface, curving up and out from the wall in an arc, to become the ceiling in one smooth surface.

The demonstration man became visible at the bottom of the wall, so Nicola propped herself up on her elbows to watch. Instead of having just four grippers, he had additional grips on special boots.

She watched with intrigue as part way up the wall, he detached the hand grips, and proceeded up with just the knee and toe grips keeping him attached to the wall.

He did this for a few metres, demonstrating that climbing could still be done with your hands free, but still having to operate the gripper controls. After this, he continued up the wall using all grips, then up the curve to the ceiling.

Nicola could only lay back and watch as he crawled across the ceiling like a literal spiderman. After one circuit, he did the most amazing thing, which got Nicola to her feet instantly.

She watched intently as he detached both the knee and foot on one side, and reattached with just the sole of the foot, then followed with the other leg. Then the best part was when both he detached both hand grips, to hang from the ceiling by only his feet. Slowly, he made several steps along the ceiling, advancing to the opposite wall. Upon reaching it he disappeared.

"Training model finished." Trinity reported, as the words interrupted Nicola's thoughts on ceiling walking.

"I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon." Nicola said, dropping her view from the ceiling. She began removing the climbing grips from her hands and knees, "What was that other training, unarmed combat wasn't it?"

Chapter 11 : The Space League

Marina by chance, got the opportunity to do some training also, and ended up in favourite area, with the vehicles.

"Familiarisation, and basic instruction with air, land, sea and space transport." Trinity said.

"Give me a list of the main groups." Marina asked.

A display popped up, and a list of items appeared one at a time as Trinity read them off. "Air, fixed wing aircraft, rotary aircraft, subsonic jet aircraft, supersonic jet aircraft, commercial airliner and container jet aircraft, zero lift aircraft. Land, civilian, buses, b-double rig, towing semi trailers, half tracked and tracked vehicles, all terrain, multi terrain, and rail vehicles. Sea, speed boats, jet boats, hydro foils, high speed catamaran, luxury liner, commercial ships and submersible. Space, multi environment dropships, cargo lifters and haulers, single seat interceptors, space platforms, deep space probes, and capital warships."

The list was impressive, and some of the items surprised her. "Capital warships?"

Trinity interpreted her question as a command, and the room around her changed until it resembled a ship's bridge.

"Only two of the three known bridge designs of Capital warships are currently on file. The Wessex Class Monitor, as depicted here, and the Samurai Class Frigate. The third known ship is the Aries Class Battleship, which is mostly in use by the O.H.C.A."

Marina understood what she heard, but didn't know what the last thing was. "What's the O.H.C.A.?"

"The Orange High Church Assembly. The O.H.C.A. order was created in 2130, after the then Ordained Bishop Soma Tanto was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Soma Tanto felt the churches of the time, no longer had their focus directed on the human population of Earth, and that their ethos was severely outdated.

The new order was conceived by Soma Tanto out of the need to focus on humanity itself and the growing environmental problems on Earth. The O.H.C.A. became one of the major contributors towards colonisation towards the end 21st century, developing the techniques and bringing together the resources for launching humankind towards the stars."

Marina was stunned by the amount of information. Since she had become involved with cars, she'd been reading what she could to find out more, including reading all sort of novels. But the Troubled Realms game, presented a clear underlying storyline to her. One that she was sure most players didn't know about, because they were only interested in been entertained by the game.

"Can I find out more on the history?" Marina asked.

"Off-line references contain over 180,000 articles, including images. More information resides on the Corps Global network." Marina knew this as the Troubled Realms Internet sites and VR4 networks. She wanted to find out more on it, but she was here now to do some training.

"Give me an introduction to uh..." She had to think for a moment. The last vehicle she'd seen in game was the ship they'd used to get off planet. "Dropships." she said finally. Some of the other seemed important also, like an aircraft, and a boat also. But right now, she felt that space craft were more important to know about.

"Multi environment dropships, come in many forms." Trinity said, as the scene around Marina changed to that of a space port, with dozens of drops ships arrayed around her. "From a civilian orbital skip, to an assault transport for fast entry and departures from planets. Most dropships like the assault transport come equipped with their own hyperspace jump engines, making interstellar travel a trivial thing for most people. All Corps controlled dropships are armed with varying weapons for self defence."

Marina waited a moment, making sure Trinity was finished. She'd already picked out a craft that was similar to the one she was in earlier. "Let's have a look at that one." She said, pointing out the sleek looking craft.

Marina returned to the training sessions between the weekly missions with Nicola and Sharyn, several times. Learning all about the different vehicles in Troubled Realms, and even how to operate a few of them.

Learning to do it right, came with patience, as she learnt when she tried to drive an advanced anti gravity tank. She'd had to borrow it when Nicola and Sharyn had been caught during a mission, and instead of driving it into the holding area, she'd left the place with a several new open fields, after levelling the surrounding buildings completely.

It had been almost as fun as jet skiing down some long dark tunnels, in chase of a mutant snake that had attacked a city in another mission.

