Thane by Aaron Randolph

Author:Aaron Randolph [Aaron Randolph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aaron Randolph
Published: 2023-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Cris tsked. “My, my, she sure does take a while to load.”

Meryn said, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Vi is short for Virtual Instructor, she’s some sort of artificial intelligence who corrals us through the tasks, takes our requests, and answers questions.”

Jamie was still confused. “Wait, what tasks?”

Cris gave off a long-suffering sigh.

* * *

After ten minutes or so, Cris had explained all the rules and summarized most of the events of the past four days.

“So, let me see if I’ve got this story straight.” Meryn still had a hard look in her eyes. “We don’t know where we are, who kidnapped us, or why, and all you managed to put together in four days was that we might be in space?”

Cris opened his mouth to speak, then, hesitating, closed it again. “Well, when you put it like that, it seems kinda silly, but trust me, getting information out of Vi is like pulling your nose hairs out with your fingers.”

Ethan harrumphed. “Seems to me there are two possibilities. Either Mr. Thorpe is working for our captors, which would explain how he knows what he knows, and this is a clumsy attempt to blind us to that possibility – or, he’s telling the truth, and we’ve all somehow lost our memory of the past four days. Personally, I’m inclined toward the first possibility.”

“You SON of a—”

“To my knowledge, specific memory manipulation is impossible. I also cannot see the point of removing our memories and keeping his.”

Cris stared incredulously at Ethan. “They didn’t just erase your memories, they brought you back to LIFE! But it’s the memory thing you have a problem with. Sure.” Cris scoffed and folded his arms.

Jamie spoke up then. “But if he’s with the bad guys, why tell us all this stuff? Wouldn’t it be smarter just to blend in and pretend you don’t know what’s going on?”

Ethan snorted. “The fact that you would even make that argument proves it’s not a bad idea.”

Meryn shook her head, “This is giving me a headache.”

Cris snapped his fingers. “Meryn, do you already have a strike?”

“What?”

He leaned forward. “When we all woke up here the first time, you tried to get your collar off and got an early strike. Did you do that this time as well?”

She looked at him strangely. “I…I got the warning not to meddle with the collar, and I thought it was a bluff. I was going to ignore it and keep trying to break it anyway, but something told me not to.”

Cris shook his head. “It sounds like you don’t remember the past four days consciously, but maybe some part of you subconsciously remembers?”

She stared at him for a moment before her hard eyes softened a little. “….maybe.”

A familiar voice emanated from the middle of the room. “Hello!”

The others looked startled, but Cris merely smiled. “Vi! Welcome back. Now our party is complete.”

Vi cheerfully continued, “Forgive me if I startled you. No, I’m not actually here. I’m a virtual instructor, or V.I. for short,

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