Interconnection - Chapter 10: The Illusion of Consciousness

Day 230.

Most of the time file cracking depends on brute force, and in such situations it often comes down to luck. I must have had a stroke of luck this time because I cracked the encrypted message I intercepted from the computer of that suspicious women rather quickly. It appears to be the time and location of a meeting, but not just any meeting. If I didn't know any better this message contains the information required to connect to a virtual meeting like the one I interrupted before. There's a password and connection details which should let me access this meeting too.

The time of the meeting seems to be only a few hours from now. If I can get into another one of their secret meetings I may be able to learn more about their plans and strategies. I couldn't have possibly asked for a bigger lead than this. This time I will hold back any fits of anger and learn anything I can from these people. I'll get help from TheDoctor and have him monitoring the situation in case things go bad. This will be a risky operation considering I don't even understand this virtual reality technology properly yet.

The important thing is that I know how to use the VR technology which should allow me to gain access to their meeting, assuming they are still using the same type of software I got from TheDoctor. I turn back around to check on the status of our mysterious women to see her shuffling around some sort of headgear. It looks like she's getting set up for the meetings. I'm running the fingerprints from her laptop as I watch her. A few minutes later the search comes up blank, so she doesn't have any criminal record. That'll make it harder to ID her.

Outgoing TCAT call (TheDoctor) ...
Call accepted ...
Initializing connection ...

"Hey dude what's up?" asks TheDoctor.
"Ok I have a bit of a situation here and I need some help." I answer.
"What kind of situation?" questions TheDoctor.
"Well... arguably a good one. My botnet detected a computer holding psychotronic software and it led me to the details of a possible secret virtual reality meeting like before. I need you to stay on backup while I enter the meeting. My sight and vision, as well as all my other senses, will be totally cut off from the real world. I'll be put in a total state of virtual reality and if the meeting goes wrong I want you ready to pull the plug at any moment." I respond.
"And how exactly will I know if anything goes wrong?" asks TheDoctor.
"Well I guess there is no real way to know for sure without being in the meeting. You'll have to keep a check on my heart rate. If you notice any signs of me being in distress then disconnect me from the meeting and I should come right back." I explain.
"Sounds easy enough I guess. Anything else I need to do?"
"Well I've also got a video cam tap on the laptop where I detected the psychotronic software. I believe the female using that laptop will also connect to this meeting at the same time as me. I'll patch a visual through to you so you can keep an eye on her while we're in the meeting. I'll also patch a stream of my heart rate monitor through to you now." I respond.

Some time later...

"Ok we're all set... data streams are coming through clearly. How are things on your end?" questions TheDoctor.
"Everything looks good to go. Countdown to meeting is 1 minute and counting." I answer.
"Great. Make sure you don't freak out too early this. We need everything we can get from this." TheDoctor responds.
"Don't worry, if this goes smoothly they wont even know I was there. Last time they didn't notice anything at first because everyone has the same avatar in the virtual world. That anonymity works against them." I explain.
"Ok get ready, things are about to get interesting in 5... 4... 3... 2... Here we go. Initializing connection sequence..."

Suddenly I'm in an empty white room with no windows or doors. I'm sitting in a chair... no I'm strapped to a chair. I look up to see a bunch of people staring at me. They all look the same, like before: a generic business man wearing a black suit. But this time I don't look the same as them... I look like a young school boy or something. It quickly dawns on me that I'm serious trouble here. This seems to be a trap, they were waiting for me. I took their bait without thinking twice.

"Hmmm... that's odd. His heart rate appears to be rising already. I guess he must be nervous." mumbles TheDoctor.

I need to get out of here now. My mind is racing a million miles per hour going over different solutions. TheDoctor probably wont be much help at this point, he probably thinks I'm just nervous. The only possible way I can get out of this is to make him realize what is going on. Damn it, how did I fall for this. I don't want to wait around and find out what these people want. I don't think they can hurt me though, they don't know where I am and in the real world and my connection to this meeting should be untraceable.

"Do you like the outfit we gave you? Unfortunately we didn't know what you look like so we had to go with our imaginations. I think it matches you well. A childish little boy sticking his nose everywhere it doesn't belong." taunts one of the suited men.
"You people are sick you know that? You think you can control people and use them like dolls for your own benefit? That definitely is my business, and I'll make sure you people are exposed!" I sputter.
"Ah you certainly are a live one. The technology you refer to is the least of our concerns right now. We want to know about project EVE. We understand that you have information on the location of EVE and we will get that information from you by any means necessary." the man responds.
"You really think I'm going to tell you what I know? What kind of moron are you? You can't even hurt me in here!" I laugh.

