Reset by Kirk Dougal

Author:Kirk Dougal [Dougal, Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diamond Seven
Published: 2017-05-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Shea drove for a few blocks before we found a corner grocery. I picked up enough meat and bread for a couple of days’ worth of sandwiches and loaded up on cigarettes before he took me back to the Lansford. A handful of people moved through the lobby as I waited for the elevator, the hoist’s creaking and whining making me wish I had taken the stairs. I made the mistake of glancing at the front desk and the man behind the counter gave me the same knowing smile and wink he had used the day before. I gripped the groceries tighter to keep from walking over and slugging him in the face.

The elevator screeched to a stop and the operator pulled back the metal safety gate. “Going up, sir?”

I nodded as I walked past him. “Seventh floor.”

The ride up was quiet except for the creaking of metal. In fact, the whole building felt abnormally hushed, the air holding still and waiting for its own explosion like the deli. I moved the grocery bag to my other arm so my right hand was free to go after the gun hanging beneath my suit.

A couple waited on the seventh floor and, when the elevator stopped, they both stepped aside, their faces showing the wary masks of people not accustomed to cities and hotels. I wondered for a second what brought them to a place so obviously out of their comfort zone but then my thoughts returned to everything else swirling around me in the game. Voice, the explosion, Gretchen—not to mention the real reason I was inside—Raven. I had to applaud the programmers; they certainly kept players busy.

I turned down a side hall and walked to the back of the building to the doorway of the stairwell. I slipped inside and waited. I had not heard any doors open in the hallway as I walked and if anybody had tailed me from the lobby, they needed to sprint up the front stairs to catch the elevator. After a minute of silence, however, I was sure no one had followed me so I walked down to the sixth floor.

Rooms 625 and 626 sat across from each other and I listened at the door of 626 for a few seconds but heard nothing from the other side. I moved across the hall and knocked on 625. Voice did not answer the door. I put the grocery bag down on the floor and pulled my gun, switching the weapon to my left hand while I fished the room key out of my pants pocket. The key turned easily and I pushed open the door.

Voice sat on the edge of the bed, his unblinking eyes staring at the wall beside the door. I recognized the look. His avatar had shut down while the real Voice, the gamer, was out living in the world. I grabbed the groceries and went into the room.

The bottle of rye sat on the nightstand and I helped myself to a snort while I glanced over the room.

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