Spiteful Healer-334: Faith, Faithless, Unfaithful
Ryan had a hard time focusing at work and spent more time out of his sim-box than in, making up excuses to do so, such as delivering s to the opposite end of the building. After he’d been sent from Nicholas’ office, he saw Mike get called in, and a few minutes later, watched him storm out.
That was yesterday.
Since then, nothing had come of it. But he knew something was brewing in the background. He knew what Mike had done, he knew Nicholas knew, and he knew Mike knew Nicholas knew.
Between delivering nonsensical s, taking extended bathroom breaks, and drinking more coffee than he’d ever drank in one morning, he kept his eyes on Nicholas’ office door, waiting for something, anything, to happen.
Would it be an announcement? Was it the end of VGN? Would Mike be fired? Or, perhaps worst of all, would nothing come of it?
The answer he got was none of the above.
At 9:43 am that morning, everything in Averon changed. Everything in the Shattered World Online changed, and in turn, the world at large.
Ryan spotted Mike walking through the building with a purpose, directly towards Nicholas’ office. He was not alone. Two uniformed police officers and a detective followed behind him, Mike leading the charge.
Most employees were in their sim-boxes working and took no notice, but those who did were quick to spread the word, tapping their co-workers' sim-box interfaces to get them out of their simulations to see what was going on.
Ryan looked on in disbelief, his eyes wide in confusion, his mind running rampant, trying to consider what was transpiring. He was snapped out of it by a tap on his shoulder.
“Ryan? What’s going on?” Linda asked, still in her work sim-suit as she’d just climbed out of the game master simulation due to the commotion. Ryan didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at her. He rushed forward across the building, pushing past other gawkers to get close enough to the door when it opened.
Nicholas stood in the doorway with a look of bewilderment. His eyes wandered between the officers as one pulled out a set of handcuffs, until finally landing on Mike.
“Nicholas Pearson, we have a warrant for your arrest,” the detective said. The officer motioned his hands forward.
“For what?” Nicholas asked, glaring at Mike.
“It’s a long list; we’ll discuss your charges at the station. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?”
Nicholas’ eyes narrowed. The office fell silent.
“You piece of shit,” Nicholas pulled his arm back and thrust his fist into Mike’s jaw faster than the officers could react. Mike stumbled backward off his feet, while the two officers moved to restrain Nicholas. “This is how far you’ll go?”
Mike stood up, a small spot of blood on his lip where he’d been hit. He rubbed his jaw, and a sly smirk crept up on his face ever so briefly.
“I told you, you’re too naive,” he turned to the detective. “I’d like to add assault to his charges.”
The detective shook his head dismissively, unwilling to participate in their quarreling. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
Once the officers had cuffed Nicholas, the detective motioned them to follow, and he led them out of the building, but Ryan stepped in his path.
“What should I do?” Ryan asked in alarm.
“Tell Andrew,” Nicholas whispered before he was pulled past him. A few moments later, the police had left the building along with Nicholas.
“It’s alright, everyone, nothing to worry about. It’ll be business as usual,” Mike waved his hands dismissively to the onlooking employees. An explosion of murmurs and whispers followed his words. Ryan used the distraction to move into the chattering crowds, but Mike spotted him and hastily pursued.
Ryan wasn’t above running in the office, and when he looked back to see Mike behind him, he broke into a sprint, taking the stairs up two floors to reach Andrew’s office, while Mike went for the elevator.
By the time Ryan reached Andrew’s office and rang the sim-box three times, Mike was in the hallway staring him down.
He pointed at Ryan with a look of triumph twinkling in his eye. “You. You’re fired. Pack your things and get out of the building.”
Ryan ignored him and resorted to banging on Andrew’s door.
“Do I need to get security?” Mike threatened, tapping his wrist implant.
“Get security for what?” Andrew asked, standing down the hallway behind Mike. Both Mike and Ryan turned to look at him, an awkward silence lingering. Mike broke it by tapping his wrist implant a few more times. Andrew’s eyebrows furled. “Hey, I recognize you, Ryan, right?”
“Don’t bother talking with him,” Mike scoffed. “He no longer works here."
Ryan cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Nicholas told me to talk to you. He’s been arrested!”
“What?” Andrew blurted.
“I’ll explain it later,” Mike said.
“Explain what? What in the world could he have possibly been arrested for?”
Two security guards approached from the hallway behind them.
“He’s over there. Escort him from the premises. He’s no longer employed here.” Mike spoke to the security.
Andrew stepped in front of the security guards. “Hang on, what’s he fired for?”
This story has been taken without authorization. any sightings.
“Doesn’t concern you, he’s a member of my team, not yours,” Mike said.
“C’mon,” One guard motioned Ryan towards them with a wag of his fingers, looking unamused by the situation.
“Mike, what the hell is going on?!” Andrew shouted.
“I can explain, if you give me time,” Ryan chimed in.
“You’ve done enough explaining, don’t you think?” Mike snarled. Another tense moment followed, and Andrew did his best to process the situation.
He eventually pushed past Mike and opened his office, motioning for Ryan to come inside. “Come, let’s have a chat.”
“Ryan doesn’t work here anymore!” Mike shouted.
“He does, he’s my new assistant,” Andrew glared.
“That’s not up to you.”
“Last I checked, you don’t run Averon.”
“Yet.” Mike’s nostrils flared. Andrew ignored this comment, motioning the security guards to step down, who reluctantly complied.