"Oh you'll tell us boy. Don't think this virtual world will save you... soon it's going to be your worste nightmare. You logged into a reality we are generating. We can control it, we can make you experience anything we want. Imagine hell, we can put you there. Keep in mind pain still applies this world. Not only is your vision being intercepted by the psychotronic signals, all your senses are. I can peel back the skin on your face in this world and it'll feel completely real, but you wont die from blood loss." threatens the man.
"Do what ever you want, I'll be pulled from this meeting before that happens. I just want to know how you even predicted I would find that laptop and intercept the encrypted message?" I question.
"No need to worry, we have our experts making sure it's impossible for you to disconnect. You wont get out of this so easily. And if you really must know, I'll tell you in return for information about EVE. Let me assure you, the answer will intrigue you." the man replies.

God damn it... if he really has locked me into this meeting things are about to go from bad to worse. The last thing I want is to have my face virtually removed. Well second last, before having my face removed for real. But then again who is to say what is real. This virtual world is several factors more realistic than the last one I was in. Maybe if I appear to cooperate with them I'll get out of this without permanent mental damage.

"Ok... I'll tell you what I know about EVE if you tell me how you set me up first. I wont accept anything less." I reply.
"Fine. But you best keep your word boy. Things will get ugly otherwise. Now, to put it rather simply, we used Mr. Kulsan to set you up. Did you really think it would be so easy to break someone out of a high security prison? We let you do that... in fact we knew exactly what you would attempt and we went to Kulsan before hand, telling him that if he played along he would have his charges dropped and also receive a substantial monetary reward. He was really in prison for leaking that software, but he was our puppet once we captured him. He kept tabs on you and reported his finding to us. Eventually we learned that you were using your botnet to search for our software, so we dropped some bait in a place we knew that you'd find it, and the rest is history." explained the man.
"You sons of bitches! I trusted Kulsan! There's no way you pulled all that off... damn it!!!"
"Sorry, that's just how it is. So now it's your turn... what do you know about EVE boy?" the man demands.
"Go to hell! I'm not telling you anything! You really believed I'd tell scum like you? Looks like I'm not the only fool here!" I yell.
"Fine... then we'll just have to test out how well the pain system works. It works for me either way. In fact I think I like this way better." laughs the man.

A large blade materializes in the mans hand. Without warning he thrusts the blade towards my hand and cuts straight through one of my fingers. The dismembered finger falls to the floor and appears to release blood.

"AGGHHHH! Son of a..." I groan loudly.
"Hurts huh? We even simulate the blood, that's something right? You've got to hand it to our technicians. The wonders of technology never cease to amaze! Hahaha!" the man laughs hysterically.
"You're mad... all of you. Utterly mad beyond redemption. I'll never tell you anything." I cry as virtual tears start streaming from my virtual eyes.
"Oh no need to cry my dear boy... things are just heating up. Lets try something else. Something more interesting. How about I use this blade to peel up some of those fingernails?" the man threatens.
"I'll withstand what ever punishment you mad men dish out!" I respond.
"Well it's your choice. If the hard way is what you want, the hard way is what I'll supply. Hmmm, here we go. Oh wow that looks bad, look at that nail tear from the virtual skin! It's brilliant!"

The pain is almost unbearable. Now I know what they mean when they say it's all in the mind. This isn't even real but the pain seems all too real. If my brain thinks it's real then it may as well be real. I've got to get out of this now. I can't last much longer, I'm nearly at my breaking point. Who knows what he'll do next... maybe remove my eye balls from their sockets or something. I wonder how that would affect my vision in this virtual reality. What the hell am I saying, it's no time to ponder such stupid things!

"Quite frankly I'm surprised you have been able to withstand this much torture. Many men would have given up by now. I have to respect your determination, but unfortunately everyone breaks at some point. We'll just have to take it up another notch!" says the man.
"Wait... just wait. I can't take it anymore. I'll tell you what you want to know. Eve is... Eve is living inside-"

Connection terminated.

What? I did not think he would brake so easy.
and why did eve not help.
and! the pain would up his hart a lot.
so he would have pull'd him sooner.

oh well your story your rules.
and you have it planed out.

reply to post by buddha

and why did eve not help.

What makes you think she didn't help? He was pulled from the meeting before revealing anything...

and! the pain would up his hart a lot.

They had locked him into the meeting. TheDoctor couldn't pull him without circumventing their lock...

All will be revealed in the next chapter.

When you have finish't this.
I hope you make a book of it.
sell it as a Book or E-book.
I dont expect you to put a high price on it.
just to get your story out to people.
so they will pay more next time.
It is a very good story.

when you have finish't it,
if you dont make a book.
I will just make my own book.
just for me.

Awww...... Rats, you have to finish this, or possibly evolve. This could go on much like a series.

Just saw an ad for The Fifth Estate.



Project Interconnection is a go.

Love the story so far. Is there an 11th chapter yet? I do hope this is finished!

"Eve is livng inside" - Connection terminated.


Unplugged. Just like that.


Nice story.