Marina dwelled on the fun she'd had since starting the game that her Grandparents had bought her. She'd have to call and thank them.

How many missions has she played now?

She counted them, the first one to break out the doctor from the prison. Escorting a VIP on a tour of a new complex. Then the stealing of information from a corporation where she used the tank. After that was a search and rescue of a family on some perpetually dark planet, and then the search and destroy of the huge killer snake. It was just lucky that they'd led it towards an oil tanker that had run aground, and toasted the snake.

That was five, and last week the sixth mission. It had been a strain on her stomach. Nicola had puked a fake lunch when they found the remains of several people whilst helping to recover a ship that had crashed.

It had given her a bad dream the other night, making her wake up in a sweat. The dream had only shown her the bodies again, in the decomposed state. She had put it behind her, reminding herself it was only a game, and no one had actually died.

But her mother must have heard her during the night and asked her about it the next morning, demanding that Marina tell her what happens in the next game.

Well, she'd get the chance to tell her all about it soon, as her brother told her about the message from Sharyn.

Chapter 12 : The milk run

Sharyn had been waiting in the conference room for about five minutes before the first of them showed up. It was Nicola.

"Glad you could make it Aphrodite." Sharyn said.

"It was that, or find someone else to play with." Nicola replied, taking a seat. "But some people seem to loose all self control around me, and nothing gets done." Nicola looked about the room now. "Lara not here yet?"

"I sent a message for her first." Sharyn replied.

There was a short silence between them. Sharyn felt uncomfortable, so broke it by questioning Nicola "I haven't ask you before, but what sort of games have you played on-line?"

"Um, there's been several. Some free access stuff on the VR4 networks, but some commercial releases too. The usual type interactive adventure games." Nicola replied.

"Could you tell me a bit more?" Sharyn asked. Nicola gave her a strange look, like a caged animal. "I don't get to play any on-line stuff, except for this, so enlighten me."

Nicola seemed to relax a bit at the added comment, and started to rattle of game names, and short explanations of what they involved.

She must have listed almost a dozen games before the door swung open as Maria arrived.

Marina's explanation was a little rushed, as she took a seat "Sorry, but my brother was in the middle of a game, and I had to wait until he'd finished. He was a little angry, but he'd promised that I could have access now."

"That's ok. Aphrodite was explaining to me some of the other great games she's played on-line." Sharyn said. "So let's find out what we are doing today."

Sharyn pressed buttons on the table, and simultaneously the room dimmed as the centre display lit up with the face of Central.

"Good evening ladies. Nice to see your lovely faces again. I trust you are well rested from your last mission?"

"We are." Sharyn said.

"Raring to go." Nicola added.

"Ok then, I have good news and bad news." Central said.

"Who hasn't had that problem before?" Nicola said.

"Well, I don't really know." Central said, "But I have to tell you the bad news first. There is only one mission available at the moment."

"So what's the good part?" Marina asked, hopeful.

"It's a simple escort mission. A milk run, they used to call it. Does milk run? Or do they pour it down hills to make it run?"

Sharyn interrupted the computer's dialogue, "Just tell us about the mission Central!"

"Oh, well you have transport an important Corps data core. Part of me actually, and some other information also. You'll take it up to a Samurai Class Frigate called the Flux Point. Weird name. Pity they don't call them after important dead people any more. Getting back, you'll mind the data core during transit, but make use of time on board to familiarise yourself with the workings of the Capital warships. The Flux Point will make several stops before you have to disembark with the data core at the new Corps headquarters on planet Farside. You can re-station yourselves there permanently, or return here on the next available ship."

"Where do we pick up this data core?" Sharyn asked.

"It should be arriving there any moment." Central said. "When you take it topside, a military dropship form the Flux Point should be waiting for you."

The doors to the room opened then, spilling light into the dark room. "Here's the data core." Central said, before adding "Remember, it must make it to the Corps HQ."

Two guys marched in, and placed a large crate on the table, and left again without a word.

"Here's the mission specs now. I'll leave you to it." Central said, and signed off.

They all read through the details, which said little more than what Central told them, except for details on the Flux Point, and their eventual destination, complete with grid coordinates.

Chapter 13 : Welcome aboard

"So this Frigate is a big space ship." Nicola stated, as she carried the crate with the data core. It wasn't very heavy, only bulky, with its size slightly impeding her movement as she held it in front of her by its handles..

"Yeah, it's this huge ship with lots of guns and stuff. It's the second largest known design." Marina said, from her position beside Nicola.

Sharyn led the way through the corridors to the lift.

"What the biggest then?" Nicola asked.

"The Aries Class Battleship." Marina replied. "But it's only used by this church crowd."

"A church with a battleship. How wonderful." Nicola said flatly.

"Not just a Battleship, but a fleet of them." Sharyn added.

"Have you seen one?" Nicola asked.

"Only in the training modules, not in the game environment." Sharyn said. "So far I haven't been involved with missions with the High Church."

"So this is one of those missions we don't get any equipment?" Nicola asked, diverting the topic from churches and religions.

