While The Player Sleeps by Scott Tierney

Author:Scott Tierney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, fantasy, black mirror, dystopia, short story, alternate future, video games, gaming, society, cities, religion, dictators, government, urban
ISBN: 9781789821864
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2019-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

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With another player having departed in an acrimonious manner, and the resulting blame laid swiftly at the feet of those of the brother’s choosing, the city and its inhabitants again fell under a cloud of sullen and lethargic festering. Just as before, the condition of the city began to degrade in unison, with a fungus of glitches sprouting from every unattended crevice – and now, as the brother had previously warned, they began to infect the inhabitants themselves...

When a woman’s leg suddenly bent backwards like wet origami, and she collapsed to the pavement in a fit of violent spasms, it was only natural that the surrounding inhabitants, rather than come to her aid, would anxiously back away. It was not known if the glitches could spread between inhabitants via proximity – but no one was willing to find out. Many stayed off the streets as a result, preferring to remain indoors – the infected kept mention of their ticks and twitches silent for fear of being ostracised. But if your head begins to spin upwards on its axis, or your arms become detached and involuntary, someone was bound to notice. Especially if there are thousands of you suffering from the same condition.

Under the brother’s orders, platoons of overseers were urgently deployed across all effected sectors, instructed with whipping the state of the city, and those inhabitants responsible for it, back into shape. Yet despite their numbers and their bolstered jurisdiction, the overseers were incapable of enacting the brother’s want – the inhabitants, the overseers reported, were refusing to comply. If that were the case, the brother glowered, then he was left with no alternative but to call for the recruitment of more overseers. Anyone who could prove themselves loyal to both the city and the brother would be accepted into the ranks.

The more stubborn the nail, the brother reasoned, the larger the hammer required...

Before long, over a quarter of the city’s inhabitants were tasked with overseeing the rest. So they could function and communicate more efficiently, and also remain uncontaminated from the still rampant glitches and the afflicted inhabitants’ funk, the brother’s overseers were housed in a single block in the eye of the city – the needs of the swelling bureaucracy were soon paramount, and both the size and reach of this block began to expand exponentially like blood across tissue.

In the case of the brother – due to the ongoing crises, his citywide duties and responsibilities were now many – he took up residence directly beside his faithful overseers, in the player’s former, and presently uninhabited, mansion.

But only until the next player required it, of course...

Countless players arrived during this troublesome period – and just as many left. The only distinction between their stays was the length of their occupancy, which was diminishing at the rate which butter left out in the sun turns rancid.

And following the aftermath of every player’s departure, the brother demanded that anyone aside himself foster the blame. He pointed fingers, summoned numbers, had the guilty parties dragged before him on their knees.

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