“You, in, now,” He nudged Ryan into the room, shutting the door behind them and causing Mike to storm off.
On the far wall of Andrew’s office was a collection of holographic screens, set before a blank white wall. Most were turned off, but he tapped his wrist implant to turn them on, gathering what information he could frantically.
It was already on every major news network. Nicholas, the creative mind behind the Samantha AI that brought the Shattered World Online to life, was arrested for fraud, corporate espionage, insider trading, theft, and a plethora of other charges.
“... The hell?”
Ryan stepped forward, taking over one screen with his wrist implant, then used it to pull up information on his eye implant. He was trying to play back his conversation with Nicholas from the day before, but the data was blocked and erased, replaced by a red message.
‘Blocked by Averon Inc. Employee N.D.A.’
It flashed a few times before getting Andrew’s attention.
“He must have done it. I don’t know exactly what happened between them yesterday, but this is all Mike’s doing.”
“What the hell happened that’d make him do stuff like this?” Andrew asked.
“We caught him. He’s the one who was implementing the code that modified the NPCs in the game to make VGN streamers look good. Mike’s involved with VGN in some way. Nicholas must’ve confronted him about it, and this is how he retaliated.”
Andrew took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. “Alright. So these charges are all bullshit, right?”
Ryan nodded. “Most likely.” Andrew’s ear implant blinked, indicating an incoming call. He used his wrist to pull it up on a screen. It started with one, but quickly climbed to 10, 20, 50, and beyond.
“Investors. They’re gonna want answers,” He scratched his head anxiously.
“Ah, there!” Ryan pointed out one of the incoming caller names, Nicholas. Andrew spotted it by following Ryan’s finger and hastily accepted the call.
“Nicholas, what the hell is going on?”
“I don’t have long to talk. Listen carefully. The charges they have against me appear legitimate. There’s a trail of my crimes that goes back up to a year. He’s set this up ahead of time,”
Nicholas’ voice came through one of the screens so that both could hear.
“They’re bullshit, right? No way they stick?”
“I can fight them, but who knows how long it’ll take. He was thorough. It’s looking bad,”
Nicholas sighed.
“What should we do?”
“Is Ryan there?”
“I’m here!” Ryan joined the conversation with a shout.
“Good. If we can prove he’s working with VGN, we can prove he set this all up to take control of Averon. He all but admitted it. We just need some evidence.”
“You don’t have any? Anything at all?” Andrew exclaimed.
“No,”
“How can you not?”
“I wasn’t planning for one of my oldest friends to betray me so spectacularly,”
Nicholas said in a low tone, not so subtly hiding his rage within it. Ryan and Andrew exchanged glances.
“How can we prove it?” Ryan asked.
“There’s a chance one of those ex-VGN employees knows something; start with them. The editor at Fanta-See network, for example, or their retired streamers.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Samantha’s still watching for him to reuse that code. If it comes up again, she’ll be able to track it to him.”
Ryan shook his head dismissively. “He’s got no reason to cheat again. VGN already basically runs the game world.”
“I’m out of time. Look, Samantha and the game code can’t be altered without me, so for now, The Shattered World Online is safe. You need to make sure he doesn’t get full control, Andrew. Convince the shareholders not to hand it over to him fully.”
The call ended.
Andrew fell back on an open sim-box on the side of the room, breathing heavily. “This was not how I was expecting my morning to go.”
“Got a plan?” Ryan asked.
“Hah!” he leaned into his sim-box, clicking his tongue. “I’ll handle the investors and the press. You get in contact with the former VGN employees, and press ‘em hard. Get something we can use to clean this mess up.”
Andrew spun into the sim-box and shut it, initializing an office simulation and leaving Ryan to his thoughts. He paced in the office for a few minutes before using his wrist implant to locate the contact information of the Fanta-See network.
The call went through a secretary before being connected to Tommy.
“Tommy of the Fanta-See Network, what can I do for an Averon Inc employee?”
“Uh, hi. Yes, I’m calling on behalf of Averon. You have an employee, an editor, I believe, who goes by the name of Shinji. Is he available at the moment?”
“Does this have something to do with the s on the news?”
“Y-yeah… please, it’s urgent.”
“One moment.”
A few seconds of silence went by, and Ryan was still anxiously pacing around the office.
“Shinji speaking,”
Shinji’s voice came through the call.
“Hello, Shinji? This is Ryan, from Averon Inc. I’m uh…” he looked towards Andrew’s sim-box. “I’m Andrew’s assistant. No doubt you’ve already heard the news of the creative director's arrest?”
“Yeah, kinda hard to believe, to be honest.”
“There may have been foul play; we believe VGN was involved somehow. I was hoping to talk with you in person about it, and possibly discuss it with your former VGN streamer, Serenity?”
“Because I used to work for them?”
Shinji clarified.
“Yes, exactly!”
“We can arrange something like that for you as soon as possible,”
Tommy answered, revealing himself to still be on the call.
“Anything else we can do to help out?”
Ryan stopped pacing, rubbing his chin to think hard on the question. “It’s a bit of a long shot, but the one who’d have the most insight would be Makaroth. I know he isn’t with your network, but-”
Tommy let out a guffaw.
“Ask Aegis to get you in contact with him? That’s wishful thinking.”
“Please, it’s important. If we don’t get this sorted out, it could be the end of the Shattered World. Fanta-See network would suffer too, right?”
Another silence followed.
“We’ll see what we can do. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
.
!
334: Faith, Faithless, Unfaithful
Comments