"Usually we get some sort of equipment, but this time it looks like we don't get anything." Sharyn replied, then added "Except that crate. We'll be on a fully manned frigate though, with hundreds of people, so equipment doesn't seem necessary. You know, if you hadn't been donated some clothes, you'd be doing this mission with only a towel and a crate to cover you."

The lift came to a stop as the doors opened up. They stepped out, and were quickly surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

"I can see your point now." Nicola said to Sharyn.

The one with slightly more markings on his shoulders stepped forward, "Marine Sergeant Graham from the Flux Point to escort you and your equipment aboard our ship, Agents."

"Thankyou." Sharyn said, "Lead the way Sergeant."

The Marines fanned out around them, keeping well apart as the Sergeant led the way at a brisk march across the port's marked surface to a nearby craft.

It wasn't like the sleek craft Nicola remembered from the rescue mission, or any of the other dropships they'd used, but a large squat shaped ovoid, with and odd surface.

They were led up the boarding ramp by the Sergeant, before the rest of the squad followed up with the sound of many feet in step.

Sharyn helped Nicola strap down the crate on a free seat, before taking a seat on each side and strapping in.

Not a word was said from either the Marines, or the dropship crew as the ship lifted up from the space port at a steady rate.

"Could we get a look at the ship before we arrive?" Nicola asked.

"I'm afraid that's not possible ma'am." The Sergeant replied, "We're on a tight schedule, and the Flux Point can't wait for us to sight see."

"I just want to have a look as we approach." Nicola added in argument.

"The pilot's screen will be only vantage, but the cabin is off limits to everyone during flight, except flight personnel. That includes me." He replied.

"That's ok then. Maybe I'll get to see it another time." Nicola said.

"Sorry ma'am." The sergeant added.

The assent was longer than usual, as the dropship had to leave planetary orbit to reach the Frigate.

All of them kept quiet until after the dropship landed in the main hanger. Stepping down the ramp, they were greeted with the sight of the planet through an atmospheric shield. The shield trapped air within the hanger, preventing it from depressurising, but still allowing large objects such as the dropship, to pass through.

"We welcome you onto the Flux Point, Agents." Said a small man in a Naval dress uniform as he walked up to them.

Nicola had to put the crate down as he shook each of their hands. "I'm Commander Lygetta. Captain Anthorp apologises that she couldn't welcome you personally aboard, but she does have a ship to get under way."

"Thankyou Commander for having us." Sharyn said, "These are Agent's Lara, Aphrodite, and I'm Agent Magnum."

"If you could follow me, I'll take you to your temporary quarters." Lygetta said, leading the way. "We don't often have visitors on board, but it is a pleasure to meet such beautiful women, especially Agents."

Lygetta led them down a main corridor, with its oddly surfaced wall, and various pipes along the ceiling. They ducked through pressure doors every so often before turning off into a few side passages and finally into a cabin.

"Since you won't be on board long, I won't give you the extended tour, but the head is in here if you wish to freshen up." Lygetta indicated through an open doorway, "One shift will be rotating off after the next jump for meals. If you wish to join us, we would be honoured by your presence in the mess hall which is fifty metres aft of here." He pointed back down the side passage towards the rear of the ship, "And if you need anything else, you can use the ship communications here to ask for assistance. If there isn't anything else, I'll return to the bridge now."

"No thanks Commander." Sharyn replied.

After Lygetta closed the hatch behind him, Nicola put the crate down on the floor, and slumped down on a bed.

The cabin was small, with two single beds, and no chairs. Not exactly guest quarters, but it was an operational war ship and not a pleasure yacht.

"So who's up for some exploring?" Marina asked.

"Not me." Nicola said, "I'm going to sit here and relax for a while. I've been carrying this crate." Nicola kicked the box in question.

"Don't damage it." Sharyn snapped, bending over to check the crate.

"Can't." Nicola replied. "It's a solid state data core, impact rated to 242 Newtons." She gave it another kick, just for emphasis, "Says so on the top."

A siren cut in then, with a thin wailing, pitching higher and lower before been replaced by a voice, "Initiating jump procedures in one minute. Secure for transit."

A jump through hyperspace was about to be made. Nicola just sat there as Marina and Sharyn sat on the other bed.

When a minute had gone by, the siren sounded again and then they jumped. The whole ship seemed to compress around them at first before the effect caught up with them, dragging them through into another area of space.

A different siren sounded now, signalling completion of jump.

"Well, that was different." Marina said.

"This is the first time I've done it on a big ship." Sharyn said. "It feels differently depending on the size of the ship, and how far we jump."

"What happens when we jump further?" Nicola asked.

"It seems to happen longer, and it makes me feel intensely more queasy in the stomach."

"So we didn't jump very far." Marina said.

"I don't think so. But we will be here for a short while, so let's have a look around."

"What about this." Nicola said, reaching for the crate with her foot, which was now slightly out range.

"It should be safe enough in here, with a ship load of Marines." Sharyn said, "And I don't want to baby sit it when we visit the mess hall."

Chapter 14